Almost May

God knows where April went. Actually, I know exactly where it went - it went disappearing down a drain of work, car troubles, tiredness, insomnia and dullness. The weather was like February most of the time and it felt like a permanent grey cloud was hovering about three metres above my head.
Welcome to Britain, baby.
We can only hope for better from here on in. The forecast is for a mixture of cool breezes, light showers and occasional bursts of sunshine for the rest of this week at least. Then I guess we'll hit 35 Celsius sometime in June, then it'll rain through the Summer Holidays, then we'll be back into our nine month spell of late Autumn.
God, I hate this stuff.

RC 30-4-23

The Undeniable Depression of Car Shopping

Well, I said the other day that looking for a new car was one of my least favourite tasks ever, then I got a bit excited about being able to do it because Philippa and I had discussed how sensible an idea it was, and it made me feel like a proper dad to be searching for a new vehicle for my family. That excitement disappeared within 10 seconds of looking at the first website. There are people in this world who like cars and there are other people who don't. I am firmly in the latter category. There are also people in the world who enjoy browsing online shops, and again there is a reverse side to that, and again I ally myself with the second grouping. So put all that together and you have a very unhappy Rory when you face him with the task of finding a family-sized four-wheeled replacement via websites.
Two minutes in I wanted to kill myself.
Everything just seems so expensive. Even a piece of shit banger is going to be three or four grand, and then you might well have to spend more on it over the coming months when you start finding things that are wrong with it. I might go back and have another chat with my mechanic guy and see if it's worth trying to get mine running better, or whether the various defects mean I'd just be throwing the money away. I'd rather spend a few hundred quid and try and get another six months out of it, than spend six or seven grand on something that might turn out to be condemnable anyway.
God, I hate this stuff.

RC 29-4-23

Fri-ku? Ok...

Still feels like Winter
So my mood is lower than

A centipede's gut

 

Another weekend

Another Bank Holiday

Shame I have to work

 

I love my food, and

It's asparagus season

So I am happy

 

Thinking about cars

Thinking about what they cost

Wishing I was rich

 

These may just well be

The worst haiku examples
I've ever written

RC 28-4-23

Things can move fast

We had an amazing conversation tonight that reminded me why I love my wife so much and why we have such a great life together (most of the time!). It was the kind of chat we used to have a lot but then, y'know, children come along and parenthood takes over and all you ever seem to discuss is nappy contents and feeding times.
We talked a lot about Philippa's possible career change, and we talked a lot about our current situation vis-a-vis vehicles. Not my favourite topic, cars, as I'm sure you're aware, but needs must when your chosen mode of transport is about to rattle itself to death. Philippa (as she does so often) made some very good points. We have two nice little cars, which we're both happy with, but we also have two nice little boys who are growing at a rate of speed that is shocking and need to be transported in comfort, alongside all the paraphernalia that is needed to keep them alive, fed, clothed and safe. It just makes sense for us to have something bigger, better and more reliable. A family vehicle, if you will. So it is looking very likely that we are about to become one of those horrible two-adult, two-children families that clog up the country roads with their big, shiny people carrier that has massive wheels and wide bumpers and a tendency to take up two parking spaces at the supermarket because neither driver can negotiate it into a space between two lines.
It pains to me to think I might be about to spend the equivalent of ten holidays abroad on a machine that's only purpose is to move us around Suffolk, and which I know will continue to cost money every year over and above what the initial purchase price is, but I'm also quite excited and feel like we're making a sensible decision here.

RC 27-4-23

Three Things

Just to prove that I never really learn any lessons in life, I nearly slipped over spectacularly today, walking across a damp bit of grass. You may remember, roughly this time last year, I ended up with a knee sprain after my office brogues proved to be inappropriate footwear for a fast trot across a lawn. You would think that all that pain and discomfort, which lasted several months in the end, might have provoked my mind to put in place some future practices that would prevent me from experiencing a repeat performance, but no, as it happens. 

Philippa is talking about doing some qualifications. She is, after all, exceptionally bright, and feels that she never really pushed herself academically as far as she might have gone. Working for family was a great opportunity to start somewhere at a good age and earn some money, but it stopped her pursuing a path that could have taken her to something that she would really have loved, and felt fulfilled in. Now she is a wee bit older, she is thinking about what might have been, and getting motivated to try something different. Working at a doctors is a way of helping people, but it's also a day-to-day repetitive slog that involves dealing with self-absorbed, twatty members of the public who spend hours researching conditions that they don't have so they can mention them to the doctor but refuse to research how to look after themselves properly in the first place. Philippa is intelligent enough to be able to do something that more directly helps people, and that's what she's looking into at the moment. Being some kind of therapist, either a physical one or a counselling one, is what's exciting her, and I think she'd be amazing at it. It doesn't have to be a huge commitment to studies either, there are one-year courses she could do that involve just one day a week in a classroom, with the rest being done online with tutors, or at-home in her own time, so it's something that can fit in with motherhood and current work scenarios.

It's an ongoing discussion, but it's very exciting. 

 

And I may be faced with the prospect of doing what is probably my most hated task ever - shopping for a car. Mine continues to make an alarmingly diverse range of unpleasant noises, and the mechanic has given me a list of problems that involve parts I've never heard of, but which sound like they might be sections of the International Space Station. Either I spend three month's wages on repairs and hope the bloody thing keeps going or I bite the bullet, spend even more getting something much newer, and hope it lasts until both my sons are at uni.

