Monday 15 November 2021

Christmas

 I am up early (a quarter to six) because today is the day my taxi collects me to go and get my new hearing aids.   It also happens to be the day that Tesco (I have mobile shopping and order on line for delivery) open their Christmas delivery slots and thought if I went on line straight away I might be able to get one.   How wrong can you be!   I quote - "You are 177,879 in the queue for a slot - the queue is moving fairly quickly.   Your estimated wait time is approximately one hour."  Don't log out because you will automatically lose your place in the queue and it may have lengthened.  That last sentence is not an actual quote because by the time I had typed the beginning I had forgotten the actual wording  - but that is more or less verbatim.

I'm not waiting.  I shall not starve but no way can I wait an hour - nor do I wish to.   My son says I can order on his list, friends and neighbours who do their own shopping say they will help.  I already have a good freezer full of food and am not intending to go anywhere in any case.   So if you want to join the queue - good luck!! 

Chatting to a friend later in the day and find she got the same information several hours later!  My son managed to by-pass as we both have priority booking and we now both have a slot booked nearer to Christmas Day and are quite happy with that.

My visit to the Hearing clinic we not a success.  I can't go into detail as it is too technical for me but after a lot of trying the man in charge tells me that because my hearing loss is profound the hearing aids we chose together are not going to work.   They were quite unbearably noisy in my ears with static and high pitched sounds.   The upshot is that we have had to start again.   I have to go back to ones with batteries (but he has supplied me with a tiny stick with a magnet on the end which enables me to change the batteries much more easily.)   New moulds have been taken and they will ring me when the new models are ready (two to three weeks).   A wasted journey but a pleasant one as the Autumn leaves were so beautiful everywhere. 

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28 comments:

Librarian said...

Most people go completely over the top with their Christmas food shopping, as if they expected an army to descend on them for several weeks, and not just a handful of visitors who will ALL be full up to the brim anyway, from their own Christmas meals.
As you say, you won't starve - your carer brings you daily meals, your son has offered help, as have your many friends and neighbours. I am sure you will have a festive Christmas meal!

thelma said...

That is a very big queue! The silliness of Christmas is upon us it glitters in the shops with tat but never worry turkey is on the menu. I am sure Pat you will have a lovely Xmas.

Rachel Phillips said...

Zoe Ball mentioned the queue on her Radio show this morning. I think it is doing the rounds. No doubt it will all quieten down soon.

Sue in Suffolk said...

Goodness that's really a long queue, how strange that every is online at the same time.
But all your back-up plans sound hopeful that you won't starve!

JayCee said...

I certainly wouldn't wait an hour just to order a bag of sprouts and a panettone, which are the only extras we shall be buying for Christmas. There are only two of us and we don't usually need much more than our normal weekly shop for the Christmas period.
It seems that you will be well catered for so time to sit back and relax.

Bovey Belle said...

That's ridiculous isn't it! I will buy any freezable Christmas extras in the weeks before and will be ordering our Christmas meat from the butcher in the town, just two miles away. I make all the extra goodies as I always do. We can get a few bottles of wine and some cans of beer ahead of the day too.

the veg artist said...

Is it me, or have the Christmas food tv ads started early? We are all going to be mighty fed up with them by the time Christmas actually arrives, but then, we are all supposed to have the Best Christmas Ever after the privations of last year!!????

Jules said...

I've never understood the unnecessary amount of shopping done at this time of year. There must be an enormous amount of waste.
I'm glad you'll not starve. X

Tom Stephenson said...

Oh no, more crazy panic buying...

Derek Faulkner said...

As Jules said, there will be a lot of waste but then it's typical of the mania that surrounds Christmas. I wonder how many people that regularly feel sorry on their blogs for all the poor starving people in the world, are currently stuffing their cupboards, fridges and freezers for Christmas and New Year.

Debby said...

