Memories of Bristol 2006

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Memories of Bristol 2006 01/02/2016 at 22:36 #80291
andyb0607
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With the 10th anniversary meet fast approaching I thought I would put this on here. I wrote the majority of it after the first Bristol meet. Changed bits earlier but most remains as I wrote it then:

Ten years ago someone put forward the idea of a meet up of forum users. I'd been a user of SIMSIG and the forum for quite a while but, I wasn't sure whether to go or not. A number of reasons why I didn't want to go actually became reasons why I did go along. I didn't know anyone – going along would change that. I'd never been to Bristol before – again going along would change that. Would anyone really show up? What the hell, let's do this. So I booked my ticket and agreed to go.

On the day, I got to Paddington, still wondering how the hell we would manage to find each other in a pub in a city I'd never been to. Boarded the train and all went well until we left Reading. Then we crawled from there all the way to Swindon! The train arrived in Swindon at the exact time it should have been arriving at Temple Meads.

About an hour later than planned I arrived in Bristol. As I left the train I saw a face I thought I recognised but wasn't sure. With some trepidation I arrived at Wetherspoons and in I went. The face from the train was there too. I bought a pint and went up to him. “Hi, aren't you Clive?” I said. “Yes” came the response. Didn't know him as such but I'd seen his photo on his website!

Now there were two of us! How do we find out who else is here? Clive had the answer. He drew the SIMSIG logo on a piece of paper and put it on one of the menu stands at the table we were at. It had the desired effect and within minutes people from all over the pub approached the table and introductions began.

Now we waited for SIMSIG royalty to arrive! I'd met Geoff once before. A bit more formal that time. It was for an interview at TRE. I didn't get the job but never mind I wouldn't hold it against him!

He arrived and we all drank and talked like we'd known each other for years. Then another person joined us and said he'd been sitting with the wrong group for an hour! Can't quite remember what the other group was, but when he said the name, someone who'd been sitting with us for an hour, got up, gave his apologies and went and joined them.

At the end of the meet another tradition began! We went across the road to an Indian restaurant for a curry. The chat continued and more beer was consumed. Then it was time to go back to London.

I'd met some new people and I'd been to Bristol! Admittedly I'd only seen about 500 yards of Bristol but I had now been there. I wasn't on my own as we went back. The meet kind of continued on the train back to Paddington.

We all want our separate ways in London, but we had started something. Now here we are ten years later and whilst there are some of us that know each other well, people still arrive at meets with the same trepidation that I did on that day in Bristol.

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Memories of Bristol 2006 02/02/2016 at 00:13 #80293
bill_gensheet
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Quote:
Then another person joined us and said he'd been sitting with the wrong group for an hour! Can't quite remember what the other group was, but when he said the name, someone who'd been sitting with us for an hour, got up, gave his apologies and went and joined them.
That would be me ! I think it was a Linux group, a load of blokes with laptops trying to set up a network anyway. Not knowing anything about Linux was clearly not a problem for an hour of eating and general chat.

Shared a table with Peter Bennet on the way back.

regards
Bill

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Memories of Bristol 2006 02/02/2016 at 19:23 #80294
clive
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I'm sure I had a laptop with me; I might have pulled out Cambridge to show what I was working on.

The other thing I remember is that I was half way through caffeine withdrawal (for my wife's health) and had had a nasty headache for a week (and would have it for another week).

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