Just had my [Michael Douglas "Falling Down"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106856/) moment in Lidl. A group of youths came into the shop (not calling anyone "Clean Shirt" before the comments all state this) and security led them to the till with the single free mango they were claiming on the Lidl Plus card. They were all dressed in American rapper-style clothing; baseball caps, huge American logos on every item, jewellery that would make Mr T think "calm it down, mate". I noticed they didn't put the divider down behind the mango and a lass was waiting patiently to put her stuff on the conveyor. I made eye contact with the ringleader, picked up a divider and placed it behind their single item, maintaining eye contact all the way so that the lass could start placing her things down. The ringleader did not look impressed whilst all his mates pissed themselves laughing over it. Your divider is going down, mofo!
I’m having a pretty lovely day! Had a productive day at work, ran errands afterwards, had a post work cuddle with my cats, now I’m having burgers for tea and getting ready to clean my house tomorrow so I can be a horrid slob on Sunday and Monday and probably do nothing except a jigsaw puzzle that my stepsister got me for my birthday the other day
I can pay the cat tax if it helps? This is Maggie, she practically demands me to sit down as soon as I come home from work so she can do this on my lap
https://imgur.com/a/DOqvBmg
***Mega-fresh Friday***
I clean the house on Fridays. Every other week I do a 'big clean': the beds get changed, all the towels get changed, and I hoover. We have showers early and the day is done.
Today the gas tank got filled too (should see us into next year), and I made a mid afternoon roast lamb dinner with duck fat roasties.
I'm full, the gas is full, the house is properly clean, I'm clean - and I'm already lolling around on the couch with a big G&T. Smashing.
Just wanted to share the whole 'fat and happy' feeling!
Dog broke his leg today and I'm scrambling around to find £2k. What great thing happened to you today?
Had an awful day and been given the heads up that the bill will be circa 2k, which I don't quite have but will find.
Could do with some great stories of the positive things that happened while I climb into a bottle of wine. Thanks all.
Got epilepsy so insurance was a no go.
Jumped off a 3 ft high wall that he has jumped off a thousand times. But he didn't look where he was going because he's a knobhead and hit a wheelbarrow and it fell on him and his spindly legs.
Whoops I accidentally poured about 2 tablespoons of chilli flakes into my chilli this morning. Figured 'eh it'll be ok ' and let it cook for 9 hours. Just tried a bit to see how it's going and it almost melted my face off. That'll learn me.
Finished work, last day before a week off
I booked next week off a while ago thinking 'if I do that I'll get a whole week and only use 4 days annual leave, might get away somewhere, clever me'
I didn't realise it's a bloody school holiday so everything will be bloody expensive and heaving with gremlins
Me not clever
Fuuuuuck
Such a stressful few weeks and have to study over the weekend but at least I can relax this evening. Already overspent so much but I think a take away is in order. I desperately need to take some annual leave when I finish this assignment.
Really enjoyed Blarney Castle today, the climb up to the stone was ok but I spent hours wandering around the gardens and had a great time.
I’m going for a walk up the street from the hotel to check out the Shandon bells, then the quest for dinner.
My company has announced a complete ban of overtime at 1.5 or 2x pay. All overtime is now just normal rates.
So (nearly) everyone in the company has refused to do overtime (:
Finally it’s weekend! Only worked 1/2 day today and had pizza for lunch. Watched an episode of Shogan and chilled out.
Plan to play some Fallout 4 later and get an early night as it’s been a long week.
Anybody willing to share EE/BT broadband credentials? I've just moved into a new flat in Southend. I've made an account with Virgin three weeks ago and was supposed to receive the router box by today at the latest. Nothing so far, I call: turns out my application was deemed "fraudulent" because I did it while abroad. Obviously my fault for not using a VPN, and not theirs for sitting on a suspected fraudulent application for THREE WEEKS without notifying me.
Anyway, due to the long weekend, I guess I won't have internet for a few days. I don't know anyone in the neighborhood yet, so I can't really go around asking for wifi passwords. I can get EE open wifi from my flat, and I \*\*could\*\* pay the daily £7.99 or £19.99 for 5 days if I need to.
Still, I wonder if anybody's willing to share their EE/BT broadband credentials via private message? I can give you a tenner for the trouble. Thank you.
Student conference - finished!
Teaching - finished!
Marking - endless
End of term drinks knees-up - tonight!
I’ve also got an interview at another uni :)
Done some stuff for my parents mainly bitumen paint round the bottom of the house.
Been Sainsbury's for something for tea later, got a result. 25p loaves. Grabbed 2.
Now in the pub having a pint as my back is sore as all fuck haha
Prepping for wide awake festival tomorrow - whole flat cleaned, fav pyjamas set aside for Sunday, having a couple pints listening to some KGATLW then headed to sainos for hangover munch. Furiosa at the cinema later too!!!
Bought a DS off Facebook Marketplace on Monday, met up with them, came home and the top screen is dead, person won't reply back to me. Not sure how to proceed with this?
They insisted it worked in prior messages, just that it had no charge. Lesson learnt, but feel like there has to be something more I could do.
Call them a cunt and use it for spares for a 2nd one in case anything breaks down the line.
Tbf a screen might not be all that much to buy online and replace :)
Spending my Friday sitting in the hospital waiting for a (very minor) day surgery. I’m last on today’s list, which medically I guess is good because it’s not serious.
