where art collides philosoperontap

Truly Terrific Tivoli

Wow. Was totally bowled over by the Tivoli Gardens last night. Seriously high class park in the middle of town. Stages (I saw some ballet), funfair, restaurants and a general nice environment to walk around of an evening.

The RIPE72 social was there, in a bar/restaurant called Woodhouse. The food wasn’t really up to much and the minute it came out it was snapped up by hungry partygoers but it didn’t detract from the overall experience.

Richard and I bailed out at around 11ish but I heard that some didn’t finish partying until 6.30 am. Can’t do that anymore, if I ever could.

This evening we are off out to eat in Noordhaven, taking in the statue of the Little Mermaid en route, and then finishing off in some trendy warehousey area where there are lots of good bars. Apparently.

From reading these diary entries you might think that I did nothing but partying but you would of course be wrong. Work goes on but tbh this is not a work blog. It is my social blog so I’m not going to bore you with internet plumbing type stuff.

Arrived in Copenhagen late afternoon on Sunday. The experience was good. My bag was one of the first to pop out on the baggage reclaim belt. The taxi had wifi and I  was able to create and upload an 80MB video whilst en route to the hotel.

The hotel is nice. I have a room on the 8th floor. We had dinner at sticks and sushi on the top floor. Amongst the best sushi I have had. The only downside was that nobody came to service the room yesterday. I got them to bring me some more towels anyway but will need to make sure it is done today. If for no other reason than I’m out of shampoo.

Last night we were entertained by Barry O’Donovan of INEX. He is a good lad. Took us to a wine bar called Bibendum where we drank Chateau Neuf Du Pape and ate cheese and charcuterie. Billed as a Ripe Cheese and Wine evening. Top notch. Ended up back in Sticks and Sushi for drinks until about 1.30 am!

To cap it all I discovered at breakfast that they had HP Sauce available. Denmark is a truly civilised country.

On the plane again. Heading for Copenhagen via LHR. Had a very productive time in Barcelona. .

Out to dinner at Los Caracoles again last night. Table for 5 in the kitchen. Prior to that we had been to see Sagrada Familia and then on to the beach so that we could paddle in the Mediterranean.

The experience wt Barcelona airport wasn’t great. My line to get through security took ages as every other person seemed to set off the alarm going through the scanner and had to be individually checked. Then once through we queued for at least half an hour to get through passport control. There was only one officer on duty for the EC queue. Not very impressed tbh.

Now on the plane and having to have my earphones in because the guy sat next to me has cheapo ones and I can hear his tinny music.

It is a Sunday. The days have seemed to blur into one this month and the actual name of the day feels irrelevant. I’m quite looking forward to getting some quiet nights in at home. It will be summer by the time I get there. I’ve missed practically all of May.

Just finished On Liberty by Shami Chakrabarti. A very good book in defence of the Human Rights Act that the government wants to get rid of. I’m going to join Liberty. A few years ago I participated in a panel at a meeting against the Snooper’s Charter at Imperial College. Shami was also on the panel – she was very impressive. She is often on the TV and radio nowadays.

The flight passed pleasantly enough. We had a tailwind and have been able to catch up on time lost with a delay leaving Barca.

Breakfast in dimly lit room when it should have been on terrace outside

Cab to meeting room – windowless with non functioning air conditioning

Toothache

Afterwards beer by pool

Dinner looking out over city – best views in town, tapas, lamb, cheese

Barca, cha cha cha

Sat on the plane headed for Barca. The good ole French air traffic controllers are on strike again so the flight was delayed by around half an hour and is now being rerouted around 3 sides of a square – Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. A revised flight time of 2 hours 45 mins instead of 2 hours. One wonders whether French air traffic controllers have particularly stringent entrance requirements for bolshiness?

I have a lot of video editing to be getting on with pursuant to the coast to coast but a) the space on the table in front of me isn’t enough and b) I still need to download some of the vids and pics. I did a bit but am now contenting myself with listening to ma fave tunes, reading a bit of my Shami Chakrabarti book “On Liberty” and tapping in some thoughts. You will want to know that I am being a good boy and laying off the alcohol on this flight. Figured I’d enjoy myself more tonight then.

