Things are happening and the proposed overnight bus trip for Monst has now turned into a mad dash for all of us. This all following a call from a very upset Kitty. So it's straight round to the Monklands for me to pick up a key so I can fetch Tom and for Monst to be with her Mum. Big question is will we arrive in time? A quick stop for a pee at Southwaite has me typing this and filling up on coffee, still halfway to drive.
Bad news from Scotland, Margaret is on a morphine pump which is apparently pretty end stage. So I get despatched for a take away having established there is a bus out of Liverpool at 10.15 that'll get Monst to Buchanen Street for 6.15 tomorrow morning. Monst quite naturally is beside herself and not really certain of what's going down, it all seems to be happening so fast. Much ringing around chasing advice from Helen, Annette (who unfortunately is in Denmark) and others before she rings work to tell them the news. They've given her Monday as a holiday day which gives her til Saturday before she needs to ask for more time. All I can do is be around for Monst and Cal, just can't help feeling it's not enough.
Local basket of inequalities indicators, the main purpose of the local basket of inequalities indicators is to help support local action to achieve the Government�s national inequalities targets for life expectancy and infant mortality, by highlighting information relevant to addressing the targets and assisting local areas with monitoring progress towards reducing health inequalities. It is envisaged that local areas will choose which indicators to use and monitor over time based on locally agreed priorities.
In the trip to Morrison's I noticed that Wilkinson Sword have released the Quattro suprise, suprise it has four blades. Rumours that Gillette will respond with the Mach 52 are to be dismissed as just that. But it's getting silly, this rate the closest shave your going to take is likely to slice your head off as a result of so many blades being applied to the task. Bugger it I'm just going to invest in a chainsaw and cut out the middleman.
Callum is wathing the Thunderbirds again and playing along with the action with his Tracy Island. I wathced the theatrical trailer and noticed that the Tracy Family live on an uncharted island in the pacific. Now with the mail strike the thought occured me that if it's uncharted and nobody knows where it is it must be a bugger for the postman to deliver the mail let alone the milkman.
Monst and Cal are knackered and still in bed. I want to get on top of the washing they've dragged south with them so the washing machine does it's thing while I drink tea (still haven't found the coffee or bought some more) and garden the blog. Catch up on links I've used and not put on my link list and that's cool. Plan on doing a bis of webby stuff for Fade. Need to nip to Morrison's to Cal some Scooby Doo's something for lunch and some cat food for the ever hungry Katie. Feeling kind of knackered and getting my head round Monst's tales of Margaret requesting that she just be left to die and preferably in her own bed. Monst had a torrid trip. Spoke to Tom last night and he seems to have calmed a little. Arsenal take on Leeds this afternoon, predictably loads of focus on Jermaine Pennant on the radio. I see bottle nose Ferguson is whinging that Arsenal did a deal with the FA yeah, right! I suppose Rio Ferdinand will get the book thrown at him because he plays at Manure, not. Need to visit Arseblog for a balanced view.
Once more I meet Jaffa the station cat at Warrington Bank Quay. A pleasant experience as ever. Monst's train is running a couple of minutes late but the house is done minus the bathrooms (well she has to have something to complain about) and the trick or treaters are out in force. Some top work with Sally designing a postcard and some good stuff around team briefs. My cunning plan for taking on Murdoch is stepping up a gear. Had some really good feed on the postcard stuff from Kristen. The girl's a star. Visit from one of Monst's old work colleagues, Dawn, they seem to be coming to see me thick and fast at the moment! Next one through'll be Sue Savage. Post-this cracking chinese at the Mayflower in Bold Heath. Cal had his first baked alaska experience and pronounced it 'er...yuk!'. Apparently everything with the exception of sausages is covered by this phrase.
I've reached an hour away from a tidy house and in my tradition of leaving things to the last minute decided to come into work, listen to a little Ella Guru, some Sparklehorse and a bit of Simple Kid as I get my head round the fact it's Halloween and therefore some 10 years since Monst and I got engaged. It's a time of year coming up when these rediculous milestones start coming up, so bear with me. Need to get my shit together around the stuff I need to send to Gill Isherwood for the tPCT. Maps, compasses coffee and off beat inspiration are all gonna be needed.
