Month: December 2009

Mind numbing …..

/ Tony / Leave a comment

Here I am blogging from work. It’s a very quiet day, with no senior managers in the office. I am taking the opportunity to configure a report on our system. The main case database progresses cases through the system. Each stage of this case progression has to have 1 of 6 flags set for the report to work. There are over 4500 of these stages, and it is that which I am doing at the present ….. and as I mentioned, mind numbing !!!

As usual, there are some who are asking the question “What time can we go home ??” They have been asking the same question since December 23rd. Why did you not ask for the time off ? We do not need you this week. We go through this every year, with the same people.

Youngest has now gone four days, without any medication, which is a record. He is accompanying his brother to the dentist today, so that may be the straw etc etc.

One down, two to go …..

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   Well if I had had some flexi time spare, I would have had today off. Possibly tomorrow too. What a waste of a day. I think I did too much the week before Christmas, and left very little to do today. Mind you, saying that, not many people seemed to do much today. Phones were quiet, and with only a few members of staff in, it was never going to be a really busy day. Probably much the same tomorrow and again on Thursday.

   Quiz-nite at the Red Lion tonight. We did not do too bad this week. Twenty nine points is quite respectable, considering the winners only got thirty four points! Not sure if I will go next week. The eldest will be back at his flat, but the youngest is on respite, so it could be me and Mrs H. We have only done that once, and I’m not too sure if she enjoyed herself. We shall see.

   Just thinking. I’m not sure if I can be bothered wearing a suit tomorrow. I’m not meeting anyone or going anywhere, so jeans may be the order of the day. I will decide in the morning.

Back to work …

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   Well, that’s the Christmas part over with. It has not been a bad one really. Christmas Day went as well as could be expected, and the good thing was that no-one stopped too long. Although, at around 7:30pm, I did hear someone mention ‘What game do you want to play ??’ Thankfully, nobody wanted to. We went to the in-laws on Saturday. I was expecting the worse, with the youngest. He had been a bit stressed on Christmas Day, after opening his presents. But come Boxing Day, he was great. No problems at all. A bit tense whilst I was driving home, but were all the same way, what with the ice and the fog and the dark, and Mrs H gasping at every turn in the road !! Sunday saw Mrs H at work, and another good day with the youngest. No medication all day, and no problems at all. Same today, no meds, and no problems.

   Back to work for me tomorrow. but it is only three days to work, and then I’m off for the New Year. Mind you, D*** is off until the middle of next week, which leaves P*** and K**** as the supervisors, or more to the point, P*** as the supervisor and K****, the assistant. We all know who will take the lead there!! What worries me, is that one day, some of the trouble causers, will turn against her, just for the hell of it.

   Most of the snow has gone here. I hear that it could get bad again mid week. It seems to be getting colder tonight, or it could be that I’m just getting old. My Australian friend, says that it was really hot on Christmas Day over there. Did I feel sorry for her ……… I’ll let you guess that.

One more day to go

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   Well it’s 11:20pm, eldest is out drinking somewhere, and the snow is falling. Looks like a good couple of inches already, and there seems to be no let up at all. It’s going to be a fun drive into work in the morning. To make matters worse, I have to go to the supermarket first thing. I need to get some sprouts and parsnips, for Friday. We went tonight, but the supermarket just did not have any. I could not believe it. Run out of sprouts at Christmas !!!

   Should finish a little earlier tomorrow. Although, I don’t have much time built up, so I will not be finishing earlier than 3pm. Most people seem to want to get off about 2pm, or before !! I don’t think that will happen, as we will still have a service to maintain. I suppose that is one of the downsides of working in the Public Sector. The public expect you to be there when they want you.

Weekend … what weekend ?

/ Tony / 2 Comments

   Well nothing much happened over the weekend. I did the run around with the Christmas presents, for my family, on Saturday. That took all of 2 hours. Great fun, I don’t think !!!

   Sunday at home, then into Leeds to pick up the eldest, who is stopping here for Christmas. He is going back on the 2nd or 3rd of January he says. Well his washing should be done by then !!! He has now dyed his hair RED !!!! Saying that, it was his Mum that dyed it. The jury is still out I’m afraid. At the moment, it looks like he has not washed out the make-up from the panto. I suppose it will grow on me.

   The scheduled routine on the computer, at work, that was supposed to run over Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening did not work. I had my doubts when the IT guy suggested running it from a batch file. I did everything I should. My PC was left switched on. We will see what the IT man has to say in the morning. I have a strong suspicion, that one of the staff, may have been logged in, and that may have caused the problem.

   I had a lot of printing to do today. Some of it I could have left for next week, but I thought I might as well get it done. About 3,500 printed pages, and there is still another 300 to do. Over the next couple of days, I’m going to try and get everything that needs doing this week, done. I do not want to do much at all on Thursday.

