Tuesday

Whoops, nearly forgot to go and see boss this afternoon about important enzymatic gubbins.....which is now off my plate and I can relax. Except for tomorrow, probation review blah blah blah, have to defend why I havent done all this career development stuff and written 60 papers and been to a zillion conferences. And I dont think 'I cant be arsed with all that' will be an acceptable response, much as I'd like to give it!

Relaxing at home now, we're keeping fingers firmly crossed that my bike wont be noticed or touched by any marauding little brats this evening, and I shall be going out to check it before turning it at stupid o'clock, just to make sure....

Other notes: I need to do some more of my laundry, put away old laundry and sort out all these bills and things. That is, the change of names on bills, rather than paying them. And await my fine notice and points on licence thingummy, arses.

Tonight should be a quiet one.....

Bloody bollocks

Going to get done for speeding. What a bloody annoyance. This is going to hit my pocket rather hard, but does mean I shall be taking it easier. If they still let me ride, which is debatable at this point. Keep your fingers crossed, people.

I've been an idiot. I miss P. House is rearranged such that all the internal doors are closed - why block off all the light, eh? - and the carpet is missing from by the front door. What about feet wiping? That hall is going to get dead mucky.....

*snuffles*

What to do, what to eat.....

Home now, having absconded early to get away before it got totally dark.....house has now been moved into and is full of stuff belonging to Tracey, so I'd better introduce her to you all.....everyone , this is she!

More on that story later, hopefully I wont have to carp on all the time like I do normally. We'll see. But there is extra acquired furniture all over the place, and I'm going to feel like I'm not in my own home for a while, but I'm sure I'll get used to it again.....who knows? We'll see how loud and excited things get, eh?

Dont know what to do with myself just now, no doubt I'll get all stressy and horrible for no reason, I've seen myself doing that a lot recently - shock horror, is this what I'm really like *looks at navel most assiduously* - but then I've got the weekend to look forward to. But NOT looking forward to next Monday, what with extra teaching rubbish to get through, and then meeting with Adam Tuesday, and then more on Wednesday for other probabtion-y thingy.....more evaluation, it's horrible to go through but needs must!

Ummm, what to eat, what to eat.......

*drumming fingers on tabletop*

Well, getting ever so slightly edgy over new housemate moving in, shouldnt be too bad when it happens, just there's the explanations over the back door and the fridge to be done. Should prove interesting. Also have to consider that fridge is going to be hogged completely and I'm going to have to fight for space. Still totally not comprehending why the bigger fridge is better off in the cellar, really an exercise in pointlessness - store things in it downstairs and bring them upstairs when you need them? The point is that fridge-stored goods tend to go off more quickly, and hence you wont be storing them that long, no? So why then have to traipse up and down a floor to get them all the arse-ing time? I really, really didnt see the problem in fridge upstairs. But then, I'm just the guy who lives here, what do I know? *grin*

Hard day at work, liable to be another nice one tomorrow. Feel really bad for kinda somehow edging ugrad out into Dan's space without actually doing it or meaning to. Will have to make more clear that the space is there for him too, though if he's cacky like he seems, this could be an issue......

Anyhew, this is all for tomorrow, and then the weekend is soon and I dont even have to worry about it. Though I may come home on Sunday to find the house completely changed. Umm. Hope this one isnt one for leaving lights on all the time; it adds up expensive very very quickly! We'll soon wear it down to an even keel though. Not sure about TV licence situation mind, not averse to chipping in but paying half of it? For half a year I'm not even here for? Hmmmm. Still, probably no way around that one, is there?

Tum te tum, need to do laundry also.....going to be weird having someone here again.....

Hum-phy

Very much so. Tiring day, Monday's always seem to be with the little darling undergraduates (actually, this lot are really alright, we could have all the conscientious ones in one slot which will make the rest of the year rather hellish), and home late. Not much time to be doing very much!

I'm also rather concerned about P, but he'll stab me viciously if I talk about him here, and it really isnt the place! So I'll leave it off for now.

Tomorrow holds the delights of a ginormous column to be run incredibly slowly and with no DCM to be had. This is a pain in the arse. I'm ordering myself a load more. I think the rest of the week will be going very fast though, cant wait for the weekend.

