Category: ramblings

Absentee

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I was going to write a post whining about why I haven’t been posting recently. But that is something that gets very boring, very quickly.

I have been spending my alone time getting re-aquianted with my Xbox. So I have been dying during Naruto Ninja Storm 4 and getting stuck in Yooka-Laylee. I have a very short attention span when it comes to games. I love playing them, but I get bored very quickly. Which is why, unless it is a game series I love, I will not pay full release price for a game. My favourite kind of games, usually revolves around fighting, platforming or racing. Games that usually have short events or levels, where I can progress through the game slowly.

I can’t see myself every paying £50 for a single game. In fact, I have noticed, that games, like many other things, are cheaper in other shops. Something that has been made more apparent, by the need for supermarket chains and Amazon to stock EVERYTHING. It means that whilst game specialists, like GAME, sell stuff for the RRP, Tesco’s sells the same game for (sometimes) £15-20 cheaper. Which is a lot of money. So many companies seem set on becoming a one-stop-shop, where you can get anything. You can order groceries through Amazon’s Alexa, and the stuff comes right to your door. It makes it so easy to be lazy, and just get everything together. It is less hassle. But, if it is something you really want, for yourself or a gift, then shop around. Check Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys, Argos, Amazon, GAME… there are so many options.

Is there any games I would like, in the future? Well the Naruto Ninja Storm saga is getting a full HD release, which looks cool. Because I never got the original games. And then Naruto Strikers which looks like a team fighting game. There is the South Park fighting game coming out at some point, which I am keen on getting as Stick of Truth was pretty great. I think the one game I would go all out for would be a proper console remake (or even re-release) of Road Rash. I mean online races, where you can just smack that player who cut you off, with a chain. I would love a new version of that game, but it doesn’t even pop up on the Mega Drive compilations. It makes me a sad panda.

I don’t get a lot of RPG games, I just struggle investing the time required to get anywhere in these stories. Zelda and the OG Pokemon games are probably the only RPG’s I can kind of play. I also have a low tolerance for first person shooters… well not all, just some. I like Gears of War, but can’t be doing with Call of Duty.  My problem is, that there is zero learning curve for playing online. Last time I played CoD online, I sucked, and got so much shit for it. That’s not why I play computer games, I play to relax.

A Good Kind of Challenge

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Life can be very boring if you fill it with things you have already done. Things can get boring and repetitive. How can you expect yourself to get any passion or love for life, if you are bored. If you don’t find joy in things, it is easy to lose all energy and the will to do anything at all.

Sometimes, doing something new is good for you. It can get the adrenaline flowing, and give you a bit of a thrill. Being able to do something new can help you find a bit of self-worth. And that is something that should never been sniffed at. Every single person should strive to do things that makes them feel better. Because once you feel that feeling of joyous achievement, you can get addicted to it. Something completely different to the old feeling of dwelling on your failures.

I remember seeing something somewhere, which said something along the lines of, ‘if you fail at something, it means your journey isn’t finished’. Which is very true. If you are unable to do something, you either try, or move on to something else. Failing to do something shouldn’t be a bad thing. Think it was a bad thing, is what has stopped me trying so much in my life.

In my work, I had to do some, what I would call admin work. It was a headache, because it is the normal kind of thing I can get flustered over, but I didn’t. I just got my head down, and did my best. Which was all I could do. And I have left with the job completed and feeling quite accomplished. Normally I would pass on something like that, but when that option was taken away, I just did it. I feel in a good mood as a result. Which, considering how I have been feeling lately, is a good thing.

Tempting

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I am bad at saving things for later. Be it food, money, or in today’s case, holiday hours from work. If I get an idea in my head to use something, then I’ll use it. I don’t seem to be able to keep anything till later. At all.

So today, I was to be in work, and I had a total headache. So rather that force myself in to work, I took an ’emergency holiday’. The hours used for that holiday are set aside so that if you need to use them, the holiday is automatically approved. It’s a good idea. But you only get 10 hours every 3 months. Ideally, you hold on to those hours, and use them for a proper emergency, where you might need to leave work early or something. But, I used it within the first week of getting it.

