Monday again. Already?

Running late. Train full of young school kids. Signalling problems, so off to the central line. Then DLR, then work. Tired, oh so tired this morning. Tired in the bone.

Managed to get all our trellis sanded and stained this weekend, but now we're paying for it.

Need rest. I'll post something on the way home if I can get a coherent thought together!

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The post after the night before

Send paracetamol. And water.

Not really. I'm tired, as always, but fine. A fun time was had, the early part of the evening was better than the latter, but it was all good. Nice food, tapas, good company. Then a long journey home, and not enough sleep.

Another week draws to a close, a weekend in the garden, for a change, beckons.

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On life outside work

I was talking the other day to someone I work with and mentioned that I would love to run a windsurfing school during the day, and a bar by night. Putting aside the logistics of the fantasy for now, the question she asked was, "You windsurf?" It struck me that some people don't know me, even though they know me!

So, yes, I windsurf. (Bloggers note: when I say I do these things, they are on hold whilst my daughter gets a bit older. In my mind I still do them, and the fact that I haven't actually practiced any of them in over 3 years is irrelevant.) I own a short(ish) 285, and enjoy nothing more than hooking in, and shooting across the water.

I also kayak. I have a BCU 4 star, used to teach, and got to division 3 in the british white water slalom league. Of the 2, I most enjoy windsurfing, but the sheer frightening joy of shooting over a grade 4 rapid and living takes some beating!

On dry land I mountaineer. I have climbed Kilimanjaro, numerous alps, walked the haute route from Chamonix to Zermett, climed in south and north America, and walked the highest 14 mountains in Wales, and the highest 100 (except Pillar rock) in the Lakes.

I also climb, and am comfortable leading VS outdoors, and 5C, E1 indoors (6A, HVS is also OK) (I know most of you won't know what that means, suffice to say it's not the hardest, but it's not that easy!)

In my spare time (!) I play guitar and keyboards (not at the same time), and have played numerous times live with the accompanyment of some fantastic female singers.

Finally I enjoy a large range of computer games, and watching movies from an extensive selection.

At various times I have run (4 half marathons so far, and an off road tri-athlon), and mountain biked; however, I think these come more under exercise than hobbies!

So there you go, genius computer geek, and outdoor sports freak all in one!

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Post without a clever title

Feeling contemplative this morning. A little down. Can't put my finger on it, and I'm sure it'll pass quickly enough.

We got to bed at an almost reasonable hour, but the 03:15 botty call put paid to a good nights sleep. The wake up call at 05:00 didn't help much either. I slept in a bit, but not enough.

I need a holiday. I can feel it. I've always thrived under stress, but stress when you have to get other people to do the work whilst still being accountable is a different kettle of fish. Stress where I can't do anything to directly resolve it is taking it's toll. I need a break. And some sleep; but not as much as I did, the weekend helped.

Anyhow, enough of this. Time to kick in to life. I need some suggestions. TV shows worth watching. We're just starting Battlestar Gallactica season 2, but I have an issue with the second disk, so we're stuck for a while. I did download Dexter, but that only lasted 7 minutes before it was turned off. Ugly Betty and Bones are due for release in September, Lost is December. We need something to fill the gap. Any suggestions?

Other than that, work continues in our garden, the end is distant, but in sight. The interior is on hold briefly, but it too is soon to be finished. Then all we have to do is keep everything clean, tidy and maintained!

Work approacheth, and another day of meetings, decisions, and justifications beckons. Fun.

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Monday morning, and away we go!

Another week begins. For once I don't feel too bad. Twice this weekend we managed to sleep until 09:30. Three times this weekend we turned the lights off just before midnight. We seem to have lost the ability to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Thankfully, babe is understanding and let's us sleep in.

I'm still waking in the early hours of the morning with problems breathing. Nothing too worrying, but enough to rouse me. This morning it was 05:00, which is, at least, an hour later than usual. I sorted myself out, and went back to sleep. I woke at the normal time feeling quite good. Makes a change.

As I'm under orders not to blog about my journey, I won't complain about the shambles that is public transport this morning. Suffice to say I'm on a bus. It's that bad.

I was going to blog about stuff this morning, but my mind is rather distracted, so I'll leave it there. I'll think about an update later.

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In closing

The week draws to a close, but I know it's going to go out with a fight.

I've got issues to deal with at work (although I have the bare bones of a plan there is still the human factor to deal with), other issues at work (more meetings, more e-mails, I can see this one spiraling out of control), and my breathing is playing up.

