Network Course in Oxford

Sunday 6 - Tuesday 8 February 2000. Myself and Network Manager, Jayne are in Oxford for a two-day course on the new network system going into Myerscough College.

As the course is Monday - Tuesday, we have to drive down on Sunday afternoon and find the B&B then go into Oxford to find something to eat.

I always like a wander round a town or city at night, as floodlit buildings or even just lit shop windows create a totally different view than you would get in the daytime. This is Christ Church College.

Oxford has the oldest university in the English-speaking world. It came into being in the late 1100s though its relationship with the non-academic inhabitants was far from easy at first. In the background, turned blue by the approaching dusk is the Radcliffe Camera (built 1737-1748). It is not a camera, not even a camera obscura but a library. "Camera" in Latin means a room.

There's some little devils knocking about in Oxford after nightfall!

I found a Green Man carved on a bit of panelling. Looking not a little alarming himself, he was carved on the door underneath the squatting devil or imp pictured above.

Facing the Radcliffe library was this college building with a touch of the moorish above the wrought iron gates. The street lights threw shadows of the wrought ironwork onto the pillars within the gatehouse.

One of the most famous libraries in the world is Oxford's Bodleian Library. We passed under the archway and into it's courtyard. It is named after Sir Thomas Bodley who donated funds to develop a library dating from the 14th century.

It is the second largest UK library after the British Library and contains over 13 million books and documents. This is not the place to say "I can't remember the name or the author but the cover is red..."

I have a feeling that above the shop was a cafe or restaurant where we ate on at least one of the nights. Also note the row of parked bicycles. Oxford is full of them, either because students love to race around silently, startling each other and Oxford's inhabitants, or simply because the cost of parking in Oxford is so expensive that you may as well allow your car to be towed away and buy another, this being almost as "cheap"...

We found Oxford's Bridge of Sighs. Not quite so romantic, nor quite so well lit as its Venetian equivalent.

Work Index

Training in Cirencester, November 1999

Thursday 25 November 1999. For the moment I had done what I could for the I.T. network at Myerscough College and it was time to start to look at the Management Information System.

At Preston we had Femis software provided by EMIS, the company, with the data store running on Oracle. EMIS had been bought out, merged or otherwise acquired by Capita with the intention that all colleges using Femis would eventually move to their Dolphin software which, at Myerscough, used SQL*Server as a data store. SQL*Server still used the same SQL (Structured Query Language) as Oracle and also MS Access which I could use as a front end for running reports once I got my head around the Dolphin structure diagram. This latter looked a bit similar to the star charts used by the Millenium Falcon...

So this night I found myself staying at a tiny B&B in Cirencester where Capita had a training base. They didn't do evening meals so after the course finished on day one of two, I went into town to see what was available.

Well the Romans hadn't left much... By the time I got out of the course it was starting to go dark but there was just time for a quick look around the town. The first thing to catch the eye was the age of the buildings.

Cirencester has Roman roots and had an abbey built by the Normans and demolished by Henry VIII. The locals were not too sorry to see it go by all accounts as the Abbot dealt out severe punishments for petty crimes. In the Abbey Grounds a small section of the Roman Town Wall is preserved.

And elsewhere yet again - at the opposite end of the Abbey Grounds was the Norman arch that was the gateway to the Abbey. The Gatehouse was a small and picturesque 12th century building with heavy studded wooden doors. It is seen here from inside the grounds. Inside the arch were plaques on the passage walls.

One told us: The 12th century gate house, the only surviving building of the great Augustinian abbey of St. Mary, was one of the entrances to the precincts of the monastery until its dissolution in 1539. Purchased from Queen Elizabeth I By Dr. Richard Master, physician to the queen, the abbey site remained in the ownership of his descendants until 1954 when the gate house was presented to Cirencester in memory of the late Col. W.A. Chester Master by his family.

As it got darker, so I got hungrier. It would seem that nowhere opened until 6:30. The most likely looking place was The King's Head Hotel which had a few meals on the menu that sounded alright. I walked back to the B&B for a while and got some work done on the College's Intranet pages. I ventured out again at 7:00pm.

By now it had gone dark a bit more and I took another shot of the church, which is floodlit from the centre of the town square. The town had more or less gone to sleep and few people were about.

The receptionist of the King's Head told me that the restaurant was a carvery and I was looking forward to a meal as I walked through the ancient courtyard of the inn to the seperate building at the back. What's this? Only one other couple eating and in the bar, just two old men and a dog. And even the dog was asleep...

One of the men called out as I approached the empty bar: "She's gone to change a barrel - help yourself and get me a pint while you're at it!" It turned out to be a carvery with no roast... I had to make do with a chicken kiev, which although nice, was a bit of a let-down!

When I came out of the inn the night was black and still... (still what?) still black! If the town had gone to sleep before it was definitely snoring now! Even the teenagers were walking about in subdued groups. You might also notice that it was pouring with rain...

Work Index

Normal Service Will Be Resumed

I'm sorry folks, it must look as though I'm being a bit tardy here, but the PC has been replaced and I'm in the midst of taking up broadband through Sky.

The router still has to be delivered as yet though so the new PC is sitting there doing little other than acting as a jukebox.

To be honest I've not had a great deal of time to play on it as last week I was in Newcastle all week on a course - doing homework and taking two exams towards the end of the week. Little was done at all other than work - and eat... I've put on a couple of pounds - Jackie from work taking me for countless curries - must be a staple Geordie diet? The photo was taken one night as we walked back over the Millenium Bridge over the Tyne.

