Richard Horne – A man consumed with pride, a man consumed with tumours. One had been hiding the other. Sadly he passed away last night, silently and peacefully. I suspect he wouldn’t want to be a bother to anyone. I saw him on Sunday, and he looked older than his years, but he still had that twinkle in his eye as he watched and listened to the conversation around him.
Technically he is my Father-in-law but families are complicated these days with too little time to waste explaining. However he will be fondly remembered as my little boy’s granddad. An honour he was chuffed to have bestowed upon him when he was asked. He loved all the grand kids and he would have loved to see them open their presents this Christmas, basking in their joy. His happiness was never the priority.
We knew of his illness for only six weeks or so, I think he felt it for much longer. He never let on, he never grumbled or complained. I don’t think he thought of himself as a strong man, but that he was. Concerned with others before himself, right up until the last night, I think his spirit is smiling among us now, like a great big Cheshire cat.
Life’s too short, but life goes on.
We’ll remember you Rich, take it easy on the other side.
So today was the first day, or should that be night, that I have ridden my bike home in the dark. With the change from British Summer Time to normal GMT there was no choice. I knew this day would come but that practising with the twilight, as we lost 5 minutes of daylight a day, doesn’t really prepare you!
So what was it really like? Well, actually, not that bad at all. I thought I might have come across the odd ninja squirrel, but in the end the only object that on the path that caused me to have a moment, was another cyclist riding along with no lights at all. Idiot.
Most of the cycle track was pitch black, but I was helped by the fact there was a small moon and the path was dry and clear of leaves (thank you Bath and North East Somerset council). What I did learn was that you do need to point your lights up quite high, other cyclists don’t have a dipped beam on their lights, and the sound of the wind in your ears drowns out any odd (i.e. scary) noises you might have heard in the dark.
I still think that someone will jump out in front of me, or I’ll come across someone or something suddenly in the dark. For now though, I’ve completed the challenge and it means I can carry on commuting to work on two wheels a bit longer. Yay! :)
Anyone seen a Doctor in Bath? on Flickr.
Doctor?
“…the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle…”
— “You’ve got to find what you love” - Steve Jobs 1955-2011
Stanford University Commencement address 2005
#bristolblackandwhite
Had a bit of a mini-tag project going on this week. Bristol really does come out good in black and white! I think the M shed cranes, Rhys with the gorilla and the bench near the watershed decking are my favourites.
Breakfast in Bed on Flickr.
Every day should start like this!
I don’t know about you, but have you ever been on holiday and thought, “I can live here”? Now being on holiday has got to be better than being at home, otherwise let’s face we wouldn’t go on holiday!
A few weeks ago we were away in Devon and it got me thinking, “Could I live here?”
You see, with an affinity for the sea (and by sea I mean any body of water, lake, river!!) the thought of living somewhere like Dartmouth, close to the English Riviera really does appeal. Let’s face it I live in the 9th biggest city in the UK and as with all cities it has it’s good sides and it’s bad sides. You can get some shopping at 3 o’clock in the morning but on the flip side you can feel intimidated by drunken idiots at 7 o’clock on a Saturday evening.
So what does the countryside (or the seaside) offer? Well for me, the lure of the water does it for me every time and who couldn’t fall in love with those rolling hills and slower pace of life. Sounds good to me, but what would you do? No I mean what would you do for a living. On our current salaries, we might be able to be mortgage free by the time we’re 50, but then we live in a city and we have a good job. In the country though our jobs don’t exist, so then you’re in the realms of commuting hours everyday and then that defeats the whole point of living in the country.
What you really want is the best of the both worlds. The opportunities that the city offers you and your family, but the beautiful countryside that the more rural parts of the country offer you. Is that possible without having a massive mortgage and working all the hours God gives.
We’ve tried to move away from Bristol a couple of times now, but something always keeps us here. Maybe my dream of living by the sea will have to wait until the kids grow up and leave home, we retire, my lottery numbers come up or I just need to find the right city! ;)
This week has been a busy one in the faygate household and at work. Mrs faygate has started her Sing and Sign teaching again for the term, my new team leader started at work and the small boy’s after school clubs restarted. Top that off with the Bristol 10k which I ran this Sunday.
The highlight of the week though was heading into town to Spike Island to attend my, well our, first Ignite Bristol event. Now I have to admit I’m what you might class a ‘safe’ person. I’d love to take more risks and be a bit more spontaneous but I think about things too much! So anyway to avoid become boring to my wife of 9 years I bagged us some free tickets for this event and headed down after work on Thursday.
First off you have to be mighty impressed with the venue. What looks like an old warehouse and offices from the 1960’s they have transformed the place into fantastic contemporary space, there was even a nice cafe/bar.
When we arrived the place was already buzzing. For those who have not heard about Ignite then all I need to tell you is the tag line from their web site:
enlighten us, but make it quick
Basically, they get together about 10 presenters who have volunteered themselves and then give them only five minutes to talk about their chosen subject and with the use of only 20 slides which automatically change every 15 seconds.
This Pecha Kucha concept makes things quite interesting! Mrs faygate and I weren’t sure what to expect. Was it going to be geeky? Or was it going to be a bit arty fartsy?
Actually neither! It was a great mix of science, art and social interaction. We had a great time and enjoyed some really interesting talks, from the circle of life to dancing with robots, from being happy because we laugh to wondering if we are all an illusion! All the talks are recorded and then posted on YouTube when editing is complete. So watch out for the one about cycle paths and also the mini laughter workshop when they are available.
So if you get the chance I’d thoroughly recommend the next Bristol Ignite event if you can, or if you live somewhere else in the world, see if you can find an city near you. I learned some new interesting facts from the evening and somehow came away felt ignited (if you pardon the pun!) and inspired.