The first part (Blog #8) of our latest catch-up at PJR Creative - the ups and downs of working in and out of lockdown during a pandemic, getting older, health issues and what really matters.
It was July 6th 2022 when I began this blog - hence my t-shirt and shorts (it’s now October and really, really busy and I’m sitting in a jumper and jeans with the heating on as the meter whizzes around like a mouse on an exercise wheel!) I can’t believe where the time has gone since my last musings in July 2021, alas - try to imagine that it’s ridiculously hot and you are licking on a ‘Fab’ lolly trying to find some shade while next door is emptying his cold, greasy washing up water on his plants helping to save the oceans (or more likely to keep his water meter down). A workman (on the street below our studio) is taking a break from wrecking our pathways to drink a can of cheap pretend coke in his high-vis vest and ill-fitting pants hoping that a gaggle of yummy mums returning from the school run clamour for his attaention (not even a glance in his direction).
Yes - it was hot!
Greetings from the PJR Creative Studio on a glorious summer day - endless blue skies above (maybe a pantone 297) and a lovely 23 degrees inside and out.
So as I sit here in a t-shirt and shorts, awaiting a ‘WeTransfer’ delivery from a local photographer for a bus ‘Ad’ campaign with a tight deadline - ‘Matt Johnson and The The’ chug out their hits from the Royal Albert on my second screen as the neighbours discuss Victoria Sponges and Pimms outside!
Life has gone up a gear or two, masks and Covid tests are no longer at the forefront of our lives (although they still linger in the shadows). Boris has had several parties too many, the full effects of Brexit are starting to hit home, you need a bank loan to drive to the end of your street. Inflation has just hit 9.5%, people can’t afford to eat and god help us if we have a bad winter (our heating bill has climbed an extra £120.00 per month and going up again in October). HELP!
Summing up the months since we last chatted - a lot has happened...
Let me take you back to 2021 and my Knee problems (I didn’t have any answers when I blogged previously so I didn’t get into what would have become a big rant).
My health has been on a bit of a roller-coaster (and I don’t like fairground rides or Ronan Keating’s song for that matter). I bust my knee back in late Spring (Collateral ligaments) while out on my morning walk - confirmed via a doctors appointment, then a referral to ‘Musculoskeletal’ which resulted in a physio exercise program arriving in the post.
That ‘said’ program came with a warning, ‘if you suffer any pain or discomfort while exercising STOP all forms of exercise immediately and contact the ‘Musculoskeletal’ department to book an appointment.
Three days in and - ‘OOOF’ - imagine someone stabbing knitting needles into the back of your knee, causing a severe pain that left you feeling nauseous. well that - so for once in my life, I did exactly what I was told and stopped the exercise program immediately.
After a ‘dial a number and enter every single digit relating to your life followed by a star button’ phonecall with some artificial Intelligence body - I eventually got through to a human who booked me a ‘telephone call appointment’ for AUGUST 3rd (WHAT?, it was only April)!!! The result of which meaning my morning walks were no more, the only real form of exercise I currently undertook due to my job and circumstances.
The (Musculoskeletal) department suggested that I ring up every Monday morning in case there had been a cancellation (due to covid etc) surprise - surprise there were none, why on earth would anyone cancel and head to the back of a 5 month waiting list! This frustrating Monday morning cycle continued for weeks and weeks as my waist expanded and my leg grew weaker. I’ll return to this story in a couple of months...
MAY provided me with my second Covid vaccine - a huge lump on my arm being the only ill affect that I suffered - it became apparent that I was more fortunate than most, some of my friends and family had to take to their beds feeling feverish for 24 hours .
May was one of our busiest months in 2021 with a lot of jobs rolling in - one such job was a (strange) Dating Site Logo - requiring a multi-coloured tree with apples for eyes and a lot of discussions!
I keep looking online to see how/if it is progressing (not the best website to search for when you are in a long term relationship), you might have picked up on my 'past tense' - it was a project that drifted away from us, we were fully paid up for everything that we did but the lovely lady running the project unbeknown to us (initially) had two design companies working on the logo and she also had a web-design company looking at ideas too.