Blah bl'blah bl'blah. No pearls of wisdom from me today.....

Chicken and cider stew

Very nice it was too. Though I think it would be better with either potatoes or mash of the very runny variety. Have to try again. This winter is the season of chicken thighs.....

Have recovered from my bout of hating unpersonified chemicals. Today has been a bit of a tiring one though, despite my not really having done very much. Still, I can look forward to the coming week quite happily, because I know exactly what needs doing and what I have to do to get it done. Simple. Except that Monday will be wasted, and ditto Friday....research is an activity that only occurs mid-week.....and I still havent sent in any job applications, really should remedy that situation sooner rather than later......

Bathtime? Maybe, after a small amount of washing up!

Pyridine

I hate pyridine. That is, I really really, really really hate pyridine. It's pissing me off big style. This is the kind of hate that Fred Phelps reserves for homosexuals or religious fundamentalists reserve for independent thinkers.

I loathe the stuff.

Drowned rat

Typical. Let me paint the scenario....

Jon-ster goes to supermarket, shops and comes home. 'Fuck it' he thinks, it's been nice all day and I feel like a proper ride around, and it can be a lot of fun in the evening. And it's only spitting a little bit. So off he hops on his bike.

I get to the ring-road. And the heavens open. Bear in mind I didnt have on my full kittel of waterproofs, so I get rather, rather wet. The hour-or-so ride turned into a damp quarter-hour.

Bugger.

Jon-ster ate too much

...and now feels very, very sick. This is a bad thing and shall not happen again. And the annoying thing is that it's all rice - hence a bit of liquid that I need I cant have or I'll platz!

Good morning all!

Isnt today simply delicious? No, it is not. Today is rather rain-besodden and dark. Mornings are so depressing these days, it's not funny anymore. At least the clocks jump back an hour soon, so we get a few mornings of light again before the real dark sets in. Harumph.

Today is also distinctly displeasing in a gustatory sense owing to the visit of Lord Sainsbury. A quick run around the interwebby turns up two distinct fellers with that title, so I'm not sure who is coming. But it is annoying since the whole day will be disrupted by him, as the last few days have as manic cleaning sets in. Why it either isnt a) always so manically clean or b) that we dont merit having a clean working environment but a visiting Rupert who is here for 10s does - I dont know the answer. One of those eternal ones perhaps. Grrrr.

Very hungry this morning, and I forgot to make myself any lunch yesterday. So today I shall have to buy some lunch, what a shame, what a shame. But now I should put some clothes on and get heading out!

Oooh crap

I am reliably informed (by yon web-net jobby, it must be said) that green tea still contains copious amounts of caffeine. Whoops.

Well I never!

Turn up for the books; Jon-ster has acquired at least one new housemate!

No, I didnt come home to find them ensconced, but they were about as it happens. It's the girl who was viewing last week, and will be moving in proper next week, so I'll be living in a feminine environment once again.....*thumbs up*.....as long as it doesnt get overly feminine, the house in Southampton was a nightmare for half-empty bottles of hair products, but never mind.....and there may be a third and a guy this time, but we have to see on that front. That's the pink spikey-haired poof from before too, ah well, sure I can cope! Who knows, maybe my pink side will come ever more to the fore....but somehow, I doubt it. Anyhoo.

Today at work has been a satisfying day, I've managed to put a lid on several things at least for a while, but I'm not sure what everything means. Considerable thinking will be required, meseems. But I'm just rather overly pleased about the housemate thing since we may be acquiring televisual entertainment, as well as a reduction in the bills! Woohooo! We shall see whether it's a diet of Eastenders and Corrie, reality TV or something more sinister.....

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I managed to break my resolution instantly when I came into work (damn you Cordier for putting on a brew! - much appreciated though), but tomorrow I shall be steely-nerved and not succumb to the brownéd juicings of the Coffea arabica plant, delicious though they are! I've got plenty of things that I'm itching to do, though this business with enzymes is hanging over my noggin'. Dinner, some Greek, a bath and a good night's sleep, and Jon-ster will be ready to take on the WORLD*!

