Yes, I know it's only Monday, but...

We're doing well. I was up, showered, dressed, and had made my wife a hot drink by 06:45 this morning. And my wife appreciated it! We're changing things round. The clocks going back have given us the chance to get the little one up earlier, and, hopefully, get her to bed earlier too.

We we're up and dressed at 07:30 yesterday, and made our way to a local food store to get some xmas presents (side note, my brilliant and fantastic wife has just about finished all the xmas preperations. Cards were all written ages ago, most of the presents are now bought, and everything is wrapped and tagged.), and, I my case, pick up some lunch. Then we were off to Cliveden.

Disaster struck early on. My wife needed to "relieve" herself, and moved off behind some bushes. Now, in hindsight, we could have planned this better but little one was wandering free with her little pushchair, and wasn't waiting for anyone. At the point she decided to trot off down the path, a couple walking their dog appeared, approaching from the other side. I had no choice but to follow my daughter, so I passed a warning to my wife and followed little one. A short while later, the conversation went something like this:

Wife: Thanks!
Me: What?
W: You could have warned me people were coming.
M: I did
W: When? You just wandered off.
M: As I left I said, "People are coming, sorry, have to follow little one."
W: Yes, and I asked if you were talking to me.
M: And I said, "Yes, but I have to go"
W: Oh, I thought you said, "No". Well I wasn't very well hidden, I got no warning, and I'm sure they could see me. As soon as I saw them I stood up. I've got wee down my leg, and I've got a nettle sting on my bottom.
M: rofl
W: It hurts

In the afternoon I did some paperwork, and my fantastic wife wrapped xmas presents.

I didn't get out for a run yesterday. It was far too wet early on, and remained damp throughout. It's not a good idea to do running in the wet when you get asthma, the two things don't tend to work well together!

Now the clocks have finally gone back I feel more righted again. I mentioned this at the beginning of the year, but I feel slightly off kilter when the clocks are forward. I don't know why, but as soon as things right themselves it's as if a low grade headache suddenly goes away. I firmly believe that time should be based on when the sun is highest in the sky. Midday should be exactly what it sounds like.

A quick hello to my Mum to let her know we're thinking of her. Even though she won't read this until afterwards, and I'll probably speak to her before she gets to a computer.

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Complaining (whinging)

Tired, depressed, but hopeful. Work and real life are getting on top of me. I have so much to do and no where near enough time to do it.

We got to bed "early" last night, lights out at 10:50, but a disturbed night, and early morning have left us feeling as knackered as normal. My poor wife is in some discomfort. Only a minor ailment, but I know she's hurting with it (probably because she keeps telling me :p ), and, as with anything that hurts for a while with no relief, it's affecting her disposition. Hopefully the Docs, today, can give her something to fix, or at least relieve, the problem.

I had a long conversation with my boss yesterday off the back of the long e-mail I sent yesterday morning, and a large part of the small stuff that needs doing but is just the day to day beauracracy I'm now getting assistance with. This has allowed me, for the first time in weeks, to actually do *my* job!

Home stuff just needs bringing up to date. I have a number of outstanding things I need to respond to, and this months bills and paperwork to pay and file. Time is being set aside this weekend. Monday will bring a brighter day (especially with the stag weekend at the end of the week). I know that once everything is up to date I'll say, once again, that I'll keep on top of it, but I know that 2, 3 months down the line I'll be back here, needing to do it again.

On the plus side, the exercise is continuing, I swam again this week, 750m in 30 minutes, and I've run for the last few weekends. The effects seem minor so far, but the trousers do feel slightly looser.

So, in short, delegate, and keep on top of the paperwork. That, and find some planet that has a 30 hour day to allow you to get everything done!

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No post

No post this morning as I've spent the last hour writing e-mails and whinging to my boss. Hopefully I've sorted some issues out.

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Run down

Off yesterday. The sore throat I've had for the last few days, and a cough that developed Monday, combined to give me a bad night, compounding weeks (years) of poor sleep to leave me incapable yesterday morning. I eventually got up just after 11, had a shower, watched "The Incredible Hulk", phoned work a couple of times, and generally took it easy. In the afternoon, my wife and I managed a little shopping, and the fresh air certainly helped.

I'd love to say we got an early night, but we didn't. Little one needed a nap in the afternoon (which, with my Mother-in-law babysitting, was how we got to go shopping), and wasn't ready to go to sleep until later. She shared some food with us all, had a couple of books, a couple of abortive attempts to sleep, a number of cuddles, and finally went down after 9. When we did, finally, get to bed, I woke once with the cough, but slept fine the rest of the time. I feel a lot better today!

That's it really. A lazy day, and no real news. Journey is slow this morning, I'm already over 15 minutes behind schedule, but it's ticking along. Roll on the next holiday!


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There's a storm coming

The light this morning had a yellow quality to it, the air was too warm, and the wind too unsettled and gusty. The clouds above were scudding across the sky, and things had that slightly apocalyptical feel. I have a feeling I'll be wet before I get home this evening.

The weekend saw us doing stuff! We went to Cliveden on Saturday. Eventually. We all had a lie-in first as little one had us up at 03:45, and I'd got in late on Friday after meeting some work colleagues for a drink. (Not a good combination!) The compulsory weekend trip to the supermarket in the afternoon, and my wife and I got some jobs done.

Sunday saw me out for my weekly run. It was cold out, and I took a while to warm up to it. Did ok though, and it's getting *slightly* easier.

Once I was back and changed we went to the seventh circle of hell, or, as some call it, the NCT nearly new sale. We were only inside for 30 minutes, but I'm sure I'm about 5 years older now. We did manage to get a coat for my daughter though as her current one just doesn't fit properly anymore. Escape from Hades saw us heading home for lunch, followed by a trip to the garden centre for some soil. On return, little one went down for a nap, and my wife and I finally re-potted three plants which we've been meaning to do for months.

I cooked our Sunday dinner after that whilst my wife cleaned the house. Dusting, tidying, vacuuming; a small tornado of cleaning moved through our house. Anyone would think her Mum was coming over today. Oh. :)

Little one was in a strange mood last night, fixating on buttons and lights and just acting weird. Her teeth seem to be bothering her too. She finally went down at about 20:30, and was asleep about 40 minutes later. We watched Fringe, tidied the kitchen, and went to bed.

The journey this morning has taken ages. Every train seems to be on a go slow. I, finally, have 1 more stop, and then I'm there.

Friday night out was good. I didn't end up in Oxford, I left at the right time, I caught all the right trains. It was good to see those I was out with, but, as always, I could have done with longer to chat. The world was nearly set right, but the clock caught up with us.

Escape is almost at hand, so I bid adieu. More tomorrow. (You just can't wait can you?!)

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Beautiful dawn

If only I had a camera on my phone. For those who missed it (easy to do at 06:57!) the dawn was glorious this morning. Yellow orange horizon moving through cornflower blue to deep blue further up. 1 wispy looking cloud, there more for decoration it seemed. If only I wasn't hurrying for a train in the pre-dawn chill. Time for my coat to make a re-appearance. It was a chilly 5 degrees this morning, and is due to be a fresh -1 on Monday.

Forgot to charge my iPod last night, so no music this morning.

Went swimming last night. First time in years. It was harder than I remember it. Did a constant 45 mins, so not bad. My legs twitched something cronic last night though. Painful too. Not too many aches this morning though which is encouraging. Should get a run in over the weekend.

The usual load of jobs are lining up for the weekend. We have an NCT sale on Saturday to go to too.

Tired, but glad it's Friday.

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Late start

I worked from home for a couple of hours this morning as my wife needed to pop to the docs; doctors and toddlers don't mix, so I did baby duties (and e-mails, and phone calls)

My parents popped over last night on their way home from 2 months in France. It was good to see them again, even if only for a short time.

Little one was up in the night. 03:40 feels like a truck has hit you. A second call at 06:55 didn't feel much better. The "easier" start to the day, and an early lunch on the way in has helped, and I feel mostly human again.

I think it's time for a bit of a lifecycle change. Talking to my wife this morning we both agree that more exercise and earlier nights are called for. The difficulty is where to put all the stuff that has to happen. We're generally down to 40 mins of telly an evening which gives us 1 program a day. We're fine with that, but can't cut it any further. Cooking, cleaning, sorting general stuff out all takes time. We don't eat anything pre-prepared (except the occasional soup), and we don't go to bed until the washing up is done, and the kitchen clean. No compromises on time there.

We'll sort it. Much as it may seem a hard option, I think the only way forward is for my wife and daughter to get up earlier, and therefore my dughter's night time routine can start earlier, and so can our evening. We both dislike this option though as it means earlier mornings for my wife, and less time in the evenings with my daughter for me. I just can't see another way of acheiving what we want though.

It's a bad time to try anything like this too as it's so dark in a morning at this time of year, and it just makes getting up that much harder to do. Maybe we could get it going at the clock change. That might soften the blow a bit. Hmm.

Right, enough blathering. I thought this would be a short one today! Work finally approaches. Time for another Thursday.


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Clarification

As I'm in trouble :(

My wife does the majority of our housework. Vacuuming at least once a week, and the more frequented areas daily (if not more). Keeping our bathrooms clean and clear. Washing up twice a day, and keeping on top of loading the dishwasher. At least one load of laundry a day.

Whilst I keep on top of benches and cleaning the hob in the kitchen, she is always the one to clean and wash the floor.

She does a fair portion of the shopping too, which is extra difficult with little one in tow.

In short, the house would be a wreck if it wasn't for her, and whilst I may put in a reasonable contribution (especially at weekends), the bulk of the work is done by her at times when she is 'free' from the little one and would like nothing more than a quiet sit down with a hot drink and a book.

Right, hope that sets things straight.

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Quicker one

Running late into the blog post this morning. We're already at Westminster, so the Waterloo crush is about 2 minutes away.