When my client asked us if we wanted to continue to work on the project with her sixteen year old son as a work experience project - he would like everything to go through WhatsApp, no emails, pdfs or phone calls so I explained that it wasn't the way we liked to work and gently declined. We stepped away with her blessing while suggesting that there were already too many cooks (costing her a fortune) with all three designers working on the same project and constantly clouding her judgement. I still haven't seen anything posted on the internet at the time of writing.
We also picked up a website design for an author, a brochure for some pub furniture and a fascia for a Pharmacy down South that month. Variety has never been an issue!!!
JUNE arrived with a cuddle of my little niece for the first time in 16 months. My first Gin Club subscription arrived to help me through the Summer nights. The EUROs (that is an international football tournament to the not so sporty) had just begun and the whole world were saying a quiet prayer for Christian Eriksen who collapsed on the pitch with no-one near him. He’d stopped breathing and was having CPR administered in front of the watching millions live on TV. He survived (thankfully) but his carreer had been written off by a top sports cardiologist saying that he would never play again - now 12 months on, amazingly he is entertaining us all in the Premier League #miraclesdohappen
During the same tournament we also witnessed how huge sports stars can affect advertising and marketing in spectacular ways. People will always question (and rightly so) why seven digit figures are offered up to ‘modern-day’ celebrities and 'sports stars' who advertise worldwide products. However at a 'Cristiano Ronaldo' press conference during the Euros (again, in front of a world audience) he gestured for people to drink water instead of 'Coca-Cola', Coke shares dropped by $4 billion overnight giving an insight to how mega-stars opinions and choices can seriously affect the way we think when given a global audience. Incidentally - how happy would you be with your bonus if you worked on the sales team for that brand of water?
However, we were still living in uncertain times which was compounded by my first spell in isolation after my accountant tested positive....
Back to my busted knee...
After weeks of frustration I made my usual Monday morning call hoping for a cancellation but expecting the standard response - now I know what you’re thinking... (WRONG, still no cancellations) but there was an interesting development - they had decided to create a cancellation list!
‘Would you like us to add your name to our list Mr Redden?' - without hesitation I replied ’yes of course I would - thank you’ and hung up with a renewed hope.
Hopefully, that was the end of fruitless reminders from Alexa and soul-destroying Monday morning calls telling me that I’m 8th, 7th, 6th in the queue and how important my call was... I’m sure you get the picture!
Well - you wont believe what happened next - three days later, yep just 'three' the office phone lit up with the illuminated orange message ‘Private Number’, well, in my experience this usually mean’t a doctor, their surgery or a department at the hospital was calling (we have had a lot of calls lately). It was the latter and lo and behold the ‘list’ had come up trumps and found me a gap in procedures, I was to receive my ‘telephone’ appointment in four weeks (exactly 100 days on from my initial painful phone call).
JULY began with a whimper which gave me some time to play with my camera again...
England did well in the EUROs and progressed to the European Championship Final against Italy at Wembley (only to lose out again on penalties). As many of us wondered if ‘football would ever come home’, social media reared it’s ugly side again as we bore witness to a disgusting racial attack on England’s young Black footballers who had missed their spot-kicks in the final. A sickening reminder that we don’t always live in (Great) Britain but thankfully the majority of our nation picked up these young lions (who were being horrendously abused for simply representing their country) thanked them, celebrated them and fought back against the idiot scum.
Back in the PJRC studio, after slow beginnings, work was starting to filter through - first a game board for a port in Mozambique, then came 60 playground graphics - designed, artworked, printed and supplied, we had menus and flyers for a new food outlet that were quickly dispatched, some biodiversity lecterns and a set of ‘Webinar’ graphics were also approved and completed and a ‘health and safety’ game pack rounded off our month nicely as it was boxed-off to our client's boardroom.
My knee was ‘still’ in pieces and my waistline was increasing!
The long-awaited 'telephone appointment' duly arrived (a full ten days before it was originally scheduled) marvellous! There was a really lovely lady on the other end of the line, who after a brief discussion acknowledged that I needed to go to hospital for further examination - just a mere ‘four months’ after the initial 'pop' and the resulting first call to my Doctor we were eventually making progress.
