Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent.
They imagine.
They heal.
They explore.
They create.
They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

This was created by Apple for and advert but that doesn’t make it bad.

Tags: advert,apple
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At the back end of 2009 my company announced they needed to lose about 60 staff out of 150 in the UK on the account I work.

I had a few choices

1. sit tight and hope I wasn’t selected
2. put my name down to go
3. find another role on another account

Moving to another account would mean I’d have to take standard terms and conditions, giving up my final salary pension plan, 4 weeks per year redundancy pay and a 35 hour week. For this I’d get another job more likely than not on the same money and it would be no more secure a job than then one I would be leaving.

I was tempted to sit tight but I expect the company will push to close the final salary pension scheme and I’m expecting more redundancies next year by which time they could conceivably have removed the 4 weeks per year redundancy pay too.

So I decided that if I was going to lose those benefits then I might as well get something for them and opted to put my name down to go. There was a chance the company would not let me go but indications were that they would try to let those go that put their name forward. If they let me go I had the headache of finding a new job but with money in my pocket which meant I could survive 18 months without work if i needed to. Plus the big bonus that if I found a job quickly I could demolish the back of the house and rebuild it with a nice new kitchen.

Early January I found out I’d been selected and was on notice to leave in May.

I’ve had a few sleepless nights since worrying if I made the right choice, it’s a tough market out there and I’ve been re-assessing whether I want to stay in IT management or look for something different. I expect I’ll stay in IT management but it does seem like it would be the easy route, maybe I should jack it in and go and work on the ferries.

I’m still not certain on my future direction which is exciting but I have an updated CV and intend to spend this weekend looking for jobs.

If anyone has any bright ideas for career changes or knows of a job then please let me know!

I have thought of doing photography but frankly I don’t think I’m good enough. I think my ideal job would be one where I could talk crap and make money from it maybe Michael Winner or Tim Leunig can point me in the right direction.

Tags: Career,CV,New Job,Redundancy
Categories: Work
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I’ve got a new bike using the government backed cycle scheme.

I only really wanted to buy all the wet weather gear for cycling during the winter but ended up with a new bike.
It’s so much easier than the mountain bike for the commute. The recent weather has tested out the clothing well. Waterproof overshoes aren’t very effective but the rest I’m quite happy with.

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Ok, so back now with an upgrade…

Unfortunately I need to reload my photos… ;-(  Entirely my own fault mind.

Categories: Internet, Website
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Ok, so I’ve trashed my photo gallery…

I hope to have it back up and running soon..

Deleting the backup and the back up of the back up in a cavalier fashion isn’t helping…

Categories: Tech, Website
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After the palacete we headed over to Ribadesella and the Gran Hotel De Sella.

If you get a room in the old part then this hotel is good but the modern concrete block on the side is a bit of a shame.

Still, a great location in the bay with some great seafood restaurants.

Tags: Honeymoon,Ribadesella,Wedding
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After Sanxenxo we went to Figueras del Mar across the River Eo from Ribadeo. It’s just in side Asturias.

On the way we went to the Semaforo de Bares. The hotel there is up high on a peninsula overlooking the sea. It’s quite breathtaking a view.

It was a pity we couldn’t fit in a nights stay there are the hotel looked cool (http://www.semaforobares.com/).  T

We stayed at the Palacete de Peñalba which I can heartily recommend (http://www.hotelpalacetepenalba.com/).

The coast up there is excellent.

Tags: Figueras del Mar,Honeymoon,Palacete de Peñalba,Semaforo de Bares,Wedding
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On day three we went to the beach.

On day 4 we went to Santigao de Compostella.

The historic old town is excellent but it is a little overrun with pilgrims…

Tags: Honeymoon,Santiago de compostela,Wedding
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Given we didn’t finish partying until nearly 6am we took the first day nice and gently and stayed in Campo de Criptana.

A relaxed breakfast at the hotel around noon and then we met up with those who had stayed around for dinner in the square.

Day 2 and we drove all the way to the north west coast of Spain to Sanxenxo. I took us about 9 hours including one lunch stop. So about 8 hours driving.

We stayed in the Gran Hotel de Sanxenxo which had this view.

Tags: Honeymoon,Sanxenxo,Wedding
Categories: Wedding
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We had a great time at our wedding and would like to thanks all the people who made it out to Spain to celebrate it with us.

Thanks particularly to Paddy for taking lots of photos on my camera on the day.

It was about 39 degrees C.

The wedding wasn’t until 6.30pm so, after getting the car washed, I spent most of the rest of the day in or near the pool. I was a little surprised when I went to wash the car as the guy in the garage asked if it was me getting married. How word spreads.

When the photographer turned up at the hotel at 4.30 for some pre-wedding photos, I was still in my trunks and had a job trying to organise my brothers to get some clothes on for the photographer.

(Click the photos for the album)

Apart from a slight problem with the coaches which meant I was nearly late rather than the Bride, the day went really well.

The coaches were due at 5.30pm but there was a misunderstanding and they were waiting for us in one place whilst we were waiting for them at the hotel. As the old streets are narrow, they couldn’t get the coaches up to the hotel.

We eventually found them at about 6.10pm and I got to the church at about 6.30. Fortunately Marieta had been told I (and all the guests in the coaches with me) was running late.

After that the wedding went without a hitch.

Tags: Campo de Criptana,El encinar de haldudo,La Mancha,Las Musas,Wedding
Categories: Wedding
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