Now, for non-work-related stuff: Note for LJ readers: If you are one of my friends/relatives who is reading this anonymously – or you are a registered LJ user who is not on my friends list – you’ve just missed a small pile of neat stuff regarding my work.

Nevermind – drop me a line and I’ll copy it to you.

Gradually I am spinning up to 2004, and am nearly back on form after the Christmas lull; I have a suspicion brewing that my credit-card company are delaying sending me my December bill in the vague hope that I’ll default on payment before the end of the month – more fool them, since I follow the BSD-VM model of cash management, never booking-out credit unless I have the cash to cover it. Note for non-geeks, the above is a really really weak pun.

This morning involved a early trip to see Simon ( Farmer Simon as he’s known around the office) to pick up the bike trailer (on loan from the inestimable Cynthia) and strap the Suzuki onto it for haulage back to the dealer, for service.

Once I work out how to get one up/down my driveway, I have gotta get myself a trailer; it’d be just so cool to rig the bike for offroading (thereby rendering it almost useless on-road) and hauling it off to Wales for a weekend.

Anyway – having got soaked in the pissing rain for an hour, strapping the bike to my satisfaction, a quick jaunt to Slough and back ensued; the chappie at the George White Superbikes service desk was bright and knowledgable, and they seem to go quite a bundle on customer service. Nice place – pity it’s in “come friendly bombs and fall on Slough“.

I felt a bizzare sense of accomplishment after dropping-off the bike; I know not why, perhaps because it’s odds-on that I will soon have it back and be out and about again, which will be nice — Assuming that they really do fix it, first time – something that the sunday TVAM advanced-riding run should thrash out.

Ah, yes; I need to get prettied-up for the TVAM Winter Ball weekend-after-next; it promises to be an interesting evening, although I’ll be staying stone-cold sober due to driving. Pictures will be taken and posted.

What else? Hmmm…

I went bicycling at the weekend; feeling I’d benefit from a bit of exercise, I reused the lighter components of my enduro kit and got the old Raleigh Amazon out – no suspension, cantilever brakes and steel frame, it at least has a degree of indestructability on its side, if no “mod cons”.

The 250m haul up a 1-in-4 muddy, leaf-rotting, wheel-slipping path was enough to prove to me quite how unfit I am nowadays; although I have excellent stamina for gentle stuff, this forced me to stop for a breather.

Diffie and I have twice walked that route up to the common, but I’ve never before gone exploring the bulk of the common; along a path, behind a Silver-Birch copse, a bulwark of concrete and rusting steel appears to be a WWII gun emplacement, presumably and ack-ack battery defending RAF Hartford Bridge (now: Blackbushe Airport); Goldfinch and Long-Tailed Tit twitter in the trees, mud and puddles are everywhere, and there is quite a fabulous view down into the river valley to the east – with the sort of terrain that I am sure some MBXers would hurtle down, but which I consider more circumspectly.

Also, I suspect fungi-foraging next year will be on the cards.

I need to do this more often; the exercise buzz which has eluded me for some time was back in force today, and I feel much better for the experience; having proper equipment (albeit of a motorbike variety) made it all the more enjoyable.

2354h; time for bed. More, tomorrow, if I remember.