(no subject)
Aug. 22nd, 2016 07:12 pmIn memoriam. 22 August 1485. Remember before God, Richard Plantagenet and all who fell at Bosworth Field, having kept faith. Loyaulte me Lie.
(no subject)
Aug. 22nd, 2015 12:24 amIn memoriam. 22 August 1485. Remember before God, Richard Plantagenet and all who fell at Bosworth Field, having kept faith. Loyaulte me Lie.
22 August 1485
Aug. 22nd, 2014 06:56 amRemember before God, Richard Plantagenet and all who fell at Bosworth Field, having kept faith. Loyaulte me lie.
Update and miscellany
Dec. 8th, 2013 12:07 amIts been such a long time since I’ve updated LJ with anything appropriately personal, but I’m spending a quiet evening transferring data from 2013 calendar to 2014 calendar and its reminding me of the things I’ve done / seen over the past --- lo, these many days.
From approximately March to July 2012, my part time job began to unravel, in what I now see was probably a case of bullying. There was a particularly driven, brittle and demanding Boss Person who treated everyone rudely but was especially brittle and shrill towards me. Meetings would be set up that I wasn’t told about until they happened, then I was reprimanded about not being prepared. Called to stand beside Boss Person’s chair as my work was "marked” (red pen and everything) to make sure such slip ups didn’t happen again (except they did because I was not told about things). Boss Person’s phone would ring, I would be shouted at to pick up the call as Boss Person was busy. Would pick up phone only for Boss Person (now suddenly not so busy) to come over and stand right behind me to dictate what I had to say to the caller – word for word – rather than speak to the caller directly. Then was told, word for word, what I should say to every caller, every time. I wrote it down, just to be sure I got the words right. Was then snapped at not to write anything down, that I should *pay attention* better instead of taking notes.
And a hundred other dreary instances - all probably the usual scenario in such cases. What surprises me now is how long it took for me to realise what was going on. I don’t think of myself as a bullied person, I don’t think of myself as someone others would find it worth bullying. For a shamefully long time, I colluded in my own disrespectful treatment and spent a lot of time and sweat as I worked hard to fix myself, improve my work, to meet the constantly changing demands and needs of the Boss Person. My default position was it was *me* that was wrong.
But that delusion wore off after a while – the “not being told about meetings” was a big tip off, and then a poor performance review didn’t help. This really galled since I had worked very hard – to see that work coded as unprofessional and un-businesslike on the review form made me realise it was *not* me that was wrong, but Boss Person was wrong. I also realised going to ‘HR’ or even talking to my job share colleague was pointless – job share colleague did listen calmly but of course, not having seen anything, and of course not being treated as I was, she found it hard to give credibility to my claims. Which is fair enough. Subsequently, as my replacement(s) have reported the same treatment (and left the job), I think I have more credibility now. If we could have gone to Boss Person together perhaps the situation might have been salvaged but – water under the bridge. And my former job share is now on to my third replacement and not having a good time of it finding someone as – well, asgood reliable as I was. A tiny tiny spiteful part of me is quite pleased. Boss Person is still there, still shrill and brittle. Of course.
Anyway, now finally clued in as to what was going on, I looked about for another job – as I was often working full time hours/demands anyway, I looked for a full time job and luckily was recommended by a former colleague to his current employer, one of the Big 4 accountancy firms.
That was a very very interesting experience. Utterly frightful, but very interesting. So frightful I walked out after 7 weeks. Yep, walked out, in *this* economy, without a job to go to and no idea of what I planned to do. I’ve never done that before and hope I never have to do it again. It was utter madness of course, though it was walk out or walk into A&E to be frank. Frying pans and fires came to mind... but no, it all worked out because I just – stepped away, stepped aside from work and the rush and the pressure and took time off. Utterly off from everything. Six months of it. Bliss. I didn’t worry, didn’t ponder my future, nothing like that. I just sat in a chair, or read books, or went for long walks. It was utterly freeing and what I’d needed for a long time I think. When I cast my eyes back, I’ve not had 2 weeks holiday *ever* in my working life. I think I was owed 6 months sitting in an armchair and reading books!
I am very grateful and aware of how privileged I am to have had the money to do something like that.
