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Jul 2007 |
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July 2007
Sun 1 Jul
?
Mon 2 Jul
Mega early start, middle of the night really, to drive to the airport and catch the first flight of the day to Amsterdam for my Architectural Thinking course. I haven’t been on a training course for ages. At the airport there was a much greater police presence and cars and buses were being diverted to locations away from the immediate terminal, the immediate reaction to yesterday’s terrorist attacks on Glasgow airport. Anyway, I caught my flight to Schiphol, landed more or less on time, picked up rental car from Hertz and trundled along the congested Dutch motorways to Almere, feeling quite relaxed as I knew there was nothing I could do to hurry things along and knowing the tutors would be familiar with the trip too. Reached the IBM office in Almere by 10.45 in the end, not bad timing after all. A large modern spacious office, in the Dutch/German style (i.e. offices, not open plan!), and a meeting room with about 15-20 other course delegates. I made my entry, everyone relieved that I spoke Dutch and was happy for the course to continue in that language, and took the seat on the corner, nearest the door, and switched to “class-room” mode. An enjoyable course, a little dry maybe, and the tutors, Geert-Willem and Niek, could have benefited from a little more enthusiasm and gravitas, but they did seem to know what they were talking about. They’re doing the sort of stuff I think I should be doing now, whereas I’m still just setting out on the professional IT architect path. Well, what else would I be doing anyway? At the end of the day I headed to the nearby Bastion hotel, the only one to be staying over, the others all heading home. The hotel was pretty plain and “budget” but perfectly fine, and even gezellig (cosy) in that indefinable Dutch way. A combination of the Ibis-type hotels we have stayed at in Eastern Europe and the traditional Dutch hotels. A bit of a clanger speaking with Adrian, the IBM project manager on the project I've been working on, basically telling me not to bother coming back to the project. The explanation was that I had completed the integration architecture now and that the remaining work, the “legacy componentisation approach” would be placed together with my colleague's deliverable on requirements approach, but when I asked him if there was a lack of confidence in my ability to deliver that did turn out to be the real reason, also confirmed in a subsequent phone call with Tom. Both were very nice about it, but it still left me feeling rather inadequate. Combined with the fact that it’s time for the first bit of performance assessment and I had rather hoped to get off to a better start. Better not get too hung up on it. Free internet access, made phone calls home (Ness, Mama), had dinner downstairs, and had an early night, with little Jasper keeping me company.
Tue 3 Jul
Second day of the course. Getting to know the others a bit, especially the guys on my breakout team for the case studies. Dinner in the hotel, and a fantastic downpour while I was sat there.
Wed 4 Jul
Last day of the course. More of the same. Good material, and definitely useful. Just need to put it into practice now – component modelling, nodes, deployment units, methods, etc. Was the last one to present a case study exercise and then left on time to catch my flight. Got to Schiphol in good time, checked in and did some shopping and had a coffee and jenever. The checked the departure screens to find my flight had been cancelled, b*gger! Got changed to a later flight though, called Ness, and found myself a comfortable seat to sleep for a couple of hours. Then went and had some dinner, a very tasty thick juicy veal steak with dark sugar sauce, delicious, and boarded my new flight. More delays and mix-ups to do with the seating but eventually it took off and I got to Edinburgh with lots of delays, and drove home. We were supposed to have moved out of Douglas Court and into Ruth’s flat but instead we were spending a last night here and going to move tomorrow. Ness had taken all the stuff we had managed to accumulate over the past couple of months into a local storage place and the flat was very empty but still felt like home and I was quite glad to have a last night here, and in bed was looking up at the skylight window, which reminded me of the autumn and winter months when it was foul weather, rain and wind pounding away, superb!
Thu 5 Jul
Day at the office, I think – can’t remember.
Fri 6 Jul
Ditto.
