Paul Smith.

I had intented to write a piece poking some gentle fun at a couple of people from Sitel who were in the weekends Great West Run. I'm quite sure my jokes wouldn't have been that funny and in light of the sad news there seems to be little place for levity today.

Early Sunday evening the grapevine started to hum with rumour that the man who died on Sunday during the Great West Run was a Sitel Exeter employee. The name Paul Smith came up but that's not an uncommon name and the press were giving little away. On that basis I chose to wait until more concrete information was available. Sadly that rumour turned out to be terribly accurate.

I only spoke to Paul a couple of times in the break room and he came across as a likable guy. The impression  from people who worked alongside him is that he was the sort of person who got on with his job and got on with his colleagues. Always willing to roll his sleeves up and pitch in. This made Paul just the sort of person we could do with a few more of in our office.

To check out after a just quarter of a century sucks. A tragic admonition to take each day as it comes because you can never be sure when it will be your last. I hope everyone will spare a thought for Paul, his family and his friends.

A reminder then that it's not just how long you live but also what you do with your time here.

This ones for you

I'm raising a glass to you and hopefully I'll catch you on the other side.