Monday 21st November 2011

And outside it’s a real pea-souper. As Sherlock might have put it. The mist rolled in yesterday afternoon and we, like most of England, have been covered in a thick blanket of fog. Fog is my least favourite weather, well, to drive in, and the idiots really don’t get how dangerous it is, and carry on as if they can see for miles. And end up shunting some poor unsuspecting fellow driver from behind when they can’t stop in time. And then there are those who think lights really are not required. Accidents waiting to happen for the most part. I had a friend whose Father would follow the white lines along the centre of the road; great until you meet someone coming the other way doing the same thing.
Anyway, I am working from home for a couple of days, and then I have two days in London Town when I attend a course. So, All I have to do for Monday and Tuesday is negotiate the stairs to the dining room table, which I can manage.



Today, Monday, a plumber is calling to do some running repairs on our leaking heating system, and tomorrow we are getting a new tumble dryer, which both days calls for someone to be in. So, here I am.



And the to the weekend:

Another weekend, more wall-to-wall sunshine. It was glorious, such a shame then to spend Saturday morning dealing with mundane matter like haircuts and buying birthday/Christmas cards. But, such is life, and I am continuing the theme of trying to be completely ready when the festive period arrives. On our lat trip to Tesco, we bought packs of puff pastry (for sausage rolls) and mincemeat (for mince pies), the meat is ordered, beer, Christmas Cake and sloe gin are all made and ripe for sampling. And last week I ordered and received the calendars and books I ordered through Flickr; so most presents are bought too.

So, Christmas; do your worse.

I dropped Jools off at half eight, and had half an hour to kill, so headed up to Tower Hamlets in Dover to snap a pub; as you do. And then parked up outside the barber’s in order to be there when the doors opened so I could be done with it as soon as possible. As usual, I got my dose of abuse, which seems to be the way, but that’s fine as for £7 I get my barnet mangled and as much abuse as anyone could want.



And then we got out of Dover as quickly we could and headed back along the cliffs to St Margarets. However, we stopped off at the National Trust place so we could walk on Foxhill Down to take advantage of the fine weather. Fine weather, I hear you cry. Yes, 15 degrees and unbroken sunshine. We walked towards the ponies kept to keep the grass down, and snapped a few with the castle in the background. I like the shot, and the light was fantastic anyway.



And then back home to spend the fine afternoon in front of the TV as Norwich were on TV playing Arsenal. I wish I could say it was a pleasure; City were poor and never really got going, failed to press the ball and it came as a shock when we took the lead. It did not last, and Arsenal came back to score two goals and win the game. In truth, it was men against boys, and the 2-1 scoreline was flattering. Saying that, the difference was Van Persie and the lad Walcott; take them out and there wasn’t much between the teams.



Sigh.

And then lay on the sofa to listen to the rest of the day’s games on the radio whilst the day came to an end outside. Jools went to get fish and chips for dinner, which was a real treat, and then we sat down to watch Yellowstone on BBC. How glorious and wonderfully cold it looked in wnter, and how animals coped with the terrible cold. Makes me want to go all the more of course, snap those geysers and mudpools in the mind-numbing cold.



We were up before dawn on Sunday, wrapped up warm and headed down to the cliffs to watch dawn and the sun rise. As we waited, jetliners passed 30,000 feet above, them and their contrails turning from blue to white to gold as they approached the horizon and the light of the rising sun. Seabirds and migrating birds flew around us and there was quiet all over the land.
At 07:17 the sun poked it’s head over the horizon, and made its way up and over the band of clouds that obscured part of the sunrise. Once the light was too bright to look at directly, we headed home for a warming cup of coffee and breakfast.



At 11 my friend Gary came round to take me to Sandwich Bay to look for birds on the beach. I did snap a skylark amongst the pebbles, but not a clear shot. But I was happy enough. The hide at the pond was full, and anyway there were no birds to be seen. We headed back home, along the road that winds through the golf course, passed players dressed in spikes and plus fours, all the world looking like idiots.



After lunch, Jools and I went for a quick walk along the lane at the end of our road, just to sample the warm afternoon sunshine and the golden light. Mist was rolling in, and soon the church was hidden from view. Darkness fell and I went into the kitchen as we were having our good friend, Frances, for dinner, and I wanted it to be really goodIt was; roast beef, Yorkishire Puddings, steamed veg and the crispiest of crispy roast potatoes. And fresh onion gravy. All rather wonderful, I have to say.



