Many more last things have happened now.
Monday night quiz - we got 22m17 last night, with a record-equalling team of 12 people. We only got one question wrong in the second half, and that was only because Helen doesn't speak loudly enough. The quiz seemed particularly easy tonight - I'll miss Ian's eccentric question style. Particularly pleased with getting "Which country is the mass of a piece of sporting equipment?" The Bile Beans turned out to pay tribute to our glorious victory. And I won £6.05!
City walls - Sunday was a rather nice day, so I took the opportunity while my parents were out to go for a final walk round the walls. I've done this walk only once before, and it's excellent for seeing the whole of York. There were so many memories of the last 4 years - Toto's, Ujala, Terry's, Trinity Lane, 4 High Petergate, the Minster, the RI, the Wheel, NU... Walking into town beforehand was the same - Goodramgate seemed to have a lot of places that sparked off remembrances of things past. Mediterranean barbers, Fast Frame, the Lime House, the Thai place, Happy Valley, Little Italy, the other Italian place in the Tudor building, and of course the OWS.
Friends - goodbyes to Dave R and Jonny F.
My flat's quite depressing at the moment. It's almost empty, and surprisingly echoey. I'll be glad in many ways when this week is over.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Depending on the Strangeness of Strangers
Today marks two significant anniversaries - 4 years to the day since I arrived in York, and my last Saturday night here. Fitting that it should end on such a high note in the Yorkshire Terrier, a scene of several stand-out memories for me, since the day I got back from Oz covered in snow, Lint eating a flower, pretending to buy champagne and then flouncing off, the first night of the new opening hours where we were having such a good conversation that none of us went downstairs to order drinks after 10.30, and the night a few weeks ago where Tom, Helen and I had our first 4 drinks rejected (Can I have a Terrier? No you can't. OK, can I have a Guzzler? No you can't. Right then - purple J20. Purple...is that the only colour you like?) then asked the same barmaid for advice on what was good - "There's this one, that's shit, and this one's shit too. That one's pretty nice, this one's average, and the other two are pretty shit. I'd have the third one if I were you."
The fun tonight started with an overheard conversation. Iasonas, Lint and I had been having a relatively low-key chat about all sorts of things (hotels vs sleeper trains, comparing ill girlfriends, how desperate the NUS are for members at the moment) when a heated debate ensued on the table behind us. "No, I think you'll find that at the end of Search for Spock, after Scotty says 'It should take 8 weeks, but I'll do it in 4' Kirk comes back with 'You've got 2.' I'm sure of it." Oh dear - Trekkies. I don't mind watching Star Trek, but I can't get excited enough about it to argue in a pub. This argument continued for several minutes, and expanded to include photon torpedoes, light sabres (different universe, I know) and graphical demonstrations of lowering shields, including banging on the table.
I really didn't notice much of this, beyond the "You've got 2" part - I was generally aware of a lot of raised voices behind me, but wasn't interested enough to listen in. When one went to the loo, Iasonas pointed out her "I Love Wookies" T-shirt, which I failed to see as well.
After another 10 or 15 minutes, they walked out, leaving only the 3 of us and another table of 3 who'd also been having a quiet conversation. About 10 seconds after they left, one of the guys at the other table said loudly "Fucking hell!" To which we all cracked up. We had a little bit of a chat about which was the worst part of the whole scenario, then as that petered out, went back to our respective chats.
And it could have ended there, were it not for the fact that now my people-watching senses were on alert. Sure enough, I was rewarded by "Mike, would you like to relieve me of my burdensome potato?" a sentence which will live in my memory for some considerable time. I've been described before as having a very free and extrovert laugh - my reaction would have made my normal laugh look shy and retiring and go and hide in the kitchen at a party. Fortunately, they also saw the funny side.
It turned out that Tim had been given a spud gun for his recent birthday, and so had brought it and a potato out with him. His potato had a large gouge in it - not a gash, not a crack, a gouge. He demonstrated the gun's use by shooting Mike repeatedly, who started to get a little annoyed, took the potato and forced it into Tim's half-full pint glass, splashing himself, Tim and the specials board in the process. "Now look what you've done Tim, I'm going to have to go to the loo and wash off."
