Happy Easter; Happy 'Challenge Achievement' Day

I DID IT!
I HAVE DONE IT!
A BLOG HAS BEEN WRITTEN AND POSTED EVERY DAY IN MARCH!
I'VE COMPLETED MY "EVERY DAY IN A MONTH" CHALLENGE!
AND I DID IT IN A MONTH WITH 31 DAYS!!
AND I DID IT AFTER ALREADY POSTING ON EACH OF THE LAST 10 DAYS IN THE MONTH BEFORE!
I HAVE COMPLETED A TASK I SET MYSELF YEARS AGO!!
I FINALLY GOT ROUND TO DOING IT!!
I DID IT!
I HAVE DONE IT!
AND I HAVE - LITERALLY - NEVER BEEN HAPPIER!!!!

RC 31-3-24

Penultimate Posting (aka powder/profits)

I may have typed about this before, because it's been bugging me for a while and I do tend to unleash my angry thoughts upon this blogsphere as and when they happen, rather than hanging on to them and keeping them to myself.
But just in case I haven't mentioned it (and even if I have, it's worth reiteration) I am pissed off with what has happened to chai tea latte in Britain over the past year or so. It appeared from nowhere and suddenly became the 'hot drink du jour'. All the trendies were latching onto it and buying it so they could say they drank it, and everyone was talking about it, and normally I avoid 'popular' fads in the vigorous way that a slug will avoid salt, but damn if I didn't fall in love with this drink and start enjoying it daily. And the great thing was that every coffee chain and independent tea shop latched onto it and started selling it in all their outlets, so I never had to go too far to grab one.
And then somebody, somewhere decided to make a 'do-it-yourself-at-home' version that is basically a jar full of sugar mixed with some spice extract and some other chemicals that make it foam, so it looks and tastes vaguely of a chai latte while actually being like ingesting whale snot. And everybody started buying that and making their own instead of getting the more expensive ones from the proper providers so a lot of those cafes and kiosks just stopped supplying it. And then the ones that were still selling it started buying that same cheap powder themselves and using that to make the drink instead of going through the effort of making it properly, while still charging you the same amount as before for a completely different drink that just has the same name. And because we live in Britain and speaking up for yourself and for injustice is akin to shooting a baby in the face with a taser, everyone just puts up with it and goes along with it uncomplainingly like the good little consumers that we are. So now my chances of getting a decent, proper chai latte are next to nil, and if I ask for one I'm likely to end up paying over four quid for something that I could have made 30 times at home by purchasing the two pounds tub of powder myself from Lidl.
Make the drink properly or get out of the chai latte market, you bastards!

Happy Easter, by the way.

RC 30-3-24

The Finishing Line Is In Sight

By Jiminy and By Joseph, I have almost, almost done it. Three more days of posting and I'll have 'spoken' to you every day in March. Incredible. BUT - things could still go wrong. I may develop an extreme case of writer's block before I even finish this paragraph. I may suffer a catastrophic laptop failure that makes it impossible for me to connect to the wi-fi. We may be attacked by a foreign power that launches an ultra-disruptive electromagnetic pulse that takes out Britain's internet entirely. I know those things are unlikely, but still... I'm not going to start celebrating just yet.

Speaking of electromagnetic pulses and things of that nature, I have stupidly spent quite a bit of time in the last few days reading about AI, and its' inevitable journey towards overtaking human intellect and abilities.  I have to say, I found it rather terrifying. I know I can get carried away with my pessimism at times, but it does strike me that it is very likely that our species is only a few months away from being rendered redundant and possibly facing a forced extinction of some kind. And it's not just me - the people involved in the race to complete this thing all seem to have massive concerns about what will happen when we hand over control to it, and yet still they are ploughing on with their efforts. It's already been pointed out to me that things like ChatGPT could already take over the writing of this blog if I asked it to! With 16 years of my scribblings available online, it could read them all in a nanosecond and learn my style of writing and then imitate it flawlessly.
I assure you wholeheartedly though - that is NOT what I'm doing. It would explain how I went from hardly posting in February to posting 40+ days in a row, but that is NOT what happened. I promise.
But then - and this is the worrying issue - how would you even know????

RC 29-3-24

Easter Eve

Good Friday ahoy then! I've always loved the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, but I imagine I must have blogged about that in a previous year, so I'll leave it there and avoid the risk of boring you with repetition.

