The Meerkat Muse: 31st of December, 2025
Tag: Work
Retail Musings: The Conference Call Concern
Part of my retail experience has been the tedium and misery of conference calls. In this meerkat’s view, conference calls are a waste of everyone’s time. The information that we’re expected to run through with regional managers is already available to them, so why would we be going through it all, and in a semi-public method that can put you on the spot?
The process also takes ages. With regions compiling dozens of showrooms, you could spend ages on hold, listening to what is effectively the same conversation over and over, unless you are fortunate enough to go first, so to speak. This drags the whole process out to a ridiculous degree. Granted, in my current workplace there isn’t a lot going on so it’s not a massive chore to sit on the phone, but there’s always something else to do, and I could do without wasting time waiting to go over the store’s figures. It doesn’t particularly help that I get a bit anxious over the whole affair as well. I feel put on the spot in these calls.
In previous jobs, the expectations around conference calls were utterly absurd. One of the last area managers I worked with during my office supplies days had the unreasonable and unrealistic belief that whilst trying to run a busy environment as a harried, unsupported team leader (said area manager failed to offer much in the way of support), including manning the tiles and serving customers, that I should also be on conference calls. Fine. Time for some malicious compliance. I was on the calls, whilst on the tills, so I often had to dip out to serve customers. What’s more important, faffing around with calls, or putting money in the coffers?
Unfortunately, some – certainly not all, but some – regional managers fail to live in the real world. They only see things in terms of spreadsheets and numbers. Human beings, under strain and pressure, trying to do their jobs with increasingly limited resources? Why would they waste their time considering such mundane details?
Don’t get me wrong, there will be times when a conference call is easier than making individual calls to showrooms, and easier than emails. On most occasions though, they are simply a ball-ache.
The Meerkat Muse: 21st of May, 2025
Welcome back to the Meerkat Muse! What do I have to say for myself, as we move through May?
Jobsworths
Two weeks ago, to the day, I was at work awaiting a store delivery, which showed up in the late morning. All was generally well, though the driver initially thought he was collecting something (never on the agenda, at least not as far as I knew). During the course of the conversation, he noted an interaction with a guy loitering outside, a guy wearing a bodycam. It turns out this guy was working on behalf of… well to be fair, I have no idea who he was working for, but bodycam guy said he’d recorded the driver dropping a cigarette butt on the ground, and so he was going to fine him for littering. The driver, in his own words, told the guy to ‘piss off’, but when he went back outside to get my delivery, entered into a conversation with the bodycam guy.
Well, I say conversation, the guy was talking to the driver whilst the driver got into the cab of his van, started the engine, and after a few seconds drove off, complete with the delivery intended for the store! Off he went, leaving cam guy standing around for several minutes (presumably to see if he came back), before he too eventually wandered off. The driver never came back, but to make life more awkward for me, I had signed for the delivery, at the driver’s request! I spoke to my transport team, making sure they were aware of the quirky circumstances.
On one level, I understand that the cam guy was doing a job. I dare say it’s the sort of job that few people want to do, because getting told to piss off is probably one of the milder remarks to come his way. He is also likely employed on behalf of the local council, or works for a private company on behalf of the council. Contrary to what I thought, private companies that are licenced by the council can issue legally binding fines in these circumstances. Now, if you do not give your details to the person issuing the fine, I have no idea how they would find you, but in the case of the driver, there’s every chance the cam guy would have clocked his licence plate, and the name of the company he works for.
I guess the moral of this story is, don’t litter.
Tiberius Boy
I recently took part in a fascinating interview with Tiberius Boy, a young man from the USA who likes to interview people with a variety of backgrounds. We devoted a fair bit of time to discussing my job as a bathroom designer, though that was hardly the only topic! I will share the link as soon as I have it.
Envying the Wife
My wife has a booking for a new tattoo, which makes me jealous. I want a new tattoo! I have a plan for one, but it’s fairly elaborate, which therefore means it will be expensive too. It involves a dragon, and The Legend of Zelda, and where it would go, I don’t know. I ought to flesh this out a bit more. There is another idea, which involves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a show I grew up watching. I’m still keen on Star Fox too. Argh, too many options, and not enough money!
