Archive for the ‘Life’ Category
Posted by Shirley Anne on May 20, 2012
Unusual Thursday (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On Thursday morning I had to keep an appointment with a lady who lives a couple of miles from me. She needed some electrical work doing and she had telephoned me a couple of days previously apologising for the state of her house in advance. Now I work in all sorts of places and have seen almost every situation you could imagine when doing my job. There was only ever one time whereby I refused to work in a house. The house had been let into apartments and the task was to completely rewire the whole house. At that time, around 45 years ago, I was working for the local electricity supply authority. I visited the premises and immediately left to telephone the depot that I was refusing to work in the house. The house was an absolute mess, it stank of stale urine in most of the rooms, there was evidence of cockroaches and mice dotted about and how anyone could have lived there was beyond me. My supervisor came to see what the problem was and agreed with me that I shouldn’t have to work in such conditions and the job was cancelled. There has only been one other incident that came anywhere near that one and that was when I visited an old lady a year or two back to do some small jobs for her. I wrote about it on here. She had a house full of cats that were left to come and go as they pleased and left a mess everywhere, and I mean a mess! Her house was filthy and neglected too just as she was. I felt sorry for that old lady because she had a mental problem, no-one to help her and she refused any help she might otherwise have received from the authorities, although I blame them for not being more forceful in seeing that she got the help she required. So two very dirty households, the former being by far the worse. The owners of the first house were just being lazy and were quite capable of getting the property habitable whereas the old lady was not really responsible due to her mental condition. When I went to do the job on Thursday I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but as it turned out the house just needed cleaning out properly and some money being spend on redecoration. Her situation, having been divorced some years back, had left her financially at a loss with two sons to rear. Her sons were now young adults, one with a good job but the other suffering with Asperger Syndrome, never leaving his room. This I could see was a burden to her and the reason she found herself in such a predicament. She was struggling to get things done simply because she was short of cash. She expected my fee to be much more than I actually charged her and I guess that came as a relief. I took her with me to the electrical supplier to purchase a couple of items we needed to complete the job and we chatted much along the way. She kept telling me that it was so good to be able to chat with a woman for a change. I assumed from that remark that she had no access to female company in her daily life and was finding it difficult. I had wondered why she followed my every move around the house but then I realised that she was simply seeking some company. I finished my work there and returned home for lunch. No sooner had I finished eating I received another request from a woman seeking help with her faulty lights, two of them were not working. I had planned on spending the afternoon at the pub but I went to the house and had the problems sorted out within the hour. It was around 3.30 before I finally set out for my walk to the pub. However, my next-door neighbour was out in her front garden and I found myself chatting with her for the next fifty minutes or so before finally setting off again. When I did arrive at the pub there were only a few people there. I bought my drinks and sat at a table facing the bar. I spent a couple of hours just sitting there watching people going to and fro. As people came in I was acknowledged by most of them as most people who go there know me either by sight or personally. I ended up chatting with many of them and then later in the evening we had the weekly pub quiz. I sat with some friends during that time but just before it was time to count the points to find out who had won I put on my coat, wished everyone goodnight and left! ‘I’ve had enough’, I said, ‘I’m going home’! Although I’d had a lovely afternoon, well late afternoon, and a lovely evening too, I just got bored with it all and had to leave. This is the sort of thing that happens to me sometimes and the reason why I lose interest and cannot be bothered at times as I have written about a day or so back. Occasionally, as the saying goes, my get up and go has got up and left!
