The day is ending. It is nearly 7pm, darkness has closed in and it is feeling decidedly chilly.

It has not been a day of inspiration for poetry, or for my talk on medallions, nor has it been a day of industry. I would happily have swapped industry for inspiration, but neither happened. However, our plan did work out – we decided to stay in and keep warm today and that was exactly what I did. I even did a few slides for the talk, though it was far from the amount I envisaged.

Luckily, with my new Kindle to hand, I was able to do some reading so it wasn’t a complete waste. In the book, the police are gradually closing in on a murderer in North Lincolnshire, a place I know well, and which has featured in this blog a number of times. My blogs have mainly been about seabirds, fish and chips and public conveniences, so have failed to create the interest that a crime novel would.

It has also been a day for catching up on reading other blogs. I haven’t caught up as much as I would like to, but have managed a few. If one wasn’t you, don’t feel left out, I will be round in a day or two. It’s partly a case of getting back in the habit. That, of course, can be said for many things.

I’ve spent a little time today thinking about toxic workmates and how to deal with them. The truth is that you can’t do much about them. To be fair they probably don’t realise how they are seen by everyone else, and they don’t realise that they make everything unpleasant. It should be the best job in the world, working in a collectors’ shop, so it’s quite an achievement to suck all the fun out of it.

I did try to see if I could turn it into an article, or even a book, but keep coming up against the problem that most of the people writing about the problem suggest the best solution is to leave the job. Twenty years ago, even ten years ago, I would have done this, but there’s little chance of finding another job if I do that, and I don’t want to do anything that will cut into my retirement savings.

Fortunately, I’m not given to brooding and have plenty to occupy my time. I’m sure the time between now and retirement is going to go far too fast without me wishing it away so will get on with planning my medallion talk instead of dwelling on toxicity in the workplace.

I’m going to think of cake.

Sticky Toffee Cake