Confusing time

Hi mum how was Reading? It was today you went to Reading wasn’t it?

Yes it was ……fine thanks.

Did you drive your car?

yes?

But your car was still here

No I drove my car what other car would I have driven?

But you have a small tiger in the window and your reg no is *******

Yes….and I drove it today

But it was outside when I went out

It couldn’t have been unless you went out before 6.45

Don’t you mean before 5.45 ?

No I didn’t go until 6.45 …………what were you doing going out at that time?

I swear your car was out by the garages when I went out

Not unless you were up very early…..I assumed you were still in bed when I went. What time did you go ?

Just after 4.30

What!!!

Oh what time did you get home ?

Just before 4.30

Are you saying you were in when I got home? The front door was locked!

I went out the back way……….you must have been walking up the front path when I was going out the back.

 

confusion over

 

Not bad for a novice

I had known from the start that I could do this but still I was a little nervous but I knew once I got the ball rolling I would be fine. It was just a nuisance that I had woken up on Monday morning with a very sore throat. As the week progressed so did my head cold. Why now? why this week did I have to go and get a stupid head cold, this wasn’t going to help my cause one bit. This time I kept myself dosed up with pain relief, had early nights and allowed myself to nap in the evenings. I did go to the gym but did less work than I would normally put in.

Thursday night I went to bed early but was woken up coughing at 2am, 2am!! This was not good but numerous tissues later I was able to return to my slumbers until the coughing restarted. Getting up thinking it was 6am and time to prepare for my  big day. Once my eyes had focussed properly  I realised it was only 5am !! arggg that’s a whole hour of much needed slumber  gone never to be regained. I just hoped that the lack of sleep wouldn’t give my eyes that deep red look that occurs after too little sleep. That wouldn’t help to make a great first impression.

I made the most of the extra hour awake by google mapping to see exactly  where I was going and what to look out for. Why had I not thought of that before? It was an obvious thing to do once I thought of it. Having showered and eaten my breakfast I dressed carefully. Starting with matching lingerie and black hold up stockings ……yes I know that only I would know but it gives me an added confidence. I believe that if I feel good about what I am wearing underneath then I feel good on the outside too. (I guess its the secret smile of knowing that others don’t know about the sexy underwear) anyway it works for me. Topping this off with soft swingy  faux wrap around style black skirt, plain plum coloured top and long length black jacket and patent black heels. A touch of make up to make my face feel more human, purple heart shaped earings and a simple tear drop pendant and I was ready for this adventure.

As I began my drive there were patches of lingering mist over the fields beside the motorway but the sun was burning through, thank goodness the rain of the previous days had stopped. Turning onto the A272 a road I had been very familiar with in my youth (the many journeys between our family home in Kent and my grandparents in Dorset) it’s amazing how 30+ years just disappear down memory lane. I have only been on that road a few times in the 24 yrs I have lived down here.

My first stop was in Midhurst, where Cowdray Park is, changed from my flat driving shoes to the heels I walked into the shop feeling a little tense. The first person I saw was the lady my appointment was with. She was very friendly and explained the changes that the new owners of the group of shops had brought about. She was already organised with a purchase order written out but while we talked she added a few extra lines to her order. She asked me to pass on her regards to my manager and if I speak to him the Area Rep who had retired in June. I walked out of there feeling that it hadn’t been a bad experience at all even if I had been a little tense.

Continuing along A272 I got stuck behind a large tractor for miles then when I finally got away from him I found myself  stuck behind a tanker! on a hill !! Mind you he made up for it on the down side of the hill, my little car couldn’t keep up with him …..not that I was trying. Next stop the person I was due to see was off sick (had been all week) but I saw the owner instead. This time I showed him the samples of new products I had with me right away (I hadn’t shown them at all at the first customer). He was very keen and immediately ordered several of the new lines. This gave me a new confidence in what I was doing, it is so much easier to demonstrate a new product than trying to explain it on the phone. Together we made up quite a big order, he was quite impressed with my product knowledge.

