Post #92 - Adult Education Courses

I think that I've currently reached the stage of being completely and utterly sick of attending adult education courses?  Why? Well, I just am. Since taking voluntary redundancy nearly a year ago, I have slowly tried to find interesting things to do with my time. Some have been more successful than others.

I am rubbish at playing keyboards and never practice enough. I am, however, getting better at music theory. This morning's clothes upcycling workshop was very - meh. I suppose it's because it's a group thing and as regular readers will know, groups and me just don't work. The woman from the local authority's waste team was really lovely, but the sewing teacher wasn't my cup of tea at all - she hailed from the neighbouring (more expensive!) borough and had an attitude to match. I broke the sewing machine's needle because I really didn't know what I was doing.

My husband currently attends a weekly art class at the same college and says similar things about his tutor. She knits her own fruit and has written books about the very subject.  Really. Do you think that she ever suffers from scurvy?

Upcycling - pah - look at this repurposed grater:

Post #91 - Charidee (In A Smashey and Nicey Voice)

I fully admit that I'm a bit of a social pariah, well, I never manage to say the right thing. Recently I put my foot in it by mentioning strongly-held religious beliefs concerning disability to a woman who turned out to be a Jehovah's Witness and there have also been incidents in the recent past.  If in doubt, say nowt is clearly a good rule of thumb.

I often find myself not knowing what to do, act or say. My sense of humour can be bizarre at times. I often feel very awkward about responding to requests - examples of this are feeling very pressurised into sponsoring someone to undertake a charity wing walk to raise money to fund a group to help people with a specific medical condition. The woman in question actually brought a clip board with a sponsor form on it and physically handed the assembled choir members. I felt terrible.  Surely a wing walk is a thing people actually want to do for themselves?  Why should I fund somebody else's leisure activities?  It's my money and I can gift it to whomever I like.  There's a quiz night organised in May and I have no trouble in contributing to join one of the teams.

As a family we do give to charity directly via our joint bank account - one is the National Autistic Society, which does great work in the field.  Obviously I'm a little biased here, but that's a charity which is very close to my heart.

Post #90 - Anxiety (Low Level Panic)

Being socially awkward as a result of both my upbringing and having Asperger's is a blessing and a curse. So far, this week I have attended a focus group, a seminar, an evening class and a trip to the see 'Beauty and the Beast' in 3D at my local cinema. Due to the unreliability of local bus services and Transport For London's frankly rubbish online tracking system, I also had to cancel a night out with a friend at the cinema (which is located at the end of an extremely trafficky route.)

Mind you, all this is nothing compared to the events which occurred in Westminster yesterday, so context is key.

Taking an increased daily dose 40mg instead of 20mg of Fluoxitine makes me feel as though there's an opaque wall surrounding me. I'm not sure whether it's really helping to combat the anxiety though?

Post #89: "It's Abridged I Tell You!" - Audiobook Issues

So ... I fully admit that I am a middle-aged fusspot, but hey, somebody's got to be. The latest example of this is my use of Audible, Amazon's audiobook site, which I have a rolling annual subscription to, loving as I do, the ability to listen to my favourite books, narrated by talented members of the acting profession anyplace, any time, anywhere.

One of my favourite authors is the late, great Ruth Rendell, who wrote a series of psychological novels under the pseudonym, Barbara Vine and with the exception of one title The House of Stairs, are all available to purchase on the Audible Android app.  Me being me, of course I've read each one at least twice in print form and thereby lies the rub, Gallowglass was missing the final one or two chapters, thus completely changing the conclusion of the novel.  I don't currently have my paperback edition to hand as I think that it's languishing in the loft, along with a whole load of the rest of my books, but in the 'unabridged' audiobook, they're definitely missing.

I am currently on the telephone to Audible about this and they've promised to 'escalate it to their back office!'  A total first world problem I know, but I'm an Aspie.