A · Bookworm's · Bookwork

So Why am I still so tired exhausted?

First day back at work today, though I'm not in the office. My voice has mostly come back which may or may not be a good thing. I have a meeting for work tonight at 6.30pm. I really don't want to go to it but my conscience is saying "you promised", my brain is also telling me that I may regret it if I don't go as something important may get discussed.

At least letting people know and doing the photocopying etc is not my problem today. Though that is the easiest bit of the meeting. I wonder if I can delegate the typing of the minutes as well................ except that it wouldn't get done..........

Oh Well.

I have to hand the Orgs (particularly Ingrid) I big vote of appreciation. As a writer there is nothing nicer than going to a con and being given all your information, a gm briefing and a bag for putting all the necessary bits in.

There was only one hiccup - we didn't have a player list so didn't know what individual slots we had available, but I've yet to be at a con where something didn't go wrong. They did manage to get our player lists to us before closing and they have the vacancy sheet projected up on the board - so it could have been a lot worse.

I almost forgot to mention the wonder that is GM Lunch Orders. This is a wonderful innovation. I made Rod fill his out last mine and I handed both of them in so that I didn't have to worry about  finding money for food for lunch and dinner until Post-Con drinkies. This and the fact that I don't have to leave the venue to find the food, makes for one very happy writer/GM.

On a personal note, I've filled up every slot that I was willing to run in. I'm not sure I have full teams in all of them, but I'm not worrying about that. I also (thanks to some confusion) think I've double booked what I thought was an empty slot. However, if the person goes to pay for the session they'll find its full - so I'm just going to not worry about it either. I would tell them but I don't have a clue who they are. I had six slots filled at the beginning of rego - eight by the end.

I scheduled things so that each night I can get a reasonable nights sleep. I wish my brain had of co-operated last night asit was still whirring away until almost 1am and then still woke several times. I suspect if I'd run it would have taken even longer to wind down so I think my decision was sensible. Which reminds me... I need to go find my pills.......

Today I've:

Emptied and Stacked Dishwasher
Put on a Load of Washing
Folded three/four loads of washing and put most of it away
Uncovered the floor of the lounge room
Found socks for myself and Rod for now until after Pheno

I have also worked out what I'm wearing to Pheno: This years personal theme for me being warmth. I'm not going out of my way with costuming as I'm running not playing but the excuse to wear a corset is always nice... so Sunday I shall corset but do it in such a way as to maintain the aforementioned warmth. It shall also be a good excuse for Boots.

Saturday and Monday, I shall content myself with purple as this is a good excuse to wear stripy socks, even if no one shall see them. I am also trying to decide if I will wear a hat or take a parasol. Friday, being mostly just rego, I will find a pretty shirt that I can wear running around town doing last minute things that I'm sure I'll suddenly remember I must do like acquiring sugar substances for my players.

None of this of course is strictly necessary but Pheno just wouldn't be the same without some effort being made in the way of clothing and snacks.

I shall now enjoy an hour or so wasting my time playing mindless computer games.....

So I finished the project. I finished it at 11pm Friday night. This mean that I should be able to start peeling back the hours for work. So... Saturday I volunteered to work (unpaid), Sunday was off, Monday was a full day, Tuesday a half day, (yay... but then under my default hours it should be anyway), today I worked 9-1 and 5.15pm to 10pm. Tomorrow and Friday are half days (but default wise I should have Fridays off completely so they balance out). Saturday morning I'm working 9-1 again. Sunday I have off.

I'm not sure I'm gaining time back here......

I ran the second playtest of my Pheno game tonight. It went way more smoothly, was much more like I'd orginally envisioned.

There are still a couple of things I could/will do... but much more like the sort of changes you'd expect. Certainly nothing that impeded the general flow of the game.

Part of the issue with the first playtest I still feel may have been a result of my tiredness at the time. However, reworking things based on my players comments has made for a much stronger game.

Now I better go get some sleep...

Reasons for applying for Minion Status (There is no wrong answer).

Rick: I am more than just a dumb idiot that moves boxes.

