Billy Young's Blog, page 23
December 16, 2011
16th December 2011
Calum helped me get the garden hut window fixed. It wasn’t as dry as I hoped it would be nut it wasn’t too bad. It went quite smoothly for me. I cut the Perspex in doors to save us from the rain and by the time that was done the rain had lightened so we got the window in without the usual drama that DIY causes.
It’s funny how when it comes to DIY that there is normally unexpected problems that arise. This so often then throws a spanner in the works. It doesn’t matter if we’ve planned out carefully everything that need done to do the job. It just takes one unforeseen detail to create mayhem. For that one minor thing things seem to take a dark journey into frustration. Eventually somehow we finally find our way to the light of completion when at last we can claim success.
The worst times are of course when the wife has already told you what you need to do next which will complete the project. She will then immediately declare that you should have been listening to her all along and you would have finished it an hour ago. Of course she had been standing out in the garden talking to the neighbours at that time, which was luck as that was when everything went south, hehehe.
Well as I said there was none of that this time and the window is holding up well as we had another bad bit of weather during the week. Of course it wasn’t as bad as BawBag but it did test the repair, which just leaves me to paint the hut in the spring.
This weekend I have overtime at work. That’s what comes with the season though. Of course next Friday I can look forward to having four days off. So when I think of that tomorrow doesn’t seem so depressing. Yes I know I didn’t have to take the overtime but with the price of heating these days it’s leaving a small shortage in other areas of the house hold budget and Christmas stretches everything. Magz is managing but some extra earnings from the overtime will help after Santa has been.
It’s funny how when it comes to DIY that there is normally unexpected problems that arise. This so often then throws a spanner in the works. It doesn’t matter if we’ve planned out carefully everything that need done to do the job. It just takes one unforeseen detail to create mayhem. For that one minor thing things seem to take a dark journey into frustration. Eventually somehow we finally find our way to the light of completion when at last we can claim success.
The worst times are of course when the wife has already told you what you need to do next which will complete the project. She will then immediately declare that you should have been listening to her all along and you would have finished it an hour ago. Of course she had been standing out in the garden talking to the neighbours at that time, which was luck as that was when everything went south, hehehe.
Well as I said there was none of that this time and the window is holding up well as we had another bad bit of weather during the week. Of course it wasn’t as bad as BawBag but it did test the repair, which just leaves me to paint the hut in the spring.
This weekend I have overtime at work. That’s what comes with the season though. Of course next Friday I can look forward to having four days off. So when I think of that tomorrow doesn’t seem so depressing. Yes I know I didn’t have to take the overtime but with the price of heating these days it’s leaving a small shortage in other areas of the house hold budget and Christmas stretches everything. Magz is managing but some extra earnings from the overtime will help after Santa has been.
December 9, 2011
9th December 2011
Hurricane BawBag passed through last night leave fences blown over and a church steeple damaged in the town centre. I got off lightly with only the hut window blown in. I had to do a temporary repair with card board, a plastic bags and tape. Luckily it won’t cost me anything to fix as today Magz found some Perspex in a friends garden the right size to do the job, well after I cut it to fit. Talk about someone up there looking out for you. Calum will give me a hand fixing the hut tomorrow as the weather is to be a lot better that it has for weeks though is to be colder too.
I was surprised to see what the storm was called but that’s Scottish humour for you. Even when the bombs are falling we always find something to laugh at. I suppose that is really the same the world over. Don’t you think? After all when given the choice wouldn’t you prefer a good laugh to lift your spirits when the waves are crashing onto the shore. Mind I don’t think last nights storm was really that bad when you think of places like Haiti. They’re still struggling with the earthquake that so badly damaged their county last year. Then there is New Orleans in 2005 which it is still recovering from. I’m glad that we don’t get storms that bad. Still it was a wild night.
I was surprised to see what the storm was called but that’s Scottish humour for you. Even when the bombs are falling we always find something to laugh at. I suppose that is really the same the world over. Don’t you think? After all when given the choice wouldn’t you prefer a good laugh to lift your spirits when the waves are crashing onto the shore. Mind I don’t think last nights storm was really that bad when you think of places like Haiti. They’re still struggling with the earthquake that so badly damaged their county last year. Then there is New Orleans in 2005 which it is still recovering from. I’m glad that we don’t get storms that bad. Still it was a wild night.
