Laptop Blues

I didn't find it too easy to get up this morning but dragged myself out of bed and remembered that I was working in Dorking today. Dressed, made tea and checked my emails - the laptop was working again for a short spell! It is working now but not properly. My journey into Dorking was uneventful and I arrived at just after 9.30 a.m. I worked through lunch - Sara had packed me a light lunch in a sandwich box - and dealt with some admin. work such as expenses claims. I brought in some of the excellent fudge from Scotland. Everybody remarked upon how good it was and the tin was empty by 3 p.m. Ann took the tin to use as a replacement for her pens holder. I left a little early to go to PC World and choose a new laptop. Having spent just under an hour considering different machines and their various specs. I chose an upgraded HP one with built in webcam. I was just beginning the paper work when I was informed that my account had been stopped. Why? Because, apparently, some unsolicited mail sent to me had been returned to them marked "Gone Away". My purchase of a new laptop was aborted pending the manager looking into the issue tomorrow. The earliest I am likely to get my new laptop, therefore, is mid-week next week! How frustrating. Tonight I watched the programme I had recorded on the sinking of the Estonia last night. As I write up this blog, Sara is flipping through the channels. Spoke to Mum this evening - she seems well and is looking forward to going curling tomorrow but without ice! Not sure how you can do that unless the stones have wheels.

More Disappointments

In Salisbury today. The laptop would not boot up again this morning so was unable to read the World for Today online. fortunately I still receive the booklet so could read it at my desk the old fashioned way! Still not feeling 100% but needed to go in as I had a meeting this morning with our Financial Crimes Manager. In fact we met in the coffee area and discussed business over a couple of lattes. At lunchtime I visited the Sarum College bookshop and bought several copies of the Cover to Cover booklet on 1 Timothy which I've decided will make a good subject for our House Study Group. It should engender some good debate as Paul talks about the women's role in the church and is the basis for the controversy over women priests. I also took my lunch with the members of our Christian Fellowship - only three of us today. This afternoon I dealt with paperwork relating to more compromise agreements and outsourcing agreements and assisted the HR consultants on some tricky TUPE issues. Tonight Tom and I went to St. Mary's Stadium to see Southampton take on Bristol Rovers. I've never seen Bristol Rovers lose so thought the old jinx would happen again. In one of my more optimistic moments during the drive over to Southampton I told Tom that my prediction was a better 2-2 draw which would, at least, put us on "0" points. We arrived in good time and had a hot dog (Tom) and a cheeseburger (me) next to where Nikki was selling the programmes. The game started off well and we went into the lead only for Rovers to get a stupid equaliser just before half time when our goalkeeper, Kelvin Davis came way off his line and the Rover's striker went around the back of him to put the ball in the back of the net at a very acute angle. Returning to the pitch after the break, Saints scored within the first minute to make it 2-1. This was followed by a equaliser with about ten minutes to go. My prediction of 2-2 looked to be an accurate one. Saints, it seemed were going to settle for a draw and "0" points when 30 seconds from the end of 5 minutes of extra time Rovers scored the winner in similar fashion to Saints at Carlisle on Saturday. We were gutted! It isn't looking good. Liverpool also lost their Champion's League game tonight in Italy. Grimsby Town play tomorrow night. Let's hope for something better.

Seeing old friends

I woke up on the couch downstairs - the fifth night in a row without a bed! The time was 7.00 a.m. I have a heavy cold and took some aspirin with my morning tea. I was working in Salisbury and arrived at the office at 8.40 p.m. Belinda was already there - her red Jaguar already in a car parking space. We met up and had coffee in the coffee lounge before our meeting. Michael R. our barrister friend joined us a little after 10.30 a.m. for a meeting which lasted until 1.30 p.m. We had a mediocre lunch - pasties and chips - and Michael left us just after 2 p.m. He remarked how I didn't seem my usual self. He reminded me about the Henley Cricket Club dinner on the 9th October. This clashes with another function (yet another leaving dinner) the same evening and as I'll need to find a hotel to stay at if I go to Henley, I think I'll give it a miss this time. I visited the banks and made some deposits (it is pay day today) before returning back to do some more work. I visited PC World on my way home for them to have a look at my ailing laptop. Seems it has a "main board" malfunction and the cost of installing a new one is around £230. Seems a better option for me to buy a new laptop. It is working on/off tonight and I am able to post this blog. Dawn looked after the children tonight (she brought her dog Figaro along much to the annoyance of our cat Emily), and Sara and I went to Anoka's for her retirement dinner. Sarah C, Stuart P, Adrian T and Mary McC. joined us. Stuart was on top form with his anecdotes and other stories. We dropped Mary back off at the Red Lion before returning home. Another does of Ibuprofen is called for - and perhaps a tot of whisky.

My Birthday - Back to Church Sunday

My 56th birthday today. Woke up late this morning on Malcolm's couch in Liverpool. I knew that we were not due in church until 10.30 a.m. so I slept in a little. Eventually, at 9.00 a.m. got up, made tea and showered. We drove to Linnet Lane for the Back to Church Sunday service at Christ Church. This was a morning worship service with the Vicar, David Parry and Reader, Chris Topping, conducting the service without their robes and cassocks. It was an excellent service with good songs/hymns. quite informal and a truly excellent talk (sermon) from Chris. He has a great ability to engage the younger members of the congregation and I asked him to send a copy of his talk to me via email as I think we can use it at either a House Group or Rockface. After the service Tom and I drove over to the Mersey Retail Park at Speke to get him a new pair of football boots, shorts and rain jacket. That completed, we returned to Christ Church to join a farewell buffet lunch for Alistair, the curate, who is leaving to take up his own parish at Croxteth Park, Liverpool. He reminds me of a young Nils. We sent off back to Wiltshire at 2.00 p.m. and arrived back in record time at 5.35 p.m. - 3 hours 35 minutes from Liverpool to Winterslow and no speed breaking either. We were lucky to have a clear run all the way. I got some lovely birthday presents when I got back - an 1880 silver pickle fork from Sara, some war film videos from Klynn, a book on the Knights Templar from the Russells, and books on David Cameron, laying Better Golf and King Edward VIII from Sara and the children. Sara cooked a chilli con carne for supper and we watched a programme on the moon landings (fact of fiction) on one of our new Sky Channels. Sara is still unwell so it looks like a fifth night sleeping on a couch or temporary bed as her coughing is bound to keep me awake.

