Recap

A lot has happened in the past week and a half, mostly positive, a few challenges and maybe a lesson or two.

Starting at the start, last week I was thrust into the position of acting editor.

I guess they don't call it a baptism of fire for nothing. With little experience in the everyday (and more crucially the deadline day) running everything fell onto me for a week while the boss was away. You see we have had cutbacks, as most workplaces have, and that has left us a lot shorter than we are used to - particularly when someone is on holidays.

One advantage I had was that I paid a bit of attention to what was going on over the past couple of years when it came to how the paper is operated. So at least I had some idea. But when the boss neglects to tell you a few things here and there it can leave you on the hop a bit.

Fortunately it all went pretty smoothly. I was busy, for sure, and it seemed that any time I tried to get something done the phone would ring and I'd have to deal with something.

What I learned was that I'm not ready for that responsibility just yet but that I can handle it. That was the only issue as I approached the week. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off.

By the end of the week I was a bit drained but otherwise fine. I took the attitude that I wasn't going to let anything stress me out too much, I wasn't going to panic if something went wrong. It was a good plan but one that ultimately went untested.

After a cruisy Friday night I went to a bucks party (that's most of the crew in the photo) at the Lowenbrau in the Rocks. For those who don't know it is a German theme restaurant and beer house and the scene for many a bucks party over the years I'm sure.

Whether the night actually counts as a bucks night is debatable being a second marriage but we thought we'd kidnap the guy and treat him to a night out.

Largely it was a good one. After several hours there we pressed on in search of something that was ultimately unattainable - a live band.

This meant wandering around the Rocks for a while then onto Surry Hills where we traipsed around the streets frustratingly and came up empty handed.

We then crammed six people into my car and drove to Botany to a 24-hour pub where we played a bit of pool and put old songs on the video jukebox until about 2am.

Then I drove most of them home with all sorts of antics going on. I was breath tested on the way home. I always find this amusing. One time when asked how long since my last drink I replied `about three years'. This time I was more restrained. While I was never in danger there were a good dozen cars pulled over whose drivers had obviously exceeded the limit.

It had to be the latest night I've had for a long time. I was able to sleep in until about 9 in the morning but it takes an effect.

On other topics, later that day my sister and nephew dropped around for a while. I had to postpone a catch-up with a new friend that I was looking forward to, hopefully that will happen this weekend. It's great when you meet someone new and kinda click.

I'm almost finished reading The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (will review upon completion) and have bought A Midsummer Night's Dream for my next read.

Yeah, I'm going for a bit of culture in my reading at the moment.