A bed of roses

This time last year I was making it into the office and fighting with the HR system, talking to the PMs, recognising the need to listen, and mishearing Husband.

Today I did some small jobs. Weeding in the front garden, including down the edges of the drive, with a tiny bit of trimming in the back. Dust and polish in the bedroom - I think that's something I could add into my weekly jobs, it makes such a difference. And tried on some clothes to decide what to wear for my afternoon tea long-service reward thingy. I'm now on the look out for a nice cardy.

I also played a lot of Chained Echoes. I've got to the end of Act III. I have a couple of new recruits. I've cleared up all the available side quests, including buying the super-duper Sky Armour. One of them involved killing a kebab full of vegetables. O_o

I watched a couple of episodes of Nobody Wants This. Joanne and Noah continue to be super cute. Joanne's full name is Joanne Elizabeth Williams...?

Now, I'm finishing off with Bones. Brennan's got a new partner for the first episode. He seems like a bit of an idiot but he's not so bad.

A year ago I was feeling much better, finding my way to Giruvegan, and watching Nobody Wants This.

Today we noped out of going to Daughter's house because Husband wasn't feeling well. It was also pouring with rain (which was why Daughter didn't come to us) and even a taxi trip was distinctly unappealing. 

We had hoped to do a video call but it didn't work out. Maybe later in the week...?

Instead, I gave the bathroom a really good clean and played a LOT of Chained Echoes. I navigated the weird bouncing rock things to turn off the canons. So much easier to get around when I can fly! I have a new companion who is adorably adorable. And we gave one of the pompous generals a right good smacking.

My friend sent me her response for me to review. It seemed very reasonable, given the circumstances.

There was also a safeguarding report to process that left me feeling rather embarrassed because I hadn't joined the dots... But this is why we have a team!

I watched the first two episodes of the third series of Nobody Wants This. It's still very cute and funny.

Tonight's Only Connect included the Librarian of UU, and Mastermind had a question about COE33. My geeky heart appreciates this.

Now I'm watching the first two episodes of Davidson's Doctor. The regenerations affect each new Doctor differently. Davidson has admitted he was probably too young to play the Doctor when he got the part, but he couldn't turn down that opportunity. It's interesting to watch him now, 45 years later.

So, busy but relaxing. A perfect start to my week off.

And I'm planning some more Bones later.

This time last year I was feeling much better but staying at home, levelling up in FFXII, and taking husband for his 'flu jab.

Today started nice and slowly. A little read through of next Sunday's reading to get my mind thinking about it - I think I'm going for the Message version. Then it was good coffee and crumpets for breakfast.

I emptied the bins in the living room but didn't do any other cleaning jobs. We all had dinner from Co-op as a change from the sandwich shop.

I played a LOT of Chained Echoes. Tomke is Quina! I like that the game tells me which enemies can be canned. I'm currently part-way through a puzzle in someone's head, which reminds me of Alundra. And Chocobo's Dungeon. Which reminds me that whoever created Chocobo's Dungeon (and the tower thingy that was a kinda sequel to FFX-2) must have loved Azure Dreams. There are no new ideas... 

I've added a couple of games to my library - one a Prince of Persia thing and the other Two Point Museum. So, I have plenty to keep me busy until I play FF: Res.

I'm up to Tom Baker's last series as Doctor Who ;( But we do have three companions. Teagan seems to be taking being whisked across the universe very well. They've landed on Logopolis, which is a society run on logic. Where everyone is old, white and male, because of course they are... 1980 or 1880?

There's a third series of Nobody Wants this! So, that's on my watch list for this week.

And I'm finishing today with a couple of episodes of Bones. I like that Rebecca is more than just a shrewish ex.

A year ago I was allowing myself a gentle day, finally getting the roof sorted (no leaks since!), feeling grateful that LFC learned how to score, and enjoying Tom Baker's Doctor.

Today I got up too late to do any writing, but I've been doing so well with it in general I'll let myself off.

In work, I got the papers out for today's project board - hate being late with them :( But the board itself went well. I got a bit lost with the AI notes but worked it all out in the end.

