How's that?

So it happened. For the first time in 24 years England won the Ashes in Australia. Or more accurately, avoided losing them. It's still possible that the series will end in a 2-2 draw. For the time being though, this is what's important...

I used to play cricket. Not "representatively" and not well, but I enjoyed the Hell out of it. There are stories I could tell about the cricketing days but they mostly involve varying states of inebriation interspersed with "sporting achievements". There are definitely tales about "15 to win and the last man in" and escapades at away games.

To the best of my knowledge, there are few if any photgraphs - we were all too busy enjoying ourselves!

Not now

Lack of inspiration tonight.

I felt the urge to blog but couldn't think what to write! I'd kind of like to expand my range a litle - start blogging about my feelings and opinions on current events, for example, rather than just about my feelings. We'll see how that goes. Starting tomorrow. It's a little late now.

So here it is...

So that was Christmas Day. For the second year running I spent it at work. To be honest, I probably wasn't well enough, still, to go in. Lunchtime arrived and I'd started to feel rather tired and more than a little light-headed. I made a conscious effort to ease back and to take things quietly and was able to get through the day.

I have tomorrow (Boxing Day in the UK, St Stephen's Day here) off work, before going back on Monday. The fact that I'm not due in in the morning means that I can still be up at this time listening to the Ashes online.

I was looking at my roster at one point during the day today. I work Monday to Friday next week, have next Saturday off, work Sunday to Thursday, then have a long weekend before I start my new job on the 10th of January. The fact that in a little over a year I've gone from a temp to...something more impressive, seems a little surreal really. The doubts that I had about my employability seem to have been unfounded. Like anyone without searing self-confidence, there are still moments when I doubt that I'm going to be able to "cut it". Thankfully these moments are few and far between. I can do "words" me, and most of the new job is going to be producing the written word.

I've just glanced out of the window and the snow is thawing. The wind is rising and there is rain on the way. I can happily live with wind and rain but I'm kind of done with the snow and ice for a while. Depending on how much wind and rain there is when I wake up, I may go for a walk or I may not. My priority tomorrow is to relax, with thoughts of my lovely lady.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas...

...yeah, you know that one. This isn't it. That would be too much of a cliché.

It's been a peculiar kind of Christmas Eve. My Lady and I exchanged presents yesterday (although apparently there is a stocking waiting at work for me, for the morning) and today I have hardly left the house. Again. I did think that it might be nice to go for a Christmas pint this evening but that lasted a whole 15 minutes.

On medical advice, I haven't let a drop of alcohol pass my lips all week. From the first mouthful this evening I could tell that it should have stayed that way. Beamish Stout, while yummy, isn't the strongest drink in the world but as soon as I started on my pint tonight I felt my head swimming. For a second I had the uncomfortable feeling that I was going to pass out. The feeling passed soon enough but I didn't enjoy it at all. It took any kind of enjoyment out of the pub for me this evening and I drained my glass as quickly as I dared and came back home.

Work have laid on taxis to get staff in an out tomorrow - yes, I'm working on Christmas Day again. There's an upside to it - I get a Christmas dinner this year, For free, too! And once I get tomorrow done I have another day off as well. This does mean, though, that I have to get up and go to work tomorrow, so I'd better draw this Christmas Eve to  a close.

May I wish you all blessings of the season and may your God, whatever you perceive him (or her) to be, smile on you tonight, tomorrow and light your roads. Merry Christmas!

Waffle

So yesterday, December 23rd, my Pretty Lady finished work for her Christmas break. She goes back on January 10th which is the same day that I start my new job there! Coincidence.

It's kind of possible that I won't see her again before then. We'll do what we can but current circumstances may make it impossible. We'll see.

I've been off work sick all this week after my fall on Saturday morning. Besides the after-effects of the fall(s), I've been struggling with one of the 'orrible flu-like viruses that float around at this time of year. And as you can maybe tell, I can sleep tonight. Firing up the computer again and typing in a stream of drivel may not be the most widely recognised cure for insomnia but the sheep that I might usually count have been quarantined due to unseasonal foot and mouth disease. Funny that. Some people should sometimes be quarantined due to foot-in-mouth disease. I may have to suggests that be implemented in my place of work, particularly for those dealing directly with customers.

