mbernardi

Yoga class has still been reduced to 4 students and last week there was no class. Decided to add an additional workout and have now started line dancing on Wednesday evening.
Watched 3 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
At work the merger between SE CSU and NEL CSU was completed first week of the month, (IT merged last year). IT Team has new installed Skype for business (IM Service from NHS Mail).
In ballroom dancing learned new sequence in Waltz, and new sequence dance the Veleta, social dance on last Saturday of the month and 2 additional practices on 2nd & 3rd Fridays.
Got some sad news too. Dance partner J's Dad died, after some weeks of ill health. Had a DNR authorisation.
Stared final migration from LiveJournal to Dreamwidth, including all my posts and as many contacts and feeds as I can. I started posting to LJ on 11 April 2007 and it seems appropriate to finish 10 years later. This will be my last post at LiveJournal, my next post will only appear at Dreamwidth.
On the 8th I treated myself to a day at the Theatre Royal in Brighton (as previously noted) Walking back stage (and on stage), getting to see all the props for the afternoon performance was really cool. It's also really small, I've also been backstage at the Hawth (a much more modern theatre) which has much wider passageways and rooms. But then the Theatre Royal was built 210 years ago.
In the afternoon I attended a matinee performance of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" based on the movie (which I saw many years ago) with a delightful performance by Joanne Clifton as Millie.
The following Monday the SF Book club discussed Crashing Heaven by Al Robertson, which I hadn't finished on the night, but did complete the book a few days later.
Took my birthday off work and spent the day with my family (it is my sister's birthday the day after mine so we usually celebrate together), walked the dog together! Chinese meal for lunch.
Eastercon was in Birmingham NEC - stayed at Arden Hotel And Leisure Club about 20min walk from the con hotel (but cheaper!) used its Leisure club facilities a number of times
Registered for Innominate and collected program pack and badge, used app to select program items of interest (the one do not miss was ""Vorkosigan's Law: Legal Concepts from an Imagined Universe - this compared and contrasted the fictional universe with example in the British Legal system - SB was in the military and has since become a barrister!)
The program opened with a bang as Dr Emma J King, educator from The Royal Institution explored the history of the institute with added explosions!
The trek to and from my hotel was a bit of a pain, but the room cost were almost half that of the con hotel so.... (and it was good exercise).
The other program items that I didn't was to miss was the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who, which was one of the best attended and started with free jellybabies! And the Easter Morning Service, which was non-denominations with a CoE backbone.
I did attend a least one program item with each GoH (Pat Cadigan, Colin Harris & Judith Clute. I also supported the Dublin worldcon bid.
My journey home was also somewhat fraught, as I caught what I thought was the Virgin - London train, but which I discovered, at Winchester, was going to Bournemouth! I did get off at the next stop of Southampton Central, then had to take a train along the south coast from the Isle of Wight to Brighton, before getting home some hours latter than expected (I still managed to got some shopping before going ballroom dancing!)
I finally topped up my iPhone, with £10 credit (may have been a year since my last £10) got one month addition £20 credit for free. BUT I have to use it before 24 May
Had my bi-annual dental checkup and will have to return for another filling, but generally speaking my teeth are OK!
D & I did a major spring clean of the kitchen (may be the most comprehensive clean since it was re-built!) Floor was bushed and mopped and scrubbed, all the counters were cleared and cleaned, the bins emptied, the sink and cooker tops cleaned and the freezer was defrosted!
I will have to buy replacement dish racks now though.
And this is the end of my posting to LiveJournal, all future material will appear at Dreamwidth anyone who wants to follow me there feel free, please comment there rather than on LJ. All my previous LJ material and comments have been imported into Dreamwidth.

