Confused.com
For reasons I don't seem to understand I seem to have developed friends. People missed me when I wasn't at the stall today, and they seem quite determined that I should join them for a movie night tonight. Why? What do I do that makes people interested in my welfare, and why is it so important that I take part in communal activities with them? I wish I knew... then I could stop doing it!
Boredom
Well, here I am, being not on the stall.
...
..
Exciting isn't it?
Doesn't help I suppose that I am both extremely tired and STILL feeling bloody unwell! Admittedly I didn't see that pizza again last night, but I think that was almost entirely down to force of will as I just flat out REFUSED to be sick!
So yeah, well this morning I was up early (as usual) packed everything into my car (for a change, and so it was easier to unpack with just Shaz there) and drove to the market. We unloaded, and I went off to park, find some antacid tablets and get some munchies for Shaz so she isn't starving by the end of the day. Then I got a bit lost (I don't usually drive to that side of town, so I don't know it at all) and then I got home. Then I ordered some movies on
Play.com (it's sale time, and I wanted them dammit!), and then I did the washing up and some laundry and now it's now and I have no idea what to do with the next two and half hours of my day.
Guess free time is just wasted on some people, eh?
They Call It Friday Evening
As I may (or may not) have mentioned earlier, Ronnie was supposed to be going to the local druid group this evening to see what she thought and if they suited and such. What nobody anticipated was an application process. See, unlike the Charnwood Grove guys on Sunday, who were (almost too) open and welcoming, apparently you have to apply to this group for permission to go to one of their meetings! Not even a ritual, a meeting! In a public place! Now admittedly there is a small amount of sense in this as it'll weed out time wasters, but actually having to apply to go seems a bit extreme. So instead I she went to help one of our mates move his TV (he's moving house) and I had to endure the intense joy of being put on speaker phone to talk with everybody. As I may (or may not) have mentioned before, I hate speaker phone. I hate it even more when I don't know I'm on it, so it wasn't as horrifying as it could've been, but it was plenty unpleasant enough.
In other news, we shared a pizza for dinner, and whilst I felt a bit queasy afterwards, I haven't been sick yet, so that's a good thing! I've also been told that I'm not allowed on the stall tomorrow, so I actually have exactly no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow. Weird, huh?
Daft-finder
So I've just watched Pathfinder. What a
shocking disappointment. You see that image there, the lovely poster? That is, almsot literally, about as exciting as it gets. Admittedly there are things to love about the movie, most obviously the historically inaccurate but nonetheless awesome Vikings, who are all giants covered with scary spikes and skulls and god knows what. They really do look awesome (and would make particularly good Chaos warriors if somebody wanted to make a Warhammer movie). I know it wasn't supposed to be a history lesson (in fact, much like 300 earlier in the year it seeks to mythologise events) but that poster there makes you think you're gonna get two hours of a little tiny bloke fighting huge vikings. And you do get some of that, but it's always too dark and the direction is epileptic enough to leave you with no idea at all what's going on and just waiting for the next CGI blood spurt. I remember when I first saw stills from this movie and they just looked so beaufitul, almost like they were paintings brought to life. Sadly the movie has almost none of that; it's too dark and cramped, and at times has an almost laughably made for TV look about it. Oh yeah, and speaking of laughable; if you don't laugh when the natives all jumping into the spiked pit then you don't know from funny. I know it's supposed to be heart-breakingly tragic (another mis-judgement, it is in fact laughably ridiculous), but how the Vikings didn't all die of laughter at that point I can't imagine. And it would've made the movie a lot shorter too! It's just made me want to watch the 13th Warrior now, and that's not exactly a masterwork either!
In other news I'm off work again today, although for the last time I hope. I was also actually HUNGRY at lunchtime, and successfully ate cheese on toast! Which has admittedly filled me up, but that is surely not a bad thing.
I have a splitting headache now, which I'm going to blame on the poor quality of Pathfinders script. Ouch!
