Thursday, November 01, 2007

Grindstone Cowboy

Well, the grindstone is busy turning and my nose is back pressed up against it. It’s so good to be back at work.

Not.

Actually, I’m being very fair. It really isn’t too bad and I suppose in some ways it’s been nice to touch base with the real world once again (touch base? I had, I admit, a sudden impulse to type “touch cloth” there). And my return to work was less of a tribulation than I’d expected.

Everybody wanted to hear all about Tom and my new experiences of fatherhood and it was nice to relive the last two or three weeks conversationally amid the shadow of the mountain of detritus that covered my work desk. An internal lifeline keeping my head steady against the influx of the terminally tedious.

Now, four days into the working week, the mountain has been levelled and I’m re-acclimatized once more to the endless drone of the local authority work regime.

Leaky roofs... Blocked toilets... Customer complaints.

I’m ensconced upon my white charger and comin’ to get yer.

Yee-ha.

17 comments:

per.pri said...

I kind of know what you mean, after you have been away sometimes it is nice to get back again. Although I have found myself wishing I was on holiday while at uni and vice versa...we always want what we can't have.

Hope the kids are well. :)

Steve said...

Yeah - "somewhere else" syndrome! I suffer from it all the time instead of making the most of where and when I am at the time!

Kids are both well, thanks - the novelty has yet to wear off but it is certainly all very exhausting!

Daisy said...

i'm away for a month...cant say as i want to get back...but know i will hit the ground running the day my flight gets in...same shit different month..

Steve said...

Hi Daisy, it's amazing how quickly you return to the routine of things... especially when the routine has been long ingrained. It's both comforting and a little depressing but whetever keeps the money coming in, right?

Daisy said...

steve...have to keep the wolves at bay...those at work...and those with the bills in their hands ;)

MOTHER OF MANY said...

One day ,when the children are a little older and have become smelly teenagers and you can't hear yourself above their music and the only conversation you have with them is when the ask for money, you will look forward to being at work as an escape.For now...enjoy.

Steve said...

Oh dear! Thanks Ally - even though it feels like the message of Christmas Future! What can I do to avoid this?!?

Probably nothing...

Or start saving now... and hope the kids don't cotton onto the fact I have life insurance...? Gulp!

Rol said...

Y'know, you have very scatological thought processes.

Good for you.

MOTHER OF MANY said...

It's a mystery.
Children are an unfathomable force of nature.
I wish I could say the answer is 42 but it is a lot more complex than that.
If I find the answer I will share it with you and we will share the profits.

Steve said...

Rol, I'm taking that as a compliment.

Ally, that's a deal!

The Poet Laura-eate said...

Grindstone Cowboy - I like it!

Glad you've been finding a few compensations from going back.

Steve said...

Ever since I came up with the title I've had the Glen Campbell track going round and round in my head... and now I just can't get rid of it!

The Sagittarian said...

Stevem that actually serves you right because the same thing has been going round in my head! (The song that is, not all the other stuff...)
When my now-10-year old was a baby I actually had 2 jobs, so took maternity leave and then took her with me to one of the jobs. We did that for a year at the 2nd job and for 6 months at the other, then when she had been going to day care part time for 6 months the people at the 2nd job made her redundant and gave her a leaving party and everything. Plus $50 and a silver mug. At that point she went into day care full time, it was great. I however must have been stark raving bonkers to do 2 jobs for 6 months with a baby under one arm!

TimeWarden said...

When I was a teenager, I never asked my parents for money but then the 70s was an altogether different time apparently, not that date should have anything to do with upbringing.

As for the world of work, in the words of Michael Brandon to future-wife Glynis Barber, in cult action-adventure cop show "Dempsey and Makepeace", "Life is hard and then you die"!

Steve said...

Hi Amanda, I'm full of admiration that you did that for 6 whole months! I guess when you have to do something you just get on and deal with it... the redundancy thing was really sweet though. I wonder if I take Tom to work for a few months whether the council will lay him off at the end of it with a decent pension?

Gawd! Dempsey and Makepeace! I used to love that show. I caught a few re-runs some time ago and was disappointed to find it wasn't as gritty as I imagined it to be when I was a teenager. All seemed a bit candy-floss like now. Glynis Barber was a real looker though. Blondie with a police badge and a gun. I'd be happy to be taken into custody. Less happy if Michael Brandon did it...

Daisy said...

steve...just so you know i have had that stupid song on my mind for the past two days and it is driving me nuts! it wasn't that good when it came out and it sure isn't worth repeating...isn't it funny how a little word association can bring things so vivid to the mind...

Steve said...

Daisy, I apologize profusely. Genuinely. Bad enough that I inflicted it upon myself without contaminating half of the western world in the process. I am suitably chastised and will select my titles with more care in future (maybe stick to Britney Spears inspired word play or even Dr Dre)...!