iain-ecgunge said: London was a bit strange, in terms of people waling around, 14:30 had numbers of pedestrians more likely to be seen at 05:00...
a long distant classmate has been living near London for roughly 2 decades (iirc) and on a recent visit to London for immigration business mentioned pretty much the same as you did... streets normally overcrowded (with tourists usually, he said) drastically uncrowded compared to pre-covid conditions!
You probably don't want to hear how my life has been surprisingly similar before and after covid...
Lets start with the good bits from this week, there's 2 more scenes underway. I had a pretty good week on the bike too covering 350km, I guess incompetent project people help a little there...
And the useless project types at work seem to be reversing... So in addition to having a just about doable load of work to get done, I've now had the "what if" pile added to it to cover both bases... These project folks are the sort you'd heck with multiple times before organising the food for a party and then once everything was cooking would then say they can't make it... I did say on Friday that I was one email away from saying I'm taking a week off and then the 117 lieu days I'm owed... Still, I am getting paid for some of the additional hours, so that's handy on the custom scenes funding front! Trouble is, when you start working 7 days a week you soon reach a stage where the brain just grinds to a halt (when Victorian factories increased the rest tie for workers productivity went up)
Where to start this week, well I guess getting my jab was a good thing, I got the pfizer one and ended up rather lethargic for the days after - I guess that's a sign I'm in decent health as some folk end up bed ridden after theirs. Have to say this morning I don't feel in decent health having twinged my back during the strenuous activity of... taking off a boot... Managed a decent week on the bike as well, albeit a bit slowly the last few days, the day after the jab i literally ground to a halt on zwift, bit strange but oh well. I haven't been out much during the day over the last year, I haven't needed to and avoiding people is easier when there's few of them around, so walking down to et my jab was a sensory experience, been ages since I've had the volume that high and vehicle exhausts aren't going to win pong of the year!
On the work front the project have postponed their entire programme, which is more than a little frustrating as that's the second time now... This lot appear to have competency levels that even Chris Grayling cannot beat... All it means is I have even more to do... Some relatives are planning a visit in September and I've told them just to bypass me as i don't have any confidence in having time off at any point...
If you thought the work thing was bad last week... How about 20 weeks' worth of work (roughly, might be more...) landing on you with 11 weeks to do it in... Only good thing is I am getting paid for some of the overtime, it'll be more than a week's worth each month so that's useful. Not that I've any time or energy to use it...
Good things of the week, the first NC in over a year has been shot, says a lot that I was too tired to reply to Leia on Friday and was asleep before Al sent the link over (and I think it was the earliest the link has ever been sent to me!) The scene was great and we'll resume the loser stays on approach. In addition, it's inspired a second spin off edition, which I think will have some fans. There's 2 other scenes in production.
Another week and it included pay day, which was nice as not only was there the expected overtime, but a bonus too! Certainly helped on the morale front and won't do any harm on the customs front either! Oh and the steam hauled charter train trip I was booked on for April now has a date in November, so that's handy as I'll be on holiday by then...
The interesting development this week is the return of events affecting work, these things tend to be planned years, or at least months in advance so we have a rough guidance on numbers. t bodes well when in 6 weeks, there's an event taking over a venue that we're the sole transport provider for and they don't know how many people they'll be allowed... Add in another event that appears to have decided to unvirtual their autumn date - only gives us around half a million journeys over two days so nothing to worry about... The uncertainty isn't great when your year is pretty much full already...
Woo another week done (I'm rapidly running out of weeks in my 30s...) The useless project people are still useless, I'm virtually at a stand at work. So on one side that might actually mean some days off (I've actually had the whole weekend of not working) but that just means when they finally confirm things I'll have less time to do it in... The work step/cycle/swim challenge doohickey is back, if you remember back to last year, I won it. Indeed I had nearly double the score of the next person. The organiser has put himself in a team with me... and the chap who came second. Amazingly, he seemed surprised at my first few days' figures, I'm not sure how soon the first leaderboard will come out, but I suspect I'll be at the top - it weighs cycling a bit heavily and as my endurance has developed I can knock out 60km on Zwift in a couple of hours while watching TV. I've clocked up 430km in the past week and managed a couple of good walks this weekend as well.