My parents are visiting this evening (and tomorrow), so the house is now fairly spotless. (Until my daughter gets up anyway!) They've been away in France for ages, so, no doubt, they'll see big changes in little one that my wife and I don't notice as we see her daily.

My wife was out last night pampering herself at a spa. So after doing ALL the housework (only kidding babe) I settled down with pizza and ice cream to watch 'Vanilla Sky'. It was alright, but I think I could have found a better film to watch with my time. Still, it clears some space on the Sky+

We're now hardly moving, crammed in like sardines approaching London Bridge. I'm hot and just want to get out. I've had enough and I'm not even at work yet!

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Surreal

I'm standing on the bakerloo line at stupid o'clock in the morning listening to Barbara Streisland singing about being a woman in love. It's certainly an interesting way to start the week!

The weekend went like most of them do; too quickly. We had a lovely lunchtime / afternoon at Winkworth Arboretum. A picnic lunch to start in a leafy glade, and then an autumnal walk through the trees. My daughter walked for the vast majority of our time there, and then promptly collapsed into sleep when we got back to the car.

Sunday saw me get up and go for a run. It wasn't that early, and I procrastinated a bit hoping the mist would lift a bit, but I did get out and managed 2.5 miles.

Music update: Goldfrapp whilst stood on the platform at Baker Street waiting for a Jubilee line train to make an appearance. Not as surreal.

However, Was not was walking a dinosaur on the packed Jubilee line seems to be a return to form.

Anyway, the rest of Sunday was taken up by a bit of gardening. Finally all the vine eyes for stringing the roses and clematis are in. Now all I need to do is finish wireing them up.

We watched the first episode of 'Fringe' last night on Sky+. It wasn't bad, but the pseudo-science bit was quite clearly rubbish, as expected, and I found it a bit difficult to suspend belief. Enjoyable enough to give chance to though, so we'll try episode 2 this week.

It was pitch black when I got up this morning. Doesn't bode well for when I'm really tired later in the week. Clocks go back soon though, so that'll give me a short reprieve.

Crammed in like sardines now having called at Waterloo with only London Bridge left to completely pack us out. Joy.

Right, one handed typing now, so probably time to sign-off. One last music update: absolutely rammed on the jubilee, listening to Robbie Williams singing about Hot Fudge. Moving to LA doesn't sound too bad at this moment in time!


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Life in slow motion

Not really, but I was struggling for a title.

Another Friday dawns, and it's a beautiful one. The sun is out, the clouds are fluffy and sparse. It's not too cold. I've decided, once I get my new phone in December, to take a photo once a week from the edge of the platform at 06:59(ish) and automagically post it on Picasa and here on the blog. I thought it would make a nice record. Or be incredibly boring depending on your point of view.

The weekend approaches, and with it a myriad of jobs. I know the garage needs doing, but I fear it isn't priority. The glass bottles definitely need recycling though as a mountain of them collapsed the morning when I took the plastic out to be recycled. Why can our council pick up "green" waste (of which we have none as we compost), plastic and paper, but not glass? Or cans for that matter, not that we have many of them either.

Our draining rack needs a serious clean, and bits of the kitchen could do with a scrub. The conservatory needs a good tidy-up, and the rest of the house needs it's usual clean and polish.

Right, that's my interesting life planned for the weekend, so what else?

My course yesterday was on managing office politics. Where I learnt that I deal well with self serving machiavellian types. Probably because I get so much practice! Apparently we have a few "total losers" too as I recognised the tactics they used far too easily!

Back to the issues today; storage and location. I doubt I'll get a solution this week (today), but 2 steps forward, 1 back is the usual pattern.


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Thursday catch up

No post yesterday due to other working arrangements. This also meant I didn't read any of my RSS feeds. So catch up this morning has taken a while.

Live music reviews, backup strategies, and lifestyle changes have all been on my reading list this morning. I wasn't won over by the description of the electro/techno duo who get steaming drunk and smoke during their act. The backup strategy was rubbish (it hadn't worked), and the lifecycle changes called for me to cut 120 minutes of 'spare' time from my day. What 120 minutes of 'spare' time would that be then?

I have a training course this morning. I don't know what in, nor where. Should be interesting.

I plan to finish organising a stag do this week too. Ah, that'll be the 'spare' time I don't have then.

At least I'm not too tired today. Yet.

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Late

Train problems and disturbed toddlers have delayed me some what this morning.

Nothing much to post as I'm gathering thoughts at the moment. A way forward is always that little bit out of reach. Roll on next year, it seems a little more stable from this vantage point.

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What goes around...

Having made it to my interchange in a very luxurious empty train, I made my way to the next one. Which waited just that little bit too long to allow me to swap trains, to tell me that they were experiencing technical difficulties. We left 10 minutes late. I missed my next train by 30 seconds. I've now been stuck, in a dull as ditch water station, for 30 minutes to await my next departure.

Not happy.

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Trains

"Due to a trackside circuit failue, this train will be held to this platform for some time to regulate the service. "

And it was. Just long enough for 75% of the passengers to get off and start trecking for another line. Then it left. No crowd on this journey!

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Monday comes around again

Had a good weekend. My brother visited, and we thoroughly bored him with our mundane lives. A trip to the park, a wander around town (whilst I got my hair cut), a trip to the supermarket. We know how to entertain!

We did pop along to the pub on Saturday evening and had a good chat. So not all bad.

Sunday saw us visiting an indoor soft play area, and then heading home for some play time whilst I cooked dinner. After that I helped load up our old TV for him, and then he was off. Probably with a sigh of relief.

As soon as he had gone, I loaded up little one and headed to B&Q. (Yep, I know how to show my daughter an exciting time!) I got some vine eyes for wiring up outside, and some turps for cleaning. Meanwhile, my wife got on with sorting out our poor neglected garden.

When we got back, little one was tellytubbied, and I joined my wife outside. With frequent checks on the TV watcher, we got some pots moved, a new plant in, and the existing climbers strung up.

Its was food and bed for little one then (who went down quite quickly for a change), a quick meal for us (and the days washing up in the kitchen), and then relax. We've finally finished season 3 of Battlestar Gallactica, so it's off to Ugly Betty, and some backlogged Sky+ stuff now.

A quick nappy change for little one brought the weekend to a close, and a welcome nights sleep.

Tired this mroning, for a change, but not too bad. Another week starts. Wonder what this one will bring.


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Lucky

Driving to the station this morning I was stopped and held up at every possible point, and arrived for 32 past train at 35 past. Taking a gentle stroll into the ticket office I found the train was delayed until 38 past! Walking to the end of the platform, the door stopped just as I reached that bit of the platform. Couldn't have been timed better.

Last night was another tough one. Squeaks at 03:04 were easily quieted and peace returned until 04:04 (she must have a timer in that head of hers) when it took several trips up and down stairs for milk, rice cakes, and more rice cakes, plus 2 applications of bonjela to get her back to bed. She woke briefly twice more, both of which were quickly soothed. There'll be a tired house today.

More meetings today, not many, but some long ones.

Other than that, nowt much to report. Tired, weekend coming, brother visiting.


Note: I've just checked my inbox, and found that this didn't get sent this morning, so here we go again...
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How to clone your linux machine

So, you've had your Linux box running for some years, and it's aquired a bit of chuff over the years. You want to streamline, so where do you go. A rebuild. Maybe, but how do you know what you've got installed.

Well, if you run ubuntu, then you run these:

aptitude search '~i' | awk '{print $1,$2,$3}' |grep A | awk '{print $3}' > installed.txt

aptitude search '~i' | awk '{print $1,$2,$3}' |grep -v A | awk '{print $2}' >> installed.txt

This picks up the dependancies for all your packages, and then all your manually installed packages.

Rebuild the system, (optionally) edit the file to remove the things you no longer need, then run:

for i in $(cat installed.txt) ; do packages+="$i " ; done
aptitude install $packages

Go make coffee.

Once finished you should be up and running with a re-built system.

Now all you have to do is re-build and install everything that wasn't done through aptitude. You did back up you /src directory didn't you?

Thursday dawning

Tired this morning. More than yesterday, the terrible night we had Tuesday / Wednesday is definitely catching up.

My phone is annoying me more and more each day. The lack of bluetooth means that handsfree doesn't work in the car. My calendar sync sends e-mails to all the meeting invitees every time it syncs. Even if it's not my meeting. Even if it's in the past. The software on my PC isn't working properly; so, even though I've re-installed it twice, it syncs my phonebook, but won't start the outlook calendar, so I can't do a manual sync. Annoyingly, it connects fine during the setup, and I can see all the folders, it just doesn't start at all when I hit sync.

This all, I believe, stems from OS 4.5 and desktop manager 4.5 not being tested properly on my phone. I'm no longer a big market, so quality control went on the new kit, the curve and the pearl. Us 8800 owners suffer. I'd drop back to 4.2, but I much prefer the web browser, and the html e-mail makes things much more readable. Other things work so much better, I guess I'll just have to put up with it until December when my contract is up for renewal, and I can get a flashy new phone with some proper testing.

Ok, whinge over.

My brother is heading down to us this weekend which should be good. A chance for him to see his niece, and for us to catch up.

As some stupid woman has literally thrown herself at the mass of bodies on the train at Waterloo just as the doors wre closing, we're a little over packed! Thankfully someone got off at Southwalk, so it's a little easier. However here's London Bridge where it'll get a lot worse all the way to work, so, time to go.


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Perfume

Why do women wear perfume? And, to a lesser extent, why do men wear aftershave?

Three times yesterday I was assaulted by the most overpowering, overwhelming smell surrounding a woman. Joining me in a lift, standing next to me on a tube train, the smell preceded the woman. It's not even that it smells good or bad per se (it usually smells bad), it's that it smells so strong!