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Behaviour, Life, Mood | Tagged: Asperger Syndrome, Behaviour, Mood, People, Public house | 4 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on May 19, 2012
Fred Neher’s Life’s Like That (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This past week has been far different from the previous one for me in quite a few ways. I am out of the ‘couldn’t care less attitude’ I had, I have been out socialising more, I have met new people and I have been kept quite busy working too! Life’s good as they say but I’ve known that for quite some time. All in all I cannot complain and I plan to enjoy myself even more in the future whilst I am still able. Most of the news I’ve heard this past week has been quite depressing, much like it has been for some time. I hear sad things and have to try to not let it bother me but for a time I find that impossible. A recent example was the family of six children meeting their deaths through smoke inhalation after what now appears to have been an arson attack on their home. I don’t understand how anyone could do such a thing but of course there is much evil in this world. Many good things have happened too I’m sure but it is usually the bad things that we remember isn’t it? The weather has improved too, although it is still colder than it traditionally has been at this time of year and there is talk of June being equally as cold! Perhaps this year is going to be another one with a cool summer but that really doesn’t bother me too much. It won’t change any plans I might make. On a more personal note E and I are still estranged as far as communication is concerned. It has now been almost thirteen weeks since we spoke. I have all but given up on her ever apologising for her behaviour which is very sad indeed. I have to get on with my life and not let it bother me too much although I think about it often during the day. I continue to pray for her. I think about my life and how it has changed over the years like chapters in a novel with each chapter different from the others and how I have had to cope with those changes. It’s all about being adaptable I suppose and making the most of each set of circumstances I find myself in. My life now is far different to what it was even a few years ago. Whether I consider it better, well I’m not sure I’ll answer that question.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Life, Lifestyle, Time | Tagged: Change, Life, Lifestyle, Time | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on May 18, 2012
Just Annoying! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
At a clients house the other day I was asked why I was acting so cheerfully despite the problems I was having doing a certain job for her. My reply was that it wouldn’t make any difference whether I was annoyed or not, the problem would still remain and I would still have to get round it! I told her that I don’t get upset or annoyed with pretty much everything these days because if I did it would only be me who suffered but there are still some things that I find annoying. What is the point in getting all worked up over things you have no control over though? It just isn’t worth it. I have to say at this point that I have a page on this site dedicated to ‘Annoying things’, those things which indeed do annoy me at times but the main thing is I don’t get upset about them as perhaps I once did. Annoying they may still be but more of an irritation and something we all have to live with and endure at times. There is nothing wrong about having things that annoy, it’s how we react to them that matters. One of my pet dislikes in life are bad drivers, those who cannot handle their vehicles safely, responsibly or skilfully and those who think the rules apply to everyone else but themselves. I dislike aggressive drivers and those who think they own the road. Whilst out driving recently I came across a section of road, about a mile of it, that had a revised speed limit imposed upon it reducing the speed from 40 to 30 miles per hour. The change has been well signposted and reminding signs are dotted along the route affected so there is no excuse for disobedience. The road itself is a major trunk route between my town and the next one some seven miles away and is quite busy at certain times of the day. I observed the speed limit as I drove through the section of road affected but was being tail-gated by a larger vehicle whilst doing so. As the speed limit reverted to 40 miles per hour I increased my speed accordingly but the opportunity to overtake me was there at this point and the following driver couldn’t get passed me quickly enough. As he overtook my vehicle he had to exceed the 40 mph restriction and he then accelerated away at something like 20 mph faster than I was travelling which was 40 mph. The sad thing was that I caught up with him a half mile ahead as he was stuck in a queue of traffic at the next junction. I was in the inside lane driving through and he was in the outside lane to turn right. The point was he had ignored the speed limit and it hadn’t made any difference at all but it could have resulted in someone being injured through his negligence. That sort of driving annoys me but as I am unable to do anything about such incidences I never let it get to me. I won’t allow someone elses bad habits ruin my day. I got the awkward and annoying job done through persistence, perseverance and by having a jovial attitude to it all.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Life, Behaviour, Philosophy, Mood | Tagged: Behaviour, Life, Miles per hour, Passing lane, Philosophy, Road, Road Safety Foundation, Roads and Highways, Speed limit | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on May 9, 2012
Saturday with Friends and Family 028 (Photo credit: -DjD-)
