25
Jan

Lunch Breaks

Apparently we all must have our lunch breaks away from the desk. A good policy I think. It means I can maybe be more constructive with my free time as opposed to working.

So why am I blogging?

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
30
Dec

Facebook – Humble Pie?

Since my previous post on Facebook and the reasons I disabled my account I have un-disabled my account. Initially, it was just to send a message. However I left myself signed in. This prompted a big cull the following day, having over 350 “Friends” was too overwhelming. I carelessly reduced this by half which made it look a bit more manageable. However this took me 3 hours as the “Remove friend” option doesn’t give a boolean selection where you can remove people on mass.

On top of this, there are numerous gripes with the native Facebook software client for Andriod. I must have updated the software 4 times in the last few weeks. It’s poor design and sluggish behaviour stop you from doing a “Quick” update and quick nosey on other peoples walls.

New friend requests have been made. Some of which I barely know but has been ruled “Good networking to accept”. I have been informed that my birthday surprise last year was arranged on Facebook too.

There has been some good contact. I met up with an old friend over Christmas who has been living it up in New Zealand for the last 3/4 years. It was a superb afternoon. I have said hello to a few people too via Facebook and they said hello back.

I don’t think I am convinced by Facebook… It will take me a few more weeks before deciding if Facebook is Facearse, though I suspect the latter. Overall I am irritated by it but am not sure if cutting myself off from Facebook is a futile gesture. Social networks are like having lots of phones with different connections to different groups of friends… It could just do with standardising and consolidating.

FaceArse

FaceArse

Image courstesy of www.shinyshack.com

Posted in Idiots, blurbs, nerdlinging | Tagged , , , | Comments Off
14
Dec

What have I done?

The end of my holiday is nigh! What have I done?

Apart from contacting all sorts of companies [Npower & Sky] and argued the toss with them about all sorts of shenanigans I have managed to take Philippa away for her birthday.

We ventured to the Fir-Trees B&B located in Windemere. We spent the afternoon by the lake and playing air hockey in the arcade when the rain started.

Windemere

The second day we decided to drive around a bit, having never been there before we discovered an Aquarium where we fed the ducks and watched the otters get fed.

After the Aquarium, we ventured to the South Lakes Wildlife Park with great excitement as the have Penguins.

We have recently been watching David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet and realised that Penguins are funny.

Penguins are funny

We saw the following animals on our day at the Wildlife park:

  1. Lions
  2. Tigers*
  3. Lemurs
  4. Mandrills
  5. Vultures
  6. Penguins
  7. Parrots
  8. Kangaroos
  9. Bears
  10. Gibbons
  11. Spider Monkeys
  12. Giraffes
  13. Spoonbills
  14. Reindeer
  15. Peacocks
  16. Gophers
  17. Emus
  18. Llamas
  19. Hotdogs
  20. Noisy Kids

Overall a worth while visit.

* I came eye to eye with the Tiger [which was behind glass] It hissed at me. There was about 2 inches between our faces. It was G-r-r-reat!

Posted in Holiday fun, blurbs | Comments Off
10
Nov

Facebook – The faults

I have had a quick log on to my supposedly deactivated Facebook account to find it has not been deactivated. Why am I not surprised? After all everyone must have Facebook. I don’t want Facebook for the following reasons:

