Week 27 - MOT Misery

Monday

I dropped off Lucy, Martha, Tilly and Jake at Birmingham International. They are jetting off to Prague for a few days. After that, I dropped Lily back. I cooked a spaghetti bolognese for myself and Mouse. I did an hour of weight training.

In the evening, I watched a lot of cricket and then some Walking Dead.

Weight Training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Tuesday

Up at 7 for bacon and eggs. A bit later, neighbour Lucy came round for a cup of tea. After she left, I drove down to Halford's to put the car in for its MOT. I walked back via B&M (for oven cleaner) and the Post Office.

Back at home, I applied the oven cleaner with the intention of leaving it on until tomorrow. Then I had some lunch. When Halford's rang, it was bad news, a lot worse than I had expected. The car had failed on many serious points. I put Fred on the lead and we walked back to Halford's to pick up the sick car. I changed the worn tyre in the car park and then dropped the wheel off at Kwik Fit at 1:30. Then I went home to research car leasing options and to do loads of ironing.

By 4pm, I still hadn't heard from Kwik Fit so I called them: there was no answer. I called at 4:30 - no answer. I called at 5 - no answer. At 5:30, I drove back there. My wheel was leaning up against the garage wall. The guy behind the desk told me he would do it quickly. He leapt up and started the job that I had left with him 4 hours ago. I've decided not to use Kwik Fit again.

Back at home, I made a chicken chow mein for myself and Mouse. Then I dropped her off at the Hillfield so she could have dessert with her friends. Back at home, I spoke to my lovely wife on the phone and then set about lifting weights for an hour. I was pleased to set a new personal record for deadlifts tonight.

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Wednesday

Blood Pressure: 120/72

Resting heart rate: 50 bpm

Up at 7 for muesli. By 9:45 I had scrubbed and cleaned the oven and its racks. It doesn't exactly look new, but it's a lot cleaner now.

By 10:25 I had taken the spare wheel off the car and put the full wheel back on (complete with its brand new, very expensive tyre.)

By 10:45 I'd watered the greenhouse. So then I set about putting some more records up for sale on eBay.

At 12, I spoke to our family friend Scott who is also an awesome mechanic. He told me that the car was probably not worth repairing - it needs a new engine.

I made a chilli con carne. I walked Fred in the park, and then did an hour of weight training. I set a new personal record for the overhead press (military press).

I did loads of ironing, had dinner with Mouse, watched Birmingham Bears beat Northamptonshire in the T20 Blast and then watched an episode of The Walking Dead before bed.

Weight training, no junkfood, no alcohol

Thursday

I dragged myself out for my weekly 10K run. The first 5 miles were okay, but the last mile was really hard on my legs! They were really sore, heavy and stiff and got worse and worse as I neared home. I finished in a slow time of 64 minutes 23 seconds. I could barely hobble up the stairs to take a shower.

After lunch, I set about mopping and cleaning all the hard floors downstairs. Then I made a curry for tomorrow night followed by fish and chips for myself and Mouse for dinner.

10K run, no junkfood, no alcohol

Friday

Got up at 7 to meet Jonnie and James for our weekly cycle. We set off on our Honiley Variation route. It was a cold start and I was pleased to be wrapped up in leg warmers and three layers. Jonnie looked very tough with his bare knees in the wind. James complained of cold fingers and toes.

By the time we reached Wilmcote, it had warmed up considerably and I stripped off my hat, leg warmers and jacket. After some lovely cake, we set off for the final 15 miles in the sunshine.

After I got back home, I walked Fred in the park and then jumped in the car to pick up Lucy, Debbie and the girls from Birmingham International. They had enjoyed themselves seeing the sights, and they had remembered to bring home some chocolate and beer for me!

Later, Lucy and I went back up the road to have a couple of drinks with Jonnie and Sally in their fantastic back garden. Later still, we met up with Luke and Kirsty on our front drive for several more beers!

Taking my training seriously...

We had a very late curry at 9pm!

Cycling, junkfood, lots of beer

Saturday

Lucy went to the the theatre with Jane. I spent most of the day nursing a mild hangover and searching for cars online - I hadn't realised how much the prices of cars had shot up. I gave myself a break and went along to the dojo. It was a pad work session - one of the best sessions I'd been to in a while. We did some self defence stuff using elbow strikes. It was great!

I had a couple of drinks in the evening...

Karate, no junkfood, alcohol

Sunday

Car buying day!

By 10am, Lucy and I set off for what we thought would be a tour of most of the car dealerships between Monkspath and the city centre. The first place we went to was Mazda. Which wasn't open. The cars on the forecourt seemed to be incredibly expensive anyway, so we moved on.

The second place was Toyota, which was shut. So we moved on!

We arrived at Honda which was in the process of opening. We quickly realised that we couldn't afford a Honda either. However, we were introduced to a nice man named Jagmaan. He showed us cars that had been traded in part exchange. We spotted a Nissan Juke with 15,000 miles on the clock. It was possibly the ugliest car I'd ever seen. Lucy fell in love with it straight away.

We visited a few other dealerships, looked at a Vauxhall, and then went back to Honda to put a deposit on the Nissan!

It was a sunny Sunday so I did 15 miles on the bike in the country lanes. Then home to have a few beers in the back garden.

Cycling, no junkfood, beers