Now for something completely different

As discussed, this has been a week dominated by politics, Westminster, sleaze and extreme grubbiness. Tonight feels like a good time to break free from that mess and blog about something different; something much more important. Let's talk about my week at home.I've had a great week with satisfying work - including progress on my PhD, working with my supervisor to submit an extended abstract for a major 2018 academic conference. I've met with some fascinating people and got to go to Anfield on Wednesday to watch my beloved Liverpool. I've been in touch with friends and family and been to our new house (fingers crossed, but looks like we will move in around three weeks). I've been running and playing golf. But most of all I've had a week dominated by spending time with my darling daughter and wonderful wife.This week's news reminds me of the stresses and strains of my previous working life and putting up with a corporate culture that not only jarred but at times made my feel sick, inducing self loathing. I was once congratulated - individually - by several very senior male colleagues for hiring someone they considered attractive. Yuk. Talk about behaviour and attitudes being normalised.  So it has been such rewarding to have spent most of it at home and being able to take Aoife to and from pre-school, go to meet her pre-school teachers for a parents evening with Dr J and be around for breakfasts and dinners with my girls. It is the simple things in life that matter most to me.The nasty maelstrom of Westminster is thankfully a far cry from this coastal corner of magical Merseyside; it is a world away from the ugliness of sex pest MPs and worse; it is a different country; a different world. I always knew how lucky I was to have been born in this part of the world - surrounded by the best people on the planet. I now know how lucky I am to live here and love here; loving my life and loving my Merseyside.#ben2b40