Sunny Days
May has been quite pleasant, with plenty of bright blue skies to enjoy, and warm weather. At one stage there was the suggestion of thunderstorms, but in my neck of the woods we didn’t see any. Sometimes this is vaguely disappointing, because a good thunderstorm can be exciting, but on the other hand, it does tend to soak everything, so I will settle for the bright blue sky, and the sunshine. Of course, as soon as I had written this, it clouded over somewhat.
The Old Man
As I was walking home, I passed a couple of lads, and one of them started… well, I guess you’d call it rapping. He was basically narrating me, as I walked down the path, which was weird, but generally harmless. That is, it was harmless, until he referred to the ‘old man’ walking down the path. Old?! I mean, I’m certainly greyer than I used to be, and I don’t feel young anymore, but old?! Nah, not quite yet!
The Hidden Danger
Last Friday we had our boiler serviced, and to the horror of my wife and I, it turns out the flue in our boiler has been leaking, creating a potentially dangerous, even fatal situation. Fortunately the problem has been identified, and at some point in the not-so-distant future we will get a new boiler. Exactly when is up to the council, we shall see if they act efficiently.
Slow Times
Work has been a curious combo of busy and quiet. We’ve not exactly been inundated with people through the door, but on the other hand it feels like inquiries and issues are keeping everyone busy. We have also had a stocktake to occupy time, a finicky experience, as they always are. I am religiously checking the bookshop careers page for opportunities.
The slow times cover off more than work. I feel like I’m grinding toward some much-needed time off, which starts early next week. It’s only for a few days, but it will make a difference to not have to set a 6 am alarm every morning!
So, with that thought, I conclude this latest edition of the Meerkat Muse! Until next time…
The Meerkat Muse: 12th of March, 2025
Welcome back to the Meerkat Muse! We are now into the middle of March, but has spring begun to, um, spring?
Inclement Irritation
It certainly hadn’t managed to, two weeks ago today. It poured down, with a ferocity that took even this weather-worn greymuzzle by surprise. Rain is hardly unusual, even heavy rain, but this felt worse than usual. Fortunately, it stopped by the time I was due to go home from work, and blue skies appeared, but for how long?!
The Battle to Believe
When it comes to football, I have become utterly cynical. Successive ‘nearly’ seasons with Liverpool, and numerous, various forms of failure from the England men’s national side, have left me without much faith that the sides I care about will enjoy glory. It seems the more I dare hope, the more epic the failure, and the more it hurts. I am therefore remaining incredibly wary, even though Liverpool have opened up a 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League table. Some might suggest I am being far too pessimistic, but with 28 of 38 games played, and though Arsenal – our nearest challengers – having a game in hand but struggling to score goals of late, I still cannot shake the feeling that there might be a sting in the tale.
Ultimately this is a ridiculous thought process, but as I said, I’ve witnessed many false dawns. Nothing is over till it’s over.
Wild Nocturnal Rides
The other night I had not one, but two, rather surreal and crazy dreams. The first was directly inspired by scenes I am writing for the third and final part of the Chon’ith Saga. It involved planning for war, evacuating non-combatants, and loitering enemy ships, albeit these ships were more akin to modern, ocean-surfing warships, rather than the space-borne vessels of my story. I had barely come to terms with everything going on here, when I found myself in another dream, one which felt like an episode of Inside No 9. I was with a group of people who at an office/hotel, gathering for some sort of conference. In the course of this, it turned out we had all been involved in the beheading of a woman, whose spirit had returned to exact revenge.
In the second dream, there were some fraught sprints down stairwells, and some desperate pleas to live. It was very strange.
Under the Weather
I’ve been through a spell where I had a cold coming on, though due to preemptively drugging up, I managed to stave off the worst of it. I did however feel extremely tired, which was also partly down to a rather busy spell at work. In some ways, it’s good to be busy, and I have been trying to be more ‘on it’ at work, despite still carrying a sense of… well, weariness. Much of this is aimed at some of the elements of my employer that I cannot change, such as laborious store deliveries, and the feeling that we’re fighting bigger branches of our own company.
