Sunday 30 September 2007

Who's looking for what.

Was looking through my web statistics for the blog and came across a few highly amusing search engine phrases that people have arrived at the blog through:

"chris's friction burn"
- I do have a friend called Chris, but I've not given him a friction burn. He's not that sort of friend.

"dogs crampons"
- Is that animal cruelty? Or is it making sure you're dog's acclimatizing to altitude properly. Whichever way it's very very weird.

"snowboards as shelves"
- A nice idea, albeit expensive. I can't see Ikea introducing this for the 07/08 range.

"people looking at dead whale"
- I've got to say, I do prefer hobbies with more exercise.

"1970's tennis headbands"
- A beautiful look, now and then.

"rum punch made in london"
- It might be best just to refer you to someone based in London with extended culinary experience to be honest.

"once more again with feeling"
- Well quite.

Friday 28 September 2007

Sixty-beer binge leads to four-week hangover

This came into my blog feed this morning:

IT may be the longest hangover in the history of binge beer drinking.
When a 37-year old man walked into a hospital emergency room in Glasgow, Scotland last October complaining of "wavy" vision and a non-stop headache that had lasted four weeks, doctors were at first stumped, the British journal The Lancet reported today.

The unnamed patient "had no history of head injury or loss of consciousness; his past medical record was unremarkable, and he was taking no medications," Zia Carrim and two other physicians from Southern General Hospital said in a case report.

Body temperature and blood pressure were both normal, and a neurological exam scanned negative.

But when an eye specialist was called in, the fog began to clear, at least for the doctors.

The patient, said the ophthalmologist, had swollen optical discs, greatly enlarged blind spots and what eye doctors call "flame haemorrhages," or bleeding nerve fibres.

"We sought a more detailed history" from the patient, noted one named Zia.

This is when the man revealed he had consumed 60 pints - roughly 35 litres - of beer over a four day period, following a domestic crisis.

Doctors believe severe dehydration, caused by the alcohol, led to a rare condition called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). A scan of the brain's blood vessels confirmed the diagnosis.

CVST - which can cause seizures, impaired consciousness, loss of vision and neurological damage - strikes three or four people per million, mainly children, every year in Britain. The cause is generally unknown.

It took more than six months of long-term blood-thinning treatment to restore the man's normal vision - and to get rid of the headache, the doctors reported.

Tuesday 25 September 2007

OSS vs MS

I know what the problem is - connecting to my databases is unbelievably slow and then hangs when performing any tasks. The problem is that everything is proprietary Microsoft software.

The PC is running a version of Windows that I now know is not legit (it will be soon, but isn't right now). I'm in the process of getting it all sorted but I inherited this computer and it came with a dodgy install that I wasn't initially aware of.

This means that I can't run the latest version of the Microsoft database software (SQL Server 2005) and the previous version is buggy and causing this problem. This is really annoying. I've patched and updated the computer as best I can (in fact the latest update I can make is being installed now) but I'm not sure this will solve the problem. It's really getting on my tits and slowing down my work spending a day getting everything sorted.

I'm building a workaround on another computer but this is all woefully convoluted and a real pain in the arse. To have the separate pieces of software reliant on each other in this way is really annoying and frankly not good on behalf of the software builders.

What's more frustrating is that I've been playing with my new Ubuntu Linux computer and none of this is an issue. Everything's so open and easily updated as well as being free from any costs. Plus I'm not trying to get tied down into any sort of agreements on how (or how not) I'm supposed to use my own computer. There's definitely change afoot in the world of computers in a big way and it's manifesting itself in only 1/4 of the screens in our office now showing Microsoft products (and I'm a MS developer!). The majority are Macs but to be honest I've been looking at them and thinking about installing Ubuntu on one of those as well.

Yesterday I set Windows file sharing on the Macs so now I can switch files between OS X, Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux machines at the click of a button. Happily all the computers are fully integrated now and getting all this sorted has been in the most part really easy. Ubuntu was the easiest, then the Macs a close second but a way distant third was the PC. (Ubuntu uses Samba to share which comes pre-installed and pre-configured, Mac OS X uses its Windows File Sharing utility that you just switch on, with Windows you have to go crawling around network connections and user accounts to get it working as you want). I'm a happy geek.

