The Day Before The Move

In the office today. Tried injecting some positive energy into the Grain project by talking through some mapping strategies with Adrian. Why no-one else is doing this for the team is beyond me. Handed over to Geoff for site next week. New laptop on my desk but didn't get to explore it much.

Straight up to school for parents evening. Both kids doing great. Back home to experience more moving prep stress. There just seems so much to do still. Paul and Lyn came over to collect the old fridge. That's one thing out of the way. I relaxed a bit knowing that was out of the way.

So tomorrow we're outta here. It's going to be a bit weird, but good weird. Don't know when we'll have broadband setup in the new place so offline for a while now. See ya!

Working At Home

Working at home today. Got quite a bit done considering Dylan was off school for a hearing test and Harriet was off due to feeling ill with a cold. Jacq busy with more of the final packing preparations. It's getting close now.

Have learnt today that the next two days will mostly be spent on site commissioning. That's just exactly NOT what I wanted. Little chance of sloping off early Thursday afternoon if in the middle of commissioning plant.

Git Up

Amazing to report that today was really a rather pleasant day in the office. The vibe was good amongst the team present. Got a fair bit of work done. The travelling was fine both ways. Can't complain about a working day like today. Soundtracked by the new D12 single 'Git Up' which has a stunning rhythm track more like Autechre or Aphex than your standard rap track.

History Of Atheism

Enjoyed a spot of quality TV this evening. Jonathan Millers History Of Atheism was top notch. There's not enough voices in the media pointing out the obvious STUPIDITY of ALL religions. Good to see it on BBC4 even if it was in a kind of overly intellectual presentation. Really looking forward to the next episode which I think features Richard Dawkins.

Let's be clear about this, religion is for babies afraid of the dark. Religion should be banned. No, not banned, that's dumb. Religion should be deemed so laughably ridiculous, that no-one with any common sense would admit to believing in it.

There, that's better. Imagine religion is dead. Isn't the world a more rational, intelligent and grown-up place now?

Our Last Weekend In This House

A busy weekend just gone. Harriets 9th birthday. Saturday morning swimming was fun. Mitchell joined Dylans class and the two of them had lots of fun after running about during Harriets lesson. At home and busy with party preparations then back down to the swimming baths for the party. The kids had the pool to themselves complete with lots of floats and toys. Everyone had a great time. Parents too. Jacq set up the party stuff while we were all in the pool. The hour was soon up then it was party food, games and cake. Harriet had a great time. Another great party success for Jacq. She always does the best parties. The cousins came back to ours for the present opening. Me and Steve K had some good 'puter chat.

Harriets actual birthday was Sunday and the presents were opened first thing. She loved all her presents. The Pokemon content was high. Harriet picked pizza for lunch so we went down to Harborne. Rest of day was spent with the remaining jobs for the house move. And then it was all over, our last weekend in this house.

Two Shifts Done Dog Tired

In the last two days I've been at work for a total of 32 hours! Let it be known that I am completely knackered! Looking forward to the weekend.

Endless Loop

Enjoying the track Child Made Of Salt by Sleepy Rabbit that I downloaded from Opsound. I've had the first couple of seconds on an endless loop all morning. The phased sound helped in trying to drift through the endless loop of dull dull dull work. I don't want to detail the work stuff, it just isn't interesting anymore. I've decided to steer this blog back to more constructive pursuits.

Now Playing

Cocteau Twins - Echoes In A Shallow Bay this morning. The Cocteaus STILL give me the goosebumps even today. I was a massive fan. Always loved the way they sounded so amazing and were just normal people with none of the rockstar affectations. Although they may have inspired the 'shoegazer' movement of the early nineties, I don't see anyone holding a torch for them today. Shame. Their whole back catalogue sounds consistently wonderful. Top notch. Up there with the good 'uns.

The Sound Of Sunshine

Savath & Savalas - Apropa't soundtracked the morning drive. I could feel the warmth of the music on my face. Soothing Catalan vocals and the sound of sunshine.

The office was an up-and-down affair. Much to moan about but tried to focus on the tasks at hand. Trapper is in charge but needs a push to get things done. Adrian in his usual bad place which is always good entertainment value. Good to touch base with Phil and Dave H.

Quiet house when I got home. Dylan was over at Davids and Harriet at Aksas party. When I went to fetch Dylan, Steve gave me a flyer for his band 'The Marones' who are playing in town next month. Might be fun. Picked up Harriet and dropped Molly home. Got the kids to bed and settled down to some computer action. Exploring the Opsound open sound resource site. Found some nice tracks and a few things that I intend to borrow from.

X-rays & Illuminations

Thursday morning working at home. X-ray at City Hospital in the afternoon. Got to wait ten days before getting results from my doctor. Hopefully it's all past as I haven;t had any pain for some days now. Mike came over in the evening to entertain us both.

Friday morning working on site then into the office in the afternoon. Stayed until I could stand the sound of the Beard no longer. Just closed my laptop and picked up my bag while he was in full rant. No sure if I even switched the machine off. Just got outta there. Self preservation.

Friday evening we went to the Walsall Illuminations. Met up with Theresa, Lizzie & Steve and Mary & Steve and of course all the cousins. Harriet was SO looking forward spemding time with Beccy and Jodie (and talking about Pokemon I guess).

A good time was had by all, although Dyl was a bit tired and irritable at times. The kids all got cool spinning light toys to hold as we strolled around the arboretum. Even though it's just a bunch of lightbulbs and kind of lame, it's still good fun.

Saturday (today) started as usual with the swimming lessons. Dylan had his first session without armbands! Harriet swimming so strong and really perfecting her stroke. Lovely autumn sun in the afternoon. I cut the grass in the back garden for the last time. Tonight we're re-watching 'Shaun Of The Dead' (it's the only DVD that's not packed away into a box). It's a great movie and we're watching with the commentary switched on. The trivia subtitles are genius.

A Very Pleasant Evening

Lasted in the office till about 4PM. When I got home the kids were already bathed and being charming. Harriet had written a story called 'The Diary Of The Cutest Bunny' which she read to me. Then Dylan read me his school book which featured speedway racing. Speedway so reminds me of the seventies. I remember Dad taking us to watch it on dark autumn evenings. I can still smell the fumes.
Jacq went out later with Carol to see Annas loft conversion. Because of this I had managed to duck out of a work-related curry this evening. Not that it would have been horrible. I just didn't think it was worth the effort to drive over to Tamworth to watch other people enjoy a couple of pints.

It Was Too Good To Last

Inevitable I suppose. Office status now NOT Beard-free. Still, it was a nice morning and walk. So, it's iPod set to stun and headphones on. Now playing HIA - Freefloater, a great album of electronic bleeps and grooves. Not just straight-ahead techno, much more swing to it. HIA are the best music ever to come out of Brum. Just a shame hardly anyone has ever heard of them.

Back In The Office

Listening to EBTG on the way to work. Tracey Thorn has a wonderful voice. Good to be in the office on a day when it's Beard-free. Getting stuff done, enjoying the banter, good stuff. Looking forward to the lunchtime walk, haven't had one of those in a while.

Got Colins new CD Githead yesterday. Haven't listened to it yet. Hopefully tonight I can site down with it and the free Malka CD My Pet Fish that came with it. Two CD's for 8 quid, top bargain! Treat yourself!

The Monday Grind

Today was a grind in almost classic style. Raining pouring down during the rush-hour. Took me an hour 15 mins to do a journey that should have been 45 mins. Working on site with not much to keep me very occupied. The clock ticked s-l-o-w. Problems later in the day kept me on site until 7:30PM.

Dylan had fun with David visiting tonight.

Looks like I'm on site again tomorrow. Must try and re-energise. So tired right now.

A Sunday Of No Importance

Well most of yesterday, last night and all day today has been without pain, which is nice. Today spent indoors. Weather rotten. Chores done. Sorted house insurance stuff. Mike phoned, hopefully meet up later this week.

