Mad dash round the world

I am currently waiting for the first leg of my dash round the world to board. From auckland I head to Singapore then on to the UK.
Normally I spend around 3 weeks in the UK when I head home. This time I get two and a half days then it's off the Antwerp via Brussels on the Eurostar.
The main reason for this trip is to attend the NAV TechDays conference. Hoping there will be lots of interesting things around the next release of NAV being show and talked about.
Friday it's back on Eurostar and back to the UK. Saturday morning off to heathrow and fly back to New Zealand.
I am also aiming to catch up with some friends but as time is limited I won't get to see many of them. Also as I have never been to either Brussels or Antwerp before I am hoping to get some time to have a look around.
Should be a full on week.


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Location:Hape Dr,Auckland Airport,New Zealand

New toys

I finally got round to buying myself some new toys.

First up was a iPad 2.

Next was a new car, my old one has been steadily getting worse. One of the cylinders has stopped compressing and it's costing a bomb in petrol. To get the engine taken apart and fix is mire than it is worth so time for a new one. I ended up getting a Nissan Steaga.













Next up was a replacement for my netbook and Walkman that had been stolen. I opted to go Apple and got an iPod touch and a MacBook Air.

So after years of not going Mac I know have to figure them out and go through my media library and se what needs re ripping etc.

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Location:Auckland

The Green Thing

I just got this in an email. Normally I don’t bother too much with them but I thought this one was good so here it is:

 

In the line at the supermarket, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."

She was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the factory to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.

They were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in a 220 volt energy gobbling machine - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right; they didn't have the green thing back in her
day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of a cricket pitch. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. They didn't have air conditioning or electric stoves with self cleaning ovens They didn't have battery operated toys, computers, or telephones.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn fuel just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They used hand operated clippers to trim the shrubs.  They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a glass filled from the tap when they were thirsty instead of using a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people walked or took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

Scotland part 2

Thursday saw a beautiful clear sky and warm sun. Today we had book to go to the Isles of Mull and Iona. After Breakfast we boarded the ferry to Mull. While on this trip we weren’t going got go and see Duart castle I did get a chance to take photos of it from the ferry.

Once we got to Mull itself we were met by the coach and were soon on a nice trip towards Iona. The driver was very knowledgeable and gave lots of information about the island and what we were seeing around the coach.

Mull is beautiful rugged place, and there are a number of old ruined houses. These mainly date back to the times of the highland clearances, when many of the local population were shipped overseas. This has led to the population of Mull dropping to around 3000. At its height there were around 10000 people on the island.

While we didn’t see any eagles we did see a couple of red dear.

Once we got to Fionnphort we crossed to the Isle of Iona. The isle houses an abbey originally founded my Saint Columba in the 4th or 5th century, and it is only in the last 40 years that the island has passed from private ownership. Iona was also beautiful and we passed the time looking at the old nunnery, abbey and by hiking to the top of Dun 1. From there we got superb views across the western isles of Scotland.

Scotland

While on my trip home mum had arranged for a trip to Scotland for a few days.

So Tuesday Morning we went to Stanstead to catch a flight to Glasgow. The flight was with Ryan Air. I hear people give them a hard time for hidden costs and poor service but really as a budget airline I found them fairly good. I mean you do have to pay for everything, and i mean everything including checking in to your flight, but it still cheaper than flying with some of the other airlines.

The trip up was pretty smooth and once in Glasgow, we pick up a car and headed towards Oban.

Scotland being Scotland had fairly changeable weather. We arrived to over cast skies, by the time we reached the bottom of Loch Lomond it was raining, but after stopping for some food it cleared.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent a bit of time taking photos and then carried on up the side of the Loch, stopping at Tarbet to take some more shots. The weather stayed fine. 

As we headed on again slowly the rain came back on the drive but again by the time we got to Oban it had cleared.

Went for a walk around the town to get information on what else to do while here and have some dinner. While we were eating the rain came back, but fairly quickly passed.

In the evening we went to McCaig’s Tower. Built in the last years of the 1800’s , it was commissioned by John Stuart McCaig. He was an esteemed banker and land owner in Oban. He had seen that a good number of he local masons had very little work over the winter months so he commission a memorial to be built for his family. It was only worked on in the winter months and took 7 years to build. It offers splendid views over the town and nearby Isle’s

Holiday Time

Every couple of years I try to get back to the UK to see family and friends. I was last home in 2008 so it was time for another trip.

2010 also sees my eldest son turn 18, how time passes. This was used an an excuse to have a big family get together. I got to talk to some of my cousins that I haven’t seen in 8 years. Some had changed, some where still very much the same.

It is always nice to catch up with family, and it’s something I don’t do very often, so I’d like to say congratulations to all of my cousins that have gotten engaged, married or had kids since I last got to see you. Hopefully it won’t be 8 years before the next time.

Update Time

OK so I have been slack. Just realised its been over 8 months since I posted.

So what's happened in all that time?

Work wise I now have the grand title of Practice Lead Dynamics Solutions Northern Region, and have been busy with projects and trying to get stuff in place with my new practice.

Intergen were in the finals for Best Places to Work again, although we didn’t win our category we did improve on previous years.

We have 4 solutions in the Microsoft best solutions awards, find out on Thursday if any have won.

Aside from that we have been busy busy busy.

 

Away from work I still haven’t managed to get out and dive, something i really must get back into.

Been doing more on the re-enactment front, but still would like to be doing even more.

Currently on a well earned break in Aussie.

 

Current goals:

Blog more

Dive more

Train more, I need to get fit and loose a few kg’s

Sort through all my photos and get rid of those that aren’t any good