A Mixed Week.

The past seven days have involved a series of Ups and Downs.

UP: on Monday morning, I got to laze in bed until 7-AM before taking a leisurely stroll wi' t'dog.

DOWN: my first one-to-one on at the library didn't go all that brilliantly, due to the person in question needing help figuring out how to do certain things on her new Tablet, which I have no experience of using whatsoever.
    - Thankfully both the client (hark at me. I have 'clients'. Whoo!) and myself kept good humour throughout what turned out to be an hour fraught with problems - some due to inexperience, some due to the Library's computerized system playing up, and some due to The Tablet itself; which was afflicted with a reaction time so slow that the Tablet fell asleep half way through whatever it was doing and then get confused, and a malfunctioning Google Keyboard - and the client happily booked herself in for another session the following week so that we could have another go once I had spent a bit of time researching tricks of the Tablet trade.

UP: straight after client 1 had hobbled off, I had another appointment booked, and that went swimmingly

DOWN: after the successful appointment with Client 2, I fell up the stairs, bruised my hip, and strained my foot.

UP: while resting my foot under a bag of frozen peas the next day, I was able to relax guilt free (released from the usual inner screeches of: DO SOMETHING that I normally endure), re-watching some of my favourite episodes of N.C.I.S and C.S.I and getting a bit of writing done, along with chatting with a nice girl called Lara87.
     - The latter didn't come to anything, in the finish, but it was nice all the same. Anybody that has both the ability and the will to type in complete sentences is worth giving the benefit of the doubt in my book,

UP: during my volunteer stint on Wednesday, I put my Digital Champion skills to good use, helping folk with a range of issues; from navigating their way through the purchase of airline tickets, to scanning, printing and then photocopying a driving licence.
     - I know it's vain, but that awed/impressed look that people give me when I do something with an electronic device that I find easy but they don't? Yeah, I like that.

DOWN: as I left the library, I received a phone call and found out that Cousin 1 was unable to travel down to Kidderminster due to a problem with her car. It couldn't be helped, and we rescheduled our meeting for another day (actually a better day, for both of us), but it was still a bit 'Meh', y'know?

DOWN: by the end of said Wednesday, the slightly runny nose that I'd had for the past few weeks had decided to develop into a full blown cold. Sore throat, clogged sinuses, aching joints, grogginess, asthmatic cough; the works.
     - Considering that I was already limping quite badly, I found this a trifle unfair.

UP: on both Thursday and Friday, I got to have yet more guilt-free lazy days in order to try and 'get me right' ready for the choral concert on Saturday.
     - I got to cuddle the dog a heck of a lot, too. There were no more girls to chat to though, apart from the usual 'hey u hot like gr8 sex' crowd.

DOWN: my cold and poorly foot - although much improved - made my contribution to Kidderminster Choral Society's Splendours Of Baroque concert far less perfect than I would have liked.

UP: I still sang in the concert anyway (mostly), gave it my best - albeit ill - shot, and despite feeling incredibly wobbly, didn't fall off the stage or otherwise do anything to embarrass myself or anyone else.

UP: another Librarian post has cropped up. I finished the application today.
     - fingers crossed.

DOWN: today is the last day of my holiday. Tomorrow I am due back at work.
     - =SIGH=

UP: I have things to look forward to over the next few days, and will continue to have positive things to work towards for far longer than that,

And, that's it.

     ...Well, I think it's best to end on an UP, don't you?

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

PS: as requested, Best Friend 0.5 (1), here is a picture:

Enjoy.

Lazy, Lazy Sunday.

I am being lazy today.
    Walking the dog, and typing up already existing snatches of The Story that I've had scattered across the house on various bits of paper in various notepads - and have been meaning to get around to sorting out - were the the only goals of the day, and I've accomplished both of them already.

Now, all that is on the agenda is relaxing.
     That, and catching up on episodes of Law & Order and N.C.I.S.
     Yep.
     Corpses, cops, and lawyers: you can't get more relaxing than that.
     =nods. yawns. stretches=

Anyhoo.
     Hi.
     =waves=

I haven't posted for a while, because my emotions have been all over the place, to the point that simply making myself get up in the morning to face another day has been hard.
     So, it's been as much as I can do to keep plodding along in the real world, let alone thinking of things to say within the cozy confines of my little online one.

