25.2.2024 Sunday - many things to do

This is a list of defects and tasks to do by the entire team involved in the hospital expansion project; it is from 8.3.2022

Though I start the day early; tennis with Sean and a promise of the Jesuit brothers' company (they did not show up) there is a sense of running out of time. 

I did not read although I have a house full of books. I did not cook although I have a brand new kitchen. I did not sit and work instead wandering and wondering about without aim. And there is so much to do - - time to make another long list. (one for work and one for home). I have always made lists, they take ages to complete. I know now that the trick is to make short daily ones; those are easier to keep and achieve my goals. 

I read about the 5 goals a day - read 10 pages, exercise, learn a new skill (this must be a long term goal)

21 Aug 2022 Sunday - reading books again

 I started reading books again.

This is a easy feel good read, it suited the mood I was in; a combination of tired and lazy. It rained heavily in the morning, making it more conducive for a lie in after breakfast to read a book. 

Mike McIntyre was a journalist, he gave up his job to travel across America without any spending money. He did so by depending on the kindness of strangers, hence the title of his book. He narrates his encounters with total strangers in his journey of self discovery, overcoming his fears of the unknown and unexpected, and in doing so he also uncovers life stories of his fellow Americans. It appears that those with the least are the most generous in giving Mike a lift to the next town, hot meal, a warm bed, a kind word of encouragement. 

Though I know that this is a book and not a documentary, I half hoped that there would a follow-up episode about the people he met. But that would take much away from the idea of this book, which was to invite us to take our own journeys of self discovery. In this book, even those who did not take the journey were affected by it - in the final chapter Mike discovers that in the span of his journey, his girlfriend Anne had decided to embark on her own journey, without him. 

Years ago, I read another book of the same name but that one wasn't about travel, it was about war reporter Kate Adie. I will find it and give that another read.