Well the poetry contest is now under way. There are twenty six entries in total which I am slowly reading through trying to pick three. It isn’t an easy task as the poems on offer are all very goods. It makes it hard to cut all the entries down to only three but it has to be done. I spend some time this weekend losing myself in them and see which ones speak loudest or touches me most. That I suspect will leave me with around half to attempt to find some winners.

I’m at the boring part of RPG’s where I’m running around a swamp levelling up. If you have ever played a RPG before you’ll know how it goes. You run around the countryside, the swamp in my case, fighting battle after battle till you are levelled up to a point you feel you can continue the game. All the levelling up makes the game a little easier later on so it is important to get it just right. Unfortunately it can get very repetitive so it takes a bit of restraint from continuing with the storyline but in the end it is worth it.

The new manager at work is beginning to cause rumblings at work. Several colleagues have been moaning to me about Allen’s ideas and it didn’t go down well with some when he demanded everyone back to work after lunch. It being Friday everyone was a little slow in finishing their lunch, me included. Mondays and Fridays I think are the same every where in that respect. The last day of the week you are just looking forward to the two days off. At the beginning of the week though you have the rest of the week in front of you so feel it draining at you. Still it is his job to drive the workforce to the task at hand when they aren’t in any hurry themselves. As for the grumblings they’ll settle as everyone gets used to him.

We got a new production manager, Allen, this week at work. He the sort that helps out and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty which is a great blessing. Especially when your dragging a ton weight into the cold store as I found out the other day. There’s a small rise between the intake bay and the colder store that makes it tricky when moving the pallets of goods. Even with the pallet-truck the heavier loads are a struggle to get over the incline when you’re doing it yourself as is often the case. Anyways with Allen around to give us a push I soon had ten tonnes of sheep’s lobes speedily stored away.

The poem I have been working on for the contest at Absolute Write is finished. Though I will check over it this weekend one last time before entering it to give it a final tweak. I had my son read over it this week to give me his opinion, not an easy task. When asking friends or family you often find them not wishing to upset you so they say what they believe you want to hear. Sadly that can mean that you get a false sense that what you have done is really better than it could be if they were more honest. It is always important if they do say good things to be the annoying one and ask them to point out something that could be improved. I always find that if you wheedle a little you can get some little gems that can help your writing. Don’t worry about upsetting the family they’ll understand if they really love you. After a while they’ll end up giving a more real critique that can be a great boon.

Well I got the first proper draft of my poem down. This weekend I will be doing more editing of it as I managed to do some earlier in the week. I’m planning in dropping the opening stanza as I feel I don’t really need it. The second one would make a better opener anyway and in a way say what the first tells you without say it so directly. It allows the reader to see rather than be told which is a good thing I think. There are some other parts that will need revising as well as the ending lines. I’m not sure of them I might need to come up with another final stanza, maybe I might add on a few lines that would have more of an impact. I have much to think about when I get back from the opticians tomorrow.

I’m also looking forward to the rugby this weekend. The Six Nations starts tomorrow.

Scotland has England to face. It should be a great game but before them there is the France v Italy game. Sunday I will also be watching the Wales v Ireland match. Though it will really be Scotland that I’m routing for the loudest tomorrow, all the other games are to just be enjoyed, somehow it is different when it’s your country though isn’t it?

I feel I might be struggling this weekend to fit everything in. With the rugby, my poem, some gaming, the opticians (I’m over due an eye test by several months), and some more SVQ studying to do. Not worth worrying about though as it won’t make it done.

It has been an exciting week regards to the poem that I’m doing for the competition. I started one called The Gamer on Saturday though I wasn’t really happy with it. Still I decide to leave it till this weekend and have another crack at it. On Wednesday though will at work loading the dicing machine inspiration struck. At break I wrote down the beginnings of my new poem. Over the rest of the week the idea has been fermenting away and I’m now sure of how I am now hoping to take this to create a something that maybe worthy of the competition.

