Journée des Patriotes

C'est aujourd'hui la Journée nationale des patriotes,enfin c'est le cas au Québec. Un lundi de congé férié pour mes lecteurs du Québec, gang de chanceux. Bon, je dis ça, mais je ne me plaindrai pas: nous avons deux lundis fériés au mois de mai ici. Enfin bref, j'ai célébré la Journée une seule fois pour vrai, ce sera sans doute pour un autre billet, outre cela je la considère surtout comme une répétition de la Fête nationale, à environ un mois d'intervalle.

Post-Easter Blues?

 Okay, so Easter is now over, but here it is a bank holiday. How was your Easter? How are you feeling? I am of two minds about it: I am always sad after any big holiday, feeling like it came and went way too soon for my taste. For Easter specifically, while I do feel a bit melancholic, I find solace in the fact that there's a lot (and I mean, a lot) of chocolate to go through, we have one Monday that will feel like a Sunday and that in the coming weeks we will have more reasons to celebrate: it will my one of my wife's cousins' birthday and then it will be mine. We literally have no time to feel melancholic, we already need to get ready for the next celebrations. And, in my case, get mentally ready to become older. That is one aspect of the post-Easrer blues I like: it's generally short-lived.

Bloody Leaf Blowers Again!

It started again, a little while ago: from early in the morning, every Monday, there's leaf blowers going at it in the parking of the business behind our house. I hate this. It's our enforced, unwanted alarm clock. It's nothing new, I blogged and complained about it before. I don't understand why they do it this time of year: there's not so many leaves on the ground and autumn is a long way to go. But not only to they start early in the morning, but yesterday they kept blowing way into the afternoon. It just makes even less sense. I suspect they're just blowing their bloody machines on an empty, bare parking, just so they get paid. After all, they must be paid per hour and not per leaf. All the same, I hate it/them.

Morning TV, Not Morning People

This is an oldie but a goodie, made by YouTuber (and fellow Montrealer) Ryan George. Do you hate morning TV shows? Hate how cheerful these people are, so early in the morning? Cherrful, upbeat and alert? Are you, like me, NOT a morning person? Well, this video is for you. I would unironically watch such morning TV show, if it existed. Anyway, it's Monday, it should cheer you up if you are at work or going to work. I am still unemployed, but this is one aspect of employment I could do without: early mornings.

"Blue Monday"

As you may know, today is Blue Monday, allegedly the most depressing day of the year, although this is pure hoghwash. Most years, I don't care, for the reasons stated here. There are of course exception, such as last year's Blue Monday, which truly was depressing to me (and, I suspect, others too). But this year, that should not be the case. Because I'm still unemployed, for one. Also, because there is quite a lot of movement on the job front: recruiters and employers are calling me and I have some job prospects. Therefore I am in a fairly good mood. I quite like January, even in this country, I find Mondays more bearable when I don't have to go to work anyway, so... yeah. Happy "Blue Monday" to you, hoping it's not too blue.

"Merci pour les raisins"

Au Qu.bec, c'est le lundi de l'Action de grâce. Tradition oblige, je partage cette chanson de de La fin du monde est à 7 heures. C'est de circonstances aujourd'hui:

Bouillon de fièvre

 Bon, ben, c'est pas drôle: petit loup s'est couché la nuit dernière avec un petit bouillon de fièvre. Rien de si terrible, cela dit nous sommes un jour férié aujourd'hui, c'est la mi-session pour lui, alors il ne va pas passer un congé idéal. Nous avions espéré passer une journée active, avec quelques activités de prévu, ça devra attendre à plus tard, à moins qu'il se sente d'attaque. Mais au moins, n'ayant pas encore commencé mon travail, je suis techniquement en vacances pour une semaine.

First Jobless Monday

 As you know if you follow this blog, I was made redundant at work. Today is not my first official day of unemployment, that was last Friday, but it is the very first Monday of official unemployment I've had since 2020 or so. That said, I don't have nothing to do, not exactly: there's a lot of house chores to be done and Wolfie is on holiday, so I will need to keep him (and myself) entertained. I will take today and this week as a sort of holiday.

About this last day of March

 Today is the last day of March, in case you haven't noticed. It is also a Monday, which generally makes it all the more frantic at work, at least when you work directly or indirectly in sales, which is my case. I never liked the last day of the month if it is a working day, especially when it falls on a Monday. But as I am being made redundant, it should be quieter. And I have interviews to keep me busy today and fairly upbeat about my situation. That's on the positive side of things. Unfortunately, today is not my last day of work: I still have to show up until Thursday. Then I will be on a sort of enforced holiday, until I find a new job. So it is a bittersweet end of the month for me.

Chronique du lundi

Comme vous devez le savoir si vous avez lu mon billet précédent en anglais, je vais perdre mon emploi dans un mois. Je m'y attendais, ce qui ne rend pas l'expérience plus plaisante, mais j'étais préparé. Et je suis raisonnablement optimiste: je vais déjà passer une entrevue cette semaine et je sais que des recruteurs veulent me parler. Un autre avantage à ma situation, c'est que je n'ai pas à faire du zèle au travail, ayant à prioriser la recherche d'emploi. Et donc, ça rend les lundis moins difficiles. Aujourd'hui, sans dire que je n'avais plus la mélancolie du lundi, j'étais quand même de meilleure humeur que je l'avais été ces derniers mois.