Yoga class has been reduced to 4 students and last 3 weeks there was no class;-(
On the first Saturday I was busy as in the morning I went to HH Library for a history walk around town by railway.
Then in the evening went to The Drill Hall in Horsham with my sister & J for a dance with the Milestone Big Band, with a basic cha cha class taught by Christopher & Diana Crowhurst
and then demo from same. Danced a number of cha chas with J & C. Went home with C to visit the family.
Two weeks later we all returned to the same location for an afternoon tea dance, which had a better selection of dance styles, and tea and sandwiches, for less than the previous offering. The 3 of us had a better time.
Saw Logan (15) at the cinema after work (met J from work there - unplanned).
Other sister H came to visit, from Somerset, and we went to visit my niece at her new house. Gave my sister my spare copy of "A Natural History of Dragons".
On second Monday went to book club to discuss The Peace War / Marooned in Realtime (had finished the first book but not all the second)
Had a bad cold, such that I lost most of my voice, and fortunately was assigned admin at work (rather than having to answer phone calls). Had more interrupted sleep due to coughing!
Ballroom Dancing classes continued every Tuesday, revised technique on the ballroom style dances.
Restarted regularly listening to audio books, via Audible (after a dip in February). Started listening to the Lady Trent's Memoirs which are perfect audio material.
Got diagnosed with Osteoarthritis, pain in my feet and fingers.
used up my last leave by taking last 2 days of the month off! On Thursday went down to Brighton and bought tickets to see "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at the Theatre Royal preceded by a tour of the back stage area. Something to look forward too.

So the first week end of this month I was in Marks Tey for Quoi de Neuf - The 29th British Filk Convention. I arrived Friday afternoon and left Monday morning (taking 2 days leave.)
GoHs were Jackie Mitchell and Cecilia Eng. Second time I'd been to the Best Western in Marks Tey. Bungalow Diner had been refurbished - but still had very good value meals.
The program followed the normal pattern with concerts, one shots and a musical + nMC (http://www.contabile.org.uk/quoideneuf/)
Ballroom classes on Tuesday, revised Foxtrot, Samba, Waltz, Tango & Quickstep (working on technique)
Got a hair cut! Went to PicoCon 34, but had to leave early as J & I were going to Strictly Dance Magic in BH.
After over 3 decades the villa in Spain was finally sold, C&L flew out to finalise. How the money will get back to UK with Brexit etc we aren't sure!
Yoga class down to 4 students, but still ongoing
Visited family for my Dad birthday, day off the day before (as the actual birthday my niece & her husband started moving into their brand new house).
Last Saturday of the month was Social Dance with J. Finished 5 minutes early!

Saw Rogue One (A Star Wars story) on Bank Holiday. Rather dark, but much better that the earlier trilogy.
Renewed my season ticked and got a 26% discount, and used a lot of delay repay vouchers.
Yoga class has had reduced numbers, down to 2 of us at the lowest numbers, but regularly 4 students.
D paying for Amazon Prime as he wants to watch The Grand Tour - so we are sharing the account.
Had first Personal Development Review, since becoming full time. Need to complete additional training, (before upgrading to Band 4)
Have also been trying to complete some online training - for work, but have had significant issues, not least test scres not being saved.
Due to the rail strike, I had to take the bus to work, this took over an hour longer than by train! and fortunately i only had to resort to this once.
I've been able to take all the other days when trains were not running as Leave, but this time too many others had booked the day off!
On one of these days off saw Passengers (12A) at the Orion Cinema Golden years showing (for over 55 years) for only £2.50 inc tea and biscuits!
Had to move desks at work second time in 2 months!) now well practised in moving!
Booked ticket to Marks Tey (for this year's filkcon - Quoi de Neuf) using Delay Repay eVouchers.
Continued with Ballroom Dance class with J each week. New Samba steps! End of month social dance didn't manage to use the new steps though

Went dancing most Tuesdays (though missed the Friday practice as J was ill). Went to a Sunday Christmas Dance with J in addition to normal classes.
Train Strike caused further delays, and cancellations, so had to take some time off work. Also got a number of delay repay refunds.
SF Book Club meeting, in Brighton, included a earlier start and a Christmas meal (I had cod and chips!) and then a slightly lest rigorous discussion of The Stainless Steel Rat.
Got my garden patio replace and an additions fence installed, this took over 2 days and has made a significant difference to the garden.
I had to make an excursion to a clinic I hadn't visited before to get my hands ultrasound scanned, weird feeling with warm blue jelly dotted over the skin. (I have had contact with this location before as part of my job (IT support))
Continued with yoga class, when there wasn't a strike, (or over the Christmas holiday).
Over the long Christmas weekend, stayed with my family (Mum & Dad, Sister & BiL, Neice & NiL) got a nice scarf and a few other bits an pieces.
Helped my sister with meal prep on Saturday & Sunday, which was quite fun.
Booked hotel for Eastercon & Worldcon 75, and flight to Helsinki
Went shopping with D on last Wednesday of the month and then on Thursday D fixed a Christmas dinner for us both, I prepped the veg!
On Friday I went to The Dome in Brighton to see Flip FabriQue in Catch Me (Attrape Moi) in the afternoon.
Big New Year's Eve social dance with buffet meal, followed by cheesecake and coffee. Demo by Matt Duffin & Kayleigh Andrews, and then at midnight we cheered the New Year in!

