Protected: Twelve days in France
March 14th, 2010 by katyMarch notes
March 12th, 2010 by katyMon 1st March – packing, L gym, making the most of J…
Tues 2nd March – Gina and co popped over to help celebrate L’s b’day, then we dropped Bob and J off at the station (left K, L, A here with BA), came back for lunch and went to violin – A’s second “lesson” and just as much enthusiasm 
Wed 3rd – rather subdued morning. Cello, baby music, K Cubs.
Thurs 4th – Tots sorting (last week in old venue for a while), Philosophy club (4 Cs – K and L did well )
Fri 5th – to Susan and K (Wii, garden, cookies, garlic!)
Sat 6th – Kentwell Open Day
Sun 7th – first phone call to J. All well. Hard not to chat for ages 
Church – moving on service, lunch, transferring toys
Mon 8th – L gym
Tues 9th – violin cancelled, but cello moved forward a day, K gym
Wed 10th – Latinetc science (looked at peas planted in different conditions, talked about making a pea plant maze. Put bacteria into petri dishes to grow, then added antibiotics to inhibit growth/kill) music, Latin, French… then K and SB grade 1 recorder, S, E, L, A with me to Baby Music. Cubs.
Thurs 11th – Tots in new venue (lots to think about!) but no multisport Impromptu Tots planning meeting.
Fri 12th – normals, Australia jigsaw, science – raisins in lemonade, moving a candle on a plate or under a glass to see what happens to flame, lemonade and Mentos (doesn’t work as well as Diet Coke), relative gravity on different planets (lots of counting of popping corn grains into cups, then we popped it afterwards 
). Professor Layton/Mathletics/Poisson rouge.
Sprinting through February
March 6th, 2010 by katyMonday 1st was younger HE sports, which K and L very much enjoyed, and which meant a double dose of activity for L as she had gymnastics in the afternoon as well. Bob was ill and at home, so J and M were able to stay at home and do quiet work. In the evening K had Beavers – one of his last sessions before moving up to Cubs.
Tues 2nd was violin for L, J and M, then gym for the boys in the afternoon.
Wed 3rd was quieter than usual, with no Latinetc and no cello, but there was Baby Music, during which Bob and the boys made gas mask boxes for Fri, and then K had his second Cubs taster session, which also happened to be our turn on the parent helper rota, so I stayed with the boys and helped them turn batteries into bugs with glowing noses Other experiments included static electricity and tissue paper snakes and rubbing a neon tube with plastic bags to make it glow… or shatter – only M could do that!
Thurs 4th – Tots and Nots and Philosophy Club. K went to play with the other K, coming back with delicious choc chip cookies 
Fri 5th – WWII Evacuation day with the Nene Valley railway. Dressed (more or less) appropriately and carrying lunch and a few belongings with us, labels on coats and background reading done, we were evacuated to Stibbington. It was very well done, I thought, with enough authentic touches to make it feel real if you wanted to make it so but also enough reassurances to keep everyone happy. We walked through the village, with billets pointed out as we went (each child had chosen an identity from a list of actual children evacuated to Stibbington, so they were able to see where they would actually have been staying), marched smartly past the grumpy colonel’s house and eventually got to the school, where the billeting officer/schoolteacher gave the children identity cards to fill in and a quiz to do based on posters and slogans – all about Doctor Carrot keeping children healthy, careless talk costing lives and so on. Then there was time to look at the Anderson shelter and play with some appropriate toys in the playground before lunch and a chance to spend their pocket money (£1 changed into two old pennies) on souvenirs from the shop before going into the schoolroom to write a postcard home (or draw – she was very good at differentiating and providing age appropriate work, especially given that she said this was the first time she had ever had a mixed age group), learn spellings (reciting and writing), do copy work (with a dip pen and ink) and maths and then drill in the playground. Somewhere in there we sang It’s a long way to Tiperrary and listened to an address from Princess Elizabeth on the radio. Oh and there was an air raid, which meant a loud siren telling us to go to the shelter (indoors – the Anderson shelter in the playground wouldn’t have been big enough!) where they did more maths, sang derogatory songs about Hitler and generally kept a stiff upper lip and carried on regardless except A, who screamed and had to be taken out to look at the pictures in the corridor, even if it did mean we might get bombed! All in all, it was a really good day, and brought everything to life very effectively for the children – and adults too, I think!