Up Early And At 'Em

Woke at 5.00AM again. Pains plus a headache. Soon eased once up and about. Spent a bit of time tweaking my blogger template. Created a 'Listening' box to pay homage to some great sounds. Took some time sorting out the Amazon linkage but got there in the end with my new 'associate' status ready to earn me shedloads of cash (not).

Forgot to mention that I created my own little Flickr group. Got the OK from Miles to use the Ideal Copy name linking in with the mailing list. Fergus sounds excited by the Flickr concept so I'm sure he's going to be hitting the list with links. Check it > http://www.flickr.com/groups/idealcopy/

Paul coming over first thing to blag some software. Dylan starts his Level 2 swimming lessons today at a slightly earlier time which is great cos it means I get to watch Harriet afterwards.

So Here Comes October

Worked at home today and got lots more done than I did yesterday amongst the chaos of the office move.

Flickr accounts released today. I signed up for a 2 year deal. Flickr rocks. Must drop them a line to suggest T-shirts. I'd wear one.

Still getting pain. Took me down this evening. Had to resort to the codine. Got my appointment through for x-ray next Thursday. Maybe I'll find out what's in me and how big it is.

The Deed Finally Done

I haven't blogged the recent twists and turns in our house chain saga because frankly I couldn't follow them very well myself. Today the pressure increased another notch and looked like we were heading for another stalemate or worse, the final collapse. But when I got home from the office a call from the solicitors confirmed that contracts had been exchanged. Couldn't quite believe it. Phoned Ken and he couldn't either. So that's it. We're moving. Completion date set for the 22nd of October. Blimey.

The Best Thing Ever

Flickr continues to be 'The Best Thing Ever' (after Blogger obviously) as I witness more of my friends come online and starting to share photos and getting great comments from the other users. Fair warms the cockles it does.

Melted Cheese Saved My Life

Went out for lunch with t'wife. All you can eat pizza. Yummy! Melted cheese will solve all my ills!

Phil raised the bar by going and getting Pro status at Flickr. Blatently copying him, I've sent out my invites. Right now I just need one more then I'm in. Following the success of the Seascapes and Shorelines group, I'm also inspired to created a group myself.

Been check out some great mp3 blogs like Spoilt Victorian Child recently. Like the 'now playing' sections of these sites with lots of album cover images linked to Amazon. I was thinking of nicking the idea and adding it to the blog BUT the plain fact is I'm NOT playing anything at the moment. It's hard to be 'now playing' when ALL of your albums are packed away in boxes!

Morning Walk

Back from a walk. Bearwood going about it's normal mid-week business. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing leaves from the trees. People out in their front gardens talking. Called at Mikes but I guess he is over at Liz's place. Probably walked no more than two miles but I think it did me some good. It hasn't cleared my headache but the breeze blew away a few mental cobwebs.

Morning Headache

Off work again. Head still thumping. Can't seem to shift it. Drinking fluids by the bucket-load. Jacq's helping out up at school this morning. I'm going out for a walk.

A Whole World Of Pain

Weekend wiped out with the onset of renal colic on Saturday night. Pain like you wouldn't believe. Called doctors out twice to dose me up with pankillers. Discomfort continued and sleep broken. Checked in with my GP today. Not really sure what happens next. Blood tests done and specialist contacted. But do the pains return or has it all passed? I don't know.

Could The Chain Be Moving?

My training course went OK. Made it all up as I went along. I hadn't forgot as much Step 7 as I feared. Call from estate agents with news that the chain may actually be on the move! The people above us have pulled out of their purchase! BUT, have got an offer in on a vacant property. They have also agreed to move in with relatives by 22nd October to enable our part of the chain to complete. Good news.

If You Like That Sort Of Thing

Work OK if you like that sort of thing. Site in the morning and office in the afternoon. All went by in a bit of a blur. Grabbed some stuff together in an attempt to prepare for a training course I'm doing tomorrow on Step 7 programming. It's been at least two years since I've done any S7 in anger, so I'll be winging it bigtime tomorrow.

Mom and Dad agreed to store some boxes out of our front room which is a real bonus. If we're going to have to 'sit it out' with this house chain, then at least we should make a bit of space and put our dining table back together.

Watching Love Actually at the moment actually. It's not great, but I can't stop myself from liking Hugh Grant doing his 'Hugh Grant thing'.

Strain In The Chain

Took the day off today. Jacq ill. Did the school stuff. Got a haircut then onto the phone to start chasing up estate agents and solicitors. Filled the car with the last of the house trash and took it down the dump. Got completely soaked in the process. Call from the solicitors seemed to be saying it's time to sit tight or break the chain. Apparently attempts to bring pressure on the chain will have no effect. So now what? Wait for events to unfold I guess. Updated Ken on the situation. Agreed to try one last push tomorrow then, who knows?

Confusing & Fustrating

Lots of chain communication today but no much clarification. Amazed by a call from my solicitor who said she was 'struggling to remain professional' in dealing with the solicitor up the chain. This guy certainly seems to be giving everyone the run-around. Kens attempt to crank up the pressure on the chain seems to have stopped at him with a shrug-off. Confusing and fustrating.

Little Smasher

More talk with solicitors today but still no clues as to what's going on. Somethings got to give during this week. People in the chain are getting edgy.

Dylan fell over at school (again) today. He's always running around at top speed. This time he bumped his chin real bad. The little smasher. He went to Davids house to play after school and had a great time. Apparently Davids dad is in a Ramones tribute band. That's pretty cool.

Uploaded the basic front page to the Tingy website last night. Did a few mods tonight to continue the development. Quite pleased with it so far.

Even Calmer

Lovely day today. No stress at all. Sun shining this morning. Inspired some photography in the garden. Layers of foliage catching the sun in my camera for maybe the last time.

Went out for a most enjoyable Sunday lunch at the California Pizza Factory in Harborne. Dylan and I had a great light sabre battle at the table in which he cracked me up by using his Jedi powers to summon great weights down onto my head.

Did some paperwork in the afternoon to catch up for Friday. Ready for another week. Bring it on.

Calming Down

Things are calmer today. Back into the normal weekend routine. Swimming was fun as usual, the kids are doing great. Afternoon spent battling with more stuff in boxes. Tonight I'm browsing through CD's of photos to find stuff to upload to flickr. Loving that site right now.

Moving Day Nerves Part 2: Fear Of Phonecalls

Working from home today. Yesterdays nerves about the move were tested even further by a series of phonecalls with various people within the chain. Things are still dragging on but I'm not quite sure for what reasons. Everyone was telling us a different story and the result was much upset. At one point we were convinced that the whole thing is about to fall through. It still might. We're just hanging on again for another week in the hope of agreement on completion. Suffice to say not much paperwork got done today. I'll have to do more over the weekend to cover today.

Ballet lessons restarted today for Harriet. We waited in the car during her lesson. Dylan playing on the GBA. He's just discovered the joys of Sonic The Hedgehog.

Moving Day Nerves Part 1: The Beginnings

Skipped a blog post last night due to tiredness and a generally offline day that was mostly work and not much inspiration. Today was only slightly better.

Finished on site today. Working from home tomorrow. Catching up with paperwork then getting busy with 'move' stuff. Car full of trash ready for the dump. Furniture to dismantle into movable pieces. STILL no firm word on the completion next Friday, I AM getting a bit twitchy now. Worst case scenario involving frantic phonecalls to any removals firm not fully booked for that day. Still, plenty to focus on with the packing.

Good Deed Done

The drive to the office was soothed by a good helping of Cocteau Twins. The office itslef was the usual morale draining experience. New laptops all round the place. That helped motivate me. No sign of mine. Not even ordered. I was in the mood for a good moan at Steve but Trapper mentioned that this years pay awards are sorted this week. So I've decided to leave any moaning till next week ;)

Got some new comments and new contacts on flickr which is always very cheering. Some of the photos on there are so amazing. And the flickr site itself continues to rock. The new slideshow is great.

This evening we went to IKEA to pick up a chair for my Jacqs dad. Took it over to his place and put it together. Good deed for the day done.

