Sorry, have been very negligent in my blog-writing duties. It’s not even that we’ve been totally swamped with work. It’s been quite busy, but in a very bitty way, doing a lot of admin and financial procedures for the various events that we have coming up before the end of the year and doing a lot of planning, so we are on top of upcoming issues. It’s my mantra that it’s better to plan what you can and give yourself the space to deal with last-minute emergencies rather than being in a permanent state of stress because everything is being dealt with at the last minute. It seems to be working quite well, though as long as most people in Brussels operate at the last minute, there’s not much we’re going to be able to do. Which is what is nice about this job. We are dependent on Brussels for the majority of our work, but at the same time there’s a lot that’s in our own hands and so we manage that as best we can.
We’ve been meeting all week with providers of contact databases for journalists, as our contract is up and a new tender is underway. I’ve never used one of these before, so it has been interesting to see what systems are out there. Looking forward to sorting it all out and starting work with one of these systems, which will hopefully allow us to manage our contacts with journalists better.
The telly in the office has had unprecedented levels of pictures of Brussels on it. The summit was given practically blanket coverage on News24 – have you ever seen a Berlaymont VIP corner live on British TV? Great stuff. My favourite moment was when they covered live Angela Merckel’s comments to the press as she went in. In German. Without subtitles/interpretation. Cue lots of confused looking people in the BBC studio, saying things like, well I have German O-level but didn’t understand a word. Heehee.
Took advantage of the lovely weather to go for a walk this lunchtime, over Westminster Bridge, along the river, back over Lambeth Bridge and past the Houses of Parliament. We bumped into George Parker, Political Editor of the FT and former bureau chief in Brussels, which is always a pleasure.
I’ve got the house to myself at the moment, as the Housemate is away on a work trip which he is turning into a long weekend. Not that I’ve got much planned. Tomorrow I’m going to go to the meeting of the Anglo-Malagasy Society, sort of representing my father, sort of for myself (looking forward to the Zebu sarnies…!) Sunday I’ll be round at my aunt’s for lunch. It’ll be great to catch up with her. Otherwise a very quiet weekend ahead.