Celebrating basic plumbing

I’m really looking forward to starting my driving lessons. Today when my knees are bad I think there is very little that would stop me driving into work – although I would be very keen if that became a regular thing to do a car pool. I don’t mind driving but one person in a car is a waste.
It’s quite an exciting time, what with the driving lessons and my college course. Who knows where it will all end…

We have a new toilet. Out toilet stopped flushing on Monday. Since then we’ve had two visits from the plumber who has being late and not apologising down to a fine art, and endless fun with a bucket of water next to the loo. Although the job was simple, the toilets age meant that the screws had rusted and the whole bleeding thing had to be replaced. You feel very vulnerable without a toilet and when I’ve got to work each day, if I've had to pay a visit, I’ve enjoyed the flushing process much more than I ever have before. I think I shall quickly start taking basic plumbing for granted again but it’s amazing what you miss when you don’t have it…

Yesterday we went to the Radio 4 recording of a comedy show called Banter. And despite being a bit grumpy because I was late and sore (see ‘knees’) it was very funny. The show was recorded at RADA (dahling) and beer was £1 a bottle. £1 a bottle! I could have wept. Especially as I couldn’t have any. I was trying to avoid wheat (which beer contains) and so made do with some sparkling water. Anyway, some of the comedy was laugh-till-it-hurts good and a lot of it was quite filthy – as you can imagine these moments will not make it on to the final show! The tickets were free and it really was a good evening. (Remember too that most comedy clubs charge around £8/10 so quality comedy on the cheap i.e., free, is not to be sniffed at. Although there was some sniffing yesterday. Hair sniffing. Long story but very funny.)
I’ll try and find the link to the office that does the tickets, but adverts will often appear in newspaper as well.

Picture perfect

Photography is bloody expensive! Camera aside, I have bought in the last week: a camera bag, a magazine subscription, an eyepiece extender, a CD card, a card reader, three photography books and another memory stick just for photos. Still it’s all rather good fun. We did a photo shoot at the club this weekend – shots for the web and our sponsors. I brought my gear but only on the understanding that I would do back up shots because I was still a little unconfident with my camera – but I took some great photos (I’m honest enough to admit it was probably more luck than judgement!)
My course was fun on Friday. I was a little overwhelmed and as I suspected, I have a lot to learn but then I guess that’s why I’m on the course in the first place! Nice people and a good tutor is a good start though and I’m excited about the coming weeks…

We spent Sunday in the garden. My partner did 85% of the work! I just tackled the lawn which had turned into a monster with all the recent rain. We went over to homo base and bought some new plants and a few bits and pieces and when I eventually went indoors to do some computer work and emerged over an hour later, she had done an amazing job planting everything up and rearranging and tidying things.

Saturday saw another great result for the Steelers; the first team won 13 – 5. Unfortunately the second team took a bit of a hammering in Canvey Island but then considering the inexperience of the team, they have nothing to feel sorry about. To be honest, a defeat should just make you want to come back harder and faster the next time…

Unclean, unclean...

I think I have a bug. Well, I think I had a bug and now it’s bugged off. I’d been having mild stomach cramps for a couple of days. Yesterday they got a lot worse! I really struggled on the train into work. The pain was really bad and I was feeling nauseas. Anyway, I got to Victoria without incident, went down to get my tube and had to come straight back up again. I found a bench and had a much needed sit-down (a guy asked me if I was OK, I’d gone grey). That was enough for me I got a train straight home. I did manage to do some work so the day wasn’t totally wasted. But now I kind of feel OK – perhaps not 100% but not ill. How weird. Anyway, my partner has made me promise to make a doctor’s appointment and I don’t break promises. To be fair, this is not a knee jerk reaction, I’ve had problems with my stomach before and I’ve always conveniently forgotten to tell the doctor about it…

I’m seeing an osteopath again. Just some back niggles. (If I was a dog, you might be tempted to put me down…)
Anyway, my philosophy is, pay in pounds now and don’t pay in pain and immobility later! (OK, so it’s not the catchiest catch phrase, but you get the idea.) I’ve also ordered a new chair for my office and a new pillow – which has already arrived and is very comfortable. My friend who lives upstairs has back problems. His spine was in a sort of C shape for a little while. Not a great look. He’s been in serious pain and is still off work. So that was what prompted me to be a little proactive and look after myself. And on that note, I heartily recommend the British School of Osteopathy (the oldest and largest school of its kind in Britain).
You first session (which is longer because they ask lots of questions) is £19 after which it is £16 a session. In London, on average, for a private osteopath you pay £40 a session. What are the differences you might ask? Well, you get seen by senior students but every session, every course of treatment is authorised by a senior lecturer. In the first session I was seen by two students – both of them very nice. And since then, I have just been seen by the female student. I actually think this approach is probably more effective: many heads and all that. But I have been several times over the years and I have never had an osteopath that wasn’t highly competent, thorough and kind. http://www.bso.ac.uk/

I start driving lessons in a week and a half. My new provisional licence finally arrived (it had my old address on it and it can cost you a £1000 fine if you have the wrong details). Before we drive up to Yorkshire I want 5 hours of formal driving instructor practice and 5 hours – at least – of private practice. Although I used to be a good driver when I drove with friends and my mum, I think it naïve after all these years to think I can just jump in the car and speed off into the sunset.

