Watching the Golf

Worked quite well.  The Masters always looks the most wonderful place to visit at this time of year.  Not quite the outcome we wanted with Lee coming 2nd but Phil played brilliant Golf to win - good for him.

I have kept hydrated - more than I normally do.  I know that after 11:30 tomorrow I won't get a drink for a good 3 or 4 hours and so making sure I have plenty now will, I hope, help out.  These days you can continue drinking clear liquids (ie water) right up to the time of going in.  I shall do that as I found last time it did help a lot.

I read the paperwork - it still reckons you can be out on the same day - but that is without the biopsies just the rigid cystocopy.  With 6 biopsies my poor old bladder resembles a blocked sieve so I am not expecting to be out on Monday evening.  In fact I think I will challenge them this time as they always say you can but never deliver.  I suppose it is a bit like they have to tell you all the risks but they are unlikely to happen they can also tell you that your car does 0 to 60 in 5 seconds but there isn't enough road in suburbia to actually try it out?

I'm sitting in my office at the moment.  I plan to get up at my normal time of 5:20 just 5 hours away and have a shower.  I can then see of my daughter who is going camping for the week at about 6 am.  I can have a light breakfast and set myself up for the morning and then lock myself in my room for a couple of hours just playing music and PC games up to the point of going to the Hospital.  I intend to walk there on my own and go in on my own only in as much as poor old Mrs. F. doesnt get a word out of me apart from some mumbling and I switch my MP3 player on and try and breathe properly and relax - which for me - as we all know - is pretty difficult because that is just the way I'm built.

This way Mrs. F.  and L can go out and about and they can phone up later on and see how I have got on.  They can then come and see me at visiting time and that will be good.  At least that way we all feel OK about what is going to happen.  From my side of things I think I'd prefer it.  Mrs. F. used to come to most things with me but it is much better that I go to these myself as I am very much inside my own bubble when I go there and really don't want or need company.

My PC is playing up and I spent a lot of time messing around with it earlier today.  I think I'll set a few diagnostics going and get off to bed now.

Distraction Routine

I'm doing anything to keep myself doing things today - sorting out the computers, finding a book to take in tomorrow (that I haven't already read but will be easy enough to read), making sure I have cleaned my office, filed some papers and generally just pottering about at home.

Tomorrow will be worse as there wont be much to do apart from waiting around and going through endless check lists at the Hospital and being interrupted every few minutes by nurses, anaesthetists, junior doctors, consultants etc.  Just when you get to settle down and relax someone pulls the curtain open and jolts you into attention.  I just want it over now.  I recollect being really on edge the first time as we didn't know how far the cancer was in my bladder and it was all just a terrifying ride towards getting into Hospital, a horrible wait and then getting prepared for the operation and waking up in a mess.

It isn't that bad, I will sleep at least tonight and will be up early but I don't want my mind playing about too much today though so being busy is good.

Not long to go now

I have my music sorted, spare batteries and spare MP3 player - I might even take a book this time to wile away the hours.  In fact anything to distract me from the utter boredom of sitting down doing nothing whilst they fanny around playing bed poker so that they can squeeze the government's figures...

I know - a somewhat jaundiced and cynical view but they did play silly buggers on a number of occasions so that they protected the beds.  

Ii just want this to be over so I can choose my successor and get them sorted out, sort out my contract and get going on my new venture.  It feels a bit phoney at the moment.  my business partner is currently in China and arrives back late tomorrow and so I probably wont see him until later in the week.  Which reminds me I have my far flung cousins fropping by on Friday to see me - if I am up to it.

Anyway - the upshot is that this is a major milestone in my plans and so I am hoping to get it out of the way ASAP and also to be able to see a big step in my condition.  Ideally a move away from these 6 monthly full rigid cystoscopies towards the flexible ones - they aren't pleasant but at least they are bearable and over in a a matter of minutes rather than having to go through all the rigmarole of pre-assessment and then a general anaesthetic and operation and all the other stuff too.

Someone I know back on BCG

A person I know who had Bladder Cancer had disappointing results and is back on a full term of BCG - that is 12 - two courses of 6 at a time which I can tell you is pretty tough going.  The first one always seems to be easy but blow me the ones after that just seem to beat you up more and more.  Having said that - not always - sometimes you can get a mild reaction too.

I don't envy him his treatment - he is a pragmatic guy and will get on with it.  I wont see him for a little while - I just wished him all the best as he did for my procedure on Monday.

Because who knows what will happen

I thought it was a telling moment when I suggested that Monday's result could be a lot worse than the positive outcome I hope it will be.  This far in you don't balance it out like you used to.  I used to expect bad news and be delighted with the good.  Now I would very much hope that I am stable and there has been no deterioration in my condition, certainly no cancerous or precancerous cells in the results.  But what if there were?  What then?

None of us can predict the future - so I wonder whether you have to live every moment on the edge or play the middle road or just be careful all the time.  There isn't a right answer but if you knew you were going to die at a certain day and date - would you spend all your money and make it run out the day before :-)   Should you always be cautious and eat the right things or should you cast that aside and fill yourself up with your favourite things?  Excess in moderation perhaps?

I'm sure that debate could roll on for years but it was important that I get the point over to certain people that the results are by no means set in stone or a done deal.  things could go horribly wrong.  Now where's my beer and caviar?

The Countdown starts now

I decided not to go into work tomorrow - I just don't feel like it at all.  I feel a little down after the experience at the GPs.  I have to readjust my mindset to let things take their course next week - I cannot influence it - just sit there and lump it and get on with it - it will happen in their time and not mine.

That's the trouble of being a control freak - things are completely out of your control or influence.  

Ho hum....

 

The Crazy World of the GP Surgery

They are utterly barmy these people.  They make appointments and then fail to meet them, boil you alive in the hottest waiting room in the known Universe.  After 40 minutes wait - why can't you tell me when i check in you are running late???  How difficult would that be?  I could have gone across the road to the pub!

So then the PCs are running a new system so you can't see my notes about my white coat syndrome.  Then the BP machine doesn't work three times, then you try the other arm then it almost goes off the scale.  "ooohh that's high!"  Yea right no shit Sherlock!!!  The second go it comes down a lot.  But can you see my notes about the blood test - have you had it done - well yes on Tuesday actually.  Oh my notes don't say I am going into Hospital on Monday then?

Joined up communication.  It beggars belief.  Anyway, I finally got them to write down yet again that I have white coat syndrome.  They want to see me again.  Not sure if I'll bother - I might as well do my own readings and post them through once a month so they have them rather than do this one point in time stress inducing bollocks they put me through.  

Me, unhappy?  Whatever gave you that idea?

Work - Busy old day today

I have lots to get done but to add to things it is Jazz night tonight and I haven't been since January.  My friend from Denmark turned up with his friend and we HAD to go to lunch with consists mainly of beer.  Wow I got a huge bear hug off of him.  He nearly died last year and I guess we were really glad to see each other in such rude health.    Then another colleague turned up and blow me someone wanted to buy me a beer at 4 so I left the office grabbed a beer, said helloe to them, shot back a beer, got the train and promptly fell asleep until the station and wandered home ready to woof down some dinner and then go out for more beer drinking.  It is looking like my 3 or 4 units of beer a week admission to the Hospital is way out :-)

I have to be back tomorrow afternoon to get my Blood Pressure done by the doctor..  That will be fun!  Not...  

Well that WAS a surprise

This will be Scar Wars VIII as I did VII last August.  Good grief - here is the LINK.  I just hope I can think of something half as amusing for this one.  I will be all Scar Warred out if they keep taking me into Hospital...

My goodness - 8 operations (2 of them big ones) and all in less than 4 years plus the IVP procedure and flexible.  That's about 10 of these plus all the BCGs I've had too and all the visits, pre assessments, blood tests and all that stuff.  

At least I am still here so I ought to keep it in perspective and I suppose that it is still a lot better than it looked back in 2006 - a hell of a lot better.

I must go back and re-read some of my earlier posts if only to see what I was prattling on about 6 months or a year ago.  It is strange how things have moved on since then.

Where does the time go to

I find that the most interesting thing about going into Hospital is that I get to think back on the initial diagnosis and the treatment.  The horror of it all comes back and it just isn't like that any more.   It really is amazing to think that it was June/July 2006 - almost 4 years ago now.  It seems like I could account for maybe 3 years but 4 just seems way out.

I will be able to do a retrospective if things are affright this time.  I must also get myself along to the quacks and get my blood pressure taken so they can continue to write me out prescriptions for my BP medicines.

It is funny going to the Hospital and chatting away with the nurses who know that you know the ropes and we just get on and do it.  She is aware of my high blood pressure and high heart rate and all that and it is more a passing the time of day conversation these days.

It was a lovely day and the walk to and from the hospital was really pleasant.  

I'm off to work tomorrow and then need to sort myself out for the next few weeks working from home I suppose.  All good fun - not.  Let's just hope that my consultant does my biopsies and they I don't end up with a Catheter in again like last time and the time before.  How on earth you could abide them for longer than 24 or 48 hours I don't know.  I'd be a sh1t patient if I had to have one for any longer...

All OK

Clear to go in next Monday - the usual high blood pressure and high heart rate but other than that, I seem to be fit enough to go in for another rigid cystoscopy.   For the last three times it was thought to be the last one and in a way, I managed to get myself through the procedure telling myself that.  

