Whaaaaat?

I think I might have had an interesting dream last night. FA2 featured. I think sex with FA2 featured. But CH also featured. A heavily pregnant CH. I don't know what the context is around CH's presence in this dream. But the FA2 aspect was, if my memory isn't playing tricks on me, a semi-memory kinda thing. A recollection of some of the lusty afternoon sex we would typically have at the weekends.

Well, I say "lusty" but that wasn't FA2's thing. "Lustier" is probably more accurate. I'd be a little more energetic in these sessions than I would be first thing in the morning or at night.

but still... pregnant CH? 

Oh la la!

For the first time in a long time, a familiar face* appeared on Tinder today. It was Blonde Emma Willis (have I describe her as that on the blog or is that just what I call her to USHW?) I've swiped right, of course, cos she's pretty and I am a sucker for a pretty face. I don't know that we're suited... a gut feeling... but it's been that long since I've had a date that I kinda feel I almost need to swipe on those that I think are cute regardless.

*Familiar, but cute. There are plenty of women I see on Tinder regularly that are not swipeable. 

Yay!

I'm not gonna lie, I was slightly apprehensive about meeting FBS, D etc. last night. It was the pub thing, more accurately, the alcohol intake. My tolerance is pretty much zero these days, so the thought of six hours of necking pints had me a little worried.

It was all for nothing, though. Seven pints across nearly six hours meant I was drunk but not as bad a I thought I was going to be.

It was great catching up with the guys. The highlights, for want of a better word, was a running gag that lasted all evening about a euphemism for blowjobs, much to our amusement and FBS's puzzlement. And a debate (I hesitate to call it an argument) with Opinionated Guy who insisted he share our taxi, despite him living in the opposite direction to myself and FBS. He's shared before, because FBS is too nice to tell him to fuck off, but it was my taxi last night and I had no hesitation in telling him where to go.

I hope he'll learn this in future. It feels like we do all the work for him - arrange nights out, get him home etc. and he does nothing.

Grande.

When I go into the office, I tend to treat myself to a Starbucks. It's literally on the way from the bus stop to my office. However, I've not been in the office for a few weeks due to people being off on holiday or me deciding not to go in due to a lack of sleep.

Anyway, I rocked up to the counter and ordered my usual.

The girl took my order, I swiped my card, thanked her and trundled off to the collection zone.

A few minutes later the barista called out my name.

I was confused. I hadn't given the cashier my name.

"You're Ruuude, aren't you? That's your name?" she asked, coyly.

"Yeah"

"I thought so. That's your drink."

"Oh..." I was still confused. "Thank you!" I smiled at her.

Cute woman remembers my name despite me only visiting a shop once a week, and I've not been in in weeks. She's just being professional, but it proper made my day. 

Let's see.

I've already asked Quiet Girl if she's going to go to the next work night, which is in two weeks time. She's not said anything yet, which is unusual. I'm torn. I'd like to go out. I've said it before, but she's good company and I don't really go out enough. But I have two gigs on either side of the work night, and it's been a while since I've done two nights in a row, never mind three.

And there's still my ongoing back pain. I should look into that once I get this work project from hell out of the way in a few weeks.

Cheers!

Friction Guy replied, so it looks like we've got a core group and a rough time for meeting and a place to meet.

I'm not interested in the drinking. I hate being drunk and my ability to drink alcohol is now non-existent probably due to the fact that I've lost a fair bit of weight this year and I've done little to no socialising, so I am out of practice.

And the nights out with D, FBS etc. always seem to involved a lot of alcohol. We tend to meet around 6 PM these days and call it a night around midnight. That's six hours of drinking. The night out a few weeks ago with The Crowd was just over three hours and I was extremely tipsy.

Let's see how this turns out. 

Hurrah!

I think the first stage of the work is pretty much done. All the connections have been connected, the holes are not holey and it's just the surface tidy up that needs completed.

Roll on getting a confirmed date for the second part in just overt a week's time and for the work to be done hopefully within 2 weeks.

Let's go.

I hadn't heard from D, FBs etc. about this coming weekend so I sent a WhatsApp message to make sure we were all still coming out. FBS and D were quick to reply, in the positive. I've heard nothing from Friction Guy or Opinionated Guy as yet, but they're secondary. If it just turns out to be me, FBS and D, that'll still be a good night.

Just talk.

KfW2's just off the phone. Another car journey, but not with the kids. This time she's travelling for work - a mere 222 mile journey, roughly. She sounds like she's having a hard time of it. She said as much the last time I saw her in person, but despite her talking to her managers, nothing's improved.

She keeps saying that she's going to look for a new job, but she hasn't as yet. That's not a criticism. I know that I've been guilty of not doing exactly that when things have been bad at work. Imposter syndrome is something that KfW2 and I have in common.

But, given her lengthy car journey, she was in no rush to end the call and neither was I. We chatted for about 45 minutes. No sign of a night out, but she's been busy with family stuff that might ease after this coming weekend.

It's always nice to hear from her. 

It's a gas, gas, gas.

The house work continues. There are guys out the front with a massive sledgehammer and a concrete saw making a hell of a racket. So, despite my pessimism this morning, it looks as if phase 1 of this work will be completed on time - by this Friday.

Phase 2 will begin in a few weeks, but I won't get confirmation of actual dates until 21st November. 

The heat is on.

I have two days booked off work at the end of the month, and two weeks booked off at Xmas. I still have about half a dozen days still to take this calendar year, and I plan to take them all. I've been feeling a little burned out at work over the past month or so.

That's not going to change any time soon. We were just given an urgent project that needs to be completed in just under three weeks and it's going to be a disaster. Add into that my manager being way out of his depth and, I hate to say it, stupid. It may be a language barrier (English is not his first language), it may be cultural, but he has a habit of not listening when he gets stuff explained to him if he already thinks he knows the solution.

That's not just me saying that. I've had at least three other people imply something similar over the past few weeks and frustration is starting to build from all parties. 

Still... once this project is finished, I can take these remaining personal days. 

Party Time.

Tonight was the night that I suggested to KfW2 that we went out for dinner and drinks, which she says she couldn't do for family reasons. so she pondered other dates which we've yet to talk about.

But that reminded me that we're getting into social season. As stated a few days ago, G's home, so there's an outside chance of seeing him tomorrow. I still have to message M, which will probably be a midweek coffee or pint.

I have at least four things to do this month - meeting FBS, D etc. next weekend, a gig to go to on the 27th, a possible work thing on the 28th and another gig on the 29th with my brother-in-law.

There's also the possibility of something with KfW2, but I doubt that'll happen until December, if at all. 

And December will be busy too - another work thing, out with S/The Crowd, the potential KfW2 thing if it doesn't happen in November and another gig. And I'm sure I've forgotten something else. 

I feel tired already. 

Pick me up

So with all the stress from earlier and considering the work's not completed despite what I was told, I need something to cheer me up. Enjoy some pictures of attractive women in suits.

A lot of nerve (con't)

I had assumed that most of the work would be complete by the end of today. And then, over the next few days, they'd tidy up, fill in the holes they've dug etc. and re-surfaced the footpath.

However, it's 2PM. I've not seen a workman since before lunch and there's still a lot of digging and pipe laying to be done. Not that I'm complaining because the work has started at least, but if there's an expectation that I keep space free in front of my house (which there was) then I need better information because I was led to believe it was a one-day installation with tidy up taking up to five days to complete.

A lot of nerve.

The workmen haven't arrived yet, but the guy from across the street has already knocked on the door to say he hasn't forgotten about his second car, but he's lost his keys and there's a tow truck coming. That alleviates some of the anxiety/stress.

I still need to knock on my neighbour's door and ask her to move her car, but I am aware it's still early, so I'll leave it until 9 AM.

