15 April 2011 – disaster ridden twenty one miles

Woodmill

I set off quite early this morning planning to walk twenty miles but things didn’t turn out quite how I expected. On the way to the river I dropped into Tesco Express to pcik up a bottle of water (yet again I’d left my water bottle in the kitchen Doh!). Tucking it into my bum bag I walked down to the river. About half way along the first straight I thought I’d open the water. Got it out of the bum bag, fumbled and dropped it, only to watch it roll down the steep slope and into the river! Felt a bit bad about littering but there was nothing I could do short of having a quick swim with the swans.

21 January 2011 – walking with swans

I set off nice and early this morning just after it got light. It was frosty and freezing so I wrapped up warm in my parka and long eared hat. My breath came out in white clouds as I walked. 

There weren’t many people around when I reached the park but the swans were there all puffed up looking very cold. There were a couple who kept rising up out of the water and spreading their wings wide. I wondered if they were males enacting some kind of courtship display, either that or they were having a good stretch.

8 October 2010 – the Winchester path

Under the motorway bridge

Despite everything I said I spent far too long checking out the new site on Wednesday night and ended up going to bed late. This made me feel all lethargic on Thursday. I’m not the only one feeling bewildered by it all. Mel C was moaning about wasting too much time looking at all the posts on the other boards. It could seriously cut into your exercise time. To counter this Mel C has started a challenge off to keep us motivated until Christmas. It’s called the North Pole dash and you earn points for ever fifteen minutes of exercise you do. Apparently there prize is a virtual box of fuzzy felts. She’s as mad as a box of frogs that one.

5 January 2010 – trapped in a blizzard

I struggled across the road

Global warming, what global warming? The snow started to fall at some point this afternoon. When you’re talking on the phone and staring at a succession of screens you tend to block out what’s going on around you so no one really noticed until it was quite a blizzard. By six o’clock we couldn’t actually see out at all. The outside world was a wall of white, as if someone had sneaked up a ladder and covered all the windows with paper. Then Karen Sidebottom, the CCM, walked round all the teams and told us to log off and go home while we could still get out of the building. The call centre was closing.

8 November 2009 – prague would be better if it didn’t have so many cobbles

Tančící dům, the Dancing House

The plan for this morning was the river, the famous bridge and, maybe, the castle. We set off into the cold and cobbles again but this time walking in the opposite direction towards the water. The nearer we got to the river the colder it seemed to get and I pulled my hat down and my scarf up so all you could see of me was a pair of eyes peering out and puffs of white breath.

7 November 2009 – Wenceslas Square and getting ripped off

Wenceslas square

Saturday 7 November

The bed situation was a bit of a pain. Yes it was very comfortable but Commando’s habit of sleeping nearest the door (I think it’s some kind of primeval protecting the cave thing) meant I had to more or less climb over him when I wanted the loo in the middle of the night. Breakfast was down the grandly winding stairs in a basement dining room. Like all the rooms it was long and thin but with a low arched ceiling. The furniture was all dark wood, more sideboards and fancy chairs with tapestry seats and backs, very eighteen century. There was even a beautiful old wooden globe on a stand and candelabras on the sideboards.

6 November 2009 – a day off for Prague

Furniture stuffed lobby all red and dark wood

Ages ago, when Commando booked our short break to Prague, I had no idea I’d be working at the Mad House five days a week. Technically I’m not supposed to take any holiday during my training but, as the holiday was already booked before I got the job and I told them all about it at my interview, they had to let me have the time off. Boy did I need a day off! Part of me was wishing we’d booked a whole week just so I could get away from that horrible brown building and the incessant phone calls.

21 September 2009 – Nou Camp, Parc Guell and the ghost of Gaudi

The gates of Parc Guell

Monday morning had me checking my phone every five minutes to see if the Mad House had called. Every time I looked and saw no missed calls and no texts I became more sure I hadn’t got the job. Ok, so I didn’t really want it but if I couldn’t even get a proxy call centre job I didn’t want what hope did I have? It seemed the only people who wanted to employ me were people I couldn’t bear the idea of working for. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

19 September 2009 – fear of flying

Ironic how much I hate flying

For someone as fond of travel as I am, it’s quite an irony how much I hate flying. Actually it scares me, especially take off and landing when I am usually to be found gripping the arm rests and holding my breath. I’m not exactly enamoured with airports either, all that waiting around. Why exactly do you have to check in two hours before your flight anyway, other than a cynical ploy to get you to buy overpriced food and junk in the airport shops?

3 September 2009 – a disappointing interview, in French!

Like one of those nodding dogs

While not having a driving lesson today was a bonus, one less chance to maim myself and anyone else in the vicinity, the relief was short lived because I had an interview instead. You win some you lose some then. The interview was with the marketing company Max told me about last week and I still had no idea what it was they were marketing, despite an extensive Google search. This didn’t really bode well because any company that doesn’t come up in a Google search is likely to be a fly by night outfit. Then again that could just be my opinion.