You know when your bush needs trimming ...

You know when your bush needs trimming when someone knocks at the door and offers to do it, as happened on Saturday; I declined and immediately regretted it, thinking of the hours of getting twigs in my face and of the mess of clearing up which is often worse than the task itself.

Well, the embarrassment of the unsolicited knock at the door combined with a sunny autumn day after a wet Bonfire Night, got me going: ten minutes into cutting down the laurel bush separating us from the neighbour, I chewed through the Alligator cable and shorted all the fuses.  Forty minutes later I was back in business after rewiring the cutter with its shortened cable, that is after going to the shops to buy new fuses, of which there were naturally none in the house.  Some hours of dirty work later and with the onset of dusk the chainsaw dislodged and Alligator had to be taken into the garage and I had to discover its entire construction to access the chain positioning and, for some reason, one securing nut was fractionally larger than the other, hence one fitted neatly into the ring spanner and the other didn't and I chewed off the corners ... grrrrrr

With darkness approaching I sawed the last few branches but retreated before it was too dark to see as I value my fingers and eyes.

So it turned into two days' of work and totally at the mercy of the weather - one weekend lost, not to speak of the damage to my back and hands ...

Artist: Years Around The Sun lyrics

Title: Failing At Art
Set your heart at ease or it will hold you under
Set your heart at ease and your soul
We got to believe in last chances we can't count on the world today
We'll listen to the radio and sing to the songs we hate
And we have been on the road all day
And we are still on the road tonight
And we'll listen to the radio as we stare in the Devil's eyes
We'll sift through the ashes the embers burn bright
Collect all we stole vanish in the night
We'll sleep with the masses, but stay out of sight
We stole our wages
Send "Failing At Art" ringtone to your mobile http://ace.jamster.co.uk/c_red_v2_dyn/?pid=19&artist=Years+Around+The+Sun&title=Failing+At+Art&tduid=38fe5d1e5e3779d144bf7f73c5da64ef&affId=1568252

It is with regret

Dear Anna-Marya,
Re: Christmas Temp.
Thank you for attending the interview for the above position, it was good to meet you.
It is with regret that we have decided not to offer you a position with Waterstone's at the present time.
Although we were impressed with your skills and abilities, we have seen candidates who more closely match our requirements.
May we thank you for your continued interest in Waterstone's and wish you every success for the future.
Yours sincerely,
Branch Manager
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD Marlowes

nadir

So maybe yesterday was another turning point: another job refusal (and for a crappy one at that, poorly paid and temporary), over the 'phone this time.  I was able to say 'thanks for letting me know' with sanguinity and considered that a moment of moving on had arrived.  Yesterday I had two conversations that centred on not exerting energies where effort was wasted.  Applying for jobs has become a waste of energy; I can easily dispose of 3-4 hours a day, opening e-mails from job-sites, filling in application forms and writing letters of application.  In 18 months of trying, I have had three and a half interviews; I say a 'half' because I cancelled one as it was for an internship and I really had to take myself to task not to go down that route, I had already made the decision that on no account would I do unpaid work.  The current trend for this is a scandalous exploitation of skilled labour invariably of little or no benefit to the participant.  My energies will be better bestowed creatively  ...

o one one one one o

what a terrible Samhain - barely a visitor - almost totally a failure despite baking and decorating