thanksgiving: best day ever?

This Thursday was special. Special beyond the normal realms of special. Lots, and I mean more than is necessarily normal amounts of  “lots”, lots of special things happened. On one day. It is even spreading over to today. But before we deal with the present, lets flick back through the awesomeness that was yesterday.

I woke up feeling much fresher than usual, took the wife to work and came back home. I then had enough time to enjoy a breakfast and some coffee before catching the train into University.

Nothing too special there. But wait. It gets better.

I arrive at Guildford on schedule and make good time to get to Library with 30 minutes to print my translation for the upcoming seminar. The printer functioned, the job was done and off I toddled to the seminar. In the seminar I discover that I had masterfully completed last week’s translation, achieving an almighty 69 (wahey in-your-endo and all that). Then, we finish early. That was abmormal. Abmormal. What a mistype. I’m going to keep that there as a tribute to my Mormon encounters, which themselves were truly “abmormal” haha.

Anyway, moving on, already glowing from my 69 and early finish (the Todd would be proud), I go to collect the results of the essay I wrote two weeks back or so. The essay I wrote on German beer commercials. The essay that I wrote in one flaming afternoon’s creativity. I check the mark. 68. SIXTY EIGHT. I jigged a little in the office, signed it off and left the receptionist smiling. This mark is particularly special for two reasons:

1. It clarifies my passion and love of all things words and translation.

2. It is the single (well maybe second) highest achieved graded essay that I have attained whilst at University.

I felt proud, like I had finally arrived with the other students that attend to learn rather than to test the facilities of the local watering holes.

So the day is going pretty darn well. Then the true highlight occurred. Upon searching in my bag for a pen, I DISCOVER A FIVE POUND NOTE.

This needs an aside on the joys of note finding. It is one of the best personal victories, when you pick up a bag / pair of jeans / jacket that you haven’t used in ages, dive into the pockets and discover £5, £10 or even the fabled gold dust, £20 notes therein. You jump, you cheer, you power punch the air with cries of childhood “Yeeeeeessssssss!”. It is truly glorious. I had one friend who was packing up ready to leave halls at Uni, who discovered whilst packing that he had absent-mindedly left himself a happy trail of £20 delights in multiple items of clothing. I joke not, the guy finished the pack on a £80 high. THAT is a leaving present to be proud of.

Back to the task at hand, I get some lunch and munch through it whilst reading the Telegraph. Twas most relaxing. This was followed by a internet session, where I initiated a Linkedin account (not so much awesomeness, but still worthy of mention. The site is pants though). My University specials finished at my final lecture where, again, we finished early. This one was special. This lecture is a two hour beast, starting at 4 and finishing at 6. SIX. It’s the last one of the week, I’m tired and want to go home. Finishing early achieved this for me. Hooray for early finishes! This then allowed me to catch the early train, which then got me home early for what was to be a special evening; in keeping with a (approximately) 100 year old tradition, we were celebrating Thanksgiving. Cue food in abundance, including a perfectly roasted, honey glazed and rustic sliced Ham. It was a Ham to end all Hams. Hamtabulous, Hamtastic, and Hambastic. Summary, it was tasty. This hammy delight was topped off with, nay, glossed with, further glorified with a wondrous Pumpkin Pie. Copiously coated with whipped cream, this thing was desert paradise, only it was a dessert. The Sahara and Black Forest gateaux have NOTHING on that bad boy.

So yeah, best day ever.

It has further continued today, in that my shift at work was cancelled, and I’m now getting ready to head back up t’ north, in pursuit of a family visit.

Thanksgiving. I give thanks to early finishes, cheeky cash finds and super essay scoring. Thanks to great Hams and Pumpkin desserts.

Thank you all.

…comes great responsibility

Having now worked at a certain shoes store for almost 4 months now, things are happening. I was threatened with responsibility today. Not in an evil way, but in a Patrick Stewart turning around and telling you “you have the bridge” kind of way. I am set to ‘run’ the store on some days. RUN the store. That means I will be responsible not only for an entire building, but also for lots of MONEY. Like minimum two thousand. THOUSAND.

This isn’t supposed to be some kind of crazy. I think that at the age of 24, I should be doing this level of work anyway – it’s not like I’m a Saturday kid or anything. I have the knowledge, and the calmness to succeed. But for some reason, the slight mention that I might be someone’s manager for a day sounds terrific. That’s terrific in a sense of terrifyingly exciting, horrifyingly cool. Scarily fun.

Responsibility comes in all shapes and sizes and at all kinds of times in life. But I’ve never truly felt the bite of it as of yet. Sure, as a teacher I felt responsible, watching and teaching all those crazy little kids learning their times tables and so forth. I understood my responsibility as a husband when I married aged 23. Sure, at 21 I realised that I was completely and utterly adulted, and responsible for myself. At 18, I realised my responsibility to vote and be held accountable in a court of law…

None of these things really spooked me though. They were fact o’ life, dealio kind of things. I taught ergo I look after the class, I married, ergo I care for the wife.