Another Pointless Day
So far today hasn't been all that bad. Admittedly I've only eaten three biscuits (which made me feel very full), but at least I haven't been sick today!
Okay, so talking about something other than vomiting... actually I've not got a lot on my mind. I sleep a lot, even when I don't mean to, think about comic books and superheroes and Games Workshop toy soldiers and that's pretty much it. I was fairly determined today that I was gonna do more than just lie about, but my stomach hurts something fierce and I just couldn't concentrate. And let's face it, if I'm well enough to play with toy soldiers (or anything else for that matter) then I'm well enough to go to work.
I have been thinking about returning to work too; assuming that they take me back without too much fuss I'll probably be doing some (ie plenty) of overtime during July so that I don't end up short in my wage packet next month. That would be especially bad as we both have the first week of August off work, and I don't really want to have our little holiday period hamstrung by poverty induced by a week of sickness! That wouldn't be fun at all; not that we need to spend a lot of money to have a fun time, in fact I think it'll be really nice for us to just hang out together without the pressures of work on either of us. I'm looking forward to it already, but it's a month away yet, and like I said, as much overtime as I can manage!
Breakfast Of Champions
Okay, it's official; I can't keep anything at all down. For the past few days I've subsisted on Rich Tea Biscuits (which, despite their name are very plain) and mango sorbet (it's nice and soft, and mainly ice and fruit juice). Now even the mango sorbet betrays me. If it wasn't for Lucozade I don't think I'd be getting any sustenance at all, and to be honest I seriously doubt the amount of sustenance one can take from a drink, even one as wondrous in it's properties as Lucozade.
On a side note, has anybody noticed how my blog has become a list of foods I've thrown up over the past few days? This is not a fun topic (for me or anyone else!), and clearly something I should work to move away from. I'll have to put some thought into that...
Shake The Disease
Despite my GPs assurances yesterday that there was nothing wrong with me, I seem unable to shake this sickness. What's worse is that now the mere sight of food is enough to make me gag; I wonder where it's all going to end. I suppose that's just a conditioned response, so much throwing up after eating is bound to make one a bit edgy around food. This is not good, it's not fun and it's costing me time off work. Normally I wouldn't care, but... well actually I don't care about work so much as I care about the money this is costing me. I hadn't really thought about it until this morning when it occured to me that this time off is taking money right out of my pocket! I don't know what I'll do tomorrow, I really don't. I don't want to pre-judge how I'm gonna feel, but if it's anything like this I won't want to go back. On the other hand, I also won't want to be throwing my wages away...
I thought a nice image of Neptune would be pleasingly soothing for today. Interesting to think that as little as twenty years ago we knew absolutely nothing about Neptune, and that in the time since the Voyager fly-by we really haven't learned much else. Yes, while I've been sick my mind (when awake) has been much occupied with the Voyager spacecraft and their discoveries (possibly because I keep falling asleep during a documentary about them). I keep meaning to find out what they're up to now, Voyagers 1 & 2, but I can never quite be bothered to look. And now isn't going to be any different.
Not Much To Say
It's difficult to work out what image should go with two days of sickness; maybe something will occur to me later.
So far however I've been sick, not able to see a doctor, less sick, got to see an unhelpful doctor, sicker, called work to find out that they still want me back, and then a little bit sicker again. And I pretty much slept in all the gaps where I wasn't doing those few things, and that's been an awful lot of sleep. In fact it's such an awfull lot of sleep that I don't see how I'll ever be tired again, but I know that if you leave me alone for 5-10 minutes I'll be gone again.
