Day 9 - golf and Golden Oak

A second early start in a row today, and even earlier than yesterday. This time Jake and I were up and out at 6.30 and along the road to Saratoga, and the Lake Buena Vista golf course in plenty of time to get set up for our 7.30 tee time.

I won't go into exhaustive detail here, but we played with a couple of American guys who were very good, but also thankfully very understanding of having a couple of beginner Brits with them. A highlight each would be that I got a par 3 on the 7th with the island green, and Jake got a par 3 (and was the only one of the four of us whose tee shot found the green) on the 16th which is also over water.

After our round Jake and I popped back to OKW for a much needed cooling shower and change before heading to Springs (trying our parking garage orange for the first time!) and meeting the others at Mirimoto for lunch - another new experience that was declared a success - my duck nasi goreng was excellent.

Then, in the evening, Nicky and I had another new culinary experience - we went to the Capa restaurant at the Four Seasons resort at Golden Oak. The resort is particularly impressive - I can see I spending a few nights there at some point in the future, and the food was excellent. We shared a charcuterie and cheese board to start, and then both had superb steaks as out main course. (I even had a glass of red wine to accompany mine - a red letter day indeed!)

Day 8 - mountains, safaris and spice

Early start today - Jake and I were up and out by 7.20, to take advantage of EMH at MK, and we were parked up at the front of the lot, strolled over to TTC, across on the ferry, into the park, over to Tomorrowland, walked straight through the queueing area, and onto Space Mountain for just after 8 o'clock.

As per usual morning EMH policy, Space is the only mountain running early, so we had a couple of walk on goes on Buzz, with Jake beating me convincingly both times, before heading back over to Main Street for a food and drink break at Starbucks. By the time we were refuelled the ropes were down for Adventure and Frontierlands and so we headed that way, and they were letting people in to Big Thunder, even though it wasn't quite nine yet. Again we walked pretty much straight on, and were riding before park opening.

This meant that we were fairly close to the front of the line for Splash, and only had a few minutes to wait for our final mountain. We secured the back row in our 'log' so didn't get too wet. Judging by Jake's whooping it up, I think this is definitely his favourite mountain.

As Big Thunder is definitely my favourite, and the wait time was still showing as 5 minutes when we came out from Splash, we snuck in for a second ride, before leaving the park, taking the (resort) monorail back to the car park, and heading over to Animal Kingdom.

We met up with the rest of the posse there and went straight onto our first fastpass ride of the day - the safari, which was as good as ever, with the one exception of absent lions. As always we eye up the outpost on the savannah and the small trucks taking people around, and say 'one day'!

After safari it was Kali River for three of us, with two taking up strategic positions on the bridge with the water shooters. In typical fashion we came backwards down the drop, closest to the water, and got thoroughly soaked, but is was plenty hot enough not to matter.

Lunch at the Flame Tree Barbecue, and then over to the Festival of the Lion King, and that was park two of the day done, and back to OKW for a well deserved rest.

Then, in the evening, Nicky and I headed out to Epcot (parking again at the Boardwalk), and enjoyed a very nice tapas meal at the Spice Road Table in Morocco, followed by the Boyz to Men Eat to the Beat concert (pretty lame), and then Illuminations viewed from Japan with the globe nicely framed in the Japanese gate.

So, whilst I can't claim four parks in one day, I can say four parks in 24 hours given the previous evening in Hollywood Studios!

Day 7 - lobster and lights

Long enough had passed without a trip to Red Lobster, and so it was time to put that right. We took a trip to our regular restaurant at Crossroads, and ate far too much shrimp! It was all good, but the clam chowder didn't get an overwhelmingly positive vote this year.

A restful afternoon at the apartment, and in the evening Nicky and I went to Hollywood Studios to enjoy the Osborne Lights. It was the first night that they were up, and a bit of a preview as they don't officially start until 6 Nov. Also, sadly it is the last year that they will be at the Studios as they will be making way for some of the Star Wars expansion.

Whilst we were there we took advantage of the evening EMH and did Star Tours, Muppet Vision, Toy Story (I lost again), and One Man's Dream, where we had an interesting chat with a cast member about some of the changes to California Adventure and watched a preview of the upcoming Good Dinosaur movie.

Day 6 - I-Drive and Bob

Saturday was declared to be brunch day, and so we started at the bottom of I-Drive, and kept on going until we found the first Denny's, and stopped there. All of the usual things were consumed, including a flagon of orange juice, and lots of things with the word 'slam' in the title.

Suitably fuelled, we carried on in a roughly northerly direction, checking out the latest changes to Orlando's holiday highway, the largest and most obvious of which being the addition of the big wheel, but as always, a number of other changes as well (waiting to see what the knocked down petrol station on the corner of Sand Lake will turn in to).

We kept on going all the way to the top, and stopped at 'Belz' as we still like to call it for a little bit more retail therapy. Nicky got a few things in Tommy Hilfiger, Jake a jacket in Nike and a hat from Lids (for the winning team at the basketball), and my purchase was some golf balls so that we have enough for the round we have booked in a few days.

Then, for the evening we headed up the road to Riverside, secured a good table at the River Roost bar, and spent the evening singing along with Bob.

Day 5 - Epcot rides and Magic

A belated post for day five, caused by a late finish. We had fastpasses for Soarin' so no prizes for guessing where we started the day. Who knows, it may be the last time that we will go Soarin' over California, as soon it'll be time to go Soarin' all around the world, not to mention the arrival of a third screen. I wonder if Patrick will be back to record a new introduction?

Anyway, as good as ever, with the pine and orange smells as delightful as ever, and we all ducked for the golf ball.

We still had our fastpass left over from the other day when Test Track broke down, so that was our next stop ..., but it was down again! So, we went left and to the 'Festival pavilion' as it seems to be officially known now (Horizons) and enjoyed the Ghiradellis display and the film about the making of the F&W festival.

By the time we came out, TT was back up and running, and so we were able to have our ride, and once done we were ready for more F&W time, and headed towards the World Showcase. Highlights included a return visit to the mussels and the beef bourguignon, and finding some Scottish haggis and some Canadian cheese soup. And we finished off with a waffle cone from the ice cream store in France.

Back at the hotel, we checked the route (I4 to 82B) and then the boys headed off to the Amway Center for the the Orlando v Oklahoma NBA game (the girls headed back to Epcot later in the evening for a meal at the French restaurant followed by Illuminations).

The game was fantastic. The Magics were up from the start, and by the beginning of the 4th quarter had an 18 point lead, but somehow Oklahoma fought back and tied the game with some amazing play in the final seconds. Then, in overtime, Oklahoma quickly went 5 points up, but the Magics wouldn't give up, and released a buzzer-beating 3-point shot with 0.1 second left to tie the game up again and take the game into a second overtime. Sadly, they couldn't quite repeat the feat, and the game ended up 139-136 to Oklahoma. So, whilst the home fans went away disappointed, as a spectacle, it was tremendous.

We were home just before 11, only a few minutes after the Epcot trip, after a very quick and easy exit from the 'Geico Garage' (parking garage connected by covered pedestrian bridge to the Amway which was about 100 yards from I4) and a 25 min drive home.

Day 4 - Resort and more

A non park day for some of us today, with a relaxing start followed by games at the resort - pool, table tennis, tennis and basketball. Jake and I discovered that playing tennis at lunchtime on a shade free court was something that could only be kept up for about 25 minutes before the urgent need for air conditioning.

As for this evening's activities, Nicky and I went out to LBVFS followed by a very nice meal at Olive Garden, whilst the rest of the party, has, we think, headed off to Epcot to enjoy some more sampling of the Food and Wine festival's treats, and the first (I presume there will be more) viewing of Illuminations of this holiday.

