Monday

I’m almost deliriously happy tonight. I’m still sat here by myself with either the radio or some music on and with rather chilly feet on the lounge floor tiles but I’m happy. It’s kind of giddy, floaty happiness. The laundry can’t dent it, neither can the washing up (because I’m not doing it tonight – ha!) or the thought of an early start in the morning. Sigh.

So what else. I have an application form for a different job but still at the same place that I need to fill in. The major advantage of this would be that’s a permanent post, employed directly through The Company, rather than a temp from an agency. I’ll keep you posted.

I suddenly have loads of plans for the house. The first of these to put into practice must be to contact the landlord and landlady about the “little jobs” that still haven’t been done since I moved in. That may be my job for tomorrow evening, actually, as it’s too late to start that sort of important thing now. Ideally, of course, I’d win the lottery…

Yawn. I had no particular plans to blog tonight but I’m too weary for chess and my book is upstairs, where I will be soon. I’m just passing the time while the washing machine finishes so I can swap the load over before I hit the hay. The spin cycle is too loud anyway.

So that’ll do for me. The end of my Monday. A day of a certain amount of frustration, growling and stress but with large amounts of cuddling, giggling and love to sweeten it all.

Happy dreams, everyone.

Sunday

It's a cloudy and overcast Sunday in Cork. Not cold and not as gloomy as it looks through the tinted windows of the building.

Considering I'm at work (on lunch break at the moment - which is why I'm typing this), today is going pretty well. It's quiet and fairly relaxed and kind of how a Sunday's overtime should be. I'm working steadily without knocking myself out and am happy with how things are going.

Three and a half hours to go....

Trust

Okay, very briefly because I’m tired.

The work night out was good fun. I met some people who were new to me and got to have a few laughs with the people who I’ve now known for nearly 3 months.

So what do you do when someone discovers a secret? It completely depends who it is. Some people will blab it everywhere instantly. Luckily, the person who discovered a secret tonight is the person who, out of all of the team, I would have trusted most with it. She’s a genuinely nice girl whose glee at her discovery was rooted in happiness about what she’d found not in any kind of maliciousness or “ooh I know something!”

No, I wouldn’t have told her but I have no worries at all about her spreading things. None at all.

Goodnight all. My pillow beckons.

Beneath My Wings

Life can be hard sometimes.

That’s not me whining, I don’t necessarily mean “life can be hard for me”. Life can be hard for everyone sometimes. You know the kind of thing – the balls that unexpectedly bounce off a good length and get right through your defences. You’re rushing across a city to make a flight and when you try to buy a ticket for your next connection you find that your credit card is declined. You get home after too-fecking-many hours at work and it’s not until you take your boots off that someone casually mentions that there’s no food in the house and could you possibly put your boots back on and buy some.

Sometimes you’re at your best when these things happen. The ball hits you and stings but you can smile back at the bowler and he knows that you’re not rattled at all. Other times the impact brings tears to your eyes and knocks the wind from your sails completely. Am I allowed to mix cricketing and sailing metaphors? Pshaw! It’s my blog and I’ll do as I please. Mixing metaphors is one of my favourite hobbies. I digress.

What I’m trying to say is that bad stuff happens and sometimes it hurts more than other times. “Misfortunes come in threes” they say but there are times when the third one feels like it’s just the start of another series. At times like this what you need is someone who loves you. Be it a small child who’ll snuggle up to you on the sofa or some who’ll make themselves late back from tea-break to make you a cup of tea and buy you a Snickers bar, hold on to the ones that love you best when life treats you badly. Whether they’re sat next to you or not, when you’re feeling cold and small they’ll make you feel safe and warm.

On a lighter note, I have a full day tomorrow. The morning sees me sitting my Driving Theory Test, assuming I can find the test centre! I haven’t been so anxious since I did the Spreadsheets module in my ECDL. I’m not going to get horribly wound up about it, though. If I fail it, I’ll retake it. It’s not like I could go out and buy a car tomorrow and start driving it when I choose, anyway.

Tomorrow night sees a “Team Night Out” from work. A pub crawl basically. I have to confess to being not over-enthused at the prospect. There are people whom I wouldn’t choose to sit with in the works canteen who are going to be there. Still, I’ll approach it with as open a mind as I can, have a couple of pints and see where we go from there. If I’m enjoying myself, that’s grand. If I’m not I shall just slip away quietly. My days of doing things because other people expect it of me are long gone.