Sat 7 Jul
As planned, we packed a bag and headed out. We headed for the East Neuk, the corner of Fife facing North Berwick across the Forth. Everyone says how charming the fishing villages are supposed to be. Quite a drive, and Ness’s first time across the slender Forth road bridge. The road took us through Kirkcaldy and Leven, rather down at heel and ugly towns, full of concrete and kebab shops. We drove on and beyond Leven the environment suddenly changed as we entered the East Neuk proper. We passed through a series of pretty villages, beginning with St Monan’s and then Pittenwheem, Anstruther and Crail. We stopped at one of them for a drink and lunch. Tidy little villages oozing charm, but in that Scottish manner, not the “twee” Cotswold puppet version. The weather was fantastic, bright sunshine and the occasional stiff downpour, which quickly moved on again. Can’t remember the village we stopped at, but we had lunch at the Ship Inn, a harbour side traditional inn, with seats outside, overlooking the pretty beach and bay. Ness had a sandwich but I went for the tasty fish pie. We got chatting with the Polish family who sat on the bench next to us. The live in Kirkcaldy, obviously having to make do in terms of accommodation here. After lunch we walked down to the harbour wall and little harbour, looking across the water at North Berwick and the Law. So beautiful around here. Both feeling much more relaxed, and Ness kept saying how glad she was “to have her husband back” – I’ve been so preoccupied with work and admin these past few weeks. After lunch we carried on round, out towards Fife Ness, the cape at the end, and found it occupied by ... a golf course! There was a little narrow road which led round it towards the coastguard station, but no place really to stop and get out, unless you were a golfer, and so we continued, on, following the coast round, to St. Andrews. The coast was pretty here, the countryside scenic and relatively empty. As we pulled into the small town of St. Andrews it was clear that this was a very touristy destination, with lots of visitors around, and lots of smart shops. The sort of town that I think we had both had in mind for us to live in. While Ness waited I got us a room at a hotel through tourist info, and we were very lucky to get exactly the sort of thing we were after, a lovely room with sea view at the Russell Hotel, very central, and not cheap at £140. We chilled out in the room for a bit, with a cup of tea and shortbread biscuits, and then changed into our walking clothes and went out to the broad sandy beach for a good walk to stretch our legs for a while. It was flat and open and we could just walk unimpeded. A guy doing his tai chi exercises, and two students, from good schools by the looks of them, practicing golf on the beach. Glorious afternoon. We looked round the Old Course in front of the Royal & Ancient clubhouse before returning to the hotel. In the evening we again got lucky. We tried to get a table at the Doll’s House but they could only accommodate us at 9.30pm, which suited us. We strolled around the town centre, now looking much quieter, most tourists obviously in their hotels, and no students around as term had ended, stopped for a drink at a bar just inside the town gates, and then headed to the restaurant. This was a real find, with a lovely atmosphere, jazz music on the background, attentive service, and fantastic food – how about asparagus cappucino for a starter – and great value for money at less than £80 for the two of us! Very satisfied we toddled back to the hotel and nodded off. Perfect day.
Sun 8 Jul
Woke up in our lovely room in the Russel Hotel (no.5, to remember), with super views looking out over the broad sandy beach. Snuggled up with Ness and carried on snoozing. Sunday breakfast downstairs in the snug breakfast room, Abroath smokies and poached eggs. Then we checked out and set off to sightsee and explore St. Andrews. It’s an elegant little town. Beautiful weather, sunny and mild. First stop was the golf museum, across the road from the Royal & Ancient clubhouse. The museum was a little staid but interesting nonetheless, with history of the game over the centuries, lots of old clubs, balls, trophies, and histories of players. The last third of the exhibition focused on the more recent history, i.e. 20th century! We spent a very agreeable hour or two in the museum, followed by a coffee sat outside the glass cube of the Seafood restaurant just a bit further up the hill – another one to remember for a future visit. Then we spent time exploring the town, first visiting the castle, or rather the ruins. This lay a bit further along the Scores, one of the main roads in St. Andrews, along the coast and on top of the low cliffs between the two beaches. On either side of the road were some of the smart and characterful buildings of the university faculties, such as the deparmtent of Economics and Finance, and the department of Moral Philosophy and the department of Logic and Metaphysics. We bought combined tickets to the castle and cathedral ruins. We took our time to wander round the atmospheric ruins, perched on the cliffs and with their superb views over the open North Sea stretching out. We were about to leave when we caught the performance of the “torturer”, a local historian in costume and bringing history to life. He picked on Ness & me too: I was a local dignitary who had misbehaved or said something the bishop disagreed with and for punishment Ness was taken to live with the bishop for two years, forcing me to be on my best behaviour. Next we visited the ruins of the cathedral, very reminiscent of Whitby. Only parts of the walls of either end remain standing, and the rest of the grounds consist of an old cemetery. There is also the massive freestanding St. Rule’s tower, the rest of the church totally gone. We bought separate tickets to climb the tower – quite a climb to the top inside the small spiral staircase inside the tower – most of the tower is actually totally hollow, except for the vertical quarter section in the corner inside which the staircase is. From the top we had stonking views all round, over Fife, St. Andrews, the North Sea. By now it was getting to the middle of the afternoon, and our plans to meander back along the coastal villages of the East Neuk and stop at Pittenwheem for lunch were changed to head straight back to North Berwick. We made a pitstop at the castle’s visitor centre, bought postcards, and sat writing them while watching and listening to the pipers playing on the bandstand. Ness then drove us back, taking the more direct route along the quicker A roads. We got back to North Berwick in about two hours, stopping off at the German bakery in Gullane to pick up a fresh loaf and cakes. We stopped by at the spa but there was a sign saying the steam room was out of order, again, and instead we dropped in at the Fly Half to pick up emails, and caught the tail end of the Wimbledon men’s final, Federer beating Nadal in the fifth set. Back to Ruth’s flat, no sign of the cats still, and we made it cosy at home, dinner, telly and watching the panoramic views. What a wonderful weekend, as we kept saying to each other. We feel refreshed and rejuvenated. I think we really needed this.
