Archive 25/09/00

Editorial 25th September 2000

Hello again.

Well if the number of responses that we had to the initial release is any indication, then I think we could be on our way. Also given the number of new 'callers' it is obvious that the word is spreading, and people are being directed towards the site by means other than my earlier email.

On the email front, apologies to those of you who may not have received my introductory email - even though you may have asked earlier to go on the register, and had tendered your 'particulars'; unfortunately I hadn't totally got my act together, and as a result there were a few 'glitches' in my address list, which meant that for some members I still had no address or alternatively an incorrect one. Hopefully I am now in better shape, and from now on you should all be receiving me (over the email) 'loud and clear'.

Until the site is well and truly established I am going to continue announcing updates via the email, but give it a few months and we will just 'update and go'. By then hopefully you will have gotten into a routine of regularly checking just to see if there is anything new.

In this 'issue' we have included a number of the early emails, where members are already beginning to reminisce, so check the letters page, and there are a couple of new 'Events', and an entry in the 'Peoples' page, so read on.

Welcome to any new members, and all the best to you all.

Mike West

Previous News 25.9.2000

Keith Clark Rules OK!

As many of you may have already seen, Keith Clark has been very ill and on September the 15th had to undergo major heart surgery - by way of a 4 way heart by-pass operation and Mitral valve repair. It turns out he had had one major and several less severe heart attacks in the past, none of which he realised he had had!

Well we are very pleased to report that as of the 23rd. he is home once again! Although he has been advised to limit his meetings with Messrs. Haig, Bell and Teacher, and cut down on the Havanas (!!!), the operation seems to have been a complete success.

We can only congratulate Keith on his swift recovery, and wish him all the very best for his continued recouperation.

If anyone wishes to contact him he can be emailled (via his fiancee Sharon Lynn) on paramanc@pacbell.net (Sharon Lynn), or telephoned on 530 265-4750 (together with the international code for the USA), or written to at either 22241 Purdon Rd., Nevada City, CA. 95959, or at 701 Zion St., Nevada City, CA 95959, either address will reach him.

All contacts will I know be very much appreciated.

Martin Myers in German Hospital

The following email was received by CAPnews recently

Date: 09/09/00 18:32:31 GMT Daylight Time
From: martin.myers@onlinehome.de (Martin Myers)
To: WestM@aol.com

Mike,

You may have been wondering why it has all gone a bit quiet from me on the email front. This is because I have been somewhat indisposed since a week last Tuesday (27th August).

I am currently lying in a German hospital with a couple of broken legs after a motorcycle hit me as I was crossing the road on my bicycle. They put the right leg in scaffolding after the accident. Most of this is on the outside of the leg and gives the doctors something convenient to lift my leg up with when they want to poke around. It will require a couple more operations to put it completely right. The last one was canceled supposedly due to a busy schedule but I think it was because they couldn't find the right screws and drill bits from the local B&Q! The left one is in much better shape, they operated on it anyway just for the hell of it but the tell me it's looking good and requires no further attention.

Both injuries are on the lower shin which means I'm reasonably comfortable and not too immobile. You'll probably be very disappointed to learn that I'm not in any pain except for the times immediately after the operations and there are only two of those left (hopefully).

I've managed to get my laptop here but there is no modem. Every now and then I'll send someone out to send these messages from my flat so don't expect any quick responses to emails but by all means send me some but not to my work address and please, please no huge images or videos that take 6 years to download and are usually crap anyway. Any other correspondence will be gratefully received also. I'm getting someone to check my home post, and my address at the hospital here is

Staedtische Krankenhaus Friedrichshafen
Station 23
Roentgenstrasse 2
88046 Friedrichshafen
Germany

I also have a bedside phone whose number is (from the UK)

0049 7541 962536 Note New number!!

I am expected to be here for 8 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is not because my injuries are serious but because I can't go home until one of the legs is fixed.

You probably know all the above already except for the fact that both my legs are broken (they found this out when they tried to get me to walk on it!) and that because of this my stay is somewhat extended.

Speak with you again soon.

Martin

The above is from Martin Myers, and as you can see he is not a happy bunny, so could anyone who knew him well give him a ring sometime, or email him. It doesn't sound like he is too down, but doubtless a voice or letter from the past would help to raise his pecker.

Thanks in advance.

Previous Letters 25.9.2000

By e-mail from Alan Chorley

Dear Mike

Thanks for your e-mail about the new site.

Like you, I think that there was something special about CAP. I spent just over ten years at CAP and since then I have been at the Stock Exchange for over twenty years, twelve of them working for the Exchange and eight years working for Andersen Consulting. However, I still feel far more excited about a CAP reunion than I ever could about a Stock Exchange or Andersen's reunion. I've already put the May 2002 date in my diary.

Even after all this time, some of my closest friends are ex-CAP.

I'll try to think of some amusing anecdotes and dig up some old photographs.

Please keep up the work.

Alan

By e-mail from Sebastian Bazley

Have you heard of Bigfoot?

You can set up a free virtual e-mail addresses that you can redirect anywhere.

For example you might set up capnews@bigfoot.com or cap.news@bigfoot.com and have that redirected to you, and then cap[.]webmaster@bigfoot.com and have it redirected to Arthur Trice.

