Working From Home Herald - Issue 29

 

Issue 29:

The one with the F.R.I.E.N.D.S Reunion:

Last week on the 27th May, millions of millions of people tuned in to watch the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. reunion. Em and I were two of them that watched it as soon as we could having dropped the children off. It was perfect for us as we had booked the day off to celebrate the reunion of the cast and to mark 21 years to the day that we started dating.

Like many F.R.I.E.N.D.S had a huge impact on me. It started when I was 15 and ended when I was 25. A lot of what the characters went through, I could identify with. Emma and I met 21 years ago and our first date was drinks and a movie. The film was Final Destination (a horror which I happened to have seen the week before). So, whilst Emma, jumped, squirmed, hid her head, and screamed (during the film not on the date), I was the stoic, brave stranger who wasn’t fazed by the scares throughout the film. (my first viewing was a different story and I never admitted that I had seen the movie until 2 years later!!).

It wasn’t until we had the drinks though and you inevitably search for the thing you have in common, that we happened to stumble upon our love for F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Banter ensured as we both tried to outdo each other of our knowledge of the show and the night was filled with laughter, the rest they say is history. 

What was already a strong connection to the TV show now became “our thing” and we have pretty much watched it on repeat ever since. 

As for the reunion show itself, whilst some were disappointed with the two hours, for us it flew by. Oh and of course….THEY WERE ON A BREAK.

The one with the best weekend ever!!!

I haven’t been able to say that too many times over the past 14 months, but this weekend was excellent. The sun blazing had a hell of a lot to do with it, as was being able to do things and meet up with people, which is slowly becoming more prominent.

In addition to watching the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. reunion last Thursday, Em and I managed to go out for a nice lunch at Miller and Carter. That was followed by barbecues at the local football club on Friday and again with good friends Sunday and Monday. 

The biggest bonus of the weekend was undoubtedly getting the pool out! Our investment last year was still as good as ever and me and the kids spent most of the 4 days in the water. I’m not going to lie; we did question the wisdom of filling the pool up on the first day when the water was like ice and it immediately clouded over. However, we have been blessed with glorious weather, the water gets warmer every day and the pool is here to stay for the next few weeks.

The only slight downside is that we have never had the pool up so early in the year before and we’ve discovered that at the end of May is the period the blossom drops of our sycamore tree. The filter cleans most of it, but there is an awful lot of fishing out the blossom.

 However, there is nothing better, when you are working on a boiling day and you know you have the option to log-off at the end of the day and then instantly dive into a cold pool of water. In fact, why wait until the end of the day. It is lunchtime as I type this! 

The one where helping others brings unexpected benefits:

I hang out with my brother in law and his family a lot. Over the past few months he has been having pain in his stomach and a month ago he was admitted to A&E with it. He was out within a few days, none the wiser really but feeling better. Last week he was rushed to hospital again, this time the Doctors kept him in. He had three very large gall stones, an inflamed pancreas and blood levels that were off the charts. 

(I admit I struggled to think of photos for this article)

As with most things, the knock-on effect of each symptom impacted on the other and the doctors were not comfortable removing the gall stones until the rest of his body responded to treatment. 

I visited him a few weeks ago and he was thoroughly miserable, especially since he had been told he couldn’t have the operation he needed for 5 weeks. He asked to go home and was told it was allowed as long as he was supervised and managed the pain. With his family working and not able to work from home, I volunteered to help and work from his house for a week. 

What I thought would be a favour to him, worked out really good for my wellbeing. The change of scenery was great, the WIFI was a million times better than mine, but most importantly, I experienced two other perks - a quiet house and lots of mini tea breaks talking to him. It very much replicated an office environment where you would stop and talk to someone on the way to make a cup of tea; someone that was not your immediate family. 

The big thing that surprised me is that it left me looking forward to coming into the office more than I was previously. When working from home it is so easy to get used to a certain way of working, especially if it is convenient and cost effective. It is also easy to forget what it was like to work in an office and socialise. Hybrid working seems to be the best of both worlds.

The one where Toby is too sexy for his shirt.

Yesterday whilst on a call, I could hear a lot of belly laughing coming from downstairs. I was even more intrigued when 5 minutes later, a piece of paper was slid underneath the office door with the uneven childish scrawl stating, “When you are free, come downstairs to witness Toby’s photo shoot.”

Intrigued I finished my call to find the three boys giggling as they connected the phone to the TV and told me to sit down on the sofa. I was then treated to over twenty photos of Toby posing like a model, the best of which I’ve included below.

Apparently, Toby didn’t need much direction and instinctively knew what to do.