I honestly thought I was doing better today, but that was largely based on not eating anything or going anywhere. Well, I went downstairs for a bit, but fell asleep all snuggled up on the sofa (which made a change from falling asleep on the bed I suppose). Then I went to see my GP and see if I could get a sick-note for work and lucky me, I got the useless one. So I was told that I wasn't vomiting AT THE TIME (although if she'd waited twenty minutes for me to have a bar of chocolate I would've been) then she couldn't give me a sick note. Apparently if I'd seen somebody yesterday this would've been fine. I pointed out that I DID try to see somebody yesterday, but when I called a whole twenty minutes after the surgery opened I was told there were no more appointments and to be on my merry way... I can't really be angry though, the doctor is a professional and I understand why she can't certify an illness she didn't witness, it's my work I blame for having such ridiculous conditions on my employment.
I don't really know what the consequences of all this will be when I get back to work, but we'll just have to see, and having spoken with my manager today she seems keen to have me back, but only if I feel up to it (she repeated this several times, so it must've been important). If I still feel like this tomorrow though it'll be another day off, then back to work Thursday for a brief canter down to the weekend. Although frankly I hope I don't feel like this anymore, I'm getting fed up with it now; I don't know why but I think actually, physically being sick is just one of the single most unpleasant things you can do. Maybe that's 'cos I live a fairly sheltered life, I'm sure there are much worse things, but I don't come across them and even if I did I certainly wouldn't be rushing to participate in them...
Sick
Well I've gone and done it now. Had a horrible night last night of restlessness and vomiting, and I've finally had enough and called in sick at work. There will no doubt be consequences for this, the most obvious of which is that they will probably fire me, but at this particular moment I don't care; I just want to feel better. Whatever happens, we'll cope.
Beacon Hill
Today we woke up and headed off to Leicestershire for a druidic solstice celebration. Shaz had been a little disappointed not to find anything going on around here for the solstice (although it turns out there might have been, just not very well advertised) and so I did some 'net searching and found a group not too far away (about an hour and a half drive) who were doing a public ceremony on Beacon Hill near Loughborough. The weather was dreadful on the drive down there, and I expected a pretty water logged celebration. However the people were exceptionally friendly and open, and the ritual itself (which even I as an observer found to be moving and powerful) took place under warm sunshine (which started as soon as the spirit of the hill was invoked and finished just as quickly when the circle was broken). Read into that whatever you will.
Right now however, we're both extremely tired; it's been a very long and trying weekend, and I for one am not looking forward to returning to work tomorrow. In fact I'm struggling to keep my eyes open as I type, I feel like there is some external force pushing my eye-lids closed (which was less than ideal on the drive back!). So we're gonna curl up in bed, watch some Buffy and Supernatural, and then fall gently asleep and dream wonderful dreams...
Ratchet By Moonlight
I don't think I've ever played WoW after dark, and if so certainly not after midnight, and it's amazing how quite the servers are! I managed to get a quest done and levelled, then we went on a little trip to Ratchet (the goblin city down by the coast), and decided to take this pic before stopping for the night. Just as I was heading to the inn to rest I noticed a gathering of players, and as I approached it became obvious that they were truly mighty. And awful lot of magic weapons and unique looking mounts were on display, and there was a small group of lower level characters, myself included, gathered round and just staring at them in open awe. For some reason I decided to approach them to say hi but they were all alliance characters and neither of us spoke the others language so that went nowhere fast. I tried to tell the dwarf who kept following me that I don't speak Common, but I guess not speaking Common he didn't understand and in a truly Benny Hill moment ran after me shouting the same nonsensical phrase over and over! Luckily after a mercifully few moments of this he spotted a troll and chased them instead, and I retired to the local inn for the night. All in all not a bad night's adventuring.
So It's Supposed To Be Funny?
Yesterday I finally stopped being annoyed at work. It's not that I stopped caring, or that they broke my spirit or anything else of the sort; I just realised that the place isn't supposed to be taken seriously, it's clearly some sort of joke. We're talking about a company where I constantly get into trouble for not using the callers name on three occasions during a call, and yet our servicing department can apparently just send out whatever bullshit they want without any consequence at all! Once you realise that you work in a Kafka novel it all suddenly falls into place and you simply stop caring. It's pretty nice.
