Ridiculous

Monday, a 05:30 alarm call, leaving home at 06:00, a short journey to pick up a work colleague from his home in Draycott to drive to Reading.  A morning in the office before we leave to attend a meeting on the client site just over an hour away before returning to Reading and a night in a hotel.  Tuesday morning we breakfast, go to work and then drive back to Derby.  And that is becoming a the pattern, with additional days at Reading thrown into the mix which see me using the train on a daily commute basis. Over 400 miles a week behind the wheel of the car and a day or two in the local office means that by the time the weekend arrives I sleep heavily and well.

Now don't get me wrong, I know I am fortunate to have a job,but, and it is a big but, in this age with the technology available to us there should be no need to do this number of miles in either the car or on the train. Voice conference, video conference and file sharing should mean that the work that I do can be done from anywhere, including local office or from home.  But every client believes that their data is more sensitive than anybody else's, that face to face is the only way to do meetings, and the sales people allow these conditions to be written into the contract and our bosses always want to see us in the office having a "bums on seats" attitude believing that if bums are on seats then work is being done and results achieved. Just how delusional and out of touch they are. Almost Dickensian.  Attitudes like these mean we end up doing inordinate mileage which is totally ridiculous.

Dieting

Now don't ask me how but all I know is that I've been roped into dieting simply because the rest of the family have decided to diet.  Of course these days there has to be an app involved, in this case My Fitness Pal on android is the chosen tool for monitoring calorific consumption and burn. Weigh in last Sunday was overseen by Mark to ensure no cheating and I tipped the scales at 214 pounds.  This morning, one week on, the same scales say 211.4 pounds, so weight has been lost.  And I have to say that I've not made many adjustments to my daily intake to come in just under my calorific allowance.  Suzie has lost 2 pounds in weight (I'll not give her weight) so she too is suitably encouraged to keep going.

Having spent a week using My Fitness Pal I have to say that I find it useful but a bit clunky.  It doesn't appear to be intelligent enough to store something you ate for breakfast as something you might also consume as another meal, so you are constantly searching for stuff when you should be able to reselect from the pre-consumed list, which you can do if you previously consumed it for that meal (i.e. toast for breakfast).  Usefully it comes with a bar code reader so searching is simplified to some extent, but then you have to be aware of the portion sizes.  As a basic guide it is useful but it isn't a "super accurate" tool.

Savour the moment

This past weekend was just one of those moments one has to savour and remember.  Mark and Eleanor came up from Staines to spend a few days with us, arriving here with us Friday afternoon in time for us to change and ready for a night out together with us, Andy and Emma.  Using my mum's MPV I drove us to Nottingham, stopping off at The Priory for a meal before going on to the Capital FM Area and the Michael McIntyre show.

Saturday we found time for a mini BBQ among the household chores, weekly shop, gardening and everything else that has to be done at the weekends simply because the week is so full of the demands of work and making sure that the "old people" are cared for and OK.  Sunday we managed a proper family BBQ and found time to make the weekend one with a family bias, and all the better for being so.  All in all it was a weekend to savour.  OK, so I didn't get to ride the motorbike, visit a bike shop to get new gloves and helmet needed for the coming winter riding, or a myriad of things I would have liked to have done. But hey, what a substitute, well worth the "sacrifice".

Weekends

Weekends.  Some go to plan, some don't but often the best are spontaneous - as this one has been.  After a hectic week at work when the sun was shining bright and the skies were largely cloudless, neatly timed to co-incide with kids going back to school after the summer break.  All we'd planned was Mark and Eleanor coming home from Staines to be with us for a family trip to see Michael McIntyre in the Capita FM Area in Nottingham on Friday night.

Eveything went well and with time in hand we had a meal at The Priory on the way into Nottingham.  The show was McIntyre at his best and I had the benefit of bumping into an ex-colleague from my FIS days, Colin and his better half.

I kick started Saturday with a grilled breakfast to get everyone going.  Sue went off to do the weekly ASDA shop while I did some of the household chores.  Mark and I visited my dad and took him out in a wheelchair for a trip round the block to get him out of his room for a while.  He was very tired when we got back even though we were only out for about 40 minutes.  We also managed to fit a small BBQ into the day somewhere, and Mark and I a visit to see my mother.

Today I spent some time in front of the box watching the Italian FI from Monza and the British Superbikes from just down the road at Donington, and the closing ceremony of the Paralympics is on as I type this up.  We have also had a BBQ today and I spent about 3 hours getting tar/stone chips and bugs off Sue's car, giving it a wash and polish.

So a full and enjoyable weekend, which preludes another busy week where I'll be staying away from home Monday night, not out of choice but work dictates (sometimes).