Used over £50 worth of Delay Repay Vouchers, to pay for 25% of my season ticket! Strikes and other delays and cancellations are still ongoing.
Most important thing to happen is that I have transferred to a new NHS Organisational Unit NEL Commissioning Support Unit as a Junior Service Desk Analyst (This is apparently a permanent role!)
The second most important thing was that I caught a could which converted into Laryngitis, which mean I was off work for 2 weeks! Saw 2 different GPs and got signed off work. I also saw a consultant re the aches and pains in my joints/back.
I have still been going to Yoga (strikes and illness permitting) and to ball room dancing too. Had an extra "Strictly Snowflake" Saturday Dance, which I went to even without voice! (I could still dance).
Other major news, in collaboration with my next door neighbour, our semi-detached garage has been re-roofed. This was instigated by the neighbour but given the state of the roof it was about time.
I was able to pay for this and the final instalment for the work on the main house room last month due to having to option to remove some money from my AVC pension top up plan.
D went to Holland for a weekend visit, relating to his status after brexit!, and I had to look after his kitten Maya, she was a sweetie.
After returning to work went to see "Fabulous Beasts & Where to Find Them" at the cinema, a slight story but with wonderful sets and special effects.
By the end of the month Winter came with a vengeance with temperatures of -3°C.

So my replacement Amazon Fire Tablet (replacing the one I left on the train) arrived and was restored from cloud backup.
A few weeks later I got notified that my original tablet was available for collection at Victoria lost property!
Dance class continues every Tuesday and Practice night every other Friday (1st & 3rd week) Social dance on the last Saturday. started to learn new steps in the Tango.
Due to strike action by Southern Rail I missed two weeks of yoga, but was allowed to just pay for the two weeks that I could go to.
SF Book Club discussion was deferred as we learn that the Paul (the organiser) had dies the previous day ;-(
The Delay Repay scheme - allowing refunds for delayed trains has been revised to allow payment in eVoucher & via PayPal! as well as the prior paper versions.
Replaced my Brighton & Hove library card, to allow access out of hours! Historical records for my Overdrive ebooks weren't copied, so logged a query and got a result in minutes!
After three years in one place at work, I have relocated closer to the the window and with colleagues closer.
My backup copy of all my ebooks (kept on a USB stick) is managed using Calibre. and currently has 1973 items saved, mostly ePub (or converted to ePub).

Went to Specsavers for Eye test, paid for by work and got glasses for VDU work (also paid for by work). Also got my hearing tested, all OK. Also got hair cut.
Southern Rail are still striking, decided to take day off as roofing contractor came to see about quote. Also got a quote for new fencing and install of new patio £11,000+! (decided not to use this contractor)
The SF Book Club meeting discussed Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon - and unfortunately our normal upstairs room was full so had to gather in the main bar downstairs. Also our Fearless leader had only just got out of hospital so was unable to come ;-(
Next door neighbour is getting his garage re-roofed, since my garage shared the wall a combined re-roofing is cheaper, so another expense (too look forward too).
Managed to find a roofing contractor and had the roof de-mossed, all tiles checked for cracks, the ridge tiles were re-cemented, and one tile needed replacing.
Broke a tooth and discovered my 6 month appointment was in a couple of days! A couple of weeks later lost another filing and had to return to the dentist for a second temp patch.
My sister came to visit our parents and I was able to join the 3 of them for a weekend visit. On Sunday my Aunt, Uncle and cousin came over with baby cousin one removed!
Dance class every Tuesday, focused on waltz - new steps - practice on 3rd Friday and Social Dance on last Saturday.
Yoga classes continue every Wednesday after work, numbers fluctuate, but still persevering.
Strictly Come Dancing started on BBC1
Managed to leave my Amazon Fire on the train, didn't get it back, so had to order a replacement
Saw "Escape from the Planet of the Day that Time Forgot" at the Hawth theatre in Crawley, a wonderful three hander performance with minimal scenery.

