No excuses, just been too busy and haven't got round to writing the blog. Seems keeping a diary is much harder during "normal life" than when travelling... but here goes, a quick whistle-stop tour of what's been happening since the last post.
First, whilst in Kefalonia, I got a phone call from an ex-colleague of mine who is now Chief Information Officer at the Yorkshire Building Society. Seems he'd seen my updated status on LinkedIn (the work-related social networking site) and was having some issues within his team that he thought I could help with. So, rather than going headlong into the motorcycle instruction, I arranged to go and work there on a short-term contract basis. First, that needed us to set up our own company, so now Tracy and I are co-directors of Just One More Mile Ltd, company number 07268815. We have our own accountant, a business banking account (no money in it yet!), and a way of selling our services to anyone that wants them. The first contract was for just over 6 weeks, and was for me to help YBS establish an effective Enterprise Architecture team. For those that don't mix in IT circles, an "enteprise architecture" function is the one that's supposed to ensure that the work done in IT enables it to meet the business strategy, something that's always a challenge as individual projects are under tremendous pressure to do things quickly, which inevitably leads to ever more complex IT systems that eventually slow the business down and prevent it from changing. Think about what would happen if you started building a house without an architect to ensure it all fitted together, and then consider what would happen if you kept on building... for an example, see the world-famous Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. That first contract has just completed, the client is very pleased and I'll be working there part-time (so I get time to do other things) until late October.
Our excitement hasn't been confined to work, though, as we've also celebrated a couple of special birthdays recently. First up was Konnor's and whilst he was at home on the big day, we made it up to him on his next visit up North...
But Konnor wasn't the only one, as soon afterwards we were celebrating the 1st birthday of our lovely cats, Titch and Marmie... they almost managed to blow out the candles as well as Konnor, too!
After the birthdays, and to celebrate our wedding anniversary, Tracy and I managed a quick weekend away in the Yorkshire Dales, staying at the fantastic Black Swan in Masham. This is a really brilliant pub, with a campsite attached, but this being a special occasion we opted for one of their new rooms. Good choice, as the room was great, the food superb and of course, the beer just perfect. We even managed to get out for a walk on the Saturday, heading over the hills and across the valleys to the Druids Temple, a collection of rocks on top of a remote hill some distance from the pub. Built in 1820s by William Dandy, then squire of nearby Swinton, it's a sort of miniature Stone Henge, in a deserted forest. Odd, but well worth the walk and the aching legs (we really do need to get fit!)...
We had to cut the weekend short in order to get back in time to watch England play in the World Cup, but the less said about that the better. I'm not a great fan of football, but love the world cup, despite being disappointed every time... guess I'm just too optimistic!
The next big event was when Laura and Chris wanted to go to York races and we got to babysit our beautiful twin grandaughters, affectionately known as "the Beans". They were just wonderful...
But all this happiness was also tinged with some sadness over the last few weeks. First our next door neighbour Edgar passed away in his sleep. He was a lovely guy who always had plenty of time to chat and who had been a brilliant neighbour, helping keep a watchful eye on the goings on when my kids were teenagers, but who never complained despite their sometimes wild behaviour!
Then last week we lost one of our beautiful cats. Titch, the most friendly, loving cat I've ever known was knocked down and killed outside our house by a speeding car. Tracy called me at work distraught, and thankfully Katie stepped in to help. Marmie is missing her greatly as we all are. Its amazing how quickly pets become part of the family, but if you look at her, I'm sure you'll understand...
Rest in peace, Titch...
But let's not leave my first blog on a sad note. This week I'm off work, as we're heading to court to try and get an Access Order granted to enable us to see Tracy's boys more regularly and without interference from her ex. It's been a hard battle that shouldn't really have been necessary, but sometimes when relationships fail those involved become so bitter than even putting their children first is too difficult. Fingers crossed we should soon have matters resolved and we'll be seeing a lot more of the boys. That really will be something to smile about!