   I think, I have just about finished Christmas shopping now. Although, I’m sorely tempted to get some Grand Marnier. I’ve got 14 presents in total, which is not bad to say, i had no idea what to get.

   May not post tomorrow night. I think me and the eldest are going to the pub-quiz in the village. I also have to get my hair cut. I should have gone on Friday, but what with the bad weather, I thought I would leave it until Saturday. But Saturday came and went, and I could not really be bothered. It needs doing though, so it is either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Last Friday ..

/ Tony / 2 Comments

   It has just struck me, that today was the last working Friday of 2009. I had not thought of it before, but in only 14 days time it will be 2010 !!!!

   It was a bit of a hairy drive into work this morning. The side roads were, as expected, quite difficult. However, everyone drove slowly and sensibly. It was not until I got onto the motorway, that I experienced any problems. The problems were the truckers !!!! The matrix signs said 30 mph, and 85% of the drivers were sticking to that speed or just over or under. The exception seemed to be some of the truck drivers. Some of them seemed to be of the opinion, that the speed limit did not apply to them. Twice I was flashed by a large truck, whilst in lane 2 of 4 lane stretch of the motorway, before they flew past me at speeds in excess of 50+. Then I hear on the radio about the serious problems caused by ‘jack-knifed’ trucks blocking the roads. To my mind, in the type of conditions we were experiencing this morning, the driver of any truck that jack-knifes should be prosecuted for dangerous driving. I know of people who set off 30 minutes early this morning, because of the weather, and arrived 2 hours late because of the problems caused by a jack-knifed truck. Rant Over.

  

Today it snowed …..

/ Tony / 1 Comment

   The snow had been falling for nearly 1 minute, before that fateful cry came from within the ranks … ‘Can we go early … It’s snowing ???’ It is the same every time. Snow only has to be mentioned, and there are some people wanting to leave early. Tomorrow, those same people will spend most of the day, watching the weather through the few windows we have in the office, and bemoaning the fact that management will not let us go home. Well is you like your home so much, LEAVE !!!!!

   To be honest, it’s 22:40 and there is a good 1 inch of snow. We probably will not get much more overnight, but you never can tell. I’ll take it easy driving tomorrow. It’s motorway for 9/10 of the journey, so the road will not be so bad, once I get out of the village. I’ll wager good money, that the car park at work is like an ice-rink. It usually is.

   No problems with the system today. However, one of the major parts of the upgrade, still has to be started. I am supposed to run a Windows ’Scheduled Task’, but our IT department, in their infinite wisdom, has disabled that particular function. Thanks guys, you really know how to make things easy for the rest of us. What really bugs me, is that technology is supposed to make work more efficient and productive. But IT departments do not seem to think that way. I’m convinced, that if the IT department had their way, then we would not have computers, just in case we caused any problems !!!!!

Staff meeting day ….

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   Today was the day everyone dreads. Team Brief day !!! I cannot say what I really think about out meetings, as my blog is not ‘X’ rated. Suffice to say, it always is an experience !!!! A day to put out of your mind forever !!!!  The words  boring, patronising and condescending are too mild to describe what we have to put up with on a monthly basis. The Service Manager came in for the first five minutes and gave us some important information. We all took this information in, and there was no questions. There was no need. Then, the line manager spent the next 20 minutes explaining (in terms we low life could understand) what the Service Manager had said !!!! We are not stupid !!!! Even the ones that are not the brightest candles in the chandelier, understood, so why the patronisation ?

   The problems we had with the IT software got resolved. As I expected, it was a problem with our IT department. It would appear, that a shared, temporary folder on the network had been set as read only. Who did that, and more importantly, why ? You see, the main problem we have, is that our IT department does not understand the software, what it does or how it works, and the software house does not understand how our IT department works. This often leads to very stressful and difficult times, with me trying to explain the workings of each. Not an easy task, when both parties believe they know best.

Another day …..

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   Today went as well as can be expected. Problems developed with the IT system. I think they are network connected, but you cannot explain that to the people (and I use the term loosely) that I work with. The is not a tangible thing that these people can get their heads round. It is cause and effect — there is a problem with the network — the effect is that it is program XXX. We get this often. If the problem was program xxx, then why did we not have the problem all the time ??? They just cannot seem to see the bigger picture. As the saying goes, ‘Tomorrow is another day’. Oh yes, another day, another field of sh*t to wade through.

   Youngest kicked off a bit tonight. I don’t know what set him off, but it took a while for him to settle. He has been a bit angry all weekend really. It will be a school thing no doubt.

Another weekend done …..

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   Back to work tomorrow, and I have a job list as long as my arm for the week. There is the extra job of reprogramming some the handhelds. I as kind of expecting it really. Although they will tell me different, I feel that some of them were being updated on battery power. As the update takes just over an hour, and the unit’s time out after 5 minutes, running on battery power will cause a fail. Still, if they get them to me first thing, I can have them back out in the field by afternoon.

