Premature Farewells

Today I joined a family and friends in saying goodbye to a loved one. Today I watched three too young siblings saying goodbye to a father far too soon. I've got nothing eloquent or profound to say. Just that it breaks my heart. 

Current Affairs

Last week was a grumpy week I’m afraid, a lot of things have been making me rather cross, mostly things of a current afraid nature. I fact there has been so much bugging me I haven’t known where to start writing. At the beginning of the week there was the nonsense about the Welsh Rugby coach thinking about cheating was niggling with me. He thought about cheating, and that’s news, really? Then there is the prospect of weeks more speculation, surrounding friend of the now ex-defence minister Dr Liam Fox, Adam Werrity. It’s seems that some members of the press and government thought that treating us all to a drawn out process of whether anybody Adam Werrity had ever spoken to had done so improperly would be fun. It wouldn’t, it might however encourage me to get my DIY done so that I don’t have to be subjected to any more of this drivel. On Wednesday I was watched Newsnight and it nearly finished me off, as my twitter time line will attest to. Did the entire office indulge in a bag of shrooms and them leave the work experience kid alone with the sound effects? I though it was a news and current affairs program not a pantomime. However in the grand scheme of things all of these minor annoyances pale into insignificance compared to what I am going to focus here.

This week all other news item have been toppled from the top spot by the liberation of Libya and the death of Muammar al-Gaddafi. The world and more importantly the Libyan people are of the opinion that the end of Gaddafi’s rule is the best thing that could have happened to Libya, there is also a fairly wide spread view that the fact he was killed is no bad thing either, drawing a very final line under this period in the country’s history. There is however some debate about whether he was simply killed evading capture, or whether he was captured and then killed. I have to say I really don’t know what my opinion of his death is. What I do have an opinion on is the way in which the international media has been broadcasting images and footage of both his dead body and the moments before he was killed.

I agree that there is a debate to be had over the way in which he was killed and such footage will play a part in that discussion. To talk about such images is one think, but to show the one television and in the newspapers for joe public to gawp at is quite frankly sick. Of course I have the choice not to look at such things (for the most part) if I choose not to, but what does it say about the organisations that chose to show this stuff. Of course we see gruesome imaged in fictional programs, but these are stories and if people feel that is appropriate that is fine. This however is a real human being, and it does not mater who he is or what he is done, as those who are supposedly civilised it is our duty to show him dignity whatever we think of him. The would be outcry is such images were displayed, without some sort of family consent, of someone treated in this way if that individual were considered to be a victim.

I could really get myself on a roll on this vein, you may think I have already. Instead I shall leave it at that. I hope the majority choose not to look at these images, to not indulge in this degradation of humanity. Sadly however I don’t believe this is either a one off, nor the lowest point we can reach.

An Hour

I spent an hour today, a whole long hour, attempting to print one, single-sided sheet of A4. Do you know how many other things I could have done with that hour? I could have written at least a 1,000 words, probably 2,500 if I wasn't really fussed how good they were. I could have watched that episode of Glee that’s waiting for me on my digital recorder. I could have finished reading my book, gone for a run, made some soup, heck I could have cleared my in-box at work. Instead I spent a whole hour running backwards and forwards between various printers in my building in the vain hope that one of them would deem me worthy, by producing print job I’d requested.

It wasn’t anything particularly difficulty, as already mentioned it was a single-sided sheet of A4. I need it in colour and there were a couple of small logos included, all set up on page orientated to landscape. Really nothing too challenging and the black and white printer had no trouble with it. The colour printer on the other hand, oh no, this was far too challenging. The first printer was happy to print in colour, but for some reason, known only to it’s inner cogs and gears, the request to print landscape was simply beyond its grasp, I tried every setting my poor decrepit desktop offers me. I sent it to every tray on the printer with the paper set in every combination of positions, but it stubbornly refused to do anything except centrally print my landscape document on a portrait page, so not only was it in the wrong orientation, but it was also missing quite significant words from the left hand side of the text.

Eventually I could no longer face the whirring, clunking hunk of junk which was not only refusing to do as I ask, but also insisting that I needed to manually tell it everything was good to go by pressing the ‘online’ button before it would spew forth a single letter or punctuation mark. So I ventured downstairs to another colour printer.