It's been a bit windy, hasn't it? Very annoying, when we had some new "Welcome" banners printed this year to be proudly displayed on our intake days, only to see them ripped from their holders this morning when we put them out for a test run. These are the trials and tribulations that torment us.

I'm aware that my posts this week have been a bit grumpy, and I wanted today to be more optimistic and fun, but I do have to get one thing off my chest before I fill your day with sunshine and frivolity - WHY ARE EASTER EGGS SO EXPENSIVE THIS YEAR??? I mean, I can answer my own question - it's because retail companies are money-grabbing, holiday-hijacking, family-abusing, profit-obsessed, opportunity-grabbing bastards who would charge their own grandmother for her insulin if it improved their bottom line, but even so... The prices this year seem a bit extreme. And there are a lot more 'luxury' eggs about, costing three times as much as the regular ones, and placed on the same shelf as the others, so that your child gets drawn to them when you take them in to 'let them choose their own treat'.
Grrrr...

Anyway - on to the positivity! It is nearly the end of March, which means we are heading full-bore into my favourite time of year. Flowers will be blooming, trees will be thickening, birds will be doing their noisy bird things, and the whole countryside will be developing its Spring plumage and generally filling me with lovely thoughts and happy feelings. Let's go!!!

RC 28-3-24

Leave. Them. Alone. (please)

Mathew seems to have misunderstood the idea of the Easter holidays. He thinks today is the last day he ever has to go to school... That could cause a few issues when he has to go back in April, but we'll deal with that when we get to it.

I hate to be all negative, but my God there are some abominations available in the Easter aisle of our local supermarket. I used to work in that industry and I understand the thinking behind all this, and I'm not in the least bit religious, but even I am feeling a bit unsettled by 'White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake style Hot Cross Buns'. For a start, there's nothing natural in them, they're just pumped full of artificial flavourings and additives, and for another thing - why mess about with hot cross buns at all? Why do you feel the need to ADD anything to a product that is already as close to perfection as is possible? I'm sure there must have been a time, in the long and tortured history of this blogsite, where I have listed my favourite items of food, and I'm pretty sure that hot cross buns would have been featured on the list. A perfectly-halved, lightly-toasted, fruit-packed hot cross bun with a generous dollop of butter on top is one of the greatest treats a man like myself can enjoy. Why would you bollocks that up by adding chocolate chips and fake jam to the recipe?
As you can probably tell, I still have a bit of a headache and I'm still feeling stressed about our busy weekend ahead...

RC 27-3-24

A sexy realisation

So, not only have I posted every day in March so far, but I also posted on each of the last ten days in February. So, by my reckoning, I am currently standing at 35 consecutive days of posting! That must be my all-time record, and I'm determined to keep it going. Until the end of the month at least. Especially after being so sparse with my writings up to February 20th (the point when this current run began).

RC 26-3-24

Head stuff

I have a headache, and it's making the day a struggle. It's not a hangover, and it's not a result of over-activity, as I've just had one of the laziest weekends in my life. It might be hay fever related (as we're well and truly into tree pollen season now). I think I'll pop and see my massage lady in the salon at work, as I think it's coming from my neck. You might remember I have had issues with my shoulder, and when it gets tight it pulls on my neck muscles, which in turn causes unpleasant sensations in my head. So I'm thinking that a bit of a rub-down on the neck and shoulder might be all the relief I need. In the meantime, I am bravely battling through and making final preparations for the onslaught of Easter holidaymakers this time next week... I believe the schools break up on Wednesday this week (or Thursday, depending on where you're situated) and we then have a fortnight of full-on full capacity fun and games as most of Britain descends on East Anglia for a Spring jaunt to the seaside, which normally coincides with a downturn in the weather, leading to me dealing with hundreds of unhappy families and dealing with complaints from people who seem to think I have deliberately made it cold for their holiday and that I have a direct link to God and can change things.
Hmmm - maybe this is where the headache has come from... I do rather seem to be expecting the worst...

I just nipped off and checked, and this is the pollen report for the East of England from the Met Office website:
"Birch tree pollen is on the rise. Other types include elm, ash and the milder types of poplar and willow. Spores: aspergillus and pleospora."
The pollen count itself is "LOW" so yeah - I'll pop and get my neck rubbed.