What happened next makes me think that Tim and I would be dangerous together. At the exact same moment, both of us voiced the same thought - "Does Mike's coat have any pockets?" Tim scrabbled to get the now soggy potato out of his glass and into Mike's coat pocket. He then drank the rest of his pint, with a little help from his girlfriend Clare, who ended up eating a bit of potato. (This spawned a side-conversation about "A night out in a glass" - beer, baked potato and maybe a bit of cheese sprinkled on top. Other recipe suggestions included mashed potato and Carling.)
Mike returned from the loo, and he must have known Tim quite well, because the very first thing he did was look in his pocket. He was not happy. He shook the phone off and started wiping it on his shirt in one hand, still holding the potato in the other. "That's a brand new phone. It's not even mine, it's on a work contract. You're so out of order, I'm really annoyed now. You've got potato on my phone now."
"It's a pity Tim didn't get an orange for his birthday." I don't know where this came from, but I think it may be one of the funniest things I've ever said (not a patch on "I think you've got a problem there," which is still the only triple-bank punchline I've ever made, but definitely in the top ten). I think this took a second or two for everyone else to get it, then there were fits of laughter being had by all. Mike put the potato to his ear - "Hello, is that Orange customer service? Yes, I'd like to switch providers please." - a beautiful visual gag.
I'm not too sure how the rest of the conversation went. Certainly at one point, Mike decided that the only valid response to the potato incident was for him to steal Clare as compensation (Chip : "So Clare, how does being compared with a potato feel?"), we discovered that Tim's spud gun had a safety catch, and Clare revealed that Tim might be a closet Trekkie, because he knew all the answers to the Maize Maze this year!
I'm actually a little sad that I'll never see them again. To get a little philosophical, I don't see why there should be a limit on how long you know someone before you call them a friend - I would happily have invited them to my leaving party on Friday if I could have worked it into the conversation somehow. (Isn't that exactly what Annick did with me the day I qualified, after all?)
The fun tonight started with an overheard conversation. Iasonas, Lint and I had been having a relatively low-key chat about all sorts of things (hotels vs sleeper trains, comparing ill girlfriends, how desperate the NUS are for members at the moment) when a heated debate ensued on the table behind us. "No, I think you'll find that at the end of Search for Spock, after Scotty says 'It should take 8 weeks, but I'll do it in 4' Kirk comes back with 'You've got 2.' I'm sure of it." Oh dear - Trekkies. I don't mind watching Star Trek, but I can't get excited enough about it to argue in a pub. This argument continued for several minutes, and expanded to include photon torpedoes, light sabres (different universe, I know) and graphical demonstrations of lowering shields, including banging on the table.
I really didn't notice much of this, beyond the "You've got 2" part - I was generally aware of a lot of raised voices behind me, but wasn't interested enough to listen in. When one went to the loo, Iasonas pointed out her "I Love Wookies" T-shirt, which I failed to see as well.
After another 10 or 15 minutes, they walked out, leaving only the 3 of us and another table of 3 who'd also been having a quiet conversation. About 10 seconds after they left, one of the guys at the other table said loudly "Fucking hell!" To which we all cracked up. We had a little bit of a chat about which was the worst part of the whole scenario, then as that petered out, went back to our respective chats.
And it could have ended there, were it not for the fact that now my people-watching senses were on alert. Sure enough, I was rewarded by "Mike, would you like to relieve me of my burdensome potato?" a sentence which will live in my memory for some considerable time. I've been described before as having a very free and extrovert laugh - my reaction would have made my normal laugh look shy and retiring and go and hide in the kitchen at a party. Fortunately, they also saw the funny side.
It turned out that Tim had been given a spud gun for his recent birthday, and so had brought it and a potato out with him. His potato had a large gouge in it - not a gash, not a crack, a gouge. He demonstrated the gun's use by shooting Mike repeatedly, who started to get a little annoyed, took the potato and forced it into Tim's half-full pint glass, splashing himself, Tim and the specials board in the process. "Now look what you've done Tim, I'm going to have to go to the loo and wash off."
What happened next makes me think that Tim and I would be dangerous together. At the exact same moment, both of us voiced the same thought - "Does Mike's coat have any pockets?" Tim scrabbled to get the now soggy potato out of his glass and into Mike's coat pocket. He then drank the rest of his pint, with a little help from his girlfriend Clare, who ended up eating a bit of potato. (This spawned a side-conversation about "A night out in a glass" - beer, baked potato and maybe a bit of cheese sprinkled on top. Other recipe suggestions included mashed potato and Carling.)
