Lockdown Diary - Boxing Day (Saturday 26th December 2020)

Got up early for the first carer call of the day, both for the company and also to ask what was the best way to create enough hot water for the later carer call.  Kettles and pans of water.  Armed with this info I returned to bed until about 8:30, got up and cleaned my teeth then made a cup of coffee.

In theory the man from British Gas could come at any time from 8 a.m. onwards, but they'd said they'd ring ahead, so no hurry at the moment.

I drink my coffee whilst I boil kettles and try and clear up the unwashed debris from last night.  Somehow things have to get done, despite the lack of hot water.

The carers arrive and make do with boiled water for washing while I finish off the remaining pans and baking trays.

Mid-morning, the gas man cometh! Am I pleased to see him! I explain the problem and show him to the immersion tank.  He takes one look and says he can see what the problem is. As was suggested the previous night it's the immersion heater that the leak is coming from.  He tests it and says it's loose. Apparently since they stopped using copper tanks and moved to steel (cheaper!) it's a very common problem.  Apparently over time the vibration from the central heating pump works the heater loose.  To be on the safe side he removes it, descales the heating element, replaces the seal with the spare and tapes the thread. After about an hour the job is done and the water is heating up. Hooray!

Just as he's leaving the carers arrive for the lunch call, which marks the restart of Christmas festivities.  Time for me to get exercised, showered and dressed to be ready for a very late breakfast. Two out of three sons have yet to emerge, and I'm trying to maintain some semblance of Christmas by having breakfast together.

Son #3 and I sit and have breakfast together, whilst watching some of the film 'Carry on Loving' in amazement. Son #2 joins in and they are all taken aback by just how politically incorrect it all is.  Much of it makes me cringe, too - some of it seems like a live action version of a series of Viz jokes. This film has not aged well.  The high spot was noticing that some of it was filmed in Windsor, near the castle walls and at the station.

The clans are gathering and we're just about all up.  I suggest we plan for a 3 p.m. dinner - son #3 is keen it's no later than that - so that's what we aim for.  We're going for the full works again, but starting with a seafood cocktail rather than soup.  Naturally there is alcohol - champagne again.

During dinner my mother-in-law phones and son #1 speaks to her and says we'll call after dinner. I think she's a bit surprised we're still eating, though I can't see why - it's not that late for a dinner on Boxing Day?

Son #2 has suggested we play a board game after eating, though I have said I'd return grandma's call first.  I load everything into the dishwasher, though son #1 is still eating, and ask him to put his plate in when he's finished and then start the dishwasher.

Time to return the call:  I retell the saga of Christmas Day and she tells me of her day too, she speaks to her daughter and then each of the boys. 

In the meantime the boys have chosen to play 'Trivial Pursuit'.  At the time I didn't give it much thought, but as we played, it became clear that because the questions were all written in the late-1980s/early 1990s, the boys are at a huge disadvantage.  Owing to geographical and political changes, some of the answers are now wrong or rather there are alternative right answers.  Son #3 is getting really cheesed off as the questions don't fall well for him. When it became clear how unfair an advantage I had, I was happy to quit, but the twins insisted we carry on. In the end, I won (the art & literature questions, in particular, keep my turns going), with son #1 not too far behind - the twins have a good broad knowledge of history and politics that stand them in good stead.  Son #3 would have done so much better if the questions had fallen for him, far too often the questions others got he knew the answers to, but then he got a really difficult question.  The conclusion: if we ever play this again, we'll need an up to date set of questions to make it fairer.

We clear everything away and the boys return to their PCs and some online game or other. 

Today has been more like our Christmas Day, or how it would have been were it not for the deluge.  It feels much better today.

In the evening we re-convene for cheese and crackers and watch some of 'The Big Fat Quiz of 2020' together.

In the background outside it's been getting wetter and windier and I'm really glad we're inside.  Supposedly it's going to get really bad overnight - let's hope it doesn't stop me sleeping.

I'm not sure why I haven't chosen this before - I first heard it weeks ago and instantly recognised the singer as Kelis - and had to find what the song was.  This is 'Watch Your Step' by Disclosure featuring Kelis.  It's from their album 'Energy'

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