Snow Bath
on Blog From Beyond (Rwanda), 12/Jan/2010 21:15, 34 days ago
I had the dreamiest bath Sunday night. Ooooh, it was scrummy. Mum's got one of those hydro baths you could drown in with the whole underwater lighting thing (I like blue :op) and you're not supposed to put bubble bath in it because when you switch on the jacuzzi thing it's like washing up liquid in a fountain. But I couldn't help it. Dad bought me a ton ofLushstuff for Crimble. I used up half aMa Barand stuck the air on just long enough to get a sea of bubbles up round my nose. With the blue underlighting it looked just like I was laying in a bath of snow, only cosy and warm.It was delightful.Sadly I had a totally crap day today. I was summoned to a 'Back to Work' lecture at the Job Centre. It was excruciating and just proved that they really haven't got a clue how to help people with professional qualifications. I like my signing on lady, she is very nice, but the system itself needs a serious overhaul.It really bugs me the way I act when I go there - it's a problem with me, I just react badly to certain situations and that one pushes me to the limit. Give me Central Africa any time. It's certainly on a par.Thankfully I got to the office and my lovely colleague Kim got me laughing about it. It is quite funny when you're not actually there, but standing in line it's like Jekyll and Hyde - really brings out the worst in me; humour bypass.For my own mental health I was thinking of signing off and hoping to get full-time work before landing too big a national insurance bill. Bad for the pocket but oh so good for my sanity. Who would have thought someone who survived Rwanda for two years would get her knickers in such a twist over the bloody Job Centre? But let's face it, it's an ugly experience.So after feeling extremely sorry for myself and rather pissed off with the planet, I went to work and was cheered up by the lovely people I work with. Tuesday isn't usually one of my days but it was another public consultation like Saturday and I'm clocking up the TOIL to take at a later date. My boss is really good about that.Went well but was a long day. Dragged my bedraggled bootie home and started on the wine.I also ordered a film on a whim after the trailer was on something else I was watching.The Boat that Rocked. It was a lot of fun and the deleted scenes were brilliant (especiallyThe Meaning of Life). I have to admit to having a certain spark forBill Nighy- he's eminently watchable. I love dry sarcasm. Midnight Mark (Tom Wisdom) was also pretty hot. And yetanotherfilm withJack Davenportin...doesn't he just get everywhere?I know my posts are rather dodgy for some regarding music. So it won't come as much of a surprise that one of the greatest pick-me-ups I currently have is the comfort radio stationCapital Gold FM, which you can listen to online. It's just a feel-good station of 60s, 70s and 80s. More than that, you need Broadband to play it - AND I HAVE BROADBAND!!!! - yeah, the noveltystillhasn't worn off on that one. It's enough to make me smile.Anyway, all of this once again confirms my suspicion that I was born in the wrong generation. However, then I would have missed out on some pretty decent rock and metal... but really, aren't we just such a nation of joyless people nowadays? What happened to the music? It's all body image, complaining, proving how hard we can work but for what...? Where's the return on this huge corporate investment of a country? The world really doesn't fall apart if we shake it all loose once in a while. I miss those days of dancing in Africa where it didn't matter a bit what you wore, what you looked like, how old you were - so long as you danced.Just because the weather is miserable, doesn't mean we have to be? Please gods don't tell me I was born between the revolutions. How depressing. 1960s, then 2060s, and this void in between, which I lived in. Yuck.This financial crisis is perhaps a comment on the aspirational bankruptcy of our souls.And doesn't that just read like an angsty teenager's diary *sigh*So, moving on...I'm still supping wine and currently listening to John Lennon's imaginings. Hoping it isn't going to snow too hard. Cathryn and I are going to attempt our road trip again and I'd be gutted if it got snowed off a second time. The plan is to pick her up at Northants station after work on Friday, head over to Dad's in Gloucester for Indian and booze, then to Graeme's in Bath for a Wassail celebration at an orchard - banging pots and hanging toast on trees to bring about a good harvest.So everything's on the up and looks like I'm about to sign off the dole anyway because I've been offered some Communication Support Work at a local college. That's basically interpreting for nowhere near the amount of money ;) But it's still change in the pocket. Which is better than nawt.They want me Thursday and Friday but I work Friday mornings so will probably just do Thursdays. This gives me one full day left to learn to sign. I haven't done much of that since Rwanda and that was a whole different language. Gone are the days of trainee interpretership and hand-flapping at the speed of light.If I really don't enjoy it I don't have to do it, but if I do it may lead to more work and that'll at least keep me out of the stinky-pants Job Centre. Right now I'd polish boots with my tongue never to go back there. Thankfully it shouldn't come to that extreme but it's always an option.Over and out.