Monday, June 02, 2008
Home alone
With the girls, obviously. Moo's off for a couple of days on a course. The girls behaved beautifully, and went to bed very well. Miri took 40 minutes, but was only messing for half of that.
Friday, May 30, 2008
13 hours
That's how long the plane flight was. Watched Vantage Point (excellent), The Cleaner (good twists) and Die Fälscher (inspiring). Got 4 hours sleep at the beginning of the flight, which was pretty much was I was hoping for.Got off the flight, got stopped at customs (they let me go...), went to the currency exchange booth, and immediately got a call from my boss asking me if I was coming onto the conference call that I'd thought was due to start half an hour after I landed, rather than starting at the time I was due to land (we happened to be early). I joined about 3 minutes later. Long call, then several more to other colleagues.
I do feel that Certicom get their money out of me.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Singapore
Got around 5 hours of sleep, which isn't bad on a plane, going East. Read, watched TV shows on the media thingy. Landed around 0840 local - just under an hour late, as we'd been delayed leaving Heathrow. Picked up my bag, went to the hotel, showered, went to work. Woke up at 0400, and I'm still doing stuff at 1950 or so, but I'm about to get some food and a drink, and then go to bed, where I suspect I'll sleep pretty well.Mentioned on Facebook that I'm in Singapore, and a friend from school who I've not seen for the best part of 20 years got in touch, as she lives here! We're hoping to meet for supper tomorrow. Where would we be without computers, then? (Answer: significantly less peeved than I am this evening, having struggled with them for much of the day).
Labels: computers, friends., travel, work
Monday, May 26, 2008
Where did today go?
(backposting) Oh yes: it was cut short, as I was on a plane to Singapore. The new A380, business class, too, which was very nice. Really ought to put some pictures up of it, I suppose. My only grumble would be with the media system on board. I seemed to have a dodgy one, as it needed rebooting a couple of times, but also, if you can put together a playlist of some of the hundreds of CDs they had on offer, why can't you put it on shuffle? Grrr.Lovely staff, food, etc., though.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Off home
Only one session this morning, then I hitched a lift with one of the guys from the office via SquareOne, a big mall, where I bought the girls some books and clothes, and myself a rather nice jacket. Infrastructure stuff at work, and some discussion of exactly what I should be looking at first with my new role that we're planning out. Rather pleased with how it's going, actually.Airport, checked in, picked up my headphones (I'd left them on the plane, but got in touch with Air Canada, who'd kept them for me), went through security (they checked my bag and laptop: I can't see why people get stressed about this!), had some supper, did some work in the Air Canada Lounge (gotta love that Elite status), then on the plane. Watched Jumper, which was fairly diverting.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
White Oaks
Apparently I'm somewhere near Niagara Falls. Sales conference, anyway. Minicab to Brixton tube, Victoria Line to Victoria tube, Circle to Paddington, walk to Heathrow Express ticket office, fail to buy a ticket (they've suspended services), walk to cash machine to get money, walk to taxi rank, taxi to Heathrow Terminal 3, Air Canada flight 857 to Toronto (watch Charlie Wilson's War - rather enjoyable, sleep, leave headphones on plane), arrive at Toronto Airport Terminal 1, drive with colleagues to White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa.Labels: travel
Friday, May 02, 2008
Preparations
So, next Monday is a Bank Holiday. Clearly, I'm away on work. Flying to Toronto on Sunday, and being driven to Niagara by a colleague for a sales conference. At least I don't need to drive when I get there. I'll be leaving around 0800 UK time, and arriving at Niagara maybe 1945, so didn't really want to be having to drive for over an hour when I get there. Oh, and I can have a drink or two on the plane, too. Made sure that I had all of my ducks in a row for the travel, and had finished any obviously outstanding documents, etc.. I'm also giving part of a presentation, so had to agree that with a couple of colleagues. Good news from work in this Press Release. Honestly don't know much more about it, but we like this.Went for a lovely walk with Moo, Buster and the girls after their supper: we're trying to make a habit of this, as it's good exercise for everyone, and now that the evenings are drawing out, it's plausible.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
I hate London
Had a meeting/event thingy there. Dull London. The weather was gorgeous when I left, horrid when I got there, and horrid when I got back, so I blame London.Labels: travel
Friday, April 25, 2008
Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen
(backposting) Up at 0500. Flight at 0710 from Stansted.Only we started taxiing, and turned back. Apparently all the lights were on except the last one. The one they needed to have on before they could take off. They found another plane. We left 3 hours and approximately 5 minutes late. I had an hour's meeting in the Copenhagen Hilton, over lunch. Useful meeting, but still.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Time
