Future plans

Well, Silver’s true colours seem to be emerging – it would appear her only interest in life is FOOD! Hmmm. Like, at night when I go through to the bedroom, she doesn’t budge – but let me step inside the kitchen and she’s right by my feet, quick as a flash! This morning she showed some interest in cuddling, although not really much. It will be interesting to see how this develops!

At work, still no internet. Apparently cutting off half the country took only a few hours – but restoring what they destroyed will take days. Typical! I got a call from the Pretoria Project site – they are also without internet. Fantastic upgrade, eh?

On the good news front: I will definitely receive an increase in salary! The project manager confirmed THAT he’s ok with it, now it’s just between him and the site manager to agree on an amount. I’ve also confirmed with MY boss, that the increase will come through to me. Further good news, for me at least, is that I’m very likely to be needed until at least December!

The down side to that, of course, is that during a project taking leave is always an issue – and I want to take a week or two end of November, as I’m invited to a wedding in Pretoria. And I want to combine that with some specialised shopping (i.e. items not available in PE) – like some decent pants or trousers! I’ve not yet found any place in PE where they cater for non-tweenies and non-twiggies, as in: cater for 50+ with a normal body-size. Any woman over 50 with a waist like a twig has serious self-image issues – in my opinion. Peer pressure worked on me in my teens and twenties, sadly even in my thirties, but by now I’ve outgrown the need to base my self-worth on public-approval! I don’t need to look good ‘for my age’ = body trimmed to meet younger-age standards.

Anyway, I know of no places in PE where I can find some leg-dressing that fits comfortably and goes OVER my hips! This crack-display fashion is seriously ugly, in my opinion. Every time one of the guys has to bend, those ‘hipsters’ slide and I’m facing serious cracks! Do you have any idea how unpleasant it is to find yourself facing those hairy cracks up in the air? Every shop I’ve tried recently – no matter what they call it, it all slides down; whether when walking, bending or doing anything but sit on it. I wish I could sew! In desperation I’ve even considered skirts! But that’s just not a realistic option when you work on a site. Ah, well. That’s why I want to spend some time looking around in Pretoria – there at least they have a much wider variety!

Back to the topic of income: I started this blog to get into the habit of daily writing. It’s been two months now, and I think I can tick that one off as ‘Done’. The plan was, that once I’m in that habit, to start a second project, one that would supplement my income. And I’ve outlined three ideas already – and even started with one of them ... but I only got as far as taking my research papers out! They’re still set up on my table ready for me to get started ... but I’m just not finding / making the time. Since it’s at home (as in hard copies, not electronic) I would have to do it either in the morning, evening or weekends. I have 45 minutes lunch – which is when I write this blog. Then, in the evenings I select, crop and add any photos and post it online. Say, another twenty minutes to an hour (Photo’s take time). So, I don’t see any hard copy research projects happening in the near future. And this morning I was mulling this over in my mind and thought: Admin! There’s a topic that could work! The research on that I have electronically, add to that the experience here at work – especially with the lack of know-how I’m faced with from our suppliers ... and that could work!

I also remembered, when I was writing the newsletter in 1999, how the anger at the stupidity I encountered was THE driving force behind my articles. Put that together with what Neil Gaiman said at Terry Pratchett’s Memorial – about anger as the muse for writing (my interpretation) – and I may have something there. Only: I no longer have that kind of anger; I’ve learned to let go, let it evaporate, laugh at the cause, etc. And I have no desire to go backwards in my personal growth. So, the approach would have to be somewhat different. It still needs a lot of thought, but at least there’s a start for something that can really work.

Oh, and the weather is so bad, the gardener won’t have turned up today. Now I have to decide whether I want to set out into the storm tonight to cut more thorns – or wait to see what the weather is like tomorrow night, or give it a miss this week.