mbernardi | Entries tagged with ballroom dancing

So first weekend in February was Quarter Tone the 25th UK Filkcon held at the Ramada Grantham Hotel in Lincolnshire
This was it's usual friendly self and in fact the only convention in the ear where I stayed away from home.
As usual I signed bi-weekly at the Job Centre and danced with K every Wednesday
I also had to attend Job Club regularly at CDG in Crawley, this was mandated by the Job Centre but at least I got my travel costs reimbursed.
Also got my broadband upgraded to unlimited fibre, which was faster and unlimited (obviously) but not excessively fast. Also my website www.dendarii.co.uk was wiped and I didn't notice for a little while!
Also saw the ISS (International Space Station) travel over head for the first time.
Picocon 30 took place over the weekend of 16-17 and this was my last con of the year (away from home)
I even managed a short visit to the Science Museum to see the Turing Exhibit.
I continued to volunteer at Susses Oakleaf
I had to order a new TV, a reconditioned Toshiba (which has worked well all year), used it successfully with my Raspberry Pi
I had to return my kobo ereader for replacement as it had a fault on the screen. It was replaced at WHS (where I'd originally purchased it)
Last Saturday in the month the regular Social Dance in Crawley dancing with K.
Visited parent the following day, just for the day though.
On the last day of the month I retook my ECDL test and unfortunately the system crashed part way though so I didn't finished. Booked a date to retake the test again.

On the 2nd I went to the Brighton Centre to see "Starlight Express" with my parents, and sister and brother-in-law. I also booked for tickets to see The 40th Anniversary of the Rocky Horror Show at the Theatre Royal on Saturday 5th.
On Monday 7th I had an interview at Amey, at the time I thought I had the job but I was in error, so didn't return to Crawley.
I have been volunteering at Sussex Oakleaf and setup a number of Excel databases.
Signing on at the job centre every other Tuesday, visiting Rewards to work on my Advanced ECDL. I took the spreadsheet exam/test on the last Wednesday of the month and failed with 70% when pass is 75% ;-(
Also dancing with K every Wednesday, though for the 23rd the dancing was cancelled due to snow.
The last Saturday in the month is a Social Dance from 7:00 to 10:15 and danced all the dances with K.

I've been going to Rewards Training in Haywards Heath when ever I had to go there (or further north) and been working on my ECDL Advanced (spreadsheeet) module. ie when I have to sign on, or when I go dancing.

In the morning two Tuesdays back, my new dancing shoes arrived. They have a slightly narrower and higher heel than I'm used to, but fit well and are comfortable. Once I got used to them they were great to dancein. It was also my sign on day in the afternoon, (you no longer get a set time, its arranged in the previous meet, the day is the same though.) I then went to Rewards and spent time on learning about spreadsheets. I am actually learning new stuff in this module, unlike the standard ECDL where it was mostly refresher material. The following day was dance night so I stopped for more training early in the day. Neither partner turned up so I was danincing with the teacher duting my one lesson.

Friday I had a review with CDG in Crawley (got my train fair refunded), discussed job searching and made next appointment for the new year. I discovered the Crawley ASDA and bought some new clothes.

Fictionwise.com is closing this month, I've been buying stiff from them since Nov 2000 (though my last purchase was April last year). I tried to download ALL my ebook titles (all 576) and I managed to get most of them. I also hope to transfer them to the Barnes & Nobel Nook Books store but...

Last Monday I went to see "Rise of the Guardians" at the cinema. I originally went to see the early showing, but when I got there I realised I'd left my wallet at home and the change in my pocket was not enough to pay for a ticket ;( So home I went, but decided that I still wanted to see the movie so left again, with wallet, and hour and a half later. It was fun, though I do wonder if the Easter Bunny is a major character down under.

