June 2007 Archives

And believe me, it wasn't just the comedy on the stage

Barry at work had mentioned his son was performing some comedy at The Market Theatre over in Hitchin. So it sounded like a good idea, and a bit of a change from the normal Old Town and Chicago's liver abuse of a Friday

First thing, how cheap are the trains? And did you know you get discount if there's 3 or more traveling together? Ended up paying just over £1 return each, BARGAIN

First funny moment was the arrival at the Sunrunner pub. Sy had told us all it was a real ale oasis, except it wasn't. Hard to believe, but Friday evening and all the pumps were off. So, a wait around while they put a couple of beers on, and then a rush to grab a pint before heading off to the theatre.

The comedy was good I thought, reminiscent of the times back at Wilberforce Colege and Hull Pushbike Theatre. Mixed feelings with the rest of the gang tho, and plenty of points of discussion when we eventually got back to the pub. You can get a feel for it at their mySpace page - DoggettandEphgrave

The final event of the evening was finding The Nightingale, a pub I'd found on the Hertfordshire CAMRA Branches Pubs Database back in April as a regular pub for Tring beer.And true to the record, they had Colley's Dog on tap. Also, we found, a load of others as they were in the middle of a beer festival. If only we'd known on the way into town, least we'd have gotten some beer. Never mind, there's always another weekend in Hitchin

And nope, I'm not on about Mr Blair!

Day itself went well this morning. Got there on time, and after the last 2 days, didn't suffer with delays, powercuts. But the 8:08 was packed out, worse than a tube train Bumped into Andrew on the way over, he's off on another trip for our European shareholder. Just about squeezed on, but it'd have not worked if the train wasn't going straight to London. We only stayed on because the doors closed

Bonus with getting here on time, was breakfast Primavera do the best breakfasts of any company I know. Well, apart from Ian's Big Breakfast Specials at GT Electrical on a Saturday

Then the journey home wasn't without incident. First off, someone fell ill on the tube at Hammersmith, so ALL Piccadilly services stopped. Quick nip over the road to the Hammersmith & City, only to slip up in the rain and crack my shins on the tube, ouch And finally, once home, a note through the door from the RSPCA, and Spitfire, limping around with something stuck in his paw

Off to bed before anything else happens

Been surfing all day during the breaks, finding a whole raft of amazing shots of Hull and the surronding area. Nige has also sent some unbelieveable pics off his phone, showing the battle home yesterday. Mum took over an hour and a half to get across town , to then find the back garden had turned into a lake. For those who know the area, look out for the pics on Newland Ave railway bridge on the Hull Daily Mail's YOUR PICTURES of more flooding in Hull 4 link below.

Amazingly, some roads are STILL closed tonight

Flood Pics
Flooding chaos
Flooding chaos 2
Flooding chaos 3
Flooding chaos 4
YOUR PICTURES of more flooding in Hull
YOUR PICTURES of more flooding in Hull 2
YOUR PICTURES of more flooding in Hull 3
YOUR PICTURES of more flooding in Hull 4
YOUR PICTURES of more flooding in Hull 5
BBC NEWS - In Pictures Flooding in Yorkshire
BBC - Humber - The day the rains came down...
BBC - Humber - Flooding Pictures

On my Primavera What's New 6.0 - Training for the next 5 days. It's part of the Authorised Internal Trainer (IAT) agreement, attending the course and getting updated on the latest developments in Primavera software. It's much easier going than the release 5 training update back in 2005, mainly due to using the BETA since April. What's good, is seeing the fixes and enhancements I've logged in this release. I know, it's unlikely they're all down to me, but it's cool to see something I found, such as a bug, no longer there, shows they're listening

Just realising, having bumped into a number of people I last saw back in 2005, just how long I've been supporting and training Primavera at work. In fact, it'll be over 4 years this year since that Boot Camp in San Fransisco. Hmmm, time for a change perhaps

I've also got internet access, and a good hour for lunch. So updates to the blog will be flowing all this week

Off to meet up with Gareth and Andrew afterwards for a beer. They're down in London for a meeting too, so it seems ruide not to go and have a pint in one of the many good hostleries down here

Back in Stevenage once more, and it's a tad drier than up in Hull. One of the roads was nearly impassable when we left, so goodness knows what it'll be like in the morning. More rain's forecast too

Took the bridge route (£2.70!), as the roadworks on the A1 roundabouts where horrendous on the way up Friday. We did great time too, getting back well within 3 hours. And, if Gareth's car mileage is accurate, it knocks 20 odd miles off the journey too. Worth thinking about, Nige, Mum, Ian, when next coming down.

Oh, and before I forget, the comments are broken. Jonathan advises the 1000's spams a day are locking the server processing. And, as this is a shared environment, the neighbours are complaining. So, for the short term it'll have to be email or phone messages.

