Shorter posts, links, or thoughts. No schedule, not heavily considered.
-
I need a Spark
Last year I got myself a bit healthier, shed some pounds, dropped a waist size, was able to walk up stairs without puffing for breath. There are many ways to choose to measure your ‘health’. For me, it’s about my appearance, this beer belly must go!! Last July I wrote about the various ways I…
-
iTunes / Airplay issues – FIXED
“It just works”, they said. “Except when it doesn’t” they didn’t say. What follows is a bit of a rambling post about random playback issues I’ve experienced when using iTunes to stream music to an Airplay. Simply put, for no reason I can fathom, iTunes playback across Airplay will stop. The track is still playing…
-
The Best Google Reader alternative
It was only back in December that I pondered this but with the news that Google Reader is to shut down I find myself revisiting some of those choices. I still use Google Reader heavily, I consume it mostly through the website itself and via Reeder on my iPad, so it’s annoying that they are pulling…
-
Bad Motorist
You couldn’t make it up. One day after berating a bad cyclist, I have the perfect example of how to be a bad motorist. Part of my commute crosses a small, narrow, humpback bridge. It’s an old bridge, with high solid stone walls. Visibility is nil from either side. Obviously this is the perfect place…
-
Bad Cyclist
I was driving to work this morning and witnessed a minor incident that irked me. As I approached a pedestrian crossing the lights were changing back to green and by the time the car in front got to them, they had been green for a couple of seconds. That didn’t stop a cyclist, cycling on…
-
100
This seems to be the number that is driving a lot of my thoughts at the moment. 100. Kilograms to be precise. I’ve been a little bit lighter (and a lot heavier in the past) but for the past few months I’ve maintained my weight around the 100kg mark. This needs to change, more exercise,…
-
Less less less
I don’t set resolutions but I always end up with some, this year is turning out no different. Last year the theme seemed to become ‘be healthier’. Whether that was in body (eating healthier, trying to get more exercise) or in mind (avoiding ‘drama’ wherever possible) it seemed to work. That theme remains for this…
-
Untitled
And so he starts again, the silence punctuated by the staccato tap tap tap of the keyboard. He moves in his chair to find a comfortable pose and starts to ponder what he might write, what prose he may be able to dredge from his flaccid imagination. Prose indeed, he thinks. Another helping of scorn…
-
Alternative
I spent the weekend with some alternative friends. What a strange phrase that is, alternative to what? My regular friends? No, just a different grouping of people brought together by a different bond. Although I’d pause at saying some were friends, acquaintances perhaps? But that’s beside the point. Just as my best friendships all stem…
-
Bliss
I breath in. I breath out. Acutely aware of the depth and length of my breathe as my chest rises and falls, the weight of my limbs on the bed, the nothingness of it all as I relax. Eyes closed, drifting, floating away into my subconscious, that eery half-world between dreams and reality is easily…
-
Awake awake awake
I’m still not sure what triggers this insomnia, or even if it’s triggered at all. I only know that I’m awake. I’m not complaining, I’ve had almost 6 hours sleep which is more than some people get I know, but it still irks me that these spells happen. I either wake for a couple of…
-
February Resolutions
Partly due to circumstance, partly by choice, I tend to let January just ‘happen’ and avoid any specific resolutions if I can. Admittedly, this month I’ve been getting my head into my new job, handing over previous responsibilities and as I spent last week in Sunnyvale working I’ve not had a routine around which to…
-
Space
I’m sitting in a hotel room, it’s 8am, I’ve had breakfast, and we leave for the office in 20 mins. I have a couple of meetings scheduled, but thankfully I’m not too busy today. This is not been the story for the rest of this week. Instead we’ve been leaving at 8am and starting full…
-
Everything Changes
Everything Changes A new year, a fresh challenge. I’ve been working in the Technical Communications field my entire career. From those first days, stumbling my way around FrameMaker 4 with only a vague idea of what I should be doing (and largely using the FrameMaker User Guide as a sample of both approach and layout)…
-
Everything Changes
A new year, a fresh challenge. I’ve been working in the Technical Communications field my entire career. From those first days, stumbling my way around FrameMaker 4 with only a vague idea of what I should be doing (and largely using the FrameMaker User Guide as a sample of both approach and layout) to my…
-
Faith less
I can’t get no sleep. That was pretty much the story of last week, with a million and one thoughts rushing through my head. I’d go to bed, read to relax and drop off, only to awaken a couple of hours later, wide awake. Sometimes I’d get back to sleep after a couple of hours…
-
Going Global
One of the challenges the team will face this year is how to coordinate the creation of product documentation with geographically dispersed teams, across different product lines. At present we have engineering teams in Glasgow, Belfast, Limerick, Jakarta, Sunnyvale CA, and Bedford NH, building four products and maintaining five other legacy applications. Currently we have six technical…
-
Travelling home
Dumbarton Common, rainfall at dusk, originally uploaded by Gordon. The train pulls out of the station, slowly gathers speed as I head to my home town. I am cocooned in steel, my music and my own thoughts. Face tingling from the fresh air. There are several stops to be made, familiar names from my past.…
-
Happily uncreative
I aspire. I desire. (I perspire). I want. But, it seems, it’s just not meant to be. Whilst I can appreciate art in many forms, place value on the productions of others, it seems that I’m just not particularly creative. Not that I can’t be creative to a certain level but I’ve long since realised…
-
Happy New Year
Looking forward is always a good thing, but I’m going to start this year by looking back at the lessons to be learned. Things I will need to improve upon include better planning of work, there is one big project that I will head up that needs to be delivered by September, so I’ll be…