What else is going on, well more moans about my van... I emptied a fair bit from it, some going straight to the bin, but a good mount has gone for reuse - admittedly I'm not sure the charity shops will go for the mild fetishwear, but it might find appeal with folks looking for a cheap thing to wear on a night out and there's some nice shoes form the GM days (typically a bag full of footwear resulted in 3 odd shoes, I'm assuming their partners are still in the van...)
Two more custom scenes are progressing, I have another three ready to go - I guess I should decide if we're having a daft festive challenge in the Christmas NC this year.
Had a really up and down week, bit of a milestone birthday tomorrow... there was a film on the telly the other night that may well have been about me (I didn't watch) ... I'd love to say there are lots of plans... but there aren't, I've not even got the day off... On the work front the useless clots are if anything getting worse, i actually reached a point where I couldn't get on with anything, of course even in that situation I don't get days off, so over four days I clocked up a day of work and didn't really switch off on the others...
Less time working has at least meant more exercising, it's been nice to get out for long walks in the early hours when it's cooler and I've clocked up 503km on zwift in the last seven days. Funnily enough, I'm leading the work exercise thingummy, I say leading, the chap doing the admin put out the first leaderboard during the week and resorted to using everyone's average daily score as it makes my lead look a bit less...
My two upcoming scenes now have shoot dates so they'll be coming soon, there's possibly a first in one of them and the other almost certainly involves chaos!
So my 40th passed without much in the way of incidents, would have preferred not to be working though and most of the presents are "do something when you can..." I guess it would be a bit evil to do a round of NC where all the answers are 40...
On the van front, another pile of shoes (those odd three all now reunited with their mates) and clothes gone for reuse/recycling and I even found my GYOB t-shirt. I guess at some point I'll start to make use of the supplies mountain...
Not so good a week on the exercise front, but only 373km on Zwift is hardly bad going! Didn't get out for many walks... I'm still well in the lead of the work challenge thingy.
Scene shooting in the coming week and there was a scene uploaded by the producers in the last week that gives a bit of a clue (coincidental - we're never that organised!) to the theme.
Been an interesting week at work with folks leaping to wild conclusions with the knowledge they don't have, my boss had good fun in a meeting putting them right!
Operation van has seen significant progress, it is now empty and even had a clean - quick before and after photo attached (those doors were the worst bit...) After it's bath, lots of photos taken so I'll hopefully get it sorted for collection with a vehicle recycler in the next few days.
Good week on the bike, 487km, with a lot of climbing involved... The Porn Pedallers had a meet up on Friday which confused Strava somewhat - see the screenshot. Funnily enough, I'm well in the lead on the work challenge. My bike must have heard the figures and had a strop, so I'm currently stuck in the small chainring at the front, handily my badge hunting on Zwift involves most of the mad climbing routes so that's helpful, slow though...
The custom scene that should have been shot last week was postponed due to illness, but is pencilled in for this week, giving hopefully two scenes in two days assuming everyone's feeling better.
Strava can do some odd things, mine has days when the GPS goes mad and adds extra loops and swerves to a straight run, then records it as a 3.40 mile or something.
So another week ticked off... Van still here, I did fill in a vehicle recycler's contact us form and put in lots of detail, links to photos and the like so no doubt their helpful IT blocked all that cos it might have been useful, guess I'll have to do stuff over the phone...
Not been a great week for exercise, 390km on the bike, but haven't been out much... Got caught in a rather torrential downpour yesterday - the joys of discovering ankle deep puddles where puddles don't normally form...
Two great scenes shot, really pleased with both, will say more when they go live. I think I have the rest of the year's releases all planned now - which might give an idea of the lead time to release there appears to be.