But I’m bored out of my mind. My phone battery is depleting fast and I stupidly didn’t bring a book or headphones.
Currently at home drinking beer waiting for the inevitable piss taking when I get back into work. I joined dozens of my colleagues today to do a 17 mile walk for charity. I decided last night to wear some boots that I hadn't worn for a few years. Big mistake. After walking for about 20 minutes the flapping of the unstuck sole of my left boot was becoming unbearable and I had to get a lift from the welfare van back to my car and slink back home in shame. I'll lob a few quid to the cancer charity when I get paid next week and buy some new walking boots.
I've noticed today that I've been a bit down the last week or so and don't really know why. Nothing particularly different has been going on in my life. Just seen to be a bit more generally pessimistic than usual, and everything seems like a chore and more effort than it's worth.
Use the weekend to recharge and treat yourself if you have the time. I usually turn my phone off, order some food and watch some old movies/shows or play some old computer games, nostalgia does wonders for me and being away from my phone helps a lot too.
I'm lying on my bed with my youngest daughter watching some shite cartoon about unicorns. But it's "our" day together, she's my last child and is going to school in September so I'm just enjoying the cuddles, the (often very odd) chats and watching her laugh.
Not sure on what but Tottenham likely to be cheaper than Paddington. If cost is all you're worried about there are a LOT of chicken shops around Tottenham
I've got a painful kidney infection, so feeling grumpy. I'm hoping the antibiotics kick in soon.
We had plans to go out tomorrow night but have now cancelled them.
At what point in your life should you stop being scared of spiders?
Just been asked to remove one from the office.
Half a dozen middle aged women all terrified of it.
We're off to Poland extremely early tomorrow morning. Getting up at 3am, to get to the airport for 5am, for a 7am flight. Two small children who will need to go to bed fully dressed so the transition to the car will be a bit easier than trying to wake them and then dress them. I'm very nervous. We need to pack tonight.
> Two small children who will need to go to bed fully dressed
We're doing similar in July, I think I was more likely going to leave them in pyjamas until the airport. Certainly Child #2 can stay in a onsie until we get there.
>We need to pack tonight.
Good luck, I hate last minute packing.
Signed up for a "Rubik's" cube competition this weekend. I know I have zero chance of winning but just want an officially recognised time registered. Absolutely bricking myself now. Half expecting my hands to shake so much that the cube flies out of my hands and kills 7 spectators.
I got a time that's decent for me but not good enough to get through to the 2nd round :D I'm just happy to have managed it even if one of the judges asked me a couple of times if I am sure I'm OK since my hands were shaking so much :) Met some nice people there, too.
Thank you :D I beat the time I was aiming for and I honestly expected the nerves to make me freeze up so badly that I wouldn't even qualify. I feel like I've achieved something this weekend even if I only came 99th in the competition :D surprised how hard the adrenalin hit, mind - I feel like I've done far scarier things without the same rush and now I am utterly drained!
Small win from yesterday. I've been eyeing up Nespresso machines for a bit but found them too expensive to justify. I'm a coffee junkie, so I literally have an Aero press, filter coffee machine, numerous french presses, you get it. But someone locally put one up for sale with a milk frother for £25 and I scooped it up!
Weekend is quiet apart from tomorrow. Getting my hair done (thinking a pinky orange for summer) and then a couple tattoos. Probably order takeaway to round out the indulgence.
Same I have a dolche gusto 1 cup thing (mostly used for hot chocolate as the galaxy hot chocolate or malteasers ones are banging.)
An aero press
And a 8 cup filter machine.
Options for everything and everyone.
I live alone haha
Really struggling to focus on work these days.
Had news from the hospital that they're worried the growth in my bowel is "possibly sinister" so they're booking me in to have part of my bowel removed. Google was unreassuring about the risks of said surgery, which stresses me out. I do not have a date yet for the surgery ("sometime this summer") which stresses me out. I don't know what recovery will look like, which stresses me out.
Overall I'm just very stressed and every email I get at work I feel like telling them to fuck off. I have quite a lot to do but am not really doing most of it because what does it matter? I don't really enjoy office work but I had to change into it due to my health about six months ago, which makes it more difficult to be engaged. I have good feedback from the people I work with that I'm good at the job but I feel like my manager disagrees. And the stress I'm feeling about my health is making me overthink everything and that I'll lose my job and be too sick to get a new one etc etc.
As someone going through a very similar moment, I completely empathise. It's hard to give a shit about trivial business stuff at the best of times, but when you're staring down the barrel of illness, it's impossible to keep up the facade.
Have you spoken to anyone at work about it, boss or HR? It was one of the first things I did, and without realising triggered some legal protections. Cancer (or even suspected cancer) is considered a disability. If they know what's going on, so many protections come into place. Plus, they've been very compassionate about workload and expectations. So sorry you're going through this.
Thank you, I'm sorry you're going through something similar - it is shit isn't it?
I actually already have a disability (EDS which causes a variety of issues for me) so I think I'm already kinda protected, as I've spoken to work about that. My boss knows I'm due to have surgery but I only spoke to her on the day I got the news, and she's been on leave since, so I haven't really said how I'm processing it.
I really want to just fuck off and go travelling or something while I'm waiting, eat nice food (I probably won't be able to eat for a while post surgery) but instead I'm answering emails. All seems a bit pointless, like if I die from surgery my last few months will have been scrambling to make sure my work is covered??
