A bed of roses

I forgot to put the bin out last night :( I blame the fact that I was asking the son about his night out. Yes! It was definitely that!!! Luckily, we don't produce enough rubbish in a fortnight to fill the bin, so it can wait for the next collection.

I also edited another story (really on a roll!). This one was inspired by the kindness people showed each other during the pandemic. Again, not much work needed on it.

Then I watched a Playstation Access episode about the latest releases on PS and... Beyond Good & Evil has been remastered! I'm seriously tempted to treat myself to an unbirthday present. I was considering getting a proper manicure but the game is actually cheaper and will last a good while longer. I really enjoyed playing it, even with the action elements. And it's looking increasingly unlikely there'll ever be a sequel so, this looks like the best option.

First work thing was a meet up with a new-to-me colleague via coffee roulette. A very nice person, also a grandparent and someone I'd like to meet again. Just put a note to self in my calendar - I still need to meet up with the person I connected with at the March graduations!

On the way to the office I did a bit of shopping. As I was standing in a queue the person behind me asked if the sunglasses they were going to buy suited them; they were worried the lenses were too large. I said they did, then showed them mine - I buy large sunglasses to keep the glare out at the sides. A sudden impulse hit me and I asked if I could treat them to the glasses (which were the only thing they were buying). 'It's up to you...', so I added them to my shopping. They thanked me and handed me a leaflet - 4 steps to solving your problems. I eye-rolled quite hard when I read it - apparently God can solve all problems. Er... well... God can help us find the way, or provide the courage it takes to do the right thing, I suppose... But there's no heavenly magic wand that just makes all the problems disappear. Anyway, I felt like I'd done a Good Thing and that was reward enough.

Did battle with P4W/Power Apps/Whatever but finally got my templates in order, then set up a new record for a project that's just getting underway. The process works! I'm setting myself a deadline to fully automate the dashboard (even if I have to update a couple of the records myself) by the end of the summer. I might be the main beneficiary, but why is that not important? It will save me literally hours of work. It might even be something to present on at next year's conference...? We REALLY want people to be aware of this stuff and to use it, and then there will be a bigger benefit.

On the way home, a complete stranger stopped me in the street and said something I didn't catch because I was trying to work out who they were and why they'd stopped me. So, I asked them to repeat it and they said, 'I've got a parcel for you'. Which my brain struggled to take in because I didn't know them, so why would they have a parcel for me? 'O...K...' I replied.

'You live at [my address], right? [Name beginning with my initial but not the right one]?' 

'Yeah... and it's [right name].'

'Oh! It just says [Initial, Surname] on the label. It was left at ours a couple of days ago. I live at [address two doors down].'

'Oh, right. This all makes a lot more sense now!'

'Yeah - I probably should have introduced myself first! It feels like a book. I'll drop it off later.'

I'm guessing it's grandson #1's 'Dirty Greek', finally. We didn't get a card through the door telling us it had been left with a neighbour. Anyway, it looks like the evening got away from them because they haven't knocked. I'll pop down to theirs tomorrow.

I really don't remember ever seeing them before, but I've obviously made some kind of impression on them!

It has been stupidly hot ALL day :(

Finished the night off with an episode of Psych - which was about alien abduction :D So, yeah, a bit of a weird one all round.

 Wow, where did 2017 go?

I may do a reflective post at some point but this one is for looking forward.

I am trying goal-setting again because I need something to measure against.  So, my goal is to spend at least 15 hours in January editing Death of an Icecream Seller.  Another goal is to find a new title...   Anyway, I have 17 week nights available in January (I'm not going to pressure myself to work at weekends, which kind of includes this week because I'm on leave, and I have one meeting this month), so it shouldn't be too hard to do an hour a night.  I shall monitor progress...

This week, the goal is to pick up my morning routine and normal bed time because I don't want to get to next Monday and be unprepared.  I want to add a Write Practice practice to my mornings.  I also have a little list of jobs that I want to get through.

Today - top up gas and electricity, clean and tidy our room, put away bills, dig out gas boiler service that we got from the mortgage provider
Tomorrow - clean kitchen including scrub floor and use oven cleaner kit
Wednesday - clean bathroom and toilet
Friday - clean living room, go into town, get hair cut

Thursday is deliberately clear of 'work' because I like to have a do-nothing day in my week off.

In between the jobs will be watching ST:V and playing Primal.

Here's to goals.