My life has had its ups and downs recently I suppose just like everyone else. No matter what happens in life though life itself just continues. I watched my football team lose in the final of the FA Cup on Saturday and I know that will have upset many people although I am sure many others will be pleased with the outcome. Many more people will be indifferent in their attitude just as I am with some other sporting events. Whatever happens outside of my life has no effect on the way I live it. Teams lose and teams win but they can’t do both all of the time and unfortunately some people cannot see that. Neither can they see that teams are constantly changing so that every version is different from previous ones. Not so with life though, we can only play that game with the one and only player, ourselves. Our tactics might change but that may not make any difference to what happens to us. I am spending a lot more time at the pub lately. That in itself is nothing new but I have times when pub life is of no interest to me and I stay away for weeks, sometimes even months! In my youth I was never one for going to the pub. I was 25 years old before I started going on a regular basis which became less frequent when I got married until I finally stopped going at all. When my marriage broke down and I pursued my lifelong ambition to transition I began once more to visit bars and clubs for about three or four years but again stopped going once I’d transitioned. It was in 2004, two years later that I started going to my local pubs but I found I liked only one of them, the one I now usually visit. At first I would go there, as well as other places in my town, about three or four times a week. More recently I only visit my local pub but as I said I may go a couple of times a week, even three times but often don’t bother for weeks. It all depends on whatever else I am doing and with whom. Very few things hold my interest as much as being in the company of others and doing things with them. That wasn’t always so in my life, especially earlier in my life when I was completely the opposite and totally anti-social. Life went on all around me just the same, the only difference was that I wasn’t on the same wagon. A couple of posts ago I was talking about my drinking habits and one of my readers asked jokingly ’How many points is that?’ to which I replied ‘Who’s counting?’. Although I take such things lightly I am aware that I need to balance my intake with the way I want to live my life and not to overindulge. That said, life would go on without me no matter what my decision. The question is, do I want to be part of it or just sit on the sidelines and let it all pass me by? I think I know which I prefer.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Enjoyment, Life, Lifestyle | Tagged: Enjoyment, Lifestyle, Public house, Sport | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on May 6, 2012
The interior of a typical English pub, in this case the Penruddocke Arms, which lies between Dinton and Wilton in Wiltshire. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On Thursday I hadn’t much to do in the afternoon so I went for a walk and on to the pub for a quiet time. So my surprise the pub was filled with people who were gathered together at a wake. This has been the second time such an event has been celebrated in the pub in the last two weeks. Everyone was dressed in black for the occasion and I was too, although that had been a pure coincidence. I can never understand why people think they must wear black to a funeral. The tradition actually isn’t all that old but people do things, they say, out of respect for the dead. Why do they say that? What difference does it make as to the colour of your clothes? If people were really being honest with themselves they would know that it is more the fear of what others will say if they don’t conform. How stupid is that? Just think about it. The deceased has no say in the matter but most probably would think it better to be alive rather than worry about what people are wearing if they had the chance! I sat alone with my red wine and diet cola and simply had a relaxing couple of hours. As the afternoon wore on into the evening I decided I wanted to return home. Feeling a little hungry I grabbed a snack, called a cab and went back to the pub about an hour later to join in with friends for the weekly quiz night. I am so glad I did, I had a great time. I left rather late but well before closing time. I had a job to do in the morning and needed to get to bed. That job turned into three jobs in three different places throughout the day. That’s the way it goes for me sometimes but I like it! Wandering into the pub when people are holding a wake really brings it home for me. Life is so short and we have to make the most of it whilst we are able.
Shirley Anne
- Following on from the other day (minkyweasel.com)
- The other day (minkyweasel.com)
- Friends & Pubs… (vintagereflection.wordpress.com)
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Posted in Enjoyment, Life | Tagged: Cola, Enjoyment, Public house, Thursday, Wine | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on April 27, 2012
Devoid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m too busy right now to see you,
I’ve too much to do today,
If only each day had more hours,
I might have some time left to play.
How is it that each precious moment
Is filled with our own selfish things
Not wishing to spend time with others,
Pursuing our own empty dreams?
For what is a life that is lonely
Bereft of companions and friends?
A schedule whose pages are empty,
Devoid of all meaning, it ends.
So make time and space for each other,
Defer things that stand in your way,
Live life to the fullest and savour,
Those friendships before it’s too late!
