Bend me, shape me...

One of the accessories advised by the consultant is an inflexible splint. I ordered one off Amazon and it arrived yesterday. I'm not gonna lie, going to bed with that thing strapped to my right foot  was extremely off-putting, to the point where, at 3 AM, I removed it because I wasn't getting any sleep.

I'm already knackered this morning, but I hope that when I strap it on again tonight, that I'll be too tired to let it keep me awake. The consultant suggested I use it nightly for like three weeks. Oooft.

As I said in my last post about the injury, there's a possibility of surgery. I think that might be a little more probable that the consultant realises because, despite the fact I've basically sat on my ass for the past year, I am actually quite flexible.

Timing.

After my dream and semi-memory of an old classmate in this post, she almost inevitably pops up in my Facebook feed and time has been very kind to her. I still never really knew her well enough that I'd reach out or add her on Facebook, but I thought it was worth the comment given the timing.

Stuff to look forward to.

The clinic have been in touch and my MRI scan is due in two weeks. two weeks yesterday, in fact. That also means that it's two weeks today until KfW2 and I go out. Never had an MRI before, so while I'm not saying that I'm looking forward to it, it is intriguing me.

Step one.

So, I guess the good thing is that the consultant told me what I expected to hear: Plantar Fasciitis. He's recommended an MRI to rule out any lasting or permanent damage and a follow-up consultation in a few months time.

He's also given me some stretching exercises that I've been kinda doing anyway  and effectively told me to bin off all of my shoes and buy new ones. The brand he recommends are, on first look, about three or four times more expensive than the shoes I tend to wear. Hmmm...

Oh, and also some aids - insoles for shoes, splints and stuff like that.

He hopes the splints, insoles and more importantly, the stretching should take care of the issue, but if not then we'll have to look at other treatments that might include surgery. But at least the healing journey begins.

Rear ended.

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned in the past that I think Quiet Girl has a nice ass. And if I've not mentioned it, I'd definitely said to USHW. QG's a thin girl, so not a lot of curves, but a nice ass. I love watching her walk. She wears jeans well.

And so, at the work event tonight, I positioned myself behind her when we were walking from the office to the venue for 20 minutes, and thoroughly enjoyed the view as she ambled along, then climbed a few sets of stairs.

Of course, better than that, she's also good company. We found ourselves sitting beside each other during the event, making silly remarks and just having fun.

A good night.

Oh?

For the first time in a long time, I remembered a dream I had last night. The details are long gone, but I didn't get a chance to blog about this until now. Some of the basic components were that it was at a Christmas party, I was looking for someone. During my search, I bumped into CH and a girl that I went to school with, and some HR girls, including GM's ex.

The girl, who I don't think has been mentioned on the blog before, was a thin girl with a huge rack. We were were in the same class, friendly, but not close. As I think back, she gives off Judy Greer vibes.

Anyway, the girl from school pulls me aside and talks about how we'd hooked up (this never happened in real life), pulled up her dress to show off her g-string and impressively flat stomach, and asks for another go. When I turn her down to find the person I'm looking for (unidentified), she throws a huff and leaves.

And that's pretty much all I can recall from the dream.

Can you do me a favour?

I had another, out of the blue, text message from KfW2 on Friday afternoon. Could I do her a favour?

No other details, so I was a little reluctant to reply, in case she wanted something that same evening. I did eventually ask for details though, once I'd had some food.

"Can you babysit tomorrow night?"

I can't remember the last time KfW2 asked me to babysit. It must be a couple of years. It feels longer.

She typed up a huge explanation of why she was asking me, but ultimately, it didn't matter. She needed a favour, I had no plans and I hadn't seen her face to face in 15 months, and longer for her kids. I've also wanted to do more stuff, to stop sitting in front of the TV or PC and be more social. And I guess I need to add my usual reference from USHW about being a sucker for a pretty face.

I regretted it the next day.  That had nothing to do with KfW2 or her kids, but more me and my reluctance to leave the house. Laziness? The weather (it was awful)? Something else? Who knows.

