Live forever

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair

- Charles Dickens (A Tale of two cities)

What a time we are having, from the grief of the Manchester bombing to a concert of defiance and refusal to give in to terror. Kath and I spent the evening watching Ariana Grande One Manchester concert. Even with last nights London terror attacks the concert was very well done showing a spirit of defiance. The highlight for me was watching Liam Gallagher singing live forever with Chris Martin. It was also amazing to watch the people enjoying themselves not letting terrorists dictate the terms to us.

On Saturday Kath and I had a BBQ / housewarming. The whole gang came round, including Dannys' new significant other the lovely Kate.  I also got a chance to meet some of Kaths colleges from Chester which was really nice. Patrick and Rhiannon were lovely it was great that they made the trip.

I spent most of my time grilling various meat and non meat alternatives on the bbq, while enjoyed a few tins of becks veir. The weather report predicted rain so Ian lent us his gazebo, but we managed to get sun most of the day with only a short shower.

Don't look back in anger

Start of the Great Manchester Run

Yesterday I took part in the Great Manchester Run 2017. The first time they ran a half marathon. After the bombing at the Manchester Arena earlier in the week I wasn't sure what the atmosphere would be like.

I need not have worried, what an amazing community we live in. The half marathon started at 9am, there were already people lining the route to cheer the runners on. Before setting of we had a minutes silence followed by them playing Oasis dont look back in anger. It was a poignant moment. The run itself took us past both the City of Manchester and Old Trafford Stadiums. It was quite strange to run over the Mancunian way.

After the run I headed to St Anne's square to pay my respects and look at the tributes laid there. It was simply incredible, a sea of flowers, balloons messages, its was humbling to see.

My final time was 1:58:38 which was a little slower than I hoped for, my legs got really tired around the 12 mile mark. That didn't detract from what was an amazing day.

In the evening we had a visit from Esther and Kimberly, they had come to Manchester for a spot of shopping. Kimberly is planning to buy a house in south shields, it looks like a good buy we hope that she get it.

Coco missing

On Thursday morning Coco decided that the new house wasn't for her. We think that she went out of an open window. The house has been very quiet ever since, I miss having the company around the house. Coco used to keep me company while Kath was working in Poland, her presence made the house feel much less empty.

The only sighting since she left were on Thursday evening, nothing since then. We have spoken to neighbours and walked around the estate but not see her. My only hope is that somebody finds her and take her to the vet, she is microchipped so they should be able to return her to us.

We got the power

Coco enjoying the view

A week after moving in most of our possessions are still in boxes. After a huge amount of work we have a decent bedroom, a functioning kitchen and a clean bathroom.

I also managed to clean the bathroom and get the heating up and running (with a little help from Phil the plumber).

Coco spent the week being terrified, she cowered in her carrier the first day, then found a  hiding place underneath the kitchen cabinets. She has started to calm down as the house becomes less chaotic.

I have a lawn for the first time since living with my parents. It was quite fun to give it a mow, whether I'll still enjoy the moving when I have to do it every week is another question!

One of the main jobs was sorting out the kitchen, this mostly meant deep cleaning it, and getting new appliances. It was designed for built in appliances but we modified the cabinets to allow us to have free-standing ones. These are cheaper and in my opinion better.

Last night we had Bruce, Nina Connie Ian and Helen round for dinner. Kath prepared some sushi, with katsu curried  chicken and aubergine. I did some "small" jobs including changing over the loo seat which I stupidly proclaimed would take ten minutes. Some hour and a half later I was hacksawing off the bolts which had rusted solid.

Fixed kickboards

Connie enjoyed running around the garden and having a sit on my reclining chair. After all the hours spent cleaning and making the place normal it was great to have people round and enjoy ourselves. Though Ian did accuse me of giving him too much wine!

