5 years on...
I realised recently that May 3rd marks my five years of nightshift work. Thankfully, this coincides with the Reading Beer Festival (April 30 - May 3), which is a week off... couldn't be more perfect...
Of course, this has led me to look back five years and see what was going on back then. LJ provides a little doorway into the past, triggers off a lot of dormant memories. I'd been living at Christchurch Road for six months with my then girlfriend mistress_carrot, ladyfrances, refusenik2_0, ornot_demar, frenchie_666, and many others, with nk1415 practically living with us too. I'd been working at Friar St Bookshop for slightly longer, with ooohshiny and Forbes and the rest. ShitManagerChris had recently come in to ruin our lives and I was plotting my exit from the company. I'd been suffering from glandular fever for about two months without it being correctly diagnosed and it was about now that I remember getting a nosebleed while on the phone to a customer and thinking that maybe I should take some time off.
Five years ago, we spent our time playing board and card games constantly, like it was an addiction. We played computer games, watched DVDs and generally felt like a (dysfunctional) family at Chez Geek on Christchurch Road. Seems a very long time ago. Even with the exhaustion I was feeling back then from the GF and the irritation that came later on when I didn't get various jobs and was told my liver was enflamed so I couldn't drink alcohol, I remember having lots of fun. If I'm honest, that was probably one of the best periods in my life.
Not that now isn't great. I'm a team leader now, with 13 staff, in a job I love, earning over triple what I was on back then. I'm single, but, given the last relationship, that's probably wise for now, and it's led me to appreciate my friends around me much more. I love my lifestyle, but something always makes me hanker for those days. The ones I can never get back. I'm not depressed by this thought, just nostalgic.
Of course, this has led me to look back five years and see what was going on back then. LJ provides a little doorway into the past, triggers off a lot of dormant memories. I'd been living at Christchurch Road for six months with my then girlfriend mistress_carrot, ladyfrances, refusenik2_0, ornot_demar, frenchie_666, and many others, with nk1415 practically living with us too. I'd been working at Friar St Bookshop for slightly longer, with ooohshiny and Forbes and the rest. ShitManagerChris had recently come in to ruin our lives and I was plotting my exit from the company. I'd been suffering from glandular fever for about two months without it being correctly diagnosed and it was about now that I remember getting a nosebleed while on the phone to a customer and thinking that maybe I should take some time off.
Five years ago, we spent our time playing board and card games constantly, like it was an addiction. We played computer games, watched DVDs and generally felt like a (dysfunctional) family at Chez Geek on Christchurch Road. Seems a very long time ago. Even with the exhaustion I was feeling back then from the GF and the irritation that came later on when I didn't get various jobs and was told my liver was enflamed so I couldn't drink alcohol, I remember having lots of fun. If I'm honest, that was probably one of the best periods in my life.
Not that now isn't great. I'm a team leader now, with 13 staff, in a job I love, earning over triple what I was on back then. I'm single, but, given the last relationship, that's probably wise for now, and it's led me to appreciate my friends around me much more. I love my lifestyle, but something always makes me hanker for those days. The ones I can never get back. I'm not depressed by this thought, just nostalgic.