However, I did force myself out of the house, on the bus and down to KfW2's. I had a great time with the kids. They adore me. And KfW2 and her hubby returned home early, so I got a little bit more time with them before I returned home for the best night's sleep I've had in weeks.

Yeeehaw.

D picked me up and we arrived at the gig. Despite the venue being half full, we were both of the opinion that the crowd probably wouldn't get any bigger. After all, she was (is?) an unknown, only releasing her first album a few weeks ago. And, sadly, she only played about 45 mins, and a good chunk of that was her interacting with the crowd - she was really quite good at that.

To be fair, the tickets were probably only around £20, but still, I'd expect an up and comer to try and stand out a little. It's not a complaint, just an observation. I don't think I'd feel hard done by if I'd spent the money myself.

But, long story short, I had a good time, catching up with D was great and the music, though not really my taste, was good.

And then, just as D dropped me off home, I got a demanding text message from KfW2 about doing dinner. So once again we have a date agreed upon: 11th April. This was KfW2's idea, so here's hoping that means that she's not going to forget.

Bloody hell.

The last time I weighted myself was, I dunno, maybe early in the pandemic. If memory serves, then I was roughly 2.5 stone heavier than I'd like to be. And that's heavier than I perhaps should be.

Today, for the first time in years, I stepped onto my new scales. i bought them in Black Friday sales, with the plan originally to step on them at the start of January and see what my goals were going to be for this year.

Various illnesses and other life stuff has meant that I didn't get around to doing that until today... just now. And I am officially the heaviest I've ever been. I'm about 3 stone heavier than I'd like, but I'm a little surprised I'm not heavier given that I've been eating crap and pretty sedentary for the past year.

Next week, I got to finally have my foot looked after. I have to go private because I cannot get through to my GP, and I am lucky enough to have health insurance with my employer.

All the things I've done before are my plans for weight loss - exercise in the form of walking, cycling and yoga. I'll have to start calorie counting again, too, which I dislike a lot but is a necessary evil.

Let's see what I can do in the next three and a half months, and what the numbers are like at the end of June.

Where did you go?

It's ten years to the day that GM brought Foreign Girl out for an afternoon's drinking and partying. I don't think her and GM talk any more - nothing wrong per se, they just drifted apart. She's disappeared off Facebook too. We were Facebook friends for a couple of years. I don't actually think I can remember her name.

But I recall that being a great day, somewhat drunken, and then GM admitting a few days later that Sports Girl had thrown an almighty huff later at FC's house because she assumed, rightly or wrongly, that GM and FG were getting it on. I know they had in the past, but I don't know if it was an active thing by the time she came to visit or if it was happening that night.

But I seem to recall it being a great day.

Go me!

I'm all proud of myself. Last night, I came across a leaflet for a local artist/photographer. Hang on, let me backtrack a bit. A few years ago, my sister bought me a framed photograph as a Christmas present. I loved it. It was pretty much the perfect present: something that I liked that I would never have thought about buying myself. My house is functional. I've no qualms about buying tools, household items etc. but anything purely decorative like art or plants is a blind spot for me.

So, ever since, I've been looking out for something similar. So a while back, I found someone who was doing the type of stuff I liked. I think it was a weekend when E was last home and we were out hunting for gifts for her to take home. I got a flyer from the woman at the market and promptly lost it.

Until last night when I was doing some tidying up. 

I browsed the website on the leaflet, saw a few things that piqued my interest and looked at where I could buy. The best place for me was to return to the market that runs every weekend.

This morning, I found it difficult to motivate myself to actually leave the house. I toyed with the idea of messaging Nerdy Girl to see if she wanted to meet for a coffee at the market, but decided against it.

Then, twenty minutes later, I just did it. I grabbed my earbuds, phone and keys and got the bus into the market.

I was unsure how much the art cost, but I am sitting on some cash that I got for my past few birthdays and Christmases. Fortunately, they had was I was looking for, and it was very reasonable, so I bought two pieces and returned home after getting a coffee.

So pats of the back for me.

Bloody hell, time flies.

