D4D

A drop of blood in a sea of piss

02 Jun 2013
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Equipment Failure

Don’t worry, this isn’t another post about the joys and pitfalls of getting older…

No, instead it’s about technology, and why the bastard stuff all ends up failing at the same time.

First of all, this post is being written on a new laptop – which I really could’ve done without having to get, but needs must when the devil drives (and/or you’re a web techie and wannabe-writer).  The old Dell laptop – which it turns out I bought back in September 2009, so I shouldn’t whine so much, I guess – had been getting flakier over the last six months, but I’ve been eking out the life of it since then, suffering the occasional (and then more regular) hard-drive crash, and the ropy keyboard with some keys that only worked intermittently.

This week though it’s been crashing every time it was in use, and was obviously getting to the point where I needed to a) pull all the relevant data off it like NOW, and b) replace it with something else. And with a trip up to Manchester this week where I’m *really* going to need a reliable laptop, this was the weekend for it.

So I’ve bitten the bullet somewhat, and the new one is a (dirt-cheap) Asus thing, running the already-much-disliked Windows 8. To be fair to Windows 8, the old laptop was on the much-loathed Vista, which I never really found all that annoying. Eight annoys me more so far, but I’ll get used to it.

The other two equipment failures are both iPhone related, allbeit power-related rather than device-related. (Although I did think one of them might’ve been the phone being fucked, which was a real worry)  First the Mophie battery case has failed. Again. (More accurately, the cable/charger for it, which will no longer charge) I love the Mophie cases, but they do seem to be somewhat crap, and only last about a year. And then the normal iPhone charge/sync cable also went kerfut and wouldn’t charge the phone.  So I’ve had to get a new cable for that as well – considerably less expensive than the laptop purchase, but still, why all at the same time?

Oh yeah, and the fridge in the house also played up this week, with one day where it didn’t appear to be working all that well. Fortunately it’s now back up and running.

But why the hell would four things, two fairly major, all decide to kiff out within the same week? Weird things, I tell thee, weird things.

Posted by lyle in Bankruptcy, Change, Domestic, Finances, Geeky, Getting Old(er), Getting Organised, iPhone, Shopping, Technology, Thoughts, Weirdness
01 Jun 2013
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M25 Circumnavigation

This weekend, I’ve driven round most of the M25. The only section I missed out was from M40 to M1 (which I do on a regular basis anyway, so no major loss)  and by then I was sick of the road anyway.

It wasn’t just for fun, though. Yesterday was a drive from home (M1) to Chislehurst, in order to attend the wedding reception of Merialc. That particular run was OK, thankfully – even with the prevalence of roadworks etc. – until reaching the Dartford Crossing, which was as shafted as always, and took half an hour on its own.

Today I went round the other half, having decided to visit my parents who live off the M40. The roadworks on that section were far worse, although at least we were moving, if slowly.

It’s been a fun weekend (which I know means I need to either get a life, or get out more) but Lord above, the M25 does annoy me.

Weirdly, it’s not because of the generally shit quality of the road, the ongoing road works, or the tossbag drivers. What annoys me is that the M25 had the chance to be a great road, a great future-facing way to deal with all the possibilities relating to the increase of traffic round London for the next thirty to fifty years. And instead, it’s a lofting great white elephant. Why? Because no politicians or planners had the guts to stand up and say “Look, this is what we need, but let’s future-proof it, let’s make it all five carriageways each side, plan for a huge increase in traffic, and make it work properly”.

It could’ve been so good, and instead it’s just a bag of shit.

Posted by lyle in Customer Services, Cynicism, Driving, London, M1, M25, People, Politics, Sociable and tagged
30 May 2013
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Time for Change

Right now, life is (again) feeling like it’s time for some changes to start happening.  (Yeah, as if there hadn’t been enough of them already)

I’m not going to be diving into anything too much, but it’s safe to say that I’m at the point of having Had Enough of some stuff.

Work is the particular source of ire at the moment, with the feeling of being far too pressurised and overloaded, aided and abetted by an HR department that seems to think dealing with people isn’t in their job description.  I’m managing far too many projects – although keeping them just about on time and on-target, with only one glaringly delayed one that went out this week at long last – with too little recognition and acknowledgement. Additionally, for every project I close, two more come up, Hydra-like.

