I probably shouldn’t even be writing this as yet, but seeing as only a few people I know are actually aware I have a blog it probably doesn’t matter.
Late morning I was accosted by one of our senior project engineers. I have a lot of respect for this man as he’s a great manager and a pleasure to work with. He doesn’t often require much from me so I was a little taken back that he wanted to talk with me. He said that we needed to talk to someone downstairs with regards to a few document control issues. I was a touch confuddled as I don’t deal with anyone downstairs on the project he claimed it was about, but all was to become clear.
He took me over to a woman I’ve seen around the building regularly, but I hadn’t a clue who she was. We sat in a small meeting room just behind her desk and from the looks on their faces I was expecting my P45!
For the purpose of this blog we’ll call them Bob and Sue.
The first thing Bob said to me was, “Don’t worry; you’re not in any trouble!” I must have looked scared! He said that they wanted to talk to me regarding a team member, who we’ll call Fred, and our boss, who we’ll call Nobby.
Anyway, Fred has been off sick for about 2 and a half months now, possibly more. Nobby has always suggested that Fred has mental health issues and that’s why he’s been signed off for so long. Today was to prove otherwise. I’ll admit, Fred is a wet dish rag and not someone who I’d have hired, but he probably comes cheap. It turns out that Fred has made allegations of bullying about Nobby, and this is the real reason he’s off sick. The kick off was back in July/August time when a new fella started and was introduced around the office.
Being a male dominated environment you can well imagine everyone has a nickname of sorts, ranging from the harmless to the potentially offensive. The name for Fred generally known in the office is “Snot.” Fred was out this particular day that the new guy was introduced round and Nobby had referred to him as Snot rather than his actual name. I can only assume that in his ignorance as a new person he’d mentioned this to Fred the following day, although I’m led to believe that other personal remarks have been made along the way which are really quite nasty.
So now I’m sat in the middle of this saga. Bob and Sue asked me in this meeting what I thought of Nobby. I wasn’t sure if they were meaning personally or as a manager so I gave them both sides, but limited amounts as I’m not a grass. Now I doubt as to whether I should have mentioned a lot more stuff as Sue took particular interest in me telling her some nasty stuff he said to me once.
As it happens I don’t think much of Nobby as a person, and even less of him as a manager. He really couldn’t manage a piddle up in a brewery.
Tuesday 18 December 2007
Wednesday 19 September 2007
Long Time No Blog
I rarely write in here these days, usually preferring to keep things to myself and deal with them in my own way, but perhaps that’s the wrong way to go about it.
It’s no secret to people I know that I’m not in the best of health but I thought, perhaps wrongly, that I dealt with it ok. The days where I am in total despair I prefer to sit in my corner, get my head down and not bring any attention to myself. I work in a big open plan office where privacy can only be gained through sitting in a toilet cubicle; but there you’re limited to eight minutes as the motion activated lights switch off after this time. The sensors only react to movement from the main entrance to the cubicle area so you have to use your time wisely.
Maybe I just need to vent in a massive way. Hold on to your seats.
The 3rd of August was my last proper meal, so that makes seven weeks living on yoghurt, rice, cous cous, chicken soup and tuna. I’ve lost over 2 stone in weight and, perhaps, my sanity. I haven’t been able to even think about eating most days as I feel constantly sick and every time I do try to eat something I’m overcome with horrendous pain. Not a drop of food, liquid or otherwise, was consumed in the first 2 weeks.
I don’t know what to put it down to. I’m taking some medication which was prescribed for my arthritis but also is used in my particular type of bowel disease; although it’s only used to maintain remission. If you haven’t reached remission it’s not going to be of much help. It has, however, been good for my arthritis. I’m less stiff and have less pain in my hip than before I started on these tablets so that has to be a plus. I’m still in constant pain with my back and have developed a couple of lumps in my side.
I have regular blood tests run as these tablets can have a negative effect on the liver but, surprisingly, the results for the set that I had done a couple of weeks after this all kicked off where fine. My inflammation levels were still up but were a lot lower than they have been in the last 3 years. An achievement in itself.
I really don’t know where this is going to bear with me.
I think the biggest problem I have at the moment is with work. My boss has taken it upon himself in the last month or so to be the biggest arse on the planet. Last week he sent me an email that basically blamed ME for someone else’s sheer incompetence. I won’t go into it now because I’ll just end up even more wound up, but today he actually said to me that I wallow in self pity.
Should I be feeling that I have to apologise for being ill? I hadn’t even said anything to him that was in any way shape or form health related.
I give up. I can’t keep having this battle on a daily basis as I have enough to put up with.
It’s no secret to people I know that I’m not in the best of health but I thought, perhaps wrongly, that I dealt with it ok. The days where I am in total despair I prefer to sit in my corner, get my head down and not bring any attention to myself. I work in a big open plan office where privacy can only be gained through sitting in a toilet cubicle; but there you’re limited to eight minutes as the motion activated lights switch off after this time. The sensors only react to movement from the main entrance to the cubicle area so you have to use your time wisely.
Maybe I just need to vent in a massive way. Hold on to your seats.
The 3rd of August was my last proper meal, so that makes seven weeks living on yoghurt, rice, cous cous, chicken soup and tuna. I’ve lost over 2 stone in weight and, perhaps, my sanity. I haven’t been able to even think about eating most days as I feel constantly sick and every time I do try to eat something I’m overcome with horrendous pain. Not a drop of food, liquid or otherwise, was consumed in the first 2 weeks.
I don’t know what to put it down to. I’m taking some medication which was prescribed for my arthritis but also is used in my particular type of bowel disease; although it’s only used to maintain remission. If you haven’t reached remission it’s not going to be of much help. It has, however, been good for my arthritis. I’m less stiff and have less pain in my hip than before I started on these tablets so that has to be a plus. I’m still in constant pain with my back and have developed a couple of lumps in my side.
I have regular blood tests run as these tablets can have a negative effect on the liver but, surprisingly, the results for the set that I had done a couple of weeks after this all kicked off where fine. My inflammation levels were still up but were a lot lower than they have been in the last 3 years. An achievement in itself.
I really don’t know where this is going to bear with me.
I think the biggest problem I have at the moment is with work. My boss has taken it upon himself in the last month or so to be the biggest arse on the planet. Last week he sent me an email that basically blamed ME for someone else’s sheer incompetence. I won’t go into it now because I’ll just end up even more wound up, but today he actually said to me that I wallow in self pity.
Should I be feeling that I have to apologise for being ill? I hadn’t even said anything to him that was in any way shape or form health related.
I give up. I can’t keep having this battle on a daily basis as I have enough to put up with.
Thursday 5 July 2007
Thank Goodness It’s Finished
Yesterday was a bit of a disastrous day. I was due to re-take my CSCS exam in the afternoon, so all day I had been getting myself mentally prepared for it. That didn’t include revision I hasten to add! I left work at 2.30 so I’d make it back into town in plenty of time. Giving that I’d read about how an earlier power cut was still causing grief around the surrounding roads and car parks I needed to give myself plenty of time.
I needn’t have worried. The roads were relatively clear, normality had been restored in the town centre and the car parks were fully functioning. So I found myself with half an hour to spare. I headed into Superdrug to get some water so I could top up on the painkillers before I went it. After a wander round I decided I’d head down to the test centre. I half expected to wait till my allotted time as I was still 15 minutes early, but they had enough space to let me sit the exam there and then.
The questions started off reasonably easy; they were mostly common sense situations about preventing accidents happening and wearing the right protective clothing. Forty multiple choice questions later I emerged from the room very numb of brain and had totally lost the will to live. The woman responsible for handing out the results pulled mine off the printer and handed it to me with a curt “here are your results”.
Ahhhhh, failure again!
Honestly though, I’m a Document Controller, why the heck should I care about which wire is which in a plug! And I wasn’t particularly bothered about which fire extinguisher puts out an oil fire either.
So I left the test centre and rang my friend who I was meeting up with. She was still at home so I drove over to pick her up and we headed to the cinema.
We went to see Shrek the Third. I thought I’d treat myself to some ice cream; possibly the worst thing I could have eaten really. I think I’m developing a dairy intolerance as I sat through the first half of the film in complete agony with my guts. I was lucky nothing else happened. When the adverts were still rolling some little sh!t a few rows back decided it would be hilarious to throw chocolate at me. It always seems to be me that gets picked on. I’m 26 years old and yet I’m still getting bullied by kids. What the heck is that all about please?
Anyway, after the film ended I cleaned the chocolate out of my hair as best I could before we headed to get something to eat. Another mistake.
We ended up in TGI Fridays, which leads me to explain the title of this rambling. If you take all the initial letters you end up with Thank Goodness It's Finished. I rest my case.
The starter was overly spicy and covered in a disgusting thick sickly sauce. It was so bad I had to leave the vast majority of it. Now, if you know me you’ll know I love my food, so it must have been bad for me not to have finished it. All the edges of the plate were dotted with bits of sauce, so zero points are awarded for presentation.
We both ordered a burger for the main course. You can’t usually go far wrong with one. Ahhh, so very wrong! The bun was burnt to a cinder underneath where they’d tried to toast it. Perhaps they should look up the meaning of “toast”. It’s far from “cremate”.
Perhaps they should give this site a try.
Whinge not over!
The chips were dry, tasteless and cold.
Don’t even get me started on the level of “service”. I use the term loosely because perhaps it should be “disservice”. Rude, unhelpful and awfully presented.
I wasn’t holding out much hope as we sat at the bar after eating what we could salvage. I was pleasantly surprised. The bartender obviously loved his job as he was lively, polite and very well presented. It was a massive contrast to what we’d just come from. He invented a new cocktail for my friend; it had a lot of strawberry vodka and rum in it as well as fresh strawberries and a load of mint. Probably sounds disgusting but it tasted lovely!
So there ends my whinge……for now! Not that anyone’s going to read it, but it was something to do whilst at work!!!
I needn’t have worried. The roads were relatively clear, normality had been restored in the town centre and the car parks were fully functioning. So I found myself with half an hour to spare. I headed into Superdrug to get some water so I could top up on the painkillers before I went it. After a wander round I decided I’d head down to the test centre. I half expected to wait till my allotted time as I was still 15 minutes early, but they had enough space to let me sit the exam there and then.
The questions started off reasonably easy; they were mostly common sense situations about preventing accidents happening and wearing the right protective clothing. Forty multiple choice questions later I emerged from the room very numb of brain and had totally lost the will to live. The woman responsible for handing out the results pulled mine off the printer and handed it to me with a curt “here are your results”.
Ahhhhh, failure again!
Honestly though, I’m a Document Controller, why the heck should I care about which wire is which in a plug! And I wasn’t particularly bothered about which fire extinguisher puts out an oil fire either.
So I left the test centre and rang my friend who I was meeting up with. She was still at home so I drove over to pick her up and we headed to the cinema.
We went to see Shrek the Third. I thought I’d treat myself to some ice cream; possibly the worst thing I could have eaten really. I think I’m developing a dairy intolerance as I sat through the first half of the film in complete agony with my guts. I was lucky nothing else happened. When the adverts were still rolling some little sh!t a few rows back decided it would be hilarious to throw chocolate at me. It always seems to be me that gets picked on. I’m 26 years old and yet I’m still getting bullied by kids. What the heck is that all about please?
Anyway, after the film ended I cleaned the chocolate out of my hair as best I could before we headed to get something to eat. Another mistake.
We ended up in TGI Fridays, which leads me to explain the title of this rambling. If you take all the initial letters you end up with Thank Goodness It's Finished. I rest my case.
The starter was overly spicy and covered in a disgusting thick sickly sauce. It was so bad I had to leave the vast majority of it. Now, if you know me you’ll know I love my food, so it must have been bad for me not to have finished it. All the edges of the plate were dotted with bits of sauce, so zero points are awarded for presentation.
We both ordered a burger for the main course. You can’t usually go far wrong with one. Ahhh, so very wrong! The bun was burnt to a cinder underneath where they’d tried to toast it. Perhaps they should look up the meaning of “toast”. It’s far from “cremate”.
Perhaps they should give this site a try.
Whinge not over!