Leaving there my confidence was growing but so was my need to find a convenience. I had reached the A23 before I found a  likely looking service station. Pulling up as close as I could to the entrance of the shop I rushed in found the toilets and found it most disconcerting to find myself looking directly into a mirror whilst I was sitting there. It must have been a very strange person who decided to put that there.

It was a slow drive into a grey drizzly Brighton (no more sun for me today). My sat nav took me to a road that overlooked my destination from above roof level. The steep incline had been closed off with bollards. But I managed to find my way there using my homing pigeon instinct. This time it was a very different type of business that I was visiting and an order was not forth coming as they had only recently received stock from us. But I was able to go through the new products and talk to the buyer about the quote my colleague had recently done for him. I was also able to give the office feed back about what he does stock from other companies.

Going to my next stop I managed to take a wrong turn which confused the sat nav just as much as it did me but eventually I found where I was heading for. Again I found myself in a crowded shop, you could probably buy almost anything (apart from food, clothes or furniture) in this small store. Again I managed to get a decent purchase order and give advice on a range of goods to replace a range he already did. Another fruitful visit under my belt.

One more visit in Hove then onwards to my last stop in Worthing. I was very impressed with the huge store (part of a complex of several outlets that were all part of the same company).  Again the customer had only recently had a purchase order but did take my samples off me …lucky for him he was my last stop of the day. I also noticed two branches of other companies we supply were in close proximity. Perhaps I shall arrange to visit them also next time I am here.

Leaving there I phoned the office just as they were about to go home, to report that I had finished and got 3 orders from 6 visits. A better ratio than most of our full time Area Reps and Agents 🙂

Apparently next Friday I am going to North Kent ……..I wonder where else this novice sales rep will be going.

I only wore the heels for the very first visit after that I kept my driving flats on. I don’t think the customers noticed even if it did make me feel a tad flat.

My head cold had the decency to behave itself during the day although my sinuses were giving me a headache I did manage to forget about during each visit. My self medication seems to have helped shorten the life of this head cold however I did pay for it during Friday night.

Positively optimistic

 

 

 

I found this image on face book earlier today and couldn’t resist saving it to my computer.

 

That’s my boy

My boy is home for one night only. He hasn’t said he has come home to see his mum, no he said he was coming home to see his brothers and the cat……I doubt she is bothered whether he is here or not. All she cares about is being fed and having attention when she wants it. Unfortunately she is out of luck when I am the only one around…..I couldn’t make a fuss of her even if I wanted to as I became allergic to her about 8 years ago …..she is 14.5 now.

Anyway back to my boy. Statto was out celebrating with his new friends in Sheffield on Thursday night, then with his University friends in Guildford on Friday night, before coming home for a quiet night in with us tonight (Saturday 22nd October 2011).  Why the celebrations? today he turned 21.

When he was a little boy he collected football stickers. Everyday we would count them, how many he had collected and how many he needed to complete each team. By the time he started school he could count to 500. When he was 6 his teacher had him statemented as a gifted child. At junior school his teachers were dumbfounded at his ability to work out complicated maths sums in his head quicker than they could write them down.

At senior school he soon had a reputation within the maths department. Again he was identified as a gifted child and put forward for the Naturally gifted child program which he declined to take up. During his GCSE course he never dropped a single point in any of his exams. Obviously he gained A* for his maths GCSE with maximum points.

He then went on to college where he studied both Maths and Pure Maths at A Level, along with Law and IT. He of course earned himself 4 Grade A’s in his A levels. I can’t remember at what age he decided he was going to go to University to study Maths, I am pretty sure he was still at junior school at the time.

He was going to apply for Oxford but decided that it wasn’t for him. He is good at maths ….very good at it even but it is not everything to him. He loves sport especially football and cricket and knows all the stats about all the premier clubs in both sports. Hence his nickname. He felt that it was enough to know that he could have gone to Oxford if he had wanted to. Eventually he chose to go to University of Surrey. Partly because they have a good scholarship program but also because he would have the opportunity to do a year of work experience.

