Armed With Torches

We got a Wii!! Jacq took the kids to the cinema and I popped into town to pick up the Nintendo goodness. Phew, that's a relief, the kids have a main Christmas present after all. Who's that saying that the present is really for me and Jacq? Shame on you!

Tonight Mike and I went out with Paul for the obligatory Christmas drink. Not that it wasn't pleasant, but when things get to the once-a-year state, what does that say? I don't know. The highlight of the night was walking back from the pub and talking a short-cut through the woods armed with Mike's torches. Mike always has torches about his person, he's that kind of guy.

Not Christmas Shopping

Lovely day today, blissfully away from the hellhole that is christmas shopping around about now. We went to see Flushed Away which was great. I laughed out loud plenty of times. Great voices, great slapstick humour, rats getting their nuts bashed, and a healthy dose of French-baiting, everything that a movie needs for greatness. CG not bad but could have been better. After the cinema we took a stroll around the German Market which was not too packed as everyone was probably going headless-chicken-crazy around the shops. Sampled many yummy foods then popped into the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for some culture. A choir in one gallery was providing a very festive ambience. I lingered a while in the Buddha Gallery. We did some interactive and craft stuff in some of the other galleries. I liked an artist called Robert Perry a local guy I'd not heard of before who paints exclusively outdoors. Next door to an exhibition by Patrick Hughes of his perspective paintings that the kids liked.

Having my say.

Hi,

Wife here. Went to Dylan's school play today and what did Mark do throughout? Play games on his phone!

Then we went to the dentist and Mark was the only one that needed treatment - hurrah.

Christmas Disco

It was the Christmas disco at school tonight. Dylan went for the first time. Sounds like he and his mates had a great time. He said they were dancing but I bet they were also doing their share of kung-fu fighting and the like. Harriet went after, looking cute. She also won two prizes in assembly today, runner-up in a card design competition and a 'respect' award for just being generally nice I think. So proud.

Tonight on the computer I discovered MediaMonkey which looks like a real good management tool for large mp3 collections. I'm loving it right now. Hopefully it will assist me in grappling with the huge admin task of sorting out my tags and coverart.

Christmas Tree

Thankfully, this morning I wasn't suffering from the beers the night before, which was a bonus. I got down all of the Christmas stuff from the loft and we set about putting up the tree. Weather was dreadful so we spent the whole day inside. The weekend finished off with another splendid episode of Lost.

Chancers Winter Meetup 2006

Today was the Chancers meetup and it was truly awesome to see everybody, Phil, Dan, John (Trapper), Adrian, Mike (The Fox), Chi, Dave, Geoff and Steve.

Phil and I travelled into town together and worshipped a short while at the Apple store before heading into the German Market for some knoblauchbrot and glühwein. We then met up with everyone else at the Malt House pub. It was a joy to see that pretty much everyone had turned up.

Chancers chow-down at the Big Wok

Plenty of beers and much chinese food was consumed and LOADS of good conversation was had. A few of the guys expressed real pleasure at the common experiences we had during our time at Siemens and the fact that we are making a real effort to keep in touch with the meetups. Long may it continue I say.

Chancers 'chilling' outside the Sunflower Lounge

Chancers bid farwell at New Street station

See you all at the Summer 2007 meetup guys!

Drifted By

The week has drifted by without a blog post. Just haven't been in the mood. It was Jim's funeral on Wednesday. Not a fun time, but went as well as these things can.

A gathering tomorrow of the Chancers. Looking forward to it. And on Sunday it's putting up the christmas tree time.

This is a rubbish blog post and I thinks I'd better just stop and go to bed.

Through The Viewfinder

Finally, after scoring myself a Kodak Duaflex on eBay, I took my first TTV snaps today. I haven't yet built the required tube for it but I just wanted to click something in the back garden. I'm really expecting a big boost in photographic inspiration with this contraption as I love the grungy square format. Expect my photostream to be flooded with the stuff soon.

Getting Back Into It

Getting back into the music thing a bit more. Mike came over last night and we had a dabble. Slowly getting more into Ableton Live. In amongst the improvising and twiddling there were a few moments that I take with me this morning. The trick is to capture these moments and wrestle them into pieces.

Pebbles was 'done' by the vet yesterday and the poor thing is not herself right now. She is very subdued, not our normal bouncy puppy. Hopefully she'll be back to strength soon.

Working at home today and much more into it. As well as the work stuff there are a few chores to be done as well. Jacq has a flat tyre that I have to get sorted and I want to pop down to the Citroen dealer to have a look at the Picassos they've got. So better get back to a bit of work.

Outer Space Is A Good Thing

On the way to pick up the kids I spotted this little cutie parked just a short way from school. I just had to stop and take a snap with my phone. You don't see many of those around these parts. A passer-by looked at me oddly and commented that the car looked like 'something from outer space' like that was a bad thing. Surely outer space is a good thing, isn't it?

Worked at home again today as Jacq was out with Mary sorting out more business. Got a bit more done than I did on Friday. Nice soundtrack provided by my main MP3 archive connected to my laptop via iTunes. You can checkout what I've been listening to here.

Quiet Weekend

Autumn Leaves. Cannock Chase. 19th November 2006.

Quiet weekend. Harriet on a sleepover Friday night, she finally fell asleep at six Saturday morning. Cute. I remember the mysterious allure of staying up all night. Took a prezzie over to Lynette as it was her 40th on Friday. Today was mostly just hanging. Tonight we sat down with the kids, a big bowl of popcorn and the new Cars DVD which just arrived yesterday.

A Very Autumn Day

We got a call at five this morning, Jacqs dad had passed away. She is over with her sisters right now. I'm working at home. Well, trying. Took Pebbles for her morning walk in the woods. Autumn dampness. No sun today. I feel kinda muted too. Chatted with dad on Skype for a good while. Still struggling to get work stuff done. I'll go and pick the kids up from school in a minute.

Skype Me

Having tried and failed to get video chat working from iChat to a PC app, I relented and downloaded Skype tonight. And guess what, it just worked. Quite impressed really. Of course the mac version looks cooler. If you want to chat sometime, I'm mark.mcquitty on there.

Another mac app I had a play with recently is the splendid Delicious Library media manager. Scanning barcodes with the iSight webcam to add items to the library just made me giggle every time I did it. I think I might upgrade to the full version when they update to version 2.

Back in PC-land, I picked up Quake 4 for a few quid at Game recently and I'm gonna install that now and shoot the shit out of some monsters! Good times :)

Some Random Stuff

• This looks like a very interesting piece about Eno on Apple.com promoting his new dvd 77 Million Paintings and giving Macs props. One for my christmas list I think.
  

• Nice post about the latest Spiderman 3 trailer that captures well a number of questions that came to mind when I first watched it. Despite little niggles, I'm stoked for this movie. Roll on next May.

• (Snigger) seems like Zune is getting soundly trashed by everyone who comes in contact with it. From what I heard on TWiT the other day, it really does appear to be completely doomed. I'll be sticking with iPods thanks very much. Here is how The Guardian reported the coverage.

• And finally as a treat for you all, some lovely footage of X-Ray Spex in 1978. The first band I ever saw live. This was the start of it all for me. Enjoy.
  

www.flickrmeets.co.uk

Aeiou from the Birmingham Flickr group has setup a website called Birmingham Photographers to showcase the work of those in the group. And what a nice website it is. The clean and simple design shows off my composite photo beautifully (see screenshot). Now my problem is choosing which photographs of mine I wish to submit. Looking over my photostream it seems that most of my photos are family or gigs. I think I need more 'art' photos in there.

This Week In Tech

No wonder 'This Week In Tech' always tops the podcast charts, it's always interesting and entertaining. Here's an episode from back in August featuring my favourites John C. Dvorak and Cory Doctorow. If you got some time, take a listen...


