Bye bye SLK

I never owned a car as long as I'd owned my Mercedes SLK. I got it on October 26, 2000 and finally sold it on July 3, 2011 after 83,000 fun filled miles. But for a long time now I'd really wanted to get a Mercedes SL but I didn't really want to spend the money, plus the trusty old SLK was still in good shape and drove like a dream. But over the last year a few things had made me think that maybe it was time to get something new. Firstly there were a few things on the SLK that needed some attention on the bodywork and wheels, and I was also getting the odd mechanical problem - nothing major but just niggly things that may have been the start of bigger things. New tyres and a major service were also both just around the corner.

Then, the new SLK was announced and I thought I really wanted one. It looks tremendous and would be available about now, but the problem was though, if I was honest, that I still really wanted an SL. I priced up a new SLK and to get the spec I wanted I would have been spending a lot more that I really wanted to pay, but I soon realized that for what I was prepared to pay I could get a pretty new SL. I was advised that my best bet was to get a dealer approved car so I trawled through the Mercedes-Benz used car site for weeks looking for something from around 2007 with less than 30k miles, for about £30k and preferably in metallic black.

After seemingly getting nowhere I spotted a 2007 SL350 at my local dealer with only 9000 miles on the clock, but it was £5000 over budget and silver. I went in to speak with the dealer but was still set on a black one if possible. After another couple of weeks and having looked at a couple of disappointing black cars I decided to take a second look at the silver low mileage car. It was loaded with all the extras I would have liked and many, many more besides. The entire car was immaculate. Basically this was as good as a new car but for about 40% of its new price. I soon decided I wouldn't find anything else quite like this one so after some negotiation I manged to get almost £5000 off the price and picked it up for basically what I'd hoped to pay.

For 4 days I had both the SL and the SLK parked in the drive next to each other and the difference between the two cars was vast both in appearance and in the way that they drive. The SLK was like driving a very fast go-cart whereas the SL is very much more quiet, luxurious, and refined with a real sting in it's tail when you put your foot down - I absolutely love it.

On July 3 I took the SLK off to its new owner and for the first time ever I actually felt quite sad to see one of my cars go. I drove it there going the long way round and I couldn't resist putting my foot down a bit for the very last time. I think that if and when I eventually get the SL out of my system that I may just have to get another SLK.

Three months on from IBM

It's now just over 3 months since I retired from IBM and I can't believe how quickly the time has gone, how little I miss my old job, and how quickly I've forgotten about so many things I will never need to know again.

Before I left I was concerned about how I'd fill my days, as I really do enjoy being busy, but it hasn't been a problem at all. In fact I feel like I'm just as busy now with the big difference that I'm now doing all the things I want to do and not what somebody else says I have to do. Some jobs at home that I previously viewed as a chore I can now do with a degree of enthusiasm, even cutting the grass which I previously hated doing seems OK now. I haven't really started any major home projects yet, they can wait until after the end of the summer, but I'm kind of looking forward to the time when I do.

I used to think that I'd miss feeling part of IBM, being part of the 'process', and playing a part in getting products out of the door. Actually, the reality is that I have never given it a thought since the day I left. It's just something I used to do and that's it. If there is one thing I do miss it's the people interactions that I used to have as a manager as I still very much care for all the people that were in the teams I managed and count them all as good friends.


There are so many things that you have to keep in your head when you're at work. You quite simply have to remember a myriad of facts, faces, numbers, and commitments. You just don't realize how much effort that takes until you don't have to do it any more. The minute I walked out the door on April 5 all that stuff just started evaporating away and it felt great. Now my heads full of other stuff, the things that I want to be in there.

The big surprise to me though has been that I just don't seem to have anything like as much spare time as I thought I would. My time is filled up with many things that I didn't even know I'd be doing while I was still at work. Of course I now have the luxury of being able to make the simplest of things last for hours on end. But I can honestly say I haven't been bored once in the last three months - and that's something I definitely wouldn't have been able to say if I was still at work!

First day without IBM

What a day this has been so far and it's only 3pm!