I also bought a Kobo mini ebook reader from WHSmiths. It was on special offer and I bought the last one in the store (it was just closing and the price was going up in the morning). It can read epub and PDF format and uses the kobo books store. However there is a simple web browser which allows purchased from elsewhere on the net. It wieghs about the same as my iPod but is twice the screen size. Uses eInk so a charge lasts a while.

Last Tuesday I visited the chiropractor, I must reduce my ipod use (especially in my left hand). It should be zero but... My thumbs do hurt, also my back has started to pain me intensely again.

Last Wednesday was busy. In the morning it was snowing as I went to training at Rewards in Haywards Heath. It was a light dusting and had all gone by lunch time. Then it was off to the Library for the monthly Book Club discussion. Two other people turned up so we decided to keep going. Then it was off to Crawley, I bought a new sheet at ASDA, there is nowhere locally to get bedding (without needing a car). Then dance lesson, K was there P was not so I didn't dance in the early lesson. It was all revision of the material we had been learning over the last year. including the new steps of the jive, and most of the sequence dances.

Friday I was back at Sussex Oakleaf, while J was there first (she was not feeling too good) I did use my keys to open the other office! I finished off the address database and generated labels in a mail merge, and showed J how to do it herself (it's not that hard once you know how). I also fixed the wireless printer (both office printers had the SAME IP address, so would only work when the other one was off) and it now prints fine.

Just discovered Sir Patrick Moore died yesterday. Space just got smaller.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Current Location: At Home

Two Wednesdays back BOTH K and J were at the dance lesson. Fortunately the teacher needed a partner so J stepped in. Last Wednesday only K appeared so no issue. Last Saturday was the last Saturday in November so the social dance was on in the evening. K and i both made it and we danced all the dances we knew (even the recently learnt quickstep. Next social dance is on New Years Eve party (all night!). K gave me a lift to Three Bridges station as it was on her way home, and it meant I got home 45 minutes earlier than otherwise. I've also ordered some new dance shoes (my current pair I got 33 years ago!)

"Learn to program: The Fundamentals" at http://www.coursera.org finished last week. the final exam took 3 hours! and I managed to get 85%, this meant my total mark for the course was 83.5% (the pass was 70%) this despite only getting 35% on my last assignment. So I'm pretty happy. I also bought a discounted ebook copy of the tutors "Practical Programming" and intend to take the next course in the subject.

I've also started to listen to audio books from audible.co.uk, starting with "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold" I've already read the book, but the audio edition bring it more alive (at least with a good narrator).

Last weekend I got a warrant from NS&I, as I've won £25 on the Premium Bonds. I can't remember if I've ever done so before but since I only have £26 worth that 104% over 50 years! I must remember to pay it in to my account.

My TV License was due this month so I have reluctantly subsidised the BBC, while they do produce some cool stuff (Dr Who, Sherlock, Strictly) £12 per month is a bit much.

I've managed to continue working on my ECDL Advanced (Excel 2007) module each week and am over a third the way through. Signed on at the Job Centre and am still looking for work.

As a result of being unemployed I have re-contacted Sussex Oakleaf and I'm volunteering with them again. Today was my first day back and it went less than perfectly. Due to issues with the IT equipment. First I had to get an account set up (I used a temp account all last year!) Then I had to use a VPN to connect to the central services on an ASUS Eee PC desktop. Finally got everything working and started creating an address database in excel.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: At Home

Continued working on the Python course. I've completed all 7 exercises and 3 assignments (the last one went poorly) I've only got the exam to complete (which I intend to do tomorrow).

Clocks went back so evenings are even darker.

Strictly Come Dancing has become very exciting at the halfway point, any one could win.

I got an emergency call from my Mum, their Internet had died. I had to provide a spare router and setup (and documented) the replacement systems. Stayed over then back home.

Had an interview with a local company, haven't heard one way or another as yet.

Last Wednesday went to library book club only 3 of us there. May close due to lack of interest. Then collected ECDL certificate from Rewards (and the new ECDL Advanced training manual). Then to Crawley ate at Jubilee Oak then 2 hours dancing (no K as she was exhausted by an interview earlier) But J returned.