But come January 2013, I realised I’d sat enough. I loaded my CV up on a few web pages - I must be the luckiest so and so ever (or “Jammy Sod”) but right when I was thinking, ‘hmm, need a job now’, an old agency I’d worked with years ago phoned me out of the blue to say there was a temp position at Gringotts and would I do it? £nice rate per hour, that will do nicely, you start tomorrow. Bafflingly, the staff at Gringotts remembered me from when I worked there before in 2000 and when they saw my name, wanted me back. This is both flattering and slightly sinister – am I recalled for being so good or being so bad? Or for being so weird?
Sorry, all of this probably reads like a humble-brag of Tom Hiddleston proportions, I know! But, I’m still there back at Gringotts, loving being a temp (paid! benefits! no commitments!) and best of all, its work I can do, and do well. Gringotts is now based in Canary Wharf too, so its a shorter/better journey for me. Yeah, Jammy Sod is about right. All those candles to St Winifred have paid off.
Anyway, while the bullying / walk out of new job / find new temp job shenanigans were going on, I’ve been keeping up with Kulcher Korner.
2012
March: to see “The Recruiting Officer” with Mark Gatiss – yes, my love remains as bright as ever! - at the Donmar, the ticket being a present from A Worthy Friend. Very very good indeed, though Mark was not on stage enough for me.
April: a day trip out to the hotel where Eastercon was happening to catch up with a few old faces in the hotel bar.
May: to the Cinema Museum to attend a lecture on Jack The Ripper In The Cinema. This was really weird and not as interesting as it should have been, though finding out there *is* a Cinema Museum was worth it.
July: day out (amid torrential rain) at Syon House with Worthy Friends. An utterly lovely place but my word, those planes landing and taking off at Heathrow take away from the historical ambience quite a bit.
October: day out to St Albans
October: to the Hampstead Theatre to see "55 Days" with Mark Gatiss. I had quite a complicated reaction to this play and the performances which I may write up in another post - and if I can decipher my own hand writing from my notes written at the time.
October: to the BFI to see Horror Europa documentary, then Q&A with Mark Gatiss (I’m *not* a stalker, honest! He’s married and gay for goodness sake!)
November: personal development training course in Cognitive Behavioral Hypnotherapy. I found this utterly fascinating and who knows, may progress this.
November: to the BFI to attend a lecture on the movies of Doris Day and performance of Pillow Talk
November: exhibition of ballgowns at the V&A.
December: sing-a-long-a Sound of Music. I’m probably too old and tired to find this as much fun as I would have. I left at the interval, came home and watched the movie ‘straight’ on DVD.
2013
March: to the Old Vic to see “The Winslow Boy” – charming production and Sir Robert was suitably dashing.
May: to the IMAX to see “Star Trek: Into Darkness” and give myself a bad headache watching it in 3D – never again. The movie itself was – um, well. It was what it was. I find the ‘original’ James T Kirk a tiny bit of a rogue and a flirt, but the new James T Kirk seems to be just a leery chancer: not safe in a taxi. Benedict walked off with everything that wasn’t nailed down.
September 2013: to the Globe to see “Macbeth”. First time at the Globe and really enjoyed it. Macbeth was excellent and for once, had real chemistry with his wife. You could understand why they were married and they *acted* married. The banquet played somewhat as an Awkward Dinner Party at times – different, but I liked it (Macbeth was very handsome...) Lady Macbeth had one of those voices that trigger my ASMR so that was an unexpected bonus.
October 2013: to the BFI to see “The Mummy” – the original and best Boris Karloff version, which was utterly gorgeous.
But 2012 and 2013 have been less kind in other ways. A dear friend’s father died after a very short illness and I heard another old friend from way back faced a big and horrible cancer scare, though is now recovering well, thank God. My boss at Gringotts lost his 19 year old daughter in a horse riding accident – the shock still reverberates and he is visibly a broken man, understandably so. My favourite aunt and uncle both died very suddenly in the space of 4 months. Had one or two horrid flare ups of arthritis – inevitable as I age I know, but golly, they don’t half hurt at the time!
So, I think that’s all the news that’s fit to print. And another year, gone by too fast. Onwards.
