Scents of Direction
  
 

   
 
This is what I think...
  
 
 
   
 

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Friday, December 20, 2002
 
I've just read something that has had a powerful effect on me and I'm not sure why.
It's in the source of this site.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I actually welled up while reading it. It's a true success story.

There is nothing else to say.
- Steve, 11:10 AM,
 
It's my last day at work today until the 6th of January, that seems like a really long time away. I don't have the festive spirit yet but I am completely ready for some time off after my "practice" holiday last week. This Christmas day will be the first one we have spent at home, we usually go to the my parents for Christmas day and Clare's parents for Boxing day. Moving 75 miles north has meant that any Christmas day family visits will mean at least a couple of hours in the car, and no drinking for one of us (normally me!). This year we will spend Christmas Eve with Clare's parents in Norfolk and Boxing day with my parents near Oxford, still plenty of travelling but Christmas day itself will be just the three of us, a turkey and far too many presents for a 2 year old.
- Steve, 10:25 AM,
Thursday, December 19, 2002
 
Do you ever spend ages crafting a really important email or letter, and then you agonise over sending it or just binning it?
Been doing that tonight...

Just sent it!

- Steve, 11:51 PM,
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
 
I really would like to get a dog, I've wanted a dog for ages but it's never been the right time due to us living in a flat, or when Clare and I were both working full time.
Now would be a good time to get a dog, we have a reasonable sized house, reasonable garden and Clare is at home in the daytime. It's still a big commitment though (that sounds strange after having a child), dogs live a long time and there are the vets bills to think about...
It would be nice to have an excuse to go out for a walk in these dark evenings, without a dog you tend to feel like a burglar when you're walking around the neighbourhood at night and throwing sticks in a field on your own will bring nothing but trouble.

Easily the best thing about dogs is that all the pedigree breeds can mate together and produce amusing off-spring.

Someone really needs to breed an American Bulldog with a Shih Tzu to get an American Bullshiht

Or maybe a Bearded Collie with a Japanese Chin to get a Bearded Chin?

How about breeding an Old English Sheep Dog with a Doberman Pinscher to get an Old English Sheep Pinscher?

Jack Russell and a Shih Tzu? A Jack Shiht!

Another layer down the Doggy Family Tree might get you a "Stumpy Cock Pinscher" or a "CockerPoodleDo"

I need to stop this now...

- Steve, 11:10 AM,
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
 
I noticed something strange about my perception of women drivers this morning. I've never been someone who thinks women drivers are crap, there are more than enough crap drivers of either sex which makes it something of a judgement call in my view.

So this morning I joined the M6 at junction 3, heading southbound in lane 1. After about half a mile I started to get ready to make the move into lane 2, the traffic in front of me was doing about 60mph and a busy junction (where traffic often cues down the slip road and onto lane 1) was a mile or so ahead. I checked my mirrors; I could see that lane 2 was empty besides a big van 50yds behind me doing about 70mph, lane 3 was pretty busy with a constant stream of vehicles doing about 80mph.
I waited for the van to overtake me, I started to signal just after the cab of the van passed me so that everyone knew I intended to fill the space behind him. I checked my mirrors again; lane 2 still empty, lane 3 still full. I started to move over into lane 2, at the same time taking a quick look over my right shoulder to check that nothing was in the blind spot (unlikely as I had been watching the mirrors carefully). Just as I was halfway between lanes, a Vectra alongside me in lane 3 moved into lane 2 without indicating. I took evasive action, he didn't, he just robbed me of the space I was already half occupying.
I was so annoyed, I was pissed off that he had relied on me being on the ball so that we could avoid a crash. I was pissed off at the shear arrogance of the guy to make his move without considering anyone else.

I wouldn't say I suffer from Road Rage, but I absolutely loathe bullies. I only seem to encounter bullies when I'm driving, this is possibly due to my physical dimensions (my wife reckons I'm part Gorilla, 50" chest etc), and general appearance (I'm told that unless I'm smiling I look on the dangerous side of "unfriendly").

A little further down the motorway I found myself about to overtake the Vectra, at the very least I was ready to dish out a disapproving shake of the head possibly followed by a "what the hell are you doing" wave of the hands.
I was surprised when I saw a woman driving and I just drove past without issuing any sign of my displeasure.

Why is it that just because the driver happened to be a woman, I changed from thinking "He just did that on purpose, I'll catch him up and give him a piece of my mind" to "Ah well, she obviously wasn't concentrating, these things happen"?

It makes no sense, I know there are skilful women drivers who drive aggressively to get where they are going faster, I also know there are plenty of male drivers who lack the skill to control their vehicles properly.
Looking back at every occasion when I have been cut up, or someone has pulled out in front of me, I have always assumed that it is a male driver driving aggressively, or a female driver who doesn't know what she's doing

Am I Sid the Sexist or not?
- Steve, 4:52 PM,
 
Today is my first day back at work after taking a week off. I've been battling all week with a nasty cold that makes my head feel like it's being gradually inflated, I'm still feeling rough and I'm finding it hard to get any quality sleep.