Do these women have a major odour problem? Most people don't smell by default, and even during exercise don't smell too bad. The only time a mask is necessary is if you've cooled down after exercise and not showered. That's a bad smell! However, we have anti-perspirants, and odour neutralising deodorants for that. There is no excuse for smelling like, well a perfume department in Boots.

I'm very late this morning. Little one, whilst going down nicely, had us up for 20 minutes at 01:47, 20 minutes at 02:55, and over an hour from 03:56. To say I'm tired would be an understatement. The alarm went at 06:23, snooze got hit 5 times, then I figured I was kidding no one and went back to sleep until 08:15. I feel vaguely human, but it's definitely an early night tonight.

Slow running on the tube isn't helping. There is a train broken somewhere in front of us. At least I get a seat at this time. The 9 people I'm sharing my carriage with are all studiously ignoring everyone as always. We have 2 paper, 2 books, 1 blackberry, 1 technical paper, 1 bored and vacant, 1 with eyes shut, and 1 paying an intensive amount of attention to the adverts above the seats. And me, writing this.

I've brought my ipod along for the first time in ages. I loaded up a couple of new albums; The outsider by Walter Trout, and the new one by Travis, Ode to J. Smith. I've just finished the Walter Trout album, and it's good. A proper guitar driven blues album. No standout tracks on first listen, but no obvious filler either.

Just started on the Travis album. Nothing amazing yet, but I'm only half way through the first song! I think they'd need to be going some to recapture The Man Who, or even The Invisible Band. However, we'll see.

Judging by the amount I've written, this journey must be taking forever. And indeed it is, it's 10:45 now, and I expected to be in work 5 minutes ago. I still have 10 minutes on this train to go, and that's under normal conditions. We're very slow, fast this morning, not quite stop go, but certainly not normal speed.

Anyway, I'm starting (!) to ramble now, so I'll close this post and get on with the day.


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Warm

It's warm this morning. Or, at least, I am. Strange, as it's miserable, and damp outside. Maybe the tran doors haven't been left open overnight.

Next train now, and slightly cooler. Much condensation though.

We've now stopped. Apparently, someone is leaning on the doors. We've been here 2 minutes, so I find that hard to believe now. What we have is a broken train. Fun.

Anyway. I've been taking mouthwash for a tiny ulcer on my tounge, the side effect of which is making all my food taste horrible. The taste receptors at the front of my mouth don't seem to work correctly for the majority of the day after using the stuff first thing. I'm on day 4 now, and the effect is slightly lessened this morning, but still definitely there. I drank a strawberry, raspberry, apple and banana smoothie yesterday, and it tasted bizarre. Not horrible per se, just wierd. Chicken chilli soup at lunch was another interesting experience. Thankfully the effect seems to wear off by the evening, so I'll be back to normal on Saturday having had a week of wierdness.

Train update, we started moving after 5 minutes. No explanation, and no further problems. Yet.

Today is interesting. For the first time in a long time I only have one meeting. And, that meeting is only 30 minutes. There is a serious danger of me getting some work done!

Time to get to it.

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This morning

I got on the tube this morning, and promptly couldn't move. I managed to get my blackberry out, and, from memory, composed the post this morning with just my thumb whilst unable to see either the screen nor the keyboard! I was impressed that it worked.

Busy weekend. Planted a large number of bulbs. Managed to do a run. Spent 4 hours on Saturday doing my day job due to "urgent requirements".

Busy day today, but only with the boring stuff.

It's amazing the size of pushchairs / prams / travel systems these days given the size of the occupants!

And on that random thought. Au revoir.

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Can't post

Too cramped
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Time is against me

Not much time left this morning as it's been too crowded to type (doesn't stop people trying to read newspapers though! A special mention to the twit with the guardian as he hasn't even tried to fold it!)

The weekend approaches. I have one interview (currently) between it and me. By the time I get there I will have done 16 interviews this week. My team will have done a further 18. We've been busy! Hopefully, at the end of all this, I'll have filled all the positions I have available, and we can set about becoming a team (again).

I got to hold a blackberry bold yesterday, although it was just one of those mockups, not a real phone. It felt nice. Different to mine, but not too different. The beginning of December is phone d-day. Hopefully the Thunder / Storm will be around in the country for comparison. I'll take a look at the G1, but as it doesn't have the exchange integration I need, and I haven't read mention of OTA calendar integration it's not looking like a big draw at the minute.

Lots of stuff to do this weekend. Less housework than expected thanks to the wonderfullness of my wife. Plenty in the garden though, and finding the available time (without little interruptions) is difficult.

First week back almost over. Tired, but not as tired as I was Wednesday. Hopefully next week will be a bit easier. Off to today now. Hometime awaits!

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Taking the long way home

Sometimes, technology is not the saviour, but the cause of the problem.

I subscribe to a number of feeds to give me travel information on the lines I use. If I get these quick enough I can re-route before becoming snarled up in the mess. I got one such message on my journey tonight.


Title: [Very Severe] First Great Western, Burnham - diverted

Service suspended between London Paddington and Reading due to person hit by a train at Burnham. London Underground are accepting tickets for reasonable routes


"Oh dear", I thought. However, I got this soon enough to get off at Waterloo and re-route.

Now, the problem with these alerts is that there is no time stamp on them. The BBC produce the feed from a constantly updated web page, and doesn't always mark the end of the problem with a cleared message (or if it does, my blackberry misses it as it only checks once an hours). So as soon as I got into the open I logged into some web sites and started to check.

Turns out the problem was cleared hours ago. However, it took me so long to find out that I was in danger of missing my connection at Paddington if I embarked on that route again. So I find myself on a slow train from Waterloo. The main problem with this is that this slow train doesn't stop at my station. No, it becomes fast at just that point! So I'll have to change. Of course, the first time they announce this fact is after the doors have closed and it's too late to do something about it!

All I want to do is go home. I thought technology was meant to work FOR me.

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Logic problem

You are faced with 2 people, one always lies, one always tells the truth. How do you determine which is which?

The things that amuse me on the underground. I spent three and a half minutes puzzling that one out on the bakerloo this morning. Passes the time.

As expected I got home at 20:30 last night. I was in bed for 21:00 and asleep by half past! Too much.

Only(!) 4 interviews today, and I actually have some gaps in my day.

Around me today are 4 paper readers, 2 music players, 1 reading a book, and 1 feigning sleep. No interest. Although we just hit Waterloo, so it's getting a little cosier. (Although, not by much today). Still no one interesting.

So, topical; why did Ruth Kelly leave the cabinet? Are we really supposed to believe it was to spend time with her family? If that was the case, why then, in that place, at that time, overshadowing all that had gone before it. Making it that much more difficult for Brown to pick up the pieces and move on. Cal me cynical, but I don't buy it. We haven't heard the last of Ruth Kelly.

Right, off to it again. Another day, another set of meetings.

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Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Tired this morning. Tired to the bone. Wednesday, and the early morning / late evenings are taking their toll. I won't be leaving work until 18:40 tonight, and I have a 30 minute break in the whole day from 9 until then. Joy. So, mainly for my own record, I left the house this morning at 06:47, and I'll walk back into it at 20:30. Sheesh.

Ok, whinge over. Not that it matters. My viewing figures hit 0 while I went on holiday, and haven't shown any sign of perking back up to the heady heights of 6 again. Of course, you RSS people don't count in that. You'll be back thanks to the wonders of syndicated content.

Right, knackered now and at a loss for things to write. I know I still haven't done the whole holiday post thing, but really, would you be interested? We cycled around, did some paddling, enjoyed some meals, and visited Yorkshire. In the main, we spent our time in play areas, and generally relaxed. Not the most stimulating story. I feel I should write something a bit more intellectual (there's a first time for everything).

How about all these people surrounding me? Studiously ignoring me and everyone else. Each lost in their own world. The guy beside me doing sudoku badly. He really is slow, can't seem to see the basics in front of him. Took 3 minutes to even get started, and he's doing the easy one. I wonder what his job is. Or the Japanese guy, in a suit, you just got off with his son in a push chair. At rush hour. On a jammed tube. I realise there will be a good reason behind it, but I wouldn't want to do it!

No music players this morning. Plenty of people trying to read their paper, and practicing advanced level origami to do so. Then there's the woman who just jumped all the queue at London Bridge, and pushed on beside me. Her hair is in my eye, and I'm having to type one handed as my other one can't move (and is going numb).

That's it then; I can't see, I can hardly type, and, thankfully, I'm nearly there!

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Sports massage

The question: sports massage. An attractive woman rubbing her hands over your body, or incredible torture for 40 minutes. I can tell you from 5 sets of experience that it is definitely the latter.

I'm not knocking the results, but the execution is agony. 20 minutes per leg of pushing and stretching and working my muscles into positions they really don't want to be (even if that's where they're meant to be). Thankfully, it doesn't hurt much once she's finished, and not at all the next day.

So, that's what I did yesterday evening. It's the last session though. In 2 weeks I check back with the osteo, and see if all this pain has made any difference.

Feeling a little down at the mo. Back in work yesterday after 2 weeks off, and it was a bit of a shock. So much to do, so many 'emergencies' taking up time and effort. A bit daunting. At home, our little one is playing up. Refusing to have naps, messing around at bed time, but tired too, and therefore even more of a handful. I know my poor wife is struggling. With all the housework, jobs to do, and other pressures, it's all getting a bit much. I think I have most of it in hand, and it's just a case of working through things until it becomes manageable again.

Ok, whine over. Another long day awaits. I have meetings from 9 to 1 and 2 to 4 30! Fun.

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The coalface

Back to it this morning. It's going to take a day or so to get into the swing of this again; but for now, here are some short updates.

Holidays with toddlers do not lend themselves to blogging.

Holidays with toddlers are not holidays per se, they are a change from the norm. This is not to say that it wasn't fun, nor relaxing; but for those without kids, it wasn't like a holiday as you'd think of it.

