Diary 17th And 18th June 2018

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Diary Monday 17th June 2018 The first of two days that got so surreal as to border on the unbelievable. I expected a quiet Monday of job searching and preparing for my weekend in Derbyshire but the ringing doorbell shattered that. My unexpected visitor was a man representing a government sponsored company offering free loft insulation and heating improvements for the over fifties and the unemployed. I qualify but as my flat is rented any such work has to be Okayed by my landlord. I gave him my Landlord’s details and he contacted the landlord, who was happy for the work to proceed. As the job was only expected to take about half an hour the insulation guy turned up with an apprentice to do it for me later in the day. The loft is unknown territory to me. As I have no step-ladder I never go up there but I have had it mind to use it in future to tore luggage cases when I get hold of a step-ladder. The workers had a ladder and headed up. They immediately stumbled on dozens of boxes left up there by the flat’s previous occupant, boxes that proved to be full of cheap tacky but legal 1980’s porno mags, hundreds of them. More worryingly, the loft has attracted other visitors, rats, as remnants of a nest and droppings were spotted up there. Due to having to move around the boxes of magazines the thirty minute job took over two hours. I was very hungry by the time the workers left. My landlord promises to arrange to get some poisons down in case the rats return. Diary Tuesday 18th June 2018 The community centre has run cheap discount close to its sell by date food offers, and today they started running this service differently. For a modest fee customers can order up to ten items, three for possible freezing, seven in tins or packaging for long-term cupboard storage. Customers have to sign a form promising to use the food before its sell by date and to take the freezer items to a freezer right away. We could only be served one customer at a time and the contents of our shopping baskets were counted up to three times to make sure we were not taking too much. An assistant made a point of packing our bags, (to count the purchases again) and freezer stock was bagged separately to the other goods. We were given thermometers, and lists of the rules about the shopping. A few customers walked out in disgust and I certainly won’t use the service again. The excessive counting shows zero trust in long standing community members and having to sign to declare that I won’t either try to consume frozen goods uncooked or not bother freezing them was patronizing. The main supermarkets let me order frozen goods including full frozen turkeys without having to check I don’t try to eat them frozen and raw on the bus on the way home. Arthur Chappell