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Right Phoenix, get your act together NOW!

(31 Posts)
phoenix Tue 24-Mar-20 16:22:11

Hello all, and good wishes.

Mr P and I are both working from home. The smallest bedroom has long been a dedicated home office, was decorated not so long ago, and is a lovely, sunny South facing room with great views over the countryside. smile

We have a desktop pc, 1 tablet, and 2 smart phones.

So far I've not had much work to do, as we have closed down. So just emailing other staff and students, checking inbound emails etc. which I can do on the tablet.

Mr P has had technical drawings/plans yes to work on, so he's taken priority in the office. Fairy nuff!

BUT....... apart from a bit of batch cooking, and a few loads of washing, what have I been doing???

Zilch, nada, bugger all sweet Fanny Adams! blush

So, enough of this, I'm NOT on holiday, so I'm going to give myself a very good talking to and (to mis quote Boris) Get things done!

Erm, well, sort of, blush.

But I have made a list............ ready for tomorrow! grin

merlotgran Tue 24-Mar-20 16:28:04

Nah, phoenix Always put a positive spin of a tricky situation.

Batch cooking is important war work. grin

lemongrove Tue 24-Mar-20 16:35:58

Eating batch cooking is important war work too, and my DH is a dedicated worker in that respect.

phoenix Tue 24-Mar-20 16:52:58

Thank you both, I feel much better for your support!

However there is at least a pin cushions worth of cat fur blowing around like tumbleweed in a Western .Ok, the dustpan broke, probably because I stepped on it while it was hidden under a pile of washing blush, which rather hindered the intended cleaning. (And that, M'Lud, is the case for the defence!

A new one arrived today, but I suppose that I should leave the package unopened for 72 hours, and then do the same with the actual item, just ensure that if it's true that the virus can live on hard surfaces...........wink

lemongrove Tue 24-Mar-20 16:57:17

Sitting in your study and gazing at the view is very important
( cats know the value of it)? it’s not being idle.. not at all! While you are doing that you are doing ‘blue sky thinking’ which is all the rage.

Pittcity Tue 24-Mar-20 16:59:04

We are retired and so doing very little is our default setting.

Batch cooking is a big nono here as it would be followed by batch eating!

lemongrove Tue 24-Mar-20 17:01:57

Whilst you gaze out of the window, eating a Twirl will help even more.?

phoenix Tue 24-Mar-20 17:16:45

lemongrove Mr is just back from our wonderful village shop (which, incidentally had today restricted to only 2 customers at a time), I had asked him for a couple of individual tubs of the delicious local ice cream, 1 clotted cream vanilla, 1 chocolate.

He came back with 1 individual clotted cream vanilla (tick) 1 individual honeycomb (yum!) and a litre of the double chocolate! shock as (quote) "they didn't have any individual tubs" (Got to love that man grin)

Now, I wonder if they have any "individual" tubs of their lush stem ginger, would be just perfect with the shortbread biscuits I was given the other day. ............

Curlywhirly Tue 24-Mar-20 17:20:44

Phoenix I know what you mean. I took early retirement 5 years ago and himself is still working; I have always been a busy bee, never still, always on the go. So, since himself has been working from home, how come I have slowed down? I am sure he now thinks I have been sitting about since I retired, watching daytime TV, drinking tea and doing bugger all! Will definitely have to up my game, or I'll never hear the end of it?

phoenix Tue 24-Mar-20 17:27:50

Curlywhirly must say I haven't succumbed to day time TV! We only have 1, in the sitting room, and don't usually go through until about 7.30pm, spending daytime in the kitchen with Radio 4.

Although do sometimes break this rule on Sunday afternoons!

GrannyLaine Tue 24-Mar-20 17:59:41

Spoke to my DD this morning after she had sent her husband out shopping yesterday. In her area, she's not really having much of a problem getting stuff. They have 3 young children.
"Mum, do you know what's in my salad drawer right now?"
One swede apparently is all he could find. And the supermarket allegedly had "no wine"
I've never heard her use language like it.

Your DH sounds the business. What a stash of ice cream!

Curlywhirly Tue 24-Mar-20 18:38:51

Phoenix I don't usually watch much daytime TV either, but have found myself tuning in much more since the coronavirus troubles. I have done some jobs each day, but not half as many as usual. I must put the radio on instead, then I can get off my backside!

phoenix Tue 24-Mar-20 18:52:29

Ah, Curlywhirly putting the radio on is, alas not necessarily conducive to elevating the derriere from the chair! I have convinced myself that sitting doing the crossword whilst listening to the Radio actually counts as multi tasking!

GrannyLaine I think that even those men with 20/20 vision develop some sort of impairment when entering a supermarket.confused

Now I will sit back and wait for Grandad1943 (or whatever year) to leap onto this thread to accuse me of misandry! grin

GrannyLaine Tue 24-Mar-20 18:59:51

phoenix well quite, but a swede for heavens sake?? I can usually produce something imaginative out of fridge scrapings but that would have challenged me

Charleygirl5 Tue 24-Mar-20 19:11:29

phoenix that icecream is yum- a pity we are in lockdown or I may have joined you. I do not like ginger in any shape or form- please remember that.