Right, my feet are getting cold now and as I don’t have a bunch of cushions to snuggle into on my sofa, I believe that my cuddly dinosaur and I shall head for bed with a good book.

Sweet dreams, everyone. Especially you and you know who you are.

Making a spectacle

So I have just over a week until my driving theory test. I’m reasonably confident but intend to keep working for it up to and including Friday night.

This, of course, brings into focus (groan!) the fact that my eyesight doesn’t appear to be what it was. The canteen at work has pool tables and one day a couple of weeks ago I walked in to find that someone had left some balls on the table. I used to be a fair pool player, although I haven’t picked up a cue for years. I thought I’d have a couple of quick pots and was horrified to find that the edges of the balls were a bit blurry. I guess it could be that I was tired but I fear that before I actually get behind the wheel of a car I may have to get my eyes tested.

I’m not sure how I’ll look in glasses, should it come to that. I’ll certainly need some assistance in choosing frames to suit me. I like the idea of contact lenses but can’t see myself being particularly comfortable about putting them in. One of my nervous tics is rubbing at my eyes, which definitely wouldn’t mesh well with contacts.

The thought of being able to drive at last is kinda exciting. It’ll open up a range of possibilities for me that I’ve never had before and take away my reliance on public transport or the goodwill of others for transport. And it’s a good time to be shopping for a car, apparently.

Oooh! Huge, jaw-cracking yawn. Right, I have to be up early to catch a bus so it’s bedtime for me.

Say nighty-night…..

Middle of the week

So after two days back at work after my lovely, long weekend, I get a day off. I’m not scheduled to be working Friday or Saturday this month but have to this week to cover the fact that I had Monday off.

Over the weekend we found some wonderful shops, saw some beautiful things, had some huge laughs, some very touching moments and ran into a couple of stressful situations. Such situations can be dealt with, providing one approaches them in the right frame of mind and we coped handsomely!

I’m actually learning to enjoy flying. I’m never going to be the biggest fan of take-off and landing but the bit in the middle is quite fun.

After being a non-smoker for the weekend, I lapsed (again!) on Monday morning having had something of a panic over getting back to Heathrow in time for my flight. I’m faintly disappointed in myself. I’m not really enjoying the smoking any more, it’s just something of a crutch. I think that it’s finally time to cast that crutch away for good and walk. I make no promises about tomorrow, as I still have some in the packet but as of Friday I shall be a non-smoker and intend to stay that way. Largely. On occasions I may fancy a smoke if I’m out and won’t necessarily deny myself but I’m kind of done with it as a habit.

So I’m off to bed and don’t have to get up at a quarter to six in the morning. Yay!

Good night, all. Sweet dreams. Especially you!

Room 17

So this is interesting.

I'm sat in a hotel in Kensington, London. With a funky little pink netbook at my disposal. I actually won it from my previous mobile provider before I moved out of the UK but haven't been anywhere with a wireless network to connect it to before now. I've downloaded and installed all the patches and updates that it wants me to and it's just about connected to the (slightly flaky) Wi-Fi at the hotel.

My Polly is sat at the dressing table catching up on a little work. It's a shame but I knew when we arranged this weekend away that she'd have to go online to get a little work done. That's cool. She's a busy lady and at least when she's done some work I can take her out to do something to take her mind off work for a while.

I had some rather disturbing news last night, which freaked me out somewhat but I have my head around it now. What can't be changed, must be endured, right?

It's a beautiful day in London and it promises to be a lovely evening in the company of a beautiful, if a slightly stressed lady, at the moment. It may actually be nearly lunchtime so now to see if I can copy and paste this lot into Blogger and get it to publish!

…but that’s not important right now!

This evening I had my first exposure to the wonders of the Cork International Airport Hotel. Fascinating place and far removed from the usual hotel decor.

It’s something akin to the bastard offspring of the set designer from Airplane and a psychotic surrealist.

Even though there’s no practical need to do so, I may have to spring for a night’s stay there in the near future, just because my head would enjoy it!

Saturday Night’s Alright

It’s typical isn’t it. I agree to work on a Sunday and on my way home, early, on a Saturday night, I get literally dragged into licensed premises (okay, it didn’t take a lot of doing) to find two guys with acoustic guitars playing some quality blues.

I could comfortably have stood there grooving until they locked the doors behind me but a sense of responsibility drove me back onto the road home. I could do with seriously letting my hair down. Not necessarily involving large amounts of alcohol but I feel the need to sing and dance. Co-incidentally I noticed another place in town has a Rolling Stones tribute on tomorrow night but wonderfully, I’m at work early on Monday.

