Year: 2014

Leaving the woods behind

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Hi, It’s been a bit of an extended holiday for the Ever Lovely Mrs Jones and I. Last week, the Jones Massive were off Up North, to take in the wilds around Hadrian’s Wall and stroll about other fantastic ruins. We also found a number of summer activities put on by English Heritage. If you do have kids, these free events are brilliant. Hands on stuff such as digging for artifacts in a sand pit, Roman Soldier drill, or dressing up as fierce Vikings. Hopefully, the stuff holiday memories are made of. The extension has come is because Wee Man and Little Miss have been at my Mum and Dad’s all week. I guess it’s part of the modern life, […]

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Shopped

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Hi, Like the real thing, only better The other day I was reading an article on BBC News with the title Graduation photographs offer ‘digital slimming’. A bit of retouching for graduation snaps: teeth whitening, removing blemishes and, now, being digitally slimmed down. I do wonder where all of this Photoshopping – to use a modern word – will end. We all know about ‘shopped fashion shoots and the mascara *ahem* adverts. I’m waiting for a flying car to be advertised and then see the famous words: enhanced in post-production. 😛 That gripe aside, who are we kidding? Is it the people looking at the photos or ourselves? I mean, if I could tweak my photos (more on that in […]

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End of an era

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Hi, Summertime and the trick is not to be cheesy. 🙂 Yes, it’s scorchio outside and my body, being just a wee bit Scots, isn’t really liking it. I’m set up for temperatures that match the inside of the fridge and if summer is warmer than the fridge’s light bulb, it’s too warm for me. But enough grumbling, there are things to be happy about. School’s Out Wee Man had his last day at primary school this week and both the Ever Lovely Mrs J and yours truly, was lucky enough to be able to attend. We were treated to an hour or so assembly, starting with photos of when the class first came to school. I did enjoy seeing […]

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Doodle

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Another Friday, another post. Although, let’s be honest, last time I didn’t make it until Saturday. Truth be told, I’ve sat here, with my chin propped on my hand, wondering what to write about. It’s funny. Some days I have lots of ideas and when it comes to Friday night, they disappear like…umm…. things that disappear easily. 🙂 Apparently, it’s Nelson Mandela’s birthday today. How do I know? Not because I’m a card carrying liberal, but because I’m a geek and I saw a series of Google Doodles. The other day, Google featured Emmeline Pankhurst. I could make a dodgy quip about girl power, but that – I feel – would be rude and belittling of the impact she and […]

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Why not a war on red tape?

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Not much of a post this week. It’s been a bit meh in places, if I’m honest.  Work is really annoying me – or more accurately, we’re being turned into a support function, when we’re developers – which is really the crux of the problem. IT nerds may like to say root cause at this point. But, I’ve never been one to sit back and let things lie 🙂 I’ve been to see the head honcho in charge (no PHB, if you follow Dilbert) and I’m continuing with the dev work regardless. Mainly because we’ve got enough support staff; if the dev work doesn’t get done, our team will be in front of the fan as the muck spreader switches […]

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“No one said it was gonna be easy.”

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Hi, How’s things? Hopefully not too taxing. I am, like a lot of IT folk, on LinkedIn. Or, more accurately, my male ID certainly is. My, wouldn’t having a single social media presence that combined what really went on, be both a) incredibly boring and b) a surprise to some people. 🙂 Truthbook: Today Richard spent the afternoon looking for a new job, while thinking about the new nail polish he saw in Boots. Then went he home, read to the kids, had tea and cut the grass. #Rock&Roll  Moving on….. 🙂 As you well know, social media has lots of memes, and LinkedIn is no different. Well, other than they can be a bit corporate doublespeak. Lifehacker – which […]

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