Good To Be In The Weekend

Work was tiresome this week. Morale very low. Drifting. Giving me headaches. So glad that the weekend is here. Harriet had me up 6:30 this morning to go fetch a parcel from the sorting office for her. A 'Harris' Neopet that Jacq got her off eBay, she was thrilled with it. Kids back into swimming lessons again today then after we booked Dylans party at the Wacky Warehouse. Rest of day filled with the usual chores and just hanging out at home. Tonight me and Jacq watched Dodgeball which was a good laugh. Balls wacking into the nutsack is always good fun!

The High Line

This site has some beautiful images of a side of Manhattan that I didn't know existed. The disused High Line track is a wonderful place that I do hope can be reclaimed as a public promenade. I know that I would dearly love to take that stroll.

Delicious Monster

Check out Delicious Monster. Cool website. Cool application. And best of all, I love that fact the companys workplace is their local coffee house where they get free wifi. Sweet.

Catching Up

It's been a week since my last post and there's quiet a bit to catch up on. The kids second week off school for Easter. They had loads of fun over at the sleepover then Dylan had a full day of play over with his friends David and Aaron. Wednesday was another product brief day and once again it was very interesting. It really does show up what a clueless operation we run at Coventry. Dentist visit gave an all clear to the kids and I'll be having a crown on my busted tooth. Thursday and Friday down at Weston again. A little trip for the end of the holidays. Nice times at Wookey Hole and Weston but the wind too cold for much beach action. Dylan lost his first tooth. Freaked him out a bit. Back home for the weekend and ready now for the new week.

Kids On A Sleepover

Just dropped the kids over at Marys for a sleepover with their cousins. We're back home and cooking dinner, listening to music, all very civilised but feels weird. Just seems WRONG not having them around the place.

Lovely Days

On Top Of The Hills,
originally uploaded by Tingy.

After a week based mostly in the office, yesterday I was on a sales visit over in Erdington just around the corner from Cincinnati. Home nice and early so later in the afternoon we went for a walk up the Clent Hills. The weather was lovely and it felt great to be out in the fresh air. Took some nice photos although some of the best ones were taken by jacq and she's nabbed them for her photostream.

Picked up a top bargain at HMV in Merry Hill, Volumes 1 to 4 of UFO for 20 quid. Result.

No swimming this morning due to Easter break. Me and Dyl got our hair cut. Spent most of the day in the garden. Cut the grass for the first time. Sorted out the shed. Very satisfying work in the spring sunshine.

Kids are exited about tomorrow cos they're going over to Becky, Jodie, Katys for a sleepover.

Ourmedia

Got my place setup over at ourmedia.org in anticipation of good things. It's early days at the moment with the place still in alpha so it's a bit creaky but I hope it settles down to be my one repository for online stuff. The fact that it's online FOREVER is quite a cool concept. Let's see what uses I can put it to. Check my page here.

Happy Easter!

Max out on the brown stuff people! Check Wooster Collective.

Weston Super Mare

You Looking At Me?,
originally uploaded by Tingy.

Had a nice pre-Easter break down in Weston Super Mare. Met up with my parents who where down there in their caravan. Weather was kind and we had a nice day in Cheddar. Did the Cheddar Gorge caves and wandered around the village shops on Thursday. Spent a bit of time on the beach on Friday morning before travelling back up home in time for the Easter weekend choccy frenzy.

Skatepark WSM

Skatepark - Weston,
originally uploaded by Tingy.

Discovered this cute little skatepark right next to our hotel down in Weston Super Mare. Nice little halfpipe with gentle curve. I'd fancy my chances on it if I had a skateboard with me. Although NOT during this trip cos I had a bit of a bad back. Pussy.

iSeminar

Toady I experienced my first iSeminar at work. The presentation itself was ok but the concept is fantastic. I know this sort of thing is nowhere near the cutting edge but for the little part of SIEMENS that I work for it's a revolution.

Good to be focussing some of my work activities towards the SIMATIC world. It's been a long time since I've had much to do with it. I'll be glad to see the back of Rockwell stuff. It's ok kit but it's of no long term use to me.

