The Meerkat Muse: 3rd of December, 2025
We’re into December, which means now Christmas can officially start! Woohoo! Well, I don’t know if I am that excited just yet, but we’ll see how we go as the month wears on.
The Cold Snap
Until the middle of November, the temperatures were quite mild, especially considering previous Novembers. 15 degrees is not what one would call glorious summer heat, but for the end of autumn and the onset of wintery conditions, it was quite pleasant. Come mid-November, it was as though someone flicked a switch, and the mercury rapidly fell. Welcome to highs of 5 or 6, and lows of 1, on the thermometer. There was no escaping the new reality of the cold.
It had to happen eventually, and it happened to such a degree that, in some parts of the country, including some quite southern parts, there was snow. We didn’t get snow in my slice of Essex, but not too far away in Hertfordshire, my parents had some.
Meerkats and snow are not natural bedfellows. I like to look at snow from the comfort of my windows. I don’t mind crunching through snow in some limited circumstances. I do not particularly enjoy the icy conditions. Would we get more as November wore on?
Scaling Back
I have started to remove posts pertaining to a particular pest of Meerkat Musings. I certainly reserve the right to repost these articles, depending upon the attitude and behaviour of said pest, but I am thoroughly tired of him, to the stage where I am fully aware of his efforts to goad and provoke, but have no interest in fanning the flames of his deceit and fury. This new policy has rather gutted my Meerkat Responds page, and it may be gutted further, but I cannot divine a purpose to indulging trolling, and cowardly behaviour. I suspect he will not reciprocate, since he does not believe he has ever done anything wrong at all, but we can live in hope.
Steady Progress
I am slowly-but-surely drawing to the conclusion of the Chon’ith Saga. A part of me has set a target of finishing the first draft by the end of 2025, so I can get it in the queue with the publisher for the start of the New Year. I don’t know if I can meet that goal, but I shall certainly aim to.
More Mischievous Murray the Meerkat Moments
Utilising some new pencils I got for my birthday, I thought I’d create Murray as a mad scientist! What fiendish schemes might he have in store? Or is he merely developing a new cough medicine formula?
Experiments
As I weigh up my next tattoo, I am drawn to something that honours Meerkat Musings. It’s been an important creative outlet of mine for over a decade, so it seems fitting to somehow mark that with a, well, mark. On the other hand, I don’t have a Formula 1 tattoo yet, and there are other fields of interest that are more worthy too. In fact, one idea is to get a series of tattoos that honour my mother, father, and brother. I know what I’d get for my mother and father, but my brother is trickier to work out.
I could also go for a tattoo regarding my fascination with the stars and space. Perhaps a Gray alien? Then again, I don’t want to be scared of my tattoo, every time I look at it!
There’s certainly scope for a few ideas, though this then prompts the question: what to do first? Related to that is ‘where should it go?’
Perhaps I should go in for a Meerkat Musings tattoo!
I’m leaning toward option two, but there’s no rush to make a decision. Indeed, Chris the Demon Chicken remans a distinct possibility.
A Slow Week
Between using up my 2025 holiday allowance, and the pattern of days off, I had a trio of days off last week, which matched the week before. This has generally meant a slow pace of activity, and because of that I haven’t had too much going on with which to fill this Muse. If nothing happens then nothing happens, which I appreciate can make for a boring blog! This lack of eventful intrigue did have me considering going off on a political tangent with this Muse, but I’d rather keep it clear of topics pertaining to boorish oafs.
The Battles inside my Head
Sometimes, I am a conflicted meerkat. I feel a little bit at war with myself. Like anyone, I have positive and negative emotions and moods. I am forever trying to believe I am a good meerkat, but occasionally, I am hit with doubt. In a bid to try and manifest these feelings, I turned to a couple of AI creations to perhaps express this in more clarity.
The Case of Fragile Masculinity
As I walked home with my daughter the other day, we walked by a jewellers. Inside were several women looking at stuff, and outside was a bloke waiting with a pram. The man rather loudly declared that he was not prepared to wait inside the jeweller’s, framing his statement in such a way that suggested it would not be seemly for a man to enter such a shop. As my daughter and I walked on, I had to share my observation with her that this guy must have a pretty fragile sense of masculinity, if being seen inside a jewellery shop can somehow emasculate him.
