Just home from the US after a fortnight house hunting.
We've bought a house in Xenia Ohio. Paid cash. It's all ours.
Now just got the visa/immigration process to get through.

I've retired.

Next Christmas is also over, so what has happened in the mean time?
Well....
We had a visit from mother in law in May '05 (took her and my mother to the Welsh hills for a few days) and visited her in the US in June '06 (for a great Flying Pigs Fiels Day).
Cynda's weight has remained stable at around 10 stone for the past year with all side effects and complications now in the past.
I've now got a decent DSLR camera so, hopefully, a few more pics on the website.
Must find a few more Geocaches this year.
Unfortunately still no closer to retiring so still living in the UK for the forseeable future.

Well... Christmas is nearly over and I'm back to work already. Good these working Bank Holidays at £24 an hour.
Anyway, been a bit of sporadic snow today, snows a bit, melts a bit, snows another bit etc. Nothing to get too excited about.
Late shift the rest of the week and then, another day off next Monday. You gotta love Bank Holidays.

Well... It's nearly Crimbo once again and, more importantly, I've been the best part of a year without updates although I've been both reading and commenting in other peoples blogs.

ksej   Congratulations on the healthy birth of Andrea Elspeth and on the new flat. I'm sure it will all come together next year and I wish you and your family well.

caitlin45   You're a wonderful kid in a sunny part of the world. Despite anomalies, you're always immensely happy and enthusiastic and an inspiration to everybody that knows you. I wish you success in everything you do and know that you appreciate the neverending support you get from family and friends.

raynbo0701 and freakyfwoof    I Wish you happiness together and a long and fulfilling relationship. Maria, I think you're very brave uprooting and moving to this country. I hope you don't get crippled by our high prices and taxes.

lilmizmombassa    You've done brilliantly well at school and will probably be starting uni next year. You deserve all the success possible and a fulfilling career as a result. Well done.

Wifey, cyndagunn99  has lost ten and a half stone in the past 14 months and is now only a slip of a lass so, very well done. I love the new slimline you and look forward to a more active and healthier future.

Work has seen the introduction of a new shift rota. It's going well but I'm still desperate to retire and keen to emigrate.

At least I'll be in the US next June for Field Day so that should be fun, spending the weekend camping and playing radio with the Flying Pigs.

  Well, what a shift that was. The V3's print position mystically shifted. Couldn't see an easy reason for it, although the belts were badly polished, so set about adjusting it. Couldn't remember how to do it, it wasn't covered in the training course in 1991, but Julian came up with a written guide. Then disaster.... I poked the wrong set of switches and unintentionally changed the machine ID number.  Anyway, some hours later the three of us were battling with written instructions that were incorrect, software diagnostics that returned the wrong results and a national helpdesk who knew little more than we did. We pratted around "in the dark" for 4 hours because somebody couldn't write understandable maintenance instructions. It wasn't broken at all for most of that time. Deano still believes the belts were knackered....  I'm not at all convinced.

Cynda's happy.. she just got a birthday card with money in it. She's easy to make happy... just give her money.
I'm not so happy.. got a hernia in the abdominal wall to get fixed. Guess I'll have to wait eons for that.

This past week has been relatively relaxed.

Worked three night shifts last week; nights is not the best but at least there were no managers around and Picky was more friendly than I expected. The weekend was, well, just an uneventful weekend.

Monday went without a hitch. Unless, that is, you call an electricity failure for 2 hours a hitch. We've got a big stand by generator so soon got back to normal  but most others on the estate were without power. Was surprised that  John's speaking. He's not usually that friendly. The dislike is mutual and probably always will be!  Tuesday was more fun. Had a barny with Sid; he expects us to work in the dark 'cause he can't be bothered to get the faulty lights fixed.

I've had a firm lump on my abdomen ever since the operation which should eventually get back to normal. It's also numb, having had all the nerves cut around it.

I've recently noticed a similar smaller firmness at the right hand end of my scar line. It seems mobile and is uncomfortable if I press it. This morning when I touched it, it made a sort of squelchy noise so I'm off to see Doc about that next week. I'm working late shift so will have mornings free.

If anybody wants to hear Bacon Bits Quarterly, it's being hosted on my web site at www.ngunn.net/fpqrp. Future editions should be posted there also. It seems to be quite popular.

