Tempus....

Well, tempus really does fugit!

I've been trying to get back to my blog for a few days and write something but events in the non-virtual world have conspired to keep me otherwise engaged.

Jobs ranging from chauffering duty to dog walking..... from finishing a game on my Wii to collecting my weekly Pogo gaming badges...... from dining out to dining in.....  they all require time, effort and varying degrees of concentration.

Today marks a sort of special day, and this is partly the reason for my Saturday MORNING blogging activity.... I mean, who would write a blog on a Saturday morning?  Despite the fact that Dawn is working today (a rarity for a Saturday, but she is providing "cover" while her boss is away at the Isle of Wight mudbath festival) - The OTHER thing which marks this as a day to remember is that......

For the first time in almost six years, I am about to embark upon a day of paid, actual, real world work.

It's a fairly daunting prospect when one contemplates the water that has flowed beneath the bridges of Fox Towers....  Having had a trial run at this particular activity already on a quiet day..... I find, for one thing..... my eyes have indeed turned into apple pies!  That is to say, they are about as good for seeing through as apple pies might be..... they are old and tired, and I need to remember my crappy "reading glasses" that I got from a pound shop (for which Huddersfield is famed) - The concept of cheap "readers" is that they basically strap two cheap magnifying glasses over your ocular units in the vain premise that you gain a temporary ability to be able to read, before said lenses render your eyes completely useless!

I'd like to give more details about this particular "engagement" that I may be embarking upon, but it would be premature and foolhardy to do so at this point... rest assured, it will all be common knowledge soon enough and you'll all be welcome to come and press your noses against the glass to watch this fox gliding gracefully on the surface whilst flapping like a mad duck beneath the surface trying to maintain an air of competence!

Suffice to say, I think I would rather be returning to work after a self imposed absence of a term that on my curriculum vitae creates a gap which suggests I may have been detained at her Majesty's pleasure for something akin to murder, than sleeping on a ferry trying to get to the mud on the Isle of Wight..... not my cup of tea at all.

So, wave goodbye to the days of being a carefree, penniless, unemploy(ed/able) free agent of the past, and embrace the prospect of being an overworked, underpaid, wage slave of the future!

"Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!"

Full speed ahead!

Seems the season of beer festivals is upon us. I have to be careful not to drink too much too often!! Having gotten myself a little bit blootered last weekend has made me slightly wary!!

Well I've been quite busy with one thing and another.... mainly Pokemon Diamond!! I DID manage to get my job application handed in on time though, so you never know..... Everything now remains crossed up to the point where interviews begin in the week commencing third November, and to hope that I get an invite!!

Shows how busy doing nothing I have been when I haven't even had a chance to look at my Pogo badges this week and they've been available for me for four hours or more!! Unheard of!!



Finding Nemo? A very lucky picture - indeed the one that DIDN'T get away!! A day at "The Deep" in Hull yielded some pretty crappy photos, and this is the best of a bad bunch. Shame the fish aren't bigger in the frame, but lovely colours and stuff.

A little bit deeper.

Yes, put off by the complicated "work history" that I seem to have accumulated, my enthusiasm to apply for a job has waned to the point that I managed to stay in bed until three o'clock this afternoon playing Pokemon Diamond on my Nintendo DS.

So far I've reached Pikachu procrastination level nineteen.

Bearing in mind that the application deadline is Wednesday and it's already Monday evening and I've only filled in my name and address..... if I had to ask a magic eight ball I am sure it would say something like "Outlook not so good".

I wish I had stayed in permanent employment and never turned to contracting now because the idea of references and work history would have been so much simpler.

Having played some Pogo and updated my blog, I guess I ought to go and at least try to fill in a few more postage stamp sized boxes with my patented "spider-crawling-across-the-page" style calligraphy.



Bolton Abbey 20th September 2008 - What can only be described as a lovely day out - we went walking near Menwith Hill around Fewston and Timble Ings Woods (walking route supplied by the excellent Yorkshire Water website) - A day filled with sightings of red kites, enormous dragonflies, and sunshine - Called at Bolton abbey on the way home.

Kickstart.

I have started the transformation from a lazy arse into a mildly interested lazy arse.

I attended (along with The Turtle) a countryside volunteering meeting last evening. All I gotta do now is make sure I attend a some of the guided walks and "task" days over the next few weeks and to find out whether I fancy it or not. I've left my contact details and I think there's room for an Arctic Fox and a Turtle amongst their ranks.

Shock, horror, I even phoned up a company to send me out a job application too!! As anyone who knows me knows.... I am quite particular about which jobs to apply for - in truth I've applied for three jobs in the last two years!! This job is a nice one, and it's very local, and it seems pretty interesting, so fingers crossed on that.



For no other reason that I actually think this photo is as good as any "calendar" shot I've ever taken, this colourful shot of Conwy Bowling Club in North Wales has managed to find a place on my blog. I love the deep colours and the hint of an approaching autumn that are hanging in the frame.

Aye Carumba!

Interviews, eh?

Well, it was good in places and bad in other places.

