The media is making a fuss about last night's Eruo match between England and Ukraine and the goal that John Terry 'cleared' and which was not given but would have leveld the scores at 1:1.
The FIA president has now said that GLT has to be implemented - something he has always been against when England were demanding it's implementation. But now that England have benefited from it having not been deployed he's changed his mind. How biased against England is he?
The important fact that is being ignored is that the Ukrainian player received the ball while off side so that shot should never have been made and therefore the goal should not have been legally allowed. Trouble is, that isn't as sensational as the non-goal that "should have been" and UK media love sensational!
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
I'm an analyst
I often get asked "what do you do (for a living)?" so I thought I'd blog it...
I didn't set out to be an analyst but an analyst I am. Like many others I wear whichever hat fits at the time. Data, database, systems, reporting and business analyst - been there, done that. I prefer the interaction and cross discipline of business analysis and the greater involvement it brings with the end users, but at the end of the day it is all about BPI (Business Process Improvement). I count myself fortunate to find myself in a role where I am paid to be nosy, ask awkward questions, prod and probe for answers and frequently given free range to determine what the real issue is that the business want addressed and the best solution to that issue.
I didn’t set out to be an analyst, just sort of fell into it. Fed up with having to deliver solutions to clients that developers had slaved over only to find that it was all based on poor initial analysis and a total lack of understanding of the business need I started doing the analysis and (sometimes) the build myself. I didn’t, and still haven’t, aligned myself with any one specific methodology for analysis or presentation but use whatever best fits the situation I find myself in. Accuracy and clarity with a total lack of ambiguity are the goal and the target audience is (i) the end user – to get their buy-in to the solution, (ii) the techies – so that they understand what they have to deliver, and (iii) the boss – commonly called the stakeholder, as he is signing off the cheque and needs to understand what he is paying for. Thorough, accurate analysis effectively documented in a way that the message flows from start to end and reads like a novel (without being the length of one) normally gets signed off because those three recipient groups can identify the content that is relevant to them and understand the part of the message that is aimed at them in their roles.
So I’m a hybrid. Some days are more stereo typed than others. Some are more interesting than others and some are more enjoyable. For me it’s a nice way to earn the money that pays the bills.
I didn't set out to be an analyst but an analyst I am. Like many others I wear whichever hat fits at the time. Data, database, systems, reporting and business analyst - been there, done that. I prefer the interaction and cross discipline of business analysis and the greater involvement it brings with the end users, but at the end of the day it is all about BPI (Business Process Improvement). I count myself fortunate to find myself in a role where I am paid to be nosy, ask awkward questions, prod and probe for answers and frequently given free range to determine what the real issue is that the business want addressed and the best solution to that issue.
I didn’t set out to be an analyst, just sort of fell into it. Fed up with having to deliver solutions to clients that developers had slaved over only to find that it was all based on poor initial analysis and a total lack of understanding of the business need I started doing the analysis and (sometimes) the build myself. I didn’t, and still haven’t, aligned myself with any one specific methodology for analysis or presentation but use whatever best fits the situation I find myself in. Accuracy and clarity with a total lack of ambiguity are the goal and the target audience is (i) the end user – to get their buy-in to the solution, (ii) the techies – so that they understand what they have to deliver, and (iii) the boss – commonly called the stakeholder, as he is signing off the cheque and needs to understand what he is paying for. Thorough, accurate analysis effectively documented in a way that the message flows from start to end and reads like a novel (without being the length of one) normally gets signed off because those three recipient groups can identify the content that is relevant to them and understand the part of the message that is aimed at them in their roles.
So I’m a hybrid. Some days are more stereo typed than others. Some are more interesting than others and some are more enjoyable. For me it’s a nice way to earn the money that pays the bills.
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Back to normal
Getting home around 03:00 Friday morning meant that we effectively had a 3 day weekend to get everything sorted. Later that morning Andy went off for a long weekend at Centre Parks with Emma and some of his friends leaving Sue and I as Derby & Joan. And with Mark now moved out the house was very quiet. Laundry, housework and gardening was the order of the day across the weekend along with Sue visiting her dad in hospital and me seeing Angie & John who were up to visit Mum & Dad because it was Father’s Day on Sunday. Because of Sue’s dad Phil going into hospital we missed the wedding ceremony for Jim and Heidi on Saturday but we managed to get along to their evening reception to wish them well as they start married life together.
With all this going on it seems that everything has quickly returned to normal and Marmaris is now memories and photographs.
With all this going on it seems that everything has quickly returned to normal and Marmaris is now memories and photographs.
Marmaris
After visiting Olu Deniz in Turkey last September Sue and I liked it so much that we have just returned from a 10 day stay in Marmaris. It is a lovely location, the weather was good and hot, reaching 40 degrees centigrade on 3 days. The Grand Azur hotel food and facilities were excellent even if the room wasn’t in the quietest of locations. With an exchange rate or around 2.75 TL to the GBP prices were reasonable (especially if one haggled) so a little retail therapy was undertaken. From the hotel we could walk east into Marmaris town centre and harbour area or west to Icmeler which has a large and lively open air market on Wednesdays. If we didn’t feel like walking both ways then we would catch a Dolmus for 2 TL per person into Marmaris or 2.5 TL to Icmeler. Why we British don’t adopt a similar transport system I’ll never know – it works is probably the answer.
This is my first ever “lounge in the sun” holiday. Yes, we’ve holidayed in the sun before but I usually leave Sue on the sun bed an go exploring. This time I just chilled out on a sun bed beside her. I didn’t take enough reading material, everything read from cover to cover by the end of the 5th day. There were plenty of bars to choose from prices were cheaper in the bars that were not attached to a hotel chain (as one would expect). The harbour area and Icmeler were both very pretty and picturesque but walking in the heat of the day is not recommended. Marmaris also has a lovely quaint bizarre but we got fed up with being plagued to “visit my shop”, “be my friend” and “cheaper than ASDA/Primark” – they just won’t let you browse the way we do in the UK.
What a contrast though – 10 dry days in the sun and temperatures constantly above 30 degrees centigrade returning in the early hours of Friday morning to driving rain and 9 degrees, to be told it had rained daily while we were away.
This is my first ever “lounge in the sun” holiday. Yes, we’ve holidayed in the sun before but I usually leave Sue on the sun bed an go exploring. This time I just chilled out on a sun bed beside her. I didn’t take enough reading material, everything read from cover to cover by the end of the 5th day. There were plenty of bars to choose from prices were cheaper in the bars that were not attached to a hotel chain (as one would expect). The harbour area and Icmeler were both very pretty and picturesque but walking in the heat of the day is not recommended. Marmaris also has a lovely quaint bizarre but we got fed up with being plagued to “visit my shop”, “be my friend” and “cheaper than ASDA/Primark” – they just won’t let you browse the way we do in the UK.
What a contrast though – 10 dry days in the sun and temperatures constantly above 30 degrees centigrade returning in the early hours of Friday morning to driving rain and 9 degrees, to be told it had rained daily while we were away.
Friday, 1 June 2012
Using the train - 3
Yesterday was another round trip from Derby to Reading on the train. Again I caught the 06:48 for the outbound trip and as we approached Birmingham New Street we slowed and when release we passed a slow moving goods train which appeared to be heading towards Leamington Spa which is on our route to Reading. Sure enough, after leaving Birmingham we were delayed (again) until we cleared Leamington Spa, only to fall foul of track maintenance near Didcot. OK, we were only a few minutes late into Reading but with all the technology available these delays just should not happen.
At first the return trip on the 16:40 appeared to be a reverse of the outbound trip, but after clearing Didcot the train sped up and arrived outside Birmingham New Street a little early so we sat outside the station until our expected time. But (as is usual) there was a change of crew which resulted in our departure being nearly 10 minutes late. Most of that was made up by the time we neared Derby but we were "officially" 3 minutes late according to the "Train Manager".
I used the "quiet" carriage for both trips having pre-booked a window seat so that I could watch the English countryside pass by. Except that the "window" seat for the return trip had no window, just bodywork/structure - so I move to another unreserved seat. And that's the difference between me using my car or taking the train. In the car I am guaranteed a window seat and a forward view, I know all/any passengers I take in the car with me, we hold conversations and they in return do not intrude into my "personal space". Total journey time (assuming no traffic delays) is roughly the same at 3 hours door to door with no stops at places en route to pick up other travellers, many of them being hot a sweaty with questionable habits and standards of hygene.
Let the train take the strain...? In my experience it is the train that creates the strain.
At first the return trip on the 16:40 appeared to be a reverse of the outbound trip, but after clearing Didcot the train sped up and arrived outside Birmingham New Street a little early so we sat outside the station until our expected time. But (as is usual) there was a change of crew which resulted in our departure being nearly 10 minutes late. Most of that was made up by the time we neared Derby but we were "officially" 3 minutes late according to the "Train Manager".
I used the "quiet" carriage for both trips having pre-booked a window seat so that I could watch the English countryside pass by. Except that the "window" seat for the return trip had no window, just bodywork/structure - so I move to another unreserved seat. And that's the difference between me using my car or taking the train. In the car I am guaranteed a window seat and a forward view, I know all/any passengers I take in the car with me, we hold conversations and they in return do not intrude into my "personal space". Total journey time (assuming no traffic delays) is roughly the same at 3 hours door to door with no stops at places en route to pick up other travellers, many of them being hot a sweaty with questionable habits and standards of hygene.
Let the train take the strain...? In my experience it is the train that creates the strain.
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