Daniel Jones
Appearances
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
And any kind of conflict they would have was like apocalyptically threatening to that love. And his whole concept of love was peace. She, perhaps sensing the fragility of that, broke off their engagement just a few weeks before they were to get married. And he was just not long before starting his medical residency. And he went off to this medical residency just devastated.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
And how am I going to get through this? And it was lonely. But it turned out to be kind of a boot camp for him in what... real love means, and that real love involves conflict and disappointment, and it has to be able to absorb and hold all of those feelings. It can't just be about peace and comfort.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
And during his residency, he learns that and comes out the other end of it, what he says, as a more full human being and a better doctor, and meets a woman where they are able to have a full relationship that he describes as being more like a basketball than a vase. One is durable and can bounce and can take a beating, and a vase is something that breaks the first time you drop it.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
but looks beautiful from the outside. And it resonated so deeply with me because I felt so similarly to him in my life of wanting to avoid conflict, of feeling like love should not... If you fight, that means you're not meant to be together.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
And on the contrary, to be able to manage a fight and grow from it and know someone more deeply because of it is one of the main keys to sort of a durable and lasting relationship.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
There's a popular conception that a relationship that ends is a failed relationship. And, you know, every relationship can have its value. And to think of something as a failure because it ended, it's not fair and it's not wise. It's not productive and it's not true.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
Yeah, and I mean, at one point I remember noticing, especially among young people, college students, sophisticated college students, they still referred to Disney movies as being their inspiration in a way for what romantic love is, which... All of those movies end in a wedding, you know? Like, a wedding is the achievement instead of the beginning of a deepening relationship.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
And that's part of that misconception, these sort of scripts that we seem to play in our lives or that we feel like we need to stick to. And it's not that, you know? It's the beginning of conflict. It's the beginning of something that is deeper.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
Yeah, and this is an essay by a writer named Chris Huntington. He talks about this ritual with his son where they also talk each day about the best moments and the worst moments of their day. And one night he's reading with his son and he's feeling distracted and probably checking his phone and just all of those things where you're not in the moment.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
And he says, oh, wait, we forgot to talk about our best moment and worst moment. What's the best moment of your day? And his son says, this is, Daddy, this is. I actually started to get teary just thinking about it.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
And when I read that, tears sort of sprung to my eyes and I thought about my own experiences with my reading to my son and to my daughter and the distraction that I used to feel and what am I going to do tomorrow and what do I have to do for work and just that reminder, that small moment of like, this is your life. These are the important moments of your life. Be in them.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
I get asked that a lot, and I think about it a lot. And I think mostly I've seen in essays, but ones that seem, you know, that are sort of successful in terms of what happens in them and not, is there's kind of a dividing line between people who continue to open their hearts and those who shut down. And one is the path to happiness and one is the path to unhappiness and regret.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
And it's not always easy when something ends or when you suffer a real loss. And to see people who continue to put themselves out there and say, like, this is my one life, I'm going to make something of it. And yeah, I admire that and I feel like it's changed my life.
The Daily
The Year in Wisdom
Well, that line comes from an essay by a writer named Thomas Hooven. Actually, I call him a writer, but he's a doctor and was a medical resident. And he'd come from a difficult childhood. His fiancée at the time had similarly come from a difficult childhood. And they found each other, and their relationship was kind of a refuge from their past family lives and their childhoods.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
We're in in-depth discussions about that. We've come a long way down the line. We're looking at the costs associated with each proposal and we'll be outlining that in the near future about our recommendation for a way forward. And certainly there has to be a forward look on longevity of the building.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
We know that the rack is 40 years old, so we've taken every consideration to hopefully inform a full response later today.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
We have a designated project manager that coordinates a group of officers from the council that have been working in the background to obtain what we feel we know should be a brief and that needs to be developed further. We're working on that at the moment. In terms of a Gantt chart or a programme, we absolutely have a draft programme together.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
We can't produce that in full at the moment until we have some further information. In terms of reporting, I think that Gantt chart will be available in the future, so we can see the timelines, but that is very much in its first phase at the moment. We need, obviously, the decisions to be taken on our next steps, and then we'll produce forward from there.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
That's correct. We've got an indicative layout which has been produced. It's subject to, is there a reconfiguration of the layout that we could change? Do we want to go to the full scope of work required? The cost of which we haven't produced yet, but we are working very closely with the architects to look at those costs.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
But as we work up that model over the coming weeks, we'll be able to produce a detailed cost plan for the delivery of Unit 5.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
We're entering into what is potentially a £10 million project. It's enormous. It needs to be run properly. It needs to be run professionally. We're accountable for the whole process of managing a project and we want to deliver it in the right way for the future.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
With that comes obviously the due diligence that goes behind and making sure we get the building right and fit for purpose for the future. and appointing the design teams associated with that project to deliver it can be time-consuming as well, but we'll be working really hard subject to this meeting, and tomorrow we'll be working hard to make sure we try and hit those deadlines.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
We were looking at schemes, previously temporary venues, what the best options were, the team of officers working around
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
around the borough to look at what would be the best fit obviously we're trying to get specifications and input from from the public to utilize those spaces as well so we could meet those needs in the background we were working for the area in unit five towards the end of the summer and beyond and that scheme was developed shortly after that period
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
And as you know, it was one of the options that was thrown into a number of options for consideration. For Unit 5 option, we'll, obviously subject to any approvals at this meeting, we'll be working up the detailed design. We'll be looking for, obviously, to bring that forward for a full brief and go through the procurement exercise for contractors and delivery.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
We need to just check with the in-house officers about the reporting lines for when we bring forward the approvals for the spend. and we'll be looking potentially for a contract completion in the early part of next year.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
We've been working with our selected partners, the architects and design teams and also set of cost consultants to develop the scheme to a good level. We're very fortunate in the fact that the architects have been on board with hitting each one of those deadlines accordingly and have provided sufficient information for us to bring forward.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
73a: *Extra Episode - Harlequin '£10m decision' at RBBC council meeting 30.01.25
We are bound by our contract procedure rules and our procurement frameworks that we go to. We'll be working very closely with the procurement team to make sure we hit the deadlines as quick as we can. We can't promise June, but we will try our best to bring those deadlines forward.