A quick report on last weekend. We had a football tournament in Worthing, starting at 2pm. We all went. The weather seemed quite warm when we left, but was just a little cooler at the destination*, though still warm enough when the sun was out, but not so when behind a cloud.
This was a tournament that falls under the category of "least said, soonest forgotten". We were in a league of five teams, with only the top team going through to the semi-finals. This meant we played four games. We lost all four, and did not score a single goal. We were trying out our new keeper, who is probably "a lovely bloke***", but is not likely to be our keeper next year (so our search goes on). To be fair, we did not play badly, but neither did we play well, and we lost three of the four games to sucker punch chip and rush goals, which tend to be the modus operandi for such tournaments, not that we ourselves take advantage of the tactic. This chip and rush tactic makes them dull and frustrating games to watch and play. It has made me hanker for proper nine-a-side games, thirty minutes each half. i.e. next season.
On the Sunday, we had another tournament, this one more of a fun day, since it was the Barnham Trojans prize giving day, which incorporates a fun tournament, mixing years and players up in to a bunch of teams.
Maggot 2's year mixed in with the Under Nines, and I ended up managing a team, Swansea to be precise. I had a couple of good players, and plenty of bad players. We had no keeper, though luckily we had three, count them, one, two, three, players who "regularly play in goal". Hmm. Let's just say that they were also "lovely blokes" and also unlikely to be filling our missing keeper position. We did not do terribly, but did not progress to the semi-finals. Maggot 2's team did, and won on penalties, only to lose in the final.
It was a good fun day, with fairly good weather. I had a go on the "how hard can you kick the ball" game, which has a speed camera type device at the end of the inflatable net cage, and I managed to score 64 which was the fastest of the day, until "Darren" (damn him) beat me with a 65. What was most gratifying was that A and S, our two coaches, were unable to get near my 64. The old fella still has it.
This weekend, we have a tournament Saturday afternoon (with rain threatened), and nothing Sunday, so we should be having the outlaws over for Sunday lunch, which is always fun.
On that note, I hope you have a great weekend, and speak next week.
P.S. Good luck to Bad Man on his search for a new role, looks like it is going well.
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* As we all know, Scobi Towers sits in a perfect micro-climate that is, most of the time, similar to the South of France**
** OK, that is a slight exaggeration
*** An old story, for those who do not recall it, that an ex-colleague, also my mentor in my early years in Starfleet, used that phrase to describe people where were lovely, but useless, and it has stuck with me
Friday, 13 May 2016
Football
There is a lot of football in my life at the moment. As it is the closed season for Maggot 2, we have, instead of weekly league games, weekly tournaments. In terms of time, a league game runs four around an hour, whereas a tournament can be all day. So it is that this weekend we will be at two, yes, count them, two tournaments. Saturday is in Worthing, 2pm to 6pm, and on Sunday it is at our own ground, registration at 8.30am, and likely to last all day, because it is combing a tournament and prize giving.
As if that is not enough, my chosen football team, once the biggest South Coast team, these days not so much, had its first play off match last night. Two legs of football, the winner overall going to Wembley for the final. Last night we drew 2-2 at home, which is not the best result, but is an improvement on our previous game at home to our opponents. As it happens, both us and them have a better away record, in general, and specifically against each other, so the second leg on Sunday should be a humdinger of a game.
If we were to win, or rather when we win, and we are therefore in the final, I plan to try and get tickets. It is not every day, nor even every year, that you have the chance to see your local team playing at Wembley, so I hope to go, just so I can tell my grandchildren about it (in nauseating detail if my memory will allow).
On other news, I am not sure I have mentioned yet that Brad and Angelina have joined the hallowed ranks of mobile home owners. They have just bought a campervan, in time for our yearly trip to Riverside Lakes, a most magnificent natural site which allows open fires, and has three lakes, all fishable, and a multitude of wooded and long-grass areas. They have been threatening to buy one for a wee while, and have now been and gone and done it. I cannot wait to see it.
Finally, it is with great happiness that I can announce that Bad Man is back in the blogging business. He has presumably overcome his challenges, and is back behind the keyboard. It has made me realise quite how I have missed knowing the intimate details of his lawnmower regimen. And before you write in to complain about my sarcasm, please be aware that BM himself was the first to poke fun at himself. It is great to have him back, and I see he has added bees to his small-holding.
As if that is not enough, my chosen football team, once the biggest South Coast team, these days not so much, had its first play off match last night. Two legs of football, the winner overall going to Wembley for the final. Last night we drew 2-2 at home, which is not the best result, but is an improvement on our previous game at home to our opponents. As it happens, both us and them have a better away record, in general, and specifically against each other, so the second leg on Sunday should be a humdinger of a game.
If we were to win, or rather when we win, and we are therefore in the final, I plan to try and get tickets. It is not every day, nor even every year, that you have the chance to see your local team playing at Wembley, so I hope to go, just so I can tell my grandchildren about it (in nauseating detail if my memory will allow).
