This month has been rather good on the publishing tally. I've got three short stories in print, which fills me with a smug sense of satisfaction. That means that there should now be three more short stories which come next month are freed up for going on the Portfolio section of the website.
The plan is to do these one at a time, to intermingle with the serialisation of 'The long summer of war' as I wouldn't want to overwhelm the site with just one long story. At the same time hopefully there will be a contact section on its way that my web designer has been working on. There's no guarentees that I'll have time to answer all messages sent, but it at least means people are faced with potentially a way to actually contact me. I'm also hoping that a Media section will go up too, especially as I'm in the running for an award for the radio drama I wrote and performed.
There will be a spruce of photographs. There are a lot that were taken during the practice runs and recording of the radio drama, and they may well find their way up. At the same time, there are a couple of photos to remove from the 'Privatus' section, because sometimes a girl can show a little bit too much stocking top. At any rate, I want a reputation as a writer, not a striptease. Still they were from a fun photoshoot, and some were used on other sites.
It's late, I'm tired and I want to go home. I'm nearly at 70,000 words for the book, with an end in sight, but there's only long a person can write at one sitting before they probably become incoherent.
Wednesday 28 January 2009
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Of changing sizes of busts and bottoms.
I went today to try on a new dress that I have ordered. It's a lovely dress in a very dark chocolate colour satin (it looks almost black) trimmed with lovely silver embroidary. I saw it in the catalogue last year and immediately fell in love with it. They are made to order, so it has been about two and a half months since I was measured. I haven't changed in weight much, but imagine how disappointed I am to find out that weight is nothing; fat distribution is everything. My bum has shrunk, as has my bust. I don't know what this is at the expense of, but I was certainly a little crestfallen by this. I'm going tomorrow for a visit to the seamstress for alterations.
This is the result of my Endochronologist. He seems morbidly afraid of having me on the correct dose of HRT. Instead, he seems determined to keep me on a maintenance dose suitable for a 60 year old plus post menopausal woman, rather than the thirty year old little darling *ahem* that I am. It doesn't help that the change in dose coincided with a change in type, which turned out to be totally ineffective. Consequently I am, in effect, going through yet another menopause just like the fateful one I had aged 25. Jenny is not amused.
Still, nothing that a rubber diving costume with the bottom cut out and a bucket of soapy frogs could not fix. That's for the Endo, by the way, not me. He is not on my christmas card list, shall we say? The dress is for the upcoming HBA awards for which I am put forward for the radio drama that I wrote and recorded. It also means that I probably should look at whether my wedding dress for my upcoming civil partnership still fits. I shall be very angry if that requires alterations too.
This is the result of my Endochronologist. He seems morbidly afraid of having me on the correct dose of HRT. Instead, he seems determined to keep me on a maintenance dose suitable for a 60 year old plus post menopausal woman, rather than the thirty year old little darling *ahem* that I am. It doesn't help that the change in dose coincided with a change in type, which turned out to be totally ineffective. Consequently I am, in effect, going through yet another menopause just like the fateful one I had aged 25. Jenny is not amused.
Still, nothing that a rubber diving costume with the bottom cut out and a bucket of soapy frogs could not fix. That's for the Endo, by the way, not me. He is not on my christmas card list, shall we say? The dress is for the upcoming HBA awards for which I am put forward for the radio drama that I wrote and recorded. It also means that I probably should look at whether my wedding dress for my upcoming civil partnership still fits. I shall be very angry if that requires alterations too.
Saturday 24 January 2009
My word! Your small child can spell asphyxiation perfectly!
I have rubbish hand writing. I remember in secondary school I politely got asked if I could give up on joined up handwriting on account it looked like a spider had pulled a pen across the page. I don't know what it is, but it has never improved. It's strange, as I am ambidextrous and can produce the same scrawly crap with either my left or right hands; both are equally rubbish.
Perhaps practice would have made perfect, but I found and used computers from an early age. I write millions of words every year, but almost all are done on a handy computer keyboard. I am actually a very fast typist - far faster than I can produce the same words by hand. It's also a damnsight more legible too, even if occasionally I treat punctuation like a game of 'pin the tail on the donkey'.
I often describe my handwriting as that of a four year old child. It's probably quite strange to read if you do not realise it is from me, because it would appear to be a four year old child who has a good grasp of long and complex words and isn't afraid to use them. I also know how a semi-colon and an apostrophe work too.
Of course, my scrawl is probably why I have been asked not to write the place cards for our upcoming civil partnership. We want an adult theme, so that doesn't extend to four-year-old's handwriting to tell people where they need to sit for the meal.
