Time passes.... and then....

Time passes, and then....

 

Apologies dear reader. Totally unacceptable of me to leave you here on your own with nothing to read. That said, I know you've been reading "other stuff". Apparently there's a whole Internetz full of (sh)it out there.....

 

Anyway. I'm still about. And I feel like I'm nearing a point where I can get my head above water just long enough to pen something banal and useless that you can ignore and move on from without any guilt. Let me see if I can summarise the last (almost) 6 months and then w can both get busy living again.

 

Where did we get to? December was full of Christmassy stuff and was supposed to be the end of the deal I was working. When I opened up my favourite writing tool to pen this entry, here is what I found unpublished:

 

"New Year, New Deal

(Rage On)

If only. Due to the fact that last years "fun" piece of work involved a complete bunch of numpties (I'm not mentioning any names) we're still here and once again I find myself back on the train to London to give them all the further benefit of my wisdom having spent half of my birthday weekend slaving over a moderately warm laptop (which incidentally is a pile of crap as hardware goes)

(Rage Off)

With that out of the way, let's recap on how we've arrived at the 14th of January and what's happened since the middle of December...

It's become apparent that my Blogging is being reduced to train journeys - something I'm not very happy about to be honest - but it's a direct result of the deal I've been working on since September/October last year. Why on earth the Badman didn't do the right thing and just kill it stone dead in the first place I'll never know - and worse yet, he left it for me to pick up - the git. Still, I rest safe in the knowledge that he's having a chuckle about it at least, The hours have been ridiculous, but the overtime has been a welcome addition - just not something I want to get used to. And so to Christmas.....

I worked the run up to the season from home which was a great pleasure and to be honest completely necessary - having had no time to do anything like preparation for it. However I used this time wisely and the appropriate gifts were acquired from various parts of the world and amassed in differing wrappings under the tree ready for the big day.

We had almost all the parents round for the day itself along with daughter and short boyfriend. A short word from Son, although his connectivity has been up and down a bit of late he did manage to hold a conversation via Skype from Oz and pleased, we were, to see him. His news is less pleasing but only because he's decided he's met a girl he wants to spend some time with in Cambodia and that means postponing the rest of s trip. A worry. That we hope doesn't become a disappointment. After all, he's saved hard and planned well to see the rest of the world (well America etc) and it would be a shame to miss it for the sake of a girl he's known for five minutes. Still, I can't really talk - and as we all know - all too often, the heart can rule the head - so let's hope things work out the way he would like them to with no regrets.

He asked for his laptop to be shipped over to him - which I have done - and just for future reference be warned about the costs involved here. Admittedly it was insured for £1500 but I found myself shelling out £120 for the privilege. He was gracious enough to offer to chip in, so I suggested 50quid. We also arrange a kindle to arrive at a pre-agreed location for him, which he knew nothing about - so at least he had some sort of Christmas - all be it, not the norm.

Daughter on the other hand, is more settled and the short boyfriend has officially moved in. He's trying to bloke-ify her princess palace, but it's an uphill struggle for him. She has however, allowed a dartboard - which is a source of good entertainment as so far, she's beaten him at his own game.

She was terribly ill back in October when we were on holiday with them (and the Scottish contingent) and Gawd bless him,he gave up most of his holiday to look after her. I was eternally grateful to him, and proud of her choice of bf to be honest. Clearly a good egg. To this end I got him (and daughter) a pair of tickets to go and see his football team play up in that Manchester place. She's no fan of footy but by adding in a night in a hotel and a bit of dinner, she was able to spend Sunday dragging him round the shops, so they both got to enjoy themselves. All good stuff and well earned.

Far too much of everything was consumed and a good time was generally had by all. I was back at work over the period, but things were thankfully quiet and New Year was just around the corner. No plan for the eve, so Mrs G and I made the most of doing nothing for a change and had a nice spot of dinner with a couple of bottles of fizz, but not too much...And so the New Year had arrived and various parts of the world had been it touch to wish us a good one as it was ushered in.

This year we had tickets for the New Years Day races at Cheltenham so I was more than a little annoyed to wake up on New Years Day with a throat that felt like it had a broken bottle wedged in it (probably the fizz) and the sound of the relentless rain rattling at the windows. To be honest, I was hoping that the organisers were going to call it off and I could stay I bed and get my money back, but not a bit of it. They were determined, and so we had to be too.

Mrs G and I dragged ourselves to it, and caught the train for a change. Actually apart from the pishing rain (first time I can remember a New Years Day so wet) it was great and we thoroughly enjoyed it, not least because we had a string of winners which paid for the day out. We got away reasonably early and didn't bother heading into town to celebrate - rather heading home for warm comforts instead.

Back at work the following day and the grindstone doesn't seem to give up. This year, a lot of people I know seem to be trying to do the "give up something for January" thing as part of their New Years resolutions. Personally I hold little truck with that stuff, because it's not really resolutions, it's more a todo list fort he first two weeks of the month that generally gets ignored by the second two weeks of January. Not only that, but January is a tough month for me to give anything up, due to the fact I have a birthday in the beginning of it too. I blame the parents.

All the same, it's just long enough after Christmas for people to be interested in having a night out, so it generally works out quite well and this year was no exception. "

 

....and that's the last thing I wrote.

 

Clearly the pain of that deal was getting to me, and on reflection it was nothing to do with the deal itself - just the way it was running.... Regardless, we got it over line safely and in the bag for the sake of everyone involved. In the end, a good one - I won't be helping on there again though, thanks very much for offering......

 

Now normally, there would be an interim rest and relaxation before getting involved with anything quite that painful and I was looking forward to a couple of weeks "Working at home" catching up with all the administrative stuff and proverbially catching my breath but this time - not a bit of it. It's my own faultI never should have put my hand up, but I was looking for a sharp exit from the previous piece and so I found myself dropped into something big and complex. Big doesn't really do it any justice - I'll leave it at that for now.

 

And here we are in the back end of April, fast approaching May, still well and truly in the running and generally moving at a pace. I've worked far too many long hours and even a couple of weekends (unheard of usually) but needs must and I'm enjoying working with the people involved. Where it will end up, I have no idea - but it "feels" good so far - apart from the tiredness of course.

 

Away from work, we've been equally busy. Mrs G and I managed a "mini break" to Bristol - which even though it's on our doorstep, is still a beautiful city if you know where to look. Particularly spectacular breakfast within a few hundred yards of Clifton suspension bridge.

 

There's been floods, golf, exercise and dieting (I've lost a stone and half since my birthday), a an Avegant Glyph demo (google it), delayed trains, The Selecter (in concert, complete with "Missing Words"), the anniversary of Aud, and we even managed to crowbar a week away in the middle of it all. Mrs G and I sat in the sun (well, I slept) in the Canary Islands for a few days. I've also ripped out the carpets and fitted a new wooden floor - some thing that's been on the cards for a while, and I'm about to re-tile the kitchen floor as well (so that's all good) - We've had daughters birthday - which involved a day trip to France, more golf, some Black Rat, a pebble watch, an appearance in the credits of a motion picture and a walk in memory of the recently departed.

 

To be honest, if you asked me when I found the time to do all this, I'm not sure I could tell you. Of course, now - I'm on a train for a change, and heading back down that Laandan for three days of "having a good guess". Chaos will ensue as per, as there a tube strike and complete dearth of hotels - but I love a challenge.

 

I'm going to try really really hard to write something on Friday as well - or even in between if I get the time but based on recent experiences, that's all a bit unlikely.

 

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