I hate having to go in for these things.  No matter what you think about it - it is traumatic and upsetting painful but you can live with that, damn uncomfortable - I can't even begin to describe the feeling inside as everything settles back into place again - yuk!  Yes, I can now begin to start psyching myself up for going in and also trying to keep down the dark thoughts at the same time.

So here we go for another ride through to what must be Scar Wars VII?  I need to go and check.  I couldn't even remember when I had cancer this morning when chatting to the doctor :-)  I said 2007 but in reality is was 2006 wasn't it.  I wasn't thinking clearly at all.

It never fails to amaze me

How the nerves kick in before going into Hospital.  I though I was fine with this by now but just noticed heart racing, slight shortage of breath and that adrenaline rush and slight dryness at the back of my throat.

I suppose the thing is you never really get over this - of course this time next week - it will all be over but even so, the kiddology has to run out somewhere and an hour before I get checked over, here it is.

I'll walk up there in about 20 minutes or so and my appointment is at 10.  That is pretty good as I should be the 2nd or 3rd one in.  I should be home by 11 or so with any luck.

All I need to do now is get my mind back to remembering this is all for my benefit and all for my well-being.  

Family Around

Yesterday for A's birthday - I then found out the Mrs. F. L and A area all running in the Race for Life fund raiser for Cancer Research.  Gulp!

It was a lovely day - we did a roast lunch and had plenty of beers, wine and the like flowing.  

I have my pre-assessment tomorrow and my cough is still around.  It isn't bad but it is still there.  I hope that it will not mean a postponement of my procedure.  I really want this all out of the way before I get cracking on my new venture.

It is almost the end of my tenure as Secretary of one of the largest Lodges in Kent.  With close to 195 members it has some unique challenges.  June will be my last meeting and after 6 years I am ready to give up and take a back seat for a while.   It will also free me up from much of the additional work I have to do at home.  I've kept that going throughout all my time with Bladder cancer which has taken 4 years out of the 6.  I'm quite pleased that I kept doing it rather than dropping it.  

Easter Eggs and English Weather

We always discuss the weather as we have so much of it.  It was raining overnight and this morning and the ground was just too wet to put the eggs out.  So for the 3rd year we held it inside and that was OK as there were more kids this year, A and L face painted the kids which was nice.   The bigger crowds meant we raised a few hundred pounds for the old people's home and blow me if, as we cleared away, the sun came out and by mid afternoon it was a warm spring day....  Damn!

I'm a bit worried that my cough will not clear up by Tuesday when I go for my pre-assessment.  I hope that I can beat it by then.  We have family over tomorrow to celebrate A's 20th birthday which was actually today.  I imagine that we will have a great time and I can get stuck in cooking in the kitchen - lamb and gammon I think are on the menu.  I have some nice beers cooling in the new American Style Fridge in the utility room plus a few rather pleasant wines awaiting my guests.  

I should have wandered up the road earlier to the deli and got some cheese for afterwards but totally forgot about it.

Easter Eggs

Tomorrow we go and set up the Easter Egg Hunt and it looks like for the 3rd year in 15 (and in a row) we will have to hold it indoors as the weather is inclement.  It is such a shame as the gardens are extensive and it would be good to be able to hide the thousands of chocolate eggs.

My cough is still with me but whilst it sounds bad it isn't doing any damage to my chest or frame like it was earlier in the week.

I am hoping that I can get plenty of things done this week coming as the week after I am in Hospital.  I wont be feeling like doing much as I mooch around on the days before the operation.   I had better show my face at the office as the train strike is now off.  I have to do my pre-assessment on Tuesday so I hope my cough has gone by then or they will look dimly on taking me in and I don't want that.

I hear a lot from people who have got over cancer only to get another one.  That is all a bit worrying.  I suppose, in fairness, many are a lot older than me and perhaps that is just something to look forward to in my old age....  Gee I hope not - 1 lot is enough for a lifetime - I am not sure quite how I'd cope with another lot.  No use worrying about it I suppose.  I'm still amazed that they use this 5 year figure all the time.  There are reports on TV and News all the time and they are always quoted in survival rates.  For example I heard today that 8 out of 10 (80%) of women who get Breast Cancer are alive 5 years after diagnosis.  A 4 in 5 chance that you will survive.  Bladder Cancer is a little bit better but 80% is pretty good odds if you think about it.  It never quite works though - if they gave some 10 year figures that might be useful too?  It almost sounds that if you make it past 5 years you did well?  What happens then?

Anyway - Friday night and a big day tomorrow so better get to bed and get some proper sleep.

Off for Easter

It will be good to get some time off.  I have this hacking cough still that doesn't seem to want to go away.  There is a national train strike next week which looks as if it means I will work from home all next week.

Today I posted out my job description to a number of people and nationally - it may look a bit strange that the present incumbent is asking for his replacement and yet to me probably it is the right thing to do.  There is a high incidence of a stomach bug going around at work and so many people are off at the moment.  

I could certainly do without this cough it is driving me mad :-)

Hospital looms large now but before then is the annual Easter Egg hunt which will I hope be held in drier conditions than last year.  In fact in 15 odd years the last couple have been particularly bad.

Flocky and I have to dash off elsewhere straight after that for a meeting.  So bust weekend ahead and it is daughter A's 20th birthday - 20 good grief....  It doesn;t seem that long ago.

It is amazing to think that I started my job at the charity 2 years ago tomorrow!  That 2 years has flown by.

Time

I was typing up a report and put down the 12th April and then realised that I would be in Hospital that day.  Then I realised that it is only two weeks today.  I hadn't worked that out at all.  Suddenly it is on me and I need to get myself all sorted out ready for that.  

I should be feeling pretty neutral but they have changed my time to afternoon so I know I have a night in the Hospital (expletive comes to mind).  Please, please, please, please let it be the last one.  I have been disappointed these past two times to find that I needed "just one more" procedure.  I hate Hospitals with a vengeance and to tell the truth I cannot even tell you how many operations I've had these past few years.  I just want it over and done with now and I'd like my life back please.  Not that my current life is bad or anything just that it would be good to get off this roller coaster and take stock and just lie in the sun and be grateful for a while.  take it all in,  think about the future and do something in a measured way.  that probably isn't going to happen but it would be nice.

Anyway - 13 days and counting.....  

Office Moved

So I've moved my stuff around the office and I'm back in the seat next to the one I started out in. I'm not reading anything into that. My colleague will return from his holiday tomorrow and doesn't know that I've put my notice in. He won't be happy. However a strange turn of events today as I was meant to be going to a meeting in Berkshire tomorrow and checked and somehow we have been missed off the list. Lucky really as I am going to the Founders lunch tomorrow because my Chairman cannot make it. That will be a nice day out for me I'm sure.

My train ticket runs out on Wednesday so I might work from home Thursday and it appears there is a national strike next week on the trains so I will be able to do some serious work at home during the Easter week.

I'm feeling OK today apart from this terrible hacking cough I have. I am hoping that it goes away overnight so I can attend this lunch without sounding like a performing seal.

Cough from hell

Well I thought I had this cold licked earlier on in the week but this dry hacking cough has really started to annoy me.  I have some medicine that seems to temporarily sort it out but only for a short stint.

I spent a lot of the day sorting out my music collection and talking to my colleague about our forthcoming venture.  He is off to China tomorrow for a couple of weeks, then he arrives back as I go into Hospital and so we probably wont see each other until the weekend following that.  At least we can go out for a meal or something and start to get our plans straightened out.

We have a mamoth task ahead of us in the next 6 months and have deliberately pressurised ourselves to do this.  I'm happy that my present employers feel strongly enough to retain me so I can be of use on special projects which is just great as some of the big stuff Ii have instigated does need to be followed up and a lot of the information needs to be dragged out of my head and on to paper for them.  Something I intend to start committing to paper as soon as.

I feel bad about leaving but I have to undertake this journey for the next 6 or 7 months.  The opportunity is good enough to take the risk and from what I know of my own personality I need to put the right amount of "stress" or "risk" into the venture so that it engages me full time.  Unlike the last time I went and invested a lot of my time, this time it is completely in my own hands on whether I make it or not.  

I have a friend who I trust, we have both been through the Cancer trials and tribulations - at the same time and we have built our pre-cancer friendship to new levels.  We have worked together before and we have different but complimentary skills which is great.  Plenty of checks and balances are in place along with loads of experience too.

It is going to be an interesting year and an interesting journey - well it will be when this rib cracking cough stops - ouch :-)

I thought that

I would have got rid of this cold by now but I have a hacking cough and sore throat and managed to fall asleep at my desk this afternoon and have a very sore neck from doing that.

If the fridge man hadn't have arrived so early I may have got up a little later and not been so tired!

I've got my dates all mixed up and instead of going out tomorrow for my friend's mum's 80th birthday I find out that it is on Sunday!! My brain is getting bad...  But that meant I could have gone to this do I ducked out of.

I'm going to hit the sack and see how I am in the morning, I have had enough of this hacking cough and could do with trying to get to bed and trying to get some sleep.

Cat out of the bag

Well I spoke to the boss and we agreed that I will go as near to April as makes no difference.  We also agreed that I will be retained by the Trust toocome in on specific assignments and to provide business and logistical support.  That is great and what I hoped for as it does allow me to have a lifeline back if needed.  It is interesting quote how shocked everyone was that I was going and it was quite moving too.

What it does mean is tha I made a difference but what was funny was that they wondered if it was the money.  It would have been if I stayed but when I explained that I was going to go and work for 6 months with no money or any guarantee of success that changed the equation a lot.   I think they would have offered me roughly what I was going to go and ask them for before all this lot blew over.

