Bon Soir as the French would say!
What a day - work was so unbelievably quiet before Christmas that I used to moan everyday that I was bored. This is definitely no longer the case! I was expecting the first day in since the Easter break to be busy, but today was just manic.
A day of conference calls and unexpected facilitation. I don't mind being asked to run meetings, but preferably not the kick off meeting for a team and not 5 minutes after it was supposed to start! Still, everyone seemed happy which is a good thing. It's an important team and one that I am looking forward to working with - it should provide some good visibility, which as shallow as it sounds, on a graduate scheme is a good thing.
What was also amusing was that on Maundy Thursday, the whole office stopped for an Easter Egg hunt (childish I know, but good fun). Anyways, large eggs were hidden in various locations around the office. I came in this morning and found that I am allocated a cupboard as well as my desk drawers. So proceeding to move all my training manuals into said cupboard, what should I come across - but a nice Mars Easter egg - result!
The title of this post should give a clue as to my current most played song on Podders. It's by a band called the Courteeners - who incidentally, are on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show later this week in the live lounge. In the meantime, you can check them out here.
I have a new recipe for people I think - you'll have to wait till tomorrow though, as I'm not sure how good it will taste and the dinner I'm cooking for a couple of mates will be the official tasting.
Only a short post today - I have to get to bed now - I want a decent nights sleep. The boss is taking us all out for lunch tomorrow - what a result :-)
Oh - and check out the funky looking BBC News Website.
Monday 31 March 2008
Sunday 30 March 2008
Just calm down, just calm down!
Those were the infamous words being shouted by the new neighbours at 1am this morning.
A couple of massive bangs and crashes, then a slanging match. I think it's safe to say they are now feeling at home!
They went out at 11 looking and sounding absolutely wasted, then were back by 1 having a full on domestic - isn't co-habitual life lovely?
Today is the first day for about 3 weeks where the weather has actually been nice and with the clocks going forward, evenings will start to get even lighter. I took the opportunity to visit St Albans - a historic town about 20 miles down the A1M.
It's essentially home to an abbey and some very old shops. Oh, and a lot of tossers in Porsche's. That said it's a really nice place with some real oldy worldly shops and the accompanying coach loads of old folks on various day trips. Check out my pictures here.
Aside from a little jolly to St Albans, the rest of the day has been spent doing rather mundane tasks such as cleaning and washing. Whilst also watching the fantastic hunt for Red October on Sky One - probably one of my favourite films.
I should also mention that old school friend of mine ran for England at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh today. Coming in first for England in the senior men's 12k. Fingers crossed he will get to Beijing for the Olympics.
A couple of massive bangs and crashes, then a slanging match. I think it's safe to say they are now feeling at home!
They went out at 11 looking and sounding absolutely wasted, then were back by 1 having a full on domestic - isn't co-habitual life lovely?
Today is the first day for about 3 weeks where the weather has actually been nice and with the clocks going forward, evenings will start to get even lighter. I took the opportunity to visit St Albans - a historic town about 20 miles down the A1M.
It's essentially home to an abbey and some very old shops. Oh, and a lot of tossers in Porsche's. That said it's a really nice place with some real oldy worldly shops and the accompanying coach loads of old folks on various day trips. Check out my pictures here.
Aside from a little jolly to St Albans, the rest of the day has been spent doing rather mundane tasks such as cleaning and washing. Whilst also watching the fantastic hunt for Red October on Sky One - probably one of my favourite films.
I should also mention that old school friend of mine ran for England at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh today. Coming in first for England in the senior men's 12k. Fingers crossed he will get to Beijing for the Olympics.
Saturday 29 March 2008
Our family is like the united colours of benetton...
Hello Strangers!
Sorry I haven't been updating this as often as I would like.
After being in Wales for Easter and then being in a 3-day course at head office Weds - Fri, I haven't had much chance to sit down and do anything really.
