A Nik In Time

I don't listen to music very often. A year ago, I was feeling very depressed, and didn't know why. I then realised that I was becoming very emotional with every song that was played. I'd listen to a slow song and feel sad. Even if the song had no relevance to me. Even while working at work, I couldn't listen to the radio for fear of suddenly bursting into tears and someone walking in and seeing me.


So, I stopped listening to music.


However, I have recently started up again, all thanks to the rediscovery of my favourite singer from the 1980's - Nik Kershaw.


He is still going strong (he's now 53!), still writing songs and touring.

Nik Kershaw, then and now

I've never found anyone who writes lyrics quite like him. Nowadays, most people write songs about love found and love lost. Although Nik has written songs like this, most of his songs are of more unusual topics. I still have no idea what "The Riddle" is about, but all I know is that it made a great dungeon that I for my games group many years ago. And how many songs do you know about "Don Quixote"?

His new stuff is good too. He's even produced an acoustic album of his old songs, turning classics like "Human Racing", "Wouldn't It Be Good", and "Dancing Girls" into folk ballads.

He has restored my faith in music. Thank you, Mr Kershaw.

Now, shall I start relistening to Howard Jones....?

The Squirrel Saviour

It's been another eventful week at the Grand Almond Hotel. Our managers seem to have gone away on holiday at the same time, so the kids are in charge!

I had an odd encounter the other day. I received a phone call from the chefs saying that there was a squirrel stuck in a bin behind the kitchens, and could I help them. Why don't they just tip the bin over, I thought. However, when I got there, I realised that that wouldn't have helped.

We have large green wheely skips outside the kitchens, where all the waste food goes. In the bottom of them is a hole, about 4 inches in diameter, in which sits a plug. If you want to clean the skip, you take the plug out and hose it down.

One of the bins was missing its plug, and a squirrel, lured by the smell of food, decided to poke his head up through the hole and start eating. He then became too fat to fit back through the hole. So, this poor squirrel was wedged, top half in the skip, bottom half outside it, panicking.

So, I grabbed some thick gloves from the grounds staff and climbed into the bin. My first idea was to try to push it back down. However, the squirrel was so fat, it wouldn't move down. So, I held my gloved hand close to its mouth (it bit into the glove), and I very gently pulled, while massaging and gently squeezing it. After a short time, its hips came up through the hole, and it was free.

I received a round of applause from the kitchen staff, who had come to watch, and was proclaimed the Squirrel Saviour. If there were any more trapped squirrels, then I was now the man to call upon.

Another interesting thing happened this week (although not as interesting as Squirrelgate). We have a regular guest called Miss Jessica leMuir. She is a retired actress, having performed on the stage for years. Whenever she visits, we have to change the rotas, for Miss Jessica despises men. She is very quick to anger at any man who tries to be nice to her. So, when she visits, we make sure there are women on reception, and waitresses in the restaurant and bar.

She has started to take a liking to me. She was very happy when I brought her breakfast, and she smiles at me as we pass in the corridors. I don't know what I've done, but it's nice to be the only man she likes.

That's about it for this week.

Oh. On a sidenote, I saw Sir Ian McKellen on my day off, going down the escalators at Tottenham Court Road station. I was going up at the time. It was definitely him, because he was talking to a woman who was with him, and he has quite a distinctive voice.

Media Frenzy

I've been in a bad mood all week. I don't know why. I've been snapping at people and asserting my authority a bit too much. Perhaps it's the weather. Standing out in the rain trying to be nice to people isn't easy sometimes. Perhaps it's the time of year. We're not busy in January and February, so there's not much to do. So I'm sorry to anyone I may have insulted or raised my voice to or been sarcastic to this week.

We had a media frenzy at the hotel on tuesday this week. Every year we make a new advert for the hotel, and each year it attracts a lot of people from the papers, so we've had various people interviewed around the place and photographers taking photos of everything we do. This year, however, they were all very well behaved. None made any stupid requests - "can you move that antique painting onto the other wall so it's it my photo" - or asked us to do silly things - "can you get that elderly man to sit on your lap and smile, please".

We're about to have a new pool built. The workmen have fenced off a large area of the complex and are about to rip out the old pool and build us a bigger, better one. The work, however, was supposed to start in September 2010, and was supposed to be finished by Easter this year, for the start of our busy season. It ain't gonna happen. Predictions put it at the end of May. Hmmm. That means lots of angry visitors over Easter because there is no pool. We'll all have to be extra chirpy that week. Joy!

The hotel manager, Marcus Halliwell, is a runner. He goes off for a run during his lunch break. I saw him the other day, and jokingly said he should wear lycra, because he'd look good in it. He winked at me and said if I bought him some, he'd wear it. So I called his bluff and bought him a nice pair of lycra shorts. Let's see if he wears them...

That's about it for this week. Hopefully I'll be in a better mood next week. Should be. A work colleague and I are visiting the Boat Show, which should be fun. I'll let you know all about it next week.