I've no idea when the workmen are due to arrive, but hopefully it won't be until after the neighbours have moved their cars.

[Update: 915] She's still not out of bed, which is frustrating because on any other day, she'd be up and about by 8 AM. By my reckoning, I've tried to talk to her half a dozen times since mid-afternoon yesterday. Sigh.

[Update 2: 940] The tow truck has just arrived. At least that's one problem solved, and the workmen haven't shown up yet. 

[Update 3: 1000] The tow truck guy couldn't help - there was no space to hook up the car, so the best he could do was push it back a few metres. And my neighbour still isn't out of bed, otherwise he could have pushed it back quite a bit and made loads of room. However... the workmen have turned up and the lack of space is inconvenient but not a blocker to them doing the work. All that stress and effort for nothing.

Still nervy.

So the guy from across the street only moved one of his cars. I'm hoping he moves the other tonight or before the workmen show up tomorrow. Annoyingly, my direct neighbour (not the one mentioned earlier) decided she wasn't going to park in her driveway, as she ways does, but has parked her car in the space vacated by opposite guy which, to be fair, is right in front of her house.

I've knocked on her door four times this afternoon and evening to no answer and my most recent and last attempt, all the lights were out. So she's either gone to bed or she's gone out.

There's an outside chance that the workmen will refuse to do the work if there are no parking spaces in front of my house tomorrow, which is causing some anxiety, but I can say honestly that I've made the effort to arrange the space and it can't be held against me if my neighbours are uncooperative.

Nervy.

I barely slept last night. I think it was nerves because I had to talk to a few neighbours about work that I'm getting done to my house tomorrow. Now, I have no issues with my direct next door neighbours - they're lovely. 

It's the people who live directly opposite me that were causing anxiety. I've no reason to think badly of them, but I've never actually spoken to them in the ten years I've lived here and the thought of rapping on their door to ask a favour filled me with dread. 

They do, however, own three cars and a motorhome, that takes up more than their fair share of parking space in the street, and that's what I needed to chat to them about. 

Thankfully, while I was talking to my direct neighbour, they came out of the house and I was able to ask them to move their cars for tomorrow. 

So, all sorted. Phew.

Out of the blue.

For some reason, M popped into my head earlier.

"I should see if he's free for a coffee or a beer,"  I pondered.

Then I made a mental leap.

"It's been ages since I heard from G. I should see how he's getting on"

So I sent G a message. Coincidentally, he's home this weekend on a flying visit. He had "stuff" going on (non-serious) that meant he hasn't been back in a while. I had assumed he had been back but family stuff had kept him from being in touch.

He doubts he'll have the time to meet up, but will be in touch if he does. We're still swapping messages though, catching up.

Oh, K.

A bit of a weird dream last night that involved K and KfW2. Specifically, it involved KfW2 heavily suggesting that I sleep with K, off the back of K and KfW2 having a girly chat. 

I suspect that I did, though I don't remember that bit actually being part of the dream. And it ended the same was as it did in real life: K wanted to take it further, I couldn't give that to her and we stopped being friends. 

KfW2 was apologetic and explained that K never suggested that was wanted anything other than just something physical.

And then KfW2 and I went out for dinner and drinks, KfW2's treat to apologise for what happened.

Remember when?

I was bored at work and spent the afternoon re-reading some email conversations with USHW from back in the day. Specifically, the interactions with Ideas Girl when she was drunk and supposedly flirting and the period of time after Sports Girl admitted she "liked" me.

It was kind of bittersweet. I really enjoyed my conversations with USHW for starters.  The Ideas Girl chat was funny, even though she was really quite rude. I recall sharing one such chat with KfW2 who suggested that I "bone her and get it out of your system". When I suggested that I don't something like that before and it didn't work out well (K), I was surprised that she didn't ask follow-up questions.

Oh really?

GM featured in last night's dream. I can't remember the start, but in it, GM broke up with his girlfriend. Or rather, his girlfriend broke up with him. He asked me to collect a gift that he'd made for her where it transpired that he was planning on proposing to her. And at the same time I found out that she had been cheating on him.

GM did break up with his girlfriend in real life about two months ago. I don't know if there was any cheating involved. From the sounds of it, it was just that the relationship had run its course. 

Cuddle up.

Semi-broken sleep last night, but I woke with a sense of something... not intangible, but vague. I know how I felt this morning, so while there was a vague thought (I don't think it was dream-related) of FA2, FBS and a couple of others not named on this blog, it wasn't about them specifically.

The thought I woke to was being under the covers, in bed, cuddling with a woman while the room was cold. Fairly specific, don't you think? Well, that's kinda where I was this morning, sans naked woman for cuddling. The bed was warm, the room was cold. But it was the missing part that provoked the reaction. I miss that. I wanted that this morning.

Wonderful

It's ten years to the day that Sports Girl admitted that she liked me, looking stunning in her Wonder Woman costume. I think it had more overtures than that. We were, after all, friends. She left the bar shortly afterwards and I shared the update with GM, admitting that I was attracted to her, but in a purely physical way.

It would never have worked out. She had weird ideas about sex... conflicting ideas about sex and I'm not sure casual sex was her thing either. And she was not girlfriend material, at least for me. She and GM got together about 5 months later.

But that Wonder Woman costume... 

What?

Randomly, Chloe popped into my head this afternoon. Dunno why. It's now, what, nearly three years since our one and only meeting? I've never seen her out and about, since. She's never popped up on my social media feeds the way others have (SUF, for example). And yet, randomly, I thought of her this afternoon. Or rather, I remembered the evening where we met, then I thought of her.

Zzzz

Another semi-remembered dream from last night, but the details are long gone. FA2 might have featured, but in what capacity, I really couldn't tell you. I don't think it was sexual.

This isn't a post about the dream itself but more that I've more dreams, or I've remembered more dreams, over the past few days than in the past six months combined.

Is it related to quality of sleep? I've slept really well since buying the new mattress, despite the back pain. But it's not been great over the past week. A change in the weather and the change in clocks maybe?

So what?

Another weird dream last night. I was rich and lived in a large house. For some reason, I was hosting two concerts, one in the front lawn and one in the back garden. Alanis Morissette and P!nk respectively. While Alanis Morissette was doing her sound check in the front, I was chatting to P!nk at the back. We were comparing stories of our respective times in New Zealand, for reasons I don't understand.

She was saying things that didn't make sense or at least what she was saying wasn't tallying with my own experiences of New Zealand and also while she was "P!nk" in the dream, physically it was actually V.

And I kinda understand why V featured. She's popped up in my Facebook feed over the weekend in fancy dress for Halloween, and that's brought back some fond memories of the night we met her at her friends' bar while she was dressed as Alice in Wonderland and looking mighty fine. I think. My memory of who she was meant to be that evening has always been awful.

And it was the realisation that it was physically V, not P!nk is when I woke this morning. 

Looking back.

I dreamt of SJ last night. I know the name might not immediately ring a bell even though she's featured on the blog before, but she was someone that I went to school with. A friend on whom I developed feelings for when I was around 17 or 18. I'd say it was my first, adult crush. I'd dated previously, had a girlfriend even, but SJ was something else.

We were close, but I never saw anything in her behaviour to indicate that making any kind of move would result in anything other than failure.

On top of that, I was still finding out who I was. I was unsure of myself, certainly immature while she appeared to have her head screwed on, know what she wanted from life.

So, yeah, the dream... we met again despite not having seen each other in 20-odd years and immediately settled into our old rhythm. Later, at a party, I tried to confess two things to her: my original crush from years ago and that I'd like to take her on a date. But I talked around the subjects without ever getting to the point, though I'm sure she knew what I was getting at and just wanted me to say it outright. The memory fades before any resolution to the dream happened.

It's been ages since I thought of SJ. She's one of the few people from school that I'd love to have a drink/coffee with now that I'm not already in contact with.

