I have been horribly and pathetically ill since Tuesday last week. I have neuralgia - and for those of you not familiar with the phrase, it is some kind of complaint whereby all the nerve-endings on one side of your face and head become acutely sensitive - which leads to unbelievable pain, I have to tell you. I noticed my teeth on the left side of my face were terribly sensitive when I woke up last Tuesday but by the end of the day that had spread to my jawline, my ear, even that side of my scalp. I finally got a doctor's appointment last Thursday and she confirmed it and said I also have swollen glands and a throat infection and she put me on penacillin and some strong tablets specifically to calm nerve-endings.
Had Grand-daughter and Youngest Grandson overnight Friday. Their mum and dad offered to cancel as soon as they saw my pain-racked face but I insisted the children stay as they would be a distraction to my growing misery. And they were. Youngest Grandson awoke at 1.30 am on Saturday full of the joys of spring, wanting only to coo and kick and play and would not settle down again until I took him into bed with me (I know the baby books forbid this but I was shattered and I knew he would be if he didn't get back to sleep) and he went out like a light in ten seconds flat.
On Saturday, we took them into Croydon. Grand-daughter had expressly requested a tram-ride and a trip to the cafe to share a cake with Grandad, and who were we middle-aged fogies to disagree. We started out at Nero's in George Street and she utterly delighted in having half of Grandad's chcoolate muffin, then we progressed to North End where she cadged a ride in the Barbie car on the roundabout set up there with one flash of her big blue eyes. Then she was given a sticker by a clown and then she fell asleep. Youngest Grandson had slept most of the morning anyway in their two-tiered buggy. After lunch we took them home and Youngest Step-daughter collected them a few hours later. As usual, once they had gone, our cosy homestead became, for a couple of hours anyway, a desolate wilderness of hush, still with their toys scattered about.
Around eight o'clock, the neuralgia hit me full force and at nine pm, Hubby woke me up from my slumber on the sofa and suggested I go to bed. I then slept twenty out of the next twenty-four hours. I was in dire pain all day Sunday (what I remember of it!) and all day Monday and knew as soon as I got up Tuesday that I was in no fit state to go to work. Finally I went back to the doctor today and she has signed me off for the rest of the week. There is an area about 2cm by 1cm on my left cheek that is swollen and inflamed and, although the pain has gone off quite a bit and my teeth are now functioning almost normally again, I know I am still not a hundred per cent. I am feeling a lot better though so Hubby snapped his fingers about 4pm this afternoon and said with tons of passion "Tomorrow you can write all day! It'll be good practice for when you can write full time. " So tomorrow, it looks like I'll be writing all day. Maybe I can even breathe life into The New Idea - it is surely far too good to keep simmering on the back burner.
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Sunday, 18 May 2008
NEW BEGINNINGS
So - better luck this time. It is Sunday evening, 18 May at GMT 20.00 hours. I am sitting at our dining table right beside the French Windows, overlooking the patio and the garden beyond. I would like to say that the French Windows are open and the curtains are waving lazily in a warm summer breeze - but I'd be lying. It IS a nice evening. But that doesn't mean it is a warm evening, so the windows remain firmly shut.
Two weeks ago, Hubby and I ambled up to Lincolnsire to spend the Bank Holiday weekend with Hubby's brother and partner. They live about a mile outside the historic marketing town of Spalding in a detached house surrounded by fields. The house is beautiful - all dorma windows and shrubs. The nearest neighbouring house is two hundred yards away and a shallow dyke shields the house from a link road - which at times is fairly busy. Upon arrival, Hubby and I - plus Hubby's parents - were taken on a tour of the house. There are four bedrooms and each room is en-suite and there is a family bathroom on the ground floor. The main living room is lovely and airy and in an 'L' shape and the back garden is laid to lawn and framed in trees. Through a rustic gate at the rear of the garden lies The Lodge Cattery. Talk about Butlins for cats! Each 'lodge' has a play area, a snooze area and a rear 'bedroom'. There are places for the cats to climb, to scratch, to generally exercise and the radio is on all day and most of the night, so they don't feel too cut off from their normal lives. The lodges overlook a large spacious courtyard and to one end of this is the Feline Kitchen. Opposite them is an array of hutches for smaller boarding guests - such as rabbits, guinea pigs and chipmunks - plus a chicken house and a lovely wooden summer house that has been transformed into an office, where Brother In Law tends to all the business aspects, whilst His Other Half oversees the feeding, grooming and wellbeing of the guests. She also administers any medication so her former career as a nurse comes very useful. It really is a lovely place and we were there from Saturday evening to Monday afternoon. So quiet and restful. I am sure the cats must lreally enjoy it and there is certainly no shortage of love there. I'd love it if I were a cat!
