Honesty

There has been a lot in the media about the impending opening up of migration rules which would allow Bulgarian and Romanian citizens to freely move around the EU. Clearly as I am married to a Pole I have a certain bias. Indeed I think the migration Policy has been correct in terms of Europe. The UK economy has benefited from the influx of hardworking and cheap labour.

In Geography class they used to teach about push and pull factors in migration. When Poland joined the expanded EU in 2004, the UK had been very positive supporting Polish entry and not putting up barriers as some European countries had done. For Bulgaria and Romania the UK did put in restrictions, even going so far as to use negative adverts.

A lot of people think take issue with the sheer number of Polish people who came to the UK after the 2004 expansion of the EU. There was also a long history of Poles migrating to the UK. Not least after the settlement act following the second world war. Given The UK twice let down Poland, in World War 2, firstly by failing to do anything practically to stop the Soviet Union and Germany carving up Poland, then at the end of the war the Yalta treaty allowed the Soviet union to keep Poland under communist rule. Rather than delivering the free democratic state the exiled Polish government had hoped for.

One thing I haven't seen much of is the raw numbers. In terms of population Romania at 21 million and Bulgaria 7 million people. In 2004 Poland's population was approximately 38 million people. So even if the same proportion of Romanian and Bulgarians moved to the UK as did Poles, in terms of numbers there would be far less actual people. Thanks to the lower combined population.

Therefore in terms of simple push and pull there are less cultural ties between the UK Bulgaria and Romania less pull factors in terms of our failing economy, so right now I don't expect to see as many Romanian  shops as Polski Skleps.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Today was very average, this evening was exceptional, but not in a good way. I got home had a sit down and started to chat to Kath on skype then the door bell rang. Half expecting to see my mum I rang down and opened the door to find my neighbour. He started asking me where the panel was, I had no idea what on earth he was talking about. He kept saying it was in my garage and I had to give it to him. It took me a while to comprehend what he was talking about, finally I started to piece it together. He was talking about fencing panels. Last summer I replaced three of the that were damaged. It cost £55 Nick gave me a lift to Stacks to pick them up. I also painted them with Ronseal. The fence is 5 panels in total but two were ok so they didn't replace them. At the time the neighbour seemed grateful to Nick and I asked how much it cost and gave me some money towards them. At the time I thought it was a nice gesture, after all he offered I never asked. If only I had realised, I would never have excepted! Anyway back to this evening, the neighbour was getting more and more irate insisting that he had seen four panels and that I was hiding one from him. I decided to call his bluff went upstairs found the receipt and showed it too him. It showed the date, the number of panels (3) and the price. At this point I expected an apology, I didn't get one! He insisted I was ripping him off that the receipt was a forgery and that I was a cheat and a liar. At this point I had enough, so I pulled out £20 and told him he could have his money back. At this point he was really super angry and went for me with his cane (my neighbour is an old chap). I dodged and told him is he tried it again I was calling the police, I handed him the money again and he stomped off. I rang my dad, first thing he told me was I should have asked for a receipt for the money second that I should just ignore him. He also asked me if I had seen the fence, I admitted that I hadn't. Apparently my mum had already mentioned to dad that it appeared like the bottom panel was disappearing piece by piece, it looks as if he has been tearing it down one piece at a time. What a crazy guy, nothing like good neighbours. No doubt they will tell all of the other neighbours his twisted version of events. They are a retired couple with nothing better to do than sit around and complain about everything. I doubt anyone is good enough to live in their precious neighbourhood. Kath thinks that he must have dementia and might not even remember. I was so angry afterwards I went for a walk then for beer in the bulls head with Phil. Phil seemed good, busy with work.

Caught in the middle

Recently a friend caused a bit of a storm following some of their comments. It got me thinking that some things in life are very tricky and there are no real answers. The truth can be hurtful sometimes, people don't always want to hear it and its not always appropriate. So how in the digital age should we go about managing our connections between people?

I find that a lot of people aren't very scientific. When faced with fact based evidence people often come up with the line "well in my experience". Essentially this boils down to their belief that in some way anecdotal evidence is better than fact based research. The problem with this way for thinking is that you might be the exception rather than the rule. Scientific proof attempts to eliminate chance and find the truth.

Even smart people sometimes suffer from the God complex blinkering them from being able to find an answer.

For myself I am going to try and be more careful both to examine myself and in comments to others, some people need treating with kid gloves. I actually enjoy the debate, often playing devils advocate, I can't really imagine being surrounded by people who agree with every word, however I know several people who prefer life this way. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

Bone House

I just want to assure the world that I am not Judge John D. Cooke. I did not preside over the Microsoft Antitrust case. Nor am I a member of the American Criminology Society and much as your publication The Criminologist make for riveting reading I really could do without all your email.

