The Money Tree

Hello everyone. It has been a while, but I am back to blogging now.

We left off just before the dinner party. Well, that went down a storm. Everyone commented on how great the food was, so the nerves were unnecessary. It was really good catching up with everyone that I havent been able to spend so much time with lately, and we all ended up very drunk and had a massive orgy. Well no, we didnt really, but we did all end up very drunk and a great time. Some of my friends decided to embarrass me by recounting tales to Jay, of when I was younger. Oh the shame.

Some of my friends who came had still to meet Jay, and some of his friends hadn't yet met me, but everyone got along really well, and so now everyone is nagging for us to do it again. Perhaps we can make it a monthly thing or something?

I seem to be leaking money all over the place this week. Don't you hate it when loads of bills come at once? Over the last seven days or so, every bill imaginable seems to have been put in my postbox. I will selling copies of the big issue at this rate. Then last week I spilled a bowl of water on my laptop, so that was fucked (hence the lack of blogging), so I went out this morning and bought a new one. I wouldnt have minded so much, but I only had the last one since christmas, so that was money that didnt need to be spent. I should have got insurance on it I guess, so it's my own fault. I just got the same one as before so it only set me back about £500. And I got insurance this time.

The weather has been fab for the last few days, so inbetween shifts I have been taking full advantage and getting my pasty white pins out for a bit of a tan. I drove Jay and I to Blackpool at the weekend and we just chilled out on the beach for a while and ate chips. It's been ages since I went last but it was nice getting out of the city for a while, and even nicer not having to work while we had a few days of sun.

I have been invited back to my old place this week for a catchup with everyone. Smelly Gav won't be there, so it may be worth a drive, because I havent seen too much of the others since I left. I went shopping with one of the girls one day last week and she said that the house is still a shithole and everyone has pretty much given up trying to keep on top of it, since the two guys just keep making it a mess again. I don't miss the hassle at all.

Right, I am off to see what everyone has been blogging about for the last week, so until next time folks.....

Ry

Come Dine With Me

Just a quick hello to all my new followers to start. I keep forgetting to give them a mention so I thought I would do that now. Welcome. Get commenting :D

Anyways, it's arrived. Food night. I have got people arriving at 7ish ready to eat at around 8. I wanted to do it a bit earlier, but everyone said 8 was a good time. I am being super productive with everything today. I thought I would end up rushing because I always drag my heels with everything, but The food is prepared ready for cooking, the dessert is made, the table is going to be set once I have finished on here and the apartment is cleaned from top to bottom.

I decided to go with small Cajun chicken skewers to start. They are only small so people wont get full off them, and I saw the idea on a cookery show yesterday so I rushed down to the supermarket to pick some Cajun spices and chicken breasts up. They are actually dead easy to make. Not as boring as soup either. I cooked some last night just to make sure they didnt taste like shit, then Jay came along and tried one, decided he loved them and begged that I make more so I ended up using all the chicken I got yesterday and had to rush out again today for more. If anyone is interested in any of the recipes, feel free to ask. I feel like Gordon Ramsey. With a smaller forehead.

I don't know what to do with myself now. I've got to sit here until Jay gets home at 6 but all the prep is done so I am a bit bored. I am so bad at these things. I will sit here for 4 hours stressing that things will fuck up. Is it too early for wine? I ended up getting 8 bottles of all different types, and I think most people will bring their own too. I intend getting very drunk tonight. I have a hell of a weekend coming up with work so I will be enjoying my day off with a hangover tomorrow.

I decided to do a favour for a friend and so I have swapped loads of shifts over the weekend and taken on a double shift for Friday. I start at 12pm Friday afternoon and finish 8am Saturday morning. Then I am back in at midnight on Saturday until 10am Sunday morning. I am praying that it is a quiet weekend.

Ok, I can't take the boredom anymore so I am going to head to the gym for a sesh. Wish me biceps.

Ry

Round Round Baby, Round Round, Spinning Out On Me

Happy Saturday bloggers. I am full of the joys of spring today. I have had a couple of shitty days but today I have woken up with a spring in my step. I don't know why, but I won't complain.