This week I will be working (or at work) for four days, then I'll have two whole weeks off! I'm hoping to be feeling much better so that I can actually enjoy relaxing rather than just feeling sorry for myself.

- Steve, 4:40 PM,
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
 
Imagine you were given a project a few months back, due to be finished on the 5th of December. Imagine that despite good intentions and a few aborted attempts, you haven't actually started it yet. Imagine that you have blagged your way through two consecutive monthly reviews of the project using classic lines like: "Everything is going to plan so far and I'm really pleased with the progress we have made to date". Imagine that it is 17:05 on the 4th of December and you still haven't started.

What do you do?
- Steve, 5:22 PM,
Monday, December 02, 2002
 
I've got what I firmly believe to be "The worst cold in the world....ever". My head hurts, my throat hurts and I have a cough.
I've been feeling rough for a few days but it's worse today. Do you think that drinking a bottle of wine when you have a cold makes you feel worse in the morning? Clare warned me I would feel bad, but I drank it anyway.

I really should be at home in bed but I find it hard to phone in sick, I haven't had a day off sick for ages (a couple of years)
- Steve, 4:41 PM,
Thursday, November 28, 2002
 
It's been ages since my last update, I've been fairly busy at work and even busier at home. I find it hard to make time to update my blog while I'm at work, for some reason I do find time to read other peoples sites. I rarely use the PC at home because I can't face more time looking at a monitor.

So, over the last couple of weeks I have been mostly at work. I think I have only had two days holiday so far this year, I sometimes work at home but that does (more often than not) involve doing work. I'm going to make an effort to book some time off in December, hopefully the week after next.

In other news, my car suffered a puncture whilst travelling at stupid miles-per-hour in the fast lane of the M6, it wasn't something I want to experience again anytime soon. I managed to fight my way across to the hard shoulder (it was a front tyre so steering was "interesting") and decided to fit the spare. Luckily it was the left hand side which made it a little safer, also I carry some high visibility clothing in the car which I wear if I have to be on a railway line. If you find yourself in a similar situation think very carefully before attempting any repairs yourself, the hard shoulder isn't a safe place to spend your time. I was stopped on a straight section of motorway, it was daytime and visibility was quite good, don't be afraid to get yourself the other side of the crash barrier and call for help.
- Steve, 4:34 PM,
Thursday, November 14, 2002
 
I had planned to write (or vent) my thoughts about the Fire Brigade strike here, however, a post on this Blog got me started and I put it in the comments section.

So in true Blue Peter style, here is a post I made earlier:

Well I must be "namby pamby" because while I do agree that Fire-fighters
deserve a pay rise, I think 40% is ridiculous. The Fire-fighters have
chosen to go into the profession, with the current pay structure, in the
first place. If the wage offered was really 40% too low then why would
anyone ever apply to the Fire Brigade in the first place*? The fact is that
in most areas there are many more applicants than positions.

I believe that £21k is around the national average, depending on the area
you live £21k is an adequate salary to live on. I live in the Midlands, I
earn around the national average and I have a fairly comfortable existence.

The Fire-fighters are holding the public hostage until the government give
in to their demands, if that happens then we'll have the same situation with
Nurses, Teachers, Ambulance Technicians, Soldiers, Council Workers and then
every other member of the employed public.
There are many people who deserve pay rises, few would show this much
disregard for the public.

*The Fire-fighters would probably say that they are in the service to ensure
the safety of the public, if that was the case there would be no strike
action.
- Steve, 3:31 PM,
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
 
I'm going to make a serious effort to watch less television, I think it might be a struggle because it's become a habit to spend the evenings sat watching stuff I've got little or no interest in. I'm going to make an effort, starting tonight.

The TV is always on in our house, even if we're not watching it, it's just background noise.

On a typical weekday I'll get home at about 5.30pm, Clare will leave for work at 5.45pm and Georgia *should* go to bed between 8pm and 9pm (she goes to bed late and stays in bed late in the mornings, it suits). So I have about 3 hours each night to amuse a progressively tired 2 year old, then an hour to amuse myself before Clare gets home at about 10pm and then we have maybe another hour or so together.

So what are you supposed to do in the evenings?
- Steve, 4:43 PM,
Wednesday, November 06, 2002
 
I've just had an accident and I'm bleeding quite heavily.

