Paul Hammond's Blog

I went to Kingston on Sunday with my family, with the intention of having a relaxing Sunday lunch at Jamie’s Italian followed by some shopping for various bits and bobs.  Well, we did do all of those things, but the lovely relaxing day out in the beautiful spring sunshine was completely ruined when we returned to our car to find the passenger side front window smashed out.  We weren’t alone.  A couple of other cars in the car park had the same problem – a smashed passenger window.

The car park attendants were very helpful, vacuuming the glass out of the car for us, taking our details and passing on the information to the local police force.  They even gave us a couple of hours of free parking for our next visit, although I am not sure I’ll want to use that car park again!  Unfortunately, the car park does not have camera monitoring, so that was pretty much all they could do.

What was strange was that nothing was missing from the car.  The sat nav unit was still on the dashboard, expensive sunglasses were still in the glove box, CDs still in the centre console and the player.  It didn’t make sense.  We just assumed that it was kids being vandals.  Then we heard from the attendant that another of the cars was missing their road tax disc.  I looked at ours, but it was still there.  However, we have a plastic tax disc holder that feels like it is superglued to the windscreen.  My best guess is that the idiots WERE actually after the tax disc (which was brand new, so had a long expiry), but in the limited time they had before someone was alerted they couldn’t get it unstuck from the windscreen.

For those outside the UK, road tax (or Vehicle Excise Duty) is payable to the government to allow you to have your car legally allowed on the road.  To prove you’ve paid, you get a small paper disc that you display in your front window, that has the date of expiry on it, as well as your car registration details.

I looked into this online and found an article that said (taken/slightly edited from Duck2Water Car Insurance Site):
More than 142,000 replacement tax discs were issued by the DVLA in a single year and it is believed that the majority were taken by thieves. At first glance, it is not obvious why a little paper disc which is marked with your car's details would be worth stealing. However, there is actually a very good reason.  It is very difficult for criminals to get a legitimate tax disc for a stolen car, as they would need to provide the motor insurance documentation and MOT certificate. In order to prevent a car looking suspicious because it lacks a tax disc, they will use a real tax disc stolen from an innocent motorist's car windscreen. The details on the disc will then be altered to make it appropriate for the new car.

So, UK folks, take note.  It cost me £75 to have the window fixed (the excess on my insurance policy) and it took until midnight on Monday night for the glass company to have an open slot.  Yes, midnight!  Most Police Forces sell Secure Tax Disc Holders for as little as £1 that are designed to be tamper proof (the tax disc will be ripped if you try and open the holder).  This should act as a deterrent to would-be thieves.  If you want to save yourself a large insurance excess and the hassle of replacing your tax disc and window glass, get hold of one.

I have wanted to try a pair of Vibram’s FiveFingers shoes for a while now, but have found it very difficult to get hold of them due to their popularity – nowhere had any stock. 

These shoes are designed to allow you to achieve a “barefoot” feel when you are taking part in activities such as running, trekking, yoga, water sports, climbing etc.  According to the Vibram website, barefooting “stimulates the muscles in your feet and lower legs which will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception”.  Obviously, doing many these things truly barefooted would probably result in some nasty injuries, so the FiveFingers offer a very lightweight and robust covering for your foot that still feels like you are barefoot.

Yesterday, I finally managed to find a pair that I could try on, in REI’s flagship store in downtown Seattle.  I grabbed a pair of the Injinji socks (that also have separate toes in them), and a pair of the FiveFinger KSO series in a black, gray and camoflage colour.  I then proceeded to spend a few minutes feeling very weird as I slotted my individual toes into the toe sockets, first in the socks and then in the shoes.  As weird as it was, however, they felt pretty good.  So, the purchase was made and I am now the proud owner of some great new running/activity shoes.

The KSO in the name stands for “Keep Stuff Out”.  The shoes have a thin Vibram sole, and a nylon and mesh upper that encloses your whole foot.  The velcro fastening really keeps the shoe tight on your foot, and I can definitely see these being used in situations where you want to keep your feet covered and your shoes firmly in place – perhaps in the water, or when trail running etc.  They do a number of different series that are suitable for different types of activity; see their website for the other options.