We went baby-sitting last night, which surprisingly lasted until midnight and so it was far too late to do any prep for the stall today until...
This morning! So that wasn't ideal, rushing about and trying to get everything sorted and prepped and such. Still we managed, although the days trading was very disappointing. That said, we had a photographer from the local paper come down (FINALLY! He was bloody nearly too late, we were about to start packing up when he arrived), although he did actually seem impressed with the stall and the clothes and took lots of pics (which I scrupulously avoided, as usual, although that may preclude my getting mentioned at all which isn't really fair. Just 'cos I hate being photographed doesn't mean I want to be removed from history!). Anyway, this is one of my pics, which we were taking just in case nobody ever turned up! Notice how my official duty as photographer gives me a handy excuse for never being in the photos themselves...
Tranquility
Ah, welcome to the summer solstice, hope you've had a lovely day. My day started just after 4am as I was the one appointed to get up first and see if the weather was okay, before waking Ronnie up so she could go greet the sun. Me, I greeted my pillow and went back to sleep, but then I had to go to work today and Ronnie had the day off. And she has the day off tomorrow too. Hard to remember or even believe that I was off work for the entire of last week, being back for only a couple of hours erases the memory so very completely. Still, there we go.
Work was totally work-like, but when I got home this evening there was just time for Ronnie to take me to the wood she performed her mid-summer ritual in, a place called Workely Wood (at least I think that's what it was called it's a part of Rockingham Forest in Northamptonshire). It really is a lovely place too, thoroughly tranquil and magical, even when you've only got 45 minutes to walk about before they lock the car park gates. We didn't stay on the proper trails for very long, and were all too quickly lost to civilisation. It's nice to imagine what that place, in fact any place would've been like before we got too big for our collective boots, when all you could see and hear were the sounds of nature, before man began to change things faster than the things themselves could cope with change. Or at least I find it nice to imagine that, a world without modern humans, but maybe that's just me. For all that I love the trappings of the modern world, fast cars, computer games, mp3 players and the internet, I still think that the planet as a whole would've been better off if we'd never come down from the bloody trees in the first place...
The Devils Playthings
Another day at work, another day of hilarity. It's actually got to the stage where I'm not surprised by it any more, the only thing which does surprise me is how wide-spread people's negative reaction is! Not sure if I mentioned this, but yesterday they decided that they needed more coverage in the evenings and offered us double-time if we'd commit to and work ten hours of overtime before the end of the month. It took mere seconds for the flaw in this plan to become evident; namely that there are only eight working days left in the month and that it would therefore be impossible to qualify for the special double-time rate. Needless to say the management were a little unhappy that we'd spotted that, and nobody at ALL has taken them up on this generous offer, or indeed offered to do any over time at all. Almost every conversation we have at work these days is about how dreadful the company has become and rather than being depressing it's oddly uplifting to know that everybody else isn't coping with this and that nobody thinks it's okay.
Not done a whole lot else really; played some WoW yesterday which was fun, although the ping on the server was miserable, which I suppose VirginMedia will blame on the bad weather or something. Then we watched a little Buffy (well, it makes Shaz happy!) and that was pretty much our evening! I was vaguely thinking of a trip to the cinema tonight to catch the new Fantastic Four movie, but I don't think funds will stretch that far this late in the month. Ah well, I'm sure it'll be out for a while longer yet.
As for this evening, who knows what lies ahead? Something pleasing and relaxing I've no doubt, possibly a movie if we can decide on one.
StEVE Online
Today at work wasn't so bad, although I was a little shaken to discover that Matt is the only person there who actually thinks he has a good job and isn't looking around; when I found out that one of our referrals was looking for a new job too I realised that the team was truly doomed. Seriously, there will only be Matt left soon enough, and he's a temp and easily and painlessly disposed of! Maybe that's the plan though, just let the info team destroy itself and then merge it's functions with somebody else. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. Anyway, that aside work was... well it was work; it began, it middled, it ended. That is all.