Good to know one aspect of live is organised, work is still frustrating... I'm looking forward to what happens in November when I take my full leave allowance...
Bit of a busy weekend, lots on the bike to end with 575km for the week.
Had a quote to scrap the van so that'll cover a custom...
...and the oven went phhuutt on Saturday so "get the kitchen done" might be getting brought forward somewhat... Now having the joys of trying to make any sense out of any business on this area as they don't seem to have any intention of making it simple so, for example you can tell before you waste someone's time if you'll be wasting their time...
Well operation van is complete, Trents collected it earlier so that should fund a custom.
Had a hard week last week, the ongoing fatigue from work is building, I managed one good sleep all week... It's pretty clear that i need a bit of time away from work, it's just the opportunity to do that isn't going to arrive until November... at best...
I'm going to put up with the lack of an oven for now, there's enough stress going on without adding to it.
291km on the bike. Not been getting ot enough.
It would be nice to feel less stressed over everything, but I doubt that will happen, folks expect 5 weeks of work to be churned out in 2. Folks expecting a project that I said needed 3 months to be covered in 1 and they want weekly updates on something that is unquantifiable and is alien to them. So whatever you do tell them, they won't understand and that just seems to lead to people leaping to wild conclusions based on the knowledge they don't have... All fun and games.....
Well operation van was completed on Monday... and some git was parked in my space yesterday...
Work is still flat out, the project of the incompetent have plumbed new depths, cancelling some work at the last minute on Thursday, then on Friday asking if they could have it after all... I'm being taken off the day job next month to get on with a project that's been on hold for over a year. Thing is, next month is when I would be doing the work for some high-demand events... So I've now got to get something ese done before the end of the month and if you're taking part in the London Marathon, travel early for registration...
Got out for a few walks this week, increased working hours meant less time on the bike though. Trying not to do too many hours working as it really drains me, as I pointed out to my boss, it's almost like i need a holiday after 7 months of solid wok... Not convinced I'm going to get all of my leave at the end of the year either...
Feels like a novelty today, I'm actually on a rest day... Been quite nice having a few days of not working on stuff for Project incompetence to spoil and actually doing something that will hit them at some point. indeed, it might dawn on people just how much the business has been compromised through one overly ambitious lot taking up so much of my time...
I'm supposed to devote the whole month to testing some new software. To give some idea of what I'm dealing with, I was chased for a progress update on the work I'm doing in August in the middle of July... I suspect there'll be lots of "so how is it going?" pestering to come...
Oh well, at least the last week hasn't been too stressful, hugely busy but at least i haven't ended it mentally exhausted. Managed to get out for quick walks most days (well nights...) and kept up with Tokyo too.
A week of huge frustration at work, my keyboard has lots one of its little leggy things... That's not the ause by the way, just the result of frustrated keyboard mashing... I've been testing some software, nearly a decade ago I was involved in the initial stages, then the powers-that-be didn't want to spend, so it was developed around others.. Now it reaches a stage where they want to bring it in for us, so it needs approval and... well, I'd already concluded it wasn't suitable on day one. I'm supposed to spend a month on this... It's hard to communicate to an audience that hasn't a clue on the intricacies of things and currently there aren't clear things that can be flagged as needing improvement in this way or that. Probably the worst thing is the opportunity cost, while I'm messing around with this, I'm not doing proper work which ultiately creates huge issues later for others...
I'm writing this with an Olympic review show on the telly, in a way I'm an Olympian, my current job was created ahead of the 2012 Olympics, and the end result was operational perfection - passenger numbers up 25% and 99.9% performance. IT's always amusing when I hear folks from other companies trotting out how chuffed they were to hit 90% and they had fewer passengers as folks stayed how to watch on TV! Anyway, the thing is having done the work to get to those levels, I've kept the standard up (this has led to us missing out on some awards because folks who should know better think it's the computer wot did it) But the trouble with sustained success is exceptional performances become seen as the norm. There's now people who came in after the Olympics, who don't understand the progression and just think it's easy/ The lack of understanding also gives an almost flippancy to the history.
