The Backflip Boys Weblog

Dear reader, as we hurtle towards the end of the decade (only 12 months to go), the penultimate year of the “noughties” has just about shuffled off its mortal coil and it looks like we’ve all managed to get through another 12 months without resorting to any messy murder/suicides, long prison sentences or, the increasingly popular, cannibalism. For achieving each of these magnificent feats, now would be a good time to pat yourself on the back for a job well done because once the credit card statements come in from your Christmas indulgences, one of the aforementioned options might just be what you need to cope and self congratulations won’t be high on your list of priorities.

This is the time of the year that we generally sit back and reflect on what we have achieved and get depressed over what we haven’t achieved throughout the year and resolve to do better in the upcoming 12 months. Usually such lofty ambitions are thrown out the window around around the middle of January as the holiday season becomes a slowly fading memory and the harsh realities of life takes hold.

I myself only make small resolutions since I already achieved all the biggies a number of years ago and since everyone needs at least one vice in their life, I won’t be giving up alcohol.

There are some years that I simply declare the new year as being some kind of event and then carry on as normal. One year I declared it would be the year I was pleasant to people but that lasted about a week because most of the people I came into contact with really needed to be punched in the face for one reason or another. Some of them still do. The Ace once asked me when the year of having a personality would arrive so he could note it. He’s a very strange guy….

I end 2009 pretty much on a high note. I’ve had enough of an enjoyable time at work and during my leisure time to declare it a moderate success. Add in my two work anniversaries (21 years on the railways and 20 years as an actual train driver) and the picture starts to form up properly. I know work shouldn’t necessarily be enjoyable, but when you work in the transportation equivalent of a circus, you really should just sit back and enjoy the clowns trying to run the show.

This year also saw me get serious about taking care of my health, after all I’m not getting any younger. The best news was that I have settled into a very comfortable weight (without the aid of the amputation of any heavy body parts), more and more healthy food is voluntarily appearing on my plate each night and my gym membership has been overly abused to the point where it really should consider taking out a restraining order on me. Mid year, I also discovered a passion for distance running - twice so far with more to come next year.

Old friendships have continued to become stranger and stranger over the year but new friends came along as well. Being the type of person who doesn’t make friends easily, getting involved with new people is a big thing for me. Who knew that people who were just passing acquaintances at work or in gym classes could turn out to be genuinely nice people who are interested in me as a person? Stranger things have happened (so I am told).

So what does 2010 hold for me? Other than one or two definite diary entries at this point, it’s hard to say where this time next year will see me. Definitely a year older for sure. Photographing my first wedding in March will tell me if it is worth the effort of chasing those kinds of jobs. I may even finally get around to painting the verandas around the house that should have been done two years ago.

All I can tell you for certain is that I resolve to stop biting my fingernails.

Happy New Year dear reader. Thanks for taking a few minutes every now and then to come and visit me and my ramblings - I really do appreciate it. For now, it’s time to party like it was 1999 ten years ago.

What? You mean it was ten years ago?

Later days.

Trivial fact number 209:- There are 240 white dots in a Pacman arcade game - wacka wacka wacka wacka wacka wacka wacka wacka wacka…..