The To Do List

[Mark.]

Did the dog get walked, D? I took ours out for a fairly good walk yesterday, but then the snow came back on as we were returning. Weird weather - periods of spring-like sunshine punctuated (or punctured?) by grey clouds and midwinter-esque flurries of snow. I like snow, but it's not settling yet. We'll see what today brings...

To do:

• Email friend

• Work on writing project

• C25K? (I confess, to Almighty God, and you, my brothers and sisters, that I did not go yesterday, partly due to the weather conditions - see above - and partly because I am a lazy toad. Do I go today, and try to go again over the weekend, thus starting week 2 on Monday as planned? Or do I just start week 1 again on Monday? Again, we'll see what today brings...)

• Tidy office

• Work on writing project

• Walk the dog

• Folk session: I think I've decided not to go this evening. I tried yesterday to practise but I'm just not feeling any desire to play anything. I could go and not play anything, but then people will ask why and that'll be worse than actually playing, given the shy/very-slightly-blue mood I'm in. But I haven't told my wife I'm not going yet, so it's possible she'll strong-arm me into changing my mind, but I kind of hope not

• If I stay in and she goes out to the session, I could do the hoovering. Or I could leave that until Monday too and simply...

• ...have a shave and a bath and an early night before the weekend shifts at the shop

I hope everyone has a good day

[aj]

Day 3

To do:
Work until 12pm
Leave for Manchester - where I am going to meet daughter and son for a concert and spend the night.

Mums looking after doggy, so hopefully we can return to normal routine and I won’t have to come home every lunchtime. Much as I like our walks it is playing havoc with my reading time.

Last night I ran 3+ miles to say I was pleased with myself is an understatement 🥳.

In the last couple of years I have come a long, long way.

The only problem again is ‘heat’ I get so hot, I go out in a t-shirt, very thin reflective overtop and hat and I am sort of comfortable, don’t know how I’m going to get on when it gets warmer/hotter 🥵.

Anyway good day to all, I’m off to boogie .

[Mark.]

Oh wow! Enjoy boogieing in Manchester, AJ! And well done for going on your run - I think you've shamed me into going for mine today!

[DannyD]

Morning.

I'm in the south west. Yesterday was glorious. I took the dog for a walk around a park I didn't know, then senior daughter and I spent the afternoon driving to one of her favourite places, late lunching, then walking the dog along the beach in early spring sunshine. Someone was using a drone for fishing (there's a challenge. If he catches a big fish, presumably the fish would swim away, taking the drone with it?), and there were a couple of surfers. As we returned off the Torpoint ferry, it was much darker in Devon - the reason being north of Cornwall I suppose.

To day I've woken to light rain. Approaching a weekend, so I'm guessing we'll have another wet/stormy weather system. The dog will need a walk, so it'll be up to the park, then back for hot drinks and bacon sandwiches. I'm feeling better for the exercise (over 10,000 steps yesterday). Still don't think I could do C25K. Admiration AJ. I still struggle to WALK 3 Kms.

[DannyD]

Morning

Dreadful weather last evening. Much better at the moment.

To done
Packed.
Dog walked
Dog fed

To do
Strip bed
Breakfast. Daughter offered to cook. I suggested Wetherspoons (2 minute walk). She went off to dress. Suspect she's back in bed.
Drive home. Eek. Not looking forward to that. As I get older I feel less comfortable with driving.
Via various farm shops, which should make the drive more interesting.


Might give breakfast a miss, and get on the road. It's the face the fear (of the drive) and do it anyway. Sooner I start, sooner it's over.

[aj]

After a fun Twenty-four hours. Normal routine resumes.

To do:
Walk dog
Essay
Run
Bed

Hope everyone is OK.

[aj]

To do:

What I should have done yesterday along with..

Work
Doggy
Work

Ugh

to all.

[pickles]

Hi aj, hope your day goes well . Danny, jj, John, action,Rachel.

Done . Walked the dogs . Younger dog is on quite a few medications now , one of them being cortisone . I wonder if it leaves a bitter taste , as she seems to drink a lot and then wants to eat all the time ... ‘hoovering’ the floor more than usual or going outside. Gave her a shower yesterday.

To do : appointment and then on to get daughter .

