Christmas Disasters!

This thread is specially for the Bah-Humbug Squad.

I'm sat here unshaven and smelly waiting for daughter to exit my Duffer bought and paid for bathroom. Could be a long wait.

After I eventually manage to make myself presentable, I'm taking my Mother to a X-mas dinner hosted by my sister. The plan is to exchange presents, but not the virus. Unfortunately Mum has made it clear she has no intention of sitting next to an open window, and I doubt she'll be able to resist hugging grandchildren.

Sister has just rung to say her central-heating system has failed and can I bring a kettle and my entire collection of electric heaters...

Bet this is small fry compared with what happens to some of you today, or has gone wrong in the past. Please share!

Dave

Me hoover has packed up 😁

Mick

One of the grandkids' nursery teachers has tested positive. Christmas dinner was to be at son-and-DIL's house 4 miles from us. Now it'll be gift-exchange with masks and faceshields in the morning, then they deliver us dinner when it's done. We're debating whether to get tested ourselves.

Unsatisfactory and untidy, but we know of others potentially facing far worse.

After due consideration I have abandoned the idea of lathe and parting tool and opting for mill and slitting saw before applying the blowlamp and spoon:

I don't really 'do' Christmas....all the bad stuff in my life seems to have been at Christmas.

One I can't forget was nearly 50 years back when I was in my early 20's and my mother (my only relative) was a patient in StBarts Hosp. in London.......they told me the day before Christmas Eve that they were'nt sure, but they thought that she would not suvive the cancer that they had found (she did'nt!)....they had done tests but the labs were all shut until after new years day..... Christmas on my own stated with some orange squash flavoured with brandy but by boxing day it was brandhy flavoured with orange squash.....no food other than the odd biscuit...... Rarely drink booze now!

Just the two of us this year like many other years I am pleased to say.

Last year was the worst we have ever had. Went to Australia as it was also our 50th wedding anniversary. Son broke, we paid for everything and more. His partner and her daughter the obnoxious brat, were appalling. Her family around which everything had to revolve are all some sort of strange headcases. Christmas had to be moved to Boxing Day. Our private family business had been blabbed half way around Queensland by that crowd. Embarrassing or what?

What is the Australian fetish with raw carrots? And bad food?

I now have only one relation on the planet and that is our grandaughter and now her newborn. Thats it there has been no other contact. Total monetary cost of trip baling that lot out of destitution nearly 30 grand with flights. We are glad to be alone. Door firmly shut and Wills changed and formally engrossed.

Speaking with G daughter and GG daughter later as a highlight. Despite COVID 19 and the sadness that has brought to us, this will still feel like a vintage year. Smelling the chicken cooking and the homemade stuffing cooking as I write.

Live for today for tomorrow may never come. Make the best of it and all have a GREAT day!

Ian

As many of you have noticed Christmas is a king sized P-I-T-A.

To me, it,s just another name for a day.

Roll on the 26th of December! The happiest day in a womans calendar.

Wednesday night we had a power cut in south Birmingham (UK) for 5 minutes or so. The power came on but immediately went off again and then came on and has stayed on since.

Thursday morning no central heating or hot water.

Contacted the guy who fitted a new pump to the boiler a couple of months ago who said he would try and come round in the afternoon and would phone me back. This he did and he came and diagnosed the fan electronics were faulty and guessed it could possibly be due to the power surge on and off.

'I haven't got one on the van, but I think I have one at home - if I have I can come round late tonight (Christmas eve) or tomorrow?' (Christmas day)

Is it possible to come back tonight as I am out doing charity deliveries on Christmas Day, I asked? No problem - it will be 10:30 - 10:45pm as I am working all night was his reply.

He turned up when he said he was going to do, fitted the new fan at what seemed a very reasonable price and was gone by 11:30pm, all sorted.

So if anyone in the Birmingham area wants a recommended gas engineer send me a PM because this guy is good, reliable, reasonably priced and offers a level of service I have not seen the like of - ever!

Well done mate and thanks!!

