Snotember

I came home early today. I've been fighting this bloody cold all week, and dragging myself through the workday despite feeling like utter bilge, but by lunchtime today my head was pounding so much I could hardly see, so I gave in and gave up and came home for an afternoon nap.
It's funny how different people that I work with react differently to the fact that I am poorly. You know I cover three different sites, right, although most of my time is spent at one particular location, as it's bigger and busier? Right, well yesterday I took myself and my sniffles over to one of the other sites for the whole day. Of the four permanent members of staff who frequent the office, one threw a box of echinacea tablets at me as soon as I walked in the door, one spent the entire time I was there with a mask firmly stuck to her face and with a hospital-sized bottle of hospital-strength sanitiser sat on her desk within arm's reach, one kept making me hot drinks and offering to get me a hot water bottle, and the other one called me a child and told me to get on with it and stop behaving like I had pneumonia.  

With the weather being damper and colder, and with my body being under attack from shitty germs, I have noticed a return of the knee pain that was troubling me earlier this year. I have also been waking up with an unpleasant stiffness and discomfort in my problematic shoulder, that has given me a few niggly issues in the past.  I remember an old relative who always used to moan about Autumn and Winter because 'the damp air's a bugger for my rheumatism' and I think I'm starting to understand what she was complaining about. And I realise, with a shock and horror, that I am starting to get old. Next thing you know, I'll be wearing extra layers, even in Summer, and taking up residence in the nearest armchair to the heaters. Electric blankets will start to look attractive, and a nice mug of Horlicks will tempt me more than a mug of coffee or a Guinness. I might even start watching 'Countdown'. The passing of time is inevitable, and I am noticing it more and more.

RC 30-9-22

Just a crazy person, with crazy obsessions

I have to make an executive decision in the next couple of hours. This will be my 13th blog posting in September, and if I want to continue my 2022 quest to post a different number of posts in each calendar month of the year, then I cannot go above 14 posts this month, as the numbers 15 - 22 inclusive have already been taken. So I either write once more in the next two days and then try for a lot more in October, or I write a dozen more articles in the next 48 hours, to get this month's number up to 23 or above.

 

In fact, scratch all that nonsense. I've just realised that September only has 30 days, not 31, so tomorrow is the last day of the month, so with this post today being number 13, if I write one more tomorrow that will be 14 in Sept and we're still on target.

 

What a waste of time and effort and energy and intellect THAT was....

RC 29-9-22

Dark approaches

A day of Hallowe'en planning for me today (in between the bouts of coughing and sniffling). We have entertainers booked, we have large quantities of BBQ-able meat on order from the butchers, and we have staff rotas altered and adjusted to allow for the extra workload. We are having 'the big do' on Sunday 30th October and have opened the bookings up to allow local families to come in and join us too. So it's not just an onsite affair for those who are with us for half-term, it's a community event aimed at giving nearby residents a chance to pop in and see us and take advantage of our facilities.  A big part of Gavin's 'Grand Plan' (that he pitched to me when he hired me, but which seems to have been forgotten since) was for the sites to be used frequently by locals during the Winter months, so this is a good way to advertise what we have to offer and to potentially increase footfall during the quiet season.
Jeez, I came very close to falling into Management Wankspeak there. Excuse me while I go and punish myself by chewing a nettle and forcing wasps into my underpants.

I don't like the onset of Winter, but I am looking forward to getting into a good run of movies sometime soon. Until the birth of little Caspar Nathaniel Chesworth (name not set yet) next month, I still have my evenings free once Mathew is asleep. And with it being dark at 7.30 now, it's not like I can go for a bike ride or enjoy a nice, long walk, so I may as well lose myself in the world of cinematic entertainment. Top of my current list is the new Netflix offering 'Lou'. It doesn't look like a winner, but it does star Allison Janney, and quite frankly she is such a good actress that I would watch a two-hour film about milkshake ingredients if she was the main star. I also want to revisit all the Monty Python movies and finally get a chance to watch Denis Villeneuve's "Dune". Rest assured, I shall be boring you with my thoughts once I've seen it....

RC 28-9-22

1805 BST

Bleurgh!

