A bed of roses

I decided on Trek to Yomi as my next game. It is absolutely GORGEOUS to look at (DUM could really take notes), and it defaults to EASY!!! I've died a few times through not paying attention but there are masses of shrines (used for healing and saving), so you never go very far back. Mostly my usual approach to action games - just keep hitting the enemies until they give in - is working, but I've hit a boss that is going to force me to use blocking and parrying *sigh* Might even try throwing shuriken at him...  So far, a very straightforward story but I'm in Ch2 of 6, so there's plenty of room for twists.

I've finished Series 3 of Umbrella Academy, so I'm all set for Series 4. Five continues to be awesome.

Looks like Series 6 of The Rookie has finished after just 10 episodes - the last one I watched didn't feel like a 'season finale', though, so not sure what's happened there. Another writers' strike?

I've caught up with Who Do You Think You Are? - Mel C and Rose Someone who's an actress. Those programmes are always fascinating to me as a VERY amateur history buff.

Otherwise, a normal Saturday - except I managed to add a spot of gardening to the housework. And it turns out beds are better for some activities than couches - who knew?

No active Nano-prep (I like to give myself a break at the weekend), but I expect the cogs are whirring in the background.

I passed the exam - won't get a full score for a week or two but knowing I've passed is enough. The set up was a real pain. They recommend using personal devices because you have to install software that won't get through the firewall of a lot of organisations. LM got some loan laptops for us to use that didn't even need us to log on. So, there was the exam software on the laptop. Then I had to fix the settings to allow pop ups and screen sharing. Then check the camera and microphone. THEN download an app on my phone so they could record me from the side. I checked everything on Monday and then again this morning. And had to do it all 'for real' before the start of the exam. Once the phone was up and running, I had to do a 360 of the room, under my table and behind the computer, then prop it up on an open drawer so they could see me and my laptop for the duration of the exam. Some people must have got VERY creative with their methods of cheating. The last on-line exam I did was just the laptop. And the invigilator talked to me that time - this time I couldn't even wear headphones!

Anyway, it's done and out of the way. As expected, some of the questions were ridiculously simple and others had me scratching my head because NONE of the answers looked right >D

I've just run through my talk for Sunday and it feels like I'm skimming over a lot of stuff. But the point is to get everyone else talking, and there should be enough for that. I'll run through it again tomorrow.

And then it's back to the 70 x 700 stories. Only 10 left. I'm definitely feeling an overall story for Harding coming together. So far, I have 10 stories that either relate directly to Harding and Patel or could be woven in to a larger narrative.

Treated husband and son to some of my 'liked' songs tonight. LOTS of Monkees and Motown - and a load of FF tunes that I just skipped over because they wouldn't have a clue, so we went from 101 to 250. And some interesting covers - some of the ones Billie Joe did during lockdown, 'Mrs Robinson' by the Lemonheads, 'You Really Got Me' by Van Halen (son was deeply offended by that :D) and 'I Only Wanna Be With You' by The Tourists.

I've just watched a couple of episodes of The Rookie. Oh, Tim... ;(

Looking forward to a quiet Saturday tomorrow.

Slippery when wet (aka TRT Spoiler Territory)

I have Ambrosia, which will make getting around easier.

With all the side quests done, it was time to return to the main plot. Clive, Jill and Torgal accompanied Shula to a very nice temple, destroying some nasty critters along the way, including a couple of Master Tonberries with humungous axes. Jill talked about her father having a worship hall, which seemed to pique Shula's interest (and, therefore, mine) but we didn't get any more details. I'm hoping we get more info on that, later!

At the top, we fought Shiva's Companion (I got the impression he was a bit like Lord Zaon), and managed to dispatch him fairly easily. Then the party split up - Jill, Torgal and Shula headed back to the village, and Clive went to face Leviathan. I had two attempts at the boss fight and failed both. I shall continue with that, tomorrow.

Daughter originally asked if we could have the baby for an hour whilst she and sil went into town to get his birthday present. Of course, I said. Now, with daughter 'an hour' is going to be somewhere between 2 and 3 hours in reality :D In the end it was 4 because they were trying to switch their Sky account to her name and there was a glitch in the system... or something... Anyway, entertaining a toddler is exhausting, both physically and mentally, but he's so adorable <3 I did manage to get him to sit still long enough to read 'Let's Go Home Little Bear', a favourite from when our kids were small.

The extended stay meant I didn't get all my cleaning jobs done, so they've become Tomorrow's Problem. Sooner or later, everything becomes 'tomorrow's problem' - and sometimes they become 'next week's problem' :D

I've just watched the first episode of 'Ripley' on Netflix. I have zero clue what's going on or why I should invest another hour of my life in this series. I'm going to try something else, next time I feel like some telly.

