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.