A Day In The Life Of.....

Well, here we are again.  I look at my last post and just wonder where the time has gone.

As I write now, London has just hosted the Olympics (I was right, another Y2K cash-fest for scare mongers - 'Is Your Business Ready')... I went through Stratford every single day, with no disruptions at all.... even less than normal!

I lost my Father-in-Law.  Quite a scary man when I started courting his daughter in 1985, but with a heart of gold.  He was taken short of breath after dinner on Friday 13th June and died on the way to hospital.

I made my father go to the doctor for a check-up before he went on holiday.  He went on the Monday, was given a clean bill of health by the GP.  Then he went out for a meal, was taken short of breath and we switched off the life support on the Tuesday. 

Friday week after that, my Bluebell, who'd been with me for over 17 years, was  put to sleep.

All-in-all, July was quite a shitty month.

But I have a new job, well it was new in May.  Pretty much as I was doing before, but with different people.  It's a funny set-up, going from a simple, flat organisation to the chaotic world of advertising.  Free bar on Thursday evenings, a table-football game in Reception.

From my point of view, the voice needs a serious review, but with no money to do it properly but, as always, it'll work as best as it can, given the circumstances.

I know I promised this before, but now I'm going to set a reminder to try and get my thoughts down at least once a week...

Take care everyone..

Where has the time gone?

I do have to apologise, I haven't been particularly busy that I could put a hand on, but I just dont seem to have to time.

I am going to try and get on here a bit more regularly, even though the number of readers can be counted on one hand!

This June 30th will be 10 years since Zim Israel Navigation Company Limited/Star Shipping Agencies London, closed their doors at 155 Gower Street. It was the longest I have ever worked for a company-14 years. There were good times, I married my first wife whilst I was there and met my second wife.....although it took 14 years from meeting number two to marrying her!

There were bad times, the management was all Israeli's that came over for 5 years postings, and some of them were obnoxious, jumped up XXXXs (fill in the missing word with your own imaginations).

I started as a 'Container Repair Assistant' after a 20 minute interview with a fantastic man. After a few years, he moved back to Israel and I became the 'Manager'. 6 more years and I moved to the Computer Department (after one of the XXXXs and I had a disagreement). I built a network and progressed from there.....Until they decided that London was too expensive and closed the office.

I was glad I had the time there......

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

I watched a film the other day, well to be more honest, half a film. It was, in my opinion, a very powerful film. For those that don't the story, it is about a young german boy, who befriends a jewish boy who is in one of the concentration camps in the second world war. The german boys father is a high ranking officer at the same camp.
When the boys mother finds that the chimneys at the camp are for burning the bodies, she plans to take her son and daughter away. That same morning, the german boy climbs into the camp to help his jewish friend find his father, gets rounded up and put into the 'showers'.
The imagery of the jews crowded into the room, the shot of their prison uniforms in the changing room and the boys mother screaming when she realises what has happened, seriously moved me.
In this time of year, with peace and goodwill to all men, I just sat there, thinking who gave that meglomanic the right to decide who could live and who couldn't. He pushed his idea of the 'Master Race', but when you look at him and his 'right hand men', they hadly fitted the picture that he was drawing...
Even in this century, there is still talk in some parts of the world, of Ethnic Cleansing... To be honest, it really fucks me right off.
People have the right to live. I don't care about their religion, their colour, what side of the street they live on....People who deprive other people of the right to live should be tried for murder with capital punishment should they be found guilty. People who incite other people to deprive people of the right to live, are also just as guilty.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Art or Porn

I have an account on Deviant art (http://ianadan.deviantart.com). I love taking photos, and this gives me a chance to let other people see and critique my stuff.

So I took a photo of my lovely wife, manipulated it a bit in photoshop, you know the form, black and white, tasteful blurring of some bits, etc, and posted it up.

I had some nice comments, I had some blatantly pervy comments and some general stuff. While looking at the people that liked my work, i was more than a bit surprised that some of them had never, ever submitted any form of art to the deviantart forums and the art that they had marked as favourite was, IMHO, porn.

In a discussion on this matter with a friend of mine, he says that all views of the naked form should count as art, as it in the eye of the beholder. I feel that some things are better left to the imagination. A close up photo of female genitalia, in my mind anyway, detracts from the beauty of the real thing and cheapens the experience.

But that is, as I always stress, my own humble opinion.

Go with the flow.....

