A ruby with the lads…

Following my work’s do I had another outing. This time it was with a dozen guys from down the street. One of our neighbours arranged the gathering where we met at one of our locals for a quick drink before going on to the village curry house for a slap-up meal, some more drinks and a chance to meet and find out more about the other people in the street. It was a brilliant idea and we are all very keen to do this again and to expand it to a family get together with wives and kids too.

Mistletoe and wine…

We were a bit hesitant about going along to my company’s Christmas party as we had missed the one last year, the first after I joined the company, but we were pleasantly surprised. The food was very good for mass-catering and we were at a table of people that we knew from previous jobs for quite some time. It didn’t take much encouragement for Sue to get out onto the dance floor but it was much harder to convince her to take a break. The wine was not so great and on the expensive side and the room was just fine, but the cooked breakfast was an absolute necessity the following morning. The do was in a hotel near work and we had decided to stay over as it is a good distance from home and it would either be an expensive taxi ride or a boring and sober evening.

Shop till you drop…

Recently we took a day off work and went into our nearest large town to try and do all of our Christmas shopping in one hit. The day was pretty much a success with us getting near enough 90% of our presents sorted out. Just about everything else was bought via the internet. We have almost wrapped them all, have sent the overseas package to my family, written and posted most of the cards and have the decorations up around home. So we are nearly ready for the festive season.

More of wot I have read…

Stark by Ben Elton

In Ben Elton’s first novel the author lays out his stall for environmentalism from the stand point of a comfortably off middle class professional in the UK. As such many elements of the story have resonances with a reader of a similar background. I have read several of his books and find them entertaining and clever (apart from the tendency for the occasional ‘farty’ reference) and this was no exception.


“Stark has more money than God and the social conscience of a dog on a croquet lawn. What's more, they know the Earth is dying. Deep in Western Australia where the Aboriginals used to milk the trees, a planet-sized plot takes shape. Some green freaks pick up the scent. A Pommie Poseur, a brain-fried Vietnam Vet, Aboriginals who lost their land... …not much against a conspiracy that controls society. But EcoAction isn't in society; it just lives in the same place, along with the cockroaches. If you're facing the richest and most disgusting conspiracy in history, you have to do more than stick up two fingers and say 'peace'.”