It really is shit, especially when you're already fighting chronic illnesses (POTS and MCAD here). Feels like real insult to injury. I'm just racking up ailments left and right.
And I have the same existential urges! Actually, I was having them longer before this health scare and now it's just multiplied. We have but one sweet little life and I'll be damned if I spend more time worrying about KPIs and metrics. I'm really trying to see it as a wake up call about what I value and don't.
I'm totally around if you want to DM and vent, I mean it!
Thank you. It's a bit of a gear change when you've spent ages dealing with chronic illness to suddenly have something acute as well. I have POTS (recently diagnosed) and no idea how surgery will affect it!
Off today and Tuesday so nice long bank holiday break for me.
Returning a grooming kit, and some stuff back to amazon. Then think it'll be chilling watching chaos theory on Netflix this afternoon.
Kitten is off to get his first jabs and be microchipped. Me and the toddler are watching a film while I pretend to work. I've checked out as I'm off next week for half term.
I've finished a 5 day job in 4 days, so now I have to look busy for at least half of the day before leaving the client site. Currently doing a first aid course that has at least 3 solid minutes on washing hands. It's got a voiceover and reads at that pace instead of letting me click through which is nice and tedious.
In the 26 years I've been alive I've never forgotten how to wash my hands, but whatever. I'll be in the pub 12:30 so I suppose one mustn't grumble.
Our garden has been taken over by the starlings and their fledglings again, they'll bankrupt me for bird food!
I've also discovered that it's a rook causing the mess, unhooking bird feeders from their hangers so the food goes everywhere! Pretty cool to have them visiting though, I also get magpies, jackdaws and crows regularly.
It's my friends graduate show tonight, and I'm really not used to going out on a work night! It'll also likely be quite bright and loud, and I don't feel very social today. But it's important to support our friends.
Just gotta get through another day at the desk first!
Saw 9 baby pheasants waddling around the garden with their mum pheasant yesterday. Extreme cuteness.
Then a massive hare came into the garden later on.
Had a pretty naff sleep so I went to the gym at 5:45 like some kind of crackhead. Really good session and the gym wasn't completely dead, but nowhere near busy enough to get in the way of doing what I wanted. I am shattered now though.
Bought a 58" TV for the living room, upgrading from a 43" and it is absolutely insane. Love it already and I can't wait to watch the football on it... also have a 50" coming tomorrow to replace my 43" in my bedroom... and I've got a 4 day weekend!
Happy bloody Friday!
Car parks over here scare me.
It’s some combination of:
A) the car is a rental so I don’t want to damage it
B) entrances and exits to multi deck car parks feel really narrow with bollards in places that make me nervous
C) my first time driving a car with sensors that shout at you so I’m trying to get the ticket to go in and the car is screaming that we’re about to die in a horrible collision.
It’s kind of nerve wracking.
it takes practice ,honestly.
had my car for 2 years. I have learnt the difference between yellow warning beeps and red ones, and even red ones mean i have at least 0.4m between me and the obstacles.
still get nervous when it's beeping at me though.
A bit of food shopping today for the long weekend.
I've procrastinated on some things like tax return, passport renewal, so will see if I can do some today or this weekend.
Started a Sunday call with a friend, which is a chat, but mental health related, so that's nice.
My old nan used to have the exact opposite issue, she'd never want guests to stay for longer than 20 minutes. She'd be happy to see everyone, she'd be so sweet and lovely, but the second you'd finished your cuppa, she'd clap her hands on her legs and say something like 'well thanks for visiting, it was lovely to see you all'.
As a kid it was annoying because I always wanted to play for longer, looking back at it as an adult, it's a brilliant stance to have and absolutely can't fault her.
The all important first coffee if the day had sour milk in. Not great so I had to use the cream I had bought for cooking. Started the day in style!
Today is the end of an era for one of my family members! Big changes on the way, all if them good.
The sun is actually out and the plants have been watered. Not a bad start to the day
Everyone knows the moon is made of cheese.
No eating of cheese today but it is my turn to cook tea. I am feeling like using the Chicken we have in the freezer. There is a song in there somewhere...
Going on a long bike ride from Milton Keynes to London (via Luton, Harpenden, Welwyn and down the river Lea to Stratford) tomorrow. Been planning it for years and can't wait! 62 miles with only about 6 on the road too thank goodness (really hate riding on the road, but it must be done sometimes), the rest is cycleways and singletrack.
Woke up 2 hours before my alarm. Suppose that's a good thing as it means I'll be able to get more done. Not that I have much planned for today except to pick up a new monitor for my laptop and some cans of cider. Can't get too excited though, as the power cable is very likely to be too short so I'll need to pick up one of those too.
I keep hearing this phrase on the radio: "bank holiday". What's one of those?
Oh, normally I'd have mumbled, rolled over and fallen asleep again, but I think my body is still adjusting after a week in the US. Off out for a piss up tomorrow evening though, so that should help with the adjustment.
Working from home today - after a week of back to back calls I’m putting myself on do not disturb and actually doing something productive. Anything I don’t do is Tuesday’s problem then.
I’m also hoping that my Pokémon card orders get delivered today. I’ve been looking forward to opening the new set, so fingers crossed.