So now it's time to put the plan to get my Microsoft workaround in place, it's not massively elegant but I've gone past caring - it just needs to work frankly. Hopefully soon the OSS (Open Source Software) guys will build a module that translates proprieatary MS SQL databases into MySQL (OSS) and also a query analyzer that translates MS SQL queries into MySQL queries. This should mean that I can run an ASP emulator like ChiliSoft as well as the proposed module and move all the code and projects onto a non-Microsoft platform. That'll save everyone an immense amount of money frankly.

I hope it gets rid of this rising tension too.

Sunday 23 September 2007

YEAH! (kinda)

Awesome, the money from the last contract has just eased gently into the business account and is sitting there glowing like the little pile of gold it is. My beady eyes glisten with moisture as I apportion it to the various bills that need paying, a nice big food shopping spree and a load for saving for the winter. Life is peachy surely?

Well sort of. The contract was for a US company paying in dollars. I live in France and I live in Euros. The recent history of the exchange rate between dollars and euros looks like this:



I just re-read my GCSE Maths text book to confirm this next statement and therefore feel it has been independently verified: graphs that point down are not good.

This graph points down. This is not good. In fact it's really shit news. Not only can I hear the impending thunderclap of doom, but somewhere within the din I can make out the delicate pop of a tube of lube being opened.

It may be time for a think on how to do this without getting pumped by every currency dealer between Chamonix and New York. Maybe holding onto it for a few weeks to catch a spike when the dollar gets stronger for a day or two. More likely is that it may be time to bite the bullet and wonder if maybe Northern Rock had more customers like me, they might not be broke.

P.S. I really feel sorry for any of the customers caught in the crossfire of this Northern Rock fiasco. I only hope one of the big city banks steps up to the mark and takes an initial hit to get the company back on track.

Saturday 22 September 2007

Chirpy Days

It's amazing what a bit of willpower can do.

Sister came over for a great couple of days and we managed to get in a meal at Katy's restaurant Le Delice in Les Houches which was fantastic as always. Then a trip into Chamonix with a few friends for some cheeky beers at Chambre Neuf followed by a few later drinks rounding the evening off in the Monkey Bar.

We had a stroll up the Gorges des Diosaz the following morning from Servoz then up to Vaudagne for a brief mooch around and back to Cham for Jen to have an afternoon nap while I boshed out some work. Italian dinner compliments of Casa Valerio and then a movie and a snooze.

Really ideal couple of days to spend together and have a natter and a bit of a wander around the valley - I was really stoked to be able to sort out the free transfers from and to Geneva for her as well as introducing her to my friends out here. All in all it was a great couple of days. My brain was resetting itself quickly - much quicker than normal and really think I might have beaten this thing, at least for the time being.

After an early-morning transfer I managed to get some nice time with Abi too and we loafed around the house eating and having a giggle and watching CSI before crashing out early. We set off from Abi's place this morning to go hike up the Tete de Balme at Le Tour but it was blazing hot and conditions weren't ideal to get to the very top so we stopped midway and admired the valley before coming back down. The view from up there is fantastic and although I mention it a lot - still never tire of it.

The brilliant thing about walking around ski areas in the summer is you get to see all the different hidden gullies and tucked-away routes and interesting features of the mountain. Many of these little beauties were duly filed away in the memory banks, including a rocking alternative option to the Le Tour home run consisting of a really steep, wooded section with a great narrow path. With blue skies and only the sound of crickets chirping us along the walk home it was a beautiful way to spend Saturday.

Well I've made a load of progress with my next contract over the past day or two as well now and am feeling so much better about it all. I hope that I can polish off the old contract this weekend - draw a line underneath it, put in the final invoice and move on. There's a load of work to be cracking on with that's piqued my curiosity and got me back into wanting to program and create and develop and build the project. Awesome.

Wednesday 19 September 2007

Amusing little story

Feeling better this morning. Been out and had a run and just about to have a bath at home and crack on with work again. It's pretty cold here and last night's rain prompting a fresh snowy offering on the tops of the mountains.

Was just catching up with my RSS feeds and came across this light-hearted little anecdote in an interview with Josh Lewsey, an England rugby player who played in the last World Cup and collected a winner's medal.

What is the funniest thing you have heard while playing for England? (Tom Pick, 15, Banbury)

It was probably during the 2003 World Cup final. The referee, Andre Watson, said: "I won't give a penalty at a scrum unless I can put my mortgage on it." After the fifth penalty against us, our hooker Steve Thompson turned round to Watson and said: "You must have a s*** house!"

