Wilko's Diary

Yes, that's right, Devonian has arrived.

I managed to see him while he was sat at reception this morning, where he exclaimed 'Let me guess, it's going to be a day of boring inductions isn't it?'.

Well, yes, you're both right and wrong. Boring inductions, yes, but not the whole day, the whole week! Zzzzzzzz

Meanwhile, I managed a 10.5 hour (8-5.30pm) working day without a lunch break, such are the pressures of my work. They'll learn when I have so much time off sick due to stress.

Next task is to convince Devonian to come to the Christmas ball... I've managed so far with Bosley it seems...

In other news, I'm still very busy with music at the moment too. Something possibly to do with the influence of the fantastic pianist maybe? Whatever the cause, it's preventing the job stress. The piano and saxophone are both coming on nicely.

Meanwhile the fantastic pianist, not content with the guitar, flue, piano, saxophone and snake charmer-whatsit has decided that she wishes to learn the violin.

Oh no! Devonian is due in the office next week. I wonder if we can find him a place to sit. Hmmm, it's a little cramped already (think PhD offices) so perhaps he will have to sit on the floor!

The next thing to wonder about is what exactly will Devonian do? It may seem a sensible question, but no-one seems to actually know the answer, apart from vague musings. Still, I suppose the first week will be training courses etc etc. The suggestion we had so far is that Devonian can make the tea! That's delegation for you!

Meanwhile, the Fantastic Pianist and I are compiling lists of where we would like to go on holiday. She seems to love markets, people (inc snake charmers, traders, bartering etc), while I want to go and take photos of things, especially great scenery. We are busy reading lots of rough guides and lonely planet books (the Fantastic Pianist has a library of them it seems), plus the classics such as 1000 places to see before you die etc. I have also enjoyed Stephen Fry's book about his travels around America. It's good how he describes each state in turn and it's great to know about the different histories and cultures they have.

My list already includes a lot of Europe, the Mediterranean, Canada, the USA, New Zealand (maybe we should visit Quackers?).

I have also managed to buy some more kit for my camera. I've already got a filter kit, but have a few more filters on the way. For those who don't know cameras, the filters (particularly neutral density graduated filters (a.k.a. ND Grads)) are rather useful at getting the exposures right so you can view both land and sky without one being too dark and the other being too light. However, they may take some time to appear given that there is a postal strike on at the moment. I also have a few more bits coming too, such as useful cables.

My best toy so far has been my polarising filter, which is so useful at getting the clouds in the sky looking dramatic.

Oh well, once the travel insurance is sorted, I'll get out and get photographing!

Not that much has happened recently. In fact, I've been very busy. Some bloke from the office has nagged me to update my blog. (Actually to be honest, it was Captain Sverdrup who lives in a gamekeeper-run mansion north of Exeter). Anyway he moaned at me this evening that I haven't updated it for ages, so to please my fans, I'm putting this right.

Well, Captain Sverdrup and the Fantastic Pianist got a year older. The Fantastic pianist seemed to really like all the presents I bought her, which was good. The tea and chocolates seem to be disappearing fast.

Also, I managed to win a Saxophone and Clarinet taster lesson at a recent auction. So, the Fantastic Pianist got a phone call asking if I could borrow her sax. She rarely plays it, sticking more to the flute, guitar and of course the piano. In fact, judging by the dust on top of the saxophone case, I think her snake-charming flute (yes, she has one, and it makes a real old racket!) sees more use than the saxophone.

Anyway, so managing to transport the sax back to my place, I have been able to get a few notes (plus a lot of squeaks) out of the instrument (don't laugh). It is fun to play, but I hope the neighbours don't mind that much!

I had my first taste of Venison meat when I was asked out to some of the fantastic pianist's friends place for dinner. I quite enjoyed the meat (it seems to have little fat on it, but be rather chewy in places, but pleasant at least). I would recommend it to all non-vegetarians and non-vegans.

In other news, the fantastic pianist is wanting to go abroad with me, which is good news. The bad news is the travel insurance. Those who remember the horrors of what happened in Wisconsin, USA in 2006 may be aware of the situation more, but basically it seems like either I get a cheap policy (which most people get, costs from about £10 upwards) and risk that if the same thing that happened in 2006 happens again, I'm not covered for it. However, bearing in mind that my travel insurance bill in 2006 was aroun $6000, this may not be a good idea. So, the alternative would be to have a travel insurance to cover all conditions. However, as far as I can work out, this may be 10-50 times the cost (i.e. hundreds of pounds), which kicks a big dent into the holiday budget.

So, for now, I've decided to seek advice (I know an travel insurance broker who's a family friend and won't charge for advice). However, he's in Florida at the moment, so we've decided to miss this holiday for now (the Fantastic pianist will just go with some of her friends), but try and sort it out for the future.