While in conversation she also dropped the bombshell that I should've continued walking, but - they told me to stop??? Apparently the damage I had initially sustained wouldn’t deteriorate any further and walking (although painful) would’ve have maintained the strength in my leg and assisted with my physio. Just another thing to add to the list that Covid has influenced over the past months causing cancellations and huge delays (with seriously reduced appointments and staff shortages across the whole of the NHS).
Please understand that I am blaming ‘Covid’ for this whole episode and not the wonderful NHS staff who, during this whole pandemic, have - put us first ahead of their own families and loved ones to look after strangers up and down the country.
So, armed with my new information after the 'telephone appointment' I decided that with nothing to lose I should probably venture out. It was my first walk in nearly four months, heading out slowly with baby steps at first before picking up my pace and not too far but far enough (boy was it sore the following day) but I had made it out.
My view over the farmer's fields surrounding Whickham to Newcastle (which was just breaking through the mist over the Tyne) - my first venture out was nearing completion as the world awoke on a fresh July morning.
Shortly after having my telephone appointment, my face to face (or mask to mask) appointment duly arrived in the latter days of a July heatwave. I arrived and parked up outside the local hospital, paid my fees and wandered over in the direction of the reception foyer and perched myself on a bench near the automatic doors and donned my mask. I punched a number (issued courtesy of Musculoskeletal) into my phone to give notice of my arrival, answered the pre-recorded questions with a number and following star - then waited for my nominated chaperone to appear in reception to guide me through hospital protocol - first sterilize hands, then show proof of id, my vaccination history, a temperature gun held to the forehead - approved, confirm my name and address and then follow at a constant distance of two metres to an empty waiting room where every second, third and forth chair were taped up.
I sat for what felt like a lot longer than it probably was in eerie silence - an area that would normally be full of hustle and bustle, doors opening and closing as doctors and nurses barked out patient names hoping to be heard above the throng of chatter. Alas, not today, the silence was deafening!
After a few minutes I heard a quiet, gentle ‘Peter’ in a soft Italian accent, I looked up to see a small, bespectacled lady with what seemed like a huge smile hidden behind her mask - I was the only person around, ‘yep that’s me!’ I replied and off we went to the ward - more sterilizing, before a one-legged hop up on to a medical bed laden with a full covering of hospital issue blue tissues which protected the fake leather hospital bed or more importantly the customer following me, from any variant that I may have been carrying.
Once comfortable, my appointment began by re-telling the events from March when my knee popped while pounding the pavements around my village. After a brief chat and some exploratory ‘does this hurt when I press here - yelp’ inspections we began some rigorous tests, flexibility, strength, balance - then to finish off, my strong but petite Italian physio (to my horror) sat on my left foot and asked me to physically kick her off - this could end so badly!
After three lung busting attempts she was still sitting there, just as she suspected - I couldn’t budge her at all!
The muscles in my troublesome leg, below and above my knee had seriously deteriorated and needed significant strengthening before I should resume any form of exercise (I'd only just started again!!) Six weeks of strengthening and rehabilitation lay ahead to get my leg back into shape. Armed with my new information I headed home clutching a bunch of exercise programs and resistance bands - I was now more aware than before that I had a lot of work to do - hmmm.
August approached with signs that some kind of normality was returning - my exercises were going well and the phone was ringing more often than before. One such call was from a good client who we hadn’t heard from in almost a year (they were looking to place a big order and they were also checking to make sure we had survived) it was a timely boost and a good start to next month...
AUGUST duly arrived - so did our Fun Lovin’ Criminals tickets (another story) and a new telephoto camera lens (ssshhh its for work). We wished our sister company www.pjr-creative-tees.com a happy 3rd birthday. The Olympics opened in front of empty stands (spooky) and as expected, it was a busy month in the studio.
