Work – Page 4 – Neil Baldwin's blog : Warning contains walking, technology, photography, holidays.

Business trip part deux

Just when you thought it was all over, here is the second part to my business trip. I usually try to make two days of it because there and back in one day means getting up at 05:00 and returning home at 23:00 which is a good 18 hour day.I woke up by my phone alarm at 06:55 and so quickly check the BBC news with it, not much to note except on the technology page. Seems Samsung and Apple have been told to meet up and resolve their differences in the presence of a magistrate. About time too the whole patent war thing is stifling innovation, and competition, and it is only the consumer who is losing out.

For breakfast I had a bowl of fruit, mushrooms and eggs complete with some toast. I skipped the coffee because it never tastes good, and I can get one at work soon enough. The usual eclectic mix of elevator music from many eras was being played in the back ground. It is a long time since I have heard Alan Parsons Project “when I’m old and wise?”

Weather was typical April shows when I left the hotel after checking out. The day could turn out to be a busy day we are rolling out Office 2010 to all our users, mostly citrix. Despite everyone attending a refresher conversion course there is bound to be some carnage for our helpdesk.

As expected there were some teething problems but a couple of hours most things were fixed or under stood, things had settled by lunch time. I was on the 17:15 flight to Luton so left the office at 15:15, everything is an hour later now the clocks are on summer time.

Airport security was busier I guess because it is later and a more convenient time to fly and because we are heading into spring. I distracted myself by typing the blog entry and the wait seemed trivial. I was through with an hour before the flight was due to take off.Being busier I skipped the queue in Starbucks and for went a coffee. Whilst queuing to pay for a paper in W H Smith I spoke to a young guy trying to decide whether to go for an additional white chocolate truffle bar, I warned him about the damage it might do to his teeth, he agreed. Turns out he was on a day trip from Edinburgh to the Titanic exhibition in Belfast, in my time a school a day trip never involved a flight. I wished him well.

Someone was maintaining the flight information board and I was able to get a sneak peek (see picture). Seems they use Danware to remote control the devices which run Windows Embedded.

Unusually the flight was called at departure gate 26 new for me and the end furthest gate in the airport, so I was again able to get to the front of the cattle class queue. The flight looked like it would take off on time.

There is a sign at the departure gate which list some of the things you can’t take on a flight, these include fireworks, and gas cylinders, as you would expect, but what about poison, what does that cover? There is probably chemicals in the electronic kit you can take on aircraft such as laptops and mobiles, that contain poison. What about the lithium in the batteries and the exotic chemicals in the chips they contain?

We boarded at 16:51 there were loads of speedy boarders, and looking at the cattle class queue it looked like the flight would be quite busy. Then I had a stroke of luck the front boarding steps were closed but opened as I got level, I managed to get a front row seat. Who needs speedy boarding!

Business trip to Belfast

That time has come round again for the month business trip to Northern Ireland, thought I would share some thoughts with my regular readers while I sit in airport lounges. Flight was at 07:50 so planned to leave 50 minutes later than the usual 5:15 but I woke up early and left the house just after 05:35.

Traffic at Luton was light and I was quickly able to park up and get the bus to the main building.

Priority lane tickets have gone up by a massive 33% to £4, but I still think worth the money. This trip I have decided to do without Easyjet’s speedy boarding, which if like me you can get to the gate quickly is not really of much value.
I grabbed and espresso and a pain au raisin from Pret a Manger, and settled down at a table waiting for the flight to be called. They have changed the flight information displays you now get a carrier logo and expected gate opening time which allows you to plan your coffee and/or comfort breaks.

We were allocated gate 11 which is the furthest gate from the lounge, which for me is good I have long legs and can walk fast so usually manage to get near the front of the queue, today was no exception 5th. Not many speedie boarders today less than 10.

When I travel I like to check in as much as I can on the social networking app is becoming more popular recently. It works like this, you use an app on your phone to check in to venues based on those in proximity to your phone. If you check in more often than another user to a venue you become the mayor and can sometimes get discounts at a venue. It has not really caught on in that sense in the UK yet. Badges are also awarded for visiting types of venue or events, for example “the great outdoor” “jet setter” wino etc etc.