Taking the High Road

Woke at 7.30 a.m. today in Malcolm's flat in Liverpool. Made tea and had a shower and then woke up Tom. After a breakfast of porridge and toast and marmalade we set off at 9.00 a.m. for Carlisle. We had a really clear journey up the M6 and decided to carry on into Scotland and visit Gretna where we arrived at 11.30 a.m. After filling a tyre with air - I seem to have a slow leaking value - we drove on to Gretna Green where we spent an hour at the the Blacksmith's and Visitors' Centre buying a few souvenirs and having a coffee. Tom had his photograph taken with a piper in highland dress - just for the record. We then sent back down south into Carlisle parking the car at Carlisle United's ample parking lot for just £2. We then walked into the city centre - about a mile - and had fish and chips on a park bench by the Citadel near the station. Returning back to the ground we had a look in the shop and bought Mary a "Bonzo Bear" for her collection of football club mascots. Today was the 100th Anniversary of Brunton Park, their ground, and the shop gave me a souvenir booklet to commemorate the event. Saints were poor again and Carlisle scored early on in the second half. Southampton did not seem capable of finishing any attacks and one one occasion pushed the ball to the side of the goal when it was such an easy shot. Tom and I were frustrated by their performance and with just 5 minutes to go we decided to hot foot it back to the car before we got blocked in by the rush after the game otherwise we might not get back to Liverpool until quite late. As we were leaving the car park we heard on the radio that Saints scored an equaliser from a disputed free kick just 15 seconds from the end. Carlisle United fans were, naturally, gutted by this and Tom and I were stunned - the first time we have missed a Saints goal at a match we've attended! However, by leaving early we did get away and on to the M6 before the rush and were back in Liverpool at 7.30 p.m. Tonight we dined at Greek Restaurant in Lark Lane. Tom was very tired but enjoyed the Greek bread and lamb kebab - also the ice cream which followed. Sam was feeling unwell and left after about 20 minutes. Today my laptop has been playing up. I've got it working now but feel it needs looking at by PC World again. It is not always booting up and the quality of the monitor keeps varying. I've run Virus checks and they seem to indicated that all is well. I will see what happens after this current session as I seem to have cured it for now!

Back Up North!

I must have been really tired last night and all this travelling has clearly caught up with me as I had to be awoken by Sara at 8.20 a.m. I slept in the Family Room last night as Sara's coughing and spluttering would have kept me awake although I would have appreciated a more comfortable bed - I'll be on a couch again tonight! I intended to work from home today but discovered that I must have left my mains adapter lead in the Mancheter office so decided to go into Salisbury. I dropped Mary off at school on the way in. It was as well that I worked in the office today as I had to get a draft Defence approved and needed to speak to a number of people. I had brief chats with Roger T, Debbie C and Gleny B. It was good to see all of them - one of whom is going next week. Sheila had her farewell presentation this morning too. I returned home in the early afternoon and did a little more work before Tom and I set off for Liverpool. Our journey was not good - we had a traffic jam at Birdlip, the M5 was closed at West Bromwich requiring a detour via Kidderminster, Wolverhampton and Stafford and more problems near Keele requiring a detour through Stoke-on-Trent. We eventually arrived in Liverpool at 10 p.m. Supper was a king prawn chow mein for me and fish and chips for Tom - from Steve's in Aigburth Vale, the supposed best chippy on Merseyside. It is certainly well established as I bought the famous Scouse "Sausage Dinners" there for 15p in 1972. They now cost £2.60. The evening ended with the usual chats and whisky. As I write this I fear a sore throat coming on - I hope I haven't court the "lurgy" from Sara.

Liverpool/Manchester/PCC/Home

Another long day today. Woke at 6.30 a.m. on Malcolm's sofa in his flat in Liverpool. A shower and a light breakfast of toast and marmalade and tea followed. We caught the train into Manchester from St. Michael's Station and arrived in Manchester at 8.40 a.m. - I was in the office at 9 a.m. Sara Bra was already in and we spent a productive morning working on our TUPE presentation and dealing with other disciplinary matters. We went to the Craft Centre in central Manchester for a Fairtrade lunch - so kind of Sara to go to the trouble of finding somewhere I would approve. She is a kind and thoughtful person. I caught the 4.35 p.m. flight back to Southampton on another FlyBe Dash-400 (G-ECOJ) sister plane to that I came up on. Once back down south I stopped off at the fish and chip shop in Chandler's Ford where Sara once used to work and arrived back at Winterslow just in time for the PCC Meeting which lasted until 9.45 p.m. Back home Sara was still feeling unwell and we watched some "Mock the Week" before she went to bed and did wrote this blog. I decided as she is still ill with 'flu that I would sleep in the family room tonight.

