Tinkerbell's Pages

On the (in)convenience of online food shopping...

The boyfriend and I were feeling particularly lazy at the weekend, so we decided to try online grocery shopping. As a 'busy young professional' with a boyfriend who does not enjoy food shopping, it sounded like a good idea to me at the time. We had been thinking about trying it for a while and our local supermarket (which shall remain nameless) was offering a free delivery service for a limited period, so we decided to give it a go. At first it was fun, with me in my pyjamas and he is his boxers, sitting at the computer deciding what we wanted to buy. We chose our items and delivery slot (between 12pm and 2pm on Sunday afternoon) and paid for them. Then we sat and waited for our food. How smug we felt. No more pushing our trolly round the supermarket. No more waiting in long queues. No more carrying our bags up the two flights of steps to our flat.

At precisely 11.58am on Sunday morning the doorbell rang. It was the delivery man with our food. He even gave me a lovely bunch of flowers courtesy of the supermarket to say thanks for our order. Fantastic. Except that he then drove away with about four bags of frozen foood we had ordered in the back of his van. We also discovered that about half of the items I had ordered were out of stock and had been replaced by other items. Five phonecalls later the supermarket finally established that the driver had gone off with half our order and would be returning with the rest later on his round. Sorted. Except that then they rang again to say that there was a problem with processing our payment for the goods and I had more hassle with the debit card. An hour and a half later, the rest of our order finally arrived and order was restored once more.

Somehow, I think it might just be easier to go the supermarket and get the food myself next time : (

On spotting Susan at the comedy club...

The boyfriend and I went to the Covent Garden Comedy Club last night. Just as we were settling into our seats, the boyfriend whispered, "That girl sitting over there with the long dark hair looks really familiar." I had a subtle look and suddenly realised that it was none other than the girl who played Susan in The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe movie. How random. I then spent the majority of the evening staring at her to make sure that it REALLY WAS HER. I think this made her feel a little uncomfortable and somewhat annoyed. Then I realised how unsubtle I was being, so I stopped. I was really tempted to shout 'Mr. Tumnus' suddenly just to see what her reaction would be, but the boyfriend told me not to. I think she was too young to be in there anyway - I don't know if it was alcohol she was drinking, but some of the jokes were VERY rude : )

On being able to do something right (for once) ...

Usually, if someone at work wants something done or some advice on something, I am the last person they turn to. Being the youngest member of staff and the least experienced, I am never really much help to anyone. However, when it comes to fixing the photocopier, I am now officially first in command. This is one area where I am actually in demand now, mainly due to my several years experience of temping at different companies and using photocopiers for hours on end each day. Today I was really appreciated.

Photocopiers are an essential part of a school. If something goes wrong with the photocopier (which it does at least ten times every day), all hell breaks loose in the staffroom. Especially you've left everything to the last minute and the bell has gone. You know if you don't get your photocopying done in time, you'll have a class of 36 children waiting for you in your classroom and you'll have no work for them to do. So today at about 8am I was approached to attempt to fix the photocopier. I had an audience of about five eager teachers with their eyes fixed upon me. "Here's my chance to finally win their approval", I thought to myself. And lo, it came to pass that I was able to fix the machine. I received a round of applause led by none other than the Headteacher himself. I was truly honoured.

On the power that a little knowledge can bring...

It would have been Roald Dahl's 90th birthday tomorrow and therefore, we are celebrating at school by planning some fun activities for the day. The children can either wear something yellow (apparently it was his favourite colour) or wear their clothes backwards (because he liked playing with backwards words and lots of other very silly things indeed.) I was just reminding my class of this as they were leaving school today and the new caretaker overheard part of my conversation. He asked if it was mufti day tomorrow and I dutifully informed him of the plans. He thanked me for the information and said (somewhat sadly) that no one had told him anything about it. I was pleased (and a little surprised) that my information was of use to him.

However, now I come to think of it, I could have told him anything. I could have told him that all the children and staff were coming in dressed as animals. Or fruit. Or body parts. He probably would have believed me. Imagine the embarrassment I could have caused him. Just picture in your head coming into your workplace on the third day of joining the company, dressed as a pig. Or a banana. Or a knee. Hmmm.

On buying from wedding gift lists...

