The curious adventures of a Scotsman in California

No Tucson . . . .

2009-11-17T14:26:00.001-08:00

Not going to Tucson this year to improve on my 4:59:55 from last year. Knackered back, broken shifter on my bike and a flu just waiting to break have culminated in my decision to take a year off and concentrate on riding through the winter months and get my base going early to blow out 4:40 or better in 2010, the tenth anniversary of my first ride in Tucson. Maw and Paw arrive soon for their two month winter stay in SoCal - it will be great to see them again over here as it's been a couple of years since their last visit. Still running the Miata, and have another in the garage with the engine and gearbox out on the floor waiting for rebuilds. Lots to do!

TOC and other things

2009-02-27T04:51:00.000-08:00

Well the Tour of California finish was a-maz-ing. More people than I've ever seen in Escondido. Saw the race in two locations (or Bear Valley Parkway and the last corner) and somehow managed to get a spot almost dead in front of the podium for all the jersey presentations. My camera unfortunately had some power issues (charger hadn't been working - didn't know til too late; only brought one camera) so the pics I got on my phones were pretty lame. No pics to post :-(
Managed to do a front-end rebuild on the Miata over two evenings to fix a leak at the water pump (Miatas may be small and fun to drive, but the engine bay is small and no fun to work in!) and joined the San Diego Miata Club. Planning to join them for a drive to Borrego Springs this weekend - good chance to shakedown the car and figure out how to tweak the suspension set up as it's not handling right just now. Which reminds me - I need to go check tyre pressures adn such before I go to work.

This is getting ridiculous

2009-02-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

So I yet again manage to not update this for ages . . . . and so much has happened lately! Left one job, started another, re-engaged a client and found at least one new client . . . and maybe that's why I haven't been on my bike in forever and as a result I'm turning in to a lard-ass.
Time to change. Going to watch the final stage of Tour of California tomorrow and hopefully find some fun gear to get me excited about riding again. I'm looking forward to getting my one-off custom bike kit from Sugoi (thanks to my wonderful Helen!) which will also no doubt inspire me to get out there and show it off . . . pics will be forthcoming :-)

Tis the season to be jolly . .. . .

2008-12-15T22:49:00.000-08:00

.. . . although it's not the jolliest of seasons right now :-( Weather wet, Economy Slow, time short, weight high!

Platinum, Baby!

2008-11-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

4:59:55 for 109 Miles at El Tour de Tucson!

I made the cut for platinum by 5 seconds - next year I'm training to hit 4:45 . .

6 months and I'm still alive . . . .

2008-10-03T14:35:00.001-07:00

Life got in the way big time since my last entry - quit a job, got another one, went to Scotland, came back . . . .
More of that later. Suffice to say life is calming down (if you can count 50 hr weeks at work and ~10-12 hrs a week riding a bike calm :-)

April Fools . . . .

2008-04-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

So I posted a link to an (obviously) satirical piece about the Floyd Landis case to my cycling buddies today, and I got called out as being cruel for doing it. Link
I guess Americans don't get satire, sarcasm or wit. If April 1st is a day for pranks and jokes, then surely something like this (especially to cyclists) would be at least a little funny. It's been years since I've done anything on 4/1 (or 4/1) but this year I thought I'd found something that would be appreciated by many. Maybe us Brits just have a better sense of humour . . . . . .

Bro's come and gone.

2008-03-31T16:24:00.000-07:00

So I managed to completely fail to post while Laurence was over for an all-too-short visit. 6 1/2 days and 6 nights of catching up, drinking, darts, theme parks, drinking, bus tours, drinking, observatories and museums (?), drinking and eating meant I've not really had much time to sit still. We had a blast when he was here, and hopefully he'll get Pam over sometime soon so they can both enjoy the weather, scenery and beer and wine . . . .

Summer's here and the time is right . . . .

2008-03-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

. . . for dancing in the street! It's Paddy's day today and the weather is -ahem- BRILLIANT! I had to throw in the Guinness quote - I love those ads . . .
Anyway, we took a trip to Small Claims Court today to try and get money back for the costs incurred after Corrie got attacked by a (large) Airedale Terrier last year. We've been trying to get the owner to stump up the ~$2k we spent on two surgeries, another day a the vet, and sundry costs for painkiller and antibiotic injections and we've been getting nowhere. We turned up this morning and Helen was urged to try mediation (waste of over an hour!) and by the time the case came in front of the judge he only had about 10 minutes to preside over ours and another case. Needless to say the first chance he got he cut it short and asked for some more paperwork - he wanted ours and the owner's Vets to talk and agree that the costs were incurred as a result of the attack. The other owner has been claiming sub-standard care by our Vet and we obviously don't agree. I reckon the judge has already determined that she is liable for the cost and now he's trying to get the Vets to agree on the costs so he can award to us. We're back there tomorrow afternoon to (hopefully) wrap it up - watch this space!

50 miles (again!)

2008-03-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

Managed to squeeze in yet another 50 miler this weekend - I have to get out more during the week though to catch up on the lost weeks when I was traveling and sick. I'm up to 250 for the year but should be at ~500! Gotta go - the road is calling .. . .

FaceBerry

2008-03-06T11:58:00.001-08:00

I've added Facebook to my BlackBerry. All I need now is Linked In and Twitter and I'm all set - I'll never need my laptop again!

Clocks going forward this weekend

2008-03-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

I just got a reminder that the good old US of A is sticking to the "let's move to summer time before everybody else" idea they had least year, so our clocks will go forward this coming Saturday night/Sunday morning. That means as of next week I should be hammering round Fiesta Island every Tuesday night (that I'm in town) with my friends as I start my training for ETT in November. An eight month training schedule may sound crazy, but I need to lose 20 lbs and get way faster going uphill if I'm going to hang with the big boys and finish the 109 miles in under 5 hrs . . . . . wish me luck!

Santa Ana, baby!

2008-03-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

Well it's going to be a hot one here today. Santa Ana time again . . .
But I still have to sit inside and work, gazing at the cloudless sky and bright sunny day. Ah, life in southern California :)

The weekend starts here!