Healthy, wealthy and wise, nah! Early rise to finish the tidying maybe! Need some kip, need an early start, need to pick Monst and Cal up tomorrow by about 7 in Warrington, a place I seem to spend my life these days. FOI sesh today was good, we've got into the swing of it and Tracy did well with Data Protection. Andy meadows his usual funny self, top man Andy. Ken if you read this apologies for my non-appearance but the tidying needed doing and I'm still doing it.
First time I've watched the new version of Superstars. They've retained the theme, retained the ability to pack the show with people you either vaguely remember or are aware of. Odd in the location I seem to remember it being held at odd sports gaffs like Bisham Abbey (the first place I ever played hockey on astroturf as we got stuffed 14-1 by Marlow, mind you I was about 15 at the time). Johnnie Vaughan as host is a touch odd too, he seems to be taking the piss out of the whole thing. Maybe it's meant to be an ironic nostalgia thing. Nasty phone call with Tom, he's still not taking his meds and is getting quite paranoid. Not a good sign.
It's interesting to note I've yet to find anyone satisfied with help desks no matter where they are. I guess the key problem is that we all live in an egocentric world where our problems are clearly the most important and until they are solved then the world just grinds to a halt. Key gripes though seem to be similar: 1. You call a helpdesk and they fail to log the call. 2. You call again to make sure they log the call and give you a job number. 3. You call to see how the job is progressing. 4. Repeat step 3 repeatedly ad nauseum. 5. You eventually get the problem solved. What I want to know is how long I'm going to have to wait, if my jobs are really as important as I think, where I am in a queue and to have steps 1 and 2 combined into a single call or even better e-mail (you can't mail our helpdesk they refuse to accept them). Am I being awkward in wanting this? And because I don't get this I consider the helpdesk (many of whom I like as individuals and find extremely helpful once they arrive I should add) not to be client focussed and lacking in service culture. The thing is I'm also aware having chatted about the subject at length to others like Steve Marsh that they are a good helpdeks going on how bad the City Council is! Talking of Steve Marsh, he discovered the Blue CD, I'm due for a stiff talking too and it's not my fault. Still could have been worse it could have been the Care Bears..... (bring your own sick bag to hurl in).
Start to the morning is Sparklehorse, Axim installation for Sally and coffee, the latter I have yet to fetch but I'm just off to do that now................. and now I have it and my life is a bit more complete.
Sat watching the history of curry on the Beeb. That whole nostalgia TV with too many minor celebs but strangely interesting. Just found out from it that Anthony Worrell-Thompson lives Henley way. Is it his fault Brakspears left the town? Tom had the CPN ans psych social worker out today. Didn't go down well. Bad night for Margaret too so Monst not a happy bunny. He's still not taking his meds. Adam's been doing some good link work with SPEAD in Sefton. Interesting stuff but will it lead to me jumping on peoples toes?
Sally's Axim appeared..... brought no doubt by the shopkeeper from Mr Benn. Weird or what.....
Confession time, I got sent to buy a Blue CD so 'All Rise' was purchased to be wrapped in a plain paper wrapping. To rinse the taste out of my head Sparklehorse's 'Good Morning Spider' was purchased. Helpdesk news, once more we chase the Axim job that has been with them since August. News is the helpdesk have yet to action the e-mail from Dell.
Try the Department for International Development's User Guide in pdf. You any the wiser?
Makin' Time (scoot down the page for the relevant review) wake the library with thier soulful brand of Vox Continental soaked mod. Cool that a coffee and I'm set up for the day. What more does a loopy geezer need. Arsenal beat the might of Rotherham in the Carling Cup (so much better when it was just the Worthless Cup). Rotherham, eh! Dangerous for Carling that's William Hague land so don't expect there to be much beer left round those parts after he's hoovered it up, I don't think.
Nick is my Uncle who still lives in the family home in South Stoke. A plumber by trade and poacher by nature he is the one relative that I really cherish. Word from my folks is he's sold half his garden for building for 70 grand. Trouble is this has all been done ona nod and a wink down the pub. My old drear works at a solicitors and Nick's looking for a freebie to firm it all up. Some hope them boys'd charge you for the tea they forget to offer you (mind you the guy I use is now running a B and B on the Isle of Wight so you might get a cup of tea out of Paul as well as a bed). Anyway the old fella is going to drag him in to see Mary at Hedges. She is making sure he gets a fixed fee. As for his poaching after years of smoking the only thing he could poach these days would be a deaf egg.