I went on a shopping spree this morning. It's been too bloody long since I treated myself to new clothes and whatnot so that cheered me up aswell. I got myself a couple new tops and shoes and some jeans and some CD's. So now I think I should listen to my new tunes, while trying on my new clothes, then go out drinking tonight. I planned on a quiet one tonight but my mate Gordan rang and asked me to go for a few bevs, and I aint seen him in an age, so I figured I should go.

I went for a few drinks last night but I went easy because I couldnt face a hangover this morning. I ended up getting into an arguement with a doorman because he wouldnt let me in to a club with the cast on my arm. He said it shows I am 'trouble'. If it was anyone else I probably would have laughed, but it really annoyed me. Other than that though it was a nice night.

I finally got my new car this week, which is awesome. I got the new Citroen C3 in black. It is one of the smoothest cars I have ever driven. If this one gets bumped or bashed I am just going to invest in a mobility scooter.

I am holding my first proper dinner party this week. I feel so grown up. I have cooked for friends before, but this week we are going all formal. Jay and I are having 8 friends over and I am sstuck with cooking 3 courses. Well, not stuck. I guess its unfair to say it that way. I volunteered. Jay can't help because he is an idiot in the kitchen. I swear he could burn water. I have tried teaching him to cook but he just can't grasp it. Either that or he is faking so that I will do all the cooking.

I have no idea what to make yet except for dessert. I make a fab banoffee pie, so I shall be making a heap of that. For a starter I figured maybe I would try something like soup, because it is easy and everyone likes soup. Or maybe prawn cocktail? But then I would have to handle fish products and I would probably pass out. Massive phobia. I have to think of something or I will end up just handing out packs of crisps.

For the main I was thinking Cous Cous with morrocan spices, sautee potatoes with rosemary and garlic and diced lamb in a tomato and chilli sauce. I've made that before so I know it's a safe option and it tastes amazing. Would you eat that? Does it sound ok? Failing that I shall order a chinese, hide the cartons and pass it off as my own.

Right, thats all for today. I have clothes to try on and then I have to head to pick Shane up from the train station. Have a good weekend guys.

Ry

A Comeback Of Sorts

It feels like I havent been around here for months. In reality I think it has actually been about ten days or so but it feels much, much longer. I have been so busy though. I havent even had a chance to come and read anything, let alone post anything, so I thought I would make up for it today.

The holiday is coming together nicely. New Zealand is in, Melbourne is cut shorter. We have started saving and putting in extra in the gym. Well I say we, Jay hates the gym so mainly it is me. It is a year away, but I want to start packing and getting things ready. I am sooo excited. We also decided on where to go this year. Once again it ended up being somewhere we hadnt planned on, so we are off to Kenya for two weeks in July. I can't wait for that either. We are going to do a safari in this enormous widlife sanctuary thing. Lions and tigers and.... elephants? Oh my!

We went to watch Alice In Wonderland last week. Not really sure how I felt about it though to be honest. I enjoyed it, but it was perhaps a bit too Burtonesque. And Johnny Depp was weird in it. Do they know how to make movies without each other? Some bits of it though were fantastic. I think one of the reasons I didnt get into it so much was because the cinema was packed out and we were stuck right down the front, staring up at the screen throughout the whole thing, with these massive glasses on. The 3D-ness could have been better too. Oh, I think I am just being a moaner now!

I had a whole weekend off this past weekend which was brilliant. Jay and I went out on Saturday, ended up drinking several bottles of wine and getting really drunk. We havent had a chance to do that for so long and it was really nice just sitting in the bar talking and getting tipsy. We went afterwards and got two of the biggest pizza's I have ever seen. Jay ate his and then half of mine. For someone so slim, I dont know anyone who can eat as much as him. It makes me sick.

I think I am going to start decorating this week. Well, I still have my cast on so I don't know how much I will be able to do, but I feel like the apartment needs brightening up, so I think I will give the place a lick of paint and maybe go get some new cushions and stuff. Ooh how gay.

Well that's it for today. I am waffling and it is boring.

Ry

The Hardest Day Of My Life

Yesterday was one of the most emotionally charged days of my life, as well as the hardest day at work I have ever had. Luckily I have today off to recover, but yesterday I felt as though the life had been sucked out of me.