I took them for a 20 minute run on the treadmill at my hotel this morning.  One of the big differences about these shoes is that you cannot run the way most people normally do – predominantly “heel first”.  Your biomechanics have to change so that the ball of your foot is hitting the pavement first.  Twenty minutes is a long time when you’re running on your toes.  My calves have never felt so abused…  However, they definitely felt very comfortable, and I felt like I’d had a really good workout after the twenty minutes were up.  I’m really looking forward to a longer run outside.

I posted back in January about the upcoming Agile 2010 Conference in Nashville, TN.

Just a reminder that the submissions deadline for the Agile 2010 conference is rapidly approaching.  The system will close on February 26th, so get your submissions in by then.  Register here: Agile 2010 – Be A Speaker.

I am producing the Building High Performance Teams stage this year, and would welcome submissions for my stage.  If you have any experiences of either leading or participating in a team that has achieved great success, we’d love to hear how you did it.  Equally, if you have war stories of how NOT to build a fantastic team, let us know.

If your expertise lies elsewhere, there are many other great stages that you can submit to.  Here is the full list of Agile 2010 stages.

Hope to see you in Nashville!

I work in one of Microsoft’s MSN development teams in London, and our team is looking for Software Testers.  There is one role already advertised, and a Lead role that will be published later this week.

If you are a developer or tester looking for a new challenge, and you would like to work for Microsoft/MSN, check out the job descriptions here: http://london-msn-jobs.com/.

The dates and venue for this years Agile Conference have been announced.  The conference is from August 9th to 13th in Nashville, Tennessee.

You can find out more details about being a presenter or attending the conference at http://www.agile2010.org/.  The submission system will be open soon if you have something you’d like to share with the Agile community!

This year’s metaphor is “Learn.  Practice.  Explore…”.  From the conference website:

Learn. Practice. Explore...
The metaphor for this year’s conference describes stages of learning. For those of you who are familiar with the Japanese martial arts this is referred to as Shu Ha Ri. These stages describe a path from learning to mastery. It is the goal of the Program Committee that the program we put together for Agile 2010 will provide something compelling for each stage of learning.

Read more about the conference and the three main conference themes at the Agile 2010 Conference Blog.

Time for another reflection on a year passed.  I wrote my first yearly review (Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009) last year, so I thought I’d continue the tradition.

So, What Happened In 2009?

Travel featured again, although not as much as in 2008.  This year I made only 8 trips, spending 66 days on the road.  I returned to Dublin once, Shanghai twice and Seattle three times.  I visited Cyprus for the very first time for our family vacation, and headed to Chicago for the Agile 2009 conference.

I was in Chicago with my friend Dave, who lived there for a while.  He introduced me to some great food (including delicious Pizza at Giordano’s, breaded Steak Sandwiches at Ricobene’s, and breakfast at the West Egg Cafe).  I was able to catch a White Sox vs Orioles baseball game at US Cellular field, but sadly I couldn’t get tickets for the Cubs vs Mets game at Wrigley.  I visited the stadium though.

Cyprus was fantastic.  Blue skies and sunshine every day, 35 degree heat, lovely beaches.  We rented a house and a car and explored the Eastern end of the Cypriot owned part of the Island.  I was fascinated by Famagusta and the ghost town.  Highly recommended if you want a slow moving and relaxing holiday in a very beautiful place.

While I was in Chicago, I spent some time exercising with super-fit Dave, and I realised that I was seriously unfit.  I resolved to change that, and I blogged about my exercise and weight loss progress back in November.  I’ve continued on since then and lost a further 5lbs in weight.

In February, I completed my 365 Days photography project.  It felt great to hit 366 days without missing a single picture, and I learned a lot about both my camera and Photoshop.  I’ve since had the photos (rather vainly) printed into a hard-cover book using blurb.com, so I can flick through it every so often to remember the achievement.  I’ve since forgotten all of the Photoshop techniques I learned during the year, and many of the camera techniques!  I am sure it will come back to me when I take on my next photography project.  I’m yet to decide what that will be.