Back to front.

One comment of note from this morning's breakfast with CC was her talk of breast reduction surgery. She's complaining of back pain and was attributing this to the size of her boobs. CC (the first C stands for "chesty") has huge boobs. I couldn't even begin to tell you what size she is, but it's big.

But I'm not sure that the back pain is specifically related to her chest. She's never complained of back pain before and given my own experiences, I'd be more included to say that her issues are similar to mine: being completely sedentary. Although I spent money on a proper desk and chair setup.

CC works from her sofa or her dining room table, neither of which are going to do her any favours. 

Of course, I'm not a doctor, so I could be completely wrong. I think she's hoping that having her back pain's cause diagnosed as her chest means that she can get a boob reduction for free/cheap. I'm not sure that's how it works.

Time after time after time

In news that will shock no-one who knows CC, she didn't just want to borrow my drill. She wanted to borrow me, too. I could make a euphemism about giving CC a good drilling on two of her beds, but I don't have the energy. That's not a euphemism either.

Regardless, the favour took about a quarter of the time she thought it would, so I'm back in my house after breakfast and drilling and all within two hours of leaving.

Time after time

CC was meant to pick me up 5 minutes ago to go for brunch. Actually, that's the secondary reason, she really wants to borrow my drill, so I suggested 11 AM.

Unsurprisingly, a call came about half an hour ago. 

"Are we still on for 11?" CC asked.

"Yup, I'm starving"

"Can we do 1130 instead?" It wasn't really a question. 

So even with an extra hour in bed last night, CC still has trouble getting up. I've never met anyone like her for struggling to get out of bed. This isn't a weekend or a hangover thing. She's like this 7 days a week, often not starting work until after 10 AM.

I am starving though. 

Itchy feet.

While I can't say that it's surprising because I've not spoken to her in years so have no idea what her thought processes are, the attractive athletic blonde woman that I knew from primary school (I can't remember if I gave her a blog name) has announced that she's moving to Australia.

Not visiting, not travelling... moving. It's an interesting move at our age (she's only a few days younger than me), though I do believe that she's divorced (or separated at least) and her kids are now adults. I wonder why she made the decision?

I'm kinda jealous. I'd love to have the money and the freedom to do that. 

Little miss.

I think I dreamed of QC2 last night, but the details of the dream are gone, or were never there. Just a vague memory of QC2 and a feeling that I miss her.

It might be a dozen years since I last saw her, and it's not like we had a falling out... we just never met for drinks ever again. She butt dialled me about ten years ago - the day after I moved into my current house, actually. But that never led to anything, sadly... and that was that. 

She's not on social media any more and I'm not going to send a text or call a 12 year old number that might not even be hers anymore.

Onwards.

The house stuff continues at pace. The first of two steps is pencilled in for the first week in November. I'm waiting to hear back about the second stage, but I'm hoping it'll be the week after. There are a few queries on the scope of the work in the second stage that may add a little more time and expense, but it's this piece of work that has driven the entire project.

Hopefully it'll all be nailed down by the end of the afternoon. 

Time out

Despite being really busy, I'm also in a bit of a motivational slump at work. Nothing bad has happened, I'm just completely de-motivated. I do have a lot of time off still to take. I think it's like 9 days still to take, and that doesn't count the time I already have booked off at Xmas.

I could, in theory, work a 4-day week between now and the end of the year, but while I'll probably end up doing something like that, I don't want to book the time now. I'd rather react as we get into party season and take time off accordingly.

I'm half expecting either The Crowd or KfW2 to suggest a trip to the Christmas market, which will likely be a Sunday, which means a Monday off is required.

Still, taking Friday off is tempting. 

Night out.

It was a great night out. I was a little apprehensive when I first arrived at the bar and it was packed. While I've been out in bars over the past year or so, I've never been out when it's been really busy so the brief flicker of anxiety/discomfort was something new to me.

FC and Mrs FC were the first to arrive. Mrs FC was quick to ask if I'd lost weight. GM was the next to arrive. S was an hour late. He'd gone out drinking with other friends and took his time joining us.

We went to two bars - arguably my two favourite bars in the city centre. And it was great people watching. And I'm not gonna lie, it was great seeing cute women. There seemed to be a lot of women in skirts and boots too which was a bonus. 

There was one woman sitting at the table next to me in the second bar who was giving off serious Anna Kendrick vibes, but they weren't giving off "open to talking" vibes.

We called it quits around midnight, which was just right for me in terms of time and drunkenness.

What?

I think I've posted before about an evening where I ended up washing FBS's hair after we'd been painting her front room. She was only in her bra and jeans, and somehow her pressing into me as I washed her hair felt more intimate than when we actually had sex.

Well, I had a dream last night, and I can barely remember any of the details, but that was the feeling I woke to this morning - something inexplicably intimate that wasn't your normal intimate interaction.

Let's go!

The plans for the house move on. The sales guy has been out with engineering drawings that are, thankfully, showing my original request rather than the suggestions offered up by the engineer when he came out.

Once the paperwork is processed, I'll get a firm date on when the work can be done, but the sales guy reckons around 4 weeks from today. Result!

Watching.

I am looking forward to Saturday night. If I am being honest, I'd say that I am as excited about being in the city on a Saturday night as I am about seeing The Crowd in... years? I can't even remember the last night I saw them. Was it the Chloe night? I'm struggling to recall if I've seen them since.

It looks like GM is going to drive, and might leave early, but I've already suggested meeting earlier than we used to and leaving town before it becomes impossible to get a taxi. 

But sitting in a bar, on a Saturday night people watching and having fun is something I've missed as much as the company itself. Is it the potential of meeting new people? Maybe. I've always had great success in chatting to new people with GM. It's definitely at the back of my mind.

Bell curve.

Back when this blog was in its infancy, I had a rather large crush on Catherine Bell. In particular, she'd done a photoshoot for, I think, FHM, and it contained one of my favourite photos of a celebrity. She was wearing a tiny pair of white shorts and a grey bra, and it was taken on a ship. Here's an old blog post with those pictures.

Well, a few days ago, she posted on her Instagram about it and shared some photos not seen before (at least by me). Sadly, none of her in the cute shorts/bra outfit, but nice pictures nonetheless.

Talkabout...

KfW2 called. She was out walking her dog. We got into the small talk, but she quickly asked the question

"Was there any reason you wanted to go out in November?"

"Well, yeah, I've not seen you in ages and I know you're super-busy in October, so I thought maybe try and nail something down for November."

"Mmmm." She thought out loud about her plans for November. I think she had assumed that there was something I specifically wanted to chat about, that there was something wrong and part of the reason for calling was checking in on me.

"We could maybe do the last weekend in November. I'd have to wait and see though about this other thing [that she had explained to me]."

The conversation continued. We chatted for about 45 minutes. As usual, it was great hearing from her, but I'd still love to see her in person.

YES!

There was one hiccup in my productive long weekend. I had meant to schedule a follow-up hone call about some work I wanted done to my house. I had a guy out a few weeks ago to chat about it and he needed some expertise advice.

For some reason, I dropped off his radar. I had assumed the worst. That might have been an influence on my funk from yesterday. I did make the call today, though, and everything seems good. He's coming back at the end of the week and I should be able to get the paperwork signed, nail down a date and get the work done, hopefully before the end of November.

That means that the other plans I have for the house can start early next year, if I can maintain this motivation. 

Whoops.

I took yesterday off work to recharge, and I have to say I had a pretty good, productive, relaxing weekend that seemed to be doing the job just nicely. I even got some new clothes shopping done. But it all just disappeared mid-evening. And I don't know what, if anything, brought it on, but the funk hit quickly and it hit hard.

And that's carried into today. Hmmm... it's going to be a long day.

Boo!

