Farewell to the River & Rowing Museum

I blogged about it before, back in early July: the River & Rowing Museum in Henley will close down this weekend. As we live fairly close to we went there a few times, obviously not often enough. I had bought a year pass in January 2020, thinking I would make my return on investment within three visits, I only used it once, for obvious reasons. I don't think we will visit it before it closes, but I hope something nice and available to the general public will open in its stead. Because the venue was really lovely too.

River & Rowing Museum (RIP)

My wife and I learned some very sad news recently: the River & Rowing Museum in Henley is closing down. We used to go there occasionally, before and after we became parents. The last time was in... January 2020. I had bought a yearly pass, having calculated that with only three visits, not only I would make up my investment, but save money on top of that. And as we don't live very far, it would be an excuse to visit the lovely town of Henley more often. Obviously, it was a gross miscalculation. The sad thing is, we never went back to the museum, even after the pandemic, even though we visited Henley a few times. And now, well, it is too late, or almost. The las day to visit it is the 21st of September, but visiting it might feel a tad too depressing.I guess I didn't like the place enough to go there again, but it is always heartbreaking when a museum closes down.

Olivieri (In Memoriam)

 Triste nouvelle apprise par hasard et vraiment, mais vraiment en retard: je cherchais des infos sur la librairie Olivieri, je trouve leur page Facebook, j'apprends sur celle-ci que la librairie a fermé ses portes en 2020. Parce que pandémie, bien entendu. J'étais déjà pas très heureux qu'Olivieri ait dû vendre son âme au diable. Maintenant elle n'est plus. La mort d'une librairie, c'est toujours tragique.

Four years later

 I know, today is the equinox, but it is to me a very special anniversary. A similar one to many people living in the UK, but slightly different in my case. So four years ago, it was leaving the office of my old job for the last time, as the government had ordered total lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was going to work from home for a while. I naively thought it might only be two weeks. Unlike others, I was really looking for it: I hated my job and I hated spending time in the office. Until I found something better, working from home, with no boss breathing down my neck, no petty colleagues, close to my family, it felt like a borderline extended holiday. And it did, until I got furloughed in May 2020, then lost my job in June... To find another one soon after. Four years later, I am happy in my job, I still work (mostly) from home and well, things are much better. So the 20th of March 2020 marks the day I started feeling good again, work-wise.

Bonfire Night (and what else in November)

Tonight is Bonfire Night. Not my favourite special day, I quickly get bored with fireworks, which seems to be all it is about, when you think of it. In this country, it is the big event in November, at least the biggest celebration in November. Unfortunately, it is also set early in the month. After that, all we are left with here are the fireworks. But hey, I do like the smell of bonfire if nothing else. That said, there are other fun things to do in November in this country. The English Heritage mentioned its top five. Here we have my wife's birthday in a few days. That should keep us entertained. And you, what are you planning to do this November?

Les bureaux vides

Il y a un édifice avec des bureaux juste derrière chez nous. En fait, les fenêtres arrière donnent sur leur stationnement Il y a quelques années, le stationnement était plein de 9 à 5 au moins. Depuis la Covid et le confinement de 2020, c'est vide, ou presque. Il y a parfois quelques voitures stationnées ici. Quand les restrictions ont été levées, ça n'a pas changé. Ma femme a appris récemment que l'espace de bureau est à louer. Il semblerait donc que nous avons parmi nos voisins des bureaux vides. Ce qui ne me dérange pas: ça rend notre environnement beaucoup plus tranquille. En fait, nous espérons qu'ils ne seront pas loués de sitôt. À une certaine époque, j'avais espéré trouver du travail là-bas, comme ça j'aurais été proche de la maison. Et de l'extérieur, ce n'est pas un environnement laid. Mais c'est encore mieux quand ce sont des bureaux fantômes.

Pandemic (the board game)

Our last trip to John Lewis was a few months ago. We rarely buy anything there, when we do it is generally small things. That said, I love to spend time in their board games section. Last time we went there, I stumbled upon Pandemic, a board game about a world pandemic. It could have looked sci-fi a decade ago, but not anymore. I heard about it in the middle of lockdown back in 2020 and I was wondering if, when things would turn back to normal, it would be worth buying. At the time, I thought it was too close for comfort and we could not play board games anyway. Now that I saw it in John Lewis, I am tempted to buy it. The only thing is, at the moment I have more board games than we take opportunities to play them. But I am very tempted...

