Operation Zero Monday - progress 11:02

Operation Zero Monday is in progress... Doing OK so far... I'll be tweeting my status & progress throughout the day.

Operation Zero Monday 12:02

It's been a busy ol' time at work; there's much to do, in fact, more than 'lots' and 'much' and 'stacks' all together.  I'd been generally, but not completely, on top of the load, asymptote style.
Having raised a flag to the gaffer (very helpful, lots of thoughts/ideas), I'll be going 'off the grid' on Monday; my single goal for the day is to work my way through the 'inbox' (actually, many folders) and:

• reduce inbox to zero
• identify must-do/can't wait (and late) tasks, plan to complete them
• identify what can be delegated and delegate
• plan how to deal with the rest
• determine how to stay on top of in the incoming workload thereafter

That is Operation Zero Monday; I plan (and hope it will be a) success.

Admin Mourning 22:47

Screen - quite possibly the utility that saved me more time and grief over the last few years than anything else. A tribute from XKCD...

Sleep cycles 22:49

According to anecdotal evidence across the web, everyone sleeps in cycles of sleep (different types of sleep), which are 90 minutes long (strangely precise, doncha think?).  Anyhoo, the concept is that 'you' should always try to sleep through a sleep cycle, and therefore, wake-up at the top of a cycle to feel most refreshed and rested.  Waking in the middle of a sleep cycle is supposedly what leads to the feeling of grogginess and 'not with it'.
It's an idea that intrigues me.
For the longest time I'd say I've suffered from light insomnia, however, when I start to look back at bedtime vs. the length of time slept, that is, to when the 'insomnia' kicks in, it's usually 6 hours.  Of course, that's a multiple of 90 minutes, and I started to wonder whether I simply wake at the end of the fourth sleep cycle because I don't need any more sleep.
I'm going to spend some time working on a deliberate sleep pattern of four cycles, that is, 6 hours of sleep.  For waking on working days, usually 6am, it'll be sleep time at midnight - the only problem I see so far is what to do with all that 'extra' time.

Logic 22:07

(seen here)

No longer daily 20:08

Whilst I remember... no more daily posts here.  I'll post as-and-when, whilst I focus daily blogging activities upon my 'One Million Steps' project for 2010.

2010/365 22:09

It's perhaps not the best day to start a regime that's vaguely fitness & health related, but then one of the established things about January 1st in modern life is that many people of drinking age wake up with a hangover.
However, a decent walk in the morning should be just the ticket to clear my head and get cracking on my 365 project for 2010, that is, "One Million Steps" for me.  Yay!

Johnsons Honda FTW 16:42

New cars are expensive to buy, can be expensive to maintain, and depreciate heavily over the first three years.  But, there are reasons that makes buying a new car worthwhile.  Two reasons that are pertinent today are 'reliability' and 'service'.
Reliability - this morning, our year-and-a-bit old Honda Civic failed to start.  It was fairly obvious to me that the battery was flat, and the fact that it was dead only 48 hours after the car was last driven would indicate a problem that will require dealer attention.
Service - the car comes with HondaCare Assistance - a breakdown service that comes with the car, all part of the deal ma'am.  Don't be fooled, this 'assistance' isn't actually executed by Honda themselves, rather, it's a trading name for a subsidiary part of the Automobile Association, aka, "The AA".

Having called the AA this morning, I was advised that they weren't performing home visits because they happened to be "too busy".  Yup, too busy to carry out the service that Honda are paying them to provide.  That's not really a great thing for a breakdown firm to say about their service, is it?
I can't help wonder I should have pushed the car away from the house and called them back...

Fortunately for me, and the reputation of Honda, my local dealer responded with first class service.  A speculative call to them had an offer of them coming out to jump start the car, and follow me back to the dealer site where they'd perform a diagnostic, even though they were running skeleton staff.
I jump-started the car myself and got it down to the dealer, and before long, I'm pleased to be told that there is a fault, a recall has been issued, and they'll be replacing the faulty part ASAP.  My Civic's battery was fully recharged, and I'm sent on my way with advice on how to ensure the car remains mobile for the next few days (easy, run it at least once/day)

So, I take my hat off to Johnsons Honda in MK; with service like this (and it's not the first time they've exceeded my expectations), I know that when the time comes to trade-in the Civic, there's a strong chance they'll receive my custom.

