A Week In Bullet Form.

* Last week's shift in the library went very well. I had two appointments and one 'walk-in' as it's called.
     Client 1, wanted a quick tour of his iPad - which he had had for months and that the kids knew how to use, but he didn't - with the view of taking lessons.
     Client 2. needed advice regarding an application letter and help navigating Microsoft Word, which she hadn't used in years and now looked completely different. I also had a quick rummage through her hard-drive and uninstalled several unnecessary or not working applications, which her daughter had unwittingly added or half removed during de-fragmentation (she had insisted to her mother that this absolutely HAD to be done to make her computer work because it was "ancient" - which was untrue - and then made a hash of it).
     Client 3. just needed help printing out a receipt she had received via email.
     ...All three left happy.

* The Story has begun to be written again, slowly but surely. I typed about 5 pages at the library on Tuesday (I've decided that Tuesday afternoons, when I have no college, no work - voluntary or paid - and no other definite obligations to anything or anybody else would be a great time to just settle down at one of the computers in the corner, pop my headphones in to drown out the rest of the world, and get stuck in) and wrote up about 5 pages worth more in my notepad on Thursday while I waited for the train.
     I'm having a great time with this one. It's developing, bit by bit; growing. The characters are emerging in more detail and blossoming into real, fully dimensional people, and in a way that is enhancing the plot, rather than mutating it.

* The Cat has been given a clean bill of health. The medicine we're having to squirt down her throat every evening - yeah, we all really LOVE that part of the day - and the specialized diet have both helped to build her strength back up. She is now as well and evil as ever.

* The Dog, on the other hand, is not so good...
     Well. That's not quite true. Bingo is perfectly happy in himself, and mostly healthy, it's just... the infection he has in his bladder is refusing to shift. He's quite happy, but he isn't right. A sample has been sent off for further testing to try to find out why, and if that doesn't throw up any answers, he'll have to have an ultrasound.
     But that isn't the main problem, of course. Since he has come of his chemotherapy tablets (which had caused the infection in the first place), the cancerous lump has begun to grow again - it's too soon to find out exactly how quickly - and unfortunately not only can he not start taking them again (once the infection sets in, that's it. No more. Ever) but it doesn't look like there is any other treatment he can take either.
     The Vet is waiting to hear back from an expert in the field in the hope that he's wrong, but it's looking very unlikely. So, we're all a bit up in the air right now.
     My mood on the subject is currently wavering between tearful despair, and relief that at least now I know the worst (or very likely I do) and now can just get on with things. I'm erring far more toward the latter, though. I'm don't know if that makes me needlessly pessimistic, or realistically practical. Mother is holding out hopes for Super Cancer Expert Sarah, but I'm not. I think that we've run out of options and that the only one left is to let nature take its course.
     So, overall, I think, I feel relieved and - bizarrely? - optimistic.

* College seems to be plodding along well, I've borrowed a copy of the book I'm working through right now so that I can read it over again and make notes at my leisure, and Best Friend 0,5 (1) made the suggestion that I could have a look on Amazon for a second hand copy of it, so that it'll be mine, and I can read it and scribble on it whenever I want.
     So I'll be looking into that, tomorrow.

* Another subject I'm wavering about, is my hair. It is now shoulder length, just about, and I'm not altogether certain that I like it. The internal conflict is currently ongoing.

And that's it.
     That was my week. In a nutshell.
     Don't you feel enriched, now you've read about it?

...Oh, shut up. You do so...

B.C.B.F.L.B x

Happiness Is... No. 7:

Happiness is...
     Doing a little dance of triumph, because the 'hyperlink' you've just inserted into your document actually works. (Yea!)

B.C.B.F.L.B x

I'm Here! =waves=

Yes, dear reader(s); I am still alive. I've just been really busy, is all, with family, and work, and my other work at the library, and getting ready for college, and then enrolling at college, and then finally starting my course on Wednesday... yeah. I have been running around (or, at least, waddling fairly quickly) like the proverbial chicken, minus its head.