The chips were dry, tasteless and cold.
Don’t even get me started on the level of “service”. I use the term loosely because perhaps it should be “disservice”. Rude, unhelpful and awfully presented.
I wasn’t holding out much hope as we sat at the bar after eating what we could salvage. I was pleasantly surprised. The bartender obviously loved his job as he was lively, polite and very well presented. It was a massive contrast to what we’d just come from. He invented a new cocktail for my friend; it had a lot of strawberry vodka and rum in it as well as fresh strawberries and a load of mint. Probably sounds disgusting but it tasted lovely!
So there ends my whinge……for now! Not that anyone’s going to read it, but it was something to do whilst at work!!!
Friday 15 June 2007
Karma, and one too many kormas
I’ve always been a light believer in karma; until this morning.
After spending the best part of 3 months being sexually harassed by a contract worker in this office (they don’t call them contract scum for nothing!) I believed he’d never get any punishment for it. I had deleted all the emails and the IT systems are a bit pants in here so nothing was saved, so ultimately there was no evidence. But today proved me wrong! Bear in mind that he’s not the slimmest of people; think dawn French on steroids after eating the Super-Size me diet for a year.
I’m not one for listening to the conversations in here as they mostly revolve around scantily clad women, motorbikes, food, beer and “oh man, I was so hammered last night.” *** I tend to spend the days with both earphones plugged firmly in and the volume at an indecent level. Although that’s often not enough to drown out a certain persons singing and humming, not to mention the whistling. Anyway, I was just sitting back down from having a bit of a stretch (a procedure which requires the removal of all plugs) and I happened to hear the end of the harasser’s conversation on the phone. It went along the lines of “I was in there for 10 minutes and the communication systems didn’t work. I didn’t know what to do, then the lift dropped and I just panicked.”
I honestly did try to not wet myself laughing; obviously I didn’t try hard enough because it escaped in a very loud snort! To quote a colleague “Yes it is amusing. He walked to his desk first thing like he'd had a stroke, high knee action, limp foot stylee.”
Ahhhh, laughter truly is the best medicine!
*** There’s always a downside for working in a male dominated environment
After spending the best part of 3 months being sexually harassed by a contract worker in this office (they don’t call them contract scum for nothing!) I believed he’d never get any punishment for it. I had deleted all the emails and the IT systems are a bit pants in here so nothing was saved, so ultimately there was no evidence. But today proved me wrong! Bear in mind that he’s not the slimmest of people; think dawn French on steroids after eating the Super-Size me diet for a year.
I’m not one for listening to the conversations in here as they mostly revolve around scantily clad women, motorbikes, food, beer and “oh man, I was so hammered last night.” *** I tend to spend the days with both earphones plugged firmly in and the volume at an indecent level. Although that’s often not enough to drown out a certain persons singing and humming, not to mention the whistling. Anyway, I was just sitting back down from having a bit of a stretch (a procedure which requires the removal of all plugs) and I happened to hear the end of the harasser’s conversation on the phone. It went along the lines of “I was in there for 10 minutes and the communication systems didn’t work. I didn’t know what to do, then the lift dropped and I just panicked.”
I honestly did try to not wet myself laughing; obviously I didn’t try hard enough because it escaped in a very loud snort! To quote a colleague “Yes it is amusing. He walked to his desk first thing like he'd had a stroke, high knee action, limp foot stylee.”
Ahhhh, laughter truly is the best medicine!
*** There’s always a downside for working in a male dominated environment
Tuesday 12 June 2007
A Rush of E Numbers to the Head
That would have made a better album title I think!
Sunday saw me reach the grand old age of 26 and after a pretty much disastrous Saturday I was welcoming a rest. Well, it could have been worse I spose; worse than a lunch where someone ended up paying 3 times more than they should have, then an evening spent having the house vandalised by some ignoramus and finally a bit of a health scare. Well, I say a bit; a heart rate of 160, breathlessness and chest pains isn’t just a bit. But in all fairness I’ve had it before so I just lay flat and think of England……..so to speak! Get your mind out of the gutter young man!
So to commiserate I brought in cakes today. Least I brought in a selection of chocolate rolls, doughnuts, apple pies and Heros. Fifteen minutes after sending round the obligatory email I’m not the proud owner of one pat on the head, one attempted birthday kiss and numerous emails from people pretending they cared it was my birthday. Ahhh office politics, don’t you just love them!
That brings me to my trip to Tesco this morning. I can never stomach the main superstore first thing in the morning so I head to the smaller Tesco which is just round the corner from work. The staff are much more pleasant and cheery and this morning was no different. I had already decided that with some of my birthday money I was going to treat myself to the DVD of Hot Fuzz. Heading over to the stand I was pleased to see that they had a few copies left. I noticed some mammoth Yorkie bars next to them, so thinking they probably cost a couple of quid and it was just a promotional thing I ignored the yearning I was experiencing, picked up my DVD, dumped it in the basket and headed to the till. Turns out that the mammoth Yorkie bars were free with the DVD I was purchasing so the check out assistant scuttled off to get me one. Feeling quite pleased I headed out to the car with my shopping and took a closer look at the Yorkie bar. This thing is seriously huge. I would estimate about 12 inches and each piece felt about the size of a small lama. Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration but it has to be seen to be believed! As much as I feel sick at the thought, I can well imagine that the whole bar will disappear during the course of the film…….purely because of the gremlins that’ll come and steal it you understand!
Thursday 7 June 2007
Oh Crumbs!
9am; my regular time for heading down to the canteen to make breakfast. If anyone tries to beat me to the toaster they’re toast themselves, so imagine my total displeasure this morning when I arrive at the canteen to find the toaster and the counter it sits on occupied by not one, but TWO invaders! Eventually one vacated a space so I used the opportunity to jump right in and claim my stake in the toaster.
I think I probably scared the bloke who was still standing there buttering his toast as he started to move his plate closer to the end of the counter. I felt I should say something to assure him I wasn’t about to karate chop him with my crutch* so I came out with “sorry, I’m not trying to push you out of the way, I’m just hungry.” I was trying to push him out of the way but that’s beside the point! He then commented on how impressed he was as I cleaned the bread board down and the surrounding area. I had to correct him, “I’m not domesticated, I’m just anal.” If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s other peoples crumbs on my toast. I have no idea why……oh wait…..yes I do……I’m anal!
Thankfully I don’t come across this man often, but at least now he’ll know to steer clear when I’m hungry!!
*not an eastern pornographic move
I think I probably scared the bloke who was still standing there buttering his toast as he started to move his plate closer to the end of the counter. I felt I should say something to assure him I wasn’t about to karate chop him with my crutch* so I came out with “sorry, I’m not trying to push you out of the way, I’m just hungry.” I was trying to push him out of the way but that’s beside the point! He then commented on how impressed he was as I cleaned the bread board down and the surrounding area. I had to correct him, “I’m not domesticated, I’m just anal.” If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s other peoples crumbs on my toast. I have no idea why……oh wait…..yes I do……I’m anal!
Thankfully I don’t come across this man often, but at least now he’ll know to steer clear when I’m hungry!!
*not an eastern pornographic move
Wednesday 30 May 2007
What next?
I’ve trawled through the G4 forum, the Michael Bublé forum, all the job websites I know of, harassed all harrassable people on msn and email, so what do I do now?! I blog…..that’s what I do!
Not that I have anything to say mind you. I guess I could tell you about my weekend seeing as I haven’t done that already.
Friday night was its usual wildness of Eastenders, My Family, Have I Got News for You and Ugly Betty, followed by a timely sleep. Not sure I can take this pace much longer ;-) But at least I was half refreshed for Saturday. I had plans to meet up with a friend who currently lives in Leicester due to being at university up there. She was home for the long weekend so we used the opportunity to catch up and seeing as I’d been desperate to see Spiderman 3 for a while it was lucky for me that my friend also wanted to see it. Somehow though, we always manage to get some freak or other near us. Last time we went out it was “Little-Mr-Not-Enough-Seats”, but this time is was the damn kid who kept saying to it’s father “I don’t get that”, to the point where you wanted to ram your empty ice cream container sideways into his mouth to shut him up. The father did have some decency though and kept shushing the kid. Oh and I called the kid “it” because at first I just couldn’t tell if the voice was male or female. Half way through the film the kid finally graced us with some peace and went to pee, and on its return I discovered it was male, only really evident from the choice of clothing he was wearing as the haircut did nothing for his gender confirmation. Hmmm, maybe I’m just not “down with the times”.
Despite the above I did enjoy the film, although I know others who didn’t. Afterwards we decided that we needed something else to do. My plan was to head down to Whippendell Woods for a short walk, but from not paying attention I missed my turning and ended up near our local park. Luckily for us we spotted that there was a fun fair on over the bank holiday so we parked up, walked up to the stalls…….and the heavens opened! I think they call that Sod’s Law. After ducking from stall to stall in a poor attempt to stay half dry we ended up in the casino bit, which was a waste of 10ps, but we spotted those machines which have the claw inside and you move the claw to grab a cuddly toy. Well I’m thinking I should have complained, because quite frankly the claw was duff! Be fair here, Barney has a reasonable sized head, which should make it easier for the claw to grasp right?! Wrong! It grasped over his body and just slid over his head! I was outraged!!! Barney should be mine!
So after that debacle we headed home, in time to catch the bulk of Dr Who and Any Dream Will Do. My parents had gone to visit my granddad in hospital so it was nice and quiet at home.
Talking of my granddad, he’s still in hospital after two weeks; he’s having a pacemaker fitted today so we’re all hoping that’ll help him. He’s been collapsing too many times and since he’s been in hospital he’s not feeling them come on anymore, resulting in him bruising himself quite badly. Luckily he’s not managed to break anything when he’s fallen.
Back to the weekend…….
Not much else to add really. The rest was all spent relaxing at home watching films and playing computer games. I managed to watch a film I’ve had for a few months called The Lake House, with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in. It’s a very touching film if you ever get the chance to watch it.
Not that I have anything to say mind you. I guess I could tell you about my weekend seeing as I haven’t done that already.
Friday night was its usual wildness of Eastenders, My Family, Have I Got News for You and Ugly Betty, followed by a timely sleep. Not sure I can take this pace much longer ;-) But at least I was half refreshed for Saturday. I had plans to meet up with a friend who currently lives in Leicester due to being at university up there. She was home for the long weekend so we used the opportunity to catch up and seeing as I’d been desperate to see Spiderman 3 for a while it was lucky for me that my friend also wanted to see it. Somehow though, we always manage to get some freak or other near us. Last time we went out it was “Little-Mr-Not-Enough-Seats”, but this time is was the damn kid who kept saying to it’s father “I don’t get that”, to the point where you wanted to ram your empty ice cream container sideways into his mouth to shut him up. The father did have some decency though and kept shushing the kid. Oh and I called the kid “it” because at first I just couldn’t tell if the voice was male or female. Half way through the film the kid finally graced us with some peace and went to pee, and on its return I discovered it was male, only really evident from the choice of clothing he was wearing as the haircut did nothing for his gender confirmation. Hmmm, maybe I’m just not “down with the times”.
Despite the above I did enjoy the film, although I know others who didn’t. Afterwards we decided that we needed something else to do. My plan was to head down to Whippendell Woods for a short walk, but from not paying attention I missed my turning and ended up near our local park. Luckily for us we spotted that there was a fun fair on over the bank holiday so we parked up, walked up to the stalls…….and the heavens opened! I think they call that Sod’s Law. After ducking from stall to stall in a poor attempt to stay half dry we ended up in the casino bit, which was a waste of 10ps, but we spotted those machines which have the claw inside and you move the claw to grab a cuddly toy. Well I’m thinking I should have complained, because quite frankly the claw was duff! Be fair here, Barney has a reasonable sized head, which should make it easier for the claw to grasp right?! Wrong! It grasped over his body and just slid over his head! I was outraged!!! Barney should be mine!
So after that debacle we headed home, in time to catch the bulk of Dr Who and Any Dream Will Do. My parents had gone to visit my granddad in hospital so it was nice and quiet at home.