RC 25-3-24

The March goes on...

March is going by SO quickly. It's not fair. As someone said to me at work yesterday "Hell, the nights will be pulling in before you know it". (Yes - they're talking about the onset of Autumn and we haven't even reverted to BST yet!)
The important thing is - with a week of the month to go, I am still maintaining my 'Posting A Blog Every Day' momentum, which is becoming increasingly exciting and worrying. To be this close to achieving a challenge I set myself years ago (possibly more than a decade has passed since I first had the idea!) feels great but it also feels like it would be heartbreaking if I ended up failing now. It would be like throwing a gutter ball with the last bowl of a near-perfect game, or returning an NFL kick-off all the way to the five-yard line before tripping over and fumbling the ball. I'm not sure I'd ever recover...
So let us cast that negativity to the winds and sail onwards with the optimism and self-belief of someone about to achieve something truly great. This genuinely could be the greatest achievement of my life.
Which is pathetic, really, when you think about it...

RC 24-3-24

My Manifesto (a poem)

Don't be scared.
Be thankful.
Be joyful.
Be the brightness for those who cannot see.
Be the hope for those who cannot dream.
The cuddle for those who are hugless.
The breath for those who are weary.
Be good, strong, kind and alive.
Be wise, well and wonderstruck.
Be an influence, not an influencer.
Show them it's good to be nice,
and it's nice to be good.
Show them it's cool to be hot,
and it's hot to be cool;
it's fun to be free,
and it's free to be funny.
Show them your true self.
Be you, and help them be them.
Just be.

RC 23-3-24

Parked (for now)

It's amazing how a weird little thing can change your day so considerably. It's also amazing just how many 'weird little things' get put in front of you when you're a manager and there's no-one else above you it can be dumped on...
We've hit a weird problem with the layout of our main centre that probably wouldn't have been a consideration years ago when it was built. The problem being that we don't seem to have enough car parking space for the number of cars that people want to bring onto the site. I'm glad this has come up now, rather than on Good Friday when we're at 100% capacity, but I'm not sure what we can do about it, and I think it will keep occurring.  The thing is, we haven't done anything wrong, and the original owners, planners and designers didn't really do anything wrong either, it's just (in my mind) a reflection on the modern world. See, back in the 'old days' each of our chalets, caravans or apartments would be occupied by one family group, and they would all travel in one car. Nowadays, there are split families coming from different locations, there are group bookings with up to ten people who might all travel independently, and there are those couples who simply want to bring more than one vehicle. And those vehicles, generally, are bigger than they used to be. So the available space we have for onsite parking has hit its limits, and we realised today that - judging by the bookings we have for Easter - there will be too many cars here and nowhere to put them. So we're having to look at other arrangements. I've found an unused industrial building nearby where we could have 40 spaces and then bus people in, but Gavin is trying to avoid that one because it would cost money. We do have a large green field at one end of the site where we could accommodate a few, but there's always the danger of the British weather turning wet and pissy and bogging the cars down in a field of mud.
So it's a bit of a thing.
But, like all these things, we'll get through it somehow, and I'm indebted to Denise in the booking office for realising it was happening before it landed in our lap on a busy Friday.

I've got over the obsession thing, by the way, so thanks for letting me spill my guts about it all yesterday as I'm convinced that helped get it out of my head.

RC 22-3-24

Help!

I fear I am falling into one of my 'obsession traps'. I'm not even sure I want to admit to what the subject is, lest it reinforces my current thought pattern about it and sends me further down the spiral towards incessant research.

Basically, something came up in a work meeting yesterday and I took it upon myself to find out more about the problem that was arising. This led me to some interesting scientific research papers about it and now I think there's a way I could get involved with an ongoing study and dedicate myself to making life potentially better for a particular group of people.
This is not a good thing.
The sentiment is a good thing - the drive to help a disadvantaged group - but the fact that I'm considering it as a serious use of my time is NOT a good thing. I have two small children and a very busy worklife. I am responsible for dozens of staff and for the successful running of more than one holiday centre, and I have lots and lots to concentrate on and get on with to make sure that those centres run smoothly and that the tens of thousands of people that use them every year get to enjoy the vacation they are expecting. I do NOT have time to give up time to spending time on some silly little whimsical folly that I am nowhere near qualified enough to seriously consider or to be seriously considered for. I need to leave it where it is, leave it up to the people who are up to it, and go back to getting on with my life and the tasks on my 'To Do' list. (Which is now longer than it needs to be, because I've ignored it for the past 24 hours while getting obsessed with this other thing.)
And yes, it's been a nice distraction and is stopping me getting stressed about just how much stuff there is to do before the Easter holidays start... But it has to stop now.
Thanks for listening.