Thanks to everyone who has wished me luck. I should find out on Monday next week whether they are doing second interviews or whether they have allocated the job and who they might have allocated it to.

Fingers, legs, and everything else that would cross without making my eyes water, well and truly crossed!!

For now, it's the weekend. I can relax without the pressure of an interview hanging over me, but with the added pressure of waiting for that fateful phone call!!

I think I might like a beer this evening.

Tired.

A sleepless night. Hot and bothered, unable to open the window because of the "storms" outside - for "storms", read "wind and rain" - I'd like to know exactly when we started referring to typical British weather as "storms" - An overactive mind, bent out of shape from a marathon job application form (I spent about six hours yesterday working on a single application)..... these were (some of) the factors that have left me tired, miserable and decidedly grumpy today.

I'm not going to comment on the "storms" other than to reveal that unsurprisingly the highest winds were measured in Snowdonia - it's a bloody mountain, what do you expect?

I'm not going to comment on the prospect of the introduction of the "pledge of allegiance" to our schools.

I'm not going to even comment on the disruption of the Cheltenham racing meet, other than the fact that it might mean we get our beloved "Countdown" back on the screens this afternoon.

Not going to mention the prospect of a "green" budget announcement later today that will not increase petrol duties, but will see a levy placed on carrier bags!!

I will however mention......

I nipped out to hand deliver an application form and missed a post delivery that I now have to wait 48 hours to collect from the post office in the town centre. That really irks me!!

I have an interview for the second job that I applied for.

I am going to have a nap.

Slack jawed yokel.

Ok, so I've been a bit "slack" of late.

I haven't been paying much attention to my blog, my updates are less than interesting, and the bowling cam has kind of gone into meltdown along with all the other features that I normally update.

I've been doing a bit of gardening..... I've been riding my bike a bit.... I've been listening to lots of digital radio (Radio 7 is brilliant - no music, just comedy, plays, books and the like).... I've been playing a wee bit of Pogo.... I've been playing a whole lot of Lego Star Wars on the Wii....... and I'm only seen with my Nintendo DS in my sweaty palms when I am riding my bike.

I am also in depression / denial (delete as applicable) to have heard nothing about my recent job application! Mr. Clack was right on the money with his reference to the "soul destroying" aspect of job hunting..... and I've only applied for one!!

And so it is........ today I bring you..... in place of the bowling cam, which of course has not seen much action during the "off season"..... I bring to you, the magic of Amaryllis cam!! They are fast growing bulbs, so I expect that it will be more exciting than the bowling for the minute..... currently the green shoot (for reference purposes only) stands at around six centimetres which is about two point three six inches on the old scale.

Here is the first picture, but you can check it out "live" as well!!

I Wish they would fix the frikking spell checker on Blogger.... not only has it not been working for ages, but it completely "gooses" everything when I try to use it or see if it is fixed yet!!!!

Happy valentine's day lover!! X X X

It is with sadness.....

... that I report my excitement at the fact that my neighbour has applied for planning permission to install hardwood double glazing in his property.

Perhaps I am getting old when I await the outcome of Brian's application with trepidation?

The reasons I am so bothered are quite simple really.

a) The buildings are "listed" in that their character may not be altered... everything needs to be replaced on a like-for-like basis.

b) My house is the lowest quality property in the whole row.

c) I would love to get some decent hardwood double glazing in.

d) If they let my neighbour have it, then they surely can't object to me getting it done!!

My current mish-mash of softwood windows, some of which are falling to pieces, some with secondary glazing, some with the thinnest sealed double glazing panels in them..... all different, all scruffy, all in too poor a state to even open, could soon be the lovely windows I so desire.

Perhaps when the Pogo badges get released this afternoon I might calm down a littrle from all the excitement.

I wish I would get a response from the job application I completed recently..... fingers crossed.

Groans.

Well it started like any other day....

My mum texted me to ask me to report a problem with her landline phone. I sarcastically reply to ask why, if her mobile phone is working, she doesn't report her own phone being out of order!! It takes a further ten minutes and a phone call to actually explain the error of her ways!!

I got out of bed, and assembled the last piece of the job application jigsaw puzzle and headed out to the post office. Job done, the application is now in the postal system, and I must keep my fingers crossed that:

a) It doesn't get lost in the post.
b) The effort I have put into it will at least reap an interview.

I choked at the fact that I forgot to scan the documents in before I posted them all off.... A silly mistake, but one I will hopefully not come to regret!!

I came home, had beans on toast and a lovely baked apple for my lunch.

Went out for a pleasant post-luncheon stroll.... noticing how out of shape I have managed to become since the hardcore hiking of last summer..... Winter and plantar fasciitis have a lot to answer for. My heel is still very painful and gets tired very easily, but it's not so bad over the shorter walks that I manage these days.

Played some Nintendo, nodded in and out of sleep, watched a little TV.

Assembled a rustic tea-time snack of crusty bread, pasta salad and houmous. Delicious..... until.... I actually heard the gristly crunch as I bit down on the side of my tongue.

Gaaaaak!!