Moo's spent the day on a course talking (among other things, I think) about work-life balance, and we've just spent half an hour on the phone trying to find some time with each other in the next two months. Not helped by the fact that the trip to Singapore that I'd tentatively booked ends up being over the second of the two Bank Holiday Mondays in May that I'll be travelling for.Hmmm.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Catching up
Not just on sleep (though I did have a sneaky sleep: I was very tired, and only got home around 2330 last night), but also on a variety of work things. Yesterday's fun, another project I'm involved in, a contract we're hoping to sign, and a possible trip to Singapore which I'm probably going to have to arrange. I'm _really_ hoping that I can get a business class flight this time. Last time, I was very ill _lots_ of times, and in economy. Not much fun.Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Off to Basle/Basel again
Never quite sure how to spell this, but caught a plane there anyway, in the afternoon/evening. EasyJet did me proud, and we were only a few minutes late, despite the fact that they had to do a serious clean-up of some passenger's vomit from the previous flight before they let us in. First on, first off, I was: the way it should be.Picked up a hire car. Haven't driven in continental Europe for quite a while, but it was fine: no problems, and I'd slept a little on the plane, so I wasn't too knackered. Got the satnav working (after a while), and made it to the hotel in Freiburg im Breisnau.
Only snag was going via France: I trusted the satnav to take me on a non-toll road, though I already knew it wouldn't be a problem. Couldn't be bothered to reprogram it once it routed me through Mulhouse. So, 4 countries in one day. Again.
Labels: travel
Monday, March 17, 2008
Trips
Thought I was going to end up flying out to deepest, darkest Denmark tomorrow, but it turns out that it'll wait till after Easter. I'm also looking at 2 trips to Canada in the next couple of months. I don't mind particularly, except that one of them may be over a Bank Holiday weekend, which I do object to.Lunch with Keith, and a lovely walk with Jo and Buster after the girls' supper.
Labels: travel
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Girls moving on up
Woke up around 0820, had a bath, started to think what I'd do between then and the 1210 flight home. got out of the bath at 0850, thought I'd check the flight time once more. It was at 1010. Moved quickly, got there, but I don't like being that close, I really don't.What's astonishing is how much development there is in the girls, even having been away for 3 nights. Jo's started drawing with some representation: a face is round, with hair at the top, and needs eyes and features (though she asked Moo to do that); a house has walls at right angles to the roof, which slopes. She she's happy to write her own name, but notices that she can do the second "j" upside-down (though it doesn't stay upside-down when she turns it the other way up).
Miri is now thinking about whether she needs to sit down and crawl or can just reach to the next place she wants to get to, which is an important step towards walking. And she will now take a brush and try to brush your hair with it, take a mobile phone (or whatever looks like a mobile phone), and put it to her ear, will brush her own teeth. And she now remembers what she wants, so taking away things that she shouldn't be playing with and replacing them with something else isn't always enough.
I'm so proud of them.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Geneva meeting
At a meeting of IATA. Interesting in places, and should be more so tomorrow. Not much else to say, to be honest. Need to "network" this evening, apparently, so I'll be going out.Monday, February 25, 2008
Off to Geneva
Now, if only I'd thought to warn James and Alex a day or so ago, we might have been able to meet up for supper tonight. Oh, well.Up at 0350. Put Jo back to bed (Miri was already in with us, so no room there, and Mum was in the spare room). She finally got to sleep a little after 0500. Back awake at 0600. Luckily, I managed to get some more kip after that, but it was far from optimal, tbh.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Barcelona
(backposting) Yesterday and today I was at 3GSM in Barcelona. I had less time to spend on the floor of the exhibition, as I had a couple of meetings and then lots of other work for an important customer we're working with. In fact, I got to the airport at around 1520 for a 1600 call which was cancelled while I was on the way. My flight was at 2120, so that rather more time in the airport than I'd hoped, particularly as I couldn't get into any of the airport lounges. I'd thought that having a Star Alliance gold card would allow me into the lounges whenever, but it turns out that this is only the case if you're actually flying with a Star Alliance member airline. Not, for instance, EasyJet. Darn.Still, got lots of work done, and things are looking good. Got home around 1130, and headed off to the spare room, as Miri was already in with Jo.