Needed to leave home at 8:45 to be at an AGM for one of the many Housing Associations in Portsmouth by 9:30. The M27 was jammed solid so I drove all round the mulberry bush to finally get there just before 9:30 with nowhere to park! Drove back into town, parked at the court, and walked through the town and city park to get back to HMS Nelson! Arrived at the AGM 15 minutes late to a find big long table surrounded by 18 people looking over the tops of their glasses at me. I made my apologies, sat down, and kept quiet. They then asked me to leave the room for a minute which I did and waited nervously outside for about 60 seconds, as promised, before being called back in to a round of applause having just been voted onto the board of trustees. Result. Everyone was so friendly and nice and all my initial apprehensions evaporated. The conversation was very lively and interesting especially as this was all new news to me.

Then came the real interesting bit. We needed to decide on some salary increases for the staff so, figuring that this was my big opportunity to make my mark, I launched into my speech about why we shouldn't just give out a standard percentage but look at everyone's salary and try to fix any anomalies that may have crept in. They all thought this was a fantastic idea and I ended up suggesting that most people got 5%, one chap got 6%, and that the lady who seemed to be the one doing most of the stressy work got 30% (yes thirty percent). To my absolute amazement my proposal was instantly seconded, everyone else voted for it, and so it was passed. What a result!

Anyway the meeting wrapped up after a total of about 2 hours or so and we were ushered off for lunch to a really nice restaurant on the premises. First we were all taken to the bar and had a pre-dinner drink, then taken to our table which was laden with wine bottles where we then had a superb lunch. If I'd have know there would be this much to drink I'd have come on the train! - maybe next time.


I left there about 2pm, having been very careful to limit my wine intake to just below the legal limit of course, to a beautiful sunny day. So, I put the roof down on the car and wafted home along the traffic free country lanes back to home. Just had 15 minutes on my new guitar and now I think I might grab beer and sit out in the garden for a little bit.

This retirement lark ain't too bad at all so far....

Feeling nervous and sad

Tuesday will be my last day working for IBM after just over 33 years. I hate saying goodbye to people, especially the ones that I like, but that's what I'm going to be doing for most of the day on Monday and Tuesday and I'm feeling very nervous and, if I'm honest, sad about it.

The trouble with saying goodbye is that it feels so final and while it's inevitable that most of the people I know at IBM I will never see again there are, of course, many that I will see again and possibly quite often. But the real problem is that I know it will never be the same. I will never see all those people together in the same environment and under the same circumstances that I have done up until now. We won't laugh and joke about the same things. We might even feel slightly awkward in each others company as the situation will be completely different. It will simply be different.

IBM has been a massive part of my life. It's enabled me to do some amazing things, go to some fantastic places, and meet a lot of really nice people many who have become my very best friends.

Tuesday will be tough day for sure, but Wednesday will be the first day of my new life and I am really looking forward to that.

One for each day of the week

Today I bought my seventh guitar, so as one of my friends at work said,  I now have one for every day of the week. Seven may sound a bit excessive but in fact they are all very different to look at, different to play, and of course they all do sound surprisingly different. Well they do to me!

I now have 4 solid body electrics, 2 semi-acoustic electrics and an electro-acoustic so I think I've got all the bases covers (no pun intended).

The electro-acoustic is a Tanglewood resin back guitar that I got about 20 years ago - I don't pick it up much now but it is nice to play and has a typical 6 string acoustic sound.

One of the semi-acoustics is also a Tanglewood, a Gibson 335 copy, and has a very nice warm sound, very easy neck, and lots of sustain. The other semi-acoustic is a Crafter 12 string in black which looks stunning. It has a very bright jangly sound and although it's great to play it's not really my guitar of choice most of the time but it is certainly fun to play now and then and that 12 string sound is a real novelty.

The solid electrics are my real favorites. I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio in cherry that has tons of sustain and a very warm sound, a blue G&L ASAT Special which has very twangy and clean sound, and a sunburst Fender Stratocaster that I bought in 1975 which is in amazing condition for it's age. It has a wide range of sounds all the way from very twangy and edgy through to very thick and warm. I've had it wired differently to a standard Strat which gives it some unique sounds.

And so to the new one... a Fender Telecaster Special Edition Custom FMT HH - which is a bit of a mouthful I know. It has a carved flamed maple top in amber - unusual for a Tele - dual pole Seymore Duncan pickups - also unusual - and a set neck which is unheard of on a Fender. It has a very wide range of very clean twangy sounds and is completely different to the other three solids I have.

