Busy

But not frantic...

Best part of the day was an online chat with Cousteau-cub first thing.

Rest of the day went much as usual, though part of the drive home was interrupted by a teleconference.

Nice to be home.

Licenses

Yes, again.

This time it is to report that after stripping the software off of the laptop, clearing the registry, and deleting all the directories that seemed vaguely associated with it, the Gorse Fox finally managed to get the software working. This is the outcome of several days of effort.

Who says computers are hard to use?

Good day

The traffic was kind as GF headed across country, making up for the slower than usual start involving a trip to the diesel shop.

Work went well, and GF seems to have picked up another side project. What is nice is that it is back in the media space and closely aligned to a project he was working on eighteen months ago. Will have to see how it works out, and what GF can do to ensure the experience pays off.

Disgust

The Gorse Fox rarely gets seriously wound up. Today was one of those rare cases.

Why?

A bunch of well fed, middle class, intellectually challenged protestors marched on Rothamstead to complain about the development of GM crops. Their misplaced protest ignores the fact that GM crops have been responsible for saving, quite literally, millions of lives across the world. Indeed the use of GM could be the only way that the world has any chance of sustaining its burgeoning population.

How dare these ill-informed do gooders preach their anti-GM creed, the cost of which is death and starvation across wide swathes of the planet.

Triumph

Like the motorcycle manufacturer – there is a touch of irony hidden within.

Roy Hodgson started his reign as England football manager with a “triumph” of Norway. The Gorse Fox knows that Norway are difficult to beat (it comes from running round the fjords)… but whilst the team won, it was hardly a triumph.

Watching the game reminded the Gorse Fox of the school playground. He makes the following observations:

1. It doesn’t matter how much your club pays you, if you give the ball away each time you receive it, then you are worthless.
2. Defending is an art form beyond the ability to just hoof the ball up the pitch to the opposition.
3. Passing the ball to your goalkeeper is just giving the ball to the opposition by proxy. Since Paul Robinson, there has not been an England goalkeeper who can distribute the ball accurately.
4. If you retain possession of the ball your opponent cannot score (though you could always do something stupid and score an own-goal).
5. Every attack does not have to culminate in an immediate attempt on goal. Patience and mobility may provide a better opportunity.
6. If your team mate on the ball seems to be having trouble, MOVE, and give him an outlet – don’t just stand there wondering how he’ll get out of it.
7. Kick-and-run as a strategy was discredited when Howard Wilkinson was around – it is unlikely to return (even in the playground).

Irrational

Somehow it doesn’t seem right that some software designed to help you design computer systems is so hard to get working. Finally cracking the licensing issues and installing the prerequisite database software, Gorse Fox thought he’d be off and running. Fat Chance. Whilst the installation confirms that the underlying databases have been built – the software seems incapable of accessing them. And colleagues wonder why the Gorse Fox often ends up building his own tooling!

Fabulous weather today. The car was alerting the Gorse Fox that it needed a service so it was left at the dealer at the start of business. Late afternoon the call came through confirming the service was complete, so GF took a walk along the beach to the dealership.

Licenses

Gorse Fox has been working at home. It was varied but started with some effort directed towards some system modelling software. Licensing problems were eventually overcome, but GF still has some residual issue defining the correct encyclopaedia as its basic repository.

GF had volunteered to help set up some elective sessions at a forthcoming event. A couple of hours in the middle of the day was spent writing the synopses for a choice of sessions which would be discussed later in the day.

GF also had to deal with the closure of a performance improvement plan for a colleague. This had proved successful as the focus has clearly helped him adjust his working behaviour and GF has no doubt that he will go forward from this with a positive and improved attitude.

The final excitement of the day was the arrival of Gorse Fox's Raspberry Pi.m More on this in the future, but it is essentially a £30 bare bones computer which you have to build and develop. Sounds like a "project".

Meetings

Gorse Fox seems to be spending the whole day in meetings or teleconferences. In many cases these are informative and productive.
It would be nice if today's complied.

Licenses

Starfleet likes its troopers to use its products where possible. This, to be honest, makes sense - or at least it would do, if only it made it a little easier to obtain the correct licenses to allow you to run the code. GF has spent several hours trying to license a particular tool. This requires a Host Name and a Host I'd. Code is provided to look up the name and I'd and allow them to be cut and pasted into the license. Having tried this, GF can confirm it is broken and consequently he cannot run the tool.

Meanwhile, in real life, Keith the plumber returned and worked from first thing through to mid afternoon. Overflow sorted, finally.

Interesting

Well, it was for the Gorse Fox. He found his way back down to Bristol and caught up with last week's activities. He started to experiment with linking a drawing tool to a spreadsheet. At first he failed to achieve much of value, but after fiddling about for a while, the process became clearer and it may now become a part of the regular toolkit.

Talking of tool kits, the Silver Vixen reports that Keith the Plumber has spent most of the afternoon sorting out a leaking overflow. As usual, he has done a super job, though will be returning tomorrow to finish.

Aftermath

Well as the Gorse fox remembers it, it was Geography after math.

However, returning to the point, Chelsea's win will please Cousteau-Cub but means that Spurs are denied Champions League football and are destined for the Europa League next season. Disappointing.

A quiet day today

Support

It is difficult. Natural reaction is to support the English team... But if they win, then Spurs miss out on Champions League football next season.

Concern

GF and the Silver Vixen are still concerned over Cousteau-cub’s health – seems she may have dengue, or appendicitis… The main concern is the lack of positive diagnosis.

Graduation

Well, that’s probably an exaggeration, but the Gorse Fox has completed the course that he was attending – and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is so nice to switch off and do some serious education occasionally.

Mid-afternoon, GF was asked to present to the class and explain the rationale and the tooling he used to create a massive system design for a well-known broadcast organisation. This seemed to go down well.

Leaving Winchester at peak of the rush hour increased the time for the journey home by 50%… but it had been a good week.

At the chalkface

Another long day near Winchester. The course is really very good and GF is learning a lot.

Good news is that we already have three new viewings booked.

