Sometimes it's nice to admit that I'm doing ok...

This really has been one of my most enjoyable weeks at work ever. And that is as much as a surprise to me as it probably is to you.
I think it's because there are fewer problems to deal with. Everyone who is here is here for the same reason and is doing the same activities. And they are so well organised and we're so well prepared that we're not having too many difficulties. In Summer, with all sorts of different things going on and all sorts of different expectations from all sorts of different visitors, it always seems like there's something that needs my attention. But this week, it's just a rinse-and-repeat, cut-and-paste, each-day-the-same-as-the-last kind of schedule and it means we're all on top of things, and at ease. The team is great, and all enjoy what they're doing, and as a result there's a lovely, welcoming atmosphere, and those who are joining us are buying into that and expanding it. And the feedback we're getting is better than I could ever have imagined. People are posting lovely pictures of their children smiling and tagging us (if that's the right word) on all their social medias, and the number of parents who have thanked us and praised us for what we're putting on is genuinely heart-warming and humbling.
I know I can be a cynic, and a bit of a snob, and I sometimes use this blogsite as a way to moan about how hard I often work and to moan about the humans I have to encounter, but when we have weeks like this, I really could not be more grateful to have the job that I do.
Happy Halloween, everyone xx.

RC 31-10-25

I just can't shake it off...

The world is determined to force me to see nothing but joy and wonder, and to notice that the happiest families are the ones that have more than just two children. This is not what I need to be seeing right now, in my unexpected week of weakness, so I'm trying to hide in the office as much as I can and distract myself by listening to music. And I'm trying very hard not to acknowledge my wife's existence in case she senses how I've been thinking and pounces upon it. And I daren't even look at her in case I find her attractive and get tempted to take her to bed.
There are drugs that can stop you feeling horny; there are drugs that can stop you feeling depressed; why aren't there any that can stop me from feeling broody???

RC 30-10-25

burying myself in work

We are flat out with families and spreading Happy Halloween cheer. I am busier than a beaver with a building contract and enjoying myself immensely. The little squeals of fear and the smiles on the faces of the many little ones that are visiting is a welcome change from the moaning adults we often deal with and makes all the effort worthwhile. We are giving away chocolate like we're oompa-loompas with a death wish and the park looks great with all the hanging decorations and the lanterns. I watch couples holding hands and smiling while their children carve our pumpkins, I see the young 'uns dressed in costumes and dancing along to our DJ, and I can't help but think, 'would having another one really be so bad?'
And that's a thought that I really need to get rid of.

RC 29-10-25

Sometimes I really don't help myself

I'd like to say it wasn't my fault, and that a series of events conspired against me, but the truth is that I allowed a certain phrase to escape from my mouth and now I am dealing with the repercussions.
This story unfolded on Sunday evening, a couple of hours after I posted in this blogsphere. And the collection of unfortunate occurrences that led to my mis-phrasing were these: Our sons unexpectedly both settled down to sleep very early (despite being told that his bedtime was looser because it was half-term, Mathew hit the hay pretty enthusiastically). (I'm blaming GMT for that one - the extra hour the night before had buggered his sleep a little and he hadn't adjusted to the clock change.) My wife decided to join me in a glass of wine or two and join me on the sofa where I was watching a game between the Cowboys and Broncos. Normally she would be in bed early on a Sunday as Monday morning at the surgery is so busy, but she had booked the week off to spend time with the boys and so was happy to sit with her hubby and chat and giggle while quaffing some Pinot Noir. It was really lovely, I have to say, and that made me get all relaxed and loved-up and led me to let my guard down a little. She gave me a nice hand massage (something new she has decided to add to her rapidly-growing repertoire of therapies) and I explained a few of the weirder rules that new NFL viewers can easily get confused by. It was such a gorgeous evening together, and something that we so rarely get these days. But then IT happened... and IT was THIS: Without thinking what I was saying, while explaining the bizarre fact that there is one player who has won more Super Bowls personally than the most successful franchise has, I stupidly uttered the phrase, "If I ever had another son, I might call him Tom Brady Chesworth." I didn't really realise what I had done, I didn't even think about an attempt to rescue myself, and there wasn't any kind of rection from Philippa beyond a smile and a sip of her alcohol. But then first thing Monday morning, when I was about to leave for work, I suddenly heard this phrase from my beloved:
"So, is the idea of a third child back on the table again, then?"