On other news, I am not sure I have mentioned yet that Brad and Angelina have joined the hallowed ranks of mobile home owners. They have just bought a campervan, in time for our yearly trip to Riverside Lakes, a most magnificent natural site which allows open fires, and has three lakes, all fishable, and a multitude of wooded and long-grass areas. They have been threatening to buy one for a wee while, and have now been and gone and done it. I cannot wait to see it.
Finally, it is with great happiness that I can announce that Bad Man is back in the blogging business. He has presumably overcome his challenges, and is back behind the keyboard. It has made me realise quite how I have missed knowing the intimate details of his lawnmower regimen. And before you write in to complain about my sarcasm, please be aware that BM himself was the first to poke fun at himself. It is great to have him back, and I see he has added bees to his small-holding.
Friday, 6 May 2016
That was quick
I love Bank Holiday Mondays (I know GF, every day is a BH for you), because what follows is a four-day week. And so I get to Friday much quicker than usual.
This week has been fairly steady at work. Down to one deal for now, and some system testing for a major new system being implemented for my clan. For some this may be seen as another change to something that works okay, but as a newbie, it is all very exciting. I actually think there are some profound and well-crafted changes afoot that will make the role more fun, and less drudge, and I say hooray to that.
At home, we have a busy weekend ahead of us. Maggot 1 has his first cricket match (and only after his second cricket practice tonight) on Sunday at West Chiltington, and I am taking him to that. Maggot 2 has a football tournament over in Shoreham, and LO is taking him to that. Once the cricket is over, I plan to head over to the football to see the second half of their games. Depending on how well they do, it may be even more than that. It is a five-a-side tournament and we have only five players, one having dropped out because "we don't have a proper keeper". It is true that we are looking for a new keeping, the old one, who was the best in the league, deciding that he (or is it his parents doing the deciding) does not want to play in goal any more, but on pitch, ideally as a striker. Unfortunately he is not currently up with the pace; he is petulant, he does not track back and he is prone to histrionics if he feels he has been impeded unfairly. None of this sits well with the rest of us, and he may find he is the main sub going forward, since at the moment his standard is not high enough.
Anyway, enough of our goalie problem, we also have a player problem, as already mentioned, in that they are refusing to play because of our lack of goalie (Maggot 1's friend, let's call him Limpy, has a bad foot so is going to play in goal, and he is OK), which is not endearing him to the other parents.
To be honest, the dad has a bit of history of this, having previously tried to start a new team around his son, with the hope of attracting away the best players from our team. Luckily, the other players were not that keen, and the FA closed him down too, so that went nowhere.
What I am learning from all this is that there is a lot of politics in children's football, and memories tend to be long. Luckily, I am slow and too dumb to notice, so can enjoy my football watching without any interference.
Have a great weekend, and speak next week.
This week has been fairly steady at work. Down to one deal for now, and some system testing for a major new system being implemented for my clan. For some this may be seen as another change to something that works okay, but as a newbie, it is all very exciting. I actually think there are some profound and well-crafted changes afoot that will make the role more fun, and less drudge, and I say hooray to that.
At home, we have a busy weekend ahead of us. Maggot 1 has his first cricket match (and only after his second cricket practice tonight) on Sunday at West Chiltington, and I am taking him to that. Maggot 2 has a football tournament over in Shoreham, and LO is taking him to that. Once the cricket is over, I plan to head over to the football to see the second half of their games. Depending on how well they do, it may be even more than that. It is a five-a-side tournament and we have only five players, one having dropped out because "we don't have a proper keeper". It is true that we are looking for a new keeping, the old one, who was the best in the league, deciding that he (or is it his parents doing the deciding) does not want to play in goal any more, but on pitch, ideally as a striker. Unfortunately he is not currently up with the pace; he is petulant, he does not track back and he is prone to histrionics if he feels he has been impeded unfairly. None of this sits well with the rest of us, and he may find he is the main sub going forward, since at the moment his standard is not high enough.
Anyway, enough of our goalie problem, we also have a player problem, as already mentioned, in that they are refusing to play because of our lack of goalie (Maggot 1's friend, let's call him Limpy, has a bad foot so is going to play in goal, and he is OK), which is not endearing him to the other parents.
To be honest, the dad has a bit of history of this, having previously tried to start a new team around his son, with the hope of attracting away the best players from our team. Luckily, the other players were not that keen, and the FA closed him down too, so that went nowhere.
What I am learning from all this is that there is a lot of politics in children's football, and memories tend to be long. Luckily, I am slow and too dumb to notice, so can enjoy my football watching without any interference.
Have a great weekend, and speak next week.
Saturday, 30 April 2016
Quick one
- first half of deal going well - one down, one to go
- Caravaner of the Year, hideously addictive, crack cocaine for the middle classes
- Looking forward to a long weekend
- Enjoy yours
Thursday, 21 April 2016
Outage
Our internet and phone line has been down all today. I have therefore had to tether off my phone to get any kind of connection, and it is slow. In a sense, it is a walk down memory lane, to the days when the main broadband was this slow.