I guess that we don't really buy 'special' for Christmas. We'll have a ham (I have it in the freezer, bought after Easter last year when they were on sale). The side dishes are not extraordinary. What makes Christmas Christmas is the people around the table. We've always done things that way...I like not spending the day in the kitchen. The past couple years, we've done Christmas a bit differently. Instead of new toys, we buy experiences. Swimming lessons at the local y or tickets to some special event. I have most of the gifts for the adults done.

It is nice to sit back and enjoy the season.

Sue said...

I'm just eating my way through the 'boring' food in the freezer and gradually replacing it with a few treat-y Christmas items. Everyone goes completely mad at Christmas don't they and all the adverts on television help fuel the buying!

Ellen D. said...

We don't fuss so much about food at Christmas. It is easier to keep it simple and enjoy the visitors!

Bonnie said...

It's wonderful that your son can order for you. That is quite a waiting list. A lot of people do go overboard during the holidays. We have a few special items for Christmas day but overall it's about family for us.

The bike shed said...

There should surely be a priority system for people who now rely on online shopping - just as we have priority parking for the disabled etc.

gz said...

Definitely, bike shed.

Heather said...

Glad you got your Christmas food delivery slot. Not so good on the hearing aid front, but at least you had a pleasant drive through the countryside. I do hope the new aids will be comfortable and make life more enjoyable for you.

Debby said...

I am sorry to read about your hearing aids.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Last year I spent Christmas Day alone - I had a lovely day. I got up late. I opened my presents (few as we have agreements over not buying) Several were books I had requested - so plenty of reading. The fruit bowl was full. I had a box of chocs and a bottle of wine. My Christmas dinner was a jacket potato stuffed with prawns (delicious). I marked one or two TV programmes as worth watching, I read, I dozed, I made a couple of phone calls, did a blog and went to bed early. Lovely day and it meant my son and his wife could enjoy her son, partner and grandchildren. Not sure what is happening this year yet but I rarely buy much extra food - but I don;t want to run out of porridge oats,tea bags, coffee, good bread, fruit, wine.

Chris said...

Christmas music in the grocery store this morning! At least they waited until after Remembrance Day. I hear Mr. Claus is arriving next weekend!

Susan said...

As you state, you will have everything you need. No queue needed. I also have no patients for crowds and queues. I'm sorry the new hearing aids did not work. Wouldn't you think the experts would know what will and will not work for an individual person? All the wasted time on you part and on the part of the business is not good for anyone.

Virginia said...

I've just done an absolutely enormous shop - the extra large size containers of Oil, washing powder, dishwashing detergent, flour etc, and replacement staples, because our local big supermarket offered free delivery (it's usually 7 quid) and Covid is starting to spread so I'll have to be very careful where I go. Boring, but necessary as I'm immune-suppressed.

Our extended family has a great system for Christmas Day - everyone brings one thing for the meal, and usually presents only for the children. The immediate family gifts get given at another time. It keeps the day much more relaxed for everyone.

I"m sorry to hear about the hearing aide mix up. That's an elementary error upon their part - they should have known whether it would be suitable for your level of loss. I hope the new ones come quickly, and fit well. As to batteries. I change mine twice a week (I've also got extreme loss so the batteries work hard) - you could set up a routine whereby your carer changed your batteries on a set day of the week, or twice if you find you need to. I don't wait until mine start to beep at me, that always happens at the most inconvenient time, so I just do it routinely and that's one less thing to worry about.

Cro Magnon said...

Yesterday I did my week's out of town big shop. I went to a huge Sainsbury's, where all the aisles were filled with big boxes on trollies being filled by staff. These, I imagine, are the phone orders being prepared. A new trend in shopping; I'd not seen this before.

Rachel Phillips said...

One of my weekend jobs was to always change the batteries in my mother's hearing aids for her.

tweetart said...

Im always amazed at the excessive amount of food that people buy for Christmas because I’m sure some of it will be thrown away, it’s only a Sunday dinner with maybe some pigs in blankets as an extra and the same for Boxing Day if it’s not leftover turkey. Debbie

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thank you for all the hearing aid tips. My new ones are going to be a fortnight and they have already given me a magnet to take out the batteries - that will be a great help.

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