So yes there is one for everyday of the week which just might help me to decide which one to play when I go up to practice every evening.

email formats

I love the fact that all the emails I get at work are of a relatively similar style, mood, and format. And because almost all of them originate in Lotus Notes, then they typically have the same look and feel and I love consistency which to me makes them easier to work with.

Now that I'm about to leave IBM I'm having a lot more dealings with people from all kinds of organizations sending me emails from a myriad of different systems and the inconsistency can be staggering. People use all sort of weird fonts, some write them as if they're text messages, some as if they're letters, and other write them in a very officious style, others use a very loose style. This all seems to make some of them quite hard to deal with for some strange reason. I guess it's because I'm used to responding in a consistent style and now I find I need to temper my response to the original email which just slows down the whole process.

Just one of the things I guess I'll need to get used to post IBM!

Colorado 2011

Flew into Denver ahead of schedule and were clear of immigration in about 25 minutes. Waiting for Deborah to arrive from Dallas when board showed that her flight would be delayed by 90 minutes! All our well laid plans gone to ruin. Anyway she showed up - 90 mins late - and we drove out to her house - a few glasses of wine and a pizza and off to bed.

Met up with Babs on Friday and took her out to lunch. Went back to Deborah's and she invited all the neighbours around for a party - great fun.

Drove into Boulder on Saturday and met Daniel and Maggie for lunch after a stroll around the stores. We all went back to Deborah's afterwards and spent the evening slowly getting drunk!

Drove up into the mountains on Sunday and arrive late in the afternoon
in Avon staying at the Sheraton Mountain Vista. Went out for a Mexican dinner.

Monday we skied in the Arrowhead and Bachelor Gulch area of the resort. Conditions were just about perfect although it was just a bit colder than we would have liked.

Tuesday we skied the main resort and again everything was good with the snow but it had become very cold indeed - down to a very chilly -25c - but it was still a lot of fun.

Wednesday was our day off and we were talked into attending a timeshare presentation at the Westin Riverfront. We didn't buy one but we did buy two weeks over the next two years. Afterwards we went to Vail for a look around the shops but it was so cold, -30c, that we went back to the apartment.

Thursday we went to Copper Mountain for the day and the conditions again were perfect and thankfully the temperatures had risen to an almost tropical -10c. Followed Deborah back to our place, by strange coincidence, and had a great evening eating, drinking, and talking.

Friday we all skied together at Beaver Creek and had a long lunch before a few more runs in the afternoon. Ate and drank too much in the evening.

Saturday we saw Deborah off home and skied all day in Beaver Creek - conditions were very different as we'd had about 8 inches of fresh snow but it was a lot of fun.

Sunday, despite the terrible road conditions due to heavy snow, we drove up to Steamboat Springs. Managed to spin the car off the road as we were going though Yampa but no harm done and thankfully the locals pulled me out of the ditch.

Monday we skied all day on Steamboat mountain in fresh new snow. There was about 10 inches of it when we started and another 4 or 5 by the time we'd finished. Our legs were completely shot by about 2:30 so we called it quits and wend back down to the base and had a coffee and snack. Ate in at the hotel.

Tuesday we decided that as we'd had such a tough day on Monday that we should take the day off and so we headed off to the mountain base for a good look around. Then we went downtown for lunch and spent the afternoon looking around all the shops and galleries on main street.

Wednesday we skied all day but Sheila wasn't feeling to great so she stopped soon after lunch. I carried on until the lifts closed and covered a lot of ground. Good day. Ate in the hotel in the evening.

On Thursday Sheila really wasn't feeling too good at all so we decided to take another day off and go for a drive to Hayden. There really isn't anything there - it's just a little one horse town. We couldn't even find anywhere to get a coffee! Went to Steamboat for lunch and then came back to hotel. By the end of the afternoon we were both feeling very ill - shivery, bad cough, so we just ordered a pizza and stayed in.

Friday we were both feeling better but even though we didn't get up until gone 10 we still weren't definitely not well enough to ski. Went into town for lunch and then to the mountain to try and get a refund on our lift tickets. We both felt OK by the evening so went downtown to the Steamboat Smokehouse for dinner.

