Month: May 2020

Getting up at 5:30 seems to be a thing this weekend. It meant I could take the dog out for epic circular running really early, but has also lead to a low-energy evening following a morning walk, some cycling, and baking two loaves of bread to get us through the first half of the week.

I didn’t watch any news today. The news the last couple of days has made me sad and angry, and I just needed to step away from it for 24 hours, What’s happening in America is horrible, and I can’t shake the thought that the only reason that vulnerable people are allowed out again is because there are now enough hospital beds for them to die in.

I am still in lock down for the foreseeable future, and therefore still writing this blog.

I’ve just come back from cycling in the north Birmingham green belt. The weather was gorgeous, but there were so many people in the parks that it actually felt dangerous. The roads were fairly quiet though, so I soon found places I could get some miles in whilst maintaining the required level of distance.

I’ve had a lot of exercise today, so the rest of the day is going to be spend on more sedate pursuits (an online gig, two listening parties, and at some point some food and wine).

I watched the coronavirus broadcast for the first time in a while. We have new rules, but I don’t think any of them will have a massive impact on my life. I’m used to this way of living now, and while I’m lookng forward to helping define the new normal I have very little intererest in returning to the life we had before.

The last couple of days at work have been ok. I have been busy, but I like busy. My study is quite warm, but I’m retreating outside to cycle straight after work and then spending any evening when I’m not in a listening party downstairs. It looks like I’ll be working largely from home for at least the next couple of months so I’m trying to work out if I want to make any changes to my technological setup. The temptation to try a day on my personal laptop with one large monitor is strong, and although I’d have no Skype or Visio I reckon I can do everything else. Maybe an experiment for a hot Friday.

Talking of experiments, I did experimental bolognaise yesterday. We have quite a backlog of spaghetti and sauce, and I wanted to free up some space in the cupboards. It was tasty, and I’ll definitely make it again.

There were points today where I forgot we were in lockdown. I went for a lovely long bike ride into the countryside (probably my longest 100% road cycle for years), and spent most of the rest of the day reading and listening to music. I did go to a shop for the first time in a month though, which involved leaving the house without either a bike or a dog for the first time in ages. It was only the shop at the end of the road, and they had the butter we needed and 12 eggs for a pound (I have to eat them in 5 days, but that’s easy because I eat eggs almost every day).

Back to work tomorrow. Routine is good, but I did really enjoy the lack of it today.

The weather hasn’t been the greatest this weekend, so I’ve largely spent my time at home (apart from an hour out on the bike this afternoon). I made two batches of bread yesterday (we have a lot of bread mix, so making bread is going to be a thing for a while yet), and caught up on all the TV shows I’ve missed whilst binge watching The Clone Wars (I loved the new episodes, and it makes me want to watch some Star Wars films soon). It looks like tomorrow might be a much nicer day, so I’m starting to plan a longer route to try out tomorrow afternoon, and at some point in that trip I’ll hit 100 miles of cycling for May, which doesn’t sound like much based on what I used to do but I’ve struggled to get the miles in now I don’t have to commute.

I’ve had a very busy week, but I managed to finish a couple of hours early today so I’ve already made tasty vegetable chilli, done a few chores, and prepared for tonight’s listening party (BSP, The Coral and Joy Division). I’m very glad it’s a three-day weekend, and hopefully I’ll have time for a couple of bike rides as well as making bread, playing some board games, and getting myself mentally prepared for what is likely to be another challenging week.

It’s a little cooler today, although at least two of our neighbours have builders in (why?) so it’s still quite noisy outside. I didn’t cycle today, but I did have a long walk this morning and I used my after work period to catch up a few chores and sort out my Trello board so that when I start work tomorrow I at least have a proper list of things I need to do. Having hundreds of emails in my inbox really stresses me out so I’m hoping to get round to those tomorrow, after which it’s a glorious 3 day weekend during which I hope to cycle at least twice.

I also did my first proper presentation from home (with slides and everything). The technology didn’t let me down so I was quite happy about that. I’ve got one delivered via Zoom in a couple of weeks so I just need to make sure it works the same as Teams in that respect.

Of course, the first thing I did after writing the last post was to go cycling anyway. It was still warm, but nowhere near as warm as my study which generally does a good job of reflecting whatever is going on outside (heat and noise). I feel a lot better for the exercise, and I am glad I went.

Today has been death by a thousand paper cuts of heat, noise, and general irritation with the world. These feelings will pass (they always do), and I’m quite looking forward to the amount of interesting work I have to do over the next few weeks (the week off I have planned at the end of it also helps). The weather looks like it might hold out for a few days, so hopefully I won’t regret my decision to not cycle in 26 degree heat this evening and instead spend the time doing chores and then focusing on self-care.