Month: June 2023

I guess all my whinging about Scotland not dropping by has paid off. At least three over the past few days. Even saw Irvine and Glesga in the mix for the first time in weeks.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

(You may or may not be able to see that. It’s the saltire. I see a black flag from my vantage point.)

(EDIT: Never mind. I can see it fine on the site, it’s in the back end that it looks wrong to me.)

I am becoming a consummate professional at wasting my weekends. I did at least get laundry done.

Am now moving to evenings at work. Curious to see how that’s going to go.

No word on the big man really. People recycling one another’s news about him per usual. I did watch this again. Enjoy.

I’m looking at my visitor logs again — and I should repeat this. I’ve said it before, somewhere here, but some of you probably didn’t see it: I can’t see WHO you are. Nor your home address. I can only see your city, state or province if applicable, and country — and still no Scotland, or almost none. This is so strange. I doubt all my previous Scottish visitors would have changed over to anonymous proxies. It could be that some have visited so often that some kind of cookie has kicked in and they just don’t trigger the counter anymore. I don’t really know how all that works. I know bits and pieces but not enough to form a coherent conceptual whole.

But I’m getting a lot from England. Which is even stranger. I have never not gotten visitors from England, but used to be I’d hear about as often from England as I heard from Scotland, and sometimes I’d hear significantly less often. But now as far as UK visitors go, it’s just about all England. One day recently, and I mentioned this at the time, I noted that I’d gotten way more visits than normal from London. Rory’s agent is based there and he probably pops in to them now and again for meetings and to pick up mail, so you understand why I was a little weirded out.

I wonder about that, actually. Is the big man working in England again, and that’s why I get England hits? Like, people see him in public and then decide to google him* and here they come? Is he visiting here himself? I don’t dare hope for that one. I’ve let things get sloppy here. The mind boggles, though!

There isn’t any way anyone could answer these questions in a manner I would trust. I will just have to wonder. Frowny face.

I will admit, I left it an open question as to whether I would ever set up a contact method here. I’ve thought about it. Like, one email address for fan pics, another for questions, that kind of thing. I don’t really want to, or I’d have done it already. Like, part of me is curious what would happen, but most of me doesn’t want to deal with the drama which inevitably would tag along for the ride. People just don’t know how to enjoy things anymore, they’ve always got to shit in someone else’s punch bowl. I’m not interested. I’ve had enough drama the past two years to last me the rest of my life. I just want to have fun now. I also have to work, and I’m not at my best at work if I’m stressed out. So there’s that.

Anyway, those of you who really wanted to get in touch with me figured out how to do it. I don’t always see your emails timely because for some reason they get shunted off into my junk-mail inbox, but I’ve seen a few. Even Emily pops in now and again to catch up, so that’s nice.

Okay. I did absolutely fuck-all yesterday, and I can’t do that today because I need a haircut and a bit of grocery shopping. (WOW it is weird to say that.) I will try and make myself work on this tonight, because I’ve put it off long enough. I think I’m mostly afraid I won’t get it finished, even though by its nature it can’t be finished under present circumstances. I’d elaborate, but that’s really fucking morbid, so we’ll just leave it alone. But I’m not good at putting something down and then coming back to it later, is my point. I should just get the fuck over that. Site needs work. The end.

‘Later.

[edit] Oh hey! I have found something interesting. Independent confirmation of a few things I had been wondering about. Rory’s birth time and middle name and birthplace — and it wasn’t in Glasgow, though close enough and he did grow up in the big city. But look here and here. You’re welcome. I will incorporate them as sources later. Hey, you who mentioned to me he was sighted in Paisley. What do you want to bet his mom lives there and he was visiting? Her or other family, or possibly old schoolmates he’s still in touch with. He may be an introvert, but he values his relationships from what I’ve seen.

Okay, really gotta go now.

—–
*I just checked… and I’m on the first page of search results!!! Well below his Emptage Hallett listing, which is sensible — but, I’m pleased to note, a few entries ahead of that fan-fiction romance about him. Just… don’t ask. Yes I read it. Ten minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

I have been sleeping in my own bed in a real apartment since Saturday and y’all, I don’t know what to do with myself.

We’re still ironing bits and pieces out, though it’s been whittled down by this point to one document that both the landlady and I have to sign. I suspect we’ll have that done by the end of the weekend if everything goes well. This is about the Salvation Army paying my landlady for deposit and first month, so it benefits her if we get it done. I’m going to try very hard not to be fussed. She’s had a rough year too. That’s her story to tell, but maybe that’s why we’ve come to this point. It’s this whole thing that really doesn’t belong here. I should write a book.

Nah. No I shouldn’t.

Never mind.

It’s basically this little wooded oasis in the middle of a city — or, more properly, its northwest edge — and if I told a local my address, just the street name, no house number, and then what my rent is, they’d be amazed. I’m like ten minutes from work, and that only because there are traffic lights between there and here. The trees muffle the worst of the noise. First night I was here I slept like a rock. It hasn’t been much different since.

Numbered among my near neighbors: more than half a dozen chickens, a rooster, two goats, some rabbits (quantity unknown), a pony, TWO DOGS (yellow Labs), and if I don’t watch it there’s gonna be a fucking partridge in a pear tree somewhere. Just you wait.

Work’s going well. Tomorrow will be a month I’ve been there. World goddamn record. I get to use my job to help people, which is really cool. The bizarre bit is that the woman who started the company got her start in Savannah, Georgia, where I’ve lived in the past and which just happens to be one of my favorite cities and my ass would be living there today, and so would the rest of me, if I could stand the heat, humidity, and fucking hurricanes. I love these little coincidences.

And we get free popcorn.

I have no idea why.

…..

Wow. Speaking of world goddamn record. Hey? Scotland? Where are you? Used to be I could count on one of you fuckers visiting daily at least. Suddenly… poof. For days and days. But for some reason I am getting a ton of visits from London. The fuck’s in London? No, I know what’s in London. Don’t fucking tell me. That’s just ridiculous. You’re just random Londoners. Right?

Bueller?

Eh. I’ll never know. Might as well roll with it.

…..

Oh hey. Got the big man’s autographed photo out of storage finally. All my stuff under one roof again. I am waiting for the landlady’s daughter, previous inhabitant of this place, to get the rest of her stuff out before I start deciding where to put my things. So I haven’t set him up yet. Yet.

(This is him signing it)

…..

I cannot take my work home with me, it’s just the nature of the job and I don’t work remotely, so I need to find something better to do with my off-time than natter on social media. Not that I will stop nattering on social media. Just that I need to diversify. So that’s what I’m a-gonna do. So expect more here soon.