Facebook reminds me that it's 5 years this weekend since my employer told everyone not to come back to the office, and we've been that way since. FP and I were in CB Pub for a last hurrah, obviously unwisely, but I to remember that we both needed it at the time.

And then KfW2 visited on the Sunday as we got our official text messages from work with the news.

Five years. Sheesh.

Yes!

KfW2 called me yesterday afternoon. Apparently she had tried to call me earlier in the week, but the call failed. I say "failed", but what happened was that she dialled someone else because her phone does weird things when she tells it to "Call Ruuude".

We got chatting and KfW2 random asked "Why are you not at work?"

"I am at work"

"Why did you pick up the call?"

"Because we haven't spoken in ages, and I wanted to chat."

We continued the conversation and agreed that we wanted to meet ASAP for dinner and she even said that she wanted to talk more, which I have to say surprised me. But maybe that was just a reaction to my comment about not talking as frequently as we used to? Regardless, it was really nice to  hear (and at least over the past few months, I've been as much at fault as her for the lack of phone calls).

I had to cut short the conversation because I had a meeting to go into , but I promised that I'd call her next week. And I will, and I'll try and pin her down for dinner.

Mrs Ruuude

And seeing as I posted about Jessica Alba earlier, and it's been a while, here's a Jessica Alba appreciation post.

 

 

 

Oh la la la!

Inspiration struck! Regular readers will be unsurprised to hear that the actress mentioned in this post was, in fact, Jessica Alba. The film was Idle Hands.

 Yup. No wonder I was instantly taken with this clothing combo.

Hmmm...

I don't think that picture in yesterday's post has done me any favours. It's not that I'm now pining after Recruitment Bird, but it has kicked off quite strong feelings of loneliness and a memory of meeting a couple of girls in the pub around the time of RB where I admitted I'd recently met someone and was hopefully going to see her again.

"Oh, I love that feeling!" exclaimed one of the girls. 

And that's kinda what I'm feeling right now. I want that feeling. I want to meet someone, to be attracted to them, to be excited by them. I've not felt that in years. I know Chloe and Quiet Girl's friend were reasonably recent, and that I've toyed with at least seeing if there was something physical but not really considered them dating material but I'm struggling to recall anyone who's properly excited me, probably since before Covid. And even then? CH? CB?

And that's depressing in itself.

Oh la la.

I saw a photo posted by actress Daniela Melchior on Instagram earlier today and it instantly brought back memories of one of the nights I spent sharing a bed with Recruitment Bird. After a bit of kissing and wandering hands on the sofa, she dragged me upstairs, not to her room, but to the house's spare room.

After a bit more kissing and handsy stuff, she disappeared and returned in some nightwear and she looked amazing in it. It's a look I love, but I don't recall any other women I've been with who wore something like this to bed: shorts and a strappy vest top.

And here's the picture I mentioned above: stunning.

I can definitely remember seeing an actress wear something like this in a film, and I was taken immediately. I can't remember offhand who it was or the film in question.

Oh dear. (Mondays suck)

There's nothing worse than having to get up for work earlier than usual... except when it turns out to be pointless and you'll have to do it another day. And that day is tomorrow, and it's even earlier than it was today. Sigh.

 And then my new boss continues his pattern of being a dick. Not to me, but to a junior colleague. But it's the same shot he tried to pull on me last week by contradicting himself repeatedly.

Hopefully he realises that he's being a dick and adjusts his behaviour accordingly, but I'm not holding  out much hope. These people tend not to realise how bad their behaviour is.

On the plus side, I've been quite productive today, including arranging a consultation to see about my foot injury. That's not for a few weeks yet, but there's plenty to keep me busy from now until the end of the month.

HBK

Facebook tells me it's K's birthday today, so Happy Birthday, K.

Shame you were bonkers, and a recent re-reading of some MSN conversations with F only re-enforces that, otherwise we coulda had a lot more fun.

Giveth and taketh.

While this weekend with KfW2 is a washout, another socialising opportunity has arisen:  a work thing, potentially with Quiet Girl, Stalky Guy and maybe a few others. It's the night before the gig with D, but as I've said before, Quiet Girl is always good company.

