Well LiveJournal has been down for the last couple of weeks and whilst I'm sure there has been much gnashing of teeth from the blogging community I for one am actually glad of the downtime because I've been depressed lately and I'm sure this place has quite enough "damn, I feel like the stereotypical nice guy that always finishes last" bullshit. My depression isn't normally so melancholy and "woe is me" but hey, I didn't deserve the whole abusive housemate crap on top of the perpetually single (forever aloooooooooone) conundrum despite my past as an all around bastard (only at certain acute points I might add) so I don't feel too bad about it all.
What've I been doing with myself the screaming multituides cry? Working; Like a boss is the only answer there could ever be and it has actually been pretty sweet. My bosses treat me with a small amount of respect, I'm raking in some coins and hey I have done some pretty sweet things lately.
My babies have already hatched, I'm now the proud father of over half a million alevins, all swimming around and living off their egg sac like the cutie pies that they are. These are "fish" that I helped strip, fertilise and lay down and oversaw the incubation of. I have now had my sticky fingers in every element of trout growth and development and it may be weird but that's pretty satisfying for me, it's an achievement of sorts in my chosen career path and now the only thing I have to achieve is see some of these babys I have grown last year grow up to be used both as product and as broodstock. Then I've completed a full circle.
Besides that and general duties like processing the fish and cleaning I've been somewhat of a machine operator, I've been driving the tractor and the bobcat (technically a skid steer loader) since those who could do that got fired and the boss was stuck with the option of doing it himself or throwing me at it and saying "don't fuck it up or crash into a pond (something post rave sleep deprivation almost made a reality)." Needless to say he chose the latter. Recently though I've managed to get my grasping hands on the control of a three tonne excavator and I gotta say, it's pretty easy and a good bit of fun. I wouldn't say I'm even competent at it yet but it would be a great skill to have so methinks I'll be seizing every oppurtunity to get in and practice.
Oh, I have to say this; Cleaning fucking sucks, I can handle it at home and I can handle it at work when it's one nice, big job but well today it was a fuck crap tonne of tiny little, pointless jobs getting ready for an audit amd what with my tired self having little patience it pissed me off. All I could think was "fuck, I want to go home, why can't I go home?"
Also an addendum to my trip plans, I want to visit all the little Finno-Ugric speaking minority groups in Russia, most of 'em even have their own autonomous oblasts so one could assume the culture hasn't been too Rusified but I've no diea. It would be sweet at any rate to see and hear the language; Estonian is bad enough what with its extra vowels and lack of vowel harmony so I really want to see what these places have to offer.
Always forward, never straight
Alastair Michael.
Showing posts with label Rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rant. Show all posts
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Mates, Friends, Acquantinces
Okay, before I get into the meat of the post I have to have a little rant about the things I hate. I hate driving in the rain, at night, on busy roads and on tiny little backstreets. I'm not a huge fan of driving in general really, hence the love of hitchhiking over car hire (though the Scot and the Jew in my ancestry may also have something to do with that). I also hate working when it's too cold, too hot, raining, when I'm sick, when I'm tired, when my boss is being a jerk and well, working in general (go figure huh) though all in all I love my job; It's interesting, engaging and I get to learn something new pretty much on a weekly basis whilst my coworkers and bosses are, at the moment pretty good . Just because I had to do most of these things today they're on my mind but hot showers, junk food and an inexplicable sense of awesome that settled in about four this afternoon balanced these things so all is right with the world.
Okay, as for the meat: Anyone that knows me should know that I overanalyse shit, doctors call it neurosis I suppose but I just call it "my little hobby" and one of the things I overanalyse is my interpersonal interactions so here goes; I have a few boxes in my head that I put people in and by far the three most important are the mates, friends and acquaintances boxes and these incorporate nearly everyone I interact with any regularity.
The first level is an acquaintance, they might be a coworker or a guy you see down the bar of a Friday night with whom you'll play pool and talk shit. The relationship may be enjoyable but at the crux of it its superficial, they may ask you how you're going or how your day has been but they haven't got any concern beyond social convention and natural human empathy. To be an acquaintance someone could be someone you share an interest with, someone you see regularly, someone who is in your social circle for some reason or any of a number of different things. You might have their number but you'll only text them if there's something you think they should know and are unlikely to call them ever.
