This went down well with the missus!

Chilli salmon on a mound of boiled rice surrounded by egg noodles and stir fried vegetables in a soy and ginger sauce

The air outside is thick with the smell of tar and vehicle emissions.

Not doing my cough any good.

It’s so cold this morning, when I got back from dropping the kids at school I had to do the washing up just to warm my hands up.

Yesterday’s Mac* ‘n’ Cheese went down well with me and big kid. It’s one of his favourites.

*Penne

A casserole dish filled with creamy baked macaroni and cheese.A baked casserole topped with melted cheese in a rectangular dish.A plate of cheesy penne pasta is garnished with parsley.A handwritten recipe for mac 'n' cheese includes steps for cooking macaroni, making a cheese sauce, and baking it.

Wife is making plans for my imminent demise.

DPD FFS!

DPD notified me that their driver had delivered my parcel. “Parcel received by Rhanderg”.

That’s obviously not me, and neither did I have my parcel.

I saw the DPD van outside my neighbour’s block opposite, so figured he must have delivered there by mistake. But, no, my neighbour didn’t have it (and he’s not called Rhanderg either).

I opened a chat on the DPD app. The proof of delivery photo was taken at my neighbour’s door. I was assured the driver would come back later, retrieve my parcel and deliver it to me. But I’d already checked with my neighbour and they didn’t have it.

Two minutes later, the driver turns up with my parcel. He said he dropped his phone in the mud (and accidentally took a photo of him not delivering it to my neighbour’s flat?).

WFH Saved My Life

I’ve worked from home since the end of February 2020. I transferred all my work and systems online to do so, and while I’m still part-time, in practice I’m now available 24/7 for every conceivable administrative emergency (“Hi David. Please order me some large coloured post-it notes and have them delivered to my home tomorrow” or “Hi David. Please bring £200 in cash to my house this morning so I can pay for my lunch meeting today.").

I won’t pretend I’ve always been highly productive, in the office or at home. But I always get everything done that needs to be done, and I’m super-flexible and adaptable. I’ve been asked to do - and done - huge, complex projects at short notice and with short deadlines that are outside of my remit and frankly beyond my skill set, but I’ve done them, learned how to do it on the spot or got help.

I do go into the office for occasional in-person meetings and social gatherings (“xmas lunch” looms) when necessary, and indeed spent a solid three hours working last Thursday with a masked colleague (she had a fever) in a freezing cold office. I’d just recovered from a bad reaction to the covid vaccine. Next day was a write-off. I was exhausted and worried about whether the work we did was really good enough. The day after and since I’ve had a terrible cough and cold, shortness of breath, wheezing. (Since my COPD diagnosis, every rasping breath I take is assessed and rediagnosed by my non-medic wife as requiring medical attention.)

My workplace is bad for my health. Pre-covid I had multiple chest infections that kept me away from work and reduced my productivity to zero for weeks at a time. Since I worked from home, and catching covid aside, I’ve had zero time where I’ve been unable to go to the office for essential work that can only be done there. Even when I’ve had coughs and colds, I’ve felt well enough to do the work that needed to be done. Somehow (until now with this new cough) I don’t seem to get so ill or feel so bad when I’m at home.

Working from home has given me the time and space to transform how I work for the better. I’m better organised, more thoughtful, less rushed and distracted. I can honestly say that I’m now the most productive I’ve ever been thanks to a more comfortable, relaxed and focussed personal work space.

And, yes, being part-time, and flexible, I can take a nap if I need one.

Why should people work at home? youtu.be/bQN_Fb03RfE?si=CZoQag The ‘return to work’ now being enforced by many organisations makes no sense for many people, or the planet. It really is time that we have some enlightened managers who did what is best for people and the world, and not what they see as being best for them.

I thought I’d done great with these pizzas, but big kid ate only three slices (he can usually eat all eight) and spat out his salami, little kid said he doesn’t like the sauce (it’s out of a tin, the same he usually eats), and the missus said hers was burnt and inedible (although she still ate it).

photo collage of four different homemade pizzas

Another Door Closes

Our twenty year old fridge door failed. It refused to stay closed anymore. Hinges had gone.

After a couple of weeks battling with adhesive magnetic door locks designed for something else, I did the most manly thing I could think of. I called an engineer.

The NEFF man arrived and did the job in a matter of minutes for £172.

It’s been an expensive couple of months fixing doors, old and new.

I can’t opt-out of LinkedIn’s new AI data gathering exercise, and neither can I delete my account, because I can’t login (got a new phone, 2fa linked to old phone, fucked).

Hopefully their AI will be richer and more fully rounded as a result of my content.

Screenshot of my old LinkedIn profile: "Jan 2007 - Sep 2011 4 yrs 9 mos Chief cook and bottle washer. Service Manager Richmond Fellowship&10;Aug 2005 - Dec 2006 1 yr 5 mos Not in Richmond. Not a fellowship. Manager/Project Co-ordinator/Senior Project Worker Hillingdon Mind May 1999 - Dec 2004 5 yrs 8 mos Co-creator and designer of unique and beautiful triangular stained glass lamps, Spitalfields Market stallholder, white van man (furniture removals), careers advisor and mental health trainer. Social Care Co-ordinator HICA Care Homes&10;Aug 1997 - Apr 1999 1 yr 9 mos Design and implementation of a comprehensive therapeutic activities programme for frail elderly people with physical, sensory and memory impairments. All singing, all dancing, quizmaster, bingo caller, party planner, minibus driver, cake maker, counsellor, advocate and befriender of the infirm and the incontinent. Friday afternoons in the pub.Screenshot of my old LinkedIn profile: "The University of Bolton 1988-1991&10;Activities and societies: Researched numerous psychoactive substances, and had an unbelievable time. Central Connecticut State University 1989 -1990&10;Activities and societies: Mountain climbing, extreme weather survival, several road trips, Spring Break in the Florida Keys. Big breakfasts, bigger calzones. Free pizza at Elmer's. left my heart in San Francisco.&10;Caistor Grammar School&10;1979 - 1985 Activities and societies: At primary school was a free-scoring centre forward. In my first year at big school I started at inside right and scored a goal in my first game. I produced a graphical display (pen and paper) of the move and started a scrapbook to record future highlights. My next goal came four years later, by which time I had moved back into the midfield and defence. Still, it was a scorcher from 30 yards. Worth waiting for once scored two own goals in the first half of a game. One was a delicate chip into the far top corner of the goal from the edge of my own area giving my keeper no chance. The second was a diving header. I was substituted at half time and my replacement scored an own goal of his own with his first touch, a splendid 35 yard strike out of nowhere. As captain of the team I once substituted myself so that I didn't get beaten up afterwards. The team's manager once asked me if our best player, who was being disciplined for fighting, should play in the cup semi-final against far and away the best team in Lincolnshire. said, you want us to have any chance of winning, then yes!' He didn't play. And so on."