Christmas Newsletter 2005

Hello and welcome to my third on-line newsletter. Well, it has been quite some year. I have:

1. Acquired (legally) a black labrador called Rosie.

2. Been to Iceland.

3. Got a new job.

4. Moved house.

Let's start with the dog. I have longed to own a black labrador for many years, probably due to the number of World War II RAF films I watch. As our cat of thirteen years died at the beginning of the year, the possibility began to open up. Finally Kate agreed that I could have one (NB: feminine subterfuge, see item 4), so we went out and bought a basket, lead, collar and all the accoutrements, sadly no Canis familiaris at that stage. A few weeks later we saw a picture from a nearby animal sanctuary in the local paper with the caption "Rosie: good with children". We phoned but someone had already offered to take her - or so we thought. A week later, we were delighted when we phoned again and were told that no-one had picked her up and she was ours for a small donation. And the rest is history. Rosie is about one year old and is indeed very good with children. Wasn't so good at first on the house training front or chasing Harriet's pet rabbit around the house, but slowly she has improved. We have had the joy of training classes in village halls and lots of country walks. She has a particular penchant for rolling around in sheep droppings, which is very good for her as there are lots of sheep in the neighbourhood.

Following our holiday on the slopes of Mount Etna last year, we continued our geothermal theme this year by visiting Iceland. We stayed in Reykjavík for four days and did all the 'touristy' things - visiting the spectacular Gullfoss waterfall and the famous Geyser fields, going on a bilious whale watching trip on a catamaran and swimming in a geothermal pool. You can see some of our photos here.

So on to my new job. Like most pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer announced it was undertaking a review of its business, called "Adapting to Scale", following its major acquisitions of Warner-Lambert in 1999 and Pharmacia in 2003. Organisational announcements commenced in July and fortunately I still had a job, albeit much reduced in scope compared to before. There were a number of new roles created at the same time and I was successful in securing a Senior Director position leading the Research Portfolio Management Group in the UK, so leaving behind my Analytical R & D role in October and starting a new chapter in my career.

Finally, a new house. We had been negotiating for eighteen months to buy an old barn behind our house from one of our neighbours, however we finally lost patience following much prevarication over a small piece of land required for access and placed our house on the market in May. This was quite a nervous time as you might imagine, with uncertainty at work as well as its potential impact on the local housing market. We finally moved to our new house on 18 November - I say 'we', actually it was Kate, as I attended the Royal Society of Chemistry General Assembly in Birmingham that day. We have moved from Ash to ... erm ... Ash. Our new residence is a detached Victorian house overlooking farmland, with more space and a bigger garden for the dog (NB: feminine subterfuge, see item 1). It will take some getting used to, having been a short walk from our old house to the Post Office, shops, recreation ground and school. We have a septic tank, no mains gas (delivered instead by tanker) and even Broadband is slower (further from the telephone exchange, apparently). I will miss Vine House but already I can see the potential of our new home.

So what else? I did the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton bike ride again this year as part of the Pfizer team and raised about £150. It was the hottest day of the year but the views from the top of Ditchling Beacon, the highest point in Sussex, made it truly memorable (see photos below). Unfortunately, someone cut me up about 15 miles from the end and I somersaulted my handle bars at about 20 mph, the bike landing on top of me. Miraculously, although shaken, grazed and bruised, neither me nor the bike were broken and I was able to make it to the end for our traditional barbeque on the beach (a little too close to the naturist area to be eating hot dogs). I still find the applause of the crowd at the finish for every rider extremely moving and motivating. I have cycled 2278 miles in total up to 1 December this year, so I should beat last year's total of 2286 miles easily, even though our new house is closer to work.

As in previous years, Kate has placed a gagging order on any news from her. She passed the second year of her degree but has taken a year off to concentrate on moving house. Maxwell and Harriet continue to progress at school, Maxwell being in his final year before moving up to secondary school. He has passed his Grade 3 trumpet exam this year, whilst Harriet has passed her Grade 1 violin.

Rosie, le chien noir		View from Ditchling Beacon, L2B bike ride, 19 June 2005
View from Ditchling Beacon, L2B bike ride, 19 June 2005		Home sweet home

So it just remains for me to wish you a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Next year represents a significant year for me, having been born in 1966. And no, it is not that England will win the football world cup in Germany. I have not decided yet how to celebrate, though I am contemplating walking or cycling the Thames path.

Stephen

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Last edited 05/12/2005 17:53