Had breakfast in the Crowne Plaza this morning. Place was full of grey suits. Sheep. People on the treadmill. They need to re-evaluate their life balance. I am wearing a particularly loud Hawaiian shirt, a non matching pair of shorts and some deck shoes, no socks. I think this is appropriate for the searing 19 or 20 degrees we will encounter in Espana.

This is my second trip to Barcelona this year. I like Barcelona. V civilized. I’m away for almost two weeks. Got back from Brussels yesterday and then off to the RIPE meeting in Copenhagen on Sunday. Got to be done.

Papa was a rollin’ stone. That’s what’s in me earphones at the moment 🙂 I like the idea of the occasional bit of rollin’. I like home as well though. I’ll have been away for most of May. Daft really considering May is probably the nicest month of the year.

I also have another tooth giving me gyp. Same as the one that was eventually extracted but on the other side. Hmm. I am in the aisle seat. 13D. Woman in the window seat has brought some healthy food options from Pret a Manger instead of relying on the crap they dish out on the plane. It’s an idea for the future. Don’t know quite how I got to 54 with all the international travel I have under my belt, without realising this. Classically I eat at the airport before boarding but not today. at 11.10 it was too soon after breakfast.

Airline travel is v boring. Not at all glamorous. It’s the one time when it is definitely not “better to travel hopefully than to arrive”. Much better to have got there and start doing what you are going there for in this case.

Moved on to “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”. Bob Dylan. The dropping of the g’s in these song titles is my own decision. I don’t know if they do that really.

The curtains have been drawn between pleb class and business class. I’m in pleb class on this occasion. I sometimes pay for the upgrade. Depends on the flight and cost. Some people opt to sit in the row immediately behind business class. This is not my thing. I don’t want to be sat there staring at some curtains and perhaps occasionally catching a glimpse of the champagne being doled out up front. Innit?

Only 20 mins to land apaz. Note the wiv it lingo. At least it’s what the kids might say. Probs. Innit.

This flight is totally full and there are two additional flight attendants sat in the jump seats at the rear. An earlier flight was cancelled. Ah well. They have run out of supplies. It’s a by product of this not really being a demanding flight on supplies normally combined with being full and taking an additional 45 minutes. I’m ok. I had glass of sparking water and an orange juice. Copied the two sat next to me. Seemed like a good plan.

Just passing Marseille. Hannah and I were there in February last year. It was her first introduction to life int the internet fast lane. She has now got herself a graduate trainee job at Colt Telecom which I think is great. Initially doing internal communications and corporate social responsibility. A fun job to start her career. Hannah will do well. I am proud of her:) Note I am proud of all my kids. Anne and I are lucky parents.

Tapping my foot and nodding my head to the music. This is one of those brain dump posts. Whatever comes to mind without really giving it any real thought. I’m pretty relaxed. I think it’s a function of having finished the coast to coast. That was such a tough fortnight that gave you little time to think of much else other than putting one sore foot in front of another I have come out of it totally relaxed. First time I’ve ever experienced that feeling I think.

Feeling sorry for the woman sat diagonally opposite me. There is a small kid behind her banging a toy car on the back of her seat. Parent is trying to control the sitch but it is still going to be pretty annoying.

It’s minus 41 degrees outside.  I wouldn’t last long in my gear. We are of course very high up. Right cabin crew prepare for landing…

bomb scare, parmesan cheese, cherry tomatoes and Westvleteren

Interesting day at the Netaxis office in Brussels. Their office is in the shadow of the European Parliament and today we found that we couldn’t go out to lunch because of a Brussels bomb scare. Both ends of the street were cordoned off and after a minute or two outside we were asked to go back in as there was potentially going to be a controlled explosion.

We did not go hungry. There was a chunk of parmigiano and some cherry tomatoes in the kitchen so we all sat around eating those and drinking a rare trappist beer called Westvleteren.

