Saturday, July 30, 2005

Holiday here I come

Barcelona is my favourite city in the world and yet I haven't been in about five years. No regrets about that because I've had the opportunity to go to plenty of other places in the meantime. But I've been feeling an increasingly strong urge to go there for a while now. It's such an invigorating city that I find it very energising whenever i go. And with the past few months having been pretty tough for various reasons, the call to Barcelona is even stronger.

So I have booked a week in an appartment there, sorted out some flights and I'm going in 63 days!! I apologise in advance if I start to get hugely excited the nearer the departure day gets. But it's so cool. And I'm so happy about it. And so I want to tell everyone!!! (Sorry)

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Problems with my blog

As far too many of you noticed I had a slight technical problem with the blog a couple of days ago. Completely my fault. Very embarassing. I'm obviously further from my web programmer destination than I thought. Lol!

Does anyone know how I can load a countdown timer onto my blog? Needs to count doan about 2 months only. That's what I was trying to do and it all went horribly wrong!!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

London update

It turns out that the bombers last week were connected to the attack on July 7, which is slightly worrying. It makes you wonder how many of these buggers are out there just waiting to try and blow something else up. Thankfully they maganed to cause a lot less chaos then before last week.

I get the feeling that the city was shaken again by last weeks attempted attack. Possibly even more than after the July 7 attacks. Probably because it's now dawning on people that this was not an isolated incident. I know that many people, including me, have done a lot of soul searching about travelling into town everyday. Because it's the school holidays here the roads and public transport network are much quieter anyway. But I'm wondering if a lot of people are now reluctant to come into town. On the underground trains in the morning you see a lot of people watching each other a lot more than you used to. There is definitely a sense of tension around now.

I travel through one of the stations that was attacked last week, on a twice daily basis. Yesterday wa the first time I went through it since last week and I will admit I was a little bit nervous for the first time in my life. The attacks are random so I'm not particularly worried about there being another bomber on my train. But more because it has hit home that I could have been on that train when it was attacked.

I'm not scared of much (except spiders), and I am determined not to let these idiots affect my life. But I am feeling a bit more nervous. My family and friends are being great about not checking up on all of my movemens all the time, but I know they are worried as well. This is not a good situation to be in right now!

Thursday, July 21, 2005

More attacks

As some of you may have heard/be hearing it looks like London has suffered another attack, although this one is nothing like on the scale of the previous one thank goodness. People here are confused, a little scared, but I think even more determined to carry on with life. If terrorists think they can intimidate us into hiding then they are very very much mistaken.

Morris dancing


I don't know if this is peculiarly British thing, but I'm guessing that it probably is. Morris dancing. As illustrated in the photo above. It involves men and women dressing up and hanging all sort of ornaments, mementoes, bits of cloth and stuff like that off their clothes. Then tucking their trousers into their socks and attaching bells to themselves. Finally they all dance in circles and bank little pieces of wood together. Usually while making what can best be described as whooping sounds. It's quite 'special' as the French would say.

I'm not exactly sure where this practice comes from, having never been too involved in it myself, but I'm pretty confident it's 'religious' and probably pagan. And it normally happens in villages (dare I say where the communities are very 'close'). Having taken the piss a little bit just then, I do have to say it seems relatively harmless and I guess it keeps people out of trouble.

At the week-end when the above group were dancing I had the pleasure of watching the faces of many foreign tourists who came round the corner to discover these whooping adults. There were many who took photos, all had a slightly surprised expression on their faces, and many looked slightly worried. Is this uniquely British?

Monday, July 18, 2005

End of round world yacht race



I went to a port in the South of England yesterday to watch the arrival of the yachts that had taken part in the Global Challenge round the world yacht race. The race lasts for around 10 months, and is unusual in that they go the 'wrong' way round the world. That is to say against the tides and prevailing winds. So basically it's pretty tough!!

I've always enjoyed sailing although I don't get to do it that much now. But I have huge admiration for anyone taking part in this kind of event. Sailing round the world is one of those great adventures that still exists on Earth. And it's pretty dangerous as well, even in todays nanny society. The Southern Ocean (between South America and Australia) is reckoned to be one of the toughest places on Earth. Where you encounter icebergs and 60ft waves on a daily basis!

The atmosphere at the port was amazing, and a lot of people turned out to see them in. A special area right in the middle of port was reserved for them to tie up and there was huge celebrations when each yacht came in. Above is the yacht Pindar coming into the harbour. Below is Barclays and others tied up in front of the landmark Spinnaker Tower.


Saturday, July 16, 2005

Harry Potter


Yes, in some people's eyes I am sad, but I did happen to be passing a bookshop last night at just gone midnight, and I happened to find myself walking in and buying a copy of the latest Harry Potter. The till receipe says 00.17 am!!!

I considered stsrting to read straight away, but I've done that before and it was prety fatal. I got so into the book before that I couldn't put it down and ended up reading the book in pretty much one sitting. 600 pages of it! So this time I went to bed and got up early this morning and started reading. And it's very very good....

More updates to follow...

