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July 31, 2008
East for Xmas
Well, stone the crows. Work has turned out to be not so bad a place after all. I had a sideways sort of a conversation with my manager over the past coupe of weeks which ended up with me saying something along the lines of 'I was thinking of asking about taking all my holiday time off together and ...' and before I could finish he'd replied with 'you did that before when you went to India. I can't see that being a problem'. And two days later he'd got the official word from the area manager ('as long as there's cover') and would you believe it, I'm going back to Mysore for Xmas!
Joey! Look out some good bollywood movies!!!
Posted by graeme at 7:59 PM | Comments (1)
July 29, 2008
Small world after all
It just amazes me sometimes how technology is so good at bringing people together. Ok, so phoning my best friend in Switzerland's relatively old hat these days but I can still remember the time when you used to call, even back home to Scotland, and there'd be this 2-3 second delay! You could be sitting on the other side of the world and sound as good as sitting right next to you. Having said that, teleconference calls are still no better.
The the people that find you on the internet. Gads! It's such a small place. Still, it's a great and easy way to keep up to date with what people are up tom, that's if I remember to login and check things out.
Dad, have you worked out yet how to leave comments on this blog????
Posted by graeme at 7:51 PM | Comments (0)
July 28, 2008
Scottie
I was sitting in the park after work this evening, must've been there for about an hour or so, when I realised there was this dodgy looking character standing not so far away from where I was lying. Next thing I knew I felt a soft thud against my side as one of the two scottie dogs he was walking parked itself right up against my backside. Huh! It's not as if this was the smallest park in the city as well, but he was a cute we soul, just sat there panting away in the evening sun. The guy apologised though it really wasn't a problem, but as he wandered off the wee dog resolutely stayed put before finally lifting it's wee bum off and waddled off after him, stopping only to mark his scent on a nearby tree.
Posted by graeme at 6:42 PM | Comments (0)
July 27, 2008
Hibernating
I've been a bit run down the past 2 weeks, ever since the disastrous yoga practice where I had to quit half way through due to the pain my psoas and sciatic nerve were in. In fact I can say I've probably not being feeling 100% since the first module of the teacher training program back in April when I came out in that rash following the vinyasa demo and the sanskrit lecture, something I firmly believe was stress related. Well, I suppose it's not been getting any better, the last week or so my voice has been coming and going and although I've felt ok I've certainly been aware that something, somewhere's been out of kilter. Anways. I had a good talking to from both the teachers on the teacher training course I help out on, one of them practically insisting I go get myself checked out - she thinks I've got something up with my liver, though I found being in their company made me feel a lot better. So amongst other things, I've to look into herbal remedies (from a herbologist - is that the right term), acupuncture and some Vitamn B (high strength). Apparently men my age don't absorb it/produce it as well as we should and as I'm pretty active I should consider supplementing. Well, if she thinks it will help. That and some decent rest I suspect. I actually suggested to her that some good old fashioned TLC from the fairer sex wouldn't go to far a miss either, though through her smile she replied that 'that sort of activity would only deplete my energy levels further!"
Must say I'm missing the friendly faces as the shala, but I know I've certainly been prone to overtraining before so taking a summer break won't do me any harm other than make me appreciate my hamstrings a bit more when I finally get back to practice, probably come the end of the week. When I used to swim competitively the club always used to give the squad a couple of weeks off when the pool had to close for maintenance. The coach used to tell us to get out and do something away from a pool for a while so we could recharge our batteries and come back with some enthusiasm for getting back in to the water. The first 6 weeks back were always pretty hard but you soon became accustomed to the demands being put on your body. There's no harm in being careful.
So another longer lie than usual and some good old fashioned fresh air for me tomorrow.
Oh, and the personal development project goes into beta testing this week. I can't wait until this stuff ships...
Posted by graeme at 8:23 PM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2008
Moving on..
I really should have more faith in my fellow man. I'd bought some stuff on ebay just the other day and I was just at the point of thinking I'd been stung for a couple of hundred pounds when the item I'd bought turned up. Patience, I guess, something more to work on.