Copyright Shirley Anne 4 Dec 2002 Poem listed in My Poems 5 above
It isn’t my attitude to life but it does seem to be for others I know. Living in a community, amongst family and friends, if we have any, can be difficult at times. Everyone has an agenda or an excuse. Sometimes we don’t see the need others might have for us or maybe we think they get in the way of our plans. I mean what plans are so important that we don’t have time for others? Scripture tells us and we are told only too often by others that we should love our neighbour. That doesn’t just mean those living next-door but everyone else on this planet is our neighbour, anyone we come across in life is our neighbour. If we have no time for anyone else what are we living for? There are matters to which we must attend to obviously but they don’t take up our complete life do they? Take time for one another, bear each other’s burdens if we can. I speak as a Christian but the truth of the matter remains the same for everyone.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Humanity, Life, Love, People, Philosophy, Religion | Tagged: Bereft, Faceless, Intronaut, Love, Neighbourhood, People, Philosophy, Time | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on April 25, 2012
Dual carriageway (Photo credit: JohnSeb)
Do you ever think where your life is headed, what lies on the horizon? When I am alone I think on these things a lot but when I am actively doing something I don’t think about my future. We all have a future don’t we? I was reading some local news on Sunday and I learned that a young girl, a seventeen year-old was hit by a car on a local bye-pass at 2.30 in the morning that day. The road in question is a dual carriageway and during the day is very busy with traffic but even at that early hour there are still plenty of vehicles about. One stretch of the road is unlit where it runs alongside the RAF training airfield and it is possibly where the accident happened but I’m not sure. Sadly the young lady died from her injuries. She had a life to look forward to but it has been taken away from her. This is why it is important to live your life, we never know when it our time to go. So what’s next on your agenda? Will things remain as they are, will anything have changed twelve months hence? Life is precious and time does not stand still for anyone. We need to make the most of what we’ve got or improve it if we can. One minute you are here and the next…you’re gone. It upsets me to learn of tragic accidents such as that of this young woman especially when I learn of other people wasting their lives through crime, drugs and bad living.
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on April 24, 2012
Statue of Pheidippides along the Marathon Road. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On Sunday morning we had television coverage of the London marathon event which I normally watch if I can. I watched as the exhausted athletes reached the finishing line, the goal of their preparations and months of training. Before the event started some athletes were being interviewed, among them certain celebrities and people participating in support of their chosen charity by raising funds. For some this is an annual event, a once a year thing. For others it is just another event in their diary, one of many they participate in during the year. A couple of men being interviewed had been involved in other multiple marathons only recently. When I think of the achievements of people like Eddie Izzard who have run several marathons in as many days I am really amazed at their strength and endurance but I do wonder if the human body was designed for such punishment and what damage is being done to the body in the name of sport. The original marathon was undertaken by a runner in ancient Greece……
The modern Athens Marathon commemorates the run of the soldier Pheidippides from a battlefield at the site of the town of Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C. Legend has it that Pheidippides delivered the momentous message ”Niki!” (“victory”), then collapsed and died.
It is a sad fact that there have been a few people who have collapsed and died after putting themselves through a marathon race. Soon after I penned this post I learned that a woman had died whilst running in this marathon. Personally speaking I have never run a marathon and have no desire to do so although I did once run twenty miles in the name of my then personal hobby. I started running when I was about 34 years of age and eventually was running 4 miles every two days and doing 8 or 16 miles on a weekend day. Up until fairly recently, about 8 years ago I was still putting in 4 miles in the morning before work every couple of days and doing this at 3 in the morning! I am reduced to the occasional stint on my treadmill these days and really speaking it’s probably all that I need to maintain a level of fitness. Many of the marathon runners do it in order to raise funds for their charity of choice and that is a good thing. It might be a tiring experience but it is also an enjoyable one. Running gives you a sense of freedom and it is one of those things we can be involved in which allows us time to think about life itself and how we live it.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Activity, Exercise, Health, Humanity, Life, People, Sport | Tagged: Athens, Eddie Izzard, London, London Marathon, Marathon, Pheidippides, Running, Sport | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on April 19, 2012
Excuses messin cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I love that saying. It speaks of course about procrastination, that famous thief of Time. Did you ever hesitate to do something? What was it that kept you from pushing the boat out and getting on with it? Fear? Anxiousness? Insecurity? Well it could be any of those things I suppose and probably many more. I love doing things on the spur of the moment but I don’t do that very often. Some people are ‘go-getters’, doers rather than watchers but others are more at home with being at home and remaining as they think, secure. It’s about being an extrovert rather than being an introvert too. Life is for living as the saying goes but many are content to simply exist and thereby miss out on things they’d probably enjoy if they would only give them a try. For many years I was a person like that. I couldn’t care less about what other people got up to and I didn’t want much to get involved with anything or anyone, preferring my own company. It took some years before I changed my outlook on life and began to mix with others. I didn’t really have any ambitions save for my only desire to transition and even that didn’t bear fruit until many years later. That story is in my pages above. Even