A bed of roses

We have a charity in Liverpool called Asylum Link who - fairly obviously - work with asylum seekers and refugees. A member of our congregation used to volunteer there a lot and even ran a table tennis team who competed in the local league. At our evening prayer session last night they shared that there were rumours of a far-right demonstration being planned there tonight, and plans for a counter demonstration they were considering going to. My thought was that two groups of demonstrators makes life more difficult for the police and it's often difficult to know who is who when angry people are shouting at each other. There were calls from the police for the counter-protestors not to gather so that they could concentrate on the far-right protests.

Well, the pro-asylum seekers did gather, filling the street the Asylum Link building is on - with no sign of far-right demonstrators. The atmosphere is described as peaceful, with people singing and chanting slogans. This is a much better image of our city than what happened at the weekend - I wonder if it will get as much coverage...?

The latest news from Liverpool on the BBC is CCTV of looting at the weekend. They do have some stuff about counter protests in other parts of the country.

Three of the rioters from the weekend have been sentenced - longest sentence is 3 years. Some people from Just Stop Oil who PLANNED a peaceful protest - didn't actually get to carry it out - were given 4 and 5 years. Damage property and attack people, including the police, in the name of 'defending your country', 3 years. Plan a peaceful protest to disrupt traffic for a few hours in the name of 'defending our planet', 4 years. Hooray for British justice...

Another quiet day but I have a long weekend ahead - it's our wedding anniversary tomorrow, so I've taken that and Friday off. Looking forward to time with the boys and time with my PS5.

I've added four games to my library - Skyrim (finally decided to see what the hype is about!), Ender Lilies (looks beautiful but might be beyond me), Sky: Children of the Light (by the same people as Journey), and Crisis Core (not that interested but it's 'free'). So, if I don't connect with Infamous: Second Son, I have plenty of options to fall back on!

I was going to finish 'Becoming Elizabeth' but I only have one episode taped (still say 'taped' as if it was a physical thing >D), so decided to go back to Dragon Prince - but Netflix was being weird. So, I watched some odds and ends about Ancient Egypt on the Tivo box, so that's made a bit of space!

Met with favourite colleague this morning and had a good chat, mostly about Doctor Who, of course. I'm so glad they have a 'proper' job, now, and something they're really enjoying.

And that was today.

The new telly turned up on time. It's 50" and 4K and clear as crystal. Whereas with HD I could never really tell the difference, I really can with the 4K. The part of me that WANTS keeps whispering to me that my PS5 games would look even more amazing on a 4K tv. I am ignoring these whispers for four very good reasons. Firstly, it's also a 'smart tv' but I doubt we'll ever use that functionality, so I'd be spending money on something I don't need. Secondly, the new telly is too big for our tv stand, so that's another new purchase and I'd have the same problem up here. Thirdly, the living room telly is a family purchase because we'll all watch it; up here, it would be up to me to fork out for it. Finally, the one I'm using still works and my games look absolutely fine.

Frugal Rosa is frugal!

I made some progress with Sea of Stars. Now I'm at the end, I'm finding all the sidequests! And even a secret boss. I've solved some of them but I'm probably going to head into the final dungeon next time I play. I know I'm not going for the Platinum - one of the trophies is for bouncing the 'Moonerang' (one of Valere's skills) 25 times and I'm never going to do that - but I caught sight of a YouTube video that suggests multiple endings, one of which MIGHT have something to do with the Solstice Shrines of which I've found 4 but Zale is still talking about finding all of them. I might have a final-final scoot around the world to see if I can find another one. Or I might just watch it on YouTube when I finish the game :D

A bit more Doctor Who tonight - we're in 11th Century England and the Vikings are coming! I'm reminded of my colleague's words about the historical stories being played as panto. And the whole point of the show in the first place was to introduce children to history. Not sure what they'd learn from this. Although a story from the Tom Baker era did reveal that the Doctor was responsible for starting the Great Fire of London :D

As a family, we've been watching The Traitors. I wasn't too sure of it at first, but I've really got into it! And what's most surprising is that I'm rooting for the traitors :O It's really interesting to watch all the scheming and plotting - some of which comes off and some of which completely backfires. I'm a hopeless actress, so if I was a traitor I'd be found out right away - or I'd be a really nervous faithful and look so suspicious that I'd be banished by mistake.

