Mr K-E's socks

Mr K-E is packing for his snowboarding trip. He is a systematic packer, look here are his normal socks (not be confused with his snowboarding socks, which are very different). See how he has arranged 10 pairs of socks for 10 days.

Jeez, I must be a wife in love, blogging about my husband's socks!

Act in Haste, Repent at Leisure

Friday afternoon was the most exciting afternoon at work for a long time (possibly ever!) for all the wrong reasons.

At work, we are quite slack about lunchtime drinking. It's not encouraged but it's sociable on Friday to go for a quick pint or two with your colleagues, so the management turn a blind eye. Most people are responsible and know their limits. The accepted rule is that if that pint turns into four or five or even more, you suddenly realise it's three-thirty and you are smashed....don't come back to work. Just ring your colleagues or your Boss, explain the situation and go home...or sit in the pub all afternoon. As long as it's once in a blue moon and you haven't got a critical deadline, it's fine.

The main thing is - don't come back to the office drunk.

Anyway, on Friday we all trooped down to the pub for lunch and a few beers. After lunch we all drifted back to work, some later than others, but by 3:30 we were back at our desks. Except for Ollie, Steve and Bill who were still drinking. It was Ollie's last day (so he obviously didn't give a damn) but Steve had an important piece of work to complete that day.

When Steve doesn't show up by 4 o'clock, his line manager Anton rings his mobile to ask when he is coming back. It's obvious that Steve is drunk on the phone so he's told - look, you've had too many, don't come back to the office. OK. Just go home, or stay in the pub.

Steve suddenly takes it into his head that "nobody can talk to him like that" storms back into the office and starts to berate Anton. Our Boss tries to get it under control and lead the clearly drunk and slurring Steve into a meeting room, but Steve isn't having it.

He starts to rant and shout at Anton saying who do think you are? I'm not just a stupid XXX! I have an MBA, man (cringe*cringe*) I have a first class degree man! (cringe*cringe*) What have you got? HNC?

For the rest of us, it's painfully embarassing: watching a 40+ year old man self-destruct in front of your eyes. A few people try to lead him to the meeting room, but he keeps shouting and making a scene until finally the Boss has enough and says OK, that's it. Get your things. You're out.

By now Steve realises that he's really fucked up, he starts to cry and says stuff like I have three kids man. I love this place man. My life is in ruins man. I really liked working here....

Finally we had to call security to get him out. As he left, he asked the Boss - will I still get a reference? The Boss didn't answer.

It was horrible watching that happen. Like a car crash in slow motion. There is no way he can come back to work now. I bet he felt like an idiot on Saturday morning.

When things like this happen, the management take it very seriously. Steve could try to sue the company for unfair dismissal etc etc so I will probably have to sign a statement on Monday. *sigh*

Biting my tongue

Through the magic of Facebook I recently reconnected with a friend after 10 years. She had been one of my closer friends at boarding school so it was nice to be in touch again.

Anyway, looking through her photos, it's obvious that she's now a blazing lesbian. Please don't ask me how I know, or make snide-y comments like "what makes you think all lesbians look the same...etc etc." I just know OK, you'll just have to trust me on this one.

The thing is, I'm intrigued. We were good friends when we were in our teens. She had a serious boyfriend and while she wasn't a very girlie girl, she certainly wasn't any kind of tomboy. OK, we wore jeans all the time but we were 17! I never wore skirts in between the ages of 14 and 31, except at my wedding!

On her facebook photos she now looks and dresses like a young man. No exaggeration. I'm just burning with curiosity and I want to ask her lots of inappropriate questions like : When did this happen? Did she happen to meet this one girl and realise she had been a lesbian all along? Did she feel that way when we were younger???? Aaarrggghhh!

Sunday Lunch

My lunch looked so nice today that I had to take a photo of it. It was deeee-licious. Grilled gorgonzola on toast, a few slices of cured meats : parma ham, lomo (smoked tenderloin) and salami, crispy salad, raw celery (perfect with cheese) and marinated olives.

