Rants

I've moved!

2007-05-12T13:25:00.000+01:00

My personal blog can now be found at Rants 2.0

Day at the airport

2007-05-10T21:00:00.000+01:00

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

2007-05-06T21:22:00.000+01:00

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

2007-05-06T07:23:00.000+01:00

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

2007-05-05T08:11:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-05-04T19:22:00.000+01:00

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

Dyson School

2007-05-04T07:46:00.000+01:00

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

2007-05-03T19:42:00.000+01:00

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

2007-05-02T17:58:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-30T20:57:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-29T21:29:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-28T07:47:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-26T20:59:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-24T20:58:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-22T07:55:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-21T07:58:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-19T21:25:00.000+01:00

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!!

2007-04-18T05:55:00.000+01:00

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

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

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

Eggs-citing!

2007-04-12T19:47:00.000+01:00

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

2007-04-12T05:34:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-03-31T07:47:00.000+01:00

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

2007-03-23T07:33:00.000Z

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

2007-03-22T21:38:00.000Z

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

2007-03-21T20:54:00.000Z

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

2007-03-18T07:58:00.000Z

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

2007-03-14T08:12:00.000Z

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

2007-03-13T08:03:00.000Z

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!!

2007-03-11T21:36:00.000Z

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

2007-03-07T07:35:00.000Z

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

2007-03-06T08:18:00.000Z

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

2007-02-18T19:14:00.000Z

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

2007-02-07T07:39:00.000Z

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

2007-01-30T08:31:00.000Z

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

2007-01-29T22:01:00.000Z

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

2007-01-28T18:21:00.000Z

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.

2007-01-25T07:46:00.000Z

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

2007-01-23T20:46:00.000Z

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

2007-01-19T19:12:00.000Z

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

2007-01-18T13:03:00.000Z

Pissed myself laughing at this

GTD on RTM

2007-01-17T23:00:00.000Z

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

Sick inducing

2007-01-16T18:48:00.000Z

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

New Blog

2007-01-15T08:37:00.000Z

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

2007-01-11T20:17:00.000Z

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!

2007-01-11T07:21:00.000Z

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..

2007-01-10T07:18:00.000Z

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

2007-01-07T20:27:00.000Z

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

2007-01-02T20:00:00.000Z

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

2007-01-01T19:00:00.000Z

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!

Project:365 (Prequel #3) - Carsington

2006-12-28T20:38:00.000Z

Decided that the family needed some fresh air today, so we headed off to Carsington. The kids took their scooters and we treed along the side of the water. The weather was quite foggy, so there weren't that many people around - it was good to sweep the cobwebs away and feel like doing something slightly more energetic that raising the hand to the mouth!

We stopped off in Ashbourne on the way back home and mooched around the sales.

Project:365 (Prequel #2) - Christmas Day

2006-12-25T20:14:00.000Z

Christmas Day over and it was brilliant. The kids didn't wake up too early after we'd been tracking Santa all day on NORAD tracks santa. We opened most of our presnts, then Mum & Dad came round. We had beef (not turkey) this year and Dad had arranged some party games. He produced some more fireworks. Aftre the second was was discharged (at about 5:45pm) a disgruntled neighbour, who stayed in the shadows at the bottom of the garden (so we don't know who it is), became very aggressive and threatening - Happy Christmas to you too!! We had to call off the fireworks, as we felt things would turn nasty. that kind of drew the evening to a conclusion really.

Tracking Santa

2006-12-24T11:26:00.000Z

We're all here tracking santa here

Weather

2006-12-22T07:26:00.000Z

I'll be glad when I don't have to drive in all this fog the UK seems to be suffering at the moment. It has been days of unbroken thick fog which is destroying the plans of many travellers for Christmas time (but us hardy contractors need to battle the weather to get to work!)

Picked up on this great Flickr slideshow of a blizzard with proper snow - not the slushy stuff we get here.

Is Locke, Ben's brother?

2006-12-21T07:26:00.000Z

Well thanks a lot Mark!! Not only did you get me back into watching LOST (which I've caught up with now) but you also pointed me to the SKYONE podcast aired after every show. They have now filled my head with theories that I'd not thought of (or never would have), the finest being that Locke is actually Ben's brother. WOW! Episode 6 was great, and as there is a break in episodes (startup again in February), there was a cliff hanger.

Also immediately following LOST was the prequel for 24-Day 6, which got me hooked straight away, you can't beat a bit of Jack getting tortured action. Looks like its going to start on Sundays at 9pm in January - right before LOST when it restarts - that'll be inducive to getting to sleep then!

Project:365 (Prequel #1)

2006-12-20T07:37:00.000Z

I have decided that I'm going to post a few prequel episodes of Project:365. I will be doing some pretty good stuff before the beginning of the year (well certainly more interesting than the daily mundane stuff that will probably get posted when I get started proper).

