Where did the time go??

Wow, its amazing how time flies when you're busy having fun ... or totally snowed under!

I've been suffering from large helpings of both this past week, starting off the with fun before realising that there is actually an awful lot of work that needs to be done! Much of this is down to my inability to grasp timescales: tell me something is a week away and in my head it stays a week away for the next couple of weeks ... this is how come I miss family birthdays and anniversaries ... and deadlines :-(

This week there are two deadlines: my next OU assignment by Saturday and three different website designs for a customer by, um, tonight!

The deadline for the assignment is actually a week today, but in order to get it there on time, it really needs to be posted Monday or Tuesday and sent by first class, making sure I get a proof of postage from the post office. However, next Monday is a bank holiday so the post office won't be open, and Tuesday will see me visiting a customer in Leeds. This means that I need to get through a 100 page unit and lengthy assignment in the next 2 evenings in order to get it posted and proofed on Saturday ... anyone got any crates of Red Bull going cheap?!?!

As for the website designs, I only started them at the beginning of the week due to other workloads and was under the impression that two of my colleagues were coming up with alternative designs.

Not according to my colleagues, one of whom informed me yesterday that The Boss had told her that he had asked me to do three website designs by Friday: more specifically, the end of Thursday ... or even more specifically, today!

I am not a designer by any stretch of the imagination, mostly because I am incapable of stretching my imagination, but I do try my best.

Ah well, its all experience. I don't think I'm going to manage more than two designs though. Unlike previous work deadlines that coincided with assignment deadlines, I am not going to be doing overtime to get it done!

* * * * *
So, what have I been up to in the last seven days? Besides the studying? Though that should really read 'instead of the studying', as it was only on Tuesday when I realised how much needed to be done by this weekend, which kick-started me into actually doing some studying again.

Well, Friday I went to a mate's to catch up, had a chinese, watched some TV, then got home and chatted to my Mum on MSN - which was odd as it was 2:00 in the morning. Apparently she couldn't sleep and decided to do some more of her craft stuff, so we chatted for a short while before heading off to bed around 3am.
* * * * *
With all the Red Bull I had last week, and the late night on Friday, I shouldn't really be surprised that I didn't wake up until midday Saturday ... and then fell asleep again after having a bath!

The late afternoon sun saw me wake with a curse or two that I shall not repeat here, but it was along the lines of the opening scene to Four Weddings and a Funeral. This gave me around a couple of hours with which to do the housework and have a bath* in readiness for going out for my mate's girlfriend's birthday. I wasn't going to ask how old she was as I would have felt like her Dad, or something!

I have to admit I was a little nervous as I hadn't seen JD** in a few years since last working with him and had never really met any of his mates before, though I needn't have worried as they were all really friendly people, its just a shame I have difficulty talking to people I don't know ... smalltalk is not really my forté.

Probably the only disturbing thing about that night was when one of the girls and I realised we lived down the same road at the same time and she responded "Oh my god! Richard?! I used to fancy you!".

Why was that disturbing? Because, at the time, she was 12 and I was 25, that's why!
* * * * *
Another late night and I was ready for a lay in on Sunday, but had a text from Foshie around 9:30 asking if I was up to anything and did I want to head out with the camera as the weather was good. I wasn't going to miss an opportunity like that, so somehow managed to drag my tired backside into the bathroom and sort myself out for a trip to Brighton.

I was thinking that we would be able to get some architecture shots, some of the beach huts, some gardens, and various other bits. What I didn't count on was the fact that, again by sheer fluke, we had picked the day of the London to Brighton 2007 Mini Run so the place was overrun with hundreds of minis. I was amazed at how well kept many of them were, showing a real love for the little motor, and there was some fantastic artwork. You can see the pics I took in my London to Brighton Mini Run Flickr photo set...

The only downside of the day was getting to the end of Brighton Pier to see a couple of people attempting to coax a jumper back onto the pier. I think she had not long been seen as there were only a couple of people with her and we were then suddenly surrounded by crews of people with walkie talkies and lifebelts running around as if in a Buster Keaton flick.

It made me feel totally uncomfortable, so I said to Foshie that I wanted to leave. Just as we were heading away, his inimitable wit kicked in and he piped up: "Oh let her jump, she's not much of a looker anyway".

Not a lot you can say to that, is there?! Other than a quick telling off ... and trying not to chuckle.

By the end of the day, I arrived home with over 375 pictures and a soft toy I won on the pier - I wasn't going to leave without something. I won it for my niece, you understand.

Honest!

The rest, as they say, is at the beginning of the blog!

* Yes I know I had already had one, but as I was going out, I had to re-freshen. Besides, I also needed to have a shave: can't be going out without having a chin softer than a baby's bum.
** I should point out that my mate's initials happen to match the initials of my favourite drink, Jack Daniels, so whenever I mention drinking JD I am talking about Jack Daniels! I certainly don't want any confusion there - and I'm sure neither does JD!!

Comments

Cath said…
See, I knew you wouldn't need me there on that night out! But, are you sure that the "jumper" wasn't your teenage fancy piece completely heart broken at your rejection of her?!

I thought you hadn't been about this week, but could you not post the assignment from Leeds? I think they have post offices up there. Not too sure about electricity though......
OddThomas said…
Its really sad for me to admit this but I never had a teenage fancy piece! I was the the kid that the team gets lumbered with, not picked, so I wasn't exactly a hit with the girls!

The trouble with posting the assignment in Leeds is that the customer's office is on the outskirts of the town and as I am scheduled to leave about 3, its not going to give me much time to go on a post office hunt.

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