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Trusted System

One of the hurdles for me in implementing a GTD-type system in my life is deciding on the Trusted System. I've thought for a long time that this system is a single entity and I was stuck deciding between something real or something electronic. The something real would be some type of organiser thing containing lots of lists and actions and when I lost this object I'd be screwed. The electronic thing would be computer based which would be rendered useless if I didn't have a pc or internet connection to hand. I've only just begun to think that I've been completely wrong. Neither of the two approaches is the Trusted System. The Trusted System is the whole thing! Duh. The real object and the electronic approach are just Capture Devices. I can run both if I like as long as I process them as inputs into my system. I think get it now. What a dufus!

See? When I'm online more I can blog about any stupid thought that pops up and then I can stop rambling about it in my own head. Therefore it's a bit quieter in there. Hence better mindfulness and hopefully a bit of GTD!

That's What Happens

Agreed, my blog posts of late have been poor and infrequent. But it's not that I'm fed up with the blog, more that I'm simply not inspired to write much at the end of the working day. An internet connection is a rare thing for me of late so I'm not in a position to blog when an idea hits me. And blog posts being what they are, it's rare for any idea for a post to be strong enough to hang around in my brain until I'm next online.

So now I've bothered to open up a new post and ramble a bit, what else do I have to post about? Well, not much really, the mind's gone blank again. That's what happens. Now do you understand?

Working At Home What A Joy

After working up in Manchester for four days, I'm working at home today and what a joy it is having no M6 to deal with. And what a treat having a proper lunch of pasta with pesto and olives. The sun is shining though it's cold out there. Jacq has gone off to the cinema. John The Builder is fitting new guttering out the front. Pebbles is padding around the garden freshly shorn from yesterday at the groomers. Dad popped in for a cuppa this morning as Mom is away for the weekend with friends. All's well.

A Distant Memory Now

Why did I buy that huge coffee when I stopped for petrol this morning on my way up the M6 to Manchester? It took me ages to get onto site this morning due to awkward security staff. By the end I was bursting.

Interesting talking to a new colleague today who is into meditation and Chi Kung. Although I've tried recently to increase my sitting practise, I've really let the Chi Kung slip.

Only back at work two days and I'm knackered already! I really got to a very relaxed place during last weeks holiday. It's a distant memory now.

Good To Be Home

The last full day of the holiday was thankfully dry and sunny and spent at Crealy adventure park. The kids had a great time on everything. Harriet discovered a love of the Pirate Ship ride much to my discomfort as I had to go on with her again and again. Finished off the holiday with fish and chips at Rick Steins chip shop in Padstow. Absolutely yummy. Best ever.

Early start on the homeward journey this morning. Dreadful traffic and roadworks. Took about eight hours to get home. Knackered. Mom and Dad brought the pets over. Great to see Pebbles again. Took her out for a walk tonight straight back into the normal routine. Good to be home.

Blue Bar

Down at the Blue Bar in Porthtowan, just a mile from our holiday cottage. Jacq brought her MacBook down to take advantage of the free wi-fi. Better weather today. Having fun.

Goonhilly

Blogging from the internet cafe at Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall. The holiday cottage is great and the weather a bit grim but we're having a great time.

See You In A Week

Work has been a bit of a grind with the ammount of travelling so working at home today certainly eased the load. A luxury to pop down to TGI's for lunch with t'wife. Tonight we went to parents evening at the school and both kids got great reports. So proud of them. I want them to do well of course, but mostly I just want them to have as nice a time as possible as they go through the system.

Tomorrow we're off down to Cornwall for a week in this cottage. We're all really looking forward to it. Don't suppose the weather will be that great but the change of scene will do us all good. Packing my laptop and hoping for a creative boost from being in an inspirational area.

See you in a week.

Steve Albini Owns Me Right Now

Weekend just wizzed-by, party-style. Dylan and Harriet were both out at parties on Saturday afternoon. I took Dylan to the local sports stadium for a 'multi-sport' party at which he had a great time. Meanwhile Harriet was up town with her friends taking in a movie and a pizza, very grown up. Sunday Jacqs family came over for the usual get together.

Working in Stafford today as the M6 is closed and it's not worth trying to get up to Manchester. A shorter day but at least I've got an internet connection so I can catch up with some personal productivity as well as the day job. Hence this post.

Music-wise my iPod is churning out a lot of Big Black at the moment. Not sure what triggered this decent into noise as I'd recently been listening to lots of quiet stuff like Eno and Budd. But anyway, Steve Albini owns me right now. Tiny King Of The Jews is the best track ever right now and has overtaken my previous fave, Kerosene.

Parties Coming Up

Enjoyed a lovely bottle of German wine tonight given to me yesterday by one of the guys I'm workng with up in Manchester. This guy has a hotel in Hambug which he invited us to. What a nice chap. It must be said that all of the German guys I've been working with over the last 12 months have been incredibly friendly. I'm sure us English don't come across as such.

My blogging of late has been wanting but that's mainly down to lack of internet during the working day. Still driving up and down to Manchester which is a drag but pays well. The excessive driving time is being filled with podcasts by the splendid Leo Laporte and Merlin Mann.

Harriets birthday next week. Eleven. Gosh.

Lots of parties coming up.

Why Wasn't This Band Massive?

The Wolfgang Press. Awesome. Fact.

Fisheye

Saturday morning I dropped Dylan off at the Sea Life Centre for his friends birthday then I had a couple of hours to myself around town. In the Ikon Gallery I saw an exhibition by Marijke van Warmerdam with some real nice film loops. 'Dream Machine' was a mesmerising slow motion loop of milk droplets in a glass of clear water eventually resulting in a whiteout screen. I watched it for ages. In the Ikon shop I picked up a 35mm fisheye camera made by Lomography. Looking forward to taking some fisheye shots.

Google Reader Update

The new Google Reader looks like there's lots of improvements with this update. Using the 'Share' functionality to make an RSS feed to this blog over in the 'Links' section. Also, check out the 'Tingy Link Blog'. This is automatically generated by my shared links and looks pretty damn cool.

27/11

Last night I went down to see Graham Lewis playing again at the Notting Hill Arts Club. Last minute decision. Mike came too. It was good. The set played seemed the same as before to me. Sounded great, some of the songs are well catchy. A couple of them I've been humming ever since. Didn't see anyone else there from the Ideal Copy list but I did spot Bruce Gilbert. Took a few photos but not as good as the previous set.

Bashed

Working up in Manchester this week and commuting each day has fair knackered me out. And the worst of it is there's no internet access up on the clients site. Imagine that, no internet access! It's just not right.

We are skipping swimming in the morning. Dylan bashed his face up real bad yesterday by running into a wall at school. The poor thing really did bash himself. He's got a black and swollen eye and he can't get his goggles on. He had to skip swimming lessons at school today. Harriet is suffering with a cold as well so swimming lessons are off. We're staying in for a lazy Saturday morning, something we haven't done for ages.

Uncontrolled Copy

Created today in my lunchbreak working up in Manchester. Photographs from the motorway and my desk. Loving Photoshop right now. Got a graphics tablet yesterday which is great fun so there might be some more of these. Number 001 in a series. I would like to try and aim for one-a-day but I'd only end up stressing when I failed and that kind of defeats the object.

Tonight we went to our first secondary school open evening. Kind of depressing thinking of Harriet moving up next year. Time is passing way too fast.

Much too fast.

Pause.