I sent KfW2 a message inquiring about her availability next month. if she was free on the dates I suggested, would she like to do something? Grab dinner and drinks maybe?

Sadly, she's busy next month. it's her eldest daughter's school exams which I'd completely forgotten about. 

That probably means it'll be the Christmas party period before we see each other, at least in an adult social setting. 

Well, what do we have here?

One of the blockers in getting The Crowd out for drinks has been GM. Rather, this unspoken rule that it's everyone or no-one. It's similar with FBS, D etc.

But GM has been the most difficult to pin down. We can never agree dates, but GM has never been that upfront about suggesting alternatives or sharing his availability.

I was genuinely surprised at how easy it all came together on Monday evening.

I was also extremely surprised when GM started posting in the WhatsApp group earlier today suggesting places to meet. This is unusual and, as a result, I am suspicious.

Surprise, surprise.

Randomly, earlier today I discovered that FP had an Instagram account. FP, like me, was not a big social media kind of person. It was not under his real name, which is why I don't think it registered sooner, even if it was listed under the "suggested for you" section.

There are a few familiar names in there - Attractive Neighbour, FBS and S are the top 4 (along with FP). All of their accounts are locked down, though.

I don't appear in any of FP's Instagram posts, though there are at least a couple of pictures where I'm sure I'm floating around behind the camera somewhere.

I miss FP. It's his birthday soon.

First time.

I saw this picture of Emma Bunton on Instagram earlier. I'm digging it for a number of reasons - she's an attractive woman, she's in a trouser suit and that mesh top/bra combo is also a winner.

It's the mesh top/bra combo that's prompted this post, though. This was the type of top that FA2 wore the first night we slept together - a green sheer top with green Wonderbra. It wasn't the type of thing that FA2 usually wore.

Nail on the head.

One of the topics covered by Nerdy Girl and myself last night as we did a slightly-longer than usual walk was what we're currently watching on television. I mentioned Supergirl. I know that Nerdy Girl has watched those DC TV programmes in the past.

"It's rubbish but attractive women in short skirts and boots keeps me interested."

"I thought you'd be more into the sister character?"

I was surprised. She hit the nail on the head, though I don't ever recall having a chat with NG about my taste in women.

Absolutely super.

 

I've started another run through of Supergirl. It'll take a while - 6 seasons, 126 episodes of roughly 45 mins per episode. But I'm bored and there's nothing new tickling my fancy. And, y'know, attractive women in short skirts and boots.

I should point out, if you haven't already guessed by my posts and comments on women that Chyler Leigh is much more my physical preference than Melissa Benoist, but it's hard to beat that skirt/boots combo.

Awww...

Sadly, the magic seems to have worn off. Quiet Girl has already shared that she won't be attending our work's Halloween party at the end of the month.

Only a minor setback given my recent successes in getting people to agree to meet.

And I've reached out to KfW2, so let's see where things go from there. 

As if by magic...

Out of the blue, a WhatsApp message from FBS giving a list of dates she's free in November. A quick reply from D, a suggestion by me and I think we could have nailed down a date, unless Friction Guy throws a spanner in the works!

So, with The Crowd and now this lot arranged, I should definitely work on KfW2. 

Penned in.

Quite surprisingly, it's all come together with The Crowd. We're agreed to go out in 12 days time, on the Saturday. I'm already looking forward to it.

If this is all coming together, I should try and get KfW2 out, too. Not on the same night, obviously, but maybe the start of next month. I know she's busy this month with family stuff and Halloween.

And there's a night out with D, FBS etc. that'll probably happen in November. 

Pencilled in.

After sending out a message to The Crowd a few days ago to somewhat generally positive responses, we might have even arranged a date: 18th October. It's the only date this month that FC is available. I'm free and I think S is, too.

If nothing else, I think we should meet even if the others can't make it. 

Urgh.

I think it's fair to say that I'm not feeling 100% today. I'm not hungover, at least not in the traditional sense. I don't really get hungover. But I am definitely still tired, despite being in bed from around 10PM and not waking until after 9AM. I will probably be mentally muggy all day, and it's not a feeling I like.

Bit it was fun, even if the numbers were low because of Storm Amy. 

Quiet Girl's just texted to find out how it was. I'll reply once I get some coffee.

Weather or not.

Storm Amy might be troublesome tomorrow. Quiet Girl has already said that she's re-evaluating her attendance at our work thing tomorrow. I'm still keen to go out, but I do see this weather keeping a lot of people away. I wouldn't be surprised if it was cancelled, but I'd hate if it was cancelled at the last minute.

Party time?

After D's attempt to get us out soon, I took the plunge and sent a message into the WhatsApp group with The Crowd about meeting for drinks soon.

S was quick to reply in the affirmative and so, surprisingly, was GM. Nothing as yet from FC or Mrs FC, but maybe this time we'll get something sorted. I'd be surprised if we saw each other this month, but maybe the start of November? That feels doable.

GM's already suggested a Christmas night as well. Hopefully we can do both.

It's been a while.

It was QC2's birthday yesterday. She's an older woman by about 10 months. It's nearly ten years since we had any kind of contact, and even that was a mis-dial. I miss our semi-frequent meetups at a pub for a few drinks and a chat.

Actually, now that I think about it, I really do like meetups for a few drinks and a chat. 

Sigh.

I went to visit my sister last night. I've not seen her in about a month, but that's not a surprise. I've posted before about the one-sided nature of our relationship. I do get an annual invite for Christmas dinner and the odd BBQ. They've asked me to do them favours like babysit or house-sit. But as I think I've blogged before, they never show up at my house, they never make a phone call just to be in touch.

And as I left their house last night after an enjoyable couple of hours conversation, my brother-in-law said "don't be a stranger".

I never am - I'm the one who always makes the effort, and it always frustrates me when they say something like that, or when their solution to my loneliness is to go and visit them. There's more to it than that. It frustrates me that they don't get that. It's not like they never visit other people. They do.

Raincheck?

D sent a message into our WhatsApp group yesterday (Me, D, FBS and Friction Guy) saying that he's free for the next three weekends. Apart from this coming Friday (work event with Quiet Girl et al.) I'm also free.

FBS was vague in her response.

"Yes" but also "Husband's away for three weeks this month".

I don't know if that means she's free or not. She hasn't suggested a date, so maybe not? It could be November before we meet up, despite conversations starting in August.

Out of the blue, again.

I had a dream last night where I was working, but I can't really explain what the work was. I feel it was like some data analysis for health insurance or something? My boss was someone that actually used to be my boss a few years back. We didn't really see eye-to-eye as she was extremely pedantic about stuff that just made life harder for no real benefit.

I also got paired up with an attractive short brunette woman. I'm convinced this was either Quiet Girl or R. I'm leaning heavily towards it being R. She was being very clingy and I mean that literally - being tactile to the point of not letting go, and the dream was mostly about me trying to get my own space.

It's interesting in that I've not thought about R in... a decade? The last time I do recall thinking about R was when FP and I were in London in September 2014 and took a day trip to Brighton which is where R was living at the time. CAB, too, but that's not relevant to this post. I go and try and find her, but she's never had any social media presence. I doubt that's changed now.

What's in a name?

Years ago, when I worked alongside Friction Guy, FBS, D etc. I mentored a guy who was about six years younger than I was. It became a running joke that he was Ruuude Jnr or Ruuude 2. They claimed that we were effectively lookalikes, but I thought they were taking the piss. Their opinion was based mainly due to the fact we had similar hairstyles more than anything else. Our build and height was completely different, for starters.

However, years after I left, I was due to meet someone in a bar. As an aside, it was the pub that I first met R2. Regardless, I stood at the bar and ordered a pint. A group of people walked in and stood beside me at the bar. I recognised some of them as being ex-colleagues,but having no interest in talking to them, I ignored them.