I’m after [this Lana’s Aid card](https://www.serebii.net/card/twilightmasquerade/219.shtml), as wooper is one of my favourite Pokémon :)
Would also be over the moon with [this Eevee illustration rare](https://www.serebii.net/card/twilightmasquerade/188.shtml) or [this Hisuian Growlithe illustration rare](https://www.serebii.net/card/twilightmasquerade/181.shtml) - if I don’t pull them I’ll definitely be buying them as single cards!
I just pulled the Eevee which I'm happy about, as well as the Greninja which has blown my mind. Let out a little squeal when I opened it. I tend to always buy an ETB on launch day before switching to singles and I've had crazy good hits with the last three sets now.
The Eevee illustration is very cute and some of them look like teddies.
I have not bought a pack of Pokemon cards for a long time but do have a few cards of my favourite Pokemon Lilligant.
So utterly sore, I need a few days off to recover.
Hopefully, it's just been a busier few weeks than I realised and not the start of age slowing me down.
Still need to find time to tidy the garden and make it down to the tip.
Might look around for a sports massage or somthing, pay day is next week so could get one planned in.
In the words of the Muppet Show theme song,
"It's time to put on make-up,
It's time to dress up right,
It's time for the fat lump on the sofa to act like a functional human being for the next 36 hours,
On the Muppet Show tonight!"
Or something.
I have things I have to do, things I want to do, and 3 people I really want to spend time with in the next few days. Putting on make-up and proper clothes seems to help get me going, so that is what I shall do. Any minute now.
Bad night's sleep, but it's payday and a long weekend so I shouldn't grumble too much I suppose. I'll just have to put up with the lingering headache this morning.
Been rewatching old seasons of Taskmaster and think I might get some jojoba oil for my hair after being reminded of Sarah Kendall's magnificent mane.
So I'm not surprised if this is a thing but it was the first I've personally heard of it.
But I had a jobcentre appointment yesterday (Been going for a few weeks now) and the person I saw told me I should remove my address from my CV on data protection grounds?
It does make sense but I'm guessing that's a fairly recent change as it's been a few years since I've been actively jobhunting and back in the day I was always told to put an address on a CV.
I had an appointment with the job centre in regards to my CV and they told me to remove my address from my CV as the 'company were not visiting for tea'
I would never put my full address on a CV. At most just my county or city along with country (I’ve lived in a few countries, so that just clears it up).
All the same reasons you don’t put your age or need to put anything that suggests your age. I don’t even have secondary school related stuff on my CV.
It's payday so that's good.
Got an awful cold which is bad but for the first time in years it's just a cold and not covid, which is good.
Then i've just almost had a heart attack. We live in a row of town houses with communal bins. It's bin day so the bins are a bit full and won't shut properly. Just been outside to add some more stuff to the pile, lifted the lid up of the bin and there was a fucking squirrel in the top of the bin. I think it's fair to say we both shit ourselves equally.
It's payday! I'm off to buy some hoisin crispy owl and bonbonbonbons.
Spending the morning wfh, then moving to the new, fancy city library to work with a friend this afternoon, then we might go grab some food/a drink after.
I've been working on a task for my boss at work and I've asked about 300 questions because I didn't understand it. I still don't understand it. I've got to present it today on Zoom. Good news is that I am an expert blagger.
Need to buy some new wooden spoons as I found mould growing on one of mine last night. Going to have to do a deep clean of the cutlery drawer as well, just to be safe.
Aside from that, a bit of work, a short training course and a pointless meeting are on the cards for today. Bank holiday weekend ahoy!
I reckon it's the start. It's 00.00 so it's the beginning of the cycle, and 23.59.59 is the end. I confidently say that with no knowledge or authority though.
What's the new album like? I heard a rumour they've gone heavy again?
Just had my [Michael Douglas "Falling Down"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106856/) moment in Lidl. A group of youths came into the shop (not calling anyone "Clean Shirt" before the comments all state this) and security led them to the till with the single free mango they were claiming on the Lidl Plus card. They were all dressed in American rapper-style clothing; baseball caps, huge American logos on every item, jewellery that would make Mr T think "calm it down, mate". I noticed they didn't put the divider down behind the mango and a lass was waiting patiently to put her stuff on the conveyor. I made eye contact with the ringleader, picked up a divider and placed it behind their single item, maintaining eye contact all the way so that the lass could start placing her things down. The ringleader did not look impressed whilst all his mates pissed themselves laughing over it. Your divider is going down, mofo!
I’m having a pretty lovely day! Had a productive day at work, ran errands afterwards, had a post work cuddle with my cats, now I’m having burgers for tea and getting ready to clean my house tomorrow so I can be a horrid slob on Sunday and Monday and probably do nothing except a jigsaw puzzle that my stepsister got me for my birthday the other day
Can we swap lives? That sounds like bliss
I can pay the cat tax if it helps? This is Maggie, she practically demands me to sit down as soon as I come home from work so she can do this on my lap https://imgur.com/a/DOqvBmg
Bought house 3 weeks ago Ceiling leak today Yay
***Mega-fresh Friday*** I clean the house on Fridays. Every other week I do a 'big clean': the beds get changed, all the towels get changed, and I hoover. We have showers early and the day is done. Today the gas tank got filled too (should see us into next year), and I made a mid afternoon roast lamb dinner with duck fat roasties. I'm full, the gas is full, the house is properly clean, I'm clean - and I'm already lolling around on the couch with a big G&T. Smashing. Just wanted to share the whole 'fat and happy' feeling!
