Annus Horribilus - Merry Christmas Everybody

For those of you who like there information in electronic format here is the 2006 Jefford Gazette in all its glory!

Dear Friends & Family

Welcome! Multitudinous Yuletide Felicitations!

Another year, another letter, another “this is the latest I have ever sat down to write it” statement – today, by the way, being the 17^th December 2006! Apologies for no fancy news letter this year but time really has been against me!

So, we hope all is well with you and yours. We have had yet another interesting year. If I were to detail it all I would be here ‘til the 6^th Jan next year so I will give the edited highlights.

The way the year started should have been an indicator of what was to lie ahead.

Sian was rushed in to hospital in early January with suspected appendicitis. She ended up being in hospital from Sunday morning 3.30am to the following Friday. Having decided it was her appendix they were then not sure and said they would do X-Rays, Blood Tests, Ultrasounds etc to see if they could actually find out what was going on. Eventually on the Thursday they decided to operate to take a look inside. They removed the appendix as a matter of course but apart from being slightly inflamed, there was nothing obviously wrong, they did however find some blood where it ought not to have been and as a result of this they said, it could have been an infection on even a burst ovarian cyst. They sent the appendix away for analysis and when we got the results back, they apparently, found a stone in the appendix! She made a pretty good recovery from the op, although the holes they made for the keyhole surgery were very tender, and in fact still remain tender so much so that she has been referred back to the hospital because nearly a year on she should not be in as much discomfort as she is. Anyway, all this did not stop Sian doing very well in the GCSE’s she got 2 x A’s in Technology (Textiles) and Photography (she also won the school prize for top photography student), 3 x B’s – English, English Literature and Drama, and 2 x C – French and Citizenship, and D’s for Maths, Science, IT and Business Studies. Sian is now at Ely Sixth Form College doing A-Levels in English, Media Studies and Photography. She re-took her maths in November, and is now awaiting the result. She has settled in really well and is a member of the Student Council and has written for the school paper. She plans to go to university and study to become a primary school teacher. She has already got her gap year mapped out let alone an actual place or even a university of choice. Sian and a couple of mates are hoping to go to Namibia for either 5 or 10 weeks with Rayleigh International. They have set up some fund raising events; a bric-a-brac stall been and gone (made a loss and came home with more toot than they took!). They are holding a bric-a-brac stall on Ely Market on 23^rd December and they will also be selling some raffle tickets as well, prizes include a signed photo from Blue Peter and a T-Shirt worn by some one from Corrie ( with an autograph and a certificate of authenticity.) They have also touted round the local businesses as well. And in spring next year they plan to take part in a sponsored Sky-Dive (tandem sky-diving – strapped to an experienced Sky Diver from around 14,000Ft!) For more information go to http://mysite.orange.co.uk/nabooafrica you can also keep up with Sian at her own website which is at http://sianashleigh.bebo.com please note you enter these sites at your own risk. Lindsay and I cannot be held responsible for any damage that you may incur! Btw – Why NabooAfrica? Well Lindsay could not remember the name of the country and called it Naboo – (A planet in Star Wars) and they name stuck so Namibia is affectionately known as Naboo!

What of Daniel I hear you cry! Well. He eventually settled in to the Green Box (the area alternative academic unit for children that have missed school long term through illness, injury or bullying). Towards the end of the school year he was starting to do a mixture of Green Box and Ely College (doing some integration back in to main stream school) with the view that after the summer holiday he would start back at college in Year 10 Full Time. All seemed to go well. He managed his period of re-integration reasonably OK. He was so pleased at the prospect of getting back to proper school he seemed to wish the six weeks to pass as quickly as possible. He did spend a lot of time out playing, and out on his bike which was good as it meant he was getting much needed fresh air and exercise and he was able to cope with OK. He did over do it every now and then and would have to spend a day in bed to recover, but on the whole, he was much better.