Odilia: I'm trying to break up with my boyfriend.

Jiao: I want to find out why Kiren died.
(Her husband)

Wayne: : I want to get promoted to a position where I won’t get fired for using the company computers for personal stuff.

Luke: I want to avoiding a potentially embarrassing and Career Limiting Situation.

We went to a work function for Rod last night. It was Ten Pin Bowling. Normally I enjoy Ten Pen Bowling, but this time I didn't and for a rare change the tables are reversed and it was me asking Rod if we could leave early. The last straw was when they turned the music up so loud you had to shout to the person next to you if you wanted to have a conversation with them. Mostly though cause I've been pushing myself very hard again lately and I was physically exhausted.

It was very annoying then, to get home and lie down and have my brain go - "You want me to sleep now?" I also did the Mum thing of not being able to sleep till the 18yo daughter was home safely - this despite me knowing where she was and who she was with, and that really, she was quite safe.

Luckily, thanks to some fairly boring sleep-inducing documentary on paytv (no I don't know what it was), sleep finally came to the exhausted Bookworm. It was heavenly!

I think I would have liked more than the approx 9 hours I got, but alas brain considered that enough. As I have Pheno character sheet tweaking for second playtest tonight, a short script to write and a LARP to play this afternoon - I will have to be content.

I am however, already, really looking forward to next Sunday's sleep in.

Last night I was talking about how many hours I'm working lately. This week I've worked several days of 12 hours straight. Interestingly, my total hours this fortnight is only 72 hours and 45 minutes. Which means if I was working full time I'd be actually under hours. (I'm on a 57 hour fortnight). Its more an issue that there were some very long days clumped together and I was already almost 30 hours up on my flex.

Anyway.. stopping the ramble before it gets to long. A friend commented "Why do you work there when you hate it so much? All you ever do is whinge about it?" It made me stop and think. Yes, its incredibly stressful at times. Yes, I often end up working out of 9-5. Yes, some of the people I work with, and had to work with in the past, I regard as extremely annoying at times (unfortunately thats human nature). Yes, I do have to travel away from my family But.... It is part-time; it doesn't pay too badly; they're flexible about things like when I really need time off (for family, pheno, illness etc); I have no horrible moral delimnas like I felt I had ain past positions; I get to go places occcasionally; Some of the people there really do appreciate the effort I put in; and lastly but most importantly I get to see people who sometimes don't normally have a chance to do something they enjoy - doing something they enjoy.

On the whole the pluses outweigh the negatives... I realise that which is why I stay there, if things were to change (like not getting paid, having to go full-time, have the annoying people outweight the nice people) then I might consider moving elsewhere.

Until then.. I think my whinging is only a 'stress relief valve' - if I've annoyed people by doing so, I apologise. One of the really important things I've learnt is that its very important for me to not let stresses build up. Just like I've learnt (some of the time) to pace myself. Maybe the extra grumbling is a result of me pushing myself now so that I have time to relax later... like after Pheno.

Part of the working the extra time this week is to give myself tweak time for the game - I'm not sure another job would allow me that. Next time I'll have to word myself better - either that or find a way to grumble where no one else has to listen.

It was a long weekend. I had four solid days of no work!

So I spend most of it sick in  bed.....

Such is life.

I am starting to feel a little less tired now I just need to get an immune system, I wonder if I can buy a decent one on layby?

At least on the upside I got to do no housework and not feeel guilty about laying in bed eating chocolate. (The chocolate eating part was only on one day).

Arriving London 3 October 2009
Departing London 16 October 2009.

Of course now its booked Rod actually expects me to make Decisions! Little things like which of the 1001 things I want to see, I want to see the most given we only have the above time period.

It appears that I'm anaemic. My levels are 6. Normally anything under 12 is considered anaemic. Rods (as a comparison has a healthy level of 135).

Does explain the whole tiredness thing.....

Was sick (off work) late last week. I've had one of those annoying non-specific virus things that just won't go away. At least thats what the doctor thinks. He ordered a raft of blood tests, whose results should be back some time later this week.

