Dismal & Depressing

Well thats just how it has been, the weather primarily but also my general health which I hope will improve when the NHS people have completed their investigations - enough said for now.

So much has happened but where do I start? Happily, with family news. which is that our eldest son Andrew and his partner Emma produced an addition to the family towards the end of 2025, so now they have Ada and Ivy (and Millie the dog) and we now have 3 little granddaughters who are such a joy.

I ordered a small screen for the Z650RS and fitted it but riding it was no different to the bike being naked. Ordered and fitted a larger screen but it deflected the wind blast straight up under the front of my helmet when I want it over the helmet so I worked out a temporary solution (not very pretty) to tilt it forward. Better, but I'm still not happy with it.... work in progress.

On the subject of 2 wheels, Sue & I have both acquired new ebikes over the winter period. Her previous bike a Leader Fox, City Park got damaged in a fall while we were out riding and the PAS sensor got damaged. Contacted the maker in the Czech Republic and determined what bits we needed but they won't supply because of Brexit so she now has a Raleigh Motus. My bike was one I built 5 years ago and while doing winter maintenance ready for this spring/summer riding I found there to be too much play in the rear wheel bearings and the wheel had a decidedly wonky wobble. Invstigation showed the wheel to be a sealed unit with no way to replace the bearings and it wasn't worth replacing the wheel so I now have an Engwe P275SE in the shed awaiting some better weather.

Final bit of news for this post - Mrs C (otherwise known as SWMBO) is going to join me in retirement from early April and plans are afoot to get some travelling done starting with a Danube river cruise and then a family holiday on Majorca and some motoring/touring of Europe.

PhotoBucket

When I first started posting on the web I found that I sometimes wanted to post a picture / photograph, as on this blog and then later when I developed my website I need to post even more photos. After a good search around I decided upon PhotoBucket which offered photo hosting for free. Then after a few years they introduced charging.

So I bit the bullet and started paying a modest annual fee. Then the hits on this blog and the web site meant that I hit band width problem with PhotoBucket, and the annual fee went up.

So again I bit the bullet and paid the increased (but still modest) annual fee. I correctly maintained my account registering changes as they applied, including a change of email address.

Yesterday I received an email from PhotoBucket advising me that I have 30 days to upgrade my account. While I find the new charge rates unpalletable what has really got me is that since I changed my email address they have obviously been sending emails to my old (dead) email account. How and why this final notice got through I have yet to determine but the fact that over 2 years since I made the change on my account PhotoBucket still haven't updated their systems.

So do I again bite the bullet and pay the increased charges at x3 what I am currently paying? No! I have a whole shed load of work to do but I am setting about moving the PhotoBucket hosted pictures and photos to another host site and leave PhotoBucket to shut down my long running account. And I have lest than 30 days to do it....

All change - cars

Mrs C decided that she wanted to change her car in August and finally found a Kia Sportage KZ3 1.7 CRDi that she liked and decided to buy. First off she intended to trade her Peugeot 207cc against the Kia, but we finally decided that a much more sensible financial solution was for her to trade in my Mazda6 and for me to pay her the difference between it and the Peugeot which had only 29,100 miles on its odometer while my Mazda6 had 104,500 miles under its wheels.

And so the deal was done. Sue is loving her new SUV while I am having fun in what was her, but is now my, Peugeot 207cc. All my mates rib me about me driving a "hair dresser's" car but I've found that a cloth cap fits the bill and generates amusement as Dave and I found when we were caught up on a drive down to Nuneaton by a couple of young ladies in another steel roof convertible (we were both driving roof down).

So the Mazda has gone and is sorely missed but the Peugeot is proving to be good fun and generates smiles, which is more important.

On reflection - 2016

The start of a new year is the time to look back and review the year just gone. I have to say that 2016 was actually quite a good year for us and our family. My change of job at the end of 2015 was a leap of faith but 2016 proved it to be the correct move at the right time and it has worked out better than could have been reasonably expected. Holidays, we enjoyed more than a few. Pitlochry in March followed by Zante and Ibiza later in the year and Sue went to Iceland on a hen do at the end of November.

So now we are booked for a short break in Geneva (tourist and touring) in March and a two week holiday to Vietnam & Cambodia in May. Probably fit in another week somewhere in September if the money holds out. We have two weddings to go to in the same weekend at the end of January and goodness knows how many miles I will drive for UoD and where my job will take me.

So we wish all family, friends and colleagues (past, present and future) a happy and prosperous 2017. Here's hoping it is a great year for us all.

SIPP update

All my working life I have contributed into whatever pension scheme was available to me through my employer thereby taking advantage of employer contributions on top of my own. Then a little over 5 years ago I was engaged by an IFA who came highly recommended through a number of personal recommendations. However, after following advice given and making recommended investments things started to unravel. The main investment turned out to be a scam and the next biggest investment in Verdant Australian Farmland turns out to be semi-barren drought plagued land returning a total of Aus $240 over the 5 years I've had it - I'd have got a better return leaving the money in a current account.