I managed to see off the malaise by sleeping, which seemed to do the trick. I needed to be alert, for the busy days at work continued, with designs and quotes flying all over the place. In many ways, this is good. This is what we need. It is however, a bit exhausting, not least of all when you find yourself alone in the showroom, tackling one thing after another.
Radio ‘Kats!
I’ve done a radio interview! It relates to The Awakening, and I am very proud of it! You can check it out here.
Stress!
I love my daughter, without reservation or hesitation, but there are times when she sorely tries the patience of her mother and father! She is doing a graphics course at school, and this involves lugging a big folder around with her coursework in it. Twice, she has left it laying around, at some shops near her school. Twice! Fortunately, it has twice been found and handed in somewhere safe, but if it were to go completely missing, it would be very bad. I don’t know what I need to do to impress upon her the importance of paying attention! I could also do without lengthy trips across town to retrieve the folder.
A Day of Indulgence
It was my wife’s birthday a few days ago, and among the various stuff we did, one theme was common across the day: food. We had a McDonald’s breakfast, my parents brought pizza with them for lunch, and in the evening, we had a Chinese takeaway. The net result of all this was to be left feeling extremely full, and very lethargic!
It was a good day, and a day that also yielded quite possibly the best ever picture of our cat, Castiel:
Busy Weekends
It was fair to say that the past weekend was very busy, at least by some of the previous standards. This is both a blessing and a curse, for on the one hand, it means the potential for money (I have a number of quotes on the boil, I just need some of them to boil over, so to speak), but on the other hand, it means being pulled in several directions at once, and facing the irritation of not being able to have lunch at a reasonable hour. Then there’s the further annoyance of uncontrolled spawn, running around the showroom, and I haven’t mentioned the frustration of last-minute visitors, who fail to understand that we are not paid to stay late.
This sense of annoyance continued into the Monday. I was lone-trading, and after a quiet morning, in which I was able to get things done, there came a steady stream of people, in and out of the door. Typically, these people overlapped, so I could not find even five minutes to make a drink, and of course, I could not serve two sets of customers at once! It infuriates me when the fates play such unwelcome games.
Book Broadcasts
The Awakening has featured on air, not once, but twice! You’ll have to dig for this one, but if you go to this link, and go to the Drive Time show on the 4th of March, you’ll find me being interviewed, at around the two-hour mark! You’ll also find a shout-out at Entropy Rising, via their podcast, which you can find here.
Other than all of that, I dare say it’s been a quieter Muse spell. As always, stay tuned for another Muse in two weeks! Until then…
The Meerkat Muse: 26th of February, 2025
Welcome back to the Meerkat Muse! What’s been happening?
A Cheesy Valentine’s Day
I mean that quite literally. Well, sort of. The day before Valentine’s, my wife and I shared mac ‘n’ cheese, in two different forms. Was it the most glamorous Valentine’s Day meal? Hardly, but we didn’t really have the opportunity to make the most of the day itself, albeit for a very good reason. You see, the day itself was particularly entertaining, for a different reason. My wife, daughter and I took a trip to London on the Friday, to see Inside Number 9 on stage. The TV series is an anthology show, written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. The series is a combination of dark comedy, subtle horror, dramatic twists, and at times, quite heart-wrenching emotion. It is sometimes tempting to refer to it as a comedy series, but in fact, it is anything but a comedy show, for the aforementioned reasons,
Seeing it on stage would provide a different, more intimate form of entertainment, but the question ahead of the show was: would it be any good?!
The answer is an emphatic yes. It was a very funny show, punctuated with the jump-scares and twists that have turned Inside Number 9 into a cult classic. It was thoroughly brilliant, and if you are a fan of the macabre, as well as laughter, it is worth checking out!
Oh, my wife got me a terrific card, one that isn’t too far away from the truth…
Speaking of the wife…
The Belching Wife!
