Letter from Phuket 2

There was a little cock-roach-y thing in my bathroom this morning. And if I leave an open bag of sugar on the tea tray (because I don't use a whole one) then a group of little bugs take up residence - always check before using it again!  But to be honest this being the 6th time I've been here I'm used to it and it doesn't phase me any more. Just so long as the friends of the now deceased cockroach thing don't come into my bed. There have been more mozzies about than usual, probably because it's been quite thundery with heavy showers, and is forecast to be the same for the rest of the week I think.

I got a bit of a lie-in this morning, having gone back to sleep and woken up at what I thought was 8.30am - what!? - but turned out to be 7.30 as my watch had clicked forward to HKG time. I had my customary breakfast of fruit salad and yoghurt, fried egg or omelette, and toast. I'm afraid I cannot stomach pate or spicy potatoes for breakfast. Lunch is usually either a rice or noodles dish with varying levels of spicy-ness and you have to watch out for the red and green bits....

So, it's Monday and I'm enjoying some time off although I do need to get on with some of my normal work. The wifi connection here is pretty dire though so there is much swearing, clenching of fists and hair-tearing going on. They are also doing some electricity works outside the hotel apparently so we keep having powercuts too. Those words 'your connection has been lost, trying to re-connect, attempt 3 of 20' are enough to turn the air blue especially when there is an owner waiting by the table for information.

Everything got pretty much sorted by the briefing at 4.30pm yesterday.  Last year we extended the measurement to 3 days from 2, and it has made a huge difference;  a lot of boats were done and dusted on Friday which meant that blood-pressure on Saturday and Sunday was a bit lower for everyone.

The opening party was last night, I was late to it because I had a sporadic Skype conversation with Mr H, which involved me having to sit on the floor just inside my bedroom door to pick up good enough connection, which then kept dropping. Still we managed a bit of a conversation and then agreed that email letters were going to be a lot less stressful. Anyway, I did get to the party in time to get some pasta and rice and red wine, and chat to a few people before heading off to bed (refusing an invitation to go out to a local bar since I'd already had my quota for the night!).

The political demonstrations up in Bangkok has meant that I am not really looking forward to my trip home on Sunday, since I change at Bangkok airport (although I am feeling quite homesick for my dusty little house, elderly dog and lovely husband). There is nothing I can do about it, but I am one of those people who imagines the worst in such scenarios - and I know where I get that from! Yesterday the race director here said that when he'd driven from home to Kata the road was blocked by police, and another road was blocked by a truck on its side, so it had taken 1.5 hours instead of 20 minutes. (He is the opposite to me and just takes everything in his stride from stroppy yachties to Thai political tensions, "Oh yes, they're off again, just the same as normal"). Anyway, Oh my god I thought, what is this, rioting on the Phuket streets? But no, the road was closed because of a triathlon that was on, and the truck was just someone not able to drive properly!

So, I shall try not to worry about it or let it spoil my week. Right, time for lunch then on with some work.

Letter from Phuket 1

I am writing this at 5am, I am sitting in bed awake, wishing it wasn’t dark outside so I could go for a swim. I’m back in Phuket (Thailand) for the 6th time for the King’s Cup yachting regatta. It feels very familiar although a few vital things have changed, such as the colour of the pool towels and sunbeds…

I still get the little butterflies of ‘will it all go ok? Will I cope?’ when I think about the manic two days of regatta registration coming up. Silly though because it always goes OK and on Sunday night it all comes together, and I finally close my laptop satisfied that everyone has a legal certificate and they can go racing on Monday morning.

Heathrow terminal 3 never seems to change. I shopped in Boots and had tea in Costa, and got invited by a man to have my photo taken next to a cardboard cutout of the Queen as I was idly inspecting the Royal Wedding gift shelves. I said ‘no thank you, I’m English’ which made it sound as though I could have my photo taken with the Queen any day of the week.

