24 hours with: David Cole
Date: Sunday 13 March 2016
Why have you chosen to write about today?
Because it’s a different kind of day. I'm in Philadelphia for the parent company's annual Hospital Management Conference. It's a five day event, and myself and two colleagues arrived last night. We tried to stay awake as long as possible, but ended up retreating to the hotel as the streets were full of drunk people wearing green, clearly gearing up for St Patrick's Day next week: that well known American festival!! We were told that people now celebrate for at least a week, some for many weeks, even though most of them have no Irish heritage.
Good morning!
What time did you wake up?
My body clock is still on UK time, so I woke at about 3:30 local time this morning.
Why did you wake up at that time?
As above
Did you have a dream?
No
Do you think today will be 'good' or 'bad' day? (use your own definition of these words to answer the question)
It'll be a good day if I can stay awake.
What are the first three things you do after waking up?
I read for a while, downloaded the Sunday papers, and then went to the gym for 90 minutes when it opened at 5am! Before breakfast, I re-read the presentation that I had to give later in the day, and made a few changes to my notes.
Do you eat breakfast? If yes, what did you have?
What would be your perfect breakfast?
There was a communal breakfast this morning in our hotel, it's later than I would normally have breakfast, so I was definitely ready for it. I would normally just have a vegetable juice or cereal, as I am usually on a train by 6:30,which means leaving the house before 6am. However today I took the healthy option with fresh fruit from the buffet, and probably more coffee than was good for me.
Is there anything that you have to do today but don't particularly want to?
I have to give a presentation. That's definitely the one thing that I wasn't looking forward to today. There are about 350 people here, not all of them from the behavioural health division, but the majority of them
List five things that you do between 9am and noon.
Attended the first morning of the conference. The first morning is usually very good. There is an introduction from the Chairman, and video presentations from the Presidents of each division, followed by a Q&A. Today was no exception. High quality presentations and discussion. There was a bit of an episode in the morning when one of the delegates had a seizure. Being a healthcare operator, there were more than enough people around to help him.
Did you eat lunch? If yes, what did you eat?
Lunch was a bit more of corporate America. Some salad from the buffet after queuing a while. It's a good time to meet people from different walk of life, at lunchtime I got to meet the CEOs of some of the large med-surg hospitals in the group.
What would be your perfect lunch?
A long one that meant I didn’t have to do anything afterwards!
List five things that you have done, said, thought, or that have happened between noon and 5pm.
The afternoon started with a presentation by our Divisional President, then a rather full presentation by a newly acquired addictions operator, Foundations Recovery Network. Then it was my turn to update people about Cygnet, what we've been up to, what we are planning, as well as the wider UK market. It seemed to go well, to be honest I was glad to get it out of the way.
I bunked off the last session to get some air, and some use of my legs. Then I and my UK colleagues for a quick drink before dinner. It may seem early, but it IS a Sunday; my body clock tells me it's 9pm; and they do eat rather early over here!
Do you eat dinner/tea? If yes, at what time?
Dinner was a simple buffet at about 6:30pm, and pretty good considering they were feeding 350 people. I had some good debate with the group CEO, and the CEOs of other parts of the organisation.
What would be your perfect dinner?
Something spicy but light. Kick off a few endorphins but not leave me feeling too full!
What do you do with your evening (5-8pm)?
At this time of the evening, I usually like to be sat in my own armchair, with my dog at my feet, ready to watch some inane film or TV to take my mind off of the day before or the next day ahead. Tonight, I retreated to my bedroom and watched a couple of episodes of House of Cards on Netflix.
What time do you go to sleep?
Lights out at 11pm. Alarm set for 5am to get to the gym before it gets too busy.
Is this when you want to go to bed? Or is it influenced by what you're doing the following day?
Bit of both – and the time difference
Reflect
What was your favourite part of your day?
Actually staying awake as long as I did
What was your least favourite?
Getting up to present
Are you looking forward to tomorrow? What do you have planned?
More of the same for the next three days!
Thank you for taking part in the series.
Goodnight!