interrobang (‽)

You have to admire their powers of persuasion. The project that was trying to pressgang me a while back have finally managed to second me onto their team. Officially I’m on an 80/20 split, but both projects think they are the 80% so my workload has increased from “Ridiculously busy” to “Sleep, what’s that?”. The work itself is about the same (Change Management / Knowledge Management), but this new project is just starting out so it will be nice to be able to make the right decisions from the outset as opposed to coming in mid-project and trying to get […]

Today, I again cycled into work and back.  The commute in was fine, albeit pitch black, but on the way home (also pitch black), the heavens opened – and just when I was half a kilometer from the nearest shelter so I couldn’t even take refuge whilst I pulled the rain cover over my CamelBak. Within minutes I was soaked, and slipping all over everywhere in the mud.  It was 5degC, and the wind was a force to be reckoned with, almost blowing me off my bike a couple of times - and inexplicably always being against me, regardless of the […]

Further to my last missive, I finally succeeded in biking to/from work.  Although (much like Finn learning to ride his bike without stabilizers) I didn’t really have much choice, as my car is in for repair.  The windscreen wipers stopped wiping, opting to emit a burning plastic smell instead, and when I took it to the garage on Wednesday they noticed that the shock absorbers were shot (that would explain the clunking every time I take a speed-bump, then) and also needed replacing, and announced that I wouldn’t get my car back until Friday.  So having cycled from the garage to […]

This weekend I treated myself to a new mountain bike.  My old one has been slowly dying on me and I finally decided I’d had enough when it shed a pedal 5km out from home, forcing me to walk all the way back. When I visited my local bicycle emporium (Robeet BikeStyle, in Tervuren) I was surprised by how much bike technology has changed since I bought my last one (a Specialized Rockhopper, bought ten years ago).  It’s now almost impossible to buy a mountain bike without front suspension, and disc brakes are common on all mid- to high-end bikes.  Naturally […]

Last weekend we enjoyed a family holiday (4 days - does that count as a holiday?) at one of the CenterParcs here in Belgium (De Vossemeren).  We’ve never done one of these kind of places before (I think us Brits have a natural aversion to anything that even vaguely smells of a Butlins Holiday Camp), but yes, we did actually enjoy it.  It’s not necessarily my first choice of vacation [I couldn’t sell the family on a 10-day meditation retreat…], but the kids loved it and if they’re happy then the holidays are a lot more relaxing for us parents, […]

In a rash fit of positivity, we decided that we’d take a family bike ride this Sunday.  Maybe I was artificially stimulated by the purchase on Saturday of a new bike for Louise (even though we won’t pick it up until next week), and the fact that I finally repaired Finn’s bike which has had a puncture for around a year now.  Or maybe it was the thought that this could well be our last burst of good weather before winter really sets in.  Either way, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
We cycled up to Duisburg, the […]

Last Sunday was ‘Car Free Day’ here in Brussels.  This is the one day a year when all traffic (emergency vehicles and the ubiquitous police excepted) is banned from the city.  I think it’s to promote exercise, or reduce pollution, or something.  To give them credit, the Belgians fully embrace these kinds of initiatives, so the main roads into town were blocked, and the police were on strict orders to ticket anyone who attempted to drive their car within the city boundaries.  Even the businesses jump on board - I saw a banner at one public car park in the […]