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20th November 2022 - Time Off ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Listening to Shut Up You Freak. I finally had some time off. When I set my out of work e-mail doodad, it was set for returning at the start of June. Far too long ago!! The reason is all due to my mind struggling with sprint working and booking time off. Ideally, you need to book time off prior to sprint planning and I never seem to think that far ahead. I am only talking 3 weeks for a sprint so it is mostly me being daft and confuddled. As a result, I have a lot of holiday to use up as there is no carry over and the holiday year is by calendar year. I have just had a week's holiday and will be off for all of December. Seems a bit mad. The holiday started with a Scout camp. Well this was for all sections so we ended up with 45 kids aged 6 to 17. It was manic and there was a lot of emotion from the leaders. Silly disagreements where some people lacked a bit of empathy really. The kids were mostly great but I ended up with a few incidents to deal with. That was fairly nasty really. However, we got through it and I got some great feedback from parents. A new Scout, who left their last group due to anxiety and a lack of support for their particular neuro-diverse needs, said they enjoyed it. Well their mum sent a lovely e-mail thanking us for helping him really enjoy himself. We went from him having a bit of a breakdown on the Friday morning to firmly wanting to stay with our group. This is the sort of thing which helps make up for the rubbish parts. Lots of kids faced their fears and tried some new activities. Just a shame they never want to go to sleep on the Friday night! After camp, I went down to Plymouth to help my Dad look after dogs. He had 2 of his own and then my brother's 2 dogs. A nightmare to walk and they tend to get jealous if you try to only take 2 at a time. My brother and his family were off to Finland to ensure the Finnish family see his daughter at her cutest. She knocked a few of the key parts required for Finnish citizenship. At 3 months old she has been in the sauna (bottom step and floor only) and in the snow. A dip in the lake, eating salmiaki (salty licquourice) and drinking a fair bit of salmiaki flavoured vodka are the only other steps she needs before we can call her a true Finn. Well and play with her first knife. Can't forget that one. They had a lovely time it seems and my neice flew well. Bit pants in the car but another matter. Other than walking dogs, I visted a brewery based in Tavistock, a town in Dartmoor. The brewery is called Stannary Brewery and it focuses on craft beers. They seem to produce some great tasting stuff and so we went to make use of the tap room as well as collecting a selection of their beers. We had a great chat with the owners and they seem to be doing well. Yesterday, I came back to the Midlands although managed to spend some time with my brother. My neice is a little cutie who has a right cheeky grin. She is becoming more reactive and loves seeing people. She gets upset when you hold her facing just one person. There is lots of wriggling until you turn her around. That was a lovely surprise. I had to shift sharply back home as I was off to see Ezra Furman perform. She is a fabulous artist who writes and performs some great music. I got rather emotional while watching her. It is weird having such feelings. The crowd was surprisingly aged. I expected more people in their 30s/40s but the overwhelming age group was 50s/60s. I also expect more LGBT+ people to be there. It might be due to Ezra's popularity on BBC 6Music radio station and the listenership of Mark Riley's show. I guess so. It was a bargain at �18 for a ticket and I loved it. Today was spent doing a first aid course for Scouts. It is something I need to renew every 3 years. It was reasonably good. I could of done with some sleep today but first aid is always important and lapses in December. Next week I have managed to have to be in the office every day. This is a rookie move.I have no desire to do anything and planned to just be an e-mail monkey. Instead, I have to partake in workshops and audits. Sigh. My Grandad's funeral is on the Friday so that makes for a strange start to a month off work.