The semblance of a plan - In the name of Thiago - Day 130

The semblance of a plan.. – Day 130

A run of positive, productive days at work appears to be having an equally positive impact on other aspects of my life.

I’d organised a late start for work today so that I could collect the keys to my old man’s new gaff in Longton. When we arrived, I was relieved to see that the place was pretty much spotless. Well Dad will soon put an end to that of course but that’s not my concern at this precise moment.

Nope it’s so far so good. All the keys work and no-one’s broken in the windows and he’ll be in there the week after next, when Pickfords deliver the rest of his worldly belongings from Australia. I hope he’s really looking forward to it, suffice to say that my sister Holly, brother Judd and I are all wishing for a trouble free move.

And look, he’s not going to be on his own when he moves in because the previous owners have very kindly left a Cliff Richard calendar on the wall! But the question that will no doubt be on all your lips – what of the cooker? This is, of course, the cooker that started off as a straightforward, ‘do you want it for £50 or don’t you’ but ended up having more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie whodunnit. Fear not, it’s there folks and what a snip at £150!

The plan is to get a wood burner installed at Dad’s new place. Remarkably – and while this may not seem remarkable to you reading this, I can assure you that it represents a seismic leap of faith from the old man – Dad has agreed that I can arrange to get this done without him being around. I just want to get as much done for him so that when he comes to move, everything won’t just be bare. Besides, seeing the wood burner there should bring him a lot of happiness.

Quite a few people at work seem to be more than a little excited about something I was able to get a shout out for in the nearest thing the public sector gets to having a trade press today. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of some of the work I’ve been doing on a project that’s live at the moment – it’s really given me a lift – but in order to get this project featured externally, all I had to do was send in an email which I fired off in ten minutes just before the Bank Holiday.

The external organisation then published it as an exemplar without even bothering to verify any of the information. I’d be a lot more interested if work was impressed with the actual content I’d delivered. But beggars can’t be choosers I guess, though thinking about it, this has made me wonder whether I should further test the water and just send in any old shit every six weeks or so to see what else I can get away with!

That’s already enough about your work I hear you say. Tell us about something interesting. Well here you go then. Angelica has been producing homemade masks today and she was after a naturally good looking hunk who melts hearts in front of the camera. I’m delighted to say that due to the challenges posed by the current social distancing measures, I have filled a considerable void. I might need to do some work on that 100 yard stare…

Many thanks for continuing to read my blog, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. It can be difficult in these unusual times to keep bringing original content to the party but I shall continue to do my utmost. I will also continue to ask for your support financially for the two hospitals – Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Royal Stoke  University Hospital – that I am fundraising for by walking 300 miles from Eastbourne to Stoke-on-Trent this autumn. If you can help me to help them, I will be grateful.