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Dec. 6th, 2024 09:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
turpsI came downstairs this morning, and both of James' number balloons are deflated. I'm not pointing any fingers, but did
I got everything done that I wanted yesterday. The doctors for my injection first thing, then drive to the outlet retail park before the shops opened, so it was easy to get a parking spot. The main shops open at 10 there, so we tend to plan to get a parking spot early, then have breakfast at Subway. Which is what happened yesterday, with a tasty breakfast sandwich, and a not so tasty surprise of finding an insect at the bottom of the cup of diet coke we were sharing, making that discovery when we'd nearly finished drinking. As the cups are stored upside down, all I can think is it fell in from the pop machine while I was pouring, that or the ice machine. The lady serving was very apologetic and offered a bottle drink for free instead and also cookies. I accepted the drink, not the cookies, though didn't really expect anything.
Got the things I wanted from there, well mostly, the things my MiL liked have been sold, and James surprised me with a heavily discounted Yankee Candle advent calendar, so now I have three on the go, two candle and one chocolate.
From there it was off to check out the new Tesco, and it really is a very shiny shop. They've done a great job building on the old pit site and the landscaping is great. Including a purpose built path that snakes off the retail park to our estate and has benches all along the route.
Only negative thing was we stopped for some petrol, and the bank reserved £120 instead of the £15 we'd actually spent. I know it's a thing to prevent people driving off without paying as the pumps are card only, but it's something that's not actually used in any of the other garages in the area. From a FB post on a local group, it caught a lot of people off-guard, and I can see the frustration as the money still hasn't been released this morning.
Then in the evening we headed to the Indian Restaurant for our festive curries with Pauline, my brother and nephew. As always it was a good time with good food and company. My nephew made me laugh when we were leaving, he's 17 now and used to be very reserved, but is much more chatty now. I always hug my brother goodbye, as does Pauline and we ended up in this strange double hug as we both went in at the same time. But it worked out, and my nephew announced after he wanted a double hug too, so we had to do it again *g*
Tonight we're off to see Slava's Snowshow at the theatre. I thought it looks great, but Kayleigh and Lucy went to see it last night and hated it, so much so they left at half time. Kayleigh said it was weird but I'd probably love it. So, we shall see. I do like a bit of audience interaction and have been looking forward to being blasted with fake snow.
I got everything done that I wanted yesterday. The doctors for my injection first thing, then drive to the outlet retail park before the shops opened, so it was easy to get a parking spot. The main shops open at 10 there, so we tend to plan to get a parking spot early, then have breakfast at Subway. Which is what happened yesterday, with a tasty breakfast sandwich, and a not so tasty surprise of finding an insect at the bottom of the cup of diet coke we were sharing, making that discovery when we'd nearly finished drinking. As the cups are stored upside down, all I can think is it fell in from the pop machine while I was pouring, that or the ice machine. The lady serving was very apologetic and offered a bottle drink for free instead and also cookies. I accepted the drink, not the cookies, though didn't really expect anything.
Got the things I wanted from there, well mostly, the things my MiL liked have been sold, and James surprised me with a heavily discounted Yankee Candle advent calendar, so now I have three on the go, two candle and one chocolate.
From there it was off to check out the new Tesco, and it really is a very shiny shop. They've done a great job building on the old pit site and the landscaping is great. Including a purpose built path that snakes off the retail park to our estate and has benches all along the route.
Only negative thing was we stopped for some petrol, and the bank reserved £120 instead of the £15 we'd actually spent. I know it's a thing to prevent people driving off without paying as the pumps are card only, but it's something that's not actually used in any of the other garages in the area. From a FB post on a local group, it caught a lot of people off-guard, and I can see the frustration as the money still hasn't been released this morning.
Then in the evening we headed to the Indian Restaurant for our festive curries with Pauline, my brother and nephew. As always it was a good time with good food and company. My nephew made me laugh when we were leaving, he's 17 now and used to be very reserved, but is much more chatty now. I always hug my brother goodbye, as does Pauline and we ended up in this strange double hug as we both went in at the same time. But it worked out, and my nephew announced after he wanted a double hug too, so we had to do it again *g*
Tonight we're off to see Slava's Snowshow at the theatre. I thought it looks great, but Kayleigh and Lucy went to see it last night and hated it, so much so they left at half time. Kayleigh said it was weird but I'd probably love it. So, we shall see. I do like a bit of audience interaction and have been looking forward to being blasted with fake snow.
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Date: 2024-12-06 12:48 pm (UTC)I shuddered at the insect story.
I can't believe the items your m-i-l wanted were already gone! Will they be getting another shipment, do you know?
Yay for another candle advent calendar!
That's odd about the hold for so much extra money.
I'm glad you had a good family dinner! And I lol'd at the double hug. *g*
I hope you enjoyed the show!
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Date: 2025-01-05 04:05 pm (UTC)Looks innocent, has a heart full of mischief!
Sadly I never got the items I wanted for my MiL, she did say she liked the stuff we got instead, but I do wish the others would have been in stock.
And yeah, another candle advent calendar. I enjoyed them this year.
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Date: 2024-12-06 03:13 pm (UTC)oh, ick - soda with extra insect just doesn't sound appealing at all!
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Date: 2025-01-05 04:03 pm (UTC)Nope, Kevin had no involvement at all!
No, I can do without insects in my pop.
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Date: 2024-12-06 04:13 pm (UTC)Lolol your nephew <3
I hope you enjoy your show!!
