The joys of an empty office

1. Radio. Loud.
2. Eating chocolate without needing to offer it round. Dreadful, I know, but true.
3. Blogging, tweeting, facebooking and updating Linkedin. All highly necessary visibility tools for a successful PR-bod in the 2010s.
(What will they be called, anyway? The 'tens'? Not that I ever used the term 'noughties' but still)

So, the lurgy has been practically banished, save a bit of a sneaky sneeze or occasional croaky cough, possibly because of some severe work outs with the Nazi - aka Wolfgang. No, really, that's his name. He gets more and more curious after every session - facts I know about him now include:
1. He loves Take That & the Backstreet Boys
2. He's married to an English girl and has a daughter
then it gets good...
3. His surname isn't his real surname as his father was smuggled out of Germany after the war in to Australia, and was never properly registered in Oz. So they use his mother's surname.
4. His parents recorded his birth date about five years after he was born. Wrongly. He was two years younger than he thought he was when he finally found out what they'd done.
5. He hasn't spoken to any of his family in 20+ years
6. He didn't start school till he was in his teens as they lived in the Outback.

Now, call me gullible, but he's actually very believable. Perhaps that is because he's built like a train, and is usually telling me these stories as I sprint on a treadmill before hitting the weights in some sadistic circuits program he's putting me through, but he throws these facts in there bit by bit, rather than revelling in this amazing story, and never makes much of them, I have to ask the right questions. I'm fascinated, but have got to the point where there isn't much more I can ask without heading in to emotion territory ... "how do you feel about not seeing your parents for 20+ years?" etc. Which I'm not planning on doing. After all, he usually has his finger on the speed button of the treadmill as we chat... I'm not completely stupid....

I'm enjoying the pace of Abu Dhabi - aka the Dabby - at the moment, it is suitably slow and ponderous. Christmas is coming, the turkeys are being defrosted, and a nice chilled pace is just about perfect for me. I'm plotting how best to scoot off to Dubs tomorrow afternoon, in time for a chilled Christmas Eve. Plan at present involves a bit of mulled wine, a visit to the neighbors' bonfire in the desert by DP, then a taxi ride for a bit of Midnight Mass (at about 9pm), closing off with a bit more mulled wine on the balcony at midnight. Nice. Nick & Jill, and her parents, are arriving around lunchtime on Christmas Day for a long lazy day of eating, drinking, watching tv and playing boardgames - nothing new or original, tried and tested ways are sometimes the best.

A verry merry christmas to one and all x