...me!
So this week I'm living 'oot in the sticks' (out in the country) as friends of mine are away and asked if I would come and look after the dogs. I've been supplied with plenty of food (still trying & currently failing to come off the 'ch' food group diet, but I haven't had any charshmallows this week...yeeha!) a car (not just a car but a beautiful & fast car =D) and the company of two dogs and their lodger whom I shall call 'Alfred' (this probably comes from my wanting to be a superhero...which I very nearly am 'Anchor Woman - I'll explain later).
It has been good for many reasons, but to name a few there's exercise with taking the dogs out for walks, having to get my laptop up to speed and sync'd with my desktop (I'm about 70% there!) and change of scenery. Alfred is good company; good laugh/conversation and it's nice to have someone to eat meals with. The flip side is that I'm in a continual war with the puppy to see who's going to eat my food first. I am losing =( He's very fast and very hungry ALL THE TIME! But he is very cute...which is why he's still alive and in one piece! haha
Anyway last night I took Alfred climbing with me and some of my mates (they're all new friends except the lovely Jutta who introduced me to climbing...last week!) Was a great evening. I managed to climb to the top of a really, really high wall...I raced a 6yr old!! haha. And then I managed to do a 'colour' climb, this is when you only climb using a particular colour of thingys that you hang off of for your dear life. I only did two climbs, which is pretty lame, but there are three good reasons....
1. I'm overweight (ie. my strength to weight ratio is very unbalanced)
2. I'm unfit
3. I've still got a really sore back and don't want to over do it until I get to the physio.
BUT it turns out that I have a talent and this led me to my new superhero name....AnchorWoman =) I was even Anchor Woman for Alfred who is a good couple of meters taller and a wee bit heavier (muscle not fat) than me (this I learnt when I went flying up into the air when he was doing his absail!!).
In my role as AnchorWoman I saved Alfred's life 4 times and another guy twice! Of course EVERYONE knew about it (I'm totally uncool) and I'll expect payment in return in the future, but until then I can live off my 'I've saved lives' stories.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Friday, 11 November 2011
The dangers of not drinking...
..became apparent to me this morning!
I went out last night to the pub that I used to work in to catch up with some friends and the locals, who I miss more than I thought I would when I rang the bell behind the bar for the final time earlier this year. They are an eccentric, wonderful bunch of people who are generous in both buying me drinks and their time, conversation and laughter. But this is how I discovered the pitfall of not being a regular drinker...I just couldn't keep up. At one point I had 4 vodkas sitting in front of me. Not only could I not keep up, I got a teensy~weensy bit drunk and the truth is, relative to the people I was drinking with (with the exception of my friend L who I was with...sorry P, but you're a far more experienced drinker my lovely (compliment)), I hardly drank.
I also seem to have lost the knack of getting a round in. This isn't because I'm tight, but because you have to be really fast and sly, really sly. The men who drink there (it is predominately a blokes pub) are not very good at letting 'burds' (women) buy drinks. If you offer, they will shoot you down. So the trick is to slyly, without anyone noticing, get the barmaid over and order the round. Once the drink is put down, you're ok. You're a 'cheeky wee besom' (pronounced 'bizzum'), but the drink will be accepted. I did manage to get one round in, but to be honest due to the amount I consumed (relative to my normal consumption - I'm not called 2-gin-Jo for nothing) I wasn't as sharp as I needed to be to pull off this no mean feat!
Another pitfall of not being a regular drinker (or perhaps a pitfall of drinking whether regular or not) is the post-drinking-hungar! I ended up going into the Chinese across the road from the pub and ordering. Now, for 'regular, normal' people this is a great idea....helps to soak up some of the alcohol. But if you're wheat & yeast intolerant you need to be careful what you consume...I thought I'd ordered well, but my body tells me otherwise =( And the mess I left in my kitchen...sight for sore eyes this morning that's for sure!