Anyway - it seems to be a little better at work now it is in the open but I was surprised quite how upset many were that I was going.  Even saying I'd be around a couple of days a month didn't win me the argument.

A new way of looking at things.

Click on image to enlarge.

Using www.wordle.net allows you to cluster together the most used words on your blog.  You can hardly see the word cancer, bladder and yet new, feel and other quite positive words are there.  I've just started playing with this tool - it is fascinating to picture your content like this.  I am pleased that there aren't big highlighted words in there like despair or fear.

It also feels a bit like this too

These guys are also fast becoming firm favourites on my MP3 player...

SO now how does it feel?

It feels just like this:



Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea
You know how I feel
River running free
You know how I feel
Blossom in the tree
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when the day is done, that's what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
Fooor me

Stars when you shine
You know how I feel
Scent of the pine
You know how I feel
Yeah freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
hu
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life

It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
It's a new life
For me

And I'm feeling good

Hell it's a Nudorn alright.....

Still Flu Like

Decided not to go to work and give this to anyone. It felt like it was going yesterday but it gave me plenty of trouble overnight and I was sneezing and coughing - not what you want to do at work....

I had to drop a note to the boss and so delivered the "find someone else" message at the same time. I suppose that being pragmatic about it is the only thing to do. There isn't a lot I can do about that. I do worry about the 18 months to 2 years frequency that I manage to last before I need to move on although in this case, I reckon if I had stayed I would have negotiated something quite different to combat the frustrations but there is work to do after my operation in April and ideally that would be a good time to get someone in so I can show them the ropes and then move on. At least they have the option of getting me to come in and do a little support work at the same time.

24 Hour Flu

I've been laid out overnight and today with what can best be called mild Flu symptoms. Aching legs, slight stuffy nose, sneezes, sore throat etc. I took to my bed last night wrapped up against the chills and had a pretty disturbed night. I'm a bit annoyed as I wanted to do some more work in my office today but didn't get anything done. I am feeling a little better now after drugging myself up and taking it easy and sleeping through most of the day. Strangely it feels like some of the BCG treatments I had all that time ago....

Tomorrow is going to be a bit difficult as I know that a lot of people are going to be upset that I will be going and I also know that there is never a right time to go. However, now if right for them and for me. I can get to concentrate on what I need to put in place in the next 4 to 6 weeks. I needed to drop into the charity as a bolt hole after the disappointment and recriminations of the previous venture - amazing to think that is over 2 1/4 years ago and that the Tribunal was 2 years ago. I owe my present customer a lot but recently things have got stale and I can't influence except in the limited area that I exist in.

I hope that I shake off this cold for tomorrow morning. I really could do with getting into work and sorting things out with them. I am out on at least three nights this week too. One of those is a business engagement.

That's Good

Mrs. F. and I are bust clearing out the office to make it a working space again. I just threw away close to 1,000 3 1/2" disks and some 5 1/4" disks, loads oo old computer stuff, leads and mice, CDs and DVDs that are no longer any use. It is amazing how much clutter I have picked up over the years.

I actually have empty cupboard space too which is nice. So Mrs. F. is OK with me taking 6 months to go for it with my new venture. It makes sense to limit this to October of this year so that at least we can make a decision whether to chuck it in or continue.

I'm feeling happy and sad all at the same time. I have to tell work on Monday that all bets are off and I'll see what the reaction is to that. Not good in some quarters I'm sure.

The reminder of the weekend is about sorting this room out and getting ready to hit he ground running some time in April.

End Game

My friend sounds like he will be made redundant this afternoon. I am just about to work out my resignation notes and how I will continue to work with the office as they will still want me to consult for them. Eventually I hope to become involved with them a bit more from a volunteer point of view but lets see how things transpire first.

A weekend of planning ahead then.

Timing is rubbish

It hasn't escaped anyone's notice that I haven't been in work for much of this week - I did get a lot done on Tuesday and so far have blistered the work I was doing at home but I really ought to be thinking ahead and working out quite how I position things next week.

You see, most people think I'm just having a few issues with my other business and a few have serious doubts about whether I will stay. I am having my own problems in that I need my colleague to be made redundant for me to take the jump and he and I can go and work together to get our project off the ground. That is the plan. Of course all the nagging doubts are there and the what if situation about who replaces me and how much involvement I keep with the job. I hope that they get someone better than me in a way so that they move on further and really develop the stuff I've started. The problem I have is that I'm loathe to get involved in something that I may not finish.

I think I should know tomorrow or at the weekend how it is panning out. Next week I am in the office most days I think but it could get really uncomfortable especially if I am going to leave.

Hello Fiji

I was on to a relative in Fiji today - the internet and instant messaging are great and allow you to interact with people all over the world. It was nice to let him know that I was getting nearer to an all clear. The Hospital dropped me an email saying that they wanted me in later than they originally said. That means I am going to end up there overnight again which is a pain as Mrs. F. works in the morning.

I'm pretty much happy to walk home myself as I only live 20 minutes away but I am sure no one will allow that - unless I don't tell anyone that is!! How do single people manage? Anyway - that at least means that I can have a light breakfast and plenty of water to make sure I don't dehydrate like I did on one of my earlier operations.

It is less than a month away now so feeling a little down about it already. That happens and is only natural I guess. To be apprehensive is part of the territory I guess. Hopefully, and how many times have I said this, this one will be the last of these procedures and I will have a flexible cystoscopy next time. OK that isn't nice either but it sure beats this malarkey of having to be pumped full of chemicals and finding a catheter stuck in you when you wake up and a cannula stuck in the back of your hand. Sheesh!!

It is also getting very close to decision time with my job - I can only imagine what kind of reaction there will be to that when it happens. I need to position that correctly especially as I will still be around for a little bit to help out. Who knows what the future will bring.

Off to Celebrate Flocky's Birthday

well actually it is the Provincial Officers' Mess which is a good evening out. We get a subsidised meal and wine and it is nice to get to meet lots of old friends.

I have foolishly stated that I will buy Flocky some Champagne which could make a serious dent in my wallet.

It will be good to get out and about and to meet a number of the troops again.

Nothing like a bit of Schindler's List

To send me off to bed in the right frame of mind. I have to say I'd forgotten just how deeply that last bit of the film affected me. More so as one of the children looks just like my eldest A. I'm still upset and that is 30 minutes after I finished watching it.

You can hardly believe that all of that is still within living memory and you can't even begin to imagine the utter horror of it all. I think you get a little insight into the fear if you've had cancer, maybe and so perhaps it drags out those experiences when I watch it. It's a very special film without a doubt.

Yuk Day

I hate it when the office is heated to sub tropical temperatures like today - I roasted and it tired me out. I managed to get lots of things done but by mid afternoon I was flagging. I left a little earlier than normal to find a half length train - great! That too was heated to grow some sort of rare plant and we roasted - at least someone reached a few windows and the blowers came on.

I may work from home tomorrow as it at least Ii can regulate the temperature and I can get a load more done. I shall think about that overnight. Time gets nearer to a decision. I feel myself wanting to hurry up and make the jump yet I cannot until my colleague's fate is sealed - possibly this Friday.

Almost a seminal day

Almost but not quite. We can't quite take the jump into the new business today. By the end of the week maybe and by the end of the week after almost certainly.

A good meeting but it has left me in limbo land as such as I'd like to tell my people to start looking for my replacement knowing that I am off to do my project.

At least we concluded that our venture has a future and that it needs to be worked on now. That said, it is by no means certain that we will get it to market, get funded or anything else! Happy Days :-)

The only constant in this life is change!

Gradually

You get your life back you know. When I thought about it this morning, I realised that I'm recording stuff that is pretty much what I'd stick in a diary and wondered how relevant it is to Bladder Cancer and do you know what? The relevance is that 3 years ago I was obsessed daily with it and to be truthful I do think about having or having had cancer every day of my life but gradually the old me has returned and things do get back to some sense of normality.

When I say normal, as normal as you are going to get because cancer changes your life anyway, it doesn't appear to have changed my underlying psychological profile but it has changed my attitude to life, the way I look at things and the way I do - or do not - care for people these days. I beginning to reclaim my life again and take back those things that my cancer took from me. The one thing I missed the most though was my brain - it still isn't all back here like it used to be but I am getting back to my sharpest again and that bodes well for me but not for my current customer/empoyer.

Decision Day

Or perhaps the background to a decision day. It is at least a chance to discuss and explore what the possibilities are in terms of moving on. Both my colleague and I are convinced that we should pursue our idea and take it to a conclusion. At the moment, if we don't it will whither on the vine and we will never know if it is possible to achieve. The bigger team has fallen away after we got this in front of one of the larger multi nationals and got exciting results, one-by-one they have failed to deliver anything of value or just fallen away.

At times like this, it is important to make a decision to move on or kill the idea. I'd like to give it a full time effort for 6 months and see where we have arrived at. At that time, if nowhere then I'd have to rethink. It is one of those hard decisions as it requires moving out of a comfort zone and to put some faith into my own abilities to get something done. I have no doubt that I can achieve this or at least take things to their logical conclusion - that may be that we decide after 6 months to not continue. At least we will know.

Today will sure be interesting.

Good Bye Piano

So I now only have one Piano. It isn't in tune and is never likely to be as it is a 1900 to 1910 original made by my GGG Uncle at his East London factory. The other piano which we have had since the girls were taking music lessons has been sold - rather cheaply I hasten to add to a dealer and it has left the house today. I kind of miss it as it actually was in tune and could be played and was a musical instrument and not an heirloom like the other one is.

