Mad man in a box

Mark Knopfler – Albert Hall – 30 may 2010
Fantastic gig in a fantastic venue. the music was a combination of songs from Knopfler’s new album and his classic, ‘could only be Knopfler’ hits.

the audience tapped toes, nodded heads and boogied in their seats as Knopfler changed guitars to produce that beautiful, deep, haunting sound.

Along with the muisc from the new alumn, Mark rocked the Alnert Hall with Telegraph Road, Romeo and Juliet, Sultans of Swing and Brothers in Arms – to name a few. A great night!

The mad man in the box?
We were sat in the ‘grand tier’, in a box with other people and from the very start it was clear we had a bit of a nutter in the box with us. enthusiasm doesn’t actually go far enough – this chap was more than a little bit odd. even down to how he clapped and cheered, he sounded like a sea lion clapping for fish. at one point I looked around the box to see if there was a ball and a bucket of fish or a hidden camera. He clearly doesn’t get out much!

Exercise and the work/life balance

Since the recent changes at work, and since the beginning of the year (when I stepped in to take over while my boss recovered from a serious illness), I’ve let my gym membership go. I struggle to get home before 8pm most nights, and as I leave the house before 7.30am I’ve been finding it hard to strike a balance. So…I now car pool. Yup. Me. I car pool two days a week with a friend. And, it’s making a difference. I leave the office at 6pm latest.

So what about the exercise?

Well, I’m thinking about turning the nursery room (ugh) into a room that has the sole purpose of housing a treadmill or a cross trainer. Good move? Not sure, but it’s got to be better than just not getting to the gym, right? Now all I need are recommendations for a decent piece of kit and then I’ll get the room ready and fit for purpose.

Adaptable to change

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Flexibility and since then my ability to adapt to change has been tested to the max. But, I’m still adapting and I’m still flexible (‘ish’!). There have been so many changes at work, that it’s now the in joke with my team (29 people and counting, as of last week) that change is the only constant. Thankfully, despite the recent changes, the team (my original team) remains committed and in good spirits. But not so in other countries. With resignations happening with great regularity and new applicants feeding back that there’s just too much change, what does that mean for the rest of us and for the wider (new team)? How do you provide a stable environment when change is the only constant?

Facebook and work

I had my first ‘incident’ with Facebook at work this week. Someone who I had as a friend took a comment I’d written, interpreted it as being something to do with a work meeting that had just happened and told a colleague in the office. That colleague subsequently raised my Facebook status as an issue with one of my peers. The results? I’ve had a cull of colleagues as friends on Facebook, Twitter and Skype.

But, it raises more questions than that for me. And maybe it’s just because this is the first time it’s happened, but it’s a very real set of questions. Where are the boundaries in today’s ‘connected’ world?

I had added colleagues previously on the basis that they were ‘nice’ people, who I have a bit of a laugh with. Now, I’m thinking more along the lines of ‘would I actually socialise with you, if we didn’t work together’? And that is a whole other picture.

So, where do we draw the line?

My Twitter account is exactly that – my Twitter account. I don’t use it for business, but I’m being followed by people who are work colleagues only. Cull them? Block them?

And Skype. It’s mine too. But, I’ve recently decided to create a personal Skype account – and will only add people that I have a social connection to.

But, am I being ruthless enough? Should I take it one step further?