We followed it up rather nicely with a trip to see Bob’s parents, after Music school on Sat. Bob’s mum was old enough to remember bits of the war and they both remember rationing, which went on for long enough afterwards to have become a major part of their childhood. Gran-gran and K, with a little help from L, made a couple of things from the recipe book we had borrowed form the library, while Grandad, J and M put together a flying thing from a science kit he’d been saving to do with grandchildren
My plans for a tidying and sorting weekend having been thoroughly overthrown, we came back on Monday via a HE gathering. Paper weaving happened and possibly a little chess, building with Lego and stickle bricks, socialising and lots of running around and climbing on outdoor play equipment. It was a good way of letting off steam after a long journey Then L just about got to Gym and K to Beavers, where he was swimming up – I discovered too late that J and M were meant to be there too, to help with the swimming up ceremony – a weekend away, with delayed return, is not good when people try to make arrangements by email
So, Tues 9th and M’s last violin lesson. He wants to carry on, but I don’t know how likely that is once he’s back in France, especially given that he wants to keep up piano and recorder too. Last Gymnastics session too – the end of his stay seemed to be rushing up on us!
Wed 10th – Latinlite at Merry’s – yeast, sugar and warm water in jars with balloons on top to catch gas emitted, then we tested the gas French games on the landing for those not yet doing sewing, lots of play and chat… Cello and Baby Music as usual, then M’s last Cubs, marked with a card and some little gifts
Thurs 11th – Tots and then HE sport. Chris looked after girls for me while I went and spent far too much money on cake decorating supplies to put finishing touches to silly numbers of cakes – not that I ever bake when I should be doing housework 
Fri 12th – day at home (at last!) and a chance to rattle through a few chores, make lists of games to play at party, bake and/or decorate cakes, get party food made (as working on morning of party) ensure beds sorted out for guests staying over…
Sat 13th – half term so no music school, but I was working (and usual 10 – 2 opening became 9 – 2:30 thanks to NCT training) so lots of dashing round. Michelle and Chris helped save the day, going far beyond the line of god-parently duty by getting here mid-morning and doing lots of sandwich making and general party prep – thank you – and I got back just in time to help Bob get everything to the hall and set up. Completely manic party – lots of children, lots of games, lots of food, no idea what was going on but I think most people either enjoyed it or were able to hide from it – and the pink chocolate fountain was a hit! Cakes all made it there successfully too, thank goodness.
Rather more chilled evening, with tea, leftover cake and a house full of friends – lovely
Sun 14th – Babs and co took M to his usual church. I took our children to our old church. Bob took Chris to railway station. Had to pop out for more food, leaving Barbara with numerous children, and got back to find Goddards and Manorborns had arrived Joined by Beans (without Helen ) and some Kentwell friends. More food, chat, tea etc – very nice way to spend a day In the evening we had a visit from Father Valentine, knocking on doors and windows and leaving gifts – not quite as elaborate as in the past, but still fun.
Mon 15th – Sports day all day for older Rainedrops, M, J and K. Meanwhile I took R, L and A to soft play while Barbara went to a lecture with her sister, then we met up at soft play and went back to college with sister to eat in rather elegant hall. Back home to pack before collecting sporty ones, then Rainedrops went their way and we came home ours.
Tues 16th – dropped K, L and A off with Gina so J, M and I could go to radio studio to do Woman’s Hour recording. Jenni Murray was great – nice to actually have some sensible questions! Horrible talkback on headsets though – really hard to concentrate when you can hear yourself a second or two later. While that was being sorted the boys got the giggles, which probably helped to settle any nerves, anyway. Quick pick-up,which disappointed children a bit, but Gina had other things to do and we needed to start M’s packing and make sure all his clothes were washed and dried. Wednesday was a quiet day, filled with not much more than finding things, making piles, fitting them into suitcases – and a fair bit of playing games too I had hoped to get to Twilight at the Museums, but it would have been silly to squeeze more in, I think.
