Monday 23rd December 2013

Sunday.

The weather did let up yesterday afternoon and the sun even broke through. I decided to head to Westernhanger to snap the tour; plenty of time to frame the shot and a train, or trains, at speed. Nice. So with over an hour before showtime, i headed off to the other side of Folkestone, took the Hythe road and headed down to the old race course and the station.

A couple of younger lads were there, setting up a video camera. They were at the far end of the platform, and I was right at the other end, hoping if the tour was late i could get some illumination from the platform lights. As things turned out, I was right to think that way.

It is a sad fact that here in Dover and at Beachy Head, there are dozens of memorials to those who have chosen to travel there to end their lives. I can't say I understand that, but they must be in a very dark place indeed. However to drive to such a beautiful place to end their lives seems odd to me. As does throwing themselves under a train: there is the thoughts of the driver, the emergency services and those who have to clean up. I mention this as yesterday, a woman chose to end her life in Faversham by throwing herself under a train. My thoughts go out to her family and friends of course.



What the disruption meant to me was that the tour was delayed. And delayed. The sun set, and it began to get dark. And then almost an hour later it came round the bend in the half light. My lens could not focus in that low light, so I switched to manual. I got some shots, a couple of which were useable. even with the 50mm on the 400D, with f1.4, I was only getting 1/15th of a second and so the motion of the locomotives were very blurred. But the shots were effective.



I headed back to Dover, calling in at the Rack of Ale to pick up Matt's gloves that he had left behind last week. And it would have been rude not to have a swifter just to be social. I had a fine pint of Christmas porter, which was excellent.

When I got home Jools told me that she had been offered tickets for a show at Wembley on Monday featuring some Dutch fiddle player, and it involved a night away; did I mind? So, that's sorted, all of Monday, Monday night and Tuesday morning just me and them cats; what could go wrong?

I cooked steak and ale pie for dinner, which was perfect as i starving. Not really starving, but you know, it were great food, and I polished the fist of the bottles of red I got from Calais earlier this month. Very drinkable!

Monday.

I worked from home today, as the weather was going to be so grim. And I had to drop Jools off Dover Priory at half nine. So, I wrote a few mails, played around with a spreadsheet. Dropped Jools off, came back, worked some more. And then I saw no one else was on line, so I thought, why not, lets start Christmas early! So at half one I brewed up, cut a slice of Dundee cake and sat down to watch some TV as the wind began to howl outside.

Now it is dark, and it is blowing a proper hoolie out there. Ferries can't dock and folks are going to have to spend the night moored out in shelter of the Goodwins. I hope we will have a shed in the morning. Heck, I hope we'll have a house in the morning! It is going to be lively to say the least.

Sunday 22nd December 2013

Ho,

Ho,

and indeed,

Ho.



But let's not all get carried away with all the festive spirit, when much more importantly as it was the shortest days yesterday, the days from now are getting longer and that means that spring is on the way. Despite according to Google yesterday was the first day of winter. In celebration of the coming of spring, it is hammering down this morning and the wind blowing a hooly. So, it might take a while for the weather to feel spring-like.

If the weather lets up, I might head out to snap a railtour this afternoon. But if the rain continues to hammer down, then i won't.

Thursday/Friday The weight of responsibility is something that promotion brings. And having to produce certain items for the contractual obligation and getting that approved took most of the week and a race against time to meet the deadline. When it was all over it felt like I had run a marathon and was exhausted.



Saturday.

For some reason I woke up at two in the morning. I can confirm on the shortest day of the year, two in the morning is dark. Very dark indeed. I went to the kitchen, made a cuppa and looked online at the news and checked Flickr and the such. At four, after I tried to sleep, we decided to get up and hit the road. Christmas is the time when families get together, and so for me that means heading up the A12 to sunny Lowestoft.

At least leaving at half four in the morning means the roads will be fairly empty and the Dartford crossing is free until six in the morning. After loading the car, we set off, dodging the lorries heading from the early ferry up towards London.

As we headed into Essex we thought dawn would be just a few minutes away. And yet due to the low cloud and heavy drizzle, dawn only made itself known as there was a creeping ligtening of the sky. Once north of Ipswich, once the decent roads ran out and we trundled up what counts as a trunk road to Lowestoft, it did began to get light, and the countryside came into view.

But we pressed on, heading further north until we passed the sign, 'welcome to the sunshine coast'! So called as being the most easterly point, it is the first part of England to see dawn's first rays.

