Birthday wishes

Three birthdays in quick succession - PP, RMc and SW. Happy birthday each of you. My own passed quietly with a nice gift from J and a parcel from home. The winter hat, gloves, and scarf are just what I need, and no, I haven't opened the parcels in Christmas wrapping yet. This weekend it was clear and sunny but below zero for most of the time. I've been wearing my long-johns to work and really needed them.

It was the same last weekend when we went out to Haddington see a colleague of J's. Fine day, but freeze the balls off a brass monkey. The ye olde village was nice for a brisk walk after a cuppa, and then we did a drive out Hailes castle. We chased a deer along the road but it got away, so no venison for dinner. The poor thing was in a very narrow lane so there was no escape to either side and it had to run in front of us for a while before it found a way out. There wasn't much left of Hailes, so we continued on to another pile of rocks called Tantallon. This was very impressive, built on a headland with cliffs on three sides. It was unusually high so I was a little unsettled on the windy battlements. What was left was very impressive, so the original must have been quite something. It was brought down by Cromwell's men after a heavy bombardment, and the owner, Douglas, didn't quite appreciate the redecoration, so moved elsewhere.

Monday was the last night of badminton, although I have the dinner in two weeks. It has been fun, so we've signed up again. I played a few singles games and they get you moving a little more than the doubles. I managed to avoid either smacking myself in the face or hitting J with the shuttlecock, so that's got to be a good thing.

On Wednesday we popped into town to see them turn the lights on. J had a prescription to pick up so we dropped that in and walked out to find we'd missed the moment. Never mind - as N at work says we can just keep our eyes closed then quickly open them and pretend. There were all sorts of stalls, mainly from Germany for some reason (perhaps they do Christmas better over there?), and fair-ground rides including a Ferris wheel and merry-go-round. The lights were OK I guess, but you wouldn't pay money to see them. We went to Wannaburger afterwards which I can't recommend: partly cold and completely overpriced burgers, although the thickshake was nice.

News from JP is that AtB would like to have our manuscript by June-July which puts the pressure on me to get the outstanding photographs done. Italy here we come. I've sent out the first feelers for my next article, but it depends on the National Army Museum allowing me copies of photos to match. I bought a volume of the British official history of the Italian Campaign on Saturday, so there is a start.

The biggest news (so saved for last) is that my wife is leaving me. She flies off on Wednesday for NZ and won't be back again....

...for 4 weeks will be rather weird for both of us. She'll come back to find the kitchen full of dishes and ready-meal wrappers, the floors covered in clothes, and me with a 4 week beard. She'll be fairly busy catching up with people, while I slave away on more bloody pipes. I'll miss her.

The Accidental Blogger

How slack am I? A couple of weeks since the last blog I think.

Well, nothing's new at work for either of us. J is counting down the working days 'til she heads home, while my job stretches on to the horizon like a desert...

Two interesting election results, though I far prefer the US one. Both have been handed a hospital pass with the onset of recession if not worse, but Obama gives the impression of a breath of fresh air, while Key seems stale or even malodorous. We'll see how they both turn out.

We had a few car problems that have now been resolved. First our tax disk (rego) expired and a comedy of errors ensued. We hadn't changed our address from Bristol so that complicated things, then we didn't have proof the car was insured. We finally got it all together but not until after the expiry date. Then J was informed that the rear lights weren't working, so she had to get that sorted. Three blown bulbs and the fact we occasionally have to bang the dashboard to get the dials to work make us think that there's something else going on. It's time for a checkover I think.

On a related topic, we got our refund cheque for our parking ticket. Yay.

Last weekend we caught up with some Kiwis up from London for the test match. R is the son of a hockey teammate and a colleague from school, and his girlfriend was an ex-student from my computing class. It might have been a bit wierd for her, but they were good company. We enjoyed the match although I thought the Scots deserved more reward for their efforts. It was strange to hear so many Kiwi voices and to see so much black and white. Sorry the pics are blurry - it's my Parkinson's I think.

I am now a published author, my first solo article being published in AtB, Number 142 (available only in specialist bookstores generally). I'm quite excited but now have to push on and do more.