On course

As we try to pick up the pieces, GF is at least home overnight as he is attending a course at Starfleet near Winchester during the day.

Course is good and being conducted by Deep Blue which makes it fun

Silver Vixen has been controlling matters. Back in touch with the agents, back in touch with the builders, and back in touch with the solicitor.

Pooh

Buyers have pulled out. Not amused.

Progress

Again the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen have turned round the problem and thrown it back. The calls made to the Estate were fruitful, and an email confirming the consent has been received by our Solicitor. This has been sent straight to their solicitor with a request for Exchange of Contracts.

On top of this, GF has heard from his nutty cousin confirming that there will be a Canadian contingent at his Belated Birthday Bash in the summer.

The only negative news is that Cousteau-cub seem to have Dengue. Our thoughts, prayers, and wishes are with her. Hopefully she will have a quick recovery.

Just stuff

Incredible end to the football season. At least Spurs finished fourth, but the Gods of football can be capricious... And the forces of darkness managed to come third. Now we just have to see whether we make it to the Champions League.

Holding Pattern

The holding pattern continues. Day was spent working with the virtual 3d models of what we could do if ever the move goes ahead. It was the first really sunny day for a while, so it seemed a shame to sit inside, but GF wanted to “see” what an orangery might look like at the back of the house.

Eventually, with the illustration complete and printed, it was time to escape to the garden and spend some time enjoying the sunshine and listening to the gentle lapping of the waves.

Least Resistance

It is often easier to take the path of least resistance (in fact, the Gorse Fox would assert that by definition, that is the case). So it is that the latest demands of the purchasers’ solicitors were dealt with. Letters were exchanged and the Gorse Fox contacted members of the Board of Directors of the Estate. A universal response declaring the stupidity of the request was followed by a willingness to help and close the matter down. Again, we have turned matters round with 24 hours or so… so let’s see what they come up with next.

Meanwhile the Gorse Fox spent a frustrating day fighting with some of Starfleet’s internal systems. He needed to approve some professional certification cases, but the tool used to do this was intent on descending into a recursive error. The only way out was to crash the system. After losing this battle following several hours of effort, GF sent a message to the powers that be to explain the problem and to tell them to register the approvals for him.

Opportunity came up to help with another project. Unfortunately, and you may find this hard to believe, this one is not going all tickety-boo. The dilemma facing the Gorse Fox is: can he really make a worthwhile difference when all he can offer is a day or so each week on a programme that has been running for a year and has another 6 months to run? He certainly needs to think about how he would agree some sensible terms of reference.

Frustration

Despite a good day at work, the Gorse Fox is frustrated. A letter arrived from the solicitor, and again the buyers’ solicitor is prevaricating. GF is so cross that he cannot respond tonight. This will take a cool head in the morning.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the Silver Vixen spent the afternoon out at the shops with Urban-cub looking for the odd items that will assist the smooth running of life in general. She shuffled through the front door behind a stack of storage crates of various sizes and accompanied by a nice table runner for the seemingly mythological new house.

Ribs

It was a fairly ordinary, though quite productive, day at the office. Nothing out of the ordinary to report, just the usual dissembling from certain parties and frantic will to succeed from everyone else.

It was clear, as the day came to an end, that the Gorse Fox was in need of a plate of ribs. Climbing into his personal transport module he headed for Cribbs Causeway and a a plate of TGI Friday's finest.

Back out west after a very long drive this morning, GF has been trying to maintain composure whilst frantically trying to respond to a slew of questions from people who haven't read the material that has been written for them.

On top of this we have the latest from the Estate Agent relaying that the purchasers want the Estate agreement (not Council, or Planning Dept - they have that) for the extension that was built 25 years ago. Clearly this was prior to GF & the Silver Vixen owning the house and clearly they have not read the Deeds that were provided. The Deeds show that the house does not need said permission or acceptance. We may well get them retrospectively, but that would set an uncomfortable precedent for the purchasers. At this stage, we will do anything to move things along.

More 3D

Another day spent with the 3D modelling tools – interspersed with a wander through GF’s latest expenses and a trip to fill the car with diesel ready for this week’s trip to the West Country.

3D

Most of the day was spent in a physically vegetative state whilst the brain was frantically processing shapes, perspectives, cut-aways, and projections for a 3D model of the new house.

Sketchup (free from Google) is such a powerful tool, but has some usability quirks that take a little self-education – fortunately there are many hundreds of YouTube videos to coach you on the techniques.

Long way to go still, but various models are taking shape.

Acers

Over the years the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen have collected a number of acers (the trees, not the computers). When moving to Sussex some got left behind as they were too well established to disturb – others came with us, but of these several were lost to the harsh salt winds, or not finding the right spot to plant them.

Now we have quite a selection of very healthy specimens. Once again we prepare to move and have to concede that quite a few of these will have to stay behind. We received a voucher during the week which advertised a 50% discount at a local garden centre and so headed off to examine what was available. We have returned with 4 new specimens in pots. These will come with us and will make up for some of those that will be left behind.

Reflections

So the mid-term elections have taken place and several people have voted. The result has been a swing towards Labour which the media are portraying a “huge”.

The Gorse Fox, having watched this cycle many times, sees it as entirely predictable. This time, however, it disappoints him. This time, the circumstances are different. The Country is trying to recover and now doesn’t like the treatment.

The voters seem to be like heroin addicts – two years ago they finally broke away from the pusher who had systematically destroyed their hopes and lives; now they are going through a painful “cold turkey” to put them on the road to recovery but they have bumped into their pusher again. They have forgotten the destruction wrought at the hands of the pusher, they just don’t want any more medicine.

Thinking of the “pusher” reminds the Gorse Fox of a great definition for the Labour party in today’s paper:

Ineptocracy – a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers

That’s better

There is something cathartic about seeing your solicitor and having a good whinge. Silver Vixen and the Gorse Fox have had the opportunity to chat with our solicitor and raise the various issues that had been delaying progress.

Following on from that, GF phoned the Estate Agent and reprised the whinge for his benefit. Said Agent, concerned for his commission, leapt into action and we soon had a return call with some more positive news.

