A Bad Man one told me . . .

I read this, and smiled, on the inside at least.  This reminded me of a delightful apple I had the other day.  I say delightful only in as much as I did have a certain degree of delight at the prospect of taking the first tasty bite.
Imagine my surprise when I was confronted with something that would most definitely scare the horses.

I don't know about you, but I think there is a bit of Posh Spice in there.

Going in to print

I read with great interest that Bad Man has taken all his blog journals, and via an online printing company, had it compiled in to a hardback book.  This I like.  We are often tutored on what innovation is within our little tribe of Starfleet troopers, and "combining stuff we already know in a different way to make something new"  broadly covers it, and I have to say that getting your journal published is exactly that, and much of this piece of innovation liking I am.  I may even do a little Googling myself just to see what is possible.  Having said that, LO has not always greeted comments about my blog and its contents with anything other than disdain, and I suspect she believes I am confusing her with someone who gives a ....

At the same time, she loves to read.  Maybe the antipathy is just the result of using the wrong medium.  Hmmm.

On other news, the plastering of walls and ceiling in the new extension is complete.  Now begins several days of drying out.  The existing kitchen is also half done, to cover, if you recall, the mess made by removing tiles and coving, the former to bring the kitchen up to date and in-keeping with the new extension, and actually the latter also for the same reason.  It is slightly frustrating that the kitchen has not been totally finished, but from the plasterer's perspective the kitchen, and Maggot 2's bedroom, were additions to scope, and we all know how frustrating scope creep can be. 

So now we have the final 2 days of plumbing work, to get rads and water services in, ready for the floor insulation being laid next Monday/Tuesday, ready for the final floor screed to be laid on Wednesday by the plasterer.  We then have a little sejourn to the Isle of Wight, and on our return we will be getting stuck in to white-washing the whole setup.

Once that is done, I can then start to build the cupboards for the utility room, which consists of a pretty traditional mini-kitchen bit one side, with wall and floor cupboards, sink, washing machine and dryer, and on the other side floor-to-ceiling cupboards and a space for the second fridge-freezer.  All cupboards will be white gloss, which are probably slightly passe in the fast moving world of kitchen design, and the fact that they are now available on the lowish end stuff in which we have invested probably confirms that.  However, they will look fine, will ensure maximum light and will, set against the multi-coloured chinese slate we are planning to lay on the floor, look pretty smart we think.

It is fair to say that this building work has totally consumed us, and the gradual emptying of bits affected in to our living space (latest addition all the flat-pack kitchen stuff) means that we definitely feel our house is slowly closing in on us.  Hence why getting the utility room storage built is priority number one, since having that storage means we can start to reverse the closing in and start to reclaim our house.

Then all we need to do is fight dust for, oh, maybe a month or so.

Okay, enough talking about the blinkin' extension, must get back to work

Crossroads

Not the wobbly-setted soap, but rather the direction I take this blog.  Now that we have started a new calendar year, do I go the "bah humbug" or the "joyous new beginnings" route.

I guess those that know me know that I am by nature an optimist.  Naive at times, a bit woo woo and a bit la la given half a chance, or half a pint, and definitely sometimes a little bit annoying with my "Confucius says..." moments.  You may have also noticed I have a tendency for self-analysis*.  Put this all together, throw in the charm, good looks, attraction to women and natural modesty and you start to get a picture of the Scobi**.

So I intend to take the "joyous new beginnings" route.  I am aware of all the well-made arguments about arbitrary dates etc as espoused by Bad Man, however I would also say that if you are going to have a "from this moment onwards I am going to do something different" then that moment may just as well be the first of January as the twenty first of June, or indeed the first or fourth*** of April when my holiday year starts anew.

So as for my own personal "joyous new beginnings", my year is currently shaping up nicely.  We are in to the detailed drawings phase of our extension, with a view to going out for quotes by the end of the month, so we can then look to start the work, builder schedules permitting, as early in Spring as we can start and miss the bad weather.  After all, who wants to be digging holes with snow or rain filling the pit every night.  We also have an April trip to Center Parcs with Brad and Angelina, to which I am very much looking forward****.  We are also visiting Glastonbury with Brad and Angelina, a trip that will be planned with meticulous attention to detail, all of which could be undone by a single black rain cloud.  Add in a 'vannin' trip at least once a month (really fancy Warwick castle, and Crystal Palace for a day in Londinium, and the New Forest of course, and somewhere down the West Country and a mystery place, yet to be determined, somewhere completely new).

Oh, I do sort of have some resolutions also, but they are basically just getting back to the good habits to which I had become accustomed prior to Christmas.  Eat well, exercise, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Quick comment on holiday booking before I sign off.  For many years, I used to hold on to my holiday like a baby clutches its safety blanket, fearing they would run out too quickly.  This led to the natural consequence that for the final quarter, usually Jan to April, I had too much holiday to take, and nothing to take it on.  Over a couple of paradigm-shifting years, I let go my holiday booking phobia, and now am never happier than when I have all but a couple of days booked by the middle of April.  The spare days are emergency days in case I need to look after the maggots when LO is working.  Even they usually end up being spent on a long weekend sometime in March.  This year, I even intend to buy 3 days to take me up to a whopping six weeks, and I cannot wait until the online holiday booking system is open for business in April, so I can bang out all the bookings.

