Catching up
Hauptbahnhof, Frankfurt
Where to begin?
I had planned to put together a wee note with photos of our week in Germany but the Japanese earthquake and tsunami struck on the day we left Frankfurt and since then I haven’t been able to convince myself to write a jolly little piece about having fun.
But we did have a good week. Although it fulfilled my personal aim of relaxing some more and letting some baggage slip and slide away I also found myself spotting things which resonated from the perspective of ICT infrastructure and eCommerce – maybe I’m just an incorrigibly sad git?
I took several photos while away with which I’m quite pleased and the one to the right is probably my current favourite. We used Frankfurt as a base and visited also Marburg and Heidelberg, both of which were lovely. I particularly like how the old towns – alt stadt- in German towns and cities have not ossified into historical and tourist artefacts but remain lived and worked in.
This week has mostly been more relaxing although I did squeeze in trip to London and back yesterday to sort out some final details of my new job, of which more at a later date. Earlier in the week I enjoyed a lunch out with an industry colleague during which we talked about a great deal, lubricated by a bottle of a very agreeable Italian red. By chance my recently ex line manager was in the same restaurant and she remarked (favourably) about how in the space of only two weeks I had succeeded in looking very much more relaxed.
Romer, Frankfurt
Of course some of that relaxation may have been due to the bottle of cask-strength Islay malt which she and senior colleagues gave me when I left – viscous and peaty it nearly blew my head off when I tried a sip without water on Tuesday night.
Anyway, time is now tight to do some of the things I wanted to do in my retirement – this is because I have a starting date in mid April for my new job and it is now getting late in March – only three weeks or so of the pipe and slippers now remain.
The main thing to get sorted is to put some shelving in the attic to take some of the many books which are up there but I had hoped to get some things done around the garden. Chief amongst the garden things which need to be sorted out are weeding and tidying up the general mess which winter has left and then commissioning some extensive renovation work at the front.
Out in the back garden I need some clear days to spruce up the decking and sort out some perenial climbers for the pergola. I also need to commission the ground works to be the base for the fabled man-shed which is mutating in concept into more of a home office to support my new job.
And then there is a Van der Graaf Generator gig next Friday, and a Mons Meg tour in Glasgow next Saturday……
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