This week is going to be crazy; two days/one night in London, Jack Dee in Folkestone on Thursday (if my train gets me back from London in time, Ade Edmonson on Friday and Henig When on Saturday. Expect no posts until Sunday at least, and tales of roads paved with gold, and laughs and more laughs when I do.

Monday 14th November 2011

We left the office at two. The sun was now shining, but getting low over the horizon. All was well until we got onto the motorway, when the banging began. We pulled over expecting to see a flat tyre. But it was a panel that was loose and was banging when the wind caught it. We had a choice, call the recovery truck or drive slowly so the banging didn’t begin.
Thankfully, the panel only began to bang at 90km/h, and so we trundled along at 80, and the rest of the world rushed past us. But, we did get there, eventually, and in time for Philip to fill in the accident report. See, on Wednesday, he reversed into a wall. We thought nothing about it at the time, only annoyed at the damage caused by a 5km/h impact.



I checked in, and by the time I was eyeing up the bar in the departure lounge, my boss caught up with me and told me to try the business lounge. Worth a try!

So, we walked up to the desk, presented our tickets, and after a while we were allowed in. And there was a beer pump, but the other way round; we could pour our own beer!

FOR FREE!

Free Christmas beer and snacks. Even free wine, spirits and coffees. So, I had a couple of beers and once Philip left to catch his earlier flight, I watched the sun set over the airfield. My flight was called, and made my way down to the gate; we had to wait for a while, but we were let on half an hour late, and the 17 of us were allowed on the flight.

Wine with your meal, sir?

Yes, please.

A glass of whisky or brandy, sir?

Yes, please.

Oddly enough I was getting sleepy again.



We flew down the north sea coast of Denmark and Holland. From my window seat I could see the lights of the towns and cities below reaching to the coast. Moonlight glinted off the sea, and the winking lights of ships could be seen. Needless to say, England was shrouded in cloud, and as we approached London we descended through thick clouds. I could see nothing out of the window; the engines roared and the plane was heading for the ground at a 30 degree angle. My heart paced. I caught a glimpse of the soon through a gap in the clouds. And back into the cloud.



Then, at the last minute well after the landing gear had been lowered, London Docklands came into view; we flew low over a bridge and then we were down.

After taxiing to the terminal, we climbed out to find our bags waiting for us already. Through customs, through arrivals and along a corridor. I swiped my oyster card, climbed the stairs and onto the DLR platform. A direct train to Stratford came along, and I even got a seat. And within 45 minutes of getting of the flight, I was climbing on a train heading to Ashford. Jools came to pick me up as there was no connection to Dover, and we headed along to M20 towards the coast via Burger King as we were both hungry.

And that was my three days away in Denmark; mostly good, but with some bad news.

To be honest, with the time difference, and general lack of sleep, I was shattered and headed to bed after a shower. Next morning, we laid in bed until half seven, and then time to face the day. That I still felt crap was not good, and after managing to make a coffee or two, I sat down to look at the shots I had taken in Denmark as usual whilst listening to the radio. Jools took Molly to the vets; turns out she has an infection, but a shot of something set her right, and within 6 hours was back to her bouncy self. I made another loaf of Tiger Bread for lunch, which was great with melted butter and fig jam.



That evening, I sat down to watch England play Spain, the world and European champions, and won. Not that England played that well, but did enough, defended well and scored. Without the pube-headed, potato-faced shrek-a-like Wayne up front. We’ll take anything.

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear; we headed to Kings Wood for a walk and to look for fungi; and there was lots and lots to snap. The light shone through pale green and golden leaves still hanging onto branches. I snapped away.
It would have been very pleasant but for the packs of dogs that were running around pissing and crapping and trying to mate with each other. Calls of their desperate owners could be heard through the trees and another dog ran away. One would have thought that if a dog could not be controlled by voice commands, it shouldn’t be let off the lead. But then what do I know?

We headed back to the car and then back to Dover and lunch. Steak and ale pie with fresh veggies and roast potatoes. Just what we wanted to eat I have to say. No football on in the afternoon; so we sat down to watch the new adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, whilst outside the mist and fog rolled in.

And that was your weekend……………

Saturday 12th November 2011

Hello. Good afternoon and welcome from Denmark.