The next level is a friend, these are the people that you surround yourself with, I'm sure everyone knows what a friend is (if you don't, well, leave a comment, I'll be your friend I promise) but well I'm going to clarify what I see them as. They are the people that make you feel good when you're down (whilst acquaintances make you feel good when you feel good), the ones you turn to for advice and counsel, the people you will trust with almost anything. To be a friend they must have one of the things that make them an acquaintance as well as a certain amount of trust. They don't have to share anything like opinions on important issues, religion or political ideals; Friendship doesn't work like that at all. Just trust and the mind does the rest.
The final level is a mate, The ANZACs in gallipoli and the defenders during the winter war had mates, the guys that would watch their back whilst people died around them, the ones that they would ask to keep their womenfolk safe should they die in battle. I have well over a dozen friends I would say but in the entire world (literally) I only have three mates and these are people that if it really came to the crunch I would drop everything and jump on the next plane to be with them, that I would empty my bank account to save, that I would risk some serious harm for.etc. etc. Mates are the people that make life worth living but I can't tell you what's required for someone to be a mate, hell I had an ex girlfriend of an acquaintance of an ex girlfriend magically evolve into a mate but I suspect it has something to do with shared adversity and a lot of trust.
Sex complicates matters somewhat but I think some simple maths can describe my analysis
Acquaintance + Sex = Hook Up or Fuck Buddy
Friend + Sex = Mistake or Friend with Benefits
Mate + Sex = Soulmate
Always Forward, Never Straight
Okay, as for the meat: Anyone that knows me should know that I overanalyse shit, doctors call it neurosis I suppose but I just call it "my little hobby" and one of the things I overanalyse is my interpersonal interactions so here goes; I have a few boxes in my head that I put people in and by far the three most important are the mates, friends and acquaintances boxes and these incorporate nearly everyone I interact with any regularity.
The first level is an acquaintance, they might be a coworker or a guy you see down the bar of a Friday night with whom you'll play pool and talk shit. The relationship may be enjoyable but at the crux of it its superficial, they may ask you how you're going or how your day has been but they haven't got any concern beyond social convention and natural human empathy. To be an acquaintance someone could be someone you share an interest with, someone you see regularly, someone who is in your social circle for some reason or any of a number of different things. You might have their number but you'll only text them if there's something you think they should know and are unlikely to call them ever.
The next level is a friend, these are the people that you surround yourself with, I'm sure everyone knows what a friend is (if you don't, well, leave a comment, I'll be your friend I promise) but well I'm going to clarify what I see them as. They are the people that make you feel good when you're down (whilst acquaintances make you feel good when you feel good), the ones you turn to for advice and counsel, the people you will trust with almost anything. To be a friend they must have one of the things that make them an acquaintance as well as a certain amount of trust. They don't have to share anything like opinions on important issues, religion or political ideals; Friendship doesn't work like that at all. Just trust and the mind does the rest.
The final level is a mate, The ANZACs in gallipoli and the defenders during the winter war had mates, the guys that would watch their back whilst people died around them, the ones that they would ask to keep their womenfolk safe should they die in battle. I have well over a dozen friends I would say but in the entire world (literally) I only have three mates and these are people that if it really came to the crunch I would drop everything and jump on the next plane to be with them, that I would empty my bank account to save, that I would risk some serious harm for.etc. etc. Mates are the people that make life worth living but I can't tell you what's required for someone to be a mate, hell I had an ex girlfriend of an acquaintance of an ex girlfriend magically evolve into a mate but I suspect it has something to do with shared adversity and a lot of trust.
Sex complicates matters somewhat but I think some simple maths can describe my analysis
Acquaintance + Sex = Hook Up or Fuck Buddy
Friend + Sex = Mistake or Friend with Benefits
Mate + Sex = Soulmate
Always Forward, Never Straight
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