I’ve just had two weeks off during which time I achieved all my goals… in that failed to achieve any of the hobby goals that I mentioned in a previous post 🙂

Shorter, darker and colder… sounds like an frigid dwarf… but as postie that’s just the end of every year for me… plus a lot more work delivering stuff.

My mental health is ‘adequate’. I’m not a cheerful soul at the best of times, but nothing really dragging me down at present… and I’m not a hugs person… so keep your grubby paws to yourself 🙂

Done my xmas shopping for the most part and it’s all arrived… so that’s good.

P.S. Tip for anyone sending mail in the UK… get those xmas cards posted as despite what management say… royal mail don’t give a shit about letters and cards… it’s all about the parcels and especially the tracked ones… so get them posted before the end of this month.

I posted my Secret Satan parcel yesterday. It only needs to go about 20 miles (I almost considered hand delivering it) so should get there with plenty of time to spare.

I just finished the last model from Aeon Trespass Odyssey. https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1796204/

And with that I’ve painted every model I own (bar my Egyptian Raging Heroes project – I’m saving that for next year’s Spring Clean Challenge).

For that reason I’ve no ledge this week. Just taking it easy waiting for December’s raging heroes release so I can print it and paint it finish my 2023 project.

• As the days get shorter, darker and colder I feel this questions is more important than ever: Are you ok? And if not: would you like to talk to someone, have a hug or weather it like the rock weathers the storm? (So getting wet and mossy) – I’m good thanks for asking.

Fake news alert!

Although I almost believed it myself when Facebook and Google and even my Outlook calendar all greeted me with birthday greetings this morning!

And my wife’s phone has told her to send me birthday greetings too.

But it stems back from when I very first joined Facepage. Or, at least, refused to, and my mates at Nerd Club signed me up instead. And they knew my birthday was imminent so just took a guess. They were about a week out. But ever since, the news has spread (rather worryingly across multiple platforms) that my birthday is on 20th November.

So much that even my sister once phoned me almost a week early to ask if she’d missed it that year.

So thanks for the sentiment. If it helps everyone else, I’m more than happy to go buy any gobble cake this afternoon too.

There’s a small community of musicians and open mic attendees who only know me as “Bigus Chrisus” thanks to my first-ever Facebook account. I don’ t think I’m minded to correct them. Plus, two birthdays a week apart? Sounds like fun.

On with the question. Jeez, it’s a big one.
Just a few days days ago, I would have said that yeah, I was ok.
I think I still am. But just this evening, I got news that mum had taken a turn for the worse and had been committed to hospital. Things have moved quickly since she got diagnosed, and it’s all been a bit of a blur but I’ve been ok. I just think it’s all catching up with me a little bit.

So thanks for asking. Despite all that, I still think I’m ok. More that, I’ve got three sisters to look out for. My closest sister and I seem to be ok. The eldest and youngest aren’t handling it well. Still, one way or another, it looks like we’re all going to get together over Xmas this year, for the first time in about 30 years. Either with my mum, or without her.

Sorry to bring the tone down a bit.
But you did ask 😉

@blinky465 it can be stressful dealing with aging parents. Lost my father to dementia in 2016 and my mother just before xmas in 2018 to just generally getting older and weaker.

I hope you and your family cope as well can be expected under the circumstances.

Cycling to work is awesome! Nothing makes you feel more like you’re part of your town/city and actually belong there, then walking or cycling to work.

People? They’ll get used to you ?

Just as the become familiar faces on your daily commute, so will you too, to them. Not the best time of year to be cycling, but the weather’s not always terrible. Take a change of shirt for when you get to the office (mmmm, so clean and fresh, lovely!) And some over trousers for when it’s raining.

Promise you, come the spring, when you’re setting off early so you can stop for coffee along the way and a little sit in the sunshine, you’ll see it’s one of the best things you could have done!

(yeah, it might be cold and wet and miserable through the winter, but even that can be fun if you’re properly prepared).

Great job getting the bike out. One day you’ll love it! Honestly….