Bradford on Avon

A couple of quiet days at work which is good since I slept through the alarm on Friday. It won't be much of a pay packet this week.


Today we went to a little village called Bradford on Avon, which perhaps suprisingly, is on the Avon River upstream from Bath. It used to be called Broad Ford, but the river today was very swollen after the rain and quite dangerous looking. There is lots to see, from the Saxon church to mansions, to a World War II pillbox. It appears that the Avon and the nearby Avon and Kennet Canal formed a defensive line against German advances after Operation Sealion, or would have if that had actually happened.

We had a very nice afternoon tea (lovely cake) in a tea house built in 1675. That's just 33 years younger than Abel Janszoon Tasman's discovery of NZ for the Europeans. All of our european history eclipsed by one tea-house.

By then it had started raining, and of course it was dark anyway by 4:30, so we headed home again. It had been a pleasant outing for all that.



To see more of Bradford on Avon see

http://picasaweb.google.com/Italythenandnow/BradfordOnAvon

So this is Christmas

Well, it has been an interesting Christmas, and far from 'usual'. We began Christmas Eve with a call at 4:47 am to hear that C had gone into hospital A&E with suspected meningitis. She had been sick for a couple of days with bad headaches with violent vomiting but had been given Panadol and told to call again if things got worse. Well they did, and she has been in the backless gown since then. She's had the works - Spinal Tap, CAT scan (no cats found fortunately), blood tests, torso X-Ray, etc. J has been understandably upset given the distance. Fortunately there are plenty of people to look after C: O and his family and Bruce in particular to all of whom we are grateful. The good thing is that in this day of cellphones and email, it was easy to keep in touch - almost as easy as being there, but not quite. J toyed with flying home but Heathrow was fogged in so the gods were against it.

That same day we had another drama outside the building as a man drowned in the harbour - probable suicide. A chap saw him in the water and spoke to him, but he just dived under and never came back up. It reminds us that Christmas is not a great time for many.

It turns out that with mother-in-law B in hospital with a broken leg and father-in-law G visiting for lunch there were three of J's family in on Christmas day. Later I discovered that Dad and M had also been in hospital on Christmas day because M had pulled a muscle playing tennis. That made five! Actually the most amazing thing about Dad's story was that he had been playing tennis - the first sport I'd known him to partake in for what must be 25 years! M is good for him, no doubt at all. They reminded everyone that they would be getting married in April, so it is a shame I am so far away. Sorry Dad and M.

We had a quiet Chrissy. We had splurged on goodies at the supermarket and so had whatever we liked to eat during the day. It was an anti-Christmas Dinner, but pretty relaxed all the same. I rang the family but of course everyone was late so I only got to speak to Steve and Mum. NOONE RANG ME BACK EITHER BUT I'M NOT BITTER. I do realise that phones are a more recent invention in New Zealand and that my family is particularly backward in using them. And heck, what do we have to talk about?

Boxing Day saw another visit to M & T, my friend from work. It was a pleasant evening again. They are both ardent Terry Pratchett fans, and have a large collection of DiscWorld stuff, including a very nice model of the [casts around memory for name of place but finds nothing - Open? Magic? In fact finds very little at all which is frightening] University. (J saves me - the Hidden University.)

It was back to work again today, for me at least. Not much going on, but I have to go since I get no holiday pay as a temp. I spent some of the day writing a letter warning the (nice) landlord that the bastard elctricity company had sent him to the debt collectors. We have been fighting them since moving in and they are a useless bunch. They aren't even our provider so if we hadn't liked the landlord we'd have told them to go screw themselves. The thing is we've told them several times it is our bill, but the value is wrong, and yet still they send it to the landlord and for the same amount. If you pay L232 for 7 months there is no way the other month can be L98! Eejits.

So aside from all this we're OK. We're past the solstice so it will get lighter and brighter from now on. It was even reasonably mild today.

Oh yes, I remember the other thing. C flies in on the 17th (assuming she is well enough) and guess what day the airport workers have decided to strike - yes, of course. And for 48 hours too. We are told that C and O will get as far as Frankfurt then Lufthansa will arrange something if the strike is still on. Ironically one option is to fly them into Bristol, but we've booked to be in London! I guess we'll deal with whatever arises. At least they'll be close.

Work do

We had the Financial Ops lunch yesterday. This is the larger group for which I work, so there were about 100 people there. My table was the rowdiest, although not because of me I have to add. Apparently we racked up a L300 drinks bill, compared to L160 of the next biggest drinkers. One particular person was drinking Baileys and Brandy, as well as wine, so must have been accounted for about L90 on his own. The meal was nice enough - Chinese - and the company convivial. We headed off to the pub across the road to see a pool challenge played out, but I left before it was over. The players can't remember who won anyway. I took the opportunity to get into town and have a look for Js Christmas present, but without any luck. I'll try again on the weekend.

After I got home I was dragged back out in the cold and taken to church. I didn't get struck down, and did enjoy singing carols with the Salvation Army. I had sore vocal chords after so can't have sung enough recently.

Tonight we went to see a light display in town. It was a little underwhelming to begin with, but got better. They had a snowmaker, but a wimpy little one, and 'six of the biggest projectors in the UK'. Eventually the projections became something to be bothered about, but they could have done a lot better. Still, probably expensive, and with no return since it was free. It was bloody cold even though I had thermals on, top and bottom! And still no (natural) snow...

As usual you can see more pics on the web album.

Bloody hell, it's cold

I can't believe it's this cold without snow.

On Saturday we headed off to another foreign country. It was a bit tricky trying to understand the roadsigns but luckily most of the locals seemed to speak English. They even looked like us!

We had decided the Brecon Beacons beckoned so jump-started the car and headed off over the Severn Bridge to a strange new land. Well, not that new. We stopped in a village called Blaenavon (pronounced Llanelli) that has the ruins of an ironworks as its main attraction. It was interesting to see this early industrial revolution site and apparently it was the home of the bessemer (or indirect) reduction method for those of you who are at all interested. But I'll tell you something - it was feckin' cold! It is surrounded by mineworks on all sides and underneath, and close by were forges and steelworks. It has also been used as the site for one of those family-lives-and-works-in-period programmes called The Coal House which will no doubt be on your screens shortly. We have trod those very steps dear reader.

