So, some good news this week, one of the two ways I could have been made redundant, has been dissolved, or at the very least, shelved for 12 months. Long story short but the department needed to make cuts and offered voluntary redundancy and enforced the selection process which meant you had to apply for your grade. If you didn't make the grade, you would be made redundant, no ifs or buts. However, turns out that despite that official line of wanting, "the right people for the department," now that so many people opted to jump ship on the voluntary exit scheme, they now don't have enough people to run the department and are having to fill the gaps with temps. And so... they've got rid of the selection process for this year at least. We are still facing the threat of the building closure and the relocation of jobs, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it and we'll know before the end of April. It's been a long five months waiting for that decision to be made, well, I think it was made five months ago, but it's been a long five months waiting for the decision to be announced.
So now that I'm no longer required in the office on the 8th and 9th of April, (that was when the selection process was being launched,) I can now take the leave that I'd booked well in advance and I can take off four whole days, as planned. It's much needed, I feel exhausted.
It's still freezing cold here and although the last of the snow finally melted this week, I'm still wearing four layers of clothing to work each day. As I peer out of my kitchen window, I'm at last seeing cold looking green grass rather than the white stuff.
Tired of being cold in work despite layer upon layer of clothing. Hormones and blood pressure still raging and so tired.
Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 April 2013
Sunday, 24 March 2013
108, Not Out
22nd March 2013 would have been my Auntie Phe's, (Phoebe Hannah's,) 108th birthday. I find that amazing. Auntie Phe actually checked out about 12 years ago, but she loved cricket. It will be 12 years next month I think, but time passes so quickly and I hadn't kept track of time in my head and so had to text my cousin Lyn, to double check how old she would have been, it will be Lyn's birthday tomorrow.
I remember 12 years ago pondering on all of the changes Auntie Phe must have borne witness to; the telephone arriving in homes for the first time in Liverpool, taxi cabs which weren't horse drawn, the end of the tram and the emergence of the bus, petrol driven, commercial aeroplanes, helicopters, Concord, television. She was born in 1905 and lived through two World Wars, I do remember asking her about family history but I'm sorry I didn't chat to her more about times gone by.
It was a long week in work. Lots of decisions about my future to be made, plus the day job.
It's Friday and it has snowed since 3am. It is now 7pm and the sky looks orange and it's still snowing. I'm so tired of the cold... and the beautiful, white stuff. Anyway, on the bright side, graze on my elbow is healing, bruises are fading, coccyx is recovering... slowly.
I remember 12 years ago pondering on all of the changes Auntie Phe must have borne witness to; the telephone arriving in homes for the first time in Liverpool, taxi cabs which weren't horse drawn, the end of the tram and the emergence of the bus, petrol driven, commercial aeroplanes, helicopters, Concord, television. She was born in 1905 and lived through two World Wars, I do remember asking her about family history but I'm sorry I didn't chat to her more about times gone by.
It was a long week in work. Lots of decisions about my future to be made, plus the day job.
It's Friday and it has snowed since 3am. It is now 7pm and the sky looks orange and it's still snowing. I'm so tired of the cold... and the beautiful, white stuff. Anyway, on the bright side, graze on my elbow is healing, bruises are fading, coccyx is recovering... slowly.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
White Out
So, last night, we had TV blackout, for several, (okay two,) uncomfortable moments, while I willed my picture to return I pressed every button on the remote multiple times I felt like I was Miranda from Sex and the City, when Magda accidentally sat on the TV remote, killed Tivo and wiped "Mimi and Jools". If you watched SatC, this would illustrate the horror. Anyway, moments later and it was back. Must have been the weather.
The week in work wasn't too bad. I finally feel comfortable and sort of know what I'm doing, enough not to not feel panic stricken at every moment through every day, anyway.
Monday, I visited the dentist. New dentist, my old dentist decided to go and teach, (damn it,) and so like any normal, terrified person, I boycotted the dentist for a good two years until the excruciating pain every time I ate or drank something very hot or very cold, became impossible to ignore any longer.
I went in on time, always good for me as the longer I sit there waiting to go in, the worse I get. Anthony, new dentist, was lovely, very nice, very gentle, no sudden moves, everything was very relaxed. He reminds me of someone and I don't know who but for now, I'm going to go with a young Danny Bonaduce but I may revisit that.
20 minutes, one exam, two x-rays later and I'm done. Good news is that I don't need anything new. Bad news is, three of my old fillings need replacing. Anthony couldn't find the source of my pain but one of the fillings that needs replacing is near the location of the pain and A explained that pain travels so there you go, hopefully, when I get that one replaced, no more pain.
Tuesday I was at the doctor's and I'll be doing a fasting blood test soon to check on cholesterol and sugar, never been tested before so that will be interesting, no problem, just being tested due to family history.
Wednesday and Thursday, positively boring. Friday, we were forecast to have heavy snow between 3pm and 9pm then heavy rain, I wasn't worried for once this week because I thought the rain would melt anything that would fall as temps were due to stay above freezing. We had a little, light, swirling snow earlier, then nothing. I went to bed around 9pm and woke to about 8cm of snow.