Last night 21 of us went into Birmingham to watch a production of Guys & Dolls, which was great. Joe McGann, Nigel Harman & Bonnie Langford were the named stars, but all of the cast performed very well. It was an insight into what can be done with a professional company as there where a lot of great dance numbers too (and some nudity whichwas nice). Tasha & Jane, who will be in another production of the show after Christmas also enjoyed it and didn't come away feeling depressed (which I was a little worried about). Best part for me was Rocking the boat, closely followed by Luck be a lady.

Before we went to the show, we had another great meal at the big wok - not as busy as the 2 previous occasions I've visited.

As a bonus, we sat across from David Bradley, who plays Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films.

Early Morning People Watching

2006-12-18T21:00:00.001Z

Down at Gatwick (after a bad drive in the dark & wet) for hopefully the last time on the current training schedule. I think that there is going to be some more next year that I might have to get involved with.

Listened to some good iLife Zone back issues on the way down this morning, and sitting here in Costa Coffee at North Terminal I feel embarassed typing on my old Compaq Armada running Win2K, rather than a slick and sexy black MacBook!

My challenge of producing the family video for New Year is actually going OK, and I think I might actually do it on time. Got through and edited another heap of clips last night.

Tasha has excelled this weekend, in completely re-decorating our bedroom. Most of the work was done on Saturday, which left yesterday for her to go buy some dressings. My solution of glue, seems to be working for holding the curtain rail to the roof of the bay window.

Anyway must get back to some people watching, before heading over to set up my presentation equipment. I have some goals (tasks that occur regularly) which I want to start the new year with, and I need to think hard about setting realistic but challenging targets for.

Christmas Dinner

2006-12-15T20:51:00.000Z

The Chancers Christmas Ball

2006-12-14T19:57:00.000Z

Great to see all the chancers on Saturday night, thank you to everyone that made the effort to travel from far and wide to join the first ex-Siemens-now contractors get-together. Plenty of good chit chat about Gordon Brown's announcement and how it affected different people, and also the lastest romours with the folk that are left in Coventry, both Siemens and Silvertech. As usual far too much food was consumed at the Big Wok (after eventually getting in after they lost our booking!). After another visit to a very crowded Apple store with Mark, I think I'm warming to the black MacBook more. We'll wait and see what happens after Christmas.

Christmas tree went up at the weekend, which was a great event as always. Nate is really excited this year, now that his going to pre-school he knows what is going to happen. Only one bauble casuality this year too, but we have vowed to get some new ones after the season is over. Had a great afternoon over at my Aunty Sue's, much good banter. Can't beleive that its a year since we were last over there.

See all my photos from the Chancers meet here

Christmas Bazaar

2006-12-07T21:53:00.000Z

Some of the 400 muffins Tasha has made for the bazaar!! As well as a lot of large cakes. She hopes to sell them all in record

The problem with big breakfasts

2006-12-07T21:43:00.000Z

I was done at a training centre near Brighton this morning. Got up at 0345 to start driving. Horrible weather and a big accident (which hadn't cleared when I came back), meant it was nearly 4 hours in the car - a small hire car. At my destination I fuelled myself on a big breakfast, only to find out that the training centre also offered a very high quality free lunch as well. Two very square meals and the early start, meant I was pretty drowsy on the way home (another 4 hours in the car), so I stopped at the services, reclined the seat and played an energergiser Pzizz - the rest of the journey was fine!

2006-12-04T21:45:00.000Z

The business became fully VAT registered today, so will definitelt be up and running for the right date now.

Got quite a bit of web work on now, so its busy in the evenings too at the moment. Hoping to get 2 sites finished by Christmas, and another just into the new year.

Was contacted about this pucture today. Its been short-listed for the latest revision of the schmap guide for York.

Farewell Trapper

2006-11-23T20:26:00.000Z

Well Trapper is off to roll in a lot of money soon, so we took a trip out to aspects contemporary Indian cuisine in Enderby for some nosh. Great lunch and good banter, Steve Dunn also met up with us there. Much talk of contracts new, with Steve and John and renewals and Ltd companies from Dan & myself.

Looking forward to meeting up with the other fully paid up members of the chancers at the start of December.

Just filling some links in and I found these hits for Steve Dunn - LOL

Belly full of Thai food

2006-11-22T20:36:00.000Z

Down at Atkins in Epsom at the moment, things going well (much better than last time). The business is in the final stage of being set up now so hopefuly will be fully operational by the middle of December - and the orders have started to come in. I'm hoping that some diversity will come along with that too, to make things a little more interesting.

Caught up with a load more TWiT stuff on the mammouth journey down here this morning, and hopefully going to have enough material for the journey home tomorrow. I'm hoping to finish by lunchtime - so should be on the road soon after. Been given a "death trap" of a car to come down in though so will have to take things steady!

A belly full of Thai food, and early start and a queued up Pzizz, mean that I shall be a sleep in no time.