Enjoying The View

I've always been a fan of First-Person-Shooter games since Doom. Not just for the shooting, but also the immersive quality of moving within a 3D space. I used to download loads of Quake 2 maps, some for the office deathmatch and some just for strolling around in enjoying the view. I dabbled in a bit of map creation but like most things, just dabbling. With the quality of current games like Half Life 2 the immersion experience is getting even better. I was well impressed by this movie of a HL2 map recreating Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Falling Water. The graphics are stunning and I love the fact that it doesn't function as a HL2 game map, it's just a 3D space to be explored and enjoyed. Must get HL2 re-installed on my PC and download this map so I can go visit the house.

Mac Fan-Boy

Today I have mostly been a Mac fan-boy. Downloaded iTunes 7 last night and spent ages marvelling at the CD cover browsing feature. Pure eye candy I know, but usually that's good enough for me. I'm very shallow that way. Listened to a MacBreak Weekly podcast on the drive in to work. More Mac-geekness. On the drive home a good door-to-door chat with Phil. Catching up on work-ish stuff and spreading the Mac-love.

Moving Through The Photograph

After bitching on about photographing Artsfest 2006 in my previous post, tonight I uploaded the last of my efforts to Flickr and the panorama above I'm quiet pleased with. You have to look at it full size and pan along it to really see it. That's what I like about composites, moving through the photograph. Like Deckards Esper in Bladerunner.

Of the other photos in the Artsfest pool, I'm increasingly attracted to the Through The Viewfinder (TTV) pictures. The square format and the grungy scratches and distortions are really appealing. I've got my eye on a Kodak Duaflex on eBay at the moment. Watch this space.

Update: Just looked at the Flickr Blog and right there is a post about TTV complete with a photo from the Artsfest pool! Nice one.

Jacq had a meeting about another IT initiative at the school. This one is just for Dylans Year 3 kids and is focussed on Music Technology. Apparently it's all being done on Macs using Garageband. How cool is that? We'll be able to play with it at home too, when the MacBook comes back from repair.

In pet news, Sparky the hamster died yesterday. But hold back your tears, do not fret, for a new hamster was already installed by the time I got home from work. Her name is Chunky.

Artsfest

The weekend just gone was dominated by Artsfest 2006 which was taking place all over Birmingham city centre. As part of the Birmingham Flickr Group, I was photographing the event as an 'artist participant'. Saturday afternoon involved a LOT of walking, trying to get around all of the venues across the city. As I was walking around I started to get the feeling that actually I wasn't particularly enjoying myself. By the time I got the bus home I realised I had taken far fewer photos than expected. What had gone wrong?

Having thought about this since, I've come to the realisation that the Artsfest as a photographic subject holds very little interest for me. Photos of performers or portraits of visitors are all very nice but they just don't really do it for me as interesting images. Which leads me to question the reasoning for being part of the Flickr group. I think that most of the members in the group are interested in all sorts of photography whereas I feel more and more that only particular aspects of photography interest me and other leave me quite cold. For example, I usually find a single image much less interesting than a composite of multiple images. For me an interesting photograph attempts to represent more than just reality. The distortion of a 'lo-fi' approach, multiple perspectives, representations of movement and time, these are the areas that interest me right now. So what am I doing taking photos of people at an arts festival?

On Sunday I went back into town for some more Artsfest but this time with the family. It was more fun to just consume the festival rather than document it. I was also a bit burnt out from the ammount of walking done the previous day. Met up with Steve, Mary and crew. Didn't bother with the Flickrmeet at the pub at the end of the day. Not much to say.

Having said all that, I DID take some pictures. Check the photostream. My favourite thing at Artsfest was an installation called Bangmingham by Surasi Kusolwong in an old chapel taken over by Ikon. The sight of a wall-mounted drum-kit being bashed at really raised my spirits.

The Birmingham Flickr Group Artsfest photos are here.

Swimming, MacBook & Stipe

A great start to the weekend with Dylan passing his level 3 swimming test. Keith said that everything he did was perfect. It's a pity that Dyl's friend Mitchell didn't pass because they have so much fun together. Hopefully they will still get a chance to play on a Saturday morning. Harriet did not pass but she wasn't really expecting to. It so technical and difficult at her level I don't think I'd pass either. We are so proud of both of them.

As a prize for passing Dylan chose the Cars PS2 game. Cars is still very much the movie of choice with the kids at the moment. They asked to go see it again today on their last day of the holiday. School tomorrow.

Sunday morning we took the MacBook to the Apple Store Genius Bar. Quite impressed by how that system worked. We booked a slot using the website before we set off for the Bullring and it was reassuring to talk to the Genius about the shutdown problem we've been experiencing. Although the shutdown problem is all over the Apple forums, according to the Genius it's not really all that common considering the huge ammount of MacBooks they are selling. This may of course be bullshit, but on this first occasion I choose to believe the official line and remain reassured. So he booked the machine in for testing and ran through the parts he was ordering for replacement depending on how the tests go. It was a far more pleasant experience than returning a faulty bit of kit to a spotty youth at an electrical superstore. Although we used the Genius Bar to report a fault, it seems it can be used just for a bit of ad-hoc training on anything Apple. I'd rather not use it for that myself being too proud but for some I'm sure it's great. So Jacq is without her Mac for a week but hopefully when it's back and reliable, she (we) can fall in love with it again.

Sunday night I stumbled upon a great program on the Artsworld channel about Michael Stipe and his friendship with Mario Batali (who I'd never heard of).

It was a nice insight into a bit of his life in NYC. Of course, he probably lives in other places too, but his life in New York looked impossibly cool.

I especially loved listening to him rave about photography so much.

It reminded me of how much I rate the guy.

Quietly Creative

Been quietly creative of late. Nothing earth-shattering, just quietly doing stuff and then keeping on doing stuff. And before you know it, stuff is done. Stuff exists. Baby steps I know, but still satisfying all the same. I don't want to make too much noise about it for fear that I'll stop and that would be a shame.

So, some things I have been doing...

1. Digitizing old tapes of my music. OK, so maybe this is not entirely creative but it's hopefully part of a process that leads to creativity so it gets listed here. It's my list. It's a chore that's been on my action-list for ages and I'm pleased that I've finally started. The hardest part is locating the tapes.

2. Making collages in Photoshop. I'm trying to keep this quick and not fiddle too much. Starting from a photo of mine and setting the Photoshop controls for stun it's lots of fun. It has highlighted how much I've forgotten in Photoshop. I'm tempted to pause and dig into some tutorials but I'm resisting that to just carry on making more images.

3. Taking lots of photos with my phone. Driving home on the motorway listening to Boards Of Canada and taking photos into the sunset. These will end up in the collages mentioned above.

In other news, the Artsfest brochure is B-I-G. There's lots of stuff happening. You can see the programme online here. I haven't a clue how to decide what to photograph as part of the Flickr project. I'll definitely being doing plenty of composites that's for sure.

Chancers Meetup Summer 2006

The Chancers meetup happened yesterday with everyone gathering in Brum for a few beers, much chat and some Chinese nosh. Even though we've all only left Siemens for a matter of weeks, so much has happened in this short period of time that there's lots and lots to talk about.

It was great to see everyone, and inevitably in this kind of situation I felt I never got to chat enough with each person. It was a treat to meet up with Phil and get a chance to hang out again. In the Apple Store, at the Ikon Gallery or just standing in Victoria Square drinking German wine, it was great to be chatting and sharing our common enthusiasms. Just like old times back at Coventry. I hope we can somehow manage to keep in touch like this in the future cos it's always a pleasure.

Managed to avoid drinking to much which I am pleased about. I was on my guard about drinking too early in the afternoon as it never ends well for me. Missed out on some of the eating time at the Big Wok as I had to help Dan find where he'd parked his car!