Grumbling & Tumbling

Another site day of little note. Snagging forever. Not very interesting but I suppose I shouldn't grumble. Could be worse. HAS been worse in the past! Don't know what's gonna pick me up if not me. I AM trying, honest. I'm not feeling sorry for myself here, well not much.

Jacq chased the chain today and guess what? Messages back in the afternoon by coincidence that the 24th just MAY be a firm date. Must phone them again tomorrow to try and get it fixed so we can book removals.

Kids were bouncy when I got home. Dylans friend David had been over after school. Harriet generally bouncy about everything. Stuffed my face with pizza then tried to get them to calm down to sleep.

A quick trawl around my usual spots on the web, news sites, blogs, flickr, and now I'm done. No update from Phil and now he's up in Scotland commissioning. Benny checked the blog and picked up on my 'oh so subtle' work moaning. Uploading on flickr. Fumbling on Photoshop. Mumbling.

Zombies Under The Stairs

Watched Shaun Of The Dead on DVD last night. It rocked! Funny, cool and a bit scarey, all the things that the reviews said it was. Makes me want to dig out the Spaced DVD's.

Today was spent in the scarey place known as 'under the stairs'. Clearing out the last of the trash and boxing up the bits to be moved. Glad to report that not much was salvaged for the move. Just goes to show how much pointless rubbish had collected under there. Resolve to be more organised in the new place.

Rest of day spent playing with the kids and now I'm kackered. And here comes another week...

Remain In Light

My current hire car has a neat MP3 CD player in it that has kept me most entertained on the journeys between home and site. I've quite a sizeable collection of MP3's to choose from. But most of the tracks I've downloaded from Soulseek are 'nice to haves', not essentials. That's because the essentials, I already own.

On yesterdays journey home I was blown away by an exception to this rule, the wonderful Remain In Light by Talking Heads. I downloaded it because my shitty old tape version doesn't sound too good anymore. What an album! Hat's off to the genius of Byrne and Eno!

Another week ended and no confirmation of a firm completion date. The communications from these solicitors and estate agents is very poor. No wonder people get stressed. Oh well, another weekend, another round of packing away belongings.

Long Day On Site

Long day on site equals short post at end of day. Head still in the same kinda place as yesterday. Please get me to the weekend somebody.

I don't think I'm coping as well as I'd previously thought with work-related issues. But as soon as I say to myself 'right, I'm going in to see my boss', I feel overcome with a sense of futility. So whaddya do 'bout dat?

Another Short Post Of Little Substance

Because my head is full of work rubbish and real life worries I can't seem to string together much of anything to post about. Core time at work today as Dylan wanted me to take him up to school and then home early for visit to father-in-law. Talking tonight with Harriet about her role in looking out for Dylan at school. Like any parent, I wish I could be there for them all the time.

Watched new series of Grand Designs that started tonight. Beautiful house on Spanish hillside. Classic image of the swimming pool edge dropping away against a clear blue sky.

Site tomorrow for a few days so mostly offline. MUST get my current Tingy designs out of photoshop and onto the web. I'm so slack.

Ignoring The Idiots

Surrounded by the noise from idiots in the workplace. I can't get the volume high enough on my iPod to block them all out!!! Help!!!

Bunker Mentality

Still feeling same as yesterday. Focus required. I think I may have to have words with my manager today. If I don't then I'll just carry on with the same negative thoughts. We'll see where his head's at when he comes in.

Ken phoned last night. Possible completion date 24th Sept. Fine by me. Let's do this.

Monday Morning Full Force

Stressful journey to work due eternal roadworks and various accidents. As I made my way across Coventry town centre I wondered why I was bothering. I knew that as soon as I got into the office I'd be moaning about something or other. And I was right.

This can't be healthy. Must try MUCH harder to keep my head down into work stuff and let the shit fly around overhead. Keep telling myself that it's none of my business but it still stresses me out to witness the piss-poor performance of the place.

At least I know there's an escape route available.

Sunny Funny Weekend Honey

Swimming lessons on Saturday morning and Dylan passed his level 1 test! Well done Smasher! Harriet still on level 6 but swimming so well now. Getting up to level 7 is tough as that's when the lessons start using lengths rather than widths.

More box packing in the afternoon. Not much interesting to report about it, but I still find it to be quite fun. Jacq sorting out the monster lavender in the front garden as the bees seem to have had their full.

Sunday yet another nice day. BBQ over at Lizzie and Steves for Maddies 3rd birthday. Harriet and Rebecca spent the entire afternoon linked togther by their GBA's. Funny watching them walking around everywhere together. Having Pokemon trainer conversations that the adults could not understand. Well me and Jacq could, but that's cos we're cool parents, aren't we? (Well, we try. Not TOO hard though cos that's a bit sad.)

Ending The Working Week (Pleasantly)

Dylan felt much better this morning and was happy to go to school. I did a few hours of work stuff this morning, Photoshopping screen dumps for a technical manual I'm writing for my project. When a natural break came I stepped out into the garden for refreshment. What a civilised way to work your day!

Packed the lappy away in the afternoon. Took some stuff down the dump then picked up the weeks groceries. Mom & Dad came over in time to collect the kids from school with us. Dyl seemed a bit tired but perked up once home. Harriet yelped for joy when she spotted the Pokemon comic we had brought up to school for her.

Rest of day spent in a variety of pleasant ways including a bit of a go on Spiderman 2 although I'm STILL not getting my share of the web-slinging action! Spoke with George and Ken to get the latest in the saga of the house chain we're all in. Seems that there MAY be an agreed date by the end of the week. I do hope so. I was shocked when Ken told me that we'd been doing this for 19 weeks now!

Just Catching Up

So what's happened lately? Well not much in real life due to working on site for excessive hours. But a recent email from Fergus enthused me as we connected over JG Ballard. Spookily, after JGB being in my recent thoughts, I picked up his latest book Millenium People in a booksale shop.

What little time I've spent in the office this week has been spent in the usual manner of full-on bitching mode. Learnt today that our star project is running at a margin of -25%!!! Well call me stupid, but that simply CANNOT be right! One HAS to despair! Anyways, good to see 'best mate Phil' in the office today, if only to pay respect to his recent blogs and now playing Sonic Youth. Chap!

This update finishes on a low note as my 'Super-Best-Boy' Dylan had a miserable return to school today. Apparently, at his cousins house yesterday, he hurt his neck bouncing on his Aunties bed. So the pain from his neck plus returning to school caused quite some trauma this morning. Thankfully I'm working from home tomorrow so I get a chance to look after him. Bless.

And that's the update for now. If I don't see ya, well have a good 'un.

A Short Long Weekend

A nice weekend just gone, but so short! Saturday was a day of the usual routines and the dismantling of the kids beds ready for packing. The kids are now sleeping on their mattresses on the floor and finding it great fun. Sunday was a day out to Gullivers Kingdom in Matlock. A fun day for all. Monday was a shopping day. New shoes for the kids ready for school.

And then it was over. And now I'm back at my desk just prior to heading off to site. The usual bitching in full flow. The previous weeks queries to my manager had generated absolutely no content in my inbox. No change there then.

Randomised Head Items

Again, I need to shout out how fantastic flickr is. I just spent a relaxing hour browsing through such a variety of wonderful images. I'm really stoked by whole experience. I need to polish up a few of my composite pieces and post them up.

Tidy laptop session last night with Mike. Created a few little things and listened to a whole lot of different stuff. He left me with a cd full of northern soul mp3s to trawl through.

Dylan is SO desperate for the Spiderman web shooter he saw in the shops the other day. He hasn't stopped asking for it for two days now!

Another unimpressive day in the office but it couldn't touch me.

Gravitating To The Mothership

At todays Team Brief it was all too apparent that the power base of my organisation is shifting to SWiSH in Manchester. So let's cut to the chase shall we? That's where the deals will be made. That's where the experts will emerge. That's where new opportunities will arise. So someday I'll need to be there.

