Life Update

I’m feeling quite burnt out now. I had a great time in Serbia, but I didn’t get much in the way of sleep. I figured the first night I was a bit stressed about the luggage situation, which stopped me from settling. On the second night I got two blocks of two hours sleep. Not sure why. Last night I lay awake for ages then finally fell asleep a couple of hours before my alarm went off. No reason I can think of.

I’ve already posted a rant about my flight home. The combination of sleep deprivation and the travel issues has really taken it’s toll. I’m not sure  I had properly recovered from the Asia Pacific tour either. I sound really pathetic, like a spoiled kid, but I just want to do something normal for a while.

Steve Feuerstein posted recently about ditching a lot of his travelling. I do a lot less than him and I haven’t been doing it for as long either, but I really know where he’s coming from. Some people are like robots and can do it week after week. I’m not one of them.

Well, I’ve got a day off before UKOUG starts. I know it sounds like I’m an ungrateful git, but I’m really not looking forward to it. The adrenaline will kick in and I will be all manic and chatty as always, but I’ve really got nothing left. At least I’m not presenting. I’ve agreed to help out Vikki with the OTN/ACE stuff. Not sure how much time that will take, so I’m not sure how many presentations I will get to see. If you are knocking around the OTN lounge and you see a fat old geezer who’s either sleeping or mumbling to himself, give him a prod and say, “You miserable old sod. You get all these fantastic opportunities and all you can do is bitch and moan!” I will then talk to you for 10 hours about Aardvarks, or something random like that. I have no off switch. You’ve been warned. 🙂

My sister had a mole taken off her face a few days before I left the UK. I got home today and found out the tests have come back positive for skin cancer (malignant melanoma). My Mom had malignant melanoma about 25 years ago and carcinoma more recently. My dad had skin cancer too. I think it was carcinoma, but I can’t remember. Mom and dad recovered fine (Dad died of something else, not cancer), so I’m sure my sister will be OK. We’re tough as old boots. 🙂 Just to clarify, it was my sister-in-law, not my sister, that had ovarian cancer 2 years ago, she’s tough as old boots too. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Belgrade, Serbia: PL/SQL Masterclass -Day 2

Day 2 of the PL/SQL Masterclass went well. The feedback was very positive, which is always nice. As always I over ran on both days. I was about 25 minutes over on the first day and something like 40 minutes over on the second. I’ve got some more stuff I would like to include in the course, but that will mean taking something out or locking the doors and strapping people to their seats. 🙂

I’ve  had a really good time in Serbia. It would be good to go back again some time so I can see all it in daylight. 🙂

Cheers

Tin…

Air France and CDG Airport, you suck!

My plane from Belgrade to Paris landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport on time. I immediately got the bus from terminal 2B to 2E. I ran to security. I didn’t bother repacking my bag or putting on my belt. I just ran to the boarding gate. The bus for the plane was still there but I was told boarding had closed and I would have to take the next flight. We are talking 30 seconds here! I was 5 paces from the bus taking people from the gate to the plane. I turned away from the boarding gate, said a long list of expletives, turned back and politely asked what I was supposed to do now. I was told to go upstairs to the transfer desk.

At the transfer desk I was told I had to take the next plane, scheduled for a little over 6 hours later. There was no extra charge for this change because Air France admitted it was their fault for issuing a ticket for “an impossible connection”. There would be no compensation though because my flights weren’t delayed. There were about 10 other people in exactly the same position. Our flights from various countries had arrived on time, but we had been given a connection that was impossible to make. If they had delayed closing the boarding gate by about 10 minutes we would have all got on.

To add insult to injury, the transfer desk couldn’t issue the new boarding passes immediately because the plane had missed its takeoff slot and was waiting for a new one. I was … very angry! If I was that blue geezer from WatchMen I would have disintegrated every inch of CDG airport.

CDG screwed up my luggage on the way out and Air France messed up my trip home. If I have my way I am never using Air France or this airport again!

Cheers

Tim…

Note. There have been several drafts of this post. The first might well have landed by in prison. The later ones required a Parental Advisory sticker. This one is fit for human consumption…

Updates a plenty…

Someone commented recently that I’ve not been writing much lately. That surprised me because I feel like I’m constantly writing. Looking back over the last few months of changes to my website, I can see where that opinion comes from. The majority of the stuff I’ve been writing recently are updates. Typically what happens is I answer questions by linking to articles on my site. This invariably forces me to read through my old stuff and cringe. It then goes on my to-do list.