Lancashire Roamings

What an incredibly long day today. As Sara is down with the 'flu I decided to sleep on the couch in the lounge last night. Consequently, I did not get a great deal of sleep. I set my alarm for 4.30 a.m. and got up immediately it went off. I made myself tea, had a shower and finished my packing. I left the house at around 5.30 a.m. to drive to Southampton Airport for my flight to Manchester. I parked my car in the long stay car park and checked in at around 6.45 a.m. I was very early and unlike my previous trip to Manchester last week I went through security very quickly. I bought myself some of my favourite eau de cologne at a tax-free price and also noted the cost of Sara's favourite (and mine) perfume for future reference - much cheaper than the high street prices. Mt flight to Manchester in a Dash-400 (G-ECOH) was uneventful and we arrived about five minutes early. My overnight case was already on the carousel and I was through to "Arrivals" in about five minutes. The taxi picked me up after a further five-minute wait and I finally arrived at our offices at ten minutes after ten. Sara Bra arrived about half and hour later and we worked on the TUPE presentation we are to give next week. Lunch was a plate of chips with mayonnaise sauce! A final Mancunian delicacy before they close the office. The afternoon was taken up preparing for tomorrow's tribunal when the tribunal office telephoned at just before 3 p.m. to say the claimant wanted an adjournment. I objected but, unfortunately, an employment judge agreed the adjournment. I now need to come back to Manchester again on the 19th October! I met my good friend Malcolm on Manchester Piccadilly's Platform 14 and we caught the 17.07 train to Liverpool together. We dashed into his house, washed and changed and then drove up to Preston for the Carling Cup clash between Preston North End and Spurs. Not surprisingly Spurs won 5-1. It was a great match and an opportunity to see some great England players perform so well. Peter Crouch scored a hat trick. We returned to Malcolm's driving through the centre of Liverpool. It was lovely to see the Roman Catholic Cathedral so wonderfully illuminated. Back at Malcolm's it was the usual tumbler of Scotch and a natter before penning this blog and a must earned sleep!

Not a Good Day

A day in Salisbury today. All the family except me seem to be unwell and Tom had a second day off school. I didn't have a particularly good day at work today for reasons I cannot really disclose here - suffice it to say that I was pleased when the day was over. I visited the Sarum College bookshop at lunchtime to see what materials there might be for our House Group. There is surprisingly large amount of material we can use. I need to find out from the Group what particular part of the bible they would like to study. I returned home briefly before attending a lodge meeting to interview a prospective candidate. The meeting went well and we hope to bring him in as a member at our December meeting. I stopped off at the Porton Chinese restaurant and picked up a couple of dishes for my supper. Sara went to bed shortly afterwards. Tonight I had problems with the laptop as I went on my emails. The settings seem to have changed and the appearance and speed seem to have changed. I will need to have a proper look at it later. I packed ready to fly to Manchester tomorrow morning. I need to be up at 5 a.m. to get to Southampton Airport in good time to check in etc. I have to say that I don't have a lot of enthusiasm for my trip at the moment.

Sick Patients

An odd day in Dorking today. Tom and Mary both complained of feeling unwell and Tom stayed off school whilst Mary soldiered on in. I had a reasonable journey into work along the A31 via Winchester and Farnham listening to some Shostakovitch, including Jazz Suites 1 & 2, on the CD player. I had a lot of emails to get through as I had not looked at any since Thursday afternoon. Lunch was a home-made beef sandwich, crisps and an orange. Straight after lunch I was taken, together with several hundred others, by luxury touring coach the 800 yards or so from our offices to Dorking Halls for a presentation about why our pension fund cannot sustain its present level of benefits for the staff on the current contributions and other problems we face. A very downbeat presentation. Tonight I gave a lift to Anthony as far as Grateley Station. He is spending the night at his home in Salisbury and returning to Dorking tomorrow morning. I have offered him a lift up to Liverpool on Friday evening if he wants to see his friend on the Wirral but he'll have to be at Grateley at around 4.30 p.m. so I can pick him up there and I'll drop him at St. Michael's Station in Aigburth, Liverpool. He isn't sure whether he will be going or not yet. On arrival at home I found that Sara was now feeling unwell too. She was going to take herself up to bed but as I write this at 9.30 p.m. she is still up and "working" at her laptop. Some good news today, Duncan has fitted TV sockets in the rooms upstairs. We now need to get some aerial-connecting leads to activate the two remaining unconnected TVs. Tomorrow I am in Salisbury. Feeling quite tired now and hoping that I am not also coming down with the "lurgy". Mary went to bad happy because a wobbly tooth has now finally come out and will yield some monetary reward - she hopes!

No early morning Eucharist at St. John's today so Tom and I stayed behind for a cooked breakfast as Sara and Mary went off to a Baptism/Family Eucharist at All Saints. At 9.45 a.m. Tom and I left for Pembroke Park School, next to the Diocesan Education Centre on Devizes Road where I had attended the Clergy Pensions meeting the other week. The match was against Sarum Juniors and Clarendon lost 6-4 despite a valiant attempt. It was extremely hot and humid and many of tom's team, including Tom, went down with injuries, or in Tom's case, exhaustion and an injury to his left leg. Tom played really well, bringing about an "assist" and nearly netting one himself. Sara cooked a lunch of beef stew with dumplings made by Mary. In the afternoon I mowed all three lawns, washed the car and helped Sara move furniture to aid Duncan fit TV cables into the family room and Mary's bedroom. After a welcome bath I attended the Choral Evensong at Farley. There I met Nils, Gill and Jane C who were conducting the service and Elizabeth who was singing in the choir. Rosemary and Mike and Caroline M-J were in the congregation and I sat with them. Tonight Tom went off to Rockface. Sara seems to have had a hard day with the kids today. I rang Malcolm to thank him for the ticket he had managed to get me for the Preston v. Spurs game at Deepdale on Wednesday night. My evening is now sorted out and I look forward to it. I also spoke to Francis whom I haven't seen since Mike Dare's funeral back in 2005. We had a good natter about a number of things as well as the procedure for making changes to the Sandtoft articles of association. I also rang Mum. She seems fine. I gave her a run down of my movements over the next seven days - they are quite hectic. Tonight I completed the Night sky article for the Parish Magazine and received an acknowledgement from Susan that my piece about House Groups for the Back to Church leaflet was okay. It was quite frustrating though as I wanted to scan and PDF the article and the scanner kept playing up. Now to bed. It's Dorking tomorrow.

