Goodbyes

Today we say goodbye to the Silver Vixen's mother. It will be a difficult day, but a necessary time for people to try and reach closure. 

By coming up to Winslow last night we are already local and can concentrate on the day, not worry about traffic and deadlines

Good day

The Gorse Fox worked from home. With a plan to head to Buckinghamshire in the early evening it made no sense to go to London and not get home until eight-ish, then have a two and a half hour drive. Working from home, he could still do a full day and then get away in the early evening. 

The journey was not too bad, despite a slow trek around the the south-west segment of the M25. Ignoring the SatNav, the Gorse Fox stayed with it until he got to the A41 - this worked well and the Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen were checking in to the hotel soon after nine.

The hotel, in Winslow, is an old coaching inn and the Gorse Fox had booked their best room. It's a lovely quaint, timbered room with an half-tester bed and huge jacuzzi. Sitting here now, it is clear that it is not a quiet retreat as people move about downstairs and doors thump closed. Oh well, I guess such issues were less concern back when the place was built.

Signal

Barely any signal here in deepest, darkest Buckinghamshire. Posts may have to be stored and retro-blogged.

Not bad

The early train to London was very quiet, but on arrival the tube was rammed. The Gorse Fox let one go, deeming it unseemly to force his way in the personal space of other people at that time of the morning. Securing a spot on the next tube he set off towards the stomping ground of the Ripper and along the route was joined by a colleague. This gave us a chance to compare notes and catch up on gossip en route.

Remarkably good day in the office - no significant interruptions and a lot was achieved.

Heading home now; no plans to return to London this week.

Town bound

The Gorse Fox is bound for Town today. Hopefully all the trains are running normally again and it will be a fairly straightforward journey (particularly as it's half-term, so lots of people are off).

Storm

Well the storm wasn't as noisy as expected. We have woken up to no power, no trains, and no broadband.

Should be a quiet morning!

Anniversary

Well the Gorse Fox is rather amazed to report that this is the start of another blogging year. He has been spreading whimsy, travels, and most of all boredom for 9 straight years as of today. Over that time he has posted nearly 6,900 times, without missing a day.

Grip

The Gorse Fox has woken up with his foot giving trouble again. Very difficult to put any weight on it at all today.

Much of the day has been spent on the genealogical data again. Great fun, and always interesting but actually not very exciting to report on. Battening down the hatches ready for tonight's storm... apparently the trains will not be running tomorrow until the network is declared safe so the Gorse Fox will be working from home.

Data

There is a great pleasure in having data under control. It sounds geeky, but it is so. The Gorse Fox has spent a lot of time, over the years, gathering genealogical data about the family. Recent events and the availability of new information online (the 1911 Census) mean that it is time for a bit of an update.

Now, the problem that many genealogists will face is their dependence on a particular database, file format, or authoring tool. Over time the digitised information may not decay, but the tools used to save such information may be replaced as they age and are forgotten. So it is that the Gorse Fox finds himself refreshing old data - and reviewing whether it is stored in a manner with appropriate longevity.

Much of yesterday was spent extracting ancillary data from a series of old Lotus Approach databases and converting them into a flatform Excel workbook. This, in turn, may well be re-cast as a flat file in the future. For now, the Gorse Fox assumes Excel will provide sufficient longevity and so it was that once generated, he got the chance to bring it up to date with various recent events.

Most satisfying.

But since you ask, the main family database is still stored in Family Tree for Windows on the old PC (and backed up in numerous places).

So what is the ancillary data? Well, the Gorse Fox has stored many hundreds of physical documents, certificates, letters, and so forth. This ancillary data lists:

• what documents I have
• who is mentioned in each
• which addresses are mentioned in each

This allows him to quickly summarise

• what documents he has that mention great aunt Sophia
• who lived at a particular address at a particular time
• what birth certificates, marriage certificates, or so forth are filed
• all of the people featured and the role they performed as shown in a specific document.

The importance of this is that this all substantiated information with documented proof.

As retirement beckons, the Gorse Fox can see this escalating further as he begins to process all the digital images of documents that he has in addition to the physical images processed above. The current count os 273 images to process - each of which may generate up to about 10 entries.

Jumping ship

The Gorse Fox has heard of yet another colleague jumping ship. Not from Starfleet, from the Gorse Fox's division to another. He has also heard rumours of several further colleagues seeking alternative postings within the corps. This is worrying as it confirms to the Gorse Fox that his current posting is sub-optimal and that technical skills and design skills are not appreciated there. It's a bit like Scotty on the Enterprise being given a new engineering room staffed by accountants and cooks... he becomes the odd one out and when engineering is required he gets asked questions about switching on calculators or making a light batter!