2008-02-29T12:01:00.001-08:00

. . .after I'm done talking to people on the phone all day. Calls should wrap @ 1 pm today so I can finish early and enjoy the traffic in San Diego with my lovely wife. Tomorrow sees us hitting the road on two wheels (each) for a ~50 miler as we continue our journey towards 2500 miles plus this year on our bikes. As long as the weather holds - I get a but whiny when it drops below 55F . . . .

Planning time off

2008-02-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

In the world that is Alan, the prospect of taking time off to relax and do non-work things has fallen by the wayside in recent months. With the end of my employer's financial year coming up in 32 days, my time will be concentrating on closing up the year with some good deals. Once the mayhem is over however I'll be ready to run away for a few days and avoid all contact with work. I've never really been able to do that in a long time so it might be a little challenging.
My brother is coming to visit in a few weeks so that will help set the mood for April and beyond. He hasn't visited since we moved here in '98 although I've seen him in the UK a few times since then. It'll be cool to have him around albeit for 6 days - I need to get in drinking shape for that . . . . .

New Year Resolution . . . .

2008-02-27T15:26:00.001-08:00

. . . was to spend more time on this site. Didn't get very far, did I? Well I've decided that fromnow on I'm going to spend 15 minutes a day updating various sites that I use for networking, blogging and keeping in touch with old friends.
Life in SoCal is pretty good right now - I've been home every night for close to a month now which is a complete turnaround from January. At one point I was in Carlsbad for about 36 hours in 18 days! Maybe that's why the resolution never got going . . . . Work is fun, the hours are not. I've been covering the whole US for a few months now and the 5 am starts and 8 pm finishes are catching up on me a bit. I can't complain - it will get better in April after we get past the end of our year.
The dogs are fine these days - I haven't posted in so long that I just realized I hadn't mentioned previously that Coire got attacked in November when I was out of town and we ran up pretty hefty Vets bills getting him fixed up again. We have spoken to the owner of the dog that attacked him and she's backing off compensating us so we're taking her to court. Our date is March 17 so keep your fingers crossed for us!
Helen and I are back out on our bikes again after a forced layoff due to my travel and subsequent 4 day bout of Flu. My plan is to average at least one 50 mile ride each week with a view to getting at least 300 miles per month. So far I'm behind the ball for the annual target of ~3500 miles, but when the days get longer I'm sure I'll be out riding a lot more.

blackberry rock

2007-09-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

I love this. I'm sitting in a bar in Hermosa Beach and posting with a blackberry. Maybe I'm a geek but the fact I can do this is cool to me. Beats having to use Outlook for email :-) And living in SoCal is cool too!

RANT

2007-09-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

OMG how much do I hate Outlook. I have been a Lotus Notes and Thunderbird user for a long time now but my job requires me to use M$ Outlook. What a piece of junk! I've been sitting on the other side of the fence for so long I expected to see a completely intuitive, user friendly, business class email client but all I get is a gazillion menus and items scattered all over the place. Maybe it's just because I have been using two different clients for so long that I am missing the whole "Outlook is fabulous" mentality, but WTF? M$ bigots are always going on about usability standards and ragging on IBM/Lotus for their use of F5 to activate a security feature and F9 to refresh screens (M$ products use F5 to refresh) but Outlook has keyboard shortcuts that make *no* sense whatsoever, and contradict their holier than thou stance on standards.
Show me the M$ product that does *not* use Ctrl-F to initiate a search. Outlook! To start a search you have to use Ctrl-E, which everybody uses to Edit. And Ctrl-F? Creates a new message! Ctrl-M (most commonly used to create a new message in email clients) performs a send/receive.
And don't get me started on the freaking calendar. It's a POS. 3 or 4 clicks to get to the point where I can view other people's calendars and then the default view settings mean that you have to request that the user opens up their calendar just to see if they're busy or not!
Jeez. This thing is driving me nuts. I guess I need to stop thinking like a normal person and start drinking the Kool-Aid.
/RANT

Managed to sneak in under 6 months . ..

2007-09-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

I hadn't realized how long it has been . . . . but have I got a lot to talk about!
Since the last post much has happened - some good, some not so good. First off, I got a job and am now working for a major software company in the IT Management space. The self employed thing was fun but the security of a regular paycheck was a very nice option and I can still do some work on the side as it doesn't really compete with what I do for my new company (more on that in a subsequent post .. .) Still riding - now training for El Tour De Tucson in November - and on a diet to get me down to a decent weight to race next year. Might even buy a track bike again.
Unfortunately a close family member has been suffering from Leukemia for some years and has recently been diagnosed with Aesophogeal (sp?) Cancer. He is to undergo surgery next week in Scotland so Helen is going back to see him after the op and I might be able to make a short trip myself (my new boss is very cool with the situation but there is some product training I need to get that happens the week after the surgery).

Back woes

2007-03-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

So I threw my back out after I got home from the 'Fear. Not the best start to the new business year for me, as it has resulted in much pain and not a lot of work. Got a diagnosis of bulging discs in the lower lumbar region, and some arthritic sign in the lumbar/sacral region. I guess I'm getting old! I've decided to learn the Alexander Technique to tackle the many issues I have with my back and the resulting impact on my health and fitness. I went to my first session yesterday and I'm looking forward to another one next week. It's too early to tell for sure, but I am feeling a little different already. My only concern was a hip problem I got after spin class last night - we'll see how things go on Thursday before I start to worry!

I am unique! !! ! !!! !

2007-02-07T14:14:00.000-08:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There is:
1
person with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Live from Lotusphere . . .

2007-01-24T08:12:00.000-08:00

I've been sitting in sessions here watching other folks tapping away on their laptops so I figured I'll join them. I'm waiting for the start of AD301 - How to use Calendar and Scheduling in your Applications, having just listened to Ed Brill & Julian Robichaux talk about Selling Notes inside your organization. LS2007 has been a revelation for me, and I am determined to attend for as long as I work in the arena. Having missed 5 straight (thanks to employers not fulfilling promises, and being too busy!) I realize that there is far too much information that I miss by not attending.
Anyway back to the point of this entry. I'm going to use this as a technical blog for the time being until I get a new site setup to support it (at which point it will resume its former life as a conduit to get info to my friends & family) so I apologize for those of you who check in to see how our life is in San Diego (we're doing great by the way).