Following the Team Brief I had a word with the Operations Manager and floated the concept of me moving to the SWiSH Systems Dept. No problem, he said. Easy as that. He even went on to include me in his list of 'the good guys' which was flattering. This quick chat did wonders for my work morale. To know that the move is there for the taking when I want it, is very liberating. It makes clear any confusion in my brain about how I can stay within Siemens in the medium term. The only barriers are physical and logistical issues to do with my home location and working strategies. These I can progress and deal with myself now that I know there's no organisational problem.

A healthy by-product of the chat was the paranoia it induced in my department manager. This is of course an entirely desirable state of affairs. Keep 'em on their toes I say!

Comments & Spies & Balti

Trying to keep my head down and battle through paperwork but in the afternoon found myself drifting and ended up on flickr. Suprised to find a couple of comments on my photos. Suprised also to find that it gave me quite a buzz. I promptly sent messages of thanks and added them to my contacts. Exploring more of flickr and noting the new things added to the site made me appreciate just what a kick-ass site it is.

The kids are stopping with their grandparents tonight for sleepover fun. I found myself missing them as soon as I got home. Me and t'wife went straight out to the cinema to see The Bourne Supremacy. Wow! That film rocked! Top notch spy action. Better than the first one. Back home, we strolled up for a delicious balti at the Raja.

Why Building Sites Are Beautiful

A building under construction is a beautiful thing. Any building. From a shack to a skyscraper, a building under construction symbolises the future. Aside from the basic need of shelter, a designed construction is a gesture of optimism. And I suppose it follows that ANY design effort is an acknowledgement of the future, a projection out of the moment into the open space of possiblity.

I'm inspired. Get me to a copy of Photoshop right now!

Listening this morning to Elbow. Downloaded the first album for the track 'Any Day Now'. I've always loved the vocal lines. Put me in mind of Eno the first time I heard it.

"Any day now hows about getting out of this place. Any ways.
Got a lot of spare time. Some of my youth and all of my senses on overdrive."

On the drive to work I got sucked into the rest of the album and I could not skip on to anything. Completely under it's spell. That hasn't happened for a long time.

Middle Age Shred

There's not much to post about this weekend. It was full of the usual stuff, swimming (both days), chores, groceries, gardening, throwing out more trash. End of Sunday and I'm totally knackered. Sat down for a web browse and came upon this site, middle age shred. Superb name, the intro text on the home page got me right stoked, it summed me up to a tee. Maybe I should shut up about being tired from doing a few chores, and get off my fat arse and get back on a skateboard!

No real new creative thoughts recently, just mulling over the current photoshop pieces. Must collect together all the recent samples to present a body of work to Mike on Wednesday.

Work tomorrow. I kind of parked my head up over the weekend and haven't given things much thought. But I need to list out some stuff and sit down with my boss this week. If I don't then I might just go a bit loopy.

Where Oh Where Do I Start?

In the office this morning the talk turned as always to the woeful state of affairs know as our management. The floodgates were fully open! I felt almost over-whelmed by the seemingly endless list of lame decisions, gaffs and other assorted screw-ups. I really did feel bad. Driving to site later, my mind was spinning, trying to make sense of it all, trying to imagine my future options. Because one thing is for sure, I definitely am NOT happy. I'm sure it's a whole mixture of things but I can't shake the feeling that I need to make some sort of decision.

Further house news, seems like the 27th will NOT happen. 10th of Sept is now the proposed date. Anything, as long as it's for real this time.

Call from Paul. Seems like I was right about his dial-up settings being hijacked by some malicious program in his system. He's just got stung for a 200 quid plus phone bill in 24 hours! Yikes!

Heaven Is An Empty Skatepark

My latest Photoshop piece consists of a number of empty skatepark images overlapped. Thinking about the image today I realised the link between the empty skatepark and Ballards trademark empty swimming pools. I'd never made that connection before. It's so obvious.

The sight of a deserted skatepark is such a resonant image for me. The curved banks of cool concrete lit by the low sun of a summer evening. Reminds me of a skatepark in Wolverhampton we use to skate after hours back in the seventies. Climbing fences and dodging security and then we were in. The feeling of having the place to oursleves seemed to be the ultimate freedom back then. Time seemed to stand still. To this day it's still a memory that I often meditate on.

Back in the real world, word is coming through that the 27th actually may be the completion date. Shit! That's just ten days to go! Let's get busy with those cardboard boxes.

Tonight Harriet has Lizzie sleeping over at our house. Dylan was sad at bedtime saying that no-one will play with him. But when the lights went off and the torches came out, Dylan was the star of the show with his blue LED torch.

Low Flying Aircraft

A long day on site down at Walton On Thames. On the journey I drive past the edge of Sheperton and I always think of JG Ballard. It's been years since I read a Ballard. I'd say he was probably my favourite author. The feelings I got when I read him are still with me but I don't know if I could describe them. Cool. Odd. Vague. No, I can't do it. Can't express it. I should read a Ballard again.

Later in the day I was working by the Heathrow T5 building site. Some huge structures being errected there. One of my systems had sprung a memory leak. Where's a software plumber when you need one?

Tonight Harriet and I sat and watched some of the womens gymnastics team event together. Harriet was well impressed. "Wow" she said as she witnessed each event for the first time. I was choked after every performance. Simply full of admiration for each one of them.

The Daily Grind

It seems more grinding than normal today. Workplace uninspiring. Thoughts turned to current Photoshop doodles. Made a few notes about them. That's about it. I think I'll be finishing at core time today.

Remembered something from yesterdays Observer. A short questionnaire with Alan Titchmarsh. In it he said, "If I died tomorrow I haven't wasted much time."

That's a really cool thing to be able to say. Is it too late for me to catch up?

Sunday In The City

Picked up Harriet from Lizzies this morning. Sounds like she had a great time, not much sleep though. Dylan was glad to have her back.

In the afternoon we to a trip into town for a walkabout. Loads of things happening. A German wine festival, an great outdoor exhibition of large ariel photography, a street entertainers competition, Sportsfest in Centenery Square and Discovery Day at the ICC. We walked around it all. In Victoria Square the kids ran around over a huge map of the world. Harriet enjoyed the challenge of trying to find places we suggested to her. In the ICC we went into Symphony Hall a listened to an organ recital. Harriet seemed quite impressed.

Didn't put much stuff in boxes this weekend. Should I be worried?

Bubbles!

Following swimming lessons, we dropped Harriet up to her friend Lizzie for her birthday party and then sleepover. Asked Dylan where he wanted to go this afternoon and he said, "Saundersfoot". It's a bit far to the Pembrokeshire coast from Birmingham.

Paul phoned. Needing computer help. So went over. Pleasant sitting out on their new decking, scoffing pesto pizza. Can't do much with the pooters as all my disks are at work.

Bought Spidey 2 game for the Gamecube. Dyl was having fun swinging about. Wouldn't let me have a go! Then t'wife took over and she NEVER lets me have a go!

Day ends with me reading the paper in the garden while Dyl blows huge bubbles all over me.

Week Ends With A Whimper

No beers last night as it turned out both Mike and I are on the same drugs. Him for the neck and me for the knee. What a sorry pair we are! No matter. Good to see him as always.

Office less fun today for the obvious reasons. I'm now getting mad at myself for being mad. I SO need to rise above this but it ain't so easy.

Popped a couple of samples under the radar to keep up the creative push.

Phils iPod is sweet. Apparently recharges through the USB. I wonder if mine will do that? Need to get myself a cable when the new laptops arrive with USB 2.0 onboard.

Finishing at lunchtime then over to Mom & Dads for a visit. Hopefully catch the Olympics opening ceremony later on TV. I do enjoy a spectacle. See if I can get the kids enthusiastic for it.

A Good Office Day

Today I would say, was a good office day. Good dose of healthy bitching with Phil about the general state of things. The new laptops look like they've not been spec'd right. Another victory for our leader!

