A few years ago I was at a D of E training day run by the Scouts and the person running the course pointed out that if we wanted to assess at a certain level then we must have specific Scout permits. A bloke at the back chipped in and said (I paraphrase) "I've done my Mountain Leadership Certificate for both summer and winter, have run the Pennine Way, been walking in the Alps etc etc..........I don't see why I should now have to be assessed by the Scout Association!" The room fell silent and we all looked over at one of the County Assessors. He turned round, slowly, and looked straight at the bloke and said, "If tha's as good as tha says tha is, then tha'll pass t'assessment. If tha's not then tha shunt be wi Scouts!" (I have tried to phrase this with the accent). Afterwards I went over and spoke to the Assessor who said that the bloke had already emailed saying how great he was and shouldn't be subjected to assessment "by someone else".
Now, what am I moaning about this week? Well, I think that the key problem here is the arrogance of some people. In the autumn of 1982 I met, for the first time, two people who went on to become great friends. Of course, on first meeting new friends one thing you talk about is where you had been on holiday recently. That summer I had spent six weeks in Nepal and so it was something that I would happily talk about - of course this must have come over as arrogant, "Ooooh! Look at me I've just got back from the Himalayas, aren't I great!" and years later Rich still pulls my leg about it. But was it arrogance or just me stating a fact? Edmund Hilary was pilaried as being arrogant for saying "we knocked the bastard off" after he came down from the first ascent of Everest!
Last year, on meeting my wife for the first time, someone new to our circle of acquaintances, proceeded to tell her all about what he had done, climbed etc not realising that she had done far in excess of his "wonderfulness" (or maybe because she was a woman). She waited until he commented about a mountain that he and a friend had hired a guide to climb the previous year and, obviously having had enough, pointed out that I had climbed the same mountain solo! He didn't take the hint but then some people just don't.
While I'm on this stream of thought the other approach is the "I could have gone to University, but didn't want to/couldn't see the point etc". Why do people feel it necessary to justify that decision - are they questioning why others did choose to go? In my experience this normally leads to the "I can make more money than you...." statement (once, rather amusingly, said to someone who was working towards being a doctor, yes, one of those people who cure illness!).
Some years ago I was involved in the building a rally car and navigated (or was co-driver) for a few years. When you tell people this you always get someone who says "I could have been a rally driver (because I drive fast)". Usually after being in a car with them for less than five minutes you think "no you couldn't, you drive badly!".
When eldest son was at school we got a letter saying how proud they were that Tom had run an assembly for the whole school. We asked Tom why he hadn't told us about it and got the reply "You never asked".
Fast forward to the present day and I recently discovered that a PhD friend of ours had done a considerable amount of research with Rolls Royce into the jet engines that are in aircraft. No, he had never told us as we had never asked!
So, what am I trying to say? Well folks maybe its all about doing stuff rather than just telling people that you have done stuff. After all, as they say, actions speak louder than words!
Here endeth this week's ramble.
Thursday, 29 January 2015
Thursday, 15 January 2015
Social Media
Josh and I felt that I should do a weekly update so I'll try.
When I was a kid we had lots of things to worry about; passing our O'Levels, getting served in a pub and invasion/nuclear holocaust. The first of these we could do something about and the second was in the lap of the gods (unless you knew the dodgy pubs). The third however was something we could do nothing about. We knew that the Russians were nasty and that one day someone would push the button and we'd all be fried. We also knew that if you drove over the North Yorkshire Moors, past Fylingdales, that you had to drive quickly as if you slowed down then the soldiers would shoot you. I'm sure that somebody at school once said that a friend of a friend of theirs had had that happen to them!
Yes, the late 60's & 70s and the Cold War certainly gave us lots to worry about. We spoke to friends about it and if you had a sleepover somewhere you could almost guarantee that someone would recount something that they'd heard (normally recounted wrongly) and we'd all stay awake wondering when the bomb would drop. This was even more exciting when camping!
Politics were rarely discussed (although many of my friends were politically active) - it didn't matter who was in charge of the country we were all doomed!
So, what do we have now to discuss things? We have the glories of our old mate Facebook. The difference of course being the attitude that "if its on Facebook it must be true"! So post something along the lines of "The nuclear holocaust is booked for the 23rd March" and suddenly everyone believes it - remember when the world was going to end on the 21st December 2012? Apparently it was in the Mayan calendar or something because, of course, no one had noticed it for a few hundred years but then it was on Facebook.
Now call me old fashioned but I tend to trust the experts on these things, after all many of them have studied for years to come to a logical conclusion rather than just make it up. Its not a new idea, for years a rumour went around that Bob Holness had played the saxophone solo on Baker Street (for the record it was Raphael Ravenscroft) and it became one of the main discussion points when Gerry Rafferty died. After saying that Bob Holness did once play James Bond (now will you believe me or check? and where will you search for the information?).