Trouble

The Silver Vixen has received a call from the purchasers. It is clear that this is not going to be an easy transaction as they seem to be finding one reason after another to prevaricate. At least there is a scheduled meeting with the solicitor tomorrow.

Short week

Well, GF suspects that history will record that it lasted 168 hours, but in terms of the time spent in Bristol, GF was able to foreshorten the week to accommodate a Starfleet meeting scheduled for Thursday in London. Early afternoon saw the usual planning and design meetings but GF still managed to slip into his stealth vehicle at a sensible time and sweep across country to Sussex and home.

Broadband - not

In preparation to move GF contacted BT several weeks back to cease service at old home and install services at new one.

Last week GF called BT to reset the dates. Well so he thought. Actually they they handled one line impeccably, the other line (carrying our broadband) was cancelled despite the clear instructions.

GF has now spent a stressful 30 minutes trying to find someone in BT who could fix said cock-up. Fortunately a lady called Shelley put herself out and went on to recover the situation. Only tomorrow will tell if it is sorted, but GF is confident she knew what she was doing.

Flippers

The drought in Southern England continues with another day of torrential rain.

Tasty

Indian buffet in hotel bar - result!
(And very tasty it was too)

Good start to the week

It has been a good day. A start at the client office in Surrey saw a good clear analysis of the various ways folk would access the systems and the different supporting technologies over the life of the project.

After that, GF headed across to Bristol where he was able to write up his notes and have a long and interesting discussion with his manager... But perhaps more on that at a later date.

Quiet

Outside it has been stormy. The rain thrashed down, the wind battered the house.

Inside, all was quiet. For a change we had a peaceful day - no more shifting, no more dumping. Done.
Well not quite, there remain a few items to dump next weekend, but essentially we are done.

Wood chuck

How much wood must a wood chuck…

The day started with a member of the Silver Vixen’s coven turning up, with her familiar, and a large enclosed trailer on the back of her broomstick. The Gorse Fox had a lot of wood left over from various projects, and rather than just ditch it, he was happy to see it go to a new home where it could be fashioned in startling new forms, or burned in wood-burning stoves.

Once the wood had been chucked, the Gorse Fox cast his attention to the ten crates of books. At the re-cycling centre there is a large container for books and games – so after a last minute check through the stacks of literature GF committed them to be re-cycled.

A trip to the local builders’ merchant was next – we had wanted to look at some ideas for the kitchen, and look at some lighting options; and so we wandered the aisles pointing at possibilities and making mental notes of the price points.

Alongside

Alongside the day job GF still had a few I's to dot and t's to cross for the solicitor. Also, we had to visit the new house for the final inspection and the familiarisation.

At the end of the day, a chappie turned up to take the dining room table and chairs and the sideboard. The end of an era for these items that had been in the family for years. Sorry to see them go.

Home

Busy day and lots of progress. Documents finally released for a review. Usual trouble with trolls. GF was asked when a document would be ready and suggested end of day Wednesday, an hour later an email arrived demanding it on Monday. Water and duck's back come to mind.

Another good one

Yep, GF concludes it was a pretty good day. Not a special, nor exciting day; just a good day. Meetings were pretty fruitful, data was beginning to make sense, and phone calls were sparse.

Meanwhile back in the real world the Silver Vixen was talking with the builder's sales office. Everything is still going well.

Good day

Despite waking up at 3:20 the Gorse fox has had a good day. The first meeting of the day was at 7:15 and that set the pace for the day.

Messages trickled in during the day. Cousteau-cub had got her tickets for her summer trip home with the Coventry-Hobbit. So we are all getting excited.

Silver Vixen got a call from the floor fitters at the new house and got a chance to go along and check the way the various coverings were being laid and the way the border strips were picked out. She also managed to take and email some photos so that GF has had a chance to see the outcome.

The builder is ready to hand over the new house next week. We just need to get all the solicitors lined up.

Plan

The Gorse Fox loves it when a plan comes together (to paraphrase from an old TV programme). The email containing the photographic evidence of the remedial insulation was received by the Building Inspector. He confirmed everything was ok, and by mid-morning GF had the electronic copy of the certificate. A few seconds later - so did the solicitor!

Routing

The Gorse Fox's usual week starts with an early morning drive to Bristol. This week we had a variation on the theme. The morning started with some gentle emails at home, and the a leisurely drive up the A24 to see a colleague at the client's Surrey site. Some frantic sketching and debating filled a couple of hours and then the Gorse Fox headed down to the West Country.

With no meeting scheduled in the office, GF went straight to the hotel in order to turn the mornings research into sensible diagrams that could be verified and presented. A very fruitful afternoon.

More junk

The day was not special. There was a lot of junk queued up for a trip to the dump so GF spent a while trying to find the best loading configuration to manage it all in one trip.

Then a note arrived from Cousteau-cub. She had found some good flights for her trip home in the summer. GF checked them out and found that there was a stack of hidden surcharges. GF sent an email warning... But so far we haven't found anything better.

Blog Change

The interface to Blogger has changed. The Gorse Fox likes change, but as ever, it may take a little getting used to. What the reader sees remains unchanged. The interface for the author, however, is a lot cleaner and may take a little acclimatisation.

Rockwool

Some remedial insulation was required in the loft space. One panel of a stud-wall had not been filled. The Gorse Fox headed off to B&Q and spent some time deciding which of the products would be best and would satisfy the Inspector.

Back home the camera recorded “before”, then GF set about cutting the insulation to fit and installing it. The camera then recorded “after”, and for good measure it also recorded the insulation in all of the other loft spaces and crawl spaces. Email was sent to building inspector with all of the evidence. Now we wait.

Quotation

Working at home has so many advantages. You can carry on with the “day job” whilst clearing odd questions, and odd debates about domestic issues.

The Gorse Fox put down the phone from a conference call and was summoned by the Silver Vixen. Should we offer the old lawn mower to the chap who cut our grass? If so, would GF retrieve it from the shed. The couple of minutes it took to complete the task was useful as the mower has now moved on to its new owner.