New Year Resolution #1 . . . . .

2007-01-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

. . . . is to actually update this thing more than once a month (did I even average that last year?). So here goes. We start the year by getting our new TV and Surround Sound system installed in the Family Room as it's too frickin cold to go outside! WTH is up with freezing temperatures in San Diego for crying out loud? Anyway we're on our way to having the whole setup completed in time for the SuperBowl (now that the Chargers are out of the postseason, I'll have to root for DB in N'Awlins).
I'm heading off to Orlando at the weekend to attend Lotusphere for the first time in 6 years . . . and I get to catch up with some old friends.
Helen is still going strong in Real Estate, with a promising start to the year. It's a strange market (prices are running up and down at the same time and people are buying and not buying .. . )
I'll update from the East Coast over the weekend . . .

What the H . . . happened?

2006-10-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

OMG it's been waaaay too long since I last posted. What with work, another TNT program, and the wonderful weather I've not had time to sit and ponder the vaguaries of life . . .
Still enjoying it here, riding our bikes and walking the dogs. Work has been crazy lately, but it looks like I'll be settling in for a relatively relaxed holiday season, with just some part time stuff going on at a couple of clients. Helen's been real busy with listings and stuff, but the real estate market has certainly taken a turn.
I've bitten the bullet and registered to attend Lotusphere (on my own dime) for the first time in 6 years. Can't wait!

Old Fart . . . .

2006-07-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

So I turned 40 last week, and we had a party on Saturday. Fun! Merciless teasing from friends, but much Single Malt was received, so I did OK in the end :-) Back to reality now and life isn't much different.

Hot, hot, hot

2006-07-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

I know I shouldn't complain, but it is getting too hot for comfort around here now. We've been hitting the high 80s and the normal onshore breeze has been sadly absent - most of the time it's blowing up from Mexico so it's not even that cool. I got all the electrical work done over the weekend so we now have a ceiling fan in the family room. Hopefully that'll help reduce the bill as we'll not be running the AC as much. And the tub is just at the right temperature (I reckon it's been less expensive to run as the ambient temperature is higher).
Planning (hah!) has started for my 40th birthday party on Saturday - I just sent out an evite to about 50 of our friends today so we'll just have to see how busy peeps are and if they can make the party of the year!

Hello? Anybody there?

2006-07-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

I'm probably typing this for my own benefit . . . . . . back from a trip to Scotland to see family, and now I'm back home in the heat getting ready for another bike program. I've been busy(ish) getting yard work out of the way before my Saturdays are taken up with riding for the team again. Two new trees planted at the weekend, and I've made my first of two visits to the chiropractor as a result :-( We're getting a new ceiling fan in the family room on Saturday so we don't have to run the AC as often (I'm dreading the electricity bill) and we might even get the final permit for the Hot Tub.
Back to work, and loving it. I almost typed that with a straight face!

What kind of Drunk are you?

2006-02-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

Our yard is (almost) complete!

2005-11-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

The landscaper has preety much finished the yard now - our grass gets laid tomorrow and the BBQ and hot tub should be delivered by the end of next week! Yay! I'll post pics when everything is done.

More pics . . ..

2005-10-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

More to come tomorrow . .. .

Landscaping . . .

2005-10-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

So there's always something going on when I'm not at home. We now have a four foot deep, 11 x 11 hole in the side yard to accommodate our ground level hot-tub extravaganza. This is a major engineering exercise and I had to come up with the primary design for the walls and support structure for the decking that will cover the tub when it's not being used. Got me thinking about getting into the business ;-) Then again, may be not . . . .
Pics will be posted tonight when I get home from work.

Pics!

2005-10-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

As requested, here's some pics of the yard transition . . . . . more pics will be posted as and when available!

OMG

2005-10-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

It's been toooooo long since I posted. So much happening and not enough time to deal with it all. . . .. We've got our back yard in "transition" from grass and a couple of trees to a party haven complete with firepit, BBQ, waterfall and hot-tub. We should be finished by early November so we'll be all set for the rainy season :-) I'm working at a site in Irvine right now so I have a 100 mile round trip commute 3 days a week which, in southern CA, can make for a long day but at least I'm working and staying out of trouble.
I've resolved to start a daily posting schedule for this blog, and it's likely to be a mix of personal and technical postings with a tilt towards family communication. Maybe I'll start another site that I don't update either . . . .

Hoots, man!

2005-08-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

Getting close to the second annual trip to Pleasanton for the Jockfest at the Caledonin Club's Highland Games. We're heading up to the east bay next weekend to hang out and watch men in kilts play bagpipes, throw big lumps of metal, and look like they just walked off the set of Braveheart. Should be fun! They have the biggest Mass Pipes and Drums this side of the Atlantic (or so they say) with about 800 people playing together. It's a great way to close the event. I've got my kilt out and ready to go, complete with a family tartan t-shirt I pikced up the Highland Games in Vista a short while back so everyone will know who I am :-)

Time for an update

2005-08-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

So I've been remiss in posting lately (it looks like I've averaged about one post a month for the past 6 or so . . .) but I have been busy! Honest!
Work has picked up and I am almost enjoying the hour long commute each way to a client site in Irvine. We incorporated last month as a tax strategy as we are now both self employed and it is showing savings already although there has been considerable stress involved in getting everything set up. But we're getting there.
A couple of our friends have bought new road bikes so we can go riding together, and it looks like they may both be joining us for the TNT Solvang program - this could turn out to be the funnest program, like, ever! The rides are short and relatively slow, but it's early days yet :-)

This is getting to be a habit

2005-07-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

So I just realised that I haven't posted in 6 weeks. Shame. I'm thinking of starting a new technology based blog (work related) and this one I'll keep for family and friends.
We had some visitors this past week (Billy, Helen and Nicole Paterson from Avonbridge) and we enjoyed their company immensely. Helen has sold a couple fo properties lately, so her work is picking up, and I just landed a contract for some work up in Irvine that will keep me busy for a couple of months at least.
Helen got a new road bike this month so we are starting to go out riding together again (after a break of a couple of years!) and we are planning to 'do' the Solvang program for TNT. Wait for the letters from Helen asking for contributions :-) Since I'll be coaching only Helen will be looking for money . . . . .
That's a quick update - I'll fill in more later.