From approximately March to July 2012, my part time job began to unravel, in what I now see was probably a case of bullying. There was a particularly driven, brittle and demanding Boss Person who treated everyone rudely but was especially brittle and shrill towards me. Meetings would be set up that I wasn’t told about until they happened, then I was reprimanded about not being prepared. Called to stand beside Boss Person’s chair as my work was "marked” (red pen and everything) to make sure such slip ups didn’t happen again (except they did because I was not told about things). Boss Person’s phone would ring, I would be shouted at to pick up the call as Boss Person was busy. Would pick up phone only for Boss Person (now suddenly not so busy) to come over and stand right behind me to dictate what I had to say to the caller – word for word – rather than speak to the caller directly. Then was told, word for word, what I should say to every caller, every time. I wrote it down, just to be sure I got the words right. Was then snapped at not to write anything down, that I should *pay attention* better instead of taking notes.
And a hundred other dreary instances - all probably the usual scenario in such cases. What surprises me now is how long it took for me to realise what was going on. I don’t think of myself as a bullied person, I don’t think of myself as someone others would find it worth bullying. For a shamefully long time, I colluded in my own disrespectful treatment and spent a lot of time and sweat as I worked hard to fix myself, improve my work, to meet the constantly changing demands and needs of the Boss Person. My default position was it was *me* that was wrong.
But that delusion wore off after a while – the “not being told about meetings” was a big tip off, and then a poor performance review didn’t help. This really galled since I had worked very hard – to see that work coded as unprofessional and un-businesslike on the review form made me realise it was *not* me that was wrong, but Boss Person was wrong. I also realised going to ‘HR’ or even talking to my job share colleague was pointless – job share colleague did listen calmly but of course, not having seen anything, and of course not being treated as I was, she found it hard to give credibility to my claims. Which is fair enough. Subsequently, as my replacement(s) have reported the same treatment (and left the job), I think I have more credibility now. If we could have gone to Boss Person together perhaps the situation might have been salvaged but – water under the bridge. And my former job share is now on to my third replacement and not having a good time of it finding someone as – well, as
Anyway, now finally clued in as to what was going on, I looked about for another job – as I was often working full time hours/demands anyway, I looked for a full time job and luckily was recommended by a former colleague to his current employer, one of the Big 4 accountancy firms.
That was a very very interesting experience. Utterly frightful, but very interesting. So frightful I walked out after 7 weeks. Yep, walked out, in *this* economy, without a job to go to and no idea of what I planned to do. I’ve never done that before and hope I never have to do it again. It was utter madness of course, though it was walk out or walk into A&E to be frank. Frying pans and fires came to mind... but no, it all worked out because I just – stepped away, stepped aside from work and the rush and the pressure and took time off. Utterly off from everything. Six months of it. Bliss. I didn’t worry, didn’t ponder my future, nothing like that. I just sat in a chair, or read books, or went for long walks. It was utterly freeing and what I’d needed for a long time I think. When I cast my eyes back, I’ve not had 2 weeks holiday *ever* in my working life. I think I was owed 6 months sitting in an armchair and reading books!
I am very grateful and aware of how privileged I am to have had the money to do something like that.
But come January 2013, I realised I’d sat enough. I loaded my CV up on a few web pages - I must be the luckiest so and so ever (or “Jammy Sod”) but right when I was thinking, ‘hmm, need a job now’, an old agency I’d worked with years ago phoned me out of the blue to say there was a temp position at Gringotts and would I do it? £nice rate per hour, that will do nicely, you start tomorrow. Bafflingly, the staff at Gringotts remembered me from when I worked there before in 2000 and when they saw my name, wanted me back. This is both flattering and slightly sinister – am I recalled for being so good or being so bad? Or for being so weird?
Sorry, all of this probably reads like a humble-brag of Tom Hiddleston proportions, I know! But, I’m still there back at Gringotts, loving being a temp (paid! benefits! no commitments!) and best of all, its work I can do, and do well. Gringotts is now based in Canary Wharf too, so its a shorter/better journey for me. Yeah, Jammy Sod is about right. All those candles to St Winifred have paid off.
Anyway, while the bullying / walk out of new job / find new temp job shenanigans were going on, I’ve been keeping up with Kulcher Korner.
2012
March: to see “The Recruiting Officer” with Mark Gatiss – yes, my love remains as bright as ever! - at the Donmar, the ticket being a present from A Worthy Friend. Very very good indeed, though Mark was not on stage enough for me.