As for the other poem, I will come back to that at a later date hopefully. Of course the idea for that one came from me playing The Witcher which is coming on good. I’m now onto the second act and being forced into choices between two different sides that will lead the game in separate paths. This makes the game similar to the second one and gives it replayiblity. Act two seems to be larger as well as more complex than the first act. Luckily there is a guide if I get stuck with the game which is lucky as I may have to use it because I’ve got so many active quest at the moment. Too many and I’ll start to get lost not knowing what I’m doing, hehehe.

It was Robert Burns night on Wednesday. As is tradition I didn’t get my tatties and neeps till Thursday. Magz had forgot to get the turnip so Tammy and me, the only ones in the house that like haggis, had to leave it till then to get our Burns Supper. In the end it was all the better for it. Though there were no speeches or poetry, other than in my head, and not a snifter of whisky. As for the whisky I’m not a great drinker so that wasn’t really missed.

Well no sooner than I posted last weeks post and I was hit by computer problems. Dust had built up in the graphics card causing it to overheat which meant I had to strip it out to give it a good clean. It’s amazing how much of a dust haven the inside of a computer can be. Luckily no damage was done and my system was up and running in no time. It does go to show that Friday the thirteenth still got me even if it was in such a minor way, hehehe.

The troubles with my fence post continue. I sorted it again on Saturday but yesterday as I came home from work I noticed it was again leaning out of place. I might mean I need to tighten up the bolts and put an extra nut on each of the bolts to act as a lock to hold them secure so they don’t loosen up again. Though I’ll also have to make sure I secure the existing ones more than I seem to have managed so far. I’m sure now though that I will need to replace the post in the summer as I can’t see it surviving another year, especially when the storms hit again.

Another thing to do this weekend is to try and come up with a poem for the latest competition at Absolute Write poetry forum. This one has the theme of visions, dreams or nightmares. So far I have had only half glimmers of ideas for it nothing solid so I have my work cut out. Maybe one of those little embers might find a bit of brush to burst into life, we’ll see. I have until February the fourteenth to come up with something and make it as good as I can so not loads of time when you throw work into the mix but enough. Add some gaming to the weekend and I have a busy time over the next couple of days.

Hopefully you haven’t had a unlucky Friday the thirteenth. Mine has been a mixed day but not to bad.

I got my fence fixed but some more windy weather is forcing me to go out this weekend and see if I can make it more secure. I didn’t get round to sorting the gates but tomorrow is to be dry though cold and cloudy. Still if I wrap up warm as well as have a few tea breaks I might just get everything ship shape.

I was a bit of a naughty boy last Saturday, staying up to around three in the morning playing The Witcher. It is like many games very addictive. I suppose that is why we play them. The same can be said of a good book that you can’t put down. How may people have found they can’t put down a book till they reach the end? I know when I was younger I was like that with a few books. I would read right through the night only putting it aside after I had reread the last page at least twice because my eyes were struggling to stay open. I’m glad I haven’t done that for a while and I don’t think I could. As I was playing the game last week I found that I began to get turned around and set off in the wrong direction. It was then I knew I had to save and get to bed. It is for this reason I haven’t played it all week but will be getting some gaming this weekend. That is after I see to the garden.

I hope you all had a good New Year. We had more stormy weather that has caused more damage to my fence. Now I have to got to B and Q to get something to brace one of the fence posts which snapped close to the ground. I’m hoping to find dome metal plates to bolt it back together. While I’m at it I have to fix both my gates as the second one was torn down. The gates themselves need some TLC before I can re-hang them. Going to B and Q will give me a chance to think about what I’ll be planting this year. One thing that I will be growing again is peas. They did really well last year even though it wasn’t that great a summer. It was on the news this week that it was one of the wettest on record which I can believe. Let’s hope this year will be better.

I posted the poem that I wrote for the competition on Absolute Write on GoodReads.com, I’ll also post it at the end of this post. I unfortunately didn’t win any prizes but that was to be expected given the high standards of the other entries. It was fun though so that is the important thing and was why I did enter after all. Though the poem “Unseen” is of a more serious nature as you will see.

I also plan on playing The Witcher this weekend. I finally got the bug to play earlier this week and now can’t wait to get back into it. That is the way with games though isn’t it?

Anyways here is Unseen.

She wanders like a ghost

invisible to all around

only a strong human scent

driving the sightless crowd aside.

