It was nice to get some time with Flocky. He's a good chap and a good listener and a good confident too. I certainly needed some vent for my frustration at ending up on the Thursday night soaked through! But it's happened before - I've ended up having to work out a way to get home because no one will come out for me - but then that's par for the course, I'm sure if it was them and I did that I wouldn't hear the last of it.
Then there's a little fact that is also interesting and that's that until last night I hadn't actually spoken to Mrs. F since Tuesday - well not to have a conversation that is. What contact has been made has been by Text. There's nothing particularly wrong in this, it is usual. However, not sure that everyone else finds it usual.
So there we have it - I've had a good weekend - not sure I'd want to do anything quite as crazy as flying there again but you never know. It was good fun. Flocky didn't come to Scotland but maybe next year - it is good fun....
Monday, November 26, 2012
Recovery Mode
It was the culmination of quite a weekend. On Thursday I had been in London and got soaked on the way home and by the time that no one had wanted to pick me up and I'd got home, I needed to dry out my suit, jacket, shoes and overcoat. As luck would have it, my Regalia, in a case remained dry but my umbrella was wet and wind damaged :-( It took quite a while to dry things out and as luck would have it, by 2 am or thereabouts I was able to assemble things together so that in the morning I could do final packing and not have a damp bag.
Flocky picked me up on Friday morning and we (well he) drove to Southampton. We were able to book into our Hotel early but we hadn't counted on no lift and so we were confronted with 3 flights of stairs and a long walk to our rooms. This would come back to haunt us. We went to TGIF for lunch which was very nice indeed, although I'm no great lover of chain outlets it was OK. We then headed back, got showered and changed for the meeting at the nearby Novotel. When we got there we found out that there were some double bookings and we had to get to the 5th floor to change. I managed the first lift up but elected to walk down and walk up and down again as I really didn't like the idea of getting 6 or 7 of us in a lift at a time and there were well over 200 brethren there. We then took our cases to our Hotel (next door) and had to go up and down 3 flights of steps! At this point I realised how unfit I was :-)
We had a nice meal and I was fortunate to sit next to an old friend of mine who was my Committee Chair when I was at the Charity, he had just had a Scan as he has Prostate Cancer and they need to make a decision on what to do about that. So we chatted about that and many other things too. He was good company and he held a high office in the Province but as Flocky said he really was a nice chap and very good company indeed.
On Saturday Flocky took me to Southampton Airport - a mere 4 miles from our Hotel but that took us close to 20 minutes because of the Traffic Lights! It was a nice little airport and I spent time in the Coffee Lounge watching the planes taking off and landing. I was meant to be in a Flybe Embraer E-195 aircraft but over a period of weeks my flight had been put back almost 2 hours and I actually flew on a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, which was a bit disappointing but there you go we made Glasgow in great time - 1 hour and 15 minutes I think. I had to admit to not feeling particularly good on the flight or a couple of times during the day suffering with what felt like Angina!
I was met at the airport by one of the Scots Lodge members and driven the 30 or so minutes to Strathaven Hotel where I met my colleagues in good time for a double Glenmorangie to be thrust in to my hands and the day to really begin.
In Southampton and the South of England it had been raining constantly but it was quite pleasant in Scotland however that changed overnight and we managed to get particularly wet getting home at 3 in the morning!! YES, 3 in the morning. We had a lovely meeting and meal followed by a Harmony (a sort of self put on show - the Bag Pipes (3 master of Pipes) were just amazing - I will see if I can get some photos on here. My friend and I did our two sketches - one in the main hall and the Nelson sketch in the pub afterwards! The first was funny but the second (whether through drink or otherwise) brought the house down - the props just added to the fun.
All too soon, the evening was beginning to get quite boisterous and around 2:30 we decided to get back to the Hotel. After we said our goodbyes we headed up the hill (more like a mountain). Once again, I was out of breath but my colleague, who has Asthma and other chest complaints was suffering in the cold and the dampness as it was chucking it down with rain and it could only have been a handful of degrees. We got back about 3 or just past but by the time I was ready to hit the sack it was 3:20 - I didn't need any bedtime story I can tell you - I was out like a light. This year we had breakfast at Gentlemen's hours and around 9:00 we were having a Scottish breakfast and we got on the road about 10:30 or 10:40 - the journey home was only eventful when we got near Northampton where a small flood had topped the road - the car in front hit it and swerved on the edge of loss of control, a Jaguar like mine, thank goodness for 3 tons of car and all wheel drive as we certainly had some aquaplaning but the car just ploughed on nicely in control.
I unfortunately heard the result of the World Championship in Formula 1 but not the circumstances of that win and I got home just in time to see the rerun of the Brazilian Grand Prix and it was an absolute classic which but as I knew the outcome of the overall thing I had some of the excitement (and it was exciting as he may have lost the thing on lap one - it was very lucky he didn't) mitigated by that.
I've now got some decisions to make about myself and where to go next. I think the weekend gave me some time to think things through but in reality, what I would really like is to get my head into gear quickly and actually knuckle down and start to sort things out systematically - that's the plan - whether or not it happens is another thing altogether. :-)
On Saturday Flocky took me to Southampton Airport - a mere 4 miles from our Hotel but that took us close to 20 minutes because of the Traffic Lights! It was a nice little airport and I spent time in the Coffee Lounge watching the planes taking off and landing. I was meant to be in a Flybe Embraer E-195 aircraft but over a period of weeks my flight had been put back almost 2 hours and I actually flew on a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, which was a bit disappointing but there you go we made Glasgow in great time - 1 hour and 15 minutes I think. I had to admit to not feeling particularly good on the flight or a couple of times during the day suffering with what felt like Angina!