After a pleasant lunch watching Stade Francais (in pink) lose to Cardiff (in Wales), we carried on as we wanted to find a Youth Hostel. We didn't, so carried on to Brecon where we found a B&B. Since it was completely dark by 4.00 we didn't see a hell of a lot, but wandered around the town centre freezing our bits off. There was a brief bit of drama when two very pissed ladies managed to overbalance and hit the deck with a double clunk you could hear from across the road. They both hit their heads on the pavement so assuming they did at all they would have woken up with one heck of a headache each, but which they couldn't blame on the booze.

The B&B was nice enough, with a newly decorated bathroom, but rather flimsy walls. Luckily there were no couples next door. It had been extended from the original house by converting two attached barns, so the floors were higgeldy-piggeldy, and there was a surprisingly long corridor.

On Sunday, after jump-starting the car, we headed back through the Brecons which were a bleak area like the route from Dunedin to Middlemarch. There was evidence of the mining that's gone on for centuries in the form of tailings and ruined buildings. We had hoped to take a scenic train ride but it was a special Santa train that day so no go. We went down the Big Pit and had a good introduction to mining. God, what a job. Our guide was an ex-miner but somewhat less fit than he would have been when working. I thought he was going to have a heart attack then and there. The map of the mine showed roads and galleries going off for miles in all directions so it was pretty amazing. Batteries weren't allowed, so there were no cameras allowed either which was a little disappointing. The Big Pit is no longer worked thanks in part to Maggie, but there is apparently still plenty of coal in it, and fairly clean burning, so maybe when the oil runs out we'll be using it again to run our trains.

We drove through Griffithstown looking for Panteg (pronounced Cardiff) as J thinks her rellies come from there. Turns out Panteg is a steelworks, so we're not sure if we were anywhere even close, but a google seems to suggest Panteg is a suburb of Griffithstown. We should have stopped at the church.

The sun had just gone down as we went back over the border, which is a shame as it would have been quite spectacular from the bridge. It was of course only 4.00 so we got home in plenty of time to relax.

For pics of whales click here, or for our snaps of Wales, click here. Don't forget that if you double-click the images on this page or in the albums you get a full sized pic!

Work is pretty quiet but we've both got work lunches coming up. Two for me and two or more for J. There's already a big tin of chocolates sitting on the desk and apparently another two coming, so my teeth will be rotten by New Year. Perhaps I should have Listerine (tm) chasers after each one?

Col Blimp is refusing to let me have a copy of the invoice in question and I now have to write through his lawyer. What it must be like to have someone else to be unreasonable for you. He really is pathetic, but what can I do?

Have I told you it's feckin' cold? Apparently it was -3 today but take some more away for wind chill factor. J was waiting for a train for an hour+ in about -10 deg!

Hum ho

My assignment was extended so that gives us something to plan around. I asked the agent to ask for a pay rise, but I can't see her trying too hard, as it's probably too easy to just take the cut for doing nothing.

It's Christmas decoration time so the two page Lloyds TSB Health and Safety Guide to Christmas Decorations arrived in our emails. How nice that they care.

The last two reports I've tried running have fallen over, possibly for the same underlying cause, which this time is not me. 8-) Since this leaves me with spare time, I have decided to create a Documentation Guide so that we can improve the standards of our process documentation. Conventions, expectations, hints and tips, etc. Hell, it fills in the day. The trouble is that as fast as they are written, the processes change, sometimes drastically, so part of the Guide will be to manage these changes as well.

The other day I created a macro to copy some cells from one column to another. I then created a button on the spreadsheet and assigned the macro to it. S#!TSTORM! I apologised to my boss for causing a problem but he just said "IT'S NOT A PROBLEM. SOME PEOPLE HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN WORRY ABOUT HARMLESS BUTTONS", in a voice loud enough to carry almost everywhere. I wonder if the worrier got the message? I think he's a good manager from what I've seen of him.

J has started the new school, and is going to get it sorted. She's kind of the Clean-up Guy, like the character in Pulp Fiction. They just sound so disorganised at times, and the Local Education Offices (LEOs) seem incompetent. There's got to be something wrong with the job if two of her assignments have been due to stress leave of the incumbents.

I sent another request to Col Blimp for him to fax through the contract I signed, and CC'd his solicitor. There's probably steam coming out his ears about now, so I'll post his reply if I get one. He'll be tied up trying to find some medals I suppose...

Black Friday

I don't want to talk about it. Oh all right, due to an internal calendar error I turned up at the PRO/NA to find it closed for alterations. Great start to a trip to London. Too late to organise a visit anywhere else, so I had to meet up with J and then followed a day from hell waiting for the shopping to finish. For all that Oxford street is raved about, it seems to be the same shops repeated ad nauseum - there are about 4 Zara's, 3 Bromley & somethings, half-a-dozen Nexts... Anyway, we got to the New Zealand shop - Kiwi Fruits - just before it closed and J now has some Marmite, we shared an L&P, and scoffed a Whittaker's and a Licorice Log. Then we wandered around filling in time until the bus left at 9. I discovered a military bookshop after it closed, so have somewhere to go next visit at least. When we came to take pictures of the street lights it turned out the camera battery was flat so I would have been handicapped at the PRO anyway. We bought a new one and took some pics - see Js site for these. These shots are off my phone, btw.

We waited for the bus and after 9 oclock came and went with no sign of it we were informed the bus-stop had been moved and the bus had gone. 7 people got caught out in the same way so it wasn't just us. The rival company had a delayed sign for their bus but after waiting half an hour it was clear we'd missed that also, so we didn't actually leave London until 11:30, and got home at 2:50.

It ended up a fecking expensive jar of Marmite, and the lights were only average.

Next morning there was a bill for the electricity that the company still hasn't sorted out, so they copped it all. And it's raining...

VC or no VC, that is the question

The value of these medals is as a symbol of an individual's unselfish act on behalf of the country, a value all collectors must recognise, so it is ironic that (it would seem) an unscrupulous collector has made the ultimate in individual selfish acts at the expense of the nation. I think it is a disaster from a cultural perspective.