   Youngest has been in a strange kind of mood today. Last week he needed no medication at all, for two days. This weekend, completely the opposite. Mind you, he only had two out of the three doses each day, but you could see the difference. I hope this is not an indication of what we can expect on Christmas Day !!!!!

   A few things to organise tomorrow. I need to book a dental appointment, for sometime either this week or the next. As it is a 12:00ish appointment, it should not be difficult to fit it in this week. I also need a haircut. It is getting a bit straggly at the moment. At some point in the week, I need to make an appointment to have an induction in the gym, at the leisure centre. I need to get some form of exercise program, to help lose a few inches off my waist. I need to get back to at least a 34in waist (which is what I try and kid myself I am now), maybe 32in would not go a miss. I have this idea, that a rowing machine would help, together with a treadmill. We shall see, but I need to do something. Cutting down on the junk food will help too.

Long day …..

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   Today was the day we put the Christmas decos up. We don’t go mad, just the fibre optic tree, cards, fancy lights and a few ornaments. However, it does seem to take a long time. In fact about 5 hours in total. If it was me, I would not bother at all. But then I’m just a grumpy old sod !!

It’s Friday (again)

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   The software update worked. Well, saying that, it worked on my PC. Everyone else is being updated as of 5:00pm tonight. The project leader, wanted to leave it until 06:00pm, but it seems that the IT staff would be finished before then. So 05:00pm it is.

   Youngest was back from respite today. He seems to have had a good time. I noticed from his notes, that they now seem to be checking on him, regularly through the night. This is a direct result of his camera getting broken the last time he was there. We were a bit concerned, that he appeared to be awake and using his camera at quite a late time. It seemed to us that, once he was ‘settled’ then he was left alone. I don’t think that was the case, but his home notes gave that impression. So now the notes say that he has been checked during the night !!

   The staff night out, seemed to go as I expected it would. Some say it was a good atmosphere, other say it was okay, and some just did not have a good word to say at all. Apparently, the food was not up to much (for the price) and the disco was practically non existent. I don’t think that there was any arguments this year, but I got the impression that they would not be going to the same place next year. The thing is, there is only K****, that is prepared to organise things like this, and it is going to get to the stage, where she says enough is enough … someone else’s turn. Quite frankly, I would not blame her.

Christmas has started …..

/ Tony / 1 Comment

   It is the office Christmas night out tonight. I never go. Not these days. They always end the same way. Someone will try and get off with someone, someone will get too drunk, someone will get violent and someone will get lost. Everyone will say what a wonderful time they had, whilst bitching about everyone else. Not for me, I’m afraid. I mean, lets face it, you spend on average (or so I’ve heard) about 220 days a year with these people. Many of whom, you cannot really stand the sight of, and can just about tolerate them for 7 hours in the day. Then you are expected to go out for the evening with them, and what’s more … enjoy yourself !!!!!!

   I managed to get a few of presents for Mrs H today. That takes the total to five. I have had to leave them in the car boot. I’ll take them out on Sunday, and wrap them then. I have no real idea what else to get now. It is always the same. Every Christmas, and birthdays come to think, do I struggle to find something.

Another day .. another idiot

/ Tony / 1 Comment

   Well, another small problem with the system. Nothing major, and it should be fixed by Monday. No one is worried, well no one of any importance anyway. So why on earth, do the idiots think it’s fun and/or clever to complain ? Why, if they encounter some problem, don’t they just say I’m having a problem ? Why the silly comments ? Say what you mean !! You are supposed to be intelligent !! I’m supposed to treat you as if you are intelligent !!

That’s a relief …. well sort of ….

/ Tony / 1 Comment

   The software upgrade went as well as can be expected, with only one problem. Wrong build !!! The version was correct, but the build was wrong. As a consequence, certain parts of the software failed. So who’s fault was that ? The software house for sending the wrong client build?? Our IT department for packaging the wrong client build??? Well the IT department will say, that they packaged the client build that they were sent. I can believe that that could be the case. However (enter Hercule Poirot) the upgrade files that had been copied to the server, contained the correct client build !!!!! So the dilemma is, where did the wrong build come from, and why are there two builds ??? Once again I feel the answer is down to a lack of communication between the software house and our IT department. The next major project, is moving the whole data file structure to the new SAN storage area. This time, I will take a more pro-active role, and will insist on a detailed project plan. This will not go wrong.

   On a different tack, the eldest rang his Mum today, to apologise for his money mismanagement. I don’t know if he meant it, but no one asked him to ring, so maybe there is something there.

