Carmageddon

Four letters signed and sealed and ready to be posted:

• to A-Plan, saying that I'm not renewing my insurance but that I'd happily recommend them to anybody who wanted car insurance (consider it done!)

• to the DVLA, containing my logbook

• to a different tentacle arm of the DVLA, applying for three months' refund on my tax disc (amazingly, you can print out the form yourself)

• to Vale of the White Horse District Council, returning my parking permit and asking them to reconsider their car-registration-limited-permit policy to allow car-sharers and occasional car-hirers to use the parking space to which car ownership would entitle them.

The car has gone to a better place (that is, a better place than the previous one) and we have FINALLY joined the ranks of the car-free*.

That's a) an annual saving of approximately £550, not counting petrol or the (increasingly crippling) cost of getting the damn things fixed all the time; b) a win on the carbon footprint front (less temptation to drive, not that I have really had any for about 2 years, & if I do drive a hire-car it'll undoubtedly be more efficient than the old bangers I have been driving), and c) a great weight off my mind.

* not counting pto452

Grip it up and start again

ALSO, after total rubness over the weekend (I spent approximately 50% of the weekend asleep and most of the other 50% feeling icky and miserable, which meant among other things failing to get to julietk's party), irritable mopeyness yesterday, arguments in the pub yesterday evening, and total meltdown this morning (ending up crying all over my boss, who was so absolutely lovely and non-patronisingly understanding — and helpful about the specifics of Getting Things Done — that I could have hugged him*) ... after all that flaily emo I managed to kick myself in the pants enough to a) knock some bits of the Evil Perl Of Doom** on the head, b) finally sort out some cruddy bits of configuration that have stopped me getting things done smoothly, c) write bits of documentation (or at least notes towards such), d) do a 2.4 mile run at lunchtime***, and e) get home in time for the appointment with the piano tuner at 4pm.****

So, yeah. Small amounts of grip applied in the right places, for a change.



* but decided best not, in the interests of professionalism (ahahaha) etc etc.

** which I will henceforth call the Black Perl, ahahahaha, basically it is about a gazillion .xsp scripts which need to be turned into something less crazy

*** in my lovely new fairtrade organic cotton running shorts which are the comfiest thing ever.

**** Less win on that front, mind you: no show at 4pm, I tried to phone him from 4:30 onwards, he phoned at 5:07, arrived about 5:30 and decided he couldn't do the piano then and there because it would take three hours' work to get it in tune again (mneh, it's in tune with itself, but he says it should be at concert pitch because of the tension etc etc). Rescheduled for next Friday, when I can hopefully work from home.