Back to Social Media. The most popular of these are Twitter and Facebook and for some years now I have been a quite avid user of Twitter but, to the best of my knowledge, I have stuck to the old adage of "Don't post anything that you are not willing to shout from the rooftops". I am pretty sure that I have never used foul or abusive language (although I am willing to stand corrected) and the closest thing to offence I have caused (and got trolled for) was some comments that I made about the Falklands and the fact that they are British (the right to self determination etc). Oh yes and the odd rant against Russell Brand! Facebook I tend to use a little less as a mass communication tool and more of a way of talking to friends, unlike many I don't accept everyone who wants to be my friend on Facebook and have the occasional culls.
What I'd like to know is why young people (and I may be generalising here) see Twitter/Facebook et al as their personal soapbox or confessional? Have we reached a time where no one has any "real" friends who they can say "not feeling great at the moment" to? Or is it just a sign of the times that they feel it necessary to tell the world? I may find it interesting (well, not really) when I read a post saying "Had toast for breakfast, here's a picture of it" but if I read "Think my mum is trying to kill me as she fed me Marmite on toast" do I phone the police to report a crime? Similarly when people post "<insert name> is a bad person because <insert accusation>", when things aren't backed up by facts that could be admissible in court, you really wonder if we are turning into a nation of football pundits where we all know how <insert something here> could be done better. Like many people I have experienced this first hand with the "Oh, that website's rubbish, you should have booked through....." or "Oh, if you'd have mentioned my name to <insert name> they would have looked after you".
I always like it when people offer you information rather than telling you, its much nicer, but then maybe I'm just a bit old! Maybe people should think before they type and remember the note I had on my desk for many years "Never reply to a letter when you are angry!" - for you youngsters you could change the word letter for tweet, email, message etc.
Here's another fact, the Aztecs were around in the 14th to the 16th Century, Oxford University was founded in 1096 (Cambridge in 1209) - bet you thought that the Aztecs were several thousand years ago!
Here endeth this week's moan.
When I was a kid we had lots of things to worry about; passing our O'Levels, getting served in a pub and invasion/nuclear holocaust. The first of these we could do something about and the second was in the lap of the gods (unless you knew the dodgy pubs). The third however was something we could do nothing about. We knew that the Russians were nasty and that one day someone would push the button and we'd all be fried. We also knew that if you drove over the North Yorkshire Moors, past Fylingdales, that you had to drive quickly as if you slowed down then the soldiers would shoot you. I'm sure that somebody at school once said that a friend of a friend of theirs had had that happen to them!
Yes, the late 60's & 70s and the Cold War certainly gave us lots to worry about. We spoke to friends about it and if you had a sleepover somewhere you could almost guarantee that someone would recount something that they'd heard (normally recounted wrongly) and we'd all stay awake wondering when the bomb would drop. This was even more exciting when camping!
Politics were rarely discussed (although many of my friends were politically active) - it didn't matter who was in charge of the country we were all doomed!
So, what do we have now to discuss things? We have the glories of our old mate Facebook. The difference of course being the attitude that "if its on Facebook it must be true"! So post something along the lines of "The nuclear holocaust is booked for the 23rd March" and suddenly everyone believes it - remember when the world was going to end on the 21st December 2012? Apparently it was in the Mayan calendar or something because, of course, no one had noticed it for a few hundred years but then it was on Facebook.
Now call me old fashioned but I tend to trust the experts on these things, after all many of them have studied for years to come to a logical conclusion rather than just make it up. Its not a new idea, for years a rumour went around that Bob Holness had played the saxophone solo on Baker Street (for the record it was Raphael Ravenscroft) and it became one of the main discussion points when Gerry Rafferty died. After saying that Bob Holness did once play James Bond (now will you believe me or check? and where will you search for the information?).
Back to Social Media. The most popular of these are Twitter and Facebook and for some years now I have been a quite avid user of Twitter but, to the best of my knowledge, I have stuck to the old adage of "Don't post anything that you are not willing to shout from the rooftops". I am pretty sure that I have never used foul or abusive language (although I am willing to stand corrected) and the closest thing to offence I have caused (and got trolled for) was some comments that I made about the Falklands and the fact that they are British (the right to self determination etc). Oh yes and the odd rant against Russell Brand! Facebook I tend to use a little less as a mass communication tool and more of a way of talking to friends, unlike many I don't accept everyone who wants to be my friend on Facebook and have the occasional culls.
