Jane B

Well today is the 40th birthday of CICS (pronounced Kicks in the UK) the IBM product that I worked on for over 23 years. There've been photos of some of the old CICS teams posted around work, and other memorabilia.

I was particularly struck by this advertising slogan, which I feel wasn't quite on message:

" CICS. Four letters Business swears by. "

I realised I hadn't updated in a while, so just in case you were wondering what happened to my tooth saga, all is okay at the moment. The last dose of antibiotics seemed to clear everything up. I do have an appointment to have a tooth out in July and that will hopefully stop any reoccurrences (the dentist believed the problem was caused by pressure.)

The new job is going on fine, although at the moment it mostly consists of finishing off a few things from the old job!

Other Sister came up for a long weekend, and we went to Mottisfont Abbey to see the roses in the National Trust Rose Collection - supposed to be one of the best years ever there, and we saw and sniffed a lot of roses! Then the next day we took the ferry to the Isle of Wight and visited Osborne House, which is in a lovely situation looking down to the Solent. My favourite objects in the house are the Indian portraits by Rudolf Swoboda which are so lifelike even though they're over a century old. They were exhibited at the National Gallery a few years ago, and I keep meaning to buy the accompanying book.

On June 21st (Summer Solstice) we headed off to see our niece in Exeter on the A303 past Stonehenge. When I checked out the news first thing in the morning there were crowds of thirty to forty thousand people there, and there was frantic checking of websites to find alternate routes. But they were all there at 4:58 and by the time we went past around ten it was all clear, and reasonably tidy considering the number of people that must have been around.

On Monday night I went bowling; there are a group of 4 or 5 of us who used to be a league team who meet up every few months and commiserate at our total inability to hit anything any more. There were only 3 of us this time, but still a pleasant outing. Tuesday my usual circle dancing, Wednesday Yoga, and Thursday I start to catch up with things again :-)

All this month I've had a problem with my right-hand back teeth. Jaw swelled up, but went down again. I had a hygienist appointment anyway, so she suggested going to dentist. Of course, hardly anything to see when I went there, but he disinfected the area anyway and all seemed okay. Then a few days later it swelled up again, went to dentist this Monday, he disinfected area again and gave me some antibiotics. They didn't seem to make any difference, so went this morning. Cleaned area again, this time draining the area of the infection, and gave me a Huge Dose of antibiotics and some stronger ones to take. Also said to call him out at weekend if that doesn't clear it! Luckily this evening the jaw does seem to have a lot less pressure.

But the annoying thing about all this is that it's happening just as I'm in the middle of changing jobs! I stopped working with CICS full time today, and start with MQ on Monday, although I have a few problems I'll hang onto until they're all finished. It would be hard to find a more awkward time to be distracted by my chompers!

ETA: But in good news, I have managed to rescue a dozen strawberries from the slugs and birds on my allotment :-)

So at the Quaker business meeting today, one of the items was the suggestion we should have a funeral organiser instead of the more informal funeral advisers that we have at the moment. In the discussion of the duties of the organiser, the presenter of the suggestion made the remark, "the organiser wouldn't have to attend the funeral, just do the spade work." Muffled snorts from the meeting until the presenter twigged to what he had said and joined in the roar of laughter.

I did a small customization of my journal layour yesterday and added a tag cloud to my sidebar. This is a list of the tags I use, with the more frequently used tags in a larger font. From this you can see I travel a lot! Or more accurately, I write about it a lot, since I think that's what people will be most interested in reading.

I'm quite pleased at having achieved this, since it uses CSS (Cascaded Style Sheets). Once upon a time on the mainframe was a text processing language called GML (Generalized Markup Language), here's an interesting link on the history of GML. Which became the product DCF (Docoument Composition Facility) or 'Script' as it was commonly known.

Anyone who worked in IBM in the eighties or nineties would have had at least a passing knowledge of some of its keywords like :h1., :p., :li., etc. When HTML came along (HyperText Markup Language), it was easy to recognise the terms, for example :h1. indicating a top header in a document became <h1>. Although, it was necessary to close off the element since HTML wasn't line-based but freeform.