Sometimes the changes are cosmetic. Sometimes they are total rewrites. Sometimes the rewrites are because of product enhancements, but other times they are because I now realise how little I understood when I wrote the initial article. As usual, the more you know, the more you realise you don’t know.

New versions of the database prompt new features articles. New OS releases often prompt a batch of installation articles. The “quiet” times between are often spent cleaning up the crap. 🙂

So just because you don’t see a bunch of articles on the front page marked as new, don’t assume I’m doing nothing. The is always a touch of light (website) housework going on… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

What did you call me?

On Saturdays I finish yoga and go to my mates local pub for a crafty diet coke before going home. Some of the guys in the pub have got to know me a little from my visits. Now, whenever I go in they ask me what countries I have visited recently and then generally take the p*ss out of me, saying either that I must be rich because of all the travelling I do, or I’m a layabout who doesn’t have a real job…

Last Saturday I went in and we had the usual bit of banter. I then sat down and soon after a lady came up to me and said she had overheard the guys talking and was interested to know what I actually did. Apparently they had said I was a lecturer and I was the 30th best in the world???

The lecturer bit is maybe understandable. Presenter, teacher, lecturer is all the same ball park to me. What I don’t understand is the 30th best in the world bit. I can’t think of anything I’ve ever said that can be interpreted that way. I’ve never spoken to them directly about what I do and I can’t think of anything I’ve ever said that could be interpreted as a “world ranking”. Anyway,  I explained to the lady in question I was in I.T., at which point she made a sharp exit. Nothing new there…

The moral of this story is, if someone asks you what you do, answer with a job title they understand like brick layer or electrician. It does nobody any good if you tell the truth, because they will only misunderstand, make something up and then exaggerate a bit on top of that. Next time someone asks I’m going to say I’m the 26th best gynaecologist in the world and see what comes back to me. Probably a washed up DBA with delusions of grandeur… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

iOS 4.2 on my iPad…

I upgraded to the iOS 4.2 the other day (the evening it came out in the UK). Steve Jobs reckons, “iOS 4.2 makes the iPad a completely new product”. Maybe I don’t use it the same as everyone else in Apple-land, but it seems just… kinda… no freaking different…

I really don’t understand how I can remain completely immune to the Apple marketing hype when I’m desperately trying to be assimilated. I keep buying their products and waiting for a Jobsian flash of magic but it’s just not happening. What have I got to do to? Marry the guy?

Maybe it’s like enlightenment and the more you try the harder it is to reach. I shall meditate for a month with my iPad balanced on my head, my MacBook Pro on my lap and my iPod Shuffle up my ass. Maybe then I will understand all the heavenly glory that is Apple, or maybe I’ll just get a sore ass… 🙁

Cheers

Tim…

Belgrade, Serbia: PL/SQL Masterclass – Day 1

I’ve just completed day 1 of the PL/SQL Masterclass for Oracle University in Belgrade. So far so good…

Last night Ljiljana took me on an evening tour of the city. I got to see a little of New Belgrade, which is very modern with wide streets, big buildings and some shopping malls, as well as some of Old Belgrade, which has narrower streets, regular shops and mostly smaller buildings . There are few big blocks there with a “communist feel” to them (her words not mine). What was quite freaky is some of the military/government builds that were bombed during the NATO bombings in the late 90’s are still not repaired. The amount of building that has happened in the last few years leads me to believe these may be left that way for a reason… I’m not big on commenting about politics, but it is very interesting hearing stories about that time from regular folks who were living here at the time. Always two sides to every story etc.

Unfortunately the timing of my visit is such that I can only really see the city by night, so I’ve not taken any photos yet. I think I’m going to Google some and pretend I saw it all by daylight. 🙂

After the tour and some shopping we went out to a small traditional Serbian restaurant near Ljiljana’s parents house. Serbians are very big meat eaters, but they also have some really cool veggie dishes. I had lots of stuff I can’t spell or pronounce. Lots of cheese and a dish made out of butter beans, peppers and onions that was awesome. I’m hoping to get the recipe from Ljiljana’s mom so I can try and make it at home. It’s quite similar to the food I’ve had in Bulgaria, which suits me just fine. 🙂

I didn’t sleep too well last night. I think I was still a little stressed out about the luggage situation. I did manage to buy some clothes and stuff yesterday so today wasn’t too bad, but you still feel a little off center. I got back to the hotel tonight and my luggage has arrived. Now I’ve got no excuse for looking scruffy tomorrow… Doh!

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…