Mike returned from the loo, and he must have known Tim quite well, because the very first thing he did was look in his pocket. He was not happy. He shook the phone off and started wiping it on his shirt in one hand, still holding the potato in the other. "That's a brand new phone. It's not even mine, it's on a work contract. You're so out of order, I'm really annoyed now. You've got potato on my phone now."
"It's a pity Tim didn't get an orange for his birthday." I don't know where this came from, but I think it may be one of the funniest things I've ever said (not a patch on "I think you've got a problem there," which is still the only triple-bank punchline I've ever made, but definitely in the top ten). I think this took a second or two for everyone else to get it, then there were fits of laughter being had by all. Mike put the potato to his ear - "Hello, is that Orange customer service? Yes, I'd like to switch providers please." - a beautiful visual gag.
I'm not too sure how the rest of the conversation went. Certainly at one point, Mike decided that the only valid response to the potato incident was for him to steal Clare as compensation (Chip : "So Clare, how does being compared with a potato feel?"), we discovered that Tim's spud gun had a safety catch, and Clare revealed that Tim might be a closet Trekkie, because he knew all the answers to the Maize Maze this year!
I'm actually a little sad that I'll never see them again. To get a little philosophical, I don't see why there should be a limit on how long you know someone before you call them a friend - I would happily have invited them to my leaving party on Friday if I could have worked it into the conversation somehow. (Isn't that exactly what Annick did with me the day I qualified, after all?)
Friday, October 27, 2006
Reality and Realty Bite
So much for the first sentence of my last post. Today's been horrible - I was in work at 8 trying to get in touch with Pickfords about my move (no luck till after 1!), I had no less than 3 email requests for stupid information, and I've still not managed to organise my leaving party. I really have to do that tomorrow if I want anyone to turn up!
I'm getting to the point now where I feel like I'm on my last reserves of energy, and I don't have much left. I really hope I make it through to next Saturday without snapping. Someone told me today he'd had a dream that I "went postal" at work, and started shouting at everyone for being idiots. I wasn't sure whether I should tell him that his dream probably had a 50/50 chance of coming true in the next few days.
Kathleen and Nadya, who are renting my flat as soon as I leave, came round tonight to go through all sorts of exciting admin like when the bins are collected, where the electricity meter is and how long the shower will run for before tripping the fuse. I think that one worried them the most - "12 minutes? That's not enough time to put on conditioner!" I did get to paraphrase Coupling in response - "It's never been a problem for me - I don't have showers for recreational purposes!"
Once Pickfords did get back to me after lunch, they said they offered me tomorrow as a date, which was what I was after. So I and my parents have spent much of the evening putting the finishing touches to the work of the last 2 months. Everything's in one of five categories now - "Staying In Flat", "Going Into Storage", "Shipping to Australia", "Going In Suitcase With Me on Plane" and "Other." "Other" includes sub-categories such as Throwing Away, Giving to Charity, Giving to Friends/Family, Getting Parents to Sell (this one contains my car!), Not Sure Yet and Other. The latter might appear somewhat superfluous, given I'm already in the top-level Other category, but I never like to close off my classification schemas - I might want to add something into a new cateogry later on!
Seeing everything set out like that has made me a little sad. All the walls are bare, there are blank spaces everywhere that should have things in them and some of the things I've packed I won't see again for several months (Shipping to Australia) or even years (Going into Storage). I've spent just over 3 years here, and I'll really miss it - York too.
It's also made the enormity of what I'm doing next weekend hit home.
I'm getting to the point now where I feel like I'm on my last reserves of energy, and I don't have much left. I really hope I make it through to next Saturday without snapping. Someone told me today he'd had a dream that I "went postal" at work, and started shouting at everyone for being idiots. I wasn't sure whether I should tell him that his dream probably had a 50/50 chance of coming true in the next few days.
Kathleen and Nadya, who are renting my flat as soon as I leave, came round tonight to go through all sorts of exciting admin like when the bins are collected, where the electricity meter is and how long the shower will run for before tripping the fuse. I think that one worried them the most - "12 minutes? That's not enough time to put on conditioner!" I did get to paraphrase Coupling in response - "It's never been a problem for me - I don't have showers for recreational purposes!"