I’ve enjoyed today in a kind of obscure way. Working out of one’s normal hours always has a different feel, unless one is salaried and expected to work all the hours God sends until the work is done. I bought a carry-on suitcase for a trip next weekend that I just can’t wait for, watched Ireland win at football in a pub that positively erupted when their (our!) winning goal went in and then just soaked up the vibe of a relaxed city on Saturday night, coupled with music and playing with friends on Facebook. I’m now back in my own little home and planning bedtime. Life is being as good to me, personally, as it ever has been. And I mean ever.

That’s not me wearing rose-tinted specs of any kind or disrespecting my old friends. Life has stresses and pitfalls and awkward fences. I guess I mean that I’ve never been more ready and able to cope with whatever life throws at me. I am more me than I’ve been for a long, long time.

The Sunshine Of My Love

So it’s been the best part of a week again. I promise to try and update things here a little more regularly, okay?

I tend to try to downplay any talents I may have. This is clearly an unintelligent thing to do. As was once sung - “you must stir it and stump it and blow your own trumpet or trust me you haven’t a chance!”

Bearing this in mind, I’m prepared to admit that I like to think that I have a way with words. Far greater minds and talents than mine have likened the life of a man to the passing of a year. By any stretch of the imagination, I’m no longer a young man. To pick up the Year analogy and run with it as best I can for a while, I never expected, after the grey, stormy and miserable spring I had, to find my midsummer to be so balmy and delightful. Imagine one of those idealised summer evenings that we all remember from our childhood. Things are warm and still. There are flies buzzing lazily by – not annoyingly but charmingly, the light glinting from their armour. The slowly westering sun glints through trees, making the leaves glow with a magical, golden green, their edges like burnished gold. The summer has no harshness to it but rather a tranquil, benevolent warmth, seeping into my bones and my soul, chasing away any trace of lingering damp and banishing the last of the coldness of spring to a place that has no bearing on today. I could never have reached a point where I can close my eyes and bask in this heavenly glow without having endured the winds and gales. I wouldn’t appreciate the tender kiss of the sun’s rays if I hadn’t felt the sting of the frosts.

That’s actually a far cleverer play on words than you may realise!

To cut out the flowery phrases, I’m in my mid-forties and have never been happier. In fact, I’m so happy that an impartial observer may find it faintly nauseating. My humble, giggling apologies. Lighten up!!

Until the next time, which I promise won’t be so long…fare well.

Tonight

Some things give me a warm glow inside. Trees in the rain or in the evening sunshine. The wag of a dog’s tail. Cats purring. People who both display and appreciate manners. People who are humble about their talents. The beauty of music of all kinds. An unexpected pleasure. The happiness of those I love.

I’m sat here, shortly before bed, with a smile on my face. I had a very enjoyable walk earlier on and then a lovely evening, vicariously. Sometimes just knowing that good things are happening is enough.

I went out to the bin in my yard an hour or so ago. There was a break in clouds so I stood and looked at the stars for a while. Shimmering sequins in the gown of night. But not the prettiest sight I saw today.

It’s Monday morning already, by the clock. Isn’t it funny how time twists around us all? It’s tomorrow morning now, in a way, even though I still haven’t made today into yesterday. I go now to do so. Good night, everyone.

Streaming

…as in consciousness. Apologies if my uncensored musing offend anyone’s delicate sensibilities. Actually not. If I offend thee, don’t come back.

So. There’s places in this fine city where I can go and feel reasonably comfortable. They are the two “rock pubs” that I’ve found. The thing is, in that kind of establishment, one tends to find power drinkers, “recovering” drug addicts and a general ambience that’s too loud for conversation with people that one doesn’t know well and have an unfamiliar accent. I’ve discovered that it’s possible to feel at home and completely isolated at the same time.

 

“I feel as though I’m out in the cold..”

 

Next weekend I have a “Works Do” to look forward to. And I am looking forward to it. Although I’ve found places to hang out and listen to music I like, I am feeling shorn of “normal” conversation sometimes. The little pleasantries that one might exchange with people that one sees day to day. Maybe that’s why I’m actually enjoying going to work again. Seeing people with more than a modicum of intelligence, who aren’t completely out of their brains (what’s left of them), is kind of comforting. Even if the conversation is about issues at work, it is conversation rather than drunken rambling. God knows, it’d be far too easy to slip into that mode. I’ve done it before.

