• It’s been weird. Lockdown coupled with glorious weather and the start of springtime.
  • like a lot of people I’ve decided now - right now - is the optimum time to start baking sourdough. Smallest daughter and I set about our starter last week and today we made two small loaves. What a hassle.
  • Bread folk who I’ve spoken to said we should name our sourdough starter. We all decided on Mr Stuart Jenkins. He has a label with his name on and lives in a glass jar on the top shelf of our fridge.
  • I managed to buy flour! Yes! But, it will take another two weeks to get to me. I’m sure, by then all enthusiasm for making bread will have vanished.
  • More nice weather this coming weekend and Mrs B is busy planning vegetables to grow. Before long, we’ll be living The Good Life and wanting chickens. Not sure what Charlie would think of that.
  • Started a new freelance gig last week. A few short weeks to look specifically at typography for a large start up. Bit of a lovely project: super focussed, the problems are clear. I’ll spending my time assessing and stress-testing type and typography. Pretty great.
  • My side of the family have all had the virus. Not been tested, but it started with my brother who then gave it to his girlfriend and her daughter. The next day, he met my other brother and gave it to him. He was the worst off with all the classic symptoms. Then my folks got it. Being 200 miles away when they both come down wit this thing was a bit scary. Thankfully, they had a very mild dose of it. The only common symptom between the six people I know who have had it was fatigue and they have all lost their sense of smell and taste.
  • Home schooling continues sporadically. I think I’ve given up on trying to be good at everything because I was failing at everything. I guess we’re all trying to find the balance between what is expected and what is the reality. That seems to change daily at the moment.
  • Heard about a job interview I had a few weeks ago. You know, interview processes are kind of terrible. You speak to a recruiter, you have what you think is a decent interview and then you’re told you are not progressing and thank you blah blah. I always make a point of asking for feedback at this point – as I did when I ran a business and we lost out on proposals or pitches. It’s important to try and get constructive feedback so you can improve. Makes sense, right? But what I don’t understand is when, at that point, it’s just a cold shoulder. An interview process is not a one-way thing. It could potentially be the start of a relationship and should progress with mutually respect – even if either party decides that it isn’t going to work. But that point should not be the end of it. A quick retrospective can be helpful for everyone. I’ve had some fantastic feedback from clients in the past that really helped me shape how I approach proposals. The same should be said for interviews.