Early start, after much needed sleep. Off to Burnham with my sister, avoiding carnival related diversions and extra traffic. Visited my parents, then headed back to Weston with everyone to assist with shopping (for this read 'carry stuff'). Pleasant afternoon. Lazed around. Installed Fedora which went smoothly, and set about updating GNOME to CVS HEAD.
Later, visited friends and was shown a new and unorthodox method of cooking a chicken propped on a can of lager! Then out to see 'Men in Coats' at the Playhouse. Warm up act Alan Carr was gently irreverent and very funny. Men in Coats were as anarchic and silly as ever. Everyone seemed a bit sleepy and untalkative later. Strange.
Remembered I was going to see Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure today, just in time to get ready and leave the house!
Really good stuff, causing me to laugh aloud in public several times (almost unheard of!). Dave insists we don't reveal the events he relates to others so as not to reveal the surprise. Suffice to say, there are lots of unexpected twists and turns.
Couldn't help looking for Googlewhacks when I got home, despite having even geekier things to do!
Chaotic day. Starts with a meeting with our IT suppliers, which is encouragingly positive regarding our needs for the forthcoming pile of work. Today was the closing date for school applications for next September, which led to a pretty hectic day all-in-all.
Arrived home just in time to see a delivery guy entering the gate. I've been attempting to get a parcel re-delivered to work all week, but it didn't work. They agreed to deliver it today, but not until after 4:45pm - since I arrived home at 4:50pm as the truck appeared I'm amazed they couldn't have made it earlier!
Parcel contained long awaited William Kent autobiography. First glance reveals a sizeable quotation from Gissing's "Thyrza" on the very first page.
Lately, I must confess that my childhood interest in British Motorways has been reawakened. Strangely, I never learned to drive - but still they hold an odd mystique. Probably because my Dad always avoided them whenever possible when I was young, giving them an exotic attraction. Found some interesting sites such as SABRE and CBRD which provide late comfort, by reassuring me I wasn't the only kid doodling obscure extensions to Motorways over old Road Atlases! The internet is a strangely reassuring place at times...
Playing catch-up at work. Ploughed through a pile of paperwork, which means I can start work on a whole new pile tomorrow! Managed to squeeze in writing a spec for some new software too, which is becoming desperately urgent!
Decided to pay a brief visit to Burnham tonight (parts of which close to my old house have for the past few days been subject to an armed siege!). Received some nice birthday presents, including Peter Ackroyd's 'Clerkenwell Tales'. Could happily have journeyed further by train - nice to be travelling, even such a short distance.
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
