>
>I've been very busy for the last 11 months, working and getting my
>finances in order and then (since October) finding and getting settled
>into my new -and hopefully only temporary because it's not very good -
>place.
>ADSL broadband access here is likely to be slow so I've switched to
>Virgin cable (which seems to be very temperamental - ho hum ...). Had
>lots of email losses due to Demon seemingly cancelling my account right
>from the moment I told 'em I was moving. Bastards! At least they stopped
>taking my money straight away, which is more than my ex-landlord did. I
>discovered she'd taken two more months rent out after I moved. Still
>haven't had my deposit back either!
>
>
>Just back from a trip to Taunton in Devon for my Nephew Chris's wedding.
>He's in the Royal Marines, currently in Afghanistan getting shot at by
>the Taleban in Helmand, and happily firing mortars back at them.
>He and his wife Becky, who he's been with for 4 years now, were planning
>to get hitched in May when his tour ends, but they decided to bring it
>forward to when he got a weeks home leave in order to take advantage of
>some vacant married quarters places that had come up.
>The wedding was really good. Quite a few there despite the short (a few
>weeks) notice. It was a church do with the reception at Somerset County
>Cricket clubhouse which is just by the church. Weather was cold and
>squally so the bulk of the official photos were taken inside the church
>after the ceremony. The photographer was a snidey git I thought. Always
>making slightly nasty "humorous" remarks as he posed his subjects and (I
>found out later) very lucky not to get thumped by one of the ushers,
>Amir -an old school friend of Chris's who is of Asian descent - when
>snapper remarked "Blimey, did you bring one back with you?".
>Loads of good unofficial photos were taken too - hopefully they'll get
>shared around and if anyone is interested I'll post links.
>One of Becky's workmates had the most incredible laugh - It sounded like
>a mule having a fit! Whenever she got started, nobody could help joining
>in ... It was incredible.
>Grub at the reception was good. Drink was plentiful and free at the bar
>for most of the evening (and afterwards still relatively cheap).
>Speeches were short and pithy and everyone was friendly. Chris's brother
>Russell was best man, carried out his duties flawlessly and remained
>unusually (for him) well-behaved. I was even persuaded to dance a couple
>of times.
>Relatively hangover-free in the morning, I felt obliged to try the FEB
>at the hotel. It was merely OK. Tasty enough but insubstantial. Plenty
>of china visible and the sausage (just the one!) was tiny. At 7 pounds
>50 a pop it should have been a more generous plateful, I thought. Still,
>my brother was paying for it.