Recently in Inspiration Category

Blogging with The Lumia

Doesn't work. For some reason it won't open the webpage correctly, so the usual edit window doesn't work. Bugger.

Shame, as it works on the N8. I guess there must be some incompatibility issue with IE 9 on Windows Mobile 7.5. There is an app available, but it'll only connect to Typepad hosted sites.

Ah well, will have to update this and all my Amazing Collective news from home instead.

Playing Badminton Again

And doing rather well :-)

Restarted back in June and managed to join a local club, Strings. Had a couple of matches now, and currently unbeaten in 3 and second in the league :-)

Really enjoying it, and it's doing my health no end of good too, although the post-match beers are probably wiping out the calories burnt off during the match ;-)

Where Has The Time Gone?

Over six months since I last blogged. And I've been rather busy!

Lots of trips all over the country and Europe; Paris, London, Bristol, Stevenage, Warrington, Workington, Darlington, and Hull. A fantastic six months packed with lots to do, and lots of friendships made and rekindled :-D

Anyway, I'm back online and blogging, twitting, and facebooking again!

New Mobile!

Finally took the plunge and upgraded my mobile 'phone last week. Well, for starters I'd had the N95 8Gb for quite some time now. And the battery life was pants; lucky if I'd get through the day before having to charge it. So, onto the Orange website to see what offers were available.

I'd been looking at the N8 for a while. But remembering the fun of upgrading in the past to the latest gizmo, only to find firmware upgrades every five minutes to fix bugs. I thought it'd be better to wait a few months first.

Well, the N8 was free, on a reasonable contract. Which comes with free text's and 'unlimited' internet (within reason). And I think it's cool :-) Will update regularly as I find the good and bad things about it.

7 Years

And it still feels like yesterday.

Been digging through stuff since moving into Jules mum's. And I found the original CD that her brother, Chris, did for me for the funeral. I'd done a montage of photo's of Jules to music. It was projected onto the wall of the church, whilst people came in. Not all the songs are available on YouTube, but they were:

Del Amitri - Tell Her This
The Beautiful South - Little Blue
Sting - The Book of My Life
Coldplay - The Scientist

Brought the emotions of the day flooding back. How I tried my hardest to say a few words, and ended up chocking up and crying. How so many friends turned out both at the church, the cemetry, and then the wake. The wake, which I remember little of, other than it was a great celebration of someone's life.

T'is time for bed, and as my eyes close, time slips back to those happy memories. It's not saying I'll never love again, but I've lost the love of someone I never imagined I would.

Not Well

Woke up at 1am this morning, bent double in pain. It's like someone's been kicking me in the groin. Not good. Even less helpful was A&E. A 4 hour wait put me off, and the nurse suggested going home, taking painkillers, and making an appointment with my GP.

Ringing them at 08:30 found all today's appointments gone. So back to the emergency surgery at 5pm. The doctor couldn't make a diagnosis, so more painkillers and antibotics. Lots of samples sent away for tests. I'll hopefully find out what it is on Thursday. In the meantime, lots of rest and fluids.

Workload Forecast

And another workload forecast over and done with. It's a 6-8 week long exercise, planning the resource requirements for the company business plan. Culminating in a day with everyone responsible in a room, agreeing or disagreeing with the numbers.

I quite enjoy facilitating the day, hopefully without too many problems. And since starting 3-4 years ago, it's now a smooth running event. Just got to type up the actions, of which there was a LOT this time!

New Phone Test

Trid to blog with my old Nokia N95 8Gb, and it never really worked. And besides, the tariff didn't allow for lots of data.

So, with the arrival of a Nokia N8 with full qwerty keyboard (thanks to James for pointing that one out!), my mobile blogging can restart with a vengeance.

Probably The Best Game?

Went to another away game to watch the Tigers, this time at Watford.

Cracking pre-match pub, and probably the best I've seen City play this season. Fast, flowing footy. Passes that connected. They really looked like a team on the way up and beyond. Which, on the away performances, the playoffs must be a possibility.

The unbeaten away form continues. Best ever run for the club. Which compares better than the last season in the Premier League, without a win away since March 2009.

The End of Another Chapter

Finally moved out of Wetherby Close tonight. Quite sad. After moving in together with Jules, it's quite emotional leaving.

Sitting in the empty living room, with Nige, Laura, Janet and Rachael, along with several boxes of pizza, I couldn't help crying a little. All the good memories, and sad memories. Walking round the house for one more time, each room empty and quiet. No cat meowing. No-one shouting my name, having forgotten to put something somewhere.

But, as I said at the start of 2011, it feels more and more that this is the year of changes. And I really do need to get on that housing ladder.

About Alan Bell

Lapsed: electronic engineer, scout leader, project controller.
Now: Oracle Primavera training consultant, business support manager, occasional website designer.

About this Archive

This page is an archive of recent entries in the Inspiration category.

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