Reacting the right way - In the name of Thiago - Day 305

There's been an outage in your postcode area. These are not the words that you want to hear at 9.15 when you have an online interview starting at 9.30. But of course, why would it be possible to have an outage at pretty much any other time over the last six months when it can wait until that one moment when you're already shitting it because well, that's how you always feel about going into an interview situation? Fuck no, it was always going to be this morning. 

But as my friend Gayle wrote on one of her lovely thought-provoking postcards that she sends quite often through her brilliant bereavement charity 'A Child of Mine', I'm not going to dwell for too long on the bloody awful timing of what happened this morning. In fact that last sentence is quite enough dwelling for one day. Onwards and upwards.

The thing about being in the public sector at a time like this is, that there is simply a never ending stream of things you can do. The trick is to do enough of the things that are going to have the best possible impact and when you're looking at getting on, as I am, then these choices are well, important. In case you were wondering, my interview is being rescheduled for Monday, so they were very understanding about a situation which no-one was to blame for.

I've chilled out since 6pm watching a comfortable Spurs victory this evening. I'm actually impressed with myself today for not losing my shit over what's happened and equally being able to accept that sometimes things don't quite go according to plan. The key to this sensible, much calmer approach? Good friends, friends that continually have your back, give you encouragement, and remind you of all the times you've come through hard times. 

So this is a thank you to - and this really isn't an exhaustive list but let me give these guys a hearty slap on the back - Jamie Hickey, Saffron Swansborough, Paul Nunney and Stephen Tibbals. They'd never ask for recognition but they bloody well deserve it. And then when the blog is done for the day, I have a phone call with Nigel, which I'm very much looking forward to as he's a very fine fellow too.

There are no more pictures of Elisa today, I'm afraid I've way exceeded my monthly rations on that front. But her ladyship has been busy upstairs, in between doing her homework I'm unreliably informed, taking photos of the way that the night sky has been lit up this evening. There was a time when I really looked forward to Guy Fawkes night. Growing up in Eastbourne, Lewes was only a 20 minute train ride away and home to the biggest celebration in the country. 

Lockdown has of course knackered all that up, so the way I'm looking at it tonight is that I'm not missing anything. There you go, you see. Positive thinking. Starting to sound like a right annoying twat now aren't I!

These are not randomly photographed collection pots but a pictorial cue to thank James Froggatt and the team at the Ten Green Bottles. Despite being a bar where people predominantly pay by card they've still managed to collect £50 in their collection pot, so this is me saying thank you to them. It's a day of saying thank yous, which I think is a pretty good way to react to the events of the day. I'm feeling proud of myself again.

If, like James and the team at Ten Green Bottles, you'd like to make a donation to the two NHS hospitals that I've been fundraising for this year, then it's not too late. Thank you and good night, make sure you stay safe everyone.