Adrian Phelan
Post 38
Recent blood donation| Feeling hot, hot, hot| Jason’s book| World Cup of friends| Small Charity Week| Goodbye and thanks| Social links| Links to past posts
Blood’s relative
It was remiss of me last week not to mention my latest blood donation. As I always say, it costs nothing and it’s one of the few times you’ll get Seabrooks crisps for free. I bumped into a couple of friends at the donation centre which was nice. I’m happy knowing I hang out with like-minded people.
I found out during the week that my donation went to The Whittington Hospital which is where my eldest son was born and where I held a short contract, so I’m very happy with that. My wuss levels were once again quite high though. I winced a bit when the needle went in but because I had friends there, I just styled it out.
I like it warm
From a hot arm to a hot everything. I’m typing this bit on Tuesday and it’s very hot. I know I probably banged on during the last heatwave, but I don’t mind the high temperatures, despite the life-limiting sweat patches they give me.
They manifested themselves most profusely on Wednesday, when I had to wear a jumper to work. I ironed a shirt and was ready to go but before I’d even left the house (and I was quite late) it was drenched in sweat, and I just couldn’t go out looking like that. I dried out by lunchtime though and could take the jumper off then. No one came near me for the afternoon. I don’t know why.
Just to labour the heat a bit, it was over 30 degrees by 10 am on Friday. Out of interest, I checked Albufeira in Portugal at the same time, and it was only 22. When we were there a few years ago in August it was 30 by 10 as well so the UK is blazing a trail with the hot weather this year. Who’d of thunk it. Saying hello to my Mam now, who is the only one likely to have persevered with this section. 😊
Russians around
And on Friday evening it was off to Pushkin House (very interesting venue and worth reading up on) in Bloomsbury where I attended the UK launch of Jason Corcoran’s Leaving Russia – How Putin forced a country’s future to flee, a book I have mentioned a couple of times in this blog.
I had slight imposter syndrome I’m not too proud to admit. I was there in the capacity of ‘rooting for an old friend’ but found myself in the company of some of journalism’s sharpest minds, and others with a personal interest in the book’s topic which is the exodus from Putin’s Russia of some of its brightest talent.
Jason and the team made me feel very welcome and he kindly signed a copy of the book for my two boys.
The event itself was hosted by respected journalist and fellow Russia expert Edward Lucas; he himself the author of The New Cold War: Putin’s Russia and the Threat to the West. Jason and Edward were something of a double act with Jason clearly a fan and Edward modestly defecting any praise by reminding him they were there to promote his book. Great rapport.
It was a fitting London/UK launch for a book that is flying off the shelves in Ireland, and it also doubled up as a reunion for Jason, seeing friends he had not caught up with for a while including me.
Top night and long may the book’s success continue.
Football friend
Every time I include football in this blog, I pre-empt it with ‘this is largely a football-free blog’, but we had a top ‘almost’ completely impromptu night last night watching the England game out in the back garden. I was even forgiven for cheering on Panama, who let’s face it did quite well. But it was one of those chilled evenings, warm into the night where the chat flowed easy and the kids larked about on the trampoline fuelled by a bit of soft drink. I always like to shine a light on kindness and friendship and this one deserves a lot of light.
It was a lovely evening despite the result 🙂
(Jut a quick aside. A big congratulations to my son Hughie who was voted Parents’ Player of the Season this week. A great achievement. He goes about his football business quietly so it was great that he received this recognition.
Do Good Well – Small Charity Week
I speculate most weeks on this section and was thrilled to come across Small Charity Week which celebrates the impact of small charities across the UK. A small charity is a voluntary organisation with a social or charitable purpose with an annual income of less than £1 million. This includes registered charities, community groups, community interest companies (CICs) and other structures.
This is all copied and pasted but I do love the idea and perhaps the call to action this week is to chuck a few quid in the direction of a small charity you might care about.
Goodbye and thanks
A quick update on the job hunt, I was recently down to the last stages of a comms job in the civil service but alas I didn’t get over the line. But it is a massive step in the right direction and a boost of confidence. A shoutout to Frequency Cafe where I have been doing my interviews from. You have been very accommodating.
As ever, thanks for sticking with me and I’ll be back again, similar time, next week.
Socially viable
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Past posts
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Adrian Phelan 