So then, came CSS which is a much more powerful way to present information on Web pages, and because it's more powerful, it's more complicated. Also, when it started, it tended to be more temperamental about how it was displayed in different browsers, so I avoided much contact with it. However, I've started looking into it a little more, so that I'll be able to understand it, and by combining these two tutorials: Adding a tag list to the sidebar and Adding a tag cloud to the sidebar I've customised my particular journal style to give me a tag cloud. So a sense of achievement, or "I win against computers" again :-)

Another hard day at the office as we
( try to hit month end targets )

Well, I didn't spend all my time on the allotment, but I did manage to get down there two or three times each day, which is about twice more than I've managed most weekends recently!

I planted more lettuce, also peas, beans, and sweet peas. I weeded all the frames that have something growing in them already, and also the free-standing raspberries and blackcurrant bush. Also weeded my small flower patch, and transplanted some nasturtiums to there, which I'll use for salad later in the year. Earthed up the potatoes, including the ones in the tubs, and netted the summer purple sprouting broccoli. Most important of all, I STRIMMED, and the allotment is looking at its neatest for a long time.

There are still things to do, but only one big task which is digging over a patch of ground to plant a butternut squash. There's rain forecast for tonight which will hopefully soften up the earth, so I can dig one evening this week.

On Wednesday I went with a friend to Hilliers Arboretum mostly to see the rhododendrons and also to take advantage of the fine weather. We had a lovely walk round the woods, and down by the pond. As well as the flowers there is some great art on display at the moment and I've placed some pictures of the day in this gallery. I also took out an annual membership since that also gives entry into Kew Gardens and I was planning on visiting there later this year.

On Friday night I went to see 10cc in concert at the Anvil in Basingstoke. I'm a bit of an ignoramus when it comes to music, so I wouldn't have been able to name any of their songs before the evening. However I did recognise a few, particularly towards the end, although I never knew the song about cricket was called 'Dreadlock Holiday' :-) It was an enjoyable concert since the group (only one of the originals but all good musicians) really took pleasure in the performance.

Astonishingly we've got fine weather for the Bank Holiday weekend, so I'm spending most of my time down the allotment.

Yesterday I went to one of the Embroidery Now classes that run in Winchester during the summer. This one was on tassel-making which also incorporates other techniques, like cord-making. The teacher was Helen McCook who has had a varied career in the textile world, and the class itself was interesting and fun, and we all managed to come close to completing our tassels. Helen mentioned that at the RSN they often named their tassels on completion, so I'm calling mine:

( Ringo! )

I went to see the new Star Trek film on Wednesday and really enjoyed it. I liked the homage they paid to the original series, and that they managed to come up with a believable alternate universe that worked for the characters.

I've watched Star Trek since the beginning, and used to buy all the books starting with James Blish's adaptations of the episodes. I don't know if Star Trek (and Dr Who, of course) started me reading scifi, or if reading scifi made the series more attractive to me, but I can remember reading not only Blish's adaptations but his original books about 'Cities in Flight. And his short novella "Surface Tension", which had one of those wonderful concepts that made the genre so interesting to read for me.

I wanted to be be an astronaut when I was young, and although that never came to pass, I did work for the European Space Agency for my sandwich year of college, so always feel a little proprietary interest when an Ariane rocket is launched :-)

I've been staying in Herefordshire for a few days with Other Sister and her husband. I went to college in Stafford and used to do a lot of youth hostelling in Shropshire and the borders so there was a lot of familiar scenery as we drove around. We were staying in a little village called Yarpole with several picturesque timber-framed houses.
( Read more... )

Off to Herefordshire and Worcestershire for a few days to visit the Malvern Spring Show and assorted countryside!

(I was sent this recipe by a friend; haven't tried it yet but it looks tempting!)

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

ETA This does work. It comes way over the top of the mug (and I was using a half pint mug) before subsiding, and there's enough for two. The texture is quite solid, but it's not a bad taste, and I think I'll try it again with smaller quantities.

