Filed under: Family, Life, Stress, Thoughts, Work Life Balance | Tags: Family, Life, Stress, Thoughts, Work Life Balance
Yeah, it didn’t work! Still 276lbs… At one point during September was 272, but also at one point was 280!
On a positive note though, found more time to read, definitely felt a lot less frazzled and more relaxed and had more time to spend with Sophie (8), who is my personal de-stresser. (previous post)
What else happened in September?
Got an exercise bike, a rowing machine and dusted off my mountain bike. I was off for a week and had a great time traveling down to Mayo and Galway, took oodles of photographs and had my quarterly review which went very well, thank you! So not all bad news. Also, decided on a new blog format which you can find at This Sedentary Life. Not a terribly optimistic title, but we’ll see what happens on the exercise front over the coming months. 😉
Filed under: Blogging, Cinema, Family, Life, Memories, Movies, Nostalgia, Technology, Thoughts | Tags: Canon, Cinema, Family, Film, Life, Memories, Movies, Photography, Tumblr, Work
I have had a pretty good weekend. I treated myself to this little beauty on the way home from work on Friday. The weather being what it is at the moment, I haven’t had the chance to use it at all, but I’m hoping to get some practice shots tomorrow as I am off work. It’s a Canon 75-300mm IS USM lens. I have a Canon 350D DSLR that I haven’t been using much lately as I’ve been bored with the 18-55mm standard lens that comes with the body and I’ve been using the Fuji Finepix A5800 much more (see the Flickr link to the left of this post). I’ve always thought that Jessops were pretty expensive but having priced this lens in various photography mags and on Amazon, I got it cheaper at Jessops.
What else happened over the weekend? On Saturday, apart from the usual workday, three things.
I got a telephone call from a friend telling me she’s expecting a baby next March. I am delighted for her and really pleased that she took the time to let me know.
I also ran into my aunt and uncle in work and I haven’t seen them in a few years. It’s mainly weddings and funerals in my family but I’m always delighted to see family I haven’t seen in some time. My uncle has been made redundant after thirty years with Easons – I didn’t know this when I started talking to them – which is really sad. It would appear that Easons made some unfortunate investment decisions and as a result have moved from a very strong position in the Irish and Northern Irish markets to being perilously close to the abyss. They saw my picture in a mail-shot brochure advertising the recent changes in my store and decided to try it as a result. They’re in a strong position so there are no worries from that angle but I can imagine how I’d feel in a similar situation.
A few hours later, I’m heading towards the staff restaurant and I recognise a face I haven’t seen in at least twenty five years. He recognised me too – we both had a “double take”. He is the older brother of a girlfriend I “courted” from 1981-1983. We spent twenty minutes talking about old times and catching up on family news. His GRANDCHILDREN were running about while we were talking. Last time I saw him he was twenty two! He introduced me to his wife and I gave him my mob number. Really nice to see him!
Today, the news is good also…
My daughter’s boyfriend has returned home to Sussex after two weeks staying in our house. I finally get my house back.
I made a decision today to sell my Land Rover. More to follow on that one.
I went to see Inglourious Basterds – lots of hype about this movie, most of it true. Enjoyable, but as I’m not really into fantasy cinema, I cannot enthuse about it too much. As I described it on Twitter earlier this evening, it’s like a story from Commandos magazine that’s been written by someone on crack!
Lastly, my friend @Braziel re-blogged on his tumblr page this evening a post by Merlin Mann. It inspired me to get the laptop out and write something, anything, as I’ve been neglecting this blog for some time. The link is at the bottom of this post. It’s worth a read. I love Mann’s directness and the passion in his writing. I’d love to write something with such emotion some day, but for the moment, you’ll just have to put up with this!
Filed under: Entertainment, Family, Foreign Travel, History, Thoughts | Tags: Entertainment, Family, Foreign Travel, History, Holiday, Thoughts, Vacation
Starting to tidy up around the apartment. I’m hoping to drive as far as Nerja today as the caves there can be a great subject for some photography. I really enjoyed my trip to Tarifa yesterday. Over three hundred photos and two short video clips taken! Tarifa is the closest point of Europe to African and also has a constant strong wind – something to do with the confluence of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. This means it is a great spot for windsurfing, so it attracts young fit people in droves. It’s also full of history. I spent an hour and a half shooting pictures around the port area and after lunch, another hour in the old walled segment of the town. Lots to see!
My connection here is very dodgy so I cannot upload any photos yet, but I think I got some nice ones. I’ll update this posting with some pictures when I get home.
Immediate jobs for this morning include finishing tidying up here, as I head off to the airport tomorrow morning and won’t have time otherwise, and sourcing six packs of Chesterfield cigarettes for my brother who was kind enough to email his requirements yesterday evening. I’m also still looking for a gift for my middle daughter – she’s notoriously difficult to buy for.
Back to work!
Filed under: America, Apple Mac, Family, Life, Podcasts, Taboos, Technology, Thoughts | Tags: America, Apple, Family, Life, Podcasts, Taboos, Technology, Thoughts
I was lucky enough to catch a great podcast from NPR’s Hearing Voices series (available on iTunes) yesterday morning on my to work. Three separate stories, each of them inspirational in its own way, which gave me an insight into different aspects of strangers’ lives. Horrific and fascinating in equal measure, Steve Fugate’s story especially, drove home one man’s challenge to change things and help others following two particularly tragic events in his life. Really worth a listen! It’s called Happy Families.
Filed under: Family, Life, News, Politics & Current Affairs, Society, Taboos, Thoughts, UK | Tags: Family, Life, News, Politics, Society, Taboos, Thoughts, UK
Even Karen Matthews’ family is complaining that the eight year sentence she received for kidnapping and hiding her her daughter while hoping to claim the reward, is too soft. I believe that in this case of child abuse, and in many others, parents and step-parents and partners proved to be involved should receive a hefty jail sentence AND be forcibly sterilised. And I’ll supply the rusty scissors!
Worst part of the Christmas holiday! I want to fall asleep in front of some Christmas movie, not go round to my sister-in-law’s house to sit sober, while everyone is raucous and drunk – not my bag!
The lull before the storm! Everything’s peaceful at the table but not for very long…
I’ll be spending most of my day off tomorrow getting prepared for my son Chris’ 21st birthday tomorrow night. Endless shopping trips for mini-sausage rolls, paper napkins, etc will fill my last day off before Christmas – no doubt, I’ll need to fit in some last minute gift shopping as I haven’t checked my list of late – oh joy!
Filed under: Family, Fun, I Want One!, Life, Thoughts | Tags: Family, Fun, Funny, Humor, Humour, I Want One!, Life, Thoughts
Fantastic! I’d buy a set just as a peace-keeping idea!
Filed under: Belfast, Culture, Entertainment, Family, History, Memories, Nostalgia, Thoughts, UK | Tags: Belfast, Culture, Entertainment, Family, History, Memories, Nostalgia, Thoughts, UK
I love this picture. While it’s not me OR a train from the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, it reminds me of trips to the museum, both when it was based in Dee St, in East Belfast and later at it’s current home in Cultra. The trips with my Dad were to Dee St and he would lift me up onto the locomotives and trams (he couldn’t do it now!). The smell of the old leather in the trams and cars, and oil from the locomotives, even now, are very evocative of an earlier age, both, of the late Sixties and of course, from whenever the various means of transport were in use. I brought all of my kids there, at various stages. Chris was an easy sell as he was a Thomas The Tank Engine fan, but the girls…not so much!
It’s also fairly sad when some of the vehicles currently in the museum are those that I can remember driving around Belfast!
Ravings From The Bog 