Christmas message

Every year I do a round-robin letter at Christmas to insert with certain Christmas cards. It is a good round up of last year, so I am repeating it here.


2007 – time passes ever faster

Work
I started the year as the Finance guy at the Association for Geographic Information http://www.agi.org.uk/. I was working 3 days a week and was happy in the knowledge that I was bringing some financial discipline to an organisation which had not exactly shone in that department in the past. I was also happy in the knowledge that my lack of knowledge about Geography did not really matter in my work.
Then in March my boss resigned. I had been banging on about the need to reduce overheads, so I piped up and said that we shouldn’t replace her. ‘ So who will do her work?’ came the retort. I opened my mouth and found the words ‘I will’ coming out.
So here I am, now working 4 days a week, still doing the finances but also, as Chief Operating Officer, having to get involved in discussions about the world of Geography. So I’ve been in Edinburgh discussing the ‘One Scotland One Geography’ initiative, in obscure parts of Wales (Llandrindod Wells) discussing Geography in the Principality, in Glasgow discussing Geography in Education, going to UK Geoforum meetings, discussing the UK response to the European INSPIRE initiative, arguing for the retention of a UK geospatial metadata service and, strangest of all, being a judge for the best paper at our annual conference in Stratford upon Avon. It’s all a bit weird.
It’s been a steep learning curve, but has given me a whole new interest and I’m really enjoying it. It is certainly true that redundancy from the Festival Hall a couple of years ago has led to a positive change, workwise.

The blogs
The diary is dead – long live the diary. But this time it is called a blog. Everyone has a blog, don’t they. So I have two. One is a general blog – http://www.alansalmanac.blogspot.com/ and one follows my learning curve in the world of geography http://www.ageogblog.blogspot.com/
Both started with much enthusiasm and a large number of blog entries in January. Both have rather slowed down and had much fewer entries later in the year. But both are just about still in operation.

Sport
The golf and tennis trundle on. My home golf course, after years as a building site, reopened in July now called ‘The Shire London’ http://www.theshirelondon.com/. Designed by Sevvy Ballesteros it is a really tough test of golf, lots of water, no flat bits, bunkers everywhere and some thick rough. But it is fun to play.
In June I came first in a corporate golf day at the Buckinghamshire to which I was invited by one of our clients.
In July I took myself off to Antwerp to represent the UK at Eurogames 2007. And I was really chuffed to win the bronze medal for the UK. It was a really fun weekend – 3000 competitors, opening and closing ceremony in the Grote Markt in the centre of Antwerp, and loads of parties. http://2007.eurogames.info/index.php
Antwerp is a lovely city.
I arrived in Antwerp without any golf shoes. So we went to a huge sports shop and I ended up buying a tennis racket, as well as the shoes. When I returned to the UK, suddenly I was playing tennis better than I had done for years. I had thought I was useless at tennis – now I find that the racket I was using was useless. The first bit is still generally true of course, but we did reach the semi-final of the men’s doubles (veterans!) in the club tournament.

Travel
Not so much jet-setting this year. Indeed the year was notable for the trips I turned down – invitations to Iceland, the Caribbean and New Orleans were all declined. Well I do have to work 4 days a week now. But there were still some fascinating trips this year.
Malaga, where we have the apartment, was of course a regular destination – 7 visits during the year. I still love the city.
In late June we drove all the way up to the Orkney Isles. My first visit. I loved Orkney - the amazing story behind the Italian Church, the almost unbelievable fact that Scara Brae was a thriving village before the Pyramids were built and the stunning scenery on the island of Hoy. We were there during the St Magnus Festival which was an added bonus.
I made a number of trips to Keith to see my parents, but as usual these only lasted a couple of days each time so I was unable to visit friends in the North of Scotland. Sorry.

Amro Holidays
The travel business is still doing well, http://www.amroholidays.com/. I help out where I can, which I admit is not much, doing the accounts, checking copy on newsletters, and helping out on our stall at Brighton Pride. But it is Andrew who works very hard at making the travel business more successful. And we have 2 members of staff now. And it led to a meeting with Dolly Parton. (too long a story)
As I mentioned, I had to turn down some research trips, but we are heading for a Christmas trip to Thailand. We don’t like to sell a destination of which we have no personal knowledge and neither of us has been to Thailand. So we are going to remedy that. I am particularly looking forward to visiting Chaing Rai and the Mekong River in the North of the country. And I hope to spend some time relaxing on the beaches of Phuket and Koh Samui.

Family and friends
It was great to see some people in 2007 that I hadn’t seen in years. I need to try to catch up with the others in 2008.
My sister is still living and working in Totnes. My Dad is reasonably well. I played 13 holes of golf with him recently at Keith and he played really well for a 91 year-old. But Mum had a stroke recently and is in hospital in Elgin. It is too early to know the eventual prognosis, but certainly we will all have to adapt to a changed situation. It happened just a week before the whole family were due to meet up in Malaga, as we had done in the past two years. I guess I can be thankful it didn’t happen in Malaga.
Sadly Andrew’s Dad died during the year, but we’d made his last years as comfortable as we could. He bravely endured the pain of illness and always had a twinkle in his eye. He was very kind to me and always pleased to see me.
Andrew and I have been together for over 10 years now and he has remained a tower of strength for me during the year.

Getting older
I can no longer leap out of bed. I hobble to the bathroom – and usually have to visit it during the night. I have a pain in my knee when I play tennis and a pain in my shoulder when I play golf. I’ve been to a few functions where I was the oldest there. I needed stronger spectacles this year. Bits of my teeth are crumbling. Running to catch a bus is a fond memory.
Yes, I guess I am getting older. The mind doesn’t get older, but the body certainly does.
However, recently I was at a quiz night in a church hall and realised that I was the youngest person there. So thank God, literally, for the Church of England – the only remaining place where nearly everyone is older than I.

Well that’s it for another year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.