SIPP update

All my working life I have contributed into whatever pension scheme was available to me through my employer thereby taking advantage of employer contributions on top of my own. Then a little over 5 years ago I was engaged by an IFA who came highly recommended through a number of personal recommendations. However, after following advice given and making recommended investments things started to unravel. The main investment turned out to be a scam and the next biggest investment in Verdant Australian Farmland turns out to be semi-barren drought plagued land returning a total of Aus $240 over the 5 years I've had it - I'd have got a better return leaving the money in a current account.

Mentally I've written off this loss of over £80k, but at the same time I've engaged a legal team to seek compensation or recover whatever monies they can. There are no promises and my hopes are on the pessimistic side of reality and reality is that I will be doing well if I recover 50% of that figure.

Meanwhile, I am still enjoying my driving job with University of Derby, the free time it allows me, the income it provides (not what I've been used to but keeps me off the homeless list) and the opportunities that not working 9am - 5pm provides.

Driving for a living

Well I have now been driving for a living for a little over 6 months and it is going well. So far I have driven virtually new cars from a Fiat 500 to a VW Sharan 2.0 TDi. The new Vauxhall Zafiras are an eye opener, so much better than the previous model, with the 1.4 twin turbo being a gas guzzler (at 34mpg) and the 1.6 CTDi being a much better bet at 48mpg while delivering roughly the same performance on the road. I'm not impressed with the lower powered versions of the Ford Fiesta but the ones delivering over 100bhp seem to move well enough.

Getting away from the cars, the mini buses are my favourites. Vauxhall Vivaro 9 seaters in basic format are disappointing as they don't have cruise control, pasking sensors or air con and even if up-spec'd to include those features their interiors ar all rubber mats and very workman like while the equivalent Ford Tourneo is a much nicer place to be with a decent stereo, carpets and better noise deadening.

Moving up to the 12, 15 and 17 seaters - most I have driven have been based on the new Ford Transit. Most have air con and the larger engined ones producing 125bhp are pokey enough for most situations and have a lovely gearbox. Handling is better on the ones with twin wheels on the rear axle but even without they are comfortable enough. I'm told that fuel consumption is roughly 27mpg but they do have a thirst for the AdBlue additive. The only feature I'm not impressed with is the anti-stall which regularly does exactly the opposite, cutting in and stalling in the most inappropriate places (often roundabouts).

And then there is the VW Crafter that is roughly 6 years old and is nearing 100,000 miles. It has had a rough old life and the driving experience reveals it's age. While the engine is strong the gearbox harks back to another age. Think Dennis 'crash' gearboxs and you're not far from the experience, which isn't a nice one. It has a low 'crawler' first gear and should normally pull from stationary in 2nd gear, but I have found it safer to use 1st and then short shift into 2nd for best results. It's a rattly old bus and frequently needs attention to keep it on the road (it is by far the least reliable bus on the fleet) but I do have a bit of a soft spot for it despite everything.

While the 9 seaters can be driven without a digital tachograph (Driver Card) anything bigger requires one. Obtaining one was straight forward, quick and painless. Getting used to using one is a bit hit and miss. A couple of times I have left it in the minibus at the end of the job and had to make a trip to fetch it back and return it to my wallet. And of course, you have to observe driving hours rules which can be a pain. Still, it adds a bit of spice and interest to those longer trips. Day trips to central London in the 9 seater is quicker on the dreary motorways but urban driving has to be done outside the bus lanes and is therefore a pain. In the bigger minibuses the motorway sections are a drag at 100kmph / 62mph but urban driving using bus lanes is a boon, except for those that are marked 'local buses' which for me are a no go area.

Jobs have been pretty plentiful with February through to May being good but I'm never going to get rich doing it. June has been a bit quiet but July and August are looking as if they will be very quiet with jobs few and far between - only time will tell but June and July together aren't looking as good as May was, hence no blog posts since April as I was kept pretty busy. Still, at least I get more "me time", which I will cover in a later post.