December 2, 2011
2nd December 2011
Overtime was beckoning for tomorrow but I turned it down. I’ve had a sore thumb after cutting it at work a few weeks ago. This week it got very angry and swollen so I had to go to the doctors today after work. The result is that I have a bad infection in it and I have been given a course of antibiotics for the next week. It was Magz that forced me to go as I was for leaving it but she thought that it had to be seen to, the doc agreed with her. I think that is something us men are bad for after all who really likes going to the doctors? Not me for sure. The last time I had to visit them was over a year ago when I had a kidney infection. Again that was only because I was forced to by the wife, which was lucky as the doc then wanted to send me to hospital. This time it isn’t so bad though the thumb feels like it’s been slammed in a door at the moment. It being my right thumb has made it difficult me being right handed. Holding the pen to sign my name on the prescription was more of a task than usual and the result was unrecognisable. I’m glad that writing is easier thanks to modern technology. Though this weekend I have to do my SVQ work. That will be something as my hand writing is bad at best and going by my signature today it will be unreadable. I may put it off till next weekend depending how my appendage is. I do need to get it done though just in case the man turns up at work to see if it is finished so he can give us the next set of modules. Hopefully my painful digit will be a lot better by Sunday so I can get cracking on with the work.
November 25, 2011
25th November 2011
I just got home an hour ago after working some more overtime. Luckily tomorrow is Saturday and I have it off, no more extra work like last week. Magz wants me to go up to the loft to get the Christmas tree down ready for December. Some round our way have already got theirs up. I remember as a kid on the bus to school trying to see who could count the most on the way home with my friends. The thing was I don’t think we ever saw them until the middle of December.
My poem for the competition is taking shape. I only managed to get the rough form down and a little editing during the week. With it started I should get it into a more finished shape over the next two days but will then leave it for a week to read over again and re-edit as I see the need while trying to use all the things I’ve learned at Absolute Write from previous poems. I can’t really say much about it though I shall post it on my GoodReads.com page after the competition. The remit of which is it has to be about a place. This can be an actual place or a figurative place. I’m trying for a figurative one though I’m not sure if what I am trying with this poem will be easily seen in this light. That’s because there is another message within which stands out far more than the place. I don’t know though yet if this is a mistake on my part but time will tell. If it is then at least I will have hopefully still created something that people can enjoy. Though it will be after Christmas before the results are known as there is a vote by the member of the forum from the 15th till 30th December when all the entries will be up on there for members to read and choose their favourites. I’m looking forward to reading others contributions.
My poem for the competition is taking shape. I only managed to get the rough form down and a little editing during the week. With it started I should get it into a more finished shape over the next two days but will then leave it for a week to read over again and re-edit as I see the need while trying to use all the things I’ve learned at Absolute Write from previous poems. I can’t really say much about it though I shall post it on my GoodReads.com page after the competition. The remit of which is it has to be about a place. This can be an actual place or a figurative place. I’m trying for a figurative one though I’m not sure if what I am trying with this poem will be easily seen in this light. That’s because there is another message within which stands out far more than the place. I don’t know though yet if this is a mistake on my part but time will tell. If it is then at least I will have hopefully still created something that people can enjoy. Though it will be after Christmas before the results are known as there is a vote by the member of the forum from the 15th till 30th December when all the entries will be up on there for members to read and choose their favourites. I’m looking forward to reading others contributions.
November 18, 2011
18th November 2011
Absolute Write Water Cooler a forum that I go to is holding a poetry competition. Though I know I won’t win or anything I think it should be a bit of fun to enter though I’m not sure what I’ll put forward. I have some time till the deadline, the fifteenth of December so plenty of time. I do have a rough one that needs a lot of work which I can start this weekend if I can squeeze it in. I have some overtime tomorrow that I agreed to before finding out about the competition. It’s not so bad though I do have to get up really early to get the bus. It being Saturday I have to walk down to the station to get it as well, which is a twenty minute walk at best. There aren’t any buses up my way until the same time the one I have to get leaves the station. I know it is a bit of a pain but that is the Saturday service for you. Normally if I was getting the bus during the week I would just have to walk five minutes to get the early bus a few streets away. Well the overtime cash will help with Christmas getting closer as we are all being reminded regularly through the TV ads at the moment.
Of course as you know I have Magz’s gifts in already. One she has knows about and uses the other hidden away for the day. Still Magz is doing the rest of the shopping that comes this time of year for family and friends. I don’t know how she manages on our budget. There was a time when it was me that kept house when she worked. That was when the kids were still young. But even then it was her who organised the Christmas shop. I’ve always been rubbish at it. Well tomorrow might just help her out and when I get home I can start work on that poem.
Of course as you know I have Magz’s gifts in already. One she has knows about and uses the other hidden away for the day. Still Magz is doing the rest of the shopping that comes this time of year for family and friends. I don’t know how she manages on our budget. There was a time when it was me that kept house when she worked. That was when the kids were still young. But even then it was her who organised the Christmas shop. I’ve always been rubbish at it. Well tomorrow might just help her out and when I get home I can start work on that poem.