For some reason when I got home I registered for the Warhammer Age of Reckoning online beta. I doubt I'll get in, and even if I did I don't know as I'd have time for the game, but I've never done a beta test before and it IS a Warhammer MMO so it's got to be worth a look. Wonder if they'll let me be a wood elf?
*time passes while I check website*
No, they won't (although I could be a bloody dwarf!) but there's some lovely concept art for the Witch Hunter class, so that might tempt me... See, it's pretty isn't it? I've always had a soft spot for the more fanatical and extremist parts of the Empire, which I guess explains (partly) my choice of Black Templars in 40k; it's hard to get more hardline than those guys! Also, they look cool!
Remember how last week I stayed in for the entire of Friday for a parcel they didn't deliver? Well it's finally been delivered, albeit not to any of the addresses we'd asked for, but finally to Ronnie's parents. Parcelforce being a big sack o'retards aside, the stuff is well worth the wait and will hopefully make people very happy when they finally see it; it's something that is unique to us as a retailer and yet highly sought after. In fact it's hardly available anywhere in this country, and certainly not in the variety we can provide! Yes, let's welcome crin to the UK! And not a moment too soon says I. Not I want some cyber-style arm guards and stuff, and we're on!
Automatic For The People
Ah, the fun of being back at work. It never begins, it really doesn't. I was especially disappointed to discover that despite Mr Fowler's threats to devestate the building, he'd done no such thing and I had to go back to work. Today was particularly hard having been away for a while, and it wasn't until late in the afternoon that I was finally back in the swing of things (not that I really want to be, but I guess I have to be).
With us both seriously disliking our jobs at the moment it's difficult for us to have a happy house, although snuggling down last night to watch a few episodes of Buffy and just forget everything was nice. I think that's gonna be the way of things around here for a while, just trying to get by and pretending that the outside world doesn't exist. It probably isn't the ideal way to live life, but I don't know how else to get by; I certainly don't want our jobs to over shadow every other aspect of our lives, as they seem to be doing at the moment.
Interestingly we were talking about cats today, and how some of us like them more than we like people and it occured to me that maybe I should be thinking about moving in an animal protection sort of direction. I'm not sure how my skills would fit in, but it's an idea, a direction, a place to look. All I know is that I can't keep doing what I'm doing now; it's driving me insane. It's weird though, it's not like it's a hard job 'cos it most certainly isn't. What it is however is poorly paid, over pressurised and utterly thankless; I particularly liked it when the email came round this afternoon asking for people to "help" by doing a few hours of overtime. It was widely mocked by the call centre staff who are increasingly rebellious (especially after Alex was forced out last week; he had the temerity to ask for a day off and was told that this was an unreasonable request. He walked out and hasn't come back since - I only wish I had the balls to do the same). Not gonna happen again, I've "helped" the company out before and I remember what the response was when I needed some help; I was told in no uncertain terms that I can get fucked. Well, two can play at that game can't they?
Still, I'm home now, and Shaz will be soon, so we can enjoy an evening of messing about, eating chocolate and watching TV. Good for us!
Oh yeah, and my favourite call of the day; the bloke who refused to call our Cardiff office for info on his annuity, insisting that he'd "chosen the correct option, so you must deal with my enquiry" despite the fact that not only had he not chosen the correct option, he'd not called the correct office, or indeed the correct country! He's what you call "challenging", in Diligenta speak, or "retarded" if you're actually working on the call centre and having to deal with him...
