It’s odd writing this in Bristol describing last Monday, which also found me in this lovely city.
On Monday I worked from the agency offices, sadly our plans for the day were derailed due to sickness so I ended up spending the day in a large meeting room all on my own.
The evening, however, was much more pleasant with a lovely dinner at The OX with the team I worked with both on the Tredz redesign and now in my current role. A fun night with smart people plus good food, what’s not to like?
Due to the change of plans, I headed home early on Tuesday rather than occupy a meeting room.
Wednesday started very oddly. I woke up feeling a little rough, got up and immediately had a massive nosebleed. And I do mean massive, it was literally poring out of my face taking a good 15 minutes to subside and stop. My wife estimated I probably lost between one and two pints of blood, which may explain why I feel a trifle ‘odd’ for the rest of the day.
My wife was wonderful in looking after me, but I am a little concerned about how quickly and efficiently she could clear up so much blood ;)
Thursday was derailed by the rumours and then news that Lewis Hamilton was leaving Mercedes and moving to Ferrari in 2025. As a house of F1 fans, and varying degrees of fandom for Lewis and Ferrari ranging from respect to obsession it was a busy day on the family group chat.
Thursday evening I attended Made In MK a local social/networking event. This was the first one I’ve attended since Covid and instead of being held above a brewpub was held in X+Why a new co-working space in Santander’s Unity Placebuilding. This venue change seemed to shift the dynamic from social to networking so I didn’t stay late.
I’m not a ‘networker’ and I recognise that I’m unlikely to find work doing what I currently do at an event like that, so it’s fascinating to watch those who are there to network, especially as so many appear to be quite terrible at doing so.
One encounter was particularly interesting, we were approached by somebody who said they were and ‘coach’ and upon finding out what my friend did immediately blanked him, simply based on his ‘job title’. The irony is that he’s far better connected in MK than me and far more likely to be able connect the ‘coach’ with potential clients. How we chuckled.
Friday evening was one of those nights that is unplanned but turns out to be great fun. My daughter and I are both remote workers and since she started working remotely we’ve said we should do ‘after-work’ drinks on a Friday – this week we finally did.
We were going to walk over to our closest pub, but it’s not brilliant so we decided to head into Stony Stratford, a small town near us and the home of the Cock and Bull story, and check out opening night of Have I Got Brews For You a new craft beer bar.
The bar was great and absolutely rammed, so good to see support for a local independent. With both Deya and Verdant on draft, there was much Untappd action, and it seems I have been using Untappd for 10 years now!
I initially started using it so I could track what I’d tried at The Euston Tap and not repeat myself. I have no idea why I’ve stuck with it for so long, but as a registered beer geek, it’s both fun and useful in equal measure. Checking now I see I’ve checked in 1,266 different beers.
After Have I Got Brews For You we wandered down to Calcutta Brasserie for dinner. My son’s plans had changed so he was able to join us which added to the unplanned and fun nature of the evening.
Saturday was a relaxed day, with us all experimenting with wife’s new Instax Wide camera – Fuji’s modern-day answer to the Polaroids of old.
In the afternoon I watched the rugby, Italy were surprisingly solid, the best I’ve seen them play I feel. England played better than I expected but were sloppy to concede a third try in the final minutes of the game.
Today we popped out for ‘brunch’ at the Super Sausage again, the last time for a little while or I fear for my arteries.
I then packed and hit the road with the SatNav Fairies taking me on a new route across the Cotswolds to the M5 and down to Bristol. I must say the Cotswolds looked particularly good in the low winter sun, I do like this part of the country.