It is just another one of those things that I find we are now getting rid of from the house. It is most probably a good thing.

Big day tomorrow as I meet up with my colleague to decide what me might do in terms of setting up our business venture. We need to step up to the plate or decide not to do it. Perhaps we may procrastinate for a little while longer but it mustn't be too long.

It will soon be April and he will be away - I will be in Hospital and somehow we need to arrange our current business affairs and get ready for this new thing or make arrangements for it. For me - I need to make the decision as soon as possible so that I can arrange with work to get a replacement and to then cover off the other things I am doing.

I heard this and it will be with me in April

I heard this music some time ago - Very nice.  The video is interesting too.

A game of "what time is it?"

Flocky and I were due to meet earlier in the day but eventually it was late afternoon before we finally touched base.  after sorting out a load of bits and pieces we retired to the pub for a beer and a packet of Peanuts or in my case, some nice Pork Scratchings (I must stop eating those!!)

After a couple of beers I disappeared off to the toilet and on my way back glanced at my watch.   Noting the time I asked young Flocky what time he thought it was and he concurred with me (before I had seen my watch) that it was no later than 8:30 but probably more like 8 pm.  Mmmmm.  Well it was more like 10 pm and we still had a pint of beer to consume.  Hence I arrived home at 10:45 without having had tea or supper and am now recounting this strange story.

Tomorrow is our Lodge meeting and so I am looking forward to that and the meal afterwards.  It is nice to meet some of our Lodge members and catch up with what they have been up to.  Unfortunately one of our members, now gting on for 93 is not so well.  We hope that he will soon be back to his normal self but the news isn't great.  He seconded me into the Lodge and so I have strong ties to him.  We will find out a bit more tomorrow from his daughter, herself in her 70s.

Friday - at home

I hope this will be a little relaxing day off and one that I can sit back and do a bit of reflective thinking.   Suddenly, now the boss knows the score some of the weight on my shoulder has come off and I hadn't realised that I was beating myself up about it quite so much.

I did four days at work this week - not without some bitching - but I managed it and perhaps next week I will get a better increase in productivity and sanity.  At least I have broken the back of the main stuff for this year already.

L got her results yesterday and had a mixed bag from a straight A to a fail.  She isn't phased by it although one result was much lower than she expected.  She knows now what to do about it.  That's good and she is focussed on becoming a teacher and she has the tenacity to do it.  She has just stuck to a diet that has seen her lose a lot of weight in a controlled way, a year before she went without eating chocolate for a year.  I think I know where she gets that stubbornness from :-)

I've just come off the phone from talking with my colleague who is working with me on this other project and we will meet on Monday to decide what to do - that may finally make us take the decision to get going or park our project and move on.  

And Now the Boss knows and growing up

This morning I noticed a large Charity sack by the front door and so I peeked inside (as you do) and there were lots and lots of cuddly toys.  Stuff from Disneyland and Beanie toys we had bought when the kids were young and it was obviously going on to a good place and will be sold to make someone's life a little better.  I'm all for that - I work in a charity - it's what I do.

However, it was a bit more profound than that.  I stared into the bag and there were the memories of my little girls staring back at me.  Happy times, magic times, we did enouy ourselves then and they had these "things" that meant a lot then but mean nothing now.  Somehow they meant a lot this morning and I got one of my "Bambi moments"  - hell this cancer nonsense really screws up your hormones.  I was really moved - not upset that they were getting rid of these childish things as they were going to a good home and were for a good cause and I'm proud that both girls do things like this and give of their time and give freely of these things that probably just clutter up their rooms.  To me, of course, these things were hard earned things.  I worked to buy them and in reality I don't want to sound sore about it but they probably mean a lot to me because they are associated with happy times, growing up, fun, play and all the good stuff about having kids.  It also drags me back to those pre-cancer days and it also reminds me that my children are grown up now.  No Longer children at all.  Young Ladies.  A is 20 in a few weeks time and L will be 17 in August.  It isn't the cost or anything to do with that - to me it is the loss of the item that may bring back a memory for me.   The kids adored these things and now they are just discarded - I'm not sure I know what more to say on the subject - it just made me feel bad and realise that things move on.

I was just left with a hole this morning that is all, it felt like I'd had something ripped away from me but it wasn't the toys themselves just what memories that they surfaced.

The boss called me in today and we had a chat.  I think that someone must have told him that I wasn't best pleased with the way things have been and whilst he acknowledged that we also agreed that one of two things was about to happen.  They are keen to get me on full time working.  I had to explain the 2 factors of the operation and the possibility that my other job will burst into life but I also had to reassure him that I would not just walk away.  I owe them far more than that.

Cards are now played and I feel happier about that.  I prefer to play a relatively straight bat in these cases and this little chat did that.  More later next week.

Finally I met with my Nephew and an old friend J at a lively bar in London.  I have to say that after a number of rather delicious pints of Tangle Foot, I wandered home and Mrs. F (bless her) came and gave me a lift home and some tea....  I needed that :-)

It has been a funny old day with the disturbing bit followed by the relief of "confession" to my boss about what I think may happen.  The trouble about that is - who knows what the future will bring?

Turmoil sets in

I enjoyed work today -well most of it, the the boss p1ssed me off tonight.  A typo on a letter that has gone out some months ago has been discovered and wants me to phone everyone up and tell them or write a letter acknowledging said cock up.   Frankly it shouldn't have happened but it did and it isn't that important except to them - I think my email back almost saying "no one died did they?" may have been a bit of an overreaction but in a two page letter which only needed to be three paragraphs anyway, something was bound to go wrong.   They need to stop writing by committee.

So that set me into the opposite of the good day I had actually had.  It is mixed emotions time as I really want to do less time there and concentrate on putting to bed one way or the other, for good or bad, this other business idea my colleagues and I are working on.  It needs closure and if I gae it 6 months and got nowhere I can at least say I tried.  I would then have the problem of what to do thereafter but that problem (if it is one) can wait until then.  Being positive, it could actually give me something to hang my hat on and to concentrate on and to use the other 99% of my talent not used where it is at the moment.

I at least managed 4 days work this week at the office - almost a record I reckon.

Walking home tonight

I got to remembering coming home on the last train, getting up and catching the first train out some 4 hours later and working my ar*e off for lots of years, working 12 or 15 hours a day, every day for years and years and years. 

Where did it get me?  You know that I believed I actually missed that life style.  I was young, my children were tiny, I worked hours and hours and I didn't do badly really.  There was money for an extension to the house and I did all those "good things" you are meant to do as the bread winner and what exactly have I got out of that "deal"?

Sure - I have great children - hardly children - young adults - working - at school and university - doing what THEY want to do and knowing that they can do that without let or hindrance or limitation.  There's a house, cars in the drive, clothes on everyone's backs, food in the cupboards and everything else and somehow - I'm not satisfied with this lot.   Am I a failure?  No.  What exactly is the problem?

I wondered tonight as I walked back retracing and remembering those steps was it all worth it?  Could I have got here without all that strain and stress, the long hours etc?  Yet, I think I actually enjoyed it - the buzz of making money and being in control of part of my own destiny.  The fast and furious world of the London financial world during the big bang and after.  I threw myself at my job and I loved it.  I enjoyed the power and the privilege, controlling and dealing in millions and doing something worthwhile and yet - you've never heard of me or know what I've done.  

The struggle these days is that I long for the energy and buzz I had then but do you know what?  I look back now and wonder whether I was actually that much better off.  Did I have a better time, or better work environment and a better life (we know the answer is probably not).  Life has taken on a different meaning these past few years and I just don't appreciate that slowing down and "jsut doing a job" may actually be what is best for me at the moment.

Mind you I have never been "normal" and maybe that is also a factor.

Strange what runs through your mind when you walk home late...

Some office clearing done

I managed to get a fair bit done over the weekend and that has made a start for some of the stuff I needed to do. The rest of the stuff is still outstanding and I realised that I am beginning to get behind on everything because of the trouble I am having balancing my work, social and my other work jobs.

I've just lost a bit of discipline with work because of all the rushing around I have had to do but perhaps I can catch up this week. I just need to sit down tomorrow morning and plan that out.

The stuff Ii have to do for my social life is also getting behind as I should have done some accounts and paperwork but haven't and I also need to work out about the "other" job too.

I am still trying to work out what to do for the best and what I really want to do isn't the easy road - and yet I believe that I should do it. Taking a decision that may well lead to a little hardship and something that will put me out isn't easy. I hope that I will be able to rationalise it down the next few weeks as at the moment I really am procrastinating.

I have about 5 weeks until the procedure and so I am thinking along the lines of making that a bearing on my decision as well. I may not know the outcome until a month later although they often say what the visual result is when I come to. In a way, I am less confident about this one than the one before. Not that I feel worse or anything like it but I am acting a bit stranger these days - perhaps that's just me getting older and getting back to my old self. Maybe I ought to set out what I used to be like before Bladder Cancer at some stage so I can review the major changes that have happened.

For the moment though, it was nice day today, we went walking in the spring sun through the woods and fields near here and it was a pleasant break from being stuck in the office. It was good to see the snowdrops and crocus flowers poking their heads out and let's hope spring is finally here.

Something to think about

Have a look HERE at a post made on a social networking site ecademy. I sometimes feel like this myself that actually whilst I survived etc etc there is still this problem of never quite getting back what you had before.