  • It is slow and clunky – Well, with 3/4 of the world population using it, it is bound to be at times. A soon as it slows down when Resturant City is being played someone [mentioning no names] complains the Internet is slow and asks what is my laptop doing to cause this frustration? Answer: Nothing. This is never good enough especially when it is being used with Internet Explorer on Windows Vista with 1GB of RAM and multiple tabs open.
  • The Advertisements are annoying, ill placed and the epitome of all things wrong. The adverts target the vulnerable for example: “Cheryl Cole lost 10lbs – find out how” [insert picture of the irritating celebrity looking extremely gaunt]. This is not going to help anyone feel happy with their physique. The other Advert I have seen is from money lenders/sharks: “Here borrow some money and find out will will charge 4000% apr” I have been in debt and know how tempting it is to apply when desperate. It is not a good thing. The Facebook owners need to ensure all the advertising is appropriate for all audiences which will not exploit the vulnerable and the stupid.
  • “Poke” – Stupid & pointless. Why I would be angry with any of my “Friends” if the poked me. If you want to poke me… Do it face to face you coward!
  • “Like” is it morally wrong to click on the like button to a message that read: “My cat had a freak accident and has no head… Woah is me!”
  • “Friends” – I have never known since you used to bully me at school 15 years ago. Why would I possibly want to accept your friends request? And if I decline it, you try again. F**k off already!

I am not going to venture in to the privacy nightmares as most social network sites seem to have a few garish policies.

As an observation, Google + seems more sensible, mature and… well clean. Twitter is my chosen form.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
21
Jun

Qualified

I sat my SDI Service Desk Analyst exam on Monday and passed first time, which is a relief as I have only been doing the job for the last 13 years.

Next i want to get the LPIC out of the way and the ITIL Foundation courses. These are clogging up social times and personal time which is very frustrating as I have too much TV to catch up on.

Talking of TV, I have hooked my Laptop up to the TV and have acquired wireless Keyboard and Mouse which allows me to work from the sofa in style. ‘ing brill!

This weekend just been has been rather mental. On Friday night we had Philippa’s parents stay over and we ventured out to Barley Mill, just off Stonegate in York. We attended a party filled with dutch police bikers and the Lord Mayor of York for a Medieval dinner which featured mead, minstrels, storytelling, dancing and pisspots.
The food was superb all lit up by candles. I can thoroughly recommend this venue for small weddings and events.
The minstrels were like the compares for the evening, giving us a great insight into how a medieval banquet may have gone and providing the entertainment for the night.

On Saturday Philippa’s parents, Philippa and I ventured to the Treasurers House for a bit of National Trusting. This was followed by a Chinese lunch at the Happy Valley Restaurant [the best Chinese cuisine about] We demolished the soups and the main courses. I had Hot n Sour Soup followed by Crispy Beef in Chilli. Superbamondo.
We ventured to Philippa’s sisters in the evening for our usual card games and snacks.

Sunday, being fathers day, I visited my Dad for lunch. A surprising break in the weather ensured the BBQ went without fault and the spatchcock chicken was simply amazing. I at about half a chicken! F**k Nando’s this was awesome.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
2
May

The First Quarter

Yes, so far the year has been good.  I haven’t eaten pies for over 40 days now and am feeling fitter already.

Following the new year we have not been far and haven’t done a right lot to be honest. There have been births and a serious lack of weddings to attend however my birthday celebrations were, as always the pinnacle of birthday events. I was surprised by Philippa who had bent over backwards to ensure that I had a bit of a lads night out, a first class break to Edinburgh and a family meal in York.

Not been blogging much, again apologies. I just haven’t had the time recently. A piss poor excuse I know, however other things have priority as of late.

Will blog again soon and will be less brief… i promise x

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
25
Mar

Internet Access

Finally, we have Internet access at home!

Having been without it since May 2010 when I moved in with Philippa, I can rejoin the land of geekery. I started by implementing a proxy server and webfiltering which worked a dream. I then decided to try out Windows 2008 Enterprise edition and set up DNS, DHCP and Active Directory on it. Finally I formatted the hard drive and stuck Debian 6 on the ol’ laptop. I have also been working on another blog for my technotes [ http://adam.mcpartlan.net ]

Working for a communications provider, they require I get my tech certs. Which they’ll pay for the exams and they provide some study material for. However, having not studied for exams since 1995, where do I start?! I don’t want to be forking out cash  for  courses and I don’t want to go down the avenue for brain dumps.

Posted in nerdlinging | Tagged , , | Comments Off
10
Mar

Paul & Black Swan

I watched Paul and Black Swan yesterday and was rather impressed by them both, so much so, I decided to Blog about it.

