Well, in the event it was a much better year for me personally than last year, although of course a year marred by ongoing terrorist and insurgent activity, and four massive natural disasters. It’s hard to know how to sum up 2005. A year of jolly hard work, to be sure, and plenty of work trips, to the exciting climes of Oxford, Edinburgh, and Nottingham. I’m completely settled in my job now, which is good, even though my contract is up in only 18 months. Ben just keeps getting more and more fun to be with – we spent today […]

Eeek – just bought a new car. Well, that is it’s a new car for us.. ’tis actually 3 years old, but with only 10k on the clock. We didn’t particularly want to have to buy one yet, but our poor Punto is ailing, and the good lady needs a reliable car for work. This is actually the first time I’ve bought a car – although I paid for at least half the Punto, A. did the actual buying. This time it’s me (and in an interesting reversal, she’s paying for it). It’s going to be very sad driving the […]

Yum – went for sushi today, at Little Tokyo in town. I opted for the sashimi bento, which was a new experience on both counts. I must admit that raw fish (and jellyfish) has never been near the top of my “food I want to eat” list, but you’ve got to try these things. I was actually quite impressed – really very tasty, and the whole bento box thing in general is a top plan. The restaurant itself was fine – we ate downstairs, but there was a huge fishtank against one wall, which looked a bit like a window […]

Funny how it goes – have a period of going weeks between entries, and then suddenly end up doing almost one a day for a bit. As I said yesterday, it’s been an exciting time – we were at Biscaya Bay in town last night, which was fab. I had a lovely duck main, and then what is probably their speciciality for pudding – namely a trio of creme brulee. But these are no ordinary creme brulee, oh no – how about lemon, raspberry, and thyme(!) creme brulee? Truly wonderful creations, and the thyme one is a lot nicer than […]

Well, it’s that time of year. Actually not all my whirls have been social – I spent a good part of this week in Edinburgh with work, although that did involve two rather nice evenings out. I had hoped to catch GoF, but the timings at the cinema didn’t really fall that way. So last night was dinner with friends. Tonight is the better half’s work meal. Monday is house group Christmas social. Tuesday is my work Christmas lunch!! I don’t know if I’ll want to ever see another glass of mulled wine and/or mice pie again. Actually, that’s not […]

I’m feeling very virtuous, because I am almost entirely ready for Christmas. Going to post the last batch of cards this afternoon (plus a couple of birthday presents), then buy the last couple of pressies on my way home. A. is out this evening, which means I should be able to get them all wrapped too. I’ve got this afternoon off work, to do some bits and pieces, and I’m hoping I’ll be finished in enough time to go shopping in town. Then all that I’ve got to do is to ice the Christmas cake (already done the marzipan). The […]

Should probably explain Friday’s entry. 🙂 A. was out at a party with a whole bunch of church friends, and the Mick in question asked her what I was up to – would I be sitting in front of the computer? She said I would be, but that I would doing some work (which was true), and Mick didn’t believe her… He then went on to generally assert that I spend a lot of time on the computer, which isn’t true either; although if I ever get an evening to myself, it’s another matter. He asked what I could possibly […]

I gather my fanbase has increased by one. Welcome aboard, Mick. 🙂

So I’m hopefully having a day trip to Bristol early next year, and assuming I want to be there from 11 until 4, my options are: Methods and costs of travelling from Harrogate to Bristol Method Journey time(each way) Leave/Return Approx Cost(pounds) Drive Around 4 hours Leave: 07.00 Back: 20.00 40 Train 4 Hrs 40mins Leave: 05.45 Back: 22.00 135 Train 2 Overnight stay Leave: 17.00 day before Back: 21.43 110-120 Fly 1hr 10 mins Leave: 06.45 Back: 20.30 50 The timings column is the timing of the major transport leg, and the clock times are the times I physically […]

There seem to be plenty of sites around and about on “How to blog”; talking about what a blog should and shouldn’t be, how to attract readers, and so on… Some go so far as to compare a blog to a newspaper – “You must post every day”! For me, this ‘blog’ has always been about me keeping a record of my own thoughts and events, primarily for my benefit, although those who know me may be interested, I guess. I don’t think this is selfish – I don’t have the time or energy to maintain a “public service” or […]