My flight out was uneventful and I had two seats to myself, in fact the plane was very empty. Clearly Wednesday is not a popular travelling day! I spent most of the 11.5 hr flight to Bangkok not sleeping. I read an entire Dick Francis novel which I then left on the plane to be recycled, and watched a couple of episodes of an American drama called ‘Nashville’, about a country singer and her family, and of course an up-and-coming rival singer. There was then a couple of hours at Bangkok before a 90 minute flight down to Phuket and an hour’s taxi ride to the hotel.

Having arrived at Kata Beach at around midday yesterday (Thursday), I just wanted to sleep and did manage a couple of hours dozing, but was totally out of sync and it feels wrong being in bed in the middle of the day. A quick walk on the beach confirmed yet again that this is definitely not my ideal holiday destination and that Mr H would absolutely hate it. Couples and families either lying on the crowded beach, splashing about in the sea, walking around in skimpy swimwear with their bellies hanging out (male and female) or zooming around on SeaDoos. The majority of tourists here now seem to be Russian, with some Brits and other Europeans thrown in.

So, it’s warm and most of the time it’s sunny. But for holidays give me the Scottish wild lands any day. I dined alone last night, having gone for a stroll into the village (ie. stepped outside the hotel front gates) on impulse I stopped in at an outdoor restaurant and ate Pad Thai (noodles) with prawns and a bottle of Heineken, followed by banana split. It didn’t feel at all odd being in the restaurant on my own and I could watch the world walking by on their way home from the beach, or locals driving past in their pickups and tuktuks but mainly on scooters. A baby elephant went by in the back of a truck, some animal screamed in an alley across the road, and the Russians sitting at the table next to me argued with the waiter about exactly what it was they wanted.

Today we start sail measurement and it is a bit of a warm-up day before tomorrow’s mayhem. I might go back to sleep for half an hour.

Mixing sails and wheels

Some of you will know that in my day job I work in the technical and measurement side of yacht racing and have done for nearly 29 years; over the years sailing has inevitably been a part of my life, which really only changed after the crash. Now that Mr H and I are involved in motorsport I have a whole new set of friends and the two areas of my life are totally separate; there is an overlap of interest between the two sports but I would never see any of my sailing friends at a hill climb, and vice versa. In conversation there are often cross-overs between the two and I'll sometimes allude to an equivalent situation in boats, levels of the sport, grand prix owners etc., but that's as far as it goes.

At one recent hill climb at Wiscombe Park, in conversation with a few of our hill climb friends about kids doing karting with pushy parents, I said something about it being the same in dinghies. Another chap on the edge of the conversation immediately picked up on this, and it transpired that he had done quite a bit of yacht racing down in Devon so we ended up talking about that a bit. After a couple of minutes it was clear that our hill climb friends were totally out of the loop, and I was thinking "Actually I really don't want to talk about boats and my work when I'm here enjoying car stuff".

The situation hadn't come up before, the closest I'd got to talking about work was a vague explanation to driving friends about what I did, mainly because the event commentary form asks for your day job! I keep changing what it says and have just about simplified it down to 'yacht racing admin' which is close enough for the purpose.

At the last event we were at, somebody mentioned boats and said that they sailed and I kept my mouth shut; Mr H commented on it later, having realised that I wanted to keep the two things completely separate he hadn't blurted out 'Oh, J works in yacht racing!'.

It's not that I don't love my job, it's just that I deal with sailors all week, day in day out, and at weekends I'd rather be discussing horse-power and the best line round the hairpin...

Work/study crossover

Last week's Americas Cup sailing tragedy, where a crew member died while training on one of the super-fast 72 ft catamarans, has brought up an interesting overlap between my work in yacht racing, and my degree studies on crime v. harm: I'm thinking about the self-regulation of high-level (and high finance) sports, and internal investigations into 'accidents', and how this could be seen as corporate crime/harm.