Driving in it this morning was horrendous and I heard on the news that 3 local motorways were closed last night because so much snow came down, so quickly. As usual, the council's were not prepared to take action. Yesterday, eight days after the initial snowfall, pavements were still full of ice, it's a disgrace. Anyway, I crawled to Starbucks, and I'm getting a refill today, an extra filter, stuff the caffeine overload and the jitters, I'm hanging around longer so that hopefully, this weak sunshine will melt some of the snow before I slide home.
I worked out for 25 minutes this morning and for the past two weeks, I've done Jane Fonda-esque leg raises every night, it's actually worked, I've lost some inches and it's looking good back there, well, it's looking, "not terrible" anyway.
Fingers crossed that the snow is gone by morning. Quite frankly, I'm sick of negotiating with it and worrying about it, and as pretty as it is, I'm done driving in it. Snow, be gone, I'd love to wake up to green tomorrow.
The week in work wasn't too bad. I finally feel comfortable and sort of know what I'm doing, enough not to not feel panic stricken at every moment through every day, anyway.
Monday, I visited the dentist. New dentist, my old dentist decided to go and teach, (damn it,) and so like any normal, terrified person, I boycotted the dentist for a good two years until the excruciating pain every time I ate or drank something very hot or very cold, became impossible to ignore any longer.
I went in on time, always good for me as the longer I sit there waiting to go in, the worse I get. Anthony, new dentist, was lovely, very nice, very gentle, no sudden moves, everything was very relaxed. He reminds me of someone and I don't know who but for now, I'm going to go with a young Danny Bonaduce but I may revisit that.
20 minutes, one exam, two x-rays later and I'm done. Good news is that I don't need anything new. Bad news is, three of my old fillings need replacing. Anthony couldn't find the source of my pain but one of the fillings that needs replacing is near the location of the pain and A explained that pain travels so there you go, hopefully, when I get that one replaced, no more pain.
Tuesday I was at the doctor's and I'll be doing a fasting blood test soon to check on cholesterol and sugar, never been tested before so that will be interesting, no problem, just being tested due to family history.
Wednesday and Thursday, positively boring. Friday, we were forecast to have heavy snow between 3pm and 9pm then heavy rain, I wasn't worried for once this week because I thought the rain would melt anything that would fall as temps were due to stay above freezing. We had a little, light, swirling snow earlier, then nothing. I went to bed around 9pm and woke to about 8cm of snow.
Driving in it this morning was horrendous and I heard on the news that 3 local motorways were closed last night because so much snow came down, so quickly. As usual, the council's were not prepared to take action. Yesterday, eight days after the initial snowfall, pavements were still full of ice, it's a disgrace. Anyway, I crawled to Starbucks, and I'm getting a refill today, an extra filter, stuff the caffeine overload and the jitters, I'm hanging around longer so that hopefully, this weak sunshine will melt some of the snow before I slide home.
I worked out for 25 minutes this morning and for the past two weeks, I've done Jane Fonda-esque leg raises every night, it's actually worked, I've lost some inches and it's looking good back there, well, it's looking, "not terrible" anyway.
Fingers crossed that the snow is gone by morning. Quite frankly, I'm sick of negotiating with it and worrying about it, and as pretty as it is, I'm done driving in it. Snow, be gone, I'd love to wake up to green tomorrow.
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Why So Long?
Hi Col, so glad I got to speak to you on your birthday and hope you liked the little tiny KG I mailed over, (you hadn't opened when we spoke.) Not an original creation from moi, but figured Mr Geiger needed the business.
I've been a little slow writing to you lately, the weekends are whizzing by and I lost one whole weekend as I was locked out of my laptop, well, my writing bits and bobs, you know when you need a password reset and you follow the instructions but it still doesn't reset, and there is no help desk number? I was so frustrated that day but anyway, here we are, better late than never.
So I'll give you a quick recap as I can't remember what I told you on our brief BD chat, work is dire, not one chance of losing job but two, think I'll know on both counts within 6 months. Absolutely freezing cold, had the heating on constantly (very low but still, what the heck is the next bill going to be?) It's just too cold to be without heat. Work is cold too, by Friday I had increased the layers to, bra, thermal vest, t-shirt, long sleeved t-shirt, shirt, no longer cared what I looked like, layers are the key.
Snowed heavily on Friday morning, I was in work for 6.30am, it began to snow around 7.30am and was constant and blizzard like, the field before the woods that I can see from my desk was completely covered by a white blanket by 9am. The office workers drifted off one by one as schools telephoned parents to say they were closing and then workers who got the bus to the office had to leave as the buses were stopping, that's how bad it was, or at least how bad our roads are, we can't cope, can we?
Anyway, despite our team being the only ones left in the office, bar two people, our manager, (who manages us remotely, from a different town... and from home on a Friday,) finally agreed to allow us to risk our lives in the now, heavy snow. A good manager is worth their weight in gold, I remember having good managers.
