"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20: 8 – 11 NIV)
Yesterday I phoned up the office and asked my manager for the day off
“I’m not sick, just feel very tired.”
He agreed but told me he was a bit concerned about me as on Monday I’d been very quiet. I assured him that I’d be fine Wednesday. “I just need some time off that’s all”
So spent a leisurely day in bed, ate up all the leftovers in the fridge and ice cream from the freezer. Finished reading Terry Pratchett’s ‘Reaperman’ ( I’m still trying to figure out this one– Death supposedly retired, a new one appeared to take his place, there was a combat which somehow the old Death won?). I later on watched TV reruns online of Cupid and Dirty Sexy Money – but gave up on that when my Internet connection kept dropping, causing the video to freeze and buffer. I finished off the day by pampering myself with aromatherapy bath oils and a face mask package called Drift Away – a present from St Bs from two years ago (so it did come in handy after all)
This morning I felt quite refreshed and ready to take on the world again.
There’s something to be said about Sabbath. God knew that work work work with no rest leads to major problems like stress, depression. In today’s profit driven society business is 24/7, licensed trading hours for shops has been steadily increasing – when I first came to this country in 1998 on Sunday trading hours were 11 – 4, and now an extra hour has been added to this. I always wonder at people who complain about shops being closed on Sundays. They claim that they are not Christians, so why should they be subjected to observing the Sabbath. If only they could get over the whole ‘everything-Christian-must-be-bad’ hang up, they’d realise that Sabbath is for their benefit. It's funny how they would rather hear it from some secular self help guru (who's probably borrowed it from the Bible anyway- just not using the same jargon)
As human beings we get bogged down in the technicalities of things, and never look to the reason why they were instituted in the first place. I know Christians who don’t take Sabbath either– the ones always involved in ministry at church the whole of Sunday. You know the ones... they have full time jobs 6 days of the week, and then volunteer at church on Sunday. I used to be one of those Christians and I burnt out big time
The whole point of Sabbath is a day of rest from your labours – to give your body and mind a chance to recoup. It doesn’t have to be on a Sunday or a Saturday (depending on your denomination). Mine yesterday was a Tuesday.
Perhaps if God had explained Sabbath a little better… maybe we wouldn’t misinterpret it so. Look at Orthodox Jews – dating back to Jesus days. They turned their observation of Sabbath into a burden. To the point that when Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath – they moaned about the fact that he’d done something unlawful, totally missing out on the miracle that had just taken place in front of their very eyes.
Jesus told them "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2: 27 NIV)
This is not rocket science.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Panic
In my job, I’m working towards my professional qualification in Internal Auditing. In November I will be sitting for the first 2 out of 5 exams. My Employer is forking out a lot of money to pay for this!
Last Friday we had an all day training course on Risk Based internal auditing. The course made some sense while I listening to the trainer;
not so much sense when we did the group exercises
and on reviewing the course notes today – now no sense at all!
This afternoon I downloaded a past paper from the IIA website for practice on Paper 3- Internal Audit Practice, and got into state of panic because I couldn’t even answer one question. Even with the £80 study manual in front of me for reference! This paper is apparently the ‘easiest’ of the 5 and no one in my team has ever failed it.
How am I going to pass these exams? My brain feels like a sieve – and I’m not even pregnant (before you start, I heard that pregnant women have difficulty retaining stuff)!
Last Friday we had an all day training course on Risk Based internal auditing. The course made some sense while I listening to the trainer;
not so much sense when we did the group exercises
and on reviewing the course notes today – now no sense at all!
This afternoon I downloaded a past paper from the IIA website for practice on Paper 3- Internal Audit Practice, and got into state of panic because I couldn’t even answer one question. Even with the £80 study manual in front of me for reference! This paper is apparently the ‘easiest’ of the 5 and no one in my team has ever failed it.
How am I going to pass these exams? My brain feels like a sieve – and I’m not even pregnant (before you start, I heard that pregnant women have difficulty retaining stuff)!
Friday, July 10, 2009
How's the job going?
‘How is your job going?’
I hear that question a lot. The answer I give depends on who has asked it
For those who just ask me to make conversation – not because they really wanted to know, it’s “Fine” with a bright smile
Those who know me slightly better get “Going” or “Dull” (grimace)
And then there’s the third category
“I wish I had never taken it in the first place. I am surrounded by middle aged colleagues I can’t relate to; sick of being stuck in an office or boring meeting all day, sick of jargon I don’t understand, writing non-inspiring reports on subjects that are of little interest to me.. Did I mention I hate the long commute?”