At lunchtime the man from the teleportation removals company arrived to review the contents of the house and give us a quote for the move. The Silver Vixen was on hand to escort him, but as it was lunch time, GF did the tour.

The Starfleet travel booking system was kind enough to alert the Gorse Fox that his Passport will soon expire – again a brief interrupt saw the online forms completed and hopefully the form will arrive for signing in the next few days. (Which may be useful as GF may have to go to Copenghagen in the next few weeks).

At the end of the day a batch of questions arrived from the the Solicitor. These were quickly handled – but there is still a busy week-end ahead.

Monsoon

For the second week running the drive back from the West Country was made more interesting by some heavy monsoon-like rains. The surface of the M4 was invisible beneath several centimetres of water and the spray from the passing vehicles exacerbated the lack of visibility imposed by the rain. Again, drivers were remarkably sensible – traffic slowed, gaps were maintained, lights were on, nobody tried to change lanes and fifteen minutes later we popped out into bright sunshine.

GF’s mobile phones were giving problems. He could switch between the phones in the car, but though the connections were made and the phones could be accessed, neither was able to make or receive calls whilst connected. Will have to try this again tomorrow.

One of the removals companies turned up today to survey our stuff and give us a quote for moving it to the new house. GF was very pleased with the quote, as it was only two-thirds of what he had budgeted. Expecting a competitive quotation tomorrow from another company.

Starfleet

The Gorse Fox spent the day in the Starfleet offices in Bristol. Workshops were scheduled and a cast of thousands turned up. Various familiar topics surfaced as they usually do, but eventually we started to expose the real topics that mattered.

All in all it was quite a good day.

When GF finally escaped, he walked back into town and stopped at Picolino's for a bite to eat before heading back to the hotel to watch the football.

How Much?

Gorse Fox just wandered down to the restaurant in hotel. (He is not staying in his usual home from home). He checked the menu, checked his pulse and spun on his heels. Clearly this hotel is not familiar with Starfleet expense policy. Returning to his room he ordered room service from a different menu, at a much more reasonable price despite the "tray charge".

Inspection

It transpires that we need to undergo a further building inspection. This is now scheduled for tomorrow. SO frustrating... but meanwhile everything else seems to be under control.

Except of course GF.

He realised when he got out of the shower that he had forgotten to pack socks for the week. He raided his emergency pack to satisfy the demand for today - but it did mean an early exit from work to enable a pit-stop at Marks and Spencer.

Back in Bristol

The journey to Bristol was a bit slow. Evidently people had returned from their Easter break and were intent on clogging up the transport arteries that lead GF to the west.

It was a day with no scheduled meetings. This, by its very nature, means that it was a good and productive day. GF spent time looking for gaps in our end-to-end solution, and satisfied that there  were no gaping holes, he moved on to a review of the provision of virtual applications and virtual desktops.

The Solicitor made contact - he was have problem with the local building department - they could not find a certificate for building work we had corrected when we moved in. GF called the Council and spoke to a nice lady. He explained the situation and she checked the records to confirm that it was all signed off as satisfactory... and suggested and Urgent email may get the required paperwork. 45 seconds later she had the email. Now we just need to wait.

A chap also called the Silver Vixen. He wanted to check some brickwork for the purchasers. After a long chate with the Silver Vixen he realised he had examined the house once before and confirmed there was nothing to worry about - but he would re-visit to check.

Nice day

Betty and Barney Rubble visited (hopefully for the last time at this house). As usual we had a chance to catch up on our various activities, hobbies, and families. For lunch we headed to the Oystercatcher where we had an excellent but simple meal before heading on to Felpham and reviewing the new house.

Lofty ambitions

Living in a bungalow, with a large room occupying most of the loft, the Gorse Fox doesn’t have AN attic, as such. There is a walk-in loft space, which was emptied last week-end. But. he has several attic spaces occupying the four corners of the upstairs – each is low, has a sloping roof, and stretches a long way.

It was time to empty these. So it was that much of the morning was spent on hands and knees crawling into these spaces to retrieve boxes and crates of goodness knows what. The filtration process started and much of the material we were holding for Cousteau-cub was transferred into 3 80ltr plastic crates, clothes were vacuum packed in bags, and a few odd bits set aside for the next trip tip. Then came the next space – this had an old VCR, a DVD player, an old TV, an original IBM PS/2 20MB PC and printer and several storage boxes of books and notes from a strategy course GF attended back in the 90s.

The car was loaded and GF went to see his friends at the tip.

One of the Freecycle claimants finally turned up – a day late – for some wardrobes. Even then she only took half of them and said she would be back tomorrow for the rest. Annoying. (But then, the other residual claimant didn’t turn up at all).

Disruption

The day was peppered with distraction and disruption as GF tried to complete a document and send it out for review.

A neighbour called in – we had not met before, but have spoken to her husband several times. She turned out to be absolutely charming, but did like to chat.

With the surplus furniture advertised on Freecycle earlier in the week, several of the claimants arrived at points throughout the day to take “their” bits.

There was a call from the purchaser

There was a call from his builder

There was an urgent email from the solicitor.

Never mind. In the end everything got done and GF packed up as the early evening news began. Talking of which, it was Aintree’s “Ladies Day”. Watching the feature on the news, one has to ask “has there ever been more ironic name for an event?”

Storming through

It was a great day at work. Loads of progress made and Gorse Fox was feeling smug by lunchtime.  Several diagrams that he had been checking proved to be riddled with errors and he had a degree of fun putting them right before returning them to the authors.

The journey home was made a tad more exciting by the storm cells that were marching across the country and GF drove through brilliant sunshine, drizzle, hail, thunder and lightning and back into sunshine before heading into the next cell.

Once home it was clear that the Silver Vixen had been very busy and cleared all of the wardrobes and cabinets of their content, ready for them to be claimed by the respondents from Freecycle.

Strange Day

It was a strange day - lots of meetings, most of which were cancelled before the GF was affected. This is a good thing. This meant that real work could continue without disruption.

