Wait... it's February already?
I've been so involved with my new job I hadn't realised how quickly time is flying by!
Hello everyone. It’s good to be back with an email update. Firstly, Happy New Year!
Yeah, I know. Better late than never. So, what can I tell you? Christmas was great; we had a chilled holiday with friends and family. We ate too much and generally laid about watching movies and playing board games. On new year’s eve, we took ourselves off to the cinema to watch Avatar - The Way of The Water. It was an excellent film but could have been an hour shorter than the three hours we sat through. It was shown with the 60 frames-per-second option, giving it that horrible “soap-opera” effect. It got so bad that Rhona had to bail out after 45 minutes because she felt sick, all down to the motion sickness caused by the film transitioning between 30fps and the higher frame rate. Nevertheless, it was a much better way to spend new years eve than getting drunk and kissing your strangers at midnight.
I was back at work by the 3rd of January, straight into running grain from farms to the mills at Tilbury and Erith. Luckily, I didn’t have to have too many nights out in the truck. It is always lovely to be home for a hot meal, a soak in the bath and a comfortable bed to sleep in. My truck driving skills are improving daily, although I still have much to learn. Trucks leave gaps for a reason, not to provide a space to park your car into! I sometimes wish that car drivers could have a day out with an HGV driver so that they can understand the concentration required to deal with most road users.
Last week I was sent up to East Anglia, working a truck out of Diss. I got to see large parts of Norfolk and Suffolk. It is a beautiful part of the world. I noticed a large amount of military aviation every day. Everything from Apaches to Hercules’, F15s to Typhoons, it was pretty cool. Next week, I will work in Essex and West Kent, using a truck based out of Tilbury. I’m counting the days until I can take a few long weekends away from work, roll on March and April!
Karta continues to work hard at college; his art is coming together. He is almost as tall as me now; I must be shrinking! He is also learning to drive and has a weekly lesson, alongside driving our Skoda, with me as his instructor. He’s a natural.
Our event calendar is already looking healthy for the coming year; highlights include the GT World Challenge at Brands Hatch, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, WorldRX at Lydden Hill, WSBK, BSB and numerous car shows and gatherings throughout the summer. I had hoped to get to Le Mans for the 100th-anniversary race, but alas, it sold out quickly at a time when I didn’t have spare funds to cover the high ticket price. We will be holding an LM24 watch party and combining it with an event on the Sunday, so that should be a good weekend.
So, there you have it; a short update on what I’ve been up to. As always, I will endeavour to write more regularly, but it might be sporadic with work keeping me so busy right now.
Until next time, adieu.
Cheers, JP