The Wind of Change

“For me, the moving our date has either got to be July next year, or this September.”
“Well, I don’t want to stay until July.”
“I thought you’d say that, so I prepared this…”
I pulled out the letter from my bag.
“…we both have to sign it to give in our notice.”

Kate looked at me for a beat, then signed it.

“P-A-R-T-Why? Because I gotta!”

It was payday eve, and emptiness echoed around my wallet. Christmas punched out my savings, and the burglars pinched my pocket money. “Come to the pub,” Kate said, “my treat.”

I joined Graham, Becky and Luca at the end of the bar. When my meagre funds expired, Graham subbed me. A true gentleman. Luca told us a story about a time he was high on drugs, and paranoia set in.

Hoggest Roast

The original plan for the Five Seven Christmas do was to take a light stroll around Dunham Massey, then head to the pub. Bad weather and twisted limbs saw the plan modified: a hog roast at Oddest.

Chubb, Steve, Woody, Max, Zoe and I – a great mix, and a good size for a single conversation. After all of the ballyhoo about where we were going to go, it was odd that Ollie and Wallis weren’t there; they’d been at each other’s throats over email about the arrangements, and then neither surfaced. So it goes, I guess.

We caught up. Max is back from London, and he’s qualified as a surveyor. He’s in the market for a move to Chorlton, which is an interesting step considering that he’s been cohabiting with Wallis since I’ve known them. A good sign, I’d say, for both of them. Independent friendship groups are good for a couple.

We laughed. I haven’t laughed as much for a very long time. My stomach hurt because we laughed so much. My face hurt because of the jollity. Marvellous stuff.

“Which one,” asked Woody, “did you send flowers to?” I pointed Nic out to him. He grinned at me. I grinned too.

Next question...

Graham from Quizimodo and I had been plotting another surprise for Kate’s birthday. During the quiz, we schemed, Graham would invite the audience – the patrons of Oddest – to wish Kate a Happy Birthday, to sing it to her, to fire off party poppers, and to share in some cake. It was an extension of what I’d tried to arrange with Nicola last week.

I went down to the bar to see it all first hand. I blustered through my reasons for being there – “Oh I’m just a bit bored, that’s all, I thought I’d pop in for an hour…” – and settled to watch the fun unfold. It worked a treat. In between rounds two and three, the surprise was unleashed. Bravo!

I went home, and met Dunk. He’d been revising for his interview, and wanted me to go over some of the answers with him. “You don’t mind, do you mate?” he asked. Not at all. I found out a lot about computer games, and in particular about their production process, and it was really interesting. We didn’t exactly run a mock interview, but we structured our conversation around the person spec for the job. I think it helped. Good luck Dunk!

Just the one

A quiet drink after work saw a pint that became a shared bottle of wine, that spread out to include sambuca, another large glass of wine more pints, some dancing, Luca, Becky, Tom, and a band, and getting so drunk that we fell out of the taxi home and ended up in a puddle. Kate, you lead me astray. We’re not good for each other’s livers.

Plotting

On the way home from work, I slipped into Oddest to plot a little surprise. I asked Nic if she'd help me to arrange a surprise for Kate's birthday involving the quiz. "I'd like," I explained, "the quiz guys to get the whole bar to sing Happy Birthday for Kate next Wednesday. Do you think they'll do it?" Nic smiled, and said that she thought that they would, yes. Great stuff.

The second, more secretive point of the visit was to try to suggest to Nic that I might be the kind of guy that likes arranging surprises for people. To drop a big hint about me being her secret florist.

I don't think she picked up on it though.

Yes, I shall become a bat.

The journey north felt like a journey deeper into the autumn. Trees near London seemed greener, those nearer Macclesfield more brown. I love this time of year.

The 85 came before the 86, so I slipped into Oddest to touch base with Kate. “I’ve pinned a note to your door,” said Kate, “which says that we’re going to a party. A fancy dress party. Can you find yourself a costume?”

Costume ideas had been floating around my head since the Pemberton Towers party announcement. The theme for that party is Literature, and I’d flirted with the idea of going as a raven, after the Poe poem. Could I do something related?

Yes, I shall become a bat.

I cut wing shapes out of one old black shirt, and sewed them onto the undersides of the arms of another. The bat-shirt will serve me well as the base of my raven shirt –a few feathers and I’m away. With a little help from Dunk, I became a top-hatted, long-eared, wing-tipped, armpit-flapped bat.

We went to Whalley Range with Paulina, to a party where we knew barely a soul. I think I was pissed enough (or short-circuited enough through sleep deprivation and hangovers) to mumble on through various inane conversations before I started to enjoy myself. Little Laura and Roisin were there, and it was nice to talk to Kate Bell too. I met some interesting people, and some very drunk people too.