A Perfect Sporting Saturday

I was woken early this morning by a phone call from Malcolm in Liverpool to say that he was going to the Preston v. Coventry game and would try and get me a ticket for the Carling Cup clash with Spurs on Wednesday night when I'm up in Lancashire. He was trying to get tickets online as we spoke but was having difficulties. I am still waiting to find out whether he was successful, either online or when he visited the ticket office at Deepdale this afternoon. There was a mild panic in the house this morning when Mary could not find her leotard for her ballet lesson. It was eventually found in our bedroom I believe. Sara took Mary into Salisbury, Tom played on his Weii/Xbox and I repaired the shredder, hoisted the Saints flag, tied up some paperwork in the study and general bits and pieces around the house. Tom and I left for Southmapton at around 12.30 p.m. We had to park on the road as the traffic and parking were clogged today - football match, shoppers and Boat Show. We visited our usual chippie in St. Mary's Street before going on to St. Mary's. Buying our programme from Nikki as usual, we went up to our seats where Andy and his two lads and John were already in place. We had a pleasant chat and he told he he followed this blog - it's amazing how many people seem to get addicted to reading about the mundane as several people have told me they now follow it! The game this afternoon was against Yeovil Town, a team that was in the Conference League only five seasons ago. Saints started off brightly but the game did get bogged down in parts. Saints recorded their first win this afternoon, 2-0, through two penalties - both taken by Ricki Lambert. I was impressed by our new striker - Papa Waigo N'Diaye whom I've nicknamed "Papa Doc" as there is no way I'll remember the rest of his name - indeed I've had to look at the programme to write this. Kelvin Davis was as brilliant in goal as ever and I am really impressed by the hard working Dan Harding (Dan "Hardworking" I'll call him). Before leaving the ground we queued up and got tickets for the Johnson's Paint Trophy tie against Torquay United on 6th October. We've chosen seats in the Northam Stand for no particular reason other than this is the only Stand at St. Mary's neither of us have ever been in. Other great results today were that Grimsby Town beat Torquay United 2-0 at Torquay and Portsmouth lost 0-2 at Aston Villa. Perfect! Back home, Sara presented Tom with a "dongle" - a device for allowing his Xbox to be connected by wireless. It took us some time to work out how to connect it with our router but eventually we did - by using logic - Tom had already convinced himself that the dongle didn't work. I am writing this as Mary and Sara watch the "X Factor" and Tom plays on the Xbox. Once the kids are in bed Sara and I are going to watch a film called "Bucket List". As I write this Mary seems to be in a bad mood for some reason and I'll simply keep out of her way until the morning.

Torquay Inquest

Woke up at around 6.30 a.m. this morning in m hotel room in the Grand Hotel, Torquay. I made myself tea and picked up my Daily Mail from under the door. I had a bath and red my daily devotions. Down to breakfast in the Gainsborough Restaurant at a little after 7.30 a.m. and has tea, toast, marmalade, fresh fruit salad and grapefruit juice, a kipper and yoghurt. Nigel had the full English breakfast which, after our Chinese meal last night, I really couldn't fit in! After checking out we drove the 10 minutes or so to the Torquay Town Hall where we were greeted by the Coroner's Officer, Deputy Coroner and HM Coroner himself. We were shown to our table in the court room where we read a fresh witness statement and waited for the the deceased's family to arrive. A jury of twelve trusty Torquay residents were sworn in. Evidence was heard from several witnesses and I was afforded an opportunity to question each. We rose for lunch at 12.45 p.m. and Nigel and I dined at McDonald's. Returning at 1.30 p.m. the jury returned a narrative verdict essentially of accidental death. Nigel and I returned to Salisbury immediately afterwards and I was home at 5 p.m. just before Richard arrived. After a quick cup of tea Richard and I went off to Wilton and played nine holes of golf. His golf has improved well and whilst I played some decent shots I wasn't entirely pleased with my performance. I was probably feeling rather tense after my long day in court and the drive back from Devon. We ended the evening in the Lion's Head drinking and chatting to Sue and Jeremy.

On the English Riviera

A morning in Salisbury today. Meetings with HR and lunch with Sara in the George and Dragon. A sombre morning as I was told a close colleague had died earlier this week suddenly and unexpectedly. So sad. I had passed him in the street only last week and we had said “Hi” to each other. I nearly stopped him for a longer chat but he had bounded off – clearly on a mission. No doubt the full story will emerge over the next few days. I returned home at just after 3 p.m. packed, had a cup of tea with Sara and left for Torquay, picking up Nigel on the way at his home in Wilton. We had a very clear fast journey to Torquay arriving at the Grand Hotel a little before 7 p.m. We checked in and asked the girl on reception to recommend a Chinese restaurant. She suggested the Yum Sing on Babbacombe Road which was about 2 miles from the hotel. She kindly booked it for us for 8.15 p.m. and after a quick shower and a change of clothing we set off along the seafront and into town. We also had a quick look at where the deceased at tomorrow’s inquest fell to his death from the Grand Hotel balcony. In fact I am only two rooms away from the fatal room. The Yum Sing turned out to be much further than we had anticipated but was well worth the walk. It stands in a large house set back from the road and reminded me of “Fawlty Towers” in the TV series. The meal was excellent and it was interesting to listen to the conversation on the adjacent round table where six middle class middle agers were talking about Christianity and New Age Beliefs. Nigel and I also talked about Christianity amongst other things and I wondered how Sara got on with the House Group this evening. I rang her when I got back – in fact, spookily the phone rang in my ear as I was dialling out – Sara was ringing me! The House Group went very well with ten participants across the whole spectrum of the Church. The consensus was for the Group to become a Bible Study Group with a structured course. Mike M-J will talk to Elizabeth for material and I will look through mine. I think the Letters of Paul should be our basic course.

