That’s Friday over 30 October 2009
Posted by Tony in Work stuff.Tags: email, Lotus Notes, NaBloPoMo, Outlook 2003, weekend, work
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It may seem silly going back to work for one day before the weekend, but I did manage to get quite a bit done. Our ‘corporate email’ is in the process of migrating from Lotus Notes to Outlook 2003, and it was our offices turn this week. Of course, all the Numpties found it a struggle, which was only to be expected. From what I hear, the so called ‘super-user’, who was supposed to be able to show everyone where they were going wrong, was nowhere to be seen. I suppose, he/she/it spent most of the time up with senior management. Not out of necessity, you understand, but out of ambition. The problem most of the staff have, and it has long been a bit of a bug bear for me, is that they do not have the wherewithal to find things out. They do not have the skill set, to be able to utilise the ‘help’ pages. They can only function, if someone tells them what to say/do etc. For example, one of the fools has spent all day, trying to send emails, whilst working offline !!!! A quick type of ‘unable to send emails’ into the help box revealed the answer !!!
Back to work …. 29 October 2009
Posted by Tony in Just another day.Tags: car, fishing, lake, NaBloPoMo, swim, Uni, walk
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It’s back to work tomorrow !! It’s been a good few days off. We dropped the eldest at Uni this morning, and then went to look at a new car. We get to change our family car in March, under the Motorbility scheme, so we need to start looking now. We’ve had a Renault Scenic for the past 9 years, but we will not need such a big car now, with S**** not living at home. Mrs H likes the look of the Volvo C3.
Then we went for a walk around the lake at Roundhay Park, which was nice . I have to say though, that lakeside walk is somewhat spoiled, by all the warning signs, telling people ‘Do Not Enter the Water’ They are there, because a few years ago. Someone died after they decided to swim across the lake, in spring-time, before the water had had time to warm up from the winter. So now we have signs warning everyone of the danger !!!!! We never had signs up when I used to go fishing there, thirty years ago. You just knew that it was a dangerous place, so you took care !!!
Birthday … 29 October 2009
Posted by Tony in Just another day.Tags: Asda, car, coolant, drama, Halfords, NaBloPoMo, oil, pub
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Its the eldest lads birthday today. He was supposed to be at drama tonight, but there was some problem with the village hall. Apparently the new paint job had not been completed, so they could not rehearse. Two of his friends, B*** and C******* came home with him at around half 8, and we all went off to the pub about 10 o’clock. A very pleasant evening.
I need to do a bit of maintenance on my car at the moment. I gave it a vacuum out this morning, and thought I had better top up my washers. It was then that I spotted, that the coolant needed topping up. Well I had some of that from last year, but I then checked the oil, and it was a bit below the ‘min’ mark on the dipstick. So I need to get some of that tomorrow. If they have it, it seems to be cheapest in ASDA. However knowing my luck, they won’t have any, and I’ll have to pay a bit more and get some from Halfords. I think it is a good to have some on hand.
One down … two to go 27 October 2009
Posted by Tony in family.Tags: birthday, leak, meal, NaBloPoMo, pizza, steak
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It has been a good day. We went out for a meal with K***’s Mum, Dad, Aunt and Uncle. It is here Aunties 70th birthday next week, so we went to the George at Piercebridge, near Darlington. It is a nice place, but the meal was not as good as it promised to be. K*** told me later, that hers was awful, and that if it had been just me and her, then she would have sent it back. I had a medium rump steak. It was not quite medium, and was no where near the 10oz it should have been. The puddings were, at best average, and all in all was a little disappointing. Still the company was good.
It is the eldest’s birthday tomorrow. It must seem a little strange for him, as this will be the first time he has not been here for his birthday. We are going to meet him, and go for a pizza, but I’m not sure how his mum is going to be in the morning.
Someone is coming to look at the leaking hot water tank tomorrow. I hope it is first thing, but I bet it is about midday when they turn up. I have my fingers crossed that it is only a leaking pipe joint. Anything else would be a major job I think.
Three days off 26 October 2009
Posted by Tony in Just another day.Tags: birthday, Katherine Jenkins, medication, respite, TV, Twitter, work
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Work went well. Glad I’m off for a few days though. I think I need a bit of a break. It seems to have been a long time since I was last off. We are going out for lunch tomorrow with Mrs H’s mum and dad, and aunt and uncle. It’s her aunt’s 70th birthday next week. It is hard to imagine that she is 70, but what is really hard to get my head round, is that she is only 16 years older than me !!! That scares me a bit.
Sounds like the youngest has had another good day. Mrs H only gave him one dose of his medication, and that was around lunchtime. He has gone on respite for a few days. Back on Friday.
I’m feeling a little giddy at the moment. I was on Twitter earlier, and the classical singer Katherine Jenkins was tweeting like mad. On the off chance, I mentioned that I had enjoyed her recent TV interview. To my utmost surprise, the lovely lady tweeted back and said thank you. I was completely made up !!!! It will take a while to get me down off this cloud.
The weekend is all gone …. 25 October 2009
Posted by Tony in Just another day.Tags: hot water, leave, Lotus Notes, medication, NaBloPoMo, Outlook, Sunday, thermostat, work
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Another successful Sunday with the youngest, and yet again, no medication. That is three Sundays in a row. Just wish that it could happen on Saturday too. Now that would be something.
We think we have a small leak in the hot water cylinder. There seems to be water escaping around the thermostat. However the people we pay to fix things like this do not see it as an emergency, and are not coming out until Wednesday. Fingers crossed that it does not get worse then !!
