What is it now? About three weeks since I last posted? It’s been pretty eventful actually, and indeed things have stopped me from being able to think of something to write, so I’ve legitimate excuses.
First up was my half-week away to Swindon as part of my training for work. Essentially, the course entailed becoming more financially astute (flow of money and where the money is needed and forecasting), the usual teamworking and communication skills, and bundles of boozing like university students. It was a pretty good time, especially as my team were fantastic and we all got along with each other with ease. (Hearing that other groups had arguments and even with one girl crying – for what reason I don’t know – I suspect we were pretty lucky.) It was quite hardworking too, a couple of 11-hour days and a couple of 6-hour days meant that we all got up for a 9am start and finished about 8pm for dinner. The location was a conference/hotel building and everything was included; snacks and drink bars were dotted around, open for self-service anytime of the day; breakfast, lunch and dinner – all quite filling and rich – catered for; double-beds, en-suite, TVs, bars, gym, swimming pool – I mean, it had practically everything you could ask for for before and after meetings and conferences. And the evening bar tab was put forward by the company (apparently we had racked up £1500 on one evening when not everyone was available for a free bar, so I could only guess what the cost was when everyone was at the bar from post-dinner to 12am).
The following Friday was our department’s Christmas lunch do, which meant that no-one was going back to the office after a few glasses. And indeed, no-one did (I think) and many stayed on past 5:30pm, some staying at the bar below the restaurant, some off to Fleet Street. The latter was not for me, and I buggered off home around 7pm for not feeling my best. But that Friday was also a special day for us gamers…
Because Friday 8th December was Wii day. Oh yes, the European launch of the Nintendo Wii was today and I had purchased WiiPlay and Zelda for my sister’s pre-ordered Wii console. Finally, it was time for some proper interactive and involving video-gaming. You can read my First Impressions over at Gamesrant.com.
And then, rather spontaneously, it all went downhill. Sunday morning greeted me with a sore throat, headache and a general groggy feeling. By dinner, this was accompanied by feeling full (even though I hadn’t eaten anything) and muscle ache. And eventually, it turned out that it was the onset of a mild bout of gastroenteritis (luckily, without the vomiting). I frequented the toilet more times in a day than I would in a single week, and kept wondering where all that ‘water’ was coming from as I didn’t drink much more than a sip at a time (it would all pass through as soon as it hit my stomach). All of this made me incredibly parched, putting me into a energy-sapping Catch-22 situation. This lasted for half a week (last week) and last Wednesday I tried my hand at half a day of work, except I felt pretty nauseous on the train there and rough for the rest of it. Thursday, I battled through, feeling quite a lot better, well enough to see what the company Chirstmas party would be like.
I’d been told it was going to be a good one, and the guy who said this got completely lashed out his head. Although, good for him, he remembers everything that went on. I had a suit nor a fancy dress being that I wasn’t sure of my appearance, but just turned up in work clothes. Didn’t seem to matter, as a group of us headed to the local for a couple, before making our way to the hotel where the decor was set. We managed to find an empty table – many were already filled) and sat down ready for dinner. There were short speeches, raffle draws, and whatnot – most of which our table ignored – and it was onto dinner. I shalln’t say much of it, other than if I was fit and well, I’d have been pretty disappointed with the meal. Crap watery starter, not-really-filling main, and an overly rich dessert. The rest of the event was pretty good, mind. Bucking Bronco, Sumo fat suits, arcade gun game and karaoke were all available for us to mingle into. It was all a good laugh and jovial. Except in the early morning of Friday.
Rumour is that there was a bit of a bust-up between a new starter at our work and a soon-to-depart employee. Quite a nasty one too, well, for one of the party. Apparently, one of them was winding up a number of people and me thinks he got his comeuppance (and I’d quite rightly say they deserved it as they wound me up on our department Christmas lunch). Neither appeared in work on Friday (just gone).
And that’s about it. Quite, quite eventful I think you’ll agree. Anyway, now it’s time for Christmas and time to find some pressies, decorate the house, and be a grumpy bastarding humbug. Hooray!