anyresemblance

Crazed

I must have been optimistic about the return to time zone. I could  not get to sleep last night and read till 2am.  I am sure this is normal to the insomniacs but not me.  I finished the Louise Penny which I liked but did not think was outstanding.  I dunno, there was too much "they sat down to a delicious daube redolent of lamb and rosemary" for my taste.  Anyway, I liked reading something about Canada for a change.

Today was slow but I did a methodical walk through some outstanding tasks but there is a long list to be completed.  I like my new desk location looking out over the garden.

I walked Charlie to my local coffee shop and was shamed to meet 3 well dressed work colleagues.  Trust me to be in my t shirt scattered in paint and my daggy shorts.

Patience

Instead of being frustrated at the fact that all my photos are coming in sideways, I am taking a deep breath and taking this as a sign that I need to learn some photo editing skills.

I got home Friday morning finally.  I got an upgrade but did not sleep much.  Instead I watched the Dressmaker (much better than anticipated) and Rock the Kasbah which got woeful reviews but I actually liked (I seem to have enjoyed many turkeys on the plane, viz, Jupiter Rising.)

I managed to stay awake till 9pm, slept mostly through the night and followed it up with a good night's sleep last night.  Today we majored in moving the furniture around and making much more sense of my study, making Northern Fried Chicken, dog walking and decluttering.

My daughter sent me flowers  from this lovely place, the Floral Society, where you build a bouquet like you're in a noodle bar.  So enchantingly fresh and charming.  It was so nice, we stopped in today and were served by the young florist who had a pretty little pansy tattoo on the inside of her arm.

What's wrong with this picture

Weird, dystopian landscape from my bedroom window this morning.  My back is filling me and I am about to spend 13 hours in an economy seat.  Don't feel sorry for me. I am starting my yoga class on Tuesday and can not wait to stretch my body out.

It's not often one escapes to Dubai to avoid the heat but apparently that is currently the case at home.  The kid sent me delightful video of the pup frolicking in the lake and the kitten stretched out under the table.  Can't wait to get home to see them all.

Good humour

I've been in a good mood all day.  It must be the bright day light compared to the dungeon like lighting I spent last week in.  Today I worked hard, met lots of people, received kitten photos, ate lunch in the open air and successfully used uber in Dubai. 

M&S

I know not many people feel the need to spend an afternoon in Marks and Spencers when they are in Dubai but that was me at the Dubai Festival City Mall (still unsure what is festive about it.)

I had a very successful haul:

• long overdue baby gift for a former blogger
• white linen lounging pants (I tried on the Liz Hurley look white jeans but no, just no)
• new pyjamas (I was too ashamed to send my holey ones to the laundry so chucked them in the bin and bought new ones)
• new mug with a hare on it (am still thinking about those mugs with British birds on them my brother had in Cyprus so am making do with other British wildlife)

Not purchased, percy pigs for my step son.  I can only assume that being pigs they are porcine non grata in Dubai.  I also thought the easter egg selection was poor but was not sure if that was because it was Dubai (see above on non halal stuff) or because this year was rubbish.

Then I came back and ordered tabbouleh from room service, opened my rioja I brought with me from Spain, watched The Musketeers on the BBC entertainment channel and slept for 8 hours.

This morning I had another great breakfast (middle eastern food has to be my favourite food) and am plowing through my work to do list.

The time is now

My boss is always asking me "what time is it?" and like a dad joke, I reply with the punch line "the time is now, Antonio*, it's now" and he laughs and says "that's right, anyresemblance, the time is right now everywhere in the world."  I sent him the link to this article with the tag line "you and the north koreans have something in common."  That article started slightly sane and then became completely bonkers but he wrote back "people laughed at Galileo..."

Anyway, I have no idea what fecking time it is and am now at the airport for a night time flight to Dubai which will confuse me even more.

I had a pleasant day with an outing to the Zara flagship store, the purchase of some insanely comfortable Geox shoes and a couple of hours drinking rioja and eating croquettas at Mercado San Miguel.  My carry on is full of piggy products which I am supposed to be carrying as gifts but may well scoff in the hotel room in Dubai.

*not his real name

Finally

My proudest accomplishment this week is getting my email working on the new laptop and importing my photos.  

I have slept really badly this week, in part because of being stuck in a hotel for 72 hours.  I arrived on Sunday and it took to Thursday night to set foot outside the hotel and have dinner out in Madrid.  For some reason this hotel is really dark so I have also not managed to adjust my circadian rhythms to the proper time zones.

Today I am walking around in daylight a lot.

It was a good work week professionally.  I worked with a  great team from Austria who made me laugh a lot.  I also learned a lot about oil production in Azerbaijan and spent time with a lot of young Romanians.

Photogenic

I've realised over the past week how much it matters to me to have a pleasing photo to accompany my ramblings. 

This is my third trip to Madrid in the last 9 months.  It is bloody freezing and I am glad to have brought my cashmere cardigan which I got half price in the M&S sale.  When it arrived it still had the security tag on and the rather bewildered person on their help desk unhelpfully told me "oh dear, normally we tell people to take into the shop but I don't know what you can do."  I tried a couple of local boutiques, one owner telling me cleverly to take it to David Jones but by that time, I was fed up and got the wire cutters out which easily despatched of the tag.  Anyway, I am feeling cosy in grey cashmere and uniqlo thermal layers and north face gloves I bought in Toronto.

This hotel is an airport Hilton with an excellent restaurant and shocking decor.  I am fine with the latter since the former is so good and I did get upgraded to a corner room with a giant bath.  For breakfast, I feasted on hard boiled eggs, manchego, some different pig products and that tomato pulp stuff.  I was wide awake from 3am and starving so I was the first in there when they opened at 6am.  Me and a Japanese air crew who were just as busily tucking into a giant feed despite their tiny waistlines.

I watched Burnt on the plane.  Does Bradley Cooper only play one part these days? the good looking bad boy who needs redemption from his self destructive ways?  Silver Linings? Aloha?  I think I like him better being obnoxious in The Hangover franchise.  Take it from me, this movie is woeful.

Hola

24 hours on I've watched all of season 1 of Agent Carter. Loved it and now obsessively watching YouTube videos of 1940s hair styles.


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Location:Avenida de la Hispanidad,Madrid,Spain

Spritz

Thankfully I am in a better headspace. I still have not sorted my email and am carrying two computers but I think I know what I need to do.

I have hours in Sydney due to paucity of flights leaving on a Saturday afternoon and my need to be here early with no anxiety producing gallops to the gate. The airport is deserted and I am praying to the patron saint of upgrades. If not, I have melatonin and War and Peace.

I read Station Eleven this week. I can't remember who recommended as I've been waiting for it from the library for a while but it was worth the wait. If you say King Lear in a dystopian future it sounds heavy but it is a remarkable narrative full of beautiful characters. I raced through it and was sad when it ended.

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