Hayfever has never really bothered me, but this year it is. My eyes itch constantly (except for about 10 minutes after I use eye drops), I sneeze constantly, and I am forever blowing my nose. This has been going on for a month now, and I'm sick of it.

Recently, it has added a dry cough, and a whole heap of wheezing to it's bag of tricks. This is not just annoying, but worrying too. And last night it interrupted not just my sleep, but my wifes. This will not do. Time to see someone about it.

Problem is, I don't know what's causing it. There are obviously no animals in the house (ankle biters aside!), and the amount of pollen on the underground, and in our air conditioned building at work doesn't warrant the reactions I'm having. It seems to get worse at 18:00 every night whether I'm at home or on a train, and is always better in a morning, almost non existant in the afternoon. In short, it's not behaving like any other reaction I've had before.

So, good luck to the Docs on tracking this one down!

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On something other than trains

I've been told! "No more boring posts about your boring journey. There's only one thing worse than a commuter journey, and that's reading about a commuter journey. Now stop it!"

So, where does that leave me? Stuck underground, racking my brains for something to write about.

Right then, kids! They're great. Convinced? Ok, well...

When I ring home I can here my daughter in the background saying, "Dada". She does this everytime the phone rings.

When I get home she'll turn to me, then give me a big grin, a "Dada", and a demand for a cuddle.

When I'm holding her she'll turn and give me a kiss.

If I say "Cutie pie" she'll pinch my cheek and give it a wobble.

I've taught her how to do 'raspberries'. She does them all the time on Mummy.

When I kiss her goodnight she waves.

When I leave the room she'll crane round to see where I've gone.

When it's bedtime she'll knock on the wall so I come and get her.

After bathtimes the first thing we'll do is sit down with her wrapped in a towel. She'll cuddle up to me every time, looking up at my face.

The best game in the world is whatever Daddy's doing now.

When she's upset, only a cuddle from Daddy will do. (Ok, Mummy cuddles work as well)

Everyday she discovers new things, and always wants to share them with me.

One day I'll get to watch Star Wars with her.

She'll probably like Jar Jar.

She makes it all worthwhile, and between her and my wife I have something to look forward to at the end of every day.


If you're not convinced now, then you'd just have to see her, see the happiness in her, and experience one of those selfless cuddles.

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Spaced

Walking around in a daze this morning. Not feeling tired per se, just not exactly connecting with planet earth.

Potential problems travelling in (yet another signal failure) were brilliantly averted when a train that usually terminates at my station was pushed into service as a fast train to London. This has got to be the only time ever that everyone from my station has managed to get a seat on a London commuter train.

Now at a complete loss for what to write. Certainly can't do a piece on why kids are great any justice, so that'll have to wait.

Also can't concentrate as the driver of the tube insists on telling us over and over again that this is a peak time service, it may be subject to delays, however we can help; by standing behind the yellow line and letting people off before we board. The next station is x you can do a, b, c. Please stand clear of the doors. And so on. He hasn't shut up for longer than 10 seconds so far. He's apologising for an inconvienience that we aren't experiencing now. The only thing I want him to apologise for is not shutting up, followed by him shutting up.

Anyway, another day, another set of meetings.

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Monday morning

The usual large number of RSS feeds this morning have left me close to my destination again with little time to write.

One of my friends told me that reading this blog reminds him daily why he doesn't want kids! I'll try and answer that one tomorrow.

In completely unrelated news, I have a stinking headache this morning, and am really tired.

Had a good weekend. A productive saturday saw me getting my rear damper fixed on the car, and then wiring the entire garden to allow plants to grow. Sunday was quiet and enjoyable. A walk to the corner shop with my daughter, a trip to the park, a home cooked sunday dinner, a trip out to a garden, and finally a relaxing movie with my wife.

Now it's Monday, and commuting is as much fun as always. Can't seem to maintain focus yet today; I keep thinking it's afternoon already, and getting out of tube trains expecting to see the sun. Fairly easy day thankfully. I'm sure I'll get it together soon.

Time to stop rambling. Work approacheth.

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Late running

When you forget to set an alarm, and you're really tired, you're body doesn't wake you at 06:23 naturally. Strange that. Thankfully, my wife does set an alarm (for a slightly later time than mine however) otherwise I'd still be asleep now.

Once I had got up, and made my way out, I got to my interchange with the trains. Nicely timed, (ok, complete chance) I walked down the stairs as a train arrived. Making my way to the platform, just as the door stopped, I was asked by the platform staff if I was travelling first class. Now, 2 things should be noted at this point:

1. There are constant announcements played over the tannoy telling customers to use all available doors when trying to board a train.