332km on the bike, not enough time walking as I'd like...
Still looking unlikely to have a day's leave before November, still not convinced I'll get any then... Not seen the family since Christmas 2019, not seen any friends since March 2020... It's probably a good job they vary the supermarket delivery driver really as that's about the only real interaction I have each week...
iain-ecgunge said: Had a hard week last week, the ongoing fatigue from work is building, I managed one good sleep all week... It's pretty clear that i need a bit of time away from work, it's just the opportunity to do that isn't going to arrive until November... at best...
I started seeing a chiropractor in july due to a back injury. My dad tried it 20 years ago and had a REALLY bad experience, and so, i also chose to avoid them until last month!
Anywho, my point is - i was given these little foam cylinders (@30cm long, diameter of 5cm & 7cm) the small one goes under my lower back, the thicker one goes under my neck. I actually fall asleep using these! I consider sleep quality to be a large part of quality of life... are you also an energy drink user?
I only use energy drinks when I'm doing something daft that requires huge amounts of energy, like yesterday when I did110km on the bike...
Project frustration and project incompetence both continuing... If Incompetence were building a house, they'd have the roofer on site before the walls were started...
Custom wise, one is booked to shoot in a couple of weeks and work is taking place on the Christmas NC which i think will be next to shoot! (and folks thought November was early to shoot for Christmas!)
Managed a few walks this week and 355km on the bike. I'm on course to clock up more than 5,000km in the work 100 day challenge thingy. the last leaderboard had my daily average at 41000 with 2nd on 16 so I think I'm pretty secure in the top spot!
BlueMeanie said: Vid chat, vid chat, vid chat. Skype, WhatsApp, Zoom and Facebook have allowed me to keep in contact with friends. I've had deeper conversations with some of my pub friends than I ever did in the pub.
Be creative. If you write, paint, do music do them. If you don't? Start.
I've been putting my musical skills to the test and done some video editing.
Recreate normality. I enjoy karaoke, so I've been getting people to send in their vids and smashing them together like the end of the night singalongs we do. Every Tuesday I have a coffee with my mum. Now I just have a coffee over Skype. And ive shared a vid chat with a drinking buddy where we both had a tinny.
That's really cool. As mucj as I envy you, I am also happy you have found a calling and friends to enjoy it with.
Project incompetence rumbles on, was invited into what they laughably call a 12 month lookahead where they talk about stuff they hadn't yet organised for next week... Rather difficult when you work on stuff in the future and the future depends on things that should have been sorted out weeks ago and haven't been... I have requested a crystal ball...
Still not getting outside much, only a couple of walks this week... 282km on the bike. I'm on course to top 5000km in the work 100 day exercise challenge thingy.
Great custom delivered from the Mostwam team, don't want to say much until it goes live, but I'm happy with it. I can reveal that there will be roughly a scene of mine going up every month for the rest of the year.
Been really down this week, slept badly again and barely left the flat... The increase in post-pub folks in the early hours isn't helping. I've a hospital check up tomorrow, so another trip into London, only the fourth time I'll have been out during the day, this year...
Project incompetence continues to be useless, folks who cannot understand the concept of deadlines are infuriating...
Monday's check up went fine, bit strange going into London, the touristy bits were pretty much at normal levels of people, whereas the more worker areas were rather deserted. The hospital experience was quite pleasant, to reduce the crowding they'd extended the clinic times, so rather than have 30-odd people all there at 13:00, I had a 15:00 slot and it was noticeably quieter, but also from arrival to exit was much quicker. What did surprise me was that there are people who seem to go out of their way to find things to moan about... I guess they are the people that do believe what they read in the propaganda rags... in other news, I just opened a new hospital (tube of germoline...) I dread to think how much it costs to train all the people I saw on Monday, never mind the equipment they use...
Work rumbles on, project incompetence have been quiet this week... I'm finding it more draining each week... Still, 9 weeks until I'll have to be on holiday...
