Isolation Journal 63

My plan was to wake up a bit early to prep for my charity pitch meeting, so I woke up annoyingly at 7.50am and had a snooze until 8.10am and then my alarm went off.  I got up and brought the milk in and it was pouring with rain and so then I made my breakfast and coffee.  I had yoghurt, apple and granola, but I put some of the homemade lemon curd that my friend had given me on Saturday - it was delicious, really lemony.

I logged on and did the team call with Katie and then prepped for my meeting.  I think it went ok, it was 4 trustees on MS teams, and one of them had to turn off her camera because her audio wasn't working.  I made the classic error of forgetting to ask how long I had (turns out 30 mins rather than the hour I'd assumed) and I spent more time asking them questions than "selling", but hopefully that's not a bad thing.  

I then had *alot* of emails to try and get through along with some admin and was full on until Alan heated up some lunch from the dinner that we'd had yesterday.  I snatched a few moments to order a hamper of gluten free treats for my brother as it's his birthday tomorrow.  It was hard as some of the stuff looked gluten free, but wasn't obvious.  I also found a few bits and pieces as suggestions for Alan's brother's wife and he ordered something for her birthday which is later this week.

I then had an interview with a very senior candidate from the private sector who wants to make a move to the charity sector and she was good, but I think it's going to be slow at the level that she's looking at for a little while.  

The rest of the afternoon was sorting out admin mostly for the placement I have starting tomorrow and one for Rachel starting later on in the week.  

I eventually finished up around 6.45pm and after much persuading managed to get Alan to agree to a run.  To try and make it easier to run together I'd suggested exploring the woods I went in yesterday, but he wasn't keen to run that far, so I suggested driving and parking closer, but he also wasn't keen on where I'd suggested to park so he suggested we drove to Towton Battlefield and we went for a run around the battlefield trail.  The sunlight was beautiful and there were some lovely views and we ran and looked at some of the different info boards.  At one point we encountered a 14 week old black lab puppy that was excited and jumped up and down at us and scratched my legs by accident.  We explored down a path to Cock's Bridge and then went in a loop past the pub.  We did 5K in 48.56.

When we got back I made tea and scoffed the leftover chips from Friday evening's takeaway whilst I listened to the archers.  We had the Hello Fresh Pork Penne Caponata and then after I'd spilled it all down my run kit I had some lemon tart with cream.  

We watched Peep Show and I then went up for a shower and worked out that the shower head is broken, Alan also worked out the cat flap was broken and managed to change the batteries and fix it on top of fixing the shelf in the fridge with Milliput.  

I watched a bit of Catfish and looked for showerheads.

Isolation Journal 62

Alan woke up and got straight out of bed at 8.50am and then went to fix the TV/Upgrade it and I snoozed until he rang me and wanted feedback on what the tv picture was doing.

I stayed in my PJs and slobbed around and then when he'd finished I made scrambled eggs, black pudding and toasted left over bread from yesterday.  I wrote "I love you" in sriracha on Alan's plate, but he wasn't as impressed as I'd hoped.

We put on a film and watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them although half way through Alan got interupted to go and help our nextdoor neighbour with her IPhone upgrade, so I got dressed into my run kit and then I tidied, hoovered, cleaned the kitchen and watered the plants and one of the neighbours further down Donna asked what Alan liked to drink as she wanted to thank him for his work on the TV.  Alan managed to turn on the TV to play Tina Turner from next door which was a bit of a surprise when "Simply the Best" started blasting out.

I watched Catfish whilst waiting for him to come back and we finished the film which was quite good and I enjoyed even if I was playing on my phone for a lot of it.  We had a pre-pared pizza and some coleslaw that Alan made for lunch.  Alan had a nap as he was really tired.  The nextdoor neighbours popped around with a bottle of Gentleman Jack to say thanks for his help.

I read through a piece of Flash Fiction for my friend Lauren and gave some thoughts (it was good!) and then finally got organised and went out for a run in a nice sunny evening and did about 7 miles which was more than I was planning.  I turned on the Strava app as it's still not working for Garmin to sync to Garmin Connect or to Strava.  I went with a planned route, but spotted a different turning that I'd not explored and went into the woods and found a burned out car.  I was a bit nervous as I was by myself, but it was a fun route and I must take Alan back.