Margaret had a dreadful night and is back in hospital. She's in pain, feels nauseous and Monst was copping the flack. Not good. The other bad news is her white cell count continues to rise. In consequence things are a touch gloomy on the phone between here and the north. Still she's had some co-proxomol and is a little more comfortable. Away from Margaret, Tom continues to fail to take his meds to the extent that I'm noticing over the phone. This is also not good. Just to cheer myself up I watch a programme on Kristallnacht, in the 'Days That Shook the World' series. An interesting drama-doc which was more than a little chilling (which to be honest was a bit of a relief I'd hate to be unaffected by that sort of thing). So thank non-existent deities that 'The Vicar of Dibley' is on later to give me a giggle. Currently watching the mess that is Bob Marley's Estate. Music is mighty fine. Other news is my Blogger Hoodie has turned up. South Liverpool bloggers must have fashion item!
Trying to explain exemptions to requirements for disclosure in human for FOI. Don't think I'm getting anywhere with it fast. The big trouble is keeping it brief and to the point without losing any sense of meaning. Aaaargh! Some interesting and valuable comments back from Adam re:tPCT bid. Big question is will Gill Isherwood use the suggestions? Need to chat to Val about it and work out the best route to feed them in.
Mailing list complete I mailed the SHA (and various other people it later transpired....) to say get yer Athens password and if they had any queries just like the shopkeeper in Mr. Benn I'd appear as if by magic. So the lovely Jayne Bancroft drops me a mail, the Blackberry does it's little shimmy in the hoslter and I don my Fez and hike up to the third floor. Cool little chat job done and back downstairs to meet Dave Rowson who gives me a heap of annual reports for distribution. Cool. Chat with Peter, Jean, Clare and Carol as I do my FOI thang. Nip to see Liz Calder about modernisation for Ewan and given a good lead. Graham Jelly (not Leanne's Jelly that went in the bin the other day or to a place where Jellies are happy depending Tracy did with it) beards me about FOI. Good sesh then. Back to a few calls and a need to rejig our FOI and DPA presentations.......
Just created myself a mailing list for the SHA people. It saves me having to rely on the lovely Clare Newman all the time to get the message around. So it's more fun and frolics at Stockton Heath today. Don't know why but I feel quite down at the moment. Must be missing the folks. Need to find the Modernisation geezers while I'm up there for an idiots guide to modernisation.
Apparently a revised SLA with the SHA is waiting for me in my mailbox at work. I could forward it to myself here via the Blackberry but it gives me an excuse to make an early pre-SHA trip to Hammy House where coffee awaits me (still can't find the jar here). Currently waiting for the spin cycle on the washing machine to kick in because that's where the lights fused on Saturday. Will it happen again? Taking the night off from thinking about work to closely, start it all again in the morning.
Saturday saw the washing machine die on us, or at least it caused the fuse board to trip repeatedly, then today the data projector gets awkward. Tonight both are revived and functional. Freaky Lazarus gig or what, mind you it makes sense following the crap stir fry I cooked. No flavour, no taste and just awful on the other hand it might just be no reason for eating with Monst and Cal up in Scotland. Word from up north is Margaret has lost loads of weight and there is some debate as to whether it's the antibiotics (she has a penicillin intolerance and the antibiotics may be of a related variety) or the chemotherapy. Either way it isn't good news. Journey up went well and Cal is behaving himself.
FOI gig apalling, bedevilled by technical problems and a general lethargy. I was very poor a 3 out of 10 but very little give from the other side too. Trouble is how do you make FOI and Data Protection interesting. I have until Wednesday to find out.
Here I am preparing for this first FOI gig, putting together handouts etc. It'll be interesting to see how it goes down. The plan is to focus on handling requests because that's going to be the sharp end of the whole process. If I can get over the idea that access to information is a right and that requestors are not a pain but part of usual business and we should develop a service culture towards them, then job done. Already lining up a more formal detailed meeting with the data analyst crew. Now there is a bunch that are a tad concerned by this brave new world. Other than that I need coffee, gonna have to stop being a lazy git and make some!
