Titli’s Weekly Blog – November 2011

20th November 2011

Yes, I know, I’ve got some explaining to do. It’s been about four weeks since I last wrote a blog and I feel very guilty about it.

In those days when I had someone who paid me money just for turning up to work there were certain hours when I was expected to be available to discuss “work-related matters”. This usually meant from 7 am to 10 pm, Sunday to Friday, to accommodate people in different time zones. I managed to fit in Titli’s Busy Kitchen around those times. There was a realisation in my head that TBK was a hobby and that I didn’t have enough time to do everything I wanted to. Now that I work for myself and TBK is now my major (greatly reduced!) source of income I now realise that I don’t have enough time to do all the things that I NEED to do!

It is a source of amazement to me just how few hours there seem to be in the day. Why can’t we have days which are 48 hours long? The number of days in a week don’t matter to me as I no longer have the concept of “a weekend”, but a few extra days in each month would be welcome. Perhaps an extra couple of months in the year. We could call them nice names like “Illuminary” (a month of enlightenment) and “Incendiary” (the hottest month of the year). This would add an extra 61 days into the year, and believe me I could do with them!

While still on the subject of work, there was a report this week in the UK about the number of work days lost every year due to people calling in sick – somewhere around 130 million if I’m not mistaken. The best suggestion I heard about reducing the national number of sick days was to not pay people for their first three days of sickness. You and I both know that there are a significant number of sick days which are as a result of a hangover from the night before, or a desire to lengthen the weekend…

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2012 Calendar

I am extremely delighted with the sales of my calendar. I paid to have 100 printed and as I write I only have 3 remaining. I am very grateful to those people who put their faith in me and bought a calendar and I hope you like it. Thank you.

There were others, though, who asked if I would send them a calendar for free because they were a great fan and my calendars were too expensive and their mother was sick and their granny’s inheritance hadn’t come through yet and, and, and… I was amazed at the number of such people – we are talking tens of people! If I had a large basket of spare cash and a large number of calendars then maybe I might have buckled in a few cases. But my calendars are few and to give them away would be a betrayal of those people who paid cash-money for them. Maybe I should write to Ferrari telling them that I’m a great fan of their cars but they are too expensive and my mother has had a shoulder operation and, and, and.

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Last weekend one of my Titli Buddies was travelling through Wales on vacation. Keren asked me if we could meet up somewhere so I invited her and her husband Ran to stay overnight at Titli Towers.

Keren and I have exchanged a couple of emails over the last 18 months but from the moment we met it was like we had been friends for ages. Naturally I cooked dinner for the four of us. Keren had suggested beforehand that she and Ran would like to try some proper British grub, so I set-to preparing food the day before they arrived. The opening salvo was Broccoli & Stilton Soup with homemade seeded rolls, followed by a heavy battering of Steak & Kidney Pie with julienned carrots and homemade chips. The final thrust was Apple Crumble with lashings of thick custard. Oh, and we did have some room left for chocolate mints. Conversation flowed easily and it was late by the time we left the dinner table and wandered off to bed.

The following morning I rustled up some scrambled egg on potato cakes for breakfast, together with some cinnamon rolls I’ve been keeping in the freezer for just such an occasion. Keren, Ran and I went for a walk in the woods with Dog before they left to continue their vacation. I felt a little sadness as they drove away. It made me realise how much I miss interacting with people from different cultures and backgrounds. We shared our different perspectives on everyday life in our respective countries (UK and Israel), and as usual I learned a lot from such an encounter. My nationality is English. My passport says that I’m British. But I do enjoy being a Citizen of the World.

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Last week Titli Films gained its first ever fee-paying client! I got a phonecall in response to my radio advertisement asking if I could help a local business make a promotional video and of course I said YES.

In simple terms the video involved me having to film a tractor spreading manure on a field. In reality it is a bit more hi-tech than that and I got to ride in a very big tractor *grin*. Also, picture the scene of me running behind a tractor at close range while it is muck-spreading…

The video is still Work In Progress. I have a meeting with my clients on Tuesday to go through my first cut of the video and agree on a voiceover. If all goes well I hope to finish the video by the end of next week – I’ll post a link here when it’s complete. Then I should get PAID!!!!!

In the meantime, here’s the link to my Titli Films presence on YouTube. If you live in the Midlands or Wales and need a video making (weddings, birthdays, or for your business) call TITLI FILMS!

Khuda hafiz!