Talking of my granddad, he’s still in hospital after two weeks; he’s having a pacemaker fitted today so we’re all hoping that’ll help him. He’s been collapsing too many times and since he’s been in hospital he’s not feeling them come on anymore, resulting in him bruising himself quite badly. Luckily he’s not managed to break anything when he’s fallen.
Back to the weekend…….
Not much else to add really. The rest was all spent relaxing at home watching films and playing computer games. I managed to watch a film I’ve had for a few months called The Lake House, with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in. It’s a very touching film if you ever get the chance to watch it.
Tuesday 22 May 2007
Friends? Think again!
This morning saw me wake up in yet another bad mood; despite my excitement at potentially attending the opening night of Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre in July (which reminds me to book the tickets!). I scowled my way into work whilst hurling expletives at anyone who dared to try and cut me up. Don’t try and blame it on tiredness either! I had a wonderful eleven hours of sleep last night. Bliss.
So I’m sat at my desk, pretending to work, and Fatty* came over to talk to the bloke that sits in front of me. Now, I thought I got on ok with the bloke opposite but I was to be proved oh so wrong. Yesterday he pretty much had the last straw with me by calling me “Sticky” for the umpteenth time. I don’t particularly like people drawing attention to my obvious disability let alone then calling me names relating to it. Once or twice maybe it’s remotely amusing, but when it gets to the stage where he doesn’t use my name at all anymore I start to get piddled. If you know me then you’ll know I’m not one for confrontation. I’d rather just not say anything and walk away from a situation and fester than actually say anything. So this week I can’t really be bothered to say anything at all to the bloke. This morning when Fatty came over to talk to him they embarked on a bitch fest. And I thought women were bad. I was sat quietly with both earphones in, Michael Bublé crooning in my ears, minding my own business, when they started whispering. So I decided I was going to listen. Discreetly I hit the pause button and Michael obediently stopped serenading me. Even though at the time he was singing that he was my man I had to stop him briefly!
So I’m listening, and I see a nod out of the corner of my eye aimed in my direction and I hear “she does my head in”. Hmmm, charmed. Intrigued, I was determined to hear some more. The tirade of abuse had only just started. After branding one of the guys in the team “useless” they then moved onto the engineers. He was targeted as a “useless c**t with an over inflated opinion of himself.” Well, it’s always good to know where you stand with people. Not altogether sure what to do with any of the above information.
Here’s a sobering thought though that puts everything into perspective. A friend of mine witnessed a friend die this week. My friend was in her car with her boyfriend, and her friend was travelling with her boyfriend in his car when they decided to overtake my friend’s car. For some reason he thought it was a good idea to overtake near a bend and ended up smashing into a Galaxy. The boyfriend of the girl who died escaped with broken ribs, wrist, arm and bruising in every conceivable place. "Luckily" for him he also doesn’t remember a thing about what happened. But sadly, it took a trip to the morgue for him to believe that he’d killed his girlfriend of four years. He’s now sedated in hospital and keeps checking his phone for messages from him girlfriend. She was only 16.
All in the blink of an eye.
*unfortunately not his real name. I just cannot stand this excuse for a human being, for reasons I cannot post on here.
So I’m sat at my desk, pretending to work, and Fatty* came over to talk to the bloke that sits in front of me. Now, I thought I got on ok with the bloke opposite but I was to be proved oh so wrong. Yesterday he pretty much had the last straw with me by calling me “Sticky” for the umpteenth time. I don’t particularly like people drawing attention to my obvious disability let alone then calling me names relating to it. Once or twice maybe it’s remotely amusing, but when it gets to the stage where he doesn’t use my name at all anymore I start to get piddled. If you know me then you’ll know I’m not one for confrontation. I’d rather just not say anything and walk away from a situation and fester than actually say anything. So this week I can’t really be bothered to say anything at all to the bloke. This morning when Fatty came over to talk to him they embarked on a bitch fest. And I thought women were bad. I was sat quietly with both earphones in, Michael Bublé crooning in my ears, minding my own business, when they started whispering. So I decided I was going to listen. Discreetly I hit the pause button and Michael obediently stopped serenading me. Even though at the time he was singing that he was my man I had to stop him briefly!
So I’m listening, and I see a nod out of the corner of my eye aimed in my direction and I hear “she does my head in”. Hmmm, charmed. Intrigued, I was determined to hear some more. The tirade of abuse had only just started. After branding one of the guys in the team “useless” they then moved onto the engineers. He was targeted as a “useless c**t with an over inflated opinion of himself.” Well, it’s always good to know where you stand with people. Not altogether sure what to do with any of the above information.
Here’s a sobering thought though that puts everything into perspective. A friend of mine witnessed a friend die this week. My friend was in her car with her boyfriend, and her friend was travelling with her boyfriend in his car when they decided to overtake my friend’s car. For some reason he thought it was a good idea to overtake near a bend and ended up smashing into a Galaxy. The boyfriend of the girl who died escaped with broken ribs, wrist, arm and bruising in every conceivable place. "Luckily" for him he also doesn’t remember a thing about what happened. But sadly, it took a trip to the morgue for him to believe that he’d killed his girlfriend of four years. He’s now sedated in hospital and keeps checking his phone for messages from him girlfriend. She was only 16.
All in the blink of an eye.
*unfortunately not his real name. I just cannot stand this excuse for a human being, for reasons I cannot post on here.
Thursday 10 May 2007
They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To
When I was younger we had a great array of kids’ programmes to watch. The main ones I remember being Bagpuss, Button Moon, Cockleshell Bay, Tom and Jerry, Looney Toons, Fraggle Rock and Mr Ben. My all time favourite though was Sooty.
The loveable yellow bear still manages to have me giggling away. Recently I came across a few clips on You Tube. Granted Soo was a little annoying, and I think Sweep was somewhat underestimated! He manages to steel the show on a few occasions.
The best clip I’ve come across recently is the one below of Sherlock Sooty, in three parts. Unfortunately the sound and picture aren’t that great.
The show seemed to go down hill when Matthew Corbett handed over the gloves.
Today’s children’s television is full of people dressed up in fat suits making unintelligible noises whilst jumping around as if high on some illegal drug or other.
And they had the cheek to ban Tom and Jerry for being too violent…….
The loveable yellow bear still manages to have me giggling away. Recently I came across a few clips on You Tube. Granted Soo was a little annoying, and I think Sweep was somewhat underestimated! He manages to steel the show on a few occasions.
The best clip I’ve come across recently is the one below of Sherlock Sooty, in three parts. Unfortunately the sound and picture aren’t that great.
The show seemed to go down hill when Matthew Corbett handed over the gloves.
Today’s children’s television is full of people dressed up in fat suits making unintelligible noises whilst jumping around as if high on some illegal drug or other.
And they had the cheek to ban Tom and Jerry for being too violent…….
Wednesday 9 May 2007
Bank Holiday Madness
I’m usually one for everyone having a Bank Holiday weekend off, except when it comes to me needing something, then everyone except me should be working! I’m nice like that! I’ll tell you why……
Saturday morning was nice and peaceful. My parents had gone away in the early hours for a few days down in Lymington and Exbury Gardens so there was no one running around banging doors, shouting outside my bedroom door and demanding that I be up for when they get back from shopping. Bliss. I’d planned to visit my grandparents Saturday afternoon so I made the most of a lazy morning and early afternoon.
I headed down to my grandparents via the motorway, as I’d got a bit too comfortable in front of the telly so needed to make up some time. Unfortunately there were road works and a 50mph speed limit all the way which prevented me from making too much time. The added addition of average-speed speed cameras did nothing to help. It was at this stage I was cursing the company I work for, as they’re responsible for the said road works! Eventually I made it down there taking off roughly 15 minutes had I decided to take the scenic route. I promptly pulled in the wrong entrance to their road which meant I couldn’t park properly so had to turn around at the turning circle half way up and come back round. As I pulled up in front of my grandparents drive my aunt appeared and offered to move her car. Now I’m grateful she didn’t. It was at this point I glanced down and noticed a bright orange warning light on my display. Thinking it’d probably be just water or something easily sorted I tried not to let it bother me. Who was I kidding?! It was niggling at me something awful, so eventually we got my aunt’s manual out of her car and came to the conclusion that it was the engine management warning light. The blurb underneath said that the car shouldn’t be driven and should be taken immediately to an approved dealer for investigation. Wanting further clarification that my baby was about to die on me I rang the breakdown people for advice. I should also add in here that there were a few stressed out texts sent to a couple of people, so I apologise for being such a woman, and a blonde woman at that!
The breakdown people confirmed that it wasn’t a great idea to drive it home, but as I wasn’t ready to go home yet I could ring back later and they’d come and recover me. So I tried to enjoy the rest of the day. It was great to see everyone, especially as it was my Nan’s birthday and I hadn’t seen my aunt since her wedding reception last year. My granddad wasn’t too perky when I got there; he’s looking a bit frailer these days and is worried about his operation tomorrow (10th).
We decided that I’d call the breakdown people just before 8 so that I stood a chance of getting home before dark. I wasn’t expecting them to be there within an hour seeing as where my grandparents live is on the borders of London. Nevertheless half an hour later we see a big low-loader pull up half way down the road. Watching out of the living room window I was horrified to see a damn fine looking man walking up towards the house. My aunt answered the door to him, after a swift reminder from her mother that she’s a married woman! He had a look around the car, started it up, revved it, turned it off, turned it back on again, had a look under the bonnet and said that he could see nothing immediately wrong. His suggestion was that it could possibly be one of the sensors malfunctioning. Anyway he said it was wise not to drive, even though it did feel ok, you never know what damage you’re doing.
Turns out his name’s Colin. Long old shift he was doing too, from 7pm till 7am the next morning. We had a nice chat on the way back home. He started telling me how he’d split with his missus a little while back and it had been messy as they’d bought a place together. He offered me some good advice about what I should do next with the car. I didn’t want to bother my parents whilst they were on holiday so I was extremely grateful for the help he gave. Apparently I needed to get it hooked up to a diagnostics machine so they could tell where the problem was and sort it. After he off loaded my baby from the back of his truck he joined me at the front door and gave me a number of a friend who runs a garage. He said I should tell them that he gave me their number and that I’d be “looked after”. He said it’s all too easy to get screwed over these days with mechanics.
Anyway, on Sunday I tried the Toyota garage again after being told Saturday that my message would be passed on. No one was answering any phone in the place so I gave up and tried again Monday. Again nothing. I sent my boss a text message so that he was aware I had issues and might not be in work the following morning. Luckily he’s pretty understanding and just said to give him a call when I knew what was happening. It was Tuesday morning before I finally got though to anyone properly. I’d decided that my best bet was going to be Toyota with diagnosing the problem so called them first. There was a very helpful man on the other end saying that technically he had nothing till next week appointment wise, but if I wanted to bring it in that morning before 10 I could leave it there for the day and they’d call when it was ready to be picked up. He also said that if the car felt ok to drive and wasn’t juddering or misfiring it would be ok to drive it down to the garage.
So I headed off and arrived about 9.20. It’s a new dealership which is pretty much just a sales garage and they farm their mechanics off to a site about 3 quarters of a mile away. I was dealt with by a young chap, full of snot and a stinking cold but he was pleasant. I decided to try it on a bit and say that I had been invited to wait if it wasn’t going to take too long, but also added that I could go away again if it was necessary. He went away and came back again and informed me that my car would be taken down about 10.30 and I could wait the couple of hours it would take. I got installed with a magazine and was made a cup of tea. You have to love Toyota garages and their new initiative of having “hostesses”. They run around after you, stopping short of plumping your cushions…..mainly because they don’t have cushions on their chairs!
Ten minutes later I was rudely disturbed by the young chap telling me that they were taking my car down now to be “diagnosed” and it would be about half an hour. I settled back down again to await the bad new. Eventually he came back, sat down (it must be serious!) and said that it was a problem with one of the sensors in the exhaust malfunctioning. To replace it would cost £185. I think I either had a coronary or went into shock at this stage as I agreed to pay it! He assured me that had I gone on driving it and they’d just reset the light eventually the catalytic converter would have gone then I’d be in even more expensive trouble. He said they had the part in stock but it’d take another hour or so before they could fit it.
