Back on my bike for first time since October

I have been on my bike since October, but only to get to work and back. It’s just been too damn cold, and too damn dark, to find any opportunities to get out training. But my ride to Paris is in June; that’s only four months away. I really need to start some proper training soon.

And today I at least had the chance to get out. Not a conventional training run, I grant you: we had some library books to take back, so instead of just popping round the corner to the Stevenage Old Town library, we decided to venture as far as Knebworth. And so, suitably kitted out for warmth, my son took happily to his seat on the back of my bike, and off we set. I’ve mentioned before that riding with a passenger feels very different because of the weight and the centre of gravity. This time I also had a backpack full of library books. Even worse. I never normally carry anything on my back, but the child seat means the panniers aren’t much use.

There’s quite a hill on the way to Knebworth (check out between miles 3 and 4 on the elevation below) and with the extra weight it was one of the very rare times I found myself in my very lowest gear. But thankfully I and my bike made it to Knebworth Library in one piece. The library wasn’t actually open when we arrived, so we popped round the corner to visit some friends for a cuppa and a chat, which was lovely. Then back to the library for another quick stop until, new  books on board (lightweight ones!), we headed off home.

My son fell asleep at about the nine mile mark. I wished I could do the same.

Today’s dull stats:
Distance: 10.76 miles
Riding time: 1 hr 2 min
Average speed: 10.3mph (Must try this route without childseat and backpack!)
Top speed: 25.1 mph (coming back down that hill)

A very comfortable sleeping position.

Having fun with formspring.me

You know me. Always finding new things to get up to online. Blogging here,  Flickr, Facebook, Twitter; all linked together to present a sort of electronic version of me. (Every time I post a new photo on Flickr, or a new article on here, Twitter gets an automatic update, and everything on Twitter gets sent straight to Facebook.)

Well if you already follow me on any of those you’ll have noticed another thing I’ve been having fun with lately: formspring.me. It’s a simple website that allows people to ask me questions anonymously. And slowly the questions have been coming in. I don’t usually know who’s asked them (well, that’s the point) and I have no way of knowing who – if anyone! – reads my answers. But I do try to answer them all. Though right now there are still a couple in my inbox I’ve not got round to yet.

I’ve had daft questions, silly questions, personal questions, and – occasionally – serious questions. And it’s been fun so far.

It’s a very basic service, and could do with a few more functions: I don’t think there’s any way to be notified if your question’s been answered, for example; you just have to go back and look. And I can’t put links in answers, which is often frustrating. Nor can I go back and edit answers, so if I let a typo through, it’s stuck there to embarrass me. But the site is in its infancy and these things may improve with time.

Despite this, it’s fun. Why not ask me a question?

A beautiful and remarkable seatbelt campaign.

I’ve just come across this most amazing little “always wear your seatbelt” campaign film called Embrace Life, and I want everyone to see it.

I love the way it doesn’t try to shock or scare you into wearing your seatbelt, but still manages to touch an emotional nerve. I think it’s beautiful.

It’s been produced by Sussex Safer Roads, and not been shown on national television as far as I can see. Certainly it’s not been adopted as part of a national road safety campaign. It should be.

Land Registry staff unsettled by latest announcement

It’s nearly three months since the Land Registry proposals were announced, and I’ve not said a lot about them since. There’s not been that much to say, as those of us in the offices marked for closure can really only sit and wait: the formal consultation period ends on January 31st, and there’s then a “period of reflection” before the final decision is revealed – probably sometime in March. So things had settled down somewhat and people had generally just been getting on with their work until we know exactly what’s happening.

But on Monday we were all unsettled again. An email to all staff from the Chief Executive, Peter Collis. Announcing that he’s leaving. On January 31st.

This from the official press release:

“It has been an enormous privilege to lead Land Registry for the last 10 years and I am immensely proud of all that has been achieved during that time. But, looking ahead, it is clear that, just as Land Registry is changing, so the role of Chief Executive will change. In my view, now is the time to make way for someone with different skills and experience to take Land Registry forward.”

What, only a couple of weeks’ notice? Hmm. Seems odd. Lots of rumour and speculation going round as to why he’s going so suddenly, and whether he’s been - ahem - ”asked” to leave, and if so by whom, but of course that’s all it is: rumour and speculation. And a little hearsay thrown in for good measure, but as a magistrate I know how careful you have to be with hearsay as a reliable source of information so I’ll not repeat any of that on here. Oh, and for good measure the deputy Chief Executive has also announce his departure on the same date. He was due for retirement after 43 years with Land Registry anyway, but again a very sudden announcement and short notice period. Curious.

The timing is very significant: they’ll not be overseeing the “period of reflection”, and won’t  be around to deal with the repercussions once the final decision is announced.

So who is going to be in charge? Let’s look at that press release again:

Marco Pierleoni, currently Director-General, Finance and Commercial at the Ministry of Justice, will be succeeding Peter until the role of Chief Executive is advertised and filled.

