A bed of roses

A couple of productive PMO meetings with stuff to do afterwards that I managed to box off before close of play. So feeling productive!

In particular, LM (who has been off for 2 weeks) and I rattled through some minor bits and pieces around the PMF, P4W and PowerBI and got some clarity on processes.

Found out last week that the placement student will be with us until September, so I can get them going on the RAPID report. When we've ironed out some final wrinkles in the PM report...

I watched Fuzz exploring Cosmo Canyon, which is the area of the game I was most looking forward to and... I dunno... I'm sort of disappointed... I think there are just too many people cluttering the place up, although I do remember something about it being a tourist destination in the OG. There's also something not quite right about watching someone else running around a place - if/when it comes to PS+, I can enjoy exploring at my own pace. And now I understand why people complained about Red's voice... 

I didn't get to watch Dave's progress with the OG, so that'll be tomorrow's fun-at-lunch-time.

Tonight I managed to make progress with Tunic. I think I've jumped ahead a bit - at least the boss was VERY tough, even with unlimited health. But I have a new ability, which will help with getting around.

I finished Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel last night. The final chapter was the only one I actually wanted to read and it still didn't really fill anything in for me. I just... I dunno... Felt like nothing very much happened. And the interesting stuff, Al's backstory and all that, was just vague hints and suggestions. That's two books of hers I've read - and I won't bother with any more.  Just like I watched two adaptations of Harlan Coben books and I won't a) watch any more or b) read the actual books.

Another writer who irritated me was Dan Brown. Every chapter of The Da Vinci Code ended on a cliff-hanger that was resolved in the first sentence of the next chapter - but you've started the chapter now, so you have to finish it, right? Only to find ANOTHER cliff-hanger at the end of it. I felt my desire to solve the mystery was being constantly mugged. I actually enjoyed the puzzles and myths and exploration - I didn't need to have my arm twisted at the end of every chapter to make me keep reading. Needless to say, Brown is also on my 'never again' list and I've never watched the film.

And I've made a start on my talk for Sunday. A very productive day all round.

Another story edited - go me!

A VERY long time ago, I was invited to submit a short story to a new online magazine - which quickly folded when the owner had a flood. Anyway, I sent in my story and got feedback that, at the time, made me bristle to say the least. Cut out all the adjectives and adverbs, and any use of the word 'that'. I was a lot less open to critique in those days but it's one of the experiences that means I'm more open today. The story itself wasn't being criticised; I was being given advice on crafting a better short story.

As with all writing 'rules', the trick is to know when to break them - but with today's story, I applied the rule aggressively and what I now have is better than what I had this morning.

I'm currently reading 'Beyond Black' by Hilary Mantel. I read 'Wolf Hall' a couple of years ago (and watched the TV series) but found it annoying - not entirely sure why, now, but I do remember Cromwell giving Henry VIII CPR... Anyway, I'm enjoying the two main characters in 'Beyond Black', but I really want something to HAPPEN. Soon.

Shared some thoughts with a colleague on Doctor Who, and we had the same feelings. Good ideas, less than amazing execution. But both hoping for better!

Watched Dave continue his romp through FFVII OG. He's arrived at the Northern Continent and defeated his first Marlboro - a rite of passage if ever there was one :D

Husband's podiatry appointment went well.

The weather was definitely milder today but the wind was still quite strong.

One of my colleagues has found a job elsewhere, so that's another round of recruitment. My new LM says I should be on the interview panel because I have to be able to work with the newbie. That could be an interesting conversation...

I'm also struggling to know what order to spin the plates in. There just seem to be Too Many - but I know if I can just focus on the most important, the others will fall into place. I have a relatively quiet week; I just need to take advantage of it and get some stuff boxed off before my blissful week off next week. Which somehow I had forgotten to mark in my calendar...

Today I discovered that Terry Pratchett was quite anti-LOTR and said a story about a walk to throw a ring into a volcano was silly. I was quite taken aback by this information because without LOTR, Pratchett has no career. I suppose it depends on what he's actually criticising - story pacing is quite valid because Tolkien was pretty bad at that. But Taking The Thing To The Place is a classic quest tale; I don't really think it's fair to criticise that.

