oh dear Tiger

Sitting in terminal 5 next to a giant screen showing Accenture adverts with Tiger Woods.
"The road to high performance is not always paved."
"Its what you do next that counts."
Indeed.

Its November...

Its difficult to believe that its been nearly 3 months since i last wrote anything on here. I guess the big difference is i'm not travelling anymore and everything has got a lot easier. There are no long dull nights trapped in a hotel in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do but witter away on here...
So no more Sabre, how does that feel. A relief really. I joined Sabre last year as i needed to get out of XL and it was the best offer on the table. And the job started well, the travel was interesting, the work was challenging, the learning was fun, and whatever the problems professionally, the customers in Bodo, Melbourne and Stockholm were great. It was a fantastic team too, i learnt so much from them and really enjoyed getting through some of the problems we faced. But then management changed, and we became Americanised. It was the right decision for head office to make - it was crazy having a small little swedish pocket ignoring what the rest of the world was doing. So Rocade became Air Centre and the magic was gone... The choices were Kenya or Saudi for a very long time, and the prospect of being bogged down in FT for the next year was not a pleasing one. So time to change, and what was out there... well nothing really, so for the second time in a year, in the middle of the worst recession the world has ever seen, i quit my job with nothing lined up.
The plan for a long time was to take over another company, develop their software, turn it into a freelance IT centre, and take over the world. 5 months later that all fell apart, and we were back where we were.
My old boss had promised some work when things fell into place, and this came to pass. And now those few weeks have turned into a few months, and things are going well. We will be installing the Operations / Commercial / Crew system, and judging by initial contact with the chosen supplier its going to be our project and we are going to run it the way we want. Looking forward to getting stuck into it and making things happen. Next week off to Stockholm for the first time in 6 months so will get to catch up with whoever is left at Rocade, and the week after to Athens. Would imagine from then until May 1st will be busy busy busy.
Have also started my degree course with the Open University, a bit of a shock to the system but proving manageable so far.
And money arrived from Italy. Blimey.
Will try and write about those things separately later.
Need to get back into the swing of this, although the serious stuff has left me disinterested recently. Still shout at the telly, but feel more detached from politics and the rest of the world than ever before.
Thats the first one down, lets try and do some more of this...

Random Thoughts

Mrs Dno has taken the kids to Turkey for a week and I am missing the lot of them. Have done enough travelling over the last year to be quite happy being away from home on my own, but its weird being alone in the big old house. There is a strange quiteness and calmness that isnt right. Miss my wifelet, and although the dogs are doing their best to keep me company it just isnt the same...
Bingo sneezed a few times, so I took him to the vet to make sure it wasnt the first sign of the lungworm. The vet poked him, prodded him, and listened to his chest. "Probably not" he said. But then he said Algie only had a throat infection... So i had to give him £58 for the very vague diagnosis and a few antibiotics. And yet vets still struggle to make money. How?
Renato Pagliari died. Save Your Love. Just one cornetto. Best mate of Big Ron Atkinson. Another legend passes...
One benefit of being unemployed is the opportunity to transfer your cd collection onto mp3. The idea is to do that, and then ebay the lot of them. So far I think i have done about 500, so about 800 left. If anyone wants to help...
And what has listening to the first 3 songs of 500 cds taught me? Fleetwood Mac really were a very good band. The Beatles really were that good (and if anyone wants to buy me the upcoming remastered boxset please feel free). My wife has some appalling cds that will not be recorded - Hearsay, Leann Rimes, Status Quo, Chris Rea... oh dear! Enrique Iglesias? All Saints? SHANIA TWAIN??? Its not easy loving Mrs Dno, especially when she has a CD in her hand...
Lindt 90% chocolate and ice cold Coke Zero. Its the new cheese and wine...
How does Radio2 get away with being so rubbish? Sarah Kennedy could be replaced by a drunken baboon, Terry Wogan is just not funny, interesting, relevant or even alive sometimes. Ken Bruce will die if he doesnt play an Abba song every 2 hours - and he must have the largest collection of 70s male singer songwriters in his phone book - Andrew Gold, Boz Scaggs, Al Stewart, Al Jarreau... Steve Wright - dont start me. Even Chris Evans is annoying. And then Radcliffe and Maconie are the best thing on the radio - how can Radio2 be so good between 8 and 10 pm and then so terrible every other minute?
The Wire. Watching it for the 3rd time from beginning to end, and i get excited Tuesday morning when i have a new episode. Its perfect. The best thing ever on TV by a country mile.
Talking of the country. Want to combine fox hunting with 3 day eventing. The boys obviously love a good blood sport, so if the only way the country folk can ride horses over fields with their dogs is to kill something at the end of it, then why not introduce that to Olympia? Dressage, Show Jumping and then seal clubbing. I think the Puissance would be great if the last 3 riders in it had to jump over the wall while firing a crossbow at suspended kittens...
Why do people say to me I dont "understand how the Countryside works." I do. It doesnt. Its like the town but everything is further away and shuts earlier, and everyone seems to bear a grudge against everyone else. Its brilliant to be out in the middle of nowhere and have fields and trees all around, but that is because people everywhere are rubbish and i would rather look at trees. And i think people like the fact that i am safe, far away in the middle of nowhere...
Oh, and the country has more fox poo.
Which brings me to Bingo's death toll this week. In the last 7 days one rabbit, one moorhen, one pheasant and we found a rabbit's head on the lawn. Bless.