Thursday 18th was M’s last day here, which he spent with J and Bob in London. They met up with M’s mum at the station and went on from there – Bob’s story to tell, I think, as I was at Tots with K, L and A, mostly sorting toys and books ready for our move while the church is refurbished.
Friday 19th was a catch your breath day, I think, although we had intended to go and help Tadcu with clearing Grandad’s house, then Saturday was filled with baking and soup making ready for a ceilidh at church in the early evening. Sunday found the children dancing again, and also learning about how a violin works, at the second of the dancing sessions organised by Gina and friends. It was also an all age service at church, followed by a fair-trade lunch.
I think M going made the others realise how little time there was before J went. They seemed to close in together, sleeping in the same (fortunately large) bed and spending much of their time playing or reading together. HE work took a back seat as I felt they needed down time together, but at the same time we were trying to fit in visits to see people J wanted to say goodbye to before he went, or who asked to see him. On Monday we had again intended to see Tadcu, but bad weather intervened so it was put off until Friday, when we went to Auntie Norma and Uncle John’s on the way. Tues was violin, then gym for K but not J. Wed was Latinetc, with pea planting to see what conditions they like best, and lots of extra music for those taking exams soon. No Baby Music, so I took K and E to cello, which meant I could stay and watch the lesson for the first time, while Gina and Helen stayed here with all remaining children – which meant extra bonus time for play and chat before Cubs Thurs was Tots and then multisport and on Fri we managed to squeeze in a trip to the dentist for J – all fine but he has the same problem I had/have of having unusually deep grooves/holes in molars which means you have to be extra careful to clean food out; the first I knew about it was when I had a precautionary filling at 15, so I’m glad this dentist has at least warned us beforehand. Then we went to Grandad’s house, which was bittersweet. We came away with a box of books which were presented either to Grandad or to my great uncle Alf when they were about 10, which my dad and uncle read at about the same age and which my dad has now passed on to J to read because he’s the right age – or will be when he gets back from France I also have notebooks with all Grandad’s sermon notes, some children’s address props (but I’ll need to hunt through 70 years worth of sermon notes to find the talks to go with them!) and a great sheaf of papers which are my grandmother’s sermon notes, plus lots of their preaching books and resources. I need to set myself up a corner and do some proper work again soon, I think. The post-baby lull is finally wearing off. J talked all the way home, processing Grandad’s death and the circle of passing on memories and things. Not very easy to deal with at 70 mph on the A11.
Despite a late night we got the children to Music school on Sat. J had taken some En Famille International leaflets with him because he said he was tired of having to explain about it to everyone who asked. I don’t know how many he actually handed out though! L tried the violin ensemble this time, hoping it would be a fun way of getting a bit more violin into her week. It turned out to be rather prescriptive and distinctly lesson-like though, with a teacher who disapproves of “coloured strings” and likes things done her way. Poor L spent most of the time waiting to be told what to do, which eventually happened via an older student explaining things to her rather than the teacher actually giving any kind of instructions or explanations On Tuesday we spoke to Christina, our violin teacher, and she said she had already come across this particular teacher and sadly her advice was not only to not do the sessions but also to speak to the organisers and point out that this was not an ensemble and that it would be unhelpful to most of the children there. Back to recorder ensemble then, I think.
In the afternoon we went to our favourite toyshop where J managed to buy L’s birthday present (the cuddly seal she has been saving up to buy) without her noticing, then went on to choose a present for A (jointly with L and K) again without her suspecting Lots of browsing and playing later we had chosen a game or two for M’s family and some little bits and pieces for ours and it was time to come home.
Clearing the blog blockage
March 6th, 2010 by bobI hadn’t realised that my lack of CenterParcs post was stopping Katy’s creative flow, so here’s a very belated CenterParcs post. As a result it will be a bit of a jumble.