RC 26-4-23

What I need is warm weather

It's a boring old topic and one I have overdone to the point of embarrassment over the years, but God it pisses me off when the Spring months don't have Spring weather. In my head, during times of SADness, I imagine March being a transitional month when the countryside goes from bare Winter cold to colourful blooms, and then April being when the world erupts into its full array of beauty and splendour. But in reality, none of that happens now until May, and then it all happens in about 5 days, and then we skip to Summer.
I had a meeting with Gavin today and I was subtly suggesting that he look to buy some holiday centres abroad. He is still gently pushing me to consider moving down to the South-West to help him establish his new set-up down there, and I laid the idea at his feet that, if I was going to uproot my family and relocate, it might be better to do it for a bigger opportunity. I then threw in a little bit of research I was doing about post-Brexit booms for certain areas of Spain and Portugal, where British people traditionally flock in their tens of thousands and there is plenty of profit to be had for the right facilities. I made most of it up, and I know it's a long shot, but if there is even the remotest chance that I can persuade him to take out a massive loan to invest in a foreign venture, and then ask me to move over there to run it for him, then I am damn well going to push for that as hard as I possibly can.

RC 25-4-23

Small Balls, 2023 Edition

Had a chat with Ted tonight and I'd forgotten the World Snooker Championships is on, so he swore at me as soon as I uttered two words. He's not exactly Mr Sociable at the best of times, but if you interrupt his annual enjoyment of the coverage of the Crucible, you're asking for both barrels full of vitriol.
I haven't been following it, but I know there was some kind of disruption when Anti-Oil idiots jumped on a table last week, so I asked his thoughts. He said, "What the f**k are you protesting against by ruining a snooker table? Pack of c**ts."
Strong words, but I found myself agreeing with him.
The weird thing about the snooker is that you tune in every year in late April/early-May, and it's always the same 7 or 8 people who are playing. I'm wondering whether the BBC just reruns old matches on rotation, because I'm sure I've seen John Higgins do the same break every year since 1997.

RC 24-4-23

Happy St. Whatsit's Thing

God, this will easily be the lowest number of postings I've done in a month for years and years, and I'm really going to have to up my game to hit 200 or so blogs in a year this time. Hell, I might not even get into double figures in April!
But so what? Absence makes the heart grow fonder; etc etc.
Not much to update you on, actually. Life is now trotting along in a regular state of regularity and routine. Work is enjoyable, family are great, and I'm in that gorgeous place where I get up in daylight, and drive home in daylight, and these are the simple pleasures I dream of during those terrible dark days in Winter. Mathew's personality seems to be developing daily and he now seems to have accepted that his little brother is a fun addition to our home life, rather than just something that has come along to distract his mum's attention from him. Despite being busier at work, I've started cooking a lot more at home again and I'm really enjoying it. Today I did one of my silverside beef roasts for the first time in ages, and it was delicious. Philippa and I then sat and watched an old episode of 'Poirot' from about 1995, I think. Simple times, simple things, simple pleasures.

RC 23-4-23

April is the Quietest Month

Have I ever been this lax with blog postings before, even in times when I've been ill, or on holiday? Probably not, but I'm hoping you will understand that I have been incredibly busy and not been able to focus my attention on this online blogsphere as much as I would have liked. I also hope you were nicely topped-up with all things Rory by my 25 or so postings in March, and that those will have sustained you throughout this quiet fortnight. 

 

It's almost like I've landed in a different country, being back here in the world of writing. I'm waking up in daylight again, the air has a crisp but Springy feel to it, and of course my work environment has changed dramatically, going back to a level of busy that we haven't seen since October half-term. It's amazing how much I'd forgotten what being at full capacity is like. I'd got used to the park in Winter, when you could see clearly for long distances as you walk around. For the last two weeks, there have been a thousand extra bodies getting in the way and obscuring my views. Then there's the logistical side of how long it takes to walk anywhere when you're navigating your way around happily holidaying families. And that's before you factor in the number of people who like to chat to you because they know you're a member of staff, and the ones who have questions or need directions, and the ones (who are thankfully few and far between) who want to moan at you about something.
It really is like I've been working at a different venue in April so far, but I'm loving it. Things have settled down now, and we're at about 50% capacity this week, which is nice. We can get on with some repairs and decorating that we noticed needed doing last week, but which were impossible to deal with over the Easter break. Now, we have a good six weeks to get everything ship-shape before the mad onslaught begins again in May half-term.

And that's all I have for now.

RC 17-4-23

Look who's back (back again)

25 postings in the 31 days of March, then 0 postings in the first 10 days of April. If that doesn't sum up The Erraticness of Rory, I don't know what does.
Life has been dominated by the Easter Holidays, and by my eldest son having a horrible cold that has knocked him sideways and seen him producing snot at the rate that a hagfish produces slime. He is on the mend now, but there were several nights of concerning coughs and caring cuddles.
Work has been the tumultuous tornado of activity I expected, but I have to say it's been lovely to see everything crowded, and to be so busy that I haven't had time to dwell on my own feelings, thoughts and problems. We've had a few unhappy complainers, and a few technical malfunctions, and a broken window, but apart from that it's all been pretty plain sailing, and the weather was so nice for a few days last week that it was almost possible to convince myself I was working at a resort abroad. But then the wind shifted, and brought with it a coastal shower or two, and suddenly I was rooted firmly back in Suffolk in April.
I'll leave it there for now, but pledge to 'get back into it' regularly again forthwith.

RC 11-4-23