Billy Young's Blog, page 17

8th February 2013

Tammy is still recovering from tonsillitis. She will be off of school for another week and the head teacher has said she can sit her exams when she goes back. They also finally sent her some home work but only for her English which is better than nothing. She has been reading through her notes on her other subjects so that will help her with the prelims she has coming up on her return.
I’ve quickly settled into my new role at work. It’s a bit hard on the back leaning into the baskets to put the bottom couple of layers of tins in but it isn’t too bad. On the brighter side of the job is working the retorts. Between Jim and me the day goes by steadily and we take turns on the retort which saves the back a lot. We take alternate breaks so there is someone to keep an eye on the giant pressure cookers at all times. This is as you can figure is for safety reasons. After all the last thing you want is for one to go off like a bomb. Saying that there are a lot of safety features built in to prevent such thing occurring.
I will need to go into town tomorrow to get Magz’s valentines and birthday presents. I get both at once as they two days are only a couple of weeks apart. It will save me running down the town a second time as well. Not that I don’t like going into town but weekends are short so I would rather use them around the house. Even if that means just lazing around much of them. I’ll need to be quick tomorrow as the rugby is on which I don’t want to miss.

1st February 2013

There was a meeting at work to announce changes. For me it means that I have been moved to the retort and baskets full time. I’ll be fully trained up on the retort over the coming months by Jim. After that we will work together sharing all the jobs of doing the retort and loading the baskets with cans ready for cooking. Jim seems happy with it as am I. Actually I am looking forwards to it as I already know how to do the job. I will miss working in the butcher with Wee John as we get on well together sharing the same sense of humour which makes the time go well. Not that I don’t get on with Jim but I know John better having worked with him longer. Still Jim is a good bloke who can have a laugh too.
Still not got any editing done though I have gotten two more roughs, which is something to be grateful for. Having the cold hasn’t helped. My throat is sore with the coughing. Yes I still have it. Like December it seems to be keeping a hold on me. It might be partly due to work as I am usually in and out of the chills all the time. Well I will see in the coming week as I don’t have that problem with the changes that take effect on Monday.
Tammy is still off of school with tonsillitis. She has been put on stronger antibiotics which I hope will help. Her mum tried to get work sent home from school but they told her that she could catch up when she got back to school. I’m not happy with that as I feel that they could have given her something to help her keep up even if it was on a little. Unfortunately there is nothing that I can do to make them give her work. I suppose it will let her rest so she can get better sooner.

25th January 2013

I got another rough done even though I have had that cold for the full week. I still have it and it feels worse today. I came home to go straight to bed for a couple of hours but it felt like I hadn’t had a sleep when Magz woke me. I’ll get an early night, for a Friday anyways, to try to shift it. With some luck, that and a Beechams powder, I’ll feel better tomorrow. That way I can get some editing work done.
Being filled with the cold can really make work harder. Luckily I work with some great blokes that help to keep your spirits high. It is always good to get on with those you work with. I have had jobs were the atmosphere dragged you down. It was a relief to escape at the end of the day. Not that it isn’t great to be headed home from my present job. The real test though is do you have to drag yourself to work. When you are at that stage you know the job has become depressing. Mind this week I have felt a little like that though I know that is because of illness.
Yes I know a lot of you out there will be saying. If you’re that ill you should just take the time off. Well being on minimum wage means the loss of one day is too much in financial terms. It isn’t just me that is trapped in this boat so to speak. It is the sad reality of adult life. To pay the bills I need to earn a full weeks wage so I can’t take sick days unless I really have to and the cold doesn’t count as serious enough. No I would have to be very ill indeed to take time off.
My daughter has also been suffering this week with the same thing as well as tonsillitis. Poor thing has been wrapped up on the couch during the day at the start of the week. She’s hoping to be back at school next week though we will see. She was at the doctors today again having completed her antibiotics for her throat. The doctor didn’t give her any more so that is a good sign that she is truly on the mend.
All us unhealthy people has been a strain on Magz though. She hasn’t said anything but you can tell. I will have to get her something nice for her valentines to make it up to her.