I can't go in to too much detail for various reasons, but yesterday I was paired up with a long serving officer as part of my ongoing training, and had to accompany her throughout the shift. The day started out with us being called to a domestic, where we found a woman huddled in the corner of her bathroom, beaten so severely she could barely see through puffed up eyes. Her husband had come home from work and bashed her around for whatever reason, and then tried saying she had tripped over something and fallen down the stairs.

We see things like this all the time, but the hardest thing in the world, like in this case, is to keep your mouth shut when the woman just smiles, says she is clumsy and it was all her fault for not watching where she was going, and you have to just leave without doing anything. The anger and frustration overwhelms you but you just can't say anything. Some of the guys have said that that feeling goes and you just stop feeling pity for people who won't even help themselves, but I don't want to get like that because it bothers me. It will always bother me seeing these people. That's why I have always wanted to do this job. So that I can try to help people.

A little later in the day we had to explain to a woman in her 80's, how her husband of over 60 years had been killed in an RTA. In perhaps a moment of disbelief she offered us both a cup of tea and some biscuits before sitting down and saying how she doesn't know a life without him and asking us what she was supposed to do now. She looked so frail and lonely. The horrible thing was that all we could do was offer to take her to the hospital.

An hour before the end of my shift, and the worst thing I have ever had to do in my entire life, we had to go and tell a women that her seven year old daughter had been knocked down in a hit and run and that she had died at the scene. The womans sobs broke my heart and I had to excuse myself to the bathroom where I cried. Only for a moment, because we are trained not to. Not to let it get to us. Not to take it home. But just for a moment I couldnt help it. At the end of that shift I don't think I had ever been so happy to take my uniform off.

Jay was wonderful when I got home, and he managed, as always, to cheer me up. But I think the events of yesterday will stay with me for a long time to come. I know things in the job will get harder, and perhaps my outlook to it will become harder as a result. It's one of the cons of the job I guess. I guess I just didn't realise quite how emotional it can all be.

Ry

Ryan O: Coming To A City Near You

It's no secret that I have had a bit of a shitty month. It all got a bit too much so I did something potentially really stupid. I booked a holiday. Well I actually booked two, but I will be taking them at the same time, so its kinda just one holiday. Jay is coming with me as well obviously. We talked about different places we wanted to go to, as I have mentioned before, but couldnt really decide on anywhere. Anyways, I am waffling. You all want to know where I am going right? Ok so here goes.

Part one of the holiday is a bit of a backpack/inter-rail thingy. Its spread over 40 days and will be taking in some of the big european cities. I like history, so some of the places got on the list for historical value, others got on because I just havent been there before. Anyways, the first leg goes like this.

Start from
Manchester (UK) fly to
Lisbon (Portugal) rail to
Madrid (Spain) rail to
Marseille (France) rail to
Rome (Italy) fly to
Athens (Greece) coach via
Albania
Macedonia and
Bulgaria onto
Bucharest (Romania) train to
Budapest (Hungary) train to
Salzburg (Austria) train to
Berlin (Germany) train to
Copenhagen (Denmark) train then boat then coach to
Stockholm (Sweden) fly to
London (UK)

So thats part one of the holiday and then from london we move on to the second part. After 2 days in London we then fly to

Hong Kong, spend five days there before flying to
Shanghai, Another four days there before flying to
Melbourne for two days then travelling from there to
Sydney, spending a week there before flying to
San Francisco and spending four days there, then flying to
Los Angeles and staying there for a week before heading to
London, and then flying from there home to
Manchester

The whole thing is costing a fair few bucks I must admit, and will take around 70 days in total, but I figure it is something I have wanted to do for such a long time, and I might as well do it now while I am financially able to and young enough to enjoy it. Its booked for the first week of July 2011, so although it is all paid for, it gives me another 15 months to save up and have loads of spending money. I spoke to work and told them I will be needing 3 months off, which they have ok'd since it is so far in advance, which is awesome. Jay is finding out today if they will be cool with it where he works, but it shouldnt be a problem and even if it is, then tough, it's paid for now.

As for this year, I think we are going to do a week or two in Cyprus during the summer. Neither of us have been, and I have heard good things about it, and we dont want to spend too much money, or go somewhere where we will be going next year, so Cyprus is jumping out at us. Or possibly Crete. Who knows. We have a few more weeks before we have to make a deffinate decision.

(Randomly, Jay has just text saying he wants to go to Borneo. I'm not 100% sure where that even is. Isn't it near India?)