What else, well my course starts tonight. I’m a little more familiar with my camera – a little less scared of pressing a button and asking what does this do?! My CF card arrived from Amazon yesterday. My Tamrac camera bag arrived this morning and I am ladies and gentlemen, as ready as I’ll ever be…

TOP TIP: Amazon is pretty cool for accessories and of course, things like CF [Compact Flash] memory cards. I knew I wanted 1GB card, but which make? Well Currys, Dixon’s and Jessops all did 1GB cards for around £50/£60. I went on Amazon and could read real reviews from real people about the cards they recommended. I chose a San Disk extreme III because the people that were using it were using it in my type of camera, primarily the 350D; it also scored 5 out of 5. Guess how much it cost? £30!

New toy

Another good weekend. Friday the missus and I checked out two venues for a fundraiser (for once, nothing to do with rugby!) and we managed a couple of pints on the way and a bite to eat. Saturday I went to the rugby and shouted myself hoarse (throat still bad two days later!). Fantastic victory though, 62 - 8. Sunday was the definition of mixed feelings. I got my camera (FANTASTIC!) but it was hugely stressful. What I didn't realise about new cameras is that they release limited numbers. So the Canon 400D - which everyone was very excited about because the 350D is such a good camera (Which's best rated digi SLR) - came out last week and was already sold out in most places; indy camera shops, Dixons, PC World; but we did find one in Jessops and our lovely neighbour drove us down to Croydon. However, the drama wasn't over - they sent us to the wrong shop (there are three in Croydon!) and then their systems were playing up and we waited forever. Anyway, eventually, £620 for the camera and £70 for the insurance later, I was the proud owner of a hot new camera! 'Course now I just have to learn how to use the bloody thing...
Incidentally, some of the lenses were MORE expensive than the actual camera. Why couldn't I have been interested in origami or knitting?!
So I was very grateful that my partner and friend gave up their afternoon for me in the pursuit of a new toy. She got dinner last night and he will get a box of chocolates today.

I spoke to my mum, eventually. I was upbeat and no-nonsense like, which didn't really give her to room to be petulant or snippy so in the end, we actually had a very nice conversation and even managed to joke about toilet paper!

Very little sleep last night - usual Sunday. Never mind... it could be worse, I could be shattered and have no camera!

Independant thinking, group action

Hurrah for pay day! How is it that a woman who earns a decent whack is always so broke?! Anyway, from famine we enter feast time… for a week or two anyway!

Today is notable for reasons other than financial; I have roast beef sandwiches for lunch, I have an osteopath appointment later and I have to phone my mum. The latter being the one thing I’m really not looking forward to. My mum can be incredibly rude on the phone, and not since her illness either, she’s always been a bit like it. And I’m afraid I snapped on Monday and hung up on her. The words mountain and molehill spring to mind but it was the principle of the thing. I’m not the world’s best daughter but I do try and at 32 years old I feel I should be spoken to with a little more respect. I’m quite sure she could say the same thing about me sometimes so pot and kettle also trip off the tongue… families, eh?

I read the Independent two days ago (I’m a Guardian girl but flexible to other news, with the exception of the Mail and the Express papers. Two papers I loathe.), and read two reports that made me very sad. The first was that the Taliban are attacking schools and school teachers (and sometimes children) in Afghanistan because education, especially the education of girls, is considered unnecessary and ‘Western’. The second story was that Pakistan still prosecutes rape under Sharia law – roughly speaking ‘religious’ law. A woman who is raped has to provide four male witnesses for the rapist to be prosecuted. If she cannot do this she may well end up being tried for adultery. Pakistan’s president had promised to repeal this and have rape dealt with as part of the normal judicial process. He failed and consequently has failed millions of women. Conservative estimates suggest a woman is raped every 2 hrs and a woman is gang raped every 8 hrs in Pakistan. And before we feel too smug about our own situation: two women are killed each week in this country through domestic violence and an estimated 1 in 4 women are raped and sexually assaulted. Misogyny and the brutalisation of women and children is a very real problem and it is not confined to religion or geography or class, in fact it rarely has anything to do with those factors. It’s about attitudes and perceptions that see women as chattel, 2nd class, weak, not worthy of respect. Maybe some of that “fair whack” I get paid needs to make its way to Amnesty and Women’s Aid this month…

Puts your mum being rude to you in perspective, don’t you think?

Single lens reflex

I need to be more focused at work. For example, right now, I’m blogging and I should be working. Sometimes I go great guns but all too often I drift… apparently it’s a creative thing. A former manager once told me it’s very difficult to manage very creative people of which he considered me one. They get bored, distracted and unless the task is in itself creative, they can be uncommitted. Hmmm, methinks he might have had a point…
Anyway, I must pull my socks up but while I’m here I might as well finish my blog!

