Handwringing doomsayers

It occurred to me today that my entire working life has been touched by the negative vibes of those who claim the 'end is nigh'.

5pm and still in the office

So I am an idiot. I've spent far too much of the last eight and a bit years of my life repeatedly falling for the same big fat lie.

It's limited my social life, hobbies, time with my family and even compromised my marriage on occasions. It's the 'macho culture of long hours'; a corrosive, unhealthy and unproductive approach to work that promises a great deal but delivers very little.

They're potentially (but probably not) watching you

Britain is apparently best at cctv which is nice... But a spat that's been played out in the pages of York's local paper has suggested the council may have spent lots of money installing cameras, but that doesn't mean anyone's actually watching them.

There are tales of people contacting the police for help when a bike's stolen only to be told there's no useful footage. So just what do the cameras do for us?

Accountability in 'the cloud'

Ignoring the irritating marketing term of 'the cloud', I'm all for putting stuff online. I'm a big user of dropbox, which lets me store files in a datacentre somewhere. I use google docs from time to time, which lets me access a file from anywhere I happen to be. I use Evernote on my laptop, phone and work desktop. It's all good.

But... what about responsibility for that data?

Three quarters gone, some progress

So I've been attempting to better organise my time using GTD for nine months now. Time enough to cook up a baby but not, it seems, sort myself out.

In fact things are a lot better than they were. I'm managing to get pretty much everything done required of my by my two employers. What's suffering however is the other stuff; the doorframe still needs painting, I need to sort out the loft, and our van needs undersealing... just to name a few things. So essentially work... works, but home doesn't yet.

So there's more to do.

There are two, pretty obvious things that I've learnt: The finest organisational system in the world doesn't work if you don't use it and being incredibly organised doesn't help if you fundamentally have too much to do.

The question I face at the moment is do I have more to do than I can actually achieve, or do I just have much further to go in terms of efficiently using my time?

Software protection drives me mad!

Software companies deserve to get paid, those who tirelessly create code need paying, etc etc etc... But nothing makes me want to turn to software hacks and cracks quicker than copy protection systems.

I've recently spent a lot of money on a piece of video editing software (Avid Media Composer). Tonight it crashed and then wouldn't run any more. So I removed it, reinstalled it and then couldn't get the software to activate.

Trawling through the Avid support site reveals nothing of any help, and the forum isn't offering much either.

It's a maddening situation because the copy protection that's designed to stop people sharing the install CD with their friends has actually stopped me, a perfectly legitimate user, from using the product for which I've paid.

This is nothing new either. I once turned to an illegal download of a product because even though I'd bought a valid copy, the copy protection dongle broke and my only option was to find a crack on some nasty warez site.

This annoys me. Software companies, yes you need to protect your interests and I understand why this is a problem for you. But if you make it difficult for me to use your software legitimately I'll find another way, or ultimately choose a different product.

The evangelical right

Just as 'evangelical' Christians and the republican party seem inextricably linked in the US, it seems prominent 'evangelicals' are now increasingly involved with the Conservative party.

Now I don't have a problem with people of faith being involved in politics, in fact I welcome it. We should have more. Those who argue someone's faith is a personal matter and has no place in public life, let alone in government, are missing the point of what it is to be a Christian.

The old voting conundrum

Although I'm already a little bored of the upcoming UK general election I have been giving quite a lot of thought to who I should vote for.

I've been eligible to vote for 15 years, and have always voted the same way. However I've recently been interested by policies being toted by other parties. So I visited a few websites that claim to help offer a solution to the confused voter.

January Blues

Sitting in a coffee shop waiting for someone, who probably isn't going to turn up, I'm musing on what hasn't been a good couple of weeks.

So far, a few weeks into a previously mentioned new split job working arrangement and I don't seem to have more time available (although focus is much better).

There have been a few occasions recently when I only seem able to do the wrong thing.

And then today somebody stole my iPod. Although I do love gadgets I'm not overly materialistic... Easy come, easy go and all that. But this small act of theft came close to pushing me over the edge.

That's not a good place to find oneself.

But before you worry this is slipping to the worst of all blog entries, laced with self pity... My greatest concern is what my response should be.

Yesterday morning (Sunday 7th Feb) Matthew Porter's sermon in St Michael le Belfrey was about the response we should have to trying circumstances.

The message... More Praise.

So as I deal with some personal issues I praise that though they're significant to me, I still have a job, a roof over my head, food to eat and an iPhone on which to type this blog entry.

Out of my concerns, struggles, irritations and frustrations can come anger and bitterness or more praise.

One will be helpful, the other... won't.


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