Had the morning to myself today so cracked on with a few more chapters of Maths. Managed over three hours today so very proud of myself. Covered a lot of ground and endured lots of abuse from Mrs N and friends about being in a the classroom.
Felt pretty tired all day with the heat and yesterday's exertions so fell asleep on the sofa at about 9pm and never recovered
Day 10 - The Leatherman
Nichols household was up early and I drove the running crew up to Pound Ridge. Conditions were very hot compared to last year but I made sure I was at the front for the start. Peter fell right at the start but recovered and we did the first mile in 7:45. He slowly pulled away but I kept a good pace up for miles 2,3 and 4 but felt very thirsty. Hit a bit of a wall on mile 5 and walked a bit..very disappointing but got it back together and finished in 54.08, 3 mins faster than last year.
It was a great turn out from Hastings, Dobbs and Diageo and we all shared a few pints of Guinness in the sun before heading home. Didn't need the Surger as the cans were all shook up from the car journey! Ted had lost his Cup game so a little gloomy and even more gloomy when Jamie gets taken out on lap 9 at Talledaga. Will his luck ever change? He's so off the pace now, perhaps even worse than last year and yet has had really good cars all season.
Went off for dinner at Blue Hill with Rob and Christa. Wow...incredible food. Set menu with no clue on what's coming we had 5 courses that were truly outstanding. Managed to stay coherent but very glad to hit the pillow that night. No work tomorrow. Makes Sunday night that much sweeter
It was a great turn out from Hastings, Dobbs and Diageo and we all shared a few pints of Guinness in the sun before heading home. Didn't need the Surger as the cans were all shook up from the car journey! Ted had lost his Cup game so a little gloomy and even more gloomy when Jamie gets taken out on lap 9 at Talledaga. Will his luck ever change? He's so off the pace now, perhaps even worse than last year and yet has had really good cars all season.
Went off for dinner at Blue Hill with Rob and Christa. Wow...incredible food. Set menu with no clue on what's coming we had 5 courses that were truly outstanding. Managed to stay coherent but very glad to hit the pillow that night. No work tomorrow. Makes Sunday night that much sweeter
Day 9 - Double Header
No run this morning as my foot is hurting so a little concerned about tomorrow.
Not much happening this morning but take Alice to her practice and then head out to Jersey for Ted's double header in very hot and sunny conditions. They boys win their first game 6-2 eith Ted scoring a blinder and then wilt in the second game, losing 3-1. Advised Ray to play Andrew at the back and he did very well.
Quick run back turns into a 2 hour crawl over the GW. If I had turned left instead of right I would have been home in 30 mins. Bugger. Missed the HEF auction which to be honest I was OK with as I wanted a decent night's sleep before the run tomorrow
Not much happening this morning but take Alice to her practice and then head out to Jersey for Ted's double header in very hot and sunny conditions. They boys win their first game 6-2 eith Ted scoring a blinder and then wilt in the second game, losing 3-1. Advised Ray to play Andrew at the back and he did very well.
Quick run back turns into a 2 hour crawl over the GW. If I had turned left instead of right I would have been home in 30 mins. Bugger. Missed the HEF auction which to be honest I was OK with as I wanted a decent night's sleep before the run tomorrow
Day 8 - Signing On
I think I did this once when I was 18 but never actually claimed anything. I vaguely remember a DHSS office in Victoria. These days it's all on line so I filled in my details and find out next week if I get some cash to oil my retirement.
No Maths today as Kevin and I drove up to Woodstock to scout the Ragnar Relay route in May. It was a glorious day and the first 12 legs are going to be on small back country roads with great vies in the Catskills. We ran out of time to do any more but finished up in New Paltz before heading home. The relay is going to be a blast but I am a little worried about Sunday. My foot is hurting and does not seem to be easing.....hopefully it's psychological.
Today is the official launch of Guinness 250 celebrations and I have hardly thought about it at all. This date was etched in my mind for months but now it's here I feel a million miles away from it. This is a good thing.
We have agreed a price and closing date for the house. Almost there.
