WEDNESDAY 25TH JANUARY 2012

It was an early start this morning leaving for Bristol about 7.30am, I was feeling pretty nervous and I didn't really know why. I wasn't going for an interview or anything it was quite strange really, but I think it is because I felt today was an important day in the grand scheme of whether I am feasibly able to relocate or not.

A lot of people have warned me about the building and how old it is but they have also underlined that they have to do everything possible to make it accessible. This makes me slightly uncomfortable obviously, if it is minimal adaptations it won't be a problem but if the building starts having to be structurally changed, that is when I start feeling very uneasy.

It reminds me of when I was moving from primary school to senior school.  My local senior school didn't have any lifts, but were willing to change the timetable so that all my classes were on the ground floor. This was really nice of them but when it starts impacting on other people, in that instance other classmates, having lessons in not the normal rooms, then it doesn't become fair on them.  As in this case if the programme is limited on what rooms we can move into because of access issues, that is when I feel uncomfortable.  

Anyway we arrived in Bristol around 9.15am and the first person I saw was an ex colleague Katrina, which settled my nerves a bit but then I had to take a couple of phone calls as the hire car wasn't at the airport in Germany for the Adam's farm shoot, so I phoned Hannah who kindly took that issue over for me.

Once that was dealt with I phoned Kalpna's secretary who came to meet us in the car park. She then took us to the canteen to wait, so we grabbed a tea and waited for the meeting. I was then collected and mum and dad went for a walk round the city.

It was a really good meeting with Kalpna and Andy Corp who is responsible for Post Production. So he would be responsible from what I understand, for bringing in contractors to undertake the adaptions that are going to be required. It was also good to catch up with Kalpna about opportunities in Bristol and also a relaxed chat about the City.

Once everyone arrived we had an introduction to Bristol and a bit of a sales pitch about moving and the benefits of the NHU and the two production bases coming together.  We then headed over to Films@59, which is an external post production company as unlike Birmingham a lot of the post production is done from outside companies. It was really good to see this and the programmes they work with in different genres.

Mum and Dad then met us for lunch, which was a working lunch with Bristol Management and allowed us to chat with them about our situations and raise concerns/questions that we had. Between us their were fixed term contractors, permanent staff, single people, people with family's.  This I think, mum and dad found to be really beneficial, to know that everyone's situation is complex and It wasn't just us going through this.

In the afternoon we went round the internal post production facilities, which is quite basic in comparison to the Mailbox but was interesting to go round and they have a brilliant future media department which looks at different cameras going forward and different ways to use existing cameras. The example they had was several little go pro cameras strapped together and had used it in a really futuristic way.

So 3.30pm arrived and it was time for the guys to catch the coach and for us to head home as well. It had been a really good day, mum and dad had come with me so they could do the site tour with us this afternoon and be a second and third pair of eyes on things that would need adapting.  On the way home I was feeling really upbeat, I was expecting to be confronted today by a lot of steps and for it to be literally impossible to get round but it wasn't like that at all. There were a lot of double doors that would need making automatic, as they were very heavy, but very few steps and there was always an alternate route which was ramped.

Today I thought the site was going to make the decision for me and take it out of my hands but it didn't, but I was feeling strangely pleased by this, ermmm!!!

TUESDAY 24TH JANUARY 2012

Today was mainly about finalising arrangements for the Adam's farm shoot in Germany, they are leaving tomorrow and there is still quite a lot to put in place. This was complicated by the fact the director asked if we could book a fixer that could drive him & the crew to where they were meeting the boat and then pick them up from where they were docking, later in Thursday afternoon. This would probably work out cheaper in the long run but it is difficult to find a local fixer at this short notice.

I put some calls in so we have two agencies in Germany that are looking on our behalf for the Oppenheim area as a lot of them base themselves in Munich or other larger cities. In the end I had to hand this over to Hannah due to me being in Bristol tomorrow.  We were just waiting on people phoning us back, so hopefully something will be confirmed and in place for Thursday and we can let the guys know once they arrive tomorrow.

I finalised arrangements for my trip tomorrow with sorting the car park pass as I am travelling with mum and dad in our car and meeting the others who are travelling by coach later in the morning. We are setting off a little earlier as I have a meeting with Kalpna about production management opportunities in Bristol so looking forward to that.

This evening was the Carling Cup Semi- Final, which was Cardiff City Vs Crystal Palace with Cardiff City winning on pens.  I felt a bit sorry for Crystal Palace who had come so close but penalties are a lottery and tonight was no different.

MONDAY 23RD JANUARY 2012

It is really busy with everything going on this week at work.  Today was mainly preparing for the Adam's Farm shoot in Germany, it is quite complicated, as they are filming on a boat but they need to be dropped off from one location and picked up from another.  So we need to work out how best to organise this logistically, without it costing a fortune.

I am also looking into recruiting a runner as we have a gap of four weeks which needs filling.  So I emailed one today who can hopefully help us out, so we will wait and see if this works out tomorrow hopefully.  We also have a compilation episode being filmed next week so we started looking into the logistics for this filming, it would be great if we could finalise this before my visit to Bristol on Wednesday.

This evening it was quite a relaxed evening in front of Southampton Vs Leicester City, the wheels are coming off a bit for the leaders of the championship as they lost tonight 0-2.  Then it was time to re-charge the batteries, tomorrow is going to be pretty busy I can sense it.

