The End of the Year Approaches

And this is probably the last blogpost from me until 2014. I'm looking forward to a new year and a new beginning. Merry Christmas.

Water Dripping Off the Light

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when you want to be leaving the house in a hurry, that is the moment when you will pause, think "Did I forget to turn the tap off?", and check the bathroom to find water dripping off the light fitting. Always a fun experience.

So far it seems to have been fixed (there's a reason I take the landlord of the flat above a bottle of wine for Christmas every so often), but I can't help being slightly alarmed at the thought I may be being haunted by a poltergeist who likes to make water drip off light fittings - it happened in the last-but-one house I lived in, too.

I've been hanging around on the Creepypasta website for a while; does it show? I came across this site via TvTropes, where I spend far too much time keeping myself awake and not doing any management assignments. An excellent repository of creepy stories, some of them are okay, some are very good, and one or two will, in the words of one reviewer, make you want to shriek, douse your computer with gasoline, set fire to it and fling it through the window. Seriously. Four words: "The Russian Sleep Experiment", rated "AAIIIEEE!" for gory, and one word, "Psychosis", rated "MeeMeeMee" ::rocking gently back and forth:: And don't even start me on "Smile Dog".

No, really. Don't.

And don't Click Reload, either.

Back at the Boiler Shop

Went back to the Boiler Shop a couple of weeks back with friends. There were no cyclists or yoga teachers with broken backs present, but there was good food, good beer, and a very pleasant surprise. I last saw Tankus the Henge at Glastonbury this year, and have wanted to catch them again ever since. Amazingly (they're based in London), they were headlining the Saturday Boiler Shop when I happened to be there. Coincidence is sometimes a fine thing.

I also learned that ping-pong is more fun when you're tipsy, and that certain of my friends should only be allowed to dance when there's a large space around them.

The Tales We Keep Telling, 4: The Glass Bottle of Piss

Nah. This one also doesn't get told until I leave my current employment. Let's just say that it occurred towards the start of my current employment, and usefully disabused me of any notion I might have had that the new employer was going to be any better organised than the last one. We'll leave it at that.

Back Again, and Blown-Over Trees

I'm back blogging again, as my laptop is now back from the repairman! Not much to report, except for some storm damage to the back garden - see photo!

Everything's been repaired. I was hoping I would need to do less to the garden in the winter. Turns out I was wrong. I think I'm developing that gardener's feel for the seasons, or at least something resembling it, as follows:

Winter = Prune trees
Spring = Plant stuff
Summer = Weeding
Autumn = Throw buckets of leaves in compost bin

More reports on Glastonbury and the fun we had in Malta (where I managed to misplace an entire ship) coming soon.

Glastonbury, Day 2: Gan for a Wander

Glastonbury, day 2, Wednesday. It was warm, if not actually sunny, and we were at a slight loose end. The festival doesn't really kick off until Thursday afternoon, and we didn't have a bar shift for a while. We had heard the distant cheer as the car park gates were opened; the punters were arriving, and later we would be needed to sell them beer.

Not to worry. We decided to wander off in pairs. I took R to see the Green Fields, which are usually the bit of the festival that gets set up first - if you're there early, go to the Green Fields as there will be something happening. We wandered around, looked at things, sent postcards (yes, you can post postcards at Glastonbury) and enjoyed a bit of alternative therapy. I had a massage, which I needed, and then fulfilled a small Glastonbury tradition of mine, of going and sitting in a meditation tent for a bit. If you have read my post about arriving at Glastonbury, you will know why.

We found the bar, and I found out when and where one of my favourite bands, "Seize the Day" were playing on the Thursday, by the always-reliable method of checking the sides of the toilets (they always put stickers there). The bar shift came and went. The team were great. My teams always are.

One last thing; as we wandered around the Green Fields, we came across a music space, with a couple attempting to play folk music whilst their young son clawed at the front of Mummy's t-shirt. One of their songs was a rather nice rendition of "The Ghost of Tom Joad". I still fondly remember Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing that in 2009. It seemed fitting that it should be the first live song I heard at Glastonbury 2013.

Walking Past Elephants

Not much to report this week, as I've been away in Harrogate for the historical festival they have there. Of late I have been amusing myself watching the reactions of people in the Eldon shopping centre as they walk along and suddenly realised they've just walked past two psychedelic elephants. Here's a picture of the elephants.