Son asked me in all seriousness how close we are to WWIII. I admitted that, when I stop to think about it, we could actually be very close - and he, sil and grandson #1 are, quite literally, in the firing line if it comes to people being called up. Even daughter...? I just pray with everything I have that it doesn't come to that.

We also had one of our semi-regular debates on what to call people who aren't cis-hetero-white folks. These have got more amicable over the years. Partly I put this down to me emphasising I'm only telling them what my latest understanding of things is, not trying to provide some form of diktat, admitting my own limitations of knowledge and tolerance, and that my position has changed in the past and could change again as my understanding changes. Partly, I think they're both more open to hearing what I have to say. At the end, son actually expressed sympathy for me, which I told him was much appreciated - and gives me hope :D

And now it's time for bed, Little Bear...

 Last Saturday, the son and I managed to find the place where he had his interview and got home again.  The trains were off so we got a replacement bus.  We were out all afternoon.  When he went for the actual interview on Monday, he got a regular bus that got him there in about 20 minutes. *sigh*

Sunday, the grandson wanted to watch the match.  Daughter and boyfriend couldn't pick him up because she was going for leaving drinks, so I took him home.

So, it sort of felt like my weekend didn't happen.  But I got through 4 episodes of Titans, so it can't have been that bad!

This week, I picked up belly dancing again.  I don't like sports at all, and 'exercise' sounds like a horrible way to spend time - but I can dance in the privacy of my own home and enjoy it.  At times, I felt like Bambi on that frozen lake but I didn't fall over!  I didn't break a sweat but a) it was a 'beginner' video and b) I did raise my heartbeat.  To encourage motivation, I've bought some leggings and crop tops which are rather tight...  But will hopefully loosen up over time.

I also ticked off my job application for the month - Committee Secretary for Homes England.  I'm not sure I'll want the job even if it's offered, but completing an application feels like an achievement.  Reasons against are:
- I read a name book when I was in school that said people with my name always become secretaries, and vowed there and then to NEVER be a secretary; I feel this is a betrayal to my 12-year-old self
- I don't think I want my WHOLE life to be agendas and minutes and chasing senior people for actions
- Homes England's task is to enact Government policy and I don't want to enact anything this Government wants
- it was set up a couple of years ago and seems to be going strong - at the moment; what happens if there's a change in Government, or this one decides they don't like it any more?
- Dominic Cummings wants to crawl all over the Civil Service and I don't want to have anything to do with him

But life continues.  Now it's time to squeeze into my exercise gear and get wiggling!

My first week back at work went pretty well.  The meetings I was dreading in the first half of the week all got cancelled, so I didn't get thrown straight in at the deep end.  I had a good chat with my line manager about my regrade and spent some time redrafting my JD.  It still needs some work, though, which I will tackle next week.

I was very disciplined and spent some time fiddling with DOAIS rather than gaming.  But I let myself off the hook last night and killed some monsters.  Next week, the rewrite begins in earnest.  It's a little bit daunting; rewrite the WHOLE thing?!  AND make sure I hit all the points in my story outline?!  But, it'll never get done if I don't start it.  I will also have the time to make sure I have done everything I want to do with each chapter before moving on to the next, get the dialogue right, etc, etc.  This is not Nano - quantity is not more important than quality.  I will need to a) make sure I do a review of each chapter and b) don't get bogged down in the detail.  An interesting tight-rope to walk.

My re-read of Persuasion has really thrown some stuff up for me, this time.  Firstly, I found myself annoyed by Anne's verbosity; there were speeches where I just wanted her to get to the point!  In contrast, most of the other characters expressed themselves quite succinctly.  Normally in JA's work, the wordy characters are the humorous ones - Mr Collins with his over-apologising toadying, Miss Bates with her constant chatter.  I wondered if Austen was worried Anne was too perfect, so gave her an annoying quirk in her dialogue?

The other question that is fascinating me to the point of almost wanting to write a fanfic - how will Elizabeth feel if her 'protégé', the impoverished Mrs Clay, does end up as Lady Elliot whilst she is dependent on her sisters?  Nothing could be more deserving, but I find myself feeling almost sorry for her!

I've watched some quite strange episodes of ST:V - the holographic doctor fell in love (seriously, WTF?), there was one all about ancestry, and yet another one about time travel (in a show that's about Space And Definitely Not About Time they do an awful lot of time travel).  Considering that they are in a whole new part of the galaxy, I would expect more encounters with new worlds and new civilisations.

And last night, I watched A Street Cat Called Bob, which was beautiful.

So, that's the round up.  Hopefully, I'll pop in sometime in the week!