August 2011


Regular readers (yes, both of you…) may have noticed the subtitle of my blog still reads:

Avoiding arrows by the City walls

This was a reference to what many people in Chester believed to be an old law which allowed for a Welshman to be shot by a crossbow if he was within the City Walls after dark.

Since I’ve now moved away, the subtitle doesn’t really work, so I figured it was probably a good idea to get it updated. Problem is, I’ve no idea what it should be.

Does anyone out there have a suggestion?

B

I’ve been trying to write this one for a few days now. Each time I start, I end up thinking “christ, that’s a bit dull…” and delete the whole thing.

I’ve been settling into my new job, and found that I’m really enjoying it. I’d been questioning around the end of last year if I was actually working in the right industry, but the recent change has reminded me of why I enjoyed in the job in the first place.

So, my focus now is switching to trying to decide whereabouts I’d like to live in the long term. I have to say that the idea of living in London is quite appealing, so I’d be able to get into town to enjoy a lot of the rather fab pubs dotted all over the place (one of which featured Somerset based Moor Beer Company’s Illusion IPA). I’m thinking that I’d like to live down the western end, down in the Ealing area. I think it would offer the best balance of being near the centre, and being close enough to get out of the city relatively quickly.

So, this weekend I’m up in Mytholmroyd to celebrate Gareth 33rd birthday. Gareth has, more than most people been one of my closest friends, and I’m really happy to be here to celebrate his birthday.

Happy Birthday, old man.

B

Congratulations to Liz and Simon, who got married this weekend in Coventry. I’m really happy for the two of them, and really glad I could be there with them to share in the day with them.

Liz and Simon, the Happy Couple

Everything else is great, work going well, enjoying everything… more to come in the next few days.
Well, what an exciting time. It’s probably a good time to bring you up to speed with what’s been happening. Some of you already know, I parted ways with my old job back in May of this year, and have spent the past few months freelancing and pursuing other projects. Recently, I was approached for a pretty exciting opportunity, and as a result am relocating down to the London area.

I was initially quite reticent about relocating down here, since I’d put together a pretty nice life for myself up Chester way. Thinking about it some more though, it seemed that staying up that way was going to mean I wasn’t going to get the types of jobs I was interested in, unless I wanted to end up living in my car. In addition, whilst it’s not nice to move away from what is a tight-knit circle of friends, since we’re not living in the 19th century anymore, they don’t disappear from your life.

So, I’ve been at my job a week now, and it’s been great. I’m looking forward to getting stuck into some more projects, and the next few weeks are going to be spent trying to work out whereabouts I want to live (suggestions on areas welcome…). I’ve also seen several photo walks I’ve like to get involved in, and had a chance to catch up with a few friends in person (it turns out there are some REALLY nice pubs down this part of the world).

I also ended up having my first experience of the Mac Genius Bar at the Covent Garden Macstore. An accident during the move resulted in some damage to my iPhone screen (the bottom half near the homescreen was badly cracked and splintered). Having booked in that morning, I got down there and was told that since the phone was still in warranty, and this was my first visit for a repair, I could have it replaced for free. So, kudos Covent Garden Macstore. You guys are awesome.

The next few weeks will be pretty damned busy, with a wedding to attend, a house to empty and a new one to find. However, after the past few months, I’m really looking forward to the next few months of frenetic activity. I think this is the fresh start I need.

Bryn