The new term started, and Daniel was up ready to go, dressed breakfasted and uniformed by 5.30am!! He loved every minute of it. And promptly had to miss the second day back because he was exhausted through his over excitement! But for the first couple of weeks back he was a model student and back in the flow. Then he hurt his knee tripping over something and damaged the ligaments and was unable to walk, and he had to rest up for a week. Then he had a throat infection and was of school again. He fell down stairs and damaged his knee AGAIN! So this was more time off, and this was followed up by an infection/inflammation of the muscles of the chest wall. So after having managed the first two weeks of the term very well, he missed practically all of the next six weeks. It was at this point that we were due to have follow up meetings with the school to assess how he was doing.

(We have to point out at this point, where we felt we were left dangling in the wind last year in terms of Daniel’s education and anyone wanting to help him/us, this year they have been red hot and on the ball about making sure he has settled back, coping etc and have had strategies in place to aid him). Anyway, after some meetings and delivering the edited version, it was decided that Daniel had missed so much of his new year 10 subjects that it would be an impossible task for him to catch up with all the course work and other stuff and to that end it had been decided that Daniel needed to work to a revised time table with an initial period of catch-up back at the Green Box. This went down like a boiled ham at a bar mitzvah. Daniel did not want to go back to Green Box etc, but after time he realised that this is in fact the best thing. He is currently concentrating on Maths & English with a little bit of science, and as a gesture, they have allowed Daniel to continue with his photography course, as he, like his sister, loves photography and shows a distinct talent for it. So he goes to College on Mondays for the last two lessons of the day, one being Photography and the other he has a session in the resources centre. On Tuesdays he is at Green Box. Wednesdays he is at Green Box in the Morning and College to do photography in the afternoon. Thursdays is a Green Box day and at the moment he has no lessons on a Friday. This will continue until half term (early February 07) when things will be assessed again.

So it is very much watch this space with Daniel John Duncan. Let’s hope we have finally turned a corner. As he said when he finally accepted that he had to go back to Green Box, “I just want to keep my head down and do my time!” (Shades of Norman Stanley Fletcher!). He has not got back to playing hockey, although he keeps making noises that he is interested in doing so. It will be good if he does as he loved playing and it will help get his fitness up. However not so sure about the freezing called Saturday mornings having travelled 100 miles to see him play on the coast at Skegness and watch his team get thrashed 15-0!

He has made a new friend, a young Australian lad called Cameron, who started at college in September. This is good as one of his close friends started to get very funny with him. Through his friendship with Cameron he has discovered a different circle of friends and they go out and about together. The group includes girls and Daniel spends ages in front of a mirror making sure his hair looks OK if he is going out and they are going to be about. He has even been known to take a shower without being prompted!

Lindsay, dear old super glue, has had her work cut out this year trying to keep the family unit together. What with Sian’s trip in to hospital and Daniel and school etc, she has found it more and more difficult. I think I allude every year to her unceasing selflessness and how we probably don’t appreciate her as much as we should. Well I think that is even more the case this year. She has been doing a cleaning job 6am to 9am Mon – Fri and 3pm to 5.30pm at two different schools plus some other private work and relief work at Waitrose. Eventually became too much and she decided that she would have to give up the early morning job and gave notice in October. Apart from the early start up at 5am, for several weeks, in fact months, due to staff leaving, being off on long term sick due to operations etc they were running two or three hands down as well which meant they weren’t able to do the job properly which Lindsay found soul destroying. So, she decided to quit, and as I said handed in her notice and said she would stay till the end on November so they had ample time to find a replacement. I think she found the last couple of weeks of this job the hardest she has known.

So, now, Lindsay is at home in the mornings and can help with getting the kids up for school and college etc. As ever Lindsay is still running a taxi service for the kids (although I do my share as well).

Lindsay has just signed up for a jewellery making course (her Christmas present) which she is looking forward too and is still making cards and decorated spoons (for weddings).