Saturday we were both back to strength and skied all day in perfect conditions. Sheila gave up earlier on but I carried on for another couple of hours doing some of the runs I'd missed doing earlier in the week. Stopped skiing at 4:00 and went back to hotel. Ate in dinner in Rex's.

Sunday we left hotel at 10:00 and drove back to Denver by a route we hadn't done before. Stopped at Walden for lunch - a real hicky little place miles from anywhere. Stopped off at Deborah's before driving over to Babs' place.

Monday we both felt lousy again and spent the morning with Babs. Drove to airport after lunch and slept all the way back on the plane.

Cars I hate

I don't know why but there are some cars out there that I really hate with a vengeance. There is no logical reason for this that I can think of but every time I see one of these nasty things I'm instantly filled with loathing for it and and a strong associated dislike for the people in it.

Top of my list has to be the Land Rover Discovery. My whole mood changes when I see one of those ugly great things and dream of having some kind of laser guided weapon at my disposal so I could blow the thing to peices. To me they just look like huge metallic garden sheds on wheels, usually making a racket from their rattly and smokey old diesels. To make matters worse they invariably seem be be driven by drivers who seem to think they own the road and therefore have the right to cut up anyone they so choose. And they usually do.

Almost all Peugeots have a somewhat similar effect on me because they're just such unattractive cars, and seem to be driven by people who constantly weave in and out of the traffic. How could anyone possible think they look good. It's like the designers (not great ones - obviously)  must have purposely set out to create the most boringly unattractive range of cars imaginable.

Other cars that bring out the worst in me are Lexus's with gold colored badges which has to be the tackiest thing anyone ever thought of. All bottom of the range Japanese cars always look stupid because their wheel arches are always too big - or is it that the wheels are just too small? Any car with a "baby on board" label (or similar) in the back window has instantly deemed its owner a major idiot in my eyes.

Finally any car with an after-market kit fitted will almost always just look so stupid it will therefore make it's owner look even more so. Why can't people just leave cars looking the way their designers intended - they might still not look great but they will always look better than they do after a few kilos of ill fitting fibre-glass and plastic have been wrapped around their extremities.

Oh, almost forgot, older Renault Scenics and Citroen Picassos. Apart from being ugly little things they invariably seem to be driven by self righteous mothers who are quite happy to ding your doors so long as their little brats can get in and out OK.

Fat people flying

Apparently we're allowed to call fat people "fat people" again after years of being told we had to call them obese. I have nothing against fat people but if they're allowed to call me skinny and that's OK then I don't see what I can't call them fat and that's OK too. So good - it keeps things nice and simple.

We were booking some tickets on Ryan Air, for the first time, this week and one of the extras it seems you have to pay for - actually everything is an extra with them - is your baggage. You have to decide if you will take a 15Kg or a 20Kg bag priced at £15 or £20 respectively. This got me thinking about how unfair this idea of how much baggage weight you are allowed actually is.

I weigh about 75Kg, so assuming I decide to go with the 15 Kg bag allowance I will be adding 90Kg to the weight of the airplane in total. However next up is Mr Fatso who already weighs 120Kg and also goes for the 15Kg allowance - total weight he's adding to the airplane is 135Kg which is exactly 50% more than me.

Is he paying more than me? No he's not. Is that fair? I don't think so!

If airlines have are going to charge me for my luggage based on what it weighs, then I think it's only fair that they charge their passengers using the exact same criteria. I think something like 120Kg comprising of both the passenger and their baggage as a standard would be fair - anything more than that and you have to start paying extra.

Ouch!

I spent most of this Saturday cooking burgers and sausages at the Simon Says BBQ - a charity for bereaved kids that Sheila works for. There was lots of stuff there for the kids to play with when they weren't eating my lovely food including a lot of space hoppers. After all the eating was done and people were starting to pack up and leave I thought I'd give a helping hand by passing stuff up towards the people who were collecting all the toys.

