Someone old - something new?

The more familiar I get with my new Toshiba laptop, the more I discover about what I've actually purchased. It is a very basic system (so perfectly suited to my computer ability and requirements) and has associated, base level, programmes as standard, I have to admit that they are not what I'm used to, but will suffice until such times as I can get my "lost" hard drives reinstated.

I didn't stop living, just because I'd lost the use of my lap-top!
Emily and I had a walk out on Deal Pier where she could feed the sea-gulls
Standing on the wooden benches, she threw the bread, I clicked away as three Mediterranean Gulls
came to enjoy the freebies.

That I enjoyed the period during which I was without the capability to blog - a direct consequence of my lack of computer skills ; and in no way a reflection upon any internet provider, computer company or individual techno bod. - would suggest that my dabblings with cyber activity are nothing more than a game? (Not a sport!)
I continue to look back at some of the crazy times of my past yet, it seems, there are new, unexplored, opportunities opening up for me? It's my 59th Birthday next Thursday - time flies - and Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems (FSIS) are taking me up to Manchester for a "jolly" - Oops! - Sorry, we are attending a "Manufacturing Champions" Award gig. I've already gained permission to take the camera gear - top management in action is my desire - seeing my supervisors pick up an award would be just about perfect. (It was, afterall, me that nominated them - bloody creep that I am!)
I am hoping to get a record the events and "the event", as it will be a completely new experience for me, and a post will appear some time next Friday (5th December) all being well. FSIS are up against some proper "Quality Street" opposition - Bentley, Land Rover/ Jaguar (I wonder if Jeremy Hicks is involved with "Strictly MK" 2014? - 13th December; Bury Farm Equestrian Centre, Slapton), Siemens and BAE Systems to name but a few. Whatever the outcome; I will have experienced something that I hadn't in the previous 58 years and 364 days and I'm really looking forward to it.

An 18.12 from Lynch Hill, Oxfordshire
Best of a five double haul, all on trout live baits!
14.04.1988

The wonderment of the initial "box of slides" rediscovery has been replaced by an appreciation of just how great that period, of my life, was and the fact that, as a group of mates, we caught an awful lot of very big fish. I think, that above all other factors, is our lack of desire to go carp fishing which makes this journey so different. The period, post Carp Fever (Kevin Maddocks), The Carp Strikes Back (Rod Hutchinson) and Casting at the Sun (Chris Yates), spawned a huge demand for carp and carp angling opportunities. That we steered clear of this and continued to fish for "less fashionable" species allowed us to experience a wide variety of venues without too much competition.

Dawn at Three Holes - deepest Fenland
It is impossible for me to look at this image without thinking of "Cuddles"
He loved this place

The Fenlands of the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border region provided us with some of the best Pike and Zander angling available, at that time. The Bedfordshire "brick pits" were home to some huge Bream and Rudd - so we gave them a try with very pleasing results. We had no tickets, but they had no bailiffs and no carp - so who gave a f*ck? We travelled far and wide in our quest for "big fish" - yet kept returning to Tring, just 11 miles up the A41 from Hemel Hempstead, a group of reservoirs where many dreams were realised.
I've spent hours looking at images of our combined successes - we had a blast! Between us we landed some huge fish, of various species, and despite the obsessional desire to catch these fish, we had a laugh - nothing was sacred, no-one too important that they couldn't be insulted! Great times - relived through the discovery of a forgotten box in an attic!

Three Holes - 23rd December 1984
A nice, yet modest, Pike of 10 lbs 12 oz  which fell to Sardine.
Captured using a Duncan Kay rod, an ABU Cardinal 66X reel and 8 lbs b.s. Maxima Line
Yet another demonstration of the benefits of detailed personal records!