I had to Google the likely speeds for my 3G, and to be honest it is faster than I thought at 6-7Mbps. I was not sure if that was a real bandwidth possibility or just pie in the sky, so I loaded a Speedtest app, and can confirm that it is actually delivering me 5.46Mbps just at the moment, which I have to say is pretty amazing considering. It certainly blows out the water my first broadband, which ran at the nose-bleeding speed of 0.5Mbps but which was, nevertheless, awesome compared to the 64Kbps of my dial-up modem (younger readers may need to ask an oldie about this).
I have been able to get on with bits and pieces, but all at a much slower speed than normal.
Tomorrow I am on my travels to near Bath to visit my client, a one and a half hour meeting that will basically take me all day, with a two and a half hour drive each way. I am therefore unlikely to blog, but I will be able to get through a shed-load of podcasts.
LO is away Saturday night at a fiftieth girlie night away, so it is just us lads for most of the weekend. Maggot 2 has a match Saturday and Sunday, and Maggot 1 wants to go over to Pompey to a five-a-side football place with his mates Saturday afternoon, so Sunday evening is likely to be lazy time, as we all get to know each other again.
Have a great weekend, and speak next week.
I had to Google the likely speeds for my 3G, and to be honest it is faster than I thought at 6-7Mbps. I was not sure if that was a real bandwidth possibility or just pie in the sky, so I loaded a Speedtest app, and can confirm that it is actually delivering me 5.46Mbps just at the moment, which I have to say is pretty amazing considering. It certainly blows out the water my first broadband, which ran at the nose-bleeding speed of 0.5Mbps but which was, nevertheless, awesome compared to the 64Kbps of my dial-up modem (younger readers may need to ask an oldie about this).
I have been able to get on with bits and pieces, but all at a much slower speed than normal.
Tomorrow I am on my travels to near Bath to visit my client, a one and a half hour meeting that will basically take me all day, with a two and a half hour drive each way. I am therefore unlikely to blog, but I will be able to get through a shed-load of podcasts.
LO is away Saturday night at a fiftieth girlie night away, so it is just us lads for most of the weekend. Maggot 2 has a match Saturday and Sunday, and Maggot 1 wants to go over to Pompey to a five-a-side football place with his mates Saturday afternoon, so Sunday evening is likely to be lazy time, as we all get to know each other again.
Have a great weekend, and speak next week.
Saturday, 16 April 2016
Busy week.
Been on a two-day conference with my practice, which was fun, interesting, alcohol-laden on the night inbetween, and a great chance to meet more of my colleagues. I am starting to build, if not quite a network yet, then at least a mesh of acquaintances with whom the next interaction will be the easier for us knowing each other.
First two days I was up at Head Office, helping two new starters with their early induction. One was ex Starfleet, and the other ex the "phone place" where Brad used to work.
I am now back to the day job, with a client visit in the offing. For this, I will need to be on my best behaviour and top performance, since I am representing the technical aspects of our unsolicited bid. It will be fun, and all part of the ever-steeper learning curve.
I had a text and an email from two Starfleet colleagues who are likely to be in line for redundancy. Both excellent people, good at their jobs, and I would say an asset to the company, but I fear they both suffer from two fatal flaws:
Enough analogies I think.
Normal weekend for us. Football was this morning, we lost something like 13-3 to the team in the year above. Some good points, and some things we can work on, so a good workout, a good test, and only by playing better teams can we really see where we need to improve.
We are at David and Samantha's this evening, which will be nice.
I hope you have a great weekend, speak next week.
First two days I was up at Head Office, helping two new starters with their early induction. One was ex Starfleet, and the other ex the "phone place" where Brad used to work.
I am now back to the day job, with a client visit in the offing. For this, I will need to be on my best behaviour and top performance, since I am representing the technical aspects of our unsolicited bid. It will be fun, and all part of the ever-steeper learning curve.
I had a text and an email from two Starfleet colleagues who are likely to be in line for redundancy. Both excellent people, good at their jobs, and I would say an asset to the company, but I fear they both suffer from two fatal flaws:
- they are UK based, never a good thing is this new global marketplace
- they are the "good workers but don't shout about it" variety, and that breed of animal is often overlooked, their good bits not fully visible to the spreadsheet-poring managers looking for heads to cull.
Enough analogies I think.
Normal weekend for us. Football was this morning, we lost something like 13-3 to the team in the year above. Some good points, and some things we can work on, so a good workout, a good test, and only by playing better teams can we really see where we need to improve.
We are at David and Samantha's this evening, which will be nice.
I hope you have a great weekend, speak next week.
Friday, 8 April 2016
That is a bit better
It was inevitable, but never the less it is rather pleasing that it is coming to pass.
