Work is interesting again

Summer came and went, and I grew my beard for the two weeks that I was in England with my family, but shaved it off again afterwards in the hope that this would be better for work. Well, after a few setbacks, I am now enjoying work again far more than at any time since I had my own company. It probably does not have anything to do with the beard; it probably has a lot to do with organisational changes in the company where I work. I am just enjoying getting interesting things to do and seeing how well I can do them. In a way, that is the way it was in school, which was a very long time ago.

Without a beard

When I left school many years ago, I spent the Summer travelling from town to town within Great Britain playing in a number of chess tournaments. Along with several other tournament chess players, I took the opportunity to grow a beard. I kept the beard throughout my university days, and for very many years after that. It got longer at first, and then shorter. Finally, last weekend, my daughter removed it, with my consent of course, and I am without a beard for the first time since my school days. It feels naked. Unfortunately, I don't have a camera at the moment. So I cannot upload a photograph. It is certainly interesting to try something out. I had noticed that I had been trying out too few new things in the last few years. I wasn't exactly stuck in my ways, but I felt that I was becoming a trifle lethargic - at least relatively.

The best opportunity to grow it again is in the Summer. So there is a long time to make any decisions, and I would rather like a photograph!

Internet Radio

One of the advantages of the internet is being able to listen to radio programs from back home. I was cut off from radio programs from England for most of the time I have been living in Germany. At first, it was at least possible to tune into BFBS, but the broadcasters made sure that people who were not members of the armed forces or their families were not welcome to listen in. After BFBS was shut down, I didn't hear any radio programs in English for quite a time, but now I listen to the omnibus edition of The Archers on Sunday afternoons. I don't listen at the time it is broadcast because that doesn't fit in well with the way Sundays are spent by myself and my family. Being able to choose my time is a great improvement on the old days . The Archers gives me a feeling of keeping up with what is happening in England, although I realise that there is a lot missing. A discussion about organising pancakes for a cricket match to be played on Shrove Tuesday is rather nice to hear, and bigger problems are also discussed, of course.

Now and again, I also listen to other programs that happen to take my fancy. I enjoyed King Lear a few weeks ago, and I listened to some live football commentaries, but I simply didn't feel very involved. I didn't care enough about who was going to win. So I shall not be listening to any more in the near future.