esquisquirrel

The morning after is upon us. And what have we garnered so far from the election? We are certain to have a hung parliament, with the Conservatives as the largest party. But what else can we infer from the results?



- They all lost. Labour took some heavy losses and massive swings to the Conservatives. Lib Dems couldn't translate the hype of the last few weeks into results. The Conservatives, despite an unpopular government and the massive Murdoch-backed media campaign, could not manage a majority. That's a loss for all of them. And what this says to me, is that we are tired of the current system. We don't want a winner under this - we want them all to lose, and lose again until they stop and have a look at why we are making them lose. We don't want to continue with 10 years of Conservative dictatorship, followed by 10 years of Labour dictatorship and then back and forth. I think the parties are slowly drifting together, and without a major sea change in politics, a hung parliament will continue to be the result. The country has desperately needed electoral reform for a long time, and this election must be the trigger that gets this to happen. Whether or not this means we switch to PR (and personally, I'm not entirely convinced by that system), it's clear that the FPTP system can't continue to work in today's society.



- The expenses row played relatively little part in proceedings. Aside from the notable exception of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith losing her seat, the issue that, a year ago, would 'decide the outcome of the election' has decided bugger all. They say a week is a long time in politics, and since the expenses row died down, other issues have come up.



- There are some utterly deluded people. I have just heard from the TV that Cameron is claiming "a better result than Margaret Thatcher in 1979". I'm sorry, what?  While the swing may have been greater, in 1979, Thatcher managed to snatch a majority from an unpopular government. This is very different this time round.



- We now have a Green MP. Caroline Lucas gained the Brighton Pavillion seat. This is quite a major event for British politics. I know it's only one person, but the symbolism is immense, and the Greens will be keen to capitalise on this. While the Greens may not hold any balance of power, their influence on policy can be increased.



- The party that had the best result is the Land is Power guy in Gordon Brown's constituency. His profile has exploded overnight, due to the obvious awesomeness.



So what next? Nobody knows. David Dimbleby has been asking everyone throughout the night, and everyone's answer is "No-one knows". What I do know, is that this has been the most exciting election since 1997.

(Thanks to Mailwatch's Killer Whale for some of the insight about the parties losing - I didn't ask to paraphrase it, but it was just too great to ignore)

On Wednesday, a lady will be coming to work to enrol me on a course. It's something to do with retail, an NVQ in management or something. I know it's not a serious hardcore qualification, but it'll be nice to get back to doing something slightly more academic - and it will come in use, I'm sure.

On the downside, she's coming at 9am, which means I'll probably end up working 9-8 on Wednesday. Followed by having to get up at 5 the next day for another meeting at head office. The life of a working Esqui.... 

 Crossposted from UKFur....

I had a couple of odd dreams last night.

First, and biggest one was one where, for some reason, there were some pills - for some reason, I'm not sure why..could have been a test or experiment, but me and Dan had to take them and they were probably going to kill us. There were two goes previously where nothing happened, and the night before the third I was in a basement at work (that we don't have) reading people's diaries (that they don't keep).

Come the next day, and the third try. I'm in the bedroom at my Grandma's house. I know that I've switched the pills so that Dan's are placebos and nothing more. The time came, and we both took them...and we both knew instantly that I'd sacrificed myself. I start getting short of breath, and a bit teary, before lying down and cuddling up to Dan on the bed and slowly losing life. Then I woke up in real life, as I died in my dream. It was pretty scary.

I've had a quick search online for dream meanings, and the general gist is that dying in your dreams is rarely a negative thing. Moreover, it represents putting your old life behind you and starting anew, in some form. The diary-reading, apparently represents making sure that everyone else sees the past as you want them to see it, and want to see it yourself.

This does strike a chord with me. As I mentioned in my first and previous journal, I am desperately trying to force myself to forget the first two months of last year, and move on - as this would seem. Maybe trying too hard? But if dreams DO have meaning, and can be properly interpreted...this could be a good thing.

Alternatively, as Dan pointed out, it could be something far less deep, and refer to the fact that I will find out whether I have got a promotion or not early next week. It's a slight change in responsibilities at work, and the certainty that I will get it has dwindled somewhat recently. I'm still fairly confident, but now aware that it's not certain.

...but hey, that's what this place is for, right?

It's been almost a year since things happened with the ex (if you know, then you know; if you don't, sorry) and it's still playing on my mind some. Of course I don't love him now, and I have no wish to ever see or hear from him again. I'd rather not know of his existence - so why is it I am still purposely searching on the internet for news articles about him? I guess it's all come up again recently, and maybe it will go, but it's just bugging me. Not least the fact that I did many stupid things, and I still think I owe apologies to people. It's all a bit stressful.

Now let's end on a high note. Come Monday, I shall be having an interview to get a promotion at work. I am very hopeful, so fingers crossed things go well!