My wife tends to drink sparkling water more than regular water, which by her own admission she finds hard to drink. That’s fair enough, but of late there’s been a telling, and rather loud consequence, to her water of choice. She has been routinely producing some of the most epic burps I have ever heard, even at one point managing to burp the world burp, if that makes sense!
You’d think this is horrifying, but it is in fact an endless source of entertainment!
The Spider Incident
The other morning, as I was getting ready for work, I was joined by an eight-legged companion, that was crawling up my work shirt. I shook my shirt to shake off the unwanted guest, and went to brush my teeth. Said companion reappeared on my arm. I shook my arm, and it vanished, only for me to feel something crawling up my neck! The spider was now heading across my neck, to destinations unknown. I shook it loose, and it disappeared, only this time it did not return.
I don’t mind spiders. I think they are useful at dealing with pests, such as flies. That said, I am not especially fond of having them crawling around on me. It’s somewhat unsettling, even if I know the typical house spider can’t inflict serious harm. I guess this is something of an ancient instinct, a throwback to the era where our ancestors might have been vulnerable to a spider of sufficient danger. I had an itchy sensation for the remainder of the day!
The Church and the Moon
I’m not entirely certain as to the reason, but a local church displayed a model – a large model – of the Moon from its rafters. It was highly detailed, with the craters and markings all present and correct. Seeing it formed part of a busy Tuesday, the day before my scheduled trip to the north. We visited a local craft shed, where my daughter did some painting, and after grabbing something to eat, we went to the cinema, to check out the latest Captain America movie.
Was it a good movie? Well, it was alright, which is more than I can say for some Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. It felt like a Hulk movie, as much as a Captain America movie, make of that what you will.
Going North
In my previous Muse, I referenced a trip to Wakefield, for training. There are a great many reasons why I was not thrilled with this. For starters, it entailed a three-hour train ride. Actually, that’s not too bad. I like a train ride! However, I prefer it to be on my terms, and this was anything but. My recent ruminations on whether or not to stick or twist with my current employer have eased, but the idea has not completely faded. With that in mind, trips and overnight stays for work purposes carry a faintly redundant air for me. I guess I should appreciate the chance to see head office.
The geek in me was delighted to travel up on an Intercity 225 set, hauled by a class 91.
I do love an Intercity 225 set!
The training itself actually felt quite worthwhile. There are plans – some of them tentative, others more concrete – which have me potentially excited. A lot depends on who can influence who. There are certainly opportunities, and I do feel a bit more invigorated, as far as the job is concerned. I’ll still keep an eye on the job market, simply because it’s prudent.
With the trip completed, and following a long journey home (which included disruption on the Underground, thanks to trespassers on the line), it was back to the routine. In fact, by a quirk of the schedule, I was lone-trading the day after the trip! Needless to say, I was sort of keen to put my training into practice, but also very tired, and largely not in the mood for people. Unfortunately, I’d scheduled an appointment for 10am that morning! It was faintly wrong of me to hope they would rearrange, but I really wasn’t up for it! Fortunately, they did not turn up. Unfortunately, a family with two loud, fidgety children did. Fortunately, they did not linger.
My lethargy continued into the afternoon. I just could not shake it. I’m pretty sure that once upon a time, I could burn the candle at both ends, but it is abundantly clear that time is long one.
A Busy Week
With the weekend out of the way, and with a few discussions and quotes under my belt, I looked toward the week with a mixture of anticipation and apprehension. I had to visit a customer on Monday, and that is not generally ideal, as getting to customers is not always easy. Still, this customer insisted on a home measure, and thus it fell to me to carry it out. In the end, the visit was not too bad, and an appointment is booked for next week to follow up. What I do face this week, are a couple of days of lone-trading, though there is the promise of my friend, former boss, and on-going colleague being there. Well, I say promise, he cannot guarantee his presence, but it seems likely.
The Chance to Promote!
I don’t yet know when, or even if, this will definitely happen, but I reached out to a local radio station, and it looks like I have a tentative agreement to have a radio interview, about The Awakening! Needless to say, this is a great opportunity for some advertising, as it were. My wife often tells me I have a face for radio, so this works nicely! I’ll share more on this, as and when it happens.