Day 7 - Never Delete Before You Are Sure
Up at 6 for my track work out. Decide to take it easy with 4 sets of 400m with the hill and then 3 sets of 200m with negative splits. Finished strong.
At work by 8am and powered my way through 4 chapters before 10.30am. I am writing this on Friday and simpl can't remember what I covered. I have the retention of a leaky sieve. Good that I wrote it all down. Interrupted halfway through for a house sell update. Doesn't look great but if we sort this out by the end of the week we will be home free.
Very busy afternoon that started with me attempting to download the 3 commercials my mentor group shot on to iMovies. I screwed it up and lost the lot. First complete panic and door kicking of my retirement. Managed to shoot all 5 again and then show them what they had achieved in 5 weeks - from watching an ad to making one. I'm so proud of my 10 budding capitalists.
Back home and then out again to take coach Alice's team for an hour. We practiced "not being scared of the ball" with a bunch of drills. Much better from most of them but still too much flinching going on!
Rushed back for Quiz Night at the High School. "Flamingoes and Flags" looked great and did OK but never troubled the scorers. We had fun though and ended up with a beer and a chat at the Jaegers.
I didn't get paid a cent for all of that and I was exhausted. Went to bed with a smile on my face.
Day 6 - Isosceles Trapeziums
I now know what an Isosceles Trapezium is. Well, I did this morning and now I've forgotten again. This is the problem. How the hell am I going to retain this stuff so I can teach it. I have decided to go back to the tried and tested model that worked for me at school and Uni. I am writing it all down in a textbook and will just keep going over it until I learn it. It got me 11 As at O Level.
The other excitement today was my first trip to the pool for the third triathlon discipline. We swam about 0.64 miles and it felt like 64. I just cannot do front crawl but know I have to. Not bad for our first swim but I think it's going to be the toughest part of the race.
It started raining this afternoon and hasn't stopped. Ted's cup game was postponed again so I took him to practice and got soaked again watching them train. Got myself a little 5-a-side work out at the end. I love playing against 12 year olds.
Completely forgot that we now have a Mac as our family computer. I lost patience with the PC and it is now up in Alice's bedroom devoid of any internet connection and with a clean reloaded Windows OS. Let's hope it lasts til we leave. The Mac is extraordinary. 4 pieces out of the box, ready to go in minutes.
Day 5 - Whisky Galore
Early morning run with the boys. Didn't fancy the hills today so a straight 6 miles. Big race Sunday so don't want to overdo it.
Couldn't get settled into the Maths as we were haggling about the house. Went to Stew Leonards instead and then straight up to Mt Kisco to meet with Evan and taste some whiskies for a small import company. I'm trying to persuade them to pay me for some consultancy work so I can meet my monthly quota of earnings from Mrs N. This one will be tough as I sense they want my help but don't want to pay. Evan did a great job with some fabulous malts, especially the Port Ellen, but unfortunately their best stuff is the limited bottlings of single malts and their blend was average at best. They promised to call but I don't hold out much hope. Consultancy lead #2 is also a long shot as I met Tim for a coffee to discuss that one. 0 for 2 today...back to the Maths.
The good news is that we got an improved offer on the house and provided we can agree on a closing date and the survey is satisfactory we will have sold the first house in Hastings for 6 months. Very scary.
The scotch tasting prompted me to get my scotch whisky books out again for a read. Good stuff.
Day 4 - Back to School
Today I sat down with Year 7 Level 4 Maths text book for 2 hours. I am aiming to do 2 hours a day starting at Year 7 and ending with perfect GCSE scores in 3 months. An easy start but the hard bit is putting myself in the head of a 12 year old who doesn't understand and explain the subject at hand in a simple and fun way.
What is algebra? quick quick, 5 second explanation...failed that one already. I know how to do it all, I just haven't got the pithy explanation on the tip of my tongue...yet
Mrs N and I made a list of jobs around the house to do today. She of course completed them all and I failed dismally. I did receive my two boxes from the office, one full of whisky and the other full of my old notebooks. Mrs N does not know about the notebooks and if she did they would be straight in the bin. The whisky is for gifting.
I decided today that I am retired not unemployed. It really does sound better and technically I have retired from one profession in order to pursue another.
