Meeting at the Maltings

Well, the taxi-man was spot on. This morning, having seen Mirinda off at the station at ridiculous o’clock, the rain started. It wasn’t the light and non-wetting type of British rain. It was the heavy, big drops, soak you in two minutes type. Needless to say, I was soaked in a remarkably short time.

The weather continued to flaunt its wetness most of the day though never quite as wet as the early morning downpour. Which was rather a good thing as I had to walk up to the Maltings for a U3A committee meeting.

I was interested to see on the agenda that I was 17th on the list. There were 18 items, the last being Any Other Business. Mirinda joked that I’d be bumped because, as invariably happens, the meeting would run over time. I was hoping this wouldn’t happen.

I arrived for the 12:15 start time to find there were only a few people there. My fears of being bumped were increased when I discovered that half the committee thought the start time was 12:30, and arrived accordingly.

Apparently the start time used to be 12:30 but with classes being scheduled either side of it, the start had been changed. This had been instigated at the last committee meeting. It had also been at the bottom of the agenda that everyone was sent.

Of course, putting it on the agenda is a waste of time since most people don’t read their agenda before arriving. At least that’s what the committee members who turned up for a 12:30 start maintained.

Not that the committee waited for them. Still, we started at 12:20 and had to end by 2pm. I sat and listened, laughed and joked (as is my wont), casting occasional surreptitious glances at my watch as time inevitably slipped away.

But I wasn’t bumped! The Chairman announced that, “…at last, we come to the website. Gary…”

I vaguely knew what I was going to say and had taken a page of notes during the meeting so was more or less prepared. It reminded me of those presentations I used to give way back in my Telewest days where I would explain to developers why their sites were rubbish.

Not that I told them their site was rubbish today. Given I’ve completely re-coded and redesigned it, I’d be shooting myself in the foot somewhat.

Rather, I went through the sorts of things they could use the website for, the sorts of submissions I could use (photos, videos, etc) and how I would like them sent to me (file size, file type and why).

To be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I rather like giving presentations, particularly when I know my subject. I guess that’s why Mirinda thinks I’d be a good teacher. I like to think it proves what an entertainer I am. I did manage to illicit a few laughs, after all.

While I enjoyed it and they were all impressed at having a webmaster who knows his stuff, I’m not sure what (if anything) will come of it. And then, back at home, I received four emails from committee members submitting stuff. I guess I had some degree of success, then.

I was quite happy with a remark from Eileen, who said that I made it all clear and easy to understand. I told her I’d had a lot of practice trying to explain things to my brilliant, web savvy mother. She also said I was more than welcome at committee meetings because I lowered the average age by around 30 years. I think that was an exaggeration…

Finally, sitting in my office, late into the night, I received an email from a chap in Selsey who is looking to set up a U3A in his area. He wanted to know what was involved in setting up a website. I sat and typed a very long email to him! I hope I didn’t put him off.
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In answer to mum, the lettuce looking plants are ornamental kale. The label states that they are definitely NOT for eating. I rather think the snails will like them.

Also, I didn’t mean to put anyone off Snow White and the Huntsman. For all the things wrong with it, it was actually a fun adventure and would probably be enjoyed by most (not as exacting as me) audiences.