This site has some beautiful images of a side of Manhattan that I didn't know existed. The disused High Line track is a wonderful place that I do hope can be reclaimed as a public promenade. I know that I would dearly love to take that stroll.
Check out Delicious Monster. Cool website. Cool application. And best of all, I love that fact the companys workplace is their local coffee house where they get free wifi. Sweet.
It's been a week since my last post and there's quiet a bit to catch up on. The kids second week off school for Easter. They had loads of fun over at the sleepover then Dylan had a full day of play over with his friends David and Aaron. Wednesday was another product brief day and once again it was very interesting. It really does show up what a clueless operation we run at Coventry. Dentist visit gave an all clear to the kids and I'll be having a crown on my busted tooth. Thursday and Friday down at Weston again. A little trip for the end of the holidays. Nice times at Wookey Hole and Weston but the wind too cold for much beach action. Dylan lost his first tooth. Freaked him out a bit. Back home for the weekend and ready now for the new week.
Just dropped the kids over at Marys for a sleepover with their cousins. We're back home and cooking dinner, listening to music, all very civilised but feels weird. Just seems WRONG not having them around the place.
Got my place setup over at ourmedia.org in anticipation of good things. It's early days at the moment with the place still in alpha so it's a bit creaky but I hope it settles down to be my one repository for online stuff. The fact that it's online FOREVER is quite a cool concept. Let's see what uses I can put it to. Check my page here.
Toady I experienced my first iSeminar at work. The presentation itself was ok but the concept is fantastic. I know this sort of thing is nowhere near the cutting edge but for the little part of SIEMENS that I work for it's a revolution.
Good to be focussing some of my work activities towards the SIMATIC world. It's been a long time since I've had much to do with it. I'll be glad to see the back of Rockwell stuff. It's ok kit but it's of no long term use to me.
At last I am again wireless! Picked up a modem/router/access point from Micom yesterday whilst travelling from office to site. Quite a bargain and bundled with a USB adaptor also so now the main PC is wireless too. Set everything up this morning on my first working at home day for some time. Beautiful day today. Lovely sunshine. Great to be at home. Didn't get huge ammounts of stuff done. Found it hard to concentrate.
Jacq said recently it's about time we had a day out somewhere. So last night we booked a couple of nights in a Travel Inn down in Weston. My parents are there in their caravan so we can hook up with them Thursday/Friday. Should be fun. Especially if the weather is like today.
A nice lazy day is planned for today. It's almost midday and I'm still in pyjamas. Took some nice photos yesterday afternoon in Warley Woods so I'll sort them and post up on Flickr later. Dylan had a party yesterday morning. Chatting with Sangeevs dad it turns out he is a lecturer in electronics at UCE. Sounds like he teaches the course I took way back in the day. Much before his time. He was asking me about SCADA and PLC, makes a nice change for someone to know a bit about the area of software I work in.
Thanks to Phil for inspiring this post. Poor sod only stopped by my desk to exchange a conversational pleasantry but I started off on a rant about the state of current 'popular' TV formats. Sorry. But. It seems at the moment that all TV programs, regardless of content, are blindly adopting the format of reality, vote-based shows. Doesn't matter what the program is about as long as there is an element of public or 'expert' judgement involved. What the fuck is that all about? Why can't programs just BE about stuff? Why are the program makers happy to be such unimaginative sheep! Rubbish, just rubbish. The lot of it. TV is by far the most unimaginative communications medium. Shite.
Gizmodo is a blog I check on a regular basis for gadgets news delivered with some humour. Chuffed to see this announcement about Siemens sponsoring the Gizmodo attendance at an upcoming German exhibition. Spot on decision by my colleagues.
Found a wonderful, inspiring story in the Everday Matters blog today. I feel like I want to read it through again a couple more times. I'm sure I can something in it for me. I notice that yet again the 'move to New York' motiff reappears.
Jacq bought it for me for my birthday last month but I only got around to installing it last night. But my God, what and awesome piece of work HalfLife2 is! It was quite late by the time I got it installed, updated, verified and running. Jacq went up while I waited for the startup. A couple of hours later I had to force myself up to bed too cos of work in the morning. It is such an amazing, immersive experience. The design is so clever as it masks the scripted moments and they feel so real. The art design is stunning. The mix of european, industrial, future tech is delicious. Can't wait to get back in there.
Harriet not well, throwing up lots last night. Poor thing is drained. Must be some bug/germ thing she's picked up. Hopefully not from Jims flat the other night. We didn't get much sleep last night and I should be doing some work stuff to catch up my hours but the energy isn't really there.
A few more in the office today which was better than yesterday. Although a point of interest yesterday was the introduction of Quake 3 to the office LAN. Me and Mark played a quick deathmatch. Passed a copy of the CD over to Dave today and he sounds up for it. Would be great to get the luchtime deathmatch going again. But of course not at the expense of regular walks as they are valuable too.
So the week ends tomorrow with a day on site which will be made more pleasant by the fact that Geoff is coming over also to finalise the HCI release. Then it's the weekend and another week done. My, they go by so quick. I wish I could slow them down and focus real hard on individual details more. Especially the kids. There isn't a day goes by I don't cherish them but I'm paranoid that I don't get the most out of every moment. I know it's a stupid unreachable goal but the thought nags away all the same.
Over on the Everyday Matters blog is a list for boosting creativity. Point 4 caught my eye, "Move to New York". Is someone trying to tell me something? Or can this point be taken as a philosophical concept? Maybe I could move into a mental space that emulates NYC and gives me the inspiration and feedback that being in such an exciting environment would provide. But the question remains, will I be able to get fresh bagels at two in the morning there?
Fergus mailed today that he's in Cork having a meeting with David Toop about an exhibition he's planning for later in the year. By coincidence I'm currently reading Toops Haunted Weather at the moment. Some people have interesting jobs...