Whatever it is has been there on and off since late Jan. I wish it would just go away and stay away. I get bursts of energy but then it fades.....

Grrrr.

I was better yesterday, but prob overdid it again as today I'm just tired and sore. At least no nausea or headache today.

I also rather like Wasabi.

The combination of large amounts of rice vinegar, pickled ginger and splodged wasabi paste however is an invigorating experience.

In other news.... life is mostly good but busy. I have a shiny twelve month work contract and permission to organise salary sacrifice. I'm teaching Sarah to drive (though she will also have professional lessons spaced in between my lessons).

My new years resolutions have fallen over but I have only regained three kilos and the house work is 'managable' most of the time.

The girls are back from Fiji. On the whole the seemed to enjoy more bits than they hated. They missed me and bought me presents.  The cats, Rod and I missed them but didn't buy them presents. I'm not complaining.....

While they were away, Rod and I did a concerted effort to keep certain areas clean and tidy. It made me come to an important realisation or two.
1) I very rarely cook any more because I can't handle the thought of cooking in a messy kitchen.
2) I can and do keep on top of the housework until I get sick with a cold or something... then it can get out of control and once it does I'm reluctant to enter it till its back to manageable.
3) There has been long slabs of time when I regarded the kitchen us unmanageable.....

I cooked dinner tonight which made Rod happy. :)

The house is quiet and Flash (the cat) is wandering around looking all forlorn.

Part of me is revelling in the peace and the rest is missing them madly.

I hope they arrived safely and are having fun.......

This one seemed appropriate:

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

before I send it off to the organisers.

Positions Vacant

Minions wanted. On the job interview this Saturday. Applicants should be an ambitious team player that knows their limits. No previous experience necessary. Good Salary Package offered including generous Health and Death Benefits.

This position is only being advertised internally. Evil Enterprises (TM) wishes to state that although they are an equal opportunity employer, the successful applicant/s must successfully demonstrate some form of Super Power during the Interview Process.

Via the Grapevine: Proffessor Anvil Snaraster has lost seven minions in the last fortnight alone, he’s absolutely unbearable at the moment as he’s finding it almost impossible to get the last bits for his doomsday machine. The whole organisation will fold unless he get some minions that can get the pieces before The Good Guys (TM) bust this operation apart and we’re all out of a job.

Positions Vacant is a GURPS SUPERS© game for five unorthodox wannabe evil minions.

By: Barbara Kearins with input by Tim Smith and Stuart Barrow. This game is part of the Dyptch.

Pheno ratings Characterisation 4 Genre 4 Rules knowledge 0 Story/plot 3 Seriousness 2 Advisory rating probably M...ish

Goals I feel I can achieve this year:

• Exercise for an average of half an hour daily.
• Gain no more than three Kilo's from my current weight.
• Go to sleep at least three times a week with an empty sink and clean table.
• Write a game for Pheno.
• Keep my Bipolar under control.

Goals I would like to achieve this year:

• Go overseas.
• Go to sleep every night with an empty sink and clean table.
• Stay employed for the whole year.
• Save some money.
• Write my Blurb and game before the last minute.

Goals I would like my family to achieve this year:

• Go overseas
• Rose to go to school almost every school day
• Jenny to keep up the grood grades and possibly improve on them
• Jenny to keep her hair brushed
• Have the public areas of the house kept clean
• Sarah to get into University and do well at her course
• Rod to get his promotion and possibly a pay rise.
• Not have anyone in the family in hospital.

Tomorrow for my birthday Rod is taking me to the Hyatt for High Tea, I'm looking forward to it. In the evening I have some friends playing NPCs for me in my well over 10year old regular campaign. Its the first time I've had more than one NPC at a time and I'm not sure how it will go. This is especially as room will be at a premium. I'm hoping it will work well but if nothing else it will make a different birthday party. Last but not least.... I want to get my morning coffee before I get out of bed,  leisurely open my presents then wander to my computer and relax until its time to shower and get dressed for the High Tea.

*Fingers crossed for a good day/year*