And . . . relax. Perhaps too relaxed

Yes, I know, it is Saturday.  I have had a very hard week.  LO has been working late, 10.30pm, 9pm, 11.30pm, 10.15pm and 7pm respectively this week.  I have also been maxed out at work, closing down all the loose ends, or as many as I can, before I have time off, chasing the revenue, filling in the gaps for the reduced workforce, etc. etc. etc.  This has all taken its toll, not least on the writing of blogs.

As for time off next week, due to a greatly reduced team, and the fact that those of us - count them, one, two - still in our UK team are both off next week, I am likely going to have to work a bit.  That equates to me being available by phone when I am out and about, and then doing a bit of connected work - email, approvals, escalations - late afternoon in to early evening.  Not ideal, but needs must, and it avoids any nasty issues.  It did not help that a colleague, who was "only doing her job" decided to send a broadcast email, on which she had cc'd a number of influential managers, asking how I intended to cover next week when both myself and my esteemed UK-based colleague were both off.  Nice touch that.  Anyway, to cut a long story short*, I will sort of muddle through next week, and Luge it.

Today is a significant day in Scobi towers.  On this day, thirteen years ago, Maggot 1 came in to the world, via the usual route, at around 2.30pm.  We have a family breakfast planned for ten o'clock, us and our parents and one grand-parent, appropriately known as Gee Gee** attending for the obligatory "haven't you grown" type discussions.  We plan to indulge in the full English variety of sustenance, with veggie variants for the dodgier members of the group, and I for one cannot wait.

For the rest of the day, we will be preparing for our trip tomorrow.  For me that means:

• Going to the 'van to get the topper foam
• Getting the car washed (probably gonna cheat and spend three pounds at the local "conveyor belt in a tunnel" car wash)
• Checking tyres, fluids and other general items for the car, such as tissues, wet-wipes and the like
• Getting chainsaw oil, for the chainsaw***, for a pruning of apple tree and maybe bush
• More detergent for the jet wash, so I am ready for the jet wash action planned for the garden - to clean the winter's grot from the patio, and also to clear several years of moss growth on the fences, in preparation for their treating, with a mid brown colour**** using our newly acquired spraying system
• Fitting the roof bars and top box - the foam takes a lot of space
• Bribing Maggot 1 to hoover the insides.

That should keep me busy until beer-o'clock.

I hope you have a great weekend, and speak next week.

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* Yes please.  Ed.
** Short for great grandmother, of course
*** duh!
**** Last time I used clear, not wanting any bold re-colouring of our fences, only to realise that that represents a very unsatisfactory end result - hours of effort but it looks no different.  This year I want all the fences, the play area surround and the shed to all be the same colour, to unify them, and for them to be a colour that we can all see when it is done so that there is something to show for all my hard work.