I have a cold.
A real rip-snorting, chest-heaving, throat-scraping, head-pounding, phlegm-heavy monster bastard of a cold. The kind of bug I used to deal with two or three times a year, but managed to avoid during the two years of masks and lockdowns. I feel simultaneously hot and cold, I feel exhausted but unable to sleep, and I ache like an arthritic walrus.
God, I hate Autumn.

RC 28-9-22

An obvious revelation

Having a baby on the way is scary, even when it's something you've already been through once before.

RC 26-9-22

Unexpected consequence

My blog challenge for this year - to write a different number of blogs for each calendar month throughout 2022 - has made me lazy. I've had days where I haven't bothered writing, because I know I can't go above 14 postings this month. So now I'm wondering whether I give up on chasing this already-twice-achieved goal and go back to just writing whenever I want to. Either that, or I make sure that Oct, Nov and Dec have a number of posts well into the mid-twenties to make up for it.
It's so hard to know what to do for the best...

 

Elsewhere, Mathew doesn't like his mum being heavily pregnant because he can't hug her properly, and she can't bend down easily to pick him up or play with him. 

And speaking of Mathew, I'm so glad we got him a wooden train track when he was littler. You can get a multitude of characters from 'Thomas & Friends', (the programme formerly known as 'Thomas the Tank Engine, etc') to push along it, and there are multiple packs of pieces that are all different shapes, so you can design a brand-new track every time you play with it, and the more pieces you buy, the longer the track can be. We've had one that went through three different rooms and had two separate stations. All great fun until Philippa came in from work and fell over it. Then we had to tone it down and keep it all restricted to one corner of the lounge. 

 

In related news, I'm glad that the Thomas TV show has gone back to 2D animation, rather than fully-realised 3D CGI, but I'm not sure about the style of "Thomas and Friends: All Engines Go!" these days, and the American accents for all characters riles me a little. 
I'm such a purist.

Anyway - I'd better get on with some work.

RC 23-9-22

Too unusual?

Following on from Tuesday's 'Not A Name I'm Keen On' thoughts, here are a few full names I have doodled down today on my little doodle pad that I WOULD consider to be worth consideration once Junior 2.0 arrives on these shores shortly.

JONATHAN THOR CHESWORTH

OCTAVIA OLIVIA CHESWORTH

ARISTOTLE ULYSSES IGNATIUS CHESWORTH

THOMASINA CRESSIDA CHESWORTH

TAYLOR SWIFT CHESTNUT CHESWORTH

 

I really should look back over this year's blogs and look for other name mentions because I'm sure I've written down some other classic possibilities that I have since forgotten about.

RC 22-9-22

Too obvious?

Philippa has said she'd like to use the name 'Elizabeth' if we have a daughter next month (or early November, depending on circumstances!).  I have a feeling that 90% of girls born in the second half of 2022 may have similar names, or derivations thereof, and I don't really want to fall into the trap of 'Now-ism' when choosing a name my offspring will carry for a lifetime. Philippa is getting huge, and getting uncomfortable, and getting moody, and reacting very emotionally to absolutely everything, so I said a calm 'Sure, we'll consider it' and I hope the idea might wear off in the next month or so. No disrespect to the recently departed, but it's never been a name I've been fond of.

RC 20-9-22

Discombobulated, and hoping for a 'normal' day

What a strange day.
What a strange week.
What a strange month.
Autumn has come crashing down around our ears like a cold scarf, and the political and constitutional make-up of our country has changed completely.
Today, at work, we ran none of our usual Monday events, but opened up the main bar and restaurant for people to congregate in and watch the state funeral, if they so wished.
Quite a few did, as it happened.
It's been so weird, because no-one has really known how to act through all this. A period of National Mourning is understandable, but there was confusion about who should be doing what, and when, and whether they should be allowed to do it at all. Some felt we should carry on as normal, some felt we should shut down the whole world and sit in silent reflection for infinity.
Today has felt like an eternity of morose melancholy and I can only imagine what it must have been like for the Royals. A family funeral is bad enough, but at least it's over and done with in 90 minutes or so. Imagine having to grieve publicly in a goodbye ceremony that lasts about 13 hours?