I offered to do the same for Mr K-E, but he wasn't interested. He said: nothing on that plate appeals to me. So he had fried egg sandwiches with ketchup instead. Also yummy.

Happy Valentine's Day

I am fairly cynical when it comes to Valentine's Day; you won't find me eating out tonight eugh. Yep, packed restaurants, poor service and set menus. Not to mention the awkwardly tense atmosphere. It's the night when people who never eat out, eat out. (I better stop now before I start ranting like last year)

This year, however, Mr K-E got into the spirit of things. Well, his afternoon meeting was cancelled so he had time to look around florists. I can't complain though - I came home from work to find flowers and chocolates waiting for me.

He even organised dinner. Happy Valentine's Day, honey.

Careers from A to Z

A few days ago I spent a morning at a school in South London, representing my profession at a careers fair. I set up my "stall" neatly, stacking up my brochures and freebies (mousemats, pens and postcards) in an inviting fashion on a rickety school desk.

I was placed in between the Army and the London Ambulance Service, which I found slightly disconcerting. Is just me, or is the idea of the Army distributing recruitment information to 14 year olds really disturbing?

Anyway, it was a good experience. It is an inner-city school so the kids were not your clean-cut, freshly-washed, smartly-dressed variety. The hairstyles alone are blog-worthy. In a way, I felt that these kids actually benefit more from this type of thing compared to, say, a 14 year-old in an expensive boarding school.

After chatting to a group of 3 very "street-smart" girls, I asked if they had given any thought to their futures. One of them replied, "Oh, I want to be a barrister".

"Really? That's great," I said, impressed.

"Yeah. Or a beauty therapist," she continued.

I can't help but be amused. Do you think she got past "B" in the A-Z guide to careers?

Eating

I haven't posted many food photos lately, so in case you were wondering what we have been eating lately in the K-E household; wonder no more.

Smoked salmon on brown bread - our New Year starter.

Tex Mex ribs, chicken wings, onion rings, breaded mushrooms and cheesy potato skins. Why does the most unhealthy food taste so delicious?



The aftermath of my mussel feast. I ate my way through a big bowl of mussels in garlic cream sauce while reading Heat magazine on the sofa. The bowl was precariously balanced on my lap so I used an old dishcloth as a bib/protection against lap spillage. Extremely satisfying.

Happy New Year Everyone

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope everyone is having a lovely time celebrating Chinese New Year. I was going to have a day off today but an important meeting was scheduled so had to abandon those plans. The meeting went really well though, so that was good start to the year.

I sent Mr K-E to load up on food from Marks and Spencer and he has done a good job. We are watching TV and eating our Big Party Platter.

In what ever way you are celebrating new year, have a great one.

Job Titles - revisited

OK, I guess I should expand on my last post where I moaned about being referred to as a career woman. It's not the phrase "career woman" that bothers me. I guess I can explain better using real-life:

Real-life situation A:
Most of my colleagues are men. Some of them have kids; some don't. In general, most of us work long hours in a pressure-cooker environment. At work, people have mentioned (not in a bad way) that I am a "career woman".

Why? How about my colleagues? Are they "career men"? If they don't have kids, does that mean that they are selfish and over-ambitious? If they have kids, does that mean that they don't love their children because they work?


Real-life situation B:
Mr K-E and I work in similar fields. We both work hard and we have both progressed in our jobs. So how come if Mr K-E gets a promotion it's almost expected - but if I get a promotion, it's because I'm "driven" or "ambitious" or a "career woman".

So, are woman expected to be crap at their jobs? Or am I just being silly and over-sensitive?

Job Titles

I know I shouldn't be so sensitive, but it really irritates me when people refer to me as a "career woman".

Like what, I should be crap at my job?

And no one refers to Mr K-E as a "career man".

Gggggrrrrrr.