Search among Bee Orchid's articles

My home is becoming a PC graveyard. I have a laptop that charges when it feels like it. My son’s PC is broken and apparently can’t be fixed cheaply. My old PC is being used by my son but the wireless capability works intermittently so it has to be plugged

My sister has been quite poorly. Mostly it’s self-inflicted in that she smokes despite having had asthma all her life. I phoned her a few times last week to ask her bf how she was - too breathless to talk, and over the weekend she was well enough to call

I worked on Saturday, the second of 3 lots of overtime. My colleague didn’t really want to do it, and said he didn’t need the money, so I did the whole day myself. The money will go towards replacing my cooker. The day went well; it was well attended, and

It was minus 2 here this morning which is pretty cold considering the ‘urban heat island’ that we have, and it took me ages to defrost the car. I briefly considered leaving it, and just walking, but it’s the walk home that puts me off; it will be dark,

This week has been a farce with missing keys and lifts not working: Some men turned up to take away our confidential waste bin and I showed them to the lift. I then ran upstairs to the floor I stated. No sign of the lift moving from the top floor, so I

On Friday I had my wages which included the overtime that I’d worked recently. By the time the tax ‘man’ had taken his cut and the NI increased, and my pension of course, and my student loan, I was left with just over half of what I’d earned. I was

"A vote of no confidence has been adopted by a lecturers' union in a college governing body after it approved a 46% pay for its principal. Judith Evans's salary at Coleg y Cymoedd soared from £98,916 in 2013 to £145,000 last year. The vote was unanimously

Apparently next week is Random Acts of Kindness Week. In work, we’re being encouraged to step out of our normal routine or comfort zone, and be extra nice to people and then go online to share our experiences. Call me a cynic, but isn’t this something we

Well, as expected, my son was punished for not adequately looking for work over the Christmas period. There were 2 weeks where he couldn’t find enough jobs to apply for, and the punishment is loss of JSA for 4 weeks. So, no money from him for me for 4

This morning I wore my ‘favourite’ coat to walk the dog. It’s a parka. I never had one as a teenager, they were too expensive. I bought this one in a sale in Matalan – cheapish clothes shop – a few years ago and honestly I’ve had good wear out of it. It

For those new to my page, I don’t live on a ship; it’s just a bit of fun. As regular readers will know, the Cabin Boy and computers don’t seem to get on. He’s very clever – well I would say that – and knows quite a bit about IT and computers; however

First of all, let me stress that I didn’t actually burn down the house, but I gave it a bloody good try. My home is small. It’s very small. Many years ago I had a friend on Yahoo 360 and she lived in a trailer. She posted some photos of her kitchen and

I used to love my job. Not so long ago I was sat in my own little office, with a window that opened. The view was cr*p but it was mine. I worked for just one ‘department.’ I was having a quiet moment, the students were all busy, and I was catching up on

I was deeply saddened this morning to read of the death of Leonard Nimoy – aka Mr Spock in Star Trek. I’ve been a closet Trekkie since the series started, and although quite young when it first came to UK TV, I was a devoted fan from the outset and have

Today has been a nice mellow Sunday. Friday night, and Saturday night, I slept for a solid 7 hours before the pins and needles in my hands woke me. 8 hours is my preferred amount of sleep, but hey, I’ll take what I can get and these days 7 hours solid

This week I have been mostly eating Tic Tacs – small mints. I’ve had a bad taste in my mouth all week, and despite using minty toothpaste, and eating mints, and no garlic, I can’t seem to shake it. My diet couldn’t be more ‘bland’ if I tried so I’ve no

We had a visiting speaker on our site last week, giving a lecture on educational reform. We were encouraged to attend by the management; I declined: I didn’t have any rotten eggs at home, and although I’m thoroughly bored with my job, it’s better than no

