Ok – I eventually got to see it – and as it turns out, it was one of those holywood style affairs. You know – when you walk out thinking it was all very exciting, but with this nagging doubt that something was wrong… then as time goes by, you realise you’ve been had – that actually the plot hidden under all the action and fireworks didn’t actually fit together properly….

Anyway, I did manage to go jogging again on Tuesday evening – despite trying to convince myself that the fact I wanted to pack my shorts for Wednesday’s trip was a good enough reason not to go….

This getting fit thing isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s not the running that’s the problem. It’s the stupid excuses I keep coming up with not to go… Still, they say there’s a three month cut-off period for this kind of thing… it’s a sort of momentum - if you can keep on going for three months, you create a new habit for yourself and it becomes harder to stop than to carry on.

Or so the theory goes. Apparently it applies to new years resolutions… if you’re still carrying them on by the end of March, you’ve probably succeeded…


Palma

On Wednesday I went to Palma. A two day business trip – I’m doing some animation work for a superyacht (more than that, I can’t say as I’m under a confidentiality agreement). And it’s quite a yacht too. The sort of thing millionaires take their holidays on…

The flights out and back were absolutely fine, but I still don’t like flying. The trouble isn’t really the safety of planes – and I don’t feel any more or less secure looking out of the window or sitting in the isle. In fact, looking out is always beautiful… it’s just that for some reason I always feel better knowing that what I’m standing on is solid right through to the Earth’s molten core. No good reason for that, but it doesn’t matter what the plane’s doing or where I’m sitting in it – I can’t escape the constant uneasy feeling.

The woman next to me in the queue had a Tee shirt bearing the words “I’d rather be jogging”…. I don’t think I’d go that far, but it’s a tough call.

I managed to pass the journey by watching Genesis of the Daleks on my ipod… sad I know, but there you are…

About half way through, the stewards came through selling ropey sandwiches. At the same time, I noticed the smell of baking bread – coming not from the sandwich trolley, but from the air conditioning….

I didn’t know Easyjet had adopted the same selling techniques as supermarkets and house sellers, but apparently they have.

As we landed at Palma, we passed the wreck of a small plane upside down beside the runway. Reassuring.

At the end of the day, some things are scary - but you can’t decide what to do based on what worries you. It’s scary getting married having children, running a business… Nothing worthwhile comes without leaving your comfort zone… you just have to be worried and do it anyway.

the view from my hotel


The job
The trip itself was useful in that I got to meet the people I’m working for and get drunk with them… That’s a pretty important part of a project sometimes – once you know each other a little bit socially, it’s a lot easier to work out what each other wants and can do.
We also got to check out the boat (which right now isn’t finished) and we got to talk the project through a bit more.

It was a bit of a flying visit (in one day and back home the next) and I’ll probably have to go back in a couple of weeks when things are a bit more complete.

This certainly looks like a promising job – with possible other jobs coming from it too….

We’ll see…

check up
Yesterday, George had a check up and the hospital told Lisa he doesn’t need to come back for two years…. His heart is working fine… which is great news.

My mum also seems to have got her broadband working, which is great (although they haven’t yet become comfortable with the idea that you leave it attached – they still plug it in only when they want to go online and then unplug it afterwards – mind you, they do that with the answerphone too, so it’s not a surprise).

Mum seems to be doing well with her hip, and she’s doing the right amount of resting and exercise. They’re even thinking about making some of the changes to the house that will allow her to look after her hip once she’s better.

One of these is the addition of a walk in shower. Right now, the plan seems to be to build a new room for the shower by extending into the garage. It would be easier to fit it in the upstairs bathroom – but apparently this will involve re-doing some of the tiling, so it’s not a good option. Not quite sure why moving a few tiles is harder than building an entire new room – but sometimes it just is. Sometimes, the psychological challenges are harder than the physical ones.

On a similar note, Grace and Igor are still very unhappy with their home (it sounds as though they’ve got good reason to be – the carers last week didn’t know how to operate Grace’s oxygen cylinder. Something I can’t believe they’ll get away with because when she needs it, it’s a matter of life and death!) Carol has now found them a place near Rustington, and they seem interested in taking a look.

However, that would take them further away from my parents and when it comes down to it, Grace isn’t going to want to get further away from Dad and risk seeing him less often.