Thursday 10 April 2014

Thursday 10th April 2014

Wednesday.

Look, I don't want to labour a point here, but the IT thing is a real pain in the arse, and is really making work difficult. I don't know why I started to detail the problems, but I did and they just go on and on, turning into different problems.

On Wednesday, I hav all new software, but don't know where anything is on the computer, and the systems we used to use and were just a click away are now reached via another VPN connection, two menus and then a virtual desktop. and I lose the will to live. There is so much to do and half of it does not work or is not there and the rest you cannot find. It took four hours to get the printer to work as the servers are not owned by us now...

And it goes on.

The day crawled by, I mean really crawled. At least it felt something like a step forward despite the problems. The day does pass, and I head home at half three.

I arrive back to find Jools on the phone, arranging an interview for Friday afternoon. We are not taking anything for granted, but this good news, we hope. She is now bouncing, excited that she is moving forward. Anyway, news about that in due course.

ET collects another loco number

At five fifteen I head out with the cameras so I can snap Braunton again. I head to Shakespeare Beach as I love the location, and if the weather is kind, and the right tie of the year the light can be golden. Well, it was perfect, even with the shadows lengthening. I park in Aycliffe and walk down the steps to the bridge, some twenty minutes early, but then you never know.

34046, "Braunton", The Golden Arrow, Shakespeare Beach, Dover

I get to practice with a few 375s and 395s so I get the angles right. And right on time she puffs round the sharp turn near the Lord Warden Hotel. There were huge clouds of smoke and steam; very impressive. So I begin shooting. She clears the curve and accelerates, getting nearer and nearer.

34046 "Braunton", The Golden Arrow", Shakespeare Beach, Dover, Kent

Soon enough she is filling the viewfinder and so I switch to the 6D and the 50mm, the light is perfect, and I fire off another 50 shots. Perfect.

I head home once the smoke cleared from the portals of Shakespeare Tunnel and we could no longer hear her pistons going. Time for some scan, then.

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