My drives

A couple of pictures of what I've been driving:


One of my regular drives which I refer to as 'Big Bus' - A12UOD is a 17 seater VW Crafter


Another of my drives - a 15 seater Ford Transit

The VW Crafter is one of several vehicles owned by the University, all identified by their 'private' number plates. The rest are on short term lease by manufacturers (or their main dealers). A12UOD is 5 years old and has done 84k miles. The engine is strong, the gearbox is a rough old dog and it is prone to electrical failures, mostly down to faulty diagnostics reporting faults that do not exist. The Fords (I've driven several) have lovely gearboxes but the engines are weak and lacking the BHP of the VW which means that driving requires a whole load of gear changes. The VW also has a tow hitch which results in interesting reverses to park up the bus at the end of the day, ploughing the university verges where reversed in (as can be seen in the photo).

One thing that is taking some getting used to is driving on the digital tachograph. Getting the damned thing in the unit is a trial as it never wants to accept the card. Then the unit location, very low down, makes it very difficult to see what it says you are doing. Then remembering to to switch to rest period, sticking to driving hours and remembering to remove the card at the end of a shift. But I am getting there and staying inside the law.

Then there are the cars, the small stuff. Ford Fiestas, Focuses, Kugas and S-Maxes, Vauxhall Zafiras and Vivaro 9 seater minibuses with the most recent addition being a Fiat 500. The Vauxhalls are a pleasant surprise and way better than the models that preceeded them. All of the cars listed have their quirks but the one thing they have in common is factory fitted GPS satelite navigation which is virtually incomprehsible to use. Why? Because it is incorporated into the sound system (a mixture of AM/FM/DAB) and buttons have a dual use for the 2 seperate functions that results in making changing radio channel a time consuming hit and miss affair. My solution is to use those units for sounds only and use my personal sat nav for navigation as it is a purpose built tool and not a dual purpose piece of electrickery. I like the manual Kuga but not so keen on the automatic one, so overall the Vauxhalls get my vote over the Fords which (on past experiences) surprises me.

So far, so good

Well so far 2016 has been quite good to me in my new driving job. Ferrying students to sports events including volleyball, netball, basketball, 6-a-side FutSal and football (11-a-side), dodgeball to name a few. Then there have been educational events where I've taken students to venues where they have been having off-site learning or providing younger college students with educational experiences that are aimed at bringing them into Derby University. Then there has been University Open Days and Graduation days where we just shuttle back and forth between locations across Derby. This semester I've taken on a regular Tuesday night run from the University picking up young riders (mostly female, the lads prefer to drive themselves) and taking them out to an Equestrian centre near Etwall for 2 hours with the horses before I do the return run, dropping them off on the way.

Airport runs are a big feature in my working life which involves fetching and carrying UoD staff between their home locations to various airport locations. So far Birmingham International Airport, London Heathrow and Manchester have been the most frequently visited, but already booked are London Stanstead, Liverpool and East Midlands Airport. These runs can be the most informative as the staff usually like to converse for a portion of the ride - 2.5 to 3 hours in the case of LHR. These conversations often revolve around travel and that has made me realise just how well travelled Sue & I are considering that our travels have all been self funded and not been paid for business trips like those the UoD staff are experiencing. One suggestion has been that I create a travel blog and record our travels. Some trips have appeared in this blog and some on my website so I can understand the suggestion to put them all in one place. Makes sense but time is the issue, decision deferred....

Something different

Walking out of my Business Analyst role at UoD was made all that much easier by walking straight into a casual driving job right there, ferrying lecturers, students and important people about between the various campus locations, other universities and doing airport runs (so far just collections from Heathrow and Birmingham).

And I am enjoying it. There is no routine, jobs are offered by email for me to accept or decline. There is no stress, all I have to do is turn up at the pre-booked time, check over and sign out the vehicle and drive. I love the longer runs because I get to just hang around waiting for the return run which is frequently when the match/game has been played or the plane has landed, and then drive back. Simples. I am free to fill my time in between outbound and return runs as I please, and I get days without work, so more "me time". OK, so I'm not earning at anywhere near the same level but importantly, I am happier and have time to work out what I want to do longer term.

