Via D4D and BSAG, I bring you snapshots of my life over the last 10 years.
10 Years Ago…
I’d just graduated with a Desmond in Philosophy from Leeds and just started working in a temporary job doing data collecting for Yorkshire Water. This was in the exceptionally hot summer of 1995 when Yorkshire Water was the Big Bad for it’s mismanagement of repairing leaks, standpipes, hosepipe bans and suchlike. However, it was ace - all I had to do was drive around the Yorkshire countryside and sit around in the sun collecting data. Halcyon days! Also about the time I met my Big J. who ended up being my best man, and I his. Ironically, we met because I started dating his ex-girlfriend - although he had been uninformed at the time that she was his ex-girlfriend and he decided that he wasn’t going to like me. The second time we met, he said “I tried to not like you but I couldn’t. You’re a top bloke, let’s have a drink.” It was the beginning of a beautiful thing.
5 Years Ago…
I’d just started seeing the woman who would eventually become my wife. I’d been diving in Egypt (very much like this year and just happened to be five years to the day after I’d last been there) and a mutual friend had stealthily convinced us to get together. So we went for dinner. And then we started seeing each other. And then we moved in. And then we got engaged. (You can see where this is going can’t you…)
1 Year ago
Pretty much the same as now. A year ago today I sent around an email to just about everyone I knew asking for sponsorshiop for my participation in Tough Guy. Big J. was in the last throes of preparing for his wedding (and being very disappointed by early reviews of Alien vs Predator) and, well, not a lot seems to have changed.
Yesterday…
A non-event. Forgot to get the car tax sorted. Have to go and do that in a minute. Had also planned to see War of the Worlds but didn’t. Walked the dog in the rain, drank a bottle of wine (my training abstinence begins today, as it turns out, and not the beginning of this week like I originally thought). I spent time worrying about the future and then doing nothing useful or organised that might allay those worries and surfed the internet. Procrastinated paying credit card bills and cancelling Sky subscription.
Today…
In the words of a recent Nine Inch Nails song, “Every day is exactly the same”. Although I have now paid the credit card bills. Stopped drinking for the month of July so that I will be fit and healthy and an all round lean, mean, tough guy running machine. Trying to ignore the fact that I am surrounded by incompetents - something that after four years in this job, I still struggle to do. Going to sort out car tax this afternoon (in the theory that the queues in the post office will be shorter - a theory which has been disproved time and time again!)
Tomorrow…
Trying not to think about it. Can’t imagine it will be very exciting and will prove to be a day full of domestic chores. Another fun filled weekend in the Stalker household.