......in that my limited intellect had previously understood the task of a delivery company was to deliver!
It would appear not to be the case and if my experience yesterday is anything to judge the remit of such a company by, then that remit seeming includes in it's description, lying, laziness, bad manners and stupidity!
We have all been there, I was promised a long awaited delivery would at last be with me by 18.00 hrs yesterday, why I ever believe these promises is beyond me. Perhaps I have an inherent and latent ability to take the word time after time, of one inefficient company after another.... or perhaps I just can't actually believe, in my naivete, that delivery companies are just so appallingly useless!
So, as you will have guessed, I spent the entire day sat indoors awaiting this delivery. It is not relevant here that for me it was no serious inconvenience and meant a whole day of uninterrupted computer fiddling, something I am most certainly not adversed too, with no guilt that I should be doing something else. I was after all doing something else, I was waiting for a delivery!
Suffice to say that by 15.00 there was still a noticeable lack of anything being delivered and so began the 'tracking' kerfuffle. Off to the appropriate website I went, nothing concrete there so the next step was to navigate my way through the 'delightful' menu system on the company in questions telephone helpline.....help line my foot! I could have walked to Lockerbie and collected the damn parcel myself in the time it took to speak to a human being. That finally achieved, I was assured the parcel was still in transit and would grace my home before 18.00.
17.45.........another journey through the telephone helpline menu and more reassurance that I would receive my delivery, if slightly late, the driver was behind schedule. Alarm bells were ringing in my mind now, in my heart of hearts I knew, I just knew it was going to be a no show, but on I go, hope against hope that just this once, what the company say they will do, and what they actually do, will bear some similarity.
Do the words stupid woman spring to mind here? if not they should.... 18.10 sees yet another phone call............oh knock me down with a feather, the parcel is not going to arrive, I am informed tersely by a woman who's customer service training was presumably with a far flung guerilla warfare unit.
Reason: The driver couldn't find the address!
Excuse me? I had understood that one of the skills necessary for a delivery driver was to find addresses, it seems not. I accept we live in an out of the way spot but hey, we have made it onto most data bases these days and we do have a post code! Seemingly that was not enough information for this driver, he got to the village and maintained he asked directions at the local shop....codswallop, believe me if he had I would have received my delivery. In a place as small and insular as this he could have asked anyone for this address and he would be told. Every one knows everyone...........and a lot more besides.
Mr white van man no doubt was late, rushed past the village shop en route to his supper and decided upon the suitable tale of woe he would present to his logistics department.
So did I receive an apology? an offer of a timed delivery today?.......did I hell. The lady (I use the description loosely) on the other end of the phone seemed to be blaming me for this debacle with weak excuses along the lines of "it's difficult to find" and "it's a new postcode".....come on lady this house has been here 200 years, how new is that?
This I might add is a multi national delivery and courier company, the terms mobile phone, delivery tracking, GPS and bloody common sense spring to mind!
Exasperation at the limited intellect and outrageous lack of customer service prevailed and an email of complaint was hastily rattled off last night, doubtless it will not be acknowledged let alone replied to.
How do some of these individuals keep their positions of employment I wonder?
And thus, today I have another day 'forced' to reside infront of my computer, guilt free and ready to 'have words' with the driver should he ever appear. I won't hold my breath......
Wednesday, 29 September 2004
Tuesday, 28 September 2004
Is it any wonder?
The news this morning offers the report from Ofsted that schools are not making good use of the outdoor activities facilities available to them and that our children's life experience and broader education are suffering as a consequence. The situation is thus because schools are increasingly afraid of being sued in the event of an accident.
Is it any wonder?
Whilst I accept that over the last few years there have been some heinous incidents of gross negligence by education authorities and staff responsible for children engaged in these types of activities, like so many things they have been few in comparison with the numbers who have benefited. Good news is not news and as such, as with most things, it is only the catastrophies we hear reported. For those families who have suffered genuine loss and trauma, the incidence is 100% and a nightmare beyond the comprehension of most of us. To lose, or have seriously injured a child, while apparently in the care of the authorities we entrust them too is dreadful and all circumstances surrounding such tragedies require thorough investigation to prevent a repetition.