I had a quick shower when I got back and Alan prepped some veg and made Ketjap Manis and cooked some mince and then I finished off the stir fry and we watched Peep Show.  We drank Lynchberg Lemonades and a Knob Creek and ginger beer.  

I then spoke to my brother as he'd rung whilst I was running, he was mostly worried about my Dad who had been wearing a back brace the last time that he saw him and was worried about what he could do to help.  We talked about it and his 3rd oldest was running around naked looking at the caterpillar he'd rescued from the garden and put in a pot.   I mopped down the house as I'm keen to keep it clean on a weekly basis if I am able to.

I then had to prep for a meeting tomorrow to pitch for some work with trustees of a charity for a senior role.   

Isolation Journal 61

I had set my alarm for 9.30am as I was heading over to see my friend Lauren in Chorley and I wanted to be able to set off at a decent time.

I woke up around 8.30am, but managed to snooze for a bit more and then got up and set off the breadmaker to make some bread and made some coleslaw with Sriracha and some smoked Wensleydale and some Yorkshire Red cheese as well as packing some chutney, butter and picnic plates and cutlery. 

I had banana bread and yoghurt for breakfast and had a coffee that Alan had kindly made for me and then got in the shower and got dressed, it's the first time I've been out to really meet someone for ages so I actually put a bit of make up on.  I wa a bit groggy and I checked my temparature before I went and it was 37.2.

I got in the car around 11.30am with an ETA of 1pm and set off.  I spoke to my Mum and Dad on the way and listened to a bit of Catch 22 and it took about an hour and a half to get over to Chorley and I managed to find the house ok.  It's the furthest that I've driven in months.

I had a cup of Earl Grey tea in the garden and a chat with Lauren and then we cut up the bread and headed up for a walk and a picnic.  We walked up White Coppice which was really pretty, after mostly being in the Vale of York for months now for my walks and runs, going up steep hills was really good!  We had a really good chat and catch up together and I reminded her that it's about 3 years since we last met up and hopefully we won't leave it as long next time.  She also made me a lovely fimo beaded necklace which I'm wearing now.

We had a picnic next to a waterfall and I got to try some of her very tasty miso mushroom rolls and had a diet coke and a fizzy water.  

We then walked back a different way and got really stuck in deep puddles and mud, but it was fun and lovely to look at the beautiful views.  We walked back past a house that Lauren's Mum and her husband are building and it was amazing - huge windows, underfloor heating a nice big garden and some decking.  

I had another cup of tea and then headed home and took about 70 mins to drive and by the time I was back Alan had made dinner which was Aubergine Curry and I made some lynchberg lemonades for dessert had a Gu pudding and an ice lolly as well.

I've got a bit of a sore throat which worries me, but hopefully it's nothing.  We watched 2 episodes of Spooks, a couple of Mock the Week and then I put on Catfish.

Isolation Journal 60

I was quite tired when I woke up this morning and I knew that no one else was in today so I didn't have the morning call, but I did have plenty of work to do.  I dropped some fabric off to my neighbour Anna who makes mask for a cat charity and she made a couple for me and Alan and also for my friend Hannah's boys.

I had an interview with a candidate at 10am who is moving to Whitby next year and then the rest of the day was spent on managing offers for candidates and coordinating the 14 jobs.  There was a delivery whilst I was doing the interview and it was a lucky dip of bedding plants from gardening direct.

Alan also looked afte r aguy from Sky who was installing Sky Q, apparently this is better than the other TV that we already had.

I had yoghurt, apple and granola for breakfast and 2 coffees and then at lunchtime around 1.30pm I walked down to the pharmacist to pick up a prescription and popped my mask on and an older lady was ranting about how it had to be the way now in terms of wearing masks (whilst not wearing a mask).  I though to myself "I'm wearing a mask specifically to protect people like you!".  

It was really warm today and nice to walk and get some sunshine.  When I got back I was straight back into lots of work after a super quick lunch of cucumber, tomatoes, smoked cheese, blue cheese, chutney and mortadella and milano I had to prep for sending CVs for the 14 jobs.  I knew that the system was going down at 8pm so needed to be swift and I finally got the 65 CVs across for both me and 2 of my colleagues at 6.30pm and I think there are still some new roless to look at.