*Excluding; persons of any nation, race or creed; species of any genus or phylum; non-carbon based life-forms; supernatural entities.

Excitement

I got rather excited today. So much so, it was a bit of a stress! I've noticed that I've changed considerably since the lab shift-around, I've become a) louder b) more obnoxious c) more camp d) more manic at working. None of these things are good things, so I shall endeavour to remedy the situation. This shall commence tomorrow with a cup of tea to start the day rather than coffee. Resolution. Punkt.

So the big news is that I might be getting some new housemates. Cryptic and not-to-be understood message from landlady means that I'm not really sure, but there could be some people arriving in the next month! Lovely, I'll have to compact myself a little (not much, it's not like I've spread out to use the space) and get used to using the downstairs fridge - though that may be sneakily snuck back upstairs again - and also point out the lack of a back door and how they should really push at landlady for the usage thereof. Hopefully they wont sign anything until I can tell them this and we can pressure landlady a little over it. Sneaky, but it's daft that they havent even got a surveyor out to look at it yet. Ah well.

Other than that, I have no personal news. Gaia has apparently been discovered to have a cyst, so P is having to deal with a sick cat. Not pleasant, wish I could be there to help. This is a situation to be remedied. Still havent sent off job applications.

Time for more food!

A long one....

Hello all! I'm back after my weekend away, so let's quickly reverse time using the magical device known as the imperfect tense (maybe a bit of perfect, if you insist) and go back to Friday......

Friday was far less manic on the caffeine front, only five cups in total. However, all of those were full-caff, so no brownie points there. The day went by very fast, but I'm starting to notice that I actually achieve almost nothing on both Monday (what with teaching the little darlings in the afternoon) or Friday (with midday group meetings and general 'it's the weekend' malaise).....so my entire productivity must arise on Wednesdays, just like the real world. Nice.

Smooth train journey down to P's, it's very dull when you've done it so often and so regularly; it's almost tempting to just try and book a flight one of these days for the variety! Except that I cant get on one because of my still lapsed passport (not that I'm crossing an international border to get to Sussex, but you have to wonder). Ah well. An unusual observation in that the journey down through Lincs and Notts, the fields were coated in low-lying mist that made everywhere seem a bit Hound of the Baskervilles or, even better, a little bit Wuthering Heights (cue everyone warbling a la Mifs Bush). Also, totally randomly, took the entire tube journey from King's X to Victoria standing right next to someone I was on the same course as at uni, but we didnt notice till I had to get off! Never mind - but familliar faces do turn up in the strangest of places.....memory is doing me and her a great disservice by forgetting her name, though Helen does seem to pop up......

Friday night was made delicious thanks to large quantities of sausages and bacon always much appreciated, tiger (:-). And so to bed, for some of the nicest time I've ever spent next to P, which is saying quite something.

Saturday was quite slow, I've discovered myself a new made-up recipe based on chicken, which I'm going to have to cook again up here sometime! Lots of time spent playing computer games (I'd never be off them if I had them up here) and that's about it. Now that P claims the oppressiveness of summer is over, I'll have to drag him back out to some of the nice places so we can enjoy them again but without him collapsing in an overly-heated heap. And to be fair, it was quite hot this summer......

Must'nt forget to mention the appearance of Gaia, the new pussy in our relationship - and that's one of the type felis domesticus before you disgusting people start getting the wrong idea (Me? Whelk? I think not)....she seems to be a quiet one, but cats are all different. Suppose I'm just used to our old two - may they be well, happy and peaceful - who were very vocal, specially Velvet once she got to her crotchety (and lonely, my heart-strings a-plucking) old age. Still miss both of them quite a lot, despite the enormous amounts of cat hair I spent my teenage years covered with.

Sunday was also a quiet one, more of the same of Saturday though including a very nice breakfast. Had a bit of a weird one all day [being a bit nissy as someone would put it (:-P], but I think there's a lot of feelings mixed up in me at the moment, relating to too much on at work and not relaxing properly in the evening. Never mind, it'll all come out in the wash.

