For most
of the day we both got our heads down and worked. Ness had set
herself up on the landing while I was in the study. We downed tools
in the afternoon and whizzed round to make everything ready for our
visitors – Sven and Sue with their two daughters, Nina and Madi. We
haven’t seen them for years. They had spent a week in the Highlands,
somewhere around Pitlochry, and we had been trying to figure out how
best to meet up. A visit at ours on their way back home was the best
arrangement. They arrived around seven o’clock. There was still
plenty of daylight and we made the most of it to go out for a walk
to the harbour. This also gave Ness the opportunity to finish off
dinner. It was cold and windy by the harbour, in contrast to the
sheltered street by our house. Sven, Sue and their kids were easy
company and we had a nice relaxing evening. After dinner downstairs
it was time for the two girls to head for bed and they temporarily
were tucked in the guest bedroom, while we talked in the lounge and
enjoyed the fire.
Sat 5
Apr
After a
tasty breakfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on bagels, I
drove to Gullane with Sven to buy some nice bread and cakes from
Falko’s. We went out for a walk and climbed the Law. The day had
started bright and clear but some clouds moved in later on. The wind
direction was from the north and it was cold, especially at the top.
Back home we had a buffet-style lunch and then it was time for our
guests to start their long drive back home, to Harpenden. They are
planning a vacation to Canada, with a part of it spent “RV’ing” and
were keen to have some of our travel insights. The maps came out and
of course we were more than happy to oblige! After they left we
quickly tidied up and then relaxed. It had been great to see them
again.
Sun 6
Apr
After a
nice lazy morning we drove into town and visited the Museum of
Scotland in the afternoon. We started with a bite of lunch in the
impressive central hall, light and airy, with its delicate columns
and glass roof. The most impressive part of the museum collection
itself was the Ivy Wu gallery with objects from Japan, Korea and
China. The exhibition had been funded by a local Chinese businessman
and multi-millionaire as a present for his wife, Ivy. There were all
sorts of objects, but one collection that attracted my attention was
the calligraphy, which combined both Chinese and Arabic writing,
such as a large Chinese character which was composed of much smaller
Arabic writing. We also took a look at the Scottish history wing but
found the exhibition rather lacking. Still, it was a nice way to
spend an afternoon. Back in North Berwick we headed for the spa and
had a nice soak and steam, and then returned home to get our bags
ready, and Ness made a tasty lasagne for dinner. I got a nice
crackling fire going and we had another go at watching Michael
Clayton.
Mon 7
Apr
A cold
morning and an early start. To the airport and on our respective
flights. Rest of the day spent working at DVLA. At the end of the
day I drove into Swansea to post card for Greg’s birthday. Evening
in my hotel room.
Tue 8
Apr
Day at
DVLA. Evening in hotel room.
Wed 9
Apr
Day at
DVLA. Evening in hotel room.
Thu 10
Apr
Morning
at DVLA. Travelled back home, the usual routine.
Fri 11
Apr
I headed
into Edinburgh and worked at the IBM office for the day. It was good
to be in my “normal” office for a change, and to see some “familiar”
faces, some of whom asked where I had been, which felt good. At the
end of the day Ness came into town to meet up and we went to see an
excellent and beautifully shot film, There will be blood, at the Vue
cinema. It was in “gold class”.
Sat 12
Apr
We had a
lazy day at home. Neither of us could muster the energy or
motivation to do something active and we just spent the day at home,
fiddling with stuff. Nice to have a lazy day but it was perhaps a
bit too lazy!
