Thirteen

A young lady of my acquaintance celebrated her 13th birthday this weekend. This set me thinking - what can I remember of being 13? 

The year was 1979 and the world was a very different place. I was at an all-boys school and was painfully shy. I was no athlete or sportsman and was no academic high-flier either. I was spectacularly ordinary, I guess.

One way in which I might not have been so ordinary is that I was aware of what was going on around the world. Dad always had the 9 o'clock news on the TV and I'd gotten into the habit of watching the early evening news myself. Add to this the fact that I would always read the newspaper and I was pretty clued-in.

I remember that in 1979 Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister and both Lord Mountbatten and Airey Neave met untimely ends. The Shah left Iran and Ayatollah Khomeini moved back in and the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. That's without looking stuff up. All of that is more what happened in the year I was 13 than what it was like to be 13, though.

It's nearly 32 years ago and I'm a little foggy about it, to be honest. I remember being shy, as I said, and quiet. I remember being anxious, ready to see the worst in everything and probably more than a little paranoid. How much of this is typical among 13-year old boys I couldn't say. I wasn't an only child but the nearest of my sisters to me in age was 16 years older than I was so I may as well have been an only child. Effectively I was brought up by five adults - my parents and brother and sisters. Did this make me different to other kids? I guess that everyone is different in some way or another and that's as far as I'm going with this at this time of night.

Randomiser

Courtesy of the Random Word Generator, today's word is "Dustbin".

A dustbin today is almost a redundant concept. The nearest we might get to one is a bin in a kitchen for waste. The Wheelie Bins that are ubiquitous on our streets on collection today are almost nothing like the dustbins we had when I was a child. They were actually made out of metal, can you imagine that? They looked a little like this

although not as shiny, usually.

The rattle of a dustbin lid being replaced is one of those sounds that resonates through the years. It reminds me of school holidays when I'd be at home for the collection and could watch through the window, not being allowed outside in case I got in the way.

Never mind mechanical contrivances to lift them, readers of A Certain Age will probably remember that these things were manually lifted and emptied into a Dustcart by a breed known as Dustmen. These guys were strange and almost kind of otherworldly to me when I was five or six. Tradesmen who visited the house were respectful and deferential but the dustmen were filled with pet names and nicknames for everyone. And for some reason they had to have gifts when they made their last rounds before Christmas - a peculiarity of my mother's that I've never understood.

I haven't seen a metal dustbin for more years than I care to remember.

Suddenly February

I'm sorry that it's been so long. I didn't mean to leave it longer than a week.

I've got into the swing of things in the new job and when I've got home in the evenings I've just been chilling. I honestly haven't thought about blogging before tonight. What I have been trying to do is ensure that all the music I have on my iPod is backed up on a spare hard disk and that it has all the relevant artwork. Slightly OCD here remember? I now need to summon up the courage to sync the iPod with the backed up memory... oh, and the patience. It's likely to take a little while.

I am also pleased to say that I'm still not smoking. It's been very difficult sometimes but I'm just about coping. Strangely, I can still almost taste cigarettes in my mouth sometimes, which is a little disconcerting. One thing I've noticed is that when passing someone smoking in the street I'm now aware that I don't like the smell of cigarettes very much. I think I'm done for good this time.

After the kind of gap of gap I've left since I last blogged there ought to be something more profound for me to say. And there is. But it's a little late for that.

Almost

It must be colder than I thought tonight. I turned the shower on and was just letting it run for a minute or two when the water flow spluttered and nearly quit. I've seen that before - the water was frozen in the pipe.

Or rather, nearly frozen. The water just about managed to get going again. Another five minutes may have been too late. I knew that it was frosty outside but didn't realise that things were quite that far below zero. I'm very pleased that I'm not having to walk for a bus in the morning.

I hope that I sleep a little better tonight than I did last night. For whatever reason, I was awake for a fair proportion of the night. There weren't bad dreams or anything like that, I just couldn't settle. The only thing that I can put it down to is that Saturday evening I suddenly had to change my behaviour due to someone unexpected walking through a shop doorway. And I'll go no further than that.

Having had an unsettled night, I should probably be turning in as I'm back to work tomorrow. So for tonight, that is all!

Caught!

I thought of an analogy today.

My first two weeks in the job have made me feel like a cricketer, with chunks of information flying over my head. I've managed to catch some of them...

...and as for the rest, if I can continue with the cricketing theme, I may not have caught those balls but I know where they went and I can get them if and when I need them!

I have a Team Night Out with my new team this evening. I don't know what any of the rest of them have planned but after the whiskey-fuelled debacle of the other weekend I will be keeping things lightweight. I have to be back at work and compos mentis tomorrow!

Coded

For a Monday, today was a good day.

I learned just how rusty my html coding is but through sheer bloody-mindedness I was able to get through what I was meant to. I sit next to my new manager and she admitted that she was "throwing everything at Greg" this afternoon. That's okay too. I guess she's after finding out what I can handle.

