A friend of mine recently relocated to New York

Relocations proved… eventful. The apartment in Newark very nice, for example, but turned out to be in the no man’s land between a gang house and a crack house: 2 fatal shootings in our street in our first two weeks there. …. We’ve moved again (to Manhattan)

Makes sunny Headingley, were I used to live in Leeds, look like a golden ghetto in comparison!

The holiday in the peak district last week was very tranquil. While my last holiday brought back the fun this week brought back an inner sense of calm that has been missing for quite a while.

Highlights was were visits to Eyam plague village, on a rather gloomy Sunday afternoon, Bolsover Castle, which was one of the best castles/stately homes I’ve been to in years, and a visit to Chestnut conservation centre so Rachel could play with the otters who live there. MORE PHOTOS of the week

We came home a day early to start work in earnest on sorting out the house. So on Sunday I cleared the garden, lumped boxes into the attic, while Rachel went through 4 boxes worth of course notes, throwing out 99%, and tidied up the computer desk (which hopefully is being taken away today). Very productive and very tiring.

Back at work today in sunny Manchester. I’m having a slack morning sorting out ten zillion emails that have arrived in my absence. Fortunaltly none of them are angry epistles saying that I am crap at my job like I feared, most are just the automated “To All staff” which clutter up your in-tray when you turn your back for five minutes. The rest I’ll action this afternoon. Oh happy days….

In other news. While we were away Rachel got her result. She is now a qualified Midwife with a 1st Class degree , with an overall mark of 79%. Feel free to call her a swot when you next see her next.

Can’t believe that its almost been a year that I’ve been married to the lovely Rachel. Its been a long difficult year for various reasons, but because of my wife its been a very happy one were we’ve repeatly triumphed.

We’re off to a lovely cottage in Bakewell in the Derbyshire Peak District to celebrate today, a quiet week full of reading, visiting Castles and nature reserves and NO COMPUTERS!. Its going to be very relaxing.

Yesterday was just one big dose of unexplained depression and today the weather was getting me down too. Heck I got up this morning with the beginings of a cold 🙁

Well fuck that!

I’ve decided to be the happiest bastard ever. There’s also no reason not to. I’m off on me hols this Saturday. Work is great again mainly because I’m not sitting on my hands and feeling sorry for my self. Rach has finished her course (yipeeeee!!) and has a job lined up. When we get back we’re putting the house on the market and getting out of our current crampped lodgings. Plus I’m well on the road to getting some of my RPG writing professionally published.

Rah Rah Fucking RAH!!!

So that all of you who have to work in offices filled to the brim with sporty type males don’t have to put up with their childish black humour after having their hopes raised over the past couple of months only to be beaten by Jonny Foreigner at a game we made up in the first place.

Once again I realise I know zip about sport, and like it that way. Fortunalty I work in Nerdland so none of my colleagues could give a rats arse about footy/Cricket/Rugby/Athletics/proffessional mango wobbling either. Hurrah!!

The week off really brought back my sense of humour. Rach finishing her course has probably had a lot to do with it, but seeds that I planted in my subcounciousness as early as February this year seem to have borne fruit. In fact minor revolutions in my head seem to occuring daily at the moment. I haven’t felt this strong and positive in years. Probably since I came back to my final year at Uni in 1994-95, and ran about like a loon at Rock soc as president and worked at the uni bar. This was also the year that I meet most of the Leeds folk on my friends list.

Didn’t get the job I went for recently, and actually quite happy about this. Sure the money would have been hella nice, especially since we are officially skint until October when Reach gets her first pay check (which is why you haven’t seen me out in a while…) But at the end of the day I’ve got more opportunities in my current job to do development work now and in many ways it would be a step down. Plus after the break I am in a happier mood, almost jokey, about the bobbins aspects of my current role and more willing to learn the lesions from them. Still mustn’t get complacent, I’ve got a definite agenda of where I want to be in 6-9 months so I better get my head down and work at it.

More good news on Rach’s job front, they’ve made her full time! She’s currently on her holiday and sitting around the house being bored. But were off for a week in the peak district next weekend so that should get both us a change of scene, which I think is well over due. Then I bet she’ll come back home and go into full sorting the house out mode, which should be entertaining.