The work exercise challenge thingy has ended, I won by miles, this week's been rather rubbish, just 185km and a third of that was this morning. Aside from Monday, I've barely left the flat again...
Woo, made it to the middle of September... For once I managed a week at work where I nearly worked what I'm supposed to time wise, still not confident that I'll be on holiday in two months time but we'll see...
Booked train tickets to go home for Christmas - won't have seen anyone for two years by then. Bit concerned how I'll get on after so long essentially avoiding people, hoping to get a quick break in in November to try to help that side of things. Treated myself to the sleeper on the run south to hopefully avoid the busier times.
I was supposed to have been doing something yesterday but that rather fell flat earlier in the week, but has been rearranged - might even manage to see a new photo take the place of my now-dead van on this thread...
Made it out for walks the last two mornings, 252km on the bike this week - did a bit of mechanicking too, so now have the big chainring back in use, feeling it as it's been a month or so of spinning on the little ring and ticking off all the routes on zwift as getting up mountains is easier...)
Scene wise, I know some of mine are coming soon, I'll do some waffle in the threads when they go up. Need to do a little bit more on the Christmas NC - all the silly things such as competitive clothes ordering!
Some folk will tell you things happen in threes. This week I have:
Gone in to the office for the first time in 18 months. Had a custom scene go on sale for getting on for the same amount and, hosted someone for a gunge session for the fist time in ages.
So it's certainly been a different week.
I'm still not leaving the flat much, not sleeping well and not much exercise isn't great... Got about a month of working time left this year too and still quite a lot to do... Not entirely sure how a month and half with no work will go...
One other thing I managed to do last weekend was hurt my back... I've always thought I'm not normal and this backache proves it, none of this lying down being good, lying down is what hurts! It is getting better, I've nearly got back to normal levels of sleep,
I'm actually taking a day off at the end of the week as some relatives are coming down!
My desk chair, a folding metal one, is now quite heavily dented and twisted to the extent it wobbles... Replacement ordered...
After 14 months of working extended hours to the extent of illegality on occasion (an not slightly) to deliver work, postponing leave to fit around work and constantly having things dumped on me, I've rather snapped. I have accrued 80 days of unpaid work over 14 months. All of it is work on top of the core business and as a result my employers can off-charge all of it, with a mark up. The fact they haven't sums up just how taken for granted I am. It isn't a small amount of money. We're not talking a couple of customs here, well not unless I go for folk off the telly and even then there'd be change! On Friday, one lot who had been told more than six months ago that there would be a long period of time at the start of next year where no work could take place, put in a series of requests for that period. I was more than a little bit annoyed by this, things like not seeing my parents for two years were mentioned. On the same afternoon, in a Teams meeting that kept kicking me out (Maybe iphones have some intelligence after all) some clots who seemingly can't be bothered to read the two huge documents I compiled testing their substandard product want me to demo everything it does badly. That will be tricky as they insist the computer involved is not connected to the internet for security reasons to ensure there isn't a chance of critical machines being infected... Besides, it took me two weeks to do the work... It seems my value will only be recognised when the trains stop running. That looks likely to be early January. Well, I've 5 days of leave to book for this year that I was going to carry over, so they can go onto the 24 I already have leading up to the end of the year so I have 9 working days remaining. If they'd like me to deliver another miracle for Christmas they can pay up for the outstanding overtime and all of the overtime going forward.
I've been trying to get out for walks, managed every day this week, all in the early hours, when it is quiet. Waiting for my Kew membership card to arrive then I can go there and enjoy peaceful walks during the day.
I have a few scenes waiting to go up and a couple closing in on shoot dates, one of them has had quite a few substitutions, but we'll cover all of that when it goes up!
I'm still not sleeping very long, but don't fee exhausted, Have taken to getting up when I wake, doing an hour or two's work, then out for a walk around 3. Only good thing about this time of year with my current body clock is that it gets dark at bedtime