After an hour or so the all clear was given and I headed to the airport early just in case there was further trouble. Brussels airport is a serious dump. It presumably is being renovated but I caught it at it’s worst. The taxi dropped you in a compound and the walk was tedious including all the way up one of those corkscrew shaped carpark ramps.

I’m now in the Diamond Lounge having forked out 26.77E to avoid sitting at the gates for 4 hours. I’ve had a light salad and a beer and am now tucking in to a dubious G&T. At least the tonic is dubious. The gin is Bombay Sapphire.

When I get to Heathrow all I need to do is find the Crowne Plaza, watch Liverpool in the Cup Final and hit the hay.

Pics of Brussels trip.

Pan fwyf yn hen a pharchus, ac arian yn fy nghod
A bob beirniadaeth drosodd, a phawb yn canu’m clod
Fe brynaf bwthyn unig, heb ddim o flaen ei ddor
Ond creigiau Aberdaron, a thonnau gwyllt y mor

Apologies if I got some of the grammar wrong. One of my fave poems.

Sproutless Brussels – a trip to Belgium

In Belgium today. Brussels. Had breakfast at  chocolatier in the Congo quarter (it’s either called that or something related to the Congo) near the European Parliament. Not much action around the Parliament itself. It was deserted immediately outside the building (s).

You had a choice of what percentage of chocolate you wanted in your drink. I had 50%. Manuel had 83%. I tried his. Not as nice as mine. Not creamy enough. I dunked a croissant in mine. I left the chocolate that came with the chocolate drink. So did Manuel.

Tonight I’m off out for a few beers. I’ll find an area with some bars. Last night I arrived lateish so stuck to the hotel. Got a room upgrade which is very nice. I am staying at the Thon Hotel Bristol Stephanie. Very nice. It’s a 10 min taxi from where my meetings are. I got the wrong one. There is another Bristol Stephanie  3 minute walk from the office. Ah well.

Had oysters and a Maes beer for lunch, plus steak frites. The beer was 5.2% – lightest on offer. They are crazy these Belgians. Most of the office came out. There was a new starter called Norman in. He was French I think, or Belgian.

Fairly miserable taxi driver en route back to the hotel. His taxi needed a new gear box, or clutch or something. It was juddering a lot anyway. Perhaps that’s why he was such a miserable bugger. Back at the hotel now tapping in some characters before heading out into the night and going with the flow.

Featured image taken inside the coffee shop – lots of teas, chocolates and coffees on offer.

During the coast to coast walk diary operations have moved to trefor.net. Back here now.

That’s all you are getting today though. Ciao amigos.

Early doors in the Prince of Wales for a pre coast to coast meeting

Spent the day getting ready for the coast to coast. Bought some ibuprofen, paracetamol and spare torch batteries from Boots in the Carlton Centre. Not anticipating needing to use a torch but you never know…

Did consider buying some more maps to supplement the coast to coast map sent by the travel agents. The trouble with the one I have is that it is purely for the coast to coast route. If we need to divert around mountains we have no map. Went to GoOutdoors for a skeet but decided against it in the end. There are 4 maps just for the Lake District!

Anne and I went to the Prince for early doors to meet Ajax, Sue and others. Ajax can’t set off until after lunch tomorrow because Luke, his son and a fellow coast to coaster, is having a “haircut”. I get there at 17.55 and Tom an hour later. Will wait until everyone gets there to have dinner.

This is the last entry for a couple of weeks now whilst I move operations over to trefor.net. We have raised £1200ish so far and haven’t begun the walk yet. I’m optimistic the number will rise significantly.

See you on trefor.net…

deafening noise in conservatory

Started packing today. Got all the technical stuff out and it is pretty much ready to go. Will need to make sure the first aid kit is fully stashed. Will need to make sure I have enough underwear and other evening stuff. 2 weeks away. Some opportunity to launder clothes but I think I need to assume we won’t get the chance.

Broke through the £1k mark with donations today including a contribution from Joe’s girlfriend Charlotte who is a student and therefore not particularly well off. From hereon it’s onwards and upwards with an especial pressure on to make sure we complete the walk.

