Category Archives: General

Not quite the end of the year, but close enough!

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Been a bit remiss with writing a blog for some time, been about 2 months to date. I’ve been doing a lot more Trip Advisor reviews, rather then writing my own blog about them as I feel that more people will read my review AND it can help them decide whether or not to visit the establishment.

 

When I started my blog I knew that it was never going to be one of those that got updated every day – I probably could do one like that but it would be bloody boring! Not that my life is that boring (honestly it isn’t) but apart from work and stuff most of my days are pretty similar. I’ve also only subscribed to a small number of blogs to read, and of those I only really read about 4. I’m just not one of those people that reads constantly stuff all over the net, hell I’ve not even read my Kindle for a week or 2…

 

This year has been, on the whole, a rather good one (as far as my eroding memory reminds me). We gained a new pet in April, @TheCassieCat on twitter and pics of her on Facebook all over the place; she really is a sweet little cat but does occassionally let you know her belly isn’t ready to be tickled!!! We went on 3 holidays; Amsterdam, Berlin and Gran Canaria – all 3 were lovely and relaxing. Met our friends here and there during the year – wish we could meet them more often but with todays lifestyles weekends get eaten up very quickly and it’s sometimes tricky to have free time where everyone can make it. On the flip side of that there are also other friends that I haven’t seen for some time – Facebook makes this even worse as you can keep in touch but it’s not really the same as sitting down face-2-face and having a good chat.

One thing that did happen, and wasn’t great but will hopefully end with good news, is that a very close friend was diagnosed with a large, aggressive brain tumour at the start of this week (that’s the 19th Dec). Initial prognosis was terminal, then the next day the surgeons decided to try the operation to remove as much as they can without causing any damage and then treat the rest, if it’s treatable. We won’t know until the next few days if radio/chemo therapy will be an option – all hoping it will. Thankfully, post-op he was in great shape; no effects on his speech or motion. It just brings home the fact that life is so very fragile and things can change in an instant. No matter how much you plan ahead of time it only takes one thing to flip your world upside down.

 

So, here’s wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Best Wishes for 2012. For those of you I haven’t met up with in 2011 let’s try harder and do something in 2012. For those I have met then let’s continue that trend, and for those reading this that I’ve never met then say “Hi”!!

Another year, another white hair….

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Who am I kidding? Another 50 of the blighters!

I thought I would write something before having a couple of beers to celebrate the arrival of 2011, and bid farewell to 2010. Highlights of the year? To be honest, nothing that really springs to mind – is that a good thing? I suppose you don’t want landmarks happening every day. I changed roles again at work, to a role that I had been chasing for some time. I officially started doing it in October this year, and I am enjoying it (mostly!) at the moment. It’s very different to my previous role, which was providing Backline support for one of my company’s, Symantec, products. Backline support is the highest level of support offering that a customer would get, and it’s also the bridge between Support and Engineering.

My new role is working within the Supportability group. Although it has support in the title, it isn’t direct support as I previously did. This role is more about looking to the future as to how changes can be made to assist the Support group, be they in the product directly, new support tools or even improved/new processes. It’s a fairly steep learning curve at the moment. A lot of new names, new areas to learn, new processes to understand. I think I am getting the hang of it – I suppose I will be told if I’m not! I work in a small team, just the 2 of us (which was originally 1). We fit within a newly organised Global team, so a lot of what I now do has a global element to it – again different thinking required. I’m not sure how long I will be doing this new role – I expect at least a couple of years.

Ultimately I would love to, if it is possible, to move out of IT and do something different. Something that really appeals to me, like more charity work or my main dream to have my own deli, where I can bake fantastic loaves, go roaming the world for lovely ingredients, and have the time to ask people how they are doing. Maybe the lotto will come up and allow me to do this, though that would be a very lucky thing to have happen.

Whatever the next year has to offer, I hope it will be good, and if not then something that we can learn from, or just accept and move on.

Christmas holidays

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So, it’s the 12th December, and I am now off from work until January 4th 2011!!! 3 whole weeks!!! Hoooorah…

I am going to try to do some stuff during this time. Some will be new recipes (especially trying to do mayonnaise as my 1st attempt didn’t work); some time will be taking photo’s (weather permitting); some will be making Xmas gifts; some will be reading and some will be writing…..

Julie & Julia

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So, finally got round to seeing this film this evening. Really, really enjoyed it. It’s always good to see someone achieve something in their life that they have a passion about.