It's been lovely and warm here the last couple of days and I've been spending more of it outside than being couped up inside. It's nice to get out into the sunlight during lunch time. My colleague back up in Glasgow's not having so good a time. The air conditioning packed in and it was nearly 92F in the room she was in. That's gotta be tough.
Teacher training again this weekend and I think there's going to be lots of down time for me during the weekend which will be nice.
Oh, and I almost forgot. I'm on the move again. Handed my notice into the estate agents. I've 2 months to find somewhere else to live!
Posted by graeme at 6:39 PM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2008
Just like that
I guess the words "I thought so" come to mind.
I was sitting in the canteen at lunch time when one of my colleagues came up and asked if it was ok to take one of the hard disks out of the machine I used for the major development push at the end of last year. When I asked why I wasn't prepared for the response.
It seems the customer has decided the prefer another system from another provider for the work we were bidding for. The work the team I led back at the end of last year spend nearly 2 man years putting a pilot together in time for Xmas all at pretty much zero cost to the customer. The idea, as it always is, that if we bend over backwards and do all this work for nothing we'll be thanked by being given a huge order for the rest of the estate. Well, our project was a disaster pretty much from the word go, and it was only by some sheer hard work and a good deal of luck that we made the delivery date.
And yes, it got the customer through the Xmas period very nicely thank you. Then, 6 months later, having not paid for the development, it's thank you, but no thanks.
Jeez.Since when did "NO" (as in 'we're not going to do this development for you fot nothing') become such a hard word to use.
Posted by graeme at 7:07 PM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2008
Developer bliss
I haven't had this much fun, or been as productive when developing stuff than I have been today. Ok, it's maybe a bit short of the time I coded for about 12 hours straight and only made a handful of mistakes but that was back in the 4GL coding days and that stuff was pretty straight forward. It's been a great day for me and I know I'll be going off to bed later really happy. One day you might find out and go - Ah, that's when he did this!
At practice today things began to come of the rails. My left tricep's beginning to collapse underneath me in down dogs and now my left wrist is sore too. In fact, my left knee's been painful for about 4 months now there's only my left ankle and I suppose my shoulder and ear on that side that are working ok. Hmmn. I'll have to learn to sleep on my right side one of these days.
Posted by graeme at 8:22 PM | Comments (1)
July 15, 2008
Exciting times
are just around the corner, and if I can keep my head down long enough in front of the coal face, hopefully when I come up to see some sun it's going to be a bright, bright day.
I've had an interesting couple of conversations with people in the last few days. A friend of mine I hold in great respect uttering the phrase 'fabulous idea'; a kid who asked what 'punishment' meant; a girl who said 'ok if I leave you' to which I replied, 'yeah I'll be fine' when my mind was yelling, 'no, don't go'; and an old friend who in good spirit accused me of never having grown up, something I strongly deny - I'm at least 8 years old (mentally), and very happy with it that way too!
The 1-2-1 lessons are going great guns too, and I'm really enjoying passing over the information that I do know and seeing how the results come out. So far it's all been good.
Posted by graeme at 8:02 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2008
Jail's lone Scot...
The sole Scottish prisoner in an English jail is demanding to be served Haggis - on racial grounds... 'there is inadequate provision of food for the Scottish diet'. He says he is being singled out because of his ethnicity, Muslims and Afro-Caribbeans are served their own delicacies. He's also requesting the transfer of other Scottish inmates to the prison so he has someone to talk to.
A source at the jail said 'If we give him Haggis, he'll demand Irn Bru to wash it down'.
Man, ain't life so funny.....
Oh, and on another happy note. Food's started to disappear again from the bottom of the fridge!!
Posted by graeme at 8:53 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2008
Who turned up the voltage?
I went to practice yesterday and started as I normally do with a couple of easy knee and hip stretches. When I got up into the first sun salutes I couldn't believe how achingly sore my hamstrings were, and how tight my back had become since the day before, especially since I'd had a really good practice. Well it didn't get any better. Normally by the 3rd or 4th sun salute things are beginning to loosen off and I can get into my practice. By the 4th sun salute I though my sciatic nerve was going to pull right out of me, it was so electrified I felt I'd been plugged in to the mains.
