crucially

there is no respite / there is not even one day that I can call my own / when I don't have to be responsive to the needs (wants?) of my family, or the users ...

strands

faith

in #god ...

relaxed

not really / trying to position boundaries / in readiness (not yet) for the new year ...

a walk

would have improved yesterday ...

nearly

didn't blog to-day ...

unto us

a son is given ...

squeezed

out ...

holiday

traffic mayhem @fortkinnaird ...

not so quiet

had to pull back ...

quiet

keep going ...

constant theme

those who think that both parents should work should come up with the solution for what to do about children who don't want to get up ...

intermission

soon be taking the c-a-t-s to the v-e-t ...

keeping going

really, really don't know what's right ...

christmas tree

here ...

virus

maximising its spread ...

incredibly

difficult ...

putting off

reading my email ...

007

broken

off work, sick, at home ...

low

in some ways, these days, sunDay afternoons are worse than monDay mornings ...

it would be good

if david cameron was as attentive to the voices of the poor as he is to those of the rich ...

words fail

reached office, around 2 pm / saw that boss had phoned, a few minutes before / called back / was told to go home ...

not great

it's only five past nine, and already I'm feeling overwhelmed ...

tired

realising just how tired I am ...

monDay mornings

am I allowed to say - an abomination ...

first snow

trying not to be anxious ...

I disagree

I believe that the Church of Scotland is wrong to oppose gay marriage ...

contrast

from a secular university, to an evangelical meeting ...

mental health

How often do mental health professionals inhibit the error messages (for example, by prescribing drugs) instead of trying to solve the problem?

not striking

to-day, anyway ...

perceptible

tired

really, really tired ...

Lee Scoresby

and his flying machine ...

no photo

or photos, taken / did to-day really happen ...

taking a step back

there is still stuff people want me to fix, or to do, for them / but it's lunchtime / and the weekend is just 5 hours away / need to think what's reasonable, possible ...

cry for help

masquerading as the documentation for my annual development review ...

getting away from the computer

difficult ...

away from the office

but not away from the computer ...

not hated

by Jesus (can I say that?) ...

stepwise

it's a quarter past one ...

waiting

unresolved / it's dark outside ...

first day back at work after a week off / am I coping? I really don't know ...

scream

curling around, then up / despair, horror, even / no longer expecting a resolution
hope / surely, by now, there would be evidence
and so, the screaming continues
silently ...

so

the new Blogger doesn't support Opera (the browser) / I suppose that if you're trying to promote your own (derivative) browser, you're not going to encourage people to use the genuine innovator ...

crisis

on day two ...

oh! frabjous day

back to school ...

habakkuk

a prophet, witnessing destruction ...

sunDay

trying to tidy my room ...

saturDay

driving ...

friDay

half day / walking away ...

drained

but there's work to be done ...

when people have nothing to lose

and are excluded, what happens ...

indulgence

God loves me

it doesn't always feel like it ...

company

having spent this week adapting to being alone, to-day I am working in an office with two occupants ...

confidence

I lack confidence / perhaps I should just decide to be confident (ignoring all the mistakes I am likely to make) ...

[by the way: this is truly inspiring]

as summer ends

the academic year begins (again) ...

the lull

before the storm ...

essentially

there is no-one I can freely talk with ...

prioritise

just wait one moment / I have two jobs to do / I can only do one of them / so, sensibly, I prioritise / which means that one of them doesn't get done / which means I get shouted at ...

(probably better just to do both jobs (badly)) ...

freedom

to-day's word ...

circular

instead of point to point ...

buzzing flies

physically, mentally - not much left ...

healing

another difficult word ...

probably

from my son's point of view, yesterday's deal wasn't particularly advantageous ...

Sabbath

Should be simple / instead, it's so complicated ...

Sad

Watching the news from Norway ...

rest

we'll see - at least, I shall be away from the university ...

ending

and beginning ...

triage

not everybody who wants help (to-day) will get it ...

crisis, again

with two people working here, we were emerging from the crisis / but we're back to one ...

sabbath

people used to give things up on a Sunday (as children, we were not allowed to play card games) / more recently, I read of someone who chose not to use her computer / but these are negative / do they promote positive rest (and recreation)?

rain

and Matthew wants bacon (which we have) and eggs (which I'd have to get from the shop) ...

drained

...

down to earth

a scary day, at work, yesterday ...

interesting times

as in, may you live in ...

tell someone

but if nobody wants to listen ...

despair

it's quite simple / day after working day of not knowing if I can cope ...

all together again

thankfully, although it does bring challenges ...

trust

the cats were keen on my company this morning, until I brought out the frontLine Combo ...

a new effort

no reason why I shouldn't update this blog more regularly (except for the small matter of thinking of what to write) ...

the good thing

about this blog is that I don't expect anybody to comment ...

being honest

Daughter's been in hospital for 3 days. She was supposed to be having her operation on Thursday, home on Friday. It's Sunday morning - I'm drinking a welcome (black) coffee, and seeing no end to this. The daughter has just been sick - will the doctors want to keep her in for another day?

Rose

These days, a welcome sight ...

stay foCused

but so tired ...

Again

Flowers

Colour's not right ...

smiley face

which is real? what people see, or what I say when nobody's listening (or write, when nobody's reading) ...

generation

As a lad, I attended church. I didn't have a choice.

Am I wrong to respect my son's wish not to attend church? It means that, generally, I can't attend church either.

Can one be a Christian, and not go to church?

sufficient unto the day

is the evil thereof (one of those phrases which (if you're of a certain age) sticks in the mind) ...

It's a saying of Jesus; echoed by Dale Carnegie (How to make friends and influence people) in "How to stop worrying" as: live life in daytight compartments.

