2015-12-22T19:46:06+00:00

Back to Civilisation!

December 22, 2015/Judy E Martin/49 Comments

I know that I am on the Internet a lot, but I didn’t actually realise how much I relied on it until Sunday when it broke! Occasionally it plays up a bit, but after a quick flick off and on of the router, we are back in business and all is well.

Not so, on Sunday. I did the power off and on thing, and a red light came on. That was new. I tried logging on. Computer said no! I did it again, same thing. I unplugged more cables, then plugged them all back in. Nope! Damn it! I got Mr Grump on the case, and he fiddled around with wires and cables. Nowt! Sod it!

I phoned up, finally got to speak to someone miles away, went through the rigmarole of turning off, unplugging and all the stuff we did before, plus a few new things. Zip. Bugger it!

There followed a series of phone calls, unfulfilled promises and bad-tempered tantrums (from me as well as Miss Hap) as we struggled in vain to get it working. Added to this, out phone signals are pretty rubbish, but Mr Grump has a booster thing that gives us full signal and therefore, 4G, but it is powered by….you guess it, The INTERNET! Shit to it!

Now on Mondays, I like to join in with Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge I actually look forward to seeing what words he comes up with, and also looking at other people’s. I couldn’t get a decent signal long enough to read what the prompts were, let alone write a post.

Not only that but my windscreen was being fixed today, which I had waited for ages for. I had to show them the insurance policy when they arrived. I have an ONLINE Policy. Plus I was being e-mailed a questionnaire for a telephone appointment I have soon which I had to send back this morning by email. FUCK it!

Yesterday, Mr Grump could bear it no longer and went to get some advice from somewhere in town! Meanwhile, I phoned the internet company again nagging at them, so they agreed to send a new router, which is where the fault lay. They informed me it would probably take a week to arrive. FUCKITY, BLOODY, BUGGER, SHIT and BOLLOCKS to it all!

Mr Grump did something when he got in yesterday to that booster thing, and we had 4G! YAY! Now I had the internet. Trying to post from my tablet with my sausage fingers and predictive text took longer than I expected, but I did it.

This morning at around 7 am, I had a text from Royal Mail informing me that they had a package from TalkTalk that they would deliver today. Yipee, my lovely new router came, and Mr Grump had it set up pronto!

Peace has resumed!

Being Neighbourly.

December 19, 2015/Judy E Martin/45 Comments

I might have mentioned before that I live on quite a large square. There are 7 houses along each little row with parking spaces in the middle. It is not a huge area, and I have been here for 12 years since Miss Hap was three months old.

Most of my neighbours have been here for the same amount of time, with a few exceptions of some ‘newcomers’ that have been here for a couple of years. It is surprising though how little I know about any of them. I tend to nod or say ‘hello’ to some of them in passing, and sometimes even have a little chat, but that is about it.

I have written all my Christmas cards out, except for the few that I give to the neighbours. Problem was, I didn’t know half of their names or those of their kids, which resulted in a quick text to Miss Hap (who was having a sleepover at her friend’s) to ask her to fill me in which she did.

Me and Mr Grump had to pop out this morning, but I was not feeling too good at all. My head was all over the place and I didn’t want to go out, but I did and quickly dished out a couple of the cards I had written giving the rest to Mr Grump to give out.

I moaned at him when he got to the car thinking he had pushed one through the wrong letterbox, but he hadn’t. That was me, I realised. I had given a card to next door that was meant for someone else! Embarrassingly, I had not written them one at that point either as they were the ones that I didn’t know all of their names as they had only been there for 2 years! The ones whose card it was have lived in the same house for twelve years and their daughter grew up with mine, being good friends!

As it was, one of the cards I put the house number, as nobody knew the name of the family, despite us always saying hello and them coming round to pick up parcels that we take in if they are out when the postman comes.

Just before dinner tonight, there was a knock at the door and I could hear Mr Grump laughing and talking. When he came in he had a card with him and a box of chocolates. I opened the card but was none the wiser when I saw who it was from, as I didn’t recognise any of the names. It turns out it was the family we had taken parcels in for, thanking us for it with the gift.What a nice thing to do.

