A bright day in the snow

So I have spent weeks bitching about to much work, complicated finances (and idiots!), but today was a good day. It looks like I am going to get more staff, and more problem areas but I am enjoying the problem solving and believe I can fix these problems. The challenge is, it is not possible to shape the world purely by the strength of your will you need people to help, and for these changes to be successful I need someone to step up. I think he has the potential, but it will be interesting to see if he can expand himself.

The drive home was snowy, I hate snow, it is so restricting! I have an early start tomorrow, so hopefully it wont pitch.

Tomorrow afternoon will be interesting as I have to meet with a ‘Woman Returner’ (Why do they use that phrase, you don’t get Men returning from maternity leave). She wants flexible working, at home for specific hours, so were is the flexibility there? It could be a fun session!

Monday in Crewe

It was one of those meetings were you get licked to death, sometimes it would be nice to get an upset customer actually shout, or maybe show a bit of emotion. True it was nice to get in and out, but to have to listen to 2 hours of bleating is a bit boring. I left home at 10:50, got back at 18:50 and had another 60 emails in my inbox that needed processing.

Working in this market place can be frustrating at time, it is clear that if the customer had done any planning, of managed their own risk, none of the issues would have happened. Surely there is buyer beware!

It was yet another illustration of how poor the issue ownership is within this sector. Life would be so much easier if we had a professional customer base.

What a load of Cobblers! and 4th

Saturday, match day, and yet another night with broken sleep. I am getting feed-up of being asleep within 15 minutes of being in bed, and yet waking up every two or three hours. I really need a proper nights sleep.

Match day Saturdays have started to look like good days. Getting in the car expecting three points, and being entertained. Slowly however it is starting to slip back to the old feeling of dread. Today we were very average, two 1 on 1’s but tempid finishes, evern the old bloke is starting to get tedious.

A 0-0 against a very average team is very disappointing. So I am sure you can guess some of the ratings.

Martin – 5 – Spent the first 20 minutes not knowing what to do now his mate is not a centre back, then he decided that just kicking the ball to the opposition keeper was the best think to do, pathetic. Bring back Hendo!
Hobbs – 5 – Back to his shocking best. You can guarantee that if someone was going to be out of position it would be Jack. I predict that next week, when his fan club is at the day he will play better!
Tunchev – 6 – Neither good nor bad, just solid
Kisnorbo – 6 – Great to have him back, but not yet at his best
Mattock – 6 – Again good to have him back, but not yet fully match fit
Berner (Sub 63) – 5 – A couple of good overlapping moves with Dyer, however nothing spectacular
Gradel – 6 – He has quick feet, but seems to have lost his bottle in the tackle
Oakley – 6 – Average again, including a header in the last few minutes that nearly lost us the game
King – 4 – He is just rubbish
Dyer – 6 – Good speed, but lacked vision, and missed a clear 1 on 1
Fryatt – 4 – Selfish, and shocking in front of goal
Howard – 6 – Good in the air, but never found his own man with his knockdowns.
Hayles (Sub 79) – 5 – Old block spend 78 minutes shouting for him to come on, he arrived, but not that you would notice.

Home via Sainsbury’s and a good traffic day meant I was home but 19:00. This evenings meal was not up to the standards of last weekend, but the stewed apples and chantilly cream was very nice.

2 - 2 And we slip to 3rd

Tuesday was a tough day, with some difficult discussions rounded off by a trip to the theatre of disappointments.

So straight to the team and game review.

As a game it was deeply frustrating, the plus points are having gone behind twice, we came back twice and then held on, something we would not have done in any of the last few seasons. The negative point was we went behind twice, and the quality of the game we played when behind was very impressive, so why couldn’t we play like that from the get go.

