Also, I have the A/C set at 80 F and it's 86 F outside, but when in come in the front door it's like stepping into a refrigerator because of low humidity. No shit, it's unreal.

Irritations are, almost by definition, pretty trivial so you have been warned.

(i) I recently renewed my passport and the chances of it being used for its intended purpose are about four fifths of the square root of damn all.
The trouble is that the rules surrounding financial transactions and any dealings with the dark forces of officialdom require the victim to provide umpteen different forms of identification.
It's for this reason that I go down the passport route.
The application fee, photo and tracked mail came to over £100 (c. $128) which borders on extortion.
On the other hand the chap staring out of the document no longer resembles a South American drugs lord.
No, I now look more like an international embezzler and time share salesman.
I view it as long overdue social advancement.

(ii) Why does the apparently mundane task of inserting a duvet into a cover descend into the soft furnishings version of a cage fight?

(iii) Every couple of months I receive a catalogue from Simply Home Entertainment.
I suppose that I must have bought something from them in the past but I haven't got a clue what.
There are usually a number of smaller catalogues and leaflets within and this morning's batch included ads for stairlifts, a prepaid funeral plan and various aids to living for those in their later years.

What do they know that I don't? :eek:


ETA Also included was a leaflet enquiring 'Who will look after your cat when you pass away'?

You probably already know this system, being from a country that believes in duvet covers instead of one-piece comforters... but this video saved me a lot of duvet-related misery (at least until I got rid of the damn thing, having only accidentally bought it in the first place.)

Many thanks for that, Clod!

That will help enormously.

Such was the struggle I had, more than one discouraging word was heard on the range that night.

Ta! :thumb:

OK, woman in video, the thing the duvet goes on is -surprisingly enough, called a duvet. The opening should go at the foot of the bed (waits for massive cellar argument about correct placement of duvet cover opening...) and why would it have a zipper? it's sheet material.

I turn my cover inside out (if it's not still inside out from when I took it off and washed it), then put my arms inside and grab the two corners furthest from the opening one in each hand. then I shrug the cover down over my arms and over the duvet so it turns the right way around as it goes and the top two corners stay correctly positioned. But I can see how the rolling method would work too and might try it someday to see if I like it better. But the bedding is already changed and washed for this week.

A King of Queens moment:

Pointing in one guys general vicinity, the star says: ...and the wife said don't get any crumbs on the duvet.

Other guy: What's a duvet?

Star: I don't know, but she was pointing over there when she said it

On Monday an instantly recognisable letter (UK Dwellars will shudder) from HMRC landed on the mat, the latest in a saga. (Post #6604 et seq)

A few months ago my tax code was adjusted so that more tax was taken because I hadn't paid enough during FY 2018-19.

That's supposedly an arithmetical fact and not a debating point according to the taxman.

On Monday of this week I received another letter saying that I had paid too much tax for FY2018-19 and a refund would be made.

Today (Thursday) I've received yet another missive altering my tax code to take less tax for the current FY, at least I think that's what it says.

They always include a killer clause which says if the calculation is correct you don't need to do anything, but if it's wrong and I don't say anything because I don't know it's wrong, I suppose that could be held against me in the future.

Will it never end?

The tax man said my return was wrong by $300 because they couldn't find $300 that had been withheld on a pension buyout with a previous employer.
The buyout was part of a divorce action so I said screw it and paid the $300.
Three years later the found the $300 and said they would refund it plus three years interest. All I had to do is sign one of the four forms and send it back.
Each of the four forms was worded differently and described four different scenarios, but they all said it was my fault not theirs. :facepalm:

dicks

Why are dick's irritating you?

Not enough lube.

Ouchie bro, try some grease

[threaddrift] How do you wash a “one-piece comforter”? Or do you have a sheet between you and said “comforter”? [/threaddrift]


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Nowadays there are impeller washing machines (no agitator) for home use with a large enough capacity to handle them (I have a king size comforter). Otherwise, use a nearby self-service laundromat which has industrial tumbler washing machines. Those come big enough to handle several comforters. I draw the line at hand washing them in the bathtub.

Impeller vs Agitator

pretty much the same way as you would a duvet.... depends on the filling, but if the decoration is very fancy, you're pretty screwed. So generally not very often. in my experience, people do tend to put sheets between themselves and the comforter. All Hail The (non-feather) Duvet. IMO.