Warning – Regular Stamps Expires in January 2023

After 31^st January 2023, regular stamps without a barcode* will no longer be valid and may result in a penalty fee.

Luckily the expiry date is after Christmas, so send a couple more cards or You can either use up these stamps before this deadline or swap them for the new barcoded ones.

After January 31^st 2023, stamps with the Queen’s head and ‘1st’ or ‘2nd’ class written on them (as well as first-class large letter and second-class large letter stamps. International tariff stamps and all ‘make-up-value stamps’) will no longer be usable, meaning to use them, you will have to pay a surcharge.

The only exception is ‘special’ commemorative stamps, such as the Doctor Who collection, as these will continue to work until after January 31^st 2023.

Royal Mail will let you ‘swap out’ any stamps that are due to expire for free. You will be able to exchange current stamps for barcoded ones for free under Royal Mail’s new ‘Swap Out’ scheme, which opened on March 31^st 2022 and will run until March 31^st 2023.

This will be via a ‘Swap Out’ form on the Royal Mail website. And You’ll then have to post the no longer valid stamps back.

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Social Behaviour Patterns

I’m a big fan of making new friends. Can one have “too many friends”? I would say yes. The point that I HAVE reached is one where people are now coming out of the woodwork to use me in finding them an IT solution of sort. My question is this – why do these people insist on changing back into associates, once we’ve become friends? I believe the answer is simple; society’s addiction to the “quick reward” is now reaching into people’s lives. The syndrome of “want it fast, want it now” has a side effect of leaving friends, family, co-workers and everything else around them “out to dry”, like remnants after a new carpet install, or leftovers after a good meal. I for one, don’t enjoy feeling like a doggy-bag.

1. An acquaintance/associate is a person you know, but who is not a close friend. It’s the person you run into in the hallway or feel comfortable meeting in a group setting, but usually not by yourself.
2. A casual friend is a person you are more emotionally attached to. You feel comfortable meeting with this person one on one.
3. A close friend is a person you spend time with regularly and can depend on. You feel comfortable reaching out to this person at any time.
4. An intimate friend is someone you can share anything with.

Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an “acquaintance” or an “associate”, such as a classmate, neighbour, co-worker, or colleague.

Acquaintance, on the other hand, refer to those we have met but do not know well. In general, the noun associate refers to colleagues or people we work with; in other words, those we know in a professional context.

Associate and acquaintance are two words we usually use to refer to people we have met but are not as close as friends.
In general, the noun associate refers to colleagues or people we work with; in other words, those we know in a professional context. But if we happen to run into each other again, that’s great. It would be rude not to speak with acquaintances when you see them, but it is not expected that you make plans to see them intentionally.

A casual friend can be someone from work with whom you occasionally eat lunch or attend work-related conferences.  You probably wouldn’t call on a casual friend to help you change a flat tire or pick you up at the airport.

A close friend is someone who makes an effort to help when you need it and can be depended upon to keep their word. In close friendships, you are comfortable discussing the things that go on in your day-to-day life, both good and bad. You share your secrets, commiserate with one another on the bad days, and celebrate with one another on the good days.

In an intimate friendship, there are few topics that are ever off-limits. The intimate friend is one who can point out your flaws and offer suggestions for improvement, and while it may be difficult to hear, it isn’t offensive because you understand how deeply they care for you (and you’re willing to do the same for them). The difference between a close friendship and an intimate friendship is primarily time. A close friendship that withstands the ups and downs of life over an extended period of time is considered an intimate friendship.

 

Flies in the Loft

I had a bit of a fly infestation in my loft. I didn’t notice it before I was putting my Christmas decoration away, but I must admit that I had seen flies around the house and I just couldn’t think where they came from, now I know.

I went finger-shopping for pest-controllers.

The first one Rentokil was so expensive (they wanted £450), I fopped them off with “I will wait until the infestation gets worse”.
A friend of mine said that I should contact the council and get them out. I looked at the council’s website and couldn’t find it, but when I Googled “MK Council Pest Control” it gave me a link to the “Pest Control” page.

Milton Keynes residents are offered a comprehensive pest control service via our approved vendor SDK Environmental Ltd. To access the service please contact our contractor DialAPest which is part of SDK Environmental and advise them that you are a resident of Milton Keynes. A discounted rate is available for customers in receipt of certain qualifying benefits.

