Christmas 2011, the yo yos tale

It was our first Christmas in Rotherham, a town which not so many years ago was twinned with Mordor, but after much unrest and complaints from the locals, Mordor won and the twinning was ended. And so December the 25th arrived at our little flat in Rotherham, a few days earlier I had gone out and shot the Turkey myself. the staff at Tesco's weren't very happy about it and insisted that I had to purchase it now as no other soft bugger would.

The Turkey was cooked with great care and a feast fit for ourselves was prepared for consumption on Christmas day. And lo from the East (local Asda) there came some crackers which were pulled asunder with great abandon. Out of Angie's fell some incredible nail clippers, while out of mine came a majestic yo-yo in a deep irridescent pink. When held up to the light, it split the rays up into a rainbow with a lovely warming pink hue that was almost magical to behold.

I examined the humour and the words of wisdom that fell magically from the cracker, the humour inside was subtle and incredibly amusing and indeed, it took some seconds for us to stop laughing. Then I inspected the yo-yo, I carefully held it in my hand, checking it's weight, it's balance, it's shape, it was perfect.

I stood up and assumed the stance of a professional yo-yoer, tied the string carefully round my finger and extended my arm, with a deft flick I sent the weighted end majestically towards the wall intending to pull it back to me at the last moment leaving everyone watching gasping with delight and amazement. The yo-yo reached the end of it's string and at that point became a yo as it and the string parted company and the speeding bit of plastic now smashed against the wall and resolved itself into it's constituant components.

Bloody cheap gifts from crackers

December in Rotherham

It's hard to think that this time last year I was completely and utterly buggered thanks to an allergic reaction to some dry skin stuff and incorrect medication, the tablets that sorted me have left their mark as my kidney and liver functions are still not quite back to normal and I feel the cold a bit more now that I used to.

Of course, this time last year I was working in Best Buy Aintree, there were plans for many more stores and in a few months I would be offered the position of Senior Counter Intelligence Agent at Rotherham Best Buy. An offer I took despite having reservations about the store manager and some time later my fellings about him were proven to be true.

I'm betting he was a very spoiled only child that had been bullied and was now using his new found powers on those that worked for him. Then in October came salvation, my immediate manager  returned to the Dark Side or DSG as we call them and I was offered a position there, it took a bit of thinking but I accepted the position and within 2 weeks of accepting the job. Best Buy announced that it was pulling out of the UK market. It's unusual that I get to make a decision that turns out that well but thankfully things have gone my way for once.

A few weeks later I once more made contact with my son Jason, I was foolish to lose contact with him so many years ago and although there is very little chance of a complete reconciliation, talking is a good start.

So next year will hopefully see us moving a bit further south in the direction of Newark or surrounding area and maybe things will start to come together properly.
Let's see what the future brings.