We’re back, and with warm feelings, but has the weather remained hot? Well, let’s put it this way, meerkats now come in liquid form.
Track-buckling Heat
To emphasise the intensity of the summer sun, on the 13th and 14th of August, trains derailed. It is admittedly premature to declare the heat was the reason, but British tracks were designed to cope with temperatures up to 27C, not temps that have routinely pushed upwards of 30C and beyond. Whether or not the tracks were buckling, an absolutely certainty is that round after round of heatwaves has been unbearable.
Sleeping is a challenge when you can find no relief. This has been a crazy summer. I never expected wildfires to become a feature of life here in England, but if climate trends continue, what will next year be like?!
People continue to deny climate change, but that is pure ignorance in a nutshell. Look at the world around you. Our weather is definitely changing, and not for the better.
Raising the Alarm
At 7pm on the 14th, every UK phone – well, most likely every – received a rather sudden and rather loud warning over the national alert system. Given the risk of fire, you’d think this sort of warning wouldn’t be needed, but then again, relying on the common sense of the public is always somewhat risky. I’d actually been thinking about a barbecue, particularly the simplicity of a disposable one, but what with everything going on, I decided against it.
A Book Interview
As I continue to try and rebuild my author portfolio and get my material out there, I have had the opportunity to do an interview! I invite you to check it out below:
When Dreams turn Dramatic
One of my most recent nocturnal adventures was already proving quite trippy, when it took a turn for the crazy. It started out at an old workplace – my previous bathroom workplace – only it wasn’t the same building. Weirdly, the upstairs portion of the showroom could only be accessed by a ladder in a wardrobe, and this arrangement became more awkward when a woman arrived, claiming to be from head office, who had come down on behalf of my boss.
Accessing the upstairs was proving difficult, as the ladder didn’t want to come down, but then things abruptly flipped. This woman was suddenly some kind of evil entity, and she was fighting Buffy from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. I tried to stay out of the way! Eventually said entity was defeated, and seemed to have a change of heart. Then I woke up.
As ever, I can’t offer context here. I have no idea what brought on any aspect of this dream, especially how it ended.
Further dreams proved a little strange, albeit not quite so intense! In one, I was late for work because a fitter drove me and a friend out to a random house, miles from where we needed to be, then left us to find our own way back. We had to break locks to get out! In another, I was back working in my sofa retail job, and not having an especially grand time. Why I went back is anyone’s guess.
Low Energy Evenings
As the temperatures slowly cooled, I dare say my personal energy levels slowly changed too, but I think that is more to do with an on-going sense of tiredness from the day job. The days have felt like slogs, and as such, I have no particular desire to go anywhere in the evenings. Thankfully, there were days off that did not require going anywhere or doing anything, therefore offering a much-needed respite from tiring times.
Whether from the general tiredness, the beers, or a combination of both, I had yet more erratic dreams and awoke the next morning with something of a headache, though this might also have been due to a lack of coffee the night before. After a couple in the morning, I was more or less alright.
The dream that sticks in the mind was a mash-up featuring secret Starfleet bases, Spider-Man, and Professor Farnsworth from Futurama creating real-life Pokemon, against the backdrop of a conspiracy that featured people transferring their minds into said Pokemon. There might have been something involving Looney Tunes too, I’m not sure.
Intense Days
Last week, my daughter received her GCSE results. This is a challenging time for a lot of young people, with varying scales of delight, disappointment, and thoughts of the future. My daughter tried her best, as she always has, and her effort speaks to her character. That effort has also led to good results, results that will carry her through to college. I am immensely proud of her, as always.
In the aftermath of getting the results, we took a bus ride to Lakeside Shopping Centre. For those of you unfamiliar with Lakeside, it is a massive, sprawling complex filled with a lot of big name stores, and a few lesser-known ones. It’s always busy, and it certainly proved the case last Thursday. The journeys there and back were not too bad, though my preference is always for trains over buses. Given recent train issues, perhaps the bus was the better idea on this occasion!
We had a day of slow browsing, and the rather important purchase of new black jeans for me, as I’d managed to somehow put a split in the previous pair!
Last Friday delivered a mixed bag at work, which is by now nothing new. A relatively quiet morning was interrupted by a gaggle of people wanting my attention, which got worse when a customer I’ve been dealing with came in and wanted to sit down for absolutely ages. One of our appointments lasted seven hours; this one was merely two, but this was all over making changes and adjustments to existing quotes. We’re closer to this becoming an order, but it’s dragging, and the whole process drains my energy.
At the moment it feels like there’s a lot of stuff on the boil that hasn’t quite boiled. It’s frustrating to be on the edge of quite a few good sales, yet not have them go over the finish line. All that’s happening is I have a lot of work to do, and not much to show for it.
Exhausting Days
Sundays are usually late starts, as I don’t need to be at work until 10am. Last Sunday I had to set a 6am alarm, as my wife and daughter were off to a London comic con, and they wanted to be there for 9am. Between getting ready and the timing of Sunday service trains, they had to leave early, and once I was awake there was little chance I would settle. It ended up feeling like a very long day as a result, and since I wasn’t able to get the day off, I had the pleasure of getting up very early, and then going to work!
Such is life. Come the evening I felt shattered. Alas, a 6.30am start beckoned the following day.
Beyond all of that, the conclusion of this Muse has been pretty sedate. I can’t really point to masses of interesting activity, save for a couple of good sales at work. Earlier today my parents came down and we had a nice lunch, and then we had a lazy evening.
What lies ahead? Well, I have a little bit of time off, to see out the summer holidays, and then my daughter starts college, whilst we wait to hear about her radioactive iodine treatment that she will have. Who knows how work will progress?
I also need to sort out my story plans. The Forest isn’t going anywhere, and nor is the final part of The Chon’ith Saga. I need to get them out there, somehow, and I’d like to do so sooner rather than later. Keep watching this space for updates, and I shall see you all at the next Muse!
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