I was delighted this year to be invited to 2 works “do’s” for Christmas. In the picture above are Chris and Mell, and a local darts aficionado, Keith (who like me, is from Manchester).
The Unitron party was in Lymm. I arrived in Warrington, did some work in the morning, then walked along the Trans Pennine way to Lymm.
It didn’t work out well, and I ended up getting lost. Never mind, I ended up walking under the magnificent Thelwall Viaduct.
I got to the superb MacDonald Hotel in Lymm, changed out of my walking clothes and got ready for the evening. I asked the receptionist if I looked okay (I don’t go out that often, and I’d made quite an effort).
She said I looked fine, and was surprised how I had carried all my clothes in such a small Rucksack. I explained that I wear Rohan … (I managed to keep the explanation under an hour).
Things were due to get going around 7:30pm, but I was in the pub for 5pm.
I met some of the locals and the landlord. As pubs go, I was really impressed with the Crown. It had just the right balance between friendliness and efficiency, without being poncy.
In the foreground, is one of my colleagues and friends, Tracey. Behind her, is Jean’s husband, who’s name I can’t quite remember, but I remember that I liked him quite a lot.
Above on the TV, is the ubiquitous Guitar Hero, which we played for a while (and thankfully, being head of IT, nobody asked me to fix or anything).
Later, we moved onto Darts. Gareth (who is a cracking lad, but mithers quite a lot) won at Darts. Obviously not understanding the finer points of office politics, Gareth asked me to put up this picture, to prove that he beat his boss at darts. I’m sure this will help his career immensely.
After a brief viewing of X Factor (during which, I said I would rather listen to the sound of my own bowels than this kind of rubbish), that musical weapon of festivities, the Kareoki machine was deployed. The girls sang a few of the old “favourites” before Gareth got hold of the microphone (and nobody could get it off him).
Finally, I opened my Secret Santa, and received this Jamie Oliver which, which was exactly what I had wanted (a few well placed comments had worked a treat). I found out that Nicola had bought it yet she was out of the office most of the time. Some intelligence gathering must have taken place.
We have some Yeager Bombs or whatever, then back to the hotel as I a discussion about whether the cloud really can bring the business uses of the Ipad to life.
I’d like to thank Chris, the Managing director of Unitron for inviting me and all of my friends (including Pam’s boyfriend, Gareth’s girlfriend and Jean’s partner) for a really smart evening.
I retire to bed and watch Fringe on my laptop.
On the way back, I finally crack the Trans Pennine route. Early in the morning, 6 miles, superb.
Back at the office, I do a few more hours work, before heading out for some more walking.
A fun weekend. Work, Walking and Parties. As it should be.