So with the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I thought I'd re-read the whole series first. I managed to borrow 6 out of the 7 books from the library as ebooks (pottermore.com editions) so they were the current version. It also meant that (especially for the later tomes) I didn't break my wrists! I read tPoA as my Paper edition over a w/e (the book was on loan when I wanted to read it.)
It was quite interesting to re-read the books for the first time, especially after having watched the films a number of time so the visuals were usually taken from the films. However there were a few occasions when there were differences. In the book Aunt Petunia is blonde (and in the movies is brunette)
As a result of the casting choices for HP&tCC I did specifically check for any referenced to if Hermione was black or not. The only evidence that she was not back is that Malfoy and the others in Slytherin (or anyone one else) never made any comment on her skin colour. Shacklebolt is described as black.
It was also interesting to read them one after the other, rather than with a year gap between each one.
I finally got around to ordering a new pair of dance shoes, these were Latin style and not patent leather.
Once again I got a significant refund on my train season ticket due to delays & cancellations. Over £120 over the last 4 months!
Went to Continental Circus Berlin, which had some good jugglers and an awesome laser light show - where light was bent and used a light sabre!
I also went to the Crawley Circus Festival - unfortunately the weather wasn't as good as it had been the previous week end. However I did managed to do some juggling and did a Poi workshop and learnt a new sequence!
I have been saving towards my retirement for about 20 years, and with recent changes in the rules I could have taken early retirement on my 55 birthday. I have decided not to do so while my current employment continues, but once it ends I'll retire rather than go on the dole!
It does mean that I can take some money as a lump sum and since I have a number of upgrades to the house and garden I will have to do so.
And the final event of the month to recount was that last Wednesday Mark Oshiro (of markreads.net) was in Brighton, and I was one of 4 people who turned up, Mark read from his own new novel (not yet finished) and discussion occurred. He was feeling peckish so i suggested Fish and Chips (traditional at the seaside) and we decided to visit the pier and eat there!

Delay Repay - due to rail delays and strike action meant my season ticket cost 3/4 it's usual price.
At work we are now using soft VOIP phone, sound quality is poor so getting a better headset helped (a bit)
This month's SF Book Club was on the first Monday this month and the set read was Embassytown by China Miéville - which again I didn't complete. good discussion. P gave directions to his house for party next weekend.
Used GPS on my iphone to find P's house - celebrating his birthday later this month and the summer solstice! food, drink and conversation all very good stayed 2:20-7:20
Went to see doctor about aches and pains and had to go for a fasting blood test (meaning no food for 12 hours before blood taken)
Ballroom Dance classes on Tue, we revised jive (though no new steps). The Saturday Social (last saturday of the month) practiced all the dances as usual (danced rumba one as lady!)
J's birthday on 8th, so I took the day off and we went up to London for the day. First went to Forbidden Planet, just to have a look around - I did buy 1 book! Then we walked to the Prince of Wales Theatre where we had tickets booked to see The Book of Mormon (at a matinee) before this we had lunch at Eds diner. The play was a comic musical, which was fairly respectful of the source material (Life of Brian being similar). After the theatre we walked along the embankment, then to All Bar One opposite Canon Street station where we had a light supper before walking to The Shard (above London Bridge station), After going through airport style security took to lifts up to 68th floor
Stayed until sunset and the lights came on over all London. Magical day.
Mid month my fridge expired and had to order a replacement, this arrived fairly quickly, but had to use ice block to keep the temperature inside cool until it could e replaced.
The new fridge did arrive in a timely manner and all perishable were transferred successfully - though some stuff was binned!
iPhone bricked itself, would not turn back on. Had to reset to factory defaults and restore from cloud backup. worked fine only one app didn't restore. Must remember to sync to iTunes regularly.
Had ben able to use my Fire tablet to keep my diary up to date.
Continuing with Yoga even tough number have been as low as 3 students.
Mum had been in hospital for three weeks after an operation, and once she was home I went to visit.
Last Monday of the month there was a fatality on the line. This delayed trains so much I didn't get home til 9:00 4 hours later than usual!
On the last Wednesday went to the Hawth to see Arrival - The Hits of ABBA , started at 7:30 and finished just before 10:00, with an interval - showing adverts from the 70's. The show used 6 people on stage - but also showed video above the stage - either news reel footage, cover art & music videos reshot with the 4 principle stage characters. Also a lot of audience participation.
And on the last Friday we had a work team building exercise with most of the team enjoying BBQ and cup cakes near the beach of Goring Gap
Last day of the month was the deadline for Hugo award voting - sent my votes in even if I hadn't read all that I should.
Looking back over the month it seems that more happened than usual, from train delays to concerts, faulty phone and fridge, and two birthday adventures