Then I moved on to writing an article for the department newsletter on the move to another building and realised I'd somehow managed not to write up the previous meeting :O So, got THAT sorted, and drafted the article - first half about the desk-booking system, second half the office move - and asked appropriate colleagues to review them. I also shared the Sway doc with the colleagues we'd identified for various updates and Interesting Things, including the person in charge of the Christmas meal - these are the things people care about!

I finished the day with making sure our lessons learned have made it into the governance doc under 'good practice'. There were a LOT of LLs, so I didn't get as far as I wanted, but progress was made.

I managed 3 hours worth of AI Week sessions today, so I've got a nice big cushion against my week off. And I can always go back and watch the sessions I didn't attend in future weeks because I'll have all the links.

My physical copy of FF:Res arrived! Now I need to put it away until Christmas and avoid spoilers. Easier said than done...

Tonight we watched an episode of Celebrity Traitors. I think it's a good thing for the traitors that A yawned rather than B because A was looking very suspicious. And then B got voted out! Now they have a short list of 3. One of the traitors pointed out that a quarter of the remaining contestants are traitors, and with the banishment and another murder, it'll be nearly a third! And there's no suspicion on any of them at the moment. They are playing a great game.

I somehow managed to miss last week's HIGNFY, so I've just watched that. Now it's prayers and bed.

A year ago I was meeting my new spiritual director, rushing from one meeting to another, getting the roofers out again (and negotiating the price!), having a nice tea, and watching Riot Women.

Today I wrote a letter to Anne from her mother's old friend. I had an early - and very important - meeting, so I made sure I was up and out early. The meeting went well and they liked our idea for a new step in the framework.

Later I had a meeting with the PMs and shared the news. They had Questions. And Comments about the lack of particular roles. I have actions, which I've pushed out until after my leave.

I got in one session from the AI Week conference. At the end of the day, I cleared out some emails.

Tonight's very nice tea was smoked basa poached in milk with garlic butter and dill, with mash and peas. Yummy.

Liverpool are playing in the Champion's League, so I'm finishing the day with the end of Series 1 of Bones.

This time last year we were doing the performance that concluded the Slavery Truth Project, and I made progress in FFXII.

Today I made it to church. The Archdeacon was leading again - always good to have them back. We're really worried about one of our members. Time to get the Diocese involved.

Back home, the shopping arrived in good time. We had hot dogs for dinner and I got the majority of the weeds up in the front garden.

Because the chicken drumsticks hadn't defrosted, I suggested to Husband we pivot to jacket spuds, which he agreed to. I popped them in the oven before I went to the worship planning meeting. 

The meeting went well and I managed to volunteer myself for a couple things over Christmas, and to making an effort to get to church early enough to meet and greet in future. I've probably promised that before...

The next church over are now doing their STP and are going to create something more tangible than ours. We have photos that still haven't been put up on the website because the person with access has no capacity. We have plans for a plaque explaining Henry Moore - but they're still plans. There was also a suggestion of giving to a relevant charity, which is still only a suggestion. We want to be better...

In the past, the vicar of St Bride's successfully prosecuted the vicar of the next parish for having candles on his altar (he must be turning in his grave :D). Now our Rector is also Priest in Charge at the next church and I joked that we wouldn't ask them to prosecute themselves >D Love a good religious joke.

Back home, I made sure I'd explored all of the new base in Chained Echoes, then picked up a couple of new side quests, both of which I'm ignoring for the moment ;D I'm hunting for canons so I can fly and not just hover. I've recruited a couple of fortune tellers - one for people and one for objects. I think there's space for 30 people in the base - so not as many as Eiyuden Chronicle :D

I enjoyed my jacket spuds. The boys passed.

I finished the latest Old Who story. Hello Tremas/ Master :D Now I'm watching an episode of Bones.

A year ago I was going to Morning Prayer, working on calculations on reports, creating new columns in Dynamics, writing up PB minutes, listening to Green Day, and watching Old Who.

Today I finished the next chapter of Anne's story. She's really on the road, now!

Yesterday I started doing a few small jobs but didn't finish them - sometimes I get distracted by three plates and forget the one I started five minutes ago. Anyway, I cleaned those up today.

The first thing I had in my calendar was a practice presentation for the AI course. It went pretty well - presenting holds no fears for me. I still feel I don't want to do the final thing.