Friday, July 15, 2005

Quote of the day

Culture is the art of seeking perfection....

Thursday, July 14, 2005

We remember ....



Today London remembered those who were killed and injured in the terrorist attacks last week. The city held a 2 minute silence and everyone came onto the streets from offices and homes to pay their respects. Many people gathered in one of the main squares in the centre of town. It was incredibly eerie and very moving. It really feels like we are united as one city right now. Probably more than ever. And whatever happened/will happen will not defeat us.

Joyeux Bastille Day


>

Happy National day to everyone in France. I hope you all have a great day and everything passes off smoothly.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Survival Sarongs

Being a Sarong wearer myself I was pleasantly surprised to discover that you can now get so called Survival sarongs. they are still cotton, but treated with some kind of stuff to make them semi-waterproof and also stronger. They can then be used as a sarong, towel, sheet, rain cover, fan belt (apparently), and countless other solutions for problems you will never encounter.

I reckon it was invented by the same person who came up with combat skirts.

Friday, July 08, 2005

London ...

I'm back in the Uk now and have managed to contact all friends and family and it seems that everyone is OK. Some had a close shave with some of the incidents, but no-one was physically harmed thanks goodness. It was tense few hours tracking people down. Made more difficult because all of the telephone networks were shut down in London for a while in case the bombs were being triggered remotely by phone. As I said everyone I'm with is safe. Now we can all turn our thoughts and attention on those who have been hurt and/or who have lost loved ones.

I was in my other office in Germany when we got word that somethig had happened back home. My first thoughts were for my friends, family and colleagues, because they all pretty much work in the area where the bombs went off. And many of them would have been on the transport network at the time the devices went off. Because the Police shut down the phone network it proved very difficult to get hold of anyone. All sorts of thoughts go through your head during this time. Where was everyone? Is anyone hurt? Are they with other people at this time? Luckily sms and e-mail still seemed to work. And IM worked with some of them so I managed to speak to everyone in about an hour. It was an uncomfortable time though. The best moment was when I phoned my parents (who live a long way from all this) and my first words were 'I'm OK'. Dad - 'why, what have you done?' He'd been gardening and had no idea. Ignorance is bliss really. And being so far away I felt pleased that people need not worry about me at all, but also very unhappy because I so wished to be in town where I might have been able to do some good. If only by offering support to some of the younger colleagues for example.

What a strange and nightmare situation to be in though. Part of me figured this was going to happen at some point, and I suspect we have come very close to this on other occasions in the last few years. But nothing can really prepare you for seeing people you live and work around everyday blown apart. The atmosphere I'm feeling is one of determination, not of being cowed by this in any way. The advice from the Police today is to stay away from central London so many people are working from home. This gives the authorities a chance to clean up and gather any evidence they can find. But come Monday we will be back at our desks and life will return to as close to normality as possible. It has to. And it will.

I have not been into central London since this happened because I was away and flew back last night. For those that don't know. What the terrorists have done is managed to knock out three of the main underground lines (there are eight). The bombs don't appear to have been that big, so they are obviously to cause fear rather than to destroy the city. The devices expolded all around the edge of the centre of town. Again, one suspects to try and cause as much disruption as possible, rather than wipe the city out.

And now where do we go from here? After the high of getting the Olympics on Wednesday I was going to write a post about how proud I am to be part of the Olympics in the future. There is a lot of work to be done, but we'll get there. And it is so exciting. And then this happens. I'm still feeling a little numb from it all and also outraged that someone feels they can come and do this to us. I'll need some days to absorb it all and I'm interested to see what the mood will be on the journey into work on Monday.

Thank you for all your words and e-mails though. Think of us at this time....

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Cowardly attacks

Some of you may have heard about the cowardly, stupid, low-life attacks on London. I am in Munich at the moment and desperately trying to get news of friends and family in London. It's the one day when I am both glad to be away from London (because people don't need to worry about me then), but also so wish I was there to help.

I'll write more when I have managed to contact friends and family and am back in the UK.

And if any of the fuckers involved in this ever read this. Know this - you will pay for what you have done.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Battlestar Galactica series 2

Just found out today that Season 2 of the new Battlestar Galactica is starting in the US next week. Which is GREAT! We don't get it in the UK until October though. Which is not so great. I guess it's not that long though. And it means my winter is now well and truly sorted!!

Now ... how can I avoid all of the plots and storylines until October? And do I even want to .....?

Monday, July 04, 2005

Thought of the day

Alcohol doesn't help us to sort out our problems.

Having said that, neither does milk.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Krakow trip


I made another business trip to Krakow in Poland last week (hence my absence), and it proved to be probably the best Polish trip so far. My main official reason for going this time was to check our paper stocks being held at the printers my company uses there. And a paper audit is as stimulating as it sounds!! But it all went pretty smoothly and most of the meetings were constructive.

