Weather: Getting chilly now, Sunday was a rare burst of sunshine amid the gloom
Mood: Post-run relief, mixed with lethargy
Word: "Aforetexted" - something written in a previous text
Rosie: Listens to her favourite songs and says "I like that story"
Lunch: Homemade tomato soup, homemade bread & French cheeses
Exercise: Zip, nada, apart from a wee walk round the block with Rosie
Booze: Bottle of Bécasse cherry beer, Marlborough white wine
Purchased: At the weekend, €135 on booze and bits at Auchan in Calais
Media: Mainly been watching Curb Your Enthusiasm seasons 7&8, and also enjoyed the new Feist and M83 albums. Now watching Three Colours White, in tune with the Guardian live blog
Notes: Quiet start to the weekend on Friday, mainly working from home but also got a chance to visit my Grandad's grave with Mum at lunchtime, to lay a poppy wreath (homemade by Ruth) to mark 11/11/11. Saturday was an early 5am start to pick up Daf and drive through the mist to Dover, where we were booked on the 8am Seafrance crossing to Calais. Had a large fry-up on the boat, then an hour or two of shopping at Auchan supermarket, before lunch of moules-frites at L'Hovercraft and the 3pm ferry back to Blighty. This meant I got home just in time to see England beat Spain 1-0 in a friendly. Early night was followed by an another early morning, this time to drive through London heading west towards Heathrow and Cowley Recreation Ground, where my Grand Union half marathon begun. Jamie & I first did a lap of the rec before filtering through a gate and jogging north for a few hours at a steady pace, finally reaching Cassiobury Park in Watford at around 12:30. Very proud of us both, great achievement and almost £900 raised between us for the charity, Sands.
Link: http://on.ft.com/tYx5jD
Blog: Sad day for Britain's youth as unemployment among 16-24 year olds hit the 1mn mark, the highest number since records begun. This means that 1 in 5 young people seeking employment are out of work, a depressing statistic for a generation facing a tripling in university fees, loss of the Educational Maintenance Allowance and little hope of buying their own home without parental support. It is also symptomatic of an unhealthy society and economy, and it's by no means a coincidence that in the eurozone countries with the most severe debt problems, the youth unemployment rate is even higher - Spain (45%), Greece (43%), Ireland (30%) and Italy (28%). Germany has a rate of just 9%, and an apprenticeship system we'd do well to mimic here.
Photo: My Grandad's grave, plus pic of me & Jamie after the run.
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