April: a day trip out to the hotel where Eastercon was happening to catch up with a few old faces in the hotel bar.
May: to the Cinema Museum to attend a lecture on Jack The Ripper In The Cinema. This was really weird and not as interesting as it should have been, though finding out there *is* a Cinema Museum was worth it.
July: day out (amid torrential rain) at Syon House with Worthy Friends. An utterly lovely place but my word, those planes landing and taking off at Heathrow take away from the historical ambience quite a bit.
October: day out to St Albans
October: to the Hampstead Theatre to see "55 Days" with Mark Gatiss. I had quite a complicated reaction to this play and the performances which I may write up in another post - and if I can decipher my own hand writing from my notes written at the time.
October: to the BFI to see Horror Europa documentary, then Q&A with Mark Gatiss (I’m *not* a stalker, honest! He’s married and gay for goodness sake!)
November: personal development training course in Cognitive Behavioral Hypnotherapy. I found this utterly fascinating and who knows, may progress this.
November: to the BFI to attend a lecture on the movies of Doris Day and performance of Pillow Talk
November: exhibition of ballgowns at the V&A.
December: sing-a-long-a Sound of Music. I’m probably too old and tired to find this as much fun as I would have. I left at the interval, came home and watched the movie ‘straight’ on DVD.
2013
March: to the Old Vic to see “The Winslow Boy” – charming production and Sir Robert was suitably dashing.
May: to the IMAX to see “Star Trek: Into Darkness” and give myself a bad headache watching it in 3D – never again. The movie itself was – um, well. It was what it was. I find the ‘original’ James T Kirk a tiny bit of a rogue and a flirt, but the new James T Kirk seems to be just a leery chancer: not safe in a taxi. Benedict walked off with everything that wasn’t nailed down.
September 2013: to the Globe to see “Macbeth”. First time at the Globe and really enjoyed it. Macbeth was excellent and for once, had real chemistry with his wife. You could understand why they were married and they *acted* married. The banquet played somewhat as an Awkward Dinner Party at times – different, but I liked it (Macbeth was very handsome...) Lady Macbeth had one of those voices that trigger my ASMR so that was an unexpected bonus.
October 2013: to the BFI to see “The Mummy” – the original and best Boris Karloff version, which was utterly gorgeous.
But 2012 and 2013 have been less kind in other ways. A dear friend’s father died after a very short illness and I heard another old friend from way back faced a big and horrible cancer scare, though is now recovering well, thank God. My boss at Gringotts lost his 19 year old daughter in a horse riding accident – the shock still reverberates and he is visibly a broken man, understandably so. My favourite aunt and uncle both died very suddenly in the space of 4 months. Had one or two horrid flare ups of arthritis – inevitable as I age I know, but golly, they don’t half hurt at the time!
So, I think that’s all the news that’s fit to print. And another year, gone by too fast. Onwards.
Please sign this if you can
Nov. 7th, 2013 09:00 pmhttps://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/52740
Stop FGM in the UK Now
Responsible department: Home Office
Over 66,000 women in the UK have already undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) and more than 24,000 girls are at risk. FGM is a very British problem. Despite increased activities around FGM recently, it is not enough - we are still failing to stop the abuse. The multi-agency guidelines are not statutory, implementation at Local Authority and NHS level is disjointed, funding is minimal, and nobody is monitoring or holding anyone to account. As FGM falls under the Violence Against Woman and Girls (VAWG) portfolio, we believe that the Home Office should take responsibility for drawing up and enforcing the implementation of a National Strategy and Action Plan to eliminate FGM in the UK. Please join us in our call for effective leadership.
Leyla Hussein, Daughters of Eve
Efua Dorkenoo OBE, Equality Now
Stop FGM in the UK Now
Responsible department: Home Office
Over 66,000 women in the UK have already undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) and more than 24,000 girls are at risk. FGM is a very British problem. Despite increased activities around FGM recently, it is not enough - we are still failing to stop the abuse. The multi-agency guidelines are not statutory, implementation at Local Authority and NHS level is disjointed, funding is minimal, and nobody is monitoring or holding anyone to account. As FGM falls under the Violence Against Woman and Girls (VAWG) portfolio, we believe that the Home Office should take responsibility for drawing up and enforcing the implementation of a National Strategy and Action Plan to eliminate FGM in the UK. Please join us in our call for effective leadership.