Anyhoot. College went well, overall, after a slightly rocky start.
     The books I am using took a little getting used to, you see, due to my tendency to both preempt and skim read, along with my utter determination to work it out myself, rather than ask for help (a hangup from my school days. I was fat and unpopular; the LAST thing one wanted was to draw extra attention). The three of these things, I was assured when I finally gave in and went to confess to the tutor - red faced and feeling like a complete failure - that I was stuck on instruction 2) on page 1., were totally normal and understandable, etc. etc.
     People coming in who already have some knowledge - even a little bit of knowledge - of the subject they are trying to learn are apparently at a particular disadvantage due to the fact that their brain will grab hold onto the bits it already knows - such as: "set top left margin to 3cm"! Yes! I can do that! I know how to do that! - while merrily glossing over the other parts of the instruction - such as: "set top left margin to 3cm. First, select margins from page set up. The box will look like this (picture inserted). Change top left margin to 3cm. You will note that the numbers in the other boxes change automatically (this is to keep the margins set levelly). Change the top left margin back to its default (1.5cm) then Click OK. Now, go to the developer tab, and select margins and tabs. A box will appear. Check that free page is selected; if not, select, then click OK, then OK again. Then select margins again from page set up. You will notice that the box looks like this (picture inserted). Check the free style box. Then set top left margin - ONLY - to 3cm. You will see that all other margins remain unchanged, rather than automatically updating".

Do you know what my silly little brain found so confusing about that? It was the 'developer' tab. I was looking for it in the wrong place. I was looking for it from within the 'page set up' tab, when, of course, it wasn't there. It said that it wasn't there (the clue was in the name: 'tab'. It was a completely separate section in its own right), but my frustrated, addled mind couldn't accept it. Because I thought I already knew what I was doing with this bit, and hadn't paid proper attention, then panicked when - amazingly - it didn't work the way it should have.
     ...yeah.
     So, the first 45 minutes of my first session didn't go so well. But, after finally going and asking for help - which is, as she pointed out, after all exactly why she and the other two tutors are there in the first place - and heeding her advice to read carefully and not preempt - and above all; if stuck, to simply say so, no matter how small and silly the problem seemed - I settled down and started to get some work done.
     Y'know, I was so thrilled when I was able to turn to page 2. that I gave a little squeal: "yay!"

That was my first day at college. A feeling of humiliation, followed by admittance of ignorance, followed by reassurance and guidance, followed by three and a half hours of productivity.

The second day went a lot more smoothly.
     I still only managed to complete two skill sets, which disappointed me a little; I had been hoping to manage to get through three. But then again, I had an entire hour and a half less to work within and in any case, the exercises were larger and more complicated. This time, I didn't faff about, anyway: as soon as I encountered a problem that I couldn't rectify myself within five minutes, up I got and over to the nearest tutor I walked.
     I think that's a fair amount. I didn't want to waste time, but at the same time I needed to at least try, first. I'm proud to say that the majority of the time, I managed without help.
     I was less so, admittedly, that those times that I couldn't, it turned out to be something really obvious, but still, one can't have everything...

Anyway, we'll see. I'll be back there again on Wednesday, all fired up and ready to go.

In other news: I haven't written a solitary word of my Story all week. This is disappointing, but in all honesty not surprising, as I have barely had a minute to even think, let alone think and write, and those minutes that I have had have been used for allowing my suddenly-forced-to-work brain time to rest and regroup.
     I'm sure that once I've gotten used to the new schedule, that I will be able to start up again. For today, however, I am only aiming to get typed up the few pages of the week before (when I had almost as little time, but hadn't become a student and forced my brain out of retirement yet) and nothing more. If I feel inspired to write; great. But I'm not going to beat myself up about it if I don't.

In other, other news, my job really sucks sometimes (which can be said for lots of jobs) and yesterday afternoon's shift was particularly bad - I'm not going to go over all of it now. Suffice to say; lots of little bits of suck joined together to make one great blob of suck - and my overall mood was not helped by the fact that I skidded over on a patch of black ice and hurt my hand on the way there.
     The journey home felt longer than usual, with me feeling exhausted and sorry for myself. During it, three different sets of people stood out enough for me to want to note them down here.
     I've thought about how to best describe them, and in the end decided that it can be said in the form of a short letter from me to them.
     So, without further ado, to finish the post off with a flourish, here t'is...

To The Group Of Boys, who made fun of me, when I was already feeling awful:
     I hate you.

To The Girl, who smiled at me, for no reason other than to acknowledge my existence:
     I thank you.

- and last but not least -

To The Would-You-Like-Some-Crisps Lady and Her Son, who did nothing but walk past nearby, her with a small contented smile on her face, and him with a glumly resigned expression on his (carrying as he was three multi-packs of Penguin chocolate bars):
     I think I love you both a little bit.

Sincerely,
     B.C.B.F.L.B x

4th January 2016.

Dad.

