August 2007 Archives
Been a while since I posted about relationships, so here's a little update. A couple of weeks ago I "met" someone online. Although we were in a chat room on a global chat network, it turns out we live just a few miles apart (and by "few" I mean walking distance - at a push!)
We've been chatting for a few hours pretty much every night since we first met. We have the same outlook on life, the same relationship goals, we seem to be hitting it off very well. Fingers crossed :-)
He who has the most toys when he dies, is still dead.
It's my son's birthday coming up in a few weeks. My ex-wife wants to get him a Nintendo DS, which is fair enough I suppose. She sent me a link to one being sold on eBay, with a request for me to buy it on her behalf as she's skint, and she'll pay me back as soon as possible. I had a look at the link, and saw that it was going to be shipped from Hong Kong. The DS itself was £36, but the postage was £40. I pointed out that they weren't all that much more expensive to buy here, plus you get a guarantee or warranty with it. Fair point, she replied.
So I get a phone call from her a couple of hours later. "I'm in the shop, they won't take a cheque without a card, can you pay for it over the phone on your card please?" Well, I could, if it wasn't two days before pay day and I had more than about £20 to my name. "Oh," she says, "I'll try my dad then."
The question is... why does she have to get it now? It's not his birthday for 5 more weeks, and he'll be back at school next week anyway. Can't people think ahead any more?
The final straw was when she later emailed me to say that yes, she's got the DS, it came with a game included, it's got a 2 year warrantry on it, and here's a list of other games that would be suitable for him to play. I wonder where she expects me to find the money for games on top of the child support, birthday bash and guitar lessons she also expects me to contribute towards. I can only give her what I have to give, and no more!
Is the glass half empty or half full? I used to be a "neither. the glass is merely twice the size it needs to be" kinda guy. Until I read this explanation today. "Empty means nothing is there. Half of nothing is still nothing. Therefore, the glass is half full."
Makes sense to me!
When life hands you lemons, bring out the bacardi cola.
My desk at work, in fact my entire office space, is rather dull. There is no natural light, the desks are old and brown, the walls are old grey, the carpet is old and blue. Behind my screen is the PC itself (black), and behind that is a server cabinet (grey).
I've been thinking of brightening the place up a bit. Why not bring a rug in, a thick fluffy rug to put under the desk. I'd then take my shoes and socks off and just make fists with my toes, like Bruce Willis did in Die Hard. MMMmmmmm... I might get a bonsai tree as well, a bit of green round here wouldn't go amiss. Although I don't know how long it would survive without any natural light.
Taking the rug idea a bit further though, why not put a sandbox under the desk? Get the feeling of sand in between your toes, maybe replace my office chair with a deckchair, put a knotted hankie on my head, shine a spotlight in my face. No UV, no suntan, but then again no skin cancer either. But why restrict yourself to that pleasure just when sitting at your desk? Why not fill a couple of shoeboxes with sand and get that beach feeling all day?
Viz Top Tips, you have a lot to answer for.
He that cannot ask cannot live.
My friend M has been keeping me up to date on progress with her new suitor. She had two on the go last week, but she chatted with one of them on Saturday night after I took her home and it just wasn't working. So, two down to one.
To cut a long story short (and it's not my story, it's hers), she chatted with him about her doubts, he put her at ease, they chatted on the phone on Sunday and then went to meet up for the first time last night. She was excited and nervous, partly hoping that this would be the man for her, and partly hoping that she'd find some reason not to go out with him (he's too old, he's ugly, he's already got three wives, that sort of thing). The problem she's had in the past is that she's always dived head long into a relationship, wanting it to be perfect from day one. Relationships never are, of course, and one of the things I was doing for her last week was persuading her to take things slowly, at least a lot slower than she has done in the past. Judging from her reaction when she came back online after meeting him last night, slow and steady is going to win her the race. He's wonderful, she's happy, I'm happy for her. Really, I am. I know I can't give her what she needs in a relationship, and I'm not going to be jealous of any man who can give her that.
