Rugby at Cardiff

I went to see Wales play South Africa today at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff.
Good match with the final score 15 - 20. The tickets were 50 quid and we went by train (Reading to Cardiff) which also cost 50 quid! The train was packed, with people having to stand in the aisles for the entire journey (over one and a half hours).



http://www.millenniumstadium.com/197_211.php

There's a great atmosphere at live matches, though the televised matches are so good that I missed the commentary. Quite a few people paid 5 quid for a referees radio - maybe I ought to try that next time.

Partisan remarks about how the Boks withstood the late onslaught from Wales here:
http://southafricanrugby.blogspot.com/

Work Life Balance - Part Deux

What happened to the last three months? Well my work life balance "seesaw" went down hard on the work side. Then last week I took a one week holiday with the family - and went to Rome (more about that later).

So now I'm changing my role at work and refocussing.

It's great - I'm starting to think about what to do with my evenings (I've been working most evenings over the last three months).

Hopefully I'll also start writing again too.

Work Life Balance

Back to work today after a long weekend (I took Friday and Monday as holiday). My question is: How do you maintain a work life balance? From the employers perspective this becomes: Developing work-life policies that will ensure employees deliver ‘the best’ in a competitive market.

What's it from the employees perspective and more importantly from my point of view?


I go through phases of throwing all my energy into work, I then work late and often start working again after dinner and late into the night. This is fine in short bursts, the problem I find is that as you get tired, your judgement becomes clouded and you focus more and more on work. So, what do we want from life and does all this work give fulfilment? How do we deliver "our best" at home and continue to survive within a competitive market?

Here's a link to some good advice:
http://schooloflux.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/achieving-worklife-balance

Tree Felling

I think the machine in the photograph is called a forwarder ("Cut logs are removed from the forest by vehicles called forwarders" http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-5nmc8e). I came across this hulking great thing today in Sulham Woods, walking Poppy.

I've had a rant (with the family) about all this tree felling. Apparently it's to get rid of foreign trees (weeds, I guess). My question is about the definition of foreign - how far back in history do you go to decide what is "supposed" to live in the woods. I think we often forget what evolution means - things change and this change is usually beyond our control. So at present the peace and calm of Sulham Woods is disturbed by these beasts and the enormous muddy tracks they leave behind (will these tracks be removed when they've finished? I hope so).

Cinema

I took my sons to the cinema tonight. We went to see The Dark Knight (a new Batman movie).
Great film! It's interesting how you can take a well known story and improve upon it by strong characterisation and great acting. The ending is heavily messianic (or should that be sacrificial?) and changes the batman character from a dark brooding persona into a truly poignant hero.

Some interestring trivia from imdb.com "To prepare for his role as the Joker, Heath Ledger
lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character's
psychology, posture and voice. He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker's thoughts and
feelings to guide himself during his performance. Ledger also took inspiration from A Clockwork Orange."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/trivia

Meal Out at The Cunning Man

I'm taking a long weekend off work and tomorrow is my last day until Tuesday! Came home and felt like doing something, so asked Sue and Ella if they wanted to go out for dinner. A simple question, "but what about Poppy?" was Sue's reply. So we went to the Cunning Man as this has a garden where we can take our dog and its next to a canal, so we had a short walk after the meal.

Why is it that going out (or on holiday) becomes a logistic nightmare? By the time everyone is taken into account we often end up staying at home. We still haven't booked a holiday for this year, but more about that later.

My dog

Have you tried hiding from a dog, behind a tree? You can't look out (I've tried that and the dog spots you straight away), so you have to stay there and listen. You might consider edging around the tree, to keep hidden. My dog will make a dash for the tree and catch me out, usually darting from the opposite direction in which I'm looking. She's also started hiding behind trees and watching me while I throw her a stick, then she races out and pounces on the stick, maybe wishing it were a rabbit.

Squash

I've just taken up squash with my sons. Sues's not to sure about me playing an intensive game with a twenty year old, following pretty much no activity at all. During the first game, I couldn't breathe and my head felt as if someone had wrapped a towel around it - thick and fuzzy. Today's game was much better - with two new rackets, it's my third game and perhaps I'm getting fitter?
I'm certainly getting a buzz out of winning. After all, both boys can thrash me at most sports - I've only squash and badminton left.

So I'm now sitting here after dinner, my legs and back aching and that quiet feeling you get after sport and a shower. Sue has just announced that she's bored. Why is it that just as I feel content (and knackered) she is bored? Sometimes I feel that partners share in a feeling, but that one gets the neagative side when the other gets the positive, like as if there's so much Karma to share out between the two of you.

Funerals

Pat died last week (Thursday 19th June) and I went to her funeral a few days ago (Thursday 26th). She would have been fifty in August. Most days we focus on how we feel and what needs to be done (shopping, work, DIY, what's on tele, booking a holiday, visiting relatives). Fortunately, it's rare to stop and contemplate the end of life and when a friend dies you inevitably think about yourself whilst telling yourself you really should focus on them. Having said that, I can't stop thinking about Pat. She celebrated new years eve with us and was so full of life. She died of cancer. I was fine in the church, until I turned around to see her son and his cousins carrying the coffin. He's twenty and a good friend of my son, they are both planning on going to University later this year, in Manchester. I started to cry and noticed my wife was failing to hold back the tears. We held each other as the coffin was carried to the altar. We both realised how lucky we are to have each other, no words were needed. We both vowed to live for each day though we never spoke. Later that evening we were quietly grateful and respectful. It won't last. Life goes on. We are impatient and irritable. We often forget how precious life is. It's readily spent with little to show. Life doesn't begin at fifty at all. It begins today, and every day.

Longest day

I've just returned from restaurant. I had a meal out with my wife. Saturday night on the longest day, which was nice as it was light until late evening (light until 10pm). There's something magical about light evenings. I got up, this morning at dawn (4:30am), to take my son and his girlfriend to the airport, so it feels like a long day.

Perfection is an Illusion

As I watched my daughter draw, she complained that her drawing was poor (she's 12 years old). I started to think that she was lucky that she thought it poor as this critical ability enables us to improve. What happens when you don't think your drawing is poor? When you actually think its good? Where do you go from there? Perhaps it is good, but how would you know for sure? The fact is, that if you cannot see anyway to improve it, then it's "perfect". So, perfection is a perception brought about by your state of development or growth, and perfection means the end of progress. It's the final stop on your journey. Now, I beleive in continual development or improvement. So from this it follows that I cannot believe in perfection. Perfection is an illusion brought about by maturity as you stop growing. I also beleive in being satisfied. I get irritated by "nit picking". How can you be satisfied if nothing is perfect? Easy, you accept "good enough". It helps you sleep at night.

Work

I remember my Grandmother telling me that as you got older time passed quicker. This was interesting when I was ten as at that age time often stretched out in front of me. A day could be a long time. A year was a lifetime.

Today, in work, a day is never enough time to complete even a few tasks. I wrote down two things "to do" this morning, both urgent. So many meetings and interruptions later that it now looks as if one of these things will have to be done this evening.

Why can't we work in work?

First post

Does life end? Does life begin at fifty, if so when does it end? I'm forty eight (well almost). I have a family, a job and a dog. This is my story.