Train of Thought

I'm starting this blog, typing in the office which I work in near the south coast of the UK. It's not very high up, but I can hear the wind outside and it doesn't sound as though it's here for a jelly and ice cream party. It sounds seriously miffed. I really hope that this building was built well otherwise 'Infinite Lives' may well be the shortest blog in the history of the blogging phenomenon. I am fascinated by the weather and nature though. The weather does seem to have a slight case of schizophrenia of recent. How much of this is due to climate change, I'm not sure. We have had some extreme weather though in the past year and I, for one, would not like to experience a summer like the one we just have again. My daughter was only a matter of months old at the time. The usual recommendation is to put babies to sleep with at least one more layer than you. Well, I'm sorry, it was 35°C (AT NIGHT!) All my wife and I could do was put her to bed in a nappy and a short baby-gro. Unsurprisingly, she was not phased by this and slept through without worry. Her parents, well that's a different matter altogether. Let’s just say if the job of a lifetime came up and meant we’d have to move to Australia, I would have to consider it seriously. Well, that, or invest in some sort of Mr Freeze ice suit.

As I said, I work near the south coast and have done for the last three months. Unfortunately for me, that's not where I live. The journey to work in the morning is a long one. I leave the house just after 6:30am to (just) get in to work for 9. Of course a lot of that is spent sitting on my backside on one form of public transport or another. It’s still quite a stressful experience as the longer I travel, the further away I get from my fantastic wife and daughter. I have managed to do a few things to occupy my time though. The ‘Metro’ paper, while not the best printed media ever produced, is (a) free and (b) enough of a distraction to wipe out about ¼ of the journey. It also contains a sudoku puzzle which I enjoy doing. If nothing else, it gets my rusty brain working, when, for most of the morning, it’s chastising me for not still being in bed.

I can also (just about) doze in and out of consciousness for an additional half of the journey, which is something I never thought would be possible. Southern’s inability to provide comfy pillows is something I urge them to address at the next board meeting though. It would make the £190 a month less of a trauma to part with every month. Especially, when I think of how many gadgets that could get me : - )

By far the best thing about the journey though is it has re-ignited my love of music. While I was growing up, especially during my teens and twenties, I was FANATICAL about music. I would spend nearly all my wages (and any other currency I could get my grubby mitts on) on 7-inch’s (god, I feel old), CD’s, gigs and assorted musical paraphernalia. I was possibly wholly responsible for keeping the industry afloat! I’m not sure when it all went quiet though. My wife and I don’t have much in common musically and, rather naively I think, I always thought that the principle thing I would have in common with any potential spouse would be music. It just doesn’t always pan out that way. So, in the car (we don’t really listen to music at home), I just plump for Radio 2 or Virgin.

However, my mp3 player has a feast of pleasures on it and I still have stacks of space to fill. I have a Creative Zen Vision M (30Gb) and it is the best thing ever! Suffice to say that through the course of this blog, you will undoubtedly receive recommendations and, heck, there may even be the odd review or two thrown in.

One thing I know is that if it wasn't for my music, I probably would have lost my sanity not long into my three-month service.

Currently listening to:

Asobi Seksu: Citrus
Foo Fighters: The Colour and the Shape