Another long night

At 17:05 last night I was told about a problem we had with one of our systems at work. I’m starting to become more involved as a testing/ QA manager and so I started to help to look into the problem. I thought I’d be just a couple of hours late home but I ended up getting back over twelve hours later. Not great! We’ve made some progress but still have some things to work through today so bang goes spending a relaxing weekend with my wife. Ah well, I guess in the world of IT that’s the job you sometimes have to do. I’m feeling a bit giddy today but I’m hanging in there.

Coincidentally, on the subject of software defects, I saw a great blog posting yesterday about a new software certification program called “It works on my machine” – an oft-heard but seldom comforting phrase that developers seem to say when confronted with a user problem. I think we’ll have to start stamping this on the front of our applications at work if this continues!

Not flying short haul

As the months and years roll by I find myself questioning more and more things that I do. I’ve been asked to go to Zürich for some meetings in a couple of weeks; a little while ago I would have been looking forward to a business class flight and eating out on expenses for a few nights but now the first thing that pops into my head is how bad the trip will be for the environment. There are stories appearing every day about the Siberian permafrost melting and revealing loads of woolly mammoth tusks as it does so (if that doesn’t mean much then take a look at the definition of permafrost) and the polar ice dramatically disappearing. I don’t really want to contribute to that more than I do already.

Yes, I know that I can carbon offset my flights but what good does that really do? The Carbon Trust aren’t a charity and to quote Rob Newman I can’t see them funding a project to put Bangladesh on stilts any time soon. Who they are, where they come from, who regulates them and how they came up with their pricing scheme is a bit of a mystery.

So, I’ve taken the step of looking into how to get from London to Zürich by rail. As soon as I did so I came across a splendid website which not only explains exactly how to do it but much more besides. If you’re off to Europe and enjoy travelling or simply hate flying then I seriously suggest you check it out. There are suggested routes, tips on how to get the best fares and information and pictures on the different types of carriage you can expect to encounter. The site also makes the point that a tonne of carbon dioxide emitted from a plane does 2.7 times the damage of it being emitted at ground level.

Basically, a trip to Zürich via Paris will take the best part of a day. I figured I could probably travel on a Monday and then get a sleeper service back to Paris through Friday night/ Saturday morning. I raised the thought with a few people at work today and can report that 80% think I’m nuts to even consider it. For example, when I called the travel desk to enquire whether they handled train bookings and said that I wanted to go to Zürich I was asked “Why on earth would you want to do that?” I lamely responded “Green reasons…” and started to feel a little bit nuts myself – hopefully she didn’t think that I had an obsessive colour preference or some kind of nasal condition. My boss called me “Swampy.” More seriously, he made the point that the time wouldn’t be as productive as time spent in the office – this is true, but during the whole office/ airport/ queue for security/ departure lounge/ short haul flight with food/ passport control-taxi rigmarole there is no opportunity to get a lot done whereas on a train I could at least work offline for a few hours. I might even catch up with all the emails and documents I’ve been meaning to read and get one or two of my own written.

In terms of cost, there isn’t that much of a difference between a first-class train fare and return business class flights; the train fares just seem a bit more random depending on what website, currency and method you choose to buy them.

I must admit that I do have utopian dreams of setting an example that the whole company begins to follow but in reality I know that I’d just be doing it because I believe it’s right. Plus, it would be great to see a bit of where I’m travelling to on the way.

What do you think? Have I lost the plot or am I right to be pursuing this?

Broken lift

As seen at work…good luck in getting to the 7th floor!

I woke up in Milton Keynes

Well, I guess it had to happen eventually. We’ve been in Berkhamsted for just over a year and last night was the first (and hopefully last) time that I fell asleep on the train and didn’t wake up until I got to the end of the line.

Well, I say it’s the first time but it has happened before without such bad consequences. I did it twice when we were living in North Finchley. However, waking up in Barnet isn’t such a big deal as there are buses and it’s not that ar if you take a cab. The Silverlink County train that serves Berkhamsted is a bit different.

I had a frustrating day at work yesterday and had to stay late in order to get my manager’s input on something. When he suggested that I joined him and a few of my colleagues for a cheeky beer I thought ‘what a great idea’ – a chance to unwind and a chance to get to know some of the guys I’m working with a bit better. Four or five pints of Abbot Ale later and I found myself in a cab trying to get to Euston as quickly as possible in order to make the 23:34. That cost me £19 and I missed it by about one minute. So, I resigned myself to catching the 00:04 with the thought of how stupid I had been to stay for ‘just one more’. I bought myself an Upper Crust baguette – the late commuter’s dinner of choice – and boarded the train.

Then I found myself being told that “THIS IS MILTON KEYNES!” by the train announcer. Not the best words I have ever heard. If I was cheesed off at myself for missing the first train, this took things to a whole new level. It was quite disconcerting at first – there were very few people around and the taxis had all scooted off into the distance. For a while I didn’t quite know what I was going to do – my train had been the last one and I wasn’t sure whether the taxis expected anyone else to be waiting. After what seemed like an age, a taxi did appear and I was on my way home.