I suppose I am quite like a lot of other people, whereby they see or find out about something and then want to do something similar. I enjoy writing, and I also realise I don’t do enough of it. I was a latecomer to blogging and I only tend to blog when I have something interesting to share, that’s how I see this being used. I don’t read that many blogs on a daily basis, probably because I have not got into the habit of doing so, something I need to change.

I may try and start writing some more article about my cooking exploits, especially as the kitchen in our house is miniscule and I recently saw a book on TV about cooking in a small kitchen – some of the ideas were good I thought, and some just plain daft!

I would also like to write some short stories – I really must actually do something rather than thinking about it (it’s too easy to think about doing stuff as opposed to actually doing it) – so watch out, I may surprise and outstand you with my literary genius, but then again maybe I won’t!!

It's all for charrrity mate!

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On May 2nd this year, myself, friends and many others will be walking 10km in and around Brighton to raise money for Stonewall. Mini and me have been donating, via monthly direct debit, to Stonewall for just over 1 year now. We both think it’s a great cause and any money can help them help others – this has to be a good thing!!!

To help donate please visit our team donation page – http://www.justgiving.com/10kforpay

Thanks in advance!!

Christmas and friends

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I’ve not been blogging for a while, mainly as I haven’t been eating out lately, but have been cooking some lovely meals from various books etc. This post isn’t really about cooking or the usual stuff, just something I wanted to jot down and share.

So, 2009 hasn’t been the greatest of years indirectly and directly. My brother Michael passing away in Feb (almost a year already, not good), my sister splitting up with her fiance, my best friend from school divorcing his wife of 17 years – all doom and gloom eh!!! But there has been some really good things that have come out of this year, and that is making new friends and rekindling old friendships.

As I’ve already mentioned in earlier posts, after Michael passing away suddenly, it really focused my outlook on life and I have been guilty of not talking to old friends, because of things said in the past and holding a grudge etc. We are all guilty of doing it at some time, and I realise not every friendship can be rescued. Thankfully I have been lucky in that the friends that I so badly ignored (more out of spite) have allowed me back into their lives, in one form or another, to which I am grateful. Funny how these things happen, at the time they do hurt but as with many things this dissolves over time.

So, that’s it really – just wanted to say that if you have had a barny with a friend, now is as good a time you can get to patch things up. Things are never guaranteed in life, but if you don’t try it then you could never get the oppurtunity to say it in the future. Friends are good, no, they are great, and yes can be a royal pain in the ass sometimes, but can’t we all eh!!!

christmas-snow

It's been a while…

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So, the last post I did was back in January, and now it’s June already (and very nearly almost July! where has this year gone?) so I thought I had better blog something, and make an effort to do it at least once a week!

I now have, at last, an Apple iPhone 3G S, which really does bring mobile computing into reach and is nice and easy. It has a WordPress application too, so I can blog on the go!

I am also now a Tweeter (Ralphcat) which is a neat and quick way of letting people know what you are doing. Still on good old Facebook too.

So, that’s about it for my first one. I will be adding some more updates as to what has been happening since January, I bet you can’t wait!

A little bit about me, so you know who is writing this drivvle

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So, who am I and where do I live, work etc???

My name is Mark Barefoot (an odd surname yes? more on that later!) and I live in Chineham, Hampshire (take a look here) with my partner and have been here for just over 4 years. I am originally from Reading, which is about 11 miles North. Our house is in the middle of a small copse, on a small estate. The views from the front and back of the house both show trees which is nice.

I work in Reading too, for Symantec, at the Greenpark complex just near Madejski Stadium. I support an archiving application known as “Enterprise Vault”. It’s a good job, some times can be very frustrating, but I suppose that’s like a lot of jobs.

I am the 7th child of a very close-knit family, who mostly all live in Reading still. I have lost count of the number of nephews, nieces and other siblings!

So, apart from work what else do I enjoy? I like fine dining, going to the theatre, visiting other cities, having a few drinks and a laugh, and generally enjoying life. We have some good friends who we keep (sometimes not enough) in touch with, but we also like doing our own thing together. Last year we did a big trip to the US, which I will cover in more detail, but this has whetted out appetite for doing more trips now, at a point in our life where we can afford to do some without having to sacrifice that much.

Well, that’s enough for this bit – I will start sorting this blog out properly once I actually play with the editing application more – tune in later!