It's also worrying how (although we might all deny it) things like this can become accepted as a risk of the sport that the competitors knowingly sign up for, I have no doubt that disclaimers abound in the contracts. 

Would you go and work in an 'ordinary' job for an amazing company doing something you loved, but knowing that one day you might not come home from work? Do workers in factories have different rights to those enjoying themselves? What is the difference between company responsibilities in the workplace, and professional sailing where the sailors are effectively employees?

The AC investigation has to be completed in time for the racing start at the beginning of July; well, they wouldn't want to upset the TV schedules. So, don't worry everyone, the show will go on! After all, it's all about the money.....

And, as in car racing, some of the Americas Cup spectators will be watching in the hope that there will be a big crash; and that is a whole different question about human nature.

Brain issues

The last 'normal' essay I wrote was before Christmas, and I feel as though I have forgotten how to write one! The assignment I have done since Christmas was a Plan for the long 4000 word essay we have to do in April, so that was very different.

Assignment no.4 is due on March 14th and I feel slightly in denial about starting on it, but thankfully I have a tutorial on Saturday so that should help!

..........................

One of my work colleagues recently had a 'chat' with the boss about her production levels. Her response was to come into work early and leave late the last couple of days (unnecessary for getting the work done) and note down how much she had invoiced (we don't work on commission and this is irrelevant information).  I was interested how her interpretation of what would 'fix it' is totally different to mine. If I had been given the same 'chat' I would look at my time management and priorities. But I suppose that difference is the reason that she gets The Chat, and I don't.

Breathe in peace...

My resolution of 'don't let people wind me up' is being tested now I'm back at work.

Not with customers but with the reminder that it is like living in a student house. Sink perpetually full of cold water with a teaspoon or two at the bottom. Coffee spills on the workstop. Half eaten packets of food that seem to spread. All little things that don't really matter but still irritate.

A friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook recently that said

"Breathe in Peace

Breathe out Love"

Normally I take those sort of phrases with a pinch of salt, but that one seemed to stick in my head. Reminding myself of it helped me get through a few moments over Christmas when I was worrying about things, feeling stressed or thinking uncharitable thoughts about people! 

Try it next time you are feeling wound up, and combine it with a deep breath in and a deep breath out, it works for me...

Management - punishment for a previous life?

I read an interview with a manager this week who said that she didn't allow office back-biting to go on and just got people into the same room to sort it out.  She said that normally all parties ended up laughing about it by the end. Really?  I bet once they got back to their desks the smiles are off their faces and they are sticking pins in to wax models of 'the other party'.

All work places have their share of back-biting, and I can see that getting the protagonists to discuss it is good, but surely it depends on the subject matter?   If it is complaining because somebody isn't pulling their weight, or has done something incorrectly, that is totally different to character-assassination on personal grounds.

I do get fed up sometimes with being expected to be the middle-man, and would like to say 'oh for heaven's sake just sort it out between you', but it just wouldn't work in many of the cases. Like the ones that consist of "Grrr, she just walked in the room and I was annoyed, it's the way she puts her bag down!"

I know that there are people who read this who are experienced in such matters in the work place, what do you think?

Keeping busy!

At this time of year my brain is ducking and diving into different roles: writing pieces for the work websites (two different sites), discussing the best way to do the PR for new initiatives, listening to ideas from my colleagues and thinking about if and how to implement them. 

It's a love/hate situation - I love it because there is plenty to think about and get on with and it is challenging I hate it because it is lots of bits and pieces rather than one big project or the 'head-down' frantic issuing of certificates that is the first half of the year.

For those of you who don't know what I do as my day job, have a look here: What we do 

I hope you all have a good weekend.  I am going out for a meal tonight with Mr H and my best girlfriend; we very rarely go out so it's a treat!  And on Sunday we're off to Goodwood Revival, I can almost hear and smell it already ;)

Changing places

I am moving.

No, not house. Just a relocation within the same office.

