Ludwig Wittgenstein
"I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves."
I noticed this little gem posted on Quotes of the Day and it made me laugh, although i suspect its not meant to be humourous!
Haven't had a lot of time lately to update the blog but I have made myself a promise to get going again. I thought a little update on things might be useful too!
Marketing Course - CIM
Amazingly (well to me anyway) I manage to pass my CIM course. I now have a mraketing qualification (apparently its now called a Professional Diploma in Marketing). In a moment of madness, chatting to my fellow CIM suffer Colin we have both signed up for another years of angst (well 2 nights per week of 3 hours of lectures and 2 sets of 2 exams). Wish me luck! I am sure I will need more than last year...
Holiday
Had a wonderful holiday in mid Wales, a place called Tywyn. Its where the 'first' hertitage railway is the Tallylyn (that's tal ich lyn for those of a non-welsh disposition). We managed to visit 8 heritage railways as well as a trip along the Cambrian coast and particularly enjoyed the beach at Fairbourne.
A Land Rover tour by a local holiday cottages owner (and dare I say it slight eccentric) Nick Smyth was truely breath taking. We saw the tops of the hills where iron age burial mounds and standing stones are quite prolific. Nick (or Mr Smiley as my son insisted on saying) also spoke of ley lines and dowsing, and of how he had discovered several lines on his visits to the hills. I am personally skeptical but the strength of belief and the evidence is quite convincing.
My personal favourite visit was to the Centre for Alternative Technology which is near Machynlleth (pron: mac 'un leth). Open to the public this features many exhibits which promote the use of 'alternative' technology or environmentally friendly ways of living. I really enjoyed playing around with the wave generator and looking at the ways of making compost (it sounds dull but it isn't). I was also impressed with the cafe. Great food. We also visited the satellite cafe & health food shop in Machynlleth itself which was also good.
We enjoyed several slices of Welsh culture, partly through places such as King Arthur's Labyrinth (near Corris) and also through the very wonderful Celtica (also in Machynlleth). Learning about the Celts and their culture was very interesting and the interactive exhibits were great! In places it was slightly jingoistic (or maybe defiant) but then I am an Englishman.
The prevelance of Welsh everywhere was quite refreshing and in some cases surprising. It did feel that I was somewhere 'foreign' sometimes not that this was a bad thing merely unexpected. My favourite example of this was at the Corris Railway where the lady behind the counter kept calling me 'bach' (a term of affection) after every sentence.
Go there - the scenery is beautifaul, the people wonerful and there is plenty to do.
Work
Lots going on on the work front especially in terms of online customer service initiatives. Also lots going on in terms of new broadband initiaitves. I'll hopefully talk more about these in future.
Comments (as long as they are not SPAM!!!) gratefully received.
Posted by Paul Goodison at September 2, 2004 10:51 PM | TrackBack