DVT DAY 326

Thursday, a work day so I am up on time and ready for my first meeting of the day. As I have a quick bacon breakfast I am presented with two real letters from an early post delivery. No time to read them before the first meeting. The meeting with colleagues was stimulating and interesting with the future posing some new challenges. So once the meeting is over I get to settle down with a coffee and read my letters. They were both very welcome, one from a regular correspondent and one a surprise from a friend of my partner with whom we used to dine. A good way to spend the lunchtime, I shall return to them tonight once I have written the blog and have a moment to myself.

A smoothie lunch and I host an Open Forum for service managers. It is a difficult session. There is a growing sense of “grind”. One of the crucial issues appears to be the way the normal signals of hope like future holidays and celebrations are now no longer viable. People are having the things they look forward to as the times they recharge and recover are being taken from them, so every one is “grinding ” without the hope of relief in the usual things they look forward to. This is a major change for many people and seems to be corrosive.

By the end of the session we were collectively gloomy, thankfully one of those contributing told us a joke to cheer us up. Here is what pulled us from the gloom.

“A bear walks into a bar, looks at the barman and says “Can I have a rum and ………………………………………….coke. The barman looks at the bear and says “why such big pause? The bear says, ” I was born that way”

A new lamp arrives, which I put together and get working. Its identical to another lamp we aquired recently. The problem is they both have the same controler so there is chaos trying to get them working to thier own controller or to get both of them workign to one controller. I have still not cracked it, but will in future. Once I’ve got them both lit and the same colour Ieave them on and get changed to train. Today is a rowing day so I head for the garage wondering how I am going to be after my day of injections yesterday. As it turns out it was okay.

Post session I settle down for a drink adn take a call from a friend who is now locked down with her family and juggling work and family commitments. We talk about how difficult it is to keep ones strength going in the face of a continuing situation that continues to become more complex for individuals and families. Finding ways to keep feeling capable and able to maintian a reasonable amount of control over the things that matter to the family. I miss the opportunities to have long and rambling conversations, I guess that’s another one of those things that have got lost and add to the “grind”.

I clear the kitchen and begin to put away the vegatabe delivery before changing out of my training kit and settling on the sofa. I realise I have lost my seal ring. I start to search but have no joy, my partner joins in the hunt. Finally I fish the vegatable bags out of the bin and find my ring in the folds of one of the bags. I am much relieved. We eat tuna pasta ansd my partner disappears for her singing lesson while I watch football until “Death in Paradise” is on TV. Once the killer is uncovered its time to check what the outcome was of the football I was watching and to write the blog.