The *all new* front of our lounge

Now with removed toy box and clutter!

The *new* back of our lounge

A veritable "children's play area"

New Year, same week

I really should have taken today off. Having worked from home Tuesday and Wednesday, and then having Thursday off, today seems a real drag. My mind is having issues working out what day it is. It's amazing how important routine is.

Last night, convinced it was Sunday (even after a conversation 30 minutes earlier where I had mentioned doing the ironing because it was Sunday, and then realizing it wasn't) I washed my daughters hair. Poor thing doesn't like it at the best of times, but now she's had an extra turn.

We visited Kew gardens yesterday, and had a nice wander. Little one enjoyed it for the most part, but it was a little crowded for me and my wife. We finished up our New Year with "Quantum of Solace". A good film, but a little too fast paced in the action scenes at times.

Next week, I feel, is the proper start of the year. People will be back from holiday, and we can start working properly. Today is just one last chance to get the paperwork up to date. Joy.

The quietest New Year of all

My wife and I will be enjoying a quiet New Year on our own this year. A nice meal, a good film, and, if we're lucky, bed by midnight.

Festive salutations to you all.

Snowdon Climbers

BBC NEWS | Wales | Snowdon warning after 17 rescues: "we've had to rescue people from high up who are wearing just trainers, jeans and fleeces.'"

Are these people morons, or just complete idiots?

Twitter

Trying to be active on twitter. See the links in the sidebar.

I'd find this easier if I knew more people to follow. (Other people posting remind me to do so!)

G1 App list

As there don't seem to be enough lists at this time of year, I thought I'd create one. Here is a list of all the apps I have / use on my G1. They are listed in the order they were installed / updated, with the newest at the top.

Trap!
Power Manager
Telegraph.co.uk
Tricorder
ChompSMS
Twidroid
Hullomail Mobile
SMS Popup
BioLines
Toddler Lock
Missed Call
Mem
aCurrency
Pkt Auctions eBay
Locale
AK Notepad
Picasa Uploader
Brain Genius Deluxe
The Weather Channel
NichtClock
Opera Mini
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
fBook
TuneWiki
iTubeStatus
Any Cut
Lights Out
Ringdroid
Translate
Bonsai Blast
ConnectBot
PAC-MAN
Coloroid
Shazam

As I haven't seen it posted anywhere else, a cunning tip for updating all your G1 apps is to head to the market, hit the "My Downloads" app, and scan for any app that says 'Free'. This will indicate you don't have it on your phone. Just hit the link to install the new version. The only downside to this is that apps you have uninstalled stay in this list, and are also marked as 'Free', so if you try a lot of apps out, and then remove them, the list could get a bit over-populated.

And so, the year draws to a close.

An easy 4 day week with a day off Thursday. A better way to ease into work again after 5 days off. A lot of the office have taken the time off too, so the distractions should be less.

Xmas was good. A busy 5 days of family, food, and festivities. My daughter had a great time (even if she did keep waking us in the early hours), although she doesn't 'get' Xmas yet. She likes the presents, but once one has been opened, that's enough. Time to play. It's a good attitude to have, but it means it took 3 days to finally open all her presents (yes, she's spoilt, but there weren't *that* many to open).

I cooked a good dinner if I say so myself. Turkey, obviously, and all the trimmings. No one ate much of anything else for the rest of the day, so that's always a good sign. That and the clean plates.

The weekend was spent at the in-laws, and was a welcome chance to relax. They prepared another great meal, and another good time was had by all.

Now it's back to work. A chance to take stock and work out what's outstanding, prioritise it, and get some done. All setup for next year. That's the plan anyway.

Live from the Next sale

Aaargh. Aaargh. Aaaaaaargh. Sob. Sniffle. Hyperventilate.

A direct quote from my wife.

On the door for 5am, childrens wear hit, then menswear, finally womens. Now in the queue. Only the British could do this at this time of the morning. I must be certifiable by now.

We have 2 bags of 'bargains', and enough clothes for my daughter to see her through at least 2 weeks!

As soon as we're done here, it's home and bed.

It must be Xmas...

...I've got a seat on every train I've been on today. Which reminds me, best check the works register for next week. I bet something's shut.

Xmas eve eve

My last working day before Xmas, and my last working day for 5 whole days.