Kate and I rolled in at about 6am. A heavy night, but a good one.

Tired, tireder, and then beyond tired.

Why did I wake up tired? Had I been running through a special someone's dreams all night? No. Well, not to my knowledge, at least. No, I'd slept terribly. Still up at three, exhausted, but unable to settle. Too much caffeine that afternoon? Irregular sleep after Saturday night's antics? Or just too damned excited about work on Monday? I know which of those three it wasn't.

The day went by in slow motion, the hands of the clock crawling round their familiar, tedious journey. I was grumpy as fuck. Miss F sent me an email - another one of those that at face value looked like it was about work, but in real life wasn't really, instead about saying "Hello." On another day I might have responded pleasantly. On another day I might have accepted the olive branch. But today I blanked her. No reply. Nothing at all. I didn't feel great, but those are the breaks, right Kurtis?

College, thankfully, was only a half session of work, with a half session of IT beforehand. King geek that I am, the how to log on to M____ and how to use college email were old news to me: I'd spent hours in the library already. Phew, lazytime! The subject matter of the main session was Meetings, which I feel I can contribute on strongly, given my experience in C______ and in my current job. "So, what makes a bad meeting?" asked Gerard. I had to stop myself from contributing too much.

Afterwards, a well-earned pint in Oddest, and a chat and catch up with Kate. I was pleased to hear that Nic liked her presents. The CD and the book are a nice match. It's good to find another Belle and Sebastian fan out there. Even if it does mean losing the odd badge now and then.

Sexy Al says...

DTRMCR: "What's with that weird name he uses on Facebook?"
Al: "It's a bit embarrassing, like one of those names a fifteen year old would have on Myspace, like Sexy Al, something like that."
Dunk: "Sexy Al? That's one of those ironic nicknames."
Al: "Like Little Kevin from The Wire, who's actually massive?"
Christian: "Wait, is that why you call me Champ?"

The Green Man party line-up

looks like this:

Dunk
Kate
Ryan
Miriam
Culture Thom
Ali Danesh
Ed Chemical?
Paul Collins + some
Saxaphone Kate
Nic from Oddest + some
Sionedd + some

…and I think there are a couple of bands on too.

Apicoectomy, Arnie quiz

Thanks to some pulled strings by Lucinda and Laura, I went to see Dr R_____ in Wigan today for an apicoectomy. The first thing that he showed me when I went in was a little sinus on his gum line. He’d had a trauma aged 7, and for 50 years he’d had a chronic abscess behind his front teeth. It caused him no pain, he said, and it drained the fluid out periodically. He seemed eager to tell me his tale, showing me his x-rays and comparing them to mine. He used me a test case, showing his dental nurse what this now rare procedure (rare in local practices these days, he said) looked like. Even Laura came down for a peek. I didn't mind at all - after the strings and whatever else, it was the least I could do.

My mouth went from numb to not numb during the process of interviewing one of my colleagues about a project that we'd worked on together. I love the feeling as the anaesthetic wears off.

I went to Oddest to meet Kate and to participate in the quiz there. It turns out the quiz was Arnie themed, in honour of the great man's birthday tomorrow. The quiz was made for me, Kate said. We didn't win though. Boo.

Charlie and Oddest

I met my old colleague Charlie lunch today. As I waited for her to come out of the town hall, I stumbled across a Warhammer 40k figurine in the crook of an brass elbow as part of the shipwreck statue. I’m geeky enough to recognise it as a Space Marine, but not enough to identify its clan. Who put it there? I don’t care, I liked it.

We went to Don Giovanni’s, where the service was slow and the food mediocre, and had a bit of a chat. I wasn’t sure why Charlie had asked me to meet up with her. We were never that close when we worked together. She was widely acknowledged as being the hottest girl in the office, tall, pretty and busty – but I’d never seen it myself. I once went on a blind date with her sister. But I wouldn’t describe us as friends. Why was I there?

Because, it turns out, Charlie is pretty lonesome. She moved in with her boyfriend around the same sort of time that I started working in my current, somewhat tiresome job. They live together, alone, in Northenden, and she doesn’t get up to much of an evening. Or at lunchtime. As she spoke, something sad in her eyes touched me. Maybe I could help her. Choices and chances, right?

I kept thinking about her as the afternoon rolled on. It was heart on a plate stuff on her part, I realised. Pretty gutsy to ask to be friends. Brave. As I was about to leave for my holiday, I was given a pile of junk to handle. Frustrating. Sometimes I want to smash my office with a sledgehammer. Monitors, light switches, other people’s mugs, the photocopier – all of it. It was one of those days. Way to bum me out before my holiday.