The Contract
My publisher, Jumpmaster Press, have officially taken on my next project, The Forest! I have signed the contract, scanned it, and sent it back, and will post back a paper copy at the first available opportunity. I am delighted! I have also breached 10,000 words on the third, and final part, of the Chon’ith Saga. I still need to work out how to wrap that story. I fear it will be emotional.
So we reach the end of this Muse. What awaits over the course of the next two weeks? Tune in next time!
The Thinking ‘Kat: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
Not for the first time, I find myself drawing inspiration from the simply brilliant Rawi Woof, via our interactions over at Mastodon (check out my profile here). Rawi responded to a post of mine with an observation, and that observation, which also links to this prior post of mine, forms the subject matter of this particular article.
Before, I had posed the question, ‘does anyone truly earn a billion dollars?’ Rawi responded, with ‘If someone claims so, a nice follow-up question would be: “At whose expense?” Sadly we can often figure out the disturbing answer.’
He has hit the nail on the proverbial head, so to speak.
To illustrate this point, check out this Guardian article from August 2024, discussing the disparity between CEO wages and the average wage. In the UK, CEOs were being paid, on average, 120 times that of the average full-time UK worker, in 2023. This Unite post shares how profits of corporations have risen a lot faster than wages, leading to rampant, unchecked profiteering, which benefits no one except those at the top of those companies, and their shareholders. In real terms, people are earning less, whilst those at the top get more richer. This is a blatant case of theft. In this scenario, Peter – the average worker – is struggling to make ends meet, staring down the barrel of increased costs, and not receiving a pay rise to even compensate for that, whilst their boss – Paul – is awarding himself bonuses and pay-outs, off the back of Peter’s labour.
Despite this obviously flawed and broken system, some people, even those who are of the very working class exploited by this system, continue to stubbornly defend it. At this point, I can only assume there is a strong measure of indoctrination/brainwashing at play. Celebrating this kind of uncontrolled corporate greed, usually at the expense of the working class, suggests something seriously wrong with those who fete the exploitative billionaires. Of course people should have the opportunity to earn money, but that opportunity is being denied to most, because those at the top won’t pay a fair wage. Enough is enough where the excuse of inflation is concerned, because this oft-cited, rarely-demonstrated bogeyman has not stopped massive wage hikes for CEOs and executives.
It’s long past time for this broken system to change.
The Meerkat Muse: 12th of February, 2025
We’re back, baby! It’s the middle of February, where are we at?
Hilarious Food
My wife has a tendency to get creative with food, in a most unusual way, generally for the purpose of drawing a laugh from my daughter. Below is her latest effort:
I do rather love my wife’s unique takes on these things!
Going up North
I’m staring down the barrel of a lengthy trip up north, for reasons that may be of benefit, but equally, it may be a colossal waste of time. I could do without it, but on the other hand, train journey. It’s all to do with training on install sales, and to be fair, there are elements here that I think could be of value, but it feels like a very long day is ahead of me, and I honestly don’t know how much I’ll take from it. I like train rides, so there’s that, and there’s a hotel stay, which is always a bit of a novelty, but what with other considerations, do I really need this hassle?
I spoke to my wife about whether I should stick or twist, so to speak, in terms of employers. She is risk-adverse, so believes I am better off staying put, and that is the guidance I will go with, unless new variables give me cause to rethink. This also means this trip up north is unavoidable.
I don’t know precisely when it will happen. It might be later this month, or it might be in March or April. I guess I should be prepared, one way or another.
Tolerance
It sounds paradoxical to complain about company on a day of lone-trading, but sometimes, I really don’t mind the alone time. In fact sometimes, I prefer it. Not all the time, of course not, but there are occasions where I do not want or need human interaction. It is typically those occasions where I wind up with interactions I do not want or need.
This is not to say I do not like the people I work with, because I consider them to be friends, but there are times when I really just want to be left alone, times where I am not in the mood to be chatty, and times where solitude is my friend. I am frustrated by the way in which sometimes, people do not understand or grasp this. My tolerance for certain aspects of human behaviour is occasionally stretched very thin.