I was met at the airport by one of the Scots Lodge members and driven the 30 or so minutes to Strathaven Hotel where I met my colleagues in good time for a double Glenmorangie to be thrust in to my hands and the day to really begin.
In Southampton and the South of England it had been raining constantly but it was quite pleasant in Scotland however that changed overnight and we managed to get particularly wet getting home at 3 in the morning!! YES, 3 in the morning. We had a lovely meeting and meal followed by a Harmony (a sort of self put on show - the Bag Pipes (3 master of Pipes) were just amazing - I will see if I can get some photos on here. My friend and I did our two sketches - one in the main hall and the Nelson sketch in the pub afterwards! The first was funny but the second (whether through drink or otherwise) brought the house down - the props just added to the fun.
All too soon, the evening was beginning to get quite boisterous and around 2:30 we decided to get back to the Hotel. After we said our goodbyes we headed up the hill (more like a mountain). Once again, I was out of breath but my colleague, who has Asthma and other chest complaints was suffering in the cold and the dampness as it was chucking it down with rain and it could only have been a handful of degrees. We got back about 3 or just past but by the time I was ready to hit the sack it was 3:20 - I didn't need any bedtime story I can tell you - I was out like a light. This year we had breakfast at Gentlemen's hours and around 9:00 we were having a Scottish breakfast and we got on the road about 10:30 or 10:40 - the journey home was only eventful when we got near Northampton where a small flood had topped the road - the car in front hit it and swerved on the edge of loss of control, a Jaguar like mine, thank goodness for 3 tons of car and all wheel drive as we certainly had some aquaplaning but the car just ploughed on nicely in control.
I unfortunately heard the result of the World Championship in Formula 1 but not the circumstances of that win and I got home just in time to see the rerun of the Brazilian Grand Prix and it was an absolute classic which but as I knew the outcome of the overall thing I had some of the excitement (and it was exciting as he may have lost the thing on lap one - it was very lucky he didn't) mitigated by that.
I've now got some decisions to make about myself and where to go next. I think the weekend gave me some time to think things through but in reality, what I would really like is to get my head into gear quickly and actually knuckle down and start to sort things out systematically - that's the plan - whether or not it happens is another thing altogether. :-)
What a weekend
I'll do so more later in the week but suffice it to say it was a good few days but I am very tired as I only got a little sleep between Thursday and today (Sunday). It was good to have a long chat and time with Flocky Bicep as that helped me to crystallise some of my recent thoughts. A crazy night out in Scotland was just what the doctor ordered and it was, indeed a fantastic meeting, meal and harmony afterwards. Suffice it to say I got to bed around 3:20 am but actually hadn't been feeling too well for most of Saturday - not sure if it was nerves or food that made me not feel great but it did mean I didn't drink a lot and so that helped me a lot.
Then to get driven home in a 6 Litre, W12 Bentley Continental from Scotland was just sublime, the engine note is absolutely amazing and produces a smile a mail wide every time the pedal is pressed.
I am now just sorting myself out and will probably sleep for hours tomorrow :-) More later.
Then to get driven home in a 6 Litre, W12 Bentley Continental from Scotland was just sublime, the engine note is absolutely amazing and produces a smile a mail wide every time the pedal is pressed.
I am now just sorting myself out and will probably sleep for hours tomorrow :-) More later.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thinking of Building an Ark
It sort of follows that the US gets some sort of storm or hurricane and a few weeks later we get some sort of "weather event". Well yesterday was like Armageddon, the heavens opened and the skies darkened and rather than walk I had to get public transport to the event.
Today, we were told that it would be a lovely sunny day and that overnight - like 2 or 3 am it would get wet and windy. WRONG. We had been in London, actually al fresco although it was a bit blowy earlier on but around about 9:30 all hell broke loose and the wind was driving the rain sideways so we headed to the train station and there were (unusually) lots of people around. All the trains were delayed due to inclement weather, signal problems and on my line a broken down train.
I need to pack the stuff I was wearing tonight ready so I can go away tomorrow - I have it all laid out drying as I'm soaked to the skin and once again the call home where three drivers and two cars on the drive went unheeded and I ended up getting a thorough soaking whilst waiting in the bus shelter and between the bus stop and home my trousers are soaked through and my umbrella is suffering from being blown inside out. Call me a cynical bastard but you'd have thought one of them would have answered my request for a lift. One of them actually rang me as I was on route to London asking for a lift from the station when it was dry and sunny.
Hopefully I'm not getting paranoid about this but this isn't the first time that I've ended up soaked to the skin because no one would come out. It wasn't even that late 10:30 but there you go. Luckily I'm away for a few days and sod them all. At least I will be enjoying myself for the next few days and very much like this evening have a good old time to take my mind off things.
Today, we were told that it would be a lovely sunny day and that overnight - like 2 or 3 am it would get wet and windy. WRONG. We had been in London, actually al fresco although it was a bit blowy earlier on but around about 9:30 all hell broke loose and the wind was driving the rain sideways so we headed to the train station and there were (unusually) lots of people around. All the trains were delayed due to inclement weather, signal problems and on my line a broken down train.
I need to pack the stuff I was wearing tonight ready so I can go away tomorrow - I have it all laid out drying as I'm soaked to the skin and once again the call home where three drivers and two cars on the drive went unheeded and I ended up getting a thorough soaking whilst waiting in the bus shelter and between the bus stop and home my trousers are soaked through and my umbrella is suffering from being blown inside out. Call me a cynical bastard but you'd have thought one of them would have answered my request for a lift. One of them actually rang me as I was on route to London asking for a lift from the station when it was dry and sunny.
Hopefully I'm not getting paranoid about this but this isn't the first time that I've ended up soaked to the skin because no one would come out. It wasn't even that late 10:30 but there you go. Luckily I'm away for a few days and sod them all. At least I will be enjoying myself for the next few days and very much like this evening have a good old time to take my mind off things.
