In a bit of a change this week, I ended up travelling into town three times. A combination of work and social events brought back memories of the daily commute, life in the city. If I’m honest, I do occasionally miss it. As I left Bank station on Thursday evening there was an audible din from the surrounding pubs as people flocked to the streets to enjoy the last few hours of sunshine.
As someone who associates with being an introvert, I’ve always believed that I’m the quiet one in meetings. The larger the meeting, the less likely I am to speak up. But I’m far quieter in social settings where I’m content to be the quiet one in the corner. In a work context though, meetings have one thing going for them, an agenda. With an agenda I’m spared the exhausting mental search for something to talk about. Consequently, I’ve noticed that I tend to talk too much. I occasionally find myself making a point and then continuing to back it up by talking more. When I eventually stop, I instantly start replaying what I said. The point at which I should have stopped talking stands out as clear as anything. Nothing I can do will put those words back in my mouth. I look around the room wondering if anyone else noticed, they haven’t. But silently I wish they had, and wish they’d interrupted and got me to stop talking.
We’ve got a couple of family camping trips lined up later in the year. Oscar and I have been camping a number of times but this is the first time we are going to be going as a family. I spent a bit of time looking for a second tent, additional sleeping bags, etc. I’m determined that we can make it camping as a family without a car. Weight and bulk make this really difficult particularly as the kids are too young to carry anything significant. Trying to find a sweet spot between ultra-light (and expensive) gear for the regular hiker, and gear light enough for a family of four to travel without a car has been a real challenge.
I’ve been asked to look at ‘building an agent’. Everyone is talking about building agents and the team around me want to understand more about what’s involved. My initial sticking point, finding something genuinely useful for an ‘agent’ to do.
I’ve been trying out Plus Minus Next journaling.
Week in Pictures
reading corner - with the sun out, I’ve been enjoying reading in the garden
end of the line - being able to avoid rush hour is a real luxury
view from the top - just look at how green London is at the moment
city skyline - I can’t help looking back across the city, trying to spot buildings I’ve worked in
rising tide - from one section of the river to another
ladybird spotting - it amazes me how they are able to spot a ladybird whilst cycling along
spring delight - flowers are out everywhere at the moment, tree pollen has subsided and I can finally enjoy Spring