The beginning of the end?

Went to a meeting this morning to tell us about the restructuring of our jobs. 13 of us will be leaving, one way or another. Whilst there is no certainty who will stay or who will leave, my job is in what they are calling 'The Pool'. We will be allocated new roles within the new structure by a committee and we are free to apply for any three jobs. We are all a little bit thunder  struck right now but I may get something out of it - or I might be too old and get redundancy.

The little liar.........

I have spent a goodly part of today chasing a Sharepoint job only to find that, somehow, it was reporting two different facts for one group. The group, I was told, did exist but the same checksum reported that the students who should have been in it were not and it also claimed, on the same screen, that the group was not available to be added. Totally confused, I spoke to the web team and got the boss who kindly checked it out for me, got the same results and said he would ring me back. A full hour later, he got back to me to say he had managed to delete the whole mess and had re-built it from scratch. So, problem solved from my point of view but now it passes to the web team to try and find out what the heck happened to cause it in the first place. Good luck guys!

Whoops!

And I slid into a new office, just like that.

It's only for a couple of weeks but it still came as a bit of a shock this morning. It's all down to a shift in staff and some leave being taken before the end of August. It seems that I was the only ACO who was able to move, yeah, right! To be fair, I am the logical choice but it would have been nice to have been forewarned a bit.

Another Monday.............

and back to work. Pathetic title, I know, but all that comes to mind at present.

It was an interesting weekend with visits from Lulu,Ian and Corey on Sunday, Trying out my new(ish) camera in the sun for the first time and having a quiet day on Saturday apart from shopping. Russ has the lurgi so he couldn't chat on Saturday evening, indeed he was finding it difficult on the phone when he told me in the afternoon. Corey is now walking, just, and takes great delight in tottering around and grunting his appreciation that he is now mobile. After dropping everyone back home on Sunday, Hazel and I went on to the Hoe and that's when I tried the camera. On full zoom, I have some very sharp images. I admit to using the tripod and remote release but that was simply common sense. These aren't meant to be anything special, just some tests that have worked really well.

The two boats where taken at full 30x zoom but the view of the lighthouse was pulled back somewhat. The sail boat is passing in front of Drakes Island, the motor boat is returning to the Barbican and Smeatons tower is currently undergoing some TLC in readiness for the visitors this summer. My camera is a Fuji HS20 and I had it mounted on a Manfroto tripod and used a remote release in order to have no vibration transferred to the camera.

In order to see the full resolution of these images, left click on one and it will open in a new window at full size.

I must remember.....

this isn't supposed to be a blog for you, it's for me. This is my diary and my intention is to have a record of my day to day life to look back on as I get older and to pass on to my children and grandchildren after I'm gone. Now, you may think that is pretentious rubbish but, how I wish I had a diary of this sort from my father, grandfather and so on. So, apropos to that, I am happy to report that Hazel did return home on Tuesday after a wonderful break in Cyprus and she is also happy she  is back home.

My cousins and I have been researching our family for quite a long time and with one ancestor in particular, we had a very solid brick wall. Henry was a complete mystery to us. We weren't even sure if we had his name correct. Well, I finally found him last week and we now have his date of birth and what he looked like. Sometimes, the smallest things can be magnificent. Thank you National Archives.

A worrying trend?

Probably, I'm not the only one who, regarding the upsetting situation in France at the moment, is seeing parallels between real life and some of the more plausible spy / police novels. It's almost as if a Jeffrey Deaver story has been transplanted to Toulouse. I enjoy reading that form of slightly over the top story but when it comes to the real world it's not so pleasant is it?

In a different way, the heart condition that has affected Bolton Wanderers footballer Fabrice Muamba has also affected large numbers of us. In my own case, I lost a friend to something similar about 30 years ago and, of course, I also suffer from a heart condition of my own.

What a pain in the............

eye.

I woke early this morning with something in my eye. At first I thought it was an eyelash turned in but it gradually dawned on me that, as it was moving around, it was probably a small half brick! By lunchtime, it was hurting so much that I took myself off to the Eye Infirmary. I had to wait until nearly three this afternoon to be seen by a nurse practitioner but then I was sorted out quickly. I had a speck of something on my eye and under my eyelid and it has also scratched the surface. I now have some goo to help the healing and a different type of artificial tears to combat the dryness. I have also discovered that I am more prone to dryness than most because of my job and my arthritis. Growing old is truly wonderful. On a more positive note, Hazel is due back in the UK today and should be home tomorrow and I, for one, can't wait.

Sorted!

A good evenings work yesterday, booked the builder, booked the boiler check and managed a brief conversation with Hazel. I also saw the first episode of 'Alcatraz' on Watch, very good. The cats went mad this morning, chasing each other around the house and then chasing themselves as well, it must be spring. The missing motor shield also arrived yesterday which was also good. In addition to all of this good stuff, I have finally begun to collect some information about my great, great, great grandfather who was lost at sea in 1856. The National Archives have opened up the Merchant Naval Seaman lists to us and I was able to see his date of birth, his registration number and description and also his voyages up to 1851 when he appears to have been the skipper of the boat. There must be more in there but it will cost me so I will tread carefully from now on. All in all, Tuesday was kewl.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes it's worth spending £14.50

I began using the studio in a box thing today and very good it is too. I have replaced all of the pictures in the wiki with new ones taken by me of only my own components and they are amazingly good. Focus is almost perfect and all are well lit. I can heartily recommend the concept of the white fabric box.

Struck down in me prime............

again! Yet another cold has walloped me. I know why I'm so vulnerable, but why do I keep picking up the bug in the first place? The lack of any palliative options is the real killer as far as I'm concerned. If I could only have a Lemsip or Night Nurse or, really, anything at all other than Tunes and Paracetamol. rant over.
Hazel is off with Trish for a happy week in Cyprus and Sal is coming for the weekend and bringing one of her flatmates with her for a break. I might have the weekend off from the family as well but no-one has yet said anything to me.

She who must be obeyed

has shown an interest in this diary so I have sent her the link to it. Whilst, in principle, I'm all in favour of the light of my life reading this. I worry that she might demand, or worst still 'suggest', changes to already written posts. Please don't dear. As it's the first time my wife has shown any interest at all in my online presence, I feel quite honoured that she is even condescending to read this. I will report back when the reviews are in.