now I find it difficult to just go and do things. I find myself trying to rationalise my motives and making excuses for not doing something at times but if other people are involved I find the decisions easy to make. That is because I love the company of others and it is one of the reasons I go to the pub every so often. Over the last eight weeks I have been living in quiet isolation at home with only the occasional visits from my sons to break the silence. This is because of the rift that exists between E and myself and her refusal to admit her horrible behaviour toward me. This situation has resulted in no work being done at home on the numerous tasks I’d like to get done but which I refuse to undertake until things change. It is an ongoing story that has lasted for years. I have worked very hard to make all that has been achieved at home come into fruition but sometimes I feel or have felt in the past that I wasn’t being appreciated, taken for granted if you will. However, whatever I have done has been done out of love for E and I have enjoyed doing it. There is more to life than work though and I yearn to do other things too sometimes but I find the urge to do so is not there. It doesn’t help if I haven’t anyone to do them with so I don’t bother. I shouldn’t beat around the bush I know but sometimes I feel better off just lying beneath it instead. I feel my life is just ticking away and I am getting nowhere. I remain hopeful as usual.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Activity, Ambition, Life | Tagged: Extraversion and introversion, Life, Lifestyle, Relationships | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on April 11, 2012
Courage, Hopes & Dreams statue, Immigration Square, LIUNA Station, downtown Hamilton, Ontario (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Some people have hopes and dreams from a very early age, others set their hearts on something later as teenagers whilst some drift into adulthood with very few hopes and dreams living each day as it comes. For some people living from day-to-day is all they want, they may make one or two plans such as deciding to buy a house or finding a partner and getting married. Others set their hearts on having a family and follow with what all that entails. Some people want to be rich and powerful and some only want the bare necessities in life but whatever plans, aspirations, hopes and dreams people may have, do they all get want they wanted and if they do are they happy with the outcome? Sometimes things don’t work out as planned and we make adjustments. We try one path and it fails so we try another. Are we dismayed when things don’t go our way or do we plod on and try something new? Do we follow our dreams regardless or are we prepared to make changes to our plans and will we be content with that? When I was very young I had mo idea on what life had in store for me. I had no ideas on what I might do when I grew up but I did have one persistent thought in my mind and that was to see if it was possible to become the girl I felt I was inside. When as a teenager I learned of someone having gone through a sex-change operation my hopes were built-up and I longed to be able to save enough money to do the same thing myself. This led me to concentrate on getting a job and pursuing that dream if I could. I was in the closet as they say so no-one knew of my aspirations or my gender identity issues. However life had something else in store for me and I was side-tracked from my original goal. It was through my own weaknesses that I was deprived of what I really wanted, I wasn’t strong enough or determined enough to follow my dream. This was mainly due to my timidity having been bullied throughout my life. By the time I became self-assured I had already become married and my plans fell to one side. Things however didn’t go to plan and eventually the marriage broke down. This is recorded in my story page so I won’t repeat it here. Again I was in a position to follow my original dream and that is what I did. My children were now adults so there was nothing now to stop me. Again, this is recorded in my pages above. I can say that my hopes and dreams have all been fulfilled albeit much later than perhaps they should have been but although I went down other paths I have no regrets. I would never have met E and fallen in love with her, I would never have experienced parenthood and the joys of having children had I followed through with my hopes and dreams at an earlier time. I therefore had to shelve my own desires with the prospect of never fulfilling them now that I had a family and a relationship. Plans can be changed and sometimes they turn out to be better than we’d hoped. Whichever way you live your life never let go of your hopes and dreams for although they may not be fulfilled immediately, they may be one day!
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Dreams, Hope and aspiration, Life, Transgender, Transsexual | Tagged: Dream, Hope and aspiration, Transsexuality | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on April 1, 2012
Dr. Sage & Co's Catarrh Remedy, Buffalo, NY (Photo credit: KChristensen)
Despite the up-beat tone of my posts I have been suffering a little with my health and the relationship I have with E lately hasn’t helped. Over the last week or so I have had this nagging problem with catarrh or perhaps phlegm in my throat, associated as they both are with the common cold. I have had cold symptoms too which would explain a lot. I seldom take medicines for headaches, pains and even the cold unless it becomes unbearable not to do so, they only mask the problem and are not a cure. People will say that by taking the medicines will help the body to overcome whatever the ailment is but they don’t, our body’s defence system does it all be itself, it just requires the fuel. So here I am now at the end of another week, one in which I have been suffering a little but it hasn’t stopped me from working or going to the pub. The main problem with catarrh is the constant coughing in the attempt to release it. I did resort to using a specialised solution to gargle with in the end which did help although not completely. I try not to let life’s little problems get me down though and just get on with it. I’m afraid though that the relationship I have with E isn’t going to improve in the foreseeable future so I resign myself to remaining without her company until she sees sense. That may be difficult because of her stubbornness to admit she is ever wrong. I plod on regardless. Whilst I am occupied everything is nice, it’s when I am not that it gets a little lonesome but even at her best she isn’t one for sitting together and just chatting. I know it is April 1st but it isn’t a joke anymore.
