Back to Blogging

It snowed today. Again.

The other news for the day is that after a break of six days I am back to blogging. Has it really been 6 days?

It started with a hectic night. As it approached midnight I was still busy and decided I’d miss a night rather than just throw a few words at the page. Next night it was easier not to write a post and suddenly not writing blog posts became the new norm.

When the kids used to attend a dojo regularly to train in aikido the instructors always used to say that it only takes two weeks to break a habit. From what I’ve seen in the last week, you can probably break a habit in three days.

I was surprised that, after a thousand posts, I could just stop, though I think there were other factors at work. In the past it’s really annoyed me to miss a post, but this time it was actually a relief. Part of the problem, I think, was that I’ve been finding it difficult to adjust to regular employment, For twenty-five years I’ve been used to planning my own time and making my own decisions (apart from the ones Julia takes for me) and it’s a bit tricky adjusting.

I’ve also been adjusting to new, repetitive, tasks in cramped conditions, which seems to have brought on a new crop of aches and pains. Six hours a day moving coins round may not seem the most onerous of jobs, but the weight mounts up. Honestly.

After a week sorting pennies (we had nearly a ton of pennies to sort this week) and counting  foreign currency, I’ve shifted a fair amount of weight. Much of it has been moved whilst sitting in unsuitably hunched positions. We also bought in a large quantity of modern 50 pence pieces, including two of the famous Kew Gardens coins.

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The new shop may have more room than the old one but it still isn’t built for comfort. However, it’s a lot better than the old one, and BT may, just possibly, connect the internet sometime soon…

Our other problem is that, with a shared front door people think we are closed, and several have gone into the Indian Takeaway by mistake. You would think the presence of a menu, and absence of coins, would give them a clue, but one spent nearly five minutes in there.

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Next week we are going to buy a sign that days “Open”.

 

32 thoughts on “Back to Blogging

  1. Helen

    I’ve been pondering whether blogging is a ‘habit’. If it’s a hobby, it might be something you miss doing when you’re too pressed but a habit is more something you do without reflection?

    I’ve heard that it actually takes 60 days to change a habit but then I guess it all depends…

    Reply
  2. tootlepedal

    Work is the curse of the blogging classes but it is good to get another report from the world of pain. I hope that you get a chance to photograph some flowers soon. It will not be before time.

    Reply
  3. jodierichelle

    A new job and a new schedule are enough to disrupt anyone. Just keep your writing chops strong & keep your ideas of blogs in your head as you go through your day. Then – when you have a night with a little gumption left, do your post then. I can’t imagine the stress of an every day post.

    Reply
  4. Laurie Graves

    Also, I have found that at sixty, I simply don’t have the energy that I had when I was forty or even fifty. It’s not that I can’t accomplish anything but rather that I have to be very choosy about how I expend my energy. Again, good luck finding the balance. Hope you find the energy to write posts for your blog. I really enjoy your dispatches.

    Reply
      1. Laurie Graves

        Yup. A normal part of aging. We can still do things and lead a creative life, just have to pick and chose more carefully than when we were full of vim and vigor.

  5. derrickjknight

    I haven’t seen some of those 50p coins. Your Open sign will have to go in your window with directions on how to enter. Perhaps it would also need to be multi-lingual

    Reply
    1. quercuscommunity

      Our customer demographic, as the young girls in the opticians pointed out, is “old men”, so it’s absent-mindedness rather than literacy. As for the window, I fear a sign won’t show up as it’s already full of writing.

      Reply
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  7. Laurie Graves

    Perhaps a different blogging schedule might work for you, say, three days a week. I had to cut back when I started writing novels. Anyway, hope you are able to find a balance that works for you.

    Reply
    1. quercuscommunity

      Yes, I’m going to have to look at it as I seem to have so much to do. It’s not so much that I need to learn stuff, but I have to reactivate the dormant knowledge. 🙂

      Reply

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