0911.19 CHANGE OF PLAN

This week should have been work Monday and Tuesday then off till Sunday (annual leave). Change of plan, because of a family emergency (which would be inappropriate of me to go into detail about here) I've ended up being off Monday till Thursday, back at work tomorrow (Friday), then off Saturday and back again on Sunday. What a messy week!

Went Christmas shopping on Wednesday and Thursday, hating the season already. I'm not going to blather on about how fucked up the whole thing is again, I guess I do that most years. It's just a demon I have to live with.

Four of the fence panels that broke during the last storm are now shattered and spread across the garden. Two of them are the responsibility of next door. I'm not confident that they will do anything about it, since their English is awful I guess I'm going to struggle with this one.

Spend some of my time off setting up home wifi so I can connect the wii to the internet. I now have BBC iPlayer on the main TV (the whole purpose for doing this) and my phone can enjoy a fast internet link when I've at home.

Been reading some 5 year old blogs of mine. It's amazing how some things have changed and others have stayed the same.

0911.16 CUSTOMER SERVICE

I was contacted today by Whitley Hall Hotel via Twitter. They were responding to a tweet I posted last week regarding the lack of cycle provision...

'Arrived at Whitley Hall Hotel. Cycle provision is none existant.' 9:25 AM Nov 11th

I've never before experienced such aggressive customer service, to actually seek out complaints and deal with them is completely new to me.

0911.16 WEEKEND WITH THE KIDS

Morticia went to Nottingham for a 'girlie' weekend this weekend and left me to look after the kids. I don't mind, sometimes I even get a small amount of time to myself.

It seems that no one wanted to help me tidy up, I spent most of the time running around after the kids. My only consolation was that I got to watch the new Star Trek DVD (a total of 5 times), great considering it's not officially 'out' till Monday. Gotta love Play.com.

Wish I could have a couple of days to myself. I feel so mixed up at the moment, I need to rediscover myself. Maybe when Christmas is all done with I can go a check into a hotel for a couple of nights with some books and be truly alone.

Went to visit my Grandad yesterday. Nan didn't sound very good when I phoned her so I knew it was important I go. Grandad discovered he has cancer and the doctors are not going to treat it. I don't know what this means and I don't know what to think. All I do know is that I am very scared. didn't get chance to speak to Nan properly, without Morticia being with me it is hard to do.

I'm all over the place.

0911.10 THE FOURTH KIND

DISTURBINGLY THOUGHT PROVOKING, IS IT REAL THOUGH?
The Captain's Movie Review in 7 Words

0911.08 DEMONS

So, British Summer Time is over. The nights are longer and colder and traditionally we get busier at work.

I went back to work after a week off with the Swine flu. In hindsight I went back way too early (there was no way I was fit enough). I went back because I knew there was a staff shortage and I thought it was the right thing to do. I was wrong. Whilst I was off one of my colleagues was given the job of acting as supervisor for the team (a job I've been doing on and off for the last few months). Now I don't begrudge anyone the opportunity but this was a long term opportunity. You could say I'm 'pig sick'.

Since returning I have felt isolated, outside the loop and generally out of touch. I know that many factors in my life a causing me to feel this way it's not all work.

Home is proving to be difficult for me and I have a general feeling that I am not coping with things. Perhaps my weekend state has affected me far greater than I anticipated and my demons (that I usually keep at bay) are surfacing.

Whatever is making me feel this way I know I must get a grip on it all before I cause further problems for myself. Time will tell.

0910.25 WEEK OF HELL

It all started with me going back to work. I was really still too ill to go back but knowing that we have been understaffed I went back in anyway. Did I get thanks? Did I hell. There was a nasty atmosphere within the team and to top it I was refused leave for this weekend. I was not a happy bunny. I spent most of the week in a foul mood and did my best to keep out of everyone's way.

I was pushed hard despite telling my supervisor that I was needing to take it easy, I felt they were taking the piss. I needed to vent but had no outlet although I did have a private moment where I kicked the shit out of my locker (although the locker being made of metal won).

On appeal I did get my leave granted so at least I had this weekend which we had planned to drive to Morticia's mothers.
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So Friday night we set off (as we have done loads before) to visit Morticia's mother in St Neots. It's a tedious 125 mile drive down the A1 and to top it I'm not a big fan of night driving (although I enjoy early morning journeys).

The journey was going pretty well until we reached the A14 where the A1 closed (roadworks). I followed the diversion signs until they just vanished. We ended up at the border of Cambridge before I pulled over to check in we Google Maps. I plotted a route (which involved a certain amount of back tracking) and ended up getting to our destination about an hour late.

I'd like to thank the Highways Agency for pissing me off and wasting my time and petrol. Knobheads!

0910.19 BACK TO WORK

As I write this first paragraph I'm sat on a bus travelling to work. I'm not quite ready for my cycle just yet, I'm taking it one step at a time. I'm pretty keen to get back to work however I feel a little apprehensive to what awaits me. I've heard some rumours about certain staff being shipped out of the team for a transgression and other tit-bits. I'm not a fan of office politics an fear that there will be something of an atmosphere on my return.

0910.17 A DUVET & A BOX OF TAMIFLU

I thought I'd got a cold last weekend, come Monday morning I thought it was a bad cold. By Monday afternoon it was becoming apparent that this was no cold. I then learned I'd contracted Swine Flu. I got a reference number (you don't get a prescription) to collect a box of Tamiflu from the local collection point (luckily there was one in my village). I was then quarantined to my house until Friday.

I slept, I ached, I coughed, I sneezed, I sweated, I shivered.

So now at the other end, I still feel ill but not like I was. I'm still coughing but the muscles are no longer aching. I'm even considered going out tonight for a bit. I'm determined to be back at work on Monday but am worried about being fit enough for my bike.

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I recently got an invite to preview Google Wave, the new messaging system that the Google people are playing with. Unfortunatly for it to be effective you need people to talk to. I have one contact, the person who invited me - @JaneBunny, a twitter friend. Not really ideal to be able to give feedback.

0910.10 EXPLOSIVE!

Nothing much exciting happens around here, or so I thought. In the early hours of Monday morning I was woken rudely by a car alarm. I went through to the front of the house to see one of the neighbours' cars in flames. It was parked on the road (so little danger of the house catching fire). I rang 999 for the fire service, they had already received the call and a fire engine promptly arrived and began tackling the blaze.

So, what it an unprovoked act of mindless damage? An enemy of my neighbour? Or perhaps a racial attack (the owner of the car is Asian). After speaking to him he seems to think it's the first one. Who knows? Thankfully since then it's returned to the quiet, boring street and I like it like that.

0910.03 BACK TO NORMALITY

Finally I can relax, it's my 3 day weekend and the last 2 weeks have been particularly stressful. For the last month I've been 'acting up' at work (supervising the team I work in), work politics and staffing issues have made it challenging but enjoyable. From next week I'm back to being just a normal member of the team but for now I can look forward to relaxing this weekend.

Tonight I am going out for a chinese with Morticia, it's a friends' wedding anniversary and we've been asked to accompany them. I'll have to watch my drinking since I'm such a lightweight. Last thing I want is to be hungover for my youngest's birthday tomorrow.