Time out dilemmas

No service to take this morning, so I went to St Catherine's and sang in the choir. The music was familiar thankfully, as I hadn't attended last Thursday's choir practice, which I must this week and next, as I plan to sing in the Nine Lessons and Carols service the Thursday before Christmas. When we returned I finished next week's Morning Prayer video and uploaded it to YouTube. The next few days are busy so it's good to have one less task outstanding.

After lunch, a brisk walk in the park before going to St German's for the second Advent Evening Prayer services, just as the sun was setting. There were only four of us. Mike and Ann had intended to come but he arrived at church this morning and couldn't get out of the car because his arthritic hip had seized up, so he had to return home and get something done about it. I hope he's going to be OK.

Thought I'd prefer not to, I went for another walk in the dark after returning from the service. making an effort to sustain my daily 10k exercise quota. I'm obsessive about it I know. Sometimes I walk thirty percent more, other times I just make the target recently I've been struggling somewhat it make it, but not because I'm tired or lacking in energy. I'm feel fitter and healthier well than I have since I retired but I'm getting bored with the routine and feel it's robbing me of time to do other things. 

I've endured several dark winters of long nights without losing motivation and spending two hours a day outdoors. It seems to me I'd benefit if I could make an earlier start to the day, re-schedule work time later, as now I tend to work mornings and afternoons. In times past, under pressure I'd work morning, afternoon and evening if needs be. Now I can't work so intensely for so long without paying for it with exhaustion, needing a couple of days to recover. It's more important to take time out each day. Getting outdoors and walking early isn't quite so easy however, as I'm slow getting started when I wake up. There must be a way of making the change of habit, but I must figure out how.

Meanwhile, time-out is usually evenings. Tonight I binge watched three episodes of 'Crossing Lines. It's ridiculous. Even so, despite portraying a multi-lingual environment almost entirely mono-lingually, the series is maturing, as an equivalent to NCIS - a crime fighting team with wise leaders and a classy HQ, hi-tec equipment with ninja fighting and firearms skills, instead of US Navy crimes and social issues as its mise en scene, it has Interpol and the whole EU as its theatre of operation. It's on it's third series now. How much further does it have to run? Is it for the global market NCIS has succeeded in, or just the European? Time will tell. What's interesting is how relevant some of the crime themes are, people trafficking, Russian mafia, cyber bullying, police corruption. Moreover, some of the dialogue is quite entertaining, which makes a change.