RC 28-10-25

Hey, ho, away we go...

And so the Hallowe'en half-term kicks in. Local schools have booted their little ones out into the sanctity of home life, and our sites are opening their doors for fun activities and a scare trail. I swear it's only three days ago that we reached the end of the Summer Holidays, how the heck is it this time already? They tell me time moves quicker as you get older and the years race by more quickly. That scares me because I already feel like God has had his foot on the accelerator for quite a while now, and that these landmark annual moments seem to be tumbling over each other like poorly rehearsed gymnasts. Of course, the supermarkets are well and truly into 'Christmas Hype' mode, with whole aisles given over to chocolate and sherry, and tasty Yuletide treats available already, even if they'll be out of date by Christmas if you buy them now.  Maybe there are just too many 'benchmark' events in the latter stages of the calendar. Now we have things like Black Friday crammed in alongside Bonfire Night and Advent, it's like you barely leave one Big Day behind without another one looming before you.
Today, though, I only have to think about one of them. October 31st. Although, somehow, it's become a fortnight rather than a one-day event, but that's my fault for planning so many things...

RC 27-10-25

Ignoring GMT

Another Sunday, another gruesome injury broadcast live on British TV during coverage of the NFL... I'm looking forward to the day that Mathew develops an interest in American Football and we can sit and watch games together, but I'm not sure I want my six-year-old son to see a shot of someone's foot pointing in the wrong direction after an ankle break, so I'm glad he's happy with his Lego for now.
Today has been a good one, but I hate the fact that it feels like it's almost over, when it's only 7pm. It's already been dark for nearly two hours, and we've got another 4 or 5 months of this to deal with. But I promised myself I wouldn't let it get me down, and it hasn't; not really. It was warm and sunny earlier today (when we were able to get out of the wind) and we had a lovely sunny family walk and a lovely lunch at a carvery. I went for the gammon, and pork, which turned out to be pork belly, which I would not have gone for had I realised, as it tends to be very fatty, and so it turned out to be. But - again - I refuse to let it depress me. Everything else was splendiferous, especially the cauliflower cheese. It was nice to eat out, but it reminds me how excited I am to get back into more cooking, once I switch to my Winter hours at work. Once next weekend is out of the way, I start getting two days off in a row again, and I will be throwing myself back into my resplendent Rory roasts...

RC 26-10-25

an unapologetic apology

Gavin and I spoke again today. He, sort of, expressed regret at the way he spoke to me, and the way he took the word of the guy who led the course and laid into me without giving me a chance to state my case. I'm not sure anything will change, but at least we should be able to maintain some kind of professional relationship now, and hopefully we can both learn to press pause in the future to allow us both time to calm down. Hopefully, too, he might think twice before sending me onto pointless seminars that have no earthly hope of ever teaching me anything worthwhile, which is all I was asking him about when he lost it last week. At the end of the day, I was trying to save him money and to stop his obsession with sending important staff members offsite several times a year, but he didn't see it that way. He saw it as an affront to his status as The Man In Charge, I think. Anyway, we've turned a little corner today and I'm hoping it will lead to better communication from him and a better mindset for myself, because even writing about it here has made me relive the whole thing and get a little riled up again, and that's not good for me.
Thank God I have a holiday booked next month...

RC 23-10-25

Changing challenges

My little obsession with cardistry seems to have been sidelined in favour of a brief flirtation with magic. This is, of course, what happens to me with my weird little whatever-neurodiversity-it-might-be-controlled-by brain - I get completely fixated on something and think I'll never stop thinking about it, and then that morphs into a concentrated focus on something else. So at least this one has a bit of a link to the previous one, it's not as if I've swapped learning French for studying aboriginal pottery from Tasmania. But it's still the same old behaviour. But that's just the way I am.
So having spent a while trying to perfect moves like the Boomerang Toss and the Waterwheel, I am now spending my spare moments trying sleight of hand and card forcing. With a much better degree of success, I must say. Thanks to a vast array on online tutorials where magicians are happy to throw out the old belief that 'we never reveal our tricks to anyone' I am now able to perform three different card tricks that are all quite startling for people to see. They weren't too hard to learn, but they are actually really impressive when you pull them off in front of people.
Well... Mathew and Philippa were both impressed, anyway...
By the end of next year, I might not need to hire entertainers for our clubrooms, I can just pay myself to do magic!

