Last Day Of School

I was sure I was going into the office this morning. Bags packed, lunch made. But I couldn't find the car after Jacq had parked it way down the street following her visit with Jim to hospital yesterday. I got soaked walking up and down the street looking for it! Then Dylan started complaining of stomach ache again. So to be on the safe side we took him to the doctors. Turns out he's got a throat infection that can sometimes include symptoms of stomach cramps. Gave him some painkiller then dropped him into school for 'toy day' and Jacq went off to a carol service. I'm back home working in a much better environment than the office anyway. I WILL try and get there on Monday to drop off some stuff and do a bit of paperwork.

Christmas Panto / Strategy Workshop

Monday morning 10:00AM, Harriets Christmas play. An alternative Snow White panto. Much fun. Took the camcorder but didn't have a good viewpoint. Barely glimpsed Harriets singing. Mom & Dad turned up to see the play and we'll probably see them at Dylans play on Wednesday too. From school straight to site with hopefully a better attitude. The work went smoothly enough and the afternoon whizzed by. Home to a top roast meal from Jacq. Scrumpcious. Later I capture the second DV tape so now I've got all the footage from 2004 in the PC. Played a bit more with Movie Maker to see what could be done. Lots of choice, but it's soon obvious which are the naff bits to avoid. So now I need to assemble a movie...

Tuesday up to SWSH. Met Phil in the canteen about 8:30AM. Told him about the DV stuff and he advised to do the edits in 'chapters' that way the Nero software will build the DVD with the scene selection points already there.
The strategy workshop we attended was generally a pretty positive and useful exercise. Good to get more 'face-time' with Jurgen the MD. Didn't hold back from dishing the dirt, and the structure kept most things quite anonymous which will hopefully feedback into SAS. We'll see. It'll probably be a few months before any outputs emerge so the challenge is to stay a bit more positve in the meantime.

Birmingham Wheel

Top Of The Wheel

Sunday afternoon we ended up in town looking for a Santa hat for Harriets Christmas play. Had a look around the German Market and sampled some of the food. Took a trip on the Birmingham Wheel. Great views of the city from the top. Bought tickets for The Snowman at the Rep in January. We're well overdue a family trip to the theatre.
Later in the evening had some fun connecting my camcorder to the PC and capturing my first ever DV footage. Much fun playing the footage backwards and forwards in Windows Movie Maker software.
Jacq took me to task about general grumpiness. Fair cop. A few home truths about my recent work attitudes and moods certainly hit home. Resolved to change for everyones sake.

Office Party

Swimming as usual. Dylan making a great effort. Harriets technique looking sweet. Mitchell came back to our after for a couple of hours playing. Dylan had a great time with him. Groceries later then off to the office party.
Not looking forward to it much. Met up first at All Bar One. Standard lame expensive style thing. I bought 3 drinks and got no change from a tenner. Thankfully it wasn't my money. At the Thai Edge the seating was arranged around two circular tables. I was of course seated between two couples. The food wasn't awful but I can't say I liked it. Jacq would have hated it all. Rather have an Indian anyday. Had a few Thai beers which were ok but the opportunities to chat to the few people I would have liked to, just did not appear. Call from Jacq that Dylan was not well provided a reason to leave about 10:30PM. No buses were appearing on Broad Street so had to resort to taxi. Dyl asleep by the time I got home and felt OK in the morning.

Cincinnati Crew

Out last night with Simon, Adrian, Pete & Martin from the good old days back in the Cincinnati software department. Excellent night as always. Walked across town from the bus. Passing through the Bullring where fake snow was being blown from the top of the building. I watched as people walked through the area and spotted the snowflakes then a smile appeared. Got to the Big Wok all-you-can-eat Chinese and met up with the others. Waited a while to get a table. The place was packed. The food was good and I had a good three plates full. It was great to see them all and the chat and banter was top notch. Looking forward to the next meet-up already.

The Christmas Radio Times

Jacq bought the Christmas edition of the Radio Times today. What a joy! One of my favourite Christmas rituals is to read through each day with a high-lighter pen and mark each TV programme or radio show that looks interesting. Usually each year I end up missing about 90% of all the things I mark, but that's not the point. It's all part of the 'Magic Of Christmas'.