I finished work and then went to plant out the bedding plants and ran out of planter space, so I might need to work out what to do with the spare plants.  Before I went to plant the plants we ordered a Chinese takeaway, I had my usual hot and sour soup that I put chips in and then a Thai seafood dish and some salt and pepper crispy squid.  Alan made a delicious lynchberg lemonnade and I also drank the last drop of white wine from the other night.

Again I didn't run because I think I jarred my right leg yesterday and it's really sore.  Garmin still isn't working which is kinda sad as I wanted to see all the stats.  I sat on the sofa and as we watched an episode of Spooks I had the back massage machine on bits of me.  I did a load of washing and hung it out and made plans to see my friend Lauren tomorrow who is over near Preston so I should probably go to bed soon.

Isolation Journal 59

It was an apple, granola and yoghurt breakfast day with 2 coffees to perk me up.  I had a quick chat with Matt in the team and then made a few calls before logging on for a MS Teams meet with our MD about the new system.

I had decided to auction off my old Garmin Forerunner 920 to try and raise some money for the Trussel Trust, so I posted an update on Facebook for my running group, I feel slightly nostalgic about it as it was the first present that Alan ever bought for me for Christmas, although I've changed straps about 12 times over the past 4.5 years.

I did pilates online at 12pm and it was only me and one other and the other person got lost off the call late on so in the end it was just me.

We then made some waffles and bratwurst for lunch and Alan fried a couple of eggs.  

I then had a busy afternoon trying to catch up on work and get some candidates ready for the roles I'm recruiting at the moment whilst Rachel is on holiday.  I also had one candidate today who refused to go forward for a job that was going to be working from home, I'm not sure how many office based roles are around at the moment that wouldn't be from home at least a proportion of the time currently - very frustrating.

I ended up finishing work around 7pm and went to cook dinner and was frustrated to find out that the spinach in the dish had gone off, I'm a "noticer" and I tend to spend far more time putting things away and tidying things up and sometimes it pisses me off and I don't know how to express this in a powerful way that doesn't sound like nagging.  Alan didn't take my comments very well and so I continued to cook dinner, but he didn't want to eat it and ended up going for a walk.  He'd pointed out that I'd left all the post from my flat on the floor and that was messy, so I ended up re-addressing all of it as return to sender and walking down to post it.  He was still out for a walk when I got back so I ended up driving around looking for him.  He was walking around in the dark and was clearly still angry so I drove home and walked back to check he was coming home.  It was about half ten and pitch black at this point - he had managed to see a couple of barn owls.  I also saw a baby frog when I was out looking for Alan.

We've not yet managed to have a more constructive conversation and he's still not eaten dinner, but I did make him a horlicks to drink.

I also swapped messages with my brother who had a job interview today and it was his youngest's birthday and he sent me a video of him opening the present that i'd got him.

I had thought about going for a run, but my perifirmis is sore and Garmin  is down - apparently hacked and so I just walked around a lot instead.

Isolation Journal 58

Today should be my day off, but it's our new system day so I had to log onto a training call at 9am.  I got up and dressed made a coffee and prepped a mango which I had with granola and yoghurt and left some mango for Alan.

The training call was ok, but I find training where they just show things moving around on a screen isn't really a way that I learn.  We had other bits and pieces throughout the day to learn and watch, but in truth a lot of my day was taken up with the day job as I'm covering for Rachel on holiday.  

By lunchtime I had a major stress tension headache and today took both paracetamol and ibuprofen, but it didn't really shift.  

After a 48 minute call with a client I managed to come downstairs and make some lunch, Alan chopped up some chorizo and black pudding and I fried with no oil in a pan and added to a chopped little gem lettuce, some chopped heritage tomatoes and then some apple cider vinegar and salt.  We had a slice of olive bread with anchor spreadable and then I had another coffee (3 in total today) and went up to finish more work.