When I got down to the floor my lower back was so stiff I was finding it hard to reach my toes with my hands let alone get my head anywhere near my knees. I had a couple of assists but I could feel myself resist against them. I didn't go much further and finally called it quits at Marichyasana A after I asked the adjuster not to put me in any further, something I've never done before. I got through to the finishing area before she came through to ask how I was and I explained that I felt like I'd been hit by the proverbial truck.
So I know I'm sleeping on a blow up mattress, which can't help, and I spend most of my days as a desk-jockey at work typing away at computer, but I'd never felt anything so painful before. I was generating heat, but it was coming as a cold sweat more than anything. I'd spent the evening before sitting in a pub working on some stuff and a little time at home outside my front door sitting in the sun but other than that I hadn't done anything out of the ordinary all day. I know I managed to get my head to my knee for the first time in Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana, which was a nice surprise, but I was that close before I doubt the finally few centimeter kicked all this stuff up.
So I took a long bath last night and had this morning off but I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow when I find out whether this ache's as permanent as I fear it may be.
Posted by graeme at 3:44 PM | Comments (1)
July 8, 2008
Counting Crows
Here's some snaps from the concert on Sunday night. It was a mixed bag affair. Some of the new songs were really strong but they missed out Los Angeles which I'm sure would've been just brilliant. Some of the earlier stuff was really well received but there's no real surprise in that. Still, well worth the money..
The venue..
Adam does his thing
Crows made good use of the huge background display
Band on stage during 'Washington Square'
Posted by graeme at 8:25 PM | Comments (0)
July 6, 2008
Rain kings
I'm off to the festival in the park. My favourite band's playing and it's been ages since I last heard them play live. They've a new album out and are touring to promote it, not that they really need to do that anymore as they've a strong loyal fanbase. They're one of the few bands who are happy enough for fans to record their shows and trade them with each other, seeing that as another form of distribution of their songs. As a fan, it means I can find concert recordings for most of their tours. My friend in Glasgow, who's an expert in these things, told me he'd traded recordings for shows from his favourite band from every gig that they played that tour. He said it was almost as good as being there himself, without the expense of course.
I've a funny story about this band and how I came to find there music. The Glasgow friend, when we were working together, told me one day that I should check out this band, he thought I'd really like their music. Being a huge Big Country fan at the time he thought their music was right up my street. I kinda thought his music tastes were a bit too eclectic for me so kinda ignored his suggestion. A few months later, when I was travelling with work, I heard this song playing in the record shop in which I was browsing. Man, it was soooo good I actually went up to the guy at the till and asked him who they were. Pretty much bought the album straight off. When I got back to work the next week I phoned my friend to talk to him about the trip and told him about my discovery. He laughed when I told him the name of the band as it was one and the same as the one he'd tried to get me into those months previously.
Tonight they're closing the bill at this festival. I'm going to enjoy this!
Posted by graeme at 3:12 PM | Comments (0)
July 5, 2008
The things assistants say...
In class this morning I thought I recognised the girl who was adjusting though I couldn't place where I'd seen her before. I think maybe she'd practiced before everyone else the previous week but hadn't stayed behind to help. This week she did. I had a couple of early assists from the teacher, who, as as body worker with years of practice, has some really nice adjustments. When he caught me watching him when I was Mari-B he asked if I was prepping for D. When I replied no, I knew I could catch his eye probably for D and get some help.
When I got to D however, the assistant was practically standing over me and she asked if I wanted some help. I told her I could just about get in myself though I often need a little nudge to make the bind tighter. I'd had some good advice from the class teacher, when I attended their adjustment workshop, to lean way back before coming over to bind, and trying not to use my hand on my knee to work it further under the arm but rather to round my back as much as possible to get my arm as low as possible on my leg, and then try and bind. It makes binder harder to get but you do get a better bind.