I saw Col Blimp on a video clip and can't really imagine him deep in the Malayan jungle, but who can tell. It would be sweet if he was directly responsible for the loss and got his arse kicked, but I doubt it. I hope the Trust gets the medals back soon anyway.

Today's news is that the EU is planning to put the kybosh on temping. They say that we poor temps are being used by naughty employers to avoid hiring people full time. I guess we will all be forced to become contractors to get around it.

J got another job today, so she's happy. It's in Bath which is only a dozen miles but took her 45 minutes in the car in early afternoon. Imagine the rush hour!

Long time no write

It's been a while since I updated and that's mainly because little has happened. We've made a few outings of course - to the beach on a freezing day, shopping, the pub. You can see J's page for a description of the beach. Suffice to say it wasn't quite what we were expecting!

Winter has begun. Most of the leaves are gone, and it belted down with rain yesterday. In a scene familiar to some of you I stayed in my dressing gown the entire day.

Today we are off to a meal at a colleague from work's home - the first time we've been invited into an English person's home, if you don't count M.

It's very quiet at work. This month's run was early and went smoothly (and so it should after all the mistakes made the previous two runs), so the bulk of my work is done until the end of December. I've been documenting, helping others where I can, getting the drinks in, and so on but it is going to be a boring month coming up.

Last week they announced a recruitment freeze because of the fall-out from the 'sub-prime' collapse in the US. This has hit J just as she was looking for work, and she had two interviews cancelled. It may mean my assignment doesn't get extended into Jan as well, but since I'm already there I may be OK. LloydsTSB is one of the bigger employers around town, and if the other banks are doing similar it will make finding temp work that much harder. The flip side is that the agents are desperate to get other income so are offering J all sorts of crappy work, presumably so they can get any sort of commission. They certainly don't seem too concerned about her own needs at the moment.

Mum's starting to think about a trip over here next year, and R is doing the same. We hope they will be able to coordinate their efforts, as they can help each other through the hassles that travelling inevitably brings. C's trip is much closer of course, and she (and O) is busy working every hour she can to make up for the unfavourable exchange rate.

JP has sent over his first drafts of the book, so there has been much toing-and-froing over that. There is still a long way to go of course. If any of you know anyone in Washington DC who might have time on his/her hands, we need someone to get into the US archives...

But first we have to survive Christmas. Bah humbug.

Why is it so dark?

In the news this week was a story about a teenage hacker who was arrested for the theft of furniture from a virtual hotel room, in a virtual world called Habbo Hotels. I thought it was interesting that a virtual theft could result in real arrest, but it turns out the headlines were wrong. It was true that virtual furniture was stolen, but the actual crime was phishing, where a fake webpage is constructed to sucker you into providing personal details such as passwords or credit card numbers, etc. The hacker then used a username and password to access an account or accounts where he then purchased 4000 euros worth of furniture for his own Habbo Hotel room. So, sadly, not such an interesting story after all. Also sad is that with 4000 euros at hand the first thing he does is buy virtual furniture. Get a life - blow it on real sex, drugs and Rock 'n' Roll I say!



We had dinner on Friday at an average Mexican restaurant in an above average building. It used to be the main Lloyds Bank branch before they moved to the new building I'm in now. It had a huge foyer with ornate ceilings, sturdy columns, a domed roof, etc. Now it's covered in sheets, has leopard skin chairs and sofas, and plastic plants everywhere. First impressions were of an Ottoman harem, somehow mixed up with a Mexican cantina. Unusual to say the least.


On Saturday we struck car trouble, and couldn't find anyone to start the car when I couldn't push start it. Apparently the UK is the only European country who doesn't have a reciprocal agreement with the AA, and our local garage wasn't insured to work off-site. Eventually our Italian friend upstairs provided jumper lead and his car to get us started, but not until after a one hour chat. It was very good of him, but we didn't get going until 2:30 and it was cold and dim before we got to Wells. There was very little light inside the Cathedral, so it was a little disappointing. By the time we got to Glastonbury at 4:30 it was dark, which was a good thing for an illuminated carnival, but meant we couldn't have a decent look around the town. It was a long wait for the procession to start, and it took 2 1/2 hours to pass by. If the pubs sold tickets for their toilets they'd have made more than from selling beer I think. Actually the combination would be a real winner...

I enjoyed the carnival and there were some awesome floats. Clearly they were not the work of an afternoon in the back shed (well, one or two were). There are whole circuits that most of these do, and you can follow a link on J's page for more. Of course, I have photos, so if you want to see more click these words.

Sunday saw rain and gloom, so we had an inside day, reading, blogging, shopping, etc. J's done a handful of Christmas cards, so I'd better get on to mine.

Special days

J bought me some balloons so that I can make swans and monkeys and elephants and things. So far all of my attempts look like dogs. We've also got some chokky bikkies to finish now. The best gift was our meal. It's an oddity that I could buy Young's Double Chocolate Stout in Dunedin but haven't found it in any 'offie' here in Bristol. J booked a surprise meal so I followed her to Horts, which turned out to be a Young's Pub-Restaurant. And there they had Young's Double Chocolate Stout. Happiness filled. The meal was nice too, but the beer was just a perfect present.

Since the Young's weren't the only beers that day I took a while to recover on Saturday. We did the shopping and picked up a few books from the library then spent the day mooching.

Sunday was walkies time, so we popped up to the Royal West of England Academy of Art to check out a display by local artists. The usual mix of the good, the bad and the ugly - it's all in the eye of the beholder isn't it.

We kicked through the piles of leaves coming home - most are off the trees now, and the light has the watery quality that you don't get at home. My body clock hasn't adjusted to the 4:30 darkness, though, so I'm discombobulated.

It was a quieter day at work, and we got rewarded for our hectic fortnight with a lunch shout followed by a boat trip on the harbour. I ran a quiz, mostly on Bristol harbour trivia, which showed that most of the natives don't know much about their own city! Then it was back to work where I got into trouble for some incorrect responses to some queries. I plead insufficient training, but whatever, you do the best you can.