As for the AA - epic fail.  If you have need of a breakdown service, consider whether the AA will be 'too busy' to respond to you when you really really need their 'service'.

365 for 2010 16:18

Since early December, I've been wondering what to attempt for my second 365 type project.  2009's 365 of 'one post per day' failed, honorably I feel, but ultimately, failed.
For 2010 I've been trying to pull together something that I'll have sufficient interest in which I'll gain the motivation to actually do it.
I did consider a photo per day, much like the original 365's, however, the choice between a suitable-for-snaps-only Samsung camera or a broken Canon (<spit>) Eos 300D, ruled this option out.
However, I think I've got a plan and I'm building out the back end stuff to make it work.  Hopefully, it will be vaguely interesting to read.

A day out in London 22:06

Whoa... MrsB thought it would be good for us to get out of the house with a trip to the London Science Museum.  It was a nice day overall, and Luca thoroughly enjoyed himself.  But... it didn't half hurt the wallet!
£7 parking at the train station, £40 for train tickets, £5 for MrsB's travelcard (I have Oyster), £10 for two stale tasteless sandwiches, £13 for a taxi back to Euston (Tube was b0rked), £7 for snacks to sustain us all until we got home.  All in... £82.
Ouch...

LOLspeak 18:17

LOLspeak:

I think I wuz 'into' teh LOLcat thang almost as sewon as it started.  Interestingly, 4 an internet mezmez, it's surprisingly long-lived and still goin strong.  wha I find most worryin is dat tehse days, I read LOLspeak natively.  moar worryin is dat LOLspeak appears 2 be convergin upon 'regular' SMS/txt speak, sewmezthin I loateh and (usually) struggle 2 read.

Real world:

I think I was 'into' the LOLcat thang almost as soon as it started.  Interestingly, for an internet meme, it's surprisingly long-lived and still going strong.  What I find most worrying is that these days, I read LOLspeak natively.  More worrying is that LOLspeak appears to be converging upon 'regular' SMS/text speak, something I loathe and (usually) struggle to read.

Hearing voices? 21:03

This insightful comment was tweeted by PeteMcFlurry today, following the Pope being knocked down on Christmas Eve by a woman, "said to be mentally unstable":

@realrossnoble isn't it kinda odd that both the woman and the pope hear voices but she's the one being locked up?

Quite...

When a cubicle is a telephone booth 21:34

This interesting article struck a chord with me, having spent many years working from home, and now working in an office once again:
Benjamin Gran; Cubicles are the Phone Booths of the Future

Passengers pay the price of 'security' 22:15

After another attack on a US aircraft, there are reports that (with immediate effect?) the last hour of a flight will see passengers forced to remain seated and prevented from accessing cabin luggage.
Er, hello?  Horse bolted, stable door closed?

So whilst the US appeared to know this guy was at least, bad news:

The New York Republican named the detainee as Abdul Mudallad, 23, a Nigerian national whose name, he said, was in a database indicating "a significant terrorist connection" although it did not appear on a "no-fly" list

... they decided no action was necessary.
The very virtue of the fact he was able to get on the plane says to me that the whole concept of 'security' failed.  I realise that trying to stop a bunch of people dedicated enough to their perceived cause to kill themselves is really rather difficult, but (and it's a big but), every time security is 'increased', it's the honest fare paying passenger that gets clobbered.
Whilst you might have to remove your shoes, jacket, belt/braces and various other pieces of clothing, are we now looking at full strip searches?  At least, a strip search if you object to the security staff being able to see you 'naked' in their new body scanner.  If you now have to remain seated for the last hour of the flight, why not go to the next logical step? Catherise and then sedate the passenger, not forgetting to strap each person down with straps for arms, legs, body and head?

How far can it go before people simply choose not to fly?

Driving holiday 20:29

Earlier in the year I'd advised MrsB that all I really wanted for Christmas 2009 was, a) be at home on Christmas eve and b) be at home on Christmas day.

As it turns out, we'll be at home for the entire holiday period (w00t!) meaning I have no need to drive anywhere until new year.  Superb!

Here begins the week long drunk-a-thon!