50 minutes to go
Then off to London for a Lodge meeting getting back quite late I believe then up early tomorrow with Flocky Bicep travelling to Southampton to get there for a long lunch followed by getting ready for another Lodge meeting, a few post meeting beers and then to bed up early to go to Southampton Airport in the morning and catch my flight to Glasgow to be picked up, run over to the Hotel and then off to - you guessed it another Lodge meeting followed by a meal and a Harmony where sketches, music and poems are performed and bagpipes and all sorts of things go on. Back late - like 2 or 3 am and then being driven home to arrive home late on Sunday! What a way to go on! :-)
I will be totally shattered come Sunday.
I will be totally shattered come Sunday.
As I suspected
Mrs. F. was on early shift this morning so I glimpsed her leaving. Realistically I'm now not going to see her until Sunday evening! Oh well, it just gives me a starting situation to work from.
Communication is a key thing and the trouble is that I am (despite what you may think) quite introverted in many ways and I'm not surprisingly extremely good at soaking up all the annoyances and frustrations and can do that for years. You don't ever want to see what I am like when I get angry or annoyed :-)
It looks like I've got a hell of a lot of work to do when I get back from Scotland but then again I knew that. Much of the indecision and also the time taken to think this through is that it is actually quite serious. Whilst I can't change my life in one big step and one all encompassing move, change my life is what I want but at what cost? If I were to just please myself then everyone gets "hurt" apart from me as I get my own way -- or do I? If I compromise, as I have done for a number of years, will I ever be happy with my lot? In many ways I want to keep some of this life with me but maybe, just maybe that wont happen.
I don't know the answer (or maybe I intuitively do and that's why I don't want to act). Part of me feels I should untangle the situation I'm in now and some of me yearns for a break and a clean start and yet there are so many permutations and it's just a difficult question to answer. I don't suppose that there is an malice in the way Mrs. F. acts as she isn't like that but perhaps through getting ill I now find I need some different sort of support. I don't know!
I'm now out and about from later today and will be heading to different places and travelling around. The girls will be arriving back tonight and so I might bump into one or other of them, we will see but I will be back late and then off and away in the morning to Southampton, then Saturday Glasgow and then home late on Sunday. After this - I need to work on getting things completed for Christmas. Newsletters, Cards, presents etc all need sorting out! At least I will have few distractions even though I am out every weekend between now and mid January!
Communication is a key thing and the trouble is that I am (despite what you may think) quite introverted in many ways and I'm not surprisingly extremely good at soaking up all the annoyances and frustrations and can do that for years. You don't ever want to see what I am like when I get angry or annoyed :-)
It looks like I've got a hell of a lot of work to do when I get back from Scotland but then again I knew that. Much of the indecision and also the time taken to think this through is that it is actually quite serious. Whilst I can't change my life in one big step and one all encompassing move, change my life is what I want but at what cost? If I were to just please myself then everyone gets "hurt" apart from me as I get my own way -- or do I? If I compromise, as I have done for a number of years, will I ever be happy with my lot? In many ways I want to keep some of this life with me but maybe, just maybe that wont happen.
I don't know the answer (or maybe I intuitively do and that's why I don't want to act). Part of me feels I should untangle the situation I'm in now and some of me yearns for a break and a clean start and yet there are so many permutations and it's just a difficult question to answer. I don't suppose that there is an malice in the way Mrs. F. acts as she isn't like that but perhaps through getting ill I now find I need some different sort of support. I don't know!
I'm now out and about from later today and will be heading to different places and travelling around. The girls will be arriving back tonight and so I might bump into one or other of them, we will see but I will be back late and then off and away in the morning to Southampton, then Saturday Glasgow and then home late on Sunday. After this - I need to work on getting things completed for Christmas. Newsletters, Cards, presents etc all need sorting out! At least I will have few distractions even though I am out every weekend between now and mid January!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
What a Day
Our weather forecasters (who also assure me that Global Warming is real) suggested that we would be clear of rain by lunchtime and that it would be a lovely day from mid afternoon onwards. At around 2 pm I found myself turning on the lights as it looked like an Apocalypse was about to unload itself on us.
I was due out and was going to walk the 2 or 3 miles or whatever it is to a meeting but ended up hanging about and then grabbing public transport.
To make matters worse after the meeting Mrs. F. kindly came and got me but it was obviously begrudgingly. I could have got a Taxi or someone could have run me home but as it was I spent a while in the car going home trying to make conversation against the "great wall of silence". The unfortunate thing is (I realise) that I won't be seeing Mrs. F. until late Sunday night at the earliest as I'm away now until then. I feel bloody minded enough just to let that happen and see what the effect is. I have a meeting that means I wont be home until midnight at the earliest tomorrow and then on Friday I'm away early in the morning and I won't be home until Sunday.
I'm neutral, almost blasé about this because - it isn't me that's dealing out the grief, far from it. I just find that any grief fired in my direction only gets my back up further and I reciprocate in kind and add interest. OK maybe I shouldn't do that but that's the way I'm built, that's the way I protect myself and that's just tough.
In a way, I don't care at the moment as I am out to please myself (I know that's selfish but perhaps, just maybe, I've earned that right by now). Whatever it is, the parting has been one of no words or anything else and that's sad, I did try but that's not important I guess.
In recent months I have been really trying to communicate and get back to some semblance of "normality" and yet despite those efforts it isn't to be. I have a mission to sort this out when I get back from Scotland once and for all because it makes for troubled times and it ties me to an impossible plot and theme one that I cannot hope to achieve.
I was due out and was going to walk the 2 or 3 miles or whatever it is to a meeting but ended up hanging about and then grabbing public transport.
