I've moved!

My personal blog can now be found at Rants 2.0

Day at the airport

Spent yesterday mainly in the car. It was nice to be in Tasha's car though as the extra comfort and the elevated driving position are good for long distance. Caught some WiFi action at the airport whilst having a bit of lunch before the meeting and used the Sip&Surf network, which was very quick and quite reasonable (in comparison to the others available).

The drive home was exhausting in the rain and spray, but I got home at a reasonable time. Picked up my new 3G modem on the way home and gave that a little try this morning, I get pretty good coverage from my desk in Leicester, occasionally dropping into FAST 3G mode of upto 1.4Mbps.

Woke up this morning to find a heron in the garden - cool! Couldn't get to my camera in time though. Catching up with a few more back episodes of HEROES. Jesus! I wasn't sure it could get much better but man episode 17 rocks!!

A long, long day

Well it has truely been a very long day today. Its long rehearsal for Goodnight Mr.Tom and as assitant director she had a lot on her mind - so she was up at 05:15 this morning. I did the husbandly thing and got up to to make tea etc while Tasha worked on the production. Our printer dying didn't help, as a lot of the work Tasha had was to be printed, so we had to email it out and get it done remotely. It was also the last official game of the season for Derby (the play-offs still to come), and the team played well to get a 2-0 victory over Leeds. The ref was stretchered off after a few minutes after he took a nasty fall. Steve Howard got his player of the year award, Giles Barnes the young player. It was cool to see Dennis Wise ( a bit of a hero in our house) looking very snappy!

The kids spend the day with Grandma & Grandpa and got spoilt rotten!! I picked them up full of beans and with painted faces!! Sounds like Mum & Dad were run ragged!!

Tasha has just rung to say the rehearsal has finished and she's going for a well deserved drink - I'll catch the gossip of the day later!

Just watched the new BT advert staring Gordon Ramsey - very funny, but surprised he's doing the ad - they must have paid him a lot of money

24 Hours of Flickr

Got up yesterday to some poor lighting. Thought that I wouldn't get much photography done on the 24 hours of Flickr Day. As it turned out though we were really busy, so there was plenty of "day in the life" type stuff.

Went over to Uttoxeter to get a bistro table for the patio, and built that when we got back from ballet lessons - by which time the sun had come out.

Tasha did some more planting and then we wandered down to Suzanne's house to see the new cats (and Ralph's new plasma!)

We chatted for a while then all of us went over to the Spread Eagle and had a few drinks. We like it there because wine by the bottle is on offer!! Sat there until just after 6 then came home for a BBQ at the new bistro table!!!

Mixed bag

Yesterday was a mixed bag of stuff really. After being bored all week I had 6 meeting invitations to take place of friday to wednesday in varying locations about the country, 3 of which were yesterday. I have had some more invoicing issues which hopefully have been sorted out now. Job news on other fronts is looking up though - which is good, and I did enjoy another frap with Mark & Dan.

Got home to 2 mac packages of my extra memory and a keyboard - sweet.

Had a wee play with Aperture last night too.

Pimp my Mac!

My new memory upgrade, written with my new keyboard. Mac'd out!

Dyson School

How I which that the Dyson School of Design Innovation was around when I was younger. The school which is due to open in 2009 is partly funded by the government and aims to boost the number of engineering graduates in the UK compared to developing countries like India and China. other contributors to the school include Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Williams F1.

Information from a story in the IET Engineering & Technology Magazine

iPhone Pictures

Interesting edition of MacBreak Weekly podcast this morning, saying that some pictures had been posted to Flickr this week that were taken on an iPhone. The pictures seem to be taken in a cafe 3 miles from Apple HQ and were quickly withdrawn from the Flickr feed. The EXIF data showed the type to be an iPhone and the resolution of the images ties in with the size quoted (about 3MP). The images were pretty detailed though.

Apparently there have been numerous sighting in the Apple HQ area of folks with iPhones, assuming they are employees on test.

Very quiet in the office today - same old folks out at Gatwick, but Mark & Pete have gone down for some fire training at Stanstead. My cube bay is empty apart from me, checking out some MacBreak and iLifeZone.

