The front door has been sticking recently. We checked all the usual culprits like foreign bodies, sagging hinges and the like. The fit is so bad that we aren’t troubled by it swelling in winter. It may well swell but it never comes close to catching. Left on her own today (having taken time off to recuperate from dentistry, Julia identified the problem as a loose floor tile and corrected it. She was, I believe, much better than she had thought she was going to be, and had spent the day doing odd jobs and being active. Yesterday I was treating her like a rare flower, and today she is regrouting floor tiles.
Do you have grout in America? My WP spellchecker doesn’t like regrouting and is offering rerouting and regrouping as alternatives. Strangely, it doesn’t mind grout. Maybe you only grout once and it lasts forever. My Dad once stayed somewhere in America and his hosts told him they would take him to see the oldest house in town. It had been built in 1928, the year my dad was born. He was not keen having the label “Historic” attached to a house that was the same age he was.
I have been looking up a number of strategies for coping with conflict at work. One is to ignore it. Another is to talk about it. Neither has produced much of a result up to now. The best advice I could find, and there wasn’t much good advice online (I suspect the word “online” is a clue to the value of the advice you find there) was to ensure that I don’t get dragged down by it, and don’t let it get into my head. Strangely, this is advice I have given the kids in the past – seems like I knew the answer all along but just forgot it for the last two days.
(Lightly edited 4.11.22 as some of the phrasing implied criticism and though it’s how I feel, it’s maybe not how I should be writing about someone else when they don’t have a chance to reply.)
Grout is good in Porridge
I fear that is going to confuse anyone who is (a) young and (b) not British. 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Vaughan
Thank you very much for that elucidation. I thought it was only yesterday 🙂
As a man who recently discovered that my musings on my teenage years are now reaching back 50 years, it was only yesterday!
I am glad to hear Julia is feeling better. As the old saying goes, you can’t keep a good woman down!
Yes, we go have grout here. They do recommend applying a grout sealer though.
Good luck with the people issues at work. You don’t need the stress.
NO, she keeps bobbing up! Strange how the spellchecker seemed unsure as 100% of Americans I asked (you and Laurie) are familiar with it.
I am going to zone out the ork thing and concentrate on my retirement plans.
Dealing with other people’s issues can be quite a challenge. A good friend once told me that you can sympathize with someone’s issues but not feel sorry for them. You can listen to someone’s problems, but just say you don’t have any advice because you haven’t gone through their problems. Feeling sorry for someone can get you drawn into their situation. I couldn’t figure that out the difference until I was married to my ex (for 20 years) with bipolar disorder. My son and his friend stayed with me for a while TWICE and I thought I would go nuts! I live a drama-free life, and my son is Mr. Drama! I thought I was going to have to move out of my own house.
So, your wife is handy around the house? That’s a good thing to be thankful for. When I saw the bird and you started talking about the door, I thought maybe the bird had got into your house. 🙂
I used to be unsure what Satre meant by “hell is other people”. I now realise. And I quote Satre, so I also understand I have become pretentious. 🙂
We do have grout here. In fact, we have some in our kitchen and bathroom. Haven’t been regrouted yet. Nice to know you gave good advice to your son’s.
I gave it. Whether they took it or not is a different matter.
Good luck with the new approach. It may be the only way.
I am going to take the early Christian martyr5s as my role models. I will be annoyingly upbeat and keep a look out fro lions.