Anyways, the point of all this, is that after a few really shitty weeks, I have cheered up no end, and Jay and I have something amazing to look forward too. You never know, maybe we will bump in to some of you on our travels.

Have a good week guys.

Ry

The 2010 Career Conundrum

I love my job. I really do. It has its fair share of ups and downs, and I get bashed around a bit, but on the whole, I am doing what I have wanted to do for my entire life. This year, my 'official training' comes to an end and I will be a fully fledged PC, but yesterday I resigned. Twice.

I have had some time off due to the crash, and my first day back at work was Wednesday. In the time I have had off, a new seargent was promoted. She was off on Wednesday, so I didnt get to meet her, but from what a couple of the guys were saying, she has been drafted in from a different constab, and she has dragged her bad attitude with her, pissing off half of the force within her first few days.

On Thursday, I got into work and she was there already. I had barely got changed when she took me to one side, demanded to know why I had so long off from work, and asked me how I felt about 'being paid for mickey taking absences, over minor injuries'. Now, I dont take well to being pulled up on something that has no connection to her, and was dealt with before she even transfered, and when I told her that if she wanted reasons she could check my file, and that I would be speaking to the Inspector (her superior) about her attitude, she tried passing it off as bad sarcasm on her part, and asked me to keep it to myself.

I decided, although I knew she was full of shit, to leave it go by and get on with my work. About an hour or so later, I was taling to her about some arrest forms, and explained that the name on one was wrong. Because she was dealing with it, I couldnt ammend it myself, and obviously because we dont want to be prosecuting the wrong people, putting the right information on the forms is paramount. She argued with me for over 15 minutes about how she doesnt make mistakes, and refused point blank to double check the sheets.

When she finally gave in and checked them, and saw the mistake, she came right up in my face, saying 'Are you happy now Ryan? Is it so important to make me look stupid? I've put it right now'. I just responded with, 'Was it wrong though?' and she went bananas, started screaming at me in front of a room full of officers about how shitty my attitude is and if the only reason I come to work is to undermine her in 'her' station, then she will see to it that I won't be coming there for much longer, before dragging me into one of the interview rooms for another grilling.

Steve, the Inspector on duty who overheard everything followed us in and it all went to shit. This girl is a jumped up, silly little bitch who has let a bit of power get to her head. She is younger than me, which just made me even more pissed. I know it shouldnt, but you hear about this at work all the time. From what we have found out from former colleagues of hers, she got her promotion through brown nosing, and when it comes to actual policing, she doesnt know her arse from her elbow, and got all her merit from taking other peoples credit. As big headed as it sounds, I am brilliant at my job. I work my arse off and I am well respected at work, and I won't be spoken to like that by anyone.

This girl tried her best to make it look like I was being disrespectful to her and talking to her like shit, but I think that the Steve saw through it. She started shouting again, and I stood up, said that she is out of order, and obviously not the right person for the job, and told them that I was quitting. Steve managed to get me sat down, and spoke to me about how it will all be dealt with, but she just wouldnt give up, and kept talking to me like shit. In the end I threw my badge down and walked out.

I spoke to Steve and agreed not to quit there and then, but to take 3 days out until Monday to think things over and calm down. He stood and told me about how good he thinks I am and what an asset to the team I am etc, which was nice, because he never says stuff like that to anyone. One of the guys text me today and said that the Sarge had been demoted and moved to desk for the forseeable, which is a relief, and so I guess I will be going back after all, but I have never had a day like that before, where I absolutely hate my job. I am not even totally sure why I have written all this to be honest, but it just pissed me off no end. I think maybe I am just worried that it will taint my view of the job. We will have to wait and see I guess.

On another note I need a holiday. The Winter in the UK doesnt seem to want to end. 3 months of on/off snow, and freezing temperatures is driving me insane. Jay and I have been looking for destinations and we have whittled it down to a few, though none are particularly cheap. We are looking at Dubai, Hawaii, Tunisia or Mauritious, though right now, just for a bit of sunshine I would probably be happy with a weekend in Spain.

Anyway, this has turned into a really whiny little blog so I will leave it at that. Think I will take a wee while to give the blog that overhaul I was talking about a few weeks back.

Have a good weekend guys.

Ry