See what you think - it is a bit stark I grant you but makes me look at my situation in a much better light.

Weekend Wonders

The weekend starts tomorrow really but today was good news day for Steve in the US who is again all clear after 21 months and has 3 more BCG treatments and no more pushing and poking around with until September.  It is great news and the wonders of medical science are that this killer of a disease can be treated and have good rates of success is a testament to all the wonderful people who have researched this and of course all those patients who have gone before us.

It still amazes me that someone should come up with the thought that flooding your bladder with BCG would invoke an immune reaction that would help get rid of the cancer cells and strip those away allowing you to grow a new lining of normal cells.  Amazing really when you think about it.

So that has started my weekend off well.  The sun is out and it looks to be the beginnings of spring with crocus flowers emerging after the last few months of snow and rain and grey days it finally looks to be a pleasant again.  That lightens my mood too.

I've said before that I don't think I actually have Depression as some would describe it but I certainly feel "blue" a fair bit and down, tearful and sometimes even lacking self confidence.  I am certain it goes with the territory of having had cancer and finding that I am still concious of my recovery which is ongoing - it isn't over yet by any means.

The wonders of the weekend are the joy of hearing Steve's news, the end of a particularly difficult working week for me and that this week I DID make a difference to people's lives and may have two or three people now aware of the charity and it's services as well as all the major charities.

Mixed Day

If I'd have got up and gone to the Station I would have found no trains as there is a fire further up the line and I imagine the City must look like 1/2 day closing as hardly anyone can get in from the South East of the capital.  Anyway, I'm not one of them.  

I am out later giving a talk to a Lodge which will be great.  It is reasonably local to me - just 9 miles away.   It is amazing as it will take me a lot of time to get there as I have to drive at School going home time and crosses a series of major roads.  The Sat Nav reckons 24 minutes - I reckon I can double that.

I'm feeling pretty neutral today but the sun is out which makes a change - the last few months just seem to have been grey all the time.  Everything gets a lift when we get a nice Spring day like today.

   

Stuttering start to the morning

Nearly went back to bed I was so tired.  Managed to get to work, falling asleep only twice at my desk and many more times on the train on the way home :-)

Tomorrow is big committee day - last time I got out of my pram and threw my toys around this time I envisage putting the committee onto the defensive and setting them things to do.

I feel a bit low still but I have turned out stacks of work in the past few weeks and it should culminate in some kudos tomorrow - although that doesn't pay the bills of course!!

I am then off on Wednesday and Friday with a few other bits to do in between.  Ii have a mountain of paperwork to get through but hopefully by this weekend I can get that done ready to hand over some of my job to my successor.  I live in hope.

New Week New Problems

My friend has called to say his company are about to make him redundant and in a way that has freed his mind a bit and allowed him to consider his options.  He and I are involved in this other venture and I am now seriously considering quitting or coming away from full time properly the current job.  I am finding it difficult to sort out quite what I should do as I can see an argument for both side, can see that I have been lucky to work with some lovely people and all that but, fundamentally there is a problem with doing what amounts to your hobby in a full time capacity.

My appointment is now set for the 12th April and my pre-assessment is the 6th.  It looks to be an early appointment so who knows I may get out the same day - it hasn't happened recently but I live in hope.

Energy levels are quite low after the excitement of the weekend and two meetings one after the other.   The trouble is, as always that I put a lot of effort in and the great news is things went well but afterwards it is all a bit of an anti climax.  I'm just feeling tired and tomorrow I need to head into work which I don't fancy at all.  Tuesday is committee which looks like I'll end up controlling and then Wednesday I am out at a Lodge doing a talk in the evening.  Thursday is a nice half day followed by a Lunch event.  Friday I have decided to stay at home to recuperate.

It is strange - I just feel lazy and don't want to do anything at the moment.

On a Brighter Note

My other friend who has Bladder Cancer has been given the all clear.  Thank goodness for that - we thought it was bye bye bladder last time I spoke to him.  In fact he is just on check ups.  I wonder if that was because of the immense trouble he had as he had to go back to theatre he was bleeding so badly last time.  Anyway - good news for him.  That has cheered me up a bit considering the bad news about my friend's dad yesterday.

What happens is that every time you hear this it brings you back to your own situation (of course it does) and I start to consider how lucky I really am and in a way it cheers me up and depresses me all at the same time.  I'm really glad that I am where I am and I feel like I do but also there is the realisation that many people don't have that good fortune and their lot isn't so good.

I decided to get back onto the Cross Trainer today and surprised myself with a 15 minute workout that went quite well.  I am surprisingly fit but need to do things regularly to be of benefit.  I just need to get my diet under control a bit better.  The inevitable lunches and dinners I go to throw this out every week.   I need to make sure that I eat properly though and so can't starve myself or do anything too serious as it may affect my health in other ways.

Still - I am in better temper than I have been for a while and whilst Ii still cant say I am enjoying my job, at least it isn't getting me angry like the past few weeks.

I didn't quit today

I was back to running the show today and so was busy and involved and then some other things came up and I was back in and interested.  I imagine it will only be short lived.  I am off tomorrow and Friday and again doing three or so days a week helps me to stay there and not to chuck it all in.

Got a shock as the chap who suggested I set up this blog let a few of us know that his dad has tumours in his brain and lungs and has been diagnosed with cancer.  It sort of knocks me off balance a little when I hear these things.  at least, I think, I can offer some assistance somehow.  He starts radiotherapy very soon and I'll see him in a few weeks to have a chat.

I can at least give the human side of the patient so that no one makes the mistakes I've seen when they talk to me documented earlier in this blog.

So - what for me?  feeling a bit worn down really and awaiting the date for the next procedure/operation.  they said they would get back to me on Monday and didn't.  I'd like to know so that I can ensure that I don't have any appointments at that time.

I am still working out whether or not to stay at the job - it really doesn't do anything for me although I am one of the characters in the organisation - I don't carry any responsibility or much clout and end up clerking a lot.  I'll need to make a decision soon though.

Well the deliberations continue

I see that the pragmatic view is to leave the current job.  If I give notice now then they can get someone in 5 weeks I would have thought and I can assist on the odd occasion going back in on a day rate if they need me.  That is the pragmatic view.  I'm thinking that if I do that I can start in April and get tucked into the other project.  Of course, that doesn't pay at all and so there is a need to balance out the risk/reward equation.  

Lots of "ifs" there but that is the choice I need to make.  I remember the disappointment of the last thing I got involved with but with this one I am closer to the source and in the driving seat so it will be my own reputation that is on the line so to speak.  Having taken close to a year out doing this before, I am being cautious about going out there again.   However, I haven't exactly made up my mind today but I am thinking clearly now about what it means.  I have to seriously consider that I may need to fund myself for 6 months doing this.  I was hoping that we may have funding in June or July but if I set it that it is September then that gives me something to aim at.

I suppose watch this space will be the watchword. 

Sunday

The sun is out after a miserable start to the day and I'm sitting here working my way through my options for work and my other venture.  It seems more important today that I put some effort in to the stuff I have been working on ready to go and get some finance for taking it forward.  I also realise that I have some responsibility for the job too.

A long hard look at that really leads me to conclude that they need a clerk to do the work and me to supervise and come up with the creative side.  I'm certainly not happy to sit there and be given work to do and to change like some oik.  If they want to employ someone with their brains sucked out with a straw then that is what they should do.

I have no idea how this is going to end up.  I'd like to tell them to stick their job tomorrow but some of it is good.  I am out in a week or two to  a meeting and that is good meeting other people and telling them about the charity etc., that's a nice thing to do as is creating some of the more useful documents they now have.   

I have all day to ponder what to do.

Recovered

How utterly strange that was last night.  It kind of concerns me how ill I felt all of a sudden but some friends popped around today for a meeting and said that it was very hot in there and perhaps that may be it.  

I was a bit annoyed that they saw it though - up until now I have been able to keep it to myself.

Anyway - moving on - the meeting was good and I can move on from there.  It hasn't helped the argument to stay or not at work.  I still need to consider what to do about that.

Great evening shame about the funny turn

It was a lovely evening but at the end I had one of my strange funny turns and felt ill, claustrophobic and all that boiling hot, nauseas bit.  I stood outside and was OK in a few minutes but just felt awful for that short time.

They are my friends and were worried about me which is nice.  I don't like it as it shows some of the damage that my cancer has done to me.  This is all about self esteem, self confidence and belief in myself and that actor quality that has always covered my tracks for me, failing at the last hurdle.

Whether I wanted to show this side or not, it happened and I felt really ill for a short period of time. Nice to see everyone being concerned but I didn't want their evening to end that way let alone mine.    

Curry that great cure all

I am really, really looking forward to a night out with about 16 of us.  Flocky Bicep has organised it and we are starting off with a mini pub crawl - luckily enough all in the boundaries of my village so nice and easy to manage that the off to the restaurant which is a whole 5 minutes away at the most.

I've been feeling quite stressed out recently and I am looking forward to having just a good laugh and chat with the bunch of us.

Tomorrow I have some of the team coming in on our business venture and with a bit of luck I should be able to get some sanity into my thinking giving me a way forward.  I hope so - I could do with some clarity of thought and to dump all this stressy baggage I am carrying around with me.

You may tell that Im not a happy bunny

Everything just seems to be getting on my nerves at the moment.  The job, trying to get things done when everyone (it seems) is trying to stop me - it sounds like paranoia doesn't it :-) ?