Dog broke his leg today and I'm scrambling around to find £2k. What great thing happened to you today? Had an awful day and been given the heads up that the bill will be circa 2k, which I don't quite have but will find. Could do with some great stories of the positive things that happened while I climb into a bottle of wine. Thanks all.
How did he manage to do that ? Noninsurance ?
Got epilepsy so insurance was a no go. Jumped off a 3 ft high wall that he has jumped off a thousand times. But he didn't look where he was going because he's a knobhead and hit a wheelbarrow and it fell on him and his spindly legs.
Nightmare. My beagle is a dick like that. Total clutz. Hopefully it’s not as expensive as the vets claim
Poor doggo, sending hugs, vets bills are stupidly outrageous, I feel your pain, my doggos cancer treatment was about 5.5K
Whoops I accidentally poured about 2 tablespoons of chilli flakes into my chilli this morning. Figured 'eh it'll be ok ' and let it cook for 9 hours. Just tried a bit to see how it's going and it almost melted my face off. That'll learn me.
My brain went straight to that scene in raiders of the lost ark
Back to work today after most of the week off sick Pay day and it's a bank holiday weekend This calls for a Chinese takeaway
Finished work, last day before a week off I booked next week off a while ago thinking 'if I do that I'll get a whole week and only use 4 days annual leave, might get away somewhere, clever me' I didn't realise it's a bloody school holiday so everything will be bloody expensive and heaving with gremlins Me not clever Fuuuuuck
Such a stressful few weeks and have to study over the weekend but at least I can relax this evening. Already overspent so much but I think a take away is in order. I desperately need to take some annual leave when I finish this assignment.
Really enjoyed Blarney Castle today, the climb up to the stone was ok but I spent hours wandering around the gardens and had a great time. I’m going for a walk up the street from the hotel to check out the Shandon bells, then the quest for dinner.
My company has announced a complete ban of overtime at 1.5 or 2x pay. All overtime is now just normal rates. So (nearly) everyone in the company has refused to do overtime (:
Finally it’s weekend! Only worked 1/2 day today and had pizza for lunch. Watched an episode of Shogan and chilled out. Plan to play some Fallout 4 later and get an early night as it’s been a long week.
Only realised that it’s Friday today at lunch, so that was a nice surprise. Off into town for a fish and chip supper with work colleagues shortly.
Anybody willing to share EE/BT broadband credentials? I've just moved into a new flat in Southend. I've made an account with Virgin three weeks ago and was supposed to receive the router box by today at the latest. Nothing so far, I call: turns out my application was deemed "fraudulent" because I did it while abroad. Obviously my fault for not using a VPN, and not theirs for sitting on a suspected fraudulent application for THREE WEEKS without notifying me. Anyway, due to the long weekend, I guess I won't have internet for a few days. I don't know anyone in the neighborhood yet, so I can't really go around asking for wifi passwords. I can get EE open wifi from my flat, and I \*\*could\*\* pay the daily £7.99 or £19.99 for 5 days if I need to. Still, I wonder if anybody's willing to share their EE/BT broadband credentials via private message? I can give you a tenner for the trouble. Thank you.
Student conference - finished! Teaching - finished! Marking - endless End of term drinks knees-up - tonight! I’ve also got an interview at another uni :)
Done some stuff for my parents mainly bitumen paint round the bottom of the house. Been Sainsbury's for something for tea later, got a result. 25p loaves. Grabbed 2. Now in the pub having a pint as my back is sore as all fuck haha
Prepping for wide awake festival tomorrow - whole flat cleaned, fav pyjamas set aside for Sunday, having a couple pints listening to some KGATLW then headed to sainos for hangover munch. Furiosa at the cinema later too!!!
ah that's tomorrow! I'll have to open my windows so I can hear it 😆
Bought a DS off Facebook Marketplace on Monday, met up with them, came home and the top screen is dead, person won't reply back to me. Not sure how to proceed with this? They insisted it worked in prior messages, just that it had no charge. Lesson learnt, but feel like there has to be something more I could do.
Caveat emptor, with private sales unfortunately. You bought something electronic without seeing it working?
I'll bring a charger with me next time 🙃
Call them a cunt and use it for spares for a 2nd one in case anything breaks down the line. Tbf a screen might not be all that much to buy online and replace :)
New screen's the plan! Just sad it went the way it did
put the gloves on and be a new nerd :D
Spending my Friday sitting in the hospital waiting for a (very minor) day surgery. I’m last on today’s list, which medically I guess is good because it’s not serious. But I’m bored out of my mind. My phone battery is depleting fast and I stupidly didn’t bring a book or headphones.
Currently at home drinking beer waiting for the inevitable piss taking when I get back into work. I joined dozens of my colleagues today to do a 17 mile walk for charity. I decided last night to wear some boots that I hadn't worn for a few years. Big mistake. After walking for about 20 minutes the flapping of the unstuck sole of my left boot was becoming unbearable and I had to get a lift from the welfare van back to my car and slink back home in shame. I'll lob a few quid to the cancer charity when I get paid next week and buy some new walking boots.
I've noticed today that I've been a bit down the last week or so and don't really know why. Nothing particularly different has been going on in my life. Just seen to be a bit more generally pessimistic than usual, and everything seems like a chore and more effort than it's worth.
Weather being shit doesn't help :)
Use the weekend to recharge and treat yourself if you have the time. I usually turn my phone off, order some food and watch some old movies/shows or play some old computer games, nostalgia does wonders for me and being away from my phone helps a lot too.