Update - did get away for lunchtime - horrible drive home made pleasant with another great chat with Mark - can't wait to see him in Brum

Wacom Volito 2

2006-11-17T21:43:00.000Z

For my birthday I got a Wacom volito 2 graphics tablet. It came with 2 lots of free software ArtRage 2 and Funhouse. Mark was raving about ArtRage so I thought I'd have a quick go.

In an everyday matters kind of way, I thought that it would be a really good tool to create a quick sketch everyday (no paint to dry etc).

Some of the features of the software are great - I know what Mark means when you could sit there for hours just knocking these things out.

Its children in need day today. At work a playstation was set up and it was £1 for 2 laps on GranTourismo2. It probably cost them far more contractors standing around waiting for a go though!

Souvenirs

2006-11-15T08:03:00.000Z

Just spotted this great post on the Flickr Blog

Wife Stripping

2006-11-15T07:56:00.000Z

Well with a title like that I expect this post will have a few hits, but it was a manic night last night. The decorator said he was coming a few days early so we ended up having to accelerate the prep. work. Some of the plaster came away during the day, so I had to replaster some of the wall and then carry on stripping the wallpaper. Finished at about 10pm last night, but there is still a bit more to do tonight. Obviously, as it was Florence's room we had to set her up in the living room to sleep, which meant no PC use.

34 Today

2006-11-13T21:05:00.000Z

Its been the best birthday I've had for years today. Normally I open the presents with the kids (if I'm at home) then its just business as usual. Today I took the day off. I did the present opening thing, then off they went to school & my Mum's and Tasha & I spent the day together. We went into Derby and went to all the shops you can't go to with kids, and had lunch at Pizza Express from the new Italia del Nord menu. Had a bottle of wine then went and did some more mooching. On the way home got a phone call from the garage - my car was ready (after extensive work to rear suspension, front roll bars, front brakes, cam belt, service & MOT = £720). Ouch.

Got home and Dad had bought some really good fire works, so we let them off.

So here it is....

2006-11-12T21:31:00.000Z

Its 12th November, the night before my birthday and I've just heard the first playing of Merry Christmas by Slade. This coupled with the Christmas decorations that were up in Llandudno makes it seem that Christmas gets ever closer. Perhaps we need Thanks Giving in the calendar, to distract us from Christmas.

Busy weekend, but very productive. Tomorrow not going into work.

New beginings

2006-11-08T20:50:00.000Z

Well I'm now a director of a company - which is nice! Decided to stop pratting about and be dynamic about the whole situation and get things done.

After reading Mark's post I realised that I've just been journalling with my last few posts, which is great if you lead an interesting life. Quality is the key.

The recent podcasts by Merlin Mann & David Allen over at 43 Folders have been a big inspiration and using the wikibot thing has really sorted my GTD and got it back into shape. I have regained my trusted system - and I think mark has too.

Great to chat again tonight and really looking forward to the meetup at Christmas.

PS - Merlin likes moo too

Weird Science

2006-11-05T12:42:00.000Z

Two bits of weird science.
1. There is a direct relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and the number of sausage & egg McMuffins required the following morning to ease the hangover.
2. Florence ialways catches a sickness bug about this time of year. Normally she misses out on one of her friends birthdays, but this time we've had to cancel her own.

Saw Steve Dunn at lunchtime, was great to catch up with him (and the last of the Cov gossip!). Lots of good advise about limited companies (cheers Steve)

Had a great Friday night with fireworks supplied by Colin, cake by Tasha and danger by Martin & myself. Tasha cooked a big pot of chilli too. Maea came over and it was really good to see her with Florence again.

Saturday (Florence's birthday) was busy, after she opened her presents, she went off to ballet - then straight to a go-karting party! In the evening Tasha & I went to the mellows annual dinner dance. Had too much vodka (hance the mcmuffins) and then was up in the night a few times with Florence - tiredness setting in now, but Mum & Dad are over shortly to deliver presents for Florence.

Chester Return

2006-10-29T21:03:00.000Z

Got back from a well deserved break to Chester. After a little annoyance of the roof (that we resently had repaired) leaking, we had a fantastic time. A quick repair was made using a tarpauline which seemed to do the trick for the rest of the week.

We went to the zoo - one of the best ones I've been to, the kids loved it. Loads of really good enclosures. We also did the blue planet aquarium which was the first time I've been to one of the walk-through tunnels. Cheshire Oaks (and the credit card) took a bit of a hammering, but we got some good buys - and managed to start the Christmas shopping. We also decided to take the short trip into North Wales and go to Llandudno (and we got our fix of fish & chips on the beach!)

Used the time to sort my GTD out a bit and caught up on some missed Podcasts - generally quite productive.

I want a Mac!

2006-10-20T19:57:00.000+01:00

Forget all the fancy advertising that apple pumps out, just listening to a few episodes of MacBreak weekly has me hungry for all kinds of apple products. In fact I need them all - and would sPC tomorrow.

Looking forward the holiday big time now - the long hours have really caught up with me.

Meant to ring Mark tonight, but ended up leaving work early and its been a whirl since I got home. Hopefully catch you online, but if not have yourselves a great holiday too.

