I never expected to lose finger strength, you know, with age. Maybe in my 80s but not yet. But my hands just aren’t what they used to be. I’ve been using the staple gun this morning and, after a while, I could barely squeeze the trigger. After ten minutes of doing something else (lifting concrete blocks, actually, I’ve still got quite strong arms), I was able to finish that part of the job, just, but I had to leave it for a few hours and do the rest later.
The staple gun was certainly one of my most useful buys over the past two years – originally bought to fix a cover on to the indoor tortoise run, when I got Eloise cat, though we didn’t use it then as a useful man did the job with nails and screws instead. But it’s been invaluable for various things since. It’s just that they don’t realise, when designing these things, that old dears with the start of arthritis in their hands, don’t have the strength of grip that they used to. I don’t blame them, I didn’t know it either until it happened. Funny, ageing, innit.
Tonight, we had asparagus risotto. Which indicates that we’ve had asparagus a few times, so that pure unadulterated (except by butter, obvs) asparagus is no longer absolutely required. And we went out for lunch, because we were satisfied with the results of our labours and clearly deserved a treat.
I wonder how you are about going out for a meal on your own? I found it difficult, I must admit. A pub isn’t too bad, if it’s not the sort of place that’s clearly a local pub for local people and anyone else will be stared at – though even then, I’m not too embarrassed to just smile and say hello before retreating to a corner – but a restaurant isn’t easy, even if you’re made welcome. With nothing to do except focus on the food – yes, that may be the point of eating out, but it isn’t the point I’m meaning – it’s hard not to feel self-conscious and to eat rather too quickly and to pull out a book and read (while listening to the conversations at other tables, of course, because that’s always enjoyable) and finish rather quicker than if someone else was there. But I did make a point of doing it, sometimes.
When I used to go away for work and had to eat on my own, I’d take a book to the restaurant, order one course, and scarper as quickly as possible, or I’d just get room service. Eating out is a social thing for me.
Just as well we go out together then 🙂
I don’t have a problem eating alone in a resto, but more often than not, I’ll just eat at home when the MITM is out of town. Like you and Tim, eating is a social event best shared with others! xoxox
I have often partken of a drink and a bun by myself in a cafe and I used to often eat pasta for my lunch in a local Italian cafe on my lonesome and that is fine as long as I’ve either got something to read or my phone to look at. I did once eat alone in our local noodle bar and that felt distinctly odd and I’ve certainly never eaten a full dinner in a restaurant alone.
A straightforward cafe is all right and so is a restaurant in a department store, or a big hotel where there are business customers, but when everyone else is chatting and has company, it feels lonely. When I have been staying in London on my own, at the flat (in between tenants), there’s a local noodle bar that I’m comfortable going to – otherwise, though there are loads of places to eat in Islington, I tended to buy a salad at the supermarket and eat in. One does seem to need something to read when alone. I ate at the local Yagnub lunchtime place on my own and, though it felt fine to go in alone, I felt lonely as everyone else was chatting, so only did it once. If I were still single, I’m sure I’d have got over that by now.
The important thing to remember with a staple gun is to hold the non-squeezing hand on top of the stapling end, otherwise the staples don’t go fully in. I got one years ago because I periodically have to re-cover the dining room chair seats when the material wears out.
No, I don’t like dining alone. There’s not enough to do. Perhaps an audio book is the answer?
I ate lunch in the RA restaurant on my own the other day, which was fine. But one eats too quickly without really appreciating the food – one might think there was nothing else to focus on so would concentrate on it more, but I just eat up and get out!
The parts of the woodwork where we could get a clear aim were fine, it’s the lower bits where you have to bend and go sideways on, so it’s quite hard to get the gun straight that were the problem. In those places, I sometimes needed both hands wrapped around the handle to have the strength to do it. Because of nerve damage in his arm following a botched operation, it’s the sort of thing Tim finds as hard as I do – we both run out of right hand (me) or arm (him) strength quite quickly.