So, taking this lesson on board, I have arranged to meet some friends tonight in the pub (will stock up fridge with appropriate food prior to going out). Well, I don't want to make the same mistakes - that would just be plain stoooopid!
I went out last night to the pub that I used to work in to catch up with some friends and the locals, who I miss more than I thought I would when I rang the bell behind the bar for the final time earlier this year. They are an eccentric, wonderful bunch of people who are generous in both buying me drinks and their time, conversation and laughter. But this is how I discovered the pitfall of not being a regular drinker...I just couldn't keep up. At one point I had 4 vodkas sitting in front of me. Not only could I not keep up, I got a teensy~weensy bit drunk and the truth is, relative to the people I was drinking with (with the exception of my friend L who I was with...sorry P, but you're a far more experienced drinker my lovely (compliment)), I hardly drank.
I also seem to have lost the knack of getting a round in. This isn't because I'm tight, but because you have to be really fast and sly, really sly. The men who drink there (it is predominately a blokes pub) are not very good at letting 'burds' (women) buy drinks. If you offer, they will shoot you down. So the trick is to slyly, without anyone noticing, get the barmaid over and order the round. Once the drink is put down, you're ok. You're a 'cheeky wee besom' (pronounced 'bizzum'), but the drink will be accepted. I did manage to get one round in, but to be honest due to the amount I consumed (relative to my normal consumption - I'm not called 2-gin-Jo for nothing) I wasn't as sharp as I needed to be to pull off this no mean feat!
Another pitfall of not being a regular drinker (or perhaps a pitfall of drinking whether regular or not) is the post-drinking-hungar! I ended up going into the Chinese across the road from the pub and ordering. Now, for 'regular, normal' people this is a great idea....helps to soak up some of the alcohol. But if you're wheat & yeast intolerant you need to be careful what you consume...I thought I'd ordered well, but my body tells me otherwise =( And the mess I left in my kitchen...sight for sore eyes this morning that's for sure!
So, taking this lesson on board, I have arranged to meet some friends tonight in the pub (will stock up fridge with appropriate food prior to going out). Well, I don't want to make the same mistakes - that would just be plain stoooopid!
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Can this really be the end of the 'ch' food group?
I went to the doctors today because I've got a sore back and have had for some months now. The doctor was brilliant. She gave me a thorough examination and asked lots of intelligent and prudent questions and sat down and explained what is most likely happening (none of which I really wanted to hear, so I kinda zoned out until I thought I'd got through the worst of what she was saying).
She was nothing like the last doctor I went to see when I was having heaps of problems with my knee. The minute I told her that I had had an accident 11yrs ago and had had a dunt to my knee it was game over. The advice I was given was...
"Hmmm...yeah, there's nothing we can do for you. Take painkillers & anti-inflammatory's and we'll give you a new knee in 20-25yrs time."
This was WITHOUT looking at my knee. I suspect she was using her x-ray vision ~ pretty cool really.
I was only 27-ish back then and that was her diagnosis ~ I should've had asked to see her medical degree. It turned out that I have an intolerance to wheat & yeast and had excess fluid retention (21lbs worth) and by cutting them out of my diet, my knee got better.
Anyway back to my sore back. As it turns out, apparently putting on weight by eating too much, especially foods out of the 'ch' food group and not exercising enough is not helping!?! Hmmm...all a bit left-field but unfortunately I suspect she might be on to something. I think I'm going to have to give up my charshmallows sandwiched between two chocolate buttons, chunks of cheese and churpak on ryvita...
So today I had what may be my final chocolate chip cookie (with a cup of Earl Grey tea).
Before....
She was nothing like the last doctor I went to see when I was having heaps of problems with my knee. The minute I told her that I had had an accident 11yrs ago and had had a dunt to my knee it was game over. The advice I was given was...
"Hmmm...yeah, there's nothing we can do for you. Take painkillers & anti-inflammatory's and we'll give you a new knee in 20-25yrs time."