The last time I walked on the beach, I enjoyed the feeling of the salty air; the wind tousling my hair, the sound of the sea in my ears, the smell of the sea in my lungs.
     But above all that: I enjoyed the sense of you, plodding along amiably beside me.

You didn't speak. I couldn't see you. There were no footprints in the sand.
     But I knew you were there,
     And in that moment, that was all that mattered.

Happy Birthday, big guy.

Always,
     Alice. x

Things I Have Learned This Week:

*****

1. 'compromise', in Mother's world, translates to; 'I'm going to do what I want, so there'.
     - I mean, okay, it is HER pension money, but seriously; is it so wrong to ask her to spend it on HER, rather than on other people?
     - well, you may think you've won, but watch this space, Mother, because I 'aint done arguing the toss yet...

2. there is a simple, easy way to prompt a computer to print pictures from web pages that it doesn't seem to want to.
     - thank you, Geoffrey, for that.

3. no matter how many problems a friend has disclosed that she is having - physical, financial, familial, general, or all of the above - the correct response upon being told that she is pregnant for the second time is NOT a gasped "oh, no".

4. it is possible - somehow - for my beloved Mopping Machine, Petal, to suck pieces of debris up into her tank that are far bigger than the circumference of her pipes.
     - I also learned that this practice can cause a lot of problems later on.
     - I've grown to hate the fact that on Saturdays, someone else drives Petal. Every time I come in on Monday morning, something - usually small, always preventable - has gone wrong that I have to fix.

5. it turns out that I didn't know how to spell 'circumference'.
     - I thought I did, but I didn't.

6. 'BEQ' is Library code for; 'this item has been reserved'.

7. I want a rabbit.
     - I am not going to GET a rabbit. I have neither the space nor the time - or money, for that matter - necessary to adequately care for a rabbit, and so I shan't get one. But nevertheless, I still want one.

8. the main character of The Story has turned out to not be who I thought it was. Or at least, it IS, but it isn't.
     - still, everything is now clear and established and I now have a clear insight and feel for where The Story is actually supposed to be going, so I am very pleased. Now I am getting somewhere, and can start to make some real progress.

9. in order to have a chance of working in a school environment - as a Librarian or anything else - I am going to need to get some experience working directly with children.
     - at my request, the Library manager is looking into options that might fit around my current working hours, as is the nice lady attached to Kidderminster College. I'll probably have to wait until I know how much time I'll need for my course in January, though, before I make any definite decisions.
     - in any case, what with the course, and my volunteer work plumping up my CV, I have high hopes for finding a much better job in 2017.

10. one of the members of Store Staff fancies me.
     - it's a man, unfortunately, but still.

11. when talking to someone that struggles with English, I do what everybody else does and raise my voice - whether I like it or not - as though it will help.
     - thankfully, with effort and patience on both our parts, I managed to resolve the man's problem and get what he needed converted into a savable and printable form.
     - I didn't get to practice my new 'reveal all' trick though, as it wasn't do-able in the format I had to work with. But, oh well. We managed in the end.

*****

And that's it.

For now, at least.
     The week's not over yet, after all...

B.C.B.F.L.B x

I Always Wondered Why That Woman Didn't Seem To Like Me...

*****

 

~.START.~

Scene is set; B.C.B.F.L.B is making her way home via the library - she needs to order her dog's Christmas present, and the internet connection at home is unreliable - in the rain. As she walks across the college car park - wishing that she had remembered to put her umbrella back in her bag - she spies the one of the women that works in the café at The Store a little way off (nice girl, in her mid thirties, lovely and big and round with dark hair and a cheery smile. Married and heterosexual, but then one can't have everything); she is crossing the car park in the opposite direction, in the company of her mother - a sour faced woman of indeterminate age that regularly visits The Store and is in the habit of glaring unnervingly at B.C.B.F.L.B no matter how nicely she is smiled at in return - and noticing B.C.B.F.L.B, she smiles and waves. B.C.B.F.L.B smiles and waves back. As usual, sour-face does not smile and wave, opting instead for one of her better glares.
     As the two sets of people actually cross paths, the following snippet is overheard...

SOUR-FACE: (in stage whisper, eyeing B.C.B.F.L.B suspiciously) ...is that the one? The one that's gay?
NICE CAFE GIRL: (wearily) yes, mum...

Scene ends; with Nice Café Girl and Sour-Face carrying on their way, and B.C.B.F.L.B carrying on hers.