Now he has completed his first two years of University and begun his year of work experience. He is working for NHS in Sheffield (for those of you who don’t know that is a city in the north east of England). He has been there since the start of August so a little under 3 months, yet he has already made his mark there. He was asked to help out with the creation of  an automated excel spreadsheet to make graphs of cancer data simpler and easier to access. He ended up taking over the whole project and is now going to Loughborough to do a presentation on it to chiefs from NHS NE region. If they approve of what he has created it could become nationwide throughout the NHS.

I think he has every right to be proud of himself. Just as I am a very proud mother. I would be very suprised if at the end of his degree he doesn’t get a job offer from NHS. Which in the current climate of job losses can only be a good thing.

We have been discussing the disappoint of discovering that many of our peers are uninterested in anything that goes on outside their own lives. We both feel a need to have people in our lives who we can discuss wider topics with. Whether it is the fall of Gadaffi, the state of the English Education system or the lack of resources in poorer countries. The latest football scores or the previous night’s tv are of course well covered topics of conversation but come on people there is more to life. I am pleased that all of my sons are interested to know more even if they don’t understand certain situations in the world they are interested in learning about it.

 

 

Too taxing for me

I didn’t pay much attention to the news earlier this week from the HM Revenue and Customs. Yet again 1.2 million people had been found to have under paid their taxes. But approx 6 million would be receiving refunds of around £400. This is the second consecutive year that our HMRC has made these announcements. Last year Prodigal was a recipient of a refund having left full time work to go to University mid way through the 2009 tax year.

Having heard that this year there was to be a repeat my only thought was that knowing my luck I would be one of those who would receive the demand for more tax. I didn’t give it any further thought as I was still exhausted after my busy last few weeks.

The previous week had been extremely mentally tiring for me. My senior colleague was on a week ‘s annual leave which meant that I would be covering for him which is always very tiring for me. I find myself doing tasks that I only really perform in his absence. They are not difficult tasks however because I only do them a few times a year it takes me a while to get my bearings. Most of this extra work involves dealing with an external agency who think we have nothing else to do but pander to their demands……. as if!!

But this time things were going to be harder still as our line manager (I think that is the usual term these days) would only be in the office on and off as her husband had become seriously ill. She managed to come into the office for a few hours on Monday and Tuesday mornings but then the awful news came, her husband who she absolutely dotes on has lung cancer. Of course I am terribly sorry that he has this and I can only wish that it wasn’t so. He is still a relatively young man (mid 50s) never smoked and hardly drinks, lives for his daily sessions at the gym yet here he is seriously ill, without the promise of a future he deserves.

This meant that now I was having to cover for our boss too. I was having to take decisions that I would not normally have to make without having anyone more senior to turn to for confirmation. I was given a big quote to put together at very short notice which has the potential to bring in a lot of business……..no pressure there then.(Apparently the customer liked my quote but only time will tell how much. Added to this the two of us who were left holding the fort suddenly found that our volume of work increased unexpectedly. We worked through our lunch breaks all week in an effort to keep up with the workload.

So by the time I drove to Eastbourne on Friday evening I was glad to get away. But that wasn’t the end for me. Mid afternoon a customer had called wanting a Rep to visit (his area Rep had retired in June with as yet no replacement). The temporary solution being that my boss would call on the customers who needed to see someone. But for the foreseeable future she is not going to be able to do this. As the customer in question was only a short  drive from where I was staying I agreed to visit him. This was a first for me. I have visited customers in a semi formal situation before but this would be to take a purchase order. I arrived at 10am and left at 12.20 with a 4 page order which I was very pleased with. (my boss was very grateful to me for doing this for her.)

I enjoyed the challenges of last week even though it was tiring. I have now volunteered to go out once a week for the next few weeks visiting customers. It will be a good experience for me and good to meet some of the people who I already deal with on the phone. I am not making life any easier for myself but I don’t see this as a negative.

