Ged writes:
It was a beautiful sunny day, the London Underground was on strike and I had arranged to work from home. I thought it would be a good idea to head over to Lord’s, catch some of the cricket and catch up with an increasingly large pile of background reading. The office staff more than understood.
I had a conference call scheduled for 10am and a few other bits and pieces of work to get out of the way before heading off. The call went as planned, but a few other bits and pieces came in while I was on the call. By 12.30pm, I realised that any thought of the morning session was futile, other than grabbing a quick bite of lunch at home and listening to that last half hour before lunch on the Internet radio while I ate.
The walk from my front door to the Grace Gate takes me 37 minutes, give or take one minute or so. That makes me 10% faster than Google Maps’ (other route planning apps are available) expectations. Conveniently, if I leave home as soon as the umpires call lunch, I know from experience that I can get to Lord’s on foot just before the resumption.
As I arrived at Lord’s, one of the female stewards said: “Hello, nice to see you. Hurry up, they’re just about ready to start,” as if the officials and players had been waiting for my arrival. I grabbed a seat at the sunny end of the Warner just in time. I soon relocated to the Grandstand for a while, before moving on to catch the end of the session in the Pavilion.
I read some stuff on big data. I also pondered three philosophical questions on ethics in financial services, the answer to all of which, sadly, was almost certainly no. I watched some cricket. I chatted briefly with some Middlesex friends before walking home.
I spent roughly as much time walking as I spent at cricket. It certainly was worth it.
0
0
June 4, 2014 at 8:44 am
Outstanding piece full of magnificently tedious detail. Perfect aperitif for a day of meetings and team-building exercises. Thanks Ged.
June 4, 2014 at 9:23 am
To quote Shakin’ Stevens – Lovely stuff.
June 4, 2014 at 12:43 pm
Thanks so much for the kind words, folks.
Ceci – I’d particularly like to add an extract from yours to my list of testimonials.
“…magnificently tedious detail” will sit very nicely alongside:-
“surprisingly funny considering it is written by a couple of accountants” – for the first book, and
“crazy but worth your attention” – for the most recent book.
Bert – should I attribute “lovely stuff” to you or to Michael Barratt?
June 4, 2014 at 3:15 pm
I searched Amazon for Ged Ladd. Couldn’t find a thing. The closest was this one:
http://amzn.to/1iV5Fya
Questions:
1. Are you George Eldon Ladd?
2. Is “Gospel of the Kingdom” accounting language for “Truckloads of Money”?
3. The first review says it is a book every Christian should read. Given I am not one, should I still read it?
The other conclusion would be that Ged Ladd isn’t your real name. But that is too preposterous for me to contemplate.
June 4, 2014 at 3:25 pm
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1840592273/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?redirect=true&tag=zyenlimite
But which author is Ged?
June 4, 2014 at 3:43 pm
Other sources of “hilariously sophisticated stuff” can also be procured, of course.
Contains excellent material for team-building exercises, though-but, Ceci.
Also available on Kindle at a ridiculously low price:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clean-Business-Cuisine-Michael-Mainelli-ebook/dp/B00B7LB4P6/ref=la_B005OHCNKE_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1401892741&sr=1-2
I’m probably not the one whose Amazon Central photo looks like an older version of the Ged Ladd icon tossing a cricket ball – that would be too obvious, Daneel.
June 4, 2014 at 3:55 pm
Fourth wall! You’re breaking the fourth wall!
June 4, 2014 at 4:10 pm
Fourth wall? Pfah.
I’m a fifth columnist.
June 5, 2014 at 9:34 am
The fourth wall has never been much of a wall in my case.
More like a fourth shoji screen or even a fourth net curtain.
June 6, 2014 at 9:43 am
So Warner has a sunny end, and an end from which he eats …
June 6, 2014 at 3:17 pm
No post on your other site yet on what a monumental bellend Chris Froome is?
June 7, 2014 at 7:49 am
Not yet.
June 7, 2014 at 9:46 am
Thank goodness you showed up, KC. Some of us were starting to think that you’d abandoned your loyal subjects.
June 7, 2014 at 10:28 am
Sorry, we had to cycle the length of France. We’ve finished now.
June 7, 2014 at 9:20 am
Friends. I blogged another blog. This one is about Lara, chinos, chuckers and a broken scoreboard.
Please and, as ever, thank you.
http://learningisfunblog.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/blasting-off-with-chinos-chuckers-and-dodgy-tins/
June 7, 2014 at 4:21 pm
Ooh, get you. Playing for a team with a scoreboard.