Day 2486 (18/10/2016)

An early morning and then we got to the airport and bumped into Jim (I was in the job & on the cans with him for a number of years) and his wife Jill at the cafe.

Then on the plane for a sleep as we flew to Rome.

The view of Monte Blanc from the window.

When arrived at the airport we had arranged for a shared hotel shuttle service, which took about 30+ minutes to arrive and then took us thru the small back streets of Rome before dropping us at the hotel.

The hotel was quite nice, a bit basic with a small bathroom but it would be fine for a few days.

As it was dinner time we went straight out to a local restaurant and had a nice meal before collapsing back in bed.

Day 2485 (17/10/2016)

The day started with some great pancakes & fruit but I didn't have my phone with me so no photos but they were great.

Technically it was the first day of our holiday but we were busy; with my wife getting our clothes washed and ironed; whilst I spent all day, in fact until midnight sat at the computer doing work that had to be in before I could go away.

Day 2483 & 2484 (15 & 16/10/2016)

A busy morning with loads of work to do before our short break next week, which we booked in the morning. I think we are both in desperate need of getting away and relaxing.

Hopefully it will be nicer weather but even if it isn't we will see a few sights and have a few nice meals.

In the evening I went out to see Romesh Ranganathan with Sam.

He was very funny.

On Sunday I still had loads of work to do and in the evening me and my wife went to see Omid Djalili at the Brewhouse.

I had never seen him live before and he was very funny.

Day 2482 (14/10/2016)

What a relief to be home, even if I'm still full of a cold, with lots of work to do.

Day 2481 (13/10/2016)

Day two of the conference and I sat thru a couple of presentations but moth had no interest for me, that and my cold meant most of the day I sat in a lounge, munching on the food; although it was nice to catch up with Arno.

 

 

Some people who had overindulged the night before didn't appear until after lunch.

In the evening it was back to the airport, where I had a somewhat underwhelming hot dog.

Then after landing I had a walk around the car park to find my car and then a drive home, still full of a cold.

Day 2480 (12/10/2016)

Surprisingly the breakfast was quite nice at the hotel and I bumped into a few people I knew. They wanted everyone present during the opening of the conference so I had to sit thru some uninteresting (for me) talks. I know I am fortunate enough to be invited to speak at these things but rarely am I interested in anyone else's topics.

 

Saying that there was one which was quite good and like a scene from Homeland as a Canadian lady went thru a job where they had identified some ISIS people who were then taken out in a drone strike.

I was speaking after lunch, so I made sure my presentation was OK but after connecting to their projector it thru my laptop out of kilter, so I had to restart it, which meant I was late starting but kept everyone entertained with a few funny stories which went down well.

My presentation was rushed but that probably helped as I just concentrated on demonstrating some techniques. It was very well received, including by some people from the FBI and Europol who sought me out to chat later.

In the evening we went out for a celebration meal at a "head to toe" restaurant. The food was OK but I ended up drinking the local schnapps, thinking it was water.

I left about 10:30pm, slightly the worse for wear. The others stayed until 3:30am.

Day 2479 (11/10/2016)

It was nice to wake up in my own bed but still of man flu and then it was a made rush to get everything ready before going to the airport in the afternoon for the flight to Copenhagen.

Then I had some Yo Sushi at the airport, which was fortunate as when I arrived in Denmark it was late and I didn't have dinner, just a few bears during  a meeting with Richard and our marketing lady.

Quite a nice hotel.

Day 2478 (10/10/2016)

I had an awful nights sleep and woke with full blown man flu but had to do half a days training despite the fact I desperately wanted to stay in bed.

Then after a long lunch we went for a wander around the island.

Visited a great butchers (bought some sausages for dinner) and looked at some old sites.

 

Then to the airport for a nice hot chocolate before catching my flight home.

Day 2476 & 2477 (08 & 09/10/2016)

A busy weekend in the office but we had a nice Chinese Saturday night.

Then we finished it off on Sunday before I had to go to the Isle of Man, where I had a nice steak sandwich at the hotel.

Day 2475 (07/10/2016)

Still really busy in the office but had a nice lunch with the wife :-)

Day 2474 (06/10/2016)

Still very busy in the office then off to a pensioners meeting, now been for ages so it was nice to catch-up.

Day 2473 (05/10/2016)

Basically another very busy day doing reports but in the evening we went out to Ask for my Mum& Dads anniversary.

 

 

 

 

A lovely evening.

Day 2472 (04/10/2016)

Basically a busy day doing reports.

Day 2471 (03/10/2016)

Tuesday started (well it was early-ish, well it was 10am but I hadn't had breakfast, so that stil counts as early) with a knock at the door and a man saying that they were going to turn the electricity off for a few hours.

I explained that I worked from home on a computer but they said there was nothing they could do but hopefully it would only be for 2hrs but no more than 4hrs.

So I had a few things to do in town, so I went out and decided to have breakfast as well, with a nice bacon sandwich and a cup of tea.

By 2;30pm the power was still off, so we popped out to a garage where they have a Costa Coffee  machine, with something to eat.  

Technically this counted as taking my wife out for lunch.

In the evening I had to work till quite late to catch-up.

Day 2469 & 2470 (01 & 02/10/2016)

It's October already, getting close to Christmas what joy. The only good thing about the year flying by is a new picture of Kylie.

Far too arty and far to many clothes.

A weekend to catch-up on lots of things in the office.

Made a nice dinner on Sunday (OK I bought the sushi and the duck was in a pack).

 

Day 2468 (30/09/2016)

Last night I took the splint off of my finger after about 7 weeks. I thought if I did it overnight then I might sleep thru any painful initial movement.

In the morning my finger had remained straight, so it appears that the ligaments & tendons are fixed but after all the weeks of not bending my finger it is very stiff and painful. The skin is also very sensitive, so it might be a few weeks before it is back to normal.

It was a fairly long day with my wife picking up my mother-in-law from the respite / carehome in St George where she has been staying at since her release from hospital after being hit by a car in July.

We took her home and stayed with her for the rest of the day.

Day 2467 (29/09/2016)

It was a good one day session for an interesting business in Northampton, then a long drive home after an unbelievable busy month.

In the last 4 weeks I have given a 4day course, three 2day courses, two 1day courses and 5 presentations and had very little time off.

Thankfully we have now taken on another trainer to do all of our training, so I only have a few more training sessions to do over the next few weeks. We might actually be taken on another in the new year, so then there will be two people doing half of my job.

I will be moving to be the Head of Investigations (what a grand title for someone who just messes about on the internet) so then I can stay at home.

I might do the odd presentation as a sales pitch but I intend to stay at home from now on as its been a busy few years.

Day 2466 (28/09/2016)

Another early morning and a long to Oxford to give a presentation.

Then off to Northampton but I had a pit-stop at a Little Chef, which was OK.

Then off to a PremierInn for the night, with a disappointing mixed grill at the Hungry Horse next door, which took ages to be delivered, so wasn't overly hot :-(

Day 2465 (27/09/2016)

Another fairly early start (to guarantee a parking space) but a bit later than yesterday and no fruit starters for breakfast, I went straight for the waffles & maple syrup.

It was just annoying that I spilt it down my shirt but managed to clean it with a wet wipe before the course started.

The course went well and then after packing everything away it was a long drive home.