7 of us in the car was a bit of a squeeze, and we didn’t arrive early enough for the cheeky swim before you can check in. But we got there early enough to not be too stressed. We had paid a bit extra for the chalet, which I think was worth it – I can’t remember exactly what we got for our money, but I remember Katy and me saying it was good.
I think that Sherwood Forest is better than Thetford Forest CP, other than it’s further away and in an area we’re not familiar with. We were weren’t in as close as last time, but I didn’t feel our lack of bikes was a problem. The playgrounds were excellent – a splendid set of musical things to jump about on, a decent rope bridge (actually over a bit of a lake) and other good things for A to play on. Also there was something that looked like a skate ramp, but was actually an enormous see-saw (for e.g. 10 adults at each end). And there were a couple of weird multi-armed see-saw things – so that 3 people could sit on a telegraph pole each and try to bounce each other up and down (the poles were roped together in a fiendish way).
It was still very cold, and one morning when walking to the main bit we saw a rabbit hop across a small lake over the ice. I’m glad I stopped to enjoy the moment rather than try to get my camera out and take a photo and probably miss it. J and M found an archimedian screw thing in a big sandy bit (actually a beach by the side of a lake), and had to force it loose of the ice that was jamming it up.
Generally the swimming was great – easier than last year. We didn’t have to battle J to get him swimming, which made things much more pleasant. (He occasionally took quite a bit of persuading, but definitely not what I’d call a battle.) K and L were as happy as last time, and better at swimming than last year so less hard work. M was in his element – he hadn’t been to a place like that before, and really enjoyed all the chutes and flumes. A liked it a bit, and I hope that next time she’ll be generally a bit bigger and capable and so get more out of it.
I was glad that all the various families going had managed to book so that we were at least in clumps if not all together. We had a DVD night at ours one evening (with rather delicious panettone bought as a post-Christmas bargain), but didn’t join in the late night board games sessions as I’m such a lightweight.
It was a bit weird getting a couple of phone calls from Newsround about the exchange in the middle of the holiday. Once I was in the middle of helping A across the big rope bridge and asked if he could phone back later – I gave the reason as I thought he’d understand. Possibly one of the strangest “I can’t talk to you right now” reasons they’ve had.
At the end of swimming on the last day M managed to lose his trunks and a pair of goggles, J and K had earned one of those big foam sausage things each, and K had found a disk from the laser clay pigeon shooting.
As well as a lightweight I’m also an old fogey. The only place I could get wireless reception was at the bowling alley / bar in the main bit. We met up there first for a birthday celebration for Big, which was during the afternoon. I went back one evening and the music was SO LOUD. I couldn’t see why people were sitting there voluntarily, in the name of enjoyment, shouting conversations to each other. Some couples had their babies with them in buggies. My laptop’s battery is so feeble that I had to plug into the mains, and the only place I could find a socket was next to the info kiosk thing – I did feel a bit weird, the only person there tapping away on a computer rather than chatting and drinking, but we needed to keep in email contact with Katy’s dad.
We cut it short a bit (but not much – just the cheeky, after you’ve checked out swim), so that we could get to Norwich in time (taking a slight detour to deposit M with Gina and co). Despite a stressful stretch or two where we thought we wouldn’t make it, we got there OK. and Katy has already blogged about all that.
Catching up again
February 3rd, 2010 by katyand still leaving Centerparcs to Bob
We dashed straight from CP to south of home to drop M off for a sleepover with Gina and co, then across to Norwich for Grandad’s funeral. We got there in time to go to the house first, where Mamgu had masses of food waiting for us and we had the chance to chat with Tadcu and my sister Polly before going to the church. The service was lovely, with lots of people who knew and loved him taking part. The usual minister was away (not such a bad thing actually) and the service was led by the super, who had known Grandad well and spoke about his Methodist background and his preaching life. Tadcu talked about the rest of his life – he was upset later at how stilted he had been but it came across well to the rest of us and the pauses just showed how much it meant – my oldest cousin did a reading, the oldest great-grandchild did another, my uncle Ron spoke very movingly about how Grandad had been very welcoming when they were all young and had become increasingly like a father to him after his own father died, then read the most amazing poem that they had found in Grandad’s papers after he died. I’m welling up just thinking about it – must get a copy from Daddy. And then I had to stand up, after that, and do prayers. I didn’t think I’d manage it, but somehow I did, and we all sang, almost raising the roof of the chapel – Grandad would have been very proud of us all, I think. After that we went to the crematorium for the committal, then back to the church for refreshments. Auntie Jill asked if we would go back to hers for the evening and since M was happily at Gina’s we decided that would be a good way to round off the day, even though it meant a long drive and a late night.