Lazy Sunday Afternoon, I've Got No Time To Worry
I spent an hour or so in Azeroth (rather succesfully until the person I had to turn my quest in to was killed in an unexpected Alliance raid), then we went off and spent the afternoon round Shaz's parents house. It was a nice afternoon, we all just sat about, chatted, ate and played with Lisa's dog Holly. So it was a nice chilled afternoon. Then me and Shaz went looking for the woods she did her mid-summer ceremony in last night, and that took us a surprisingly long time, and more than a few wrong turns; it was really just an excuse for a nice drive in the country! We found a super pretty village called Ailsworth, and decided it'd be nice to live there. Especially in one of the REALLY big hidden houses on the way out of the village...
And so here we are, the last evening of freedom. I was thinking about my job, how I feel about it, and how I feel it diminishes me when I came across this rather interesting quote:
Is repetitive action virtuous action? If behaviour and conduct are merely repetitive processes then all human relationships actually cease. If I behave mechanically every day, - repeating a certain code of conduct which I have learnt, which I find profitable, or which is pleasant, repeating that over and over again, - my relationship with you ceases, completely - I have become a machine. - J. Krishnamurti
I think that pretty much sums up my experience with the company; not only do I dislike the corporation I work for (in so many ways!) but I think it is actually destroying little bits of me, removing my essential humanity. It's clear to me now that it's time to move on. I'd thought I'd try and stick it out, make it through my ridiculously extended probationary period and then start looking, once the job was secure, but I don't think this job with this company can EVER be secure, and even it was secure it certainly isn't desirable; so it's time to move swiftly on...
Days Holiday 9; Succesful Lays In 1!
Today I had a lie in! Yay! It wasn't easy, Archie started pestering for his breakfast at about 6am, but I managed it, I slept through until about half eleven! If only I'd managed to do that on a couple of other days... It was good though, and well worth the wait.
Unfortunately though the rest of the day is spoken for; we're going to a possible barbeque at Shaz's parents this afternoon. This isn't to say I don't like Shaz's folks 'cos I do, I just feel cheated out of most of this holiday one way or another by various forces beyond my control; I'm not sure I'd have done anything differently if I'd known Thursday was going to be my last free day, in fact I know I wouldn't have, it just would've been nice to know... I guess I'll try and catch the next portal to Azeroth, even if I don't get to stay for very long!
Pigeon Street
Another Saturday, another day on the stall. It was another busy day too; in truth I hadn't even bothered to calculate a target for this week 'cos I was so pissed off with the whole thing after yesterday, but we did very well and exceeded what I would've set had I thought about it. Shaz is in her element on the stall; she's comfortable talking with the customers, and deals with them in a fun and fair way. It's no wonder we're doing so well. I just stay out of it, today more so than ever. It's not that I'm being difficult or obstructive, I just feel like there is a physical barrier inside me which actually stops me from talking to customers, which prevents me from even speaking to them. I guess I've just spent too many years in retail to ever go back, even on my own terms. Still, I know what
should be done, so I watch and I offer suggestions and advice, and I take photos. Like the one above, which is of the view opposite our stall and isn't at all the sort of thing I should be taking photos of but there you go.
And now it's this evening and I haven't really done anything and am about to go to bed. As usual I shall bemoan the lack of time to play WoW, but I really am too bloody tired! Something I noticed about my holiday this week; the total and utter lack of even one decent lie in. I might as well have been at work for all the going to bed on time and waking up early that I've been doing. In fact overall I would say I have enjoyed precisely two days out of the last however many this holiday has been; Wednesday when everything was going so well (although the last part of that was a bit shite) and Thursday when I went to visit my bro (although the weather was awful and I felt sad coming home). It's just been a completely shit holiday frankly, although I hesitate to say that I'm glad it's over 'cos I REALLY cannot emphasise strongly enough how much I don't want to go back to work. I even considered sawing my own leg off, but as Matt wisely pointed out, I don't need the leg to do the job so they'd expect me in anyway...
Way To Make Me Feel Bad
Ah see what I get for ranting? Shaz went out and bought me some toy soldiers to make up for me having to stay in today, which was totally sweet and also completely unnecessary. As predicted they do not in any way make up for the loss of the last day of my holiday, and on top of that I'm also pretty mad at the guy at Games Workshop who sold them to her as they are completely inappropriate for me and if they'd been listening to what she'd been saying they'd have known that.