Signed on at Job Centre and started ECDL Advanced ( Excel) at Rewards training centre.

Today saw chiropractor, got hair cut then to Crawley for fish & chips at the Jubilee Oak and then off to dancing.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Current Location: United Kingdom, England,West Sussex,Crawley District, Crawley

Friday 12 Oct
Last day at current job.
Still writing reports, rather than management (which SG did while I was away).

Sat
Got flu jab at Newton's surgery followed by blood pressure test. Took half hour in total. Did some shopping, saw Strictly Come Dancing Live!

Mon
Went Rewards finished ITQ Level module at last. Arranged for test on Thursday. Saw asthma nurse (need to see her again in 1-2 months). Then saw Dr H re finger pain. Skype call from sister in Spain (no video).
Initial JSA sign on now has to be online or by phone. So used web to sign up took nearly an hour!

Tue
Saw Chiropractor, for the first time since being in Spain.

Wed
Made some new business cards, went to Job Fair in Crawley then had to wait (ate at BK, went Lib) til evening to go dancing, got there early and got shanghaied (for free) into the early class, K came back for the advanced class!

Thu
Went to Rewards to complete ECDL Essentials module, got 97%. Waited in KFC (with free wifi) and had coffee before going for first JSA interview. When I got home my Raspberry Pi had arrived. It was the version 2.0 with 512MB of memory (as announced only a few day previously).

Sat
Had someone from Ultra Energy trying to sell me Solar Panels (electric) which at first I went for, but then cancelled.

Continued with "Learn to Program" completed Week 4 Exercise and Assignment 2.

Mon
Bought a new oil heater from Lidl, had some difficulty getting it home, but managed using my trusty trolly. This purchase was to allow my bedroom to be heated at a lower cost than th fan heater I had previously used.

I've been sending out emails to many different job applications

Tue
Got two signed copies of "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" by Lois McMaster Bujold. One for me and one for LMB list owner Mel. Sent her copy on to her.

Wed
Went to Crawley, ate at Jubilee Oak, dancing with K but had to catch 4 different trains to get there (still only took half an hour!). Got a lift to station so got home by 10:40

Sat
Continued with "Learn to Program" completed Week 5 Exercise. Went to Crawley for end of month social dance. K sent text that she couldn't make it so didn't dance much. Did get a quickstep and cha cha, and a couple of sequence dances. Left at 9:35 so I could get the 10:01 home.

Current Location: At Home

So my last entry I was back from the US and trying to get over jet lag. Got my glasses nose piece replaces. Though I had to get both replaced later as they were different sizes and they unbalanced.

Back to work on Thursday, caught up on backlog. My manager wondered how I'd coped under the work load (he had to do my job)!

Seannan McGuire is evil, I got a copy of Ashes of Honor waiting for me when I got home, and I stayed up reading to 3:30am! This did not help with my jet lag, so Friday night I went to bed at 7:00pm!

Copied all the data from my old iPod to the new one I'd just bought via iTunes backup on my Windows PC. All went well though the new iPod doesn't seem to remember WiFi SSID login details. All passwords to websites in apps were forgotten too. Also the v6 iOS uses about 2GB of the memory so the usable space is reduced even more. 16Gig is now required...

Last Wednesday was my niece L's, 21st birthday and due to her hectic lifestyle the only day free for her party was her birthday. So I had to go to her house straight from work, go to Reina's in Horsham for drinks and nibbles. After a couple of hours my Dad had had enough, so Mum and I took him home, where I showed Mum my holiday snaps!

In the morning I had to take the bus to work which nearly took an hour and a half, I didn't cost me anything extra but the hour travelling.

I checked out the North terminal at Gatwick Airport on Friday, EasyJet flies from both the North and South Terminal but our flight on Wednesday week goes from the North Terminal. There is a train that will get me there before 6am (the flight leaves at 8am) but I'm not sure where the best place to meet is.