I'm suffering from a condition known as NYC Envy. Paul texted me to let me know he was standing in the queue for the Empire State Building. Lucky bugger.
The runour about Bruce leaving WIRE hit the list a few days ago and it's still running. Shame that WIRE can't put out any clear communication about this. Don't know why most artists seem unwilling to communicate directly. Maybe they need to preserve a distance.
Enjoying the weekend. No snow left at all from the past week. Every day we hoped we'd get a decent snowfall but it never happened. One morning in the playground the kids were scraping together the dusting of snowfalkes in a desparate attempt at a snowball fight. Such a shame we never got a chance to have a real play in some deep snow. It never seems to snow here anymore.
Tonight we went to see REM at the NEC. Top band but shit venue. I really hate stadium gigs. They are really pointless souless affairs. The band are an inch high and the sound is lame. It was the quietest gig I've ever been to. And what the fuck is the clap-a-long all about? A bunch of fools displaying a rudimentary graps of a songs rhythm and tempo? I want to hear the music, not the claps of middle-aged cretins. And yes, I know I'm middle-aged but I'm a different sort to this lot let me assure you.
A real gig involves shoving, sweating, spilt beer and music so loud that you can't hear properly the whole bus journey home. Give me one of those any day.
Well it's Wednesday and I still don't have my car back yet. Hopefully this morning, I'm waiting for the call back to say it's ready to collect. I should have chased them earlier yesterday but I was up on site. While up there I grabbed myself my first ever pair of Vans trainers! Only had to wait thirty years! The little skater boy inside of me was a very happy chappy.
Trying to snow a bit again today but still not having much impact. No where near deep enough to both walking round to the woods.
My work laptop looks like it's gone tits up this morning so I'm not being very productive while waiting for my car to be ready. Hopefully the I.T. man will fix it this Friday. Though knowing my luck it'll snow hard and he won't bother coming up from Winchester. Need to get into the Coventry office and collect my old laptop.
Today was my annual car service day which always fills me with dread. Somehow I've got the whole power relationship wrong with garages. When they phone me up to advise me of things that need doing I almost feel like I'm in trouble. I need to remember that I'm the customer here! So the car needs some work doing on the brakes but by the time I spoke to them it was too late to complete the work today. Good job I've got a hire car for site at the moment.
Popped into the office this afternoon. First time for ages. Got stuck in a meeting with my boss and a salesman. A cruel reminder of how deep the talent pool runs at that place. Trapper updated on the latest gossip. Seems like SP is still a possible for the Winchester job. Maybe change is coming?
A busy weekend involving all the usual stuff and more besides.
Paul over first thing Saturday to dump his camcorder footage onto DVD clearing his tapes for his trip to NYC next week. Dylan asked him to come and watch him swim which he did. Watched the Bourne Supremacy tonight. Top stuff.
Sunday morning took the kids to see Spongebob at the cinema. Met up with Steve his kids there. It wasn't as funny as the TV version. I fell asleep for a while which made it mercifully short. Went to the Bullring in the afternoon to pick up a present for Maleeq. Over to Star City for the bowling party. What a noisy place. Dylan was unsure at first but settled into having a great time with his mates. He was pipped for first place by one point right on the last turn. Harriet was pretty stressed out by the place. I ended up chatting with Steve and Ruth same as last Saturday. When the party was finally over we visited Jim and dropped in some groceries for him. Back home about 8:30PM totally pooped.
Back from a week on site and so glad to be back online. No real tales to tell about my week. Long days but finally my project comes to a sort of close. Some mopping up left to do but all the sites are now up and running.
Phil down on site this weekend coverng for the Grain team. Hope it's no too tedious down there mate!
Watched Anchorman tonight. Bit of a dissapointment. Very patchy for laughs. Not really worth a copy, and that's saying something.
Got up early. Couldn't stay in bed any longer. Decided to go for a walk. Boots on and striding out with purpose. Did a big circuit around Bearwood for about 35 minutes. Felt good. Gave swimming a miss this morning. Harriet stayed with Aksa while we took Dylan and Sofia to Chloes party. Dylan had a great time. Good chat with Steve and Ruth while there. Rest of day spent just lazing about. Downloaded some good tunes. Enjoying 'The Lost You' by Hood who are playing the Flapper this week but I won't be able to catch them cos of working on site. Put off the groceries until tomorrow. Feel OK in myself.
Mike came over this morning. Great to see him and ramble on about all sorts. Reviewed some of my latest loops. Some of them are definite keepers. Got him to agree to restarting the 'whatever' stuff under a different guise. Plan is to use the blog structure and concentrate on content. My first task is to plough the box of stuff we've collected and get them scanned in.
Lots of work comms again today. Seems that there is no alternative to me going up to the Mersey site on Monday. Thankfully Geoff while be there as backup if I flake out. More gossip circulating about the new engineering structure. Interesting times ahead.
At last some decent comedy on the telly tonight with the start of 'Nathan Barley', the new series by Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker. Okay, the target were soft, Hoxton media types, but it was damn funny shit all the same. Check out www.trashbat.co.ck
Fresh in the post today, the Nintendo DS VIP Pack. The latest addition of Nintendo goodness to our household. It's a lovely bit of kit. It came this morning while I was kipping in bed. Jacq bounced into the room to show me Mario 64 in all his touch-screen glory.
Not feeling too bad this morning I guess. Although it has varied throughout the day. Going to the toilet feels like I'm pissing needles! I've been assured it will ease after 24 hours so I just have to grin and bear it.
Jacq went out to help with a school visit to church this afternoon and I spent the entire time on the phone. Spoke with Mike and arranged a 'coffee-morning' session this Friday. Should be just like old art-school times. Dad called and we compared painful pissing stories. Spoke with Geoff on site to try and help with problems. Have suggested to Stuart that I work next week from Kingsbury just in case I need to flake out back home. Trapper phoned with the latest gossip. Seems that the new my systems manager post in Winchester is not in the bag. Maybe things won't be changing in Coventry after all. Apparently the new Team Leader roles are salary based, rather them than me.