After another week, I am starting to feel like I am starting, just starting, to start on the journey to starting to get it.
That is a lot of starts I know, but for good reason. I am still regularly being side-swiped by acronyms, ffs, and also with impenetrable process and baffling colleagues. But* at least I am saying words, and they mostly make sense. Even my "I know this is probably a dumb question"** questions are hitting the mark.
I have been working from home ever since my training. I nearly went to head office on Tuesday, as part of a deal I was loosely supporting, but in the end it sorted itself out so I was not needed. I think things on my main deal will start to build now, with client meetings planned for a week or two's time, but so far my main fear that I would be putting too many miles on the lease car has not come to pass. I suspect they are savings now that will need to be spent later, but that is fine. It may also mean that I can fit in a European tour within the upper limit as well.
Last night, we had ten teenagers on a sleep over for Maggot 1's fourteenth birthday bash. They are a good crowd, but that does not take away from the fact that they are ten basically fully-grown, testosterone-oozing*** lads, like overgrown puppies after one too many Red Bulls, intent on "pulling an all-nighter" and mostly succeeding. Mind you, they were not so clever at 8.30am this morning as I made the commute from bedroom to study. Ha!
This weekend we have the usual sport, and also lunch at my parents with my sister and her family, to celebrate my mum's birthday.
For the rest of the weekend, I hope to do not much, though I now have a DIY booklet, not list, booklet, with all the stuff I need to do, and I will probably try and knock some of that off. To be honest, a Saturday afternoon painting Maggot 1's bedroom (some residual and historical damp patches that my filling and painting the year before has sorted, but it takes a year sometimes for it all to dry out once the exterior is actually water-tight) with the football on the radio is not a bad way to spend a few hours. I continue to be happy doing anything, if it can be uninterrupted, since that is the complete opposite of a normal working day.
Anyhow, enough from me. I hope you have a great weekend, at least for those that know when the weekend starts and ends, and speak next week.
==============================
* I know you, dear reader, like things to be correct, so I did just Google whether starting a sentence with a "But" was acceptable, and apparently it is, for some people. I just hope you are part of those "some people"
** A technique taken from the same stable as "you are probably going to kill me dad . . . " and "I could have bought a £500 pair of shoes, but instead . . . "
*** I have missed using my stars! Teenage boys stink, if not of body odour (Lynx and the ladies seem to keep that to a minimum) then of testosterone. I mentioned this to my hairdresser, let's call him Paul Weller, and he told me the day that forty-one rugby players were in for a sponsored head shave. They had a 2m x 2m bag 15cm deep with hair after the cut, and the whole salon stank of "eau d'homme"
After another week, I am starting to feel like I am starting, just starting, to start on the journey to starting to get it.
That is a lot of starts I know, but for good reason. I am still regularly being side-swiped by acronyms, ffs, and also with impenetrable process and baffling colleagues. But* at least I am saying words, and they mostly make sense. Even my "I know this is probably a dumb question"** questions are hitting the mark.
I have been working from home ever since my training. I nearly went to head office on Tuesday, as part of a deal I was loosely supporting, but in the end it sorted itself out so I was not needed. I think things on my main deal will start to build now, with client meetings planned for a week or two's time, but so far my main fear that I would be putting too many miles on the lease car has not come to pass. I suspect they are savings now that will need to be spent later, but that is fine. It may also mean that I can fit in a European tour within the upper limit as well.
Last night, we had ten teenagers on a sleep over for Maggot 1's fourteenth birthday bash. They are a good crowd, but that does not take away from the fact that they are ten basically fully-grown, testosterone-oozing*** lads, like overgrown puppies after one too many Red Bulls, intent on "pulling an all-nighter" and mostly succeeding. Mind you, they were not so clever at 8.30am this morning as I made the commute from bedroom to study. Ha!
This weekend we have the usual sport, and also lunch at my parents with my sister and her family, to celebrate my mum's birthday.
For the rest of the weekend, I hope to do not much, though I now have a DIY booklet, not list, booklet, with all the stuff I need to do, and I will probably try and knock some of that off. To be honest, a Saturday afternoon painting Maggot 1's bedroom (some residual and historical damp patches that my filling and painting the year before has sorted, but it takes a year sometimes for it all to dry out once the exterior is actually water-tight) with the football on the radio is not a bad way to spend a few hours. I continue to be happy doing anything, if it can be uninterrupted, since that is the complete opposite of a normal working day.
Anyhow, enough from me. I hope you have a great weekend, at least for those that know when the weekend starts and ends, and speak next week.