 

“Oh my God, look what the cat dragged in!”

 

I’m stronger than that now, though. I can shrug away the little voice that whispers in my ear to tell me that I’m not good enough or that I don’t deserve to be happy. I hope that I can share that strength with someone else. The me that sought solace from the slightest pain in the bubbles floating in a glass is long gone. That’s why I’m sat here at 11.45 on a Saturday night drinking tea, having spent the best part of an hour or so under a tree in the rain by a lake just thinking. Even if I regretted burning any bridges, which I don’t, I have to deal with life as it is. Yes, there will be hard times and bad days. That’s just the way life is. Ultimately, one chooses one’s path and then walks it. Everything we say or do has consequences. All anyone can do is to choose as wisely as they can and then face any repercussions.

 

“A heart full of sorrow makes a lonely tapestry”

 

Once, not that long ago, I was exhausted. Every day was too much for me. I came within an ace of doing what is commonly referred to as “something foolish”. I found, or rather, was shown, that I have the capability to go on and make things better than they were. I am not solely responsible for what happened in the past. All I can do is face the coming day and make the best of it that I can. I hope and pray (or would, if had the faith or the right) that I won’t face the future alone. I have found a light that I never dared to believe existed. If I can’t walk in that light every day for the rest of my life, it’s enough for me to know that such a light exists. Not everyone is so lucky. Some people spend their entire lives in the darkness. Not I.

 

“I need to give, I need to live.
For the world is slowly turning
And the lights of love are burning in my eyes.”

 

So even though this hasn’t been the most enjoyable night of my life, I’m going to bed with the hope that the morning will be better. Whatever anyone thinks, I deserve that hope as does everyone. This can be a grey and empty world sometimes. The weight of what has gone before can easily drag us away from the promise of a brighter tomorrow. I beg you all never to let yourselves be so jaded that your yesterdays colour what is to come. Sweet dreams, everyone.

Tomorrow?

Alright then, later today!

I’m acutely aware that it’s been ages since a proper post here. Put it down to the fact that I’ve been re-adjusting to being at work. The whole idea of having to be somewhere at a certain time and stay there until another certain time.

In the eight days training that I had there was a fair amount of information to be crammed into my head. Fortunately, the class was being given by the best trainer I’ve ever seen work so if I do screw up I can’t put it down to poor training! The trainer was, however, working under constraints which made their job very difficult. People doing the same job that I’m doing, for the same company but based in, say, the US, get far longer in training than we have. The pressures of business today, I suppose.

So I’ve had my first pay for nine years! How cool is that? I’m informed, by people who should know and I trust to be honest with me, that I’ve made a good start, even if the first two phone calls I took were nightmarish. I’ve got over the trauma and got on with the job, which I guess is what’s required.

In the time that I’ve been in Cork nearly  everyone has been friendly and welcoming. I’ve run across a couple of people who have made me feel less than welcome but I can live with that. Two in, what, nearly six weeks isn’t a bad ratio. I’m seeing more and more of the city when I’m not working and I’m very happy here.

There’s been one thing that’s proven surprisingly difficult. It’s knowing that a certain lady is far, far closer than she was when I lived in the UK. We’ve spent a lot of time together but in the quiet of the night or the still of the day, when she’s not here, I miss her an awful lot. The whole “pretending to be just friends” when we’re around others I can handle. The knowing looks, smiles and winks make it quite fun but sometimes, when we just can’t be together, I miss her terribly and I know that she feels the same. We’ll manage, though. We both knew, when I moved over here, that there would be times that we would have to be apart. The knowledge that I’m going to see her tomorrow, however briefly, and be able to kiss her, however fleetingly, makes it bearable.

I’ve walked some serious miles today. Even though it’s gone eleven at night and I have to be up (giggle) in the morning, I’m not tired. I may put a movie on, I think. Just let me make a cup of tea….

Promises

I haven’t forgotten you all. Tomorrow, Okay? I promise.

Back In The Saddle

So today was my first day at work for nearly 9 years. It went well. Very well. It was a little strange to be meeting people who knew my face and my name from a friend’s Facebook page but they were clearly amused by it, which allowed me to smile at what might have been an awkward situation.

It was a long day, certainly but that was more down to the early start insisted on by the agency I went through than the the actual training at work, which was interesting, for the most part and very well delivered.