Lewis

Graham Lewis played at the Notting Hill Arts Club last night. Mike and I drove down to London listening to the great Bill Hicks. Parked up in Ealing and got the tube for a few stops. Not many in the club when we arrived. The regular crowd were still enjoying their crayfish. A while later Graham arrived and came over to warmly greet the IC massive in attendance. In conversation it seemed he was considering the gig a bit of an experiment. I was really looking forward to hearing his new stuff especially after Fergus had described it as 'poppy'. Chatting with Graham he seemed to be quite upbeat about the prospect of future Wire activity. This is great news. Fingers crossed.

Graham was playing as a guest of Sci-Fi Skåne who were a bit hit and miss for me. One or two things hit the spot but an ill-advised reggae version of 'She's Lost Control' most definitely did not! The IC troops showed great patience waiting an age for Grahams slot. Eventually the moment came. Shades in place, he took to the stage.

The great man from Wire was in fine form. The first track interrupted the flow of dance beats and put a glorious stop to some of the excessive 'party dancing' that had previously been on display. The beats restarted and the new tracks definitely had a 'pop' tinge with some great tunes being belted out.

With his short set done we had to get going on the journey home. I managed another quick chat and congratulated Graham on the set. I hope he considers the experiment a complete success.

The drive home was long and I'm eternally grateful to Mike for generating some great conversation which kept the mind focussed. Could have done without his rotten arse though!

Tiredness

Life goes on as normal but I don't seem to want to blog about it much. Am I coming to the end of this experiment? I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired.

Well, I am tired. I've stayed up much too late, too many times this week. It's ok for Jacq as she's on holiday, but I'm still getting up for work (and the dog) at 6 in the morning. Last night I went to bed early but it hurt not having any 'fun-time'.

And another thing. I'm struggling with my eyesight at the moment. It might be tiredness but I think it's more likely that I need some glasses. Must get that sorted out soon.

Missed out on a Flickrmeet last weekend. Weather looked grey and I couldn't be arsed. I'm not that fussed about the meet itself but I really have an urge to photographs at the moment. Must try and get out with the camera this weekend. Maybe some Bearwood shots, I've not really done that yet. Fergus uploaded a bunch of shots from his recent NY trip. Jealous. I bet you don't even have to look through the viewfinder there to take an interesting shot. Just walk about clicking.

Current talk is of a meet-up next Saturday for the Chancers. It will be great to see them. I just hope I can pace the drinking. Afternoon starts always end messily in my experience.

The Blog Not Rolling

I'm really not keeping the blog rolling recently for which I offer no excuse. Thankfully no external pressures are driving me at the moment, and that's a good thing.

Good chat with Mike last week has me thinking about music stuff a lot. I've got my new laptop at last so now I can do something about it.

Good weekend just gone. Dylans swimming is coming on great. He's the fastest in his class by far.

Walking The Dog

While out walking the dog tonight I took some shots with my phone. I took quite a few with Dylan on my shoulders and Harriet and Jacq walking behind. Although they are just casual phone pictures they really capture the moment for me. Watch the slideshow here.

Photosynth

If Photosynth ever makes it though to some sort of real interface it will be VERY exciting. I would love to explore that 3d world of photos. At the moment there's just some videos to look at but they do look very nice.

Underworld

REALLY impressed with what Underworld are up to on their UnderworldLive website. Don't know why I've never checked this out before. There are some really interesting packages of audio and images available for purchase which I must get around to getting. But also lots and lots of free stuff too. It's well worth registering with them (also free) for a chance to browse through all this stuff. One of the downloads looks intruiging, a zip of 1,700 camera phone photos from a Japanese tour! Excellent stuff.

Let's Recap

Been a bit slack at blogging recently and not sure why. So let's recap...

We got Jacqs car at the weekend. She's chuffed with it and has been having a busy week because of it. Sunday morning we went to see Cars. Dyl was really looking forward to it. Harriet went to Mollys in the afternoon and Molly came back for a sleepover later. On Monday Jacq took Pebbles for her first grooming session then went and got the groceries in. Having a second car means less chores stacking up for the weekend. Hurrah! Pebbles looks great with her groomed coat. Tuesday they all went over to Marys for a fun day. Wednesday they visited Jacqs dad. And today, Thursday, Carol and the kids came over. I think tomorrow Jacq's looking forward to a quiet day of household chores!

And me? Well, the third week in the new job. Steady. After much chuntering I decided to order another Dell laptop. Let's see what this one looks like. Just need the display to be up to scratch. I'm already impressed with the Latitude build quality. Fingers crossed. Pimped the RAM to 2 gig for a better VMWare experience. Mike came over for a chat and beer. Great to see him. Hopefully next week also. Spent my Amazon voucher from the old place. Ordered the Comic Strip boxset. Hopefully that comes before the weekend and I can get some viewing in. Another payday tomorrow. Yummy!

Up And Running

Phew! Got paid. That's a relief. Now that the systems are in place I can finally relax. The freelance thing is up and running. Timescales on the current project are very tight so some overtime may be required in the next few weeks. Which is nice.

The Dell laptop got picked up the other day and I'm waiting for my refund to come through . Then I have to get me a machine to work on. Can't stop thinking about a Mac-based solution. It would be so cool. Jacq thinks I should get a PC to keep work and play separate. But I want to combine them more. Surely getting an Intel Mac running Boot Camp means I get two machines?

Looking forward to the weekend. Jacq gets her car tomorrow. Going to see Cars at some point.

Also, I've signed up for duty on the September Flickrmeet at Artsfest. Seems like we could get some sort of official status. Cool.

Second Week Still Hot

Weather is still uncomfortably hot in my second week as freelance. Got my timesheets in Monday morning and hoping for my first payment this Friday. Should also get my last Siemens payment at the same time which will be nice.

The bad news dropped on Monday that Siemens have pulled the plug on the sale and are closing the Coventry and Winchester offices by September. Seems like I got out just in time. What a mess has been made of a perfect decent business. They failed to run it well and they couldn't even sell it properly. That's if they were ever serious about selling it in the first place. I can't understand what they did, and I will never forgive them.

A redundancy payout may have been a nice little bung but I wouldn't want to be looking for work at the same time as everybody else. Plus the extra money I will have made by getting out early probably comes to a similar ammount. So all in all I'm better off out and a lot less stressed.

And talking of stress, it seems that Phil had a bad day yesterday prepping his kit for a 3 week holiday in France. The clutch failing on his motor must have been an absolute disaster. I do hope his recovery plans have worked today and he's safely on his way.

Jacq is looking forward to picking up her car on Saturday. Then the summer holidays will really start for her and the kids. At the moment they are staying in the house hiding from the sun and trying to keep cool.

Just spoke with Mike who's on the number 7 bus on his way to visit his mum. Now he's back from a few days away and I'm back in Bearwood full time, I hope we can catch up soon. And by catch up, I obviously mean crack open a few cold ones and shoot the shit. It's well overdue.

Pebbles

Freshly bathed and super cute!

Breaking Up For The Summer

Got to the end of the first week as a freelancer and the kids broke up for the summer holidays. By the Friday I got into some code which helped pass the time. My new laptop arrived on the Friday and first impressions were great. Unfortunately a closer inspection on Saturday morning revealed a very poor screen display which was very dissappointing. I checked on some forums and found it was a common complaint. I'm afraid it's going back to Dell and I'm back at square one. What I'd REALLY like is Jacqs MacBook. It would be so cool to use that. I could boot into XP to run programming packages and take the risk of usb-to-serial interfaces working. I wonder...

Away from work and computer stuff, it's been a lovely weekend although Dylan has been a bit poorly today. We gave Pebbles a bath and lots of hugs after. This afternoon we went out to a Nissan dealership to check out Micras. Suprise, suprise, we ended up buying one! It wasn't a planned purchase so it may appear to be a rash decision. But there's a logic to it. We got a 2 year old motor for half its list price and only a bit more than we were planning on spending on a much older one. We should be picking it up next week which gives Jacq and the kids complete freedom to make the most of the six weeks holidays.

