I hope everyone had a greatly time!

Myself and Claire aim to meet early afternoon at Blackpool North station - anyone else on a train coming via train with an arrival time that's similar for us to stay around for?

Aye. Due into North at 13:20. Though very much hoping that tonight's chaos at Euston is sorted by the morn.

The last time I travelled up to Blackpool, the train I was on ended up stopping half way up and going backwards. There's always some skullduggery!

I fondly remembering being on the train right behind yours and quickly catching you up

I hope that won't delay things too much.

Wishing you all safe journeys.

Great, aiming for 12:54 myself, Claire will now not be coming and Matt at last talk will be 12:46 with any luck.

Myself and Claire aim to meet early afternoon at Blackpool North station - anyone else on a train coming via train with an arrival time that's similar for us to stay around for?

Aye. Due into North at 13:20. Though very much hoping that tonight's chaos at Euston is sorted by the morn.

The last time I travelled up to Blackpool, the train I was on ended up stopping half way up and going backwards. There's always some skullduggery!

If I can help in anyway in facilitating the tanks etc just let me know.

That reminds me. If you guys see me walking around hooked up to an oxygen tank, that's normal. My lungs forgot how to lung.

Looking forward to seeing you guys again, and maybe meeting some people

I'm in, done, dusted, sorted.

Who's up for our triennial game of 'spot the turd' off Blackpool Pier?

Is he coming as well, then?

Nope

I'm in, done, dusted, sorted.

Who's up for our triennial game of 'spot the turd' off Blackpool Pier?

Is he coming as well, then?

Have fun folks. I'll hopefully be able to join you all next time...

This may be a cliché but it won't be the same without you. It sounds like you'll be enchanted by powerful technomagic this summer. All the best with it, and here's to your future escapes from Windows pains.

Who's up for our triennial game of 'spot the turd' off Blackpool Pier?

Is that derived from 'pooh sticks'? How about we add some polish to it? Give them names. Backstories. Top Trump scores.

Potentially a big job, so to speak. But it's what creatives would do.

Who's up for our triennial game of 'spot the turd' off Blackpool Pier?

There's no easy way for me to provisionally book rooms at this hotel. I'm therefore going to take the simple option of saying: do it yourself. There's therefore no longer a specific time limit by which to book. When the rooms are gone, they're gone, however long that takes.

So here is our hotel:

http://www.ruskinhotel.com/

It is called the Royal Ruskin, and it charges £161 for a double or twin room (of which there are currently about 9 remaining) for two nights. We've booked it without breakfast so that we can remain flexible regarding morning arrangements.

If you'd like to book somewhere else (e.g. cheaper), that's fine, we can meet you for breakfast.

If you'd like me to try and book the above hotel for you, I'm also happy to try. Please contact me for payment details. Once your payment goes through, I will attempt to make the booking. If it's unsuccessful, I'll return your money and you'll need to sort out somewhere else yourself.

While the change in accommodation price is noticeable, My dayjob has it's main crunch in August and I've simply too much on. We're in the process of moving campuses, rebuilding client machines from W7 to W10 (approximately 2100+ of them!) and rebuilding the entire AD network to suit.

Couple that with me already having time off in August for working events etc (booked nearly a year ago) and there's no way they'll let me go. Disappointing but nothing I can do about it.

Have fun folks. I'll hopefully be able to join you all next time...

The hotel I was aiming for had all their rooms bought out during the night. I thought it was therefore best to book something now, so I did. Unfortunately, it's a few pounds more than I had originally suggested (£140 per room for two nights).

The rooms are twins. Having learned from last time, I'm not going to do room assignments. Instead, find someone to buddy up with and send me money for a room.

It's first come, first served. However, the rooms will be released by 10 July. Therefore if you haven't paid by 10 July, you'll need to arrange things yourself.

If you want a room, please contact me for payment instructions.

The above is no longer true, as of 13 June. Please see my revised post.