Holidays generate washing. Lots of washing. (It's all done and sorted now though. Woo!)

A two week break from blogging doesn't immediately fill you with ideas to blog on. Although, in my case, that probably has more to do with the time of day and the disruption of sleep patterns.

So, need to focus. Notes to self:

Write something about the holiday
Stop yawning
Remember to book some more time off in the future so you've got something to look forward to
Really, stop yawning

Right then. Today should be interesting...

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Knackered

It's Friday. It's been an uphill struggle to get here. It's not going to be an easy day.

At least, once it's over, I'm on holiday for 2 weeks. I know, I know, I've been very quiet about this. I'm actually looking forward to it. And, once we get to Monday and I've finished driving and started relaxing, I'm going to use the opportunity to stop drinking coke again. For a while.

The host (read coffee fetcher) on the train this morning would not shut up. He kept coming over to the 2 people on my left and starting conversations. Even when they were already talking to each other he waited a bit and then started to talk about how he'd be in the end of the monsoon season in a couple of weeks! I don't know, people who use any excuse to talk about their upcoming holiday! Whatever next?

I'm off now to a breakfast meeting with one of my staff to try and prepare her for the coming fortnight. I feel sorry for them. They're all quite new, and relatively inexperienced (at the way the organisation works, and who to talk to); I feel like I'm leaving them to the wolves. Oh well, 10 working days and I'll be back. They'll cope.

Little on had me up at 05:25 this morning. She had, once again, got her foot stuck through the bars of her cage er cot. I extricated the foot, straightened her out, and covered her with the duvet. She was instantly asleep. Minx. I got up less then an hour later. She was still fast asleep.

On the geek front, my admin page is up and running. I have full system and network monitoring of both my main boxes, with performance dashboards available from one place, and only accessible from my internal network. I'm happy, but now need something else to tinker with.

That's probably it. Can't think of much more worth writing (yes, that means I thought all that lot you've just skipped through was worth writing). Expect a bit more sporadic posting over the next couple of weeks (did I mention I'm on holiday?), but I'll try and get a couple of updates in (I've even been promised some guest posting from the wife after her fantastic debut the other evening). I know you'll all be sitting there, hitting refresh every few seconds, just waiting for that next nugget of finely crafted prose. I'll try not to keep you waiting too long.

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Tough one

It can only be Thursday again. I tried to swipe through the oyster gate with my work pass. That's not going to work. Then I tried my ticket holder even though I've had one of those barclaycard all-in-one things for months in my wallet. I eventually sorted it out. I may not be entirely with it!

I know meetings are a boring topic, but bear with me. Why did I have no real meetings at the beginning of the week, a normal amount at the middle, and then 2 days of practically no gaps for the end of the week? Is there a conspiracy to send me on holiday as dead as possible? I even have one tomorrow at 08:00. I'm going to have to get up at 05:53 to make it! Then they put a meeting at the other end of the day so I can't even go home early! Grrr.

Did I mention I was going on holiday by the way? I did? Really? Oh, ok. For 2 weeks? Ok, I'll shut up. Tomorrow. :p

Can't think of much else, and I'm now so crammed in I can hardly type. So, until tomorrow...

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Pressure

So, in response to the dozens of comments I got yesterday, here's a minute by minute breakdown of my journey, followed by an exhaustive list of all my meetings! :p

Ok, so really. Erm. It's Wednesday. Hump day. Not much news on a Wednesday. The weekend is but a distant memory, and the coming one a long way off. Even if this one does signify the start of my holiday. I did mention my holiday, right? Thought so.

I've spent bits (odd minutes whilst waiting for things to run) of the last few days being geeky. I now have my systems reporting system metrics into my central box for collation. My main systems are running network analysis applications monitoring my traffic. And a seperate app is monitoring network header info to track my internet usage. I've also locked down my web server to deny outside access to some of these things. Now all I need is a simple page to access all these apps from. Shouldn't take long.

Being geeky aside, there's not much else going on. Little one decided 04:16 was the right time to get up and demand a drink, but she settled twenty minutes later, and whilst she murmured a few times during the rest of the morning, she was still out when I went to work.

The site was hit by 86 visitors the other day. Appears that my R.E.M. set list was quite popular. 45 visitors the day after. I'm guessing I'll be back down to 4-6 pretty soon. Be nice if 1 or 2 stayed though.

Those voting buttons seem to be next to useless. I know for certain that they aren't counting every click. Some don't seem to be counting ANY click! I'll take a look and see if I can work out where it might have gone wrong. At least I can say it's not my code.

Right, time to get to it. Fun fun fun right?

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It was a dark and stormy night...

Alright, it was a damp and grey September morning. It still is. I forgot to put the dishwasher on last night. The third or fourth time in a row that's happened. I can load it, no problems. I always wait, just in case something else could go in; then I get distracted, and forget to put the tab in and close the door. Oops.

Yesterday, I actually got some work done. I only had 2 meetings. Today I only have 1, the work possibilities are almost endless. The rest of the week falls back into a more regular pattern.

As predicted, the chancellor's announcement of doom and gloom has become a self-fulfilling prophecy with the pound hitting an all time low against the euro, increasing foreign costs and imports even more and ensuring that any interest rate cuts (not that there would have been any this year) are now even more unlikely as inflation is likely to go even higher. The man's a muppet.

I failed dismally to get out the house on time today. I put it down to working too hard. Honest. The rest of the week has some early meetings, and therefore a bit more pressure. Then I'm on holiday. Don't know if I've already mentioned this ;) I'm on holiday for the next 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to it. Can you tell yet?

Which segues nicely into comments. No one ever does. I know there are 5 people reading this through google reader, and a further 4 to 6 who regularly come to the site, but not one of you leaves me a single message. :'( How am I supposed to steer my content if I have no guidlines? To aid you I have added the reactions feature under each post. If you visit the site just click funny (yeah, right), interesting (you'll be lucky), cool (not even warm), or boring (open to some abuse I think). I'm not sure how well it works, when I looked at it the numbers in brackets weren't showing properly, and the border for the last box seemed to be chopped off, but see how you go. It's a beta feature so it can only get better. If you want other boxes you'll have to (shock, horror) leave me a comment!

Get clicking!

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Monday, September 1st 2008

I subscribe to the simple view that December to February is Winter, March to May Spring, June to August Summer, and September to November is Autumn. So today (fittingly a Monday, the start of the week) is the first day of Autumn.

The weather this morning was a perfect Autumn day; crisp, clear, but with a bite in the air. Perfect walking weather if only I didn't have to go to work.

Even the trees seem to have got the message. There was a prevalence of brown, gold and red showing through the canopy as we passed on the train this morning.

We're in the final week before schools are back, so the tube isn't too bad this morning, and as I'm on holiday myself for 2 weeks after this one, it'll be some time before I'm crammed into a standard commute again. Then it'll be Christmas!

Now there's a scary thought, it's not really that long to the end of December, and in that time I've got a stag do to finish organising, and attend, 2 weddings to go to, visits from my Brother, and my parents, and that's just what I can think of off the top of my head!

The weekend was good. I've already written about the concert; we had my Mother-in-law over to look after the little one, and on Sunday morning, she got up, shut our door (we always sleep with the door slightly ajar so we can hear any squeaks), and sorted out little one so we could get more sleep. We got up at 10:30! Our first lie-in in at least 20 months!

The rest of yesterday was taken up with huge cookfests, shredding of paperwork, and filing / sorting other paperwork. The study is now a haven of calm and order, and the to-do pile doesn't need industrial support to stay upright.

That's about it I guess. I feel I should write about something topical, but the only thing that comes to mind is the stupidity of our Chancellor, and the sorry state of the housing market / economy as a result of his dithering and daft comments. I mean, if there is talk of removing stamp duty, come out and either do it, or state, categorically, that it isn't happening. Don't sit on it for a week and then release a dithering statement about options, and plans. The economy is based on perception. There are a few factors like oil and food prices that have an effect, but the effect they have is based on the public perception of what these things mean. When the Chancellor gives mixed messages, and forecasts of doom and gloom, this causes those problems, which in isolation don't present any grave danger, to be linked and amplified to the point where everyone believes there is a problem, so there is.

Ok, enough waffling, just this week to go, then 2 weeks off. I may need it!

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R.E.M. @ Twickenham 30th August 2008 - Set List

1. Living Well Is The Best Revenge
2. These Days
3. The Wake-up Bomb
4. What's The Frequency Kenneth
5. Drive
6. Man Sized Wreath
7. Disturbance At The Heron House
8. Ignoreland
9. Walk Unafraid
10. Hollow Man
11. Fall On Me
12. Electrolite
13. The Great Beyond
14. I'm Gonna DJ
15. Exhuming McCarthy
16. The One I Love
17. I've Been High
18. Let Me In
19. Horse To Water
20. Bad Day
21. Orange Crush
22. Imitation of life
(Encore)
23. Supernatural Superserious
24. Losing My Religion
25. Perfect Circle
26. Country Feedback
27. It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
28. Man On The Moon

R.E.M.

A Saturday posting, although it must be nearly Sunday by now.

Tonight my wife and I went to see R.E.M. live at Twickenham. We didn't have the greatest of seats, Twickenham doesn't have the best acoustics for a live gig, but it was great.

They mainly played older stuff, even a fair helping of the old I.R.S. days, covering the whole 30ish years they've been going. All the expected hits were there, and the obvious new tracks. Good use of video screens allowed even those of us stuck in allocated seating somewhere near the back corner to get a good show.

Having seen R.E.M. 3 times previously I had an idea of what to expect and they didn't disappoint. However, I've never sat down before at one of their gigs, so it was interesting to see things from a different perspective.

Speaking of a different perspective, my wife, not a fan, has never seen them before, so in a blog first, here's her opinion.