Love
I dare say my wife and I have a particular love language. In this instance, as we approach Valentine’s Day, it involves a mutual passion: tattoos. There is a word, used in Star Trek, Imzadi. It is a Betazoid word, meaning ‘beloved’. What better way to reaffirm our relationship and our love, than a permanent reminder of what we mean to each other, based on something we are both passionate about?
My tattoo is the black ink, my wife’s is in blue. I think they compliment each other rather well!
Love is an interesting, challenging, at times infuriating emotion. It can drive you absolutely insane, and there is a lot of truth in the old saying, about the ones you love hurting you the most, and vice versa. Still, love endures. What also endures is my love of tattoos, and having now reached nine, I am pondering how to mark reaching 10.
Stressful Days
Work continues to deliver, well, a lack of satisfaction. I feel somewhat awkward, because we have just taken on a new starter, who certainly strikes me as pleasant, but in the midst of doing so, here I am, actively looking for new pastures. Still, I have to do what’s best for me and mine. With that in mind, I also do not want to leap at the first chance, because that may not be the best chance. I also have to consider whether or not to stay in some form of retail sales role.
Fraud
Part of this journey up north means I had to book hotels and trains the other day. My understanding of the hotel is that they would take payment either a few days before I arrive, or on the day itself (payment on arrival is quite a common policy). I was therefore surprised – to put it mildly – by a text from my bank, warning there had possibly been fraudulent activity on my account. The peculiar element to all of this? The value of the supposedly dodgy payment was exactly the same was the cost of the hotel room. However, when I spoke to the hotel, they told me they had not tried to take a payment, and to their understanding, I would pay on arrival.
With that in mind, I called my bank back, and they put a stop to my existing bank card. This is a bit of a pain, since that card is tied to quite a few services! Still, I would rather get a new card, than risk further fraud attempts, particularly fraud attempts that manage to succeed. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Book Three
So, The Schism is on the way, and I will happily update all you good ‘kats as soon as I have more details, but in the meantime, I have submitted a new book to my publisher, which I have referenced a couple of times. The Forest (a working title, not set in stone) is a story of ruthless ambition, and the cost it can exact. That’s all I can give away right now, and there’s a long way to go before it’s ready, but it’s great to have it out there. In the meantime, I have started work in earnest on part three of the Chon’ith Saga. The Reckoning (again, a working title) will hopefully serve up a thrilling and dramatic conclusion to the journey I started, some six years ago this year.
It’s kind of emotional to think that I am now in the process of closing out this saga. I have some tough decisions to make, and some considerations over whether to stick to the original plan. In the first run of this story, certain characters met with certain fates, but now I am undecided as to what direction to dive into. It is impossible to not grow attached to your characters. They are, in some respects, extensions of one’s self, creations you pour your heart into. On the other hand, the story is also something you develop and grow, and fulfilling the story can only happen through the characters. One thing is for sure, there are some tough choices ahead of me!
Oh, speaking of The Schism, the final, beta-read version arrived in my inbox on Monday. We are definitely moving closer to publishing!
Thus we come to the end of another Muse cycle. There’s a few activities of intrigue due up next time, but no fast-forwarding, stay tuned!
Meerkat Prompts: Dream Job
Time for another video edition of the prompt! For those of you who prefer the written word to the spoken word, my dream job, in a nutshell, is to be a successful writer. Once upon a time, it was to be a train driver. I dare say everyone is a lot safer with me being a writer, rather than a train driver!
The Meerkat Muse: 20th November 2024
Welcome back to the Meerkat Muse, which as of the morning of the 6th of November is quite muted. Why might that be? Cast your minds back to the 5th of November…
The Tangerine Tyrant Takes Control
Despite four years of failure in his first term, despite plenty of failure as a businessman and as a man, and despite his own clear cognitive decay, Donald Trump has become president for a second time. The likes of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un are probably still holding victory celebrations of their own, which should tell you precisely why Trump is bad for the USA, and bad for the world.