Paul is another Simon Pegg/Nick frost film where a couple of “Nerds” are enjoying a holiday in America after visiting the Comic Con they go on a road trip in an RV. There adventure takes a turn when they come across an Alien called “Paul”. There is a lot of film references and lines borrowed from other cool geeky films. Personally I lughed my socks off at a Battlestar Galatica  reference. It looks like Simon Pegg’s imagination has run wild again. I can highly recommend this film.

Black Swan was Philippa’s choice. But I decided to ‘play along’ and I am glad I did. The film, basically is about a frigid ballet dancer who has been chosen to play The Swan Queen, a role that requires her innocence and a darker seductive side which she struggles to find. A good story, a little graphic – Natalie Portman is involved in serveral scenes of masturbation and one lesbian scene. But don’t let this put you off! There are some rather gruseome bits and some parts which will make you cringe. Not one for the faint hearted.

Posted in blurbs, nerdlinging | Tagged | Comments Off
18
Feb

Newcastle United – United for Newcastle

Being a Newcastle United fan, I have shared in a few heart aches over the last 30 years. After last seasons promotion to the Premiership my heart has been in a limbo as to how the season will end. Especially with good results over the top of the table giants.

Newcastle United’s active supporter campaign for improved ownership of Newcastle United has this week had a meeting with with Simon Esland, Head of Customer Relations with an agenda of questions looking into the recent decisions by the business.
I have very kindly been sent a summery of the meeting which is very insightful and positive step towards the future of Newcastle United

Newcastle United have increased the amount of away tickets offered to visiting away supporters to SJP.
The increased away tickets are indeed due to having to comply with Premier League regulations, the minimum they can offer being 3,000. The reason the maximum away capacity is now 4,000 is simply for evening matches where it’s on TV, and they feel they won’t sell the stadium out, so they can offer more to away fans and hopefully make more money. In games like the Sunderland matches, they’ll definitely not be given to the away team.

What will be done with the money made from the sale of Andy Carroll?
The Carroll money will be reinvested, and the club are looking for more Tiote type players. Quality players that they can get for reasonable prices. Just because they have a lot of money, does not mean they’ll splash out over the odds for someone.
Everyone in the club is aware that they are light, and “strikers are a priority.” They’ve also pin-pointed several areas that need cover, and will attempt to acquire decent cover in the summer. They accept that they need better players in order to push for Europe.

What for the future of NUFC?
The club’s ambition is to steadily improve. They want success on the pitch, but won’t bankrupt to do it. The apparent stinginess is simply Ashley’s way of doing things. The club now breaks even every month, and isn’t taking loans out. They want to be in good shape for the UEFA rules on finances for when they do get back into Europe. Wherever they finish this year, next year they will aim to better it. Much of the club’s current investment goes on behind the scenes.

The club have offered Enrique a new deal, and will sit down with him to discuss. Whether he wants to sign or not is up to him. They have a wage structure, with a cap which they wouldn’t confirm the amount of. Enrique’s deal will be within that structure, but ‘fair‘ for the structure that’s in place.

The club confirm they are not a selling club, but as with any football club, every player has their price. The only other circumstance in which they’ll sell is if the player says they want to go. They don’t want anyone who doesn’t want to play for the shirt. The club have also confirmed they want to hold on to the likes of Barton, Coloccini, Enrique and Tiote, but admit it will be a “difficult summer”.

Mistakes, Communications & Sponsorships
The club accept their communication has been, at times, insufficient, and we suggested they look to put more information on the official club site. The club said they gave lots of information to newspapers and media, but accepted that they could not control if it was published. We suggested that in order to rebuild trust with the fan base, they should go above and beyond the call of duty for a while, in order to rebuild that support through transparency and integrity. The club said there would still be “situations they would not comment on”, ie. Carroll leaving, since they have their stance and won’t get drawn into an argument on it.