The Daily Grind

Really struggling to stay focused on work at the moment. The task that I have isn't very taxing and involves a lot of reading (which I personally can't stomach a great deal of in one sitting), so my mind is naturally wandering to creative pursuits. This situation is not helped by the new mac and setting it up with sweet little tricks.

Had another great life-laundry session last night, this time sorting out all the wardrobes, archiving the winter coats into the new wardrobe in the loft and making up some charity bags.

Completed the latest ubermaclife post using TextMate, another tool that I've got on trial I'm finding it really good to have the ability to blog whilst not on line (just while working for this client, although I'm looking at getting a wireless mobile based modem)

Just taken a look at the video introducing some of the features of OmniFocus which is hopefully due for beta release in the next few weeks. It looks really cool and will be a direct replacement for Kinkless.

A casual line

Just finished watching LOST - gee they know how to throw a line in!! Didn't see that coming at all - WOW! Brrrrr!

Anyway - managed to get my calendar drop down sorted.

first monthly invoice away too - so fingers crossed they'll be no clitches with that on Friday.

Memories

Over the weekend we cleared our loft, which was a liberating experience.

I found my old inter-railing photos and it brought back some memories. I think its good to have a good clear out every now and then, but equally its good to look back at times past and remember.

Managed to catch up with Nigel breifly on Friday night, before the business of the weekend.

Derby f$$ked up their chances of getting a guaranteed top 2 place in the championship today by loosing to Crystal Palace. The play-offs beckon now, and their history in this stage is not good!!

Big Girl

Florence left us for most of the weekend and went to her first proper sleep over with a crowd from school.

We enjoyed a little sun and a glass of wine - before nipping out for a curry (yum)

Had some goods comes with Glynn & Steve about some potential work, anything would be good.

Busy is best

I've been much busier today which has made such a difference to how I feel about the whole thing. There is something to be said for being busy. Had quite a lot of emails to/from the accountant today (especially after hours, I'm sure they never go home). Needless to say they sorted out my worries (again)

Just catching up with LOST and heroes

The mighty Khushboo

Met up with Brett while on site and we went for a drive to find something to eat. Stumbled across the khushboo Indian restaurant, which I used to frequent regularly when I worked down here 12 years ago. Good to see that they are still knocking out fantastic food.

Great weekend start

We have had a great start to our weekend. I was up early-ish with Nate, and tried out my new lens. Florence had to do the normal ballet thing, but the girls had a lie in so it got a bit rushed. We needed a few supplies in town so mooched around the shops and got some BOGOF bargs. Got some lunch items and had a mini picnic. Went over to CostCo in the afternoon and got some bulk wine and BBQ items. Spent the rest of the afternoon, sparking up the BBQ. Drank wine in the sunshine, surfed the web and fired up the bad boy for the first time this season (our other BBQ had seen some action on holiday). I do forget how much I enjoy the BBQ.

Friday night fun

Friday was a again a fine day and it always seems harder to motivate myself at work when I know that its so sunny outside! I left at 4 and came home. Went to the football with Nigel and saw a shakey victory. At this stage it would have been nicer for a convincing win, but a win is a win. The chances that went begging could have seen a much healthier score. Tasha was going out for the Mellows celebration of the best production NODA award that they received for Godspell. We got a text to say to pop in for a drink, and arrived just as the dancing started!!

Hoping for a BBQ this afternoon after buying MEAT at the cash & carry!!

Catchup

Its been a great few days for me catching up with some friends. Down on site I met up with Brett, who I've not seen for a while and also Trapper John (which is always a pleasure). Last night I had a quick beer with Stubbs and we met up with some old faces from EMCON. It was great to see them all again - good times. Tonight I've opened up the email and had some mail from Robin, Mike & Chi who I've not heard from for ages. Stirling and I had a conflab this morning too.

Tasha has been busy in the garden and its made a fantastic difference to the space that we have. We are having a skip next week and are having a major clear out of the loft/shed etc.

I've got some things ready for eBay too.

My new lens arrived for the camera today - other than slapping it on to check that its OK I've not had chance to play. Hopefully get some shots over the weekend.

Going to the footy tomorrow night, crucial game.

Florence likes Merlin Mann!!