Without Wires

At last I am again wireless! Picked up a modem/router/access point from Micom yesterday whilst travelling from office to site. Quite a bargain and bundled with a USB adaptor also so now the main PC is wireless too. Set everything up this morning on my first working at home day for some time. Beautiful day today. Lovely sunshine. Great to be at home. Didn't get huge ammounts of stuff done. Found it hard to concentrate.

Jacq said recently it's about time we had a day out somewhere. So last night we booked a couple of nights in a Travel Inn down in Weston. My parents are there in their caravan so we can hook up with them Thursday/Friday. Should be fun. Especially if the weather is like today.

One Hundred Photos

Dylan & Harriet

Got around to posting up a few photos taken at the weekend during an afternoon walk around Warley Woods. Noticed after the upload that I've finally passed the 100 photos point on Flickr. Took me long enough!

Githead

Githead

Saw Githead last night down on the South Bank. Got there really early after a site visit in Hemel in the afternoon. Killed time by walking to Tate Modern. Forgot my camera. Annoying, but I got over it.

Saw the first band but left after the first number. They were shit. Never trust a band that co-ordinate their clothes. When I returned to my seat for Githead the guy next to me said I'd made a good decision to leave. Turned out the guy (Gary) was on the IC list.

Caught up with the IC Massive, Paul, Mark, Alistair, Keith and a few others. Had a couple of beers and some good chat. Good to see them.
Githead pretty much rocked out convincingly. Scanner played his part. Malka nailed the bass. Colin seemed to be enjoying himself. Even joking when a string break caused him and Scanner to swop guitars. Didn't stay for much of the headliner set. Walking across the bridge back to the tube, Big Ben struck ten. Nice sound. Enjoyed being in London tonight. Finally got back home at 1:00AM. Knackered.

A Lazy Day Planned

A nice lazy day is planned for today. It's almost midday and I'm still in pyjamas. Took some nice photos yesterday afternoon in Warley Woods so I'll sort them and post up on Flickr later. Dylan had a party yesterday morning. Chatting with Sangeevs dad it turns out he is a lecturer in electronics at UCE. Sounds like he teaches the course I took way back in the day. Much before his time. He was asking me about SCADA and PLC, makes a nice change for someone to know a bit about the area of software I work in.

Rant! Academy

Thanks to Phil for inspiring this post. Poor sod only stopped by my desk to exchange a conversational pleasantry but I started off on a rant about the state of current 'popular' TV formats. Sorry. But. It seems at the moment that all TV programs, regardless of content, are blindly adopting the format of reality, vote-based shows. Doesn't matter what the program is about as long as there is an element of public or 'expert' judgement involved. What the fuck is that all about? Why can't programs just BE about stuff? Why are the program makers happy to be such unimaginative sheep! Rubbish, just rubbish. The lot of it. TV is by far the most unimaginative communications medium. Shite.

Gizmodo

Gizmodo is a blog I check on a regular basis for gadgets news delivered with some humour. Chuffed to see this announcement about Siemens sponsoring the Gizmodo attendance at an upcoming German exhibition. Spot on decision by my colleagues.

Everday Matters Today

Found a wonderful, inspiring story in the Everday Matters blog today. I feel like I want to read it through again a couple more times. I'm sure I can something in it for me. I notice that yet again the 'move to New York' motiff reappears.

Bowling

Family get together at bowling this morning. Good fun as before. A few of the kids didn't last the distance. Bowling couldn't compete with running and skidding along a length of carpet!

Mexican food after which was ok but because there were so many of us, the food took ages. More fun back at Marys recreating an old photo which Steve uploaded here and here. Nice new camera he's got. Managed to get Steve K to upload today also. Result.

The kids had a great day playing with their cousins. Back home, Dyl and I had a top session of Soul Calibur before bed. The little trickster still keeps beating me, I'll have to get some practise in.

Steam Powered Fun

Jacq bought it for me for my birthday last month but I only got around to installing it last night. But my God, what and awesome piece of work HalfLife2 is! It was quite late by the time I got it installed, updated, verified and running. Jacq went up while I waited for the startup. A couple of hours later I had to force myself up to bed too cos of work in the morning. It is such an amazing, immersive experience. The design is so clever as it masks the scripted moments and they feel so real. The art design is stunning. The mix of european, industrial, future tech is delicious. Can't wait to get back in there.