On Wednesday I set out in the lifeboat to visit the Patriarch (stepdad) who is landlocked in a hospital bed following the discovery of a massive aortic abdominal aneurysm. We spent a couple of hours just chatting and eating cake and drinking coffee and despite the circumstances, it was nice to catch up with him. I don’t visit their home anymore due to numerous animals including 3 cats. I have a bad reaction to cats, so simply can’t enter their home anymore. The Patriarch is supposedly seeing a specialist today who will decide if he’s well enough to have surgery. I’m not sure what will happen if he isn’t as he’s a ‘ticking time bomb’ at the moment and if this bursts, it will be fatal :(

Later, I didn’t go home (it was planned this way) and instead set sail for my pirate buddy to spend the night with him. Minds out of the gutter please, it’s not like that. We went down the club for a quiz night and met with a scurvy pirate who was sharing a bottle of whiskey. Now, rum is the favourite of pirates, but I’m not one to ungraciously refuse a glass of a Scottish single malt; not me, no sir. It was very smoky, and pretty strong, but it slid down eventually. He then popped out and came back with a bottle of homemade sloe gin. Man that was strong too but very nice. My pirate buddy had already bought me half a pint of Strongbow (cider), so we were mixing our drinks a little though I’m not sure if that only refers to wine and spirits? Who knows; I had a good time. We came second in the general knowledge quiz and I’m always happy if I get some right that others don’t. It’s not an expensive night out and I needed the break. His guide dog always sleeps in my room when I’m there; I’m not sure if he’s guarding me, or ensuring I don’t steal the silver – as pirates do lol. Maybe he just likes me… Either way I had a terrible night’s sleep as he snores, whimpers, scratches, and doesn’t settle for long. I am of course still talking about the dog! LOL

Thursday morning I set sail for home and had a smooth if cold journey. The sun was out and very nice to see especially as we have rain forecast from Friday for 3 days. On arriving at work I discovered a list of emails pertaining to the work on Saturday. I printed off what I needed and noted that not only do I have 3 sessions one after the other with no break whatsoever planned, they also expect me to be in 2 different rooms at the same time! I copied this to my line manager stating that I’m good, but not that good. Honestly, are they trying to kill me? It won’t happen. With the best will in the world I can’t be in 2 different rooms at the same time, and despite what some may think, I’m only human and have ‘needs’ that have to be met. If they schedule another session like this, I’m not going to do it and will let a colleague cover it as this is getting silly now… I’m sure they’re doubling up like this so that I won’t be able to claim as much overtime. They stated they only needed one technician as numbers were low; again, with only one working it will cost them less. It won’t be to anybody’s benefit if they work me into a hospital bed will it?

Enjoy the sun if you have it and enjoy the rest of the week.