Month: November 2002

Beer tonight with Tanya, Claudine, Paul F, Cat, Nik, Alex and Guy, with sightings of Ruth, Hamish, Leah and Clive.

Yay! Brighton win! At this rate, we might not finish last in Division 1.

Remember when I went to the Wessex Branch CIM meeting? This is what we all looked like…

A late entry for the photo competition has been received from Julie M and added to the page.

The judges have spent many hours deliberating, and have chosen Ade‘s picture as the winner on the grounds of quality and humour:

He will receive a packet of pickled onion Monster Munch and a firm handshake when I see him.

Runners-up Julie (for highest quality submission) and Lord Percy (for just being plain mad!) will both receive firm handshakes. Thanks to everyone that took part!

Although the competition itself is now closed, don’t be afraid to send in any more submissions that you may feel inspired to create.

Lunch with Sarah and Paul in the Nags, with sightings of many familiar faces. Bumped into Nick and Anne on my way back here.

This could prove to be intensely irritating and amusing in equal measure, and probably all too easy to take potshots at.

The Meeting was very long (seven and a half hours) but very successful, and so was followed by celebration last night with beer and champagne in the company of Paul F, Kearn, Lady Bren, Lord Percy and Kristian.
I can’t really say much more about the whole thing at the moment. Details will, undoubtedly, creep out over the next few weeks and months. We expect to go public with the whole thing in March, but before then it should be clear what is happening. I expect to make a couple of announcements later this week.

After completing The Document yesterday, in little under half an hour I have The Meeting. Hopefully, tonight I will have The Celebration. If not, then I will have Some Consideration.

Weekly weigh-in: 12st 12lb. Woo! yay! I’ve passed my target by a whole extra pound! The diet is officially over.
Now to resist the temptation to pig out on pies.

I haven’t said anything about the current fire brigade strike yet, although I’m sure you can guess my opinions.
However, what is really cheesing me off at the moment is the way that some sections of the media, and particularly BBC TV news (much less so online), keep going on about how inadequate the Army’s “Green Goddess” fire engines are. I’m sorry, but that is total rubbish. Clearly they are not going to have the same kit that a modern engine has, but they are excellent tools – the average age of the fleet might be 50 years, but the average mileage on the clock is just 300. Of the Army’s fleet, all but one is in perfect working order. They have all-wheel drive, a feature that regular fire engines do not possess. And, as any resident of Chichester who escaped the floods of the last few years will tell you, they are extremely effective and you’d be bloody glad to see one when you needed one!
Additionally, the retained (part-time) firefighters are still working, with their full training and modern kit. And there are RAF and Royal Navy crews with the very latest kit too.
I honestly think that a lot of this media coverage is the result of FBU spin doctors, trying to make out that we can’t survive without firemen, inflating their own self worth.
Oh, and for my next rant: the firemen have a legal right to strike, fair enough, but why does that mean that the fire appliances, owned by the local authority and paid for out of our taxes, have to be left locked in the stations?