Weekend work and leisure

With the CBS administrator Julie away on compassionate leave, it was necessary for me to spend more time than usual in the office on Friday. From her notes of the Radio user group meeting yesterday, I wrote the minutes, and from my notes of the WECTU briefing, I wrote an account of all the advice given, and posted it on the DISC intranet for all RadioNet users to see. I did the BCRP board minutes after a break of the couiple of days, and was satisfied with the result. 

It's highly satisfying to think I can recall the content of meetings I've attended with a fair degree of accuracy, especially when I've got to am age where I find I forget what I gone upstairs for, or logged on to Google to find out about. Fear of memory loss is worse than the reality. So many everyday things are trivial it's no wonder we lose focus on them.

Saturday, we went to Penarth for lunch. The 'Cafe des Amis' has become 'The Bistro' since our last visit. Still serving authentic French cuisine, but now with a different menu. To our taste, the food choice is not as interesting as it once was, although the environment is much the same as it was previously. I would have preferred to have had fish and chips from the stall in front of the pier and sat on the beach again, but for once in a while, the tide was in, close to the promenade wall. It's a long time since I last saw a high tide in Penarth, but when, I cannot remember.

In the evening BBC Four showed 'The Bridge III', more Scandinavian crime drama, in a joint Swedish/Danish bi-lingual production wiht Engish subtitles. Two episodes a time for goodness knows how many weeks. Another convoluted and bizarre long tale that supposed to keep us entertained. To my mind, this particular fomula is beginning to wear thin. It focuses for too much, for its own good, on one main character with a peculiar personality, and while this has its entertaining moments, it feels a bit 'more of the same'- The Arne Dahl series of stories was far superior in terms of the complexity of its characters and their responses to the awful situations they find themselves in.

Bank Holiday weekend

We drove to Bristol Friday to visit Amanda, who's in hospital again, and to give James some support. Caring for his mother this past month or so has led to him missing school and examinable assignments, so now he's not going to be able to complete his A level year. We took him out to his school at Thornbury, to find out what options might be available to him. His head of year and head of sixth form were delighted to see him as he has recently been the subject of their pastoral concern. They took an hour with him, mapping out the options for next year, encouraging him to come into school while he's free from having to care for his mother daily, and use staff expertise to write applications, once he's clear what he wants to do next. It's very pleasing to see that he has so much understanding and support there.

Saturday, we took the bus to Penarth and had lunch in the 'Cafe des Amis'. Then we went down to the sea front to inspect the recently renovated and now open buildings on the Pier. It's an impressive restoration and adaptation of a landmark building. 

Part of the upper level of the old ballroom is now a cinema. Underneath it there are function rooms and exhibition space. On the sea side is a stylish restaurant with deck and balcony level dining areas. The pier was busy with bank holiday weekenders enjoying the warmth and Spring sunshine. 

I had a fit of geekiness and took all three cameras, (Sony Alpha 55, HX50 and Lumix DMC LX5) along with me, aiming to take the same photo with each of them, in select locations for comparative purposes. It was an interesting if fiddly time consuming exercise. The wide angle capability of the Lumix lens in comparison with the others is impressive. The telephoto capability of the HX50 and the quality of output is quite remarkable. I used my 28-200mm lens with the Alpha, and found its performance disappointing. Maybe that's my inexperience at using it, even on auto settings, but it could also be a matter of quality as an entry-level priced lens. Some of the photos I took are here. 

We walked back to Cardiff Bay along the beach, as it was low tide, and then along the Barrage to the Millennium Centre for tea. We bumped into Canon Aled Edwards, the CYTUN executive officer in the foyer and chatted for ages. He was on his way out after an Open University Graduation ceremony - one of the many events hosted by our wonderful operatic auditorium.