I got back from site yesterday and was chatting with Florence (7). She was asking whether there was anything good about being away from the family and living in a hotel. I tried hard to think of some things

1. I get to see my friend trapper, who lives near the site
2. I get to watch all my video podcasts that I don't get time for at home
3. ...

... "Oh with Merlin Mann" she says, "I like him, he has a funny laugh and cool glasses!"

Eggs-citing!

Had a fun time decorating eggs with Florence & Nate.

Dull day at work, Tasha & kids went to Sutton and had a great day - wish I was there. Think we've managed to pin a few days down to get away before the summer holiday.

Holiday Roundup

See the photos here

Our first full day away, saw beautiful weather and our friends came to see us too. We had a great walk down the Monsall Way, followed by a BBQ back at the caravan. Was really good to see them and their dog!

Had a little “A time” with the mac and investigated iMovieHD and started going through some of the footage from earlier in the year. Seems to be a lot easier to use than Premiere - I don’t need fancy really, cropping, the odd transition and titles is all I want. I try to do most of the editing in camera.

Tasha had some great news. The show that she produced last year - Godspell - won “Best Production” in the regional NODA awards on Sunday night.

Monday - Drove into Bakewell, forgetting that it was market day. Unless your there really early, the car parks get full and they close the roads off, so that was a non starter. We’d not got up and going very quickly as we’d had a restless night. Nate, who has been suffering with a cold the last few days, got into a coughing fit and was sick - not the best thing in a caravan! We came back and went for a great walk down to the Wildlife reserve near the site before lunch. After we’d eaten (like kings) we headed into Buxton, which wasn’t nearly as busy. We bought some great food and had a good afternoon. Got the BBQ out again today (as it was fantastic weather).

On Tuesday we went over to Chatsworth House - a beautiful stately home. Obviously with the kids in tow we only saw it as we passed on the way to the massive adventure playground and farm. We all had a great time, but it was bitterly cold. Stopped at the farm shop and were lucky to escape, without spending more!! Just listening to Florence read - she’s so good - I’m glad she likes books.

Thursday and with the excellent weather comes the inevitable onslaught of people at the site. We left the site early this morning, being the only two vans, to explore Lathkill Dale and returned (via Chatsworth) to reports of gridlocked traffic and a site 3/4 full!! Our explore was fantastic though, the sun in the valley really made the whole place look beautiful. Slightly worried that the site will be too busy, but we can also go home.

Friday started to another beautiful day on the now much fuller campsite. We had a good early start and went up to the climbers haunt of Froggatt Edge. We went via the farm shop at Chatsworth and bought loads of goodies for a picnic. Had a great walk along the top of the ridge, before returning to our feast!! After lunch we went to the outdoor shops down the road and then drove back to the site via the scenic route - where we saw tomorrows walk!! The site managed to accommodate a view more vans and a lot more tents while we were out. Cooked steak on the BBQ and an early night all round.

The rest of the bank holiday weekend was spent, trying to stay out the the way of tourists! We avoided Bakewell & Buxton and “headed for the hills”. We did some great walks and we were really impressed with the children and their stamina. I think the fresh air did us all the world of good and blew away many cobwebs.
Its been the best holiday we’ve been on for a long time, I felt really rested on our return and didn’t feel that it had been too short (not to say I would have stayed for another couple of weeks!)

Photography is here!

As you may have seen here, I am now the owner of a mac. I've been faffing with some settings over the week, and hope that I have everything set up ready for out short trip - which I intend to test out the machine as a photography assistant.

Generally been a pretty busy week, with site, getting the advert ready for Mellows and work that needed doing to the caravan.

All done now though and ready to go to the hills today and take some photos!!

Photography on the horizon

Not sure why, but I've just not been all that organised with my media feeds the last few months. I seem to concentrate on just one or the other. It dawned on me that I've really neglected Flickr and its one of my favourite for enjoyment and inspiration. The truth is I was just rying to do too much in the time I had available. I realised I was doubling up on information in the RRS feed and my podcasts list. Now the podcasts I can listen to in the car whilst driving, so I cut a few feeds there but a lot from my reader account, which is now much more manageable. This now leaves me time to use twitter, blog and catch up with Flickr (which I also have streamlined a bit)

I think the mac will be getting bought on Wednesday - if I can get away at a reasonable hour.