Time Flies . . . . .

2005-06-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Bouncing around reading blogs elsewhere and realized I hadn't posted in forever. Since I last posted I've been for an MRI on my neck and given the all clear for my cycling endeavors (which is just as well - I participated in "America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride" a couple of weekends ago). It was a tortuous ride around Lake Tahoe thanks in no small part to low temperatures (under 50 Fahrenheit for most of the day) and howling winds with gusts up to 60 mph. My team (San Diego Chapter of Team in Training) completed with no major problems other than one of us hitting the ground hard less than a mile from the start line.
Now that the TNT season has passed, I'm going to spend more time focusing on expanding contracts for my company. Things are looking bright, and I'm sure the summer months will see me travelling on engagements for IBM again. I'm (almost) committed to coaching the TNT team for the Solvang Century next year so I can't let my bike sit and gather dust in the intervening months - I want to hit the road for at least 100-150 miles a week.
I went to my friend Kirk Spindleman's memorial service yesterday. Kirk was a fit 55 year old bike racer who had battled against stomach cancer over the past couple of years and had been working until very recently. He was in hospital when my team left for the Tahoe trip, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor the same day. Two days later, on the day of our ride around the lake, Kirk died. During the service I found out what a conderful person I suspected he was, and this has had a profound effect on me. My involvement in TNT and its fight against Blood Cancers will be unwavering over coming years and I expect to broaden my involvement in similar causes related to cancer. Rest In Peace, Kirk - we miss you.

Where have I been?

2005-05-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

Crikey. Almost went a whole month withouth posting. Just been having too much fun!
Got back on my bike again after the travelling, and have been packing in the miles in preparation for the bike ride in Tahoe next month. I even managed to put more miles on my bicycle over the past two weeks than I did in my truck . . . .358 miles in 11 days :-)
Work is rather slow at the moment but that's more to do with my lack of enthusiasm as opposed to there being no jobs for me. Gives me time to catch up on book keeping and such. At least Helen's work is picking up again after a dry spell after moving house and having family here for a while.
Went back to the doctor to get a check up on my neck after I started experiencing symptoms similar to those before my surgery last year. Got an MRI and it checked out Ok. I guess I have to live with the condition now, and understand how to use pain management to my benefit.

How Well Travelled are you?

2005-04-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Extremely Well Traveled in the Western United States (84%)

You Are Very Well Traveled in Western Europe (71%)

You Are Very Well Traveled in the United Kingdom (63%)

You Are Well Traveled in the Northeastern United States (57%)

You Are Well Traveled in the Midwestern United States (50%)

You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Canada (40%)

You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Southern United States (31%)

You Are Mostly Untraveled in Eastern Europe (20%)

You Are Mostly Untraveled in Latin America (13%)

You Are Untraveled in Africa (0%)

You Are Untraveled in Asia (0%)

You Are Untraveled in Australia (0%)

You Are Untraveled in New Zealand (0%)

You Are Untraveled in Scandinavia (0%)

You Are Untraveled in Southern Europe (0%)

You Are Untraveled in the Middle East (0%)

How Well Traveled Are You?

Viva Las Vegas!

2005-04-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

Sitting in the airport in Las Vegas after a trip with Robert to see the city (and for me to get some work done). We ate well, spoke with a buddy of mine at Cheesburger in Paradise, and watched people in and around the strip. Really interesting stuff.
So work continues to go well - I may be extending the work I'm doing out here in LV, and another client needs more assistance on an almost weekly basis :-) Helen's family are almost all here - 10 in all, and only 5 short of the whle gang. It's been really cool to have everyone over to see where we live, and also to see them all anyway. All we'd like now is for my siblings to make the trip ;-)
I upgraded my laptop to support a full-blown collaboration server installation so I can demo/train with it as an option to get more business. We'll see how it goes once I finally get it installed which should be next week sometime. Time to shut this sucker down and go eat. L8R!

Blackberry Blues

2005-03-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

I've been thru the mill with my BB in Columbus,GA during a business trip but it's all good now :-)
Sitting in Atlanta airport waiting to head home for a 36 hour visit for the second straight weekend. But my BB is working fine now - I'm using it to post this entry whilst trying not to spill hot sauce from my wings on it. . .
I've gone from Blackberry Blues to Crackberry Rocks!

RIP Tommy V

2005-03-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

Rock On, Tommy . . . .

Back to normal?

2005-03-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

So my folks headed home on Satruday and now things are settling back into the old routine, if the old routine means me on the road all the time ;-)
I've now been confirmed for a contract in Georgia to do some work for IBM at a client site and that will probably mean 12 days away, and I'm still doing stuff with my clients in Las Vegas each week.
I'm also trying to squeeze in a Real Estate qualification so I can maintain my license for another few years. Maybe once I get past this one I'll actually get around to selling houses as well. Every little bit counts!

Wow!

2005-02-21T23:28:00.000-08:00

So I'm two weeks into my new foray and it's been very interesting. I have a few contracts lined up and I'm close to having a web presence up and running. At the OCLUG meeting last week Dave mentioned the new LotusUserGroup.org initiative so I signed up and notified the team that I'd be interested in moderating a forum for a week. So I might be a new name in the Notes/Domino community this year!
Things have been moving so fast in the past couple of weeks and on top of everything my folks have been here on vacation. Helen has been amazing considering I've been out of town for six days (so far) and I've still got another six days out before they leave. I owe her big ;-)

Time for a change

2005-01-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

So I quit my job today. I missed the whole "be your own boss" thing from my contracting days in Scotland and things fell into place for me to sub at IBM, so . . . . I'm a sole proprietor consulting company now! I've got some other stuff lining up that will keep me busy until at least the end of the year.
I guess it's time to get geeky again to show the world that I really do know Notes and Domino, but I might just do it on my new website ;-)
Since my company was only formed on Monday I don't have a web presence set up so I won't post a link here until it's up and running. Enough for now. Time to go eat.