The perfect end to the perfect day eh? Not only am I pissed off 'cos of the whole day, I now have to feel guilty about gifts as well.
Marvelous.
Mr Psycho
So there was a parcel that was due to be delivered today, a very important parcel, one that we've been waiting for a whole month and which is vital for the business. Delivery was arranged for today, and I've stayed in all day, downstairs in the front room where I can hear the doorbell and see if anybody comes to the door 'cos I don't want to give the delivery driver the excuse to say we weren't in, cos I've seen that shit way too many times in the past. I was here, I was ready, I want to have something delivered to me.
Guess what though?
The fucktards didn't deliver it anyway! And I am just burning with rage; this was the last day of my holiday and I've spent it sitting, waiting for something that never happened! And I want my fucking day back! I don't want any other sort of compensation (not that anybody seems to give a fuck what I want, as long as the package gets delivered tomorrow apparently we're fine) I literally want my day back. If I absolutely
must settle for something lesser, then I want the person who failed to book the delivery I ordered and a baseball bat and no witnesses. All I need is five minutes to make my displeasure known, I really am that furious.
On the plus side it's made me want to re-install the fabulous Manhunt and start playing that again, so I guess even murderous rage has an "up" eh?
There And Back Again
Here I am then, home again, safe and sound.
It was really nice to see my little brother again, I've really missed seeing him, chatting with him, just generally hanging out. I guess we're very alike in a lot of ways, and it's nice to just chill and talk about whatever shit enters our minds at the time. I took some movies down that he hasn't seen (which we pretty much talked all the way through!), we played Guitar Hero (as usual!) and then all too soon it was time for me to come home again. I felt really sad on the drive home, leaving my little brother behind. I don't know why, but it almost felt like leaving a piece of myself behind; but then maybe that's what family is. I hope we get together again sooner rather than later, but I guess that kinda thing gets harder as you get older and work commitments get in the way...
The weather on the drive home was insane as well; lashing rain and some pretty thick fog did not make for a fun driving experience, but even more disturbing than that I found myself hunting the dial for something worth listening to and found Radio 2 the perfect mix of alternative and recent classics that I was seeking, almost as if I'd made my own compilation CD and then got Mark Radcliffe to talk utter nonsense between every track. It was most enjoyable, but also extremely worrying; does a sudden preference for Radio 2 (even the early evening/night variety) indicate the onset of middle age? And if so what other signs should I be wary off? Greying hair? Hmm, okay well how about getting easily tired? Oh dear. Back trouble? This really isn't looking good is it? I'm not ready for the retirement home just yet I tell you, I'm not! Actually, come to think of it, if they'll let me play WoW all day then I just may be ready to retire; and after all, I've been in this job for very nearly a year now so I must be getting close to retirement, mustn't I? I mean how long can this whole "work" thing go on...
On The Road!
Yes I realise "On The Road" is by Jack Kerouac and completely different to the movie Easy Rider, but Easy Rider has the cool bikes in it. Not that it matters about the bikes, I'm driving a car; however the point is, today is a ROADTRIP! I'm off to visit my bro for the day!
So I better stop messing about and get on with it!
The Hero Returns!
My return to Azeroth was a triumphant return indeed. Admittedly I'm still a small fish in an almost inconceivably vast pond (the bit where local defense announced that we were being raiding by a group of lvl 70+ characters really emphasised how useless I am), but I had fun, wandered round, formed a party with someone 'cos I wanted to (and I got to lead it) and maybe even made a friend! I only played for a few hours, but they were an incredibly FUN few hours and made me realise how much I miss that place.
Guess I better make sure that it becomes a more regular thing eh? Especially as I've been paying the subscription all these months and never once setting foot through the Portal...
