Forwards and occasionally sidewards – everyday musings of life

With my toolbox loaded into the car, I headed out early to Upavon to tackle a few outstanding odd jobs around the village hall. I was on a strict mission: blitz the to-do list before the heatwave made physical labour unbearable.

While there, I met up with yet another tradesman to get quotes on a few larger maintenance jobs. Looking through my phone, the ‘B’ section of my contact list is now officially longer than a politician’s list of excuses. I currently know more builders than actual friends.

Mission accomplished, I headed home for shower number two of the day, feeling moderately victorious about ticking off tasks that had been lingering on the list for months.

Next on the agenda was a trip to the dump—sorry, household recycling centre. This was the final, triumphant crusade to clear out the last remnants of our home renovation. The Cayenne wasn’t exactly weighed down—just a modest collection of broken patio slabs, old concrete blocks, and flattened cardboard.

The site was strangely quiet. Usually, you’re subjected to a high-stakes interrogation by the operatives about where your rubble came from, but today there was hardly a soul in sight. I can only assume they were on an extended lunch break, or perhaps monitoring an online auction to sell off the week’s best finds. Unmonitored, I emptied the boot in record time and headed straight home… for shower number three.

By afternoon, Heatwave 4.0 was finally starting to wane. The sun had lost its aggressive glare, but it had been replaced by a heavy, blanket-like humidity. Taking advantage of a cooling errand, I ventured over the Hampshire border to Andover to collect a complimentary shower basket from our bathroom supplier—a nice token of thanks for our business during the build. Walking through a showroom filled with working shower displays on a 34-degree afternoon was an exercise in extreme self-restraint.

I spent the rest of the day sitting in the shade on the deck, slowly picking my way through the admin pile. The humidity was doing zero favours for my brainpower, and I’m fairly certain a few wonderfully incoherent emails made their way into the wild.

Still, it was a proper result of a Friday. Very productive—even if roughly half the day was spent standing under running water.