On listening to multiple voices

DB’s parents both tend to talk (to me, and anyone else who’ll listen) at the same time. As a result, I often don’t understand either of them (or at least can’t follow either topic properly). Three simultaneous conversations between the four of us are no rarity. I suppose I should offer a fourth, but I […]

On [not] helping

I spent a lot of yesterday getting on and off trains. I love the freedom of county tickets and days off – the freedom to do exactly what I want, where I want to do it. 🙂 Each time I realised the current plan wasn’t going to work, I changed it, checking the timetables in […]

On falling asleep mid-post

Anyone would think that with all this train travel, I’d be able to get something written before crashing out… …apparently not. The meeting went on til gone midnight, and once I’d walked back to the hotel I was too knackered to hold my phone for long enough to finish writing and press send. No sticking […]

On talking too much to sleep

It’s gone one am and I’m not asleep yet. I’m at my third AuPair family’s house. I haven’t been here in 8 or 9 years, and it is amazing how much has happened since then, yet how recent my time here seems. It doesn’t feel strained or tense or foreign, it’s more like I’ve been […]

On taking time to save time

The computer guy at work spent at least three hours updating our computer and connecting us to the main server. The idea behind the hassle is saving time when things go wrong in future – he can fix problems from his office…. It takes less than 5 minutes to walk from his office to my […]

On not listening

A: “I like bananas, they have such nice yellow skin”. B: “But tomatoes are red! And have seeds”. A: “yes, I do love yellow bananas”. B: “I hate it when I get the seeds stuck in my teeth!” *** About 3 minutes ago, I was sitting in a bar, eavesdropping two people deeply involved in […]

On hurt feelings – part 2

I recently posted this: “There’s a fine line between holding your tongue so as not to hurt other peoples’ feelings, and letting people hurt yours.. I’m too sleepy to be articulate right now, but I’m pretty sure I need to work on finding that line and learning to walk along it.” I thought I’d written, […]

On shopping – or not

(Pretend this was posted at 22:45 on November 7th – I started writing in bed but fell asleep before I could press ‘post’. As it’s the middle of the night, and not morning yet, I’m going to count it as not missing a day (;)). *** Me: “So, what are we looking for, again?” DB: […]

On hurt feelings

There’s a fine line between holding your tongue so as not to hurt other peoples’ feelings, and letting people hurt yours.. I’m too sleepy to be articulate right now, but I’m pretty sure I need to work on finding that line and learning to walk along it. [Edit Nov 8th: please also read this]

On white Toblerone

Awesome stuff. *** DB’s folks came back from their holiday this week*. They are firm believers in bringing back presents. I am apparently difficult to buy I’ve-been-on-holiday presents for. I don’t drink (much), smoke or wear perfume (much). Last time, I got a fridge magnet with very small photos of the island on – like […]

On finally phoning

Why is it so hard to phone people? Yesterday I phoned someone I’d been meaning to phone for more than a week. I got the number from a friend, and left it sitting in a message, instead of pasting it in to the phone part of my phone, the part which I probably use least, […]

On flowery selfies

DB said I was extremely mean for only taking pictures of ‘my’ plants, and not his – especially when his are flowering and mine are dying down for winter. Anyway. I present, in all its glory, DB’s flowering plant!

On blisters (and carrots)

I’m used to getting blisters at work. The sort caused by touching glass before its had a chance to cool down properly. I’m not used to getting blisters from washing carrots… Edit (3rd Nov): Squeaky clean 🙂