It just drives me to distraction and I wonder if I will be able to hold on much longer.  I'd rather give it up and take a chance on this other job of mine if the truth be told.   There is no money in it - or not at the moment but perhaps I'd be able to concentrate and actually get something achieved.

I know there is work for me to do where I am, I'm just really struggling now with the mediocrity of it all and trying to swim against the tide.  Someone told me to take the money and live with it but it isn't me.  I can't go native and be as bad as half these people.  The good ones are good but the others really are "jobs worths" and I just know it is all going to end in tears.

So I am heading off to bed and hope to get another good night's sleep and a good day's work tomorrow.

Micro management

If anything pisses me off more it is micro bloody management.  If you can't trust me to do something say so and I'll give it to you.  But otherwise stop interfering with what I am doing and stop stopping me by stopping me (if you get what I mean).   Every-time I get somewhere I have to stop, stop my designers and get a proof run up for something that isn't ready only to be told afterwards that it isn't ready to be reviewed just exactly what I told them at the time.

Now, I am in my belligerent best, as everyone gets copied in to the "so shall I stop work until you've reviewed it or are you going to tell me that something is missing as if I didn't notice it? " 

No wonder deadlines get missed.  All that is going to happen now is that I have to stop work as I just waste time carrying on and it actually screws things up as "Changes will happen" not because they are necessary but because they can be made and the quality will suffer again.

Damn it, it annoys the hell out of me and no ones sees it - or rather they do but they actually can't help themselves they have to mess around with things.

This is the exact time when I am at my worst as I'm thinking - "well you can stick you job!" and the trouble is I'm getting really close to saying it too.

A better day

A slightly better turn of fortune today - a good meeting and I was impressed at how things went and was pleased that we had made some major progress.  The girls are still giving me grief about me "not being me" and "not my normal old self" but at least this afternoon was a bit better and I was back to cracking some jokes and lightening the mood that no doubt I have created.

It is difficult to be the person who is always cheerful and has a good word for all.

I'm working at home tomorrow and Friday.  I will do a bit of each sort of work some of the charities and some of my own.  Curry night on Friday and I am really looking forward to that.  About 14 of us and all going to my local curry house which does serve up good food so that will be fun.

Saturday will be working here all day and perhaps I will take Sunday off.  The next few weeks are critical I think to get on top of both jobs and see if I stay or go at the Charity.  I have a job there until 2017 if I pursue it and the thing is, whilst I'd love to do it I hate the journey, I despise travelling on trains that are too hot and airless, crowded and dirty and full of obnoxious people too half of the time.  

I have picked up a number of things to do that I didn't want to do and so my list of things to do just got longer and longer.

Caught up with a guy I know who is having his biopsies next week and wished him well for those. Mine must be due in 6 to 8 weeks time now.  Yuk.  Mind you they could be the last.

It must be me

I just listened to a load of old rubbish that my friend spouted out on the way home.  The difference - I was sober and driving and he had a few too many glasses of wine.  It was lucky he knocked one of them over earlier too really.

It could be me or it could be him but suddenly everything is somehow us younger guys not showing respect or doing something he wouldn't do and so on.  The terrible irony of the situation is this guy is in deep financial do do and stares into the abyss regularly.  He cannot budget or use logic to stop himself and somehow this road of righteousness is something that he wishes his disciples to follow.  

I can't believe I have grown so far apart from him so quickly and yet in the early stages of my cancer he was one of those who played the dark humour card with me.  He didn't he admits now realise quite how ill I was (mind you neither did I then).  We had desperate times in our friendship when he introduced me to the business venture that I thought would allow me to be close to retirement by now and that collapsed.   It was more a case of me seeing the problem late and not getting him out in time.  They owe him a lot of money too and he will never get it back.  They owe me a load of time - I suppose I could monetise it but - that is 2 or more years ago now.

Quite why he has gone off on to some one man crusade is beyond me.  I am not sure that I would take things quite so seriously and he jumps to massively wrong conclusions only to be pulled back to the reality some time later.  Yes - a strange thing indeed and the trouble is he made himself a target for a number of people this evening and that will just add to his woes later.

How interesting as I wrote this an apologetic email has arrived.  Back to repair mode for me and him again.  

Life gets bloody complicated sometimes - surely it doesn't need to be like this.

Middle age rage or something worse

I'm OK today - I allowed myself a sleep in of sorts and got to work and managed to move things on quite well.  I am off to a meeting a little later and hope that it will result in me being a bit calmer and chilled out than I have been although I have to drive through this incessant rain to get there at least I am not doing anything and that will be a result.

Back to work tomorrow and with any luck I can sort out the documents I need to do and set enough items in motion that I can take the next few days off to work on the other project.  

It is probably the pressure I am putting on myself and the fact that it always appears to be me left sorting things out.  Trying to off load responsibility to others is a hard thing to do especially when no one is coming forward to take them off your hands.   I am definitely not my old fun filled self at the moment and I hope that I snap out of it soon.  It seems strange to me that I should be filled with so much pent up aggression given what I've gone through.  I should be laid back and not have any worries but for some reason that isn't happening.

Got to get through this next phase

Today's meeting was alright but I managed to control it reasonably well and bless, my boss was ill and so I managed to wrestle back my work from him and so get on with that. If I give this a good poke in the morning (from home) I can probably get this all done.

I've got one of my friends playing all injured and upset with me at the moment and I'm just playing hard ball back at him. I really get pissed off with his self centred back biting and he can go sling his hook for a while or suffer me being an awkward cuss and by hell can I be a cantankerous sort when I put my mind to it. even I don't like me when I'm like that.

So this month of anger continues and work colleagues were bleating about me, not being well "me" really. I have to apologise I'm fighting inner demons and loads of stuff at the moment and that is just the problem that I have to bite back and restrained as to lash out isn't really the answer and I'd happily chuck the job in the way I feel now and no one wins from me doing that. I have to stick at it and I just need to work out where I am going and what I am doing.

Any better now?

Not really, had a conversation with a buddy in Prague.  He is coming back to the UK - maybe, mind you he must have been there for a decade it seems.  Had the usual chat about work, my BC and all that.

My sense of humour is a little better but I could easily walk into work tomorrow and just chuck it all in.  I doubt that I will though.   There are a series of meetings coming up this week and I am out Tuesday night too.  Friday sees a night out with our impromptu curry club.  That is back here locally as we have a good curry house and two pubs in the village so we have a 2 pub crawl followed by curry - something to look forward to.  I should have been going to Surrey for a meeting but a local curry will be better I think.

The thought of trying to get on with my work this week fills me with dread as I can't imagine anyone will have actually done anything in my absence.  It will be what it will be I suppose. 

So I'm not in the best of humour still and I'm finding it hard to put the time in to do the two jobs I have at once.  I haven't sorted out all of this yet.  It would be easier if I could guarantee a job after June/July when this should shake itself down.  The trouble is of course that I like the job that isn't paying anything yet because of the challenge and I hate the paid job because it is routine.

Still angry

But not as bad as yesterday.  Still want to go and break something or break something on someone :-)

I'm really surprised about this.  I'm not angry on the outside at all.  I am seething on the the inside though.  How strange is that?  Anyway, I had a coffee with Flocky yesterday and afterwards a quick beer on the way home and we discussed many things and some of the anger abated.   

Calm down - easy to say - hard to do - is the order of the day but I just seem to see red when I talk to people in the office at the moment.  I think they have worn away all my defences and I just want to smack them in the face and beat some sense into them....

I will plan to be in the office on as few occasions as I can again next week and work out what to do.  Mrs. F. seems quite supportive of me if I just chuck it all in.  Not sure that is exactly what I want to do although it would fix my problem it would leave others in worse problems and I don't do that to anyone.   A weekend to think it through.  At least my Lodge accounts were audited and agreed this morning so that is good.

Familiar Pattern Emerging

Maybe I cannot commit to working for someone longer than 18 months (perhaps I am self fulfilling my prophecy). I am SO ANGRY at the moment. I'm upset with the people at work who can't let go and have to keep poking their noses in. When I let them take over they hand it back to me in a worse condition than I gave it to them. Then there are all the stupid crass like things that people do and say and that just rattles me too. I know I should rise above it but this goes back to "no one died" statements.

People are so vacuous and full of sh1t sometimes and so goddamn petty.

I am however quite concerned that I am getting really angry at silly things and I actually find myself taking time away from work because they will make me explode if they carry this nonsense on any longer. Prime examples of sending me off doing work that it is blindingly obvious will not be acted upon and only paying lip service to the need to change and move the business forward. I find it quite amusing that I am the only person who calls the organisation autocratic. I wrote an article, that needs changing, they have the original file, how come they can't change it themselves. No they send an e-mail with the change required so that I can change it and send an email back to them attaching the file?

It's me isn't it - I'm wrong? Honestly though it just makes my blood boil that everything relies on one person to approve it, you get things to happen and they jeopardize it by taking it to committee - just like I knew they would and that they said they wouldn't.

Arggh :-)

So there you go, I'm pretty much p1ssed off with the whole world at the moment. everyone can go to hell for a while and somewhere I need to rearrange everything to get myself back to normal being able to deal with all the numpties around me. At present I am spiralling down into the depths of a black depression and the vortex is speeding up so that getting out is proving more difficult than normal. I can't say exactly what it is that set this off but I just find that everything at the moment is too difficult to deal with...