~.END.~



 

*****

In other news; as I sit here typing, Petal is mid-way through being fixed. She will be fully up and running by the end of the day.
     So tomorrow, I shall be able to catch up with all of the machining that should have been done yesterday and today, and I can rest easy knowing that I'm not going to be summoned in to discuss the repercussions of completely writing off a piece of equipment worth at least a few thousand pounds second-hand.

Also, I've ordered Caffrey's (he's my sponsor dog) and Bingo's (you already know him) Christmas presents. Caffrey is going to receive a football, which he'll love. Bingo is due to receive a new collar and lead, which I imagine he will be less thrilled about than Caffrey will be with his football, but he desperately needs them. And in any case, I'll make it up to him by getting him a pig's ear from the market as well.
     Now all I need to do is write my Christmas cards and begin my annual please-can't-we-decorate-the-house-early-this-year? battle with Mother (I always lose, but feel compelled), and I'll be completely ready.

...T'is the Season...

B.C.B.F.L.B x

And Thus, The Week Ends With A Slip, A Crash, And A Bang.

~.START.~

Scene is set; B.C.B.F.L.B is sitting in an office located in The Store's warehouse, trying to both work up the courage to make the phone call she knows she has to, and block out from her brain the image of the water seeping carnage that is currently sitting in a heap just outside the closed door at the same time. Eventually, she takes a deep breath, picks up the phone, and dials...