We boarded the plane at 07:30, I chose a seat one row from the back on the right hand window, and I had the whole row to myself, my decision to dump speedy boarding was justified. According to my good friend Rory the back of the plane is where most survivors of plane crashes come from, with speedy boarding I tended to go for the front row where there was extra leg room, so dumping the extra charge might just save my life one day!

I managed to grab back a few mayorships while waiting, W H Smiths, and Gate 18, I also lined up the Baggage reclaim by checking in, and tomorrow I should nail it with a second check in two days.

The plane departed a few minutes ahead of schedule, the trip along the runway was a bit wavy while the pilot/computers struggled against the wind to keep on the straight and narrow. One airborne things settled down and we were up above the clouds in the sun.

My usual way to while the time away on the flight is to attempt the advanced Sudoku puzzle in The Independent before the plane lands which I managed about one time in every three. Today went to form I got right down to about 10 squares unsolved and made a mistake! One of the things I find frustrating about Sudoku is that once a mistake has got into the grid it is nigh on impossible to work back to where it all went wrong.

The pilot announced our descent into Belfast and that we would be on stand almost 20 minutes early, that is always good news, but very loud when you are sat in the row near the speaker, which they insist on having at the highest volume.

Peugeot 106 was the weapon provided to me by Avis, the friendly car rental company, after being in a queue of two people. Was soon on the road to the office, and got there before 10:00 the traffic was pretty quiet.

Spent most of the day in meetings, and help colleagues with things whilst I was on site, and left work just before 18:00 to go to the Seago Hotel.

I had a quick shower and headed down for some food. The selection is pretty good, and the service is super fast and very friendly. I went for the Seafood medley but substituted the boiled potatoes for chips I’m afraid. I soon polished the meal off then headed back to my room for an early night, to make up for the early start.

Belfast again

First trip to Belfast for 2011 today, so an earky start for me, far too early. Straight forward drive to the airport but loads of standing water and fairly heavy rain. The terminal was fairly empty but the queue for security was long, so I paid the £3 to jump the queue.
I realised I had forgotten to bring a pen with me to do the Sudoku puzzle, which the Independents advanced one is my challenge for the 1hr flight. W H Smiths wanted £3 for their cheapest pen which I declined, I did a scout round and found a “Great Britain” pen in the tourist shop for £1.49 so I settled for that one.
The flight was on time but we were bussed to the plane so the speedy board was looking at risk. Easyjet have a cunning strategy for the situation they get only the back doors of the bus opened and ask us to board the bus and move to the front, then at the aircraft they open the front doors first, simple.

Hi Ho Hi Ho its back to work we go

First day back a work today but there is still time to add some birds to the year list. I was up early to get to work in good time, we have been preparing to merge two limited companies for a few months now and today we go live.

It was dark when I left the house but much lighter by the time I got to the canal, just in time to see a Kingfisher zip off into the distance. You would be surprised how easy it is to see a kingfisher, you just need to spend some time near water eventually one will turn up. Usually you just see an electric blue flash flying in t straight line about 1-2 feet off the water surface, nothing else looks the same. If you are really lucky you might see one perched.

Once at work it turned out not to be the busy day it promised to be, we (in IT ) did our bits then we spend the rest of the day waiting for Finance to do the reconciliation. That means the really busy day will be tomorrow.

My window at work has a great view over a field where lots of wildlife can be seen. Today I saw a fox, green woodpecker and a buzzard, which meant that over the day I had added a further 3 birds to the list. The green woodpecker was interesting as usually you see them on the ground eating ants, but this one was in a tree acting more like a Greater Spotted woodpecker. The buzzard was also unusual in that you usually see them up in the air, but this one was one the ground most of the time and flying just short distances. It did that for about 10 minutes, then eventually disappeared.

Storm bound

The big storm is on and I am waiting for EZY196, which is delayed. My colleague Paul who is waiting for the flight to Heathrow is also delayed.
They made and off to people on Pauls flight £200 plus £400 BMI vouchers, plus flight for tomorrow if they for go their flight today.
Paul was tempted I guess I would have been too! Even if you have to pay for a hotel that is a fair offer.
My flight eventually got called, we are running 30 minutes late.

Sledging MK

Last night I went sledging in Milton Keynes at the snow dome. It was a work outing, which the sales depart arranged as a team building exercise and they decided to invite the rest of the office.

We were told to be there by 18:30 but in reality we did not need to be there till 19:00 when the sledging was arranged to start. I guess that is OK for those people who always turn up late but penalises the punctual people.

We were all split into 4 teams of around 10-11 people, and we then did sledging races on plastic discs with handles each side. The races were all variations on the theme of a relay race, starting with simple one by one just sliding to the bottom then the next one, to the go down and run back up, and then onto everyone in a train.

Running up the hill reminded me why I gave up sledging to take up skiing, with skiing you get dragged to the top of the hill with no effort. I felt for the smokers amongst us they must have really been suffering.

After the “Pink Panthers” were controversially awarded the winners title, we all went to Frankie and Bennies for some fast food. All in all an enjoyable night out with work colleagues, I look forward to what we might do next time sales have a team building exercise, I guess we will have to wait a couple of years to find out.

Signal Crayfish

You may remember that earlier this year I posted a blog entry about finding a claw of a Signal Crayfish on the canal tow path on the walk to work. Well this morning I found a whole live one, I have posted a video of the blighter on you tube for you all to see. They are quite vicious so I handled him with care, whilst getting the footage. If I waved a hand above him he raised his claws, and I suspect that he would have nipped me given the opportunity.

On the way home I came across a man in an inflatable boat with an electric engine, he seemed to be putting out fisherman’s keep nets. When I asked what he was up to he told me he was catching signal crayfish to turn into bait for fishing with. Apparently the harvest was variable sometime many sometimes only one or two per net. I wished him luck and went on my way.

Oh and for the record I had a couple of birding moments today, first a sparrow hawk was chasing a swallow/martin outside my office window, then on the way home two grey heron were chasing each other round and about.

Gorgonzola and caramelised onions

I am stuck at the Seagoe hotel in Portadown, Northern Ireland and tonight was my third night. I have been working my way through the menu, I don’t eat meat but I do eat fish so the options can sometimes be limited.
Monday was fish and chips, Tuesday King Prawn stir fry and tonight was a revelation.
I ordered the fritata with gorgonzola and caramelised onions. The combination was a synergy, the sweet onions counter balanced the gorgonzola perfectly. Gorgonzola being a strong cheese can often over power everything but it did not.
The fritata was actually more like an omelette but it was delicious.

Homing Pigeon

On my way home from work today I came across a pigeon that did not fly away as I got close, he/she was really trusting. On closer inspection it was in a poorly state but seemed to be looking for food. I took quick video with my trusty camera and you can see the footage here.

On reflection I think he was probably a tired homing pigeon, as I noticed he had no less that 4 rings on his two legs, and I have never see a feral pigeon with rings. He also looked in really good state i.e. his plumage was neat and tidy no tufty bits.

Close encounter with a hare

My walk to and from work takes me along a strecth of the Aylesbury arm of the Grand Union. The farmers have been recently cutting the grass to make hay and I noticed this morning that this means that the hares have no where to hide, and so it makes them easy to spot. In one filed I saw around 6 or 7 all sat together in a group, in a field next to the A41 Aston Clinton bypass.
Whilst I was walking along the canal tow path I noticed ahead on me a hare, which I assumed was running away from me because he had spotted me first. On close inspection it turns out he was running towards me, so I stepped back towards the hedgerow and stood still. Eventually he came to within two metres of me, but seems only slightly phased by may presence. He kept on eye on me whilst he sat there wondering whether he should gamble on past or turn back. He turned round, wandered off and eventually disappeared in to the hedge.