Hot Spot

2006-10-17T14:31:00.000+01:00

Blogging from a T-mobile hot spot at the airport - nothing much doing, because our line is running sweet. Had far to many beers last night. Require sleep badly.

Hard Day......Hard Night

2006-10-17T00:50:00.000+01:00

Hard day on site, followed by a hard day in the bar at the hotel! Generally a good was had today, very sucessful - but boring because nothing was happening. Finished shift at 2130 and found a couple of colleagues in the bar. 6 bottles of Corona, 1 Thai Green curry and a bloody mary later I'm in my room trying to but together a post!

MOO cards

2006-10-14T10:37:00.000+01:00

After receiving our FREE moo cards, we decided to order a couple of boxes. The first was for me, the second was just cakes, and Tasha is going to use them to promote tashascakes.com. Also spotted this from Cory D.

2006-10-14T10:28:00.000+01:00

When on site I tried blogging by just writing to a text file when I can, then copying it into Blogger dashboard. Picked up a good tip though, if the first line of a text file is .LOG - whenever the file is opened, the date/time information is written as the next line.

16:32 10/10/2006
Just started shift again. Managed to get some lunch (breakfast for me) at the local Beefeater - and was very surprised at the fantastic food and service. After lunch thought it would be a great idea to try and get a power-nap before heading off for the airport. BAD IDEA - I now feel even worse. I'm hoping that this will wear off (especially after some caffine - which so far today I've avoided). I'm definitelty not going to do caffine (in any form) after midnight tonight, to see if that aids my sleep.

00:30 11/10/2006
It always amazes me how many conveyors they get into a baggage hall. Its a real labarinth and is reminicent of the scene from Toy Story 2! Still a construction site, where I'm working so very noisy, dirty and hot & sweaty. I think that the heat is coming from the huge ammount of temporary lighting that has been installed and the general lack of air circulation.

03:20 11/10/2006
On the home stretch of the shift now. Just started the lines back up and running, first bag due about 4am. Can't do any intrusive works now.

21:58 11/10/2006
Had a great night (well mornings) sleep and felt really quite refreshed, we had a good lunch again and a wee swim/suana session. I think that the good night was down to the 2 stage attack I made during the evening
1. No caffine (in any form) after midnight
2. Ordering a beer when I got back to the hotel (at 5:30am), which I received a very dirty look from the night porter for

Did some "tax-free" shopping airside today and got hold of some new earphones. Had the Shure ones in my hand, but when I reviewed the technical information (which didin't mean much to me). The far cheaper Senheisser ones were better. Got some discount as well as the tax-free thing too!

Spent a lot of time humping bags about for trials, which gave me a bit of a work-out. Back home Friday.

Ghoster

2006-10-10T10:18:00.000+01:00

Worked a ghoster shift last night` should really ahave been a late shift, but we were on a roll so ended up doing nearly 18 hours!!! Thats a good thing about working here, there is an abundance of good coffee at unusual times!

Managed to change to the Copthorne Hotel as well, which is far more comfortable. Will try the gym out later. As with all the night shifts I've worked, I get home and I'm buzzing, so never sleep properly - managed about 5 hours of restless slepp, but fell OK at the mo (maybe get some more later before heading in to site).

Plenty of productivity last night - hopefully the testing tonight (with ATKINS) will be as good.

Using my mobile phone as a modem again, will have to see if it is as cheap as I hope, or whether I get stung big style.

It was Mark who inspired me into writing posts again, he gave me the heads up on MacBreak podcast, which I listened to on the way down. Great stuff and the geek chats through the headphones, might keep me ticking along.

Its been a while...

2006-10-08T16:59:00.000+01:00

I've been working away the last few weeks. I started by being in Epsom, which proved not to be the easy visit that it was billed to be. I needed to spend a few extra days down there but got the issues resolved. From there I went straight to Gatwick, which is where I should be now, but they were slightly behind too, so I've been home this weekend (probably have to work next though). It seems very strange being at the airport again, as though I'd never been away - but its been about 10 years. It was also weird being away from home, as its really been the first stint since starting at ALSTEC.

Made the most of the weekend, got back in plenty of time to go pick up the kids from school which was great. Generally had the busy weekend of ferrying around to parties, ballet etc, but managed to get some time down at Fradley this morning. Had the afternoon to myself on Saturday, so did the PC deed that I've been meaning to do for a while, and upgraded. Added another 512MB RAM, 250GB HDD and gave it a good clean. Found out why its been stopping too (finally!) - might be useful for Mark. The processor fan unclips to reveal the heatsync. This was clogged full of dust at the core (it looked fine when looking at the fins from the outside). Cleaned out all the crud and rebuilt the PC, with a clean install. Seems a much better beast now.

Waiting for a call from work to confirm that I'm on nights next week. Think I'll drive down in the morning, and try and get some rest and chill out before starting work at 7 ish.

Glad to be back on line - even for a brief time.

