The Meerkat Muse: 22nd of April, 2026

Please, please! Hold your applause! It’s greatly appreciated, but unnecessary 🙂 Welcome back to the Meerkat Muse!

Moving and Shaking

Upheaval seems to be the buzzword. My manager, who is greatly and rightly aggrieved with our employer, is seeking to move on. I have no idea what that will mean for me and my place within the business. It’s no secret that I’ve had my own desire to leave for some time, and I have stepped up my job search. This led to a brief, self-contained humourous moment, when I misread a job role of handler, mistaking it for ‘hamster’. Somehow, I don’t think I can get a job as a hamster!

Then again, it’s a crazy world, so you never know…

The biggest issue for me is finding a new job that is of particular interest. I don’t want to leap for the sake of leaping. It has to be the right move. It has to be a job I genuinely believe I can do and do well. There might come a point where I have to accept whatever I can find, but I would prefer to set my terms, so to speak.

A Sharp Upward Tick

Right at the start of this Muse cycle (heh, I’ve just realised how that sounds like news cycle), the weather took an abrupt turn for the better. Suddenly the thermometer was hitting 25C. It was enough to make a meerkat sweat! I even went shirtless as I mowed the lawn (no, I shant be sharing tantalising shirtless pics, no matter how much you beg).

Would this situation last? Well, the forecast for the following week was rain…

A Parental Fret and Making the Most of it

Over the past couple of months I’ve alluded to some challenging stuff, without being specific. I simply wasn’t ready to go into detail. The issue relates to my daughter’s health, and the initial phrasing of a referral letter left me more terrified than I have ever been in my life. References to the c word prompted all sorts of turmoil in my head, and since the start of March my wife and I have been back and forth to both our local hospital and a London hospital.

My daughter has been a champ throughout all of this. She’s been poked, prodded, stuck with needles and subjected to various scans. The doctors have concluded that a swelling she had developed on her neck is something to do with her thyroid, but none of the tests have indicated anything malignant. Nonetheless, they want to remove the part of her thyroid that’s causing the swelling.

On the 10th, we had a pre-op chat at the hospital in London that will perform the surgery. Once again my daughter handled all the information so calmly, far more so than I did! The procedure is set for the end of April, and I suspect I’ll spend the entire day more anxious than I’ve ever been!

Whilst we were in London, we took advantage of the opportunity to treat ourselves, aided by some very generous help from my parents. A jaunt to China Town saw us briefly wander around and weigh up several food options, before settling on a location for some good grub. I perhaps could have made a different choice for my mains, but the quality and quantity was excellent. It was also something of a reward for the stresses and strains of late!

We were all stuffed! If by chance we find ourselves back at the Er Mei restaurant, I for one would be happy to go back!

Cream Crackered

After such a long day in London, going to work the next day facing appointments and designs to do wasn’t great. I was tired, and my exhaustion steadily built across the course of the Saturday. Lengthy design consultations take it out of me, and I reached a point in the afternoon where I hit a wall. I just did not want to deal with any more people. For better or worse Sunday was relatively quiet, and so was Monday. Mind you, Monday brought back the early starts, as the Easter break was over, and not only was the regular routine back, it was time for something else…

GCSES

My daughter is starting her exams. These are stressful, trying times for young minds, and I don’t particularly look back on my exams fondly. I don’t want my daughter to think less of herself if results don’t pan out the way she wants. She is full of effort and determination and works so hard, but sometimes the nature of exams doesn’t reflect this for people.

What will make this more challenging is her upcoming surgery. She is required to have two weeks off school post-surgery. Doctor’s orders. This will right in the middle of GCSE season, but her health comes first. She didn’t choose to have this issue, and the operation cannot be rescheduled. The school – and exam board – should surely grant her some mercy. If they don’t, they will have her mother to deal with, and that will not go well for them!

The Curious Case of Puking One’s Guts

I’ve no idea what prompted a vomit-comet last Tuesday morning, but following a fitful night with my stomach churning, I ended up emptying my stomach. From that moment on I was as weak as a kitten, and laid up in bed all day. I even missed work, which is not like me; I’ll usually haul myself in even when feeling rough.

Fortunately, my scheduled days off were Wednesday and Thursday, which granted me a couple of days to coalesce. I certainly needed that opportunity! The only thing I can assume is that it was something I ate, but then my wife and daughter ate the same stuff, and they were fine. It was strange, and not pleasant.

A Tentative Date

My next book, The Forest, has been penciled in for a July release date by Jumpmaster Press. It’s not definite, but with luck things will pan out that way. I am looking forward to get The Forest out there, because it’s the start of an ambitious project! I know that the multiverse is a popular concept right now, but the way I’m doing it will hopefully prove a little different!

One thing I’m now pondering to a greater degree is whether to get a new theme for Meerkat Musings, one that will be better for showcasing my books. I don’t know the best format for that, and I don’t know if it’s definitely necessary, we shall see.

