Half a Year of Bad Luck to Date in 2022

 2022 is a blinding year for bad luck to date for me.

a. Been ill for most of the year

b. Got older quicker it seems

c. Hail ruined the crops in my garden

d. My laptop died

e. My mobile phone broke down

f. My neighbours downstairs decided to be noisy this year

g. My car battery went flat for no reason

h. Got fined for using summer car tyres in the winter

i. Didn't get given a chocolate Easter egg for Easter, (just given to the kids)

Many other things went wrong due to bad luck, too many to mention.

On the positive side it means by the law of averages, the rest of the year should be good luck!!

Plane Flights - Ridiculous Re-scheduling

I booked a return plane flight to the UK and the return journey from Manchester was due to leave a 21:50 in the evening. All well so far. But, there is a clause that says that the flight time could change. Little do we think that this could happen to us. 

Blow me it did. The flight now departs at 04:30! I lose almost a complete day and have no way of getting to the airport without the use of a taxi at this time in the morning. The taxi fare would be more than the airfare. Big, big inconvenience and bad luck from the point of time lost, substantial extra expense and tiredness from no sleep that night.

All completely out of my control with no plan B possible with new flight without astronomical costs.

Printer Ink Cartridge Problem

My printer ran out of ink last week and a replacement cartridge needed to be replaced.

No problem, pop down to the local office supply shop and buy one. I turned up and found that they don't stock the model that was required and have no intention of getting stocks of that model in. So it was off the the big electronic superstore only to find that they don't stock it either!

My last option in Yambol was a small computer store and was quite pleased they had a black ink cartridge in stock. So, off home to fit it in my printer only to find it wasn't compatible and deemed useless. the problem was I had opened the sealed packet and no refund possible, 33 leva out of pocket and no still without ink in the printer.

Waste For Disposal and Plastic Wheelie Bin Melted Down

Every two or three days I gather the waste bind from each room in my home and pack it neatly to dispose of. This process is always made just before I venture out on other errands as the big plastic wheelie bin is en route to the garage where my car is parked.

Well today all was set as I picked up the waste package and made my way to the bin. It wasn't until I got some 20 metres away that I noticed that the bin wasn't there anymore. As I got close I realised that someone had put hot ashes from their woodburner in with other flammable rubbish and the bin has melted down to the base.

It was another 500 metre walk to another wheelie bin unlike others who left their rubbish next to the melted down version.

No Phone No ID!

The only time this year I went out for a walk without my mobile phone and you guessed it I needed it. Countless times it travels with me every day and I have no need for it on all of those occasions, why oh why does this happen?

Well why did I need it on this occasion? Simple the case holds my mobile phone and my identity card in the internal pocket. Of course no phone this time no identity card. I was on the way tot he Post Office to collect some post and ID was needed to collect it. Where was it? With my mobile phone and it was now another trip back home and return later in the day with the required document. Bad luck strikes again!

Toast Behind the Fridge/Freezer

Rise and shine, 7:00 AM and looking forward to jam on toast for breakfast to get the system going for a great day ahead.

So, two slices of bread popped into the toaster and the 90 second wait for hot golden crispy toast in anticipation of butter and jam. All fine so far. The the moment of truth the machine pops up the two ready pieces of toast only to expel them and one ends up behind the freezer which is adjacent the toaster. There is not enough space for my hand or arm to reach behind to recapture the toast so I have to manually unplug the freezer move it one metre forward and retrieve the toast.

By the time all it put back into place the other toast was cold and the wandering toast in the bin after being soiled. It is back to the drawing board, but do I take the risk of the same thing happening?

I simple task of making toast just didn't happen today!

Boot Sale in General Inzovo - Huh!

General Inzovo 30 Km from Yambol

Surfing the web I came across an expat site called Elhovo News. In it there was an ad saying there was a Car Boot sale on 19th November in the Village of General Inzovo. this was organised by British expats. Galia used to go to these in the UK and she was keen to see what the British were up to doing this in Bulgaria. So off we went travelling around 30 kilometres to the venue which was meant to be in the village park. We arrived and the place was ghost town. not a soul in sight. Then I realised getting back home that Website where the information was given hasn't been update for years and referred to 19th November many years ago! Huh!

Car Keys Down the Drain

Parked up in Yambol, happy as a sandboy on a sunny day with free time to wander around town this Monday morning. Shopping taken out of the back of the car and just about to press to lock on my electronic key and it slipped out of my hand. No problem, all I need to do was pick it up, but no! It had fallen down a drain where I was parked and now lurking in rotting leaves at the bottom about half a metre down. What was I to do? how could I retrieve it and not ruin up until now a pleasant day?

To cut a long story short, it took a trip to the police station and they helped me out with a member of the firebrigade to supply tools to get the drain open and retrieve the key some three hours later! More bad luck was the extra fees I had to pay for the parking space! Monday blues somehow were hard to avoid after this.

Broken Glasses Sap Holiday Funds

On holiday this week and worked hard to save up for a nice break and perhaps a stay in a Spa Hotel for a couple of days to recharge my batteries. Bad Luck has hit again, I tripped over and broke my only pair of prescription glasses. I cannot drive or go back to work without them so I had to buy another pair and all my funds for the break have now gone! Really quite down with this bout of Bad Luck!

No Striking Up a Light Tonight

Went to buy a lighter as we couldn't find one in the house. Got to the shop and it was shut. I arrived there at 08:35 and it shut as 08:30. I could see someone in there so I knocked on the door. The woman opened the door and told me something I already knew that she was closed. I asked if she could sell me a lighter, but she refused saying that she had taken all today's takings and couldn't do any more business. All the other shops were shut in the area and no lighter or matches to strike up a cigarette and no one about to get a light off either. We only had a microwave in the house which was no use either. So no one about no shops open and no facilities to make a flame anywhere. There were no cigarettes smoked tonight.