I also learned that Polly and I have tickets for the "Post-Peak Party", to be held at one of Cork's swankier hotels in just under two weeks. It's a slightly themed party and I may be going out to try to hire what our American cousins would call a tuxedo. In which case there may be photographs!

Enough about work. I'm dangerously close to the edge of my self-imposed prohibition on posting about my job. So what else? I'm still off the cigarettes and at the risk of jinxing it, I'm not suffering too much. I even wandered over to my local yesterday afternoon to watch a rugby game and didn't feel any kind of compulsion to try to scrounge a smoke from anyone. This is a good thing.

I've adjusted the time of day that I apply a new nicotine patch, which seems to help with any difficult urges late at night. Or at least, tobacco-related urges! As this is a family show, I should probably stop there.

So I'm still at work at the moment. Not working myself (as you can tell) but just waiting for the prettiest girl in the world to finish what she needs to finish before we leave. I'm perfectly content sat here with her. Beats the Hell out of gazing blankly at a TV!

Good Signs and Positivity

This has got to be a good sign. It's now... what?.. just after half past midday and I only just realised that I haven't put a fresh nicotine patch on yet today. Although I'm still having the occasional awkward moment with it, I really do think that I'm kinda done with the cigarettes. Yay me!

Of course just typing that meant that I wanted one. I now have a new patch on my arm. I'm getting there.

So my first week in the new job went as well as I might have hoped. Parts of it I already have a bit of an idea about and other parts I think I'll pick up fairly quickly. Without going into unnecessary detail there are parts that I think I'll struggle with a little initially but there are people there to help me and everyone has to learn a new job when they go into it, right? I'll be "grand" as the locals would say. I know who to reach out to for help if I need it and I think I know in what areas I won't need any.

It's like an early spring day in Cork today. After about four days of constant rain, day and night, the sun has come out. Everything smells fresh, rejuvenated, new. I can't wait for spring. This is going to be a year of positive progress, I just know it. I can feel it in my bones, I can taste it in the air. I shall be looking around for a new place to live when summer gets here, which is without the little quirks that this place has. Don't get me wrong, this place has some immensely happy memories but the constant leaks when the rain falls are getting to be an annoyance and the stone floors mean that it's very cold in winter. A spare room would be nice, as would better heating and a newer kitchen We'll see what I can find.

This is kind of funny. I have the internal company "chat" facility open and am "in a call" with my Pretty Lady. We're not actually talking though. It's the equivalent of a comfortable silence between us. I can hear her typing and she can probably hear my typing and the music in the background. It's just nice to have the connection and to know that there's this something bringing us even closer.

As the weather is a little kinder today I shall venture out later. I may have a little walk and as Munster have an important rugby game this afternoon, I may even drop into the local pub to watch it in the company of manic Munster fans! Then a relaxed evening and possible an early night to get ready for tomorrow morning.

No Fire

The not smoking thing is going quite well. Just.

I just had a close shave with the whole tobacco thing. Close but no cigarette, if you'll pardon the expression. The urge has just come back even stronger so it's a good thing that I called it out already on Facebook or I'd probably be lighting up now. As it is I'm now getting the nibbles. I might be 16 stones by the time this is over!

And about an hour and a half later and I'm awake again. Just terrific. Quick stroll down to the bathroom, lights out again and try to relax...

Café Olé

Right. Yes. So. Blogging before midnight. Just. Starting anyway.

It's now rained for long enough and hard enough that I've had to give up on soaking up the drips from the leak over the bedroom window with towels and have had to put a bucket in place to catch them. The constant sound of "plop" is driving me crazy! I should maybe get in touch with the landlord and landlady. I'm not honestly sure why I haven't. One of the reasons is that whenever I've had any reason to ask them to get something fixed before, it's been treated with a certain amount of "fuss about nothing" and the work, when it's finally been done, hasn't been to the highest standard. I'll think about it.

Slightly random jump here but I was thinking about Jellyfish today. Not specifically for any reason - just about about what strange, beautiful creatures they are.

And speaking of strange and beautiful creatures, a quick word about Geminis. Those of us who know and love one understand that their moods may swing suddenly from one pole to the other. This is never going to stop us being worried when they're miserable / upset / unhappy. Just sayin'...

Starting Over

Day one of the new job went fairly well I think.

It's not like I actually "did" very much. Obviously there's training to be had and permissions to be sorted out. As the days go by and I get more into the job I kind of think I'll enjoy it more and more. The people I'm going to be working with are a nice crowd and they're not strangers to me, which is nice.

I'm actually a little concerned that I may have cracked the crown on my front tooth. Quite honestly, I don't need the expense of getting it repaired/replaced so I hope I'm mistaken. I'll keep a eye on it, as much as that's possible with one's own teeth and hopefully it'll prove to be nothing to worry about. At least until the new job filters through to the pay-slip.

