And the calm before the storm. Or the day before the travelling begins. So, I work from home as I can’t work if the technicians are in the office for Ramsgate, so I set up my laptop on the dining room table.
I had the usual pile of e mails to wade through, and meetings to attend to, seats on the plane to book. And then there was the cats. Cats everywhere, but cats not getting on. Although some kind of truce seems to have settled upon Chez Jelltex, the three resident moggies won’t come in the house except to feed, and Bowie won’t really go out. Except when nature calls, or we encourage him to by throwing him out when he threatens to use the litter tray. Mulder is the one coming round the quickest, and he is beginning to get back to his old routine, sleeping in the bed, on the office
chair, etc. So, that night we showed Bowie how the cat flap worked.
Really.
I was one side, Jools was the other side, and we passed him through the door. He’ll get used to it, but here I am 47 years old teaching a cat to use the cat flap. Not how I saw my life panning out back in the day.
As the day slipped by, I realised I had more and more stuff to squeeze in and was running out of time, in the end I just had to say at nine that enough was enough, anything else would have to wait until the weekend. We finished the day by eating a huge bowl of strawberries, a nice cuppa and a shower.
Tuesday.
What was clear was that five was way too early to waking up. In fact Jools let me lay in until twenty past. I finished packing, and after breakfast was ready to go. Jools dropped me off at the station, I bought my ticket and waited on the platform for the train to arrive. Just like old times….
As I headed up to London, clouds gathered, but it seemed to match my mood. I got off at Stratford and on auto pilot walked to the DLR station, got on a train and headed for the airport. It is so mundane for me now, I really don’t give it a second thought, but really, I am taking off from the middle of what used to be the Victoria Dock, flying to Denmark where a hire car was waiting, and in under seven hours I had gone from our house to the desk in Esbjerg. Pretty amazing, really.
I knew the flight was going to take off into the easterly breeze, so I did not take my camera into the cabin, and instead of looking at the sea pass below I read a magazine. I did look out of the window as we climbed over Essex, seeing Chelmsford, Wakes Colne before we crossed the coast at Sizewell with its Nuclear Power station next to the beach.
And so I picked up the hire car, another Audi A3: vroom, vroom! And so all was set, I turned down the heater to minimum, and that wasn’t cool enough, so wound the windows down and headed off towards Esbjerg. Yes, even Denmark looks wonderful in the sunshine, it seems the crops have been going growing crazy since I was last here. Everything is in bloom and the colour greens were so deep all around. Such a shame then that I had to work, so I arrived at the office and the craziness began.
That night I checked into my hotel, I have a south facing room with a large picture window and no air con; all the sunshine had made it feel like 90 degrees in the room. I tried to open the window, but it was still so hot. I began to read JG Ballard’s Drowned World, and took it to dinner with me, and so passed the time reading, sipping beer and eating. My healthy intentions were half realised, as I began with steamed asparagus but then followed it by a burger.
Wednesday.
So, I slept quite well despite the room feeling something like a greenhouse. I got ready for work and headed to the office. And so began another day at the coalface.
That evening my back began to complain, and so my evening walk was a short one, ending at the Harbour offices with its fine views over the harbour. Which makes sense.
I went back to the hotel and made the decision to eat in the hotel again. I read more from The Drowned World inbetween courses. It was all rather a depressing experience and so decided not to eat here again, and whatever go out and find somewhere with life to eat.
Thursday.
My phone said 4 a.m. In Danish time it was five, and the alarm had just gone off. I had a meeting in Arhus at nine, so I decided to leave early to beat the rush hour traffic to head office. I showered and headed down to the car, it was half an hour before breakfast begun, so I skipped that meal and set off in the Audi.
Soon after hitting the motorway, the mist hit, but visibility was good enough not to have to slow down too much, and I made good time, reaching head office at just gone seven, giving me 50 minutes before the front desk would be manned and I could get in.
At eight I walk into the new office building, and find security tighter than at Fort Knox. I could enter, but not have a pass, so could nto open any interior doors. I tapped at the door to Offshore’s offices hoping that I would be seen. I was and let in. I have been given a form, which should mean next time I visit I should not be treated like a criminal.
And then the meetings began. And went on and on. And on.
Last meeting I did not look at the invite and so went along to see my boss and Frank. Do you know why you’re here? I did not. In the end the offer of a promotion was there, with more responsibility, but is the next logical step. I will think about it over the weekend as it will mean lots of travelling in the new year. And meetings. Lots of meetings.
So, I drove back in the strong sunshine with the air con on full and the windows down. I like the Audi and may well back it for use at home!
I met with Philip in the evening and we went out for dinner; seems like I only had an apple and a banana all day, and by seven was pretty darn hungry. We went to Dronning Louise and had salmon on a bagel to start followed by a burger. Much to my surprise, Philip said yes when I asked if he wanted to head to the Irish bar, and so we had a pint and I let him by me an 18 year old malt. A very fine evening indeed.
With a weekend orchid hunting ahead, and the prospect of promotion, married to a wonderful woman and our house on the cliffs, life seems good right now.
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