For some unaccountable reason, instead of just kicking the space hopper towards the guys collecting them up, it seemed like a good idea to grab it by one of the handles and throw it - really hard - in their direction. However instead of hurtling off in a forward direction as planned, I let go of it a bit too late and it just shot up into the air in what seemed like an ever increasing trajectory. I remember wondering how high it would go, and more importantly, where would it land. At one point I estimated, wrongly, that it might land on the head of one cocky looking kid who was clearly in need of a surprise from above.

As it gained speed and got closer to planet earth it became clear that it was, rather oddly, going to land very close to me just as I noticed two small boys standing about three feet away. They were standing face to face innocently minding their own business and talking to each other.  Bam! The space hopper shot down right between the two of them, hitting each on the head and shoulder. They understandably both looked completely dazed, shocked, and thoroughly confused by what had just happened. Uncharacteristically I was immediately concerned for their wellbeing but happily, although clearly stunned by their ordeal, they both said they were OK.

All too quickly my concern turned to amusement as I could hardly contain the laughter caused by the looks on their confused little faces.

The British in France (and probably other places too)

It is us or can everyone spot British people a mile off? Every day without fail on a recent trip to France we'd spot at least one British family or couple out and about and it was invariably an embarrassing event. It would go like this. We'd see a couple approaching, man carrying plastic bag full of stuff, wearing sandals, black socks; British. Family on a beach making a lot of noise, all look a bit scruffy; British. Couple in restaurant, woman ordering in very loud voice to a waiter who clearly can't understand; English.

We British always seem to single ourselves out for all the wrong reason. We all to often are too noise, too scruffy, and too annoying. But why?

We even found we could spot Brits on appearance only. Fat woman with skinny man, woman too sunburned for comfort, man in cravat, couples aimlessly walking around looking fazed or confused, family having a poorly conceived picnic using bread roles that they clearly nicked form their hotel at breakfast time. Oh my god! It can be so embarrassing to think that we are possibly going to be associated to these people in any way.

The weirdest thing we saw was in a restaurant one night when a group of Irish (almost British) people came and started off by telling the waiter they didn't want any food that had garlic in it - not easy or likely in France. They then proceeded to ask for various menu items using an odd mixture of English, French, and for some reason, German. In fact at one point they got quite angry with the waiter when she couldn't understand what they meant when they were screaming "wasser, wasser" to her when they wanted some more water. They could have at least looked it up in a phrase book, but no, they just spent the next five minutes complaining about how stupid she must be for not understanding them.

Europeans must hate us - but probably not our money!

Being in France

There's something really great about being in France and it can be quite difficult to figure out why because in lots of ways it's not so different to being in Southern England. The countryside is certainly quite similar especially in Normandy and Brittany, although further East, on the other side of Paris, I think it's even better. The culture in not so different and in fact many parts of the North West are even closer to the UK, possibly just because of the proximity.

I think one of the key things that makes it so good is the language. I love the fact that you can overhear lots of conversations and never have a clue what they are about. I love the fact that you see signs everywhere that you don't really fully understand. And I love the way you feel detached from the general activity. But at the same time as all this you can blend in and can understand just enough that that you never feel fully detached.

The fact that the French seem to have a different attitude to cars is interesting to me. They don't seem to generally attach the same status value to them that we do in the UK and are happy to drive around in cheap little hatchbacks crammed full of stuff when clearly a bigger car would make much more sense. Prestige German cars although very common in the UK are a rarity in France, and sports cars are even rarer. When I last took my SLK to France it regularly attracted an audience whenever I lowered or raised the roof - it wouldn't get a second look here.

Towns and villages are generally much cleaner and prettier than they are here and it's rare to see any rubbish. I really don't understand why they are so much better at this than us. But I did see quite a few people around actually picking up cigarette ends and throwing them in bins - that alone makes a big difference.

French plumbing is a scream. The fact that some of it works at all is a miracle and in our experience it rarely works in the way that it aught to. We've stayed in some really nice places only to find that the plumbing is right out of the dark ages and totally out of character with the rest of the place.

A big contributing factor as to why the towns and villages look so much nicer seems to be that homes, new ones especially, are much more individual than they are over here. In some places, and even on a new development, there are so many different variations that you're never aware that there are two the same.

It's just strange to me that somewhere that is superficially so similar the UK can actually seem to be so different and exciting. Maybe it's simply just the lack of British people :-)

Honda vs Mercedes - which is best?

