So, I am still without a car, and I will admit that I have mixed emotions about this situation.
I will say that I think walking to work is doing me some good, although you never quite realise how far places are when you're driving. The blister plasters will attest to this fact I assure you. Not so bad when it's a normal sit down job, but when walking is also a requirement on the site I work, then it really does make a difference, especially considering the weight I carry in the rucksack on my back, which includes the obligatory laptop and cables, as well as food, some reading material (Jules Verne's Around The World In Eighty Days at the moment), and my "work boots" while I am bedding them in (thanks to Louise's mum for buying me them as an early present for my birthday in November). The previous pair had lasted me a good three or so years I think, so they've had a good life considering all the walking around sites (and Morrison's stores) that they have done.
I've said that I have brought a copy of Around The World In Eighty Days with me, but I haven't started reading it yet. Perhaps I should not bring the laptop with me to work some time and just read all night like I used to when I was younger. I know some people may say, "you're still young", but I mean more than twenty years ago when I could read a book in one sitting. Admittedly, it was a riveting read such as The Hobbit, which I couldn't put down. That book I did literally read from beginning to end in one sitting, only taking breaks when I found my mouth to be absolutely bone dry.
Nowadays I am too distracted by technology when I go to work - I take a laptop, and I have my Nintendo DS Lite in my inside jacket pocket just in case, although I haven't done any brain training or the likes for so look that I wouldn't be surprised if Professor Kawashima in it has passed on to a virtual higher plain - I foresee a script for a Tron spin-off there somewhere maybe?
With all that I carry in the rucksack, it does mean that I don't bring an instrument with me to work, which is a shame because that was such fun for me. Oh well. I suppose people were probably getting a bit sick of me writing songs on the ukulele anyway. I was however toying with the idea of taking a mandolin to work instead for a little while. I am sure that most people know that I love a variety of musical instruments, and that I really do find intense joy from playing different instruments. I am one of those people who will shake the coffee jar to get a rhythm, or anything like that - I have it bad! Ha ha ha!!!
At present I am lucky enough to be getting asked to work in Newark where I work, but I am almost certain that that situation will change. I am merely a cover guard that basically covers for times when the regular people are on days off or on holiday. At present the latter is the case with one of the sites that I have been covering over the past few weeks, but they are back off their holidays soon, which will mean a change again.
Sometimes that change can be very interesting, but in some ways it has almost gone beyond that because I have sort of worked everywhere for them for now - apart from two sites I think! They are only a small company with a handful of sites, but in that lies the charm really. Because of this, they are closer in a way to their employees, so there is less, erm, politics for want of a better word.
Some companies that I have worked for, it's almost as if you aren't even a person as such. I have very few bad words to say about any of my different ex-employers, and I am one of those lucky people who holds on to employment for long periods of time (most of the time).
The company I worked for before these, Cardinal, were a big company where in truth they didn't really know their employees as such, because there was a distance there. That's not a bad thing. They treated me really well, apart from the occasional irritation, which everyone has from time to time. The only reason I jumped ship and moved to my present job is because with Cardinal I was doing an awful lot of travelling, and the company I work for now have work mostly based in Newark, with the most distant being Retford, which is less than half an hour away using the A1.
In fact, I am still friends with some people from companies I have worked for before now, including a couple of friends on Facebook who were managers for two previous companies that I worked for.
There are other negatives to not having a car, with the main one being that I can't visit people who I want to. In a way I am glad that I am working this Tuesday because even if I was off and able to use public transport to get to my friend Matt's and then get a lift back, it would just remind me of how tight money is and how I just can't afford to replace the car yet. It would also remind me of how insignificant I am in the shape of things. Yes, I know that we are all different people, but it still doesn't stop me from having moments where I think, "Where am I? What am I doing? Why am I stuck here?" I get past those feelings though, and come out as the optimistic "yes" man. I'm just saying that now I have constant reminders showing me that I am small in comparison;
1. I walk to work and back now, and I have blisters to prove it.
2. I can't visit people now, because public transport takes too long and is far too expensive for saying the government want people to use it more.
3. I have a council garage without a car in it, but can't get rid of it because firstly I have a ton of my things in there, and secondly I wouldn't have anywhere to park my car when I do eventually buy another one.
They are just three reminders from the top of my head.
So that is where I am at the moment. In saying that though, I may carry on walking to and from work even when I have a car because it saves fuel and it is exercise, especially with that bloody heavy rucksack that I carry around.
Thank you for reading, please take care.
October 1st 2012 (41 years, 10 months, and 5 days old)
PS Now that it has become October 1st - Happy birthday to my sweet sunshine back at home. I won't tell you her age. I love her so much. xxx
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