Golfy

On calls most of today, but not ones for which full attention needs to be given*, so I thought it was about time I pinged Golfy for a quick instant messaging chat.  It was good to hear from the old chap, not least so that he can explain what the bloody hell he is talking about in his latest blog.  I am now fully informed, and it is no surprise that The Big Lebowski is sort of in the mix.  It is comforting to know that some things do not change, at least not too quickly, which for Golfy is mostly down to old age, and a very bad golf handicap.

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* there are those who would argue that any such meetings are not events that need to happen, but my counter-argument is simply that, if I didn't attend such calls, when the hell would I do my email filing?

And . . . relax, you are going nowhere

Even on the South Coast, it is snowing.  This area is usually known for its sub-tropical temperatures due to a micro-climate created by the Downs to the north, and the sea, and in particular the Isle of Wight, to the south (but don't tell anyone or they'll all want to live here).

This is a bit of a shock to a chap accustomed to shorts and Hawaiian shirts, and that is just when at work, so it was with some shock and dismay that a chap had to request that the servants bring his wellies and waterproof coat up from the cellar to wear on the school run.  Well, I say run, it was more of a tentative walk.  Once at school, we were told the the school was closing at 1pm, and the Maggots could stay until then or just go home, so we chose the latter, my afternoon being one of conference calls and other super important things.

The Maggots are therefore currently in the garden having a snowball fight before retiring to seven hours of screen time.  LO went off to work, being in the SLT she needs to set an example, but in the new car, with rear-wheel drive, I am not sure that is so wise, especially as the weather looks to continue snowing all day.  Hopefully she will watch the weather and her school will decide to cut and run before they are snowed in all weekend.

This weekend we had planned a number of things, most of which may be cancelled now, so it may be a return of onesie time, especially as one of my kind team has given me an Avengers something or other in 3D Blue Ray they they cannot use, which is nice.  A warm cozy fire, a film, even one with silly glasses, who knows, after a couple of G&Ts a chap might even nod off.  Bliss.

More about the new car next week, once I have acclimatised.

Have a great weekend, don't get any snowballs down your neck, and speak next week.

And . . . relax

This has been our first full week back as a family, LO having started her new job on Monday.  It is fair to say that we have a new routine, one revolving around waking up as usual, but getting out of bed earlier.  Now, for a chap with my military background, early mornings are de rigeur, if only to ensure the servants have polished the egg cups, however for LO it is a rude awakening, in every sense.  Give the filly her due though, she has done well so far.  One week down, six to go (until half term that is).

We have remained disciplined in all aspects of this new regime, ensuring we completely wash and clear up after dinner*, so the end of week report is looking rosy.  However, ask us again in a month.

This weekend sees us to dinner with A&E, which is always a pleasure, and no doubt there will be beer, and wine, good food, good company, some holiday chats, some coaching for LO on her new role from A, and likely some Canasta, when the chaps' New Year Resolutions to "let the fillies win a bit this year" will be sorely tested**.

Otherwise there will be scouts, swimming and tennis and doubtless some onesie time as well.

Only other news is that the Scobi Remix Factory (aka my study, little laptop and Denon hi-fi) is in full swing.  I have finished and submitted Disaster in the Universe - Natural, which is here (find me in the entries section at the bottom) if you are interested, and I am now nearly finished on a chillout remix, original track here that has been fun coz I get to play a lot with delay and panning and generally messing about without making it heavy (gotta keep in chilled out).  Interesting.

I hope your weekend is as full-on*** as ours.  Until next week, take it easy.

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* I know, the rest of you do this as a matter of course, however as we usually do not finish dinner until 9pm, when our one hour evening show starts, the temptation is strong to leave it until morning.
** Written on the full expectation that none of the offended parties will be reading this blog.
*** Irony, in case you were wondering

Golfy has woken up

It's nice to see Golfy blogging more regularly, and that the spell-checker he got for Christmas is doing a sterling job of making his words half readable*.  A couple of his blogs have made me to want to respond, albeit briefly**.

The first was his excellent thoughts on the US and guns.  I believe his view and mine are broadly in line, which is nice, and as everyone knows now, if you read something that aligns with your own views, you generally believe it, even if it is bunkum.  Likewise, if you don't agree with it, you tend towards disbelieving perfectly sound facts.  Anyway, my only additional comments are around the gun lobby, which as we know, is very powerful in the US, with that old cowboy whose name I forget being a very vocal advocate.

