A bed of roses

It's been a long week.

Today, I actually managed to communicate something that needed to be communicated. Considering communication is an important part of my role, you wouldn't believe how bad I actually am at doing it. Anyway, I started archiving the documentation for a project that recently closed and sent a message on the Teams site to say I was doing so. There was immediate wailing and gnashing of teeth because people were keeping live documents on the project site. I understand why they might have started out there because they were being used in the roll out of the project, but once the project is over we aren't going to keep the site open forever. The timescale I had suggested was deemed too tight as the users would need time to decide what to take and where to keep it going forward, which I understand. I withdrew my original timeline and said I'd let them do their thing - but I've made a note in my calendar to give them a nudge in a few weeks :D 

I've archived stuff in the past but usually as an after thought rather than as proactive housekeeping. And as part of the prep for the GDPR project, I've also set up a records retention schedule that says I'll completely delete archived material after so many years (5, I think...) - which I also need to factor in to my calendar. *skips over to work email/calendar to put in a note to check* But today reinforced the value of communication and why it helps to make it my first thought rather than my last!

I also expanded the RAPID Log for a project that's in its early stages but actually has quite a big list of Risks already. We have some 'standard' items that we ask PMs to consider including and I think I can expand that list based on this project. Risk management is becoming something of a passion of mine. Project for Web has a slightly different way of scoring risks, though - probability is out of 100 (as in percentage) and impact is out of 10. Our spreadsheet has 5 and 4 respectively. I actually find the bigger numbers harder to work with but I suppose I'll get used to it. 

So, quite a bit of housekeeping-type work today, which is another of my happy places - making order out of chaos.

This evening, I watched a couple of episodes of Psych and tonight's HIGNFY.

Tomorrow, we're hoping for cuddles with grandson #2, and I will be watching Doctor Who.

The service led by my two colleagues went really well but the tech let us down so we had to resort to paper :D Our discussion was around 'what does prayer mean to you?'. I decided to sit back and listen for a change but I think everyone in my group was saying something similar to what I would have said. Prayer is conversation with God, and we can access it at any time. There's no need for special words or positions - we just get to 'take it to the Lord in prayer'. But having 'special' times for prayer can be helpful because they take us out of ourselves, focus our attention on the divine, rather than random thoughts rattling around in our heads.

When I got home, the kettle, which was playing up yesterday, failed completely. I boiled a very small pan of water on the stove and it took 10 minutes! There was no way I was putting up with that until Tuesday, when I'm next in the office, so I headed into town for a kettle, toaster, and some other random bits I was going to pick up in the week. The most annoying thing was having to get dressed again after getting comfy in my PJs. I hate town at the best of times and Sunday shopping is perhaps the worst. Sundays for me are about rest and quiet - not quite a full-on Sabbath, but something close. These days, Sundays are at least as busy as Saturdays, perhaps even worse. Anyway, I got almost everything I wanted and left the rest for later, and got back home hot and sweaty but successful.

I'd left the washing machine on when I went out and it was ready to hang out when I got back. I considered putting it on the line but I knew we were due a thunderstorm, so decided to hang it out indoors. In the end, it probably would have had time to dry but better safe than sorry! We had a two minute downpour with perhaps one peal of thunder, but later on we had some real rain and LOTS of thunder. In between, we had the Man U v Arsenal match on and the storm arrived in Manchester, with live lightning and thunder! I've never seen that before.

After yesterday, I knew I was in no state to play Zau, so I watched the two episodes of Doctor Who that I completely forgot about yesterday *horrified gasp*

Thoughts on the new Doctor Who

I'd read some comments on fb, so I was a bit wary going in to it. But here are my thoughts.

Space Babies - if the babies were 'born' 6 years ago, why are they still babies and not 6yo? (possible RL reasons - perhaps 6yos command higher fees than babies? or it would have been harder to corral that many 6yos?) And how do they know - but don't know - how to operate everything? And wtf set up all the pulleys and levers? Actually - Nan-E is probably the answer to those two questions... I did like the prams. And saving the 'monster' (which looked VERY like a Propagator :D). One of my fb friends talked about 'virtue signalling', which I'm guessing referred to the stuff about a) insisting on babies being born but not looking after them after that and b) refugees are only refugees when they arrive on your shores. I actually thought that stuff was handled with SLIGHTLY more subtlety than similar issues have been handled in the past. Oh, and I did like the 'story so far' bit at the start - helpful even to those of us who've been Whovians for a while!