On Monday, back at Current Company, I made no secret of the fact I had an interview lined up on the Wednesday coming and was equally as forceful on Thursday when I told them it had gone well. So well, in fact, the I was told a second interview could be on the cards. "What hours then?" asked Newish MD after almost choking on his felicitations at just how well it had gone. "Full time," I replied. "If you want full time, we can give you that," he blurted out. Now just one cotton-picking minute, I thought as I looked at him. How can they be thinking of offering me a full time post now when just a fortnight before they were as good as dispensing with my services? Turns out they want to take the company into a new age and would like to expand on the Customer Support Role they'd initially offered on a part-time basis. "I thought you only offered me part time because that's all you could afford," I remarked suspiciously. "No we offered you part time because that's what we thought you wanted," said Newish MD. A series of meetings followed at the same time as much discussion between Hubby and I. They have offered me; a better general package, a bonus scheme AND they have agreed to accommodate any writing commitments that arise as a result of Books 2 and 3 hitting the maket over the next year or so.
Well what could I say? By Monday just gone I hadn't heard from the place I'd been interviewed and nothing else was on the cards, so I decided to take up their offer - as soon as I had it in writing. I got the official letter on Friday last week so I am now re-employed. I have already been moved to a different office and that's that. I don't suppose we'll know whether or not it has actually panned out until we've given it a few weeks and - as everyone has said - there is absolutely nothing to stop me from leaving later in the year if it all goes to pot, is there? And the best thing is that they are prepared to honour any writing commitments - so now I can start contacting the schools and the bookshops without having to worry about using up holiday!
It is funny the way things work out don't you think? All I have to do now is get some proper Work lined up - a commission or two, a couple of talks and maybe some workshops. I am also playing with a Brand New Idea. Not the historic novel as yet - that remains ongoing. But I have been bandying this idea around for a new weekly column somewhere if I can persuade an editor to try it out. I won't say too much here, but I promise I will keep you updated. If I can pull it off, it could lead to all kinds of things - so watch this space.....
Two weeks ago, Hubby and I ambled up to Lincolnsire to spend the Bank Holiday weekend with Hubby's brother and partner. They live about a mile outside the historic marketing town of Spalding in a detached house surrounded by fields. The house is beautiful - all dorma windows and shrubs. The nearest neighbouring house is two hundred yards away and a shallow dyke shields the house from a link road - which at times is fairly busy. Upon arrival, Hubby and I - plus Hubby's parents - were taken on a tour of the house. There are four bedrooms and each room is en-suite and there is a family bathroom on the ground floor. The main living room is lovely and airy and in an 'L' shape and the back garden is laid to lawn and framed in trees. Through a rustic gate at the rear of the garden lies The Lodge Cattery. Talk about Butlins for cats! Each 'lodge' has a play area, a snooze area and a rear 'bedroom'. There are places for the cats to climb, to scratch, to generally exercise and the radio is on all day and most of the night, so they don't feel too cut off from their normal lives. The lodges overlook a large spacious courtyard and to one end of this is the Feline Kitchen. Opposite them is an array of hutches for smaller boarding guests - such as rabbits, guinea pigs and chipmunks - plus a chicken house and a lovely wooden summer house that has been transformed into an office, where Brother In Law tends to all the business aspects, whilst His Other Half oversees the feeding, grooming and wellbeing of the guests. She also administers any medication so her former career as a nurse comes very useful. It really is a lovely place and we were there from Saturday evening to Monday afternoon. So quiet and restful. I am sure the cats must lreally enjoy it and there is certainly no shortage of love there. I'd love it if I were a cat!
