jonbeckett73@tumblr

The Enormous Waste of Webspace

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:19:00 +0100

The Enormous Waste of Webspace: This is my new blog. I’ve finally decided to go back to owning and running my own show - my own castle - my own little corner of the interwebs.

I’m wondering if it’s time to start pimping this...

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:41:34 +0100

I’m wondering if it’s time to start pimping this Tumblog.

Back at Work

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:29:32 +0100

I’m back at work this morning, and wondering what to do with myself.

It feels like getting back on a very complex bicycle, and everywhere I look are teams of experienced cyclists.

On the way into work this morning I felt like an outsider. A fake. It feels like I know far more about being a parent now than being a software developer. All of my energies over the last few months have been poured into becoming a better Dad.

I have learned nothing of the platform, products and technologies we use at work. If anything I have become unfamiliar, unpracticed, rusty and very vague about everything.

Perhaps this is the turning of the tide in my career as a “developer” ?

"it is best to win without fighting"

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:16:19 +0100

“it is best to win without fighting”

- Sun-tsu

The trailer for “Appleseed Ex Machina” - one of the...

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:07:00 +0100

The trailer for “Appleseed Ex Machina” - one of the best looking Anime movies I have ever seen.

The Camping Nightmare from Hell

Sat, 31 May 2008 23:08:00 +0100

We have been planning to take the children away for a few days camping for quite some time. We bought a new tent, sleeping bags for the children, and did a deal with Wendy’s Dad over their camping equipment.

The deal went something like this - yes, we could borrow their camping stove on condition that we (a) didn’t take it back, and (b) took the rest of their camping equipment and put it in our loft instead.

We got away with everything except their 1960s frame tent - which we worried would risk the foundations of our house if I winched it into the loft (it’s size and weight are the stuff of legend in our family).

So - on Wednesday morning we found ourselves travelling off towards the west of England to a campsite in the mendip hills. The weather forecast was variable but we are fairly experienced at camping and didn’t forsee any great problems if the weather was bad beyond the children getting bored.

We obviously didn’t expect our tent to experience catastrophic structural failure.

We had just spent a wonderful day at Wookie Hole - a wonderful subterranean cave system in the middle of nowhere - and had a great meal at a nearby pub. We stayed for an extra drink because the weather outside looked pretty bad.

What we didn’t know was the rest of the country was being shown pictures of the area we were staying - with homes being evacuated, flash floods taking cars away, and various other armageddon type situations.

We carried the sleeping children to the car and returned to the camp site after the rain lessened a little - at perhaps 8pm. I was first into the tent, and discovered a huge puddle just inside the door. Wendy’s observational abilities were obviously better than mine - she walked in and noticed the entire roof of the tent was hanging in at a crazy angle.

Over the next 30 seconds we decided to pack everything, rip the tent down and get the children home to their beds. They had a wonderful morning playing with other children on the camp site, and a fantastic afternoon in the caves. We weren’t about to ruin it with a bad night in a cold and broken tent (or even with us all sleeping in the car).

While throwing stuff into the back of the car - stuffing it in any which way - I kept checking on the children, who were wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags - and discovered our 4 year old in tears. This is a lesson to all parents who lift the world onto their shoulders to protect their children - she thought the frantic work of her Dad, who by now was soaked to the skin was her fault… she thought we were going home because she had done something wrong.

A huge cuddle, and summoning of every bit of optimism later, she seemed to be over it, and we carried on the superhuman efforts in the rain.

In the middle of this, the rain of course got worse - and to make things worse still, after leaving the campsite I realised my wedding ring was no longer on my finger. We turned around, and I spent fruitless minutes scanning the place our tent had once been - in vain.

We set off for home with a frightened, upset and very awake little girl repeatedly making observations in the back of the car while her sisters slept. She does this - when worried or upset, she states the obvious about anything and everything. All she’s really doing is finding out if you are listening.

We arrived home just after midnight, and carried the children to their beds. They slept half clothed, with new cuddly dinosaurs from Wookey Hole. The great adventure drew to a close, and they woke the next day to a warm dry house, and chocolate stars for breakfast.

