On catching up
I've not been very good at updating this site of late.
Not that there's been nothing to write about - there's been lots - but mainly it's apathy. I spend most of my days in front of a computer so I don't always feel the urge to spend my evenings doing the same thing. I've been trying to cut out my screen time as much as I can, but it's not always easy. There's always something to do, between filling out tax returns, booking flights to Ireland, booking flights for other people to Ireland, working on the website for my tennis club (I'm the webmaster, for anyone old enough to remember that title bwahahaha), updating my CV, updating LinkedIn and so on.
Busy days.
So, what's happened since I last wrote?
Well, I was the witness at my neighbours wedding. I also took some photographs. Not in any official capacity, I made it clear I am not a wedding photographer, but as someone with a decent camera and who knows a little something about something. I took 541 images, most are shite, but I did manage to get a few out that I liked. I did my usual edits and sent them on. I wanted to make a nice photobook for the happy couple, but you know what, I can't be arsed. Bad, I know, but it's just more screen time.
I went to Germany for work which, well, was very German and work. Nothing more needs to be said about that, other than the journey there and back which was good on account of the fact that I was able to push the car to 195km/h on the German autobahn, and I very much enjoyed listening to a load of podcasts along the way.
I've discovered a game called SimSig, a railway signalling simulator. That sounds awfully dull, but it's not really. Go and have a look. I've a thing about games that let me control things (I'm sure there's something psychological in that) such as Air Traffic Control simulators, and this is just another variant. Instead of planes, it's trains. I've been spending probably more time on this than I should, what with the whole screen-time thing, but it's very addictive and incredibly in-depth and detailed. It also doesn't drain the battery or make the laptop sound like a 747 taking off in a headwind, so that's nice.
The garden is still not done. We're now in the final phase, where only the lights need to be completed, a board put across the bottom of the gate to stop cats from getting in, and to fix the tap the builder broke. The lights are great example of over-engineering. To operate them you need an app, but to get the thing to connect to your phone is a total nightmare. On paper it's amazing. There are four lights, each of which you can control separately, and change the colour of the lights, the brightness and even have it change colour and pulsate according to the music you're playing on Spotify. Quite why you'd want that is anyone's guess, but hey-ho, we've got them.
The trouble is that something has gone wrong with the wiring so now I have one light that won't go off, and three that won't go on. The builder was supposed to come back today but he never showed, and I don't expect him tomorrow either, so chances are he'll come again at the weekend which means I am housebound again.
Last Saturday we met my brothers partners family, if you follow that. We met up at my mothers place in Zeeland for an afternoon of soup and sandwiches, and we had a nice afternoon. It felt a bit odd, meeting them, especially as I'll more than likely never see them again but it was important to my brother so we made an effort, dressed up nice and behaved ourselves.
Work continues to be draining. I am very jaded by the whole thing, hence the LinkedIn updates. I signed up for the trail version of the Premium package which is supposed to give you more insights into who is looking at your profile (spoiler: the same number of people as before the Premium package) and give you an advantage when applying for jobs (another spoiler: not much use when there are 100 other Premium Package applicants for the same job) but it's early days so let's see how it goes. I really need to get another job. I like where I work, I love the company but I'm no longer in the role I was hired for, and I'm not doing what I am passionate about - QA, and testing - so I can either just suck it up and take the money but be incredibly unhappy, or I can do something about it by looking for another job. I've had a few hits, and a few enquiries but nothing that ticks the boxes. I'll keep looking.
I bought some tickets to go and see Elvis Costello at the end of June. I loved him with the Attractions, and not that keen on his jazz phase, but he's on tour playing all the old hits so I'd be daft to turn that opportunity down. I saw him before years ago at the Kilkenny Music festival about 20 years ago where he was the opener for Bob Dylan. Jesus, Bob Dylan was brutal. Just utterly terrible. The man cannot sing, and every song he does, the ones you know, he murders in such a way that they're unrecognisable. I found a set list for that gig a few years ago and, while I know the songs, I certainly didn't recognise them when he played them. My wife is a fan, so we went to Bournemouth a few years back to see Dylan again, but he was still shite. IMHO, don't flame me.
We also had a chance to go and see Paul Simon tomorrow here in Amsterdam, and while he's a total legend and definitely someone to see before they die (see also: Rolling Stones, what's left of them, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits although I've seen him in Dublin, U2 etc.), the tickets are €210 p/p to sit far enough away to need binoculars, so fuck that.
What else?
Not sure, can't think of anything really although I am sure there's more. But consider this you all caught up.
Oh, oh, yes - I updated the site again. Changed the font. And the colours. I was looking into doing something more with the notes part, and I really want to add a section about photography but can't decide if I'll do that here, or whether I'll create a separate Bearblog for that. Anyway, enjoy this one while you can because chances are I'll change it all again next week. Or tomorrow. Depends how jaded I am at work.
So, I was reading the always entertaining blog by Robert Briming where he says to just start writing, so that's what I did for this post. I just started, and just let my fingers run across the keyboard to see what comes out.
All of this basically.