Schedules

Left for work in Dorking a little later than normal this morning - after all I had had a very long day yesterday travelling to Manchester and back. Arrived a little after 10 a.m. and there seemed to be very few people in. My first meeting today was at 11 a.m. with Tom. That seemed to go well. I ate my self-packed lunch at my desk and worked through my lunch hour. I have been asked to write a report on my dealings with HR for my director but no clear view as to why that is wanted. I have also to attend a presentation o the changes to our pension scheme to be given at Dorking Halls next Monday. So little good news at present. I was advised of a hearing in the Manchester Employment Tribunals next Thursday and so it looks like next week is going to be rather hectic - flying up to Manchester on Wednesday, staying overnight in Liverpool, commuting into Manchester on Thursday morning, flying back to Southampton on Thursday evening and then driving up to Liverpool with Tom on Friday evening! It seems half of my week will be spent in Lancashire! I will however be around for the Lodge interview on Tuesday and the PCC Meeting on Thursday! Sara will hardly see me at all next week - perhaps that's what keeps our marriage so alive! Sara started her health regime in earnest with a 2-mile village walk this morning. If she gets fit then the pounds should come off without any dubious medicines promised from Adam in Thailand. Tomorrow I shall be off to Torquay to attend an Inquest into the death of one of pour policyholders. Not an easy matter but tomorrow night I shall be staying in the Grand Hotel,Torquay and hope to visit a recommended Chinese restaurant in Paignton. Sara will be hosting the House Group informal cheese and wine evening.

A Flying Visit to Manchester

Woke up at 4.30 a.m. to the alarm on my mobile phone. Made tea for Sara and me although I don't really think Sara was properly awake. Vicki H arrived on time at 5.30 a.m. and we set off for Southampton Airport via the back roads arriving in good time at around 6.15 a.m. There was a massive queue for security but I was impressed by the efficiency with which we were passed through despite my having set off the alarms with either the metal on my braces or my silver cufflinks. Our flight took off on time and all went to plan in getting to Manchester for 9.00 a.m. We flew in one of Fly-be's new Embraer 190s - G-FBEN, a sizable jetliner which can carry 118 passengers. Manchester was overcast when we arrived. Our Manchester office is a sad sight and it was strange to think this would be my last ever visit. Crates were piled up in the restaurant area and the restaurant itself had a very limited an poor choice of food - I settled for a cheese and onion baguette. My meetings were very successful and we achieved much of what we wanted to do. The flight back was also on time and un-eventful - a smaller Bombardier Dash 200 - G-JECO - which carries around 80 passengers. On the way home I learned from the radio that Keith Floyd had died overnight - how strange that I should have stayed up last night to watch a programme about him. Mary has been made a "Sixer" in the Brownie Pack at Norman's Court - well done to her. I only made it to "Seconder" rank in the Cubs. So proud of her - she really does enjoy her Brownies. Feeling really tired as I write this so think I will have another early night.

Up to Surrey

Up early today. The alarm on my mobile phone went off at 5.30 a.m. but I lingered in bed until just after 6.00 a.m. I made tea and had toasted soda farls with marmalade for breakfast and packed my lunch. I said goodbye to Sara and set off for Dorking arriving there at around 9.20 a.m. There was a scheduled Senior Managers' Meeting at 10 a.m. but this was replaced by a Director's Briefing on the proposed changes to our employment terms. These will certainly make a difference financially to me next year - not for the better! I ate home-made sandwiches, with some vegetable soup from the office restaurant, at my desk where I also dealt with some paperwork. I did go for a short 20-minutes walk across the road to our sports field to view the state of our small pitch and put course. The previous nine holes have now been truncated to four! The greens are non-existent now and hardly worth the bother of keeping. So sad. I remember when we used to go out there on a summer's lunchtime or after work and play the nine holes with quite decent greens too. Worked through then until just before 5 p.m. and drove home via Farnham and Odiham arriving back in Winterslow at 6.45 p.m. I sorted out my paperwork and bag for tomorrow as I am catching the 7.10 a.m. flight from Southampton Airport to Manchester - yes, a day working in Manchester tomorrow returning tomorrow night. Vicki will be calling at 5.30 a.m. and I must be awake and ready to go - yes I really must be. We have to park the car and then go through security - we've already checked in. Although I went to bed at 10 p.m. after a shower I stayed awake for another hour to watch a programme on TV in which Keith Allen met Keith Floyd at his home in Provence. It was sad to see how age and booze had had its toll on him.

TVs and Quizzes

Woke up at around 6.30 a.m. but stayed in bed for another hour before setting off to the 8 a.m. early morning Eucharist at St. John's. Normally I would have attended the Praise Service at All Saints but Tom was playing football at Barry's Field in the first Badger League match for the Clarendon Juniors Under 13s against Dinton. I also had to deliver the membership packs to all the parents. Tom's team won 7-2 although Tom didn't score any goals. Sara and Mary came up to watch part of the first half and then went off to Tesco's to do the weekly shop. Back home, Tom had a shower and I fixed us some lunch - chicken noodles and curried rice. Once lunch was over we set about setting up the new TV which we had bought and moving the existing one into our bedroom. Mary and Sara returned just as I was finishing setting up the old one in the bedroom. We now have two TVs with digital input so there should be less disputes over what should be watched on the digital channels. Eventually the kids will be able to use the old TV in the family room for a full range of TV stations, games and DVDs leaving us with a smaller one in our bedroom. Klynn came round on my invitation and we went to Grateley to play nine holes stopping off at The Plough in Grateley for a quick drink before returning to Winterslow. Sara cooked us a chicken casserole and we played a few games on the new TV. The children are delighted with it. Tonight I, Klynn, Jeremy and Richard formed a team for the Pub Quiz at the Lion's Head and won again. another bottle of red wine to add to my collection of winnings.

