Bee Orchid's articles

Well things here are almost back to normal. Most of the police have left the site though they’re still occupying one car park and there are quite a number of mini buses still here. Despite the disruption it was interesting and I got to ogle lots of very clean and shiny motorbikes. Forget dating a cop, I love their bikes ;) The helicopters kept me awake a little but they were fun to watch too, and we saw a number of very different helicopters here. We missed the jets flying over as they flew away…

Since leaving school, my son has been sleeping in. I don’t mind, and he is looking for work, however his timing sucks. He often gets up and ‘hogs’ the bathroom just as I’m getting ready to leave for work. I can’t just leave as I need to clean my teeth and often change prior to going to work. Due to dog walking duties, I often dress in my scruffy clothes after a shower, walk the dog, and then freshen up and change for the office. I’m regularly calling up to him ‘Are you nearly finished?’ This is…

This morning I saw my GP regarding the pins and needles in my hands. She did some tests that determine carpal tunnel syndrome though they weren’t conclusive so next week I have to have yet more blood tests, this time to check for vitamin B12 deficiency. I’ll be running out at this rate! She’s also going to send me to see a neurologist at our local hospital to determine if I have any nerve damage following the virus that I had. I’m certainly getting my money’s worth at the moment. Speaking of mon…

It’s Thursday already and I can’t believe how fast this week has flown by. Monday will be here before I know it and I’ll be back to work. The last time I had a day away from the office, I came back to no fewer than 18 emails. In one day! Due to this fact, I’ve been logging in to work every few days just so I can delete the emails that don’t need any further action from me. I hate to do it, but the other option is to go in on Monday and deal with goodness knows how many emails. I read about how s…

On Friday I had a good time out with friends. They’d been to this pub before, with quite a few guide dogs however they had asked and forewarned the manager about the dogs. He Okayed it. As we walked in on Friday, one of our group heard the barman utter ‘Oh no, not again.’ When asked to repeat what he’d said, he ignored us all. Apart from that, we had a good time. We only had 2 guide dogs and they were quiet and didn’t bother anyone. The same can’t be said for the kids there who were running arou…

This week I’ve been mostly anxious. I had the misfortune to have to spend a day on our other site and wasn’t looking forward to the motorway drive. I can do it, I just don’t relish motorway driving anymore. The journey was good, and I got there in record time so sat and had a coffee whilst I waited for my appointment. I was shown the kit I’d have to take back; talk about taking the piss! I spent the day being shown how to use some new kit; so much of it I felt quite daunted. I used to laugh at m…

Just a quick post; my son received his A level results this morning; he passed all 4 of them! I'm really pleased with him, proud too. For his Business Studies exam, he actually got an A. His overall pass wasn't an A, but he still did well in all of them. I'm a proud Mum. His Dad phoned to get the results, then he sent an email to congratulate him too which I'm glad about.

This morning it was my turn to walk the dog. We took one of our usual routes that take us past a strip of trees. This ‘strip’ of land is about 8 feet deep and maybe 30 foot long. In spring there are bluebells under the trees, and wild cowslips, and of course grass. There are young and not so young hazelnut trees, a few very young oak trees, and elderberry trees. Not this morning! The damn council has cleared them. All of them. I counted more than 20 tree stumps of varying sizes. Bastards! Behind…

I was in work, talking to a colleague when he suddenly leaned into me and kissed me. Not a ‘peck’, a full on passionate kiss. He held me tightly. I didn’t stop him. I could feel people watching us. The room had gone quiet. Once I’d got my breath back I quietly said “do you know how long I’ve waited for you to do that?” He replied, “Two years,” and I nodded. Then I woke up. How weird! This man is nice; however I wouldn’t date him for various reasons. I’ve had a similar dream about a friend th…

I do have some teacups, but this is about the storm. On Saturday I took my friend out shopping and we both stocked up so neither of us had to leave the house on Sunday. The weather wasn’t bad, a little fresh, and we had a nice coffee in our usual shop. He’d been overdoing it in his garden so I left just after lunch so he could rest. Sunday didn’t start out too bad except for my son sleeping in. I’d planned to cook bacon rolls and didn’t want to cook twice, so had to wait for him. Just after 9…

Well it’s Thursday, it’s hot and sunny, and we have a severe weather warning for Sunday with high waves and heavy rain, with the occasional torrential downpour. How lovely. It looks like we’ll have to batten down the hatches, and if it’s not too bad, I’ll have to get out the boat and get some provisions in. There’s barely any meat here, and the cabin boy (my son) doesn’t eat much in the way of vegetables. I love vegetables, and there’s very few that I don’t eat, so I do find it strange that veg…

Last week I had to setup for an exam session; depending on numbers, I usually setup about half hour or more early just to be on the safe side. So I’m in the computer suite, and it occurred to me there was only me and one (male) student there. No-one else seemed to be around. I surreptitiously locked the door, with me in the suite, and did what I needed to do. They were late, and in all, I spent an hour down there on my own. Creepy! It was hot, no-one was around to switch on the AC, and by home t…

Near me is a street that I sometimes walk my dog along. There are about 40 houses in this street. Most of the properties have a garage. Every single property has a drive, and around half of them have a drive long enough for 2 vehicles. When I walk the dog down this street I walk along the middle of the road. Why? Because most of the drives are empty and the pavement is littered with parked cars! I’m serious. I have a drive, and always park on it. It’s sheer laziness not to. When I lived in a dif…

I recently recorded a film; Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts, amongst others. It’s a reworking of Snow White. I’ve only ever seen this actress play ‘nice’ parts and to see her play the ‘evil’ Queen was quite an eye opener; I thought she was really good! The film was a little bizarre in places, thank goodness for fast forward, and for the end credits they totally lost the plot in my opinion by doing it Bollywood style, but most of the film was very enjoyable. There was a scene in the film whe…

I have been mostly in a bad mood. Blame the weather, blame lack of sleep, blame the fact that I’m a grumpy old bag lol. An email was sent to all the technicians, except me, regarding working during the ‘big’ event. A colleague kindly showed me the email, and he replied to it, very subtly suggesting that I had been omitted and that I should also put in a request re working on site. It was really nice of him and much appreciated. I’m now ‘in the loop’ and have requested that I be allowed on sit…

Locally something ‘big’ is going on soon and our site, and others close by, won’t be available as a place of work. We’re expected to travel to other sites that will be open as usual. We’ll be expected to use public transport due to main road closures by the police and delays. We’ll be allowed to claim for mileage, however travel time will not be allowed. So I could travel to another site; the closest available one will take me at least an hour to get to, and will involve me going to the town cen…

Recently I had the audacity to be out of the office for a day on a training course. Wouldn’t you know it, someone needed me, and because I wasn’t available they threw what can only be described as a hissy fit, and not for the first time! So unprofessional... I kind of job share part of my contract, and I’m trying to ascertain if my counterpart, who gets paid more than me, was available to help, or if they were even asked. I have to have a meeting with my manager soon to discuss this, and he then…

The other day we were on an Amber alert for storms with the possibility of flooding. I made sure all the drains were clear the night before and ensured that the umbrellas were to hand. My friend cancelled our Saturday shopping as he didn’t want to be out in it which was understandable so I planned to go clothes and bedding shopping on my own. I’ve been ‘caught out’ by the weather people before, so wasn’t going to let a little rain spoil my day. At 4am we had thunder and some heavy showers, and t…