Lawn

Leaving LA

Removal van

Last night was our last night at Neston Way. Yesterday we watched all our stuff being boxed, today it was time to move. I say that we watched them getting boxed, actually my mother oversaw the removal men while Kath and I went round to clean and paint as much of the house as we could while it was empty. I listened to Father John Mistys' album leaving LA on repeat while I painted, it had just the right vibe for brushwork.

I went to the house early so that I could paint the walls before the new appliances arrived. They were due between 10am-2pm. Our appliances order from AO arrived at 12. Unfortunately several catastrophes happened. The fridge had a mark so had to be sent back for replacement. Then whilst wheeling in the washing machine the lady driver got her arm trapped between the doorframe and the washing machine. She didn't break it but it was very painful. This delayed the installation so that the removal van arrived before they finished.

They finished unloading by around 4.30pm, and we unpacked as much as we can. Mostly just the kitchen for now. I guess the movers though that we had too much kitchen stuff as one of the boxes was labelled "never ending kitchen items"!

Coco was terrified during the move, she refused to come out of her cat carrier for hours, cowering at the back. When she did come out she found other places to hide away. Hopefully she will get use to the new place soon.

I am now sat in bed with my Macbook, using mobile broadband as we don't have a landline connection as yet. It is a little bit flaky but better than nothing for the time being. Most of our possessions are still in boxes, including our electric toothbrushes. Fortunately we found an old electric with some spare head Kath saved for travel use. I feel very tired and it i

s back to work tomorrow.

Ascension

Today is the day, after months we should be completing on the purchase of our new place in Wilmslow. It is the first time Kath and I have bought a house together, the current place I bought a year before we met. Its going to be a busy weekend of moving, and a LAN party tomorrow!

Earlier this week Kath's friend Mike joined us for a couple of days. She had to do an exam so Mike and I headed out into Manchester. He is into football so we went to Old Trafford to have a tour of the ground.
After the tour we headed into the city centre, had a walk from the town hall, past St Anne's Square to the triangle and a well deserved couple of beers in the Old Wellington. Then into the Arndale to get a gift for his Wife Karolina.
It was a gorgeous day in Manchester the sun was shining (no really!), we even got a little bit of a sun tan sat outside the Old Wellington.

Taking train home we manage to find time to fit in another beer at the Railway in Handforth. Before a changing and heading to meet Kath for dinner at the Bulls Head. Her exam seemed to have gone well, she came straight from the station so had her overnight bag which a local Shih Tzu took a liking too, sniffing the bag.

I hope that he enjoyed our brief tour of the city, I had to work on Wednesday so went to bed after dinner. Mike and Kath spend a few more hours having drinks and reminiscing.

Pleasure

Kasia and I headed to Anglesey to spend part of the long weekend with Bruce, Nina, Connie and Kath - Nina's Mum.

Nina had rented a cottage on the Island for a week family getaway. Unfortunately Bruce's parents had a car issue and could not join along.

Driving down on Saturday, it was the first long drive since I bought the BMW. It performed excellently on the long stretch of A55. While driving we listened to the latest album from Feist, entitled Pleasure.

The place we stayed at was called Clynnog Estate - a set of converted farm buildings and new build houses. We stayed at number 1, which I think was a converted barn or out building. Inside it was very well appointed, tastefully furnished with a large open plan dining kitchen and living space.

Saturday evening Bruce and I travelled to Menai and got a takeaway curry from Taste of India. I took chicken jaipuri special and Kasia had the sylhet chicken special. After dinner we sat in the living space talking and enjoying a few drinks. Nina's Mum amused us as she was by tracking the progress of the boxing match between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Kithschko on her phone. We really enjoyed their company it felt very natural and relaxed.

On Sunday we started with Connie asking us: 'What doing?' and a 6 km jog from the house round the to the nearest village. It was windy but we got a great view out. Arriving back to find Nina had made a lovely full English breakfast.

