We all know that  “British Summer Time” is just a euphemism for getting all four seasons in one day. Year after year, we hope that this one will be different, don’t we?

It’s that wee word ‘hope’ that makes all the difference. Where would we be without it. It’s what gets us up in the morning, sees us through the day and then helps us get to sleep at night – well, that and a wee dram, which never goes amiss!

On the subject of weather, though.

There’s nothing we hate more than going to load up our vehicles and trailer to go to a gig and the heavens open up – usually after a great sunny spell when we think we’ll do it when it’s not so sunny.

Well, we got our wish today. Fortunately, most of the gear was still loaded from a gig last night, but the smaller items such as laptops, light show boxes (more on this later) and such like had to be loaded and then the trailer hitched up.

Of course, the heavens opened just at that moment and poor Andy got soaked!

He was still smiling though.

You see, he was still on a high from last evening’s gig.

No two gigs are the same. Just like no two days are the same during what we fondly call Summer Time.

Andy is such an enthusiast when it comes to music, though, that he enjoys every gig he plays at but he’s the first to admit that each one has different qualities. No matter how much he prepares for every one of them, it’s all down to the company on the night – how much the guests want to enjoy themselves and, fortunately, the weather doesn’t come into it once they are settled down in the hall or wherever the party is.

When you get a diverse number of people in one venue, particularly if it’s a wedding or silver/golden wedding anniversary there is always a certain percentage of the company who prefer to sit and catch up with folk they haven’t seen in years  rather than get up to dance. That’s great. That’s what celebrations are all about, isn’t it? As long as every one goes home thinking what a great night they’d had then that’s a result for all concerned, including us.

Now, take last night’s event.

For a start, it was Andy’s birthday (we won’t say which one) but he didn’t want to let down this group, especially since it was a school end-of-term event and he had done their disco last year – it’s always great to be asked back. He still remembered last year’s event and what a great night it had been because the guests were so enthusiastic from the outset.

We do a lot of  organised events for schools as well as teenage parties and it never fails to give us a buzz at how much the kids/teenagers throw themselves into having a good time. Maybe they’re just too young yet to adopt the affectations of their older siblings!

The venue for last night’s disco is on the border of the area we can cover comfortably in travelling time (see The Areas We Can Cover post for an explanation of this) but Andy set off with no worries except to think that it couldn’t be as good as last year. You know how it is when you return to a place, on holiday say, and find it’s nothing like you remembered?

Well, it wasn’t the same – it was even better than last year.

From the minute the pupils were allowed into the hall, they were up dancing… oh, that was after they had lined up to wish Andy a Happy Birthday. Did he just love that or what??

The time flew by for Andy and he says in no way did it feel like work…. until he had to lug all the gear back to the vehicles.  Ah well, at least it wasn’t raining.

So, if you are reading this – and you know who you are – Andy sends a special thank you to all who attended last night’s end-of-term disco and to the organiser and her helpers. He’s already looking forward to 2012’s event!

Back to today and the rain.

Andy spent all afternoon trying to fit a new transformer to one of his light show boxes. He’s pretty handy when it comes to mending electrical equipment, which is really helpful in this line of work.

He wasn’t able to source one locally, so he got one mail order. It arrived yesterday but he hadn’t had time to fit it. We carry duplicates of every major piece of equipment anyway as there’s no way we would let down anyone, be it organiser or guest, by having a breakdown of any item during an event.

After rigging up this ‘new’ transformer, he discovered that it, too, is faulty, with no electrical current passing through it. Oh, the vagaries….

Nevertheless, he’s still smiling, it’s still raining and he’s off again, this time for a Silver Wedding.

Two nights, two very different events and he’ll love them both, for all their differences. It’s a bit like the weather in that respect – you never know what you’ll get until you’re there.