Day 3 - Studios and Millenia

Another wet day in Orlando, but hopefully the last of its kind for a long time. We started the day at the Studios, where the rain came down as we were walking from the car to the tram!

The first rain was only a shower, and so we were able to walk down the Studios' 'Main Street' (Sunset?) without getting wet, admiring the view of the Chinese Theatre unobstructed by a Sorceror's Hat. And it was to the Theatre that we were headed, to try out the updated Great Movie Ride. Turns out that the updates are fairly limited, mostly to get mentions in for TCM who are now the sponsors. Still, nice to see a new pre show film - we saw a bit with Errol Flynn being Robin Hood!

When we came out of the show, the heavens had well and truly opened, so we took refuge in the ABC Commissary and had a drink, before getting all poncho'd up and making a dash for Toy Story Mania where a fastpass time was awaiting us. Scoring-wise, I came mid table, and Nicky was relieved to retain her top billing, although it was only by a few thousand from Jake (175 to 172).

A new restaurant for us for lunch - the Brown Derby, and it was declared a success. Between us we had fifteen desserts (trios all round) so it can't have been bad.

We decided that was enough for the Studios, and so headed out and back to OKW, by which time the sun was out. After a break at 'home', we decided that our afternoon/evening trip out would be to the Mall at Millenia, where Jake stocked up on more trainers and clothes, and a particular highlight, Nicky secured her Apple Watch.

We picked up cheesecakes at the Factory before leaving, and after a very long drive home (overturned car on I4) enjoyed them back here.

Day 2 - Epcot and Outlet

We are getting into Florida time, or at least I am anyway, and we were out later than yesterday. Despite this, we were pretty much in the front row of the Epcot car park and had only a very short stroll in to the park. Not many photos were taken today (and all photos so far have been taken by phone - the actual camera has remained in the drawer in the hotel) as it was overcast and raining at times, and so we will save the Spaceship Earth, World Showcase, Monorail and Epcot gardens shots etc, for a sunnier day.

We were in the park in time for our first fastpass (albeit not at the beginning of the allotted hour) and so headed straight over for a ride with Nemo and Friends in the Living Seas. Next stop was decreed to be Club Cool so that Jake could introduce Nanny and Granddad to some of the new flavours, but we were there too soon - it only opened at 10.30, so we went for a quick browse in Mouse Gear until opening time.

Once we'd 'Beverley'd' and had our sugar rush of free samples we headed back towards the entrance via a look at the offerings at the pin station and a quick peruse in the art store, and then our second fastpass at Spaceship Earth so that Dame Judy could explain to us over the course of what seemed like just a few minutes of ride time how we evolved from cavemen into some guy (probably called Wozniak?) sat in a California garage inventing the home computer.

By now the World Showcase was open, and so that's where we headed, in a clockwise direction, and got stuck into the Food and Wine festival. I can't remember what we ate, but I know that it started with some mac 'n' cheese before we even arrived in Mexico, and ended in France with some beef bourguignon and several creme brulees! (A more detailed and exact analysis can be obtained from Nanny's notebook upon request.)

So, we didn't quite manage to eat our way around the world, but we decided that we needed to take a pause, and besides which, we had our final fastpass to consider, and the window was closing, so we headed over to Test Track, left Nanny sat outside, and headed through the fastpass check with 8 minutes to spare. Sadly, we only made it as far as designing our cars before the announcement came around to say that the ride was experiencing technical difficulties and we were escorted out of the emergency exit. However, we did get another fastpass which is good for use any time up until the end of the month, so we should be ok to get on another time.

After Epcot, we made our way to Walgreens (driving past Springs and admiring the combination of progress / building works / roadworks / chaos that it is at the moment) for various holiday essentials (yes - I have chocolate malty balls!) before going to Premium on Vineland.

Jake and I both did well out of the trip to the shops. Jake cleaned up at the Nike store and has a load of new basketball gear - shoes, socks, shorts and jacket, whilst I have new shirts from Polo. Strangely they have changed their sizing - no more classic/custom fits, and as a result I seem to have shrunk by half an inch of neck measurement - weird! Also Nanny got a new watch from the Skagen store (which has appeared at the Vineland Premium next to Nike where the Fudge Kitchen used to be).

Once shopping was complete, it was time for tea, and as we were nearby we went to the Outback Steakhouse, and introduced Nanny and Granddad to the joys of the blooming onion!

Back home, and Jake is enjoying watching the first game of the new NBA season on the TV - getting into the mood for later this week and our trip to see the Magic.

Right, now that I have got the photos uploading I can share a couple. Here's one from yesterday at MK, and one from today's enjoyment of the Food and Wine festival.

Day 1 - MK and Springs

And so to our first full day. As always, we were up at a fairly early hour, some having got more sleep than others. However, we weren't out all that early, and were probably on the bus to MK at around 8 o'clock, meaning that by the time we got into the park itself, the morning EMH was already part way through.

In any case, I wasn't in a mountain-ish frame of mind (a bit cold-ified) and so after castle photos on Main Street, the first ride of the day was Buzz Lightyear. Jake came out victorious. Then, as it was a walk on, we couldn't resist a quick trip on the TTA before heading along to New Fantasyland where there was time for a pastry and a drink before our first fastpass ride of the day on the Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

Back to 'Old' Fantasyland, and in to Philharmagic, where I am convinced that the film has been through a bit of editing - must to some research to see whether my suspicions are correct, and then through to Liberty Square for a ride on the Paddle Steamer on the Rivers of America.

We decided to have an early lunch, and tried out the Tortuga Tavern (new for us) in Adventureland. Got a thumbs up for the pulled pork sandwich. After lunch our second fastpass time had arrived for a trip on the Jungle Cruise, and I have the photos of the back side of water to prove it.

Last stop before leaving Adventureland was for dole whip, which took a little longer than expected as they've moved where they are sold, but it was worth doubling back to track them down, and then it was back down Main Street and the bus back to OKW for a rest.

A couple of hours of recharging at the hotel, and we took the SSC ferry to Disney Springs (as we are still learning to call it) and had a wander around, marvelling at what's new, and what is clearly still to come, before dinner at Raglan Road.

Arrived

Here we are all unpacked and arrived at OKW. Flight went smoothly, airport transfer fine, groceries waiting for us on arrival.

Time for bed and off to a park tomorrow.

It's not over ...

The news reports today are of the death of the American baseball player Yogi Berra. It's not often that I am particularly aware of a baseball player, and a retired one at that (probably one who retired around the time I was born), but obviously it was the name that did it.

I grew up watching cartoons about a certain resident of Jellystone National Park who was 'smarter than the average bear'. As the linked article says, the baseball player was apparently none too happy about the naming of the bear, and sued Hanna Barbera about it, but they claimed it was a coincidence and he withdrew the lawsuit.

However, as this wikipedia article says, it is pretty much accepted now that the baseball player inspired the bear. Hardly surprising really - a bit of crazy coincidence!

The other thing - apart from baseball of course - that Berra was famous for was his sayings. At first glance lots of them appear to be nonsense, but actually I suspect they've stood the test of time, and are remembered because if you get behind the words they are rather lovely and contain some real meaning hidden in the humour.

My favourite is "always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't go to yours".

The BBC magazine article here focuses on another of his sayings, "it ain't over till it's over" which has been taken up as a mantra by sportsmen across the world to remind themselves that even when the chips are down, there's still hope.