I think that I need work to realise that I am just about to go into switch off mode - my own protective mode - soon. That means, I just stop doing anything, come home and ignore everything for a while. It concerns me because I recognise these symptoms because of my particular personality type in quickly dismissing those who don't pull their weight or for whom I lose respect. If you lose my respect you really had better watch out as it takes a lot to rebuild it with me, it can be done.

This has all sharpened up since I got ill though.

What was this blog about?

Oh yes - Bladder Cancer.  I reckon I need to get back on track with this so it may go quiet for a short while whilst I do that.

Currently I am having a bad (tempered) week and feel like shouting at all the flaming idiots I appear to have been blessed with so maybe a day or two off to calm down and I can get my head back on track and this blog back to the point.  Mind you, I think a lot of this is all about recovering from cancer and I must be a lot better as all I want to do is leave this job and go and do something that might use more than the  0.0000001% of my brain that is currently occupied at work.

Distrubed Nights and Stange Days

I had a bit of a strop on today at work.  I should know better than to realise that everyone wants to get involved in my little project and the boss had to have loads of paperwork off me that I hadn't even prepared yet.  I just can't see what the purpose of asking me to do something and then taking it off me has to do with being productive. 

So my retaliation is to take the rest of the week off after tomorrow lunchtime.  If they want to get involved then they may as well get fully involved in it.  So I was pretty much seething today.  The girls made a telling statement today, they suggested that I "wasn't going to be around long and was withdrawing myself from the organisation (and them)".  That is pretty much it I think.  I really am struggling to keep engaged in the work as everyone pokes their bloody noses into what I do.

As for disturbed nights - I suppose hearing about my colleague's problems with his daughter being attacked at Uni disturbed my sleep and I imagine thinking about work didn't help either.  I woke loads of times during the night and that has affected me a lot to day as well.  I am off to bed early to see if I can catch up.

Other than that, I am hoping to sort out my priorities in the next week or two.  I didn't want to have the job go sour on me but I'm not making the difference any-more, that has already happened.  Perhaps someone else needs to do that.

Burns night

Well almost all day and all night!  2 am I got in and we started drinking about 1:30 pm.  We had  a great day and obviously a brilliant evening too.  The Scots lads were down but not in force as the recession has seriously affected business there.  As I left one of them stole my tie - I doubt he can wear it outside of Kent though :-)

I was a bit slow this morning for sure.  I've been struggling with some accounts and I started to transfer them to a new set of accounting sheets but found that the transfer threw out all my figures.  I have had to keep the old ones for now but will use the new ones this financial year.  Typical thing though, they asked me to use them but none of the calculations on the sheets work.

Another full on week this week coming and trying to sort out time with my team is proving to be a distinct nightmare.

I was asked how I was by lots of people I haven't seen for a while.  Nice to hear "Your'e looking really well" etc.  Long may that continue.

I have just ordered the DVD of this film Tony a London Serial Killer Why?  Well it is my 6th cousin once removed in the starring role and another cousin directed it.  My brother's name is Tony so the family secret is out.  It looks to be an interesting film if not quite my thing.

All day stuffing envelopes

Only this lot and one more to go and I'll have done my 6 years of being Secretary of the Lodge and Flocky can take over.  It's OK but this one is particularly heavy as it has individual subscription requests that need to go in the right envelope.  It used to be worse as everyone used to be sent stuff by post but about half now get emailed versions which takes me about 15 minutes to prepare and send.  If only I could get everyone to agree it would be brilliant.

I only realised quite recently that I took on the job shortly before I got ill.   I'm quite impressed with myself now realising that I carried on throughout although, on more than one occasion had to miss visiting some other Lodges due to treatments or hospital visits.  

I need to get them all out tomorrow or by the latest Sunday.  In addition I have been asked to sort out the accounts by next weekend.  That was OK until I realised that the spreadsheets they gave me aren't linked which means a bit more time and effort to sort out.  I wouldn't mind but my originals were fine ( I thought) now they have to be messed about to get them into someone else's style.

I'm out tomorrow to a Burns Night preceded by a Lodge Night.  The lads come down from Scotland bringing a rather tasty Haggis with them.  The trouble is that it is a boozy night and I can get back late.  Additionally we leave at lunch time tomorrow and I guess we will get back around 2 in the morning!!  Mind you it is a good evening.

An evening with ... Colin Blunstone

How bizarre an evening was that?  The lads called off the drinks evening and I was expecting a quiet night in when one of my mates phoned me up and suggested we see if we could get into a gig that was happening locally.

We got there and lo and behold it was Colin Blunstone (Zombies, Argent, Alan Parsons Project etc) and his new band and it was just brilliant - up close and personal.  A small intimate set perhaps 70 to 100 of us at most.  I really enjoyed it too.  At the end he played one of my all time favourites which I am not allowed to have at my funeral even though I want it.  I know - morbid but I thought like that a long time ago.

I listened to this leading up to my first operation and it still moves me and tonight I didn't get all sentimental at all, just enjoyed it for what it is - one of the great songs from one of the most productive periods in modern music history.  Not to mention the other hits they did.  However - this one is so haunting and just summed up lots of how I felt 3 and a half years ago.  

I can be a silly bugger sometimes :-)

Flocky and the toast that nearly choked me

You should not laugh at the afflicted - let's get that straight right here and now.  I therefore apologise unreservedly for doing so on this occasion.  No offence was meant by it at all.

We were at a Lodge meeting enjoying the meal and there are a series of toasts that go on after the meal.  One, to the Provincial Grand Master, is a particularly special one.  The Worshipful Master of our Lodge has a few problems pronouncing long and seemingly complicated words and can never say my name properly and also has a lisp on the letter "R" which come out as a "W".

So the PGM is called Roger.  He gets everyone to stand up and drink a toast to "Woger" and from behind me I hear in a stage whisper from young Flocky Bicep "Two Woger!"

If, like me, you enjoyed Monty Python's Life of Brian, you can probably imagine the problem I was confronted with.  I already had wine in my mouth when I heard the Word "Woger" and I was struggling to make sure that I didn't spray red wine over the chap opposite me.  I looked left and my neighbour gave me a sheepish grin and I lost complete control.  Tears streamed down my face, I was gagging trying not to burst out laughing and had to stuff a napkin in my mouth to stop myself yelling out loud and going into complete hysterics.  I almost had to go out of the room it was so funny.  The trouble is with a fit of the giggles that anything that follows sets you up so the next announcement was to the "wisitors".  The harder I tried not to laugh the worse it got.

I was in such a mess I can't tell you but I don't think I have laughed so much for years.  It really hurt my ribs and every time I looked at my mates it just got worse.

So thanks Flocky for that - I haven't laughed so much for years and years.  

Carry your baggage

We went out yesterday to meet an old friend and had a great meal too.  Flocky and I got stuck in to some good nose bag and then the talk turned to experiences and the like.  All three of us have had "our troubles" and our experiences are useful knowledge for other people. 

It opened up the little portal into my mind once again last night and I'm just really pleased to be where I am but still get the survivor's syndrome - "why me?" 

I cannot get motivated today.  I need to get on and do some work but I just don't seem to get tucked in and do it.  It looks as if I will need Friday off to catch up with all the stuff I've got to do.

SO even now, 3 1/2 years or more after this all began I still find that I'm affected.  My mind and body aren't as fit and ready as I want them to be and my "will" which probably got me through this episode just seems to be taking a vacation at the moment.  Maybe the problems I give myself these days just aren't as challenging as fighting cancer.  That probably nails what I have been trying to say above...

Oh well here goes nothing

Work tomorrow and then a Lodge meeting preceded by a few glasses of wine.  Tuesday off to London to pick up the Treasurer's data from the outgoing treasurer.  Talking of which my last two years accounts need to be transferred to a new standard accounting style.  I think I can do that and then get them checked.  In the interim I am trying to schedule my time for the next 5 months!!!  

5 months to try and sort out a go to market strategy for our venture and fit that in around what can only be described as a crazy schedule of work, Lodge and new venture things.  I am out again for most of this week and it doesn't get any less hectic for about three weeks.  It looks to calm down for a few weeks and then goes silly again.  I really didn't realise that I had taken on so much this year.  

I have to tell the boss tomorrow what sort of schedule I think I am going to be on for the next month or so.   Not sure if they are going to buy it yet.  However, let's see.

Well - what going forward looks like

I thought I would be really wound up and ready to take on the world after agreeing last week that I was going to head up and get our project moving.  In fact I found myself a little nonplussed to tell the truth.  It struck me as strange but then perhaps I was somewhat surprised that they let me do this and was still a little in shock too.

My colleague came over today and we discussed some of the areas around what we need to do and discussed going forward.  I think that I will get a good handle on what I have to do to achieve this over the next few weeks.  I need to work out how to carve up my time to be effective at this and at my other work.  That I think I can condense and do in fits and starts as I can really crunch out the work there if I need to as I know the ropes etc.

I will get some sleep early tonight so I can run a full day's effort at this tomorrow.  I think I now need this challenge as without it I would just go native at work and I don't fancy doing that.  I'm back to my old ways agian of being bored in 18 months of my job.  How people can do the same job all their working lives is beyond me.  You don't learn anything or get challenged so what good is it? Probably it just pays the wages and I don't get that either.  I'm a bit strange like that...

It was good to see my mate today and I enjoyed his company.  We give each other a lift and that is important.  We have both lived through some interesting times and both have the same saying or "Well nobody died"!  Generally no one realises this and it just amazes me how many stupid arguments and petty bitching goes on.

