Weeknotes #31: the way old friends do

Week commencing Monday, 21 August 2023

Quantified Self

This week: Stand 5/7; Exercise 6/7 and Move 7/7. (86%, great). Morning walks: 2/4 (days in the office don’t count). Office days 1/5. Total steps: 69,973

Monday, a presentation from students suggested people may be turning back to linear TV. Food for thought.
Later, a quiet train journey back to London to be ready for an “in work” day on Tuesday. Joined a conference call for the last minutes of the commute to the office. I don’t like doing that, but I was a lurker rather than a contributor.
Met up with past and future, but no present, colleagues in White City. Weather very suitable for outside socialising. Beer was good but too drinkable. Glad of a late start the next day.
The Way Old Friends Do: ABBA song or play? We went to see the latter at the Criterion. I forgot how nice the auditorium is and that it’s an independent theatre trust. Act II was a little darker. The play was fun; getting caught in the torrential downpour while walking between Waterloo and Piccadilly Circus, less so.
Afterwards, bumped into old friends P&W, confirmed plans for Sunday which involved meeting PY & P after the volunteering shift for coffee (Redemption Roasters was lovely), a guided walk (fascinating) and dinner at Mele e Pere, which has, apparently, been open since 2012 but I swear it was called something else.
More old friends on Saturday when tentative picnic plans morphed into ‘at home’ picnic (at a table, sheltering from the rain). I want to make the lamb and harissa sausage rolls that were served but I am not good at any recipe that involves pastry.

I finished the two sequels I mentioned last week. Both followed the adventures of the crime solvers at Cooper’s Chase retirement village. The Man Who Died Twice:

“More women are murdering people these days,” says Joyce. “If you ignore the context, it is a real sign of progress.

Within 24 hours of finishing the first, I finished the second (helped by a nice long train journey). The Bullet That Missed:

People drift in and out of your life, and, when you are younger, you know you will see them again. But now every old friend is a miracle.