At lunchtime GF heard of the quakes in Aceh. He checked online and saw Cousteau-cub was on the net. He checked and Koh Lanta had received the tsunami warnings and the beaches and shops were evacuated. She headed inland and up to her house to await the all-clear. Even while we were chatting she was getting texts from the Emergency Centre providing further information. Now, hours later, all seems to be settled and safe. It was good to know that the tsunami warnings actually work and provide sufficient time for an evacuation.

At the end of the day, GF got a couple of emails from his solicitor. This evening will be spent answering questions about the house.

Back at work

It was a super start to the day. The roads were clear as many people were still on vacation. At the office the usual catch up exercise started as GF waded through a couple of weeks of messages.

Several days ago GF put some unneeded furniture on Freecycle. It finally hit the notice board today and this evening GF has been replying to all the respondents.

Back again

More clearing out - this time the loft took the brunt of the work. More detritus was identified and another car load was dispatched. Along with this load went the Gorse Fox's first IBM PS2 computer... A massive 20mb disk and a 13 inch monitor. It was sad to see this museum piece go, but it was using space and had no practical future.

The clear out also revealed six boxes of books that can go to a charity shop.

Lunch?

Just as the Gorse Fox and the wider family finished picking our way through a huge chicken, this bird dropped into the garden.

Thought about it for a bit – 170C for 3 hours? Then decided that the there wasn’t sufficient meat on the legs.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone.

The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen are expecting Urban-cub, Pistol-Pete, and his children round for lunch.

Mashup

The day has been a bit of a mashup. We started with the usual last minute clear up prior to the scheduled viewing by our purchasers. This was elevated to a degree of panic when we saw an overflow pipe dripping. GF fiddled with the water pressure coming in to the house and the dripping stopped. Everything was ready.

The purchasers arrived and were given the full room-by-room tour. He seemed like a nice chap – a bit older than the Gorse Fox – but clearly had little or no say in what was going on. She was as similar age and, escorted round by the Silver Vixen, was a maelstrom of decorative ideas as she tried to come to terms with how she would arrange the house. A couple of hours later, they left – apparently satisfied.

We had promised Urban-cub a chance to see the new house, and so collected her and Pistol Pete’s daughter. We went back round the house and noted that they had started marking up for their “snagging” and were being very pernickety. Having said that, we did spot some items they had missed, but we will get our chance to do a proper inspection before we move in.

When we got back, we had a message from another agent saying that one of their clients is now in a position to make us an offer. Whilst we are pleased to have a fall back – we would never renege on the existing offer (even for an increased amount) unless the purchaser started to mess us around.

Another trip

The Gorse Fox is becoming as familiar with the people that operate the local recycling centre, as he is his own work colleagues. Another day of clearing drawers and shelves, cupboards, crates and what have you meant another trip to the the recycling centre.

Now, GF would not be as bold as to say that everything is sorted, but would say that they seem to be under control. This weekend will probably act as the starting-gun, with the purchasers visiting and hopefully some clarity emerging on dates.

Hanging about

 The Gorse Fox was treated to a helicopter flight / trial lesson as part of his birthday present. Today was the day that had been scheduled, and so it was that GF and Silver Vixen headed off to Shoreham to pay the money and get underway.

The Silver Vixen had declined the offer to accompany us - and so we flew the 2-seater R22. She remained resolutely on terra firma and acted as official event photographer. This image was taken just after take off, where we took a bow to audience. The Gorse Fox would add that, at this point as we hung from the rotors, he was not touching anything.

Seven Years

We are advised to keep financial documents for seven years. The Gorse Fox has decided to ignore such advice. Most organisations are now able to provide online statements, and, frankly, the storage of all this information is becoming a hassle.

So the question is, what do you do with all of this filing? Gorse Fox found an organisation that will send you paper “Confidential Waste” sacks which you can fill and seal. Once sealed they will be picked up and put through an industrial shredding machine, without being opened. A certificate of destruction is provided. This seemed like just the service GF required and so he ordered five sacks. Twenty-four hours later the sacks dropped through the letter box – and the clear out begins.

A number of items of furniture will not be joining us as we move along the coast. They no longer fit with our plans. It would appear, however, that they no longer fit with anybody’s plan. An antique dealer advised that we would have trouble disposing of them.  The auction house Gorringes couldn’t even be bothered to respond to an email. But a local dealer offered us what seemed a derisory amount, explaining that the beautiful mahogany would be stripped back and painted. This seemed sacrilegious but is the reality of today’s taste.

Ever Crateful

Well the clear out continues. The Gorse Fox started going through the shelves in his study and in the ensuing sort-out, GF managed to fill a crate with old CDs, brochures, manuals, and so forth. He even found cartridges for his last-but-one printer (as they were HP cartridges, they were probably worth more than the printer itself – and for that matter, probably lasted longer).

Come the afternoon – we launched an attack on the garage. This meant sorting and disposing of partially empty paint cans, chemical potions, oils, and goodness knows what. Two car loads later we were in a pretty good state.

Brighton

 Morning chores complete, and in the face of a splendid (though chilly) day, we decided to hit the big city  and headed along the coast to Brighton.

There was a purpose behind this, beyond just a nice trip out. GF is still trying to find a painting or piece of art for his birthday. Beneath the esplanade in Brighton, nestling among the pubs, ice cream vendors, and fish and chip stalls lies several small galleries. One we had visited before, buying a painting for Cousteau-cub's 30th.

We retraced our steps and found the galleries and chatted to the artists. We did not buy anything but we have several ideas now - one of which is to commission something specific, based on one of Cousteau-cubs photos.

Galleries done, we carried on along to the pier where we strolled out along the wonderful old structure and watched the rides at the end as they threw their vistims into the air and spun them. GF couldn't help but comment that at £5 per ride it seemed expensive - but you got all the vomit you wish for. Gorse Fox has never been one for these rides!

Back into town we stopped at "Day'S" restaurant. This is an Asian buffet and boasts some 250 dishes available for your selection. This seemed like a perfect end to the trip.

Bucks

It was a glorious start to the day – though the temperature was much lower than we have been experiencing. We cannot really complain as it is still early April. GF was lucky to catch Cousteau-cub on line and managed to have a good chat and catch up on news and their recent holiday.