I had always decided that I was going to bail shift early, for the Dunfermline and Raith Rovers game, it was a derby game. I don’t get to go to many games, as I usually work on a Saturday.

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But Dunfermline won, which makes me happy, and makes it worth the time off. Life should include doing what makes you happy, right?

Oh, The Pain Of It All

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I get sore. Nothing really serious, but bad enough that it such an annoyance. I get sore bits, usually joints that get a bit stressy, and decide to swell up, just to punish me for thinking I could do something. Sounds a little bit melodramatic, but it is true.

For example, when I spend my first day at work for the week, I end up with a swollen, hard to walk on, ankle. It has always been some kind of issue, but I kind of made it worse. On my first day as a permanent associate at my work, just over 3 years ago, I fell down the stairs and landed really bad on my ankle. I had to go to the hospital, and had to take a week off to ‘rest’. Yes, I know, bet my work was glad they decided to keep me around, getting injured to celebrate a permanent job. But since then, my ankle has become weak. The doctor I spoke to at the time, said that I had seriously sprained the tendon up the back of my ankle, and that it would normally take between 9 months and a year to heal. That is if I worked an office job, sitting on my rear all day. I don’t. I work in a warehouse, where I am on my feet for 10 hours a shift. So… ankle probably never got the chance to heal. And now, I can sprain it really easy, and that first day back at work, as mentioned above, I end up hobbling about like an OAP.

It is frustrating, but not anything that I haven’t had before. When I worked in a shop, not long after I finished High School, I had a lot of pain in my hands and arms. The doctor, that time, felt it looked like tendonitis. Something which can be caused by ‘over use’, that causes the swelling in pain. I was given pain killers, and after some time off work, I just got on with things. When I was even younger I would have issues too, like when taking the family dog for a walk, she would pull at her lead (especially when she saw another dog) and I would have to hold on tight not to lose her. After the walk was done, I always felt a slight ache in my hand.

It is probably the wrong avenue to take, but I have always just got on with it. Tonight I have a sore left shoulder and a sore right ankle, and I have no idea how I am going to get any sleep tonight. It has become something that is an annoyance to me, something that I take a wee bit Ibuprofen the days its really sore, and just soldier on through the rest. Some days are worse than others. But I can deal. Which comes with another annoying thought. How can I put up with the physical pain, when I crumble at times with the mental pain I suffer?

It is just proof that not all pain is equal. The pain I get in after a day at work, is nothing compared to the utter hopelessness I can feel when I wake up in the morning. But in this world, physical pain is always the thing to be cured, mental pain is often ignored. And that is sad.

Not What I Wanted

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

I have always been one of these people who have two effort levels. Either I obsessively do it, or I just can’t be bothered. This is mostly encouraged by how well I do at something. If I put effort in, and things go well, I will push and push towards a goal. All good. If I put that same effort and fail, I find it really hard to put any more effort into it.

I know that what I am saying isn’t that uncommon. In fact, most people probably have the same issues. If is something that happens in life, and people just have to accept it. But the problem is, that if I don’t try again at something, my brain builds this thing up. Something that is probably of no real concern to anyone, can start to cause me to panic. It is horrible.

When I was at school, I remember that I had two extremes whenever I sat a test. I would either smash it, or I would completely bomb. If I was going to make a mistake, I wouldn’t just make one, I’d make ten. And that is something that has continued with me as I go on. I think that a big part is paranoia and lack of confidence. Like, if I think i am doing well, it is all fine. But if I find out I did one thing wrong, i fuck up everything.

It’s hard. I can get so flustered over making silly mistakes. I get upset, because I feel so stupid. I get it in my head that I shouldn’t be making such silly mistakes, I should know better. And I feel worse, and then make more mistakes because I am too busy scolding myself.

