Report by Jimbo

The meet was at RobinC's house (Swindon, UK) on Sunday 9th Novemeber...

This is taken from Jimbo's Travel Log, so go there to read about the rest of his holiday ;-)

It was then onwards & eastwards to Swindon - another blast straight down the M4. Robin's directions were excellent (Vision take note - print them and bring them along next time :P) and we subsequently arrived around Midday.

Er, where is everyone???

Basically the only people that actually turned up were Bifford, Postie (& his family) and me, which was more than a little disappointing, since I wanted to meet everyone. Loads were invited and hardly anyone turned up basically, but we made the best of it. Bifford also invited BrianH over from Wales and he very kindly came, although we had no idea what time he was actually going to turn up at. Bifford also had his PC with him as it wasn't seeing the hard drive, so that was basically the pet project for today. Oh, and Bifford also basically stole Robin's computer for the day, although I don't think anyone minded. Around 2pm it was dinner time & by this time it was well & truly raining, so we got the brollies out and made our way to the pub, where we has something to eat. See the photos below which were taken before we got our food.

Bifford's Box

Between us all we came to the conclusion that Bifford's Motherboard was faulty, so he rang GAG and GAG told him to come over and get a replacement, so it may have been handy him working Sunday after all :). Postie got him sorted with directions (since he lives in Gloucester) and then it was a case of dismantle the machine to get the m/b out, which took place in RobinC's computer room. It's a good job that he has a KVM switch, since this allows him to switch between machines at will. After RobinC and Bifford got the old motherboard out of the machine they basically set off in RobinC's car to get it replaced. This was the first time that anyone actually got NEAR RobinC's PC :P. Postie also had to go shopping in Swindon & left shortly after RobinC, though he was coming back, once he got the shopping sorted. This basically left Me, Vicky & Alison together, but I wanted to check the emails, so I basically disappeared up to the computer. While I was computing RobinC was also streaming music over his shoutcast server although everyone was complaining that they could hear me typing rather than the music stream. Since I had no idea what was connected to what (or where) I basically left it as it was. After 45 minutes Postie returned and we all had a cup of tea together. During this cup of tea RobinC & Bifford made it back from Gloucester with a new m/b for Bifford's PC. They then joined us by having a cup of tea & then BrianH finally made an appearance - YAY. The downside was he got fined for not wearing his seatbelt because he was basically totally lost - he ended up knocking on doors I think to find out where he was.

Since by now it was probably after 6pm it was time for Postie to go home - he had to be up for work on Monday morning at 3am (which explains why he's rarely online after 9pm I suppose). So, we said our goodbyes & he left (though I have invited him over to visit me next year).

By now BrianH had settled in nicely and Bifford & RobinC had almost got the PC back together, so it was time to start installing the software. XP Pro went on & then it was time for some supper. Since RobinC loves fajita's (mexican food similar to popadoms with spicy chicken, Salsa sauce, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese in them) we had them for supper. By this time XP had finished installing so it was time to get the rest of the software on. Around 8pm I received a text from Dee asking if I was coming down tonight or staying till tomorrow. Since Bifford was staying the night anyway I decided to stay as well, and I texted Dee telling her that I would arrive tomorrow. The rest of the night was spent getting the rest of Bifford's software installed and chatting to everyone on IRC. We finally called it a night shortly after 1am since RobinC had to be up bright and early for work on Monday. Bifford gathered his belongings, and stuck then in the car, as well as brought the camp bed in while I got a drink organized and made preparations for bed. Basically Bifford slept on his camp bed while I lounged out on RobinC's sofa bed. Since I was shattered by now it wasn't too long till I was sleeping.

I got up around 8:30am to find everyone already up (I think RobinC got up at 7:30am since he wanted to grab a bath) and shortly after he set off for work. That left 90 minutes to kill before Bifford set off, as he had a meeting to go to at 12pm. We sat on RobinC's PC and also spent some time with Vicky & Alison, as we had a cup of tea before we left. Both Vicky & Alison gave us a lovely send of by waving.