Shirley Anne
- Not well again (minkyweasel.com)
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Posted in Family, Health, Life, Relationships | Tagged: Common cold, Health, Life, Relationship | 3 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on March 28, 2012
Cover of Jinxed!
Monday turned out to be a really good day. I got back to the old lady’s house and fitted her wall lights and new bell push with only a minor problem concerning the bell push. Well something had to be problematical given what happened on Friday. If I didn’t know any better I’d swear her house was jinxed! Whilst there I received another request to do a job some miles away in the next town and that turned out to be quite lucrative and easy to do. Swings and roundabouts I guess. I finally got home around 2.30 and fixed myself a snack after which I took my guitar outside and sat in the sunshine-soaked patio playing for an hour. A neighbour was having a glass and brick-constructed conservatory demolished ready for a single-storey extension to be built in its place, something that required planning permission from the local council and which had been granted last year. In order to gain permission to build it is necessary to post a formal proposition so that people living in the immediate area can oppose it if they consider it might cause a problem of one sort or another. In most cases like this one there are no reasonable objections. I sat far enough away from the work in progress for it to be a ‘nuisance noise pollution‘ as it were and my music drowned out the sound anyway. Before long they had demolished most of the structure. I don’t know what it is with me but I love watching the progress of a building being erected, the various stages leading up to that final finish. I shall be taking an interest over the next few weeks as the work progresses. I do have an interest in buildings, in their architecture, they are one of the success stories of the human race I think and some of them are really imaginative in their construction. They are beautiful things in their own way, well I think so anyway. I heard that we are going to continue having warm weather at least until Friday. Currently the temperature is twice the seasonal average at 19, 20 and even 21 degrees celsius. I suppose next week will see a marked change to cooler days. I’m happy with that as long as it doesn’t get too cold!
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Activity, General Chat, Life, People | Tagged: Building, Environment, General Chat, Home and Garden, Life, Listed building, Noise pollution, Planning permission | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on March 26, 2012
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Well it’s not Saturday night or Sunday morning but it’s been a nice weekend. It is Monday morning once again and I am wondering what this week has in store for me. After last Friday’s fiasco I am hoping things will go a lot smoother. At the time it was frustrating on Friday but through it all I remained in good spirits and found myself laughing at the ridiculous chain of events in which I found myself immersed. I was rather tired after the days events and all I wanted to do was sit down and relax. I received a call in the evening from the old lady in whose house I’d been in earlier in the day asking if I could remove the wall lights for her (you will have to read last Fridays post to get the whole story). I returned to the old lady’s house on Saturday morning to remove the two wall lights and at the same time fit the new ceiling light she had bought, a much better and much simpler affair. She wasn’t able to get the new wall lights until she had returned the ones I was to take down, the ones I’d fitted on Friday! I offered to take her into town and drop her off with the lights after which I was to return home and she would return home by herself later. I would return today, Monday to fit the wall lights she was to collect from the store. So that’s what I will be doing this morning if all goes well. It’s been a lovely weekend with fine sunshine and on Saturday evening Jane collected me on her way to the archery club social dinner, probably the last one I’ll attend as she is moving down to the south coast. E had been out all day on Saturday having driven to her venue early in the morning with her car stocked full of gifts for her ‘Formidable Friends’ competitors club event out-of-town. At least it gives her something on which to focus in her life as she is unable to work because of her incapacity. Life goes on with all its ups and downs. It’s Monday morning and I feel great.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Life | Tagged: Archery, Drink, Food, Friday, Friendship, Fun, Happiness, Jane, Life, Monday, Saturday, Work | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on March 1, 2012