2. The carriage I was trying to board is the buffet car (I've mentioned before about leaning on the buffet on the journey). This car only has 1 door, the other side of the carriage has a door shape, but it doesn't open.

I said no to the guy, and explained I was going to the buffet. He then wouldn't let me on the train saying that I would have to use one of the standard class doors.

A point about the platform. The entrance, and main length of the platform leads people to a certain point. This happens to be about equal distance between the first and second doors into standard class. When a train arrives, 50% of people go for each of these doors. The door he was pointing me at was the first of these. It was surrounded by lots of people. The door I was at had me.

Not wanting an arguement I walked to the other door, waited so I could actually board, and then walked back through to the carriage I had wanted.

The story would end here; however, as the train was about to leave one of the first class stewards walked through to the buffet furious. He started complaining to the buffet girl that the platform attendant was out of order and incredibly rude. That he wasn't letting people on the train was just ridiculous. A woman beside me agreed with him, and I spoke up too (with my all doors argument). The steward was so annoyed he gave us free drinks. That'll show 'em!

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Lighter post? No suggestions.

I left it yesterday promising a lighter post, and asking for suggestions. How many did I get? None. Oh well.

So, apart from complaining about being tired, and having a headache that won't quit, what could I write about?

I could explore the possibility that Igglepiggle and Upsy Daisy are seeing each other; however, they clearly are, and most of you won't know what I'm talking about. (If you plan to have kids I suggest you find out.)

That's all folks. Now packed on a tube. Picked a quick breather to type this bit, but will lose the space again in a minute.

Want something better, let me know.

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Trains

In the course of my daily commute I use 8 trains. 4 above ground, 4 below. Yesterday, 5 of them ran slow (left on time, arrived late) and 1 was cancelled completely (thankfully the other company that uses the line decided to stop at my station, so I was only delayed 22 minutes).

In a seperate post by a friend of mine in Japan at the minute, he describes trains there as leaving on time, and arriving on time. To the minute. As the norm. If you have only 12 minutes to interchange after a 2 hour journey, you don't worry. You will have 12 minutes. Simple. Can't see anyone planning a journey that way here. (Or if they do, I can't see it working out that way!)

Why can't we do things right in this country. The news is predicting (usual FUD probably) that oil *could* hit $250 a barrel in 18 months. This won't double the price at the pump, but it'll have a significant impact. More people will start to question car ownership, and car journeys. Given that our public transport infrastructure is already over capacity, and has been woefully underfunded for many years, what do "they" expect to happen. (They in this case is anyone who could be doing something about this. Government, rail bosses, network rail.)

At present, I can only guarantee a seat for myself on the 2 short overground trips I make. These journeys are 9 minutes, so I don't usually bother. I can sometimes get a seat on the short underground trip in the morning. This journey is 4 minutes, I don't bother. On all 4 of my longer journeys (around 25 to 30 minutes each) I have no expectations of a seat at all. Getting one on the tube is sheer luck. I won't get one on the train. Neither will dozens of others. These trains are already over capacity. The usual notice in the morning is, "This train is reported full and standing."

In related news, my feet are killing me. They really hurt at the moment. Time for more action around my insoles and supports I think.

Something a bit lighter tomorrow I think. Any suggestions?

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What do I do?

For years the answer I've given to the question "What do you do for a living?" Has been "I design computer systems."

This answer has served me well. "I work in I.T." was too vague and left me open to all sorts of support type questions. "I'm a technical architect" would be met with blank stares.

Obviously most people probably thought I worked out where all the bits went inside a computer, but, in my mind, the answer cover n-teir architecture, AD/LDAP design, message queuing, load balancing, cluster design, and all the other stuff I did.

Now, however, I'm a bit stuck. Most people haven't got the fogiest idea what 'Capacity Management' is; and, while I do get involved in database design, I wouldn't list it as a primary function of my job.

"I'm an Associate Director", or "I'm a head of department" don't really give people any information.

I could go to the functional, "I ensure that the companies computers are utilised as well as they can", or, "I'm in charge of measuring and increasing the utilisation of the companies computers." However, this doesn't really work for me as there is so much more to it.

"I'm in charge of the team looking after all the operational data in the company, and ..." It gets a bit waffly after that.