RC 21-3-24

Upright planet

At 3.06am this morning, UK time, we hit the March/Spring equinox.  The Earth, our home, reached a point in space where it was neither tilting towards, nor away from, the Sun, and therefore we have a day that is almost exactly split between Daytime and Nighttime. It only happens twice a year and is well worth mentioning. I could go into boring scientific explanations about how it happens and how we can be so sure it is happening, but it's a long time since I really practiced my science education and training, and that was in chemistry rather than astrophysics, and I can't be bothered anyway. I just like these things and I like mentioning them. And I LOVE the fact that we are now into the time of year where we have more time with the sun out than without it, and that for me is well worth rejoicing in.
And there will be people who say it is important spiritually, and that it rekindles our connection with the natural world, and that this is a time to freshen up your life and restart things and step forth into a bold new existence, but there are also people who say you should do that on January 1st, so who knows who to believe? All I know is - that astrology/crystal-buying/facebook-gazing/platitude-posting bullshit doesn't bother me any more. Each to their own. Let them do their thing, and let me do mine. I shall look up at the starry sky tonight and wonder at the marvel of it all and feel importantly insignificant and take solace in that. If others choose to spend that time looking at their phone screens and seeing stuff that doesn't exist, that's up to them. We shall never understand each other, and we don't need to.
Go, my fellow inhabitants of this tiny globe, and be well.
Happy Equinox, brothers and sisters.

RC 20-3-24

Wasting money/time/words

I'm scared to mention it, but I'm keeping the run going... 19 days in, 19 blogs posted...

It was nice to have a beautiful, sunny day yesterday. I got close to almost convincing myself that it might soon, possibly, be Springtime. Then I foolishly looked at the weather forecast for the rest of the week and saw Grey British Greyness all round, so that punctured my mood as successfully as the poorly discarded screw punctured my front tyre last month.
Why are car parts so expensive? I guess it's because we have no choice but to buy them because we have no choice but to use our cars because our society is structured in a way that we simply have to be able to transport ourselves around in these things or we just can't exist. If I had my time over I would definitely get training in mechanics, or something else to do with automobiles, because it's a constant, never-ending moneyspinner. Actually, that's not true at all, I hate cars and I think the idea of working on them everyday for money would make me want to remove my own eyes with an Allen key. And I don't think knowing more about them would change anything. They would still be fault-obsessed, self-annihilating, wallet-emptying, shitbag buckets of metal that ruin the atmosphere and destroy the mental health of most of their owners.
Where the Hell am I going with all this?
Nowhere - but at least it's another blog written and posted, and on we plod towards Day 20....

RC 19-3-24

The Unbelievable Whiteness of Seeing

I had a dream last night that it snowed. Heavily. We couldn't get out of the house because it had drifted all the way up to the windows, and the horrible thing was, that all our food was in the fridge, which for some reason (just because dreams work this way, I guess) was at the bottom of the garden, and unreachable. Mathew, who had a moustache, kept asking for coco pops and kombucha, and Rian's nappy was so full that he was four feet off the floor from the sheer size of it, and we couldn't change him because the clean nappies were also in the fridge... Philippa needed to get to a patient somewhere because she had his insulin and he would be dead within an hour, and I was facing the sack because Gavin was at the caravan park waiting for me, and he was in shorts and T-shirts and refused to believe that we had been hit by a blizzard, as he was standing in lovely sunshine. I was panicking and feeling that everything was falling apart and that it was all my fault and that if I could only get the heater working in the car, all would be well.

I was so convinced that it was real that when I was getting ready for work this morning, I put on my old Winter parka and got my wellies out of the cupboard, only to hear my wife say, "What the **** are you doing?" And she gave me that 'pained spouse' expression that she gets sometimes and that makes me feel very small and unworthy. So I wish I had dreamt that bit too, really.