Wales was good, if a little on the cold side. It was also snowy, windy and rainy if the truth be known. It was great to chill out for a bit and stuff my face with chocolate too! Also cool to catch up with the family and to spend some time with the new puppy we recently got.
I had Tuesday off too, so spent that doing jack shit before heading Southwards again for work.
Wednesday evening was spent watching the footy (what a waste of time that was) and eating what can only be described as the worst pub meal I have ever eaten. This therefore makes "The Kings Arms" the first recipient of the Moan of the Week award. This prestigious title will be awarded to whatever or whoever riles me in a given week.
It should come as no surprise to learn that this particular pub is rated as 1.8 out of 10 on one of my favourite websites, Beer in the Evening. Which I should hasten to add is great for planning a pub crawl, which is exactly what myself and Homie did on Thursday evening. ( I should point out here that Homie is a good friend who bears a striking resemblence to Homer Simpson, hence the nickname).
And thus, Thursday night was spent in the Provence of Richmond, London - the only place so far where I have seen an Aston, Bentley and a new Jaguar, all within 500M of each other. Had a cracking bite to eat at a pub near the station, then we worked our way towards the river stopping at 4 or 5 pubs in total.
After being rather disappointed by the front lounge that was supposed to be the celebrity spotting pub of Richmond, I headed for the bus as according to Homie, that would have been quicker than getting the train back to my hotel.
Only it wasn't. Not only did the bus not actually pass through the suburb I needed, it dropped me off at the M4. Which meant a good 45 minute walk or so to get back to my hotel. On the plus side, it did mean that I worked off the calories in the beer I guess :-)
Last night was spent chilling after a hard couple of days - it's amazing how much courses take out of you. I had to laugh at the very funny Friday Night Project, this time hosted by Dr Who - David Tennant and if someone could explain why they would name a child Bertie Gilbert, I would very much appreciate it.
And finally, after another good friend - Princess Janey emailed me to tell me it was on, I Sky+'d the new series of Peter and Jordan, for sheer entertainment value. Which is where the quote "Our family is like the united colours of benetton... comes from!
Sorry I haven't been updating this as often as I would like.
After being in Wales for Easter and then being in a 3-day course at head office Weds - Fri, I haven't had much chance to sit down and do anything really.
Wales was good, if a little on the cold side. It was also snowy, windy and rainy if the truth be known. It was great to chill out for a bit and stuff my face with chocolate too! Also cool to catch up with the family and to spend some time with the new puppy we recently got.
I had Tuesday off too, so spent that doing jack shit before heading Southwards again for work.
Wednesday evening was spent watching the footy (what a waste of time that was) and eating what can only be described as the worst pub meal I have ever eaten. This therefore makes "The Kings Arms" the first recipient of the Moan of the Week award. This prestigious title will be awarded to whatever or whoever riles me in a given week.
It should come as no surprise to learn that this particular pub is rated as 1.8 out of 10 on one of my favourite websites, Beer in the Evening. Which I should hasten to add is great for planning a pub crawl, which is exactly what myself and Homie did on Thursday evening. ( I should point out here that Homie is a good friend who bears a striking resemblence to Homer Simpson, hence the nickname).
And thus, Thursday night was spent in the Provence of Richmond, London - the only place so far where I have seen an Aston, Bentley and a new Jaguar, all within 500M of each other. Had a cracking bite to eat at a pub near the station, then we worked our way towards the river stopping at 4 or 5 pubs in total.
After being rather disappointed by the front lounge that was supposed to be the celebrity spotting pub of Richmond, I headed for the bus as according to Homie, that would have been quicker than getting the train back to my hotel.
Only it wasn't. Not only did the bus not actually pass through the suburb I needed, it dropped me off at the M4. Which meant a good 45 minute walk or so to get back to my hotel. On the plus side, it did mean that I worked off the calories in the beer I guess :-)
Last night was spent chilling after a hard couple of days - it's amazing how much courses take out of you. I had to laugh at the very funny Friday Night Project, this time hosted by Dr Who - David Tennant and if someone could explain why they would name a child Bertie Gilbert, I would very much appreciate it.