Hugging tightly to her possessions

the few things of happiness

from a broken childhood,

the baby never born-

beaten from her,

the lover that threw her aside.

Like a phantom

she slipped among the cracks

falling into the darkness,

the fog of mental collapse;

no-one to offer aide.

So she came to be

a spectre upon the street,

scavenging the discarded

from alleyway bins,

fighting maggots for a morsel

to ease her hunger.

Sleeping in doorways

till the long arm moves her on

to begin again

the never ending march

till final rest

under unmarked turf

in a corner of nowhere.

Another storm hit this week leaving my garden gate off its hinges. I hoped my son would fix it while I was at work. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t with him so it is still propped up against the side wall. With the New Year just a couple of days away I don’t think I will find the time to repair before the bells. You know how busy this time of year is but I am off until Wednesday so maybe I’ll get it sorted before then.

Christmas was a good one this year though it was quiet. I hope you all had a good time as well. I got a couple of computer games Oblivion and The Witcher-Platinum Edition. I haven’t started them or even done anything other than sit them on top of the printer. I just haven’t been in the mood to play them. I will eventual get playing sometime next year. Having played The Witcher 2 it will be interesting to see how the story began with the bonus of having the add-ons. Some fun to look forwards to in the coming year in losing some time in gaming.

It’s funny how we so often try to lose ourselves in thing. Be it TV, the internet, games, etc, etc. If it wasn’t for that time lost to hobbies or whatever life would be rather boring don’t you think? It is those things that take us away from the mundane day to day that makes life, like family, worth living. We work all week to provide for the essentials but it is when we get the time to indulge ourselves we can enjoy those selfish moments without guilt. If only there was more time to do so without impacting on those we love. Sadly the ordinary daily things are needed as a balance so we get the full joy from our leisure time. Here’s hoping that you all have a great year to come and that you all find plenty of time to enjoy your diversions. Happy New Year.

Two days to go and everything is ready for the big day. I’ve even wrapped Magz’s secret present then hid it away again. I’ll give it to her after all the other gifts have been stripped of their paper. I know, how mushy am I? But it is Christmas only once a year so I’m allowed, hehehe.

I see a lot of people have left the shopping to the last minute. I’ve never really understood the excitement people get from the frantic rush. Then there is the crowds pushing their way to find a bargain. Personally I don’t think that there every really are any to be had. I think the retailers just play a game of clever deception when it comes to those last few days’ sales before Christmas to drag the multitude in. Still I suppose shops have to do something to get people to buy especially as the internet has taken a large slice of business over the past ten years from them.

As you can tell I prefer the quiet Chrimbo and with the next four days off I’m planning on just that with the family. You can call me boring if you want as long as I still get to sit back with my slipper on I don’t mind. I’ll sit back and watch some telly with a hot mug of tea, hehehe.

I do have to vote in the poetry competition. I’ve already read most of the entries scoring them as I go to whittle them down to the ones that I like best. So far that means I have four winners so I have some tough decisions to make. After I have finished reading the last few I have to read then I will reread all the ones that I scored highest and hopefully find my three favourites. At least I will have plenty of time to savour the work of others.

Hope you all have a great Christmas and don’t get caught out in the crowds. Well that is unless you really love the great seasonal dash.

Calum helped me get the garden hut window fixed. It wasn’t as dry as I hoped it would be nut it wasn’t too bad. It went quite smoothly for me. I cut the Perspex in doors to save us from the rain and by the time that was done the rain had lightened so we got the window in without the usual drama that DIY causes.

It’s funny how when it comes to DIY that there is normally unexpected problems that arise. This so often then throws a spanner in the works. It doesn’t matter if we’ve planned out carefully everything that need done to do the job. It just takes one unforeseen detail to create mayhem. For that one minor thing things seem to take a dark journey into frustration. Eventually somehow we finally find our way to the light of completion when at last we can claim success.

The worst times are of course when the wife has already told you what you need to do next which will complete the project. She will then immediately declare that you should have been listening to her all along and you would have finished it an hour ago. Of course she had been standing out in the garden talking to the neighbours at that time, which was luck as that was when everything went south, hehehe.