Tuesday 18 September 2007

Darken Days

Damnit, it's going to happen again. I can feel it. In about a day or two my brain's going to close down and spend a day kicking my soul and heart around before coming back to life. Fucking hate it. Just make it stop. It's like knowing the train is going to crash into a huge burning pile of twisted metal and watching the terrible drama unfold but still not having the will to pull the brake lever.

Nothing anyone can say will make it better. Sleep will be something to dream of - a way out for just a few blessed hours. But it will be like trying to catch mist in your fingers - clawing away with bony hands frantically with futile results. When it does finally arrive as the sun starts to come up they will be fitful, harsh dreams, a cloying and vicious surreal kaleidoscope of colour and images. When you wake from the frozen state you'll regret the time you spent there, just wishing you could just get your body back to a regular cycle. Guilty of the time you should have spent elsewhere.

It's been a while since I've slipped down and had a really dark patch. It was a few months ago now and when it happened it was only for 2 days. 2 days of having a voice in your head telling you over and over every bad thing you've ever done. Telling you that everything you cherish and value is worth nothing and worst of all taking away your hope.

I know medically why this happens - imbalances of serotonin levels in the brain. There's a reason for it that isn't just that you're "feeling a bit down" or that it's "just how life is". But it has got easier since I've been here. The dark days space themselves more and more, with hard exercise and bright sunlight being the keys to unlocking the mental turbulence. The lows aren't as low but the highs remain lifting and ethereal. I'm getting better - 31 years of this crap and I'm getting better. But it's still there in fits and starts, clawing away at your neck threatening to press your self-destruct button.

But this time it's different. I'm not going down easily. I'm going to fight this with everything I've got starting with getting up early tomorrow and go out for a run, then work for a few hours and finally go to meet my sister. The voices can get stuffed frankly - I don't need them and they don't need me. Go pester someone else, make someone else doubt themselves. I'm going to release the voices high up into the mountains where they can stay for an eternity as a dark cloud looming over a forbidden peak. I'm going to keep the skies clear above my head. It's medical, and I can heal my body of anything with enough effort. I can push myself further than others, I can force myself to the absolute limit. This is no different at all. I can force myself rid of this minor problem, this small glitch in my body, this bug. Just like any computer bug I can code a fix for it, rework it, push logic at it and it will go away, dissipate into nothingness.

Ubuntu Update

I've dragged everything off the Windows bit of the hard drive - Ubuntu let me browse to it automatically. Genius. I can even automatically connect to both the Macs and the PC's in the office. I've got everything I need off the Windows bit so wanted to free up the space. After a brief thought I figure just to install Ubuntu again and use the whole hard drive. No worries there.

I have come across a problem though. The sound isn't currently working and I need to look at that. Still, insofar as what could have potentially gone wrong it's pretty minimal so far.
Edit: It's because I didn't plug in the speakers. Dickhead.

Enjoying fiddling around with it to be honest.

Monday 17 September 2007

Installing Ubuntu instead of Windows

I need a server on the network - one that can run Apache and MySQL and just sit there as a development box. Also it would be handy to have a spare computer for people to use who drop by looking for internet access. I've got an old(ish) computer (Dell P4) that ran Windows ME until it decided enough was enough and started to hang on boot. It needs a rebuild from the ground up and certainly needs an entire fresh install of an operating system for starters.

Options
1) Mac OS X. Since Apple started using Intel processors it's meant that you can run Mac OS's on PC's and Windows on Apple Macs. Hmm, interesting and I love the two Macs I use. Still either got to pay for it or *ahem* "acquire" a copy to install. It's not overly expensive (I found a few offers on Amazon from around $74.99). Possibly worth a purchase I reckon.

2) Windows. A search on dabs.com shows that I can buy the Pro version of Windows XP I'd need for £239.67 and am suggested to buy Microsoft Office 2007 for £358.98. You are fucking kidding aren't you. Not a chance I'm buying Office (I'll come to that later) but £239.67 for a copy of XP? That's 6 1/2 times the price of OS X! I need another option.