So glad to be back home tonight. All done and feeling pretty good really. Yesterday was an anti-climax as it was only planned to admit me to the ward on Monday with the procedures booked in for today. It took until 4PM to get confirmation of a bed by phone then I had to haggle for the latest time that I could 'check-in'.
Took the bus down to City Hospital to save Jacq and the kids disrupting their eveing routine. After all I was just going there to sit in an uncomfortable chair and bed then attempt to sleep. Had trouble sleeping on the awful bed and with the sounds of the ward.
This morning dragged until I was called for theatre at 1:00PM. The procedures went to plan except that no stone was found! There's a chance that it's got washed up into the kidney so I'll be having follow up in four months. If it's still in there they can sonically smash it. Felt a bit yuck afterwards but perked at the thought of getting outta there this evening. The first was REALLY painful and still is for 24 hours. Ouch!
Jacq and the kids turned up for a visit at 6:00PM and I was chuffed to tell them I was coming home. The kids had drawn up some lovely get well cards which made me blub. Got my stuff together and home for a relaxing evening. Post from Phil (thanks mate) provided the evenings viewing of Collateral which was excellent.
Feeling OK at the moment and hoping for a restful nights sleep. Great to be home.
It's been a while since my last blog so I'll attempt some sort of update:
Wednesday, February 02, 2005 - On the way into the office Jacq called me. She was feeling rough so I returned home to take the kids into school. This meant of course that my time in the office was reduced so I had to knuckle down to get all the tasks done to prepare for the Mersey site commissioning. I'm hoping that Geoff doesn't get dumped with the job. I hope I'm fit enough to do the business.
Phil gave me a birthday card which I found really touching. He really is a top mate.
Thursday, February 03, 2005 - Dropped kids off with Jayne then down to City Hospital for pre-admission checks. An x-ray confirmed that the stone was still in there. Had all my bloodworks done and confirmed Mondays procedure is still on.
Friday, February 04, 2005 - My 41st birthday. Went to Harriets assembly. She had some words to say which she delivered beautifully. Jacq and I went up to the Clent Hills for a walk. Same as we did last year. Very enjoyable just walking and talking in the fresh air.
Post from Amazon, Everyday Matters which I discovered via the blog of a Flickr contact rbanks. The book is lovely and inspiring. Makes me want to try to do a drawing. Something I haven't done for years. Recently I got my art folder down out of the attic and was looking at some pencil drawings I'd done of my own hand drawing. I wondered if I could still do such a drawing.
Saturday, February 05, 2005 - The usual swimming lessons and groceries plus Paul and Lyn came over tonight and subjected us to their holiday snaps from Australia. So much easier to check out photos when all jpeg'd onto a cd through the telly. Looks like they had a good time although the place has no appeal for me whatsoever. The lucky buggers are shooting off to New York in a couple of weeks time. Now THAT appeals to me bigtime.
Good day in the office with a series of update presentations from various bits of the business. Good explanation given of how my company fit within the organisation. Pity that we didn't get something similar a couple of years ago! Feel quite positive coming out of the meetings. Wonder how long it will last?
When I got home Jacq and kids were having a 'cinema party' on the sofa watching a DVD. I set about making a chicken curry for Jacq with a quorn version for myself. Not bad for a first effort.
Monday on site. Had to go into the office first to pick up a cable then back up to the Mersey site. Long day but generally successful. In the evening I picked up a bummer email from Fergus confirming the rumour about Bruce. Depressing news.
Lovely day on Sunday started with a visit to the Birmingham Rep theatre to see a production of The Snowman. It was great watching the kids experience live theatre. At the end, fake snow was dropped onto the audience which was top fun. Went to the museum tea room for lunch. Lovely surroundings. Overhead someone humming the 'Walking In The Air' tune. Walked further into town and checked out some shops. Jacq bought a hat and bag from Accessorize. In the Bullring we picked up some new books for the kids. Harriet chose some Jacqueline Wilson novels and me and Dyl picked up Captain Underpants.
My ADSL modem decided to go titsup on Thursday which was a major drag. Quite shocking how much I miss being online. Still, I've got the situation in hand now. Picked up a 'stand-by' modem and we're back online today.
Went to see Gang Of Four on Thursday night. Top gig. They were fantastic. Good to see Paul and Mark of the IC list. Also bumped into Graeme there who claimed that Bruce has retired. I hope that it's not true.
Worked from home Thurs/Fri. Documents coming along fine. Got mail from my boss about overhead booking so I sent him back an explanation of my situation over the last few months. I wonder if I'll get some sort of response.
Well it gets me out of the office and gets my hours in. Not much reason to be in the office anyway. A very dull place when the good 'uns aren't in. Home working the rest of the week to try and bash out some more documents. Got a call from Trapper confirming that SteveP is after the Winchester position but it's about two months away so no point getting too excited just yet. As discussed with Phil, Trapper might end up being a good boss. At least we can shout at the guy and it's got to be better than another 'outsider' being foisted upon us.
Hopefully got my DVD burning sorted. Fixed at 4 speed, I made a good copy of Shaun Of The Dead which we enjoyed watching last night. Might take the speed up a notch later but at least I can do reliable copies now.
Wires new DVD The Scottish Play released at PostEverything today. Got my order in.
Looking forward to seeing Gang Of Four tomorrow night. Hopefully get a few shots for up on Flickr. Cool story on FlickrBlog tonight about a girl being photographed taking a photograph in Japan. Both images are up on Flickr now. What a great place it is!