Don't I ever stop bitching

I know, it seems to be a habit these days though.   I was staggered to find out that my counterpart was on a big figure more than I thought he would be.  In fact I am amazed considering what he brings to the role.  However, he is a nice guy etc.  I did think to myself that for the past 18 months or more I have been selling myself a little cheap - bu hadn't realised quite how cheap.

I'm not overly worried as I now have the opportunity to go and renegotiate I think.  I have so much work to do this next 5 months that I won't be able to fit it all in.  Saturday will be a defining moment I think.  I will work out what sort of timetable I will need to adopt to do two jobs at once.    Before BC it was easy to work on many projects at one time and to spread myself thinly but get results.  I worry that I may not be as good as that these days.  Time to try it out and see what I can manage.

A big day tomorrow - meeting a Portuguese Journalist about the family history, back home and then out for the big committee meeting to choose the next master of the Lodge.  It will be my last meeting as Secretary and I will be SO pleased to give it up in one way and yet will miss it dearly in another.  I've held the job right through my Bladder Cancer Journey and I'm quite pleased that I did.  The only down side was that I missed a number of visits however I am lucky that I eventually got to go to three Grand Stewards meetings during my time.  Not many can say that.

Better get off to bed I need my strength....

Leaving me cold

Another change that you may or may not have picked up from the blogs is that whilst I still have my Mr. Angry moments and also tell people how I feel quite directly these days, another behaviour has raised itself which I thought was strange.

I had a pretty serious meeting yesterday and tackled some heavy issues and normally when I fix things and get things sorted out I get a real buzz from doing it.  I am all enthusiastic and this time I just felt flat.  I actually feel that it is a defence mechanism of some kind.  It was peculiar earlier on just feeling that flat about something I should have been raving on about.

Mixed Emotions

Not like the sort where you see your Mother-in-Law drive over a cliff - in your new car....

More like the brain ache of working out how to do two jobs at once and get enough momentum into each to make sure you do a good job for them.  Additionally found out how much my peer makes a year and found that a hard pill to take.  It surprised me how much the job paid.  Good for him of course and it make my job all the easier now to negotiate a decent fee.

So today I am sat at home trying to figure out how best to tackle the two jobs at once syndrome.  Luckily my friend is around on Saturday and we can sit down and work that out.  It is a nightmare as I have lacked the discipline to sit down and get on with work for quite some time since I have been ill.  I can do it in short bursts but now need to apply myself to a number of months worth of this sort of thing.  It is a long burn and I have committed to 5 months of my time to make this happen (or not).  Today I am feeling somewhat down about that.  Tomorrow may well be different I expect.

I'm glad to be getting on with something but at the same time I am having just a few issues with the amount of time I need to put in.  It will be hard work - I just hope that I will enjoy it.  At the moment - I don't think I am but it will all change again in the morning.

Funny old mood

I can't say that I am in anything other than a funny old mood at the moment.  Work really sucks at the moment and I'm having trouble working out why I really need to be there at all.  People are still great but in reality - I just can't see myself lasting out there for much longer.  Maybe I don't need to.  

Tomorrow is a defining meeting in the other world of IT that I inhabit.  If I can get agreement on that, I can head off and do some serious work on getting our service to market.  We have all tried best endeavours but now it needs one or two of us to "step up to the plate" and do something rather than us being a talking shop and just spending our spare time (yea right - what spare time)  trying to do this and do our day jobs too.

If I get the go ahead tomorrow it will mean that I can devote some serious time to this project and that we can see if we can get investment to go forward.

Thinking back to Bertie now that he is dead you know he only really got to enjoy his life in the country in the two or three years before his death.  That is something that I hope doesn't happen to me.  I could do with a bit more than three years....

There's only so much you can take

It was boring and hot at the office and I finally gave in and left about 3:30, got to the station caught a fast train and was home within an hour of leaving.

I am sat here now staring at a load of figures and it still isn't making any sense to me.  I shall have to have anther clean break day and sit down and look at them afresh.

Out tonight, tomorrow night. Wednesday and Friday night too for my sins!  Another full on week and January just seems to have zipped past.

I have an importnat meeting tomorrow which will concentrate on my other business venture and I am hoping that I will be given Carte Blanche to run the next tranche of work.  It has taken everyone a year to realise that they aren't really up for it and so tomorrow we should agree that I take on most of the work and run with it to see if it is viable.  If we don't do this we run the very real risk of never having given the opportunity the chance to be born it deserves.  So if anyone has a quarter of a million (GBP) investment for the initial feasibility work, drop me a line - we need to talk :-) 

Bye Bye Bertie

Or Robert as I knew him. Worked together up until I was made redundant 3 years ago now. I had heard that there was something up last year but was saddened to see that he died around Christmas time. A Brain tumour apparently. How awful - he was a really clever guy and knew so much about the product and how to train and install it. It really is a sad loss, he was such a nice guy with it.

This probably accounts for the serious amount of brain activity I was going through last night, I was awake every half and hour or so and my mind was racing and dreams were coming in and out like trains at Clapham Junction!

At work now - and twiddling thumbs. Not a great deal has happened today and isn't likely to unless I go wake up a few people. I hate it when work goes flat like this. I get a good head of steam up and then nothing for a few days then full on and so on.

Family History

It was great to meet up with family again and then we all realised that it had been 2 and 3 years respectively since some of us met and it felt like it was only yesterday.  How amazing.  It was 9 years ago that I set up the family meet up in the first place.

We aren't a close family for some historical reason the paths split perhaps three geneations back and whilst I am now in touch with all my 2nd cousins, many of my third and some out as far as 6th cousins we still aren't anxious to meet up more than every now and then - perhaps a family trait?

Whatever, it was great to meet and catch up with all tht has happened and the family history was good, some nice lectures and I bought myself a bargain book which was originally £30 and I got it for under £10.  It is all about the reconstruction of the Cty of London after the Great Fire.  

I enjoyed getting to the place early, parking up and wandering into town to have a cooked breakfast and a cup of tea.  So much was on my plate that I lasted all day on it :-)  It was nice to have a mug of Café tea again - I don't often drink tea but I enjoyed that.

Some progress

I managed to make some progress today crashing through my paperwork.   The office is partly clear but really I should have done a bit more.  Unfortunately, I must have been on the phone for the best part of 2 hours with various phone calls and problems others have caused that  have to sort out for them.

I'm beginning to crystallise a plan of action to work part time and to get more involved in my other business.  It does need some fine balancing work to be done but I am certain I can do that given a little more time to work on it.

Tomorrow I am off to my family History Fair.  I hope to bump into my cousins and catch up on all that has happened in the past two years since I saw them.

Error - Hamster Makes Miraculous Recovery

I just found out that the Hamster made a miraculous recovery and so was taken back to its usual place in the bedroom this morning.  It was looking quite ill and was laying around gasping its last (or so we thought).  Even last night it didn't appear to be doing well when I saw it.

So a bit of a surprise there as it looked like the way all the rest went.....

Getting Started

Having a bit of trouble getting going this morning.  I want to get my office tidy and get my paperwork up to date.  Already had an interruption from the builder who is giving an estimate for our roof ridge tiles which have now become a pressing problem since the snow came and mucked them up.  We instructed a builder three months ago who just continually fails to turn up!  He's toast now and so we have looked to get a new guy involved.

Every time I sit down I find that something else needs doing.  I shall just have to get a coffee and start again and see if I can actually achieve anything this time.

It looks as if the Hamster died during the night.  The cage is nowhere to be seen this morning and I await the outcome of L's deliberations whether she will have another one.  She has had quite a few of them now and perhaps she may decide enough is enough.

A Flocky Treat and a sad evening

After the excesses of the night before Flocky called and we were going to go to the pub and run through some paperwork but the Curry House was open and we dived in there.  We were the only guests and we had some really excellent food.  I had a dish which came out sizzling using Pomfret Fish.  They said it was a local fish but looking it up it is a native of Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.  It was excellent though and the first time I have had any.  It will not be the last.

It is a sad evening as the Hamster is on his last legs and didn't look too good.  I feel very sad to see the little fellow gasping his last breath but we all have to go I suppose.  Stupid I know but something clicks inside and I really don't like death at all.  I mean, we all have to go and whilst I want that to be a long way off, it is on my mind and the I'm not sure what triggers the thought processes here.  You see I'm a little torn up by my daughter's pet dying and I think it because I am upset for her in case she is upset but she deals very matter of factly about these things.  I heard a friend died just after Christmas and I didn't know until after his funeral and yet whilst I was sad to hear that, I wasn't emotional about it.  He was a lot older, he had a full life, he retired a very long time ago and enjoyed his retirement and I met him 5 or 6 times a year and enjoyed his company.  It was a shame I didn't go to his funeral but I'm not beating myself up about that either.

I find my emotions are and what switches them on and off difficult to work out.  There are certain triggers in films and it is normally tragedy (kids killed or tortured, parents dying or that sort of thing - human or not).  Then again there are the little choking moments like seeing the Hamster gasping its last that make me feel uneasy.  Sometimes, it doesn't affect me at all.  The strangest thing about the last three and a half years or so is this emotional mixer.  I feel that someone has taken out my insides and stirred them all around and put me back together in the wrong order.

I'm at home again tomorrow and I am looking forward to actually making the family history weekend on Saturday up in London.  Not sure if I will drive or go by train this time.  Driving is quite nice and I can get there and then go and find a place for breakfast.  I didn't make last year and so haven't seen some of the family for 2 years!