Officially a Nerd!

2005-01-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

We're In . . . .

2005-01-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

. . . the new abode. Now I remember why I don't like moving so much :-) We have stuff all over the place, the bedroom closet is in disarray (somewhat self-inflicted . . I am cedar lining it and installing a custom closet), our offices are a little disorganized and the dogs are not quite settled yet. But you can't have eveyrthing, right?
Oh well, back to the old grindstone. My folks are heading over for a month long visit next month - I can't wait!

Happy New Year!!

2005-01-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

2005 is going to be great, I'm sure of it. We move into our new house next week, Helen is starting the year with 2 deals in the first couple of weeks and my job gets better all the time.
It's too freaking early for me to be typing this, considering I got home 5 1/2 hours ago but I wanted to post an entry today and I didn't want to turn my lapotop on later on. So since I got up early I figured I'd get it over and done with.
Happy New Year!

The power of Positive Thinking . . .

2004-12-21T20:59:00.000-08:00

Wow! Just a few days ago I was writing about how we were due to close on our new house and nothing was doing on our own and now, 6 days later, our house has been in escrow one whole day. Friday brought two offers to the table and a bidding war :-) Full price, 28 day escrow and a backup if we need one! Yay!
Work is good - I'm busy at various clients and keeping out of trouble ;-) Helen has a few deals going on so we're both making money. Always a good way to end a year!
Anyway, Happy Holidays to all who read this - here's to you and yours for a great new year . . . . .

iPod . . . .

2004-12-15T21:41:00.000-08:00

Back from Hawaii after a much needed rest. Spent the last three days at the View Admin Bootcamp for Notes/Domino admins. Very interesting, but my head hurts. A lot of info crammed into the time so I'm sure some of it spilled out along the way ;-)
I won an iPod Mini at the conference. Cool little toy - it's full of music already (I have around 4Gb of tunes on my laptop so I transferred them over). I doubt I would have ever bought one myself, but now I have it I'm sure I will use it a lot.
Friday sees the completion of the purchase of our new house. Still no offers on our one yet but it will happen soon. Positive thoughts bring positive results . . . . . .

It's coooold!

2004-11-29T09:58:00.000-08:00

Okay. It's not that cold. But it's colder than normal out here. We've got the heating on and I'm still in a big sweater and wearing sheepskin lined slippers.
We're going ahead with the purchase of the new house even though we haven't sold ours yet. Bit of a gamble, but we don't want to pass up the opportunity. So we might have a couple of mortgages running for a while . . .
We're off to Hawaii on Saturday for our annual break, but the timing couldn't be much worse. When we get back, I'll have about 5 hours in the house before I leave for a week long trip to New York and the day I get back is the day we're supposed to close escrow on the new house.
I'm going to be coaching for Team in Training next year - I finally get to "give back" to the program after a two year break. I will be head coach for the "America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride" program culminating in a fabulous ride around Lake Tahoe in early June. I'd better get out and ride more - I have some weight to lose, and I need to get fit!

Back to Life . . . .

2004-11-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

So things are back to normal. We've not sold our house yet, but no matter. If we stay, we're going to get a hot tub in the yard, and a bar/games area in our gallery upstairs. If we go, we have a lot to do in a short space of time - I'll be out of town for two and a half weeks between now and Christmas so if we do sell it'll be a busy time when I'm here.
Got another phone last week - a great deal on ebay - so I have a usable combined phone/pda. I got it to use for work, so my V525 is for personal use. As a result of the Cingular/AT&T merger (or takeover) I will be able to combine my accounts (I have one phone on each network) and drop my expenses a little. At least that's the plan. I've seen the latest Blackberry 7000 series that T-Mobile are selling and I may have to switch . . . . .

The election is over!

2004-11-04T15:32:00.000-08:00

Great! Now we can get back to regular ads on the TV. I'm amazed GWB got re-elected but then again I was amazed when he won in 2000 . . . . .
Enough of that.

Which File Extension are You?

Thanks Franko

John Peel R.I.P

2004-10-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

I just found out that John Peel died. One of the most innovative radio DJs the world has seen, Peely brought so mutch great music to the world through is shows on Radio One in the UK. I grew up listening to him late at night and heard many bands that would go on to be major stars. I just started to listen to his show again a few weeks ago after I listening to streaming audio of his show over the web. Bummer. Just when I was getting to hear cutting edge music again after 6 years of bouncing around FM and AM radio here to find the same old cr@p on them all. Hopefully there will be someone else that will step into his shoes and keep up the tradition of bringing unsigned bands to the airwaves to get some recognition. A&R guys are not always the best judges of music talent and if it were not for John Peel, we may never have heard the Clash, Souxsie & the Banshees, the Smiths and the other bands he launched through his show.
R.I.P. John - we'll miss you!

Where have I been?

2004-10-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

Far too long since I last posted. Got back from NY and just buried in work and trying to sell our house.
I've been too busy to ride my bike, too busy to play golf, but not too busy to hang out with friends and have a beer. End result - not losing weight any more. So as of later today, I am back on my bike, golfing and spending less time drinking cold ones.
Caught up with an old friend today - Terri - who I worked with in my days at Candle. She downloaded some software from RPR's website so I called her up to see how things were. It's cool to re-visit with someone you haven't see in ages (last time I saw her was Lotusphere '01) and find out that life is good for other people too.
Ah well . . . time to go dig out some lycra and head for the coast for an hour on my bike.
I promise my next posting will be a lot more interesting :-)

Back Home. . . .