Perhaps practice would have made perfect, but I found and used computers from an early age. I write millions of words every year, but almost all are done on a handy computer keyboard. I am actually a very fast typist - far faster than I can produce the same words by hand. It's also a damnsight more legible too, even if occasionally I treat punctuation like a game of 'pin the tail on the donkey'.
I often describe my handwriting as that of a four year old child. It's probably quite strange to read if you do not realise it is from me, because it would appear to be a four year old child who has a good grasp of long and complex words and isn't afraid to use them. I also know how a semi-colon and an apostrophe work too.
Of course, my scrawl is probably why I have been asked not to write the place cards for our upcoming civil partnership. We want an adult theme, so that doesn't extend to four-year-old's handwriting to tell people where they need to sit for the meal.
Friday 23 January 2009
A brief word from our sponsor.
Incidentally, The life of Nob T. Mouse that I help to script has just been offered a hosting deal on Kidjutsu which means that for the first time the comics will become available in the high resolution that they are drawn in. It also means that they should now reach an even bigger audiance.Here's to the continued success of this webcomic, and maybe Hollywood optioning it for a film or TV series! Well, we can but dream...
Mad as cheese
It looks like I'm back on track. Despite a busy schedule that constantly threatens to soak up all my time, I've managed to reach and beach the 60,000 word mark. I had been worried that there was a risk that I was falling behind. But whilst it is still tight, I'm confident that I'm going to get a first draft done by the end of the month.
Today I officially became a civilian instructor for the Sea Cadets. Many years ago at the tender age of fifteen I joined the Sea Cadets. I really enjoyed my time there, but getting a little too old and work commitments of first A-levels and then degree followed by a working career meant that I left in 1996 and until last year that was the end of my involvement. Last year I made contact again, and I've subsequently been interested in getting back involved. It's quite a long process to go through all the interviews and screening processes to become involved again now that I am an adult, but I received my clean bill of certification saying I'm not a psycho axe murderer earlier this week, and tonight was the first night I went down there as a bona fide card-carrying civilian instructor in the SCC. Hopefully next week I'll get issued my uniform, and they'll find me things to do. Aparently I'm going to be handy for driving minibuses and towing trailers. I'm hoping they might let me teach engineering again.
Back in the day I was pretty handy at the engineering side of things. I managed to get the highest qualification the SCC offered in this area - Mechanical engineering class one. They do seem though to be well provided for with other people who can teach engineering, so I don't want to tread on any toes. I think come the summer though there will be plenty of opertunities to help out using other old skills such as sailing, powerboating, orienteering and pulling. Pulling, by the way, is the navel term for rowing. It's like the Oxford versus Cambridge boat race, except we use real heavy boats rather than those paper thin stick jobs that those wuss University students have.
I haven't had much chance to play anymore on my Wii Cheerleading game, although I did manage to find a possible place to get my very own cheerleading outfit to slake the whinging that I did in an earlier post. It's from a company called Cheerworld and the one I really like the look of is style UN011 in the colour of UN003. Maybe we'll see what Father Christmas brings.
Today I officially became a civilian instructor for the Sea Cadets. Many years ago at the tender age of fifteen I joined the Sea Cadets. I really enjoyed my time there, but getting a little too old and work commitments of first A-levels and then degree followed by a working career meant that I left in 1996 and until last year that was the end of my involvement. Last year I made contact again, and I've subsequently been interested in getting back involved. It's quite a long process to go through all the interviews and screening processes to become involved again now that I am an adult, but I received my clean bill of certification saying I'm not a psycho axe murderer earlier this week, and tonight was the first night I went down there as a bona fide card-carrying civilian instructor in the SCC. Hopefully next week I'll get issued my uniform, and they'll find me things to do. Aparently I'm going to be handy for driving minibuses and towing trailers. I'm hoping they might let me teach engineering again.
Back in the day I was pretty handy at the engineering side of things. I managed to get the highest qualification the SCC offered in this area - Mechanical engineering class one. They do seem though to be well provided for with other people who can teach engineering, so I don't want to tread on any toes. I think come the summer though there will be plenty of opertunities to help out using other old skills such as sailing, powerboating, orienteering and pulling. Pulling, by the way, is the navel term for rowing. It's like the Oxford versus Cambridge boat race, except we use real heavy boats rather than those paper thin stick jobs that those wuss University students have.