Today was a bit crap, with so many things to be going and doing I didnt really have time to actually do anything at all, apart from create more stuff to deal with in the morning. I think a few days of tactical finishing-things-off would be sensible, plus it'll give me some time to get a bit of thinking done re: other stuff, and maybe send in some of these paper applications I've been blithering about for so long. Afternoon spent baby-sitting the Ugrads again, and some tentative questions from all (as they are still getting used to me, I think!) and some right daft ones too. Managed to get a little shower of dichloromethane (Yay!) from an inadvertant separating funnel, and heat up my fingertips a little too much on someone's flask, never mind. Also get the impression that I've lost all respect from the technical staff, never mind, but I've actually had quite a lot to do with talking to my littl'uns for a change; the rush will start next week with all the marking, I think, have to start chivvying them along for that one!

Tomorrow holds more depressing work things, whilst working around the project student who'll be under my toes somewhat. I'll have to clamp down on his spreading off stuff and my own, since previous Danny left I've let my stuff wander all the way down the bench....plus I have some tubing to change, yada yada yada.....oh bugger, this work lark really is a drag.....

See y'all round!

Super, smashing, great

Just swept a glass measuring cylinder off the bench with my large emotive arm gestures. Fantastic. Just as matey-boy walks past to give me a bit of stick, even better. Never mind, eh?

Also note that I have a perverted mind; van with writing on the side parked just behind a traffic light to obscure some of the letters. Jon-ster reads 'Bondgate' as 'Bondage', shows just how my mind works, eh? Somehow I didnt have a problem with 'Bakery', though just quite what kind of an institution this van was coming from, I'm not sure I even considered. Good idea for a new business? You heard it here first.

Onto cup of coffee number four already, and it isnt even 11. But I shall stick to my golden rule of five! All of these have been full-leaded too......whoops.......

In-breed three-nippled cousin-f*cker

La la la....it's early and I have a sore throat again, nice.....off for a final day of chemistry madness before seeing P again......nothing else to report.....

Whoops!

Coffee Chart shows nine bloody cups for today's consumption. Luckily that's only one espresso and two cups of filter, but in the days before be decaff-titude, that'd be nine full cups on blammo stimulant power. No wonder I've been flipping out! I shall start cutting down forthwith, and drink my healing green tea and lots of it. Coffee Chart for tomorrow shall show maximal five cups, or else I'm a loon.

Home sweet home, is as ever, very empty. Never mind. I'm settled, such as it gets.....

And congrats to Carole and Richard on pending nuptials! And to think I was there at the start of it all, dancing like a loon and quite, quite drunk!

Lunch

A chicken sandwich is a wonderful thing. I've just had two for lunch, and now I'm feeling hungry for a little bit more....though after yesterday's flapjack collapse, I think I shall avoid any of the sugary oaty thingies, just in case.....perhaps a bag of crisps? Living dangerously, I love it.

Not much achieved today yet, I shall have to get a wriggle on and do something extra special this afternoon, huh? And I need to magically do something about my hydrolysis that didnt work this time round......

Total mental shutdown, or the amazing delights of caffeine

Dear oh dear. Today was both terribly awful and miraculous at the same time. Words I heard from different people numerous times in the day!

Anyhow, the deal is that it was a normal day right up to about two o'clock, when I almost fell right asleep. Daft, eh? I was all ready for just putting my noggin on the desk and snoring away, yawning and eye-sleepy-blinking all over the place. Luckily Steve (another Steve - why does everyone I know have the same name?) rescued me, took me across the road and allowed me to knock back double espresso without commenting on caffeine intake. Thankyou. It sorted me out, and within an hour or so I was back up to normal speed, though I shall be getting a very early night tonight.

Checked e-mail about four to discover landlady message saying that she was coming round at 11 (3 hours notice, wooo! - good job I *havent* been inviting people over and having a party, like I really should whilst the house is empty), and then again in the evening. They did come in the evening and toured house without really letting them talk to me, the guy who already lives here - though I made sure I did say some words! Anyhoo. One's a blatant out-and-out poof, never mind, with the spiky hair-do and the floppy arms (well, I cant moan there, I have the floppy arms), and a quite reserved young lady who I was guessing is a nurse. We'll see what comes of it, but I'm not really hopeful.