At the moment I sit in the main 'technical' office which I manage, with the other two girls.  I feel like one of the girls while actually I am supposed to be their boss, sometimes I want some peace and quiet and a bit of distance from the chatter; and from being too buddy-buddy with people who I sometimes need to pull rank on.

It so happens that the third technical team girl is about to return from maternity leave, and previously used a rather temporary feeling office next to my boss's.  It is temporary feeling because it also houses the photocopier/printer plus various office junk.   I decided that this would be a good place for me to be, because it is next to the boss so he can discuss things with me without disturbing everyone else, and I will be next to but not amongst my team. Plus the girl returning will be part of the group rather than stuck out on her own.  It is open plan-ish so I will still hear everything that is going on, but won't sit getting annoyed by people's personal habits that I have in my line of sight!

So, today I started dismantling my stuff.  Given that I've been there 27 years, and I've had the same desk (in various locations) all that time, this took a while. I can't take the desk with me, it will be rather sad to leave it, how silly to be attached to a piece of office furniture? Tomorrow we will move the photocopier to the other end of the office which will the space twice as big, and the paraphanalia.

I thought that the girl who sits next to me might be put out by my wanting to move and take it personally, but everyone seemed to agree that it was a good idea... plus she gets my desk next to the window with the best view (I now get to look out over the dinghy park!).

I'm hoping I won't regret it, but at least I will have my proper own space for the first time, ever?

Control freak?

I look at my colleague's desk next to mine, and how she is pinned in by piles of old paper, mugs, files, various office staplers etc., nail polish remover (!), boxes of... not sure what, and generally just STUFF.  I can't understand how it doesn' drive her nuts working in that environment (I have another colleague who is even worse, but I don't have to see it for 8 hours a day so I will leave that one out of it, for now).



I want to pick up the largest pile of paper, most of which probably hasn't been relevant for about a year, and go through it and chuck most of it out.

Picture from this article

Now Mr H will say that I am not the tidiest person in the world, but I do fairly regularly go through stuff on the table and either file it or chuck it, and my office desk is really tidy as we don't produce much paperwork in here these days.

So now my colleague has left work early, and my fingers are ITCHING to clear up her desk (actually to put the entire contents in the bin, if I'm honest). 

What does that say about me, psychologists!?  (or them, for that matter)

News and emotional confusion

Aarggh I don't know what kind of mood I am in at the moment - the opposite to how everyone would imagine I would be feeling just now...

I have some news to catch you up on, and that is that Mr H. has a new job and will be moving home at Christmas!   What a relief to have an end to the 'indefinite period' in Scotland... not that either of us regret it in any way at all, we have both learned a lot from the experience, but we'd both got to the point where we just wanted to be together (and be able to DO things at a moment's notice.  That is darn tricky when you are 450 miles apart, everything becomes a logistical nightmare).

He is moving out of forestry, by necessity rather than choice. ie. in the end, the need for him to come home out-weighed staying in forestry.  But the new job he has is pretty cool - trimming classic Jaguar cars (ie. upholstery and making carpets, hoods etc.).  And better still it is about 2 miles from our house, better than we could have imagined. Sooo he comes home before Christmas and New Year and doesn't go away again!

Meanwhile I fly to Phuket, Thailand (sorry Carol) on Thursday morning to work at a big regatta there.  I'm not a particularly good long-haul traveller in that I get dreadful pre-travel nerves, although I am usually fine as soon as I am in the taxi - it's the few days beforehand that make me a wreck. But hey, a week of sun, sea and sand is something to look forward to, even if I do have to still work as well.

Two things to be excited about, so why do I feel that I've had an emotional relapse and am suddenly depressed...?

Flutterbies

I have butterflies. Great big fluttery ones.

Tomorrow I have the psychological assessment for the accident insurance and I am ridiculously nervous about it.  The only reason for this, I think, is that I have no idea what to expect. I'm scared of what his questions will be and how I will react to them.