And the thing that struck me was that there was another link, down the sidebar of the magazine article, to the story of Derek Redmond, recounted on the BBC website here. I was aware of Derek's story already, and what had happened to him at the Olympic stadium in Barcelona. For him, it could have been all over down the back straight when he heard that 'pop' and collapsed. However, he made a different choice, and told himself that it wasn't going to be over until he finished the race, however painful, however difficult, however long it took it, and irrespective of what place he achieved.

Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves of the example of people like Derek, and of his Dad as well, who dashed onto the track to provide support to his son.

The BBC video only has stills from the race, so here's the video version.

 

Three in one

A good week for reading, finished off today by finally being able to give to Kate the signed copy of the Seed Collectors that I got for her back in July. Poor form on my part not being organised and sending it to her sooner, but at least she has it now and I hope it will be enjoyed.

I ended up finishing three books this week - two that I'd already got on the go, and one that I both started and finished yesterday.

The first one was the second instalment of the 'Bill Hodges trilogy' by Stephen King - Finders Keepers, although Bill Hodges (and his sidekicks Holly and Jerome) don't really feature until the second half. However, the story makes enough connections to the first book, and leaves you with the knowledge that Mr Mercedes may be on the mend enough to cause some havoc in book three. There doesn't seem to be any information just yet on when the final book in the series will be out - presumably some time in 2016.

The second one was Straight White Male by John Niven, a new author for me, and one I only found due to browsing in Waterstones, seeing his new hardback book (The Sunshine Cruise Company), thinking that it sounded interesting, and then investigating what else he had. Straight White Male was excellent. Caitlin Moran's comment on the cover does a great job of summing things up - "I cried three times and laughed fifty. Magnificent." Kennedy Marr is a difficult guy to like at times, but by the end you are absolutely rooting for him.

The final book, devoured yesterday, was the new James Bond book, this time written by Anthony Horowitz, 'Trigger Mortis'. Set just after the events of Goldfinger, and kicking off with a rather awkward after the adventure domestic arrangement with Pussy Galore, Bond soon gets into some new scrapes in Formula One racing - an idea supplied directly by Ian Fleming himself and which his literary estate provided to Horowitz. Clearly Horowitz felt that this wasn't enough to sustain the novel (fair enough given that Fleming had put it forward as an idea for a Bond TV series - never made), and so segues into a plot concerning the space race between the US and Russia, with the British spy stepping in to save the day. Good stuff, and very much out of the Fleming mould.

Magic

Just booked to go and see the Orlando Magic!

Sent from my iPhone

Benson

Another hectic evening deserving of a longer post, but at least I remembered the author I'd forgotten - Raymond Benson came after John Gardner. Having checked the shelves the main reason for forgetting being that I don't actually have any of his books!

Sent from my iPhone

Trigger

Intended to blog yesterday, but let's just say that the evening rather ran away with me.

Bought the latest Bond book, Trigger Mortis, as it came out yesterday, and looking forward to reading it.

Was thinking of doing a little inventory of my Bond collection, as I reckon it is reasonably impressive. I have official Bond stories by:

Fleming
Markham (Amis really)
Gardner
Wood (possibly doesn't count as might just be film novelisations)
Higson (well, Jake does)
Faulks
Deaver
Boyd
Horowitz

And I might have forgotten one or two - was there another after Gardner? Will have to check later.

Sent from my iPhone

Hove

Late finish today - not home until 10.30.

Been out for dinner in Hove with a client and come colleagues from Japan.

Rearrange

A bit of a rearrange in the conservatory, and we have a new seating area, ideal for stopping for a cup of coffee and a chat, maybe curling up with a good book, or who knows, even catching up on a bit of blogging. Finishing touches were added today with the addition of a new coffee table and rug.

50

Today is another one of those milestone days. The Kostromin family are doing a good job of being the advance party for us, judging by a couple of photos that Bec just sent over to Nicky, but in exactly 50 days from now, we'll be heading out to the Sunshine State ourselves.

At the moment, we are still booked in to be staying here.


This is all fine and dandy, and based on a number of holidays we've had before, we'll be very happy to stay at Old Key West again. However, Nicky has phoned up and pushed us up to the top of the wait list, and so we just might get lucky and end up staying here.


We'll just have to wait and see, and keep our fingers crossed.

Long

Long day today.

Nicky up v early to take Jake to airport for his flight to Nice.

I'm just coming home from the Oval where an evening T20 game didn't happen due to the rain.

Return

Our wanderer has returned safe and sound, although he's only with us for a very short while, as it's off to the airport he goes at the crack of dawn tomorrow to fly south ...

Sounds like the expedition went well from what we've heard so far, and after a quick power nap he was ready to head out for a burger this evening before facing the packing for holiday.

Work continues to be hectic, and after a long queue down the motorway, I spent a typical office-based day of not getting much done, other than responding to requests from staff and clients. So my plan for tomorrow will be to hide out at home and try to make progress before heading off to our client event for the afternoon/evening (and then to the joy of four whole days off).

One of the fringe benefits of the long journey to work this morning was listening to a particularly good pause for thought on the radio. The speaker was talking about how easy it is to worry about just about anything and everything, from work-based stresses, to financial concerns (what's going to happen when interest rates creep up and mortgages get more expensive) to goodness knows what else, and he pointed us towards the words of St Paul in his letter to the Philippians. In fact I've looked up the key verses, which are in chapter 4:

"Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus."

Shard

Late now.

Just home.

Been out for dinner at Aqua Shard.

Good restaurant.

Better views.

Silver

Today Jake has headed off on his silver D of E expedition, so, as has become something of a tradition, Nicky was up early to make him a cooked breakfast prior to setting off to drop him off. The weather forecast looks OK for the next few days, so hopefully they'll stay dry ...

Open

It's Monday, but the last day of The Open nonetheless - the first time that this has happened for 27 years. And, back in 1988, when I was the same age that Jake is now, it was won by the legendary Spaniard Seve.

Today's Monday finish was pretty exciting, bringing to a conclusion a memorable major. The BBC summary article can do it better justice than I can, but in particular it was a shame that Spieth missed that putt on the 18th and didn't make it into the four-hole playoff - I suspect that he would have been a hot favourite over four holes against any of the guys who did make it into the shootout.

As always, the BBC shows how golf should be covered on TV (we like the fact that Sky has so much sport coverage, but don't for a minute think that they get anywhere near the quality of the Beeb) and this year's tournament marked a few farewells - the last appearance in The Open for both Tom Watson and Nick Faldo, and if I understood his comments correctly, the last commentary from Peter Alliss (who kept reminding us that he first went to St Andrew's in 1948). If so, we'll miss him very much.

Upload

Inappropriate news, but of much excitement - as of yesterday, we have a new toilet in our downstairs cloakroom, thanks to our friendly local plumber Wayne. He came round and fitted a new of (supply and fit for what I reckon was a bargain price of £100) and we no longer have a loo that constantly refills, including at bizarre moments when you run a tap in the kitchen. Happy days indeed.

Other news from the weekend includes the return of the lodge-dwellers from their round Britain cruise, a meal out with Carolyn and Chris at the Farmhouse in West Malling, and Jake giving a better review of the latest Marvel film (Antman) than the mean critic in the Sunday Times, who didn't think much of it at all.

As for uploading, I have set up a new flickr account and am using the new uploader software to automatically upload photos as I have become woefully behind on my main account due to the time-consuming process of uploading to my main account with labels, tags, albums and so on. So far I have backed up almost 10,000 photos into this new account, using up about 2% of the 1TB they kindly give you for free, and will leave it plugging away overnight uploading more.

100 days

It's actually 99 as I post this on Saturday morning, but that's close enough. I meant to post this yesterday but it was all a bit Friday evening, I got distracted by evening golf in the St Andrew's gloom, and basically completely forgot, but we reached the all important milestone of 100 days until our trip to Florida.