Leyla Hussein, Daughters of Eve
Efua Dorkenoo OBE, Equality Now
22 August 1485
Aug. 21st, 2013 11:31 pmRemember before God, Richard Plantagenet and all who fell at Bosworth Field, having kept faith. Loyaulte me lie.
Not important enough to beta or give any of that header/summary nonsense. Silly Sherlock sugar, no insult or harm intended and no calories herein. ( now behind a cut tag by request… )
22 August 1485
Aug. 22nd, 2012 08:09 amRemember before God, Richard Plantagenet and all who fell at Bosworth Field, having kept faith. Loualtie me lie.
(no subject)
Jun. 11th, 2012 05:47 pmDoes anyone work (or has worked) in the charity/not for profit sector? Any insights about pros/cons of this kind of work?
I have been shortlisted for a job with a charity in the UK, its a sector I know nothing about so any information would be valued. TIA.
I have been shortlisted for a job with a charity in the UK, its a sector I know nothing about so any information would be valued. TIA.
I wrote a story!
Aug. 27th, 2010 04:53 pmTitle: A Teensy Misunderstanding
Author: Gloria Lancaster
Rating: Not sure – er, PG? Some bad language, men kiss each other
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC 2010)
Word Count: @ 6,500
Pairing: Mycroft Holmes/DI Lestrade
Warnings: see notes at the end of the story
Disclaimer: No insult or harm intended to the owners of any original copyright
The link takes you to the story at my LiveJournal,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gloria1.
http://gloria1.livejournal.com/99197.html#cutid1
Author: Gloria Lancaster
Rating: Not sure – er, PG? Some bad language, men kiss each other
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC 2010)
Word Count: @ 6,500
Pairing: Mycroft Holmes/DI Lestrade
Warnings: see notes at the end of the story
Disclaimer: No insult or harm intended to the owners of any original copyright
The link takes you to the story at my LiveJournal,
gloria1.http://gloria1.livejournal.com/99197.html#cutid1
Also posted on my LJ
Jul. 14th, 2010 09:06 amFannish/fandom related: one of my few remaining ties to 'fandom' per se, is to attend a small convention called "Closet Con" - it only happens every other year and this year is likely to be the last one. I have (foolishly) offered to give a presentation – its called "The Lonely Goatherd - can you be a fan without being in fandom?".
Obviously I have my own big mouth to shout off about my experiences – and that’s necessarily limited. So I would love to hear other viewpoints, if anyone wants to share?
So far, I've got the opening ready but seem to have hit a road block. Barriers to joining fandom - cost, accessibility, and so on? Finding it in the first place? Hostile place, welcoming place? Finding it and leaving it? A utility or resource? A commitment? Using it (or being used by it)? Any of another ten million things I’ve not considered?
Comment screen is disabled or you can contact me at nuinmar at googlemail dot com. Everything will be confidential, I won’t quote anyone directly and won’t divulge any names or attribute any comments. This isn’t an academic exercise, I’m not ticking boxes or conducting a survey, instead, consider this in a spirit of friendly interest.
Thank you.
And if you want to know more about Closet Con, please check out:
http://www.villagepresszines.co.uk/cc.10.htm
Obviously I have my own big mouth to shout off about my experiences – and that’s necessarily limited. So I would love to hear other viewpoints, if anyone wants to share?
So far, I've got the opening ready but seem to have hit a road block. Barriers to joining fandom - cost, accessibility, and so on? Finding it in the first place? Hostile place, welcoming place? Finding it and leaving it? A utility or resource? A commitment? Using it (or being used by it)? Any of another ten million things I’ve not considered?
Comment screen is disabled or you can contact me at nuinmar at googlemail dot com. Everything will be confidential, I won’t quote anyone directly and won’t divulge any names or attribute any comments. This isn’t an academic exercise, I’m not ticking boxes or conducting a survey, instead, consider this in a spirit of friendly interest.
Thank you.
And if you want to know more about Closet Con, please check out:
http://www.villagepresszines.co.uk/cc.10.htm
Oooh, look, I got me a DW account
May. 1st, 2009 07:21 pmI'm not sure what I'll post here, but its nice to have the account anyway!