Sleep hasn't been that great lately. Friday night had a couple of wake up calls, but Saturday was terrible. Little one seemed to believe that it was nap time, and was up throughout the night. My poor wife got about 4 hours sleep, and, because I had gone to sleep at the start of the night instead of reading, I got about 6. Sunday was a bit of a write off. Although, somehow, my amazing wife managed to make 2 casseroles!

We got a tree moved, and another one planted on Saturday. I'm informed that that is the last large plant our garden needs. We'll see. I also got the turkey, pigs in blankets, potataoes, parsnips, carrots, and sprouts (yuck) for Thursday. I have another long list for this evening, but that will be it.

I'm really looking forward to Xmas this year. More so than usual. I can't quite put my finger on it; maybe I just need a break more than usual.

On something completely different. We were watching a bit of the snooker final on Sunday night (yes, we were that tired), well, I was watching it, and my wife was ignoring it in favour of the internet, and I was surprised at just how bad the players were. Now I'm not a great player, and count myself lucky when I get a pot, but I've watched snooker on the TV for many years; by the time you get to the final, the tricky shots should be executed every time. Perfect position, accurate cannons. Both of the guys playing on Sunday were mis-queuing, failing on position, missing pots. In the days of Jimmy White, and Stephen Hendry, to name but 2, the final was always a spectacular display of snooker. The 2 on Sunday looked like a couple of semi-pros down the community pool hall. I haven't watched snooker for about 4 years, so maybe this is what it's become, but what happened to the greats?

Anyway, work is a few minutes away. It's team lunch day, and I don't have many meetings either. A show and tell at 15:00, but that's about it. Then home, shopping, and Xmas. Yay.

Merry Xmas, and happy yule tidings to both my readers.

Something interesting

Well, maybe. If I can think of something. So much going on in the world, so little of it joyful. Hey, it's Friday. A fact my brain disputed this morning. I was putting out the bins when I decided I was being daft. It was Thursday. Silly me. So I put the bags back. As I shut the garage door I caught sight of a bag next door, then another. Hmm, maybe it wasn't Thursday. So I put the bins out again. By this point, I had missed my train. So I went and made my wife a nice hot drink, and faffed with the computer for a bit.

We were up in the night with little one, and this has compounded the lack of recent sleep to leave both me and my wife knackered and a 'bit spaced'. Just what I need when I've got some important meetings today. TFI Friday.

No idea what we'll do this weekend. Sleep for the whole thing would be good. I doubt there will be another trip up to London, but we will fid something to do. My poor wife is going stir crazy. She's stuck in waiting for friends who cancel at the last minute. It's just been one of those weeks. Time of year I guess.

At least the tube is fairly empty at this time of day.

And there we go. Writers block. Have a good weekend, and I'll try to do something worth writing about between now and Monday.

Depressing

If you want to arrive at work in the *wrong* frame of mind listen to Jeff Buckley singing Hallelujah on repeat whilst travelling through the dark underground!

The Thursday morning of the soul

I feel a bit weird today. I assume it's the insistent coughing during the night, and the resulting lack of sleep, but the day just feels slightly off centre.

I got all the bills paid last night, and some other paperwork caught up with, but didn't do anything of interest.

Today promises to be fairly productive (I have some chunks blocked out in the diary to allow me to get some work done), but it could always break that promise.

It strikes me that my life is not that interesting!

Alive and kicking...

...but too distracted to post. Came in a different way, and it's thrown everything into disarray. Normal service will resume tomorrow.

Tired? Me? No! Really?

The downside to the german market and London trip on Sunday was the lack of appetite when we got home. Burgers, stew, pancakes and waffles will do that to you. (No, I didn't eat all that!) The upshot of that was our planned chicken dinner didn't get eaten.

Last night we had chicken dinner (you couldn't see that one coming, could you?!) My darling wife had prepared the veg ready, so I got home and just sorted the meat and the timings out. Unfortunately, chicken takes a while to cook, and we didn't get sat down until about 21:30. This led to a late night, and a tired Steve this morning.

Now on my way in to sort out a report, and manage the impossible by 09:30. All in a days work!

Life, but not as we know it.

Much going on, only 7 more working days until xmas (for me at least; I have the 24th off.) Of couse this doesn't mean things ease off. I have a number of big meetings this week as we outline the strategy for next year.