I haven't had much chance to play anymore on my Wii Cheerleading game, although I did manage to find a possible place to get my very own cheerleading outfit to slake the whinging that I did in an earlier post. It's from a company called Cheerworld and the one I really like the look of is style UN011 in the colour of UN003. Maybe we'll see what Father Christmas brings.
The search ends in your own living room
There are times when it is great to have several thousand albums on hand in a record collection that dominates one wall of my our lounge. Unfortunately, many albums were bought on a whim and subsequently largely forgotten about. Well, you try and remember exactly what you have and haven't got from that many LPs and singles. So it is inevitable that some things get bought twice, and on rare occasions, even more. So there are two copies of a few things, and three of at least a couple. But then there are random tracks that I have searched for years only to find that for over a decade they have sat in my record collection unnoticed.
Today has yielded one of those records. Let me take the story back a little. At the school I went to they had a great hall with a full working church organ at one end. One of my friends used to play it (he was an exceptional musician) and one of the pieces he played I loved. At the time, because I heard it a lot, I never thought to ask him what it was called. It wouldn't have made a difference, as back then I never bought records and would have forgotten the name anyway.
Years later I heard it on the radio. I was buying records by this point, but I failed to catch the name. I never heard it again in many years, but I always remembered the tune in my head. I tried to hum it for people, but despite it sounding right to me, I kept getting greeted with the 'lights on but nobody home' look.
Back in 1997 I bought a lot of classical LPs from charity shops around Durham whilst at University. One lot of these were most of the first nine of a set called "Your Hundred Best Tunes". They had a few tracks I wanted on them, and at 35p each it was a cheap way to get them. They've sat in my record collection ever since. And that, as they say, was that. Except a couple of days ago it wasn't. I was listening to Classic FM whilst driving back from Washington (that is, the first and original Washington in case anyone was wondering that I might try to drive across the Atlantic). I managed to write the name this time of the composer and the piece.
Today I had a quick look through my collection for it. I went through all the classical LPs until volume 2 of this set turned it up. Damn it; the piece I have loved for nearly twenty years and wanted to acquire for nearly fifteen was there all the time. It is, for the record, Widor'sToccata from Organ symphony 5, Op 42. And for the record, I was humming it right. Maybe I was just humming it to tone deaf numpties?
Today has yielded one of those records. Let me take the story back a little. At the school I went to they had a great hall with a full working church organ at one end. One of my friends used to play it (he was an exceptional musician) and one of the pieces he played I loved. At the time, because I heard it a lot, I never thought to ask him what it was called. It wouldn't have made a difference, as back then I never bought records and would have forgotten the name anyway.
Years later I heard it on the radio. I was buying records by this point, but I failed to catch the name. I never heard it again in many years, but I always remembered the tune in my head. I tried to hum it for people, but despite it sounding right to me, I kept getting greeted with the 'lights on but nobody home' look.
Back in 1997 I bought a lot of classical LPs from charity shops around Durham whilst at University. One lot of these were most of the first nine of a set called "Your Hundred Best Tunes". They had a few tracks I wanted on them, and at 35p each it was a cheap way to get them. They've sat in my record collection ever since. And that, as they say, was that. Except a couple of days ago it wasn't. I was listening to Classic FM whilst driving back from Washington (that is, the first and original Washington in case anyone was wondering that I might try to drive across the Atlantic). I managed to write the name this time of the composer and the piece.
Today I had a quick look through my collection for it. I went through all the classical LPs until volume 2 of this set turned it up. Damn it; the piece I have loved for nearly twenty years and wanted to acquire for nearly fifteen was there all the time. It is, for the record, Widor'sToccata from Organ symphony 5, Op 42. And for the record, I was humming it right. Maybe I was just humming it to tone deaf numpties?
Saturday 17 January 2009
All Star Cheerleading
Here at Jenny Towers, there's a new mystery unfolding behind closed curtains. As cheesy music thumps from a stereo more used to playing hardcore rock or Ibiza dance classics, so the laminate flooring bumps in time to carefully choreographed cheerleader routines.
Sort of.
I have All Star Cheerleader for my Wii. It's almost tragic to see me bounce around my own living room waving the Wii remote and numchuk like they are pompoms. I tend to wear my netball kit, because it's the closest I come to a cheerleader uniform. At least no-one ever sees me. Except the postman. Well, he seemed happy enough to be greeted at the door by a six foot Amazonian women wearing a T-shirt, netball skirt and all hot and out of breath.