I am one of those lucky  …..ok so it isn’t really luck……people to receive a tax refund. Apparently I over paid my tax in year 2005 -2006 and again in 2006 – 2007 and yet again in 2007 – 2008. Very silly of me really as I could have done with that money during those difficult early years after I divorced the other parent. Talk about timing, just when I really needed it the money came even if it will be next Friday before I can access it. It seems to me that whenever I am in desperate need of help it comes along at just the right time even without me asking for it.

I can only say that no matter how bad things get for me there is always a silver lining or a light at the end of the tunnel which ever you prefer.

It will be worth it in the end

It has and is hard going but in the end it will all be worth it.

The hours of driving will be worth it when my son graduates from whichever University he chooses. It is currently looking like his first choice will be University of East Anglia with University of Hertfordshire as his second choice.

There was a definite buzz about the place when we visited UAE, of course that might have had something to do with the exceptionally hot weather on 1st October. Pug almost instantly felt at home there, a stark contrast to our visit to University of Kent a week later. A cold and windy morning, in a campus which appeared to be populated by open day visitors and a smattering of  student guides. The information we got from there was helpful but Pug didn’t feel any warmth towards the University at all.

The following day we visited University of Hertfordshire, again a cloudy windy day but warmer, there was a better atmosphere but still not the buzz of UAE. Pug feels that Herts could be his fall back Uni if he doesn’t get the results he needs to get into UAE then the lower entry requirements at Herts would be useful. Until a few weeks ago the idea of Pug going to University was a possibility for the future, now it feels more of a reality. Experience tells me that the next year until he moves to whichever University he goes to will fly past with all the preparations that will be required.

All my hard work at the gym will be worth it in the end. I have been going at least twice a week since I joined in August but for the last 3 weeks I have only managed to go once a week due to being very busy and tired. But I have done a lot of walking each weekend. Hopefully enough to go some way to compensate for not going to the gym. A few weeks ago I was feeling good about myself and the hard work I had been putting in but during these weeks I have felt fat and bloated. However other people are starting to comment in the changes in my body shape. Changes that I have not noticed but other people say they can see.

If I can keep up with my hard work it will be worth it in the end.

just a cough

I am beginning to get paranoid now.

Yet again I hear my friend telling someone

‘no that was just my colleague………..no she doesn’t smoke’

It seems that nearly every time one of my colleagues are on the phone the customer comments on the cough in the background.

I seem to have developed a dry tickle cough. It isn’t just now and again it is fairly frequent through out the day. A large part of my work involves speaking on the phone which just aggravates the cough. In my work I find that my voice is one of my best assets so it wouldn’t help me work wise to avoid the phone.

I am beginning to get paranoid about all the comments about smokers cough. I wouldn’t mind that so much if I was a smoker. Ok so I was a smoker, not a heavy smoker (less than 15 per day at the most). But I have not smoked since September 1988 (23yrs).

No this cough has nothing to do with smoking or dust or asthma. This cough was given to me by one of the doctors at the surgery I am registered with. He didn’t just wrap up a cough and present it to me. No he gave me a green slip of paper with my name age and address that I then presented to our local pharmacist who passed to me a green paper bag containing two small boxes (small meaning fit into the palm of my hand). Inside these boxes were two (4 in total) blister packs of small red and white capsules.

It had been decided that following repeated tests that although not normally a concern my slightly high blood pressure needed treatment due to my diabetes which was diagnosed in 2009. When prescribing this medication the doctor had warned me that there was a possibility that I might develop a dry cough. He wasn’t wrong there was he!! I just didn’t realise quite how much this would affect me.

So if you happen to be talking on the phone and hear a dry cough in the background ……….think of me .

some highlight that is

Having just been asked how my weekend has been I suddenly realise that although I was deliberately having a quiet lazy weekend the highlight might have been…………….

having my annual flu jab

Now there has got to be something wrong if that is the only thing that has happened in two days.

or perhaps it was the paltry smattering of text messages from ‘ the man who kissed me’.

or maybe the stream of messages followed by a telephone conversation with another potential date

Driving there, there and there

I enjoy driving which is quite a good thing seeing as I am the primary driver in my family. There was a time when my mother took me to places. These days when she needs to go anywhere outside of our little town I drive her.