Mon 9 Jul
Day at Edinburgh office. Normality, love it. Normal commute to work in the morning, glorious sunny day, caught the 17.40 train back – had to run for it – and chatted with Dougie, our former neighbour from Douglas Court, on the train. Tasty dinner at “home”, Ness had prepared a curry the day before and we at dinner while sat at Ruth’s dining table, looking out across the view in front of us, a panoramic scene across the Forth, with some of the pretty stone houses in North Berwick in front of us, and a spectacular sunset. Didn’t go for a walk down to the beach but it would have been perfect for it. Lovely day, and both feeling and looking so much more relaxed this week.
Tue 10 Jul
Day at Edinburgh office. Ness had a cinema club meeting with Ronnie in the Auld Hoose and I remained outside and called Mama on my mobile. Had intended to stroll down to the harbour but it was quite late by the time I finished the call with Mama and instead I joined Ness in the pub. We ended up having several drinks and it was late by the time we got back to the flat. Chippie had run out of fish (phew!) so we did stick with plan A, sausage and mash at home, just rather late. Very tasty bratwurst from Anderson’s, with my speciality, light and fluffy mashed potatoes, and proper fresh peas. Dee-lish!
Wed 11 Jul
Day at Edinburgh office. Evening we went for a walk along the beach, East Bay for a change. The evening light was lovely, that late in the day bright light that casts a glow. We sat on a barnacle-covered rock at the far end, just letting the sunshine fall on our faces. Ness is a bit stressed, with the continuing upheaval of moving and moving again, but our final move is now only days away. Bumped into Ronnie back at the RNLI house, he was out to take some pictures of his daughter out for sea-kayaking for her first time. Must have been challenging for beginners as there was quite a strong wind. Back home we had omelettes for dinner, sat at Ruth’s dining table with our panoramic view in front of us.
Thu 12 Jul
Day at the Edinburgh office – this is going to get quite repetitive! Met Dougie, our former neighbour from Douglas Court, on the train again. Usual routine (wow!) of a Costa coffee and then up to the office. Meanwhile Ness was carrying out our next move again, clearing us out of Ruth’s flat, putting a few more bits into storage and loading up Eddie with the rest, and then came into town for 4pm. We drove to Scarborough, taking a slightly different route, not the A1 but instead the A68 (?), which cut straight through the bleak land of the Borders. Fantastic scenery, and atmospheric too with threatening rain clouds. Slow drive though. We swapped over somewhere, made a pitstop, and a bit beyond Thirsk we stopped to have dinner at a pub. We were already driving along the elevated stretch of land bordering the North Yorkshire moors and had intended to stop in the picturesque village of Helmsley for a bite, but we passed a promising sign for The Hare Inn, a thirteenth century inn, not far from Rievaulx Abbey. Off the main road and onto a narrow lane that twisted through the fields, with high hedges on either side. The Hare Inn looked just right, a low brick building, painted in yellow, with green window frames. Cars parked outside should have given us a clue – land rovers, mercs. Inside, low beams, a snug pub. We had walked into the restaurant half of the pub. The locals had plummy accents and paid not attention to visitors walking in, too wrapped up in their own worlds. We had a very tasty but overpriced meal. I commented on the tiny piece of halibut I received for £17 and was told that was the market price these days. Still, it was very tasty and a much finer meal than the bit of pub grub we had envisaged. A pint of Landlord for me, cod with green pea purée for Ness, halibut for me, passion fruit creme brulée for me, a coffee for me... The bill left a slightly sour taste but otherwise it was a perfect little find. We carried on to Hutton Buscel, passing Rievaulx Abbey in a flash and making a mental note to come back some other time. At Hutton Buscel, Caz, Andy, Joe, Ben and Bud took us in again and we had a glass of wine and chatted for a while before heading off to bed. As the barn is being plastered they have very kindly put us in their main bedroom.