3) Ubuntu Linux. An Open Source (code is non proprietary) operating system. Cost is free, or more accurately the cost of any old blank CD I've got laying around the place. Sounding good already. Found one stuffed between a load of old paper and downloaded it in around 15 minutes from the Ubuntu website then spent a couple of minutes burning it to CD on my iMac.

The Choice



OK. It's got to be option 3. The OS X option takes too long to buy the copy off the net and get delivered. Windows is just too expensive to consider. Plus there are security issues there that can be overcome by using another operating system. But what about having someone else using the computer? What about the random people that drop in to quickly check mail and the net? What if they need to open up Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc) files they get sent through email?

Well Open Office is the answer. It's basically an Open Source, free version of Microsoft Office. I've used it before and it reads and writes MS Office files and works pretty damn well on any of the operating systems mentioned so far.

Internet is accessed through the Firefox web browser, included in the standard Ubuntu install. I find out Open Office is included with Ubuntu too as standard. Nice.

The Install
So I've just chucked in the CD I burned and it's led me through a very easy interface asking me where I live and what username and password I'd like to log onto the computer with. This already looks more secure than Windows - asking me for a password to start the install. Plus the graphics are fluffy and look very cool. I've left it to do its thing and install. Its saved the hard drive holding the install of Windows ME that I couldn't even log into before (I'm hoping to get the films that are buried somewhere on the hard drive from years gone by).

A Hitch
So it's all installed now and booting up for the first time. It's found a load of errors on the hard drive. Damn, that'll be why Windows wasn't booting up. Ubuntu takes one look and fixes the errors before telling me what it's done and that if I just wait a few seconds please, it'll reboot itself.

I wait with baited breath but everything's gone through without a hitch. The machine reboots and loads up to the Ubuntu login screen. I duly enter my username and password and I'm presented with the Ubuntu desktop. Very slick. I plug in a network cable to the computer hooking it to my internal network ready to configure internet access.

Updates
As soon as the machine (surprisingly quickly) is ready it tells me there's 180MB of updates ready to install. It's automatically detected my network card and connected to the internet. Sweet, but 180MB, that's going to take forever. Actually less than 2 minutes apparently judging by the high speed download - these boys have put some serious thought into upgrades. Windows Update sits in the background and hogs huge resources and time slowing my XP box down to a crawl sometimes when I'm updating that. These 29 updates whistle down and install with 2 clicks (after asking me for my admin password to make sure I'm not anyone naughty). I really liking this more and more. I even like the soft colours and flowing graphics of the desktop. Relaxing and peaceful.

It's taken quite a while to install these updates, and I'm a bit apprehensive that my DVD drive and CD writer won't be working. I'm very nervous in fact. Might have to test it out once the updates have done installing.

Looking through the list of updates, it appears Open Office and Firefox have been updated automatically. Awesome. Saves me a job. Now that all that's finished, it's asked me to reboot and I'm starting to get a bit excited about my new toy. There's always something cool about bringing and old computer back to life.

Finishing Up
A brief reboot and we're ready to go. Everything looks fine. I can access the files in the Windows partition directly from Ubuntu, the CD burner works without needing any other software, internet access works straight away. Basically there's no need for fiddling around!

Impressions
I'm loving it, what a bit of kit. Beautiful, fast, easy to install, easy to use. Free (woohoo!) and clean. Tinks even dropped into the office and just started using it to check her email. Tinks isn't massively technologically literate and just opened up Firefox and logged into Hotmail without any probs at all. Class.

I've actually installed Ubuntu once before on another computer but that was a long time ago. They've done a load of work on this bit of software in the mean time and done it well. After my experience today I'd recommend it to anyone as a genuine alternative for standard home users.

Saturday 15 September 2007

American Football jumpers

Got to love it. They should have realised what it would spell...

Friday 14 September 2007

Come on!

Waiting, just waiting... Come on, let's be having you. Snowy adventures are coming.



But beforehand...

Tinks and I have decided to go on a road trip over the interseason for a short while. Really looking forward to going away together and seeing a bit more of the country we live in. We're thinking about going through the Dordogne and then down to the Basque Country and then back in a round trip to Chamonix possibly via the Mediterranean coast. Funky stuff!



I intend on using my French to it's full use by being able to talk to people who live by the sea about how regularly they wax their skis, which mountain they climbed yesterday and how come humous is so bloody expensive in the local supermarket. Vital stuff. We're going to be haut de la gorge de la merde sans palette (up shit creek with no paddle) if anything goes wrong with the car because I know virtually no French vocabularly that is pertinent to motor vehicles.