There was sad news from home as we heard that Sue McDonald died from cancer yesterday. RIP Sue.

A week of it

Well, what a week it's been. Work has been a disaster, with my colleague in tears this morning. Everything that could go wrong with our remuneration run did. This morning we discovered (or she did since she starts before me) that our 'corrected' run was incorrect! We tried to recall the emails, but most got delivered anyway. Good for over-time though...


I've been unofficially offered another 3 months there which would be OK as long as I get the time off when C's over. Mind you, they may reconsider after all that's gone wrong this week.

On Friday last we had dinner with some people from the apartment buildings. Usual conservative bunch, but the odd interesting conversation. One fellow had done his National Service but clearly didn't like the basic training. I think he was a bit of a mummy's boy so having to clean soggy paper out of the bottom of a bathtub was not his idea of fun. I guess he learnt to have clean boots on parade!


On Saturday we had a long stroll along the Avon toward Bath. We walked about six miles before giving up and getting the bus back. It was a lovely day and with the trees in autumn colour it was quite picturesque. Next time we'll start there and walk further, then get another bus and so on. If you'd like to see some pics, click here.

That night we went to the big fireworks display that turned out to be a fizzer. One of the mortars fell over and fired a rocket along the ground, slightly injuring a few people, so all that type were cancelled. We still got to see the smaller ones but these were behind a big building as they were for a charity and you had to pay to see them properly. A bit disappointing really for the crowd of several thousand. The pubs on the road back to town must have done a roaring trade though. Again, you can see some snaps if you click this.

Sunday was a day of rest: reading mostly. Which brings us back to the start. What an exciting life we lead!

I don't know if J told you all about the Crimewatch we were involved in. Some night last week (Thursday?) we heard kids outside the apartments. I was watching them from the window thinking they were just playing around but they were on the jetty which is not publicly accessible so it looked a bit dodgy. Some bloke came down the jetty to see what they were up to and the kids scarpered out of sight, with him following. Then the kids came back but he didn't, which I thought was a bit dodgy. J and I went down and found some stuff that had obviously been stolen from one of the boats. We were told that the bloke had been pushed in and "nearly died". J and I walked around the harbour and spotted four of the miscreants on the bridge. 18 or 19 year olds I'd say. As we got back to the flat we met the police so we told them what we knew and that we'd seen the 4 at the bridge. They couldn't find the bloke who'd called them or the one who'd fallen in so couldn't do much at all. J did point out the wet footsteps leading back up the jetty though, so perhaps they followed those. Anyway, there's often something interesting outside our window, even if the opposite isn't true.

More stuff...

Or not. After pointing out to you all that it was daylight saving we turned up to a movie an hour early, wondering why no-one was around. We eventually saw Metropolis, the 1926 sci-fi silent movie by Fritz Lang. I'd been wanting to see it for years, and clearly so had others as it was a sell-out. It had a live musical accompaniment which wasn't as bad as it might have been: after all, it could have been Radio Gaga. It was all very melodramatic and for some reason our hero ran like Groucho Marx walked. Never mind, the Workers and the Capitalists were reconciled at the finish - don't you love a happy ending?

It's been two steps forward and one step back at work, with minor and major problems turning up every hour. It got so bad that we had to re-do a whole month's reports, and even then I discovered another error. I'm enjoying the challenge of getting my head around the process, and suggesting improvements, but it really is a piece of s**t that is almost designed to cause errors.

I popped up to see about joining a hockey club, but in the dark I couldn't find the bloody entrance! It's out in the countryside so you'd think they'd put a light at the driveway. I'll have to try again during the day...

C is in the middle of exams but is also celebrating her birthday. It's the first one that J hasn't been around for. We gave her a call and she sounded well - from a distance, since I seldom get to say hello directly. She and O are looking forward to their trip over here, and we have booked an apartment in Barcelona for a few days, and in London, and in Oxford.

We received our first power bill this week - it's only taken 6 months. There is still a bill for the previous supplier to be settled, as they want to charge as much for one month as the new one charged for 5. In the end it isn't in our name anyway, so they can't cut us off, but the landlord may need to get involved 'cos for some reason it's in his.

It is dark coming home, but there are lovely reflections on the harbour. I will have to get a tripod so I can photograph some nightscapes.

Stuff...

Not much to report this week. It has been busy at work trying to sort out last month's mess and getting ready for this month's. We discovered two major errors and one less major one, totalling a mere L100,000 overpayment, and that's just September! Still, we've all got our heads around the process a lot better... With such large numbers involved it seems pathetic that all the extra work earned me just L34. 8-)

J is wanting a pet. If she wants something to fondle and to clean up after she already has me, so I'm rather upset. Today we wandered around a pet store looking at gerbils, hamsters, rats, fish, rabbits, chinchillas, stick insects and hermit crabs. She didn't buy any and for now has settled for an aquarium screen-saver. I don't think the urge has passed though...

We went looking for a hockey team and I have found a club that might fit the bill - it isn't too far away and has a range of teams including a 'veterans' league team (35+). I'll have to go through the palaver of getting all the gear again I suppose, but it would be nice to have a run around every now and then. the team I watched wasn't playing at too scary a level and that was their second team.

There is a paper over here that has a consumer's affairs page, a bit like Fair Go, but written. Can anyone think of an equivalent in NZ? I'm still looking for a way forward with Col Blimp.

Daylight saving this weekend, as the nights are already closing in. For the millions of you intending to ring, you will have to do so an hour earlier.

We are considering moving to Edinburgh after our next lot of travel. Not because we don't like Bristol, but just to keep looking around. We've heard it's very nice and the street names will be familiar...

J's been bringing home plenty of books to read, but most are of the gory murder, forensic scientist genre. I'm hoping she'll find something a little lighter next time, but one wonders about the recommended reading at the schools she gets them from.

Speaking of gore, we saw what appeared to be a student hostel jaunt today, with around a hundred zombies on a pub crawl. Some were pretty convincing, and will probably only get more so with more booze in 'em. Brains for dinner then. Yummy!

Gorgeous cheese?

