The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Not in the Biblical order, but there you go!

First I received a redeployment notice at work - to cut it short, they're kicking me out due to the unexpected closure of a centre. Of course in theory they'll try to give me another position, but that never happens. In any case I'm fed up of working for this bunch of shites, so I'm just sticking it out to get the redundancy payment, although I'm sorely tempted to bugger off now. So it will be war instead - resistance, resistance, resistance to work, as much as possible without being kicked for misconduct, and then I'll sue them for compensation since they seem to have gone out of their way to tick all the wrong boxes in the procedure manuals.
I'm still doubtful of the result if I sue, but fingers crossed.

Not long after that I started feeling rotten. I blamed hayfever for about three weeks, then it hit me. I was out of it for over a week. I'd also drastically cut down on smoking when it happened, but for some strange reason while the virus was knocking me out - I couldn't eat, I couldn't drink or talk... but I wanted to smoke! So I fell back into the clutches of pestilent cigarettes :s

I went back to work on Monday, still not fully recovered. On Monday night I had a call saying that my grandmother had died so I was on the first flight out, with little sleep.

I've been back at work for about three weeks, and each morning I have to drag myself in. All that's keeping me going is the knowledge that I only have to put up with it until October. I've even decided against challenging anything, at least openly. I've just said as much as I had to, keeping my arsenal out of the way to be deployed at the right time. As I said, it might or might not work, but in any case it's their loss.
I started a course yesterday. They gave us two assessments, one for literacy and one for numeracy. Not sure why as the course is IT and since it's arranged through work you'd expect adults to attend. These assessments were aimed at 6 year olds and I found them offensive in their simplicity. We had 40 minutes allocated to complete them, I handed them in before 15 minutes had gone. I was quite stunned to see some of my colleagues still sweating on them at the 40 minute mark. Surely getting out of this bunch can't be bad, and it's the push I needed to move on.

It helped that dad was here for about two weeks, and we had a really nice time. We went to Kew Gardens one day (my first time!), and saw some peacocks that thought they were dogs. If they only heard the rustling of a bag they'd follow you around begging for food. So much for wildlife!



In less than 48 hours I'll be in Paris, meeting my mum and her friend, and my niece. They left Italy today to go to see mum's relatives for a day before making their way to Paris. I had a frantic call from my mum this evening to say that
a - due to bad weather conditions they've had to change three trains and are about 2 hours late, and asking me to contact her cousin to let her know that they'll be arriving at a different station;
b - about half way into the journey they realised that my sister had forgotten to give my niece her ID papers, so basically she's now in France without any documents. Yes, really.

Still, I'm going to Paris on Friday morning. I'll be getting on Eurostar for the first time, and I can't wait to arrive at the flat that I've rented and relax for 7 days.
Today I printed out some maps and events listings so we'll have something to do. I just hope that the weather picks up :)

I knew safe words would come in handy at some point!

I went to the dentist today. Earlier I looked like I'd lost a match to Mike Tyson; now, with the anesthetic wearing off, I'm actually feeling like I did!

Life's little pleasures...

There's an old boy where I work who's had a few knocks over the years, and as a consequence he doesn't like people and can be nasty to anyone who tries to get close. It's only self-defense, but it can be difficult not to take it personally. Anyway, for some reason he's taken a liking to me, and on Tuesday I went with him to find out about his new home, and the area. I showed him around a bit and helped him work out how to get to the shops, things like that. In the end I had to go back to my office while he went to get some shopping. Before we parted, he said: "Can I give you a kiss?" adding straight away "on the cheek" with a shy smile. I felt honoured and moved. While we were going around checking out the location, his eyes were shiny and smiley like I hadn't seen them before, and when he offered a kiss I realised how important it had been for him. Bless!

Then today this bloke from the TV licensing authority came in asking about a couple of residents, and I directed him to their rooms, volunteering that he might have problems communicating with one of them as his English wasn't very good. So he asked me if we had anyone who could translate. Now, this man obviously couldn't know, but a couple of years ago I had a long running argument with the TVLA, with them sending me very threatening and intimidating letters saying they'd take me to court for not paying the TV license. It's true, I don't pay it. I don't have a telly, as I had already told them.
This man's attitude was perfectly in line with that of the apes I dealt with at the time, no disrespect to apes. The chances of me doing anything I don't strictly have to to help the TVLA are marginally lower than those of hell freezing over. Of course I told him that our language services didn't include aiding other agencies in *their* work. This sent him apoplectic, and he started telling me how important his business was. He went as far as calling the people he'd come to see criminals, without even knowing them (he'd asked for room numbers, not names), or if they had a telly and paid a license for it.
He then inquired as to the sort of people we accommodate in our centre. I was intentionally vague and kept repeating "all sorts" (I knew we didn't have anyone particularly dangerous at the moment). He kept asking, explaining that he had to think of his own personal safety. I managed to hold my tongue just before I blurted out that yes, his own personal safety was at risk... from me if he didn't sod off and let me get on with my work. I did behave though, and watched him walk into the building on his own, looking as if he was going to his death. Just a pity I didn't have time to go and ask a few select residents to hang around the corridors and do their best impersonations of some crazed junkies :D