Once Pickfords did get back to me after lunch, they said they offered me tomorrow as a date, which was what I was after. So I and my parents have spent much of the evening putting the finishing touches to the work of the last 2 months. Everything's in one of five categories now - "Staying In Flat", "Going Into Storage", "Shipping to Australia", "Going In Suitcase With Me on Plane" and "Other." "Other" includes sub-categories such as Throwing Away, Giving to Charity, Giving to Friends/Family, Getting Parents to Sell (this one contains my car!), Not Sure Yet and Other. The latter might appear somewhat superfluous, given I'm already in the top-level Other category, but I never like to close off my classification schemas - I might want to add something into a new cateogry later on!
Seeing everything set out like that has made me a little sad. All the walls are bare, there are blank spaces everywhere that should have things in them and some of the things I've packed I won't see again for several months (Shipping to Australia) or even years (Going into Storage). I've spent just over 3 years here, and I'll really miss it - York too.
It's also made the enormity of what I'm doing next weekend hit home.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Stress Relief
Starting to feel quite relaxed about things, at least as much as I ever seem to nowadays. With the exception of work and a few things around renting my flat out, everything's either completed, can be managed fairly hands-off, or is not going to get done so I've given up worrying about it.
Work's going pretty badly though. It's clear to me now exactly why it was taking so much out of me at valuation time - I've been holding things together by sheer effort of will. As I've not been able to do that this time round (partly because of Australia, partly because I've had to spend a lot of time with my replacement and partly because of having left my head in the Gran Sabana for the first week back), everything seems to have fallen apart. I'm not the sort of person that can easily accept this as out of my control and, having only 7 days left in the office, would be unfixable even if I could spend 100% of my effort on it for the remaining time available to me. The same old conversations were had today with team member #2 - I can't see any more that I can do to solve this particular problem. I'm going to get a barrage of e-mails over the next few months, I just know.
I'm going to meet Richard, my new boss, tomorrow - finally! It's almost 4 months to the day that he rang me to offer me the job, and hiring someone when you've no idea what they look like still seems weird to me. (Likewise going to work somewhere in a foreign country where you've never met any of the staff, but I like adventure and surprises!) Concern over making a good first impression also seems somewhat misplaced.
My last badminton in York tonight - probably last anywhere for several months, as my racket will be on a boat heading Ozwards next Tuesday. It was, as predicted, nowhere near as good as last week, but still really enjoyable, and slightly sad to think I won't be going there again for a very long time. I've made several friends as a result of the "club" - Steve P, Matt H and Steve H are people I'd probably never have got to know if not for badminton.
Work's going pretty badly though. It's clear to me now exactly why it was taking so much out of me at valuation time - I've been holding things together by sheer effort of will. As I've not been able to do that this time round (partly because of Australia, partly because I've had to spend a lot of time with my replacement and partly because of having left my head in the Gran Sabana for the first week back), everything seems to have fallen apart. I'm not the sort of person that can easily accept this as out of my control and, having only 7 days left in the office, would be unfixable even if I could spend 100% of my effort on it for the remaining time available to me. The same old conversations were had today with team member #2 - I can't see any more that I can do to solve this particular problem. I'm going to get a barrage of e-mails over the next few months, I just know.
I'm going to meet Richard, my new boss, tomorrow - finally! It's almost 4 months to the day that he rang me to offer me the job, and hiring someone when you've no idea what they look like still seems weird to me. (Likewise going to work somewhere in a foreign country where you've never met any of the staff, but I like adventure and surprises!) Concern over making a good first impression also seems somewhat misplaced.
My last badminton in York tonight - probably last anywhere for several months, as my racket will be on a boat heading Ozwards next Tuesday. It was, as predicted, nowhere near as good as last week, but still really enjoyable, and slightly sad to think I won't be going there again for a very long time. I've made several friends as a result of the "club" - Steve P, Matt H and Steve H are people I'd probably never have got to know if not for badminton.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Predator or Parasite
Not a particularly pleasant post, this.
A quote from one of my favourite books - "Do you remember how to tell the difference between a predator and a parasite? Yes, whether you admire them or they disgust you." Definitely not a predator then.
