Monday 20th February 2017

THe start of the working week, and the day on which Jools found out about the job.

But more of that later.

Seeing as we were both tired, for whatever reason, we did not set the alarm until six, by which times the cats were most impatient and outside dawn was already showing away in the south east. But then, since December 21st, the light of the rising sun has slowly moved from a more generally southern direction to SSE and then SE, and will continue to rise ever more eastwards until June 21st arrives, and then the rising sun will move back south again, day by day.

We have coffee, check on the web to make the world is as crazy as it was yesterday, and it is. Not sure if that is a good thing, but with the 45th President of the goold old US of A getting is foreign policy information from Fox News rather than government agencies, then we can agree that is is full on fruit loopy crazy.

Jools leaves for work, and I log on to the work computer to see what's been happening, as due to incompetence, not on my part, I had avoided work all weekend. Good news was that there had been no major issues, and I hadn't been missed. Which is good.

I also have a new work phone I have to make work. It is some kind of Samsung thing, and seems very good, well as being a phone I suppose. I don't use 99% of what a mobile can do, and this it will be less than that, but IT had sent me a very informative guide telling me how to transfer my old number to the new phone.

I call EE, give them the number and am told that there is no name registered against the number, so cannot ask any security questions, so do nothing.

Sigh.

I call IT, and turns out this is not unknown, and he will deal with it, so I have to just wait. In the meantime I catch up on mails, update documents and project folders. That takes all morning.

After lunch, I am waiting for a delivery. A delivery of soil, so we can fill up the two raised beds in the back garden. The truck arrives at two, so I tell him where to drop the tonne of soil, it is some distance away from the back of the garden. In fairness there is the house, a fence and other stuff in the way. So this means it would be a spade and a wheelbarrow job.

Now, it is some time since I did any serious manual labour, even walking at the moment is hurting due to something I have done to my lower back, so this would be interesting. After a couple of return trips, I have a plan, use the spade to fill up the barrow, take it to the bottom of the garden, and using the side of the bed, using it a pivot, empty the soil in. After a few return trips, the old bad back kicks in, so after two trips, I have a 5 minute rest.

What I missed out when I wrote this first, was that the barrow had seen better days. I did not realise that the wheel came off. And came off every time I unloaded it, and if I was too quick going up the steps to the house. Time and time and time again, I had to turn it over and refit the wheel before carrying on with work. I made the whole process take twice as long.

Up and down I go, and the bed fills up. That is until I trample it down. So much more to go. Back and forth I go, moaning and groaning about my back, but then not giving up. At twenty past five, I do the last trip, the sun has set, the sky had turned from blue to red to pink and was now going dark. I even put away the tools, satisfied with the afternoons work. Just don't sit down or I would not move.

Jools arrives home with the news we have all been waiting for: she did not get the job, she is disappointed, but then means we don't have to go through the upheavals and only seeing each other three days in ten. Like everything, its been an experience, and can use this to move on.

I cook chorizo hash, always a welcome meal, and especially heartening after an afternoon's hard work with spade and wheelbarrow. I have even remembered to put a bottle of fizz int he fridge, so as I dished up dinner, Jools popped the cork and we toasted our luck in living here, having each other and the cats.

THe evening was spent on the sofa where any movement was painful, but then a reminder I have to do more of anything to avoid getting old before my time. Sutton were playing Arsenal, but no upsets this time, the Gooners running out 2-0 winners, but a good game anyway.