Frogg Manor
The meal was every bit as good as I hoped. It’s a really civilised place as well, no hurrying, no crowding.
Liquid Logic Session
I loved the kayak when I tried it on moving water but it was a little sphincter clenching at times. I remember going over a drop that I normally bounce straight through and it just stopped and then sucked me into the (playable but not in a difficult boat) stopper. I thought I was there for the duration but I got a front ender and rolled up out of the stopper. The curved ends made it interesting if you wanted to force your way across the eddy fence into the current. Unfortunately the guy selling the boat was harassed by one of the teenagers and gave in for a quiet life.
River Leven (16th Feb)
Took a group from the club. Rather large (15) but I had plenty of cover from experienced paddlers. Only one swimmer. Poor Greg rolled up to find that his wooly hat had fallen over his face and, of course, he had to keep bracing so he couldn’t push it out of the way. Fortunately he didn’t panic while the rest of us couldn’t stop laughing. A paddler from another group was playing in the wave and pushed him out. Paddled the Big EZ.
UML Course
We did a week-long UML course using Rational Rose. It was very useful and I’ve finally found out how to use Rose. The UML bit made sense of those millions of books I’ve been reading for a while. It’s interesting to realise how much people have been bullshitting me. Rose is still a bit primitive for drawing things but if you use it properly it gives you traceability end to end from analysis to design, right through to implementation. I also like the ability to save shared packages and version them independently.
Pen Pads Ceildh
We had a very successful Ceildh at the club, everyone dancing, people getting thanked for their contributions etc. My favourite moment was Len getting an award for least improved forward paddler, when he teaches forward paddling to the point of obsession (how can you improve on perfection?). Rosie was awarded club member of the year, quite rightly. The kids had a dance, Deb really enjoying it.
Forms 6i
Installed latest patch (dated Feb 2003!) and the problems I’ve been having seem to have gone away.
River Lune (again) 1st March
5 of us from Friends of Allonby and Pen Pads. Nice paddle. One of the people from the club’s beginners class, good to see her improving. I will probably run an introduction to white water group in the next month or so. Rosie managed to get out too, which was great, she doesn’t believe her own ability which can be a bit frustrating. One (very embarrassed) swimmer, who wasn’t the beginner. River level lower than last time.
Fitness campaign
I’m going to the gym again and trying to cut out the fat and chocolate. The older you get the harder it is, I think the old metabolism slows down. There’s an athlete hiding behind this growing gut, if only because you have to have muscle to move the thing about.
Tom Lehrer
Go out and buy some Lehrer if you don’t own some. A friend bought the complete CDs and gave me his duplicates.
Books
Got a lot out of Agile Software Development Ecosystems (skim read it and read the interviews more carefully). Interesting book. Want to work in that kind of environment, which we are trying to do. Borrow it or get work to buy it for you, though.
Was recommended Building Web Applications with UML – good if you don’t know what a web application is but do know UML. I skimmed 2/3 of the way through to find anything new. Borrow it or get work to buy it for you.
A nasty experience
An acquaintance of mine visited a porn site 5 years ago and paid his $5 to view piccies of people doing whatever it is they do. It turns out that more recently the site has been used for rather nasty stuff and he’s been accused (by the cops) downloading questionable material. It would be laughable if he hadn’t been hounded out of his house and home because somehow the information got out. I hope he gets some serious compensation from them. I’d want the cop’s testicles on my wall as a trophy if it was me (that’s very un-Buddhist of me, but you know what I mean). So the moral is – stay away from those internet porn sites, you never know what the evil bastards might get you into. Then the superzealous cops come knocking on your door and ruining your life. Hey, $5 (5 years ago) to screw your life, very cheap.
Blessings upon you all, even the superzealous.