Posted: Mon 29 April, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Getting Old(er), Getting Organised, Health, London, Own Business, Sleep - or lack thereof, Thoughts, Time, Work-related, Writing |
This week (and some of next) I’m actually on leave from the job. This is A Very Good Thing.
I don’t have much in the way of plans, the main thing is just Not Working, and taking the much-needed time out.
Of course, there are things I want to do, or at least get onto “paper” and out of my head, but that’s all going to be done on my terms, rather than within the demands of an office.
I’m sure there’ll be a couple of days out and the like along the way, but really the main thing is just time out. It’s been a pretty hectic first third of the year, and the next one isn’t looking like it’ll be any quieter, so downtime is definitely a good plan.
Posted: Thu 28 March, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Getting Old(er), Getting Organised, Photography |
One area where I’ve really slacked over the last few months has been on the photography front – I just haven’t been in the right mindset, and haven’t really had any locations where I’ve wanted to take photos at all.
Last weekend, Lori held her “Rarely Wears Lipstick Awards“, a celebration of the ten years of blogging, and a whole bundle of other reasons. I was going already, but it turned out the person who was meant to be taking photos couldn’t make it, so I volunteered to do so.
I can’t deny, it felt good to be doing it again. I really enjoyed the night, but I loved taking the pics as well, seeing the people and the scenes, and grabbing the images. It was also a joy (as always) to be using my f2 portait lens, which is so excellent in low-light, and lets me grab photos without needing flash.
All the photos on the resulting blog article are mine, but there’s a lot of others as well- obviously – some of which I’m really pleased with. Some less so, but more through issues with the lighting and focussing, rather than the shots themselves. I might add some more up here, I don’t know.
Hopefully, though, it’ll be the kick to get things going again on the photography score, though.
Posted: Tue 1 January, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 2012/13, D4D™, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Old(er), Health, Weigh Less |
And so – a new year. (Again)
As per many years previously, I don’t really do New Year Resolutions, they’re not my thing.
So my plan for 2013 (as written about very briefly back in November) is pretty simple. It’s not resolutions, just a bit of a plan, and that plan can be summed up thus…
- Weigh less
- Write more.
And that’s it. There’s other stuff along the way, but that’s the two key points, really.
Anyway- have a good one. I certainly hope to do so.
Posted: Mon 31 December, 2012 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 2012/13, Change, D4D™, Domestic, Finances, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Old(er), Getting Organised, Introspective, Thoughts, Work-related |
At last, we’re at the end of 2012.
It’s been quite a year, all things considered. I’ve written about that elsewhere, so don’t need to repeat myself really. Suffice it to say, it’s been eventful.
As it is, I’m closing off 2012 with no debt, and with the groundwork done to start building back up from. There’s a long way to go – it won’t be done in 2013, I know for a fact – but the basics are done, and now it’s “just” the building back up.
I’m not planning any big changes for 2013, to be honest. I’m happy with work – yes, I did just say that – and so long as things don’t change too radically, I hope to be there for the full year. (And even I can’t believe I just wrote that) I’m as secure as possible in the house, the tenancy goes through to November for sure. Of course, things can still change when it’s rented property, but it’s as safe as it can be for the moment.
So the basics are as safe and stable as I can make them for the moment. I’m not planning anything major changewise – 2013’s a year to get myself sorted, and to deal with myself rather than dealing with anyone else.
I feel pretty optimistic about it, to be honest. I don’t know all of what it’ll bring – who can? – but regardless, I think/hope it’s going to be a good year.
Posted: Sat 15 December, 2012 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Getting Old(er), Getting Organised, Work-related |
This weekend, I’m avoiding the work Christmas Party. It’s not local – it’s kind-of-local to the Devon office, but not for my office – and involves a 5-ish hour coach journey. Each way.
Mainly though, I just really didn’t fancy it. Not necessarily as an avoidance of the Festering Season – although that’s a happy side-effect – but more as a reflection of my current state of being.
In short, I’m knackered. I’m really bad at Not Working – even when I’m officially on Leave, and Not Working – and it’s always in my head. As part of an email on Thursday, I realised that my team of three (me, my developer colleague, and the designer) are responsible for no less than fifteen websites within my employer. Not just ‘basic’ websites, but also the systems to manage the businesses – and they’re complete business entities, not just side-projects or marketing biff – so it’s pretty intense. And that means my head’s always on The Next Issue.
I’ve been taking time off, as I had a massive backlog of holiday time to take, but still, I’m wiped out. Primarily because even with that, this month has involved lots of work, silly mileage, long trips, long days, and not much in the way of turning my brain off.
So the weekend would have consisted of an early start (6.30 AM – on a Saturday!) followed by a massive 5 hour drive/ride down to a venue on Dartmoor (No, it’s not Dartmoor Prison), a big company do with 100+ people and lots of drink (a lot of ex-military people equates to a lot of drink!) followed by another (minimum of) five-hour drive/ride home – allowing extra time for people to stop, week, puke and so on. That just strikes me as a weekend where I’d rather do my own stuff, sleep in, and generally recharge my batteries a bit.
Thankfully I’m not the only one missing it – there’s been a few others over the weeks – so I don’t feel too guilty. I’m best off out of it, and with the state my head’s in at the moment, everyone who is going is better off without me there. Quite simply, I’d be no fun.
All of which means it’s a quiet weekend, and right now that’s just fine with me. I’ve still got bits to do, just to get them out of my head, but at least it’s going to be done on my terms.
Posted: Tue 11 December, 2012 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: D4D™, Domestic, Getting Old(er), Thoughts, Weirdness |
One (of many) questions about aging that keeps occurring to me :
What the hell is it with hairs growing on ears? It never used to happen – why has it started to as I get older?
Posted: Sun 18 November, 2012 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Getting Old(er), Public Transport, Thoughts, Travel |
It really doesn’t seem possible that it’s now 25 years since the fire at King’s Cross station in London which killed 31 people.
It’s not (for me at least) one of those events where you always remember where you were when you heard about it, but it was still a major event, and brought about so many changes with train stations, including replacing all the wooden escalators with metal ones, banning smoking in stations (it had already been banned on the trains, but was OK in stations) and secondary influences and improvements for things like fire-fighting services and so on.
But knowing it’s 25 years ago is a real surprise – time flies, and all that jazz.