Of course, Pratchett's writing is very intricate with several apparently separate plot lines that are gradually woven more and more tightly together to form a satisfyingly complex knot at the end. He also takes aspects of modern life and finds ways to send them up that are quite delightful, and shines a light on things like racism through mythical species. But saying 'your writing is different to mine and therefore wrong' is also invalid.

Anyway, it's taken a bit of shine off Pratchett for me - like finding out Jung had an affair with one of his female students and (allegedly) stole her ideas, changed my feelings about him. But there's still a lot to love. In particular, Jung's dream about my home town ('Liverpool is the pool of life!') means I'll always have a soft spot for him.

OK, time for bed - night DW!

In FFXVI, I've just completed Jill's quest (actually, it's Joshua's quest on Jill's behalf because Clive is too thick to think of these things himself!), and I've come to the same conclusion I came to on my first playthrough. Jill is seriously let down by the writing. She is a complex character, a survivor of abuse that is only ever hinted at, whose first thought is always for other people. When she expresses a desire to spread her wings and discover the world for herself, I cheer her on. When Clive says he'll do everything he can to make that possible, I grind my teeth with frustration. Jill doesn't need your PERMISSION, Clive! She's her own person. What you say is, 'I'll be waiting here for you, just like you've been waiting for me!'. Because I'm also frustrated by her meek submission to the role of person-who-waits-for-the-other-person-to-notice-them, topped off by describing Clive as her 'gift'. This is not an equal relationship, and that is the fault of the writers.

*deep breath*

OK, ranting over! I've triggered EotF, but I'm going to finish all the other side quests, and possibly the Class S hunts, first. I've still got more than 2 weeks to wait for TRT, after all.

I've also just completed 'Trial and Error' and I made the same choice as last time, despite wanting to try the other choices out, because Ember did do what he was asked to do. But Otto's speech at the end makes me think he might persuade both Clive and Nazaire to give Ember another chance.

So, what else happened today?

We had our 'final for now' service at St Dunstan's for Easter Day. I got a lift there and back, so at least I didn't have to hike up the hill. It was a warm day, too, and I wore my heavy coat, so I'd have been sweating by the time I got home. I think it's time to get my lighter coat out.

Liverpool beat Brighton, whilst City and Arsenal could only manage a 0-0 draw, so we're top of the table. Only another 9 wins and the League is ours!

I did a roast leg of lamb for tea that went down very well with the boys. I was worried I'd over-cooked it but it was tender as anything.

Another thought about 'Austenland' - the actor who plays Mr Hurst in the BBC 'P&P' series played another drunken lout of a husband, and one of the LI's played Henry Tilney in an adaptation of 'Northanger Abbey', which was very cute casting.

And now I'm trying for an earlier night, not least because I lost an hour's sleep last night thanks to the clocks changing!

Today seems to have whizzed past, somehow.

I went to get my hair cut and he's done the front a bit shorter than I really wanted, again. The back's right, this time, though! I'm tempted to invest in some product to try to keep the front in place because there's a position where it does look good - and 50 where it's not quite right. When I went to pay, I'd reached my contactless limit and, of course, had no cash on me, so I had to find a cash machine. This isn't the first time it's happened, either. Note to self: use chip and pin on the purchase BEFORE going to the hair dresser!

This afternoon, I watched Dave from Playstation Access play the finale of Disc I of FFVII OG. After dusting, I turned my attention to paying my Barclaycard. For some reason, it wouldn't let me log in - when I clicked the link, it said the page couldn't be found, or something. I came to the conclusion it wanted me to download the app, so I did. Now, I appreciate online security has to be secure but this thing drove me nuts! At one point, it asked me to enter the PIN. I had no clue what the PIN was because I never use it to pay for stuff - I only use the Barclaycard to pay off other debt. Then I had a brainwave, and went back to the website to see if I could get the PIN - and it let me sign in! I got the PIN but abandoned the app and paid it via the website as per usual. In the meantime, Dave was watching THAT moment in FFVII OG but I missed most of his reaction because I was fighting with the stoopid app!