Fortunately I've not been involved in a traffic accident or a fall from a high building. I've just cut my tongue while eating a lolly left over from Halloween, somehow I don't think Michael Buerk will be featuring me in 999 anytime soon.
I was really enjoying that lolly, now all I can taste is blackcurrant flavoured blood*

*I don't (to my knowledge) have blackcurrant flavoured blood, it's the lolly that is blackcurrant flavoured.
- Steve, 3:27 PM,
Monday, November 04, 2002
 
Mondays, especially the morning part of them, are normally pretty shit but waking up to a sunrise on a crisp clear Autumn day eases you into the week and makes things *almost* bearable.

The weekend didn't go to plan, but it was a good one anyway. Clare was going to Manchester with her family to see Benny Hinn, but due to illnesses and tickets not arriving on time they had to cancel.
To make up for it, the three of us went to the Motorshow on Saturday at the NEC. We had a really good time but it seems that two-year-olds are more interested in running through crowds and eating ice cream than looking at the nice shiny cars.
We spent a lot of time at the Skoda stand, I never thought the day would come when I was seriously considering driving a Skoda, but it has and (assuming the company sort out their car scheme) I'm going to order this.

Sunday was spent at a Christening back home near Oxford. The service was excellent and I really enjoyed the whole day, it was nice to see old friends again.

This week is going to be quite busy, I'll be working in Rugby, Birmingham and Crewe so I would appreciate it if everyone could try not to crash or breakdown on the M6, thanks.
- Steve, 11:27 AM,
Thursday, October 31, 2002
 
So it's been a while since the last update, not much to report I'm afraid. It's almost as if life is going past in slow motion, I think it's something to do with the time of year and the seasons. As the year starts to "wind down" I'm starting to feel the same way, I think hibernation would suit me just fine.

On Tuesday night I watched one of those DIY shows on Sky, it's had a really strange effect on me. I have a strong urge to build something, anything will do. I've started noticing old run-down country houses on the way in to work and thinking "I could do something with that". I couldn't of course, I'm no builder but it's refreshing to feel motivated for a change. I've spent some time this morning thinking about redesigning my back garden, I need to be careful what I watch in the evenings.
- Steve, 2:45 PM,
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
 
RIP GBlogs

Bit of a Shame as GBlogs was a really useful resource. Still, it was a personal site maintained by a real person, sometimes real life comes first.

I used the recently updated pop up the most, I'll miss that!

I wonder if anyone else would be willing (and capable) to take over where Jen left off?
- Steve, 3:08 PM,
 
I found this article interesting.
It appears that I live about 5 miles from the "gravitational centre" of England. It should be a while before coastal erosion gets our house then.

Like I said, it's an interesting article but I'd like to know what the gravitational centre of Britain is too. Also, where is the furthest point from any coastline in Great Britain? I bet it's not the same place.
- Steve, 2:29 PM,
Monday, October 21, 2002
 
It's eight days until the fire-fighters go on strike.
I think the Firemen and their union are in real danger of losing the (considerable) public support they have, that would be a huge shame.

I'm sure most of the public agree that the £21k a year they are paid is too little, especially when you consider that they face considerable risk on a daily basis. Going on strike at what must be the busiest time of year for the service isn't going to do them any favours with the general public, they might as well hold a gun (or a firework?) to our heads.

If I asked my employers for a 40% pay rise they would tell me to fuck off, the Firemen have been offered an independent pay review (Granted, they question how independent it would really be though).

Historically, the salary of Fire-fighters has been linked to that of semi skilled manual workers. This may have been about right in the days before breathing apparatus and the "Jaws of Life", but since the seventies their role has expanded considerably (think traffic accidents).

The tragic events of September 11th highlighted the potential peril of the job, the public support their cause, they have a strong case for any review board and they even have an offer of a salary review!

From a purely PR point of view, they would be mad to throw that away.
- Steve, 4:55 PM,
Friday, October 18, 2002
 
Sometimes you just need a break from routine, today was one of those days. I worked from home today and even managed to get a few admin things sorted. In the late afternoon Clare, Georgia and I went for a walk in Hartshill Hayes Country Park, an ideal way to wind down.

Back to the real world soon though, in 6 hours time I have to leave the house to make a 9am meeting ooop North.

Thank God it's (almost) the weekend.
- Steve, 12:22 AM,
Monday, October 14, 2002
 
I have been asked to submit my CV to another company, I think I'll do it too. A fairly senior guy from the company said that he'd heard a rumour that I wasn't happy working for the company I do and he gave me a name to send the CV to. While it's true that I'm far from chuffed with my present employer, I hadn't really thought about leaving.
I've worked in various positions within the same company since 1996, on the whole I've enjoyed my time there. Until early this year I worked at the company headquarters, now I've moved to the Midlands and work in a consultancy role for one of the subsidiary companies, it's less fun and it's even slightly less money. The main reason I took this job was that I was being made redundant from my previous role, the house prices meant that we could afford a much more reasonable sized house up here too.
My only real worry about taking up a position in a new company is that I'm really not sure that I want to stay in this line of work. I find it really boring, I can't remember the last time I felt any sense of achievement either. It just doesn't turn me on.
What else is there though? I work in "Supply Chain Management" it's fairly typical of any office job I imagine. I spend most of the day, and hence most of my life at work, it would be nice to wake up in the morning and look forward to going there.

