Day 5 in the Big Brother Go-Live Room!.
Author: DM Matthews
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Day 5 in the Big Brother Go-Live Room!
I had forgotten how interesting go-lives could be. This is my day 5 but for some of the guys it is day 8. Some of the Business users came in yesterday to start working on the system and they brought with them a can of Lysol and antibacterial hand wash! They said the room smelled like a university dorm room, Stale pizza, doughnuts coffee and tea smells. The floors had not been vacuumed in days as every time the cleaning staff comes in someone is on the phone working an issue and can’t have the vacuum running in the background. We are down to one male still wearing a tie everyone else has given in to sleeping that extra 5 minutes rather than fuss over appearance.
The canteen staff know most of us by name now and what we all like to eat and drink. I went to the shop yesterday to get some snacks and it was like a flock of vultures as soon as the team spotted what I had in my bags! The snacks were wiped out in about 15 minutes. If you snooze around here you will certainly lose! We arrived this morning to a pleasant surprise, the room had been cleaned top to bottom and all refuse had been removed. The stale food smell was gone and the trash bins were empty. That was about 5 hours ago and now it looks pretty much like it did yesterday. Oh well, this is our life for a few more days. Next up Italy in July.
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Is a Number Just a Number?
When it comes to ages and milestones I have only struggled with my 28th prior to this one that is. Strangely, I am 48, turning 49 in the summer. I had forgotten about my 28th year and how difficult I found it. I guess the only good thing was that by the time I hit 29 I was over my growing older crisis. Now at 48 I find myself in a similar situation. This time however, my worries and I suppose fears, are not centred around what I have not yet achieved but on the things I don’t want to change or lose.
I have finally found my place in the world and that only came with finding my one true love. I know how lucky I am to have found this love and I appreciate the fact that so many people never will. But this is also the root of my rediscovered fear of turning another year older and another year closer to the next milestone age.
I have a beautiful family that is quite large now due mainly to my two lovely and prolific brothers as well as my fantastic step children. I want to take a snapshot of my life right now and then say “this is where I want to stay, right here, right now.” Because I have never been more safe, more loved or more content than I am at this very moment. If it is not possible to stay here then at least slow the clock down, make every minute last a bit longer. Let me enjoy every moment with these people who are my life. My gorgeous Pamela who captured my heart over a pub lunch. My grandma who is well into her 9th decade spanning two centuries. My parents who taught me how to love and still show me be example every day. My brothers, who will always be “the boys”. My eldest brother and his pride of having kids in 4 different decades and two different centuries! My step “kids”, their partners and our granddaughters. Also my 10 month old Labrador. Now maybe you can understand my hesitation in taking this next step along the road to 50. I know for some this will seem old already but for others you will be thinking ” only 50…I wish!”
Wherever you are along your road I hope you take a snapshot too and look at where you are, what you have achieved and appreciate every moment. If you are not yet at that perfect place in your life and you are struggling to achieve just remember, as one of my new favourite lines in a movie goes, “it will all turn out in the end and if it doesn’t turn out then it is not yet the end.”
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Have I told you…
We are all so busy with work and family sometimes we can take for granted those closest to us. Ask yourself these questions and if the answer to any one of them is “no” for those you love, then do something about it now. Don’t wait until tomorrow or the weekend or any other time…do it now. We have become masters at the art of making excuses and justifications “I had to work late”, “Today has been an absolute pig and I’m tired”, “Life got in the way…” Whatever the excuses they are no longer valid don’t do it now!
Have I told you today how much I love you?
Have I said “thank you” for everything you do every day?
Have I shown you how much you mean to me by doing something special for you?
Have I reached for your hand to hold it just because you are beside me? -
When Work Feels Like Nursery School
Today at work I could have easily been back in nursery school. We played various grown up versions of children’s games such as Pin the Tail on the Project Manager, Hot Potato or Pass the Ticking Time Bomb and my personal favourite “close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears and say “I can’t her you!” By the end of the day I did not know if I should call my mommy to pick me up or raise 25 Programme risks!
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Circular Conversation…
I work in a very diverse and multi-cultural team and on many occasions someone says something and it is not immediately clear what point they are trying to get across, but you figure out a way to understand each other. Then you have those times like I had today where you have to go and speak to someone about something for the second time. I approached this individual and starting in by saying, ” I’m sure you remember last week when I asked….” As I’m speaking I can see his head nodding and he is smiling but his eyes are telling me that he is completely clueless about what I’m saying. I try again, I rephrase my question. More nodding and smiling. I’m thinking “this is the point where you actually speak and words come out that tell me what I need to know.” Nothing. Normally by now I would give up and find another way around my problem. In this case however, this person is the only person who can help me or rather who should be able to help me. If he does not know the answer then my problem just got much bigger. Then those fatal words came out “leave it with me.” Oh no, not that! What he is really saying is “leave it with me until you forget you asked me. That way it doesn’t matter that I don’t have a clue about what you talking about.” In the end I walked away nodding and smiling.
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A Really Good Day at Work…
When was the last time you had a really good day at work? (FirstWatch folks excluded because you all work in the “Dream Team”). I realise that I am still in the honeymoon phase of my new job but still yesterday was the best day I have had at work in a number of years. I won’t bore you with detail other than to say that I had to give a presentation (as one hour of a day full of presentations) to a group of people I had not yet met. I had to present my test methodology (see why I did not want to bore you?). Not the most exciting topic I’m sure you will agree. I launched in and did my best. When my slides were finished and everyone in the room was still awake and did not appear to have gnawed any limbs off I felt pretty good. Then I received some lovely comments from the people around the table. I was floored. I was not expecting such a positive reaction. I don’t think I actually even touched a single step on my way down the stairs…I was flying! That feeling lasted long intro the evening and I felt great. We all need a day like this once in awhile just to allow us to remember that what we each do everyday is important and does make a difference to someone. This exerprience will now always be there and on those days there are not so good, I can draw on this to push me through. I hope you have one of these days soon.
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Home!
Yesterday Pam picked me up in Coventry and we drove home. Not just to the house of bricks and mortar that we live in but home. I walked inside and was amazed by what Pam had achieved in just three days. The kitchen and dining were ready for company. The sitting room felt warm and cosy just waiting for the many conversations that are to come in this room. My office was all but ready to work in (thank you Ann and Helen) and the master bedroom looked incredible. Pam cooked a lovely meal and we ate at our dining room table with candles burning and Presecco in our glasses. It was a fantastic homecoming. I sat at the table in this place that was my past but is now my present and future and it felt just right. A place to watch our family grow and flourish. Tess has settled in and acts as if this has always been home. I know how fortunate I am to have this wonderful life and have such fantastic friends and family.