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For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))
Five lessons learned or re-learned on my travels

1. Demand still outstrips supply in WiFi connectivity, and there are still people out there looking to make a quick profit. Conclusion of my trip from Melksham to Thun to give a course from Wednesday to Friday.

2. There is a lot that could be done by the UK railways to bring them up to the standards that you'll find in many places in Europe, and some of the ideas would, surely be cheap to implement.

3. There's nothing like a helpful real person who you feel appreciates your business to make you feel at home, or indeed to resolve issues. But such customer facing people are harder to come by than a manx cat's tail in some places.

4. Switzerland is incredibly expensive, and whilst you'll find plenty of efficiency, cheese and chocolate there, there's scarcely a cuckoo clock to be seen.

5. Our IT training delegates are, almost without exception, really lovely people that it's a privilege to teach, and it's really rewarding to see their progress over the few days I spend with them. I said "almost" without exception... let me make it 110% clear that I haven't trained any exceptions for months.




For those of you to whom I haven't responded as quickly as you (and I) would like... I feel that 5 Swiss Francs (that's four pounds) for 30 minutes in my hotel was profiteering that I couldn't support, and in any case their network (free in the breakfast room) timed out and dropped connections all too often when it was in busy use - like at breakfast time! A similar story on the Ship from Hoek of Holland to Harwich - great at 3 a.m.; Dutch and German trains much better, McDonald's in Thun a wonderful place (!) and a big THANK YOU to - you know who you are - who helped me out too ;-)

Electric trains all the way from Thun to Hoek of Holland. Impressed by cross-platform connections at big places between trains covering vast distances. A switch from the Interlaken to Berlin train onto the Munich to Hamburg train takes 8 minutes. And similar changes at Dusseldorf and Rotterdam (Venlo is 20 minutes!).But in the UK bus from Harwich to Mark's Tey, which left people behind because it was so full, then a 30 minute wait for the connecting (?) train. And diesel from London to Swindon. Good news in that at least that latter is being fixed.

The staff at my hotel seemed troubled to have customers. Nice place, but unfriendly, and unable to tell me about the buses that stop right outside, and really didn't want to look at a local map / advise me where to go. On being told I was leaving early on Saturday, no offer of a croissant or milk in the fridge as we would do, no offer to call as taxi. Don't get me wrong, the fabric of the hotel was excellent (doors clanked and echoed like prison doors, perhaps!) and facilities were as advertised (I do miss a hospitality tray, though).

A main course for 30 pounds before you add veg and drinks - and even at the staff canteen, it cost me 15 pounds at employee rates for a main course and fizzy drink. Ten pounds for a fast food burger starts to feel like good value, and the whole place makes Iceland look cheap. I understand the Swiss are well paid to compensate for the higher prices, and things like house rentals are about the same as the UK. It was good to get back to Germany!

Our delegates make the trip worthwhile... a fascinating office, some incredible people it was my honour to meet. But I'm probably not supposed to go on, and I certainly can't tell you their stories.
(written 2013-12-15, updated 2013-12-21)

 
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
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)
  [1953] End of Training, 2008 - (2008-12-20)
  [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)


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Celebration of the fruits of LSTF, and of the people who have helped and are helping
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or
Horse's mouth home
Forward to
Democracy - alive and well with the beauty pagent starting up again
Some other Articles
Saturday train to Swindon - two weeks in
Melksham Resident? Commuter? Save yourself 2000 pounds and 100 hours in 2014, and have a better journey!
TransWilts - first day pictures
Democracy - alive and well with the beauty pagent starting up again
Five lessons learned or re-learned on my travels
Celebration of the fruits of LSTF, and of the people who have helped and are helping
Thun, Switzerland
TransWilts train services - up from 2 to 8 per day
A THANK YOU to those who have brought the new train service to fruition
New train service - launch plans and timetable links
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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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