Spain might have differing language problems. I only know very basic Spanish really. I can say "I have fleas" (tengo pulgas), "some ice please" (hielo por favor), and "don't shoot me, shoot the hairy one" (no me tire, tiran el melenudo). This last one is damn useless as I am, in fact, the hairy one. Not good. Might have to take my laptop and hook it up permanently to Altavista's online translation tool Babelfish.

To be honest, I'm actually really pleased how my French is coming along and am learning more every day. It feels good to be able to crack the odd joke with someone in a foreign language and feel pretty comfortable day-to-day. I've never been fluent in another language and it's something I'm really looking forward to at some stage in the future.

Wednesday 12 September 2007

Speeding Ticket: €45



Got pinged on the 1st September doing a transfer from Chamonix to Geneva. Allegedly doing 108kph through a 90kph zone between Chamonix and St Gervais. It's a static €45.00 fine if payed within 15 days going up to something like €180 after that - I'll be elbowing grannies out of the way at the Post Office to pay it tomorrow then. No points on the license though which is the only good thing. Bastards. If only they'd accept mitigating circumstances...

1) I'd just picked up 7 girls who managed to be 45 minutes late. (Yes, 45 minutes). They'd managed to make me late for picking up clients on the way back from Geneva.

2) I'd not been driving the transfer bus very much beforehand so wasn't as experienced as now.

3) These girls were really getting on my tits. They'd been out downing Lambrini the night before and kept asking for me to stop so they could throw up. This really wasn't improving my chirpy demeanour.

4) It was downhill and with all 8 of us in the van gravity was having considerable effect.

Of course any one of these arguments would hold up in a court of law as the judge would have seen my plight and made a judgment in my favour. There may have even been some form of compensation heading my way for the untold misery suffered during that trip. Unluckily I chose just to swallow it down and take it on the chin when I spoke to Shaun (the transfers boss) about it. He was really good to be fair and appreciated that I wasn't coming up with any bullshit excuses (note: reasons for speeding given in this posting are blatantly NOT bullshit excuses, I just chose not to raise them with him).

Anyways, got me thinking. If the clients are late for the transfer then that's their problem - not mine. The transfer takes 1 1/4 hours and we stick to the speed limits. I know it sounds daft, but it was a good lesson to learn early on.

Les Gorges de la Diosaz, Servoz

Mini adventures totally rock around here. There's all sorts of things to do for an afternoon's mooching around and Abi and I took the opportunity to delve off into the nooks and cracks of the valley the other day to explore the Gorges de la Diosaz - a narrow, steep fissure in the rocky cliffs around Servoz.

Wooden pathways have been built onto the sheer walls to gain access to the upper reaches of the gorge meaning a really interesting walk and the whole place is a heritage site due to really old shale mines dug into some of the cliffs. It's something that takes a couple of hours and looks really interesting, outdoorsy and generally a bit of a giggle so off we trotted.

It gets more interesting the more you walk up the gorge. Down at the bottom (I guess because we live in the valley and see small gorges on a daily basis) it wasn't manically interesting - a path through a forest. As we went on though, we started to climb onto the walkways and ascend up gaining altitude and it became more and more beautiful, really eye catching with sheer rock faces rising up on each side and the gorge crack getting narrower.

Walking up the Gorges de la Diosaz


The walkways were classically French - not exactly high spec with much wobbling of hand rails and generally giving off a "rustic" air. It did give it a real charm though. One of the bridges was made by a guy called Louis Lachenal a local total hero who was the first man (along with Maurice Herzog) to climb an 8000m mountain (Annapurna in case you were wondering). It was a small suspension bridge, the cables for the suspension being the old ones from the Brevent cable car. Very cool.

Tinks on the bridge - straight out of Jurassic Park


The whole place had this air of peace and tranquility about it, there were plenty of little signs telling you which rock pools were called what and pointing out the old mine workings. Of course I made sure to read each and every one of these signs and try and digest the information, Tinks was more enamoured with the romantic setting of it all methinks. And it was too. Like a mini Jurassic Park, mildly claustrophobic at times, and both of us looking at the sheer walls for cracks and weaknesses that could be a potential climbing route!