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Date: 2025-01-05 04:01 pm (UTC)Suspicious is right! Those balloons deflated well before their time, because yeah, they're solid.
I did enjoy my show, thank you.
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Date: 2024-12-06 07:15 pm (UTC)I'm oddly not all that grossed out by bugs due to working in restaurants for so long. I'm sure a lot of people would rethink ever eating out again if they'd seen some of the things I'd seen. Still, I'm sorry it happened to you. I'd tend to think it must have just been crawling around the cups or the soda machine somewhere. Buy yeah, yuck!
I don't really get the gas stations charging huge amounts like that. Just saying, you pump gas and should be charged for what you pumped. What are you going to do after that? I mean, I understand at hotels where you can charge meals and such to your room, but the gas stations, you're there and gone, not staying over for multiple days where you may possibly make additional charges.
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Date: 2025-01-05 03:57 pm (UTC)I find it's the innocent looking ones that cause the most mischief *g*
I'd tend to think it must have just been crawling around the cups or the soda machine somewhere. Buy yeah, yuck!
Yeah, I'd imagine so with the cups being stored upside down. Whatever happened, the lady serving was apologetic and it wouldn't stop me eating there again. Though, I'll probably check my drink first.
I don't really get the gas stations charging huge amounts like that. Just saying, you pump gas and should be charged for what you pumped
I agree. In the end it took over a week for the money to be released. Which is a long time for such an amount to be tied up.
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Date: 2024-12-06 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-07 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-07 01:14 am (UTC)Wow, that's a big disparity between the amount put on hold and the actual cost! Institutions have gotten so shameless.
I hope you have a great time at the show though!
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Date: 2024-12-07 01:12 pm (UTC)I think you may be right *g*
It is a huge disparity. And I get that they need to try to stop people not paying for the fuel. But at the same time, they need to advertise the amount clearly. There has been uproar about it on the local FB groups, which is a shame as it's tarnished what was a very positive opening for the store.
The show was amazing! I wish I could go see it again.
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Date: 2024-12-07 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-07 01:10 pm (UTC)I'm actually surprised they lasted nearly a week.
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Date: 2024-12-07 07:57 pm (UTC)An insect in your drink, ick!! Pity the things your MiL wanted were sold out. You're really bingeing advent calendars this year!
The path with benches sounds wonderful! But boo! for taking such a huge reserve! I wonder if reserves are something that happens at petrol stations here in Sweden. I must remember to ask my aunt next time I see her.
Good to hear you'd a nice dinner. Including the double hugs!
I see from your comments that you enjoyed the show, yay!
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Date: 2025-01-05 03:52 pm (UTC)That balloon deflation had Kevin's name all over it!
I enjoyed all my advent calendars this year, though I never expected to have multiple ones. Still, at least the candles were used and enjoyed.
The path with benches sounds wonderful! But boo! for taking such a huge reserve!
It does make sense that they have to take some money in reserve, but £120 was ridiculous, especially as it wasn't released for over a week. The Tesco itself has been busy since it opened, but I hardly ever see cars filling up at the petrol station, and no wonder.
I did enjoy the show :D
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Date: 2024-12-08 03:14 pm (UTC)Oh no, what a horror in subway. Reminds me of the Slug-in-a-bottle story
Quite a lot of the retailers seem to do that with fuel, which is infuriating if they don't also give the option to pay in person - a lot of people get caught out and can't afford the holds. I'd get it if it was just late at night, but it's not. I've stopped using those stations if I can possibly avoid it.
Awh your nephew sounds like he's got a good lot of confidence now he's a wee bit older, that's lovely.
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Date: 2024-12-08 05:08 pm (UTC)I think you're onto something!
I'd never heard of the slug in a bottle story, what a fascinating article. And what a good outcome.
Sadly the petrol station at the Tesco is card only with no place to pay in person, which means we'll never be able to use it in the future, because the hold is just too much. Especially so as three days later, the hold still hasn't released.
My nephew is so chatty now, and that's lovely to see. The freely given hugs are nice, too.
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Date: 2024-12-08 07:10 pm (UTC)That's a really high amount for the bank to keep back! The card-only pumps around here, you key in how much you want to spend, and it simply cuts off automatically when that's reached. I'd never use them if they pulled a stunt like keeping 120 quid just in case! I hope they've refunded it by now. :(
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Date: 2024-12-09 09:45 am (UTC)The money was supposed to have been released between 4 and 48 hours, but still hasn't as of now, so I don't know what the hell is going on there. The way your card only pumps work makes much more sense, because this has caught a load of people out. So, instead of Tesco having a positive opening, the local FB groups are full of people talking about petrol and the hold money.
Hope you and the four foots are doing okay.
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Date: 2024-12-09 10:47 am (UTC)Yup. Back in the 1980s when I was in high school and working at movie theaters, I would occasionally have a cockroach come out of the soda fountain. Ick is right.
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Date: 2025-01-05 03:44 pm (UTC)Nope, it totally wasn't Kevin! *g*
when I was in high school and working at movie theaters, I would occasionally have a cockroach come out of the soda fountain. Ick is right.
Not what you want to see in your drink at all!
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Date: 2024-12-17 07:43 pm (UTC)what a fantastic 17-year-old, good job everyone around him!!!
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Date: 2024-12-18 04:25 pm (UTC)He's a lovely lad, and has become so much more outgoing over the last couple of years. It's fantastic to spend time with him.