The club accepts that “mistakes have been made in the past, and says that mistakes are still likely to be made in the future”. But that is ‘human error’, and everyone in the club has one aim: success on the pitch, and that is the long-term goal.

With regards to SportsDirect sponsorship, the club insist that money does go to the club from SportsDirect, and since Ashley does not own SD but is merely a majority shareholder, it is not simply a conflict of interests and the club does benefit. Though this has angered some fans it is a very good way to get money flowing into the club.

A spokesman for United For Newcastle has concluded:

“It was a productive meeting, with several points put across effectively from both sides. Unfortunately, the club would not confirm that they would take a strategy to communicate more effectively with any great enthusiasm however, they have promised to us that they will attempt to relocate the singing section rather than let it go. We hope that this meeting will help us form an effective relationship between us and Newcastle United, to ensure the voices of fans can be heard by the club on a regular basis.”

You can follow United for Newcastle by checking out their Facebook page or by following them on Twitter

FaceBook – http://www.facebook.com/UnitedForNewcastle
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/utdfornewcastle

Sign the Saint James Park singing corner petition: http://tinyurl.com/5vanfu6

Posted in Newcastle United, News Related | Tagged , , | Comments Off
2
Feb

Lake District Visit

We arrived at The Travellers Rest in Glenridding on Friday evening after a monstorous drive from York through rush hour traffic. By the time we had arrived the party had already started. Philippa’s friends 30th brithday celebrations was underway.

As  mature[er] adults we had a beer and a basket meal [superb pub grub] we set off up the very road [if you can call it that] towards the Youth Hostel. In the doorway there was 3 barrells of ale. In barrell number 1 was a light ale called ‘The Shire’ which was light and fruity. In barrel number 3 there was a darker and more hoppy ale called Wapweasel and the 3rd barrel… erm… well, I didn’t get that far. There was some nasty spirits flying around. 1 seemed to be like a grappa, a liquor made from the vines of grapes. The other, I recall, was a very very nasty oozo.

The hut itself was a good size. There was a mammoth sized kitchen, drying room, living/dining area, wood fuel fire, and 3 en suite dormatories.

There was around about 30 of us staying here in bunkbeds over the weekend, although I knew a few faces, I did not know them all. Some were Mark’s work associates and some were his uni buddies [Philippa fell in to this catagory].

The firstnight was a little blurry to say the least as the music and drink took over. The morning after was a little hurty but nothing a paracetamol and pint of water would not cure. Breakfast was a banana and some cereal which suited me fine. I took a wonder outside to see where we were located as we had arrived in the dark, all i knew is we were near water in the north of the valley near Ulswater.

View looking down towards Glenridding

After everyone scoffed breakfast and was ready we all split up to go do our own adventures. We decided to take a walk up stream towards Red Tarn.

Hellvelyn and Red Tarn

Heading towards Hellvelyn and Red Tarn

Running ahead

What's that coming over the hill is it a McParty?

Catalogue pose? No, we saw a helicoptor.

 After a few hours we headed back, never reaching the fabled Red Tarn. It was bitterly cold and I am no spring chicken. So we headed, like any reasonable member of society, to the nearest pub via lunch at HQ.

Several pints of Guiness later and having warmed ourselves through tell yarns of our adventures and legends of old we headed back to HQ for tea. A veritable feast of Chile Con Carne, Curry, Cakes n Cream was had prior to the Sacrificial Ritual of  Mr Papaya, the Pinata Llama:

Little did he know what was planned.

Posted in blurbs | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off
7
Jan

2011 Already?

Holy cow. Last year went quick, or so it seems. Since my previous post my moustache grew.

I am not dressed as a nun here, contrary to popular belief. I was, in fact, spending the day stunt driving in Northampton. A superb day out.

I spent the day being taught how to drive like a loon basically. Learning to perform Hand Brake Turns, J-Turns, Drive bys, Car chases, double decker driving, pulling wheelies in vans and driving a 2 engined car called a push me pull you.