I am speechless. Words have completely failed me. It’s like half of America exists in a bubble, a rose-tinted bubble, with only the most cursory of gestures made to acknowledge Trump’s faults, if indeed his worshippers can bring themselves to do even that. Here is a man who lied about election fraud, incited a riot to subvert an election, whose blunders cost countless lives during covid (not to mention tanking the economy), a man who pays porn stars hush money to cover up affairs, a man with a history of racism and sexism. This man illegally took state secrets home with him too. He should be in prison, yet half of America has been so successfully duped by his deceit and rhetoric that they’ve put him back in The White House. It’s as absurd as it is insane, and there will devastating consequences for the world.
It is tempting to conclude the world is a dumpster fire right now, and it certainly is, but it’s always darkest before the dawn. Those of us who value freedom, equality, compassion and kindness need to stick together, and be the bulwark against hate.
Pointless Early Starts
The 6th of November was Collection Day, so to speak. Having gotten my daughter a new bed and desk, I had to get rid of the old ones. Cue arranging a collection with the local council, then hauling the frame, mattress, desk (and whilst I was at it, an old lawn mower) out to the kerb. I took a photo of the assembled items, and also stuck the council’s reference number onto each item, so there should have been no grounds for doubt as to what was being collected, nor any concerns that it wasn’t ready to pick up. Not that I don’t trust the council, but I don’t trust the council! They have no excuse not to take it, but I am quite cynical where they’re concerned.
Sure enough, I was proven right! Having been directed to have the items out by 7.30am, which I did, they wound up still sitting there come the evening. Would I have a fight on my hands with the council? I had originally been told I would get an email by the 8th, explaining the outcome of my collection request. Considering how it appeared to have failed through the inaction of the council, I was preparing my response in advance. In some ways, following the wake of the events of the 5th, I was spoiling for a fight, and the council might have made the mistake of giving me one. Sure enough, an email came in that stated the items were not as described, or inaccessible.
Since neither of these conditions were true, I phoned the council to make that point, and was subsequently assured the matter would be escalated. Watch this space…
Bears and Buffets
Back on the 8th, my wife, daughter and I enjoyed a trip to the new cinema, where we had the luxury seats, and after some confusion about seat numbers, settled in to watch Paddington in Peru. I have found all the Paddington films to be absolutely charming, very sweet, and at various points, very funny! They are the perfect family films, with plenty of warmth, as befits the titular character. We followed this film with a visit to a local all-you-can-eat buffet, and I proceeded to stuff my face quite substantially! I did however go off the beaten track a little, going more for the Indian selections, though some steamed pork buns, a bit of salmon-wrapped vegetable sushi, some Korean pork, and some sweet and sour chicken did find its way to my plate. So did a lot of jelly, a steamed custard bun, some bananas and custard, some pavlova, and a generous helping of ice cream.
Like i said, I stuffed my face!
Late Arrivals
I swear I seem to write a segment like this in every Muse. Once again owing to lone-trading on a Sunday, I was once again treated to people coming in with little time left on the clock, so to speak. Whilst I am generally understanding of this during the week, when it happens on a weekend it greatly frustrates me. Our opening hours are a known quantity, easily obtainable via various means, so why is it that people still turn up quite late, every single Saturday and Sunday? Why must I remind people of the obvious, namely that those of us working in shops are humans too, and that we want to go home on time?
Technology Woes
My household seems to have some awful luck regarding laptops. Earlier in the year, a very good laptop decided to randomly die, completely out of the blue. The secondary laptop suffers from a faulty power connector, which was repaired but remains inconsistent, to the point where it’s virtually unusable now. I wouldn’t mind if we were careless people, but we’re not. The tech seems to die without much prompting, which is mightily frustrating. It hinders activity, such as editing my books. It makes working on this website more of a challenge. It hampers my wife’s surveys. It’s also a costly exercise in replacing them.
Might it be that our modern-day devices have built-in obsolescence? It would be illegal for this to be the case, but it certainly feels like they do. Even if they don’t, the rapid development of computers means they can seem obsolete within a short span of time, and after a few years they can seem like they are grinding to a halt, assuming they haven’t failed completely.