Off to watch 28 Days Later, thanks for the reminder, Carl

Been down The Old Picture House, playing pool with Gareth, Ian, and Geoff. Bumped into a few of Ian's mates, and told 'em about the Tring beer and BBQ round Mum's. So there's a few more coming now. Just hope there's enough beer and food to go round. Oh, and the rain stops

Better get off and start preparing the beer, not that it needs any real preparation, I already know from last night it's perfect

Just got back from collecting the 72 pints of Tring's best (Side Pocket for A Toad, Mansion Mild, Jack O'Legs, and Fanny Ebbs), and noticed "Bright" stickers on all the boxes. I'd ordered "Rough" as it lasts a little longer, but you loose out, having to let it settle for 24 hours first. As the party's tomorrow, it doesn't matter. A quick call to Lynn at the brewery, and she confirmed it is indeed, "ready to drink now..."

Oh dear, guess me and Gareth will have to sample some at Nige's tonight then

First time in ages. Was down there back in April, but this is the first time I've been down to run a Primavera training course in a long time.

Trying out the new Premier Travel Inn right next to work. Should be an experience, as there's no bar, no restuarant, in fact all there appears to be is rooms with beds and showers. Big advantage is, once I've popped in to configure everything for tomorrow, I can fall out of work and straight into the hotel, rather than fight my way through Bristol rush hour into the city centre. Of course, if it's a crap hotel, I'll be back to the rush hour drive next time, guranteed

What a complete opposite to yesterday Sunshine pretty much all day. And, with all the rain overnight, we were moved over to the hardstanding, which made for a much better stand. Plus, a few more guys turned up, put off by yesterdays weather no doubt.

The sprint times improved, but the blue BIG DUB Mk3 was still impressing with it's sub-4 second 0-60 times. Didn't catch the overall winner, but I'm sure it'll be up on the Club GTI website later on tonight

Ian and Terry headed off straight from Inters, and having just got back myself, unpacked the car, it's time to get out the aftersun and sort out my shoulders, ouch

Back from the first day. Yes, I know, we were going to camp there. But, believe me when I say, the place was reminscient of Glastonbury, not Inters. I'm sure in the next few days there'll be plenty of pics on the Club GTI website. So we took the executive decision to drive back to Stevenage, and head off back there in the morning.

Good day tho, if you ignore the weather. Met plenty of people at the club stand, and we had a cracking view of the drag strip. Ian and Terry taking advantage of the van roof, and getting an even better view, although Ian's van roof is a little bent now

Now we're home and dry, it's time to get off to Our Mutual Friend for some beer, pool, and pork pies, yum

Spent yesterday afternoon up at the Strathmore Arms, in St. Pauls Walden, at their June beer festival. Lots of Mild's, something I've been drinking during May, after all, it is Mild May

And the surprise of the afternoon? None other than the 2 new beers from Great Newsome Brewery, namely Sleck Dust and Pricky Back Otchan. Didn't try the Pricky Back Otchan, at 4.2% it was a little too strong for a Friday afternoon. But the Sleck Dust was exactly as described, A light refreshing session ale, straw coloured, with floral notes and slightly dry on the palate. The beer names come from old local phrases, "Sleck Dust" being a term used after a hot dry day during harvest when one needs to quench their thirst, and "Prickly Back Otchan" is an old Yorkshire word for a hedgehog. They've only just started brewing in the last few months, but already appear to have a good demand for the ale. Will have to enqire if they do 9 pinters, another party beckons

Been trying not to watch Big Brother, after all, it's crap nonsense, and not what it started out as, namely a social experiment for all to watch, live, on telly. But is it just me, or has it, to coin a phrase, gone back to it's roots?

More evidence on this thought, with the news last night that contestant Emily was removed for using the N word to describe another contestant. Reading about on various sites, it does sound like they've gone OTT. But after the farce of the last one, or lets be honest, the last several, I guess they've really got to stick to their guns on this. We'll see if it gets better. Hopefully, it'll die its death this series and we won't have to put up with it anymore, but I doubt it.

So there's proof via Panorama, that a Saudi prince 'received arms cash' during the deal which is talked about so much in the papers. There's huge secrecy over all of this, something you have to be concious of. Dealing with confidential documents, if anyone gets copies, someone's broken the law, regardless. As Robert Peston states at the start of his "Saudi sandstorm" piece.

Now that I've calmed down from last Monday's Panorama on Nimrod, I think I'll sit and watch this one. Hopefully it'll be more factual, and less dramatic, something the Beeb seems to be falling into, unfortunately.

As I've said before, and was said by several observers of all this, who exactly benefits from all the hype and news, particularly if the contracts are cancelled? The US, it's known, aren't happy about loosing out on the deal. And our esteemed colleagues across the channel aren't that quot;Bon": about it either.