A large ‘Twist’ exhibition display (the earlier call) required design and print, some graphics for a beauty salon (that we still haven’t been paid for over a year later - ouch, long story), a big batch of translations (in 19 different languages) for a UK game that we had created two months ago and would keep us busy for a few weeks, a deck design for a newbie, some football shirts and training tops for a local team and a fabric pop-up display.
The tunes rattling around the office were pretty good too in August...
August record of the month:
Sam Fender -
‘Seventeen Going Under’
Almost two years after Fender's debut album 'Hypersonic Missiles' he returned with this red vinyl beauty 'SGU' - a neatly packaged collection of tales from Sam's Geordie roots that resonated with people young and old. I'd followed him with interest from his early single releases and watched him progress from a snivelling teen to an angry young man with the world on his shoulders - his lyrics, raw with emotion, belted out with amazing focus one moment and then emotionally whispered the next, dictating his struggles bonding with his father, losing his innocence and suddenly finding himself in adulthood and all that it brings with it. Oh and the vinyl is a beautiful shade of Red too.
Although work generally was picking up, Covid was still playing a big part in everyday life. I had been working on a graphics for a festival for months now (Live Live 85) whose dates unfortunately came and went without any chance of the event going ahead (my client and good friend had spent thousands), unfortunately another victim of Covid - fingers crossed for next year mate...
As for my knee - well I was keeping up with my six week strengthening exercise regime (which had replaced my morning walks) and my leg and knee were getting stronger - slowly but surely, I was even doing a little extra work on the bike too.
SEPTEMBER and my next knee appointment arrived together, same protocol, same thermometer gun held to my head, same empty waiting room and the same physio.
We began with the same rigorous tests and she seemed impressed - then she sat on my foot again, however, this time I launched her through the curtain into the next cubicle (apologies). After she picked herself up off the floor and re-positioned her spectacles on the bridge of her nose, composed herself and signed me off with a good report. She bid me farewell with a thumbs up and a smile - it was all up to me now to get back to work pounding the streets, not too much not too soon.
Only a week later, my knee got well and truly tested when a city break to York scored me 25,000+ steps in a couple of days!
I had to keep stopping for Gin!
My knee was very sore but still intact. It was always going to take time after such a long lay off (and I was carrying a lot more timber now which was adding to the pressure on my joints).
We had a troublesome start to September - the office car failed its M.O.T unfortunately it took 500 English pounds to get it back on the road. We found lead times on products due to Covid and Brexit were starting to cause major issues with deadlines (10-12 day lead on a product that was only 3 days pre-pandemic). The dreaded Covid was everywhere now and businesses were on skeleton staff with people contracting the virus countrywide.
Apart from hospital visits and Tesco deliveries, face to face meetings were very sparse, but (could I handle the excitement) I had a delivery to make in person - I was going to see a client for the first time in months to deliver an exhibition display stand. It was lovely to say hello to a client even if it was being a PJRC mask, I hadn’t been this excited since handing over a batch of Business Cards to a client at a safe distance in the rear car park of a closed pub months ago!! ~But a light was appearing at the end of the tunnel...times were a changing!
Before long, Pubs were back open and people were relaxing a little, Covid passes were now a thing, both for restaurants and venues - I had mine loaded on to my phone, armed and ready - I was about to use it and venture out for my first gig in over 18 months. We had tickets for the Manic Street Preachers at Newcastle’s City Hall and we were standing for the first time too (they now had removable seats woop-woop).
It won't be a surprise to hear that our studio record of the month was:
Manic Street Preachers - The Ultra Vivid Lament
A total departure from their previous effort ‘Resistance Is Futile’. Affected by ongoing events - first covid and then the death of bassist Nicky Wire’s parents changed their plan of attack resulting in an album that sounds like ABBA on Red Bull - I love it! They was also my first post covid gig after several cancellations, standing in the City Hall, Newcastle, (opening night of their tour) the buzz was great and the Manics were about to sing their new songs from this album for the first time in front of a live audience - it was truly a top night #manicstreetpreachers
This months reading:
Typo-graphy Sketch-books - Steven Heller & Lita Talarico
I picked this up for next to nothing on amazon marketplace (pre owned) with some beautiful examples of sketched out typography from some talented folks.