After breakfast we went for a look around Plas Newydd House. One of the National Trust properties on the Island, it was formally the residence of the Marquis of Angelsey. Inside it proved to be a fascinating house. Set in a stunning location with a views across the Menai straight. While exploring the house we were fortunate to catch a theatrical performance. A lady dressed in period costume talked us through the famous mural painted by Rex Whistler. He reputedly had an liaison with Caroline Paget, painting her nude, though there is some debate as to whether she posed or he used his imagination. After walking round the house we had a stroll arounds the gardens, then a play in the adventure park. Connie had a great time.

The thirst

This evening I took the opportunity to see Jo Nesbo speak. He was launching his new book the thirst. Along with Waterstones he had arranged a talk, Q&A and book signing in Liverpool at oh me oh my. The latest book the thirst is the 11th instalment of Nesbos' work following detective Harry Hole.

Battling traffic I arrived just in time to catch the start. Jo told us the correct way to pronounce both his own name and Harry Hole (apparently it is Harry HOO-LEH). When writing the first Harry Hole book the Bat, (which is set not in Oslo but in Sydney Australia) Nesbo deliberately chose a name that would be mispronounced in English, as a sort of in joke for hte Norwegian readers. At the time he had no idea the Harry would be around for 11 volumes most of which are set in Oslo. He than talk about writing. It was interesting to learn that when he re-read the books he can see thing that were going on in his own life that perhaps he didn't connect at the time. Also interesting to find that his father fought on the German side during the war and this memory influenced the Redbreast.

I think I was almost last in the queue to get my book signed, I asked Jo if he got cramp signing so many but he is a seasoned pro.

I think that the last time I went to a talk by an author was when Martina invited me to go and see Cormac McCarthy. That was thanks to Simply Books in Bramhall, I think all the way back in 2008? Seems like a lifetime ago.

Now off to start reading, so excited to find out what is next for Harry Hole :)

Decathlon Sport Series

Seems like they used a picture of me running in last years Decathlon sports series on the advertising for this year!I am famous, if anybody wants my autograph I'll be at the next Decathlon sport series at Woodbank in Stockport :)

Clayton Vale Easy Rider

Today Kath and I headed to Clayton Vale, a purpose built mountain bike track next to the National Cycling centre in Manchester.

We started off following the easy rider blue trail to get the feel for the track. Then took a second loop round the more challenging Newton Heath Sidewinder. The sidewinder is more challenging with berms, cheeky adverse cambers interspersed with short, sharp climbs and descents. Kath did a great job navigating the tracks.

We finished with a well earned coffee in the Velopark cafe.

10000 days of the web

Belfast

Kath and I decided to head to Belfast for the weekend. We flew out Friday morning on easy jet arriving just after 9. Taking the bus from the international airport to the town centre, then a short walk to the Hilton Hotel by the waterfront.

Saturday morning we headed out to do a parkrun at the Waterworks. Then headed out along the coastal road to have a look at the dark hedges, rope bridge and giants causeway.

The coastal road was spectacular a really lovely drive, providing epic sea backdrops.
 
Dark hedges is a famous tree lined scene that has been the backdrop for many films and TV shops including Game of Thrones.

The rope bridge (Carrick a Rede) was erected by Salmon fishermen as a way of crossing to Rathlin Island. There was a huge queue to get across, but it was well worth it when we did, epic vistas over the coast.

Dark Hedges

Kath on the Ropebridge

Giants causeway

 

DevWeek 2016

I was fortunate to be able to attend DevWeek 2016 at the Westminster Hall in London. This year I got to hear talks from Microsoft, Google and a lot of leading industry experts.

There were a few themes of the week, at least for the lecture which I attended. I was mostly interested in the Web technologies, so it was interesting to hear about the new frameworks vying for attention especially reactjs and angular. It was also interesting to hear a contract from google, apps have great engagement but its hard to get people to use them. Whereas the web has a low engagement but people can easily access content. There is basically an attempt to converge them by improving the ability to search inside applications. Whereas the browsers are playing catchup to be able to provide the same functionality as applications.