RC 22-10-25

Confusing conversations

Gavin and I spoke today, for the first time since our fracas. It was civil, but no more than that. I think we need to have a proper talk about it to clear the air, but he seems content to pretend it didn't happen and carry on; except for the fact that he was very different in his attitude towards me, so it's not as if it's forgotten about and he's moved on after accepting what was said. And that's a bit of a concern for me, I have to say. I need to know I can discuss problems with my employer, without subsequently being treated like a terrible partner in a relationship.
Anyway, enough of that old shite, I don't really want to waste my time with you talking about that situation.

I was talking to someone today about the Big Bang (yeah, it was one of those days - weird encounters, unexpected chats, and reminders that the world and its people will never take you down the exact path you're expecting). He was a recently retired gentleman who, by his own description, 'ain't exactly the brightest light on the Christmas tree'. He was telling me that he had heard a podcast in which it was explained that astrophysicists now say that the Big Bang didn't actually create the universe, as previously stated, but that it was the end of something else called 'expansion' which they don't know too much about. He seemed to have taken this as a personal attack, in which they had deliberately altered their view of the universe just to mess with his head. He also said, "Every few years they just make up some new shit just to get some more money, don't they?"
I told him I was inclined to agree, and that physicists were known for being a bit ostentatious and deceptive, whereas the field of chemistry was full of truth, certainty and consistency. Chemists, I told him, are the trustworthy ones. And then he went off on a rant about prescription charges....

RC 21-20-25

unexpectedly relaxed

I think my 'slight disagreement' with The Boss last week has cleared my head a little. I am in a very good mood today. I am calm, enjoying the day, conversing well with colleagues and carrying out my duties in a professional and personable manner. I think it helps that I have only a handful of Saturdays left to work, so I can very much start looking forward to weekends again.

RC 20-10-25

highlights of a meeting with my boss

Well, today may well have been the closest I have ever come to packing in a job with immediate effect. It was heated, it was unnecessary, and I lost my cool and threatened to walk out and not come back. I think the message got through though, and we eventually came to some kind of friendly conclusion and I returned to the calm of my office. Several of my colleagues could tell something had happened and came by to check on me and be supportive, and I have to say that made an amazing difference to my mood.
I'm aware I'm not explaining things very well; I'm just popping down thoughts as they come to me. So let me take you to 10am this morning, and a confrontation with my employer, whom I am refusing to name in this posting lest I thump the letters too hard and render my keyboard unusable.
It was so unnecessary.
He came barrelling in with a bug up his arse and barely said 'Hello' before launching into one of his diatribes. Apparently the leader of this week's course commented on me being 'uncooperative' and said that I might have got more from his teachings if I 'engaged more with the process' and this somehow caused embarrassment to my employer and caused upset to the course leader, which is hilarious bearing in mind he got paid a ridiculous amount of money per person for us being there. And his course, to be frank, was SHIT.
So I stood up for myself and told the truth about how pointless the whole thing was, and commented that maybe if people are so sensitive then they shouldn't be involved in management or consultancy in the first place, and managed to get a few other things off my chest that admittedly may have been best left unsaid, but he'd pushed the wrong buttons and I reacted. One thing I said was that I would seriously consider setting up my own training course and running my own seminars as I was far more experienced and qualified than any of the wasters I get sent to listen to, and could earn far more money than I am currently on by taking advantage of bosses like mine, the way these chancers seem to do with ease. That point was received particularly unwell.
But here's the thing - for the rest of the day, I've been thinking that it might actually be a good idea. Honestly, in my years of supermarket/filling station/caravan site management I've been sent on all sorts of these stupid things and I can't remember any one of them being anything close to useful. But there are loads of them available, and they're always well attended. Surely I can tap into that market and come up with something I can profit from?
Things got smoothed over today, but I don't know how many more of these run-ins I can take before I shove Gavin's head through a door.