We wandered around shopping on Saturday, as I was looking for some sturdier walking shoes than I have at the moment. Of course anything is sturdier than jandals, so there was plenty of choice. I'm now trying out a pair around the house.

They weren't tested in time to use them for real the next day when we visited the Cheddar Gorge, the original home of Cheddar Cheese. It was a nice sunny day to be walking through and around the gorge, which is quite spectacular. It cuts through the Mendip hills and you can travel through close to 200 million years of time as you climb through the layers. I was looking out for Arthur Dent's towel but didn't find any sign of it.


We only had to push start the car once so that's a bonus. Apparently the alternator is kaput, but bloke at garage said it will be cheaper for us to buy an emergency starter than a new alternator. And cheaper still for me to push it but not so convenient.


Today at work the frustration continued. I don't need to say any more as it's the same reasons as last week. However, it's clear the stress is completely different than teaching as faults are in the system and not personal, so I can leave them at work. That feels good.


Not a good week for the English sports fan - almost out of the Euro 2008, 2nd for Lewis Hamilton and 2nd for the Rugby team. Good for me though as I got L32.50 for my L5 'investment' pre-tournament. It paid for a below average meal for two, and some goodies from Cheddar though.

J's computer has been showing some nasty virus and/or spyware infections so we've been trying to clean them off before they cause any lasting harm. She has up-to-date antivirus thank goodness, so we've got rid of most of the undesirables. It's always a bit of a worry though.

For photos of the weekend follow the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Italythenandnow/CheddarGorge

Life in the anthill

It was J's last day at Backwell, but you've probably already read about that in her blog. She thinks it's a sad thing and is worried about getting more work, but with the CVs they give her she'll be running Telecom in place of Teresa Gatting. She got presents of food and drink, so I will sacrifice myself to save her waistline and scoff most of them.

It's the big weekend this weekend for English sports fans. They've all but been knocked out of the football champs after a loss to Russia, but they have the Rugby and the F1 to potentially keep them happy. My workmates are all looking through their ancestry to find a football team they can support with any justification, but they are certain of their English heritage when it comes to the rugby. Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of winning the F1 unless Alonso rams his car, which is entirely possible. It might be the second Peninsula War if that happens, but there're so many Poms in Spain now that the Spaniards wouldn't have a hope - fifth column and all that. I'm told it is the 3rd/4th play-off tonight but frankly, who gives a damn? Certainly not the players, and probably not the public.


The week ended on a crappy note at work, as I found that the last hour had been spent filling in forms for the wrong bloody people (because last month's file was sent to me) and then the last phone call was to suggest that last month's reports had to be re-run completely because there were so many errors. I can't see this actually happening because we are due to run the next ones, but we'll see. It gives you some idea of the quality of the process that this might happen. There are seven potential inputs, and (currently, as more keep being added) five outputs, each of which is largely manually processed. If something goes wrong, I have to decide which of the inputs was involved and whether it was the original data or our processing of it that was at fault. I then have to decide who and how it will be corrected, and which of the outputs will be effected. And this month plenty went wrong...

The weather is turning cooler, and the leaves are changing colour and shedding. The last two days have been lovely walking to work, with still waters reflecting the trees along the harbour. This morning had very unusual cloud formations as you can see, and all natural unlike the ones in J's blog. It's still a sign of the approaching winter, but since you are still having snow in Dunners we're not too badly off.

Well, the playoffs were quite entertaining in the end, even if more one sided than expected. A bit scrappy and I'll wager Chabal's eye was not the result of an accident. Just made him look even more savage. Who'd have thought, eh? Argentina 3rd, England in the finals...

Monday

So Argentina couldn't quite pull it off. I didn't think their half-back had a very good game - his passing was poor. Anyway, not a bad match and my bet is still live until next week at least.

Another frustrating day at the anthill, but at least I don't have to do anything after clocking off. It is an amazing feeling to come home and realise that there is no marking, prep, resource collecting, etc, to do. You don't realise until you stop teaching just how much extra work or even just thinking you put into it.

So nothing much to tell really.

But I spent hours making the earthrace boat into a space ship. Ages and ages getting the laser the right colour. She tried to help me but she is just a girl and girls don't know about space ships.

Merde!

Going into the match I wasn't sure who I wanted to win, but coming out I don't think it was the English. (Sorry M!) I don't know why, but perhaps it's just the thought of them winning two in a row after playing so terribly leading up to the tournament, and in the pools. Or maybe it's just jealousy.

We had dinner and watched the game at the home of a couple of Kiwis we met in a restaurant a few weeks ago. They were an easy-going couple who've been in the UK for around six years now. H works selling agricultural supplies and A is a nanny, and they live in a village just north of Bristol. It was a a nice night, and our second weekend out in a row at the invitation of strangers. Rugby has helped to break the ice if nothing else.

The anthill got busy this week as my first run of remunerations went wrong. Fortunately it wasn't the payments, just the reporting of these that was incorrect, but it led to a storm of emails that hasn't yet abated. Worse still, although I knew where the problem lay by Tuesday, I still haven't been allowed to send out the corrected information. This particular remuneration scheme requires 8 different inputs that each have to processed differently, and should spit out about 5 outputs, some of which are only being revealed as recipients complain they haven't received them. It is a recipe for disaster that I have to deal with until December, after which a new automated system is supposed to come on line, and I look for another position. I'm busy trying to document it as I go so that next month it will run more smoothly, and I have been asked to work through an automatic emailing system for it, which should be interesting.

We had an interesting diversion on Friday when we had a 2 hour 'waste disposal' meeting. Nothing to do with the environment though, but rather trying to eliminate processes that waste time/effort/money. We had a look at how sicknesses are dealt with amongst a group of salespersons, and picked the process to bits. Good analytical stuff, and I think I made some useful suggestions. Curiously the exercise took 16 person-hours, so I wonder how much will be saved after taking that into account. The best suggestion, but probably least likely to be taken up, was to scrap the entire scheme. I wish I'd thought of it.

J booked 4 tickets to Barcelona in February - 1p each going out and L8.99 each coming back, plus taxes. (The other two tickets are for C and O who are coming over for a month.) It'll be nice to have a break over the winter. The next question is what to do for Christmas...