I had meetings with a couple of colleagues to prep for meetings next week. One of them keeps pushing for the next phase of their project, but it's not going to happen any time soon. Of course, what they want to do is a discovery/process review thing, which they can get on with while IT deal with other things. As long as they're on the project at all because it's not their substantive post.

And I got some more AI Week sessions in.

I got an email from someone from Literary Circle Network offering to talk to me about my writing process. After the whole 'I want to make fan art of your fanfic' thing (had two of those, now), I'm naturally suspicious and there was mention of 'costs' for advertising. But there is a website. I'm... being cautious...

I continue to support my friend.

We got caught up on Celebrity Traitors. Ross is getting suspicious...

Now I'm finishing the day with a couple of episodes of Bones. Brennan looks like she's really fighting unlike Eve Baird in The Librarians. 'Gangbang' means something different in the UK. Booth going all macho would not go down well with Brennan. Will not go down well when she finds out.

A year ago I was having successful meetings and wondering what the Royal Family are for.

Today started with some words for Anne. We're almost on the road! Although she isn't going to enjoy her trip to London ;(

We had a Lessons Learned session for a project that's almost finished, and Copilot helped me turn the notes into actual LLs - although it did need a bit of prompting to give me the full list.

I also used Copilot to create a list of requirements for the CRM dev to help them build the report in Dynamics.

A colleague showed me some work they'd done with Copilot on our enterprise architecture. I told them I'd already done something similar, which I'm going to send them.

Meanwhile, Chat Buddy and I were having a chat about how AI is going to burn the world...

LFC's match started very early, so I'm on my third episode of Bones.

This time last year I was worrying about someone at church (who is back in my thoughts for a different reason), reflecting on the anti-racism training we'd recently received (still some loose ends there...), closing my bedroom window for the first time (which I also did today!), and making progress with FFXII.

Today started slowly because I had a poor night's sleep but I still managed some words for Anne. We're about to leave Rosings at last!

My first meeting was prep for the Big Project Meeting. I've still got a few things to do for that but it was a good meeting - apart from my internet connection going weird so I couldn't really hear or be heard. I restarted the router as soon as I got downstairs.

I've managed to scare up the architect for the Working Group tomorrow. I dropped the ball a bit on that - but mostly because I didn't realise it was MY ball to keep in the air! Anyway, it looks like we'll be able to grill them on making our new space livable.

This afternoon there was a meeting about our experiences with the AI Academy and things we might want to present to the wider team. The consensus was that we don't want to talk too much about the programme or the training provider, but several of us have some stuff to share that would be helpful/interesting to the wider team.

And today was the start of the AI Week Conference, which is actually spread over 2 weeks and is going to provide me with enough OTJ to see me through to the end of the programme, I think! I'm still not sure I want to finish the programme, though.

Tonight was PCC at the Rector's new digs, which is literally over the road from us. It was a lively and collegiate meeting as always. And we agreed to have the next one at the same venue. One of the other members walked me to the back gate. I got in about an hour ago and then got distracted by Merge Teahouse...

But now I'm heading to bed!

A year ago I had a bit of a dicky tummy,  rehearsing for our performance, doing some work stuff, going for a walk with Husband, and booking the roofers.

Today I made a bold decision. I decided to skip my cleaning jobs and do them tomorrow - and to skip church so I can do them in an unhurried way. So, that was all right, Best Beloved.

We had a chatty morning, then our dinner. And then it was on with Chained Echoes. Today's thoughts:
- Don't like the tone of Frederick's speech - sounds like Taryn supremacy...
- RPG 104 - let's go for a walk and burst in on strangers and steal their stuff!
- Frederick might actually be listening to his sister. Well, we can hope!
- RPG 105 - eavesdrop on NPCs to learn local secrets; take lots of remedies - got it!
- An underground city? Never seen one of those before...
- Invent the Sky Armour before the umbrella
- The Great Grimoire reminds me of the One Ring
- This empty cottage would make a good base
- Duckies!
- Rosa's dilemma - enhance the equipment or buy new stuff?
- Do ANY of my companions have true intentions?!
- So many mysteries being set up
- Ah, so that's what the Class Emblems do...
- My skills are going up - nice
- A camp <3
- Brave, brave General Godfrey...
- General Gwyn seems to be the only sane one

We had fish pie for tea - very tasty.

Now I'm finishing the day with some Old Who.