Tag: stress

Life, ongoing

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The EBI Summer Party has come and gone (under a deluge of rain, but was very successful nonetheless). The PRIDE Converter 2 manuscript is submitted, and all the documentation, help files, user manuals, developer manuals and example data sets have been finalized and uploaded. All of this is good.

Heard back from an opportunity I’d looked into. No joy on that front, which makes me a bit blue but the timing wasn’t the best anyway so it’s not the end of the world. Katy has a date for her operation, which is making her a bit nervous (and so I am, to be honest) but we’ll have the chance to talk to the surgeon beforehand so that should be good. She’s also seeing the dermatologist again, so hopefully things will progress on that front as well.

Our trip to Canada is still in the books for October, but we’ll wait to buy the tickets until after Katy’s all better. Bean is still being Bean, with all that entails. Hopefully we’ll have a bit of summer weather at some point soon so that we can take him to the beach.

We’re going to be taking on a lodger for a few months – one of Katy’s work colleagues. That should help get rid of a the credit card bill. Who knows, might even be fun to have another body around the house. Hopefully we won’t scare her off with the Christmas decorations :)

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Easter redux

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I need a vacation from my vacation.

We went to Leicester for Easter. We went to the farm on Saturday to see the lambing, and to spend some quality time with Anna and Rho. Bean seemed less interested in the animals and more interested in getting himself and anybody in close proximity covered in straw. We had lunch there and then, after discovering their antique car museum, we headed back to Anna’s parents’ house for a bit more visit. That was funny. Bean got a kiss from Tay (Anna’s dog), who then later on proceed to surreptitiously steal his jam tart right out of his hand while he wasn’t looking. Bean was a very good boy that day, but he used up all of his good-boy point in one go because he’s been a right monster since. Seriously. Murder has been contemplated.

There was a big family to-do on Easter Sunday, with Stu, Jeminie and Sonal coming over to spend the day. The meal was nice, but I really wasn’t feeling up to it and I had, well, a bad mental health day. I was grumpier than I should have been, but there was little I could do about it. We came back home on Monday, and spent a large part of the afternoon yelling at the beast. We went to Ikea on Tuesday to pick up some meatballs and a few odds and ends, and spent a large part of the afternoon yelling at the beast. On Wednesday, we went to Tesco to stock up on meat to fill our new freezer (yay!). I made a large batch of carrot and coriander soup, and we spent a large part of the afternoon yelling at the beast. I had my second guitar lesson that evening, which is cool (yay!) and now I have some hand stretching exercises that should hopefully help with a few stubborn chords. I also made some lemon scones for Katy, which were quite yummy, if I do say so myself.

And that leaves us at today, where I am dead tired from lack of sleep and fatigue at yelling at the beast. We’re a bit concerned, truth be told, because we’re not sure if he’s just being a 3-year-old or if there is some underlying behaviour issue, or something entirely more frightening lurking in the wings. We really shouldn’t read internet articles on stuff like that…

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All planned out, over and done with!

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In the past few weeks, I have been working on the planning of:

– the PST group xmas party
– the main EBI xmas party
– mince pies & mulled wine for 100 people at work
– booking 50 tickets for Stomp
– booking 150 tickets for a cinema screening
– getting 500 mugs printed for work

and a boatload of smaller tasks, none of which are actually my actual day job.

It’s been stressful, to say the least but the good news is that everything is now done and over. The office paella potluck went down a treat. It was held at the Great Chesterford community center and the comments about the food and the venue were uniformly positive (many thanks to the paella chefs!). The day had a rocky start with a trip to Addenbrookes A&E after Bean dropped a chair on his big toe but bounced back once the food started being served. We already had all of the food prepped and packed in the car, but there was a ton of last-minute stuff we needed to deal with. Still, with a few phone calls, everything got sorted out and in the end, we were in and out of Addenbrooked in about an hour and a half. I have to give mad props to the guys who helped clean the place up afterwards, it was a big help!

The EBI xmas party was last night, at La Raza in Cambridge. The comments I got on the night were also very positive, with people saying that it was a better party than in the past couple of years. I can personally vouch that the food was not only feckin’ plentiful, but very very good as well. Given all of my allergies, the fact that I was stuffed at the end of the night was a very positive fact IMO. The jalapeno poppers were great, but those beef and horseradish yorkie puds were pure crack! Plus, you know, 5 drinks for a fiver is a deal you can’t beat :) The only critiques I would give for the night was that the music the DJ put on wasn’t what I would have preferred for a xmas party. Other than that, and the totally unfounded rumours of a rigging of the raffle draw (hehe!), the night was a success in my books.

