Down in the dungeons.

Hello again, I am currently sitting in the basement of a well known accounting firms building across the road from the London dungeons and I feel like I’m actually in the dungeons myself. Down here nobody can hear you scream, except for the person that’s sitting next to me that is.

Obviously, as you would expect, at this subterranean level there are no windows so we don’t know whether it’s sunny or raining and when we do eventually surface it feels like we’re breaking free from the dungeons normally used for bad people.

So what amI doing down here, well I’m supposed to be migrating users, their data and applications  from physical Laptop computers onto virtual ones that are hosted in a great big data center somewhere here in London. This is no small task as it involves creating a user specific virtual machine, running through several build options, although most of it is automated, migrating the users data from the physical laptop and then finishing off with some application settings. Each users migration can take up to 4 hours depending on the amount of data to be transferred and although I can do multiple at the same time I will have to do 6 each day. Woe is me!

Supposed to I said as I have been here for 3 days and have yet to do one, but I have been assured that I will be doing some work next week, I can only hope as being kept down here where there is no mobile phone reception is a bit like being left and forgotten.

I do have access to the Internet and email but unfortunately I am not at liberty to willy nilly browse the web and stay in touch. I can also access my social networking sites so I’ll be over on Twitter in a bit.

Well in closing I suppose I should say that next week I will hopefully be in the Docklands area and be able to look out of a windows and at least see the weather whether it’s sunny or not.

I was robbed last night!

Yes dear reader I was robbed last night (Thursday 13-08-2009 at 21:00) and they took my laptop bag with all it’s contents!

So let me set the scene:
A very good friend of mine and I arranged to have a couple of drinks after work as we were working in the same area this week. My friend is permanently based in the area but I’m more of a floating worker and am sent from one customer to the next. So we decided as we were near to each other we’d meet up and have a good old chinwag.

The afternoon was going swimmingly with me bending his ear most of the time about all the stuff I have been researching with regards Internet marketing and after a few pints in the first pub we decided to move to another pub and to get some cash along the way.

The evening fell upon us and we were having such a good time we even ordered a food platter to share as we were getting a little hungry and there was no ways that I was going to want to cook anything when I got home. Soon after the food arrived I checked over my shoulder, as I had been doing on a regular basis to see if my bag was still there but this time it wasn’t. You know that sinking feeling, well it sank in very quickly as I gazed upon the void where my bag was not 10 minutes before.

First action was to look around and check outside if I could see the person making off with my belongings but alas there was neither hind nor hair to be seen of them. Next course of action was to alert the bar staff and luckily I got to speak to the manager of the establishment directly. He very quickly came out from behind the bar to assist in my frantic search for the missing bag and it’s contents. This proved to be equally fruitless but the bar manager went to neighbouring establishments to speak to their managers to be on the lookout for the elusive bag and thief.

At this time I got my work mobile phone and rang the police and no more that 15 minutes had passed since I last saw the bag where I had left it, on the floor behind my bar stool next to a pillar. The police office was very helpful and made sure that I gave him all my details, a detailed description of the bag and a list of the contents. To let you know what I had lost here’s basically what I told him:

It is a Dark grey Wenger Swissgear Synergy laptop backpack with light grey straps and panels. An exact picture of it can be seen here http://www.wengerna.com/synergy-ga-7305-14. This bag was great and could carry a lot, just see what mine had in it:

• 1 X HP Compaq Business Notebook 6715b- Turion 64 X2 mobile technology 2 GHz – 15.4 ” – 2 GB Ram
• My house and car keys
• My mini London A-Z street map book
• 1 X 16Gb, 1 X 1Gb and 1 X 256Mb memory sticks
• 128 MP3 player with Russel Brunson’s Micro-Continuity mp3s on it
• Several Software CDs
• A hand full of USB, Mobile phone and charger cables plus headsets and Apple iPod headphones
• Several printed ebooks about marketing including Mike Filsaime’s Butterfly Marketing manuscript.
• 1 X 2lt bottle of diet Coke
• 1 X 6pack of cans of diet coke (I’d done some shopping earlier and decided to carry the heavier items in the backpack)
• An empty lunchbox
• The power cable and transformer for the above laptop computer
• The latest 2 Tidy Music Library CDs, vol 12 & 13
• My hard copy diary and note pad
• General stationary and my Barclay card reader for Internet banking
• Last but by far not least was my 4 month old Nokia 5800 Express music mobile phone

So as you can see that backpack holds quite a bit of stuff and other than the diet Coke is normally what I carry around on a daily basis and it does it beautifully, well it used to!