Couldn't face it this morning. Stayed home and booked the day off sick. Caught up on some work documents and spent a lot of time on the phone to work. Suppose I might as well have been in work. Oh well.
Dylan's playing at Davids tonight. Harriet has come home with the cold symptoms also. Put her straight into bed. So I guess it's her turn this week.
Feeling OK. Rallied yesterday after being called to site by client. Could have done without it but at least it got me motivated. Symptoms cleared enough to permit the usual Friday night bottle of wine to be opened.
Swimming lessons this morning followed by a walk around the block with the kids on their new scooters. It's started snowing this afternoon. I wish it would settle and we could have a winter wonderland for a few days. I know it won't. It's turning to drizzle already. Bummer. Why doesn't it snow anymore?
This morning I've woken with the Worlds Biggest Headache. I can barely open my eyes. Tottered downstairs to medicate myself and I await some kind of relief. Please. I need it to get a bit better than this if I am to work today. Otherwise it's a day on the sick.
Yesterday in the post I got the latest issue of The Wire and a package of CD's from 4AD. I haven't even opened them yet. THAT'S how ill I am!
So here I am at work. I WAS planning on working at home but when I phoned in, Geoff said he could do with a meeting. So here I am. Feeling rotten due to approaching cold and a 1.5 hours plus drive to the office. At least the Beard is not in and DaveH is. Hoping for an informative Team Brief later.
Losing my bearings this week. Keep forgetting what day it is. Starting to feel cold symptoms from Dylan so I'm going to work from home tomorrow and Friday to save the tedious travelling. Cleared site today. No snags. One more site to go. Probably going to miss tomorrows Team Brief but sounds like there's no-one in anyway so it might be cancelled.
Gang Of Four related coincidences this evening. Got mail from Fergus asking if I was going to the Brum gig next week to which I replied yes, probably. Then Paul from IC mails out a ticket offer. Spooky. I guess I HAVE to go now.
Fun evening 'cinema session' with me, Jacq and the kids all sharing the sofa with drinks and snacks, the lights off and Thunderbirds in the DVD. Pants movie to be honest. But a fun experience all the same.
The working day was tiring but at least it went by fast. Phoned Jacq on the way home about 9 o'clock. She then phoned the Raja with our order and I swooped by 15 mins later to pickup the baltis and home for feast. Kids staying up late to greet me. A top treat.
Tired from a long site day and another tomorrow so just a quick few thoughts. It's good being out of the office and occupying my time, even if it is tiring. I'm enjoying quite a few of these new bands I'm hearing at the moment, especially TV On The Radio and Bloc Party. I even bought the NME today! Decided to shift focus of my recent musical dabblings back to rhythm. Beats are my thing, always have been, drummer in a punk band and all that. I've been neglecting the beat recently. Ideas above my station. Need to get back to my roots. Looking forward to a bit of free time to get creative. Also looking forward to a little drinkie tomorrow night. A nice glass of wine with the wife and a chillout infront of the box.
Have a good 'un y'all.
Lots of things going on my brain in the last few days. Kewl stuff and depressing stuff all mixed up together. Buzzed yesterday by the new Mac mini. I want one of those suckers. Work was good too, Geoff over on site with me. But work today was a downer with Trappers stories laying it on thick. My confidence in the whole setup erodes more and more with each fresh tale of incompetence. Phil had had it all yesterday and I got it today. The lunchtime walk was subdued. Where do you start? Tonight we went over to my parents and I sorted out Dads printer and checked out his ADSL modem a bit more. Right now I'm busting some live DJ Shadow tunes on headphones. Loving the track 'InFlux', when the track moves up a gear as the vocal says 'change', it felt awesome. I've always naturally thought that change is a GOOD THING. Do I need change?
Got my 1990 Wire photos scanned and uploaded today which I'm pleased about finally doing. Nice mail from Fergus about yesterdays upload. Took sometime finding a workaround to cope with the poor scanner software. But now I know what to do I can now hopefully start plowing through all the stuff Mike and I have been collecting. Hopefully do something creative and get it uploaded somewhere. Which reminds me I still haven't got the Tingy domain registered with my new ISP.
The kids have been a treat today. Let them stay up a bit longer tonight as they were playing with Animal Crossing and some Spiderman 2 Lego we got in the sales today. At the call for bedtime they quickly produced plackards and marched around the room chanting 'Bed Time Stinks!'.
Got my scanner setup on XP SP2 tonight at last. It's not fully integrated so the scanning can only be done from the crappy software supplied by Packard Bell. But at least I can start getting some stuff done. Scanned in the WIRE Nottingham warm up gig from 2000 and got it up on Flickr here. Plenty more stuff to do.
Jacq found an article on the Guardian site about postal DVD rentals spelling the death of the video rental store. So we signed up on the Sainsburys rental site and were both online busily adding titles to our rental queue. Time to get some blank discs ordered I think.
Watched Derren Brown tonight. HUGELY enjoyable! He managed to convince a whole bunch of 'experts' in all sorts of wack religions that he is the real deal. The guy was trying hard to maintain a kind of impartial line but he SO easily could have started into an anti-religion rant. I wish he had, it would have been SO cool. And even though I know it's just tricks he does and he admits as much, I REALLY wish I knew how he did 'em cos they are completely mystifying. Top stuff. By coincidence (or is it?) I got a leaflet today advertising his show in town. I think I might book a couple of tickets.
Yesterday in the office day was not too bad. Perked up by a good moaning session by me and SteveD to Neil. Let's see what comes out of it. Visited Jim tonight then back home with enough time for the kids to play a while. I put a few tunes on and before long we were all dancing away to Fatboys 'Rockafeller Skank'. The kids were collapsing with laughter at my groovy dance moves. Copied 'Dawn Of The Dead' that Phil had lent me (looks good) while Jacq watched 'The Day After Tomorrow'. Gotta love that DVD writer!