I still feel bad that I didn’t have a clue what their names are though!

Because The Night

December 17, 2015/Judy E Martin/25 Comments

Occasionally I have a look at the Daily Prompt and today it asks whether we are an early bird or a night owl. When are we most productive, and when do we do most of our work.

For me there is no question, I am an early bird without a doubt. I am the kind of person that likes to try and get all the jobs done first things so that I can kick back in the evening and relax.

I always love that first hour or so in the morning when it is just me up. Usually, Roxy ambles on down to see what I am up to, scrounges a tidbit then buggers off back to bed leaving me on my own again. That suits me just fine.

For the past few days, due to one thing and another, I have been getting up between 2 am and 4 am as my brain is too busy whirling around to let me get any sleep. Despite being heavy and bleary eyed, I get up, make a cuppa and settle myself down at my laptop. Once I have indulged my guilty pleasure (Oh ok, I love Farmville, there I’ve said it) I can go to my blog. This morning I had a nice early morning conversation with Debby which was a lovely way to start the day.

Sunday mornings at 7 am, will more than likely find me piling into the ironing for an hour or so, again whilst everyone else is asleep so I can get on with it in peace. Mr Grump is the same, and if we have anywhere to go we are normally out the door as early as possible. This might not go down with others who are more relaxed about timekeeping than we are!

Another bonus to getting up early is catching a beautiful sunrise as in this picture. Miss Hap and I took these as she left for school, her photo was better than mine as it shows the pink in the sky more.

As for being a night owl, well, those days are long gone! I am usually falling asleep at 9 pm. I am pushing the boat out tonight as it is already way past my bedtime. It is a ploy so that I am not up at stupid o’clock again tomorrow, fingers crossed. There is early morning, and there is middle of the night!

https://pixabay.com

Accidents Will Happen!

October 30, 2015/Judy E Martin/36 Comments

As we were all off today, we decided to go into town for a while to have a wander around the shops. Needless to say, Miss Hap wanted to go into one of the shops that is popular with teenagers to look for some jeans. The ones she wanted to try on were black skinny ones with deliberate slashes across the knees.

They fitted her perfectly, but I was not happy lashing out money on trousers that were already bloody ripped (yes I know I am an old fuddy-duddy), so I said that if we found some that had intact knees we would buy them. As ‘luck’ would have it, we did but they were a slightly different style being high waisted ones.

Miss Hap was a little disgruntled, but I reminded her that she should be grateful and that I could always take them back! Anyway, her feet were now hurting as she had insisted on wearing some trainers that were too small! This child has many pairs of trainers but once she gets something into her head it is very heard to remove it.

The inevitable strop followed and I decided it was time to leave town altogether, especially as Mr Grump’s scowl got bigger as her tantrum got louder! We had to call in at the supermarket on the way home to get a couple of bits and Miss Hap decided she was too crippled by the trainers to come in and would stay in the car as we wouldn’t be long.

Both myself and Mr Grump felt a bit frazzled and I was desperate to go to the loo, so we hot footed it into the supermarket to get on with it. As we walked in together I told him I was just going to nip to the toilets and he went to buy me some stamps at the kiosk. I walked off but called out to him to make sure he had some cash. He stopped dead to check his pockets and got rammed by an old woman unable to stop her trolley at such short notice.

Being as he is so slight, he was sent flying forward stumbling a little, trying to stay upright. I saw all of this as I turned back and was doubled over laughing my head off (not a great idea when bursting for the loo). what made it funnier was despite the fact the lady had apologised to Mr Grump for knocking him flying, she gave him (or maybe it was me), a filthy look, tutted and stomped off!

I rather quickly took off as well to get to my destination before any other accidents occurred, in a much better mood!

Oh and the sodding jeans didn’t fit Miss Hap when we got home either!

Image courtesy of Pixabay

I’m Not Good At Goodbyes!

