Yesterday was the end of training for 2008 - the final Perl on the Web course for the year ran, and we're into our low / quiet season ... for training IS seasonal, with a low season from mid December through to mid January, from where business picks up and we'll be "all hands on deck" again by Valentine's. Why the slow pick-up in the new year? For many people, Christmas and the New Year is the target they're working towards, and they don't plan ahead to the next working year until that new year actually arrives, and then there's the average lead time of some 6 to 8 weeks between thinking about and actually taking a course. Yet, this year, we'll be moving into the new year with a healthier booking list than has been typical in the past. So - what will 2009 bring?

I stopped on the way home last night from dropping Dad off in Devizes and took some pictures. And - with our local Woollies closing down, with MFI gone, I mused as to how our High Streets and trading parks will be by this time next year. This is Somerfield in Devizes; Morrisons, Sainsbury, Lidl and Tesco all compete with them in a town that's considerably smaller than Melksham and that's a story that's repeated across the country. Can they all survive? The logic says "people will always need food", but perhaps we will see a shake-out with some mergers and closures - and is that a bad thing if the more efficient stores are left? Where would we be today if we hadn't grasped the nettle of the petrol engine but had stuck with steam?


The banking sector has been rocked (or "derocked" if you thing of Northern Rock) this year from global Tsunami to localised eruptions which have sent out distant shock waves. Some of the banks have been seen to have had practises and policies that were unwise to put it mildly, where others (such as HSBC) have fared much better - but even with HSBC, there's been to many issues in the sector that they haven't exactly got away without some major injuries. And when a bank's customers are sick, it makes the banks sick too. Will 2009 bring more back door nationalisation of the banks? Do we really need quite so many competing front doors on the streets of our towns, let alone so many on line deals from Iceland to The Netherlands to the Isle of Man?


On Teletext last night (we fell asleep with the TV on!), I saw that a survey showed that more than 70% of people surveyed didn't believe in the Nativity, and that lack of belief group included quite a lot of people who declared themselves to be Christians. Whence The Church in 2009? I don't know; I severely lack knowledge and fore site in this area. One part of me looks at the numbers of already-retired churches surplus to requirements and wonders if more will join them. And the other part of me wonders if more people in hard economic times will turn to Religion, and which religious communities will be ready to welcome and support them. I have little doubt that the buildings themselves will remain - most are listed buildings, and one of the things that seems to flourish whatever the state of the country is rules and bureaucracy!


But amongst the quietening of the High Steets shops and services, and perhaps of other walks of life too, there remain shoots of growth. Melksham Oak Community School is well under way, and due to open in less that 2 years, on the outskirts of the town. And Trowbridge, Chippenham and Melksham are all set to grow by over 35% in the next 16 years. Perhaps the recession and the thinning out of the tireder old services will clear the ground for the new - public transport that's appropriate enough for people to want to use it. Cars which - for the remaining journeys - are no longer build as gas-guzzlers that have built in obsolescence after two years (at least in the eye of the driver) and can last for 5 or 10. And more activities which actually cut the needs for some of the excesses - like that silly daily hour commuting! [BBC piece - Londoners commute 225 hours a year on average]


Well House Manor - Hotel Rooms still available over Christmas and the New Year, and at delegate rate for past trainees. Well House Consultants - book now for our 2009 public courses
(written 2008-12-20, updated 2008-12-25)