I've had a bite on my toe which I first noticed a few days after coming back from Venezuela. Didn't really think anything of it, as at the time, I had somewhere upwards of 50 others all over my feet and lower legs, all of which were itchy. However, this one started to grow, and didn't go away. It had also started to bleed after being knocked by my shoe this week.
Then last night, a lump slightly smaller than a pea fell off when I took my sock off. That was fairly horrible. I've had something living in my toe for a month.
Apparently, in the Kukenan River there are some nasty little things called niguas. They're harmless, but very irritating. Carlucho had some "emergency surgery" at Angel Falls on a couple he'd picked up - I didn't pay much attention to that either, as I didn't appear to have any signs of them then! They bite on and lay eggs in the wound, the eggs hatch a few weeks later and the cycle continues.
I'll have to keep an eye on it in case there were any eggs left behind. I've smeared the area with tea tree oil and deet for now, and will have to get some other bits and pieces that will kill anything else like that off.
Who'd live in the tropics?!
A quote from one of my favourite books - "Do you remember how to tell the difference between a predator and a parasite? Yes, whether you admire them or they disgust you." Definitely not a predator then.
I've had a bite on my toe which I first noticed a few days after coming back from Venezuela. Didn't really think anything of it, as at the time, I had somewhere upwards of 50 others all over my feet and lower legs, all of which were itchy. However, this one started to grow, and didn't go away. It had also started to bleed after being knocked by my shoe this week.
Then last night, a lump slightly smaller than a pea fell off when I took my sock off. That was fairly horrible. I've had something living in my toe for a month.
Apparently, in the Kukenan River there are some nasty little things called niguas. They're harmless, but very irritating. Carlucho had some "emergency surgery" at Angel Falls on a couple he'd picked up - I didn't pay much attention to that either, as I didn't appear to have any signs of them then! They bite on and lay eggs in the wound, the eggs hatch a few weeks later and the cycle continues.
I'll have to keep an eye on it in case there were any eggs left behind. I've smeared the area with tea tree oil and deet for now, and will have to get some other bits and pieces that will kill anything else like that off.
Who'd live in the tropics?!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Venezuela. Again!
Brian, unofficial official videographer of the Venezuela trip, has created an excellent DVD of his video camera footage - some 2.5 hours of it, no less. The views of Angel Falls and Roraima work so much better than in a photograph - no idea why, but the photos just don't look like the real thing. He has some pretty inspired background music too - Travis's "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" on the top of Roraima made me laugh out loud! It brought back a few things I'd forgotten :
The hola birds
The children playing with the dog at Kawe
The downpour at Angel Falls
Bob Marley and the speed-demon 4WD driver
Several conversations I had with Chirag and Jai about Brian always videoing us!
However, the monkey spider footage is not a good thing to watch on an 8ft projector screen.
The hola birds
The children playing with the dog at Kawe
The downpour at Angel Falls
Bob Marley and the speed-demon 4WD driver
Several conversations I had with Chirag and Jai about Brian always videoing us!
However, the monkey spider footage is not a good thing to watch on an 8ft projector screen.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Moving Swiftly On
I've got a visa! And flights! And 28 boxes worth of storage!
I think "it's always darkest before dawn" is the best way to describe the Both Ends Against the Middle post. I received an e-mail less than 6 hours later to tell me my visa had been granted - that's only 12 working days after the paperwork was started.
So I also got my flights booked on Friday, now I can be certain of a date. I will be leaving this sceptred (I've checked that's spelt right, but it looks very wrong) isle on Saturday 4th November, likely not to return for 2 years.
Various weights have been lifted. I need to be careful not to be too happy!
I successfully knocked a few more less important items off the to-do list today as well. Finally visited Clifford's Tower, after more than 4 years of living here (still haven't been to the Castle yet, but I've never really been bothered about that). I tried to get in free, but there's no discount for York residents as Lint found out (I couldn't find my card anyway), and I didn't think they'd take very kindly to me asking for a free entry on the basis my middle name is Clifford! It's a pretty good vantage point for the east side of town - you can see Terry's, Rowntree Wharf, the Minster, the Wheel and the Mecca Bingo down Fulford Road (but not Flic's flat, we thought).