A few weeks ago, I had the honour of meeting the fantastic pianist's parents and grandparents. They are all very nice, especially the grandparents. However, it's often difficult to know what to say to these people. Err, hello, I think your daughter/grandaughter's really attractive (or replace other such words for attractive there) doesn't exactly go down a treat!

Relieved, I seemed to get on OK, not like someone else I know who spilt his beer on his girlfriend's parents the first time they met!

But anyway, all went well for me, so I'm relieved about that.

Then a few days later, we went out for my birthday. It was a really nice meal and the wine was lovely too. I got some really nice presents, which was great. I think it probably was one of the best birthdays I've had for ages. Sweet!

Just a note to say that yesterday was national badger day (http://www.badger.org.uk/Content/MoreInfo.asp?mid=340). I did text BQ+CG to remind him and was a little worried that he had forgotten.

However, a post on his facebook status later in the day relieved me that he still cares about badgers.

On top of all the other work, I've had two office-trips to Squirtyland over the month of September. The first was in clear conditions towards the beginning of the month and the second was in cloudier conditions later that month.

All in all, these trips put an additional strain on me as the driving element is as follows:

Day 1, leave Exeter 9am, drive up to Shropshire, arrive about 12.30-1.00ish after a break to change drivers. Have a short afternoon break, resuming driving around 5pm and working through to 10-11pm, with a break.

Day 2, start at 5am (eek), do more driving until about 9am, have breakfast, then head back to Exeter, arriving mid-afternoon (depending on traffic). Go home and collapse!

Then on top of that, there has been a bit of an issue in the office. We originally had 4 drivers, 2 of which have now decided that they don't want to go that much, which means that the other 2 (including me) have to be the ones always going. Which I've put my foot down and refused to comply with (on the grounds I have lots to do still).

Having said that, the trips themselves can be exciting and a chance to do some photography. It's also a good chance to get out of the office too. But given I have targets to meet and I want to take things easy, I have decided that it will be a little bit of time before I'm back there...

Just to let you know what life can be like, here's a snapshot of what I do on a typical week (based on the last few weeks)

Monday: Get up, go to work, gym session at lunch, more work, swimming or other stuff after work, go to bed.

Tuesday: Get up, go to work, go for a run at lunch, more work, come home, eat, go out, get in, go to bed.

Wednesday: Get up, go to work, spend lunch on a gym course or go to the gym, do more work, head out to running club, come home, shower, go to bed.

Thursday: Get up, go to work, have a free lunch break, do more work, come home, rest! Possibly go out otherwise.

Friday: Get up, go to work, go for a run, do more work, go home and rest.

Weekend: Whatever needs doing and whatever I have time for!

When you consider that there are a lot of other bits to do, such as go shopping, do other hobbies (photography, music, walking, other outdoor stuff, cycling). Plus I do generally try and get to see the fantastic pianist as often as I can do. It's very easy to get stressed and feel overwhelmed.

Oh well, perhaps I'd better try taking it easy from now onwards!

So, where next with swimming?

I can swim better than I could, so that's good news. At the end of the course, the instructor said that if I wanted to re-enrol for the group lessons, it would mean having to go back to the beginners group again (the one I am currently in). There was only one girl (who was very good compared to the rest of us), who was allowed to move up to the 'intermediate' course.

At the moment, my life can feel like it's on a treadmill. Get up, go to work, do something at lunchtime, do more work, go home, eat, go out for something in the evening, go to bed... and so the cycle continues. I'll touch on this more later.

So, as far as swimming is concerned, I am rather glad that it's over as it means one less committment and more time for me to rest outside of work. However, this doesn't mean I'm giving up. I'm going to continue going swimming when I can, especially with the fantastic pianist who is often up for going for a swim.

I think the best thing for me is to keep regular practice, but at a time when its suitable for me. That way I don't feel pressurised to do what everyone else is doing, just what I need to improve on.

Finally, there is the option of individual lessons, but at around £15 per hour, they can get expensive, especially if you require 20 or more lessons. So, I'm going to continue developing my skills (I can now actually swim a lot better anyway) and see how I get on from there.

I must admit, I fully enjoyed the remaining swimming lessons on the course. Although this message is titled 9-12, I'm afraid I missed out on lesson 10 as it was the Bank Holiday monday!

The remaining lessons were good fun as I managed to continue to improve. In my opinion, the best lessons were those where there were only a few of us around and hence we got more individual attention. In these lessons, we were able to develop more of the swimming technique rather than just do the same exercises, some of which I saw little point (e.g. spending half the lesson diving in at the deep end when we all could do that without any problems).

In the final few lessons, only a handful of people turned up; some from the original group had dropped out as early as week 2- a bit much when you consider you've paid for several weeks.

But all in all, it was a very good course. At the end of it, I can swim much better but can't fully do everything that I want to be able to do. Hence, more practice is required for now.