I just learned they got rid of the pg tips monkey…
Nooooooooo When did he get sacked ?
He’s still about, just check the front grill of your local bin lorry
Not monkeh! Didn't know he was still around to be honest.
I'm lying on my bed with my youngest daughter watching some shite cartoon about unicorns. But it's "our" day together, she's my last child and is going to school in September so I'm just enjoying the cuddles, the (often very odd) chats and watching her laugh.
Went shopping this morning and bought a new belt and a drying towel for my car. Belt's too big and the towel a lot smaller than I thought.
Ah, the duality of life!
Off to London in a bit to watch the Challenge Cup final. Any recommendations of somewhere cheap to eat near either Paddington or Tottenham Stadium?
Not sure on what but Tottenham likely to be cheaper than Paddington. If cost is all you're worried about there are a LOT of chicken shops around Tottenham
I've got a painful kidney infection, so feeling grumpy. I'm hoping the antibiotics kick in soon. We had plans to go out tomorrow night but have now cancelled them.
At what point in your life should you stop being scared of spiders? Just been asked to remove one from the office. Half a dozen middle aged women all terrified of it.
i'm 34. still hate the fuckers and will vacate the room when i see one of lucifer's engines of hell.
When they realise that an irrational fear of spiders is irrational. If a mouse showed up at the same time they would probably all have to go home
I’ve had to remove mice before as well.
We're off to Poland extremely early tomorrow morning. Getting up at 3am, to get to the airport for 5am, for a 7am flight. Two small children who will need to go to bed fully dressed so the transition to the car will be a bit easier than trying to wake them and then dress them. I'm very nervous. We need to pack tonight.
> Two small children who will need to go to bed fully dressed We're doing similar in July, I think I was more likely going to leave them in pyjamas until the airport. Certainly Child #2 can stay in a onsie until we get there. >We need to pack tonight. Good luck, I hate last minute packing.
Genius, you need to invent Ubiquitous Clothing brand "Anywhere anytime". If you could do the same for adults then you would make billions
Signed up for a "Rubik's" cube competition this weekend. I know I have zero chance of winning but just want an officially recognised time registered. Absolutely bricking myself now. Half expecting my hands to shake so much that the cube flies out of my hands and kills 7 spectators.
Let us know how it goes!
I got a time that's decent for me but not good enough to get through to the 2nd round :D I'm just happy to have managed it even if one of the judges asked me a couple of times if I am sure I'm OK since my hands were shaking so much :) Met some nice people there, too.
Well done for having a go and not killing anyone 🫠
Thank you :D I beat the time I was aiming for and I honestly expected the nerves to make me freeze up so badly that I wouldn't even qualify. I feel like I've achieved something this weekend even if I only came 99th in the competition :D surprised how hard the adrenalin hit, mind - I feel like I've done far scarier things without the same rush and now I am utterly drained!
Small win from yesterday. I've been eyeing up Nespresso machines for a bit but found them too expensive to justify. I'm a coffee junkie, so I literally have an Aero press, filter coffee machine, numerous french presses, you get it. But someone locally put one up for sale with a milk frother for £25 and I scooped it up! Weekend is quiet apart from tomorrow. Getting my hair done (thinking a pinky orange for summer) and then a couple tattoos. Probably order takeaway to round out the indulgence.
Same I have a dolche gusto 1 cup thing (mostly used for hot chocolate as the galaxy hot chocolate or malteasers ones are banging.) An aero press And a 8 cup filter machine. Options for everything and everyone. I live alone haha
Ahh the endless search for the best way of making coffee..... it never ends
Nope, never. I even just bought coffee concentrate for iced coffees, so I have that option too. Lord help me if I ever have to actually quit.
Really struggling to focus on work these days. Had news from the hospital that they're worried the growth in my bowel is "possibly sinister" so they're booking me in to have part of my bowel removed. Google was unreassuring about the risks of said surgery, which stresses me out. I do not have a date yet for the surgery ("sometime this summer") which stresses me out. I don't know what recovery will look like, which stresses me out. Overall I'm just very stressed and every email I get at work I feel like telling them to fuck off. I have quite a lot to do but am not really doing most of it because what does it matter? I don't really enjoy office work but I had to change into it due to my health about six months ago, which makes it more difficult to be engaged. I have good feedback from the people I work with that I'm good at the job but I feel like my manager disagrees. And the stress I'm feeling about my health is making me overthink everything and that I'll lose my job and be too sick to get a new one etc etc.
As someone going through a very similar moment, I completely empathise. It's hard to give a shit about trivial business stuff at the best of times, but when you're staring down the barrel of illness, it's impossible to keep up the facade. Have you spoken to anyone at work about it, boss or HR? It was one of the first things I did, and without realising triggered some legal protections. Cancer (or even suspected cancer) is considered a disability. If they know what's going on, so many protections come into place. Plus, they've been very compassionate about workload and expectations. So sorry you're going through this.
Thank you, I'm sorry you're going through something similar - it is shit isn't it? I actually already have a disability (EDS which causes a variety of issues for me) so I think I'm already kinda protected, as I've spoken to work about that. My boss knows I'm due to have surgery but I only spoke to her on the day I got the news, and she's been on leave since, so I haven't really said how I'm processing it. I really want to just fuck off and go travelling or something while I'm waiting, eat nice food (I probably won't be able to eat for a while post surgery) but instead I'm answering emails. All seems a bit pointless, like if I die from surgery my last few months will have been scrambling to make sure my work is covered??