I have just bought a gift for a wedding the boyfriend and I are going to in November. I selected it from an online wedding gift list from a certain department store. I don't much care for buying from wedding gift lists. These are some of the reasons why: (a) You can't actually see what you are getting for your money. Unless of course you can actually be bothered to travel to the particular department store which holds said list, which kind of defeats the object of buying online in the first place. (b) You might end up giving a completely different gift from the one you have chosen. The department store from which I have purchased said gift (which shall remain nameless), has the following message on it's website: "In the event that any of the items purchased are not available, we may select alternative items from this gift list to the equivalent value." I have selected a vase as our gift. Added to the fact that I have also had to pay for gift wrapping and postage, I feel I have spent enough. I do not mind this. However, for the same price, my gift might be substituted (without my knowledge) for ONE very much over-priced pillowcase. What married couple would thank me for the kind gift of one pillowcase?! (c) The bride and groom know exactly how much you've spent on their gift. After all, they made the list in the first place. They wouldn't thank us for the 'Vermont Mosaic or Combed Egyptian Cotton face cloth' (ie. flannel) at the cost of two pounds.

I can see why people like to make a wedding list though. Apparently you get to go round your chosen department store and just zap the barcodes for ANYTHING IN THE WHOLE SHOP! Cool. The boyfriend and I have often discussed the possibility of pretending to get married, just so that people buy us loads of cool stuff. However, there's one thing I hate even more than buying from wedding gift lists. That's when people put a wedding list in your invitation accompanied by a note along the lines of: "Please do not feel obliged to buy us a wedding present, your company on a special day is more important to us." TOTAL CRAP. If I ever get married, people won't even be allowed into the venue until they show me exactly what they've bought and I have approved of their gift. And we sure are owed a lot of good presents by people we've bought them for !!! : )

On friends reunited...?

It's all very strange, but people from my past suddenly seem to want to get in touch with me. I got a phonecall on my birthday (last Tuesday) from a girl I used to work with. I hadn't seen or heard from her for about two years or so (apart from when I made a brief apperance at her 30th birthday party last Sept after receiving a random invite), but she said she'd love to meet up again. Then today I got an email from Friends Reunited informing me that someone wanted to get in touch with me. It was a girl I used to go to secondary school with, who I haven't seen for what must be at least 11 or 12 years. I only registered on the website to have a nosey at what other people are up to, but have only left the minimum details about myself. I find that most people who bother to write a profile about themselves on Friends Reunited are rich and successful in their lives, unlike myself! I can't help wondering why people who I have lost touch with somewhere along the way suddenly want to make contact. I think it might have something to do with becoming nostalgic for the old times now that we are all reaching a certain age - after all I'm 29, old work friend is 31 tomorrow and old school friend will be 30 in December.

Am a bit dubious about Friends Reunited after reading the Ben Elton novel Past Mortem on holiday. It's about someone who uses the website to track down people who were bullies at school and kill them in a suitably horrible way. Although I was never a bully, so I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much. Haven't replied to the email yet because I don't want to look too desperate, like I just constantly sit around in front of my computer waiting for old friends to email me out of the blue. Maybe I'll leave it until tomorrow to reply : )

On going back to school...

Now I'm not one to complain (well, not much anyway), but why does summer decide to re-appear just as us teachers and kids have to go back to school?! I spent this morning clearing out my very dusty and untidy classroom in preparation for the new school year, which starts on Monday. I didn't mind too much because it started to rain, but then the sun came out and when I finally got outside it was really hot! Very weird and somewhat annoying. OK, so I did have my lovely week in the sun and the weather in Paris was OK, but yet again, I have had had a summer of using my garden precisely three times. Was stuck in the classroom or in front of the computer writing reports when the best weather was here and now it's all over for another year! Also paid the boyfriend's mate a handsome sum to clear our garden and make it lovely for us at the end of July, but really don't feel I've enjoyed it yet. Just looked at the weather forecast and it seems there is to be rain on Saturday and Sunday, but it should be hot and sunny on Monday and Tuesday. AAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Oh well, by actually going into school this morning (I was the ONLY person there), at least I have mentally prepared myself for the fact that the summer is well and truly over. Out with the old kids, in with the new (all 36 of 'em!) Still got my birthday drinks to look forward to on Saturday night, but then it's back to the old routine... Roll on half term, that's what I say : )