I have a cleaning method I call 'tidy a corner'. I'm gradually working my way around the house piling up all the stuff that's no use to us any more in the spare bedroom. At some point, I'll go through that room and sort out what's junk and what can be sold or donated. Today, I tidied a couple of shelves in my room containing books and video games. A couple of the books and all my PS3 games can go. We still have the PS3 but I doubt I'll ever play those games again. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch has been remastered and I didn't enjoy Dragon Age Origins or Dragon Age II enough to go back to them.

The other shelf contained several Nintendo DS games. Some have gone straight to the sell/donate pile but some I want to give another go. The Professor Layton games are all interesting, and it's a LONG time since I played them, so they might be worth another look. FFXII: Revenant Wings I remember starting but I couldn't get my head around the rock-paper-scissors thing; I definitely want to try again with that. I also have a Chocobo game and FF: Rings of Fate, which I've tried a couple of times but then leave a huge gap between playing sessions and forget the controls.

Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands was one I didn't remember playing at all but there was a save saying '6%'. I got along OK but then fell foul of some rising sand and fiddly controls, so I stopped playing. When I checked, the new save also said '6%'! I'm guessing I have played it before and just forgotten it. The graphics are quite nice and the gameplay wasn't difficult - but he did NOT want to jump to the safety of that ledge. So, it's in the sell/donate box, now.

Not sure if I'm going to make it to church tomorrow. I feel the need for a 'just let me chill' day.

So, my favourite colleague is taking voluntary severance due to him having no post following a restructure of his department. This is the third restructure I have witnessed that was overseen by a particular person and, in each case, someone I give a shit about has found themselves without a job. But this is the worst. And also the one I understand least - in the other two cases, I could see why the person was displaced. It's a shitty tactic, of course. If you have issues with a person, be a fucking grown-up and deal with them! Anyway, this one leaves me gaping like a fish and screaming 'WHY?!?!?!' at the universe. The universe merely gives its best, 'did you say something?' stare in reply.

But there are some things to learn from this.

One thing I've struggled with is the fact that this colleague and I have been close forever (nearly 18 years). If he was going through shit, why wouldn't he tell me? I've used him as a shoulder to cry on (almost literally on a couple of occasions) - he knows I'm here, he knows I'll listen - why not return the favour? Well, just because I'm here for someone doesn't mean they have to take me up on the offer. It's my ego that wants him to make use of me (in a manner of speaking!).

Another thing is that I, and a number of other people, want to say goodbye but he wants to just leave quietly. Again, our egos are at work. We want to acknowledge how we feel about him and the circumstances of him leaving - he feels like shit and doesn't want another reminder of that and the shitty way he's been treated. We say we want to support him, but really we're patting ourselves on the back.

And I also feel a little adrift. When my grandmothers died within a few months of each other, I felt suddenly cut off from the past. They were my link back to the world before my parents were born - and then they were gone. My colleague was one of three people on my original interview panel. One retired about six months after I started, one moved to Glasgow a couple of years ago (also due to a shitty situation caused by the person-who-loves-a-good-restructure)… and now he's going.

I treated him to some proper coffee, yesterday, and gave him a keyring-cum-bottle-opener with 'Keep calm, I'm the Doctor' printed on it in white on dark blue. Coffee and Doctor Who are two of the things we bonded over. And he's also a Doctor (in the academic sense) and I'm a Rose - and we've been so much more than colleagues but not quite friends (no socialising outside work) - and it feels like the end of something that I never imagined would end.

There are other people I'm fond of - my line manager is a total star - but nobody who's seen so much of me. It's true that part of me is leaving, too.