So after calling the police and speaking to my company I sat down, finished off my platter and last pint and decided to head off home, well I couldn’t go home as I didn’t have any keys to get into my house and my wife was still over in Alderney visiting her family. So I went back to my friends house, along the way I called another friend who lives close to me to ask if they could pop their head in on our dog as she’d been left out in the back garden and wouldn’t see me until the next morning, not the usual routine. It was agreed at this point that  I would make the journey homeward and they would pick me up at the train station and we’d take it from there.

Whilst waiting at the station for my train to arrive it suddenly dawned on my that I needed to phone my mobile phone network and bar the phone and sim card, so I did this whilst my train arrived and left unannounced and without me on it, this was not turning out to be my night.

In the end I got back to my friends house, closer to home, and crashed over at theirs. The next morning had a lot in store for me!

In the morning I made it home and was welcome by a very excited dog who whimpered at my absence the night before and I got well and truly covered in her fur, still wearing my work clothes from the previous day. First things first was a shower and a cup of coffee. Then began the arduous task of retrieving my car from the station car park without the alarm\immobiliser remote, but luckily I had my spare key at home. I had to contact several insurances to see what I could recover in the way of replacement keys and the rest and it pans out that all I will be without is my laptop backpack and mobile phone as I stupidly ignored to insure my phone. Oh well I’ll just have to use my faithful backup until I can warrant getting a new one.

To close this off, as I am rather tired after my ordeal I’d just like to reiterate the importance of having insurance, it may be a pain to pay the monthly premiums bu god forbid should anything like this happen at least you know you’ll be covered.

Thanks for reading as this has helped me get a load of my chest and I look forward to writing something a little more positive next time.

Alderney week holiday was great! My review.

Hi again,

As you may have noticed it’s been a while since my last posting and this is purely due to the fact that I went on my anual pilgrimage to Alderney (Channel Isalnds) for the annual Alderney week festivities and to see my wifes’ family who are resident on the island.

Every year Alderney and a small goup or organisers put on an extravaganza that last 8 days and is themed differently each year. This years theme was “Around the world in 8 days” which was depicted by a wide variety of internationalythemed events and floats and lasted for 8 days. Previous years themes have been “Pure Magic” and “Holywood” and this whole event is normally covered by the BBC Channel Islands as well as some local radio stations.

I have attended 3 or 4 over tha last 6 years and plan to attend many more but Alderney week has now been running for more than 60 years and you can get more information on the official Alderney Week website . Hopefully Alderney week will continue for many more years to come as it is a great way to see old freinds, family members and meet new and exciting people. Every year I go I get to meet more people who I have seen thered before but never actually met and its great because I can say that I seen them and only now we’ve met.

On the Alderney Week website there is a programme of events and several other useful links to explore more about what goes on but to give you a run down of what I took part in heres my own little program:

The opening day is always closed off with the first of the parties and due to delays in my flight I was unable to attend. Fortunatley though my wife was garcious enough to attend for both of us.

I therefore only arrived on the second day and this day is usualy the day that everybody spends recovering from the night before and my wife once again performed this task for us both so I went out on the Raz and had a great time meeting up with some freinds not seen for a year or two.

The third day is Cavalcade day and starts with a procession of floats through the center on the lovely little town of St. Annes on the old cobble stone road. The floats the proceed to the Butes which is the sports field perched up on a hill over looking the stunning little harbour below.
After the Cavalcade parade there is loads of entertainment for all tastes ranging from old cars to live bands, junior dance and keep fit groups to the compulsory beer tent and lots of little stalls offerinbg a wide range of goods, fair ground style games and there was even a “Casino” there this year.
This generally last all afternoon and stretches well into the night with more live music and when all is quiet on the Butes the locals pubs are awash with laughter and cheer and very well priced drinks.

The Tuesday was spent more with family than participating in the events but was equally as entertaining.

Wednesday has a fun little event, aimed at the younger generation but some of the older residents\visitors do it from a nostalgitic perspective, called Spot-the-Dot. This entails walkign along the cobbled high street looking in the windows of paticipating shops\businesses and firstly looking for the spot that depicts that they are participating in the event. When the dot has been spotted you then have to find something in their display that is out of place, eg. A pencil sharpener in the butchers meat display. Take note of this along with all the others you find, some are very clever and dificult to spot, and hand in your competitions sheet at the Alderney Tourist information center. Winners announced sometime and somewhere but I’ve never know where and when.

