Monday, November 5, 2012
Billund (Aarhus) or bust
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Left in London
25 June - Had a lovely weekend in
London, in the flat of Lynn and Mike's friend Helen. Great deal of
respite. No worries whether a dog would pick me up and take me to her
bed as a pseudo puppy. Understand that Mike was a bit distress having
'forgotten' me (but he knew I was safe). He's back down tonight
(Monday) so I might be crushed by morning.
19 June -Mike was hosting a dinner for BOX.COM in London on the night in advance of their announcement
of expansion into Europe. However despite the fact he captured me at
the head of the table, when it came to the 'real business' I was sent
back to the bag.Meeting Oracle - meeting Big Data
28 April - my/our biggest gig in a
while, 300+ for the Oracle Big Data conference in London, to coincide
with 'Big Data Week' (That's me on the podium before the audience came in). Mike gave a keynote alongside Doug Cutting of
Cloudera, and Oracle's best people in the area. Very scary. Oracle
events tend to attract the 'brightest and the best' (and a range of
independent 'hangers on'). However Big Data appears to be the topic
of the moment. Mike says it is the logical maturity of the concept
of 'knowledge management - the idea of having access to the
totality of an organisation's informational assets, so you can make
the best decisions... zzzzzzzzzzzz
He might have something, but I am just
a bear, what do I know?Saturday, June 16, 2012
Back on the road again
16th April - Looking forward to Monday for a trip to London, and a night in a swanky hotel (Mike is working). I promise to post a picture of the room and hopefully some very soft pillows. 17th April, Holiday Inn Express at Limehouse, pillows were soft and the view didn't disappoint.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
A gallic adenture
It is Monday – so mike is on the move again this time to (as Lynn calls it) a ‘jolly’ in France
It seems a long way to go an a long time to be away for just 35 minutes speaking
Mike says he will do more than that (but I don’t believe him) He may be very ‘hail fellow well met’ in company but at home when working he is very quiet, unless he is talking to Sheba (the dog that would chew me if I let her).
Sitting in the lounge at Humberside Airport with the television set to BBC News during the pre-budget forecast. It was scary to note the number of faces that dropped when the chancellor announced a tax increase for those earning more than £150,000 a year, Mike was just jealous.
At ICT 2008
Tuesday lunchtime, and at this ICT event. Mike has just presented and is feeling very pleased. He was even happier this morning when he arrived to find that as a speaker he had a dark grey lanyard for his badge. This indicated he is a speaker and is the equivalent of an ‘all areas’ pass at a pop concert. It also meant he had somewhere to charge his computer, and he didn’t have to queue for lunch.
Lunch was interesting, almost biblical in the feeding of 4,000 delgates, and of course being France there was red or white wine available as well. As Mike’s session was on straight after lunch, he decided to speak quite loudly to ensure the audience were awake.
The conference was for IT researchers across Europe, and some of the prototypes in the exhibition showed a lot of ‘imagination’. First there was the robot toddler – I have enough problems with human toddlers and dogs trying to chew me, I don’t like the idea of robots doing it as well.
Then there was the sophisticated media control system for a car which meant that each of the three rows of seats in a big Mercedes could have different music/video etc. However I think the people designing it still have a way to go before they can get the boot shut!
Wednesday – still in Lyon
Mike has nearly run out of business cards and may need to book the ones he has collected as excess luggage – but he is still very dubious about the value of the event, and given that a key message is that ICT will help us all ‘go green’, how is it that the majority of the 4,500 delegates have flown in from the 60-odd countries they reside in? (Mike says that is a rhetorical question – being a bear of small brain – like my friend Pooh – I think the definition of rhetorical could be uncomfortable or even hypocritical – but what do I know?)
The place smells of Lavender – it is like living in a pomander!
Thursday lunchtime
Mike has done his second and final presentation, and collected even more business cards, and an invitation to speak at the University of Bradford. This is the third invitation of the kind he has had in two weeks. Lynn, who used to be a senior lecturer in University, says Mike shouldn’t be flattered, because the Universities concerned are only looking for free input to their courses.
Lunch was even more disappointing for Mike. Being a vegetarian (like me) he avoids meat, so imagine his rumbling tummy when all the prepared salads had either bacon or chicken in them, and even the lumps of cheese and pizza that were available on the last two days appear to be absent.
Lots of bread and coleslaw were consumed, and Mike says the apple juice is good, but the coffee is too strong.
Was the event worth being away from our home, Lynn and the young people? No.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Bye Bye Basel
We left the hotel very early and took the tram to another hotel. The tram was like the ones they have running between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, but it didn't cost anything because anyone staying in a Basel hotel get free public transport in the city and to the airport for the period of their stay (very green and sensible).
Mike was very busy all day at what he called a workshop. I supervised from the podium.
We left in a hurry and just made the plane, after grabbing some quick chocolate presents for Lynn and my other friends at home.
Then we just made the Heathrow Express back to London, had to wait for the Underground train and then ran to just catch an earlier train back to Hull.
That was really good news, because I was in time to go to bed with Imogen. Up early again and late back on Thursday though - I really can't see why Mike does it.
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