So…
A long overdue update on what's happening in Ben's World, in easy-to-digest, bullet-pointed format…
- The website's fixed. It transpired that the company that had been hosting bensaunders.com for the last four years were in a spot of trouble – their entire sales team were laid off, the website stopped working and my emails/calls went unanswered. Pete Barr-Watson stepped into the breech and offered to host it on his company's server. It's thanks to Pete that you're reading this now, and his patience in answering my numbskull emails has been astounding.
- Tony found a dead body in his house last weekend. He noticed the post piling up for the chap that lived above his room, took it upstairs like the thoughtful person he is and noticed an odd smell as he walked down the landing. The police think he'd been dead for a fortnight. Jeepers.
- I'm having a wisdom tooth removed tomorrow (Monday) morning. It's a preemptive measure – I had problems with it earlier this year and I could do without it acting up in Antarctica.
- I went to a fantastic lecture at the Royal Geographical Society last Friday night – Chris Bonington, Doug Scott et al. talking about their 1975 Everest SW Face expedition. I can't tell you how refreshing it was (after a week of trying to 'align' SOUTH with 'brand values') to hear some of my heroes talking about adventure for adventure's sake. Glorious.
- Tony and I are having some intensive rollerski coaching over the next few weeks. Expect photos of us falling over lots soon.
- I'm twiddling around with a(nother!) redesign of bensaunders.com – it may or may not look like this once I've had enough of playing with it. Minimalist, innit!
- I'm writing a book. Well, at least the proposal for a book. Early days yet, but the idea I once had of an easy life as an author has already been blown to smithereens. Much like this website, I'm never quite happy with how it looks…
- I've been a busy boy on the speaking front recently (see number 27 of my 28 Things). The south of France this weekend, Birmingham and the Lake District next week.
- I'm attending the PopTech! conference in Camden, Maine the week after next. I'm not speaking this year, and the thought of four days of chilling out in the presence of some of the greatest thinkers, movers, and shakers around is tantalising. Can't wait.
- Last up, I'm experimenting with ecto – a nifty bit of software that may well lead to easier/quicker/better quality/more prolific blogging from yours truly. I'll let you know how it goes (and I'll no doubt be using it to grumble about toothache tomorrow).
On on!
— Filed under Miscellany