Got a few work bits to finish off but basically now on the glide path to Cumbria. Had my haircut at Tom Visconi’s in the Bail this morning. Took a before and after photo. Not sure I can see the difference but Tom definitely took a load off. Don’t want to be having unruly hair on the coast to coast walk do we?

Did a few jobs for Anne. Dismantled the desk in tom’s room and reassembled in the loft. Anne has been painting the loft. V nice it is. I also moved some shelving that had been discarded to the bottom of the garden into the attic. We are going to put the router, NAS box, RIPE Atlas probe and CCTV box on it. Oh and also the 16 port Fast Ethernet switch. I need to invest in a GigE switch. They aren’t expensive and I’ve had the old one for over ten years now.

Popped to the Star for a couple of pints early doors. Figured there wasn’t much point doing the heath kick at this stage. Looking out of the window at the rain we noticed some “youths” doing a deal in the car park opposite. Something was handed over in exchange for something else. Seemed like an odd place to be selling drugs in full view of everyone.

Anne cooked a nice sole in white wine sauce with new potatoes and green beans and I polished off the last of the wine. Now I’m on the Spanish brandy. A bit of a toothache. Again. It’s because I had some chocolate earlier. Lesson there.

Good chat with dad. Tried to hook him up on Facebook in a chat with me and Hannah. Trouble is he is using an iPad and I’m not and I can’t see what he can see so don’t find it easy to give him the right IT support.

Oh and the noise in the conservatory was deafening during the rain. As the header says:)

snow at the airport

Had a pleasant time in Luxembourg although these meetings are always exhausting. The hotel was pretty average – soft mattress and below par breakfast but the problem is that finding places to host a couple of hundred o so people at a sensible price ain’t easy.

A few of us were leaving at the same time so we got two taxis to the Airport. Luxembourg airport is quite small so it was a breeze to get through security. Richard and I travelled on the Heathrow Express into town and then tubed it from Paddington to Kings Cross where i was able to change my ticket for an earlier train. Bought lunch (pint of milk, cheese sandwich and packet of McCoys flame grilled beef crisps) and ate it on the 13.30 train nowf.

Nice to get home. Anne and I arrived at the house at the same time and had a cuppa before she set off to pick up John from school. Was the first proper cup of tea since leaving for Luxembourg

Last night I had beans on toast with Lincolnshire sausages for tea before heading to the Eastgate Tennis Club for the Wimbledon ticket draw.  John is a member. We got a result. Second Thursday. Ladies semi finals day. Centre Court. We can’t make the first week where there is a lot more tennis action around the site but ladies semis isn’t bad. You also get to see a mends doubles semi final match.

Focus at home is now very much about getting ready for the coast to coast walk which starts this weekend. Weather forecast is wet for our Sunday start day. Hopefully the weather will quickly move on before then. I’ve used the weather forecast for StBees screenshot from yesterday to give you an idea of what is in store.

Don’t forget I’m raising cash for Cancer Research UK whilst on this Coast to Coast walk. The JustGiving page is here. The start date of the walk coincides with the anniversary of my mother’s death on May 1st last year. Mam was Chairman of the Marown & District branch of the IoM Anti Cancer Association.

26th April 2016

Another full day’s conferencing at Euro-IX 28 in prospect. The day has started with “Ethernet and the Serendipity of Relativity” by John D’Ambrosia, “PeeringDB 2.0 for IXPs” by Arnold Nipper and “RIPE Atlas for IXPs” by Kaveh Ranjbar. All good stuff.
Walked past the queue at the front desk during the coffee break and said to myself I was glad i wasn’t checking out this morning. Then realised I’d left my room key in the room and had to join the queue.

We had filled rolls for lunch which made a very pleasant change from yet another full blown 3 course meal. I often find myself making up a sandwich on these occasions but today I didn’t need to.

My video of the weekend social went down very well. I was last on before the thank yous.

Now I’m just chilling out in my room before meeting the guys at 5pm and heading into the old town.

Euro-IX 28 Luxembourg

Aside from the tours of the SES and RTL facilities the one thing that stood out yesterday was the amount of building happening in Luxembourg. I described it as capacity expansion for when the existing buildings begin to overflow with gravy.