Earlier in the week the Kiwi Earthrace boat was in the harbour. I took some snaps on the 'phone so they aren't great quality. The whole enterprise has been dogged with bad luck, including a collision that killed a Guatamalan (?) fisherman, so their aim of breaking a round-the-world record wasn't met.

J went for a huge walk today, so I'm off to pick her up from somewhere miles away. Enjoy the Argentina v SA game. Viva Argentina!

But life goes on

The good news is I have L5 on SA to win at 11-2, the pre-tournament odds. This bet is looking a lot better now, but with two upsets so far maybe Fiji will continue the trend?

We watched the Aus-Eng game at the local pub and the regulars were happy indeed. We had to make it clear we were Kiwis, and of course could afford to be magnanimous given we were going to win later that night. I suspect we'll get a ribbing when we goto watch today's games. Luckily I didn't get too mouthy at work since I'd just started so won't have to eat any humble pie there. I'll probably get sympathy instead which was not the expected situation prior to the weekend.

We watched the Kiwi game with an Italian family who live in the same block. Mapy comes from Bari so I was able to show her where I'd been when I was over there. She was rather surprised that I had been to places such as Orsogna and Lanciano which are not exactly on the beaten track. Andreo is from Milan, so they represent the great Italian divide. They were great hosts and interesting company, and Andreo has watched most of the RWC which is a little unusual for an Italian but less so for a Milanese. We tried to explain what a loss might mean for New Zealand but he thought I was exaggerating. We'll see - perhaps NZ has grown up after the last disappointment?

Today we walked to the Slow Food market, which was a little dull. J went off to the Debenhams 50% sale while I came home. We'll watch the games and in between there is a computer show on that we'll pop out to see. Exciting huh?

Mourning all.

Well, I woke up and the dream persisted. I'm still in shock. I'm guessing NZ will collapse again as the truth sinks in that this was our worst result in a World Cup so far. What next? Bundled out in the Pools at home in 2011?

I need to watch the game again to try to figure out where it all went wrong. I've read the Kiwi papers online and the excuses fall into 3 categories:

1. Bad refereeing
2. Bad coaching decisions
3. No heart

There were some bad calls yesterday, but had we been playing well they wouldn't have mattered. Did the forward pass make a difference? If it had gone back the try would still probably have been scored, so we can only blame ourselves for the position we were in. In this case the ref could have saved us - should have saved us - but missed it. Should McAlister have been sent off? Probably not, but why were we in a situation where it mattered?

The ABs seem to have based their game plan around avoiding the line-out, presumably because they thought there was a weakness in their own game there, and that superior fitness would eventually tell as the French tired of running the ball back. It was clear that the first premise wasn't true for this game, as what lineouts there were went pretty well, and we saw little sign of the latter either, so the game plan should have been changed. Kick for touch (while we had kickers) and make the French bring the play to us. (This may have also saved Carter and Evans from the injuries they received.) We saw the forwards making good progress when they kept the ball in hand, so they should have done this more often. If the finishing hadn't been so poor we would have had at least one try from this, perhaps more.

Did the resting of players and the rotation policy work? It would seem not. We didn't get any strong opposition in the pools and this can only have been compounded by the these policies which left the players with little hard work in the build up to the tournament and the quarters. We had it easy and fell apart in when it counted, while France and England had it hard but pulled off seeming miracles when they needed to. On the other hand, Aussie didn't rest anyone, had a slightly tougher pool and still lost it so perhaps it comes down to number three, a lack of heart?

Only the players will know the answer to that one. It did appear though that both Aussie and the ABs didn't expect the games they got, and were perhaps mentally unprepared. In the end perhaps it wasn't lack of heart, but lack of mind that cost us.

Oh my God!

It's funny. I dreamed that Australia had lost to England and that we had been knocked out in the quarter-finals by France. I'm sure I'll wake up soon.

High-flying banker types

So this is the life of a banker. Playing hard and fast with oodles of lolly, diving into safes full of moohlah, lighting cigars on burning L100 bills... Mwa ha ha ha.

Actually I study spreadsheets. Yesterday we looked at the adjustments to salespersons' targets while they were on training courses. Today I redid said adjustments as we'd screwed up yesterday. I know it matters to the salesperson, but it's a pretty pointless exercise in the greater scheme of things and I really don't like the role I'm playing in this materialist/capitalist society. It is a challenge though and it's good to get the brain going again. And better yet, there are no rude little oicks to deal with.

We got invited to our Italian neighbours for afternoon tea on Saturday. All we have to do now is find out their names... Should be fun, but the timing isn't good for the rugby. I suspect that since he watches, the time will be moved to fit the game time.

I talked to Mum for half an hour. Cheers Mum. Happy birthday J and coming soon Big M. Maybe the engine will turn up wrapped in ribbons. It's good to hear you are back on your feet N, and I hope you continue to recover well. Work hard at school mate.

Mum wants to come over next year and may be able to travel with R who also wants to come. I hope we can work something out. Then W, R and L will be turning up some time around June. Anyone else?

That's all folks.

Weekend stuff

A quiet weekend in that we didn't go too far, but still good. It is clearly getting cooler and darker already and I take an umbrella everywhere. We watched some rugby, though not the Kiwi game since it would be so one-sided, and not Wales v Fiji sadly. J lasted a bit longer on Saturday than on Friday and we managed to watch all of the game. Perhaps she was fortified by the window-shopping she filled in the day with. Ho-hum.

The Kiwis got the Bronze in the Indoor Cricket Mens, with SA Silver and Aus Gold.

On Sunday we'd had lunch with C, M and m at a plant shop restaurant, and aside from being a vege outfit it was a nice enough venue and great to catch up. We walked around the harbour before finding a pub with the game on and watched Ireland v Argentina. Two of the home nations out, and two to go...

The car uses a litre of water a day now, and it appears the Stop Leak didn't. We'll have to save up to get that fixed now. Never bloody ending.

Some news

Well, I got a full-time, short term job yesterday, working for LloydsTSB. It's not a career building move, but may help the bank balance. As in NZ, bank tellers/salespersons get rewarded for hitting targets. I am to check that those 'remunerations' are accurate. A boring job I think, but it ends in December and is at least a steady income. I got no work at all this week, so we desparately need me out and earning. I start at mid-day today. Oh god... what to wear?

