I need a desk job.

Somewhere well heated/air conditioned, and comfy, preferably home (and home would have to be made considerably comfy, of course), doing something that's not terribly difficult but still interesting, that is cool and meaningful, and pays really really well for about, er, not too many hours a week. This whole wandering around the city, being outside at the mercy of the elements is not working for me. It seems like yesterday, or at least a few months ago when I was whining incessantly about the heat. Then there was rain, and more heat, and it got cold, then warm again, and windy and.. well now it's cold. Really cold. Being winter that should not be so surprising, but I still have to go out there, wait around, freezing, and then go home without making any money, or worse, stay out for a few more hours as I shiveringly tell a bunch of shivering people stuff about stuff. It's more than slightly vexing. And you'd think this too hot/too cold would only be a small part of it, wouldn't you? You'd think, ok, winter and summer can get cold/hot, but sometimes it's mild and as long as you're dressed appropriately you're fine. Sure there are those extreme temps but only so many days, and then there's spring and autumn, positively lovely for walking! There's rain sometimes but there are umbrellas. You'd think that the far majority of the time it would be within the realm of reasonable walking weather. Well you'd be wrong. Or at least you'd seem wrong. I can't for the life of me understand where autumn and the mild winter and all of that went. It was so bloody hot not so long ago and now it's unbearably cold, like it was when i started next year. What happened to that 80-98% of pleasant walking (as long as you're dressed right for it and I at least, if people on the tour don't always, have the resources to get that right) weather? It doesn't exist, that's what. Maybe there are about 3 days of it but that's it. Three lovely days where you'd choose to go for a walk if you had the time off, otherwise, you'd stay in, watch telly, or maybe go to the pub if it's close enough, but that's it. Unfortunately, I'm stuck out there.

I give you to tomorrow.

It's cold again, actually snowing, or it was I don't know if it still is I closed the blind so I wouldn't have to look at the greyness and falling snow and people in big fat puffy jackets and yes, we have a whole extra hour of daylight to enjoy it woop e doo.

Tomorrow is April. If by April there hasn't been a major change I'll.. I'll. I'll just.. be very very grumpy.

Oh and Happy Easter. Or whatever.

Leave Phil Alone!

punxsutawney phil
Originally uploaded by ewaldmario.

The current ongoing winter in much of the Northern Hemisphere has caused millions to cry out for a scapegoat, and they have found it in lovable rodent and well known meteorologist Punxsutawney Phil.

It dates all the way back to February 2nd of this year, Groundhog Day, where Phil, in his infinite wisdom, declared that there would be an early spring this year, after emerging from his grounhog hole, and not seeing his shadow.

Well, anyone living "literally" anywhere on earth, that is the Northern Hemisphere and particularly places that get cold at all, know this to be utter bunk. Nevermind early spring, it's March 26 already.. 6 days into official full on spring and well.. I may have mentioned this myself once or twice but... it's cold. And people are enraged! They're saying Phil maliciously and deliberately deceived people. They're calling for his head!

I for one, however, do not blame Phil. Phil is but merely an adorable burrow dwelling squirrel hedgehog or whatever he is, and he did what he was told to do, see his shadow or not, and deduce the facts from the evidence he found. There was no shadow.. so he said it's spring! A simple mistake. Or was it...

This is what happened. Phil did not see his shadow. This was not a mistake of Phil's, or the conditions at the time, just bear with me.. I will explain.

Back in late February, I went to Eilat in Southern Israel. It's a very warm place, you may imagine, like summer.. even in the (we thought then) dying days of winter. Oh what a beautiful week it was, after a long enough already winter, it was like paradise to lie by the beach with the hot sun upon our backs, but of course, all holidays must come to an end, and after a week we had to return to Prague where it was still winter. I did not let it get me down though, do not mope, I said, the day after we return it's March, and spring will soon follow.. the days will get longer, warmer, buds will blossom, birds will sing... etc etc etc.. and I said it again and again and again.

