On 2006 and its passing
Hey, I've got a novel idea. Why don't I write a review of 2006 and a preview of 2007? This is in no way stolen from everyone else.
Work-wise, the year was one of great upheaval. I started the year thinking about the future in the face of our family business being sold. That all went through at the beginning of April and I only expected to stay on for a couple of months to 'aid transition' before finding something different. Well, the best laid plans... I'm still working for the new owners of our business as a kind of IT manager and a slightly awkward conduit between the owners and the workers. I've worked in 4 of our 5 pharmacies to some extent and have started the very slow process of changing working practices in the other shops to reflect those done better in my shop whilst trying to get the unruly mob in my shop to adopt the best practices found elsewhere in the group. The next 12 months will see me, hopefully, evolving my role to include less day-to-day, hands-on work and more overall management. We have a new 'head office' computer system being installed sometime in the new year which will make all of our lives simpler. Maybe.
Holiday-wise 2006 was a good year. January saw me skiing in Les Deux Alpes and March took me back to Barbados with Dan and Tom for a pleasant week of sun, sand and sea urchin stings. July saw me and the family whisk my mother off to London for a quick theatre break to celebrate her 60th birthday and then October saw us do the same for my father's 60th with New York being the destination. So far next year I have a week in Las Vegas booked for February to celebrate my 30th birthday and a week or two in Barbados currently being mooted for Late May, early June. I shall *try* to become better at getting round the country and seeing those of you who wish it, although I suspect that number's quite small.
Entertainment-wise 2006 was a reasonably good year. I saw The Producers in London and Chicago in New York, I saw Feeder and The Automatic at Wakestock, Take That at the M.E.N. Arena, Robbie Williams at Milton Keynes, Muse at the N.E.C. and Morrissey at the N.I.A. I may have seen others too but that's all I can remember at the moment. So far for 2007 I have Arctic Monkeys, Incubus, My Chemical Romance and Muse lined up already.
Football-wise, things started brightly enough with a 0-0 draw against Arsenal on New Years Day followed by a derby win over the Albion a couple of weeks later. Things went pretty much downhill from there though and by the end of the season we were looking like contenders for relegation. In the close season David O'Leary tried a bit of a mind game with Doug Ellis which resulted in him leaving the club faster than you can say 'honest bunch of lads' and the much more suitable Martin O'Neill was installed. To complete the revolution Randy Lerner managed to pry the club from the grasp of the aforementioned ancient chairman Ellis and set about *gasp* spending money on the club and giving the fans what they want. We started the season brightly and for a while were punching above our weight but we've settled back into the much more expected realms of mid-table obscurity. With any luck the New Year will see some cash spent sensibly on players who will improve the squad. Well there's a first time for everything. I also went to see England compete in a tournament for the first time in my life by driving to Germany to see us beat Trinidad and Tobago.
Family-wise, my parents both turned sixty, one of my cousins got married and my sister came over in July to have a huge party to celebrate the wedding she had in America last year. As far as I know we're all fit and healthy and ready and raring to go for yet another new year.
I'm sure the years are coming more frequently these days...
All that remains is to wish everyone on my f-list a Happy New Year and I hope you are all happy. healthy and successful in 2007.
Work-wise, the year was one of great upheaval. I started the year thinking about the future in the face of our family business being sold. That all went through at the beginning of April and I only expected to stay on for a couple of months to 'aid transition' before finding something different. Well, the best laid plans... I'm still working for the new owners of our business as a kind of IT manager and a slightly awkward conduit between the owners and the workers. I've worked in 4 of our 5 pharmacies to some extent and have started the very slow process of changing working practices in the other shops to reflect those done better in my shop whilst trying to get the unruly mob in my shop to adopt the best practices found elsewhere in the group. The next 12 months will see me, hopefully, evolving my role to include less day-to-day, hands-on work and more overall management. We have a new 'head office' computer system being installed sometime in the new year which will make all of our lives simpler. Maybe.
Holiday-wise 2006 was a good year. January saw me skiing in Les Deux Alpes and March took me back to Barbados with Dan and Tom for a pleasant week of sun, sand and sea urchin stings. July saw me and the family whisk my mother off to London for a quick theatre break to celebrate her 60th birthday and then October saw us do the same for my father's 60th with New York being the destination. So far next year I have a week in Las Vegas booked for February to celebrate my 30th birthday and a week or two in Barbados currently being mooted for Late May, early June. I shall *try* to become better at getting round the country and seeing those of you who wish it, although I suspect that number's quite small.
Entertainment-wise 2006 was a reasonably good year. I saw The Producers in London and Chicago in New York, I saw Feeder and The Automatic at Wakestock, Take That at the M.E.N. Arena, Robbie Williams at Milton Keynes, Muse at the N.E.C. and Morrissey at the N.I.A. I may have seen others too but that's all I can remember at the moment. So far for 2007 I have Arctic Monkeys, Incubus, My Chemical Romance and Muse lined up already.
Football-wise, things started brightly enough with a 0-0 draw against Arsenal on New Years Day followed by a derby win over the Albion a couple of weeks later. Things went pretty much downhill from there though and by the end of the season we were looking like contenders for relegation. In the close season David O'Leary tried a bit of a mind game with Doug Ellis which resulted in him leaving the club faster than you can say 'honest bunch of lads' and the much more suitable Martin O'Neill was installed. To complete the revolution Randy Lerner managed to pry the club from the grasp of the aforementioned ancient chairman Ellis and set about *gasp* spending money on the club and giving the fans what they want. We started the season brightly and for a while were punching above our weight but we've settled back into the much more expected realms of mid-table obscurity. With any luck the New Year will see some cash spent sensibly on players who will improve the squad. Well there's a first time for everything. I also went to see England compete in a tournament for the first time in my life by driving to Germany to see us beat Trinidad and Tobago.
Family-wise, my parents both turned sixty, one of my cousins got married and my sister came over in July to have a huge party to celebrate the wedding she had in America last year. As far as I know we're all fit and healthy and ready and raring to go for yet another new year.
I'm sure the years are coming more frequently these days...
All that remains is to wish everyone on my f-list a Happy New Year and I hope you are all happy. healthy and successful in 2007.