Downton Abbey: A New Era

Though the cinema audience for Downton Abbey: A New Era was by no means packed, I was humbled by how many people were invested in the story of these characters. The saga continues for the Grantham's and their servants, a French Villa is contested and a film crew visit the stately home, but otherwise it's buisness as usual. There's almost a Christmas panto energy to the proceedings that keeps everything light and airy, but it knows how to handle emotional beats with grace.

The hidden power of the film, to me at least, is how it manages to resummon memories of our own family and those who have passed during Downton's long run. Amidst all the not-so-subtle nods to Singing in the Rain, I found myself looking inwards a lot more than I expected, smiling fondly at the thought that Granny Sue could have been sat in the darkness next to me, chuckling at the screen.

Sink-Gate

With the work for my week neatly tucked away behind me I was expecting an easy breezy Friday... That is until sink-gate hit. Our costume department need some big, chunky commercial sinks to dye clothes, do laundry, general costume department things. Me and a colleague spent a good chuck of the day scouring eBay and the Facebook marketplace for nearby sinks and find some good looking contenders. Turns out even the biggest sink we found wasn't big enough... Costume instead wanted one they found going cheap... If someone was willing to collect it... From Essex. Really hope I don't have to do that drive on Monday.

Unphased Food Mule

Gathered wifi quotes and did multiple trips to Lidl during my day. Our little kitchenette is in a state of flux right now so none of us wanted to commit to buying a whole bunch of food... But then everyone got peckish. Not too fussed about having to do kitchen restocks on this job, mostly because they don't treat me like a second class citizen and are legitimately grateful for all my help. I've never had to buy balsamic vinegar for a production office before though, guess some if the guys there really love salads.

Washers Going Round and Round

Cast  my eyes over several dozen washing machines, comparing their prices before our production company buys a whole lot of them for our staggeringly big costume department. I wrote up a little report and my colleagues were very happy with what I found. Come to think of it, they're always pleased with what I put together for them - guess I'm making a good impression. We'll be moving office pretty soon and it low-key sounds like I'll be spearheading a bit of that move, good timing too because my muscles are starting to calcify being sat at a desk all day.

Late Chugga

Though my train was delayed, I still ended up being the first one in the office. Buried my nose deep into data inputting and spreadsheet updating... You know, exactly what we climbed out of the primordial ooze to do. Jokes aside, it wasn't so bad as I could sense the importance to the work. I'm also tweaking the green memo, giving it some chutzpah to encourage more people to read it. 

I wished Grandma Margaret a Happy Birthday over the phone too. She had a bit of a fiddle turning the volume up on her new phone but we talked about our cats and the garden. Her neighbours threw her a little party today too, that's the kind of old person I'd like to be when I get to that age.

Cardiff Cooperator

First time back in Cardiff for a little while, I wasn't there for sightseeing though as I had to head to my new office and pick out my desk. For the next two weeks I'll be working out of a soon to be demolished building helping out a production company with prep work for their upcoming shoot - little bit of a strange gig in that respect but my coworkers have all been immensely friendly. Didn't go in too strong on day one, I'll be bringing in my coffee stuff tomorrow though to blow their socks off.

Suction Power

Bless our old hoover, it had a good run but its lack of suction power really rubbed us the wrong way. It was luck of the drawer whether it manages to pick up an errant crumb or not... Well today was finally time for an upgrade! Since I do most of the home vacuuming I was the first to try out our swanky new one (I know where all the trouble spots are so I had a control area to base my testing) the difference was almost night and day. Rebecca infamously sheds a lot of her hair, once it fell to the floor her hairs became one with the carpet. The new hoover picked up old hairs that have likely been hanging around since we moved in... Which is a horrible thought. I went round the whole house and already filled up the internal waste bucket! Feeling much tidier now though - a great mindset to enter my first day on a new job tomorrow. Cardiff Ho..