Needless to say, I was mistaken. And that is not all.. you see, young Phil, our furry friend, was merely doing a job, he reported what he saw.. and at the time, I believe he was correct. He did no wrong. I however, did what any human over the age of 6 should know well better than to do. I tempted fate. To wish and hope and be so fucking sure.. and vocalize one's idea of the future should be? Utterly irresponsible. You see, fate hates it when smug knowitall humans talk like they know what's fucking going on.. and fate, total asshole. It wasn't enough to fuck up the weather here in the little part of central Europe that I inhabit, or even all of Europe.. but all of the fucking Northern Hemisphere*.

So don't blame Phil, blame me, for, in my foolishness are the cause of all of this. The worst part of it is knowing that those people are suffering is because of me,  that Phil is getting persecuted over something that is my fault.. and that if no one else does, I deserve all of this, and more, fully.

Leave Phil alone. Take me.

*crosses one off item off list*

Got something done today. Braved the freezing -6 feels like - more conditions yes It's STILL FREEZING COLD I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW I KEEP MENTIONING IT BUT IT'S BLOODY COLD AND I'M GETTING SICK OF IT.. went out and got some stuff done. Some official papers getting bureaucracy stuff. Boring stuff but stuff that needs doing you know, the kind of stuff you put off all the time and by you I mean me, but I went and did it. Relatively smoothly it went, astonishingly enough.. now I just have to go pick it up. In 3 weeks, when it's ready.. Ok so, it's a wait, and then I have to use that to get something changed so I can get something else which probably needs other stuff too, but it's something. It's something off that long list which isn't even complete because it doesn't count for all of the things I need to get the things and that doesn't even start to acknowledge the fact I need to get a job and start a job and do a job before I can like.. get paid or anything, but, a start is a start. well it's not exactly a start it's, somewhere in the beginning stages but the first time I really look like I'm going somewhere, and that's better than a start, I think. Now if it would just warm up.

When you've got nothing to talk about..

You talk about the weather. Hence this being something that could very appropriately called "The Weather Blog" when it's not the "me rambling about stuff that's bothering me and stuff in general without giving details.. often including references to the weather". Well, the thing is, everyone does, all the time. particularly when there is weather. There's always some kind of weather, I hear you say.. but no, not really. Sometimes it just.. is, it's quite nice, not too hot, maybe a bit cloudy but pleasant, and how it has been for a while and how it's supposed to be for the time of year in the place you're in. It's when it's all wiggy that you can't help talking about it. Like now. It's spring, it's been officially spring for 2 days and March for 22. Easter, that spring festival with a side of death worship is coming up and well.. IT'S BLOODY COLD!!! Yes, I've been saying this forever, and it has been, and then it kinda warmed up but not to warm, or anything near it, and it snowed, and then it melted and it snowed again, and then it snained (something between snow and rain) and some of it stayed and then it went etc etc etc. It was coasting along at crappy weather for this time of year.. ie SPRING but much like or even slightly nicer than it had been. Then the temperature dropped. It's even colder now. I'm not pleased. I did not order this.

18 hours to the sun

It's rather dull and overcast out there, got that white sky that you get when it's snowing/been snowing and there's a light cover of snow on grass and roofs, you know the kind of half melted away kind, not the fluffy thick one that stays in the trees and makes everything beautiful, but just makes everything look cold. And slippery. The temperature is -2, but it feels like -7, apparently. Why am I telling you this? Well, this plans to go on for some time, at least for another few weeks, this cold and general slippery conditions but some time tomorrow, well the day after tomorrow technically just after midnight, I'll be in the sun. Well it won't be sunny because it'll be 3 in the morning but it'll be warm, nevertheless. And then when the sun comes up it will be sunny. It's cos of that trip, the one I've been talking about.. flight leaves in just 18 hours, well a bit under that now. So 2 days from now I'll be somewhere warm, not quite lying on the beach yet because we'll still have to make our way to Eilat, but, we won't be sitting by a window with light rain/snow falling outside.

Too hot too cold.

Would you rather it be too hot or too cold?