Late weekend roundup

2006-09-20T21:30:00.000+01:00

Well another busy few days. Went out for Jack's leaving/birthday do. Great night out made even better by the fact that the restaurant we went to, Enrico's, is run by the couple that we used to dine with at their old place (and we didn't realise they'd got this new one).

Saturday afternoon went to the football with Nigel, much better game than the last time we went together. Would have been nice to come away with another 2 points though. In the evening we returned to Pascal's for the long awaited Gill & GJ birthday meal - as ever beautiful food.

Sunday we were off to Matlock and Gullivers Kingdom - which was a fantastic day out and the kids could get on everything - we didn't have to queue either.

Since going back to work its been busy, preparing for the SCADA tests next week and site commissioning the week after. Had a particularly sucessful day today, getting the last (and the most tricky) test completed.

Went out with Martin and Clive last night for a Mexican at Pepitos.

The Schwag man cometh!

2006-09-14T20:08:00.000+01:00

Yep, for the first time in a few months, the schwag man has delivered some booty. Its better for me that ValleySchwag only send out when they have some gear (rather than every month). Now its a random thing so, its a surprise when the beast arrives!

After Mark's headsup yesterday I checked out this post from Cabel on the new Nike iPod attachment. I need me one of those! He also raved about the latest iTunes, which I also installed. I am loving the interface, especially the summary page. Not really explored all the new features yet though.
Been feeling a bit rough this week, picked up a bit of a cold (probably becasue of lack of sleep). Feeling better than last night though, so hopefully get my taste fully back before we hit Pascal's on Saturday!

Great banter with Mark on the way home, for nearly the whole journey, miss those chats - but thats why I upped my phone tarrif.

Tasha has been in the wars this week. Whilst snacking on popcorn the other day, she bit a kernel and busted a tooth - which she had fixed today. Yesterday she pulled her back again, but thankfully that seems to be getting better, so its not as bad as last time.

Composite

2006-09-13T21:24:00.000+01:00

Following on from Mark's great composite image I decided to get my arse in gear and put together the one I took on holiday. Not sure about it, it seems to be high in contrast. I think I need a full tutorial from Mark.

2006-09-10T23:34:00.000+01:00

Another great week had!

Friday night went to watch Tasha's fantastic production of Godspell. Mesmerising performance and as many people reviewed a "performance worthy of a professional stage". Because of the young cast there was a teriffic amount of energy on the stage. With the venue change (due to the fire at the Brewhouse) - it meant that there were only 4 performances - as Saturday was already booked. Although the show was the best of the week according to Tasha - there were plenty of sad faces at the end, knowing that they wouldn't be doing it again - it was a strange mix of emotions.

Saturday was Fi's 18th birthday party which was held at the new Burton Albion Stadium. Great night, and one of the cast had brought the soundtrack with them, so several numbers were recreated. During the evening Jack's leaving do was arranged, so that means I'm out all next weekend too.

Thought that Sunday might be a bit restful, but not really - Florence got invited to a bowling party late on Friday, so we had to go a get a present, then take her to the bowling alley. Several gardening chores, and delivering all the show things to the next directors for Guys & Dolls.

2006-09-08T19:30:00.000+01:00

Had a great night with Martin last night. We had beers, curry and a movie - it was good to catch up, I miss them being around next door. From what he says they should be back up here by the end of the month. Bit of a late night, as Tasha didn't get home until 1ish. A boozy night, with 4.5 hours sleep and a FAT to get through at work, has meant a lunchtime of comfort eating!! Out again tonight and Saturday night as well - not sure the Thursday, Friday, Saturday thing has happened since we had kids!!

There has been much talk of money in the office today, one guy showing pictures of a property he has in the US, 8 bedrooms (you get the picture), as well as the normal flurry of text beeps at 9am for payments. Martin is always up for a good money spinning idea, and I think that the best one of the moment is the patent to MP3 compression . It appears that some bright spark requires paying for every technology that decompresses MP3 files into audible sounds. Now how many MP3 players are there in the world? Theres also always good money banter walking with Trapper at lunchtime (no gym today as he's still recovering from his helter-skelter injury). John was saying that if he spends an extended period on his next assignment he could talk about the assignment total in substantial fractions of million, and could potentially semi-retire on completion. Its a nice thought, but I'm still heavily into the balancing of home life ethic and would rather be very comfortable and take 12 weeks holiday a year than stinking rich and not know my kids (extreme but possible, the damage would be done by the time you retired).

Read a good post and a chapter in Ready for Anything about getting things out of your mind - brain dumping. Spent some time going through a list of triggers to try and get things down on paper again. Felt much better for the experience. I'd let the GTD thing slip since before the holidays, and its only now that I realise what it truely does for me - de-stress. I'm not sure I'm going to subscribe to the whole exercise, but certainly the triggers list every now and then will aid in dumping the mind of clutter. After my 7 habits phase as well I like to think that I'm at a stage when I can see benefits in running both methods.

