It’s been a while…

Back in April I posted a statement that I would try and help myself by trying to loose some weight and getting a bit fitter.  It’s now August and I’m disgusted to report that I’ve done bugger all to get some of this weight off.

I had a medication review with a Nurse at the local doctors surgery this afternoon.  My blood pressure is good, however my cholesterol is starting to creep up and my weight has risen.

I know why this is so and it’s because I’ve done nothing for months.  I’m not feeling motivated in any way shape or form to do anything about it but after today’s review, I really think that I need to do something.

So I have to watch the amounts of saturated fat and trans fat that I eat.  Unsaturated fats can be found in Olive Oil, Nuts and seeds, and some margarines.  Saturated fats are found in all of the loverly stuff that tastes delish like butter, cheese meat etc.

Dammit.  I’m going to have to do something about cutting out those sort of things or at the least cutting down on quantities.

Perhaps the quantities thing is something to look at.  I did a chilli for tea the other day (froze five portions of it) but used one of those portions to feed two people so perhaps I need to look to use smaller plates or try to control my portion sizes.

Christ on a bike, this is going to be difficult but it is something I need to do.

A new resident

It’s been a while since my last blog post here.  Let’s face it, I’ve had plenty of time on my hands to try and give you an update as to what’s been going on.  However, there has been very little happening and the last couple of months have been quite unexciting.

I have however aquired a new resident at The Hill.  His name (at least I think he’s a he!) is Ozzy, named after the Purrince of Darkness himself.

He’s been here for just over two weeks now and he’s getting used to being around me now.  He was found by a friend in an abandoned car in Riverside, Cardiff.  He’d been in the car for about four days and was eventually enticed out using the Cat Piano iPhone app!

He was a bag of bones when he arrived here and hid for a couple of days.  He had a couple of little accidents in the first couple of days but has been really good ever since.  he’s used the litter tray without fail and although he’s using the couch as a scratching post I can’t complain.

He’s not too keen on the dry type of cat food although he will eat it.  I have to mix it with a bit of wet food for him and whilst there is always clean water down, I never see him drinking it!

Anyway, that’s about all that’s happened in this last few months.  There’s little sign of a job on the horizon although I do have an interview to go to on Monday and I’m going to be there for 7 hours all told.  It’s going to be a bit of a killer of a job (if I get it) as the hours run from 11am-8pm Monday to Thursday one week, then the same pattern with 9am – 5pm on Friday and Saturday the following week.

It’s only the second interview I’ve had since the beginning of March so I’m hoping that I can get this one and make the best of it.

Wierdly, the job is for a company in Caspian Point, where GM3 were based.  It’s a call handling role with the opportunity for commission so it could get interesting but the salary is between 13k and 15k.  I may still struggle for a while.

I’ve cancelled my Sky subscription and renegotiated my Gas and Eleccy payments but I’ve got arrears with the Council Tax and sky high bank charges too.

I hope that this job does come off.  I need a good night out and haven’t had one for months.

Fingers crossed eh.

Chell in the Rain

The internet never fails to amaze and astound and there’s something very simple about this website but in viewing it, there are a number of clever components all brought together.

The image on the site is stunning.  It’s of a character in the new video game Portal 2 and simply a cracking image.

It’s been combined with a music track and the sound of rain falling and it’s extremely effective.  It’s one of those sites that you’ll want to head back to again and again.

Congrats to the publisher I’m very impressed!

Chell in the Rain

Second of the day…

I also just needed to comment on what happened to me last night.

I was honoured to witness one of the greatest musical events anyone could ever witness in the UK.  A show by the very mighty Skindred.

Now, you may not know about this band and the chances are that you don’t but their music is described as Raggapunk / Raggametal.

A rock band fronted by the irrepressable Benjii Webbe a larger than life Rasta who can whip up a crowd like you would never believe.

Over the years I’ve seen them live on five occasions and they have never failed to provide a show that you leave thinking wow!

They’re touring a new album, Union Black and it’s a highly recommended download or purchase.  This band are stunning and how they are staying off the mainstream rock channels is a complete mystery!

Thank you so much for a stunning concert again boys.  I’m looking forward to seeing you again at some festival or concert in the future.  Big up to the ‘Dreads and lets hope for many more years of amazing music.

Star Wars Day…

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…

In 1977, George Lucas unleashed a phenomenon that even now 35 years later is as watchable as it was the day it was released.

Star Wars remains my all time favourite film.  There have been others over the years that come close but when I need to escape for a few hours, then out comes the DVD and I’m transported back in time to being a 7 year old sitting in the cinema waiting for the music and the yellow text to disappear into the distance.

Is it just me or is that one of those occasions when you remember where you were when Diana died or when the Challenger blew up.  You’ll always remember where you first saw Star Wars?

For me, it was the Plaza Cinema on North Road in Cardiff.  The Plaza was just by the Gabalfa Interchange and is now a St John’s Ambulance base.  I then remember seeing the film in cinema’s like The Globe on Albany Road and The Monico in Rhiwbina, alas both have now disappeared to be replaced with shopping centers and apartment buildings.

Of course, Lucas managed to destroy the franchise in 1999 when he decided to ignore the lore of the first three films and produce The Phantom Menace.  If however you’re able to ignore the inane ramblings of Jar Jar Binks (and his name), then the three films do start to build themselves into the legend of the original movie but albeit slightly contradictoraly.

The story of the Jedi and their extinction at the hands of the Emperor and Vader, a hidden love affair between a Jedi and a member of the Senate and the fact that Padme died in child birth yet Leia telling Luke that she recalled her mother.  Come on Lucas!

Anyway because to day it the 4th May, it is Star Wars day and now that the chores have been completed, it’s time to sit down and relive a childhood memory and watch the original three movies.

May the Fourth be with you!

