I'll do it tomorrow...

This is what I tell myself everyday. I'll get round to it tomorrow; I'll have time tomorrow, I'll definitely do it tomorrow. Of course, for me at least, tomorrow always seems to be, well... tomorrow.

So another week has passed where I haven't been able to get round to blogging. Sure, I've managed to visit some blogs over a sandwich at lunchtime and have promised myself that I would return later and comment and then just haven't had time to visit again. I am finding it all quite frustrating and I am missing the virtual interaction I have with my blog friends.

The reason? Work of course! As you know I started a new job in July and it has been a pretty steep learning curve. Add to that the fact that two of the projects I am looking after (I provide technical advice and assurance to projects) have turned out to be far more difficult, with extremely challenging deadlines and difficult personalities involved then this has turned my steep learning curve into a vertical take-off! I have been coming home feeling very drained, very tired and a wee bit snappish on occasion. Twice I have been given projects whose emergency has become my crisis and twice I have had to rearranged my workload last week. I am old enough and experienced enough to know that last minute changes are the norm in life but I do feel that I have had more than my fair share given my newbie status in this job. Gripe over.

Anyway, the long and short of it has been that I have had less time and energy to blog and do other stuff as well. This week is going to be another corker but I am hoping that things will settle down after this and my vertical take-off will cease before I reach orbit. Thanks for popping by and I will be by to visit as soon as I can.

Darwin Candidate

The fluffy innocent looking bunny in the picture caused a bit of a stir this week. In fact, one woman thought it was nothing less than an emergency. She called the emergency services to complain that the rabbits ears were not floppy, as advertised by the person she bought it from. Discovering this story led me to pose several questions, which accosted my mind in quick succession not least of which was what on earth was going on in her head?

Worryingly this woman isn't alone. Emergency call centre staff have reported cases of people phoning to get telephone numbers and to report getting soaked by a passing car which drove through a puddle! Lordy, if there were ever cases for the Darwin awards then I think these folk are ideal candidates. I never cease to be surprised at how stupid people can be, nor how selfish, as while there is certainly an amusing side to this story, while these selfish and deeply deeply stupid people are having their own personal crisis someone somewhere may be in genuine need of help and not able to get it.

Double trouble

I have always been fascinated by reptiles. Even as a small child my favourite toys were a large cuddly crocodile (which was meant to be a draught excluder for the door but which I adopted as a best friend) and a rather long cuddly snake which was made for me. I always wanted my own pet snake or lizard but my mother was not exactly keen.

Well, recently my childhood dream came true. I visited a small shop specialising in aquariums and reptiles and got talking to the owner. I must have seemed keen as he let me handle one of the juvenile leopard geckos. She was so small and sweet that I wanted to take her home and that is exactly what I ended up doing. She is an albino leopard gecko, similar to the one in the picture above (from the web). I called her Bianca.


A couple of days later Isabel joined her from the shop. She was her tank mate there and so it made sense to me to have them both as they got on, rather than try and introduce a stranger later on. Isabel is a ghost leopard gecko which refers to the muted colouring she has which is similar to the one in the second picture which I found on the web. At the moment they are both far too shy to photograph and being nocturnal this would be a challenge anyway!

Leopard geckos are very docile creatures and are fairly undemanding in terms of care though handling live bugs to feed them takes a bit of getting used to. Good job I'm not squeamish! My two are still juveniles and only a few weeks old so are quite timid and hide a lot. They are already becoming more bold however and will calm down a lot by the time they reach adulthood. I'm looking forward to watching the m grow.

Last Year

Today is the day it happened. One year ago today my niece was knocked off her bicycle by a car and died in hospital less than 24 hours later from her injuries. She was 11 years old. One year ago today I wrote this.

Tomorrow, September 9th is the day my niece was pronounced dead. A year has passed and my thoughts are drawn back to that day. Last year on that day I wrote this.

We all miss Jessica. She was a bubbly girl who was chatterbox and a half and loved dancing. My family is going to present her dance school with a plaque to be awarded to the student who improves the most, in her memory. She is sorely missed there as she used to help all the younger children learn the steps to the dances.

My family all miss her very much.