So pretty please Judge make sure you give people the correct email address in future, okay?

Thanks!

Tumble and fall

I read this article on Ars Technica. It made me think how much the world has changed even in my lifetime. When I was young the big fear seem to be drugs. The media was obsessed with "drug fiends" junkies who would prey on normal society do anything to get their fix. There was the myth of the first time being free as if dealers were lurking around giving out drugs like candy.

Somewhere in the last decade thought the fiend focus seems to have shifted. Nowadays the big fear is that somehow paedophiles are lurking ready to pounce on young children. This has caused all sort of reactions from the banning of parents being able to video tape their children in the school nativity play, to children being prevented from playing outside. Most of these fears are irrational, the chance of a child being snatched away are infinitely small especially compared against the risks of say crossing the road. Plus locking use all away in hermetically sealed boxes actually stops children developing the skills to deal with risky situations.

I hope when I am a parent I am able to be rational, judge the real risks and not live my life in fear that some unknown force is going to get me. Obviously there are risks in life. Would I be the person I am if I was more conservative as a child? I used to play in the fields, had a rope swing over a pond which was deep dirty and dangerous, I feel in and it could have gone the wrong way, but it didn't nor does it for the majority.

A Reminder

I have never been much of a fan of PayPal, they act like a bank but are not regulated as one. As I needed to download the latest version of Tortoise SVN I read this on the news page. Its seems that Pay Pal arbitrarily suspended the projects donation account for very tenuous reasons. They weren't very forthcoming when he protested. Not only that but they froze the ability to access the money in the account. A terrible way to act, imagine if the Pay Pal account were the main source of funding for the project and no money could be access for 180 days. That might very well be the death knell for some industries.

Crystalised

Today I should be the proud owner of the latest piece of Ienvy, unfortunately things it didn't work out that way. On Sunday I got really annoyed with my old phone and decided rather on a whim to  head to the Trafford Centre to buy an IPhone. I decided on the 3 network due to a rather good deal on international costs which would enable me to chat to Kath on her home phone. They also allow Skype.

I headed to the shop because as the website informed me that it was only able to purchase in store. In an impulsive mood I rang to confirm they had one in stock, and headed to the Trafford Centre. Time was somewhat of the essence as it was nearly 5 and the place closed at 6. I called ahead to confirm this and was told they were in stock and all I would need is my passport.

So I headed to the store, presented myself bank card and passport to the women then. Answered loads of questions. Then a pause, the credit check had been referred. Not a problem I thought I can afford £30 / month. I guessed that as a recent victim of identity fraud they might want to check some things. They did, only they couldnt today. So I left empty handed. The store assistant promised to ring me the next day...

Yesterday I sat alone in the office, as my colleague is on holiday. I called at lunch time and was fobbed off, so I called again at 3 and actually managed to speak to the right assistant. She gave me a different number to ring; this got me through to a call centre where the operator seemed to find it difficult not to refer to me in the third person, "Can I have the customers name?". - I thought what my name? "I am the customer, my name is John Cooke", "Thank you sir, may I have the customers address?"

Several minutes and a lot of security questions later I was told I had been authorised. I rang the girl back and she said "great just pop in this evening and pick up your phone, hanging up on me before I managed to say anything.


So for the second evening in a row I wondered into the Trafford Centre, the women waived to me and beaconed me over. I sat down she put an IPhone in front of me, she asked for my debit card, and my passport. Crap I forgot it, I took it out of my pocket to buy a flight to Poland. She did see it yesterday, using my password details to fill in the forms. Couldn't we skip that bit? Apparently not, at this point I gave up. My identity hasn't changed since yesterday, and had already confirmed the credit bit, I guess the universe doesn't want me to own an IPhone. I left the store empty-handed.

I arrived home to find my passport on my desk, and Kath trying to console me pointed out I could buy it on-line from three. I was so annoyed though I decided against it and headed to bed.

The law is an ass

This story on the BBC website about a Scottish women jailed for 5 years for the possession of a prohibited weapon. The weapon a Czech-made pistol dating back to about 1927 was a spoil of war brought home by her grandfather. There was no ammunition and no suspicion that she intended to use the item as anything other than an artefact, so how are the public protected by her 5 year incarceration? Suerly a fine, or a suspended sentance would be far more appropriate. Unfortunately the sentence is a mandated one so the judge had little latitude to allow leniency, to me it make s mockery of the legal system. Surely this sort of law is intended to put away gang members not Grandmothers. She will spend the same amount of time in prison as the guidelines suggest for a rapist.
Stories like this make me very nervous about the politicisation of the judicial service, what we need is balance examining cases in detail not putting in place mandatory sentences which lead to useless prison sentences.

