Save the Cat

 No one truly ever knows what a Monday will bring for them, that seemed doubly true for me today. First up, we were a team member down so it was up to me to fill in the gaps - which meant immediately hopping in my car, driving across town to go pick up a pair of glasses one of my colleagues left at home. Riveting stuff.

A short while later we were having a catchup by the window and someone remarked about how uncomfortable a cat looked perched on a fence. So we all looked over as the cat sat, had a wobble, lost its balance and to save face decided to scamper up the nearest tree. Then it just kept on climbing and climbing and climbing til it got about three stories high. That was understandably cause for concern and somehow I became chief of operation Save That Cat. First up, I needed to check if the fire brigade would actually come out for us. I found the non-emergency number of our closest places and got to make a phonecall I never expected to have.  Turns out they will wait about 24 hours before sending one out which I kinda fair in most cases but this particular tree was very spindly and the cat had nowhere to perch for another 23 hours and 50 minutes so we decided to take action into our own hands. A nearby resident just came outside with a big old ladder to help the cause but alas, it wasn't quite tall enough. Then the contruction team next door got involved alongside their powered machines. We ended up guiding a telehandler up towards the tree to offer up a platform to the cat. We had some salmon for coaxing just in case but the cat eventually realized we were here to help and hopped onto the arm of the machine. We all cheered in that moment, I heard later that the whole of the office were watching out the window at this daring rescue. It was somewhat premature though as halfway through the machine's decent the cat decided it would rather take matters into its own hands and leapt off, colliding with a windmirror on the way down, but still landing on all fours. It bolted away before we could check it it was ok, I reckon it just had a bruised ego thankfully. Perhaps I could sell the movie rights for this story.

Then back to it I was told I had to bring in a hire car for tomorrow. I wish that was a better tale to tell, instead it was a phonecall.

Mother's Day 2025

Popped down to Newbury to spend some time with my folks this Mother's Day. Aside from giving a card and some flowers, my biggest contribution to the day was helping Mum out with her latest jigsaw puzzle. But in between that we went in a great big walk in the countryside while Mum pointed and named every tree. Beech, silver Birch, oat, horse chestnut, the works basically. We're lucky to have such nature in our doorstep, especially this time of year. For dinner we nipped out for a curry, the day went by so quickly though so I had to jump back into the car shortly after getting back home. Daylight saving hours struck hard this Sunday. Yesterday it wouldn't be my bedtime right now. But presently I'm just as tired as I would be this time of night.

Outlast Advocaat

We have a new record on longest lasting bottle of advocaat. That stuff usually don't make it past epiphany in our house but for some reason it was kicking around for ages this year. Felt right to finish it off just before the clocks go forward. The ring in this new era of sorts I did a proper Spring clean. On my hands and knees dusting skirting boards, vacuuming unloved corners and sprucing up all the other spots. Rebecca and I carved out some easy going time too. We finished Adolescence, the talking point TV show that's doing the rounds - I'll be poised to chat with colleagues about it on Monday now which is now often the best part about watching a new series. It sure was nice to have a sloppy Saturday all to ourselves though, best part was watching the cat roll around in the sun on our patio. Plenty more of that to come this year.

Greasing the Friday

Been a good few weeks since I've had to wake up at 6am for work, but pastries were a staple of the early Friday morning meetings on the last job so we're bringing them back - at the small expense of my sleeping hours. It did mean we could pick at the pastry leftovers which is a nice perk. But because of my braces, I held off until lunchtime to check the box for remnants, and if course, only the plain croissants were leftover...

The other reason I went out of my way to make the morning meeting so pleasant: if the bosses are in a good mood they sometimes let us go home early on Friday's... And that's exactly what happened today! What a blooming treat!

Quizzin' Thursday

I kept thinking it was Tuesday today, imagine my delight when I realized I was already knocking on the door of the weekend. The past week has flown by and even today went by in a heartbeat. Again I was mostly doing NDA's and points of research for the Line Producer. I also totally misinterpreted a meeting this morning, thinking it was an online call but in actuality it was in person with about 18 people in it. Teas and coffees apenty in that case. I left my barista job half a decade ago yet that old baggage follows me around.

In the evening went went up the road with Louis and Rachel for another stab at the quiz night. We came painfully close wlto winning some of the rounds but never quite sealed the deal. Turns out we know star signs better than we thought, full house on that section but the other teams were just that bit better.

Laptop Sub

My to do list went virtually untouched today as a bevvy of ad hoc jobs all landed at my feet upon entering the office. Lots of little prep bits and putting important people into meeting rooms, that sort of thing. Then just as their Zoom call was about to start, the work laptop died so I had to sub in mine. I thought it would be for 30 minutes but I was off my device for almost two hours. Regardless, I got a lot done and people are in good spirits overall, even as prep ramps up in workload it all feels managable and we're all confident in our roles - that makes such a difference in a work environment.

I could have watched a film tonight but I opted to play some online games with colleagues and people from the Bristol TV scene. I'm getting good at meeting strangers, so long as there's a game in the middle of us to ground conversation. Normally I'd be terrible at throwing myself into the deep end but I'm getting better and better as I get older.

Eco Warriors Unite!

Today's whiteboard question was 'What's the best kind of cake?' Vicky sponge, easy.

Besides that I got a chance to show off how much of the Albert certification I had already completed. A chap from the head office's sustainability team visited our site today so we had an opportunity to sit down and chat all things eco friendly. That's kinda become my baby now, the domain that I'll be overseeing as the shoot progresses which is a sizable duty. Mostly keeping logs of the paper used - how many taxis we book cast and how much fuel our generator guzzles. No doubt we're going to contribute a mountain of pollution on this job, guess it's my job to keep that in check where possible and record everything to feed the great statistics beast.