We had arranged to meet with the Silver Vixen’s mother and sister for some lunch and so headed up to Buckingham. After initial teas and coffees we pottered along to Woughton on the Green in Milton Keynes where we had a table booked fro lunch. The place was heaving as the weather was so nice – and whilst the food was excellent, the service was very slow.

Back in Buckingham the Gorse Fox helped SV’s sister with her new laptop whilst we heard all about her new job and they heard all about our house move.

Meanwhile, in the background Spurs beat Swansea to complete a perfect weekend (Arsenal having lost).

Clearing

The Gorse Fox suspects that “clearing” will be the predominant theme for the next month or so.

The day started with clearing some (virtual) paperwork. Solicitors, it would appear, have dragged themselves into the modern era and are now happy to exchange correspondence via email. So it was that GF received some email at close of business on Friday and was able to deal with it and respond by mid-morning on Saturday. This electronic approach must significantly fore-shorten the normal process.

The other part of “clearing” for the day was the Silver Vixen working through the kitchen and living room cupboards and drawers and ditching the detritus of the last thirteen years… and the Gorse Fox starting a similar process in his study.

White Room

We headed off to Chichester. Traffic was slow and mindless idiots queued back from every filling station in anticipation of a strike which is at least 7 days away (if it happens at all). After all, these fuel tanker drivers are so hard done by – driving up and down our motorways for £45k a year. (At this point the Gorse Fox would point out that our fuel tanker drivers in the Army drive around in Afghanistan for £17k per year).

We also learned of a woman who was decanting petrol between containers, in her kitchen. She is blaming the Ministers because the petrol vapour exploded and left her with 40% burns. Will nobody take responsibility for their own utter stupidity any more?

Once in Chichester we met with GF’s sister and brother-in-law for some coffee and then as b-i-l went off to visit some clients, we pottered around the shops, then headed along to show nano-sister where we were planning to move. After lost of ooohs and aaaahs we then headed to an industrial unit near Ford Open Prison where a chap specialises in furniture built in a New England style – this was just sumptuous and gave lots of ideas for what we could do.

At the Oyster Catcher we stopped off for dinner – and coincidentally bumped into Urban-cub and Pistol Pete. Had a lovely evening.

Starfleet Codes

Anything that involves the transfer of funds within or outside Starfleet means knowing the right code. The Gorse Fox required some new software for his laptop which though only a couple of hundred pounds, was likely to save him several days of work.

The question was, whose code should bear the cost?

The project agreed they should fund it, and revealed their code. This turned out top be wrong and was rejected. They had no other – and had been using this code for some time.

We asked the Admiral – he did not know, and certainly did not want it charged against his code. We went hunting, and finally – some ten days later – the code came through. Despite being on vacation GF logged in and completed his order; within ten minutes it was approved. GF now awaits delivery.

It’s all about knowing the right codes. It’s all Da Vinci’s fault.

Residue

Several years ago Cousteau-cub and the Gorse Fox demolished a large shed that used to occupy the east terrace. A by-product of this demolition activity was a significant volume of polystyrene sheets, several inched thick, that had been used to insulate the shed. All of this was duly stacked up in the garage loft, ready to be used again if the Gorse Fox built a new shed.

It had to go.

GF spent the morning tossing it back down the ladder and stacking it neatly. Then, over three trips, filling the car to the roof with these sheets and taking them to the recycling depot.

A residue of tine polystyrene balls littered the garage and the car, and Mr Dyson’s fine cyclonic vacuum cleaner was engaged to slurp them all up.

Paperwork

The first day of the holiday was spent with paperwork – what fixtures and fittings would remain when we moved? what is the provenance of the building etc.? This took a couple of hours to complete – then to prove we are not laundering money (chance would be a fine thing) we had to dig out passports and driving licenses to take to our solicitor. (Can anyone explain how the possession of a passport or driving license prevents us from money-laundering?)

Next we had an appointment at the new house to measure up for window dressings, to select the carpets and the flooring for the bathrooms. This all took longer than expected as there seems to be an extraordinary number of things to consider and to measure up. The one slight disappointment was the presence of a manhole cover right where we were hoping to build one wall of a conservatory – so that plan has to be adapted.

Over in paradise, it is clear from the photos that Cousteau-cub has posted, that she and the Coventry Hobbit had a lovely holiday in the Gili Islands. Can’t wait to have a chat with here and hear all about it.

Porridge and Parole

The Gorse Fox was awake surprisingly early (even for him). He pottered round until the hotel restaurant opened and settled down to huge bowl of porridge and raisins. This was real porridge – the sort that has the consistency of modelling clay, the sort that you could throw on a potters wheel and fashion your own cereal bowl. Perfect.

Work was a continuum of questions and answers, emails and responses, confusion and clarifications. It was important to clear the decks – GF has a couple of weeks parole holiday and needed a degree of confidence that all would be well in his absence.

Finally, the day was done and GF was able to head out onto the Queen’s highways and set the controls for West Sussex. The holiday had started.

Short week

It was a brilliant start to the day - the change in the clocks meant the sun wasn't up as GF headed off to work, but it was a pleasant drive, despite the normal traffic hot spots. Once in the office, there was the usual round of admin and questions, but this was augmented with some of the annual appraisal set up. Starfleet requests that we set up personal objectives and provides us with guidance as to what needs to be covered. GF started reviewing some of his staffs' objectives and also spent time reviewing his own objectives with his manager.

It is a short working week this week - GF is on vacation from close of business on Tuesday.

Sketchup

Sketch up, which GF is certain he has mentioned before, is a superb (and free) bit of software from Google. GF has spent much of the day working on developing 3D models of the proposed new house, trying to work out sizes and proportions for things that we have planned. What is most impressive, besides the software himself, is the number of YouTube videos that take you through the features and functions.

Planning

The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen spent the day considering some of the plans that we should consider for the prospective new house.

We looked at flooring samples, then went to the new garden centre to look at garden buildings and shrubs. Then back at home we reviewed the floor plans and location maps.