Becky had a bit of karmic retribution when Bean woke up at 11 and, realizing that we weren’t there, cried for an hour before getting himself back to bed. Becky was a bit frazzled when she called, I think…

So now, I only have one more week of work before I get some leave time to chill out and cook stuff for the holidays. I’ve already started tonight, with a braised beef topside and some chicken stock that I’m going to use to make a hamhock terrine in the near future. Katy and I are trying to finalize the list of all the recipes we want to try out for new years :)

The prezzies are mostly all bought and just need wrapping, so that’s a load off as well.

Go us, for being productive!

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More money going out the window…

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The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation in the UK matched its record high in September, rising to 5.2% from 4.5% the month before. An increase in energy costs was behind a large proportion of the rise. The 5.2% rate is the highest CPI measure since September 2008, and it has never been higher since the CPI measure was introduced in 1997.

The Retail Prices Index (RPI) – which includes mortgage interest payments – rose to 5.6% from 5.2%. The latest RPI measure is the highest annual rate since June 1991.

Source: BBC

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Crisis averted

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Our spare set of keys, the one with keys for all the house and shed doors, has been AWOL for the past 48 hours. This was somewhat disconcerting and we’ve been tearing the house upside-down looking for them.  It was just continuing the trend that started earlier in the week.

I was >< this close to calling a locksmith and having all the locks changed, but happily the wayward keys have been found, locked in the small shed. I had to use my bolt cutters to get past the padlock, but that's a small price to pay compared to a locksmith's fees.

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A visit to the zoo

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It was a bank holiday last weekend and we took Bean to Linton Zoo to change things around a bit. Bean is becoming a walking ball of overzealous destruction when left to his own devices, so we though taking him to see home animals would be a good diversion. The zoo is cute, and they have some really nice big cats, but it’s expensive for the size it is, sadly.

Still, it was a nice walk and Bean seemed to enjoy it. We’ll probably keep it as a treat for future outings.

Lots of pictures here: http://www.flubu.com/various_pics/various_aug_2011/

We’re finding Bean a lot of hard work these days. He doesn’t listen, is very stubborn and has Katy’s temper (and elbows!). We’re having moderate success with time-outs, except that now he’s taken to putting his toys on time-out (no hit mummy and daddy!). It’s good that he gets the message, even though he’s not always acting on it.

We were in Leicester the weekend before that. I really needed a vacation from work stress so I’d taken some days off and we went to see the in-laws. The plan was to drop Bean off and spend some quiet time having cocktails, watch movies and some nice meals out. That went out the window when Katy’s dad was ill and her mom fell and dislocated her shoulder. We ended up babysitting the babysitters. Understandable, but poopey nonetheless. We managed to salvage some good times by making extravagant ice cream sundaes.

On a brighter note, Christmas is coming and we’ve started making plans!

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Need a change of scenery

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I’ve been working at my current job for the last 6 years. It’s been mostly good, with some very high times and a few low ones as well. I’ve come to the realisation though that I need to start looking for something different, because I’m no longer happy doing what I’m doing. If money weren’t an object, I’d start my BBQ restaurant, or combine that with the B&B idea that Katy and I have been kicking around as a pipe dream for years. Alas, money is always an object, so I need to keep slogging at it until somebody makes me an offer I can’t refuse. Or I go postal at work. Whichever comes first, I guess.

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Good news, bad news

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Good news: the electrician fixed all of the remedial work that needed doing.
Bad news: the RCD still keeps tripping.
Good news: the electrician has some suggestions we can try to help isolate the cause of the very intermittent problem.
Bad news: the suggestions doesn’t help the fact that the RCD tripped over the weekend, when we were in Leicester, and half our freezer defrosted.

Good news: we’re going to get the windows and doors replaced.
Bad news: it’s going to cost £4000.
Good news: it’s not as much as I feared, and we’re getting nice stuff.
Bad news: Natwest are being bastards about extending our existing loan.
Good news: My credit score is still classed as good, and we’ve found alternate means of financing, so screw you Natwest.

Good news: the cats are doing well and don’t seem too bothered about the heat.
Bad news: they feel well enough that they caught and ate a bird, inside the house, while we were away.

Good news: Katy’s going to reduce her hours so that she doesn’t feel as crappy and tired all the time
Bad news: Katy’s still feeling tired and crappy all the time.

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Dog, squeee! Also, fret!!!

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Katy brought Annie home today, so we are now dog owners. Let the second-guessing, have-we-done-something-stupid worrying begin :)

She’s had some food and some water, had a bit of a sniff of the garden, but we’re a long way off a harmonious household because the cats seem very unimpressed and Bean hasn’t seen her yet.

Hopefully things will settle down bit by bit with not too much fuss. Watch this space :)

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