On Saturday Bob dropped the children off at music school then went to pick up M and got him back in time for the last session – his favourite. A quiet day of unpacking and washing followed. Sunday was a normal quiet Sunday, with church and lots of rest, especially for me as I was exhausted, then Monday another quiet day, with L’s gymnastics as the first organised activity. We did a bit of catching up on music and normals, and M did French night at the other Cubs pack – answering questions about life in France, which apparently he bot enjoyed and did very well.
On Tuesday Bob went off to work and then came home an hour later because he felt so unwell. He slept most of that day, while the children and I went on a HE group trip to P cathedral, looking out for Tudor things – it’s a good place for that! We went straight from there to violin, with lunch in the car, then back home with enough time for K to get changed into gym clothes. J decided he didn’t feel up to gym so only M had to do the quick shuffle at 5:25. On Wednesday Bob was still sleeping upstairs, while we Latinetced downstairs – fish dissection, which was actually nowhere near as difficult or unpleasant as I had feared I think it’s easiest to just send you here for more! Since the children were deeply involved in some fantastic game with the new market stall Helen and Michelle stayed for another cup of tea while I took K to cello and A to baby music, meaning I could leave J, M and L here without feeling bad about Bob Cubs was French night again (different pack) and also K’s first trial session.
Thursday was Tots, again leaving Bob asleep. Lots of piano, and the usual French while M was busy After Tots was Multisports for M (J opted out) while the rest of us went to Gina’s and played with S (and E and J, who had also opted out of sport) while she taught. Came home and dashed round getting Tudor stuff ready for HE group on Friday, then got hopelessly lost on the way and nearly didn’t make it at all. We were there in time to talk about Tudor life and Kentwell, share pottage and frumenty and show accoutrements and costume, but we missed all the other talks so as an HE experience for mine it was a bit of a waste – although I guess it gave M a reminder of what we had done at the beginning of his stay with us. Dashed home for a busy afternoon.
Saturday was music school and sling shop, as usual. Bob came with me and slept on the settee at the shop until it was time to collect children. As it was K’s birthday we had made vast amounts of cake for him to take in and share, which apparently went down well They came back to shop and had lunch then when they got too bouncy Bob dragged himself off the settee again and took them to the park while I finished up.
On Sunday M joined us at our local church, because we had been invited to lunch after the service – third attempt and the first one we’d been able to make, but we then realised that K needed to be elsewhere for a birthday concert and meal with a music school friend partway through so had to change plans a bit. Bob decided that driving one child would be easier than staying with the other four, so he and K had first course and then slipped quietly out. The idea behind the lunch was for newcomers to meet a few more people. It was slightly spoiled by the fact that our family took up most of a table by ourselves and nobody seemed to want to sit in the spare seats It worked out nicely in the end though, as first one of the cooks and then the minister took pity on us, so even though we didn’t get to meet anybody new we did get to have pleasant chats with nice people Bob got back in time to save us a walk home – and to collect a bowl of trifle to bring back with him – and I did the collecting K run and so got to meet his friend and friend’s parents.