She's had a tough life. She deserves a bit of happiness. M, my friend, I hope this man is the one you've been dreaming of getting.
Occasionally I will add a quote here that I found to be thoughtful, insightful, funny, or any of the above. There won't be one every day, rather as and when I find them.
The first one is thus:
Life is like a sewer. You get out of it what you put into it.
I had some bad news this week. My friend M (who I had previously written about on here), contacted me on Tuesday and told me she'd been dumped by the guy she started seeing after she split with me. I've not written about her at all since that last post, but we've both been able to put the split and the ensuing argument behind us. So we chatted online every now and then, so when she got unceremoniously dumped, she felt comfortable enough talking to me about it.
We chatted online, I commiserated with her, and wished I could do more for her. One friend to another, you know. I mentioned that I had some dvd's here that I'd been copying for her, and dropped a hint that what she needs was to take a break, curl up with a friend, drink a bottle of wine, and watch some dvd's. By Thursday afternoon, she'd come to the conclusion that she did indeed need a break, so I drove down to pick her up.
In the car on the way back she told about about what her ex had done, and the way he's done it. She also told me that she'd updated her profile on a couple of websites, and was getting some attention from men. She wasn't sure if she wanted any attention at the moment, or if she was just attracting the wrong sort of man again, and this is one reason why she agreed to take some time out and have a bit of a think.
Thursday night was spent with a chinese takeaway, the wine and the dvd's. Friday we chatted about the potential suitors she had on her tail. She was very open and honest with me, showing me emails they had sent, online conversations she'd had with them. We both sat and tried to work out if they were genuine or just predators. We listened to each other's opinions, we gave each other advice, and by the time I took her home on Saturday afternoon we both felt a lot more confident and upbeat. Her because she'd been able to put some of her fears to rest, me because the previous few days had been a boost to my confidence as well. Plus, it's good to be able to help out a friend in need, isn't it?
Today was the first day of my week off work. This is the first proper week off I've had all year, so I'm feeling a bit burned out. I took a few days off around Easter, but although that added up to 7 days off, it's just not the same, psychologically, as booking off an entire week. Not to me, anyway.
Knowsley Safari Park was the venue for today's day out. I haven't been here for a few years, I think D and I brought A here before we split, but that was an awful long time ago. This time I went with A (of course), my parents, and my niece J.
I'm not going to bore you with all the details about what the kids did (several rides on the dodgems, roller coasters, and every other ride they could get their hands on), or the details of the animals (yes, the monkeys were pulling bits off everyone else's cars as usual, the giraffes were tall, the rhinos looked scary).
What I will talk about, is the Aerial Extreme attraction they have there. This cost an extra £10 on top of the entrance fee for the park, but A was so excited about having a go on it we decided that it would be a waste not to. Seeing as we were already there. When we went to book the tickets we were told that the sessions would start every hour, and we'd have to wait for the next one to start. He was disappointed of course, he wanted to jump on straight away, but he settled for a couple more goes on the dodgems and bouncy castle while he waited.
There was a bunch of kids waiting to do the Aerial Extreme with A, although he was the youngest. The attraction is set up on three levels, based on the height, ability and nerves of the vict - er, volunteer. Because of A's height, he could only go on the lowest level. The other kids could tackle the next level up if they wanted. (When I say level, the word is appropriate in two ways; not only was each level physically higher off the ground, but they also increased in difficulty.)
The kids started out with a safety talk. They were shown how to wear their harnesses and safety helmets, and the safety rope attaching them to the guidewire. A asked lots of questions, all of which were pertinent. I was certainly impressed with the way he paid attention, took in the information, and analysed it.