<Wife>not bad</wife>

So, there you have it. She has said that she would see them again too.

Now it's 00:10 and we're quite tired. Not that we're getting a bit old for this or anything.

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Quiet week

Been a quiet one this week for the old blog. Bank holiday, actual holiday, and a day working from home. So what's been happening the last couple of days?

Wednesday saw a day off (with 93 e-mails I wish I hadn't bothered) taken so I could accompany my wife and daughter to my little ones first measles injection. It was, most defintely, an anti-climax. She fell asleep on the way there, stopped crying after the injection by the time we got to the car, and was perfectly happy the rest of the day. Apparently the 'fun' can start in 1-3 weeks. Right when we're on holiday!

The rest of the day was spent doing not much. We found a B&B to stay in on the way up to our holiday so we can get the most out of our first day at Centre Parcs. Had a quick and easy tea; and watched a movie before bed. We were a bit knackered having stayed up the night before talking to a friend, and having been woken a couple of times with little one. The movie was 'Happy-Go-Lucky', and wasn't worth it.

We were woken early again by our daughter. Even though she was knackered she still seemed to want to be up at 06:16. We settled her a couple of times before giving up. I dressed and trundled off to work (the study) as tired as if I'd got up and gone to work.

Worked late last night. Why is it that when I work from home I start at the same time as if I'd gone to the office, but work far longer. The office finishes at 16:45 for me, working from home is at least 17:30, and usually past 18:00. Last night I logged off at 18:45.

The reason for working from home yesterday was to get my MOT done, which was sorted out easily enough, and means I can get my road tax sorted today before it runs out on Sunday.

This weekend promises to be a busy quiet one. No one visiting, but plenty of jobs to do in both the house and garden. Then, one more week before a fortnight off. Woot!

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Back in the saddle

An interesting, if not terribly relaxing, long weekend. I now have to get used to the idea that it's Tuesday. I've already caught myself thinking it's Monday 3 times already today. I'll end up turning up at the wrong meetings!

My parents popped down over the weekend on their way to France for a month and a half. They came over to ours Friday, we went to their caravan for lunch Saturday, then they were back at ours in the evening.

On Sunday my parents-in-law were celebrating their wedding anniversary and my Mother-in-laws birthday. The venue was over in Kent, so we were staying over. My parents were invited too, but they went back to their caravan that evening. From what I saw the party was fun and people seemed to be haing a good time. However, not long after 7 I headed upstairs with little one, put her to bed, and then read in another room with the baby monitor on for the rest of the evening. I swapped positions with my wife once, briefly, to say goodbye to my parents, and grab some cake.

Yesterday we packed up, and travelled home. A bit zonked, we unpacked and I had an easy afternoon reprogramming our universal remote to work properly with the new tele (and the amp we've had for over 2 years that I've just never got round to) (and the sky+ remote). Evening saw a healthy stir fry and bed.

We have one of my wife's old friends visiting this evening, and then I'm off tomorrow as my daughter is having her first measles jab. Hopefully she'll take it in her stride, and have no ill effects. At least the weekend is only 4 days away, and is free for once.

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8 more hours...

The commute was a struggle this morning. Friday is bin day, and that means emptying our indoor bin, and the outside nappy one, and putting the bags out to be collected. It took a little longer than I had time for, so hitting the train was a push. I made it though.

Managed to get a seat too. I've got one on the tube now as well, so my feet are thankful.

Not much else to report on this one. Last night was just daughter time, cooking, and eating / battlestar galactica. My parents arrive at 16:00 today, so they'll be there when I get in. Both my wife and I are exhausted. I really hope we get some decent sleep this weekend. Unfortunately I doubt it'll be as good as it needs to be.

Oh well. One more work day. Several more meetings, and then home.

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What is it with Thursdays?

Our new, zero cost TV arrived yesterday, and I was very restrained; waiting until my daughter was down, and other jobs (cooking) underway before unboxing it. We then watched our evening tele on the old set before I switched them round and connected the new one.

I think it's glorious. Shiny, new, beautifully clear picture. I may be alone in this view.

The connection out of the way, we finished tidying up and went to bed. Not bad timing, lights out at 11:10.

My daughter woke us at 02:20, investigation showed no probable cause, so she was settled and we returned to bed. 03:00 she was back. This time food was offered, a nappy change, some slightly lighter clothes, lots of cuddles, and a calming light show on the ceiling. Seemed to work, but at a cost of 50 minutes.

Strangely my alarm didn't wake me! I got up late, too late to get even the 07:30 train, so I'm an hour late at this point. I did get some paperwork done, and some stuff in the kitchen that's been hanging around since the weekend put away, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

I have a few less meetings today, and a new person starting which should, eventually, take some of the burden off me.

Life, as always, continues. And the three day weekend gets ever closer.

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Normal service is resumed

Right, now the rant is out of the way, here's a normal daily update.

Tired.

That's about normal, isn't it?

Spent too long sorting the phone out last night, so got very little else done. I had hoped to get fully up to date on the paperwork, but the in-tray remained untouched. I did manage to make the bed and do some ironing, but at the cost of going to sleep after midnight.

This morning was tough, hit snooze, then turned the alarm off all together and forgot to get up. Managed, somehow, to wake with enough time, just, to get dressed and get to the train. So I'm on time, but paying the price. Still, 3 day weekend approaching, and our holiday isn't too far away.

Another fun day awaits me. Time to put some perceptions right. Make sure I get credit for a large piece of work that someone else has gone and sold to the boss. They've sold the idea, but I've done all the work. Not happy. Don't know how to fix this one fully, but I'll at least make sure that my immediate peers know the truth.

Anyway, I'm in danger of ranting again; and the journey is almost over. Time to focus and get on with it.

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On old, closed technology

I have spent the last couple of months trying to get the photos off my wife's old phone. The Samsung heap she used to have used a proprietary interface that they seemed to take malicious pleasue in changing all the time so you couldn't use accessories from one phone to another.

The software they forced you to use had some badly written, buggy usb drivers that refused to recognose the phone, and a completely unhelpful UI that re-wrote, badly, the standard diagnostic tools.

In the end I had to put my sim card in the phone and e-mail all the photos to myself. Now I ave to go through each mail, select and download the photos, and collate them before I can do something sensible with them.

What, exactly, were they thinking when they decided to ignore the well defined, standard usb interface, and a normal file system that could be recognised by a normal OS in favour of the borked waste of space they force you to use?

Note for anyone looking it up, the default passcode on a Samsung E770 is 00000000.

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Startled rabbits

I felt, yesterday morning, a bit like a rabbit in headlights. So much to do, so much to get out the way of, and yet I just stared at it. I managed to focus eventually, but I think that's the taste of the week. Busy busy busy, with a huge towering onslaught ready to sweep me away at any point.

Anyway, enough of that. The weekend. 'Twas good. Succinct enough? Ok, a bit more detail...

Three of our friends visited over the weekend. 2 blokes I've known since we were knee high to grasshoppers, and the fiancee of one of them whom we've known since they met. They arrived late on Friday, so after a quick drink (tea / water) we called it a day, and went to bed.

Saturday, with a forecast of rain, saw me wanting to BBQ. Good job it was a nice day! We went down to a local wooded playground for my daughter in the morning, and let her run off some energy. We'd gone through our usual stranger routine in the morning, (no eye contact, play with her toys) and the trust continued to grow at the park. When we got back the three of us men set about building the BBQ. Much primordial grunting ensued, and congratulations when we created fire! A couple of bottles of wine, many sausages, and a whole farms worth of chicken legs followed. in the evening we went to the pub and chatted about stuff. As always.

Sunday saw bacon sandwiches and a trip to another park. Ice creams in the sun followed a stroll around a lake. Little one got to play on the swings and have a snack. Once we got back we had a bolognaise and then they had to go.

A mad rush of shopping vacuuming and washing ensued, and by the time we went to bed we were pretty much sorted and ready for the week. (The last lot of washing was done yesterday, so it'll all be dry and put away by tonight).

We sat down in the evening and watched 'Son of Rambow'. A relaxing way to finish a pleasant weekend.

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Quick one

The usual Monday morning problem of too many feeds and not enough time has left me with 6 minutes to blog. Not enough time to do justice to the weekend, so I won't.

I'm tired, but no more than usual. Rain through the night disturbed me, and I'm not 100% in the health department. Nothing worrying, just worn down malaise. A holiday will help. Luckily I have one of them coming up soon.

Work beckons. A slightly easier week (I hope) before a 3 day weekend. My parents are visiting, and we have a party for my wife's Mum's birthday, and her wedding anniversary. Should be busy!

I may write about the weekend later, but, as always when I say that, it'll probably be tomorrow.

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Friday again. Already?

Another week rolls to a close and I'm knackered before the final day begins.

My daughter woke, crying, at about 01:20, and needed settling. 2 minutes of soothing and stroking sorted her out; my sleep pattern was shot.

An hour or so later my wife was talking to my daughter asking her to settle down. I sat up and patiently explained that our daughter was asleep in another room.

3 something saw a toilet call. A true sign I'm not sleeping well. I have to be really light to allow my body to wake me up (or for my body to even consider waking me up!)

Slightly later I had my, now common, breathing problems, so woke up and sucked on the inhaler.

Then the alarm went off.

----

Today sees a production issue with one of my systems, the usual scattering of meetings, and the need to create a couple of reports. Roll on tomorrow I say.

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Public service announcement

There are only 132 days until Christmas. Time to put the sprouts on.

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Thursday again

On the plus side, I got up on time, I made the train, and I'll be at work on time. However, it's Thursday. I'm knackered anyway, but with a late night and a less than stellar sleep I'm feeling even worse than usual.

Thankfully, I only have numerous meetings, several deadlines, and countless responsibilities. So no worries there then.

Mental note to self: get more sleep.

