So here I am, back from a few days away in Melksham learning more about Perl. It's been a fast moving three days and a little bewildering at times; I've swung from struggling, feeling stupid and incompetent, to "it's really that easy?" and "why did nobody tell me you could do that before?" -- and back again a few times.

I was the only person on the course this week, which is apparently quite rare, but it really made me channel my mind into what I was doing; no chance to drift off into daydreams or tangents or to miss a thing, as can be all too easy to do on training courses -- and I've never met a trainer more into his subject or who I would rate so highly.

The people running the company, Graham and his wife Lisa, are so inspiring; not just about the languages and the course material, but in the whole sense that it is possible to work for yourselves, from home, in an amazing house, with no need for sales people -- just brilliant self promotion and good reputation that spreads by word of mouth, and to be welcoming and helpful and still have time for loads of other projects and open days and study and time to respond to email promptly and...

I didn't quite understand why flux42 was ranting quite so avidly about how brilliant the course was when he found out I was going, but now I see.

Oh, please welcome grahamellis, who has now joined the cult of LJ!

Aside from the course itself, the time away on my own was a small adventure. The B&B was quite comfortable, the drive was fairly straightfoward and the cats were as good as gold while I was away (I've never left them alone for that long before and was half expecting to come home to find they'd had an accident or something).

I arrived in Melksham late on the evening before the first day of the course so there wasn't time to do much aside from wind down and sleep. On Wednesday evening I went out for a drive to try to find some shops that were open, as I wanted buy a portable CD player; I'd taken a big pile of CDs down with me. I drove to Bath, which looks like an amazing place that I will have to visit again when it's light -- but couldn't find any shops that were open or anywhere to park, so after driving around and around for a while I went on to Bristol. Bristol didn't look nearly so nice, was a nightmare to drive around, and I still couldn't find a mall or any shops that were open.

Eventually I gave up and decided to go back to the B&B. A wrong turning when I was almost back landed me in a Sainsbury's car park, so I went in and found... a nice little Sony CD player, and at half price too. Yes, I know, I'm about a decade behind the technology here -- I should be thinking about buying an iPod or something rather than a portable CD player. Then I got very, very lost on the way back to Melksham.

Thursday night I had a much needed quiet night in at the B&B with my books and music and a borrowed book about Perl for SysAdmins and a bottle of Glenmorangie. Who could need anything more? :)

Last night, having arrived home and fed and fussed the cats, I went out for drinks and pizza with Dickon and pozzy. Twyford was having its single late shopping night of the year, which is opened by a marching band and which involves a road being closed and lined with chestnut sellers, street entertainers, barrel organs, stalls selling trinkets and second hand books and whatnot, a bbq run by the local scouts and a visit from Father Christmas. We missed most of it but caught the tail end before heading off for food.

I am becoming increasingly interested in modern Macs. Please, somebody tell me I can't afford one right now?

Off now to try to make a dent in the heap of email that's arrived while I've been away.