I’m putting it down to not sleeping well last night, the stress of starting a job (a big, big deal for me, at my age!) and possibly walking home in the pouring rain but I got very emotional when I got back home. I don’t mind admitting to shedding a tear or two. It seemed the most important thing in the world to reassure someone of something that was completely unnecessary. The person in question knows precisely what my position is on the matter in question. I can only assume that it all came from the deep well of insecurity that I’ve built up over the years. It may even have been the last , bitter dregs of that well sputtering out like the flame on a noxious candle (he said, casually mixing his metaphors with a careless toss of his hair toward the gallery). I’ve certainly never felt so secure in my personal relationships and my life in general for…I was going to say 20 years but, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think that I’ve ever felt so secure and happy in personal relationships. In fact I know that I haven’t.

So tomorrow  get to go to work again. Is it very strange that I’m excited at the prospect?

As an aside…

I’ve had a lovely day today. I just an epiphany and realised why. Yes, the delightful company this afternoon and this evening helped. Yes, it was nice to pop into a bar where I got some gentle ribbing about the fact that I was introduced to them all as Jimmy Page, and then to chat about music with the landlord. These things are not the full reason I’m so happy.

For the last three weeks or so, I’ve not been treated like a fool or like a child who needs constant direction. I’ve spent as much time as possible with someone whom I love very much and who loves me for who I am, and doesn’t seek to correct me at every turn or become confrontational if we disagree. I am getting used to being allowed to be an equal partner in relationships and having my efforts appreciated rather than having the feeling that nothing I do is quite good enough. Rather than being steadily crushed I am being raised up and supported. The support I offer in return is graciously accepted and appreciated. I am being treated, and allowed to be a “grown-up” for the first time in years and I like it. That doesn’t imply any boredom or becoming tired and staid. Indeed, I’ve shared more silly jokes and giggles recently than I have for longer than I care to remember.

My leaving my old life almost certainly hurt people that I would never have wished to hurt. My staying there, however, would have perpetuated a twisted, distorted life and enforced the impression on a young mind that what was seen was normal. I seek no-one’s congratulations or approval on what was and will remain the hardest decision I have ever made in all my years. As with all things, one can only act according to conscience and then live with any consequences. It had to stop and should have stopped years ago. It was only in the last year or so that I was reminded that I had the strength to make it stop and by then there was only one way to do it.

I was at least part of the cause of the darkness back there. Hopefully by walking away from it, it will slowly dissipate and I will not be the only one that finds the light growing around them again. I am what I am and I’ve done what I’ve done. There is no going back. Every step I take is one more on the road to a happiness that I hope my daughters will appreciate and accept one day. If not, it’s not because of what I’ve done but because of the way I did things for so long and allowed at least one of them to assume that was the way of all things. I pray any God that hears me that she will forgive me, not for what I’ve done but for allowing things to go on as they did for so long.

Is it wrong of me to seek happiness? To turn my face into the fresh breeze that blows through my life and let it cleanse me? I think not. Every man has a point at which he says “no more” and I reached mine. My mind is clear for the first time in years, my heart is alive and my soul thrills at the thought of the future. There is one person in all creation whose good opinion I value and cherish – I have it and will do nothing to have it fade.

I have no further public comment to make on this issue,  even here. I move forward and hope that everyone can.

All yawned out

I had a really bad night’s sleep last night. I went to bed about half past midnight and fell straight asleep. About an hour later I was awake, after the strangest dream. Unusually, I remembered it and still can. I was sat by the side of a pool with a dog. Not a dog familiar to me. Very deliberately it walked into the pool, the level of which then started to go up until it completely covered the dog’s head. I reached in and pulled the dog out by his collar, to find that he had a box in his mouth. I opened the box. Inside it was a mobile phone, the screen of which broke as I looked at it.

I’m not seeking any kind of interpretation of this. I just mention it as it’s very rare for me to remember dreams at all.

Anyway that was me awake for a few hours. The dawn chorus started at 4.47 precisely. I dozed a little after that but was fully awake again by 6.30. I had rather a dip about half past 10 this morning but I’m wide awake again now. I think I shall brush up again on a certain website’s help pages and then go for a walk, crossing as few roads as possible. I believe I shall complain to the Bank of Ireland, about their CSA to whom I spoke yesterday. This will be cheaper done from a public call box rather than my mobile, which means a walk towards the city centre. That’s fine – I want to drop into another couple of banks and look into savings accounts. I won the princely sum of €28 on last Friday’s Euromillions Lottery and rather than see it frittered away, I’d like to see it as the start of saving for the future. I must remember tickets for tonight’s draw.