Fresh Start

2006-09-05T18:58:00.000+01:00

Florence started back at school today, with her new bag and gear that we bought in France. I always remember the first day back at school (especially secondary school), when you'd got your new pencil case and new bag (in my case one of those rediculously large head bags). Although she has really enjoyed her holiday I think that everyone is ready to get back into the daily routine of going to school.

Tasha had final dress rehearsal last night for Godspell, which went really well. Even though Tasha has seen the production at least twice a week for the last few months, she said that everyone really came together last night and the emotion and dancing were creating a real buzz. I can't wait to see it on Friday (and might have to go earlier in the week too!), the snippets that I've seen were amazing.

The main shock news for me is that Steve Irwin has been killed whilst filming a stingray. I don't normally catch a lot of news so that first I heard about it was when the flood of JPG joke emails came in (which made no sense to me obviously), and then later on Flickr I saw some testemonials. I didn't watch him regularly but I was always impressed by his enthusiasm for wildlife and his keeness to educate.

As Tasha is out all week with the show - I've arranged a curry night on Thursday with Martin, was only saying to trapper the other day how long it had been since I had a cuury

My big fat greek weekend

2006-09-03T20:06:00.000+01:00

Went out for Amanda's leaving bash at the greek restuarant on Friday night. Originally only Tasha was going but we managed to get a last minute baby sitter. Really glad we did as it was a great night. the end of it was a massive 70 person plate throwing in the road outside - brilliant!! loads of wine and great banter with great friends. However in much need of a red bull the next morning, god knows what was in the wine, but the head ache I had was really really bad. Friday was also the day that I took our caravan to be serviced, it was the first time out in lumpy for a tow, since the new clutch was fitted - everything went OK, just hope that they can fix everything for not very much money!!! Went to the dentist in the afternoon.

Saturday, we mainly just chilled out, knowing that Sunday would be a big day. Tasha's long rehearsal. As assistant director she had to be there really early this morning and I don't think she'll be home until 11ish tonight. We popped in very briefly and everything seemed to be going fine.

Normal chores for me, with a drink and some TV, hopefully catching Tasha when she gets in, if I've not passed out - back to the grind tomorrow and show week business.

Looking forward to Fi's 18th party next weekend with the same croud as Friday night - should be another good one!!

Birmingham...again

2006-08-30T06:32:00.000+01:00

Well I'm off to Brum again today, the 3rd time since Saturday, for my IET C.Eng interview. We went in on Monday to have some lunch (at Cafe Rouge) and to get some presents for the new arrival in the street. Of course we found it hard to resist a good mooch around the ground floor at selfridges, where they have this jelly bean man. Restricted ourselves to 4 doughnuts from Krispy Kreme too!

Working from home this morning for a couple of hours then Tasha is dropping me at the station for the hop to Birmingham.

2006-08-27T21:18:00.000+01:00

Well Florence's ankle needed some dressing this morning, but throughout the day she has been able to put more and more weight on it. We went over to Tasha's mums today. It was great to see Dan, Karen & Lauren too. We managed to get dates sorted out to go and visit them.

We then went over to Janice's for their 60th birthday bash.

Tasha is out on the lash tonight - it might be a late one!

An hour after eating a Chinese meal you could eat another one...

2006-08-27T07:49:00.000+01:00

... or so they say. Well, certainly not for me last night - the Chancers went to Birmingham for the first get together. Met up with Adrian and Trapper as they who were in town early.

Mark met us in the apple store in the bullring, and we had a great 1/2 hour of geeking (John and Adrian had gone for their first drink by this stage). After that we wandered around New Street and stumbled on a german wine festival, and enjoyed a glass of red. Geoff and Chi phoned, so we set off back for the station to collect them.

We all called in on the Ikon gallery, which was a first for me, but won't be the last, before meeting up with the others in a pub near the canal. After some more drinks we ate at the big wok. It was busy but unlike similar places I've visited, the food was varied and abundant.

I ate so much that the train journey home was pretty uncomfortable!!

The clan had all been to Jean & Melvyn's and Florence had sprained her ankle (hopefully nothing more serious).

Thanks guys for a great afternoon!!

Chores

2006-08-24T22:24:00.000+01:00

Had a productive day from start to finish today. Testing is going well especially after Peter and I discussed the philosophy - I was trying to get too much working. A more basic approach is required, and as soon as I got that in my skull things speeded up.

General good karma tidying and installed new power management for the desktop. Caught up with LOST, and cleared my inbox - after the backlog when the router fried.

Had a great talk with Mark on the way home. He is obviously feeling the same way in upping the level of photography being done. Looking forward to Saturday, MP3s, geeking and a good catch-up. Do I take the camera????

Old Street roundabout comp-1

2006-08-22T21:14:00.000+01:00

Old Street roundabout comp-1,
originally uploaded by BombDog.

Bombdog has been at it again. Fantastic image composite. This is part of the Parkour group, go check it out here group.