The Hottest Day On Record?

It's supposed to be the hottest day on record today. That's what I've been told. We shall see. Yesterday was a scorcher, not helped by the closure of the motorway making the journey home murder. I'm working at the offices of my first client as a freelance engineer. The place and the people seem ok, which is nice. Although they could do with air conditioning in the building! But in the new freelance mindset, it doesn't really matter what the place is like. All that matters is getting my hours in and getting paid. No other mental baggage involved.

I've even restarted my meditation practise as I had let it drop during the last few weeks of working in Winchester. Hotel life plus changing jobs did not provide a conducive atmosphere. Now all of that is behind me and I'm moving on to pastures serene, I'm ready to restart mindfulness.

Leaving

So Friday I left Siemens. In the end I was glad to get away. No regrets at all. Even a last stroll around the building couldn't bring up any real nostalgia. I was looking forward more to seeing the lads at the traditional lunchtime leaving drink. There weren't many in the office today for a start and a few had to get off home. So the few that came had drinks bought and we took a table outside. Thankfully very soon after the boys arrived. Phil, Dan and John, fantastic to see them. Took them inside to buy a drink and the talk was all about payday. Text messages displayed. Dan suggested a money fight! Adrian popped in to say hello which was nice of him as he'd been at a funeral that morning. Finally Steve turned up on his way back from Milton Keynes. Good to see him again and bring him up to speed with the decline of the office. And by 2:00PM I was on my way home.

Done.

Picture Note: Check the photos above, taken with my nice new phone. Notice anything about them? The only people smiling in them DON'T work for Siemens anymore!!

Last Few Days

My last day tomorrow at Siemens. I've been clearing out stuff from the office over the last few days and occasionally remembering some good times during the last eight years. Throwing out stuff like eight diaries can make you do stuff like that. But in general I don't as nostalgic as I thought I would. That has got to be because so many others are leaving around the same time as me and my real mates have already left. I thought of doing the lunchtime walk today one last time but in the end realised that it's not the same without the entertaining chat. Even when we were just bitching over the same old topics, it was always fun.

Leaving this place and moving on is so much easier because keeping the network together is so much easier than in previous times. Email, blogs, texts, etc. are invaluable. The contracting thing would be much scarier were it undertaken in isolation. The good comms provides real support.

Flickrmeet

Yellow,
Photo by Aeioux.

A walkabout in Birmingham with a bunch of Flickr people. Most enjoyable it was. It's been a long long time since I walked about taking pictures purely for the art of it. Got me looking at my surroundings again with a fresh eye. Aeioux took this picture and I reckon it must have the only one he took where I wasn't smilling like a fool. Thanks for not making me look a fool Aeioux. He seemed like an interesting character who's into loads of creative stuff. And here's me moaning constantly about getting a creative moment to myself. Must try harder. Roll on the next Flickrmeet.

Susans Wedding

Saturday was my cousin Susans wedding day. We went up to Manchester for it and Mike kept an eye on Pebbles. It was very nice to see people who I haven't seen for ten years or more. Everyone looked well and seemed to be having a great day. Our kids didn't enjoy it much and in retrospect maybe it would have been better to have gone without them. Still, Susan had a great day and that's what really matters.

Working At Home

Worked at home yesterday and will do again today. The reason for this is combination of roadworks on the motorway and the current heatwave. Sitting in my non-air-conditioned car in a traffic jam on the M6 really seems to hightlight the utter futility and stupidity of the daily grind. Much smarter to just stay at home, keep cool, do a bit of work.

Wilting In The Heat

It's SO very hot! It's every door and window of the house wide open type heat. Too hot to do stuff. I was working at the Coventry office today and the lunchtime walk with Adrian was ill-advised. I felt awful afterwards. Clothes drenched in sweat and eyes on fire from hay-fever.

Yesterday (Sunday) was just as uncomfortable. Plans to go to the local Harborne Festival were shelved and we just flopped in the shade of the house. Saturday was nicer. Dylan had his friend Mitchell to play after swimming. In the afternoon we went over to Theresas for Lucys 8th birthday. Me and the Steves endured the England v Portugal match with much shouting at the TV involved. As is traditional, we lost on penalties and like times before, I couldn't watch. Hanging out in the garden was fun with the kids playing various water games and Pebbles running around exploring their huge garden. At one point I took a number of shots for a composite of everyone just sitting around. I've just got the basic layout done in Photoshop so far but I hope to do some detailed editing to get the kind of effects that Panoramatic gets in flickr.

Spidey Is Back!

Joy, oh joy! The teaser trailer for Spiderman 3 is out! Watch it here. It's a teaser, but you do see quite a few clips. As always, it made me want to weep. Tobey Maguire is so perfect as Peter Parker he gives it a real emotional centre for me. A new Spidey movie. Fantastic. Can't wait. You can keep your Superman. (Although the new trailer for that looks pretty neat and we WILL be going to see it.)

They Started It

Bit of a gap since my last post and not much of a reason why. Been down in Winchester again this week for 3 days. The work was dull, I didn't have really that much to do. Trapper's last night on Tuesday and we watched the England v Sweden match at the Irish pub. Good atmosphere. Suffered a bit the next morning in the workshop. Human again by lunchtime.

Back in Coventry office Thursday. Spent most of it sorting stuff out of my desk and brought another boot-full home. The word went round that the project has been delayed until next April. This has been by far the worst project I've ever been associated with. The areas I've been involved with have been OK but as a whole, it just doesn't work. Although there have been technical challenges, I think clarity and communication of design from the front would have helped overcome most issues. The fact that a number of us on the team have put in our notice must have contributed to it's demise and if that causes the upper management some discomfort then I'm fine with that. After all, in playground-speak, 'they started it'.

On Wednesday our MacBook was delivered. What a beauty it is. Still getting used to the OS regarding installing applications and the like. Well impressed with the interface. Last night, showing my Dad the machine, we popped a DVD in and Jacq got the remote out for the first time. This launched the Front Row interface and I was knocked out. The browsing of movie trailers was fantastic. Really focuses the user on content rather than the technology involved.
Mom said he should get one for his birthday and I agree. He won't of course.

Worked from home Friday. Hope I can do a few more days at home during my notice. Don't suppose it will be an option when contracting.

Secure The Future

What's really great about putting your notice in is that you are immediately immune to all the rubbish you had stressing about prior to handing it in. In one action I went from not knowing what I will be doing in a months time (and who I'll be working for) to knowing exactly what I'll be doing. Sometimes you just have to secure your own future.

Sorted.

When I got back from site tonight, as well as a house full of people, I had all the paperwork associated with my freelance career. Some interesting reading for the weekend. I definitely prefer the term 'freelance' to 'contractor', it's got a better ring to it.

Still managing to ignore the barrage of repellent mediocrity that is Big Brother. I'm so not interested in that crap. My new headphones with their 6m lead are keeping me insulated from the hideous television. Listening to Richard H Kirk's 'The Number Of Magic' brings back memories of 'ambient' club nights in the mid-nineties.

Mad Day Anniversary

Tuesday was a mad day. What started out as a day booked off as holiday to spend time with my wife on our ten year anniversary turned into a day where we hardly spent any quality time together.

Things got off to a bad start actually the night before as Harriet developed tummy pains and we spent a couple of hours down in A&E getting her checked out. It turned out to be nothing. When we got home at 5:00AM Jacq said she'd been up with the dog crying while we were out. Not the best of starts. Knackered.

Jacq took Dylan to school while Harriet slept. Got a call from a company that Trapper had given me the nod about the day before. They were interested in my CV so I arranged to go see them in Stafford later that day at 4:00PM. I then went off for a couple of fillings and came back with a frozen lop-sided mouth which made Harriet laugh. Soon after we took Pebbles off to the vets for her first jab. The vet seemed pleased with her general health and condition.

