I slept well last night, a little too well, as I found it rather difficult to drag myself out of bed this morning. Since working at home, I have found myself playing the game of how late can I stay in bed before I am late for work? Today was cutting it fine, the compute was switched on with only a minute or two to spare. Tomorrow will have to be different, I am planning on a shopping trip first thing before work. Let’s see how that goes.
Once I had got myself up and running, I began the day with our team conference call. We had nearly thirty people on the call today, I think the highest number of attendees for a call so far. With multiple people talking and one colleague with an appalling connection, it became a bit chaotic. It’s great to see everyone, but I think we might need to limit the attendees a little in the future.
Yesterday I discovered that you can have backgrounds behind your during calls, working similar to a green screen. Obviously this was something I needed to try out, so after the waterfall setting yesterday, today I was soaring through the clouds.
Just before lunch, Sarah and I managed a few minutes in the garden for the first time this week. It was cold, but the sun was out, and it was a nice break from the dining room and the laptop.
Lunch was left over pasta, during which it was back to the Zoom call with colleagues. Usually, the team eat lunch together at 12, and one of the nurses runs a small quiz for the team to take part in as they eat. For the first time since lockdown we attempted the lunchtime quiz via Zoom. We had around a dozen people on the call, twenty questions of varying difficulty, and a chance to relax as a team like we usually do. It was only 20 minutes or so but it was a welcome distraction.
This afternoon was taken up my telephone reviews, email discussions and computer troubles. With the majority of our trust remote working, I think the IT infrastructure is struggling to keep us all online. Our new computer system is getting slower and slower as the days pass, and I am sure we will reach a point it does not work at all. Judging by the messages sent in the team WhatsApp group, I am not the only one having difficulties, and the frustration is building.
Sarah joined me on the walk this evening, having not had time to go for her walk at lunch as usual. The main topic of conversation; our travel plans once this is all over. While South Korea is still high on my list of places to visit, Sarah is now cheerleading for South California, or as she keeps insisting to call it, SoCal. I am sure she is just doing it because I hate portmanteaus…
Dinner this evening was tuna pasta (see below for the recipe) which turned out much better than I expected, and as always there is some left for lunch tomorrow. To be clear, the cheese on top on the photo needs eating before it is past its best, I wouldn’t usually go quite as heavy with cheese in such a small bowl.
Plans for this evening are friends, reading and the early night I promised myself yesterday which did not quite materialise. As I said at the start of this post, I have an early start tomorrow to get our weekly shop, and the list this week is extensive!
Tuna Pasta Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1-2 tins of tuna (drained)
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tin sweetcorn (drained)
- 1 onion
- Tomato puree
- Worcester sauce
- Herbs and spices
- Pasta
- Grated cheese if you wish
Recipe:
- Chop the onion and lightly fry in a pan
- Drain the tuna and sweetcorn (I kept the drained water and added it back later for flavour)
- Add the tuna and sweetcorn to the pan and fry for a couple of minutes
- Add chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, Worcester sauce and herbs to taste
- Mix in and simmer
- While this is cooking, cook the pasta as per the packet
- Once cooked, drain the pasta and add it to the sauce
- Stir in pasta, then serve with a sprinkling of cheese if you wish
Self-Indulgent Twaddle 