The Alchemist

I have just finished this book and I am still digesting it. Wow, what a great piece of writting. It deals with following your dream and deciding in life what is important and what isn't. Also the pusuit of the dream is as (more ?) important than its attainment.

A quote of an Arab proverb from the book "Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time".

Read it, at 160 pages, it is a quick read yet begs for a great deal of contemplation.

Reading

I returned to work on Monday and then was back off sick today and now also tomorrow. It is now officially a "virus" - wow medical science has progressed so far since blood letting and vapours. Where is the smart anti-virus with genetic material targeted specifically for this virus and my body ? Instead I get some symptomatic relief and the suggestion to "wait it out".

The silver lining is that I have undertaken to catch up on some the books given to me over Xmas. This list includes

• A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
  

I am only half way down the list so I am unlikely to complete it before returning to work.

Also while waiting for the Doctor I had half an hour to kill, Annalise had the car, so sat down and had my hair cut. It is short, very short. My head is now very light and very cold. I think I should have waited for the summer.

This evening Stephen and I watched Oceans Thirteen . I am not sure how this got onto our DVD rental list but it was rubbish. I don't make a habit of watching rubbish all the way through but I think I went a little catatonic on the sofa.

Sickness

On Wednesday afternoon, around 3:47pm (approximately), I got sick. Sore throat, high temperature and head-ache. It wasn't the lunch-time soup it was something far more sinister.

I stayed home on Thursday and then Friday - much sleeping, some showering and some reading. Today I feel a little more human - seems I'll pull through.

Annalise feels I have been a little obsessive about radio control flying lately, she may be right as much of the time while in bed I drifted in and out of sleep having numerous hypnopompic hallucinations. These involved fruitless attempts to calculate if a propeller with diameter 10 " and 6" pitch with a rotation speed of 11150 RPM provides a faster maximum speed than one of 11" diameter and 5" pitch rotating at about 10500 RPM. Also which has the lower tip speed and hence is quieter.

No I wouldn't describe myself as obsessed.

This afternoon I did venture out to the flying field. Although the wind was strong (15mph) at least it was straight onto the runway. I took of, flew and landed the CAP 21 after a couple of flight of the Travel Air. It is a big relief that not only does it fly but that I can fly it myself and better yet enjoy flying it.

Outsource

Today it was made official.

The entire IT department is going to be outsourced to Tata Consulting Services (TCS). We, in theory, keep the same terms and conditions but have to move offices.

I wonder if they will have a more relaxed dress code ? Funny everyone is wondering about their pension schemes etc while I think about dress code and if I'll still be able to cycle to work. Does this say anything about me ?

My Cap 21

She finally flew this weekend.

The flying field was part flooded by the river Mole so much of the runway was under water.

It was meant to be ready to fly on Boxing day but family and Christmas all got in the way. Six weeks total build time from ordering the wood, glue and hardware to the maiden flight.

Ok ignore the elastic band - just a temporary at field emergency safety precation.

I had a better pilot than me fly her for the first flight, thanks Geoff. She was very lively for the first 60 long seconds until the trimming was sorted. For a while I really thought I would be swimming in the river to recover the wreckage.

More pictures here