This was WITHOUT looking at my knee. I suspect she was using her x-ray vision ~ pretty cool really.
I was only 27-ish back then and that was her diagnosis ~ I should've had asked to see her medical degree. It turned out that I have an intolerance to wheat & yeast and had excess fluid retention (21lbs worth) and by cutting them out of my diet, my knee got better.
Anyway back to my sore back. As it turns out, apparently putting on weight by eating too much, especially foods out of the 'ch' food group and not exercising enough is not helping!?! Hmmm...all a bit left-field but unfortunately I suspect she might be on to something. I think I'm going to have to give up my charshmallows sandwiched between two chocolate buttons, chunks of cheese and churpak on ryvita...
So today I had what may be my final chocolate chip cookie (with a cup of Earl Grey tea).
Before....
and after *sniff*
(don't worry, I got the crumbs right after I took the photograph. I had left them there as some kind of symbolic gesture, which I promptly cleared up after taking this shot!)
Oh, and the doc is also sending me to the Physio. I'm going to start exercising again and reschedule my day so that I can make use of the daylight and get outside.
I used to go to Yoga. I LOVED my yoga (Ashtanga). I had the most amazing teacher until she rather inconsiderately moved, not just abroad but to a whole different continent =(. I miss my yoga and I miss my teacher. She sold her business to another lovely yoga teacher. But you see, I'm not great with change (you'd realise just how ironic that is if you have even half an idea of how I've lived my life over the past 17yrs) and the new teacher's style is a lot different to G's style, and I didn't have the same bond/trust with her. So, like a spoilt brat I stopped going (well ok that and it costs a lot of money and I have no spare cash).
However today, I made the decision that once I can afford it, I am going to go back to Yoga. It's been long enough now that I'm sure I'll be more accepting about the change of teaching style.
{I've just read back what I've written and I realise just how un-yoga-ish I sound}
So that's that. No food from the 'ch' group and start exercising. Hmmm....
Sunday, 6 November 2011
My Halloween project...
Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year, but unfortunately this year I was recovering from my manflu so had to make the difficult decision to stay home this year ~ but this was made easier by my friend Claire coming over for a girly evening (chocolate, X Factor etc).
However my friend Didi (with whom I was meant to be going out with, along with the guys from the Aberdeen Wanderers Rugby team) still came over and I helped her get ready.
The concept behind Didi's costume was that she was a car crash victim, so one half of her was normal...
However my friend Didi (with whom I was meant to be going out with, along with the guys from the Aberdeen Wanderers Rugby team) still came over and I helped her get ready.
The concept behind Didi's costume was that she was a car crash victim, so one half of her was normal...
and the other half was...not
As it turned out, I did end up going out, in the middle of the night as I got a call for help from a friend who had lost everything and everyone. Suffice to say I left my bed at 1am (didn't bother getting dressed, threw coat, scarf and hiking boots on over my pj's) and didn't return to it until 5am! It was an adventure which I think I'll get a pretty decent amount of mileage out of!! =) Also it turns out that whilst I was walking about the city centre, trying to locate some of my mates who were MIA, I got chatted up twice. Lesson = go out more often in pj's & no make-up!!
Ye cannae shove yer granny off the bus and other myths!
This morning I've been thinking about grannies. A lot is said about grannies that I suspect is either not true or untested. Take the whole "Ye cannae shove yer granny aff the bus" for example. For anyone who's not from the UK, we have a Scottish song all about pushing your granny off the bus. It has occurred to me that you probably could push your granny off the bus and most likely with minimal force. It is important for me to state that I don't think anyone should try this out, grannies should be loved not shoved. The point of this rambling is to highlight the inaccuracy of the statement made in the song. I think it should be 'Ye shouldnae shove yer granny aff the bus".
But this wasn't my first thought about grannies today, it was 'You can't teach your granny to suck eggs'. Now, there are different factors to take into account e.g. Is your gran still alive? How old is she? What's her general health like? Is she allergic or intolerant to eggs?
