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Well that piece of crap title got your attention didn't it? Of course, I mean nothing of the sort. It just occurred to me that with unlimited SMS messaging plans and (limited) unlimited mobile internet, together with Twitter (Dabr), Gmail syncing to my phone and a decent web browser on the HTC Touch HD, I probably spend much more time on the phone sending or receiving information by text that by voice.

As a relatively early adopter of mobile phones, hands free kits and large amounts included airtime I was frequently the target of abuse / ribbing by the anti-mobile Luddites. Those who would equate anyone with a mobile with Dom Joly's "I'M ON THE TRAIN!". Quiet zones on trains felt, to me, like a sop to those individuals who wanted not a quiet area but an area where they could look uppity and annoyed and, pointing to the sign, proudly exclaim that "you can't use that thing here!".

Now, as a relatively early adopter of the communication tools and social networking resources that allow communication in (almost) complete science, and as someone who treasures the ability to be able to snooze undisturbed for the 1/2 hour train journey, I welcome an area where I can talk to my friends without being disturbed by other peoples communications. And they turn to volume down on those bloody annoying TV screens with the repetitive, out of date news service on them.

A quote from BBC New's article on the deteriating health of Lockerbie Bombmer, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, touched me this morning. (I'm ill and feeling emotionally fragile so it doesn't take much).

Buried toward the end of the article is a comment from a father bereaved by the 1988 bombing.

Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the bombing, which happened 21 years ago on Monday, said: "I've been talking to people who know about his medical condition and the message I get is he's likely to only have a few weeks left.

"I think it's another occasion where we should be grateful for Kenny MacAskill's bold decision to allow him to go home."

Quite aside from any doubts about whether the right man was convicted, I think Dr Swire's compassion and suppor for the decision to allow Megrahi to go home to die speaks volumes. It shows the world that we, as a country, have a justice system that is about exactly that; justice, not revenge.

I've just done my first post over at GrrrBlogr.

http://grrrblogr.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/who-family/

Yey Grrrrrr!

I discovered Drabbles vie the weblog of narrativephile Ben Whitehouse.

A drabble is a story, usually science fiction or fantasy, that is exactly 100 words long.

I'm hopless at ficitional writing. Can't do plots or characters or any of that gubbins. So this is ideal. Here's my first attempt. It's also my first ever fictional writing that I've posted on the web (I think) so be nice to me.

Still they came. In their hundreds, thousands. And still they died.
Marching for days, across the windblown sand under a sun dripping blood. Wrapped in the remnants of their clothes, faces covered against the scouring dust they continued to walk to their deaths. Armed with ineffectual weapons, stepping over the bodies of their brethren they posed no threat to us.
Day after brutal day, the endless slaughter drove us mad. We invented new ways to kill them to stem the boredom. Soon killing them wasn't enough. We turned on each other in the need for an enemy that fought back.

Other drabbles worth reading:

The Siege

The Void

I've been working now for 19 years (Jesus! That's the first time I've sat down and thought about that). In that time I've worked in 8 posts (12 if you include movement within an employer). An average time in post of just over 2 years. And I'm told by many recruitment consultants that my CV is not an extreme example.

I'm a consultant and the advice I provide to client may not be rigurously tested for up to 4 years, if at all. That means if I make a massive cock-up even at the start of my work in a post, there's better than a 50% chance that by the time it's discovered I'll have moved on to a different post.

With those sorts of odds it would be entirely possible for someone to survive in this industry (and many more, for that matter) for a reasonable amount of time with nothing but bluff and swagger. I recall there being one of those pocket books that WH Smith used to sell (and may still do) called The Blagger's Guide to VAT. I bought my sister one when she first became a VAT consultant.

Luckily, I'm working with a large group of experience people. Someone without the right background would quickly be found out simply from the office conversation. However, there's a great many people in my industry working within firms where they are the only professed expert in the field.

For the first time today though, I realised why some of the people I speak to within my industry don't seem to have the technical knowledge or experience I would expect of them.

I had a point when I started this. I've kind of lost it in the writing somewhere though.

Tomorrow is polling day for the European Elections. In the 19 years I've been able to vote I've voted in 1 local election, no general elections and no European Elections. However, I will be voting tomorrow.

Why?

Because unless we vote for someone, there's a possibility that one of the more extreme and bigoted parties could succeed. Recent media hyperbole over the expenses scandal has left many voters disillusioned with all politicians and considering not voting. In a proportional representation vote like the European elections this leaves a distinct possibility that parties like the BNP or UKIP, or worse, who can still mobilise their supporters will steal a few seats.

I have no strong affiliation for any party, which is why I rarely vote. So I'm simply going to vote for the party that is closest to my ideals out of the parties that I dislike least.

According to euprofiler.eu, my nearest political party is the Conservative Party. I don't find that particularly surprising so I will probably vote for them. But to be honest, that's only because they're not one of the parties I don't want to succeed.