Fri 13 Jul
I had wrapped up my project assessment over the past week or so, and signed it off yesterday. I was feeling moderately confident that my review session with my IBM manager this afternoon would go pretty well. I suppose a “2”, i.e. “you’re doing ok, not great, but ok”, is technically speaking a sufficient grade but I had a distinct feeling of underperformance, and his comments did not leave me feeling fired up. I guess it was just another “could do better” report – one which after well over thirty years of similar reports I should be used to by now!
Sat 14 Jul
Late morning I accompanied Andy to the harbour at Scarborough, to get some crab from the fish shop. Scarborough’s seafront is about as tacky as they come, a strip of gaming arcades and chip shops, and people dressed in bargain basement clothes, with lined working class faces and expressions. The fish shop was in the harbour, the sole outlet catering to individual customers rather than wholesale, and there was an abundant display of all sorts of fresh fish – halibut, hake, all sorts of flatfish, large prawns and crabs, which we bought. In the afternoon we went out for a walk at the curious landscape formation of the Hole of Horcum, a large natural amphitheatre. It ended up being a lovely walk in fresh sunny weather. First down into the “bowl” of the Hole, across some fields and then up the other side along a narrow fern-lined trail up to the more exposes plateau above, covered with low shrubs, mostly heather, and back round to the car. Bud was of course doing it the hard way, running ten times the amount we walked! Andy and I were snapping with the cameras. We tried to find a nice pub to stop for a drink on the way back to Hutton Buscel and took a little detour into a village that was completely off the beaten track – a timewarp or a film set. Very unusual. Pub was closed though and instead we stopped at a more conventional roadside pub on the way back to Hutton Buscel.
Sun 15 Jul
Andy made jam.
Mon 16 Jul
Day spent working on IBM stuff at Caz and Andy’s. Got a request to help with a presentation to a client and by the afternoon I was trying to get up to speed on enterprise-driven architecture, a new one for me. Ness was busy around the house, taking care of chores that would make Caz’s life easier at the end of the day, walking Bud and so on.
Tue 17 Jul
Worked on client pitch all day, sat in the study at Caz & Andy’s. Quiet environment, Ness doing stuff around the house, Bud padding in and out, and cups of tea and coffee. Should make for a conducive environment but I still found it tough going to get stuff together. It ended up being a late one, only stopping to take a few short breaks: sandwiches sat on the patio in the garden, looking out over the large pretty garden, throwing balls for Bud, and later for dinner. I was in trouble with Caz for working so late, and more so for planning to work and go to the office tomorrow.
Wed 18 Jul
Up early and drove north, along the A68, passing through the Hadrian’s Wall, the Northumberland National Park, the Cheviot Hills. Grey wet day mostly. We drove through wonderful bleak countryside and isolated villages, well off the beaten track except for intrepid tourists. Ness dropped me off at the IBM office on St Andrew Square and I spent the afternoon working on the presentation while Ness drove on to North Berwick to collect the keys for our new home and await the removals company, which finally arrived at around 5pm. They had not been there for long when I arrived home. I immediately went out and took some pictures, another cyclical event, a mirror of that time when we cleared out Tunstall Road before going off to travel. In the evening we slept on the mattress from the spare bedroom, while our removals men were tucked up in the cab of their van which was parked outside. We had gone for a drink at the Auld Hoose, and it was too late to pick up take aways so instead we had a late night dinner of Anderson’s sausages.
Thu 19 Jul
At home Ness had a busy day unpacking, clearing up, arranging and re-arranging. At the office I had a busy day too, working on the client presentation. At the end of the day I commuted home. So many little routines that are just getting started. For dinner we went and got two fish suppers and had them sat on a bench overlooking the beach, bay and Forth, the best restaurant in the world, with a wonderful panorama in front of us, fresh air and open space all around.
Fri 20 Jul
Busy morning putting final touches to the presentation. Got invited to take part in the international conference call in the afternoon, an encouraging sign that my input has been seen as worthwhile. It wrapped up the week very nicely, with no loose bits and I was able to leave the office on time and head home. Ness had moved mountains and many boxes had been unpacked and sorted, especially the kitchen.
Sat 21 Jul
A busy day sorting out stuff around our new home. Trips to Fort Kinnaird to pick up all the stuff from Douglas Court that Ness had put into storage on her own. It was a lot easier with two of us, and I felt sheepish, guilty isn’t quite the right word, at having left Ness to do all this on her own back in June while I was on the Toyota project. Back home we continued to unpack and arrange stuff, and decided to repack all the books Ness had spent so much time unpacking, and deconstructed and flat-packed the Billy bookcases. In the evening Mark and |