Zoë thinks it's just another one of my random crazes, like when I took up netball a few years ago. Oh how that lasted. Not. Well, my excuse is that we moved from Durham, and it's hard to play netball on your own. I did try cheerleading too whilst in Durham. That didn't go too well, seen as I have all the coordination of a dyslexic spider. Trying to dance. Whilst on fire. Maybe I should tell myself that at six-foot-one and *mumble*stone and four pounds I'm just not built to throw myself around.
Still, it's a fun game and it makes a change from Wii tennis for a good energetic workout in the comfort of my own front room. Now all I need is a proper cheerleading uniform. Unfortunately I cannot find anywhere good in the UK that does them and getting them on import from the US involves a lot of hassle and desiphering of weird sizing systems that seem to mean that all American cheerleaders are the size of small children with big tits and not a lot else.
Sometimes it's tough living with OCD. Almost as tough as living with me I expect.
Sort of.
I have All Star Cheerleader for my Wii. It's almost tragic to see me bounce around my own living room waving the Wii remote and numchuk like they are pompoms. I tend to wear my netball kit, because it's the closest I come to a cheerleader uniform. At least no-one ever sees me. Except the postman. Well, he seemed happy enough to be greeted at the door by a six foot Amazonian women wearing a T-shirt, netball skirt and all hot and out of breath.
Zoë thinks it's just another one of my random crazes, like when I took up netball a few years ago. Oh how that lasted. Not. Well, my excuse is that we moved from Durham, and it's hard to play netball on your own. I did try cheerleading too whilst in Durham. That didn't go too well, seen as I have all the coordination of a dyslexic spider. Trying to dance. Whilst on fire. Maybe I should tell myself that at six-foot-one and *mumble*stone and four pounds I'm just not built to throw myself around.
Still, it's a fun game and it makes a change from Wii tennis for a good energetic workout in the comfort of my own front room. Now all I need is a proper cheerleading uniform. Unfortunately I cannot find anywhere good in the UK that does them and getting them on import from the US involves a lot of hassle and desiphering of weird sizing systems that seem to mean that all American cheerleaders are the size of small children with big tits and not a lot else.
Sometimes it's tough living with OCD. Almost as tough as living with me I expect.
Thursday 15 January 2009
Keep on rocking me baby
It's the little things in life that make you feel all glowing inside when they happen. Today's little moments started when I discovered a packet of sweets for sale that I haven't seen in years. Back then they were Trebor Softfruits which were a fruity version of the softmints. Today I saw them, rebranded as Bassets Softfruits. I bought a pack and despite seeming a little smaller (have they really shrunk or are all memories of childhood sweets such that they appear bigger in your mind's eye?) they were just as good.
Another little moment that somehow makes me feel smug in myself is paying with exact change. There's something good about getting rid of shrapnel, and especially if it involves a lot of low denomination coppers. The more the better. Today's amount was £1.74 in the local Butchers for two large home made Black puddings. I like black pudding.
Whilst playing the board game Carcasonne with Zoë I realised that my OCD's manifestations are often worse than I give them credit for. It's something I've always been prone to, and was made a massive amount worse by the bullying and harassment I was forced to endure a number of years ago at a worthless organisation I had the misfortune to work for. Whilst setting out the pieces I realised that I hate the colour red. Now, I'll wear pink - to my mind that's a different colour. Actually, I like pink. But red I don't like. I actually found that I refused to use the red pieces, and casting my mind back I realised that I have always avoided using things that are red if alternative coloured similar things are also available*.
I passed 50,000 words last night. I'm on target for a readable draft by the end of the month. Go me. I think I shall celebrate by playing the Wii cheerleading game that I bought yesterday. A part of me is almost ashamed that I would love to do cheerleading again. I'm unfortunately getting a bit old for it now (all the cheerleaders I used to hang out with were in their late teens and early twenties at most) and my joints protest at the splits and star jumps. To be honest, it is probably quite tragic to see me dressed like a cheerleader in my own front room bouncing around like a loon. Well, no-one sees me apart from the postman.
*I see maroon, burgundy and wine as different colours from plain red, hence why you may notice me doing similar coloured things.
Another little moment that somehow makes me feel smug in myself is paying with exact change. There's something good about getting rid of shrapnel, and especially if it involves a lot of low denomination coppers. The more the better. Today's amount was £1.74 in the local Butchers for two large home made Black puddings. I like black pudding.
Whilst playing the board game Carcasonne with Zoë I realised that my OCD's manifestations are often worse than I give them credit for. It's something I've always been prone to, and was made a massive amount worse by the bullying and harassment I was forced to endure a number of years ago at a worthless organisation I had the misfortune to work for. Whilst setting out the pieces I realised that I hate the colour red. Now, I'll wear pink - to my mind that's a different colour. Actually, I like pink. But red I don't like. I actually found that I refused to use the red pieces, and casting my mind back I realised that I have always avoided using things that are red if alternative coloured similar things are also available*.