The only career that I have ever really wanted for myself (except DotCom millionaire) is in the Police Force. I honestly think that I have the right qualities, attitude and experience to be successful. I think I would be able to give a lot to the position, but also get a whole lot more satisfaction out of it than I do in this job.

If I'm going to go for it then I have a lot of hard work ahead, years of being a sedentary office worker have left me with crap fitness levels and a whole heap of weight to lose. There would also be a substantial pay cut to begin with too, we are already struggling with money as it is. My eyesight is pretty crap too, I know there is a certain unaided level you must achieve to pass the medical, not much short of laser surgery I can do about that one though.

I'm 26 years old at the moment, it's not too late, but I don't have forever to make this decision. If I'm sat here in 10 years time and I'm an unhappy buyer for some crap logistics company, then I'll only have myself to blame.
- Steve, 10:31 PM,
Tuesday, October 08, 2002
 
I just took a quick drive to Tesco to get a sandwich. On the way I stopped
at a pelican crossing to let a couple cross the road. I think I had been
stationary for about five seconds, the couple were right in the middle of
the crossing when a car came the other way and didn't stop. Fortunately the
couple saw the car coming and stopped just before entering it's path. The
car was a new Mondeo, driver was a smartly dressed woman probably in her
early thirties. I couldn't believe what I saw as she passed, she appeared
to be sending a text message!
I didn't manage to get the registration number unfortunately.

I do drive quite a lot of miles (about 20k a year), there have been many
times when I wished my car had been fitted with a video camera like the
VASCAR system police vehicles use. I have seen dangerous driving (loads of
times), accidents (also quite a few), fights, crimes (nearly caught the guy
too, but he was on a bike and I was in a 2.5 ton 4x4) and probably plenty of
other stuff that I didn't realise was significant.

I think it would be useful if more vehicles did have cameras fitted. Just
think how useful it would be if every police car, bus, taxi and council
owned vehicle was fitted with a camera system to automatically record and
store images.
Besides being useful in accident investigation, it would also be a useful
tool when searching for missing persons. If the last sighting was outside
the train station, review the recording from the number 37 and 43 buses.

I might design a system and try it out in my own car.

- Steve, 2:28 PM,
 
I started this job in March, it seems much longer than eight months. I
think I have only taken two days off as holiday since starting here (working
from home doesn't count).
I'm starting to feel like I need a break, I'm not particularly stressed out,
things are at last running smoothly around here, I think I would be able to
relax and enjoy some time at home sometime soon.

There is a lot of decorating and stuff to do at home, it seems a shame to
take time off work and spend it painting and tiling. I suppose the only
good side is that I get more of a sense of achievement after decorating a
room than I ever manage to get from my job. That can't be a good thing can
it?
- Steve, 2:26 PM,
Thursday, October 03, 2002
 
I always feel much more enthusiastic and optimistic after a couple of beers. I don't know if this is something that effects everyone, or if it's just me. I don't mean getting pissed, just a pint or so normally does the trick. Generally I'm fairly optimistic, but after just a small amount of alcohol my mood changes and I feel like I can achieve anything (within reason, like). There must be some people who feel like this all the time, these must be the people who really make it and achieve all their goals.
There must be a way to get the feeling without the drinking. I bet it's something to do with relaxation (something that is hard to sustain after 2 hours on the M6).
- Steve, 12:31 AM,
 
I have to give a presentation tomorrow in Crewe. I had every intention of spending tonight preparing but I decided to watch telly and drink beer instead.

I think I'll just wing it, I find that some of my best work (IMO) is done when I am under pressure.
- Steve, 12:23 AM,
 
Well my laptop is now fixed, the motherboard needed to be replaced. The good news is that it has returned from HP with the original hard drive in it, there was a bit of a question mark over this as there is a hard drive fault that normally gets sorted (by lobbing a new one in) when one of these models goes back to it's maker.

I should be able to update more frequently from now on.
- Steve, 12:23 AM,
Sunday, September 29, 2002
 
Haven't updated for a while, I have computer problems. Early last week my laptop died, it appears to be terminal so it has gone back to HP (it's an Omnibook XE3) as a result I have no PC at work, just this one at home.
I usually update my blog from work, it's just too busy here to get spare time.

This weekend has been spent re-tiling the bathroom. A few tiles fell of last week, possibly as a reallot of the earthquake. It needed doing anyway, the tiles that were there were pink but painted over with magnolia!
- Steve, 10:34 PM,
Monday, September 23, 2002
 
The project I work on moved offices over the weekend, we are now based in Rugby rather than Birmingham.
The journey to work is about the same distance, but the traffic is much lighter in this direction.