These are not the cases of which I am talking.
As appears to be the case in so many situations in the last few years it seems to me that this is another illustration of individuals jumping on the compensation bandwagon, so much so that education authorities, among others, are too frightened to put themselves in the position for fear of the massive law suits we seem to favour of late. The U.K would appear to be fast becoming a culture motivated by the opportunity to make a fast buck from the possibility of suing for just about anything.
We balk at what is referred too as the 'nanny state' and yet so many seem to absolve themselves of the day to day life responsibilities, preferring instead to look immediately for someone else to blame. Of course in the serious cases those truly responsible should be bought to justice, made to accept responsibility for their actions and have the full weight of the law bought to bear upon them but often this is not the case.
I see it every day at my work place and it apalls me. Bear in mind that this is a place full of potentially dangerous chemicals, heavy objects and professional equipment and then consider this scenario.
Mum and dad enter the store with 'little Jonny' who despite warning notices spelling out the dangers, have put the child in the front of the trolley instead of the child seat, immediately rendering in unstable. They wander the isles musing over their prospective purchases, park said trolley, still with child in situ, and become engrossed in shopping. At this point one of two things will normally happen. Either a staff member, who has noticed 'little Jonny' about to tip headlong onto the hard floor, gently asks the parent to attend to the child and generally gets abuse along the lines of "don't tell me how to look after my child" or 'little Jonny' clambers over the side, and assuming he manages this feat without falling and pulling the trolley ontop of him, runs off to explore alone, still unnoticed.
Give him 10 minutes of lone exploration and he will have pulled something heavy ontop of him, got something unpleasant on his skin or fallen somewhere. Now assuming we can find the guardian of this child in the first place, while we gather him off the floor and administer any necessary first aid, what really horrifies me is the number of parents, who having made a cursory inspection of the damage, immediately then begin to blame us! You can see the ones in an instant with dollar signs in their eyes, they are not comforting the child as you or I would, they are questioning and accusing, some within minutes are already talking money and litigation.
Sure, in some instances we or any other public place are to blame and have been negligent in some way but what scares me is just how many people see the misfortune of others, even their own child, as a means to lay the burden of their life's responsibilities at someone else's door and make a buck in the process.
Like the news, I hope it is only the bad one's I notice, the majority out there do genuinely care, we have our share of mothers and fathers who's child has snuck off in a split second and who are frantic with fear......... but it sure doesn't seem like it at times!
Are we turning into a country of people unable, or unprepared, to take responsibility for our own lives and thus causing a narrowing of life's experiences, as is apparent in the schools outside activities situation. How long will it be before much less is available to use purely because the operators do not have the means to support the ever increasing financial burden of legal representation?
I will end this rant with the tale of a guy, who having cut his fingers on a light bulb that shattered in his hand while trying to fit it, considered it our fault........his reasoning, the box didn't specify or warn him that a tight grip may cause it to shatter!!!
Er......... ok, I will resist the temptation for expletives at this point!
*#/%*$%"*#!!
Is it any wonder?
Whilst I accept that over the last few years there have been some heinous incidents of gross negligence by education authorities and staff responsible for children engaged in these types of activities, like so many things they have been few in comparison with the numbers who have benefited. Good news is not news and as such, as with most things, it is only the catastrophies we hear reported. For those families who have suffered genuine loss and trauma, the incidence is 100% and a nightmare beyond the comprehension of most of us. To lose, or have seriously injured a child, while apparently in the care of the authorities we entrust them too is dreadful and all circumstances surrounding such tragedies require thorough investigation to prevent a repetition.
These are not the cases of which I am talking.
As appears to be the case in so many situations in the last few years it seems to me that this is another illustration of individuals jumping on the compensation bandwagon, so much so that education authorities, among others, are too frightened to put themselves in the position for fear of the massive law suits we seem to favour of late. The U.K would appear to be fast becoming a culture motivated by the opportunity to make a fast buck from the possibility of suing for just about anything.
We balk at what is referred too as the 'nanny state' and yet so many seem to absolve themselves of the day to day life responsibilities, preferring instead to look immediately for someone else to blame. Of course in the serious cases those truly responsible should be bought to justice, made to accept responsibility for their actions and have the full weight of the law bought to bear upon them but often this is not the case.
