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Books, Travel
Tuesday, May 13th, 2025 09:47 pmEdinburgh was excellent. Lots of walking around, too much to explore in the few days I had there, and I'm left with a real desire to return. The hotel was lovely, spotlessly clean, and their breakfasts top notch. Of course the city has umpteen places to dine without torturing the budget too heavily. The train journey there and home again went without a hitch. I got surrounded by an Irish family, an older teen and her mother, plus the grandmother, and they were simply lovely. I'd never met them before and I'll most likely never meet them again, but they automatically included me in their conversation as if this was the most natural thing in the world.
When returning home after being away, everything looked dusty and smaller yet comforting. This brilliant spring sunshine is merciless to those of us who can think of far more interesting things to do than wielding polish and cloth, and so the obvious task had to be faced. I must send some of this bric-a-brac to the nearest charity shop. Yes, I know I only recently posted about me not being willing to part with any of it, but tastes do change, and cheap 'n' cheerful no longer brings me the joy it once did. Am I turning into a Marie Kondo? Rest assured this will never happen. Remember her announcing that everyone should have no more than six books in their house, or something like that? I have more than twice that stacked up on my nightstand.
I really enjoyed reading the collection of short horror and dark fantasy story anthology, Black Magick. The reason I bought my copy is that it features a story by Adele Cosgrove-Bray, who's one of my favourites. The last novel in her Artisan-Sorcerer series is supposed to be due out some time this year. Has anyone read these? Think magical realism, urban fantasy, with strong characters. Treat yourself!
I'm slowly working my way through the Horrible History boxed set, which is a bit of fun. I've also started reading a book about sleep paralysis which brings the sensation of an invisible being sitting on or by you while draining your energy. This one's by Louis Proud, an Aussie writer who I've not heard of before. There are also a few needlecrafts books which I picked up second-hand while up in Scotland, which I've not started yet but going from the photos they look interesting.
There are some new faces at my place of work. Staff turnover seems high. That usually indicates a problem in the workplace, but the manager's reasonable and it's a decent enough firm to be employed by. No job's ever perfect. There's always some aspect of it you don't like, (apart from actually having to be there!). The pay's a weak spot. It's okay for someone like me, whose mortgage is long paid off and who is a few short years off retirement and so can't be bothered changing jobs to do the corporate ladder-climbing thing, but for a young adult it's a dead end job. Most figure that out after a while. I wait until I've known them for a while, and then I'll ask how they'd like their life to be in ten years time. To the young, ten years sounds like a lifetime off, but it's upon a person soon enough, and if steps aren't taken they'll still be slogging away in the same, or a similar, job. I point out that one day, maybe not this year but soon, they'll want their own home, driving lessons and a car, holidays, etc., and that these things cost a lot of money, and that this job will never provide that. I like to think of it as offering a benign kick in the pants from an older, and hopefully a tad wiser, person. I only have this conversation with them once, and once only, then I'll leave it up to them totally. Plant a seed, and leave it. And, as a result several have gone back into education to better their chances in the long term.
When returning home after being away, everything looked dusty and smaller yet comforting. This brilliant spring sunshine is merciless to those of us who can think of far more interesting things to do than wielding polish and cloth, and so the obvious task had to be faced. I must send some of this bric-a-brac to the nearest charity shop. Yes, I know I only recently posted about me not being willing to part with any of it, but tastes do change, and cheap 'n' cheerful no longer brings me the joy it once did. Am I turning into a Marie Kondo? Rest assured this will never happen. Remember her announcing that everyone should have no more than six books in their house, or something like that? I have more than twice that stacked up on my nightstand.
I really enjoyed reading the collection of short horror and dark fantasy story anthology, Black Magick. The reason I bought my copy is that it features a story by Adele Cosgrove-Bray, who's one of my favourites. The last novel in her Artisan-Sorcerer series is supposed to be due out some time this year. Has anyone read these? Think magical realism, urban fantasy, with strong characters. Treat yourself!
I'm slowly working my way through the Horrible History boxed set, which is a bit of fun. I've also started reading a book about sleep paralysis which brings the sensation of an invisible being sitting on or by you while draining your energy. This one's by Louis Proud, an Aussie writer who I've not heard of before. There are also a few needlecrafts books which I picked up second-hand while up in Scotland, which I've not started yet but going from the photos they look interesting.
There are some new faces at my place of work. Staff turnover seems high. That usually indicates a problem in the workplace, but the manager's reasonable and it's a decent enough firm to be employed by. No job's ever perfect. There's always some aspect of it you don't like, (apart from actually having to be there!). The pay's a weak spot. It's okay for someone like me, whose mortgage is long paid off and who is a few short years off retirement and so can't be bothered changing jobs to do the corporate ladder-climbing thing, but for a young adult it's a dead end job. Most figure that out after a while. I wait until I've known them for a while, and then I'll ask how they'd like their life to be in ten years time. To the young, ten years sounds like a lifetime off, but it's upon a person soon enough, and if steps aren't taken they'll still be slogging away in the same, or a similar, job. I point out that one day, maybe not this year but soon, they'll want their own home, driving lessons and a car, holidays, etc., and that these things cost a lot of money, and that this job will never provide that. I like to think of it as offering a benign kick in the pants from an older, and hopefully a tad wiser, person. I only have this conversation with them once, and once only, then I'll leave it up to them totally. Plant a seed, and leave it. And, as a result several have gone back into education to better their chances in the long term.
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