Need to miraculously pull some work out of my arse for the boss about something he asked me to look at. Have to do it next week, just another thing to worry about! Arses and cockflaplets. I'm so glad I'm going to see P this weekend, I want to just hug and hug and hug and inhale him.

Rest of tonight: Bath, perhaps a little reading, and then BED. So knackered. Must remember to have lots of non-coffee liquids both today and tomorrow, it could be an issue; the decaff overdose is fooling me into thinking I've had more, and so my body is responding to coffee of which it has not had the benefit. Damn you, placebo effect!

Dawn breaks

Yes, it does. Just now. This is a sad moment, heralding the days when I continually have to wake and rise before the sun. And it doesnt help that it's pissing with rain this morning!

Woozy tired

I seem to be tired all the time these days. Am I working to hard? Possibly. The reason I am tired today is the teaching I've been doing all afternoon.

Fun, it is not. But then, it's not exactly a torturous thing either, just a bit of a strain on the legs, mind and voice. I always seem to end up at 5 just gasping for a drink and wanting nothing but to go home. Which I did in the end, but not till gone half six. Bad habits are hard to get out of.

Curry again for dinner this evening, I've not eaten so much of it in a long time and will no doubt regret it come morning, but I really couldnt be bothered to cook for a long time when I got home, and to be fair, I havent exactly been marketing very well for myself of late. Next week will perhaps be one for sitting down, writing a big list of healthy shopping, getting home in time to cook it and then cooking it. And enjoying cooking like I do. Maybe I should bake, muffins do have a habit of easing away the cares of the world ('specially when you eat a whole batch all by yourself, warm from the oven with the assistance of ice-cream)? A nice idea, and one for later in the week.

Time for bed now.......

Virtues of the airing cupboard

They are many. The airing cupboard is a convenient place for storing your bathroom laundry, letting it dry, hiding your boiler, hiding yourself when the Jehovah's Witnesses come calling....but the best favourite is for storing your excess toilet paper in.

Now, this is a delightful thing, since it means you can keep clutter away from the loo where it might get a bit damp (erk) and make your bathroom nice and neat. However, it can lead to critical tactical errors when, as in my case, the airing cupboard is positioned at quite a distance from the toilet at the other end of the bathroom, ten feet away.

Imagine my delight therefore, when after a most satisfying crap I look to the loo roll and find a merest adherance of paper of maybe three sheets or less. Fantastic. And the subsequent crawl across the bathroom floor with my arse held high in the air to fetch more i will of course leave entirely to your imagination. Suffice to say, I was not impressed with myself, and have no-one else to blame since no-one else lives here. Unless I've been visited by the toilet-paper fairies once again. Bastards.

This weekend has been a very nice and chilled one, and I'm actually ready to fact the coming week with a big smile and a grin. This is a rare occurence, Sunday evening usually sees me either on a train somewhere in the Home Counties or flopping about at home being all grumpy about the coming week of slog. But this weekend has invested me with some degree of satisfaction.

Saturday morning was a slow one, and by the time I had woken, become conscious and staggered out of the house it was about half nine. A nice trip to work was followed by surprise when the lab was completely empty, so I cracked on with the paperwork that needed doing and actually achieved a great deal in a small amount of time. There's a lot to be said for not doing your work in the normal working week! I then pottered off into town where I reacquainted myself with the ever-popular charms of the baked potato, and then had a quick run around the ring road to get home. Saturday afternoon and evening was spent dithering, then going out to buy chicken at stupid o'clock and driving halfway across town to 24-hour Asda, much fun. And then cooking and over-eating and seemingly offending someone online. Whoops. I do try not to upset people, but sometimes I just cant avoid it. Tip: dont pretend to be something you're not, people suss you out very quickly!

Today I awoke to a gorgeous morning and used up the last remains of coffee in the house to make myself a single cup of decaff. This was, by all accounts, really quite vile. I've lost the ability to make decent coffee for myself, this is a tragedy, but is perhaps the start of the healing process whereby I return to the charms of green tea and no rashes on my legs. Toast made in the oven with cheapo raspberry jam made a sufficient breakfast, and then I went out riding for most of the rest of daylight. Great fun.