==============================
* I know you, dear reader, like things to be correct, so I did just Google whether starting a sentence with a "But" was acceptable, and apparently it is, for some people. I just hope you are part of those "some people"
** A technique taken from the same stable as "you are probably going to kill me dad . . . " and "I could have bought a £500 pair of shoes, but instead . . . "
*** I have missed using my stars! Teenage boys stink, if not of body odour (Lynx and the ladies seem to keep that to a minimum) then of testosterone. I mentioned this to my hairdresser, let's call him Paul Weller, and he told me the day that forty-one rugby players were in for a sponsored head shave. They had a 2m x 2m bag 15cm deep with hair after the cut, and the whole salon stank of "eau d'homme"
Friday, 1 April 2016
Ahhh
I could get used to these four-day weeks. As I write those words, I can hear Gorse Fox muttering something about zero-day weeks, but I shall choose to ignore that.
I am now officially working. I have two deals and a side project on my plate. This is still not really working me fully but it is getting there. It is a very frustrating experience being in the position of needing to do stuff with not enough idea as to how to do it. Everything is different (as I expected); department names, department responsibilities, the client's departments, divisions, groups and systems, and most of it is described with either three or four letters. I have a little list going at the back of my notebook as I find out the meaning of each one, but what I am finding is that people do not seem to want to slow down too much on the local jargon, expecting me to be able to just pick it up.
Anyhow, it is Friday, the rest of the clan have had the week off, and we head in to a weekend of fun. We are seeing David and Samantha tonight, and Brad and Angelina on Sunday. It will be good to catch up with everyone.
We are also blessed with no football at all this weekend. That means lay-ins, but also a need to do something physical to stop the wild animals from crawling up the wall. On the subject of football, I have shown Maggot 2 the John Smith's "av' it" advert with Peter Kay, and he now introduces "av' it" in to any appropriate situation.
It has been nearly two months now since I made the leap, and I feel the need to ponder, briefly*, how it has gone. I have done well to get all the required training completed and passed, which will put me in good stead for the future (indeed, I got an award from my boss for doing so), and I have started to build a network.
The bit that concerns me is simply that I need to be doing a job, and I don't really know how to yet. I have observed in me the fact that I do like to know all aspects of a role before I feel I can really do it, to understand the ins and outs of a cat's behind, and this may hold me back, so I need to constantly remind myself to deal with what I can with what I know and keep pushing forward. The trouble is when faced with an issue for which I do not have a clue, I feel so impotent not knowing how to handle it. Oh well, that is all part of the package, so I just need to grit my teeth, gird my loins and clench my buttocks, and settle in for the ride of my life.
On that note, I wish you a fantastic weekend, and speak next week.
======================================
* thank goodness for that. Ed.
I am now officially working. I have two deals and a side project on my plate. This is still not really working me fully but it is getting there. It is a very frustrating experience being in the position of needing to do stuff with not enough idea as to how to do it. Everything is different (as I expected); department names, department responsibilities, the client's departments, divisions, groups and systems, and most of it is described with either three or four letters. I have a little list going at the back of my notebook as I find out the meaning of each one, but what I am finding is that people do not seem to want to slow down too much on the local jargon, expecting me to be able to just pick it up.
Anyhow, it is Friday, the rest of the clan have had the week off, and we head in to a weekend of fun. We are seeing David and Samantha tonight, and Brad and Angelina on Sunday. It will be good to catch up with everyone.
We are also blessed with no football at all this weekend. That means lay-ins, but also a need to do something physical to stop the wild animals from crawling up the wall. On the subject of football, I have shown Maggot 2 the John Smith's "av' it" advert with Peter Kay, and he now introduces "av' it" in to any appropriate situation.
It has been nearly two months now since I made the leap, and I feel the need to ponder, briefly*, how it has gone. I have done well to get all the required training completed and passed, which will put me in good stead for the future (indeed, I got an award from my boss for doing so), and I have started to build a network.
The bit that concerns me is simply that I need to be doing a job, and I don't really know how to yet. I have observed in me the fact that I do like to know all aspects of a role before I feel I can really do it, to understand the ins and outs of a cat's behind, and this may hold me back, so I need to constantly remind myself to deal with what I can with what I know and keep pushing forward. The trouble is when faced with an issue for which I do not have a clue, I feel so impotent not knowing how to handle it. Oh well, that is all part of the package, so I just need to grit my teeth, gird my loins and clench my buttocks, and settle in for the ride of my life.
On that note, I wish you a fantastic weekend, and speak next week.
======================================
* thank goodness for that. Ed.
Thursday, 24 March 2016
The real world
My first week, post on-boarding, in the real world of work. This has not been that painful so far. I have my first deal, actually taking over from one of my clan (at least his surname suggests so) though we have not yet found the family tree intersection point.
The real issue is that this was a deal that was completed, the client put it on hold, and it is just coming alive again. My namesake is now on another deal, and so is handing over to me. This at least gives me someone to buddy up with, however I am going to have to be on my own sooner or later, and I know little about the client, nor its infrastructure, nor the account team, nor the very many new three letter abbreviations, aka TLAs, I will need to learn. It will all come in time I know, but sometimes team members do not have the patience with the new guy.
