Weather & Work
3 October 2023
This blog post has been re-uploaded in a new file format, but is otherwise identical to the original post.
Weather
The spooky season is upon us. Technically yes summer ended in September in the UK but I don't start to feel it until October. The wind has picked up fiercely where I live and the temperatures have dropped. The leaves have started to fall. Personally I'm not a big fan of autumn. My wife loves it, and sure I do like gingerbread and pumpkins and I like eating sweets so Halloween is great too, but I think it's the transition I don't like. It's what it signifies - short nights and grey skies. It's kind of like how Sunday is still technically the weekend but with that extra pang of dread because you know Monday is right around the corner. That's how I feel about autumn. Autumn means winter is coming.
In spring time there is one moment that occurs each year that I love. That moment is the first time of the year where the breeze stops for a second and you feel the sun's warmth on your face. It is gentle and pure, like being nuzzled by a little kitten. It is blissful and joyful and it means that soon the days will get longer, the temperature will go up, the flowers will bloom, and the world will be pretty. I consider this moment the sun's way of saying "Hello, I've missed you". Today I went for a short walk to get lunch and on my way there something similar happened. The wind ceased, the clouds parted and I was softly kissed by the sunlight. I think this was the sun's way of saying "Goodbye, see you next year".
Work
I have become the type of user I used to hate. I used to work in IT Support and I'd often have to remote on to people's machines to help them do the most basic of things. Pretty often they would not follow the simple instructions I gave them and naturally I would complain to coworkers, as is an IT Support worker's right. Today I was the problem user. I just started my new job and I was getting some access permissions set up and the lovely engineer who, I think, was pretty new to their job too, just couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. After about half an hour we realised that I did not connect to the VPN. He also gave me some simple instructions to follow and I thought I tried them and it didn't work, so I went back to him. Only to be told that what I did wasn't what he said to do, I'd misread the instructions.
It is a cruel truth that time comes for us all and I'm afraid this means that it has come for me. No longer am I the tech savvy modern worker who can take to any IT application like a fish out of water (why is that a good thing, btw?) - oh no, I am the problem user. How embarassing!
Other things
It is my wife's birthday in November and so I have started looking for presents. She did an amazing job with my birthday this year so I have to nail this. Thankfully the first present, I think, is a great one. I can't tell you what it is because she knows about this site but it's something she hasn't hinted at but still something I think she'll love. I have ideas for other little gifts but nothing concrete yet, I'm just relieved I've got one pretty decent one sorted already with plenty of time to spare. Hurray!
We also thought we were starting to get sick so yesterday we made Rosol, Polish chicken soup (which you can find on my recipes page) and today we feel great. Was it all in our heads? Did the soup work its magic? I don't know, but it was fucking good soup.
~ Honey