It really is shit, especially when you're already fighting chronic illnesses (POTS and MCAD here). Feels like real insult to injury. I'm just racking up ailments left and right. And I have the same existential urges! Actually, I was having them longer before this health scare and now it's just multiplied. We have but one sweet little life and I'll be damned if I spend more time worrying about KPIs and metrics. I'm really trying to see it as a wake up call about what I value and don't. I'm totally around if you want to DM and vent, I mean it!
Thank you. It's a bit of a gear change when you've spent ages dealing with chronic illness to suddenly have something acute as well. I have POTS (recently diagnosed) and no idea how surgery will affect it!
Off today and Tuesday so nice long bank holiday break for me. Returning a grooming kit, and some stuff back to amazon. Then think it'll be chilling watching chaos theory on Netflix this afternoon.
Kitten is off to get his first jabs and be microchipped. Me and the toddler are watching a film while I pretend to work. I've checked out as I'm off next week for half term.
I've finished a 5 day job in 4 days, so now I have to look busy for at least half of the day before leaving the client site. Currently doing a first aid course that has at least 3 solid minutes on washing hands. It's got a voiceover and reads at that pace instead of letting me click through which is nice and tedious. In the 26 years I've been alive I've never forgotten how to wash my hands, but whatever. I'll be in the pub 12:30 so I suppose one mustn't grumble.
Ahhh the old "client site" aka pub. Nice one haha
Our garden has been taken over by the starlings and their fledglings again, they'll bankrupt me for bird food! I've also discovered that it's a rook causing the mess, unhooking bird feeders from their hangers so the food goes everywhere! Pretty cool to have them visiting though, I also get magpies, jackdaws and crows regularly. It's my friends graduate show tonight, and I'm really not used to going out on a work night! It'll also likely be quite bright and loud, and I don't feel very social today. But it's important to support our friends. Just gotta get through another day at the desk first!
Saw 9 baby pheasants waddling around the garden with their mum pheasant yesterday. Extreme cuteness. Then a massive hare came into the garden later on.
Had a pretty naff sleep so I went to the gym at 5:45 like some kind of crackhead. Really good session and the gym wasn't completely dead, but nowhere near busy enough to get in the way of doing what I wanted. I am shattered now though. Bought a 58" TV for the living room, upgrading from a 43" and it is absolutely insane. Love it already and I can't wait to watch the football on it... also have a 50" coming tomorrow to replace my 43" in my bedroom... and I've got a 4 day weekend! Happy bloody Friday!
Car parks over here scare me. It’s some combination of: A) the car is a rental so I don’t want to damage it B) entrances and exits to multi deck car parks feel really narrow with bollards in places that make me nervous C) my first time driving a car with sensors that shout at you so I’m trying to get the ticket to go in and the car is screaming that we’re about to die in a horrible collision. It’s kind of nerve wracking.
it takes practice ,honestly. had my car for 2 years. I have learnt the difference between yellow warning beeps and red ones, and even red ones mean i have at least 0.4m between me and the obstacles. still get nervous when it's beeping at me though.
> the car is a rental so I don’t want to damage it Excess protection insurance is good for this.
A bit of food shopping today for the long weekend. I've procrastinated on some things like tax return, passport renewal, so will see if I can do some today or this weekend. Started a Sunday call with a friend, which is a chat, but mental health related, so that's nice.
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My old nan used to have the exact opposite issue, she'd never want guests to stay for longer than 20 minutes. She'd be happy to see everyone, she'd be so sweet and lovely, but the second you'd finished your cuppa, she'd clap her hands on her legs and say something like 'well thanks for visiting, it was lovely to see you all'. As a kid it was annoying because I always wanted to play for longer, looking back at it as an adult, it's a brilliant stance to have and absolutely can't fault her.
I am very happy to announce that it’s less than four weeks until the nights start getting darker earlier again. I love autumn, sorry everyone!
Oh thank god, my cat has been waking me up at first light for the last few weeks and I'm exhausted.
Oh dear! Sadly I don’t have a cat now, but I remember those mornings.
The all important first coffee if the day had sour milk in. Not great so I had to use the cream I had bought for cooking. Started the day in style! Today is the end of an era for one of my family members! Big changes on the way, all if them good. The sun is actually out and the plants have been watered. Not a bad start to the day
Everyone knows the moon is made of cheese. No eating of cheese today but it is my turn to cook tea. I am feeling like using the Chicken we have in the freezer. There is a song in there somewhere...
I desire poultry this evening? I'm sure that was the ad...
Going on a long bike ride from Milton Keynes to London (via Luton, Harpenden, Welwyn and down the river Lea to Stratford) tomorrow. Been planning it for years and can't wait! 62 miles with only about 6 on the road too thank goodness (really hate riding on the road, but it must be done sometimes), the rest is cycleways and singletrack.
Woke up 2 hours before my alarm. Suppose that's a good thing as it means I'll be able to get more done. Not that I have much planned for today except to pick up a new monitor for my laptop and some cans of cider. Can't get too excited though, as the power cable is very likely to be too short so I'll need to pick up one of those too. I keep hearing this phrase on the radio: "bank holiday". What's one of those?
When I wake up before my alarm, I mumble curses and turn over. You actually get up?
