I am having to write this in February as my web software decided to eat my web site just before Christmas. The software also refused to load the three backup files so I had to start again from scratch. To add insult to injury the software then decided to place the same files on every one of my pages - just as I finished recreating the site. This was enough to make me buy Dreamweaver v3 which I should have bought in the first place !. More unnecessary expense but at least I now have the "best" html editor on the market. I cannot really advertise myself as a "webmaster" if my clients sites keep going awol.
Christmas and New year were celebrated in style, the usual excesses of food & drink by all and sundry but very enjoyable.I had to attend a course at the Met Office College in Shinfield (Reading) as part of my new job.
This was a journey back in time as I did my Army apprenticeship (1969) at Arborfield which is just down the road. I did have a drive around and was pleased to see that all the old wooden "spider" buildings have been demolished and replaced with far more suitable accomodation. I needed the course to qualify as a met observer for air traffic control which is part of my job at the range. It was very strange to be back in the classroom, especially as the majorority of the other students were about 19 years old. Thankfully we all managed to pass and I then spent another week at RAF Lossiemouth to work with proffessional met observers.I popped into BAS between "courses" and was quite amused when my ex-boss asked if I wanted my old job back. Tempted ? - nah.
About a week later I went on holiday to Fuerteventura (Canary Is.) to complete the days out of the country for my tax claim. Travelling from the highlands is not easy and I had to leave at 3.30 am on saturday morning to catch the 2 pm flight from Gatwick. I booked the holiday through the internet and Airtours. The problems started when we were dumped at the hotel and realised that the good beaches were in the north and south. We were in the middle of the island. There were other problems with our hotel, food etc but it's not really worth wingeing any more. Enough to say that I cannot recommend the Island and will not use Airtours again.
Anyway the good side was we had great weather (max 28C) and I met some good people. Maybe they will keep in touch (Mo, Marc & Ruth - hint).So it's all back to normal now. I do not intend to do any more travelling which will upset Mastercard as they are happy to collect interest from me.
The priority is to get the new house designed so that work can start around June/July. I need to complete the new wing before next winter so that I will have somewhere a bit more practical to live. It will also provide a storage area so that I can move out of the old building and demolish it. I am going to be very short of funds so will probably end up building most of it myself.