But what if the task list will take more than a day to complete? Prioritise, I guess. The first dress rehearsal for Bugsy Malone is on Monday (yes?) - so whatever is required for then - costume, words, makeup (do my best - don't want to let anyone down).

But the grass is growing, there's a pile of stuff on my desk, I need to sort out our finances, I've brought home an installer for the microSoft Office, etc

But first, get dressed, and have breakfast (mundane) ...

Brooks' Law

More acute when you're an aspie - the overhead of managing the relationship can negate the benefit of being assisted ...

half Day

Given the choice, I'd rather work the morning, and have the rest of the day off, than take the morning off, with the prospect of working that afternoon ...

proPhetic

Mitch Kapor (around Chandler 0.5): "I know we are going to come out with something great. I just don't know how many more turns of the crank it's going to take."

capability Policy

Managers are responsible for:
- Ensuring employees have a manageable workload

Received an email from HR - one of the links from the highlighted web page was to Capability Policy.

When I received my diagnosis (Asperger's Syndrome), I was full of hope - we had found the key - the guiding principle which would enable us to fit me into a working environment which allowed for those areas which I find difficult - and could recognise that I have particular strengths.

forLorn hope ...

exHaustion

What if I was (had been) honest with my new boss? If I'd dared to say to her that - no way am I happy - let somebody else do this job - please put me somewhere else ...

But a year ago, I said that to my then boss, and look at what happened (I don't think that I shall ever again dare to say that I'm not coping - but, perhaps, one day, it will be obvious - to someone) ...

aspiNet

Not sure how to put this into words - I have Asperger's Syndrome - I am bad at relationships - in some ways, the Internet is a different domain where I am less bad (or, possibility, I am just as bad, but don't know it) ...

Focus

At the start of the day, I need to focus. If there is a task to be tackled, that (surely) comes before the unknowns - the things that may be good news, or may be bad news ...

Daily

Let's see if we can rescuscitate this blog (with daily updates - not necessarily every day - but not more often than once a day) ...

Priority

an old House

Why am I here?

Sore throat

I haven't had a day off sick since joining Operational Services (there's a actually a task in the pipeline which I'm quite looking forward to, but there's plenty of calls I'd rather not have to deal with) ...

friDay night

the weekEnd begins ...

So

Shouldn't I just walk away ...

Cruelty

take a conscientious individual / give him a job which he cannot possibly do / watch ...

snowDrops

no Choice

But to continue ...

sLeep

Would be nice ...

late Night

not my choice ...

Romeo and Juliet

Prokofiev's ballet, danced by Ballet West at the Brunton Theatre ...

anXiety

Fudge was behind the toilet door - hoping that she's OK ...

Love, love changes everything

Tea was delicious, this evening ...

There's been a murder

in traNent ...

Shostakovich 4

An opportunity (both children rehearsing "Annie") to listen to another of my extensive collection of BBC Music Magazine cover CDs - Vassily Sinaisky conducting the BBC Phil in Shostakovich's rambling 4th Symphony. It's a long, but rewarding listen - so much so that, with limited time before I drive out to collect the children, and wanting a cup of tea, I was walking around the house carrying a portable CD player, wearing headphones, and colliding with a door - hopefully, no damage done ...

Planets

Listened to a recording of Holst's "the Planets" to-day - ironic, that just when some composers thought that it would be a good idea to add Pluto to the line up, it was de-planetised ...

imPossible

Don't usually blog about work, but to-day, I've been 'assigning', which means passing calls to other people - and I know how much work needs to go into each call. The arithmetic, surely, is simple - if, in the course of a day (a Friday, when you'd expect things to be quieter), each person receives more than a day's work to do, we have a problem (unless to-day was unusually busy, which I doubt) ...

sLush

rainBow

maybe Solas

Camping? or finding a b'n'b?

on the other Hand

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 - this is from the Authorised Version, also known as the King James Version ...

aTheist

I'd rather believe that God isn't there, than that he is, and he's horrible ...

Birches

I love these trees ...

eXalt

a Tough week; but, hopefully, things will improve ...

Metaphor

The red light is on, indicating low battery ...

being Strict

A queue is a queue is a queue - has anyone ever operated a service where the last person to arrive is the first to get served?

too Late

to Pray ...

bRidge

Sometimes, I think that the JCMB looks a bit like a (battle)ship ...

cRash

Yesterday, I was excited, hopeful; to-day, disillusioned, despondent (realistic) ...

exHausted

Doesn't bode well for the day ...

a Slow day

Thankfully, so far ...

Dark morning

Difficult to summon up any kind of enthusiasm ...

unReLiable

I did try to post earlier, but it hasn't appeared ...

sunShine

DC-3

DC-3
Originally uploaded by Clackety

An awkward crop ...

winTer

is tough, because by the time you've finished work (or, done as much work as you're going to do), it's dark ...

Princes St

Homeward bound - back to work to-morrow ...

tollCross

in lieu of panTo ...

aChievement

The children and I spent this afternoon doing a jigsaw ...

sKy

Trying to be positive

Not particularly successfully ...

Back at work

Struggling, already ...

pur(r)Pose

pur(r)Pose
Originally uploaded by Glaswegian

The New Year period is an opportunity to review, evaluate; but there needs to be freedom, resource. If life (particularly at work) is a constant struggle to survive, then trying to make positive changes is going to fail.

I made a serious mistake last year, but this is a new year ...

Hitting the sales

Traditional early January activity - although it was a lovely day - a traditional (two days after) new year's day walk might have been healthier ...

Positive change

If you make a change - how do you know whether it will make things worse, or better?