I see it every day at my work place and it apalls me. Bear in mind that this is a place full of potentially dangerous chemicals, heavy objects and professional equipment and then consider this scenario.
Mum and dad enter the store with 'little Jonny' who despite warning notices spelling out the dangers, have put the child in the front of the trolley instead of the child seat, immediately rendering in unstable. They wander the isles musing over their prospective purchases, park said trolley, still with child in situ, and become engrossed in shopping. At this point one of two things will normally happen. Either a staff member, who has noticed 'little Jonny' about to tip headlong onto the hard floor, gently asks the parent to attend to the child and generally gets abuse along the lines of "don't tell me how to look after my child" or 'little Jonny' clambers over the side, and assuming he manages this feat without falling and pulling the trolley ontop of him, runs off to explore alone, still unnoticed.
Give him 10 minutes of lone exploration and he will have pulled something heavy ontop of him, got something unpleasant on his skin or fallen somewhere. Now assuming we can find the guardian of this child in the first place, while we gather him off the floor and administer any necessary first aid, what really horrifies me is the number of parents, who having made a cursory inspection of the damage, immediately then begin to blame us! You can see the ones in an instant with dollar signs in their eyes, they are not comforting the child as you or I would, they are questioning and accusing, some within minutes are already talking money and litigation.
Sure, in some instances we or any other public place are to blame and have been negligent in some way but what scares me is just how many people see the misfortune of others, even their own child, as a means to lay the burden of their life's responsibilities at someone else's door and make a buck in the process.
Like the news, I hope it is only the bad one's I notice, the majority out there do genuinely care, we have our share of mothers and fathers who's child has snuck off in a split second and who are frantic with fear......... but it sure doesn't seem like it at times!
Are we turning into a country of people unable, or unprepared, to take responsibility for our own lives and thus causing a narrowing of life's experiences, as is apparent in the schools outside activities situation. How long will it be before much less is available to use purely because the operators do not have the means to support the ever increasing financial burden of legal representation?
I will end this rant with the tale of a guy, who having cut his fingers on a light bulb that shattered in his hand while trying to fit it, considered it our fault........his reasoning, the box didn't specify or warn him that a tight grip may cause it to shatter!!!
Er......... ok, I will resist the temptation for expletives at this point!
*#/%*$%"*#!!
Meet 'Cleo'
'Cleo'
One of my oldest (that's the length of time we have know each other, not his age!) IRC friends has a new addition to his family, the picture above arrived in my inbox this morning and I just had to share it :o)
Monday, 27 September 2004
Rescue!
Field mouse
As I returned this afternoon from collecting PG's car from yet another expensive visit to the garage(don't ask, yes it broke down again!) I was greeted with the sight of Ditto tormenting another small rodent.
I raced headlong from the car, probably an amusing sight, shouting prolifically and in a none too demure manner, in an effort to distract her..... as ever it was to no avail, she raced off with the small squealing creature firmly in her jaw.
Eventually, among the wet grass and mud I achieved capture and some vigorous shaking released the terrified animal, which stood shaking violently but stationery allowing me to scoop it up gently and rush it indoors.
It seemed somewhat worse for wear poor thing, soaking wet, cold and bleeding very slightly. A warm dry nest was hurriedly assembled in an old casserole dish, I couldn't find anything else that a small mouse might not be able to escape from, and I placed on top of a shelf in the warm bedroom, in a 'cat safe' position.
Despite my worries that too much damage may have been done and this mouse may be suffering I couldn't bring myself to 'finish it off' and hoped instead it would either recover, or at least would die in a warm dry environment instead of in the rain, soaked through.
Regular checks over the next few hours proved heartening, no more bleeding was evident and a dry, fuffy, squeaking mouse emerged full of life and trying desperately to scale the walls of the casserole dish!
Ditto was firmly shut in and we set off with dish in hand to release our little captive back into the great outdoors by torchlight, it clambered over the edge of the tipped dish into my hand and then scuttled off as fast as it's little legs would carry it, squeaking loudly, into the undergrowth..........oh happy day.
