Family Reunions

Having so many people in one house wasn't actually that bad. My uncle David and his Girlfriend only arrived that morning and left that evening which reduced numbers somewhat, the Cornish Grandparents left early this morning then Auntie Kate and her son Ben leave in a few hours along with Uncle Frano.

All photos by Cheryl Law.

 (L to R, Back row to Front). My Uncles David and Frano, my brother Nathan then Dad.

David's girlfriend Isobel, Auntie Kate, Cousin Ben.

Granddad, my brother Seth, Mum, me.

Nana, Granny.

 

My maternal grandparents-who's 50th anniversary it was.

My mum (right) with all her siblings (L-R): Frano, Kate and David.

Family

I still occasionally feel like I'm still getting used to living in a family unit. Having brothers definitely takes some getting used to again! But this weekend is going to be a real challenge...we're having a sort of family reunion. At our house.

It was my maternal grandparents 50th wedding anniversary in August (I think) but because of school and other life commitments they didn't do anything with the rest of the family. But now it's half-term, EVERYONE has converged at our house. Usually there are 6 people living in the house: Mum, Dad, my paternal grandmother, 2 brothers and me. But in addition, this weekend we will have: Both maternal grandparents, my auntie and her son (my cousin), my uncle and his girlfriend and my other uncle. 13 people. Our house is big...but not that big! The reason everyone comes to us is because we're relatively central: my auntie lives way up north in Edinburgh and my grandparents live way down south in Cornwall.

It is, however, a minor miracle that everyone's managed to make it. One of my uncles is a sailor so he's almost always out of the country and even when he is here (here being Cornwall) it's usually only for a few days at a time. A pit stop if you will. And my other uncle we only usually see for a day or two around Christmas. The last time they saw each other was about 7 years ago and as far as I remember was more of a coincidence that they were both in Cornwall at the same time than any planning.

A friend of mum's is coming over to take a picture of everyone together to mark the occasion...we felt it was needed, so I'll try and post that up tomorrow :)

M&S Story of the day:

Damson is considered (by some!) to be a slightly unusual name but it isn't actually my legal first name. That would be Jessica...I know, I know, that makes me Jessica Damson Tregaskis. It seems my parents decided to go completely insane with the last two names then try and cover it up with the first one (even though they've always called me Damson)! So I'm on the system at Marks as Jessica, however when I started last week they told me they'd ordered a Damson badge but they didn't have a Jessica badge for me to wear until it came so I had a choice between Jenny and Debbie. I chose Jenny. All the people I work with know I'm called either Damson or Jessica so there's a bunch of people who call me Jess and about an equal amount who call me Damson. My line-manager-person-thingy today called across the cafe as so:

"Jenny...er Jess sorry...no that's wrong Damson, I'm so sorry!"

Although I have noticed some people are calling me Tamsin. So I basically respond to anything these days. I'm thinking of trying to persuade them all to call me Bill or Egbert or something just for fun!

Cycling.

This is a very rant-y post and I might get a bit graphic later on. Apologies. (You have been warned!)

The women I work with at M&S are very nice. They are also more protective than my mother, father, all grandparents, aunties and uncles combined (I might have exaggerated a little-my aunties and uncles don't know where I work). Now obviously I'm a cyclist and so, I cycle the 7-or-so miles to work however I do take the slightly longer route that keeps me off the A-road and mainly on B-roads with cycle paths. I always have very powerful lights on the front and back and usually I'll wear a day-glow cycle jacket or a reflective builder's vest. If I have my rucksack with me it has a high visibility waterproof cover and another red light clipped to it. I like to think I'm a safe cyclist, I did my cycling proficiency in year 5 (when I was 9 or 10) and I've been cycling on busy main roads for several years and have learnt a few tips/tricks to help me on my way-my parents have also shown me some. But one thing that really peeves me off is when people tell me to wear a helmet.

At work today, two of the ladies asked me if I had lights, a reflective jacket and a helmet. I said yes to all but the last. Their response was to command me to wear a helmet to work on Thursday (my next shift) or else they would nag me. Now I appreciate their concern (I also appreciate the lifts people keep offering me-even though I try to explain that I cycle because I want to, not because I have to!) but I have roughly 4 reasons for not wearing a helmet and they go as follows (and I am aware that they don't always apply):

1. I believe the more efficient and competent a cyclist so appear to be to drivers, the less they take notice of you. If you cycle in a t-shirt and shorts, especially at my age, drivers are more likely to see you as a reckless teenager who might suddenly swerve or change direction so I think they pay more attention and keep more distance.
2. Wearing a helmet may make you feel more secure and therefore take more risks. OK this is a sketchy one. My theory is that even subconsciously, the process of wearing a helmet makes you slightly less wary of cars/vans/lorries and could potentially encourage you to take more risks.
3. You get a sweaty head. Who likes having a sweaty head, especially just before work? Need more be said?!
4. A helmet probably won't save your life. I couldn't think how to paraphrase this one so let me explain. Most fatalities from cycling accidents are going to be because of crush injuries to the torso and abdomen (probably from falling under a HUGE vehicle and dragged) or blunt force trauma from where something slams into the side/front/back of you. Now I'm going to guess that in either of those instances a helmet would indeed help a little, but the amount of damage that has been done to every other part of your body means that the helmet wearing would've been pretty insignificant (and you're probably already dead). I did try to google this earlier and to prove this theory correct was remarkably difficult...but it's OK, I have a theory for that as well! I reckon that statistics for head injuries are so high because...oh wait, I forgot! Whoops! (Leave me alone it's gone midnight and I'm tired).

Anhyhooo, before this turns into a tired Damson rambling, I don't wear a helmet, I probably never will and yes, if I die from a bike accident where I landed flat on my head I'll look like a numpty but I'm willing to make that risk. My dad has a book of cycling rules (by the Velominati) and rule 5 is: Harden the f@*$ up...and with that, I bid you a goodnight!

Follow up:

This is just to further my earlier post really.

After throwing away all the bakery items again today (although I think the sandwiches and everything that was packaged got sold at the staff waste sale, YAY) I did ask whether it was possible to take some of the items home with me instead of putting them in the bin. Apparently it's illegal. It would be classed as stealing. Really M&S? Really?

However on a good note, it only took me 35 minutes to cycle the 7 miles home! Which is an improvement on the 45 it took me last night. I think the wind was behind me tonight and I didn't have to stop to put my foot down at all. In fact the only time I had to come to a full stop was at one crossing and I managed to balance myself on the button box to avoid moving my feet because yes, I am that lazy that I deem it too much effort to put one foot down only to lift it up again.

As my mum cheerfully says: Life is effort...then you die.

And with that, I go to bed!

Waste

Just a quick note :)

I had my first 'proper' shift at M&S yesterday which went OK. They made me throw out around 10-15 boxed sandwiches that went out of date that day as well as everything on the bakery (something like 11 scones, 5 croissants, a few slices of lemon drizzle cake plus more I can't remember) oh and a packaged millionaires shortbread which looked delicious. It nearly made me cry. I spent the whole of last year living on that food and just to throw out so much edible goodness was almost too much. If it keeps happening though, I'm going to ask if I can keep it and I'll have it for my lunch, I can give some to my brothers for their school lunch and I'm sure we can feed some if it to my granny for her lunch as well!

In other news I'm exhausted! My legs ache continually from all the cycling and I got totally soaked yesterday. I still enjoy it, but I cannot wait until my muscles firm up a bit and stop being such wimps!