However, if your gran's alive, in good fettle and isn't likely to keel over by being near or touching an egg then actually I suspect that you may be able to teach your granny to suck eggs if you so desire. Obviously, you need to know how to do it yourself and your gran would need to be a willing participant, but other than that, don't let that saying put you off! Why not try it this week? If you have a grandpa...think about including him. Or you could make it a new year's resolution...just a thought.
But this wasn't my first thought about grannies today, it was 'You can't teach your granny to suck eggs'. Now, there are different factors to take into account e.g. Is your gran still alive? How old is she? What's her general health like? Is she allergic or intolerant to eggs?
However, if your gran's alive, in good fettle and isn't likely to keel over by being near or touching an egg then actually I suspect that you may be able to teach your granny to suck eggs if you so desire. Obviously, you need to know how to do it yourself and your gran would need to be a willing participant, but other than that, don't let that saying put you off! Why not try it this week? If you have a grandpa...think about including him. Or you could make it a new year's resolution...just a thought.
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Vodka
I don't know if you'll have noticed but I normally have the title of the blog run into the first line. But this evening morning (2.57am) I feel that that one word says it all.
Vodka.
Because I'm wheat & yeast intolerant, I can no longer drink wine or champers/cava =( Then, to my horror I discovered that I cannae drink Pimms either! Dear Lord...we need a word!
However, I do seem to be ok with Gin & Vodka. Which is great news because I consumed quite a bit of the latter this evening.
I had a leaving do to attend. I had to say goodbye (or hopefully just a momentary farewell) to my wonderful friend Jorge. He is heading west to Texas and I'll miss him. He's a wonderful person whom I admire and respect. I have many great memories from time spent with him. We were discussing this tonight and he said that he'll never forget the first time we met...I believe that this is because I turned up to his BBQ party in a short skirt and my red coat, sat on a garden chair and promptly fell backwards. In my wisdom I thought if I just stayed there for a bit that no one would notice... this was an incorrect assumption and one I doubt I'll make again.
One of my favorite memories of our time together is when Flo, Jorge and I decided to go on a camping trip together to the west of Scotland! It was brilliant. It was a fabulously wet, cold and wonderful adventure which I think we all remember with fondness ~ in particular the following conversation between Flo (who's from Malaysia) & I as we drove through the Scottish countryside passing fields of lambs that were just weeks old...
Flo: What are baby sheepses called?
Me: Lambs
Flo: No, no...I mean those cute wee sheeps
Me: Uhuh...lamb.
Flo: WHAT? Those are lambs?
Me: Yup
Flo: Oh my god, I am NEVER eating lamb ever again!
Me: Em...why?
Flo: Because they are soooo cute!
Me: What? What are you talking about Monkey (nickname for Flo...always good when used in public place (she calls me chalky...so it's give & take in our friendship!))?
Flo: I can't eat something THAT cute.
Me: Yes you can.
Flo: Well yes, I have, but not any more.
To give her credit, I believe that Flo did indeed stop eating lamb, well kinda, most of the time anyway....until she moved to Australia. I believe that her and Jamie are eating lamb again but have given up kangaroo because they see them hopping about outside!
In terms of having to say goodbye to friends who are moving on to pastures new, it's been quite a difficult year. I feel abandoned. What annoys me most is that it's not like the b*st*rds end up all going to the same part of the world....no, no....they've spread themselves out, like a burst bag of marbles. Inconsiderate and irresponsible actually. The good news is that not everyone has got away ~ phewf! For that I'm thankful...but I still miss the ones who got away, the ones who have moved on to begin their next chapter elsewhere.
Silver lining = I've got a ridiculous amount of places around the world where I can get free accommodation.
Cloud = I cannae afford to get to the free accommodation!!
Thursday, 3 November 2011
I did something unusual today...
