I’m not quite sure that I know where to start. While the rest of the family have been dropping like flies – suffering from various colds, flu, or possibly COVID, I seem to have become bullet-proof. Quite the turn-around after spending the majority of Christmas and New Year running a huge temperature.
Of course nobody outside of the blog knew I was sick over Christmas. I’m rarely “allowed” to be sick. Somebody has to keep going, and patience grows incredibly short if I’m not pulling my weight. Others that work from home will understand the circular hell I often find myself in.
Today was… full. After jumping out of bed a little after 7am, I cleared the kitchen (a mystery of the universe – it was tidy when I went to bed), saw my youngest daughter off to college, then set off down an all-day rabbit hole solving an interminable programming problem – interspersed with meetings, video calls, and chats with co-workers.
As lunchtime lurched into view, a little voice that had not quite talked me into going running at 7am returned, and was quite insistent. I joked with my eldest daughter earlier about the “Screwtape” nature of the conversation going on in my head – with one voice saying “stay in the warm – it’s raining”, and the other saying “you disgust me – get off your arse”. The disgusted voice won.
I spent my lunchtime running around town – intervals (because I’m still incredibly unfit) for a little under five kilometres. I wondered if my chest might give out during the first few intervals, but took it easy and made it to the end. I won’t deny – I felt like a truck had run over me afterwards, but was glad I did it.
After lunch, and several more hours headbutting the desk while chasing an interminable programming puzzle, I made it to the end of the day – and the realisation that everybody else was sick, so guess who was going to be making dinner?
I scouted the cupboards and found everything required to make spaghetti bolognese. Within three quarters of an hour I was delivering bowls to the bedrooms of sick family members. They didn’t eat it, so now we have a fridge full of bowls covered in tin-foil. Lunch for tomorrow perhaps.
After washing up, I thought I might escape to the junk room for a couple of hours, but somebody had resurrected themselves from their death bed, and asked if the Christmas decorations might be pulled down. Bang went the evening.
After numerous trips to the attic carrying boxes of Christmas ephemera, I finally escaped to the junk room and jumped down an internet rabbit hole with friends for a couple of hours. A few of you know about the simulator, right? During the pandemic I taught myself to fly all manner of pretend aircraft is a realistic simulator. This evening we took on the “Expressway approach” at Laguardia, New York. I can do it with my eyes shut, but know lots of other people struggle – there was a morbid fascination watching to see how they got on.
Anyway.
It’s not late o’clock, and I’m sitting on the sofa with my laptop, sipping leftover Christmas drinks, and watching rubbish on TV.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
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