This mornings meeting went as well as can be expected. Toby was in his usual ‘salesman’ mode. I have got to admit, he does know his stuff these days. He still gives the impression of the dodgy car dealer, but he is very sociable and likable. Dave was a typical IT manager … very defensive in a jokey sort of way. He’s likable too, but needs a bit of a boot to keep him on track. Mark was Mark. Knows what he wants, and expects it to happen. The problem (as usual) was Spike. He just seemed to be very disconnected. His three item agenda, turned into a six item agenda. He even asked about a project that was finished and signed off before Christmas. Unbelievable. Still he is off tomorrow, so everyone will be in a happy mood.

The rest of the work day passed without incident. Although I’m not very happy with someone at the moment. They seems to be fiddling their time sheets. Taking an hour lunch and booking only 30 minutes. Okay, I’m not overworked at the moment, but I try not to make it look too obvious. I don’t sit there reading the paper when I should be ‘appearing to work’.

Tonight’s meeting was informative. I feel a little more comfortable now. All the staff that will be going to Germany with the kids, seem to be fully confident that there will be no problems, and that if there are, they will deal with them. Cannot say fairer than that. It looks like they have 20 years experience between them. It is an interesting thought though. If anyone had said five years ago, even two years ago, that he would be going on a residential to Germany, I would have laughed them out of the room. Then here we are studying his kit-list and wondering which case he will be taking. When you think, all those years ago, and what we were given to expect. It is really quite amazing what he has achieved.

Firefox is fixed now. Usenet comes up with the goods again. Thank you ‘Fox On The Run’. It’s good to know, that when you want free professional help, that the newsgroups usually come up trumps. It has been a long time since I had a look on the groups, and to be honest, some of the questions asked, I know the answer to. With a lot of the questions though, I don’t even know what the question means. I’ll scan through the Excel posts and see if I can pick up a tip or two. I must have a serious look at getting a separate news reader. I don’t really like using Outlook Express. I know there are a number of free ones out there, but the last time I asked for advice about a free one, I got a lot of grief about not using OE. It was not what I expected. I used to use Forte Free Agent, and I understand that an old version is still available. I may Google the question. at least I won’t get flamed that way.