The Chancers

Was great to get the call from Adrian to say there was an impromptu meeting of the chancers in the Cocked Hat the other day. Good to see everyone that turned up. Mike had another interview, it seems he is pretty much sorted.

Down south again next week, but have arranged to meet up with Trapper on Tuesday night for some grub - sounds like we'll be spoilt for choice as well!

Hoping to arrange a summer meetup

Nates Parent Evening

It was great to hear that my little man is doing well at Pre-school. It seems he is taking after his mum and has a big interest in cooking

Fast weekend

After work on Friday, 18 of us headed over towards Nottingham to go karting. Great night, fast karts, good banter, exciting fun. The track was really fast and the endurance race that we were in, meant that everyone got a lot of driving in.

Saturday I went to watch Derby beat Cardiff 3-1 back to the top of the table (even if its just for today, while we await the Birmingham vs WBA result later).

Not sure what we're doing yet for Mother's Day, we were waiting to see what the weather was going to be like - it had forecast snow, but it seems to be bright and very windy at the moment.

Good night, bad journey

The journey home last night from work was shit. There had been an accident on the motorway (it was still shut this morning) and the surrounding roads were mayhem. Not even TomTom could beat the traffic. I avoided the accident well, but got stuck on a country lane for ages, trying to rejoin the motorway.

The evening got much better, when we went out for Donna's birthday meal at the dial. Food was quite good, and excellent value.

Cough

Been fighting with a tickley cough for what seems like ages now. Just can't seem to shake it - maybe I should go to the doctors and check to see its not an infection?

Another great episode of Heroes last night. I'm loving the way the characters are gradually coming together now. After talking with Mark this morning it suddenly dawned on me what the "power" of the brother is!!

Had another busy weekend. We all went to the choclate bingo yesterday (Tasha was the caller). We managed to raise £400 towards the build pre-school fund. Today we headed over to Nottingham and went to the IKEA and Decathlon superstores. Nate tried on a pair of roller-baldes and just went off! Over the past few weeks I've been amazed by the balance of the kids first on the bikes and now this!!

Morning Woes

I was making good time this morning, TomTom told me I was going to be 5 minutes early for the gate opening, so I drove by the fuel station to get some water for my washer bottle. Firstly, my bonnet wouldn't open, obviously the catch inside was stuck. A few sharp taps on the front and it loosened up for me to open - the release safety catch was also stuck open!! After getting the water the bonnet wouldn't shut - it was jammed open this time.

Thank goodness for my Leatherman - I managed to prise the catch free and secure my bonnet. Must get some freeing spray on that when I get home

Heroes

Wow! I'd heard a a few people on the podcasts talking about how good Heroes was, but wasn't sure whether I could get into another TV show - already watching LOST & 24.

I'm glad I started watching

Back from Holidays

Just returned from a great week away in North Wales. We stopped in a cottage from the Sykes catalogue and it was great. We had originally planned to go with some mates, but they pulled out at the last minute due to a death in the family, so we had a huge house to ourselves. Tasha's Mum & Dad came down for a few days which made the cottage seem a bit fuller.

There was a castle in the town where we stopped, Criccieth, but we never got to visit it as we were too busy out and about at other places. Despite having forecasts that said it would rain all week, we had some fantastic weather. We like a good explore on the beach, just finding stuff thats washed up and we had a couple of afternoons, walking miles and miles on the beaches local to the cottage.

Got back to the usualy pile of post to wade through, and I'd had the foresight to tape a few of my TV shows, so am beginning to catch up with those (or they'll never get watched).

Weekend #5

Its been a busy birthday weekend in the house. Tasha turned 34. I arrived home on Friday night to a package - it was my new camera, a Canon 400D. The increase in sensor size has really highlighted a need for more capacity. Unfortunately our meal out on Saturday night had to be canceled and its looking like Jane & Nigel won't be able to join us in Wales either - which is a real shame.

On Sunday (Tasha's actual birthday) we headed off to the Bullring in Birmingham for a mooch around the shops.

Contact Management

The latest ubermaclife post is available here - subject matter contact management, check it out and let me know if you also suffer from a scattered system.