The Devil's Chord - an interesting idea. What would the world be like with no music? But it wasn't explored in enough depth because we had to have a song and dance routine at the end. WTF?!?! I liked Lennon and McCartney teaming up to play the final chord - although McCartney being played by Leafyard Man REALLY threw me. Anyway, amongst the 'there has to be a twist at the end' nonsense, 'Henry Arbinger' made a brief appearance, so presumably he'll be back later in the series. The Maestro was sinister in a way I found deeply uncomfortable rather than delightful. More Weeping Angel than Missie :D

I will, of course, continue to watch the series but it's going to take me a while to really get into Gatwa's Doctor, I think. In particular, I'm not getting any real chemistry between The Doctor and Ruby. Maybe the actors are too close in age? Or maybe The Doctor just hasn't been alien enough, yet. Time will tell.

After tea,

I came back up to continue with Zau.

I played for about 45 minutes, of which 30 were spent escaping the Black Cloud of Doom whilst trying to negotiate obstacles. I learned a new skill and had a few goes at using it when... hey, presto! The BCD was back!!! And not only do I have to run away from it, I have to use my new skill, too!!!

I noped out of THAT (there's football on tomorrow, so I'll have a go then, I think), and watched an episode of Psych. I think there's an issue with the continuity because the Chief had her baby but I'm sure she wasn't pregnant in the previous episode... Anyway, this episode was about a Comic Con, which reminded me that we had one in Liverpool last weekend. Sometimes it's hard to know what's a cosplay outfit and what's someone's preferred way of dressing :D

Oh, and we have video evidence of grandson #2 walking <3

And that was my Sunday. Back to work, tomorrow *sigh*

Why do holiday weeks go by so fast?!

I got another load of washing out on the line. I love drying stuff outdoors. So fast, so fresh, so convenient!

I also made progress with Zau. I think I've reached the final boss for Act Two, meaning I've completed this act in about half the time it took to get through Act One. I had to stop without beating the boss, though - tired brain was tired :( 

And I watched four episodes of Psych. It's absolutely ludicrous and beyond far-fetched, but I'm hooked.

We had an absolutely gorgeous afternoon but husband had spent too long sitting out in the garden and was already hot and bothered before I suggested a walk, so we didn't get out. But sitting in the garden is still being outdoors! We really could do with a parasol, though...

I also made some more home-made fat balls for the birds. There's something very satisfying about squishing together lard and bird food.

Oh, I managed to hoover the whole house, too - so that's one less job for tomorrow.

And tomorrow is just a normal Saturday. Bath and cleaning, here I come!

The final haul stands at:
- Husband: a Griever necklace and moogle pin badge
- Son: bonsai pots and a Terry's chocolate orange
- Daughter, sil and grandson #2: a Lush voucher and birth flower key ring
- Grandson #1: flower seeds
- Mother and stepfather: a carved(?) stone rose

Not bad at all.

I started off with a bath and then husband made breakfast. Then I made my fairy cakes - orange butterfly cakes with chocolate spread rather than butter cream, and chocolate cakes with orange icing and chocolate sprinkles.

Next I tackled the thing I was stuck on in Zau and got across in a couple of goes, so it was worth leaving it until I'd had a sleep. I'm currently saved at another tricky bit and I think I've been taking the wrong path - but what I think is the right path looks like a right pain in the arse! I will NOT be trying for the plat on this one; the hidden areas where the collectables tend to lurk are just too tricky, and I'm having enough of a fight with the 'happy' path :D Still, it's a measure of my development as a gamer that I'm getting past the obstacles reasonably efficiently AND as a person that I'm seeing this as a Challenge and approaching umpteen attempts at the same puzzle with patience rather than throwing my controller out of the window. As I keep saying, there's a reason I don't platform... And yet, it seems, I do!