BINGO update

The little fella has been here a month now, and he is a most wonderful little personality. As the photos show, butter wouldnt melt in his pretty little hinged mouth. However yesterday a little baby bunny did more than melt, and once we got him to drop it I had to carry the poor little thing into a field and leave him for the foxes.
And one of my shoes has just appeared on the other side of the lawn minus the tongue...
And he eats cat poo.
And he has no idea what his own name is.
But we love him, and once he stops nibbling at your hand, he is soooo adorable!

Freedom!

So tomorrow is my first official day of unemployment...
I have left Sabre of my own free will to pursue other interests. It would be mad of me to sit here and slag off my previous employer - to be honest I think they were doing the right things to standardise their business and provide a consistent product across the world - it just wasnt what I want or need at this point.
So why does one leave a perfectly well paying job when they dont have one to go to?
The obvious answer in the middle of the "worst recession since 932" is that i must have gone a little bit mad. Its the second time in a year i have handed in my notice without a job to go to, and like last year i dont think i am mad. I cant imagine Sabre possible going the same way as XL, but of course the company will be just a little bit wounded by my departure. For about 3 minutes...
So what are the options? The favoured option is still buying a software company and developing the company and the software to change the world... That is trundling along but could take another year at this speed. Lets put that on the shelf marked "Burners, Back...".
There is always the Irish connection. And who knows, maybe even an extended spell oop North?
And then there is freelance. And I am quite enjoying typing up proposals and playing with Visio and Powerpoint and making ever more elaborate presentations. Have made some good contacts with a few airlines and I am now at the frustrating stage a lot of my colleagues in the consultancy word must know well - "We love the idea of working with you, just that the guy who can sign this off is in Vladivostok for 8 months..."
So one sits, one waits, and one sends emails and phones people. The internet makes it a lot easier than it must have been years ago, but doesnt help at all when it comes to getting a signature.
So if anyone knows any businees that needs someone to tell them what they are doing wrong, suggest a different way of doing it wrong using spreadsheets and flow charts, and then look on bemused as the company decide to change nothing, then i am your man.

Allingham and Patch, heroes

Just a quick note to add my condolences. The news that Henry Allingham and Harry Patch have both passed away in the last week or so is the closure of an incredible piece of history. The oldest man in the world, and the only other British survivor of the trenches of World War One. Peaceful men who wore their sorrow so well, and both worked in memory and honour of their lost friends. Courage I can only imagine, the world has lost two very important men.

Altogether now... B I N G O, Bingo was his name-o

It was never the plan to get another dog so soon after Algie, but i rang the rescue centre to tell them the bad news, they said they had a Terrier puppy, he was reserved but the guy never turned up, we did...
And Bingo joined the gang. A lot of Jack Russell, Staffie head, maybe some Beagle in the legs and God knows what else...
Monty has declared total ambivalence, Jenna has attacked him on sight, Squiffy only noticed when he went near the food bowl... And the wife has gone gooey and was found earlier curled up on the dog's sofa with him on her shoulders.
Time for me to build that big kennel down the garden for Me and Monty i think. And i know which of us will be missed first...

Distractions

Until you have spent an entire week staring out of the window at a herd of cows, trying to work out which one has the most white, or the shortest legs, or is the leader...
I'm just saying - its fun!

Lil Guy

Its hard to know where to start, but losing a dog is never easy, and when the little fella is so young it hurts more.
Little Algie was just over a year old, and on Saturday night we lost him to lungworm.
He was a wonderful bundle of love and energy, a typical terrier when out, a perfect lap dog when indoors. He brought smiles and happiness to all who met him, and made the house complete.
These last few days have been difficult adjusting to the lack of Algie. No little black shadow following you around, no having to wrench him from the sofa late at night to throw him out, no yapping at any rabbit in a 5 mile radius... and most of all no black furry love muppet to snuggle up with the wife in front of the fire.
We have lost a friend, a family member and a brave little fighter.
I really want to say thank you in public to my darling wife, who looked after him so well during his illness. She put him before herself, and made him so calm and comfortable, and i know she made it easier for him to bear his pain. She did a wonderful job, and showed me again so many reasons to love her so much. She has suffered more than anyone the last few days, and i hope she finds peace in understanding how great her care was.
Love you Algie, thanks for giving us so much, in the little time we had together.