I sorted out my nightie (sp) drawer last week- I really do not want to overdo it.

phoenix Tue 24-Mar-20 19:26:07

Slow and steady, Charleygirl, slow and steady! wink

Nanna58 Tue 24-Mar-20 19:29:34

Decorating, 2 rooms down and 1 to go!!

M0nica Tue 24-Mar-20 20:10:17

Have you noticed that even when you are home all day, no meetings, shopping expeditions etc etc, you still get no more done at home than you do when you have a class in the morning, Tai Chi after lunch and a committee meeting in the evening?

Today I intended to go for a walk first thing, then clean a bedroom, then deal with a heap of paperwork, some gardening etc etc.

Jn fact I woke late feeling as if I had not slept ( I had), slumped silently in front of the computer for several hours doing very little until I finally got dressed and went out for my walk at 10.30. I got back at 11.15 so there was no point in starting the cleaning before lunch so I got an earlyish lunch (12.15) then all of a sudden it was 2.30. Started on the cleaning, but DH was working all morning, including 2 skype meetings and suggested we took one of the cars out for a run. Circular tour, so no human interaction, which we did. By the time we got back I realised that if I was to do any gardening it had to be now, before it got cold and dark in that order. So I cut the grass at the front and picked up a few leaves, but by then it was getting cold so I came in and decided to do the cleaning.

Phone rang, it was DS, ready for a comfortable chat including talking about setting up skype/zoom meetings for all the family. By the time the call was over it was too late to do the cleaning before supper, so I started on the paperwork.

Then at 6.00pm DD rang. She is happily single with her own home. But last week she was given half an hours notice that the office was closing down and she was working from home, then she discovered all the local swimming pools had also closed down, now she swims 4/5 times a week, about a mile each time so the loss of this tipped her into a minor breakdown, which she resolved over the weekend. She is now on an even keel and tonight we had the final ending of her periods of chaos. She rang up and talked at me for an hour, without repetition, hesitation or deviation. My contributions consisted of soothing noises, yeses and vague sounds of commiseration, comprehension and sympathy. She finally rang off at 7.10. Then it was a late supper by which time it was after 8.00 and it is hardly worth starting anything else, given I go to bed earlyish.

So: one long uninterrupted day at home during which I cleaned under the bed in one room and mowed a small lawn. About as much as I would achieve on a busy day when I do lots of things out of the house.

Is the whole next three months going to be like this?

M0nica Tue 24-Mar-20 20:10:58

O good grief I didn't realise it was that long, DD strikes again!

phoenix Tue 24-Mar-20 20:11:50

Nanna58 our local handyman was supposed to be coming tomorrow to do our bedroom, cancelled!

Mr P and I both still work, hence getting a man in, as the saying goes.

Doodle Tue 24-Mar-20 20:29:08

Now phoenix don’t go rushing around getting things done. You must take time to plan things out properly. Having a list is a start but before you take action on your list I think you need to review it carefully. Perhaps schedule a board meeting with MrP and discuss it over a drink in the bar ? (kitchen worktop). Then it would be a good idea to work out a timeframe for each item on the list. Is it sensible to cram too much into one day or would it be better for the workforce to allocate tasks over several weeks. I think you need to allocate time for mid morning coffee, lunch break, loo break, afternoon tea, another loo break, checking how the other workers (MrP) are getting on, tidying desk, checking on the cats. Planning your route home from the bedroom in case the traffic is bad in rush hour. No I think you’re taking on too much. I think you need to delegate ?

phoenix Tue 24-Mar-20 20:49:09

Doodle do you know, you are so right? Obviously I've just sort of rushed in to this with not enough forethought!

I will call a board meeting tomorrow, Oliver Sprout can take the minutes, Minnie can be in charge of coffee and biscuits (although, to be honest I think she may not be relied upon to provide the right kind, if you know what I mean? I don't think Whiskas Salmon would be quite as good, or easy, to dunk as a Bourbon or a Custard Cream).

M0nica grin

Doodle Tue 24-Mar-20 21:58:54

Perhaps Minnie will provide KitKats phoenix. What’s Oliver’s shorthand like?

grannyactivist Tue 24-Mar-20 22:09:16

Ah Phoenix I have a very slight case of ice cream envy. envy
I have not been out of the house for weeks (because I was ill before the corona virus got going). So, The Wonderful Man has done all the shopping, as in fact he usually does, but he's 'helping' me to stick to the healthy eating regime I started when I was poorly by only buying me suitable 'healthy' foods. hmm

I am grateful, really. I am grateful, no, honestly I am soooo grateful to him for not buying me chocolate..............or cake...... or biscuits.......or delicious brie cheese........

MawB Tue 24-Mar-20 22:12:02

I would not rush into anything Phoenix it’s not as if we have any deadlines to meet!