Bar Stool Best of Three

In lieu of any plans this Saturday we opted to go out and enjoy British Summer Time. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as we strolled over to the harbourside to get ready for some day drinking. Just me and Rebecca, and a couple of board games we brought along to the pub, we even played a best if three set, loser had to buy the next round. I'd never used so much of my brain on a barstool before but it was well worth it to watch Rebecca get out her wallet and do a walk up shame up to the bar. Back at home we just took it easy. I started reading Project Hail Mary at Rebecca's recommendation and I'm already chewing through it. Tomorrow is looking just as sunny, might finally go out and tackle the garden...

A Box within a Box

 About 18 months ago I was tasked with sending an American cast member's luggage back to the States while holding onto a couple of boxes in case they return to the UK. Today they asked about those boxes left here and my whole team turned around and said 'we remember that, but none of us remember where they ended up'. I then spent three hours doing detective work, racking my brain and trawling through blurry photographs before finding out the truth... We did indeed have them, but they were loaded into the wrong storage container, hence why it got lost. Thankfully it was a problem solved and I came out of it looking like Sherlock which was kinda funny. I spent the rest of the day on catch-up but still managed to get everything done before home time. Very jazzed for the weekend, Rebecca and I have some day drinking and some Bristol sunshine to make the most of.

The Other Shoe

 Can't believe it's almost Friday, another week has flown by and prep still hasn't felt like it's ramped up to an uncomfortable level. What was nice is seeing some of my research pay off, I was looking into international fixer companies and delivered a shortlist to my boss. Today I saw a meeting was being set up with one of the big names I put forward, with any luck that will be really positive and count as another job done. I'm mostly doing backend housekeeping, ensuring all our spreadsheets are up to date and everything is ready to go at a moments notice. I even did the easiest lunch run of my life today... Surely the other shoe will drop soon, but for now, I'm enjoying myself.

Switch 2

Crammed the cat into her carrier before shooting her off to the vets. I know that she knows that carrier is a sign of bad news, but I've never seen her wriggle so fiercely before as she was being picked up to be put inside. Bless her, she spent the whole car ride making the saddest meows but Rebecca tells me she was as good as gold with the vet. She got a clean bill of health too - cat MOT complete.

Back in the office I had one eye on my emails and another on the latest Nintendo Direct where they talked about their new consol, the Switch 2. While the hardware may not be a revolutionary upgrade it still made me watch with child like wonder as saw the new games and system detail bombard my imagination. A couple of my colleagues tuned in for the start too, it was a ton of fun to share that hype train with some chums, especially because we all love Mario Kart.

Mum, Louis and Rachel popped round for a Chinese takeaway. In between mouthfuls of chow mein Louis recounted his recent weekend trip to Center Parcs with his friends which always elicit belly laughs from us. As we waved goodnight I savoured a few moments extra with my teeth feeling normal just before I put in my fourth tray. My jaw feels tight again, but I guess that means it's working.

Short Film Panelist

Still a team member down so my colleagues kept joking saying that I've gone back in time to being a Production Assistant. I'd laugh with them but I was too busy doing a lunch run, washing up mugs and finding lost post. 

The day's highlight was attending an evening event which I was invited to be a panelists for. It was kinda like speed dating for short film pitches, and I was one of the 'experts' that young filmmakers presented their ideas or scripts to so I could provide feedback. I gotta say, the quality was pretty damn high, most of them were just finishing uni mostly but their concepts were fresh and passionate. I gave input where I could and it was mostly on boarded by them, in each instance I gave out my email address for extra notes later on. I'm curious to see how many of them get in touch but hopefully I steered them towards me improving their works.

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.