Malades

Depuis dimanche, mais encore plus depuis hier, je suis malade. Tous les symptômes d'une grippe d'homme: toux, éternuements et le frisson. Je ne sais pas ce que je déteste le plus. J'ai vérifié si ce n'était pas la Covid, heureusement non, enfin mon test s'est avéré négatif. Mais bon, même si c'est pas la Covid, c'est pas plaisant pour autant. Pour ajouter à notre malheur, Wolfie a commencé à se sentir malade hier soir aussi. Alors nous sommes deux alités sur trois dans la maison. Enfin alité est un grand mot dans mon cas, je suis relativement fonctionnel, mais je vais prendre ça très mollo aujourd'hui afin de récupérer.

Le retour de la foire

Après deux ans de pandémie, la foire du mois de mai, appelée "May Fayre", est de retour. Bon elle était de retour l'année dernière aussi, mais cette année ça risque d'être plus imposant. C'est un festival local qui dure toute la fin de semaine et qui est vraiment l'un des plaisirs du mois de mai ici. Pour petit loup, qui est maintenant conscient de ces évènements, ça devrait être très excitant. J'ai aussi très hâte. Les foires locales, grandes ou petites, surtout celle de mai et celle de septembre, font parties de ces nouvelles traditions que j'aime beaucoup.

Prudence à Pâques

Pour ceux qui veulent savoir comment célébrer Pâques prudemment avec la sixième vague (c'est bien la sixième?) de Covid-19 au Québec, lire cet article dans La Presse+. Ici, nous fêtons dans notre cercle familial restreint, nous verrons assez peu de monde sinon. Mais c'est vrai que c'est plus facile de faire Pâques modestement et de s'amuser quand même (surtout avec un jeune enfant).

2 years of WFH

This title may sound like a complex formula, but it's a tad more mundane. I just remembered that today was the second anniversary of me working from home. Well, mostly from home, as I have been in the office since then. If you read my post from that date two years ago, I had said that it was going to last maybe two weeks. Funny how things turn out. And a lot has changed. In two years, I've had three different jobs, all in all. I hated the job I had when I started working in lockdown (in fact I hated everything about it), so working from home came as a blessing. Now I'm much better off in every way. Today, to mark the anniversary, my chair broke down at the end of the day. I have a spare one, but not comfy, so I ordered one very quickly. Two years of (mostly) working from home and I still acted as if it was a temporary measure.

About Walks

At the heart of the pandemic, our family was taking quite a lot of walks. Especially but not exclusively at weekend: nearby woodlands, the neighbourhood, sometimes other places my wife found on Google Map and got curious about. Then for some reason, we stopped. I think the lockdowns and sort of demotivated us. I'm not very proud of it, but we spent a lot of days in, not going much further than the garden. It only changed recently, again I'm not certain why. We just decided to walk: in the nearby woodlands, to the nearest pub, or just walk in town. And it made us all feel very good. But it struck me that I am not used to it anymore: every time I got home my legs were sore. Hopefully I'll get used to it.

Looking for an office desk...

This weekend, we went to John Lewis for the first time in two years. It was a pleasant visit overall. As muchas I hate shopping, it felt nice doing something we had taken for granted before the pandemic. And our nearest John Lewis is actually a pleasant place to go to. Wolfie got quite excited anyway. But we went there for a reason: the lockdown may be a thing of the past, but I am still going to work from home pretty much in permanence now, so I need a proper office space, with proper office furniture: a chair and a real desk. This is no longer time for guerilla working. So I looked for a desk and a chair and so far bought nothing. There is one desk I liked, the one pictured above, it looks like an old fashioned desk, with leather and dark wood. I was very tempted for a moment. But I thought the price was a bit steep for what it was and for its size. So I will keep on looking.

New Socks

I don't know if it is because of Covid and the fact that I spent a lot the last two years inside, but many of my socks have holes in them. I had to get rid of many and I am on the lookout for new pairs. Especially warm socks, as these days are quite cold and I must keep my feet warm to feel comfortable. When we went to the petting zoo last weekend, I stumbled upon this pair of socks in the souvenirs shop. Men's Socks (or Mens Socks?), probably local products, price was cheap(ish), so I bought them. I'll wear them today. If they are as warm as they look, it's a good investment.