The King of Pop Remains Dead (and still no national clamour for Nick Beggs to replace him)

The BBC are running a page where you can leave your memories of the dead monkey loving kiddy fiddling minstrel. The moderators have allowed only a few mentions of child molestation in over 26 pages. So who at the BBC is deciding which voices get heard and which dont? Seems the lunatic fans have all had their say and the normal people are now starting to post "calm down" messages...
Some of those nuggets of wisdom that have been allowed:

"I still remember hearing he had died this morning"
That was so long ago now...

"allow me to leave my message to my cousin brother Michael Jackson who has departed you could have first wait to witness the 1st Africa World Cup before you die"
Excellent advert for South Africa 2010, best product placement in a celebrity condolence page

"Michael Jackson is NOT dead!! It is all elaborate ruse to fool people. My contacts tell me in early hours of morning small plane land at Zhukov to refuel. Many men with dark glasses surround it and it have no flight plan. During refueling he see Jackson peeping out window!!! Jackson is running away from all his problems, his debt and ridicule. Financially he is bankrupt. He is going somewhere to live in peace."
Some Russian bloke says what we are all thinking

"jackson will be the guy by whom american culture is introduced to country like bangladesh.i urge to his family and obama please show his death body face for the last time."
A Dr from the middle east

"Michael Jackson was the greatest man in pop, I have grown up with him since the age of 9 and now im 34."
Stats you just cant argue with

"I hardly think "World Mourns Pop Legend Jackson" is an accurate statement.
Personally i think the "World" needs to get a grip"
Finally...

"His legacy encompasses maximum & the best utilization of "Equal Opportunity" by a minority person in America, which eventually paved the way for Barack Obama to be the Ist black American Presid"
Whites are not yet the minority in America. Oh, you mean blacks?

"The lost of Micheal Jackson will be a lost to all the world,his music will go on for ever.A showman in so many ways,my heart goes to his family children and fiends.Rest in peace Micheal."
Yvonne from Milton Keynes. Spell check, love. Fiends is most unfortunate. And at least dont get his name wrong. Twice.

"I never liked Michael Jackson or his music when he was the King of Pop.Later I realised that is his life was, in many ways, a tragedy. Then his music and life had new meaning for me. Now he is gone, I will miss him forever."
Fickle, Graham. And next year? He will just be a nobody again...

"I remember when I was about 6 years old, and Michael Jackson had a video included at the beginning of the first Free Willy movie on VHS."
Relax, she means the one with the whale in. 6 years old, Michael Jackson, Willy... all the ingredients.

Goodbye King of Pop.

The King Of Pop is Dead

So does Prince get promoted now? He did actually make it to the O2 and by all accounts was sensational. And he is weird and alive, so seems qualified.
Who are the other candidates?
H from Steps springs to mind.
Rick Astley is another.
Peter Andre has time on his hands, and we all know and love his hits.
My personal vote would go to Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo, but alas you can't vote for kings.
There was no doubt that from around 71 to 75 and 79 to 85 he was a phenomenal artiste. (Jacko not Beggs - he did nothing in the 70s). But since then the monkey loving kiddy fiddler has been an ordinary artiste with an exceptional back catalogue. Which in my book ranks him alongside Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney even. And as the president of his fan club said - "People will forget the child molestation stuff, it was so boring." Welln sorry, but anyone who gives a 12 year old $15million to go away and shut up is guilty.
How do all those people who got so upset about Maddie McCann also get upset about a dead child molester????
Yours from outside the herd
D
Ps Farrah Fawcett also died yesterday after a long, hard battle against cancer. That was a real tradegy.

Western Arrogance over Iran

Why do we always assume that if the people who win the election are not "our team" then they cheated. How can we possibly know if the elections in Iran were fixed? We need to investigate, collect evidence, talk to people... and even then since when did we support insurrection (oh yeah, in Burma for a bit, in the Ukraine when the commies won, in Afghanistan when the Taliban won....)
What would happen if the US government declared that the BNP should win the next election, and spent the next year funding them, providing support, creating positive vibes on the world stage... Would Gordon's moral compass tell him that they need to be beaten at any price? Surely a bit of fraud is better than the BNP getting in... Only we never believe we are in the wrong - its only the darkies and the ragheads that would possibly cheat in an election. Who could possibly imagine that an American president could get power by using a wave of lawyers to contest a state run by his brother and be declared the winner even though he got less votes...
I am sure that the election in Iran was not 100% clean in the way we imagine that we are. But it wouldnt surprise me at all if a majority did actually vote for the incumbent. Sometimes people vote for people we dont like. That doesnt make the people of Burnley evil and ripe for shooting, it just means the bloke we dont like won.