Tag: roadworks

You OK Hun?

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

Warning – before you read this….

Don’t be worrying about me after this oblique and vague rant. This isn’t the equivalent of one of those “You OK hun?” Facebook posts. Some recent events (that will not be detailed here) have just got me wondering about how some people behave.

There’s an oft used saying that nice guys finish last. Outside of the bedroom, that saying is meant to be derogatory I suppose. It means that to be a success, or to “win” you have to be a nasty bastard. The fact I never have enough money to do the things I want to do means that I probably am not “winning”, and as such maybe I am a nice guy too. Do I finish last? Well, that would be telling, but in life I would say that I am consistently average to middling in all respects. There are certainly those worse off than me, and of course many more better off too. What I would say is that anything I do have is a result of honest graft, effort and persistence, rather than luck or dodgy doings.

I am contemplating this saying as today I have witnessed what I can only describe as c***tish behaviour of the highest order. I can’t and won’t go into detail here as the repercussions of it will rumble on for quite some time to come, but it has got me pondering a few things about the folks I share this planet with. It’s a theme I often visit and ponder, but rarely commit to writing.

Maybe it’s just that I’m not ruthless enough, maybe, to quote one of those knob head X Factor judges, I don’t “want it” enough. Maybe I trust that others operate with the same moral compass as I? This failure to annihilate anything and anyone that stands between me and my wants and desires means that I probably won’t get a good many of them. I don’t, for example, ignore the lane closed signs at road works and then expect with absolute certainty that someone will see my last minute use of the indicator as my God given right to be let in. I do sit a few cars back screaming at folks letting these self-absorbed ego ridden knob jockeys in, but it is all very impotent and useless. Indicate they do, and let in they are.

Is it breeding? Is this a result of your nurture, or are you born with a bad attitude and a penchant for late indicating? I don’t know, but without really thinking about it I do find that I do treat most folks the way I would wish to be treated. I have a high sense of justice and fairness and will moan a lot when I see someone ignoring either or both. I could give to charity more, in fact I could and maybe should be one of these folks that climb, swim and run things to raise money for those less fortunate, but frankly I don’t have the time or the inclination. I’d rather donate to a few times throughout the year and hope that makes me nice enough.

If you are like me then you do hope that at some point there is a totting up procedure, not so much for me to get my pat on the head and a gold star, but more for the roadworks ignoring ass and the like to get some form of payback or slap on the wrists. Alas, I fear that does not exist, and I am yet to ever see Karma be the bitch she is reported to be.

I’m a big lad and can and will deal with stuff as I always do but I just find myself wondering how when you behave in these ways do you sleep at night and feel at peace with yourself. Whether it’s someone pushing into traffic, not queuing for something or getting themselves ahead in some other manner, the rewards are there, so why don’t we all do it? Personally, I find I literally can’t. I have a long and deeply ingrained sense of playing by the rules I suppose, and get quite tetchy when someone does something that bends or breaks them. This kill or be killed, or look after number one above all else attitude grates a bit, although of course I can be a selfish arse at times.

Anywho, I’m also not a fan of these vague ranty posts on social media where no further details are given so all I will say now is that it isn’t life or death, won’t have a sizeable effect on our lives but just pisses me off that people behave in ways that I would never allow myself to.

In lighter news, I enter my last week at work before Christmas and then I shall luxuriate in two weeks off. As ever, I claim to be in dire need of the break, as we’ve have had a tiring, stressful and bumpy end to the calendar year. As I have fallen out with the world I may lock the front door, draw the curtains (we don’t have any so I’ll pull the blinds down) and just spend time with those people who aren’t likely to behave in ways of which I disapprove.

Being December, and the girls working in the restaurant biz, they are both very busy over the next few weeks. Extra shifts and extra pay will never be enough to convince Emily that working on Christmas Day is worth it, but she’s only in for a few hours and isn’t working at New Year. Rebecca has an enormous amount of work coming up, so she will be loaded for about eleven seconds when she gets paid. This is the length of time it normally takes her to spend every penny in her possession on essential items that she simply cannot live without.

So, with my beady eye cast out over a world that has some work to do to get back into my good books, I shall leave you to your own Xmas prep. I hope to be calling upon you soon to click, read and pretend you enjoy some stuff I’ve written for a large Disney site. I often call upon you to endure crap I’ve written and at the right time I shall be painfully insistent that you help me out this time. You have been warned. Be ready!

Right, I’ve finished now….not sure if I was last.

Till the next time…..

My Brain is a mixed bag

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

It really has been a very varied week this week, and I seem to have a thousand thought streams coursing through my brain.