We had a sit out in the garden with a cuppa and a cake, this afternoon. Remarkably, it not only didn't it rain (it so often does rain on my birthday) but was warm and sunny.

I also watched the second and third episodes of the series on Pompeii, which was really fascinating. Immense wealth built on the backs of enslaved workers, evidence that many people managed to escape and proof that many did not, the fragility of human life in the face of the power of nature. If you have access to BBC iPlayer (and are in any way interested!), I recommend giving it a watch.

I've also just discovered that Psych - another of the programmes my chat buddy goes on about all the time - is on Netflix. Because I don't have enough things to watch...

Tomorrow, husband has an appointment with a rheumatologist out at Broad Green. Oh, goody...

I got three loads of washing done this morning and hung out on the line - at 7pm, some of it was still damp, so I've hung it up indoors *sigh*

I realised we were low on coffee and decided on a trip to the big Tesco, and husband felt like some fresh air, so we went together. I was almost too warm in jeans, t-shirt and light coat, but there was a coldish wind, so husband wore his leather coat and wooly hat and gloves! It was a lovely afternoon for a walk but I had to put my sun hat on because I still hadn't got round to buying any sun glasses. But, thankfully, Tesco provided them, too! I had made a list but left it at home (doh!), but remembered everything except jam.

On a previous trip, we bought Bonne Maman chocolate spread. It's one of the few brands I have positive feelings about and actively buy - I have a much longer list of brands I avoid! - AND the chocolate spread is palm oil free. I cracked it open to have on my toast this morning because we were out of jam. It is very good :)

Back home I played an hour of the Stella Blade demo, which covers the early part of the game. It felt like a combo of Horizon and Scarlet Nexus. I would be interested in the full game but not at full price. It's on my wish list, so I'll know if/when the price drops. There is a difficulty setting but it isn't possible to change the button settings, as far as I could tell, anyway. And I couldn't use the items in my bag <_<

This evening, I've played an hour or so of Tales of Kenzera: Zau, which is giving me flashbacks to Dust: An Elysian Tale - side-scrolling action platformer with some VERY nice combat. Of course, I'm not getting on with the platforming but it's challenging rather than impossible. There is a difficulty setting but I had to hunt for it, and I was able to completely customise the button settings.

I'm amused by the different approaches games take to trophies. In Carto, the chapter complete trophies were all visible and the accomplishment ones were hidden. In Zau, the chapter complete trophies are the hidden ones (well, they're the top half of the list, so I'm guessing they're the chapter ones), and the accomplishment ones (mostly collectables) are visible. In the case of Carto, the hidden ones could be said to be spoilers, and perhaps the chapter ones in Zau would give away story elements.

I finished off the evening with three episodes of old Doctor Who. I am, of course, very excited about the new series starting on Saturday *dances*

I've hit the first brick wall in my editing. It's a story that needs more than just some tinkering with the word count - the whole thing needs work. But I've been thinking about it and how to make it more interesting, which counts as working on it! I also need to bundle up the first 10 stories and send them to my Beta readers.

Tomorrow, I need to pick up husband's prescription that I completely forgot on Friday, collect a blood form for next week AND book a telephone appointment because the online system DOESN'T WORK! Honestly, it's the 21st Century and pen and paper/F2F is the most effective method of dealing with medical stuff.

Otherwise, I'm going to be playing Zau, I think :)

Our neighbour passed away just over a year ago. She left her house to her 5 grandchildren, one of whom has bought it (presumably the others get the cash) and now is transforming it into their 'dream home', or something. All I know is there's been hammering and drilling going on all day, every day for weeks. Today, it started at 8am and finished at 8pm - seriously. Oh, there was a pause in the middle of the day when the match was on.

Which Liverpool drew, BTW. They seem determined to finish the season on a low :( We will get a homecoming, but only one trophy out the four we were hoping for - but Klopp deserves a proper send off.

I finished FFXVI. The emotions hit me but didn't wipe me out. Finishing off the final boss was very satisfying. I'm still hoping for more DLC but I've bid farewell to Valisthea for now.