But over the past few days, I have started to feel better.
     I wouldn't say I'm completely back to normal, not yet, but I've sufficiently improved enough to feel as close as being back to normal as is probably possible for the moment. Close enough to take real pleasure in things again; to laugh, and to smile, and to notice the positives in the world around me...
     Just better in general, really.

I have the next week off from work - my paid work, that is, my new, mini unpaid gig at The Library will continue unabated. My first booked one-on-one appointment is booked for tomorrow at 2PM - and have various bits and bobs to be getting along with; the main ones being helping The Brother to decorate his flat, practicing ready for the choral concert next Saturday, and getting more of The Story out of my head and onto paper (or, in this case, onto computer).

And, of course, spanning further into the future, I have other goals that I am working towards, too,
     Attending college and continuing to look for a better job are at the forefront, along with finishing one or more of the books I have been working on, and of course there's the next touring holiday to start saving for - that'll take about a year and a half. I was thinking Tuscany this time, or perhaps Croatia; they grabbed me as fascinating/fun - and once the 8 weeks probationary peroid is up I'll be hoping to extend and expand my duties at The Library, and then there are a few smaller things I have been (and intend to carry on) concentrating on as well.
     Plans are in motion, anyway.

This afternoon, though, as I said; there is only one thing I plan to do.
     And that is to sprawl out, kick off my slippers, and laze the day away.

Because I can.
     Yep.
     =nods=

...Happy Sunday, y'all...


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

Nightmares Ahoy!

Boy, did I have nasty dreams last night.

I can only remember the one; the others - thankfully - faded away the way that dreams sometimes do the moment I awoke, leaving behind that uneasy, unhappy 'bad dream' feeling that we all know so well.

The one that I remember involved a little bee, or some other such buzzy flying insect, ending up in my ear, where it buzzed and buzzed in a terrifying and unpleasant kind of way while I, as The Brother (who happened to be there) put it - and forgive my language - "freaked the fuck out".
     It fell to The Dream Version of The Brother to rescue me, which to give him his dues, he duly did, annoyed by my histrionics or not.
     It took a long time and was a painstaking and brow sweating process - not helped by my continuing to "freak the fuck out", which entailed a lot of screaming and crying - but eventually, he managed it, pulling a mangled looking bee from my ear and holding it aloft in the manner of a conquering hero. Which, of course, he was.

- Speaking of which; Dream Version of The Brother, if you happen to be reading this, thank you very, very much. I am eternally grateful, forever in your debt, etc. etc.
     =bows=

Anyhow, that was my dream.
     Awful, wasn't it?

Even thinking about it now, hours later, gives me the shivers, so I shall stop, and instead shall stroke the dog.

That's much nicer.
     Yep.
     =nods=

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

   

Bless.

I'm feeling far too raw to talk about the events of the last nine or so days (even the good parts), so I shan't - for now, at least (sorry, Best Friend 0.5(1); I know you were looking forward to the second rendition of your Alternate History Lesson) - and will instead focus on something else, which in this instance, is the cat.

Suzie wanted to go into the kitchen. The door leading to it, however, was shut to and wedged against the skirting board (technically open, but with too narrow a gap for her to fit through).
     So! The following occurred...

At first, she tried to simply walk through into the kitchen anyway (as you would) but found - amazingly - that the door didn't yield to her will, opting instead to remain solid and un-go-through-able.

...Then she tried glaring at the door, but - more amazingly still - that didn't work either.

...Then she upped the ante and hissed at it, only to find that the door, which had already proven itself to be a bad sport, still refused to co-operate, which of course was so amazing as to beggar belief.

...Then, the piece de resistance: she bit it.
     Now, that, she was obviously thinking, that would surely teach that idiotic wooden affront masquarading as a door precisely who was boss...?
     But no! To her intense shock and disbelief, it didn't!

...Then, at last, realizing that all efforts had failed - and that to save what remained of her dignity, any effort to ask for help from the human in the room was obviously out of the question - she did what any self respecting female would do and turned her nose up at the whole thing before stalking away, presumably so as to ruminate on the appropriate method of revenge to deploy later in private, flicking the door dismissively with her tail as she did so.

...And now. five minutes later, having turned her back on the world, she is fast asleep, exhausted into dreamland by the ordeal of coming up against an object too stupid to listen to either reason or threat.

=smiles to self=
     ...Well.
     That was fun.

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

Thanks, Mom.

