Also, if you’re around and at a loose end, come over for dinner. I’ve got a dining table and four chairs, but you might have to bring a plate.

Why the silence? Well, it’s largely because things of great interest have been happening. I know that’s not the traditional reason not to blog, but when searching for a job one doesn’t really wish to shout about it too much on the Internet in a form which will be easy for one’s prospective employers to find – not that I have a moment’s doubt that there’s already a whole pile of incriminating information out there about me. Evidently none of it was really serious, because I got a job and have been working full time for three weeks now. It’s not my dream job, I shall be honest, but it’s a job and it’s a pretty good one really. The pay’s entirely reasonable, the office environment is fantastic, and the people are also nice. The commute could only be better if it was a short walk down the road (rather than a short walk, a reasonable tram ride and another short walk after that).

The major problem is that, as with all software development which takes place against a background of established code, there’s established code. A lot of it. Ten years and more of it. Much of it is poorly documented (by which I mean not documented in any way whatsoever). Quite a bit of it is poorly written, having suffered from the many demons associated with haste, neglect and modification by other people (hint: documentation helps with that). It seems intentions are changing. My team have generally agreed that code should be documented and so forth. Unfortunately we’re now arguing about how it should be documented, but at least it’s a start.

Music things have been on a bit of a hiatus. As it’s the summer, many groups and lessons have been disrupted. I’ve not had any viol or recorder lessons for ages, and my only outlet is playing Telemann sonatas all afternoon at the weekend (I’m sure my neighbours are simply delighted…) and going to SRP once a month, which is an absolute lifesaver. I can’t wait for the start of the school year to return groups and lessons to normality, although I will miss playing with the University early music group.

Still, you can’t have everything.

Everyone who knows me has permission to nag me if they suspect I’m not doing it, by the way. I need to shed some of this flab that’s appearing.

What have I been doing? Well…

1. attempting to re-learn bass clef so I can play the bass recorder again (getting there)
2. seriously doubting my continuation with the Northumbrian Smallpipes – at least for now
3. wondering if I should go out in the rain and get something for lunch, or starve (no real choice there is there, I’ll buy a new umbrella too)
4. very tempted to buy a crumhorn and learn how to play it

Enough of that. I went on holiday to the Lake District. Some photos in the gallery (not many, I’m too busy to muck about with tweaking and uploading lots, and you probably don’t want to look at them anyway. I did pick the best ones though).

I’m still preparing for my ABRSM grade 5 treble recorder exam, which is in early December.

It’s nearly time for National Novel Writing Month to start! This year I’m one of three Municipal Liasons for England::Nottingham region, so there’s more to do on the organisational front. MLs are of course also expected to reach 50,000 words, in order to set a good example. I’m aiming for 60,000 this year, but we’ll see how it goes. I hope I can do it, because if I don’t I suspect Paul will be terribly displeased — more so than he was last year after I completely failed to blow up any planets in my novel, even after we spent an enjoyable afternoon discussing how you could blow up a planet with a ferret (we thought maybe a ferret travelling at 0.99c might do it on impact, but nobody actually sat down and worked out the energy requirement. It’s quite possible you’d need several ferrets).

So this year I have a basis for a plot, I even have a preliminary title, and I’ll be sticking bits of in-progress stuff up on the NaNoWriMo page here from time to time. Maybe even the whole thing like last year, if you’re very, very unlucky.

What else? Oh yes. I’ve started lessons with the Latin, Ballroom and Salsa society at the University — Latin and Ballroom lessons, that is, the Salsa classes are different. It’s fun but quite difficult, and I’ve stepped on far too many toes. I think my feet are too big, and I feel the need to only dance with girls who are wearing steel toecaps for their own protection.

Of course, it’s difficult because quite often we’re both making mistakes, so even if one of us dances perfectly we still end up stepping on each other’s feet. Sort of a lose-lose situation really, but hopefully that will fade with more practice.

It’s a shame I can’t make the practice sessions, but they rather clash with recorders. Recorder lessons are now on Mondays, followed once a fortnight by a Monday consort, nice and small, good people to play with, great music to play.

Wednesdays is Collegium Musicum — first concert this year is in late November, lunchtime again. Nowhere near as scared about it as I was this time last year. I guess that’s what experience will do.

Thursdays is dancing, as mentioned above.

Saturdays throughout November are devoted to NaNoWriMo.

So I’m a bit busy for the foreseeable future. I also have a nifty little software project to write some time, but that’s not really going to be on the map until at least Christmas.

Oh yeah, and an interim report for my PhD. Gotta fit that in somewhere too.

• TV aerial’s pointing at the wrong transmitter
• Bathroom light switch pullcord base is behaving like it wants to come out of the ceiling
• Curtain rail in the living room wants to fall out of the wall
• Oven is filthy and the elements appear to be damaged
• Windows are sometimes difficult to close fully, although they’re improving with use and judicious application of WD40

That’s the broad overview of course. Some of it I should have caught when I looked around — next time I will know to look in the oven, for example. Just because the top’s clean doesn’t mean the interior is.

However, this place is a good size — not too big, definitely not too small. It has a washer/dryer, it’s on the first floor, I’ve got my own front door, curtains, decent windows, a dining table, a sofa bed, lots of wardrobe space… it’s good. Just need to get internet and these things fixed up and it’ll be wonderful.

Although I would rather like to redecorate…

Jealous? You bet! But I wish them every happiness, and intend to go over to Boston, MA and see them some time next year, for they will be making their new lives in the States.

Tomorrow the real stress starts: an 0638 train from Nottingham takes me to Bristol for the Automated Reasoning Workshop. At least I should get a good dinner in the middle of it — the restaurant where we’re having the meal looks gorgeous. I return to Nottingham on Tuesday, and have a few days of relative peace before turning out again to the Midlands Graduate School in Leicester, another four days causing me to have to miss the April meeting of the Society of Recorder Players, something I’m displeased about as due to the holidays I’m currently deprived of the opportunity to play with other people. I can’t wait for life to return to some semblance of normality.

Around all this I also need to finish off some other things, and somehow find some time to sleep and not go mad.

I cannot wait until May.

The television coverage from London last night shows that even if it didn’t have such significance, we’d give it all the necessary significance ourselves. New Year is probably better than Christmas, I would say, but I won’t go into the reasons here because that’s mostly just an ill-defined opinion that I have little real justification for at the present time.

So to my retrospective on 2005. What did I do? Well, I:

• started a PhD
• started playing the recorder again (and got a teacher)
• won my third National Novel Writing Month
• met some brilliant people
• went to GUADEC
• missed a number of social engagements due to apathy and/or schedule conflicts

There’s probably more than that, but that’s what stands out. Next year I hope to:

• visit Germany (again) and the south of France
• do an ABRSM exam for the recorder (and pass, but preferably something a bit higher than grade one)
• play the recorder in a concert where I don’t finish a piece a beat ahead of everyone else and where the harpsichord doesn’t go wrong halfway through
• make my own lunches instead of buying them, thus saving lots of money
• join the Special Constabulary (not going to happen, just like last year)
• get some accomodation I don’t hate

Hmm. How dull.

I now have a gallery of Christmas photos. Enjoy, but try not to drool while looking at the mince pies.