Went to see Lily Allen in the city. Great show and I was impressed by her stage presence and vocals. I've really enjoyed going to gigs this past year or so, especially in the smaller venues. It pissed down on the way back to Grand Central. We walked back rather than got a cab which was fiscally prudent but miserably wet.
Got back to find out our realtor had called. Nail biting time.
Day 3 - No Sunday Night Butterflies
Finally I get to sleep in and it feels good.
A single viewing of the house today so we walk to Antoinette's just as everyone leaves church....whoops.
Alice's second game of the weekend and she plays like a demon, scoring one goal and marking their best player out of the game for large periods. I ended up as referee in my bare feet. That impressed the parents.
A little nervous about selling the house as the viewings have dried up, every other house is having an open house and the economic outlook is very gloomy with more foreclosures on the horizon. We do have an offer but we are $$$$s apart. Let's see what happens next week.
Sunday night - no work tomorrow and my stomach is not doing its usual somersaults before going back to work.
Day 2 - The Sun Came to Visit
Up early for a 10k pace run although my legs didn't feel like it after the bike ride. A creditable 7 min mile to finish but 8.46 total. Ouch.
AYSO soccer starts this week and what a great day for it as I watched Alice's practice and then coached her opening Xtra game against their great rivals, the ADFH Silver Stars. They handed us a 2-0 beating which Coach Nichols was not happy about. I don't think it was the reverse Christmas Tree 1-2-3 formation that did it but it could have been the missed penalty and lack of communication. Or it could have just been the hot day and the other team played better.
Complete disaster on the Eastern front. Mrs N and Ted have gone to his State Cup game in Jersey and I get a frantic phone call at 5pm that the referee won't play the game because our coach, Ray, does not have his pass. I have told him a million times that I don't have his pass but will he listen?
In the end, the ref leaves, we play a friendly, beat them 5-2 (Ted scores) and the other team say they are going to find it hard to schedule the game again next week (Oh what a surprise).
I am craving a quiet night in but as soon as Mrs N gets home we are off to the Castle in Tarrytown for dinner with Rob, Tom and partners. It's a great night out and once again I am humbled by their high opinion of me and the gifts that follow - an inscribed "teacher's apple" with a quote from Einstein - "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge". Bloody hell, that sets the bar a little high.
In addition I get the most inspired gift I've seen in a long while - a miniature but fully functioning harp. Beautiful.
We get home and Ellen is not on iChat. Knock me down with a feather
Day 1 - What Shall I Do Today?
This is an attempt to record my journey from being SVP of Marketing at Diageo to a Maths teacher at a school in Winchester. I have absolutely no idea what I will be thinking and feeling a year from now so here goes....
I left work yesterday after 20 years in marketing, 15 at Diageo. Never more than 3 weeks (once for my honeymoon in '93 and once in '99 after Alice was born) away from an office in those 20 years. I now have 5 months until I start work as a teacher. I fear I have become somewhat institutionalised. We shall see
I kicked off the morning with the full back catalogue of Smiths songs. I thought this would be an amusing way of letting Mrs. N know that it's going to be fun to have me around the house during the day......mmmm, maybe not.
I also discovered that I can surge a pint of Guinness from the car. This will be very useful on Sunday when I am running a trail race with a shirt that says "Follow Me For a Pint of Guinness" on the back.
I have decided to do a triathlon in June so went for my first bike ride on a proper road bike with Kevin. I did feel a little like the kid in "Breaking Away". I had an old borrowed bike, borrowed gloves, trainers, shorts and t-shirt and a manky old helmet while Kevin had the new bike and all the professional biking gear. 14 miles later I had a sore rear end, hands and neck but felt like I had accomplished something. We bumped into Bob and agreed to start a new club - "the non-working men's club". We now have three members and will be using his hot tub for meetings.
That evening we went out with friends and toasted my new status. The dinner out was nothing to do with me it was for Bob who is going to have more surgery next week after years of pain. Good Luck Bob! I fussed about the bill for the first time ever.
We get home and Ellen is still on iChat. No change there then
Last night's final dinner with the DGUSA Exec...happy times
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