I will start with an apology. This post is very similar to one I did earlier, but people do keep to annoy me!!
I travel to and from the steamy metropolis called London, from the busy station called Liverpool Street. It is like a living thing, trains come in and throw people into the heaving masses, collect the people and take them off to home or work or wherever people go. People move through the concourse like blood through veins, keeping the thing alive. And then you get the others......
Most people arriving from a train, know where they are going, to the underground, out of the station through one of the 3 large exits or to one of the many shops.
Most people arriving to the station from the city, know that they need to catch a train, and have some idea where it's going to go from. And then you get the others.......
These are the people that seem intent on making sure you miss your next train. I'm sure it is not a conscious decision, they don't hate you so much they want you to miss your dinner or be late for a date or a night out, or just getting home to bed. It's like they cannot do two things at once, or looking at some of them, they struggle doing one thing at a time.
There is a large indicator board across the middle of the station, showing the times of the next trains. Why do people have to stop on the stairs, in the middle of the concourse or anywhere else that seems to be the best place to screw up the flow of people through the station. There are enough places where, if you had the slightest bit of common sense, you could stop, check the time of your train and even be in time to catch it, without causing mayhem.
People, you may think that you are the centre of the universe, that everything revolves around you in your own little world, but believe me, it doesn't. Think of other people sometimes, it doesn't even cost any money, it's just common sense.
The world will be a happier place if everyone thought someone other than themselves for a minute.

Tragic Theatre...

Someone described my life over the last few years as sounding like a tragic love story. My wife, of nearly 20 years, dies in hospital. I meet up with an old friend, whom I've known for nearly as long. We get together, She gets a divorce comes to England with her two children and we get married and live happily ever after.
Sounds nice, doesn't it? My family love them and love to see me happy again.
So why the tragic part you ask? I was once told that friends are the family you choose for yourself, and I agree with that. I don't have many friends, but those I do I love like family.
My wife, although in a new country, has friends back in her home country and (with the technology called Skype) can talk and see them whenever she likes. Knowing how people can gossip, she (and her ex-husband) decided they would not announce everything, they would let the information about the divorce/wedding filter down the grapevine.
Now, for some reason, known only to themselves, some friends are feeling a bit upset that they are not being involved in every decision that is happening in our lives here and are blanking her and her ex-husband.
And my comment to this is 'GROW UP!!'. Were you only friends with them because they were married or because you liked them? Did you only like them because they were married or do you like them as people and what they bring, in whatever small capacity, to enrich your lives?
What has changed? They are now 2 separate people, but they are still the same people that you were friends with all this time. So they didn't ask your permission to get on with their lives, so get over it and call/SMS/email, a conversation takes 2 people.
Remember, they are the family that you chose...

Was that it?

So, here we are, 3 days after the big day. We've met all the family we had to meet, exchanged all the presents we have to exchange and the rest of the year is just down the hill a bit.
We had some fun times, when we went to prepare the turkey on Christmas morning and found it was rancid! (big sister rescued that one, with the lamb we were going to have on Boxing day).
Then there was the Lips game that was given to the family by my Foster Brother Jason. It's basically Karaoke, but in your own home, drunk or sober it all works out very funny indeed. Some people think they can sing better than they can (and I'm one of them!)...and that's the funny part!
Then we got to Boxing Day, and as no-one wanted turkeys, my sister managed to get one going cheep (yes, that was a cracker joke)! 17 people for lunch, loads of kids running wild and some adults doing the same.
And that was Christmas. Relaxed, fun in places, stressed in others and, as as always, over for another year.
I hope 2009 will be as fun as 2008. Wishing you all the best for the new year.

Too Many Lights?

I may have given the idea that I'm a little 'Bah Humbug' about Christmas, but that is not true. Now Christmas is only a few weeks away, and the decorations are starting to appear, it's okay.
Last Sunday I was in the attic getting the decorations down. I used to keep them in the wardrobe but, since I got married and everything was redecorated, things got tidied up.
I never realised how many lights, decorations, wrapping paper and Christmas cards we actually had. Each year, in the sales, we would buy the stuff cheap (because who wants decorations after Christmas!). We'd get home and put them in the cupboard for the next year. Then we'd forget and end up with the same lights we'd been using for ages.
Now with my new family (with children) Christmas is getting exciting again. We (they) have put loads of lights out. In the windows, in the hallway, in the dining room and, of course, on the Christmas tree. The whole house literally glows.
We have put a tree out. To be fair, the same tree for the last 20 years, but it's only had about 40 weeks worth of use! and is still doing okay. We have presents wrapped under the tree. We have surprise presents hidden away...even ones that not everybody know about!!
This is going to be one of the most fun Christmas' I've had for a long, long time.

Manners maketh the Man (or woman!)

I work in London and I love the place. I wouldn't be anywhere else. I arrive into Liverpool Street Station every morning and from there it's a brisk walk down to the office the other side of the river. It's rush hour and there's plenty of people about, all going about their business...and then you get the others. You know the ones I mean. Their phone rings and they stop walking to answer it....or the ones have so much rubbish to carry to and from work they need to pull their briefcases along on a trolley. And then you get the loving couples, walking hand in hand. Guys, listen up....hold hands if you like, answer the phone if you like....but try and keep up. People are trying to get to work, they want to get there so they can check their email, look on Facebook, have a cup of coffee and talk gossip with other people at work. They don't want to be stuck behind you while you talk to someone on the phone. They don't want to risk being run over as the two of you walk along, at a snails pace, so you can hold hand for another minute. Think of other people sometimes, stand to one side if your phone rings if you can't walk and talk. Stop for a coffee if you want to hold hands for another minute, but keep up the pace....
You people with the trollies, get another job, you obviously have too much stress in your lives if you need to carry that much stuff around.

