From a working holiday to the life we'd be living if we lived in Poland
This has been in part a working holiday for me. When Iza suggested going to Poland for 8 days rather than a long weekend, I said ok, but only if I can have unfettered access to a decent internet connection. This turned out to be entirely necessary. Despite having finished the main Thing I needed to deliver for my project, I ended the week with several urgent tasks outstanding. That's how every week ends, of course, but when you go on holiday you can't just pick up again on Monday.
Except this time I could. On Sunday I wrote emails for most of the car journey; on Monday I worked almost a full day via Citrix remote login; and I've done little bits and pieces since then, including some personal business that had been dismally neglected. I feel great. I'm relaxing and having fun and getting things done, all nicely mixed up together. So to the people who knee-jerk parrot-phrase generic garbage like "ooh, you need a proper break" I say: fuck you, you know nothing.
I detest it when generic advice is given to a specific person in a specific situation. Especially if that person is me.
My, how did we get onto that? I was telling you about my holiday. Which included spending a night with our friends Andrzej and Kamila and their four year old son Mateusz. They're about our age, lovely people but in many ways very unlike us: they're a wholesome, decent family living the respectable middle class dream in a nice house they built in the suburbs.
Now you can be as cynical as you like about family life, but there's also something undeniably wholesome about it, especially when the kids are younger. It's a good energy to be exposed to from time to time. Also, children are wonderful.
Before I could start relaxing with our hosts, I had a bit of work to finish. Damn middle-aged hooligans - they sit in your garden wearing their business school hoodies, tapping away on their BlackBerries, emailing instructions back to their gangs in the office:
Iza found the trampoline:
Then so did I:
This is a new game called Whisky Football. You need a four-year-old child (not pictured), his father, a football, and a generous glass of single malt whisky for each of the adults (in this case I'd brought Talisker; yum). The game was invigorating and surprisingly casualty-free:
Andrzej's contribution to the afternoon's fine spirits was a bottle of Sobieski Vodka (aka Bruce Willis vodka):
Despite preceding photographic evidence, our visit really was more about time with the family than high quality binge boozing. In support of which, a wholesome picture of Kamila (pregnant with their second son) and Mateusz:
A close-up of me emailing in the garden. My face was in shadow so Andrzej increased the exposure time, turning my sunlit grey hood bright white. I just like the overall effect:
Andrzej recently bought a digital SLR and threw himself into learning photography, attending a reputable course. He was able to pass on some tips, especially helpful since Iza brought my old SLR (Canon EOS 350D) along on this trip.
One unpleasant bit of personal business I've taken care of on this holiday was a long-overdue email to our landlord, accepting a whopping 15% rent increase. This means we pay £130 more per month, which hurts, but we were getting a good deal before and sadly the new rent is reasonable. Bugger.
Except this time I could. On Sunday I wrote emails for most of the car journey; on Monday I worked almost a full day via Citrix remote login; and I've done little bits and pieces since then, including some personal business that had been dismally neglected. I feel great. I'm relaxing and having fun and getting things done, all nicely mixed up together. So to the people who knee-jerk parrot-phrase generic garbage like "ooh, you need a proper break" I say: fuck you, you know nothing.
I detest it when generic advice is given to a specific person in a specific situation. Especially if that person is me.
My, how did we get onto that? I was telling you about my holiday. Which included spending a night with our friends Andrzej and Kamila and their four year old son Mateusz. They're about our age, lovely people but in many ways very unlike us: they're a wholesome, decent family living the respectable middle class dream in a nice house they built in the suburbs.
Now you can be as cynical as you like about family life, but there's also something undeniably wholesome about it, especially when the kids are younger. It's a good energy to be exposed to from time to time. Also, children are wonderful.
Before I could start relaxing with our hosts, I had a bit of work to finish. Damn middle-aged hooligans - they sit in your garden wearing their business school hoodies, tapping away on their BlackBerries, emailing instructions back to their gangs in the office:
Iza found the trampoline:
Then so did I:
This is a new game called Whisky Football. You need a four-year-old child (not pictured), his father, a football, and a generous glass of single malt whisky for each of the adults (in this case I'd brought Talisker; yum). The game was invigorating and surprisingly casualty-free:
Andrzej's contribution to the afternoon's fine spirits was a bottle of Sobieski Vodka (aka Bruce Willis vodka):
Despite preceding photographic evidence, our visit really was more about time with the family than high quality binge boozing. In support of which, a wholesome picture of Kamila (pregnant with their second son) and Mateusz:
A close-up of me emailing in the garden. My face was in shadow so Andrzej increased the exposure time, turning my sunlit grey hood bright white. I just like the overall effect:
Andrzej recently bought a digital SLR and threw himself into learning photography, attending a reputable course. He was able to pass on some tips, especially helpful since Iza brought my old SLR (Canon EOS 350D) along on this trip.
One unpleasant bit of personal business I've taken care of on this holiday was a long-overdue email to our landlord, accepting a whopping 15% rent increase. This means we pay £130 more per month, which hurts, but we were getting a good deal before and sadly the new rent is reasonable. Bugger.