The day's events

To summarise:

Had my appointment with the Chiropractor today. On the way there by train I was practicing the speech I was going to give them about how I couldn't afford to keep up the treatment because of my mortgage (though it's equally because I really don't enjoy the schlep to Acton for 15 minutes sat in a chair with weights hanging off me). Turns out the doctor switched me over to a 'one appointment per month' remedial schedule last time. I can afford that, and the Acton Farmers' Market is a reasonably extra excuse to make the trip. As it was today, for instance, when I picked up a selection of Jumbuck's pies for lunch when I got back to the flat.

Work on the bedroom floor has been progressing slowly but surely, kinda. When I looked at the floor so far laid, I noted that it had all been fitted backwards - contrary to the instructions on the DVD and the leaflet in each pack of boards. That, along with the fact that the boards are slightly bowed despite having been stored flat for two whole days conspired to make slow work of it. I'm sure it would have been far quicker if he'd done it the right way round.

Of course, the floor was more than half done by the time I got there, so it would have been ridiculous to pull it all up and start again the right way. I'm told my father watched the DVD several times... and yet he's done this and one other key thing wrong: Wedges are placed at the middle of each tile, rather than at the joins between tiles.

The way he's doing it works, no mistake... but it's certainly not the easy way. Had he done it the right way round, he wouldn't need a hammer to tap the boards into place.

While I was over at the flat, I decided to pay a visit on the bathroom people, since I hadn't heard any more about the redesign/refit I'd asked for last week. Bizarrely, the gentleman in the shop (whose name is scarily similar to that of an old colleague) reckoned the cause of the delay was that I hadn't given him all the measurements for the window.

Er. What?

A whole bathroom to play with, and he was worried about the size and precise position of a window?

And it's not as if he hadn't done anything. Oh, no. He'd thrashed out a lovely redesign and a competent refit as two different options. The redesign is the obvious favourite because it makes much better use of the space available. We'll need to discuss it with a plumber, however, as moving the toilet (and thereby necessitating an extension to the sewage pipes) could prove problematic (meaning expensive).

But it really does seem to be the best way to do things... Rather than block up the entrance with the shower cubicle, he's placed it over by the window. The sink is right next to the toilet, and it's surrounded by cabinets. If it's possible to do it at a reasonable price, I'd like to do it that way... If nothing else, a well-designed bathroom with do wonders for the resale value, but the adjusted layout makes so much more sense.

I also wanted to pop back to the kitchen people, to query a couple of points on their quote, but they turned out to be closed. In the end, I dropped them an email when I got back home.

While still at the flat, though, I had a very strange phone call... or rather, I'd missed it, and picked up the message when I got back to the flat...

Yesterday, I visited an optician near home for an eye test. I'd received a summons from my old optician in Notting Hill, telling me they'd written to me a couple of times before, but had no response. I'm fairly certain I haven't ignored any correspondence from them, so I can only conclude they're mistaken, or the previous letters got lost in the post.

Nevertheless, a trip down to Notting Hill Gate for an eye test did not appeal. I ended up going down that way anyway, but I'll get to that later. I went to a different, far more convenient optician, had the eye test (my right eye has not changed in any way over the last four years or more, but my left eye has deteriorated another quarter point and now matches the right) and, with the help of a very good sales assistant, selected new frames.

Yes, they're designer. Go figure. It seems that frames for my glasses are the only real concession I make to these up-their-own-arses, overpriced 'labels'. I shan't name names, but I have to say these glasses are seriously cool. It may be time for a new profile pic, in which I'm actually wearing my glasses. I meant it.

So anyway. With all that sorted, I was told to expect them to be ready for collection in about a week - very convenient, as I wouldn't be able to get to them after work, but next weekend would certainly have been doable.

And then I got a message from them today saying they were ready for collection.

Er. What?

A whole week early?

So I phoned them back and repeated the message, querying that I'd been told it'd be about a week before they were ready.

"Oh, yes, we were able to get them done early, and they came back today."

Wow.

So I popped back over there to pick them up and get them fitted... and did I say they look sexy?

I'll need to pop back again next week anyway, as the adjustment wasn't quite right - they slip forward a touch. On the upside, as they're slightly smaller that my last pair, I need only tilt my head a fraction and I'm looking over the rims. There's lots of mileage in that. I mean, seriously, you'd barely notice my head move, and yet there I'd be, looking at you over the rims of my sexy new glasses.

I'm not kidding here, folks.

After that, I came back home and vegged out for the rest of the day. One can only handle so much excitement, after all.

Ps. Yesterday's jaunt to the optician turned into a trip to the environs of Notting Hill because I was searching out a present for a friend. When I got to the appropriate shop, one of the assistants informed me that the item I sought was an online exclusive.

You'd think the website might have mentioned that.