Laurence Andrews

The Beginning of The End? In the first piece of good news for a while, yesterday the first person in the UK (well, first person in a western nation) received a vaccination for COVID-19. Jabbing a pensioner is no doubt a remarkable piece of progress but there is a long way to go before things are back to normal. But, a step forward is a step forward! For the record, I absolutely would have the vaccine - I trust science.

Here at home, Medway is still very much in a bad way although it has now been overtaken by Port Talbot as having the highest case rate. We’ve seen the army turn up and commence mass-testing of those without symptoms here in the towns, although the council is being selective in who is permitted for a test. Most recently, Rochester Cathedral has been setup as a testing centre. Victoria and I have not been invited and it’s being made quite clear that no invite = no test. We would both rather like to go and have one done to put our minds at ease a bit.

On the topic of getting back to normal, the Government are still trying to wrestle a deal with the EU before the end of the transition period on January 1st. Boris was in Brussels last night arguing over fish and it’s clear things didn’t exactly go well. Still a little shell-shocked that we’re in this position with Brexit - can we go back to how things were now please?

Oh and Elon Musk is still building a rocket in which to travel to Mars.

…and this is why I don’t trade stocks. Get a set-it-and-forget-it S&S ISA and stick your cash in a global index tracker. Compound interest is waaay sexier than the $TSLA rollercoaster.

Big news! Victoria has just been invited for the Medway non-symptomatic testing. So looks like I’ll get my wish of a test 🧪

First bottle of my Naked Wines order, done. A Californian Zin. So far, so good. Really enjoyed this, sweet, smooth, just dry enough. 10/10 would drink again (which is handy, because I have another bottle!) 🍷

Really struggling to cope with my 2017 MacBook Pro now. Even on a regular Teams video call my CPU is absolutely slammed. Wish Apple would hurry up with the ‘pro’ M1 MacBook Pros, no way I’m upgrading to the same RAM and fewer USB-C ports.

🔙 update: still waking up in pain 😞 Have tried for three days to get an appointment with a Rheumatologist, proving to be much harder than I expected… Good news is that a morning ritual of Voltarol and Ibuprofen sorts things out pretty quickly - not a long term plan!

It’s cold and foggy outside this morning! 🥶 The coldest reading yet on my emonTH monitor. Going to need to wrap up for the morning dog walk!

Despite being reminded I forgot to renew the home insurance. Whoops! Just done it, so now all good. Half the price of the renewal with a much lower excess. £211 - not bad. 🏡📄🙏 Covers my scuba gear too! 🤿

Just received my first Naked Wines order. 17 bottles of red/white/sparkling for just over £100. Fingers crossed they are not all terrible. They all look pretty good, but obviously the label doesn’t tell much of the story! 🍷

Have just seen that early this morning Kevin Escoffier has been transferred to the French Frigate, FS Nivôse. So pleased to see that he is on his way home and that Jean Le Cam is able to continue in the Vendée. There’s a great video of the transfer here: www.youtube.com/watch

I should add ‘Wikipedia editor’ to my list of accomplishments, having updated then entry for the Nivôse. Just doing my civic duty. 🙂

There has been an upgrade to our gin delivery system. 😁🍸 (oh, and we left the house for the first time in a while)

Something a little bit different today, thought I’d give a Riesling a try. Not really a fan of white, but that I do like tends to be very dry. This is quite nice, first German wine I’ve had reminds be of the Apfelwein I had in Frankfurt many years back. 🇩🇪🍏🍷

Today has been a nice relaxing day. We confirmed yesterday that we are COVID-free, which is good. As a bit of a treat I popped down to Iron Pier and picked up some fresh beer (which was amazing).

This morning we woke up early and went to Hempstead Valley to pick up some wrapping paper, coffee and a few veggies for some soup. Managed to get that all sorted quickly, before it got busy.

Oh and I know this is incredibly boring but we got a new garlic 🧄 press too (this one) which is amazing. Super easy to clean and you don’t even need to peel the garlic! The amount of time back in my life!!

After we got back made some soup ready for next week, watched the Medway Yacht Club AGM and sorted out the lawn. Exciting ‘blue’ jobs! We then wandered up to The Kings Arms and got another beer refill, first time we’d been up there in many many months. Victoria bagged herself a bottle of Dockyard gin too. 🍸

Now, watching the Sakhir qualifying with George Russel in Lewis' car for the first time. He’s currently smashing it! Good for him. Can’t wait to watch the race tomorrow.

Chilly morning here in Upnor today, after a night of what sounded like constant rain. Had to break out the shell, mid-layer and hat! But that’s certainly not a complaint, you can’t beat a fresh morning. I was quite surprised however to read that there has actually been snow, the temperature here didn’t drop below 3℃

Woke with the worst back pain so far today and couldn’t get to sleep again so arranged a GP appointment using Babylon (via Bupa). Just spoke with a lovely doctor called Danielle, who said I should have spoken to somebody about things much sooner. Her conclusion is see a Rheumatologist to rule out Ankylosing Spondylitis which could be the cause. If it isn’t that then they would be able to help figure something else out. She also referred me to an Orthopedist to do some checks. I guess we’ll see how things go… Assuring to know it’s not just me complaining, at least. Have to say, second time using the Babylon service and it really is fantastic.