Sun 13
Apr
Another
lazy day at home. We had fully intended to go out for a day’s walk
somewhere. Original plans were to head for somewhere like the
Trossachs or the Lammermuir hills, but plans were gradually
downgraded, to a walk at St. Abb’s Head, still a very decent outing,
and then downgraded further to a beach walk at Ravensheugh or even
just locally, and in the end we only made it out for a brief stroll
down to the harbour. Even so, just sitting on the rocks at the end
and looking out at the North Sea was very welcome fresh air and it
cast our minds back to how we had been sat here a year ago,
pondering what the future held. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to
the spa. For dinner we had Anderson’s excellent bratwurst, from the
supply in the freezer, with cous-cous, veggies, etc. Unfortunately
the night’s rest was disturbed by a noisy drunk guest of the
Blenheim House hotel across the road who, at one o’clock, demanded
loudly and rudely to be let in and got angrier and angrier. This
disturbed our peaceful sleep and in turn got our tempers flaring up.
The street “entertainment” is now becoming a major downside. I
simply can’t ignore the noise outside and in turn this – my
inability to simply block it out - upsets Ness and it leads to a bad
atmosphere all round. I do remember having concerns about this
potential problem last year before we bought this house but I guess
we were simply to keen to see the positives only and were under so
much pressure to buy something, anything, before our tenancy of
Douglas Court was up. The nightly street crowds, the inadequate
bathroom, and the “house of two halves” are the biggest problems.
Anyway.
Mon 14
Apr
Early
start. We drove to the airport, checked in and boarded our
respective flights. Rest of day at DVLA and evening in hotel room.
Tue 15
Apr
Day at
DVLA. Evening in hotel room. Ness ditto.
Wed 16
Apr
Day at
DVLA. Evening in hotel room. Ness ditto.
Thu 17
Apr
Day at
DVLA. I had to go to an off-site workshop and made my excuses at one
o’clock as we conveniently broke for lunch, and drove to Cardiff
airport and made my way back home. Ness did the same from Brighton
and we met up at Edinburgh airport, a steady routine by now, and
made our way home. We had intended to go the spa but it was out of
order, maintenance repairs or something, and instead we headed home
and cooked a tasty dinner.
Fri 18
Apr
I headed
into Edinburgh to work at the office while Ness worked at home.
During the morning Julian Frostwick, our architect, came round to
take detailed measurements, for the plans. Meanwhile, at the office
I went along to the Scottish Technical Community meeting. As
expected, there was only a small number of people, but I was glad I
went and met some new faces. Two presentations, the first was on
“University Relations” and the second was on Blu(e?)pedia.
Afterwards lunch at the All-Bar-One on George Street. The afternoon
flew by, or rather I let it get filled up with inane admin. Ness
came into town to meet up and we went to see a film at the Vue
cinema – just can’t remember what the film was called now…
Sat 19
Apr
We did
”stuff” today, clearing up around the house, etc. Much needed, and
it certainly looked better for it afterwards. Ness had decided I was
cooking dinner and had gently chivvied me along to work out what I
was going to cook. Between us we picked some recipes from Madhur
Jaffrey’s cooking books. In the afternoon I made a start at around
four o’clock and methodically prepared the various dishes, giving
myself enough time. First I did the green beans dish as this could
be reheated later. Then I started something else, and so on. I had
failed to notice that the desiccated coconut needed about an hour’s
time to soak though. We went out for a walk to the harbour and sat
on one of the benches on the rocks, enjoying the fresh air. Back
home I continued with the cooking while Ness was busy around the
house. In the end it was around nine or ten o’clock before I had
finished cooking, but it was a success! I did lamb with fennel and
coconut, a super-tasty basmati rice dish, full of ghee, and a
refreshing yet fiery raita, along with the green beans., and some
chapattis.
Sun 20
Apr
In the
morning Ness went to the spa for a beauty treatment thing. This
worked out in our favour as it meant we were both up and awake
earlier than we would otherwise have been on lazy Sunday morning. We
packed our daypacks and gathered warm hats and gloves and drove down
to St. Abb’s Head for a walk. It was a clear-ish day, bright and
fresh but a bit overcast. We had a great walk and doing it for a
second time allowed us to appreciate what a lovely walk this is –
not too long but still a good length to stretch your legs, with
stunning sea views for most of the time, walking along the clifftop
path, and with the feeling of being out in the hills on the rugged
landscape. At the same time it’s an easy walk along a well-defined
path. At the end we stopped for lunch and a well-deserved pint at
The Anchor Inn in Coldstream. They had wild boar roast on the menu –
rather like roast pork but a bit darker. Drove back home and we
still had the best part of the day left. We washed the cars, both
covered in bird pooh (parked under the tree on our drive).