It would be a funny scenario, if it were indicative of a larger problem with society. Some – certainly not all, but some – men (and women too) are consumed by the concept of specific gender roles. They take the concepts of masculinity and femininity to absurd levels. Does the guy outside the jewellers ever change a nappy? Has he ever done the washing up? Pegged clothes on a clothes line? Are these tasks too demeaning for him as a man to do? Will it destroy his ego to partake in regular household chores?
Okay, so perhaps we’re going a tad overboard here, but you get my point. Are we really going to wring our hands in fear over how random strangers walking by might perceive us if we walk into a jewellers? Is this sort of attitude still persuasive in the 21st Century? Does this guy shrink when he goes anywhere near the women’s clothes department of any given clothes retailer? How does he feel about walking into a perfume shop? Does he even dare to venture near these places to shop for birthday and Christmas presents, or does he get someone else to do it for him, for fear of his precious reputation as a sturdy male specimen?
Answers on a postcard.
Then There Were Three
Whilst the timing came as a bit of a surprise, I cannot say I was hugely shocked by a phone call I took from my boss last week. One of our colleagues – the newest member of the team – has parted ways with us. They were on their probationary period, and that was not extended. They weren’t technically sacked, but considering an unfortunate series of issues, their employment has not been confirmed. Among the issues were several serious breaches of the GDPR regulations regarding data protection, as well as tardiness. Being late by 10 minutes on the odd occasion can happen to anyone, but this was quite a regular happenstance. Add in concerns over mistakes with orders and the whole situation built to a head, with my employers deciding to wield the axe.
It’s not a great time of year to make someone redundant, but I do understand why my employers would make such a decision. The big post-Christmas sale is coming up, and they will want to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible. Now, my employers have some issues of their own they need to address where efficiency and reliability are concerned, but on matters at store level, they’ve got to think about getting sales in that will go out without problems. I can understand that, because my colleague’s mistakes were creating more work for me.
What this also means is that I will have some more lone-trading days coming up. This is both good and bad. There’s the risk of boredom, or alternatively extra stress if the store gets busy. On the other hand, I will confess to finding this colleague a little hard to take sometimes. They were quite happy, but sometimes a little too happy, and they were very eager to talk, which is not always my preference. There’s a part of me that will relish the quiet, subject to how it all pans out.
The Display Stand Nightmare
Not that it directly affects me (I will be off), the showroom is due to receive new tile display stands, for large tiles, and yet again I am left to contemplate how the powers-that-be at head office do not live in the real world. We are a small showroom, with limited options and space, and we already have more display stands than we know what to do with. Head office will turn around and state that we cannot refuse these new stands, and then offer the glib, unhelpful answer of ‘make room’. Sure, I’ll just snap my fingers and create a dimensional pocket of folded space in the store, where we can stash more displays.
What makes this all worse is that owing to the recent departure of my colleague, there will inevitably be extra work down the line. My thoughts remain curious about opportunities elsewhere.
The Meerkat Musings Logo!
Via a combination of my own drawing and some AI assistance, I have what I am terming the official Meerkat Musings logo! It may yet undergo some revisions.
Cute, no?
Potential Opportunities
I have a decision to make. An opportunity – a ‘plan B to a plan B’, so to speak – has arisen, and now I have to consider the pros and cons of taking it up. In terms of location it absolutely works, and in terms of hours it more or less works too, but it’s not the opportunity I really want. Nonetheless, I am seriously considering it. It would be a big leap in some regards, but I suspect in other ways it would not be a huge change. What can I say, I’m conflicted!
Tis the Season
Contrary to what my wife and daughter often say, I love Christmas. I am however something of a purist, in that I do not celebrate the season until it actually starts, which is not until December! Whilst I fully understand the need to prepare in advance (presents, food, accessories etc), when it comes to the Christmas spirit, that should not start until the 1st of December. If it starts beforehand, then to me the season loses its magic. Christmas is special because it’s a brief spell in December, as opposed to a three-month marathon of adverts, lights, tinsel and music. People oversaturate Christmas, and doing so hurts this unique special occasion.
Now that we’re in December, I am all for it! Bring on the music, and the food, and the jumpers!
Ending as Beginning
As we zero in on the end of this Muse, the weather has once again turned very, very damp. The thought that lingers is whether or not December might bring snow (I cannot remember the last time we had a White Christmas in my neck of the woods), but that’s a matter for another Muse.
With this Muse nearly bookended by wet weather, I shall bid you all adieu, until next time!