Good Day At The Office

It would be mildly tedious if I were to continue 'bigging up' Flickr again so I'll try not to, except to say I think it's by far the best place on the web right now. I've been uploading a bit more and enjoying the comments and contacts. The coposites group has been going from strength to strength and it's fun 'bumping into' Phil at all sorts of places all over the site.
Phil, Dan and I met up with SteveY at lunchtime over at the Cocked Hat. Good to catch up with him. A good chat was had and we sneaked back into the office way past two. A good day in the office, although I can't say that I got much actual 'work' done. Motivation eludes me still.

Photostream

As ever, the good people at Flickr continue to rock my world. The new 'Date Taken' feature has given me reason to spend lots of time tweaking the details of my photostream. I wonder if the word 'photostream' will ever make it into the dictionary?
Found an interesting character on Flickr last night. Going by the name of Striatic, the guy has quite a few killer shots in his 'stream, and seems to go around wearing a bowler hat! That must be quite unusual in Canada. One of his composite shots went straight into my faves, you can check it here.

Check Out The Tree

Christmas Tree 2004,
originally uploaded by Tingy.

Here's the promised picture of our christmas tree looking quiet at home in its new surroundings. I love the fact that our tree is not some sophisticated tasteful design. Although I don't think it's kitch or tacky either. It's an eclectic collection of bits gathered over the years. Jacq usually adds a few new pieces each year. This year Harriet has added a couple of teddies as she is currently mad about fluffy toys. There are a few recognisable faces in there, if you look close you'll spot Simpsons and Pokemon. The thing I like to do most with a christmas tree is simply to lie on the floor at its base and gaze up into lights and remember how it felt as a kid.

Christmassyness

Got the tree up yesterday. Look a treat. Must blog a photo later when the lighting is at maximum 'christmassyness'. Working at home today. Dylan off school with a temperature. Poor buddy. Texts from Phil on a retail expidition to the Bullring. Off to see Jacqs Dad later since I'm home today and will be on site tomorrow.

And That 's Saturday

Dyl did the business at swimming this morning. Keith commented on how he had come on. So I guess last Sundays swimming session paid off. Straight after swimming we picked up Jacqs dad and went over to Chiquitos down Marys way. Jimi was up from London on one of his rare visits. A couple of hours and it was all done. Christmas obligation over and Jimi and Luisa were off. The chat was more relaxed once they'd gone. Harriet was upset that we weren't visiting at Marys after but we promised a sleepover for Beccy, Jodie and Katy during the Christmas holidays.
After dropping Jacqs dad home we wizzed up to Ikea for the last hour. Picked up new lights for the kitched. Hopefully get them installed tomorrow to give the kitchen that halogen sparkle. Bought a few other items and before you know it that's a hundred pounds please! Am I a tightwad to be shocked at that?
Tonight we watched 'Something's Got To Give' on DVD borrowed from Dave. Enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. Worth a copy.

Composites

I actually DID take a photo today, even if it was just with my phone. Took a sequence of shots of the Bullring in Birmingham. Composited the image in Photoshop but not sure it was good enough for a Flickr upload. But I did post my composite of Barbara Hepworths St.Ives garden. I need to finish off some more of my composites and get them up there. The Composites Flickr group is continuing to grow and quite a few really nice shots have been added recently. I think it's my favourite group on Flickr.

Photo Ritual

I'm enjoying Phils new early morning photo and Flickr post. The images may not always be his best but the ritual is inspiring. Todays was a joy. And a composite too. Double points! I wonder if I could take an interesting picture today and upload it? I shouldn't really challenge myself like that because I'm bound to fail. Or am I? Check later posts to see.

Christmas In My Sights

Working at home this morning. There's a frost on the cars and rooftops and it's a lovely bright day. Jacq's just taken the kids down to school and I'm chugging through word documents (and blogging this of course). My heads back in a much better place. Busy weekend ahead. Hopefully sometime Sunday I'll get the christmas stuff down from the loft and we can start the decorations. Booked my last few days of holiday yesterday so I'm only in for the last Monday before Crimbo and that's me down. A fortnight of chillout infront of me. No chores. No shops. Just fun stuff. Bring it on.