What I'd like to know is why young people (and I may be generalising here) see Twitter/Facebook et al as their personal soapbox or confessional? Have we reached a time where no one has any "real" friends who they can say "not feeling great at the moment" to? Or is it just a sign of the times that they feel it necessary to tell the world? I may find it interesting (well, not really) when I read a post saying "Had toast for breakfast, here's a picture of it" but if I read "Think my mum is trying to kill me as she fed me Marmite on toast" do I phone the police to report a crime? Similarly when people post "<insert name> is a bad person because <insert accusation>", when things aren't backed up by facts that could be admissible in court, you really wonder if we are turning into a nation of football pundits where we all know how <insert something here> could be done better. Like many people I have experienced this first hand with the "Oh, that website's rubbish, you should have booked through....." or "Oh, if you'd have mentioned my name to <insert name> they would have looked after you".
I always like it when people offer you information rather than telling you, its much nicer, but then maybe I'm just a bit old! Maybe people should think before they type and remember the note I had on my desk for many years "Never reply to a letter when you are angry!" - for you youngsters you could change the word letter for tweet, email, message etc.
Here's another fact, the Aztecs were around in the 14th to the 16th Century, Oxford University was founded in 1096 (Cambridge in 1209) - bet you thought that the Aztecs were several thousand years ago!
Here endeth this week's moan.
Thursday, 8 January 2015
The One's For Josh!
Josh Parkin suggested that I should keep a blog. OK, so its 18 months since I, sort of, started this one but it got me thinking.
Maybe I should keep a blog on a regular basis - not really a diary but more the old ramblings of a middle aged, balding etc......
The question now I suppose is where to start. I suppose I could just post the review of the year that we always send out to family and friends at the end of each year saying what we have (or haven't) achieved in the year. Alternatively I could review where I currently am and how I have ended up here. So, here goes.....
Last May following various issues I ended up having some time off sick (don't worry, I'm ok) and this lead to me looking at my life in depth, where I am and all the other stuff you're meant to look at at my time of life.
So, let me consider that old favourite, the old work/life balance. Many years ago I was made aware of a company where staff had to take their (generous) holiday entitlement and if they didn't then they were penalised on their annual performance management - this was the company making sure that their employees spent time with their families, staff were discouraged from working overtime (if this was necessary then it was seen as an error on the employers part as the extra work should have been anticipated).
But not all can be like that - Professor Cary Cooper was on the radio saying that if you are working 11 hour days regularly then you are heading for all sorts of health issues (I can't remember the statistics but they were not good). Prof Cooper was relating this to self employed people and I can believe it as many people who I have known over the years who run their own companies end up running themselves into the ground but how do you turn off?
If you have a 9 - 5 job then its, relatively, easy. But if your job is more flexible then how do you avoid working 24/7? 10+ years ago when I worked for First National I asked the Director in Charge how he coped with the number of emails that he used to get on a daily basis and how it worked when he was off. His answer was simple; when he was off he set an auto-reply to say he wasn't in then when he returned he deleted everything that had been sent and started afresh. As he was getting around 100 emails a day this was brilliant and it worked.
Similarly either turn your mobile off or let works calls go through to voice mail and sort them in works time. If you are on holiday then treat it as that - if you are not expected to work weekends then don't.
How's that Josh - a reasonable piece of advice?
Maybe I should keep a blog on a regular basis - not really a diary but more the old ramblings of a middle aged, balding etc......
The question now I suppose is where to start. I suppose I could just post the review of the year that we always send out to family and friends at the end of each year saying what we have (or haven't) achieved in the year. Alternatively I could review where I currently am and how I have ended up here. So, here goes.....
Last May following various issues I ended up having some time off sick (don't worry, I'm ok) and this lead to me looking at my life in depth, where I am and all the other stuff you're meant to look at at my time of life.
So, let me consider that old favourite, the old work/life balance. Many years ago I was made aware of a company where staff had to take their (generous) holiday entitlement and if they didn't then they were penalised on their annual performance management - this was the company making sure that their employees spent time with their families, staff were discouraged from working overtime (if this was necessary then it was seen as an error on the employers part as the extra work should have been anticipated).
But not all can be like that - Professor Cary Cooper was on the radio saying that if you are working 11 hour days regularly then you are heading for all sorts of health issues (I can't remember the statistics but they were not good). Prof Cooper was relating this to self employed people and I can believe it as many people who I have known over the years who run their own companies end up running themselves into the ground but how do you turn off?
If you have a 9 - 5 job then its, relatively, easy. But if your job is more flexible then how do you avoid working 24/7? 10+ years ago when I worked for First National I asked the Director in Charge how he coped with the number of emails that he used to get on a daily basis and how it worked when he was off. His answer was simple; when he was off he set an auto-reply to say he wasn't in then when he returned he deleted everything that had been sent and started afresh. As he was getting around 100 emails a day this was brilliant and it worked.
Similarly either turn your mobile off or let works calls go through to voice mail and sort them in works time. If you are on holiday then treat it as that - if you are not expected to work weekends then don't.
How's that Josh - a reasonable piece of advice?
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