RC 17-10-25 

Think for yourself, I beg you...

Another advert has bothered me (honestly, I don't know why I watch TV anymore). This one is all about using ChatGPT to organise your holiday. All you have to do is type in 'plan a nice trip for me and my sister' and let the sodding thing do the rest.
Is this really the best way to be adventurous and see the world? Seceding all decision making to a sodding hard drive? And, like everything else which is AI-driven, isn't it going to become increasingly narrow and repetitive? Won't everyone end up going to the same places and seeing the same things?
We really are about a year away from becoming nothing but drones.
I have so much more to say about this but so little enthusiasm about typing it. So I'm going to open a bottle of wine and do what I've been doing for months now - trying to ignore the inevitable.

RC 16-10-25

Settled

So I made it home safely. It's amazing how much I missed my boys, even though I only had 48 hours away. The first thing I did when I walked in the door was go straight to their rooms and kiss them, even though they were both fast asleep.
I'm going to have a very serious chat with Gavin this week about not sending me off for these pointless seminar things. I suppose there are people who enjoy the change of scenery and the chance to get away from the family, but for me it's a massive inconvenience and gets in the way of the most important thing in my life - spending time with my sons.

RC 15-10-25

Just what I needed...

So here I am in Peterborough (of all places). Spending time with reluctant strangers and being taught how to do something that takes up approximately 0.1% of my work life and could easily be done by an algorithm. There are people getting paid for pointless seminars like this, and my boss is gullible enough to utilise them. Maybe there's some kind of tax break for companies that spend their profits on staff improvement that I'm unaware of, or maybe he's just a sucker for a well-worded e-mail about a well-described presentation and can't help himself, but either way, here I am in a small hotel in Peterborough. My room is about the size of a garden shed, but it's comfortable, and I have an insane selection of teas to choose from, if I decide to have a hot drink. I'm guessing the owners are tea enthusiasts, because I have 13 - and I'm not kidding - different options to select from. I'm a simple man with simple tastes so I'll probably stick with the PG Tips for now, but who knows how adventurous I'll feel after a day stuck in a training room being bored senseless? That 'Arctic Blue' might just tempt me with its 'bold fruity notes' and 'refreshing finish'. God knows I need something to look forward to...
At least I persuaded Gavin to let me drive home when we finish tomorrow, rather than stay another night.

RC 13-10-25

{resigned sigh emoji}

I'm having a few days away next week, on another of those bloody courses that my esteemed boss occasionally decides I need to be sent on, normally to learn how to do something that I've been doing perfectly well at work for at least two years. I believe this one has something to do with social media, which is ridiculous as we have a social media person who works full-time. Unless Gavin is foolishly planning to bin her and dump all her workload on my desk, I really don't see what the point of this is. Especially now, when I'm gearing things up for the Hallowe'en breaks and also putting the vital touches to the Christmas plans while simultaneously planning Quiz Nights for external customers, but there we are. Obviously I'm not doing enough. Maybe he'd like to shove a brush up my arse and I can repaint the front gates as I leave...

RC 10-10-25

Imagine...

Today would have been John Lennon's 85th Birthday, had he not been taken from us back in December 1980.
I was going to mark the occasion by listing my favourite Beatles songs, but ranking them in that way feels like trying to decide which aspect of breathing is most important to me.
I would love to write an eloquent appraisal of his importance, both musically and culturally, but unfortunately I lack the ability (that he had in abundance) to place words next to each other in a beautiful, flowing way. So I will just say this - it is so sad, and so wrong, that he has now been dead for longer than he was ever alive.