Still catching up
January 23rd, 2010 by katy(and hoping Bob will blog Centerparcs so I can tick that week off my list )
I was working on 2nd January, the first day of new hours at the shop so we were open 10 – 2. Lots of inquiries and phone calls and more sales than I’d expected, but still a fairly quiet day. Sarah popped in for a chat, which was lovely (and brought me some home-made lemon curd, which was delicious) and Bob and the children came along too (no music school) and did a few bits of work but didn’t make the planned trip to the park as the weather was not good. In the evening we went to the pantomime – Aladdin – amateur but fun
On Sunday M went off to church with the usual friends, but the rest of us stayed at home, as we were expecting a visit from old friends. Had a lovely time with them, chatting and playing, but not nearly for long enough…
Monday was a rescue day for Sarah; she came with her two little boys and we played with them while she got on with an essay L’s gymnastics had already started up so that kept her busy for some of the afternoon, while the boys watched various Christmas lectures. Over the course of the holiday season we’ve worked our way through this year’s and also a couple of sets we have on DVD – number mysteries and food. It was also the day I found out that Grandad was very ill and made plans to rush over and see him on the Tuesday.
Tuesday 5th was officially the first day of term, but violin hadn’t yet started so we had a day at home until it was time for the boys to go to gymnastics. I should have been going to see Grandad, but he died sometime on Monday night, so it was a bit of an odd day really, with all of us trying to carry on as normal but feeling sad, and me feeling terribly guilty
Wednesday was a snow day – neither Latinetc nor a proposed trip to London happened, but we did make it to K’s cello and A’s baby music
We expected a quiet Tots on Thursday, but actually lots of families turned up, so it was a busy session, which was nice after the quiet of the holidays. Friday should have been a recorders session at Gina’s, but we decided we (I!) didn’t have the energy to face the snow and stayed at home instead, doing a few more normals and a bit more sitting down type work. A nature walk happened some time this week, too, with resulting watercolour sketches and paintings
Saturday 9th was the first Music School of the new term, while I was doing a sling morning. Bob and the children came and picked me up and we walked to the park together then went and had a look in a lovely toy shop owned by a family we know through HE. The children spent their first pocket money of the year and L spotted a toy she wants to save up for, which led to some good discussions about putting money aside each week and how long it would take to get to the desired sum
10th – 15th was the usual round of Gymnastics, Beavers, Cubs, violin (but no cello), Baby Music and Tots, with added Latinetc (microbiology – putting samples onto agar plates to see what would grow; my airing cupboard now has some very unsavoury looking brown/beige/yellow splodges fortunately well taped into closed containers) and CHEF sports. Oh and the extra excitement of a reporter at Tots and sports, getting some idea of a day in the life of the other K.
16th should have been shop for me and music school for children, but everything changed for various reasons, so we ended up losing a day and having to pack for CP in a bit of a hurry. Sunday was spent very happily between church and dancing – a new dancing club for children interested in Molly/ceilidh and so on.
Protected: Star, part 2
January 17th, 2010 by bobProtected: Star, part 1
January 17th, 2010 by bobGrowing up with Big Brother
January 8th, 2010 by bobI saw an excellent programme on TV last night: The History of Now. It’s a series about 2000-2009, and it helped me to put my finger on things that had been vaguely lurking in my head.
One of the things it mentioned was Mosaic – the postcode-based classifcation of people so that shops and, more recently, politicans can target particular things to particular people. It divides society up into 16 or so categories, and then says what category is most common in each postcode.
It made me think of a book I’m reading for work: Competing on Analytics. It has all kinds of interesting and scary things about how companies are storing information about customers and their behaviour, and then using this behaviour to make more money. Things like store loyalty cards, online accounts, using search engines and so on.
Apparently the industry average rate for people actually using money-off coupons is about 2%. Tesco can use its vast knowledge of its customers to tailor its coupons so that they are more relevant, and so get 20-50%. (So people buy e.g. cat food in Tesco rather than anywhere else.) It issues about 7 million targetted variations of product coupons a year, and has given away Clubcard points worth about £1 billion pounds. (Don’t feel sorry for Tesco, the points keep you with them rather than going elsewhere.)
It’s taken a while for me to realise what makes the weird feeling in all this, and I think it’s two main things (there might be more, but these are it for now). The first is that Tesco etc. know so much about me from a distance i.e. without properly knowing me. In the past, in the days before people left such a rich digital trail in their wake, to do this sort of thing you’d need to go through the rubbish in someone’s bins, tap their phones, intercept their post etc. In short, you’d be spying on them. We (at least, people my age or older) haven’t adjusted our social expectations to move this kind of knowledge gathering into the Acceptable category.