Jack-knifed lorry on the way into work this morning, just as I got onto the A38. Was blocking both sides of the road at a pretty busy intersection, there are also road works in the area. I managed to get around (it can only just have happened as there were no emergency services), but I imagine that it'll be a complete nightmare as the traffic increases towards rush-hour.

Pre-school website

Finished the pre-school website tonight.

Been really busy today. Projects are really taking off as deadlines for design near completion. Going to the football again tomorrow night.

Milestone Week

Well yet another busy weekend. Seems like we are cramming more and more into every one - but they are very enjoyable. Went to see Derby vs Bristol in the FA Cup yesterday. I do find myself distracted by all the good kit about, cameras laptops etc 1 of the disadvantages of sitting new the press enclosure I guess!

My little car turned 80,000 miles this week too.

The next installment of ubermaclife is now available here.

Had a good game of squash last night with Stubbs. Good to catch up in the boozer too. Its amazing how unfit I have become, struggled after the first game, and as soon as I loose stamina - Stubbs tactical play takes over. Although I've been going to the gym nearly everyday, I've not been concentrating on CV, just weights. I should perhaps inject a little more of that into the routine to build up stamina.

My Weekend

Busy, busy weekend and quite cultural too! Florence & I both went to see Tasha in Guys & Dolls on Saturday (at different performances) - it was fantastic. Stopped for a chat with a few folks in the bar on Saturday night, Tasha went off to the aftershow party and got in around 4am.

We'd been quite worried about Nate, who'd been really "floppy" on Thursday and and a raging temperature on Friday morning. The doctor diagnosed an ear infection, so he's on some dreadful medicine that makes him retch. We were still up in the night with him when he got distressed, poor little man.

Fortunately, he seemed to have made a good enough recovery by Sunday that we were able to go ahead with our plans to go to the panto at the hippodrome in Birmingham. Big production (apparently the highest grossing panto ever) and it starred Brian Conley - a favourite of Tasha's. Everyone really enjoyed the show especially Florence and Nate.

The weekend was rounded off by the new series of 24 starting, unfortunately I was zapped by the time it started and was in bed for 8pm! I'll catch the re-run on Friday (hopefully)

Chancers wiki update here

Internet middle ages

The latest installment in my ubermaclife is posted.

Not sure whether its due to the bad weather we've been getting here, but out internet connection at work is down. Even at the best of times, surfing is heavily restricted (no mail-other than the work based Lotus notes, no banking, no blogging and quite a view of my feeds are no shows as well).

However, I suppose its one of those things that you don't really miss something, until its not there - I should be perhaps thankful for my regular small blessings. Browsing has been "...turned off until further notice..." while the problem is sorted out. A backup link (I can only assume ISDN or even dial up) has been activated for mail only - but this is proving VERY slow.

So the long and the short is I'm cut off from the world this morning and this is causing me some problem as a lot of my systems are online, Remember the milk, google calendar, google reader. I have no offline fall back - this is one of my sticking points with my current system.

Woo-Hoo

Pissed myself laughing at this

GTD on RTM

I've now just got a new blog going, check out the latest post here

Sick inducing

Was checking the regular feed this morning, and stopped at this - bile!

New Blog

I've been debating for a while (one of the 2007 resolutions I made with myself), that I wanted to do more writing as a creative outlet and hopefully interesting and even useful to other people. I read a few sites about book writing, not that I'm getting into that - but the information on content and ideas was good.

The blog name is registered but nothing posted yet - hopefully later. It loosely ties in with another resolution that I am going to make my system more rigid - I try a lot of little ideas in my hybrid system and its about time I stop fadding and sorted it out. So I will be documenting my journey of converting myself and system to a mac.

I NEED an iPhone

I'm about half way watching the iphone section of the apple keynote. The delivery by Steve Jobs is amazing - he is selling it to me big style (not that it needed much help). Up to that point I'd only seen pictures, and it looks sweet.

The features have a real wow factor though, and the whole interface, with scrolling, cover-art, accelerometer (which had me) but SMS and pinch - jesus!!

The fact that it all syncs so easily with the Mac (you'd guess) and that it has OSX. Glad I got my yahoo! Mail account before the mad rush

Also watching some of Leo's MacBreak videos,

Geek Out!