However, the weekend. Saturday saw a miserable day weather wise with a trip to the supermarket as a high light. My wife was out in the evening, so after putting little one down, I did a quick tidy up, and settled down to watch 'Iron Man'. The film wasn't bad, a little less silly than expected, but the finale lacked something. I'm sure they're saving plot lines for the inevitable sequels, but it did seem to just want to establish the characters with little thought to action.

Sunday we went to London. Our first train journey as a family, and it went well. Little one enjoyed the experience of being on a train, and was very well behaved. Once in London we used the underground, another experience that brought a couple of wry smiles,to head to Hyde Park and the Winter Wonderland. We wandered around the German market, enjoying the wares, and browsing the stalls. The only downside to the event was the extortionate pricing of the rides. Little one couldn't go on much, but a simple toddlers ride was £2 a go, and a giant slide, which both Mummy and Daddy wanted to go on with her, was £3 a ride!

The journey back was uneventful, and the whole day can be called a success. A spur of the moment decision, executed with the skill of experienced parents. It's only taken us almost 2 years!

Back to work now. Normal week with extra mince pies (I can hope).

Apt

Iron Maiden, Fear of the Dark, 8:15, crammed into the underground.

Followed by Run to the Hills as the doors open at work.

Positive(ly knackered)

Feeling better today, not happy by any stretch, but more positive. I was working until 21:15 yesterday, giving me a 13 hour workday, or 14.5 hours if you include the morning travel. I spent the last 2 talking. Talking a lot. A number of things cleared and crystalised. A direction was discussed. Things may actually work.

As a result of all that means I didn't get anything else done yesterday. I finished work, spoke to my wife, spoke to my Mum, had some soup (a *lot* of soup), and went to bed. Back up again at 06:20, and meeting my wife for lunch.

Tired, and hoping that glimmer of light in the tunnel isn't the first sign of an approaching train!

Things are getting bad. Please send chocolate.

Up early (on time) this morning, and it hurts. 06:20 was not designed to be seen be mortal man.

I was out last night with my wife. We had a lovely meal, really enjoyed the food; however, I think I could have been better company. Things at work weren't great yesterday. The factor in my days seems to be inversely proportional to the number of meetings I have. Yesterday, I had too many. I also got told off because something I've been telling people since March will be available end Q1 2009 won't be available until, shock horror, end Q1 2009. Roadmaps be damned, someones having a tantrum beause they want their software now damnit!

Not that anyones just looking for excuses to justify their political motives. No, surely not.

Anyway, moving on. I'll be spending the evening wrapping presents for my darliing wife, and watching some movie she wouldn't approve of. Just need to get through today. Thankfully, I haven't got any meetings until this afternoon, so I might get some work done, and have a shot at a good day.

Finally

Whenever I go away, or work from home, my time for blog reading is seriously deminished. Going away for 3 days the other week for the wedding left me with a huge defecit. Finally, today, I've fully caught up. My reader is empty. Many thanks to all those who write the blogs I read, but do you think you could take account of my holidays in future, and tailor your output accordingly? Thanks in advance.

I've been messing around with google alerts recently. Asking it to e-mail any references to me, or to my daughter's first name. The ones about me haven't brought up anything of interest yet; which isn't that surprising, I tend to keep a low profile on the net, and I'm unlikely to be published, nor referenced anywhere. The ones for my daughter, however, have been worth further investigation. I'm only looking for her first name as it's a little different, and shouldn't come up that often. So far, 2 people have been posting under the sudonym (I wish this thing had a spell checker), and one person used it as a mis-spelling of something else. The interesting bit is the sites that tend to come up. So far, a 22 year olds blog full of angst and lols, a site dedicated to the evils of childhood, and a bulletin board for transexuals. Really backs up our decision to give her that name!

Out tonight for an Xmas meal with my wife. Looking forward to some 'us' time. Tomorrow night I'll be alone as my wife and daughter will be at her Mum and Dads for the night. Looking forward to some 'me' time. On Thursday, my wife will join me at work for lunch. Looking forward to a 'lunchtime'. All in all, a good week. Shame to spoil it with work.

Oh dear

So it's Monday morning, and I'm already counting down to the weekend. What's it called when you're forced to go somewhere you don't want to for most of your waking life? Oh yes, work.

The weekend was good. We got a load of jobs done without it feeling like we spent the whole weekend doing jobs. Saturday saw us actually getting out of the house for fun. We drove up to a National Trust property where there was an xmas food market. The food market wasn't great, but the grounds were lovely, and it'll definitely be worth another visit next year. The day was only slightly marred by vindictive old grannies stopping my little one getting a go on the train. Although that may have been down to bumbling and faffing rather than vindictivness. Who knows when it comes to grannies?

