Kitchen Rearrangement...

That was quite a productive evening, really.

I ended up staying late-ish at work because I picked up this report to do around 4.45, intending to go home at normal time and finish it in the morning if I had to, except I ended up with some urgent amendments in the middle so just decided to finish it off instead. This turned out to be a good plan, as it happened, because Paul was in town to get a CRB check done at Extra (he's going to be starting a Saturday job with his ex-manager in an effort to gain more money and pay off various debts), so I met up with him and we went to Wagamama for dinner.

Whilst in there, we ran into my mum and David, who had gone to see Cabaret that afternoon and were in the process of finding some food. They popped in to say hello and then went away again, and we ran into them again on the way out. They will be coming over at some point for food and to hand over a sewing machine and some recipe books. :)

Back home, Paul got changed and headed out again to a gig, and I set about a 'quick' tidy-up because the gas man is coming this morning to check the boiler and fires. Mostly I just planned to do the washing up, but then decided to finally clean the wall shelves and have a bit of a rearrange. ( I'm sure nobody really cares about my kitchen adventure... )

I've also moved the coffee table out of the way so the gas man can get to the fire a bit easier...

Our electricity company has sent us some free energy-saving bulbs. Can anyone on my f-list please explain something to me? The two 'wattages' (i.e. the wattage equivalent) are 60 and 75 respectively for the bulbs, but what I would like to know is this: do energy-saving bulbs kick out the same amount of heat as their wattage equivalent?

The reason I ask is that the paper lampshade in the living room can only safely withstand a 40-watt bulb without catching fire from the heat, but because of the dark walls and the fact that the shade is red, the room is very dingy. If energy-efficient bulbs don't produce the same amount of heat then I would consider using, e.g. the 75-watt equivalent in the living room to shed some literal light on things.

Can the technology-savvy please enlighten me?

Failing the collective brain, I'll use Google. :P

If the rain ever stops, I might go and collect that bike off Paul's mum this weekend. We are overdue a visit, and I've had the bloody bicycle pump for a month. :)

That'll do.

Why must shopping be so completely infuriating?

My chipper mood didn't last very long. As ever, the main cause of this is Retail Hell.

I have decided, in my infinite wisdom, that I should buy a new winter coat. I have a black, knee-length, zip-up winter coat which was quite expensive, bought from House of Fraser some years ago, but it's beginning to look a bit the worse for wear and isn't actually that warm. (I have other warm coats, like my turquoise one and my leather trenchcoat, but I can't wear those all the time and they are a bit cumbersome.)

So, in yesterday's Metro, H&M were advertising this coat. At £19.99, a very reasonable price, though obviously the photograph is no definite indication of quality.

Well, said I, this afternoon I shall go and find this marvellous coat!

I tried two entirely separate H&M stores in Birmingham (the New Street one and the Corporation Street / Martineau Square one) and guess what?

Go on. Guess.

Could I find this miraculous wonder of a cheap coat?

Could I bollocks.

Oh, it was advertised everywhere. In the window of the New St store, in fact, and on little cardboard signs above completely unrelated clothing racks. The only coats they appear to have are those which sell for in excess of £49.99. Whilst I'm sure they're of better quality, I don't have that kind of money to be wasting on a coat, especially when I went in there specifically to find the coat they are PLAINLY ADVERTISING both in-store and in a nationwide newspaper.

I refuse to believe that two entire stores have sold out of the same coat (in both colours!) in the space of 24 hours. That's just stupid.

Of course, there is also the store in the Bull Ring, but given that place depresses me at best and makes me homicidal at worst, I really don't want to have to go in there...

(Oh, and obviously, you can only shop online in H&M if you are from Eastern Europe.)

I bought myself some flowers instead. BAH.

As I haven't changed my MP3-playlist yet (and more to the point, need one with a bigger capacity) I've been listening to my Walkman again. Yesterday and today was the Jagged Little Pill / random songs tape that Naomi did for me many years ago. I reached the second side on the journey home, which contains "Under the Bridge" by All Saints, a couple of REM tracks "Losing My Religion" and "Shiny, Happy People"), a couple by Skunk Anansie ("Hedonistic" and "Brazen") plus some No Doubt, David Bowie and Pink Floyd, though I haven't got to those yet. Anyway, my brain was doing that thing where it tries to turn my negativity into creativity, so I had fully intended to make icons / a layout / write something.

Let's see where I am in an hour, shall we?

PS: And just to mock me further, the end of the joss stick I was burning snapped off and fell onto my purple fluffy cardigan, which was on the floor, and has now burned a hole in the sleeve. *cries* Because however aggravating things seem, something can always make them worse.