on half-marathons

in about 60-odd days i am running the 2 oceans half marathon.

this will be my first half marathon in about 2-and-a-half years, so i am putting some training into it. but i need to take it slowly, so i don’t get sick. i know myself – if i over-do it, i get throat infections… and i’ve managed to avoid them through the massive temperatures changes of my canadian holiday…

yesterday i did my first hill training session in newlands forest with s & l – it was great fun, tough and i felt super afterwards. but jeez am i tired this morning. i haven’t been sleeping well again, combioned with my first stressful day at work yesterday this year, i was hesitant to leave the bed this morning.

but here i am. going to take it one step at a time, like the 21.1km distance on 11 April…

and i’m going to drink lots of tea to make sure that my throat scratches go away quickly!

better, much better (but not me)

i think we has us a show, ladies and gentlemen… the director and i are feeling a lot happier about things after tonights show… the prompt was taken away, and when the cast realised that their safety blanket had been taken away, they gave it so much more – and we sailed through the run-through! OK, there were a few waves here and there, but nothing they couldn’t sove by going around them or straight through them.

i was very proud of them

i also had a small part – as ‘mother’ was ill tonight i read her lines from backstage – had a great time doing that!

still feeling sick today, actually more than yesterday. and noticed that stress definitely makes it worse. so, being given a mammoth task by my new-ms-impossible at work at the last minute didn’t help. neither did having to give her a written warning. the second one in the 5 weeks she’s been with us. i don’t understand people like that…

anyway, tomorrow i’s going to come home, dress warm and watch a dvd and drug myself again to get rid of the headaches and stuffy nose… and perhaps poison that those incessantly howl-barking dog dogs in the neighbourhood – don’t want to get blood on my hands.

what bugged me today: the amount things i had to get through at work – and not being successful at some of them

what i learnt today: patience is often rewarded if it is practiced

what i am grateful for: that moment in the run up to opening night when things generally begin to fall into place… we may be at the start of that slope

oi vei… (sniffle, sniffle, cough, cough)

i was doing so well, resting and getting over this cold that’s kept me in bed all day. enjoying reading, snoozing, reading, drinking tea, staying warm. finally watching the epic movie “the english patient”.

 

then 2 things happened that changed it all. i felt my stress levels shoot up. i felt myself becoming angry. being more than just annoyed.

 

my work’s emergency phone rang – my boss asked that i please call some clients of ours who only speak german.

 

they have booked a room for themselves and their 14 year old son. he is too tall for the fold out bed they give to clients that do not want to take an extra room. now, his too-tallness becomes my problem.

 

my boss has found them another hotel that has 2 rooms that they can use. the current hotel is fully booked. the current hotel has also very kindly agreed to not charge them for tonight if they want to move to the other hotel. they will also escort the clients to the new hotel so they are not lost. all the family needs do is pay for the new hotel directly, and they will get a refund of the current hotel through their travel agency back home.

 

i mention this to the client, and hear his story. his son is the same size he is, how can i expect him to sleep on a bed this size.

they do not want to pack up and move to the new hotel. they do not want to drive 5 – 10km to the new hotel. they do not want to run the risk of having to pay anything more than they have already paid, and the new hotel might be more expensive.

how can i expect his son to sleep on such a small bed.

 

i mention that it is impossible for us to know how big his son is. he retorts that his son is no bigger than any other boy in his class at school.

 

the conversation ends with the man reluctantly agreeing to stay put “(we’ve ordered some food form downstairs anyway”), but insisting on taking my name & company name. i can tell that he is going to send in a formal complaint. so many germans do. and i am sick of it.

 

i always feel like they hold their problems against me personally when i cannot solve it in the way that they would like. for example, i can guarantee that if i had told them that the 2 rooms at the other hotel would not cost them a cent extra, then they would not have given a moment’s thought to the hassle of cancelling a food order, driving 5-10km or re-packing everything. but the horrible thought of having to pay a little extra for a whole extra room, for their comfort of their only son, was just too terrible for words. so they would rather suffer tonight, ruin their holiday, and then send a stinking letter to the travel agency and tour operator back home (you can find a template with all the correct legal jargon on german websites) demanding money back for ‘discomfort’ or some other drivel like that.

 

what absolute bastards. to themselves and to me and my colleagues that have to take their calls.

 

my father often says that i should just see the humorous side of this, and it is quite possibly the best way to deal with it. but i struggle to see the funny side of things when i am on the receiving end of people’s ego trips, personal affronts or complete disrespect for another human being’s working hours (i.e. calling at 23h00 to cancel a tour for the following day because you found it elsewhere for r30 cheaper).

 

anyway…

 

the second thing is that my damn internet wouldn’t log on. re-boot computer, re-try in different ports. but nada. all i wanna do is write on the blog and check my e-mail, and i can’t.

 

i’ll admit this latter one is a case of being pissed off ‘cos i can’t get my way. but dammit, i pay r350 a month for the service, i expect it work. always. unless i am under water, then it doesn’t need to.

 

so a good day reading aviation magazines and relaxing gone ever so slightly to pot.

 

what bugged me today: see above

 

what i learnt today: the little indentation at the base of the throat is called a super-sternum notch

 

what i am grateful for: teabags

respect!

well, i do have new found respect for directors, production secretaries, props persons, stage managers and everyone that is not an actor in a production. i hope it have been a ‘nice’ actor – because the work that goes into a play is tremendous.

from the building of the set to the initial unveiling to the final product – and all the comments in between… well done to all director’s and crew that have done more than 1 production

on a different tack – am i the only one that thinks that if you have been given a job after being unemployed for 2 years, that you give it your absolute absolute bloody best? i am in a situation where a new employee has been employed, but has been sick so often since they started, that they may as well not have been here. and, yes, once does get sick from time to time, but you let your manager know when you will not be coming in… or have i got the wrong end of the stick…

 

aaagggghhh!!!!!!

talking of sick – i am not doing too well myself, need to go home and drug myself so that i am better soon soon

what bugged me today: above employee waltzing in 90 minutes late, no communication about her being late, and then she still leaves 30 minutes early! what the f…?! 

what i learnt today: that asking the right people gets the response that you want

what i am grateful for: having someone come and clean my home