Invasion !!

I went to the Nottingham Invasion 'pub crawl' last night. Invasion FB group

On the way back to the car after leaving

I wasn't feeling great yesterday, I had taken the day off , partly because I thought I really needed a long weekend due to the stress at work recently, but also because I was contemplating going to the pub crawl, and it would give me more time to get ready.

I was in two minds to go, my wife got back late from her work, and hadn't actually asked if it was OK to go - I had been out the night before so didn't want to appear to be extracting the urine. 

I should probably have not bothered, but with the women who I met at Belper the previous night definitely going, I thought it was better to go knowing there would be at least a few friendly faces there.

She was OK with me going in the end, I may attempt to gain some brownie points by going out for a meal later. I'm stressing her out with this, so I'll try and stay in man mode at least until Chams on Thursday. She's worried I will want to go full-time at the moment.

The actual event was a bit of a let down compared to what I was expecting, but I ended up chatting more with the two women I had met the previous night, and they introduced me to a few of their friends, so primary goal of meeting more people was met. 

One was into her cars, so could talk a bit about that. They were all keen to offer advice, they were being motherly towards me, it was good. I'm not exactly young in an age sense, but a newbie in terms of the dressing, the social scene etc. Got some hugs at the end of the night, and they were keen to make sure I knew I was welcome to join them at any events.

I was told that Leeds First Friday is perhaps a better one to attend - it's a lot nearer for me too. That has 100+ attendance even in Covid apparently. I've mentioned it to the Mrs , just as a heads up, and gone through my thoughts on how many things I want to attend. Basically just explaining that I want a social life. The support groups fulfil part of that, but they are not the same as getting out and about. I've said it would be nice for us to go out as a couple, (even in man mode) but she seems to think the kids are too young - i'm not convinced at all, they are old enough to manage a few hours on their own now - both will be at big school in September.

I used to go out a few times a month with friends to the pub, but that seemed to fizzle out five or six years ago due to changes in circumstances with them. I also didn't realise how much I was relying on people at work to fulfil that aspect of my life - until Covid hit and we all switched to WFH contracts.

I'm pretty bad at organising anything, and also I suffer from social anxiety to a degree. So I really prefer events where I can just turn up. Much less stressful to not be 100% expected or required. If something is optional and there is no pressure I'm much more likely to go than if I have to commit, then worry about being in the mood that day.

I didn't get home until after 1am, but still ended up waking up at the normal time, and couldn't get back to sleep. Caffeine is required. All this driving to Nottingham with the current fuel price hike is going to be very expensive, I will need to do more Leaf journeys and suffer the charging inconvenience. 

I should service the wife's car too, a job for today perhaps.