RC 9-10-25

It's like I WANT to make more work for myself

Another 'great idea' may have come back to haunt me.
We often have planning meetings where Gavin reiterates his desire to make more connections between our sites and the local community, and his other desire to find ways to increase the company income over the Winter. I made one of those suggestions I sometimes make - normally hours into a meeting where I am losing the will to live and have let my imagination wander away into more pleasant pastures - when a plan falls into my mind and instantly feels like a winner, and I instantly get the urge to share it with others, even before the idea has fully formed in the forefront of my consciousness. So I opened my mouth and talked about hosting regular Quiz Nights. And now, a few weeks later, with the reality of Autumn nestled around us and the quieter times staring at us from a few miles down the road, Gavin want to press ahead, and wants me to be the instigator and lead. So now I am committed to putting together a series of themed 'fun' evenings in our main bar, which will involve reaching out to local quiz leagues and teams and inviting them onsite for 'the mother of all showdowns' and will also involve gently persuading my staff that they should spend even more time at work than they normally do, at the time of year when they normally get to have a few quiet evenings at home for a change.
I mean... in this day and age, with prices being what they are, you would hope our employees would welcome the extra shifts, but you know what the British workforce is like, right? I am about to become even more unpopular than I already have been. I'm not seen as an ogre (I don't think) but I AM seen as The Guy Most Likely To Instigate Changes That Increase Everyone's Workload, and I know I'm seen as that because it's been written very clearly on an anonymous feedback form that someone dropped into the 'Suggestions' box in the staff room. That box, by the way, was another of my bright ideas that has since bitten me in the arse while wearing fangs. For some reason, I thought allowing Those Under Me to comment honestly on the workplace without any fear of retribution would foster an atmosphere of interaction and support. Nope. I just get drawings of boobs and penises and feedback calling me a bell-end.

RC 8-10-25

less people; more problems

There seems to be a real air of unhappiness pervading our visitors at work at the moment. Can the outside world really be so bad now, that people are unable to switch off on their holidays and leave it all behind? It would appear so. Be they older or younger, city folk or country bumpkins, male, female or any chosen gender in between, all and sundry have the same look of bewilderment and despair, and walk with slumped shoulders as if the labours of Hercules have worn them down to fatigue. We continue to provide them with entertainment, opportunities to relax, and distractions, and yet still they seem determined to wallow in their bathtubs full of fret, playing with their pillars of pessimism.
Nary a smile amongst them.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. There is more and more bad news being reported and it's harder and harder to avoid it. Unless we force everyone to hand in their phone at the check-in desk there's no way of helping them disconnect. Although I dearly wish there was...

RC 7-10-25

a poem inspired by a workmate

"Sometimes I fall too far, too fast"

Yelena was from Latvia, her hair was earthy brown
I think she'd look fantastic, in a full-length wedding gown
Sabina was from Poland, her hair was black as jet
she said that, on that day, I was the best that she could get
I thought of them together, I thought of us as three
and then I dreamed of kissing on our anniversary.
My mind it sometimes wanders, my heart it often falls
and still, at night, I sleep alone; in silence, with no calls.
This poem was cathartic, I hope it made some sense
I fear that my relationships are all in the past tense....

RC 6-10-25

Exciting news

We're getting guinea pigs!!!

RC 5-10-25

Welcome, month X

Having ended September with a couple of negative posts, I feel the need to dive into the new month with an air of positivity and excitement. We're driving headlong into Autumn now, and by the end of October we'll have less greenery, barer trees, colder days, darker mornings and we'll be back in GMT.
Ok, that's not a good start to my 'positive posting'.
So, look - Autumn is beautiful. The colours are always amazing and we get some wonderful skies, with both sunsets and sunrises painting the overhead canopy with a luxurious spray of hues. There won't be as many bothersome insects buzzing around, spider season will be behind us soon, and there is nothing better than having a fire in the garden on a crisp, cold October evening. Hallowe'en is on the way, and although I used to despise other people's children banging on my door, I have to say that it's a wonderful week to be a parent. Half-term will be a riot, as we put on some really fun events onsite and we get lots of local families joining us, as well as a full quota of visitors from all over the country coming to stay in the caravans. Bonfire Night is only a month away, and I've already seen a poster for a brand new 'fun family fireworks' display that I'm planning to drag the clan to. The NFL is on every Sunday, I can make some nice soups and I can transfer my BBQ-loving tendencies onto my roast-loving tendencies and still enjoy cooking meat. Soon I will have Sundays off, so I'll have proper weekends again, and we're planning to do some little trips away on those weekends to really take advantage. The lawn will stop growing, there's no chance of sunburn, and there's nothing to stop me going in the sea as I have a decent wetsuit.
See, it's not all bad...

RC 1-10-25