I passed 50,000 words last night. I'm on target for a readable draft by the end of the month. Go me. I think I shall celebrate by playing the Wii cheerleading game that I bought yesterday. A part of me is almost ashamed that I would love to do cheerleading again. I'm unfortunately getting a bit old for it now (all the cheerleaders I used to hang out with were in their late teens and early twenties at most) and my joints protest at the splits and star jumps. To be honest, it is probably quite tragic to see me dressed like a cheerleader in my own front room bouncing around like a loon. Well, no-one sees me apart from the postman.
*I see maroon, burgundy and wine as different colours from plain red, hence why you may notice me doing similar coloured things.
Tuesday 13 January 2009
Attention span of a Goldfish
I've talked about this phenominum before; namely that I reach a certain point in writing a book, and I'm already wanting to move on to the next project. I suppose it is born from the fact that I've been thinking so long, hard and deeply about the creative process that my writing cannot quite keep up and my brain grows bored because from its point of view it has been constantly churning over the same details for several months.
Well, I'm there now with only 20-25,000 words to go. This happens every time I write a book, so I suppose I'm not too worried. It's just an annoyance. Of course I should remember that it is a good sign that my creativity has not waned that I am thinking about my next project.
My wedding is going to get in the way of a lot of the Spring, so this year I'm not expecting to get too much done unlike 2008 which was a very productive year. However, in the same way that I have so far revisited and done a complete re-edit of 'Countdown to Extinction' and 'Daytrippers' so I want to move on to 'Orb of Arawaan' and do the same treatment on that. The plan is that this will refresh me with the plot and the story as well as the charectors, so that I can immediately move from that to writing the long awaited sequel (it is meant to be book one of a trilogy) that has languished since 2004 incomplete on my computer. I didn't manage to do a lot of it, but I've got basic plot mapped out and a couple of scenes.
Finally, the portfolio section should get some more regular updates. 'The long summer of war' will continue to be serialised, as well as being interspaced with some other short stories I have to use up. also I'm looking forward to the publication of three further short stories in magazines, and I have an article for another magazine that I want to see if I can get the editor interested in. It's going to be a busy couple of months whatever happens!
Well, I'm there now with only 20-25,000 words to go. This happens every time I write a book, so I suppose I'm not too worried. It's just an annoyance. Of course I should remember that it is a good sign that my creativity has not waned that I am thinking about my next project.
My wedding is going to get in the way of a lot of the Spring, so this year I'm not expecting to get too much done unlike 2008 which was a very productive year. However, in the same way that I have so far revisited and done a complete re-edit of 'Countdown to Extinction' and 'Daytrippers' so I want to move on to 'Orb of Arawaan' and do the same treatment on that. The plan is that this will refresh me with the plot and the story as well as the charectors, so that I can immediately move from that to writing the long awaited sequel (it is meant to be book one of a trilogy) that has languished since 2004 incomplete on my computer. I didn't manage to do a lot of it, but I've got basic plot mapped out and a couple of scenes.
Finally, the portfolio section should get some more regular updates. 'The long summer of war' will continue to be serialised, as well as being interspaced with some other short stories I have to use up. also I'm looking forward to the publication of three further short stories in magazines, and I have an article for another magazine that I want to see if I can get the editor interested in. It's going to be a busy couple of months whatever happens!
Sunday 11 January 2009
Two of the three 'R's - whoever came up with that expression had no sense of Grammar.
I always start my writing thinking the book might reach a certain size, then sometime during it I realise that it is turning into a behemoth. The current project is no ecception. I'm over the two-thirds mark to my original target, and feel like I've only just got started. There's the whole second half still to even contemplate touching, along with several little scenes to complete within the bit I've just written including the death of one of the main charectors. Still, better to have plenty to say than not enough.
As another book arrived in the post to Jenny Towers courtesy of a large internet mail order company (think long river in South America here...) it struck me that whilst I do read a lot, I don't read nearly as much as I would like to. I resolved with Zoë that when income permits, I would like to take one day perweek and have it as my 'reading day' I think this is important, because every author should be and keep being well read. It pays to see what other people are doing, and you can always learn from what others have written.