Got in early this morning to get it over with quick. Not a bad day in the office but still so many examples of poor performance from management that it's quite a struggle to maintain a positive attitude. Bart stuck his notice in Christmas Eve and will be gone in a couple of weeks. Good for him. He has needed to do it for a long, long time. Problems for the Coventry team though. It's another man down and I'm sure he won't be replaced. No plans in place for the transition which is no suprise. Steve down in Winchester again so things just drifting as before.
On the plus side it's good to catch up with Phil, Dan, etc. Excellent DVD of The Incredibles from Phil. Quality looks good from what I've seen. I'll have to knock out some copies of that when I get home tonight.
Enjoyed 12FU on BBC3 tonight, a documentary about Punk by Jonathan Ross. Totally understood his nostalgia for that unique time and also agreed with his analysis that so much creativity is powered by the energy and ideas of Punk. Good points well made.
I could well do with channelling some of that energy into some creativity of my own.
Haven't been able to form my thoughts about this still and it happened a week ago now. My previous posts have made no hint as I simply did not know what to say. And what do my words matter anyway? Donated tonight. Now what? What else can I do? Does it help to keep thinking about it? I haven't been watching the TV news during this holiday, it would probably have been just too much. My head struggles enough with the internet reports.
Can't believe todays comments in the media that peoples faith might be tested. Yeah? Really? Like, duh! When will the world just GROW UP and dump this infantile attachment to its religions. Just what use are they being right now?
My thoughts and opinions on these matters are inadequate and irrelevant I know, but I just wanted to put something down.
A happy two thousand and thing to all my reader! Been over at Lizzies this afternoon, she made a nice curry then we played Triv. Nowhere near as much fun as the recent Taboo session. Questions just too hard and uninteresting.
Changed my Flickr buddy icon tonight back to a non-festive style. The tree will be coming down sometime this weekend. Christmas will soon be over.
Pulling down a few tunes from Soulseek as I type. It's been a while since I downloaded much but magazine and website lists of the years releases have given me some ideas.
Fireworks are going off like crazy right now. People are out in the street looking up. Families with little 'uns staying up for the new year. It's never really meant that much to us. Seems a little too forced. I'd rather find a moment to meditate on the past year than set off fireworks.
Listened tonight to a Peel Radio 1 documentary I'd recorded recently. I wonder if his passing is my defining event of 2004? Right now I can't think of anything else that comes close.
Both the kids are out this afternoon. Dylan at Davids birthday party and Harriet over at Mollys. So I finished off fitting some new lights in the kitchen. That's done and now what? I want my kids back! The house is too quiet without them.
Everyone over at ours on Tuesday. Dashed out in the morning to stock up on party food then prepared a grand spread in a flash. With the food done, some settled down to a game of Cluedo but me and Steve started up Burnout 3. Eventually everyone was lining up for a turn! There was much screaming and laughing as the cars were smashed into slow-motion oblivion. Top entertainment. The kids all moaned when it was time to go (after more than 5 hours!) but so did the dads!
Tired this morning from late night. Went to see 'A Series Of Unfortunate Events' at the cinema. Not bad at all. Jim Carey was superb. Art design was lovely. Very Burton influenced and that's a good thing. Back home doing a few chores here and there and continued play-time. Jacq still hitting the Sims hard. Harriet on Animal Crossing. Me and Dyl doing bits with all sorts.
Over to Theresas in Tamworth picking up Jim along the way. The cousins had a fun time and much screaming during pressie opening time. Jacq brought Taboo and Pictionary over with us as Theresa has no games. Taboo was a blast! We haven't played it for years. Hilarious!
Back home we played with Dyls RC cars and track. Good fun doing the sports DV footage. Must get some good F1 type sound effects for the audio track. Stayed up MUCH too late. A little bit of booze, Jacq on Sims 2 and me pottering on PC and stuff. Booze has been very moderate this year and feels much better for it.
Setup the camcorder on tripod in the corner of the room and started it off just before I let the kids in to see the pressies that Santa had delivered in the night. The morning went by in a blur of flying wrapping paper. Dinner delivered the classic 'dying scientist' gasping for breath, can't eat another thing type moment.
Harriet sqeeled with delight over her Pokemon direct from Japan. Dylan loved his 'Doc Ock' arm and went around picking stuff up with it. Mostly my pressies were DVD's this year. Got the Alien Quadrilogy box which is lovely and a bunch of music discs. Jacq liked her PDA but mostly spent her time with Sims 2. I'm not into the game but the graphics are superb and the program is clever stuff. Jacq was SO into it, she played until her eyes bled!
A quiet day really. Dylan and I went out for a while to a few local shops. I love being out and about with the kids and just chatting about what we see and do. The calmness continued through the evening, the kids went up to bed nicely and we set about the pressie preparations.
A task I had been meaning to do all week was to record the Peel tribute doc on Radio 1. I was convinced it was about to be removed from the 'recent shows' list so I decided to load Total Recorder onto my machine. Before loading my old version 3 of the program I checked the official site and found that the latest version 5 is available for only 11 dollars (6 quid)! So the purchase / download was made and the show recorded for later playback on iPod.
Last day at work yesterday. Hurrah! Spent the morning in the office and sorted out the details for a drinkie in the evening. Site work in the afternoon was uneventful. I always expect a nasty suprise on my last day before holidays. But thankfully not this time. Once home, I got Jacq a balti from the Raja then headed over Burton way.
Got to Dans house then taxi to Burton to meet up with Phil. At last the 'real', unoffical, alternative, self-financed SAS Coventry Good Guys Christmas Party was ON! Had some beers, had some balti, had some great chat. All in all, a top evening. Glad to finally get out for a beer with those guys. Circumstances did not permit more of the good crowd within the team to make it, but maybe the numbers can increase when we do it again. Which I'm convinced we should. Maybe a summer one next?