Anyway, the day was Beard-free so a light, care-free atmosphere surrounded our natural-break chats which ranged from the afore mentioned bitching through to creative endevours of many types. High point of the morning must have been notice of the arrival of Phils iPod! Much rejoicing was to be heard.

Managed to get in a lunchtime walk. Nice and brisk. Me, Phil and Adrian. Sun shining but not for long. The heavens soon opened over Coventry and Phil captured it here.

Dave was over from Worcester this afternoon for chats with managers about his future within the company. Can't work out if he's staying or going. Hope he stays as he's one of the good 'uns I reckon. Phil and I drooled over his laptop screen rez of 1400 by 1040. It sure looked sweet and crisp. Hopefully our new ones look as good.

Doc appointment to sign off my knee. No problem. Then I stupdily went and asked about 'the snip'. Before I knew what was going on, he'd got his dictaphone out and was busy dictating a letter referring me to the local hospital. So now I'll be getting a letter in the post! Shit! That was quick! Can't we take a moment and talk about this?!!!

Round to Mikes tonight to see how he is and nod to a few tunes (and maybe drink a beer or two).

Back On Track

Phew! Skipped a day blogging yesterday due to evening spent tweaking my flickr accounts. Managed to fuck it all up and actually DELETED one account! What a complete tool! Thankfully the lovely people at Ludicorp sorted me out (Thanks George!). So tonight it's all back on track. Uploaded some more pictures and STOPPED all tweaking.

Day on site at Hemel. Swopped out a PC that needs a rebuild. Fixed a few snags, well I say snags but really they're extras. Little bits the client wants adding. Got to keep 'em sweet.

Text with Mike. He's off work with some neck/nerve problem. Try and see him tomorrow night and see how he is. Says he got some tracks/ideas to play me.

Phils reports on the laptops aren't looking too promising. Once again dissapointment looks inevitable. But in saying that, during a break today I scanned through the latest Siemens UK newspaper and found myself heartened to be working for such a varied and interesting company. I just don't work in an interesting bit yet. Hopefully, emphasis on the YET. Any company that comes up with the Dressman has got to be quite cool. Don't ya think?

More Fun With Flickr

Kids Go Crazy

Tonights blog entry is via flickr as I happened to be uploading a few more of my favourite pics from our recent holiday in Wales.

Working on site this afternoon wasn't as tough as expected as the bug was spotted almost immediately and the fix simple. Got home nice and early. Harriet playing over at Lizzies and sleeping over. Bet she's having a ton of fun. She's probably still awake chatting as I write this. Jacq and Dyl are picking them up in the morning and they're all off to the cinema.

Managed to blag a couple of samples inbetween paperwork in the office this morning. Unfortunately some system somewhere stripped the zip off the mail when I tried to send them home. Oh well. I'll have to get myself a memory key.

Surrounded By Cardboard Boxes (Updated)

Have had to dismantle the dining table to enable the front room to be the main storage area for the growing number of cardboard boxes. Although normal at the moment I'm sure life in the house will start to get more inconvenient as stuff dissappears into boxes. But the computers stay on till the end! Heaven help us when the broadband connection is cut!

Decided to sell the kids playhouse as it's too small for them. No point moving it to the new place. Jacq has her eye on a new playhouse. One that we can all fit in. That will be fun.

Still taking the tablets for my knee. Still hurting but I'm fully mobile so mustn't grumble.

Trip to the dump this afternoon I think. Better get back to stuffing things into boxes then.

Later that day...

Dump trip ain't happening cos it's just too hot and sweaty to sit in a massive queue of cars surrounded by smelly refuse. I'll do it after work one night this week. More stuff is now in boxes.

Paul & Lyn came round. Haven't seen them for weeks. Not much news. They've just booked to go away at Christmas. Dubai then Australia. Cost a fortune. If I had that kind of cash I still wouldn't to do anything like that. No offence to those countries, I just ain't interested. But who's interested in my opinion anyway.

Kids in bed. Seems like there's no air in the house. Head's thumping but I can't take any Ibuprofen cos it clashes with the anti-inflammatry drugs. Doc said it would cause my stomach to burst. Nice.

Test Blog Entry From Flickr

Dylan In Eden
Originally uploaded by Tingy.

Just checking out my new account at flickr. From what I've seen so far, I must say that I'm well impressed with the whole flickr concept and website. It's well worth a try for free. Give it a go. www.flicker.com

Housemaids Knee!

I thought I had blogged from my phone but something must have gone astray so let's get up to speed...

Down on site for a few days this week. Work under control, no issues. Mad storms around London. Driving around the M25 was a lightning show. At the end of day 1 my knee felt sore as I got into bed and proceeded to wake me through the night. In the morning I noticed it was red and tender to the touch. Had a bit of trouble putting weight on it. By the end of day 2 I was running a temperature. I was in obvious need of anti-biotics. Day 3 didn't really have much work for me but you've got to keep the client happy haven't you? I was away off site by lunchtime and Jacq made me an afternoon appointment with the Doc.

Got home after a right tough drive. Knackered and feeling the sweats again. Jacq and the kids had enjoyed a stop-over last night at Marys. Harriet had so much fun and such a late night that she was spark out on the sofa.

The consult with the Doc led to swift diagnosis. Housemaids Knee. No!!! Please, a sting or a bite at least. I said, "You can't call it that! It MUST have a techie name?" As he wrote the offending phrase in my records I demanded he replace it with its proper name Prepatellar Bursitis. Doc seemed convinced it wasn't infected but I protested my case and got some anti-biotics for the fever feelings.

Spent the evening gently. Jacq busy boxing books using my new tool, a packing tape sealer! Top job, kids wanted lots of goes sealing the boxes with tape. Spoke with Dad who told me that Rene had broken her leg in 3 places! That put's all in perspective then doesn't it? He laughed when I told him this story.

It seems that a possible move date may the 27th of this month. That focuses the mind. It's a bad time to get restricted movement. So I'll just have to to stop being so gay and get stuff done.

I WAS thinking of working from home tomorrow but I'm going to be feeling too shitty. When I phone in sick I MUST remember to NOT call it Housemaids Knee!

Old Friend Makes Contact

Overnight I got Moon Safari by Air off Soulseek. Heard it in a store yesterday. This morning I'm driving to work listening to it on my iPod. Ain't technology wonderful? Also got Horse With No Name by America. Haunted by that tune. Been humming the La La La bits to myself all day
Not exactly a bad day in the office I suppose. The Beard was back and was roundly ignored by everybody. Nat was in. Probably won't see him again as he leaves on Thursday and I'm out on site. Updated Adrian with the mods I'd done to his project. Preparing kit for a couple of days on BPA sites. Lunchtime walk entertaining. New name for Mavis is Princess. Sometimes just general workplace piss-taking is as funny as any comedian. The general comedy of life I suppose.
Got email in the afternoon from Andy. Good to hear from him. And glad to know that he hasn't fallen out with me. Got another mail from him at home. Sounds like all is well with them. Must try and meet up with him sometime. A drinkie would be good if we could organise it.

Sat & Sun Summary

Saturday morning a bit rough following previous evening drinkie (see previous post for evidence), eased into things with a bit of post-breakfast Photoshop action. Decision made to grab small moments to continue creative activities ("putting the hours in"). Working on the new tingy 2.0 website, pleased with the results of an hours dabble.
Midday swimming lessons for the kids. It was Dylans second lesson and he was way better than the two other newbies in the class. In the changing room I told him how proud of him I was and he replied, "what's proud mean?" He talked me into agreeing to go swimming again in the morning. I could not refuse his enthusiasm.
Rest of day occupied with the usual chores. Following the groceries run, got dragged into ToysRUs and got fleeced for 50 quid. Feel like a ripped off mug in a street gambling setup. But with a receipt.
Jacq made me watch Down With Love, not exactly bad I suppose, but I'd rather have had another blast on Photoshop.