Time then to head up the M6 a bit to Stafford and have an interview. It's been a while since having one of those. Seemed like a decent place. Offered a position there and then. Opened ended contract. Just the job. The journey both ways seemed fine. No worse than the trip to Coventry for sure. Think it could happen if the contactor side of things can be setup. Gosh. That all happened a bit quick.

Back home I continued building a new PC for Duggo. Bit of a mad rush. Stopped for a balti with t'wife. A brief moment together. Then back onto finishing off the PC. Delivered it to their house about 9:30PM and then dashed back home to catch Lost.

What a day.

Ten years. Blimey. It's gone quick.

Notice

Today I handed my notice in. What a relief. After weeks and weeks of trying to second-guess my future, I've gone ahead and secured it for myself. Sod 'em.

So goodbye to the long term plans and hello to the glorious uncertainty of contracting. Bring on the big wages!

Pebbles

Here she is! It's Pebbles! She is lots of fun and LOTS of work. She's charmed the kids and almost driven the wife to distraction. She is such a little cutie. We love her to bits.

Back From Holiday

It's been nearly a week since we came back from our holiday at Center Parcs and it feels like ages ago. We had a great week. The weather was kind and we found that we really enjoyed it. The kids raed it better than a 'normal' holiday. It was nice to be riding around on a bike. First time for years. Simple pleasures.

Sunshine Casts It's Spell

Lovely weather cast a beautiful spell over this weekend and even the normal routine events seemed to be slightly more enjoyable than normal somehow. Coming out of the house on Saturday morning into warm sunlight was a great start. With me wearing shorts we all walked down to the swimming baths. The kids did great.

In the afternoon we worked and played in the garden. Paul and Lyn popped in for tea and a chat about being self-employed. Interesting stuff he had to say but I think I'll stick with the umbrella company approach when I finally go contracting. They said they'll be over next weekend to have a cuddle of the pup when she arrives.

Sunday we shopped at Merry Hill for some holiday food and a bit of reading material. Jacq picked up Douglas Coupland's latest, jPod. We love Doug! I'm going to be sneaking a peak at this book while were away for sure.

Rest of day spent packing and organising for going away tomorrow to Center Parcs. The hallway is jam-packed with stuff ready to load into the car in the morning. How come there's so much stuff?! We're only away for 4 nights! I hope I can fit it all in.

Work, Work, Work (Nearly Finished)

Coming towards the end of what is possibly my last week in Winchester. I've been quite busy trying to help out with various tasks. Slow compiles drag out the process painfully. It won't be a quick getaway tomorrow as I don't want to leave things unfinished and drop others in it next week. But what a joy it will be to be home at the start of a weeks holiday.

Bank Holiday

Jacq snapped the above shot during a visit yesterday to Gullivers Kingdom. A great picture and rare for the fact that all four of us are in the frame. We managed to generally have a fun day even though poor Harriet was not feeling very well.

Today was a Bank Holiday complete with traditional rain. We went to see X-Men 3 which was OK. Nothing more than that. Harriet was feeling worse today and it's been hard trying to make her comfortable. A combination of a sore throat and a couple of very wobbly teeth has kept her on the edge of upset all day. Poor sweetheart.

Theresa popped in following a trip to Brum and we discussed plans for next week's holiday. Dylan spent a couple of hours playing with his mate David. I fetched him home as soon as I could. I'm torn between letting the kids play with their friends and having them around me on my rare times at home. I miss the kids so much during the week. I miss out on too much. It's not right you know.

Richard Herring

Went to see Richard Herring at Artrix in Bromsgrove. Nice enough venue that I'd not been to before. Not many people turned up to see Richard which was a shame because he was excellent. Unfortunately the atmosphere was simply lacking. There simply weren't enough people there to achieve the rquired critcal comedic mass. In his blog about the evening it was obvious that it was a dissapointment for him. I will definitely go see Richard again. I really like him.

A Bunch Of Books

Back home from another week in Winchester to some nice post. A bunch of books from Amazon. The Taschen books are amazing value at just six quid each. Check them here and here. The Paul Morley book I've been meaning to get for ages so I might just take it with me on holiday. The Jarman book, Jacq got me for a penny! (plus postage) He is still a hero of mine.

Accidentally bought a MacBook this afternoon! Couldn't help myself. I saw the offer of 0% over 6 months on their website and decided to go for it. Got nearly fifty quid 'educational discount' just for saying that the kids would be using it. Bargain.

As for the working week. The big news is Phil handing his notice in. Fair play to the man for walking the talk. I'm trailing behind but I have at least sent out the CV and let's see what happens. I'm covering for the lead engineer who is on holiday which keeps me busier than I would like. It's hard to remain de-motivated and pissed off when you're busy with stuff.

I Need T-Shirts

I need t-shirts. I'm itching for my first Valleyschwag which apparently is being dispatched next week. In addition I've also ordered schwag from the Google Store. Soon I will be full-on geek-boy slash old-git.

Update: Google sent me advice of the shipping and taxes invloved in the order and it took it from $40 to over $100! So I cancelled the whole deal. I'll just wait for the Valleyschwag.

Double G And The Traitorous 3

Trawling around the web tonight looking for info on the upcoming Scritti Politti album for Rough Trade, I discovered some cool stuff. First off, the news that they recently played live, that's LIVE, in Brixton under the alias, Double G And The Traitorous 3. Now, Green is famous for NEVER playing live so that's a big thing in my book. But also, I found out that they are playing another gig at the Hay literary festival on 2nd June. I SO want to go. The timing isn't great but my god, I love this band. I should go. I really should.

Probably won't.

MacBook

I really fancy one of them new MacBooks. The white one looks real sweet. Jacq wants one too. This is a dangerous situation. We both want one. The cash is in the bank. If we accidentally find ourselves in the Apple store anytime soon then something naughty might happen. I'm scared.

Breaking The Week Up

Although working down in Winchester again this week, I came back up for Dylans birthday on Wednesday. Took the kids straight to Wacky Warehouse after school. They had a good time in there playing together. Mom and Dad turned up and we all eat there.

Phil had a good 'meeting' today. Sounds like he's sorted there. Nice one chap. I really must get my act together and get sorted also.

Mom and Dad just called in, they won't see us now for a month due to holidays. I'm a bit tired from this afternoons drive home. Good to be home though. Not much on this weekend, which is nice.

Parties & Puppies

Dylans 7th birthday party on Saturday morning. He was so excited about it. He had a fantastic time in the Wacky Warehouse. The cousins came back to ours afterwards for lunch and playing.

Sunday morning we went to visit our new puppy at the breeders house. What a cute sight the puppies were bouncing around the place. Each one so very cute. Can't wait for June 11th when we pick her up.

Another Working Week In Winchester

The meeting with Juergen went well, but remains a pointless exercise. If he was still going to be my boss in a few weeks, then it would have done me some good. Oh well, whatever. Very little work news this week which is very fustrating as June gets ever nearer.

Phil and others on an evening shift in the workshop this week. This meant more company while working late plus an alternative meal opportunity. A pleasant change to eating in Winchester pubs and drinking beer.

Managed to fit in a few runs this week. This mornings was glorious. Instead of the park, I jogged into town and around the cathederal. It was a lovely sunny morning. When I got back to the hotel I felt great. I could get into this.

Managed to keep up with E3 news this week despite being with clients all day. Sony stealing Nintendos motion detection in controller idea really stank. I wouldn't mind a PS3 though.