   Nigel (no! not me, there are two of them!) commented last evening whilst trying somewhat unsuccessfully to configure my server "I've never seen a network as broken as this one". Oh well, have I never mentioned that there is probably nothing in this world that I'm unable to break. We've got HTTP sort of working, and TELNET works. Got to sort FTP and E-mail next.


   Bad news today. Cynda's just had a call fron her doctor; the "cyst" she had removed last week was actually a malignant tumor. Although they say that all the cancerous cells have been removed, it looks like she's now got a course of radiotherapy to endure just to be certain. That's in adition to visiting the trickcyclist tomoeeow morning and a visit to the plastic surgeon to have a small benign blemish removed from her left cheek.

   I've just been perusing a web site dealing with MUGs (Male Unbifurcated Garments - kilts and skirts to most of you). I've often thought that a kilt might be an interesting alternative and, having Scottish ancestry, although I can't remember it, I have two tartans to choose from and am officially entitled to wear it. I'm not sure quite why I want to wear a skirt. It's either my feminine side trying to escape or it's rebellion. I already wear what might be termed girlie style knickers so I guess if's the feminine thing.

  Cynda just jumped on the scales.... now 17st 1lb so it's still going in the right direction.
She has the cyst surgically removed last Thursday. As usual with events at our local hospital, the fear and panic made it a rather traumatic time: she now has an adhesive plastic dressing covering the wound that she cannot remove!


  Not got the server set up properly yet. It's still on the kitchen table serving up a few pages at www.ngunn.name but no e-mail or FTP working. It'll eventually get the full web site and sit in the spare bedroom.

  Didn't do much during the weekend. Hed a lazy time in front of the TV and had interesting instant messages with my two favorite sisters (one left to eat a pizza, the other was still there when I went to bed!)[They're not my sisters... they are sisters of each other that I have known for most of their lives]


  


Hollie's got a new baby... not a biological baby, we bought it in the local Co-op store, that she's been carrying around for a few days.

    Had a bit of fun during the past two days. Gathered together other peoples scrap and built a "new" computer. Doesn't look like a "traditional" PC but who cares? It's for use as a web and e-mail server. Don't see why I should pay somebody else to host them. My wife thinks it's amazing that I can go out in the garden, hammer a metal box and drill some holes and install Linux on the resultant hardware. And it cost me exactly zilch!

    Holley's coat has become rather long and matted recently so she's had a DIY haircut. Nothing too drastic; she'll have a proper cut when the weather gets warmer. Long coated dogs have a problem this time of year; every time she goes out in the garden she returns with her coat entangled with grass and twigs and muddy feet.

    We've had gale force winds with intermittent rain for most of the night. The noise has been horrendous, the sleep, little.
Surpriisnigly there's little timber been shed from the local trees. They're obviously all in good health. I've been up since about 5 o'clock. Read the e-mail, updated the web site, had brekkie and played with the dog. The wind has abated somewhat but it's still rather rather blustery.

    Weather permitting, I've got an antenna to construct this weekend. A 7 metre long folded dipole, vertically mounted, fed a third the way up from the bottom. Should be good for 7-30MHzish. It'll be supported on an 8 metre fishing pole. Got to get the portable gear ready for the upcoming camping season.

    Received a film scanner yesterday. Slightly late chrissy present from Cynda. Can go through a large folder of negatives and several boxes of slides for incriminating pictures for the web site. No telling who may appear in public in the near future.

    Postman's just called. Delivered a 2lb fruit cake from the mother-in-law in the US. Only 3780 calories (the cake, not the mother in law!), should go down a treat with a couple of pints of beer.   Thanks Connie.

Cynda  applied for a job yesterday. Part time receptionist at our local health trust offices. Let's hope not too many others apply for it.

Well...
    Cynda is down to 17st 4lbs, a loss of  3st 8lbs since the op. on 8th October. She's over the moon, only 8st to go to reach her target weight.

    Hollie is desperate for a fur cut. I keep snipping away at matted patches but she needs to be professionally groomed.

    I've now been back to work for a week having just had 26 weeks sick. My local hospital tried to kill me whilst removing my gall bladder.... if the didn't actually try then they did little to sort the problem!
I'm fighting for retirement but, at 52, am unlikely to get it for some time yet. We want to emigrate to the US, Cynda's country of birth. She's terribly homesick here and it's quite seriously affecting her health.

    Kris has a respiratory infection at the moment. I haven't seen it but she certainly sounds bad on the 'phone. She's being comforted by Rascal, Princess and Mischief. Get well soon Kris, we're missing you.