18th January 2013

Finally Calum’s desk is finished. We got it done last weekend and as is the norm it took longer than I had thought it would. Still it was worth the effort as it turned out not to shabbily. Calum is made up with it which is what really matters. It did mean I never got round to much else over the weekend. Those two days never seem to last long enough for all the plans we have for them. It just takes that one job that you thought you could do in an hour or two to end up taking three times as much time to complete to throw everything out the window. Still one job done is always better than none.
Even though I didn’t manage to do any editing I did push the number of roughs up to five. That just leaves another ninety five to go plus a lot of editing. The editing is the harder part of course as you have to have something to work with. Yes I have five that I hope to work on this weekend while, with any luck, write some more rough drafts.
That is if the man flu stays at bay as I can feel that tickle at the back of my throat. Magz has been suffering with it for the past couple of days and being the sharing individual that she is she has passed it to me. I only hope it doesn’t hit me as hard and that after a good long lie in it shall pass quickly. Another weekend with the cold I don’t want. I had enough of that over December and I don’t wish to repeat.

11th January 2013

I have three rough poems written towards the plan that I mentioned last week. When I say rough I really mean it. I will spend some time this weekend looking at them to see how to improve them. Two of them will need a complete write to give them the voice that I want. The last one is more of filling it out but I’m not sure how at the moment. It is a start that is the main thing though I have a lot of work to go before I reach my target.
Calum said he would have his room in shape for Saturday. Yes the ongoing saga of the desk continues. Provide he doesn’t get an unplanned party invite and he can get out of his kip we might get the job finished. He did splash out on a new chair which has changed some of the measurements. Now he wants the desk lower. Lucky that he got the chair before we put the desk up then as it will be attached to the wall.
Tammy has been a bit of a sore loser recently. She got a dart board for Christmas, her choice as it isn’t something I would have thought she would have wanted. Anyway her mum has been beating her since. Tammy did finally win a game the other night but sadly it was out of three and her mum won the other two. This has left my daughter feeling a bit of a sore loser. I’m glad to say that it is only in a sulky way which doesn’t last too long. I would laugh if I thought it wouldn’t make it worse for her. I’m sure with practice that she will get better and win more games against Magz.

4th January 2013

Happy New Year, I hope it got off to a good one. For many Monday will be their first day back after the seasonal break. I like many others headed back a little sooner as you know. I feel sorry for those like my son who was working on New Years Day. I find it depressing when I have been forced to work on those days when the world is enjoying the festivities of a fresh year beginning. I’m sure I am not the only one in that category. Even though I don’t go clubbing or to any parties I still enjoy having a glass to toast at the bell in the knowledge that I can have a long lie in the following morning as I did this year.
So what are my hopes for the coming year? Well one thing I am aiming for is to write more poems from my Nowhere collection. I’m not sure how may I have at the moment but I wish to try and swell the number into the hundred mark if possible. I would also like to find the time to pen another book though I really don’t see where the energy or time would come from. Each year seems to pass faster than the last one and I find that what I plan at the start of the year is less likely to get done. Maybe a shorter list would work better. Of course as you can tell I don’t have a very long list to begin with.
One other thing that I have planned though is to tile the hall, kitchen and bathroom floors. Magz was saying last year that she would like to have slate tiles running from the front door to the back. It will cost a bit but it will be worth it if it makes the missus happy. It is going to be a big job as well as expensive though I’ll worry about all of that when I have saved the necessary to pay for it all. That will take a few months with prices ever rising.
Well all the best for the coming year.

28th December 2012

I hope you all had a good Christmas. Calum was working for half of Christmas day but was home in time for dinner. Magz made the steak pie which we have every year. Now that the kids are older there isn’t the early morning wake up. Followed by the rush to see what Santa brought. Now everyone opens their presents when they get up. I had my breakfast before I tore the wrapping paper from mine. New slippers led the line up of jeans, tea-shirt, socks, and a jumper. Calum also got me Skyrim the follow on from Oblivion which I still have to play the add-on. As you can guess I haven’t started playing the new game. I will eventually though it will be next year.
Of course that isn’t that far away. I’m working on Monday though I will be off Tuesday and Wednesday as I was this week. That means that I will have those days to recover from any ill effects of drink. That isn’t really likely though as I am not much of a drinker and Magz and myself usually only have a small vodka for the bells. I know boring. The days of finding a party then getting totally wasted is long gone. I still like to see the bells with a glass just to see the old year out while welcoming the new. Even if it is quietly.