My other bit of work a mini project to get a new system populated with information for a bunch of different opportunities, one of which is my new deal. There is some irony in this because I have just spent two weeks being trained in the process, and now there is a new tool to run it. In truth, most of what I have learnt is useful, but this new tool will change the way we do our bit, and I guess being near the front of the queue of people who are learning how to use the new system will give me some kind of advantage over my more experienced colleagues. The challenge with this bit is that I am engaging with people on opportunities, and all I have is my classroom training, so I am asking "do you have a wotsit?" they are asking "what is a wotsit?", or worse, "ah, for our proposal, we did not bother doing one". What does the newbie say to that?
We are off to the New Forest tomorrow in the 'van. I have installed the new hitch on the it, so it fits on the new car, so it will be a new experience towing with the new car, and without the snake-bar (but with an Al-Ko hitch instead). Apart from the weather, I am very much looking forward to it. LO is out tonight at a leaving do for one of her teachers, so we are packing and leaving tomorrow morning.
On that note, I shall wish you a great long weekend, Happy Easter, whether the Jesus or the chocolate variety, or indeed if both. Speak next week.
The real issue is that this was a deal that was completed, the client put it on hold, and it is just coming alive again. My namesake is now on another deal, and so is handing over to me. This at least gives me someone to buddy up with, however I am going to have to be on my own sooner or later, and I know little about the client, nor its infrastructure, nor the account team, nor the very many new three letter abbreviations, aka TLAs, I will need to learn. It will all come in time I know, but sometimes team members do not have the patience with the new guy.
My other bit of work a mini project to get a new system populated with information for a bunch of different opportunities, one of which is my new deal. There is some irony in this because I have just spent two weeks being trained in the process, and now there is a new tool to run it. In truth, most of what I have learnt is useful, but this new tool will change the way we do our bit, and I guess being near the front of the queue of people who are learning how to use the new system will give me some kind of advantage over my more experienced colleagues. The challenge with this bit is that I am engaging with people on opportunities, and all I have is my classroom training, so I am asking "do you have a wotsit?" they are asking "what is a wotsit?", or worse, "ah, for our proposal, we did not bother doing one". What does the newbie say to that?
We are off to the New Forest tomorrow in the 'van. I have installed the new hitch on the it, so it fits on the new car, so it will be a new experience towing with the new car, and without the snake-bar (but with an Al-Ko hitch instead). Apart from the weather, I am very much looking forward to it. LO is out tonight at a leaving do for one of her teachers, so we are packing and leaving tomorrow morning.
On that note, I shall wish you a great long weekend, Happy Easter, whether the Jesus or the chocolate variety, or indeed if both. Speak next week.
Friday, 18 March 2016
Phew
End of training week two. Phew. Was gonna try and keep some "...ew" rhyming going there, but realise that would be naff.
I fell ill during the first day, and so spend a fairly miserable three days with a developing cold. Nothing life-threatening, though were I in any other situation I would probably have retired to bed.
I have really enjoyed the training. It has given me the basics of my role and my part of the business, which is nice, and I have met a number of peers from various roles, again all within my general sphere, which is doubly nice. This means I have some general knowledge to use in my role, and the beginnings of a network. I will now need to get out there to start earning an honest crust.
Today, Friday, I am taking a breather. I have done the first half of my expenses (an education) and have finished some of the training we did not cover in the course (also an education) and as I type this, I have been watching the weeks news show for NN. It is fairly light-hearted in style, but actually very informative too, and one item was on the new memorista technology, which by coincidence we used in our final presentation, to demonstrate the ultimate partnership with our client. You had to be there really.
These two weeks have really taken it out of me, and being ill has certainly not helped, so today I am just catching up on things and taking it a bit easy, ready for next week. The weekend is a normal one, with sporty things Saturday, and of course the rugby Saturday afternoon, but we are in Saturday evening, which I think is just what we all need. Sunday we do have "high tea" at A&E's, the third is a series of "Special Sundays". I suspect that my unwellness will mean I won't be drinking, so it should be fun, without the Monday morning hangover.
I hope you have a great weekend. Speak next week.
I fell ill during the first day, and so spend a fairly miserable three days with a developing cold. Nothing life-threatening, though were I in any other situation I would probably have retired to bed.
I have really enjoyed the training. It has given me the basics of my role and my part of the business, which is nice, and I have met a number of peers from various roles, again all within my general sphere, which is doubly nice. This means I have some general knowledge to use in my role, and the beginnings of a network. I will now need to get out there to start earning an honest crust.
Today, Friday, I am taking a breather. I have done the first half of my expenses (an education) and have finished some of the training we did not cover in the course (also an education) and as I type this, I have been watching the weeks news show for NN. It is fairly light-hearted in style, but actually very informative too, and one item was on the new memorista technology, which by coincidence we used in our final presentation, to demonstrate the ultimate partnership with our client. You had to be there really.
