On simpler times

Once again, I have been reminded that I've paid for this domain and my god, I will at least post once a year to make it worth it.

Speaking of years, do you remember 2019? Those were the days when we were allowed out of the house and could go to the pub, eat out and get pushed up against sweaty bodies at concerts. I can't say I miss the sweaty bodies, and there's nothing technically stopping me from going to the pub, but... that's where all the corona is.

Seeing that the last time I posted, I was talking about my trip to Brussels (remember when we could go on holiday?!), I will briefly sum up some nice, positive things that happened in 2019 that my sleep-deprived brain can remember.

1. bought a car
   One fateful morning, I was doing my usual search on Autotrader, during working hours, ofc, when I saw it, the Hyundai i10 of my dreams, not only that but she was next door at the car dealership over the road. I popped down at lunchtime to take a look and told myself that I would not be buying the first car I saw. Reader, I then immediately bought the first car I saw. The amount of personal freedom owning a car has brought me, I genuinely regret not learning to drive sooner, but better late than never, or something.
   
   
   
   since then I've managed to scrape both wing mirrors in two separate multi-storey car parks
   
   
2.  saw BTS at Wembley
   Saw my emotional support kpop boys for the second time, (and I should have seen them a third time if it weren't for Miss Rona...), they were excellent as always and I spent most of the weekend queueing for things and it was very hot.
   
   
   
   low-quality photo of high-quality men
   
   
3. went to Amsterdam
   the 30th birthday celebrations continued when Kelly and I took the Eurostar to Amsterdam, it was great! Ate a lot of food, went to the Anne Frank house, spent too much in the Miffy store, ate more food, didn't consume any whacky baccy and spent the entire train journey home really wanting a sausage roll. Classic.
   
   
   
   so pretty
   
   
4. got a new elbow
   my plastic surgeon finally fit me in to sort my left elbow out, it's not a new elbow in the way that folk get new knees, but rather in same way that you might get a new nose. where there was a massive dent in my elbow, it has now been smoothed out and it looks so much better. This was done last October. I am still waiting for my 6 week follow up appointment (thanks corona).
   
   
   
   here, I had just woken up and immediately took a selfie.
   
   
5. got a new job
   We knew for a long time that we were due to go through a restructure and that there would be some job losses, but as a service, we thought we would get by mostly unharmed. Boy, were we wrong. Both my seconded and substantive posts got deleted and the best they could offer me was a role for less money a year, and because I was seconded I would not qualify for one year's protected pay. To say it felt like a bit of a kick in the teeth would be an understatement. And then the exact same job as mine, for more cash money came up at a different authority, so I applied, got it and promptly fucked off. Public sector 4 lyfe, baybeeee.

And that really is the highlights of my 2019.
2020, so far, has been a journey and I'm not just talking about the 'rona. but that's another story for another day, maybe I'll actually write about it sometime before August 2021.

until then, wash your hands and wear a mask,