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.
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
R12000GS v Explorer v Crosstourer
At the moment the motorcycling press is full of comparisons between these 3 bikes, with all of them being very polite and typically PC about each of the bikes. If your memory is as long as mine then it is not long ago that the BMW R1150GS was being criticised for being heavy and overweight. Yet now Honda and Triumph have entered the fray with these offering, both being significantly heavier than both the R12000GS and R1200GS Adventure and it hardly gets a mention.
Anyway, yesterday while searching YouTube I came across a couple of videos focused on these 3 motorbikes which make interesting viewing. EricBusa comments are backed up and based on his ownership of a 30th Anniversary R1200GS but he is fair in this short video summary. What is more surprising is this second video which RiDE Magazine have posted which better illustrates the story alluded to by EricBusa. Just watch and be amazed at how badly the Honda handles the poorer road surfaces. Both videos conclude that person preference will dictate whether you’d favour a R1200GS over an Explorer and both are extolled as “best of breed” but why anybody would buy a Crosstourer on this showing is beyond me, especially taking the premium price into consideration.
The question I have is this... Why have the motorcycling press (virtually dominated by Morton Press in the UK) not shared this important failing in the performance of the Crosstourer with us in any one of their many magazines? Especially RiDE magazine who appear to be happy to post it on-line (while not making it easy to find)?
Anyway, yesterday while searching YouTube I came across a couple of videos focused on these 3 motorbikes which make interesting viewing. EricBusa comments are backed up and based on his ownership of a 30th Anniversary R1200GS but he is fair in this short video summary. What is more surprising is this second video which RiDE Magazine have posted which better illustrates the story alluded to by EricBusa. Just watch and be amazed at how badly the Honda handles the poorer road surfaces. Both videos conclude that person preference will dictate whether you’d favour a R1200GS over an Explorer and both are extolled as “best of breed” but why anybody would buy a Crosstourer on this showing is beyond me, especially taking the premium price into consideration.
The question I have is this... Why have the motorcycling press (virtually dominated by Morton Press in the UK) not shared this important failing in the performance of the Crosstourer with us in any one of their many magazines? Especially RiDE magazine who appear to be happy to post it on-line (while not making it easy to find)?
What a scorcher!
For what has been forecast as a short 7 – 10 day period summer sun visited the UK last week, building up to the weekend when we had temperatures of 25 – 27 degrees C. So a busy Saturday included the usual pile of ironing, the weekly ASDA shop, mowing the back lawn (thanks Mark for that), having new tyres fitted to the front of Sue’s car, a pub lunch at the Blue Jay with Sue’s Uncle Alan & Aunty Barbara followed by relaxing in the garden with drinks wrapped up with a visit from Angie and John who were up from Colchester visiting Mum & Dad.
Sunday starts with yet more ironing (ended with loads still left to do) and Andy asking if he could have mates round for the Monaco F1 and a BBQ. So that’s what we did. A day spent socialising, me cooking the meat while Sue did the jacket spuds and salad. At day’s end everyone agreed they had had a good time and most evidenced the time they had spent in the sun with some sunburn despite all efforts with the sun screen from factors 20 – 50.
Sunday starts with yet more ironing (ended with loads still left to do) and Andy asking if he could have mates round for the Monaco F1 and a BBQ. So that’s what we did. A day spent socialising, me cooking the meat while Sue did the jacket spuds and salad. At day’s end everyone agreed they had had a good time and most evidenced the time they had spent in the sun with some sunburn despite all efforts with the sun screen from factors 20 – 50.
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Momentous
Last Wednesday (16th May) was a momentous day for my father. While I was away from home for work my eldest son Andrew took his grandmother to visited his granddad in the nursing home and they got staff to put him in his wheelchair, not used since he became a resident on 1st October last year. He then proceeded to take Dad out for a “walk” around the local area using roadside paths and public access paths in the Racecourse / cricket ground area, passing the Virgin sports centre. All of these are new to father since he became housebound due to his advancing MS some years ago. This was only possible because of the break in the weather making it warm enough for dad to go out and when I saw him at the weekend he was very emotional and grateful for what Andrew had done.
With a similar break in the weather this week it looks like that event will be repeated today and (again) I will miss it. Hopefully I will have an opportunity this weekend when Angie and John are up in Derby stopping over with mother.
With a similar break in the weather this week it looks like that event will be repeated today and (again) I will miss it. Hopefully I will have an opportunity this weekend when Angie and John are up in Derby stopping over with mother.
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?
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?
Thursday, 17 May 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Tinnitus sufferers - hope at last
Tinnitus sufferers - hope at last, if like me you suffer from tinnitus there is now a ray of hope for relief....
BBC News have the story.
As a 24/7 sufferer it can't come soon enough for me, whatever it is.
BBC News have the story.
As a 24/7 sufferer it can't come soon enough for me, whatever it is.
Monday, 14 May 2012
All shook up and apathy
Last week the local elections took place and the public that could be bothered to vote decided to elect Labour back into all those seats that last time around they voted the Tories/Lib Dems into. The media say that this is a protest vote.
NO IT IS NOT!
The recent elections that have taken place in France and Greece are protest votes. Voters sweeping aside the status quo and giving a chance to those that have never had a sniff of political power in the past.
But what do we do here in the UK? We stay home and don’t bother to vote, or, we just vote for “the other side”. When is this country and it’s voters going to learn that democracy requires input from the common man/woman and that millions have died so that we CAN vote so make the most of it and make sure that you DO vote.
NO IT IS NOT!
The recent elections that have taken place in France and Greece are protest votes. Voters sweeping aside the status quo and giving a chance to those that have never had a sniff of political power in the past.
But what do we do here in the UK? We stay home and don’t bother to vote, or, we just vote for “the other side”. When is this country and it’s voters going to learn that democracy requires input from the common man/woman and that millions have died so that we CAN vote so make the most of it and make sure that you DO vote.
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