Ok, out onto the obstacle course. He stood on the first platform, swung the safety rope over the junction box above his head, and off he went. The obstacles were all variations on the rope bridge theme, some wobblier and more flimsy looking than others. At no point was he daunted or scared, he just tackled each obstacle as it came. Maybe he knew that the safety rope would keep him safe, maybe he was just fearless! About halfway round he lost his footing on one of the obstacles and found himself sitting on the rope instead of standing on it. But he managed to pick himself up and carry on. Perhaps it was the instructor's warning that if anyone should fall off an obstacle and need to be rescued, the experience would be over - go straight to the end, do not pass go, do not collect £200.
Later on he was making jokes as he was going round. The rest of us were standing in the middle of the course, giving him words of encouragement as he went along. He told us he came to the park with the school a few months back, and that they were still building the course at the time. While standing in the middle of an obstacle, he stopped, pointed to the ground, and said "one of the men fell off, he's buried over there". "Oh, really?" "Yep"
He was an absolute star, and I was very impressed. Impressed with the facility, with the training and safety aspects, with the experience he got, and with the price. The sun shone, the sea lions performed, the kids tired themselves out, once again, a fantastic day out.
Wow, today was a good day. I ended up having a great day out with my son A and my ex D (see, it is possible for divorced people to get along with each other every so often!). Pretty much on the spur of the moment, we took him for a day out to a place called Apple Jack's Farm, just south of Warrington in Cheshire. The place looks like a fairly new amusement park, but done on a very small, family scale. In other words, it wasn't full of rollercoasters and heart-stopping rides. The weather was warm, but the day was overcast, and the crowds weren't massive. However this all helped us to have such a good day out.
We started with firing tennis balls at a target. First with an air cannon, then with a catapult. It was actually a lot more fun than it sounds, reading back :-) Then a quick go with a bow and arrow (first time in my life I've ever fired one of those) and then on to watch the pig race. Yes, the pig race. The poor little piglets were made to run around a course to get to the food at the other end. We all had to pick which pig we wanted to win, but my ex, thinking laterally, cheered on the guy in the yellow tee-shirt running around the course with the bucket of food.
On to the bouncy castle next, which wasn't really in the shape of a castle. Rather, it was like the top of a huge bubble, just peeking out of the ground. Both kids and parents were allowed on it, and I must admit everyone had a whale of a time jumping up and down with each other! It's been years since I've done any jumping at all, bouncy castle or trampoline or otherwise, and after just a few minutes I was starting to feel my age. My son, however, jumped and rolled and leaped off and ran back on again for aaaaaages. He paired up with another little boy there, who I think was called Joe, and he and Joe played together for most of the rest of the day.
The only time they didn't play together was when we went into the maze. This is the main attraction at the park, a huge maze of maize. This year the maze was in the shape of a pirate ship, and dotted around the maze were little post boxes with sections of the map, and boards with clues to the pirate crossword puzzle we were given before we went in. Of course, before we started, we were given a pep talk by a pirate lady. An Irish pirate admittedly, but the kids didn't seem to notice! "Now, " she said, "did anyone happen to bring a compass with them? No? Ok, how about any camping gear? Still no? Well, don't worry, we'll make sure you get out of the maze before October...."
I think we spent about 40 minutes in the maze. We didn't get all around it, in fact we stumbled across the exit more than finding it, but A was getting a bit bored with the maze by then. So, after another go on the bouncy castle, we headed off to have a climb all over the bales of hay. We caught up with Joe again, and the kids clambered all over everything while D and I rested, smoked, and chatted. Finally, we all had a go on some pedal karts before heading back to the car. The park was due to close in the next 15 minutes, and A had been pestering us for a toy from the shop all day. Sometimes we think he doesn't appreciate going to the park, he just wants us to buy him gifts from the shop. Anyway, the shop was closed when we got to it and he burst into tears. But - saving the day - Mr Yellow T-Shirt Pig Racer was nearby, and we asked if he could open the shop for a couple of minutes. He obliged, A bought his stretchy skeleton, and we all went home very happy indeed.
If only more days out were like that!
