Mish Mash

I thought I would slip this entry in having partially recovered from a virus. I know man-flu doesn’t bring the sympathy that I think it should but at least it was nothing worse. Still things have slowed down for me because I spent a few days in bed groaning, watching The IT Crowd, listening to Radio 5 (hearing the same news stories being repeated every half hour is akin to torture, I’m sure of it). But being sick also meant my life kind of went topsy-turvey.

My routine of work and lunch were thrown aside to be replaced by constant wriggling in an attempt to get comfortable so I could fall asleep. I still needed to get some Christmas presents but was unable to because of my illness. But although I was unable to do any of the tasks I would do on a daily basis it gave me time to think about things perhaps more important to me. The things I usually neglect, not because I want to, but because daily life kind of takes over and I neglect it to the point of forgetting it. For instance, reflecting how well and how badly the year has gone for me. It is strange thinking about it while in a meeting or trying to compose an official email which requires me to scrutinise my grammar in case a smart ass points it out and also copies everyone else in. Nor can it be done in my lunch hour. I don’t want to spend my spare free time in a day to reflect on things like that. I want to eat, talk trash or funny anecdotes and maybe go for a walk. In fact there is not many times I can think of to reflect about my year, apart from when I’m sick in bed. There is no question the thought would never have popped into my head had I not been lying there waiting to get better (which is like waiting for a train. You wait then wait. Then you sit down because waiting has made you tired until finally when all hope has gone it casually rolls up with a conductor hanging out of the window flicking his fag ash everywhere).

In a whole I have been happy with the year and it seems that the last couple of years I have achieved quite a lot. I don’t know why and tried to think about it but couldn’t find the answer, maybe I had just got mentally stronger in the sense I can take more things on now. Juggle more oranges in my life so I could be doing many things at once instead of two or three. It hasn’t been all dandy though, I have dropped a few, and squashed them. Hard. But for some reason, probably because I haven’t had much time to dwell over anything, I have just picked myself back up and carried on. Mistakes at work, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, accidentally using the female shower room* all seemed to happen but I just deal with it, laughed sheepishly before running off or just apologised and then moved on leaving me thinking that I have nudged in the right direction in ’08, just.

Although reflecting about a year still didn’t deliver me a kettle to wrap for Christmas. So this morning I managed to climb out of bed, have a shower and put on any clean clothes I could find. Town was heaving, and I thought everyone else was at work but it seemed they all had the same idea as me this morning. So still drowsy with man-flu and dragging my feet as I walked I found the nearest electrical store. Glaring at all the people bustling and jostling against one another I took a deep breath and dived in pushing my way through feeling like crap and sounding even more so. I stuck out a hand picked up and box with a kettle in it, joined the queue which took so long that I even had time to plug in my ipod, paid and got the hell back home. If only shopping for presents were this simple all the time.

Merry Christmas peeps


*Please note that it is only a single cubicle shower room and I unwittingly walked in thinking it was just unisex. I was corrected when a female knocked on the door and ask what the hell is a male was doing there.