Spitting blood and garlic infused chickpeas, and stuffing my mouth with cotton wool.....

Ten minutes later, it's stopped bleeding, but the lump that's emerged, just underneath and directly at the side of my tongue is making life very uncomfortable. Bonjela, Anbesol and clove oil have all been applied, but I am still like a lolling, drooling, dribbling, panting dog.

Dammmit.l

Sup it up.

Well, I obviously haven't been back to my blog this weekend....

I've sunk a few beers and the lovely Dawn has sunk a few ciders. We've eaten more than we should have, and the weekend has evaporated like the alcohol that's been coursing through my veins.

To "Sunday Search" or not....? that is the question.....

I really oughtn't... I've procrastinated too much and the deadline for my job application is looming large on the horizon. For this reason, I will spare you the usual search nonsense, and let you go and do something more productive with your own time.... and we'll agree to agree, that I should also do something more important with my time too......

I promise that I will not pick up my Nintendo DS.... again!!

Right..... onward and upward!!

Piss.

I am still bloody suffering from the effects of a cold..... wheezy lungs and a sore throat and blocked sinuses!! Is there any respite?

Managed to get out for a short walk today around the Rocking Stones Quarry, near where I used to live, and on to the, now abandoned and decimated, highest football pitch in England at 364m above sea level, at Scapegoat Hill. The wind was bloody strong, and it was very wet underfoot, but getting wrapped up and having fresh air gale-force fed into your lungs is exhilarating.

Despite playing far too much Nintendo DS for my health and or sanity, I seem to have almost finished my curriculum vitae.... the deadline for applications for this job is next week, and I really don't want to miss it. The more I've thought about the job, the more I think it would be a good career change for me. No, I haven't mentioned what the job is yet, and no, I'm not about to until I know that I either have or haven't got it....... I can't believe for one minute that, having not even looked for a job, the first one I see will be offered to me though!!

Let's just hope that if I get considered for an interview (and there's no reason why I shouldn't) that they hold them in the afternoon, otherwise I am cream, crackered!!

Rattle and hum.

Rolling along on the crest of a wave......

I'm ticking over, treading water, rattling round the house spending portions of time doing a myriad of smaller tasks, and of course, never completing any of them.

I think the fact that I got my Nintendo DS playing copied games in the same week that I am trying to type up my curriculum vitae equate to one procrastination too far.

Between Zelda's Phantom Hourglass, Scrabble 2007, and Cooking Mama 2, there isn't enough time to formulate a few simple sentences in a Word document, let alone write a blog entry. This is before I even dare to put Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga anywhere near my micro SD card!!

I pray to Shigeru Miyamoto that I can finish Zelda in the next couple of days, or find the will power to put it down and finish whatever I am supposed to be doing.

I also seem to be trapped in the habit of watching the last hour of lots of films. I seem to catch only this last slice of lots of great films. I really ought to get myself a televisual magazine, but then I never get round to reading it. I used to use Digiguide on my computer, but it's not cheap and you need it running in the room where you watch TV for it to be worthwhile. Perhaps I'll look out for a good free television guide tomorrow.

And so to bed...... drifting off to BBC radio seven..... bliss!!

Felt better!

I'm a bit grim today.

A shaky, sickly feeling is descending upon me. I am praying that it is not the start of a bout of the puking and crapping virus that seems to have done the rounds along the peripheries of my social circle.

In other grim news, I have begun to put my curriculum vitae together. I find it very difficult to summarise the twenty one years of employment that I have encountered in my life. To precis each job into a few sentences whilst encapsulating the requirements of the job that I am applying for, is a stretch of anyone's imagination.... not just mine.

In good news......

I finally got my Nintendo working and have downloaded a few games..... I was, of course, playing Zelda's Phantom Hourglass well into the small hours of this morning before exhaustion overcame me. Having played a few Zelda games before, it would be nice to think that I might actually complete at least one of them in my lifetime!! Even more so now that it's a freebie!!

Well that's about it.... I'm feeling sorry for myself and I need a hug.... and someone who can write a good CV!! I'm gonna go get myself a cup of joe and curl up on the settee with my Nintendo DS.

Waking up.

It's the new year for me.

I feel like I am waking up from a deep winter slumber. Like the spring bulbs that have already started to grow green and fresh, I feel a wave of productivity coming along.

Yesterday, I took my car in for its annual service and test certificate.... I will never know why I insist on taking it to the local Honda dealership, and the invoice at the end of this supposedly gentle workout, was more than I can really afford. Do they not realise I haven't earned a single penny in well over a year now??

Today I sorted out all the outstanding bills and paperwork, and only have my passport application left to work through. I also tackled a very troublesome, overfilled cupboard in my lounge, with utter ruthlessness. I even tackled one of those problematic corners of the room that has carrier bags and piles of paper and miscellany piled up in it.

Want to know something else?

I have found a job that I want!!

Yes, I have actually found a job that, not only would I be very good at, but it is a new direction and pays a reasonable starting salary, that would allow me to stay in the house where I live.

I have surprised myself. I have requested an application pack.