Apart from rediscovering my love of Call of Duty multiplayer this weekend, my brother George came over on Friday night. We got nicely toasted, and spent the morning playing computer games and chewing the cud. On his end he’s got the sack from his job in customer support at PCWorld, some bollocks about him losing his temper too much. He’s looking for another nonsense admin/call center job to keep him, but his art is beginning to flourish once again. I’ll probably nip over to Sheffield in October to have a fun night out with him.

So a day of writing rpg stuff, the much delayed HeroQuest scenario book and my Monkey RPG rules, and sorting out the attic awaits. After just one more game of Call of Duty…..

Yesterday was fun. I didn’t expect it to be, but it was.

Wednesday night went through the presentation with Rach, and the first draft was horrendous. Worked with Rach on as second draft, which was less wordy and actually told the interviewers what they wanted to hear (which they spelt out on the invite to interview letter).

So got up played some games and then polished up and printed off handouts.

By 12:30 I was on the train and a quick taxi at the other end I was in the Curry mile, just up the road from the University, where the job was located in a local health centre.

The presentation and interview went well. It helped that I presented a web site that I maintain for the S for the Mentors, Nurses who help our students when they are on clinical placement, was similar to what they are looking to do for GP Mentors. One of the interviewers also got the Sex Pistols mentioned in the interview which was a good sign.

Happy that the interview went well and was actually quite fun, I soaked up the gorgeous sunlight and took a long walk back to the train station stopping off for a lovely pint of real ale.

Got home said hi to Rach who was going to her end of course party and settled down to a night of beer and DVDs. Interrupted rudely at about 10 by a rather drunk Rach who rang me up. All I could hear was a background of shrieking drunk women, as the phone was passed round her course mates, all of whom told me that I had to provide Rach with a baby and to start in September so that we could have an easter birth! Made excuses put phone down, continued with bloke time.

Today I’m finally feeling in the Holiday mood and with the weather holding up I’m looking to have a nice relaxed weekend.

Its been a while since I posted. I’ve taken time off work, but heck have I been busy. Over the last couple of days my mind has revolted and things have slowed down….still lots to do.

Friday- Straight from work to the in-laws in Rochdale. Quick spot of veggie lasaugane (quote Brian the father in Law “I tried some but had to have some of the meat version because it didn’t taste of owt”) and then over to Rach’s Grandmas for Beer and Canasta (a four person card game). Didn’t feel like playing so I scored.

Saturday-Got up at 7:30 and read until Rach rose at 10:30 ish. Then over to Shaw (a townlet within Oldham) to look round houses and check out the main street with Brian while Rach and mum went to local wool shop (yes Rach still has the knitting bug!). Had a pub lunch with Grandma and then came home to cats and doing bugger all.

Sunday- We are know officially a one Computer house hold. I no longer hold court in the attic, and instead the pc is down stairs in the living room. So spent the morning making sure the old computer was set up to run for my Brother George. Then brought down a box of games and bits, a large box of my videos, a printer, and the pc itself out of the attic and loaded up the car to go to Sheffield. Once we got to George’s new abode, which a step up from his last place in a reasonable area (Newhay/Sharrow boarder), he helped me lump all the goodies up to the fourth floor where his new flat is. I refused to do any sorting out/lifting after this. I sat there with Rach having a brew while he set it up. Only popping in to drop stuff off, so after tea was drank it was back to Leeds. Very happy to see George is ok and settling in to his new place.

Monday-Rach was back at work. Unusually for me I did a ton of house work, 3 loads of dish washing, 3 loads of clothes washing and sorted out my Role-playing stuff. I now have 3 stack n stores of RPG books which are going on ebay over the next month or so (seller id newtprime).

Tuesday-Almost the polar opposite. Managed to go get a haircut, do some veg shopping, wander round town for three hours but little else.

Wednesday. On the doing front a mix between Mon/Tues. Got my presentation done. A presentation? Yes I’ve got a job interview tomorrow and I have to do a presentation as part of it. This is the first time I’ve done one and I’m a tad nervous. Ho hum. The job I’m going for is for a Web developer at Manchester University. More money and more what I want to do, but not expecting to get it at this stage of my experience.