As a point of reference this is what the replaced sensor should look like.
http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbimage/50333433/Oxygen_Sensor.jpg
And this is what mine looked like when they took it out.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Cath4G4/Photo-0011.jpg
The end is totally black when it shouldn't be. It should be the metallic colour still. It's covered thick in carbon and this was causing it to malfunction. Colin was right! The sensor couldn't get up to the temperature that it needed to, to operate properly
Around 11.40 I finally left! They’d replaced the sensor and completed a safety check, noting that I needed two new front tyres as they were a bit too close to the legal limit. I declined his offer to have them replaced there and then!
I was in no rush to get to work so I headed home for a while and made some lunch. I eventually rolled into work just before 2pm. No point rushing in!
My car has more go in it now. He was more than happy to speed away from the junction outside the office yesterday evening. I just have to start taking better care of him. All hail Colin and his low-loader!
Better paid job, here I come!
Saturday morning was nice and peaceful. My parents had gone away in the early hours for a few days down in Lymington and Exbury Gardens so there was no one running around banging doors, shouting outside my bedroom door and demanding that I be up for when they get back from shopping. Bliss. I’d planned to visit my grandparents Saturday afternoon so I made the most of a lazy morning and early afternoon.
I headed down to my grandparents via the motorway, as I’d got a bit too comfortable in front of the telly so needed to make up some time. Unfortunately there were road works and a 50mph speed limit all the way which prevented me from making too much time. The added addition of average-speed speed cameras did nothing to help. It was at this stage I was cursing the company I work for, as they’re responsible for the said road works! Eventually I made it down there taking off roughly 15 minutes had I decided to take the scenic route. I promptly pulled in the wrong entrance to their road which meant I couldn’t park properly so had to turn around at the turning circle half way up and come back round. As I pulled up in front of my grandparents drive my aunt appeared and offered to move her car. Now I’m grateful she didn’t. It was at this point I glanced down and noticed a bright orange warning light on my display. Thinking it’d probably be just water or something easily sorted I tried not to let it bother me. Who was I kidding?! It was niggling at me something awful, so eventually we got my aunt’s manual out of her car and came to the conclusion that it was the engine management warning light. The blurb underneath said that the car shouldn’t be driven and should be taken immediately to an approved dealer for investigation. Wanting further clarification that my baby was about to die on me I rang the breakdown people for advice. I should also add in here that there were a few stressed out texts sent to a couple of people, so I apologise for being such a woman, and a blonde woman at that!
The breakdown people confirmed that it wasn’t a great idea to drive it home, but as I wasn’t ready to go home yet I could ring back later and they’d come and recover me. So I tried to enjoy the rest of the day. It was great to see everyone, especially as it was my Nan’s birthday and I hadn’t seen my aunt since her wedding reception last year. My granddad wasn’t too perky when I got there; he’s looking a bit frailer these days and is worried about his operation tomorrow (10th).
We decided that I’d call the breakdown people just before 8 so that I stood a chance of getting home before dark. I wasn’t expecting them to be there within an hour seeing as where my grandparents live is on the borders of London. Nevertheless half an hour later we see a big low-loader pull up half way down the road. Watching out of the living room window I was horrified to see a damn fine looking man walking up towards the house. My aunt answered the door to him, after a swift reminder from her mother that she’s a married woman! He had a look around the car, started it up, revved it, turned it off, turned it back on again, had a look under the bonnet and said that he could see nothing immediately wrong. His suggestion was that it could possibly be one of the sensors malfunctioning. Anyway he said it was wise not to drive, even though it did feel ok, you never know what damage you’re doing.
Turns out his name’s Colin. Long old shift he was doing too, from 7pm till 7am the next morning. We had a nice chat on the way back home. He started telling me how he’d split with his missus a little while back and it had been messy as they’d bought a place together. He offered me some good advice about what I should do next with the car. I didn’t want to bother my parents whilst they were on holiday so I was extremely grateful for the help he gave. Apparently I needed to get it hooked up to a diagnostics machine so they could tell where the problem was and sort it. After he off loaded my baby from the back of his truck he joined me at the front door and gave me a number of a friend who runs a garage. He said I should tell them that he gave me their number and that I’d be “looked after”. He said it’s all too easy to get screwed over these days with mechanics.
Anyway, on Sunday I tried the Toyota garage again after being told Saturday that my message would be passed on. No one was answering any phone in the place so I gave up and tried again Monday. Again nothing. I sent my boss a text message so that he was aware I had issues and might not be in work the following morning. Luckily he’s pretty understanding and just said to give him a call when I knew what was happening. It was Tuesday morning before I finally got though to anyone properly. I’d decided that my best bet was going to be Toyota with diagnosing the problem so called them first. There was a very helpful man on the other end saying that technically he had nothing till next week appointment wise, but if I wanted to bring it in that morning before 10 I could leave it there for the day and they’d call when it was ready to be picked up. He also said that if the car felt ok to drive and wasn’t juddering or misfiring it would be ok to drive it down to the garage.
So I headed off and arrived about 9.20. It’s a new dealership which is pretty much just a sales garage and they farm their mechanics off to a site about 3 quarters of a mile away. I was dealt with by a young chap, full of snot and a stinking cold but he was pleasant. I decided to try it on a bit and say that I had been invited to wait if it wasn’t going to take too long, but also added that I could go away again if it was necessary. He went away and came back again and informed me that my car would be taken down about 10.30 and I could wait the couple of hours it would take. I got installed with a magazine and was made a cup of tea. You have to love Toyota garages and their new initiative of having “hostesses”. They run around after you, stopping short of plumping your cushions…..mainly because they don’t have cushions on their chairs!
Ten minutes later I was rudely disturbed by the young chap telling me that they were taking my car down now to be “diagnosed” and it would be about half an hour. I settled back down again to await the bad new. Eventually he came back, sat down (it must be serious!) and said that it was a problem with one of the sensors in the exhaust malfunctioning. To replace it would cost £185. I think I either had a coronary or went into shock at this stage as I agreed to pay it! He assured me that had I gone on driving it and they’d just reset the light eventually the catalytic converter would have gone then I’d be in even more expensive trouble. He said they had the part in stock but it’d take another hour or so before they could fit it.
As a point of reference this is what the replaced sensor should look like.
http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbimage/50333433/Oxygen_Sensor.jpg
And this is what mine looked like when they took it out.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/Cath4G4/Photo-0011.jpg
The end is totally black when it shouldn't be. It should be the metallic colour still. It's covered thick in carbon and this was causing it to malfunction. Colin was right! The sensor couldn't get up to the temperature that it needed to, to operate properly
Around 11.40 I finally left! They’d replaced the sensor and completed a safety check, noting that I needed two new front tyres as they were a bit too close to the legal limit. I declined his offer to have them replaced there and then!
I was in no rush to get to work so I headed home for a while and made some lunch. I eventually rolled into work just before 2pm. No point rushing in!
My car has more go in it now. He was more than happy to speed away from the junction outside the office yesterday evening. I just have to start taking better care of him. All hail Colin and his low-loader!
Better paid job, here I come!
Wednesday 2 May 2007
Was it Normal to Feel That Nervous?!
This morning I took my car in for his MOT. I use a local garage which started life as just a place for tyres, and reasonably cheap tyres at that. They’re pleasant enough in there and there’s a small waiting room with a few trashy magazines to keep you occupied whilst you wait. So I was sat reading the latest copy of Now! magazine when I heard my little car being started up. It was at that point I suddenly felt really nervous, had the urge to tell him to be careful, and felt like telling him my car doesn’t like heights so not to hoist him up too far. It was at this point that I realised I need specialist help!
There’s a guy in there who pretty much always answers the phone when it rings, and he’s one of these people who irritates you with their phone answering tone. It’s half way between your stereotypical customer services bimbo and someone who’s been forced to answer a phone they really don’t want to, with an aggressive edge. After a few rounds of him answering the phone like that I was on the verge of offering him some training!
Finally I saw my car being backed out and being driven into the car park. The guy walks in and I suddenly feel like I did waiting for important test results at the hospital. Surely it’s not natural to feel that nervous?! The long and short of it all is that he passed. Whilst waiting for one of the guys to get change I noticed that they’ve branched into offering servicing now too, so that’s something to consider for when I get some money together for the happy occasion. I picked up a leaflet from them so it’ll be interesting to see how they compare with Toyota, where I usually go for servicing.
So I finally arrived in work at 10.30, a bit later than planned but so far no one’s said anything. I was half expecting the HR woman to come and ask but she hasn’t yet.
Now I need some painkillers, some food and some water (not necessarily in that order!) and I’m ready to pretend to work!
There’s a guy in there who pretty much always answers the phone when it rings, and he’s one of these people who irritates you with their phone answering tone. It’s half way between your stereotypical customer services bimbo and someone who’s been forced to answer a phone they really don’t want to, with an aggressive edge. After a few rounds of him answering the phone like that I was on the verge of offering him some training!
Finally I saw my car being backed out and being driven into the car park. The guy walks in and I suddenly feel like I did waiting for important test results at the hospital. Surely it’s not natural to feel that nervous?! The long and short of it all is that he passed. Whilst waiting for one of the guys to get change I noticed that they’ve branched into offering servicing now too, so that’s something to consider for when I get some money together for the happy occasion. I picked up a leaflet from them so it’ll be interesting to see how they compare with Toyota, where I usually go for servicing.
So I finally arrived in work at 10.30, a bit later than planned but so far no one’s said anything. I was half expecting the HR woman to come and ask but she hasn’t yet.
Now I need some painkillers, some food and some water (not necessarily in that order!) and I’m ready to pretend to work!
Thursday 26 April 2007
Feetgazer Gig
Last night was fantastic. I got into London just after six where I met up with a friend who was coming to the gig with me, then we made our way to Camden via a very hot and sticky tube. I really couldn’t do that every day, it’d drive me nuts.
We found a Wagamamas near where the gig was being held so decided to eat in there. The food is a bit fancy for me, but tasty nonetheless. The one thing I do begrudge though is going out to eat with someone who wants to split the bill dead in half when you’ve just made it blindingly clear that you don’t have any spare pennies. Considering I’d paid £6.50 for the car park at the train station so get us home safely, then £12.50 for a travel card and £12 for the tickets (all three days before pay day!) I wasn’t in the mood to split things down the middle. Especially as I’d only come away with a cheapish main course, a diet coke and an ice lolly in comparison with her not-so-cheap main course, expensive fancy desert, beer and two mugs of green tea. Humph!
Anyway! Rants aside.
Eventually we walked down to and found Dingwalls. It’s not all that easy to find as it has Jongleurs written on the door! Intelligent, I must say. It was a bit dark inside but the bar was relatively close to the door, so it was a case of sniff out the bevies and see who was on stage.
The first guy to play was a young artist called James Murray. I think we must have missed his first song but the rest of his set was amazing. At the end of his set he said he had a MySpace page so I decided to look him up when I got home.
He was the only act I managed to catch the name of. There was another one on between him and Feetgazer but I failed to catch their name. Looking at the list provided by Dingwalls prior to the evening I can’t even deduce from that who the other acts were as none of them sound familiar and James isn’t even listed!
Finally it was time for Feetgazer to get themselves set up, which they took their time doing! Feetgazer’s lead singer is a guy called Richie Wermerling and he’s the reason I wanted to head down there and see them perform. Richie used to be the lead singer back in the 90s of a group called Let Loose so I’ve always had a bit of a fan girl thing going on for him, but this was to be my first time seeing him live.
I wasn’t disappointed. They were fantastic, full of energy, enthusiasm and genuinely looked like they belonged on stage together. They opened up with Wonderland, and then went into the newer song Smokescreens and Planes. Beggars and Thieves followed with You and Me Against the World after. Finally my two favourite tracks were played; She Rocks and Sexy Woman. They’re both cracking lively tracks which are guaranteed to get things tapping! At one stage during She Rocks, Richie decided to jump into the crowd at the front of the stage and started clapping. He almost landed on me which I wasn’t too amused with! If you have access to my videos on MySpace they’re worth checking out to see how they perform live.