Perving.

After Nerdy Girl and I had done our walk, we nipped into CB Pub for a drink. I was explaining to NG that I had a few gigs to attend over the next few months and regaled her of D's invite to Willow Avalon.

I explained my thought processes, including making my decision on seeing her pictures.

"Lemme see the pictures!" she demanded.

I searched for pictures on my phone and showed them to NG.

"Are there any tickets left?" she beamed.

"I dunno, probably." 

I doubt she'll go, but it'd be good fun if she did.

sad face (con'td)

KfW2 called about half an hour ago.

"Sorry, I forgot to call you back last night. I've got a meeting in ten minutes, but you have me 'til then... go!"

"Errr... OK. Well, fuirst things first... we were meant to be going out this weekend for dinner and drinks, right?"

"Were we?"

"Yeah, we pencilled it in a few weeks ago. I've had Covid since, otherwise I'd have been pushing you to confirm." 

"Oh. Err. My son is home this weekend and he's taking me out to a cocktail making class for my Xmas present."

"..."

The conversation flowed more about family stuff, but clearly the thing here is that there will be no dinner and drinks with KfW2 this weekend, and even if I'd spoken to her last week, we couldn't make plans if her son was home.

Back to the drawing board.

sad face.

KfW2 called me on Friday, and I returned the call and sent her a message. I called her on Monday evening. She never returned the call. I called her again last night and she did pick up the call.

"Is anything wrong?" she asked.

I'm guessing the fact that I've called her several times in a row triggered something in her brain.

"Nope, just calling."

I heard background noise.

"Can you talk?"

"I'm at the in-laws."

"I'll call you later."

"No, I'll call you on the way home. Are you sure you're OK?"

"Yeah, everything's grand."

And guess what? This makes me sad. The longer we're not in contact, the less likely we're going for dinner and drinks this weekend, because that's why I'm calling. We can chat at the weekend over dinner and gins.

Yeehaw!

So, D suggested I looked up someone called "Willow Avalon". That's who we're going to see in a few weeks time. And I did. And I am glad I did. She plays Country and Western music. It's not a genre I tend to like that much but...

 

So you know, I might actually enjoy a few hours of Country and Western music.

Go me!

I finally remembered to contact my private healthcare provider today to get the ball rolling on this foot injury that I've had for about a year. Everything I've read online points to Plantar Fasciitis, but I'm a nerd not a Doctor, Jim.

So hopefully they'll get back to me soon and I can make actual, real progress into healing , which will hopefully lead to me being out of the house more i.e. walking and doing exercise.

Oh, let's go!

D sent a text message. Did I want to go to a free gig in a few weeks time? Yeah, why not? D's music tastes and mine can align, but not often. but still, trying something new and get out of the house? Count me in!

Coincidentally, Nerdy Girl sent a text about meeting this week, so we're due to meet tomorrow evening for a walk. I don't think my foot has healed sufficiently to get back into the full 6 mile route, but it'd be great to see her again. We've not seen each other since a few days after Christmas.

And I need to get in touch with KfW2. This coming weekend is when we'd tentatively arranged to meet for dinner, but we've not spoken since then. She did call on Friday, during the day, but I was in meetings at work and couldn't take the call.  So hopefully we can actually arrange this. I'll call her once I've had something to eat.

Nothing to say.

I've nothing to say, but I just wanted to get some typing in to get used to my new keyboard, which is lovely. I know it's difficult to get excited about such things, but I did say I was a massive nerd and loved gadgets.

And my old keyboard was doing my head in after a accident that involved me spilling coffee over it a few months back and meant the backlight didn't work on some keys and the same keys could be a bit temperamental when it came to typing.

Boooooo!

There's nothing worse than ordering something online then staring at the delivery status and watch it get gradually pushed out. My new keyboard (yes, I am a massive nerd who likes gadgets) was originally meant to be delivery from around 1PM, but now the delivery window says 4PM.

Gimme my new stuff!