...I got dressed! Yup, I normally spend the day in my pj's. It wasn't originally a conscience decision, it just so happens that my commute to work is from my bed to my desk in my living room. Sometimes I forget to stop and put day clothes on. I'll be sitting working away at my desk and before I know it, it's 3.28pm and I've not eaten (seriously WTF is that about?) and I haven't got dressed.
The main problem with getting dressed is putting on clothes that don't stretch, they are a harsh critic of ones new eating habits (do you like the way I've slipped into speaking in 3rd person, means I'm not taking ownership. Denial is a strong tool to get through life...trust me, it's the way forward!). If only someone would ban me from the "ch's"......Cheese, Chocolate & Ch..urpak! Notice I've not included Charshmallows in that list, it's because they are FAT FREE...says so on the packet, and that is ALL that matters! Give me a D, give me an E....N....I....A....L!!!
Anyway, the reason I got dressed today is because I chose to go to a NLP Coaching with Humour (provocative coaching) with Sue Knight (author of NLP at Work) seminar, hosted by the Coaching Association. Worry ye not, I've not entered the world as a coach...could you imagine?? But I am interested in coaching, but especially NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). It was blimin brilliant. I think that now is a good time to announce that from now on I'm not being 'mean', I'm being 'provocative'! =D
I first found out about this evening's event via some of the lovely ladies that I had met at the lunch I went to last Friday, and it sounded interesting. I'm trying to ensure that I don't go for days without leaving my abode, so am being proactive about getting out and about. It's a little difficult because I'm still in the honeymoon period of my new career and want to work all the time.
Of course there was the added incentive of going somewhere where they would have the heating on! And I'm pleased to report that Maersk (where the event was located) are not too tight and had their heating and lighting on, so it was rather special evening.
When I came home there was a funny smell, it didn't take me long to discover that I had gone out for FOUR hours and had left the gas burning under an empty pan on the cooker!! I'm just hoping that I haven't used up my luck that I was hoping to use to win the £10million lotto jackpot on Saturday. I'm gutted if I have...I have plans for that money! Like proper plans. As my beautiful friend L commented on my facebook status "Someone upstairs likes you!!!" (I always feel when one does something stupid, that the best thing to do is share it...make people feel good about themselves!). My question is 'how much?' How much does this person love me....show me the money!!
Speaking of money, tomorrow is going to be the first day I invoice my clients! I realise that most companies put on a '28 day payment term', I'm wondering if my clients will mind if I put on a '2.8hr payment term'?? Think about it, everything is instant these days. I'll be emailing the invoices, not snail mail. Everyone does internet banking, which is instant. What's the point of dragging out the best bit? Food for thought??
Talking of food....time to consume something from the 'ch' food group?!
The main problem with getting dressed is putting on clothes that don't stretch, they are a harsh critic of ones new eating habits (do you like the way I've slipped into speaking in 3rd person, means I'm not taking ownership. Denial is a strong tool to get through life...trust me, it's the way forward!). If only someone would ban me from the "ch's"......Cheese, Chocolate & Ch..urpak! Notice I've not included Charshmallows in that list, it's because they are FAT FREE...says so on the packet, and that is ALL that matters! Give me a D, give me an E....N....I....A....L!!!
Anyway, the reason I got dressed today is because I chose to go to a NLP Coaching with Humour (provocative coaching) with Sue Knight (author of NLP at Work) seminar, hosted by the Coaching Association. Worry ye not, I've not entered the world as a coach...could you imagine?? But I am interested in coaching, but especially NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). It was blimin brilliant. I think that now is a good time to announce that from now on I'm not being 'mean', I'm being 'provocative'! =D
I first found out about this evening's event via some of the lovely ladies that I had met at the lunch I went to last Friday, and it sounded interesting. I'm trying to ensure that I don't go for days without leaving my abode, so am being proactive about getting out and about. It's a little difficult because I'm still in the honeymoon period of my new career and want to work all the time.