Today, Monday, we are getting down to the nitty gritty of the conference with a problem with the wifi giving some cause for concern. The folk that live and work in the internet industry are heavy consumers of bandwidth. It was fixed during lunch so we are back up and running now.

This morning I worked on a video of the Sunday Social. I’m not an expert iMovie user yet but it is easy enough to produce something reasonable. I’ll post it tomorrow.

Had a bit of a dip before heading to the bar and then out for the social which was at a brewery in the middle of town.

Also got the live tracking mode working for runkeeper. You can see the route to the brewery and back here.

TV TV TV

Tiring day began with breakfast followed by a trip to the SES satellite groundstation/HQ and a visit to the RTL studios.

Back for a nap in the room before heading down to the social. Bed at midnight hence the brevity of this entry. Watch the vids and look at the pics – vids and pics

Turn to stone & don’t bring me down- ELO gig at the O2

Absolutely fantastic ELO gig at the O2 last night. Ended up at the Sky Bar on the 18th floor along with everyone else at the hotel that wasn’t at the Indian wedding. Heaving it was. We shared a table with a couple called Alison and Terry who happened to be coming to Lincoln for the Steam Punk festival next August Bank Holiday.

The night was somewhat tempered later on by some know smoking in his hotel room and setting off the fire alarm. We all trooped down the stairs and out through the emergency exit. I had the sense to throw some clothes on but quite a few people were in their dressing gowns.

What really annoyed me was the fact that there were no staff in sight. I had ot call the hotel in the end to get them to send someone to the fire assembly area. I have asked for a report on what they will be doing to prevent it happening again. I don’t mind the fire alarm. It’s the lack of staff presence to tell us what to do is what got me.

The poor night’s sleep was made worse by two idiots talking loudly in our corridor at 6am.  On the upside the hotel is a terrific hotel. The staff were great. Room v comfortable.

When we arrived our room on the 11th floor wasn’t ready so we accepted one on the 3rd which may or may not have been a mistake as it turned out to have a view only of an huge air-conditioning vent. You could just about see Canary Wharf if you stretched your neck to the side.

The room had the side issue of having a walkway outside its window and when Anne came out of the shower she found a bloke in a hard hat and high viz jacket stood just outside.

Breakfast was terrific this morning. Perhaps one of the best hotel breakfasts i’ve seen. Tom arrived at around 10.20 to go off for some sightseeing with Anne whilst I Ubered it to LCY to catch the 12.10 LG4594 to Luxembourg.

More from Luxembourg as I have it…

Pics and vids here.

lost merino buff found

Anne and I are off to Laandan to see ELO. Staying at the O2 Intercontinental so quite looking forward to the trip. This morning all we’ve done really is to get ready for it. Couldn’t do any work. Did check out my new Anker PowerCore. Bit of a weight to it. Charging it up on the train South. Also installed my new 200GB SD card on the phone. It isn’t 200GB though. More like 189GB. It’ll still do.

Hannah rang. She is in London for an interview for a grad scheme job. She had arrived an hour early at the somewhat plush offices near the Tower of London. Good planning. She can now go and sit in a caff for an hour and turn up relaxed. In one sense this is very much her interviewing the company as well so I think she is just going to enjoy the process. Hansk is meeting us for an early dinner at the hotel before catching a 19.30 train nowf.

We turned up early at Newark Northgate giving me plenty of time to collect my return ticket for next Wednesday. Unfortunately the machine didn’t recognise the booking reference number. Turns out it was a print at home job and I hadn’t printed it off. Doh. Sent Tom the PDF using Facebook Messenger for him to print at work and bring along tomorrow morning.

There is a woman effin and blinding a few seats away. She is on the phone to someone talking about some legal matter. Effin and blinding doesn’t fit well in the First Class  carriage. I should complain to the guard. Get her shifted up the back 🙂

After ELO I’m off to Luxembourg for the Euro-IX conference.

Note the featured image shows me modeling my new merino buff – thought I’d lost it but found it in the pocket of my Timberland wax jacket when I put it on today.