I finally made it back just after 2am, about £80 lighter than when I started my evening. Four hours of sleep at the end of a long week didn’t feel too great when I was on a conference call at 7am today!

So, from today I gladly say goodbye to two things – drinking during the week and drinking when there’s even the remotest chance that I’ll fall asleep on the way home. I’m getting too old for all of this so it has got to be the way forward. I’m just thankful that we didn’t move to Reading or I could’ve been writing this from a hotel in Bristol!

The loudest tears on the way home

On my journey home on the train last night a young child in my carriage was having the loudest crying fit that I’ve heard for quite some time. You know something is loud and out-of-the-ordinary when people on the train actually start looking at each other – yes, acknowledging each other’s presence – and smiling in a “can you believe how loud that is?” sort of way. I can’t believe what a state children can get themselves worked up into! You just want to ask them what really could be so bad. Like these things do, it stopped almost as abruptly as it started and left an eerie silence on the carriage.

As I was busy sorting a few emails out on my PDA at the time and found that I couldn’t concentrate I quickly hit the record button with the intention of posting it here, but, listening to it now out of context, it just sounds harrowing and horrible. Consider yourself spared.

The Project Management Podcast

Since I first heard about podcasting I had been looking for shows that interested me. I tried lots of different podcasts but none of them grabbed my attention for very long and I soon found myself unsubscribing. That is, until I came across The Project Management Podcast. Finally I’ve found something that is both relevant to my job and genuinely informative.

The host, Cornelius Fitchtner, does a good job of tackling a variety of project management topics, from setting up a PMO to reviewing different methodologies. His style can take a little getting used to and his jokes aren’t always that funny (sorry Cornelius!) but in general this is something worth listening to. I’ve been working my way through the existing shows and have already heard a few “golden nuggets” that can help me – I’m looking forward to listening to the rest over the next couple of weeks or so.

If you’re a project manager who would like to hear a bit more about the field and get some good advice about running your projects, give it a go.

New job

I started a new role in my firm last week, the first move I’ve made in the six-and-a-half years that I’ve been there. I’m still a project manager, still sitting within the IT function, but I’ve completely changed the area of the company that I’m working for. It’s all very new and exciting and already there are lots of things on my plate – I don’t think I’m going to be bored in my job as there seems as though there is so much to do. I spent the latter part of last week in Zürich, meeting lots of my new colleagues including the entire project team for a system that I will be managing, a trip I requested to take when I found myself on one phonecall too many where I didn’t understand what was being talked about.

I seem to move so quickly from feeling like there isn’t much going on and things are just ticking over to being incredibly busy and a little stressed, trying to prioritise a number of high-priority things to do. The strange thing is that when I am super-busy I’m always looking forward to the so many things that I’ll do when I’m not so busy but when that time rolls around I don’t seem to have the focus and energy to do them. There’s definitely a balance to be struck somewhere. Hopefully I’ll be able to settle and get it just right in the new job.

Santas at work

In order to liven up our annual ’secret Santa’ at work last month I decided to turn up with my Santa suit. I hadn’t worn it for a couple of years but it had lost none of it’s charm, as I’m sure you’ll agree. My colleagues were very impressed by the hat and beard as you can see from the amount of modelling that went on.

Work party

Last Wednesday I left work at the unheard of hour of three in the afternoon to take part in the celebrations following all the hard work on our projects this year. I don’t know who organised it but they did a great job – we were divided into teams of four or five and each given a London taxi for a few hours along with a video camera, map, pack of clues, riddles and dares, a rucksack full of drinks and orders to have a great time. It was lots of fun, but very cold – we found ourselves dashing around the Royal Exchange at Bank, Finsbury Square, Finsbury Circus, the London Eye and Trafalgar Square before heading over to the Connaught hotel where we watched everyone’s videos, added up the scores and had an award ceremony before dinner.

The meal was great and the drinks were flowing – everyone seemed to really enjoy letting their hair down after such a busy year. Somebody managed to capture the meal on camera. Quite a few of us were up for more at the end of dinner and we found ourselves randomly in a ropey Soho bar, but it didn’t matter – a great time was had by all. I eventually ended up getting in at four in the morning – I think a record for me on a school night – which when coupled with a late night out the night before and a stag weekend looming I wasn’t feeling too perfect on Thursday and Friday!

Christmas party fancy dress

I was very pleased to see this week that our Christmas party at work will have a 1930s theme, complete with dancing a Fred and Ginger! So, what to wear? The dress code is either formal black-tie or ’smart-casual’, but I’m sure there’s room for a little extra along the theme of the evening. Does anyone have any suggestions? Clothing-related only please! )