Mentally I've written off this loss of over £80k, but at the same time I've engaged a legal team to seek compensation or recover whatever monies they can. There are no promises and my hopes are on the pessimistic side of reality and reality is that I will be doing well if I recover 50% of that figure.

Meanwhile, I am still enjoying my driving job with University of Derby, the free time it allows me, the income it provides (not what I've been used to but keeps me off the homeless list) and the opportunities that not working 9am - 5pm provides.

Whisky

Up to now I have steered clear of detailing or expanding on my fondness for whisky, which extends to whiskey and bourbon. What's the difference I hear you ask? Well whisky (without the 'e') is produce of Scotland while whiskey (with the 'e') is produced anywhere outside of Scotland while bourbon is distilled from rye not barley.

Dalwhinnie 15yo and Aberlour 10yo

One thing I will make clear - I am not a whisky snob! I simply enjoy whisky, some more than others. All Scotch whisky has to have been aged in the cask for a minimum of 3 years and after the oil industry whicky production and sales are Scotlands biggest cash earner.

On the left, Auchentoshan American Oak - interestingly, no years aged data.

The pictures above show some of the brands currently on my shelves and which will be on the receiving end of my attentions over the next few months.

End of March, another milestone

How cool is this? Suzie treated me to a week in Pitlochry with the family in a rented bungalow which we used as a base for walking, touring, distillery visits and plenty of good eating to celebrate my 60th birthday.

Back home she then treats me to a birthday meal with friends and family, after which we go back home for the final celebration, birthday cake and champagne. On the top of the cake is a picture of me taken while tasting the whisky in the Blair Athol Bells whisky distillery in Pitlochry...

My photo on top of my birthday cake - that's cool!

Time to cut my birthday cake and share with friends and family...



This birthday was totally unlike my 50th birthday - I did not want to be 50, I was a bear with a sore head for the 6 months up to my birthday. Suzie treating me to a Fly-Drive dream holiday on the west coast of the USA did sweeten it and of course, I survived, thoroughly enjoying our trip across the west side of America (Pheonix to San Francisco the long way round). However, I didn't have any issues with being 60 and enjoyed every minute of the week with the family and the time with our friends.

After the shed

The next project has come and gone. Our ensuite bathroom has been deconstructed, remodelled and rebuilt by professional plumber and bathroom fitter Craig Smith. As agreed, to keep the cost down, the final touches, painting and fitting of accessories were left to me to do. Might publish pictures later.

Next up is to finish painting the kitchen as I have done the ceiling and gloss work (that is matt white ceiling and gloss white doors, frames and skirting boards. I've also done most of the walls with just the area around the window and the bit behind the radiator left to do.

Next up was to be the utility room. Then it would have been the rockery as that needs serious attention but last night a reversing lorry demolished part of the garden wall out the front so that will probably take priority over both of those projects. It never ends.

Shed electrics - update

Three months after of successful running the power to the shed died. With the cable buried under the new path there was no way I was going to dig it up to investigate.

The result was a proper security power cable getting buried across the garden and a visit from an electrician to connect the two ends so that (for a change) it was all done properly.

And it works!

So far, so good

Well so far 2016 has been quite good to me in my new driving job. Ferrying students to sports events including volleyball, netball, basketball, 6-a-side FutSal and football (11-a-side), dodgeball to name a few. Then there have been educational events where I've taken students to venues where they have been having off-site learning or providing younger college students with educational experiences that are aimed at bringing them into Derby University. Then there has been University Open Days and Graduation days where we just shuttle back and forth between locations across Derby. This semester I've taken on a regular Tuesday night run from the University picking up young riders (mostly female, the lads prefer to drive themselves) and taking them out to an Equestrian centre near Etwall for 2 hours with the horses before I do the return run, dropping them off on the way.

Airport runs are a big feature in my working life which involves fetching and carrying UoD staff between their home locations to various airport locations. So far Birmingham International Airport, London Heathrow and Manchester have been the most frequently visited, but already booked are London Stanstead, Liverpool and East Midlands Airport. These runs can be the most informative as the staff usually like to converse for a portion of the ride - 2.5 to 3 hours in the case of LHR. These conversations often revolve around travel and that has made me realise just how well travelled Sue & I are considering that our travels have all been self funded and not been paid for business trips like those the UoD staff are experiencing. One suggestion has been that I create a travel blog and record our travels. Some trips have appeared in this blog and some on my website so I can understand the suggestion to put them all in one place. Makes sense but time is the issue, decision deferred....

So that was Christmas

Christmas has been and gone. A very enjoyable time with the family. Too much food as usual but plenty of fun and games.

Something different

Walking out of my Business Analyst role at UoD was made all that much easier by walking straight into a casual driving job right there, ferrying lecturers, students and important people about between the various campus locations, other universities and doing airport runs (so far just collections from Heathrow and Birmingham).