Well as I said there was none of that this time and the window is holding up well as we had another bad bit of weather during the week. Of course it wasn’t as bad as BawBag but it did test the repair, which just leaves me to paint the hut in the spring.

This weekend I have overtime at work. That’s what comes with the season though. Of course next Friday I can look forward to having four days off. So when I think of that tomorrow doesn’t seem so depressing. Yes I know I didn’t have to take the overtime but with the price of heating these days it’s leaving a small shortage in other areas of the house hold budget and Christmas stretches everything. Magz is managing but some extra earnings from the overtime will help after Santa has been.

Hurricane BawBag passed through last night leave fences blown over and a church steeple damaged in the town centre. I got off lightly with only the hut window blown in. I had to do a temporary repair with card board, a plastic bags and tape. Luckily it won’t cost me anything to fix as today Magz found some Perspex in a friends garden the right size to do the job, well after I cut it to fit. Talk about someone up there looking out for you. Calum will give me a hand fixing the hut tomorrow as the weather is to be a lot better that it has for weeks though is to be colder too.

I was surprised to see what the storm was called but that’s Scottish humour for you. Even when the bombs are falling we always find something to laugh at. I suppose that is really the same the world over. Don’t you think? After all when given the choice wouldn’t you prefer a good laugh to lift your spirits when the waves are crashing onto the shore. Mind I don’t think last nights storm was really that bad when you think of places like Haiti. They’re still struggling with the earthquake that so badly damaged their county last year. Then there is New Orleans in 2005 which it is still recovering from. I’m glad that we don’t get storms that bad. Still it was a wild night.

Overtime was beckoning for tomorrow but I turned it down. I’ve had a sore thumb after cutting it at work a few weeks ago. This week it got very angry and swollen so I had to go to the doctors today after work. The result is that I have a bad infection in it and I have been given a course of antibiotics for the next week. It was Magz that forced me to go as I was for leaving it but she thought that it had to be seen to, the doc agreed with her. I think that is something us men are bad for after all who really likes going to the doctors? Not me for sure. The last time I had to visit them was over a year ago when I had a kidney infection. Again that was only because I was forced to by the wife, which was lucky as the doc then wanted to send me to hospital. This time it isn’t so bad though the thumb feels like it’s been slammed in a door at the moment. It being my right thumb has made it difficult me being right handed. Holding the pen to sign my name on the prescription was more of a task than usual and the result was unrecognisable. I’m glad that writing is easier thanks to modern technology. Though this weekend I have to do my SVQ work. That will be something as my hand writing is bad at best and going by my signature today it will be unreadable. I may put it off till next weekend depending how my appendage is. I do need to get it done though just in case the man turns up at work to see if it is finished so he can give us the next set of modules. Hopefully my painful digit will be a lot better by Sunday so I can get cracking on with the work.

I just got home an hour ago after working some more overtime. Luckily tomorrow is Saturday and I have it off, no more extra work like last week. Magz wants me to go up to the loft to get the Christmas tree down ready for December. Some round our way have already got theirs up. I remember as a kid on the bus to school trying to see who could count the most on the way home with my friends. The thing was I don’t think we ever saw them until the middle of December.

My poem for the competition is taking shape. I only managed to get the rough form down and a little editing during the week. With it started I should get it into a more finished shape over the next two days but will then leave it for a week to read over again and re-edit as I see the need while trying to use all the things I’ve learned at Absolute Write from previous poems. I can’t really say much about it though I shall post it on my GoodReads.com page after the competition. The remit of which is it has to be about a place. This can be an actual place or a figurative place. I’m trying for a figurative one though I’m not sure if what I am trying with this poem will be easily seen in this light. That’s because there is another message within which stands out far more than the place. I don’t know though yet if this is a mistake on my part but time will tell. If it is then at least I will have hopefully still created something that people can enjoy. Though it will be after Christmas before the results are known as there is a vote by the member of the forum from the 15^th till 30^th December when all the entries will be up on there for members to read and choose their favourites. I’m looking forward to reading others contributions.