Don't answer that, it's rhetorical.. in any case, there's only one answer to that, Does't matter, if it's too anything it's rubbish. All other answers are wrong. 

Having said that, I'd prefer it be too cold. If it's too cold, you can rug up, heat up, do exercises. If it's too hot what can you do? If you're in the coolest place, and naked all you can do is get into water. That's it. 

Of course, it depends how much hotter or colder than the ideal it is, and if you have access to the necessary refreshments, so, it's kind of, well.. a rubbish argument. 

I speak of this because today in Sydney was the hottest day on record, apparently, 45.6° C. I would not enjoy that at all. And here it's like, cold, -7 and everything covered in snow and do you hear me complaining?

Well.. I don't have to go outside, at the moment anyway, and don't need to walk people around the city this evening, and well if it was like the last days of doing said job, I would be complaining. A lot.

If I lived somewhere that it gets regularly that cold and colder, and didn't well, live in a place that actually does have a few ridiculously hot days in summer, and visit a place sorta regularly that is quite hot, and come from a place that is known to be hot, and is currently stupidly, and certainly horribly uncomfortably hot, I might feel differently.

Oh and if it wasn't all covered in snow and pretty outside.. I might feel differently right now, being winter and all.

Mix in a bit of white and you got late October.

It's snowing. I know that's not so unusual, it's getting near actual winter and in some places it regularly snows this early, like properly.. but not here, not usually, not that I remember. I mean.. I think I've experienced snow as early as October.. the late part before, technically, but very light, turns to rain and doesn't stay. I think.

This one is well.. light, seems very wet and has been going for over an our already. It might not stay long after that.

Interesting to see the white flakes falling on the yellow leaves and a light film of white on the roofs.. should take pictures before it all goes away I suppose.

Carry on.

The end is nowhere in sight.

They seem to have decided it's winter. Or at least, autumn proper with winter closely nipping on it's heels. It's cold. May not be that cold, but cold enough, and being only autumn,and earlyish autumn at that.. it's just the beginning, months and months of this but colder, and probably with a lot more weather.. I see no end in sight, I mean, the end of the world comes before the end of this no light, heavy jacket season.. yes, we're hunkering down for the winter, the weather gods have spoken!

Speakin of the elohim* I've finished Genesis and now I'm on to Exodus. Veru entertaining, and quite eye opening, if a little er.. well not so much surprising as.. well, troubling. Might do a review at some point, we'll see.

*see what I did there? see what I did? seriously did you, I hope someone saw cos I did something there.

It might be a while since I've done this.

I might be at least a month since I've whined about the weather. Or at least a week and a half, which in either case is kind of a record.

Well, here I am. Whining. Weather gods!!! It's supposed to be summer. Summer!

I may have mentioned this in my last post.. I vaguely remember something like it, now that I think of it.

In any case. This whole.. warm, really nice though sometimes hot for a day or 2, and then back to being cool/cold/rainy for a week or 2 weeks and then finally warming up again for a day or 2 and then going back to being cool/cold/rainy for a week or more and then when it gets warm again it's only for a day or 2, just to go back to being cool/cold/rainy for a week, or 2 weeks, or even more?

I'm over it. Sort it out please.

Ah.. them holidays.

It's Easter Sunday and I'm about to maybe bother to paint some eggs. I'll have to do it like, with a paintbrush and everything so who knows if I'll actually do it. Maybe I'll just draw faces on them.

Just got back from rehearsal for a show that on in like.. *gulps* 2 weeks. Are we ready? Well.. it's not for 2 weeks is it? So no, not ready. On the way there it snowed. Lightly, for a short time but it snowed.. and on spring holiday thing of the year #.. 2 or something. Can you believe it? Of course the trams and metros are all fucked up as they are sometime and particularly when you need to get places that need 2 or more modes of transport to get to.. and it's unseasonably cold and even though you know it you still can't bring yourself to dress like it's really winter, and you're wearing your comfy move around clothes.. and anyway I took a bus the long way and it took fucking FOREVER... but I was on time, I mean I was only as late as everyone else was.

