I’m back again :)

[silver_sun]

Not quite sure where another whole year has disappeared to since I last posted here, but here I am again. It’s been a weird year however, so maybe that’s it. 

I’ve not really had much time off as my job has continued throughout and I’ve remained working on site rather than at home - I open and digitise the company's post so just about everyone else can work at home.

I’ve kind of got used to being in an almost empty office. In the past there were about 80 of us, now 70 or so are all at home.

I’m going to attempt to be around a bit more often, as there seem to be a bit of a move of people from my current fandom to come over here as twitter is a bit limited for longer discussion etc.

I’m still around the MDZS/Untamed fandom and writing fic. Currently thinking about doing the mxtx bigbang which includes mdzs.

It’s been years since I wrote for a bigbang, about 10 at a guess, back when I was still running the Torchwood classic one I think. It's a proper old school 50k one, so a lot to write in 6 months, but I’ve done nanowrimo before and that’s 50k in a single month - so I know I can do it.

So here is a brief hi, and hopefully I won’t leave it so long next time.

Comments

[libitina]

Hi! I find that I am enjoying the more distanced / fewer people working environment. But my hours were changed when we went to reduced staff (so that there wouldn't ever be anyone alone in the building), and I have not been able to have any grace to adjusting to the new schedule.

Anyway, I'm always looking for more people on dreamwidth who are excited about the same / similar things

[silver_sun]

It’s going to be a bit strange when people start to come back to work in the office, although I think there will be a lot who will, if possible keep working some days at home.
There’s somethings I miss about us all not being in, like when we’d all bring in food for a big buffet lunch - at Christmas and at Eid at the end of Ramadan. Neither is my religion - I’m an atheist, but its opportunity for me to make cake for people, and try different things other people have brought in.
I don’t miss some of my colleagues really strong perfumes though.

Out of everything I miss cafes the most. Just being able to sit there with a coffee and write for an hour or so. I used to do most of fic writing in cafes, as it’s often too awkward at home with an 11 year old (my son) bouncing round the place. A lot of what I’ve written in the past isn’t for kids, he’s not finding out his mum writes fic - because the first thing he’d do if he knew would be read it.

[libitina]

Food free communal food is great, no matter what the occasion.

Luckily one of my favorite coffee shops has a shaded outdoor area, and I have a much greater tolerance for cold and wind than most people. Since the most restricted reopening, I've had it mostly to myself when I've made the time.

I'm hoping more outdoor dining spaces are one of the things that stays post-covid.

But, yeah. Kids. Before covid I used to do babysitting for a friend so they could go out and have date nights, and they haven't had a break for over a year now. Now we try to carve out 2.5 hours on Wednesday nights to watch a show together over zoom (we recently started The Untamed) and it's even odds whether their (6yo) child will resent even that much of their attention not being on her. So date nights definitely need to resume as soon as they are at a point where we are feeling safe about it.

[silver_sun]

The coffee shops are shut here, apart from a few that do take away coffee only. No sitting in or out allowed. They should be able to open their outside areas again later this month. They’ve been closed, along with pubs & restaurants since Christmas and had been closed for from the April to August of last year as well. It’s been so hard for the small independent shops to keep going.

It was easier writing when he was younger and would go to sleep early, 7-8pm so I could get a couple of hours - I used to run a livejournal comm, and a big bang back when he was 1-3. Now he stays awake reading (currently the Hobbit) now well past his bedtime, because he’s just not tired. It’s great that he likes reading, but it’s so hard to get uninterrupted time anymore. I’m not sure if when he’s a teenager in a couple of years it’ll be easier or not.