Monday, February 04, 2008
More countries than intended
4, that is, in one day. I'd expected to visit three (hotel in Basel - Switzerland - meeting in Freiburg - Germany - and back home - the UK), but we got a bit lost coming back from the meeting, and ended up in France for a while, which was a bit of a shock. Johan, my colleague, was going to be stopping off at Copenhagen airport for a connecting flight back home to Sweden, so he got to visit 5 in a day.A long day - up at 0500 GMT (0600 CET), back home at 2120, and took a long time to get to sleep, but it was a good day, and I felt quite "sorted" by the end of it.
Moo's started a blog - I was bizarrely quite sulky about this - and I'm hoping to get her to move to another domain, which will make me somewhat less sulky, because she will at least have called on some of my geeky expertise.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Panel session and walk-about
Still in Grenoble, and slept in till 0815 or so, which was lovely. Got up and went to the conference, where I was one of the members of a panel on security. Went well, and I had lots to say (no, really), and was approached by no fewer than 5 journalists afterwards. Something good should come from at least one. The rest of the day wasn't desperately interesting - I even had a short sleep in the afternoon. Also wrote the synopsis for a paper for a conference next month, which seems to have been accepted. After the conference had wrapped up, I headed off into the old town of Grenoble, which was rather pretty with Christmas lights up. Called Kate (my mother-in-law), and had her very confused by talking in French to her. I also found a rather nice Christmas market and bought Moo a Christmas present. Well, that's _one_ down...Tuesday, December 04, 2007
A poor hotel in Grenoble
Well, I really wouldn't give it 3 stars, is all I can say. It's serviceable, and there's broadband over Wifi, but functional is about it. Flight OK, read some theology for the course.
Oh, and there's even snow!
Friday, November 16, 2007
And home...
(backposting) Got home around 1100, having had a bit of a sleep on the plane, and in the car on the way back (always worth mentioning that I wasn't doing the driving). Really felt OK, and got a fair amount of work done in the afternoon.I'd bought quite a few presents, and Jo's new coat, in particular, went down very well indeed.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Going home
In an hour and a half's time, or so, I'll be getting on a plane to go home. I've accrued enough air miles that I'm able to upgrade to "Executive First", so I'll get a good seat and a chance to sleep, which is good. I'm ready for home, I really am.I've bought lots of presents for the girls (including Moo): just one of those trips (and the Canadian dollar's very weak at the moment, which helps).
Did some coding today. It's been a while. Nice to have the chance: I'm working on a PoC (Proof of Concept) for an idea I had this week.
Enough. Home soon.
Labels: geekery, home, sleep, travel, work
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
ECC conference
So, I'm here in Toronto, enjoying a conference that Certicom (my employer) runs. And Moo's at home, getting far too little sleep, as Jo and Miri were both unwell last week. I've gone and bought some books for Jo, and spoken to her and Moo twice (and Miri once - apparently she found it hilarious, and just laughed at the phone).So, away from home and "conflicted" is, I believe, the term. It's nearly 2200 local, or 0300 GMT. It's odd being away from home.
I wrote over 3,000 words of a new document today, during the sessions. I'm quite pleased with that.
And I've just phoned down to the front desk and asked if they'd send up a Bible, as there isn't one in the room. Odd conversations of our time.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Toronto
I'm here for a conference we give each year on ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography), and will actually be doing a speaking slot for my ex-boss, which is a bit freaky. Got here safely, straight into a meeting about OS hardening, internal security consultancy, etc.. Brain a little fried. Then taxi to the hotel and I'm about to get some food. Then definitely bed.Friday, November 09, 2007
At home, preparing for next week
I'm off to Canada next week, and spent most of the day at home, finishing up some old stuff, and preparing for next week. Looking forward to the trip, though not the jetlag or leaving Moo and the girls. Speaking of which, Jo's got words: she can start to spell them out and work out what they say. It's so exciting!Thursday, November 08, 2007
Speaking
(backposting) At first, this looked like it was going to be a problem this morning. I woke up with a sore throat and little voice. A little unfortunate, given that the whole point of my trip was to give a presentation for someone else. Luckily, by 1600, when I was on, things were OK, and it all went rather well. I really enjoy speaking in company - even when the audience, a bunch of intellectual property lawyers - aren't the obvious constituency. However, I was invited, provisionally, to give another talk on the same topic in the future, so it must have gone fairly well.Plane got in around 2330, home before 0100.