In July, I finally got to see a long-time favourite artist of mine, Babyface, live at the indigO2 in London.  He was completely awesome, and I hope he comes back through London again soon.

I finally bought a new desktop computer in August, one that gives me enough power for photo and video editing, as well as multi-track audio recording.  I’m looking forward to giving it a proper workout soon, time permitting.

On the 1st December, my daughter sang with the Young Voices Choir at the O2.  It was amazing to see her join 8,000 other children to sing along with a number of celebrities who graced the stage.  The kids took up a third of the auditorium!  It was a very impressive sight, and an even more impressive sound.  I am looking forward to getting the DVD of the show in the New Year.  You can see a clip from the 1st December Young Voices concert here.

I’ll be finishing out the year at a wedding on December 31st.  I’ve never mixed celebrations before, so that will be a first for me.  I’m looking forward to seeing in the New Year in a suit, rather than the usual pyjamas…

What Didn’t Happen In 2009? 

Last year’s post had a list of things I wanted to try and to in 2009.  So, how did I do?  Very poorly it seems.  I did visit Chicago and Shanghai.  I didn’t read anywhere near as much as I wanted to, I didn’t learn any more Spanish or Mandarin, nor formally take piano or guitar lessons.  I didn’t participate in NaNoWriMo 2009, didn’t record any music, and didn’t start a new photography projects.  Oh, and if anything, I blogged less.  So, pretty much a big FAIL against my predictions!

Onwards to 2010.

The first thing to think about is what I will call 2010.  Am I going to be in the “Twenty-Ten” crowd, or the “Two-Thousand-and-Ten” bucket?  Unlike in the 1900s, where saying “Nineteen-Seventy” sounded right, saying “Twenty-Ten” or “Twenty-Twelve” sounds a little wrong to me.  I think I’ll be going with “Two-Thousand-and-Ten”.  You?

Things that may or may not happen in 2010:

• I will probably be involved in planning the Agile Conference again, so will likely be heading to Nashville, Tennessee in August.  Another US city I’ve never visited before.
• More exercising, both running and cycling, including at least one formally organized race – probably a 10k.
• I’ll be visiting my childhood home town much more often that I have done in recent years.
• I will almost certainly write and record something this year.  Just one more bit of hardware to buy first (a new DI box, for those who care).
• I’ll be switching blog engines, from DasBlog to GraffitiCMS.  I’ll also hopefully have a new site design in the New Year.
• I’ll be developing an iPhone application, probably working with Tee to extend his BostonFireBox.com offering.
• We’re enjoying discussing the possibilities for our family holiday this year.  No decision yet, other than “we are definitely going on holiday!”.
• I’ll be decorating our bedroom and our hall, stairs and landing early in the New Year so that the carpet we already paid for can be fitted.  I hate decorating.  Humbug.

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2010 is everything you want it to be, and more besides.

My friend Dave is very fit.  He works out every day, eats right and has the will power to stay away from bad foods.

Late in August, I went to the Agile 2009 conference with Dave.  On the first day in Chicago, I decided that I should take advantage of our hotel being right on the River Walk, and suggested to Dave that we go for a run.  I think I managed about 2 miles that day, with a rest or two, and Dave seemed to be OK with me slowing him down!  I was breathing hard after a couple hundred yards, and struggled to push myself through the second mile…

At the time I was carrying about 204lbs (14st 8lbs for you UK folks, 93kg metric).  I knew I was overweight and unfit; simple tasks like walking flights of stairs made subsequent conversation difficult, so it was obvious I was out of shape.  But running with Dave really brought it home to me how bad I had gotten.  Other incidents also tipped me off.  For example, when I told a colleague that I had a 32” waist, he laughed at me!  We agreed that while I wore 32” waisted trousers, they sat very low (way below my waist) and that my proper waist size was in fact much larger!  And when I remembered that I had been 140lbs throughout college, I realised I’d added nearly 50% of my body weight in my “sitting on my backside at the office” years.  Granted, 140lbs was way too thin, but equally, 204lbs was just too fat.

