Helen Lynn ([info]claerwen) wrote,
2004-09-03 20:33:00
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Nothing interesting has happened to me lately, but here's a good anecdote from my boyfriend.

T and colleague—both programmers—had a time management training session with a consultant today. Nuggets, delivered entirely earnestly, included:
  • If people tend to go on too long in meetings, consider sawing down the front legs of their chair a bit, so they slide off and leave.
  • Think how much time you could save if you didn't sleep as much!
  • Have you thought of listening to music while cycling?
Did you get that last one? That's right, you too can improve your productivity by undertaking your morning cycle commute whilst listening to the soothing strains of (say) Bach over your headphones. But only, presumably, if the nurses let you use your laptop. Productive use of "downtime" was also covered:
T's colleague: Hang on a minute—what exactly do you mean by "downtime"?
Consultant: Um, you know, when your computer is down—
T's colleague: —then I fix it.
Consultant: Well, if email is down—
T's colleague: —then I fix it.
Consultant: Uh, well, if the network is down—
T's colleague: —then... I fix it.
The consultant caved at that point, but only, unfortunately, temporarily.

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  • 19 comments

[info]owdbetts

September 3 2004, 18:25:54 UTC 7 years ago

Nothing interesting has happened to me lately, but here's a good anecdote from my boyfriend.

Well, apart from actually buying a boat; surely that counts as intersting? And besides, you misspelt ‘boyfiend’ -:)

I really hope the rest of the post is a piss-take, but somehow I suspect it isn't :-/

Of course for me, if computers, e-mail or the network are down that makes me more busy, since I'll obviously be running around fixing things...

-roy

[info]claerwen

September 4 2004, 15:48:00 UTC 7 years ago

Well, apart from actually buying a boat

Yeah, but I've already posted about that :-)

I really hope the rest of the post is a piss-take

Nope, all true, depressingly.

[info]owdbetts

September 4 2004, 16:25:52 UTC 7 years ago

Ish. Your last post said If all goes as expected, we will complete the purchase in just under two weeks' time

There's a big difference between that and actually owning a boat :-)

-roy

[info]claerwen

September 4 2004, 16:32:52 UTC 7 years ago

True, true; if we hadn't completed the purchase, there would've been a rant by now, though :-)

I don't really know what to say about Roe, to be honest. She's still fantastic, but not in any novel way, and the mooring ban controversy is too depressing, and I haven't had much chance to plan the move or sort out the adaptations we need to make so no updates there.

[info]owdbetts

September 4 2004, 16:41:15 UTC 7 years ago

I saw Roe this afternoon (from a distance) whilst cycling back from Chesterton... :-)

The mooring ban sucks. Is the protest against it not making any headway?

[info]owdbetts

September 4 2004, 16:46:24 UTC 7 years ago

Is the protest against it not making any headway?

Checks Camboaters web site... The issue is being debated by the City Council on Thursday, thanks to two LidDem councillors. I hope you voted for them :-)

[info]claerwen

September 4 2004, 16:51:36 UTC 7 years ago

Yeah, they've tabled a motion expressing regret at the Cam Conservators' decision, and calling upon them to reverse it at their next meeting and to work with boat clubs to find a way of dealing with congestion based on a traffic management scheme. Which is good. But because the Conservators' next meeting, and therefore their only opportunity to reverse the ban before it comes into force, is not till 23rd Sept, we won't know until the ban start date is almost upon us...

[info]owdbetts

September 4 2004, 16:57:55 UTC 7 years ago

Always assuming that the motion passes, but I presume that's quite likely...? I notice the comment on the Camboaters site that the Council meeting is open to members of the public...

I would hope that the Conservators would at least put the ban in abeyance whilst they consider the Council's opinion...

If not, then I gather you're planning to emigrate to Ely so I'll probably never see you again :-)

-roy

[info]claerwen

September 4 2004, 17:03:17 UTC 7 years ago

Always assuming that the motion passes
The Conservators are being asked separately, directly, to reconsider too. And there's a petition with two or three thousand names on it.

I gather you're planning to emigrate to Ely
Not sure where we'll end up, but it needs to be either within easy cycling distance of Cambridge (ie, cyclable in winter weather without meaning we turn up to work covered in a pleasant mixture of mud and sweat) or near a railway station; the latter would mean Waterbeach or Ely, for six months of the year. Needless to say, we'd much rather not...

[info]owdbetts

September 4 2004, 17:13:56 UTC 7 years ago

Ooh, a keep [info]claerwen in Cambridge petition; where do I sign? :-)

[info]claerwen

September 4 2004, 17:22:01 UTC 7 years ago

Why, thank you!

[info]claerwen

September 4 2004, 17:28:53 UTC 7 years ago

(and please do sign the petition; there was a copy at the Cheese Shop in All Saints' Passage last time I was there, as one of their staff lives on a boat, and you can sign online at http://www.petitiononline.com/rivercam/petition.html.)

[info]owdbetts

September 5 2004, 12:38:44 UTC 7 years ago

Thanks; will have a look if it's still there next weekend.

I'd rather sign the paper one; paper petitions carry little enough weight as it is; online petitions are next to worthless...

-roy

[info]intray42

September 7 2004, 02:22:17 UTC 7 years ago

It isn't worthless when you read all the supporting comments on the online petition, which you don't get on the paper ones. Take a look - some good points are made.

:o)

[info]khepriamon

September 4 2004, 23:47:04 UTC 7 years ago

I've been to Ely. Whatever in the name of the ten lost tribes of Israel would cause you to live in Ely? Truly, it is one of the most godforsaken villages in Anglia -- and gods know there are enough of them.

sgc

[info]claerwen

September 5 2004, 04:58:14 UTC 7 years ago

Even if Ely weren't a city by virtue of its cathedral, it would definitely be a town, not a village, and it's masses bigger and more bustling than the town I grew up in. Admittedly there's nowhere near as much to do there as in Cambridge, but why do you think it's godforsaken? It has a big supermarket and plenty of shops and decent pubs, and a leisure centre and a cinema and at least one choir and a band, and it has a railway station and bus services.

If the ban on mooring where we're currently moored does come into force in October and we can't find alternative moorings in Cambridge, we will have to move the boat downriver to somewhere that has a railway station, because we don't drive and need to be able to get into town to work and see friends. That gives us a choice between Ely and Waterbeach (although I have no idea whether we've a chance of finding moorings in either of those places either).

[info]khepriamon

September 5 2004, 08:25:07 UTC 7 years ago

True enough; by virtue of its population Ely is a town rather than a village. You are correct, there are "things" in Ely and the cathedral is lovely. But I found the people of Ely to be rather unfriendly. I am willing to consider that it may be a result of my being a "yank" at a time when yanks weren't all that popular (late 70s, early 80s). I did learn that "fenmen" had a reputation for being a bit crusty even before Yanks arrived. Or maybe it was just me.

sgc

[info]claerwen

September 5 2004, 08:30:18 UTC 7 years ago

It has probably changed a bit since then. It's part of the Cambridge commuter belt now so there will be more incomers and younger people.

[info]mouse262

September 6 2004, 04:57:46 UTC 7 years ago

It has a woolworths - half way up a hill if I remember correctly.
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