Comments & Spies & Balti

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

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

Why Building Sites Are Beautiful

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

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

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

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

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

Middle Age Shred

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

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

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

Where Oh Where Do I Start?

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

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

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

Heaven Is An Empty Skatepark

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

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

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

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

Low Flying Aircraft

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

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

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

The Daily Grind

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

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

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

Sunday In The City

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

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

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

Bubbles!

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

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

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

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

Week Ends With A Whimper

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

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

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

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

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

A Good Office Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back On Track

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

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

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

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

More Fun With Flickr

Kids Go Crazy

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

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

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

Surrounded By Cardboard Boxes (Updated)

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

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

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

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

Later that day...

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

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

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

Test Blog Entry From Flickr

Dylan In Eden
Originally uploaded by Tingy.

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

Housemaids Knee!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Old Friend Makes Contact

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

Sat & Sun Summary

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

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

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

Making Connections (Caution! Involves Rambling!)

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

"3. Put the hours in.

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

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

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

Sunny And Dull At The Same Time

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

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

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