Had a good telecon with the Human Exploitation department regarding this year's appraisal programme and how we might improve it over last year. Have high hopes for a less painful process this year, but only time will tell. Personally, the Gorse Fox is in under no illusions. He will be strung out this year... after all, why waste a good grade on someone who is retiring. Cynical, moi?

Cousteau-cub phoned the Silver Vixen late afternoon. They had a long chat and C-c was debating a return home for the funeral next week. Silver Vixen tried to convince her this was not necessary - and it was a long journey for just a few days. As it is, her email - which touched everyone's heartstrings - will be read out as part of the service. So she will be there in spirit.

Pleasure

Ah ha. Friday. The pleasure of working from home.
No early train.
No fighting to get onto the tube.
No nose stuffed in a stranger's armpit.
No searching for a desk in the office.
No background noise from hundreds of conversations.
No taking a lift down 6 floors to find a toilet that works and is accessible with GF's badge.

Surprise

It was a pretty good day in the office - all things being considered. The first call of the day related to a scope register, held in a spreadsheet. This gave the Gorse Fox the excuse to spend much of the rest of the day working on said spreadsheet. This is always a pleasure as it is really the closest the Gorse Fox gets to programming now days.

The other pleasant surprise was a five p.m. telecon which, instead of running on and on, finished early. This allowed the Gorse Fox to get his preferred train.

Early

Woke a lot earlier than planned - which is so often the way after some time at home and a planned trip. Snuck out of bed and spent 45 minutes reading the papers online.

Nearly time to leave for the train to Ripper-ville.

In the saddle

The Gorse Fox is back in the saddle today - though to be clear, he didn't go up to town. As expected he had many hundreds of emails that had built up and it was easier to save the travel time and get on with dealing with things in the comfort of the study at home.

It looks like there may be some light at the end of the tunnel regarding this project - but more about that soon.

GF has contacted the Starfleet Pensions Office to get some illustrations for various retirement dates.

Run North

It was another run north to the wild lands of Buckingham. A run that despite rain, was almost trouble-free. The only blemish on the journey being a detour around Bicester because of roadworks in the middle of town.

Back with the family we discussed and agreed  minutiae of mail redirection, probate management, Order of Service, readings, hymns, and other music. A visit from the chaplain then helped put some shape onto things and struck a well-needed note of reality.

Eventually we left to come home - significantly later than planned. As we headed south we hit heavy rain and the most spectacular and unusual lightning storm the Gorse Fox has witnessed here in the UK. The lightning seemed to be dancing across the sky, between the clouds - rather than striking the ground. It lasted for at least a couple of hours and was, at times, quite blinding.

Despite nature's wrath, we got home safely.

Accustomed

The Gorse Fox is becoming accustomed to this time at home. Retirement looks as if it should be a pleasure.

Now... when?

More of the same

More of the same today. Confirming details with the Solicitor, writing to distant relatives, dealing with the florists and so on. A lot was achieved.

Back up to Buckingham tomorrow.

Settling

Sunday has been about settling, searching and informing.

Ww have been searching for suitable photos to include in the materials being prepared for the service. Despite have many hundreds of photos, we have narrowed this down to about 8 from our collection.

We have also made contact with relatives and friends who were yet to hear the news, and with a cousin who we hope will act as a Solicitor (well actually we hope it will be more than just an act).

Urban-cub popped round for a couple of hours. It is nice to see that she seems to be coming to terms with the news.

Hiatus

After a couple of very intense days, there is little that can be done today. As a result we have all dispersed to our homes and will have some domestic time to catch our thoughts.

The family visited the Chapel of Rest, we have heard the results of the post mortem, and the interim death certificates are on their way. We have selected the coffin, and even selected a venue for the tea and cakes that will follow the service.

Next we will meet the chaplain...

But today is a quiet day.

The Gorse Fox thinks the highlight of yesterday was contact with Cousteau-cub. Because she is so far away, and contact is sporadic, it is always a nice surprise. She has always had a way with words and managed to write an email to the SIlver Vixen that was so touching that it reduced everyone to a blubbering mess. I was quickly agreed that this should be used or read as part of the service - but the problem was that none of us thought we could actually get through it. This may have to be read by the chaplain.

An hour or so later C-c managed to phone and had a long chat with the Silver Vixen. It was good to hear from her in person.

Family

It was clear, yesterday, how important it is for families to come  together at times of difficulty. There were many tears and and my hugs - both real and virtual, but there was a great release of emotions and that seemed to ease things for all involved.

Today will be another difficult day as we head to the Chapel of Rest.