Sunday involved a quick shopping trip, and a sunday roast with my wife's parents.

Somehow, we also got all our remaining wrapping finished, our bathroom cleaned, and some vacuuming. All in all, a productive weekend.

And now it's back to work. More stress, more requirements, not enough time, not enough staff. Oh well, it pays the bills.

I started writing this blog properly in March, the year has ticked by rapidly since then. It'll be interesting to sit back and look over the changes in my life at some point. I wonder if the turning point between enjoyment and frustration can be spotted. Hopefully, another few months and a reverse will also be spotable.

That Friday feeling

Why can't my phone capitalise letters when I hold them down? That's one of the main things I miss from the blackberry. Having to press shift first just seems daft. I can see they had to make a decision, and chose to offer foreign varients of letters, but given localisation I would choose capitalisation over ferign characters. Hòw øftêñ dö ï ñèéd thë§ë thîñgß? Must letters don't have foreign options, so just repeat. Surely using the 'sym' option to reach those characters, and offering capitals on a long press would have been a better option.

Moving on. There are posters (and TV adverts) around at the minute for Windows. They state "I'm a PC" offer some picture of a 'normal' individual, and follow it up with some comment on the users job. E.g. "I'm a PC and a merciless gamer" accompanied by a picture of Fatality (an overgrown kid who makes a living out of playing games (not that I'm jealous or anything)). You are also encouraged to record you own video message, using the phrase, and send it in (although not on you tube I guess :) ). I'm seriously considering recording one saying, "I'm a PC and I use Linux". Do you think that would make the website?

Time to move on. Late today, but the boss is out. No real meetings to speak of, so I might get some work done! The weekend is only a matter of hours away, and it promises quiet (and a few jobs). Joy.

Thursday blues

Short one today.

I had two late meetings in the end yesterday. The first of those got me annoyed and frustrated, the second was interesting for 5 minutes. I finished working at 18:40. Thankfully, I'd come home early, taking the first meeting on the train, so I was able to see my daughter.

I was also able to go swimming. 40 lengths, or 1km. Not bad.

Now I have a morning or trying to sort the issues that so annoyed me yesterday. Fun.

Tired and...what day is it?

Ok, not *that* tired, mentally distant maybe. Took me 2 minutes to work out what day it is. Wednesday right?

Utterly rammed today, I keep wobbling whilst I type as I can't get to a decent hand hold.

Life is fine. No changes from yesterday with the job. Just a busy day with plenty to do. We got all our xmas decorations up yesterday, so our house is now a festive centre. Great to come home to.

Hopefully I'll get some swimming in tonight, but I think I've got a late meeting (flipping americans refuse to have meetings at sensible times.) Hopefully I won't be home too late.

For some reason, at this time of the morning, I'm craving pizza. Weird.

Cold Tuesday

When little one woke us at 05:25 this morning it was 5 minutes before the heating came on. And it was cold. That feeling has stayed with me so far, and, as I'm stood by the door in a Jubilee line carriage with a cold draft hitting my back, looks set to continue for some time.

I'm hearing rumours that the American I was asked to "interview" may be given my job leaving me in charge of data only. So I'm following up a few leads to get another job lined up just in case. I am not going to have a chain of command through 2 people in another country, neither of which know me, and one who has shown no interest in getting to know me. I know a stupid political game when I see one. My new senior manager wants a power base in the US. It's not personal against me, I'm just not important to the big picture. Well fine, good luck running all of the systems and reports without my knowledge.

I have a couple of internal leads within the company, so I'll follow them up and see what's out there. I'm not even bothering to look external at the moment. The market is not at its best.

So, on that cheery note, another day begins.

On being a best man

I have had the honour and priviledge of being co-best man to a friend I've had since our school days. I shared the honour with another friend from that time. Being best man is one of those things I believe every man should do once.

The duties of a best man come down to 3 things.

Support; both during the preparations, and on the day itself. Helpful words of advice, willingness to take on any task to help things procede smoothly. This is an on-going duty, although not an onerous one. Our groom had the benefit of a best man who had got married himself, and a best man who had done the job before, so there was support for anything. Not that we were called on much. Tasks alloted were sorting out some music before, between, and after the band sets; and creating a hundred favour boxes from a lot of empty boxes, some tissue paper, and thousands of iced jems. Other than that, helpful, and un-helpful advice as and when required. That, and having to sleep in a room with no curtains the night before the wedding!

