Thank you very much to the 86 individual contributors who put their hands in the wallets to give me a little retirement gift. I thought that letting go of the blog would be difficult and it was at first, but I know it was the right decision to step away and let Steve carry the can/shoulder the blame/screw it up/delete as applicable.

For those interested, I’m currently working on an assignment (and commuting by bus), so my days are pretty fulfilled with actual paid work. My wife and my bank manager are both grateful. My first purchase will be a new pair of stout shoes to go to work in. We’re expecting out second child in February so every penny counts.

On the blog stats, the number of hits per day has roughly doubled since I’ve left, although I refuse to accept that my going would be such a popular move.

In BBC-land, the latest guilt-fest has been cancelled and the disappointment is palpable. As you can see from the last paragraph, its blogs like this one that are to blame rather than because they’re poor ideas in the first place. Someone should send Richard Black a sympathy card or something because he’s clearly hurtin’

Best regards

John A

Your technical skill and Steve’s patient and entertaining posts put wind in my sails!

Thank YOU!

It´s nice to see some room for a little positivity towards others from your side Peter!

H.K.

[snip]

How have you set your computer to receive the snipped sections so that you can comment on them?

w.

Much appreciation for your contribution, best wishes for the future, and good luck with your Blog.

I would have thought John A can live with one post, in a thread with more than one hundred replies, not unctuously complimentary?

That said, I DO wish him well for the future. I don’t agree with him on anything I can think of – but I can put that aside to wish him well.

Thanks for your time and dedication. [snip]