We are moving into cooler times and the onset of autumn. Will peace descend across the valley?
I do know that after a hectic flash sale weekend, work has quietened down, and may remain fairly quiet (at least until the Black Friday weekend), because as much as I hate to use the word in October, Christmas is not that far away. It’s almost time to start preparing in earnest for that occasion. It still feels quite a distance away, but it will upon us soon, much like my birthday is not too far away either.
The big 4-0 is looming. I’m feeling rather nonchalant about it – I have the day off work but I’m working either side of it, so major events aren’t on the cards.
Dreams
So, here’s a slightly weird Star Wars dream for you. I dreamed the First Order was building five Death Stars in a plot to destroy the Resistance. Five seems like overkill. Also, why such a dream out of the blue?! My wife and I have watched a lot of Criminal Minds lately (including the notorious and creepy Mr Scratch), and that’s certainly influenced my dreams! I’m amazed at the depths of creativity of the writers and I aspire to achieve something similar with my own work…
The Awakening
I’m nearly halfway through the latest round of editing and I feel like I’m making good progress. There are aspects to world-building that I need to work on but I have some ideas about that.
Wildlife
In my previous Muse I showed off some snaps of foxes. This time around it’s a rather smaller mammal…
We spied this little mouse on the way to town. Adorable right?!
Meanwhile, my wife and daughter saw a somewhat larger animal…
Deer are not native to the town centre, though there is a nearby park where they sometimes roam. This one must have gotten separated. I hope they found their way back to their herd!
Shatner in Space!
On the 13th I managed to bear witness to William Shatner become the oldest person to go to space. At 90 years of age he went up on Blue Origin, the rocket built by Jeff Bezos, the chief of Amazon.
I have mixed feelings about this. Shatner has become something of a divisive figure in the Star Trek fandom, but still, to have the desire to do something like this at the age of ninety is remarkable. It must have been a humbling and hauntingly beautiful experience. Still, considering how much money Bezos has ploughed into this venture (and he’s not the only billionaire indulging in space travel), couldn’t this money be put to use in better ways? How about tackling poverty, world hunger and homelessness? What about supplying workers with a decent living wage? Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty incredible that businesses can now sent rockets to space, but they have so money, and these ventures are all about ego. No one is actually helped by these endeavours, save for the rich folks who sell tickets to ride their rockets.
Tragedies can take many forms, and sadly for the people of Kongsberg, Norway, it took the form of a maniac with a bow and arrow attack on Wednesday the 13th. It’s a heart-breaking situation, and one that’s already being exploited by pro-gun activists to argue that gun control wouldn’t work in the USA, because of other weapons. For example…
A brief ‘conversation’ ensued with the same person…
This event is fresh, and devastating, and already it’s being used by the ignorant to push an agenda, and an agenda that ignores facts and evidence and logic. I wish I was surprised by this, but I’m not.
Money Matters
We hear that the means don’t exist to pay people a living wage. That isn’t true. What’s missing is the will to pay people a living wage. This links into the huge sums of money people like Bezos (and others) spend on space rockets. Surely that money could be put to better use?
Feeling Stupid
I don’t trust my brain, especially of late. I feel like I’m cocking stuff up more and more. I managed to miss the date of a first-aid course by an entire week and little issues with customer orders, whilst not common, create a headache that should have been avoidable. Self-doubts come creeping back in and make me consider some seriously stupid courses of action – like taking The Awakening and purging it. In my more miserable moments, it’s tempting to erase it from existence and forget the idea of being an author.
If I can’t get simple things right, what right do I have to even try to write a book?!
I’ll shake off the malaise eventually, but I am left asking the question – how do I stop being stupid?!
What will Violence do?
It’s clear (or should be clear) that I am no fan of the Tories. However, attacking and stabbing anyone should be out of the question for any civilised, decent person. Sir David Amess, MP for Southend West, was stabbed repeatedly at a surgery in Leigh-on-Sea on the 15th. Firstly, my thoughts go to his family and to him. At the time of writing this, I’ve learned that he has passed away.
Everyone has the right to a safe working environment. Mr Amess was a father and husband, and now his loved ones will be trying to come to terms with this devastating situation.
This is a sad indictment of a country pushed to breaking point by various problems.
Something Silly
Moving away from the gloom (because I have to, before it can consume me), my Halloween costume arrived the other day, and I tried it on. Hopefully it will provide a bit of fun on the night itself!
I haven’t walked very far in it, so how steady I’m gonna be is as yet unknown. In any event, it should be fun!
Phones
At work our store is part of a sales call system – it’s linked to the main sales hotline, so in theory a customer could call in from anywhere and place an order over the phone with us. The reality of this system is that we get a lot of customer service calls, most of which are nothing to do with our store. We also seem to get a lot of calls that aren’t even anything to do with our company. The end result of all this is a lot of unnecessary calls and the constant sound of the bloody thing ringing. On top of this, the number of spam calls I get on my mobile seems to have increased lately – though I don’t answer them. I have a handy app to alert me to who’s calling, and if it’s a genuine important call, they will leave a message.
Speaking of work…
Obnoxious Kids
For some reason a number of the stores I’ve worked at have received unwelcome visitors in the form of unsupervised, bored and annoying kids. The other day my current workplace received such visitors. Quite why a bathroom showroom would be a draw to kids is anybody’s guess, but a pair of troublemakers decided to wander in and they took a fair bit of persuading to leave. One of them desperately wanted to take a bar of soap. I mean, seriously?! They must be bored – they were of school age but whether or not they actually go to school is completely unknown to me.
Anyway, I’ve ranted long enough. Time to see what the next couple of weeks bring. Take care everyone!
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