Crazy People

It seems that the idiom that the average Englishman is one rant away from rage. I got back to my car after doing some shopping at Sainsburys Cheadle Hulme.

I was inside the lines of the parking box, it was actually the other car who was right upto the edge. I had no issue getting out of the car;but given the high fat content of the shopping. Which included burgers, rolls ice cream I am guessing that the author was pretty fat.

Homeopathy; what's the harm?

Quite a lot by the looks of it. I intensely stand pseudo science "alternative solutions". Generally I find them an alternative to commend sense and logic.

Fat government

Looks like Digby Jones share my views on fat government, it is too big employs too many people and could use half as many.

The state I am in

Sometimes everything is wrong. Lately a heck of a lot of things have been getting the better of me, my job and renovating my house have eaten away all my time and energy. I have put on a few kilo because I haven't had (or made) enough time to get to the gym or sleep. I got the Saab back from the garage but its still not right the only thing I can think to do is trade it in. This causes something of cashflow crisis though. Tomorrow I have to pay the plumbers as they have practically finished installing the central heating system tomorrow they just have a few small bits to finish off. That and the money I owe Nick is practically all of my savings exhausted and I still have a kitchen, flooring and decorating to do. Oh might need some furniture as well :S

I got to the house tonight to find two letters from utility companies. First one from Scottish Power, a final bill using estimated gas usage. They estimate I have used a heck of a lot more Gas than the 1 unit I have so I phoned to report that and to pay. After going through 3 levels of automated services I got a message telling me all of the operators were busy after which it hung up. Sigh, the other letter was from British gas telling me they were now suppling me gas only could I confirm the property they were suppling to was a flat in Milton Keynes, sigh. I spent 20 minutes on hold at the end of which the operator told me their computer system was down so could I call back another time. I was pretty enraged by this point, a phone call from Phil basically telling me he couldn't be bothered to get things organised for Saturday did little to improve my mood.

I went round to Martinas for some food and to watch Nip Tuck, my god its depraved and twisted. A murderous teddy bear making agent, cannibalistic newlyweds and self destruction seem to be the main themes. Her brother arrives tomorrow, he doesn't speak English and is apparently wary of meeting too many people so I may or may not get to meet him.

Whos money (Banks Suck)

I had a pretty hectic day yesterday quiet a few things went a bit pear shaped both at work and personally. I got especially pissed off with Alliance and Leicester. I needed to get a lump of cash (£1000) to Nick to pay for various materials for the house.
I walked into Bramhall branch had to wait for what seemed like an age. It was the usual story only one teller working with several other staff standing around generally ignoring the growing queue. My money is in a savings account linked to my main account so firstly I asked to move the money between my accounts. I was told the only way I could do this was to use the internet or the phone banking. I responded I expected a teller to be able to do this and I needed to withdraw said cash so I didnt see much point leaving the queue only to rejoin it to get the money. She kept on telling me that she couldn't help. She then went on to tell me my account had a £250 daily withdrawal limit. At this point I basically hit the roof and demanded either my money or I would close my account and come back with a baliff to collect it. She offered to make an exception, I thought exception, how is that, this is a bank its my money I am perfectly entitled to withdraw it.

I walked out with my money, paid Nick and drafted a letter of complaint, I'll let you know how it goes.

Vodafone suck!

I have been full of a cold today, so I stayed at home in the warm and had a play around with a few things. I found out that my phone has some interesting applications. Including the ability to upload photos directly to the Flickr photo sharing page. I spent about 3 hours messing with my phone trying to get the photos I took to be uploaded directly to my blog. I tried lots of different settings but only after searching Flickrs N-Series site did I find that Vodafone block Flickr. They don't make that fact clear, even leaving behind the options to set up an account, unfortunately the communication always fails. I tried directly browsing on the mobile internet and couldn't get to http://www.flickr.com either. I finally realised I have been messing about trying to make it work in vain, very frustrating!

7 deadly sins / 7 Virtues

I am damned?

I think I have been guilty of them all this week.

Lust

I a single guy I cant help looking ;)

Gluttony

Yeah eating on the company expense account at the start of the week, well not just the start of the week I have been hungry a lot this week.

Avarice

I want to be rich trust me having no money isn't much fun.

Sloth

I haven't published a blog in ages mainly because I have been busy but also because I have been very lazy. I have hardly even made it to the gym either.

Wrath

I was SO angry with one of my colleagues I could easy have laid down my wraith,
in fact I contemplated many forms of revenge but in the end was too busy / lazy / cowardly or perhaps sensible to put them into action.