These two weeks have really taken it out of me, and being ill has certainly not helped, so today I am just catching up on things and taking it a bit easy, ready for next week. The weekend is a normal one, with sporty things Saturday, and of course the rugby Saturday afternoon, but we are in Saturday evening, which I think is just what we all need. Sunday we do have "high tea" at A&E's, the third is a series of "Special Sundays". I suspect that my unwellness will mean I won't be drinking, so it should be fun, without the Monday morning hangover.
I hope you have a great weekend. Speak next week.
Friday, 11 March 2016
education, education, education
It has been an intense week of classroom education. I say week, it is four days, with Friday off to recover, and boy do I need it.
The training has been intense - 8.30am starts, usually going on to around 7.30pm, but it has been really good. There was just a mass of information to offload on to us for these first four days, and that obviously means death-by-Powerpoint to a certain extent, but we did get to practice each bit as well, and to be honest it is the only way to get through the material. Next week we will have some information to absorb, but we will also be spending much longer working on our proposals. My boss will be judging the final presentations, so I want to be good.
I am loving the fact that I am actually getting high quality training for my role. This is not something that is always there, it certainly was not available at Starfleet, so I am making the most of it and really getting stuck in.
I did have a slight embarrassing Tuesday evening, when about eight of the group went for an Indian, and I managed to fall asleep near the end of the meal. To be honest, it was the perfect storm; I was very tired from the day's training, we did not get there until 9pm (i.e. an hour from my favoured bedtime) and, worst of all, I was at the end of the table, up against a half-height wall, the other side of which was the bar, so it was very easy for me to catch one the waiter's eyes, and ask for another pint. Thankfully one of my colleagues was driving, and he gave me a lift back to the hotel. To avoid any further embarrassment, and especially since my new boss would be present, I drove to the Wednesday night meal, which also started an hour earlier, so consequently there was nothing bad to write home about.
This weekend we have the usual morning of sport, and in the afternoon I will be attending my 'van to fit a new Al-Ko hitch to the van. This is needed because my new car has a standard swan-neck tow bar, pretty much defacto for any factory-fitted tow bar, but one that cannot take my snake-bar. This new hitch will therefore provide the anti-snake feature within the tow hitch itself. We need this to be done for Easter, when we plan to go away to the New Forest.
That's about all for this week. Have a great weekend, and speak next week.
The training has been intense - 8.30am starts, usually going on to around 7.30pm, but it has been really good. There was just a mass of information to offload on to us for these first four days, and that obviously means death-by-Powerpoint to a certain extent, but we did get to practice each bit as well, and to be honest it is the only way to get through the material. Next week we will have some information to absorb, but we will also be spending much longer working on our proposals. My boss will be judging the final presentations, so I want to be good.
I am loving the fact that I am actually getting high quality training for my role. This is not something that is always there, it certainly was not available at Starfleet, so I am making the most of it and really getting stuck in.
I did have a slight embarrassing Tuesday evening, when about eight of the group went for an Indian, and I managed to fall asleep near the end of the meal. To be honest, it was the perfect storm; I was very tired from the day's training, we did not get there until 9pm (i.e. an hour from my favoured bedtime) and, worst of all, I was at the end of the table, up against a half-height wall, the other side of which was the bar, so it was very easy for me to catch one the waiter's eyes, and ask for another pint. Thankfully one of my colleagues was driving, and he gave me a lift back to the hotel. To avoid any further embarrassment, and especially since my new boss would be present, I drove to the Wednesday night meal, which also started an hour earlier, so consequently there was nothing bad to write home about.
This weekend we have the usual morning of sport, and in the afternoon I will be attending my 'van to fit a new Al-Ko hitch to the van. This is needed because my new car has a standard swan-neck tow bar, pretty much defacto for any factory-fitted tow bar, but one that cannot take my snake-bar. This new hitch will therefore provide the anti-snake feature within the tow hitch itself. We need this to be done for Easter, when we plan to go away to the New Forest.
That's about all for this week. Have a great weekend, and speak next week.
Friday, 4 March 2016
Nearly a month
As the title suggests, or rather states very clearly and simply, this is the end of week four, so near enough a month, especially as I left Starfleet on the 5th February.
I am still very much liking NN. I acknowledge that this is the honeymoon period, but even those senior executive notes that in the other place, seems like a load of old guff, feels very relevant here. I like the tone of the messages, I like the general sense of getting things done. None of this is really so very different, so really it is how I am receiving it, which is exactly what I wanted and expected.
So, at the end of week four, where am I? I have been in to the office, on Wednesday, and will have to find a better route because the one I took was VERY slow, and the journey took 2 hours. The sat nav said one hour ten minutes, which rose fairly quickly to one hour twenty, which I think is what it should take, but I just went a bad way, with lots of bottlenecks of traffic. I will learn slowly the best route. Whilst there, I met with my buddy, who worked quite a lot with Golfy, so we had a good old natter about him, and do you know, he is not as bad as the graffiti says.
