kachow

just call me Lightning McQueen

I think that one of my proudest moments as a PA was when I got asked to arrange an emergency car repair for the practice visit vehicle.

I can’t drive.

I don’t know what a hub cap is. I have no idea what the difference is between petrol and diesel. The closest I’ve ever come to my own wheels is a pair of roller skates.

Ten minutes later I made my merry way back to my boss’ office.

‘Fancy a coffee?’

He absently pushed his mug across the desk, squinted at his inbox, and then said, ‘How’s the repair research going?’

‘Oh,’ I picked up his mug. ‘They’ll be here in fifteen minutes, and it’ll be around £25. Would you like a biscuit?’

It’s different if it’s someone else’s time I’m managing. That’s got an immediate value to it - if their time is wasted, their business isn’t being run as efficiently as it could be. There’s an immediate knock-on effect if there’s a delay or if something is missed.

Sure, I may not be able to prioritise my own time - but that’s not where my self-worth is. Professionally, my self-worth comes from solving other people’s issues as quickly as possible, maximising their time, and not bothering them with unnecessary questions.

Is this going to help when the baby arrives? Well, actually…

highlights

Does anyone else feel like winter is basically never going to end? Maybe it’s just the pregnancy hormones, but I’ve been really struggling with the January weather lately. The best way I’ve found of managing so far (without actually leaving the country) is making myself little summery drinks. This cup makes me feel like sunshine is juuuuuust over the horizon - even if it hasn’t quite got above freezing outside yet.

Aside from iced coffee, the only other thing that’s managing to get me out of bed is my Amazon Echo Dot and my personalised morning routine. It tells me an interesting fact, then reads me the headlines and gives me the weather forecast for the day - and then the Vengabus arrives.

I got tired of having to carry around my work laptop in a tote bag. Sure, it’s practical and eco-friendly, but my back’s a little more fragile these days. Luckily, Flying Tiger has the perfect upgrade. Having something I can wear cross-body means there’s more even weight distribution, and the padding in the bag makes me less worried about banging my PC into walls. The fact that it matches the Be Your Time colour scheme? A coincidence, surely.