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A marvellous tale

The sun had breached the dawn an hour previously and was rising through the firmament as our noble adventurer climbed to the platform. The sky was crystal clear and azure blue, and Steve knew it was going to be a good day.

"The next train on platform 2 is formed of 8 carriages" announced the tannoy. "Fair enough" thought Steve as he strolled towards the opposite end of the platform 200 metres away. "The train now approaching platform 2..." Has only 4 carriages and has stopped 100 metres away. "Bugger" thought Steve as he hurried to the train.

A few minutes later the carriage was crammed as everyone from the final stop decided to get on at the same door, the easy door, the door that didn't involve any walking; even though they could get on quicker and have more space if they just walked 6 metres to the next door. Steve silently despaired and went back to reading the news and nightly e-mails.

In less than 5 minutes the train arrived at it's final destination and disgorged it's contents. Steve, due to superior positioning and readiness, was first off and away. Avoiding the crush behind him he made his way to the stairs, and over to the main platforms awaiting the fast trains to London. There would be 2 to choose from, however, Steve knew from previous scouting missions that only the 07:18 would have a buffet car. He awaited its arrival on platform 8.

Presently the leviathan arrived. Growling and straining the beast pulled up to the platform and opened it's doors. A few passengers disembarked, a large number entered. Steve knew the route well, and made his way to his familiar spot at the end of the serving bench. Settling in, he removed his glasses and engaged his blackberry. The last 12 hours of news and views around the world were viewed and processed. A few points were clarified with searches on the internet, but, in general, the next 27 minutes passed quickly and uneventfully.

In, what appeared to be, a short time the high speed train came to a halt at the terminus. Hundreds of people made their move to the exit. Steve, amongst 20 others exited the first class carriage near the front of the train and made his way to the ticket gates.

As he approached he removed his ticket wallet from his jacket and prepared to present it's contents to the inspector. A mere formality, Steve was waived through and, returning the ticket to his pocket, made his way across the concourse to the steps into the underground.

Having passed through the next checkpoint and made his way through a myriad of twisting passageways and lengthy elevators he came to his preferred spot on the platform. A few seconds later the tube train arrived, Steve entered, took up his usual spot at the opposite doors, removed his blackberry, and started to compose a blog entry...

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It was a dark and stormy night...

Ok, it was a mild and wet Tuesday morning. In August(!) I got soaked as I made my way from the car to the shelter point on the platform. I may as well have just showered with my clothes on. Once there, and stuck, they then announce that the train is 10 minutes late. It arrives, eventually, and we move on.

At my interchange there is a train waiting. Great, I'll only have lost 2 minutes. As I approach, the announcement goes out to inform us the train is bust and no longer for public use. Everyone gets off. The next train arrives 7 minutes later; I didn't even contemplate getting on it. I get the next one. Now 13 minutes late.

Slow running to Paddington gets me here a further 7 minutes late, but at least I'm on my way. Did I mention I was busy this morning and could have done with every second. I have a course all morning ('Presenting with Impact'), but sent out a couple of Management reports last night. (Late last night. Sorry honey (Side note, I have the best, most understanding wife ever!)) I could really have done with 25 minutes to check things over before I sit in a classroom all morning. Oh well, they'd better be right!

Not much on the news front, got home, put little one down, produced reports, ate, bed. It's an exciting life!

The Jubilee line rolls on, and another day at work beckons.

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Back to the daily grind

I enjoyed a three days off this weekend. Friday was especially good. It was my wife's birthday, and as a treat she went off for a day of pampering in a spa. This left Daddy and Baby alone for the whole day.

In the morning I took her to 'Whoosh', a soft pay area for younger kids. We played for ages on a bouncy castle, and climbed, crawled, and slid our way around the rest of the place. After some food and drink, we went home to some more food and drink, then I took her upstairs. By the time I'd changed her she was pointing at the bed and making 'wanting' noises. She went straight to sleep! She was completely out of it when my wife popped home to give me a hand putting her down.

I got her up a couple of hours later, and we went into town. I had a look for a top for my wife, and a t-shirt for me, but no luck. I got some felt tips for my daughter. We then went and got some new inserts for me to try and correct my feet problems. These ones lift my big toe instead of rolling my heel. Finally we got some champagne and chocolate for my wife (just the essentials), and went home. She was in bed 45 minutes early.

Saturday saw us popping to Reading. Still no luck on the top and t-shirt front. An early nap for my daughter (still tired from the day before, and she had woken at 06:30 for some reason). In the afternoon my wife and I took turns at different supermarkets, and we played with little one too. Another early bed, we actually managed to see a movie 2 nights in a row!

Sunday morning we were up early again, and straight out. We went to a wooded play area called 'The Lookout' where babe swung, and spun, and toddled her way to tiredness. She was down for a nap outstandingly early. I took the opportunity to try and get a couple of things from Toys 'r' us and Argos, but was frustrated by both. Then five items from the supermarket too me to 3 supermarkets! (and one of the items was wrong after all that!)

Sunday afternoon I cooked a dinner (after my fantastic wife prepared all the veg whilst I was out) which we ate as a family, started building my BBQ, played with my daughter, bathed her, and got her down 40 minutes early. We took the chance to get out in the garden in the early evening and get an acer re-potted, followed by a clean up in the kitchen, a episode of Battlestar Gallactica, and bed.

Now a full, busy week stretches out in front of me. We've got some friends popping down at the end of it though, so something to look forward to. Reports and meetings this morning. Joy.

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A tired man writes...

Finding it hard to come up with a compelling topic to write about this morning. My feet (well, foot) hurts too much.

My second sports massage seemed to go well, I could feel the muscles loosening up as the massage continued. I then went home got changed and went to see Batman.

The film was good, if a bit too dark in my opinion for a 12A rating, but slightly too long.

As I got up to leave my feet and ankles refused to work properly, not hurting per se, just unwilling to bend. Things had eased up enough by the time we got to the car.

This morning, my left foot hurts. With or without weight on it, the back of my arch is hurting.

I'm off work tomorrow. It's my wife's birthday, so I'm spending quality time with Baba whilst Mama has a well deserved, relaxing spa day. I'll phone my chiropodist today and see if I can pop in tomorrow and pick up the orthotics she was supposed to be getting to me weeks ago.
The first weekend of BBQ ownership approaches, but the weather looks typically grim, so it may just get assembled, and not actually used.

It should be an easier weekend on the whole. The main jobs are ticked off, and whilst there are always things to do, hopefully jobs won't be the focus of the weekend.

Off to another busy one.

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Wednesday hits again, but I'm already over the hump

With a short week this week Wednesday doesn't hold quite it's usual dread. It's still a busy day, with far too many meetings; but today and Thursday take me to the long weekend.

News today reports that China have banned the waving of flags from nations not represented at the Olympics. That'll stop the Scottish supporting Andy Murray as anything other than British! It'll also stop anyone waving a Tibetan flag (the actual purpose of the ruling). I'm waiting for the moment during these games where China is suddenly embarrassed into doing something rash. Something with global repercussions. They're not used to global scrutiny, and they're used to getting their way. An interesting combination.

I've got a seat this morning on the tube. In a carriage with only 6 people standing. The temperature is almost pleasant! We arrive at Waterloo in a minute though, so all that will change.

My blackberry is semi behaving itself now. If I reboot it of a morning all the buttons work. If I don't, it starts playing up again overnight. I can get a new one in December, so I just need to persevere until then.

Wow, we emptied the platform at Waterloo, no one was left waiting, and we're still not even close to full. I guess everyone's gone on holiday.

I'm just waffling now, so time to sign off. Going to see Batman tonight, that'll be good. Other than that, one more journey to work to go this week.

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Reprimands

I got a little, light hearted telling off last night for, once again (apparently), making it sound like I do all the work around the house. I don't. However, this is "Steve's Thoughts", not "The jobs Steve and Laura did over the weekend"!

In the interests of fairness, my wife did lots too, most of which she did whilst looking after our daughter. She's great.

Happy now babe? (I'll be in trouble now for sure)

Other than that you can blame me for the weather. Our BBQ was delivered yesterday. It hasn't stopped raining since. In fact, it started drizzling the second I completed the payment.

What else. Hmm. Last night consisted of putting little one down, sorting and cleaning the kitchen, dismantling the gazebo, chasing down slugs, and doing the ironing. My wife went to the cinema and say 'Mamma Mia' for the third time. (I'm definitely in trouble now ;) )

The busy days continue. Many meetings today, and a number of reports and responses to make. Maybe if they made hours 100 minutes long...
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Productivity and reward

A busy weekend was had by all.

I managed what must be the ultimate payback from those loyalty systems this weekend. I walked into Argos, gave the teller the number for a forty inch full HD TV, handed over my nectar card and that was that. Brand new telly, delivered in under 21 days, no money down, none to pay. I now have enough on my card to buy a sandwich. Maybe.

We were in Guildford at the time looking for some paints for my daughter's play house, (The selection of paints for exterior use in B and Q seems to extend to red, blue and white) and came away with a few samples.

The afternoon of Saturday was a pleasant time of cleaning the bathroom, tidying up, and sorting things out.

Yesterday we went to a local woodland based activity centre where my daughter got a chance to climb, swing and spin before we went for a pleasant, if short, walk in the woods in the drizzle. Little one fell asleep on the way home, and was down and in her cot for midday. Unheard of.

As soon as we got back I loaded the car up for the tip and got rid of a load of stuff that's been cluttering up the garage. A quick food shop on the way home was followed with a full vacuum of the car. My wife is out tonight watching 'Mamma Mia' for the third time(!), and is doing the driving, so at least she won't be ashamed of the state of the car.

The rest of the day was paperwork. A huge pile of stuff was sorted, filed, and dealt with. I now have a large pile of things in my pocket that need paying in, or sending off. My inbox, however, is empty.