I’m very saddened to read of the death of Sir Terry Pratchett, today, following a long battle with Alzheimer's. I’ve read and enjoyed many of his works, and was privileged to have met him at a book signing many years ago. He was a literary genius and his

Well so much for a few good nights’ sleep; I’m back to the same old… One night I was awake literally every two hours. About a month ago I awoke with the most awful cramp in my shin, and since then my shin has been throbbing most of the night and keeping

Well we had some excitement here today; best solar eclipse in many years. I remember the last one; my son was very young, and we sat with our backs to the patio window, and watched the reflection of the eclipse on some white card. Today, quite a few

I was having such a nice day. The sun is shining, work has been ticking over nicely, then I remembered my son said he’d sent me an email. He’s looking at an art course at a local college. The good news is it would be free with just a very small admin

Following my email reply to the ex’s new wife, I’ve since had an apology from her; she accepted that what she said ‘was not appropriate.’ That’s all right then. I genuinely like her but feel she could have done better. I told her so one day lol. They seem

I’ve finally finished work for the Easter break; 2 whole weeks off. The final two days seemed to take an eternity despite being pretty busy trying to organise a training session for after Easter. I only had to arrange it between 4 people including myself,

I’m half way through my 2 week break, and despite the weather not being kind, it’s been good. I’ve met up with my friend and his guide dog twice and we’ve gone out for some nice drives in the countryside, and I’ve spent time with one of my sisters. My

I’ve had a nice 2 weeks off, but it’s almost over and I’m back to work on Monday. I met up with my youngest sister again, and we had another good day out. She drove for ages to a big garden centre, and we both bought a small quince plant each. It’s in the

After 5 years, I’ve made my final car payment, and it’s now all mine. The interest rate at the time was very good, and the deposit not too high and I’d just been advised by a different garage that the head gasket on my ‘old’ car needed replacing. It was a

In work we’re back to what passes for normal around here; students are back, being noisy, and smoking where they’re not supposed to. Oh well, it was nice whilst it lasted. I had a good laugh the one day; we have a site where we can post questions and

Lately we seem inundated with people voicing their opinion and to hell with who it may hurt. One notable one this week was a singer, I think, who is so perfect that she thinks fat people should be segregated, and that manufacturers should not make clothes

When I was dating, I kissed quite a few frogs. One frog had very bad teeth, and he accused me of being ‘shallow’ because I wasn’t turned on by his cracked, broken, black, and even green teeth. I kid you not! A different frog tried to kiss me with gum in

After a few days being battered by wind and rain, this morning the ship is becalmed, though for how long remains to be seen. The rain was so heavy on Sunday morning that it woke me up before 4am. I didn’t really get back to sleep, and just drifted on the

After a glorious sunny day on Wednesday, we’re back to rain today – Thursday. A lot of the UK is forecast rain today, so it’s not just Wales being lashed by wind and rain. On a recent walk with the dog I found what looks for all the world like an olive

I have a dog. He’s quite a large dog and maybe just a little crazy in that he always seems to be hyper happy. He’s trained, though still gets deliriously excited when I come home, or if we have visitors. On one level I like his exuberance, though it can

This morning I took my son to an informal interview for a college course. He came out grinning; they’ve accepted him on to the course. The good news is that it will only cost £40 for the year. At the moment he’s getting Job Seekers Allowance because he’s

Last week was very quiet apart from one of the pirates and me having a play with some new cameras. One even tracks you around the room! What fun. I made a short video and watched it on playback. OMG it’s true when they say the camera puts pounds on you!

