Life of Wiley

I’m just in from a really good rehearsal with the brass ensemble I play 2nd trumpet for and it has been excellent. It’s been a while since I’ve played with the group what with holidays and other commitments getting in the way, but it was definitely worth getting back into the swing of it.

I’ve been a bit disillusioned with Watford Band lately. I think this is mainly to do with my role as chairman of the band. For me the fun has definitely been taken away from the playing as I have to concentrate on trying to ensure that the band has somewhere to play in the future and that we meet all our obligations for the Charity Commission and for the protection of children and so on. These are all very serious matters that any band must consider but it is detracting from the music and this is what I joined the band for, the love of brass band music.

We’ve just released our first CD, it’s not up to Black Dyke standard but it’s our CD and we had a lot of fun making it, this is what I want out of banding, not to be lampooned at the AGM or to feel that I can’t be trusted with direction I’m trying to steer the band in (commercially rather than musically)

I suppose because there are only a few of us with the brass ensemble it’s much easier to manage. There’s no real pressure to raise funds or do loads of concerts, and there’s certainly none of the tripe around contests; all of which have to be considered with a brass band like Watford Band.

I’m finding it very difficult to fit home practise in at the moment and when you’ve been away, even for just a week, it really does show and this just adds to the unhappiness in playing that I’m getting at Watford at the moment.

I think it may be time to rethink my position of chairman of the band. Certainly the newly elected committee have a wealth of experience and ideas now to move the band on and this may free my responsibilities so that I can get back into what I joined the band for in the first place, love of music and of playing. Problem is, I really need to try and get a replacement in place before resigning the position. Whilst there are a few members who are more qualified than I to take on the role, they already have positions on the committee for which they are ideally suited to. It’s a difficult situation without anyone to talk to at the band to resolve it. Perhaps I may seek some solace with my good friends over on the Mouthpiece.

Yay, I finally got my car back yesterday after weeks of it being sat around in a body shop waiting for the insurance company to authorise the work to repair it.

I even had the roof down this lunchtime on my drive to the office; hands were a bit cold when I arrived, but what’s the point of having a convertible if you’re not going to have the roof down when the weather permits it. I think I’ll have to fetch the gloves out though:)

As a result of my accident I am having to claim against my own insurance as it is becoming apparent that the 3rd party was uninsured:(

What is really galling is that my insurance company took well over 2 weeks to authorise the repair to the car (I was expecting to pick it up upon returning from Portugal only to learn that the work hadn’t even started!) and that the police are telling me that the Met aren’t interested in pursuing whether or not the address that’s been got for the 3rd party actually still live there. This latter point comes just as the Government are supposed to be “cracking down” on uninsured drivers. I feel a letter to my MP coming on.

At the end of the day I am going to be footing the bill for an accident that wasn’t my fault and will be paying for it via increased premiums for the next 3 or 4 years.

The pink villa in Vilamoura proved to be just the job. The pool was a bit cool but that didn’t stop Euan getting us in after breakfast each day!

The one thing about Vilamoura is that it is squeaky clean compared with other Algarvian towns. This is to do with the fact that it is a completely purpose built resort full of holiday villas, apartments and hotels. The good thing about going so late in the year, despite it being half term, is that it is fairly quiet but the weather is still warm. I’m not sure I’d enjoy the crowds during high summer.

Some photos are on the photogallery but they’ve not been sorted out yet.

I’m getting an awful lot of comment spam, despite each spam having to be moderated. It makes moderation a pain. I’ll have to look into some sort of plugin to simply delete the spam rather than having to moderate it out.