Right, lights out again, je pense. I may have to try counting animals that are slightly less boring than sheep. I wonder if it's possible to battle sleeplessness by counting duck-billed platypuses?

Incidentally, there is no universally agreed plural of the word "platypus". "Platypuses" is the usual scientific useage, while the pseudo-intellectual "platypi" is technically incorrect. Apparently. So now we know.

Analysis

Road conditions hazardous, flights to UK cancelled - The Irish Times - Sun, Dec 19, 2010

"It is extremely slippery on many roads in Tipperary, Limerick, Kerry and there are particularly hazardous conditions in Cork."

No shit!

I'm a bit of a mess, really. I don't think that I've done myself any serious head harm by falling. Not physically at least. What I have done is shattered my nerve for walking on the pavements as they are at the moment. I'm hoping that I can get away with it for this week - I don't start work until early afternoon so things may not be too icy (and there'll be buses into the city) and maybe I can get a lift home or possibly work might provide transport.

What I do know is that in the summer I could have walked from my home to the Bus Station in 25 minutes tops. If I had to do it tomorrow, to be at the Bus Station for 6.40 when the first bus runs, I'd need a good hour and a half and would be a gibbering wreck if I finally managed it.

There's meant to be a thaw as of Christmas Day so after that I should hopefully be okay.

It's not just fear of hurting myself again (although God knows I'm a wuss about pain), it's that tiny voice that whispers things about blood clots and fractures and the horrible, clinical sound of the word "brain". I've been thinking about it far too much and I know what it is: I'm scared to lose what I've found, due to a freak accident. I need to get over this PDQ as this way lays madness.

And I think I'm getting a cold. Triffic.

Whoopsie!

Yes, I'm still excited by the prospect of my new job. I had a little difficulty getting into the current one on Saturday, though!

Let me tell you the whole sorry tale...

Friday night was the Team Christmas Party, and typically, snow hit Cork that afternoon. As it's now known that I'll be moving to another job in January I thought I'd better turn up to be sociable. During the course of the evening I was chatting with one of the managers and explained that I wouldn't be staying out late as I was at work at 7 o'clock on Saturday morning. He laughed and said he was pleased to hear that someone who knew what they were doing would be in.

This was still in my mind when I walked out of the house at 6 o'clock Saturday morning and found that the snow from the previous night had half-thawed and then frozen again, leaving the pavements somewhat akin to a skating rink. I'd slipped over once within a few yards of my front door and landed heavily on my hip but managed to get my hands down to protect my head. I distinctly remember muttering to myself "Okay, so it's slippery. Be careful."

About 10 minutes later I was over again. My legs just went out from under me and I fell hard. This time I didn't get the chance to get my hands down and gave my head a nasty rap on the pavement. I nearly gave up and went home at that point, but pressed on On reflection, I'm not sure that was best option.

I live on a road that descends into the city down a steep hill and by the time I reached the bottom of it my nerve had gone completely and I was shuffling along clutching at lamp-posts and window sills. Despite that I made it to the Bus Station in time to catch my bus and got to work.

When I asked someone if they had any painkillers, they seemed to look at me closely and asked "Bloody Hell! What happened to your head?"

To cut the story a little shorter, I was sent, chaperoned, up to a local medical centre for a check up. They established that nothing was broken but recommended that I should go home. So here I've been. I've had 3 lovely ladies checking on me by text and my very own Lovely Lady has phoned a few times and is coming round tomorrow. My head has been gradually improving - at 9 this morning I was nauseous, dizzy and in pain. It's now faded to a dull throb and my hip is giving me far more gyp after that first fall.

I haven't been outside the house at all since the taxi that work paid for dropped me back at the house. I'd like to pop over the road to the shop tomorrow but may need someone to help me to look for my bottle first!!

Secret's out

The formal announcement has been made so I can share it here - I have a new job, starting in January.

It's in the same place but far more the sort of thing that I'd like to be doing. I'm unlikely to go into many more details about the job but I'll blog later (probably) about my feelings about it. For now, 2 words: dead chuffed!