And now to bed, I think. It's a little later than I wanted to be up but I wanted to jot a few things down here. Note to self: blog earlier in the evening. Preferably before midnight!

Over-hanging

I was reclining here watching a DVD when I became aware of a strange roaring sound. It took a couple of seconds before I realised that it was the sound of rain on the roof. I'm very, very pleased that I don't have to get up horribly early to walk down into the the city to get a bus. My Pretty Lady has offered to come and pick me up in the morning...for the first day of my new job!

I remembered some thing over this weekend. I remembered how thoroughly, how whole-heartedly and how deeply I hate to have a hangover. On Friday night my Pretty Lady and I went out to a moderately swanky hotel hotel for a meal with a good friend of ours. We had wine with the meal and then repaired to the bar. I would only be guessing at the time we left the bar. From there we went back to our friend's placxe and kept drinking and singing and playing guitars and drinking. All apparently without waking her husband. What time we called it a night and went our ways to bed is as much of a mystery to me as are Quadratic Equations. All I know is that I woke, about 4.30 on Saturday afternoon, with a mouth as dry as the Mojavé Desert and very, very wobbly on my feet. A few hours later and I only just managed to get out of a car before, well, I guess "blowing cookies" is rather a distasteful expression.

So I think I may be done with the heavy drinking. The word "hangover" doesn't even begin to hint at the total breakdown of capabilities and functions. Next time we go out, I think I may stop after three or four drinks and go onto fruit juice or tea or something that won't make my brain dribble out of my ears.

Before I turn in for the night, can I just mention here that I haven't had a cigarette since last Thursday. I would have liked one tonight but managed to resist. Yay me!

Can't sleep...

...which isn't good. The cold doesn't help but I think the biggest problem is that when I get home in the afternoon I doze off. Having to get up so early to get the bus takes it's toll as the day goes on. I won't be sorry to see the back of starting at 7 o'clock.

Conjuration

Here's a New Year's Resolution - I'm not going to come down with something flu-like again. At least not in the foreseeable future.

I've had the tickle at the back of the throat going on all day and have been alternately too hot and too cold. I'm dosing myself with paracetamol/decongestant and will kill off this SOB with a positive mental attitude. I'm just not having it. I felt ill enough in the week before Christmas to last me a couple of months, thank you very much.

This is my last week in my current job. My schedule was perfect, in that I was meant to be working Sunday to Thursday and then have a long weekend before starting my new role. This has now been changed to Sunday to wednesday, then Saturday, before starting the new job on Monday the 10th. I'm not best impressed by this but I guess I'll have to roll with the punches. I'll see what I can do about it tomorrow.

"Tomorrow". There's a word to conjure with. While all seems to have been doom and gloom in 2010, I seemed to get on fairly well. Aside from having a cold, 2011 seems to be starting quite well too. Despite all the woe forecast for the next 12 months things look fairly rosy on my horizon. Obviously no-one can predict what's around the corner with any accuracy but I seem to have every reason for optimism, which seems to be becoming my default setting, more and more. My promotion has come at a good time, I'm looking to move somewhere a little more comfortable at some point over the summer, and the fact that I'm paying sizeable chunks of money into a pension scheme every month leads me to believe that I may be comfortable, at least, in the more distant future. I have plans, hopes and dreams. At the moment, I have no reason to assume that any of them are beyond me. Yay!

Happy New Year

2011. It doesn't seem possible. I remember all the years growing up that I used to think to myself "When it's the year 2000 I'll be 34!"

The thought that we're now 11 years past that blows my mind a little.

So as the first day of the New Year draws to a close, I hope that it's been good to all of you. I haven't exchanged a word with a single person today, unless one counts text messages (or soft toys!) and that's okay too. I was up until the wee small hours of the morning so was quite happy to have a relaxing day, just chilling.

Don't get the impression that I was out carousing till all hours, though. I went for a couple of sociable pints after work and was back in the house by 10 o'clock, I guess. Any more than three or four pints and it takes more than one day to get over it, which wasn't going to be practical as my last week of starting work at stupid o'clock commences tomorrow.

A new year is a time for new beginnings - resolutions and all that. I haven't made any resolutions at all but I do have a new beginning on the horizon. Monday the 10th I start my new job as a Project Specialist and I can't wait. I've been working with a very cool bunch of people and it'll seem odd not to be, but I'll still be in the same buiding. I'm  ready for the new challenge and am itching to get at it. There's only one thing that I want more than the new job and you all know what that is.

New horizons in front of me and the love of the most beautiful girl in the world. Who knows what the next 12 months might hold? Not I, that's for sure. As an immediate wish, I'd kind of like it if the ringing in my ears from my fall would go away. I know that I was lucky but if I could push that luck just a little, the ringing is starting to bug me and my head is still a little tender. Enough, please!

I hope that 2011 brings happiness and joy to you all. May your dreams come true and may your problems all be itty-bitty ones!

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.