Boring but necessary domestic stuff

It’s been the best part of a week since I published a post on the blog, and it’s all down to a combination of inertia, plus a necessary focus on other things. You see Mrs PBT’s, and I have been rather busy on the domestic front, not so much with spring cleaning - we’re a little late for that, but instead we’ve been de-cluttering on quite a grand scale.

To cap it all, I hung a new pair of curtains in the back bedroom on Thursday – a task that was no way near as simple as it sounds. Tip, watch a couple of the “How to” You Tube videos before starting, rather than waiting until you are halfway through! I could also have asked Mrs PBT’s, but that would have been too obvious. Task completed, and they look very good – “hanging well,” as they say in the interior design business.

I took four bags of clothes to the charity shop on Friday – none of which were mine, and there were another half dozen bags to drop off at our local household waste centre on Sunday.  We had a pre-booked slot for midday, so with Matthew available to help, we enjoyed a pre-dump run at Chiddingstone Causeway Village Hall, first thing on Sunday morning.

Although I’m sure there are some who might disagree with me, I’m of the opinion that the pre-booking system works much better. It eliminates the queuing, for a start, and also, by eliminating bottlenecks, as far as possible, makes the whole experience that little bit smoother. Matthew helped me load the car up on Saturday, with enough scrap metal and redundant cabling to start our own totting business. It’s amazing how many computer and printer leads one accumulates over the years, to say nothing of chargers there are. It’s small wonder that the European Union passed a very sensible directive compelling manufacturers of such equipment to standardise the type of connections they use on their devices.

Of course, we in Global (Little) Britain don’t need such legislation because we’re “world beating” in everything we do. We certainly don’t need Johnny Foreigner telling us what to do, which reminds me how is the bonfire of “EU red tape” going now that we’ve cast of the shackles and regained the freedom, that we never lost on the first place?

Oh, wait a minute, we’ve been forced to introduce a huge pile of “red tape” of our own, after foolishly abandoning the friction-less trade that membership of the Single Market gave us. (Wasn’t that concept a British idea in the first place, championed by no less a person than former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher? Sorry, getting a bit carried away here, but you have to call out stupidity and blatant own goals when you come across them.  

Back to the de-cluttering, I’ve managed two bags of books, plus two bags of clothes, and there’s more to come, and the process has continued outside of the house, with unwanted/expired items from shed, summerhouse and greenhouse also culled and awaiting their re-cycling destiny at the tip tomorrow.

I did manage a swift pint of Goacher’s Gold Star on Friday, at the Beer Seller in Tonbridge, having dropped the books plus the first lot of clothes off at two nearby charity shops. Matthew was finishing work early, so I arranged to meet him afterwards at the aforementioned pub. The Beer Seller was quiet for a Friday afternoon, with only a handful of customers present, apart from ourselves, and although we were sat in one of the alcoves, we could quite clearly hear the conversation at the bar.

The manager and a member of her staff was commenting on how quiet it was, and what the cause might be. Could it be the unseasonably cold weather, the interminable roadworks afflicting the own, or were the recent cost of living increases and the squeeze they were putting on people’s disposable income to blame?

The conclusion seemed to be the latter, which isn’t entirely surprising. I’ve recently had to increase our monthly direct debit payment for gas and electricity, by £97, with the threat of a further increase, come October, and with diesel now costing just under £1.80 a litre, I’m kind of glad my commute to work is now only three days, rather then five. Spare a thought for my two colleagues, who joined the company last year. One has a daily commute from Thanet, whilst the other drives in from Romney Marsh. Both locations are about as far away as one can get from this part of west Kent, so I have to admire their resilience as well as well as their dedication.

Back in the early 90’s, I had a long distance, daily commute by car, to Lewes and back – around trip of 60 miles each day. I suspect my colleagues both have a longer journey each day, and whilst they’re younger than me, I don’t envy that sort of drive on a daily basis. One of them has looked at putting up at a local hotel, for a couple of nights a week, but given the areas popularity with tourists (think Penshurst Place, Hever Castle, Knowle House and Chartwell), overnight rates aren’t exactly cheap – a fact I discovered for myself, whilst planning the next, and final stages of my North Downs Way walk.

So where is all this leading? Well, continuing with the cost-of-living theme, two particular online items caught my eye over the past couple of days. The first was a well-argued and thought-provoking post by veteran blogger Tandleman, about our old friend Wetherspoons. I somehow missed the article when it appeared a few days ago (I said I’d been distracted), but it was brought to my attention by Boak & Bailey, via their weekly Saturday round-up.

Tandleman’s article certainly attracted plenty of comments (48 at the last count), with the majority coming out in favour of the chain. I’ve got plenty of thoughts of my own regarding JDW and their maverick, and at times controversial, founder and chairman, but I shall save them for when I get round to writing an article about Spoons of my own – something I have been threatening to do for a long time!

The other article, which appeared on the BBC’s Worklife page, entitled “The sky-high cost of returning to the office,” consisted mainly of people whining about the increased costs they are now facing, following on from two years spent working at home. Employees who haven’t had to budget for train tickets, takeaway coffees or new office outfits for the past two years are now acutely aware of how much it costs to spend a day at their desks.

But two years without splashing out on transport, takeaway lunches, office wear and after-work drinks, has left many workers quid’s in. One woman even claimed to have saved £6,000 in six months, although the same individual is now complaining that her return train ticket to work has risen from £35 pre-pandemic to almost £50. Her employer had upped salaries to meet market rates but, she said "It’s really not enough”. 

Then there’s the other poor soul, too disorganised to do what many of us have done for years, namely knock up a packed lunch the night before, and leave it in the fridge until the following morning. Instead, this hapless individual grabs both breakfast and lunch around work. Her cheapest option is Pret a Manger, where “Very easily, one coffee, one little breakfast thing and lunch, ends up being £13.”  Then there are the snacks she gets from Tesco, “Which aren’t cheap either.”

I made my thoughts on working from home quite clear, at the height of the first lock-down, and have very little sympathy for either individual. However, after reading articles such as these, it’s not surprising that the country’s political leaders want workers back at their desks. Without daily commutes and dining a one’s desk, businesses of all types and sizes are losing out financially. One day of commuting is reportedly worth £82m to businesses in the UK, so no wonder city centre businesses want the people back.

The question that also needs asking, is working from home as efficient as its made out to be? It appears that in department such as the DVLA and the Passport Office, the answer is definitely a large NO! A colleague of mine has been waiting for his daughter’s passport to be renewed.  The Passport Office have a self-imposed 10-week maximum wait (itself a disgrace), but this period has already been passed. He has found it impossible to get through on the phone because, guess what, the staff are all working from home!

In such situations, accountability goes out the window. It’s not often I find myself agreeing with "haunted Victorian pencil" Jacob Rees-Mogg, but it’s high time people in public service, followed the example of those of us in the private sector, and got themselves back to their work places.

That’s more than enough ranting for one article, but at what appears a quiet time on the local beer scene, there hasn’t been much that’s topical to write about. I shall be joining the local CAMRA’s on Thursday evening, for a walkabout of the pubs at the north end of Tonbridge, which should be interesting. Spoiler alert, there aren't many pubs left in that part of the town, but until then…………

 

ps. The photo of the bookcase,  pre-dates the clear-out!