HaPpY NeW YeAr 2008
from MaRtIn!
Well another interesting year has flashed past! You may remember that last year I took early retirement, started retraining as a dance host and sold my house in Ashbury. I had to live the first half of the year in my flat in Poole for capital gains tax reasons before buying a chalet bungalow. I went on my first two cruises as a dance host to the Med and the Caribbean. At the end of year I had surgery on a ruptured appendix and had to cancel my Christmas cruise on Saga Ruby to the Canaries. However, I have already booked half a dozen cruises for the first half of next year!
Having given up my line dancing class in Swindon last November I have been going on Monday evening’s to Brian & Carol’s line dance class. On Tuesdays I went to Cosmopolitan Ann’s sequence dance class with Jenny from Wimborne. On Wednesdays I have been going to Anglodance Karen’s ballroom/latin class with Sue from Westbourne. On Thursdays I went to Broadstone Dance Studio Pauline’s ballroom/latin class with Julie from Canford Heath. I have also attended 55 line dance socials on Fridays and Saturdays, mainly in BoMo but also in Weymouth and Essex.
I visited my Father in Essex in February and March (when he was hospitalised), in May (when we met up with my maternal cousin Susan), in August (when I drove him down to Poole for three weeks away), in September (for Clyde, my Godfather’s, funeral) and finally in November.
In March I was delighted to be a guest of honour, together with Derek Peacock, at Leicester University’s 25th anniversary of the founding of Computing Studies. Organised by Sue Jeffreys and Rick Thomas, the day consisted of various lectures and meals that I really enjoyed. I was also able to stay over with Derek.
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I dog sat for a fortnight at my brother’s house in Harlow during March. I was able to visit all my old stomping grounds including Ware, Hertford, Cambridge, Chelmsford & Ipswich where I passed my first ballroom/latin dance audition. I was also able to go line dancing with Jackie in Loughton, Elle Jay in Cheshunt, Larry in North Weald, Frankie in Aveley and at BJs in Limehouse.
In April I went on my first cruise as a dance host. I sailed on the Boudicca from Southampton to Cartagena in Spain, Palma de Mallorca, Livorno for Pisa, Civitavecchia for Rome, Alghero in Sardinia, Ceuta for Tetouan in Morocco and La Coruna in Spain. I was able to go on 5 excursions as a tour escort and had a super time!
Weekends away included visiting my friend Mark in Brighton, Selsey (for dancing and walking), Dover (for a great meal with my ailing Aunt Elsie and my two paternal cousins Jacqueline & Jean) and Milton Keynes (for an OU meeting and more dancing). Day trips away included Easter Sunday lunch in Swanage with Mike & Mark, Easter Monday at Ringstead with Stephen & Brian, Hamble on the Solent and the Isle of White with the Morgans.
In July I completed the purchase of a 3 bedroom chalet bungalow near (De-) Coy Pond in Poole. This is one of the only estates of bungalows near Westbourne. It is only a 100 yards from both Talbot Heath and the Upper Gardens which go via Bournemouth town centre to the Lower Gardens and the sea. The house is half way up a hill which gives good views across the estate to the railway viaducts. The garden is one of the largest on the estate which may prove to be a liability. Unfortunately the move was brought forward and I had to cancel my planned trip to see Carol in Blackpool and Peter in Lancaster.
In October I went on my second cruise as a dance host. I sailed on the Braemar from Southampton to Lisbon, Tenerife, St. Maarten, Antigua (I loved Nelson’s dockyard!), St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Tortola, Santiago de Cuba, Port Antonio Jamaica (tame white water rafting), Curacao, Grenada and then the flight home from Barbados. I was able to go on 14 excursions as a tour escort. I ran line dance classes most sea days and led the early evening entertainment in the Neptune Lounge on the two Country & Western evenings. It was a very enjoyable month away!
One week after getting back from the Caribbean I drove over to my father’s in Essex. After going line dancing in Walton I had a fever for 5 days before my father’s GP dispatched me to Colchester General Hospital where my ruptured appendix was removed. I was very lucky not to have succumbed in the West Indies but in Essex where my father, brother and sister-in-law were so supportive! Ron has invited me to his newly extended home on Christmas day and I shall be entertaining my friends Mike from Southampton, Mark from Brighton and Ant from Surrey over New Year.
My first cruise of the New Year is from Dover to Miami on the Balmoral via the Caribbean in February, then it’s basically two weeks on and two weeks off! Whilst in Miami I hope to have a look at some condominiums (commonhold apartments) around Port Everglades. With two dollars to the pound and the American real estate market down 20%, I figure now might be a good time to invest the proceeds from selling my flat.
On the windfall front last year I benefited when the Lambeth Building Society was taken over by the Portman, this year they in turn were taken over by the Nationwide so I had a double windfall! Over the summer I discovered a super website: LinkedIn.Com where I’ve “linked in” with over one hundred of my former students, a dozen of whom have written flattering testimonials – so good for my ego!