Since it's pay day, the husband and I thought we'd like to go to the Indian restaurant we went to last year that was on my bucket list. They do a few English dishes, including steak, so we asked the son to come but he said he needed to get to bed early. By this time, it was pouring with rain, so we ordered from them on Just Eat, instead :D Their food is just delicious.

I also made progress in FFXVI. I feel like I'm doing a lot more side stuff than main story, which I didn't feel on my first playthrough. I think there are a couple of reasons. Firstly, I'm very OP, so the battles in the main story are over much more quickly. Secondly, some of the side stuff feels like main story to me because it rounds out the stories of the important NPCs.

One of the REAL main story points I did today was an important scene between Jill and Clive. My thoughts about this are the same as when I first played - Clive is far too eager to get his hands on Jill's gift. I know it's her suggestion, and she makes it clear it's what she wants to do, but he could giver her more than 5 seconds to think about it! However, I paid a bit more attention to the dialogue between them this time - I think I was ranting about consent last time :D

I also bought the pass for the DLC and downloaded the first one, so it's all ready to go when I get to the right point in the story. I am very much looking forward to spending more time in Valisthea.

I've also noticed Astra the Hopeless Romantic changes her clothes! On my first playthrough, I spoke to her a few times and realised she was crushing on different people, but didn't notice the changed outfits. This time, I didn't bother speaking to her but did notice the clothes. I've looked it up, and the outfits reflect the crush-of-the-moment. And there's a kid near Blackthorne's forge who has a pet - but apparently he had different ones at different points in the game. If/when I play again, I'll pay a bit more attention to those two, and see what happens if I ignore ALL the optional sidequests :D

In my current readthrough of 'Northanger Abbey', I'm noticing all of the clues that John Thorpe is crushing on our heroine despite her protests. NA was written before any of the other full-length novels but was published posthumously. I'm seeing some forerunners of other characters and plot points. Catherine's refusal to accept Thorpe's attentions makes me think of Fanny's belief that Crawford cannot be serious in his attentions in 'Mansfield Park', whilst Thorpe's wilful ignorance regarding her real feelings makes me think not only of Mr Collins' persistence with Elizabeth in 'Pride & Prejudice', but also Emma's blindness to EVERYONE's feelings (including her own)! I love Austen so much. Which reminds me - I want to watch 'Austenland' at some point...

Finally(!), I want to capture a couple of weird dreams I had last night. Firstly, I thought our son shouted me from downstairs - he was angry with me over something, and in the dream I knew what it was; I woke up and it was only 3.30am and he was fast asleep in his room. I went back to sleep and had the second dream; we had a cat that caught mice and brought them to us as gifts - and also a bear, except the bear was the same size as the mice but that was perfectly natural in the dream! I don't normally remember my dreams, so I wanted to capture them.

And that will do for tonight.

Playstation Access' Dave solved a puzzle box that then led to him and Ash (back from holiday but no longer a member of the team) to an empty house on an island in the Thames. Ash is the 'Horror Queen' and Dave is most definitely not. I encourage you to watch both videos. They are an elaborate promotion for 'Alone in the Dark'.

Worked on the strategy/plan summary thing today. Now it's up to the Leadership Team to decide if everything is where they want it, then we can add the final bits and roll it up into the annual summary. It always feels good to support something at that level. Oh, but the template is ANNOYING. It's in Excel and includes merged cells, which are just NOT user friendly when it comes to copying and pasting. Also, I think the version we're using is for gathering intel, which is then put into a final reporty thing anyway, so why not just give us a bloody spreadsheet?! Or use MSForms?.One of my colleagues had the genius idea of putting text boxes over the merged cells, which at least made things easier.

And I think I'm pretty much there for Sunday. I'll run through my reflection a couple of times tomorrow. For once, I've really come up short on answers. I have no answers to the destruction of a whole culture. Where is the public outcry at the destruction of Palestinian museums, universities, worship centres? But why would the UK Westminster establishment worry about it when they can make political capital out of it?

In gaming news, Fuzz has finally entered Junon! Some fun moments but I don't want to stray into spoilers.

And I've changed Ambrosia's appearance in FFXVI and cleared up a hunt near Eastpool. The info on the locations of the marks is really sketchy. There's one somewhere around Caer Norvent that I remember struggling to find last time as well. I can always look it up at some point - for now, I'm moving on with the story.