Has felt like a long time coming, and it is nice to at least be onto a two-digit countdown from now on.

Back soon ...

Scarlett

Special trip to Canterbury today for a book reading and signing.

Now proud owner of Scarlett Thomas signed editions.

Fyne

An evening in London today. Was a little bit early arriving and so took the opportunity to visit one of my favourite bookshops - Foyles on Charing Cross Road. Had a good look around. Lots of copies of the new Harper Lee (out today) everywhere on display. As always could have bought lots, but did the sensible thing and came out with lots of ideas instead.

As for the rest of the evening, been for an audit meal at Loch Fyne.

Now for a frustrating journey home on the train trying to get a decent score on this 2048 game that Jake has introduced me to.

30 years

Live Aid was 30 years ago today.

It's entertaining to think back to what my 12 year-old self was like back at this point in 1985. I'd just about survived my first year at the Math. Not entirely sure that I'd enjoyed it. I suppose that by this point I was basking in the glow of my 98% maths result - top in the year by 8% from Crockford in second, and he and I were about to head off to dig holes on beaches in the Isle of Wight. However, I remember some times in that first year when that school seemed alarmingly large (even if it is 50% bigger now) and by then I would have suffered the various delights of getting squashed in the scrum at rugby, embarrassed by my inability to swim a width of the pool, and wheezed my way up Cookham Hill during cross country.

As for the Live Aid concert itself, whilst I love all of that 80s music now, something tells me that slap bang in the middle of the decade I wasn't a very with it 12 year-old at all. Probably a bit too much piano and choir and not enough top 40 - that was still a few years away for me.

I think that I vaguely remember the concert being on the telly, but I don't suppose I was paying much attention. I probably have my much cooler older sister to thank for it being on at all.

Show

Two main trips out today - firstly Nicky and I went over to the Kent Show and had an enjoyable stroll around in the sunshine for a while - watched the Spitfire display as we were arriving in the car park, and then meandered our way around the showground. Our only purchase, other than food, drink and ice cream, was a brush for cleaning radiators!

Then this evening we've all (including Jake and Georgie) been over to Bluewater. Nicky and I went to Five Guys - first visit - and had an excellent burger - and then we met up at the cinema to see Ted 2, which was very funny and had a good number of laugh out loud moments.

Arrows

Missed the Red Arrows today. They kindly did a display over our house.

Sadly I was at the office.

Two

Interesting trip out at work today. Went to visit a potential new office. Much larger than our current one, and would include space for another office (separate department) to join us. Will have to wait and see how things pan out.

At home, big news of the day is that it is Jessie and Coco's second birthday!

Grade

Jake's grade 8 piano this morning.

Went well, and early - unofficial - indications are good.

Official news due in a few weeks.

Cut

Back to the office today, but bragging rights for my seat at Centre Court yesterday! I was most in demand for walking people through my solution to calculating the capacity of a reservoir (oh yes, and a few client calls, meetings, sign offs etc etc ...) but had a good excuse to dash off early - needed to get home in time for a haircut.

Centre Court

Jake and I were at Wimbledon today.

But another post that will have to be held over for a full report later ...

Williams Williams BBC match report and highlights here.

Murray Karlovic BBC match report and highlights here.

Federer Agut BBC match report and highlights here.

Silverstone

Top quality day at Silverstone.

Proper report to follow later ...

Founders

First Saturday in July, and so it must be Founder's Day. Jake was off to the cathedral this morning, but no parents got tickets due to works going on inside, so we had the morning off. Nicky did the taxi service, and I finally got around to following Jake's IT advice, and getting Google Chrome installed on the Mac, which is making uploading pictures and posting them onto the blog a little bit easier.

We went down to school in the afternoon, and enjoyed lazing in the sun for a while, listening to the athletics announcing ("will another runner from Pitt please come to the start line as we don't have enough competitors yet") and then watching a little bit of the cricket whilst chatting to Mr Fry, who is now the Chairman of the Old Willies, and will also be around during Jake's silver D of E expedition in a few weeks.

Back at home, Jake managed a quick piano practice before I took him over to Georgie's and then the rest of us enjoyed a barbie here this evening.

Off to bed soon. Early starts tomorrow.

Catch

Just driven home through a pretty impressive storm. Quite hard to see through the rain at times, and judging by the rumbling of thunder it is obviously following me home.

Been at the cricket at Hove this evening - Sussex v Kent T20. Amusingly we spent the first few overs of the match glued to the TV watching the tennis. Someone must have heard about how Heather Watson was getting on, and so got the telly turned on, and when we started watching she was 3-0 up in the 3rd against Serena, but we must have been a bad luck charm for her, because she proceeded to lose 7-5. Mind you, she did still play some pretty impressive tennis, and gave the no.1 seed a real scare. I think some of the cricketers might have wondered what was going on, as the cheering and clapping coming from our hospitality area wouldn't have corresponded at all to what was going on out on the field!

As for the cricket match, Sussex posted a pretty low total of 136 which Kent surpassed with over 5 overs to spare. The highlight of the match was our legendary Indian colleague taking a catch from a Kent six hit into our hospitality area!

Rain

A bit of a break in the weather today, and after a late-ish start, listening in to a training call followed by a very pleasant breakfast in the garden with Nicky, there were a few spots of rain on the way to work, and then I got a bit wet on my wander into town at lunchtime. But still quite refreshing compared to the last few days.

I recently read (from the library) the latest Grisham Boone book (The Fugitive), and whilst it was enjoyable, it inevitably wasn't a particularly chunky storyline, what with it being aimed at kids after all, and so I decided to go back to one of the earlier books, and have just read The Rainmaker, which I no doubt read for the first time pretty soon after it came out twenty years ago. Whilst I have the paperback sat on the shelf, I took advantage of the Overdrive app and borrowed the ebook. This meant that I could  read it in occasional free moments on both the iPad and even the iPhone, as I have the app on both devices, and the two versions even know where you are in the book - all very clever.

Anyway, the book was excellent - all about a young lawyer in Memphis bringing down a dodgy insurance company, and it comes with lots of the typical Grisham trademarks - the David and Goliath struggle, the subterfuge and suspense, the very clear sense of right and wrong, but above all, the delight in being swept along with a jolly good story.

Hot

Driving home from work today (via the M2 to avoid a closed M26 and operation stack all the way back along the M20 thanks to Calais having been closed for a few days) the car's temperature gauge was still reading at 35 degrees, even at 7pm. According to the news, this was the hottest July day on record.

I figured it was time to get back into the blog a bit from the second half of the year onwards. Frankly the first half of the year was a pretty poor show - only managed one entry to post a picture in June, and so missed reporting on yesterday's trip to Jersey, the day in London at the weekend to the Taylor Swift concert, and no doubt a whole lot more besides.

So, will start to try harder ...

Birthday

Project

Been recording from the fab and clever grand piano onto the macbook this evening, and then doing a little bit of manipulation in Garage Band, and importing into iMovie and creating a project there (nothing much more fancy than this initial attempt a few years ago), and the plan was to finalise the project in iMovie, upload to Flickr, and share here, but I have fallen at the hurdle called 'lack of disk space when finalising in iMovie'.

Really need to do that sort out of the MacBook to free up some space!

Ape

Yesterday I went Ape.

Now I just ache.

Belfast

Just put away a very good cooked breakfast on BA flight to Belfast. Makes me disappointed that I didn't go BA to Dallas, but sadly the £2k price difference was just too much! AA food and quality of service was rubbish by comparison, as I had been warned. Must tell Phil - he will be pleased!