And, it seems as if I'm moving on. Changing work, changing, well work not much else. Everything else is much as it has been.

Happy Easter!

Oh and btw..

It warmed up. I still haven't experienced this only a few degrees below zero weather as of yet but I'm out in a bit and I'll see. It also snowed a bit, finally, well again after the last time I mentioned, and then it stopped. It might again.

Oh yeah.. off out.. as I kinda said already, to my grand Valentine's dinner... already had a change of plans once because the original restaurant was booked up..

oh yeah, things are going as planned :)

in a.. cryptic, series of fun and zany misshaps sort of way.. one hopes :)

I'd really like to have something to say which isn't about how fucking cold it continues to be..

But fuck! It continues to be so damn cold! Was out tonight... to stand around for a bit and then wait around a bit to go home.. no tour.. too damn cold. Not too disappointed that I didn't get to walk around in the freezing cold trying to entertain people who just want to get the fuck somewhere warm.. but it does tend to reduce the money ones makes over a month...

yeah there's other stuff.. I spose.. finally uploaded another video.. plan to make more, edit more and upload more soon. And this time I mean it, like soon soon not.. maybe think about it in another month soon. Seriously. Soon.

And it continues.

The cold remains. And when I say cold, I mean unusual once in a.. I dunno, decade, century kind of cold.. at least stretches that go on for this long. I was hoping it'd be calmed down by now, but it's still below -10°C at the warmest part of day... on the warmest of these days, and by my next 3 hour tour, it plans to still be this cold.

I thought last winter sucked, there were many days like this, and nights like the one I'll have on Tuesday, but they were individual anomalies amongst a group of more normal days.. sorta... this is like.. too fucking much.

And it still hasn't snowed. Not properly anyway.

Ah, it's times like these I'm particularly happy to be working at night, walking around outside.

It's currently -8°C outside, according to one site which might be slightly out of time, recording the temperature from an hour ago when the sun was still up, and I need to be out, giving a tour, some of it, ok, in the cozy and warm dungeon.. but some on the particularly cold and windy parts just above the water, in just over an hour, when it will no doubt drop further down from the (probably lower than -8) temperature it is now.

Was out last night, and yeah.. too cold for this. It's quite perplexing why people still show up for a tour in this kind of cold but they do.. oh they do.. and then, most of it is spent just wanting to get the hell inside.. although, somehow still fun and enjoyable.

Tonight's should be cool.. a slightly different thing than what I usually do and I'm kind of looking forward to it, would be completely if it was at least 5.. ok at least 10-12 degrees warmer.. then it would just be fun.. but I know I'm going to be feeling the nippiness tonight.

But you know.. that's life, gotta deal with stuff.. sometimes, even if you're me.

Why oh why oh why?

Is it always so damn cold whenever it's nice looking outside? It seems as if when it's overcast, or drizzling, it's relatively warm, but you don't really want to go out there anyway, because it sucks, and it would be reasonable because it's not actually freezing and your toes can tolerate it, and if I have a tour, I do't have a tour.. you know? I mean, if I go for a tour then no one shows up for one because of the drizzling or even light snow (not that there has been much of that) and there's no tour, although it would have been ok because.. as previously explained.. not fucking freezing, and so I don't get much money.

When it looks lovely outside.. er.. sunny. It's freezing! What's the point really.. it looks all pleasant and stuff but it like, isn't, it's really fucking uncomfortable to be outside for more than a minute and your toes freeze like today when I had a meeting for work which took up a fair chunk of my Sunday not that I'm complaining about that and it was largely outside and it was cold. I mean, I remember back when we used to have snow.. oh, last winter and when ti did it usually was warmer than this as well. Don't know why it does that but I'm afraid I don't approve. Sort it out!

I said it wouldn't be a good idea.. didn't I?

So, I grumblingly, begrudgingly went to work last night. Felt awful, just your common cold, sore throat, very tired due to said sore throat.. nothing one can't live with but not something you want when you need to lead a group of people around outside at night, in winter, while being all entertaining and stuff.