The second thing that’s behind the weird feeling is the imbalance in the relationship. You know so much about me, but I know so little about you. In fact, I don’t even know which “you” I’m dealing with much of the time – I see the shop workers, but the marketing departments, IT operations departments and other backroom boys and girls who shepherd all this data are people I will never meet. Just as a thought experiment, I imagined what it would be like if when I hand over my clubcard in Tesco (and give them yet more data) I got a little book with details of all the Tesco staff who will touch my data – their names, addresses, a photo maybe, what they typically buy in Tesco etc. ‘Cos that’s what I’m giving them.
While this rant has built up a head of steam, I’ll grumble about a particularly unpleasant version of all this. On Facebook there are occasionally adverts that say “Aged X-Y?” where X and Y just happen to bracket my age, or even “Are you a man aged X?” where X is exactly my age. I’m fairly sure that Facebook gives its advertisers that information about me i.e. the advertisers know exactly my age and sex, so they could just as easily say “Seeing as you’re a man aged X…” Putting it as a question makes it look like they just happen to have an offer on at the moment that just happens to suit me (according to them) and so I would be foolish to let such a brilliant offer pass me by. At least Tesco are honest about their omniscience (although they don’t go out of their way to help people realise quite how much data they have). While I’m in the area, there’s an interesting blog about someone trying to get Tesco to show him what they hold about him.
Of course, in some ways, there’s a choice in all this. We choose to exchange this information in return for convenience and, possibly, lower prices. Although the choice is more and more being made for us. In order to leave no digital trail you’d have to work really quite hard – as films like Terminator 3 and The Bourne Identity (and many others) show.
What provoked a wry smile is the following passage of the Competing on Analytics book. Bear in mind it was written in 2007:
Of course, any quantitative analysis relies upon a series of assumptions. When the conditions behind the assumptions no longer apply, the analyses should no longer be employed. For example, Capital One [an example in the book of a company succeeding through analytics] and other credit card companies make analytical predictions about customers’ willingness to repay their balances under conditions of general economic prosperity. If the economy took a sharp downturn, the predictions would no longer apply, and it would be dangerous to continue using them.
Christmas!
January 7th, 2010 by katyM went to the children’s midnight mass (at 5pm) with our Catholic friends, who then brought him back here for us and stayed for cups of tea and nibbles, with Carols from King’s playing in the background 
Oh and we quickly ran up some stockings from fleece in the fabric stash, having discovered that we only had one of the ones we made a few years ago left – we left that one for Big Alice and made new ones, each one different, for all the children, which they then proudly put in their rooms
Mince pie, card, drink of milk and small packet of sweets were left for Father Christmas, and a bowl of salad and carrot for the reindeer and we had a quick look at Norad tracking Santa to see where he was up to, then children went to bed, and eventually to sleep…
Christmas Day began slightly too early, given that Christmas Eve had ended a little too late (J couldn’t get to sleep) so children were told to unpack their stockings whenever they liked, do what they liked with the contents but not try to show us until rather later Leisurely breakfast, whilst admiring stocking contents and then looking at presents from us to children (mostly clothes, thanks to the SusuMama sale, and some white baseball boots to decorate) which were then donned ready to be shown off at church. It was a nice service, then we came back, ate mince pies and opened one more present before getting Christmas dinner going. M had chicken (deliberately left over from Christmas Eve meal with outlaws) and we had a Quorn roast, plus all the usual Christmas trimmings (except bread sauce – what is the point of it? Bleurgh!). We even watched the Queen’s Speech while we served up – how traditional can you get? Everyone was too full for pudding then, so we watched a film and opened more presents, then flamed and ate the pudding for supper. Various relatives were spoken to at various points in the day – M’s parents phoned in the morning, we phoned inlaws to sing “We wish you a merry Christmas” and to say thank you for presents and so on and apart from that it was just us and all was quiet and family and rather nice actually 