Early start today. Was up at 4.45. Was glad to be staying at hotel linked by walkway to T5 having come by tube yesterday afternoon (24 stops from St Pancras). Didn't sleep well. Combination of jet lag and concern at oversleeping. Saw Lansdale interview with Cameron on News 24 a few times through the night. Mildly entertaining to learn that he won't serve a third term - let's wait and see if he gets a second one first!

Will report back on Belfast day on flight home ...

And this is the flight home report. Good day in Belfast and a window seat on the plane home with a few good pictures. More later as the phone battery is a bit low!

And now it's Wednesday and I forgot to send this so sending now.

Saturday

9.30am - at breakfast in the restaurant. First time in here since last Sunday which seems a long time ago. Enjoying a slower start to the day!

11.20am - at the station waiting for the train into the city. It has started raining again, but only a light drizzle, nothing compared to the downpour of yesterday. I was extremely grateful that Nicky suggested packing Jake's waterproof jacket. Yesterday was full hood up mode, and fingers crossed for no repeat of that today. Took full advantage of the hotel buffet (eggs over easy!) and then packed up and checked out before the (pavement) walk to the station. Still can't work out Las Colinas Urban Center. Very few people about. Saw one couple walking their dog, and only other people at the station are a group of 4 who I think are visitors speaking what sounds like Japanese.

1.30pm - have found the Dallas arts district (via walking past the Deloitte office) and am currently in the Nasher Sculpture Center. Very happy as not only do they have some Matisse and Rodin, but at the bottom of the garden there is a Hepworth and even better a Henry Moore vertebrae piece. The light even got a bit brighter for photos! Next stop the Dallas Art Museum.

2pm - taking pictures of Impressionist paintings in DMA.

2.50pm - bonus FaceTime chat with Nicky thanks to DMA wifi, sat in their cafe having a drink and a snack.

4pm - having a food truck deli sandwich.

5.15pm - book to remember - Bugliosi - Four days in November.

5.30pm - back at the station waiting for my train. Not much more to report from the city, other than wanderings and photo taking. Ended up back at Dealey Plaza, so this time took some photos in the dry! Complete failure in the Texas-themed souvenirs, so let's hope I do a bit better at the airport later on.

7pm - waiting at hotel for taxi service to pick me up and take me to the airport.

8.20pm - in the Admiral's Club lounge at DFW awaiting my flight. Boarding is due to start in about half an hour so might read for a little while. Think I'll send this collection of snippets from today now. Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

(Last study book message for Nicky - will delete this later as this is temporary and just for her - "Roses are Red" - you know what to do!!)

Book depository

Today was the last day of conference, and we finished at lunchtime, including an opportunity to meet with the CEO and CFO which was good as we were so close to head office.

As for this afternoon, I headed into Downtown Dallas in the DART train. Unfortunately it chucked it down with rain all afternoon (and I think the forecast is for it to do so again tomorrow). I went to the Irving Convention Center stop to head into the city, and in true American fashion, where there were a couple of blocks between the hotel and the station that aren't developed yet, there is no sidewalk, and so I was traipsing across the grass. Unfortunately it was rather muddy due to the rain, and I'm not sure if my sketchers will ever be the same again!

On the way back I got off at Las Colinas Urban Center, which is probably a little bit closer, and also can be walked to and from entirely on pavements. One to remember for tomorrow!

Las Colinas "urban center" is an interesting place - the hotel (Marriott "Las Colinas") is on the edge of it, and it is obviously an area of rapid and recent development, with a large amount of office space and apartment buildings. However, as far as I can see, that is all there is - no sign of any other sense of community at all - no shops, restaurants, or other facilities at all. Maybe they are going to catch up at some point.

The Dallas city centre area that I have seen so far is interesting, but not much of a 'city centre', although I've only seen a little bit - some of the West End district. The rain was a real pain - it was absolutely chucking it down, but I stuck it out, and had a look around the Dealey Plaza area, where one of the most famous events of the 20th century took place.


This first picture is of the former Texas Book Depository, from which Oswald took the fateful shots. The sniper's nest was on the sixth floor (and remember that floor counting starts at 1 on the ground floor in the US) which is the one where most of the windows are arched, but the shots were taken from the square window on the corner, as the presidential motorcade was heading away from the building.


The second picture is taken looking across the road towards the "grassy knoll" (from which we can be
 pretty sure no shots were fired!). If you look in the middle of the street there is an 'x' on the road, which marks the point at which the first shot hit. Also, the cream structure at the top of the grass bank over the road is part of Dealey plaza, and to the left there is a plinth. Abraham Zapruder was stood on top of that plinth filming, and was the only person to capture the entire assassination on camera.


The final photo is taken from underneath the plaza structure shown in photo two (a brief opportunity to get out of the rain!) and shows a monument that was dedicated on the 50th anniversary of the assassination. The writing isn't very legible at this size, but the quote reads:

"We in this country, in this generation, are - by destiny rather than choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of "peace on earth, good will toward men." That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: "except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

Having taken photos outside, I went to the "Sixth Floor Museum", which as the name suggests, is actually in the sixth floor of the former book depository, and was well worth a visit. It didn't shy away from the controversies and the conspiracies, and talked through them all, acknowledging the mistakes that had been made along the way with the various investigations over the years. It did seem to come down on the side of the conventional conclusion that Oswald acted alone, but to be honest (and without being an expert in the subject) that does seem to be the most likely answer.

By the way, the quote above came from a speech, but one that didn't go to plan.

JFK was due to deliver it on 22 November 1963.

Madness

Been to Paddadeaux for dinner this evening.

Now going to watch some of the Kentucky first round match in the NCAA basketball March Madness.

Budget

I see that the budget took place back at home today.

A quick look at the news shows it to be a piece of shameless electioneering.

The bit that caught my eye is the decrease, yet again, in the lifetime pension tax free allowance by another 20% to £1m, which may sound like a lot of money but really isn't over a lifetime of pension savings, and then isn't a huge amount to fund a hopefully long retirement and ensure we don't become a burden on the state eventually.

However there won't be much of an outcry about this because it will come across as though it is the whinging middle classes. And the Chancellor knows this so he gets away with it. What a git.

Cool River

This evening I have been for dinner at the Cool River Café.

I had a steak - it seemed the appropriate thing to do!

Fort Worth

Just in case you were wondering, these international conferences are non stop hard work ...

Breakfast

I have arrived safely in Dallas. In fact right now I am sat in the hotel restaurant tapping away on my phone, having put away an American buffet breakfast. I may head back for some toast in a minute. No rush, as the mall that I'm heading to today doesn't open until 11.

Flight was uneventful and smooth. I finished off The Great Gatsby, read most of Marty Sklar's book, and watched Big Hero 6 and The Imitation Game (and did no work at all!). The only slight disappointment was that after landing early at DFW there was no gate available for us so we had to wait on the tarmac for almost an hour before getting off.

Still, getting through the airport was easy and there was a man waiting to bring me to the hotel. Plus I have his card and can call him for a ride back to the shops this morning.

Slept ok, started to wake from 4ish onwards. Had a lovely long chat with N & J over FaceTime. Funny isn't it how with distance comes perspective. What a truly wonderful family I have.

Lounge

After a too long pause, the time for blogging is back upon us, and this one comes to you from the AA lounge at Heathrow T3. Early indications are that it is not the best lounge I have ever enjoyed by quite some considerable distance, but I am making do with a glass of apple juice and some nice cookies for the time being. No sign of a full English buffet available anywhere, so just as well that I had a Leon porridge with Nicky before coming through security. Maybe I'll have some soup and a roll before heading off to the gate in a little while! Still the two lounge winners by a country mile are the Singapore Airlines lounge at Changi in Singapore, and then the Singapore Airlines lounge in KL (but then I did get to enjoy the first class facilities there!).