The bonus with having a supplier based in Krakow is that it gives me a chance to go and look around the town and get to know a bit more about the culture and people. And I�m hugely privileged to have a good bunch of guys at the printers who are pretty up for going out. But more about that in minute. Krakow is a very historic city and arguably one of the prettiest in Poland. It has a rich history in art and education, and there are a lot of students who still go there (about 200,000 at the moment apparently). It still has a lot of the signs of its Communist past, but is definitely being modernised. Mostly in a good way. And it still retains some of its very beautiful landmarks such as the castle above.

There are many areas of town that I had not seen on my previous visits, one of the main ones being the Jewish quarter. This district has seen some pretty bad things during the Second World War, and then went through a time of being pretty neglected and crime ridden. Recently it has come back to life and is now one of the areas a lot of people go to hang out. There are lots of bars and restaurants, all of them definitely on a par with anything we have in the UK.
Each time I go to the city there are different people to go out with in the evenings. This time due to sickness and holiday I went out with Lukasz and Mariusz, two of a seemingly bottomless pool of friendly and well connected young guys who work for the printers. On the second evening we went to the aforementioned Jewish quarter and hooked up with another couple of friends there called Ela and Joanna and did a tour of the Jewish area (called Kazimierz). The bars there range from some very intellectual places where artists gather and talk about Proust over a good few bottles of wine and many cigarettes. (Well maybe not Proust, but you get the idea.) Through to an interesting bar laid out like a Turkish caf�, to a club which resembled a Roman villa in layout and was playing Old Skool music. We almost ended up in a place I went last time with a load of beds in the back room to chill out on (very cool and very red), but instead finished the night in what looked like the trendiest bar in town which was playing some kind of techno-salsa music.
Unlike London everyone in Krakow seems quite happy to stay up all night and keep going. When I went back to the hotel at 4am the bars were still rammed and people looking like they were on their third lease of life. And the people there are incredibly friendly and welcoming. From what I�ve seen there is a very young vibe to the place and there are some great looking guys and girls there. It reminds me very much of Prague or Barcelona, but has an undiscovered feel to it at the moment. Apparently the town and hotels are getting busier and busier each week so word is obviously getting out. So if you can get there I can strongly recommend it before it gets spoilt.

Not very interesting fact from the visit. A slang word which sounds like 'no' in polish actually means 'yes'. So if you�re chatting to a girl and she says no, it actually can mean yes. Or she might mean no. Try and figure that one out!

I think they will all be reading this, so thank you for a great couple of days and see you again as soon as possible!!

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Follow up on Zimbabwe

My sister works for a company that runs projects in various developping countries, including Zimbawe. I got this e-mail from her, here reprinted without asking anyone's permission. It is from her company's project leader. It gives an interesting insight into the state of play in Zimbabwe right now. It's a lot worse than most people realise....

Dear All,

Just an update on the situation here.

You may have seen news on the evictions and demolitions going on (called
restore order) here which have displaced somewhere around 250 - 300,000 people (conservative UN estimates) over the past 6 weeks. This has also had knock-on effects for many others as rentals have now soared in the high density areas. Nobody is quite sure what has spurred all this although many rumours and conspiracy theories abound.

The Gov. has announced about 2 weeks ago that they would also be scouring the residential areas and closing down all illegal offices. The suburbs north of the city are full of such offices, including ours and most of the NGOs we work with. I haven't heard of anyone actually being affected yet,so we just sit tight and hope other things occupy their minds. We are in a pretty quiet area, which also means it is highly unlikely that we would be amongst the early evictees. We should get reasonable advance warning when and if they actually get serious on this and start closing people down.

However. dont be too shocked if you hear one fine day that we are all sitting in the street. Rachel has started looking around for alternatives in "proper" office blocks just in case, but if it gets to that stage the competition will be somewhat fierce.

They have also announced a new campaign called "we will all live happily ever after etc etc", or some such bullshit, where everyone will get new houses, business places etc. So things (and people) are very confused.

Fuel has not been available in service stations for nearly a month now although long queues form on rumours of impending delivery. Many cars just stay in the queues as they are already out of fuel. We are OK so far because of our coupon system prepaid in overseas to Caltex. Official price of petrol was increased 300% to $10,000 per litre, and while this in theory brings the price somewhere in line with true prices, it doesn't solve the problem of lack of real money.

Scheduled power cuts have started in addition to unscheduled ones, although the schedules are also confused. So far we are not seriously inconvenienced, although sometimes we can't get fuel with our coupons because there is no power to run the fuel pumps. Water supply is bad in many suburbs, however again we are fortunate in being close to a major reservoir.

Next shortage looming is cash! again! We had this in 2003 when the largest note was $500. We have had $20,000 bearer cheques since then which solved the problem, but are now running out. Not sure why they are running out, lack of paper? lack of ink? another cunning strategy to undermine the black market? If there is no money you cant fuel the black market! You can't fuel anything! There is no fuel anyway! Crispen went to the bank to get $20 million for salaries etc last week and came back with a sackfull of $500 and $1,000 notes.

Ah well, life goes on and we can never complain about being bored in
Zimbabwe.

Regards

Terry


To give you an idea of the change in the decade since I was there, the Zimbabwe dollar exchange rate was Z$10 approximately to US$1. Now it is Z$9000 to US$1.