Now, if only my e-mail inbox at work was the same.

Relaxation last night as we near the end of season 2 of Battlestar Galactica was followed by some watering (pots only, the rest of the garden was wet enough), and bed.

Short week this week as I have Friday off, some busy days in between though.

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Egg meet face

Last night my blackberry messed up!

I updated the OS on my blackberry a couple of days ago in an attempt to fix my trackball issues (it didn't), and one of the fallouts from that was the removal of all my account details from the various apps on the handset. So over the last couple of days I've been putting everything back. Last night was the turn of my sync software.

As I've gone into previously I have a convoluted system for keeping my calendars in sync between work, google, and the blackberry. The crux of this solution is the sync software on the blackberry. I looked up and re-input my account details for the sync, and hit go. I only expected a couple of updates as I hadn't been out for too long, and I hadn't had that many meeting invites.

What actually happened was a large number of existing meetings somehow got hijacked by my handset, it gave ownership of other peoples meetings to my gmail account, and then sent them invites to their own meetings. In some cases it invited all the invitees too!

The first thing I knew about it was the twenty off out of office replies my gmail account got. The next was the head of IT Production declining his own meeting from two days ago with a puzzled comment.

I feel today could be fun.

In other news, it's Friday, I'm tired, the weekend begins in a few hours. There are many jobs to do. Woo.

Anyone know where I can find a nice big hole to open up beneath me and swallow me up?

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I just can't seem to do Thursdays

Mid week comes and goes, but it is Thursday mornings that are always the hardest for me. 3 days of early mornings / late nights behind me, any rest from the weekend has been used. Reserves are low. Couple this with no early meetings and dragging my butt out of bed becomes nearly impossible.

I managed it in the end, and the day began. The descent to the weekend continues. 1 meeting today, and an afternoon of training. No meetings tomorrow (allowing me to do some actual work!); and then we're done.

Maybe I should just take Thursdays off.

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Half way. Is the glass empty or full?

Mid way into the week, and hopefully an easy slide to the weekend. I have a huge back log of e-mails to go through, and some other paperwork to bring up to date; but with less meetings (including none on Friday yet) I may get up to date.

I went for a sport massage yesterday evening. On top of all the problems with my feet (or maybe as a result of them) all the muscles in my legs are *extremely* tight. So I have a number of sessions booked so they can be pushed, prodded, and generally loosened up. Yesterday's session ached, but wasn't as painful as I'd expected. It's probably too early to say whether it made a difference.

Otherwise, life carries on. Little one slept better last night. The lack of sauna-like conditions helped. Other than that, nothing major to report. Onwards to the weekend!

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And they're off...

2days in, and I've got a seat from the start of the journey both days. Must be the summer holidays. Also, as there are less than ten people standing in the whole carriage, the temperature is reasonable too. That won't last.

The huge amount of rain last night took the edge off the temperature, and the family managed to sleep through. Personally, I'm feeling a bit dead this morning. The weekend is catching up.

Our friends coming to visit have postponed for a couple of weekends which has helped relieve the pressure to get everything straightened out. This means we can use this weekend to clear the garage and get the house sorted after a couple of weekends in the garden.

Had a nice doze on the tube. Makes a change!

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Monday morning issues

Having blackberry problems this morning, so typing this is an exercise in patience. When I hit select I get 'uo' when I hit back I get 'hl'. Not very helpful. Everything else works, so I'm working around the issue. The thing was fine yesterday, and then I put it down and came back to check it 3 hours later where it started doing this. I've rebooted it twice, but to no avail.

Anyway, minor technical problemets aside, we finally got our third and final 6ft by 6ft piece of trellis fully stained. I'll fit it inplace tonight and complete our screening. The playhouse is also complete (bar a couple of wobbly windows), so a productive weekend all round

Unfortunately, since we started doing the trellis we've had an extra pole and 2ft section inserted, and had some horizontal trellis fitted to the wall of the house, and in the conservatory. So our adventures in staining are not quite at an end.

The 'shock' headline in the Metro this morning is, "Human sewage used for cereals". I have to say, my first thought was, "People will do anything to avoid eating muesli."

Another week begins. This is the first one of many without my right hand girl as she's off on secondment in South Africa. I know I, and the team, will cope, but I'd rather we didn't have to!

Other than that, many meetings (though hopefully less than last week), and the usual problems and issues are bound to crop up, but nothing major. We have some friends visiting this weekend, so that's to look forward to. A saturday of wine and bbq would be nice. Hope the weather's up to it.

Speaking of the weather, who turned the heat up. Last night was the hottest, most humid, and yet stillest night yet. Even when we were woken at 5:11 (apologies for the stupid number I've just found out my zero is also playing up, it types 'yi' or ')I' depending on how I select it!) It still hadn't cooled down much. It's all a bit much really. We're British, there must be someone to complain to!

Right, enough waffling! I'll have nothing to write about the rest of the week at this rate! Time for the day to begin. Good start so far, I've got a seat on the tube!

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That Friday feeling

Tired and late this morning. I didn't get home until 20:30 last night, and hit the wrong button on the alarm this morning.

Problems with one of the systems I look after kept me working late, and there are accusations of inaccuracies in a report I didn't generate (and wouldn't have generated) that was based on data I provided for a completely different purpose.

On top of all that, my deputy / right hand girl is off to South Africa for 3 months on secondment.

With all that, there isn't much else I can think of.
The weekend will be busy, and followed by another busy week, so no respite there.

However, the wonky roof on our daughters playhouse was fixed yesterday, and as a bonus they gabled (is that a word?) and felted it too, so all that remains is the windows which helps greatly.

If the weather holds the final trellis panel can finally be stained and fitted, and another couple of large jobs can be ticked off.

Time to go, still a while to travel, but I need to get my head in the right space. Bring on the weekend, busy as it may be.

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Why bother?

By the time I got on my second train today I might as well have not bothered dryin off after my shower. Having the shower itself seemed almost as pointless. It's hot, humid, and I'm tired. It's going to be a good day!

The heat and humidity is wearing down my household. The house retains so much heat, and the lack of breeze at the moment is making some rooms, including my daughters, a bit sauna like. Poor little mite is often covered in sweat when we check on her.

To add insult to injury, heathrow decided to land planes from the West this morning, that means every plane about to enter final approachflies slowly over the south side of our house turning north, and then east as they fly back north of our house. Yes, they're quite high up, but the still air, the slow speed, and the frequency makes sleeping difficult, and returning to sleep once awake nearly impossible.

Now, what else can I whinge about? Probably plenty, but I won't.

Topical news question given the sentencing of the canoe fraud case. Why on earth did he return to the UK and kick this off? If he'd remained in Panama, and stuck to the plan their wouldn't have been any issues. Why the daft amnesia tale? I just don't get it. Even if the tale had worked the insurance money would have had to be returned and they'd have lost out financially.

Right, I'm now 90 degrees, squashed, and 12 minutes from work. I love my life.

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Another day...

Inspiration has gone AWOL this morning. Hump day has arrived, and with it 5 and a half hours of meetings. That's a big hump! Can't say I'm looking forward to it, but I'm sure I'll claw back some time along the way.

Thinking about life choices at the moment. Where do I want to be in 1, 2, 3 years time? What's the next step. I always thought a technical person would be a good manager. I've had those who don't understand what I'm saying and that's useless. However, maybe it's not as clear cut. Engineers, technical people are used to building systems. We define every aspect of them. We know everything about them. We revel in the details, the control. I'm slowly realising that managers have no control. Power, and decision making is not control.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a detail man. Organised, and in control. The question is, can I learn to relinquish that control? To stop being the engineer and become the manager. I hope so, and I'm beginning to formulate a way of doing it. Only question remains, is it what I want to do? Does it lead to somewhere I want to be?

Only time will tell.

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Is it really only Tuesday?

I feel like most of the week should be behind me by now and I've only done one day! Oh dear!

I'm definitely growing old and out of touch. The Dr. Horrible (if you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry, it's finished) thing last week would have been something I knew about pre-event in the past. I'd have been the one spreading the word. As it was, I found out about it on Saturday, read that it finished on Sunday on the Sunday itself, and finally watched it all at going on 10 at night.

I still got there. I still have my ear to the ground, but I am slowly slipping out of touch.

Tired this morning, but not 'tired to the bone' yet. It's getting to the point where I dream about early nights and long lie-ins. Sad isn't it!?

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I'm back...

And it's like I was never away!

Reasonable start; overslept by 9 minutes, had to run for the train. Made it, and it was as over crowded a journey as ever. Standout moment: the buffet girl asking this whale of a bloke to stand elsewhere as people couldn't get past him.

Rammed platform on the bakerloo due to a defective train. I've now transferred to the circle and am on my way again.

So, 10 days off. I don't feel anymore rested than when I left, but I think I probably am. Work stresses never left, and the forced detatchment probably caused as much stress as it avoided. Of the 2 jobs I wanted to get done, the majority of the playhouse is built, however one of the roof panels has been built incorrectly, so that's on hold until a replacement is sourced. The trellis remains unpainted.

We had a good trip to my parents allowing us to catch up with my grandparents too. Little one was very well behaved. Even with a cold she was great around my family, and not too clingey at all.
The rest of the week has been jobs, shopping, walks, and not much sleep. Our poor bunny seems to be getting the last of her molars (thankfully her last teeth), and is waking in the night. She's quickly calmed, but the disruption is playing hell with our energy levels.

So that's it. A quick break, and we're back commuting. Like all these things, it's like I was never away.

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Time off

Today is the last working day for me for the next 10 days, but I'm not ready to relax just yet. I have a feeling that today will be hectic and busy with all those last minute problems cropping up as they always do just before you leave for a while.

I always find that your last day before a holiday puts you so far beyond that it takes a good 2 or 3 days to recover. The flip side of the holiday is always so busy too that by 10am you may as well have not been away.

