Away day

Feeling a little tender following BUBB's away day yesterday in Oxford, naturally. Team building activities, SWOT analyses, brainstorming (mindBoggling)...they may be what most organistions do but I find that all a bit boring. So it was straight down the pub to get mangled.

We did spend a few minutes discussing customer service and jotting some ideas down to justify the expense of the day. Hector was advocating some pretty esoteric ideas around getting back to our core values (purlease) of supporting the development needs of members rather than getting involved in every pie in the sky policy idea going just cos (future Labour party leader) James Purnell is leading the charge. But we concluded that what members really want is being individually named in my blog and described as brilliant, dynamic, exotic, charming etc.

After that we managed a bit of rowing. Fab and Geof had a row about which Oxford college was the prettiest and I had a row with Hector over him trying to pinch my brolly.

Then we went to the municipal boating lake for a go on the pedalos. I sat this out because despite my boating pedigree from my Oxford days (someone once said I was a complete cox. At least, I think etc etc etc you know the drill now), I am now a bit too tubby to be trusted in a creaky plastic tub.

On a different note there has been a lot of coverage celebrating the 40th anniversary of the moon landings. Now I am not saying these were faked but do you really think that experienced astronauts would travel all of that way, into the unknown, without a sturdy umbrella? And yet, there is no evidence of a gamp in the pics of all the crap they left behind in an orgy of celestial flytipping. And no Clangers either.

The other big news is that I am in trouble with the RSPCA who are threatening to take Barkles away. Barkles was drinking red wine at the village show in Blacbury over the weekend and someone has reported me. Not because I let my dog drink, but for the fact that it was a pretty ropey Bulgarian merlot and not a vintage claret. The RSPCA take these types of complaints very seriously but hopefully will let me off just this once.