A week later, Philippa and I flew off to Barbados for two weeks. Narrowly missing the snow and travel mayhem that followed later that day.

Every morning was a day of paradise and the ritual of getting up at 7am for a morning swim in the sunshine amongst the humming birds in the garden. We were also not from the golden sands and bluest Caribbean sea.

Needless to say, the holiday went far too quickly and we were back before Christmas.

Christmas was a little poor this year due to the fact I was working all day xmo day and boxing day and new years day.

In other news, I am currently in training to gain a CCNA [Cisco certification basically] so am not really online as much as i ought to be.

Posted in blurbs | Comments Off
2
Nov

Mr. Moustashe

Dear All,

I have decided to join my work colleagues in the attempt to grow a superb moustashe in the aid of Prostate cancer. This means, I shall not be shaving throughout Movember and start growing an epic lipbroom.

No Mo

My inspiration is my father and his siblings who throughout my life, I remember sporting dodgy mo’s

A donation no matter how small would be much appreciated.

To make a donation please clicky here:

http://uk.movember.com/mospace/962742

Thanks for your support

Adam

Posted in News Related | Tagged , , | 2 Comments
24
Oct

The Event – Not another Geek Conference… Or is it?

Any of you Lost entheausiasts out there will have been looking forward to this new drama which has been released on channel4.

I for one didn’t get in to the whole Lost show, generally because I was rarely home to watch it. I may do some day, however the end has been ruined for me so, it will be a long time before i sit down and do so.

Having watched the first episode of The Event I found my self wanting to hate it. Mainly due to the name… it is far too ambigious for a tv show but then, what do you call it? “The Something”? I spent the first episode wanting to rip it apart but failed to do so, however after the first 15 minutes I hypothesised “Time Travel” and by the end of it I was still under the same impression.

The second episode, my hypothesis changed and I contuinually tried to hate it, but I am now liking this mystery.

The clues are there, I will not give any more specific details as to events but I shall watch the next episode before making further comments.

Posted in The Event, nerdlinging | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments
16
Oct

Anger Management

If any of you follow me on Twitter [http://twitter.com/mcparty] can probably tell what they are.

Northern Rail

How can a rain company be proud enough to use the statistic that 9 out of 10 trains are on time on their advertisement? How may trains do they run a day? 100 maybe? It’s a worrying statistic for any one who is subjected to an already shoddy commute at an extortionate price. I’d rather sit in my own filth and pay for the privilidge  to sit on a train that has not been decorated or seemingly deep clean since it was first put into service in 1982.

Predictive text

They say a bad workman always blames his tools. This is correct, however, I get frustrated when I am about to send a text/Tweet regarding anything which has wound me up. Somehow my ability to type, when angered by some dumbfoundly annoying thing, is impaired and instead of sending a cool, collective, witty and humerous message. The mssage ends up making me look like an illiterate madman.

Even if this is true, they shoul make predictive more sensitive to ones feelings. Otherwise an insurance claim to replace a lost/damaged phone might sound like: “I threw it away”.

Remember this scence from Planes Trains & Automobiles, well, put two cmplaints above togeather and i am petty much Steve Martin in this scene:

Rental Agreement

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off
6
Oct

Tea and Coffee Politics.

The pain of your round can be seen as a game on how to avoid making the next round of drinks.
Maybe you are too lazy or too busy. The aim is to let others do it.

Valid reasons not to make the drinks are:

I made the last round
I brought the biscuits in
I’m too busy (sometimes doesn’t wash… hopefully your colleagues will pity you)
You are considered to be the boss
You die
You are a weirdo and don’t drink hot drinks.

Valid reasons to make the round:

If you make a blunder which causes more work.
Every one has made a round before you.
You are bored and every one else is busy.
A buttkissing technique (it will be in vein as your pier will know this and add to their deity like status and separate you from the hierarchy with the status of minion or office bitch)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments