I acutely realise that I’ve been silent for some days.
The ISEB course at my former place of employment (and current place of consulting) went well. The delegates were attentive, intelligent, and motivated. Thus I believe that they all passed the course. Now for Wales next week.
Something that the sadist in me wants to point out is that this last week was the first time in more than a year that I’ve worked a 5-day week. Three days of ISEB, Thursday at the Qbit software testing conference, and Friday back at the ISO9001 consulting. I felt gutted, although it is mostly psychological. Once I get a permanent job (sometime in the new year I’m likely to be recruited by a chum’s software testing tool company as a full-time consultant) and start doing 5 days a week again, it’ll be OK.
Worse than the 5-day week was the fact that I was on my feet for most of the workday Monday through Thursday. My legs felt like jelly after a while and I had to haul myself in and out of chairs as much as possible. The main presenter (who was doing technical walkthroughs at our stand on Thursday) hardly got enough time to sit down, eat, or have a Tic-Tac. I expect that he remained silent the rest of the week. I don’t know how teachers stay on their feet talking for 40 weeks of the year.
Yesterday I had lots of things to do. I’m getting my other laptop (a Dell) ready to take to Wales with me. So I have been getting it ready to roll with various pieces of software, the coursework for ISEB, the wireless mouse, and the like. I had to send a cheque to the person who presented at Deanery Synod on Monday for his expenses. I had to order my ticket to Wales andpick it up at Paddington Station. I needed to pick a parcel up at the post office. I need to get a cable for my network switch (didn’t get around to that one). So I’ll unpick some of this.
The parcel was “The Complete New Yorker”. From 1970 until 1994, I was an avid reader of The New Yorker. However, the foreign subscription was a bit too pricey for me. However, getting all the copies of The New Yorker from 1925 to last February on DVD for $197 (a bit less than £100) was just too tempting. I bought it and it arrived this week. I can’t wait to get my teeth into it. I miss it.
Deanery Synod on Monday elected Richard as Treasurer. We haven’t had a functioning treasurer for years, so it was a relief when he volunteered after the last meeting. He told us that he was recovering from cancer, and that his chemotherapy would be going on through October. After that he would be OK. On Monday, while we were electing him Treasurer, Richard suffered a reaction to the chemotherapy: a massive stroke that has placed him in a persistent vegetative state. He’s not expected to live. I am gutted: he was a very good man, a doer, and someone who would have been a good asset to the Deanery.
Update: Richard died Sunday morning at 11:10.
We decided to take a bus to Paddington yesterday to pick up the ticket I had ordered that morning. There are “FastTicket” machines available there to pick the ticket up. However, I had to try four before I got one that would work. One thought it was another kind of machine and wanted me to put my card into the (non-existent) slot it was pointing to below the screen (while the real slot was to the right). Another one thought it was selling a ticket, not picking one up. The third one wouldn’t read my card, and then the fourth one finally, kind-of, worked. I went to pick up my tickets and found that only the outgoing one was in the tray. A bit more investigation showed that the return ticket was still sticking out of the printer above the slot, and hadn’t actually dropped into the tray. I think that others may have had the same problem as there was a receipt in the tray from a previous user of the machine.
After this we walked to Whiteley’s at Queensway, an indoor mall, where we bought nothing except a coffee but enjoyed walking around. I tried to find an interesting book for the cold nights in Wales, but saw nothing that piqued my interest. Oh, we did, however, spend some money in Marks and Sparks to buy dinner. We had chicken breasts with sweet potatoes in a lime and chili sauce. Very nice it was too. Surprisingly, HWMBO agreed when I expressed in a Beef Wellington, which we duly bought. When we were walking out he said, “£9.99! How expensive! We shouldn’t have bought it!” I said, “I saw the price, and that’s why I was surprised when you agreed to buy it.” He’s convinced I tricked him into buying it (in a teasing way). I hope it’s good, or I’ll never hear the end of it.
Oh, well, off to the shower now to prepare for the Divine Mysteries.
Oh buddy, I’m so sorry to hear about Richard’s death. What a loss.
It’s a benefit to us all that you shared him with us. Thanks.
I’m sorry about Richard.