Good times, bad times

Up until about 3 o’clock this afternoon, today was a spectacularly good day. I had an unexpected visitor who brought light and laughter into my day, where I hadn’t expected it. This afternoon, from a purely selfish point of view, two phone calls went badly. Oh, and I must learn to rethink the art of crossing roads.

So, a big thumbs down to customer service at the Bank of Ireland. I understand completely that they would send out PIN numbers for people to access their accounts by phone or online and then require customers to ring to validate the numbers. Problems may arise if said numbers are obscured by a peel-off strip which, when peeled off, leaves the numbers (I think there were 4 digits but can’t be sure – that’s how bad it was) illegible. I was asked for the first, second and fourth digits of the number and got them wrong. If I’d got them wrong, then why is it an issue if I read out the number in it’s entirety, having already been told that what I’m reading the numbers as is wrong? And why exactly is it a source of amusement for their operator that they then have to send me out a new PIN? And who told them that it was acceptable for Customer Service Agents to show amusement at a customer having difficulty with their processes? If I could face the hassle, I’d close the fecking account and go elsewhere.

The second phone call that went badly is entirely my own fault and I hope that one day it’ll be forgiven, if not forgotten.

After a close shave the other day, I’ve been very careful in crossing roads. If a pedestrian crossing is available I’ve been using it, pressing the button and waiting for the green man, no matter what traffic is in sight. This afternoon I went to cross a three-lane road, with the lights in my favour. Surely it doesn’t expect too much of motorists that they should stop at a red light. It was clearly asking too much of one woman who screeched to a halt on the crossing (NB – not before the crossing, on the crossing) and would have hit me, had I not leapt back. She mouthed “sorry” through her window and drove off, still with the lights against her! My faith was bolstered somewhat by a young lady in the next lane winding down her window and asking me if I was alright. Bless her, she was chalk white. It may have been closer than I realised.

So, notes to self. Think, look and look again before crossing roads, no matter what array of lights are showing. And for pity’s sake think about what you’re saying on the phone!

Eric Roche - Smells Like Teen Spirit

I had never heard of this guy before today. What a talent! I'm a firm believer in there being only so much one can do with a musical instrument through practice. This man had a natural gift for it. Frighteningly good!

Incidentally

Just a few things, with no particular common thread…

There’s a cliché picture of your average Irish person as being very laid back and relaxed. Billy Connolly refers to the Irish as “white black people”! This relaxed attitude certainly extends to the use of indicators whilst driving. It makes for an “interesting” experience whilst crossing roads. One has to look at the driver, rather than the indicators and try to guess whether they look like they’re about to make a turn or not. Loadsa fun!

I’ve discovered that while an Englishman may deposit money into a bank, over here one lodges funds. I haven’t put my foot in it too badly at all, I don’t think.

It’s a little strange. I have never before lived by myself. I was still living at home with Mum and Dad, at the age of 27, when I married. I’ve now been in Cork for a little under two weeks and for most of that time I’ve had the place to myself. The internet and radio (often both together – I miss BBC radio and Planet Rock!) make things liveable when I’m at home and without company. I don’t have a television and am in no real hurry to get one. I doubt that your average free-to-view Irish channel holds a lot more to interest me than the British ones. Occasionally, just occasionally, I miss having one. A television in itself is no great outlay but then I’d have to look at either Sky or Cable and I’m acutely conscious that I’m not actually bringing any money in at the moment. It’s not an issue currently but I came over here with a finite amount of money and there are more important things than television. Anyway, I don’t need T.V. when I got T. Rex!

I rather think that I might do the tourist thing properly over the next few days, so that once I do start work (fingers crossed) I don’t have distractions. Then again, I could write the letters and make the phone calls that I’ve been desperately trying to ignore. There are certain people who ought to know where I am, I suppose. And I don’t necessarily mean my daughter or (soon to be) ex-wife. I’ll keep the channels of communication open for my Elder daughter but it really doesn’t surprise me that she’s not answering me. Hopefully she’ll forgive me one day. I did what I did with my eyes wide open and fully aware of possible consequences, though.

On a lighter note, it’s nice to be living somewhere with a open grate. On nights when it’s just a little cool, a small fire is warming and cheering. Once winter sets in, I’m sure that I can remember how to bank up a fire to warm the whole house.

For now, boys and girls, I shall finish this glass of wine that was left in a bottle and I shall repair to bed. I must remember to blow out the scented candle. On the subject of scents, isn’t it strange how some perfumes linger….?

Good night, one and all. Sweet dreams.