I went to see "The Young Victoria" on Wednesday. The relationship between Victoria and Albert was charming but without much drama since they seemed ideally suited to each other, and there weren't any major obstacles to their marriage. The political machinations were more involving (although knowing a bit about the history would be useful) and Paul Bettany put in a great performance as Lord Melbourne. I didn't really recognise him at first since he quite often plays characters with some element of diffidence or nonconformity, and in this film he was very much of the Establishment. It was an enjoyable film, although with not much happening; I think it would work better when seen on DVD since it was on a domestic scale.

On Thursday I went with a couple of friends to a tapas bar in Winchester called El Sabio which was a nice social occasion. You order lots of small dishes and sample all of them which makes for an informal meal, and it's easy to chat between the sampling. All the food was tasty and well-prepared so I'd certainly go there again.

The first circle dancing session of the new term tonight, and we danced several dances from Crock of Gold by Parampara, including Shifting Sands a particular favourite of mine. If you follow the link there are Real Player and Windows Media Player samples you can listen to.

I keep meaning to buy this CD and one of their earlier ones Heart of the Wood since they have some lovely tunes which make pleasant listening, even without the dancing.

A small announcment: I am no longer an attender (or semiquaker as I tended to refer to it) but an official member of the Hampshire and the Islands Area Quaker Meeting and consequently the Religious Society of Friends. I started attending Quaker meetings in January 1997, but only decided to become a member last September. I had been pondering it for a couple of years, but there's no urgency to joining since there are hardly any demarcations between attenders and members. Asking for membership is just making a public commitment to the society.

On the way to becoming a member, it's advised that you attend the local business meetings and take part in the running of the Society, and in my case I'm an assistant treasurer. Also you should read some of the Quaker literature and go along to talks and discussion groups. Very wisely they also suggest you visit other Quaker meetings so that you don't decide to join just because you like the people in your local meeting! Then you make a formal request to the membership co-ordinator for your Area Meeting and two Members (one from your Local meeting, and one from elsewhere in the Area) come to visit you, and you have a very informal chat about the Society to make sure you understand the different aspects of Quakerism. They then write a report which is submitted to the Monthly Meeting for the Area, and hopefully at that point you're accepted as member. In a nice piece of serendipity the Monthly Meeting where I was accepted was on my birthday - March 14th.

I don't think you'll see any obvious difference in this journal, although you may find the Quaker Jargon Buster handy! I don't feel much different in myself, although I'm happy with the decision. It was very strange when I was on holiday though, and we were having a casual discussion about religion, and I said "I'm a Quaker." I had the urge to turn round and see who that was speaking :-)

I'll finish off with the quote that prompted my decision back in September.

26.39 True faith is not assurance, but the readiness to go forward experimentally, without assurance. It is a sensitivity to things not yet known. Quakerism should not claim to be a religion of certainty, but a religion of uncertainty; it is this which gives us our special affinity to the world of science. For what we apprehend of truth is limited and partial, and experience may set it all in a new light; if we too easily satisfy our urge for security by claiming that we have found certainty, we shall no longer be sensitive to new experiences of truth. For who seeks that which he believes that he has found? Who explores a territory which he claims already to know? Charles F Carter, 1971

I went to see The Boat that Rocked with a friend last night, and found it very entertaining. Not sure if the behind-the-scenes for pirate radio was anything like this, but the music was great and there were lots of laughs. It also seemed to capture some of the feeling of anarchy at the time; and the costumes and props were also spot-on for the sixties - I spotted almost the exact hood that my ex-sister-in-law wore at her wedding!

So, as my last update indicated, I'm back from a walking holiday in Malta, and here are some of the memorable things.



( Highlights )

I arrived back from Malta at about midnight on Saturday. I'll write something about the trip in a day or two, but here's some photos on Photobucket to be going on with.

I'm off for a week's holiday in Malta, so this journal will be even quieter than usual!