The Thursday event of note is the man powered flight where people make silly flying contracptions and jump off te inner harbour wall, at high tide, and attempt to fly. Prizes are given on a number of criteria from the most outrageous idea to the furtherest flight. Last year I partook in this as The Flight of Iccarus and it was great fun. This year was a little more of a wash out and we unfortunately didn’t attend but the event went ahead none the less.

Friday morning was the daft raft race and tonnes of fun is had by all participating and everybody watching. The beach is swamped with children and adults alike and the rafts range from simple to the bizzare. This year saw the Tardis make an appearance and walk away with one of the prizes, albeit it not for being the fastest. The race is made even more interestesting as the participants normally throw water and flour bombs at each other in an attempt to hinder their opponents.
After the daft raft  race we took our pride and joy pet dog Rio up to the Butes to participate in the first Alderney Week Pet show and to my wifes’ surprise our Rio walked away with First Prize in the Class (all non small pets) 6.

Saturday comes all to quickly but is always very welcome as it is the day with the most spectacular events of all. Starting with Torchlight procession in which thousands of Torch barers start from the Town Hall and proceed down the cobbled hight street of St. Annes past hundreds of spectatorcs, normally outside one of the pubs, and on towards the Bute where all torches are tossed onto a huge mountain of wooden palets. This then brings on the next event which if he annual bonfire in which an effegy is burnt, check the Alderney Week website for more history and detail on this. During allof this there are smal stalls on the Butes as well a some light entertainment. The Beer tent is normally jam packed by time we get there and we’ve gotten there early before.
The bonfire then leads on to the Fireworks display, which for a small island is very impressive and awe inspiring. This years started with a great opening song and lasted for 3-4 full songs. The finaly is always spectacular and every year is getting bigger and better.
Once again more live entertainment is available on the Butes and then it’s time to move back to the pub to prepare for the nights frivolities. Take away drinks can be bought at the pub before closing time which is a good time to head off for the Pièce de résistance.
The Quarry Party. The last one of the week and in my honest opinion one very much worth travelling to Alderney for. A good line up of DJs playing some awesome dance music with a mind blowing laser show. Last years was a little wet but this made the laser even more outstanding but as this year was a most welcome dry and balmy evening the party was even more enjoyable and worth staying till the break of dawn.

The last day, Sunday this year, sees the battle of the bands, if you are able to get out of bed or haven’t bothered going to bed yet, and played out in the open is a great way to spend the day. Last time we were sitting outside at the Moorings Pub wqatching some very talented bands battle it out to be crowned the best for the Alderney week celebrations and to achieve, in some cases, their initial recognition. Sun, booze and bands is a good way to spend the day if you’ve got anything left in you.

So that was my week in Alderney, I flew out the folowing Monday, no chance of a delayed flight as I had work the next day,  but other than the Alderney week events I had a great time visiting my in-laws, walking our dog Rio around the Island and spending some quality time with my beloved wife. I also got to do some fishing and caught a nice RAS, rock cod, and some Mackrel which we had on the BBQ the very same night.

If ever you’re lookign for a holiday spot and iregardless of wether you’ve been to Alderney or not I ould recommend visiting the Island in the first week of August and partaking in some wonderful events and culture in what should normally be glorious sunshine. As I said this is normally an annual pilgrimage for us and who knows maybe we’ll see each other there some time soon.

The wife is learning!

The title says it all.

As I write this my lovely wife is downstairs doing her fist Sage certification exam online. A little daunted to say the least as she’s never done this type of exam before but I have faith that she will do well.

My wife is a qualified book keeper and she is studying Sage to make herself a bit more employable but realy so that she will be able to do my books when I have a good income stream flowing.

I’ll let you know how she does when we get the results!

A Mates Wedding in Bath!

Wow! That’s all I can say about the venue Limply Stoke Hotel in Bath.

My very good freinds Matt and Satu got married on Saturday and the venue the chose was absolutely breath taking. The hotel itself is a gorgeuos Georgian building that very spacious and well presented. The meal was a lovely Lamb shank with fresh vegetables and starch but by this time the beers were flowoign all to well.

I’ll look into getting some photos up on this site as part of my ever improvements.

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