Tag: family

Charging the batteries

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Hi, These last few days have been a bit of a blur. That rushed loop of wake, eat, school run, work, sarnie, work, commute, tea, breath, Netflix and bed. In other times I’d have found that routine stifling, almost a treadmill. Yet, this month, it’s been a familiar comfort. Perhaps, I am drifting, but I tell myself that the want of excitement, distraction or fun is not regular. They’re the occasional peaks and without the mundane, or even the lows, there can be no peaks. With Autumn’s golden colours across the trees, I had a pleasant walk and a talk with Andrea. We don’t work too far apart, so meeting up for a tea and a stroll is one of […]

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Beware glass dreams

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The other day I stumbled across a German TV programme called Sexchange. In it, they took half a dozen folk – women and men, and made them over as their opposite gender. Unlike some shows, it wasn’t cheesy and didn’t seem played for laughs. Now, I don’t speak German, but YouTube has an automatic subtitling and translation system. On a slight digression, the YouTube system is s a bit Monty Python in places. Perhaps this is as the tech is listening to the audio track and translating on the fly. I guess there are many phrases we use that may not convert well into other languages. I think I saw the subtitle “but that’s not my tennis” at one point. […]

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Thankful

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Hi, In a moment of madness I had a spot of tidying up. Not a purge, dear reader, but a clearance of clutter to dispel the debris. Or, as is sometimes said in Nottingham: getting shot of yer crap. 🙂 While clearing my bedside table, I found a small tin that contains a set of cuff links from long ago. Much as said items have some sentimental value, there’s a little more to it. Going back to the late 90s, I used to have a large travel trunk. I felt the need to use the term ‘travel trunk’ to avoid any smutty laughter about the size of my trunk, or if it’s well handled, etc. Yes, Carry on Blogging, by […]

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The right to bare arms

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Hi, The Jones Crew are on holiday, as it’s the last week of the Easter break. A quiet cottage somewhere in North Yorkshire, as way of a change. Through bad planning on my part, I’m away the week Chams is on, but there will be other meetings. Or, at least, so I tell myself. I try to ignore the ticking of the proverbial clock. Distraction techniques may be required. The weather is on the turn, being spring, and as opaques are banished, and shops rev up to sell us variants on previous trends, so to do sleeves shorten for men and women. To this end, I’ve stopped shaving my arms. I’m lucky in that, compared to some gents, and even some […]

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The past is another country

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Hi, Three minutes to midnight as I start writing this. One more, and there’s an option of a knowing nod to an old Iron Maiden record. Larks, that dates me. Not the Iron Maiden reference, but I’ve just used the word ‘record’. That, or I’m some too-cool-for-school ageing metal hipster, with a love of record decks…. 🙂 I should point out I’m not. Even back in the 80s, I preferred tape or CDs. Records, well, despite the large album sleeves, which would, on occasion, have brilliant artwork on them, were not for me. Not portable enough and seemingly, too fragile to make the swap between friends. Tapes on the other hand, you could make your own mix and swap tracks […]

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Just about 10 years ago

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Hi, We’re a few weeks into the new year. Have you given up on your resolutions yet? Not that I’d judge you, that would be rude. 🙂 Plus, I’ve not set any. I’m going to carry on the following ideas from last year. Firstly, making a note of good things that happen, and pop these notes in my Memory Jar. That’s going reasonably well, and it seems to encourage being grateful and/or concentrating on the good stuff, rather than the bad. The other one is not getting angry about work. In days gone by, we’d plan and we’d implement things. Some areas would not go well, because others (Ed: she means management) would either interfere, or refuse to adjust their […]

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