RC 18-3-24

The Dangers of Link-Jumping

I'm really tired tonight. REALLY tired. I feel like I haven't slept in weeks and that my body has been working nonstop for a month or so. So I guess I should be going to sleep rather than blogging...
I am actually in bed as we speak (well... as I type and as you read). I had a relaxing shower and got myself horizontal about an hour ago, but then I remembered that I meant to look something up, and then I got distracted by an article about sexual habits in Roman times (yes, really) and then the next thing I knew I was lost, yet again, in the writings of Cicero, and now here I am. Still awake and still complaining about it.

Sometimes, it seems, I just don't know how to help myself.

RC 17-3-24

Patrick's Eve Reassurance

Yesterday's poem was about Love itself and what it does to you, not specifically about the person that I love. Just wanted to clarify that...

RC 16-3-24

Love Is Hard (a poem)

Love is hard.
And it seems to get harder.
You would think, with time, it would lessen its grip;
would ease its burden;
would allow you to breathe.
But it doesn't.

It grips you
Grabs you
Constricts you
and controls you

It picks you up in its tearing talons,
and drops you,
without checking the path of your fall.

It renders you weak, ruins your planning,
dominates your psyche,
and empties your soul.

It reminds you of your failings,
diminishes your worth,
revisits your shortcomings,
and shackles your belief in yourself.

It whispers in your ear, when you're feeling worthy.
It belittles your abilities, when you're feeling sane.
It convinces you you're not enough, when you're more than you thought you could be.
And it tells you you're hated, by the one you adore.

Love is hard.
But it's worth it.

RC 15-3-24

Accidental Haiku

I was trying to write a new poem, and suddenly realised that the first three lines were a haiku! Which made me think that this stuff is just so ingrained in me now that it happens automatically, and also led me to write a few more.  (Possibly my first online haiku of 2024?)

And sorry if there's weird formatting in this posting - I'm trying it from my phone!

A simple journey; with a complicated soul; conflicts arising.

Is marriage the end? For myself and Philippa, marriage was the start.

Two souls entwining; lifelong journey together; keeping love alive.

Hay fever is fun. No, sorry, I misspoke there. It's bloody awful.

From the COVID team.... Coming soon - Pandemic Two! "The Extinction One!"

RC 14-3-24

Old Monthly Challenge to be Realised???

Whisper it quietly, but I've posted a blog every day in March so far...

RC 13-3-24

Oscar Boredom, esq.

I realised this morning that the Academy Awards took place at the weekend, and I hadn't even paid it the slightest bit of attention. In times past I used to sit up and watch the whole thing and take delight in trying to second-guess what might win each category and award myself little prizes if my prediction was correct. Usually, that prize would invariably be something alcoholic, which might explain why I was so enthusiastic in my viewing. Plus, as long-time readers might have noticed, I do like attaching myself to big annual events and making my own little private party based around them (see - for instance - the US Masters, the Super Bowl, etc..)
Thing is, as a fan of movies, I used to get caught up in the whole glamour and glitz and excitement of the whole thing. It really did used to feel like a big celebration of the art of film, with all the best exponents of that industry coming together to enjoy an evening out where some of them were rewarded, but all of them were appreciated. And I don't think that's the case anymore. Like so many other cultural icons, it has lost itself in the ever-changing, fast-moving world of the internet, where everyone everywhere has an opinion to share and feels justified on forcing it on others online, and where we all pass judgement on things the instant we see them, and then move on. No-one needs a room full of mega-rich celebrities patting each other on the back nine months later to let us know whether a film is worth watching, or is any good. We have all made our conclusions on our own, and read the words of countless others who have done the same. So things like the Oscars now feel like a bit of an outdated, over-hyped waste of time.
I'm also fed up with the winners all trying to outdo each other when it comes to sob stories, 'look where I am now' speeches and soundbites. If I think someone is terrific at acting, it doesn't mean I want to know what they think about the Middle East crisis, any more than I would want someone who is an excellent butcher to be giving me their thoughts on climate change. If my mum has dementia, I want to hear from an expert, not someone who is so caught up in their own fabricated self-importance that they feel justified in spouting their views from a podium. And I feel the same way about celebrities. Yes, feel free to use your platform to 'highlight issues' but I don't need you to tell me what's wrong with the world, and how you think we should fix it. Just pick up your gold statue, thank the Academy, say something self-deprecating and funny, and get the Hell off the stage.
The whole thing now strikes me as a grandiose, unnecessary, self-serving, ego-driven and ego-inflating, shameless, inappropriate, elitist, snobbish parade of plastic surgery and platitudes.
And that's why I'm glad I don't watch it anymore.
(But it obviously still niggles me, as I've just written 500 words about it without pausing for breath!)