Absolute Write Water Cooler a forum that I go to is holding a poetry competition. Though I know I won’t win or anything I think it should be a bit of fun to enter though I’m not sure what I’ll put forward. I have some time till the deadline, the fifteenth of December so plenty of time. I do have a rough one that needs a lot of work which I can start this weekend if I can squeeze it in. I have some overtime tomorrow that I agreed to before finding out about the competition. It’s not so bad though I do have to get up really early to get the bus. It being Saturday I have to walk down to the station to get it as well, which is a twenty minute walk at best. There aren’t any buses up my way until the same time the one I have to get leaves the station. I know it is a bit of a pain but that is the Saturday service for you. Normally if I was getting the bus during the week I would just have to walk five minutes to get the early bus a few streets away. Well the overtime cash will help with Christmas getting closer as we are all being reminded regularly through the TV ads at the moment.

Of course as you know I have Magz’s gifts in already. One she has knows about and uses the other hidden away for the day. Still Magz is doing the rest of the shopping that comes this time of year for family and friends. I don’t know how she manages on our budget. There was a time when it was me that kept house when she worked. That was when the kids were still young. But even then it was her who organised the Christmas shop. I’ve always been rubbish at it. Well tomorrow might just help her out and when I get home I can start work on that poem.

I’ve got the cold. It began on Tuesday though I still went into work the rest of the week. What a week to get it though? With me having to get the bus. Dragging yourself out of bed at twenty past five in the morning all choked up is not the best of feelings. Then to spend the day grafting away does take it out of you. All you can do is get your head down and get on with it as I did. I was glad to get home though and back to my bed after surfing the net for an hour or so.

It is strange how we fill our time even when not at our best with the web these days. Yet what would we do with ourselves if the net was just to vanish tomorrow? When we have a problem with connecting up to the cyber world we have that panic that sets in or at least I do. It is like it has become another part of us that we can’t do without. A whole opens when you can’t reach your online friends to catch up on what is happening. It has become that important to us. It also gives us that other reason for not putting up the shelf we promised the wife, hehehe. Maybe that one is just me, luckily there isn’t any shelves at the moment.

When I think of my cold today though it puts it into perspective, this being Remembrance Day. The eleventh day of the eleventh month. The day that the Great War finally came to an end. As well as the day we think of all those that gave their lives defending our way of life. It also makes me grateful that I was never put to that kind of test.

Amazing news on the tax front. The phone call seems to have worked as I got a letter with my new/old tax code on it. My wages were also back to normal which is a big load off of my mind. It comes just in time to cover some extra expenses getting to work next week. I usually get a lift off of a work colleague but he is on holiday from today. Last week when I noticed the tax error I was expecting some especially tough times in the coming seven days. As it is getting the bus is still costly. More so than I think is reasonable but then again the company that runs the service has a monopoly on the route so they can set the price as they see fit. Of course they would argue that it is due to fuel cost and that there aren’t as many customers using that bus. Yet whenever I have used it over the years it has seemed well patronized by those that live and work up the Irvine Valley.  Not much though that you can do about it other than pay or walk to work and it is a little far to walk. I know some would cycle to get there but it is too dark a road at this time of year at the time of morning that I would be travelling to work. Well that is my excuse which I will be sticking too, hehehe. I still have to look forward to some earlier rises so I can catch the bus on time. That is one of the things that make you grateful of getting a lift in the morning, that extra twenty minutes in bed. It is only for a week though so not that bad.

There has been a lot on the news recently about a glitch with the computers at the tax office here in the UK. Well it seems to have struck me. This week I noticed my wages were short. On looking closely at my wage slip it was soon apparent that I had been overtaxed by £30. Not a small amount when your on the minimal pay bracket I can assure you. Well as you can imagine I was on the phone to the tax office as soon as I got home or rather I had Magz doing it as I don’t like talking to strangers. Well the short of it is that I was right but it will take a few weeks to sort out. Not what I wanted to hear as it will mean some belt tightening when the belt is already cutting off the blood to my feet. I just hope that it doesn’t take too long to sort out. Of course when it is I can expect to get the overpaid amount back though that is likely to take even longer to get. That is after all how these things usual go.