So, Sunday morning and though I didn't much feel like it either I dragged t'wife out of bed and down to the swimming baths. Good fun once in there. Dyl discovered putting his head underwater with Harriets goggles on. Had to take of his floats so that he could get under as much as he wanted. Treated ourselves to McBreakfast afterwards.
Popped into town later for a walkabout. Lovely sunny day. Deckchairs were out in the Bullring. I tried to use a book token I've had in my wallet since Feburary but still nothing grabbed my attention. Picked up some notebooks in Paperchase sale. Down to a quid each these beauties were full of lots of different style lined pages. Hopefully another tool in the creative toolkit.
Back home I got busy breaking up our crappy old chest of drawers and taking them down the dump along with various bits of trash from under the stairs. Full car but I'll need to do it again next week to finish the job.

And that's about it for this weekend. Kids are in bed and it's just a couple of hours of relaxing for us then another weekend is done.

Making Connections (Caution! Involves Rambling!)

Checking Phils blog I was once again struck by the connections he makes out to other blogs and sites. I decided to follow through a bunch of blog links and found myself back at two sites I had checked on the very first day that I set about blogging. They were Memoria Technica and Gaping Void. On the Gaping Void site I was drawn to an old post called 'How To Be Creative'. In the post I found point three hit home very hard.

"3. Put the hours in.

Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. 90% of what seperates successful people and failed people is time and stamina."

I know that I've said this line before to myself and others but tonight it struck me hard, almost like I'd never realised it before. If it's true (and I know that it is), where does that leave me? Because I know that time is the one currency I don't have much to spend. It's an obvious truth that greatness cannot be achieved in a lunchbreak but believing that it can gives some small comfort to me. I'll never shake off the dreams of doing something that outlasts me. Something that can impact on others that I don't know. I HAVE to believe that I can attempt stuff even on a very small scale otherwise it all looks a bit hopeless. Creativity, expression, call it whatever is good for mental health. To feel that you're making some sort of mark gives a kind of validity that helps negate the final truth that in the end it's all meaningless.

This could of course all be wine fuelled rambling. But wouldn't that make it even more valid in an uninhibited kind of way? I don't know. YOU DECIDE.

Sunny And Dull At The Same Time

Work involved a drive to Hemel for a meeting about snags. Planned site work for 3 days next week. At least that means Jacq can plan on some car usage next week. The driving was tough due to loads of traffic. Made bearable only buy air conditioning and general bantering with Stuart.

Props to Phil for ordering his iPod today with the proceeds of his brouchure design work for the Staffordshire Creative County Guide. Nice work.

More motorway chaos on the way home. A cool bath soothed and refreshed. Bit of telly. Bit of puter. Half a day tomorrow then hurrah, it's the weekend.

Hellboy

Picked up Jacq and the kids from Marys on my way home from the office. All the cousins were there running wild around the place. Apparently Jimi is working for Sony now. Wonder if his employee discount rate is any better than Andys was. That reminds to drop Andy a line. It's been ages.

Steve next door passed me a copy of Hellboy on DVD. Top quality rip version. Watched the movie late into the night. Doesn't maintain the excitement level that the trailers suggested but then what movie ever does? Not many. The Matrix maybe. Anyway, enjoyed Hellboy, good fun, cool characters.

Egghead Is Dead

I really meant to blog this last night but was up till past midnight packing away the last of the CD's into boxes. Dad phoned to tell me an old school friend had died. I wasn't suprised that I felt nothing. I haven't seen the guy for 20 years. A wasted life. I watched from quite close up as he seemed to deliberately choose a different path through our school years. We had been good friends for ages. He was really smart. Then one day on the way to school he said, "I think it's time I started having some fights". I'll always remember that phrase. Completely unnecessary. From that point he was on a slippery slope down into the abyss. Violence, thieving, glue, homelessness, chaos. I haven't given it any thought over the years but now I do, I can't see why it happened that way. Oh well. His choice. See ya Eugene.

Post-Holiday Monday Morning Office Blues

Back in the office. Phil not in (bummer). Beard not in (hurrah!). No news reported as predicted. No sign of the new laptops (was I really expecting any?). MUST try to get back into the work groove.

Tested out email text from phone into the blog. Worked OK but the post title is just a default that can be editied later. Hopefully phone blog will be useful in the future when out on site.

Suppose I should read some more emails.

MMail Message

test blog entry by phone.

The Return Of Tingy

Last night I checked out my old domain name at lowcostnames and found to my suprise that the domain was available once more! The previous arrangement between freenetname and nominet had obviously expired. So I grabbed my Switch card and signed up for a 2 year registration for just seven quid plus vat. Bargain.

This morning I uploaded a quick page of text as a statement of intent. I've not managed to grab enough time throughout the rest of today to develop a new home page yet but the thoughts have been swirling around the brain and I'm confident that a new design will form over the coming week via scribbled sketches and Photoshop dabblings.

So, watch out! Tingy's back! CLICK!

Not exactly looking forward to returning to the office tomorrow. Being away for a week feels like a long time and I always expect great changes. But of course, nothing ever does.

Just before bed tonight I told Dylan that I was going back to work in the morning. He whispered in my ear, "Will you miss me?". He has no idea how much!

...And We're Back

Back today from a week in Pembrokeshire. A great holiday which could have been even better if the weather had let us play on the beach as much as I'd hoped. Yes, the good old British summertime really did not deliver for us this time. Still, much fun was had by all. The kids got their first taste of a caravan holiday and I was reminded why I had a gut-instinct aversion to the whole idea! Maybe that's a bit unfair, but my god! I had to back out of the toliet into the hallway to get enough room to pull my kecks up! The caravan site was nice. Better than I remember them. It had a nice little indoor swimming pool which the kids loved and we made full use of. I also enjoyed the steam room. Tried the sauna but didn't like it as much.

Saundersfoot was a really nice little place with a cute harbour and beach. Tenby didn't do that much for me but was ok. Narberth was a groovy little town with lots of nice arty shops. Bought myself a sculpture of a head which I'm going to call 'Head'. Here is a picture of him. I don't know the name of the artist but the woman in the shop Jellyegg said that he is an Irish bloke who lives in Kent.

We didn't explore Pembrokeshire completely but we really liked it and definitely intend to return for another holiday in that area. Just probably in a cottage next time!

We're All Going On A...

Friday night at the start of a holiday is a nice place to be. Looking forward to being away, playing on the beach, reading the last part of Harry Potter 5 which I've been saving, taking some photographs, looking at the world around me, thinking creative thoughts, relaxing.

Got Organic Art Deluxe in post today. Cool eBay purchase. 99P plus postage. Top bargain. Boxed and shrink-wrapped. I've always wanted to have a play with it. Even though it's not exactly cutting edge anymore it was still lots of fun.

I'm enjoying the Firefox browser experience. It's very quick and efficient. I think I'm sold. Try it at http://getfirefox.com

In a meeting this afternoon, the concept of Siemens installed ADSL line for engineers who wish to would like to work at home part-time was floated and met with much agreement around the office. I've registered my interest and we'll see what happens. I won't start to nag until we've moved house.

Lots of Spidey ads on the telly tonight. Both Jacq and me saying how much we want to see it again. Roll on the DVD. Hopefully before christmas?

Loaded up the GBA with a couple of games for the holiday. Wario Ware, Pokemon Pinball and Harvest Moon. I actually played the pinball game for 20 minutes. The longest I've ever held a GBA. Made my thumbs ache. Fun though.

Campaign To Get Mike Blogging

Another good laptop session with Mike last night. Again it was felt by both of us that 'the process' works very well and holds many possibilities. I should have had more samples to throw into the mix. Must rectify that for the next session.
 
Showed Mike the blog. Tried convincing him to start one up. I'm sure it would be a superb platform for his outpourings. I think I'll try spamming him with blogger links for a while to nag him into it.
 
Back in the office. Grey morning. Breaking up this afternoon. Hope the weather turns.

Things To Do On A Sickie

Went to Dylans school assembly today. They were all so sweet. Dylan was holding up the letter L of HOLIDAY. Just outside school we chatted with Carol who was fun but could have just talked FOREVER! Then back on our road we chatted with John and Joan but had to keep it quick cos we were on our way to see... Spiderman 2!

