31 January 2023 – What a Day!

There’s nothing like the first day back at work after a break for really pissing me off. Not only do I not want to go back to work anyway – I’m definitely not in a job I love doing and can’t wait to get up in the morning and get to it. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. I hate it, and would happily stop if I didn’t have bills to pay (I am not one of those people who say a big lottery win wouldn’t change their life – I would give up work instantly and never look back).

I had a crap night’s sleep because my brain had already shifted into work mode and was mulling over everything I might find on my return, cos that’s what it does (just like a whole night of musing about launderettes on Sunday night 🙄). It was going to be a tight day, anyway, as I had a training course booked from 11am, and I knew there would be a whole load of pointless emails waiting that everyone would want answered straight away (because they’re generally unreasonable and want everything now).

So imagine my joy, when just after downloading the 100+ emails, the server went down 🤬. No access to work, internet, the course I was booked on, anything I needed to access for reference, nada. You’re right, I wasn’t best pleased. It did give me a chance to work my way through the email pile, but most of them were frustrating at best, and swear-inducing in most cases.

Fortunately, access was restored once I returned from lunch, but by then it was too late for the course and I’d got to the really aggravating stuff. Eventually, I had to call it a day as my annoyance levels were reaching dangerous heights.

I logged off, made myself a cup of my precious China Milk Oolong from Camellia Tea House, and settled down to relax and de-stress with some Lemon Drizzle Pearls from Mariella's Skinny Bakery ( they are a limited edition, but I hope they eventually make them a regular) while listening to the latest episode of Undertow: Dark Tome (which I didn’t enjoy as much as normal, maybe because I wasn’t really in the mood).

I’ve also started reading the first part of the graphic novel London Gothic, which I’m thoroughly enjoying. I bought the pdf version because of the lack of space for new books, but I miss having a book with pretty striking pictures to hold. Part two is available for pre-order, so I will be getting that shortly.

While on the subject of graphic novels, Humble Bundle is currently doing a Winter Horror Comic Bundle, featuring 46 comics from Image Comics, which I’ve also added to my collection.

Dinner was tuna and sweetcorn salad, without leaves, as I ran out and didn’t get around to buying more and another cup of tea, which was sadly a little bitter as I over-steeped it while preparing the salad. While eating, I listened to some music – checking out the new releases from this week, of which my favourite is an artist new to me, LeSon’s mini-album Chocolate.

I am currently listening to what I decided was the top 20 singles by solo artists in 2022, which is quite interesting as it’s been a few weeks since I made it. There are some great songs on it but also some glaring omissions, so I need to work out what criteria I chose for being included. I really need to finish that 2022 list as I ignored it totally while I was on leave (which would have been the perfect time to complete it 🙄)  – maybe I’ll crack on with it this weekend.

I also did my monthly Receiptify for my Spotify listening. It’s always interesting to see what and who I’ve been listening to most over the month, although until now it’s always generally been the same top 4 – EXO, Pentagon, Kingdom and FTIsland. However, shockingly, not only are EXO and FTI nowhere to be found, Unthinkable (my favourite track of 2022 according to every music app in the world) doesn’t appear either.

It's no surprise CIX is in there, as I have been listening to them a lot, both for the 2022 list and in readiness for seeing them in concert, but it’s a pretty mixed bunch for a change. It’ll be interesting to see what next month looks like – we have both The Rose and Ateez concerts in February, so I expect they’ll feature strongly.

Finally, on the music front, Gary Numan has announced that he will be doing 3 shows (his 998th, 999th and 1,000th) at the Electric Ballroom on 13, 14 and 15 April. I will, of course, be attempting to get tickets for all 3 nights. I’m still grieving the fact that we didn’t get to see him at Wembley last year due to illness, and this would help relieve that feeling.

Finally, finally . . . it’s a very Happy Birthday to Pentagon’s extremely tall maknae, Wooseok. I hope you’ve had a fab day. 🎂🎉🎁