We used to have two sensible but boring cars until 2000 when we decided it made much more sense to have one really fun car and one super practical car. So I bought a brand new Mercedes-Benz SLK and four months later Sheila bought an ex demonstrator Honda HRV with only 1000 miles on the clock. The SLK cost £30K and the HRV cost £14K.

Almost 10 years on it seemed like it would be interesting to try and decide which one has been, and is now the best, even though they are very different cars.

The SLK is of course a 150mph two seater sports car with a fully retractable metal roof while the HRV is a part-time 4X4 that can carry four passengers and quite a lot of stuff. Both are automatics as we hate all that gear shifting lark. Both cars now have approximately 70K miles on their clocks.

Looking back through all the servicing receipts the Honda has cost more for the straight services, so a point to the Mercedes. However the SLK has been through three sets of tyres while the HRV is still on it's second set, so a point to the Honda.

Both cars have had warranty claims although the value of the Mercedes claims were massive by comparison - a new steering wheel and airbag at £650, a new set of wheels at £1200, new trim parts at £250, and some repainting at approx £350. There were also a few other very minor odds and ends. The Honda on the other hand needed a new stereo at about £150, new transmission (when it was 8 years old!) at £600 and that's about it. A point to Honda.

The Mercedes has really fallen down on parts that have worn out. It's had a new central locking control unit, new rear suspension, new front brakes and disks, new brake sensors, new gas struts, a new rear light unit, new number plates, and new a/c compressor. The Honda needed a new sensor in the fuel injection and that's it. Another point to Honda.

The Mercedes still looks great and I get a lot of complements about it's condition, but in reality it's beginning to need some attention here and there to keep it in A1 condition although it still drives like new. The Honda gets a rougher life and has quite a few dings from supermarket car parks, and heavily used interior, but it's holding up well and is still a nice car to drive. Both cars have been 100% reliable to date.

Finally there are the intangibles. The feeling you get from diving each car on a daily basis, the feeling you get when you see it in the drive, and the fun you get from each on a sunny day or a long trip. The Mercedes scores big here because it's really two cars in one, a two seater coupe one minute and a two seater convertible the next, it has amazing performance and handling, and attracts a lot of admiring looks especially on a sunny day with the roof down. The Honda is a practical car and one of the pack so definitely doesn't attract the same sort of attention. It's performance is lively and fun but not exactly exciting and it's handling is probably typical for a car of it's type.

I like both cars a lot but if I had to choose then the SLK would win hands down but not because it's the better product. I get a buzz from driving it, a buzz from looking at it, and a buzz from knowing that I own it. However if I look at this from a completely practical view then of course the Honda wins hands down on both cost of ownership and because it's probably better made and hasn't needed a lot of replacement parts like the Mercedes.

But of course, a good product and practicality isn't what owning a car is necessarily all about.

Obertauern skiing - begining to end

Arrival
I think sitting in an airplane at 35,000 feet, and feeling somewhat deprived of oxygen, really brings out the best and the worst of me. As I sit on this Monarch Airlines flight (AKA bargain basement travel) from London to Salzburg, all I can think about is all the screaming babies that just won't stop, the incontinent kids who seem to need a trip to the bathroom every 3 minutes, and the fact that the parents of these snotty little kids seem to be under the misapprehension that I like them just as much as they do. How wrong they are. I guess I have to admit though that I'm not being at all charitable to my fellow passengers who, of course, have every right to be on the same plane as me even though they are hacking me off every time they so much as move a muscle. If I'm honest most of my fellow passengers are OK and do not bother me one bit even though many unwittingly do give me a huge amount of enjoyment as I watch them struggle with the most simple of things. And there's nothing quite like looking at the expression on the face of a seasoned air hostess as another stupid passenger complains endlessly because they didn't get their vegitarian or vegan meal despite having ordered it 11 months ago, when she clearly doesn't give a monkeys.

I also said this brings out the best of me, because, for some reason, I seem to be in a position to think more clearly, and cynically, about everything that's happening around me, and I like that.

We arrived in Salzburg after almost two hours on what felt like a flight through hell.