Boxing Day is usually when we see Auntie Norma and Uncle John, but this year they were celebrating their Ruby wedding anniversary on the 27th. We had thought of going to see Grandad, but my Dad said he had been unwell on Christmas Eve and was waiting for antibiotics to take effect, which meant he was confused and would possibly not even know we were there, so with that and a warning of very bad roads near to his nursing home we decided that 26th was better spent quietly at home, with presents and films to enjoy and not-quite-enough leftovers to eat (A had eaten all the roasties so I had to cook more potatoes to make bubble and squeak!) then on the Sunday the boys had their first morning of Holiday Orchestra. M was to have a sleepover with Gina and co, so that he could do the first New to Gamelan session rather than meet a bewildering number of random relatives at my aunt and uncle’s, so we dropped them all off at 9:30 for their first session then picked J and K up at 12 (missing choir) but left M there. Despite bad weather we made it in time to pop into the house before going to the church for the blessing service they had arranged to have, at which both J and I were to read. J coped well with a long reading (Matt. 2:1-12) and the children all sat nicely through a service which tbh had little for them until we got to the end and the blessing itself. K and L took the collection and their second cousin (I think!) J did a blessing at the end so family were well represented. My little sister Polly was expected but not there, which had us slightly worried until she appeared a few minutes into the post-service party, having had a nightmare journey (from Wales to Norfolk) including a puncture. It was so nice to see her again
Since the boys had HO again the next morning we could not stay too late, but had to make our way back through snow and ice. Gina assured me that M was having a good time (and a late night) so all was well Having taken the whole week off, Bob did the Monday morning HO run, so that I could sleep in (ha! A had other ideas!) then the girls and I picked them up, so that we could go for a play/chat date with Morag and family, since R and R had also been HO-ing. I was so tired I wasn’t sure I could face driving across town through bank holiday sales traffic, but it was such a pleasant afternoon that it was well worth it in the end, for lovely soup, great company and a chance to set the world to rights – or nearly, at least
On Tuesday and Wednesday Bob did both HO runs, in his small car, and on Wednesday L, A and I went to Michelle’s for an extra small Latinetc which turned out to be mostly Music Theory, with a little French, no Latin but lots of chat and playing. We were late getting there, which was probably not a bad thing as it meant E and C were already playing well together and L just joined them, rather than E and L arriving at the same time and trying to fit C into a game. We stayed a little longer than Gina, so L and C played together too – it all worked out nicely really (and thank you for having us, Michelle, and Gina for doing so much Music stuff). Meanwhile Bob had three different Gamelan performances to go to, as the boys were each in different sessions, and then a quick dash home for rest and food before the evening concert – pics and videos on flickr.
Thursday, New Year’s Eve, was a flurry of hoovering and tidying, especially children’s rooms as we had two families to fit in overnight and another just for the evenings. The Rainedrops arrived at about 3:15, within 15 minutes of predicted time – very impressive – and were soon followed by Em and co. then Goddards at 6 o’clock (which sounds oddly like a film title!). We did potatoes and pizzas and similarly easy food so that people could eat as and when they wanted to, along with cheese and biscuits and similar goodies, including a huge box of baklava Barbara had found at Costco (I must get to a Costco some time!). LED balloons, glow-sticks, sparklers and indoor (cake) fireworks kept the children busy whenever they weren’t DS-ing, while the adults relaxed and enjoyed the peace! We tucked our children up at about 10, being mean parents who could see they were over-tired already, but all the others stayed up until the countdown and then watched the fireworks on the TV at midnight (in black and white, to the astonishment of some of our younger visitors 
) before departing either for home or for beds. Oh, and I had a couple of unexpected birthday presents – some yummy fudge from Nic and a fleecy throw from Barbara (which she promptly annexed to snuggle under on the settee!) – thank you both I think the last adults drifted to bed at about 3… and the first surfaced at about 8 (and that would be me, both times – whoops!) to put out massive quantities of brioche and pastries (good old Costco, did I say I really want to go there some time?) and fruit salad for breakfast.