Crashed at Dans and woke mercifully without hangover. Drove back home then Jacq took the car to collect Becky, Jodie and Katy for a sleepover visit. They've all had loads of fun today. Noisy, but fun. My parents visited and dropped prezzies for Jacqs birthday. Spiderman 2 DVD, nice. Watched it tonight. Awesome movie. Moved me again, just as it did at the cinema.
Thankfully the pain cleared last night and this morning I was fully back to normal (whatever THAT is!). Jacq & Harriet went out to the cinema to see some girly flick. Paul collected Me and Dylan and we went over to sort out his printer problems.
Went over to Duggos in the afternoon and dropped off presents. Mike and Liz turned up there too and came back to ours for a visit. Exhanged prezzies and played some Eye Toy. I'm hoping this Christmas holiday will kickstart my creative activities and I'll have some material to share with Mike sometime soon. Liz is talking about them moving back to Bearwood which would be awesome.
Updated my Flickr buddy icon with a festive makeover last night. Everyone is doing it so it seemed like fun to join in. Pete has joined and left a few comments. I hope he goes on to upload some shots. New feature spotted today allows ranking of your photos by views, comments and favourites. Suprised to notice that 4 people rate my Stone Pile as a favourite. That's some cool. I'm chuffed.
Pain has returned today. Different at times and then back to the usual back/stomach ache. Have had to resort to the painkillers a couple of times. Desperately hoping it doesn't linger too much over the holiday. That would be a real bummer, but it's not unheard of me to trash my time off with feeling ill. Attempting to continue a kind of normal life. Kids last swimming lesson today so the floats were out and a fun time was had.
I was sure I was going into the office this morning. Bags packed, lunch made. But I couldn't find the car after Jacq had parked it way down the street following her visit with Jim to hospital yesterday. I got soaked walking up and down the street looking for it! Then Dylan started complaining of stomach ache again. So to be on the safe side we took him to the doctors. Turns out he's got a throat infection that can sometimes include symptoms of stomach cramps. Gave him some painkiller then dropped him into school for 'toy day' and Jacq went off to a carol service. I'm back home working in a much better environment than the office anyway. I WILL try and get there on Monday to drop off some stuff and do a bit of paperwork.
Monday morning 10:00AM, Harriets Christmas play. An alternative Snow White panto. Much fun. Took the camcorder but didn't have a good viewpoint. Barely glimpsed Harriets singing. Mom & Dad turned up to see the play and we'll probably see them at Dylans play on Wednesday too. From school straight to site with hopefully a better attitude. The work went smoothly enough and the afternoon whizzed by. Home to a top roast meal from Jacq. Scrumpcious. Later I capture the second DV tape so now I've got all the footage from 2004 in the PC. Played a bit more with Movie Maker to see what could be done. Lots of choice, but it's soon obvious which are the naff bits to avoid. So now I need to assemble a movie...
Tuesday up to SWSH. Met Phil in the canteen about 8:30AM. Told him about the DV stuff and he advised to do the edits in 'chapters' that way the Nero software will build the DVD with the scene selection points already there.
The strategy workshop we attended was generally a pretty positive and useful exercise. Good to get more 'face-time' with Jurgen the MD. Didn't hold back from dishing the dirt, and the structure kept most things quite anonymous which will hopefully feedback into SAS. We'll see. It'll probably be a few months before any outputs emerge so the challenge is to stay a bit more positve in the meantime.
Swimming as usual. Dylan making a great effort. Harriets technique looking sweet. Mitchell came back to our after for a couple of hours playing. Dylan had a great time with him. Groceries later then off to the office party.
Not looking forward to it much. Met up first at All Bar One. Standard lame expensive style thing. I bought 3 drinks and got no change from a tenner. Thankfully it wasn't my money. At the Thai Edge the seating was arranged around two circular tables. I was of course seated between two couples. The food wasn't awful but I can't say I liked it. Jacq would have hated it all. Rather have an Indian anyday. Had a few Thai beers which were ok but the opportunities to chat to the few people I would have liked to, just did not appear. Call from Jacq that Dylan was not well provided a reason to leave about 10:30PM. No buses were appearing on Broad Street so had to resort to taxi. Dyl asleep by the time I got home and felt OK in the morning.
Out last night with Simon, Adrian, Pete & Martin from the good old days back in the Cincinnati software department. Excellent night as always. Walked across town from the bus. Passing through the Bullring where fake snow was being blown from the top of the building. I watched as people walked through the area and spotted the snowflakes then a smile appeared. Got to the Big Wok all-you-can-eat Chinese and met up with the others. Waited a while to get a table. The place was packed. The food was good and I had a good three plates full. It was great to see them all and the chat and banter was top notch. Looking forward to the next meet-up already.
Jacq bought the Christmas edition of the Radio Times today. What a joy! One of my favourite Christmas rituals is to read through each day with a high-lighter pen and mark each TV programme or radio show that looks interesting. Usually each year I end up missing about 90% of all the things I mark, but that's not the point. It's all part of the 'Magic Of Christmas'.
It would be mildly tedious if I were to continue 'bigging up' Flickr again so I'll try not to, except to say I think it's by far the best place on the web right now. I've been uploading a bit more and enjoying the comments and contacts. The coposites group has been going from strength to strength and it's fun 'bumping into' Phil at all sorts of places all over the site.
Phil, Dan and I met up with SteveY at lunchtime over at the Cocked Hat. Good to catch up with him. A good chat was had and we sneaked back into the office way past two. A good day in the office, although I can't say that I got much actual 'work' done. Motivation eludes me still.
As ever, the good people at Flickr continue to rock my world. The new 'Date Taken' feature has given me reason to spend lots of time tweaking the details of my photostream. I wonder if the word 'photostream' will ever make it into the dictionary?