To make matters worse after the meeting Mrs. F. kindly came and got me but it was obviously begrudgingly. I could have got a Taxi or someone could have run me home but as it was I spent a while in the car going home trying to make conversation against the "great wall of silence". The unfortunate thing is (I realise) that I won't be seeing Mrs. F. until late Sunday night at the earliest as I'm away now until then. I feel bloody minded enough just to let that happen and see what the effect is. I have a meeting that means I wont be home until midnight at the earliest tomorrow and then on Friday I'm away early in the morning and I won't be home until Sunday.
I'm neutral, almost blasé about this because - it isn't me that's dealing out the grief, far from it. I just find that any grief fired in my direction only gets my back up further and I reciprocate in kind and add interest. OK maybe I shouldn't do that but that's the way I'm built, that's the way I protect myself and that's just tough.
In a way, I don't care at the moment as I am out to please myself (I know that's selfish but perhaps, just maybe, I've earned that right by now). Whatever it is, the parting has been one of no words or anything else and that's sad, I did try but that's not important I guess.
In recent months I have been really trying to communicate and get back to some semblance of "normality" and yet despite those efforts it isn't to be. I have a mission to sort this out when I get back from Scotland once and for all because it makes for troubled times and it ties me to an impossible plot and theme one that I cannot hope to achieve.
Messed up again
Strange old morning - I've done a bit of work on the bathroom and just faffed about, I've printed off the scripts for the weekend jaunt to Scotland and packed the props and suddenly I feel like I've dropped off a cliff and just feel awful for no apparent reason at all.
It is a pretty strange feeling I have to say but there you go, it comes and goes like this a lot these days. I feel a little sick in the pit of my stomach a little tight across the chest and have a dry throat and it's all in my mind it is just so debilitating - I have absolutely no interest in doing anything even though I have things to do. This will pass a little later on I'm certain. I was doing quite well up to now.
It is a pretty strange feeling I have to say but there you go, it comes and goes like this a lot these days. I feel a little sick in the pit of my stomach a little tight across the chest and have a dry throat and it's all in my mind it is just so debilitating - I have absolutely no interest in doing anything even though I have things to do. This will pass a little later on I'm certain. I was doing quite well up to now.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Fear Itself
It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who coined that phrase:
During his inauguration on March 4, 1933, occurred in the middle of a bank panic, hence the backdrop for his famous words: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
It is a most bizarre thing that we just beat ourselves up and invent the fear and live up to it. Too many times I've been in that situation and my mind has got the better of me. Sure, some of the things that have happened to me aren't nice and the weren't pleasant but fear made them worse. Once I was "used to them" I could live with them and waiting and other indignities are now part of every visit but it doesn't bother me so much because that is the system.
I realise that my father's death did affect me in many subtle ways. Strange things happen these days that really create a wobble in my day to day equilibrium.
Fear is a massive factor in Cancer - I mean things like will it recur, will it be treatable, will you die and so on. It IS frightening and it's only when people remember and tell you what I was like say 5 years ago that I realise how ill I actually was and how near I was to having a far worse time.
During his inauguration on March 4, 1933, occurred in the middle of a bank panic, hence the backdrop for his famous words: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
It is a most bizarre thing that we just beat ourselves up and invent the fear and live up to it. Too many times I've been in that situation and my mind has got the better of me. Sure, some of the things that have happened to me aren't nice and the weren't pleasant but fear made them worse. Once I was "used to them" I could live with them and waiting and other indignities are now part of every visit but it doesn't bother me so much because that is the system.
I realise that my father's death did affect me in many subtle ways. Strange things happen these days that really create a wobble in my day to day equilibrium.
Fear is a massive factor in Cancer - I mean things like will it recur, will it be treatable, will you die and so on. It IS frightening and it's only when people remember and tell you what I was like say 5 years ago that I realise how ill I actually was and how near I was to having a far worse time.
Setting out a vision for the future
It is always a good chat with my business partner. Both of us had cancer at the same time and surgery overlapped by a day or two. Mine wasn't radical surgery - his was and so we both began to spend time chatting comparing notes and it's been cathartic because we were both going through similar symptoms and reactions and so we've helped each other along the way. He is about 6 or 7 years my junior and this is an interesting age gap - he hasn't hit 50 yet and so we have different outlooks on where to go from here. I've said before that I really want to just take things easy, make a living but on my terms as I've had so much time for myself and my needs and wants to have that taken away is one of the areas that I can see would affect my decisions.
Currently I am waiting to hear back from one job. It's a pretty interesting job but would mean me becoming an employee again and I just don't know that I really, deep down inside, want that. However I need to be a realist and to set out something for sticking some money into the bank account and allowing us to eat and pay the bills. I'm a bit of a closet artisan really - I'd love to make money by making things, pottery, paintings, photographs, crafts and so on. Of course I very much doubt that you'd actually pay the bills doing this for a living and you'd need a series of small enterprises to keep you going. A chap in the village paints and sells prints of the originals but he also does commissions and he runs the weekly Jazz club too. I think he just about keeps body and soul together doing that, you see his paintings all around the local area in pubs and clubs and exhibitions. I'd certainly like to do something like that but of course you need to find you niche and then go for it.
I think that the genealogy business will have three peak times per year, Christmas, Father's and Mother's Day. I can see some times when it will be quiet and then I'll need to substitute doing something else in its place and I could set up a couple of small businesses aimed at the clubs and social market. It would be something along the line of targeted marketing and selling on personalised items that they can use for fund-raising etc. I know there is a market or an appetite for these sorts of things as many people ask me whether I can source things like pens and personal pepper pots etc. It might be another line to pursue especially as I have friends who are engravers and another who runs a personalisation business.
I will work on this from next week when I get back from Scotland.