PHONE OPERATOR: you are through to The Company Central Helpdesk! Hello, my name is Stuart; how can I help you?
B.C.B.F.L.B: hi, Stuart, this is B.C.B.F.L.B. I am calling from the Kidderminster branch of The Store, and need to report a fault in our scrubber dryer machine.
STUART: uh-huh, okay no problem. Can I just take The Store's reference number please?
B.C.B.F.L.B: it is '13412'.
STUART: (typing) okay, good, Kidderminster, yes. We have two branches of The Company there. I take it that as you've mentioned a scrubber dryer, this is to do with cleaning rather than catering, so... - just logging in to the correct system - ...great. And can I have your first and last name please?
B.C.B.F.L.B: (...rattles off first name and surname, along with spelling...)
STUART: (typing) great. Okay. Can I have the make and/or model of the machine, along with the serial and/or bar-code number please?
B.C.B.F.L.B: (...rattles them off, too...)
STUART: (typing) right, good. Ah yes, the 'Profy Fimap', of course. It's a mopping machine.
B.C.B.F.L.B: (cheerily) yep. Her name is Petal.
STUART: (pausing briefly, but otherwise unfazed) right, Petal. So, B.C.B.F.L.B; what seems to be the problem with Petal?
B.C.B.F.L.B: well, thanks to me, she is broken. Badly.
STUART: (surprised) badly broken?
B.C.B.F.L.B: (nodding, forgetting that he can't see her) yes. BADLY broken.
STUART: (curious) what happened?
B.C.B.F.L.B: (breathing a deep breath in) right, well, see, I was trying to refill her batteries - I do that every couple of weeks - and if possible, I do it in the warehouse, rather than the cleaning cupboard, because there's more light there - I can do that, providing the warehouse staff aren't using the forklifts - and our drain has been blocked, so I've been emptying Petal's tanks outside in the Garden Centre - I can do that too, providing that we don't use chemicals, as the drains outside are linked to a river rather than a sewage system, so I've been cleaning the store with just water, which is fine; personally I can't actually tell a difference, and I'm good at spotting differences like that as I've been a cleaner for a very long time - so ordinarily I would have emptied Petal already outside, but this time I didn't because I needed to swill her tanks out and the cleaning cupboard drain can cope with one lot of water being emptied into it, so I thought I'd just do it in there, and so I drove up to the cupboard and was about to drive in when I remembered her batteries, and needing the light, and the warehouse wasn't in use at all so I knew I could do it, and so I lifted Petal's back panel - she has two sets of batteries: one at the front under the driving seat, and one at the back under her largest tank - to get started refilling, only I'd forgotten that I needed to empty the tank out first, and I hadn't, so it was too heavy for me and instead of moving slowly on it's runner into the open position it was flung away from me out of control and at speed nearly taking my arm with it and fell all the way backwards and slammed into the ground with a great loud CRACK and a BANG, and now her hinges are all busted open and bits have snapped off from somewhere - I don't know where: underneath - and so now she's broken badly, and here we are.
STUART: (stunned temporarily into silence by this fast, unstoppable outpouring of words) ...um...I...um...so...okay...let me get this straight. You forgot to empty the tank, and lifted the back panel, and...wait: why did you lift it up again?
B.C.B.F.L.B: to reach the tubs that her battery fluid is kept in, so that I could refill them.
STUART: (still sounding stunned) ...yes, right, of course. So you lifted the panel up to do the batteries refilling, forgetting that you needed to empty the water tank first, and because you'd forgotten that, it was too heavy for you, and so instead of opening normally, it...
B.C.B.F.L.B: (finishing for him) ...fell all the way backwards and slammed into the ground with a great loud CRACK and a BANG, and now her hinges are all busted open and bits have snapped off from somewhere - I don't know where: underneath - and so now...
STUART: (finishing for her) ...the mopping machine is broken.
B.C.B.F.L.B: yep. Badly.
STUART: (breathing out loudly) badly broken.
B.C.B.F.LB: yep. BADLY broken.
STUART: (after another stunned pause) ...wow. I mean...
B.C.B.F.L.B: (sagely) yeah, I know.
STUART: (breathing out again) ...that's just...
B.C.B.F.L.B: (sagely) it is.
STUART: (after mulling over the right term to describe it) ...dramatic.
B.C.B.F.L.B: (sagely) it was.
STUART: (sounding awed) I...I mean...wow. Are you okay? Are you injured?
B.C.B.F.L.B: (breezily) nah. I'm okay.
STUART: good. (recovering composure, he reverts and becomes a formally polite help-desk operator again) right! So. what damage seems to have been done?
B.C.B.F.L.B: (sighs) well, definitely the hinges of the panel are broken. And stuff has snapped off from underneath. Not to mention that Petal's back panel is currently hanging upside down. sat on the floor with water out of seeping out of it slowly but surely.
STUART: (typing furiously) can you lift the panel back up again?
B.C.B.F.L.B: (gloomily) no. My supervisor has gone to fetch some more people to try, but I think we might have to try and drive her back into the cupboard as is.
STUART: (still typing furiously) and water is leaking. Where from?
B.C.B.F.L.B: I can't tell definitely, but I guess her tank. (...has an idea...) if we can manage to get her into the cleaning cupboard, we may be able to reach her pipes to empty her out; then we might be able to lift the panel back up again.
STUART: (still typing furiously) good, good idea. Okay, I'm just finishing getting all of this down. So, you try to do what you said, and if you manage it and find any further damage that you can identify, call back and ask to be put through to me, okay?
B.C.B.F.L.B: (breathing out loudly) okay.
STUART: (stops typing) good. Okay. So, we'll leave it at that, unless there is anything else that I can help you with?
B.C.B.F.L.B: (hopefully) any chance you would consider telling my manager that YOU broke Petal instead of me?
STUART: (regretful but firm) ah, no, I will not be doing that.
B.C.B.F.L.B: (sighs, all hope lost) I thought not. It was just worth a shot. Okay. Thank you Stuart. Other than refusing to take the blame for something I did, you have been very helpful.
STUART: (cheerfully) no problem. Your repair reference is '91507'. Good luck.
B.C.B.F.L.B: (gloomily) thanks. Bye.
STUART: (cheerfully) goodbye.
B.C.B.F.L.B / STUART: (...both hang up...)

Scene ends with B.C.B.F.L.B and Supervisor managing, after several failed attempts to lift the panel back into place, to get Petal back into the cleaning cupboard. Once there, the tank is emptied, flooding the cupboard and the warehouse floor surrounding it with filthy stagnent smelling water, and at last the panel is able to be lifted back into place. Further examination identifies severe damage to the bar and the nuts and bolts holding it in place, so after dealing with the worst of the flood, B.C.B.F.L.B squelches her way back to the office and calls the help-desk back again to report it, leaving The Supervisor to finish up. Once both things are done, B.C.B.F.L.B sets about letting the manager of The Store know that Petal is out of action until repaired - as news of the accident has spread like wildfire, this comes as no surprise to anyone, and said manager can barely contain his amused smirk as he is given the information - and then ringing her own manager to inform her - as usual, the phone is off, so she leaves a message - before squelching her way back to the cleaning cupboard and collecting her things, finally able to go home. 
     She makes it outside The Store before her cheery calmness is replaced by something else. 
     Stood beside the exit, bag and coat in hand, she bursts into tears.

~.END.~

Y'know, beside the dramatic and tragically funny event detailed above, other happenings throughout the rest of the week seem pretty tame in comparison, but meh, what the heck?
     Here they are anyway...