I've started Carto, which is a very simple game that is going to screw with my brain :D

Farscape is proving interesting. Still very early days but I am definitely enjoying it.

And now I'm heading for bed. Had a very late night last night and I've been feeling slightly out of it all day.

When I got into work today, I mentioned I wasn't feeling 100% and that a year ago I'd have worked from home but now we've been told 'if you aren't well enough for the office you aren't well enough for work'. My line manager took me aside and said they'd have no problem if I asked to work from home, but the edict was given because some people abused the situation - which is fine but actually they shouldn't treat me differently. Having one rule for one and another for another only breeds ill feeling.

Anyway, I do feel like I've shaken this bug off. Thank goodness for Beechams! My main worry now is that it'll develop into a cough.

I have another potential meeting to facilitate, which will provide some governance around our main record system. The structure is a quarterly steering group (which I think there's a good argument for me to support) and a monthly working group (which I think there's less of an argument for). My line manager has set it up and suggested someone else for the steering group, and I responded that I'd rather do that meeting and could make a stronger case for it when my line manager changes next month. They took the point and suggested the working group could be self-managing.

I'm slightly anxious that there's a move for the steering group to be used to manage some of the projects related to the system. A quarterly steering group, with other business to conduct, cannot provide adequate governance for a project; I still think there's a need for a project board, which could report TO the steering group. This is a model we've seen work elsewhere.

And yes, I'm changing LM again. I've just done a quick count and I think this is #15 - but I feel like I'm missing someone...

Anyway, I've got a number of plates spinning at the moment but not so many, or so fast, that I feel overwhelmed. And next week is a 4-day week (husband's birthday on Monday) and the week after I'm on leave (my birthday is a fortnight today).

I've just watched the first two episodes of Monk, which looks like it could be fun. I'll give it another couple and see how it goes. I really do want something new.

And Liverpool are losing 2-0 to local rivals Everton. This season really has fizzled out :(

My first task this morning was to do some washing. I checked my weather app, which assured me it was going to be a cloudy day with only the slightest chance of rain. Of course, as soon as I put the washing outside, the clouds burst, so I brought it back inside. Thank goodness we have space for drying indoors!

The rain went off again after dinner, so husband and I had a nice walk. We went up Prince's Boulevard because it's much flatter than Windsor St. It looks as though something may be happening with the old Welsh Church; all the undergrowth has been cleared away. I'm sure it will be turned into flats but it's better than it being left to decay any further. It does look like the sort of building you'd find in W3 or DAI - or even Horizon!

We went through Prince's Park, around the lake and then off to Tesco for some shopping, including the bread mix I forgot to get yesterday. I now have quite a fine-looking loaf to go with the Scouse I'm planning for tomorrow's tea. We came home via Windsor St, which is all downhill in that direction. Husband complained about the number of bumps, though. Well, I don't maintain the pavements, unfortunately!

Just after we got home, it started raining again! Then there was a beautiful blue sky this evening. Truly four seasons in one day. Gotta love that British weather :D

I had a go at one of the Chronoliths in FFXVI but time trials really don't excite me. I think there's a reward for the Wall of Memories if you do all of them...? But I'm a looong way from being a completionist, so it is unlikely it will ever grace Clive's wall. I did have a go at the Hall of Virtue and worked out how to use Megaflare and Zantetsuken, so it was worth it for that. I've equipped Odin but added two of Titan's abilities to R1 and R2, and added Flames of Rebirth to R2 under Shiva. But I've really got nothing else to do in the game until Rising Tide lands.