D got a new land-line phone, which has caller display built in. This replaced the 20 year old phone I've been using since I moved in.

Got an email from K that due to health issues she won't be ballroom dancing anymore ;-( However I'll try to carry on on my own (and find a new partner?)

The BBC iPlayer on the iPod is awesome. You can download in the week it's available and watch it any-time in the next 30 days! Just managed to get the BBC documentary "Wartime Farm", and "Shock of the New" before they expired. Unfortunately every hour of TV uses MB of space, so it's the most memory hungry app on my iPod.

Current Location: At Home

My last post was about Unicon, my next one will be the start of my Chicon / Worldcon adventure. So what has been happening in between?

I've been to the chiropractor only one. I was due to go again on Friday but there was an emergency and my appointment was cancelled.

I've booked a ticket at Can't Stop the Serenity in Chicago, for the Saturday after Worldcon.

Last weekend I spent hours watching stuff recorded on my Sky+ box, so there will be space for stuff over the next two weeks. Doctor Who starts next Saturday!

Last Monday I went to the local cinema to see Brave. It was a very Disney style Pixar animation, but enjoyable even so.

Yesterday I got an email saying my contract had been extended to mid October. This is good and bad news. Good because I've still got a job when I get back. Bad as the day before I booked to fly to Spain with my parents and sister for a week. If I'd know about the extension I could have booked their last week rather than their first one!

Also yesterday I went dancing with K in the evening, since we hadn't danced for over two weeks our stamina was less than usual so we didn't dance as often as in the past. We did manage at least one of each style (except those we don't know yet!)

Today I packed ready for my flight tomorrow.

Current Location: At Home

So since last weekend I ordered a new Tefal Avanti kettle and matching toaster via Amazon. The kettle arrived the following day, the toaster the day after (while I got an email to expect it 4 days later!)

Prior to visiting my chiropractor I went to pick up my prescription inhaler (which I had ordered via Boots online website). It wasn't ready, on checking the site both this request and the previous one in May were still Pending! After this I went to the library to collect a reserved Ukulele song book (with CD), then to get my spine cracked!

I've also ordered a Raspberry Pi, power supply and Pibow case. I don't know if they will arrive before I leave for Worldcon or not. The current delivery times are 3-18 weeks! according to the websites.

As I ordered a Raspbery Pi I needed a keyboard for it, so I went to PC World and discovered they weren't stocking the model I wanted. It was a nice walk on a sunny day though.

I finally got my ticket confirmations, and have checked via US Airways that all is OK (it is). Except they have my name as Bernardi Bernardi which I will have to check in to before I leave.

I got a note from my ISP that my mailbox had reached it's size limit and I needed to delete some messages. So I downloaded the latest release of Pegasus Mail as it's the best took I know for email management. I downloaded all the mail on the server (which was over 3 year's worth) and deleted all but the last year worth.

Thursday was my parents wedding anniversary, so I planned to visit this week end, but then I remembered I have dancing on the last Saturday of the month! So I came over on Friday after work, we had a nice celebratory dinner then watched the Olympics Opening Ceremony from 9:00pm to 12:50am! I should be taking the number 23 bus back to Crawley in order to get to the dance at 7pm.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: My Sister's Home

And once again I forget to update at the weekend.

At the end of last month I went to The Hawth for the Crawley Folk and Beer Festival on the Friday evening and all of Saturday. Met Keith from juggling, listened to Touchstone and Cajun Dawgs before bein collected by K and left after 6.00 to go Ballroom Dancing at St Wilfrid's Schools. Danced a fair bit and almost got the Foxtrot completly correct.
Finished at 10:15 K gave me a lift to the bus station from whence I got the number 10 bus to Gatwick and then home!