At the moment I seem far too weighed down to have this luxury, but in time it would be nice as I have piles of books I have yet to read. I reckon that I buy four times more books than I read, so there's plenty to choose from. Some of these unread books are those which I stated and found so bad I never finished them. However, the majority are those which I just haven't had time.
As another book arrived in the post to Jenny Towers courtesy of a large internet mail order company (think long river in South America here...) it struck me that whilst I do read a lot, I don't read nearly as much as I would like to. I resolved with Zoë that when income permits, I would like to take one day perweek and have it as my 'reading day' I think this is important, because every author should be and keep being well read. It pays to see what other people are doing, and you can always learn from what others have written.
At the moment I seem far too weighed down to have this luxury, but in time it would be nice as I have piles of books I have yet to read. I reckon that I buy four times more books than I read, so there's plenty to choose from. Some of these unread books are those which I stated and found so bad I never finished them. However, the majority are those which I just haven't had time.
Wednesday 7 January 2009
Portfolio updated.
Just a quick note that 'The long summer of war' part 2 is now up on the Portfolio section of the website. It's been a while since this section was last updated; longer than I would really have hoped. Hopefully the updates will be a little more regular. 'The long summer of war' will continue to be serialised until it is all available, and I also have several other short stories which will be uploaded over the coming months.
Tuesday 6 January 2009
Public service announcement
Just a quick note. It is something that I have noticed that I type my blog entries so fast that the odd typos are inevitable. I don't have a spelling or grammer checker on my browser, and quite frankly I don't think a blog entry should be highly polished as to me that looses some of the spontiniety of it all.
So in short, you will have to put up with the fact that I have typos and that my spelling is lousy when I'm not hiding behind a spell checker (F7 is my favourite key in Word97, closely followed by F12. Try them both and see what they do - dare you!)
So in short, you will have to put up with the fact that I have typos and that my spelling is lousy when I'm not hiding behind a spell checker (F7 is my favourite key in Word97, closely followed by F12. Try them both and see what they do - dare you!)
Making it happen
Finally the 'phoney recession' is over. I've been saying this for a while that a lot of people and companies have been deluding themselves. It is, I suppose, easy to have done in the run up to Christmas. Everyone had something to look forward and sales usually go up that time of year anyway.
Spend! Spend! Spend! That seems to have been the watchward from a failed government whose economic policies have created a massive boom from which logic dictates a bust would follow. The worst thing was that it was a boom built on debt and easy credit. As the house of cards collapses, that debt still needs to be serviced by some-one.
People are finally taking heed of the idea of living within their means, because quite simply they now have to. The credit limit got maxed out and it's time to pay it off. Ouch! All spent up for Christmas, I guess a lot of families are wising up to the harsh reality that it's a long slog and money is too tight to mention. Hence the end of the phoney recession and the start of the real hard-nose recession that will take more than a few gimmicks to see us through. Did you notice much from the 2½% VAT cut? No, I didn't notice more than a few pennies different, if at all. Yet that's 12½billion squids down the tube apparently. An expensive gimmick from a government that has become very good at wasting our cash.
I read the other week that government departments have lost something like an average of one computer a day for the last few years. That's a lot of computers. Where are they going? If you or I lost our laptop, we'd have a damn good look for it. We would certainly be far more careful with its replacement. The civil service seems to have a couldn't-give-a-shit approach. These aren't all laptops either, which I could see as being a target for thieves and easy to smuggle out under a coat. Apparently a sizeable chunk were desktop computers. How does that work? Don't you ask questions when strangers carry out from your offices the computers? Apparently the civil service doesn't. On top of this apparently there are countless removeable hard disks and memory sticks unaccounted for. Little wonder our personal data keeps going missing. With such a blasé attitude, it is perfectly justified that no-one trusts this govbernment with its increasingly more elaborate plans to spy on us and keep data on us.
Every day there seems to be announcements of job losses and companies going into liquidation. MFI, Courts and Woolworths were the biggies, but just the other day a large pottery firm was the latest to announce they were folding. Where is it going to end? Part of the problem may be that during the boom times ineffeciency and waste along with bad management has expanded unchecked. After all, when the money is easy to come by and profits march on upwards every year regardless, then a lot of the problems can easily be ignored. Now times are tougher though those problems are coming back and fast. I suppose that is one of the reasons that M&S, amongst others, have announced job cuts even though compared to others they're not doing too badly. I suppose maybe they have realised that it is time to make those efficiency changes that should have been kept on top of during the good times.