Other than that, Medway continues to top the COVID case charts with 531 cases per 100k residents, that’s 236 new cases yesterday. On Wednesday, Rehman Chisti raised the issue to the Health Secretary who in turn announced that there will be an emergency deployment of non-symptomatic testing supported by the armed forces. The first of three additional testing centres in Medway is being opened in Chattenden tomorrow. All very scary, and looking unlikely that there will be much of a reprieve before Christmas.

Very privileged to have had a demo of Microsoft Teams’ new Breakout Rooms feature yesterday. Very hotly requested within the Colliers business here in EMEA. Looking forward to seeing it in production.

Today we’re having some technology strategy planning sessions. I’ve got my Colliers Santa for some support! We’ve been using Mural Co for some virtual white-boarding.

Good morning! Ready for a new day, frustrations of yesterday are in the rear view mirror. It’s nice and fresh outside, the sun is up 🌅 and I’ve got a hot cup of Rwandan 🇷🇼 coffee in my hand ☕️ let’s do it. 🙏

A much more positive day today. Good progress on all the work things, set backs are no match for the standing desk. Up and at it nice and early and didn’t finish up until late, but happy so that’s all that’s important 😊

Also, my feet are killing me, which actually helps me take more breaks and focus more when at my desk. The dog even got three walks today, which he was very confused about!

Now running some deco, watching Lost with Victoria. They’ve just discovered the others, the memories of this! Over 15 years since I first watched. Oh and having a sneaky Signature Brew Saison.

Looking forward to a well earned sleep tonight!

Back pain continues today despite the new mattress 😒 Really feeling old now. Just setup my desk so I can stand, so we’ll see if that has an impact. I have a decent chair, but wonder if perhaps my positioning when using the chair isn’t good. Wish me luck! 🤞

Mixed bag of a Monday today!

The standing desk was a definite win and although my feet hurt I’m an absolute convert. Felt more focused, more attentive and got distracted less, which is good if nothing else. Back is feeling better although true test will be after some sleep tonight. I’ve bought a mat on Amazon to help my feet a bit and read that I should really wear shoes too, which kind of makes sense.

Otherwise, I got approval to proceed with a project I’ve been working for a while now, which is fantastic news. Not the most exciting thing but a very sensible 4 month housekeeping excercise which I’m pleased is moving forward before the end of the year.

Another meeting was less positive and well, thank goodness for Lagavulin! Getting there with this topic, but it’s proving far more tricky than I ever comprehended, frankly.

Lovely surprise from Mrs A this afternoon. My absolute favourite whisky and a beautifully written card. What a fantastic weekend it has been. So lucky 😌

Two big sports news stories this weekend. First, Alex Thompson, after working to complete several days of structural repairs to the damaged bow HUGO BOSS was forced to retire from the race after damaging one of his rudders. A very frustrating end to his 5th Vendee globe attempt where he was among the favourites to win.

Alex and his team worked to push the boundaries of technology this year both with the vessel and providing a new level of online engagement with fans, something that I hope makes an impact for the 2024 race and other sailing series too.

And in the Bahrain Grand Prix we witnessed one of the most dramatic accidents for many years where Romain Grosjean crashed into the barriers on the opening lap. The crash resulted in the car splitting in half with the survival cell piercing through the steel barrier and bursting into flames. Grosjean was attended by the medical car which chases the cars on an opening lap and marshals who quickly doused the flames permitting his escape.

An incredible incident where there is now absolutely no question that the once-controversial halo saves driver’s lives. I look forward to seeing the post-race investigation to understand what else could be done, while it’s clear technology and engineering resulted in the drivers survival, there was some element of luck too - had he not been able to extricate himself then I fear things would have been different.

This doesn’t make any sense… Medway is currently 4th in the COVID charts, continuing to climb and yet in three day time the gyms will be open and I can go and get a haircut.

Yes, Medway will be in Tier 3, but surely that’s just not enough? If things are as bad as they appear and getting worse then how is a relaxation of anything a sensible approach?

Victoria and I will certainly not be going out for the foreseeable. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should and all that…

We continue to question how the five-day Christmas ‘forget about the rules’ system makes any sense at all - should we pop off to Cornwall (in Tier 1) as we normally do and risk spreading to family members? I’d rather not have that on my concious, to be honest.

Very foggy morning in Upnor today. Not often you can’t see St Mary’s Island at all!

Tonight is Spaghetti Bolognese night, which also makes it red wine night. 🍷 Cheers everyone. Oh, also, we’re officially isolating. 🦠