We continue classes every Wednesday, and recntly have had an influx of students as the Tuesday class has stopped for the school holidays (it's held at St Wilfrids). This has meant more of a crush, and the foxtrot teaching has been ongoing. Until last week we didn't learn anything new, but yesterday we started to re-learn the Jive!

Since I wasn't home on Saturday I had to go into town on Sunday to do my shopping. After I started watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube. They are awesome.

I've been going to a chiropractor twice a week, but now have got to the point where once a week is enough. I do have to get into the habit of exercising correctly. Since I have managed to get into the habit of playing ukulele for 5-10 minues a day I SHOULD be able to exercise for a similar time every day but....

Recently my Sky+HD box automatically upgraded it's operationg system, the styling is prettier and it will now conect to the internet (if you plug an ethernet cable in) even if your supplier is not Sky. Now if only it had some browsing capability that would be cool.

On Thursday 12th June I went down to Brighton to see "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Radio Show: Live" at the Theatre Royal. This was excellent, during the first half I suprised myself in knowing amost all the dialogue dispite not reading the books or listening to the radio for years. The second half however seem to diverge from the narrative I remembered 9though it may have used the books or even the newer audio series). Anyway i had an excellent time and would recommed it to and SF fans.

Last Monday I went to see "The Amazing Spiderman" at the local cinema (Monday is cheap seats day). It was interesting to see another origin story, a bit darker but perhap more rounded.

Nearly up to date, and must mention 1-800-Missing which is being broadcast daily and is based on a series of books by Meg Cabot, though they do seem to have diverged from the novel plot in series two.

Current Location: At Home

It's not been quite as interesting since my last post but..

The Monday after I went to the local cinema to see "Rock of Ages" I think there were only 3 of us in the cinema!, so not popular. However I enjoyed this musical rock and roll story set in 1987 with a mesmerising, if loopy performance by Tom Cruise.

On Wednesday we continued to practice various dances, and also continued to learn (or re-learn) the foxtrot. We finished the last part this week, just in time for tomorrows end of month social dance. I'm still not 100% re the last 12 steps!

I uploaded a few more revision to The Bujold Nexus, and hopefully I won't leave it so long between updates. I also need to overhaul some pages, but that will have to wait for longer spare time.

I've also been visiting a chiropractor twice a week, and I think my back has improved but... I also went to Specsavers as I was having some problems with my new glasses. after some discussion it appears that I can no longer get fully corrected vision even with glasses, so have to settle for a slight fuzz.

Got news at work that an extra 3000 reports will need to be created (that's in addition to the 8000+ we have nearly finished) so I expect to be employed now until Worldcon or even after.

This weekend is the Crawley Beer and Folk Festival at the Hawth. I went after work this evening, not much was happening so I came home after a couple of hours. However if the weather is fair I'll return tomorrow, before going off to dance.

Current Location: At Home

This week has had so much happening that I just had to try to get everything down.

So on Monday I got a call at work from D to say that my freezer had finally dies (after over 30 years) and i needed to come home and clear it out. I also had to order a replacement from Argos an upright, which cost £231.44 including home delivery and removal of old equipment. However it didn't get delivered until Thursday so all the food defrosted and had to be binned or quickly eaten.

Tuesday I visited the chiropractor, even though I'm not sure if i believe it works my back doesn't seem to be giving me as much pain!

Wednesday was dance night and we revised rumba, waltz and foxtrot. I also started listening to an audio edition of John Scalzi's Redshirts.

Last year when I was unemployed I bought a supporting membership to Chicon this year's Worldcon. not least so I could get the voters packet. It almost paid for itself when Wicked Girls by Seanan McGuire was included. Anyway since I've been employed for nearly 6 months now (exactly 6 months on Tuesday) I decided I could afford to go to Chicago and finally books flight and accommodation on Thursday. There won't be much change from a grand but I've always wanted to see Chicago so.... Later that day I had another Chiropractic session.