I've also got rid of some millstone items that I didn't really want to either store or ship - filing cabinet and 5.1 system. They've gone to a good home with Tsuki and Dom - tried to get rid of my monitor too, but it wouldn't fit in their house! I kind of hijacked Lint's entire afternoon in the end - not only did I drag him to Clifford's Tower, he then came back to mine with Tsuki and Dom in order to get a lift back home, and ended up staying over an hour while we had a cup of tea and tried not to fall asleep.
Not too sure about what's going to happen with my car though. Due to my forgetfulness, I can't see it being MOTd before the end of the week, which gives me barely a week to complete the sale. Oh well, I knew something wasn't going to get done, and it looks like that's the big one.
I think "it's always darkest before dawn" is the best way to describe the Both Ends Against the Middle post. I received an e-mail less than 6 hours later to tell me my visa had been granted - that's only 12 working days after the paperwork was started.
So I also got my flights booked on Friday, now I can be certain of a date. I will be leaving this sceptred (I've checked that's spelt right, but it looks very wrong) isle on Saturday 4th November, likely not to return for 2 years.
Various weights have been lifted. I need to be careful not to be too happy!
I successfully knocked a few more less important items off the to-do list today as well. Finally visited Clifford's Tower, after more than 4 years of living here (still haven't been to the Castle yet, but I've never really been bothered about that). I tried to get in free, but there's no discount for York residents as Lint found out (I couldn't find my card anyway), and I didn't think they'd take very kindly to me asking for a free entry on the basis my middle name is Clifford! It's a pretty good vantage point for the east side of town - you can see Terry's, Rowntree Wharf, the Minster, the Wheel and the Mecca Bingo down Fulford Road (but not Flic's flat, we thought).
I've also got rid of some millstone items that I didn't really want to either store or ship - filing cabinet and 5.1 system. They've gone to a good home with Tsuki and Dom - tried to get rid of my monitor too, but it wouldn't fit in their house! I kind of hijacked Lint's entire afternoon in the end - not only did I drag him to Clifford's Tower, he then came back to mine with Tsuki and Dom in order to get a lift back home, and ended up staying over an hour while we had a cup of tea and tried not to fall asleep.
Not too sure about what's going to happen with my car though. Due to my forgetfulness, I can't see it being MOTd before the end of the week, which gives me barely a week to complete the sale. Oh well, I knew something wasn't going to get done, and it looks like that's the big one.
Quartet
The real goodbyes have started. I suspect I'm not going to see any of these 4 until I come back - if that even happens.
Jimbobjo - a peculiarly anticlimactic one. I would like to have spent a bit more time chatting with him properly, especially since the last month or so I haven't seen much of him (or indeed anyone), but I guess we've had our regular weekly conversations on the way home from the quiz.
Flic - went to her work leaving party on Thursday, but I was a complete wreck (hence "Both Ends Against the Middle," I think!) so I left without talking to her. Then went to hers last night for a friends party, which was very good. Lots and lots of cheese! I left just before 3 - the goodbyes took about 15 minutes. Thundercats, Go!
Goodlife - turned up to Flic's party. She would have been at mine the other week had I ended up having one! She also brought JB, who I've only met very briefly once - we had a pretty good laugh throughout the evening. No songs this time - she didn't have a guitar and a capella would have been wrong. As she's allergic to Australians (or something like that) I'm pretty sure I'm safe from a visit from her...
Diane - her 30th Birthday "Viking Raiding" Party, including "The Quiz of Diane" and a loose repeat of my own 30th at Meltons Too. This time I got the meal I wanted at roughly the same time as everyone else, walked round York wearing a plastic Viking helmet (it's left a bit of a mark on my forehead!) and had a really good time.
There was technically also Bert today, but I know for certain I'll be seeing him in May when he's over for Kim's wedding, so it wasn't quite as final as the others.
Jimbobjo - a peculiarly anticlimactic one. I would like to have spent a bit more time chatting with him properly, especially since the last month or so I haven't seen much of him (or indeed anyone), but I guess we've had our regular weekly conversations on the way home from the quiz.
Flic - went to her work leaving party on Thursday, but I was a complete wreck (hence "Both Ends Against the Middle," I think!) so I left without talking to her. Then went to hers last night for a friends party, which was very good. Lots and lots of cheese! I left just before 3 - the goodbyes took about 15 minutes. Thundercats, Go!