Literally seconds later though, they kept saying a name over and over again. It took me a while to realise that they were trying to get my attention, but they weren't using my name. They were using Ruuude Jnr's name. I continued to ignore them.

It was around that time that my companion (probably G or M) turned up and we moved on. 

Out of the blue. Well, green.

In a meeting earlier, while bored, I randomly thought of the night I first slept with FA2. I can't remember if I blogged about it before, but I'd be surprised if I hadn't.

I was out with school friends. BW invited out FA2. FA2 turned up wearing her "I'm going to get it" outfit. All that really meant was jeans,  a see-through green blouse and a green Wonderbra. We'd had a previous conversation where she explained that's what she would wear to make an impression on a guy.

We'd already spent many hours on her sofa making out at this stage, but I still didn't grasp that the person she wanted top make an impression on was me. At least not until that night until  she dragged me upstairs back at her place.

Anyway, I genuinely don't know why that random thought popped into my head at 230 PM  this afternoon... but it did.

Fantastic.

Over the past week or so, I have been binging super hero films. Last night, it was the most recent Fantastic Four film, and tonight it was the 2015 version.

Both were OK. The latter more memorable for starring the lovely Kate Mara than anything else, and especially as Quiet Girl was on my mind from our earlier interaction. I've pointed out that I do get a QG vibe off Kate Mara, haven't I?

Confirmation.

Quiet Girl messaged earlier to say that she's put her name forward for next week's work social event. Stalky Guy is going, too, so that's the basis for a good evening. At least until about 9 PM when Quiet Girl will trundle off home.

Stalky Guy and I may call it quits around that same time, but we often stay out later if the vibe is good. 

But it's a week away, too early to be making actual plans. 

Hello again.

For the first time in ages - months at least - my sister's university friend has popped up on Facebook, still looking very well.

She's been absent from social media and the online dating apps for ages. She'd regularly pop up in my "People You Know" feed on Facebook (which is where she appeared earlier) or in my online dating feeds. I always swipe right, but we've never matched. I genuinely don't know what I'd do if we did.

YES!

A tradesman has just left the house after doing a piece of work that I have been contemplating for a few months now. He's done a great job, but after a few hours of hammers, sawing and various power tools, I have a splitting headache.

But I'm chuffed to bits that I've gotten some work done.

Roll on the next piece at the start of November... hopefully. 

Just a vibe thing.

I had a bit of a lie-in this morning. Actually, I'm still doing it, writing this up from my toasty warm bed. But the point of the post is that I was watching Match of the day on my tablet. It's presented by Kelly Cates. 

I can't remember if I've posted about this before, but I get real QC1 vibes from her - it's the short blonde haircut and vague if-I-squint-there's a resemblance thing going on. Plus she was wearing some kind of trouser suit thing and I know for a fact that I've posted my appreciation of women in trouser suits before.

Part of me is tempted to reach out, to see if I can everyone out for drinks or something, but part of my refuses to do so because it's nearly always me. Cutting off my nose to spite my face? Maybe.

Cheers!

We've got a work thing coming up in 2 weeks, so I sent out the feelers to Stalky Guy and Quiet Girl. Quiet Girl, at first, was reluctant to commit. However, as the conversation went on, she changed her mind. She hasn't confirmed 1005 that she will go, but I think she will. She always seems to have fun when out with us, so my gut feeling will be that she come out.

Anti-procrastination.

So the guy who was meant to call yesterday has just left my house. He's quoted the job and said he can do it on Monday. That's an absolute result. It's only a half day job, too, so all that work will be complete and I can move on to do other stuff.

The guy from yesterday called, too, and the work I want him to do can be done around the start of November. 

I've been adulting like a motherfucker over the past few days and reaping the rewards for it, too.

Go on!

I have been adulting like a motherfucker today. A guy has come out to price up some work, and based on his initial quote (that he will refine and email to me), I've already told him I'd like him to do it. Even if the price rises by 10%, it's still affordable and in my price range.

I've also arranged for another guy to come out and look at some work, so I'#m expecting him to call within the next day or so.

It's all kicking off, and I'm feeling really proud of myself. 

Remember this?

Despite knowing CC for roughly 13 years, it only dawned on me this afternoon that CC's birthday matches an anniversary of my own - the day I went to America for nearly three months just over 20 years ago. That was the visit where I met V and generally had a blast. Good times.

HB, CC.

It's CC's birthday today. I wished her HB on her Facebook page, but I wasn't in direct contact. I had toyed with the idea of messaging her and maybe doing dinner, but ultimately I'm really low energy today. I might change my mind later, but that's unlikely.

Tune in.

I've just bought tickets to another gig, in December. That's two gigs in a matter of a few weeks at the end of November/start of December. I've said before that I wanted to go to more gigs, and I am. I've been to more gigs in the past 12 months than I have in the past 10 years.

The flip side is that I'm going on my own. I can do gigs on my own, but I prefer doing stuff with other people, sharing the experience, making it something more than just a gig.

 Beggars can't be choosers though, so solo gigging it is.

Out out.

Seeing KfW2 last weekend has really reignited the itch to be social, to see friends, to be out and about people watching. I miss the nights out I had with KfW2. I miss the nights out I had with The Crowd.

And, of course, I miss the nights out with FP.

My social life fell apart after Covid and it just hasn't restarted, nor have I met anyone new, partly as a result of having no social life.

I should call Nerdy Girl. 

*Pats back*

It's the last proper day of my time off work. back on Monday, but we're now into the weekend (ish). I'm quite pleased as I've not just spent the whole week sitting on the sofa watching TV. I've done that before then had massive regret that I wasn't more productive when I went back to work.

This week I've managed to see KfW2, arrange a couple of quotes for house stuff, get some gardening done including giving the hedge a good trim (a fairly big job, too). I also reached out to FP's widow. I've not message her in a while, so I thought I'd reach out. I should fire her another message and offer to meet for coffee or drinks or something.

So, I don't see there being any regret when I log on when Monday rolls round and I do (currently at least) feel quite recharged. 

Let's go?

I was chatting to USHW yesterday. Well, not chatting per se. Messaging. We revisited the idea of meeting up as that original plan (which would have been last week or this week) kinda fell by the wayside when life distracted me over the summer.

So potentially we have a vague idea of where we could meet. I have a vague idea of when that might be (any time from mid-October to mid-November), so all we'd need to do is finalise the details and I can book hotels and flights.

Can we actually do it this time, is the real question. 

Quotations.

More adulting today, this time to arrange for someone to come out and quote me some work. This is something I've been meaning to do for a while, so I'd delighted that I've actually gotten round to it. I really should get more quotes, but this has always been where any enthusiasm and motivation drops away: I get one quote, but can't compare it to others.

However, I do know the ballpark figure for this work and if this guy, who has been highly recommended, comes close to the figure I have, then I'll just go with him. I'll only get a second or third opinion if his quote is massively over the number I have in my head. 

They can't come out until next week, but this is work I've wanted done since before Covid, so waiting a week won't hurt*

*Unless things break in the interim, which they could well do. 

Booo!

I've already awake for hours. I woke at around 5 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I've got a headache that won't shift and a craving for a proper Latte from somewhere. I decided that I'd treat myself to a fry-up brekkie from the cafe round the corner and trundled round in the pouring rain, only to find that it wasn't open, despite Google telling me that it was.

Seeing things.

One thing that I meant to add when writing yesterday's post, was that I was a little disappointed in a couple of things that KfW2 said (or didn't say).

For starters, I've lost a bit of weight this year. Enough that a few people have outright asked me about it. But KfW2 hasn't, in two meetings. It was only when I hadn't completely finished a portion of her (delicious) dinner on Saturday night that it came up in conversation as I admitted that I was on a diet and shared the amount of weight I've lost.