On Friday I went to the Hawth to see "Dancing in the Streets" with K (dancing partner) we were up in the Circle near the back (the only pair of ticket available) but despite this we both had a good time. I ate before the show at the in house cafe, and while the lamb cutlets in gravy with potatoes and peas was very tasty the price has put me off eating there in future.

Saturday was the busiest yet. I'd booked a music lesson with Nicki of www.ucanukulele.co.uk at 11:40 and caught the 10:31 train to Brighton. I'd printed directions but discovered the shortest distance was mostly uphill, I arrive only a few minutes early, and Nicki had another student for about 10 minutes. It was a good lesson I learned how to hold and strum and even managed to play a couple of tunes (badly) but with practice... She also recommended changing the strings, so after paying £20 (which was the last of the cash I had on me I went to get my Uke restrung,

This cost me another £15 but I had to get cash to pay first. So I went to the station (the nearest cash machines got money and stopped off at Cleaver for Leather to collect the new belt I'd ordered the previous month (this was £25) back to Brighton Guitars and paid for the new strings and fitting and then to the Theatre Royal where I bought tickets for the Original cast stage show of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in July.

Finally I used a Groupon voucher to get into to see Snow White and the Hunter at the Odeon for free. The normal ticket price being £8.50 so this paid for the journey to Brighton on it's own.

And then today (Sunday) I read all morning and then went shopping and mostly replaced the frozen food that had defrosted. Once i got back I helped D clear the old compost heap, so we now have all our lawn back.

I forgot to mention D bought a new lawn mower and mowed the front lawn (which was a jungle and took 6 hour to clear with pauses). Yesterday he finished the back lawn (apart from compost area).

Current Location: At Home

Managed to get to this within my 2 week window this time.

At the Wednesday dance class we've just started the Slow Foxtrot, you can really travel with this and it's all coming back to me. It'll be really great once we complete learing the routine. We have also been revising both Cha Cha and Rumba, which is essential as they are so similar.

Collected my two new pairs of glasses from Specsavers, for the fist time I seem to be having issues with varifocals.

I also restarted seeing a chiropractor, however this one is local so I'm saving train fare. I don't know if it's real or all in the mind, but I still feel better!

Last weekend I went to visit my parents, at least in part to celebrate my Mum's birthday. My sister and Brother-in-law had got back from a holiday in Turkey the day before, so we were able to celebrate together. This was the Jubilee weekend and there was a circus in town, so I wanted to go. Surprisingly my Mum also expressed an interest so after church on Sunday we went to Cirque Normandie a very small circus with only 9 personnel in the ring (4 of them clowns). But they put on a good show and the audience seemed to enjoy it even if most of them were under ten.

I finally (after over a year) got around to updating some of The Bujold Nexus. The biggest problem was after not updating it for a while I got out of the habit of updating, so I didn't. There are probably some gaps that I missed, so if you spot any let me know.

I've been reading some of the Hugo nominees and listening to Wicked Girls by Seanan McGuire. Those tracks are awesome. Hopefully before the voting deadline I will have finished them all.

Current Location: At Home

On Saturday 19th I went to Haywards Heath for an Open Day by Rewards, who are providing the support for my ITQ Diploma. I discussed possible continuation modules and worked on my current ones, including compleating an assiged task.

Then discovered a new (in the last 6 months) 99p shop and bought sundry stuff. Lugged my shopping home on the train then to town, where I got a eye test appointment, and other sundries.

On Sunday I went to Preston Park to see The Moscow State Circus. These are the best circus performers in the world and in one case managed to convey what dance might be in free fall. There was also some very good juggling (which is not always the case). Well worth the trouble getting to see them (even if there was only one train an hour!)

On Tuesday I went to Brighton and have ordered a new belt from "Clever with Leather", this will be hand made to order and so a bit expensive, but may last my lifetime.
However my main reason for going was to see, as part of the Brighton Festival, "Smashed" at The Theatre Royal, a one hour juggling performance by nine performers with nine chairs and numerous apples and at the end crockery. A combination of dance with juggling and music hall melodies it was very memorable.