In September the total number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the UK since the start of the pandemic exceeded 7 million.
Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open Women’s Singles on her first attempt - the first female Brit to win a major since Virginia Wade in ‘77. She also won the tournament without losing a set. She is going to take the world by storm - well maybe not yet after her performances since.
On the other side of the sports coin the whole Indian Cricket team got covid and the test summer was over!
We had panic buying at our petrol stations during the fuel supply crisis. #scaremongering #mediamadness
PJRC Life:
The office was busy and work flowed through the studio without any hiccups. On a good note we picked up three new clients - a clothing company, a web company and a parish Council who required a war memorial replicating - read all about the work we undertook for them here: https://www.pjr-creative.com/post/remembering-heroes-from-yesteryear
I had a meeting with a client on the banks of the Tyne and squared off some time afterwards to take a wander around Newcastle (on what turned out to be a very grey day). I was armed with my new lens fitted snuggly to my camera... so off I set!
I got some pictures of the #Sage and #BalticFlourMill while the sun peeked through the clouds and discovered some cool grafitti nearby too before heading over the Millennium Bridge to grab some atmospheric shots of the Tyne and the Quayside Sculptures (new and old) and had a wander as far as the #CycleHub before heading back to the car as the rain started to gently fall. A quick bite of lunch in the #TownWallPub and a snap on the road back to the office completed a pleasant couple of hours - the fruits of my labour lie below:
Before reaching the office my fuel light flickered in to view - (there I was) complaining that I had put £72.50 of fuel in my car and cursing how expensive it was (how little I knew as I have just stuck £96.00 in this week).
Onwards and upwards... roll on October!
OCTOBER was our best month for a good while booking in 19 jobs and causing me to work the first Sunday of the month!
Record of the month:
Richard Ashcroft - Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1
featuring a dozen re-recorded acoustic versions of his classics from his solo career and when fronting The Verve. A great selection of tunes with a new twist blasted out on heavyweight vinyl from the office turntable.
Book read (and still re-reading when my photos turn out rubbish):
Everything you ever wanted to know about taking better photographs -
Antony Zacharias.
Supposedly this book provides all the answers - I’m still looking for them.
In the UK the 20 quid Universal Credit increase was withdrawn
18 months after it began and the natural gas trading price rose to its highest ever level, increasing by 37% in the morning, recovering later in the day to finish 9% down on the day’s starting price. Was this the start of a crisis that we now find ourselves in before Putin fired a shot in anger!!!
'Fun Lovin' Criminals' tour cancelled - tickets scrapped, refunds issued.
After an agreement fell through in 2020 with owner Mike Ashley, a Saudi-led consortium Public Investment Fund buys 80% of Newcastle United’s shares worth £300m, making my club. Newcastle the richest British football club, albeit controversial - would mark a huge turning point in the history of the club and maybe change the direction of the book I was currently writing.
Tales from the Armchair of a Newcastle United fan
(From flair to despair)
I started following a writer/illustrator/designer chap a while back (not literally - just his weekly newsletters), he's called #AustinKleon and he has become a true inspiration, I love his musings, advice and regular snippets of wisdom. Because of him I have kept a diary for the past 750+ days and have also started writing a book - one of his pieces suggested that you should write the book you would want to read "everyone has a book in them!" so I started...
It won't win any awards and might never see the light of day but I'm enjoying the process and already have had a lot of interest. It won't be everyone's book of choice but if half of a Newcastle United average home attendance purchased one I would have 26k of sales (haha as if).
My problem, now that I have laid it out here in the open, is that I have to commit to finishing it (I think I knew that and this is my way of pushing myself as I haven't touched it for over three months due to the studio getting busy again).
Unfortunately, the longer I leave it, the more I have to write as the subject matter never stands still and after new investment, the whole club is undergoing massive change on and off the pitch. Maybe that will be my second book 'How to follow the richest club in the world'... #nufc
Sitting in the shadows of the Angel of the North, this is my story (as I have seen it), my views, my recollections and maybe some of it through black and white eyes and not quite how it was reported in the tabloids.
