h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

2011 came and went for me without much incident. It's not to say 2011 flew by: it didn't. It was a curiously slow year by any standards. The year did not bring too many surprises, and not a small amount of pleasurable moments.

I spent a lot of my free time involved with my newly formed skeptic's club: arranging speakers and coming up with a wide range of introductory presentations. The club has been quite successful, I think, with subjects ranging from ghosts and moving statues to childhood developmental disorders to nuclear power. I have a small number of speakers lined up for 2012, but I badly need to get my act together here. It's been huge fun, made better by the different people I have met throughout the year. Many of the talks are online now. I'm hoping to start expanding our area of interest to more science news next year, as a lot of the focus of the club last year was concentrated on various different type of delusions and charletanism.

I was also very heavily involved in Toastmasters this year. I was the main organiser for my local club, and I was heavily involved in setting up a club at my workplace. I am currently the president of both clubs. It's been a lot of fun. During the year we had competitions, joint meetings and a charity speak-a-thon, so I was kept busy. My terms end in June of this year, so I imagine I will be kept busy until then.

Closer to home, my eldest son finally eclipsed me in height. He's in his final year of primary school and a good bit of energy went into figuring out where he would go for secondary school. It was quite an odyssey. He and his brothers are turning into quite good hockey players. They also picked up a few medals at athletics events throughout the year. My younger two have also acquired a taste for hillwalking.

My girlfriend had a third operation which turned into a nightmare for her. In the course of the op, an incision was made into her intestine, necessitating emergency surgery and the immediate cessation of the intended procedure. It took a long time for her to recover from it, but fortunately no further operations were required.

In the course of the year, I travelled to Germany twice. The first trip involved a visit to Stuttgart's Wilhelma Zoo, and during the second trip we visited the Bodensee and Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain. The second trip also involved a long car journey between Ireland and Germany, where I nearly drove into a motorway crash barrier, we got completely lost in Brussels and we suffered breakdown in a forest in the middle of nowhere.

We also visited Brow Head (Ireland's most southerly point on the mainland, Spike Island (a prison in Cork Harbour), the Saltee Islands (a noted Irish bird sanctuary) and the Waterford Tall Ships Race. One trip in August involved the inspection of a beached sperm whale in Dungarvan. Other than this, it wasn't a great year for hillwalking.

We also took up cycling, travelling to a few local beauty spots such as the Old Head of Kinsale and Clonakilty. Hopefully we will explore a few more places around Ireland when the weather improves.

So, now onto 2012. As usual I am uncertain as to what this year will bring. I face a good few challenges that I've been putting off for years now, and they're not going away until I deal with them properly. I have an enjoyable trip planned to London in two weeks with my youngest boys (they've never been on a plane before), and I have a few skeptics meetings planned (not half enough), but otherwise it's an open book.

Here's wishing everyone a promising and fulfilling new year.

That's quite a year. All the best for 2012 to you and yours

Thanks GB - wishing you the best for 2012 also.

You poked me to provide my year in review

Hi Woodpigeon, you sound as if you have had a hectic year. It is good to hear about your sons, it doesn't seem five minutes since they were little and your younger ones were born.

Since losing PHM I have (deliberately) had a very busy year with renovating my house and seeing more of my family who become more precious by the day. I still have more to do so 2012 looks to be busy too, but we never know what is round the corner so I am taking one day at a time.

Have a happy and prosperous New Year,



Websailor

Many thanks Websailor! How quickly they grow up. It's good that you have been keeping busy and I wish you all the best with your further renovations in the year to come. A very happy and peaceful New Year to you also.

W

Thank you too Woodpigeon.

Websailor