Wednesday night was dancing night, but before that I went to the bus depot and got an addition week added to my MetroKey hopefully I will thus NOT pay to use buses over the bank holiday.

Due to the heat (23°C indoors) we didn't learn any new Jive ;-( but instead revised the slower Rhumba and Waltz, with a short burst of Cha Cha. This week for the first time I forgot to take a cold drink, and was lucky to buy a tea at the church cafe.

Last Saturday I got up early, as I had a headache, and had an appointment to get my eyes tested. I need slightly different lenses for reading / PC work (which may be why the headaches). I ordered new glases costing £214 but also getting a pair or prescription sunglasses included in the price. This was lucky as I dropped my old sunglases and the arm broke off.

I also booked an appointment with a local chiroprator who has a more get fit attitude. I'll be seeing him on Thursday.

Then I got my hair cut, the shortest it's been in 35 years! Because they only used clipper to trim it was almost half price!

I then went off to Crawley and bought some books and a pair of trousers on sale at BHS, reduced to £15. Then I read in the garden outside the library until 18:00 when I got the bus to Goffs Park, which is near to St Wilfrids School where the monthly social dance take place. Unfortunately K sprained her ankle on Friday and couldn't make it, and I didn't check my text messages until I had paid for the evening! Despite not haveing a partner I had a fairly good time and did get to dance a Rhumba, a Waltz and two Quicksteps!

On Sunday I phoned my Mum to wish her a happy birthday, then bought train tickets for next week and then went to the Orion Cinema to see Men in Black III. This was fun, not great art but at least as good as the first movie.

Current Location: At Home

Well the most important occurrence after Easter was my birthday, which I celebrated by going into Crawley and used my McD free vouchers to have McNuggets and a Big Mac, paying for fries and a milk shake. Then read in the Library, and then walked to the church hall for an hour of dancing with K. (This is now my regular Wednesday evening, though I sometime go to BK rather than McD.) When I got home I had a number of birthday cards arrive, with a book from sister H and a ballroom dance music cd ordered from Amazon.

On Friday I got a bus from Crawley to Southwater, to visit parents and sisters family (the first time I’ve used such transport, I usually get the train). It stopped only a few dozen yards from the door! I’ll be using this method of transport more often in future.

We had a celebratory fish and chip dinner, and I one upped my sister by giving her some ladybird ear pods (for music listening). On Saturday I finished my latest ITQ module and watched Heather Dale streamed from The Mill House Love, which was a nice house filk.

I’ve just discovered a new exit from Gatwick Airport, via an Emergency exit that means I don’t have to cross the road to catch my bus, the walking time is less too. With the recent rain that has been a major plus.

The small Android tablet I bought via eBay arrived, It’s pretty cool, a LOT lighter than the 10” model, though battery life isn’t great. Pity it doesn’t use a micro USB interface for charging. Also via eBay I've ordered: a Blooth headset, keyboard and mouse, but so far I haven't got any of them to work!

Since Easter I’ve ordered a lot of books (to make up a lack of ordered during Lent!)

Last w/e I got a haircut, it’s now shorter than it’s been in 40 years! Dug out and watched Ballroom Dancing with Angela Rippon on DVD. Then went to the cinema for a double bill of “The Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists” followed by “The Hunger Games”.

I’ve been handed even more responsibility, now I am actually assigning work directly in the database system. I feel that I’m running fast to stay where I am!

Last Wednesday (before dancing) I went to Crawley bus station and discovered I was eligible for a Gatwick Travelcard. This allows me to travel on ANY bus that at some point passes through either Gatwick Airport or Crawley Bus Station, for a pound less than the current ticket (PlusBus which was a pretty good deal anyway). This means that my bus journey to Southwater will now be free!

Tomorrow I'm due to go dancing again, and I hope to see the new Avenger movie some time over the week end.

