Battling with Word, Klimt and dismantled laptops

Set out early to Great Chesterford today, to meet Mr Ward for a conversation on finance and the opportunities for horticulture in the current clement weather. The journey there notable for a slight jostle between my vehicle and another on the packed highway, with no damage ensuing, thank heavens.

A brief return home for a conversation with Mr McArthur, via telephone and with the assistance of Skype. We were mightily challenged by a trivial matter; persuading Microsoft Word to commence page numbering according to our desires. As usual with any computational problem with a supposedly time saving device, it took more time, nearly an hour, to find a solution of cunning and subterfuge to achieve our goal.

Thence to Huntingdon where the Huntingdonshire Business Network meeting was well attended and in very good humour. Mr Cartwright was in particularly fine form, evincing laughter through his presentation on all things storage in the gravelly voiced vein of an American television presenter.

Afterwards, in the Bowls Club bar, I stayed awhile with Ms Ekblom and Mr Wishart in pleasant conversation. There I also found a pleasing jigsaw puzzle in the form of a circle representing a compass for Mrs T. Prominent amongst the books on sale was a small illustrated volume on the artist Gustav Klimt. At £1 this was a gem not to be missed and it afforded both an education in his rich use of colour and pattern, as well as in the sensual depiction of the female form.

Most will be familiar with his painting "The Kiss". The revelation for me was his mastery of realism in the classical sense during his early years, which carried over into the beautifully rendered faces and hands of later portraits that otherwise displayed the rich use of colour and gold in abstract patterns. Sadly, a number of his works were deliberately destroyed near the end of the Second World War, as described in an article here.

The last appointment of the day was at Mr Beal's in Over, with Mrs Farndale. Our progress on Tutorcloud was delayed by a  diversion into the dismantling of the very laptop upon which I currently write, to clean out the fan and marvel at the technology packed into the slim interior. Mr Beal's supervision and experience giving me the confidence to attempt most of the work myself.