The only problem is that the only internet connection I have from here is through my mobile at 9,600bps. I've not even got a network connection as I use a laptop supplied by my company rather than the company I am currently working with. Sending email and general surfing requires a little bit of forward planning at the moment.

You would think that because I'm not online as much during the day, I would get more work done. You would be wrong.

- Steve, 3:43 PM,
 
At about 00:50 this morning we were all asleep. At about 00:55 this morning someone picked our house up and shook it, or that's what it felt like from inside.
There was a rumble/banging noise, and then some fairly violent shaking. I woke up instantly and looked out of the window, everything looked normal. Clare was also awake and out of bed, neither of us knew what had just happened. I was trying to figure out what the possibilities were; had our house been hit by a large vehicle, train crash, plane crash, subsidence?

Our house is built above some old mine shafts, I was thinking that there may have been a collapse, or some land slide or something along those lines.

I kept looking out of the window to see if any of the neighbours had their lights on, no one else seemed to be awake. I assumed that whatever had just happed was limited to our house.

I spent the next twenty minutes looking for something that would explain what had occurred. I went into the garden to see if the house was damaged, there was no sign of anything unusual. I checked the garage and the front of the house. Earlier in the day I had been stacking boxes in the loft, so I went up there to see if anything had fallen, everything was still in place.

We couldn't go back to bed until we knew what was going on, it was really quite scary and we just couldn't make sense of it.

We called the police at about 01:15 to see if anyone else had reported the same happening to them, it took a while to get through. Before we even told the police what we were calling for they informed us there had been a "Tremor" and that they had been inundated with calls.

So we had been awakened by an earthquake! Right here in the Midlands! The epicentre was about 20ish miles from our place. The tremor measured 4.8 on the Richter scale.
- Steve, 11:41 AM,
Saturday, September 21, 2002
 
I've got some stuff to do tomorrow. I need to mow the front and rear lawns, I need to finish painting the walls on the landing, I need to tidy the garage out, I need to clean the car and I need to rearrange the spare room after adding more shelving.
I'm actually looking forward to getting that stuff done, unfortunately, I think that means that I have turned into my dad.
- Steve, 11:19 PM,
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
 
Weblogs are a very strange thing.

Meg and Paul are getting married and I'm really pleased for them both. I feel quite guilty for sharing their happiness though, like somehow I am intruding into someone's personal life.

I really enjoy Meg's blog, I normally visit her site a couple of times a day and have done for the last couple of years. I'm fully aware that I don't know Meg, I realise that the little personal information I know about Meg is stuff that she has chosen to share on her site. So why does it feel like I have heard some good news from a friend? It feels odd.
- Steve, 4:13 PM,
 
On the drive in to work this morning I was listening to a show on radio 4 (I can't face music in the mornings) where Libby Purves was speaking to a number of guests, including Debra Veal. Debra and her husband set off in a competition to row across the Atlantic, unfortunately her husband had to retire less than two weeks into the crossing, leaving Debra to row alone for the next fourteen weeks. I was so impressed with her determination to carry on alone, I'm sure many others would have pulled out of the event at the same time.

It got me thinking about my own life and what I want to achieve in the future. I called this Blog "Scents of Direction" because that is all I have ever really had, just a scent rather than a plan. I've ended up with good things; I've got a wife who is also my best friend (soul mate, whatever), a happy healthy daughter whom we both adore, a pretty good job, a pretty good wage, a nice house and a mortgage (that last thing isn't so good). These good things do have more than a little bearing on the direction I choose to take. I can't spend four months rowing across the Atlantic, who would pay the bills?

I need to develop some firm plans for my future, some dreams I want to fulfil while I still have the opportunity. I also need to make sure they fit in with the real world commitments I have chosen for myself.

You've got to have a dream, if you don't have a dream then how are you going to have a dream come true? (sorry)
Surely I shouldn't have to make an effort to actually have a dream or a long term goal? Shouldn't this have all been sorted out in my formative years? Shouldn't I be working towards those goals at this very moment?

- Steve, 12:54 PM,
Monday, September 16, 2002
 
I was watching a re-run of one of the Top Gear shows on the TV the other night, in part of the show they were talking about prestige registration numbers. They said that the most expensive plate ever to be sold at auction in this country is K1NGS, it fetched £235,000 in 1993.
I saw the program on Thursday night and on Friday lunchtime a TVR passed me on the M42 with the registration number K1NGS! This sort of thing happens all the time. I remember talking to a couple of friends about how none of us had seen a guy we used to hang around with for a couple of years, then meeting him while out in town the next day.

It must just be a coincidence.
- Steve, 3:14 PM,
Thursday, September 12, 2002
 
I need to get out of the house today and go somewhere interesting. The weather isn't great, but I think a trip to the beach is in order.
Being a bit of a geek I'm going to see if I can find a good beach guide on the 'net.