SUNDAY 22ND JANUARY 2012

We were all up pretty early this morning as Mum and Dad made us all a cooked breakfast. It was great hearing Dave having to visit and eat at Villa Park being a big Blues fan, but they had all had a really good night.

We all sat down to have our breakfast before mum went off to work, we were going to arrange a long overdue trip to Richmond soon, so looking forward to that. Dave and Maureen gathered their stuff together before heading off, they were going round to Adrian & Gill's before the journey back up north

When mum arrived back we walked round briefly to drop a present off to Zoe & Warrens for baby Nancy. It was great to see the three of them and the new parents were glowing with delight, Nancy was amazing, all very exciting seeing her so young.

It was a relaxing afternoon with two big footy games on the TV, when we got back Manchester City Vs Tottenham had just started and that was followed by Arsenal Vs Manchester United, they were two belting games with Manchester City winning 3-2 and then Manchester United winning 1-2 making it more likely it is going to be a two horse race for the championship.

The three of us sat up at the table for our evening meal, which was quite nice.  It had been a really busy weekend for Mum and Dad so they were pretty shattered, so it wasn't long after our tea that they went to bed and so I just watched the TV in bed as well, it was a busy week coming up, so it will do me good to have had a quiet weekend.

SATURDAY 21ST JANUARY 2012

We came back to Coleshill late morning after having some breakfast, Matt & Layla were going onto to see Zoe and Alvan.  Zoe used to live with them in Melbourne and now is living in Warwick.  It was her 30^th Birthday so they were going to have some lunch with them to celebrate, as it has been a while since they saw each other due to Alvan & Zoe spending Christmas & New Year over in Australia.

I had a fairly chilled day, listing to Everton Vs Blackburn Rovers, it ended in a bit of a frustrating draw.  Mum and Dad were getting the house ready as Dave & Maureen were staying over this evening, they are some friends who we have grown up with, we used to go on holiday camping with them each year in France.  They used to live in the Midlands but moved up to Richmond in Yorkshire a good few years ago, it will be really good to see them.

They arrived about 4pm, they were coming up as it was Adrian’s 60^th Birthday and they were going for a meal at Villa Park.  We had a cup of tea and some cake before it was time for them to get changed before the taxi picked everyone up around 7pm.  I had an early night and watched the TV all evening, when the four of them arrived back we had a brew before going to bed.  A good Saturday night!!!    

FRIDAY 20TH JANUARY 2012

I had quite a bit to do today with being off on Wednesday & Thursday so it was a really busy day.  As part of my day I had an invite to my second consultation meeting with Aileen & Manjit, this has been organised for after I have been to visit Bristol.  So it will be interesting to see what it is like for myself, as it doesn’t sound very accessible at all from what I have been told but we will wait and see.

CHC were coming out to measure me for a memory foam mattress, which will be nice.  Lynda the district nurse that comes to see me has been talking about me having one for a while, it is being funded by CHC, which is a great assistance and is an example of how beneficial it is to have had the funding agreed.

This evening I stayed over at Matt & Layla’s, it was a really relaxing evening, which was good as I was pretty tired.  But it was great to catch up with them and seeing Layla very pregnant is strange, just over a month to go now and it is getting very exciting.  Mum & Dad were round at Sarah & Richards tonight for a curry night so I think they were in for a good night as well tonight.  Anyway it wasn’t long after tea before I was tucked up in bed, I am getting old before my time.

THURSDAY 19TH JANUARY 2012

It felt very strange being able to have a sleep in this morning on a work day, it felt like I was skiving off school.  It was a really nice relaxing morning before Alison picked me up about midday and I headed in to do a stint on the picket line before the march to Victoria square at 2.30pm.

So I arrived at work and went to the front of the mailbox, where one of the picket lines was setup. It was really cold today and I started regretting not putting more layers on, but I can’t complain as I haven't exactly put a long shift in for the course.  Everyone starting gathering as 2.30pm approached, this time was organised for the march, so that colleagues from local news & radio could join us as well.  Just before the march was due to start 3 bangra drummers arrived to lead us, which BECTU had organised, they were brilliant and got everyone in good spirits.

There were a lot of photographers as the march started and the public seemed to be intrigued/bemused by what was going on.  When we arrived in Victoria Square we had various speakers from the different unions, Birmingham Council and business leaders. It was the first time I felt like there was total support for what was happening and hopefully this can gather even more momentum in the coming weeks.

So eventually it was time to head back to the office, I was looking forward to warming up with a hot brew as I couldn't feel my hands and toes.  We got back at 3.30pm and read through my emails, it wasn't a very productive couple of hours to be honest before heading out.

This evening I went out for a couple of drinks and something to eat with Martin, a colleague. We went for drinks from work at Bar room Bar with some of his colleagues from Radio 4 and also Steve Evanson who was Series Producer on Countryfile but has been SP on Coast and that is what he is doing at the moment. It was great chatting with them and getting their opinion on Bristol, you don't really get opportunity in work to discuss the situation and it was good to share my thoughts with them and get there opinion.  Steve called it a night so Martin and I headed for some food to Zizzi's.  I think I had passed the huger stage but my ravioli was lovely, finally headed home about 10pm in a cab and dad showed me my brief appearance on midlands today, before I headed to bed.