So player ratings:

Martin – 6 - Flapped at the first goal, but otherwise not really stretched. Seems to have an overwhelming desire to play the ball to Hobbs, everytime.
Gilbert – 6 – Not his best game, poor distribution, and out of position for one of the goals.
Kisnorbo – (Sub 66 mins) – 7 – Welcome back Skip, he brought a reassurance to the back line that we have needed.
Tunchev – 7 – Looked good with Hobbs beside him, and very good with Skip. He also scored a great header for the 2nd goal.
Hobbs – 4 & 6 – As a centre back he was shocking again, his heading was poor, and his distribution was rubbish. Then like a light bulb being switched on, he was moved to left back and looked like a half decent play.
Powell – 5 – Average game, ok as a left back, but no push going forward
Mattock – (Sub 61 mins) – 7 – Welcome back Joe, he may not be the best at the back, but going forward he is great. Overlapping with Dyer the left flank looks very dangerous
Gradel – 7 – It must be a frustrating life for young Max, he stands in loads of space, he takes on anyone, and he never gets passed to.
Oakley – 6 – Another average game for the skipper, he chases the ball well, but needs to get his passing game sorted
King – 5 – Where is he, he is on the team sheet, and he occasionally has a shoot, but for the remaining 88 minutes, were, oh were
Dyer – 7 – Looks good going forward, but not his best game
Berner – 82 – First look at the young Swiss, who is less cuckoo and more flying falcon
Fryatt – 4 - Rubbish
Howard – 4 – Missed two goals that even PASH could have scored.

Lets hope we can bounce back on Saturday.

Wednesday

Finally I managed to get the emails down to 15 and am almost on top of the general workload. Having said that I need to, as I have 1 day with 7 1 hour 121’s, and then a management meeting on Friday. Bring it on!

History, Religion and things that make you go Argggggggggggggg

1) The Spanish destruction of a way of life, a technology, a culture in South America that we will never now understand. And why, for gold and fame. It is true that as an Englishman, it is hard to take the moral high ground when it comes to conquest, subjugation and oppression. And it is true that we have plundered other countries natural resources, but as far as I am aware we have not carried out mindless destruction. When historians question how did they do XXX, the answer is we will never know.

2) Religious iconography, and the abuse of the need of people to believe in something. We saw a church were bones had been used for decoration, it is disgusting. We also saw a place in India were people go to die. A city where you are encouraged to drape bodies with expensive cloth, that then gets burnt. So people with no money, are ‘forced’ to spend money that would be better spent on food, than the ‘required’ stairway to heaven.

3) Rich kids playing poker with peoples lives. We are living during a time where a bunch of moralless morons, shape the world economies based on whims. It is criminal that these talentless pariahs are able to bring the world to its knees and force governments to ‘creating’ money to support the world. We the normal people will be paying for this for the rest of our lives. Capitalism is fine, but meaningless speculation is not capitalism, it is Russian roulette, and if these Muppets want to play, I suggest they take the traditional route and use a gun, preferable full of bullets!

A Magical Mystery Tour

Today was the day of the ‘Thank you’ surprise that Belle had organised, a multi part extravaganza with a trip and then Belle cooking dinner. We were both nervous, Belle because she wanted me to enjoy it, me because I wanted it to be something I would enjoy.

We had managed to get the sat nav programmed without me knowing where we were heading, and off towards Essex we went. I couldn’t think of anywhere in Essex, that we would be interested, although as I started to see some town names, I thought it might me some sort of Roman gig.

We arrived in Colchester, the first Roman capital in Britain, so it was looking like Romanesque could be right. We parked and headed towards Colchester Castle, now I didn’t now that Colchester had a Castle, and as we followed to rubbish sign posts, I was surprised that I could not see a Castle, I mean they are not normally small, oh I hope it is good.

Finally we walked down a narrow street to see a flint and brick built castle, it looked ok, but not massive, the Roman theme was still looking odds on, then I saw a banner that said ‘Guardians to the King – Terracotta Treasures from Ancient China’. WOW! I had wanted to see the British Museum exhibition when it was on earlier in the year, so I was really excited to see the sign.

The museum is a really clever idea, it is within the castle, and is predominantly Roman. It has some great items, and is cleverly displayed. If you are ever in Essex then drop into Colchester Castle Museum, it hits all the right Roman bits.

However as interesting as it was, it was not the main event, and the Guardians show was GREAT!