November 11, 2011
11th November 2011
I’ve got the cold. It began on Tuesday though I still went into work the rest of the week. What a week to get it though? With me having to get the bus. Dragging yourself out of bed at twenty past five in the morning all choked up is not the best of feelings. Then to spend the day grafting away does take it out of you. All you can do is get your head down and get on with it as I did. I was glad to get home though and back to my bed after surfing the net for an hour or so.
It is strange how we fill our time even when not at our best with the web these days. Yet what would we do with ourselves if the net was just to vanish tomorrow? When we have a problem with connecting up to the cyber world we have that panic that sets in or at least I do. It is like it has become another part of us that we can’t do without. A whole opens when you can’t reach your online friends to catch up on what is happening. It has become that important to us. It also gives us that other reason for not putting up the shelf we promised the wife, hehehe. Maybe that one is just me, luckily there isn’t any shelves at the moment.
When I think of my cold today though it puts it into perspective, this being Remembrance Day. The eleventh day of the eleventh month. The day that the Great War finally came to an end. As well as the day we think of all those that gave their lives defending our way of life. It also makes me grateful that I was never put to that kind of test.
It is strange how we fill our time even when not at our best with the web these days. Yet what would we do with ourselves if the net was just to vanish tomorrow? When we have a problem with connecting up to the cyber world we have that panic that sets in or at least I do. It is like it has become another part of us that we can’t do without. A whole opens when you can’t reach your online friends to catch up on what is happening. It has become that important to us. It also gives us that other reason for not putting up the shelf we promised the wife, hehehe. Maybe that one is just me, luckily there isn’t any shelves at the moment.
When I think of my cold today though it puts it into perspective, this being Remembrance Day. The eleventh day of the eleventh month. The day that the Great War finally came to an end. As well as the day we think of all those that gave their lives defending our way of life. It also makes me grateful that I was never put to that kind of test.
November 4, 2011
4th November 2011
Amazing news on the tax front. The phone call seems to have worked as I got a letter with my new/old tax code on it. My wages were also back to normal which is a big load off of my mind. It comes just in time to cover some extra expenses getting to work next week. I usually get a lift off of a work colleague but he is on holiday from today. Last week when I noticed the tax error I was expecting some especially tough times in the coming seven days. As it is getting the bus is still costly. More so than I think is reasonable but then again the company that runs the service has a monopoly on the route so they can set the price as they see fit. Of course they would argue that it is due to fuel cost and that there aren’t as many customers using that bus. Yet whenever I have used it over the years it has seemed well patronized by those that live and work up the Irvine Valley. Not much though that you can do about it other than pay or walk to work and it is a little far to walk. I know some would cycle to get there but it is too dark a road at this time of year at the time of morning that I would be travelling to work. Well that is my excuse which I will be sticking too, hehehe. I still have to look forward to some earlier rises so I can catch the bus on time. That is one of the things that make you grateful of getting a lift in the morning, that extra twenty minutes in bed. It is only for a week though so not that bad.
October 28, 2011
28th October 2011
There has been a lot on the news recently about a glitch with the computers at the tax office here in the UK. Well it seems to have struck me. This week I noticed my wages were short. On looking closely at my wage slip it was soon apparent that I had been overtaxed by £30. Not a small amount when your on the minimal pay bracket I can assure you. Well as you can imagine I was on the phone to the tax office as soon as I got home or rather I had Magz doing it as I don’t like talking to strangers. Well the short of it is that I was right but it will take a few weeks to sort out. Not what I wanted to hear as it will mean some belt tightening when the belt is already cutting off the blood to my feet. I just hope that it doesn’t take too long to sort out. Of course when it is I can expect to get the overpaid amount back though that is likely to take even longer to get. That is after all how these things usual go.
It does make you wonder though about how this can still be happening after it being all over the news. You would have thought that someone would have been put in charge of fixing the problem and making sure it didn’t happen again. That though would be asking a lot from the government. They aren’t known for the speed of correcting troubles of this nature are they? No before they do that they will need to spend a small fortune to investigate how the error occurred in the first place. Then they will spend more in finding how to fix it and even more on the solution. Doesn’t it just warm the heart thinking about it, hehehe?
It does make you wonder though about how this can still be happening after it being all over the news. You would have thought that someone would have been put in charge of fixing the problem and making sure it didn’t happen again. That though would be asking a lot from the government. They aren’t known for the speed of correcting troubles of this nature are they? No before they do that they will need to spend a small fortune to investigate how the error occurred in the first place. Then they will spend more in finding how to fix it and even more on the solution. Doesn’t it just warm the heart thinking about it, hehehe?