All in all it was a great night and I met some new people. One is a woman who added me to her MySpace from Richie’s page. Turns out that she knows my friend Jules from their days of stalking Take That! It’s a very small world indeed.
We found a Wagamamas near where the gig was being held so decided to eat in there. The food is a bit fancy for me, but tasty nonetheless. The one thing I do begrudge though is going out to eat with someone who wants to split the bill dead in half when you’ve just made it blindingly clear that you don’t have any spare pennies. Considering I’d paid £6.50 for the car park at the train station so get us home safely, then £12.50 for a travel card and £12 for the tickets (all three days before pay day!) I wasn’t in the mood to split things down the middle. Especially as I’d only come away with a cheapish main course, a diet coke and an ice lolly in comparison with her not-so-cheap main course, expensive fancy desert, beer and two mugs of green tea. Humph!
Anyway! Rants aside.
Eventually we walked down to and found Dingwalls. It’s not all that easy to find as it has Jongleurs written on the door! Intelligent, I must say. It was a bit dark inside but the bar was relatively close to the door, so it was a case of sniff out the bevies and see who was on stage.
The first guy to play was a young artist called James Murray. I think we must have missed his first song but the rest of his set was amazing. At the end of his set he said he had a MySpace page so I decided to look him up when I got home.
He was the only act I managed to catch the name of. There was another one on between him and Feetgazer but I failed to catch their name. Looking at the list provided by Dingwalls prior to the evening I can’t even deduce from that who the other acts were as none of them sound familiar and James isn’t even listed!
Finally it was time for Feetgazer to get themselves set up, which they took their time doing! Feetgazer’s lead singer is a guy called Richie Wermerling and he’s the reason I wanted to head down there and see them perform. Richie used to be the lead singer back in the 90s of a group called Let Loose so I’ve always had a bit of a fan girl thing going on for him, but this was to be my first time seeing him live.
I wasn’t disappointed. They were fantastic, full of energy, enthusiasm and genuinely looked like they belonged on stage together. They opened up with Wonderland, and then went into the newer song Smokescreens and Planes. Beggars and Thieves followed with You and Me Against the World after. Finally my two favourite tracks were played; She Rocks and Sexy Woman. They’re both cracking lively tracks which are guaranteed to get things tapping! At one stage during She Rocks, Richie decided to jump into the crowd at the front of the stage and started clapping. He almost landed on me which I wasn’t too amused with! If you have access to my videos on MySpace they’re worth checking out to see how they perform live.
All in all it was a great night and I met some new people. One is a woman who added me to her MySpace from Richie’s page. Turns out that she knows my friend Jules from their days of stalking Take That! It’s a very small world indeed.
Wednesday 25 April 2007
I Think They Call It “Sod’s Law”
I’ve been patiently waiting for today for at least a couple of months. Now it’s here and I feel rubbish. I’ve been up and down for a while, more down than up to be honest. Today just seemed to top it all though.
My body obviously wasn’t content with me have a flare up of my arthritis, nor was it content with a slight cold and hayfever. It needed something else to give me an “edge”. So today it decided to add dizziness to the pile. Not just normal stand-up-rush-to-the-head dizziness, but proper full on falling-over-can’t-stand-up-for-love-nor-money dizziness. I got out of bed and immediately fell onto the floor. Not the best place to land as I narrowly missed hitting my head on the door as I fell. I hauled myself up and grabbed on to everything to make my way into the bathroom. My room is right at the top of the stairs, so as soon as I step out of my door I’m on the top step. Dangerous at any time but in the 4 years I’ve been in that room I’ve yet to fall down the stairs! I’ve probably cursed myself now! Soon as I let go of my bedroom door I was back on the floor again, this time right at the top of the stairs. I tried to get back up but that was unsuccessful. After a few more attempts I made it into the bathroom. By this point I was feeling down right sick but managed to make it into the bath for a shower after sitting on the floor for a while trying to get my head straight.
I just can’t attribute it to anything. I ate properly yesterday and it was only 6 in the morning so my sugar levels should still have been ok. By the time I needed to leave for work things were still spinning a bit, but not so much that I couldn’t drive; even though I did feel sick whenever I accelerated. As a result I think I annoyed half of Watford by driving at 25 mph all the way up to MX.
I feel marginally better now. I’ve eaten, and I’ve drunk a fair bit, although I still feel dizzy I feel better able to cope with it.
Sod’s Law…….because I’m going out tonight. I have been looking forward to this for ages. I’m off into Camden to see Richie Wermerling play his first proper gig for 12 years tonight and I can’t wait! His new music is fantastic, and now that G4 have split I feel the need to find myself a new stalking subject! Poor man!
My body obviously wasn’t content with me have a flare up of my arthritis, nor was it content with a slight cold and hayfever. It needed something else to give me an “edge”. So today it decided to add dizziness to the pile. Not just normal stand-up-rush-to-the-head dizziness, but proper full on falling-over-can’t-stand-up-for-love-nor-money dizziness. I got out of bed and immediately fell onto the floor. Not the best place to land as I narrowly missed hitting my head on the door as I fell. I hauled myself up and grabbed on to everything to make my way into the bathroom. My room is right at the top of the stairs, so as soon as I step out of my door I’m on the top step. Dangerous at any time but in the 4 years I’ve been in that room I’ve yet to fall down the stairs! I’ve probably cursed myself now! Soon as I let go of my bedroom door I was back on the floor again, this time right at the top of the stairs. I tried to get back up but that was unsuccessful. After a few more attempts I made it into the bathroom. By this point I was feeling down right sick but managed to make it into the bath for a shower after sitting on the floor for a while trying to get my head straight.
I just can’t attribute it to anything. I ate properly yesterday and it was only 6 in the morning so my sugar levels should still have been ok. By the time I needed to leave for work things were still spinning a bit, but not so much that I couldn’t drive; even though I did feel sick whenever I accelerated. As a result I think I annoyed half of Watford by driving at 25 mph all the way up to MX.
I feel marginally better now. I’ve eaten, and I’ve drunk a fair bit, although I still feel dizzy I feel better able to cope with it.
Sod’s Law…….because I’m going out tonight. I have been looking forward to this for ages. I’m off into Camden to see Richie Wermerling play his first proper gig for 12 years tonight and I can’t wait! His new music is fantastic, and now that G4 have split I feel the need to find myself a new stalking subject! Poor man!
Monday 23 April 2007
Just another manic Monday.....
After being away last weekend I was happy to have a weekend at home to myself and not being woken up by banging on the walls! Mind you I’d have swapped a rendition of Tinkle Tinkle Little Star for being woken up by my mother shouting at my dad from the top of the stairs. My parents are incapable of letting me get some rest on a Saturday morning. Once they’d left to do some shopping I got up and put my washing on. Whilst I was going I cleaned the kitchen as I normally do on a Saturday morning. Its force of habit now and I start to get withdrawals if I can’t get to clean the sink especially. It’s oddly satisfying seeing a gleaming stainless steel sink shining up at you, so shiny in fact you can see your face in it. Literally. It’s my pride and joy on a Saturday morning and I’m devastated when the parentals come home and get it all wet and smeary! But for those few precious moments it’s perfect to the point you could eat your dinner off it! Not that I’d like to try though mind you!
This morning saw one of the worst days I’d had for a while. It started with barely any sleep last night as I was in a lot of pain with my hips and legs. I couldn’t take any painkillers as the ones that work have to be taken with food. I can’t attribute the pain to anything either really as I’d rested most of Sunday. Maybe that was the problem then. I was due to take my CSCS exam today and was booked in at 8am. Daft time to take any test if you ask me. Then I was worrying last night about where to park, but it turns out that the shopping centre close by opens its car parks at 7.30 in the morning so I didn’t have to worry in the end. From these car parks your only way out on foot is to go through the shopping centre itself, unless you particularly want to risk life and limb by walking down the car exit points. So I took my time walking through the shopping centre as I was still 25 minutes early and the test centre was only a two minute walk from the entrance of the shopping centre. I reached the end by Waterstones book shop and prepared to go out after browsing their window display until I saw a guy pushing frantically at the doors. Turns out they were still locked so I couldn’t have got out anyway! I wasn’t too worried as I’d seen a couple of people working in the shops already so thought that the security guard couldn’t be too far behind to open up. When he did arrive he gave me a weird look. He was probably wondering if I’d slept in there all night! Anyway I finally got out and made my way up to the test centre.
Once there a whole new nightmare began! I buzzed on the buzzer and the guy at the other end told me to pull the door hard towards myself. Easier said than done! My arthritis was giving me grief in my hands too so I didn’t really have the strength to pull on anything, let alone a dodgy door. After unsuccessfully pulling at the door for a minute I gave in and buzzed again. This time he said he’d send someone down to help me much to my relief.
I saw a guy coming to my rescue and he had a hard enough time getting the door open too, so thankfully it wasn’t just me being a wimp. Finally I got upstairs to the test centre and waited to be called in.
To cut an even longer story short I failed the exam! There were a few areas that I need to look at but they don’t tell you which questions you got wrong so it’s a case of guess work, or re-reading the whole book. So far no one in here has asked about it, so I’ll keep it that way! My boss is so forgetful that he’s forgotten about it too, plus he wasn’t in when I came in so he didn’t even know that I was later in. He rolled in an hour and a half after me, claiming he’d been at the dentist.
So the rest of the day so far has been spent trying to look busy, emailing Bernie, and sorting out Hardip after I received a text from him asking where I was. Turns out there’d been a bit of confusion over something that went out on Friday. To quote, “thing is, when you’re not here I have to work with the incompetent muppets who think they know more about document control than they actually do.” I think in his own way he was telling me that he missed me, hahaha! He had asked the guy who sits opposite if he knew what I’d done with this and his reply was “well she’s usually sh!t hot on sending out stuff so I imagine its fine.” Now why can’t people compliment you to your face?! I won’t bite……too hard!
This morning saw one of the worst days I’d had for a while. It started with barely any sleep last night as I was in a lot of pain with my hips and legs. I couldn’t take any painkillers as the ones that work have to be taken with food. I can’t attribute the pain to anything either really as I’d rested most of Sunday. Maybe that was the problem then. I was due to take my CSCS exam today and was booked in at 8am. Daft time to take any test if you ask me. Then I was worrying last night about where to park, but it turns out that the shopping centre close by opens its car parks at 7.30 in the morning so I didn’t have to worry in the end. From these car parks your only way out on foot is to go through the shopping centre itself, unless you particularly want to risk life and limb by walking down the car exit points. So I took my time walking through the shopping centre as I was still 25 minutes early and the test centre was only a two minute walk from the entrance of the shopping centre. I reached the end by Waterstones book shop and prepared to go out after browsing their window display until I saw a guy pushing frantically at the doors. Turns out they were still locked so I couldn’t have got out anyway! I wasn’t too worried as I’d seen a couple of people working in the shops already so thought that the security guard couldn’t be too far behind to open up. When he did arrive he gave me a weird look. He was probably wondering if I’d slept in there all night! Anyway I finally got out and made my way up to the test centre.
Once there a whole new nightmare began! I buzzed on the buzzer and the guy at the other end told me to pull the door hard towards myself. Easier said than done! My arthritis was giving me grief in my hands too so I didn’t really have the strength to pull on anything, let alone a dodgy door. After unsuccessfully pulling at the door for a minute I gave in and buzzed again. This time he said he’d send someone down to help me much to my relief.
I saw a guy coming to my rescue and he had a hard enough time getting the door open too, so thankfully it wasn’t just me being a wimp. Finally I got upstairs to the test centre and waited to be called in.
To cut an even longer story short I failed the exam! There were a few areas that I need to look at but they don’t tell you which questions you got wrong so it’s a case of guess work, or re-reading the whole book. So far no one in here has asked about it, so I’ll keep it that way! My boss is so forgetful that he’s forgotten about it too, plus he wasn’t in when I came in so he didn’t even know that I was later in. He rolled in an hour and a half after me, claiming he’d been at the dentist.