Currently I am waiting to hear back from one job. It's a pretty interesting job but would mean me becoming an employee again and I just don't know that I really, deep down inside, want that. However I need to be a realist and to set out something for sticking some money into the bank account and allowing us to eat and pay the bills. I'm a bit of a closet artisan really - I'd love to make money by making things, pottery, paintings, photographs, crafts and so on. Of course I very much doubt that you'd actually pay the bills doing this for a living and you'd need a series of small enterprises to keep you going. A chap in the village paints and sells prints of the originals but he also does commissions and he runs the weekly Jazz club too. I think he just about keeps body and soul together doing that, you see his paintings all around the local area in pubs and clubs and exhibitions. I'd certainly like to do something like that but of course you need to find you niche and then go for it.
I think that the genealogy business will have three peak times per year, Christmas, Father's and Mother's Day. I can see some times when it will be quiet and then I'll need to substitute doing something else in its place and I could set up a couple of small businesses aimed at the clubs and social market. It would be something along the line of targeted marketing and selling on personalised items that they can use for fund-raising etc. I know there is a market or an appetite for these sorts of things as many people ask me whether I can source things like pens and personal pepper pots etc. It might be another line to pursue especially as I have friends who are engravers and another who runs a personalisation business.
I will work on this from next week when I get back from Scotland.
Neck is a bit better
I've been using the heat bag (wheat bag) a couple of times and it seems to have worked and whilst I can still feel the strain it is a lot better. My business partner came over today and I finally took him on the circular walk from my house. It is slightly modified and I changed part of the route to go past the Firs and a Fallen Oak tree all whitened in the sun which I have a painting of in my front room.
It is about an hour long and we ended up at the local pub for a few beers and a sandwich - all very nice - it is what I like about living here. I was particularly interested to listen to his experiences (similar to mine) about the current job market - it really isn't where we want to be - the Corporate jobs are just dire and in no way would use our skills and experience - perhaps we are looking in the wrong places. The trouble is that to align with start ups is also a difficult task because of the circle of advisers that appear to mentor these people - more like the money people spreadsheet managing them.
I have made a decision that this weekend is my drop-dead date for the majority of outstanding jobs I've not heard from - if I haven't heard, then they don't exist. I have one opportunity that I am waiting to hear from and it's only been a few days since I heard from them. If that goes flat or cold then I think I need to spend a day or two with Mrs. F. and set out a vision of the future and see where we get to with that.
It is about an hour long and we ended up at the local pub for a few beers and a sandwich - all very nice - it is what I like about living here. I was particularly interested to listen to his experiences (similar to mine) about the current job market - it really isn't where we want to be - the Corporate jobs are just dire and in no way would use our skills and experience - perhaps we are looking in the wrong places. The trouble is that to align with start ups is also a difficult task because of the circle of advisers that appear to mentor these people - more like the money people spreadsheet managing them.
I have made a decision that this weekend is my drop-dead date for the majority of outstanding jobs I've not heard from - if I haven't heard, then they don't exist. I have one opportunity that I am waiting to hear from and it's only been a few days since I heard from them. If that goes flat or cold then I think I need to spend a day or two with Mrs. F. and set out a vision of the future and see where we get to with that.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
What on Earth have I done to my neck
I woke about 5 am and felt my neck cricked and cold :-( It's been sore all day long - what a nightmare. Had heat pack treatment and walking around the house in a scarf to keep it warm!
Have done almost all my shopping for Christmas on-line this afternoon - a few more things to get for Mrs. F. but maybe I can have a look at the Airport as I'll have a bit of time to kill whilst I am there as my flight has been rescheduled to be an hour and a half later.
I need to get packed and sorted out for this week - I have things to do on every day and the challenge is to make sure I have got everything sorted as I have three meetings one after the other so no time to get that wrong.
Have done almost all my shopping for Christmas on-line this afternoon - a few more things to get for Mrs. F. but maybe I can have a look at the Airport as I'll have a bit of time to kill whilst I am there as my flight has been rescheduled to be an hour and a half later.
I need to get packed and sorted out for this week - I have things to do on every day and the challenge is to make sure I have got everything sorted as I have three meetings one after the other so no time to get that wrong.
That was good
A nice meeting and very pleasant afternoon. I must try and get my breathing right again in these small Lodge rooms - I tend to get quite panicky right at the start in these small rooms and I was "trapped" in a corner which really didn't help much but then I realised that the fans were turning, there was a breeze and I had plenty of room to move around. It may seem strange to you that I get like this but it is very frightening and I nearly walked out before we started but did some rationalising and also I knew that the room was plenty big enough for us and that as long as there was air circulating I'd be OK. Better than that, I'd been in here with far more people and survived.
I need to get a grip on this situation in the New Year as it is debilitating especially on trains and the like. I have a feeling that it has got worse recently and I wonder whether I need to just get some correctional stuff done through my hypnotherapist. It's in the mind of course and it relates back to childhood and also a number of times I've been on crowded trains and the like. I'm OK in a plane as I have a seat, I have air blowing on me and the plane is only crowded when people get on or off of it.
This time next week we should be getting into the swing of it - some how gone midnight last time I was in Scotland and the snow started falling like mad - we got back to the Hotel and had a small white out - mind you it was 3 in the morning!
I need to get a grip on this situation in the New Year as it is debilitating especially on trains and the like. I have a feeling that it has got worse recently and I wonder whether I need to just get some correctional stuff done through my hypnotherapist. It's in the mind of course and it relates back to childhood and also a number of times I've been on crowded trains and the like. I'm OK in a plane as I have a seat, I have air blowing on me and the plane is only crowded when people get on or off of it.
This time next week we should be getting into the swing of it - some how gone midnight last time I was in Scotland and the snow started falling like mad - we got back to the Hotel and had a small white out - mind you it was 3 in the morning!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Pulling Through
I feel that I am pulling through this period of being really down in the dumps and I'm beginning to have more ups than downs although the downs are still there. My dreams have been amazingly vivid in the past few months and some have been disturbing, others amusing and some downright weird.