What the…

Well, it’s nearly the bank holiday weekend and as traditional for a bank holiday weekend in the UK, the weather is about to make a change for the worse.

The forecast made by the BBC for Cardiff tomorrow is for sleet!  It’s scorching hot here today and has been for the last couple of days, weeks in fact so SLEET!?

It’s finally happened.  The trusted and well respected Beeb has lost it.  A maximum temperature of 17 degrees celcius and they forecast sleet.

Still as one friend has suggested, it’s a good excuse to stay warm in the pub whilst all this wedding malarkey is under way.

The Gauntlet

It would appear that a gauntlet has been thrown down.  A friend has challenged me to loose some weight and three stone by October.  She will try to loose the same amount in the same time.

We’ve decided that we’ll allow ourselves a final blow out over the coming bank holiday and then start on the Tuesday following which will be the 3rd of May.

Simply put, this has to happen.  I’m suffering from hypertension, being controlled by two types of tablet and on top of that an anti-depressant.  If I can loose some of this weight, I may be able to drop one or two of the tablets that I have to take and who knows what a different me might be able to achieve.

I can use the blog as a daily food diary to keep a track of the food I’m taking in and the exercise that I’m going to try and undertake, even if it’s just the Thornhill Mile that I do every now and again.  It’ll have to be done every day however and I’ll time myself to see how things improve.

So, that’s the promise.  I will forgo chocolate and crisps, beer (well, some beer) and will try to eat healthier.  More veg and low fat things.  Couscous, tuna, beetroot, baked spuds and maybe even wholemeal bread.  (steady on!)

One last weekends blowout then a change in my life for the better.

Hello again

So, into April now and it’s over a month since leaving GM3.   I’ve had a single interview in that time and found out today that I’d not got that job either.

I’m still not sure where I’m going wrong again.  I spoke to a recruiter today about a customer service roll in Milan, Italy.  It’s for a prestigious (but as yet un-named) vehicle manufacturer.  However, the interviews are to take place in Italy and they expect you to be able to make your way over.  They’d refund you 200 euros to get there but that’s about it.  The wage is quite good but even though I don’t have many ties here, except for the folks in Wenvoe it would be a difficult decision to leave this house and everything I have here.

I suppose I can only keep applying for work and try to take the opportunities when and where they arise.  Another app out yesterday for just an admin job.  Foot in the door sort of thing.

About a month in to the Citalopram as well and are they helping?  I’m not sure but it’s early days.  I’ve got over the tiredness that I was associating them with but still feel a bit low on occasions.  Perhaps when I think about a certain person or when I get rejected for jobs but at least it’s not making me retract completely from the world.  I don’t like being alone and on the weekend I drove to the pub with friends just so I could have a bit of company.

Anyway.  I’ve another idea for a website which I want to pursue and hopefully I’ve found the project I need to keep the old grey matter ticking over.

Weekenders on our own…

Sunday afternoon, just getting ready to watch the final match in this weekends round of the Six Nations Championship.   England v Scotland play in Twickenham for the Calcutta Cup.   Yesterday’s games were brilliant.  Italy beat the French and my team Wales just beat the Irish at home.  Hopefully then Scotland will did deep and stop the English charge to a grand slam but I doubt it.

As it was Saturday, it was a Fuel night, however I’ve got yet another stinker of a cold and as a result, although I watched the game with Mr Birch at the flat, I decided that I’d be better off at home rather than heading into town.  I’m quite glad that I did.  I slept heavily from about 11pm through to 10am so it was a good idea not to go.

The week got off to a strange old start!  I offered help to my old mate and two minutes later he was on the phone saying to come on down as he could use an extra pair of hands.

An hour later and I was in the car on the way down to North Dorset to help with a few bits and pieces at my friends new home.   I’d not visited the new place before and was very impressed with their new home.  In fact, we were working out when I’d last been down to see him and the family and by my reckoning it was four years or so.

There’s a small brook running along the bottom edge of their garden.  They’ve shored up the edges of the brook with railway sleepers but they needed a fence along the side of the brook to stop the dog or the kids from falling in.  It’s just a small wire mesh fence but it’s enough of a deterrent.  So Tuesday was spent putting the fence together and up.  Wednesday morning we finished the fence off and shifted a load of boxes around so it was a busy couple of days.

The trip home was less eventful than the trip down but it took 2 hours compared to 3.5 to the old house and I didn’t get lost on the way back!

Thursday morning involved a trip to the Doctors.  I’d been meaning to go and see him for a while as I’ve been told by a number of people that I’m not the person they once knew.  Having spoken to him and completing a questionnaire, he decided to prescribe an anti-depressant.  Now, I wasn’t sure that I should take something to help but others I’ve spoken to have said that they have helped.  So, I have a two week course of Citalopram http://www.patient.co.uk/medicine/Citalopram.htm

I don’t know if will help and it will take a couple of weeks to kick in apparently but if it can help give me a bit of a lift and keep my interest up in things and not lower me when I inevitably get rejected for jobs then it may be a good thing.

I don’t intend to stay on them forever but I do think that depression contributed to the loss of my last job.

Lets see…

 

Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant hapus.

Or Happy St David’s Day everyone.  This is one that I’m not going to forget for a while.

I arrived at work this morning in plenty of time for my 9am meeting with the Manager and a HR Representative.  Sat at my desk, printed off my list and highlighted what needed to be done for the day.  9.05am into the meeting.  9.20am left the building for the last time.

Yep, again I’m facing the world of the damned and a life time on job seekers allowance.  I have been given my cards again although, not unexpectedly.  I’ve a weeks notice, well 5 days but I’m not expected to work that but will be paid for it.

So where to go from here.  The first stop is likely to be the doctor’s surgery to get me some happy pills.  Even I think I need them this time.