I did have a little moment of surprise though. Heading into Harrogate along the Leeds road, I noticed for the first time that you can see a viaduct on the RHS of the road as you pass all the garages and garden centres. Now, I'm sure I've never seen it before, and I ride that road almost all the time! Strange how the mind is funny like that. Suppose the happy conclusion is that I've got my mind on the road usually (not least because it becomes dual carriageway for a very short stretch up a hill, and I'm usually itching to just zoom past all the big Chelsea tractors that seem to populate Harrogate. (And as an aside, I can put in my distaste for these vehicles; I can appreciate that people out in the country do need reliable and comfortable high-powered vehicles, but they are so environmentally friendly and always seem to have only one person in at a time. But my real issue is the fact that they are just as bad as white vans for blocking the road and being driven terribly and obscuring the view like nobodies business. The advantage of being up on a bike means you can see over car tops and protect yourself; not past a lovely big four-wheel drive).

Where was I? Oh yes. Harrogate was a brief stop before heading out again, Otley road, just perfect for me to miss the turning I need and coming round in one enormous big loop and straight back to Harrogate. Still, it is a lovely road and well worth riding, especially coming over the top by Blubberhouses when you can just burn it along the lovely straight bits and enjoy all the twisty bits too. Very good for grinsome-ness.

And an observation. I've got more than one set of stuff to wear when I go biking now, but I notice that my attitude is considerably altered depending on what I'm wearing. So, we make a mental note that in the red stuff I behave like a nutter, whereas in the black stuff I'm much more measured and reasonable. There is a lesson to be learned here, and it is that I shouldnt wear red. People at work will confirm that I can be utterly insane if prodded in the right direction, and we want to avoid this if at all possible.

Had a big long conversation with Steve online when I got home (hello Steve!), nice to catch up with a very good bloke. And now we are in the gentle wind down to leftover curry and more rice and sandwiches to make for tomorrow and all the usual sunday night stuff. Including tumble-drying my trousers, the endless amusement. All in all, it's been one of the best weekends I've had in a long while (not wishing to offend P here, it's a lot less stressful when I dont have to worry about trains, but I'd rather be with you tiger (:-x ), and as was previously indicated, I'm all set for the new week. We'll see what it all brings.

And now the inspiring quote from Basho for the week;

"There is nothing you can see that is not a flower;
There is nothing you can think that is not the moon."

Hmmm, yes.

Channelling energy

Returning to the ever popular theme, isnt my landlady fantastic? This time she's been showing some guy around again - I'll have to get used to the idea that she isn't ever going to tell me about it, and will come in and rearrange all my items - but she left her set of keys inside and locked them in. Pillock. Also, she seems to have an inordinate bread prejudice. Why it is so objectionable to have a loaf of bread out on the side in the kitchen, I can't imagine. It's not the supermarket brand, though, since I've varied between Waitrose bread and Morrissons bread, so she's neither thrifty nor snobbish regarding her bread products, just odd. This time the not-quite-entire loaf went into the fridge, not the cleverest place where it can get wet and go mouldy with rapidity.

Also, my casserole went into the fridge. That's the whole 2-quart cast-iron casserole, which only just fits in the salad drawer at the bottom, apparently. It's a good job I didnt have much else in there or it would have been crushed out of the way. Why a casserole is so objectionable on the oven-top is also beyond me, even if it does contain a large amount of beef stew. *shrugs* Though this lack-of-space-in-the-fridge incident will probably in no way alert her to the fact that in a shared house, fridge space is like gold dust and so hiding away the large fridge in the cellar was the most dumb-assed idea since unsliced bread. For four independent people, the titchy job in the kitchen is nowhere near enough. As it was, we only just managed between four of us with the big fridge because one of us was never around and never seemed to buy food!

Never mind. We also seemed to acquire a bathmat, something that I've quickly rushed back away into the cupboard, since it a) looks patently ridiculous and b) will go mouldy if left out, because no-one will wash it. And you dont need it. So, it's back to normal for a little while until landlady comes again without notice to rearrange my stuff......ah well......