October 27, 2015/Judy E Martin/38 Comments

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “If You Leave.”

I was going to write a little update about my new job this week, but when I saw this prompt about leaving, I thought I would tie it in as it fits perfectly.

I am not a person who likes change very much. As you may have gathered, I am very routine oriented, set in my ways, and I suppose, a bit of an old stick-in-the-mud really. however I knew that i was going to have to bite the bullet and make a change in my life, or shut up moaning about it!

Without going into details, work at the hospital had changed since I had started there some five and a half years earlier. I used to love going in to work every morning and was always upbeat about it. A year later, I ,moved wards as part of some training I was doing and stayed there for the remainder of the time.

The camaraderie amongst the staff was what kept me there for so long; they are a wonderful team and coped with numerous changes without a lowering the quality of care they gave to the patients. Then slowly, but surely, and for various reasons. staff started leaving, and the dynamics were changing, as was the atmosphere. Morale was pretty low by the time the 20th person in a year had left, and I must admit, this was when I decided it was time to go.

Nothing stays the same of course, and sometimes change is for the better, but it did not make me feel better at all.When the job came up in the community, I decided to go for it. As you know, much to my surprise and delight, I got the job!

I then panicked for a bit as it meant change, and although I wanted it, I was worried about starting again. After all, I knew everyone at work, and they all knew me, Not only that but I was confident in my job and knew what was expected of me. In my new job, I would be learning a totally different way of using my skills with a whole new group of people who I didn’t know.

Well, I made the decision to take it. I knew that it was the right thing for me to do. I was not happy at the hospital anymore, and I would be a miserable influence on others which isn’t fair.So here i am, three weeks in and on a week off already! (I had already booked this week off for half term)!

I have been welcomed by the team who all seem to be very friendly. I have learned lots of new techniques, new ways of doing things, and have made friends with Mr SatNav who is going to be a constant companion to me due to my useless sense of direction!

It is going to take me a little while to get re-acquainted with full-time hours, but I know I can do it, (After working for 18 hours per day in a kebab shop 6 days a week in the past, I am sure I can hack a 37.5 hour week)!

My only regret is not saying goodbye properly to the staff at the hospital. I did not want a leaving do as it is not my thing really, and I ended up going very quickly in the end, once the paperwork was sorted this end, so there were some staff I hadn’t seen at all! Mind you, I am not good at goodbyes and bawled my head off on my last day at the hospital!

Bumping Along!

October 22, 2015/Judy E Martin/65 Comments

I am sorry to report that not quite two weeks into my new job, and only a week out on the road, I have had my first injury! Now as many of you know, I am pretty clumsy and am banging into things so often that it is almost an everyday event, not worthy of a mention.

However, yesterday morning I was to meet up with one of my senior colleagues in order to spend the day with her. As she was coming from a different direction, I was actually meeting her at the patient’s house about 10 miles away just after 8 am.

Of course, I love to be punctual (if not too bloody early) for everything, and had decided that once I had consulted Mr Sat Nav to see how long it was going to take me, and taken in the fact that it was pouring with rain, plus factored in the possibility of rush hour traffic that I should leave at 7.20.

Needless to say, I got there way too early at (7.45), but I spent the time productively loitering in my car catching up with the comments on my blog! I have a squeegee in the car for when the windows get steamed up, which I had used in order to see out of the windows when it got near the time to meet my colleague.

I chucked it into the little compartment just under the steering wheel and went to get out of the car. As it is a lot smaller than my previous yellow car, the squeegee was sticking out and dug right into my knee scraping off the top layer of skin in the process. Had I been on my own I would have uttered a few choice words and hopped around for a bit clutching my knee, but I wanted to try to look professional.

I plastered a smile (or rather a grimace) on my face as I greeted my colleague but was in such pain with the knee that I hobbled over to her, limping lopsidedly. Noticing her alarmed expression I mentioned that I had bumped my knee and laughed it off! I added as a little extra that I was ‘a bit clumsy’ which I immediately regretted as we were administering insulin to the patient! She must have been thanking her lucky stars that I wasn’t coming at her with a needle!

https://commons.wikimedia.org

Knowing when to Zip It!