I also met with three other new starters, two ex-Starfleet, who will be on the two weeks of training starting next week. I also met my boss' boss - who was actually my boss when I was interviewed, but in the intervening time got promoted, to be replaced by my now boss, who at the time was a senior version of me.
At home, things are fairly steady. One task that I need to complete before Easter is to fit a new tow hitch on my caravan, one with built in stabiliser features, since my old stabilisation device was a "anti-snake bar", which needs a different type of tow ball than I have (old style with a plate on which to mount the bracket to attach the snake-bar to the car). I had to do a fair amount of research, visiting the 'van twice just to determine what kind of attachment I have, and it is one vertical and one horizontal bolt, whereas all the videos I have seen assume two horizontal bolts. I also have a handbrake that would get in the way of some of the newer tow hitches with their long handles. The one I have found is for smaller, or rather lighter, 'vans, and its handle is all within the dimensions of the main hitch. It also has two horizontal holes, to fit most 'vans, but also one vertical one which should, I think, fit mine. I got it new of eBay for a good price, and the person was also able to advise that it would fit my fitting, so I am hopeful.
I plan to recruit E to help me, since he is very practical (that is not to say that I am not), but as importantly, he has a decent set of spanners, including a torque spanner. As this hitch is the only bit keeping the big white box attached to my car, I am very keen for it to be fitted correctly, and E is definitely the man to help ensure that it is.
Maggot 2's team was unceremoniously dumped* out the cup last week, so our season is over, though we plan to have friendlies regularly, and there will be a couple of tournaments and cups to play for as well. The friendlies are important, because as of next year we move from seven to nine aside, and there will also be off-sides, as well as the other team not needing to retreat to the half-way line for goal kicks. Typically, even the best teams are rubbish for half a season, since this really is quite a change for the boys, hence why getting as many nine-a-side practice matches in before the season starts is really good for us all.
I hope you have a great weekend, and speak next week.
================================
* I say unceremoniously because this is a team we have beaten, but they just wanted it more than us, so fought hard for every ball, and as a result we ended up panicking and booting the ball away, straight to their feet for the next attack.
I am still very much liking NN. I acknowledge that this is the honeymoon period, but even those senior executive notes that in the other place, seems like a load of old guff, feels very relevant here. I like the tone of the messages, I like the general sense of getting things done. None of this is really so very different, so really it is how I am receiving it, which is exactly what I wanted and expected.
So, at the end of week four, where am I? I have been in to the office, on Wednesday, and will have to find a better route because the one I took was VERY slow, and the journey took 2 hours. The sat nav said one hour ten minutes, which rose fairly quickly to one hour twenty, which I think is what it should take, but I just went a bad way, with lots of bottlenecks of traffic. I will learn slowly the best route. Whilst there, I met with my buddy, who worked quite a lot with Golfy, so we had a good old natter about him, and do you know, he is not as bad as the graffiti says.
I also met with three other new starters, two ex-Starfleet, who will be on the two weeks of training starting next week. I also met my boss' boss - who was actually my boss when I was interviewed, but in the intervening time got promoted, to be replaced by my now boss, who at the time was a senior version of me.
At home, things are fairly steady. One task that I need to complete before Easter is to fit a new tow hitch on my caravan, one with built in stabiliser features, since my old stabilisation device was a "anti-snake bar", which needs a different type of tow ball than I have (old style with a plate on which to mount the bracket to attach the snake-bar to the car). I had to do a fair amount of research, visiting the 'van twice just to determine what kind of attachment I have, and it is one vertical and one horizontal bolt, whereas all the videos I have seen assume two horizontal bolts. I also have a handbrake that would get in the way of some of the newer tow hitches with their long handles. The one I have found is for smaller, or rather lighter, 'vans, and its handle is all within the dimensions of the main hitch. It also has two horizontal holes, to fit most 'vans, but also one vertical one which should, I think, fit mine. I got it new of eBay for a good price, and the person was also able to advise that it would fit my fitting, so I am hopeful.
I plan to recruit E to help me, since he is very practical (that is not to say that I am not), but as importantly, he has a decent set of spanners, including a torque spanner. As this hitch is the only bit keeping the big white box attached to my car, I am very keen for it to be fitted correctly, and E is definitely the man to help ensure that it is.
Maggot 2's team was unceremoniously dumped* out the cup last week, so our season is over, though we plan to have friendlies regularly, and there will be a couple of tournaments and cups to play for as well. The friendlies are important, because as of next year we move from seven to nine aside, and there will also be off-sides, as well as the other team not needing to retreat to the half-way line for goal kicks. Typically, even the best teams are rubbish for half a season, since this really is quite a change for the boys, hence why getting as many nine-a-side practice matches in before the season starts is really good for us all.
I hope you have a great weekend, and speak next week.
================================
* I say unceremoniously because this is a team we have beaten, but they just wanted it more than us, so fought hard for every ball, and as a result we ended up panicking and booting the ball away, straight to their feet for the next attack.
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