Could be very useful if the e-mail address for news or web updates needs to be changed...

Bigfoot for Life members choose to have their email delivered in one of three ways:

Forwarding

Bigfoot forwards all of your Bigfoot for Life mail to the email address of your choice. (FAQ) FREE

Distribution

Bigfoot distributes copies of all your email to up to five email accounts. (FAQ) FREE**

Filtering

Bigfoot delivers your incoming email to multiple addresses or rejects it based on your preferences. (FAQ) FREE**

** (may be charged for at a later date)

The forwarding or distribution options would probably be best.

One can also set up free e-mail lists, e.g. see http://www.egroups.com/ or http://www.smartgroups.com/, which you could use for the same purpose, or which could be used to maintain the list of CAP e-mail addresses. [The groups can be private, so only members can post to them.]

Just an idea - feel free to ignore it ...

Have fun!

Sebastian

By e-mail from Rose Wintle

Well done creating the CAPnews site. It is a great idea and I hope you get plenty of correspondence about it.

I am once again contemplating returning to industry after having taught IT for the past 10 years and wondered if any ex CAP "chaps" had any vacancies or suggestions as to how I get back. I have attached my CV. My son is now 15 so I no longer feel I need to spend the school holidays with him and I am looking for a more interesting and challenging appointment in a less female oriented environment. Any suggestions anybody?

Ed - We haven't included Rose's CV here but if anyone does have an opening why not give Rose an email at rwintle@redhotant.com - we're sure she'd appreciate a call anyway. She is looking for around £30K and although she lives near Newbury for the right offer she would consider relocating.

By e-mail from Roger Hodgson

Somwhere I seem to recall you were asking about ISAs

The web site www.isa-shop.co.uk contains loads of useful info and offers them at a discount

Regards

Roger

Ed - Thanks Roger - there is certainly lots of good stuff there. The next time we meet up it'll be a pleasure to buy you a large pint or two!

Where Are They Now? 25.9.2000

CAP Reading 1979

Now there's a picture from the past - blow it up and see who you can remember from those old days. Just look at all that hair!

Does anyone else out there have any old group photographs - if so, if you let us have them, we'll put them up.

Sorry folks - we think that the Data Protection Act 1998 Revision precludes us from putting up a complete list of all your addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses, etc. However Mike West has an Excel spreadsheet of all those people who have agreed to their names being published and he will gladly e-mail it to you on request.

So if you want to find out where an old friend is, why not get in touch - we might be able to help.

Incidentally if you think that you may not be on the list (and would like to be) why not let CAPnews know. Use the contact us link and provide whatever details you would like others to know, and they will go up. So far we have concented details on around 300 ex-CAPers, so you will be joining up with a great list.

Yesterday in CAP 25/9/2000

Anecdotes Wanted!

This is where we think there are going to be the best of memories. There must surely be many stories of past projects, events, and people which will still bring a smile (maybe even a tear!) to those involved, and which it would be good to share.

We don't want anything libellous - well maybe we would, but we can't afford to be sued, so we won't be reporting anything iffy - but if you have a yarn to tell, which looking back on, gave you a good laugh or rise to few extra grey hairs, then let us know. There must have been many behind the scenes stories that you know about that would now raise a smile - so come on let us know, so we can share them around.

Alan Chorley has already come with up a couple of car incidents - one that happened to him, when an old Fiat 500 that he once had caught fire one night when he was out, while working on a project down in Bristol. Most of the people on the project saw it happen, and he suffered severe leg pulling for some time with questions such as 'been for any good burn-ups lately?' - particularly from Mel Batty and Chris Frew.

He also recalls how Desmond Dekker of the …………(can anyone remember the name of the group?) ran into Mike West's Alpha while it was parked outside a well known Bank's Computer Centre in Willesden. Mike saw it happen, without at first realising that it was his own car which had been run into. His reaction when he did was a sight to behold!

Stories Needed!

Who remembers (who could ever forget maybe!) for instance, those balmy (some might say barmy!) days of the early banking systems. First for one machine, then (almost before the ink was dry) another - and another! - so many many man days of effort, writing, updating, re-writing, converting, and all for what? More and more accounts being processed ever faster! All it ever really achieved, was so that the banks could take our money out of our accounts even quicker! But it was great fun - and kept CAP in fees so they could pay us, so we could put more money into our accounts, and the banks could then take it out again. It's a funny old world!

What stories have you guys and gals got hidden in your closet?

Kiss and Tell!

Nowadays of course we have Human Resources to handle staff matters, but we knew it as Personnel and Staff Management. Of course people then were people - not, as they seem so often to-day, numbers on a resources register or balance sheet. What about those staff who first worked away from home. The expenses were not vast but you could still do very nicely thank you! - they certainly paid for those beer and curry nights out! Personnel must have a host of stories to tell - who remembers Write On! No names, no pack drill - but there's surely some gems there to recall.

Come on Graham, now's the time to kiss and tell!

Get it off your Chest!

They do say that confession is the best way to clear the troubled mind, so come on everyone, now's your chance to get it off your chest. What historic event was it that resulted in your accelerated grade promotion! and to an 'E' grade too - now who remembers those?!

Write in and tell all to CAPnews.