Hard to believe that 10 minutes later it was absolutely chucking it down. Maybe we have already had our summer sun for 2020.

So the week ends with two wins

  • School has confirmed that punishments like negatives will only be issued for poor behaviour or standards. They will not be for poor test scores. Son will still sit the spelling test but most of the stress he was under has been removed. Yes he still does the test but now he doesn’t have to worry about being punished if he struggles.
  • The NHS has agreed to another block of physio to try and help with his fine motor skills. He now has a new named Physio. Hopefully she will last longer than the last two. One lasted a session the other didn’t even last long enough for a session.

We take the rare wins and continue the fight.

Unfortunately our old electric kettle gave up the fight. Yes we must live in the posh end of Yorkshire as we have electricity on tap. But the kettle has brewed its last cup. As John Cleese would say ‘it’s shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain, joined the bleeding choir invisible, it’s an ex kettle’. So off I went to buy a new one. The nearest supermarket had sold out of all kettles. Clearly it’s the gift of choice this Christmas. So I ventured into the main electrical retailer for our nearest city. In the UK it’s the one that sounds like a spicy dish.

I have never seen so many kettles. You can buy virtually any colour to match your kitchen. Strangely I didn’t see the The RATHER CAT PAWED SLIGHTLY FADED MARIGOLD colour. You can get clear ones so that you can enjoy watching water boil. Ones which look like Darth Vader. Ones which play music while you wait for a hot drink. WIFI enabled ones that you can control from your living room. Voice controlled ones (bet it’s like everything else – it can recognise 300 languages yet it can’t understand the Yorkshire accent). Even a kettle that you can set the temperature of the water it produces (erm isn’t that just the boiled level – maybe it goes to nuclear temperatures – that would allow the Pot Noodle to be ready in seconds).

One problem. How much…. I am not paying the neck end of £50 to £100 for a kettle. Certainly not paying £180 for something called a Smeg…Suddenly I was pounced on by the salesman trying to sell me the latest expensive model. The look of distain on his face when I said.

Have you got the basic model in stock.

“You mean the £5 one”

That’s the one.

“It’s very basic sir”

Does it boil water

“Well yes”

Well that meets the spec then.

“Most people are upgrading their kettle options these days.”

***Why am I starting to panic. Embarrassed about not buying what everybody else is buying. Then I did a Trump and Boris. Sadly I told a fib.***

Its just for our caravan which we only use a few times a year.

***why did I just say that. I haven’t been in a caravan since well into the last century***

“Oh I understand sir, it’s perfect for that”

***and off he went to find the basic kettle safe in the knowledge that he wasn’t selling it to a cheap skate or God forbid – a poor person***

50 thoughts on “Cheap”

  1. I’d never heard of a Smeg kettle, so I looked it up. Oh my goodness! Nobody needs that or any kettle that does anything except boil water! I live in the U.S., and to be honest, I’ve never even known anyone who owned an electric kettle. My kettle sits on the stove to be heated up. LOL

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  2. Sir, it is absolutely amazing to me how people can learn to cope with almost anything, so if I got this right your son has Aspergers? Does he have a friend with that same disability? I have seen two Aspergers, Autism, get along just fine, because they Understand each other, just fine…..Maybe it could help if one learned how to think like they think? Most of the problems arise from not being able to communicate with each other, they get frustrated easily, and then anger rolls on in…..One has to really learn to listen and pay attention to them, and of course have patience and a deep Love, which YOU seem to have. Keep strong for Him! Blessing on you Sir & your Son…..& Your new Kettle…..

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      1. Well Sir, you must find a friend for him, this will make life much easier for Him & for You! Trust me, I know from experience…..Like meets Like! When he is all alone with that disease of the mind, one longs for a companion one can share a common experience with, the most fun a friend of mines child had with Autism, was when he found a friend with that same disease, because they could “Communicate” with each other, they had common things to share, they enjoyed each other’s company…..

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  6. Yay, no negatives for tests… Yay, physio!! 👏👏
    It sucks that the sales dude made you feel like you had to fib, but at least you didnt get pressured into buying one with all the bells & whistles. (or does it whistle?😂)
    We dont use electric kettles in the US generally, but I understand that most UK houses have an electric kettle. 🤔

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      1. I hate electric stove/ovens. I have a gas one.
        I can see that it’s easier just to plug the kettle in than turn the electric stove top on, cheaper.
        We use natural gas, piped to the house for cooking, the clothes dryer, hot water heater and house heater(if it worked🙄)

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  7. I would have done that, got the cheapest kettle, but I would have told him that I am not willing to pay extra money for a job this one can do perfectly. I guess age has its benefits. People my age do say anything they like.
    I am so happy for your victories. Keep on the battling gear.

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  8. “It’s very basic sir.” Does it boil water?
    “Well, yes.” Well, then it meets the spec.
    😂 Brilliant!
    Our price range is the same, but I have to own up that our most recent kettle is pink … daughter chose it!
    Glad to hear the latest developments re the tests.

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  12. I can’t wait to tell my son your son will no longer be afraid of “negatives” for getting his spellings wrong. He was HORRIFIED when I told him. And that one possible result was missing the school tour. Also hope no more negatives for wrong colour socks. As my son said “but nobody even sees your socks”! He said he thought the school ought to be the ones punished for inflicting such stress.
    And yay for cheap kettles. Though I do have a friend who is a green tea nerd so has one where you select temperature as most green teas need water that’s 80 degrees not boiling. But he’s a total nerd. I just kinda let it cool a bit for my green tea.

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  13. Some schools have a very long way to go when it comes to children with specific needs… and with understanding grief, the education system are definitely lacking.
    My kettle came from my husband’s old work dumpster. The boss threw it away to purchase a higher spec kettle when there was nothing wrong with it. So when my husband left work, he took it out of the rubbish and brought it home. That was about 8 years ago. Works perfectly well 🙂

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  14. When we moved into our house, I tried to convince my partner that we needed a Smeg fridge. It turns out that “because Red Dwarf” isn’t a convincing reason.

    I’ve seen some of those kettles, though. It’s amazing how much useless cruft people can add to a device that only does one thing. Why someone would want something like that is beyond me.

    Congratulations on the wins 🙂

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