Day 105 - Thursday 2nd July


I have to wash my hair before work this morning so it’s essential that I get up on time but I oversleep because my phone has turned off during the night. Fortunately I’m only 10 minutes late and I leave the house on schedule and am first in. My colleagues arrive, who I have only met by Teams call before. There is a schedule, but nobody has shared it with me – apparently we are to spend 9-9.30 talking about Life. We do this until the 9.30 team call, then I go to the other office with one of my colleagues to talk about her projects. We’re joined by the MD to outline another project, then I return to my desk. I’m still trying to get my PC issues resolved, but they still can’t get it right.

Today I was asked to attend a webinar but it seems that I will instead be attending a project meeting at a local school with one of my new colleagues. I can listen to the recording of the webinar later; it will be useful background. It has been raining on and off all morning, sometimes heavily, and unfortunately our 10 minute walk to the school coincides with another downpour. My sandals become slippery when wet and I keep walking out of them, it’s really frustrating. Walking 2 metres apart doesn’t work; the pavements are too narrow to be side by side and one behind the other is awkward. We’re outside, so I guess the risk is low.

The meeting is socially distanced, in the school’s canteen. Leaving feels awkward as no handshakes are allowed. Fortunately on the way back the rain holds off, and my colleague and I chat about the climate change partnership; she’s interested in getting involved, which is great. I had let the IT people know I’d be away from my desk but they didn’t take the opportunity to work on my laptop. Sigh. I end up sitting idle while they make changes; I can see what they are doing and they don’t appear to be correcting my name. When they finish I send myself a test email which still shows the sender incorrectly; they tell me that this will take a couple of hours to flush through. I’m pretty sure they didn’t change it to my correct name but I give them the benefit of the doubt. I’ll check tomorrow.

I have to leave early tonight as the leader of the council has set up a meeting for the various agencies in the town to discuss the priorities for our recovery from covid-19. My co-chair from the climate change partnership will be speaking on our behalf but I will also attend. Each organisation has been allocated 2 minutes but of course they all take at least 5, so the meeting overruns. It’s great to see climate change on the agenda, though, and there’s a great sense of solidarity and collaboration which is very encouraging.

Hubby has prepared the bases and sauce for home-made pizza. Tonight I am grateful for the opportunity to influence positive change in my town.

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