Ho, Ho, Bl**dy Ho......!

So Christmas is here and the geese are getting fat, oh, wait a minute, Christmas is still a month away. Although, to be fair, my local supermarket has had Christmas cards and gifts since before halloween. Is it me, or is Christmas getting earlier and earlier each year? Maybe it's the credit crunch and the shops are trying to maximise their profits, by pushing Christmas early, but I'm sure, when I was a kid, Christmas didn't really start until we finished Guy Fawkes?
We went out shopping to Lakeside the other Sunday, normally a bit of traffic, but nothing to get excited about. It took 90 minutes for a 25 minute journey, an hour of which was going the last mile down roads where there's no other way to turn.
Last year I did all my Christmas shopping online, but I thought it would be nice, to go and see the pretty shops, to enjoy the ambiance of the festive time.
Well I'm back to trusty Amazon. They stock most DVD's, CD's, computer games and books that any of my family or friends could think of...and they bring it to me (well, via the postal service, but nothings perfect!).
Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, seeing family and friends, the giving and receiving of presents, but it's such a build up for what seems, at my age anyway, to be a bit of an anti-climax.
If you're reading this, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year....Albeit a little bit early, but that's how this started anyway!

But There's No Handbook!

Okay, well I may have mentioned before, but if not I'll say it again. I have recently acquired a daughter. Not just any daughter, but a 12 year old daughter, with all stress that being a teenage girl brings.
Now, normally, we would have grown up together, we would be used to each other and would know when to put up and when to shut up. But I never had that chance and now I'm trying to learn on the job.
Now I work with computers all day and I'm fairly handy around most things like that. I know that there will be manuals if I'm stuck, or something on the web, maybe even a video clip on YouTube to help me understand some obscure configuration.
But here is the whole point, there are no handbooks, manuals or userguides on how to handle teenage girls and their mood swings. There is nothing on YouTube or Google helping me say the right thing, do the right thing or, more importantly, knowing when not to do or say anything!
I love her to pieces and her brother too. After my first wife died, I never thought that I would ever have a chance to experience a family, and on the whole, they make it very easy for me, Most of the time.
I guess, like most things in life, it is a big learning curve (make that a giant learning curve) and eventually we will work things out.....I hope!

It's Not My Fault

How hard can it be? You give your stuff to someone in one place, you move house, it get's delivered to your new place. Admittedly, in this case, one house was in Israel and one was in Romford, UK, but the principle is the same.

The container arrived in Felixstowe on the 19th October, because there had been a strike in Israel. No-one bothered to tell us it had been delayed there over a month before it was shipped.

Once we had the letter from the receivers, we thought "okay, it's nearly here. We'll finally have a bed to sleep on, warm clothes and all the stuff that we can't even remember we packed".

We waited. Then we waited a bit more and then we phoned up.

Apparently the receiver was owed money by the shippers and, as security, had held all the containers that the shippers had stuff in. Now I think that that is actually illegal, to withhold my goods when they are owed money by someone else, but that will be another story.

After pressure from the Israel side, to the shippers paid enough money to the receivers for them to agree to release our stuff. Everyone lets out a sigh and relaxes...for about a minute. When can our stuff be delivered? In another couple of weeks!

We've weathered strikes, financial problems, general incompetence and what hits us at the final leg....."we don't have a team in your area for another couple of weeks". Is that my problem? Have we not suffered enough with this farce? Just get your fingers out and deliver our stuff!!

I'm not naming and shaming yet, but please, if you're thinking of shipping stuff from Israel to UK, feel free to ask for names...

The End of Autumn

As the sun sets over the pond and the weather starts to turn on it's final leg up to Christmas, it's time to get the winter coats out of the cupboard and to look at the settings on the central heating.

My new family come from much warmer climes and, to be honest, have been feeling the chill for a few weeks now. Of course they are excited that it may snow, and keep asking if we're going to have a white Christmas.

My family, if you get to read this, please remember. The snow looks nice, at least for the first few hours through the kitchen window. It's fun to play in in the garden, although remember your gloves, hats and scarves. But then think of me, trampling through the slush, with my feet like ice, standing at the station waiting for a train that isn't coming as the points are frozen. Walking to the office at the other end, being stabbed by the unbrellas of people that thinks it helps.

When I come home, treat me nicely, be patient and let me rant about my day and the hassles I have had, they will last as long as the snow and then everything will be back to normal.