   My ‘Speed Awareness Course’ invitation came through today. I need to log on to a website to arrange a course and pay the £60.00 course fee. I’ve been getting lots of ‘expert’ advice people who have been in the same situation. Advice ranging from challenging the accuracy of the speed camera, to pay the fine, but send £60.01p !!! Apparently, the latter will stop the points going on, as the police cannot send me a refund for a penny, and they cannot keep the penny, so the point do not go on. Do I look stupid !!!! If they cannot process they payment, because of something I have done, then the law says that ‘I have failed to pay the fixed penalty’ and the case will proceed to court. End of story.

Hmmmf

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   A little pissed off tonight. The eldest’s bank statement came today (it is addressed to here) and it shows that he is overdrawn. He has been over his overdraft limit, and so has a £25.00 charge. Mrs H is a little upset to say the least. He just does not seem to get it. You cannot spend what you don’t have !!! He must be one of the minority in Uni, that does not have some kind of job. He claims, that there isn’t any, but you need to get off your arse and go and look for a job !!!!! It is no good going into a couple of shops/bars with a CV, and expecting them to welcome you with open arms. He needs to walk the streets of the City, and ask in every shop/bar/supermarket/pub, and keep on doing that until he finds one. There might not be a job today, but tomorrow there might be !!!!

   Tomorrow is a big day. The famous software upgrade! I was full of expectation, until I heard who was doing the work. W*** !!! this guy leaves a lot to be desired. He talks very slowly (with a slight West Country accent), and leaves me with a lot less faith than I had yesterday. Some of the questions he was asking, I would have assumed that those questions had been answered. The test upgrade went reasonably well, but there were issues there too, although they were sorted at the time. I would have thought, that the person who did the test would have been the ideal person to do the upgrade. I await the outcome with baited breath.

A good Sunday

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   Well the panto is over for another year. Eldest went back to his flat this evening, so his flatmate will be happy. His drama friend B** stopped the night last night. After the show, they have a kind of a wind down session, with food and a few (sic) drinks. They both polled in about 2:30am and settled down in the conservatory with a bottle of fine ale each. S**** asked if it was okay for B** to stay, and that he would be okay on the sofa. I brought him my dressing gown, as unfortunately we do not have  any kind of blankets. I went back to bed and slept until about 4:30am, when I heard S**** coming upstairs to bed. Heaven only knows what they could have had to talk for so long.

   Youngest has had a good day. Another day with no medication, and like yesterday no major incidents or episodes. There was just one time when he got upset, but that was because I had put the wrong file on the disc he wanted. Understandable. He has actually been quite good fun over the past few days. Christmas Day will be an interesting time. There will be a lot of people here on that day. We are having K***s Mum and Dad, her sister and partner and two kids, plus a dog. I’m not sure if we will get away with no medication that day.

A busy day at home

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   It was the school Christmas Fayre today. Mrs H was running the Tombola for a change (she is usually in the kitchen), and she had her niece to help her. It is hard work when she is here, as she is quite energetic, for want of a better word.

   Last night of the panto tonight. It all went very well. The first half was not as good as then second half. But Saturday night, all hell lets loose, when the official script becomes a distant memory.

  Heavens only knows what time he will get in. They usually have a wind down session at the end, a bit of food and drink, but it sometimes goes on for quite a while. He has to be back at the village hall at around 11:00 in the morning to help tidy up. They are then going for a meal at a local pub, as a kind of celebration. He says he is going back to his flat in the evening. I think his flat mate is missing him a bit.

   Youngest has not had his medication today. I’m going to try and keep him off it tomorrow too. There has been a couple of minor ‘episodes’, but nothing to really mention. This will be the first full weekend with no medication at all. Fingers crossed.

Nearly the weekend

/ Tony / Leave a comment

Work has gone according to plan today. I knew that there was not going to be too much to do this afternoon, so I paced myself during the day. I got most of what was to do done completed. Just a couple of mail merges with Excel, and it will all be done. ——– Right, that’s them done. I’ve another two to do on Monday. I suppose I could finish them today, but then again … maybe not.

I’m going to watch the panto tonight. They have had a couple of performances, so all the major mess-ups should be strightened out now. I’m looking forward to a good laugh. Mind you, one of the Dames does take a walk into the audience and pluck some unlucky person to go up to the stage. As I’m now ‘one of them’, as they so kindly say, this could be me !!!!! I’m not too sure if I’ll go to the pub after the show. I’d better take some money just in case.

Tiring day

/ Tony / Leave a comment

   It seemed to be a real tiring day today. Took the eldest to Uni for 09:00am this morning, which meant I was not in work until 30 minutes later. Of course that meant 90 minutes less time in the day, so work was quite steady.

   Have you heard the new Sony advert ? the one with the girls singing Sweet Child of Mine ? Well it turns out to be a Swedish band called Taken by Trees. I think it is a brilliant version of a classic song.