Well it wasn't bad, cozy group of 6 people, they all seemed nice, and interested, no garbage truck turned up just as I was at the Golden Bears to drown me out.. was feeling a little tickly in the throat but it wasn't the worst. By the end of the tour it got bad, part cold air, strong wind, and bad air down in the creepy catacombs, by the time I was done my throat was terrible, my body weak and sore.. and to make it all just fucking wonderful, the tram was just crowded enough that the 2 women who shoved before me just a few seconds before the tram came, got the last seats left. I really needed a seat.

Today I'm better, I think, at least better than I was when I came home, throat not as bad, bit sniffly, and will be sneezy but at least I can hang around here all night, so I have a chance at recovering.

Of course, tomorrow I've got to go wandering around the Castle up on the freezing, windy hill for 3 hours.

JMG.

And then came the snow.

It snowed. Well I think it did, judging from the light dusting of white stuff on the roofs. I think we're entering the season here I blog about nothing but the season.. I know it seems like I always do but at other times of the year when we get weather (or falling leaves) I occasionally mix it up with other stuff.

It's all weather from here on though.. except for the other season stuff, that of the silly variety which can in a way be put under the season umbrella, so there you go.

Weather blog, signing off.

I'm still waiting for the fog to lift..

For the past few weeks now, I have, upon being woken up between 4:30 to 6:00 by the kitty, going for my first morning er.. relieving.. and seeing the region of Vrsovice out the toilet window, covered in a mist, or fog. Depending on how early in the morning it is. And I think.. gee it's been foggy recently, but.. generally it lets up a bit and by the time I get out of bed properly at 8a.. er 10.. ok about 11 or 12, it's mostly gone.

The last few days there's been a bit of fog about, but also it's been quite sunny.. very nice for the weekend and for a visitor we've had here for a few days. Cold though.

This morning, I again, upon my first awakening, saw out of the window, a sea of mist. It was particularly thick, I thought. This was also the day I was going with our visitor to Vysehrad, up on the hill.. the site of the original castle of Prague.. and a whole bunch of other stuff. She had a bunch of stuff to do, shopping, post office, that sort of thing so I said I'd meet her later, in the afternoon.. it's better to give the fog some time to lift, as it usually does, and by that time, we'd have a bit of sun and some warmth.

Well.. everything went according to plan, got her stuff done and we met at our arranged time. Except for the fog bit.. still the same as early in the morning. We go up there, walk around and are freezing! Go through the artist's graveyard, see the psychadelic basilica, walk through the park.. and are pretty much ready to go somewhere warm and pleasant with food and beer.. but first we had to go to the lookout where you see a beautiful view of the city and the river and the castle.

We went to the lookout and well there are some very nice buildings diretlty in front of it. We saw the castle.. I mean I knew it was, think it was the castle.. I suppose it could have been another towery churchy thing, possibly was.. I don't really know.

That was about 3:00.. fog still hasn't lifted.

All on my lonesome..

Apart from the kitty of course. Ok,so I'm not all alone. Wen you've got someone constantly bothering you for food, you can't feel too alone.

So.. a certain member of the household, obvs not me, or the kitty, has gone to London for the weekend.. yeah, I know, right after a weekend in Paris, some people get all the breaks, anyway, the result is I'm here alone.

It;s been uneventful, so far. I mean, I made some soup, I've cleaned a bit, wasted time the various ways I usually do, oh and I spilled water on the keyboard which made it work kinda funny, with all sorta of extra characters on some keys.. not this one, I swapped it over for the other keyboard, which I don't really like, the shift key doesn't seem to work very well.. anyway, hopefully that one will work properly when it dries out.. much check on that..

what was I saying.. oh yeah..

I've done this before, for much longer periods so I can handle it. and I'm pretty busy anyway. Ok so I'm not, the night of the theatre and night of work have been changed to 2 night in a row of me being here alone, with the internet, and my videos and books and the kitty.. due to me still nursing a cold and it being damn cold out there.

Is it sad that this is my idea of bliss?