Rob

One Street: Market Square, Shipley #38

Since I've been blipping I've never been quite so stretched to find a few moments of spare time. First, time to comment dried up, and now time to blip itself. My two most important colleagues at work are away this week on holiday in France, and we have another vital deadline for a week's time. Just keeping the existing systems ticking along is taking up all the available time, let alone finding some to work on the new one. My long weekend break is already a distant memory. Without that little holiday, though, I doubt whether I'd have made it through this day. It's been a nightmare. After an early start I eventually left the office a bit before 10pm and just managed to cycle back before it got truly dark. I had rear lights with me but no front. It was probably the briskest ride of the year. At least I can take some pleasure from the return of my bike fitness!

I'm still loving taking street portraits. I'm blipping this one to mark just how much my confidence has grown. I saw this guy, with a bit of a 'hard' persona, and was compelled to stop and chat. He was really cool. Almost everyone I meet is. I get very few refusals when I ask someone if I can take their photograph. I guess it helps that I try to establish a rapport before I pop the question.

Thanks so much for the generosity of your love and comments while I've been away and playing catch-up, especially the reaction to Thursday's Waiting at Red. You guys are fabulous beyond words, but also a real sucker for a thumbnail with a bit of leg! The last time I got that many views was the occasion of blipping Tarquin with his wooden penis. It just goes to show how many people decide whether to look at a blip on the basis of the thumbnail image. I know that I do exactly the same. Let's see how I fare with this one!