Financial & Travel Musings

Between one thing and another we’ve not managed a proper holiday this year and could really do with one.

Since the kids are at school now we need to fit our holidays around the school breaks so as we’re in the midst of the Halloween break right now we thought we’d have a go at getting away for a few days before they’ve to go back. Ideally we’d have planned it all out of course but the September to October period has been particularly hectic for us so we only really had a chance to start thinking about it when the holiday actually started.

That means short break of course. Probably a few days. And, naturally, one that doesn’t involve a whole lot of travel.

Our thinking at the moment is the Republic of Ireland though we’re drawn towards Scotland too. Where-ever it turns out to be, it’ll need to be shorted sharpish.

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This year seems to be pulling away from us!

The first term at the new school has disappeared very quickly with a surprising amount packed into a very short time. Not so long ago I was wondering whether I’d be able to answer any questions on the astronomy exam and now it’s all over. Planning of the spooktacular at the school went in really quickly and they’d a very impressive set-up for the kids which had them thoroughly worn out by the end of it.

We’re not quite done with Halloweeen yet of course and all being well we’ll be off to somewhere nice for that weekend though we’ve not gotten as far as actually booking anywhere just yet.

Next up is Christmas for which we are definitely hoping to try and get recycled Christmas cards this year and to get them off in reasonable time too if we can manage it. Two years ago we ended up not getting anything away ’til after Christmas so last year was quite an improvement in getting the cards away the week before Christmas. This year we’re shooting for sometime in November but have the additional problem that we need to recheck a number of the addresses from last year and we’ve moved ourselves so no doubt a fair number of cards will go astray.

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The sheer scope of the text book for my archaeology course is unbelievable.

It starts from 6 million years ago and runs right through to the 19th century. Not in massive detail to be sure and even when it really gets underway (around 12,000 years ago) it skims over vast tracts of human history. Darned impressive nonetheless and absolutely packed with information on just about every corner of the world.

Supposedly during the course I’ll have gotten through about half of the 784 pages. That works out at something like 30 pages a week which sounds fairly manageable though it’s pretty hard going at the moment with so much new terminology. Some of that terminology is starting to sink in though and I now know what palaeolithic and neolithic mean which seems like a good start.

I’ve just completed the reading for the first week of the course which was quite a slog. That’s not because of the archaeology but rather because there’s a small mountain of reading about the course itself in the first week. At least in the second week it gets into the topic of the course itself, with a first look at the beginnings of agriculture around the world.

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