I woke this morning in a not terribly nice place, I once again thought of my dad and him being in that hospital but once I got up and moving then things changed a bit and I felt a lot better. I need to get myself ready to go out and as I'll be doing the driving I will be on soft drinks for the day - not a problem as such as I imagine by this time next week (and I should be in the air by then) I will have had enough to drink for a month. This week really kicks off and I think that I'll be so full on that I won't be thinking too much about anything other than getting packed and between destinations as needed.
The good thing is that I can see that I'm a little bit brighter than I have been for a while, I've worked through a number of issues and whilst there's plenty more to do, things look a little better than they have for a while.
I woke this morning in a not terribly nice place, I once again thought of my dad and him being in that hospital but once I got up and moving then things changed a bit and I felt a lot better. I need to get myself ready to go out and as I'll be doing the driving I will be on soft drinks for the day - not a problem as such as I imagine by this time next week (and I should be in the air by then) I will have had enough to drink for a month. This week really kicks off and I think that I'll be so full on that I won't be thinking too much about anything other than getting packed and between destinations as needed.
The good thing is that I can see that I'm a little bit brighter than I have been for a while, I've worked through a number of issues and whilst there's plenty more to do, things look a little better than they have for a while.
Attitude Change
If you've read this blog for a while you are probably as aware as I am that my "mood" is a transient thing with a life of its own. I surf the highs and lows of life sometimes many times a day and I can be up one day and down the next for no particular reason.
Today I caught myself, quite unexpectedly, thinking about my dad and I have great vision and I could see him in his bed and he got a twinge and it hurt and I remember asking him if he needed anything for it and he said it passed pretty quickly and I found myself quite upset by this. I was upset because he was in pain and I recollect that it was his distress that hurt me more than anything. I wonder if a lot of this up and down is to do with his death you know? Apart from the day he died and comforting my mum a few times in the days afterwards I've not been too bad really. I probably appreciate that we all die and all that stuff and for various reasons whilst these things are sad they are also part of the course of life (although that's a strange word to use I suppose).
I was probably more upset than anything about the helplessness of it all in the end. The last few months were a slow and inevitable slipping away but not without the problems associated with him being bedridden and plenty of other stuff that goes along with that. I probably saw that and remembered that my Granddad was in hospital for a very long time too and I really don't fancy that much. I suppose if you have enough drugs and stuff that it may not matter to you the individual. It plays heavily on your family though. So this vision arrived and I felt very sad for him, as I feel for anyone in distressed circumstances and that was the trigger. It wasn't that he died, it was that he may have been in pain or suffered.
Talking to her doctor my mum had a chat about things and it appears that dad was extremely lucky that he had only minor pain and of course they do treat that seriously and effectively.
I imagine that Christmas won't be great for my mum and she is going to my brothers for Christmas this year - she will come to Christmas with me in 2013 and so that's good. I wanted her to come this year to us to be away from the house but there you go. I can imagine that it wont be a great time as dad liked Christmas and had lots of lights and decorations around the house. It wont be the same and I don't suppose my mums and my birthdays will ever be the same as he died the day before my birthday and two days after my mums. Bless him, I don't think he knew what the days or dates were as it would have distressed him to know it was mums birthday.
Surprisingly given this today has been a lot better. I got my morning suit trousers I've been waiting for but they weren't exactly the ones I expected and Mrs. F. has done a brilliant job shortening the legs as they arrived not completed. I didn't order them like that but hey ho - they fit a treat now and they need braces which also turned up today which is great as I need to wear them tomorrow. I discovered that there had been some sort of leak (probably the torrential rain we had a few months ago) that had caused my wardrobe to get slightly damp which has ruined a couple of garments and consigned one of my suits to the cleaners to see if it can be saved as it has light mould on it. What a nuisance it also got onto both of my guitar cases which are stored there but luckily not on to the guitars themselves.
Tomorrow I am picking up my friend early and we are heading off to a Lodge meeting. He will be driving me next weekend and so I'm happy to do this. It also means that I won't be drinking so that is also a good thing as they drink a lot at their meetings and often that means a thick head the next morning. Not tomorrow though!
I'm in a good mood all around even though I got the wobble about my dad midday. Other than that all is well - but give me time - that can and does quickly change!
Today I caught myself, quite unexpectedly, thinking about my dad and I have great vision and I could see him in his bed and he got a twinge and it hurt and I remember asking him if he needed anything for it and he said it passed pretty quickly and I found myself quite upset by this. I was upset because he was in pain and I recollect that it was his distress that hurt me more than anything. I wonder if a lot of this up and down is to do with his death you know? Apart from the day he died and comforting my mum a few times in the days afterwards I've not been too bad really. I probably appreciate that we all die and all that stuff and for various reasons whilst these things are sad they are also part of the course of life (although that's a strange word to use I suppose).
I was probably more upset than anything about the helplessness of it all in the end. The last few months were a slow and inevitable slipping away but not without the problems associated with him being bedridden and plenty of other stuff that goes along with that. I probably saw that and remembered that my Granddad was in hospital for a very long time too and I really don't fancy that much. I suppose if you have enough drugs and stuff that it may not matter to you the individual. It plays heavily on your family though. So this vision arrived and I felt very sad for him, as I feel for anyone in distressed circumstances and that was the trigger. It wasn't that he died, it was that he may have been in pain or suffered.
Talking to her doctor my mum had a chat about things and it appears that dad was extremely lucky that he had only minor pain and of course they do treat that seriously and effectively.
