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Work Report - Mike Crowl focuses on jobs and work and anything connected to the two.
Mike blogs in two places on Orble, and two on Blogger. His wife thinks he writes too much.
The only real ‘work’ I’m doing at present is keeping blogs going, and some days I don’t even do much of that. Being in holiday mode, I blog when I’ve got nothing else to do, and I don’t have a lot else to do at present…so you can see that I’m really winding down.
Meanwhile the rest of the world gets on and works. Thank goodness, otherwise I’d be stuck trying to maintain this lifestyle to which I am gradually becoming accustomed.
I’ve even started reading books again – not that I’d stopped entirely, but comparing my book diary (the list of books I’ve read in a particular year) for this year with last year, you’d think I’d decided that reading wasn’t much of a thing to do anymore
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Now that we’re nearly finished our second week of holidays, a strange thing is happening: I keep falling asleep at the drop of a hat. I don’t mean I’ll be in the middle of a conversation and nod off, or reading a book and snooze, but several times over the last few days I’ve had to go off and have a kip because I’m no longer able to keep my eyes open.
I’m assuming it’s because my body is finally managing to wind down after a long period of working and of stress – a period that probably encompasses several years really, as the holidays we’ve had over the last few years have never been very restful. We’ve never just had time to relax: either we’ve had visitors staying or we’ve been away somewhere and done a lot of traveling, or something else along those lines. Real restful holidays have been virtually unknown.
Now that the body has got the message that it’s not committed to doing anything in particular as it wakes up each day, it’s taking it very easy. It’s good in one way, but a bit strange in another. I’ve been able to manage to have short ‘nanny naps’ for some years – obviously not during the working day – but these are something else again. I’d hoped to be able to start resting properly while we were away, and it looks as though the hope is being
achieved
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Yesterday we walked along the Embankment in London and watched the various buskers and street artists performing. There were a large number of those people who do the ‘statue’ that comes to life thing, and they were very entertaining. One was dressed in a policeman’s helmet, a tutu, tights and gumboots. He would seize schoolchildren by the clothing as they came close and either pretend to hit them with his truncheon, or ‘dust’ them with a feather duster.
There was an excellent man, bronzed from head to toe, who got off his box at one point and had it invaded by several pigeons. One climbed on top and the man/statue quietly flicked his hand at it - to no avail. Another pigeon however dislodged it with a bit of severe pecking order business. Finally the man produced a red card and waved it at the pigeon.
Two youths, one with his head shaven and the other with wild hair would stand forlornly still until someone put some coin in their bucket. They’d come to life with great delight and smiles, and invite the person to have their photo taken with them. The shaven-headed one would almost go overboard with rapture at being so close to a human – especially a female human. And then as suddenly as they came to life, they’d drop back into their forlorn state again
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I'm unemployed again - and this time I'm happy to be! Well, for six months, anyway.
Tomorrow my wife and I head off for England for a six months' holiday - or sabbatical, to make it sound more official. I've mentioned before that we may look for some work while we're over there, but already six months is sounding like a short time if we want to do some other things - like travel on the Continent. We're definitely going to Luxembourg (all things being equal) and we may go back to Rome, where we spent our honeymoon. It's even possible we may get to Switzerland, where a young man from church, and his relatively new wife, are part of a team that works in a mission/retreat/training place. Don't know any details about that yet, but it's a possibility. I'd like to do a retreat of some sort while I'm away. I've been feeling as stale about my Christian life, and God, as I have about everything else. Not that I'm not talking to Him, or praying, but I just feel as though I don't have any edge anymore. Hopefully some time away in new or different environments will help.
Meanwhile, being a worker is on hold. It's like a temporary period of retirement, if you can have such a thing.
It's more obvious in the office I'm in now that there's no lining on any of the walls: I can put my hand out and feel the cold of concrete (painted a utility yellow). On the wall I look at the concrete hasn't been properly finished off, perhaps because at some point stairs have been put in. Or maybe the contractor was just lazy.
There's a large glassed in box on the wall containing a snake-pit of wires. Touch this with less than delicacy, and a number of the electrical functions round the place will cease. Under the stairs is a tiny cupboard – you have to bend over to get into it – where someone from another office altogether keeps certain records
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One of the things that's really struck me since I last worked in an office, is the degree of swearing that takes place. I don't suppose it's the same in all offices, but certainly where I'm working the level of swearing has increased enormously on my scale of language, including amongst the women.
Perhaps in part it's due to the fact that there are a lot of labourers amongst those who are in and out of the office, but I don't think it's just that, since it's the managers that swear more than the labourers
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263 Posts dating from December 2006
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