By this time they’ve got an ‘I-wish-I’d-never-asked’ expression and since I am trying not to be so negative I end lamely,
“Oh, the canteen is really nice, cheap, good quality food”
I feel really guilty about it especially in these tough economic times where unemployment in the UK is estimated to be 3 million in 2010. My younger sister has been looking for a job for almost 3 months now. It’s a tough job market and I should be grateful that I even have a job. And not just any job. I worked hard to get this one! I’ve never prepared so thoroughly for an interview before. I prayed and cried for it. And when I got it, I was delighted that it came with an unexpected promotion, pay rise and an interest free season ticket
But, the reality is far removed from my expectations. I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life. I enjoy doing PA at church – not the techie side (I’m hopeless at that), but interacting and feeling part of something bigger. I also like the video effects side of things.
I could possibly continue volunteering at church and perhaps gain some qualifications on a part time course. The only hurdle is that most audiovisual part time courses are not available in the evenings. So that would involve going part time at work. Can I afford it? At the moment ‘it’s a negative’! What’s getting in the way? I won’t be able to afford to pay my mortgage and pay off credit card bills. I could possibly sell and rent lodgings somewhere. I think I’m going to write down this plan of action. Hmm
I hear that question a lot. The answer I give depends on who has asked it
For those who just ask me to make conversation – not because they really wanted to know, it’s “Fine” with a bright smile
Those who know me slightly better get “Going” or “Dull” (grimace)
And then there’s the third category
“I wish I had never taken it in the first place. I am surrounded by middle aged colleagues I can’t relate to; sick of being stuck in an office or boring meeting all day, sick of jargon I don’t understand, writing non-inspiring reports on subjects that are of little interest to me.. Did I mention I hate the long commute?”
By this time they’ve got an ‘I-wish-I’d-never-asked’ expression and since I am trying not to be so negative I end lamely,
“Oh, the canteen is really nice, cheap, good quality food”
I feel really guilty about it especially in these tough economic times where unemployment in the UK is estimated to be 3 million in 2010. My younger sister has been looking for a job for almost 3 months now. It’s a tough job market and I should be grateful that I even have a job. And not just any job. I worked hard to get this one! I’ve never prepared so thoroughly for an interview before. I prayed and cried for it. And when I got it, I was delighted that it came with an unexpected promotion, pay rise and an interest free season ticket
But, the reality is far removed from my expectations. I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life. I enjoy doing PA at church – not the techie side (I’m hopeless at that), but interacting and feeling part of something bigger. I also like the video effects side of things.
I could possibly continue volunteering at church and perhaps gain some qualifications on a part time course. The only hurdle is that most audiovisual part time courses are not available in the evenings. So that would involve going part time at work. Can I afford it? At the moment ‘it’s a negative’! What’s getting in the way? I won’t be able to afford to pay my mortgage and pay off credit card bills. I could possibly sell and rent lodgings somewhere. I think I’m going to write down this plan of action. Hmm
Monday, July 06, 2009
Random Encounter
On Friday Kemi and I decided to bond over making tiramisu and watching TV. (Okay I supervised and decided what we'd watch). We started off the evening in the supermarket where we went a bit wild. Ended up with a very heavy bag of groceries which we lugged between us. As we were waiting for the bus, a guy in a Mercedes pulls up and asked
'Where are you going girls? Do you need a lift?"
I blurted out "Yes please" and without hesitating hauled the bag into the back seat, gesturing for Kemi to get in. She almost had an apoplectic fit and whispered furiously,
"Kim, what you doing? You don't even know the guy!"
"But the bus is taking ages to come"
Layi (his name) drove us home. (I must add caveat that Kemi was strongly opposed to this) and then asked us what our plans were for the evening.
"We’re making tiramisu"
You could tell that he wanted us to ask him in. He kept dropping hints, which I ignored and instead thanked him profusely for his kindness. Before he drove off, he asked if he could come and visit us from time to time. "yeah, that would be nice"
"How will I contact you?
So I gave him my number and that was that....
An hour later I got a call from him.
"How’s the tiramisu coming along? Umm, I've got a bottle of wine, and it's really not great to drink on my own. Can I come over and share with you girls?"