Survey

A nice man came to the house. He was the surveyor engaged by the potential purchasers to give the house a thorough going over. He remained with us most of the day and gave us the works. Fortunately he gave us the all clear and said that he would be writing a very positive report... And that he would like to have the money to buy the house himself.

GF also received his new work phone today. That meant a bit of set up but now everything is looking good.

Not bad

Well the budget itself wasn't too bad, though the media tried to stir up mischief by misrepresenting many of the changes.

The Gorse Fox, having had his porridge, headed into the office for what turned out to be a fairly good day. He had to present some of the solution to the PMs. By mid afternoon all the meetings were done and all the tasks were under control so GF headed back along the motorways to Sussex.

A good day, done.

Some thoughts - regarding Budgets

Old father time sent an email - some of its content was repeatable. Some was genius. The Gorse Fox acknowledges whoever the origenal source was:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Good day

Not stunning, but good. Progress on most fronts at work and progress on the move.

GF is now sitting in restaurant at the hotel waiting for his evening meal and listening to a cool beer calling his name.

Snowballing

Things seem to be snow-balling already. Letters to solicitors, calls to agents, appointments for surveyors... and at this point it looks as if the schedule is tight. Good job the Gorse Fox has some time off in the run up to Easter.

Work itself was surprisingly productive (given GF was a little distracted). Several more items got slashed off the issues-list. GF did spend some time acting as a shoulder to cry on (metaphorically) for some colleagues. Whilst GF was in a spontaneous mood, matching yesterday, he ordered a new work phone.

Gamble

It is a bit of a gamble.

It goes like this – offer received but not accepted on current house. New house selected, but pending.

New couple wander into town and show significant interest in our target house. GF drops everything and with the Silver Vixen high-tails across to the new property and lays down a deposit to ensure it doesn’t get snapped up by anyone else. If anything falls through, half the deposit disappears! But if everything works, then the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen just bought a house.

Just need to hope and pray that everything goes smoothly and that the bank will play nicely.

Reality Check

Are you aware of the following ?

The British Government provides the following financial assistance:-

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER

(bearing in mind they worked hard and paid their Income Tax and National Insurance contributions to the British Government all their working life)

• Weekly allowance: £106.00?      

REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN

(No Income Tax and National Insurance contribution)

• Weekly allowance: £250.00

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER

• Weekly Spouse Allowance: £25.00?      

REFUGEES LIVING INBRITAIN

• Weekly Spouse Allowance: £225.00

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER

• Additional Weekly Hardship Allowance: £0.00?

REFUGEES LIVING INBRITAIN

• Additional Weekly Hardship Allowance: £100.00

A  British old age pensioner is no less hard up than an immigrant/refugee yet receives nothing

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER

• TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT £6,000? 

REFUGEES LIVING INBRITAIN

• TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT: £29,900

Sad isn't it?

This is not a “pop” at refugees or immigrants. GF is proud that these people wish to come here and make a better life. GF thinks they bring a rich diversity to our country and many of them are extremely hard working. IGF welcomes these newcomers, though does believe that they should integrate – he is an implacable adversary of multi-culturalism, which he sees as divisive and damaging.

What this is is and expose of the inequities of life in modern Britain, where the old are discarded and treated with contempt. It will be interesting, as the aging population grows – thanks to post-war baby-boom – whether the silver voters will finally get a voice.

Busy or not

It was looking like a busy day. There was a load of follow-up work from yesterday’s workshop and the day was interspersed with planned calls. The morning email added to appointments.

The Gorse Fox cracked on and as the day progressed most of the calls melted away as people cancelled or forgot – this meant that the real work could be the focus. Most satisfying.

The mind turned to the realities of moving house – assuming the offer is real (and can be improved). The Gorse Fox returned to his spreadsheets, which were first crafted thirteen months ago. It occurred to him that the values he had were a year old and could do with updating. This proved to be a most satisfying exercise as the value outstanding on the mortgage has diminished quite dramatically.

Home

The workshop went remarkably well and GF managed to gather all the information he wanted.

He was able to hit the road a little earlier than expected and managed to get home a decent, if unexpected, time. Shame that the road works are causing such chaos.

Frisson

There was a certain frisson in the air. The Silver Vixen called at lunchtime to say that there was an offer on the house. Ooooh, oooh.
The amount offered was a little below GF's ideal - but if the worst came to the worst it would still work! Gorse Fox assumes this is their opening gambit for a negotiation. GF has suggested a course of action... so let's see what happens.

Back in the office the day was very successful - most of the tasks planned for the day came to fruition, and those that didn't were well on track. Tomorrow sees a day in the Starfleet offices.

Charge Codes

It has been a strange day. Nothing startling, but no big successes either. GF felt the day was somehow sub-standard.

One of the things that was troubling him was the volume of data he had in front of him that somehow needed to be illustrated - in the end he decided that he needed some new software that should allow him to automate much of the drawing process. Unfortunately Starfleet is in the middle of changing procurement systems and GF wasted a huge amount of time trying to work out the process... and how to ensure the charges were assigned to the right department.

He finally left the office and despite planning to go out for a meal, he ended heading back to the hotel and eating there. He just couldn't be bothered.

Duvet

Oh Dear. It was not a good start to the day. The Gorse Fox got up at much to the same time as usual, and though not as organised as usual, he managed to hit the road at the usual time. He drove up Kingston Lane and found the gates closed at the level crossing. He hopped down to the next crossing (which sometime skips the problem) but it made no difference. GF had to wait. The gates eventually opend and GF headed off through Angmering and up to Hammerpot. Half a mile up the the A27 GF joined the back of a traffic queue and 1hour and 20 minutes later he arrived on the hill outside Arundel, 5 miles from home. This was not an auspicious start to the journey, nor the day.

Despite that, the rest of the journey was fairly uneventful and the day spun by, though many of his colleagues were working from home because so many of the Bristol hotels were full this week (Cheltenham Festival). GF headed off to his hotel.

