Our Year In Retrospect

So much to do but so little time!


Retirement Performance Assessment

Birthday card from Nick CliffeIs "abysmal" worse than "pathetic"? Either way if I were a banker I wouldn't be counting on a bonus this year, Gordon Brown or no Gordon Brown. OK, we did see a little more of Eastern Europe and Dalmatia was a revelation. But I didn't get a motorbike, I didn't resume my jewellery and siversmithing hobby and the Australian video tapes remain on tape, while the terms "8mm" and "VHS-C" become part of technological history. Perhaps hedonism is slowly replacing my normal guilt-motivation?

Three Score Years and Ten

That way of expressing "Seventy" harks back to the years when a score was a big number to count - the French still do that with their "soixante-dix" (even the Belgians use "septante"!). Funnily enough "septante" and "nonante" are Old French and there's a story that it was Louis XIV (Le Roi Soleil) who invented "soixante-dix" and "quatre-vingts" as he approached those ages since they seemed to him to sound younger then "septante" and "nonante".
I'd rather looked forward to reaching that age; it certainly doesn't seem 25 years since I realised that I'd be 70 when our new baby Peter was 25.
I think I would really have liked a family "bash" like my mate Dick had the year before, but I realised it would just be miserable with all my childrens' warring factions in close proximity. So I arranged our ski trip which fizzled out; nobody's fault, just one of those things, but leaving me feeling disappointed and unfulfilled. I was reminded of my 21st Birthday; my parents asked me whether I wanted a party or a tape recoder, so of course I chose the latter. I was in the RAF at Weston-Super-Mare on The Day, stupidly I told no-one. That night I went out in desperation and couldn't find anyone to have a beer with. That disappointment has stayed with me all my life.
So all ye who read this and are younger than I - it's never too late to go out, "seize the day" and party!

Croatia and its Dalmatian Islands

After our cruises on big ships in the Caribbean and to Brasil we decided that we needed a change. Cruise liners give you a worry-free itinerary but you get little opportunity to relax on-shore and take in the local colour and the "extras" bill for the captive audience can exceed the cost of the cruise. I was interested in small-boat cruising around Corsica but I couldn't find one with flights from Toulouse or Bordeaux, so we plumped for Croatia. This was a great success, a small boat, small number of friendly passengers, tour guide, dinners in port and nights at the quayside.
There are pictures at my Picasa page , a write-up in the Diary and a video (see below).

Toulouse Engineering Weekend

In October we joined friends from the IET and the ICE and their partners at a weekend in Toulouse organised by the Institution of Civil Engineers, with an engineering bias but with plenty of social opportunities and visits designed to entertain the non-engineers. The programme included visits to the restored Natural History Museum, the Airbus A380 assembly facility, a walking tour of Toulouse, a trip on the Canal du Midi and a visit to Carcassonne. Pictures can be seen here and a longer summary is in the Diary.



2009 in Pictures

March: Wild daffs in the wood April: Oilseed rape around Le Laurier
April: Christine's birthday at La Toque Blanche May: Roses around the window!
August: Simon's cat competition - runner up September: Our boat "Le Meridien" in Croatia
September: Croatian holiday video highlights October: Engineers' Toulouse weekend

Conclusion

2009 weather took the form of a snow sandwich with a filling of wet spring, hot summer and a long Indian summer. Our year had similar peaks and plateaux with some health issues but none of which turned out to be serious or long-term. I'm not going to make any New Year's resolutions since I'll only forget them! Here's to a healthy and happy next decade to you all!

Return to Home Page

© Created in basic HTML by Ian Gillis using MS Notepad.