And finally, after another good friend - Princess Janey emailed me to tell me it was on, I Sky+'d the new series of Peter and Jordan, for sheer entertainment value. Which is where the quote "Our family is like the united colours of benetton... comes from!
Friday 21 March 2008
Yes, I am a lazy get!
I've been a bit lazy this past couple of days in keeping this up to date, but I do have a number of excuses:
Manners was in London training on Wednesday, so we went for a beer in the evening near Waterloo and the London Eye. For the best part of two years we had been meaning to go to the All Bar One which serves one of my all time favourite beers - the Munchen brewed Paulaner on draft. We discovered the slug and lettuce next door lacks a decent menu, but the food in the All Bar One was pretty reasonable.
The journey home was marred slightly by witnessing someone get their lights punched out in what the BBC News would describe (in a very politically correct way of course) as a racially motivated attack.
It amazed me that no one on the tube stopped to break it up - but then again, I guess you never know what anyone is hiding in their coat anymore.
Yesterday was spent at work which included spending an hour in a Hi-Def video conference which was pretty cool. Incredible when you think that 10 years ago everything would have either been done over the phone or in person and that now we can all sit in rooms anywhere in the world and see and speak to people face to face.
After work I drove back to Birmingham where I'm spending the majority of my Easter break, although I'm in North Wales for some of it too. Whether that's a good or a bad thing I'm not sure yet!
Called into central brum for a pint with my uncle on my home, only to discover the local social club serves only Carling (which, together with Carlsberg, will herein be known as "Cooking Lager" to blog readers) and Grolsch - which was off. So a bottle of bud it was - but it's the company not the drinking that matters as they say.
Today (Good Friday) has been spent chilling out. I promised myself no work laptop or BlackBerry over the weekend, however I broke that rule first thing this morning when I discovered I'd forgotten to put my out of office on.
Other than that, I took the beast into the local town earlier to get some hot cross buns and dropped Mommy Bedders off at the gym. The afternoon has been spent messing around with the new dog and catching up with relatives - all pretty tame by any standards!
That's a rather boring entry completed, but at least things are kinda up to date!
Bedders.
Manners was in London training on Wednesday, so we went for a beer in the evening near Waterloo and the London Eye. For the best part of two years we had been meaning to go to the All Bar One which serves one of my all time favourite beers - the Munchen brewed Paulaner on draft. We discovered the slug and lettuce next door lacks a decent menu, but the food in the All Bar One was pretty reasonable.
The journey home was marred slightly by witnessing someone get their lights punched out in what the BBC News would describe (in a very politically correct way of course) as a racially motivated attack.
It amazed me that no one on the tube stopped to break it up - but then again, I guess you never know what anyone is hiding in their coat anymore.
Yesterday was spent at work which included spending an hour in a Hi-Def video conference which was pretty cool. Incredible when you think that 10 years ago everything would have either been done over the phone or in person and that now we can all sit in rooms anywhere in the world and see and speak to people face to face.
After work I drove back to Birmingham where I'm spending the majority of my Easter break, although I'm in North Wales for some of it too. Whether that's a good or a bad thing I'm not sure yet!
Called into central brum for a pint with my uncle on my home, only to discover the local social club serves only Carling (which, together with Carlsberg, will herein be known as "Cooking Lager" to blog readers) and Grolsch - which was off. So a bottle of bud it was - but it's the company not the drinking that matters as they say.
Today (Good Friday) has been spent chilling out. I promised myself no work laptop or BlackBerry over the weekend, however I broke that rule first thing this morning when I discovered I'd forgotten to put my out of office on.
Other than that, I took the beast into the local town earlier to get some hot cross buns and dropped Mommy Bedders off at the gym. The afternoon has been spent messing around with the new dog and catching up with relatives - all pretty tame by any standards!