- Steve, 10:26 AM,
 
It's my daughters 2nd birthday today and I'm having a long weekend, I've taken today and tomorrow off as holiday, so why do I find myself with laptop out doing work stuff? It's because the company I work for are a bunch of useless fuckers, that's why.

Apparently, due to a SAP upgrade, we can't dispatch any materials for a week. You would think they would tell the guy who works with their biggest customer, wouldn't you?
- Steve, 10:26 AM,
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
 
I suspect that there are very few people who can't remember what they were doing on this day last year. At about this time on 11th September 2001 most people probably hadn't heard of Osama Bin Laden. This time last year Terrorism was something that caused pain for a few families (mine included) and brief spells of anger/sympathy in the public as a whole.

I took this day off work last year, I first heard the news on the car radio in the car park of McDonalds in Botley, Oxford. The news report stated that an aircraft had struck one of the towers of the World Trade Centre, there was little more information than that at the time. I assumed that there had been an accident and maybe a light aircraft had hit the tower as happened with the Empire State some years ago.
By the time we reached our home in Bicester it had become clear that the aircraft was actually a passenger jet. I switched on CNN, they were live at the scene and the images were horrific. Like millions of others, I watched the second plane hit the other tower and this incident turn from an accident to an act of war. I watched both towers collapse from the safety of my home. It took a long time to fully appreciate the sheer magnitude of the events unfolding on the screen in front of me, I watched until the early hours, trying to make some sense of it all.
- Steve, 10:22 AM,
Monday, September 09, 2002
 
Sorry, another BBC link.
This is just terrible, I can't imagine the extra pain this must cause the parents.
The kids who did this (if it was kids) won't realise what they have done yet, but one day they will understand.


- Steve, 10:59 PM,
 
We spent a fair bit of time this weekend in car dealerships as I need to change my car soon. We looked at the new MINI Cooper S, the Audi A2 and the Citroen Xsara Picasso. My favourite would be the MINI but it's just not practical with child seats and pushchairs. The Audi is nice and very economical, but it's quite pricey for what you get. I think the Citroen would suit our needs best, it really is a well thought out family car.
I tried really hard to get the pushchair in the back of the MINI. I do have a "proper" mini lurking in the garage, it's the same age as I am. I must get the MOT done.

- Steve, 10:52 PM,
 
So Saddam could produce a nuclear weapon within months if he was to get the radioactive material from abroad.
Given all the pieces in kit form, I bet I could do it too. Mr Blair will have to do much better than that before I'll be convinced that we should join the American adventure.
- Steve, 10:25 PM,
Thursday, September 05, 2002
 
Ahhh, lots about road numbering on this site. I'm far too tired to read it now though
- Steve, 8:04 PM,
 
I don't understand motorways in this country, or to be more specific, the numbering system used to identify them.
In the last couple of days I have driven on the M1, M6, M38, M40, M42, M54 and the M69. I know that the M1 was the first motorway to be opened way back in the sixties, so did they number them in the order they were built? If this is the case, where is the M7? and how come there is an M602 up near Manchester, are there really over 600 motorways in this country?

"A roads" are worse. For a little while I lived in Oxford and Worked in Crewe (Cheshire), on the drive to Crewe I passed the A34 at Oxford, the A34 at Birmingham and the A34 in Staffordshire! all separate roads that are not linked to each other (as far as I know)

I need to consult Google
- Steve, 8:03 PM,
 
I've been working in Oxford today. It was good to go back "home" but I could have done without the 6am start and the twat in a Golf GTi that cut me up on the M40.
- Steve, 7:39 PM,
Wednesday, September 04, 2002
 
Busy times at home recently. This week Clare has started working the evening shift at a local warehouse to get us some extra cash, the shift is 6pm until 10pm. I try to get home from work by 5.30pm (my hours are fairly flexible) so that Clare can leave at 5.35pm, I then entertain Georgia until she goes to bed at around 8.30pm. When Georgia goes to bed I try and get the washing-up and stuff done before Clare gets back at 10.30pm.

It's unfortunate that we have to work in this way, Clare and I only see each other for about an hour each day. Neither of us wanted Clare to go back to work full-time while Georgia is young as that would involve having to use a nursery or childminder etc. We both prefer Georgia to be looked after by one (or both in an ideal world) of her parents, rather than strangers. We just have to put up with the weeks being full until Georgia goes to school or nursery when she is older, or I get a fairly substantial pay rise which is well overdue (in my opinion!)
- Steve, 2:22 PM,
 
This must be so frustrating to parents who can't send their children to school until the criminal record checks come back.
I would be interested to know exactly how many of the thousands of checks have resulted in a teacher not being employed, I bet it's not many, if any at all.
- Steve, 10:09 AM,
Tuesday, September 03, 2002
 
Enetation is currently offline for a short while - no user accounts or user sites are affected by this.

