Learned the hard way

If there's one thing to be learnt from a stag weekend in Amsterdam, it's that Amsterdam is (unexpectedly) fricking hot at the end of April.

No, if there's one thing to be learnt from a stag weekend in Amsterdam, it's that Amsterdam has a metric shedload of excellent bars and cafes where you can sit outside and watch the world go by while you fry in the sun. It also has at least a few naff ones, some of which try to get patrons to top themselves by using an especially depressing playlist.

Actually no, if there's one thing to be learnt from a stag weekend in Amsterdam, it's that the Red Light district is just as bad a you feared it would be, and then a whole lot more. From families, to tourist couples taking photos in front of the windows, to old men in raincoats just .... leering. And man, do the windows look tacky.

Actually, scratch that. If there's ONE thing to be learnt from a stag weekend in Amsterdam, it's that spilling a something-and-pomegranate fruit smoothie down your front does look like you threw up on yourself. Especially when you spend most of the day throwing up. No one to blame but yourself dude, but we're proud of you.... taking one for the team.

No, no. I got it. If there's one thing to be learnt from a stag weekend in Amsterdam, it's that you can survive, and even nearly function, with a lot less sleep than you might imagine.

Hmmm, wait. Actually if there's one thing to be learnt from a stag weekend in Amsterdam, it's that clubs in other countries aren't much better than here, but are louder.

Ok, so looks like there's no one single thing to be learnt from a stag weekend in Amsterdam, but the overarching message is ... I'm way too old for this s**t

Caffeine high

Well, maybe not so much a high, but this (short) blog post is most certainly caffeine fuelled. To say work is currently hectic would be a bit of an understatement, but at least it's a decent enough excuse for the lack of blog posts. For the past wee while, when I've not been working I've been sleeping, and (annoyingly) sleeping usually consists of dreaming about problems arising in work and .Net code. In fact, maybe worryingly would have been more apt than annoyingly.

But, the end is in sight. Oh yes indeedy. This coming Tuesday is when we hand over the last major release for UAT (That's User Acceptance Testing, BTW). Now, potentially this can mean a whole lot of bug fixes, and in most normal scenarios this would be the case. However, da customer ("yo", etc) has a go live date of the 26th of March, so the final final final final end of this particular chapter is but a mere 7 days away. Bliss.

I can live on caffeine alone for another 7 days. I know I can. After this, it'll be back to sitting with my feet up on my desk and listening to music. Well, one can but dream.

So, I'm now off to catch a few hours sleep before returning to the office for yet more of the same. Except tomorrow, it'll be closer to 6 days till it's over. Oh happy days.

Flight of fancy

So this is the second post from my mobile. I could almost get used to this roaming type thing. The reason for this post is being at the airport slightly earlier than I expected, what with the roadworks and rush-hour traffic failing to hamper my journey.

This is the second time at the airport today. The first visit was about 10 hours ago for my flight which was cancelled. Oh well, these things happen. So I rebooked for tomorrow morning, changed the hotel reservations and went into work. Of course, things are never quite that simple. Turns out they want me to come down tonight, stay over and get an early start. So changed flights again (with a fee this is time), changed the hotel reservation again and here I am. Still, their money. Who am I to complain?

It's a little strange to be here right now. The sun is setting on a clear and bright day. It's 5:30 on a cold February evening, but with the sky, light and heat in this building, it could just as well be 9:30 on warm August evening. So yes, it's nice, but still a little strange.

I always, for no particularly strong reason, associate evening flights with going home. Or, at least going somewhere I want to be. Whether this comes from the rose tinted memories of summer holidays as a child, where flying was exciting and it was always sunny, or from the dogged reality of work, where most flights to clients start in the pitch black at some ungodly hour, I really don't know. But it is strange, as I feel a lot more relaxed than usual, and than I suppose I should given what's ahead.

It does kind of make me long for a holiday and some sun. And make me realise how long it's been since I was last abroad, or for that matter had a holiday. This year I promised myself I'll have a holiday but with the success of last yearsresolutions, it remains to be seen if it will actually happen.

All I know is it will be a hell of a long year if I don't.

Hmmm, wonder if I can sneak on a plane USA-bound instead......

Mobile in sunny Bradford

This will be a (mercifully) short entry for a couple of reasons. First of which is because I'm in Bradford for a client meeting. Not that being in Bradford is a reason for a short entry, but rather because I shall shortly be meeting Mr Gulp who is going to feed me this evening. Exceedingly nice chap that he is.

The other reason for keeping it short, is that I'm typing (for want of a better word) on my mobile. On screen keyboards are not my favourite thing. I am, however, impressed with Windows Mobile 5 and specifically pocket internet explorer. It renders most sites in a way that is semi sensible, and usually readable.

Anyhow, the main reason for being in Bradford was a client meeting. Actually it's for a clients client meeting. Consulting, eh? From the start it was a doomed trip. Having to leave on the 1st 'working' day of 2007 for a 9am meeting 200 miles away is not good. Even less so was the weather on the way down. Torrential rain and galeforce winds in the dark makes driving fun.

Despite that I made it safely, without incident. Which is more than can be said for the 7 mile drive from the hotel this morning, in daylight, when it was dry, and not windy. Whilst waiting at some traffic lights some woman decides to drive into the back of me. Grrrrr! Damage was only cosmetic fortunately (a hole and a crack in the rear bumper) but that put me in a bad mood.

The fact that the meeting was 9:30, and I'd been told 9:00 didn't best please me either, nor did the fact that the main reason I was down was to discuss integrating a system which the client decided (the day before) they no longer needed integrated. So all in all the work part of the trip was a total waste. Thank TISG for Mr Gulp being available to cheer me up.

I'll go back and sort the typos at later date, when I have a proper keyboard, as my hand feels like it's about to fall off.

Work, 2007 style

Comparing work now to how it was this time in 2006, there are a number of similarities and a number of differences. Last year I may have supposed to been in Derby just after getting back, and this time I've to be down in the Bradford area on Thursday, which is the main reason for me being in work today, even though it's technically a public holiday up here in Scotchlandia. Still, at least I may get to see Mr Gulp if he's about.

In the last 12 months, the company has moved office twice (from a tiny office in Bearsden to the City Centre) and has gone from 3 full time employees to 5, increasing to 6 (or maybe 7) as soon as we find someone suitable, since our recruitment efforts in December failed to turn up anyone. The number of customers and projects has also increased, meaning the workload has also increased significantly. Since plans for a holiday failed in 2006, let's hope 2007 fares better.

For now though, it's back to work in this office which is more deserted than George W Bush's brain.