Where’s the Bears at, Manchester?

So here we are, my best mate P and I, half way through our trip to Manchester.  And over the past couple nights we’ve been asking ourselves – and each other – the same thing..

Where the hell are all the damn bears????

I’d always heard/assumed that Manchester had a big bear community, especially since the annual British Bear Bash party is (was?) one of the biggest in the UK. Kind of a safe assumption I’d say, right?

But imagine our surprise to arrive in Manchester and there’s no dedicated bear bar or pub. That when we’ve asked around as to where to go, we’re directed to a bar full of leather men and guys wearing latex (think there was a fetish party going on somewhere), and to the prerequisite Eagle which just wasn’t that busy. 

Maybe we’re missing something. Maybe there’s some hidden gem of a bear bar that nobody’s telling us about (and is so hidden you can’t even find it on the Internet lol). 

Maybe there just aren’t any guys in Manchester either of us would find attractive. Maybe they’ve all moved away. Lol

Or maybe there really isn’t that big of a scene here after all (Growlr would say otherwise…). Or maybe they’re all partnered off and sitting at home on a Friday night. 

I dunno.  All I do know is we’ve both been pretty underwhelmed by the city so far, and that’s disappointing. It’s not a horrible city at all, in fact it’s quite clean and seems nice.. but just doesn’t seem like there’s anything to do. 

Other than drink and shop.

Or maybe I’m just so used to London (and P used to Glasgow/Edinburgh) where there’s always something to do, something touristy, something fab and interesting. 

Or maybe we’re just missing something. 

Oh well, still another couple days to go. Hopefully something interesting will pop up.. Once we finally crawl out of bed with our hangovers. 😉



Getting Snappy

I’m finding more and more these days that it’s a struggle to keep myself out of the ‘dark place’.  To keep my spirits up and try to look at each new day as something exciting or interesting, even if all I’m doing is my usual daily routine.

And I think I was kind of succeeding with this over the past few weeks despite the lacklustre goings on in my life.  I’ve been doing my best to just enjoy my free time by watching my favourite television shows (Doctor Who marathon anyone?), relaxing on my sofa, and relishing the rare opportunities to spend time with mates.

Unfortunately this hasn’t been going so well for the past week or two, and I’m finding myself stressed out and desperately looking forward to some well-deserved time off work next week (I’m off to Manchester next weekend with my best mate P from Scotland).

I know a lot of this stress and anxiety I’m feeling is due to a few changes at work (something I don’t tend to write much about on here..), where we’ve finally gotten some new staff in to replace the ones that quit/were fired over the holidays.  Normally I enjoy the challenge of showing new people how things work and the processes that need to be followed, but this time I’m finding it too much.

For some reason, it feels like it’s all coming down on me to show the newbies the ropes, which results in a constant bombardment of questions that pulls me away from the work I need to get done.

It’s not so much the questions themselves, but how it’s the same ones over and over again, mostly from this one particular guy.  He’s picked up most of the system processes, but anything else he feels this need to reconfirm on a daily basis, despite us telling him to write things down.

And sometimes he comes out with the most ridiculous questions that either don’t make any sense at all or are just plain stupid.

Gawd, how I hate using that word about someone, especially when I think he’s actually just insecure.  I keep trying to get him to think for himself, but instead he’d rather re-ask the same questions just to make sure.. which then makes me snappy and frustrated to no end.  And once he’s completed the tasks he’s been ‘told’ to do, he’ll just sit there and chill while the rest of us are still working away until end of shift (and beyond some days) as if there wasn’t anything else to do.. and he doesn’t ask if there is.

The worst was this past Friday when I was alone with all 3 of the newbies (my boss had booked the day off.. damn her hahaha), and I couldn’t get anything done.

But when it took me close to 2 hours to do one simple task because I was constantly having to give them directions or tell them what needed to be done next (which they should know by now), I couldn’t help snapping at them.  And that’s not like me at work at all.

Some of the management have commented in the past how I’m always calm and cool regardless of what is going on or what needs to be done.  And this is exactly how I want to be at work.

Unfortunately the stress of the day got the better of me, and I was frazzled all day long.  Something a couple of my colleagues in the office noticed and kept (discretely) checking in on me to see if there was anything they could do to help..

But not any of the management, surprisingly enough.  Hmmm..

Anyway, luckily the supervisor is back to work on Monday, and we’ll have a busy couple of days to ensure we get ahead of the game before I have my time off from Thursday.

Though hopefully it isn’t as bad for her while I’m off until the following Wednesday.. but then again, can’t predict anything I suppose.

Guess I’ll have to write a second post about the stresses in my personal life.. Watch this space. 😉

Gay Memoirs By Baron Long Winkle

Big thanks to ‘Harry Humper’ (can’t imagine what that’s a euphemism for..) for sending me this link.

Enjoy xx