Weeknotes #17

Another bank holiday weekend means another delayed weeknote.

At the start of last week, I thought I’d be spending Tuesday meeting some of the Get Into Teaching team at the DfE’s offices in Manchester. Instead, I spent Tuesday evening in a Holiday Inn in Guildford, conducting some user research alongside my colleague Katya. I’ve spent a fair amount of time on the project chatting with training providers, but this was the first chance I got to speak with people looking to teach. While daunting, placing myself in situations where I have to speak to strangers almost always turns out to be a good idea, building confidence and igniting my inner entertainer.

On Thursday I received delivery of a table for the part of my flat that could be called a dining area, but better described as an awkward space at one end of the kitchen. And in this awkward space now sits a table that’s possibly 10% too big. It feels like most of my time at home is spent learning to live with my poor interior design decisions (or those of the builders I hired a few years ago). As is so often the case, I’ll try and convince myself that this is an iterative project, and that means things will improve over time.

Thursday also saw the final training session with my personal trainer, who I’ve been working with for the last four years. In that time I’ve lost over 8kg and lowered my BMI from 25.5 to 23.2. I’m also much stronger and fitter (although my diet remains an area for improvement). Having surpassed the original set of goals I set myself, I ought to set some new ones – and possibly attempt an audacious fitness-related challenge.

The photo I use as my avatar is almost ten years old. Although I still look like a 12-year-old, that’s not to say I haven’t developed a few wrinkles in that time. So somewhat embarrassingly, I spent an hour or so with James Gilyead on Friday evening who took some photos of my face. Now I need to decide which of them to use, which is going to be difficult; not because of James’ photography you understand, but due to the subject matter. Following our photo session, we inadvertently stumbled upon Danielle’s leaving drinks. Always happy to help people flex a company credit card, I spent the remainder of the evening getting suitably lubricated in the pub. Which was nice.