That's a rather boring entry completed, but at least things are kinda up to date!
Bedders.
Tuesday 18 March 2008
A long day...
Been a long hard day today - an unexpected task to do for the boss when I got into work this morning, a presentation via conference call to 60 people this afternoon and then day to day work in between.
Oh and to top it all off, I drove 5 miles into Chavenage (local big town full of Chavs) to do some food shopping tonight, only to realise I'd left my wallet at home! As my idol Homer Simpson would say - "Doh!" Still I did get to check my tyres at the garage, so I guess the entire journey wasn't all in vain.
I also had to put up with a colleague trying his best to show off today. It transpires that has recently upgraded his car from the MX5 that he had previously. Rather than casually bring this up in conversation, Dominic decides to use our instant messaging app to send me a message at my desk.
He was sat in a meeting with our boss and had "accidentally" left his car keys on his desk and was wondering if I could put them in his drawer. So I wonder over and sitting on the desk are some keys with a Porsche key ring on them.
Niice was what I was thinking. I shoved the keys in the drawer and deliberately didn't say anything to Dominic when he returned to his desk - I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
5.30 appears on the clock so I head for the door expecting to see a 911 GT3 sat outside in Dominic's space, but oh no - sitting outside is a 2000 / 2001 dirty blue Boxter. If you can't afford a decent Porsche, then don't buy a shit one is the moral of this particular story I think... Or trade in what is arguably the most fun to drive little cabriolet on the market either!
Besides being an outlet for me to tell the world about my day, I also want this blog to have some actual use, so I'm going to pledge to try and put some useful things on here over the coming weeks too. Keep your eyes peeled.
Oh and to top it all off, I drove 5 miles into Chavenage (local big town full of Chavs) to do some food shopping tonight, only to realise I'd left my wallet at home! As my idol Homer Simpson would say - "Doh!" Still I did get to check my tyres at the garage, so I guess the entire journey wasn't all in vain.
I also had to put up with a colleague trying his best to show off today. It transpires that
He was sat in a meeting with our boss and had "accidentally" left his car keys on his desk and was wondering if I could put them in his drawer. So I wonder over and sitting on the desk are some keys with a Porsche key ring on them.
Niice was what I was thinking. I shoved the keys in the drawer and deliberately didn't say anything to Dominic when he returned to his desk - I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
5.30 appears on the clock so I head for the door expecting to see a 911 GT3 sat outside in Dominic's space, but oh no - sitting outside is a 2000 / 2001 dirty blue Boxter. If you can't afford a decent Porsche, then don't buy a shit one is the moral of this particular story I think... Or trade in what is arguably the most fun to drive little cabriolet on the market either!
Besides being an outlet for me to tell the world about my day, I also want this blog to have some actual use, so I'm going to pledge to try and put some useful things on here over the coming weeks too. Keep your eyes peeled.
Monday 17 March 2008
My Current Favourite Advert
Two posts in one day - check my bad self!
This is my favourite advert at the moment - thought I would share it:
Which is almost as good as this one:
This is my favourite advert at the moment - thought I would share it:
Which is almost as good as this one:
The M25 is shit!
Didn't exactly do much yesterday, the weather was truly shocking - rain and wind all day.
I did sit down with a Disaronno to watch Lost though, which once again managed not only to be a pretty dull episode (any episode without Kate getting her kit off is boring if you ask me..!) but also left me with more questions. "Questions will be answered" - my ar$e!
Today I was up at 5 to commute to one of our West London offices. You would think that the M25 would be quiet at 6am wouldn't you.. Not a chance! Still took me just under two hours to do a 50 mile journey that is mostly motorway :-(
It did mean I could get breakfast at the office which was cool - Porridge with golden syrup, raisins, cream and jam - hardly healthy but lush none the less!
After a day of meetings, lunch and then a trip to another site I finally got back home at 7.
Nowt too exciting then really!