Still didn't manage to catch the keynote last night, just busy doing other stuff. Got the chance to chat to Mark though which was very cool. Jumped a few older podcasts this morning to listen to the latest MacBreak from 21st Amendment. Its a very good episode, with the usual fantastic banter from Leo and Merlin. It was recorded in Dolby Headphone, which I didn't pick up on all that well when listening on the iTrip, but when I caught the end at my desk - WOW. There was a guy in the crowd who calculated how many hours it was until release, and while they were talking he wrote a widget app and published it - GEEK OUT!

UPDATE: Looks like rumours of iPhone in the UK from October, with possibly O2 getting exclusive on the deal. You'll never guess when my O2 contract is due for renewal!!

So it IS the iPhone..

As it was kind of predicted the iPhone commeth. At this point, I've not seen the keynote, only pictures - so I might have things wrong, but it looks sweet, with wide screen etc. Another product released by a 3rd part is the EWOO, which if it looks as nice as their site is a good sign.

Been very busy busy at work and also at home helping Tasha polish her lines and songs for the show. Managed to catch a couple of cool other non-MacWorld things though. Yotel opens up in London airports, wonder how that would look on the expenses!! It looks a little less claustrophobic than the Japanese versions (i.e. a coffin) but still think it might be a bit freaky. The hourly charge thing is good though (especially as when I'm working nights, I invariably don't sleep for long anyway. I'm guessing this is just a US feature (at the moment) but the latest tool add-on for google maps is VERY interesting.

Oh how I wish the place I am currently working (a conservative engineering company), would even buy a small way into the concept of instant messaging being good for business. IM is completely forbidden during work hours here.

UPDATE - Freshyill posted a good size comparison chart of the new iPhone here
and there is some great pictures/features here

Big Week

The biggest thing this week is that Nate's Birthday party happened. He is going to be 4 on Monday, but Saturday saw all his chums come round for a birthday tea and a few games. Everyone semmed to have a great time.

Its been an up and down week for inspiration for Project:365. Early in the week I turned to pictures of random objects that I fiddled with in Photoshop. I decided to make the rule with myself that this was OK if I took the photo on that day, as I think the project is about taking more photos.

Work has also been a bit of a roller coaster. The non-stimulating stuff ended and I now have a new project. The first task involves dividing a large drawing up into separate parts, so I've spent much oif my week on the floor, with some crayons, colouring in conveyors on a large A0 drawing!!

Has some good chats with Mark this week about work and other things, the highlight being Griff's Cottage. We knew that this was a project that he was taking on from knowing the area real well and the people that live there. I'd not realised it had turned into a TV series of its own though. Looks like Mike may have got himself an interview sorted out. Not spoken to him since so hope it went OK.

Sunday has also been busy, with long rehearsal for Guys & Dolls at the Brewhouse by Mellows. We went down and took some pictures and listened to act 1. I've also been getting into The Money Tree. It is all straight forward stuff, but reading it in black & white has been really enlightening. Just what I wanted at this stage of shaking up my finances.

Back to work

Had the normal 15 minutes staring at this screen trying to remember what the hell my password is!

After that it was a gradual ease into the norm - although work seems to be a bit sparse, so I'm taking my time. Hope that the pipeline of promised stuff opens up now the new year is here. Was good to here from Trapper and Mark on the emailo this morning.

Went to the gym at lunchtime, as part of my new thoughts for 2007. I've been a memner of quite a few gyms now, and it always makes me chuckle in January. Not sure whether its a months memberships as Christmas presents or just people living out their resolutions, but its always packed out in the first month of the year!

Siemens have now made the fasted network in the world (not from the Coventry office though). It runs at 107 GB/s, now that would be good for streaming HDTV!

500 posts and counting

Project:365 couldn't have started on a more boring day in the house! We have been busy packing the Christmas tree away. We normally try to do it quickly as Nate's birthday is at the start of January and its good to separate it from Christmas. I tried to eat all the "bad" things that were left in the house - but didn't realise quite how much stuff we had (I feel bad now too!) Also need to get into the return to work mindset. Christmas holiday this year has been brilliant, but seems to have flown by.

Happy New Year!