The figurines were out of China for the first time, and overlapped nicely with some of the Roman items. The Han Dynasty ran from 206BC to AD8, and showed a step change were the Emperor moved from human sacrifices to symbolism. Whilst the items on display where not full size they showed all the characteristics you associate with their more famous counterparts. One of the most interesting factors was the fact that they had been discovered between 1984 and 2004, its incredible to think that there could still be wonders that we have not discovered yet.

The figures will just blow your mind, as you can see from the pictures each individual piece is unique, you would have thought that there would be a template, that is replicated, but no, they are all different. You can also see how the western world learned 1000 years later, when you see the costumes that look like middle age armour, alternatively we thought they looked a bit like Sontarans!

It was a great show, and made me want to a) read my books on the Terracotta Warriors and the First Emperor, b) Go to China, and c) do this more often with Belle.

So after a relaxing drive home, it was onto phase 2 of the my treat, the meal.

Belle always says she can’t cook, well tonight she killed that myth.

Starter was a port pate with toast, which was lovely, soft with berry undertones.
Main was amazing, sea bass, with roast Mediterranean vegetables. It was incredible, the best meal I have had since Florence last year. The vegetables were so sweet, and there was lots of textures, and the fish was soft in a light creamy sauce.
Pudding was little lime cheese cake with a ginger biscuit base, again it was lovely.
All washed down with a 2006 Cabalie.

We had candles and music, and it was great.

We finished off the evening watching a couple of programs about architecture through history, focusing on different topics, such as passion and death. It was very interesting if a bit provocative, but more on that another day.

So I scream at the top of my voice 'Whats going on?'

This week has been fairly uninteresting, some long days, some management stuff, some numbers, and some miles. All in all an average week. Tomorrow is WFH, so that will be a nice end to the week.

Hopefully I will be more inspired next week………….

PS. A prize for anyone who can source the title

A quiet Monday

Its amazing how quickly a day can fly by when you are counting numbers, today was WFH for the morning then a meeting at MK, and it just flew by. I hoped to get so much more done.

It was nice to be at home with Belle, and for her to spend the day watching TV, a much needed rest after 2 years of study.

We had some great garlic bread with our pasta, it was ‘Taste the Difference’ Tear and Share. It is fantastic, soft, fluffy and very tasty.

Friday Night @ the Bedford Bistro

Friday was another frustrating day, when nothing was really achieved, and I was left thinking that I should be working late and over the weekend, but I didn’t.

Friday night was the original team night, and with everyone coming round between 18:30 and 19:00 (well it would have been that time if JASI had managed not to get lost!).

I had gone for an easy menu, chips and dip, paella, apples in mulled wine and cheese. And it seemed to go down well, though whether that was because the food was ok, or because during the course of the night 9 bottles were emptied!

We had a good chat and finished the night playing Buzz on the PS2. By that time PASH had already gone to bed, the woose, and therefore missed a techno version of Morecambe and Wise, we had JASI, CACO and MACO (not relation) on the sofa bed, and me on the floor. JASI didn’t last game 1, and over the course of the evening (night) we won 1 game each. We finally staggered to bed at 02:52.

Saturday, and up early (well for a Saturday) to find MACO and JASI up already. After several breakfast sittings the team left for home, and in JASI’s case back to bed!

I managed to do a bit of paperwork (credit cards etc) and then decided to watch the football lead on the bed, and yes I fell asleep. I had a good 2 hours, before sliding down hill for tea.

We had an early night, and I then slept in and read when I woke up, a very relaxing way to start the day. I also decided not to do any work, it can wait until Monday!

What are the effects of spending 10 hours in Luton

So combine my favourite place with my favourite topic and what do you get?

That’s right a day in Luton trying to balance the numbers, of joy.

I have managed to recover from the late night, and the am still playing the Moody’s on the ipod.

Tomorrow is the team dinner, so in between conference calls, I need to do some cooking.

When is a day off, not a day off?

When you are out for 14 hours and get home after midnight. That being said it was a fun day.

Took the old dink to the British Museum, which after 5 ½ hours we had only completed 1 floor, its massive! It was very interesting.