There are two points I wanted to make.

Their oft-quoted view is that "guns don't kill, people do", and I have been giving this some thought.  The problem is the people, therefore I would advocate that we need to do something about the people who want guns, so how about a free lobotomy with every gun licence?

I was really, profoundly and utterly deflated and disappointed with their response to the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy.  The news came out that the NRA were going to issue a statement on the event, with some commentators pondering whether that, at last, they were going to contribute something more neutral to the overall argument.  Their response?  Armed guards in schools.  As the Maggot's little yellow friend would say; Doh!

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* only joking of course, so no letters please.
** are you paying attention, Golfy?

And . . . relax

I am so relaxed, I missed it by a day.  Never mind, not a lot to say, just that my first 3 days back have convinced me that I really do need that Lottery win.

Only joking, coz this is the year I do something to up-shift my career.  Not sure what, not sure when, but I need to push on.

Now sitting down, after a frustrating day going to Southampton, only to turn back without visiting anywhere because the traffic was so heavy.  It was bumper to bumper from the motorway all the way in to West Key, and even our escape route was rammed.  Unbelievable to think it was Christmas only just over a week ago.  Oh well, obviously a lot of people wanting to spend the gift vouchers.  We are now home having some Onesie time.  Luvverly.

Happy New Year

Well, wasn't that a highly successful and enjoyable break.

I failed at my goal to eat my own body weight in mince pies, but still managed to eat plenty, drink plenty and sleep plenty.  The other seventy five percent of the clan have new-fangled "Onesies", which have brought a new phrase in the Scobi household of "Onesie time", which can be any time from the moment we get up* through to sometime before the final meal of the day**.  This has materialised in to a most pleasing of times, and one to which a chap could get used***, which makes it all the more sad that real life has intervened, and a chap needs to get up and earn an honest crust.

We did plenty of nothing, and quite a lot of partying in-between, with a games night, a New Year's Eve party (wonderful time had by all) and a lunch-time nibbles**** party as well as both our folks to Christmas Day and mine to Boxing Day.  It could fair wear a chap out.

This year, I have sort of made some resolutions, the main two being:

• career - do something positive, and get some training - sharing this one with Brad, who is my keeping-me-honest partner-in-crime, he also needing to do similar
• have more holidays

To this end, we have already nearly planned the four three 'van trips, which include Sandy Balls, IoW or Dorset and somewhere else eastwards, maybe even doing the Seven Wonders of the Weald, which is on my personal to-do list.  Also planning a Riverside Lakes trip with Brad and Angelina, sometime in June I believe, to which I am already looking forward***.  We have also tentatively looked at the Italian Lakes and Fayence (again) to see what is what, possibly favouring a 1 week stay in the Lakes with a week of touring spread either side, but time will tell how that one pans out.

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* or Lunch, as most people call it
** which is usually no earlier than 4pm, and no later than midnight
*** Surely that cannot be right?
**** Don't let the innocent name fool you, there was dancing on the tables by eight o'clock, and this was at a party scheduled to end "around threeish"

And . . . relax . . . for quite a long time

Today is Friday, but not just any Friday, but the last Friday of the working year, before I have 11 days off.

Bloody hurrah.

It is fair to say, this year has over-stayed its welcome, and I am very happy to be saying bye and getting on with, as I have said so many times I may start to be filed under "senile old timer", eating my own body-weight in mince pies.

Today sees my doing a lot of tidying up of loose ends.  All those little to do items that are important but not urgent, and so as a rule do not even get a look in.  It is actually quite satisfying, in lieu of simply doing nothing and eating mince pies, and I hope to be in rude health with my day book having just a couple of things that will need to be done in the New Year, not so much because I don't do it this year, but more that I need to remind myself of anything and everything I may need to take on in the new year.

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and New Year.  See you next year.

New Stuff

As we set about our unplanned renewal of many of our household appliances, this week sees us take ownership of a new hoover and a new cordless DECT phone.  The former is a mighty fine piece of engineering, I am sure, but to be honest, all I should really report is that it picks up dirt, and is much easier to move around than the old Dyson we temporarily borrowed off my parents.

