This is me, touching base and catching up with my family, my friends and anyone else who can be arsed to read this. It's been a wild ride. My heart goes out to anyone who has been touched by the current crisis. I hope reading these words brings you joy because I am only going to focus on the good parts of my lockdown. Which has been crazy in a lot of ways, but I feel blessed that a good number of these have been crazy in a good way.

Over the last 3 months, the world we once knew has been transformed. Although, up until about a month ago my life was pretty much untouched by these transformations. I regularly travelled around. I visited Kathy in London on the reg, I travelled to Utrecht in January and went to Malta towards the end of February. In fact, this could easily be coming up to the longest continuous stretch of time I have spent in Edinburgh since moving here in October 2018. It's been great.

A Pre lockdown blowout

For me, the story begins with a pretty mental weekend the week before we were officially sentenced to lockdown. On Friday night, I had a reunion with two absolute crackers from the past. Moritz and Aliya. Old pals from Maastricht days, visiting Charlie, chilling out and smoking weed. Goodtimes. This meeting had been on the cards ever since I found out they were up here, I am just gutted we didn't catch up sooner. Anyway, a fair pissup commenced.

I got introduced properly to smokey Whisky for the first time - I even bought a bottle thanks Moritz.

And we ended up in the jazz bar. Class night!

Saturday was probably heavier.

First, I bicycled to the Motorbike shop. Since Nam I have been, and still am, determined to get my motorbike license. I booked my CBT test on this fine Saturday morning - got bloody cancelled though didn't it. Definitely regret not sorting this out last year.

Next, I met up with Senners and Jake for a day of boozing it up across Glasgow's southside. These two beauties had come up to Glasgow for a much deserved and very timely city break and they sure know how to party. We got to see the vibrant underbelly of Glasgow in a way I have never quite managed to before. Numerous rough and ready pubs full of friendly Glaswegian folk. The standout being the Brazen Head, a Celtic FC pub through and through. One can only imagine the pre and post-match scenes that take place here. It was fairly gutting to find out Celtic vs Rangers would have been playing on Sunday if it wasn't for the Ron.

During our tour, we made it all the way to the Rum Shack, before heading back to the Airbnb and then SubClub. Both locations that had been top of my todo list for a while. Considering the times, SubClub was fairly popping. Plus I have never seen a club toilet so well stocked with soap. Our boozy sesh ended with a series of unfortunate events involving a smoke, a key, a flat door and all our phones. We ended up huddled in our doorway living on McDonalds teas, hash browns and hope until about 8am. Nightmare, though funny looking back.

Considering the weekend, on Sunday I was far from the couch potato you might imagine. I even managed to slot in half a day of work for truu.

Looking back it sounds nuts, but I am glad I got a bit of a blow out before lockdown. My world has changed a lot since then. I have a huge appreciation for all those involved in my weekend, whether you were one of my best pals, the lovely Italian Glaswegian pub owner or the person filling up soap in SubClub toilets. I hope you are all coping with the times, thank you for helping me enjoy this last weekend of freedom. I also apologise profusely to our Airbnb host for disrupting her morning.

So, that was the weekend before.

On Tuesday I continued to make good use of my life before lockdown. I met Twelvesy for a game of squash. Not a clue how long it's been since I last saw this geezer. We go way back to hardcore further maths classes throughout our sixth form. A trial by fire that at a minimum left us all with mutual respect for the others. I spent 50% of our timetabled 6th form classes with them. Well, this Christmas I found out he was up in Edinburgh and we only just managed to sort out a meeting. Another thing I wish I had gotten to sooner. I imagine we all have plenty of those.

I can't remember what went down for the rest of the week, I did put in a substantial amount of time at truu as well as pushing forward my research. I wrote about my love for the NHS, this had actually been on the cards for a while. Ever since I finished This is Going to Hurt - if you haven't seen it read it. If you can't afford it, email me your address and I will send you a copy. I also wrote a bunch of other articles, not quite sure how I managed to fit it in.

Truu life

Truu played a big part in my first 4 weeks of lockdown, they are an incredibly cool startup run by doctors for doctors. I have been working for them one day a week for over a year now, although on Monday the 13th (today for me) I handed in my resignation. Over my lockdown period, I have probably worked harder than I ever have in my life, but that is a story for another time. This is a story of happiness and while I count myself incredibly lucky to have been a part of their journey, some of my recent memories of truu from this lockdown are filled with stress and frustration.

Here I am post-resignation enjoying a beer in the sunshine. Look at my smile!

Overall though my time with truu has been one full of valuable learning experiences. We had a mutually beneficial relationship and I have the utmost respect for the people involved. You see truu's work, has been to tirelessly advocate for SSI within our NHS for going on 5 years, including being a founding steward of the Sovrin network. The current crisis has led to an acceleration in a transformation that has been grinding against the bureaucracy of our systems for years. And boy is it going to be transformative. Both truu's co-founders, Manny and Henry are Doctors who have lived and breathed the NHS - just like Adam Kay (read the book) and they set out to streamline the administrative burden we place on healthcare professionals simply to manage and progress through their career.

I spent my last four weeks at truu working flat out developing this, but it wasn't sustainable or conducive to my studies. I barely had time for eating, let alone thinking. Anyway, we left on good terms and I am confident we will collaborate together in the future.

Saved by My Kathy

Thursday the 19th is another standout day the story of my lockdown. On this day Kathy, my princess, the bringer of teas, came up to stay. For the foreseeable. Forever? Haha, I wish. She has been keeping me company and sane ever since though!