No comments for a "short while" then!
- Steve, 9:53 AM,
 
For the first time in ages I actually managed to get out of bed at the right time. Normally I have every intention of leaping in the shower after the first beep of my alarm clock at 6.45, in reality the snooze button is reached for several times before I can peel back the duvet.
So this morning I; got up, had a shower, got dressed (after finding a shirt and tie with ease), had breakfast and packed my laptop all before 7.30. I was ready to hit the M6 with a kind of inner calm that is a rare treat for a weekday morning, but then I couldn't find my fucking shoes!
I'm not a girl, so I only have one pair of shoes that I can wear with a suit, I couldn't find them anywhere. I searched for ages and eventually found them in the bottom of Georgia's toy box! She must have put them in the toy box at some point yesterday evening and when I tidied all of her toys away when she was in bed I didn't notice.

Now I've got a headache and I'm pissed off.

- Steve, 9:40 AM,
Monday, September 02, 2002
 
I don't think working standard office hours suits me, I just can't deal with the early starts. Ideally I would like to work from late afternoon to the early hours of the morning as this is when I feel most awake and creative, it's unfortunate that a lot of my work involves conversations, meetings and phone calls which have to be done in office time. I suppose I'm fortunate that I can work from home sometimes, but I find it hard to stay motivated when other stuff is going on there.

I spent a few months working nights during the college holidays, the shift started at 23:30 and ended at 07:00. I loved driving past the rush-hour traffic on the way to a bowl of cornflakes and bed (consecutively not simultaneously). The only problem was that I also had a Saturday job that started at 9am and it took 1.5 hours to travel between them.

I'm sure I had a point when I started this post.

- Steve, 10:25 AM,
Friday, August 30, 2002
 
I'm finding it hard to concentrate today, I'm not sure what the problem is.
Sometimes work can be quite stressful, I work in a consultancy role which means I tend to work in other peoples organisations rather than the one I am actually employed by, it gets a little lonely sometimes.
I don't feel stressed today though, just a bit lethargic. I have plenty of work to do and I know I'll probably enjoy it once I really get started, but I just can't seem to focus enough to actually get going.
- Steve, 11:37 AM,
Thursday, August 29, 2002
 
Have a look at this link. Now I can't claim to be an artist, infact my artistic skills compare (badly) to that of an average 5 year old, but surely someone could have done a better artists impression than that? Honestly, it looks like a cross between Margaret Thatcher and Cilla Black.

Is this the only country where TV cameras are banned from courtrooms and artists are employed instead? Do these courtroom artists do this as their main job, or as a sideline? Does anyone put themselves through art school (obviously not the person who did this picture) specifically so that they can get the much coveted "Court Artist" title?
- Steve, 1:57 PM,
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
 
Just changed the comments system to Enetation from Netcomments. Netcomments has been "temporarily unavailable" for a couple of days and I suspect it might stay like it.

Enetation server is busy... great, good start!
- Steve, 3:01 PM,
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
 
Childless pet-owning couples read on:

Being a parent is (for most people) a "really big deal". It's life changing in a way that is impossible to describe in words, your offspring are present in your thoughts to some extent pretty much all of the time. There is a constant worry that you are not going to be a good enough parent, or that you are not bringing up your children to be happy and well balanced individuals. You need to consider your children in all of your plans for later life, even the trivial things like what to eat, where to go on holiday, what car to buy and where you choose to live (ok, that last one isn't really trivial).

Having a pet Dog/Cat/Hamster/Rat isn't the same.

I realise that when couples who do have children get together at a social event the talk often turns to their kids. I understand that you're probably not interested that little Molly took her first steps or whatever. Please try to bear with us until we get back to more interesting subject matter, maybe you could politely try to change the subject?
Please try not to compare your Gerbil with my Daughter, thanks ever so much!


Boring Couple #1: We're worried about Jake going to Nursery for the first time, he gets a little anxious if he's left with strangers.

Boring Couple #2: We started to take Sam a couple of times a week and stayed with him until he was comfortable with the place and the people.

Pet owning Couple: You're so pathetic! We leave Rex on his own all day and you don't hear him complaining!

Grrrrr!

- Steve, 12:19 PM,
 
The only problem with having a busy weekend is that time seems to go even quicker, I can't believe that three days have passed since I was last sat in this office pretending to be working.

The wedding was very nice, I think everyone had a really good time. The choice of venue for the reception was also excellent, the food was great and there was generally a very relaxing feel to the place, it was a shame to leave on Sunday morning.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend the night sleeping in a bed, as I suspected, my alcohol induced snoring meant I was relegated to the bathroom floor. I still managed to get a pretty good nights sleep and woke up feeling fairly refreshed.