RC 19-9-22

Aftermath

I've been very surprised to find myself so emotionally affected by what's happened in the past few days. It's a corny thing to say, but we really have seen The Best Of British in the way people have responded and the respectful way all (almost all) have reacted. I suppose, whatever your views on the Monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II was an incredible woman, and it's always sad when an extraordinary life is brought to an end, even at the age of 96.
It was difficult to get things right at work. We cancelled all entertainment and activities on Thursday evening and all day on Friday, but we felt it was ok to run things as normal over the weekend. Holidaymakers have, after all, paid for a full programme of events, and we want to give them a quality time with us. And everyone wants to mark the occasion in different ways, and we can't please them all. For every person who wants to have a celebration of a life well lived, there is another who wants to lock themselves in their caravan with the curtains drawn as a mark of respect. For every family that wants to avoid upsetting their children, there is another who believes their offspring should be mourning. I've been moaned at for 'disrespectfully reopening the bar' and also for 'denying people the chance to enjoy their holiday'. Most people, thankfully, seem to appreciate our efforts and are dealing with things in their own way.
We still haven't decided how to play things on the day of the funeral. Ultimately, that decision will rest with Gavin, but we haven't seen him for a while as he's down in Devon trying to buy a white elephant. I imagine we'll end up showing the coverage in our bar areas and calling off everything else, just for that day. We can contact the people who will be arriving on site before they get here at the weekend and explain the plan, and I'm sure (or hopeful) that they'll all accept our decision and make the best of it. 

Just as an afterthought - the anniversary of 9/11 hasn't had a look-in on the news today, has it? And I'm assuming the Ukraine thing is all over coz I haven't heard that being mentioned either...

RC 11-9-22

RIP QEII

It just seems weird, doesn't it?

King Charles III is our monarch. We have a male head of state. Money will change, as will the lyrics to our national anthem. The Christmas Day Royal Speech will be delivered by a different voice. For the first time in the lifetime of most living Britons, we are not in the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Second. 

I'm not affected by her death directly, or personally, and yet it feels like the world has shifted for all of us; somehow, someway. 

It just seems weird.

RC 9-9-22

Quickie re: longevity

I am still on target to achieve a different number of blog postings in each month this year. If I do it, it will be the third time, after 2016 and 2010. So, I'll have done it every 6 years! I am nothing if not consistent.

It sometimes still amazes me how long I've been doing this blog stuff for. I just get on with it and let it all build up and every so often something happens that makes me look back and it reminds me. It's been quite the commitment.

When I started all this, Gordon Brown was British Prime Minister at the head of a Labour government, George W Bush was still the US President, and the highest temperature recorded in the UK was a mere 38.5 Celsius.
My, how things have changed....

RC 5-9-22

Well, oil be...

I've been having some pain in my right ear and missing a few things that people have said to me, so it was recommended that I heat some olive oil up on a spoon and pour it into my earhole. Sounded like a wind-up, but I looked it all up and its legit advice. It helps to soften and loosen any earwax that might be clogging up the tubes, apparently. Trouble is, it's incredibly hard to be able to tilt your head to one side while aiming a spoonful of cooking product into it, especially when you have to use a mirror and everything is arse-about-face. So I asked my wife for help. Unfortunately, she made the spoon too hot and then touched my ear with it as she poured. Reacting to the painful burn, I jerked my head slightly, and as a result the oil dribbled into my eye. Have you ever tried removing extra virgin olive oil from your eye? It's a nightmare.
So now I have a stinging eye AND earache.
Happy Sunday, everyone.

RC 4-9-22

A rant while on a coffee break

How many times in the past two months have I heard the phrases 'cost of living crisis' and 'fuel poverty'? And how many people have I met yet who have genuinely been affected?
I drove home last night and there was scaremongering about schools not being able to open in January due to heating costs. We've had the best Summer in years and most people have spent it worrying about what might happen in Winter, because that's what they've been conditioned to do.

It's so sad.
The media in this country should be torn up and started all over again.

RC 3-9-22