I considered taking a photograph to post here but was too concerned that the flash, after all it's days trauma, would frighten it again and so the first time I actually remembered to take a picture of something as it happened, I still didn't! The photo above is not mine!
Not again
© SuperStock, Inc.
Well that's it done, four days at work over with and in actual fact I quite enjoyed it. As much as I love my 'middle of nowhere existence', the lack of human interaction can wear a little thin occasionally and the opportunity to be among others is a welcome change. That said the five play days ahead of me are no less welcome!
Work bought with it this week a stark reminder that yet again we are rushing headlong toward the festive season. As a child I adored Christmas time, it was my absolute favorite, everything about it enthralled me and filled me with an un- matchable feeling of excitement that nothing else could come close to. As an adult for years it was the same..........and then I hit the world of retail employment and it all changed.
Christmas begins for us next week! From today the hundreds of lines of festive merchandise are 'rolled out', we have in fact had a number already available for sale for the last two weeks though very low key. We all hate it, by the middle of October there isn't one of us who isn't fed up to the back teeth of tinsel, lights, artificial trees and the sound of those damn novelty scenes playing their horrendous faux Christmas carols! By the time Christmas arrives for real we have all been well and truly de-sensitized to any pleasure there may once was in the festivities.
The reasoning behind this unfortunate and much disliked situation is of course the mighty dollar. Ever mindful of profit margins and market share retailers, fearing for their corporate lives attempt to beat the competition year after year and consequently Christmas is heaped upon the unsuspecting customer earlier and earlier.
There are greater minds than mine I assume, that have foraged their intellectual, degree qualified way through unending market research and statistics to come to the decision that this is the way forward in a world where nothing matters beyond money. The confusing aspect to me is that almost without exception customers complain bitterly about it. Their complaints are the same as those of us who work in the environment.........that Christmas is ruined by such over commercialisation and very little is sold until much nearer the date.
It is perhaps indicative of the world as a whole, push push push, spend,spend,spend, advertising executives and manufacturers flooding children's TV schedules with bright advertisements for all things attractive to the under 16's (and over for that matter), surreptitiously heaping burden upon guilty burden on parents already struggling with the financial demands of life. The message, that if you truly love your child you will purchase for him or her, one expensive toy after another, because without doing so that child will suffer abject misery in one form or another, is very ill concealed. There are in the UK supposed to be controls on this type of advertising but they seem to be nowhere in evidence!
I am not a religious individual by any means, I would describe myself as agnostic in fact but without Christianity there would be no Christmas at all and yet it seems all but forgotten. The Christmas story, you remember, the one about a man and a woman, a donkey and three wise men seems to have been completely abandoned in favour of the 21st century version, the one about a man a woman, peer pressure and credit card debt. Do children even learn who Jesus and Mary were in these days of political correctness, where education seems to be so multi cultural that no culture learns anything? I can only assume that advertising executives and the chairmen of the worlds retailers sincerely hope not while they pile on the pressure and bombard us with all things Christmas for a whole quarter!
Bah humbug!
Sunday, 26 September 2004
Saturday, 25 September 2004
Catus (un) domesticus!
(Do not read before dinner!)
Ditto is in disgrace.
This small, 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth', charming, little catus domesticus has for the last 24 hours begun behaving in a somewhat less that domesticus fashion.
I have kept cats for over 20 years, I thought I knew them inside out, what I did not account for was the differences between the domestic species who reside in a town, as mine did, and those like Ditto who are 'country cats'.
Poppy and gemmak, who lived most of their lives in suburbia, would not have known a mouse had bit them hard on the nose and in 36 years of joint life managed to capture perhaps 3 birds between them! Ditto on the other hand has spent the entirety of her two years in cat wonderland and has reasonably well honed hunting skills. As has been well documented here I regularly receive little 'gifts', most of which I am glad to say I manage to rescue before too much damage is done.
Things have moved on a pace I am sad to say. Yes I know it's natural'cat behaviour', I have nigh on a library of books on the subject, cats hunt given the opportunity. I know that.....honestly I do..... but she is pushing her luck now!
Last evening PG spied her taking rather too much interest in something small and furry. As is my way I set off at a pace to rescue said rodent from the fate of being a plaything...........I arrived at the scene of the crime just in time to see it's head be devoured! Ugh!