That didn't last long

Got so fed up with the hostile working environment that I quit on 30th October, so...

Started.: 30th September
Finished: 30th October

Yes, I just quit, with immediate effect and walked out. Never done it before and no desire to do it again but it had to be done.

C'est la vie!

Shed - it's coming along 2

The decision taken was to build my own bech, greatly assisted by finding a suitable 'kitchen' worktop to use as the worktop for the bench, and for the princely sum of £5. So with the additional purchase of £10 worth of M10 bolts and some carefull design and planning I now have a work bench with back splash custom built to fill the available gap between some purpose built shelving that I made and the racking that I purchased for the back of the shed (I worked out that I couldn't build it for what it cost to buy).

So next step is to put in some lightling, power points and PIR based security system (the latter because lately there has been a spate of burglaries from garden sheds locally) and run the power up to the shed from the old one, before that is demolished and the path laid to the new one. That should keep me busy for a few days but as I have just been advised that I am to be made redundant I should have the time on my hands to do it.

Ridiculous

Monday, a 05:30 alarm call, leaving home at 06:00, a short journey to pick up a work colleague from his home in Draycott to drive to Reading.  A morning in the office before we leave to attend a meeting on the client site just over an hour away before returning to Reading and a night in a hotel.  Tuesday morning we breakfast, go to work and then drive back to Derby.  And that is becoming a the pattern, with additional days at Reading thrown into the mix which see me using the train on a daily commute basis. Over 400 miles a week behind the wheel of the car and a day or two in the local office means that by the time the weekend arrives I sleep heavily and well.

Now don't get me wrong, I know I am fortunate to have a job,but, and it is a big but, in this age with the technology available to us there should be no need to do this number of miles in either the car or on the train. Voice conference, video conference and file sharing should mean that the work that I do can be done from anywhere, including local office or from home.  But every client believes that their data is more sensitive than anybody else's, that face to face is the only way to do meetings, and the sales people allow these conditions to be written into the contract and our bosses always want to see us in the office having a "bums on seats" attitude believing that if bums are on seats then work is being done and results achieved. Just how delusional and out of touch they are. Almost Dickensian.  Attitudes like these mean we end up doing inordinate mileage which is totally ridiculous.

Using the train - 4

Tuesday was another round trip to Reading on the train.  The previous week I used my car, leaving home at 06:15 just as I do when using the train I was signing in at 08:50 and was free to leave when I liked (fitting around my workload) whereas this week the train arrived in Reading at 09:11 and I signed in at 09:25, leaving at 17:10 to arrive at Derby station at 20:04 (2 minutes ahead of schedule).

So not only do I not enjoy using the train the overall journey times are longer (door to door) and cheaper overall to both me and my employer.

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.

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.

Using the train – 2

Decided to catch the earlier 06:48 from Derby to Reading today having reserved a seat in the “quiet coach”. The earlier start definitely made a difference as there were far fewer travellers and I benefitted by not having anybody using the seat next to me.

Out of Derby my seat was backward facing but on leaving Birmingham New Street I found myself forward facing. As the train trundled out onto the line to Leamington Spa I caught that traditionally evocative sight of the front of the train from my seat near the rear of the train, and that’s what set me thinking. Train travel is no longer an event, there’s no sense of occasion and hardly any sense of speed which to me is very sad because the speed is immense. I felt the acceleration that meant we were released from meanderings through suburban Birmingham and now on the main line – and with that I dosed off and completely missed Leamington Spa and Banbury, waking as the train slowed for Oxford.

The run down from Oxford to Reading underlined just how green and pleasant this country is but it is also drearily flat unlike Derbyshire. Repeated announcements informed us that there was no catering service due to staff shortages and that Malcolm was our “Train Manager” (a fancy name for ticket collector while “Catering Manager” is the dude pushing the refreshments trolley) while I stared out the window searching for items of interest. Along one stretch there was a “ditch” which I worked out was a deserted canal but with trees growing from its base it has obviously been long deserted. At another point I observed 2 fields of blue-ish hue which I surmised to be either bluebells or heather/lavender.