Marco said:

“I am pleased to be joining Land Registry at this exciting time, and to be taking forward the proposals set out in the accelerated transformation programme to enable Land Registry to become the lean, flexible and even more customer-focussed organisation that we all want it to be.”

Ah, I see. They’ve not yet advertised and recruited a replacement, so we’re going to be run by someone from the Ministry of Justice. Someone who sees this as an exciting time, and who is pleased to be “taking forward the proposals set out in the accelerated transformation programme”.

Yeah, he’s got the mood of the offices just right – we’re all really excited, too.

(Here’s a link to the press release, if you’re interested.)

Still a work in progress?

I named this blog “A Work in Progress” when it was focussed on my spiritual life. And although my spiritual life still gets the occasional mention, there’s no denying that this has moved on. This really is a place for anything that takes my fancy. Anything that I feel like mentioning. And that won’t fit in twitter’s 140 character limit.

And although I do still feel like my life is a Work in Progress, I’ve come to realise that so is everyone else’s.

I’m looking for a new name for this site. So far I’ve only come up with really, really dull stuff; “Trevor Coultart’s Blog” and the like. See, dull.

Anyone fancy making a suggestion?

(Oh, and a word about comments. You may have come here via a link from twitter or facebook, but if you’re going to comment please do it here rather than there. Just helps me keep track of things. Just click on the “comment” link below; you don’t need to register or anything.)

Stevenage gets (slightly) funky.

In a sudden and dramatic departure for this blog, here’s a shop review. Well, at least, a shop mention.

A couple of weeks ago Old Town Vintage appeared – perhaps unsurprisingly – in the Old Town. In Baker Street, to be precise. You know, that bit that joins the High Street to Middle Row.  Next to Coda Music, if you must know. Anyway, I’ve never had the chance to pop in until today, and when I finally did I was delighted to find such a funky and quirky little shop here in Stevenage. We’re not exactly renowned for our funk.

Stevenage funk.

If you like finding something a bit different, this could well be the place to find it. It’s tiny, but packed full of lovely things. Clothes male and female, a little jewellery selection, and a fine selection of leather jackets. I have to confess to not buying anything today, but then I’m skint as always. (Was sorely tempted by one shirt, but it was probably too small in any case.) Well, I told them I’d mention it too people, so here’s my mention.

It’s definitely worth a visit. If nothing else just to marvel at the funkiest wallpaper I have ever seen. Anywhere. She got it off ebay, apparently.

Blouses and that.

Shirts and that. Badly out of focus.

Cycling update. Sort of.

Oops: I’ve not written anything here for over three weeks.

Photo: Chris Blakeley on Flickr.

Which means you’ll all be wondering how my cycling training is going. Well, to be frank: November is no month for cycling. It’s cold, it’s dark, and it’s wet. Cold and dark I can cope with – but wet is simply no fun. And so I’ve not been on a proper training ride since the last one I wrote about.

I’ve still been cycling to work, of course, which is good discipline but hardly counts as training at less that two miles each way.

But there is news on my cycle ride. Firstly, fundraising has been going great so far. To date I’ve raised over £700 in sponsorship. I need to reach at least £1000, but the ride’s not till June so I’m more than confident that I’ll get there and hopeful that I’ll raise a lot more. In fact, if you’re reading this you really should donate right now.  Thanks.

And secondly, I’ve just taken up the offer of the loan of a bicycle. I was assuming I’d be riding London to Paris on my trusty Raleigh Apex. I bought it in 1992, and at the time remember thinking how amazingly lightweight it was. I guess it must have just been lighter than my previous bicycle, because by today’s standards it seems pretty heavy. It’s also designed as an off-road bike so has 26″ wheels, wide tyres, off road gearing, and so on. I’d planned to change the tyres for something slimmer and slicker, and take as much off as I could to cut down the weight, and it would have done me fine. But when a friend offered me the loan of a road bike, how could I resist?

So today I tried it out, and it seems to suit me fine. It’s a Jamis Citizen, a few years old. I’d not heard of the Jamis brand before this afternoon, but it seems to be pretty good to my novice eyes, and in any case it’s a more appropriate bicycle for a long road ride than my Raleigh. Bigger, slimmer wheels; higher gears; much lighter weight. I think it’ll go a lot faster.

It’s sitting in my garage now. As soon as I’ve made few adjustments, and fitted my cycle computer, I’m off for a ride.

As long as the rain stays off, that is.

Photo: eir@si on Flickr

Getting a different view on things

This morning we had a big meeting with the reps of the PCS union, effectively launching the campaign in response to the Land Registry Board’s proposals. I’ll not go into too much detail here, but it certainly gave us a lot to think about. In summary, don’t believe everything you may have heard. For example, where we may have been told that there’ll be no compulsion to move to other civil service jobs, and that the board will do everything they can to ensure that any redundancies are under the current, more generous, terms, this in fact is not shown to be the case when you look in detail at what’s been published.

