Archives: work

Been reading a bit recently, rather than typing & I know I’ve not ‘posted’ owt for some time, therefore all is behind… I am slack, I am remiss – I’ve enjoyed reading.

Half term holidays last week & the kids were… themselves… noisy, boisterous & demanding & drove Louise a little nutty.. And she’s not been able to get out to even do some shopping (not that grocery shopping is what might be called ‘fun’, but it’s a change of pace). Still there have been better bits & all that, so I shouldn’t paint a monochrome picture.. They did manage to get all down to the park one day – that’ll be easier as the year progresses… it’s a little less hospitable in February.

At work… Well… We did get a visit from our new overlords last week… Delayed from 2 weeks past due to snow & … er… weather or whatever. No pronouncements yet, & little progress. As expected they’re not so impressed with our customer database that might require a little ‘normalisation’ here & there. Naturally I hate Sage & naturally I’ve been handed a wodge of stuff from ‘aged debt’ to see how valid it all actually is? On top of everything else I do this seems that my progress on this one may be …limited. I have advised this & been told that I should try to get the other lads to help.. which I’ve said would take better people management skills than I have… essentially I know the response – I’ve tested the water & as thought I’ve been told I’m a fool for ‘taking it on’ – therefore enrolling them of a ‘fools errand’ that I’ve been set seems an argument I can’t win.

Train on time shocker.

Not been typing much this week because… well the train was late, (it gets crowded) there was something to read, that sort of thing.

So that weekend past – what was that about? All very low key really – not much a doing as we didn’t have a game plan to be heading out for some reason or another, therefore, it was a ‘staying at home’ weekend.. There was no real snow to add to the general excitement, excepting that empty promise that fell Sunday afternoon & evening & all but vanished by Monday morning (poor Jack). Actually, all but Jack & I are fed up with snow. I’d quite happily see more & Jack actively wants more. Jude was never a bit fan to start with, Louise likes the idea of it to start with, but quickly gets fed up of its presence, Eve got bored of being wet & cold, but enjoys it really, & Esme, well – she’s be happy whatever it did, so long as there was opportunity for play.

Jack’s been getting up a little earlier in the mornings to catch the school bus rather than the service bus, He catches the service bus up to Walsden though, so that he has a chance of getting a seat on the school bus (it gets a bit full by the time it reaches Tod). Not sure of the change of heart – I think he’s wanting to be a little more social…

Um…

Oh, I guess our new overlords are coming into the office today (delayed from last week). I guess we might get a feel for things, but I’ve know this year meant change in some form… I’m not sure in what form, but ( know that my job is not safe, in that it is not going to exist as it is at present… It’s what they decide to do, & what I decide I can do. I know it’s impracticable to move down south – it would be too great a wrench, we wouldn’t be able to sell the house, we couldn’t move Jack from this school (I don’t think there’s anything in the state sector down their way that comes close) .. So, their stated desire to centralise their resources are at odds with the limitations of our lives. A year of change…. I really don’t see the point of worrying about such things though, a bunch of homilies come to mind, but I cannot dread change – it should at lest be interesting.

doodle from my pad at work, again:

And a little summary – I’ve been a little under the weather this week (& there’s been some weather to be under) – head cold & bad chest: pretty boring, & make me even duller edged than usual.

Jack has coped well with his first week at school – he’s been doing French & German (seems quite taken with French).  We popped out to Manchester today as he needed to get german & French dictionaries for school; just Jack Esme & myself.

on biggr is flickr

Raining – was glad to be rained on today. It is hot at the moment & a little water is pleasantly cooling. Work is exceptionally hot – a small room with computers running & a few people. Fans run, but they do not really cool.

Traveling to work on the train as usual. Back to working again after my holidays.
“…oh, …good”

I would like to chat about my holidays, but an image of a girl being hit by a van keeps plaguing my mind.
I was returning from shopping yesterday with the pushchair. Louise & the kids had taken the bus as it was raining & we had not expected this, so were unprepared. I was just turning up a back cut to the hill up to our house when there was the sort of sound you hope to never hear behind me; the screech of brakes & a thud. Span round to see a girl being knocked over by a van. A flat fronted open backed mini-truck type thing. She was about 7 or 8. The van knocked her down then kept going by momentum. Fortunately the wheels did not touch her. I surmise she was following her mum across the road as she was headed toward me at the time. Again I surmise that the mother may have been getting a younger (4 or 5) boy who was on my side of the road. I spotted him dithering a little later & took him back across the road to his other bothers & sisters while the mother crouched protectively over the girl who was screaming for her. The mother was reassuring her daughter & trying to get the emergency services to her at the same time.
I dwell on this a lot.
I left as I saw what I think was the dr’s/paramedic’s emergency car arriving. Now I wonder if it was a police car, & feel guilt at assuring the mother that there was something arriving. I thought I had a clear picture of what was happening, but I’m not really that sure now.
I think, as the van could not have been going too fast (things would could have been a lot worse) that she will be OK, in that she will survive with bruises, scrapes & possibly broken bones. It was something I never want to see again. It’s something that I would rather not think about, but I keep seeing it.
I will try to write bout my holidays. I thought that writing the above may help set my mind at rest, but it seems to make no difference.
It’s funny, I kind of remain emotionally detached from it all, but it’s never far from my thoughts. Sometimes think of each of the people involved & wonder how they are coping.

Oh well – so much for writing bout the holidays. Manchester is here again, I must to work (work might ‘help’).

Work is too too busy. I don’t wanna play. Lots of grumpy people seeking voice to go on & on about the mail server not working proper the other day.
Still I travel to Manchester.

Eve was very difficult to get off to sleep last night & also seems to have had a poor night of it as well. She’s probably teething as she was chewing on a soft toy duck & my t-shirt shoulder as she was being read to for sleep. I think it was past 9:30 before I got both her & Jack off. I’m sure Eve being so fidgety helped Jack fight sleep. Most kids, if they get read to get a couple of Arnold Lobels’ Frog & Toad stories. They got 2 books worth & were still fighting on with drowsy heads. Once I’d separated them into their own beds they were asleep within 10 minutes.