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Whenever someone asks me to do a job for them I note it down in a diary. I seldom forget that I have work to do but on Tuesday morning I received a call from a lady who asked if I was coming as I said I would. Fortunately I was dressed and just about putting the finishing touches to my make-up when she called and was able to get there within a half hour. She had called me around eight-thirty but as is usual for me I wouldn’t have arrived until nine o’clock anyway. I could have said nothing about my forgetting the appointment but I apologised for my error. I arrived a few minutes after nine and did the work for her. I have worked for this lady before and she is nice to work for. She had done a little electrical job in her kitchen and asked if I would check it out. I couldn’t have done a better job myself! She told me that she had wanted to be a mechanic in her youth but couldn’t get into the industry. She is only six years younger than myself! There were other electrical jobs that needed doing but she confessed she hadn’t the knowledge to do them and that is why I was called. Later we chatted some and she was asking about my interests and when I mentioned that I play guitar she took me upstairs and showed me two lovely instruments that she owned but couldn’t play. Both were way out of tune and one, a twelve-stringed guitar, had a string missing, the other, a six-stringed instrument had two of its strings wrapped on the wrong posts so that the strings crossed each other on the machine head. She asked if I could tune it so I did a quick tune-up and played a song or two. It needs the strings fitted correctly and tuning properly. I also noticed that some strings were wrapped counter-clockwise and some clockwise which makes adjusting the tension awkward. They should all rotate the same way so it is easier to remember if you are tightening them or loosening them! She asked if I could teach her to play but I explained that it would take some time just to learn the basics. I may get back to her later if I’ve the time. I’ve now got to try to remember to do that. As we get older we find that we sometimes forget things, it’s unavoidable I suppose. It is one thing writing down appointments in a diary, it’s another remembering to read the diary or even remembering where you left it! I am alright on the last bit as my diary is in my bag. Now where did I place my bag? LOL.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in General Chat, Life | Tagged: Arts, General Chat, Guitar, Life, Music, String instrument, Stringed, Strings, Work | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on January 29, 2012
I had the strangest feeling last Friday evening. I had taken E out to lunch in the afternoon. We had travelled to various venues before arriving at the one we had originally thought of visiting in the first place. We had not been to this restaurant for quite some time, possibly more than twelve months but we had chosen well. We went the full three courses and I had my usual bottle of red wine. Later we indulged in a liqueur coffee before finally returning home. Well I actually was dropped off at the pub and I stayed there until well after midnight chatting with friends. E would have collected me had I phoned her but I decided to walk home instead. It was a dry and pleasant night if a little cold so the walk itself was nice but doing it in high heels was not to be recommended. I managed though and was home around one o’clock. I didn’t retire to bed until after two but spent some time online first. It didn’t take me long to board that train to Slumbertown but I was up again two hours later to pay the little girl’s room a visit. Half awake and half asleep I sat there a while and it was then that I was overcome with a very strong feeling, one I had never before experienced. Essentially it was a feeling of meaninglessness if there is such a word, a feeling that somehow my life was totally meaningless inasmuch as no matter what I do to be happy and to enjoy life in the end it is all quite meaningless and pointless. My thoughts turned to Scripture and specifically the Book of Ecclesiastes which describes what I was feeling about my life. I have mentioned this book before and I still recommend it as I do all of Scripture for what it contains. I have learnt to be happy and content with life, learnt to rest in the love of God and it is only because of that love that I find life bearable. We all want to be happy and content but do we really understand what that means? There are many pleasures to be had in life but they never completely satisfy the soul and we return to them repeatedly in the hope that we will have a good time and be happy. When the self-indulgent pleasure has passed we look forward to other things or a repeat of the same which tells me that life’s pleasures are but short-lived and have to be revisited over and over. In the end we tire of them. This is the feeling that I was experiencing. I realised that there is only one thing that lasts forever and it isn’t what my flesh and bones experience but it is what my spirit experiences, the love of God. Whilst I am in the flesh all I can do is to work, rest and play. I am on a merry-go-round that never stops and never really satisfies. I am constantly seeking new avenues for pleasure but it is all truly meaningless. We are but a breath, a whisper and our passing is hardly noticed in the vastness of the Universe. We live but for a short time and we are gone. All we can do is try to enjoy it the best we can. It’s what comes after that is more important.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Enjoyment, God, Happiness, Life | Tagged: Book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes, God, Happiness, Life, Religion and Spirituality, Solomon | Leave a Comment »
