Bye Bye Production Runner

Though we have a full week left at work, some of my team bid farewell to us today. Specifically our Production Runner who started on the same day as me and who I shared many a shoot day on the truck with. We worked with eachother for so long it's frankly alien to think they won't be in on Friday now. I handed over my wrap gift, gave them a hug and watched them walk into the sunset. But we've already discussed making plans to meet up soon, even though this job is coming to a close the friendships will last a lifetime.

Over Caffeinated

Got given a pair of bulk upload tasks to do, the first of which was gonna be a long one as it involved dragging, renaming and filing just over 100 files. I made a cup of coffee, accidentally over caffeinated myself then proceeded to peek beyond the realm of space and time to bash them out at a rate that shocked my coworkers (and myself). I rode that high for the rest of the day it felt like. It helped that we watched Grease on our big office telly in the morning, a real team bonding moment where people stopped what they were doing to watch their favourite bits. Just an oddly productive day in a lot of ways.

Drip Feeding Work

The work has continued to flat line now and the team have lost all momentum. We're like soldiers with no war left to fight, drifting, ever hopeful for an email or phonecall. My last big project job is slowly arriving at completion point too, after that I really will start to feel like a bit of a spare part, but that's a good thing at this stage, beats rushing and stressing, especially when we've all got so little left in the tank.

Goof Off

Having smashed through my to do list I found myself with a pair of thumbs to twiddle. This is rare for me but I found myself in a position to 'save my energy' with is the perfect euphemism for 'goof off'. For about an hour I just stood up, shuffled some bits around the office to help with the pack down and then enjoyed some time off my screen. Until people eventually got back to my emails that is, then I was jumping back into action. 

Our production team enjoyed our last meal together at an upmarket Italian place which was certified delicious. It was swell to buy a bottle of wine for the table and enjoy it in the company of the team and we reflected on the victory lap. Best of all, because we're all so quiet there was virtually no talking shop. 

I'm also delighted to report that my efforts to give up Margaritas for Lent are still going strong. 

Closing Ceremony

Caught up with my work after the first hour of the day, after that I was just treading water and watching the Winter Olympic closing ceremony. The wrap has been smooth so far, we're uploading all our documents in a gradual manner while I continue to plug away at the rest of the logging. The WiFi set up and a bunch of Luton vans went back today too, the list of kit I'm responsible for is ever diminishing. I left earlyish so I had the chance to get the house ready for Jamie who was coming over to visit. He's staying the night so we had a chance to catch up and hang out into the small hours. He's almost done with his PhD now and working in different Uni's around the country, but for now he's sleeping in our house and taking it easy.

Bristol Light Festival 2026

Only had a little over an hour to hoover the whole house in anticipation to have Mum and Dad over for a day of Bristol sightseeing. Two things on the agenda: 1. A nice Korean lunch. 2. The Light Festival. I do feel a little bad because in previous years the Bristol Light Festival has always been pretty underwhelming, but we wanted to give it a fair shake this year so we tried to see everything. Turns out, Bristol is quite a big city and the sheer step count required to see it all was no small order, what deflated our spirits further was just how hit or miss some of the exhibits were. I can charitably bumb up my evaluation of the even to 'almost good'. The ballerina shadow casting trail was easily the best thing, but most of the other stuff failed to say anything interesting beyond 'pretty colours'. 

The real highlight was being able to spend time with my parents however and doing something a little different with them. I never thought in a million years we'd be eating corn dogs in Cabot Circus. 

Margarita-ville

I tried to do my Blog last night but my fingers wouldn't let me. That was on account of the no less than 8 margaritas I had after a cute meal out with the Accounts team turned into a bit of a session. It was a rollicking good time but I spent all of today paying for it. Anytime I stood up my stomach contents threatened to jump out my mouth so I spent the day in bed, in the fetal position. Rebecca's grace was saint like, fetching me water and buttered toast on request. I still don't feel normal but hopefully tomorrow I'll be right as rain.

It goes without saying, for Lent I think I'll be giving up margaritas.