Next weekend I go to Paris for three days for our annual international meeting.  "Fabulous!" everyone says, Paris in the Autumn.  But I'm not a big fan of large meetings (40+ delegates) anyway, and I'm worried about not being able to squirrel away on my own (but my GP says I have to make myself be sociable!). Also, apart from the Brits, most of them I haven't seen since the crash. I missed last year's meeting because of it, so I'm going to have to go through the 'how are you' rigmarole with them. Not that I blame them, it's just that sometimes I'd like to forget about it and be normal.

So, my anxiety levels are teetering, despite telling myself It Will Be Fine.

Sorry that I haven't written the promised blog posts, I haven't been in the right mood for it. So they may materialise or it may be something completely different!

Brain required

Today is our annual meeting of representatives from around the country, so I am having to dress with my best smile and manners.    I'm not very good at meeting stuff; I prefer to have my head in something technical, but it has to be done.  And I've got to help with taking minutes today, ugh!

When I went to last year's meeting I was on 2 crutches and non-weight bearing - that made me realise what a difference a year has made!   It's looking like a beautiful morning so I will be cycling to work - now that I have the van here rather than the car, my bike is transport of choice to work as it's just easier.  I have just ordered some good waterproof over-trousers, they cost me almost a tank of fuel but if I cycle to work every day I'll have saved that in a month!

Right, time to get my brain into gear and get dressed and breakfasted.  I'm still recovering from last week and looking forward to the weekend when I'll have time to do those things on my list!

25 years, and living off the land

Mr H says he is missing reading my insights.. I guess he's right that I don't have so many when I'm not studying and thinking deeply about stuff.   Or maybe at the moment I don't feel as though I have anything interesting to say, other that getting aggravated by people!  My boss has been away at a regatta for two weeks so I've been 'in charge' and have had a couple of diplomatic incidents and some mysteries to unravel. Although the boss has been available on e-mail, I have made a point of dealing with things that would normally get passed straight on to him, so I'm feeling good about that. Now I just need to continue that when he is back!

This weekend is 25 years since my sister picked up a hitch-hiker, and I ended up marrying him. Next weekend when he is home, we will open my morello cherries in bourbon to celebrate - they have been marinading almost 3 months now.

I just went down to see some friends (where our bees live) and we were discussing the people who try and live on £1 for food per day.  We decided that unless you grew 90% of what you ate, it wouldn't be possible; but apparently one of the people who wrote a book about it included gate crashing parties to get free food - I'm not sure that is really in the spirit of the thing!  We were discussing how many of the weeds that grow under their cherry trees would be edible in some way. I'm sure you must be able to make dock leaf soup or thistle pie or something - I will have to try and find a suitable book for them for Christmas.

Talking of weeds, I have a bit of gardening I want to do this afternoon. I'm trying to take it easy because my leg has been quite painful the last 2 or 3 weeks, but it seems like such a waste of a weekend.  So maybe just a bit and then I'll stop for a cup of tea. I promise.

Reminders come when least expected

Sometimes I get a reminder what being a manager is about. It's not just making sure the job gets done properly and on time, or wondering how to improve the training; it's also looking after the people you work with and being there for them to talk to when they need to.

It is giving them the benefit of the doubt, and treating them the way you expect to be treated yourself.

I never signed up to be a manager - it was originally a purely technical post until we needed more pairs of hands - but here I have ended up, so I have to do it the best I can.

I had a reminder today, which has made me realise I need to try harder...

Aggravation and excitement

Today was aggravating.  Not particularly busy, but everything was... aggravating.   I could feel my frown lines deepening as the day went on and the headache lingering in the background. We missed our goal for this month by 8 boats which was mainly due to one person being off sick, and all my stuff being AGGRAVATINGLY time-consuming and confusing.  But never mind, 8 boats is ok, and we have caught up since last month so that is A Good Thing.