Day One
We fell out of the hotel at an amazing 9:30 and slid off down the road to the bridge across main road and onto the main piste. After a relatively straight forward run down towards the gondola we were faced with having to pole along for the last 200 meters – not a great start to the day but hey ho. Having arrived at the top of the gondola we were greeted with a white-out with little idea of where we were going, either mentally or in reality. The map wasn't much help. It was a case of aiming down hill, not going too fast, and keeping our fingers crossed. We arrived safely at the bottom with no incidents whatsoever and headed off to meet up with our ski guide who would show us all round the resort for most of the day. His name was Alex, he was from Southport, and was in Obertauern for his first season as a ski instructor after being made redundant at home. Anyway he was a nice guy and took us round the entire Tauernrunde and had lunch with us too. It was a great day despite the weather not really being as nice as we'd hoped, but for the main part it was clear, sometimes bright, and not too cold. Best of all we didn't have to stand in line once all day. Sheila had skied enough at about 3:30 but I couldn't resist one more run down from the top of the gondola – it was still just as foggy as it was first thing!

Met up with some others in the the Tyroller Keller for a beer and a chat at 5:00pm. Cor (the Inghams rep) gave us a load of information about the place that we may, or may not, need during our stay.

Day two
I started the day by realizing that I'd broken my ski glasses yesterday! I must have done it when I fell, but I was still pretty hacked off. I would have just skied in my regular sunglasses but they were pretty expensive and have metal frames so I didn't want to take the chance, but luckily Sheila's regular sunglasses fitted the bill and she was happy for me to use them. We got out of the hotel at a planned 9.45 and met Keith (a fellow Ingham's guest) at the top of the run down to the gondola. Sheila waited at the bottom while we went up the gondola and skied down before we all headed off up the chairlift to all the south facing slopes. We basically spent the day doing the same runs as yesterday plus many of the ones we missed out on because the weather wasn't so great. No such problems today as the weather was absolutely perfect. Cobalt blue sky, about -6 or -6 degrees and no wind, and even better, still no lines anywhere. Stopped for lunch at the same place as yesterday and realized we'd broken another pair of glasses - this time readers. Spent the last part of the afternoon working our way back to the hotel and called it a day at about 3:30.

Went out for a hot chocolate and apple strudel and scoured the sports shops for a new pair of ski glasses. Managed to find a nice pair at the last place we stopped at; mission accomplished.

On the third day
No breakages, that we're aware of today, just very sore muscles and too many early starts. But you've got to make the most of the time and so once again we got out of the hotel at a planned 9.45 and didn't meet Keith (fellow Ingham's guest) at the top of the run down to the gondola. He wasn't there at 10:00 so we headed off without him. So that meant that Sheila and I would probably have the day to ourselves and that's exactly how it was. We skied together most of the time except for lunchtime when she wanted to stop, so I did a few runs on my own – I think I went all the way up and back down 3 times and a couple of half ways as well, so I really crammed it in. Didn't really have lunch as such but we did make a couple of stops for drinks and snacks. We skied a bit more together before completing the circuit and coming back to the hotel just before 4pm. The weather was pretty idyllic again today – same cobalt blue skies, but a much cooler -9 or -10 with a bit of wind that really did start feeling cold after about 2:30pm. The new ski glasses were good except I'm not sure I had them on right – I think my hat was trying to push them off my nose so I'll try to sort that out for tomorrow.

Superb meal in the hotel, too much to drink, and early to bed.

Day four
The weather wasn't looking so good today. It was overcast and the light looked very flat, but it was bright, and it wasn't snowing. We got out on time again and Keith was waiting for us at the bridge across the road, so we quickly headed off and started by going up the Sonnenbahn lift that took us up to the wide open area that Sheila likes. We decided that she would ski on her own for an hour and we'd go off and get to do some difficult reds and blacks, which we did and a lot of fun they were too. As the weather wasn't so great it seemed generally quieter today so the snow was holding up very well. We stopped for a drink well ahead of the pack and we were back out again just as the ski schools were stopping – perfect timing! By now though it had started snowing and it was steadily falling harder as the afternoon went on. Sheila quit after we'd all skied down from the top of the Zehnnerbahn but I, despite the rapidly deteriorating weather, carried on for another hour. This may not have been one of my best ideas because it really was snowing heavily by now and the light was so flat that at times it was almost impossible to see what I was skiing into and across, as a consequence I must have looked like a complete idiot on one of the first run down as I lurched from one disastrous mistake to another. Luckily we ended the day with a really nice cruisey blue run all the way from the top of the mountain that flattered our skiing and made up for the previous near catastrophes.