The stag do; there can be little doubt that this ritual is a major part of the best man's duties. For this stag do we went to the Lakes, got the groom extremely drunk, put him in a dress and walked him up and down a hill, put him in another dress and took him to the pub, and generally provided camraderie, banter, and, from those already married, a whole host of useful tips.

The speech; if you mention that you're going to be a best man, invariably the first question asked is, "Have you got the speech ready?" The best man speech is a time honoured way of sending the groom up on his wedding day, of entertaining the guests, and a chance to praise the happy couple. So no pressure then. Ours went well, and was received in the spirit intended. We were pretty easy on him, but raised a few laughs. For the record, the groom did thump a sheep, sang guest vocals on the ace of spades (not with Motorhead), but gave up half way as he couldn't hear himself, and did relieve himself in a drawer at a friends house after arriving uninvited during the early hours of the morning.

So that's it. The happy couple are married, the weekend is over, and I'm on my way back to work. Would I do it again? Yes, if I cared about the groom as much as I cared about this one. Congratulations to the two of you, and thanks for involving me in your big day.

Quick one

Just so my Dad has something to read! :)

Underground...

...overground, wombling free.
The wombles of Wimbledon common are we.
Making good use of the things that we find,
the things that the everyday folk leave behind.

The speech writing continues...

Short week, short posts

I'm only in work two days this week. Today and tomorrow. After that we're off up north to see my family and attend a friends wedding. It's this latter fact that limits the size of the posts this week. I'm acting as one of the two best men, and have a speech to finish.

So, that's where my effort now goes.

No news

The announcemment I wanted yesterday didn't come. The word is that it will come today. However, the word is that it will be amiguous, and not provide any clear direction for 6 months. Which will cause more trouble, conflict, and stress than a clear decision would now. You can't have 2 conflicting teams doing the same job. I can't see this being easy, nor fun.

Late, tired, and stressed

The title sums it up. No real post today, there is too much at stake this afternoon. The next stage of my life is being mapped out, and I have no real input. How someone who listened to me for 30 minutes whilst reading mails on his blackberry can decide whether I'm the right person for the job I don't know.

It may be all a worry about nothing, I'm incumbent, I have the systems, the knowledge. I just don't find out until this afternoon.

In other news, thanks to Laurie for the kind comment; Mum, make sure you read the comment attached to yesterdays main post.

Right, hopefully back tomorrow in a better frame of mind. One way or the other I'll know what I'm doing, and that has to be better than this uncertainty.

Hassle

Is it too much to expect that when in a 2 way corridor with room for, maybe, 5 people, and there is a train with open doors waiting at the end of it, that people could move over so that within our half of the corridor there was enough room to allow someone to get past you. Is that too much to ask? Is hugging the wall too much hassle? Is it just me?

Speech

I'm in the process of writing a speech for myself and another friend to give in our dual role as best men. And it's difficult. Suming up a friend's character and life in a short speech that is both funny and evocative is bad enough without having to work out delivery between 2 people as well.

Other than that, life continues as normal; not enough sleep, too much stress.

People around me continue to get too close, although handbags are absent this morning. So far. Can't believe it's only Wednesday, it feels like I've done enough for it to be Friday.

It's my Mum's birthday today. Happy birthday Mum, I'll speak to you a bit later on.

Here comes the crush at Waterloo. Better go.

By popular demand

I have had many requests (with a readership of 7, 2 is many!) for a post with a picture. So here you go. My platform at too early in the morning, from the other end. Enjoy.

Normal post (or as normal as my posts get) to follow soon.

Typing ...

with the headphones plugged into this phone is not easy!

My blog got a real comment from a real person yesterday. Until now, the only commenters have been my friends and family. Much appreciated comments they've been too. However, now my comments have been visited by greatness. Not one of the great unwashed, but the great Richard Madeley (or Dick, as I like to think of him) himself! I know! I was shocked too.

Clearly being the good sheep that I am, and fool for anything new and shiny has payed off. I can only surmise that filling in all that nonsense on blogger stating all the blogs I'm following has actually produced some traffic. And there was me thinking it had just duplicated all my feeds in Google Reader.

