Karl Craig-West

2009 has absolutely flown by.

The highlight of the year was, without doubt, the birth of our second child Matilda (Tilly for short) in February. At the time of writing she's close to walking and is into everything. She is a cheerful bundle of joy (OK, you can put the sick bag down now).

Abigail started at High School this Autumn and, thus far, has made some great strides in becoming a young adult and also with enjoying the school experience.

I know I didn't write this so thanks to Glenn Fisher for letting me share it:

The train manager apologises for the coach being cold but gives no indication of a possible solution.

Then the audacity kicks in...

In his best QVC voice, he goes on to say that, despite the cold, the buffet coach is still open...

And in the buffet coach, you can “try our ever popular breakfast baguette,” or maybe, he suggests, a hot coffee or a sandwich.

The sandwiches, he tells us, are priced at £3.95 i.e. a rip off.

According to a recent study more than 60% of the UK population is between 1% and 5% dehydrated at any one time. Much of this is caused by the caffeine in drinks like tea, coffee and many soft drinks.

The problem with being dehydrated is that it impairs your ability to concentrate.

Another danger with being dehydrated is that your brain often misinterprets the thirst signal for hunger and you end up eating more than may be good for you. This may lead to weight gain, obesity and all the health risks associated with being overweight.

The solution:

DRINK MORE WATER!

Seem to have spent a lot of time lately building websites. Not that I mind but it has occurred to me that even something that you think might not take too long actually takes ages.

To be honest I ought to know better. I spent years working in the IT industry and in technology it always seemed that what, on paper, should have been a 15 minute job often takes over an hour to complete.

At the moment I have to install a new wireless router at home since our current one is on the blink. In theory it should take less than half an hour but the reality is likely to be much different.

Having recently spent a couple of weeks in southern Spain (close to Mojacar) I came back feeling reasonably refreshed.

Looking back I realised that I'd eaten more ice cream in those 2 weeks than I had in the previous 6 months combined, not healthy.

You see, there's a cafe bar called Blu on the front at Mojacar which serves up some very good coffee and also some exceptional Italian ice cream. To me this is an almost irresistible combination. Even worse is that they make delicious crepes too.

So, I've hit the gym hard this week in an effort to fight back.

Rugby Borough Council Debt Recovery Scheme

• Are you a business?
• Are you based in the Rugby Borough Council area?
• Have you heard about the Council’s Debt Recovery Scheme?
• Do you need assistance of a debt recovery solicitor?

Background on the Initiative

This is just initial notice that I'm working with Illuminate ICT to organise a one-day Midlands Drupal Event which will be held in the last week of September, somewhere in the Coventry area (venue hasn't been agreed yet but we're aiming at being close to a junction of the M6).

We'll be sharing ideas on best practice, building better websites, Drupal social websites, staying on the right side of the DDA, monetising Drupal websites and more.

We're also running a session where delegates can show off some recent Drupal projects and technical achievements.

Leicester FSB Networking Evening

Date: Tuesday, 9th June 2009
Venue: Leicester Creative Business Depot, Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1RE
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: £10 pp

Come and join us for an evening of informal networking at the LSB Depot.
Food is provided.

Our guest speaker will talking on 'On-Line Marketing De-Jargon-ated!'

We'll also have representatives from Business Link, DeMontfort University and Leicester College letting us know about the funded business support that's available to the small business sector.

Visit http://www.fsb.org.uk/100/assets/leicester%20city%20june%209th.pdf for a booking form.

When I do time management training I always ask the question 'Who uses a to-do list?'

You might not be surprised to find that nearly all hands in the room go up, including mine.

However, when I ask 'How many people feel that their to-do is is more demotivating than inspiring?' most delegates err on the side of demotivating.

There's a number of reasons for this but the most common is that many to-do lists never seem to get any shorter and thus start to become overbearing and even stress inducing.

For some time I've had a few ideas for web publishing business but haven't had the time or technical expertise to make them come to life.

I've never really been a big fan of the biorhythm theory but there is a way to use your own body's way of working to help you get more done.

You see, I often find it very difficult to have a lie-in because my body starts to wake up around 6 o'clock in the morning. Even when I've been out for a few glasses of wine with my rugby team-mates I still can't sleep late.

Just registered this blog with http://condron.us/ which is a blogroll.

A blogroll is a website that features blogs on behalf of blog owners.

A good friend of mine who recently started an astronomy blog (http://www.bellatrixorionis.com/) has been generating traffic through using blogrolls since she started. She recommends it highly.

So, I'm going to do some more of this and see what happens. I promise to keep you informed.

In my role as a promoter of funded and free training on behalf of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, I've come to realise that many people don't actually listen on the phone.

It's my job to make appointments and explain the benefits of funded training to those in business and the majority of people I speak with dismiss the concept without even stopping to think for a moment.

So, stop and think for a moment.

Think about what your reaction would be to someone trying to give you over £1,000 worth of training for every member of your staff.

On Friday last week I went to the Skills Brokers Conference in Birmingham. I was expecting the day to be a bit dull to say the least.

 

However, I was pleasantly surprised since it was more interesting than I'd though it was going to be.

 

First off, I was able to put it to Lord Tony Young (Parliamentary Under Secretary for Skills and Apprenticeships) that the bureaucracy surrounding funded training was a pain in the neck for businesses who are already drowning in compliance paperwork. He said he'd look into it: hopefully they won't be hollow words.

Next I was able to do some very useful networking with training providers and brokers from around the country.

And finally, most of the speakers were actually quite engaging and I picked up some useful information about how funded training can be used.

 

Sadly I didn't get a chance to have a look around the National Motorcycle Museum, where it was held.

On Friday last week I went to the Skills Brokers Association's Convention at the National Motorcycle Museum near the NEC (more on that on the next post).
During the lunch break I was one of the last people to reach the serving area and was not happy about having to stand in a long queue to be given a plate of sweet and sour chicken. My stomach was growling and I didn't fancy the (estimated) 15 minute wait.
Then I realised that there was a whole table of puddings with nobody to guard them. So I dashed over and grabbed a decent slice of very tasty chocolate sponge cake.
This then left me free to sit down and eat something and start networking with other delegates over lunch.
As you can imagine I got a few funny looks (and comments) but I didn't care, my appetite was satiated. Not only that but I was able to get sweet and sour without having to wait in any queues - problem solved.
So, is there a moral to this story?
Absolutely! And it's this:
 
Just because there's a queue it doesn't mean that there isn't a short cut. You just have to think a little differently from the crowd.