Prodding Printers

My oddest job today was driving a laptop charger over to a colleagues house. It was only 30 minutes away but it took me to parts of Bristol I'd never seen, and perhaps were better left that way as their driveway was down a literal country road. While clutching onto the wheel of Rebecca's dinky car for dear life I pushed on, bless that little Corsa. 

The rest of the working day was spent troubleshooting printers. We have 5 desktop units that can be given to other departments, all of which needed testing. So one by one I reeled off test sheets and got chummy with each of their user interfaces. Once I pass them onto their new owner I ideally never want to hear about them again.

Office Party Trick

Exactly twice in my life prior to today have I had to buy cigarettes. Once as a prop for my old pinata film and another time was for a cast member on a previous job. I've doubled that number today after buying two of my colleagues a carton of smokes. I'm always appalled by the cost of them though, glad I never went down that road else I'd be skint! 

My coffee making cracked the team wide open. It's become my office party trick, a conversation starter and a promise of good brews to come. I was showered with compliments and possibly made a rid for my back in the process.

Yearning for Shorthand

Day one on the new job. I'm borrowing Rebecca's car for a spell and ainput it through it's paces today by ferrying out a metric ton of stationery from one office to another. I was actually saddled with a fair amount to do today so I didn't get a chance to make a round of tea and coffee for the team, that's tomorrow's silent objective.

Mark Stopher once commented that when going into a new job with a lot of new faces he lacked 'shordhand' with people. That kind of friendly lingo and easy way of talking to people that makes everything socially simple. It always takes me a while to drop my guard around new people so I know I'll get my shorthand soon, for now I'll just work hard and try to impress folks.

Dining Room Finally Tackled

 I reckon Rebecca overheard me lamenting the state of the dining room so we did one big last push today to get it all done. I washed up my last paintbrush and roller tray while my heart did a little dance - it was all done. We even did a small furniture re-jig, tucking a side-board under a little shelf to hid our messy cables. Looks very swish now! Yet I still had to drive out to the dump to get rid of all the detritus that comes with finishing such a big job. While the tip itself ain't so bad, the act of putting all the crap in the car is horrific. Especially when you have manky bin liners full of 1 month old garden waste which was trickling out a putrid liquid. Could have done without that on my Sunday, but it's a job well done.

Mentally prepping myself for my new job which I start tomorrow. The whole team is moving into the new office space together tomorrow so we all get to hit the ground at once. Eager to meet the team and see what curve balls day 1 can hurl my way.

Glossing Over

Tackled all of our weekend chores in a bit long conga line. I hung out the laundry, did the weekly shop and cleaned the cat's litter tray while Rebecca donned her painting clothes once again to gloss some skirting boards. The dining room is in that awkward 99% done phase now but there's still some tiny touch-ups to do. Seemingly that list will never end until we commit to putting all the paint back into the cupboard. Can't be much more now though.

Jean Genie

Only a few sleeps before starting my new job a sudden thought dawned on me: I don't own any trousers that aren't full of holes! I couldn't go in on day one looking like a reprobate so I hit the town, only Black Friday of all days. The ever savvy Rebecca whipped out a 20% off code for me to use too, my very cheap jeans just got even cheaper! 

I begun writing up vegetable dialogue into Louis' master document, it's a little time consuming but it gives me time to edit down and sharpen any text I put in before inputting it. I also get a chance to read all my work with fresh eyes. Nine times out of ten I'm impressed by past me, he did a good job and made present me chuckle. What more could you ask for?

Once done with that I was committed to finishing up a game I picked up in the sale called Tunic. The final portions hits the player with some incredibly involving puzzles, I even roped Rebecca in so we could put our heads together. Only illuminated by the glow of the TV screen, we swaddled together and solved it piece by piece. Such a fun gaming memory, easily one of the best games I've played this year.

Cram Cram Cram

It's hard to appreciate just how maliable your brain was when you were younger. Prepping for exams by cramming revision notes into my brain used to be so easy, now I'm finding it ever tougher to look at written notes and commit them to memory. Or maybe that was just pre-interview nerves? I hopped onto my Zoom call and gave it 110% while I was talking. I decided while prepping I really wanted this job so I wanted to make a great first impression. A few hours after the Zoom I got the phonecall: I got the job! Starting Monday I'll be on a nice long gig all based within Bristol. Super nice production team by the sounds of it too so I'm really excited now.

Along Comes the Next One?