There’s other bits of life that are annoying me currently, but work is the main one – and the easiest one to change, I think. From there, I don’t know what’s next, but even if I increase my travel time, I suspect it’ll make life better just through the change happening.

Really though at the moment I’m just so fucking tired. I’m not depressed (or at least not massively so) just exhausted. I think burnout is just round the corner, and I need to address that soon, or it’ll happen.

Anyway, it’s just me whinging. Things will work out, change will happen.

Posted by lyle in Bankruptcy, Cynicism, Domestic, Getting Old(er), Getting Organised, Insomnia, Thoughts, Work-related
29 May 2013

Commuting in Half-Term

Currently, the schools around where I live and work are on a break for half-term , and the effect this has had on my commute is just ridiculous.

During term-time, a “good” commute is 35-45 minutes door-to-door in the morning, and a “bad” one can be an hour plus. The difference in departure time to change from a good to a bad one can be less than ten minutes.

Today, my door-to-door morning run – even with still fairly heavy traffic on the M1 – was 22 minutes. That’s nearly half the time it takes during term-time.

I know more parents drive their kids to school “these days” (and yes, I also know what an old fart that makes me sound like) but the difference in traffic-flow really is surprising, even with that knowledge.

 

Posted by lyle in Commuting, Driving, M1, People, Thoughts

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29 May 2013

Where Are They Now

Over on the newly revitalised Uborka – now there’s a blast from the past – they’re doing a series of “Where are they now?” articles/interviews with Old Skool Bloggers, and this week it’s Yours Truly.

So hop on over, and have a look!

Posted by lyle in D4D™

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27 May 2013

Roy Lichtenstein, Tate Modern

Over the weekend, I took a trip down to That There London, primarily to see the Roy Lichtenstein retrospective at the Tate Modern.  It’s been on for a while, and I’d meant to see it earlier, but then checked last week to realise yesterday was the final day.  And so, the plan was born to get down and see it.

I’ve loved a lot of Lichtenstein’s work for many years now, and the exhibition had the originals of a couple of my all time favourites (Particularly “Whaaam!”) so it was definitely a good reason to go and see it.

Whaam! 1963 by Roy Lichtenstein 1923-1997

But what I hadn’t realised was that this sort of stuff was only a small part of his work – although the style remains the same, there’s a lot more that I’d never known about.

My own particular favourites (in no particular order) were the Lichtenstein versions of other classic artists (including Mondrian and Picasso) and also his versions of classical Chinese landscape portraiture, which are just excellent.

I was really pleased that I’d got down to see the exhibition – although I do find that most of the stuff in Tate Modern is unconscionable piss, every so often they throw out a gem.

Posted by lyle in Creativity, Domestic, Getting Organised, London, Reviews(ish), Thoughts, Travel

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25 May 2013
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Ageing

Most of the time, I forget I’m 41. Hell, most of the time I have to work it out when someone asks how old I am.  No-one ever believes I’m the age I am, and most people seem to estimate it as mid-30s (or less than 12, depending on my behaviour at the time) which is fine with me.  Fact is, people have been estimating my age as mid-30s since I was early 20s, so I suppose I’m aging fairly well in general – although I must’ve been fuck-rough at 20.

My hair’s been going grey since mid-20s, and that doesn’t really bother me. My mum went grey early on – less charitable souls could observe that might be related to having me – so it’s always been expected.

Recently though, there’ve been other signs of ageing, and I can’t deny, my own sense of vanity (small though it is) rebels against them.

Firstly it’s been the hair growing on my ears – what the hell is that about? For some reason I now get long hairs growing on the top of my ears, and rounds the edges. I don’t see the point of it, but there we go. It’s annoying- to me – but I’m sure no-one else cares.

And now the grey hairs are appearing elsewhere. Eyebrows first – and man do they show up! And now today, I discovered the latest ignominy – I’m even getting grey chest-hairs. Obviously they’re less publicly visible, but all the same, it’s just a bit depressing, all these combining signs that I truly am getting older…

Posted by lyle in Domestic, Getting Old(er), People, Thoughts

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