Finished the Cobb book, read a good deal of Introduction to Jungian Psychotherapy: The Therapeutic Relationship by David Sedgwick. Fascinating.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Seville via Ryanair
(backposting) The Westin Alfonso XIII is one of the nicest hotels in which it has ever been by good fortune to stay. Stunning architecture, accommodation, staff service, food, the lot. Took a while to get here, but that's fine, I guess. There aren't that many direct flights, and though I'm not always a fan of Ryanair, they did OK and we got in on time. The airport's pretty close to the city, and although I was feeling pretty rough (a nasty cold started to attack me yesterday and I was streaming and coughing and sneezing by the time I arrived), I managed a lovely meal before turning in.On the way over, I had one of those marvellous, though rare, experiences. I was about to go through the security scan, following a couple. The bloke had already gone through, the the woman was held up. A security guard saw us both getting ready, and said "are you together?" The woman stopped a moment, looked me up and down, and said, "I wish."
You can't even hope for that sort of experience, you really can't. Great for the ego...
Reading The Dying Soul, by Mark Cobb, on spiritual care in the hospice and palliative setting. Very interesting.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Tomorrow already
According to my laptop, it's already tomorrow. Which means, I suppose, that I'll be home today. My laptop's on UK time, my watch is on East Coast time, and, to be honest, I'm not quite sure which one I'm one - leaning towards the latter, I think. It's never much fun coming back eastwards - the jetlag hits your harder - but hopefully it won't be too bad this time.I've had a productive trip, all in all, and though one of the tasks I'd hoped to achieve was less successful than I'd hoped, the other went very well, and I've got lots of other things done as well, which is always pleasing. I've got lots of writing up and new work to do when I get home, so that'll keep me pretty busy.
I've spent some time this evening responding to a document discussing some of the legal issues around services in SecondLife, which is quite exciting. I was also very touched to be invited to the ordination of a good friend. Unluckily it's in New Zealand next month, so I don't think I'm going to get the chance to attend, which is a pity.
On a geeky note, I've just managed to install compiz on my laptop, which rocks. Lots of lovely 3D desktop effects, etc. which I'm looking forward to applying to my desktop machine at home as well. There are some performance problems which I need to address, but that's all part of the fun: tuning is definitely part of the deal.
Well, on a plane soon, then home.
Labels: geekery, secondlife, travel, work
Monday, October 22, 2007
Toronto
(backposting) Off to Toronto today. A later flight than usual, so no need to pack last night, but things got a little frantic in the end. Someone was coming to pick me up at 1000, and I ended up packing rather later than I'd intended. And I could _not_ find the book that I needed to take. I was aware that I'd not seen it for a while, but was pretty sure that I'd left it in my suitcase, but when I opened it up, it was nowhere to be found. Moo (and even Jo...) helped look for it, but I had to leave around 1010 without it, rather more stressed than I'd intended.Easy drive to Heathrow, where I checked in, with an upgrade voucher meaning that I'd get to go in Business Class. Flight fine - watched Surf's Up, most of Sunshine (until it got a little too scary) and Ocean's Thirteen. Landed, through customs, went to pick up my hire car, opened one of the secondary zipped up compartments of my suitcase, and there was the book that I'd been stressing over. Oh, well.
Usual hotel, all well, food, evensong, bed.
Oh, I'm re-reading Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, as I've not read it for a while.
Labels: books, films, travel, work
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Carbon footprint
(backposting) Luckily, I've hardly left the house recently on business or for any other reason, as otherwise I'd be feeling rather bad about the fact that I drove to London City airport this morning, caught a plane at 1035, arrived at Zurich airport, had a meeting in the airport, and flew back, arriving around 1800, and getting home some time after 1920.Useful meeting, but all a bit weird, to be honest.
Jo seems to be getting the sleeping-in-her-own-bed-all-night thingy. Good. Now, if we can get Miri better from her cold, we'll be nearly there.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Where's all the theology
I do try to do a little theology once in a while - usually once a week - but it's been more than that, really, and I'm afraid that there's none here today, either. I'm having a little break from thinking theologically, inasmuch as one can...But I have booked a trip to Canada (Toronto, as usual). And planned another one. As one does.
Labels: theology, travel, work
Monday, September 10, 2007
Away for a few days
In Sunningdale, of all places. The place I'm staying feels like a residential care home, but I'll hold off judgement until I've spent a little longer here.Jo went to pre-school this morning. We were a little worried, of course, and Moo, Mel, Miri and I accompanied her up the hill. She immediately started playing with the toys, sand, plasticine, etc., and didn't even notice when we went. We were, of course, gutted. She's doing 2 sessions a week, and had such a lovely time there today that she's looking forward very much to the next one, tomorrow.
Miri's not been great today: seems that her digestive system is taking a while to get the hang of "solid" foods. Fair enough, and that's as much detail as you want.
I'm addicted to Facebook, which also works on my mobile. I'm trying to avoid the "how many friends have you got" line, but there are lots of little applications you can add. Fun, fun, fun.
Labels: facebook, Jo, miriam, travel
Friday, September 07, 2007
Rugby time
After the debacle of last week's trip down to my parents, we decided to leave early, and got up at 0530. Left around 0605, and got home around 1415. That includes a number of stops, one of which was to get some food in at the supermarket, so it could have been worse. The girls needed feeding and loo breaks, so you can't really blame them.Unluckily, Miri didn't quite manage the fantastic going down at 1930 that she has been recently, but 2100 isn't too bad. Over the past few days, she's become a real pain about trying to eat the food that you're eating if you're holding her, so we're going to start her on a few solids from tomorrow, probably.
Go Pumas!
And Argentina have just beaten France in the first match of the Rugby World Cup, in France. We love them (the Pumas, that is). What a great ending to a holiday.Thursday, August 30, 2007
Nightmare drive
(backposting) We had a terrible, terrible drive down to my parents today. We decided to leave after my work had finished and headed off around 1800 after a quick supper for the girls and a bath to settle them down. Jo slept for a little, and then was awake, and Miri really lost it. Despite our stopping twice on the M4, she cried almost non-stop for an hour and a half, and by the time she did quieten down, Jo was wired, and making so much noise that we were worried that she'd wake Miri again.In the end, I turned up Radio 4 longwave and listened to England beating India in the one-day. Great match, fantastic finish by some up and coming players.
Labels: holiday, Jo, miriam, travel
Friday, August 03, 2007
Driving back home
(backposting) We left around 0930, and stopped off at my parents. Spent an hour or two with Mum, had some lunch, and caught Dad just before we left. The drive wasn't too bad, and the girls didn't cry much.Heard the news tonight that there's a case of Foot and Mouth in Surrey. Bad news: time for prayer.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Early, early
(backposting) I thought it was bad enough being woken up by the girls at night, but I had to get up at 0415 this morning (0315 UK time) to catch my flight. In fact, I didn't need to get up _that_ early, but I always play these things safe. I was there very early, and we got into the UK on time. I really can't remember what time that was! Got some breakfast at a truck stop, drove home, had a sleep. I was so pleased to get an extra day with Jo, Miri and Moo - always a bonus.I'm getting close to writing up more of an assignment - I'm at the stage of having far too much to put in: I need to decide where it's going. Hope to have something at least in draft by the end of the weekend.
Moo's nan's parrot died today, so she's upset. Jo's made a card to post.
Watched some West Wing (final series), and then the first episode of Spaced which I bought last week for Moo (we're on a Simon Pegg-fest atm).
Labels: television, travel
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Freising
I was doing an audit today, for which we'd scheduled two days, but in the end - for various reasons - we got what we could do finished by around 1330 local, so Ian (a colleague) and I went back to the hotel in Freising, did some work, and then wandered around the town (had a beer and an icecream, that sort of thing). The town's lovely, and we had a good meal at what bills itself as "the oldest brewery in the world": Weihenstephan.To bed early, as my flight leaves at 0625 local.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Back home again
I was on one of Air Canada's new Boeing 777s, in business class. Fully-reclining seats, very nice. Watched Breach, about Robert Hanssen, the US spy. Quite good - lots of Catholicism, though quite how it played into his becoming a Soviet traitor was unclear. Finished the Tim Gorringe book for the Summer School. Quite liked the later chapters. Then a decent amount of sleep, landing, and a car back.Moo, Jo and Miri are away at Turtle's 4th birthday party, so it's just me tonight. Got the DVD of the second series of Alan Partridge, so that should keep me going. Early night, I think.
Labels: travel
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Canada
So, I'm now in Canada, after a 7 and a half hour flight. Heathrow was busy, but quieter than I'd expected, given the terrorist attacks (and attempted attacks) over the weekend. Most important, everything was moving.It's now 0015 local time, and I've just spent quite some time doing SecondLife stuff - we've got a leadership team forming, which is great news. I'm already doing some community liaison work, which is great.
Must get some food now, as I'm getting hungry...
Labels: secondlife, travel
Sunday, July 01, 2007
5 and a half hours
(backposting) We slept OK again - though Jo wet the bed, for the first time ever, poor thing. She seemed to have forgotten about it by the morning, though, which was good. To church (Moo came with Miri as well), and a good sermon from Victor, the incumbent, about the responsibilities and difficulties of preaching, which resonated.We then had a lovely meal with all the family to celebrate Mum and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary: well done both of them! Good food, good company - pity I couldn't drink, as I would be driving.
Only 5 and a half hours, but more stops this time, as Jo wasn't feeling great, and Miri kept crying, which was fair enough. Moo and I had a few hours after Jo had gone to bed, and Miri was quiet, to be with each other, which was a bit of a treat.
Oh - and as of today, it's illegal to smoke in a public, enclosed space anywhere in England. Yay!
Friday, June 29, 2007
7 hours
(backposting) Down to my parents. The M25 was terrible. In the end, we cut and ran - M40 to Oxford, A420 down to the M4, then across to the M5, south for a while until the Gordano services, and then cross-country via Failand and Barrow Gurney to the A38 and then down to Winscombe. It took 7 hours to the minute, including the rather necessary stops for the girls' and our sanity. Lovely to see everyone, and all, but...Thursday, June 28, 2007
IT support, sleep, driving, deal...
Not in that order. In fact, sleep's not really in there at all. Jo had nightmares, and had to come in with me. The problem was compounded by her waking a few times, still anxious, and then migrating across the bed several times and waking me up. I didn't get much sleep.I had to drive up to the East Midlands for a meeting today: interesting, though nothing there right now. On the way up, I rang Kate and Mac (my parents-in-law) because Moo said that they had problems connecting to the Internet. This isn't _always_ their fault, but a quick call suggested that it might be something outside their capability of fixing, and as my meeting finished around 1220, I had time to go there, fix their ADSL router (which had lost some settings), have lunch, and then head home.
At home, there was a letter from ERMC. Not a positive one, and rather depressing when I was so low on sleep. I'm late on some assignments, and although I thought things were under control, they seem to have escalated rather alarmingly, and quickly. In the end, I took Miri and Buster for a walk, and settled things down. I think we're OK, in the end, and I'm going to call them tomorrow.
Last, but not least, we finally got a contract through from a customer I've been working on with a colleague today. It's a biggish one in the long term, and I'm quite proud of how we've closed it.
Labels: ERMC, family, sleep, travel, work
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
EasyJet Ministry
(backposting) Got into Helsinki 10 minutes early at 0125 local, and got to my hotel a little fater 0200. My boss was _well_ impressed to discover that I was phoning him around 2 in the morning local time! Stuff to do, and I was in a taxi with nothing else to do, so why not?Took a while to get to sleep, and up at 0840 for a breakfast with Harri, a colleague. 3 interesting meetings, and then back on a plane, taking off around 1855, arriving at 1955 local: 3 hours in the plane. I slept for about an hour, and then woke up.
Next to me was David (hi, David!), a photographer. I asked him about his book, he told me about it, and then noticed mine (Tim Gorringe's formidable Furthering Humanity: A Theology of Culture). He asked me about it, and I told him that I'm training for ordination as a priest. What followed was a fascinating discussion, which we dubbed "EasyJet Ministry", although we weren't on an EasyJet flight, and EasyJet would probably dislike the term. But it sums it up: I quite often have discussions about ministry, church and theology on these trips. You have an hour or two tops to discuss where you're coming from, and to talk about your beliefs - both of you.
David's "not a churchgoer", but he has a strong belief in a purposeful creator, and he thanks Him/Her/It pretty much every day for the beauty he sees around him and for the life he lives. He's turned off by churches ("I think 'cold, uncomfortable, unwelcoming'"), and his view of priests is as being out of touch and unlike him. We discussed where I'm coming from, and how I feel strongly that part of my ministry (alongside this kind of interaction) is to be doubting, clear, and honest about my faith to people like me. It was interesting to see how little - but how much - someone from outside the church knew about the Church of England. We discussed doctrine (including justification by faith alone, one of my favourite topics!), Hell (not literal, thanks), the authority of scripture, tradition and experience, and a variety of other topics, including architecture and music. I think that he's now more open to the church as a possibility for him, and I hope he'll be reading this blog. If so, David, please comment from your point of view!
David was very excited to hear about what we're doing in SecondLife, and alternative expressions of mission. Maybe he (and others like him) can be prevailed upon to visit the cathedral we've built, and maybe even attend a service.
Anyway - I felt that I'd been honest, and that being so had at least helped David to realise that the church can be at least a bit relevant to him and people like him (and me). I felt affirmed and strengthened in my ministry. Thanks be to God.
