You know you’ve hit the big time when you make it on to the UK Plant Health Interception and Outbreak Chart. That’s me at the bottom of page three, due to an official in California doing his paperwork incorrectly.
All I need to do now is start handling dead turkeys and then I’ll hit the international media scene.
Hooray me! This week, I’ve completed and sent off not only my tax return, but also Hels’s.
In addition, I’ve done a shedload of work. Rah!
For some reason, my email is taking ages to come through – the arrival is about two hours behind the actual timestamp. Craaazy 34SP, I suspect.
It’s that time of year again. Last year, I made five resolutions. I have made a good start on the first one, although it is a massive project and has taken much longer than anticipated, not least due to distractions of the Tom kind. The second I failed on miserably. The third hasn’t gone too badly, although it has improved of late. The fourth, well let’s not go there, shall we? – only 186 posts this year, including this one – not good enough. And the fifth one I’ve done reasonably well on – I’m certainly a lot happier on that score than I was this time last year.
So, for 2007, I’ll continue the good work where the good work has started. Beyond that, I haven’t really got that much that I feel I particularly want to resolve to do – there is plenty to keep me occupied.
2006 has been a year like none before it, entirely due to the arrival of Tom. He has, as I expected, changed life totally and for the better. In addition, we’ve had a lot of travel (I’ve been to Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Hungary this year) and there is more planned for 2007, with trips to Germany, France, Netherlands (naturally), Portugal, Poland, Ireland and Italy on the cards. 2006 has also seen us starting to make new long term plans. We’re not yet sure if they will come to fruition, but the notion of emigrating doesn’t look beyond the realms of plausibility. We’re also much closer to finally sorting out our finances, which has to be a good thing and has implications for all areas of life.
New Year’s Eve this year will be spent with friends, eating and drinking too much whilst (hopefully) Tom sleeps. Then I’ve got to wind myself back up in to work mode after an extended Christmas break – which, when I wasn’t being ill, I’ve enjoyed and was much needed, particularly as I’ve spent nearly the whole break at home with Hels and Tom, undoubtedly a good thing.
Happy New Year to all grayblog readers. Keep coming back if you like this sort of thing.
The Motors. Bless.
Anyway, this post comes to you from the departures lounge at Gatwick’s North Terminal. Not bad considering I should currently be sitting in some nice bar in Budapest, having arrived about two-and-a-half hours ago from Heathrow.
So you can say that it hasn’t been a great day so far. Having left home on time, dropping Tom at his childminder en route, I soon ground to a halt on the M25. I had a rotten time of it on the M25 on Monday, but this was even worse, to such an extent that I stopped the engine and sat reading for 15 minutes. Clearly, it was even less of a great day for the unfortunates in the accident at junction 10, but it meant that it was soon obvious that I was going to miss my flight. Malev have been as helpful as they can be, given that they have no later flight from Heathrow and have got me on the evening flight from Gatwick, but it has cost me £100 (although that includes a compulsory upgrade to business class due to economy being packed to the gunwhales) plus £11 for a two hour trip on the tube and train (I needed to leave my car at Heathrow as my return flight takes me there).
Which brings me to today’s idle thought. How come, as you amble along the Piccadilly Line, you pass Barons Court (no apostrophe), Earl’s Court (Earl who?) and Knightsbridge (all one word)? Any ideas why these names should be constructed differently? And is there a link between the noble places?
Anyway, more nonsense after the weekend, assuming my journey goes ok and there are no riots. In the meantime, check out the cricket and then go along to the food festival at Glynde Place this weekend.
I’m planning to travel to Budapest on Thursday. I think I need to keep an eye on the news in the meantime.
UPDATE: latest news suggests that, whilst there is a large peaceful protest near the government buildings, the violence is quite small scale and can be likened to the "poll tax riots" of the Thatcher years – in other words, mainly confined to one square. I’ve been checking carefully and my hotel is at least two kilometers away from the trouble, so I still intend to travel unless there are significant developments overnight. However, I was planning to take an evening stroll to explore the centre of Budapest, which I may now forego and put off for another occasion.
During the sunrise application period for .eu domain names, I made an application for my company’s name under the rules which permit owners of registered companies to make such applications. The website details a requirement to submit documentary evidence, so I provided a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation, since the application was being made in the company’s name and not in my name as director (hence no requirement to prove ownership). I felt confident that the application would proceed without any problem, particularly as the EURid website suggests that limited companies should have no problem applying.
My application has been rejected, much to my annoyance.
I’ve now read the fine print and am embarrassed that I didn’t do so at the beginning. In addition to the requirement for a copy of something like a Certificate of Incorporation, there is also a requirement for an affadavit to show that such a title as Limited Company is sufficient for the rules for sunrise applications. This seems utterly superfluous to me, as limited companies are clearly included in the list of permitted entities on the website, so one would assume that they wouldn’t need an affadavit! One would also think that they could check records with Companies House and also, by virute of training and experience, get to know what a Certificate of Incorporation looks like!
As a consequence, I have no grounds for appeal (and probably would baulk at paying the EUR 2200 appeal fee anyway) and must wait until my name is released from the sunrise process and make an application under the general release rules.
In general, I am a fan of the European Union but instances such as this do nothing to dispel the reputation that the EU has for being excessively bureaucratic.
A guide for the modern workplace. I actually have enough paper on my desk to start a small fire, but my desk is wooden and my office is also wooden, so this may result in a large office fire.
Oh dear, it seems that I’m getting a reputation in my industry for always knowing where the very best restaurants are in the towns and cities around Europe that are centres for horticulture. Well, I suppose that there are worse things to have a reputation for.
So, note to self and to others – I’d like to publicly recommend Aux Six Régals (no website) as the finest eating establishment that I know in Angers. I’ve just eaten there and to say that the experience was both sublime and good value would be an understatement. The salade périgourdine is possibly one of the best dishes I know anywhere (this isn’t a bad recipe, but not as good as the restaurant’s version).
If you’re lucky, I may come up with a few more tips for other parts of Europe (it’s not a long list really).
This week has included:
And that is just what I’ve had to do – Hels has had just as much.
But there are positive things too:
So it’s not all bad. It just feels that way.