Doors of perception

It's really difficult to blog at the moment. My phone only seems to be able to create drafts, rather than published posts, which leaves either work or an internet café. Work has been kinda mad (especially today) and usually when I'm in a café I have other priorities.

As my Lady is finally enjoying herself a little before flying home, I thought I'd drop in at Twirling and blow the dust away. Things quickly start to look a little unkempt.

I had a sudden awareness today of being in a strange land. As both my PC and my TV are broken, my opportunities to connect with "the familiar" are few and far between. The PC gave me a chance to interact with the rest of the world and the television, God help me, was company - other voices, other faces. So I've turned to radio and I miss the BBC.

Tonight I went for Newstalk, as opposed to any of the RTE stations (which are, politely, not great) or any of the local radion stations (like local radio the world over - an acquired taste). At one point, they referred to a popular satirical show hosted by an Irish stand-up comedian. A panelist had asked, if the recent World Cup final had been between England and France, who would the Irish have hated most? The host said that he thought they'd have to go with the Old Enemy.

It was a joke. It was funny. I get that. But I suddenly felt very alone. I don't really miss England. I made my decision with eyes wide open and have never regretted it for a second. Just occasionally though, I get lonely. Both the TV and the PC were more than windows on the world, they were doors I could step through, away from the four walls of my lovely little house. Both those doors were slammed suddenly, in quick succession. To me, the joke about the "Old Enemy" was accompanied by soundtrack of a door gradually creaking shut.

I'll be fine tomorrow, I'm sure. This has just been one of those days when everything was subtly off-kilter, even before I'd switched the alarm clock off. No worries. I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to look forward to. Including a better day tomorrow, hopefully.

Incidentally

It's absolutely chucking it down with rain. Even though it's not easy to blog from my phone I wanted to share that with you.

Waves

Feeling a little peculiar again today. I had a blazing migraine last night and couldn't settle in bed at all. It wasn't until waves of nausea swept over me at about 3.30 in the morning and I actually threw up (sorry for the overshare) that I was able to drift of into sleep.

I'm still not right. A little light-headed and very tense around my neck and shoulders. This would be the stress of my laptop breaking down when my lady is so far away. Thank God for Internet Cafés, one of which I'm in at the moment. The patop is in for a quote for repair but I fear that it might actually work out cheaper to buy a new one as that'll come with a warranty.

So I'll get my shopping home and put away and then, after making a phone call to an insurance company, maybe have a doze. Certainly a little light music and a few pages of my book, at least, and I'll take it from there.

A bright note is that one of the Tescos around the city has started stocking their not-from-concentrate Pineapple Juice that I've been missing so much while I've been over here. That's going straight into the fridge when I get home and I wouldn't be surprised if I've necked the lot by the morning.

Okay, I'm getting charged by the minute here, so that's it until I feel the pressing need to blog again.

Trauma

Nightmare. My computer finally chooses to breathe it's last while my Lady is on the other side of the world and our only easy form of contact (that isn't going to break the bank) is Skype. Yes, I have this small, pink netbook I'm typing this from but I can't use it at the house as my wireless dongle isn't compatible with it's Linux operating system and neither is Skype.

So I have the option of Internet Cafes, which I'm doing tonight, or replacing the computer. I know just enough about laptops to understand that to get it fixed (parts and labour) is going to cost me almost as much as buying a brand new one with a 3-year guarantee. Now to go speak nicely to financial institutions...

Unadventurous

Today, being Monday, was the first weekday of my week off. I didn't leave the house. I pottered around, did a little housework, a little laundry, you know the kind of stuff.

I'm going to go for a walk tomorrow. Nowhere in particular, just out for a walk. The only restriction I'm putting on it is that I'm not going anywhere that might involve spending money. I'm not actually skint yet but payday is looking quite a distance away at the moment and I don't want to run out of money before I get there. Besides little luxuries like food, I have to consider bus-fares as well, which is why time off is doubly welcome.

Having said that, I may pop up to my desk one day this week, early before anyone else is around, just to check over the emails to ensure that I don't find myself with hundreds needing my attention next Monday, and of course to see if there's any news on the job front, although if there was anything urgent I think I'd have got a phone call.

I've spent most of today immersed in Led Zeppelin. I'm not the biggest fan in the world but every now and then I feel like listening to some. Today was one of those days.

What tomorrow brings, who knows?

D'Yer Mak' 'Er?

It's a little ironic. Almost a year to the day since I arrived in Cork, my reason for reason flew out to Jamaica for a month, on work business.

Yes, I miss her horribly but we have Skype and have chatted a fair bit already. I'm more worried about her than myself. It's an awful long way from home to be, by oneself. If there had been any way at all for me to raise the fare then I'd have gone over too, so we could have bitched and moaned about the heat together. I know that she'll be fine - she's a smart, strong lady and I'm very, very proud of her, but everyone needs a hug now and again and she and I have got used to being able to turn to each other whenever we need (almost).

This is why July will be a long month. Unless the lottery ticket I have in my wallet is a winner, in which case there'll be a frantic scramble to cash it and book seats on the soonest possible flight out there.

It's getting a little late for this. I have all next week off work but I'm wilting a little now, so I think that is all for tonight.

Anniversary

As I have an important interview in the morning, this won't be a long one but I couldn't not post something.

July 8th 2009 I arrived in Cork. In the year since then I have been the most loved, best looked after man in the world. The future is bright, alhough July this year is going to be a loooong month.

Whoever said...

...that there was anything remotely easy about Sunday morning?

Unpaid.

So I'm sat at work on one of my days off. That's grand, though. I've come up to meet the most beautiful girl in the world out of work and she's just finishing off one or two things before we leave. She's nomming a choccie bar while working and has just giggled at my current Facebook status so I figure I have time to blog quickly, while glancing surreptitiously at her so as not to disturb further. She really does take my breath away.

I can't believe I have so much holiday time to take in the next couple of months. I guess that's because in the 11 months or so that I've been working here, I really haven't taken much time off at all. If I could find a way to raise the cash I would so be jetting off with my Lady somewhere.

We went to see Deep Purple Live At The The Marquee, in Cork last Wednesday night. Thoroughly enjoyable. If anyone is remotely interested, my review can be found here. There always seem to be some good stuff on there - last year saw both Chickenfoot and Anastacia playing, both of whom I'd have shelled out for tickets for but they were about a month before I arrived. This year has had Paul Weller and Blondie amongst others, but I didn't really have the financial muscle to manage more than one and that just had to be Purple. Can't wait to see what next year brings!

I'm only at work for about two days over the next three weeks so I must make sure that my Manager/Team Leads have my contact details to hand, should I be called for an interview for any of the jobs that I've applied for internally. Two of them are "interim posts" which would be cool but for a limited period of time. The other one is a permanent position involving a lot of writing, which sounds right up my street...

Fingers crossed.