And a baby!
D had a baby today: Lotte. I found out via an MMS once I got off the plane. 5lb, healthy. Hallelujah!Labels: baby, ministry, theology, travel, work
Friday, June 22, 2007
Travel - lots of it
Next week, Finland (Helsinki). Week after that Canada (Mississauga, near Toronto). Week after that Germany (Munich).Then there's trips to my parents, to Cornwall, to Cornwall (again), and whatever else turns up.
Labels: travel
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Culture
Is everything homogenised? Do we walk from one airport to another, from one hotel to another, and see the same everywhere? Well, not today. I was sitting at a bus-stop in a small town in Nyköaut;ping in Sweden, waiting for a bus to the airport. There were three children - two boys and a girl from around 5 to 9 - and we had about two words in common between us. But we talked, and we swapped words, and we drew pictures to explain, and we communicated. Children love learning new things, and I do, too. They laughed, I laughed, and I was sad when my bus came.Tuesday, June 05, 2007
05/06/07
Nice date. Back from Sweden after a good meeting. Buster a pain in the night. Jo's latest?"Mummy, if you're nicer, you can ride my bike".
Labels: travel
Monday, June 04, 2007
Bredband
No, not a mis-spelling. This is how you say "broadband" in Swedish. However, it seems that my hotel misunderstood the term, and thought it was "bread-van", because that's about how fast the packets are travelling.Prayers for Dean, Mel's fiancé - after thinking that he had a bad rib, it appears that he has a collapsed lung, and will be in hospital for a week. This really isn't very nice stuff.
Friday, June 01, 2007
A smiley, chattering monster, Sweden ... and substitutionary atonement
Miri's lots and lots of fun at the moment. She'll spent half and hour or more on my knee or on my tummy, chat, chat, chatting, smiling, looking into my eyes, being lovely, and generally posseting everywhere. It's what being a dad's about, IMHO.Being a dad is less about having to go to Sweden overnight again next week, unless you count "earning an honest crush" as being part of a dad's role, which you might, I suppose. I'm going to somewhere spelt Linköping, but pronounced "Lingchirping", as close as I can gather. It is ridiculous how foreigners can't even spell their own placenames properly sometimes. I'm not usually prone to luggage-lust (unlike Catherine) but there's a piece of Samsonite luggage which I'm very keen on which I thought I'd have loads of chances to buy before I next went away. Not to be, unluckily.
"But what about substitutionary atonement?" I hear you cry. Well, Keith and I had agreed to meet to have a chat about a piece by Tom Wright in the Church Times a couple of months ago where he rather attacked Jeffry John for being too soft on the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. This is the doctrine that says that Jesus, when he died, took all of our sins on his shoulders, and took the punishment for all of mankind, thereby redeeming us. I've simplified it, and there are different shades to interpretation, but I think that pretty much sums it up. Wright felt that a broadcast by Jeffrey John downplayed significantly the importance of the doctrine, and although I don't have real problems with that view, some of the expressions of the doctrine in Wright's defense went a little too far for me. Keith and I talked over this issue - and atonement in general - in some detail, and strayed into other areas such as spiritual warfare, "Jesus-followers" (a danger, in my view, of the "Exemplar" view of atonement), and the personification of evil. It was great for both of us to do some theology, and also to ground it in our experience, and I'm glad we took the time.
To round things off, my penultimate year report came through from ERMC. This is the very important report which goes to the DDO and the bishop and either recommends that I go through to ordination, or says that I shouldn't. I'm pleased to say that it recommends that I should, and gave what I thought was a very honest view of me, my theology, my spirituality and my personality. It identified some areas that need work, but I knew about those, and was happy to sign it off.
Labels: ERMC, miriam, theology, travel
Thursday, May 17, 2007
And back... (part 1)
(backposting) After a few last goes on the water slide last night, and a fairly early night (I'm not that stupid), got up after a fair amount of sleep and we had the last part of the Sales and Marketing Bash. It was pretty good - certainly very useful, anyway. The flight was at 1455. And long, like last time. Watched Happy Feet.Labels: travel
Sunday, May 13, 2007
In Vegas
Well, just outside, in fact, at the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort. 10 and a half hour flight, next to some at times rather rowdy Mancs, but not too bad. Watched the OK The Good German, and various bits and bobs, and listened to music on my phone.The hotel's pretty nice, and there's lovely pool area with seating and drinks service, etc., which I've been taking advantage of. I'd assumed that noone else would be here yet, but there are lots of folks already, which is good. First purchases: factor 20 suncream (though I ended up using someone else's factor 30) and a "this is my lucky hat" baseball cap. The wife of one of the senior guys who's already here thought that it said "this is my funky hat", but I misheard her, thinking she said "this is my f*cky hat", so much hilarity all round.