So, what do I do? I'm in charge of a operational database tracking all the companies assets and how they are attributed to the various parts of the organisation. I'm in charge of the current and historic reporting on the data. I run the capacity management systems within the company, and report on the utilisation of all the systems. I drive initiatives to increase the utilisation in line with company and industry targets. I am also the 'service owner' for the performance management tool we use, and am the person responsible for prioritising the development of the tool, and steering it's technical direction.

Now, can anyone put all that into a layman friendly sentence?

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3 lights and a lot of wiring

Busy weekend. Busier than originally planned. My parents arrived Friday, and we had a nice evening catching up. Saturday saw a day of jobs. Planting, grass cutting, putting up wire around the garden for plants of climb on, more planting, ironing, some tidying up, and a collapse!

Thankfully it was a nice day, and the various jobs passed pleasantly enough. Sunday we started off taking it easy. We had decided to visit a garden, and then go for lunch in a nice pub nearby. That was scuppered by the garden not being open! So we went for a quick walk by the river, and an early lunch. It's fortunate that we did as it was too hot for little one, and she was a bit grouchy.

When we got home, more jobs. Quite sedate this time though; lights in the hallway and landing. Easy enough, and much better looking than bare bulbs (even if they are energy saving ones). An easy tea, and a movie (cloverfield) followed.

Bed, sleep, work.

My wonderful wife and Dad have today finished all the planting, and my parents should be just about home now. I thank them again for all their help.

Now all we need is lights for the bathrooms and study, some carpet, and some wood(ish) flooring and we'll be finished!

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128 RSS feeds!

That's why there is no post this morning. 128 feeds, and I'm at work already (still 2 to read). Guess that's what happens when you have a busy weekend.

More later. (Probably).

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Slow morning

It's going slowly this morning. The first train was delayed 14 minutes, the second has taken 10 minutes to finally get up to full speed. I can feel it's going to be one of those days.

Apologies for the 2 short posts this week, it's been rather hectic at home and at work. Preperations for my parents coming, some bits and pieces being done to the house; combined with a big presentation at work, and some reports that needed sending out, and then chasing for actioning.

However my parents arrive today, the presentation was yesterday, and today is the deadline for actions. So by this evening I can move on and worry about something else. (Probably the result of the actions I get back today!)

My lovely daughter is now choosing to walk for herself. Up until now she's walked if stood up and encouraged, but reverted to crawling if she actually wanted to go somewhere. Now she'll quite happily set off on 2 feet if, for example, she was already stood up at the coffee table. Next step is for her to choose to stand up and walk, rather than stay down and crawl.

Can't seem to stop sneezing at the moment. My eyes are iching most of the time too. I've never had this much trouble with hayfever before. I know I'm a bit run down at the minute which can't be helping, but this is getting annoying.

Oh well, finally made London. Another day begins.

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Cannot compute

Presentation and problems this morning. I'm on 10 e-mails so far, and I haven't even hit London yet. As such, can't think of much else. Need to get my head straight for 9. Fun day ahead; I can tell.

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No post

So there was no post this morning. That's because I overslept, and spent the journey in writing mails and preparing for work. As penance I've worked late tonight, and will probably miss all the Daddy/ daughter time.

Better time keeping tomorrow, I'm presenting to lots of people at 9 am!

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Tired, wet and miserable

Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

It's definitely wet this morning, and whilst it was nice to lie in bed listening to the rain, it was less pleasant to walk to the train in it.

I didn't get the best of night's sleep. The cold I'm keeping at bay plays havoc with my nose at night. My daughter also woke a couple of times with night terrors, but settled again immediately.

And that's it. I'm knackered and slightly damp. Time for a holiday I feel!

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Quick one

It's taken me a long time to catch up on all my RSS feeds this morning, so I'm nearly at work already. Trains have been absolutely useless today, so I'm about 45 minutes later than I should have been. Not a good start. I had some funny observations, and a weekend update planned, but there just isn't time. London bridge already.

Quickly, the weekend was one long sanding and staining epic, and still isn't finished. The important bit is done, but I have about 40 foot of wood left to sand and stain, and that doesn't include the posts. It'll get done eventually though.

The house didn't get the clean it deserved, so that gets bumped to nights this week. I'll be glad when Friday arrives, and with it my parents; as, by that point, it'll be too late to do anything about any remaining problems! Thankfully it's not too bad, we did manage a quick vacuum, and to clean the kitchen. With the important bits of the garden done, we can concentrate on the house this week. I know my poor, long suffering wife will be doing everything she can during little one's nap time.

Right, I've got 2 minutes left, and then a fun packed, full day. What joy!

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