One Man's Notes

Current view.


Our family lockdown exercise. I love these three so very much.

The Tinworth Family on Shoreham Beach.

Bluebells in the garden.

Bluebells in a Shoreham Beach back garden.

If you give your article a headline that starts “We need to talk about…” I will not read it.


I’ve got the perfect background for the next few Zoom meetings.

Very professional, I think.


When lockdown eases, which approach do you think companies will choose?

Allow more remote working? Up their office space to allow for social distancing? A mix of both?


Consequences, consequences: WarnerMedia Is Rethinking Theatrical Release Model

Huge TVs with good sound systems at home. Hard to socially distance in cinemas…


Evidence, I think, that my daughters are handling this lockdown more productively than me.

The worst of it?

I can’t even eat them. I’m milk intolerant.


D-Nile

Odd, odd 36 hours.

It turns out that I was in emotional denial about how much the world has and will change, even if I acknowledged it intellectually. Some bad news about a couple of bits of work triggered a small emotional collapse and a (largely) sleepless night.

But I’ve come out of it with a renewed focus on adapting myself to the new reality, and I’m feeling much better, thank you very much.

Now, let’s be honest: you didn’t need to know that, did you?

But I think it’s worth sharing it. What we’re going through? It’s tough. And let’s not be afraid to show each other when we’re struggling.


Rough day - two bad pieces of news about two different projects means things are looking financially pretty precarious for me.

Just about enough regular work to get by for now, but it looks increasingly like I’ll need the self-employment support scheme when it launches.


Ballet class via Facebook Live.


Agenda: Tuesday 21st April

Difficult evening last night. I found it hard not to think about all the things that this situation has taken away from my life - but I really should count my blessings that it has yet to take away anyone I love.

Morning

Home schooling: Maths and English, plus ballet on Facebook Live, and a Zoom chat for my youngest’s class.

😱

Afternoon

Working:

  • “Cheat Sheet” for a client’s journalists
  • Assessment of SEO potential for client’s stories
  • More work on a strategy document
  • Marking

Hoo boy. Gonna need some coffee today…


My weekend project was taking a moribund blog, exporting it, migrating it to a new platform and getting it up to speed.

It worked.

Now, let’s see if I can make that time worthwhile with some content…


Agenda: Monday 20th April

Morning all,

With at least three weeks to go before there’s any chance of easing this lockdown, I need to get my brain in gear.

Home school restarts this morning, and I still have enough work that I need to focus on keeping working - while figuring out how to sustain an income over the coming months.

I’m going to try to do daily “agenda” posts - just to focus myself and hold myself a little accountable for what I need to do.

Today

  • Morning: working. Editing, writing and marking are the top priorities
  • Afternoon: home-schooling, with a focus on natural history and computing

Let’s go… 


Spectacular caterpillar nest in a tree.

A caterpiller nest in a tree in the garden of Shoreham Beach Primary School.

This is fascinating. Ash trees most likely to overcome killer disease if they stand alone:

The researchers found that dense stands of ash trees with closed canopies were highly susceptible to the fungus. Isolated trees still got the disease but tended to pick up less fungus.


The Goodies helped define my humour and view of the world as a child. This makes me unspeakably sad:

Tim Brooke-Taylor dies at 79 after contracting coronavirus, agent says


Tonight I am transcoding an Easter Service video, produced remotely by multiple local households, for best playback on Facebook. It’s already on YouTube.

And given the comfort it will bring to people in 12 weeks of self-isolation, this is time well-spent.


Prepping a video for the local church. Not how I expected to be using this kit…


Here’s the big question on my mind: how does journalism survive the Covid-19 crisis?

And I mean “journalism" not “news” - because there’s a whole lot of value we’ve under-estimated in under-threat B2B and consumer titles, too…


Not walking with daddy.


Dr Tinworth and I started watching The Mandalorian last night.

OK, I now understand the fuss. It gets the Star Wars aesthetic perfectly, and tells an intriguing story. Looking forward to working our way through it. 📺


Lovely 13th Doctor short story from ex-Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat: The Terror of the Umpty Ums.

He nails her voice perfectly.


Testing video setups is much harder when you actually have to share your home with the rest of the family while you’re doing so…


Socially distanced martial arts classes begin…