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Well our 2 weeks off is almost over and we’ve enjoyed most of it. I say ‘most’ because my son and I have been quite poorly since Monday. I’m not sure if we’ve had flu or ‘just’ a very bad cold; one night I went to bed at 8.30pm and stayed there for 10

So why is it called a Dog’s Life? The idiom means that something is hard and unpleasant. Speaking for my dog, he gets 2 good meals a day, walks, we play ball with him, he has toys and chew bones, he gets groomed, he gets to stay home and sleep, or play

Recently we received a new ‘improved’ list from our council detailing some changes to our recycling. The major change is that we now have to sort cardboard from our other recycling. On any given rubbish day I can leave out my wheelie bin of garden

I like Sunday morning’s. At this time (07:45) the dog is in the garden amusing himself and my son is still asleep. I’m sat here with my first coffee contemplating the day, and it’s not raining for a change. When I was younger I hated Sunday. In fact I

Last night I was looking at my shoes, which are less than 10 months old, and noticed that the sole on both of them was split. My trainers, which are 7 months old, are coming apart on the top where the eyelet holes are. 10 months ago, to my delight, I

Well, no not really. We had our pay rise today and I’m better off to the tune of £10 a month. Don’t get me wrong, it’s better than nothing, however it’s a bit of a slap in the face considering the average pay rise that our bosses are getting is more than

I recently heard a great song on the radio: Happy by Pharrell Williams, which is from the soundtrack Despicable Me. I don’t fancy the animated film, but I love this song. This is the YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUY tM I’ve been

On an average morning, I can be showered, dried and dressed within 20 minutes, and that includes using conditioner on my hair. I’ll then walk the dog whilst my son has a shower. I don’t hang about. We take turns to walk the dog, and when it’s my son’s

This week saw a resolution to my shoe ‘problem.’ The company no longer stock the shoes that split, so they’ve sent me a full refund which was nice. The trainers I had are no longer available in the colour that I bought, however I chose a colour from their

This morning I received an email from the ex asking if I’d go and check on his house here in the UK. Apparently some roof tiles have come off in the wind, and he wants me to check that the house is water tight and to see where the damage is so that he can

I’m still listening to the Happy song by Pharrell Williams every day. I think it’s a great song and it definitely makes me feel happy. After a wait of almost 3 weeks, I finally got to see my GP about my forehead. It still throbs when I bend down and I

On Thursday I received some mail from work, and opened it very apprehensively. With all the reorganisation, and people losing their jobs, you do not want mail from work. My apprehension was heightened because last week I was unable to access my work

After being buffeted by storms and lashing rain, the ship is at last becalmed and should remain so for at least the next few days. I’ve finally got some bedding out hanging from the rigging which makes a nice change from being stuck on a clothes horse. I

On Monday I had the kind of morning that makes you slink off to the toilets to have a quiet cry. Man I was having a bad day. For the past 2 weeks I’ve been going to and fro with a software supplier trying to sort out a problem with access. I was being

Following on my previous blog; thankfully the week improved with no more tears. I do find my job very frustrating sometimes, and no-one ever pops by or calls just for a chat; they always want something. Always! In my previous job I worked in a very large

These past few days I’ve been getting my son some information for his planned trip. He was under the naive impression that 8 of them were just going to go abroad and have a good time. I’ve not tried to put him off, I genuinely haven’t, however I’ve

I’ve been watching what I think is an ‘old’ series called In Plain Sight. Basically, it’s about people who have witnessed a crime or criminals who have turned on their counterparts, who are placed into witness protection. The series deals with how they

My visually impaired friend has often bemoaned the fact that buses drive off without him, despite him waiting at a bus stop. Over the weekend, I experienced some of his frustration. The Park and Ride that I’ve used for 2 years or more has undergone a

‘The IBM mainframe is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The first System 360 mainframe was unveiled on 7 April 1964’ I noticed this news story this morning on the BBC news page. I used to be a mainframe operator, back in the 1980’s and used an IBM