So the rest of the day so far has been spent trying to look busy, emailing Bernie, and sorting out Hardip after I received a text from him asking where I was. Turns out there’d been a bit of confusion over something that went out on Friday. To quote, “thing is, when you’re not here I have to work with the incompetent muppets who think they know more about document control than they actually do.” I think in his own way he was telling me that he missed me, hahaha! He had asked the guy who sits opposite if he knew what I’d done with this and his reply was “well she’s usually sh!t hot on sending out stuff so I imagine its fine.” Now why can’t people compliment you to your face?! I won’t bite……too hard!
Tuesday 17 April 2007
Home, James
Hels was up early to take Christopher to nursery whilst Pete was waiting in for the boiler man to come. I took this chance to have a shower and pack all my bits up so we could be straight away when it was time to catch my train. When I stayed with them last year we had a mad dash to the station so I could catch my train. Otherwise it would have been a good few hours wait till the next one!
I wasn’t due on the train till just after 1pm so we watched a film together then I played with Beth whilst Hels printed me out a set of the newest family photos. We discovered that Beth loves a little multi coloured elephant from her car seat so we brought that in and it kept her amused for a good hour, till hunger kicked in and insanity was restored!
We arrived at the station in plenty of time so there was no mad dash over the bridge to the other platform thankfully. I said my goodbyes and made my way up to the station. Virgin Trains staff are always so pleasant. They’re more than happy to offer to carry your case for you; mind you I was struggling with a suitcase and an across the body medium sized bag hobbling along with a crutch supporting one side of me.
I finally arrived back in sunny Watford and jumped straight into a cab at the station. I was pleased there were plenty there as I was feeling nice and relaxed and didn’t fancy trying to trek home on foot.
So that was my time away. Oddly enough I did feel much better for being away, I felt relaxed, and dare I say it……happy. Least, happier anyway. It made me realise that there is more to life than just working, coming home, flaking out and going to the doctors or hospital.
I wasn’t due on the train till just after 1pm so we watched a film together then I played with Beth whilst Hels printed me out a set of the newest family photos. We discovered that Beth loves a little multi coloured elephant from her car seat so we brought that in and it kept her amused for a good hour, till hunger kicked in and insanity was restored!
We arrived at the station in plenty of time so there was no mad dash over the bridge to the other platform thankfully. I said my goodbyes and made my way up to the station. Virgin Trains staff are always so pleasant. They’re more than happy to offer to carry your case for you; mind you I was struggling with a suitcase and an across the body medium sized bag hobbling along with a crutch supporting one side of me.
I finally arrived back in sunny Watford and jumped straight into a cab at the station. I was pleased there were plenty there as I was feeling nice and relaxed and didn’t fancy trying to trek home on foot.
So that was my time away. Oddly enough I did feel much better for being away, I felt relaxed, and dare I say it……happy. Least, happier anyway. It made me realise that there is more to life than just working, coming home, flaking out and going to the doctors or hospital.
Monday 16 April 2007
Penultimate Day
Today is my last full day with the clan. It’s over far too quick. Beth is still suffering with a cold so refuses to have much feed. Still, we managed to settle her and take a trip to John Lewis to get a birthday present for Pete. We thought this would be a hard task but headed to the electrical section to see if we could find a new toy for Pete to play with. Sorry, gadget, not toy! Anyway, pretty quickly we came across some funky looking photo frames. They were no ordinary photo frames though…..they were USB ones. You plug them into the USB port of your computer, load in a memory card (I think!) and all your photos are played on the screen of the frame. Quite funky I thought! It was all a bit too easy, the ideal gift, Bethan still asleep…… we decided to head back over to Sainsburys to get something for lunch. We ended up with a big fat baguette and a pack of bacon, heaven! By the time we got home Bethan had just started to stir and was ready for a small bit of lunch herself. By the time we’d finished and watched a film it was time to pick Christopher up from nursery, stopping off on the way to pick up his prescription and drop it off at the chemist. It’s one heck of a walk up there. It’s all uphill on the way so I was cream crackered by the time we reached the nursery. Hels went in whilst I looked after Bethan outside. I saw a little blue flash come past one window and stop at the window next to me. Christopher had come darting through the nursery and was grinning at me through the window! On the trip back home (thankfully downhill all the way!) we stopped a good number of times so that Christopher could look over some railings and see the stream which run parallel to the main road. I was grateful for the breaks to be honest, my arthritis was playing up and I was shattered from 3 nights of not going to bed before 11.30. You wouldn’t believe I turn 26 in June would you!
Finally we made it home and later we all collapsed in front of the telly with our sausage and mash to watch the last episode of Life on Mars. I’d seen it before but was always willing to watch it again, if not for the excellent story lines then for the eye candy!
Finally we made it home and later we all collapsed in front of the telly with our sausage and mash to watch the last episode of Life on Mars. I’d seen it before but was always willing to watch it again, if not for the excellent story lines then for the eye candy!
Sunday 15 April 2007
Lazy Day
We had a lazy day today. Mostly it was filled with feed and kids TV. There’s one programme that Christopher loves called “In the Night Garden”. It’s a funny programme, but kept me hooked all the same! The main character in it is called Upsy Daisy and she’s a funny looking character, pink and yellow striped if my memory serves me right. Christopher can’t say Upsy Daisy or In the Night Garden, so when he wants to watch the recordings of this programme he’ll just walk about saying, what sounds like, “Cee Cee Cee”. Cute! One of the other characters is called Macka Packa, and his bum looks likes Christopher’s does when his nappy is full!
Mid afternoon and Pete finally stops working. Hels sends him out to Tesco to get some bits for a BBQ, as well as a couple of disposable BBQs as they have no gas for their main one. After a couple of hours he comes back armed with the BBQs and loads of meat and some withered looking salad. I think a BBQ is always a man’s domain as neither Hels nor I were allowed near to help! We were on little people duty, i.e. keeping Christopher away from the hot bits and making sure he didn’t tip himself backwards over the chair when he was eating. Bethan came to sit out with us for a short while, although it was disturbing to see how interested she was in all the meaty bits of food! Spose it is tastier than formula milk!
The marathon bed time routine commenced, this time with the added bonus of them trying to give Christopher a bath! He’d decided today that he wanted to eat mud so was pretty much grubby from that and putting a flower pot on his head! I did get another good night kiss from him when he was clean; I’m now well and truly excepted!
At 11.30 Beth came in for her feed and change and decided that tonight she’d pee all over daddy when he was changing her!!! I had to hide my laughter behind a handily placed cushion!
Ahhhh, bed time at last! Macka Packa acka wacka micka macka moo……..zzzzzzzzz
Mid afternoon and Pete finally stops working. Hels sends him out to Tesco to get some bits for a BBQ, as well as a couple of disposable BBQs as they have no gas for their main one. After a couple of hours he comes back armed with the BBQs and loads of meat and some withered looking salad. I think a BBQ is always a man’s domain as neither Hels nor I were allowed near to help! We were on little people duty, i.e. keeping Christopher away from the hot bits and making sure he didn’t tip himself backwards over the chair when he was eating. Bethan came to sit out with us for a short while, although it was disturbing to see how interested she was in all the meaty bits of food! Spose it is tastier than formula milk!
The marathon bed time routine commenced, this time with the added bonus of them trying to give Christopher a bath! He’d decided today that he wanted to eat mud so was pretty much grubby from that and putting a flower pot on his head! I did get another good night kiss from him when he was clean; I’m now well and truly excepted!
At 11.30 Beth came in for her feed and change and decided that tonight she’d pee all over daddy when he was changing her!!! I had to hide my laughter behind a handily placed cushion!
Ahhhh, bed time at last! Macka Packa acka wacka micka macka moo……..zzzzzzzzz
Saturday 14 April 2007
Tinkle, Tinkle little star....
I woke at 6.30 to the tones of a three year old singing “Tinkle tinkle little star.” Usually cute but not so much at 6.30 on a Saturday morning! The endless rounds of feeding began not long after that and finally the adults got to eat at 11. By this time my stomach thought that my throat had been cut, but I was the polite guest and waited patiently for my warm croissants! I thought I was the only one in my group of friends who had too much butter, but it turns out that Hels is on the railroad to heart disease too! Washed down by another mug of tea I was finally satisfied and waited to see what the plan was for the day. We were all sat in the kitchen whilst Christopher ran around like a mad thing in his welly boots, Bethan was having a kick around in her play pen and Hels and Pete were exchanging sentences in code. “Shall we do the thing now”, was one of said sentences. Minutes later Helen disappeared and then reappeared with Bethan grunting in her arms, holding an envelope. I assumed we were going to have a walk into the village and post a letter and have a trip to Somerfield whilst we were there, but Hels came over to me and gave me the envelope. On the front was written “Aunty Cath”. Thinking it was an invitation to the christening of Bethan I opened it to find out when I’d need to book holiday for. I pulled the card out (handmade with a picture of Bethan on the front), opened it and read “Dear Aunty Cath, please will you be my Godmother? Love and hugs, Bethan xxx”. It was at this point that I welled up and asked in a squeaky high pitched voice, “Really?!” So I was passed Bethan who grunted in my arms for a little while before she wanted her mum again and later in the day we celebrated with a bottle of champagne and a Chinese for dinner.
The day was wonderfully sunny so Helen and I took the kids out to Tesco. Not much of a trip but she needed to stock up on a few bits for the kids. I felt so proud as I pushed Bethan in her pram; people would look in and coo over how gorgeous she is. Both were as good as gold when we were going round, Bethan slept a lot and Christopher just chewed on a cucumber which was still in its wrapping!
When we got home we sat in the garden with the kids. It amazed me how many birds they get in their garden. Back down south we only get a couple of robins, a pair of doves and the occasional blackbird with a scattering of dunnocks. Up north though they had doves, blackbirds, woodpeckers, sparrows, wagtails, loads!
Evening time came and so did the time for the kids to head to bed. We’d already put in our order for dinner so that was sorted. Bed time there is run to a set routine.
First it’s antibiotic time for Christopher, then teeth time, then night night water. After that we have puffer time and finally nappy time. I’ve never truly appreciated how gross poo is until it’s on a nappy infront of you stinking the room out! Grim stuff! Progress tonight though, Christopher lent over so I could give him a goodnight kiss! So cute!
Once Christopher goes up they bring Bethan down to the front room to sleep coz Christopher has a habit of banging on the wall which’ll just wake her up and set off a whole chain of screaming. At 10.30 it’s time for the last feed before bed. That takes about 15 minutes and is usually completed with Bethan sleep feeding! It amazes me because she didn’t even wake up when her nappy was changed either!
At 11 it’s flake out time for everyone. Bethan comes upstairs and we’re all so shattered that we head to bed fighting to stay awake till we’re changed and safely in the bed, whilst trying not to tread on squeaky floor boards and wake sleeping little people.
Today I feel that Christopher has got a lot more used to me. He’s happy to play peek-a-boo round the side of the house and plays around me rather than on the other side of the room. That has to be progress.
The day was wonderfully sunny so Helen and I took the kids out to Tesco. Not much of a trip but she needed to stock up on a few bits for the kids. I felt so proud as I pushed Bethan in her pram; people would look in and coo over how gorgeous she is. Both were as good as gold when we were going round, Bethan slept a lot and Christopher just chewed on a cucumber which was still in its wrapping!
When we got home we sat in the garden with the kids. It amazed me how many birds they get in their garden. Back down south we only get a couple of robins, a pair of doves and the occasional blackbird with a scattering of dunnocks. Up north though they had doves, blackbirds, woodpeckers, sparrows, wagtails, loads!
Evening time came and so did the time for the kids to head to bed. We’d already put in our order for dinner so that was sorted. Bed time there is run to a set routine.
First it’s antibiotic time for Christopher, then teeth time, then night night water. After that we have puffer time and finally nappy time. I’ve never truly appreciated how gross poo is until it’s on a nappy infront of you stinking the room out! Grim stuff! Progress tonight though, Christopher lent over so I could give him a goodnight kiss! So cute!
Once Christopher goes up they bring Bethan down to the front room to sleep coz Christopher has a habit of banging on the wall which’ll just wake her up and set off a whole chain of screaming. At 10.30 it’s time for the last feed before bed. That takes about 15 minutes and is usually completed with Bethan sleep feeding! It amazes me because she didn’t even wake up when her nappy was changed either!