October 21, 2011
21st October 2011
It has been a rather long week. I suppose that is down to how lazy a week it has been. Other than cutting my hedges mid-week and a bit of Civ5 I haven’t done much. Yes that is what holidays are for though I was hoping for some inspiration in the writing department. Unfortunately I have found none though I still have this weekend to find some. I’m just not able to find where to start even though I have a picture in mind I can’t find the right words.
It is never easy to start a new story which is true for most things. Really it is getting the drive to make the start that is the problem usually at least for some of us. Then come the excuses, “Oh, I can do that tomorrow.” And the countless other reasons we find. But as the old saying goes tomorrow never comes. Yesterday though is always a wasted day when we do make pretexts for not doing what we had planned.
What can you do though when we fall into the trap? Not a lot sadly other than try to better today. Yet I’m still finding that I haven’t made the start that I should have. When I think of it I think that this was the same for my last book though I did have more time on my hands then. So a wasted week was less of a problem. Unlike now as on Monday I’ll be back at work which I am looking forward to.
At least I did get one good day to get out into the garden to trim my hedges. With all the wet weather we have had recently I’ve not been able to get them done so they were looking really shabby. It is amazing how untidy they can make the garden look when they’re like that. Whilst doing them though I cut the cable which meant a rewiring job. Luckily it isn’t a hard one so I was up and running after an hour. Now the garden is much tidier looking. So at least the week wasn’t a complete loss.
It is never easy to start a new story which is true for most things. Really it is getting the drive to make the start that is the problem usually at least for some of us. Then come the excuses, “Oh, I can do that tomorrow.” And the countless other reasons we find. But as the old saying goes tomorrow never comes. Yesterday though is always a wasted day when we do make pretexts for not doing what we had planned.
What can you do though when we fall into the trap? Not a lot sadly other than try to better today. Yet I’m still finding that I haven’t made the start that I should have. When I think of it I think that this was the same for my last book though I did have more time on my hands then. So a wasted week was less of a problem. Unlike now as on Monday I’ll be back at work which I am looking forward to.
At least I did get one good day to get out into the garden to trim my hedges. With all the wet weather we have had recently I’ve not been able to get them done so they were looking really shabby. It is amazing how untidy they can make the garden look when they’re like that. Whilst doing them though I cut the cable which meant a rewiring job. Luckily it isn’t a hard one so I was up and running after an hour. Now the garden is much tidier looking. So at least the week wasn’t a complete loss.
October 14, 2011
14th October 2011
I’m on holiday from work for a week with no plans other than lazing around. After this week I’m glad to be off as it was a right pain this week. You know how it goes as the graft strains your back and others seem to bug your brain. I know that it was just me being tired but it doesn’t stop you feeling down. Anyway I can put it to the side now and replenish my energies. A bit of gaming or writing will help along with some nice lie-ins.
It’s strange how work has that effect though. When you’re unemployed you can’t wait to get a job. Yet when you are working for a bit it starts to drain you. Maybe that has something to do with very few of us having that dream job. You know the one we all wish we had. The one where you’re the boss running that little business you always wanted to but never had the money to do it or the know how to get it. Though would it remain the dream if we were to find the way to attain it? How long before it became just like any other job? I’m sure that a few lean years would soon make it like that. After all that is the main reason most of us do work after all, for the money.
I know that is the simple reply but it doesn’t make it any less true. For if we didn’t get paid we wouldn’t do the job would we? I know I wouldn’t as I need to provide for my family. So that is my main motivation to work but it isn’t the only one.
Having spent much of my earlier years stuck on the unemployment lines I’m glad to be working. It is good to get up in the morning and have something to contribute to the family through a days graft. But it is also good to have a break now and then to spend some time with the family we work so hard for.
It’s strange how work has that effect though. When you’re unemployed you can’t wait to get a job. Yet when you are working for a bit it starts to drain you. Maybe that has something to do with very few of us having that dream job. You know the one we all wish we had. The one where you’re the boss running that little business you always wanted to but never had the money to do it or the know how to get it. Though would it remain the dream if we were to find the way to attain it? How long before it became just like any other job? I’m sure that a few lean years would soon make it like that. After all that is the main reason most of us do work after all, for the money.
I know that is the simple reply but it doesn’t make it any less true. For if we didn’t get paid we wouldn’t do the job would we? I know I wouldn’t as I need to provide for my family. So that is my main motivation to work but it isn’t the only one.
Having spent much of my earlier years stuck on the unemployment lines I’m glad to be working. It is good to get up in the morning and have something to contribute to the family through a days graft. But it is also good to have a break now and then to spend some time with the family we work so hard for.