Phoned Moo when I got in, and she's doing well, though tired. No formula - only breastmilk - for a day and a half now, which is brilliant. I'm trying to be encouraging whilst still giving her a let-out clause if she really needs it.
About to go and do some supper soon, then an early bed. I hope to stay up past 1900 local (0300 home), maybe even 2000, but I think that'll be my lot.
Labels: miriam, Moo, travel, work
Monday, March 05, 2007
Oslo
That's right. Off tonight. Then Copenhagen, then home. Busy.Thursday, February 08, 2007
Homewards bound today
I was a bit worried, given all the snow that there's been, that I might not be able to get home tomorrow (the flight leaves today, gets in tomorrow), but it appears that the thaw is already beginning, and I should be OK. Well, OK to fly, at least. But I've managed to lose my voice again, which isn't particularly useful, as I'm supposed to be the booth host, giving out prizes, talking the talk, etc. Well, we'll see if I have anything voice-wise by 1500 local.Moo's taken some lovely pictures of Jo in the snow, which I've seen, and I had a little chat about it with her (Jo) on the phone this morning. She told me that she'd made a snowman, which is cool, and then offered me cake, which was a little surreal. But nice, of course. I'm very much looking forward to seeing both of them. I'm supposed to be traveling next week, as well, but at this rate, I'm just not going to be well enough, so we'll see how it goes.
I'm aware that I've not been very theological recently, but there we are. If you want something that's likely to raise your ire - for one reason or another - you might want to look at this open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and associated petition.
Monday, February 05, 2007
RSA 2007
(backposting) I'm at RSA 2007 this week. Started yesterday evening, went well. We've got a great booth, and had lots of visitors: let's hope it continues busy for the rest of the week.In the morning, I went for a long walk around San Francisco, encompassing the areas of Mission, Castro and some of Market. Castro was very interesting: it's the gay culture centre of San Francisco. Found some good books there, and got some badges, as I'd hoped.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
If you're going to San Francisco...
... be sure to check with your boss whether he actually _did_ arrange an upgrade for you. Oh well, paid a small fee for some extra legroom, which helped, had a bit of a sleep, read, listened to some music, and watched the excellent film The Queen, in which Helen Mirren really stole the show. Rather a lot funnier than I expected, too.So, it's 0207 tomorrow (or 1807 here, depending on your view of time), so time for a freshen up, then hopefully meet some colleagues for a beer and some food.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Jo's new bed
Si and D came round today, and Si (and Morgan, a bit) and I put together Jo's new bed, the last piece of furniture for her new bedroom. We've been clean to get her into her new room as part of her "turning 2" (soon) celebrations, because we didn't want her to think that she was being turfed out of her current room by the arrival of the new baby. She slept in it for her nap this afternoon, and we made the decision to move her into it today. We went to see our friends Kirsty and Matt in their new (well, in July) house in Cambourne, and Jo had a lovely time, but we got back quite late, and she was therefore very sleepy. It meant that she went down quite quickly - we'd been concerned that she might be a bit over-excited. So, she's now in her first proper bed. She looks so _small_ in it.The midwife came to visit this morning (coincidentally, arriving just before Si and D had to head off, so we didn't get so say goodbye properly). It was Debbie, who looked after us last time: she's not been around before for any of the appointments, and it was lovely to see her again. Moo's 29 weeks today or tomorrow. And measuring 36 weeks. She was measuring 34 weeks this time last pregnancy, and second babies do measure bigger, apparently, but still...
Labels: baby, friends, Jo, travel
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Coughing so hard...
... that I threw up. Nice, huh? Coughed a lot overnight, and woke up at 0600 coughing more and more. Had breakfast OK, and was about to head back to the customer's, when I started coughing big time. Made it to the bathroom in the hotel, and, well, threw up part of breakfast.Rather than going into the customer, I drove home instead, and had a sleep for nearly an hour. Part sleep, part dreaming, part hallucination. You know the sort of thing. Felt better afterwards, and did a lot of work, but took it easy.
Jo's been coughing madly for about half an hour. She's kind of asleep, but I'm not sure it's going to last. I'm going to try to take her in with me tonight, in an attempt to allow Moo some sleep.
Labels: illness, sleep, travel
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