Remember my complaint about the Park and Ride? Well I emailed them 9 working days ago, and had an automated reply stating that they will try and reply within 5 working days. 9 working days later and I got nada, zilch, a big fat nothing. It just goes to

Sunshine that is. So far we’ve had lovely sunny days and quite cool nights here; great for getting gardening done. Ok, I need to get something off my chest so to speak regarding my son. Like many parents, I would literally die to protect him, and I would

Something Jenny wrote made me think about the things we used to do when we were younger that now seem like such hard work. When I was younger my partner and I used to camp, a lot. We had quite a large tent because we had our baby with us. When the baby

Is it weird to envy your dog the food he’s eating? This isn’t about money; it’s about ease and lack of effort. Don’t get me wrong; I like cooking, and I like to eat however it gets tedious, cooking every single day and there are days when I envy my dog

As part of my role in work, I invigilate exams. Recently we had some candidates for exams, and I couldn’t find one of them on my list. It transpired the person I couldn’t find was a friend of one of the candidates who asked if they could sit the exam too.

This morning we had one of our increasingly infrequent emails from my ex saying that he’d sent some Birthday money for our son. It’s quite a considerable amount and I’m afraid I won’t even come close to matching it. He’s also been depositing some money

I’m back! For now at least... Firstly, apologies for missing blogs etc however I’ve been poorly. I’ve not been feeling well for about a week and over the weekend started to feel quite ill. I went to work on the Monday morning, walked up two floors and

On Tuesday I had to go back to the hospital and have further blood tests to ensure that my platelet levels were improving. If not, they were going to keep me in and run further tests including a bone marrow test. I had the blood tests done and had to wait

On Thursday I received a panicky email from my ex stating that his estate agent has advised them that water was running down the inside wall of their house. He asked if I would go and check the damage and report back to them. Like the mug that I am I

This week I was asked, without much notice, to assist with exams. Last year it was quite fraught but I said Yes anyway because that’s what I do. Last year we had tears, not mine, and so many problems that an extra ‘body’ is no bad thing. The morning

The fact that I haven’t heard from my ex has been making me a bit cross, so I sent a rather terse (never rude) email asking if he’d read my email and seen the photos of the damp, and just hadn’t bothered to reply, and that I did think that he might have

As mentioned on Summer’s page, I didn’t realise that Oz has a different date for Father’s Day. To be honest, it didn’t even occur to me, so I posted off a card from my son to his Dad a little while ago; no idea how long the mail takes. Anyway, my ex

This is an expression that my son has recently been using to denote someone who is a bit up themselves. I love it! A colleague of mine is a Special Snowflake; everyone else has to use a centralised printer, sometimes on a different floor, but they’re

You’ll probably gather from the title that we’ve had some rain at last. It’s been very sunny here with an average temperature of 24C which is low compared to some I know, but pretty hot for us in Wales. On Sunday it topped out at 26C and I actually felt a

This morning I had the results of my blood tests, and all the things they were testing for have come back as ‘Normal.’ This is, of course, good news, however it doesn’t explain the tiredness, breathlessness, and bruising. I can only assume these are

It’s always the same; I make plans for time off, or the weekend, and they go all to pot. Some rumour was going around work, and it looked like my week off would be cancelled. In the event that didn’t happen and I am, at least, off from work. I had planned

No, it’s not a recipe for a French delicacy. This year my pots have been under siege from snails. I’ve planted 2 pots of peas, twice, only to have the snails devour them. They’ve eaten the tops of the potatoes, and even the onion tops. I’ve never known a

The other day we were on an Amber alert for storms with the possibility of flooding. I made sure all the drains were clear the night before and ensured that the umbrellas were to hand. My friend cancelled our Saturday shopping as he didn’t want to be out

Recently I had the audacity to be out of the office for a day on a training course. Wouldn’t you know it, someone needed me, and because I wasn’t available they threw what can only be described as a hissy fit, and not for the first time! So

Locally something ‘big’ is going on soon and our site, and others close by, won’t be available as a place of work. We’re expected to travel to other sites that will be open as usual. We’ll be expected to use public transport due to main road closures by