Day five
Got out on time again, although more easily today for some reason, and met Keith as before. The weather was looking a bit changeable with snow coming down and the light very flat, but the sun didn't look too far away and there was a chance things might improve; the temperature was about -11. We followed pretty much the same route as yesterday and headed off up the Sonnenbahn and then up to the Treff 2000 restaurant. The snow was very variable. There had clearly been a lot of new snow overnight and most of it didn't look as if it had been pisted so it was quite difficult to know what you were skiing on until you were actually on it. Coupled with the very flat light it was difficult to ski very confidently at all, although after about 11:00 the light did start to improve significantly to the point where it was pretty good and gave us all a lot more confidence. We stopped in the Hockalm for a hot chocolate at 11:30 and when we came out it really was getting good and we were all skiing much better so decided to stay out for another run down from the top of the gondola. That was both good and bad. Good because it's a nice long run but bad because the conditions were quite tough – both snow and light. Anyway it can't have been so bad because as soon as we got to the bottom I did it all over again, but that was it, my legs were done and I had to call it quits for the day.

I met Sheila back at the hotel before we got the bus that would take us to Mauterndorf about 20 minutes away. It was a nice little place with a lot of very nice old buildings, some modern but traditional style hotels, and some small shops. Had a massive lunch of Weiner schnitzel and a beer before a stroll around town and finally getting the bus back at 4:00 (precisely).

Last day
Got out a little earlier today – must be that last day mentality that says I've got to make the most of it! The weather didn't actually look that great. It was very cold, snowing a bit, and there was a lot of low cloud. We headed up the Sonnenbahn lift but actually by the time we got to the top everything was looking a lot better, the sun was trying really hard to peep through and the snow had stopped falling. The snow was in great shape and must have been bashed down well the previous night. The pistes were very flat with just a few centimetres of fresh snow on top – perfect. Strangely it seemed quieter today than yesterday so that coupled with such good conditions made for an excellent day. We skied together all day and made a couple of stops for drinks and food. On the second stop we just couldn't resist sharing a Tyroller Grostl for the first time this week - fantastic. At the end of the afternoon we headed back to the gondola as we wanted to ski down the Gamsleiten 1 run that'd we've skied so many times in the past. Unfortunately it had turned really cold and windy by the time we got there so to be honest it was more like and endurance test than the fun experience we'd hoped for. That was our cue to call it a day and so we headed on down to bridge 5, took off our skis for the last time, and hit the Qubar. A couple of Glueweins later we went over to the bar in the hotel and polished of a plateful of kiesserschmarn each before heading up to the room to think about doing some packing.

Conclusion
After a short debate, we decided that while the USA may have a better lift system and organisation, France the big resorts and great food, and Switzerland those picture perfect looks, there really isn't anywhere that can put it all together and do a ski vacation quite like Austria.

Too much water and too much snow

As there was a lot of snow forecast for our area this evening I, and most of my colleagues, decided to leave work early so we could beat the traffic chaos that would definitely be caused by even the slightest amount of the white stuff landing on the ground. I was feeling quite pleased with myself as I arrived home just as the snow started to fall.

However, when I got indoors it was clear that all was not well. apparently something had gone wrong with the hot water tank upstairs earlier in the day and had flooded the cloakroom! Sheila had called Southern Gas and they were on their way to fix the problem despite the impending bad weather. Not bad eh, but then I do have to pay about £400 a year for the privilege!

The man arrived bang on when he promised, was here for an hour, and according to plan the problem was fixed. So far so good. However the new problem was that while he was here the snow was just falling out of the sky like crazy and we now had about 10cm on the drive. He was determined to get his van out and the snow was doing it's best to stop him. Having tried to back it out the darned thing became stuck so we had to spend almost an hour digging it out, moving it back and forth, and digging some more before we eventually got it up the drive and onto the main road that oddly was blocked in the direction he didn't want to go, and completely empty the way he did. Amazing.