So, I found myself quite profoundly shocked at myself, all of a sudden.  It took such a long time for the weight to creep up, that I hadn’t really noticed so much.  Struggling for breath as I walked the last 200 yards back to the hotel sure made it obvious.  So, right there on that Monday morning, as I watched the sun rise over the lake, I made a decision to exercise more and eat better, and to try and get myself fitter.  If I lost a little weight, that would be a bonus, but as long as my heart was healthier, I would be happy.

I exercised every day in Chicago with Dave, either running on the lake front, or in the gym.  The 5 days came and went, and I still felt awful after every session.  But when I arrived home, I decided I had to make a continued effort.  I decided that I’d make time for exercise by getting up earlier and running first thing in the morning – time when I’d ordinarily be sleeping anyway.

Knowing that I would need some sort of regimented approach, I went online and found a novice 10k training programme.  I began to follow it, to the letter.  I would run 3 times a week, and then either use our cross-trainer or take my bike out for long rides on the other 2 days.  At the same time, I started changing some of my eating habits; fewer Diet Cokes, skim milk, much smaller breakfast cereal helpings, more fruit during the day (I never was very good at remembering my 5!), and fewer snacks.  Nothing drastic, just some sensible changes.

I’ve been following “the plan” for about 12 weeks now.  Two significant things happened this weekend.  Firstly, I bought some new jeans, with a waistband that is 2” smaller than my old jeans – some lovely Superdry jeans with a 30” waistband.  And they actually fit me at the waist this time!  Secondly, I got down into the 12-stone-something range (albeit only 12st 12lbs, or 180lbs).

Incredibly, with some regular exercise and a sensible approach to eating, I have lost over 24lbs in weight in just 3 months.  No diets, no fads, just a little will power and a few hours hitting the road when I would probably have been sleeping anyway.  I’ve found that I actually like running and cycling, and that there is a certain meditative quality to both.  I’ve also found that I can push myself farther than I thought I could, able to go “just one more mile” when my body really wanted me to just stop and sit on the curb.  My lap times over the various distances have consistently improved too, and I am able to run much further distances; both indications of my fitness improving dramatically.  And you know, generally, I just feel so much better…

Despite having quite a bad a right calf strain this week which has slowed me down a little, this is not a temporary life change for me.  I intend to continue exercising 5 days a week (even though the winter months might be tough!) and I will at least maintain my fitness and my 175-180lbs of body weight.

While reasonably security conscious, sometimes we leave things out in our back garden, mostly out of convenience or laziness!  Usually there are garden chairs, sometimes garden toys, and very occasionally, our kids' bikes.

About 6 weeks ago, my son's bike disappeared from our back garden.  We have a side alleyway that isn't gated, so getting in to the garden is easy.  I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that someone came around the back and took the bike.  I am surprised that anyone would steal a bike made for an 8 year old though.  At the time, I was also surprised, they didn't take my daughter's bike too.

Anyway, as a result of the theft, we've had a 6-foot gate fitted, and had to buy new bikes for both the kids.  We probably should have had the gate fitted a long time ago, and I am not too upset about having to buy new bikes as they were growing out of their old ones anyway.  Also, Dylan got a BMX that is perfectly fine for me to ride too, and it has stunt pegs front and back.  How long before I seriously injure myself I wonder?  But I digress.  We'd put the whole incident behind us, and moved on.

Last week, my wife was driving home, and as she approached our house she noticed a small bike propped up against the fence opposite.  Doing a double take, she realized that it was Dylan's missing bike!  I hate it when things like this happen – I also want an explanation; I'm not happy with simply "oh, how lucky it showed up again!"

That said, we *think* we figured out what happened.  There are some construction works happening in the field opposite our house, laying some new pipes.  They've dug some large holes and created some large earth piles.  No-one has been on site doing any work for a good few weeks though.  We think that someone took the bike so that they could have some fun on the hilly terrain, and then simply dumped it in the long grass once they were finished.  Then, last week, the workmen finally came back to work on the site; they must have found the bike and left it leaned against the fence in the street so that the owner might see it.  Which we did!

Anyone want to buy a bike for an 8 year old boy?  Good condition, only one owner, one theft and a month sitting out in a field in the typical English summer rain.