Amazing rock pools


Wicked waterfalls cutting down through the rock


All the way through there were staggering views both looking up and down the gorge, it was really beautiful and I'd thoroughly recommend anyone going there for a couple of hours peace and adventuring.

Rickety looking walkways, pretty though. Lachenal's suspension bridge crossing the gorge.

Monday 10 September 2007

Japanese Scientists' James Bond Moment

Endgadget in all their glory are reporting on a story that takes mankind one step closer to Moonraker.



Japanese scientists make breakthrough in space-based laser power
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Osaka University have been working together to develop a device which converts sunlight into laser-light with four times the efficiency of previous attempts. According to a report out of Tokyo, the team is working on Space-based solar power systems which can collect sunlight in space and convert it into laser light, which is then transmitted to Earth and used for electricity... or to power a massive Death-Ray. The project works by storing sunlight-based energy in plate made from a sintered powder of metals like chromium and neodymium. When weak laser light is shined onto the plate, the stored energy is transferred to the laser where its strength is amplified by a factor of four. In one test, a 0.5-watt laser was amplified to 180-watts by the plates. Scientists have thus far been able to garner 40-percent of the solar energy produced, and they hope to have a system ready for satellite mounting by the not-too-distant year 2030. Huzzah!



Discuss.

Saturday 8 September 2007

Bish, bash, bosh

Dropped Chris off at the airport last night, felt a bit tearful as he was going away and gave him a hug and waved him off. The weather was perfect and as he mentioned in his blog it was a great way to be heading off with a memory of the valley in all its glory.

So....
Bish:
Moved all my stuff from the farm to the office today. Going to get everything sorted to turn it into a proper apartment and move desks/etc so that they become more of a small living area and somewhere I can chillax (a new word I learned recently that is a combination of "chill" and "relax" - I'm so hip and trendy).

Bash
Going to finish off one of my contracts this weekend. They've already started to pay (wahey!) and so going to polish it all off and hand them the thing of beauty we've been working on for the past couple of months. This will then mean I can focus on my new contract as well as make upgrades to another ongoing project. Basically it means I'm not going to be bitching and whining on my blog about work, and let's be honest I'm pretty bloody disorganized generally - having 3 computer contracts on the go is a blatant recipe for disaster.

Bosh
Going to go food shopping today. This is the big shop, you know the one you always need to do when you move into somewhere new? I love it. Gonna buy some cool stuff.

Friday 7 September 2007

Seasons Changing in the Chamonix Valley

Two days ago, overnight, the temperature dropped like a lead duck into a pond. Hats, gloves and some hideous neon 80's skiing jackets emerged from the various hotels and residences to be sported around town. The heat of summer is officially waving its last good bye and being replaced with the chillier climes of autumn.

Siberian winds pushing a giant cold-weather system from the north-east.


I'm bouncing off the fucking walls with excitement - snow's coming, I can smell it. Other members of the Narg household are not as enthusiastic and are starting to burn incense, chant melodic ancient parchments and sacrifice live chickens to try and lengthen the hot weather. These people are fighting nature and will not win (with or without my moral support)!

Cold and clear around Mont Blanc (latest webcam image)


There's still the sun and blue skies but instead of the deep azure lustre of recent months, it's a paler more powdery hue. Anyone venturing up high should be prepared with thermal undies and more than just a cheeky grin to fend of cold's frosty fingers. The boys have started talking about the upcoming winter, reminiscing about adventures past and stories of deep powder days are flowing like the house rose in Le Delice.

The frosted tips of the Aiguille du Midi (latest webcam image)


Chris is leaving today to go back to London to work on a contract and we had a bit of send-off last night. Fred and I texted everyone in our phones and the glorious man even put on a promotion of McCrampons - a favoured beverage amongst the Les Houches Royalty (fresh lime juice, ice, Jameson's whiskey and Canada Dry). Loads of friends turned up to send Chris off in style with a great blend of people chirpy and cheerful having a bite to eat and washing it down with plenty of booze. A really good night.

The recent madness of working on contracts when I've not been driving transfers recently is starting to get much easier. I've gotten into a good routine and there's regular additions to the company coffers which is very cool. Shaun (the guy who owns Transfer2TheAlps, whom I am driving for) is away at the moment so I'm doing everything and it's going very well. In fact I built his website and have built a very cool admin section which I've been adding to and generally tweaking. He's very pleased and so am I - the more work he gets the better it is for me!