And tomorrow is a half day, Mr H is due back at lunchtime-ish, together with Django and a new colony of bees he is picking up on the way.  So I am only working in the morning, in the afternoon we will be sorting out the new home for said bees, I'm rather excited!

Mr H has kept bees for 29 years and carried on when he moved down here, but we've had bad luck losing them over the winters recently. So for the first time ever we have decided to buy a new colony, and start anew with them in a better location and within walking distance.  They are quite expensive to buy, so they will be molly-coddled for fear of losing them over the very first winter which would be Not A Good Thing At All.

So, a relaxed evening this evening is called for - easy supper and a good book should do it.

But before I go, here is a gratuitous photo of our local lighthouse which is next to the castle I walked out to the other evening.

Edit at 9pm.  So much for sitting with a good book, I couldn't. Having driven to work today I NEEDED to do something.  Went for a brisk walk exploring some new footpaths down the lane, 3 miles later...

Tuesday's gone with the wind

So, that was Tuesday.

Monday was full of e-mails, it took me all day to get through them all. Today thank goodness I had only a few so managed to get some work done (yes I know e-mails are work, but you know what I mean).  I've been trying to work out how I feel - at one moment like I've been run over by a steam-roller, at another relaxed and happy.  Last week took it out of me, or rather the last few weeks of really busy work mixed with revision.

This morning I turned the alarm off in my sleep and woke up at 8.27am - oh bugger - I had stayed up too late finishing a gripping police novel so it was my own fault. And then I lay awake worrying about psychos breaking in.  So then I had a mad rush for breakfast (can't face the day without some) but still cycled to work because I had promised myself not to use the car unless I have to. So I arrived at work a bit kerfuffled.

I felt a bit down this evening, I just felt limp and my leg was hurting which must be because yet again I've been considering cutting down on the DHC. I walked fast into town to catch the 6pm post with my letter to Mr H, and sat on a bench for a bit watching people before ambling home in the sunshine. I then cheered myself up by picking a pile of vegetables to go with the local sausages I got from the market.  It feels so good to eat fresh from the garden, it makes all the digging (thanks Mr H) and planting and hoe-ing and waiting worthwhile.   I even managed to mow the main lawn before it rains again.  'The main lawn' - that makes it sound as though we live on an estate with multiple lawns and water features and acres of vegetable garden.  Well we do have a fake stone bird bath.

My sister and her partner are coming down later this week, they stay at my parents' a couple of miles away.  So I'm going over on Thursday and we're all going out by the sounds of it; I'm not really in the mood but it will be good to see them.  Typically my great plans to start driving around visiting family has coincided with me deciding that I really need to cut down my expenditure.  But I do need to take a weekend trip soon, to see how I get on with the driving. I wish I had the van because I feel invincible in that... but will have to make do with the Golf for now.  One would think that I'd be more uncomfortable in the van because of the associations, but it's quite the opposite.

Now having rambled enough I am going to make a cup of tea and start reading "Zero Degrees of Empathy - a New Theory of Human Cruelty" which is a cheerful book by Simon Baron-Cohen.  Let's hope it doesn't give me nightmares....

Brain dump

Thank goodness, I managed to get 550 words of Discussion down this evening in my qualitative research report. For the last week I've been going round in circles, changing my analysis themes and it just wasn't coming together and I was starting to panic.  Mind you I do that on every one - at some point in writing I decide that I Can't Do It and I have to get past that thought and put my mind to it. Let's hope the ICDI moment doesn't last too long in the exam!

Now I think I'm on track with this one so I'm very relieved.  I think there will  be a lot of editing at the end of though...

Django's presence has been requested in the office tomorrow so I guess I'll give him a treat and take him in either the morning or afternoon. I really need to cycle tomorrow sometime as I only have two days this week without medical / physio / dentist / haircut appointments to drive to.

We had another death in the office on Saturday... well not literally you understand, but my boss's mother died :-(  she was 87 and it was old age rather than anything specific, I think she just decided it was time to go. Let's hope that this run of mortalities among staff families is over for a while...