The thing no one ever teaches you at school, college or any work place, is how to give yourself a break. It is a foreign concept. But not everyone thrives on constant pressure.

New Day, New Chance To Try

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

That’s us hit March already, and I’m kind of stuck between wishing my time away and wanting things to slow down. There is no happy medium, and as I get older I find myself standing still as the world flies by.

3 months into the year, those aspirations made in January may have fallen flat. Some of mines have kind of. I am very good at focusing on what has already happened, mostly the bad bits. The bits where I have failed and things haven’t gone to plan. These are the things I seem to automatically focus on, and then I don’t have the energy to try again. Because, what is the point, if nothing really changes?

I have been spending a lot of time trying to change that. Because what happens in the past can’t be changed, all you can change is what is in your future. Which is probably really cheesy, but it is true. There is no harm in looking back at what you have done before, but if it affects what is coming then maybe you are looking too close.

I deal better with things when I have a ‘clean slate’ to work with. That moment when you close the door on what has happened, and start again. I try to get deal with every day as it comes, forget what has happened before, as nought can be done about it. However, this all depends on how I am mentally, because if I am suffering under depression, i am very likely to be so optimistic.

It’s also learning, that is okay. Not every day is going to be the best day ever, it’s not possible. Life is a serious of ups and downs, and learning how to deal with it. But today is as good a day as any to start positive changes

Perception

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

Sometimes I wonder how differently people see the world. I don’t mean what they actually are looking at, but what is their focal point?

For example, the picture below, is a photo I took today. A rainy day in Dunfermline. Now, my focus was the town clock, which is where the town centre is located. It is a building that stands out in the centre of Dunfermline. But, whilst my intention was to focus on the City Chambers and it’s big clock, the first thing that everyone else sees are the ‘To Let’ signs that hang outside the empty shops.
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It is pretty strange when you start thinking about people’s individual perception on things. When I was younger, I thought what I thought, and anything else was simply wrong. But, that’s not right. People perceive things differently, and come up with their own conclusions.

I find that kind of beautiful really. That everyone perceives everything slightly differently. They have their own thoughts and feelings that could impact any choice they make. It all depends on how they view things.

Something New

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Everyone has moments in life, where they go from the top of a hypothetical ladder, only to then end up at the very bottom of another. The most common example of this, happens during childhood. When you are one of the oldest kids in Primary School, to start as the youngest again, when you go to High School. There is nothing bad about that, it is just something that sometimes happens. It can through everything up in the air, and make you reconsider quite a lot in your life.

I happens in adulthood as well. For example, I worked in a department at my work for over 3 years, I was settled, it was a really nice atmosphere and work was fun. But last week, I was moved to another department. There was no major changes, even my shift patterns stayed the same, the only thing that changed was the process I now had to do. And as easy going I tried to be about the whole situation, I couldn’t help feeling a little hard done by. Like, the whole ‘why me’ feeling, with thoughts of ‘what did I do wrong’. Being most experienced in one area, just to be moved back down to the least experience, is not a particularly nice feeling. And it is a feeling that is quite hard to get out of.

But, like a lot in life, these situations become easier if we have a better mindset. So rather that focusing on what I am missing out on, I am trying to shift focus onto what I am gaining. For example, the work situation, yes it is a pain, but it is also a new experience. Which in a workplace which is as ever-changing as mine, it’s only a good thing to be as experienced as possible. So, maybe that is a good thing. Another good thing is, that despite how anti-social I can be sometimes, I do like meeting new people. I like to be on good terms with people, used to be quite obsessed with it, actually. So, I try to be nice, and helpful, so that folk thing nicely of me. I have already met so many nice people at my work, and have created friendships that will last for years to come. Which is a good thing.

The hard thing is, that as well as staying focused on the good stuff, I also have to ignore the negativity. Some of the people who moved departments with me, really hate it. Like, all they do is complain. And when you are already struggling to be positive, someone being overly negative isn’t really that great. I remember my first job, being told during training that the mood of people you encounter, is contagious. It was all based on how if you smiled at a customer, they’d smile back, and carry that small positive action to someone else, and make the world a wee bit nicer. But the same happens with negativity, if the first voice you hear in the morning is ‘I can’t be bothered, this place is shit’, then that thought infiltrates your perception on what happens that day.