Found an interesting character on Flickr last night. Going by the name of Striatic, the guy has quite a few killer shots in his 'stream, and seems to go around wearing a bowler hat! That must be quite unusual in Canada. One of his composite shots went straight into my faves, you can check it here.
Got the tree up yesterday. Look a treat. Must blog a photo later when the lighting is at maximum 'christmassyness'. Working at home today. Dylan off school with a temperature. Poor buddy. Texts from Phil on a retail expidition to the Bullring. Off to see Jacqs Dad later since I'm home today and will be on site tomorrow.
Dyl did the business at swimming this morning. Keith commented on how he had come on. So I guess last Sundays swimming session paid off. Straight after swimming we picked up Jacqs dad and went over to Chiquitos down Marys way. Jimi was up from London on one of his rare visits. A couple of hours and it was all done. Christmas obligation over and Jimi and Luisa were off. The chat was more relaxed once they'd gone. Harriet was upset that we weren't visiting at Marys after but we promised a sleepover for Beccy, Jodie and Katy during the Christmas holidays.
After dropping Jacqs dad home we wizzed up to Ikea for the last hour. Picked up new lights for the kitched. Hopefully get them installed tomorrow to give the kitchen that halogen sparkle. Bought a few other items and before you know it that's a hundred pounds please! Am I a tightwad to be shocked at that?
Tonight we watched 'Something's Got To Give' on DVD borrowed from Dave. Enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. Worth a copy.
I actually DID take a photo today, even if it was just with my phone. Took a sequence of shots of the Bullring in Birmingham. Composited the image in Photoshop but not sure it was good enough for a Flickr upload. But I did post my composite of Barbara Hepworths St.Ives garden. I need to finish off some more of my composites and get them up there. The Composites Flickr group is continuing to grow and quite a few really nice shots have been added recently. I think it's my favourite group on Flickr.
I'm enjoying Phils new early morning photo and Flickr post. The images may not always be his best but the ritual is inspiring. Todays was a joy. And a composite too. Double points! I wonder if I could take an interesting picture today and upload it? I shouldn't really challenge myself like that because I'm bound to fail. Or am I? Check later posts to see.
Working at home this morning. There's a frost on the cars and rooftops and it's a lovely bright day. Jacq's just taken the kids down to school and I'm chugging through word documents (and blogging this of course). My heads back in a much better place. Busy weekend ahead. Hopefully sometime Sunday I'll get the christmas stuff down from the loft and we can start the decorations. Booked my last few days of holiday yesterday so I'm only in for the last Monday before Crimbo and that's me down. A fortnight of chillout infront of me. No chores. No shops. Just fun stuff. Bring it on.
There HAVE been things and thoughts worth blogging about this week, but my head's so mashed by work that I need to sort those issues first. Not really sure where to start as it's all really a continuation of the bad vibes that have been around all year. The Grain project is still going tits-up causing SP to been down in Winchester for the forseeable. Coupled to this, poor client/time management regarding Barts projects. These two major issues are causing a general feeling of despair in the office, even with those, like me, who aren't directly involved in the projects. It's our office they'll be closing down.
Decided to go into the office today after a day at home and a day at site. As soon as I got there I wish I hadn't bothered. Didn't do anything there I couldn't have done from home. Lasted till lunchtime then went home to some work there. Fetching the kids from school helped to cleanse the mental space.
Went for a swim this morning to give Dylan some tips. After just a couple of minutes he was swimming strongly by himself. Just goes to show what a little one-on-one attention can achieve. Hopefully he'll show his new skills at next saturdays lesson and give Keith a suprise!
Chores around the house when we came home. Almost every room is straight now. Dylan is settling into his room fine. He wouldn't let us in yesterday while he was stretched out on the floor playing with his pirate ship. The downside of everywhere being tidy is the fact that our bedroom is completely crammed with stuff. But, better one room in total chaos rather than all rooms in slight turmoil. T'wife and I commented this afternoon on how well the house works for us. Domestic life seems much easier in this house. A bit more room and better layout seem to do the trick.
The christmas vibe is increasing. Crimbo CD's on heavy rotation on the hifi. Harriet practising her christmas play songs in the car. I think the tree will be coming out next week sometime. Must book my remaining holiday to extend the christmas break. Will be nice to really relax into the whole groove of yuletide inactivity. Must make a promise to myself to crank up the creative side of things soon. No reasons not to. No excuses anymore.
Yesterdays working from home was very productive for my workload and very good for my quality of life. So there's a positive work related statement on record. Went to the mall in the evening. Starting to get busy there in a Christmas-rush kind of style. As well as prezzies, we picked up some additions to the Christmas albums collection. A 3CD set of crooners, a Doris Day album I've long wanted and James Brown Funky Christmas. Listening to the Doris Day album, the warmth pours out of the speakers. Sublime.
Today was test day at swimming and Harriet did us proud by passing her level. Only two passed and she was the best. Her dolphin kick stroke made me say 'wow' it was that good. So now she'll be going up to the deep end for her lessons, it's a big step but I'm sure she's ready for it. Dylan didn't pass as he's simply nowhere near ready yet. He hasn't yet got the confidence without floats. I'm really glad he's got Keith as a teacher as he's very good.
Party in the afternoon, Bethanys 6th. Bouncy castle in church hall. Loads of kids from Beths class. The cousins were a bit non-plussed. Things relaxed towards the end when the cousins had the castle to themselves. Back to Lizzies after for opening of prezzies. SteveK was running through a bunch of mp3's most of which didn't do that much for me. I did like The Earlies single though so I may investigate them a bit further. Good Flickr related chats with SteveT.
Last nights post was a bit too down. This morning things are better. But then they would be, I'm working from home, the sun is shining in through the front room window and I had breakfast with my kids this morning who are now walking down to school. I think it really is that Coventry office, I've simply had my fill. I'm done. Tour of duty over. Time expired. Next please.