Anyway, to get back to the plot, the chap has been to put the Sky dish up today and I got my first taste of HD TV around lunchtime. So the next few nights could well be spent comatose on the sofa watching the telly.

Whether that's as a result of the HD picture, the lack of access to the Internet unless I get the works laptop out, or the aftermath of an exhausting week's course I leave to your imagination!

I'll be back soon though!

Large Version of the Photo: Tyne Bridge and Sunset

My Course - Final Day

Ah, Home, Sweet Home!

I'm back in Blackpool now with the memories of that final 3-hour exam behind me! It's a toughie and no mistake, but after sitting it I'm now feeling what can best be summed up by one of my classmates' phrases - I'm "stupidly optimistic"!

I have to remain that for 8-12 weeks before I get my results though!

I've never before spent a full week in London and seen so little of it - apart from last night where we had been told to relax, every night consisted of leaving the course, buying a sandwich, taking it back to the hotel and studying after checking work emails and occasionally updating this blog.

I've overdosed on AirCon - 10 minutes fresh air a day just doesn't add up to enough really! Has it been enjoyable? Well in what could seem a masochistic way, yes it has. Such an intensive course generates strong comradeship in any group and we've all swapped email addresses and went for a pint together after the exam.

The train was absolutely packed coming back - a Friday before a Bank Holiday I suppose it's only to be expected. Passed through a storm too at one point although both London and Blackpool seem to have reserved some sunshine for me!

Ah... long weekend... sleep... music... family... sleep... sleep... slee-e-e...... zzzzzzz

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My Course - 4th Day

Day Four, water ran out on 2nd night. Last night Carruthers left the tent saying he'd only be gone for a few minutes. He made a hell of a racket and eventually we went out to drag him back in...

Ok, fiction over, what follows is almost the truth of it! Phew this is not an easy course - even for someone like me who has been running Project Management workshops for 4 years! That means I've got 4 years of "other terminology and methodology" in my head of course, so have had to ditch that for the week.

This morning as I expected I passed the Foundation Exam with plenty of marks to spare. I was feeling very wary of the Practitioner Exam which is tomorrow but the tutor gave some excellent exam strategies and tips this afternoon so that I'm now ready for them to wheel on the question paper! (Well I am now - tomorrow morning may be a different thing!)

We were told not to do too much cramming tonight but to have a rest and relax. I've been out for the first time this week. Every day so far has been leave hotel, walk 5 minutes to course venue, leave at 5:30, walk back, study, rush out for meal (or have taken a sandwich back) and then more study until falling into bed. Heavy going!

Tonight I walked down to Trafalgar Square and was aghast to find it crowded with people sitting on grass!!! It is extremely warm and humid in London tonight, I walked down to the river and then past the Eye to the Golden Jubilee Bridge and back up to Bloomsbury by the back streets. I was a dripping mess by the time I got back to the hotel! (Cuts an attractive mind picture eh, ladies?)

Am back to my usual cool sophisticated self now though! Where's that exam? Let's get it over with, then let's hit the train for home!

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My Course - Second Day

Well I have to admit there's a bit of a culture shock for a 50 something year old to find he has 2-3 hours studying to do every night on top of a very full day's course. It's full too - I can't do it in 2 hours and it's been 3-3.5 for me the last two nights. That means I get up, go to the course, come out, study, go to eat very quickly, come back and study, go to bed.

The Prince2 Course is not for the faint hearted. Thursday has a Foundation Exam - signs are that I will walk that but I'm not going to get complacent about it!

Friday morning is a 3-hour open book exam but with a lot to do so knowing where everything is in the book is paramount. Last night's exercise showed that I would pass that - just, which for day 2 I suppose is about right and I need to apply myself to make sure the next day and a half (after Thursday's exam) is used to full effect.

Interesting to see the similarities and differences between the JISC infoNet approach and Prince2. I had to set my head to a different mindset for this week and forget what I already know so that I will give the correct references for everything!

Ding Ding - Round 3...

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My Course - First Day Report

Oh... my... God...!

Playing Catch-Up...

Agh! - I dreamed I was falling asleep whilst reading my required pre-course manual for a week long course with a [gulp!] three-hour exam at the end! At my time of life (8:05am on a Saturday morning) I thought I'd done with all that!

Have just taken wifey and daughter to the airport - they are having a weekend in London to celebrate Gill's forthcoming nuptuals (she's getting married too). I'm following them tomorrow as I'm there for the week on this course. We figured the cats might like some food over the weekend though.

A few follow-ups from previous entries.

After the entry about Ingrid's new film, I had a friend request from film director Mark Redfield at my MySpace Account which was very nice of him! Look after Ingrid for me Mark and don't believe everything she says about me!

I was contacted by someone who had attended the Change Management session at Gregynog in Wales, looking for more of the same in-house for their college.

I was contacted by my old mucka, Jackie, after the gig at Witton Park, Blackburn. She claimed I'd sent her to Croxteth Park, Liverpool - and had the cheek to send me a copy of my email proving it... oh... er... sorry about that Jackie... good job it wasn't raining then! Oh... it was in Liverpool...? well... ah... and what? You'd brought along lots of things for me to look at...? I gave myself 99 lashes with a rusty chain - she very kindly agreed that 100 was too much... "forgiven not forgotten" is what she said... The Croxteth Park gig is on Sunday 15 July - come and see a man berated... if she's dried out enough to come...

Ok - I'm off - the local garage have booked me in to have my broken wing mirror fixed, the postman tried to deliver a parcel the other day but we weren't in so that needs picking up (no idea what it may be either?!?) and must whiz my mother around the market and Tesco before getting back to the rivetting manual for this course!