I have a few days off work next week. I’m in on Monday and Friday, but mid week, I’m on leave. Youngest goes away on respite for a few days tomorrow, so it is a good time to take off. The eldest is 20 on Wednesday. He is coming up for his drama, but he has to be back at Uni on Thursday morning. Mrs H is not taking it too well I think. She was hoping he would come straight home after his lecture on Wednesday, but he wants to have a drink with his pals first. That may not go down too well if he is not home for tea.
It is quite a big week for the IT at work. Our building is moving from Lotus Notes to Outlook 2003 on Thursday. I know what your saying, with Office 2010 due out soon, why are we still running 2003 versions. Apparently it is all down to licensing, suitability, time factors, or deployment issues, depending on who you speak to. What they don’t explain, is that it is all down to staffing issues !!! Still it will be good to get away from the limitations of Notes.
End of BST 24 October 2009
Posted by Tony in Just another day, Nothing special.Tags: BST, clocks, Creedence Clearwater Revival, haircut, Leeds Utd, Millwall, NaBloPoMo, U2, X Factor
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It’s been quite a good day. Out with the youngest this morning for a haircut. He was really good. We had about a 20 minute wait, and he was no problem at all. It is a lot different from the first few times we used to go, when he just would not let them do anything. Mind you, they know him now, and know exactly what he is like, and are really good with him.
Just been changing all the clocks. Well I think I’ve changed them all. Here’s hoping that R*** does not wake up at 5am again, like this morning. It has been between 7am and 7:30am when he has woken up all week. Then it’s my day off and the little devil is awake at 5am. Give him his due though, he did not want anything until about 7:30am.
Leeds Utd got beat at Millwall, so that did not go down too well. Their unbeaten record has gone now. It was good while it lasted. I just hope it does not knock their confidence.
X factor was strange tonight. I only saw the first half, but it had Louis and Simon debating whether U2’s ‘With or Without You’ was a ‘Big Band’ song. But one singer sang ‘Proud Mary’, by Creedence Clearwater Revival which is not a ‘Big Band’ sound either. Get your house in order I say !!
TGIF…. 23 October 2009
Posted by Tony in Just another day, Work stuff.Tags: agenda, fireworks, headphones, IPod, meeting, NaBloPoMo, repair, school, team, work
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Quite a reasonable day today, except for the start. Today was the day we have our “regular” team meeting. I use the word regular in it’s most broad sense. We are supposed to have one every month, but thankfully, it is a lot less often. The problem is, that it last for 75 minutes, and 90% of the meeting could take 20 minutes only. Someone like the sound of his own voice too much. The agenda is always the same, and for the most times, the content is the same too.
The rest of the work day went okay. I think I have managed to sort out the problems with the handheld repairs. It would appear that the repair company were unable to create an RMA for 4 cases, so they left them !!! It was only when I contacted them, that someone realised the problem and tried again. I would put money on the fact, that I won’t get a customer satisfaction survey for these cases.
Youngest has been okay tonight. He got a bit upset when someone was letting fireworks off. They really seem to bother him now. It was strange, because when the first couple went off, he seemed to be quite excited, but that soon changed. To his credit, when I told him to put his head phones on, he did so straight away, and kept them on for a good 2 hours. They are noise cancelling full ear phones, and when they switched on really deaden all external noise.
He tried the IPod at school today. It looks like they have been showing him what to do, and he seems to have some understanding. I still think that it will not be of much use for him. School thinks it is marvellous !!! Mrs H spoke with the Principal today, who is determined to find the money to buy some IPods and the software to use in school. Maybe they can see more different uses than I can.
Re: No post on 21/10/2009…. 22 October 2009
Posted by Tony in Just another day.Tags: Autism, consultant, dinner, drunk, lamb, NaBloPoMo, PECS, teacher, tired
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It was a little late when I got back last night, and I was more than a little worse for wear. Not drunk I may add, just rather tired. It was about 00:45 when we finally got in, where the time went to is anybodies guess, and I was just not up to writing even one line.
I realised this afternoon, that I never said how Sundays dinner turned out. The lamb was cooked to perfection. It was in the oven for just over 4 hours, and it just fell off the bone. Really tender and surprisingly moist, in spite of the length of cooking time. It is a dish we may do again.
The meeting with R***’s consultant went better than expected. He did seem to have some clue after all, although I got the impression, that whilst he knew all about the condition, he knew very little about R***. We shall see what happens from here. The parents evening went well also. His teacher appeared to be very keen on what we had to say. So again it is a wait and see time.
Mrs H has bought R*** an IPod touch, and has paid a fortune for an app that is supposed to be good for kids with Autism. Trouble is, I don’t think he will have anything to do with it. According to ‘the experts’ it can do lost of things. However, the only thing I can see with the app is that it is some kind digital PECS system. He does not use PECS, which to my mind is a communication tool for kids with no speech. If someone has some speech, and you give that person a tool that basically speaks for them, what will be the outcome ????
No post on 21/10/2009 22 October 2009
Posted by Tony in Just another day.Tags: beer
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Due to difficulties (i.e. too much beer ha ha), I was unable to make a posting. This is not a permanent condition !!!
I am a Project Officer with Leeds City Council. I'm married with two sons, and live in a small village on the outsklirts of Leeds. Hobbies include computers, the internet, social networking, drinking, walking, reading and I have a very eclectic taste in music.