My favourite talk of the week was from Sander Hoogendoorn titled "Beyond breaking bad: the current state of Agile in 10 easy lessons". It was a thought provoking talk which echoed many things I have thought about our own agile process. Fortunately we don't have red sprints, but was are terrible at estimates!

Manchester Marathon

In spite of the knee problems I've been suffering in the past few weeks, I managed to run the

Kath and I pre race

Manchester Marathon in 4:29:32.

Its a weird feeling the culmination of 5 months of training.

The day started off cold, we had to scrape ice off the car, and at Parrs Wood metrolink station I had to wipe ice off the metrolink map in order to be able to count the stops.

Arriving at Old Trafford Cricket club we were greeted with hoards of people milling around in chaotic fashion. There large queues of people as there weren't enough loos. The queue for the baggage drop was so stupid that we decided Kath would take my stuff.

I was slightly late for the start but that didn't matter as unlike the Great Manchester run the start was simply a rolling one the waves meaningless. Undaunted I started off, at first it was hard to run as the crowds were so thick, but as the miles went by it all opened up. I overtook the 4:30 pacer and the 4:15 pace team, and was pretty happy about everything.

Post race with Erdinger

I was running really well round and out of Manchester towards Sale than Altrincham, I even passed by my office. The sun came out and by 2 hours a in the cold had been replaces by glorious sunshine. Unfortunately I started to overheat a little. The long sleeve top I had felt cold in only an hour before was now too hot. I carried on looping back past the 16 mile point. At 18 miles though I started to feel very tired my pace dropped and I was overtaken by the 4:15 pacer. I was hot and tired but determined to finish, I ran / jogged to the end, the last 3 miles felt longer than the proceeding 23. When I spotted the finish line it was just under a mile to go, I tried to keep running, but finished at a jog just under the 4:30 mark.

At the finish line I grabbed my Erdinger alkoholfrei, medal and goody bag then met Kath, Jo, Holly and Autumn. Jo's sister Lauren was also running, she was three minutes faster than me!

I felt great in mind but my body felt wreaked, my knee pain was back with vengeance, so after a brief chat with fellow runner Aleksandra and her partner Graeme, Kath and I headed home. Though we did stop at McDonalds to refuel!

After a few hours rest Kath and I headed back into Manchester to have dinner with  Aleksandra and Graeme. We ate at Bills restaurant on Deansgate a lovely and eclectic diner with very friendly staff. They gave us our dessert complimentary after we told the waitress we had run the marathon. The puddings were delicious, I had treacle tart and it was excellent.

Alive

This weekend Anya and Silvio visited us. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip they arrived on Friday night after travelling up from Cambridge. Unfortunately Kath was working and unable to switch shifts. They both arrived late so we got a take out curry from Ayo Gurkali.

They bought us an amazing gift of two Tassen bowls with faces, I already enjoyed eating my cereal out of them.

Saturday Kath was still working, I took Anya and Silvio on a tour of Manchester. We took the train to Piccadilly then walked into town. Starting on Dale Street at the Nexus At cafe before waling round the triangle then to the Cathedral. From there Kind street via St Annes Square  to the Town hall. Lunching in the Waterhouse before heading to Chinatown to see the Arch then on to the Museum of Science and Industry. We went to view the exhibition on Cravings. I found it quite interesting, it reinforced some of the things I saw on Trust me I am a Doctor. Basically gut microbes have a huge effect of digestion, and ultimately on health. One really interesting gadget was a digital device which was able to stimulate different tastes an flavours by using electrodes on applied to the tongue. Imagine this together with one of the virtual reality systems you could really be immersed in a virtual world, I hope this wont result in the Matrix scenario!

It was really nice to have Silvo and Anya over, it has been to long since we last met at Pauls stag do in Berlin. Hopefully it won't be so long until the next time we meet up.

Today I had the Oulton Park half marathon. Six laps of the race track got a little monotonous by lap 6 I was glad to finish, even if my time was a little of my best pace set in Glasgow. This time though my training is more about distance than pace so unsurprising that the speed was lower. I really liked the medal though, in the shape of a chequered flag.

