Thursday 19 March 2009

Thursday 19th March 09

Woken by shouting children, so came down to see if I was needed and I think my presence did calm things down. People did get off to school on time though, despite shouting and kicking doors and saying why should he have to go to school etc.

I had a phone call responding to an email I sent off yesterday... I had received a newsletter from the project manager of the forthcoming York and North Yorkshire Credit Union, announcing their proposed launch in May, so I emailed in and asked whether I could be of any use? I got a phone call this morning and we discussed various sorts of networking and marketing, and I look forward to being involved with this. My interest in this stems from the fact that I founded York Credit Union, taking 7 or 8 years to get it launched. I stepped down upon launch, as I'm an ideas person and I felt I wasn't best suited to actually running a Credit Union, so I've never been a Director of YCU, just the mainstay of the Study Group prior to launch and a huge supporter of what they do. But it's so very satisfying knowing that something I dreamt about in 1997 is about to extend its services to such a wide common bond... to anyone who lives or works in York or North Yorkshire. Services will initially be pushed in areas of poverty in Selby and Scarborough, but when we launch, anyone in the common bond area will be able to join, save money ethically, and borrow money at competitive rates.

Spent some time dealing with emails and mucking around on the computer, and discovered Google's 'Street View' completely by accident, and took it up and down Hull Road in York, and was amused to see the software had fuzzed out a bag of litter left by the Council litter pickers next to the litter bin outside our house. Down Lilac Avenue, the software had missed one of the car number plates which it has fuzzed out in most cases. I was pleased to see my compost bins at Lord Deramore's School were there in plain view! I was delighted to see my good friend Richard immortalised outside his brother's shop, Country Fresh... see '36 Heslington Road, York' and you can see him, fuzzy faced, arms folded... brilliant! Fame at last, Rich!!! If you look to the right, you can see the wheelie bin with sacks of compostables next to it, awaiting my next visit. Tee Hee!

At 11 I went to St Nicks as I had been invited to a meeting about composting at the University, which I thought had been thwarted because the Compost Doctors scheme hadn't left us enough time to do anything properly to set this up, and I thought York Rotters had decided not to bother, concentrating instead on home composting. However, the meeting wasn't to discuss composting at the University, it was to reprimand me over my perceived misconduct in writing a too-frank email to the University revealing some of the workings of York Rotters (which I had misinterpreted anyway, thus possibly making York Rotters look unprofessional) and to remind me to be very careful what I say and do with my York Rotters tee shirt on. I must remember that when I'm wearing it, I am representing the organisation and mustn't mention any of the more extreme composting activities I'm interested in, lest it put people off ordinary home composting AND run the risk of upsetting our funders. I promised to do my best in the circumstances, and it wasn't an easy or nice meeting, for any of us. But it was worth having as I don't want to be responsible for anything untoward happening to the organisation. I will try harder! And it will be difficult as I have a deficit in knowing quite what is appropriate in all situations.

Home for lunch and spent some of the afternoon peeling tiny oranges (over 40 thrown away by school) to make an orange-segment and vegetaran jelly desert.

I picked up our little one and hen did some compost riddling down the garden until after 6 when I came in. Gill had made a costume for a Shakespeare thing our eldest is doing tomorrow, a cloak and 'ruff' which he seemed happy with.

A nice quiet evening. Ben popped round and had a cuppa and left me a floppy disc which will wipe the hard disc clean on the AVP Computer, so it can be safely recycled with no possibility of peoples' info getting into the wrong hands. Also had a good phone chat with a friend Linda who I've got friendly with via Facebook, after getting to know her initially through her partner and then through York in Transition. More play on Street View. More washing up.

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