No.119 Of Visting Pubs and Visting Dignatories

I went for a long jog last night after a long day working on strategy. Wow did I need it. I got little more than halfway round my circuit and had to walk though. Sadly the circuit includes the Talk of the Town pub so me and my jogging coach ended up in there for a while sampling their fare.

I feel like I'm being crushed at the moment from the amount of work I've to do over the next month. I plan a new strategy here. I'm going to map out the next three weeks in detail and watch the tasks tumble as I head towards my break. I don't think Legal-Island has ever partnered up with so many businesses and people before and been in front of so many great opportunities. Exciting stuff indeed - never a dull moment on the Island as we say here at Island House.

I'm meeting John Brolly of the Irish News who is visiting us today. He's a top bloke. We've shined our Irish News trophies which are waiting to welcome him in the foyer.

No.118 Of Peter Purrs & Passion

Last night I picked up Peter McBride an old mucker in the MG and we sped along to the Stormont for dinner. As we pulled into a bay in the car park I left the engine running for us to listen to its purrrrrrr. Was he bored? Nope. Instead, he asked to see under the bonnet whereupon he promptly named every engine part going and what it did. Recently he purchased a Porsche 911 but I saw envy twinkling in his eye. My Haines MGB manual arrived from Ebay yesterday and I've never looked forward this much to reading a book in my life.

Money can't buy you happiness but it can buy you an MG.

No.117 Of The Numbers Game Here & Abroad

Everyone seems to be away at the moment. I phone friends and catch them on a beach in Majorca, Ibiza, or Tuscany and it costs me a good £10 to listen to them explain how hot the weather is how good the food is and how agreeable the company is too. I thank them for sharing. I wish them an enjoyable relxaing break and then return to preparing for more Performance Reviews at work.

I had my first request yesterday to tweet a job vancany from a recruitment company. I wonder if this is an important major first of any sort - probably not but it's an interesting development in the world of Twitterdom.

I note there was an article in the Belfast Telegraph yesterday featuring one of Northern Ireland's earliest and foremost Twitterers who has some 8,000 followers. I fear this numbers game is going to go the same way as stats counters & hits in early web sites, the number of friends you have on Facebook and possibly the number of cards you get at Christmas. In other words many people becoming obsessed with high figures that actually count for very little.

No.116 Of Don't Worry be Happy & Be an Optimist

Hey how good am I? I started off today with a bowl of porridge and blueberries together with a cup of hot water and the juice of half a lemon to give me a bit of zip for the day.Ok I did slip in there a chocolate biscuit but only because there was a packet on the kitchen table already open demanding my attention and hey you have to keep a balance don't you?

I'm currently reviewing a book called "How to be Happy at Work" by an Irish Workplace Pyschologist called Sophie Rowan. It's a great read and I'm learning loads. Last night I learnt that I'm an optimist by nature - something quite different apparently to a naturally postive person. Optimism is good she argues for optimists are happier by nature, live more healthy lives and live longer. Lets hope she's right on all fronts.

Loads to do today including prep for a finance meeting and a performance review tomorrow. Roll on the holidays.

No.115 Of Fix-It Fever & Other Stories

Unaccountably I seemed to have developed a kind of fix it fettish at the moment. I'm just in a fix it mode or should that be mood. In the last three days I've fixed the garden (if weeding qualifies as "fixing") my MG (if getting the mechanics out to it qualifies as me fixing it). I've fixed the puncture in the back wheel of my bike and in the front wheel of my spare bike (if taking aforementioned gear to the bike shop in Randalstown allows me to claim this too). I've arranged for someone to fix my garage door on Wednesday that is broken and jammed half open and I've fixed something on my mobile that never worked but now does (something too small to mention and possibly embarrassing to share). I'm pleased I'm in this kind of mood because being from the "I'll get round to it another time" school it happens rarely. But hey make hay when the sunshines?

The sun is not shining right now. This morning I refused to wear a jacket out of the house thinking it is summer and to do so will only invite bad weather. Now I can't get out the office because it's lashing down and I'll get soaked in just a shirt above the waistline. Boy how decisions can go badly wrong on you hey? No coat, no umbrella - which I could fix that..

No.114 Tricks of the Mind & The Weather

We're back on the road! Me, the MG and the North Antrim Coast road were at one early Saturday morning as the wheels kissed the sun blessed tarmac and we shot round one bend into another. Oh the utter joy of driving!

I'm reading Derren Brown's book called "Trick's of the Mind". It's a great read. He doesn't hold his punches and sets out to be both polemical and challenging. It's interesting how he squares his faith (or may be his former faith - I'm still early on in his book) with what he does. I'm also reading The Articulate Executive by Granville Toogood. Great name hey? I've decide the best way to read is to read two books at the same time. I have a very low attention span and usually put down a book after 20 minutes thinking I'm bored of reading when I'm probably just bored of that book and need to substitute it for another. That's the theory. We'll see and no doubt I'll report on this great new technique in due course.

The weather is teasing me at the moment. The Beeb forecast rain all day which is why I'm in a at work. Through the window I see only sun. Just when I decide to wrap things up and head out the rain comes.

No.113 Of Gratuitous Bay Reversers & Other Serious Criminals

I arrived early today for the early bird swim. In fact so early I beat all other early birds and the staff of the pool into the bargain. As I sat there in the car whiling away the time I watched someone else try to park in a carpark that was empty but for me. The person chose the far set of bays. This much made sense I guess because they were nearest the entrance and required therefore the shortest walk (though if she was swimming to get fit it might strike some as an unusal irony that she had to get so close). But then I watched as the car swung round and the driver attempted to reverse into the space. Three goes at this and the car was finally perfectly between the lines. Why not head for two bays end on and drive into the second bay so when you return you can also drive out forwards but you've not spent time (and a bit of petrol) reversing in? I wonder if these people (shall we call them "gratuitous bay reversers") are also the people that drive right up to roundabouts and stop then look to the right to see no cars in sight anywhere bar two in the mirror slamming on their breaks desparately to avoid a pile up?

I feel a national debate coming on...