Although on the whole, an enjoyable day in the office, there was an undercurrent of despair which I can't ignore. Certain issues regarding the management and performance of the place are really eating away at me. I feel a real urge to distance myself from the whole sorry mess. I know this is a horribly negative post and totally bitching about work but this is the only place to express it right now. The recent dialogue has not helped me in any way and I don't believe that anything is going to be changing anytime soon so I can't see any future right now. I think my exit strategy needs to be implemented. And probably soon. I know it's a big step but I've got to DO something.
Dylan off school with cold. Jacq off school with bad back. I dropped Harriet off at school then carried on into the office. Never really got into my stride work-wise as I spent most of my time on the phone to my client. Problems could not be resolved over the phone so I wizzed over to site. By the time I got there everything was back online. Off site in time to pick up Harriet and we all went over to Jims. Tonight I'm working to prepare for a day on site tomorrow. Must get around to doing some fun things sometime...
Just settling down after chores and kids having trouble sleeping. Decided to do a bit of creative stuff on the pc. Plugged in my scanner and... nothing. Trawling through forums it appears that my scanner driver does not work with XP SP2. Absolutely no info on the companies website about this issue or any prediction of updated driver release. How poor is that? Oh well, just a bit of web browsing then...
Just catching up with some of my regular sites. Noticed that Phil had posted a weekend roundup like myself and had also called his weekend roundup 'Weekend Roundup' the same as me! How spooky is that?! Well, OK not very spooky at all really I suppose. But it COULD have been. Couldn't it?
Friday working from home with the Mobilis setup keeping me in touch with the office. Popped out midday for some retail opportunities. Got more pressies for the kids. Picked up Haunted Weather by David Toop on a tip from Fergus. Finally spending book tokens I'd had since Feb. Later I collected the kids and did the ballet run to Harborne. Parents came over in the evening and I discussed some DIY issues with Dad.
Saturday started with a visit from Paul. Early as usual. Swimming lessons went well with Dylan really trying this week. In recent lessons he has just been larking about in the water and not listening to Keith. This week he did much better and made some good progress. Dave and I had a good moan about jobs and money and stuff. Lent me a couple of DVDs that I must copy for the new office collective. Spent the afternoon storing more stuff up the loft. Need to get some more boarding and sort out the space properly.
Sunday morning at the cinema for a preview showing of The Incredibles. What an awesome movie! We all loved it. It was really superb on many, many levels. Dylan now wants to be known by his new name 'Dash'. He said I'm the Dad cos I'm tough. What a cutie! On the way back home we called into a few shops around the city looking for a bed for Harriet. Finally found one in a shop on the Bearwood High Street! More chores in the house rounded off a busy and enjoyable weekend.
Raining when I got home from work, not looking forward to going up town later. But that all changed when the rain turned to SNOW! Now I'm so looking forward to trudging my way up town. Just to see the heavy snowflakes falling through the light of a streetlamp was a joy. The journey to town was a breeze and soon I was on Broad Street outside the Figure Of Eight. Mike and Paul already there and on the San Miguel. Good chat was had. Good to see Mike seemed in fine spirits despite challenging financial situations. Many pints later we left the pub with a San Miguel glass each and piled onto the 140 out of town.
This was by far the coolest thing that's happened at work for a long time in my books. As Adrian was working down at Winchester and couldn't come on the lunchtime walk, Phil took some photos then posted them up on Flickr here for Adrian to enjoy. I hope he did.
Started this post not sure of the subject to be covered. Should it be the music I've been listening to in the car recently? Should it be the chores and tasks that occupy the few brief hours after work each night? Should it be the occasional highlights in the otherwise dreary office day? No I think I'll groan on about the fact that I'm tired because I stay up too late and the fact that my back is hurting because I've strained it and I'm out of shape. I'll be glad when todays office shift is done cos I'm going out for some beers with Paul and Mike tonight and then I'm working at home tomorrow.
Just went in to see my boss and reject a promotion which we had previously discussed. Have been musing on it a while and now I'm so glad I've done it. Everyone wants to 'get on' as they say, but you also have to recognise the things that bring satisfaction and cherish them. My new role seemed to reduce any creative activity I might be involved in. Now being a Software Engineer I'm not exactly 'creative' full time. I'm no artist! But the pleasure in designing a block of code IS a creative act of some description and it's by far my favourite part of the job. I don't want to lose that.
Monday morning drive to work. Sounds horrible doesn't it? Made easier with the iPod cranking out some good tunes. Bit of a Manchester theme this morning. A blast of 808 State followed by A Certain Ratio. Flight by ACR is such a massive track. It hits so many spots for me. It always lifts and inpsires. It's title is perfect. The guitars create noise and ambience and even a lick of funk. The bass is solid and the drums, don't get me started on the drums! Featuring the most exquisite bass drum work, I love the drum track so much. Every discreet fill and flourish is a beauty while the minimalist groove is never compromised. Awesome.
Another busy day around the house. Put up the bathroom cabinet bought last night from Ikea. Paul and Rachel came over in the afternoon. Possibly a drinkie with Paul and Mike next week. Sounds good. Other good news, the Gang Of Four are reforming and playing in Brum in January! I think I have to go to that one. Balti night tonight. Good chat with my man at the Raja. Happy Eid.
Testing out software and panel for the Heathrow site. Up to the wire with some of the bits. Couldn't get the alarms working, although talking it though with tech support, it seems a re-install is on the cards. Stopped over in Winchester at the Giffard House Hotel. Nice place. Always a pleasure to stop there.
The new pc was delivered to home on Wednesday. Checked it out briefly when I got home Thursday night. Bit dissapointed at the noise level. Brought a Scenic T model home at the weekend to compare it. Put it in a bit more perspective.
