Year: 2017

The right kind of weird

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Hi, Last month the Jones Massive were out for a meal with some old friends, who were visiting from overseas. There was much merriment, hugs, great food and talk about families, getting old, jobs and, of course, the state of the world. Don’t worry, I shan’t go in to the latter. I’m sure you have your own world views, just as I do. Midway through the meal, B turned to me and said: “You the best thing about meeting up after all these years? You all get my sense of humour. I don’t feel weird with you folks. We can pick up pretty much as if no time as passed.“ Usually, this would cause a Brit to do one of […]

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Seeing Things from the Other Side

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Hi, This week has, at least, as I type, a mixed bag. Nothing wrong, just a few ups and downs. The Sting Me: just a different style. I’m sat in traffic just after the school run, add there’s a large Range Rover wanting to turn right. Do Range Rovers come in any size other than large? They’re like the opposite of the perfect shoe in that regard 😉 As the road clears and the driver sets off, her bob cut hair swings as she double checks the road. A little voice within says “You’re bald. You’ll not have hair like that.“ It’s partly right. I’ll not have long hair again. I’ve a buzz-cut, or skinhead, if you will. Sometimes, I […]

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The Art of Normality

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Hi, Due to a dreaded Health & Safety audit – apologies for any shock or distress, this may have caused UK readers – at the Chameleons venue, we had to dispose of an old stereo. I say old, it had a CD and possibly a tape deck. I guess it’s my age, because that feels quite fancy. 🙂 Hmm…. I’m now wondering how many years ago, the Jones family recycled by old stereo separates. It may well have been before Little Miss was born, and she’ll be 10 this year. So, while I was in town, I dropped said stereo system off at British Heart Foundation. They’re one of the few charities I know of, which, admittedly, isn’t many, that […]

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Lessons through life

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Hi, Ah, Winter’s treating us to a last hurrah, with a flutter of snow. I’m surprised the UK hasn’t shut down. We don’t do well with anything other than mild rain and slight wind. Stop that giggling at the back. 🙂 I’ve had the pleasure to be mostly working from home today and Little Miss was stopping over at Granny’s. Yeah, an early half-term for some lucky folk eh? 🙂 With all that in mind, that meant less rushing and waiting on the school run, a chance for a brief lie-in, making coffee for the Ever Lovely Mrs J and, in the gaps between work emails, carrying out a few admin duties. Today’s was updating the forum for Chameleons. That […]

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The journey of stuff

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Hi, The other week I was dropping off a box of toys and games the kids no longer wanted. Also, two coats that they’d grown out of. Again, nothing wrong with either and quite the case of carefully pre-loved. To that end, a visit to the local charity shop seems the done thing. I like no doubt a lot of folk have a small stack of charity donation cards, Mainly because a) the charity gets to claim Gift Aid, and, b) I get an email saying how much the items have sold for. Oddly a few charities ask you if you want to claim that money back, and to me, the answer is always no. If I’ve given it away, […]

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To be of good cheer

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Hi, There are some weeks where I have a queue of things I’d like to talk about. This is not one of them 😉 I had started a post about presenteeism, but…. No, there’s no clever gag lined up I’m afraid. It didn’t quite work and I’m replacing it with this. A simple note to point out that it can be the little things. Take for example: Coffee with a (trans) friend and a chat, as we stroll around a nearby park. A chance meet-up with a blog friend at last night’s Chams meeting. A guilt-free night out. Being happy with my outfit. The jump between deep, meaningful conversations and outright silliness. An empty work calendar, so I’ve been working […]

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