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