We could all look back and say "my life changed that day" to certain days. Some of those days, we know, are going to be lifechanging, others we might guess at ahead of time, and some come as a complete surprise. Such a surpise came to me in that day - those 24 hours - a day in early August. One evening I started "right as rain" ... by the next morning, I couldn't left my head without being "seasick" and I couldn't hear out of one ear.

Since then, I have fought back - I'm back to 90% of what I was, and I'm still working on getting back bits of that remaining 10%. I'm permanently (they think) and totally deaf in the right ear. I have a very limited sense of balance. And that means that I have to have lights on to walk around, I stagger around as if I'm under the influence of something, I find it very hard to hear what's being said in company, I don't know who's talking to me in a group. And I tire oh so easily. So - two things; please forgive me not being on the front line with rail platform surveys any more, and please excuse me when I can't drive long distances. And a big "thank you" to those who have taken the slack, have helped me through, and have been patient at my inability to get as much done as I could / to have the quality time to do some things that need quality when, frustrating for you I know, I can apparently faff around with other things of less priority which, however, need less "full attention". But enough of this "wallow" ... and yes - I'm very much aware of how fortunate I am to be making this great a comaback, and how my situation is trivial compared to others.

We have a superb team at work - who have admirably confirmed their ability to run Well House Manor without more than the occasional very gentle guidance from me. Still No. 1 of 14 accommodations in Melksham on Trip Advisor, and it's very much harder to remain at the top than get there in the first place. On the IT training side, come late September I was able to get back to delivering training, and I've been doing so pretty much every week up until - well - Monday and Tuesday of this week in the lead up to Christmas.

On the "transport side", so much has happened. In some ways I say "sorry I've not been around as much as I would like", yet in putting together a fresh set of banner pictures for the Coffee Shop forum, I've got a series of 141 pictures - that represnets one per day since things changed - each of which has a story. So I've not exactly been totally absent!

Here - just to give a sample - are one in ten ...


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(written 2015-12-25)

 Z950 - Purely Personal
  [1014] Christmas Season Piccies - (2006-12-30)
  [1051] Too busy to blog it - but it's great (mostly) - (2007-01-24)
  [2195] A two day gap - first time in five years? - (2009-05-24)
  [2547] The great thing about snow .... - (2009-12-23)
  [2698] Ruth Davis, 1916 - 2010 - (2010-03-28)
  [2886] Congratulations, Kimberly - (2010-07-25)
  [2982] Travel, Transport and Tourism - A vision for Melksham, 2026 - (2010-10-03)
  [3034] Birth Notice - Aeryn Cassandra Ellis - (2010-11-07)
  [3037] Looking back and forward personally - 6 years each way - (2010-11-08)
  [3055] Zyliana Kyrei Cox - (2010-11-16)
  [3108] My First Christmas - (2010-12-26)
  [3224] Melksham Campus - a win / win opportunity, but a severely lacking decision process - (2011-03-31)
  [3240] Melksham Town Council - vacancy in the Spa Ward - (2011-04-10)
  [3283] The juggler - (2011-05-08)
  [3298] Quiet Monday in - (2011-05-23)
  [3413] If its Sunday, must it be Weymouth? - (2011-08-30)
  [3450] A threat in the post? Poor marketing practise from Smiletrain? - (2011-09-19)
  [3511] Melksham has a heart - have your picture taken and support the defibrillator appeal - (2011-11-06)
  [3556] Aeryn at 1 - (2011-12-19)
  [3566] Initial thoughts - response to GW Rail Franchise Consultation for Wiltshire - (2011-12-31)
  [3602] Emerging proposals for land to the east of Spa Road, Melksham - (2012-02-03)
  [3711] Kiss - (2012-04-28)
  [3905] How should we choose our Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner? - (2012-10-27)
  [4111] Zigzag bus - forward for the future, or decaying service? - (2013-06-09)
  [4157] Wedding Photos - Kim Ellis to Kyle Londors, 22nd August 2013 - (2013-08-23)
  [4165] Improving travel advise information in Wiltshire - (2013-09-06)
  [4187] Not treading water, but not risking the ship for a 0.5th of tar either - (2013-10-06)
  [4201] Looking to the future at Melksham Station - (2013-10-26)
  [4221] Celebration of the fruits of LSTF, and of the people who have helped and are helping - (2013-12-15)
  [4235] Sharing my personal best of 2013 - (2013-12-31)
  [4275] Eurpoean Elections, and other elections ahead. Some thoughts on campaigns and policies - (2014-05-08)
  [4281] A different vision for the future - (2014-07-09)
  [4286] Reaction in Radstock to new First bus prices - (2014-07-12)
  [4308] What can you and I learn from online quizzes? - (2014-09-27)
  [4476] Upcoming election - Chippenham Constituency - the major candidates compared - (2015-04-29)
  [4485] Misusing statistics? - the seedy side of election campaigning - (2015-05-04)
  [4489] Election results - what if we had a party list system? - (2015-05-08)
  [4625] Where does Wiltshire bus subsidy money come from? - (2016-01-19)
  [4657] Rumours of bus changes by First in Wiltshire - what we know and suspect - (2016-03-01)
  [4658] The end of competition on a bus route - the effects from then end of the 234 - (2016-03-02)
  [4669] Buses - how did we get into the situation we are in? - (2016-04-02)
  [4698] Lisa writes - on the referendum vote today - (2016-06-23)
  [4714] The technical article feed continues - personal updates more proactive on Facebook now! - (2016-10-30)
  [4728] Visiting Los Alamitos Bay Yacht Club - (2016-11-23)
  [4734] Thoughts on the new Blackmore Ward of Melksham Without Parish - (2017-02-22)
  [4735] Revisiting - should I stand for Melksham Without Parish Council in May? - (2017-02-24)
  [4737] Why you should vote for Lisa in Melksham Central - (2017-05-01)
  [4739] A year of changes for Lisa and Graham Ellis, and Well House - (2017-05-27)
  [4756] Learning how to be a more effective community partner - (2017-07-15)
  [4759] Sale of effects and furniture - 12th and 13th August 2017 - (2017-07-25)
  [4761] Looking forward to the autumn. - (2017-08-19)
  [4767] Some thoughts on 2017, and looking forward to 2018 - (2017-12-31)

Z101 - Health
  [611] Look out for the motor cyclist - (2006-02-17)
  [1032] Chronic fatigue help - a new discussion forum - (2007-01-13)
  [1776] Does fruit and veg drag on? - (2008-08-28)
  [2587] Bowerhill as a cycling community - (2010-01-17)
  [2858] The healthy option - away from the private car - (2010-07-07)
  [3521] Emergency First Aid at Work (HSE) training in Melksham - places available for 19.1.2012 - (2011-11-15)
  [3525] Melksham has a heart - come and see the pictures. Sunday, 11 to 3, Assembly Hall - (2011-11-18)
  [3733] More hazards of modern life - (2012-05-15)
  [4514] An update - and my absence in recent weeks - (2015-09-23)

Back to Happy Christmas - and a Christmas thought

Previous and next or Horse's mouth home

Forward to Management view - TransWilts and transport at the end of 2015

Perl - version 6 - official version launched at Christmas
Happy New Year. Our customers are our ambassadors
Training course and hotel room prices - 2016
Management view - TransWilts and transport at the end of 2015
A big change in August
Happy Christmas - and a Christmas thought
21 places to get your train and bus timetables for TransWilts
Not standing as your local councillor
Call for help counting passengers - TransWilts, 12th to 14th December
Python formatting update - including named completions