He queued as people checked in and eventually got to the front and was greeted by a cheery "Hello Gorsefox". (After all, he stays at the hotel frequently and is well known). There was a long pause. They couldn't find the GF's details, nor his booking. The receptionist was most apologetic regarding the delay and fact thatthe booking couldn't be found. GF smiled, and said that it was"not a problem", and "certainly not her fault". He smiled and said "Problems happen, don't worry. It's all about how you handle them, not the fact they have arisen".

It was at this point the the Gorse Fox had a crisis of confidence and checked his phone. Ooops. He had forgotten to book a hotel this week at all. He bluffed, "I can't seem to find the confirmation number". "Don't worry" she said "I'll create a new booking - after all, you are a Diamond Member, I'm not sure what the rate will be, though".

The Gorse Fox thanked her and said "Oh, the rate is easy - it should be the Starfleet rate" and went on to tell her the rate. Booking sorted, she upgraded the room and gave the Gorse Fox his key. He thanked her kindly and snuck away.

Sometimes you suspect that you should not leave the comfort of the duvet.

Reunion

What a day. The Gorse Fox met up with several friends with whom he shared his strange school days. What was interesting was that, though it has been over 40 years, we all seemed to pick up almost where we left off all those years back. Old photos, old stories and old memories flooded the restaurant.

Stunning day.

Hunting

The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen have been house hunting again. The agents had visitors to view our house, so we had to make ourselves scarce.

The hunt was pretty good as the house we looked out was promising but it does depend on our sale.

Review

The Gorse Fox had and early start as he commuted from the bedroom to the bathroom, the bathroom to the kitchen and then the kitchen to the study. No traffic, no delays. Perfect.

As he started working through his emails and the document reviews he had scheduled he got a phone call from the Teddy Bear... "any chance you could do a CTO review of a bid for a Government agency?"
GF agreed and said he should be able to find time on Monday or Tuesday. As it happened, however, the lead designer was off on vacation tonight so GF made contact and spent most of the afternoon pouring through diagrams and designs and questioning the chap. Analysis complete, he knuckled down and wrote his report. Job done.

Meanwhile, the day job still had to get done - three separate design documents were reviewed and commented upon and two documents for which the Gorse Fox was the author were extensively updated and re-published. On top of this there was a stream of telephone calls and teleconferences. It has been intense, but satisfying.

Back home

It's Thursday evening and that means GF has arrived home.

And relax...

Mr Grumpy emerges

The Gorse Fox goes to bed early and sleeps well. That is the way of the world. Last night this was not the case.

At 0046 the Gorse Fox was awake. There was a conversation being conducted in them hallway outside his room. He tried to ignore it, but there was no indication that the discussion on IT Support was coming to an end. Enough was enough. GF stumbled to the door and slammed back the bolt and the deadlock. He ripped the door open and requested in no uncertain terms that they "For goodness sake shut up, go to bed, and let everyone else sleep".

Not a word was uttered. Silence prevailed. Mr Grumpy went back to sleep. All was now well.

GF had the opportunity to spend some time at the Starfleet offices in Bristol this afternoon. It was fun because he got a chance to catch up with one of the Starfleet Admirals to whom he ultimately reports. Was flattered she remembered who the Gorse Fox was.

Saffron

The Gorse Fox is a man of habits. These habits are most noticeable when he is in hotels. GF broke one of the habits this morning. He decided not to move the phone from the bedside table to the desk. He would, after all, remember to pick it up before he left for work.

Wrong.

The question now was how honest they were at the hotel and whether the phone would still be there when he returned.

Most of the day was spent considering data relationships and how best to file some data that was not really suited nor organised in a way conducive to its further analysis or storage.

At the end of the day, the Gorse Fox really fancied a curry. There was only one sensible destination (given the location of this week's hotel) - Saffron.

One good curry later, GF returned to the hotel to retrieve his phone and settle down for the evening.

Quiet day

It was strange. It is not half term. As far as the Gorse Fox knows, the teachers are not on strike. Yet, the roads were very quiet as GF made his way across country. Arriving early he had a flying start to the day.

There was a number of planned meetings but these went by quickly even though GF seemed to pick up a number of actions.

Checked in to the usual hotel and had dinner in the restaurant on site. Now a quiet evening in front of the TV is planned.

Bash

The Gorse Fox is planning to have a bit of a Bash to celebrate the recent birthday. A February birthday is not conducive to serious partying. For this reason we have chosen a date in the summer so that we can get everyone together.

Today GF has been sending email “hold the date” cards to those invitees for whom he has an email address. This is an interesting exercise as it becomes clear that so many people change ISP and with it their email provider. If only people would realise that these tings are independent of each other and a Gmail, or Hotmail account (or the like) can stay with you whatever ISP you use. It is also interesting because you realise that so many people still don’t have email.

Obsolescence

Obsolescence is a time, like adolescence, when some device just lies there and ignores you. When you try to stimulate it, it just gives you the technological equivalent of a “whatever!!!” and continues to ignore you.

The Gorse Fox has two mobile phones. One is kept for work, the other is for family. This was deemed necessary several years ago when a certain project troll would wake up in the middle of the night with a bright idea, and choose to phone the Gorse Fox to discuss it. He also managed to receive several work calls when away on vacation. Enough was enough.The work phone can be switched off, or left behind at weekends, but the private phone is always available to the family wherever GF might be.

Yesterday, as the private phone approaches the end of its contract it went blank. It would not respond to any act of stimulation, it became adolescent… and remained like that for about twelve hours. Then GF had one last try – phone was dismantled, battery removed, SIM removed, storage removed. Everything was cleaned and re-installed, the power button was pressed and voila, the phone seems to have been restored to a useful life.

GF will take this as a warning and start considering the replacement device.

Fine Friday

Well that has been a good Friday. Gorse Fox was working at home and has managed to have an immensely quiet day – very few calls and only one teleconference early on.

This has meant that he has been able to make some serious progress on some of the project work and some of the reviews that were outstanding. He’s also had the chance to touch base with several of his team.

News

Had a viewing today. Sounds like we may have someone interested though we won't know until the weekend after next.