We’re having here what some call Yo Yo weather; one day high winds and heavy rain, the next very sunny and mild. The forecasters had ‘promised’ a heatwave by the end of the week, but I’m guessing they just mean London. If it ain’t happening in London,

We’ve sprung a leak! Ok, now let’s not panic. Although the ship had sprung a leak, it wasn’t actually too bad. Not for the first time, water has been dripping down into the galley from the bathroom above. We’ve had some really bad rain, and a few years

I’m seriously considering naming my house Leak House. A few years ago the shed roof was leaking and had to be repaired. The sill above the back door has leaked and had to be sealed. The sink tap was leaking and had to be replaced last year along with some

This morning, on a whim, I decided to count my potted plants. Now I say ‘potted’ because many years ago I mentioned that I had a lot of ‘pot plants’ and an American friend thought I was very liberal, openly growing pot plants. LMAO. No, these are potted

On Wednesday I felt compelled to apologise most of the day for problems that were not of my making. I was on our other campus for candidate exams and apologised that the room we were in was in a state of being half painted. I kept the door open as long as

And other misnomers: Change can be good, but not always. It depends on if the change is beneficial. In work we’re changing who supplies our printers. At present we have large printers that are situated around the building that can print, photocopy, scan,

I just read that Val Doonican has died at the age of 88. When I was younger I was quite a fan of his, and my Mum used to tease me that I wrote an essay in junior school about him. We were asked to write about our favourite pop singer and I stated that I

When I worked in the Civil Service there was a policy of Last In, First Out. You kept an eye on who came in after you, as they were more likely to go if staff numbers had to be cut. It was a tense time being the newbie I can tell you. These days I can’t

Over the weekend my stepdad was taken into hospital. He had a bypass operation a number of years ago, and they suspect he has a leaky heart valve. My boss kindly let me slope off early on Monday so that I could visit him. I’ve no idea how to get to the

On Saturday, on a whim, I decided to make some cherry jam. A couple of supermarkets are selling them at a reduced cost, and I (used to) love making jam, marmalade, chutney… Anyway, I got everything ready which took an age! You try stoning over a kg of

My week off is almost over, and on Monday it’s back to the mad house that passes for work these days. It’s been mostly good, although the weather has let me down, big time. In fact, we only had one day when it didn’t rain, even if it was only a brief

This week I have been mostly feeling annoyed. We’ve had more missives regarding space allocation in our ‘new campus’ and some staff have even been shown where their desks or work area will be. Not me. I’m not mentioned on any of the moves, nor do I have a

Dumping Fred © Fran C 2007 Recently I noticed that I was being followed, I’ll call him Fred. A few times I went out to my car and Fred was lurking there. My son was afraid of him, but he just irritated me. Some mornings he’d be there, waiting, other

© Fran C 2008 A bright, almost white sun shines down on a sea of houses. A gentle breeze blows a full line of lavender scented laundry. Speckled starlings bathe in the pool of water collected on the shed roof, while a lone seagull soars overhead. White

© Fran C 2015 The sun beat down as I walked to work under a clear blue sky. A gentle breeze blew my hair, playing it across my face and I absentmindedly tucked my hair behind an ear. As I walked, I heard a crunching underfoot and I glanced down and

Usually I’m the klutz and have dropped any number of items including glass ware. Barely a day goes by when I haven’t dropped something and I seem to have trouble some days feeling what I’m touching. I must get a check-up. Anyway, over the past few days,

On Thursday afternoon I had to go to our other campus to see some wannabe pirates. I’d had enough of scurvy dogs that morning so decided to anchor the ship and take a tug boat in to town. Not a bad journey in that I only waited 5 minutes for a tug. I got

After what seems like ages, we’ve finally had some sunshine and a little dry weather in my part of Wales. It’s rained every single day, some days all day, until Thursday afternoon when we had a few hours of watery sunshine. Friday was a nice day too, and

I recently had my yearly pensions update and I have to say, it’s not looking too bad. As part of the statement, they list the death benefit that my nominated person (my son in my case) would receive should I die in service, and it’s pretty damn good. Each

On the news recently were the results of a trial detailing the benefits of a lunchtime nap. Apparently during a lunchtime nap, your blood pressure drops by around 6%, and afterwards, your BP has still dropped by around 4%. Good news indeed for those of us