It's been almost a month now but this morning I got the message I'd been waiting for. I lined up an interview for what could well be my next job, sounds like a very long one, all Bristol-based so it's a dream opportunity. Crossing my fingers and my toes that the interview goes well tomorrow. If I'm successful I could start as early as next Monday! Here's hoping.

PC Master Race

 Typically whenever I get a new part for my PC I call upon Louis to help me put it all together since he has all the expertise. Today was the big one though, it wasn't just subbing out a single part, it was moving everything into a brand new case. Louis agreed to help and in the meantime I started watching some YouTube videos so I could drink in a little bit of that knowledge. About 10 minutes into watching the video though, I suddenly became emboldened. I glaced into the cavity of my case, scanning my motherboard for all the inputs they mentioned. Like a surgeon doing an autopsy, I took notes and thought to myself 'I could probably do this'. 

It started with just one screw. 'I cam always put everything back to how it was if this doesn't work out' I kept telling myself. Before I knew it I stood on the precipice of no return, yet I didn't even slow down. I even found some mental bandwidth to route the cables in a decent way and keep it all neat and tidy. Then it came to turning it on. A single wrong cable could cause a lot of grief, and as a beginner that prospect haunted me. Power on. We're in.

When I woke up this morning I couldn't tell you the first thing about building computers. But I surprised myself and developed a confidence I never thought I could have in just over just two hours. Looking over at the new computer I'll remember this moment fondly, though it's only something a little daft like building a PC, it's proof of a inner capability that many of us often leave dormant.

It's A Kind of Mastic

For the final day Mum spent with us down in Bristol we kept the most fun activity til last: Mastic Application! 

Yes, because it was pouring down with rain and Mum's function got cancelled we did a bit of DIY. We started by scraping off all the mouldy sealant around the kitchen and bathtub then reapplying it all. Mum fancies herself as a bit of a mastic expert so she showed me the ropes so I could do future jobs confidently. House is looking increasingly swanky as the days go by. Eagle eyed guests will even notice the new bin and shoe rack I bought too. These little upgrades keep renewing our pride in our home - particularly Rebecca who is pleased as punch after all the work.

Dot Matrix Portraits

 There were still unvisited hot spots on the Totterdown Arts Trail, so after a hearty breakfast at the Sundial Kitchen we went out to hunt down the remaining homes. There was a chap selling recycled ocean plastic and cooler yet, someone offering dot matrix portraits (it was such an affordable novelty that Rebecca and I had to give it a shot.) Once lunchtime rolled around we really had seen everything and our homes are all the richer for it - we'll have to chase down some nice frames for some if our bits while the rest can hang on this year's Christmas tree.

Totterdown Arts Trail 2022

 Mum knocked on our door and after a tea and a biscuit we braces the chilly morning in search of one thing: Art. Luckily it was the Totterdown Arts Trail once again, the community open door event where strangers can barge into people's homes and check out (and maybe buy) some of their works. It's right up Mum's alley and without Covid this year was a lot more easy to navigate and enjoy. We got some very lovely prints to adorn our new dining room and I bought a postcard with a duck in it - everytime I look at it I chuckle. We'll be hitting the streets again tomorrow to finish off the trail but the mood and atmosphere was great this time around, lots of passionate people and friendly faces all doing what they love.

Three Bean Salad

A friend invited us to a dinner party this evening and instructed us to bring a salad. Taking a page out of Louis and Rachel's book I looked up 3 bean salad recipes as they always go down well. I settled on a winner and hit the shops. While unpacking my bags we found out the main course was bean based... Back to the drawing board (and the shops) for me. The pomegranate and feta salad with homemade honey mustard dressing went down well though, I kept getting compliments on a dish I had literally never made before but who am I to argue.

Rebecca and I often stay over into the small hours of the night with these friends and tonight was no exception. Nice to stay up late some nights though, especially if the company is good and the wine is flowing.

Carpentry Calling

I meticulous measured and remeasured my shelves before taking them to a Bristol Wood charity for cutting. They did it in a blink of an eye and I spent the whole drive home with my fingers crossed that I got it right. Hallelujah, they fit a dream. I got chummy with the masonry drill again and finished the job to the chagrin of my neighbours. Better yet, we adjusted their height a bit from the originals so we could better fit books and board games on them too - a fully revamped dining room in every sense.

 

Speaking of, I made one extra subtle improvement to the room. For years a gap in the floor boards silently threated to swallow up errant dice and board game pieces that should fall off the table. No more! With an offcut of wood I managed to trim, sand and fit in a piece to plug the gap. This dining room will be our DIY masterpiece.