*****

1. during my second one-to-one session at the Library with Client 1, my lack of understanding of how to operate the badly malfunctioning, barely responsive and callously unpredictable Tablet created enough frustration that Client 1 demanded my removal and replacement by somebody that "knew what the heck they were doing", then, as none of the Librarians available could make the damn thing work either, she left unsatisfied and with an appointment booked to liaise with the only other Digital Champion that the Library currently has (who, I am confidently informed, will have no more luck than the rest of us did, because whether Client 1 is prepared to accept it or not, the damn thing doesn't work).
     Other than that, things are going well, I am doing well.

2. rehearsals have started ready for Kidderminster Choral's grand Christmas Gala concert. As usual, we have a selection of well known carols, a few less well known ones, a handful of pleasing Christmas themed songs from a variety of musicals, and at least one modern monstrosity that while composed by somebody very skilled and clever, is dire and will be hated by 99.9% of the audience (along with 100% of the choir).
     Still, The rest of the stuff is great. Plus, Santa will be coming.

3. As the story has slowly developed and grown over time from simple, to less simple, to complicated, to more complicated, to why-the-hell-has-it-become-THIS-complicated?, to so-complicated-that-it-is-now-pretty-much-unworkable, I have become increasingly uncomfortable and unsatisfied with it.
     So! Two days ago I made a decision. The subject(s) surrounding the two main characters make(s) for a Story in their own right, independent of those involving the other character, so I have opted to accept this, separate them out, and go from there. So, now I have two Stories, about two characters, about two different things, and I have picked The Story of Character 1 as the one I shall be working on for the time being.
     ...hey; =shrugs=. Whatever works, right?

4. On Friday, I received a letter/card from my sponsor dog, Caffrey. In it, he waxes lyrical about how brilliant his life is and how excited he is about Christmas coming. He also drops several heavy hints about his need for a new football (or three).
     ...Yeah.
     Of course, I'm looking for one.
     I'm a sucker. Sue me.

5. I had another date.
     Or, rather...well...I don't know that I would class it as a 'date'.
     ...An 'experience'?
     Nope; =shakes head=. That doesn't fit either...

Anyhoot.
     A girl had sent me a few messages, and we chatted a little, and she's staying in Kidderminster right now, and wondered if I might be free for an hour or so for us to meet up in between classes, and on Tuesday afternoon I was, So - ignoring my misgivings about her use of 'text speak' and the gap in our ages - I agreed, and on Tuesday, I went, and; OH MY GOD.
     Best Friend 0.5 (1); remember what you said about your last date, and 'pulling teeth'?
     ...Yeah. It was like that.

She was very young (early twenties, according to her profile but seemed far younger).
     Over a glass of wine (mine) and a pint of whatever-the-heck-it-was (hers), we sat awkwardly and uncomfortably while I spent a frustrating hour trying to get her to SAY SOMETHING. I managed to learn the following:
* she was studying beauty at the college, along with taking a computer course.
     ...she had no idea what the computer course was...
* she liked going out with friends and having fun.
     ...as far as I could gather; 'fun' entailed going to various pubs/clubs in a large group and getting drunk - or as she called it; 'lashed' - with dancing and dope smoking occasionally thrown in...
* this was the first time she had gone out on a 'lesbian' date (emphasis hers).
     ...for undisclosed reasons, her friends were sure she was gay, so persuaded her to 'have a go'...

...and that was it.
     After prizing each gem of knowledge from her reluctant lips, I gave her a little tit-bit of information back about myself (I have no clue why: she sure as hell didn't ask for it), then my phone bleeped - it was The Supervisor, wanting to know if I could bugger up the weekend I had booked off several months previously to get her out of a hole she had managed to dig herself into. My answer was simple: no. - and Sigourney, as she was called, used this as her cue to gratefully take her leave and get back to the college.

After she left, I ordered another drink - non alcoholic this time - and sat watching the world go by through the window with a sort of half cheerful, half weary acceptance.

I have no idea what, if anything, Sigourney gained from her first 'lesbian' date, other than a very obvious realization that I wasn't the best choice of whom to have it with, but hopefully she was able to draw something positive from it.
     I sure did.
     I drew the realization that it is a good thing to LISTEN TO YOUR BLOODY GUT.

*****

So; work and usual family stuff apart, that was my week.
     I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
     =bows. walks off=

B.C.B.F.L.B x