I have been mostly in a bad mood. Blame the weather, blame lack of sleep, blame the fact that I’m a grumpy old bag lol. An email was sent to all the technicians, except me, regarding working during the ‘big’ event. A colleague kindly showed me the email,

I recently recorded a film; Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts, amongst others. It’s a reworking of Snow White. I’ve only ever seen this actress play ‘nice’ parts and to see her play the ‘evil’ Queen was quite an eye opener; I thought she was really

Near me is a street that I sometimes walk my dog along. There are about 40 houses in this street. Most of the properties have a garage. Every single property has a drive, and around half of them have a drive long enough for 2 vehicles. When I walk the dog

Last week I had to setup for an exam session; depending on numbers, I usually setup about half hour or more early just to be on the safe side. So I’m in the computer suite, and it occurred to me there was only me and one (male) student there. No-one else

Well it’s Thursday, it’s hot and sunny, and we have a severe weather warning for Sunday with high waves and heavy rain, with the occasional torrential downpour. How lovely. It looks like we’ll have to batten down the hatches, and if it’s not too bad, I’ll

I do have some teacups, but this is about the storm. On Saturday I took my friend out shopping and we both stocked up so neither of us had to leave the house on Sunday. The weather wasn’t bad, a little fresh, and we had a nice coffee in our usual shop.

I was in work, talking to a colleague when he suddenly leaned into me and kissed me. Not a ‘peck’, a full on passionate kiss. He held me tightly. I didn’t stop him. I could feel people watching us. The room had gone quiet. Once I’d got my breath back I

This morning it was my turn to walk the dog. We took one of our usual routes that take us past a strip of trees. This ‘strip’ of land is about 8 feet deep and maybe 30 foot long. In spring there are bluebells under the trees, and wild cowslips, and of

Just a quick post; my son received his A level results this morning; he passed all 4 of them! I'm really pleased with him, proud too. For his Business Studies exam, he actually got an A. His overall pass wasn't an A, but he still did well in all of them.

This week I’ve been mostly anxious. I had the misfortune to have to spend a day on our other site and wasn’t looking forward to the motorway drive. I can do it, I just don’t relish motorway driving anymore. The journey was good, and I got there in record

On Friday I had a good time out with friends. They’d been to this pub before, with quite a few guide dogs however they had asked and forewarned the manager about the dogs. He Okayed it. As we walked in on Friday, one of our group heard the barman utter

It’s Thursday already and I can’t believe how fast this week has flown by. Monday will be here before I know it and I’ll be back to work. The last time I had a day away from the office, I came back to no fewer than 18 emails. In one day! Due to this fact,

This morning I saw my GP regarding the pins and needles in my hands. She did some tests that determine carpal tunnel syndrome though they weren’t conclusive so next week I have to have yet more blood tests, this time to check for vitamin B12 deficiency.

Since leaving school, my son has been sleeping in. I don’t mind, and he is looking for work, however his timing sucks. He often gets up and ‘hogs’ the bathroom just as I’m getting ready to leave for work. I can’t just leave as I need to clean my teeth and

Well things here are almost back to normal. Most of the police have left the site though they’re still occupying one car park and there are quite a number of mini buses still here. Despite the disruption it was interesting and I got to ogle lots of very

This week we had yet more pirate tests, and what fun they were. Firstly, a lot of the weapons have been upgraded and now some don’t work as we want them to. Nobody seems to have given any thought to this, just steamed ahead. We had to hunt out the few

Within the next few years our site will close. It won’t be with a bang, but gradually, over the next few years, and with a whimper. Courses and staff will be gradually moved to other sites. There won’t be any compulsory redundancies – yeah, heard that one

The site I’m on at the moment is set in acres of land. We have an arboretum, as well as many trees dotted around including sweet chestnut, mulberry, apple, walnut, hazelnut, and fir trees taller than a 3 storey building. We have well-manicured lawns and

This week we’ve mostly been running around like headless chickens. There are 3 people off sick in my department, and with the workload and pressure increasing I won’t be surprised if this number increases. In the past couple of years we’ve lost a quarter

