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I have been using this page to document recent domestic and professional events, as well as a vehicle for my opinions, in the approximate style of a Weblog ("blog").
Come back later for more updates.
Christmas Cold Snap
(January 2010) Like many places in the northern hemisphere, we had unusually cold and snowy weather for several weeks during and after Christmas this year. I spent a great many hours clearing snow from the drive and the road in the close - and building several piles of snow many feet high!
Fortunately, most of this bad weather was over the Christmas and New Year period, while I was on holiday, so travelling was not as badly affected as it might have been. It did make for a very festive Christmas appearance, too.
The extended period of cold weather allowed some very impressive icicles to grow. This set hung from the eaves of the house next door. You can also see one of the piles of snow that I created over the weeks. More of the snow was used to make an impressive Snow Man.
UK IT Industry Awards
One of several projects I have been working on at Bradford and Bingley was a finalist in the BCS and Computing sponsered
UK IT Industry Awards event. This was quite a grand event, with a champagne reception and four-course dinner, held at Battersea Park Events Arena on 12th November 2009.
Our entry was called IBM Transfer of B&B Savings to Santander, which was entered in the IT Project Team of the Year category (one of 18). It did not win, or even get placed, but we like to think that we put in quite a good showing.
It was a "black tie" event (my tie was actually black-and-white!), and we had representatives from IBM, Bradford and Bingley and Abbey/Santander around the table. A good time was had by all, with much wine and chat, and very late back to the hotel.
Trevor Loses a Beard
(November 2009) The beard had to go! Tracey was quite right when she said it made me look old. Very grey in most places. So now I'm back to being clean-shaven.
Trip to Slaley Hall
(September 2009) Tracey's birthday again. And once again, I took her away for a few days in the Northumberland area. This time, we stayed at Slaley Hall. This was a very relaxed few days, during what was quite a stressful time, and we enjoyed the usual round of picnics in the country and fine dining in the hotel.
Even so, on the second evening, we elected to have fish-and-chips in the bar (with beer) rather than a more elaborate dinner in the main restaurant.
As on previous occasions, I also presented Tracey with a printed copy of my latest novel. This one is entitled Bridge of Stone and Magic, the fourth (and last) of my Lyndesfarne Bridge series. Tracey read this very closely and appeared to enjoy it a lot - she cried at the ending!
As a bonus, I also gave her a few chapters of my new work, Findo Gask: Goblin Detective. This is written in a very different style than the Lyndesfarne books - a sort of hard-boiled detective magical fantasy - and I hope to complete this one in time for next year's birthday. I've even set up a new domain (http://findo-gask.com) for this project.
Clay Shooting in Scotland
(March 2009) I spent a weekend in Sutherland, in the very north of Scotland. The event was the annual Clay shoot on the Duke of Westminster's estate. I was poor at the shooting (even more so than usual!), the weather was wet and windy, and I got the Range Rover thoroughly muddy. Oh, and I enjoyed the scottish hospitality!
There were deer all over the place - especially on the road after dark. Here's a picture from the dining room of the place we stayed - note two deer in the middle distance, and the high wire fence to keep them out of the garden and from eating the lawn!
Trevor Grows a Beard
(January 2009) Yes, I've grown a beard (again!). This was something that appeared over the Christmas period, and I'm proposing to retain for the time being - possibly until I need to travel abroad again, when I will want my face to match the picture in my passport!
I've had some remarks at work that the face fungus makes me look a bit like Rolf Harris. This has allowed me to talk about "Broad-Brush Architecture" - all very high level - and then wave my hands and say: "Can you see what it is yet?"
Christmas 2008
(December 2008) A somewhat challenging Christmas this year. Firstly, the was a massive explosion on the outskirts of Rawtenstall where repairs to a gas leak failed and took out an electricity substation. This left us (and thousands of other people) without electricity for 6 hours and with gas for several days. Since our heating and cooking is all based on gas, we faced the prospect of a cold Christmas and not being able to cook our turkey!
Fortunately, Tracey was able to track down a couple of apartments (for us, Seb and his friend Will, and Tracey's parents, who were also affected by the same cut). So we decamped for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and I was able to cook some very passable meals which all seemed to enjoy. We returned on Boxing Day, and the gas supply was finally restored by 4pm. Much better that staying at home and trying to cook everything over a single camping gas stove!
One of the presents I provided for Tracey was a printed version of my Four Square Less One collection of 15 short stories - all wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper, of course. She seemed to enjoy these very much, although at the time of writing she has not finished the entire set.
Mission Control
(November 2008) I have just spend a day coordinating a pilot changeover of network and systems configuration for a banking organisation. Of course, this requires the cooperation of several groups, in IBM and several other organsiations, and was therefore done by telephone conference and email.
The nett effect of all this was just like Mission Control from the Apollo Moon mission days - chaps in ties and glasses arrayed in front of big screens and keyboards, and with headsets clamped over their skulls.
Update: I've just spent two days like this and, in the end, it didn't work. Feep! Crossflatts, we have a problem.
Update: I got it working after the second attempt, and quite a lot more time with headphones glued to my head.
Trip to Eshott Hall
(September 2008) Once again I took Tracey away for her birthday. This time, we stayed at Eshott Hall in Northumberland. This was extremely relaxing. We rather enjoyed the "country house dinner party" style of dining, where all of the guests gather for drinks in the drawing room (7.30 pm sharp!) before gathering at the same large table for dinner. One is expected to entertain one's fellow guests with wit and entertainment - and of course we did our best to perform this function. There was no choice of menu, but the food was really very good indeed.
We managed to have wonderful weather for the entire trip, and were able to take a couple of lovely picnic lunches. On the second day, we had our lunch overlooking a lovely waterfall in Cragside Gardens. We also toured around the area in the Aston, and did a couple of local attractions - including the new gardens at Alnwick, where we spotted her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland inspecting the grounds.
As on previous occasions, I also presented Tracey with a printed copy of my latest novel. This time, it was Death on the New Bridge, the third in my series of novels set in the fictional world of Lyndesfarne. Tracey seemed to enjoy this very much (judging by the way she sat up into the night) reading it through very carefully and marking up the occasional typo or inconsistency. We both came home much more relaxed.
Older items of news can be found here.
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