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* insert comment about analysing whether I spend too much time self-analysing 
** There is also the tendency to talk about oneself in the third person when one is trying to make a point.

*** Still not sussed out which date it is.

**** I know all this "to which I am very much looking forward" stuff is correct grammar, but it don't harf sound a bit pretentious like.

Back to basics

Had I given it just a shred more thought, I could have come up with a better title, but hey ho, it does set the scene I guess.

I am off to the Chiropractor today, for my first back session through Starfleet's medical insurance cover to get some bones cracking in my back and neck.  I have friends who work in the NHS, with pride, so I tend to mention that in very hushed tones.  Me, I guess the softening of older years has moved me a bit to the right on the political spectrum, not in all things, but for the idea that being detached from the government is a good thing.  I like the idea that I depend on the government for very little these days.  Or course I need the NHS infrastructure, however I can declare a modicum of independence from that, and child benefit will soon be gone and I expect nothing on the pension front from the big team.  This I find I like.  Government is very fickle, and the idea that our contact points are few is to my liking.  Of course they have to deal with the little big stuff - they empty my bins, and they also sweep the streets and all that stuff.  The also deal with the big big stuff, such as banking, world peace and financial prudence and all that other stuff, although to be honest a chap would be forgiven for starting to lose a bit of faith in their abilities on that front.  Will the bluey-yellow team do better than the red team?  Only time will tell.  I do get the distinct impression that some of the red legacy is not to my liking.  There.  I nearly expressed a political opinion.  Enough before I go all gooey and say I love you or something.

On other fronts, the shed continues to dominate the garden.  It is a truly magnificent structure, and merely saying that out loud says a lot about me, and not so much about the shed.  Nuff said.

I am also looking to present a clean work-stack to the Christmas season, although a number of leader activities have taken me away from my day job, and that means there are a number of loose threads on which I really need to concentrate lest they get away from me.  Hopefully, like Bad Man, I will get a chance to wind down just a bit leading up to Friday.  I have to say this working up to the end of Christmas Eve is definitely not to my liking, and it does mean that Christmas Day is on top of me before I know it, but again, hey ho, that is life, I will just have to go double rations on the mince pies to get me in the mood.

I do have a chance to get into a bit of the spirit of things on Thursday evening as we have been invited to the yearly drinks evening at friends.  These friends have just had an extension completed so I am excited to see the work, and to discuss the finer details of three months of dust.  We will also get to meet a bunch of our other extended friend network over a few drinks, nibbles and chat.  That should start me off nicely.

Until we speak again.

A chat with a Bad Man

I finally caught up with a Bad Man for a chat and it was good to catch up with all his news.  We chewed the fat over a number of subjects, most of them to do with Starfleet, aka Dante, and it was, as always, very informative.

The Bad Man has changed his pips at Starfleet and it was interesting to hear how it is going.  It is a bit of a baptism of fire, but he is enjoying the challenge and it certainly keeping him busy.  It seems to me that it is suiting him, and it definitely seems to me that for him, a change really is as good as a rest, which is just as well since he has been doing a lot of resting of late ;-)

Anyhow, I shall be keeping in touch with him just so I can what life is like outside where I am at the moment.

Mould or mold - here's to A Bad Man

Just a quick extra note to A Bad Man who pointed out my potential spelling mistake talking of the fungus-like growth in my shower as mould, when I should have said mold.  It seems that I am in good company, with a lot of people on the web having the same problem, and some of them not even agreeing as to the correct spelling.  I would say that, on balance, using the "mold" spelling would have made me most right as a British person, although I reckon at a push I could still consider myself belligerent and sarcastic (i.e. British) had I spelt it "mould".

I would have expected nothing less from the Bad Man but correctness, and I also wish him a speedy recovering from his hand job (he has been in hospital getting it fixed).

What's on your mind?

I am an avid ready of Golfy, Bad Man and Stretch*, and have been picking up a common theme amongst them all, a theme that I myself have touched on from time to time.

We are all, as it happens, troopers of Starfleet, aka Dante for Bad Man, so it may well inevitable that common themes will arise when each of us discusses our work.

So, what is the gist of this theme?**  Well, it is all about the "era of change", departing colleagues and friends, and an assessment of the atmosphere amongst those who remain.  I like Bad Man's view that we are now in the era of "initiatives", which is management speak that translates in to trying to make a pint fill a quart pot.  These initiatives will all start "now is the time to regroup, and to work smarter not harder."  I would like to believe this, but as Bad Man succinctly puts it, in an organisation the size of Starfleet/Dante "fundamental change is all but impossible and dilution of ideas and objectives is a fact of life."  Rather well put I think.  And unfortunately that does mean that we can expect to work harder, and probably longer, to fill the gaps left by those who have departed.  We have been urged by our leaders to "not let the service to our customers drop" and having done the maths, the options do seem limited.