Hope all ok to doers .

[Mark.]

Glad you had a good weekend, AJ

And you too, D - how did the drive home go?

I wonder if it leaves a bitter taste , as she seems to drink a lot and then wants to eat all the time ... ‘hoovering’ the floor more than usual or going outside.

I hope the meds aren't too unpleasant for Younger Dog, Pickles. You might be right that this explains the extra drinking, eating and 'hoovering'.

Our dog 'hoovers' everything too - and also licks everything. Whenever we visit my (non-dog-owning) parents down south, it always amazes them how much Otter wants to lick their patio

To done:

• 1) A good weekend back at work. It was lovely to see all my day shift chums again for the first time in almost two months(!).
  If I heard "I bet you're glad to be back in the land of the living" once, I must have heard it twenty times. But that was nice

• 2) Went to a comedy/music session in the Big City last night (wife was playing). I really enjoy watching the young comedians trying out their material. They're not always great, but sometimes you can see that they have a lot of potential

• 3) Went into town this morning, just for a few bits and bobs

To do:

• 1) Await new proofreading job

• 2) Could and should do some admin but it's No Obs Monday, so...

• 3) Pootle about

• 4) Walk dog

• 5) Catch up on Doctor Who (season finale)

• 5) Eat, bathe, read, sleep

I hope everyone's day goes well

[Bluebottle]

To do tomorrow:

Tidy bedroom
Tidy hall and porch
Tidy kitchen
Clean litter trays
Have a word with Maria
Get hair cut
Lidl, coffee pods and cat food
Yoga
Metafit
Invite new man round!

Ruby xx

[aj]

Hi Ruby, lots for you to do, and hope the last on your list goes well

Can’t believe two months have gone since you were last on days Jjjj. I have never watched Dr Who, I just don’t understand the attraction, although I do like the idea of Jodie Whittaker in the role, she’s a great actress. Having said that I loved Stranger Things on Netflix. It must hark back to the scary days of the Dalek..

I am going to have a moan now about ‘you know what’ so feel free to move along. The assignment only needs a bibliography and it can go. Last night I ended up re-writing the whole second half, my intention had been to send it Sunday night regardless of whether it was finished or not, but I just couldn’t do it. I have to know that I have at least tried. But let’s put it this way I don’t want to look at The Arabian Nights for a long time. I am feeling a little meh about this degree now, I knew that I had just missed out on a 2:1 but I still wanted to finish well, at the moment it all feels a little anti-climactic, for nothing. I think part of this is knowing that because of this extension I only have two weeks in which to write the next one, and then there are only two ‘big ones’ left before we finish for good, and I wanted to give it my all, but I am incapable of ‘balance’ and instead just become overwhelmed without actually being productive.

Anyway to do:

Work
Doggy - this too is beginning to feel like a chore, waste of petrol, reading time etc, but I know this is all to do with how I feel.
Work
Run - yes this too is a ‘niggly’ have to do, or I’ll be right back to week 1
Send the assignment.

to all.

[Mark.]

Sounds like a good day, Ruby! I hope you have a great evening with your man

AJ It's a shame you're feeling overwhelmed with the work, but also underwhelmed by the coming end of the degree. I hope you'll feel happier once you've completed it. It's still a massive achievement, whatever result you get.

Can’t believe two months have gone since you were last on days Jjjj.

I know! It feels weird to me too. I was only on nights for six weeks, but there was a week's break during them, plus a weekend off at the end.

I have never watched Dr Who, I just don’t understand the attraction, although I do like the idea of Jodie Whittaker in the role, she’s a great actress. Having said that I loved Stranger Things on Netflix. It must hark back to the scary days of the Dalek.

Yes, Jodie Whittaker is very good. I've never seen Stranger Things but I keep hearing about it. Would love to watch it - especially now that I've looked it up and discovered that Winona Ryder is in it!

To done:

• Walked the dog in the sunshine

• Chatted to parents on the phone

• Not a lot else...

To do:

• Start proofreading job

• Dinner

• Football (Liverpool vs. Chelsea on the telly)

[aj]

Finally the assignment went in, I was happy with it and glad that I stuck with it.