On Monday, back at Current Company, I made no secret of the fact I had an interview lined up on the Wednesday coming and was equally as forceful on Thursday when I told them it had gone well. So well, in fact, the I was told a second interview could be on the cards. "What hours then?" asked Newish MD after almost choking on his felicitations at just how well it had gone. "Full time," I replied. "If you want full time, we can give you that," he blurted out. Now just one cotton-picking minute, I thought as I looked at him. How can they be thinking of offering me a full time post now when just a fortnight before they were as good as dispensing with my services? Turns out they want to take the company into a new age and would like to expand on the Customer Support Role they'd initially offered on a part-time basis. "I thought you only offered me part time because that's all you could afford," I remarked suspiciously. "No we offered you part time because that's what we thought you wanted," said Newish MD. A series of meetings followed at the same time as much discussion between Hubby and I. They have offered me; a better general package, a bonus scheme AND they have agreed to accommodate any writing commitments that arise as a result of Books 2 and 3 hitting the maket over the next year or so.
Well what could I say? By Monday just gone I hadn't heard from the place I'd been interviewed and nothing else was on the cards, so I decided to take up their offer - as soon as I had it in writing. I got the official letter on Friday last week so I am now re-employed. I have already been moved to a different office and that's that. I don't suppose we'll know whether or not it has actually panned out until we've given it a few weeks and - as everyone has said - there is absolutely nothing to stop me from leaving later in the year if it all goes to pot, is there? And the best thing is that they are prepared to honour any writing commitments - so now I can start contacting the schools and the bookshops without having to worry about using up holiday!
It is funny the way things work out don't you think? All I have to do now is get some proper Work lined up - a commission or two, a couple of talks and maybe some workshops. I am also playing with a Brand New Idea. Not the historic novel as yet - that remains ongoing. But I have been bandying this idea around for a new weekly column somewhere if I can persuade an editor to try it out. I won't say too much here, but I promise I will keep you updated. If I can pull it off, it could lead to all kinds of things - so watch this space.....
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
!@*#ING IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You just will not BELIEVE what I have just done, Blogspot Buddies! I have just spent best part of half an hour writing a light, chatty, informative blog about our lovely Bank Holiday weekend in Lincolnshire at Brother-In-Law's cattery - and concluding with an update of the Job Situation ... then accidently hit the wrong button and deleted the lot! I am such a Klutz. I was dead chuffed with it, too, and now it has vanished - all my hard work gone in the stroke of a button.
Ah well - I will have to do it all again.
But it can wait now.
I'm off to boil my head in the steamer ....
Ah well - I will have to do it all again.
But it can wait now.
I'm off to boil my head in the steamer ....
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT
On my way home from work this evening, I counted no less than five abandoned pens lying in the street. Being me, my immediate thought - as a writer - was "Are they trying to tell me something?" One of them was really nice and must have cost a fortune new - all silver scrolling and gold edging - but I couldn't reach it so I was not able to rescue it. I have never seen that many pens lining my route home before, so of course I was reading all kinds of secret codes and signs into it! What do you think?
So here is the latest. I went to the doctor on Friday and asked if these tests are absolutely necessary. Had she seen something in my blood tests that she hadn't told me about? Was there actually a reason, other than the fact I am ever so slightly anaemic? She answered no on both counts. So why did she feel these tests were so important? She said that there is nothing wrong, and no, the tests aren't that important. So why then had she felt such a drastic step should be taken? Only because - and I quote - "You are young; you have never been anaemic before and I like to consider every option." Now I am all for doctors and health professionals being thorough, but I still felt she was being over-cautious. So I suggested a compromise. Could we try a course of iron tablets for a few months then get some more blood tests done? If she isn't happy with them and my blood count is still low, then I'll go for any further tests she deems necessary. She agreed. So I have got three months until I need to worry about it again.