Of course there was the added incentive of going somewhere where they would have the heating on! And I'm pleased to report that Maersk (where the event was located) are not too tight and had their heating and lighting on, so it was rather special evening.
When I came home there was a funny smell, it didn't take me long to discover that I had gone out for FOUR hours and had left the gas burning under an empty pan on the cooker!! I'm just hoping that I haven't used up my luck that I was hoping to use to win the £10million lotto jackpot on Saturday. I'm gutted if I have...I have plans for that money! Like proper plans. As my beautiful friend L commented on my facebook status "Someone upstairs likes you!!!" (I always feel when one does something stupid, that the best thing to do is share it...make people feel good about themselves!). My question is 'how much?' How much does this person love me....show me the money!!
Speaking of money, tomorrow is going to be the first day I invoice my clients! I realise that most companies put on a '28 day payment term', I'm wondering if my clients will mind if I put on a '2.8hr payment term'?? Think about it, everything is instant these days. I'll be emailing the invoices, not snail mail. Everyone does internet banking, which is instant. What's the point of dragging out the best bit? Food for thought??
Talking of food....time to consume something from the 'ch' food group?!
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
It's only Tuesday and already I've found myself...
...getting defensive about living in Aberdeen! Due to the nature of the Oil & Gas industry, which is the main employer in this beautiful misunderstood city, people come to be educated, work & live here for 2-5yrs then move on. The North Sea is regarded as being the training ground by professionals in the industry, they get the experience they require then move on to more 'exotic' (I'll get back to this word) parts of the world. I think that Aberdeen is an easy target for people to slag off....and more and more recently I've really found myself becoming defensive about my home city.
The things I love about Aberdeen....
Location - it has long, beautiful beaches (ok, so we rarely get the weather to appreciate them in a conventional sense, but come on use your imagination people), it has two lovely rivers running through and it's an hour or two drive to some breath-taking mountains, where if there's snow, you can ski/snowboard. The surrounding area of Aberdeen is gorgeous...Royal Deeside, Stonehaven (Dunnottar Castle)...actually any part of Aberdeenshire & Grampian.
People - Ok, like everywhere we have our fair share of tossers but hand on heart I believe that the majority of people around here are braw (brilliant). There is a large international community because of the O&G Industry and I like the fact that we have this amazingly diverse mix of people from different backgrounds & cultures. I have many, many wonderful friends that I would never have met had it not been for living in Aberdeen (and I'm even counting the ones who have abandoned me when they've moved to those more 'exotic' locations that I mentioned earlier.
The City - The Granite City/Flower of Scotland/Oil Capital of Europe/Silver City with the Golden Sands...it has many nicknames, but all of them conjure fair images of my beloved home city. The majority of the city is built out of Granite, which granted when the weather is a wee bit dreich (bleak) the whole place is grey (no getting away from that), but if there is even just the slightest bit of sun, the granite comes alive, it sparkles and is truly beautiful. There are incredible parks...hence 'Flower of Scotland'. And it's not too large that you cannae stott home after a night oot on the tiles!!
Architecture - There are some stunning buildings, Marshall College for one, but granted there would be a hell of a lot more if the damn city planners had been kept in check over the past 50yrs....bring back hanging!!
Humour - you do have to have a good sense of...to live here!! Hahaha...but also I think that in general the good folks in this part of the world have a wicked sense of humour, but warning - you need thick skin & an understanding of sarcasm.
Ok, I could go on about the things I love about Aberdeen but I'm going to stop here. I could also write a list of the shite, no where is perfect, but today I'm focusing on the positives.
Anyway the reason I found myself getting defensive is that I met up with a friend who's 'desperate' to get out of this place and is on full steam ahead to fulfill this goal. I know a few people who subscribe to the 'oh my god, need to get out of here' catchphrase, and it never really bothered me that much until recently.