So I'll pick Chris up from Les Houches late afternoon after grabbing some other clients from Cham then off to Geneva. Dinner and a video - a bit of Indiana Jones no less - will follow upon arrival back into the valley. Who knows, might even be able to squeeze in a bit more work this evening. Life's pretty full at the moment but it's great that it is. I'm enjoying it more and more these days and it always makes me smile to get a wave from a passing friend as I'm zipping around the valley in my magic blue bus. I've even managed to start whisking through iTunes and burning CD's to play in the van on the way back. I've even got a crap 80's collection CD for the tourists so they feel they're on a proper cheesy French holiday.

Wednesday 5 September 2007

Untidy workspace

This is my current workspace looking extremely untidy. Note the Calvin & Hobbes desktop on the iMac and the Chamonix extreme skiing video enabling more focus during the evening's contract work.



I think I might just take 2 minutes out to tidy up a bit...

A bluebird transfer from Geneva

This was the view of Mont Blanc coming into the valley from Geneva the other day on a transfer. I love it - it's like the perfect start to a holiday and it makes me smile to hear the excited chattering and people asking the endless questions. I guess if I can make the start of their break as perfect as possible then hopefully it'll be something they remember for years to come and smile.

Going mental



Am going mental, can feel it. Just spent half an hour looking for something I then realised I'd put under a keyboard for safekeeping. A keyboard I ask you, what sort of storage device for important things is that?

The good news is that I've managed to set up SQL Server in the office development environment to add to the already long list of supported database formats. Also now my email works seamlessly with all relevant project emails are going into their proper folders. I've got server access sorted out to the new project stuff and am more than halfway finished getting the new development set up.

Just a shame it's meant I can't go out climbing today. Too many emails that need attending to, too many problems that need fixing. Never mind, always tomorrow ... hopefully.

Mad Busy

Just been manically busy for the past week or so and it doesn't look like it's going to let up for a few days more at least. Going slightly mad but I guess I was always slightly mad anyway. In a few more days or a week or so I hope peace will return and I'll be able to go climbing for a few days in some clear skies. I might even try to squeeze in a couple of hours with the newly married Mark from All Mountain Performance today up at Coupeau on the gnarly crag there. I've never climbed there before but it's dead close to Cham and there's some pretty stiff pitches it so should be fun. Plus I've not climbed for a few more than a few weeks now due to the endless tourists in August and I think the exercise is really, really needed.



Moving house has gone relatively well. On the 31st I packed up all of my gear (and Andy's) and put it into storage temporarily until the 6th/7th where I can get it out and move into the office and make it home. I stayed for a couple of days with a friend at her chalet and have done a couple of nights in the bed in the office. Chris is off on the 7th and so will get the final move done then. Looking forward to having a more permanent place to rest my head and I sleep like a log here so tis all good. Plus I know have ... a BATH! Yes! All I need now is a little rubber ducky to play and splash around with.

Contracts are my main stress. I'm finishing up the old one and starting a new one and they've managed to overlap by a few days. The old contract is inches from completion and as ever the end of it is a little more mad than the start. The new contract is in two parts - the reskin/upgrade of a large site and the support for another large site. This is good because it's ongoing and will keep ticking over. I'm just getting my head around what's going on with the technicalities of the site - luckily it was originally built by a mate I used to work with, so know my way around his code which is a major bonus!



Driving transfers is going dead well. I've been taking over from Shaun driving quite a lot recently and have been zipping in and out of Geneva lots. Even managed to get a few hours in between transfers yesterday to go into a shopping mall in Geneva and have a root around. The Swiss are so organised man! They had little green lights above the parking slots in the multi-storey parking that turned red when a car is parked in the slot. How groovy is that! Plus Swiss rush hour is like the least rushed rush hour in the world. Everyone's polite and casually let other cars cross lanes and stuff. It's really trippy after being in London where people would kill for that last place on the tube. These guys are just so ... nice ...



All in all, I think I'm preparing well for the interseason and ready for the winter. Over the next month or so things should solidify and all this hard work will be rewarded by powder days and beautiful snowy adventures.

Monday 3 September 2007

Feel like shit

Got a hangover. Feel like shit. Ugh.

Think I might give up drinking for a month again.