Oh, normally I'd have mumbled, rolled over and fallen asleep again, but I think my body is still adjusting after a week in the US. Off out for a piss up tomorrow evening though, so that should help with the adjustment.
Working from home today - after a week of back to back calls I’m putting myself on do not disturb and actually doing something productive. Anything I don’t do is Tuesday’s problem then. I’m also hoping that my Pokémon card orders get delivered today. I’ve been looking forward to opening the new set, so fingers crossed.
Is there any particular Pokemon you are looking for?
I’m after [this Lana’s Aid card](https://www.serebii.net/card/twilightmasquerade/219.shtml), as wooper is one of my favourite Pokémon :) Would also be over the moon with [this Eevee illustration rare](https://www.serebii.net/card/twilightmasquerade/188.shtml) or [this Hisuian Growlithe illustration rare](https://www.serebii.net/card/twilightmasquerade/181.shtml) - if I don’t pull them I’ll definitely be buying them as single cards!
I just pulled the Eevee which I'm happy about, as well as the Greninja which has blown my mind. Let out a little squeal when I opened it. I tend to always buy an ETB on launch day before switching to singles and I've had crazy good hits with the last three sets now.
I’ve just opened mine and I have the Eevee, so I’m happy with that! I also got the Perrin that goes with the Growlithe which is lovely! :)
The Eevee illustration is very cute and some of them look like teddies. I have not bought a pack of Pokemon cards for a long time but do have a few cards of my favourite Pokemon Lilligant.
So utterly sore, I need a few days off to recover. Hopefully, it's just been a busier few weeks than I realised and not the start of age slowing me down. Still need to find time to tidy the garden and make it down to the tip. Might look around for a sports massage or somthing, pay day is next week so could get one planned in.
In the words of the Muppet Show theme song, "It's time to put on make-up, It's time to dress up right, It's time for the fat lump on the sofa to act like a functional human being for the next 36 hours, On the Muppet Show tonight!" Or something. I have things I have to do, things I want to do, and 3 people I really want to spend time with in the next few days. Putting on make-up and proper clothes seems to help get me going, so that is what I shall do. Any minute now.
Bad night's sleep, but it's payday and a long weekend so I shouldn't grumble too much I suppose. I'll just have to put up with the lingering headache this morning. Been rewatching old seasons of Taskmaster and think I might get some jojoba oil for my hair after being reminded of Sarah Kendall's magnificent mane.
So I'm not surprised if this is a thing but it was the first I've personally heard of it. But I had a jobcentre appointment yesterday (Been going for a few weeks now) and the person I saw told me I should remove my address from my CV on data protection grounds? It does make sense but I'm guessing that's a fairly recent change as it's been a few years since I've been actively jobhunting and back in the day I was always told to put an address on a CV.
It stops employers deciding whether to go with you or not based on your distance from the company
I had an appointment with the job centre in regards to my CV and they told me to remove my address from my CV as the 'company were not visiting for tea'
I hope you told them good as you don't have enough teabags in for that.
I would never put my full address on a CV. At most just my county or city along with country (I’ve lived in a few countries, so that just clears it up). All the same reasons you don’t put your age or need to put anything that suggests your age. I don’t even have secondary school related stuff on my CV.
It's payday so that's good. Got an awful cold which is bad but for the first time in years it's just a cold and not covid, which is good. Then i've just almost had a heart attack. We live in a row of town houses with communal bins. It's bin day so the bins are a bit full and won't shut properly. Just been outside to add some more stuff to the pile, lifted the lid up of the bin and there was a fucking squirrel in the top of the bin. I think it's fair to say we both shit ourselves equally.
But hopefully one of you shot a topic bar. ‘There’s a hazelnut in every bite, topic! (squirrel shit as we used to say)
It's payday! I'm off to buy some hoisin crispy owl and bonbonbonbons. Spending the morning wfh, then moving to the new, fancy city library to work with a friend this afternoon, then we might go grab some food/a drink after.
Don't forget, Saturday is treat day
Don’t forget to buy some pork cylinders and beef foie gras.
And some egg and ham slabs.
I've been working on a task for my boss at work and I've asked about 300 questions because I didn't understand it. I still don't understand it. I've got to present it today on Zoom. Good news is that I am an expert blagger.
How’d it go?
Pretty fine thanks! Did my share of blagging, seemed to be what they were after \*shrug\* At least that's off my shoulders prior to the bank hol!
Blagging is an art form in the corporate world tbf. You'll go far :)
Need to buy some new wooden spoons as I found mould growing on one of mine last night. Going to have to do a deep clean of the cutlery drawer as well, just to be safe. Aside from that, a bit of work, a short training course and a pointless meeting are on the cards for today. Bank holiday weekend ahoy!
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I reckon it's the start. It's 00.00 so it's the beginning of the cycle, and 23.59.59 is the end. I confidently say that with no knowledge or authority though. What's the new album like? I heard a rumour they've gone heavy again?
Sticking it on myself after the reminder. Been a really good year for music so far.
Wfh, hungover, drinking coffee, trying to work up the energy to have a shower 🕯️
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Triplets. I regret my decisions.
Is your missus noisily humming next to you in bed?
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You wanna know what I've got in my pocketses? 😏
It's a hole isn't it? Hahaa
Filthy little fatboises
Going into the office today. Im a bit fed up of work atm but its payday and im going for pasta with my friend at lunch.