Current Location: At home

I forgot to include in my last post that on 28 March I celebrated joining LibraryThing five years ago!

So in the last week my microwave expired. After making a bowl of popcorn, when I returned to make coffee yellow flame filled the oven. So I shut it off and disconnected it from the mains. D confirmed it was dead (ex-electrician), and I ordered a replacement from Argos. Due for delivery on Tuesday between 7am & 6pm it arrived at 6:02pm when cancelation of the order was being discussed.

Very nice machine, simple to use and works well.

Since I've restarted dancing, I thought I'd get some appropriate music. I ordered a couple of CDs and then discovered Strictly Ballroom: 100 classic dance tracks for only £4.50ish. Original recordings, none after 1970 (1965). Over 2hr 30min of dance music. I've heard between 60-70% before.

I packed my bag on Wed night took it to work (medium back pack). All staff in the building were given a small box of mini Easter eggs (which I will save for Sunday).

At 17:40 I took the Gatwick- Heathrow coach (£40 return) and got to the Radisson Edwardian just after seven. Checked into hotel and got con registration (inc 2 free books: The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, a mug and pen and a Cadburys Creme Egg also to be saved till Sunday).

Went for three course meal which at £17 was over priced and tepid.

And then being exhausted I went to bed early.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

In my last post I forgot to note I had my six monthly dental check-up. Unfortunately one of my older fillings had deteriorated to the point that it needed repair, so I returned last Tuesday. Got injected and the upper left hand side of my mouth went numb. Small hole drilled and filled and then left with just under a hundred quid less in my account! (but this did include the price of the check-up)

Prior to this I visited Rewards training to confirm that I was on track to get my ITQ Level 2 Diploma. I then visited my bank and ex-mortgage company to get paper work to allow me to get the payment from my endowment policy. Which did not generate enough funds to pay off my mortgage entirely. Fortunately my Mum is a better / luckier money manager than I am and paid off the mortgage last year!

Before I started at university I took up Ballroom Dancing, and continued with the Uni Ballroom Dancing Society while in Manchester. Then I started a job and moved to a new town and didn't continue dancing. Since Strictly Come Dancing started I have been meaning to restart my interest, but there weren't any dance schools locally, or at least that I could easily get too (having no car) or were only in the afternoon.

Now I'm working in Crawley, I thought I'd check locally and found Crawley Dance Academy the final straw was one of my work colleagues (K) mentioned she had danced previously so a three weeks ago I went searching for the local. Unfortunately Google located a fair way from it's actual locations and after 20 minutes of searching, I gave up and went home! I was given the correct location the following day! So a week later I did get to the correct place and we (K & I) had a good time learning the waltz (or more correctly reminding ourselves of it). Last week was the turn of the Quickstep and Cha Cha Cha. Next week is Easter week so the hall isn't available, but the week after... It's really surprising how much I do remember as it must be over ten years since I did any dancing and twenty five since I did so regularly.

So good news this week, my contract has been extended to end of June so I've got longer to practice my dancing! So thinking of stuff I've had to stop doing, I realised I'd not done any juggling and Circus Wurx meets in Crawley so... They meet on Thursday so after Easter I'll have to check them out.

I ordered a keyboard/case for my Android tablet and it arrived last week. This effectively turns the tablet into a netbook running Android, however with only one USB port I could plug both mouse and keyboard in, so had to order a USB hub too. This arrived a few days back and (given that the touch screen had failed, hence it's low price) now it's a very nice bit of kit.

Current Location: At Home
Current Music: Strictly Come Dancing

Michael's Meanderings

Occasional comments on my life

February 2013

January 2013

Its really Winter

Two weeks on

Just off to Dance

Catching up

Between flights

Between convention

Buying things this week

This time a bit over two weeks

Not as exciting two weeks

A busy and expensive week

Two weeks later

An Eventful week

After Eastercon

Before Eastercon

Back to bi-weekly!

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July 2019

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