Provincial Officers' Dinner

I had a lovely surprise this morning - breakfast in bed - tea, orange juice and toast and marmalade. Thank you Word for Today which we both read as a daily devotional and which has had the theme of bringing back that first sizzle in a relationship. Sara made pancakes for the children and then she and Mary went into Salisbury for Mary's dance lesson. Tom and I leafleted Saxon Leas, Weaver's Close, Young's Paddock and Stone Close with the Alpha Course invitations. It was good to get the exercise of walking up and down the drives especially the steps to the houses on the Saxon Leas' Green. Lunch was couple of fish paste sandwiches and I then went into Salisbury myself to pay a cheque into the bank and do some research on flat screen TVs. I also bought 4lbs of bananas off the market for £1 and some lovely nectarines - also just for £1. Back home I followed the final scores on the Internet to find that Saints drew 1-1 at Charlton - a good result - and Grimsby beat Hereford 1-0 to pull themselves out of the relegation zone. Sara and I had enough time to get changed into our "glad rags" - cocktail dress for Sara, dinner suit for me - and set off for Devizes to attend a Provincial Officers Dinner at the Masonic Hall there. We had a pleasant meal - prawn cocktail, beef medallions in red wine sauce with vegetables, fresh fruit meringue, cheese and biscuits and coffee. The PGM was in fine form with many jokes and anecdotes from the year with the butt of the jokes being the other chain gang members, principally. Sara drove back as she had drunk just two waters whereas I had a Gin and Tonic before the meal and two glasses of red wine with the meal - courtesy of the Junior Grand Deacon, Chris. Sara finds it difficult driving my car as it is automatic and her eyes are not too good in the dark. We got home safely at around 11 p.m. having had a pleasant diversion from a usual Saturday evening in.

Some Food for Thought

It's nice to finish the week in Salisbury and the traffic going into Salisbury was quite light today. Before leaving home I hoisted the US flag in memory of those who lost their lives in the tragic events of 9/11 eight years ago. Eight years ago! It only seems like yesterday. Mary was only 9 months old too! How things have changed since that day. Nothing very remarkable happened at work today and I ate my home made sandwiches at my desk. I left work a little early and was home by 5.15 p.m. Sara went out tonight to Fordingbridge to present a Virgin Vie show at a former colleague's house. Quite successful by all accounts with more bookings later in the year. I spent the evening at Klynn's and Susan's with the children playing with their children. We had a Food for Thought planning meeting discussing many ideas for the outreach and worship needs of the community. We came up with a plan for the next five meetings until and including February 2010. I agreed to help organise "Bible Bingo and Bangers" for October - an evening of bingo with sausage and mash (and onion gravy) supper - and the February worship based on Jonah and the Whale. I also agreed that the House Group (probably to be renamed Study Group after our discussions tonight) would do a lot of praying for FFT. We had a gigantic Chinese supper and did most of our real thinking over this - washed down with rose wine spritzer. Truly "food for thought".

Deanery Synod and Pensions

In Salisbury again today with my colleague, Belinda, coming across from Dorking for a conference meeting in the afternoon on one of our health claims cases. The morning was spent in meetings with Serena looking at some employment contracts and dealing with some more drafting of letters. Lunch was a very hurried affair consisting of the sandwiches and yoghurts which Sara had packed. I did, however, manage to get to the bank before we started our meeting. I left the office at 5.30 p.m. and came home for a short while. Tom immediately started to talk about getting new TVs and Sky. Sara and I did say we would look into this but with so many other expenses recently it hasn't been top priority. I fear that more time will be taken up with staring at screens although I must admit I would like to have the convenience of watching top football on TV. Duncan can fit the cabling for the TVs in the Family Room and bedrooms although we may leave the cabling for Tom's room as that is the one that is likely to go if we extend the house as we are considering doing. Later this evening Sara and I researched the options for Sky and the TVs. I have left it for Sara to sort these things out. Tonight, having cancelled our house group, I attended a special meeting of the clergy and synod members at the Diocesan Education Centre off Devizes Road. Richard, Maxime and Debbie also attended. It was a presentation on the crisis affecting the clergy's current pension plan which is a non-contributory defined benefits scheme. There was a great deal of debate and the results will go before a special Synod Task Group. It was interesting to learn ho much the clergy receive as a stipend and the value placed on their free living accommodation. At a time when secular pension schemes are facing substantial changes, my own included, a group of us think that the clergy should not be buffered from these real challenges around them. No real conclusions were reached but the Task Group can take on board our thoughts and comments which, broadly, are that the defined benefits scheme should continue but with a substantial reviews to the way it is funded and the pension age.

England qualify for World Cup finals

I was in the middle of some strange but pleasant dream (how is it you can never remember the details of it after waking) when a distant very faraway alarm beep entered my ears. It seemed so eerie and I discovered that it was my mobile phone alarm which I had left on the lid of the piano downstairs last night. Obviously it was so piercing as to be heard all the way upstairs in our room. Having woken, I made tea and hoisted the St. George's flag to support our lads in white in their attempt, tonight, to beat Croatia and add their name to the growing list of World Cup finalists. England were also playing a one-day international cricket match at the Rose Bowl. I made my own packed lunch and set off for Dorking arriving at 9.20 a.m. A busy day with a teleconference in the morning and a 1:1 with my boss in the afternoon. Nothing difficult or controversial and I dealt with my workload speedily and efficiently (well at least I thought so!). I had a short break in the middle of the day when I caught the courtesy bus into Dorking town centre to put some money in the bank and also bought a book on ghost-hunting for Tom and Mary - they seem to be quite into ghosts at the moment but not sure how they would feel if they saw one (Sara says they don't exist but I have seen one in the past!). Before leaving work I went over to the Sports and Social Club for a farewell drink with another group of HR people who are leaving. It was good to see some old faces too - Mary, Jenny H, Caroline and some whose faces I recall but not the names! I had a lovely chat with Julie and the two Jennys (or should it be Jennies?) - C and H. On the way back home tonight I listened to the first twenty minutes of the match at Wembley and England scored two goals before I got home. Watching it on the TV, they scored another 3 before the final whistle blew. England qualify for the World Cup finals in South Africa next year with a 5-1 victory over Croatia. Of course, Tom wants to go to South Africa next year. Sorry Tom, not on my salary and with a pensioner to look after now!