Back on line

2006-08-22T20:14:00.000+01:00

Never thought I'd miss the internet (especially having done without it on holiday), but when there is a PC there with a fried router....

...anyway, its all OK now.

I'm back!

2006-08-15T20:25:00.000+01:00

Well back in the UK after a fantastic break in France for nearly 3 weeks. It all started pretty badly, with the clutch failing on our tow car the day before we were going to leave. After speaking to a varied amount of people (some cowbows and some who obviously knew what they were on about), it appears that our car is known for getting through clutches. I rang the caravan club to see if they could offer any advice. As we'd taken out some comprehensive travel cover with them, they could supply a hire car equivalent if they couldn't get it fixed. By 4pm (16 hours until we wanted to set off), we had decided that it was not possible to repair the car in time, so a hire car was arranged, but it was coming from London over night and wouldn't get to us until 10am at the earliest. This news was both a relief (that we were going to get away) and also a frustration, as we wanted to leave at 8.30. We checked that we could change our ferry if we needed to and then waited. Practical the hire company were brilliant, and they delivered the car, a very luxurious Nissan Pathfinder and we got it loaded up, hitched and we were on our way just before mid-day. That meant we had 4 hours to get to Dover, which in turn meant no stopping on route, if we were to meet our ferry.

We made it (with minutes to spare), and as we sat and had our first French beer that evening, Tasha's dad said "Well, you are here, on the ferry that you booked as planned". It was true, although it had been stressful.

The rest of the holiday was a breeze in comparison. There was a lot of long day driving, to get to the Dordogne, but it was all worth it - and the in-car DVD player that we bought helped no end with the boredom for the children. Straight back into work yesterday was a shock to the system, but a little French wine on the return home, just made the holiday feeling trickle back into the system for a while.

Of course now the taks of getting our original car repaired is upon us!

We were all very grateful to Simon at Practical in Leicester, and Will at the CC Travel line for getting us on hoiliday.

Fine food, wine, the apple store & fires

2006-07-16T20:17:00.000+01:00

All in all an exhausting weekend.

Tasha & I enjoyed a fantastic night out at Pascals at the old vicarage, great food and a beautiful bottle of wine.

Today we headed off for our child free day at the bullring. Had a look at the apple macbook in the apple store and was almost won over. I also went and had a look at the ultra portable Sony range in Selfridges. Torn.

On the way home we passed a steam rally at Barton, one of the competitors was trundling down the road, setting fire to mthe hedges as he passed!

Driving Practice

2006-07-13T19:35:00.000+01:00

Had some idea of how much driving I'll need to do when I go to France. We are planning on about 300 miles a day, in 2 steady 3 hour stints. Today I went to Heathrow and back (via Leicester) a total of 240 miles - but I was being the wheel for about 7 hours! Had to go for a secirity check and photo (took about 20 minutes).

Feel drained

Have been asked to revamp the pre-scholl website. Have some good ideas, will post links when I get into it.

Looking forward to our pampering weekend. Holiday planning on Friday night. Florence the party animal taxiing on Saturday, with a meal at the Old Vicarage in the evening, then the Bullring on Sunday.

Trading a paper clip for a house

2006-07-12T20:59:00.000+01:00

An interesting experiment

Zidane

2006-07-10T20:57:00.000+01:00

I've always had a lot of time for Zidane, I've watched games when he's played for Juventus, Real Madrid and France and thought that he was genius. After a minor holding incident last night in the World cup final (Zidane's last game for his country) the Italian defender said something that made Zidane flip and he head-butted him in the chest. Non of the on-pitch officials saw the incident and at the moment its thought that the 4th/5th official saw it on the video monitor and reported it to the referee. This goes against the FIFA philosophy altogether - but the resulting red card was the right decision. Zidane had no place on the pitch after that, and he went down in my estimations. The red card came in extra time, after he had nearly got his country into the lead, Viera and henry had should be substituted and if it was going to penalties, you'd want Zindane there. It did go to penalties and France obviously lost, the Italians put away some great penalties.

Old fashioned service

2006-07-09T19:48:00.001+01:00

We had our 4x4 serviced this Saturday. I'd been told that its best to get it serviced by specialists as there are numerous other things that need checking. The garage that we bought the car from, didn't inspire confidence, so we decided to go to a local independent. Frankerbrook Garage, near Belper was where we decided and it was very good. Its the kind of service that my Mum & Dad would have raved about, very pleasant. Everything was fully explained and I felt very confident about all the work. They managed to sort out a couple of niggling things too. The drive home from Belper felt great, a new car!!

On the flip side of that, I waied in all day for someone to come round and collect something they'd bought of eBay from me - no show. I wish people would just let me know they don't want stuff. Would have been a completely wasted day apart from the Wimbeldon final - wish was a good watch. I thought it was going to be a complete white wash, but Nadal finished strong.

2006-07-06T20:28:00.000+01:00

Last night saw Italy through to the world cup final. To be honest that was a bit of a shock to me, I thought that Germany would do it. If they had it would have been the 8th time they'd reached the final, more than any other country.