Back to normal stuff. Today was slightly less crazy than yesterday, though this is only a relative thing. I need calming down, but I just dont seem to be able to manage it. I also badly need to apply for more jobs and polish up my presentational stuff; otherwise, it'll get to next Easter and I'll be big fat unemployed, and that wont be good. Have nearly been collecting squirrels under my tyres, I have three run out just in front of me in recent days, including one that ran away from me (moving at low speed!) across my path, lucky I was on my clutch already! Dont really want to be cleaning blood up, messy.

Tomorrow is another day of work, specifically of the paper variety. I'm going in to sort out everything possible desk-related, so I can hit Monday at a run with the lab stuff. And I'm going to buy the second series of Green Wing to watch in the coming weeks. And have a nice lunch. And not think about stoopid landlady.

Bit of Sondheim for you.....

I never thought I'd love my life,
I would have settled for another.
Then to become a wife; then to be set for life; then to beget a child;
Then fortune smiled;
I'm so happy.

Always remembering adjust for different viewpoints, I like this sentiment. Something else is always around the corner - I've had a lot of those moments. Chin up, all you miserable lot!

Cray-zeh!

I do have to worry about my sanity sometimes. Well, maybe. It's all a matter of the time of day. Currently I'm getting into work early, with a hard-ass workaholic attitude and the desire to crack on, which I do - then it runs out at around two, half two, when I think that the day is nearly over but actually there's another couple of hours of slog left.

Except this post-prandial time now seems to have been reserved for other activities. Basically, something in the earlier part of the day involves me drinking sap from the crazy tree and by about half three, I'm bouncing around the walls, doing my stoopid Mr Slavic voice (that irritates even me, wtf must everyone else be doing with it?), worked up to through the Zummerzet voice (cheers Mandy, it's your influence, duck). And then sheer and utter madness courtesy of discussion with Dr B. Most disturbing.

I do try to be sane and sensible, but talking absolute bollocks and not doing any work is far more fun. I suspect tomorrow will be even worse, what with it being Friday and afternoon work is at opposite-of-premium. We'll see.

Time to go cook for a long time and in the meantime eat stuff. Nice.

Even keel

I'm back on one after the hideous ride over the weekend. All back to pretty much normal. Carpet cleaner guy came this morning - for which I was told the day before, nice - and so carpets appear a bit cleaner. Landlady also came to give her 'TLC' for the house which involved;

• clearing away the clean items from the draining rack (which I then had to hunt and put them back in the correct places);
• putting my loaf of bread away from the side into a cupboard, but no other items (OMfG), don't understand that for a minute;
• rearranging a chair in the sitting room so that it does form a nice together sitting arrangement, but looks from the door like it's just been plonked in the middle of the room;
• putting bedsheets on the unused beds.

I don't see how any of this will help. No sign of window washing as she had said, or fixing of dodgy handles or anything with the back kitchen wall..... I do despair sometimes, I really do!

Also received message from boss, asking me to send him a data file, so I reached for my USB key only to find that I've lost it somewhere. Oh bugger. There was a lot of stuff on there that was useful and handy to have, only now it's gone. Luckily I have the data stored on CD and can just send it from there! Only I dont seem to be able to; cant attach the files to an email, even though I've compressed them. One for tomorrow, perhaps. More hassle on top of all of the other work stuff I have on at the moment!

P's had a bit of sad news today, so I'm sending him out big *sympathy hugs* and my boney shoulders as a resting post. Sorry I'm not there, tiger, but you know I feel for you.

Not much more to tell of the day. I've gone through an entire pot of instant decaff coffee by myself in three weeks. That's a lot of decaff. But thank bollocks it is decaff, otherwise I'd have drunk the same quantity in the hard-core stuff. I badly need to buy green tea again and start drinking that. Rehydrate, radical traps and relaxing (rather than stimulating). Just what I need.

See y'all round, y'all.

Slightly more calm

After yesterday's violent outburst of anger and rudeness, I feel I must apologise to my dear readers. So here you go - sorry, dear readers, for forcing my invective at you by means of my normally genteel blog.