I particularly hate this printer, we have a relationship which goes way back. Sure things started out rosie, and it was my closest ally in the office, zipping out clear, crisp copies of any documents I should need. As is the way of these things however the relationship soon soured, it refused to print except from the manual feed tray, which is a tricky bugger at the best of times, still we soldiered on. Until the fateful day I came down to find the manual feed tray broken, I tried everything to fix it but eventually I gave up and had to call in the big guns and ask reception to call for an engineer. However the engineer came, the engineer went and within five minute the manual feed was broken again. This cycle went on until I eventually gave up reporting the issue and printing in colour.

Never-the-less today I knew I’d have to go and try and re-kindle a relationship with my nemesis if I ever wanted my document printed. Let’s just say things did not end well and I still am without my solitary, sheet printed out. After an hour of trying and failing, I was forced to leave the office for a long standing appointment. Possibly fortuitous timing all things considered, as I had reached tipping point, the slightest nudge would have sent me over the edge and one or more useless pieces of machinery might have found themselves getting defenestrated.

I now intend to spend an evening in the calm, serenity of some sewing. I shall surround myself with the soft, forgivingness of my beautiful fabrics and loose myself in colour and texture. Just so long as the sewing machine doesn’t start playing silly buggers everything will be just fine..............

Is it that time?

“Is it that time yet?” seems to be all I’m hearing at the moment. Is it time to put the central heating on? Personally I think central heating should be on September to June inclusive, but then again I am generally the one still wearing three layers in July.  

I’m not sure if I am noticing it more this year because it’s something I now have control over, or if the question is just being asking more because it’s been unseasonably warm for October. I imagine it is usually perfectly acceptable to have the central heating on in October, but since September decided to go out in a blaze of glory this year*, folk are confused.

As I mentioned I am newly in control of my own central heating having moved out of my parents place recently, and as such I’m rapidly discovering a problem with conventional central heating systens. Cleverly you can get a nice, compact control panel which allows you to tell your boiler when you would like it to come on do its thing. Very useful, well it would be very useful if you could program it more than twice a day. TWICE a day, seriously what use is twice a day? Admittedly the reason it is a problem for me is that I live with a shift worker, but I hardly think they are that much of a minority.

My other half works for the Ambulance service, and as such gets up at silly time of the day and night to go and save the world one fallen, little, old lady at a time. As such I have no idea how to set the heating to fit with his ridiculousness? If he is getting up at 5am, I hardly want to be sleeping through 3 hours of heating, even I would roast, but then again nor does he want to be getting up in the freezing cold. However the chances of finding a system to cope with him, is only slight more likely than get struck by lightening, twice and marginally less so than me finding a sink with a half bowl the opposite side from the draining board.  I never knew how many traumas there were when becoming a homeowner!

However having said that October may not be living up to the legacy left by September, but it’s hardly chilly so you never know maybe these musings will turn out to entirely academic. (cue a mid-October freeze!)

* Since I mentioned it, no that was not an Indian summer, that was a freaky week.

Think Differently

You either already know where I am going with this or you don't. If you don't I wouldn't bother reading on, it's probably not your thing.

I have neither the eloquence nor the experience to talk about the passing of Steve Jobs with any authority, and lets face it many have written much on the subject already. Still I just can't let this moment in our history (and it will make up a part of my generations history) without saying anything.

I was far more affected on Wednesday than I would have imagined. I did not know Jobs, my only connection to him being the prevalence, in our society, of the products his company have produced. However lets not under-estimate the impact of those products, whatever you think of them. It is not just that though, Jobs was only 56 years old. All else being equal he could have lived another 20 years or more. In the 56 years he was here, he was instrumental in the momentum of a technology boom which was unprecedented in the way it changed the lives of everyone in a true and tangible way.

Maybe the real reason for the lump in my throat, was not for the passing of a man I never met, but the reminder that life is short, and that if I want to live up to my potential to change the world, I need to up my game.

Never-the-less for the strength of that reminder I'd like to leave you with this:

Thanks Steve, and here's to the crazy ones...................................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA

Spring Cleaning, or not.

I'm having a Spring Clean, though as it's not spring that probably just makes it cleaning.

I sent this blog up nearly three years ago and the last time i posted was about 2 and a half years ago.

I have finally figured out that with all my other commitments, and based on the evidence thus far, I can't maintain posting 800+ words a week.

So this is an Autumnal re-order, here's to shorter, sharper and more frequent posting. Fingers crossed eh folks?