Thankfully PG 'dealt' with the remains while I went slightly pale, he then took the slightly bloodstained perpetrator indoors for a stern talking too.
She has since then shown her disapproval most markedly, she whined incessantly last night to be let out, something she never does normally, she harassed Poppy mercilessly by laying in wait around every corner and jumping on her from a height, she chased my feet and attacked my ankles and just as we went to bed she saw fit to use her litter tray and 'misfire', depositing the unmentionable on the floor. She followed that little gem by kicking the litter out of it's receptacle.... also all over the floor. Again not something she has done before!
This evening I came home to find she had again made 'good use' of the litter box. Today's trick was to step in the 'wet bit' and proceed to tread damp white paw marks through the hallway, through the living room, onto the table and finally to indulge in some dancing on the windowsill! This stuff set like clay!
Arghhhh. if I didn't know better I'de swear this cat actually understands!
Ditto is in disgrace.
This small, 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth', charming, little catus domesticus has for the last 24 hours begun behaving in a somewhat less that domesticus fashion.
I have kept cats for over 20 years, I thought I knew them inside out, what I did not account for was the differences between the domestic species who reside in a town, as mine did, and those like Ditto who are 'country cats'.
Poppy and gemmak, who lived most of their lives in suburbia, would not have known a mouse had bit them hard on the nose and in 36 years of joint life managed to capture perhaps 3 birds between them! Ditto on the other hand has spent the entirety of her two years in cat wonderland and has reasonably well honed hunting skills. As has been well documented here I regularly receive little 'gifts', most of which I am glad to say I manage to rescue before too much damage is done.
Things have moved on a pace I am sad to say. Yes I know it's natural'cat behaviour', I have nigh on a library of books on the subject, cats hunt given the opportunity. I know that.....honestly I do..... but she is pushing her luck now!
Last evening PG spied her taking rather too much interest in something small and furry. As is my way I set off at a pace to rescue said rodent from the fate of being a plaything...........I arrived at the scene of the crime just in time to see it's head be devoured! Ugh!
Thankfully PG 'dealt' with the remains while I went slightly pale, he then took the slightly bloodstained perpetrator indoors for a stern talking too.
She has since then shown her disapproval most markedly, she whined incessantly last night to be let out, something she never does normally, she harassed Poppy mercilessly by laying in wait around every corner and jumping on her from a height, she chased my feet and attacked my ankles and just as we went to bed she saw fit to use her litter tray and 'misfire', depositing the unmentionable on the floor. She followed that little gem by kicking the litter out of it's receptacle.... also all over the floor. Again not something she has done before!
This evening I came home to find she had again made 'good use' of the litter box. Today's trick was to step in the 'wet bit' and proceed to tread damp white paw marks through the hallway, through the living room, onto the table and finally to indulge in some dancing on the windowsill! This stuff set like clay!
Arghhhh. if I didn't know better I'de swear this cat actually understands!
Heavens above..............
....it's nearly 48 hours since I last posted something here, the withdrawals are getting bad, this is a most unnerving situation!
I have said it before and I will say it again, how on earth do those bloggers among you, who don't have access to the internet from work manage to keep it up? My head has been so frazzled by the time I have arrived home each day I could think of nothing to blog about in the first place but even if I had come up with something I haven't had a moment spare to type it. It's not good, in fact it's very un-good!....I have to blog soon..... I just have to!
I have said it before and I will say it again, how on earth do those bloggers among you, who don't have access to the internet from work manage to keep it up? My head has been so frazzled by the time I have arrived home each day I could think of nothing to blog about in the first place but even if I had come up with something I haven't had a moment spare to type it. It's not good, in fact it's very un-good!....I have to blog soon..... I just have to!
Thursday, 23 September 2004
No smoke without fire
Smoke
About lunch time I noticed this pall of smoke coming from the vicinity of the farm behind our home, incidentally I would make an appalling photographic journalist, the fire was almost out by the time it entered my mind to take a picture!