The car struck problems on Js way to work yesterday - just what we need at this time. However, it may not be as serious as we first thought. The car was overheating and apparently our radiator is badly rusted, but we filled it with Stop Leak and will see how it goes. We also discovered a slow puncture in one of the tyres, so that will need repairing too. And I think the MoT (WoF) is overdue...

Last night we watched NZ lose to the Aussies in the Indoor Cricket World Cup. I have to say that I saw better players than some of these back in Christchurch, so I wonder whether the selection criteria was simply "Who can fundraise $5000?". In contrast, the Aussie U19 team was extremely sharp, and would have beaten any team in the tournament I think. They played some of the best indoor I've seen. The semi-finals are tonight, with NZ playing SA and Aus playing England, but there's Rugby on so we'll watch that I think. Seems strange that they'd put the ICWC on at the same time of year. Perhaps they thought they'd get some spillover coverage - "Rugby's not the only WC being played. Here in Bristol blah, blah..."

There was minor interest outside the window yesterday as a local office block got evacuated. They all assembled down our street which must be a block away from the office. Just as the last people arrived the all clear went, so those people didn't even stop walking.

Enjoy the games. Both should be close.

Quiet days

No work so far this week, but an interview this afternoon for an admin job, and yesterday I got invited to an interview for a job supporting PDAs in three schools around Bristol. They are trialling using class sets of them as aids. I must say that the ones I saw at John Cabot were fancy but completely underused, with only a few teachers picking up on the possibilities. They just seem to be free MP3 players for the students.

In my battle with Col. Blimp I asked if a document I signed that supposedly explained charges could be faxed through to the CAB. If it is as airtight as the Army thinks it is, then presumably my argument is overruled, and he'd hear no more from me. Here's the response:

Mr Rowe.
I am disappointed to see that you have failed to take note of my 3 Sep 07 notification to you. I will wait for instructions from the Museum's Solicitor in regards to the release of the copy of the document you signed on 18/12/06.

R.J.Seymour
Col (Rtd)
Director

You will recall the tone of his "notification". What an obnoxious person this man is.

We haven't seen any of the recent RWC games, but I do see that W is ranked in the mid-500s in the Virtual RWC. That's bloody awesome given the number of players. Well done W. (J is still beating him in the Virtual NPC, so she's happy enough.)

Walks, balloons and sporting Sundays

J ensured we continued our explorations and this time we did a ramble around Flax Bourton, which is near J's current school. A wander through fields took us around a curious area that looked very much like a military installation. It was marked as a 'depot' on our map, and had signs up for a construction company, but why would they need underground bunkers and a railway siding of their own...? When we got home a quick Google found that it is part of a huge underground gas and petrol storage network that dates partly back to WW2, but was still in use during the Cold War and even now in parts.

We also saw that lovely English countryside and ye olde villages, so that was pleasant. After the ramble we drove around Portishead near J's other school, then sat in a pub for a tea/coffee and a delicious Sticky Date and Toffee Pudding, while looking up the Severn to the bridges and over to Wales. We walked it off around the Marina where we watched the lock being opened to let 5 boats in. I've never seen a lock in action up to now so it was interesting

On the way back we took a detour to Ashton Court where we hoped to catch the balloons taking off. There were 3 so we got to see the whole procedure from unpacking to take off. It's very colourful and quite a spectacle.
Today we got up and rushed off to the Indoor Cricket World Cup which is being run in Bristol this year. We caught New Zealand v Aussie, which was a good game even if we lost (we were up to 40 runs behind at one point, but lost by only 5). We stayed for the Aussie v SA Under 19s which was won convincingly by Aussie who played some fantastic indoor cricket. We didn't hang around for the next NZ game because we wanted to watch the rugby.

Here's their site: http://www.actionsportuk.com/news_cricket_worldcup_2007.php

After changing into something warmer as it was raining, we wandered around Bristol trying to find a pub that was showing the All Black game. The problem was that Man U were playing Leeds so even if the game was being shown, there was no commentary. It was a bit disappointing to say the least and we had to retreat home and listen to it on the Net. We couldn't even watch the neighbour's TV this time as they've moved their room around. (Perhaps they read this blog - if so, Hi! Sorry. Could you move your TV back so we can see it, at least until the WC is over?) Lots of errors in the game but a 40 point shut out is still good. Will France be the only Northern team to pose a threat?

Here are some more pics around Bristol.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Italythenandnow/FlaxBourtonWalk are of the country ramble.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Italythenandnow/Balloons have some colourful shots.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Italythenandnow/SeeBristol are some of the open day

More Rugby

Jeeez, it's all starting to blur now. We watched the Tonga-Samoa match on Sunday which was entertaining for its close score, even if it wasn't the running match we'd expected. I wasn't sure who I wanted to win, but I'm sure Samoa will be very disappointed they didn't finish off a 13 man team.

I had work at John Cabot Monday, Tuesday, nothing Wednesday and work again today, Thursday. That'll help the bank balance. After school today I dashed back into town (as much as you can dash on a bus) and had an interview for a job with LloydsTSB. I thought the interview went well, but we'll have to see. They are sprucing up their branches (now called 'stores') and need a team to administer the project. It would be about 6 or 7 months work if it goes anywhere to plan. I like the fact it is not going to go forever, and it ties in well with our next trip to Italy. Of course the pay isn't anything like teaching, but it is more regular, and the office is just across the harbour.

Probably at JC tomorrow, but they never call until the last minute (7:30). The routine is setting in already...

Rugby, by Horus

I had the day at Wyvern and the kids were shits. (Calling your child Damien has got to be asking for trouble doesn't it?) I have Monday at John Cabot which is better, but I hope one of these other positions come through.

We watched the English get well beaten on Friday. It was expected of course, but to score no points was a disaster. We faced one of those ethical teasers in that the bill for dinner came with our drinks missed off. We'll go the interactive route where you get to use the comments to say what you would do in the same situation. Service had been OK, and the food was reasonable, so certainly no reason for complaint if that is something that that you might take into consideration.

