For those of you who may have had to sit and wait before your eye examination, you may have noticed that we have a fairly large TV on the wall in the reception area.
The idea behind this is so our new patients who are visiting us for the first time, may view the full range of services we offer – and it is much easier watching a professionally produced slide show, than wading through any practice brochure that I may have written!
The TV has been up on the wall since 2016 when we refitted the practice and was put up by the contractors, a great bunch of guys, who would do anything to help. The TV has worked brilliantly, 6 days a week, for the last 7 years without a single problem until last month when it stopped working!
With the cost of repairs these days it was cheaper to buy a new TV which duly arrived in a box a couple of weeks ago, delivered to Reception.
The big question……who was going to mount it on the wall?
With a distinct lack of volunteers, it was left to me.
Now before I expand on this, I think I should fill you in on my DIY history.
To be fair the writing was on the wall even when I was at school. We did Woodwork for 1 year in 2nd year Seniors, now called Year 8.
At the end of that years Parents Evening, it was suggested to my mother that Woodwork was a subject I should perhaps not take the following year.
‘Why is that?’ Mum had asked. To which the woodwork teacher replied ‘You did see Stuart’s attempt at a pencil box!?’
The pencil box was so bad that the teacher then told Mum, that if I had made a coffin for him, he would have fallen out of it before getting to the Cemetery! To be honest the supposed ‘dove tail joints’ were so poor that I could actually get my little finger into the joints, and I vividly remember using lots of glue just to keep the thing together!
When I lived at home, I never had any need to do any DIY as Dad was never interested in it and he had a philosophy that DIY was a waste of good golfing or fishing time. So, he either got some one in or left it for Mum to do, going so far as to actually buying Mum a Black and Decker drill for Christmas one year.
My next brush with DIY, and what a shock that was, was when Maria and I got married and got our first house.
It did need decorating and we wanted an alarm system putting in so, as I was looking through the Yellow Pages – no internet in those days! – to find someone to do it, Maria asked what I was doing.
When I explained, she said ‘Don’t be silly, we can do it, you have decorated in the past haven’t you?’
‘Of course, I haven’t’ I replied and I honestly didn’t have a clue where to begin but in my defence, Maria had been spoilt growing up as her late father, who was a super guy, could turn his hand to absolutely anything. He was a fully qualified, time served joiner who moved into teaching and taught yes, you’ve guessed it…. Woodwork as well as metal work, plumbing, brick laying and electrics!
Maria just assumed all men could do this so my DIY abilities, or lack of them, were a total shock to her system – unfortunately, this situation still remains today and I have to confess that Matt and Jenny aways called any of my attempts at DIY, DIP or Disaster in Progress!
Anyway, back to the TV!
So, when I said to the staff, I was going to install the TV a deathly hush went round the Practice and if it goes quiet in Reception, you know there is a problem!
The silence was broken by Ashley blurting out “Should you really be doing that without Maria here?”
My ego marginally dented I replied “It can’t be that difficult,” despite inwardly thinking I don’t want to look stupid here!
We managed to get the old TV off the wall and I slowly started to take the wall mount off the old TV, to put it onto the new one. Obviously without any instructions and with basically no idea of what I was doing.
Little did I know that while I was doing this Ashley had decided it was prudent to text Maria and let her know what I was up to and it was only when I got home that Maria showed me the conversation…
Ashley; “Just thought you should be made aware” 😱
To which Maria replied; “Keep well away – Danger” ⛔️🫣🤣
Ashley; “It’s okay, I let the younger members of the team help!” 🤭
To show her total confidence in my skills Maria has recommended that no one should stand under the new TV, but I am pleased to say that after 3 weeks the TV is still on the wall!
However, I must again confess that when I had finished, I did have 2 spare bolts with no idea where they were meant to go! So, they are now safe in a drawer in case we have need of them in the future!
A hot summer at last!
I hope you are all enjoying the glorious summer weather!
We had a lovely week away in Scotland last month, staying about 30 miles south of Oban. It is a lovely part of the world that we have only been to once before so, still lots of new areas to explore.
Because it is heavily forested there are some absolutely brilliant walks for the dogs and no steep hills for Maria!
The only downside with the weather being so hot is walking the dogs so they don’t suffer in the heat. This usually means me walking them before 6am and after 9pm. They both absolutely love this routine as they can sleep and recover during the day, but it’s killing me!
With Summer Holidays in mind, our latest collections of WooW, Cocoa Mint and Landrover Sunspecs have arrived. So, if you haven’t already got your sun glasses for your holidays sorted, please give us a call as soon as possible and we’ll be happy to show you these new ranges.
If Coronation Street is the longest running Soap opera on TV, then the redevelopment of Saville Row is not far behind. As I said in my last ‘Ramblings’ most of the block paving is complete and they are just ‘finishing off’ the area between Saville Row and North Street.
The street furniture has arrived, but as you can see from the photos below the artists impression of how it should look and how it actually looks are not quite the same!! But, let’s give the council the benefit of the doubt and hope that when all the work is completely finished the two photos will match – fingers crossed!
Artist impression of Saville Row.
And an actual photo of Saville Row – can you spot the differences?
Our thanks to everyone who have passed on their congratulations to Jenny and Jevon.
Thankfully Jenny seems to have their wedding arrangements under control and most things seem to be booked or just about sorted. The only thing I am worried about is that Jevon wants me to go on his Stag night!
As it’s about 30 years since I last went on a Stag night, and I struggled then, I’m thinking I will definitely struggle now as after 2 pints of beer these days, I am ready for a sleep. I am hoping they will need a driver; I am more than happy to volunteer for that – I’ll keep you all posted.
Well, I am off to cut the grass – even on Father’s Day there is no rest for the wicked.
Hope you are well.
Enjoy the Summer and we hope to see you soon.
Best wishes
Stuart.