At last it's here! And my God! It ROCKED! I practically wept throughout the entre movie! So engaging, so moving, so pant-wettingly exciting! Loved every minute and I want to see it again. Right now!

Must also mention the three (yes, 3!) trailers for Hellboy that were shown. Saw more footage than I'd seen on the two internet trailers. Looked great. Cool attitude. A must-see.

Picked up some more boxes from Mary. Penguin book boxes Steve got from work. Just the right size for a liftable portion of CD's. Had a coffee and quick chat about general stuff.

Home for a sandwich and a web browse. Installed Firefox to cure the annoying pop-ups I was getting in IE. Initial impressions good.

Picked up the kids. Now it's... Bath. Mealtime. Grandparents. Bed. Mike. Laptop. Head nodding. Sorted. Should be a good evening.

The Inevitable Happens

So I really AM the Jonah! The move of the Worcester team to Coventry was announced as feared. I just knew that once I went to the place, the option would be removed. So it's Coventry or nowt for me? I guess it's me and the M6 forever!

Must rip a few last minute samples tonight in readiness for session tomorrow night. Also my parents tomorrow night, let's see if Dad managed to get his digi photos onto CD to bring over with him.

Spidey 2 opens tomorrow. Reviews have been mostly ecstatic. Can't wait. Actually I'm feeling a bit ill. I haven't had a sickie for ages...

Back In Coventry (Rumour Control)

Back at my normal desk. Rumours abound that this afternoons team brief at Worcester will announce their move over to Coventry. I knew that as soon as I worked over at Worcester I'd signal the kiss of death! Bummer if it's true. I await more news.

Working @ Worcester

So I FINALLY got myself down to our Worcester office for a day of work. A good start to the day with a MUCH easier journey to work. The office is very nice and given a desk in a good spot I think I could enjoy it here. But it's hard to get an objective view because it kind of feels like a 'first day' here today. I'm sitting at a 'hot desk' and mostly being ignored by people I don't know. That said, at least I'm getting a good ammount of work done. But given the choice I think I'd rather have the distraction of good mates around to shoot the breeze with. Still no idea if this is a viable long-term prospect for extending my tour of duty, but if it keeps me away from the M6 for a day then every day is a bonus.

Office Worker In Rasterbator Incident

Found the Rasterbator via Newstoday. I'd thought of producing some blow-up prints in a similar way a while back but as always, never got around to it. The output is very graphic but an alternative could be done long-hand by chopping up an image in Photoshop. Wish we had a colour laser in the office and I'd give it some right hammer!

Working from our Worcester office tomorrow for the first time. Looking forward to checking the place out. Will be glad to be away from the M6.

Mike in place for laptop session on Thursday. Pressure on to gather my thoughts and loops. Had a brief blast on Audiomulch over the weekend to get back into it. Superb program.

An Ordinary Sunday

Harriet woke me in the night. When I got to her bedside she said to me 'I can't decide what to dream about'! Had a lazy morning. I even went back into bed for a nap about 11.00AM. In the afternoon we went out for groceries. Later, I got some Land Registry paperwork signed and witnessed by Steve next door. He gave me some Spiderman 2 publicity stuff he'd been given. He said it was for Dylan. I said it was for me! I wonder when we will be moving? Mom phoned, back from holiday. I phoned Dad back later and we chatted about the state of the M6. I know it's boring but I maybe I AM boring. Drank wine and caught up with Big Brother this evening. The army task is SO twisted. If they pass the task then their reward is to be up for nomination. Time for bed. Time for work again in the morning. Time goes so quickly. NP: Supine - Weather Outlet

Saturday Grey But OK

Took Dylan for his first swimming lesson today. He did great and he said he enjoyed it. Must get him practising when we're on holiday. Spent the afternoon doing bits and pieces around the house. Weather was damp and grey which didn't inspire sorting out any big stuff and getting to the dump. See how tomorrow is, but as Jacq pointed out, it's only a week to the hols and we had the central heating on! Summer, where have you gone? Tasty balti session tonight yum. Now sorting out CDRoms into my big new storage case. Now Playing: Radiohead - Hail To The Theif

Finishing Off Friday

Todays management roadshow at our offices has turned around my negative attitude. The UK division manager came across much better than he did yesterday up at Manchester. I got to throw in a few questions and points which hopefully he and the management will respond to. I might even try to keep up the pressure with a few mails (he did invite them). We shall see.
Went over to site for a hour in the afternoon to clear a few bugs. Got home not long after the kids had got home. Dyl had fallen and scraped his knee on the run down our road to the house. When is he going to learn the little cutie?!
Anyways, we all went up to the 'Hill' for some retail therapy. Snacked at BK on our 'Web Fries'. Kids got some clothes and some beach toys ready for hols. The magazine run was performed and I ended up with a Computer Arts and Edge. Couldn't resist a peek at the HMV sale. Picked up a couple of Tears For Fears CD's so cheap I had no choice. OK, so I've already got 'Songs From The Big Chair' on CD but this new version had a bunch of extra tracks. I'll eBay the my old copy. Also got a compilation which had a track called 'Pharaohs' which I've only got on a 7" B-side. Listening to these tracks now. Great stuff. Time for another Speckled Hen.

Not With A Bang

Seems no-one else in the office was impressed by yesterdays conference either. There is a meeting this morning to follow on that I hope will be more focussed on our business. We shall see. At least it's Friday and Beard-free. Should be a pleasant morning in the office then over to Kingsbury site to tidy up some software issues. Hopefully home in time to get the kids again.

Only one more week of work before holidays. Probably need to do the 'magazine run' this weekend in preparation. Also must do some serious sorting out of the junk that's not coming with us to the new house. I think a trip to the dump will be needed.

Communication Backfires

Communic8 conference at SWSH was a real let down. Sales managers offering banal drones about stuff that meant nothing to me. I felt disconnected. At the end I found myself with no-one to talk to except my boss and I didn't fancy that so I slipped away through the crowds. On the drive home I couldn't work out why I felt so deflated, and I still can't. Strange that it should have such a negative effect when I guess it was meant to have exactly the opposite. Also, clocking the mileage at 160 round trip has shut the door on any pipe dreams I may have had of one day working there. So what's left? Am I driving to Coventry for the next 25 years?

On a positive note, I got home in time to collect the babes from school then we took Dylan to Davids party a the Wacky Warehouse. He didn't want to join in at first and found the noise intimidating, but settled at food time and in the end he enjoyed himself. Until he let his balloon float off into the sky as he got out of the car. More tears. Harriet too, upset by a painful loose tooth. Poor sweeties.

Sounds enjoyed in the car today from 2 eBay purchases that arrived yesterday. Fout Tet single (with DVD of video for 'She Moves She') and Fat-Cat Split compilation (some nicely mashed electronics on there). Both eBay wins were kind of accidental. I just threw in a few quid for fun, not minding if I won or not. I ended up with bargains for both. Nice.

Envy Or Inspiration? You Decide

So I'm just driving down to site this morning, cursing the closure of the spagetti junction exits on the M6, and I'm listening to this program on Radio 4. The guy being interviewed was a doctor. A specialist in cardio stuff who helped discover the 'fitness' gene. He is also a published author currently working on his first Hollywood screenplay. He also gets to the gym for an hour most nights and spends his spare time mountaineering around the world. AARRGGHH!!! How is all this possible? My first reaction was I suppose, pure envy. I listed out my own summary to myself. I've got a 'reasonably' 9 to 5 job, I have a family, I get my chores done and watch a bit of telly and that's the day done! Thinking about it later on today I've tried to take inspiration from the guy and so I now I see it as an example of how much it's possible for a person to do. So why don't I start doing some more stuff with my time?! Ummm. I'll have to sleep on this. But if I should suddenly become this mega-creative explosion of energy, then you'll know what started it all.