And I am enjoying it. There is no routine, jobs are offered by email for me to accept or decline. There is no stress, all I have to do is turn up at the pre-booked time, check over and sign out the vehicle and drive. I love the longer runs because I get to just hang around waiting for the return run which is frequently when the match/game has been played or the plane has landed, and then drive back. Simples. I am free to fill my time in between outbound and return runs as I please, and I get days without work, so more "me time". OK, so I'm not earning at anywhere near the same level but importantly, I am happier and have time to work out what I want to do longer term.

That didn't last long

Got so fed up with the hostile working environment that I quit on 30th October, so...

Started.: 30th September
Finished: 30th October

Yes, I just quit, with immediate effect and walked out. Never done it before and no desire to do it again but it had to be done.

C'est la vie!

Re-employed - 3 weeks in...

Well that was a hectic few weeks. My stats this time around:
Jobs applied for . . . : 54
1st round interviews: 12
2nd round interviews: 02

One job offer: Senior Business Analyst quickly revised to Principal Business Analyst

Made redundant 11th August
Commenced employment 30th September

So that's 7 weeks unemployed drawing job seekers allowance of £73.10 per week. Now my commute is just under 6 miles each way and flexible hours on a 37hr week. But big expectations and short timescales to deliver in, and a need to bring about a real culture change.

No preasure there then!

Nearly there...

So the guys from Bestcrete have been and done their thing, poured, stamped, coloured and sealed the 3 phase creation of drive, patio and garden path is now complete and all that remains is the bit that I will term 'landscaping'. Basically a flower garden to the right of the path and building up the level of the soil on the left and then either seeding it with grass seed or the laying of turf. So this last weekend we got started on it and this is the current state of play...

Path poured, pattern imprinted, coloured and sealed...

The new path blends almost seamlessly into the patio just as we wished....

View from patio to back door and the start of the path...

Flowerbed on the right planted out with an initial selection of flora.

Environmental maste management system in place, away from the back door.


View from the side access.

Next stage in the process

The guys from Bestcrete were back again this morning to do the final preparations before the concrete pour, and this is how it looks now....

Shuttering in place for the final lay, colouring and pattern imprinting...

The hard stuff goes down on Saturday, weather permitting.

Shed - the final phase commences

The old shed base has gone along with all evidence it ever existed. The power supply to the new shed is now in place and laid, protected, in the hardcore to be peranently covered by the concrete top coat while in the shed it goes into a proper distribution box with RCD protection.

Anyway, here is a picture of the current view from our guests bedroom...

Hardcore down awaiting the final lay, colouring and pattern imprinting...

Unemployed - 3 weeks in...

Time for an update on my search for a new job, so what have I been up to in my first 3 weeks unemployed?

Well so far I have applied for 33 advertised job vacancies. This has resulted in 2 duplicate applications, 6 rejections after first interview, 2 jobs where I was advised there would be no interview as I didn't have the skills they were looking for (but were not in the job advert), 1 vacancy already filled, 1 no contact and 2 put on hold (no budget approved for post).

So I am now waiting to hear if I will be getting a 2nd interview on 2 roles where I have done a 1st interview, one of which is doubtful and the other is hopeful. The remaining 17 roles are WIP (work in progress) whichbasically means I have applied and I am waiting to hear. Why don't I chase them up? Simply because there are no contact details supplied during the application process so no way for me to follow-up.

Yesterday was my 3rd JSA sign-on. Last Thursday I had to additionally attend a National Careers Service "course" - really a group session aimed at advising job seekers how to write a CV and covering letter. Sothat was 2 hours of my time wasted attending and another hour in travel time but, if I don't jump through these loops they stop the JSA payments of £73.10 a week and they put you straight onto daily sign-on. No, the Gestapo didn't disband after the end of WW2.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, my ex-employer managed to screw up my final payment so I am over £2k down on what was agreed. I've been promised that the adjustment to correct this will be in my account before the weekend, but as they had 20 days to get it right the first time around I don't hold out much hope of them getting it right in 3 days.

Here we go again...

Tuesday 11th August was my last day at Capita, yes, I have been made redundant again. That's the 5th time in my career/job history. This time I saw it coming so I actually got my CV together and out there some weeks before the day. That pulled in a few interviews which at least gave me some interview practice (if nothing else). One did lead to a 2nd interview but that's now scheduled for 26th August so plenty of time to get some more lined up just in case that one doesn't deliver. In the meantime I also have to do a series of on-line tests for this job too. I'll do that tomorrow so wish me luck.

Yesterday was my first appointment with Job Seekers to get my JSA claim verified, then bugger me, today was my first "signing on" day. That's the way it happens sometimes.

Shed electrics

Nearly completed. Distribution /comsumer box with RCD breaker installed. Security light mounted and security system wired and dialled in. Twin power points/sockets above the bench and lighting in the form of two energy saving (low power draw) 11W (75W equivalent to regular bulbs) mounted in the high ceiling and a four foot 5H tube mouted in the eaves above the bench.

All the above is still running off a temporary power extension from the house but that will soon be addressed with a buried permanent power supply.

Another task that has progressed is the sorting and boxing into cartons of those little things like screws, nuts, bolts, washers, nails and other miscellenia. Last on the list will be the acquisition of a meaty vice and (possibly also) a bench drill.