2004-09-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

Sitting on the plane flying back to San Diego after a somewhat succesful trip to NJ/NY. The most significant event of the week was during our visit to a client which meant we travelled to the WTC site via PATH train for Jersey City. The station is in the center of Ground Zero. It is a really disarming feeling sitting in a train coming out of a tunnel and circling around the perimeter of what is left of the WTC. We rolled up to the platform and then I realized I was right there. As I climbed the stairs up to street level my thoughts could not deviate from the television pictures I witnessed a little over three years ago.
What really amazed me was how the area had managed to deal with the situation - most of the surrounding area had returned to normal business even though there was still considerable damage to some of the buildings in the area. Some of the poeple I spoke to this week were either in adjacent buildings or on trains as little as one stop away from the location. Wow. Having been there, I can't even begin to imagine how it must have been for those in the area at the time. The fact that buildings on the perimeter suffered minimal if not no damage at all is just unbelievable. I thought that it would have a similar effect on me that visitng Belsen did in 80s but because of the activity all around the WTC site, it felt less surreal and I felt more connected to it.
I will remember.

Joyzee!

2004-09-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

I'm in New Jersey. Jersey City, NJ. Over on a trip to visit a couple of companies in the Financial District in Manhattan, so I'll probably see Ground Zero. I'm apprehensive about it, and I'm not sure why . . . .
So in the past two weeks since my last post, Helen and I have put our house up for sale and had an offer accepted on another that's less than 1/2 mile from the ocean. We're not getting our hopes up just now - the real estate market has slowed considerably lately so we may not be able to get things done. But it may happen!
In the mean time, if you know anyone who's looking for a 5 bed, 3 bath, 3-car garage house in Carlsbad . . :-)

Scots Wha Hae

2004-09-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

Pleasanton was a blast. It was great to see over 800 pipers and drummers play in (almost) unison and also to hear over 30 fiddlers playing together. We saw Walfstone, probably the most successful Scottish folk rock group and other bands like Mollys Revenge and Tempest. We wandered around the Gathering of the Clans, and found that Helen is a member of Clan Lindsay (even though they didn't know how to pronounce her maiden name or where it originated). I, on the other hand, am clanless as far as I can see. I'm not going to lose sleep over it :-) No pictures to post however - I took about 35 minutes of video footage though so we do have some memories recorded.
Back to the grindstone this week as I continue to ramp up my knowledge of the toolset I work with/sell and I'm also in the midst of moving my office from one room to another in tha house (back to my old haunt above the garage).
Started reading a book by the Dalai Lama about self enlightenment. We'll see how that goes and I'll update if my mindset changes.

Hoots, man!

2004-09-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Pleasanton tomorrow with Helen to attend the Highland Games up there. IT'll be grrreat!
What's really interesting for me is that the group that organizes the games has a membership of which 50% were born in Scotland. Compared to the North County Scots, of which Helen and I are approximately 50% of the Scottish born, the numbers are high. I'm looking forward to being surrounded by real Scottish accents again - one of the things I miss from 'back home'. It will be fun to watch the piping competitions and the pipe band championships, which will include a couple of bands from Scotland.
I'll hopefully be able to post pictures here or somewhere I can link to so you can see what fun we'll be having :-)
Och aye the noo!

DNSBL and other geekish things

2004-08-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

So I decided to send an email to Notes/Domino Spam guru Chris Linfoot because of some stuff I've been seeing whereby DNSBL sites are being denied to users because of ISP policy to reduced overhead on DNS servers. Sounds like BS to me.
I have customers who use a tool that sends DNS requests to some blacklisting sites like spamhaus and spamcop. And for whatever reason, the connections are at best inconsistent and at worst non-existent. I have read that AT&T have a policy for their business network/hosting users that they will be denied access to the DNSBL sites unless the clients specifically request an exception, with the excuse being that their DNS servers are being overloaded. Well maybe they are, but wouldn't it be nice if they would step up to the plate and, I don't know, host a local version of the zone file published by the likes of spamhaus or spamcop so that they would be helping their clients control SPAM instead of causing them more hassle?
I'm not surprised that spamhaus set up shop in the UK, with the legal protection that it provides in terms of defence costs. If they were in the US, the spammers may well have shut them down by file suits against them constantly. Interestingly enough, they have failed in most cases in the US anyway.
I'll post an update/link to Chris' site if and when he responds :-)

Ooops!

2004-08-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

Got kind of busy with work and all - forgot to keep up the entries. I found a cool article about the history of Lotus Notes and thought it might be of interest to anyone in the field - link.
Got to get back to work just now, but I will be updating over the weekend as Helen and I travle to Pleasanton to go to the biggest Highland Games this side of the Mississippi!

I feel like a new man . . . .

2004-08-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

Figured I'd go out for a ride on Saturday and see how I felt. Plan was to Carlsbad Starbucks and back. Only I went to a different Starbucks. Del Mar! So after rides of 12 and 16 miles I stepped up to 35. The new bike feels great and I'm sooooo happy I'm riding again. All I need to do now is find the time to ride more often. I hope to be able to do over 100 miles per week by the end of the month, with at least 50 milers each month. Maybe I'll be ready to ride Tucson this year - I have an invite to ride with some friends if I feel up to it.
Spoke to a guy at the bike store about tandems and Helen and I may be venturing into the market for one very soon. I reckon it's the best way for us to go riding because when we ride our own bikes, I end up doing way more miles than her and it's not really much fun. We rode a friend's tandem last year and really enjoyed it so you never know . . . .

How Jedi are you?

2004-08-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

:: how jedi are you? ::

It's been a while . . . . .

2004-08-12T10:48:00.000-07:00

So I had a trip to AZ last week. Got food poisoning. Not good. Still recovering a week later. . . . .
I've been messing around with my V525 and managed to lock it :-( I've been reloading firmware and software on it to get a build I like, and I managed to pick one that had a proprietary lock code on it. $20 and I'll be all set.
Bought a new bicycle this week - a Specialized Roubaix Pro. Awesome bike. After the surgery in January, I resolved that I'd get a new bike when I started riding again, and I started last week. The local bike store Supergo were running a sale on Specialized bikes to move the '04 models, and the one I'd been reading up on was available. After a short consultation with Helen, I test rode and bought it. I took it out yesterday for a short ride (I'm still not very fit) and was amazed at how comfortable it was, without being "dead" like older carbon frames. And my neighor Sean came over asking me for some advice about buying a bike for triathlon use . . . .so I'm going to rebuild my old one for him to test/buy. Win, Win!

Did you see me?

