Si hoc legere scis, nimium eruditionis habes

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It's been a while since I updated this one! Happy February! Erm, happy back end of February.

Ah, heck, it's winter. I've just been hanging out on the sofa near the fire, reading masses of good fiction, and few stories that left me bemused [no names no pack drill]. OTOH my first solo effort story is being published next month [and you really can't believe how surprised I am to be saying that] so I'll be able to bemuse people in turn.

So - still alive, blogging more frequently at elin_gregory, and waiting for the winter to end and my usual April burst of creativity. Roll on springtime.

I'm just going to toddle off and do Christmas, okay. Yeah, yeah, 'tis the season to be jolly and all that.

Have a brilliant time, those of you who do it. I hope you have exactly the type of time you could wish for *hugs* enjoy yourself and try not to get too stressed. I'll do that for you.

See you once the leftovers are gone!

One of the highlights of the British winter is black ice, which on tarmac looks identical to wet tarmac. Consequently, while walking the pooch this morning I marched merrily out of a puddle onto the ice and fell flat on my back. I must've lost a few minutes because an elderly lady who was in the distance when I fell was standing over me when I opened my eyes. She didn't know whether to laugh or be worried. I have bruises everywhere but the dog thought it was great fun! He loves it when we get down on the floor nd he can reach to lick us.

Another ow! Himself has decided to put a loft access in my writing space. I can understand the sense of it. When the plumber plumbed in the radiators on the top floor he made life easy for himself by putting water pipes across the other loft access so we can't reach anything that is stored up there [the man was an idiot]. So yes, it's a job that needs doing. But I wish he'd used dustsheets. Now I have books, papers, PC etc smothered in gritty Victoria plaster dust and bits of loft insulation, and a big hole in the ceiling through which a deluge of icy air streams and warm air wells up. I'd probably be more amused by this if I wasn't sore and achey and still a bit damp with dog spit.

4 am call outs are the pits. I had to go to the museum last night at 10pm because an alarm had been triggered. Himself came too, with the dog, and one of the other custodians was there so himself and dog did a circuit of the castle grounds while other custodian and I checked inside the building. So that's 3 adults plus a huge black apparently scary dog.

Contrast that to the 4am call out where I decided not to try and wake himself [it wouldn't be possible even if it would be appreciated] and decided not to disturb the dog and arrived at the museum to find the alarm company hadn't bothered to call anyone else out. That place is so scary in the dark! Okay, so I'm a sissy and all too aware of the place's Horrible History. Good job the alarm was triggered by the wind and not some nasty toe-rag with a cosh and his mind set on the safe, wasn't it?

Now I am having self indulgent tea and toast with ginger and marrow jam, yum.

Well that's Nanowrimo done and dusted! Not a whole novel, not even a nice one, but something to play with once I've got some of the other stuff out of the way. I can play with that tomorrow because I'm out on strike!!

I've never gone on strike before. It's an utterly pointless exercise because there are plenty of non-union people who have jumped at the chance to cover my hours. But I am a union member and the majority have voted to strike so I will too. The reason for it is that the government is fiddling round with our pensions so that we'll have to work much longer in order to get a much reduced pension. Personally, I reckon that the money to get our arses out of hock has to come from somewhere but I don't see why I should have to give up a bit of my little when there are people who get to keep all of their LOTS. HMG is welcome to larger contributions from me when they start taxing - ooh, maybe bankers bonuses? That might raise a few bob.

At least, Happy thanksgiving to those of you who do it and for the rest of us OMG that means it's not long til Christmas! Feel free to join me in panic.

Let's just say that I, personally have nothing against Macs. I understand that they are excellent machines with many advantages, as well as the little fillip you get out of being different to the average home computer user. But they are also pricey - costing more than I can really justify spending when, for me, a PC does the job quite well enough.

But why do some Mac users have to be so bloody offensive? No, not all. Most of you are sweet. But today I had a young man who borrowed my broadband dongle, plugged it into his Mac and when it didn't work IMMEDIATELY he yanked it out and gave it back with a discontented pout. He wondered why the whole of Wales only uses PCs when Macs are so superior and complained about the problems he was having sending files that "you PC users can't open". [We are the - um 91%?] There was some eye rolling and impatience that I might have forgiven if there had been a little humour with it, but coupled with a sneer, no.

I didn't say 'fuck you' but I thought it. Grrrr

Other than that it has been an interesting day. The film premiere for Resistance is today so we had events in the museum. The Powers that Be decreed that it would be nice if we dressed 1940s and since I couldn't find anything to fit I've spent the day in a boiler suit with a scarf round my head. We were supposed to be window dressing but after 20 minutes or so of standing around like a poorly made animatronic puppet I got bored and went to do the accounts. However I can tell you that Owen Sheers, Tom Wlaschiha and Alexander Doetsch are even prettier in the flesh than their photos imply. Also a LOT skinnier!

Jen came with me and dressed up too, but she was all glam with red lips and her hair in a snood. I looked like I'd just come off the swing shift, packing shells with HE.

This morning I observed the silence on the threshold of a supermarket, trying to quietly restrain my mother who hadn't quite twigged what was going on. When she did she stood stock still, though and lost herself in her memories. ( Read more... )

Good luck to all who sail in her!

I'll be posting my snippets on elin_gregory this year but I expect to be bitching about them here quite a bit too. Bwahahaha there will be no escape.

Crank out those words, darlings! I hope your work ethic is better than mine.