Ah, that's interesting, I think that they've just made an announcement about boarding, but I think I've managed to tuck myself away in a corner of the lounge where the announcements don't actually reach, so maybe I'll move once I've finished blogging. Still, it's at least 40 mins or so until boarding for my flight, and hey, I'm sure they won't go without me ...

I probably should be working right now rather than blogging, but to be honest it has been a busy enough week already, and one of the nice things about travelling is actually the opportunity to disconnect for a little while. I'd much prefer to decide between which book to read or which movie to watch on the plane, rather than which file to review (mind you, next week is also going to be pretty full on in the US and the demands from the UK aren't going to slow down much either).

Still, I think Nicky was a bit surprised that I didn't want to put at least one of my reading books into my suitcase, so I have three books in my hand luggage to choose from on the plane. One is The Great Gatsby, which I am half way through and will probably finish off during the trip, and then the other two are from my Amazon order (of 6!) that arrived yesterday, which was my first order with gift vouchers from my birthday (and thanks again to all those who contributed to the gift voucher fund!). I had a hard time deciding which 6 to buy first from Amazon, and then a hard time again trying to decide which 2 of 6 to bring with me on the plane. In the end, I have brought one fiction and one non fiction. The fiction that I have brought is "Who is Tom Ditto?" by Danny Wallace, and the non fiction is "Dream It! Do It!" by Marty Sklar, and I am looking forward to both of them.

Lots more to talk about on the topic of books. Firstly I finished "Letters of Note" earlier in the week, which quite simply has to be one of the best books I have ever read. Amazing, just amazing. (Again, a birthday present, and a big thankyou to John and Margaret for getting it for me.) Deserves its own post, if not several, and deserves many visits to the related website which you can find here.

The other thing that simply cannot go uncommented upon is the passing of Terry Pratchett this week. So so sad. A remarkable man with a remarkable imagination. I have only just started to realise this, having finally, finally cottoned on and read "The Colour of Magic" this January. I feel extremely lucky to know that I have 40 books-worth of Discworld out there to be enjoyed, but sad to know that it is now a finite resource.

Right, that's enough for now. Maybe time for some soup before my gate gets called, and maybe time even for a chapter of something as well. Who knows, perhaps a bit of offline onboard blogging to be posted later - depends on how engrossed in books and movies I get!

To the people who know that this message is for them - "Missing you already and see you very soon. xxxx"

Nimoy

A life is like a garden.

Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.

L.L.A.P.

Clare

May the Lord show His mercy upon you
May the light of His presence by your guide
May he guard you and uphold you
May his spirit be ever by your side.

When you sleep, may His angels watch over you
When you wake, may He fill you with His grace
May you love Him and serve Him all your days
Then in heaven, may you see His face.

Hunter

In 1958, many years before he became famous as the author of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", and at the age of just 20, Hunter S Thompson wrote a long letter in reply to a friend who had contacted him asking for advice as to the direction his life should take.

This is an extract.

"As I said, to put our faith in tangible goals would seem to be, at best, unwise. So we do not strive to be firemen, we do not strive to be bankers, nor policemen, nor doctors. We strive to be ourselves.

But don't misunderstand me. I don't mean that we can't be firemen, bankers, or doctors - but that we must make the goal conform to the individual, rather than make the individual conform to the goal. In every man, heredity and environment have combined to produce a creature of certain abilities and desires - including a deeply ingrained need to function in such a way that his life will be meaningful. A man has to be something; he has to matter."

An excellent extract from an excellent letter from an excellent book.

Cosine

Imagine a triangle which has sides of length a, b and c.

The angles within the triangle are α, β and γ (where α is opposite a, and so on).

Now, drop a perpendicular from α onto side a, such that it splits a into lengths x and y (with x on the side closer to angle γ).

Then, we can see that:

	cosβ = y / c	and	cosγ = x / b
∴	y = c cosβ	and	x = b cosγ
∴	a = b cosγ + c cosβ
∴	a2 = ab cosγ + ac cosβ     [1]

Now, in our triangle, we could also drop a perpendicular from β to b and from γ to c, and by going through the same process as above, we would end up with similar equations, but with:

a→b→c→a and α→β→γ→α in one, and

a→c→b→a and α→γ→β→α in the other.

Resulting in:

b² = bc cosα + ab cosγ     [2]     and

c² = ac cosβ + bc cosα     [3]

Now, if we take the three equations, and do [3] - [2] - [1], we have:

c² - b² - a² = ac cosβ + bc cosα - bc cosα - ab cosγ - ab cosγ - ac cosβ

∴ c² = a² + b² - 2ab cosγ

And this is the cosine rule. I have to confess that this is a small, but clearly important, piece of maths that I had either completely forgotten, or never come across in the first place.

The reason for mentioning it here is that at the weekend I spent a while working on a question from Jake's maths homework for him, and finally managed to come up with the answer.

Jake was pleased with my help, but came back to me a few minutes later and pointed out that it could have been done in a fraction of the time that I had taken, by the simple application of the cosine rule!

Oh dear. I sense that I am going to start struggling to keep up very soon ....

EELive

Loving the Eastenders live week so far. Haven't been a huge fan of the show for ages, but I have been sucked in during the build up, and now waiting with baited breath for the big reveal tomorrow ...

Who killed Lucy?

First 1000

A milestone day today, but that's not for me to blog about, so I'll content myself with dull stuff about my new car.

First fill up having passed the 1,000 mile mark, and early signs are that I am getting a very similar MPG to the Lexus (and so there is hope for more once the car is properly run in). This is fine with me given that the rest of the costs, which for me are basically lease charges plus the BIK cost that I get taxed on, are considerably lower for the Citroen than for the CT200.

So, so far so good then.

And I'm just about getting the hang of this changing gear malarkey!

Cellini

Whilst we were considering the merchandise in Harrods last weekend, I tried on a watch.

Not just any watch you understand, but a Rolex, and it was rather nice.

The salesman (whose name was Guillaume) gave me his card, and kindly wrote down the details on the back.

To be specific, it was a Rolex Cellini rose gold watch with a white dial, model number M 50505 - 0006, and if you'd like to see it for yourself, it is on the official Rolex site here.

One thing that the salesman didn't put on his card was the price, but nonetheless I have remembered it.

£10,150.

Perhaps I'll put it on my Christmas list.

Fisheye

One of my birthday presents from Nicky was a little lens that I can clip onto the end of the phone which turns the iPhone camera into a fisheye lens.

Lots of fun, will definitely have to remember to take it on holiday later in the year - just think, a whole new opportunity for different castle photos!

Private

I've read the first 80 pages or so of "Private Las Vegas" and have made a fairly unusual decision for me, which is, having started a book, I am going to discard it and not bother finishing it. Frankly it is a load of tosh, and I have no idea what the point of the story is at all. Coming to the book straight after Stephen King's "Revival" probably doesn't help either. That was excellent, and deserves another post all of its own at some point.

I did read one other in the "Private" series (Private Games) in 2012 as it was based around the London Olympics, and from what little I remember, that was pretty far-fetched, but did at least have the games a centrepiece around which to build a story. This one is just rubbish. I don't know how much Mr Patterson is to blame - I expect he just lends his name to the title to help shift copies (and so deserves a fair degree of the blame anyway) and that the vast majority of the writing gets done by his co-writer Maxine Paetro. After all, despite a rocky period a while back, most of the recent Alex Cross books have been OK - I enjoyed "Hope to Die".

