Coke And Code - Java Games and Games Development

So I've been in my new job for a week now. I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to be doing but its early days yet. I think my job is a cross between research, statistics and journalism. My only problem really is that I'm really not interested in the subject I have to report on. Problem.

I spent 2 days last week in London where I met my line manager and the remaining few in my unit. 2 more leave end of the month. I really can't get going though until my Newport line manager is back from annual leave next week.

I'm reading through old journals to get a feel for the style of writing I'll have to do. I'm going to write a chapter for this years edition of one of the ONS publications. I'm now at the stage where I have to do some digging around and decide what data to request for further analysis. The only problem really is that most of the ideas I've had are included in other chapters!

I was feeling quite down this afternoon thinking that I had made a mistake by going there then one person was all it took to lift my spirits. She sits behind me but we hadn't been introduced. She followed me out and introduced herself. It turns out that she is in much the same situation as I am. We both grew up in the area and moved away. We seem to have had similar experiences at uni etc and have come back to find that things have changed more than we would like. So my work day ended with an invite to lunch later in the week from someone else who is looking for personalities in civil servants!!

Oh yeah, 8 minutes to get home and home before Kev and Meg.

I'm currently sat at my dining table supping a cup of tea waiting to start my new job at the Stats Office. I keep thinking that I should have some sort of feelings towards today but I don't. Neither positive or negative. I think its mainly because I've been too busy with Meg to really give it much though this last week and partly because I'm not sure what to expect anyway and dont' see much point in second guessing it.

It was strange this morning. I got up later than usual when I heard Meg playing in her bedroom. She had her milk in our bed with the tv on which I think is quite common for her in the mornings. I don't usually see her so I don't know. 45 mins later I actually got up. In other words I got a lie in on a Monday. Bizarre!

I don't start until 9.30 today so I'm now killing time by blogging. I'm guessing that once I'm up and running I will go to work the same time as Kev and Meg go meaning I would start about 7.45 and be home at a good time.

I'm guessing that the next few days will be filling out forms for HR and arranging a desk and computer. With luck though I'll have a desk and computer waiting as this is no longer in the academic sector and hopefully more professional. All in all I'm not expecting much from this week but I'm hoping that my new colleagues will be good to work with.

This is another step in my 'improve Cathy's life' plan. It started with an automatic car so I could drive again and now I'm working close to home so I get more Meg time and hopefully leisure time. I also employed a new cleaner last week and she is a perfectionist! Kev commented in the immaculate ensuite that he should have a shower as he now felt dirty!

I'm sad to leave science behind but hopefully I can train in statistics formally and to a higher level (as I haven't formally been trained since A level and uni) and go back to science if I want to in the future once Meg is in school and I get a more normal routine. Kev says that I have jumped onto another career ladder but I have to say that I feel more like its a job not a career. Maybe I'm wrong, we'll see soon enough.

Crap, I still have another 45 minutes to kill. I don't know what to do with spare time anymore. Have I died?

I'm reading on the BBC website about the 'Uk financial crisis' and I have to say that my favourite part is reading the comments from other reader. This reader in particular is talking about who is responsible for the amount of debt that the average person is in in the UK.

"Isnt it odd that if a smoker risks his life by smoking he assumes the majority of the responsibility rather than the tobacconist, yet when somebody risks their financial well being by overspending they are viewed victims and its the banks fault.Strange world!
Anyway like it or not we are all at risk from passive smoking and a 0.25% rate cut is like trying to cure lung cancer with an asprin."

I love his tobacconist analogy. It is true though. If you don't want to be in financial shit, dont' borrow more than you can afford to pay back. I shudder to think what our mortgage would be if we had borrowed everything that was on offer!!!

I don't think ppl realise just how fantastic a husband I've got. We were talking last night about how no one ever seems to notice Kev in situations but he's always there in the background holding things together. There's a lot of undeserved praise flying around these days and its' understandable that Kev gets Narked from time to time. All this praise about so and so can move house 'nearly' on their own or someone else was oh so fantastic with their pregnant wife until she was about 10 weeks pregnant. For gods sake! Are these ppl seen as so pathetic that they have to get praised for the crap that everyone just gets on with normally?

Back to Kev. He gets a rough deal. I mean, he has a wife who has lots of medical problems meaning that she needs a lot of support, a baby who refuses to sleep at night and is fast heading towards tantrum of the year award, he has a very good job that he has worked exceptionally hard for (that ppl seem to think just landed at his feet, no he's is talented and hard working)and gets on with it all as part of everyday life. Lets face it, my condition is chronic and not going to go away. Kev could bail and create hell but he doesn't. He quietly gets on with it and no one notices.

Comments like so and so even managed to transfer their utility bills on their own (when in their 30s) are frankly insulting to us (and them). We only moved transatlantic twice and once with a newborn baby in tow!! How can they even be compared? Kev is completely under-rated.

Ppl seem to think that I'm the strong one of us but they're wrong. Without Kev's support I would have lost it years ago. He's always been there for me. I might not like what he has to say sometimes but its always said out of love and never spite. The world needs to know that just because I'm the one with medical problems rather than him it doesn't mean that he doesn't suffer them as well. Which is worse? Having arthritis or watching someone you love get frustrated constantly about not being able to do things or live in constant pain. I can tell you that its easier to be the person with the condition rather than the carer.

Give Kev a break, he's my rock and I love him.

Meggie had a bike from Santa.

Red is her favourite colour.

Meg does however like Santa's cookies and eats them!

Meg isn't too interested in Rudolph's carrot.

Meg spots Santa's cookies and Rudolph's carrot.

Trying to bribe Santa into leaving pressies.