Smile: the longest word in the dictionary...

...because there's a mile in it.

One of my pet peeves is grumpy people who have a talent for finding the negative in even the most amazing situations. There's a lot of power to be had in being happy. Holding on to a happy moment can transform a dull day into a magical one. So I love being faced with the challenge of a disgruntled so-and-so with the aim of transforming at least the conversation into a positive one. If that creates a domino effect and makes other people happy, there's the bonus.

Yesterday my challenge came in the form of a pub regular. We've just had a refurb at the White Horse in Great Baddow, Chelmsford, and it's being received with a difference of opinion. As most of our clientel are regulars, the changes are being noticed and they either love that the place is brighter, cleaner and fresher or they hate change and want it to be a bit lived-in again.

At about lunchtime yesterday, one of our Carling drinkers commented on one piece of unfinished changes: a light fitting. He questioned why it was left in its condition and argued that it was unsafe. With some electrical training under my belt, I politely refuted his claim with a thorough response and Stig-of-the-Grump was silenced. I left the situation to stew for a couple of minutes whilst I carried on with the daily tasks of making everything look beautiful and shiny before he continued with conversation which took a more positive turn. Rather than finding more to complain about, he asked me what I was planning to do with my life. (It's a simple fact that only a handful of people work in a pub or bar because they eventually want to be managers or specialist bartenders. Whilst the rest of us care about our jobs and are good at it, we're most likely on the hunt for something that will buy us a house eventually rather than just pay the bills.) With many pleasant back-and-forths and an offer to help by giving me a contact, the conversation was transformed from negative and grumpy to positive and happy.

I would regard this conversation as a little win. It's now over 24 hours later and I'm still thinking about it and being happy that it happened. Little successes make the world go round.

All in.

I moved away from Birmingham recently. I'd sorted a job out already so I didn't have that to worry about but I was planted basically in the middle of a new planet. Whilst I wouldn't say that I left behind an active social life, I did leave a handful of people behind whose time I really valued. But Skype exists so that's okay. When I was at University, my spare time was taken up by things that required you to be a student to get involved with so my hobbies were non-existent once I graduated. It was time to start anew.

In search for a new hobby, I thought about what would be affordable, given that my job barely sustains me let alone all the debt I have to sort out, and I had a look at what I was already interested in. I already love running but at the moment I'm not good enough, or confident enough, to justify joining a club - though it is on the to-do list for the near future. And simply continuing solitary running wouldn't push me to meet new people. Being fascinated by Victoria Coren and her love of, and success in, poker, I thought I'd emerge from the world of online and found myself doing alright in a friendly game in The Endeavour last night.

Poker is a very interesting game in that beforehand all players are friendly, banterous and welcoming but during play one would expect them to draw a line and simply concentrate. That's certainly what I intended to do. I didn't win anything, in the end, and called an all-in stupidly when I was in the top three chips-wise in the first round. Stupid, stupid move.

It'll take me a while to be able to maintain a winning streak without getting a little carried away, I reckon, because I'm an open book. I will always remember my high school drama teacher telling an awful joke on a theatre trip coach one evening and giggling in my direction a few seconds after. The joke didn't tickle her, it was my reaction. I wasn't aware that I'd twitched even at all but apparently there was significant disgust on show. Whoops. Thankfully she had an excellent sense of humour and was used to it. She then went on to influence one of my biggest life decisions and I followed in her footsteps with exactly the same course at exactly the same University. But that's a different matter altogether.

So my first attempt at real life poker with a timed tournament was not a terrible one. Discounting the few months of friendly games between flatmates in first year, now I know what it's like to play in person rather than behind a screen. Will I be returning next week? Probably. Got my membership card, have to use it now!

Another list, inspired by impatience.

Life is short. We don't have time to be grumpy. That's what I try to remember when I'm having a bad day or I'm faced with a difficult or tedious situation. When it just gets so terrible that others would throw in the towel, unable to muster up some enthusiasm to go on. At least two people gave up on the tough task I had today. Several muttered grumbles under their breath. It was an ordeal. But that's life in the Post Office queue.

Though we pride ourselves in our talent for queueing, us Brits do like a good grumble when we're in one. But why? It's only ten or fifteen minutes of our time. Sometimes even less! The Post Office line is the worst for keeping up cheery customers. So to combat this attitude, I've come up with ten things, listed in low to high priority, that you could be doing whilst in the seemingly endless torture of the humble Post Office queue:


10. Your taxes.
If it feels like an age stood there, why not get a pen out and sort your finances out? Why wait until you actually have free time? It might even encourage you to send more things to relatives. The time you spend in queues will add up, right?

9. Tidy up a bit.
Other queuees(?) will have picked up leaflets for pension schemes they're never going to use and international postage they're probably not bothered about. Help out the business by putting these back rather than tutting at the mess others are creating. A tidy space is a tidy mind.

8. Listen to an audiobook.
You could get a whole chapter finished. If you hate the gloom of the Post Office queue, surrounded by imminent death and impatient people, teleport to a new world with Stephen Fry's voice for company. I suggest Narnia or Harry Potter.

7. Count the ceiling tiles.
An old exam technique, revert to childhood by counting and recounting the ceiling tiles. Then noticing which ones are different colours and counting them. You'll love it.

6. Count how many people Taylor Swift has written songs about then alphabetise that list. Then re-order it in terms of age, if you have time.
That girl's been around.

5. Conga.
You're already in a line, it only takes a catchy tune and some willing partiers. This one comes with a scowl warning.

4. Learn how to say the alphabet backwards and speed it up.
And stick it on your CV.

3. Chinese whispers.
Another advantage of the automatic line. Who knows what "Buy me two red roses on a Saturday and deliver them in the afternoon" will end up as?

2. Write a list of 10 things you could do in the Post Office queue.
...that's what I did. Jump on the bandwagon and add a theme: ten things you could do in ten minutes; ten things you really shouldn't do; ten people you'd love to be in the queue with...

1. Be patient and remember the little things in life that make you happy.
Seriously, it could be worse. Donate some money to charity on your phone while you're waiting, for extra karma points.