And I may have persuaded chat buddy to get FFXVI whilst it's on sale. I think the price is fair. It doesn't have the level of content that Rebirth has, which they've gone ahead and bought. I'm still struggling to get my head around that :D

I've downloaded the demo for 'One Piece Odyssey' because I really enjoyed the Netflix series and the full game is on sale. If I like the demo, I'll put the full game on my wish list for now.

There's also a demo for 'Stella Blade', I think, which has piqued my interest, although not enough for me to buy it right away. Oh, and BG3 is also on sale, but the price is still to high for me. I have too many 'free' games on PS+ to want to spend money on new games.

I'm nearly at the end of 'Emma' but the 'end' just keeps going! I hadn't realised before how big a gap there is between Emma realising her true feelings and the 'happy ever after'. I'm keeping myself to one chapter a night, which is helping to drag it out, I suppose. I may allow myself two tonight :D

Spent some time with Ratchet and Rivet, smashing things to bits and zapping other things with my various guns. I know the wacky weapons are one of the things people love about these games but... for me they're just weapons. I'm sorry... I'll hide myself in a dark corner, now...

The first time I read 'The Screwtape Letters', I thought it was just a light-hearted jaunt into the demonic mind. Not something to be taken seriously. Except the stuff about The Patient's mother and how greedy she is, but her own demon has hidden her greed inside self-denial and turned her into a tormenter for everyone else. Wherever she goes, when she's offered something to eat or drink she says, 'All I want is a slice of crisp, dry toast and a cup of tea - weak but not too weak.' - of course, nobody can make exactly what she wants because it's so vague. And, of course, she's always disappointed, and let's people see it. Anyway, having read more BY Lewis and ABOUT Lewis, I now see that this is a serious book hidden behind humour. Screwtape's first letter advises his nephew, Wormwood, not to allow The Patient to think deeply about anything, but to keep him fixed on the 'real world', ie, not to worry about heaven at all. I'm interested in my reactions to it as a much older person.

I rewatched the webinar from the other day, which is only available until Sunday. My take-away for our PMO - identify the success criteria at the start! It sounds so bloody obvious but how else do you know you've achieved what you set out to achieve?! I'm also coming round to the idea of having some kind of sizing but not to be too scientific about it - I think that's where we went wrong in the past. Of course, we're much more mature than we were then.

Another of my colleagues has managed to leave the gravitational pull of the uni! They're moving to the 'other' uni!! And there's a fair to middling chance they'll move back to us at some point :D I'm so pleased for them. There's just no real progression, nothing to test them here. For me, every project is a new adventure and there are the processes to tighten up - and the definitions, etc, etc. And the webinars from overseas :D

I'm not sure ChatGPT is really helping that much with shortening the time taken to create minutes. It does help with condensing everything down - but my notes already do that. If it could cope with a full transcript, it would be REALLY helpful.

I read in The Post yesterday that JD Sports are taking over the old M&S building, now that they've moved into the old Debenham's building. Now, Mike Ashley's business practices are not something I support but the article was hopeful that the streets either side AND Williamson Square would benefit from the move. And we really don't want an empty building of that size on our main shopping street! Only time will tell...

That'll do for tonight. I'm keen to get to bed at a fairly normal time tonight. I need my beauty sleep!

We're going to be grandparents again! Of course, I'm hoping for a girl this time - but the most important thing is a healthy baby <3 New baby will be very close in age to grandson #2, which brings its own problems, but they'll have each other to play with. Daughter and SIL are going to have to find a bigger house pretty soon, too!

In other news, ChatGPT completely garbled the transcript from today's meeting, so I had to fall back on my own brain :O It may well be something to do with the prompt but I'm blaming the AI, so there! I've signed up to some AI info sessions, including one on writing prompts, so we'll see how that goes.