Secret

I've got something to tell you all.

But I can't. Not yet. Patience is a virtue. Some things are worth waiting for.

Waiting

Way past my bedtime, I guess, as I have to be up early. Not as early as I would were a beautiful soul not going out of her way to pick me up in the morning, but still early.

I'm waiting, almost suspended in time, for news about the interview I took. I honestly won't be broken up if I don't get the job - I just want to know.

I also want to blog more regularly, and about differing subjects. I can feel the pressure to write building in me, which, given the job I'm waiting to hear about, is a good thing.

Standing

It's been a strange kind of a day. I've been kind of house-bound with what is laughingly referred to as "an upset stomach". Any further elaboration would probably be over-sharing!

I ventured across the road earl this evening to buy a lottery ticket and quite enjoyed the drizzle on my face. The shop staff, while pleasant enough, aren't really the sort for a chat soit was wonderful to get a couple of unexpected phone calls from my Pretty Lady. She's very good to think of me when her lad is poorly and she's not well herself.

I guess that both she and I are starting to show the strain of the whole "Q4 thing" at work. For an online retailer the build-up to Christmas is a very busy period (next week is what we'd call "peak week") and I think the cracks are starting to show. Any kind of bug that's floating around settles on one and althought it';s possible to hold it at bay during the week by sheer will-power, the slight relaxation at the weekend lets it take hold. I have no doubts that we'll both be in work on Monday morning, though. I'll be hoping for good news following the interview I had on Friday. It (well - they, as there were 3 of them) seemed to go well. So much so that I won't even be disappointed if I don't get the post. After such a good interview, if they give the job to someone else then they're the right person for the job!

I've spent most of the day with the radio on in the background, reading The Stand by Stephen King. While it's probably my favourite story by King, there's something slightly unsetling about reading an apocalyptic tale with no-one else around. It makes for a rather sombre and morose state of mind, which I attempt to close now by going to sleep. Or trying to do so.

Big News!

I have a computer in the house again. And it's mine, not on loan! It's a desktop and it's currently on the floor but that's okay too. I have a computer again and am slowly turning it into what I want.

I also have an important job interview tomorrow, which is why I'm being so brief here. Time for bed.

Drifted

When I was stood outside smoking I had an idea for something to post here. Something deep and meaningful about decisions.

By the time I'd walked back into the building and sat down at a PC it was gone, drifting like lazy snowflakes in the wind. Not completely gone - there's still a slight taste of it in my mind but not in any form that I could express. It was something about choosing to do what you believe in your heart to be right but more than that.

Oh well.

Quandaration

Molto conflicted here. The weather in Ireland is very cold. Our part of the country has escaped the worst of the snow (so far) but some patches of road are extremely icy.

One such patch is about 2 miles from a certain lady's house. On a steep hill. In the middle of nowhere.

I know that she'd like to get home to see her family and I also know that she's scared of driving that patch of road in these conditions. I'm trying to walk a delicate line between being supportive of whatever decision she makes - whether to try to get home (and then risk not being able to get in again in the morning, which isn't currently an option) or being more persuasive in my feeling that she should stay at mine.

My suggestion is (I think) about 30% selfishness that I want her to stay with me and about 70% concern for her safety. Of course, this is likely to be wildly inaccurate as I'm only human and try not to paint myself in a bad light.

What isn't open for discussion is that if she tries the drive I will worry constantly until she lets me know that she's home safely and then worry most of the night about her getting back in in the morning. Yes, I can talk to her on her mobile (she has a hands-free kit) so she has "company" in the car but if she slides off the road what am I gonna do? Walk 30-odd miles to help her? Without hesitation, if I thought that I could actually get to her before, God forbid, an ambulance would.

She'll have guilt if she stays with me, I know that too. All I can do is give her my honest opinion ("no secrets, no lies"), including as honest appraisal of my motives behind it as I can manage and not pressurise her at all. Ultimately, I'll back her in whatever she chooses 100% and if it means walking through the night to help her out of a crashed car then I'll do that too.