The following morning we found a lighter, it was in the packet of cigarettes!!

Rain At The Wrong Time

Worked all day under cover, no rain! The only time I was exposed outside was with a ten minute walk to the car to get back home, guess what? Yes, it rained for the whole of that ten minutes and stopped when I got into the car! Bad Luck? It has to be!

Bruised Apple

Today I didn't want to bruise my apple that I take to work daily, so I carefully took it out of the storage shed and brought it inside to wash. This was done successfully, dried and placed in the lunchbox. I notice the label was still in place at this point and tried to get it off. Having cut my nails the day before I couldn't get under the label to peel it off and in frustration bruised the apple with the efforts! So much for an un-bruised apple for lunch which was the objective! 

Batteries Recharged

I am now geared for more work on this blog very soon. 

Thanks for your patience.

Fishy Food Makes Me Ill On Holiday

It was the first time we had taken a week off for a holiday in 5 years as we travelled to the Black Sea Coast for a bit of beach time. the first night we decided to go out to eat, a very rare occasion with limited funds on our purse. On reflection we should have just relied on the homemade food we brought from home, Why?

Well I order mackerel and although it tasted okay, that night I was as sick as a parrot with all sort of stomach problems and throwing up! This lasted for 48 hours and cut our holiday time enjoyment by two days. This is the first time I have had food poisoning in Bulgaria over the five years there and it came at the time I least wanted it to happen!

Ran, Rain, Go Away!

Rain rain go away, come back another day! That is wishing really. For one week I have planed to weed the crops and for one week every day just as I make my way to the field the heavens open! Tomorrow is another day but I bet the same thing happens!

Hand Luggage and Contents Stolen

I accidentally dropped my car keys in the road the other day when parking in the town centre and placing my hand luggage in the boot. I walked away oblivious to that only to return shortly and find that I had not keys. The bad luck continues. My spare key of the car was in the hand luggage so I had no keys or spare for the car!

After breaking into the the car ripping out the back seat to get access to the boot it was found that there was no hand luggage there and I still couldn't move the car without a key. It was the case that someone had seen me drop the keys, picked them up after I had walked away, opened the boot and stole my hand luggage.

My hand luggage had my new digital camera, mobile phone, my normal prescription glasses, all my tablets and first aid kit, mobile phone and charger, wallet with all my money (100 Euros) personal documents such as lichna carte (BG  ID) driving licence, insurance MOT etc. Also a manicure kit, a packet of sunflower seeds, a condom and not least the actual bag which good quality bicycle luggage bag that I use on the bicycle rack as well as a hand luggage bag.

I was gutted. I had to take time off work (more money lost!) and get a specialist to take the ignition apart in the car and get a new set of keys cut costing 50 BG lev. I will not have counted the whole cost unit until all the documents have been replaces and of course the cost all the items that come to over 700 BG leva! This is nearly two months worth of pay for me here! Someone is laughing behind my back as well of course.

A 12 Kilometre Walk For Nothing

My thoughts turned to doing a bit of exercise today and at the same time not just waste the energy but make use of it. The plan was to walk 6 kilometres to a petrol station to buy a 10 kg bag of charcoal instead of using the car. This would save money on fuel and get me a bit of exercise of course. A round trip of 12 km half involving a bit of weightlifting. The walk was brisk and I arrived at the petrol station after about an hour. On asking for the charcoal I was told that they had sold out this morning due to the fine weather we are having today! So it was a 6 km walk back empty-handed. 

Plans To Work On The Land Cancelled Due To Rain

Today the plan was to dig over the land at the factory farm and plant out beans and radish. The keys were taken to unlock the factory gates that would be deserted this Sunday and all the seeds and tools bought and stored respectively. I was a restful Saturday in preparation for the work to be made on that so called Sunday day of rest. Sunday morning arrive after the clocks had been put an hour forwards the night before, no need for an alarm my keenness to to get starting with the preparation of the land woke me up early. Low and behold as I raised the blinds and looked out it was raining! As the morning went on the rain got heavier and by 11:00 I had given up the idea of working on the land today. No rain for a fortnight and it rains on the day I want it not too!

A Bowl Of Sunflower Seed Shells Dropped

After an evening of watching a good film in bed with sunflower seeds being cracked and eaten throughout it was time to retire and sleep as we were so, so tired. One last job was to take the glass bowl of sunflower shells out to the kitchen and empty in the bin. Oh I wished that had been done the following morning! As I walked past the bed my hand knocked on the bed headboard and the glass bowl slipped out of my hand hitting the lino. The glass shattered and the sunflower shells scattered all over the floor. It was out with the hand vacuum cleaner but that wasn't any good as the batteries were too low. Then out with the electric vacuum only to fin there was no suction as the bag was full. Finally it was a hand brush and pan that cleared the mess, and the morning we had to be sure to wear slippers before emptying the vacuum bag and going over the area again for glass splinters that were still lurking.

Cut Finger, Surgery, No Work And No Money

Ouch, I was moving old metal bits at work and my gloves had a small hole in one of the finger pockets. I sharp peice of metal decided to make a beeline to that particular place and cut through my finger. I had to go to hospital for surgery and stitches and now have no work for at least a week. That means no money and I can't work on the land planting trees and lettuce which I had planned this weekend. Also I was put on antibiotics so I can't drown my sorrows in rakia for a week either! To add more bad luck it is the finger on my left hand I am left handed in everything I do!