As one of many long-suffering Newcastle United fans, I’m writing this all from the comfort of my armchair. It is only comfortable because it’s not a weekend and therefore I’m not being force-fed another abject black and white performance through my TV screen (which is depressing enough without being bang in the middle of another Covid-19 Lockdown). Don’t worry it’s not all doom and gloom but I have to start somewhere...
We’ve all got a bit of ‘glory hunter jealousy’ inside us, but once Black and White fever inhabits your soul, it’s in there ‘til the day you leave this earth - whether you like it or not!
Watch this space!
NOVEMBER was a busy month as we still had a few jobs that flowed over from the previous month - plus nine or ten new jobs, added to our list! We had 'twelve deals of Christmas' for our Clothing Company client, some additional plan drawings for a Pharmacy 'refurbishment', some event posters and offer cards, an order of service and some playground game boards.
Record of the month:
The The - The Comeback Special, Live at the Royal Albert Hall
After 20 years away from the music scene, I was delighted to see that The The were to celebrate their 'comeback' by performing and recording a superb live performance at the Royal Albert Hall and making their 'Comeback Special' available to purchase on vinyl for fans worldwide. Me included!
In the UK the 20 quid Universal Credit increase was withdrawn
its official - Huey Morgan left the 'Fun Lovin' Criminals' so we now know why the tour was cancelled... and our tickets became worthless!!!
PJR Creative received their first ever Christmas lunch invite from the lovely people at #TheBigPicturePeople
Prince Andrew should be sweating after a new photo emerges
Meals in outdoor pods are still a thing in November.
Storm Arwen hits the UK like Tyson punch in his heyday. (Debris everywhere, tree upon tree uprooted, garden sheds in new gardens - frightening).
DECEMBER arrives as a 'New' PJR Creative advert hits social media... as work in our studio begins to ease off and Christmas closes in while everyone is on high alert to see what BoJo will propose this year?
With studio life pretty much grinding to a half by mid-December it gave me some time to take a look at our t-shirt website and give it a spruce up.
It hadn't really changed in three and half years since the original set-up and had been neglected due to the overall success of PJR Creative.
The new home page at www.pjr-creative-tees.com
I thought that if I'm redesigning the website I would need some new product too so I set about designing some tees that were close to my heart so that I had something to push on re-launch...
The first designs were #NUFC related as we had just become the richest club in the world - so why not embrace it?
Record of the month (and also a birthday present):
The Reytons - Kids off the Estate
The debut album 'Kids Off The Estate'. is full of angst and bravado with tales from their local haunts.
The raucous 'Mind The Gap' opens their account at one hundred miles per hour and doesn't slow down throughout the next 13 tracks. Like a pound-for-pound fighter it keeps hitting you with infectious riffs and bouncing melodies that will invade your headspace and hang around for hours.
It's like listening to the Arctic Monkeys out of control little cousins...
Book of the month (and I only owned it after the big fella in the red suit arrived down our chimney):
And Away... -
Bob Mortimer.
I've always loved Bob Mortimer - a funny guy and a proper Northerner which always helps. His life story jumps back and forth from his childhood days which weren't the best and when he lost his Dad (but you don't hear Bob complaining). College days and life as Robert the Solicitor followed until a chance meeting with 'Mr Reeves' - this is all intertwined with events from 2015 when he was diagnosed with a heart condition and imminent surgery. After which Bob is in reflective mood on his life so far but don't be fooled this is as hilarious as it is moving. One thing I was amazed at was how unbelievably shy he was until Vic Reeves brought him out of his shell and changed his life. A really good read!
The number one bestseller and Sunday Times Humour Book of the Year by national treasure Bob Mortimer. ‘The most life-affirming, joyful read of the year’ - Sunday Times.
As Christmas approached I spotted a great bit of festive graffiti... see for yourself.
As we closed in on 600 jobs, this seems like a good time to break off and pick up 2022 in my next blog (it'll give you time to get over this one).
So for now thanks for listening (reading) as always.
Roger and out.
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