Weeknotes #110

I’m currently reclining in a wooden garden chair, its arms silvering—much like its occupant—in a rare bit of Yorkshire sunshine.

On Saturday night, we invited people to our house for the first big party we’ve hosted since C—— was born, over five years ago.

Four days before the party, our dishwasher stopped draining itself.

After putting the kids to bed and watching several YouTube videos on the topic, I gradually took the dishwasher apart, repeatedly slicing my hands open in the process (giving me a new appreciation for my mechanics’ insistence on removing every sharp edge during his restorations). While one pipe did seem partially blocked with white sludge (I didn’t inspect it too closely), my attempts were unsuccessful and, if I am honest, we were looking for an excuse to replace it anyway.

On Thursday, a replacement dishwasher arrived, carried down the stairs by two men with the muscular density of corned beef. We had paid for installation but they soon realised that they could not connect the cold water supply as the new connection wouldn’t fit through the existing hole in our kitchen cupboards. While technically unauthorised to do so, they offered to chisel the hole bigger “but it won’t be neat”. So I ended up using a hole saw during my lunch break, painstakingly levelling this new appliance on its flimsy plastic legs before gingerly doing an initial wash.

By that evening, I could relax ever so slightly, safe in the knowledge we could harness Zeolith drying technology for the upcoming party.

I was coerced into making an unprepared speech in front of our gathered guests after blowing out the candles on the Key Lime birthday cake E—— had baked. I thanked those that had travelled from as far as Torquay and as close as two doors down.

As part of the celebrations, I got to see Tom, Chris, and Leo for the first time in years, though I inevitably found myself bouncing between conversations as people arrived and never quite spent as much time as I’d like with any one group of people. I was glad Chris and Tom arrived early so I managed to catch up with them before the festivities properly kicked off.

If you have friends who enjoy drinking beer, I can recommend having neighbours who run a brewery as ours provided a keg and the slightly terrifying apparatus (including a canister of CO₂) required to chill and pour it.

In reference to time misspent decades ago when we were children, Teoman bought me a Warhammer figure and set of paints. C—— and I watched a video on painting miniatures for beginners which led to me ordering two cans of primer, some plastic cement, and a “wash”.

So far I have resisted buying tiny artificial grass. So far.

For the actual day, E——, A——, and I walked up to the Cow and Calf (A—— occasionally getting a lift on our shoulders) and we enjoyed a quiet lunch set to the backdrop of Wharfedale.

Despite recent middle-aged conversations about life hackery such as atomic habits, I have no great revelations or desires as I begin another year.

I suppose I could always exercise more frequently and cut back on eating crisps in the dark but where’s the fun in that?