Sitting in the Virgin Lounge at Heathrow waiting to board the flight to San Francisco. I woke up early this morning (car booked at 7:30 to take me to LHR). What a really nice morning - although I was a little unhappy to have to head off (though San Jose I'm sure will be nice weather).Flight awaits...
I get this newspaper posted through the door every week. I guess I have very little connection with the 'real' Cambridge, so I do make attempt to have a quick scan through it every week (largely for stupid stories). Of course like any weekly newspaper it contains lots of random nonsense:* Front cover: person with mental issues wants to kill themselves, daughter criticises the hospital for wasting a donor organ trying to save him. I feel like sending a copy of my pay-slip, with the (large) National Insurance deduction circled,...
Went to the pub after a long day at work last night- needed a Scotch & Soda to try and relax.I really dislike the sense of humour some people have around Cambridge - the sort of supposed intellectual humour that involves making a joke at someone's expense due to their wrong (or ambiguous) choice of words. Clearly people with too much time on their hands. Here's the script:Scene: Single guy (no surprise) mid-late 30's at table that could sit around 8 people. Lady approaches.Lady: "Are you saving this table for anyone"Guy:...
I'm so tired today, yesterday (and the previous day) was a very very long day stuck on calls until very late in the evening. It isn't helped by the fact that it's nice and sunny outside and I can't enjoy it...
Rest assured I won't be giving up the day job. On reflection, maybe I should try something easier next time...
The European Elections are coming up and so I have the usual batch of political leaflets through the door. However, this time they come with a (worrying) twist - the BNP (British National Party) have started leafleting. Of course I'm sure I could have prevented receiving a leaflet by putting a sign up 'Scottish Lives Here', but hindsight is a great thing.Actually, I wish I had been around to challenge the people delivering the leaflets. I once did that with someone distributing Scottish Nationalist Party leaflets (quote "Nationalism...
I took the picture below (after a few drinks) at a restaurant in Oxford a couple of weeks ago. I guess after a few glasses of wine and waiting outside the loos I got bored and started to look around for something to catch my attention (talking to people is considered inappropriate in situations like this). Then I noticed the sign on the toilet door...Does this mean that the toilet facilities are for couples I thought ?Got me thinking about...
So it's a Bank Holiday here in the UK. Traditionally I guess that implied that everything (including Banks) were closed. However, with the usual times I guess we are used to things being open. Woke up this morning, decided to head into Cambridge to run some errands. Checked John Lewis' website and it indicated they opened at 10AM - so I figured heading in around 10:15 everything would be open. On the way in had a craving for Starbucks...
aka. Crime Report...Nice bit of classic British double negative there with a European theme given the upcoming European elections (plenty of blog fodder coming later on that topic). No, this post isn't about listening to an Edith Piaf track (which is very good btw), but instead about something mulling over my mind....Dinner at Camino (near Kings Cross) earlier today, a nice evening weather wise which resulted in sitting outside. It was a strange environment - much quieter than previous times. However, what was strange was that...
Unlike most places I've been to, where a market is something that is mobile and comes for the day, Cambridge has a market that is permanent (no, not a shop, a permanent market stall). Now you'd think that would result in things looking fairly nice in line with the overall (supposed) character of Cambridge City Centre - wrong ! - total eyesore.I'm sitting here in the Starbucks on Market Square and what a real eyesore the market is. Lots of white vans and of course rusty bits of metal holding up dirty white sheets creating an...
Sensible result, did anyone really think it wasn't going to happen...
Cost cutting hits extreme - my free prawn crackers were omitted with the take-away tonight. Of course I don't usually eat them (or maybe have 2 or 3) but I suddenly have a craving for a whole bag full....
I try to come up with lots of different titles, but for some reason 'grumpy' is one that I see I have used before. I guess it's been a long day. Things aren't helped by my real lack of tolerance of people who don't drive things, far too many open ended issues in life right now and it takes its toll I guess. The situation with the house covenant is taking its toll - mainly because I can't control it (i.e. do my usual throwing money at a problem to solve it). Good news on the food front, went to the local butchers in Fulbourn...
I hate Sundays. I guess it's because there is little to do and the fact that shops are restricted to 6hrs opening (and many stores in London don't even open) makes it a real pain when it comes to trying to do things. I usually pick up a copy of the Sunday times, read Michael Winner's latest insult to the catering community, read Mrs Mills letters (which I still reckon are fabricated), browse through the magazines. Then end up at the Culture Magazine to check out what's on TV. One of the things I do like about Sundays is that...
