Thursday, April 5, 2007
All Change please, this service terminates here...

It's been a big few weeks. I am now officially no longer trading as Raggedstaff and RSKnives. I moved out of the forge last week and got a bit emotional but that could just have been the strain of moving two anvils. I have secured a long-term agency contract at a Hospital on the outskirts of London. It's far enough out to be impossible to get to the centre (where the cool stuff is) easily but is far enough inside the M25 that it can take me two and a half hours to get there if the traffic is bad. It's ok. No actually it sucks ass but it pays well. I can see myself working there long term, the dept is in dire need of someone to take it in hand and I can see that it could be a stepping stone to a better job. I am just trying to persuade the manager that she can afford me now. We'll see.

The downside of course is that I drive in, which means I am not getting much time for writing. The current work stands at just under 27k and is hassling me to write more. I am clearer about where it needs to go now, but it means that a lot of what has gone before needs altering. I am told it is pretty good, but all I can see is how it directly rips off its influences. There are a lot of them though, from Starship Troopers to Altered Carbon to Star Wars to Time Enough for Loveso I figure if I copy enough different people it will look original...

On the health side of things I've had a bit of a scare, turns out my gallbladder is fine but my liver is shot.Still waiting for a diagnosis, which isn't fun. It has made me make some pretty tough decisions about my lifestyle though. I have joined a gym and have lost about half a stone. I have also pretty much cut out alcohol from my life. I have let myself have up to one beer on a couple of occasions as I really miss it, but I am looking a lotbetter and feeling quite good for it.

What else has been happening in my life? Oh yes I am now officially in a band. We are doing original stuff rather than the covers the last bad I was in focussed on. We are sadly lacking a drummer but I will be putting up some posters soon (think Dewy Finn). We've got a set list of somewhere in the region of 10 songs all written by yours truly and hopefully will be getting a demo together by the end of the summer. If you're interested we're "Levitation Homes" and will be huge soon.

Before I finally shut up go and check out Amy MacDonald on My space, she is gorgeous and her music is amazing! Poison Prince is the first single and I am quite quite smitten.

S and I are taking my daughter on holiday for a week as of saturday. It'll be a first for all of us and I must say I am rather looking forward to it!

Have I been random enough for you? Good.

Take Care, I'll be back soon (or not soon which is, in all honesty, more likely).

Posted by Martin Austwick 2007-04-05 15:35:36

Thursday, February 15, 2007
Still plugging away.

Life is confusing at the moment. Over Christmas and the end of the last year I worked my arse off in the forge, I was working nine hour days and selling most everything I managed to make. It was however not even close to enough money so I currently have a dilemma. Can I do this every winter in order to make some reasonable money through the summer?

The disappointing answer is no. I don't really think I can. For over three years I have survived on agency work and what I can make from the forge. It is no way to live in the long term and so I am stuck at the start of the re-enactment season wondering if it is worth me doing any events. If I don't I know I will miss it, but if I do I know I am setting myself up for a shitty winter again.

And so I am applying for jobs. Had one interview which I messed up well and truly, I doubt I will be asked back for a second one there. Also applied for a job working in A&E again. On top of this I am trying to build up my own private practice in Orthopaedics, it is proving tricky, but if it works out it should be quite lucrative. Time will tell I suppose.

The only up side to all this crap is that I am currently in a writing place. My Sci-fi tale has now reached 23k and shows no sign of letting up just yet. The scene is set, the main characters are all introduced and things have been put in place to begin to draw them together through the events of one man. I really hope I manage to finish this, but to be honest even if I do I am somewhat unnerved by the amount of work I need to do rewriting and editing even now. My vision of the world has changed hugely over the last 20k, when I started I knew exactly what was going on and where it was, now I have no idea, I just know it is not where it used to be.

I'm having fun though and I suppose that's what matters.

Isn't it?

Posted by Martin Austwick 2007-02-15 05:09:33

Wednesday, January 3, 2007
A breakthrough

Today I cracked 15k. It's the first time for me. It's nice as it doesn't feel like anywhere near enough. Ihave some idea what is going to happen and I think I might be able to do it.

Of course maybe not but I'm gonnakeep plugging away. It's a classic Sci-fi tale ofa brother and sister, he is a hero in thealien wars, she is a fervent anti-war protester. I'm not exactly sure how the two stories are going to converge but I have some ideas. Anyway, back to writing.

Posted by Martin Austwick 2007-01-03 05:38:30

Monday, January 1, 2007
Blah blah blah

Well it is 2007 and the time for ridiculous resolutions. In my usual new year way I have spent the first day of my health kick lounging on the sofa watching tv all day.

Maybe I will be a bit more organised but maybe not. I am taking writing a little more seriously at the moment, but that's about it. I was approached and asked to write a long piece on Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages which is nice and I have started to draft some query letters to feature editors in the National dailys regarding some freelance journalism work. To this end I have also started keeping a SERIOUS blog. That's right, serious enough to warrant capitals... :D If you want to check it out it is here http://historicalrhyme.blog.co.uk/I'd appreciate any comments and feedback, it is basically political opinion with a hint of historical bull smeared across it.

Anyway, Happy New Year to anyone who has been nothered to read this, hopefully I'll see you around.

Posted by Martin Austwick 2007-01-01 15:04:19

Sunday, September 10, 2006
Is my doctor crap?

I'm beginning to wonder. I've had abdominal pain for a week now. I went to see my doc a few days ago and she told me it was my gallbladder and gave me a pile of tablets to take and referred me for an ultrasound. It's gonna take up to six weeks to see if I have stones and then she'll decide what to do about them.

So why do I ask if she is crap?

Well I dug some books out and started reading up on Cholecystitis (inflamed gallbladder). It seems that 95% of incidences are caused by stones. The treatement for this is always surgical removal, the timescale depends on the levels of pain and other complications. The 5% that aren't stones are associated with Cancer, Pancreatitis, and other serious conditions and often lead on to rupture with peritonitis.

So either I am dying or have a serious medical condition (not too likely I think), or I need an operation.

I have to ask myself if this is the case, why the flippin heck am I sat at home with crippling pain, taking tablets all hours of the day, being told I look yellow, tryignt o avboid eating anything with fat in, possibly for the next six weeks, when I'm going to have to have a surgical referral anyway. Why not just do that now and save me weeks of pain?

There are only two explanations I can come up with. The first is that the NHS is truly and deeply crap and that there are no ways to circumvent the dodgy systems put in place by administrators who don't understand healthcare. I worked for years in the NHS and I know that this isn't true. Don't get me wrong, it is indeed truly and deeply crap, but there are always ways to work around the system to get what you want. Which only leaves one explanation.

My Doctor is crap.

How very reassuring... Now where did I put those painkillers?

Posted by Martin Austwick 2006-09-10 03:51:27