Today has been a good day indeed; I've been able to switch between various fun things at will and still get housework done! Amazing eh? And tomorrow I get to go visit my brother! I'm looking forward to that, I've not seen him since... well Christmas really. We popped over for his birthday, but that really was just for a hour or so and tomorrow I plan to leave early enough to make a day of it!
Yo Ho Yo Ho, A Pirates Life For Me!
Rather than buying a new game (which is my instinct, having a few days to spare) I thought I'd look through some of the older stuff I never got round to playing, and discovered Sid Meier's Pirates! Whether this is a good game or not, I couldn't tell you, but it is horribly addictive. At least it was yesterday; I have my doubts as to whether there's anything long term in there at all, it just seems to be a lot of sailing about and little mini-games, but it's proved to be immensely entertaining thus far.
Anyway, here we are at the start of another lovely day. Sadly though this is the half-way point of my holiday, and the shadow of returning to work looms on the horizon. We shall ignore it however, and continue on our merry way; I want to paint a little this morning, and then maybe finally get to Azeroth this afternoon...? Only time will tell!
Done Nothing At All; A Good Day
Hmm, the time to take Portals to Azeroth still seems to be in depressingly short supply. That said I've managed to tidy up the house a little (at least it's not filling me with alternating rage/misery at the moment) and I did slap a little paint on a miniature this afternoon (and it really DOES look like I threw the paint and hoped some of it would hit), so that was quite satisfying.
Oddly, despite everything else, I have the odd desire to sit down with either the Xbox or the 'Cube in front of a big TV and just enjoy some old fashioned video gaming. So far however, I haven't been able to summon the requisite amount of wanting to actually MOVE anything. It is however, only a matter of time...
I wonder what joys tomorrow will bring my way?
Life in Motion; Update
Not been here for a while eh? I can tell, there's dust everywhere and the whole place is just overgrown with whatever it is that grows over poorly tended blogs; probably some sort of digital bramble that's ugly, sharp and hard to prune. Ah well, I'm here now so I guess I better try and tidy up a bit.
How's things? Well work is just draining me; it's why I never seem to have the energy to come and write here anymore - at the end of the day I just feel thoroughly and utterly drained. I keep thinking that my body will adjust, should've adjusted by now, but this evening when we got back I sat down and the next thing I know it's an hour later and I'm sitting there, asleep, with my glasses held carefully in my hand... and that happens more often than I'd like.
The situation with and at work hasn't really improved, in fact I've been down right disruptive for the past few weeks, trying to sort things like my contract out so they aren't completely one-sided, and trying to get the call centre managers from treating us all like shit by suggesting alternative methods for motivating us, none of which really helped so I've adopted the most sarcastically corporate persona possible at work, which bizarrely DOES seem to have done the trick; only my closest colleagues understand that I haven't "corrected my attitude", I'm just hiding it in plain sight!
On top of that we've finally opened the market stall, the not so secret project that Sharon had been working on for so many months, and it's been a massive success. It's nice to see her plans working out, but having to work (not matter how little I do!) for that sixth day a week is really killing me; my concentration on my real job this week was just fucked to hell by the end of the week, and I was so tired I damn near fell asleep at the keyboard, and by Saturday night I am effectively useless. Still, these things have to be done; I just don't know how much longer I can physically keep on doing them...
Luckily this week I have a week off though, so I intend to relax, paint toy soldiers and play video games! Yes, video games! I vaguely remember those; I had a particular interest in a game called World of Warcraft I've not been able to get NEAR to for a long while now. Tomorrow morning though I'm taking the first portal to Azeroth, and I don't intend to come back for a long time!
For some reason when I got home I registered for the Warhammer Age of Reckoning online beta. I doubt I'll get in, and even if I did I don't know as I'd have time for the game, but I've never done a beta test before and it IS a Warhammer MMO so it's got to be worth a look. Wonder if they'll let me be a wood elf?
