Some berk nearly killed me today

I'm still reeling a bit from it. I was riding home yesterday evening, minding my own business, when the car ahead decides to do a U-turn right in front of me. Without signaling. Or looking. Before I know it I'm lying on the road with my bike on top of my leg and I'm swearing my head off. He pulls over to the other side of the road and comes over to see if I'm all right. I've managed to get up but am still swearing. The anger fades and I go into a sort of numb shock as we move the bike out of the way and then exchange details. To give him his due he's very apologetic and nearly as shocked as I am.

Still a berk, though.

Down in the Tube Station...

Spent Monday and Tuesday filming at Kings Cross Underground Station. Working with deafblind people to make a training video for Underground staff on the particular needs of this section of society. All in all very tiring and brain-shattering, but the passengers and staff we worked with were all, without exception, fantastic. It does the head in, though, spending all day under artificial light. Hats off to the peple who do it for a living and seem to keep their sense of humour!

Brain's going

As I stagger towards the ripe old age of 43 I'm becoming increasingly aware that my memory is fast disappearing. I keep a diary and without it I would not be able to remember what I did yesterday. A case in point recently was comepletely forgetting about a friend's birthday, even though I had been told about it only last week. Not only was I embarrassed but also a bit worried about the state of my grey matter.

Being neighbourly

I like living in Plumstead a lot. Over the years I've got to know a few of my immediate neighbours, enough for a chat in the street, swapping Christmas cards etc. Yesterday my neighbour across the way saw me heading out to post a letter and offered to take it for me since he was heading that way. Good stuff.

Sunset

Riding across the Common today at around 3.20 I was struck by the golden quality of the sunlight as the sun hit the horizon. After the murky rain-filled day it was refreshing. If only I'd had my camera (or the energy to come back out with it instead of having a cup of tea and a sit down)....

Meanwhile, here's one I took earlier:

Commuting is fun

We were filming near Westminster yesterday so I had to catch the 7.29 from Welling to Victoria, carrying a heavy bag of lights and a cumbersome tripod. I wasn't looking forward to the trip since it brought back memories of my two years of commuting hell (from Hither Green to Edgeware Road) in the mid-80s.

As it turned out the experience wasn't that unpleasant. Welling Station was busy, but I got a parking space easily. The platform was pretty full but everyone seemed friendly enough. To my surprise the train wasn't jammed full and I got a seat all the way. I don't know if I'd enjoy doing it every day though...

Worklife

I'm lucky enough to work from home most of the time. Means I can keep my own hours and be flexible. I miss the regular wage packet and banter of office life, though. I don't miss interminable meetings and impossible demands, on the other hand. As a partner in a small multimedia company we meet a broad cross-section of people from local authorities, charities, businesses, schools and government departments to name a few. The majority of the time we have a great relationship and will produce work that exceeds the expectations of our clients. Every now and again we get a bit narked when the lines of communication are confused - my biggest bugbear is the "hurry up and wait" scenario where we work bloody hard to finish a project to the client's deadline and then they sit on it for days, weeks, even months before signing off.

Dadlife

I always said didn't want to be one of those people who mentioned their kids at any opportunity, and I think, ten weeks down the line, I've pretty much kept to that policy. That said, it's been an incredibly exciting and (at times) terrifying time since our daughter was born. We're very lucky to have a baby who hasn't really caused us any worries or problems, whose smiles and gurgles make our day, every day. I think we've taken parenthood in our stride (kudos to my wife especially) and are really enjoying it.

Nightlife

Such is the excitement of my life! I was out in the back garden on New Year's Eve, hoping to vicariously experience some fireworks, when I took this shot. Something about it intrigues me