Le long-di

Bon, calembour atroce qui m'est venu en tête récemment. Le lundi, c'est vraiment un long-di. Il faudrait l'écrire comme ça. C'est long au travail, c'est long partout j'imagine, mais c'est vraiment long au travail. En tout cas, c'était long aujourd'hui.

THE Blue Monday

Today is Blue Monday. Usually, I wouldn't care less. Because it's pure pseudoscience to begin with. Because there are worse Mondays than January Mondays and the first working Monday of January is worse than any other in the month anyway. However, not this Blue Monday 2025. This is a proper, genuine, bona fide Blue Monday,the Blue Monday to end all Blue Mondays, THE Blue Monday. There are two reasons for it. The first one, you can probably guess. Yup, the Swine is back. The other reason is that my current job sucks. And things are probably going to get worse before they get better. To a point where pretty much every working day for me will be Blue Monday, until further notice. So yeah, I'm not in a very good mood.

Back. To. Work.

 I'm back at work today. First Monday of January, first day of a full week of work, and I must confess, I am already dreading it. Not the right attitude I know, but I will tell you a secret: I am a little bit fed up with work and have been for a few months. Nothing to do with my employer, it's the best I've had in years, and I love my colleagues, but I'm just not so happy anymore about the job itself. Maybe this year, or at least this month, will be better, however I am still dreading it. I'm really glad I am working from home, because I would really hate to commute on a daily basis right now.

Chanson hommage à l'Action de grâce

Je sais que je l'ai déjà bloguée par le passé, mais cette chanson est un classique instantané et il faut bien souligner l'Action de grâce. Je me rappelle l'avoir vue et entendue et grande première, dans ma vingtaine, ça ne rajeunit personne.

"Monday the whatever"

 Last Friday was Friday the 13th and I saw this meme, which made me laugh. I thought it was more fitting to share it on a Monday (also, I had already shared a meme on Friday itself). It is so very true, for most people who work on a Monday and probably for those who don't too. I will make a confession here: this is very true for me these days. I feel like every Monday is Monday the whatever.

Medusa in a Zoom meeting

You may know that I love all things regarding Greek mythology and that Medusais by far my favourite Greek monster. So when I saw this meme, it really made me laugh. I thought I could share it today to brighten up your Monday. Although, I must say, from a pure geeky point of you, I don't think this is accurate at all: Medusa's reflection is harmless, in fact this is how Perseus kills her, using the back of his shield as a mirror to find her and chop her head off. But anyway, what do you think about it? Worth the risk?

3 et 4

Nous sommes aujourd'hui un jour férié ici en Angleterre. L'un des deux jours fériés du mois de mai. Je ne bouderai pas mon plaisir, mais j'aimerais en avoir un autre en été: le prochain sera le dernier lundi du mois d'août. Nous sommes un lundi férié, donc, et ça veut dire que nous avons eu une fin de semaine de trois jours. ce qui veut dire aussi que nous aurons une semaine de travail de quatre jours seulement. Je ne m'en plaindrai pas non plus. Quand mardi est notre lundi, c'est comme plus endurable.

Blue Monday: some thoughts

In case you didn't know, or maybe didn't notice, or didn't care (which is almost my case), today is Blue Monday. The most depressing day of the year, according to, well, pseudoscience. But I don't find this Monday more depressing than any other and I find it less depressing than other Mondays in the year. Of course, the day is still young, so I might feel differently in the evening, therefore touch wood. So far, so good. I don't find Blue Mondays depressing for the reasons stated in 2023. To sum it up here: I don't hate my job, I don't have to commute to go to work, I find the months of June and July more depressing than January and I only got back at work last week. Also, I have a few more holidays this month. So yeah, while no working Monday is great, and while I understand why some people dislike it, I don't feel particularly blue today.

Les enseignants le lundi

 Une amie de la lointaine époque du cégep a partagé ce dessin de Jack Koch hier. Elle est bien entendu prof. J'ai cru opportun de partager ça aujourd'hui. J'ai quitté le merveilleux monde de l'éducation il y aura bientôt 14 ans et je ne m'ennuie pas du tout, surtout pas le lundi...

Hommage à l'Action de grâce

Pour les chanceux qui vivent au Québec et au Canada aujourd'hui, c'est jour férié, parce que c'est l'Action de grâce canadzienne. Je n'ai jamais vraiment célébré l'Action de grâce elle-même très fort, mais c'est un lundi férié en octobre et c'est assez pour vraiment envier ceux qui sont aujourd'hui en congé, en octobre, avant l'Halloween et tout et tout. Comme c'est la tradition sur Vraie Fiction, je partage la chanson Merci pour les raisins de La fin du monde est à 7 heures. Un classique instantané.