Week commencing Monday, 8 April 2024
Quantified Self
- This week: Stand 6/7; Exercise 3/7 and Move 3/7. (57%). Morning walks: 0/4 (days in the office don’t count). Office days 1/5. Total steps: 39,179
Life
- A week where my shoulder continued to give discomfort, I stayed at home for much of it. Friday brought news of the scan in a few weeks.
- I had the first of what will become a series of financial pension reviews. Would my pensions work better for me if they were consolidated? This question remains to be answered.
- Avanti West Coast has queried my Delay Repay request, stating they want more information. They keep asking for a copy of the ticket even though the machine at Shrewsbury ate it, and the website says a Collection Receipt is sufficient. Grumble.
- I wish I had said I was going to Shrewsbury rather than asking. In the end, all was well, but for 24 hours, I was annoyed with myself.
- Seeing people in the office is always lovely, but I had quite a gap in the afternoon where I had no meetings. I used the time to walk around and chat with people. It felt simultaneously productive and unproductive.
- Lots of bowls of Vietnamese pho made from the chicken stock we got from last weekend’s roast. Endless nighttime loo visits.
- Related, Boys on the Verge of Tears at The Soho Theatre: a one-act, almost two-hour performance with five actors playing all the parts, entirely set in a men’s toilet. Lots to think about.
- Post-show French onion soup with gruyere cheese croutons was everything I wanted: very thick and rich.
- Three Sundays in a row: tonight, an 80s party night at The Crazy Coqs with a bunch of great songs.
Media
- All Of Us Strangers: After watching it last week it’s been on my mind all week. Friday, I watched the excellent “Behind-The-Scenes Broadcast Special” on YouTube. It’s such an interesting film to think about. And it was filmed in the director’s childhood home, which makes it even more fascinating. The YouTube algorithm served up an interesting collection of clips featuring the film’s stars appearing on The Graham Norton Show.
- Sunday night was the Olivier Awards on ITV. Lots of exciting musicals won, but Sunset Boulevard won the most awards. Tom Francis reprised Sunset Boulevard, starting outside the Royal Albert Hall and walking into the main auditorium (a version of how it was staged at The Savoy, even down to the cardboard Andrew Lloyd Webber. It’s very impressive).
- Apple Music has a new personalised play list: Heavy Rotation and I am loving it.