Unexpected day in Salisbury

I was working in Salisbury today which was unexpected as I had planned to be in Dorking. Natalie in Claims had wanted to discuss a tricky case with me and it seemed sensible to meet in Salisbury rather than drive all the way to Dorking for a lengthy telephone conference with somebody in Salisbury. It was a very productive day and I managed to draft a Defence and several letters as well as preparing for my 1:1 with JH tomorrow. I also arranged with my secretary to fix up flights for Vicki and me to fly up to Manchester next Tuesday for meetings on a new case. It will be my first flying since the beginning of the year when I flew over to the Isle of Man a couple of times. I ate lunch at my desk - Sara had prepared my packed lunch for me today - and worked through. I rang Richard to see if he was free for a game of golf this evening - he was. We met up at Wilton a little after 5.30 p.m. and managed to play ten holes before the light became too dim. Richard played an extremely good half round of golf - me less well - but neither of us could be described as bad. My driving has improved but my putting needs to be worked on. We finished the evening having a couple of pints in the Lion's Head. Sara had a bad evening with the children as they seemed to be fighting the whole time. not sure she was too pleased that I was out relaxing.

Diversions

Up early this morning. I know that it seems crazy but I set the alarm for the unearthly hour of 5.30 a.m. so that I could have the illusion of having had a lie in when I got up at 6 a.m.! I was off to Dorking today and anticipated heavy traffic although the BBC News website announced this morning that traffic congestion is down by over 20% due to people becoming unemployed, or working from home to save money. Consequently fewer people are travelling. Despite this optimism I chose to take the route along the A31 which, from experience is usually the lightest on a Monday morning. Indeed, it was pretty light going until I reached Froyle where the road north had been blocked by an accident. My fellow commuters and I were diverted of the main road along narrow country lanes and past the Treloar private school and all its attendant traffic. Once back on to the A31 the journey was fairly plain sailing and I got into the office at 9.10 a.m. before many others. It was good catch up with colleagues in Dorking again but at lunchtime I chose to eat my sandwiches at my desk and went for a short stroll round by the station and the allotments. This evening I returned home by yet another circuitous route - a diversion to the south coast and Brighton! I was attending a Civic Lodge GPC meeting at The Stanley Arms in Portslade ("Unfortunately"). The meeting lasted an hour and a half and I came away lightly - nothing to do and no office to carry next year. I had been required for one simple office on the night of the Installation of the new Master on 12th October but I declined because Sara will be picking up Adam from Heathrow Airport that night and I may be required on childcare duties. I had a good journey home getting back at around 10.30 p.m. Sara and I watched a documentary on the events of September 11th 2001 through the lenses of different New Yorkers on that fateful day. Some surprising footage of the towers' collapse which I hadn't seen before. It seemed all the more terrifying and real when viewed through amateur photographer's eyes. Chilling in fact.

Another Typical Sunday

Sundays at home tend to follow a general pattern these days - church, lunch, gardening and other household chores. Today was not really an exception. We all attended the morning All Age Eucharist service where the family acted as sidespersons and I read the lesson - one of my favourite passages too - from James - no faith without deeds. The service was a little different with slides, DVDs and no hymn book or sheet. The theme of the service was an advertisement for the Back to Church Sunday which will take place on my birthday. Unfortunately I will not be there and will be attending Christ Church Toxteth Park, Liverpool on that day. It will be interesting to see how they do it. There was also a reference to the next Alpha Course which starts in October. Tom has agreed to deliver 200 leaflets to houses round about us. . Sara cooked us Cajun chicken for lunch and she then went out with the Tom and Mary to Tesco's for the weekly shop. I stayed behind and mowed the lawns. I also went to see one of the Parish Councillors who wanted my advice about buying and flying flags on the village flagpole which hasn't been used for some time. Seeing my pole and the variety of flags displayed from time to time he felt that the Council should at least fly the Union Flag and the Wiltshire County Flag. Whilst visiting him he gave me two carrier bags of damsons and tomatoes from his garden. Richard wasn't available to play golf this afternoon but as I was fearful of getting too rusty, not having play at all this week, I took myself off to Grateley and played 12 holes. My game was mixed with some really good tee shots but awful putting. I decided to use the time to try out some experimental shots especially using my 5 iron which really leaves my bag. I was pleased with the straightness of the shots using this club despite the windy conditions. Tom had gone off the Rockface when I returned and Mary was playing with the girls next door. Tonight I prepared for my trip to Dorking tomorrow and dealt with some paperwork. I also rang Mum who said she had a good time in Scarborough on Wednesday.

Another Disappointing Visit to St. Mary's/Wedding Bells

We didn't wake particularly early this morning - around 9 a.m. - with the sun shining for once. Sara and Mary went into town for Mary's dance lessons (she was due to start "tap" today) and I went into the village to get bacon for breakfast. Tom and I left for Southampton at around 12.30 p.m. to go to the Saints v. Colchester game. The traffic in and around Southampton was very heavy due to the football, Boat Show, two cruise liners, University open Day and shopping. We were fortunate, however, to park in our usual place by the old Carnival Cruise offices. The football was disappointing again with a final score of 0-0 despite Colchester being with only ten men for much of the match. Grimsby fared worse losing away at Port Vale 4-0. Andy who sits next to me at St. Mary's commented that he had seen my blog and I promised to mention him in it tonight. Their fortunes don't look good at the moment. We did, manage to get two tickets for the game at Carlisle on 26th September and Tom and I will be going up for that - stopping off at Liverpool en route. Tonight Susan looked after the kids whilst Sara and I went over to the Wylie Valley to attend an evening wedding function for another Susan and Tim. We met a number of our colleagues, both past and present, and spent around two hours chatting and eating from a light buffet. We returned home around 11.30 p.m. to watch a little TV and write the blog.