21st December 2012

Work remains draconian with the boss’s new rules. The spying continues and one or two fellow workers have been docked for being one minute late back from break, losing fifteen minutes off of their pay. This to me seems excessive as a warning would be more appropriate. After all they shouldn’t have the wages cut when we are already on the lowest pay bracket already for the UK. I have been lucky so far to avoid falling foul but only just one occasion. The clocks at work are all at different times even though they are supposed to be wirelessly connected. Sadly that seems not to be working so you have to keep a close check on the difference between the clocking in one and the one in the canteen. Yesterday that was just a minute yet today it had grown to over five minutes.
Well Christmas is fast approaching and I have now officially got all the present I am giving in. Tammy and I went shopping last Saturday to get Magz her secret gifts for the big day. Yes having my daughter meant that it cost more than I was intending to spend. Still she was a big help in helping to find what I was cluelessly looking for. I had a vague idea of what to get but Tammy really helped to give me more suggestions which was why it grew in price. As long as she likes them though that is what matters.
I hope and wish all of you a great Christmas.

14th December 2012

It has been a very event filled week at work. It began with the boss changing our break times and insisting that we also change out of our overall after clocking out. Why has he taken this stance? Well some employees have been taking longer over their breaks than they should. We all do it at some point but some take it further than just the odd occasion. Sadly rather than dealing with those who over do this practice he has decided to tighten the work regulations as a whole. At the same time he has also cut our morning break to ten minutes though we still have thirty minutes for our main break.
Since this was enforced last week anger towards these changes have been growing. Finally over the past two days it came to a sort of head. Yesterday a group of us refused to take our first break as a kind of protest at the changes. After this word began to do the rounds that the office staff has been spying on us over the past few weeks at the orders of the boss. At lunch a box of biscuits and a Christmas card were found waiting on a table in the canteen from the office to the production staff. These were returned unopened.
Today one of the leaders of the protest movement within work was called to the office. Things went badly and he was nearly fired. The boss lost his temper by what I have heard so far and was shouting as well as using extremely strong language. He point blank refused to change his mind on the changes but it was the return of the biscuits that really seemed to set him off. In his rant over the biscuits he admitted to having the office staff to listen into what has been said in the canteen by listening in the hallway.
Though this all may sound rather Dickensian or draconian it is it seems very legal. In the UK we sadly are only entitled to one twenty minute break if we work more than six hours. It also seems that my employer can have the office staff spy on us with or without our knowledge during our breaks. Unfortunately the way that our employment contracts have been worded means that our first break is not protected from the changes that have been introduced. So there is little we can do to change the new situation and must now get used to the new way of things.
At least we have a job still.

7th December 2012

I got my new android tablet and a cold. The cold I could do without but the pad is great. I’m still trying to find my way around the operating system or rather make sense of apps. I don’t have a smart phone so I’m more used to think of programmes on the PC. Really though they are the same thing. I’m that old I can remember when all programmes that ran on computers were that small and even smaller. Of course in those days you had to wait half an hour for them to load from cassette tape. Not that I had a computer in those days but I did play on a friends from time to time. It was a Spectrum though I can’t remember which one or the name of the game just that we ran through a dungeon looking for a treasure. The only problem was that you could only carry one object at a time be it a shield, sword or the treasure. We always failed to get past the monster though so quickly lost interest. The graphics were terrible and the game love to crash meaning another long wait to retry. I’m glad to say that these modern programmes/apps are much more stable plus load a lot quicker.
One of the games/apps I’ve had some fun with already is Angry Birds Rio. Though I has heard of it it was only this week that I played it. It is quite a fun little game in the early rounds. My daughter was helpful when I got stuck by telling me what to do. I think I would have been still stuck at the level if it hadn’t been for her help and went the same way as the old Speccy game all those years ago.
On the productive side of things I have Kindle on my pad. It means that I have to convert the books I have downloaded from Project Gutenberg to mobi. Magz has already found a programme to do the job while I was at work. All I will have to do is find the time to read all the books never mind the movies that are out of copyright at MoviesfoundOnline.com.