We headed to The Foxburrow for breakfast before we went to see Mum. As to why; well, Mum's house is not the cleanest these days, and as she does not have the stuff we like, its easier for us to go somewhere, have a healthy continental breakfast which sets us up for most of the day, and then we don't have to go through the charade of pretending we're not hungry.

After that, I drove us to Gunton St. Peter church, which I had never seen before. Although I lived in the town for 25 years, but churches are not high on the list of places your average teenager wants to visit. Even if his best friend lived a hundred yards from it, and I must have cycled along Gunton Church Lane hundreds of times but never saw the church.

Of course it was locked, but then it was still early. But it is a fine looking place, stone and flint built with a small round tower.

There was no putting it off any longer. Let's head to Mum's and find out how things are!

Mum got out of hospital on Wednesday, and is feeling slightly better. She has lost a lot of weight, and she is focusing on that rather than the cause which is a problem with her intestine caused by decades of lack of fibre. Although things were cordial, when we pointed out that we had looked into her problem, and related what she should do, she did the thing she always does when she does not want to hear and move on to the next subject:

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Her mind is closed. Which is fine, its her life and she can choose what she does and does not. She will have to live the consequences of course. We let it lie.



We shared some cheese and crackers with her before we thought it time to move on. we drove into town to visit a friend of mine who has opened a Dr Who themed coffee shop-cum-comic shop. He was surprised to see us as we walked in the door, we had a cuppa and caught up before he had to head out to do businessman things like go to the bank.



It was time to head south, and so we went back to the car and pointed the bonnet south and pressed 'go'. We even saw some sunshine as we drove through Suffolk to Bury St Edmunds to join the A14 and then head further south to the motorway. In Cambridgeshire, the clouds gathered and the rain began. It was grim driving in spray and heavy traffic as we headed round the M25. There were warnings of congestion at the crossing, but at least the motorway was still open. At least we had the footy on the radio to us (me) company.

The queues were not that bad, and we were back in Kent soon enough and heading down the M20 towards Dover. The rain got heavier, so I eased off the speed and and headed for home. City drew 0-0 at Sunderland, which is OK I suppose.

The cats were waiting for us, which is always great. That night i made chorizo hash for dinner and washed it down with one of the bottles of fancy French Christmas beer I bought from our trip to Calais.

Thursday 19th December 2013

As we head down the slope towards Christmas at work, thoughts turn maybe to taking it easy. And then all it took was a simple e mail from the project manager mentioning casually that there were more than the one document that needed to be sent to the client before Christmas. And then he went offline.

My head exploded. What had I forgotten to do? What could I have missed? Did I have enough time to produce a document from scratch? Needless to say as it was time to go home this weighed more and more as the evening wore on. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling going over what I needed to have done.

This morning I got a call from him; he realised what he had done and just wanted to not let me panic too much and just go over things.

Phew.

So, with that emergency over with and my heart returning to normal bpm, it was time to put a pot of coffee on and start the day afresh.

And then, the usual stuff, mails, phone calls. Oh, and acting as technical support as the offshore guys get to grips with a digital SLR: it won’t work, what’s wrong with it? Hmmm, I think it could be the human interface, but didn’t say that.

Wednesday 18th December 2013

And so Tuesday at work ended, and what better way to celebrate another day nearer Christmas than heading back to the Rack of Ale to meet up with an old friend who was intrigued by the shot of it I posted on Flickr.

The day’s work over, which included another two examples of more expense: MOTing the car and getting the heating fixed. The car just cost £50, that and the tyres we bought at the weekend, but we’re street legal for another year anyways. And I worked from home so the plumber could look at our heating which is getting a tad unpredictable from time to time. Every now and again, the heating gets stuck on, and just pups hot water round, thus making the house very warm indeed, and emptying the water tank so we have cold showers.

Brrrr.

Needless to say, when he turned up, the heating worked just as it should with no problems. This now results in the replacement of parts, one at a time until we find what stops the problem.

At half seven, Jools dropped my outside the Rack and headed off to see how Nan has settled into the nursing home. Matt was waiting for me, and so we quickly caught up, and despite him being young enough to be my son, he is a veteran of gout and was able to give me tips on how to deal with it. We also drank beer.

And ale.

The night ebbed away, and we had a cheese board to help soak up the beer. Jools came to pick me up at nine, after four pints it was just as well, really.

I slept well that night!

This morning I went to Tesco to pick up something for breakfast and get a couple of other bits and bobs, only to find that the wide aisle running across the store has been filled in with more shelves of stuff to buy. It seems that for Brits, or those who shop in my local Tesco are expected to buy lots and lots of booze. And most of it is on offer. Is this really what Christmas is about these days? I guess so.