An hour later than planned, my 85 rolled up outside Oddest and I went in for a furious pint to wipe out my work anger.

“We’re closing in twenty minutes,” said Kate
“I think I can fit in a pint. I need one.”

After the bar kind of closed, I stayed to help inflate balloons for a little while. It helped. The anger drained out of me. And when I got home I was filled with joy: my new phone had arrived

Dunk and I headed down for the bona fide opening party a little later on. With my holiday and then his European odyssey, I wasn’t going to get much Dunk time for a few weeks. Was the party trendy? We had our picture taken by a photographer. Were we trendy?

Awesome Sunday

My day was three kinds of awesome today.

1. Milner awesome

I met Helen for lunch at Oddest. It’s been such a long time since I last saw her last for a one-to-one – since Easter, and the videos of the chimpanzees hunting; before Steve and Fordbank were evicted from Victoria Ave; before Steve moved in with Chubb and Helen; since before Helen got a job in London – and so much has happened since then with both of us. I talked about my new house, my housemates, the Moss Side move. She talked about London, living with a boy, optimism and change. “I’ve been in Manchester for three years now,” she said. Wow, I thought, it feels like less than that. This time last year we went to Gorton Monastery to see an orchestra. She’ll be fine – she’s a motivated and intelligent young woman, with a lot going for her. I’ll miss her. I’ll stay in touch.

2. Family Awesome

Caroline, Ashleigh and Izzy came up to see me today. I made a roast dinner using yesterday’s allotment vegetables – new potatoes, spring cabbage, spinach, courgettes – a ready-roasted supermarket chicken, and lashings of tasty gravy. Yum! Izzy and I pootled around the garden, when she wasn’t busy trying to eat rocks, and explored the spooky circle. The four of us strolled into Longford Park, and around the petting zoo. We’re off to the Isle of Wight next week. I’m very excited about it.

3. Batman awesome

In a quiet house, all by myself, I read the Dark Knight Returns and The Long Halloween. Bliss!

Remember that I'm still inside, but I'm dry, I'm dry…

My planned evening of peppermint tea and Batman didn't quite work out as I'd planned. Pippa was just back from her holiday, did I want to meet her for a drink? Antibiotics my foot, I thought, yes I do! Even if my drink is going to be alcohol-free! We went to Oddest, and got some food. It was still really busy, even on day two. We had a mexicana combination platter, which was ace. Once Kate finished work, she joined us, and Dunk soon followed. Pip's holiday sounds like it was amazing, especially the water park. As the bar busied up, ZBox and Chubb came in. "We're meeting Steph!" said Chub with a wink. Zbox and Ollie think I should pull Steph - we'd talked about it last week. I wonder if she likes me. The chance arises, and I'm not drinking - bah! Oh well, so it goes. Steph arrived, looking hot.

Shortly Paul, Louise and David showed up. Pippa, can you talk to Louise about Spain? Paul, can you talk to Dunk about Germany? Thanks! Wow, it's easy to introduce people to common conversation topics when you're stone cold sober and they're a little drunk! Is there a career in that? Probably not. In come David III, Amanda and Ruth. I tiptoed down the smalltalk tightrope with Ruth, who I don't know that well - in as much as I was talking to her about appropriate conversation topics for the hairdresser. If I'd overbalanced, it would have been clear that I was putting my smalltalk tips into practice there and then. Luckily, I had my sobriety to act as a balance bar and keep me stable. Phew! A little excursion over to Steph, Chubb and ZBox, a little bit of chit-chat, and then back. Sobriety is exhausting because you get bored much more quickly than if you're drunk. Especially when it comes to talking to drunks.

On my way home, I ran into Sam outside the Marble. She was wearing a red scarf on her shoulders, and was rather drunk. We're going for a beer on Tuesday night. That's payday eve, I thought, but this dry weekend will save me a bomb. As I passed by Fox Plaza, I found myself thinking that I'd had a really good night. And not a drop of booze. Hmmmm. Could I get used to this?

Oddest, Chorlton, Wilbraham Road

The latest addition to the Odd family, Oddest, on Wilbraham Road in Chorlton is triumphant! Like its sisters in town, the décor is quirky, but classy. A cluster of Turkish lanterns decorate one boothed corner, and vast crimson lampshades droop above the bar. Nothing matches. Everything fits.

Dunk and I met Hannah and went straight down. Kate was working, busy, and to enjoy watching all the reactions of newcomers. That first night feeling, I guess. I really like it. I can see myself spending quite some time there.