London life

It has been some time between posts, hasn’t it? That usually means that time has been at a premium. What with Kate arriving in London and setting up our lives here, that has certainly been true.

What can I catch you up with briefly  before I make a better stab at keeping the blog up to date?

• The new job has been somewhat underwhelming. The title of Swine Flu Vaccine Policy Coordinator at the Department of Health in the UK seems to indicate some kind of policy development might be involved. Truth be told there has been scant trace of that – it has been mainly reactive briefing and correspondence duties so far. If it continues for much longer, I don’t know how long I will stick it.
• London life and how much energy it takes, with travel and trying to do interesting things has been revealed again to me again, somewhat shockingly. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to take it, especially if the job doesn’t pick up.
• I joined a cricket club and had a few lovely games of 20 over cricket at the end of the season. Missing thr old crew back in Wellington, though it was nice to be playing and bowling on grass wickets again
• Joined the Serpentine Running Club, and regularly managing 6-7km runs, and the odd long one thrown in too – including a 10.5km run tonight. Also ran my first 5km official event, which was a trail run in the middle of a hot day – clocked 23:58, which I was very happy with. I’ve also dropped down to 78kg – which is the least I’ve weighed since I was a about 30 – I’m also very pleased with that too. The aim is to try to do a few more 5km events, a 10km event before the end of the year, and then start a training programme for a half marathon in the spring.
• Kate and I have managed a bit of travel – as well as a day-trip to Calais and a weekend in Amsterdam (where Kate ended up in A&E – but that is another story), we also got down to Avebury, Bristol, Lewes and Seaford, St Albans, and Bournemouth. In the new few weeks, we have Stockholm and Paris lined up, as well as possibly Brussels, and a trip back to NZ  via a weekend in LA for me to do some work.
• I now have a Visiting Researcher role at the National Institute of Mental Health, where I did my JSPS Fellowship earlier this year.

That’s enough I think – live blogs start again forthwith.