I think its the money factor. As a fully fledged adult, having a sorry understanding for the hell that is value, money is something that requires a responsible person. At the end of the day, I alone will be responsible for the amount of money in that till. I will have to count stacks of £20s, £10s and £5s. Eek.

I’m sure when the time finally comes, it’ll be fine. I generally find that taking things minute by minute is the best way to roll with those life punches.

Outside of work, I heard a domestic at a train station. This guy was ranting down the phone at his wife/girlfriend/partner, who had been paranoid about his whereabouts and activities. There were swearwords and anger abound. I was really surprised that he was going for it to be honest – he was surrounded by a throng of people all of whom could hear this craziness.

The single worst thing though, was the technique he was using to ask her to keep quiet. For me, this exhibited in full clarity where the difficulty lay. Much like a certain Mexican dog trainer, he was “tsk”ing her. Actually “tsk”ing. She would be trying to talk and “tsk!” Horrendous. I mean it is like treating her on a lower level to himself. A unity is based on balance. Give and take. That guy was clearly taking the piss.

That said, as much as we’d all love to believe our relationships are 50/50, I think everyone can think of a time when it hasn’t been. So if people do overact, or say something that they (hopefully) regret, be ready to forgive and move on. Let’s all be responsible for being nice!

careering off the road

Life sometimes likes to beat around the bush. I however don’t.

I want a job. I want a job that suits me. I want a job that I can enjoy, without it devouring my life inside out. I want a desk, a computer. I want to sit and type dribble. Or drivel. Generally I want to just show the world that I am probably worth paying some money.

It seems however, that in some overblown humongous conspiracy, that the world has a different plan. Mother Earth, in her wrath, has chosen to commit the mass population to a recession just to spurn my applications. She has spread viral influenza to pretend that she is trying to make it easier for me, but I know her game. She herself has been recruiting. She’s hired Fate. He’s trying to impress the new boss, and so Mother Earth and Fate have had a board meeting.

The agenda?

Will Rimmer’s career.

Mother Nature hammers the table. “This man must be stopped!”

She points at a file including pictures of a young male, who is dashing in a subtle way. (He’s also written that he’s confident, motivated and ambitious. Application forms…)

Fate humbly nods, picks up the phone and says simply “It’s on.” The boys acknowledge the message, and head to the cars.

Since that moment, I have had opportunities, but in Fate’s clasps, I have seemingly been a victim of the tides of employment (Waaah sympathy! Fret not, it’s not required).

I love German. I love writing. I’m a communicator. I’m punctual. Today? Oh, that was the M25′s fault. Apparently Fate decided to drive to the office via a very big fence in the middle of the road. (If you were the person that crashed, I hope you’re ok, but really? Today? There?).

That being said, I do enjoy attending interviews. The nosy Englishman inside me likes to look at how the offices have been decked out, how people interact, what they like people visiting to see. Of the places I’ve been to, Rockstar’s office was the most amazing. Although the signature by the door says that I cannot tell you about it, for fear of Tommy Vercetti turning up on my doorstep, knocking, then raping and shooting me. I don’t want to be shot. Or raped.

One thing I can never tell is how I perform. Aside from the whole Yes / No reply system, I can’t really gauge how I react in the moment. Today’s interview went well I think, but only if the secretary has a say in the recruitment process. Banter was had like no banter before. I love being connected to so many different countries on one continent. Europe is fantastic because there are so many different people and cultures sharing a space that is easily traversable. It’s joyous to meet and chat with people who have had experiences so different that E.T. would seem like a next door neighbour.

…

Career ranting aside, life goes well. I keep contemplating dreaming that a career in blogging is a real possibility. But of the sites that I’ve looked at so far, I’m not enthralled at the idea of paying to be paid. Sorry subscription services. Me no like.

Although joining BlogCatalog has been a real eye opener for me: I truly am small fry in the world of blogs and life documentation. There’s people on this site who’ve been doing this years, who have advertisements and awards for their blogs. What do I have? An all time high of 25 views on Tuesday. For me that was headline news. That’s more people reading my blog than real life friends contacting me (erm… is that a good thing?!). It also means that there are people other than my Mum reading this so thank you all (Ugh, and you too Mum, thank you).

Leave a comment now, and I’ll lend you cash when I’m famous.

…

And finally, in a swift Have I Got News For You-esque comedic type finale, my only remaining appointment today is with my wife’s coworkers and an oh-so-friendly pint of the local ale. For Fate and Mother Nature have chosen to allow me to earn a living.

By attending pub quizzes.

Wish me luck.