WEDNESDAY 18TH JANUARY 2012

It was a real step forward to starting to get some kind of assistance at home today, Gillian went through what her role was and the next step forward.  It was her first time in organising care packages, so it was a little bit of the blind leading the blind but it sounded like progress was going to be made.  We came away from the meeting with Gillian set to organise for me to interview 3 care agencies, which is what is required for the CHC funding to be approved then they have 3 quotes to go from.  Hopefully these interviews will happen in the next couple of weeks, this was a big relief and I came away feeling really positive, if a little apprehensive.

Because of the strike I thought work were going to say I had to go back into work only to then walk back out, but fortunately they allowed me to work from home until the strike began at 3.30pm.  It just felt like a normal working from home day though and I felt as though I should have been with my colleagues as they walked out on mass.  It is the first time I have ever taken part in strike action, but I believe in the Save BBC Birmingham campaign and once production has moved out of the building, you wonder what the future holds for the rest of the staff within BBC Birmingham.  So at 3.30pm I stopped working and had the rest of the afternoon to myself.

It was strange watching the strike on Midlands Today this evening with my colleagues walking out together, because it is only our Union, BECTU that are striking, it meant staff from other unions remained in the office along with staff from other departments.  But the reception they received from fellow non-striking colleagues was brilliant as people stood up and applauded as the strike started.  There was a big part of me that wished I had been around as I think it took people by surprise the level of support that was shown.

In the evening I settled down and watched Wolves Vs Birmingham City in the FA Cup 3^rd Round replay, it was a really good local derby with Blues winning to go through, which was a bit of a surprise but hardly a giant killing.   

TUESDAY 17TH JANUARY 2012

I was trying to make sure everything was sorted for being out of the office for the next day and a half.  It felt quite strange today with the strike looming, people not really knowing how it would be receive by non-striking colleagues.  My day consisted of organising a meeting with Kalpna, who is Head of Production at Bristol, for when we travel down next week.  It will be great to meet with her to find out about opportunities, if I am to move, I have organised this at the start of the day before everyone else arrives.  It will also be to discuss, where I am with carers and other aspects I have to consider with moving.

Simon Prentice also helped us today reduce the size of the file for my PresentAble application, he emailed it across and I was then able to upload it on the application successfully.  It is really good of him to do this in his spare time, so I just need to write answers to the 3 application questions before I submit it, hopefully I can look at this over the coming days.

Matt & Layla came for tea this evening, it was really good to see them, It also gave me chance to speak to Layla about the meeting tomorrow and go through what I want to come out of it.  I was quite nervous about it as I was meeting Gillian for the first time and my fear was that she won't have been given a brief about my package, but hopefully this won't be the case, we will wait and see.

MONDAY 16TH JANUARY 2012

It is the start of quite a strange week coming up, with the strike on the horizon and my meeting with Gillian about my CHC funding and the next stage, all taking place on Wednesday.  So I needed to make sure everything was up to date before I leave the office on tuesday evening.  When I got in to work I was greeted by a very apologetic email from John’s driver about a booking we had with him last night, fortunately he has a really good relationship with John and he knew this was a one of so was happy enough to get the train to location.  So all ended well, he was just letting me know what had happened and was making sure everything ended up being alright.

It was a day of chasing outstanding freelance contract PO’s, as for some reason there is currently a delay in getting them through and our crews are invoicing us before the PO’s are being sent out.  So this needed to be looked into today and we were assured the backlog was being looked into.  So it was a bit of a messy day really and didn’t feel that productive but hopefully, it will be in the end.

We have had a pretty relaxed night, I was working out what hours would be ideal to ask for whilst I am living at home, which will hopefully be the discussion with Gillian on Wednesday morning, it is difficult as I am getting a bit inpatient with it and I need to take one step at a time and hopefully this weeks meeting will be that.  But with the decision day getting ever closer for whether I am going to move to Bristol or not, the pressure builds

SUNDAY 15TH JANUARY 2012

Today Mum, Dad and I have been invited to the Christening of little Olivia Waggstaff, Lucy her mum, we  grew up with and when Matthew and myself were born, we were neighbours with the family in Penns Lane.  Mum and Dad went with some friends of theirs, Val & Mike, to the Church service and then they picked me up before going onto the reception in the Cameo Suite, where a Sunday lunch was being laid on.  It was a really nice day and made you realise even more how exciting it is going to be when Matt & Layla become parents.

Val & Mike were sitting at our table, which was nice as we didn’t know many others there, but it was a lovely lunch and we stayed for quite a while before Mike & Val came back to ours for a few more drinks to cap off the day.  I was able to watch the second half of Swansea Vs Arsenal and by the time Mike & Val had left it was time to start thinking about the coming week, but it had been a nice way to spend a Sunday.     

SATURDAY 14TH JANUARY 2012

Personally there is no better feeling than that of waking up on a day you are off to the football.  It is something I really enjoy doing and this season so far I haven’t been to enough games, Layla was coming as my carer so it was a family day out, which side of the family will end up the happiest at the end.  I met Matt & Layla at the ground and dad dropped us in, it was a good game and fortunately it ended 1-1, which meant we remained on speaking terms, but Aston Villa Vs Everton games always seem to be entertaining and tend to have goals in them.

So we met up again afterwards for a quick chat about the game and then I went to find dad, it was a bit of a long and entertaining walk to the car as he was unable to park close to the ground, but thankfully a group of lads helped me get up and down the curbs as they were heading to the same car park as dad was in, so I eventually found him.

In the evening Pam and Dave came over as they were going out for a curry with Mum & Dad so I decided to join them, it was good to catch up with them and we had a really nice meal you always do at the Balti Cottage mind.  Once we got back I watched the highlights of the game, it is strange watching it back after being at the game you definitely see it from a different perspective.   

FRIDAY 13TH JANUARY 2012

With the day being what it was I made sure I did everything very carefully, I am not very suspicious but must admit Friday 13^th does make me feel a little uneasy.  I was finalising the hotel bookings for the first shoot next week and finishing off the schedule, decisions were a little late being made, as the shoot was pretty complex with contributors hard to confirm.  By mid afternoon everything was in place, so hopefully nothing else will change between now and Monday.

But the time I got home, I was pretty shattered so it was a pretty relaxing night with tea and then a night catching up on a bit of TV I had missed during the week, I had a pretty busy weekend coming up so it was nice to have a bit of a relaxing night after a full week at work.

THURSDAY 12TH JANUARY 2012

It was a busy day today as we were confirming things for the filming taking place on Monday and Tuesday in Cumbria and Northumberland, plus I started to liaise with the director & researcher about the shoot towards the back end of the week.  I also went down to see Simon at lunch time and he helped me edit the taster tape, it was really good and we managed to chop it down pretty quickly, thanks to his skills, so he was going to send it to me via a site we use, called Yousendit.  I would then be able to take it off this site and upload it onto the internal application I was completing, so I just needed to answer the 3 questions before submitting it, so I was going to email those home to write up over the weekend.

After work I went and stayed over at Matt & Layla’s, which was really nice.  It is nice to go and hang out with them both and have a bit of tea, I like the way they make me feel welcome to go and stay when I want and I have some kit over at their house, so I don’t need to bring loads from home, so it makes it a lot easier.  We had a chat about the football at the weekend, as it is Aston Villa Vs Everton and I bought my ticket today, so I think Layla is going to come as my carer and then Matt will sit with the lads who he has his season ticket with, really looking forward to getting to a game, as I haven't been for a while.