Working on my Railway Pages

I haven’t expanded my Meerkat of Trains! pages in a while, so I’m slowly developing new content. I’ll be starting with one of the UK’s most iconic routes, the East Coast Mainline.

Questing Away

I’ve now breached 36,000 words on the story with my brother-in-law, which we may or may not fold into my multiverse idea. The opportunity is there, but it’s also not ultimately a requirement for either set of stories to work. It is pretty satisfying to get into it, and to feel like I’ve gotten into it. The key challenge now will be to maintain motivation over what will be a somewhat difficult time, what with my daughter due to go in for surgery. She has to be the priority in all things, especially when weighed up against writing.

My other mission, namely to find a new employer, has not so far borne much fruit, and that is disappointing. Granted, I am being a bit picky (I don’t want to go for the sake of it, it has to be the right move), but I’d hoped for some better options. I’ve fired off a few applications, but I’d like to have more choices. Ideally, I’d like to be gone before stock take, but I have no idea how realistic that goal is.

A Compliment on the Chicken!

It’s always gratifying to get a bit of praise. I think we all rather like it. It was very pleasing to have my demon chicken tattoo noticed, and also admired, whilst at work the other day! I must admit, this gave me a lift! Who knows, perhaps the Cult of the Demon Chicken is underway?!

The Curious Case of Reddit

I am on Reddit, which is a popular messageboard platform. I am on it, but I rarely use it, and in fact haven’t ventured on there in literally years. I think I joined to generate interest in my books, quickly decided it was a bit too chaotic for my liking, and withdrew, though I never closed my account. I was therefore surprised to get an email – and from what I can tell, it’s genuine – requesting a password reset. Needless to say, I did not pursue a reset via the email, but headed to Reddit and updated my info.

Has someone been prowling, aiming to get into my Reddit account, and if so, why? With luck, this goal has been thwarted. I am certainly curious as to what was going on, and I shall have to keep an eye on it all, just in case there’s more to it all than meets the eye.

Steve

Steve is apparently my new name! I don’t know how or why this has happened, but there’s a local fitter who has determined my name is Steve, and we are now too far gone with this for me to correct him. It’s faintly awkward and quite entertaining, and I don’t know what to do about it!

Was I Scolded?

I will periodically post on various social media channels to promote my books. I did so the other day, and I was… admonished? Rebuked? Critiqued? for how I did so. At least, the response certainly read like that.

My method for sharing my books on social media is very simple. I’ll copy a link, and share it, along with a brief description of my books. I will try and mix things up a little, within the constraints of whatever social media platform I’m using at the time. I don’t have a wealth of experience in this field and nor do I have the means to devote a lot of time and money to it. All I can do is my best to muddle through and hope to get some attention for my work. I either succeed or I don’t. I don’t particularly welcome somewhat pretentious commentary on my efforts.

Dreams of Jobs Past

Sunday night delivered not one but two dreams that are best described as jaunts down memory lane. Firstly, I was back at my office supply retail job, and enjoying banter with old colleagues, even during a stressful period of putting out stock and dealing with a repeated power problem. It actually made me wistful for those days, despite the stress of it all. The second dream brought me back to my first bathroom supply job, where I found a bunch of old birthday cards and random stuff upstairs, which had been stored there for my return. Also, my cat came with me to work!

It feels like nostalgia was the theme of the dreams. Am I quietly pining for days gone by? Well, for all the hassle, angst and difficult days that some of my past jobs involved, there were certainly moments of fun to be had, and lasting friendships forged. Perhaps it is time to catch up with a few of them over a cold beer or two.

The Running Man (Meerkat)

On Monday, for the first time in virtually forever, I went running. Well, I say ‘running’. It was more like jogging. Well, it was more of a brisk walk with some jogging thrown in. I set myself a course to run, and completed a lap in just under 13 minutes. The exertion showed me that I have a lot of work to do to get near any form of fitness. I ached the following morning, and this was after virtually nothing in terms of exercise!

I also wanted to run from work on Tuesday. At one stage it felt like the whole world wanted to pester me, pulling me in different directions whilst I tried to deal with my core agenda. If there is one thing I cannot stand, it’s that feeling of being pulled in several directions at once, with none of them being the direction I actually want to go. It’s work, it’s the nature of the beast so to speak, but it’s one more reason to wish I was elsewhere. I know, I know, the odds are good I’ll have similar days elsewhere too, but if that happens in an environment I am happier in, it won’t feel so bad.

Sending a Message

I should add that we have a sticker intended to repel Reform campaigners too. I rather like them!

The Cat that gets the (Ice) Cream

Castiel doesn’t tend to get treated to milk or cream, as it isn’t good for cats. On rare occasions he gets to sample it, though in this instance it was a little different. Castiel got the dregs of melted ice cream, and he certainly appreciated it! He licked that little bowl clean!

So we reach the conclusion of this Meerkat Muse, leaving behind a busy couple of weeks, and looking ahead to a busier one. Next week promises to be stressful and tiring, but we’ll get to the other side of it, and from there we shall see a steady upward climb! Until then, my ‘kats…

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