more on my m60 walk + other things
The most recent blog posts from my big M60 walk blog https://mattm60walk.wordpress.com/ went up this week. They are the journal entries for Monday 30 March https://mattm60walk.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/30-march-2015/ and Monday 6 April https://mattm60walk.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/6-april-2015/. The next chance I have to continue (and possibly finish) planning my route will be a week Sunday (19 April). Though at a push, if other jobs get completed first, then perhaps on this Sunday (12 April), Tuesday 14 April, or Saturday 18 April I may be able to fit some walking in.
However, blogging the journals for any of these days will likely have to wait until Monday 20 April or later. The reason being I'm finally moving into my new flat this weekend, but won't have internet until it gets installed on the 20th. The good thing about all this is that after that date I have no more big expenses on the horizon, and my flat will be completely sorted.
For the hopelessly curious, or for masochistic lovers of quotidian tedium, my moving in timetable looks like this: Saturday 11 - futon delivered, cooker delivered and installed; Sunday 12 - last day in old shared house, move last items across to new flat and clean old room; Tuesday 14 - housing association maintenance people fix electrics, separate routine visit by another bit of the housing association, white goods, furniture and other bits arriving from my mother's; any time from Tuesday 14-Friday 17 - curtain rails installed by free housing association moving-in service and I get the curtains up; Saturday 18 - carpet fitted, and once that's done I can finally unpack everything; Monday 20 - internet installed. That just leaves the decoration and vinyl/laminate flooring for the bathroom to do in my own time over the next few months. Preferably as soon as possible - I have some ugly feature walls where the wallpaper has to go. As do the dark turquoise walls for the bathroom.
The point being, by 19 April, or at the outside 25/26 April the following weekend, I will be in my new flat and will have finished plotting my route around the M60. I can then schedule at least two further walks to practice the western half and the eastern half of the walk separately, before the actual walk on Saturday 30 May.
Not only does this mean I'll be fully prepared for the walk, but I'll be in a position to let you know rough timings of when I expect to be at what stage of the route. Which means you can either join me for a bit of the walk, or line the route waving flags (or do something else, but I'll want to know why).
It also marks the end to a very busy start to the year. My mother's illness worsening, and her death - then all the things that follow from that - funeral, sorting her estate, clearing her house etc. (the bulk of which jobs have been done by my brothers and sisters); the end of my old job, five weeks looking for work, then starting a new job; moving to a new flat, including furnishing it; and planning the walk.
This is one of the reasons why I've felt the need to go into such trivial detail. The other being that after losing much of 2012-13 to depression, and slowly emerging from that through last year, I've felt much more capable of coping with things this year. And that feels like a fact worth celebrating and drawing attention to.
Plus I can now start concentrating on my art, immediately the Islands project, and any future ambitious walks or other projects I might choose to launch. And if you know me you can now come visit - I'll even have room for you to stay if you're coming from outside Manchester.
tl;dr Offline except from my smugphone from 12-20 April. Come visit me in my new flat! I'm walking round the M60 on 30 May, join me if you like. And relax.
However, blogging the journals for any of these days will likely have to wait until Monday 20 April or later. The reason being I'm finally moving into my new flat this weekend, but won't have internet until it gets installed on the 20th. The good thing about all this is that after that date I have no more big expenses on the horizon, and my flat will be completely sorted.
For the hopelessly curious, or for masochistic lovers of quotidian tedium, my moving in timetable looks like this: Saturday 11 - futon delivered, cooker delivered and installed; Sunday 12 - last day in old shared house, move last items across to new flat and clean old room; Tuesday 14 - housing association maintenance people fix electrics, separate routine visit by another bit of the housing association, white goods, furniture and other bits arriving from my mother's; any time from Tuesday 14-Friday 17 - curtain rails installed by free housing association moving-in service and I get the curtains up; Saturday 18 - carpet fitted, and once that's done I can finally unpack everything; Monday 20 - internet installed. That just leaves the decoration and vinyl/laminate flooring for the bathroom to do in my own time over the next few months. Preferably as soon as possible - I have some ugly feature walls where the wallpaper has to go. As do the dark turquoise walls for the bathroom.
The point being, by 19 April, or at the outside 25/26 April the following weekend, I will be in my new flat and will have finished plotting my route around the M60. I can then schedule at least two further walks to practice the western half and the eastern half of the walk separately, before the actual walk on Saturday 30 May.
Not only does this mean I'll be fully prepared for the walk, but I'll be in a position to let you know rough timings of when I expect to be at what stage of the route. Which means you can either join me for a bit of the walk, or line the route waving flags (or do something else, but I'll want to know why).
It also marks the end to a very busy start to the year. My mother's illness worsening, and her death - then all the things that follow from that - funeral, sorting her estate, clearing her house etc. (the bulk of which jobs have been done by my brothers and sisters); the end of my old job, five weeks looking for work, then starting a new job; moving to a new flat, including furnishing it; and planning the walk.
This is one of the reasons why I've felt the need to go into such trivial detail. The other being that after losing much of 2012-13 to depression, and slowly emerging from that through last year, I've felt much more capable of coping with things this year. And that feels like a fact worth celebrating and drawing attention to.
Plus I can now start concentrating on my art, immediately the Islands project, and any future ambitious walks or other projects I might choose to launch. And if you know me you can now come visit - I'll even have room for you to stay if you're coming from outside Manchester.
tl;dr Offline except from my smugphone from 12-20 April. Come visit me in my new flat! I'm walking round the M60 on 30 May, join me if you like. And relax.
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