But that leaves me more time for watching telly! I got in a couple of old Doctor Who episodes and the 2007 version of 'Northanger Abbey'. The Doctor Who episodes are from towards the end of Hartnell's time - I'm watching them so I can say I've watched them. My favourite colleague, who is also a fellow Whovian, has said more than once that they don't understand how it kept going when the old stuff is so bad. The only thing I can offer is that people really didn't know what good telly was back then because it was still so new! We can only be grateful that it did keep going and we got to enjoy Tom Baker and Peter Capaldi :D

'Northanger Abbey' wasn't great. I know it's a short novel but squeezing it into 90 minutes really doesn't do it justice. Felicity Jones makes a wonderfully naive and wide-eyed Catherine but I didn't find Carey Mulligan's Isabella very convincing (although I've loved her in other stuff!). And they had her seduced by Captain Tilney - which I'm sure he would be capable of but I don't think she would risk. Although she does believe herself secure enough in his affections to break off with James... Anyway, it's a not-terrible adaptation, if you like Austen.

My favourite adaptations are (in order):

• 'Emma' 2020 - is there any character Anya Taylor Joy can't play?
• 'P&P' 1995 - beautifully paced, well acted, and wonderful costumes
• 'S&S' 2008 - Elinor shines throughout

I've watched a couple of adaptations of 'Mansfield Park' but they suffer from trying to make Fanny 'interesting' when the whole point of her is to be in the background, observing everyone else. Anne in 'Persuasion' suffers a similar fate in the two adaptations I've watched - as it's my favourite Austen novel, it's particularly painful to not have a good adaptation to watch. And Catherine always ends up burning her books in 'NA'.

Well, it's been a good day overall. Here's hoping tomorrow doesn't disappoint :)

Husband had an eye screening appointment today all the way out at Aintree but I really didn't feel up to taking him. My body just wanted to stay put and heal. I didn't want to end up stranded at Aintree, not feeling up to getting home again or struggling to do so. Plus, it takes almost half a day - an hour's travel each way (allowing for the taxi to arrive, traffic issues, etc) and an hour for the appointment. So, I rang up to cancel and the receptionist said they'd get us an appointment at the Royal, instead! The Royal is so much easier. 

Got a head start on my monthly report because I'm on leave next week, and did the fortnightly dashboard update for what I'm hoping is the last time because our wonderful placement student is building me a new one in Power BI! I've left it in EPC's hands but I will need to focus on getting the final tweaks done.

Watched Fuzzfinger do the Junon parade, which looks like a bit of a pain. Barret looks cute in his sailor suit, though <3

Some progress in FFXVI. Mid is now firmly installed and I did a couple of sidequests. Dorys' VA seems - lacklustre...? But now that I think about it, I remember her improving as the game progressed. She's one of the NPCs who has an interesting story arc, too.

A couple of biopics coming up on Netflix look interesting - 'Shirley' about Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for POTUS, and 'Scoop' about the women who organised the interview with Prince Andrew about his relationship with Epstein. I didn't watch the interview at the time because I have zero interest in Andrew, but I'm intrigued by this being from the pov of the women.

And that's about all from today. 

Grandson #2's first birthday was a pretty miserable one weather-wise, but he enjoyed a visit to the Blue Planet Aquarium and his first MacDonald's, so I don't think he was too bothered :D

I managed to do some strategic thinking about our PMO and how we might move things forward. I have... not quite a roadmap but certainly some suggestions for our direction of travel. Ultimately, though, I'm not sure how much control I'm going to have over it going forward. As part of the restructure, a role called 'Head of Portfolio Delivery' was created who should, surely, be taking the lead on that...? In the meantime, I'm getting support and guidance from the lead PM who I expect will become my line manager in the not-too-distant future, so maybe it will remain in our gift. Only time will tell!

Watched episode 4 of Dave's journey through FFVII OG. The last episode ended on a bit of a damp squib when he managed to cast bio on himself instead of Rufus' cat (ROFL) - but he started this episode by smashing that battle and ended it by capturing a chocobo, so I think he's redeemed himself. Rob (who is the resident FF expert at Playstation Access) was extremely excited about Cloud riding down that staircase on his motorbike, and it still gives me goosebumps - but Dave seemed unimpressed. Perhaps he was still recovering from the fight with Rufus.

Having finished watching The Traitors UK, we've now moved on to the Australian version :D Of course, the faithful continue to point fingers at each other and ignore the traitors.

I was going to talk Heaven and 'the other place' tonight but now I don't have the energy. Maybe another night...

I definitely want an earlier night, tonight.