Och and such

So I'm off away on holiday with me mum, dad, missus and heir. Sadly this means that I won't be able to post for a little while since the island in Scotland we are visiting wont have internet access.
The good news is that we have quite a lot of suggestions appearing on the forum for the competition. Keep them coming in - there are many weeks to go and we need all the forfeits you can suggest.
I'm happy to say that I passed one of my exams yesterday - the pass mark was 75% and I scored 75% so it was close but I got it. Just one more to go when I return...
The UBER good news is that it's my birthday tomorrow. Being in Scotland I wont be able to have a get together but I'll try and sort out some gaming when I get back.
Just one more crazy day at work and then I'll be on the road. I'll be watching the clock all day :-)
ttfn

Slow response

I have left it a few days before posting here but it seems like theres a bit of a slow response to the news. There have been a few suggestions but I'm begging everyone else to go to the forum and post some ideas - me and Laura really want your help in this.
So far my weight loss isnt going swimmingly. I had to go on a one day course yesterday which meant that Monday night I was in a back-water hotel so my only option was to do a work out video in my room. It was really hard to keep up with but I guess you get used to the routines after you have done it a few times. Last night I got back quite late from my course so I did about five minutes on the exercise bike but I dont think it really counts. I've cut down quite a lot on what I eat (especially during the day) and I'm feeling the hunger but it remains to be seen whether it will make a big difference. Next week should be a good oppertunity to lose some weight since we are in Scotland where there is great oppertunity for walking and/or running. Watch this space...
ttfn

The big news

So finally I'm posting about what I have been building up to all week.
Basically Laura and me are having a competition to see who can lose the most weight. We have weighed in tonight and every two weeks from now until we finish we will weigh in again to see who has lost the most weight in the since the last weigh in.
By posting about it here and introducing some competition into it we hope that we will both stick with it so we need your help to come up with some forfeits for the loser so that we have some real incentive to keep at it.
So go over to my forum now, sign up and post your ideas. (PLEASE!!!)
ttfn

Saturday night's alright

Well it's sunday morning and I had a really cool time last night.
We went out to Manchester for Olly's birthday, starting out at Grand Central and moving on to Rock World and it was really fun.
Sadly Steven didnt come to Rock World but at least we got to see him for a couple of hours at Grand Central.
Look out for the big announcement later on. I think it will most likely be after Laura finishes work so that will make it sometime this evening.
ttfn

Friday

So I've got my exam for this course later on today. It remains to be seen whether I will pass or not...
I think this thing of mine and Laura's will be announced on Sunday so watch this space.
I'm not really looking forward to the four hour drive I have in front of me this afternoon but at least I can listen to some more of The Silmarillion on mp3 in my car.
Jonathan emailed me last night and happened to mention that work is still a nightmare. I was kind of hoping that things would have settled down by now but I guess there's no such luck. At least there's only a week back at work before I go on holiday :-)
The bad news is that I'm supposed to pass two F5 exams by the end of next week which is extremely unlikely to happen given the quantity of work at work at the moment. This means that I probably won't get my bonus this quarter which is annoying.
So as to not end on a downer - it's my birthday in a week! The big old two four!
ttfn!

More clues?

Maybe not so much clues as notes.
First I will say that this is no big thing that we are doing - if you are expecting fireworks and parties then you will be disappointed.
Second, what we are doing is just a bit of a laugh really. Me and Laura have been talking about doing this forever and by throwing ourselves into direct public competition we hope to provide ourselves with the incentive to really make it happen.
Third, even though the consequences of losing this competition will be decided by you there will be limits on what we will do. For example I will NOT eat cheese if I lose.
Fourth, you will be pleased to hear that this competition will be on a two week cycle. That means that one of us will lose every two weeks and therefore you will be able to exact cruelty onto us regularly.
Fifth, whatever you decide on us doing will be photographed and posted on my website for your enjoyment so don't worry about being hundreds of miles away.
Sixth, this also means that another restriction will be NO nudity. I will NOT run down the street naked if I lose. (and in case you were wondering - neither will Laura...)
Seventh and finally for now - you need to go sign up on my forum to be able to take part so do it now and start speculating.
ttfn

Market research

A quick poll on Chris's forum has shown that most people read my blog once or twice a week.
If anyone can suggest some content I could include on my website in general to bring people back more regularly then let me know.
I do have some things in the planning which should provide some interest but I don't want to give too much away right now. The next big thing will be starting this weekend. I'm not revealing the exact details right now but I can tell you that it puts me and Laura in direct competition with each other and the consequences of losing said competition will be decided by your good selves.
Get over to my forum and sign up so that you can get involved as soon as I post the final details here.
ttfn

This week

So this week I'm on a course all week in Cambridge.
That probably means that there won't be much for me to post about but I'll do my best. I should be meeting up with Simon again this week since he lives fairly close to here.
Me and Laura have agreed to something which will be announced on my blog at the weekend. It should be quite fun for everyone to get involved in and I hope it will be quite popular. Basically it is something me and Laura will benefit from but something that everyone else should be able to get a good laugh from. If you want to get involved then you will need to sign up on the forum. Details to follow...