Finally, my own day job has been suffering. January to March is always a slacker time, even in good years. But this year I saw the recession coming and we've already battoned down the hatches. This year I have so far worked two shifts Well, it is only the sixth of January, but that is still a shadow of how busy I was in December. I mostly do work for a chilled food haulage firm. The way I see it, regardless of how bad times are people still eat food and that food still needs to be moved. Of course, people might move down market and buy cheaper food, but we're shifting everything from the fancy expensive stuff to the supermarket budget ranges. The only thing that would scupper me is lots of people going on massive diets reducing the demand for food across the board.
As it is, I think it will be very tough. The jobs market has few new jobs, and a lot of people have been put out of work meaning that the number of people going after each job is vastly increased. That's never good for those people desperately looking for work. I wish them well; my partner is one of them.
I like to look for plus points. Not working seventy hour plus weeks at the moment does at least give me time for the writing. That means I should be able to meet the deadline of finishing the new book by the end of January. Then it is a case of refining the draft and sending it on to the agent. Call me old fashioned, but a decent advance and contract for it would be rather nice at the moment. This book more than any other has a lot of hope riding on it. Everyone has to have something to look forward to and believe in, and my writing for me is that thing. One day it will pull me away from having to toil in dead end jobs to pay the bills. One day I will be successful enough so as to not need to get up at 1:00am and have to work for fifteen hours tripping salmon to Manchester from Falkirk. It might happen.
In all my life I have taken to heart the expression: "Take a chance and you won't be sorry for a might have been". How true. There is another expression that hovers in my mind a lot. That is: "If you want something to happen you have to get out there and make it happen". It is very true. Some call me a workaholic, but what I'm actually doing is doing everything that I can to make it happen.
Spend! Spend! Spend! That seems to have been the watchward from a failed government whose economic policies have created a massive boom from which logic dictates a bust would follow. The worst thing was that it was a boom built on debt and easy credit. As the house of cards collapses, that debt still needs to be serviced by some-one.
People are finally taking heed of the idea of living within their means, because quite simply they now have to. The credit limit got maxed out and it's time to pay it off. Ouch! All spent up for Christmas, I guess a lot of families are wising up to the harsh reality that it's a long slog and money is too tight to mention. Hence the end of the phoney recession and the start of the real hard-nose recession that will take more than a few gimmicks to see us through. Did you notice much from the 2½% VAT cut? No, I didn't notice more than a few pennies different, if at all. Yet that's 12½billion squids down the tube apparently. An expensive gimmick from a government that has become very good at wasting our cash.
I read the other week that government departments have lost something like an average of one computer a day for the last few years. That's a lot of computers. Where are they going? If you or I lost our laptop, we'd have a damn good look for it. We would certainly be far more careful with its replacement. The civil service seems to have a couldn't-give-a-shit approach. These aren't all laptops either, which I could see as being a target for thieves and easy to smuggle out under a coat. Apparently a sizeable chunk were desktop computers. How does that work? Don't you ask questions when strangers carry out from your offices the computers? Apparently the civil service doesn't. On top of this apparently there are countless removeable hard disks and memory sticks unaccounted for. Little wonder our personal data keeps going missing. With such a blasé attitude, it is perfectly justified that no-one trusts this govbernment with its increasingly more elaborate plans to spy on us and keep data on us.
Every day there seems to be announcements of job losses and companies going into liquidation. MFI, Courts and Woolworths were the biggies, but just the other day a large pottery firm was the latest to announce they were folding. Where is it going to end? Part of the problem may be that during the boom times ineffeciency and waste along with bad management has expanded unchecked. After all, when the money is easy to come by and profits march on upwards every year regardless, then a lot of the problems can easily be ignored. Now times are tougher though those problems are coming back and fast. I suppose that is one of the reasons that M&S, amongst others, have announced job cuts even though compared to others they're not doing too badly. I suppose maybe they have realised that it is time to make those efficiency changes that should have been kept on top of during the good times.
Finally, my own day job has been suffering. January to March is always a slacker time, even in good years. But this year I saw the recession coming and we've already battoned down the hatches. This year I have so far worked two shifts Well, it is only the sixth of January, but that is still a shadow of how busy I was in December. I mostly do work for a chilled food haulage firm. The way I see it, regardless of how bad times are people still eat food and that food still needs to be moved. Of course, people might move down market and buy cheaper food, but we're shifting everything from the fancy expensive stuff to the supermarket budget ranges. The only thing that would scupper me is lots of people going on massive diets reducing the demand for food across the board.
As it is, I think it will be very tough. The jobs market has few new jobs, and a lot of people have been put out of work meaning that the number of people going after each job is vastly increased. That's never good for those people desperately looking for work. I wish them well; my partner is one of them.