However the biggest change of the year as been for me. After 3 years full time with Bridge Partners, ‘we’ parted company in November of this year. Due to all the stress and strain at home over Daniel and school etc plus the normal strains of having two teenage children etc etc, my own health began to suffer and I began to find work very stressful and in short my performance dipped. So, after several discussions, it was decided that in the best interests of both parties my future lay outside of Bridge Partners. This obviously came as a huge shock to Lindsay and the family and not least to me. I was extremely upset at first, but I cannot fault my directors, they bent over backwards to help me through the difficult times, but at the end of the day, I think I knew in my heart that the time was right to move on to something new. So I entered the very scary world of the Jobless on the 1^st November 2006. And at the Age of 43 let me tell you it is a very scary place to be! For various reasons the last interview I had to get a job was in November 1993 when I went for job with TSB Bank. Since then I ended up with jobs after a project placement under a government scheme, then because I knew someone, then because that firm got bought out, then I left and worked for myself during which time I was introduced to Bridge Partners who employed me as an associate and then offered me a job fulltime.

So, after a week moping around I started scouring the papers for vacancies. I filled out about half a dozen applications, and ended up with two interviews in the same week.

Now, I have always been a great believer in things happening for a reason – yes I know hind sight is a wonderful and it’s easy to be positive about an outcome when it has happened, but, I always felt that I would find another job! The fact that I left with a financial package meant that the need to find work immediately was not as great as it might have been, but even so, it was still very high up on the importance scale.

One of the interviews was for a new charity lead project called Reboot. The job was to work as a project worker on the Reboot scheme, which, because of the changes in law governing the way electrical and electronic equipment is ‘got rid of’, would offer companies, organisations and individuals an outlet to get rid of old computer equipment, and then upgrading it to meet the requirements of clients looking for cheap PC’s who would buy the kit for a nominal fee. The project would give young people with Aspergers Syndrome a place to learn new skills and obtain work experience. A fascinating project run by Red2Green. I had really good interview and felt that I stood a good chance of getting the job, the only area in which I was weak, was actual experience of working with people with Aspergers, but I felt that this was not in itself an insurmountable problem. Anyway during this interview I was asked had I heard of another project called Cambridgeshire Circuit Riders – which I had as that was where my second interview was that week! Anyway, the day after my interview I received a call to say that I had not got the job, but it was a very close run thing. I was also asked if I had spoken to the chap in charge of the Circuit Rider project, which I had, and explained that I had an interview there the next day or so.

Moving on to the second interview, it was, for a job as a Circuit Rider, (which is a person who gives of their skills, expertise and experience to Voluntary, Charity and Non Profit Making Organisations for the benefit of those concerns and the local community). Again the employer was a charity. I saw the advert in the paper and realised the closing date was the next day, so I phoned up and asked for an application form, went and collected it, filled it in and dropped it off the next day. I took the form in by hand. When I got to the offices where the charity was based, the reception was closed. A chap, who worked at one of the companies in the building, was showing someone out and asked me what or who I was there for and I explained I was there to return an application form. At this point I realised I knew this chap, although he did not recognise me. So when I pointed out that I knew him but he obviously did not remember me. So I jogged his memory, it was from my days as manager of the Wine Shop in Ely, he was working at the local hotel and they were a regular customer of ours. He then remembered me and was very interested in the fact I was now working in IT and had been for about 14 years. Anyway he said he would give me an interview. Which he did!

I had my interview at 9.30am on Thursday 30^th November, at 11:45 I received a call to say that the job was mine if I wanted it, and, was there any chance I could pop back down to the office straight away for a meeting with one of the projects I would be working on! Talk about an immediate start!

SO, that’s where I am now. It is early days, and I love every minute. Being based in Ely is a godsend. Although there is travelling involved not to have to travel to Cambridge every day is something I won’t miss.

Well that’s it. A rather long and depressing missive lacking in the Joys of The Season! Last year I spouted about the family website but I simply haven’t had time to do much with it, however, I now have a blog which I intend to use to keep you up to date with everything. You can sample my rantings at http://elkmanjeff.blogspot.com

The blog is called An Elk’s Eye View From The Fens. (Due to my current weight and girth, some where between huge and miniature blue whale, my children affectionately refer to me as Moose Man!)

All that remains is for us to wish you, dear reader, the merriest of Christmases and the Happiest, Healthiest and Most Prosperous of New Year’s

With all our love and Best Wishes

Paul, Lindsay, Sian & Daniel x x x x