Down & Back Up

Down to Winchester this morning and back up tonight as tomorrow is my meeting with Juergen. Mightily puzzled about this meeting. I'm hoping he will have something interesting to say but in reality I'm expecting a bland statement of the obvious. There are a number of people waiting to hear what he has to say to me so there will be plenty of chat when I get back down to Winchester after the meeting. This is bad timing as I'll have customers in tomorrow. Hopefully Lars can stall them for a while.

Phil is on the evening shift, just spoke on Google Chat. I like the sound of pizzas in the workshop. I'd rather eat my evening meal there. Earning money while eating pizza and no temptation of booze. That works for me.

Shorts

Lovely sun this morning. Shorts on, first time this year. I love wearing shorts. Longish, baggy and loads of pockets are my favourites. So, we did swimming lessons and then came back home for relaxation and house/garden tasks. In the afternoon it got cloudy and rainy. We went out to our local balti house, Raja, for our evening meal. Unfortunately I had to swap my shorts for trousers. Too cold for shorts.

What an interesting post about weather and trousers!

The View From The Workshop

The view from the workshop is an uninspiring tangle of computer gear, cabling, monitors and panels. The days pass by on my hard plastic chair. Trying to get the occasional bit of project work done while constantly listening out for the latest bit of gossip. Any scrap of news that might hint at our future fate. Suprisingly, I'm still in quite a bouyant mood and am managing to take pleasure in the here and now. Wether this is an outcome from Mindfulness, I don't know.

Lost series 2 started last night. First episode was top notch. The second was a bit of a letdown and didn't progress the story much. Stayed up till midnight to watch them which was a bit late really. I was tired when I woke this morning but at least I wasn't having to cope with any hangover issues. I think I need to give the beer more of a miss. Went out for a jog in the park. I didn't run for miles but whatever, something is better than nothing. I just need to keep doing it on a more regular basis.

Dan chucked in his notice yesterday. Respect to him for that. First one out of the door at Coventry. Who will be next?

Spring Cleaning

Despite muddled thoughts it has been a practical and productive couple of days off. Saturday afternoon in the garden was glorious. First grass cut. Overgrown access route hacked backed back. The kids playing in the garden in the best weather of the weekend.

Watched 'The Island', started on Friday night and finished on Saturday night. Can't explain why it was so rubbish. It looked great but it simply didn't hold my interest.

Sunday morning at the mall getting the groceries then some jobs around the house. A bit of drilling always fosters a sense of achievement. Went round the woods to play tennis and catch with the kids. Occasional interruptions from inquisitive dogs reminded us of our pup who we'll have with us soon. Well, in about 6 weeks, after our holiday. Can't wait. We'll be round the woods a lot more often then.

Sunday night telly good at the moment with Derren and Jack. Lost series 2 starts tomorrow I think and I'm away back down in Winchester, boo.

Valleyschwag

I ordered Valleyschwag. I was very excited. Then I got a mail saying that they couldn't send me my schwag for the price on the website. I was very dissapointed, but not totally suprised. They said they hadn't expected so much international interest. So, they said, we have updated the website, go back and re-order. So I did. I ordered Valleyschwag. I am very excited.

Out Of The Blue

I need to blog some stuff purely to get the thoughts out of my head. My head has been quite a calm place of late despite the ammount of uncertainty around. For me, this has been a real achievement. But I think things have reverted slightly. I'm back in my old ways. Sitting practise isn't helping. I hope this blog post does.

I can pinpoint things to a phonecall from Seb my ex-boss I got on Friday night. Completely out of the blue. It has brought into focus choices I've been considering recently. The time to decide is coming sooner than I thought.

Hard Plastic Chair

Another week in Winchester. 12-hour days on a hard plastic chair. The job trundles along. At least Phil is down here too. A chance to catch up on all things geeky, creative, gtd, contracting plans, work gossip, etc. Dave H down here also and good to have a beer with him at last. Information about the company future has slowed to a trickle which is a bit fustrating.

Not Completely In The Dark

Went to Hatton Farm Village on Saturday which was ok if a bit pricey for what it is. Why do these places always charge so much for adults when there is only stuff for kids? It's pure extortion and I do resent it. Anyway, the sun shone a bit and the kids had fun and that's the main thing. Bumped into Paul from the Wire list and we rode on a VERY bumpy tractor. Nice to see him. The jammy bugger has tickets to one of the upcoming Radiohead gigs. Grr.

I took some more snaps with the new camera and I'm still pleased with it. In general, it's helping me take a much better picture. The indication of the focus point is a godsend.

Installed new hard disk into our pooter and setup Windows XP afresh. Once I was happy with that, I connected up the previous disk and proceeded to recover the data and made numerous backups. Soon I'll reformat the old disk and I'll have acres of room for data and backups, hurrah.

All in all a very enjoyable extended weekend and now I'm looking down the barrel of another week away down in fun old Winchester. Not really looking forward that much, I'll miss everyone but I'll be earning some extra cash. As I remarked to t'wife earlier today, being in Winchester is probably the best place to be with all the current company shenanigans. If I was still in Coventry I'm sure I'd be feeling completely in the dark/

A Couple Of Days Off

Only did a couple of days down in Winchester following the Easter weekend and I'm back up home for two more days off with the kids. No fresh news work-wise. Seems like they're still trying trying to sell us even though the rumour is that no-one will touch us.

Weather weren't so good today. We went over to Coventry to the Transport Museum, which was pretty good. Popped into Micom to pick up a new hard drive for our PC.

Jacq got more Enid Collins bags in the post today. Her collection has now grown to four. At some point I need to put up some shelves to display them.

A Fine Weekend

The weather was unusually kind for an Easter weekend. The Sunday was spent over at Theresa's mostly in the garden all day. I took a load of shots with the new camera and am pretty pleased with the results. Steve, who has just bought a Nikon D50, the git, was quite impressed with it too. Got some nice effects shooting into the sun with the flash forced on. Also macro shots with flash had a cool unreal feel. Look out for some examples on flickr.

A Brighter Outlook

Much talk during the week of future work plans. I've started coming around to the idea of going down the contracting route. The positions currently advertised are double my current hourly rate. It's got to be worth a try, and if it's not for me then I'll just get another staff job. Quite fancy the idea of working for myself.

Very last thing on Thursday before driving back up, Trapper had a chat that indicated things may not be done and dusted with regard the sale of the business. Juergen is down for a meeting on Tuesday and it needs to be made clear to him what the opinion of the staff is regarding recent management performance. I'm looking forward to that meeting, it should be very interesting if he gets a rough ride.

The thought of positive future work plans and a possible 11th hour change of plans has meant that I've got a stress-free outlook on work stuff going into this Easter holiday weekend. Not stressing at all like I was last weekend. That's got to be good news health and family-wise. In fact I don't really mind what the outcome is now. Maybe a slight preference for staying within Siemens for all the technical interest, training, travel, etc. But if that don't happen, then I'll take the contractor wages thank you very much.

Back To Business

Back down in Winchester again this week. No new info about the sell-off so it was pretty much 'back to business'. It works for a while. Time passes and the job moves forward. Then I remember the current situation and the full sense of the BETRAYAL hits home. It takes a while then to gather my thoughts and get back to the task in hand.

Seems from a quick jobsearch on t'web that Pete's crew, ADI are recruiting. Very tempted to call and get the head's up. Took a call from an agency fishing for info about the sale. I told them I might be in touch in a few weeks.

Back up home this afternoon for dentist visit and a night in my own bed. Bliss compared to last nights hotel room. The hotel heating and ventilation plant was directly below me and had the room vibrating all night.

Goat Kids Bouncing

In-between classic April showers, we managed to get out this afternoon and visted Rays Farm. It was very nice to be out and about together in 'holiday mode'. The sight of some little goat kids bouncing around had us all in hysterics. Completely diverted my mind from dull work matters. In fact I can't even think straight about work stuff anymore. Spent too much energy going over things in my mind and have simply exhausted the subject. Until more is known, there's simply nothing to be said, decided or acted upon.