2004-08-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

Had a blast doing the volunteering for the golf event today. I even got on TV, albeit very briefly . . . . walked behind Andy North as he interviewed the CEO of Lincoln Financial on the 16th green. But that wasn't the aim of the exercise. I'm getting to play the course sometime over the next couple of months. Mind you, I'm not really in good enough shape to play it. It's loooong and tight and the greens are like glass. But there's no other way I could have played there and it is very exclusive!
Off to Phoenix tomorrow - more heat and humidity :-(

Back in the saddle again . . .

2004-08-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Caught up with some old friends at the Coffee House yesterday . . . . my buddies from my TNT days. Got me fired up, and I went out for a ride in the afternoon. I only rode for about an hour, but it felt good . . . . apart from the neck pain. My neck is obviously still weak from the rehab after surgery, so I'm going to have to spend a lot of time in the saddle strengthening it. At least I got some miles in on my Polar. I have yet to hook it up to my PC to get the ride info downloaded, and I've lost the heart strap :-( It'll trun up though I'm sure.
Getting ready to go to the Bridges in Rancho Santa Fe this afterooon, to volunteer for The Battle at The Bridges. A great made for TV event that means I get to play one of the most exclusive courses in America as part of my compensation for volunteering.
And I get to see these guys up close. I wonder if anyone will see me on TV?

2004-07-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

Which OS are You?

I hate M$!

Geek stuff

2004-07-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

I didn't really know what kind of stuff would end up in this blog. I was reckoning it would be a good way for my relatives and friends around the world to stop by and find out what was going on in my life. And then I started reading some of my friends' blogs. I'm going to start posting geek stuff and other non-personal things in here. Just so I can claim to be a genuine blogger. We'll see how long that lasts :-)
Anyhoo, I've been working as a Notes/Domino Admin consultant for over ten years now and on two continents. It got me a job in the states, and I can't complain about that. But every now and again, some bunch of M$ ass-kissers publish "independent" studies comparing Exchange and Notes/Domino. Just goes to show how much they know about the products when they compare an email platform with a full-blown messaging and collaboration platform. A company called Radicati published such an analysis claiming various things that have enraged the Notes/Domino community. I've not read it yet, but from the responses from such luminaries as Ed Brill and Libby seem to suggest that it is, at best, biased towards Microsoft products. The excerpts I have seen show that the "analysts" who wrote this are stretching things in various directions to make it look like M$ will dominate the email market in 4 years time. The M$ supporters have been saying that for at least the past 6 years, and still IBM continues to strengthen its world market share so we can take their claims with a pinch of salt.
I'll go read the report and see if I can add my 2¢ to the forums out there.

New Job/ Neck Surgery

2004-07-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

Settling down to my new job - getting used to working from home again has been a bit of a challenge but I'm avoiding the TV and the dogs by closing my office door and making calls and emailing people.
Enough about work. I used to be a real keen cyclist as a mentor for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. I have done 4 programs with them, and completed four 100+ mile rides with them (3 El Tour de Tucson and 1 America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride ). I had some nerve issues in my hands as time went on, and I eventually stopped riding for a while because of it. To cut a long story short, I ended up have neurosurgery in January of this year. A procedure called a Cervical Laminectomy. I have been recovering for some months now, and after watching the Tour de France every day for the past three weeks I figured it was time to get back out on my bike. So as of tomorrow morning, I will be riding again. My bike had been hung up in the garage for so long that a spoke nipple broke, so I have to swap wheelsets over so I can get out again.
It'll be a while before I can face a regular 65 mile ride on a Saturday, but I've been idle (and getting heavier) for too long . . . . .

Monthly review . . . .

2004-07-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

So much has changed in the past month - I've changed jobs, got a new phone last week, and we now have 3 cases of wine at home after a trip to napa Valley. The job is going great, even though I should have been on vacation this week, as I have at least two contracts as good as in the bag in the first month.
My new phone - Motorola V525 - I got on eBay. It's a Vodafone branded one, unlocked to work with any provider. I reckon it's a cheaper way of getting bluetooth than going for a V600, and I can upgrade the phone software to get the video capabilities. It's a great phone, with the only drawback being that it doesn;t have an IR port but since I have a data cable and bluetooth connectivity it's not such a big deal.
Our trip to Napa turned out to be fab. Found this cool new resort up there - the Carneros Inn. Funky looking place from the outside - I drove past it and thought it looked like a prison or something :-) Turns out it's a real classy way to spend the weekend complete with its own vanishin edge pool and Spa facilities on site. Hot rosk massages have never been so good. . . .
Too busy to type more right now - work calls - so I gotta go.

Adios amigos

2004-07-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

Today's the day. Time to start a new adventure after leaving my current job. The time here has been fun, but it wasn't stretching me so I need to move on. We went out for beers last night and had a great time and I'm sure I'll be keeping in touch with a lot of the folks here but I really need a change of scene.
One of my first gigsat RPR might involve some long distance travel . . . . to Europe. We'll see what happens there!
Time to go box my things up and head home to set up my office again. At least we're going to have a break before I start up at RPR - off to Napa for a couple of days and visiting friends.

The fun starts

2004-06-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

Two days and counting. And I've already got my first gig for my new employer lined up. Going to help out a company that is stuck with a problem most of us Notes Admins have seen before. Admin ID with an expired cert. I'm pretty sure I can get around the problem but it may take a little time. And then I get to run a healthcheck on their systems. If this is idicative of their attention to the Notes environment, I should be busy for a while :-)

I quit!

2004-06-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

One more week to go. I gave my notice last Friday and I'm preparing for a life on the road again. I thought I would have enjoyed working in an office environment again after a 3 break working as an SE for Candle, but it turns out I can't stand office politics and all the other BS you have to put up with working in a cube. So I'll be working from home again (interesting proposition this time around - Helen works from home now) and travelling to customer sites.
The company I'm going to work for, RPRWyatt, is based in Phoenix AZ so I'll be spending time there for a while and also flying "all over the place". As far as I can ascertain, my territory will be North America and Europe (basically everywhere they have clients) so maybe I'll be able to see the family back in old blighty - something I haven't done in close to 3 years.
Anyhoo it's back to the old grind for another day - at least there's the neighborhood Friday night social coming up tonight . . . . . . .