"Oh alright then, come over"
Kemi - “What you doing Kim... we don't even know the guy.... what if the wine is poisoned... we need to call someone and let them know that we have a STRANGE man coming to our house.... let’s put out Bibles and play Christian music"
Maybe I'm too trusting but unlike Kemi I wasn't suspicious. Layi brought a nice bottle of French red wine (it wasn't poisoned… see I’m still alive), and stayed chatting until like 3.00am when I politely threw him out (or else he would have gone on for longer). Quite knowledgeable, well travelled, appeared to be genuinely interested in people - a bit of name dropping here and there. Lousy taste in music. He DISSED Beyonce. Hmm! Kemi claims that he was directing all the conversation to me and that he really liked me. (Well she was giving him the third degree ‘Who are you? Where do you work? What kind of family are you from?) I didn't pick up any ‘I like you vibes’. I never do unless it’s blatant. Actually Layi reminds me of one of my best friends, Eddie, who passed away 4 years ago. I can see Eddie doing the same thing.
Typical extravert,
Totally spontaneous
Or maybe he was a bit lonely and just wanted company.
Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll be hearing from him again. He phoned on Sunday morning – I was at church. So he said he’d phone later. When he did, I was on my way to church again for the evening service. He couldn’t have gotten off the phone any quicker. His last words were a vague. “Okay, I’ll phone you some time’
Yeah, and we know what that means…
NEVER.
'Where are you going girls? Do you need a lift?"
I blurted out "Yes please" and without hesitating hauled the bag into the back seat, gesturing for Kemi to get in. She almost had an apoplectic fit and whispered furiously,
"Kim, what you doing? You don't even know the guy!"
"But the bus is taking ages to come"
Layi (his name) drove us home. (I must add caveat that Kemi was strongly opposed to this) and then asked us what our plans were for the evening.
"We’re making tiramisu"
You could tell that he wanted us to ask him in. He kept dropping hints, which I ignored and instead thanked him profusely for his kindness. Before he drove off, he asked if he could come and visit us from time to time. "yeah, that would be nice"
"How will I contact you?
So I gave him my number and that was that....
An hour later I got a call from him.
"How’s the tiramisu coming along? Umm, I've got a bottle of wine, and it's really not great to drink on my own. Can I come over and share with you girls?"
"Oh alright then, come over"
Kemi - “What you doing Kim... we don't even know the guy.... what if the wine is poisoned... we need to call someone and let them know that we have a STRANGE man coming to our house.... let’s put out Bibles and play Christian music"
Maybe I'm too trusting but unlike Kemi I wasn't suspicious. Layi brought a nice bottle of French red wine (it wasn't poisoned… see I’m still alive), and stayed chatting until like 3.00am when I politely threw him out (or else he would have gone on for longer). Quite knowledgeable, well travelled, appeared to be genuinely interested in people - a bit of name dropping here and there. Lousy taste in music. He DISSED Beyonce. Hmm! Kemi claims that he was directing all the conversation to me and that he really liked me. (Well she was giving him the third degree ‘Who are you? Where do you work? What kind of family are you from?) I didn't pick up any ‘I like you vibes’. I never do unless it’s blatant. Actually Layi reminds me of one of my best friends, Eddie, who passed away 4 years ago. I can see Eddie doing the same thing.
Typical extravert,
Totally spontaneous
Or maybe he was a bit lonely and just wanted company.
Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll be hearing from him again. He phoned on Sunday morning – I was at church. So he said he’d phone later. When he did, I was on my way to church again for the evening service. He couldn’t have gotten off the phone any quicker. His last words were a vague. “Okay, I’ll phone you some time’
Yeah, and we know what that means…
NEVER.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Heat Wave in London
In London, we’ve been having incredible temperatures this week 30 – 31 degrees Centigrade– which is great if you are on holiday, not so great if you have to travel to work. Our Public transport has very poor ventilation and air conditioning. Add this with the number of commuters crammed in (on Victoria line – about 600,000 per day) makes for some unpleasant journeys. Hot, crowded
Yesterday, a colleague decided to travel home by bus because he thought it would be cooler. I smirked when I read the headlines in the Metro ‘30 degrees … but buses keep heating on’. Apparently despite ‘sauna’ like conditions drivers are not allowed to turn the heating off in their buses as it can only be done by engineers! Either this is a strategy for engineers to protect their jobs or another classic example of British Health and Safety rules gone mad! What’s so hard about installing simple temperature controls that can be operated by drivers? After all, we have them in cars?
London!
Yesterday, a colleague decided to travel home by bus because he thought it would be cooler. I smirked when I read the headlines in the Metro ‘30 degrees … but buses keep heating on’. Apparently despite ‘sauna’ like conditions drivers are not allowed to turn the heating off in their buses as it can only be done by engineers! Either this is a strategy for engineers to protect their jobs or another classic example of British Health and Safety rules gone mad! What’s so hard about installing simple temperature controls that can be operated by drivers? After all, we have them in cars?
London!
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