I got my life back, my freedom this week. I got a call back from HMRC apologising for the automated error that issued me penalties for 3 periods spanning over 3 years because my limited liability company hadn't done its returns. It was me looking to work to pay off a debt, and I'm an agency worker on the crapper end of the pay scale on the upper end of the crapper end, so it's a blue collar job that gets me by, paying back for some oversight on my LTD (it's UK, not an LLC) really made me think that it wasn't fun anymore. Got that callback after going through citizens advice (UK socialist thing) telling me they couldn't help me it's corporate and another business debt advise charity in the UK turns out were wrong, They told me to expect the bailiffs. So I got a callback from HMRC after telling HMRC that I was still alive and had their penalties in mind etc... Got a callback of them apologising and telling me it was an oversight on their part and it was all automated. They canceled it, told me they canceled it, and sent me a letter in the post to tell me it's all been canceled (and I got that letter). Ain't nothing greater than your freedom. I tell you that day, I played this/shared this on FB, and meant it.
Went to Lonnie on Tuesday. Had multiple things to do. Stocked up on about $100 worth of frozen goods, mainly various types of fish, that'll last me through winter. Bought another excellent Camelbak water bottle and a small electronic tyre guage. It was humorously interesting to see him shove a $60 guage in my face instead of showing me his entire range. I bought the more than adequate $30 one. Got some expert advice on bike maintanence. Purchased about $100 worth of health supplements and am trying some natural shampoo and conditioner, and got me my Kefir fermenting kit...active Kefir seeds coming from an ebay seller in a week or so. Forgot to bring in me malfunctioning mower. Remembered after my last mow a week or so ago; forgot 30 seconds later. The local mower shop is horrible, that bad that I'd rather fork out $20 in fuel to take it to the reputable, skilled and professional shop in Lonnie. Had to make another trip on wednesday just for the mower and remembered to grab a set of chain pliers from the bike shop...chain links are so hard to undo, yet click together so easily. Also picked up a new heavy duty trolley jack and a few oil filters, oil treatment and a few litres of degreaser for the bike.
Got a couple of belts to keep my pants up. Turns out I've put on weight (gaah! Scale moving in the wrong direction!) and my old belt just kinda broke. I mean, the buckle broke. So, new belts. Also, my roomie (a feverishly overenthusiastic electrician, bless 'im) bought some new timers and has been arranging all our outside lights to turn on and off at the most funky times of night. Fun, but I won't be happy until he gets Alexa to rule over them all so I can yell, "Alexa! Make it fuckin' DARK, willya?"
La Cenerentola (Teatro alla Scala) (1981) (DVD) :Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's 1981 La Scala production of Gioacchino Rossini's La Cenerentola featuring bel canto vocalist Frederica von Stade. I could wish there was a blu-ray of it, but this will do nicely.
Haven't purchased it yet, but I'm looking forward to acquiring some material from the fabric store to make myself a catsuit.
I have read, don't know if it's true, that cats don't meow amongst themselves. That is speech they save for feline-human interaction. I'm full of useless stuff I've read. I'm not smart or well read, but I am full of it.
Kittens and their mothers meow to each other, but adult cats don't. The current theory is that pet cats don't know if they are kittens or their people are.
A dead cute vintage style sewing kit, with little razor sharp scissors, a needle case, a couple of other bits, and a bodkin! I have legit never owned a bodkin before. Exciting times! I had to look up what it was for.
I had to look it up too. According to Michael Ruane of the Washington Post, "Punishment for cursing or disparaging a clergyman was having a bodkin — a large needle — driven through the tongue."
Cool! I wonder if random inclusion of torture devices is a new Amazon sweetener? They do keep hassling me to get Prime for 99p, but that's next level.
Arrows with bodkin points were what went through the French knights' armor at the battle of Agincourt, upending the dominant position heavy cavalry had held on the battlefield for hundreds of years.
I just ordered two pairs of cargo pants! Let's hope they fit. It was surprisingly difficult to find cargo pants that have wide enough belt loops, big enough thigh pockets, and a cut that isn't too skinny. The problem I've had with men's cargo pants is that they're never slim enough around the waist and then they've ballooned weirdly around the thighs, like there's space for two thighs in one pant leg, yet otherwise the length has often been fine. It's possible I'm weirdly shaped, though.
I have never understood the appeal of super hot sauces. They are all fire and no flavor, and they burn just as much leaving you as they do entering you. Most hot peppers actually DO have a delicate flavor that is totally destroyed once the bottling plant adds an outrageous amount of extra capsaicin.
So many hot sauces flaunt their ridiculous heat level like it's some kind of burning competition. And nearly all of the ones that do that have some kind of ass-based name. Give me a bottle of Tapatio or Cholula, and I'm good. I'm not a hot sauce snob. On that note, I had to contact Amazon the other day to complain the the bottle of hot sauce that I ordered for my spouse was 1 week from the expiry date when I received it. I cringed when the CS person was like, "Oh is this about the Ass Kickin' Bhutt Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce?" Apparently that is one of the super spicy ones that actually still has a good flavour, or so says my SO.
I'm partial to Marie Sharp's, they make a variety of heat levels and the sauces are made of a blend of ingredients, lime juice, things like that (too lazy to go look at a bottle). On a whim, I bought a bottle of Tabasco brand Sriracha. Yeah, bandwagon time, but it tastes different than the OG Sriracha, and in a good way. A variation on a theme.