The assistant helped on the first, tighter side, and managed to get me in ok, though my ankle and knee of the lotus leg can ache a bit when I'm going in. She used her torso a fair bit to help keep my arm from slipping off the top of my knee. On the other, more open side, I got in a bit deeper though I found it a little bit harder to get my arm round far enough to get bound, being further over the knee. That's when she said to me, "I'll just get my tits in out of the way", as she got her torso in closer to trap my arm over the knee freeing her hands to work my own arm and hand round. Once she helped me bind she took my elbow and helped me straighten up to aid the twist.
I really didn't know what to say other than thank you!
Posted by graeme at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)
July 4, 2008
Yack, yack, yack, yack, yack
Yup, I talked too much. It's just amazing how time can fly by when you've got so much to say. It's a nice change for me to have someone to talk to in the evening. For the past couple of months the personal project's been eating up a lot of my time (and I'm actually writing this blog entry as I wait for the machine to do something) which I spend either in some coffee shop somewhere (no, not starbucks), an internet cafe or at home. So when I went out to the student's house to run through a couple of things with her it was really nice to have someone to talk to. Having said, we didn't spend all the time talking but when you first start out there's a lot of basic information has to be exchanged.
One thing I've to remember is to not walk past the taxi drivers at the train station as the student asked if I was a smoker (heaven forbid!) - she could smell their stink off me. Yeuch. I had a good time. Ran through sun salutes, and all of standing. Had a great chat about basics and worked on some stuff for knees, everyones favourite.
And for sure I have to try and not get too focussed in on what I'm doing to the detriment of everything else. There's lots of good stuff in the big picture too.
Posted by graeme at 5:50 PM | Comments (0)
July 2, 2008
When the teacher is ready the student will appear
Over the past year almost, other than the one off event where I helped my teacher back in Glasgow with her 1-2-1, I've only taught/helped out as part of the modules once a month on the teacher training course. And that's been deliberate. I know the arguments for/against teaching when you're not authorised and all, but as my friend in Miami put it "teach them up to what you know then be happy to send them on their way". So it seems I'm heading back into the world of teaching where I get to explain what I do know, realise all the bits that I thought I knew but don't and generally help out where I can. The fact is I've been waiting until someone would ask if I'd help rather than pushing myself out there, just to see what the Universe would throw my way.
I'm soon going to find out.
In many ways I'm the student in this, and the friend who asked will probably be teaching me more than they actually realise. For sure I'll be passing on what I know but they're going to be a good sounding board for me to hear the words that come out of my mouth, the actions that come out of my hands and the thoughts that come in to my head. Interesting times ahead.
Posted by graeme at 4:06 PM | Comments (0)
July 1, 2008
A You're...
Yesterday was one of those mornings at practice that reminded me what practising in Miami was like in amongst all that heat and warmth. Not that the studio was by any means any warmer than usual but in the way that my body felt a good deal more open than normal. For the first time I managed to find my knee with my head in Mari-A albeit with a fair bit of an angle on the outstretched foot (there's always something else to work on!), but I was surprised because I'd made no progress there for a good couple of months then all of a sudden I'd found an extra bit of gap, or moreover, enough of a gap to allow my torso to come a good bit closer to the floor. Not only that, but when I walked into the shala I was feeling my hamstrings a bit tight, but when I walked out I felt nothing, all the tightness gone. I felt I could've walked back in and started all over again.
Over the weekend the teacher training course was a real blast, partly because there was a few more of the students who stayed over in the hotel and we all went out the eat together after the first full day. My friend from the course in Scotland that I was on was teaching the anatomy, well she is a Doctor after all, so it was really good to catch up with her again and find she had all the same moans that I have so we had a good old bitch about things long after the other students had gone to bed. That's one of the best things about friends I've made through yoga, that you can go such a long time without any contact then when you do meet you pick up as if it was only yesterday that you'd parted from their company.
Today's been a bit of a scorcher though I spent most of it inside bringing one of the other developers up to speed. In fact at on stage I was doing that, instant messaging the other developer in America over a problem we were having, and talking to the project manager all at the same time. Talk about lack of focus. I could feel the tension rise in me all day so when home time came I was super quick to get out and into some sun. All the same, I'm trying to heed what happened last time so didn't spend to long. 1 bout of sun burn's enough for this year I think.
Posted by graeme at 5:25 PM | Comments (0)