Sun employee & fanatical motorcyclist Mike Belch's Weblog Biker Mike's Weblog

The power went off at home today for four hours. It was planned and it was all my fault - I live in a village where all the power and phone lines are overhead on tall wooden poles and last month I reported that one of the poles was leaning at a dangerous angle. So today, after two weeks advance warning, the power went off along our whole street so that the pole could be replaced. It wasn't a problem, I had planned ahead, my phone and laptop were fully charged, we had my camping stove to boil water for tea, I was all ready to survive that modern horror - no electricity. Pretty much on schedule the power went out and what hit me almost immediately was the silence. Sat in my office - why I don't know because the Internet was off and I had no phone - I could hear birds twittering, three snoring dogs and the old wind-up clock ticking two rooms away. But that was it. Nothing else. Silence. It was wonderful. Then the power came back again, my laptop started charging and the fan kicked in, the printer came on, the two external disks on my desk spun up, the TV went on in the lounge, the fish tank filter started pumping and the air stone started bubbling. It was deafening. I couldn't believe how I could live normally with so much background noise. Anyway a few hours later and I don't hear the noise any more. Maybe I'll turn the power off for a few hours next week when the family are all out and get that silence back.

b.t.w. I got a nice bonus from the electricity company - they gave me the telegraph pole, which is now sawn, chopped and giving off a wonderful heat in the lounge as it burns in the fireplace. Oh, and I discovered that I can be disconnected from the Internet for four hours without the world coming to an end.

The news that Oracle is buying Sun raised an incident from the dark recesses of my memory. In March 2000, I did some private flying from San Carlos airfield in California. It is located within direct sight of Oracle's headquarters and has the very apt ICAO designation KSQL. Anyway, for one of the flights I was returning to the airfield after a couple of hours touring the bay in my Piper PA28-181 Archer and was told that I was number one in the circuit to land - directly in front of Larry Ellison who was waiting also joining the circuit to land behind me. Anyway, being a Brit who was unfamiliar with US flight procedures I messed up my approach and caused some delay to the others in the circuit. It makes me wonder if Larry if the forgiving sort and will overlook a minor incident that took place nine years ago! 

One year ago today I was admitted to hospital. Lying on the couch in my family doctor's surgery, with the hiss of the oyxgen mask that had been placed on my face, and listening to her make an emergency call for an ambulance was a scary experience. So began a two month break from work with four weeks in hospital and some really painful surgical procedures. One year later I'm fit and healthy and all that is a distant memory.

What is interesting though is the number of hits my original blog post still gets. Checking my Sitemeter statistics, it seems like half the hits on my blog are people searching Google for information on gall bladders, gallstones, bile, peritonitis and abdominal pain; and frankly I'm surprised that my blog entry scores in the top ten of so many of those searches. I do hope that people take it for what it is, a personal account of a medical "adventure" and don't look on it as some definitive work on gastrointestinal surgery. My medical expertise is limited to watching episodes of "House" and playing the odd game of doctors and nurses! If anyone does read my original post then I hope that whatever symptoms they are suffering are soon resolved and maybe this new post will reassure them that a year later their current problems will be all but forgotten.

It's spring, the sap is rising and like all true men my thoughts are turning to motorcycles. What else? 

I have just read about two different motorcycling expeditions which have got me thinking and wishing that I could just take off on my bike without a backward glance. Unfortunately, while this might be a great dream, for a long time to come it will remain just that because of our huge mortgage, children still at school, three dogs and all the other things that pin us down (in the nicest possible way). So it is with a slight twinge of jealousy and a huge amount of admiration that I'll tell you about two different adventures. 

Tiffany Coates is a good friend of mine from Cornwall. Tiff has very itchy feet and finds it difficult to stay put in one place for more than a couple of years. She has already ridden her bike across Europe and Asia to Australia and back through Africa, as well as going the entire length of both American continents, plus the odd side trip to Timbuktoo - simply because it sounded like an interesting place. And she did all this long before Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman made motorcycle adventure travel fashionable. Tiff doesn't really plan, she just gets on her bike and rides off.  In two weeks time I'll be going to Tiffany's farewell party as she sets off on her next adventure - riding to Mongolia. Read about Tiffany and marvel at her courage on her website and blog - tiffanystravels.co.uk

The second motorcycle adventure to grab my attention is a ride from England to India later this year. Richard Evans and Simon Chegwyn will do the ride to raise money for Asha and Weston Hospicecare. My dad died in November 2006 from lymphoma and leukaeima after receiving superb palliative care at Weston Hospice, so the charity is very close to my heart. Read about their adventure at delhibikechallenge2009.com. You can sponsor Richard and Simon with an easy credit card donation at JustGiving. If you are UK taxpayer then that nasty Mr Brown from Downing Street will reluctantly add another 20% tax relief on your donation to the Hospice.