Get The Work Stuff Out Of The Way

There HAVE been things and thoughts worth blogging about this week, but my head's so mashed by work that I need to sort those issues first. Not really sure where to start as it's all really a continuation of the bad vibes that have been around all year. The Grain project is still going tits-up causing SP to been down in Winchester for the forseeable. Coupled to this, poor client/time management regarding Barts projects. These two major issues are causing a general feeling of despair in the office, even with those, like me, who aren't directly involved in the projects. It's our office they'll be closing down.
Decided to go into the office today after a day at home and a day at site. As soon as I got there I wish I hadn't bothered. Didn't do anything there I couldn't have done from home. Lasted till lunchtime then went home to some work there. Fetching the kids from school helped to cleanse the mental space.

Getting Straight In Many Ways

Went for a swim this morning to give Dylan some tips. After just a couple of minutes he was swimming strongly by himself. Just goes to show what a little one-on-one attention can achieve. Hopefully he'll show his new skills at next saturdays lesson and give Keith a suprise!
Chores around the house when we came home. Almost every room is straight now. Dylan is settling into his room fine. He wouldn't let us in yesterday while he was stretched out on the floor playing with his pirate ship. The downside of everywhere being tidy is the fact that our bedroom is completely crammed with stuff. But, better one room in total chaos rather than all rooms in slight turmoil. T'wife and I commented this afternoon on how well the house works for us. Domestic life seems much easier in this house. A bit more room and better layout seem to do the trick.
The christmas vibe is increasing. Crimbo CD's on heavy rotation on the hifi. Harriet practising her christmas play songs in the car. I think the tree will be coming out next week sometime. Must book my remaining holiday to extend the christmas break. Will be nice to really relax into the whole groove of yuletide inactivity. Must make a promise to myself to crank up the creative side of things soon. No reasons not to. No excuses anymore.

Christmas CDs, Swimming Lessons & Bouncy Castle

Yesterdays working from home was very productive for my workload and very good for my quality of life. So there's a positive work related statement on record. Went to the mall in the evening. Starting to get busy there in a Christmas-rush kind of style. As well as prezzies, we picked up some additions to the Christmas albums collection. A 3CD set of crooners, a Doris Day album I've long wanted and James Brown Funky Christmas. Listening to the Doris Day album, the warmth pours out of the speakers. Sublime.
Today was test day at swimming and Harriet did us proud by passing her level. Only two passed and she was the best. Her dolphin kick stroke made me say 'wow' it was that good. So now she'll be going up to the deep end for her lessons, it's a big step but I'm sure she's ready for it. Dylan didn't pass as he's simply nowhere near ready yet. He hasn't yet got the confidence without floats. I'm really glad he's got Keith as a teacher as he's very good.
Party in the afternoon, Bethanys 6th. Bouncy castle in church hall. Loads of kids from Beths class. The cousins were a bit non-plussed. Things relaxed towards the end when the cousins had the castle to themselves. Back to Lizzies after for opening of prezzies. SteveK was running through a bunch of mp3's most of which didn't do that much for me. I did like The Earlies single though so I may investigate them a bit further. Good Flickr related chats with SteveT.

Getting Back Some Perspective

Last nights post was a bit too down. This morning things are better. But then they would be, I'm working from home, the sun is shining in through the front room window and I had breakfast with my kids this morning who are now walking down to school. I think it really is that Coventry office, I've simply had my fill. I'm done. Tour of duty over. Time expired. Next please.

Sometimes It's Hard To Stay Positive

Although on the whole, an enjoyable day in the office, there was an undercurrent of despair which I can't ignore. Certain issues regarding the management and performance of the place are really eating away at me. I feel a real urge to distance myself from the whole sorry mess. I know this is a horribly negative post and totally bitching about work but this is the only place to express it right now. The recent dialogue has not helped me in any way and I don't believe that anything is going to be changing anytime soon so I can't see any future right now. I think my exit strategy needs to be implemented. And probably soon. I know it's a big step but I've got to DO something.

Another Busy Day Gone Past In A Blur

Dylan off school with cold. Jacq off school with bad back. I dropped Harriet off at school then carried on into the office. Never really got into my stride work-wise as I spent most of my time on the phone to my client. Problems could not be resolved over the phone so I wizzed over to site. By the time I got there everything was back online. Off site in time to pick up Harriet and we all went over to Jims. Tonight I'm working to prepare for a day on site tomorrow. Must get around to doing some fun things sometime...