But because I work full time this means that long journeys take place at weekends or on days I take off from work. My mother aka 56 whilst never a good driver was very independent and would take herself off to all sorts of places. This included long weekends to visit my paternal grandmother in north Gloucestershire. But just under 5 years ago 56 had a knee replacement op. It wasn’t straightforward as she had other problems with her leg apart from the knee joint.  She has not walked more than a few paces without a stick since. I have lost count now but think she has had about 4 different ops on that knee in the eight years since she retired. She is currently able to drive but only short distances.

Visits to my grandmother are now much shorter, often with me driving there and back in one day or perhaps with one overnight stay. She is now in a nursing home (aged 93) so visits have become less frequent. This is partly because my grandmother no-longer knows who we are. It is a long way to drive to spend an hour with someone who thinks we are social workers. I am feeling guilty for not visiting my grandmother more than I have done in recent months.

Another reason I cannot visit her as often is that I also act as chauffeur to my sons. There have been trips to Guildford  where Statto was living/studying. Trips to Southampton where Prodigal was living/studying (he has now moved nearer to home). Statto had to be moved to Sheffield where he began a year’s work experience last month.

Just when I have Prodigal and Statto settled in their new homes along comes the next phase of ‘project empty nest’. Pug has now decided that he also wishes to go to Uni. so starting next week  we begin the University Open Days tour.

Stage one of this current tour begins with a 4 hour drive to Norwich next Friday where we will stay overnight (having dinner with family friends). 56 will be going with us and spending Saturday with these friends while I spend 6 hours with Pug at University of East Anglia before the 3 of us make the 4 hour journey home ……guess who will be driving.

Stage two comprises of a 2.5 hr drive at the crack of dawn on Saturday  8th October to University of Kent (Canterbury) 6 hrs on campus and 2.5 hrs drive home (just the two of us this time). I might resort to takeaway for dinner that night as I shall have to be in bed early.

Stage three quickly follows stage two in that we will have to leave home at 6.00am to drive to University of Herfordshire  (Hatfield) ready for a 9am start on Sunday 9th October. Once we have spent 6 hours there and have done the 2 hour drive back home I will probably fall into bed without dinner……will have to be alert for work next day as we are going to be one short in the office due to annual leave.

So that is the next two weekends taken care of will I get to have a rest the following weekend, of course not. I shall be finishing work at 4pm on Friday 14th October and heading straight off to Eastbourne, I hope the traffic won’t be bad as dinner in the hotel restaurant is at 6.30  that night. It is the area Rotary conference weekend. Last year I accompanied 56 to the conference in Jersey, this year it is Eastbourne. There will be entertainment in the conference hotel on Friday night. I may or may not go to some of the many talks on Saturday then it is the gala dinner in the evening. Back home again some time on Sunday.

Just in time for another hard week at work while I deputise for my senior colleague on his week off. I think Statto will be home the following weekend for his 21st. I think I then get two weekends free before stage 4 is the long trek up to Stoke on Friday 11 November. for University of Staffordshire.

Maybe I might find time to see ‘ the man who kissed me‘ eventually.

Oh and somewhere along the line will be the open evenings for local colleges that Skater needs to visit. That basically means every college within 20 miles of here.

I refuse

I refuse to be dragged back

It has been 5.5 yrs since I was legally released

I refuse to go back

I mentally left him 6.5 yrs ago

I refuse to take him back

Yet still he tries

I refuse to give in

He wants me back

I refuse to reconsider

Every little ailment he shares

I refuse to listen

He wants my support

I refuse to give it

He thinks he has cancer (it isn’t)

I refuse to sympathise

He breaks down in town and gets taken to hospital (second time in a few months)

I refuse to be made to feel guilt