Barrys Blog

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Dreaming of Weston tonight...


Strange title I know but unless your'e a fan of Martyn Joseph you won't know the significance of it .. anyway its Thursday the 30th Novemebr and I am sitting in the Holiday Inn hotel in Glasgow not through choice you understand but rather through neccessity as I am working up here for 2 and a bit days. Thought it was time for a short blog as I haven't been too good on the blogging front recently but then again there hasn't been much to say. If I'm honest I would say that i'm still in the post holiday depression period and the fact that I have a second cold doesn't help either.

But it's the weekend soon and this Saturday Carol and I are off to London for the day. Mainly shopping that will include Harrods Hamleys and some of the other chrismassy stores. The opportunity to get a few last minute pressies and buy a few that we didn't even think of. The other good part id the fact that we have the weekend to ourselves i.e no trips to the Outlaws (last weekend) or anything else so it should be good.

Cheered ourselves up a little this week by booking a long weekend in Cornwall in March - 3 nights in Watergate bay and a meal at Jamie Oliver's restaurant - nice....

Back to the pressie problem I still don't know if I have got all of the pressies that I need to get I always want to buy Carol that extra pressie but don't know what to get - so if the Blog Totty read this I would appreciate you input on this.

Christmas id going to be good this year - the present run is taking place on the weekend of the 16th December so that leaves us free for a Christmas on our own - yipee!!! On holiday from the 22nd until the 2nd Jn and I might take a few extra days on top of this just for good measure.

Still need to find some more interesting things to do during these dark nights and wet days though...

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Return From our Holidays

Hi,
it's been some time since I last blogged and it's well overdue for a brief report of our holiday experiences. You can see the photographs on our web site - in fact they are the only photos there at the moment as I have temporarily run out of space on my site and I am waiting to get this increased to 250MB.

Anyway, as I write this we have been back at work a few weeks now and starting to rely on the photos and memories to remind us what a fantastic time we had. The highlights of the holiday were the visit to Macchu Picchu and every moment of our time in Galapagos. It's difficult even now to properly explain the feeling of seeing all of those animals, birds and reptiles so close and so tame. My regret is that I didn't walk the Inca Trail instead we did it the cheats way and took the train. Although this was very good the reports from people actually walking the trail makes me want to do it next time (perhaps in the next few years) when it is the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere as the alignment of the rising sun through some of the buildings is very interesting

The photos just don't do justice to the spectacle. On the subject of photos I continue to be disappointed by the relatively poor quality of the printed photo versus the on screen shots. Granted they provide a permanent and more easily transportable rendering of the image but they don't really work as well for me.

Back to the holiday and the only downside was the traveling as I think we used every available means of transport - sometimes all in the same day. This was a little tiring sometimes but worth it. We have decided that we need to wait a few months before choosing next years holiday as it may be influenced by the desire to avoid long haul flights etc and this might mean that we choose something shorter (but less exotic) for next year.

We are getting perilously close to Xmas now and the subject of suitable presents is raising its head. Carol, enthused by her photographic exploits on holiday has opted for a new P&S camera a Canon A640 which has been chosen, purchased but not to be used until the 25th. I simply don't know what to have so I intend to keep the present as credit until there is something that I really want - which may be the next incarnation of the 20D, if there is sufficient reason in the technical specs (12 MP please Mr Canon and a full sized sensor that accommodates the existing lenses I have) for me to change. It's not likely to be cheap however but I'm saving now.

Work is busy and it's making it difficult to take leave at the moment with the next major break scheduled for Xmas. I have had time over the weekend to repair my heater on the car though and this has been very welcome in view of the cold weather we have had recently. Now need to turn my attention to the air conditioning system which has a suspected leaking condenser.

Sailing is over for the year now I guess and it will soon be time to drag the boat back home to carry out some running repairs and some TLC. In particular I have to exercise my metalworking skills on converting my launch trailer and road trailer into a combi trailer - should be easy enough ?

that's probably it for now...