I imagine that Christmas won't be great for my mum and she is going to my brothers for Christmas this year - she will come to Christmas with me in 2013 and so that's good. I wanted her to come this year to us to be away from the house but there you go. I can imagine that it wont be a great time as dad liked Christmas and had lots of lights and decorations around the house. It wont be the same and I don't suppose my mums and my birthdays will ever be the same as he died the day before my birthday and two days after my mums. Bless him, I don't think he knew what the days or dates were as it would have distressed him to know it was mums birthday.
Surprisingly given this today has been a lot better. I got my morning suit trousers I've been waiting for but they weren't exactly the ones I expected and Mrs. F. has done a brilliant job shortening the legs as they arrived not completed. I didn't order them like that but hey ho - they fit a treat now and they need braces which also turned up today which is great as I need to wear them tomorrow. I discovered that there had been some sort of leak (probably the torrential rain we had a few months ago) that had caused my wardrobe to get slightly damp which has ruined a couple of garments and consigned one of my suits to the cleaners to see if it can be saved as it has light mould on it. What a nuisance it also got onto both of my guitar cases which are stored there but luckily not on to the guitars themselves.
Tomorrow I am picking up my friend early and we are heading off to a Lodge meeting. He will be driving me next weekend and so I'm happy to do this. It also means that I won't be drinking so that is also a good thing as they drink a lot at their meetings and often that means a thick head the next morning. Not tomorrow though!
I'm in a good mood all around even though I got the wobble about my dad midday. Other than that all is well - but give me time - that can and does quickly change!
Friday, November 16, 2012
So when you least expect it
Well - it took about 4 weeks to ask me a simple question and now we are off and running. Apparently a series of Tests for Verbal reasoning and numeracy. I wondered where HR added value to the employment process :-) I mean how crazy is this - I've run multi million pound programmes for most of my life and they want to know if I can do basic English and Maths...
Oh well, let's see what these things are. The salary is what they really wanted to discuss with me and that appears to be fine as does all the package too. So let's now see what the process is and how long it might take.
If nothing else it will give me the opportunity to check my interview skills.
Problem: I sounded a little laissez faire this morning and that's not good. Note to self, don't be too cocky - only I know that I can do this - they don't :-)
Oh well, let's see what these things are. The salary is what they really wanted to discuss with me and that appears to be fine as does all the package too. So let's now see what the process is and how long it might take.
If nothing else it will give me the opportunity to check my interview skills.
Problem: I sounded a little laissez faire this morning and that's not good. Note to self, don't be too cocky - only I know that I can do this - they don't :-)
Thursday, November 15, 2012
London Buses
It;s been a strange day - I was late up last night and this morning as a consequence. Friend G rang and had a job but typical I have a horrible diary for the rest of this year. He had seen me bleating about a company not getting back to me. Well they are one of the largest companies in the world and so that's fair enough I know how long these things can sometimes take. However, I'd heard nothing from them and I was reckoning on doing my own thing.
Mrs. F. suggested we go and see the James Bond movie Skyfall which I've just come back from and very good it was too - most enjoyable. It looks as if we might have found something that we both might do now (watch movies not become spies). When I come out, I've got a phone call message to say that the said (extremely large global corporation) have rung and can I return the call.
That's the way of it isn't it, suddenly a number of things turn up when you least expect them! The saying goes that you wait ages for a bus and then three turn up together - I just wonder whether I'll get the other two calls today or tomorrow :-)
Things start to get busy from tomorrow onwards I've loads of things that need to be done and little time to do them, I've got a number of visits to try and squeeze in and not a weekend free now until January.
Mrs. F. suggested we go and see the James Bond movie Skyfall which I've just come back from and very good it was too - most enjoyable. It looks as if we might have found something that we both might do now (watch movies not become spies). When I come out, I've got a phone call message to say that the said (extremely large global corporation) have rung and can I return the call.
That's the way of it isn't it, suddenly a number of things turn up when you least expect them! The saying goes that you wait ages for a bus and then three turn up together - I just wonder whether I'll get the other two calls today or tomorrow :-)
Things start to get busy from tomorrow onwards I've loads of things that need to be done and little time to do them, I've got a number of visits to try and squeeze in and not a weekend free now until January.
Pie in the Sky
I've been playing around with some models that would allow me to do some work in one area and supplement it in another way and generally "duck and dive" in the future. This would allow me to keep options open and to do many things and to have avenues of "opportunity" and to allow some level of flexibility too.
The plan involves weaving 4 or 5 different things and building on each as and when appropriate. For example, I imagine that there are certain times of year where Genealogy becomes of interest to people. About this time of year as a gift of a researched family tree or perhaps a nice hand crafted family tree with neat calligraphy and gold leaf etc. As a trained draughtsman that shouldn't be a problem to me. The main thing is to be able to respond to waves of work and to also, more importantly, generate work throughout the year if possible.
I've other side lines that I might pursue with other people I know and each isn't a full time thing more a burst of work every now and then and so I think I could weave a number of these together. I'm now thinking closely about whether that would be successful or not. It strikes me it could leave me jack of all trades and master of none. So I am thinking seriously because I know what I am like and how I pick up on things and then drop them at the moment (I've not always been like that - but I have been in the past 4 or 5 years).
The issue is that you can put all your effort into one thing and I believe that one would need a lot to capture the available market - which isn't huge but it is significant. The work would be akin to full time to build and maintain - however - if it does go wrong then there's nothing to fall back on.
Mrs. F. is off tomorrow and who knows we might do something together, perhaps go to see Skyfall? Hopefully I will get sufficient time to discuss some of these things with her. One of the schemes requires a little investment - which isn't a problem but given the investment in the past 2 almost 3 years, it may be stretching things a bit far if I don't get agreement.