So where does this leave those who remain?***  Cynicism could easily set in, apathy may also be just round the corner.  Optimism has a lot to be said for it, and energising one's self to tackle future challenges is definitely a good frame of mind to be in.  Attack is the best form of defense and all that.  However it can sometimes struggle under the torrent of "initiatives". 

For others, it has been a time to ponder "is this it?" and consider whether alternative roles or companies is the way forward.  I fear the losses to troopers may well continue for a good few quarters yet.  Aghh, I am even starting to count normal time in quarters.  

All in all, I am not looking forward to the next year, as we regroup and try to work out how the hell we continue doing what we do with gaps in the organisation.

Well, it was good to get that off my chest.  Not sure it made for much pleasure in the reading, but you know, some days...

On a different tack, some of my group of friends have been discussing the possibility of going to Glastonbury next year.  Traveling light, sharing tents and other logistic-related discussions ensued.  We are all tempted by the Ness (Gavin and Stacey) approach to such things.  "I just take Femiwipes and tic tacs."  Hmmmmmmmmm.

* This is not to say that I am not also an avid reader of Gorse Fox, however he does not tend to discuss these things as much as the other three.

**Should one put a question mark on a rhetorical question?  Not that this is a rhetorical question of course, but I was just wondering.

***I find myself pondering the rhetorical question debate once again.  Isn't that rather interesting.

Somewhere different

Today I will be venturing to somewhere different.  This particular somewhere different is a Starfleet office up in the smoke that is, let's say, not on the north of any particular bank or building society.  The purpose of the visit is to indoctrinate a number of new recruits in to the ways my little part of the universe and its associated customer.  The end game will be a larger number of troops able to manage some of the growing workload for which I am my fellow troopers are responsible.  This will set me much more firmly in the role of troop commander, and much less as a trooper, and how that will sit with me has yet to be determined.

What I know right now is there is a job to do, and things I need to achieve in order to satisfy "up the chain", and I am keen to do that.  Whether I have found my next career step is yet to be seen, but watch this space.

And if all that confused the hell out of you, then I am not surprised.  All this talk of Starfleet and troopers and other space-related analogies certainly improves the names-changed-to-protect-the-guilty aspect of the writing, but do not help any with understanding.  I therefore hope that you fall in to one of two camps:

• you are a Starfleet trooper yourself and use similar language - you know who you are Golfy, Bad Man and Stretch ;-)  
• you are seeing me shortly and can ask what the bl00dy hell I am talking about.

If you are in neither camp, then firstly, welcome, and thanks for reading, and secondly, feel free to leave a comment and I can try and enlighten you*.

Until next time, adieu.

*not forgetting the Scobi code of conduct.  Not too much abuse, and spell the words properly.  There are still two S's in to$$er.

Grass

Such an evocative word.  Someone who tell tales.  Marijuana.  That green stuff my kids destroy.  Take your pick.

Today, I am talking about the green stuff.  I feel pricked in to action by fellow bloggers Golfy and A Bad Man who seem to bang on about the stuff endlessly.  And as for lawnmowers, give me a break.  Anyone would think they have a soul, they are sentient beings, they know the difference between marmite and poo.  

Before any lawyers are summonsed, I am only joking.  You guys need to lighten up a bit.  I LOVE your long stories about your little darlings, stories told with genuine love and devotion, with the occasional sprinkling of hate.  I have to keep reminding myself that these are the same dudes wot take the wotsit out of me for being a 'vanner.  How very dare they.  Just to show there are no hard feelings, here's a little bit of mower porn.  She's a beauty isn't she.  You like her don't you.

So, enough about those crazy dudes, let's get back to the guy who really knows how to rock (his 'van, of course).

Today, I may mow the lawn.  Then I may put up the swimming pool.  You may be conjuring images of infinity pools, loungers and crystal waters.  We can just about summon the latter, but the rest is just that, an image.  Our pool is a twelve foot diameter inflatable, super-sized paddling pool.  It fills to about 60cm deep so does hold a lot of water.  Bung on the cover when not in use and it warms up in days.  And the maggots love it.  With their recent interest in tree-climbing, I fear some Acapulco re-enactments might be on the cards this year, so a few ground rules - pool rules - will need to be in place.

Maggot 1 gets invested today, as a cub.  This is followed by a two hour show to celebrate the pack's 100 year anniversary.  Now, I love the recorder orchestra as much as the next deaf person, and seeing my little darling doing something artistic brings me all out in a luvvy rash.  but TWO HOURS.  He does have a bit of a predilection for a good song 'n' dance show.  You should see his Louis Spence impersonation; pure You've Been Framed magic.  

And he is a bit young to know the full truth about our Louis.


So, that's all for this week.  Have a great weekend.  Enjoy the weather.  And cut the grass.