 Z100 - Daily life
  [19] interesting products and subjects - (2004-08-19)
  [20] Not two the same - (2004-08-20)
  [26] Matching Cat - (2004-08-24)
  [110] Friday, busy week! - (2004-11-05)
  [149] Fish stocks - (2004-12-12)
  [206] Fox and Python - (2005-02-08)
  [228] Beard Justification - (2005-02-26)
  [232] Diverse activities - (2005-03-01)
  [238] Difficulties with a trolley - (2005-03-07)
  [271] Different course every day - (2005-04-07)
  [283] Natural or man-made? - (2005-04-18)
  [307] Farming yesterday - (2005-05-10)
  [330] An O level comes in handy - (2005-05-30)
  [363] Greetings from Edinburgh - (2005-06-29)
  [446] Up early - (2005-09-16)
  [455] A Stengthening day - (2005-10-04)
  [473] Looking different in town - (2005-10-22)
  [474] Vintage Bus Day - (2005-10-23)
  [516] Open source questions? Anyone can ask. - (2005-12-03)
  [580] What to do with milk - (2006-01-28)
  [584] Loosing breath with Gerald - (2006-01-31)
  [605] Design your day with a walk - (2006-02-13)
  [612] Coming or going? - (2006-02-18)
  [613] Greetings from Dublin - (2006-02-20)
  [623] Behind every face is a person and a story - (2006-02-25)
  [635] Odd one out. - (2006-03-06)
  [645] Lost Camel - (2006-03-14)
  [654] Making use of disabled facilities - (2006-03-22)
  [655] Can some food be TOO different? - (2006-03-23)
  [692] Healthier eating - (2006-04-20)
  [698] Catch up weekend - (2006-04-24)
  [706] May day away - (2006-05-01)
  [724] Helping mental health through diet, exercise and other lifestyle matters - (2006-05-18)
  [752] Over zealous police activity? - (2006-06-09)
  [777] On Crosby sands - (2006-06-25)
  [817] Working on Weekend in Wiltshire and others - (2006-07-29)
  [843] To join an organisation? - (2006-08-23)
  [882] Rocks, hard places, trains and funerals. - (2006-09-30)
  [897] Too much for the National Trust - (2006-10-18)
  [908] And so to Inverness - (2006-10-29)
  [911] Letter Home - (2006-11-01)
  [921] French Exchange - (2006-11-11)
  [978] Wellhouse Manor, Hotel, Melksham - (2006-12-10)
  [992] Enthusiastic, but .... - (2006-12-16)
  [1056] Another frantic posting! - (2007-01-30)
  [1057] Selling by phone and Skype - our policy - (2007-01-30)
  [1061] Take vehicles off the road - put all the passengers into one - (2007-02-01)
  [1100] Wondering where I have been - (2007-03-06)
  [1138] The Holiday - unlikely romantic comedy? - (2007-04-08)
  [1151] Gordon Dodge, R.I.P. - (2007-04-16)
  [1178] Ducking stool for Melksham? - (2007-05-06)
  [1189] Meet, greet and welcome - (2007-05-16)
  [1272] Behind closed doors? - (2007-07-22)
  [1303] Heading Upstate New York - (2007-08-14)
  [1429] Remembrance day - inside a church and inside the day - (2007-11-11)
  [1643] A lack of technical content - (2008-05-16)
  [1810] Middle aged subsidise young and old - (2008-09-26)
  [1979] Looking forward, in Melksham, in 2009 - (2009-01-05)
  [2000] 2000th article - Remember the background and basics - (2009-01-18)
  [2008] The Month Ahead - What is happening in Melksham - (2009-01-25)
  [2024] Carry on Training - in spite of the weather - (2009-02-03)
  [2027] Who sticks by you in the snow? - (2009-02-05)
  [2030] The final step to being British - (2009-02-07)
  [2034] Through Snow and Flood to Linux and Tomcat - (2009-02-10)
  [2064] East of Melksham Countryside - (2009-03-02)
  [2068] Playing Catchup - (2009-03-06)
  [2090] Melksham to Georgia - (2009-03-19)
  [2105] Hire Car, from Atlanta Airport - (2009-03-27)
  [2106] Learning to Twitter / what is Twitter? - (2009-03-28)
  [2118] Spring Sprung - (2009-04-05)
  [2121] Out in the Vale of Pewsey - (2009-04-07)
  [2141] Town Crier competiton - (2009-04-25)
  [2159] A long day to guess where - (2009-05-06)
  [2164] Updating my public profile - Graham Ellis - (2009-05-09)
  [2217] Enjoying the summer weather - (2009-06-04)
  [2264] Learning about others private lives - (2009-06-30)
  [2371] Quiet summer days? I think not! - (2009-08-22)
  [2401] Back Tomorrow - (2009-09-10)
  [2450] Family Gathering at 404, The Spa - (2009-10-11)
  [2580] C course inspires new teaching examples - (2010-01-16)
  [2868] A move towards the family - (2010-07-12)
  [3125] The family is defunct. Long live the family. - (2011-01-09)
  [3316] Twitter Phishing Trips ... and a great new alert service - (2011-06-04)
  [3319] Moving on - a task for the hotel staff! - (2011-06-08)
  [3463] Busy weekend of contrasts. - (2011-10-03)
  [3553] Changes to morning routines - (2011-12-16)
  [3743] Sunday - no longer a day of rest - (2012-05-28)
  [4222] Five lessons learned or re-learned on my travels - (2013-12-15)

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Why are cooks bad tempered?
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