We were also discussing scars and I was showing off some of the many scars I have, due to some surgery about twenty years back. Scars that were due to a body issue that I have. Not a body issue - that implies a mental aspect (which is there, but it's not huge), but a medical condition. I don't even know what it's called, if it was even diagnosed. It's gotten much worse since I originally spoke my GP about it, but there's no cure per se. However, it's neither painful nor life threatening. I'd shared this medical condition with her and been very open and upfront about it, but she'd completely forgotten that it existed.

Oh, and she temporarily forgot that I had a tattoo even though she's actually seen it with her own eyes on multiple occasions.

But... getting back to the point of this post... I know that I am guilty of putting my friends on pedestals. They're not going to see or remember every little thing about me, but KfW2 knows about my body issues. Well, that one at least. So for her to seemingly forget is more than a little disappointing. Not seeing the weight loss, I can overlook - we've only seen each other three times this year, and all three times she's been less than sober. But still.

Good for the soul.

I surprised KfW2 by not only staying the night, but not getting a bus early in the morning. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I arrived at KfW2's just after 6 PM. She had a surprise. She'd bought a dog.

I love dogs, and even if I hadn't, this one was gorgeous. An 8-week old cockapoo. And you know? Dogs love me. So it took little time for the doggo to decide I was awesome and want lots of pets and cuddles from me, much to KFW2's kids' chagrin.

It was nice seeing KfW2 again. It was great to chat, to have a proper conversation with someone who wasn't family. Mr KfW2 came home from work and the conversation and beer flowed until well after 1 AM.

I could have gone home, but the return to home instinct wasn't there. I think there were two main reasons: firstly I had zero thing to do today and secondly, with the upcoming week being a week off work, Sunday's time wasn't a precious resource.

So I stayed over. It's something I only do maybe 1 in 10 times, and mostly due to the above. But also due to not sleeping well in a strange bed. And I didn't sleep well. My fitness watch told me that was the worst night's sleep I've had since I started tracking my sleep a couple of months back.

However, KfW2 made up for that by cooking yummy pancakes for breakfast with plenty of hot coffee. I chilled with her kids for a few hours, watching a film, then it was time to come home while they went shopping. And I'm just back in the house, nearly 24 hours after leaving last evening.

And just like that...

I was going to call KfW2 at lunchtime to have a conversation about meeting up soon. It was no surprise then when she called me. This happens a lot.

We had a forty-minute phone call, mostly about our work lives when I changed the subject because KfW2 mentioned that work was getting her down.

"When are we gonna meet, then? Let's do something."

"My time management is awful these days. I don't know when I'm free. What are you free?" 

"Any time."

KfW2 laughed.

"You always say that then when I suggest something you say you can't make it"

"That's cos your suggestion is always 'what are you doing in ten minutes?'"

She laughed again.

"That's true. What are you doing tomorrow?" 

"I've nothing on."

"Come down and visit"

"OK"

"I'll need to confirm with Mr KfW2 to make sure we're not doing anything, but let's do that."

"OK"

There you go. I should be seeing KfW2 tomorrow, unless there's some social thing they've forgotten about. 

Just stuff.

FA2 featured in a dream last night. I don't recall exact details, but I was travelling. I was in New Zealand, I think, and generally pottering about. FA2 was with me but I don't really recall why.

And maybe K featured too. I don't remember any details of the dreamt hat featured K, but for some reason she was on my mind when the alarm went off this morning.

meh. Woohoo!

I have been adulting today, like a boss. So I'm simultaneously very pleased with myself and emotionally drained. I hate adulting. 

Same old...

CC called me in work today. I've not spoken to her in ages. Months maybe? And yet the conversation just followed the same old topics, all driven by CC: have I done any work to my house? Have I gone on holiday?

I don't know how many times I have to answer these questions before she realises that the answers are not likely to change a great deal.

Oh?

I was at a conference today with some amazing keynote speakers. Famous ones, too. Famous to the point where I'd leak the name of my employer if I shared who it was.

Suffice to say, they were both excellent for differing reasons. 

I was cynical about it all, but I've been proved wrong. 

Grrrr.

For the first time ever, I've done something I thought I would never do. I've actually emailed my MP.

I've asked him to address the UK Online Safety Act. This was brought on by the fact that I've recently been asked for a third time to verify my age/identity with a third verification platform in order to play games.

The thing is, I play games on like 6 different platforms. I listen to music on two platforms. I am an active member of a number of social media sites. I regularly watch videos on YouTube. I am infrequently active on three different online dating applications.

And, yes, I've watched porn. My Jenni Lee and Mindy Main appreciation didn't appear out of thin air. But I do agree that it should be tightened up. However, that's what the age restriction on my ISP should do, right? 

This shit mounts up. Do I want my face or official documents to be potentially hacked? Errr... no.

So, yeah, I emailed my MP. I've distilled it into the below bullet points in case any passers by are interested in emailing their own MPs or want to add to the list about why this implementation is bad for the individual.

• Excessive Data Sharing: The Act pushes ordinary people to hand over sensitive documents or biometric data just to access everyday online services. 
• Conflicts with UK GDPR: Data protection law requires data minimisation, yet this Act forces citizens to share far more personal information than necessary. 
• Multiple Verifications: With no single trusted provider, people would need to repeat the process across platforms like Spotify, Netflix, Steam, and Reddit. 
• Increased Breach Risks: Each extra disclosure raises the chances of leaks, identity theft, or surveillance. 
• History Repeats: Equifax (147m people affected), TalkTalk (150k UK customers), and even the NHS have all suffered major breaches — why expect smaller platforms to fare better? 
• Fraud Opportunities: Scammers will exploit the situation by creating fake verification sites, tricking users into uploading passports and IDs. 
• Vulnerable Groups Targeted: The elderly and less tech-savvy will be the easiest victims of such impersonation scams. 
• Disproportionate Measures: Millions of adults’ privacy will be undermined, while safer and simpler ISP-level parental controls already exist, or should. 
• Chilling Effect: Mandatory ID checks risk discouraging free speech and lawful online activity, conflicting with rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. 
• Unbalanced Approach: The stated aim of child protection is important, but it should not come at the expense of the privacy, security, and freedoms of the entire population.

 And I might be wrong on some of these, but I am just a nerd, I am not a lawyer, so there's a lot of my own interpretation in there. But it's a GREAT email.

And why not have a picture of the aforementioned Jenni Lee while I'm at it, yeah?

Phew.

I always take some time off around this time of year. I never have anything planned, but it just seems like a decent time to take some time for myself. The kids are back at school, so it's quieter during the day. The weather's usually decent and all-in-all well worth taking a week off work.

But I've been side-tracked this summer. Work's been super busy. Family stuff has occupied my time outside of work and I just haven't gotten around to asking my boss for a week off. I'll do that this afternoon though. Not next week - I have work commitments that I can't avoid. But the week after, for sure.

And I've also fired KfW2 a quick message demanding that we do "something" soon. Hopefully that'll kick off a conversation or, even better, actual arrangements.

Figure it out.

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this before, but having recently come across the below pictures, I thought it was worth sharing again. 

Elizabeth Hurley did a spread in UK lad's magazine Loaded in, I think, 1995.

I was always taken with the specific image in the bottom right of the collage image. I always got a CAB vibe off that picture - the hair, the vague shape of her face and, let's not beat about the bush here, her figure. I'm not suggesting for one second that CAB was as attractive as Elizabeth Hurley.

CAB was not, though, a lingerie woman. She was a jeans and t-shirt woman. Yes, the jeans and t-shirts hid a killer figure, but it was not something she was interested in showing off. A bit like CC in that regard.

And another reason for posting is that I always remember that single image from that shoot, the one of Hurley lying on the bed. I don't remember the others. I don't know of they were part of that shoot or unused shots that have now made their way onto the internet.