RC 12-3-24

Such weird creatures...

I woke up anticipating a continuation of yesterday's frostiness, and a possible problematic start to the week marriage-wise, only to be met in the kitchen with a steaming mug of coffee and a very enthusiastic kiss. It is as if the Sunday unpleasantness had been completely forgotten over the course of an 8-hour sleep. Philippa was warm, affectionate, considerate and caring, and has maybe cast aside my stupidity and inattention over the weekend. I swear I will never understand women as long as I live. Just when I think I have a handle on my wife and can know what she is thinking and feeling and expecting, she does something that simultaneously knocks me sideways and pulls the world out from under me. Of course, I have to accept the possibility that she is just being nice to me to make for a better atmosphere at home, and that underneath it all she is seething away in a bath of resentments, and that sometime soon it will all come flying out at me again when I do another ridiculously insensitive act; but at least I have come to work feeling loved and respected, and I can think about going home without worrying about what I might walk into when I get there.

RC 11-3-24

What a difference a something makes...

It's been a very frosty day in our house, and I can honestly say I have not the faintest idea what happened, but it looks like it was my fault (for a change...)
This is the stuff I hate about relationships, and the bit that I am not very good at. Two people love each other, and commit to each other, and say that they will stay together 'no matter what' and they believe they can stick together through thick and thin; through anything; and then someone doesn't put a frying pan away in the right cupboard after cooking Sunday breakfast and it's the worst thing ever done in the history of the world by one human being to another. And suddenly the whole thing is up in the air and you wonder if you're even the slightest bit compatible.
I imagine all this will settle down at some point. How long can you keep holding each other at arm's length and aiming little barbed niggles at each other before one of you acts maturely enough to get through it and move on? How many avoided kisses and unnecessary digs about cutlery are needed before the atmosphere changes back to one of love and acceptance? And how many of these incidents can there be, I wonder, before one of you finally cracks and says something that renders the whole thing as inevitably doomed to end? Because I am pretty sure that, in the vast majority of cases, this is where divorce eventually comes from.

RC 10-3-24

A girl can dream...

This is almost certainly the last Saturday I will have off for many months, so I made the most of it by not trying to make the most of it. I got up late, I lounged around the house, I spent lots of time with Philippa and my sons, and I ate a lot of food, most of which I prepared myself.
I guess this is what life can be like for people who don't have to work weekends. I can't complain too much - my schedule during the dark days of supermarket employment was far harsher and less free - but every so often I get a glimpse of a different life and it looks very tempting. The thought of only working when my sons are at school and then getting to spend every available moment with them is a pleasing one. I am already very aware of the fact that one day I will lose them from my everydays and only get to see them on occasions. You may laugh at my negative projection, but look at it this way - it only feels like a month ago that Mathew was crying in my arms as a newborn, and now he is suddenly five. I have lost so much of him already to school, and we are one quarter of the way to the age where he may well be away at university! I do not take that stuff lightly and it fuels me to make the most of the time I know I will have them; especially at these ages, which are so wonderful.
But what would I do if I wanted things to be different? What job is there that would see me out of the house at the same times as them, and having free time that coincides with theirs? The only choice would be working in a school, and I briefly flirted with the idea of training to be a teacher years ago before rejecting it out of hand, and I wouldn't want to be an assistant or a librarian or a cleaner or something.
So I need to keep on keeping on where I am, and make the most of their presence when I have it; and I've done that today, so I'm happy.

RC 9-3-24

What Kind of World? (a poem)

I brought you forth
The first, then the second
I set you forward
and I try to guide you
to tread a softer path than my own

I watch you walk, and waddle
I tell you truths
and hope to fuel your future
But I worry what you will face
what we are leaving you
I doubt not the people you will become
but I fret for the people you will encounter
For where are we now?
And where are we likely to finish?