Because this blog is designed for anything and everything, today I have decided to include a recipe of all things. For toad in the hole or sausages in Yorkshire pudding - whatever you prefer! This is a generous portion for 1, for two double up on the sausages, for 3 or more - double up on the mixture too.
All you need is:
3 Sainsbury's TTD Sausages
4oz Flour (Sieved to keep the batter light)
3 Large organic, free range eggs (or battery farmed if you are a tight ba$tard!)
1/2 Pint of Milk
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
1) Whack the sausages on your george foreman or grill until golden brown, set aside.
2) Sieve the flour, add a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
3) Make a well in the centre and add the eggs.
4) Using a balloon whisk, whisk together the eggs and flour until smooth.
5) To keep the batter light, gradually combine the milk as you whisk the mixture. You should see lots of light bubbles appear on the surface.
6) Leave to rest for a while whilst you pop a large oven tray or pyrex dish in a hot oven (200 degrees cent, gas mark 6) with a splash of the olive oil inside.
7) After 5 mins or so, when the tray / dish is nice and hot, add the sausages and pour over the battter.
8) Cook for 25 - 30 minutes until the batter has risen and the crust is golden in colour.
9) Chuck some veg onto boil, serve up together and pour on plenty of gravy.
I did sit down with a Disaronno to watch Lost though, which once again managed not only to be a pretty dull episode (any episode without Kate getting her kit off is boring if you ask me..!) but also left me with more questions. "Questions will be answered" - my ar$e!
Today I was up at 5 to commute to one of our West London offices. You would think that the M25 would be quiet at 6am wouldn't you.. Not a chance! Still took me just under two hours to do a 50 mile journey that is mostly motorway :-(
It did mean I could get breakfast at the office which was cool - Porridge with golden syrup, raisins, cream and jam - hardly healthy but lush none the less!
After a day of meetings, lunch and then a trip to another site I finally got back home at 7.
Nowt too exciting then really!
Because this blog is designed for anything and everything, today I have decided to include a recipe of all things. For toad in the hole or sausages in Yorkshire pudding - whatever you prefer! This is a generous portion for 1, for two double up on the sausages, for 3 or more - double up on the mixture too.
All you need is:
3 Sainsbury's TTD Sausages
4oz Flour (Sieved to keep the batter light)
3 Large organic, free range eggs (or battery farmed if you are a tight ba$tard!)
1/2 Pint of Milk
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
1) Whack the sausages on your george foreman or grill until golden brown, set aside.
2) Sieve the flour, add a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
3) Make a well in the centre and add the eggs.
4) Using a balloon whisk, whisk together the eggs and flour until smooth.
5) To keep the batter light, gradually combine the milk as you whisk the mixture. You should see lots of light bubbles appear on the surface.
6) Leave to rest for a while whilst you pop a large oven tray or pyrex dish in a hot oven (200 degrees cent, gas mark 6) with a splash of the olive oil inside.
7) After 5 mins or so, when the tray / dish is nice and hot, add the sausages and pour over the battter.
8) Cook for 25 - 30 minutes until the batter has risen and the crust is golden in colour.
9) Chuck some veg onto boil, serve up together and pour on plenty of gravy.
Saturday 15 March 2008
It All Started With A Chair...
It's funny, I setup a blog and write:
I can't glance over the fact that the England game was also very good and was probably the most entertaining game we've played. Nevermind eh - there's always next year I suppose!
Last Week I was telling a friend that I haven't sat and watched a film in ages - at least for a couple of months. So tonight I stuck on Juno - the recent film by Michael Cera (who was bloody funny in Superbad) it also stars Ellen Page, who's a little hottie.
I'm not a big film fan and have pretty simple tastes - either comedy or action usually. So I thought Juno might be a good bet. It was ok - one of those films that is neither the best film you'll ever see, or the worst... But I reckon it was designed with an American audience in mind. Funny in places, but not amazingly complex humor - a mediocre watch for the odd evening I reckon.
