Its been a huge break from blogging for me, but I’m back from the isle of Jersey and in front of the computer again. Not that I’ve been looking forward to this day by any means, in fact my stay in Jersey was very pleasant and I would have liked to stay for longer. There is lots to do and explore and for me this was made many times better because I got to meet lots of Michelle’s friends into the bargain and stay with her family.

Before I launch into “the best bits of the trip” I’ll share my photos. I’ve added a whole gallery of pictures from Jersey, mainly landscapes and similar, but there are a fair few from the Battle of Flowers parade and select few shots of people, I’ve already had one comment about me in the hat and I feel sure I will get many more, lol

Well then, the best bits were many, in fact I enjoyed everything, but while many of the days involved lots of chatting with Michelle’s friends, wandering around areas of town and drinking coffee there were a couple of really cool places I went to and things I did that are worth a little mention.

First off though lets not move away from the subject of coffee. While I’ve had better coffee in various places, no place to drink it can better Curiosity in St. Helier, Jersey. Good music on the hi-fi, service with a smile, comfortable chairs and sofas for all and a nice selection of artistic photographs from around Jersey on the walls make it a really nice place to go. While I don’t think anything would better Barissimo’s in St. Albans Hertfordshire, I think Curiosity is the closest any coffee shop has come. They had coulouring in for the young (at heart) too.

One of the most enjoyable things I did in St. Helier apart from drinking coffee had to be exploring the Marina(s). I had a good modge around the various boats and took a few photos. Michelle’s Dad kindly gave me the entrance code too so I got to get a really good look at some of the boats I dream of owning as well as prompting some funny looks from various people, but never mind. I walked to the end of the peer and saw the ferry landing, as well as a rather complex marked entrance channel for the various marinas making East coast river entrances look like a Sunday school picnic. Still, its a lovely place to have a boat if only for the number of pubs serving real ale a mere stones throw away from a lot of the small moorings all around the island.

From boats then to tides and their sizes. Jersey must have one of the largest tides in the world, or at least it certainly seemed that way what with the huge amounts of beach that get revealed and the “out to sea” walks you can do. I walked out to Elizabeth Castle at low tide with Fran (one of Michelles friends) and then later on in the week walked a good couple of miles out to Seymour tower with various members of Michelle’s family. It was nice to get to talk to so many different people in one walk. I’ve got some great pictures in the gallery of Seymour tower and the walk leading up to it. It really is amazing when you take into account that all ground shown in the photos is covered by the sea at high tide. You can also stay in the tower by renting it out overnight, and the current people staying for the night let me have a look around inside which apparently I was quite lucky to be able to do as Michelle’s parents had never been in the tower, despite visiting it several times. The walk was rounded off with a quality local ale at the pub back by the road.

In a break from walks and similar things we went out drinking a couple of nights, most notable was where we ended up at a club we thought was going to be playing cheesy music, but in fact was some rubbish hyped up radio 1 DJ. Still some of Michelle’s friends or (shock horror) even me may have ended up on Jersey Events, so check that one out if you have time.

Nights out seemed to inevitably result in swimming in the sea in the small hours which was fun, although due to fear of hyperthermia I didn’t venture in myself (chicken according to Michelle and well, she is probably right). One night though we went down to Beauport beach and went swimming in moonlight and saw the phospheressence (sp?) in the sea which was really rather lovely, I even got some fairly reasonable moonlight shots with my camera. If I have to pick a favorite late night in Jersey then that would probably have to be it, it was a thing of films and books really, at least it was to me which made it all the more fun to do.

One of the really cool things Jersey has is the Battle of Flowers. While the day parade is (by all accounts) a little stuffy and up-tight, the moonlight parade is a real carneval type atmosphere with lights, fireworks, laughter and the same flower-decorated floats that get shown in the day but with the added bonus that they are all lit up. It was a really fun night and I got lots of photos too. Its amazing to think that each float is decorated by hand with either real or paper flowers and that it all looks so perfect. My favorites were the Narnia floats and one with the barrels of whisky, really well crafted efforts the both of them.

My last day in Jersey was one spent packing a few bits up (see restrictions on aircraft after the whole terrorism plot) and enjoying the last day by heading to Plemont to swim in the sea and see the caves there. Apart from my shots of the cave waterfall my attempts at cave photography failed with the flash being insufficient to illuminate the space, but I had better luck body-boarding in the sea and managed to “catch” my first wave in Jersey, sending me a fair distance until I was beached. The “yay” factor was clearly evident. It was great fun and a good way to end the holiday.