The plan involves weaving 4 or 5 different things and building on each as and when appropriate. For example, I imagine that there are certain times of year where Genealogy becomes of interest to people. About this time of year as a gift of a researched family tree or perhaps a nice hand crafted family tree with neat calligraphy and gold leaf etc. As a trained draughtsman that shouldn't be a problem to me. The main thing is to be able to respond to waves of work and to also, more importantly, generate work throughout the year if possible.
I've other side lines that I might pursue with other people I know and each isn't a full time thing more a burst of work every now and then and so I think I could weave a number of these together. I'm now thinking closely about whether that would be successful or not. It strikes me it could leave me jack of all trades and master of none. So I am thinking seriously because I know what I am like and how I pick up on things and then drop them at the moment (I've not always been like that - but I have been in the past 4 or 5 years).
The issue is that you can put all your effort into one thing and I believe that one would need a lot to capture the available market - which isn't huge but it is significant. The work would be akin to full time to build and maintain - however - if it does go wrong then there's nothing to fall back on.
Mrs. F. is off tomorrow and who knows we might do something together, perhaps go to see Skyfall? Hopefully I will get sufficient time to discuss some of these things with her. One of the schemes requires a little investment - which isn't a problem but given the investment in the past 2 almost 3 years, it may be stretching things a bit far if I don't get agreement.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Not much Bladder Cancer in the blog
The title and the blog are diverging and it there's isn't much in here other than the wreckage that the cancer left in its wake :-) By that I mean the changes physically and more importantly mentally. Dealing with the ongoing head issues is proving the biggest deal now where physically coping with the treatment and recovery were the pressing worries earlier on.
I've been considering the practicalities of turning a hobby into a job and by that I mean my genealogy stuff. I've been doing that for 35 or more years and have written articles about that and undertaken a lot of in depth research. If it were possible to monetise that in some way then that would be nice. I've pulled together quite a bit of data on that and then I considered that there are other areas that might also contribute and so I'm thinking through the possibility of combining a number of these together - do many things so that I'm not reliant on the outcome of one and have other things to do during lean times. It is a way forward and gets over some of the indecision I've been having about committing to one thing. The idea being that I could build a series of businesses and as long as I'm disciplined enough to work on one when the other is quiet and so on, it could be a potential way out. Additionally there is a voluntary position going in the local Museum which may help promote my work and I can also get some casual paid work locally although I've not gone into that in any great depth at the moment as I now need to go and work on these ideas and see if they really hold water and make sense.
I can't tell at this moment, the ideas are arriving far too quickly.
I'm wondering whether this blog may soon have run its course in the interim as there are just 2 times a year when something actually happens to me at the moment and they are my check ups?
I've been considering the practicalities of turning a hobby into a job and by that I mean my genealogy stuff. I've been doing that for 35 or more years and have written articles about that and undertaken a lot of in depth research. If it were possible to monetise that in some way then that would be nice. I've pulled together quite a bit of data on that and then I considered that there are other areas that might also contribute and so I'm thinking through the possibility of combining a number of these together - do many things so that I'm not reliant on the outcome of one and have other things to do during lean times. It is a way forward and gets over some of the indecision I've been having about committing to one thing. The idea being that I could build a series of businesses and as long as I'm disciplined enough to work on one when the other is quiet and so on, it could be a potential way out. Additionally there is a voluntary position going in the local Museum which may help promote my work and I can also get some casual paid work locally although I've not gone into that in any great depth at the moment as I now need to go and work on these ideas and see if they really hold water and make sense.
I can't tell at this moment, the ideas are arriving far too quickly.
I'm wondering whether this blog may soon have run its course in the interim as there are just 2 times a year when something actually happens to me at the moment and they are my check ups?
Committee Meeting
Don't you love it when someone arrives late and makes you go back over all the stuff you've been talking about for 45 minutes. Anyway, the meeting is over and there's some progress so its not all bad. My Nephew will join our Lodge next year, all being equal. That will be nice and will follow "family tradition" kind of :-) as his Granddad, my Father in Law, and his my father in laws father in law was in the Lodge. Let's hope he enjoys his time.
We are going through some growing pains as younger members have more demanding jobs these days and tend to drop by the wayside as they have families and through their work commitments. Now I could bleat and say that I always managed it even through my hectic travelling and working away years. However, I have to accept that these days things are different and no doubt our 290 + year organisation will adapt as required to meet these challenges. We just needed to make certain that we don't take our own eye off the ball. Lodges are living things and need new blood regularly and that's the problem where the younger guys peel off to do their own thing and it still leaves us old stalwarts to run the place. What happens then is that people consider that we are hanging on in our jobs and not moving out of the way. Oh well, let's hope it doesn't come to that.
I managed to make a bit more progress myself this afternoon with possible ways forward should nothing come of these ghost jobs I've heard nothing about so far. I can see an interesting path forward which might just about do the business and keep me in beer and food. I need now to work on that as rather than relying on a single stream of income I am looking at perhaps doing a number of small jobs all on a flexible basis. It may just work.
We are going through some growing pains as younger members have more demanding jobs these days and tend to drop by the wayside as they have families and through their work commitments. Now I could bleat and say that I always managed it even through my hectic travelling and working away years. However, I have to accept that these days things are different and no doubt our 290 + year organisation will adapt as required to meet these challenges. We just needed to make certain that we don't take our own eye off the ball. Lodges are living things and need new blood regularly and that's the problem where the younger guys peel off to do their own thing and it still leaves us old stalwarts to run the place. What happens then is that people consider that we are hanging on in our jobs and not moving out of the way. Oh well, let's hope it doesn't come to that.
I managed to make a bit more progress myself this afternoon with possible ways forward should nothing come of these ghost jobs I've heard nothing about so far. I can see an interesting path forward which might just about do the business and keep me in beer and food. I need now to work on that as rather than relying on a single stream of income I am looking at perhaps doing a number of small jobs all on a flexible basis. It may just work.
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