Quick update to note that I have had confirmation that I passed the PRINCE exam. I am now an accredited PRINCE2 practitioner.

At the bottom of Moel Famau, having just come down from the top. Weather has just turned a bit sunnier, but was greyier than we expected while climbing the hill.

Walking down along Offa's Dyke path gives some spectacular views of the Vale of Clwyd. Really worth the effort despite the heft to get up there.

The kids are well used to it, having this walk four or five times. Once we'd warned them last night that we wanted to do a walk, they managed without major moans. Big plus!

Having a cup of tea now from the little van in the carpark.

Knackered today after a 5 or so mile bike ride yesterday evening. I'm trying to keep my hand in even though I'm not cycling to work anymore, but it's hard work. I do miss cycling to work and back. It can really brighten your day. I think it must be something to do with the sense of achievement. Or maybe it's a chemical thing - about how your body reacts to it.

Had some thoughts about a historical materialist interpretation of 11th - 12th century Byzantine history. Must jot them down here at some point.

Training event in Croydon - with a 9:30 start, which means I've been up since 5:30. Gurk.

Not looking forward to the journey back either - heading through London at 17:00. I do have a seat booked on one train, so fingers crossed I can make that one.

Almost back to normal now after the weekend. Deb seems to be OK, but we have to wait and see how she goes really. Stressed me out completely.

Back in work now, at least my job interview has been put off for a couple of weeks. I was afraid it might have been pulled forward to this week, leaving me no preparation time.

5:30 start tomorrow to go to Croydon :-(

Tough day yesterday. After the Practitioner exam, I travelled home. Everyone was glad to see me back (including me). But Deb wasn't very well - I won't give details because she would be embarrassed to see it on the web. I ended up calling an ambulance, and spent the next 3 hours in A&E. They were extremely busy - the older woman next to Deb had been on a trolley there for 8 hours, and had been offered no food during that time. They were just taking her up to a ward.

They were only really treating people who were close to 'breaching' the target time. In the end, we gave up and Deb discharged herself without having been seen.

So, a bit stressful.

Still glad to be home though.

On my way home now after being on a PRINCE2 course all week. Completed the Practitioner exam this afternoon. Now I just have to wait 2 weeks for the results. I'm fairly confident that I've passed, but still very nervous in case I haven't.

Bizarrely enough, the course has come when the project I'm working on is winding down. And it looks like my next job will be in planning rather than projects. It will still be good to have the qualification under my belt for the CV (assuming I've passed!).

Next stop EFQM - hoping to go on an introductory course for that in December. Not at the moment planning to go all the way to being an accredited assessor, it's just for my own interest.

Can't wait to get home, I've missed Deb and the kids very much. It's been a long time since I've stayed away from home for this long.

In Manchester at the moment on a PRINCE2 training course. It's very intense, like having someone open your mind and slosh a bucket load of facts into it. I take the foundation exam tomorrow, and hopefully the Practitioner exam on Friday (if I pass tomorrow). I did manage to complete the pre-reading, going through the manual. Thank goodness I did, because I don't think I'd have coped otherwise.

Back to reading Byzantine history again, and need to update bkkeepr. I have the "Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies" at home - very expensive, bought for my birthday and worth every penny. Finishing "the Byzantine Economy" now before moving on to "Economic Expansion in the Byzantine Empire 900 to 1200". So it's busy busy busy.

Oh, and I have an interview for a job on promotion in 2 weeks time.

And dont't even get me started on George Osbourne. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that I and my colleagues get to pay for the mistakes of a bunch of highly paid bankers (had to be very careful with the spelling there...)

Just found out I have an interview for another job on promotion. Woo hoo! Already starting to feel nervous about it though...

I'm just coming to the end of Jacques Lefort's chapter in the Economic History of Byzantium (which is available online from Dumbarton Oaks).

There's some fascinating analysis here of the detail and development of the rural economy of Byzantium. In particular around the trend for the countryside to change from a village commune organisation to a structure based more around large estates, and the interaction between this and economic development. Historically, the movement towards large estates has been seen as a retrograde step, leading to stagnation - and that this was part of the background to political collapse in the 11th. Century. What Lefort does is place the movement to large estates into the context of economic growth and expansion, a natural trend that fitted in a structure that was always a mixture of social organisation in the countryside. He also outlines how this was a rational decision for the peasants, and not necessarily one which involved impoverishment.

Overall then, a fascinating analysis, with lots of implications for the period that I find interesting - that is the transition to civilian rule in the 11th century followed by collapse and domination by the great families.