We stopped off in Stratford on the way home, I really like it there because as it's a tourist attraction there is always plenty to do. We visited the Butterfly Farm which was nice but a little too hot and humid to be comfortable when you have a hangover (these tropical environments do tend to be a little warm!).

Yesterday we went to West Midlands Safari Park, unfortunately so did everyone else. The place was absolutely packed and that spoiled it a bit. We still had a good time, Georgia was pretty impressed with some of the animals, especially the ones that stuck their heads inside the car. Next time we'll go in the week when the schools are back. Bank holidays are not the time to visit tourist attractions.
- Steve, 10:29 AM,
Friday, August 23, 2002
 
I think I may have spotted a flaw in a TV advertisement, no really!

Have you seen the latest Pringles Advert? It's the one where the dog pinches the tube of Pringles and takes it back to his kennel, he's joined by some other neighbourhood dogs (I mean this in the non gangster rap sense) and they have a party.

So far so good, but then one of the dogs starts to DJ on some decks, this is where I see the problem. You see, the DJ dog is a Dalmatian and as you are probably aware around 30% of Dalmatians are deaf.

I'm not saying that Dalmatians can't be DJ's, it's just that I think it's unlikely that many Dalmatians would spend the not inconsiderable amount of time needed to practice before playing to an audience, considering that they probably know there is a good chance that their DJing careers will be fairly short lived.

I think it's more likely that something like a Labrador would take to the decks. Actually, Labradors are a little bit sedentary an a bit Countryside Alliancey, they would probably much prefer to stay at home and listen to the Archers or something. Maybe a Doberman would do it, probably worked his way into the DJ booth after spending some time working the door.

Or maybe a Collie...
- Steve, 11:32 PM,
 
We will be spending this long weekend in sunny Bracknell attending the wedding of two of our friends, I'm really quite looking forward to it. I'm not normally a big fan of weddings, there is usually a lot of waiting around and the services are often fairly dull. It will be nice to see all our friends from around Oxford way again though, the last couple of weekends we have all gone *home* to attend the stag/hen nights, both of which were a good laugh.

We are staying in (I think) the Hilton in (or near) Wokingham, most of our friends are staying there too so I'm looking forward to a session of drinking JD and talking bollocks.
The only problem will be me sharing a hotel room with Clare and Georgia, apparently I snore quite loudly (I can't confirm this myself), especially after having a few drinks. The last time we stayed in a hotel I ended up sleeping on the bathroom floor and Clare and Georgia had the bed, it wasn't the best nights sleep I've had.

- Steve, 12:50 PM,
Thursday, August 22, 2002
 
I may or may not have a commenting system now
- Steve, 3:25 PM,
 
Nick Jordan comments on his aversion to telephones.
I feel the same way. I worked for a couple of years as a customer services manager, I'm not sure if it was this that put me off using telephones or if I have always been this way. I'm certainly not scared of using the phone, I spend a great deal of my working days using one, it's just that I prefer to use e-mail. Having successful telephone conversations (I'm talking work rather than pleasure) certainly requires some skill, I find that I often put the phone down and realise that I have not got all my points across.
Using e-mail is the easier option as far as I'm concerned, I rely on e-mail as a business tool more that I probably should. I wonder if the increased use of e-mail will effect the conversational skills of the next generation in the same way pocket calculators have reduced the ability of my generation to do mathematics without one. (I'm generalising here)
- Steve, 2:35 PM,
 
I'm still not sure that I like the new Lemony Diet Coke, I do drink it now and again, but it's still just because of the novelty. I think my problem is that rather than it having a hint of lemon, I think it has a hint of washing up liquid and that puts me off a bit.
- Steve, 1:12 PM,
 
By way of a brief introduction, here are a few things about me:

I'm 26 years old.
I was born in Oxford (UK) and lived nearby in Abingdon for the first 21 years of my life.
I'm married to Clare, we met while we were at college. We married in Florida in June '99 when I was 22 and Clare was 27.
We have a daughter called Georgia, she's nearly 2. Having a child is more amazing and fulfilling than I could ever have imagined.
We have recently moved from Oxfordshire to live in North Warwickshire, we live in a village near Nuneaton.
I am currently working on a large logistics project in the rail industry. I'm finding my work challenging (a good thing) and more than a little frustrating at times (not so good)
I mainly work in central Birmingham, hence the house move.
I'm addicted to news, I watch, read and listen to the news as often as I can, this seems to annoy Clare a little!
I like red wine, but I'm far from being a wine snob, I class a £3.99 bottle as "quality"
I like cars, I have had lots in my time. I currently drive a Ford Focus company car which isn't very exciting but ideal for the long distances I have to travel occasionally. My automobile passion is mainly reserved for oldish British classics

So that's me then.

- Steve, 11:34 AM,
Tuesday, August 20, 2002
 
Hello? Is this thing on?
- Steve, 2:12 PM,

 

  
 
   
 
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