The pirate wannabes are due back any week now, and the pressure is mounting here. Today I’ve had to deal with 41 emails so far, and it’s getting on my nerves. It would be so much easier if someone would just call a damn meeting, or even pick up the phone

On Friday my sister rang and said ‘I need to vent.’ I inwardly groaned, said I’d call her back, and hung up. I don’t like to ‘chat’ on my mobile so rang her back from a landline. Well, for 40 minutes she just ranted. At one point I had to hold the phone

There’s a new game in town, and it’s called pass the buck lol. Usually I’ll go out of my way to help people in work, however now that I’m covering my colleagues job as well as my own it’s time for some self-preservation. I recently helped someone with a

“On the evening of September 27, three separate lunar events converge. The total eclipse coincides with the full moon nearest the fall equinox, known as the harvest moon. What's more, the moon is at its closest approach to Earth for the year, making it

The world has officially gone mad: “The Times highlights moves by students at the University of East Anglia to ban sombreros after it was decided they were offensive.” WTF? On channel 5 on Saturday, there are 3 Christmas movies scheduled, a Christmas

I know I bang on about this sometimes, but manners really do maketh the man/woman in my opinion. I’ve recently had two students bang on my door and ask where a particular room was. Neither said please, or thanked me for the information. I set up some

With a scream of defiance I swung from the yardarm and slashed at those who think I deserve no consideration or politeness. I waved my cutlass under the noses of those that are trying to work me to death, regaling them with imprecations I dare not repeat

Like any good pirate I enjoy a little looting and piracy and if I can raise the Jolly Roger and sack a new ship, well so much the better. It takes all the fun out it, however, if someone raises the alarm. Sunday was just such a time. I’d gone on a raid,

As regular readers will know, the person I job share half of my contract with has decided, out of the blue, that he doesn’t want to play anymore. I recently asked when they’ll be replacing him, and true to form, I wasn’t given a straight answer. Basically

Well it’s Friday again and I’m genuinely thankful for that. I’m also grateful that I have a 4 day weekend to look forward to. This week has been an absolute nightmare with installed software ‘vanishing’ from laptops, and things not working correctly. I’d

The Cabin Boy and I are still laid low with this rotten cold though I do feel as though we’re starting to turn a corner. He’s on half term this week so that will aid his recovery, whilst I managed to steal away from pirate duties for a 4 day weekend and I

Avast ye scurvy dogs, I’ve been landlocked! I’ve been awake since 3.30am and reading in my hammock. The ship is very still, and the Ship’s Dog and I can’t see further than about 100 metres due to dense white fog. Thankfully I stocked up on provisions

Okay, I’m officially sick to death of all this rain. Sunday we started the day with fog, then rain; same again on Monday. Since then it’s been wall to wall drizzle interspersed with heavy showers and I’ve had enough now. I know some parts of the world are

Whether it’s swinging in my hammock, or curled up in the crow’s nest, it has to be said that this pirate likes her sleep. Of late, my sleep has been very disturbed due to stress about an upcoming event. That event has now past and it went pretty well. Not

This pirate has had a very busy week, or two, and I’m counting down the weeks until my Christmas break. I survived the trip to the Dark Side and didn’t hit too many problems on the roads, however it added 90 minutes to my day. This is what I have to look

Not so long ago I watched a program about The Carpenters, and more recently, a program about a group from the 70’s called 10 CC. I grew up with music like this, and these two groups/bands were my favourites. I enjoyed both programs immensely but it did

As regular readers know, this pirate is on the lookout for a new cooker. Quite some time ago the oven door was sticking, and needed more and more force to open it. One day I opened the oven door, and part of the handle came off. I thought I could repair

Well, it’s Christmas Eve and Santa is supposed to be doing a drive-by tonight. Every year since we’ve been here, some local club has organised for Santa to drive his sleigh around the ‘village’ and deliver toys to pre-arranged addresses. It’s a pretty