Aftershocks From The Bombshell

Many beers last night at the irish bar. Helped a bit. Didn't bother going into the Winchester office this morning. Straight into the car and up the motorway after some breakfast with my German colleagues. Back home and feeling more down than yesterday. Can't get straight in my head quite what I should be doing now. Nothing I guess, just wait and see what the next few weeks hold. Struggling to control the urges to make the jump to another company. I just want out right now. Is there any chance that there will be any opportunities arising to stay in Siemens? Conversations with colleagues aren't helping me to make sense of any of this now. How I'm going to have any shred of work ethic left for next week I really don't know.

In other, non-work related news, the hard drive I ordered from Micom for Dad's PC came in the week so I fitted that this afternoon and setup it up for him to take away tonight. Had a little go with our new camera that also came this week. Looks sweet. Need to take some photos now. Picked up the kids from school. They broke up today for the two week Easter holidays. Lucky things.

Big Change Is Coming

Been down in Winchester all week. The work has been going quite well and the project team spirit high, but that all ended today with the announcement that Siemens is selling us. Total bombshell! I'm pissed off. It's always been my plan to develop my career within the orgainisation but now it seems that will never happen. So what choice now? Why travel to Coventry every day when I could do similar work closer to home? I guess big change is coming then. Oh well.

Post Pre Another Week Away

Back from the last stint in Germany and haven't had much time to blog so here's a quick post before I dash off down to Winchester for yet another week away. I'm not looking forward to the coming week much, purely because I'm sick of the hotel lifestyle. I just get used to the pleasure of having my stuff around me at the weekend and then I'm off again to the bland suitcase life.

Last weekend I built up my new CD shelves, and this weekend I got them filled. Not completely organised to my liking yet, but getting there. Wire on the top obviously, followed by a general alphabetical order with grouping for bands and solo projects. I should post a picture here but the camera's been playing up for ages. The good news is we ordered a new one this weekend cos we're feeling a bit flush and we need one before the summer arrives. Ordered a Canon A620 from Jessops for 195GBP which is a 100 quid off their store price! Quite a bargain I reckon. Looking forward to having a play next weekend and maybe I'll post a piccy then. Must get the CD's orgainised too.

All in all a lovely weekend, which made up for last weekend's limp Mothers Day. The kids have been a delight. Occasionally annoying and stroppy as all kids are, but delightful all the same. Hints of sunshine have me looking forward to weekends spent a bit more 'out and about' soon. Hopefully catching the moments with our new camera.

Changed the links area again on the blog. Trying out the Google Reader sharing function. Now any stories I 'star' in my reader should appear here in a list box. If anyone notices a problem with it, give me a shout.

I'll try and keep online during the coming week but as for the 'interestingness' of any blog posts, I can't promise anything. Apparently there will be a big meeting on Thursday about the company's future so if you're interested in that sort of thing, I might post a report.

Horrible Flight

Horrible flight over this week. Oppressed by a sweating fat man sat next to me and surrounded by the Moldova womens soccer squad. It certainly wasn't the standard business flight I've been used to. A scarey patch of turbulence added the final flavour. Definitely the worst flight I've had. I'm so glad this is the last week of here in Germany. No more flying for me for a while.

Minds Think Alike

Very, very interesting to see Mindfulness popping up on the 43 Folders site. I can see the link. At a certain level, it's about clearing mental space. Wether the reason is to get more stuff done or to combat stress, it all involves 'being in the moment' more. I'll be checking on the progress of this thread on the site.

Switch It Off And Switch It On Again

Things are back on track. Knocked out the Test Spec last night in my room, it's a bit pants but it'll do. Tried to go online this morning with my PLC and it worked first time. So I guess last night I simply needed a reboot. The old 'switch it off and switch it on again' trick. Funny how I forget to do that nowadays since so much stuff works without reboots now.

Karlsruhe Spring

It feels like spring has sprung over here in Karlsruhe today. I flew over with a case full of warm clothes and I don't think I'll be needing them. The sun has been out and so are the people in pavement cafes.

Starting software testing today and the first challenge is just to get online with the system! No fix at the moment and most colleagues have now gone home. So, I'll park that problem up till tomorrow and get on with some test spec writing which I'll have to carry on with this evening in the hotel.

Flat Pack Hell

After recent days spent building up Ikea shelving units, today provided hopefully the last of the flat-pack hell. It seems like we're starting to get straight with some books coming out of boxes and onto shelves for the first time since the move. Jacq's been trying to get me to dump some vinyl as part of the sort-out. It's a really tough call. Should an LP be dumped if you now own the CD? I don't know. These are tough philosophical questions. I'm not sure I'm qualified to provide answers.

The Gaps In Between

Another busy 'working from home' Friday in which lots of things happened and I managed to fit some project work into the gaps in between.

Dropped the kids off at school and went to see my doctor for another blood pressure check. This check was at the end of a month on the tablets he prescribed me. The good news was that my BP was down to just about the right numbers for my age. I've now got the go ahead to start getting into some exercise and get my act together lifestyle-wise.

Put the car into the garage for an engine service. While waiting to drop it off I stood for a long while chatting with a mechanic and admiring the 1965 Mini he was working on. It was in superb condition and made me smile just to look at it. Just a year younger than me and still going strong.

Back home for a few hours at the project work then another session with Linda. We practised quite a lot of Chi Kung which felt really good this time and I was complimented on my stance. I'm seeing her again in two weeks so I need to work at integrating the practise into the coming weeks in Karlsruhe.

Took our old two-seater sofa round to Mikes with his help. It was easy enough to carry round to the house, but a bit of a bugger to get through to the back room. Now they've got two sofas in there it's a bit full but I reckon they'll be real comfy in there. I hope so anyway.

Parents came over in the evening. Dad glad to be back from Ireland.

I Understand No German

Finally got around to putting some German language lessons on my iPod. I've been really slack about this, Adrian and Phil have been studying it for ages now. I had a go with lesson 1 on the drive to work. As I got to the office the only phrase I could recall was 'I understand no German'. I tried my phrase out on a German guy working in the office and at least he understood me!

Running Taper

Mark Clifford, the genius behind Seefeel, has a new CD 'Running Taper' out on his Polyfusia label. If you click the link, you can hear a track from it. Just been listening to 'Idealess' and it is a lovely thing. Really makes me want to make some noise.

Working At Home, Blogging In Bed

Back from Germany late last night and up bright and early for quite a busy 'working from home' type day. We took Dylan to school and then hung around, Jacq did the refreshments prior to the year 2 assembly, and I nipped out and got my hair cut. After Dylans cute assembly we picked up some supplies and headed home for the last bit of the morning. At midday the coach arrived bringing Harriet home from Ingestre Hall. Sounds like she had a great time there with stories of 'eating tuck after light's out', absolutely classic.

Jacq helped out with year 1 kids in the afternoon while I had another session with Linda. The practise didn't go so smoothly over in Germany. The hotel environment proved to be a distraction and we discussed some strategies for dealing with that. Sitting practise was good and the body-scan practise tried for the first time. Must try to maintain a consistent approach in this coming week to really fix it into my routines.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some actual work. Design decisions made while in Germany are now being questioned. If only these issues had been addressed by the original design process then we would not have been forced into making decisions at this late stage. Sometimes, despite what the customer says, we have to trust that we know a thing or two about designing control systems. It's the only way to go forward at this point.

Went over to visit Mum tonight as Dad is over in Ireland catching up with people. Sounds like he's having a good time there and I'm glad he's finally making the space for himself to do this sort of thing. Long overdue.

Typing this from bed. Blogging in bed rocks! It's the future.