I walked out of that surgery feeling as if I have achieved something for mankind. A huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. She may like to consider every option, but I know my body better than she does, and I know there is nothing wrong with me. Everything is functioning normally; I just need to get my blood count up - end of story. So if your doctor ever suggests something you really don't feel necessary, Blogspot Buddies, say so. Patient Power!
And now onto the other blight of my life - the redundancy/recinded-redundancy/redundancy issue. I am being worked on my several experts who all feel I should stay; Chairman is popping his head round the door every five minutes and smiling broadly. Newish MD keeps reminding me I am in the strongest position I have ever been in with that company. And Friendly Colleagues all keep peering at me doe-eyed and saying "What will we do when you've gone?" The truth of the matter is that I have insider knowledge of Former Line Manager's customer database and they are anxious not to lose any following his resignation. Technically I am still under notice and my finishing date is still 16th May. I will not be pushed into making a decision.
Consequently, I went for an interview this morning and think it all went rather well. Admittedly it is full time as opposed to part-tme - so the writing will still be designated to the evenings and weekends - but at least our income won't suffer. I was told as I left the interview that someone will be in touch to let me know whether or not I go onto the second one. And they know I have had this offer from Current Company so they know they have to move fast. We shall just have to wait and see. I know they were inundated with replies so I won't hold my breath. But it was nice to be made to feel I have something to offer still - besides Former Line Manager' s sodding customer database!
Watch this space for the further exiting episode of FIFTY & NOT OUT (produced live in front of a Blogging audience).
So here is the latest. I went to the doctor on Friday and asked if these tests are absolutely necessary. Had she seen something in my blood tests that she hadn't told me about? Was there actually a reason, other than the fact I am ever so slightly anaemic? She answered no on both counts. So why did she feel these tests were so important? She said that there is nothing wrong, and no, the tests aren't that important. So why then had she felt such a drastic step should be taken? Only because - and I quote - "You are young; you have never been anaemic before and I like to consider every option." Now I am all for doctors and health professionals being thorough, but I still felt she was being over-cautious. So I suggested a compromise. Could we try a course of iron tablets for a few months then get some more blood tests done? If she isn't happy with them and my blood count is still low, then I'll go for any further tests she deems necessary. She agreed. So I have got three months until I need to worry about it again.
I walked out of that surgery feeling as if I have achieved something for mankind. A huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. She may like to consider every option, but I know my body better than she does, and I know there is nothing wrong with me. Everything is functioning normally; I just need to get my blood count up - end of story. So if your doctor ever suggests something you really don't feel necessary, Blogspot Buddies, say so. Patient Power!
And now onto the other blight of my life - the redundancy/recinded-redundancy/redundancy issue. I am being worked on my several experts who all feel I should stay; Chairman is popping his head round the door every five minutes and smiling broadly. Newish MD keeps reminding me I am in the strongest position I have ever been in with that company. And Friendly Colleagues all keep peering at me doe-eyed and saying "What will we do when you've gone?" The truth of the matter is that I have insider knowledge of Former Line Manager's customer database and they are anxious not to lose any following his resignation. Technically I am still under notice and my finishing date is still 16th May. I will not be pushed into making a decision.
Consequently, I went for an interview this morning and think it all went rather well. Admittedly it is full time as opposed to part-tme - so the writing will still be designated to the evenings and weekends - but at least our income won't suffer. I was told as I left the interview that someone will be in touch to let me know whether or not I go onto the second one. And they know I have had this offer from Current Company so they know they have to move fast. We shall just have to wait and see. I know they were inundated with replies so I won't hold my breath. But it was nice to be made to feel I have something to offer still - besides Former Line Manager' s sodding customer database!
Watch this space for the further exiting episode of FIFTY & NOT OUT (produced live in front of a Blogging audience).
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