I'm now reflecting on why it bothers me? Is it pride? Do I feel that I need to defend the city that provides for it's inhabitants? Do I feel that the need to run away from Aberdeen is a reflection on the locals (including myself of course)? Perhaps it's a mix of the above.
Maybe I feel that I need to defend/justify my life choice to live here? Or perhaps I'm just sick'n'tired of the negativity?
On the flip side, I've travelled, lived & worked abroad and I can see the appeal of living/working in different countries/cultures. I guess what I'm looking for is for those who chose to come to Aberdeen, be appreciative of the good things here and perhaps mute your negativity when moving on, especially to the locals! Make the most of opportunities present and be open to having experiences which create good/great memories that you can carry in your heart and perhaps you'll remember Aberdeen & it's people more fondly.
P.s. Exotic...surely Aberdeen is exotic when you're not from the UK?? Ok...maybe that's a stretch even in my mind =)
The things I love about Aberdeen....
Location - it has long, beautiful beaches (ok, so we rarely get the weather to appreciate them in a conventional sense, but come on use your imagination people), it has two lovely rivers running through and it's an hour or two drive to some breath-taking mountains, where if there's snow, you can ski/snowboard. The surrounding area of Aberdeen is gorgeous...Royal Deeside, Stonehaven (Dunnottar Castle)...actually any part of Aberdeenshire & Grampian.
People - Ok, like everywhere we have our fair share of tossers but hand on heart I believe that the majority of people around here are braw (brilliant). There is a large international community because of the O&G Industry and I like the fact that we have this amazingly diverse mix of people from different backgrounds & cultures. I have many, many wonderful friends that I would never have met had it not been for living in Aberdeen (and I'm even counting the ones who have abandoned me when they've moved to those more 'exotic' locations that I mentioned earlier.
The City - The Granite City/Flower of Scotland/Oil Capital of Europe/Silver City with the Golden Sands...it has many nicknames, but all of them conjure fair images of my beloved home city. The majority of the city is built out of Granite, which granted when the weather is a wee bit dreich (bleak) the whole place is grey (no getting away from that), but if there is even just the slightest bit of sun, the granite comes alive, it sparkles and is truly beautiful. There are incredible parks...hence 'Flower of Scotland'. And it's not too large that you cannae stott home after a night oot on the tiles!!
Architecture - There are some stunning buildings, Marshall College for one, but granted there would be a hell of a lot more if the damn city planners had been kept in check over the past 50yrs....bring back hanging!!
Humour - you do have to have a good sense of...to live here!! Hahaha...but also I think that in general the good folks in this part of the world have a wicked sense of humour, but warning - you need thick skin & an understanding of sarcasm.
Ok, I could go on about the things I love about Aberdeen but I'm going to stop here. I could also write a list of the shite, no where is perfect, but today I'm focusing on the positives.
Anyway the reason I found myself getting defensive is that I met up with a friend who's 'desperate' to get out of this place and is on full steam ahead to fulfill this goal. I know a few people who subscribe to the 'oh my god, need to get out of here' catchphrase, and it never really bothered me that much until recently.
I'm now reflecting on why it bothers me? Is it pride? Do I feel that I need to defend the city that provides for it's inhabitants? Do I feel that the need to run away from Aberdeen is a reflection on the locals (including myself of course)? Perhaps it's a mix of the above.
Maybe I feel that I need to defend/justify my life choice to live here? Or perhaps I'm just sick'n'tired of the negativity?
On the flip side, I've travelled, lived & worked abroad and I can see the appeal of living/working in different countries/cultures. I guess what I'm looking for is for those who chose to come to Aberdeen, be appreciative of the good things here and perhaps mute your negativity when moving on, especially to the locals! Make the most of opportunities present and be open to having experiences which create good/great memories that you can carry in your heart and perhaps you'll remember Aberdeen & it's people more fondly.
P.s. Exotic...surely Aberdeen is exotic when you're not from the UK?? Ok...maybe that's a stretch even in my mind =)
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