I'm...

I can't remember the dream from last night, but I am convinced it involved me having sex with FBS. Or maybe I didn't have a dream at all and I just woke this morning, horny as hell, with FBS on my mind for some reason?

Regardless, I woke this morning, horny as hell, with FBS on my mind.

Birthday Season

My Facebook feed is full of upcoming birthdays. I blogged about MMBF (and MM) having recent birthdays. It's my sister's birthday today and it's CH's birthday tomorrow.

I'm always reminded of the evening CH sat on my knee at a work event, was surreptitiously tactile before leaving for her bus home and sending a series of sweet text messages telling me how awesome she thought I was.

And for a brief moment, when I remember that evening, I miss CH. Until I remember how our friendship ended, how she played the victim when I called her out on her flakiness and her general inability to take any kind of criticism.

Great rack, though. 

Also... MMBF posted pics of her birthday weekend, and there's now actual evidence that M's assertion that MMBF is really high maintenance is true.

Time flies.

It was MMBF's birthday yesterday. I have memories of a night when MM invited me out for drinks with her and MMBF and it being a really good night, but that must easily be over ten years ago. I sometimes wonder if MM had ulterior motives, but I never saw any evidence that MMBF was romantically interested in me. I do semi-recall her being quite tactile that night, though. I also recall MM chatting about some guy that was showing interest in MMBF - an ex of some description - and her disapproving of it. But they both asked my advice, which I gave (and MM approved of). 

I had already made some effort at trying to bed MMBF at M and MM's wedding, but again, saw nothing to indicate she was interested in anything, and she left the wedding at the end of the evening despite my invitation to the resident's bar to carry on celebrating.

So, Happy Birthday MMBF. 

 

Wait, what?

I can't remember the entirety of the dream I had last night, but I do remember isolated portions of it.

So, in one portion, I was having dinner and drinks with UK TV celebrity Jeremy Clarkson at the restaurant of some celebrity chef. Gordon Ramsey maybe?

In another portion, an attractive woman, wearing pyjamas, was sitting on my lap. I can't remember who it was but she was known to me and we were super comfortable with each other, hence the lap-sitting. My sister's university friend, maybe? I got that vibe that it was her or someone like her. Anyway, people were making a big deal of her sitting on my lap and giving me hugs and cuddling. We both informed crowd that we were just friends, which was true within the dream.

There was another portion where I was in an action film with aliens in it. Or maybe it was "real" and I was battling aliens. It was hard to tell.

Anyway, I woke this morning, remembering those three isolated incidents but not really having a grasp on the overall dream. Very weird. I've not seen SUF on Facebook or online dating in ages. 

Sigh.

It's been two years since FP passed away. I can't remember the exact date, but it was today or yesterday. It was definitely this date that Mrs FP called to give me the news. It wasn't unexpected. He'd been ill for some time, but it was still difficult news to take.

I'd lost people close to me before, but FP was different. We'd see each other frequently, we'd message nearly daily and, with KfW2 and USHW, he was one of few people who really knew me. He was my sounding board, offering advice when needed. And the gap he left hasn't yet been filled.

And it might go without saying after the last paragraph, but I still miss him.

Facebook memories around this time are difficult as we'd been to a few gigs and taken more than a few pictures.

I really should get in touch with Mrs FP. I feel kin da guilty that I've not been in touch even though I always got the feeling that she didn't like me but was glad that I occupied FP so she could spend time with her family. She was extremely close to her family to a point that felt wrong to me.

Fly me to...

After last night's intense burst of... I don't know what it was, I woke this morning feeling very lonely. And the wanderlust was back, too. Couple those with the fact that a few days ago I'd seen an all-inclusive holiday in a travel agent's window for Lanzarote in the first week of September for what seemed a reasonable amount of money.

"I should see if CC fancies this," I thought to myself.

That was swiftly followed by:

"Are you fucking mad?" 

For starters, it really wouldn't be my kind of holiday. Second of all, do I really want to spend a week in CC's company? I've had experience of that, and it wasn't my thing, even if I did get to rub suntan lotion into her skin and see her in a selection of bikinis.

And I think Sports Girl lives in Lanzarote these days. Do  I really want to bump into her (even though it's really unlikely)? 

So, yeah, I put that idea to bed sharpish. 

Oooof.

For some reason, I just had this massive wave of missing KfW2. Like REALLY missing her. Or us. Or what we were ten years ago. Actually, I think that's it rather than just KfW2, though I would like to see her again, soon. 

But I miss the closeness, the being in the pub chatting, neither of us feeling awkward and able to just talk. The suddenness of this feeling has completely surprised me in its intensity. I wasn't even thinking of KfW2. I was thinking of a conversation I had a few weeks back with Quiet Girl about work. Why my brain made that jump is beyond me.

Let's do it.

I promised Nerdy Girl when we next did a walk that we'd try our old, longer route. It's been ages since we did it, so I'm looking forward to it. I'll be honest though, I liked doing the shorter route and sitting in CB Pub for an hour afterwards with a soft drink or non-alcoholic beer and chatting.

But I also want to see how well my foot has healed. It's two months since I got a clean bill of health and it's been pain-free for longer than that. So, yeah, let's do it.

Go me!

The glorious weather continues. I've done more gardening, I've arranged for the council to collect some big items for recycling, I've chatted with Nerdy Girl (we're meeting tomorrow) and I'll try and give KfW2 a call once I post this, and that's all on top of doing a full day's work.

A full day's work with me staring out of the window at my back garden, wishing I was there. But a full day's work nonetheless.

Sigh.

Thanks to the continued good weather and my work on Friday afternoon, today has been a really chilled day. I walked to the nearest shopping centre and bought a coffee (it's just over a mile away) and walked back, drinking it.

I did a few more bits and pieces in the garden before sitting down for a few hours to read a book and listen to music and it's done wonders.

Back to work tomorrow, sadly, but I should be meeting Nerdy Girl this week.

Let's go?

The group chat with D, FBS and Friction Guy has been busy today. I sent a message suggesting we meet for drinks soon. FBS was first to reply. She's busy. It could be late October or even November by the time we get something arranged. But at least the suggestion is out there and the conversation trundles on.

I should contact KfW2 and arrange something with her.

YES!

It's amazing how a spell of good weather just increases the mood. I feel like I've been sleeping better, I've got more energy and despite being super busy at work and some family stuff going on, I'm in great form.

I took this afternoon off from work and have spent an hour doing some work in the back garden. I think I'm a little sunburned, but only a little.

Urgh.

My back has been giving me grief for the past few months, sporadically. I really need to get back into my yoga. But last night was a particularly bad night. I feel asleep quite quickly, but I woken less than an hour later, then spent nearly two hours trying to get back to sleep.

Additionally, I had to start early this morning,  so that meant waking an hour earlier and boy am I feeling it this morning.

Lots of coffee, I think. 

...will be friends.

I was trying to get Nerdy Girl out for a walk this week, but she's busy with a couple of funerals. Friends, I think, but I didn't press the matter when she replied. I probably should have, but I'll reach out at the end of the week to see if she wants to meet for a drink or something. Maybe some company will help.

Sigh.

I was meant to do some family stuff today. I have a deadline of this time next week to fill in a form, but I don't have the information nor can I get the people with the information to assist.

But I'm also snowed under with work, to the point where the phone calls I wanted to make today, I simply couldn't. I was also expecting a message from my sister with some kind of update relating to the same thing, but I heard nothing. 

I'll have to find some time tomorrow, but I'm not optimistic and it's stressing me out.

Oh?

One thing that I meant to call out in last week's work event with Stalky Guy and Quiet Girl was Quiet Girl being quite tactile. For the record, I'm not suggesting anything untoward, just calling it out because in the years that I've known her, she's never been overly tactile with anyone that I've seen.

