In the office

I am, unusually, in the office on a Tuesday.  Such irregularity could cause a lesser chap to spill his G&T, but not so SWK who is soldiering on and making a good fist of being an adult.

A few days off has given me one or two urgencies, but to be honest, they likely pale in to insignificance compared to the nightmare couple of weeks facing both Bad Man and Golfy.  Knowing, as I do, what they get up to*, I know fairly well what kind of horrors await them, so I wish them well and suggest they Luge it**.

Had a great time away, even if it was a bit cold.  Did a Go Ape, where I intended to conquer my age-onset fear of heights, which I did with a flourish.  It was actually great fun, and maybe it was the safety gear, but I had no "moments" and simply enjoyed a very good afternoon climbing and swinging and sliding.

We also had fish 'n' chips, aka "fi & chi", in Lymington on the Saturday, stopping at the best hardware store in the area, as is the law, and even making a purchase, us with some portable oven gloves (oh, the glamour) and E with a pair of off-the-shelf reading glasses with, wait for it, built in LED lights.  "Perfect for under-dashboard repairs etc" apparently, and something to behold for sure.  In fact, the last time I saw anything similar it was The Chemical Brothers on the NME Stage at Glastonbury, and we all know they are off their rockers***.

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* At least, during the week, quite what abhorrent activities they get up to at the weekend is, of course, of interest only to themselves and their local farm-yard animals
** I suspect, as faithful readers, you know this already, but on the off-chance you were looking for some Star Wars porn and stumbled upon this page, to Luge it is simply to "lie flat and don't die".
*** in the nicest possible way, of course.

New Car

Here's the new car, slightly out of focus due to it being minus something and on a very steep hill*.

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* one of these facts may be false.

And . . . relax

Another week draws to a close, and a chap is left pondering what lasting good has come from it.

On this Friday, I have reason to be quite chipper.  I am now over my illness, a good five pounds lighter, with half term ahead of us, including four days in the 'van down at Lytton Lawns.  I also managed to spend an hour and a half at LO's school giving them some advice on IT.  They actually have a very tidy little setup, and with the plans they have to upgrade servers and to avail themselves of the services of a local support organisation, including cloud backup, I would say they are starting from a strong position with clarity as to where they need to take it next.  In fact, I was slightly concerned at one stage that I could add no value, however I was able to advise on the specifics of the server specification, the UPS and the proposed new racking, and also was able to validate all the decisions that have already been made, and that apparently was exactly the kind of help they wanted.  So, a happy customer, and a good sense of well-being from a job well done, and possibly even one of those rare events; a selfless act.  Sadly, as Phoebe* concluded, the fact that I had pleasure from helping probably discounts it as 100% selfless.

On other news, I have now arranged two dates for fishing with Brad, one as our primary date, the second just in case we have to call off the first due to bad weather.  It is easier for both of us to book and work round two dates, and then cancel one, rather than book only one then try to panic book a second if the first is cancelled.  This meets one of my key working rules; get the holidays in the diary as soon as you can, so you get first dibs.

This weekend is fairly normal.  We likely have David and Samantha and associated Maggots over for an afternoon and evening, to celebrate David's birthday, and "just because" as well.

We also need to start planning for the 'vannin' trip, which will include me swapping over the winter awning for the summer awning.  I know it is not actually summer yet, but we are there for four nights, so need the space, and the trip after this one will be solidly into Spring.

Have a great weekend, and speak in just over a week, unless I get to blog from my phone, which is a possibility.  I may even post a picture of the 'van**.

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* from Friends, where they had a whole episode on whether a selfless act could actually be done
** I know, exciting...

And . . . not too relaxed

I missed the usual Friday post, so on Monday I find myself reflecting on a dismal five days in the Scobi household.

We have all been down with a "sickness bug", something akin to Norovirus, if not the very chap himself. This started Tuesday night with Maggot 2, then Maggot 1 at 11am Thursday evening, followed by yours truly Friday at 3am, followed reluctantly by LO Friday lunchtime.  By Friday evening, we were all desolately sprawled on the sofas and chairs, spending nearly an hour planning to moment at which we were all going to drag our sorry carcasses off to bed, such was our lacklustre nature.

All I will say, be a chap of discretion and tact, is that with it being one of those "both ends" types of illnesses, relaxing is the last thing I needed to be doing.

We spent all of Saturday doing nothing but lying down, with Sunday starting to return to normal, although both Maggots are off today just to get a final recovery in.

I am back at work, and feeling somewhat shell-shocked by the experience, but hey ho, such is life, and no doubt worse is seen at sea.

The sadness was we had a lovely weekend planned away at Brad and Angelina's, so sorry to you chaps, hope you are well, and let's rearrange when we can (though with our combined diaries, finding a slot . . . )

Well that went OK

With LO away for the weekend, it was left to the chaps to keep things together.  It is fair to say that we had a fantastic couple of days, and eating, drinking and wenching was all done in the correct proportions (50/50/0 in case you were wondering) and we seem to have emerged from the weekend unscathed, as has the house and our immediate surroundings.

Needless to say that while LO "missed us lots", this did not impair to any great extent her ability to shop and to spend money.  Every phone call with M, with whom she spent the weekend, tend to be about clothes, so a weekend away together in Bristol is likely to be a retail-intensive experience.  In fairness, we all got something from the trip, so quid pro quo and Hortus est in porto etc.

I was in the office yesterday, and there is nothing like a change of routine to bring on the sweats.  To be fair, it was an easy day because I had previously booked a doctor's appointment (for my foot) first thing so I went up north* at a fairly respectable time, which also meant missing the traffic.

LO goes out at 7pm so I had to leave at 4.45pm as well to ensure I was home in time.  So, as arduous days go, this was not one.

Today I do need to line up some of the team to pick up various bits of work that has suddenly landed on our laps, and then I will most likely have to also project manage the tracking of activity.  Ho hum.

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* to Epsom, and not a flat cap or pigeon in sight

And . . . relax

LO is away this weekend, from Saturday AM until Monday afternoon, so it is just us lads at home, looking after ourselves and doing some stuff.  i.e. not quite sure what the hell we are going to do or eat or anything else, but time will pass, food of some sort will be eaten* and tidiness will broadly be kept.

I do know we have vouchers for Prezzo for Saturday lunch, and we may go either bowling, swimming or a bike ride in the afternoon, with the normal swimming for Maggot 2 in the morning, and Maggot 1 being away on a Friday sleepover and Saturday "enrichment morning".  So that is Saturday sorted.  I think I may be looking to re-watch The Big Lebowski on Saturday evening when the Maggots are in their maggot-holes, unless I get a better TV offer**.

Sunday is a different story, so I will have to get creative so that we do not get cabin fever and slowly kill each other with nothing more than a bad temper and cutting sarcasm.

Have a great weekend, and speak next week.

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* House rules being that what is done in the house stays in the house, so LO need not know anything of the detail
** and on Saturday night, not that likely