I forgot to mention about our weekend away that Pluto did the most extraordinary thing. We were walking along the river when he suddenly decided to jump in, swim in a circle and then climb out – and all without a gruffle or bark of explanation. This is all the more unusual because generally he’s not keen on water. Or so we thought. We now know that not only can he swim (which is something) but that he is also occasionally moved to throw himself in. My partner was over the moon because for some reason she keeps trying to tempt him into the water, but I suspect she hasn’t thought this through: a wet dog needs to shake and everyone knows, a dog likes to shake best when surrounded by the people he loves most, or as an added bonus, when he is standing on a light coloured carpet surrounded by light coloured walls...

I need to buy a digital SLR but am baulking at the cost. However, with my photography course starting in just over a week I have no choice. It’s both exciting and daunting to be starting my new course so soon. Am I going to be surrounded by people who know much more than me? (Not hard some of the less charitable of you might say, but I am concerned that everyone is going to be a camera geek with years of experience.) Also I bought a camera magazine this morning and some of the language is very complicated. I’m sure that within a couple of weeks I too will sound like a camera geek but in the meantime I shall just have to take lots of notes and hope for the best!

September the 11th passed quietly by yesterday. I thought briefly of Mark Bingham and the people caught up in the events of five years ago and I wondered if we’ll ever truly learn anything from disaster. Sadly I suspect it’s our lot to always rage and hate and blame other people for situations in which we are all complicit. Rest in peace could apply as much to now and to the living as it does to the past and those we’ve lost…

Picture post

Some more pictures from the weekend, because some of you love seeing pictures of the pooch...

Onion marmalade

Well, what a great weekend! The cottage was fantastic and the village was lovely to. I was worried about how the long journey would affect Pluto but he was an angel. (And on the way back.) On the first night, we popped down to the pub for a couple of local ales and then headed back. My partner cooked a very nice meal and we sat and talked all evening in front of a roaring fire. It was gorgeous! Unfortunately, I didn’t have the most restful night because we made the mistake of having the dog in the bedroom with us. So when he couldn’t sleep; neither could I. He licked my nose, or kept bumping my hand to let me know he was still there. Occasionally if things got too quiet he would start to gruffle and whimper. Needless to say we didn’t have him upstairs with us the second night!
Day 2, we had a lovely breakfast and then headed out for a walk which was fun. Especially traversing a field full of sheep with a dog full of energy! He was well behaved but was desperately curious about these large woolly dogs that didn’t bark, and would have given anything to go and play with them. We followed the river, had a picnic and sat in the sun. That evening we went to another local pub and had a superb meal. Again, as soon as we got back to the cottage I lit the fire! This time we talked and read for the rest of the evening. No TV, no music even. On the final day we managed another walk and climbed a big hill which felt like a big achievement. At the top we sat in the very hot sun marvelling at the stunning landscape; rolling hills, patches of farm land, copses and woodland… a glider flew overhead silent and graceful and we both felt relaxed and very happy.
On the way back, we managed a quick pint of another local ale and then stopped at the village shop for some presents (biscuits, onion marmalade, jam) and then it was time to tidy up the cottage and head home. It was so nice to get away from everything and I had such a lovely time with two rather delightful and very special companions!

I'm eating a blueberry muffin

Apologies for not blogging recently. Been a crazy ol’ time of it. Mum was re-admitted to hospital, which was hugely stressful. She had more tests, more MRI’s… and they think that all this trouble; the pain, the nausea and the 101 other problems are actually due to the lumber punch and not something more sinister although lest we forget there are still the brain changes to explain and that is why she went in for the punch in the first instance. She is home now (came home yesterday) and is still on a mixture of pills but is a lot brighter in herself and we’re hoping we’ve now turned the corner. She was irritating the hell out of me last night, she is one of those people that believes in generously sharing her stress until such a point that you are a mess and she is feeling better.

My partner and I are going away this weekend as mentioned before and I cannot tell you how much I’m looking forward to it. Just to get away from everything will be such a relief.

Last night I did a photo shoot at the club for the Hate Crime posters. It reminded me of why I hated photo shoots! No one turns up, then they are slow to get ready, meanwhile I’m worrying about a dozen different things that need to be taken into account... but really I just get very pissed off when people can’t even be bothered to show up a little early to help out. Training starts at 7pm and we scheduled the shoot for 6pm because of the light. In the end, to get enough people i.e., 15 players or supporters wearing kit, we had to wait until 7pm! The nice thing was the Chairman bought everyone who turned up in plenty of time a drink. (Well done Sean!) Photo shoots are not as glamorous as they sound (I’ve done so many I’ve literally lost count) but the pay off is increased publicity and visibility and with so little energy required from players and supporters you would have thought they could make the effort…

Anyway, I’ve finally finished a massive work project that was causing me problems but there’s plenty more to take its place…!