At 11 it’s flake out time for everyone. Bethan comes upstairs and we’re all so shattered that we head to bed fighting to stay awake till we’re changed and safely in the bed, whilst trying not to tread on squeaky floor boards and wake sleeping little people.
Today I feel that Christopher has got a lot more used to me. He’s happy to play peek-a-boo round the side of the house and plays around me rather than on the other side of the room. That has to be progress.
Friday 13 April 2007
Hollibob Time
I started the day early, getting up at normal work time so I could clear from the bathroom enabling everyone else to get up. My mum had an appointment at the fracture clinic at 9.30 so needed to be up early for that. I was initially planning on taking her to that appointment but my dad decided that he was feeling well enough to drive so he took her, and left me with a fiver to get a cab to the station. They were back from the hospital by 10.15 so in the end they took me to the station to catch my train. I was quite loaded with stuff so I was grateful.
The train was a few minutes late, neither here nor there really, but I got talking to an elderly lady and her granddaughter on the platform so it wasn’t too bad a wait. Plus the weather was gorgeous; I just hoped it would be the same up north. The day before I’d looked at the long range forecast and it showed rain. Joy!
Upon boarding the train I got a distinct whiff of poo. Initially I put it down to having just entered the food cart section, but was dismayed to find that the stink extended all the way up the carriage, and beyond where I was sitting. A few seats away sat a rowdy bunch of men, possibly on a stag do. From their outfits that’s the only thing I can think they’d be doing dressed like that. The theme was Hawian-ish. One had a grass skirt on over shorts and was wearing a long brown wig. All were swigging beer and talking too loudly. Maybe I’m just over sensitive to these things, but I hate lots of noise in such a confined space.
I was ecstatic when the hour and a half train journey was over. Macclesfield station smelt so fresh after!
I managed to find Helen who had come to pick me up. She arrived a few minutes after me and met me in the car park as she couldn’t leave the kids. This was going to be the first time I was seeing her new little baby, Bethan, in the flesh so I was excited. Christopher, her 3 year old son, was a little bit shy at first, but was soon happy when we played peek-a-boo round the side of his car seat! Both were fast asleep soon after we set out on the 15 minute drive to their house.
Once we were home it was great to catch up whilst the kids slept for a bit. Soon as they were awake though all hell broke loose! I’d bought the kids a present each. It was Christopher’s birthday at the end of February and I hadn’t got around to sending him anything so it was a good chance. Luckily he loves Thomas the Tank engine so I’d found this really cool train and matching wrapping paper. The train worked on a traction kind of system. It was a Thomas attached to a trailer, and on the trailer was another train (Trevor I think his name is). The two trains were joined by a piece of string and when you pulled Trevor back, holding Thomas firmly in place, Trevor would roll up onto the trailer and send Thomas careering forwards. By the time we managed to get it out of the box and detach it from the endless amount of metal ties and sellotape Christopher was getting really restless and wanted to play with it. However, all wasn’t rosy once we’d got it away from the box! Upon discovering that the two trains were attached Christopher got quiet distressed and had a tantrum. He’s autistic so finds it very very hard to communicate and let us know what’s bothering him. So we had to guess. We came to the conclusion that it was because they were joined and he couldn’t have them side by side, going at the same pace. So we eventually decided that we would separate the two trains by cutting the cord that joined them. So I held the two trains so that the string was taught and Hels cut with the scissors, on the understanding that we could eventually rejoin the 2 ends and the train would be restored to its full glory. Hels cut…………..and one end of the string disappeared into the back of Thomas…….where we couldn’t get at it ever again! We’ve never laughed so hard, and I’m killing myself laughing now just thinking about it! So damn funny! We just looked at each other and said “Oh, I didn’t think about that”. I’m blonde, but Hels’ excuse what that she’s still suffering with pregnancy brain! I wonder if it’s catching!!!!
Anyway, after that we had to hold off laughing coz Christopher was getting upset as he didn’t realise that we were laughing at our own stupidity and not at him. After a little while of watching him playing, now happily. With his trains we retired to the kitchen and held off getting any of the other bits out incase he was upset again. He’s usually a really happy boy, but if something frustrates him then he’s inconsolable for a little while, but it’s soon forgotten. He gets particularly upset if Bethan starts to cry because he can’t understand why; even if he knows she’s ok he still starts to cry himself.
Hels brought Bethan down from her nap an hour or so after and she gurgled and grunted at me for a bit. She was suffering with a bit of a cold and didn’t want to feed so she threw it all back up again. Baby puke is nicer to look at than adult puke.
Hels’ hubby, Pete, came home about 7.30 and between them they got the kids sorted and into bed. Finally we could settle and have some dinner. Pete had offered to baby-sit (brave man!) so after dinner Hels and I headed out to the pub in the village. I’m tempted to move up north because the men seem to be more attractive! We found a good place to sit and people watch and had a few drinks whilst reminiscing about the old days.
Helen and I met whilst working for the same company about 9 years ago. I left about 6 months after she joined and we remained in contact ever since. I was there when she married Pete 5 years ago, was a lovely day in March, windy but lovely!
We ended up coming home just after 11. She’s a full time mother so was shattered and I’m too easily tired. It was a relief to drop into bed and sleep.
The train was a few minutes late, neither here nor there really, but I got talking to an elderly lady and her granddaughter on the platform so it wasn’t too bad a wait. Plus the weather was gorgeous; I just hoped it would be the same up north. The day before I’d looked at the long range forecast and it showed rain. Joy!
Upon boarding the train I got a distinct whiff of poo. Initially I put it down to having just entered the food cart section, but was dismayed to find that the stink extended all the way up the carriage, and beyond where I was sitting. A few seats away sat a rowdy bunch of men, possibly on a stag do. From their outfits that’s the only thing I can think they’d be doing dressed like that. The theme was Hawian-ish. One had a grass skirt on over shorts and was wearing a long brown wig. All were swigging beer and talking too loudly. Maybe I’m just over sensitive to these things, but I hate lots of noise in such a confined space.
I was ecstatic when the hour and a half train journey was over. Macclesfield station smelt so fresh after!
I managed to find Helen who had come to pick me up. She arrived a few minutes after me and met me in the car park as she couldn’t leave the kids. This was going to be the first time I was seeing her new little baby, Bethan, in the flesh so I was excited. Christopher, her 3 year old son, was a little bit shy at first, but was soon happy when we played peek-a-boo round the side of his car seat! Both were fast asleep soon after we set out on the 15 minute drive to their house.
Once we were home it was great to catch up whilst the kids slept for a bit. Soon as they were awake though all hell broke loose! I’d bought the kids a present each. It was Christopher’s birthday at the end of February and I hadn’t got around to sending him anything so it was a good chance. Luckily he loves Thomas the Tank engine so I’d found this really cool train and matching wrapping paper. The train worked on a traction kind of system. It was a Thomas attached to a trailer, and on the trailer was another train (Trevor I think his name is). The two trains were joined by a piece of string and when you pulled Trevor back, holding Thomas firmly in place, Trevor would roll up onto the trailer and send Thomas careering forwards. By the time we managed to get it out of the box and detach it from the endless amount of metal ties and sellotape Christopher was getting really restless and wanted to play with it. However, all wasn’t rosy once we’d got it away from the box! Upon discovering that the two trains were attached Christopher got quiet distressed and had a tantrum. He’s autistic so finds it very very hard to communicate and let us know what’s bothering him. So we had to guess. We came to the conclusion that it was because they were joined and he couldn’t have them side by side, going at the same pace. So we eventually decided that we would separate the two trains by cutting the cord that joined them. So I held the two trains so that the string was taught and Hels cut with the scissors, on the understanding that we could eventually rejoin the 2 ends and the train would be restored to its full glory. Hels cut…………..and one end of the string disappeared into the back of Thomas…….where we couldn’t get at it ever again! We’ve never laughed so hard, and I’m killing myself laughing now just thinking about it! So damn funny! We just looked at each other and said “Oh, I didn’t think about that”. I’m blonde, but Hels’ excuse what that she’s still suffering with pregnancy brain! I wonder if it’s catching!!!!
Anyway, after that we had to hold off laughing coz Christopher was getting upset as he didn’t realise that we were laughing at our own stupidity and not at him. After a little while of watching him playing, now happily. With his trains we retired to the kitchen and held off getting any of the other bits out incase he was upset again. He’s usually a really happy boy, but if something frustrates him then he’s inconsolable for a little while, but it’s soon forgotten. He gets particularly upset if Bethan starts to cry because he can’t understand why; even if he knows she’s ok he still starts to cry himself.
Hels brought Bethan down from her nap an hour or so after and she gurgled and grunted at me for a bit. She was suffering with a bit of a cold and didn’t want to feed so she threw it all back up again. Baby puke is nicer to look at than adult puke.
Hels’ hubby, Pete, came home about 7.30 and between them they got the kids sorted and into bed. Finally we could settle and have some dinner. Pete had offered to baby-sit (brave man!) so after dinner Hels and I headed out to the pub in the village. I’m tempted to move up north because the men seem to be more attractive! We found a good place to sit and people watch and had a few drinks whilst reminiscing about the old days.
Helen and I met whilst working for the same company about 9 years ago. I left about 6 months after she joined and we remained in contact ever since. I was there when she married Pete 5 years ago, was a lovely day in March, windy but lovely!
We ended up coming home just after 11. She’s a full time mother so was shattered and I’m too easily tired. It was a relief to drop into bed and sleep.
Thursday 12 April 2007
Thursday the 12th... always worse than Friday the 13th!
Least from past experience anyway! Judging by this evening's antics that still stands. Whilst out on a drive with a friend we found ourselves up in Dunstable. Very nice up there, although too many unlit roads for my liking! Don't get me wrong, I'm against light pollution and all that, just not when I'm in a car, haha! Me....selfish....never!
The friend I was with has just bought herself a new car. It's a year old Yaris, much newer than mine at an ancinet 5 years!
Tonight we had come through from Dunstable and were following the signs to Hemel (once we were in Hemel we were confident of the way home!). I estimate our speed to have been about 40mph at the time, so whilst not break-neck speed it's hardly safe on an unlit road. All of a sudden I hear myself shout out an obscenity followed by, "please brake!" Turns out the road had narrowed really suddenly to cater for some kind of bridge and possibly as a warning for the sharp turn directly after. I kid you not, we were inches away from taking the side off the car and ramming head on into the mini which was just exiting the bit of single file road. Needless to say the said friend now has a brown stain on the front seat and tomorrow I undergo surgery to replace my stomach!
Actually, tomorrow I'm off up Norff. I'm visiting my friend who had a baby in December. I'm really looking forward to seeing them, despite the earlier text message which informed me that they'd spent all day in A&E with their son as he'd decided to "jump through a pane of glass". I shall be interested to find out what his motives were and just where that pane of glass was!
I shall be back on Tuesday afternoon ready for steralization and another 2 weeks off work!
Hope you have a great weekend Rich :-)
The friend I was with has just bought herself a new car. It's a year old Yaris, much newer than mine at an ancinet 5 years!
Tonight we had come through from Dunstable and were following the signs to Hemel (once we were in Hemel we were confident of the way home!). I estimate our speed to have been about 40mph at the time, so whilst not break-neck speed it's hardly safe on an unlit road. All of a sudden I hear myself shout out an obscenity followed by, "please brake!" Turns out the road had narrowed really suddenly to cater for some kind of bridge and possibly as a warning for the sharp turn directly after. I kid you not, we were inches away from taking the side off the car and ramming head on into the mini which was just exiting the bit of single file road. Needless to say the said friend now has a brown stain on the front seat and tomorrow I undergo surgery to replace my stomach!
Actually, tomorrow I'm off up Norff. I'm visiting my friend who had a baby in December. I'm really looking forward to seeing them, despite the earlier text message which informed me that they'd spent all day in A&E with their son as he'd decided to "jump through a pane of glass". I shall be interested to find out what his motives were and just where that pane of glass was!
I shall be back on Tuesday afternoon ready for steralization and another 2 weeks off work!