The latter is a thing of beauty.  Actually, to be precise, it is fine as a DECT phone, however we have come to realise that with all the smartphones around these days, your average DECT phone looks just that - average.  Nevertheless, it does all the things a phone should do; it rings people, has an address book, you can ring the other extensions (we have 3 handsets) and you can transfer external calls to other handsets - hold the line please caller - and you can do hands-free.

This final feature is my favourite.  When I work from home, I spend around 3-6 hours per day on calls.  In know, bonkers, however that is the nature of a remote organisation such as Starfleet.  Anyhow, as a result of often hours of back-to-back calls, a chap does not have much time to do the essentials in life, such as have a pee, make a coffee, answer the door and make lunch.  So, I can often be seen with the phone on speaker, microphone muted, and the phone tucked in the collar of my shirt.  This provides me with a hands-free experience for life's essentials, whilst enabling me to nominally keep in touch with the discussion, to avoid those "what do you think Mark?" embarrassing silences.

Otherwise, I have been limbering up on the mince pie challenge.  I had two yesterday, just to loosen up the muscles, and my goal is to eat my own body-weight by the new year.  Wish me luck.

Until tomorrow . . .

Mid-week is the new [blank]

You are free to fill in the blank with your own word, but mine is "can't be @rsed".

Don't get me wrong, some stuff is getting done, but not with the usual vigour.  I really hope that an overdose of mince pies will sort me out, and I can start the new year with gusto.

In the meantime, there are a few final purchases to be made - sadly, mostly to replace failing household appliances, the latest being the hoover and the phone.

Otherwise, it is just a matter of waiting for Friday when School's Out, and so is Scobi.

And . . . relax

I am a self-fulfilling prophecy in that Bad Man said that the Scobi would end up blogging only one a week, and had even invented "doing a Scobi", and here I am doing just that.

Blogging has not been my highest priority over the last few weeks.  Let's see what the New Year brings.

In the meantime, both LO and I are ill; not chucking up or listless in bed ill, but ill enough to get to 8pm every night and wonder what the f### that day was all about.  We are at Brad and Angelina's this weekend, and we have even fleetingly considered whether we will be well enough to go.  I for one will be, but I have to say LO is suffering a tedious and persistent cough that is keeping her awake at night*, and sometimes me, and irritating her beyond belief, even beyond that of which I am capable.  She has an important event tonight, the leaving do of her boss and mentor.  Here's hoping she is able to get through that without making herself worse.  So, hopefully, we shall be travelling north to B&A for, amongst other things, a drumming workshop, something us lads are very much looking forward to.

Have a great weekend, speak next week.

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* Last night, to add insult to injury, we had what was presumably some drunken d##k-head calling us at zero hundred hours, otherwise known as midnight.  "Hello, hello" said I, to silence.  Nice.

And . . . relax

Another Friday comes by, and it is, as usual, more than welcome.  The working week was more normal, which is nice, and we are slowing getting all our chores done at home in preparation for Christmas.

LO said the other night that we would quite like to get off the hamster wheel sometime soon, since things are soooooooooo full on soooooooo much of the time.  That moment will probably be our last day of working this year, which for me is Friday 21 December.  Can't wait.

Just want to get in writing that I owe Brad a call.  My evenings are at the moment not much more than eat and sleep.  I am, as usual for this time of year, very tired, my sleeping is suffering probably caused by the stress of too much work, so it really is Luge Time, lie flat and don't die.

This weekend we are at a school fayre tonight.  Actually, sorry, not a fayre, a fair, since it is really just a matter of a few stalls, a bit of tat on sale and the requirement just to attend for half an hour and spend a bit.

Saturday evening we have the in-laws over for tea and Strictly.  The Strictly Sweepstake is hotting up, and I have to say my own chances of winning are slim, since I only have Lisa Riley left in the draw, and while she is popular, I think her dancing skills may have reached their limit and she will be voted off either this week or next.

Have a fantastic weekend, and speak next week.

Vanity

I am well aware of the dangers of Googling yourself.  The two principles of self-Googling state:

1. Why are you doing it?  Vanity, fear or self-doubt.  Whatever it is, it is probably not savoury.
2. What do you hope to find?  Chances are, at least something you find will not be to your liking.

And so it was that the second principle of self-Googling came true.  Just check this out for confirmation.