Myself and Wendy woke to mounds of washing, camping equipment, and ruined boxes of food and drink to sort out. Two days later we are getting nearer to clearing it, but it’s been a hard slog. I spent 5 hours straight ironing today as the washing machine and tumble dryer pumped out clothes. I will do the same again tomorrow.

Postscript - the wedding ring turned up in the roof box of the car the next morning. I don’t think Wendy had ever seen me so upset about losing something…

Somewhere safe from little people

Tue, 27 May 2008 14:59:33 +0100

Somewhere safe from little people

"he never gives up, does he"

Mon, 26 May 2008 17:44:29 +0100

“he never gives up, does he”

- our 7 year old daughter, watching Superman Returns

Chocolate Cake for Tidying Up

Mon, 26 May 2008 17:30:41 +0100

I just dealt out the best form of punishment our younger children can grasp for not helping tidy up - the eldest won a chocolate cake for helping me.

The look on their face was priceless.

“Here’s your chocolate cake! - thankyou very much for tidying up.”

“Can we have some?”

“Nope.”

“Awww…. why not?”

“Because you didn’t help tidy up, at all, did you. And have you asked if you could play with your sister’s wand?”

“No…”

“You better give it back then…”

These scenes play themselves out every day in our house.

Tiger by the Tail

Mon, 26 May 2008 13:26:00 +0100

I just walked past the lounge and caught one of our children pulling the cat backwards by his tail. Given that the cat is particularly adept at opening up human skin like a can opener, instant discipline was called for.

It’s quite interesting - asking a 4 year old why they were pulling the cat by it’s tail… all you get is a shrug as an answer. When you ask them what would have happened had the cat turned around and attacked them, you get another shrug.

All of our kids have scratches on their hands dealt out by the cat - and none of them have learned anything yet.

Pirates of the Sea - the song that should have won the...

Mon, 26 May 2008 08:13:08 +0100

Pirates of the Sea - the song that should have won the Eurovision Song Contest…

"he would say that, wouldn’t he"

Sun, 25 May 2008 22:17:00 +0100

“he would say that, wouldn’t he”

- Mandy Rice Davies - at the trial of Stephen Ward

Switching to Tumblr?

Sun, 25 May 2008 22:14:11 +0100

I have been pondering for the last few days about switching to Tumblr for my personal blog. I don’t write the huge posts I once did (I no longer have time to do so), and even if I do, it would seem that Tumblr is a far more suitable solution that Wordpress.

Perhaps I am wrong.

I’m not going to switch today, or tomorrow, but I may well do so soon.

Photo

Sun, 25 May 2008 21:46:26 +0100

"I’m surrounded by idiots"

Wed, 21 May 2008 21:41:23 +0100

“I’m surrounded by idiots”

- Scar, The Lion King

Playing with Tumblr

Wed, 21 May 2008 21:40:28 +0100

I’ve been playing with Tumblr this evening to evaluate it as a longer term blogging tool… it seems very simple - and yet perhaps simple is no bad thing.

Allied with disqus, suddenly it’s a very viable blogging platform.

commented on a blog post on Disqus

Tue, 20 May 2008 00:25:30 +0100

commented on a blog post on Disqus: Re: jonbeckett73@tumblr 45 minutes ago - Comment ”Trying out the disqus comment system in my tumblog.” - Jonathan

published a photo on Flickr

Sun, 18 May 2008 08:47:58 +0100

published a photo on Flickr: ASUS EEE PC Webcam Capture 1 hour ago - Comment

"I wonder if Dabros used case management technology to forge his plans to take over the earth?"

Fri, 16 May 2008 13:14:02 +0100

“I wonder if Dabros used case management technology to forge his plans to take over the earth?”

Youngest Child

Thu, 15 May 2008 20:57:40 +0100

Child: Dad?
Dad: Yes
Child: Hurt
Dad: Where?
Child: Hurt!
Dad: Your elbow? (she is pointing)
Child: Yeah
Dad: How did that happen?
Child: Du da da Buggy de du hurt!
Dad: Rub it better....