I like to look for plus points. Not working seventy hour plus weeks at the moment does at least give me time for the writing. That means I should be able to meet the deadline of finishing the new book by the end of January. Then it is a case of refining the draft and sending it on to the agent. Call me old fashioned, but a decent advance and contract for it would be rather nice at the moment. This book more than any other has a lot of hope riding on it. Everyone has to have something to look forward to and believe in, and my writing for me is that thing. One day it will pull me away from having to toil in dead end jobs to pay the bills. One day I will be successful enough so as to not need to get up at 1:00am and have to work for fifteen hours tripping salmon to Manchester from Falkirk. It might happen.
In all my life I have taken to heart the expression: "Take a chance and you won't be sorry for a might have been". How true. There is another expression that hovers in my mind a lot. That is: "If you want something to happen you have to get out there and make it happen". It is very true. Some call me a workaholic, but what I'm actually doing is doing everything that I can to make it happen.
Friday 2 January 2009
All over the House
I nearly forgot! The new webcomic that Zoë Robinson and I produce is now live! You can find it at this link into the internet ether.
It's called 'All Over the House' and is about the exploits of Emily and Tesrin and their take on the World.
It's called 'All Over the House' and is about the exploits of Emily and Tesrin and their take on the World.
Keeping warm inside the fridge.
Just to add: it is cold. Very cold. There are Brass Monkeys outside in the street huddling around a brazier to keep warm.
Did you use your leap second wisely?
I got to the sales in the end, but not until the Tuesday following Christmas. I have to say that it must have been impressive on Boxing day. The stores were pretty much all picked clean. I went into Marks and Spencer, and they were almost out of everything I was after. Not surprising really given how massive the discounts were. I did find what I wanted, but was compromised slightly on sizes. Still, I'm happy now!
Zoë and I went to Cambridge for the New Year to stay with some frinds. It was the best New Year's party yet by a long way! I also managed to use the leap second wisely (did you?) and crossed off yet another entry in my lifetime to-do list. I think everyone should have one of these. It isn't written down, but I have an idea in my head of things to do. These can include simple stuff like trying Polish sausages to more exotic stuff like visit Vietnam. On the stroke of midnight I crossed another off the list that I must confess I've wanted to do for around fifteen years now. It's a secret though, as many things on the list are personal and private goals! Still, I'm happy!
The portfolio section didn't get updated last month because the web type person who overseas these things keeps telling me she has been busy. Hopefully soon the next section of 'The long Summer of war' should be going up. There is also intended to be new for 2009 a media section giving some information on the work in radio I've begun to undertake. There are some pictures and videos waiting to go in.
I've finally got back on track with the new book. I passed the halfway point finally this morning, delayed by a few days because I put in two unexpected back-to-back fifteen hour shifts (with eleven hours rest in between them I hasten to add!) immediately before New Year.
And last but not least, the Swedish tank appears to be fine. It wasn't a head gasket, but was simply condensation in the dipstick tube. Apparently even an oil change won't shift this; it has to be somehow manually cleaned out of the tube. Still, I'm happy that the car wasn't on the verge of an expensive coolant related hissy fit.
Zoë and I went to Cambridge for the New Year to stay with some frinds. It was the best New Year's party yet by a long way! I also managed to use the leap second wisely (did you?) and crossed off yet another entry in my lifetime to-do list. I think everyone should have one of these. It isn't written down, but I have an idea in my head of things to do. These can include simple stuff like trying Polish sausages to more exotic stuff like visit Vietnam. On the stroke of midnight I crossed another off the list that I must confess I've wanted to do for around fifteen years now. It's a secret though, as many things on the list are personal and private goals! Still, I'm happy!
The portfolio section didn't get updated last month because the web type person who overseas these things keeps telling me she has been busy. Hopefully soon the next section of 'The long Summer of war' should be going up. There is also intended to be new for 2009 a media section giving some information on the work in radio I've begun to undertake. There are some pictures and videos waiting to go in.
I've finally got back on track with the new book. I passed the halfway point finally this morning, delayed by a few days because I put in two unexpected back-to-back fifteen hour shifts (with eleven hours rest in between them I hasten to add!) immediately before New Year.
And last but not least, the Swedish tank appears to be fine. It wasn't a head gasket, but was simply condensation in the dipstick tube. Apparently even an oil change won't shift this; it has to be somehow manually cleaned out of the tube. Still, I'm happy that the car wasn't on the verge of an expensive coolant related hissy fit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