Nice early start

Despite being asked to arrive this morning by 9am and despite the fact that everyone was here before 9am we still havent actually started the training yet - the instructor has vanished...
Last night was pretty cool. Simon came over to my hotel and we had a couple of beers, chatted for a few hours and then watched some Firefly on dvd.
Simon has got a new job that he starts in September. He is teaching maths and computing at a secondary school while earning his teaching qualifications. He started tutoring in his spare time a little while ago and he obviously enjoyed it so much that he decided to go full time.
Watching Firefly again was so sweet - I may have to buy it on dvd. It's a really cool series made by Joss Whedon (who made Buffy) and it totally rocks. Problem is that it got cancelled after 13 episodes. The good news is that they have made a film which comes out this summer and hopefully after that it will be made into a new series.
Training starting now so must go.
ttfn

Mozilla rules the (e)waves

My stats also show that 100% of all traffic to my website is from mozilla based clients. This means that everyone who views my site has turned from the dark side and has forsaken Internet Explorer. I'm not sure how accurate that is though. I guess most of my techie friends use Firefox and I know my mum, dad and grandad all use Firefox but I would be surprised if no-one uses Internet Explorer at all. When you read this please can you post a reply to let me know what browser you are using?

Vicky is not a myth

I've just been looking over the stats for my website and 2% of all visitors are from France. I'm guessing that I don't get any random visitors from France which means that 2% of all visitors is Vicky.
Hi Vicky!

Stranger and stranger

Ok. Now the instructor is showing the guy next to me the leather sites he knows of.
I'm starting to get a little worried...

Bizarro land

So I'm sat at F5 on my course and the instructor and the guy next to me are discussing what kinky underwear the wife of the guy next to me should buy. She is chatting to them on msn and sending them pictures of the underwear and asking their opinion. Whether or not she knows that the guy next to me is discussing it with the instructor or whether she believes that their conversation is private is another question.
Now don't get me wrong, if this guy's wife is into kinky underwear (and leatherware by the looks of the picture he just brought up) then good for her. Good for him as well. In fact I'm thinking that my wife should get some too. However, is there not a time and a place for this kind of thing? I understand that training courses are becoming less strict and are introducing a more relaxed atmosphere but when you can discuss your wife's underwear with the instructor whilst viewing the pictures on the training company's pcs have you not crossed a line?
Also, this training course isn't exactly intensive. This two day course could probably be done in one day but I guess the guys at F5 have to spread it across two days to justify the cost which means that I'm sat here twiddling my thumbs and writing my blog.
As I engage my ears again I can hear the instructor and the guy next to me discussing what chicks you can pick up when you are in the army/navy....

BEAUTIFUL ALIEN VAMPIRE TURNS MEN INTO ZOMBIES!!!

Seriously.
I was round at my mum and dad's house last night and just as I was leaving my dad was settling down to watch a film (forgotten the name now) which was billed as a beautiful alien vampire walking the streets of london turning men into zombies. I just had to mention it. Hope it was good dad :-)
So yeah - not really posted in a while. Things have been crazy crazy at work due to us completely redeploying our network which involved working most of last weekend. In fact Cliff (our systems manager) and Wayne (our technical director) even slept at work and on Sunday night they only had two hours sleep.
So now the new network has been deployed and things are still crazy crazy due to all the niggling problems people are having but the good news for me is that after today I'm not back in the office for a week and a half and after that I have a week of desperately trying to pass exams before going away on holiday. The long and short of it being that I should manage to avoid most of the aftermath of the network change over by not being here.
There's not really been any new stuff put on the website. The forum is a bit of a flop at the moment but at least it's there if it's needed. I will hopefully spend some time on it soon because there is a new section I am eager to add.
I haven't posted about Amsterdam yet but there isn't a huge amount to tell. We had a good time although probably not as good as last time. One of the highlights for me was when me and Kieran went out and watched the comedy show - it was a late night improv performance and I found it really funny plus it was cool to spend a night just me and Kieran.
Anyway, I doubt I'll be arranging another trip there soon so unless someone else takes over the responsibility we probably won't be going back in a while.
I'm on a course tomorrow and Friday in London and then the whole of the next week I'll be on a course in Cambridge so I don't have a clue what kind of internet access I'll have. Many apologies for the lack of posting in the meantime. The good thing about going to London again is that I get to meet up with Simon which will be cool.
Anya is doing well. She is totally walking everywhere now which is really cool and I'm trying to take her to the park quite a lot so she can stretch her legs. She really loves the swings and cries whenever she has to get off and she hasn't quite worked out slides yet because she keeps trying to climb up the wrong side.
Anyway I'd best sign off now and I'll hopefully post soon.
ttfn