And then it hit me. Rail travel has evolved along the same lines as driving a car. The object is to make as rapid progress as possible from journey start to destination with as little interaction as possible with the environment one is passing through. When I’m riding and I spot things/places of interest I stop and investigate and I can remember when we did the same when driving, but that happens much less these days. No longer is the journey an event (or part of one). Travel today is only about “getting there” and to many (most?) people the fact that the mode of travel is boring is irrelevant because they have no interest in the journey itself or the environment through which they are passing. Is that progress, or, is it just a reflection of public values in these modern times?

Using the train – 1

I have just started an assignment that requires me to be in Reading. After some "negotiation" with my employer I have agreed to do 2 days each week, back to back with an overnight stay. Some will ask "So? What's the big deal?" The big deal is that I am officially my mother's carer and the primary contact for Dad's nursing home in the event of an emergency - which is difficult to respond to (other than by taking a phone call) if I'm working 3 hours away AND dependant on the train.

So don't use the train you'll say. OK, but then company policy dictates that I should use a hire car when I have a perfectly good 2 litre VW Passat sat at home on the drive AND a motorbike in the garage. If I use the motorbike then I'd have to leave it overnight in the firm's car park as the firm's preferred hotel has no parking facilities (Mercure George Hotel).

So I'm on the train... For the first time in years I'm using public transport as the government would want us to. Booking tickets ahead of journey time to get whatever discount is available. Getting my son Andy to drop me off and collect me so that my car doesn't incur parking charges (£12.50 per day at Derby). Walking from Reading station to the office is no hardship and probably quicker than getting a taxi. So what is my beef?

My beef is this. I pre-booked table seats with power so I could use my laptop during the journey, and on taking up my seat I find that there are 3 of us at a table for 4 but just 2 power outlets and neither of them work. Ah well, I didn't want to start work early anyway, but my fellow travellers are mightily peeved and go in search of power while I simply decide to waste my journey time looking at the passing world. Except there's a problem doing that. Having had a forward facing seat leaving Derby I find that for the majority of the journey (Birmingham to Reading) the train is "in reverse" and I'm facing backwards which means that the world has passed me by before I get to see a glimpse of it.

I then waste (sorry, spend) 2 days in an office atending meetings and preparing as required for the project ahead before returning to Reading station for the reverse journey, literally. I'm in my seat and the train is going backwards so that yet again I get a reverse view of the English countryside, to Birningham New Street where I find I'm forward facing for the final leg into Derby. No problem there then, except for a few points.
1. I caught an early train for the return trip so no reserved seat, no table seat so no laptop use.
2. The seat next to me seems to be part of a game of musical chairs (yes, I know it is public transport but this wouildn't happen if I was DRIVING MY CAR). One occupant had headphones on so loud that people in the seats ahead and behind can hear his (neandertal) choice in "music" which accompanies his constant snorting and coughing (accompanied by that of the traveller in the seat behind me). Two others are female but seem to be of the opinion that the male of the species (i.e. me) is a thing of abhorance if their body language is anything to go by.
3. Of the 4 occupants only the one from Birmingham to Derby participated in any conversation which would have been a normal feature if I was driving.

So I have completed my first (or many) stints in Reading and find that I have little option but to let the train take the strain but what others swear by I find myself swearing at. The trains fail to live up to expectations and I'm robbed of the opportunity to benefit from using my own transport.

Environmental resource planning

I used to think nothing of doing 100 - 200 miles before breakfast to be on site for a working day before heading home (or off to a hotel) for the night, only to repeat the next day. Now-a-days it just gets me dowm. Currently I'm doing a 45 mile each way trip into Birmingham 4 or 5 days a week and I find it tiring and depressing. With all the technology we have at our fingertips this travel shouldn't be necessary. I work for an IT Services company so it should be even less necessary than for workers in other industries, but it seems that rather than doing REAL resource planning it is simply a case of bums on seats, so I go to Birmingham while a colleague goes from Brum to Derby. What is the sense in that? Environment? No, just MENTAL!

Catch-up

Oh dear, I've been neglecting the blog again. Too much to do and not enough time to do it. It's been a mad year so far, especially at work, where I'm spending most of my time as a "Test Analyst" which mainly involves getting thrown in at the deep end and having to work it out for myself. And then the management wonder why there is an increasing number of "incidents" in the production environment. An "employee survey" across the globe of FIS employees has informed the management that satisfaction scores in Leicester are the lowest for all FIS offices, at half the global average of 64%, while another of the offices is the UK topped the satisfaction sutvey with an 86% score. It sent out a powerful message and today our MD walked and the replacement took up the reigns.

Additionally, we've had the usual round of annual performance reviews. Except this year we had to use a new system and nobody had been trained on how to use it, including the reveiwing managers. The best bit is that it has absolutely no bearing on the annual pay review or individual rewards packages, so basically it's a waste of time. Aren't they all?

Anyway, we are seeing some changes supposedly to improve efficiency. Like replacing the kettles in the kitchen with a wall mounted urn. As the water is always hot it means less time spent waiting around in the kitchen. A small but significant measure because it points towards the way the new MD is thinking.

Banking news

Yesterday Halifax Bank of Ireland announced that it is to withdraw from retail banking in the Republic of Ireland due to the economic turn-down affecting their relatively recent foray into the Republic. This will have a serious impact on FIS (where I work) as we handle thier business in cards and loans processing. The team was told in a short private meeting yesterday afternoon and we wait to see how much it will affect revenues and the implication for jobs in the Leicester office where I am based. Will it affect me? Who knows! Better start looking just in case.

How many more times

I shouldn't complain but it is getting a bit tiresome. Late January 2008 I got made redundant when the company I worked for went to the wall. Two weeks later I'm working only to get made redundant again late June after 4.5 months work. That lead to 7 months job hunting before I secured my current job... less pay, longer commute and unfamiliar teritory as it's more systems and test analyst than business analyst - which is what I am/was. But ever grateful I'd got a job.

Then 3 months in, on the last day of my probation period, I got a "your job is at risk" interview and letter. One week later I advised (in writing) that I'm no longer at risk. Last Tuesday the "your job is at risk" interview and letter was repeated. Today I got another letter to say that (again) I'm no longer at risk.

Doesn't exactly fill one with confidence for long term prospects and leaves one wondering - how many more times....?

Old work pals - keeping in touch

By that I mean ex-colleagues and freinds from the work place...

Carol and Susan (both ex-Zeda) have been in touch this week. Carol is enjoying retirement - her miece has secured a university place in her first choice university where she will be studying forensics - while Carol spends time with her mother, and next month the two of them are off to holiday in Egypt. Susan is at HSBC in Sheffield, earning the money to pay the bills and wishing she was 4 years older so that she could follow in Carol's shoes. Apparently, Viv is settling in at Egg after temporary covering for maternity leave turned into an offer of a full-time job.

And Garry has at last had a job offer after being made redundant by Midland HR. By my reckoning he was out of work for around 7 months (just like I was) so he's dead chuffed to get a job offer and was wading through the Ts & Cs when I last spoke to him. The last I heard from Vanessa she was unemployed and looking for gainful employment. Ditto Geeten, as Argos have released him. Kev McIntyre has started sending through humourous emails again so I can only assume that he's busy earning and has found a renewed source of content.

My bother John is still working, but, construction contracts seem to be a bit thin on the ground right now and his current site has only a few weeks left to run. Angie still hasn't found a job - she interviwed for a new Waitross opening in Colchester, where there were 220 new jobs AND 7,000 applicants.

Andy's girlfriend had an interview on Wednesday after the shop she worked at part-time closed. She needs the funds to be able to complete her studies and qualify as a primary school teacher, so we all hope she gets this job. Mark's girlfriend has been doing part-time work at Sainsbury's, locally at Ripley during breaks and in Manchester in between her studies - but she's had to give up the Manchester job and when she returns to Manchester in a few weeks time Ripley have said her job is up for grabs, so she'll have to live off savings for the coming important 3rd year of her 4 year course.