Not my strongest suit and given that I have to be in Stockton Heath again tomorrow and it's our update with Adam at which we usually share knowledge, have a good time and get the lowdown on what's going down around the place shortly before I'm due to leave to talk about FOI to the gathered hordes..... Callum's just declared it's bed time because he wants to watch the Thunderbirds. Going to be a mad dash round the TV tonight as Monst and I wish to view mutually exclusive programming. Still it'll give me time for a long hot bath with Samuel Pepys..... explain that in the divorce court!
One point lead then at the top of the league. Chicken in the oven and I need to peal the spuds for todays roast. All winds up with Scrapheap Challenge and as I missed last weeks I don't have a clue what the challenge is. So normal Sunday service is resumed. Good old Radio 5 are whinging about the commentary position at Shite Hart Lane, good for Steve Claridge remind them what a dump the place is.
From the cinema I know it's 1-1 but don't know any details because headline score bothered me. So now I've checked out the Beeb properly I now know that Paolo Di Caneo scored first and the sublime Thierry Henry equalised. From the tone of the radio commentary sounds like a frenetic game and Charlton are going at it hammer and tongs. One point takes us back top but three would be nice. Now I need to play sound lotto with Callum.
Cal and I hit the Ben and Jerry's, he gets Chocolate Fudge Brownie and I end up with Cookie Dough which I'm told by the usherette involves vanilla. She fails to understand my mirth which means she's never visited here or read the People, boith of which recomend her as a sane individual. The interval here is mayhem but in a fun sense, could do without the ragtime joanna though. 0-0 last time I looked in.
At a time that I should be getting ready to listen to Arsenal take on Charlton I get despatched to the Woolton Picture House to see Finding Nemo again. The excuse is to give Monst a break from Cal given she has a week of him alone up at her Mum's next week. Still at least it'll keep my blood pressure relatively normal and my use of expletives down. Plus the Wooly is one of my fave places to see the flicks. It is a flea pit in the trad style. They don't quite spray you with Lysol but ther is a mid screening ice cream break.
Libraries are brothels for the mind. Which means that librarians are the madams, greeting punters, understanding their strange tastes and needs, and pimping their books. That's rubbish, of course, but it does wonders for the image of librarians. from Guy Browning in the Guardian on the 18th. Now I've jokingly suggested that I might open a dating agency when I was Assistant Librarian at Barnet College of Nursing and Midwifery (RIP) but the Data Protection Act got in the way, as an income generation scheme. Maybe I was ahead of my time and perhaps a little to polite, I should have just been a pimp.
Sign the petition to remind the EU just how stupid Software Patents are. They will strangle open source software and if you want to know how absurd they are look at the case of British Telecom who own a US patent on Web hyperlinks (US4873662, "Information handling system and terminal apparatus therefor") and has apparently decided to sue all Internet Service Providers in the United States for infringement on their patent.
I guess the mysterious photos of Kylie were of her bum for this article in the People (I'm too mean to buy the paper because I'd just get frustrated with the non-news) mind you finding the Kylie thing was kind of educational I now know as a result of seeing a Dear Dr Pam (Pam Ayres I guess) 'The word vanilla comes from Latin for vagina due to the pod's similarity to female genitalia. Vanilla is also popular in aphrodisiac drinks. Any way you look at it, vanilla could be interesting.' Mind you I'm not certain I wanted to know that scintillating fact. So to celebrate all the Kylie related crap have the lyrics to the BMX Bandits 'Kylies Got a Crush On Us' Well they can't believe their eyes (believe their eyes) We're regarded as a big suprise (big suprise) And all the pop stars stare at the length of our hair. Whoah. (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us) We're the best band to miss the charts (miss the charts) We're the only band who hate the arts(hate the arts) And all those dope heads freaks said they've known us for weeks. Whoah. (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us) And all the pop stars stare at the length of our hair. Whoah. (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us) Got A Crush On Us (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us) Got A Crush On Us (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us) And all the pop stars stare at the length of our hair. Whoah. (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us) "We've got some really spunky guys out there. Get your hands up" And all the pop stars stare at the length of our hair. Whoah. (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us) Got A Crush On Us (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us) Got A Crush On Us (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us) (Got A Crush On Us) Kylie's Got A Crush On Us (Got A Crush On Us) Kylie's Got A Crush On Us (Got A Crush On Us) And all the pop stars stare at the length of our hair. Whoah. (Kylie's Got A Crush On Us)