It is Friday afternoon and our time in this land is shot. We are due to leave our head office in Randers within the next hour and drive back to Billund, hopefully in time to catch our flights back home. I wish I could say the trip has been an unqualified success, but as another round of cut backs and redundancies were announced on our first morning here, it rather cast more than a cloud over the trip. Because, no matter how positive we are after two shiny new projects were announced last week, they are still about a year in the future. So, once again, we wait for the executioner’s axe to fall. Or not.



The week began with us heading once again to Folkestone for another event in the book festival; a chat with Andy Kershaw. Andy has lead an interesting life, going from running Leeds University’s SU, to roadying for Billy Bragg, to being offered a job on BBC 2’s Whistle Test to comparing part of Live Aid all in four years, and then having his own Radio 1 show, and then his love and passion for ‘world music’ and his move to Radio 3. What wasn’t mentioned was his fall from grace following his split from his ex-wife and mother of his children, and his spells as HM’s pleasure.
All in all, the evening was too short, and it quickly ended before we had heard half his story.



Before hand, we had found a place to grab a drink and something to eat, and pondered how odd, in a good way, it was not to be in our kitchen cooking dinner as would be usual.



On Tuesday, I worked from home as in the middle of the afternoon I had to go and catch a train to London City Airport to catch the flight to sunny Denmark. And that is what happened, I arrived at the airport, and found that the usual getting there three hours before departure did not apply there, in fact, I could not check my bags in until two hours before departure. So, I sat in Costa and drank coffee, read a magazine and watched famous tennis players try to mix with the common people.



I saw some old friends from the Thanet Project, now working for our competitor, So, after checking our bags in, we met in the bar for drinks. I ordered a pint of Hoegaarden, and was shocked to my core to be charged £6.30 for it. I thought the guy at the bar was joking, but no. Much better was when Andy bought the second round, which must have smarted.



We boarded a tiny plane, and strapped ourselves in before roaring off into the night. We got a small cold meal and apparently unlimited drinks, as unlimited drinks can be on a flight lasting less than 2 hours. I did have beer, wine and a whisky as well as the food. And was glad it would my boss driving from the airport to the hotel in Randers.

It was too late to get anything to eat when we arrived, and so we just took our keys and took to our respective beds.



Next morning we drove to the head office; I was given a tour and shook many, many hands and nodded greetings. Then we sat down to listen to the CEO give the Q3 results on a telecast. And that’s when we learned that things are going not so well and jobs would be lost. It took the wind out of our sails to say the least, but life goes on and we wait for the axe.

That night my boss and I ate in the hotel, which is always something slightly surreal. Not eating with my boss, but in a hotel. It always seems to e the last refuge of the unadventurous. As predicted, we struggled to get served, but the food was OK, and the Christmas beer was very fine. And as I felt like I had not slept since last Christmas, I took to my bed very early and slept through the rumble of the traffic outside.



Thursday morning we headed back to the office again and had our departmental meeting, which was the main reason for coming over for. It is an interesting thing to be sitting the same room instead of talking on the Office communicator. And then in the afternoon I headed off with Helle to Arhus to the art museum to have a social networking seminar. No, really.



So, we sat there and listened about pushing our company through the various social networks and how it would help the company. It was harmless stuff, and demonstrated how easy it could be for something like a rumour on Twitter to almost bring a company down. So, we listened and hopefully learned. And then we had time to walk round the museum, and I had my camera with me. It seems that when an art gallery is designed means that the architect leaves his gloves off and goes bonkers. It has a wonderful spiral staircase and on the roof a circular rainbow, and being as we were there at dusk, the colours were wonderful, and I think the shots came out fine.

Back then to Randers to meet up with our boss and head out for dinner at a ritzy place. We could have had a nine course banquet, but stuck with three. Along with beer, wine and much chatting. And afterwards we went for a wander round the town, so I could snap yet more shots of the lit buildings and street scenes.

And today, we have sunshine. I was told the sun would not shine here until the spring, but there it is all sunny and shining. Time then to get my stuff together and be ready for the trip back to the airport. By the time I post this I will be back in England, so, brew up lads!

Monday 7th November 2011

And so Saturday drizzled on and on. The rest of the country was bathed in bright autumnal sunshine, but East Kent was under a low dark cloud and we got wet.

In the afternoon, I sat down to watch the game on TV, and then once that had finished I switched to the radio to listen to the main batch of games. Sadly, City could not carry on their fine run of results, and gave away two cheap goals, and yet rallying in the 2nd half, lost 3-2 to Villa. Reminds me of the headline in The People after the 1975 League Cup Final; Aston Villa, Canary Killer. It still hurts it does.