Afterwards we simply relaxed, watched The Searchers on DVD (I
think), lit a fire, etc. A lovely day.
Mon 21
Apr
Early
start, off to the airport and on our respective flights. Day a the
DVLA. I’m enjoying the work and the project but have that feeling
I’m drifting a bit, not really sure of what I’m supposed to be
doing, or rather not really getting on with it. I keep telling
myself that it is very straightforward and all I need to do is to
make myself a clear to-do list, get organised, and get on with it.
Somehow I just seem to find it all very complex and keep finding
excuses to waste time on stuff that isn’t important. For now I’m
able to look and sound convincing, but I’m aware that at some stage
soon I ought to produce a “thing”, a “deliverable” and not just
spend time talking to people, sitting in meetings, etc. Anyway, I
had therefore organised a “workshop” for tomorrow to get people
together to talk about “business volumes”. At the end of the day I
drove to the Marriott again, checked in, as usual, and settled into
my room. I have a little routine for that too. I don’t even mind too
much, even though I do protest about not being at home, which I
guess just shows how quickly you get used to something, but I have
to remind myself of the lifestyle that we could be having, anyway…
Tue 22
Apr
Day at
DVLA. The “workshop” resulted in, well, a flipchart page with some
scribbles on it. Evening in hotel room.
Wed 23
Apr
Day at
DVLA. I made sure I ran round looking purposefully, carrying a
notepad and finding reasons to go and talk to people. It was useful,
although if I were more in command of the subject matter and more
organised. Afternoon full of meetings, and mostly I sat in them,
nodded my head and tried to look intelligent and involved but in
practice they didn’t really affect me all that much as it was mostly
about plans and planning. In the evening Mama called to let me know
that Mischa had given birth to a little girl: Florence Lucy. I’m
really pleased for Mischa and with a little sister for Woody they
are now a “complete” family. I hope that one day we will have kids
too, although I’m now beginning to suspect it’s too late and won’t
happen without a concerted effort, rather than the “if it happens,
it happens” attitude we seem to have. The risk for Ness’s health is
now probably the main factor against it.
Thu 24
Apr
Morning
at DVLA.
Fri 25
Apr
?
Sat 26
Apr
?
Sun 27
Apr
?
Mon 28
Apr
We had
our usual early morning start and headed for the airport to catch
our respective flights. Ness caught her flight to Gatwick and I went
to get mine. From Heathrow I caught a cab to the IBM office at
Bedfont, on the outskirts of the airport, and worked from a hot-desk
location for most of the day. Tried to get my head around Andy
Robinson’s “RUMPUS” performance model, a complicated spreadsheet
exercise. Then I caught my booked taxi to the Radisson Edwardian
hotel, close to the airport. I was there too early for the
conference and went to my room and did stuff for a while, before
coming downstairs for the “welcome and keynote speech”. I did think
about trying to visit Mischa and Greg but it was obvious that it was
only going to be possible as a late evening whistle-stop visit.
Tue 29
Apr
First day
of the CBM-BPM-SOA Learning Week. Rather boring sessions, and not
much “service orientation” in it, just some general stuff about
architecture/solution design. Nice to meet some new colleagues
though. I had a brief drink with a few of them in the evening but
retired early and had dinner in my room, especially as I could feel
that after one beer my tongue was beginning to loosen.
Wed 30
Apr
Day two
of the CBM-BPM-SOA Learning Week. A day full of sessions and
breakouts, but I found it of very little use. Trundled between
sessions and coffee/lunch breaks, and in the evening I kept to
myself and had dinner in my room. Rain and noisy planes outside.