Goodlife - turned up to Flic's party. She would have been at mine the other week had I ended up having one! She also brought JB, who I've only met very briefly once - we had a pretty good laugh throughout the evening. No songs this time - she didn't have a guitar and a capella would have been wrong. As she's allergic to Australians (or something like that) I'm pretty sure I'm safe from a visit from her...
Diane - her 30th Birthday "Viking Raiding" Party, including "The Quiz of Diane" and a loose repeat of my own 30th at Meltons Too. This time I got the meal I wanted at roughly the same time as everyone else, walked round York wearing a plastic Viking helmet (it's left a bit of a mark on my forehead!) and had a really good time.
There was technically also Bert today, but I know for certain I'll be seeing him in May when he's over for Kim's wedding, so it wasn't quite as final as the others.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Both Ends Against The Middle
Like the previous post, it's taken me quite a while to get round to writing this one too!
The Middle
Today I'm halfway between returning from Venezuela and leaving for Australia. Yes, that's right, I have a (semi-)definitive departure date! 4th November will be my last day in this green and pleasant land for at least 2 years, barring incidents and accidents. Of which more below.
Both Ends (see "Burning the Candle at")
I'm fairly sure that I'm not handling the stress of all of this very well. I've had atypical and pretty severe lapses of memory, including forgetting to MOT my car today, and telling everyone about the handover date I'd agreed for one of my team with their new manager, except for the staff member concerned! Something is going to snap at some point in the next 2 weeks, and I'm guessing one of four possibilities, which will remain secret.
The Other End
The "fin de siecle" feeling has really started to hit me in the last few days too. I often feel this when there's a precipitous and irreversible change in the offing, and I have the urge to try to remember everything with crystal clarity. It happened when leaving school and uni, moving out of my parents' house, buying my own home, and several other times.
There's Jimbobjo's last quiz on Monday, my penultimate badminton last night (and given the exceptional quality of the games we played, especially the 20-19 epic, next week can't help but be an anticlimactic finale), only one more Swan and 2 OWS quizzes to go to, Flic's last day tomorrow ... there are some people I'm sure I've seen or spoken to for the last time ever in the past few days.
The Middle
Today I'm halfway between returning from Venezuela and leaving for Australia. Yes, that's right, I have a (semi-)definitive departure date! 4th November will be my last day in this green and pleasant land for at least 2 years, barring incidents and accidents. Of which more below.
Both Ends (see "Burning the Candle at")
I'm fairly sure that I'm not handling the stress of all of this very well. I've had atypical and pretty severe lapses of memory, including forgetting to MOT my car today, and telling everyone about the handover date I'd agreed for one of my team with their new manager, except for the staff member concerned! Something is going to snap at some point in the next 2 weeks, and I'm guessing one of four possibilities, which will remain secret.
The Other End
The "fin de siecle" feeling has really started to hit me in the last few days too. I often feel this when there's a precipitous and irreversible change in the offing, and I have the urge to try to remember everything with crystal clarity. It happened when leaving school and uni, moving out of my parents' house, buying my own home, and several other times.
There's Jimbobjo's last quiz on Monday, my penultimate badminton last night (and given the exceptional quality of the games we played, especially the 20-19 epic, next week can't help but be an anticlimactic finale), only one more Swan and 2 OWS quizzes to go to, Flic's last day tomorrow ... there are some people I'm sure I've seen or spoken to for the last time ever in the past few days.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Back to Reality
It's taken me a while to get round to finally writing this post, for several reasons. Chief one, which is still a little upsetting, is that I've lost the first 2/3 of my holiday "diary," and while I can still remember vast swathes of the trip, I'm sure there are many of the little bits and pieces that make up the full story that I've forgotten, like...