The Collection Saga Continues
A week after the arranged collection of several items failed, the council had another opportunity to carry out the collection, and it once again failed. Once again, the items were in an easily-accessible location, as per the original instructions. This time I made sure there were no other items bundled in with our collection from other households, lest the council try to use this as an excuse. It turns out I got my dates wrong, and it would be the following week for the collection. D’oh!
The Schism Takes Shape
The sequel to The Awakening is coming along. I am in the grinding process of editing, but I feel like I’ve made some good progress with this over the past week. It helps that there’s a new laptop in the house, one with a reliable power connection, so I can crack on in earnest! There is definitely a feeling of satisfaction of bringing the project towards completion, and I look forward to carrying on with editing it. Alongside this, I am busily working on other writing projects. The creative juices are flowing! I am 25% of the way through The Schism, and aiming to have the edits done before the end of 2024, which should be more than doable.
It all feels very exciting!
Jackets, Continued
You may recall that in the previous Muse, I wrote of a problem with a Linkin Park jacket. It had a glaring flaw, namely the misspelt name of the late Chester Bennington. After a bit of wrangling, I was able to convince the retailer to send out another jacket, which arrived last week. Had they fixed their mistake? No. The mistake is also exactly the same as it was before, so it seems my correspondence with them has been entirely for nought. The next step in this process is to seek a full refund, because as it stands the jacket is unwearable. It also seems to be of generally poorer quality than the first one. I’ve contacted the seller once again, expressing my desire for my money back, and now it’s a case of waiting and seeing. Will they honour my request?
Aaaaaaargh!
I arrived at work the other morning to an horrendous sight. The glass on one of the bannisters had blown over night, coating one of the staircases in cubes of safety glass. Needless to say, this was not a great find, first thing on a Monday! There wasn’t much I could do, other than clean it up. I could certainly do without any form of repeat of this, any time soon! I suspect the glass must have been knocked at some point, though how and when is up for debate.
The Cold Creeps In
There’s no denying that as we reach the middle of November, the mercury has plummeted. Alas, it’s the time of year that any last semblance of warmth vanishes. In fact, just to remind us of this, it snowed for a bit yesterday! Still, we’ll blink and winter will be over. The sunny days always return, and until then, there will plenty of things to enjoy as November gives way to December. I shall leave you all with that thought, as I bid farewell to this Muse. Until next time, all you lovely meerkats!
Retail Musings: The Stupid Move
It is said that confronting thieves is a big mistake when you work in retail. After all, the stock they steal is insured, but it goes without saying that staff are not so easily replaced! Risking one’s safety to protect a laptop or some ink cartridges really isn’t worth it, and it would be extremely cold comfort to tell a grieving family their loved one died to stop a printer or a pen being stolen.
I know this, yet one evening in 2014, on a day where I had already received some bad news, an email came through warning of a group of laptop and tablet thieves operating in the area. I made a note of the details, and carried on with my duties. Working that night were myself, and a 17 year-old girl with a knee brace on, so I naturally hoped we wouldn’t get any unpleasant visitors. It was therefore one of fate’s worst jokes that the thieves from the email would stroll in a short time later. They made a beeline for the tablet PCs, and yanked them off their flimsy alarm hooks. In a burst of anger, I tried to get in their way, and got pushed to the ground for my troubles.
I was shaking from the adrenaline and the fury, but in hindsight, I came to realise what a stupid move that was. Any one of the four thieves could have had a blade, or some other weapon. The stuff they took was not worth my life, but in that moment it was all happening a red mist descended, and I wanted to stop the little shits (pardon my language) from stealing from my store. In the aftermath of it all I still had to do the banking and close up, and the next morning I went back in to record the CCTV and pass it to the police. I never did find out if the thieves were apprehended.
More than 10 years on from that particular incident, I would like to believe I am a bit calmer, and less inclined to risk it all for the sake of product. I have too many far more important things in my world to make such a stupid choice again.