Well I'm stuffed. I guess on this thread being happy about Christmas is being a grinch.
I'm quite happy being alone and my mother used to pretend she was going to spend the day with one of us children to avoid getting 'sympathy invites' from someone who didn't want to be alone.
For a few years some of the villagers which includes the two best cooks in the area have been invited a Christmas gathering at a Devon farm which has a table big enouth for 16. But this year I could not have attended after just coming from London with several >80 yr olds even if Tier 4 hadn't trapped me at the wrong end of the country. The advantage of the city is emergency shopping in the multiple supermarkets open late to avoid crowds though 9pm is still busier than I'd like.

My neighbour insisted he would bring me lunch as I'm alone and around 1pm he said it would take a while. About 2pm I accidently had a mince pie with my coffee. At 4.30 he brought over an nourmous plateful with 3 types of meat, about twice my entire normal daily intake. No room for the mince pie if I hadn't already eaten it. Also in lieu of a Christmas party my company had sent us a care package including a bottle of prosecco, cracker, santa hat, and chocolate orange - ah yes maybe I have room for a bit of fruit - it's healthy isn't it.

Our biggest disaster is not being able have time with Daughter, ,Son in Law and the Grandchildren back from uni.

That and both of us putting a present intended for someone else in the wrong bag- but not the end of the world!

We are shamed, by the response from three Asian neighbours to our giving a box of biscuits to each of them.

Since the family could not meet, we are going to be eating turkey in various guises for a little, while,, but we are fortunate to be in that position, compared to many..

Now where did I put the indigestion tablets?

Howard

I received an Xmas greeting from the NHS this morning in the form of a positive Covid test result.

Having Covid for Christmas is definitely the most Grumpy Old Man thing I've done in ages; best time of the year for it in my opinion, so, Bah!, Humbug! to all (I just wish beer didn't taste peculiar at the moment).

Covid notwithstanding, beer not tasting like it used to goes with the Grumpy Old Man status, I'm afraid.

Get well soon!

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 25/12/2020 20:14:09

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My commiserations, Andy !

The only thing I can suggest is that you try Theakston’s with its subtly different spelling:

**LINK**

https://www.theakstons.co.uk/our-ales/permanent-cask/old-peculier/

MichaelG.

Ha! should have thought of that!

@Nick - I have no excuse, I made it myself...

Talking of which, I think I'll shut the computer down now and see if the beer-tasting situation has improved; if not, I believe I still have a bottle of vintage port (strangely, sweet things seem unaffected)

Cheers, chaps!

On Wednesday I dropped one of my wife's Christmas cakes she had made for one of her relatives. She was not blessed please, even though tier 4 restrictions have prevented us taking it over to them!

This is my second Christmas on my own. A friend invited me round for dinner yesterday, which was very enjoyable. At the moment, I am on a course of anti-biotics which specifically forbid consumption of alcohol, which means a dry Christmas and New Year for me. The only consolation is that the local corner shop sells a good brand of zero alcohol lager. To top it all, my son phoned me yesterday to say his fridge went "Bang" while cooking dinner and all the kitchen sockets are dead. Fortunately, he does have several extension leads.

We have a flat which we rent out. Between tenants this December, we had the PAT testing done, now the washing m/c doesn't work and the main controller board will cost £280 to fix or £480 to replace the 4 year old machine!

A couple of years ago, we were with our son in Oz when his dish washer packed up on Christmas Day. Besides packing up, it burn't out the supply RCD which was an ancient device. Although I could have jury rigged it to work without the RCD, with two small kids and all their electronic games etc, I declined and we called out an emergency electrician. 250$ for callout, 150$ for each new RCD as under new regs, you need an RCD for each "service"d(Lights, sockets, Kitchen ). We were lucky that the fuse board was plywood because many older systems has asbestos in which case it would have to be removed by a specialist before a new one could be fitted ! So that was about 800$ fix and had to buy a new dishwasher on Boxing Day !

My mate was narrowly missed by the unwrapped food-mixer Xmas present he had bought for his wife.

Is that good, or bad?

Not enough information - was the mixer damaged?