Still, this time tomorrow I'll have got a bit more sleep than usual, and aim to be waiting for a new iPhone to replace the one my wife shattered after dropping it on the floor one too many times. After that we'll be off up the country at some point during the day to visit my parents for a few days.

Once we get home it's a combination of jobs and relaxation. Hopefully those last couple of big jobs will get completed, and all those little niggling jobs can also get done. That, more than anything, will allow me to relax.

Posting will obviously be sporadic for a short while. I'm trying to persuade my wife to do a guest post, and I may get some down time where I feel I have something to write. However, don't expect much until a week on Monday (all 3 of you you read this thing that is!)

Au revoir. Or as Arnie said, "I'll be back!"

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Mid-week malaise

I've been working hard to put up some longer posts here recently, but today I'm struggling.

Although, technically, today is mid way through the week, this week is a short one for me as I have Friday off. As a result I'm having 5 days of meetings in 4. This combined with reports week, a DR paperwork exercise to tick some boxes, the mid-year appraisals to do, and a large number of new people in the team depriving me of system knowledge is causing me a bit of a headache!

Time for a holiday. Oh! Look at that! I'm off Friday and all next week. No blackberry (at least no work e-mails), no forwarded phone. Peace and quiet for a few days. Hopefully get the 2 major jobs finished in the garden, and a myriad of small tasks done in the house. Along with some much needed relaxation time.

Last post of the week tomorrow.

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On being wonderful

The, so far, untold story of Friday night (scroll down for a recap on stupidity) is the wonderfulness of my wife.

To start with she was having a hell of a day with our little bundle of joy, but declined my offer to come home, and said I should go out, she'd be fine.

A couple of text messages through the evening indicated things hadn't got much better, but that my darling daughter did go to sleep once she finally got there.

The first time I spoke to her was just after 11 to appraise her of my travel plans. She was only concerned for me, wondering if I'd make a connection, worried about me doing something daft (like walking home from the station), offering to bundle little one into the car and come and meet me. I re-assured her I would be fine, the train may let me make my connection, and no matter which station I ended up at I'd get a cab home.

She rang me as I got on the train, again worried about my well-being. We discussed contingency plans. Again she offered to come and get me. Those without kids won't quite understand the magnitude of this offer. To willingly put yourself through waking the babe is a generous offer indeed. Satisfied that I wasn't going to try walking 5 miles or anything equally silly we rang off again.

The next time she rung me was after midnight. It was during this call that I had the dawning realisation that things weren't going to plan. I should have been home by now, not still on a train. There were no recriminations, just a calm, worried concern for myself.

I rang her back after consulting my GPS to confirm the bad news. Still no anger. In fact, she was finding it quite amusing; in a worried, concerned sort of way.

We spoke again outside the station. My wife had de-camped bed and moved to the computer from where she was looking for options for me. Luckily for me, I found a hotel quick enough, and left her as I rang the night bell.

We spoke again once I got to my room. She'd found me a couple of other nearby options in case this one hadn't worked out. However, now assured I was safe and well, we said goodnight and put the phones down.

I probably got more sleep than my wife as I immediately dropped off into my usual, earthquakes wouldn't wake me, state, whilst she was wide awake and worried about me.

Getting home the next day, there was no hostility; even when I revealed I had a hangover. Throughout the was just loveliness and concern. And something to take the piss out of for many years to come!

My wife's wonderful. I love her very much.

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On good times, stupidity, and the excellence of backup plans

Friday night was a good time. I haven't been out and relaxed for a whole evening for some time. I had slightly too much to drink, but didn't do anything stupider than boring a group of Mums with baby talk.

Mindfull of my travel restrictions, I left the group at 22:10, leaving myself, I thought, plenty of time to catch to 23:00 train, and the 23:42 interchange. Minor problem; there is no 23:00. Having never left travelling so late before I had no idea of the timetables. Had to go for the 23:21 to Slough, Reading and Oxford. One extra stop, not too bad. Timings would be interesting for the interchange, but worst comes to the worst I could always get a taxi.

I'd spoken to my darling wife at this point, and appraised her of the situation, with rough timings. I got on the train, and promptly fell asleep.

I was woken by my phone ringing. It was my wife. Slightly disoriented, I answered. She asked where I was, I hadn't a clue. I asked the time, 00:15. That wasn't possible. Even with a stop at Slough the train should have been in at midnight. I was suddenly aware that no one was sitting around me, and realisation began to dawn. I disconnected, and checked the GPS. We were approaching Oxford!

Long story short (too late), I rang back, explained, sorted a hotel out near the station, and travelled home the next morning.

Saturday saw the conquering of a minor hangover with some work in the garden. I dug out and compressed the ground for my daughter's playhouse. I then started levelling the ground, but ran out of sand and time. It looked like a storm was coming, so I used the remaining time to lower our cheap gazebo, and sacure some of the more fragile plants.

Sunday was rain. Out went the planned erection of the playhouse. Instead I emptied, cleaned, tidied and sorted the conservatory. Changing it from the semi storage cupboard it had become into a useable space. My daughter has a playdate with 2 little friends today, so I put down an alphabet playmat, and some crawling toys we had got for the garden; now they have somewhere to play.

The weekend finished with ironing and a clean of the kitchen.

Quick rant on the farce that is London Transport this morning. I arrive at Paddington to be told there are sever delays on the Jubillee, so a stay on the Barkerloo, and change at Oxford Circus (reminders of Friday night), I take the long walk to the Central, and the hot train to Bank. Most of the way through the 6 mile underground hike they announce that there are no DLR services to reduce the risk of overcrowding! They suggest I either get the Central line to Stratford(!) And pick up the DLR from there, or the Northern line to London Bridge, to get the Jubillee. Can anyone see the problems with these suggestions? So I pick the more likely. I now find myself at London Bridge, waiting for severely delayed trains on the Jubillee line, with a huge crowd of people in front and around me doing the same.

Sometimes I really wonder why?!

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Another Friday, another week

Time keeps ticking by. Where do the weeks go? It seems only yesterday I had over 100 days on my homepage countdown until my wife's birthday. Now there's about a month.

On the health side of things, my wheezing has completely cleared up. Thankfully. As have my itchy eyes. I'm still sneezing quite a bit, but the levels of irritation have dropped substantially. If I could now work out what caused all the problems. Fore-warned is fore-armed.

Everything seems to be slowly coming together. Our garden is looking good; and, with some good weather this weekend will have a playhouse in it by Monday. After months of decorating work all the rooms are starting to look tidy; which in turn makes them easier to clean (if we're given the time!). I was looking round our kitchen last night just before bed, and then went through to the dining room, and finally the lounge, and I thought, "It probably was worth it."

Out tonight after work. It'll be good to get out and relax a bit. Next week is report week and I'm only here 4 days, so it'll be compressed and stressy. Off for a week and a day at the end of it though.

Slowly feeling a little less tired. I'm not getting any more sleep, but what I'm getting seems to be doing the job. It certainly makes a difference when the little one sleeps through to a reasonable hour. My poor, long suffering wife could do with more rest though. Our darling daughter may be an angel through the night, but she's certainly making up for it during the day. Very clingy at the moment, and that headstrong Nixon attitude is coming to the fore. Tantrums at 16 months, boy are we looking forward to the 2's!

That about wraps it up I think. Just over 10 minutes away from work; the tube is not too busy this morning. Fallout from a desk move awaits me. Shouldn't be too bad. Then, preperation for next weeks reports, e-mails, and the inevitable meetings. Then fun. Woo.

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Afternoon posts

I may as well accept it. Writing in the afternoon just doesn't work for me. I have my RSS feeds, a free paper, and a hot carriage to deal with. This on top of a full day just doesn't present a good state of mind when it comes to composing posts.

Left late today. Thankfully the meeting and discussions that led to this were productive. Got to the train to find it rammed with no buffet car to lean in. However, on arrival at my interchange I found that my normal train was heavily delayed and I ended up catching it anyway. So, whilst late, I'm no later than I would have been!

Yay.

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No post

Worked from home yesterday, so too many RSS feeds this morning. Now at work. More later...

Maybe.

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What's up?

So, here I am, Tuesday morning, up with the alarm (no snooze button this morning!), feeling pretty chipper. On my way to work, rammed into a train, looking out the window at a gorgeous day in the making.

Had a reasonable kip last night. Not long enough, but deep. Feeling reasonably refreshed.

To make up for yesterday (and Friday), here's a bit of an update.

Thursday night was a celebration for the go-live of a work project. The first part of the evening was in a bar with a couple of workmates, and was a good laugh. The second part was the party, and the food was good. I left at 21:30, and got home at 23:30.

A little tired on Friday, but none the worse for wear, the day passed uneventfully enough, and the weekend was upon us.

I decided to sleep in the back room Friday and Saturday to try and give my wife some decent sleep to help her catch up, so I was awake quite early Saturday. Read for a while before getting little one up and sorting her and a few jobs downstairs out. Off then for a haircut, almost 2 hours of my life wasted waiting for a slot as staff kept taking breaks leaving, essentially, one person to deal with the 8 people ahead of me.

With that ordeal over, there was a quick shopping trip, then the rest of the day was spent sanding trellis. A fun passtime.

Sunday was more of the same, but by the end of the day my wife and I had sanded and stained all of the framework and 2 of the 3 trellis inserts. This leaves us with a couple of hours work needed this weekend to get the final insert done, and we'll be finished!

Yesterday we both hurt!

During all of this there has been plenty of little one time. She's wandering around like a good 'un. Last night she opened one of her books and, pointing, said "Elephant". She was right, it was.

So that's about all at the moment. I feel there is a rant in me somewhere, but it can't formulate itself just yet, so something to look forward to there.

Off now to enjoy the sight of the beautiful weather from my sealed office building. Joy.

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