Said pall of smoke presented me with a problem. I hate wasting the time of the emergency services and am well aware of the number of inappropriate calls they receive each year, I was married to a fireman for years and the tales of peoples idiocy still ring in my ears. This is also a farming community and I don't know what farmers burn in the day to day 'administration' of things farming.
My dilemma......to call a 999 or not. I hurriedly tried binoculars, rushed on foot a bit closer and still could not decide where the seat of the fire was or if anyone was attending or controlling it. My decision made on the basis that should I have taken it too lightly and someone got hurt it would be dreadful I called it in. Oh what embarrassment. My second hand fire service training had deserted me, I forgot that this would be a job requiring a predetermined turn out of some magnitude and suddenly this quiet little village had not one but three tenders and an emergency rescue vehicle rushing through it on blues and two's!
Suffice to say three left and only one remained to put out the offending inferno. I was somewhat reassured by the fact that it at least required some attention but have a nasty feeling that this may well have been just a farmer going about his business, albeit on a reasonably large scale. I have visions of some poor soul going about his day quietly until some 'silly city incomer' who didn't understand called the fire brigade and caused mayhem!
I don't think I will be broadcasting locally who called 999!
A good read
Now this is a book, or to be more specific a number of books, I would like to have adorning my book shelves and available for bedtime reading, if only I had the required space!
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, published yesterday, costs a 'mere' £7000 and takes up 12 feet of shelf space! It's biographies are of some 50,000 individuals who are considered to have shaped Britain into what it is today and includes those such as Stephen Lawrence, Linda McCartney, Queen Victoria and the Dunblane mass murderer Thomas Hamilton.
I wonder if there is an Adobe version I can download?!!!
Other items in the news that caught my eye this morning are the reports of Iranian bloggers protest against censorship by renaming their blogs after banned publications and this article, for obvious reasons, concerning a man who prevented a woman throwing herself off the Cliff at Beachy Head.
Oh... and finally this seems a little severe. Janet Jackson and her antics don't normally interest me but come on, accident or not, this was after all only a breast! It may be considered inappropriate to some but I find it slighly insulting that the momentary sight of a woman's breast can be deemed 'indecent' in any circumstances.
Perhaps Judy Finnigan should call her lawyer!
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, published yesterday, costs a 'mere' £7000 and takes up 12 feet of shelf space! It's biographies are of some 50,000 individuals who are considered to have shaped Britain into what it is today and includes those such as Stephen Lawrence, Linda McCartney, Queen Victoria and the Dunblane mass murderer Thomas Hamilton.
I wonder if there is an Adobe version I can download?!!!
Other items in the news that caught my eye this morning are the reports of Iranian bloggers protest against censorship by renaming their blogs after banned publications and this article, for obvious reasons, concerning a man who prevented a woman throwing herself off the Cliff at Beachy Head.
Oh... and finally this seems a little severe. Janet Jackson and her antics don't normally interest me but come on, accident or not, this was after all only a breast! It may be considered inappropriate to some but I find it slighly insulting that the momentary sight of a woman's breast can be deemed 'indecent' in any circumstances.
Perhaps Judy Finnigan should call her lawyer!
Wednesday, 22 September 2004
Ups and downs
Thus far this week I haven't posted much in the way of happenings in the gemmak household, in the main because it has been a strange week with things seeming to hang in the balance.
PG has been off work ill for 3 days and under my feet requiring ministering too at frequent intervals, as is the way of the male of the species. He hasn't in fact been that ill (a point that is of no consequence where levels of 'attention' are concerned) but given the nature of his job, is prohibited from work with any kind of infection etc. His work is with severely mentally and physically disabled adults who's immune systems can barely cope at the best of times.
To be encouraged, nay banned from work while ill seems a Godsend to those of us who continue to struggle in when ailing and receive little sympathy for our stoicism. It is not so much of a gift however when you consider that despite not having a choice in the matter he does not get paid!
I think in honesty he was glad to be out of the place for the last few days. Saturday bought him and his colleagues news of the tragic death of one of their number, who had apparently and without warning thrown herself off a cliff to her death.
PG was one of the last people to speak to her, she had only been with them for maybe a year but he and she had some common ground and often chatted together. There seems to have been no warning that she was feeling even remotely suicidal but it is often the case and ultimately it is sometimes impossible to know what is going on in someone else's mind. PG is not given to showing his feelings but I think quietly, this hit him harder than he would admit.