Talking to someone last night about questions you get asked when visiting the registry office to apply for a marriage license (as they had done it recently)."Can you confirm that you aren't related to one another ?"So, the question for Sunday - which response to you give in order to get the license...
PC 'World'Simple task - buy a 2.5" SATA hard drive. Now you'd think you'd be able to get one of those from PC World Cambridge ? Wrong ! zero in stock (guess must be the same delivery company that supplies supermarkets). Of course loads of random nonsense hard drives like 80GB PATA ones (that I'm sure a computer in 2004 would have used). I did laugh at the shop assistants suggestion to use a 3.5" one instead - yeh that would really fit into my docking station for my notebook.BeehiveDoes anyone else think the Beehive centre (what...
MedicalI had my medical - the good news is that I have to loose a little weight and have a little more exercise. Now let me think - I could have figured that out myself without work sponsoring a medical. Anyways, at least I know I am in fairly good health. Actually, the guy in the medical was really good - way way better than someone in Cambridge who would make me feel like a piece of unhealthy dirt (being Scottish, probably assuming I eat fried food and drank cheap scotch every night). Of course I realised this when I walked...
Woke up at 5AM this morning and ended up on a call with a US colleague for over an hour - good start to the day to get things cleared up. Spent the whole morning in PowerPoint and Outlook. I'm thinking of starting to write presentations on the Mac just for novelty value. London Abound (yet again)This blog starts from a train into London. Of course there was the usual carnage trying to get to Cambridge railway station. The main road feeding the city centre is down to 1 lane now (should be 4) due the guided bus shambles that continues...
What a busy week. I feel as if my week has been stuck in PowerPoint. Still, tomorrow is the day off for a medical. I elected to have the medical in London based on my last experience in Cambridge where the guy taking my blood I felt was a drug addict and the overall experience (due to false positive in a test) made me feel more worried about my health than less. As a result I'm having the medical in London- then going for after work drinks with friends afterwards in the City. Dinner tonight at the Peking. The fact they take...
I don't normally write anything about work in my blog, but today I was so grumpy. The usual pre-7AM start with a number of deadlines (3 sets of PowerPoint to be exact) so I had to be focussed to get things done. Of course I had several meetings in the morning, and as per usual nobody ever turns up on time so felt frustrated.By 11AM I was getting grumpier and grumpier. I had to walk to another building for the meeting and arrived at 11:02AM. Nobody there ! I checked my calendar and yes I was in the right place at the right time....
Hectic WeekSo I've finally decided that my day in the office starts at 7AM. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember now, but every night make the decision 'must get into the office early tomorrow as lots to do'. I've given up- it's official - work starts at 7AM. Sadly it doesn't usually finish until around 7-8PM. I hope nobody from the EU is reading this as I'm sure I'm breaking the law.Thursday & Friday in LoughboroughWork event. Of course, rather than going for the full 4 days and enjoying myself, I ended up going...
Cambridge EateriesI read in the newspaper today that a company that owned a number of pubs in Cambridge had gone into liquidation. It mentioned the Cow - my heart sank - not another decent place in Cambridge going away !Thankfully not the case as it has been spared closure. It got me thinking about pubs etc. around Cambridge. I guess owning a pub must be a difficult time right now given:Smoking ban - I'm sure it has an impact on trade (and also profit on vending machines). However it has a very positive impact on health.Cheap...
Sunday shopping in Waitrose yet again a bitter disappointment...No Sunday Times, actually very little of any newspaper left anywhere I went to. The only option I had in a petrol station was the Sunday Sport - I decided to pass on that option.No Limes (again)No Beef Stock (again)No Glass Bottle Coke (only di...
.... augmented by the ultimate in poor taste.Last night I saw what looked like a brand new BMW 7 series (black). A very nice car, obviously good Engineering and aesthetically pleasing. However, as it drove by I noticed that the driver had elected to put an England flag on the license plate. Do people have no taste ? - you take a nice simple clean design and stick nonsense on it- it's not a suitcase that's travelled the world. I was actually surprised he didn't have a 'My other car is a Porsche' sticker on it also.Maybe I'm just...