The space shuttle mission final took off yesterday too, it seems that some foam came off this time too, but the astronauts are performing several new techniques and tests to check for external damage.

We got sent home from work at lunchtime today, due to a huge powercut in Leicester. there was a pretty violent storm, with heavy rain and lightening for about 45 minutes, the result of which was a powercut at 1030. John and I went to the sports centre and the power was out over there too, all the traffic lights etc enroute were down. Aparently a main line took a direct hit.

Florence got her first 2 swimming badges tonight for 5 & 10 metres. I've not seen her swim for ages (due to not normally being home from work), she has really improved over the last few weeks and is gaining a lot of confidence in the water. We're all very proud of her.

Arranged the shareholders dinner at the vicarage, the final part of hopefully a great weekend.

2006-07-04T20:16:00.000+01:00

No doubt there will be fireworks all over the US today, but the heat is coming from the weather over here. In the new office there is no air conditioning, in my car there is also no air conditioning. I went swimming yesterday lunchtime, and within minutes of getting dry, was drenched again.

The drive home was hot too - made more irritating by my card getting a random authorisation check at the service station and I ended up speaking to someone on the phone for 10 minutes, with a huge queue building up behind me! Got home and was issued with a cold Stella, from Tasha, and the BBQ cooking some mackerel.

Have decided that it is the time of year to do my life laundry thing again. I've pretty much sorted my GTD life out now, and have settled on using good old text files for all my lists (this actually works a lot better than I thought it would). I keep them on my pen drive so that they are portable between work and home. I found that when I truely wrote down all my projects and next actions that there was too bigger turnover of paper to keep things together in a filofax (unless you do the 1 item per page thing).

Started watching the tour last night. Think I will be able to catch up with much more of it this year as it is on TV at a better time for me.

Weekly roundup

2006-07-02T19:28:00.000+01:00

A really busy week on all levels. Started to get involved in a few more projects at work, which is good because all elements of boredom have gone. John and I got into going to the gym together, which works really well. We've booked a squash court next week.

More people are leaving work. Rumours abound, both from people at Coventry and backing up by people at my current assignment that more interviews are being set up. Adrian managed to bag his project too, so there are only a handfull of folks left. Big news to is Dr Simon from Manchester has also quit.

Had a great weekend at the South Staffs Strawberry Rally at Haywood Park Farm. Fantastic "heat wave" weather, with not a drop of rain and read hot temperatures (good practice for France). We arrived Friday tea time and got the BBQ sorted straight away. Up to go fruit picking at 9ish the next day and got a good booty of raspberries and strawberries (and picked up some graet homemade ice cream to go with them). Went into Stafford town centre late morning for a mooch around the shops and had lunch out at Bella Italia. On the way back to the car indulged in some chocolate fountain bits and pieces. Got back in time to listen to the football on my new DAB radio. Had another BBQ.

Disappointing! I thought the critism targetting at Sven was a little harsh, after all it wasn't him who missed all the cahnces on goal, the penalties or stamped on someones knackers.

Switched over after that and was cheered by the tennis.

Sunday saw some more fantastic weather and another trip for fruit booty, gooseberries, starwberries, raspberries, tayberries and red currants were had (and eaten). Tasha sat outside and did some dance work for this ebening's rehearsal, then we packed ourselves up and came home. Next time we sit on those chairs, we'll be breakfasting in France (which is a great thought). Got home and rounded off the weekend with another BBQ.

Rough as a badger's arse

2006-06-25T19:46:00.000+01:00

Thats how I feel today -all self inflicted unfortunately so sympathy is non-existent! It was the auction of promises yesterday. Tasha was doing the cateering, so she was out most of the day preparing for the expected 100 guests. This was my first auction as a bidder (and I was also one of the lots for a full bike service). The idea is that folk turn up, eat and drink for an hour or so then then try and make pissed people buy things. I got away lighty (I think) I won 4 lots, and only spent £100 - but I got a family ticket to Heights of Abraham and a cave tour, Family pass to twin lakes, Ice age 2 gamecube game (one of Dave's lots) and tickets to see Leicester Tigers vs The Barbarians next year. The lot I was really after was the japanese meal, but that went out of my zone. The other popular lot out of the 93 in total was Tasha's cakes - which went up from the £57 winning bid last year to £70!!

I can't remember much about getting home, and I appently had a conversation with Tasha when she got back, which I have no recollection of. Couldn't even face a hangover curing big mac at lunchtime (which I was VERY disappointed about). I'm too old for this shit!

Friday was a good day at work, I've been given another task to perform, so I've plenty to keep me occupied now. Although the SMS message didn't work from Brookson this week I did get paid, which was VERY nice!! I got the complicated company shareholder pay slip the following day as well. Dan and I flew over to Coventry at lunchtime to see John at the cocked hat. Must have been everyone thats left turned out. Good to see folk again. Also had a great chat with John on the way home.