'Talent' shows get more votes than elections
'Who is better at the foxtrot?' is more important than 'Who has been lying in parliament?'
Online views hold more weight than charitable tasks accomplished
Truth is no longer an absolute
Fidelity no longer a virtue
Plastic is more popular than pride
Cars are attractive over charisma

The path ahead lies flood-strewn
and we're careening headlong towards chaos

And that, dear Philippa, is why 'no.3' is a No...

RC 8-3-24

Cold sweat on cold days

I'm really quite nervous about the approaching Easter Holidays. I suppose it's because they signify the start of our busy season at work. Yes, things settle down a bit between the end of these hols and then May half-term, but not by a great deal. We'll be pretty much at 80% capacity right through til November once Good Friday gets here, and June to September inclusive you'd be luck to rent a sofa at any of our places. We'll be rammed to the rafters and gorged to the gills.
I know it'll be ok. I have the extra experience now and there's not much that could happen that could really throw me sideways and catch me completely unawares, but still... I watch the days ticking by with a sense of uneasy apprehension and quiet dread.

RC 7-3-24

I have no idea how it's pronounced...

I am well and truly in love with gyros. They seem to have become a very trendy food item to be placed on menus in eateries all over the place; even those without any connection to the Mediterranean. The cafe at work has started doing them, and they are sodding delicious. Something about the combination of shredded meat, fresh salad and salty fries hits my taste buds like a satisfying bolt of lightning. And I've always been a huge fan of tzatziki, so it's a perfect lunch for me really. I've had them about 3 of the last 5 work days, and I've even had a go at recreating one at home. That attempt was unsuccessful, but I assure you I'll keep going for it, and I will continue to do so until I manage to create one that is even 50% as lovely as the ones at work.

RC 6-3-24

Too quiet?

It was really cold this morning, so I tried to cheer myself by having a look at the online weather forecast to see if Spring would be making a reappearance soon. The outlook for every day of the next two weeks is "covered by cloud, with highs of 9 degrees". That's it. British typicality for the next fortnight. No wonder I keep looking at holiday homes in Majorca.

The dog hasn't been mentioned for a day or two, which is a relief. It probably means that Philippa has already bought one and just hasn't told me yet. I'll probably come home from work one day to find an 8-week-old cockapoo in the kitchen. God, I hope not.

I've been watching "Under the Banner of Heaven" on Disney+. It's the story of a murder that occurred in Utah in the 1980s, which was committed by members of the Mormon church. Interesting, but very slow-paced, and a bit clunky. It could have been 5 episodes instead of 7 and you would still have got the whole story without missing out any key bits. I'm quite tempted to buy the book it was based on now, as the original (true) case looks quite intriguing, and was no doubt fictionalised extravagantly for the purposes of American television.

That'll do for now. As you can probably tell, I don't have much to keep me occupied at work today....

RC 5-3-24

Depressed poem no.984

Life is a thing
that creeps up on you
when you're relaxed and resting
that sometimes creeps around you
like ivy round a tree
suffocating and stifling
that often creeps by you
like an unobtainable pet
then it creeps away from you
forever

RC 4-3-24

Ganged up on...

Philippa, with some input and support from Mathew, is pressuring me to get a dog. I think it's a terrible idea, and I said so. I also said I think it's a result of me not engaging with her idea to plan for a third child, but that may have been the wrong thing to say.

I thought I'd be on easy street at home with two sons. I thought the rest of my life would be a well-supported trip through a life where my wife was always outnumbered by residents of my own gender. I had forgotten that the bond between a mother and son is very, very special, and so, even at the age of five, Mathew is taking sides with his mum and looking at me as some scruffy idiot in the corner who just pops in occasionally but doesn't really hold a position of any importance.
It's hopeless, but it doesn't mean I have to cave in and agree to this latest whim that will irreversibly alter the dynamic of our house and commit us to a decade of expensive vet fees and long walks.

And the fact that I am currently indulging in a large hot chocolate and a pack of garibaldi has nothing to do with it at all. I am NOT comfort eating through the pain of feeling emasculated.

RC 3-3-24

Spring Poem no.132

Effervescent energy
beautiful birdsong
engorging enthusiasm
functioning flowers
playful plants
candyfloss clouds
powerful positivity
widening warmth
misty mornings
amazing afternoons
extending evenings
nadiring nights
increasing insects
dancing daffodils
crescendoing crocuses
beautiful beaches
blossoming beauty
bountiful blooms
perfect production
Super Spring

RC 2-3-24