To all considering a trip to Jersey, you’ll have a great time, and to the few friends of mine who decided not to come along with me you missed out; Jersey does exist (Chris) and is a lovely place to escape to. I will most certainly be returning at some point in the future. Thanks to Michelle and family for putting up with me for the week 🙂

Photos from my trip to Jersey in August 2006

In a short while I’m off to Doncaster airport to get a flight to Jersey and stay with Michelle for the week. Its something I’ve been looking forward to for some time, and with lots planned for the week in the way of activities and relaxation and the BBC promising fine weather, it should be a great trip. I’m going to meet Michelle’s family and of course her friends from Jersey, which will be really cool. Apparently BBQs on the beach will be a core component of my visit and as I haven’t had a BBQ in a while I must say I can’t wait! As usual pictures and blog posts will follow, although I am having a virtually computer free week so no blogs or e-mails will be written until I get back.

I came accross a link to the System Administrator Appreciation Day website today and realised that I had just missed it by a few days, more to the point others have missed it by a few days and I didn’t get any appreciation as a result, still there is always next year and I’m not a big time sys admin at the best of times anyway.

Still, it is food for thought; these websites we spend hours on every day, or at least every week for those who use the net less, are maintained and run be people working tirelessly and without thanks to make sure you get the same high quality experience you expect 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Yes, if there is an error in the middle of the night they really do get woken up and the job never really comes to an end.

We really should appreciate our systems administrators, not just on one day a year, but all the time. After all, high on caffine they may be, but they keep us grounded by making sure our systems work in the best way possible so we have one less thing to worry about. A virtual beer and a pat on the back to all the sys admins I know.

As an opening post for a new blog there couldn’t have been a better point for Paul to start a debate about than how long criminals should remain in jail for various crimes. The original post centres on a particular murderer who targeted young children, but the bottom line is that the decision about how long to put someone away for for any serious crime is one that causes serious debate and anguish for many of the victims and in the case of murder victims, their families.

One of the things that causes this strong controversy is the place for human emotion in law; there isn’t one. The law doesn’t take account of emotion, merely the facts. This will inevitably result in a large amount of upset and anguish in an emotive case that has its verdict decided purely on the facts. The problem is that emotions vary, and to pass a sentance on a variable that can change as often as the wind would be to destroy the concept of fair trial and justice on which we all rely to live our lives the way we do.

The problem is I don’t wish to make these comments without sympathy, because I have a lot of sympathy for victims and their families and I agree entirely with their view that the law doesn’t go far enough with dealing for the hurt and loss that these dangerous criminals cause. The issue in this though is who wants to take responsibility for them. In certain states of America they have the death penalty, but in those same states you get victims who feel upset about feeling like they have blood on their hands irrespective of the crime committed. Likewise you get early releases or short sentences that cause similar levels of upset for opposite reason; they feel justice hasn’t been served.

Based  on those points then the only solution is a true life sentence for these people. Unfortunately the costs involved with this are huge. Prisons take away from badly needed services such as schools, hostpitals and police. I guess the biggest question in all this is not what we want to happen to dangerous criminals but what we want to sacrifice in other areas of our lives in order to get justice served the way we want it.

It struck me the other day how many people really do believe whole-heartedly in the concept of bad luck, that as an individual you can have a certain level of it such that if something bad has to come the way of yourself and a group of others that you will be the one to bear the brunt of it.

There is a certain sadness to see someone pass comment about their own luck this way. While on the face of it its not a real issue, after all we all have our ups and downs and we all need something to attribute those things to, but the problem with a run of bad luck or repeated  comments of that nature is it seems to stick and be transferred to things that are not down to luck at all. Not only that but it seems to lead to a certain pessimism that extends accross their life leading to regular comments along the lines of “if it happens it will happen to me” sort of thing.

All the people I know who make comments like this seem to be more pessimistic than others I know who do not make such comments. This should come as no surprise, but what will come as one is that as an outsider I don’t see either group of people experiencing any more negative events (bad luck) in their lives. What this seems to mean is that if you think you are unlucky then you will be, in your own mind at least. Certainly food for thought for those who have a tendency for the odd pessimistic streak. As Bob Marley once said, don’t worry, be happy. How very right he seems to be.

Its amazing how when you are going away in the not too distant future you suddenly realise that there is a load of stuff to do in the time between now and then. Not of course that all this stuff couldn’t have been done a week or so ago, but for one reason or another it always gets left until now to get finished. Ah well, c’est la vie.