breakfast – Pete's Blog

When I was working I rarely ate breakfast. I would wake at about 0545 each morning, get up quickly and be at my home desk or commuting to an office by 0615. When I got to work I would get a black decaf coffee and clear my emails before most of my colleagues were around. I felt ahead of the day. My first meeting would usually be 0730 or 0800 and I would be back to back. I was lucky enough to have a PA in those days and she (it was always a “she”) would make sure one hour a day was “Pete time” and I got to walk around and see my team or think about things that had come up or I was planning. I would rarely have a proper lunch break but would grab a sandwich on the move.

Don’t feel sorry for me. I was pretty good at finishing work at 1700 Mon-Thu and 1630 on Friday. And except when there was a service incident, I would not work at all at the weekend. I really loved my work and the colleagues I worked with. How many people get to say that?

Six years into retirement, my life is now somewhat different. And it includes breakfast.

A typical day for me now starts at about 0645. I will wake and still get up quite quickly. If we are on the narrowboat I will take Lulu for a walk and get back to make Mandy her breakfast in bed at about 0800. She always has cheerios and coffee. If I am in a house it is more lazy and I don’t get Lulu up for a wee till 0730. Mandy typically has her breakfast at about 0830 and then I take Lulu for a walk before setting off on whatever adventure I have planned for the day. I will often have breakfast now which can be anything from a couple of slices of toast to the flinglish.

On Tuesday it was slightly earlier because my adventure was helping my two brothers in law to move a caravan in the Lake District. It is Andrew’s van and it has not moved for years so he was worried about bits falling off it. In the end everything ran smoothly with very little work for Steve or me, but Andrew still appreciated our help as “insurance” and offered us breakfast as a reward.

We went to a very trendy cafe in the lakes called “Born and Bread” and I chose the “Salt Beef Bene”. I love a good Eggs Benedict and this one was with huge slices of their home made salt beef, on home made sourdough toast and with home made mustard hollandaise over the poached eggs. And there was sauerkraut and gherkins. So it was somewhere between a Reuben sandwich and normal Benedict. That made it a touch strange for breakfast and the beef was certainly intensely salty. But I really enjoyed it.

Do I miss those long busy work days? I certainly often dream about them which must say something. But I have no desire to go back to that intensity, living on adrenaline. I prefer my more relaxed world. And I do like breakfast.

But salt beef first thing inn the morning is a bit of an acquired taste. Would you try it??

I appreciate that followers of this blog probably think that all my life is a holiday. Since I retired I have been able to fulfil many of my bucket list wishes. We spend our summers on a narrowboat and have travelled most of the canals of England. We have spent a month in Orkney and a month in the Outer Hebrides. I interrailed all over Europe for a month. We have skied. We have stayed in castles. I am a very lucky chap.

This week we are having a proper holiday in Lanzarote. Mandy’s brother and his wife invited us to join them for a week. A free holiday in the sun, after weeks of cold, wet, dark, was too much to miss.

We are flying from Manchester and have arrived hours early. I always arrive early when I fly. I panic (unnecessarily) about hold ups in security and missing boarding. In my 60 years of life I have never missed a flight so perhaps I need to relax more. Or maybe the reason I have never missed a flight is because I am obsessive about it.

Either way, it means I always have hours to kill at the airport. What should I do?

The traditional way to use up airport time in the UK is to drink lager. There are only two times it is socially acceptable to get drunk first thing in the morning – Christmas Day and at the airport. There are an awful lot of people here with pints in front of them. But I can’t face that.

We could book an airport lounge. We always used to do that. We could sit on sofas with plenty of space, drinking “free” coffee and reading the newspapers. It is a comfortable way to fly. But prices have recently got ridiculous. It used to cost about £15 a person, but the price here for two of us would have been nearly £100. That is not good value for money.

We could go to the gate early. That would certainly mitigate my lateness paranoia. But the seats are always uncomfortable. They often change the gate. And it is boring.

We could have breakfast. T2 at Manchester has been recently refurbished and there are a wealth of restaurant options. They are pricey at around £17 for a full English, but it’s a lot cheaper than a lounge. I think that is a good choice.

And I still have time to add another option. What better choice for using time at the airport than writing a blog. You should try it.

Tag: breakfast

What to you think about salt beef for breakfast?

What should I do at the airport first thing in the morning?