Fruti Max, facts of the day, PV=nRT, "For twos, you use the bag," "Bumface," "Amanda, that's oarful," the monkey spider, Brian and the Day of the Three Spilt Drinks (also Brian and the day of camera footage...), the sunbow when we landed at Kamarata, "a woman comes in 3 times a week," the bus-surfing, Michelmas at Chichirivichi, bananas, ant armies, Chinotto at Paraitepui, Tek river waterfall jacuzzi, the Milky Way at Kawe, toilet buddies, "hold a firework in your right hand and count to 10," galletas, termite chilli sauce, fireflies, Salto El Sapo and "pondering life" afterwards, joy of movement on Roraima, partial eclipse, Myra's long-sleeved top, wrong turns (on the way up through the bog and on the way down through the steep forest near Paraitepui) the beautiful spider, snake in the cooler box, watermelons (for eating, for betting and for leaving sat on rocks for slowcoaches to enjoy), Carlucho the rain attractor, chinchoros, homemade limeade, menthol, waking up to the ISS, group dynamics, toilet terror, "when the fly comes down 6 inches...," Tarot Shithead, the flickering lights in the hotel on the first night - and the shower cubicle there too, pool at Banana Camps in Santa Elena, the DVT hour, thunderstorms at Angostura, lollies, swimming in Angel Falls, seeing Angel Falls from El Mirador for the first time and wanting to agree with Lee but not being able to speak, not washing for 6 days, remoteness, "How're you doing, brother?" on the way down Roraima, Simon & Garfunkel music quiz, Dust in the Wind - English and Portuguese - Piano Man, More Than Words and Mr Big, Ann Arbor coincidences, the Chinese girl's Mills & Boon folder of love for Jose Alexander, restaurant malfunction at El Tizon, solitary coffee at Kawe falls and at Angel Falls, hammocks for giants, crossing Rio Kukenan on the way back, El Anal cashew nuts, Toffee Goodness - something sticky and sweet, checking of passports on leaving the plain in CDG, insect attack, the 15 Minutes of Chocolate conversation, Aussie "mites", selling Amanda all my bolivars at airports...
And those are the ones I do remember!
Photos are here and here.
I don't think I've ever been on such a ... concentrated holiday. Even now, 2 weeks later, and I still haven't got my head back fully into the real world from it - of course, that could be in part because the real world isn't exactly somewhere I'm enjoying living right at the moment.
Fruti Max, facts of the day, PV=nRT, "For twos, you use the bag," "Bumface," "Amanda, that's oarful," the monkey spider, Brian and the Day of the Three Spilt Drinks (also Brian and the day of camera footage...), the sunbow when we landed at Kamarata, "a woman comes in 3 times a week," the bus-surfing, Michelmas at Chichirivichi, bananas, ant armies, Chinotto at Paraitepui, Tek river waterfall jacuzzi, the Milky Way at Kawe, toilet buddies, "hold a firework in your right hand and count to 10," galletas, termite chilli sauce, fireflies, Salto El Sapo and "pondering life" afterwards, joy of movement on Roraima, partial eclipse, Myra's long-sleeved top, wrong turns (on the way up through the bog and on the way down through the steep forest near Paraitepui) the beautiful spider, snake in the cooler box, watermelons (for eating, for betting and for leaving sat on rocks for slowcoaches to enjoy), Carlucho the rain attractor, chinchoros, homemade limeade, menthol, waking up to the ISS, group dynamics, toilet terror, "when the fly comes down 6 inches...," Tarot Shithead, the flickering lights in the hotel on the first night - and the shower cubicle there too, pool at Banana Camps in Santa Elena, the DVT hour, thunderstorms at Angostura, lollies, swimming in Angel Falls, seeing Angel Falls from El Mirador for the first time and wanting to agree with Lee but not being able to speak, not washing for 6 days, remoteness, "How're you doing, brother?" on the way down Roraima, Simon & Garfunkel music quiz, Dust in the Wind - English and Portuguese - Piano Man, More Than Words and Mr Big, Ann Arbor coincidences, the Chinese girl's Mills & Boon folder of love for Jose Alexander, restaurant malfunction at El Tizon, solitary coffee at Kawe falls and at Angel Falls, hammocks for giants, crossing Rio Kukenan on the way back, El Anal cashew nuts, Toffee Goodness - something sticky and sweet, checking of passports on leaving the plain in CDG, insect attack, the 15 Minutes of Chocolate conversation, Aussie "mites", selling Amanda all my bolivars at airports...
And those are the ones I do remember!
Photos are here and here.
I don't think I've ever been on such a ... concentrated holiday. Even now, 2 weeks later, and I still haven't got my head back fully into the real world from it - of course, that could be in part because the real world isn't exactly somewhere I'm enjoying living right at the moment.
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