October 20, 2015/Judy E Martin/45 Comments

As this is now my second week at work, I am actually going out and about with other nurses and getting to meet some of the patients, which has been really nice. A couple of them have even remembered my name which is pretty special to me, The community nurses seem to have a much closer relationship with the patients and built on trust and mutual respect and it is reflected by the way the patients greet you and welcome you into their home.

By the same token, driving around between visits has also given me the opportunity to get to know some of the nurses a little better as well. As many of you know, I am quite a shy person. However, sometimes when I get a bit nervous I talk too much and start blathering on about all sorts, barely pausing for breath.

Today I was out with my boss and we got to talking about my daughter. I mentioned that she had Asperger’s and a lengthy conversation ensued in which I rabbited on about how she had got into a bit of trouble at school because of her tendency to say what she thinks. This is not always appreciated by the staff, or other children and has landed her in hot water on several occasions. My boss was pretty empathetic actually considering she hardly managed to get a word in edgeways!

Amway, this afternoon I went out with another senior nurse and we drove through town just as my daughter’s school was kicking out, so we saw a load of them milling about.The nurse made a comment about the school and I mentioned my daughter went there, and because I had told the boss earlier, I told her the story of how she got into trouble a few times. It was then she told me that her husband was a teacher there!

I was cringing because if I had known that, I would never have said anything to them about my daughter, so as not to mark her card! I asked her when she got in if she knew this teacher. Yes, he had taught her last year! Luckily, she has a different surname from me, but then I think I mentioned her first name which is not that common! Ooops!

Image courtesy of WikiCommons

Be Thankful

October 18, 2015/Judy E Martin/34 Comments

I have been invited by the effervescent Ritu to take part in this relatively new challenge that is going around at the moment. I am sure most of you are already familiar with Ritu’s blog, a mix of wisdom. scrummy recipes, laughter, love and lots more. If not, then go over and say hello, you will be made most welcome.

I particularly like this challenge as it all about being thankful. Sometimes it is so easy to take the most basic things for granted, yet for others, it is something they aspire to. or might never have.

So without further ado let me give you the challenge rules:

*Share this image in your blog post

*Write about 5 people in your life you are thankful for

*Write about 5 things in 2015 that you are thankful for

*Spread the love and challenge 5 other blogs to take part

Five people who I am thankful for in my life:

Coming from such a large family this is going to be really hard!

My Mum: Although my mum is of the generation that traditionally stayed home and looked after the home, my mum went out to work when I was young. She qualified as a registered nurse but gave up after marrying my dad. However, things didn’t work out between them, and although divorce was not that common, mum went ahead and did it anyway. I should imagine she had plenty of gossiping to deal with but ignored it. She then went out to work, forging a career for herself in Social Services. This showed me that it is possible to break with convention and to do what you believe is right, whatever others may think!

My husband: Yes, good old Mr Grump. He is very supportive of whatever I want to do, and encourages me to challenge myself as he has faith in me.

My daughter: I was beginning to think that I would never have children, for one reason and another, but along she came when I was 37 years old. She makes me laugh and drives me mad, in equal measure, but I love her from the very bottom of my soul.

My younger sister: I call her Mrs Masterchef on here. We share the same birthday but are two years apart, so are very similar in many ways, especially with our sense of humour. She is there when I want to have a moan, and I always get a warm welcome, whenever I go to see her.

My older sister: She has always been there as someone I can go to when I am feeling upset or down. When we were younger, she looked out for us quite a bit (as well as telling us off)! As with my other sister, she is very family oriented.

Five things in 2015 that I am thankful for:

The rest of my family that I didn’t mention. Despite us all not living that close to each other, I know that when needed, they are there, and it is always lovely to catch up with them at family dos!