Good job this one was a library book. I will be taking it back so that someone else can give it a try, but my reading time is too precious to be wasting it on this drivel.

Laptop

Been trying to catch up on some work on the laptop this evening, but this hasn't been going down too well with Coco. As far as she's concerned, laps have a far more important use.

Answer

That's it, I have arrived at the answer.

The answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything.

St Paul's

One of the first things that we did when we got to London last Friday after checking in to our hotel was to walk over to St Paul's to go to Evensong.

I'd been past the cathedral earlier in the week when heading back from a client to the office, and had noticed that the Friday afternoon service looked rather appealing, so Nicky kindly agreed that it could be one of our first stops for our weekend away.

The service included the installation of a new Minor Canon at the Cathedral, presided over by the Bishop of London, but that wasn't what had caught my eye on the notice board when I'd gone past.

I was there for Stanford in C, along with Faure's Cantique de Jean Racine.

And they were heavenly.

Goethe?

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe?)

I think the above quotation is rather good, hence why I have included it here.

But, is it by Goethe? Well, for a start, Goethe didn't write in English, and this quotation tends to feature as part of a larger quote from W H Murray, a Scottish Mountaineer, who, explaining that once committed to a plan, all sorts of support can be found, and that he had great respect for what he called the "Goethe couplet".

It turns out that the couplet is from what is described as a "very free" translation of the original by John Anster in 1835 (and frankly seems far more memorable than what is presumably a more literal version of the same passage included on the Goethe society site).

So, well done Mr Anster. Good stuff!

Still away

Still away

Sent from my iPhone

Away

Away

Sent from my iPhone

Curious

Lunch today at the Curious Pig!

Sausage and mash.

Open access

The news today is that The Open will be moving to Sky from 2017 onwards, at least as far as live coverage is concerned. As a Sky Sports subscriber, this is no problem, but somehow it still feels like a bit of a shame, just like when they got the test matches, and when they started to pinch the live Formula One (a job they will no doubt complete over the next few years).

A time will come, and in the not too distant future, when all that will be left on terrestrial TV will be the things that Sky can't be bothered to bid for - which basically means the least popular sports.

The exceptions to this rule are the "Listed and Designated Sports" which are on Ofcom's list of things which must be on free to air TV - see this Wikipedia article for details. Basically we are safe with the World Cup (football), The Olympics, Wimbledon, and a few other bits and pieces.

I'd got it in my head that we were safe with The Open as well, but that theory got disproved today, and checking the article, it turns out that it is a "category B" event meaning that we have to get free highlights, but Sky are allowed to waltz off with the live stuff. Interestingly per the article there were some revisions proposed back in 2009 that would have done away with the B list, and The Open would have had to stay free to air for live coverage.

Clearly those proposals didn't get very far then!

Vet

Barley's been to the vet today. Has lots of tablets to sort out her dodgy tummy, and is now fast asleep on the sofa (probably secretly enjoying all of the attention).

Maleficent

In a weekend of film blogs, we watched Maleficent on Sky Movies this evening. I remember seeing particularly large posters of it still around the place in Orlando last year, although I think it had probably been out in the US for a while by then.

Obviously, take everything I say about a Disney movie with a huge pinch of salt, as I am probably not very objective about these kinds of things, but I thought that it wasn't bad at all. A good performance by Angelina, and an interesting spin on the original tale. Pretty much made the baddie into a goodie and vice versa.

Kingsman

Been to see Kingsman at Bluey this evening with N, J and O.

Good fun film, even if someone got sliced in half, and quite a few people lost their heads!

Eric

With today marking 50 years since Churchill's funeral, I am reminded of Uncle Eric, who had a part to play in that famous day. Sadly I never got to meet him - he was certainly a remarkable man, as this obituary which appeared in the Independent demonstrated.

Given Eric's connections to both the funeral train and to the National Railway Museum, it is very interesting to see that they have an exhibition which starts today - "Churchill's Final Journey". May well be worth a visit.

(Also interesting to note that they have an article which specifically explains why Churchill wanted the final train journey to depart from Waterloo, which I understand is a story that Uncle Eric had shared before as well. However, I think in Eric's version, the main thrust of the tale was about taking the opportunity to have some fun at De Gaulle's expense, and not so much the subtler point about nations never surrendering to tyrants!)

Pink again

Seem to have a thing for pink rooms this week!

Sent from my iPhone

For Sure

Every time you suppress some part of yourself or allow others to play you small, you are ignoring the owner's manual your Creator gave you. What I know for sure is this: you are build not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more. To be more splendid. To be more extraordinary. To use every moment to fill yourself up.

(Oprah Winfrey)

Bramley

Morning in Brighton today followed by lunch and afternoon in Guildford today. Got a chance for a good run in the new car, including navigation by iphone, which went fine (as the new car doesn't come with built in sat nav). One of the reasons for not getting the sat nav was that there apparently is an app which I can download which will enable me to get the phone screen to appear on the car screen. Must give that a go at some point.

Once my new car's term is up, I did notice a promising-looking place I could go for a replacement. On the outskirts of Guildford there is a village called Bramley, and they have a garage that sells some very nice cars indeed.

Pink

Pink room

Sent from my iPhone

Stall

Went out for my first drive in the new car today.

Stalled it before I got to the end of the road.

Also, learned that pulling away in second is not an option.

On the plus side, Nicky has connected the bluetooth for me!

Crockfords

Lovely day with the Crockford family. Late now so proper report tomorrow.

New

I stay away for one night, and things have changed at home in my absence. There's a new car on the drive, and Jake's room looks completely different now that the new carpet has been fitted, and Nicky has put up the new curtains to replace the horrible old blinds.

I would post a picture, but the little prince himself is already back in situ and is currently gaming and chatting via PS4 with a friend, and I don't think he would appreciate being papped! (And I was going to use it as an excuse to take the first picture with my new toy - iPhone 6 arrived at work today.)

More Superior

Quick emailed update from my "more superior" room (!) at Myhotel this evening after a long Brighton day. Main news of the day is the arrival of my new car, but I've only seen pictures sent from home so far. Will see the real thing when I go home tomorrow.

Sent from my iPhone

Insurance?

Here's what I learned today. What I thought was a helpful private healthcare provider turns out to be just another insurance company who will delight at pointing at the small print and the policy exclusions when it suits them and enables them to wheedle their way out of paying a bill. And there was me thinking that they were on my side. How naïve!

Booked

Bloomsbury break booked - blooming' brilliant!

Delivery day

Delivery day here today:

• This week's Abel & Cole box;
• The rest of this week's shopping from Waitrose (all of this week's meals have been planned out and written up on the board);
• My replacement book, for the one that I sent back last week - this time in satisfactory condition;
• A new bookcase for the hall; and
• Two new chairs for Jake's room, one of which has just been made, and which I am sitting on to type this blog.

No Besta

A trip to Ikea of only moderate success today, although we did a good job of proving the theory that it is impossible to go there and come away empty handed.

The first part of the plan was to feed up Jake with a cooked breakfast from their café, and we thought that we'd be safe getting there at about 11.15 given that the store only opened at 11.00. However, what we hadn't realised was that the café had been open since 10.00 and stopped serving breakfast at 11.00. The chocolate muffin alternative didn't really cut it, and I think that the die was pretty much cast at that stage to be honest.

Nicky and I thought that the Besta combinations were pretty good (especially the one with the discount for Ikea Family members!) but they weren't met with much enthusiasm, and in the end, the only piece of furniture we came out with was a small Billy bookcase. Anyone would think that we have a bit of a fetish for Billy - as I sit here typing and think through the various rooms in the house, I think that today's purchase may well bring the total up to at least 17 we have!