Today we wandered over to the city centre and were quarter of the way through the Kiwi match when the bar manager turned it over to the lead up to the soccer. When we protested she turned it back but only until the game started. Bloody rude I thought given we were the only customers there! Anyway, we drank up and moved on as it was already 30 something to 3 and not much of a contest. We wandered in and out of the shops - which C will enjoy far more than us - then had lunch in the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, a chain started by a Kiwi I believe. There we met two more Kiwis, from Balclutha. They've been in the UK a while, and are now just out of Bristol. We had lunch together (Kiwi burgers all round except vege J), and talked about what was good and bad about living in Bristol and the UK. We swapped contacts, so may join them to watch the next Kiwi game.

After lunch we visited the Bristol Museum for the first time. There is an Egyptian Room now that has some good displays though is smaller than expected. More work is being done though. Apparently my Egyptian star sign is a Wadjeb - the regrown eye of Horus. J's is Isis. That 'done', I spent an hour or so in the Geology room while J saw it and every other room in the same time. Still, it isn't going away, so no need to hurry.

On the way home there were 7 hot air balloons in the air at once. We are going to have to have a go sometime when we are rich.

After getting home we settled in for the evening, but while washing the dishes I noticed we could see the Ireland v Georgia game through the window of a flat in the next block. We turned on the radio coverage and watched the game like voyeurs. They had a large screen, but it was like sitting in the Gods at a large venue (top of Jade Stadium for example). It was most disconcerting when one of them got up and especially so when the cuddling started, and we had to resist the urge to yell "Siddown in front!" every time they got up for something. Anyway, it was an exciting game and Ireland will be as disappointed as England and France for their efforts. There seems to be a massive gap between the north and south in this tournament, more so than at any other time I can recall.


(BTW, if you read the sign in the first photo you may see why I posted it.)

Just in the nick of time

What a strange expression when you look at it. What is its origin, I wonder?

Wednesday morning brought a call from the Agency and I have three days work. Given our poorly finances this is just in time. That day was at John Cabot, so wasn't too bad, although not much work was done. Today and tomorrow were/are Wyvern, a different kettle of fish. I had a couple of Y7 classes, the first nice, the last rowdy but OK, and an average Y8. The two Y11s were 'orrible. In one a kid smacked another for no apparent reason so he was sent out, while a girl wandered out and never came back. In the other, the kids were rude, inappropriate, and did f... all. Just why I love teaching so much now. L100 less tax.

After no calls for two weeks, I get three on the one day. 3 days of teaching, and two possible positions in offices. One of the latter, for only L7 p.h., was filled before I could see them, but I'm not sad about that at all. The other, paying a little better, I will hear more about tomorrow I think. I have sent off about 15 applications and some bounce back pretty quickly, but there are one or two interesting ones still waiting to close off.

The good news is that I am allowed a beer or three, which will be most pleasant while watching the rugby over the weekend. Last night we watched England beat Russia in the other football. England played well which makes a change.

Weekdays

J is off to work again, while I languish. I have applied online for about 20 positions and now have to wait for them to close before getting the flood of "Sorry, but..." responses. Some sites even pre-empt this by starting with a "Sorry, but..." but contacting you if you make a shortlist. Actually I get some reading done, some writing, explore the Internet (hence the Kiwi vid link in a previous post), Photoshop some photos, read more, do the occasional chore when J leaves a list, and so on.

Perhaps I will photograph some of the photocopied material I have so that I can send it to JP. It is a problem getting what I find over to him sometimes. The sheer quantity means a stack of CDs is required as I can't write DVDs and memory sticks don't offer significantly more capacity as yet.

Open days, Rugby and castles

The 'See Bristol' day was great, and in fact it should be extended to a full weekend. We had a look at the mines under Redcliffe first. They are quite extensive and only about a quarter of the complex is open. It's odd to see tree roots from underneath, or new building foundations cutting into tunnels at odd angles. There's something intriguing about unexplored caves, perhaps going back to childhood tales of treasure.

We watched the New Zealand vs Italy game at our closest bar, and were the only ones doing so, so not a very collegial atmosphere. Even J didn't watch the second half as it wasn't much of a contest. While it is nice to see a good win, I had hoped that Italy would put up more of a fight after several years in the 6 Nations. I hope they (Italy) do OK in this pool.

After this game we looked at some of the archeology being done around Bristol. With so much development going on the UK has made archeology a competition where businesses quote for exploration work prior to any new buildings going up. It seems a recipe for quick and superficial work to me, and a far cry from the traditional methodical digs I had supposed were used. Bristol seems to have little regard for its heritage: the castle is hardly visible, and certainly not a tourist feature; there are few information boards for any buildings of historical interest; new building quickly covers any historical remnants, and so. One day a year they let the citizens in on some of these little known secrets. We all know it is a matter of money, but some cities realise their heritage can actually bring money in if it is properly marketed.

We saw Bristol from the roof of St Mary's, including looking into our own windows. We're very used to the opposite sight of course. We could have rung the bells had we been earlier, but both of us would probably have considered cutting the ropes instead...

The England-USA game was on so we thought we'd better see how our host country went. Not very well, it turned out. I had been allowed a beer (one and a half actually) during our game, but this game was dry. At least the crowd was a little more interested. Actually, the football was on at the other end of the bar (England vs Israel) so there were competing cries of encouragement or disappointment. As England won the soccer 3-0 at least that crowd were happy, and the rugby watchers could gain some consolation.

The next day was the Bristol Half-Marathon so the streets were awash with people. We had popped out to the slow-food market only to find we were a week late, and saw the last of the walkers coming in. The roads were still blocked off when we had decided to drive out for a picnic, but by ignoring cones and tape we managed to get into the queues of cars heading away from the city centre. Perhaps we could have put some Canadian flags on the car and pretended to have been an official convoy, but it's probably not too convincing in a single Vauxhall Astra. We did eventually get to Blaise Castle in west Bristol, and very nice it was too. Since summer is over the sun has been out nearly every day and we had a lovely picnic and walk around the grounds.

So that was the weekend.