And I've started Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Still trying to work out what's going on! I got stuck on the very first task *blush* I made it to the objective but then couldn't work out what to do next. I tried jumping up and down, and I tried swinging my wrench but nothing happened. I looked it up and found I had to jump THEN hit. 'How am I supposed to KNOW that?' I demanded of the universe. Then I went into the settings because the subtitles I thought I'd turned on were off and checked the tutorial thingy... which I'd also managed to turn off... Double-doh!!! Yeah, old person in the room having a senior moment ROFL Anyway, I have it on the easiest settings and I'm somehow managing to move forward.

I read a bit of 'Always Coming Home' by Ursula Le Guin last night. It was a section with some actual stories, so that was nice.

I subscribe to an online local newspaper called The Post, which asked for recommendations for books set in Liverpool or written by locals, and I suggested 'Weaveworld' by Clive Barker, which ticks both boxes! It has some absolutely gorgeous imagery, with a secret world hidden in the weave of a carpet - but it's by Barker, so there are some much less delightful things going on, too! I got a couple of likes and then someone replied that they had been about to recommend the same book. And I put in a shameless plug for my own modest venture into literature - The Curse of Mannerley Manor. Read it - it's good!

Today, my prayer times have all been pointing towards love. Love never fails, living good lives of defiant joy... I firmly believe living with a loving heart is a subversive act in this world. It's easy to be cynical - and sometimes I am! - but leaving ourselves open to beauty and delight keeps us from bitterness. There are times when I feel I'm getting younger not older, at least in terms of my outlook on life, in my capacity for simple joy. There are also times when I feel my mental and physical capacities have aged about 10 years in the last 15 months :D

But enough meandering. To bed, perchance to dream...

Today was just what I needed it to be. Enough work to keep me occupied but nothing overwhelming to my poor frazzled brain.

I watched Dave from Playstation Access play the first couple of hours of FFVII OG. Robenhagen (his colleague Rob dressed as Bugenhagen) made him rename Cloud Dave. It was a lot funnier than it sounds. Robenhagen also acted as guide and mentor to Dave who hasn't played many JRPGs. They did it as a live stream (I watched the recording) and lots of people couldn't work out who he was. Frustrated Rob is very funny. I do feel jealous when people experience a game I love for the first time. You can never recapture that sense of delight and wonder.

Speaking of delight and wonder, I was on the verge of looking up a puzzle in Sea of Stars but then I managed to work it out. I was pleased because I would have been very annoyed with myself when I found out the answer. And there's a character who reminds me a little of Bugenhagen :D :D I've just had a couple of boss battles - there was an opportunity to heal and save between them - followed by some Story, which all meant I spent a bit longer playing than I planned. But it's Friday night - I'm allowed a lie in tomorrow.

Another chapter of Mansfield Park tonight - perhaps even two. Fanny is about to experience her first ball. She's all dressed and ready but she doesn't realise it's in her honour and she'll be expected to lead the dancing! I've decided that any adaptation of MP should focus on the Crawfords as the main characters. The story starts before their arrival but it only really gets going when they take up residence at the Parsonage. They are involved in about 90% of the action, including some that happens 'off camera' from Fanny's POV. They are handsome and lively - a complete contrast to Fanny, who would hardly be noticed by the audience at first. The novel spends a lot of time inside her head, which a film or TV adaptation can't do anyway, so why not switch the focus? And then Fanny could be the quiet, shy, let me fade into the background character she really is.

I don't have the mental energy for the others, although I am very close to the end of Lord Jim. Conrad is not going down as one of my favourite authors - he just takes too bloody long to say anything.

Looking forward to a quiet Saturday.

Christmas Eve was fun. Baby (now 11 months) enjoyed his presents but was a bit confused by the wrapping paper :D 

We gave Grandson #1 a voucher for Flannels that had a PIN(?!) and took a bit of effort to use on-line - but he got there in the end.

Son was working ALL day, so couldn't join us :(

Christmas Day was just husband, son and me. I normally find a roast dinner really easy but I lost all enthusiasm for this one. However, it was worth the effort because we all enjoyed it and felt a lot better after eating it.

My personal haul was:

• a build-your own miniature tea shop, which I have made a start on
• nice warm scarf and fur-trimmed gloves
• chocolates
• the CS Lewis signature collection
• a paper copy of Emma

I'm now enjoying the last couple of days of total R&R before launching into husband's NY appointments *sigh*