Missed the boat

Saturday evening Kath and I hosted a gathering with Matt, Christelle and Nina. Bruce would have come but was working setting up a huge disk array.

Kath spent the day cooking various Tex Mex dishes, inspired by a recent trip to Chiquito. For starters She made tostadas, with toppings of pulled pork, sweet potato with feta, and Choritzo. There was a side of home made guacamole and sweetcorn salad. For the main we had chilli with potato wedges. I spent the day cleaning the house and doing some DIY. Amazing how the little jobs build up.

Nina arrived first, Connie spending the night at grandparents. She seemed in a good mood we had a chat about Phil's big news while eating doritos and waiting for Matt. As a FU to Jeremy Hunt and the Suns outrageous Moet medic article we started the evening with two bottles of Champaign. A little extravagant but a celebration of Kaths job.

It was a nice relaxed evening, everybody seemed to enjoy Kaths food, I was very impressed with what she pulled off.

Sunday morning I felt a little hung over which wasn't a great help for my marathon training. I managed to get to 17 miles but then I had to stop. I made it home a little later than planned as we were hosting my parents for Mexican leftovers. They seemed to enjoy the chilli, and it was nice to make a meal for them for a change.

Last night we went to see the Revenant. Personally I didn't enjoy it, while the cinematography and acting were good there were far too many contemplative moments, it was overall way too long and I still don't understand how if the Indian Rea were such amazing trackers they were unable to find either Glass or Powaqa. I have however been enjoying the Meerkat movies offers with Kath, Overall the fact that its both Tuesday and Wednesday makes it an even better offer than Orange Wednesday (even if there is a small charge to book).

The big short

Kath and I used Meerkat movies to got and see the big short. A film about the reasons behind the huge financial crash of 2008, and the few voices who predicted it. I though that it is a great film which manages to turn the boring financial subjects into an understandable and interesting backdrop for a film.

In short banks got rich selling bundles of loans off as Collateralized debt obligations, these bundles of loans were sold as containing good mortgages with low default rates. Unfortunately over time the banks got greedy and found ways to bundle increasingly bad loans, until they included loans for NINJAs (Not in a Job Applicants). The ratings agencies kept putting A grade on and the deals went on and on until in 2008 the liabilities started to get called in and the whole system collapsed. 

It brought me back to 2005 when I worked for a broker business in the UK. The government was bringing in the Consumer Credit Act 2006. Among other things made it included requirement for loan documentation to show the total amount that was repayable. I vividly remember one moment during the user acceptance phase, in which we showed the updated documents to some of the end users.

I went to the leader of one of the sales teams, and she asked if the figures were correct. I said of course, the calculation is simple for a fixed rate loan. You multiple the payments by the period and deduct the original borrowing, giving the total amount payable in interest. She then said, she didn't believe it, the amount looked too high. So I asked her to grab a calculator, multiply the payment by the 300 month term and deduct the original borrowing. She was very surprised by the result, bear in mind they specialised in consolidation loans which were in 2006 expensive (between 7 - 12% interest). She did sell them all day long so I was surprised how little grasp of the costs she had. What really surprised me though was as I walked away she said "Well the lenders never expect them to pay it back anyway". At the time I thought what a weird thing to say, but now in the context that these loans would probably have ended up in CDO's the market for this being bigger than the profit on the loan in fact the bank didn't care too much! An insane system no wonder it failed.

Civilization

I've just finished Civilization: The Six Killer Apps of Western Power by Nial Ferguson. He makes some compelling arguments for the success of the Western world over the the rest. He terms the six killer apps

• Competition
• Science
• Medicine
• The Rule of Law
• Consumption
• Work Ethic

I broadly agree with his thesis and there is some interesting historical fact backing up the arguments. I found the bit about the protestant work ethic a bit of a stretch, but overall a really good read. It made me wonder if we really are seeding our own destruction by allowing the erosion of the rule of law and failing to instil a good level of education on the masses.