At a quarter to seven we set off once again for Folkestone and the Quarterhouse to see another show. This time it was Barry Cryer in conversation. We arrived ten minutes before showtime, and settled down in the same seats as the night before.

Who is Barry Cryer? Well, he is a comic and writer who has spent his whole life in showbiz, and has worked and written with all the comic greats of the last 50 years; Bob Hope, Morecombe and Wise, Tony Hancock and so on. He has appeared on the Ed Sullivan show when it was a huge deal, and is one of the mainstays of the long running antidote to quiz shows, ‘I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue’. He was accompanied on stage by Colin Sales, also from ‘Clue’ and it was rather wonderful; gentle but wonderful.



At one point we did join in ‘singing one song to the tune of another’; The Laughing Policeman’ to the tune of the ‘Dambuster’s March’; it works so very well.

And then it was time to head back home, by this time the fireworks had mostly been let off, and it was a quiet journey back.



Sunday was more of the same; dark and drizzly for most of the day. After breakfast we went out for a walk in the woods for another hunt for fungi. And as before there were very few. That is despite it being wet and rainy for most of the week. Maybe next week? We shall see. We walked through a deepening layer of golden leaves, already starting to decompose; I snapped a few things, but as we walked the rain fell heavily, and we returned to the car and then back home for an early lunch.



That afternoon I watched yet another game on TV; Wolves v Wigan, and if ever there was a game between two relegation-threatened teams, this was it. Very little skill but lots of huffing and puffing. The home ground growing ever more anxious but Wolves getting two late goals to win 3-1.



Time then to watch ‘Frozen Planet’ before putting the beef in the oven for Sunday dinner.

Not very exciting, but it’ll do. Maybe next week we shall venture further that Waldershare if the weather allows.

Before then I am off to sunny Denmark to head office. I hope to return on Saturday with tales of Vikings and pickled herring.

Saturday 5th November 2011

Remember, remember the 5th of November. when we Brits celebrate the fact Guido did NOT blow up the Houses of Parliament. Surely some mistake? Its not quite as big an event as it used to be, or so it seems. Many the year I spent watching Dad trying to light a pathetic Roman Candle or a Catherine wheel that refused to spin. Now, most go to organised displays I guess. I was going to buy some sparklers this morning from Tesco, but the counter was not manned, and so we came away sparkler-less.

We will not be watching any fireworks tonight, as we are heading back to the Quarterhouse to see Barry Cryer in conversation on stage. Should be interesting, and not very rock and roll at all.



Last night we went to Folkestone to see top raconteur Nicholas Parsons on stage talking about his life. Also not very rock and roll either.

So, after another week at work, we set off at half five to try and find a place to eat before the show. We found a place to park on Tontine Street and then walked up the Old High Street whilst I took snaps of the night scenes.
We found a nice looking place on the new High Street; we ordered Belgian beers and some Mexican food; I had chilli burrito which was real good, doubly with the garlic bread.



We walked down to the theatre, took our seats and settled down for a fine evening of tales and comic asides.



Apart from that, it has been a quiet week; just work and me scanning photographs in the evenings. Oh, and watching football on TV. There has been some good news at work, but as that has not been released as a press statement as yet, I had better keep that under my hat.

Autumn has arrived now, although still mild; the wind has blown and the rain has fallen. And now the clocks have gone back, it is getting dark as I drive home from work.
Oh, on Monday I was subjected to a road rage incident. My fault really as i gestured to a guy in a high powered old Volvo as he overtook me,and he took it personally and forced me off the road and got out to give me a piece of my mind. Not that he had much to spare, but he did rant, and as he ranted his spittle coated the half open window of the car. I threatened my life if I did it again, before he climbed back in his car and driving off.

I was shaking, but drove off too. In all the excitement I forgot to take his car registration number, but so far he has not tracked me down to cut my heart out to defecate in the hole.

Lesson learnt; don't make rude signs at other drivers no matter how small you think their genitals are, Ian!

Monday 31st October 2011

And back to Monday.

We had a quiet weekend, it just seemed the right thing to do. The weather wasn't very good over the whole weekend, grey and drizzly on Saturday and only slightly better on Sunday.

So, we went shopping in Tesco first thing on Saturday, to get it out of the way early before the crowds, and we were back at home by half eight. I turned the radio on, and tried to rest by back which is still giving me problems, but not quite as bad as last week.



