Good Bye 2014

It is now January 2015 and much of the country is preparing to return to their chosen vocation after an all to brief Christmas break. Usually I would be joining tomorrows mass migration to London, but not this year. Why?, I hear you ask. Well, it's due to a decision that I made in early December 2013. I was unhappy in the direction that my career had been taking and decided that it was time to move on to bigger, better and exciting things. To this end I took a position on an exciting and forward looking project that one day in the not to distant future will revolutionise the control of trains throughout this green and present land.

Therefore it was with great excitement and a renewed vigour for life that I entered 2014. However, this sense of well being and excitement didn't last much more than 6 months. In July my Dad passed away after suffering worsening health over the last few years. As you might imagine this hit me pretty hard and meant that my Mum needed an awful lot of help and support. The paperwork is still driving us mad, but it's largely under control and I am helping my Mum to look to the future positively. After all, she now has the opportunity to think about herself rather than care for Dad (which she did brilliantly).

In August we all, including Mum, took our folding camper on a trip to Yorkshire. It was Mum's first camping trip for the best part of a decade and all had a great time. We had chosen Yorkshire because it has beautiful countryside, interesting towns and my Dad's brothers family live in York. To be honest I had quite forgotten just how amazing Yorkshire is. I could easily move there permanently.

In September my Wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary, which is quite an achievement in anyones book. We were also looking forward to our late summer holiday in Tenerife, which was all arranged with the help of my cousin (Thank you Sherri).

Then in early October, that exciting new position reinventing the UK's railways came to an unceremonious and sudden end. Thankfully our Tenerife holiday was paid for in full, including spending money. This meant that we could still go and forget about our troubles, for a while at least.

The next milestone was also in October, when our Son came of age and was very proud to be legally able to buy his Dad a pint. It was a pint of Doombar and I enjoyed it very much indeed.

Christmas has been a muted affair generally, but we did find time to visit some of my Mums family in Bristol and visit the engineering wonder that is Brunel's suspension bridge in Clifton.

As you may have guessed, I have been job hunting like a Ninja. I've had a few interviews, with varying levels of success. Christmas has rather got in the way and I'm hoping to hear some good news in the next few days and have another interview in a week or so. In the meantime, I decided to take a leaf out of my Dad's book and got myself a temporary job as a Christmas Casual with the Royal Mail. It was supposed to be for a month until 24th December, but they keep calling me in to do more. I have also applied for a temporary position as a Postman while I decide my next move.

Who knows what 2015 will being us. I have a few ideas, but which why the chips will fall is currently in the lap of the Gods.

Regards



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How we became a 2 cat family again

When we first bought our house, number one on our shopping list was a cat. In fact we ended up with two. They grew up together and we didn't have the heart to separate them. One jet black and the other black & white with a white question mark on her back.

Unfortunately the black one, who was the most inquisitive of the pair, met an untimely end due to some form of road vehicle. We were inconsolable at our loss. It was like loosing a close family member, perhaps a child. We made the decision not to replace her for fear of upsetting the remaining cat. That was over 14 years ago.

About 5 years ago my Father-in-Law moved from a 2 bedroom house with his youngest son, Chunky, to a 1 bedroom flat on his own. It soon became apparent that he was lonely living on his own, so we encouraged him to get a cat. After a call to the Cat Protection League and a home visit to check his suitability, he had a new house mate. He was a very friendly black male cat who was about a year old.

When my Father-in-Law passed on last June, his cat went in live with my elder Brother-in-Law, Dopey. That was the logical choice at the time as we were worried about the affect of introducing a new cat to our now elderly moggie. Chunky & Chunkette already had 2 cats of their own and didn't want another.

Dopey has been having a few personnel problems of late. Due to his inappropriate relationship with alcohol he has in the last few years lost his second wife and job. Despite much support from his immediate family he has failed to change his ways. He favours making incomprehensible phone calls at stupid O'clock in the morning, which hasn't won him any friends. Quite the opposite in fact. My wife is about the only person who will talk to him, but never after about 8pm as he will be drunk and just talk utter rubbish.

In one of his now famous phone calls one Saturday in January, he told his Brother Chunky that he couldn't afford to feed the cat. He suggested that he had phoned the RSPCA and they would collect the cat from him the following day. Chunky saw red, dashed round to Dopey's house and repossessed his late Dad's cat. Since then he has been living with us.

Over the past couple of months he has been spoiled rotten, gained weight and discovered our garden, which he really enjoys. As it happens we need not have worried about the effect on our elderly feline. She is not particularly happy about his presence, but grumpily puts up with him. He stays out of her way and can run faster than her when she throws one of her a hissy fits. The only problem we have had is that he occasionally likes to wake me at 2am for a tummy rub. The word "Sucker" springs to mind.

Regards
Chris
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(76/365) A day to remember for lots of reasons

Day 76

Today Chunky, my Son & I visited the rather impressive Madejski Stadium, home of Reading FC. We were there courtesy of the Sun newspaper football ticket offer. We choose to go to Reading as they are quite a good team, having briefly played in the Premiership a few years back and it's not too far from home.

I myself have only been to one top football ground before, the old Wembley about 15 years ago, and Crawley Towns ground is hardly to best. The Madejski Stadium is about 12 years old and very impressive it is too. It holds around 20,000 people. There were 17,921 the day we visited. The atmosphere was truly amazing compered to the usual quiet 1,500 people at Crawley.

While I was there, I took some time to remember Bella Bhukhan. She was an American I met in Ibiza in 2000. She was fun and bubbly and used to work in the personnel department of Cantor-Fitzgerald in the WTC, New York. We used to keep in touch via email.

On the 11th September 2001 she was at work as usual when an aircraft came through her office window. The rest is history and she was never seen again.

God bless you Bella xxxx

11th September 2010
(iPhone)

Regards



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Life Goes On

I had great plans for 2010. A new job with new opportunities, I joined my local camera club to improve my skills and the rest was a blank page. After last years downs I was determined to get my life straight and move forward.

However, my Father-in-Laws (Weezy) lung condition worsened as the year progressed. He spent quite a lot of time in hospital. He came home in late May only to return to hospital three days later. A few weeks later he was once again back home, but refused to eat and wouldn't get out of bad.

My elder Brother-in-Law (Dopey) cared for him 24/7, but he still wasn't improving so the Family Doctor was called. He invited the family to his surgery for a chat, where he broke the news that Weezy was getting worse. He gave him just two weeks to live.

Three days later, on 24th June, Weezy passed away in his sleep, with Dopey at his side.

Although we all knew it was coming, it didn't make it any easier.

That's when the real drama began to unfold and since his passing all our lives have been a nightmare. But more of that later.

Regards
Chris
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John 1941-2010

My Father-in-Law sadly passed away in his sleep on Thursday 24th June 2010.

Rest in peace John.

I took this photo of him back in the summer of 2006. Happier times.

Regards
Chris
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