Kathy was undoubtedly my saving grace during this period. She took on some of the burden associated with just living and existing. We ate great food, not always cooked by Kathy but on more than one occasion throughout the week she ended up cooking me dinner. Not to mention the lunches. Breakfast we shared the responsibilities more evenly. At least that initial caffeine hit.

She sure looked after me good, I definitely owe her one. I mean look at this concoction she dropped off at my desk one morning.

I didn't give her the attention she deserved so she had to find ways to keep herself entertained throughout the days and often into the evenings.

Lockdown

As we move into the lockdown phase of this story the details and dates get a little hazy. Things largely merge into one continuous stream. While some people may have ended up with more time on their hands, I ended up with the truu project monopolising a large portion of my attention whilst trying to maintain my PhD research including finalising a conference paper. I also was living with my amazing girlfriend, for the first time ever in our wild and wonderful 7+ year relationship. Largely my fault ;). Safe to say my plate was full and overflowing.

Least I had stocked up on loo roll.

Not even intentionally. I recently started subscribing to Who Gives a Crap - check it out. Never have to worry about toilet roll again.

The Outdoors

Since lockdown, I am sure we all have been enjoying the good outdoors in a way we never did before. Freedom. Fresh air. An escape from our homes even if just for a few hours.

I have been living in Edinburgh for 18 months and over the last few weeks, I have gotten to know parts of Edinburgh I have never seen before.

I cannot think of a better place I would rather spend my lockdown. It is blessed with more than it's a fair share of lovely walks and stunning architecture. The meadows. The canal. The waters of Leith. Around the old town. Portobello beach. Blackford quarry. We have had plenty to get stuck into.

Holyrood Park

A standout among Edinburgh's walking location has to be Holyrood Park. Most notable for Arthur's seat, which is cool, but to give you some perspective, Arthur's seat is to Holyrood park what the Cow and Calf is to Ilkley moor.

A standout feature that draws tourists and the less adventurous like moths to a flame. Holyrood Park has plenty more to give for those willing to explore. Like each of it's three of its swan filled lakes.

An Appreciation of Nature

While the times are tough, I take have strong faith that they will get better and that we, as humans, will get better as a consequence. We have collectively pressed pause on human society as we knew it. We can take this opportunity to step back and survey the natural world. To appreciate it and all it's beauty.

The sun has been shining and spring is in the air. It has been wonderful.

Isn't Life Better without Cars

I bet we have all been appreciating a world without cars. Or at least without them dominating our cities in a way that I hope they never do again. And Edinburgh was probably one of the most pedestrian-friendly cities I knew.

Check out the Royal Mile - empty.

Booze, Coffee and the Finer Things

Beer and coffee have played an important role throughout my lockdown. Artisan Roast and any funky pale ale, Saison or sour. Got to enjoy the little things.

Before the lockdown, I purposely stocked up at my favourite beer shop - The Salt Horse.

Since then I have ordered more online a couple of times, first from Hoptimism and recently from my pal Brooky's brewery Triple Point and he sorted me out big time. Happy Birthday and all matey.

I am completing my transition into an unashamed beer nerd and hopefully helping some of the UK's tastiest brewers through these times. At least that's what I tell myself.

Check out my top ten. Whirlpool of Love from Whiplash probably still holds the top spot. Or perhaps the Iron Brew sour next to it.

Sometimes though, as I am sure many people reading this will agree, beer doesn't quite cut it. For these situations, I generally roll out an old fashioned, my drink of choice.

While booze works in the evenings, it has been coffee from Edinburgh's Artisan Roast that I look forward to in the morning.

We have also been eating some mighty fine food.

Like this tasty tasty Jackfruit and Mushroom gyros. Originally I planned to cook this for Callum and Becky's visit, but the Ron scuppered that one. Hope you are both surviving and thriving - especially you Becky battling on the frontlines.

Naturally, we have been going in hard on the cooking and baking. A core indoor activity keeping us going. We even bought a new cookbook - Vegan: The Cookbook.

Easter

This Easter has been pretty great for me. A holiday, wow. A holiday has been like a gulp of fresh air.

The living room was our base camp.

We (largely Kathy) started tackling an impossibly small 1000 piece puzzle.

We actually finished it.

Our flat is blessed with a cracking sunspot. Something that I only started to use to its full potential this lockdown. Almost as good as being outdoors.

Check out the view!

Although it is a real shame about my university - probably one of the ugliest buildings in Edinburgh.

I want to give a big shout out to Leonie, my flatmate who has been absent from Edinburgh since Christmas with illness. She's all good now though. It's because of her Kathy and I are staying in this lovely Bruntsfield flat. Leonie, I hope you and yours are managing, thanks for insuring me on your car too!

On Saturday I cooked some banging food for Kathy from our new cookbook. Vietnamese Garden Rolls and Spicy Udon from Mongolia. Then on Sunday, we made a roast, and daym Kathy can make some banging tatties. Linda's Beef was fair tasty too. I've been spoilt what can I say.

I did work a little bit over the holidays. But I have been working for myself. Thinking, reading and writing. It has been refreshing. This blog has been in the works for a while. So, although Kathy might not be best pleased about me on my laptop again ... I've enjoyed it. Anyway, it's just gone midnight and she is in bed. Can't wait to go give her a big cuddle.

Bedtime for me.

I hope everyone is staying safe and feeling positive and still smiling.

Big love x

Epilogue

So the plan was to publish the morning after writing it. Tuesday the 14th to be precise.

However, on that morning I ended up trialling the seated snooze. I just couldn't keep my eyes open.

To be honest I struggled to restart after the holiday. It was weird, I no longer had truu responsibilities I almost didn't know what to do with myself. I am still going through a productivity trough but least this is published before my Birthday. Just - it's tomorrow!