I had a busy afternoon sending out testing for candidates, fielding multiple emails and did some of the training modules towards the end of the day.  I had been supposed to go for a run with a friend after doing some more errands in town, but I set off about 30 minutes later than I'd planned at 5.35pm and then had to turn back as I'd forgotten my keys, but I managed to chat to my parents on the way, I grabbed the keys and carried onto work and parked my car underneath the office building and went up to the flat with the table (again!) and I couldn't even get the keys in the lock after being reassured the old lock had been put back in.  I called the number for a guy who came to sort out the lock who said "20 minutes" and so I went back to my office to collect things from my desk as they are implementing a clear desk policy at work.  I also moved Rachel's things into a drawer and took some stuff home for safe keeping like a picture of her with her Dad.  

I went back to the flat and after waiting for about 20 minutes the guy arrived and changed the lock.  I put the table in the flat and had a look around and then wasn't sure whether to leave both tables or just one as there's not much space.  I left both in the end.  I wore my mask the whole way around being in town both in the office where I saw two of the cleaners I'd not seen for months as well as in the apartment building even though the lock guy was "i don't have it you don't have to wear that".

I cancelled going for a run with my friend Sam even though I probably had enough time, but she didn't call me back, I drove back via Temple Newsam thinking that I could go for a run somewhere different, but there seemed to be a lot of travellers and people around the car park and I felt a bit unsure so drove home and went for a run from my front door again.  Alan called me whilst we were both driving home as he'd been catching up with his old boss in Bradford at Starbucks.  I ran past him driving home in the car.

I ran about 36 minutes and just over 4 miles and I'm still getting used to, but enjoying my new watch.  I listened to more of "How to Stop Time" by Matt Haig and I'm getting towards the end of the book now.

I spoke to my brother who'd rung me just at the end of my run to help him prepare for a promotion interview tomorrow.  He was very hung up thinking about all the other candidates, but I pointed out that it was far better to worry about what he was doing to prepare as that was the only thing that he could controls.

I then came down for tea that Alan had made which was Hello Fresh hot dogs and was nearly 1200 calories!!! I'm glad I'd not eaten loads earlier and had had a decent run.  We watched a couple of episodes of early Peep Show.

I then showered after dinner and started a bath for Alan and came down to finish off my system training which I'm nearly finished up on thankfully.  

I also have just remembered again that it's my youngest nephew Winston's birthday (he's 1) so I need to order a present for him even though I've not actually had a chance to meet him yet.

Isolation Journal 57

I woke up and made crumpets for breakfast for me and Alan and also a coffee.  

I had a major issue getting logged on this morning, I had to turn my laptop on and off again about 3 or 4 times, in the meantime Alan kindly leant me his old macbook which actually displays our main system much better and so I might try and use that if I can get MS Teams to install.

Today was insanely manic, I advertised a few jobs last night and had over 100 applications and my phone was ringing solid so much so I had to update my voicemail to say "please don't leave a message as I'm slightly overwhelmed" 

I had one training course at 10am for the new system, a get back to the office session, goal setting for Katie and then a roundtable seminar on top of all the other day to day stuff - Alan kindly made a bratwurst, fried egg and potato waffles with mayo and sriracha for lunch and I didn't even have a break away for lunch.  I had a note about my old bike that I'd posted on FB village group and a lady who turned out to be a candidate came to pick it up - what an odd coincidence.  I had a pink lady apple as a snack.

I finished work around 6.30pm and asked my boss how to go back to full time hours again and she told me to fill out a form, but I just don't know what form!  

I cooked a Hello Fresh burger recipe for dinner and then logged onto Zoom for a HPH session about leading and returning to club sessions that will be more intervals sessions in no more than 6 in a group and we'll be using a booking system called Spond to get people book on.  I asked if it would be ok to auction my old Garmin watch and donate the money to a food bank, I then felt bad when I realised that it was the first thing that Alan bought me for Christmas and should I keep hold of it, but I'd like someone to do something good with it.

I then went out for a run to try out my new watch a bit more and I pushed myself as I was enjoying the fact it annouced strava segments and I got a stitch a few times as I'd obviously only eaten a bit beforehand.  It then told me my training status was "unproductive" which was a bit disappointing.  

I got back and had a shower and then had an ice lolly and turned on Peep Show.  Alan unfortunately managed to crack the screen of his new macbook when a USB got stuck in it.