After running around like headless chickens, we’re now dropping like flies and I’m the third one in our small team to go down with a stomach bug. I felt fine Thursday, went home for lunch, went back to work, started to feel very hot and queasy, and by mid

Today I should have been paid some travelling expenses. When I noticed the lack of it in my bank account I made some enquiries. Apparently our Finance section never got my claim form despite the fact that I have evidence that I sent it. I’ve had to resend

I find myself wishing the day away until 5pm when I can escape the drudgery of my job. I wish the week away, waiting for the weekend. I’m then wishing the month away, waiting for pay day. I’m wishing December would come soon because I want my full blood

I used to love my job. Part of my job used to entail helping some of our international students with their assignments. I didn’t write their assignments, obviously, though I did help some with their grammar, and show others how to use a Word document. One

For various reasons, some too stupid to be believable, my colleague and I have to carry kit across the campus. This week it’s been no fun, and more than once, I’ve had to carry the kit under my coat so that it doesn’t get wet. On Wednesday we came across

I had a good Birthday. The Cabin Boy walked the Ship’s dog so that I could have the ‘day off’, bless him. He’d bought me a card and surprised me by buying me some chocolates for my Birthday. It was most unexpected, and well received – coffee creams,

Firstly, despite what you may think, I’m not a germaphobe however when you spend most of the day listening to your colleague sniffing, coughing, and clearing his throat in the most disgusting manner, then I’m sure you’ll appreciate that I often wish he’d

By another ‘one’ I really mean another 3. I came home from work on Thursday, let the dog out into the garden and went out with him. I thought to myself, something is missing. I looked over to my right and saw straight away, the bloody council has cut down

I’m missing the sunshine. After a very dry September, locally at least we had a very wet October with only one period of 36 hours where it didn’t actually rain; other than that, it rained every day in October. I’m missing my sleep. I’ve had cramp and/or

Depending on what we’re talking about; size really does matter and to put it delicately, there have been numerous articles about women wearing the wrong size. Well, after the ‘fun’ I’ve had the last couple of days it doesn’t surprise me. Being a ‘well

Though of course, the same applies to women, though I’m unclear if ‘man’ refers to mankind. Today I was greeted by a knocking on my door. I opened it. “I’m sorry, I forgot my keys. Could you let me in please?” asked a colleague. Well, that’s what should

I didn’t see my friend last week as he was poorly, and this week he’s away so I went shopping on my own. Town was really busy, and when I queried it, I was told they’re probably all out to get the shopping early so they could go home and watch the rugby.

I had the ‘dreaded’ letter today, and firstly I was madder than a sack full of cats (no offence to cat owners). So mad that I went home and took a very early lunch break. I emailed my manager and asked if I could use him as a reference and copied in a

We had a little excitement recently; my son had his first job interview. I have to say, he scrubs up well and looked very smart for his interview. The position was on an industrial estate with no public transport available, so I took a long lunch and

Or more precisely; night. I don’t sleep well, haven’t done so since late May, however last night I slept solidly for 7 and a half hours; fantastic! I think there were a number of factors: my son’s PC has broken so he actually went to sleep at what I call

As you know, I’m counting down to my Christmas break; 1 more week of work. I had a busy week, and Friday I slept for 8 hours which is a record for me lately; 2 good night’s sleep in a week :) In work, students have a week off mid-term which coincides

I had an email recently, from my ex, stating that his house sale is going through and they’d be ‘completing’ this week. I have a key, so it was off to his house for a quick pillage. Now, before any of you are hovering over the phone to dial the police and

Today is the shortest day of the year; the Winter Solstice. I know winter has barely begun and so far it’s been pretty mild, locally at least, but for me, this marks a turning point in the year and it’s all full steam ahead to spring which is my favourite

I’m beginning to suspect that there’s a ghost in my house. The dog is often skittish and hides in his bed; this happens just after there are inexplicable loud noises from upstairs. My son denies ever hearing these noises but the dog and I obviously do. He