Tag: paranoia
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Who’s got my back?
Recently I’ve been enjoying my new-found status as a single person. It’s truly liberating to not have to think about what your ‘significant other’ wants to do, or thinks, or might react to what you want to do, or think. Sure, there are some elements of a stable relationship (with someone stable) that I miss, but not necessarily enough to jump back into it all again. I have a good friend who has been navigating a new relationship recently, and watching them deal with the misunderstandings, the personal neuroses, and the baggage that a prospective partner comes with, has made… Read more
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Workplace efficiency plumbs new depths
I wouldn’t exactly say I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but I do like routine. I like to get to work at roughly the same time (give or take a couple of minutes) every day, and leave at the same time. I listen to the same radio station in the car, write with the same pen at work, and I like to have my breakfast, dinner, and tea at the same time, every day. One of the side-effects of this is that my – ahem – scatological requirements are also pretty regular. That’s pretty regular. Not dead-on-the-same-time regular. Which is why… Read more
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Paranoid? Sure, without Little Dirk to look out for me now…
Today is the 4th July, which is a public holiday here in the U.S. (officially, it’s Independence Day, although everyone just calls it “4th July” which makes me think they’ve forgotten exactly what they are celebrating). It’s probably the biggest public holiday of the year, which means that just about everything grinds to a halt. Except for me; I’m still in work. My colleagues couldn’t understand why I (a Briton) wasn’t out celebrating Independence Day, too. “Well, what are you celebrating independence from?”  I still think we should push for 200 years’ worth of back-taxes… The up-side to working on a public… Read more
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Terrorism begins at home
There was a report in the UK’s Guardian Online a couple of weeks ago about Anthony Garcia who is currently on trial in England for ‘conspiracy to cause explosions’ under the terrorism laws. One of the pieces of evidence against him was that he had attended an Al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan. But in his defence, Mr. Garcia explains that he only attended the camp for a couple of weeks, before checking himself out. And why did he leave early? Because he’d learnt all there was to know about blowing up innocent people? Or because he was disappointed to find… Read more
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No, really, they are are out to get me…
My car sprang a fairly serious oil leak (to the point where it was getting through oil faster than petrol, and I was leaving a trail all down the road). I’d noticed the oil light flashing on and off when I drove into work on Friday morning. So I topped it up with a gallon of Esso Superlube (company man to the last!) before I left work, but the oil light was flashing again before I was halfway home. I was just wondering where I’d find a garage open on a Saturday (this is Belgium, after all…), when the police… Read more