The site specifies the whole price you’ll have to pay, and that’s it. The man came this morning, he was in my house for 5-10 minutes, filled in a worksheet, that I signed, and he got on with it. The only restriction I have is that I am not permitted in my loft for 24 hours. All done for a mere £58.

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My 1st Online Vegetable Shopping

I have always been sceptic about purchasing fresh vegetables from the internet. How fresh is it and will it last?

During this lockdown periods I have started to do more and more online shopping. But I was still reluctant to purchase fresh vegetables that I had not inspected and selected.

OK, so the weather became rather cold and when I went on Saturday afternoon the que by my favourite veg-stall on the market was just diotically long and not everyone had a facemask on, I think it would have taken 30-60 minutes to get to the till. No way was I going to stand there for that long. So, I gave up on that idea, and shopped at Sainsbury’s but only the most essential on my shopping list.

Some friends of mine had told me that my favourite market stall did home deliveries free to some areas of MK, so I wanted to give them a go, and here is the result of my first online fruit and vegetables shopping.

All very fresh, I couldn’t have selected better myself.

Thank you, MK Online Greengrocers

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More words for my vocabulary

Today i came across two (new) words – that I hadn’t heard before. So, unlucky you here I am sharing them with you.

idiomequivocate

to speak in a way that is intentionally not clear and confusing to other people, especially to hide the truth

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

• beat around the bush (idiom), elliptical, euphemism, evade, excursus, get on to/onto sth, gloss, go (all) round the houses (idiom), go off on a tangent (idiom), indirectly, mealy-mouthed, mincing, obfuscate, obfuscation, oblique, obliquely, roundabout, skirt, underlying, veiled

prevaricate

to avoid telling the truth or saying exactly what you think

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

• beat around the bush (idiom), elliptical, equivocate, euphemism, evade, excursus, get on to/onto sth, gloss, go (all) round the houses (idiom), go off on a tangent (idiom), indirectly, mincing, obfuscate, obfuscation, oblique, obliquely, roundabout, skirt, underlying, veiled

 

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Bean tepee

I was looking through my old folder and files to see what I could get rid of and came across this brilliant idea for children and grand-children. Don’t ask where I found it or why I kept it; but I feel I want to share it with my readers. What a brilliant way to grow beans/peas or whatever is a climbing growth. The kids will have lots of fun in their tepee.

Plant a bean tepee that’s large enough for children to play inside. Plant a blackberry patch. Have a bushy area? Cut the bottoms of the bushes up three or four feet, so that it turns into a living fort. Make pathways out of paving stones or wood chips. Put a row of stumps just about anywhere. Get a pile of bricks for kids to build stuff with, or a pile of river-rocks. A stump cut into 1-inch rounds make great stepping-stones, pathways, plates, boats for mice, and many other magical things. But most of all – just do it! The more time you spend outside, the better everyone feels. Any corner of your yard that’s not currently being used can be infused with energy by putting up a tent, tying a tarp overhead, planting a raised garden bed, piling up rocks, or anything that generates interest. Be sure to bring snacks, and drink lots of water, and then put out a picnic blanket and lie back in the shade while your children explore.

Hygge – a Danish word for the Dictionary

There is a new buzz word for the English dictionary and it is the most wonderful word and situation in the world.
It is HYGGE.

I went out today and purchased a little book called “HYGGE – Comfort and Food for the Soul” as I just had to see what the unknown author (I can’t find the name anywhere) had to explain what HYGGE is. I had to smile at the cover that used 10-12 word just to try to translate it and 10 more words to define it.

What can I say HYGGE is just that very hyggeligt.

So I can only say to all my friends and followers have a lovely HYGGELIG New Year eve

Detergent for ‘hand wash only’

I am always in two minds what detergent to use to wash ‘hand wash only’ cloth. In Denmark I would purchase a package of soap flakes and dissolve a handful in warm water to wash the item; but time has moved on and I am not in Denmark, and I don’t know if soap flakes are available in UK. I found out they are in all supermarkets.
But anyway; I came across this handy, always available tip of using shampoo instead of the soap flakes. I tried it on one of my scarfs. It was easy and it worked.