I gave myself a good talking to yesterday, took a breather and wrote a ‘to do’ list in my journal. Set days for runs, set days for doing some kind of ‘keeping on top of home stuff’, food prepping on Sunday for the week, set days to spend evenings with Mum, that kind of thing.

So to do today:
Work
Dog walk
Clean house - get on track. To be honest it’s not as bad as I make it out to be
Tea at Mums

From here on in, I am going to be organised.

to everyone John, Rachel, Pickles, I hope you are all OK. to Danny and Jjjj.

[Mark.]

I'm glad you got the assignment finished, AJ, and that you felt happier about it once it was done

I gave myself a good talking to yesterday, took a breather and wrote a ‘to do’ list in my journal. Set days for runs, set days for doing some kind of ‘keeping on top of home stuff’, food prepping on Sunday for the week, set days to spend evenings with Mum, that kind of thing.

Sounds wise - and sounds like something I should try. I've not fallen back into a good routine since finishing on nights; I find it all too easy to postpone everything until 'tomorrow'.

To do:

• Reply to friend (email)

• Reply to other friend (LinkedIn)

• Proofreading job (author has sent lots of corrections)

• It's currently lovely and sunny so take the dog for a long(ish) walk

• More football (Sheffield Wednesday vs. Man City)

to everyone John, Rachel, Pickles, I hope you are all OK. to Danny

And the same from me too!

[Mark.]

I didn't watch the football, in the end. I didn't feel in the mood for it. This worries me. I must be coming down with something

Instead, I watched a programme about the Scottish islands, including North Rona which is so remote it's scary. What an incredible place, though. The thought of the (tiny) church being built there 1,000 years ago is astonishing, given how hard it is to get to (and on to) the island, let alone subsist on it.

Also to done:

• Awoke from a curious (albeit depressing) dream that's useful for the story I'm writing

To do:

• Get up (v. soon as I'm getting desperate to pee)

• Eat

• Proofread

• Work on story (if time/energy)

• Walk dog

• Eat, bathe, read, sleep

I hope everyone's day goes well

[aj]

How’s the story going Jjj. Wonder how Rachel’s getting on with her writing .
My house has been cleaned from top to bottom, I even managed to rearrange the guest room. Pickles, Jjj you’d both be proud

To do:
Work
Doggy
Work
Reading - for the next assignment due in two-weeks - yes, two-weeks I am not going to whinge - I am not going to whinge.
Home
Run
Read/ Notes. Try and stay in laptop mode.

And that’s it, have a good one folks wherever you may be.

[aj]

Jjj do you know the story of St. Kilda and have you read Where the World Ends.

[Mark.]

How’s the story going Jjj.

Slooowly... But that might be a good thing. I need to get it done, though. Have had a few more ideas since I posted, which I've jotted down. Maybe this evening I'll continue with it. Maybe...

Wonder how Rachel’s getting on with her writing

Me too

Pickles, Jjj you’d both be proud

Ha ha! Proud - and jealous! My housework has fallen behind, this week!

Jjj do you know the story of St. Kilda and have you read Where the World Ends.

Yes, to the first question! I've read The Life and Death of St Kilda a few times, and it's fascinating. My wife also has a book that I might read soon about Lady Grange, who ended up banished there for several years. Her husband was a Jacobite and when they divorced (messily) she threatened to send incriminating letters of his to London. To evade charges of treason, he had her kidnapped and then shipped her around various lonely islands for the rest of her life. It's a terrible story - grimly fascinating!

I haven't read Where the World Ends, but having looked it up, I'd like to. Tomorrow's pay day, funnily enough! Without googling the details, I think it's based on an actual event, isn't it? There was a time when the islanders weren't able to return to collect the men and boys from the stac? I think there had been a flu epidemic on the island - something like that? I hope I'm not imagining this! (Although, I suppose, in a way I hope I am!) Have you read it? Is it good?

I hope your day - especially the new reading - goes well

[aj]

That story about Lady Grange sounds good. And I think you summarised WTWE brilliantly although in the book. I think it’s smallpox...might be wrong and yes I have I loved it.

[Mark.]

in the book. I think it’s smallpox...

Ah, that sounds right! Thanks, AJ, I'll put that book on my list of pay day treats