It does make you wonder though about how this can still be happening after it being all over the news. You would have thought that someone would have been put in charge of fixing the problem and making sure it didn’t happen again. That though would be asking a lot from the government. They aren’t known for the speed of correcting troubles of this nature are they? No before they do that they will need to spend a small fortune to investigate how the error occurred in the first place. Then they will spend more in finding how to fix it and even more on the solution. Doesn’t it just warm the heart thinking about it, hehehe?

It has been a rather long week. I suppose that is down to how lazy a week it has been. Other than cutting my hedges mid-week and a bit of Civ5 I haven’t done much. Yes that is what holidays are for though I was hoping for some inspiration in the writing department. Unfortunately I have found none though I still have this weekend to find some. I’m just not able to find where to start even though I have a picture in mind I can’t find the right words.

It is never easy to start a new story which is true for most things. Really it is getting the drive to make the start that is the problem usually at least for some of us. Then come the excuses, “Oh, I can do that tomorrow.” And the countless other reasons we find. But as the old saying goes tomorrow never comes. Yesterday though is always a wasted day when we do make pretexts for not doing what we had planned.

What can you do though when we fall into the trap? Not a lot sadly other than try to better today. Yet I’m still finding that I haven’t made the start that I should have. When I think of it I think that this was the same for my last book though I did have more time on my hands then. So a wasted week was less of a problem. Unlike now as on Monday I’ll be back at work which I am looking forward to.

At least I did get one good day to get out into the garden to trim my hedges. With all the wet weather we have had recently I’ve not been able to get them done so they were looking really shabby. It is amazing how untidy they can make the garden look when they’re like that. Whilst doing them though I cut the cable which meant a rewiring job. Luckily it isn’t a hard one so I was up and running after an hour. Now the garden is much tidier looking. So at least the week wasn’t a complete loss.

I’m on holiday from work for a week with no plans other than lazing around. After this week I’m glad to be off as it was a right pain this week. You know how it goes as the graft strains your back and others seem to bug your brain. I know that it was just me being tired but it doesn’t stop you feeling down. Anyway I can put it to the side now and replenish my energies. A bit of gaming or writing will help along with some nice lie-ins.

It’s strange how work has that effect though. When you’re unemployed you can’t wait to get a job. Yet when you are working for a bit it starts to drain you. Maybe that has something to do with very few of us having that dream job. You know the one we all wish we had. The one where you’re the boss running that little business you always wanted to but never had the money to do it or the know how to get it. Though would it remain the dream if we were to find the way to attain it? How long before it became just like any other job? I’m sure that a few lean years would soon make it like that. After all that is the main reason most of us do work after all, for the money.

I know that is the simple reply but it doesn’t make it any less true. For if we didn’t get paid we wouldn’t do the job would we? I know I wouldn’t as I need to provide for my family. So that is my main motivation to work but it isn’t the only one.

Having spent much of my earlier years stuck on the unemployment lines I’m glad to be working. It is good to get up in the morning and have something to contribute to the family through a days graft. But it is also good to have a break now and then to spend some time with the family we work so hard for.

The long nights are coming in fast now. It’s even dark as I head out for work in the morning. Dave, one of my work mates, bemoans the lack of light saying how hard it is to get up in the morning. I suppose that it is just the internal clock telling us we should still be sleeping as it isn’t yet day time. Then again I don’t seem to suffer as much as Dave from the morning struggle to get going. The hardest part for me is reaching out to switch off the alarm and put on the light.

It makes me wonder though how hard it must have been in the past before the wonder of the electric light. To add to the problem of the dark morning was the longer working hours. Sixteen with few breaks. Over the winter months you wouldn’t have seen much of any daylight with that long a working day. But getting up to scramble around for a match so you could get the candle to offer some visibility to your surroundings must have been a nightmare. No wonder men left the women to get up first more often than not. If it hadn’t been for those ladies’ the world may have come grinding to a halt.

Of course times were different then. Women had few rights other than what the got from their men folk. On top of looking after the house and kids they often had to work themselves. We often take our modern wonders for granted. As we also take our fewer working hours. Having worked twelve hour shifts in the past I am grateful not to be doing so now. It does drain you in more than a physical way. Your whole life becomes one of work and little else. Even the joy of the family seems to slip because your too tired. Yet some people thrive the more work they have, don’t they?