On a brighter note I saw the dental hygienist this morning, a breed normally known for terrorizing everyone who enters their room. But this one was very nice (may be something to do with being in a private practice). Admittedly she did some serious digging around in a couple of places but all in all said I was making a good effort - I felt like a kid who'd got a gold star at school!

What next..?

I apologise in advance if this post upsets you, but I feel the need to talk about it. I also apologise if you get confused with people - there are only four: Me, and 3 colleagues I have called A, B & C.

I work in a very small office, there are just 8 people (6 women and 2 men) and 3 of us have been there 18 years or more. We are a pretty close-knit team, which of course comes with gripes and personality conflicts, but when the chips are down it's a different matter.  

The last few months has almost felt like there's a curse on the place.  In the early summer, A's father died, her real father who she hadn't seen for ages; but she and her sister had to do the running around sorting out paperwork while dealing with all those conflicting emotions, and an **hole uncle for good measure.

Meanwhile B's father became ill and was diagnosed with cancer, and went through various surgeries. The rest of her family live overseas so it was really just her going through it all with him. 

Then there was my crash in June, which shook people up but they pulled together brilliantly and just got on with things.  In the Autumn, A's step-father, the one she considered her proper father, was diagnosed with cancer. 

In February, B's father deteriorated, and he died two weeks ago. Her brother and sister were here for a couple of weeks and then went home, so she being single was left on her own with just her dog for company. 

Also in February C's mother, who is in her late-80s, was brought down from London to a care home because she was getting increasingly confused, she then fell over and broke part of her elbow and decisions had to be made about care and operations etc.

Two days ago, A's step-father was rushed into hospital, she and her sister were called to say they should get over there, and he died in the night. 

This morning B's dog was rushed to the vet's for emergency surgery for an unknown problem that had made him sick all night, and he died during surgery.

This week the rest of us are sitting there thinking "What next.....?"  Especially these last 3 weeks we have all felt quite depressed. 

I'm not the kind of person to ask 'Why?'   I know that this stuff just happens, it's part of life and people cope and get through it.  But for such a small group of people, it seems such a high proportion of bad stuff has been happening. I can only say that the fact that we are a close team is definitely a means of support in these times of stress.

Mix and match

I'm working at home this morning and have taken the afternoon off, I've run out of steam this week.   Other than one evening when I forced myself to watch some comedy on iPlayer, I've been in the office all day and then studying most of the evening. 

Yesterday's staff 'workshop' and discussion day went well and we got lots out of it, but our agenda was a little optimistic so we'll finish it off on Monday.    I also got my TMA03 mark back from my tutor, 76% which I was pleased with. Very consistent with my first two marks!  I am determined to get it higher in the one I am writing at the moment so last night I went through all the feedback I had, and made some notes.  Now I'm ripping my 2nd draft apart.... but we also have a tutorial tomorrow so no doubt that will throw some more spanners in the works.

Today's gratuitous photo is me, standing on one leg!!!  I suddenly discovered I could do this yesterday morning, without having to have a supportive hand on something, as I have done.  It's strange how things seem to change all of a sudden.

This afternoon I'm going to the picture framer's.   Many years ago I inherited a glass-fronted bookcase from my paternal grandfather. It's in 3 sections which sit on top of each other, and has hinged 'up and over' glass front on each section.   My grandfather was also an artist and when my parents were visiting his widow recently she gave them a small painting he'd done which includes the bookcase. She wanted whoever had the bookcase to have the painting, and she will pay for it to be reframed which it needs. 

So this afternoon I'm going off to get that sorted out, I've been recommended one not far away.   A friend used to do it locally and was great, she is an artist and has a great eye so knew exactly what would look good. A few years ago she sold her business and the chap who took it over just did what you asked for, was no good for suggesting what would suit the picture.  So I was stuck, but our friend recommended this lady, so fingers crossed!