I had to unearth the car from beneath the snow then gingerly crawled home at snails pace. We've had it worse but it's bad enough. Getting in and out of my Close is, as usual a nightmare but so far, that's been the worst part. We are set for more snow daily until Thursday, really hoping that will be it for this year.
Saturday disappeared, rose early, did a little exercise, stripped bed, washed, coffee'd, ironed, emailed and the day was practically gone.
Slept horribly last night, couldn't get comfortable and too many noises, at least one cat well, possibly two chasing each other across my roof in the middle of the night and the sound of something falling, possibly a clump of snow freeing itself from the rooftop.
Today, well, I finally rose, did my usual, (as of the last three weeks,) 10 minutes of yoga/toning hybrid which always leaves me in agony. I know that you're probably wondering why I persist? Well, it's to lengthen, strengthen, and not to mention, firm the tush, and I keep thinking that it will eventually get easier. It's true that after the first week, my thighs were in pain until Thursday. Week two, just the hip that was in excruciating pain. So far today, after third attempt, still the hip, so you see, next week could be key don't you think?
So I left for my usual coffee, and despite wheels spinning, managed to just about get out of the Close, after that, roads were fine. Had coffee and while I sipped, it started to snow again, I didn't want to hang around in case it got bad, quickly so I headed off for home, well to CJ's as he was upgrading something on my laptop for me. An hour and a bit later and I headed home, had just missed Bee calling in after church and so I set about making an egg tartlet, that's fine, I can do that, and a frittata. Love frittata, it's just emerged from the oven, doesn't look pretty but I'll do the taste test later, it's too hot at present and I enjoy it cold anyway.
So there we are, up to date finally. This week we have snow, dentist tomorrow, Dr's Tuesday, a week of fun to look ahead to. Hope it's not too hot over there for you ;)
I've been a little slow writing to you lately, the weekends are whizzing by and I lost one whole weekend as I was locked out of my laptop, well, my writing bits and bobs, you know when you need a password reset and you follow the instructions but it still doesn't reset, and there is no help desk number? I was so frustrated that day but anyway, here we are, better late than never.
So I'll give you a quick recap as I can't remember what I told you on our brief BD chat, work is dire, not one chance of losing job but two, think I'll know on both counts within 6 months. Absolutely freezing cold, had the heating on constantly (very low but still, what the heck is the next bill going to be?) It's just too cold to be without heat. Work is cold too, by Friday I had increased the layers to, bra, thermal vest, t-shirt, long sleeved t-shirt, shirt, no longer cared what I looked like, layers are the key.
Snowed heavily on Friday morning, I was in work for 6.30am, it began to snow around 7.30am and was constant and blizzard like, the field before the woods that I can see from my desk was completely covered by a white blanket by 9am. The office workers drifted off one by one as schools telephoned parents to say they were closing and then workers who got the bus to the office had to leave as the buses were stopping, that's how bad it was, or at least how bad our roads are, we can't cope, can we?
Anyway, despite our team being the only ones left in the office, bar two people, our manager, (who manages us remotely, from a different town... and from home on a Friday,) finally agreed to allow us to risk our lives in the now, heavy snow. A good manager is worth their weight in gold, I remember having good managers.
I had to unearth the car from beneath the snow then gingerly crawled home at snails pace. We've had it worse but it's bad enough. Getting in and out of my Close is, as usual a nightmare but so far, that's been the worst part. We are set for more snow daily until Thursday, really hoping that will be it for this year.
Saturday disappeared, rose early, did a little exercise, stripped bed, washed, coffee'd, ironed, emailed and the day was practically gone.
Slept horribly last night, couldn't get comfortable and too many noises, at least one cat well, possibly two chasing each other across my roof in the middle of the night and the sound of something falling, possibly a clump of snow freeing itself from the rooftop.
Today, well, I finally rose, did my usual, (as of the last three weeks,) 10 minutes of yoga/toning hybrid which always leaves me in agony. I know that you're probably wondering why I persist? Well, it's to lengthen, strengthen, and not to mention, firm the tush, and I keep thinking that it will eventually get easier. It's true that after the first week, my thighs were in pain until Thursday. Week two, just the hip that was in excruciating pain. So far today, after third attempt, still the hip, so you see, next week could be key don't you think?
So I left for my usual coffee, and despite wheels spinning, managed to just about get out of the Close, after that, roads were fine. Had coffee and while I sipped, it started to snow again, I didn't want to hang around in case it got bad, quickly so I headed off for home, well to CJ's as he was upgrading something on my laptop for me. An hour and a bit later and I headed home, had just missed Bee calling in after church and so I set about making an egg tartlet, that's fine, I can do that, and a frittata. Love frittata, it's just emerged from the oven, doesn't look pretty but I'll do the taste test later, it's too hot at present and I enjoy it cold anyway.
So there we are, up to date finally. This week we have snow, dentist tomorrow, Dr's Tuesday, a week of fun to look ahead to. Hope it's not too hot over there for you ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)