On a more positive note his father was moved from ITU late last week and has made such steady progress will hopefully be returned home by the end of this week. It was decided that further surgery was not necessary thankfully and having 'turned the corner' his subsequent recovery was impressive. The ability of the human body to heal itself amazes me. Of course in this case massive medical intervention saved his life but once over the worst the natural healing process is astounding.
So thus far it has been an odd week, sad and happy, up and down. Unusually I am working the rest of it,Thursady through Sunday, so less playtime for me. PG shuffled off to work at 6.30 this morning, looking slightly sorry for himself in the gales that have blown all week...... Autumn has most definitely arrived in this corner of the world.
This week over with and it is then only one week remains until we are off to London to visit my parents again, I can't wait..........
PG has been off work ill for 3 days and under my feet requiring ministering too at frequent intervals, as is the way of the male of the species. He hasn't in fact been that ill (a point that is of no consequence where levels of 'attention' are concerned) but given the nature of his job, is prohibited from work with any kind of infection etc. His work is with severely mentally and physically disabled adults who's immune systems can barely cope at the best of times.
To be encouraged, nay banned from work while ill seems a Godsend to those of us who continue to struggle in when ailing and receive little sympathy for our stoicism. It is not so much of a gift however when you consider that despite not having a choice in the matter he does not get paid!
I think in honesty he was glad to be out of the place for the last few days. Saturday bought him and his colleagues news of the tragic death of one of their number, who had apparently and without warning thrown herself off a cliff to her death.
PG was one of the last people to speak to her, she had only been with them for maybe a year but he and she had some common ground and often chatted together. There seems to have been no warning that she was feeling even remotely suicidal but it is often the case and ultimately it is sometimes impossible to know what is going on in someone else's mind. PG is not given to showing his feelings but I think quietly, this hit him harder than he would admit.
On a more positive note his father was moved from ITU late last week and has made such steady progress will hopefully be returned home by the end of this week. It was decided that further surgery was not necessary thankfully and having 'turned the corner' his subsequent recovery was impressive. The ability of the human body to heal itself amazes me. Of course in this case massive medical intervention saved his life but once over the worst the natural healing process is astounding.
So thus far it has been an odd week, sad and happy, up and down. Unusually I am working the rest of it,Thursady through Sunday, so less playtime for me. PG shuffled off to work at 6.30 this morning, looking slightly sorry for himself in the gales that have blown all week...... Autumn has most definitely arrived in this corner of the world.
This week over with and it is then only one week remains until we are off to London to visit my parents again, I can't wait..........
Tuesday, 21 September 2004
I couldn't resist......
Cosy! © Xavier Chantrenne
........sharing this! It's one of today's offerings from Webshots the only site I pay good money to to use.
Given it's subject to copyright I suppose I should have really avoided the temptation to post, but hey........I just couldn't resist :o)
Expect disruption
It seems today is going to be another day of teeth gnashing and hair pulling in the endeavor to find and put in place a new template! I may complain bitterly at the task that is this but in honesty I enjoy it as frustrating as it can be. I'm not entirely sure why I do it or why I want to do it, other than it's akin to the feeling one gets when bored with the decor in the bathroom/bedroom etc. I think perhaps it's just because it's there to be done and beaten!
So never one to give up the fight and having been charged with the task of getting something new up and running by the end of the day by my ever helpful and patient 'HTML mentor' Lisa, I'm off on yet another trawl through the world of the internet on the seemingly unending hunt for a new template!!! Finding them is not the problem....finding one I like is.
Watch this space, expect some disruption but in the end don't hold your breath..... there is yet again a fair chance that nothing significant will have changed by the end of the day!
So never one to give up the fight and having been charged with the task of getting something new up and running by the end of the day by my ever helpful and patient 'HTML mentor' Lisa, I'm off on yet another trawl through the world of the internet on the seemingly unending hunt for a new template!!! Finding them is not the problem....finding one I like is.
Watch this space, expect some disruption but in the end don't hold your breath..... there is yet again a fair chance that nothing significant will have changed by the end of the day!
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