PCS members gather at Stevenage Office

The union’s campaign is based on opposing pretty much everything in the proposals. They’re saying that the propsals are based on a fundamental misinterpretation of how the value of Land Registry is calculated. Land Registration are not a business; it is a public service. By proposing an entirely different vision for Land Registry based on a return to civil service values, they’re pushing for no office closures and no need to lose staff. Yes, they agree we have too much office space but would look at other ways of addressing that like moving to smaller offices or using some of our excess space to house other parts of the business. (File storage was mentioned, for example.)

So, two opposing poles. Management at one end, union at the other. I guess what happens will be somewhere in between.

I’ve also done a bit more reading about the possibility of training to become a driving instructor. Always worth doing a bit of online research! There are comments on blogs and forums that will make me think very carefully about embarking on such a path. Some of these give serious pause for thought:

Driving instructors’ association:
http://www.driving.org/becomeadrivinginstructor.html

UK Instructor training:
http://www.uk-instructortraining.co.uk/index.htm

Blog:
http://www.ukadi.co.uk/2008/06/becoming-driving-instructor-dont-do-it.html

Squidoo:
http://www.squidoo.com/driving_instructors

(I note a lot of the comments on some of these pages are focused on the RED driving instructor training school. The AA don’t get many mentions, but some of the same applies.)

So, in both areas, opposing views with the truth somewhere in the middle. Much like life, I guess.

One possibility for a new future.

Well, it looks like this didn’t become an exclusively cycling blog for a while. Something cropped up. What was it? Oh, yes: losing my job.

Yes, yes, I know. I haven’t actually lost my job yet. But chatting to folk around the office it’s clear that no-one has the remotest confidence that the consultation period will make the slightest difference to the proposals. Or, “proposals”, as people say, with quote marks indicated by raised pairs of fingers.

Now, the union (PCS, if you’re wondering) tell us that it’s worth campaigning, and that nothing is set in stone yet. But do you know what? In the two weeks since the announcement was made I’ve got so used to the idea of finding something else and starting afresh, that the last thing I want to hear when the consultation period is over is that Stevenage Office will in fact stay open. I’d personally rather the union spent their time campaigning to ensure we get a decent redundancy than trying to stop the office closing. We’ve a big union meeting tomorrow. Let’s see what it is they’re planning.

For the time being I’m working on the assumption that I need to find a new job some time in the next two years. And if we decide to relocate, we’d want to do so before January 2011 as that’s when our son starts nursery. I’ve only had a cursory glance at the local job pages so far, but one or two things are beginning to go around in my head as possibilities. 

The only one I’ve actually looked at in any detail is the thought of training to become a driving instructor. (And I know I’m not the only one to have considered that as an option.) As far as I can see, it’s the sort of job you can choose your hours to fit in around family life, and it’s the sort of job you can take anywhere. I’ve had a look at the AA driving school and according to the quiz on their website, “it looks like I’d make a good AA driving instructor”. (And I promise I tried to answer the questions honestly!) On the down side it would mean running my own business (even the AA instructors are in fact running a franchise) which seems to me pretty daunting but plenty of people manage it, so why not me? 

If anyone has any other suggestions, please do let me know!

 

A subdued mood in the office.

Sometimes when I write on here I spend far too long thinking about it, editing, re-composing and so on, so this time I’ve just copied something I wrote in reply to an email, which was much more spontaneous. A friend had asked for a bit more detail about the announcment and how the news had been recieved. Here’s what I wrote:

Thanks for thinking of us. We knew a big announcement was on the cards, and that it would involve office closures, but there is a sense of shock that not only is Stevenage due to close but also four other offices all based in the south-east, which cuts off a lot of options for many people. Relocation to a remaining office is theoretically possible, but places are likely to be few and far between as there are 1100 staff in the offices they’re proposing to close and the published intention is to lose 1500 staff (with the closures and other measures).

This is my first day back since the announcements, but I understand that the mood here has been rather subdued, and people are generally spending as much time discussing their options, and moaning about the board, as doing any actual work. A lot of people are angry, a lot of people upset. In several cases it will affect whole families – it’s the sort of office where people have met their partners and married, with both couples employed here and children in local schools, and also the sort of office where people have stayed a long time. I’ve done 21 years, for example, but there are many who’ve been here 30 years plus and for all of us to be thrust into the job market with no recent experience of what’s it’s like “out there” is a daunting prospect. 

We understand that we’ll get a lot of support once the proposals are confirmed after the consultation period. We’ll get assistance with job hunting, CV writing, gaining qualifications and so on (even time off for interviews) and we’re also lucky enough to have a two-year period before the office is set to close and we should benefit from the generous terms of the current civil service redundancy scheme.