~.START.~

Scene is set; Alice is sat in her seat during a rehearsal. The rehearsal gives way to an interval, as per usual, at 8:45-PM. Quiet is called for so that announcements can be made, and the chatter calms down into silence. This is the moment when Alice bends down to pick up her water bottle, and is also the moment that Alice's body chooses to let out the biggest and loudest fart that that church hall has ever seen. Cue, Alice jerking upright, with colour flushing her face. The other choristers do the good old British thing and pretend that nothing happened at all, and after a further moment of - now excruciating - silence, the announcements commence. Alice takes advantage of this to slip unobtrusively out of the hall and down the stairs towards the toilets. Once safely inside, she takes a few deep breaths, fans her burning face and fetches out her mobile phone. She needs sympathy. Somebody to say something along the lines of ..."oh, poor you, never mind, could happen to anybody, and it'll be forgotten next week"... something like that. So, she starts typing a text message...

ALICE: Oh God, oh God, I just broke wind really loudly, and it was really quiet and everybody heard it!

MOTHER: Blimey. I'll have to pretend I don't know you.

ALICE: (typing crossly) Hey! You'd deny your own daughter due to a fart?

MOTHER: Yep. Without hesitation.

ALICE: You cow! I reached out to you, my MOTHER, in a time of great embarrassment. I was expecting sympathy, and you say that!

MOTHER: Look, in times of trouble, generally I dispense hugs. But trump in public, dear, and you're on your own.

ALICE: Thanks, Mom.

MOTHER: Any time. See you at supper.

ALICE: (mutters aloud) ...bitch... 

~.END.~  

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

Well, That's One Question (Asked Yesterday) Answered.

QUESTION: how many cleaners - momentarily distracted by a low flying dove - does it take to send a smallish child - completely distracted by having the time of her life skating up and down the aisles of The Store as fast as she can on a pair of Heelys - careering off course and into a wall?

ANSWER: just the one (me).

Thankfully, said smallish child was unhurt, and even more thankfully, there appeared to be no parent nearby ready to scream at me.
     All the same, though, after checking that the little girl was alright - which she was. A little stunned, but otherwise healthy - I gathered my equipment and took my leave in a hurry, just in case.

This incident, however, raises more questions:

1. why do so many (so-called) parents allow their children to race up and down in crowded places completely. unsupervised? Surely, even when not in a potentially dangerous place like The Store I work in, that is terribly treacherous?

2. yesterday's child may have been lucky, but how many children - along with innocent passersby - to date have been injured in accidents associated with Heelys?  And how serious an injury would it take to be for the imbecilic product* to be taken off the shelves? Does a child actually have to die?

Anybody with answers to either of those, would you please get in touch?
     Ta.

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

* should anybody stumbling across this Blog be offended by my comments regarding Heelys, I have the following to say: 
a) there is a time and a place for pretty much everything, but with regards to skating; in an enclosed space, littered with large immovable objects (many of them with very sharp edges) and surrounded by crowds of people is not one of them.
b) I am thinking primarily of the safety of the children involved, here. To me, at least, the idea of little heads being cracked open on shelves is an unpleasantly realistic one.
c) bite me.  

Okay! Now, give Me A 'B'! Give Me A...

~.START.~

Scene is set; Mother, Alice and Brother are sat around the table in the kitchen, faces set with competitive concentration as they stare down at the scrabble board in front of them (well, Brother and Mother's are; Alice has little chance of winning, and thus is simply having fun). Presently, Brother, who's turn it is (and who is determined to make use of a particularly inhospitable spot that is enticingly labelled as 'treble word score'), speaks...

BROTHER: (after very long pause) how do you spell 'jot'? Does it have two T's or one?
ALICE: (pondering) um...one, I think. ...Yeah. One, I'm pretty sure it's one. Mother?
MOTHER: (a little absently, concentrating on her letters) er, yep, it is spelled j-o-t. Unless you have 'jotted' something down, in which case, it uses two: j-o-t-t-e-d.
BROTHER: (mutters something under his breath) ...well, how about 'jut'?
MOTHER: same principle: j-u-t, or j-u-t-t-e-d.
BROTHER: (after very long pause) oh, bollocks!
MOTHER & ALICE: (instinctively in unison) ...and that would be: b-o-l-
BROTHER: (sarcastically) ...oh, ha ha, very funny...

Scene ends; with the whole family exchanging glances and dissolving into helpless laughter, which lasts for quite some time and is engrossing enough to temporarily stall the game. 

~.END.~

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