Louise finally came home on Monday, and despite not having anything as handy as a diagnosis, she is much better, and is slowly getting herself back to normal.  Thanks for all the concern, best wishes and messages.

The over riding theme of the week has been time, and a lack of it to be honest.  I have oft tweeted recently about the appalling state of the roads on my joyful commutes to and from work, and this seemed to reach a peak of crapness this week.  Not only are the roads between my house and work being used as a traffic cone showcase, when I do find a stretch of road free from obstacles, I appear to be driving behind cars that don’t posses a fourth gear, and cannot travel over 25 mph.

My usual sunny dispostion was stretched beyond breaking on Tuesday (I think), as a long and tortuous drive home ended with me picking the girls up from my Mum’s, having to call at the shop for baking ingredients for Rebecca’s Home Economics lesson the next day (she prepped in plenty of time as usual), only to find the supermarket had no caster sugar, so we had to then drive to other retail establishments to procure some.

Reading that back it doesn’t quite capture the absolutely valid reasons for my stress levels.  Anyway, I’d had a tough day, and crap journey and just wanted to get home.  All this faff meant it was after 7pm when I did, and my sense of humour and good nature expired at around 6.15pm.

I should add that Rebecca was then inconsiderately ill for the rest of the week, didn’t go to school, and therefore didn’t need the bleeding ingredients after all.

This leads nicely onto the next theme of the week.  Homework.

Not mine of course, but the work given to the girls from school.  It does seem to me that there is a expectation that parent’s won’t just have to ensure that homework is completed, no, they have to take an active, and often leading role in it.  This week, I have tackled –

  • The Great Fire of London (not literally)
  • The Nitrate Cycle
  • Percentages
  • Made a time capsule from the 1660’s
  • Built a scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in a shoe box (I kid you not)
Nitrogen Cycle
Not a Raleigh Cycle..a Nitrate one.

Now, I’m sure the girls are not at prodigy levels, and neither are they dullards, but looking at the tasks set, there really is no way they could get this stuff done unaided.  I work hard enough at my own job, thank you very much, without having to come home and tackle any of the above.

Of course none of this is helped by the girl’s uncanny knack of leaving every peice of work until the last possible moment.  Those of you that know me at all, will perhaps realise that I like things to be planned and organised as much as possible.  Examples of this are not allowing responsible grown ups in our travel party to keep hold of their own passports and/or theme park tickets, as I KNOW they will lose them.

Therefore this last minute Larry approach doesn’t do for my stress levels.

Next on the list this week…..we watched District 9 one night.  I think it was Wednesday.

I had heard quite a bit of buzz about this film, but wasn’t sure of it’s contents.  It really was excellent.  I would describe it as….

Unusual, original, touching, thought provoking, entertaining, relatively action packed and enjoyable.  Jonathan Ross has nothing on me!! (Apart from a few million quid).

District 9
An Alien Concept

Courtesy of another seamless link, Jonathan Ross leads me nicely onto the next topic buzzing through my head.  It won’t surprise many readers drawn here via a Disney web site to know that the topic is Florida. (Ross is a big fan, and regular visitor).  First it is important for me to point out that there is absolutely no chance of us affording a trip this year, however, this does not stop me pining for one.

Having had a trip to plan every year (once I had two) for, more or less the past decade, I am going through a sort of grieving process at my loss.  Louise isn’t helping.  Having not had the best start to the year, she is in “I need a holiday” mode, and she was in fact responsibe for me spending large chunks of the week, (absolutely not when I should have been working) checking flights, hotels, villas and all things Florida.

You see how Louise needing a holiday instantly prompts Florida research.  There was no requirement for a discussion around destination.  That ship has sailed…about a decade ago.  Alas, said research only confirmed my thinking that a trip will be beyond us.  Damn that Atlantic that we need to fly over.  Flights are just not findable for the £7.50 my budget will allow.

Still, we shall not write things off completely at this stage.  The event for which such a holiday would take place is a siginificant birthday for me, and that is in August.  So many weeks exist between then and now, where a lottery win could appear, or maybe some kind benefactor (maybe a Mr J Ross?) who maybe stumbles across this rambling and sends me a nice chunky cheque as gratitude for passing a few minutes of their lives in fine fashion.

So a busy week then, and I even managed to go to the gym three times!  A record for recent times, and my waistline is a constant reminder.

However the most stressful part of the past two weeks has not been coping with the house and kids alone whilst Louise was busy being ill, it was keeping Louise’s bloody Cafe World going on Facebook!!  A sign of the times.

Now, which flight web site have I not checked yet?

Till the next time……