The, excellent, advice in the comment will be followed through on. Consider tired and cranky to be my preffered state of being. Being fed up with commuters just comes naturally, and fat women with oversized hand bags deserve everything they get frankly.

Which reminds me of a joke.

A freshman from Texas is lost on Princeton campus and inquires of a senior gentleman, "Excuse me sir, where abouts is the library at?"
The senior looks at the freshman and sneers, "At Princeton we don't finish sentences with prepositions."
The freshman replies, "Ok, where abouts is the library at, asshole?"

And with that, I'll remind you that I'm here all week. Try the veal. Thank you and goodnight.

Right, that's it!

I've lost 2 posts this morning due to being knocked, and I'm getting sick of it.

I guess I'll have to write these outside of the cramped tube.

Weekend: wedding. I had written a lot more, but I'm sick of typing now. I'll pick it up later.

General temprament: tired, and cranky. Sick of inconsiderate commuters. Especially fat women with over sized handbags.

Looking forward to: open spaces, and the ability to type unhindered.

Thursday? Are you sure?

Driving home last night I could have sworn it was Friday. I feel I've done enough this week for it to have been Friday. However, reality dawned quick enough, and, once again, it was Wednesday.

So I did what any sane and normal person would do, I went swimming. 40 lengths or 1km later I painfully pulled / rolled out of the pool and tried to command my muscles to show enough dignity as I made my way to the showers. Thankfully, it doesn't hurt too much this morning.

Went home, and had a late curry before things get a bit blurred. I know little one was up, and I know my wife was sitting with her. I moved some bedding around so they could both go to the spare bed. I'm sure there was a drink involved, but I really wasn't with it. Whilst I know it was late, I can't recall the time, and eventually I must have just crashed.

Next thing I knew the alarm was going off, my wife was asleep next to me, and little one was in her cot. I don't remember any of that happening. I also had a headache. Earlier night called for tonight!

Work continues as always. I have constant meetings today, but should achieve most of what I need to. Ready for working from home tomorrow, and the earlier start to the weekend due to the lack of travelling.

Off again

Almost forgot to post this morning! My mind just isn't with it. I did get up on time, I did manage to get my wife a hot drink for the first time this week, but the old grey matter is working on auto pilot.

Life continues apace. Little one has started responding to me on the phone. She knows it's me, and says "hiya", "dada", and "appy" when prompted. Makes me smile every time.

Two late working nights for me so far this week. 20:00 and 20:30 is when I've got home this week. That, with early mornings is taking its toll. I'm working from home on Friday though which makes things easier. Means I have to go to the dentist though.

The study continues to clear. A small amount of filing has amassed, and the in tray has a few things in it to deal with. Hopefully I'll get away on time today, and sort it out this evening. We can finally aim to have a clear paperwork load.

I have an interesting view on life goals!

Approaching the end of the line for this mornings journey. Not too cramped today. Time to see what meetings I have, and face the deluge of overnight e-mail.

The delights of an early morning in Berkshire

My first pic sent to blogger directly. The view from an Autumn morning on my station's platform.

No post

No real post this morning as I have a couple of e-mails to write. Busy weekend, busy week coming up.

Friday. Finally.

Stressful week! My job seems safe for the time being, which is all that matters at the minute. Tired, worn out, looking forward to the weekend.

Lunch today with a mate, something to look forward to.

Weekend plans : none that I can recall. I plan on getting the stag photos up on the net, and writing a bit of a blurb. Some (a small amount for once) paperwork to do; and, no doubt, the usual jobs for me and my wife.

Just looking forward to getting a days work done, hopefully tying up some loose ends, and going home for the weekend with my wife and child.

Stress and worry

I got a late phone call yesterday from my boss asking me to check a CV out, and conduct a phone interview in 40 minutes time.

I've been having problems recently hiring a BA/project manager for my team; dispite finding the right candidate, and conducting all the HR formalities, weeks ago. So to get asked to look over someone who hasn't been through any of that, and is on the wrong continent, was frustrating to say the least. When it was backed up with the idea that the eventual outcome of my interview may not have any bearing on the procedings just made things worse.

Alarm bells started when I got the CV. This person was not what I wanted, this was someone who would want *my* job! Wary, I went into the interview.