Hiccups In The House Chain

A pleasant weekend full of the usual activities plus a visit to Galton Road (hopefully our new house). The owners gave us the news that the house they were buying has been taken off the market. Disaster!
Although they gave us assurances that they were on the case looking for properties, the main thing we were thankful for was that they did not decide to break off the sale to us. That would have really screwed us. Apparently prices have moved on in the two months that we've been sold.
Later on in the afternoon we got a call to say they had put an offer in on a property they viewed earlier in the day. The offer was accepted and the upward chain is small and ready to go. So this is about the best news we could get following the previous collapse. Even though it means another six weeks wait, at least it should all complete this time. Hopefully before the end of the summer. Tried to call Ken and sell the concept to him but no answer. Try him again tonight.

Last Gasp Before Offline (Again)

Just in the office picking up kit for another three days on site and hence offline. Had to post a quickie but I don't have much to say anyway. Quite where last night went I don't know but either way I've not a lot to show for it. The usual trip to the father-in-law's was as eventful as ever. At least we were home in time for the kids to have a play before bed. I always feel guilty when they protest at no play-time when we've rushed them around on our own agenda. Once they were in bed it was time for something to eat then a hour in front of the telly watching Big Brother then bed. Done.

Payday Is A Damp Squib

Just got the text to confirm that this months wages have gone into the bank, yipee! Then I realised just little cash there is left in there after being swallowed by the overdraft, boohoo! What am I going to do? Hope site is still on for tomorrow. I NEED the overtime big style.

Getting Around To Doing Stuff (Gradually)

Took my laptop into the office today so that I could backup my mp3's onto CD in the background. Also started bringing some of the computer clutter from home into the office to keep it out of the way during the house move.

Got mail from Fergus. Glad to see he's still talking to me! Finally got some of his photos online tonight. Just the basic layout is there at the moment but it looks OK. See how it looks after a few days and get an opinion off Fergus also.

With sitework again this week I've had to cancel Mike till later which also gives me a bit more time to collect some samples. One that springs to mind is a small riff from 'Clap Clap Clap' by XTC. And another is Augustus Pablo 'King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown - various drum fills.

Phil brought in the artists booklet he designed today. He did a real nice job with it. Bloody hell was I jealous. Really. He should be right proud. Proper Bo!

Weekend Summary

Little progress made creatively this weekend. Did a couple a Photoshop montages that I must post up on the web somewhere. But most computer time spent trying to stop damm pop-up windows in IE. I need to do a complete re-build of the laptop but I'm waiting for XP SP2 to be released first.

On Saturday we got Dylan signed up for his swimming lessons which will start in a fornight at the same time as Harriets. Harriet played with Lizzie at her Dad's in the afternoon. Me and Dyl played Tony Hawk 4 on the Gamecube. Evening movie was 'Welcome to Collingwood' which Jacq got me for our anniversary. Top movie, great characters. As always, William H Macy stole the show for me. That guy rocks!

Weather screwed my plans for a trip to the dump, plus I couldn't get a parking spot anywhere near the house! Did get the grass cut on Sunday before it rained again. Quite sucked into Harry Potter 5 at the moment. Managed to snatch a few minutes with it here and there.

Arse End Of The Week

In the office (and therefore online access) today, Friday. General mood still black. Strange to be on site missing the office then when I'm in the office, wishing I was somewhere else. This can't be good. Surely a sign to take some action?

Inspired somewhat by Phil's blog entries that show he's clearly got his head in the right place despite office gloom. I should take a leaf.

MUST focus this weekend. There's lots going on and I'm not getting involved enough with all this time away from home. When I'm there I seem to just be recovering from the rigors of work. Got to get busy with the house moving organisation. Take the opportunity to have a good clear out of stuff. Maybe a trip to the dump?

Reading Books Before Work

In the office for a hour or two this morning to get some admin done then off to site again. Finished Harry Potter 4 this morning. Up till 1 last night trying to finish it but my eyelids wouldn't hold out. But I was too close to the end to not finish it off before going to work. Enjoyed it. Strangely moved by the end. Might do 5 next.

Top Telly Treats

Tired now, but it IS quite late. A week of site work has kept me on the go. I'm thankful that the weekend has arrived. The occasional phonecall from Trapper has kept me in the gossip loop. Of which there's actually not that much to get excited about. Things drift on. As normal. Ho hum.

Of MUCH more interest of course has been the big bust-ups in Big Brother. Splendid television! Dissapointed at tonights cancelled eviction. There is no way that Daniel is going. My prediction for the final three is Daniel, Stuart and Shell.

After Big Bro I caught the new series of Bo Selecta! Haven't watched it in a while I was in exactly the right mood for it. Laughed my tits off. Shamone!

Back Home From Site (For One Night)

Site work finished unexpectedly early today so I gave the hotel a miss and was back home before five. Lovely sunny evening with a refreshing breeze. Out in the garden later I took a moment to enjoy the sound of the wind in the leaves of the huge trees a couple of streets away.

This evening was one of those times when thankfully time seemed to run at a reasonable rate. There has been time tonight to do various chores, to play hide and seek with the kids, to read a bit of my current book (Harry Potter 4), to bath the kids and read a story, to do a bit of web surfing, and finish off with a blast of Big Brother (which is just SO good this year! Have I said that already?). It makes a nice change to feel that my life isn't racing ahead of me and I'm struggling to keep up.

A Quick Catch-Up Blog Entry

It's been a week since I've been online. Site work has kept me busy and home has been too busy to even power up my laptop. Many thoughts have occurred and I've said to myself 'I must get that onto the blog' but as always, the moment passes and here I am playing catch-up.

Thoughts that pop straight in right now. It was our anniversary yesterday and I didn't get a pressie organised. I'm angry at myself for that. Then England tore my guts out yet again by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against France. I literally felt like throwing up. I'm not watching them again. I'm not letting them do that to me. Thankfully Big Brother brings a dose of silly fluffyness and all's well. Really enjoyed the eviction of two housemates into the bedsit on Friday night. Top telly. Such funny reactions. Plus tits falling out everywhere which is always good. Getting texts coming in from Mike on a trip up to Edinburgh with Liz. Today he reports that he is recording sounds up there on his new mp3 recorder thingy. Sounds interesting.

Back in the office just for tomorrow. Maybe a chance to jot a few more entries. Then back down to site for a few more days, and a little more overtime.

Off To Site Today

Going down to Hemel Hempstead today which will probably be the start of an extended period of commissioning. Don't fancy the drive as I got no sleep last night. So hot, and my shoulders were killing me. Oh well, at least site will keep me busy and that's a good thing compared with the depressing atmosphere in the office.

Office Morale

I'm only away a week, but I get back in the office and the morale seems to have gone down through the floor!

Managers resigning. Managers STILL failing to communicate when on our site. Capex cancellations. Projects bollocking Systems. All in all a deadly cocktail. A recipe for disaster.

I'm REALLY concerned that this place is going into a tailspin. A few grumblings I've heard have mentioned putting escape plans into action. Once some guys make a break for it then I think the floodgates will open and the place will just wither. What a cheery outlook!

Mice Parade

Saw Mice Parade at the Jug Of Ale last night. Nice gig. First one in ages admittedly. Depressed by all the usual trappings of the pub gig experience but elated by the noise that Mice Parade made. Post-rock jams in a tortoise style. Mike said he heard Laika in there which I thought made a lot of sense.

At the end of the set I picked up their first CD. Mike got one of the others so we can trade. Adam Pierce seemed like a nice bloke. He liked to use the word 'awesome' lots. Which in their own way, they were.

Back From Holiday

The holidays were lots of fun. Did some swimming at the local country club, nice. A couple of trips to the beach. And return trips to Eden Project and Springfield Pony Farm. Relaxed lots then spoiled it all by knackering my back on a trampoline! As t'wife enjoyed reminding me, I'm forty now and you have to be careful. Bummer.

Back home to catch up on domestic chores and the new Harry Potter movie. Harriet brought Lizzie with her for support but it turned out to be not that scary. All enjoyed the movie.