Cream Cleaner

I'm a little but over doing DIY at present, yet I still had the urge to do good around the house. So I busted out the cream cleaner and did a few rounds in the kitchen. Opened up the cupboards and scrubbed them til they sparkled, then did a near full home hoover and dust. My sneezing levels have been off the charts recently and cleaning always helps though the sniffles are still coming. 

I coordinated getting out shelves trimmed back down to size with a local charity. Though I've measured multiple times I still have the fear they'll come back from the workshop still wrong. Mostly my ego would be left aching, but we'll see.

Super Shelves

Drill duty beckoned, as much as I was wanted to put it off those shelves weren't gonna put themselves up. Employing the tried and tested 'measure twice, cut once' philosophy the job generally went a lot better than I had anticipated. Moving over to the other side of the room to repeat the trick however yielded some different results. The original shelves had once again inexplicably expanded so they no longer squeeze into the gaps they were originally in. It's like the wood has grow almost? I'm going to call up a local timber company who offer a cutting service, with any luck they'll be able to sort us out. Otherwise it'll be me and a big saw, and Rebecca isn't super confident with that plan.

Mallard Green

With great effort we cracked open our small tin of feature wall paint and slapped on two layers. Rebecca went 1mph applying paint across the edges of the walls, striving to never touch the pristine white walls while I pick up the fuzziest roller we had and slapped it all across the plaster. The results are already excellent:

Paired with the yellow curtains there will be a real mallard look to the room which will make me silently smirk. We still need to gloss the window border and skirting boards - that's Rebecca's jurisdiction. I got to put up not one, not two, but several shelves. There'll be cussing for sure.

Feature Wall Fears

 Second coat of our white walls and ceiling done! We're moving onto the feature wall tomorrow which is what we're most excited to see in action. We picked out a library green colour which should make the space feel cosy. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't share my Dad's worries that every room will feel like cave if painted in anything other than an off white, but Rebecca is coaxing me out of my monochrome ways. The fireplace and shelves will be a sharp white though which we're hoping will give the wall some suave accents. Time will tell tomorrow though!

Decorating Day Cometh

The big decoration day had a slight false start. We drove to B&Q to get the paint so all happy there. After shimmying into our painting clothes we needed to prep the platered walls by sanding them down... Alas, we underestimated how much fine grain sandpaper we had so I had to dash out and get more. Thankfully that didn't slow us down too much and we managed to prep everywhere, masking tape all the edges, do a first coat on the ceiling and put a mist coat onto all our off-white walls. It has already had transformative effects on the room, a precursor of what is yet to come!

Pitching Quests

Typed up a lot of my work for Louis' game this morning. I'm in the process of pitching ideas to him now as there's little point developing an idea he's not super jazzed about. So far I think they're all pulling in the right direction and I'm keen to get his feedback.

Before any of that though the builders returned to do one final sweep of the dining room. It's a skeleton room now, ready for decorating which is what Rebecca and I will be toiling over this weekend. With colours chosen and paintbrushes at the ready, we're prepped to make the room sparkle.

Resonate Quests

Mostly working on quest design for Louis game at the moment as constructing little narratives has always been something I've enjoyed. I'm drawing inspiration from a lot of my favourite games in terms of approach, they use quest lines as a means to emotionally invest the player. Giving each if them a beginning, middle and end in a concise way is like building a tiny story and if done well I think it can resonate with players, especially if they are heartfelt... And more importantly, give the player a new hat at the end.

Thankful Party Person

 Made the builders a round of tea and coffee. They put in the skirting boards and sorted out our electrics in the dining room. For about 10 minutes they had to power the house down and it already caused sweaty flashbacks of when the wifi conked out last week - thankfully that was not the case today.

Rebecca and I saundered up towards North Bristol to be with a friend for their Birthday. They were an old colleague from my Coffee #1 days, we stayed in touch and frankly I'm honoured to have been invited in the first place.

Cinnamon Buns

 Felt bad about not contributing much baking to our Bake Off nights. Granted I've been working mostly, but now that I'm slumming it I got time to try my hand at some sweet treats. Cinnamon buns were tickling my fancy so I got ahold of a good recipe and got cracking. Made a sweet dough, rolled it out, sprinkled on cinnamon sugar and attempted the roll. This is where looked like it was about to fall apart. The dough stuck to my worktop and I couldn't scoop up my swirls without them spilling out all their filling. I pushed through the dark thoughts and learnt that cinnamon buns are rather forgiving. The final bake turned out really delicious - I bodged the icing though so Rebecca did that part.

