Tours

I have decided to take the whole week off work the week after next. So I only have one week to get through before I have some time off work. I am not entirely sure what I will do with all that time, but the plan is still to go away at the end of the week. I feel much better now I am going to have some time off work – and this week has gone remarkably quickly, so if next week goes as fast that will be marvellous.

Sometimes when I have been walking to and from work I have seen Hairy Goat being advertised. I rather like the sound of this (rather small) organisation. You get to go on photography tours of London for a mere £20 – it seems that you will see new things even in places that you might know very well. I am actually a rubbish photographer and can take over a year to finish even one film (a film! I know! I’m not even digital! I have only just bought an electric toothbrush as well… I am very twentieth century in a number of ways). Anyway, if you like London and you like photography going on one of those tours sounds the perfect combination - and judging by the accompanying blog, a bit more custom would be appreciated. So, if you’re tempted, then give it a go and report back!*



*I am not on commission and I don't know the person who runs the tours I think it is just a really nice idea and the woman who runs it sounds like she might need a bit of extra trade.

Words

I just finished reading The Death Of Grass by John Christopher. A most interesting read and I shall review it over at the other blog some time soon. When I finished reading the book I went back to the beginning and looked again at the first page or two and liked the opening words more than I had when I first read it. You can read the whole book here.

Going back to the beginning of the book also reminded of a quote that was on the first page and I shall leave you with that:

“It’s hard to know how these things happen. Quarrels begin, and neither person stops them, and they become silences, and nobody breaks them.”

Plans

When I got to work yesterday I sent G an e-mail saying I thought we should go away for a long weekend (primarily to save my sanity and the lives of anyone I happen to come into contact with on the way into work). G is up for this, so we now need to decide where to go – and pretty sharpish, as we might well go away the weekend of 21 November. I have looked at going somewhere like The Cotswolds, but we quite like going to the coast, so perhaps we should do that instead. I am also aware that my geography of the UK is appalling so I might need to consult a map before making any decisions.

Having made the decision to go away, this has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders and I feel much better. Apart from last Friday, I haven’t had any time off since July and I can really feel it. Someone said to me yesterday how tired I looked and I said I wasn’t surprised by that, as that is how I feel. I will be off for a couple of weeks at Christmas, but a long weekend before that would be really good. So it is time to make some proper plans.

Cheery

When I was on the course on Saturday, the guy giving the training had two rules. First was “be on time” and the second was… “no clicky pens”. He even gave us pens that it required no clicking to try and ensure this rule was enforced. Apparently he has stopped meetings in the past to tell someone they are clicking their pen. I feel I don’t want to get on the wrong side of this man.

My team have moved to a new part of the building. The move went fairly well, despite my computer having no network connection and having to get that fixed. I think I was not in the best mood yesterday and one of my team actually asked me if I was ok because I “wasn’t my normal cheery self”. I did concede that I was perhaps not in that great a mood, primarily due to a headache (and the IT guy not being able to speak without slurring all his words together). I think I should really take some leave from work and it is beginning to take its toll that I haven’t; had any proper time off work since July. It isn’t that long until Christmas now, but I should perhaps give some thought to taking some time off to rest and relax, except G wouldn’t be able to do so at the same time, so it wouldn’t be ideal. So at the moment I will try and get some more sleep and see if that does the trick instead.

Getting on

The training on Saturday went ok. I am still sort of wondering what I have signed up to do and I think it is going to be really difficult, but nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess. I did find that some of the people seemed to have quite set views about things and I felt that a bit uncomfortable with that at times. I’m not sure if that was because I thought their views were wrong or if I just thought they would talk me down if I tried to put across my view. But it disconcerted me a bit anyway. I have various bits of homework to do, which includes having to learn something off by heart. I am not sure I will have perfected that by next week though – and I think we might get tested on it. I’d better get on with it.

The two most memorable things from the day were not actually about the training, but other things. First was lunch (surely the thing people always remember from training?) which was home made Caribbean chicken and rice and peas. It was made by the mum of someone who works there and it rather better than the sandwiches I had been expecting. The other thing was that a woman in the group invited me to go to a book group and so I am thinking about doing that.

G is back tonight. Hooray.

Off

I had the day off work today. I met up with my sister and nephew and we went to see the Changing of the Guards and then went to the National Gallery and looked at some paintings and ate jam and scones in the café there. I am no expert on art but we were trying to get my nephew to look at some of the paintings and he then had to describe what he saw and tell use whether he liked the painting or not (he generally did like them). He also has a very good sense of direction and was really good at directing us using the map we had picked up at the entrance.

G flew up to Scotland this afternoon and will be back on Monday. I am wondering quite what I will do with myself on Sunday. I lived on my own for ages and never had a problem entertaining myself, but it is strange how quickly we adapt to other circumstances. I am busy most of the day tomorrow because the training for my volunteering starts. I am sort of looking forward to that, but also wondering what I have signed up to…

I assume G made it to the airport. I walked with G to the bus stop, as I needed to get the tube about the same time. It was only on the way there that G thought to wonder which terminal the flight was from. I texted a friend who looked it up on her computer and then texted me back. G phoned the airline anyway to check. I guess I normally sort these things out for us and G just hadn’t thought about it. G also texted me and said “do I get off the bus at [a station near where we live]” to which I replied “No, [station much further away]”. This did not bode well. I am going to drive to the airport on Monday and collect G so hopefully it will be a bit less fraught then.

Stay

My team has been given a stay of execution. We can now stay together until the end of December (although I guess the second half of December will be a bit of a right off anyway). After that? Who knows… Maybe we will get another stay of execution of sorts.

Anyway, at work the managers at my grade have been asked to apply for a new project that the office is going to run and it will be the ‘replacement’ for my team. I can apply to run it (and may or may not get it) or if one of the other managers does it then I will backfill their post. They want a side of A4 explaining why we would want to do the job and I am just not sure that I can be bothered to fill out the application. I would be interested in doing the project, but equally would be fine with backfilling the vacated post. But I feel as though I should apply and the work would be quite interesting, but sort of venturing into the unknown… And also possibly entirely reshaping the way that we work, which might or might not be welcome. Hmm, I have a couple of weeks to get the application written, so we shall see if I can summon up the energy.

I am off work tomorrow. I can’t wait.