Archive for October, 2008

Acronym overdose

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008, 8:29 pm

I’m two days into my Business Analysis Essentials course and suffering from acronym overdose. So far we’ve met things like MOST, SMART, PESTLE, SWOT, BOSCARD, RACI, CATWOE, and BAM. Occasionally I can even remember what some of them mean.

We’ve got one morning of teaching left followed by an exam tomorrow afternoon.

End of the holiday

Sunday, October 26th, 2008, 8:20 pm

My week off work is coming to an end following a week of doing very little. Last night was spent in the pub drinking with friends and trying to avoid the rain, and that was about it for the weekend. I didn’t ride a bike at all whilst I was off, I did take the Unit down to Cornwall with me but it stayed in the back of the X-Trail for the duration of the visit. My Hope Vision 4 light hasn’t arrived yet, so there won’t be any proper riding whilst I wait for that to turn up.

Padstow-Rock Ferry
The Padstow-Rock Ferry

Despite going back to work tomorrow I’m not actually in the office until Thursday, I get to spend the next three days in Swindon on a Business Analysis Essentials course, hopefully it’ll be more exciting than it sounds.

Padstow

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008, 6:24 pm

I’m now back from spending a few days in Padstow with my brother and his family. The most energetic thing I got up to was playing Crazy Golf with Ethan, other than that we settled for a lot of relaxing, a bit of shopping, and plenty of trips to the pub.

Padstow
Father and Son

More photos.

Narrow-band

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008, 7:13 pm

You never really know how much you take fast broad-band access for granted until you are stuck without it. If I’m away from home I can usually rely on fast 3G or EDGE access through my mobile phone, but down here in deepest darkest Padstow there’s nothing that fancy, so I’m stuck with something resembling old dial-up modem speeds. It’s not a pleasant experience.

Liquid Sunshine

Monday, October 20th, 2008, 6:17 pm

After a rather soggy drive down, I’m currently in Padstow enjoying the liquid sunshine. Once Ethan has managed to put his jumper on and found a coat, we’re off to The Ship for liquid of a far more pleasant kind.

Still ill

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008, 8:21 pm

I still have the lurgy, although it’s now somewhat better than it was a couple of days ago. I’ll probably end up going back to work tomorrow to infect everyone else, mainly because I’m going stir-crazy from having been stuck in the house since Friday evening.

This seems apt

Monday, October 13th, 2008, 11:31 am

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

Sunday, October 12th, 2008, 6:37 pm

Partly thanks to a dose of man-flu leaving me laid up all weekend, I’ve just finished the eleventh and final series of M*A*S*H. It’s been an enjoyable eight weeks.

Preacher Man

Friday, October 10th, 2008, 9:39 am

Forbidden Planet have very kindly sent me volumes 4,5,6, and 8 of Preacher. The only problem is that they’ve yet to send volumes 2 or 3, so I’m kind of stuck waiting for those to arrive before I can carry on reading.

#103 - Blade Runner

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008, 8:35 pm

An all time classic which I feel should be ranked a lot higher. It was also the first time I’ve watched it on Blu-Ray and it looks superb.

Empire - The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008, 6:11 pm

As Sean pointed out the other day, Empire have released their list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, and quite frankly it’s bonkers.

The Phantom Menace? Give me a break, maybe they thought it was the 500 worst movies of all time?
Ratatouille ranked higher than The Incredibles? Are they on crack?
A.I? Another contender for the worst movies list.
Toy Story higher than Toy Story 2? Admittedly Toy Story was ground breaking at the time, but the sequel was the better film.
12 Angry Men down in 72nd? Sacrilege.

I could go on, but if you can cope with the broken links in the pages you can have a good laugh for yourself.

#100 - Batman Begins

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008, 12:29 pm

A solo effort this time, partly because I’d forgotten that it was on our list until I’d already started watching it. I suspect we’ll watch it again around christmas time in a double-bill with The Dark Knight, although I might have to order a copy on Blu-Ray before hand.

Showers are dangerous

Sunday, October 5th, 2008, 6:33 pm

I managed to screw up my back getting out of the shower this morning. Proof, if it were needed, that showers are dangerous places.

Saturday morning fettling

Saturday, October 4th, 2008, 12:29 pm

After a session of spanner-waving in the garden, the cross bike now has a shiny new compact Tiagra chainset and a correctly dished rear wheel. As a result of those changes there’s an XT chainset sporting 26/36/44 chainrings ready to go onto the 456, which will free up the Hone chainset for the 69er. Those swaps can wait for another day though.

Biscuit time

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008, 8:49 pm

Tickets have now been ordered to see Half Man Half Biscuit in Norwich and Leicester next month. Lots of driving, but it should be a good couple of days.

Lights go out

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008, 2:52 pm

There will be a 2-3 week wait for my Hope Vision 4 light apparently. So no evening rides just yet then.