It has raised some concern in me, that I've changed rather more than I intended and am overall a more stressful person than I used to be. Worries appear to be mounting in my life that, objectively, arent worries but niggles that I blow out of all proportion and over-react to. I seem to have lost my golden mean of responsiveness, probably because I havent been meditating for a long while. It's now just over three years since I had a very nice moment of calm in meditating, something I've been trying to get back to all this while. Sitting has been disintegrated from my life and I've been distracting myself from doing it with all kinds of things. The mind is tricksy, no? I've very successfully convinced myself I have no time to sit, whereas actually I have tonnes of time just disinclination to do so. My snake, cock and pig are all raring at the moment! Evidence, see yesterday. Time for even a small stop and a rake of the stones.

Anyhow, I've run out of steam....time for a bath, and then a little bit of greek!

Flogging a dead horse, part XVI

....or in this case, flogging a numpty old cow. Let us refer to the evidence;

• Landlady cant get into house. This is because she has brought the set of keys to the old lock that broke in January and was replaced in January. She also has a set of these new keys, since she came around one time without prior notice, managed to let herself in and leave a rather rude note to us all about cleaning. Well, if you tell us we can do something - but it also proves that you brought the wrong set of keys, numpty;
• Owing to incorrect set of keys being brought, back door was semi-broken into by landlady's crony (who I have nothing against, he seems fine and is an employee, really). This obviously set the alarm off and has seriously buggered the back door. In fact, the outside handle to this back door is now completely shafted because of this (bent round the wrong way), meaning that the back door is in effect, a back wall, what with the subsidence. Landlady remains to show people around the house, and then leaves without resetting the alarm, something she was rude to us about previously in the same letter as the cleaning. Well, you can shove it up your rude lady parts now, matey;
• Apparently one set of blinds in the front room doesnt work. Well, it does if you know what you are doing, since I've just managed to open and close one set without problem, bar a little idiocy with not letting ends drop at same rate. And that's the first time I've even touched those blinds. So that's another item for the numpty pessary;

This has really bugged me out, but it is reassuring to know that I'm not the one at fault here. If the back wall collapses, or because the rear door needs replacing and cant be fitted owing to the slippage, it wont be my fault. Also you theorising about subsidence and heave wont wash, because quite clearly if a tree is removed but not its roots, there will be excess water in the ground that makes it muchy and hence more prone to slip, not send up the corner of the buliding. And you can see and feel that it has slipped and not raised. Not to mention the fact that heave is to do with frost - in summer? Bollocks.

I shall play my role of good little tenant, and remove my cardboard box by removing the books from within and putting the out downstairs (or at least some of them!). I shall also inform her of the back door handle, and the other handles in the house. I shall also be searching most diligently for somewhere else to live. Though probably not very hard, if I'm honest.

Silly old cow

I'm sorry but this has totally pissed me off. Please consult e-mail from landlady below - so much for 'quiet enjoyment of property';

"What time will you be leaving on tues am?. The carpet cleaners need to have access early. I can come to see them out and give the house a bit of TLC, it is looking rather sorry for itself. Could those cardboard boxes go into the cellar please. I will throw out that horrid black ash unit in the sitting room. After the carpets are done would you kindly remove your shoes before walking on them, I had forgotten that english people don't do that which I think is really weird. There seems to be something amiss with the RH blind in the sitting room, it worked last time I was there. I have never in 6 years had this trouble in finding new tenants, I just don't understand it."

Great. So much for being able to have things I need in the house, where I want them. No bookcase means I do have to keep my books in the cardboard box, else they'd be piled in the corner and look worse. As for 'giving it some TLC', I take exception to the implication that it's run down because I've lived there - it's been in that state since I moved in, ditto the carpets which were not cleaned when I moved in. Silly old cow, she's the most supercillious person I've met. How resentful is the implication that it is me actively obstructing new tenants? Bollocks. It's her attitude, I bet she's telling people a load of shit about me like I heard from her about ex-housemate, it's not exactly condusive to encourage people to move in! And I'm being done over as regards rent, really, so I'm not surprised people arent moving in - I could be paying the same price I am now but all inc, which option would someone sensible go for, dur? Also, I know for a fact it's shite about the tenants thing, since Aaron lived alone for most of the summer last year.....

Landlords, arent they just lovely.