I guess, the main thing is to keep going with a smile if you can. It is hard, but it makes so many things easier. Well, maybe not everything, but even if it makes one hour of a day slightly easier, it is worth it.

Tired

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I am sleepy. But, as life should never be as simple as I would like, I can’t sleep. Well, I do eventually go to sleep, but I may only sleep for a few hours a night. Which is not good when you work 10 hour days.

I think the blame, like with most people, is technology. I have a phone, that sits near my bed. That’s without the TV, games consoles, Kindle or iPad. All within reach from bed. It means I can easily get distracted till the early hours of the morning by nonsense.

It is too easy to whittle away hours on nothing, since the internet came into force. Watching videos of classic WWF fights, or cats falling over, it is very easy to lose hours of time before you realise it. There is nothing wrong with finding something that engrossing, but there can be when it stops your sleep.

I am going to try something going forward. Which involves being in bed by 11pm, without any Internet connected devices. And just sleeping. See how that works. Sounds silly trying to set a routine, like you would a child, but routine really is good for people. Especially if it is to help things such as sleep. Well. I guess I’ll start tomorrow.

Aye, sound…

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I saw this prompt and had to write something. Mostly, because most of the entries I read, relating to this post, were about music or something of that ilk. I read ‘sound’, and thought of the title above. Where I live, Fife in Scotland, sound is used to mean ‘awesome’ or ‘cool’. I don’t think this slang exclusive to Scotland, as I have heard it ‘down south’, in England.

I work with people from all over Europe, and very frequently, the slang gets very confusing for them. Which I feel bad about, purely because I know that I could never move to another country and speak fluently in another language. Sometimes it is like I can’t even speak English properly, myself, so I don’t know how I’d get on trying to have a working understanding of another language. I remember at school, I took French, and whilst I wasn’t the best, I felt I had a working understanding of the language. I got the chance to go to the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and well… I fared as well as I would have, if I hadn’t  studied French at all. It made me realise how fortunate I am, living in a country where English is my main language, but I also realised it made me very lazy. Like, people go abroad, and expect other countries to understand English, when in fact, we should be trying to speak their language.

But the thing is, it isn’t just ‘learning a language’, really. Every region of the world has its own local dialects of their main language, and that dialect may often include slang words. Which takes me back to the start of this… via a very long detour. Slang can be confusing, and here, in the Kingdom of Fife, we have a lot of it. So I thought I would give a few definitions, in case you ever find yourself in Scotland, and get a bit lost in the conversation.

Aye- Yes

Awfy- Awful

Baffies- Slippers

Bawbag- An utter arsehole

Boak (ie- ‘you’re giving the the boak)- Dry heave/ something is disgusting

Braw- Beautiful

Grass- A tell-tale

Dingy- Ignore

Dunderheed- Idiot

Eejit- Idiot

Fitbaw- Football

Feart- Scared

Gammie (ie- ‘I’ve got a gammie leg)- Sore/ lame

Greet- Cry

Hawd- Hold

Howfin’- Smelly

Mawkit/ manky- Dirty

Mince (ie- ‘You’re speaking utter mince’)- Rubbish/ crap

Neebur- Neighbour/ friend

Pished- Drunk

Pure (ie- ‘that’s pure brilliant’)- very/ totally

Scooby- Clue

Scran- Food

Squint- Not Straight

Tube- Idiot

Wean- Child

Wee- Little

Some people hate slang, but I find it great. It adds personality to language, and makes it unique where ever you go. So many areas of the world speak English, but there is slang and local changes where-ever the language is spoken, be it Texas, USA or Manchester, England. There is so much variation, something that is really great. But can also be a pain if trying to speak that language.

via Daily Prompt: Sound