Tuesday 17th December 2013

I don’t want to scare you, but in a week’s time it will be Christmas Eve. In fact most of the stores and shops will be closed and you will have left it too late for buying gifts. I won’t lie, it has crept up on us again, we haven’t bought a thing as yet, and probably will have to go with gift cards as this seems the most straightforward. I was down town on Saturday, and it was crazy; no parking spaces to be had and the shops rammed with people. Good to see Dover’s shops doing so well I suppose.

In truth I have had the annual calendars done, and they are ready to be delivered to Mum and Nan, although Nan might not have much use for them in the home.

Oh yes, Nan. She left for the home yesterday afternoon. And it seems likely that she will end her days there. Jools is going to visit this evening, and needless to say we hope she is very happy there. And Mum. Mum is in JP in Gorelston having tests and should get the results today. Hopefully it is just a medication thing that needs to be done. We shall see.

And so what else? Well, City scrambled to a draw on Sunday against the Seaswans. Hooper scored a screamer just before half time to square things up, and then the game kinda fizzled out. Later on Spurs got thumped by Liverpool and so the next day AVB was sacked and now they are looking for another new manager. Despite them being in 7th place and just a couple of wins away from the top four. All aboard the merry-go-round where it stops, nobody knows…..

Sunday 15th December 2013

When it comes down to it, in the end what will we have to show that we were ever here? Other things might cross our mind, did we change how things would have been, id we make things better? I mention this as tomorrow Nan will make what will probably be her last journey to a nursing home in River.

We went round to see her today, and talk is now what to do with her possessions, who will get what, who wants what. And all that sort of thing. It is a grim thing if truth be known, and not being part of the family sometimes I feel as an observer, just remarking what is going on. Nan is a pretty poor thing these days, she is breathing very shallow, and is very pale, although the paleness is not a new thing.

So, she has told everyone that we are free to take whatever of her possessions is left as she will not be needing them now. It's all so sad. Her lifetime of memories and momentos will be dispersed. Or worse.

Saturday.

Yesterday was a day for chores. First up was a trip to Tesco. The plan was to get there, get the stuff and get out as quick as possible. Which we did. On the way back we went to Cherrytree to the tyre place as one of our front tyres is more like a racing slick rather than the winter one it should be. So thats another hundred quid gone. But it pays to be safe.

Back home for breakfast and another coffee, before I head out to town to see a couple of friends of mine launch their new book. Paul and Jeff collect photos and stories about dover, and their second book has jut been published, Dover then and Now in Colour. So, I went down to offer them support and to get a couple of cost-price copies. Always good for a Christmas present.

When I got home, Jools had gotten down the Christmas Tree. I foolishly said I would trim it up that afternoon. So, after lunch, I got the baubles and tinsel out and did the tree whilst the radio burbled the football away. City are due to play on Sunday: in fact playing now at the moment. So I only had a passing interest in the matches, and it seemed that I was more interested in crashing on the sofa for a snooze. However, Citeh did thrash Arsenal 6-3 in the early game, which when all is considered, as Arse were the league-leaders, is remarkable.

Saturday 14th December 2013

Thursday and Friday

So, three years after the last time I got to play with bandages, it was time to re-do my first aid certificate. what this means is two days off work, a late start in Folkestone at nine, but at the the same time heading out into what counts as rush hour here in East Kent.

Leaving at eight means joining the jam on the Deal Road as it approaches the Duke of York roundabout. In reality its not that bad, and after a delay of a couple of minutes I was heading for the Alkham Valley and what I hoped was the quick short cut way to Folkestone.



Once at the venue, the Best Western hotel on The Leas, I find that Folkestone council have tightened the parking regulations up, and it is impossible to park for any more than three hours. I go up The Leas and both mornings find a place within two minutes walk away. Thus saving three pounds in charges and a hundred in over-charges.

Bleeds, burns, fainting, chest pains, more bleeding, breaks, amputations and so one. And repeat for two days.

There were eight of us on the course, and we came from a mixed background, but overall it was enjoyable. Although by Friday afternoon the novelty had worn off and I was clock-watching. At least there was no practical exam this time, but we had to cope with about a dozen scenarios able to assess multiple injuries and prioritise them, treating the most serious first.

Friday night I went down to The Coastguard in The Bay to meet a Flickr friend for a chat and drink. I have been friends with Paul for a good couple of years and yet we never met. It is the modern way, it seems. We knew so much about each other through our photographs.