My health: I know I have been moaning about my cold, then feeling sick (now I have got cold sores all over my top lip), but in the grand scheme of things I am bloody lucky really. Some people would love to be able to get up in the morning without pain, or actually be able to walk to the shop. I know how lucky I am to be able to do these things and so much more, and am very thankful.

My job: I know I have only just started this job but I am thankful that I have it, and am really looking forward to actually getting ‘stuck in!’

My blog: I am so thankful for my blog which helped so much with my depression, leading me to meet some wonderful people.

My friends: I actually do not have many friends as such, that I see, as I am pretty unsociable! However, I am very grateful for them, and always love it when I see them.

My Nominations: I am going to have to break the rules on this one, as I cannot choose only five people who I want to share the love with! If anyone fancies having a go at this challenge, then please, consider yourself nominated!

First Week Nearly Done!

October 15, 2015/Judy E Martin/74 Comments

Well, as you can see by my pic, I am still not feeling well! Despite the dark circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep and the red and sore nose from the snotty nose, not to mention the aching ribs from constant coughing and sneezing, I have now finished the first stage of training and nearly completed my first week.

There are always positives though so this is what has been great about this week:

I got to wear some lovely nail varnish and had beautiful looking nails all week (well until 10 mins ago, when I removed the polish and cut the nails ready for the first day at my actual workplace tomorrow)!
I met some great people from all sorts of professions in the Health Service, and we had some very interesting discussions.
The trainers were all so keen and enthusiastic, plus there were a couple of real characters amongst them that made the sessions so much fun!
I visited a small hospital today for some training that I had never been to before and was so impressed with their tiny little shop, that I bought this lovely new mug for a snip at 50p! Yes, 50 pence!

I have been pretty lax at reading blogs this week due to early nights and feeling grotty. I am going to try and catch up a bit tonight and over the weekend. That is why I have not commented much on anyone’s blogs.

Perseverance: A #BeWow Post.

October 13, 2015/Judy E Martin/19 Comments

I thought that this wonderful quote by Thomas Edison was a great way to start my post on perseverance.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they came to success when they gave up.

This quote really speaks to me as it seems that in our culture of instant gratification, many people do not want to wait for something that takes time. If they have tried and failed at something once, they often tend to lose heart and give up altogether, despite being a whisker away from success.

I have seen this myself; a few of my fellow students at university had failed an assignment and rather than retake it, they decided to give up completely. This was right near the end of the course! Not only did they not graduate, but they were demoted as well!

I might have mentioned before that the school motto at my primary was something like, ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.” This always stuck in my mind, and if nothing else, I am certainly determined! I did not like school, was not allowed to go to college afterwards (my mum was mad I didn’t try at school), but always regretted not getting many qualifications. It might have taken me many years, but eventually I did it!

I also don’t get people who have given up smoking for something like five years then go back to it again! It is hard enough giving up in the first place, to go back on it after such a long time is such a shame. I was determined to give up,and have done it at the second attempt, Fingers crossed I won’t go back there again!

In life, we are constantly challenged to learn new things, or unlearn old things! With a little determination and a hell of a lot of perseverance, it is possible to achieve success, After all you might be a lot closer than you think!

This was inspired by Ronovan’s BeWoW posts

Rhyme and No Reason!

Blogger, author and rhymester who likes to find the humour in life.

Category: Life

Back to Civilisation!

Being Neighbourly.

Because The Night

Accidents Will Happen!

I’m Not Good At Goodbyes!

Bumping Along!

Knowing when to Zip It!

Be Thankful

First Week Nearly Done!

Perseverance: A #BeWow Post.

Follow Blog via Email

Translate

This is me!

Judy E Martin

Top Posts & Pages

Blogs I Follow

Thanks for visiting

Lates Blog Posts

RSS

Blogger, author and rhymester who likes to find the humour in life.

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Please share if you enjoyed this post :-)

Follow Blog via Email

Translate

This is me!

Top Posts & Pages

Blogs I Follow

Thanks for visiting

Lates Blog Posts

RSS