Another Farewell Dinner - at Hox

In Salisbury again today with back to back meetings for most of the day. Had lunch at the Avon Brewery pub with the Case Management team an briefly went to the bank to get some cash. Tonight I attend another farewell do for three HR members of staff at The Boathouse. Sara and Mary joined us for a couple of hours and it was good to meet up with Adrian and Stuart from earlier days. A group of us, including the three leavers, Adrian, Stuart and a few others went to Hox for an excellent Indian meal - I had a crab starter (very unusual) followed by a mixed tandoori platter - absolutely lovely. I drank only water as I had to drive back to Winterslow later. The evening went very quickly - we talked about old times with some great anecdotes and Stuart enjoyed being the object of attention with his revelation that he had just joined Facebook but only had one friend - my Sara! The topic of conversation generally concentrated on Facebook and a poll was taken to find that about 85% of the people at the table were on Facebook. A really lovely evening. I got back home at around 11.30 p.m. feeling very tired after an incredibly full day.

House Group Debate - Destruction of Temple at Jeruslaem

Awoke to a fairly miserable day, weatherwise, but the wind had quietened down from last night. I re-assembled the flagpole after having restored the halyard and hoisted the Union flag to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. A pretty full day in Salisbury today. The traffic was much heavier than I expected due to the schools in Laverstock being back. I had a heavy morning of work breaking at lunchtime for a quickly snatched curry lunch with Sara Bra. I did manage to get out for a short while to visit the bank in order to transact some important business there. More meetings this afternoon and more rain too! I finally left the office at around 5.45 p.m. getting home at just after 6.00 p.m. Sara had made a cake using the new cooker and Tom had used today to write up his French Visit project which he needs to take to school tomorrow. Interestingly, all the girls in his class had done their work in good time but all the boys, Tom included, had spent their final day of their holidays doing it! I have to say that it did look a good piece of work. Tonight, we only had Klynn for the House Group. We discussed Paul's life and work and in particular looked at Philippians. We also discussed the sacking of Jerusalem in 70AD trying to remember which Roman emperor had ordered its destruction - it was Vespasian. Our chat meandered a bit and we covered many topics. Maxime has indicated that she will give the House Group a rest and I must think of ways of getting some of the people back. Dawn did pop in briefly but as she was suffering from a bad cold decided not to stay. Sara was very tired tonight and she went up to bed at midnight leaving me to complete my blog.

A trip to Somerset and a new cooker

Another early morning start - this time to get off to Taunton for a meeting at 10 a.m. with my opposite number at another insurer who has been the victim of the same fraudster. I left home at around 7.30 a.m. in drizzling rain having first of all hoisted the Lancashire flag to mark the 40th birthday of our good friend Helga. I made toast - the cooker being disconnected to await the arrival of our new one. I stopped off at Ilminster for coffee at just after 9.00 a.m. having made good progress and arrived at my appointment in Taunton at 9.55 a.m. It was a good fruitful meeting which lasted until nearly 12.30 p.m. I stopped off for a quick lunch in McDonald's at Sparkford (where we had stopped as a family on the way to Spring Harvest in Minehead on one occasion) and arrived at our Salisbury office at around 2.15 p.m. - an excellent drive back. I had a further meeting at 3.00 p.m. with our claims assessors when I reported back on my meeting in Taunton and also discussed another couple of interesting cases. It rained heavily this afternoon and so my proposed game of golf with Richard had been be cancelled. Instead, I played some golf with Tom on his Weii. Thinking the cooker was still disconnected I went home via Porton to get a small Chinese takeaway for myself - Sara having taken the kids out for supper at the Hampton Park Inn. When we both retiurned we found that Duncan had been and wired in the new cooker. It looks very smart and we'll need to learn how to use it. The wind and rain were lashing down this evening and I dismantled the flag pole before any damage could be done. Unfortunately the halyard parted company and I will need to re-thread it through the finial holes tomorrow morning before I re-erect it and hoist the Union flag to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the declaration of war. The halyard is current dangling from our landing rails to dry out - as is the Lancashire flag. Tonight I paid the final balance of our hotel booking for our second week on Paradise Island, Bahamas. We had hoped to spend two weeks in the apartment but no one is giving up their apartments during the week we wanted it and so whilst we will have the first week in ours we will need to vacate it for the second week and move into the Comfort Suites. At least we will still have the use of the Atlantis facilities and the free breakfasts in the morning. We know the hotel well so will feel quite at home.

Evening with Stonehenge

I was woken by my own alarm on my mobile phone at 6.00 a.m. today. Finally getting up at 6.30 a.m. I made tea and checked my e-mails before hoisting the Wiltshire flag on our pole. I left home at just before 8 a.m. and was in the office in Salisbury by about 8.15 a.m. Despite being the first day after the Bank Holiday and the beginning of September, things seemed to remain quite quiet today and I was able to get on with a number of usual "end of month" tasks. The weather was changeable and I chose the moment for the heavens to open when I slipped into town to buy a new belt from M&S. I did manage to get back without getting too wet though. I worked through until around 5.45 p.m. and having changed arrived at Freemason's Hall for the Stonehenge Chapter Meeting. It was an enjoyable meeting, especially as I had only the smallest part to play in the ceremony. Dinner consisted of mushroom soup, steak pie and vegetables, peaches and ice cream and cheese and biscuits with coffee. I arrived home at around 10.30 p.m. Duncan had removed our cooker ready for Tesco's to deliver our new one tomorrow. Sara was watch "A is for Acid" a docu-drama with Martin Clunes starring as the acid-bath serial murderer, John Haigh, who committed his crimes in Crawley and was kept at Horsham Police Station before being convicted at Lewes Assizes, sentenced and executed. Off to Taunton tomorrow for a meeting with my opposite number at another large insurer.