Anyway, I listened to Danny Baker and then Fighting Talk, and settled down to watch the borefest that was to be the game between Chelsea and the Arse. And it was possibly one of the best games I have seen, mainly as both teams seem to have forgotten how to defend. It was crazy with tons of chances at both ends and the game ending in a 5-3 victory for the Gooners, but it could have gone the other way.



Then switch to the radio to follow how Norwich would do; a 3-3 draw with Blackburn, with City's equalising goal coming 3 minutes into extra time. So, another point, and despite being 3-1 down going into the final 10 minutes.

We watched 'Thor' in the evening, hoping it would be good as Kenneth Brannagh directed it; but it was a mess and deep down someone coping with great power having great responsibilities; I seem to have heard that before.



Sunday we went to Waldershare Wood looking for fungi, and yet despite the rain mid-week, the ground under the trees was bone dry and mostly fungi-less. I snapped some stuff and we came home, at which point I began to sneeze and did not stop for most of the day.

That, might be my fault, as we had a spring-clean at lunchtime, and with me being allergic to house dust the sneezing got worse. I was going to watch the football in the afternoon. But, I got seduced by Sir David Attenborough and his new series about the Arctic; it was glorious and worth missing the football for.



On Friday, the news we have been waiting for at work came through; we signed two orders; a huge relief, but we will probably have to wait until 2013 before the first turbine is installed. Still, it shows that things are moving forward at last. and another customer is buying one of the pre-production 7MW, showing great faith in our future.

Lets hope there is going to be more good news in the run up to Christmas.....

Wednesday 26th October 2011

Good evening.

Autumn has arrived. Well, it was here before, but the rain is now falling hard, and has been for the last 24 hours really. The wind is blowing too, and it is dark way too early. Oh, and the clocks go back on Saturday night, and then it will be real dark in the evenings. At least we might see light in the mornings again, today it was still dark as we climbed into the car at half six.



Yesterday, we were up even earlier, as I had some travelling to do. Up at five and at Dover Priory Station for six as I was travelling to Norwich for the 34th beer festival. I was to meet my friend Matt at Ashford, and the train then carries on the Stratford, change and get the train direct to Norwich and beer there for half eight.



What could go wrong?

Well, the train manager not turning up for work, and so the train could not run. Or, it could run but not pick up passengers. apparently. So, I stood on the platform and saw it approach, and come down the platform and not stop.



A garbled announcement said that:

'Something, something, something, dark side', or that we would have to wait for the next service, but that meant missing the connection. I got on a slow train bound for Cannon street, thus meeting my friend at Ashford where we could discuss our options. As it was, we took the next service to Stratford and had breakfast.

We caught a train to Colchester, and then an express to Norwich, and arrived an hour later than intended. We left the station, walked along the river to look at Pull's Ferry, then cross the footbridge and onto the cathedral.



It was a cloudy, grey day, but at least dry for now, and the walk along the river was good, and after turning down over the footbridge we could have been in the middle ages for all the sounds of the modern world we could hear; the only thing spoiling the illusion were the parked cars.

We followed someone who looked like they knew where they were going, and ended up within the cathedral precinct. There is a new building, the refectory, but through it we found our way into the cloisters, and were rewarded with great views to the tower with it's impressive spire.

A quick look at the watch revealed we had half an hour until the doors opened, and we quickly dashed through Tombland, up Elm Hill over the cobbles to St Andrew's Hall and joined the queue.

We quickly got to the front at half eleven as people paid to enter, and then we crossed their palms with silver and we too were in. We paid for our tokens, got a table down in the bottled beer tent, and we both went to get our first drinks.

And that is it, repeat that process every 20 minutes or so, and buying some food on occasion, and that was it until half two. As well as rolls, they were selling bags of proper pork scratchings, which went down very nice with the beer.

The rain had stopped when we came out, but wandered through the City centre to another fine pub that also had a beer festival; The Murderers. We took a table in the corner and nursed our beers until nearly four, at which point we walked back down to the station and onto the train. and at half four it glided out of the station and the Norfolk countryside slid by, basking in the rays of the setting sun.

We changed again at Colchester, climbing onto a commuter service, getting off at Stratford, and after a short wait, the train back to Dover. It had been a long day, but good.
Time enough once in Dover for Jools and I to call in at a chippy for supper, and back home to eat and then to bed.