Envy

I was incredibly jealous of Lulu blog, she made her first post for months and immediately received more comments on it than mine had din its entire life. Mind you her next post was to thank me for fixing her shuffle so that made me smile.

Pride

I was ashamed to tell someone I still lied with my parents, always trying to keep up the good image.


or can I be redeemed?

Chastity

Being single its easy to be chaste

Abstinence

Hmm haven't done too well on this score I have eaten way too much this week.

Temperance

I do enjoy that beer goodness, so I guess I fall flat on my face with this one.

Diligence

Thanks to careful planning and execution my installation went like a dream score one for goodness :)

Patience

I have had moment of patients but overall I am a pretty impatient person :(

Kindness

I have given to charity and even helped out a few people

Humility

I think Im a pretty humble self deprecating guy most of the time.

So thats sins 7 Virtues 3 oh dear I am in trouble going to have to mend my ways I think!

Feeling frustrated

Going back to work was difficult, there is so much going on.

Ian's wireless link has been suffering recently so I had bought a new access point, well second hand from ebay access point. It has been sat in my room for weeks, only when I took it out to set it up it didn't work. Its broken! What a pain I was so annoyed I smashed it to pieces with Nick's sledgehammer.

I went round for some beers and a chat setting the world to rights. He seemed a little sad but trying to make the best of it.

Too many meetings

Today was a real pain rather than being able to get on with things and try and make a dent in my ever increasing workload, I spent the day in meetings. Whilst I understand the need to meet up and arrange thing sometimes it seems like we just keep going of the same ground. Nobody really seems to have the will to move things forward, turn down of back out so we remain over comitted and stretched even with extra bodies working.

Also a lot of work is stacking up not getting through testing which is a real problem, work gets done stacks up and can cause issues, sometime things accidentally get transferred, causing untold problems like last week.

I also lost out on my day working on the next generation project this week thanks to another colleague getting called away to another site meaning there would be no cover.

Japanese was very difficult this evening, we had a mock test which would be set to allow any newbies onto the intermediate course next year. I think on the basis of the test we would all fail. My vocabulary is limited as I don't practice enough and only doing one lesson a week means the words are not reinforced enough for me to recall them. I am really going to have to add in a lot more revision time to make significant strides.

I had an argument with one my fellow Nihon students (who else but Martine) regarding a art. I suppose I am a bit of a Philistine in that I really don't like modern art, so Damien Hursts skull nor the graffiti inspired London 2012 logo just look like rubbish to me. I much prefer Bejing's Panda bears or a beautiful Renascence work to Sheep in formaldehyde. I guess the stupid amount of money languished on this stuff that upsets me too. Ill never forget when I read about the forty thousand pound pebble outside the Bridgewater Hall.

I went for a drink with Bruce, he has spent the last few days trekking round the country on an emergency replacement mission. His company suffer from bad planning just like most others, only its competent people like him and myself that end up having to pick up the ball after its been dropped. Sigh, at least we had a nice chat and a drink.

Coding Hell

Sometimes the world can be a very weird place, In my function as a code monkey I have dome some pretty boring stuff. This week I have mostly been busy writing a system which calculates apr and repayments changes them in fact so they are much less accurate! Believe it or not one of the lenders systems it actually less accurate than ours and they refuse to believe our figures so I have been copiing their web calculator which as far as I can see has three major areas in which mathmatically it is far less preceise than advances. Apart from the fact its very difficult to follow the mess of java script and bizzaro way in which they round figures or choose not to round others; division by 12 on a number which is not divisable by three leaving trailing 3 or 6 into infinty is not smart.
Anyway I am fed up this has taken so long and my figures still don't match they rubbish its driving me to distraction. Add into that the volume of work sat for me to do and its not a very happy John writing this.

Rant over, Liz sent me a funny link to dressing room website which made me smile, thanks.

Other amusment includes my boss and his son also on staff entering the London marathon, I hope theyy make it must be some serious training going on they neither struck me as the marathon type, but I wish them luck wish I was fit or motivated enough. Even the Manchester 10k seemed scary to me.

Printer Rant

First Published on Slashdot Journal
Gah I am fed up with printers, some days it seems all users problem are in some way printing related. Printers are dirty and noisy, I always end up covered in toner, and its even worse on the colour printer I am left in cyan yellow magentry mess :-(
And Inkjets arghh dont even get me startered the cost the crapness of the drivers and the rubbish build quality argh who cares if it does photo quality if after the cost of the special ink and paper it ends up being greater than the cost of going down to a developer and getting top quality prints :'(