I'm famous!

2004-06-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

I'm famous! My old buddy Franko has posted a blog entry about me. I've known him for 10 years or so and even tried to get him to move out here to the good old US of A. Every time I go back to the homeland, Frank and I het the west end of Glasgow for a curry. How I miss a good curry. Actually found out that there's a good Indian restaurant close to my office so I'll have to go check it out. But I digress.
It's cool to be part fo the bloggin community. I did this as a stream of consciousness thing and found that it can connect people from all over the place. One of these days I'll actually send an email to friends and family to let them know this exists :-) Back to work for now.
Oh, and I'm going to change jobs soon . . . . watch this space

Go Pistons!

2004-06-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

Monday morning. After a weekend of "socializing". We had a full house on Friday night, with half the neighbourhood there hanging out at drinking. Saturday morning was slow, more to do with apathy than hangovers :-)
Saturday was Wallace's first day out in the real world, having been confined to the house and yard until he had his second set of shots. We took him to Vinaka downtown and he was fine. Somehow I think puppies bring out more in people than new babies - as Helen keeps saying that a puppy is the best chat up line you could get. People will come talk to you if you have one. .. . .
Last night the Pistons beat the Lakers in game 1 of the NBA finals - so the series will be interesting after all. All the pundits predicted a sweep for the Lakers. I for one am happy that the Pistons won. Maybe they'll win it all!
Got an interesting phone call on Friday that may mean a change of scene for me. My buddies in Phoenix want to hire me - I'll wait and see what happens this week.

New puppy

2004-06-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

Remembered I had a blog and thought I'd better update.
Got a new puppy on Monday of last week - Wallace - a Lhasa Apso, and half brother to our other dog Corrie. Crate training and house training results in serious sleep deprivation. Thankfully my wonderful wife took care of that, as I have a 9 to 5 and she works from home. But Wallace is as cute as anything. Just like his brother was at his age.
What's amazing about dogs is their innate desire to assert dominance over each other. Our puppy runs up to Corrie (who's 2 1/2 now) and if Corrie isn't in the mood to run around, he'll bare teeth and bark right in Wallace's face. And Wallace won't give in. Just sits there. I know there's a lot of distrust in adult dogs when it comes to puppies, and Corrie's behaviour is typical of that, but it's amazing how Wallace will not back off. What's funny is if Corrie is barking at something else, like the landscape guys in our yard, then Wallace runs into his crate and hides in the back.
Enough of Dog Karma 101. Need Coffee.

Fire! Fire!

2004-05-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

So the heat has subsided, but fire season has started again in San Diego. 1,500 acres within 40 miles of here. Just when we thought the fires last year would be last for a while. One of my colleagues lost pretty much everything when his home got caught up in the fires last year. Hopefully he'll be the only person I know who has to go through that. I'm glad we're closer to the ocean and outside the fire zone.

It's getting hot in here. . . .

2004-05-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

Finally got back to writing an entry in here. After scorching heat today, I'm glad I'm indoors and the sun has headed west for a few hours. 90 degrees doesn't happen around here very often - San Diego is reknowned for its temperate climate so this is an uncommon occurence. The irony isn't lost on me that I moved here to get away from the crappy weather in Scotland, and here I am moaning about how hot it is . .. . .
I've decided that its time I got back on the golf course, even if my physiotherapist advises against it. My sanity will suffer if I don't get out these and smack some little while balls around. And if it hurts, I'll just have to find something else to stop the stir craziness.
Looking at buying a laptop has become something of an obsession. I can't decide if I should go with and Sony, IBM or Dell. I might even entertain the thought of a Panasonic Toughbook. Like I need it! All I want to do is have a lightweight,powerful PC that can last me at least three years. I've only had 2 PCs in 8 years, and they're slower than molasses these days. I guess my job is to blame. Fast PCs and Gigabit networks are not what I need, but then again I also don't need HDTV - it's just what I want :-)
I met a guy in a kilt yesterday - a utilikilt - just what I need out here. A kilt with pockets so I don't need a sporran. I'm not likely to wear one out to the coffee shop when I'm walking the dog on Saturday - mind you, I didn't think I'd ever be seen in shorts, skate shoes and a Hawaiian shirt in the office. That wouldn't go down well at the Bank of Scotland. Just as well I've relocated to sunnier climes. Which brings me back to my first point - it's frickin hot here . . . . . .

Rant #1

2004-03-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

I love the way that people use completely the wrong words at times - the favourite of the American people is using the word "literally" when they should be using "metaphorically".
There's some idiot talk show host out here who favours this approach every day. He's always using the wrong word. And he gets paid more than me to talk crap on the radio. I guess I should have studied less in school :-)
And then of course there's our wonderful 'leader'. The best thing about getting to the office in the morning is reading my Presidential (Mis)Speak calendar. Dubya is great for the way he mangles the English language and the way he unashamedly shows his lack of intellect. Cases in point:
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program" Last time anyone checked, Social Security is a federal program. . . .
"I would have said yes to abortion if only it was right. I mean, yeah it's right. Well, no it's not right - that's why I said no to it" Make up your mind George!
Anyhoo - time to go join the throngs on the wonderful I-5 north to Carlsbad . . . ..

And so it begins

2004-03-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Got to start somewhere I guess. It's about 85 degrees outside right now, and I'm so glad I work in an air-conditioned office. I can't believe I'm complaining about the heat in San Diego, but it is March and it shouldn't be much above 65 at this time of year.
I just got back to work after a 6 week layoff to recover from neck surgery - a Cervical Laminectomy - and have found that much has changed here. New staff members and several fires to put out. That's what they pay me for so I shouldn't complain.
I'm a Network Admin at a web development company in Carmel Valley - I deal with the servers, phones, desktops, laptops and cabling/power etc. Keeps me busy but it can drive me crazy.
Life here is great. Recommended. I still stop and pinch myself every now and again to make sure I do actually live here - 31 years in Scotland and then I moved here for a change in lifestyle. Couldn't be more different than back in the homeland.