2015: Frustration, Funerals & A Flurry Of Fun

2015 was an interesting year.  Plenty of good moments but also some very sad moments too.  It hasn’t been the best year I’ve had but it certainly has not been the worst year.

I’ll start with the frustration.  Once I received my higher than expected bonus, I then concluded that I was bored at work and didn’t want to spend another summer in an oven.  So around April time, I started looking for jobs – though I was being very picky, only going for jobs with a decent pay rise, and that were in the centre of Reading, or in London.

I didn’t even get an interview.

Work continued to be frustrating and the office was too hot almost every single day of the year, despite it hardly ever being hot outside.

My house contract ran out in August, so the month before that I sadly decided that it would make more sense to move to Bracknell, so I could do more studying.

Moving to Bracknell, meant that the job search was over, as I had a 6 month minimum contract in the new house.  The new house itself is fine, but also frustrating living with 5 other blokes, some of whom seem incapable of taking the bin out, or emptying the dishwasher and especially putting their dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

Not to mention the noise, banging of doors and having to listen to my room-neighbour talking at his computer until 1am.

At least I do actually get more studying done.  That has been the other source of frustration this year (ignoring my permanently inactive sex life…I cannot even get a match on Tinder) – firstly that I was not making anywhere near enough progress in turning a hobby into my future career.

I did one very sensible thing and that was to set a weekly 10 hour study target.  I do have a 71 hour backlog right now but I’m on the right track.  It is often frustrating in that I get stuck and I have nobody to turn to for help, other than internet forums which can be patchy.  But when I solve those moments of frustration, I do receive a fair portion of joy.

The year started with sad news, in that my auntie’s dog died.  I’m not a massive dog-lover but he was so warm and cuddly.  He only saw me once a year but always came for a hug.  I definitely do not get enough hugs full stop.

I did wear the fact that I’d made it to 35 without attending a funeral as a badge of honour but sadly I had two to attend this year, both my grandma’s husband, and my uncle.  Neither was exactly unexpected due to illnesses.

I had the honour of being a pallbearer at my grandma’s husbands’ funeral.

At my uncle’s, it was bizarrely uplifting, somewhat inspiring, often funny but downright sad too.  An emotionally complex day.

I managed to squeeze in 3 holidays last year.  Well, one proper holiday and two weekend breaks.  First up in January was a weekend in Zakopane – I had a great first night, got to see some decent snow…and then I was ill.  That first night was so much fun, with some super-funny people that I just don’t get to spend enough time with.

I’d also managed to be invited to Ibiza for Kane’s birthday and I quite like that island so I duly accepted.  It was a bit too hot for my liking over there, and there were no nights out there that really appealed to me during that particular week – but I still had an excellent holiday and broke my Zoo Project virginity (what a tease that Villalobos played Zoo Project the week after).

The other break was to Lisbon with my sister – I loved the history and the architecture, shame about the drizzle.  Another country ticked off the list.

I actually saw more of my family, partly due to aforementioned circumstances but also due to going back to Hull a little more – although after the Christmas Eve disaster it might be a while before I consider that adventure again.

Not to mention that I now go away to Reading once a month – I have my own spare bedroom thanks to my best friend, which I take full advantage of when DJing.

DJing is something that has generally gone well this year – it really has been a delight to try to grow a night at the Purple Turtle, and try to improve myself as a DJ, finding out what works for the venue and what doesn’t – and also what works for me as a DJ too.  I am closer to pinning down a couple of styles of DJing now, although I do like an element of unpredictability still.

Something else that went well this year was my blogging.  Get Reading are featuring my Roast Dinner reviews (though I’m not sure how longer I’ll be doing them for), my weather forecasting page has over 2,000 followers – other blogs/pages are hit and miss.

I made some important purchases too – some Rokit speakers that just sound gorgeous, along with a Microsoft Surface that has increased my ability to study when on the train, etc, although it isn’t the wondrous panacea that I was expecting.  Oh yeah and I bought some sequinned green shoes, and sparkly green meggings.

The surprise of the year was getting out on my bike!  Yes I rode my bike.

I’ve definitely become more boring during the last year, and more sober (most of the time!).

I actually went clubbing more in 2015, mainly due to my main dancefloor compatriot being free from studies at last.  However I didn’t have any ‘wow’ moments.  All nights were within the boundaries of good but none were fantastic.

In fact that would sum up my year quite well.  A lot of it was ok or good.  It was rarely fantastic.  Those wow moments were missing.  Maybe it is something to do with my personality of always wanting more, not being able to settle for what I have.  But I’m not convinced that is the case – I didn’t even get a thunderstorm, except the one I went chasing.

My year ended rather frustratingly.  I did have a couple of offers for NYE, but I instead chose to stay in by myself.  I don’t like NYE and it kind of made sense.  I made a pie…it was disappointing.