Thursday, July 28, 2011

Camping it up


Currently agonising about whether to go camping in the Lakes (Eskdale Valley) with the kids this weekend; part of the problem is all the extra stuff you have to remember to pack for the kids to keep them happy, it was a lot simpler in the old days! Ah well, I suppose if we don't go now we won't be going this year. I'm hoping to get back to an old campsite in Eskdale valley. I camped there with some of my mates back in the nineties when we were all a bit wilder; thankfully we've all calmed down a bit now ;-).

Me: "Alright Chaps, We’re thinking of going to Fisherground campsite this weekend, leaving early Friday because they don’t take bookings. This site has special memories for me because the first time I was there B threw a can of soup over me and V puked up all over his tent after too much ale. Give us a shout if you fancy coming."

V: "I was so ill that night! The soup was hilarious -I think most of it missed you and went over his car. Didn't he drive off after that with soup dripping down his car door after that?"

Me: "Yes, B dented his car skidding around the campsite and then we rescued a semi-conscious sheep at the roman fort that had fallen into a stream"

G: "Eskdale that was when we all jumped off that bridge into the stream? wouldn't dare do it now but I was hurdling it from the other side of the road pissed up "

V: "Checked that bridge out few years back, no way I would jump it know, we were crazy back then.
Can't believe you remembered that sheep!"





Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Can't start a fire without a spark...

"I wake up in the morning, and I aint got much to say
I go to bed in the evening, feeling the same way
I aint nothing but tired, tired and bored with myself
Hey baby, I could use just a little help"

-Bruce Springsteen, Dancing in the Dark

God, I must be ill if I'm singing Springsteen in my head (I don't even like Springsteen, apart from his Glastonbury show the other year). I got a cold last week and it doesn't seem to be shifting...I keep waking up tired with my nose and lungs blocked up, it's a bad virus alright. Oscar has the same cold as well (think he caught it from nursery and gave it to me) and he's got a violent cough too, especially when we're all sat together eating...I've ordered some oral antibiotics from the hospital (they faxed them through to my GP) so hopefully these will do the trick, otherwise it could be time for some more IVs. At my last clinic they said (after some probing questions by me) that the resistance vector of my pseudo to Ceftazadine had increased, so it may be time to try one of the scary IVs, like Meropenum...here's hoping I don't need to...

My Dad's house is now under offer; so me and my sister (and HMRC ;-)) may be getting some money through some time soon. I don't know, I just feel so empty at the moment, I'd give all the money away if it'd bring my dad back. Although it's nice to know there's some security there with which to look after the kids in case anything happens.

Work is just not inspiring me at the moment, part of the problem is that the two mates who I was working with every day when I first started the IT developers job a couple of years ago have left, so I'm a billy no mates in the office on my own (there are some guys upstairs, but it's not the same as having someone to talk shit to all day ;-)) Part of the problem I think is that the HQ of the business is down in Norwich so although I get fired up when I go down there for meetings about business strategy and all the work were going to do, I am inevitably forgotten about and left to my own devices when I return back to Manchester and the work seems very slow in arriving at my desk. The business is also taking on a lot of contractors in Norwich (at great expense) to do jobs that I'm pretty sure I could do, especially if I was in a half-decent team. I think it may be time for a change; a new challenge, I'm starting to get jealous of my mates when they talk about how busy they are in their jobs...

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The Polecat




















Abby: "Mummy, there's an animal under the shed, it's cute!" It certainly is.
The little critter has been nosing around underneath the shed for the last few days. I love seeing the world through kids eyes. I get so wrapped up in my own trivial little dramas that I forget how fascinating the world can be.