Then after dinner off to the Royal Albert Hall for the Moody Blues and having learnt lots of new songs they didn’t play any off them. Other than sitting next to a fat bloke, who took up a little to much seat it was a good gig (it could have been worse as the tramp sat next to Mum smelt like a, well tramp really!).

Funny point was on Saturday night when talking about tracks we hoped would be played, Mum wanted the Song about Timothy Leary but didn’t know what it was called. Its called Legend of a Mind, ring any bells? It was also interesting talking about what I thought about the song when I first heard it (as an 8 year old).

For example:

‘He’ll fly his astral planes, He’ll sell you trips around the bay, he’ll bring you back the same day’ – ‘He has a small aeroplane, which is hired out for short tours’

I know discover he was singing about drugs, wow!

If you want to learn more, try http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary

Tuesday felt like a Monday and most of the day was taken up with, yes you have guessed it numbers!

Looks like the rest of the week will be the same, oh dear!

Web Shopping without the fun.

So today somewhere amongst the working, cooking and stuff I did some web shopping, although not the fun sort.

True I booked the holiday, but it doesn’t give the buzz of finding something you never knew you need cheap!

Tomorrow if off to London to look around the British museum and then off to see some veteran cosmic rockers.

It’s a day off, that starts with a lye in some hopeful even though it means getting home after midnight, I will feel a bit refreshed.

A day of two halves

Friday, Worcester which is never a good start. A customer conference call which lasted 20 minutes (very glad I didn’t do the 8 hour round trip for that one!). A frustrating product meeting, and all interspersed with yet more numbers problems. I left the office 1 ½ hours later than I wanted to and therefore joined the Friday car park that is the M42.

The rush home was because we were due to go to a local gig in a pub as it was Belle first day of post Masters freedom, and all I really wanted to do was go to bed.

However it was a fantastic night, the food was fabulous, and the band (which featured a colleague) were very good. A mix of country, acoustic, blue grass covers that made very easy listening. It relaxed us both, and we have a lovely evening.

So it did me good, far better than sitting at home thinking about the problems.

Focus, because some things matter more

You can work as hard as you like, but some things are more important. You can try and ensure you don’t let people down, but that does not mean they will think you have. You can tell yourself almost anything but that does not make it true.

The truth is its hard to keep perspective, its hard to acknowledge you are different to image you keep in your head. The truth is you are great because you are you, so make sure you don’t regret an action, or in action because of your pride.

I have taken another list from Lizsara.

A. Attached or Single? Happily married, its great!
B. Best Friend? My wife
C. Cake or pie? Cake, unless its pork pie
D. Day of choice? Holi
E. Essential item? Laptop with web connection
F. Favorite color? Purple
G. Gummy bears or worms? Gummy bears, unless PASH is around in which case marshmallows
H. Hometown? Somersetville
I. Favorite indulgence? My car
J. January or July? July
K. Kids? I prefer lamb to goat
L. Life isn’t complete without? Songo
M. Marriage date? November 4th
N. Number of brothers and sisters? 1, of the baby type
O. Oranges or Apples? Does Cider count as apples
P. Phobias? Spiders and failure
Q. Quotes? Insurance, and maybe an online hotel search
R. Reasons to smile? A last minute winner, walking into the house on the day cleaners come and having my family stay
S. Season of choice? Forever Autumn
T. Tag 5 people: Is this like the thing you do in the playground?
U. Unknown fact about me? I am afriad not even I know it?
V. Vegetable? No Animal, with a hint of mineral
W. Worst habit? Wine
X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Medical test of choice? Well I have had x-rays so it might be nice to try an Ultrasound
Y. Your favorite food? Chocolate
Z. Zodiac sign? I am lion hear me roar!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz part 2

Quiz went well, the staff were good, and seemed to enjoy and understand the purpose of the event.

Didn’t leave the bar til 3:15, so was very tired on Tuesday and after leaving the offer @ 19:15, was in bed and asleep by 9:45.

Today was a buzz, great morning meeting, and an ok afternoon, although didn’t finish the PASH 121 til 23:20!