Gobsmacked !

What a day!

At work I was just a couple of slides into a presentation to about 70 people when the fire alarm went off. Standing out in the cold for about half an hour in freezing December temperatures is not my idea of fun. AND when we got back in, about 20 of the audience seemed to have forgotten to come back from the pub!

But why am I gobsmacked today? Read down a couple of entries to my tale of the exam that I took and the way in which that one event would influence the recorded result of months of work. I was gobsmacked because the result of the exam was available yesterday and I had not received an email saying it was there. But more gobsmacked to discover that I had, in fact, received a distinction, which becomes my result for the course as a whole.

WOW!

WOW!

WOW!

In Limbo

Back from holiday, but not back at work yet. This period exists for about one day a year only and I am reaching the end of it. What's more, I haven't finished organising the write-up of the holiday and the pictures that we took. Something like 1800 miles on the road, some more on foot, about 800 photos, and a short daily write up that would have been suitable for here - except that we were so cut off from civilisation in Wales that we did not even have a telephone OR even mobile phone coverage on O2, Vodafone or Orange!!!!

Limbo finishes tomorrow when I go back to work. Nice [work] while you can get it!

Exam

Well, here goes. Eight months of stydying, four assignments carried out with good marks and now it is down to a three hour exam to determine my fate. If I fail the exam, I fail the course. If I do well in the exam, I do well in the course. So there it is. Eight months study and at the end it just comes down to how much I can cram into my head and regugitate again in a sensible fashion in three hours.

Still, IU can't wait until it's over!

Time flies

I used to have a favourite saying - "time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana". This has never been more true as the end of the real Summer comes to an end - as opposed to the months of June, July and August that went down the drain, literally, unless you were unlucky enough to be flooded by or during them.

So Summer comes to an end and I went for a long walk in Sheringham Park to celebrate. No, actually, there was no celebrating, but it felt like summer even though the wind was strong. You don't get warm wind at any other time of year. Trust me!

So why, oh why, do I have so many flies in the house? They never go out, even when you offer them an open window. And at night, they buzz in the dark.

Maybe I really am looking forward to Autumn and Winter and the demise of our six legged winged friends. Or maybe I am sick of bananas sitting around and want to throw them for the flies to chase. Still, I've never seen a fly chasing an arrow ...

Busy!

Life has been hectic recently!

At home, we are trying to complete our new bathroom before guests arrive in two weeks time. OK, this has been a long project, begun some five months ago, but somehow the obstacles preventing progress have been removed.

Except for a busy period at work and an impending OU assignment that is due - quite a critical one - and a wedding to pracice for, life is a breeze.

So after an early morning on a working weekend, we enjoyed an evening at local Houghton Hall, open for a musical soiree with a pianist, guitarist and harpist (yes, an unusual band, but no, they played in separate rooms) and a picnic, advertised on the West Lawn. Torrential rain meant we took refuge in an outdoor orangary and kept dry and whilst sitting sipping champagne (mock) whilst wet visitors trooped past I think we became the real eccentrics. Most enjoyable.

Once a few more of these things are out of the way I may have time for some creative writing. Maybe I'll start a blog ... !

Service ... ?

I was taken out for a meal tonight. It was a lovely meal in a Norwich restaurant (no advertising here!) and although the food and the company was excellent, the service was incredibly slow.

We should all think about our customers, whether at work, in a social context or in church and think about what they want. I try to do this when I am choosing music, but I feel that there is more to it than that.

As I had a long journey home and work the next day, four hours for a meal seems excessive. Should my voluntaries be shorter so that the congregation can get home earlier for Sunday lunch? This is probably going to the wrong extreme, but did the restaurant give my friends and I more time because we were having a good time? I suspect not, but the relaxed atmosphere was, I must say, well worth it.

Success at last

Well, now that I am happy that I have a blog that I can update easily and it works - I could at this point have a pointless pop at a three letter acronym ISP with delusions of being a film and entertainment company for not providing the support, at least for a poor Mac user like myself, but I won't - I can start my brain dumping!

The next thing that I need to do is to organise my thoughts a bit more.

In the beginning

My title is not accurate. This is not the first blog that I have created. However, I hope that it is the first that actually accepts my posts and allows me to record history of my life as an IT manager, Open University student and Director of Music at a Norwich church. Plus the other ups and downs that always happen in life.

If this post succeeds, expect more!