I got an example yesterday when my colleague and I were talking about a sugar free drink, I related a piece from BBC TV's Trust me I'm a doctor, in which they showed that saccharine an artificial sweetener can cause (in some people) a rise in blood sugar. At which point another colleague piped in "yeah because the Nazis experimented on the Jews with aspartame". I know what your thinking, saccharine is a different sweetener than aspartame! I'm not sure where on earth she got this one from. the NAZI's did indeed experiment on the Jews in terrible human trials. Not however with aspartame, given it wasn't actually synthesised until 1964, nearly 20 years after the second world war ended.

I put together a timeline;

• 1879 Saccharin discovered
• 1^st September, 1939 Start of World War 2 establishment of Jewish Ghettos
• 17^th July 1941 Hitler gives Himmler responsibility to eliminate “any perceived threat to German Rule
• October 1941 OPERATION REINHARD sees upto 2 million Jews killed across Europe
• Spring 1942 establishment of Auschwitz-Birkenau as  a mass killing facility, in which 1 million Jews were murdered mostly using poison gas Zyklon B
• 1^st August 1944 Warsaw uprising, the aftermath of which led to the Germans raising the entire city of Warsaw. Up to 200,000 people were executed. There included soldiers, Jews and Polish civilians who harboured Jews
• 9^th May 1945 Victory in Europe
• 2^nd September, 1945 End of World War 2 following atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• 25^th June 1950 Start of Korean War
• 27^th July 1953 Division of Korea
• December 1965, while James Schlatter was re-crystalling aspartame from ethanol, the mixture spilled onto the outside of the flask. Some of the powder got onto his fingers. Later, when he licked his fingers to pick up a piece of paper, he noticed a very strong sweet taste.

Sunburn

Judging by this year's presents haul I have successfully transitioned from a couch potatoe to a runner. I got a run light from Kath to shine a light in dark places, a useful pouch and drinking bottle from Paul and Saskia. It s all useful as I train for my first marathon in April. Yep you read that correctly, I have signed up to run 26.2 miles. So far my longest distance is 15 miles but I have a couple of months to train so hopefully I will make it.

Bruce must think I am destined for a life of crime, he gave me an amazing see through padlock and a set of lock picks.

Regardless of the presents it was a special Christmas  for me as Kath and I spend our first ever Christmas day together. Previously she had always been working. Its been a year of changes for us, Kath moved over to the UK for good in March. Then just this month she started her first job in the UK at the Countess of Chester hospital. I could not be more proud of her.

We went to see my parents on Christmas day they made the traditional meal, whether it was because Kath was joining us for the first time the meal was spectacular. The turkey cooked to perfection and even though he nearly forgot to give us the potatoes they were done to perfection.

Two pieces of transport related news today, I contacted TfGM to enquire whether there were any plans to port the excellent journey planner to mobile devices.

Great news;

I am pleased to advise you that TfGM are currently building and testing new travel planning tools. At the end of this year we will have scheduled travel information on the TfGM website.
We will then build on this in early 2016 by including real-time information for bus, train and tram. At this time, we will also enable customers to register for updates on services they are interested in; notifications and information on updates will come to you via email, text alerts and push alerts to mobile apps. This service will enable customers to receive information regarding cancellations or delays for services they have registered for.
This information will be available on the TfGM website and will be mobile friendly. Along with this, TfGM will also be delivering dedicated mobile apps on iOS Apple devices, Android and Windows Phone.
Additionally, real-time data will be integrated into information displays at the more recent TfGM interchanges; however, real-time data will not be available at bus stops. Updates on this will be found on the TfGM website in the near future:

In addition to this, Manchesters' smart card for transport 'getmethere card' is too be made available for bus travel. You can load getmethere with the SystemOne travel cards. You can order a getmethere card for free (for a limited time). It seems to be accepted by most bus companies operating in Manchester.