The government think we are coming out of recession. What do they know - it's really tough out there and every job is precious, they are hard to come by and many aren't paying anywhere near what they used to. Bloody Bankers - I notice they are getting back to their old ways with their bonus payments - about time the government ACTUALLY got off their collective butts and DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

4 Day week

No, I’ve not been put on a short working week. Tuesday I went to the Birmingham office to work and for a meeting with work colleagues based there, and as usual I used the motorbike for the commute. Nothing untoward about that except on the way home I had to pass the scene of a recent accident and I thought I picked a clean line through the debris on the road. Except, Wednesday morning I’m all dressed up in my gear, topbox loaded and I’m ready to go when I discover that I’ve a flat rear tyre.

So Wednesday and Thursday I use the car and get Friday off to get a new tyre. Why a new tyre? Well firstly, it had already had one repair job done on it, and two is all you are allowed these days, and secondly, the tyres cost around £90 and a repair job is £30 - £35 and as it had already had one repair spending £60 - £70 on something that costs £90 doesn’t compute in my books. The front was fine and has plenty of miles left in it but the rear was starting to square off so a new Avon Storm ST (AV56) it was to be, except the nearest stockist is the other side of Nottingham.

Friday morning I stick as much air in the tyre as I can get it to hold, around 30 psi, and with foot pump in the topbox I set off for Colwick. I find MTS without any real problems even though I only have a rough idea of where it is. Tim is cheery and welcoming in his greeting, he has another customer Ken in front of me with an immaculate Yamaha R1 in blue which is in dire need of some new rubber, back and front so that he can go off to tour the Pyrenees in a few weeks time. The new Pirelli Super Corsas being fitted will be in need of replacement by the time he gets back if his calculations are correct – he reckons to around 2,500 miles per set…. Ouch! At £225 a pair that’s expensive riding.

While I’m waiting another Yamaha turns up. This on is a Fazer 1000 in grey set up for light weight touring – topbox only, no panniers. The owner Ken is semi-retired from the coal industry and he and his wife are soon off to France for a week or two. His bike also has Avon Storm tyres on it and his rear is down to the minimum wear strips. We are comparing wear rates and mileages covered when another R1 turns up, this time a very well looked after and original Rossi Limited Edition from around 2004. Well looked after except for the rear tyre that is. That tyre is down to the steel the whole way round for a strip about 1” wide. Tim has finished Ken’s R1 by now and walks over to have a look. The owner says he’s had the bike since November and this is the first tyre he’s had fitted. Tim says he’s lucky it’s held together.

My wheel comes off, new tyre fitted and after returning home I set off with Mark and we ride together to Buxton where I turn round and return to Derby via Chesterfield and Clay Cross. Mark continues to Manchester where he is staying with his girlfriend for the Bank Holiday weekend. When I get home I get the bike in the garage and fit new brake pads to the rear. That should be all the maintenance needed until next Bank Holiday at the end of May when it will get an oil and filter change and (hopefully) a new MoT.

Tomorrow’s Bank Holiday Monday so this week will also be a 4 day week, and next weekend marks the end of my probation period with my new employer, so fingers are very definitely crossed.

Red Nose Day

It can hardly have escaped anybody's notice that yesterday was Red Nose Day. The bosses controlling the office I work in had allowed us time to organise events at work. Now Fridays are usually "dress down" days, but yesterday was "fancy dress" day with the emphasis on pyjamas, costumes or Just Red. I went for Just Red in the form of my (very bright) red shirt. Light hearted fun. There were five competitions, including a Wii Mario race game, Body Parts, Through the Keyhole, Jokes, Picture caption and a pub quiz style name the cartoon character. I came runner up in the joke competition and won the Picture Caption competition. I also supplied various cakes and buns which went down well, however, there are some left over for Monday.

All told we raised a total of £439.10