Back In The yUcK

Landed early on the morning of the 21st, could not see anything on the external camera view from the plane as we descended until we were in the last seconds of the final approach. There was a lot of low cloud and an unpleasant cold drizzle falling out of the sky, temperature was an icy 13°C and as I finally escaped outside for a smoke I started to regret having left my fleece on one of the couches in the guest wing where it had lain for the last four months.

The weather picked up after a day or so and my brain finally arrived as well, spent 5 days trying to get my laptop talking to the internet without any luck. Every fix that was tried generated no progress and I finally decided to archive my data and reset it back to factory settings. An hour later and suddenly I was able to connect – and in my absence something had been done at my local exchange as my 2Mbps connection had been transformed into a 6Mbps one.

While aware that petrol had risen 16p a litre while I had been away the rises in the price of food came as a bit of a shock; bread, eggs, milk and pasta seem to be much more expensive than when I left – at least beer and wine prices remain close to what I remember them being.

Have been asked many times if I am glad to be back and that question has made me pause before answering every time “yes and no”. It has been good to catch up with family and friends, satisfy my addiction for a high speed internet connection and to drink some ale that is not a plain old lager.

On the downside, I miss the good weather, the coffee and the people that I left behind – so the jury remains out.

More regular posting should ensue from this point on – unless the sky falls on my head!