Hope you have a great weekend Rich :-)
Thursday 5 April 2007
Farewell Insanity!
Driving to work this morning I heard my phone beeping to signify a text message. Being the law abiding citizen that I am waited till I parked at work before I read it. Message from Sue; G4 splitting up after the tour. Whilst this group has played a big role in my life lately (not to mention brought me back to someone I’d lost contact with 8 years ago) I strangely am not overly sad about it. I logged onto the forum when I’d managed to haul myself up the stairs to double check the info was right, not that I think Sue would lie to me!
After 3 tours, eight years together and 3 successful albums that’s it. No more. Kaput. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Can’t think of anymore words!
The good thing to come out of this is that when the hysteria dies down I won’t have to read anymore of the rubbish that is posted on that forum to get to the interesting stuff. Always a huge bonus considering the amount of crap that people spout. The whole management-dropping-them saga enraged me beyond belief. Mainly because the guy who managed them was an old friend of mine who I used to present a show with when we were at Watford Hospital Radio. I know, I’m not the DJ-ing type now, but I was back then! We used to have a riot of an evening up there. Anyway, I defended this guy to the hilt and now I get the silent treatment for basically telling them all to get a grip because it’s all business at the end of the day!
It’s both sad and amusing to read people have been bawling their eyes out all day. People have been hitting the booze in a last ditch attempt to drown their sorrows, not that drinking ever helps or solve anything mind you. Come on people, get realistic, they were hardly ever going to be Take That.
Unsympathetic? Maybe. But maybe I’m living in the real world now.
After 3 tours, eight years together and 3 successful albums that’s it. No more. Kaput. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Can’t think of anymore words!
The good thing to come out of this is that when the hysteria dies down I won’t have to read anymore of the rubbish that is posted on that forum to get to the interesting stuff. Always a huge bonus considering the amount of crap that people spout. The whole management-dropping-them saga enraged me beyond belief. Mainly because the guy who managed them was an old friend of mine who I used to present a show with when we were at Watford Hospital Radio. I know, I’m not the DJ-ing type now, but I was back then! We used to have a riot of an evening up there. Anyway, I defended this guy to the hilt and now I get the silent treatment for basically telling them all to get a grip because it’s all business at the end of the day!
It’s both sad and amusing to read people have been bawling their eyes out all day. People have been hitting the booze in a last ditch attempt to drown their sorrows, not that drinking ever helps or solve anything mind you. Come on people, get realistic, they were hardly ever going to be Take That.
Unsympathetic? Maybe. But maybe I’m living in the real world now.
Wednesday 4 April 2007
“A true friend only proves his worth when it is tested”
There are a few people in your life that you think, and hope, will always be there. Not necessarily as someone to rely on but as a stable figure in your life. I have a couple of people like that. Someone I thought was like that turned out to be totally different last week by suggesting that I needed “help” for discussing with a colleague our tips on pain management. This guy started in our office about 9 months ago; he only has one leg and has been on pretty much the same medication as I have over the last two years. We now take the same painkillers so know how the other is feeling when one is having a “bad day”. Is there really any harm in that? Should I seek help for talking to someone, probably the only person, who understands how I feel on a daily basis?
Yesterday was a bit of a nightmare day to be honest. I was sorting out a database on a project where I have found myself to be “Workspace Administrator”. Being this gives me total rights over the whole database to move it about and edit it to within and inch of its life. I did exactly that yesterday although I wasn’t planning on it taking all damn day. To this day I’m still unsure why I am God of that particular project, it all started when my boss got married last year (serves him right!) and left me loads of his work to do – something he takes enormous pleasure in doing not just to me. I’m used to him doing this now but he does lay it on too thick with the boys who haven’t been here as long. Anyway, when he went away he left me with the task of writing an official document on “Document Referencing Standards Procedure” for a project based in Fareham. He left very brief instructions in his wake which I tried in vain to follow, but to be honest he might as well have just said “’ere, write this.” The document gives guidance on how to reference drawings and other documentation relating to projects. Every project has its own system which needs to be followed to the letter to allow quick and easy access to information. Least that’s how it’s meant to work………
I open up the database to find numerous folders in places where they relate to nothing else. All types of documents are mixed in with each other when they should be separated, and construction drawings are in with approval drawings – a total sin in itself. After 6 hours of working on this nightmare I finally finish. I’ve restructured the whole thing, moved documents to their correct resting place and tidied up the numbering. I go home feeling pleased that I’ve managed to restore some semblance of sanity to the project management system.
This morning I arrive in work – definitely not bright eyed and bushy tailed – to an email from my boss saying that later today I would be chased for an email confirming that my fee for yesterday would be paid. Bear in mind at this stage I had been chasing the boss for two days to sort out the paper work with me so that we could email over a proposed fee. Once again he’s out for the day in London and every time I tried to catch him yesterday before I left his remark was “be with you in two minutes”.
I’ve just worked it out and if we took my fee for the day then in theory I should be on the same pay as a GP. As it stands now the PG tips monkey earns more than I do. My boss’ reply to this before……”that pays for your work station, the office rent, your desk……” zzzzzzzzz. I don’t ask much, just to be paid what everyone else who does this job gets paid!
Yesterday was a bit of a nightmare day to be honest. I was sorting out a database on a project where I have found myself to be “Workspace Administrator”. Being this gives me total rights over the whole database to move it about and edit it to within and inch of its life. I did exactly that yesterday although I wasn’t planning on it taking all damn day. To this day I’m still unsure why I am God of that particular project, it all started when my boss got married last year (serves him right!) and left me loads of his work to do – something he takes enormous pleasure in doing not just to me. I’m used to him doing this now but he does lay it on too thick with the boys who haven’t been here as long. Anyway, when he went away he left me with the task of writing an official document on “Document Referencing Standards Procedure” for a project based in Fareham. He left very brief instructions in his wake which I tried in vain to follow, but to be honest he might as well have just said “’ere, write this.” The document gives guidance on how to reference drawings and other documentation relating to projects. Every project has its own system which needs to be followed to the letter to allow quick and easy access to information. Least that’s how it’s meant to work………
I open up the database to find numerous folders in places where they relate to nothing else. All types of documents are mixed in with each other when they should be separated, and construction drawings are in with approval drawings – a total sin in itself. After 6 hours of working on this nightmare I finally finish. I’ve restructured the whole thing, moved documents to their correct resting place and tidied up the numbering. I go home feeling pleased that I’ve managed to restore some semblance of sanity to the project management system.
This morning I arrive in work – definitely not bright eyed and bushy tailed – to an email from my boss saying that later today I would be chased for an email confirming that my fee for yesterday would be paid. Bear in mind at this stage I had been chasing the boss for two days to sort out the paper work with me so that we could email over a proposed fee. Once again he’s out for the day in London and every time I tried to catch him yesterday before I left his remark was “be with you in two minutes”.
I’ve just worked it out and if we took my fee for the day then in theory I should be on the same pay as a GP. As it stands now the PG tips monkey earns more than I do. My boss’ reply to this before……”that pays for your work station, the office rent, your desk……” zzzzzzzzz. I don’t ask much, just to be paid what everyone else who does this job gets paid!
Friday 30 March 2007
Proof I’m always right……!
……well, almost always anyway!
The start of the dermatitis did indicate the beginning of yet another flare up. Last night was spent hobbling from one room to the other in a desperate attempt to stem the flow of evil that was emanating from me. After a few mad dashes it finally stopped about 10.30 and I managed to get a little bit of sleep in between the waves cramps that threatened to take away my sanity. This morning was fun too; trying to haul my inflamed self from the bath and not render myself unconscious in the process is always a great way to start any day.
After shouts of “just do it”, I rang the doctor this morning and explained the joys of last night and this morning. He’s prescribed me something which he thinks should control things, failing that he’s going to “take a look”. Pray the prescription works please!
On a lighter note I was expecting a phone call from a good friend of mine. She lives over in Essex and has a couple of kids so we don’t get to see each other regularly, but she does call me about once a month and we have a good natter about anything and everything, just generally putting the world to rights. She’d sent me a text message asking if it was ok to ring me now, so I replied with a yes it was fine. Thirty seconds later my phone starts to ring. “Hello my love!” I answer it. “Hi Cath, its James from Derby”. It’s at this point I curl up into a ball and smack myself rather hard across the head! The shame! He’s a really good looking fella who works for us up in the Derby office. Tracy and I have a bit of a crush on him and we always joke that when he’s down here she’s giving him a rest! She’ll kill herself laughing when she hears that! So now I’m going to employ someone to screen my calls!
The start of the dermatitis did indicate the beginning of yet another flare up. Last night was spent hobbling from one room to the other in a desperate attempt to stem the flow of evil that was emanating from me. After a few mad dashes it finally stopped about 10.30 and I managed to get a little bit of sleep in between the waves cramps that threatened to take away my sanity. This morning was fun too; trying to haul my inflamed self from the bath and not render myself unconscious in the process is always a great way to start any day.
After shouts of “just do it”, I rang the doctor this morning and explained the joys of last night and this morning. He’s prescribed me something which he thinks should control things, failing that he’s going to “take a look”. Pray the prescription works please!
On a lighter note I was expecting a phone call from a good friend of mine. She lives over in Essex and has a couple of kids so we don’t get to see each other regularly, but she does call me about once a month and we have a good natter about anything and everything, just generally putting the world to rights. She’d sent me a text message asking if it was ok to ring me now, so I replied with a yes it was fine. Thirty seconds later my phone starts to ring. “Hello my love!” I answer it. “Hi Cath, its James from Derby”. It’s at this point I curl up into a ball and smack myself rather hard across the head! The shame! He’s a really good looking fella who works for us up in the Derby office. Tracy and I have a bit of a crush on him and we always joke that when he’s down here she’s giving him a rest! She’ll kill herself laughing when she hears that! So now I’m going to employ someone to screen my calls!
Thursday 29 March 2007
Broody is bad!
The wife of one of the guys I work with had a baby yesterday morning. Weighing in at 8lbs exactly she wasn’t the smallest of babies, but was delivered via caesarean as his wife is quite tiny. They already have one daughter who I believe is about 2 now. We spent a good half hour transferring photos from his phone to my phone to my computer as the IT man won’t let him have admin rights on his machine. I don’t know why he let me have admin rights come to think of it……… After seeing the photos and a couple of videos I got horribly broody! Not a great combination when I then venture downstairs to get breakfast, closely followed by Chris. Not good at all.
Anyway, I’m sure that four days with my friend and her two little ones will dispel any broody feelings that might be lurking beneath the surface!
Meanwhile, my dermatitis has flared again so I’m in for a rocky few days :-(
Anyway, I’m sure that four days with my friend and her two little ones will dispel any broody feelings that might be lurking beneath the surface!
Meanwhile, my dermatitis has flared again so I’m in for a rocky few days :-(
Wednesday 28 March 2007
First Blog!
Tomorrow is pay day. It cannot come a second too soon either. I do get to book my train tickets to see my closest friend though. It's been a year since I saw her last, due to her living up the other end of the country.......almost! It's not easy arranging times for me to stay with them as they've not long had their second baby. Their little girl was born on 27th December 2006 in a bizarre and eventful birth. After 6 hours of labour the Friday before Xmas everything stopped so they all came home. On the 27th however the baby was delivered on the bedroom floor after just 15 minutes of retunred labour! Not ideal but at least the poor woman didn't have to endure another 6 hours!
So I travel up the Friday after Easter and come back 4 days later. All I have to do now is to find a few little bits to take up for my friend, her hubby and the two little uns. Oh and I should probably find some heavy duty ear plugs. Working for a construction company I should be able to borrow some ear defenders from somewhere! Just don't expect any intelligent conversation from me when I get back! Not that anyone gets any anyway.......!
So I travel up the Friday after Easter and come back 4 days later. All I have to do now is to find a few little bits to take up for my friend, her hubby and the two little uns. Oh and I should probably find some heavy duty ear plugs. Working for a construction company I should be able to borrow some ear defenders from somewhere! Just don't expect any intelligent conversation from me when I get back! Not that anyone gets any anyway.......!
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