In other news some new neighbours have appeared to move in, although I have no idea whereabouts - I just keep hearing flatpack being assembled and shouting every now and again. I think that's what is called the "Ikea Effect". Hopefully they will be like my previous neighbours who were a good laugh and sociable.
That's about it for today - I'm off out to do some exploring in the beast (my car) tomorrow, so expect some photos :-)
"I have to make up for it at weekends, which are usually rather random"Yet this weekend I'm actually at home and haven't exactly done a lot today! I have a feeling that the majority of the blame for this can be attributed to the fact that it's the final weekend of the Six Nations. As much as it pains me to say this, the Wales game was cracking this afternoon and they deserved to win. (Note: You probably won't ever hear me say that again).
I can't glance over the fact that the England game was also very good and was probably the most entertaining game we've played. Nevermind eh - there's always next year I suppose!
Last Week I was telling a friend that I haven't sat and watched a film in ages - at least for a couple of months. So tonight I stuck on Juno - the recent film by Michael Cera (who was bloody funny in Superbad) it also stars Ellen Page, who's a little hottie.
I'm not a big film fan and have pretty simple tastes - either comedy or action usually. So I thought Juno might be a good bet. It was ok - one of those films that is neither the best film you'll ever see, or the worst... But I reckon it was designed with an American audience in mind. Funny in places, but not amazingly complex humor - a mediocre watch for the odd evening I reckon.
In other news some new neighbours have appeared to move in, although I have no idea whereabouts - I just keep hearing flatpack being assembled and shouting every now and again. I think that's what is called the "Ikea Effect". Hopefully they will be like my previous neighbours who were a good laugh and sociable.
That's about it for today - I'm off out to do some exploring in the beast (my car) tomorrow, so expect some photos :-)
Friday 14 March 2008
All That Matters In A Garden Is The Waterfeature...
Hey Everyone.
Not too much to put into today, other than that I spent the day working my ass off for very little return - but hey, what's new?!
I've been away recently on a Six Sigma (6s) course. Today some nice books arrived courtesy of Amazon and my company (who paid for them lol), but at the moment I don't have enough time to read them. I guess they'll sit on my desk for a while, making me look falsely intelligent! For those who don't know what 6s is, hit this link here - it's good shit!
Also arriving today was my Podders Deux - little brother to my big iPod, the iPod Shuffle. Not really seen one properly before, but for £30, engraved and delivered, it's not bad and ideal for when I go jogging.
I ordered the (product)red version which donates some of the cost towards the global fund to fight AIDS in Africa. Not only is it a great cause but it also looks unique - what more could you ask for?
Haven't tested it yet - it's still charging, but I'm sure I'll mention it again and give a full verdict later.
Right - back to Sport Relief and Chris Moyles, Comedy Dave and Chappers all looking pretty damn funny jogging away on treadmills, not to mention Top Gear do Ground Force.
Thursday 13 March 2008
Welcome!
Hey Everyone!
Welcome to my first ever entry in my first ever blog.
I have no pre-conceptions about who is reading this, where they are from, or indeed how many people will actually drop by and have a look.
This will be a place where I'll share my thoughts, events, articles and who knows - maybe I'll surprise you with something really out of the ordinary!
At the moment it's pretty rough and ready. It'll probably take me a while to get the layout looking sweet and for me to post some interesting stuff. But please stick with it - I hope you find something worth reading when you drop by.
Bedders.
Welcome to my first ever entry in my first ever blog.
I have no pre-conceptions about who is reading this, where they are from, or indeed how many people will actually drop by and have a look.
This will be a place where I'll share my thoughts, events, articles and who knows - maybe I'll surprise you with something really out of the ordinary!
At the moment it's pretty rough and ready. It'll probably take me a while to get the layout looking sweet and for me to post some interesting stuff. But please stick with it - I hope you find something worth reading when you drop by.
Bedders.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)