The CD Collector

One Street: Market Square, Shipley #16

My last full day at the office before leaving to the Netherlands and there has been quite a buzz on. I'm incredibly grateful to be working with a fantastic team of people. One of my young colleagues was working from home yesterday and we were still discussing issues, via Skype, at 2am this morning! I didn't get enough sleep but you can somehow cope when it comes down to the final push. Today has been a better day. Perhaps the adrenaline is helping to focus the mind. Things haven't been quite so blurry.

The highlight of the day was again lunchtime and an amazing Smoked Haddock and Pea Risotto served with Beetroot Crostini from Creative Breads. Another taste sensation. I'm going to suffer withdrawal symptoms after tomorrow! I'm beginning to feel like these guys are part of my team now!

The weather has been foul today with strong cold winds and heavy showers. I managed to time my visit to town well enough to avoid getting wet and managed to grab a shot from the market. Despite not sporting an earring, I'm a bit of a CD Collector myself. I'm very old school when it comes to music. Despite (or perhaps because) my working life (and much of my social life) is lived out over the internet, I like my music to be delivered the old fashioned way. I've never downloaded a single track in my entire life. I really enjoy the process of taking a CD out from its case and inserting it into my player, to listen to an album as a complete work, as it was intended to be heard, in its entirety.

I'm not a materialistic person in any way - except when it comes to books and music. I feel like I need the physicality of a CD and the ability to remove and read the sleeve notes. It's a total package for me. It also means that I can stream my music on to any device in the future. I don't have to worry about copyright issues and ensuring it's always backed up. The only problem is that I have so many CDs now that it's proving very difficult to find the one I want if I feel the need to play anything in particular. Mostly, though, I tend to be playing my more recent acquisitions.

My current favourite, and probably not too well known, is Tell Tales from the Cornshed Sisters. This is Dresden. They are worth a listen.

Finally, thanks for all the support following yesterday's blip. I'm not the only one then! So much to respond to and I really look forward to doing that at the end of the week. You lot are fantastic.