jonathan.beckett@gmail.com

Twenty to Midnight

As the title suggests, the clock is whirling inexorably toward midnight once again. I'm sitting in the dark of the junk room, watching a pretend aeroplane whistle across a pretend sky – headed for Halifax, Nova Scotia. It's relaxing, in a strange sort of way.

Work is going well at the moment – although all-consuming in a very non-relaxing way. While software development is fulfilling, it is also draining. The amount of concentration, effort, and mental gymnastics needed to bring projects to fruition is often enormous. It takes it out of you.

Life at home continues as it always has – putting one foot in front of the other. Just as I thought I might be getting ahead of the bank a little, the washing machine started to fail. That will wipe out the meagre savings we had made in recent months. We never seem to get far away from zero.

I woke up this morning having pulled a muscle in my back. I did it yesterday – although I'm not entirely sure how. I've been taking ibuprofen throughout the day, which has helped. I swear... my body is starting to fall to pieces. I put it down to working from home. I went from cycling miles every day to not cycling anywhere at all – and it's having an effect. I really DO need to start doing something regularly. I've begun running from time to time, but never seem to stick at it any more. I am succeeding in losing weight though. A kilogram or so per week. Slow and steady.

Anyway – my pretend aeroplane is about to land. I need to go “do my job” in the flight deck.