Of books, bookshops and the pandemic

I found this meme online recently (I wish I knew where this picture was taken) and it made me laugh a lot. I also think that, for a meme, it's actually pretty smart and spot on. Our daily life has been changed a lot since the pandemic. A lot of what we took for granted turned out inaccessible and some things that we thought ridiculously far-fetched and at best improbable are now not only plausible, but even common. It changed us a lot. Thankfully, we still have bookshops, even if they have been struggling.

Blue Monday (so-called)

Once again this year, it is Blue Monday. Which I don't believe into, to be honest. Anyway, the third Monday of January is meant to be the most depressing of the year. It sort of makes sense, January being particularly gloomy and Monday being, well Monday. But for my taste, every Monday is Blue Monday, especially in January. And I will make a confession here: if I had to choose a personal Blue Monday, it would be at some point in July (I hate summer heat). Be that as it may, even in gloomy January and accepting, for argument's sake, that Blue Monday is a real thing, it could be worse: I don't hate the job I have (a few years ago, that was a different matter)and the current pandemic means that I don't have to commute. Working days generally go pretty fast, thankfully. And you, do you feel bluesy on Blue Monday? If so, how do you cope with it?

Farewell to the DIY shop

I learned some sad news yesterday: the local DIY shop, which has been in business for 25 years, will be shutting down soon. The Covid pandemic hit it hard apparently. it is very sad not only because it's another independent shop that gets hurt, but because it was really a nice shop. I say this and I was never into DIY or very good at it, but the staff there was nice and friendly, knew their business and therefore I always found what I was looking for and got back from there entirely satisfied. It even had a miniature train station at some point, worth the visit in itself. But even after they took the model away, it was a pleasure to go there. My aunt, the sister of my mother, once said about her late husband (the best of men)that: "When (he) is bored one weekend afternoon, he goes to the DIY shop. And if after he comes home he is bored again, he goes back to the DIY shop again!" I thought she was merely describing one of my uncle's many nice little quirks, but looking back at it after having experienced this local shop, I think it makes perfect sense. There are worse ways to kill boredom than getting a few useful tools for the house. In any case, it deserves to be a great unknown line.

Tout ce que je vais dire sur le sujet

Bon, on parle du Québec, de certains Québécois, à l'international. Vous savez à quoi je fais allusion. Vous deveinerez que ça m'a mis en colère. Des influenceurs, qui ont voyagé de Montréal à Cancun et ont foutu le bordel dans l'avion, se comportant comme des pirates paquetés (et/ou cokés et/ou sur le speed). Je ne vais pas m'épivarder là-dessus. Le PM Trudeau les a traités d'Ostrogoths. Je n'aime pas le PM, mais c'est assez juste. Je vais le dire comme ça, ce sera une vacherie et c'est sans doute tout ce que je dirai sur le sujet: ce sont des esties de colons sans classe ni éducation, le nez plein de poudre. Même leur franglais est merdique et fait saigner les yeux comme les oreilles. Ils peuvent bien attraper la Covid, la chlamydia, la syphillis, les morpions, ou une bonne vieille tourista, un cocktail de ces maladies, c'est pas mal tout de qu'ils méritent. En demeurant expatriés, idéalement. Qui les veut anyway? Gang de débiles.

Tea in the Train

As I mentioned here, I went to the office a few weeks ago. It's not a great looking office to be honest and I think I am more efficient working from home, but it allowed me to travel by train for the first time sine the beginning of the pandemic, which was great. I had really missed train travels. I also enjoyed buying food and drink from a Puccino's stand. I had a cup of tea of course, because that is my hot drink of choice. I love what it says on the teabag: "Coffee is SO over." Kind of ironic since they also (and especially) sell coffee. But nothing beats a nice cuppa tea taken during a train journey, especially on a cold morning.

About train stations

 As I mentioned a month or so ago, I was required to meet my colleagues and my bosses in the flesh. I did not have time to mention it, but I went to and through London last month, for the very first time since the pandemic. More to the point, I traveled by train for the first time in two years or so. And oh how I had missed it. I took this picture on the way back, in St Pancras. Maybe the most beautiful train station in London. But I love the atmosphere and the beat of pretty much all train stations, big and small. Anyway, this post is an excuse to share this picture. I should post more about my train journey in the coming weeks.