And yet, last week, she was sitting closer at times. On more than one occasion, she was resting her head on my shoulder. It was this action that made me realise that something was different.

Sure, we've hugged before. She's a hugger. But this? This was different. 

Out of the blue

Out of the blue, Quiet Girl messaged me last night. She was in a pub and spotted a co-worker. Not just any co-worker, but a guy that we used to work beside, pre-Covid. He was an awful bore. One of those people who used to read Wikipedia and the proclaim himself to be an expert on the subject.

He would corner people and then talk at them for ages. Like a proper long time. Up to an hour, and this would be during the work day.

I've been properly rude to him, too, berating him for having zero social skills - interrupting conversations so he could pontificate on whatever topic he wanted to talk about. People have been shocked, but you need to be blunt to people like that. Tact doesn't work. I tried that.  

Jobsworth

So, not only did work piss me off over the past few days but I had to deal with a jobsworth yesterday. And public transport let me down.

So, the story is that I called up some people on Thursday and asked for help to fill in a form. I can fill in forms, fine, but I have a specific form that needs done by next week and I simply don't have the information. The people I called have the information. And there are a lot of questions that need answered.

I explained everything, the girl on the phone said she'd book some time in the relevant person's calendar and all was good.

I took a half day off work, jumped on a bus, which was late, then a train. Then I got off the train because it was delayed indefinitely due to another broken down train on the tracks. I walked to the bus stop and got the bus instead. 

I was an hour late. I despise being late. I should have been 15 minutes early, if my first bus had been on time. 15 minutes late if the train had left on time.

But I knocked on the woman's door and introduced myself.

The first thing she said was...

"I don't fill in forms"

"I'm not asking you to fill in the form. I'm asking you for the information I need to fill in the form"

"I don't do that"

"How am I meant to fill in this form then?"

"I can escalate it if you want?"

"Yes please"

"I'll call you on Monday"

"Thank you"

Now that's the gist of the conversation, but imagine the beginning of the conversation going round in circles when she tells me she doesn't fill in forms and me explaining that this feels like an impossible task if she won't fill in the form nor will she give me the information I need to fill in the form, which needs to be completed, posted and delivered within 7 days.

I am fucking livid. Time and money wasted, and a jobsworth.

HB, AK.

Apparently it's Anna Kendrick's 40th birthday today. Any excuse to post a picture or two, eh?

 

Gah!

Work's pissing me off. I'm working on a high-visibility project and they've arbitrarily decided we're going to release it next week. We're not finished. It's OK, they explained, we'll release what we've got "dark" (i.e. turned off) then when the rest is done, we'll release that and turn it on.

I said I wasn't happy.

My co-worker said he wasn't happy.

Still, they persisted.

So now, not only do we have to finish the work and hope that it's up to scratch, but we have extra chores to do to prepare for next week, as well.

And all to save a week.

For a fancy new user interface that's (IMO) awful to look at. But we're not doing that bit. Nothing legal. Nothing that's going to cost the company a lot of money. Nothing compliance related. Just an arbitrary date so someone can look good.

Maybe I'll do EuroMillions tonight. 

Wait, what?

I had a dream last night that involved FP and Jessica Alba. We were at his holiday home in America and after a hard day's work painting his apartment. After showering and changing, we hit his local blues bar.

After propping up the bar for an hour or so,  this stunning brunette stood beside us and ordered drinks. FP chatted to her as my eye was drawn across the room to another woman. Eventually he tagged me into the conversation and the stunning brunette was Jessica Alba.

Within minutes of us chatting, she got very tactile and it was clear she was interested. She took her drinks and went back to her friends.

Long story short, during the rest of the evening, we kept bumping into each other, but I never took my chance. I woke this morning extremely frustrated. 

The dream really reminded me of the night I met Recruitment Bird for the first time. A similar thing happened, except I did take my chance that evening.

Planning

The thing about going out to the pub last Tuesday and the work party on Friday is that it's given me a taste again for going out, chilling with good company, having a few drinks and people watching.

KfW2 is back from her holidays, and we kinda agreed to do something when she came back. A day out with her kids, or an adult evening. I don't mind either way. I've posted before that I think her kids are great company. I would nearly always lean towards an adult evening out, given my lack of opportunity to do that these days, but I'll take anything at the moment.

Zzz.

I bought a new smartwatch at Xmas because I was planning on trying to up my exercise and lose some weight this year. I've also started keeping it on at night to track my sleep. I've been convinced that my sleep has been awful for a long time - years, in fact.

So over the past 2 weeks, apparently the average sleep I'm getting is just shy of eight hours a night. But it doesn't feel like that.

I'll need to dig into the details a bit more to see what the quality is like, and how exactly the smart watch is recording my sleep. There are still a lot of days where I wake and I feel awful. Today was one of them. Yesterday was not. But yesterday I supposedly got 9 hours.

These boots were made for walking.

I got a couple of drunken text messages from KfW2 last night, around midnight. I was already asleep, and only picked them up this morning. She must have been quite drunk because they made no sense. I texted back and eventually got a more detailed explanation out of her. Long story short: she was at a friend's house, got drunk and did an Irish Goodbye. We have our own slang for it.

She's massively hungover today, poor thing. 

Just talking.

The work event was great fun. Even Stalky Guy was less Stalky Guy than usual, which helped. I spent most of the evening chatting to Quiet Girl, though. Her friend didn't show up - she was travelling for work. 

Both QG and another woman, who comes out with us regularly, were quite tactile last night.  That's not unusual for the unnamed woman, but it is for Quiet Girl. She's a hugger, but never anything more. Until last night that is.

Other than that, nothing strange or startling occurred, but it was still a fun evening. Quiet Girl is always good company.

Answer me this.

The pub quiz was a fund raiser for my niece’s school's PTA. Disappointingly, it seemed that only my sister brought along extra people. The only other representatives were the PTA itself. They weren't the only ones in the quiz - it was a public bar, so plenty of non-associated people were there, so the numbers were good.

One of the PTA members was this super cute, petite, blonde woman, who looked roughly my age and drew my attention for a good portion of the evening, until I saw the wedding ring. Shame.

The quiz was great fun. I always enjoy a pub quiz. I'm not bad at them, but it's a team effort and we managed to come second, losing out on first place on the penultimate question. Still... 

Doing the do.

I dreamed of K last night. I don't know what prompted it, but in the dream, we never drifted apart after sleeping together and instead formed a great FwB thing. We'd visit each other every few months and do what FwBs do, and it was all very chill and fun.

There didn't seem to be a point or a conclusion to the dream. I woke before anything like that happened, if it was even going to, but my sleep quality last night was awful.

Great success!

Well, the good news is that I am hangover-free this morning, despite drinking from 3 PM until midnight, and having several sambucas and tequilas, courtesy of my nephew.

I'm still muggy in the head and I am literally only awake about 30 minutes. I'll need a lot of coffee today, and despite my lack of hangover, I'm still glad I took today off work.

I was also a little apprehensive about the party. The last time my sister hosted a party, I spent the entire evening feeling out of sorts: lonely and a couple of other, vague, unidentified feelings. That didn't happen this time around, and the party was great, so all-in-all a great success.

Cheers!

Double birthday party today and it's going to be a very drunken affair. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, though I do have the day off work, just in case. I can't remember the last time I was drunk, properly drunk, not just tipsy drunk. The last time I was tipsy drunk was probably out with KfW2 for lunch and drinks a few months back.

But otherwise, I've not drank that much alcohol this year nor have I been out a lot. 

Who dis?

I was lying in bed this morning, browsing Reddit when I came across this picture: 

It's someone called Ava Moore, but I know nothing more than that other than she looks very pretty and gives me vibes of someone I know, but can't put my finger on.