The other main purchase was a house plant, which now has pride of place in the hall, and we wait to see whether the cats will eat / scratch it to pieces.

We tried out a few other stores in Thurrock, but in the end, I think our only other purchases were made in Costa and Subway!

No carpet

Now there is no carpet left in Jake's room. Still a lot of furniture, including a double bed, but thanks to a fair amount of shuffling around, it has all been removed. It's all cut up and the last bits are waiting in bin bags for a tip trip to be done. Phoned the carpet shop, and the new one will be fitted next Friday.

We were all out this afternoon delivering leaflets for the church boot fair (helping Jake out with his D of E duties) and then this evening, in order to finish up some more bits from our A&C box, we had a rather lovely onion soup with our tea (although I think there were some votes for a smoother blend, which has been duly noted for next time).

Report

Another week done, and another report sent in busy season. More to come next week, but so far so good. Could do some work over the weekend to keep next week easier, but far likelier to enjoy the weekend so that I can head into next week ready to rejoin the battle!

Basket

Top news of the day - first ever basketball game and J was top scorer and led his team to victory!

Busy

Another busy day - I'm sat next to Nicky who is currently making a double helix out of bits of coloured in paper and lots of glue, all held together temporarily with paperclips (biology homework), whilst I was helping out earlier with a few surd-based A-level difficulty equations (maths homework). What nice parents we are!

Otherwise, Nicky has been making sterling progress with painting of bedroom walls, and I've spent the day travelling to Kent-based clients (so not too far at least) to make sure all is under control with a couple of audits which are signing off soon.

Lots of book deliveries today - one ebay order (29 Pratchetts! 3 separate auctions from same seller won at the weekend - bargain - came out at £1 per book including delivery) and one Amazon (2 out of 3 on the 3 for £10 deal) but bit disappointed with open Amazon packaging and slight damage to one of them, so may have to send Amazon and email and ask them to sort it out.

And, a present too - another version of my new favourite jumper acquired for me in the sales by my lovely wife - this time in 'berry'.

Early start tomorrow - back to Brighton for meeting first thing, so that'll do for now.

Delivery date

Got a delivery date for new car - look out for new arrival next Thursday ...

Abel

Realised that I forgot to blog yesterday, so here is a quick one to make up the deficit!

Our first Abel and Cole box arrived on the doorstep (or more accurately on the lodge decking) packed with healthy stuff (apples, blood oranges, potatoes, mushrooms, kale, ....) and we enjoyed some crispy kale with our dinner, and jolly nice it was too - it got thumbs up from Jake.

Continuing the food theme, we watched the horizon diet programme, which split people into feasters, emotional eaters, and constant cravers. From what I remember, I think that I am a feaster, which means that I mustn't go to Yo Sushi, Nicky is an emotional eater, so needs to re-do her driving test, but thankfully neither of us is a constant craver, so we don't need to abseil down a windmill!

Everything

Been to see "The Theory of Everything" this evening. Excellent film - expecting to see a mention or two when the Oscar nominations come out on Thursday ...

Sportsman

Been out for dinner this evening to The Sportsman in Seasalter. Top quality. Someone insisted on taking pictures of the food to prove how good it was.

Week

A whole week back at work completed. My first in quite some time. Two days in the office, two in Brighton, and one in London, and truth be told, I'm fairly tired. Probably as much due to the fact that I'd got rather used to being off for Christmas and taking it easy as much as anything. Certainly in the early part of the week falling asleep on the sofa in the evening seemed to be happening a fair amount. I think Jake was a bit disappointed with me when I kept missing the Wimbledon attacks against Liverpool in the FA Cup coverage. I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of things pretty soon.

One of the things that has definitely improved as the week has gone on has been the driving. During the course of the week I've done somewhere between 300 and 400 miles (which is more than I'd done since the start of December), and whilst I was certainly fine and safe throughout, I was aware at the start of the week that driving did require far more conscious effort than in really should. Having been driving for a long time, I've always considered myself to be a very good driver, and able to anticipate what all of the other road users around me are up to based on the littlest things, and because of the amount of time I spend in the car, it was almost second nature. However, certainly at the start of the week, it felt a lot more like hard work and something that required active concentration. Probably just a question of being out of practice, and I was aware yesterday and today that things were starting to feel a little bit more like normal, which is great news. Looking forward to more of the same next week. (Also looking forward to my new car arriving, which should hopefully be within the next couple of weeks.)

Back

Back home from my first stay of the year in Brighton already. I approve of one night stays - far more civilised than having to camp out there for an entire week!

Charlie

What a horrible day.

Je Suis Charlie

Returned

A call to the nice people at Crawley library in December secured one more renewal on a whole load of books over Christmas, and so today I took two heavy bags back in and returned a dozen books! Decided not to take any more out just now as have plenty of Medway loans on the go, and not too sure whether I will be in Crawley when the return date comes around.

Wombles

Back to work today, and survived a whole day in the office. The bad news is that apparently I have to do another on again tomorrow. Not sure I'm cut out for this work malarkey!

Been watching the AFC Wimbledon (I like their mascot!) vs. Liverpool tie this evening in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, and there was much excitement when Akinfenwa scored (he was playing for Gillingham when we went to see them last year), but sadly in the end Liverpool, or more accurately, Steven Gerrard, were just too good for them.

Down

The decorations are down, packed up, and back in the loft, and whilst tomorrow is twelfth night (see this post for clarification), we decided that getting things stowed away today in preparation for returns to work and school tomorrow was probably the best plan.

As soon as decorations had come down, the cats were providing assistance, including curling up on top of garlands, and sleeping in the midst of bubble wrap. Still, as this post from last year proves, they are clearly creatures of habit.

Still, the festive season was fun - we got some new Christmas jumpers, and even the family pets got into the Christmas spirit!

TJ's

A trip into Maidstone this morning - the plan had been for Jake to come with us for a cooked breakfast, but the pull of the penultimate lay in was too strong, and so he missed out on the new TJ's Diner in town (which we only found by chance), but didn't seem too bothered by, given that we was still fast asleep when we got back!

As for the rest of the day, pottering about at home whilst it rained ("good weather for the new grass") and then a stroll up the road this evening to catch up with the Anderson family and compare notes on Christmas breaks.

Milestone

New Year - new plans. As promised, we are making a start on redecorating of Jake's room, which today comprised a trip to the carpet shop to place an order, followed by picking up a selection of tester-pots in Homebase. Not too exciting, but things have picked up this evening with an online order of a couple of new chairs to replace the Poangs. I think some sorting out may start tomorrow.

As for milestones, it was exactly 20 years ago today that I started work with my current employer!

New Year

New Year - new post - it has been too long without anything, and about time that I got back into posting.

Easing into things, a few bits of random news that occur to me from the last few weeks:

• I pretty much had December off from work, and feel equal parts ready and raring to go for getting back to work next week, along with a little bit of trepidation too!
• Since last posting, we've had confirmation that Jake will be having a two week half term in October / November again this year, and so we've booked some flights to Orlando, hence the updated countdown on the blog.
• Lots of work has taken place in the garden and we now have a new wall and path and lots of new turf, and it is possible to get between house and lodge without getting muddy.
• Christmas came and went with lots of family time, and lots of lovely presents for all. We've even managed to eat most of the food from the freezer by now.

And a couple of things from today:

• Dinner at Cote in Bluewater as a New Year treat from John and Margaret, although John did nearly walk out when he discovered that they were out of both whitebait and mussels!
• An amazing result at White Hart Lane as Spurs beat Chelsea 5-3. Spurs are up to 5th, and Chelsea manage to stay top, but have the exact same stats as Man City, so only remain above them alphabetically!