As a chaser I rustled up some grapefruit lemonade using the technique I use for standard lemonade. It produced an incredibly fresh and honest tasting drink, though next time I'll throw in a single lemon to brighten it up. Busy day in the kitchen, think I spent more time washing up than baking though.

Demoulding

Back to it this Monday, sat with Rebecca and cracked in with a bit of writing. I have noticed the house getting increasingly damp in places still which prompted me to do a little 'demoulding' of the house. The underside of my beloved coffee shelf plus a handful of windows around the place we're scrubbed until the cloth turned close to black. Feeling all the better for it too, but gotta stay vigilant, don't want our house to be mushroom central.

Stovetop Soup

B&Q let us down yesterday as they didn't have the tester pot of a paint we were interested in getting. So we check stock levels of our next closest branch, drove 25 minutes to get there and they didn't have any either. Rebecca was seething with rage the whole car ride home, all the while I managed to buy a pot of our hopeful colour off Amazon. Come hell or high water, we'll have a decision on our dining room feature wall soon.

We haven't turned the heating on yet, firstly because we're trying not to give into the energy companies, but also because one if our radiators is disconnected. The house feels a bit muggy at times so we have turned to the trusty woodburner. I took the next logical money saving step and heated up my soup on the top of it once it got roaring hot. It was alarmingly effective actually, despite making me feel like I was living in a Dickens novel.

2022 Bonfire

Despite feeling a wee bit ropey after last night, Rebecca and I went out to do some 'adulting' early on. We compared paints for our new dining room and did the food shopping, jobs that would have gona by much quicker without the mad tafiic around the city. Once the Sun set it was all about bonfires. Not since 2019 has there been a Guy Fawkes night at our now local park - I remember going to see the bonfire then with Louis, Rachel and Rebecca and suggesting to attend every coming year. Though we both moved closer to the park, Covid had different ideas. Tonight it finally came full circle, especially as we went with an old Coffee #1 chum I met in 2019. Funny how life works like that.

Jazz Friday

Rebecca was working from home today and wanted to make us both a batch of coffee. I showed her the ropes and she brewed a batch with the V60 while I put on some cafe-style jazz music. We sipped and worked together in the living room while the cat strutted around, hunting for chin rubs. It was a pretty idilic working environment, especially for a slopey Friday morning.

For the past 2 months Rebecca had been drumming up hype for her work due. Free bar, fireworks, live music and most importantly, a hog roast were all on the cards. Tonight was the night I finally got to be a plus one for this fabled event and I got to fill my boots with pork. The food wasn't the main takeaway though, instead I was impressed by the characters of her work colleagues. Rebecca's been a work-from-home housecat for a while so it's lovely to see her hanging out with work chums in person. I hope I didn't cramp her style too much.

Smirking Vegetables

Trying to commit a bit more time to Louis' vegetables these days. In doing a lot of little witty quips I realize what a giant task maintaining a daily comic strip like Garfield or Dilbert must have been. Those guys had to be funny in three to four panels every day for years. As long as my text elicits a single smirk from one player my job will be done.

Aioli

Tore a hole in one of my favourite shirts, but our wifi magically started working again... When God closes a door, he reboots a router it seems. 

Thought it might just be the dust from the building work, I think I'm coming down with something as my nose is all kinds of blocked. All bets are off if I sit in a comfy chair too as I'm finding myself drifting into a slumber. Hope I'm not poorly, I'm going to a hog roast on Friday and I want to be able to detect all the subtle, porky flavours with unblocked sinuses.

Speaking of sinuses, I attempted to make aioli with minced garlic and olive oil for a quick chicken burger sauce. The end result blew my socks off, who knew that eating 5 microchipped cloves of raw garlic could be so potent. Likely won't be making that again, but some recipes called for waiting 24 hours after making it - it gets a lot milder afterwards.

Late Halloween Scare

 As a late Halloween scare, our internet box decided to just keel over. Rebecca and I both made furious phone calls to Virgin and the best they could offer us both was a Saturday appointment to try and resolve it which might cost us £25.

So without WiFi I'm trying to make the best out of a bad situation. I went for a run, did some more writing and have turned to books for some bedtime reading. All through gritted teeth to some extent, but tomorrow I'm going to forget my frustrations and lean into an internet free week.