We had a half hour chat during which I was asked as much about what I did as I asked him. Towards the end of the interview it was let slip that he wasn't interviewing for my free role, he was just talking to my team for information, and he and my boss's boss had been talking about another role entirely. A role he didn't expand on.

Call me pessimistic, but I'm not too happy this morning.

Where did it all go wrong?

Over slept this morning. A lot. Vaguely remeber the alarm, but not really. Showered, dressed, and out without even enough time to make my wife a hot drink. missed the train by 2 minutes. The one I got was slow running into Paddington. I'm now waiting for a train underground, and really rather late!

The first

Yesterday I absconded, briefly, from work and visited a T-mobile store. A short while later I left with a new G1. The Googlephone. It cost nothing, they put me on a higher tarrif for nothing, and they left me on an 18 month contract for nothing. I wasn't going to complain.

So, here it is, my first post with a very different keyboard and phone.

What's it like? Easy enough to use, but maybe a little too sensitive on the keyboard. I find myself wondering if I actually pressed a key when I have, and have had some unwanted double hits.

The apps seem good. The browser is better then the blackberry (not hard!), and e-mail / texting is simple enough. It's fantastic to finally be able to sync my calendar, mail, contacts, and RSS feeds automatically. Although I still need an offline feed reader.

Other than that, early days. I seem to have made it through this post easily enough. Now, when I hit send underground will it hold it until I get back to a signal? Only one way to find out.

One of the last

Ok, there should be a stag-do post party review here, but I don't have time, nor technology to do it justice just yet. I'll get something, with the all important pictures, up in the next few days.

Apart from having fun in the Lakes this weekend I managed to get my hands on the plastic demo versions of the G1, and the storm. Form factor wise I liked the storm, but the touch screen puts me off. Yes, it's haptic, butyou can't catch 2 thumbs on there at once, and the screen was a bit small. On the other hand, the G1 is a bit plastic, didn't have the greatest keyboard, and is unproven.

I think it comes down to convergence though. My contacts and e-mail are on g-mail, my calendar is on Google Calendar, my chat program is Google Talk, I search with Google, I know the tricks and shortcuts around their engine. My online photos are on Picasa, and even this blog is on blogger (the last 2 are also Google for those who don't know).

All of the problems I have with my current phone arise because of the compromises I have to make to get Google services to work with a blackberry, and non of that will go away with a storm, or even a bold. Also, the G1 is on T-Mobile which means I don't have the hassle of PAC codes and temporary numbers.

Time to see if I can get a bold through work, and 'fix' my problems by carrying 2 phones!

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Day 3? Nope, day 4

Yesterday, something did not want me to leave the house. The car was completely frozen first thing. It had snowed in the early part of the night, and then frozen afterwards. Whilst the "snow" was removable (in sheets), there was a thick layer of ice underneath that scraping had no effect on. By the time I got it sorted I had missed my train. I got to the station easily for the next one only to find it cancelled!

Meetings forced me home at that point as the next train would have put me underground in the middle of a conference call. And home was where I stayed.

Yesterday evening I attempted to go swimming. We got little one down at an early hour, and tried to make the most of it. I sorted out my towel and trunks and headed out. The place was shut for maintenance! Back home I went.

This morning, completely different story. Up on time, showered, dressed, hot drink for my wife. Out to a car with no ice, just some condensation. Easy drive, and trains that arrive when they're meant to.
Incidentally, commuting problems aside, the early rising and new routine is being stuck to. Even if I've had no exercise this week.

Dentist appointment tomorrow, so no commuting for me, then the stag weekend. Should be fun, but some sleep wouldn't go amiss, and I think that might be in short supply.

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Day 2

I brought my wife a hot drink this morning. I half expect it to go cold on the bedside. Little one was bathed when I got home, and did go down 20 minutes earlier, but it wasn't the great time gain we hoped it would be. We used the time well, but still had jobs to do. We turned the lights out at 22:45. We'll get better, and sort out the kinks regarding jobs and chores. It may make the initial phase hard, but hopefully it's worth it in the end.

In between cooking, jobs, and tele, my PC broke. I now have a grub error 17 on boot. The timing ties up with wanting to re-build the thing anyway, but I don't like having my hand forced. Once I work out what the problem is I'll put something here. (Lucky you eh!)

Work continues to be tough. Too many crises, not enough time (or people). Lunch is now someone getting me a sandwich, the time taken to do it myself is too much!

All I want for christmas is more time. Easy request eh?!

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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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