The Missing Picture!

Regular readers will have read of my chagrin (I like that word) earlier this week when I bemoaned not having my camera to capture a funny roadside advertisement.
Well it is still there, obviously no one has told them yet (tee hee) and today I had my camera with me

Holiday Over

Sigh! It's back to work this morning after 12 days off (including weekends) and already it feels tough and I haven't even left the house!!
It has been a great Christmas break with loads of free time to do just nothing or more to the point just whatever I wanted to do. I have managed some significant guitar practice time and feel at last as though I might be beginning to take control over the beast rather than the other way round. Tonight's lesson, the first for 2 weeks, will probably burst that bubble :-)
I was glad to hear over the past couple of days that the threatened BAA strike for Monday has been called off. That means I can stick to my original travel plan for the U.S. and not have to use up my Sunday for travelling. I hope that the tentative agreement reached with the unions will result in the cancellation of the other day's strikes planned as one of those also coincides with a U.S. travel plan of mine. I think it is sad that the unions feel compelled to take up this as a crusade. After all their members will have their current pension rights protected and any new starters will simply have a new scheme which they can choose to accept or not as condition of new employment. This is no more than happens with thousands of other new starters in many different walks of life and it is a straightforward fact of life that final salary schemes are simply not affordable any more.

Christmas Review

OK so the holiday period in the UK is not quite over as my company closes down for the holiday from Christmas to New Year, but with other folks already returning to work and the remaining days feeling like little more than a long weekend, I thought it was time to look back over the holiday.

Overall, it was a really good Christmas for me. I went to my youngest son’s last weekend to stay with them for one night on my way to collect my 86 y/o mother and bring her back home to celebrate with us.

On Christmas Day we went to Essex to spend the day with Mrs DeeJay’s sister and family – 9 of us all together. It was a little bit hectic as we stayed at home in the morning and opened our presents and then drove the 40 something miles to be with them until very late that evening, getting home again at nearly midnight. The following couple of days were spent being very lazy at home and spending some quality time with my Mother and Mrs DeeJay’s son who also came home for the holiday but had to return to work on Thursday.

Yesterday Mrs DeeJay, my mother and I went to Bluewater shopping mall to primarily exchange presents that did not fit etc, but as you may have expected with two women in tow, we spent a considerable time looking at the Sale goods (clothing of course!). The day was a mix of feelings for me as it was the first time my mother has needed the use of a wheelchair to get around and it instantly brought home to me how frail she has become in the last 12 months. It also brought back memories of pushing my father around the shops in a wheelchair 25 years ago before his untimely and very young death.

I have had a very musical Christmas this year with several albums from Gordon Giltrap to Muddy Waters and Howlin’Wolf as well as Wishbone Ash, The Scissor Sisters, Gary Moore, Billy Idol and – shall I admit to this one – Kylie Minogue (including the DVD).

In addition, Mrs DeeJay having become fed up with my incessant questioning “who’s that then” whenever a track begins playing on the radio, bought me a quiz game ‘Spot the Intro’ which we have played several times over the holiday. And yes, I have upheld my champion title throughout!!

Oh well although I still have 3 days left, one of which will be spent driving the 500 mile round trip to take my mother home, I suppose my attention will slowly turn back towards work and a planned tough year ahead. The first hurdle to jump is the threatened BAA strike for 7^th January which is the day I am supposed to be travelling to the U.S. I hope that it is averted as the only alternative I have is to try to get my tickets changed to travel on the Sunday.

Happy Christmas

Whether it is your religion or not, whether you live in a country that celebrates this Christian festive season or not, I wish all who read this blog a Very Happy Christmas and all the very best wishes for the coming new year