Office moving - downs and ups

Today was office moving day. Unusually for me, I drove in nice and early, before the office removers had started working our end of the room, borrowed a flat bed trolley and moved all the electronic equipment I'd packed up down to the car parked with permission in the basement. I drove over to Wharton Street and waited until the guy with the bollard keys returned to let me into the pedestrian precinct, just as other service vehicles were moving out for the day. 

With official Council authorisation I parked outside the library door and delivered four crates of sensitive documents and half a dozen pieces of computer equipment quickly, carrying everything up the stairs to the equivalent of a second floor office, with vital help from Julie. The lift, when not used by the removers was too slow to be useful. By half past eleven the vital computers were running and Julie was carrying on where she left off yesterday, generating invoices. So, I took the car home, had a coffee, then returned by bus to get on with setting up the network. 

The PMR engineers came in to set up the SaftyNet software on the newly acquired Windows 8 PC. I must have forgotten to log off properly after configuration yesterday, as it kept defaulting to the email address login page, rather than the computer only user area login specially set up for SafetyNet installation. The guys had the correct password, but it didn't work. Windows was presuming exclusively an internet login was required, regardless of the fact that there's no internet connected router until BT installs new phone lines for us. Should have been yesterday, my be some time next week. Despite promises BT don't do quick! 

Anyway, I returned to find two bemused engineers, and had to dive straight into troubleshooting, as I didn't understand why the option of different logins were't available from the initial screen. Trouble is that Microsoft presume those who are forced to purchase their operating system can/need to/must/should do things their way, and bury vital options without making the trail to find them easy. I'm not enjoying hearing how to use this operating system, it hinders my workflow, reduces my control. And why anyone should presume the universe of users all want one and the same user interface on every device, beats me. Do these super inteliigent people not understand the difference between big and small screens, proper physical keyboard and silly jumping around on-screen keyboards? 

I left early to complete my packing and relax, but got a panic call to say that the metal foot, part of the stand on the new SafetyNet PC had not arrived in the box with it. I swore that I packed it. It can't have been lost. But not all the unpacking had been done, and won't happen until Monday. I was so busy troubleshooting the log-in issue I didn't notice the problem with the stand. Such a pity. If I had noticed, I'd have hunted down the piece, knowing what I was looking for, and which in crate it might be hiding. In the end, there was nothing I could do except let go, and get an good night's sleep.

   

Packing and more packing

Back onto the office, first thing, to meet with Julie and get her started on invoicing using my old Dell office laptop, finally free of Windows Vista and working sweetly on Windows 7 with all the programs and data she needs. Then I got on with unloading into collapsible crates borrowed from home some filing cabinet drawers in which our security sensitive business material is kept, ready to spend the night under lock and key with the electronic gear, so that there's no unfortunate mishaps with either while the removal people are taking our furniture. My job for tomorrow will be to shift all this stuff over to our new admin base, and get the office network running. I'll be crossing my fingers as it's the day before I return to Fuengirola. It needs to be perfect so that I can work remotely with Julie in the office.

The engineers from PMR turned up just ahead of me to start the installation of new signal relay equipment and the remote monitoring kit for our new office. I had first to take the new PC to them to work on, then later a couple of our radios for test purposes. People working in the next door office, where City Centre Management will in future operate were busy transforming their orderly environment into the usual chaos of packing up to move out. Our room won't be empty of its furniture before mid-morning tomorrow. I hope ours will arrive in good time for me to set up our equipment properly before the day is out. I need the peace of mind. So much so that in a rare fit of zeal I started packing my travel case this evening - a whole day before I usually get around to thinking about it.

 

Electoral good news for Monmouth diocese

The hottest day of the year so far yesterday. I cooked a soup made from pea shucks onion and fresh ginger from a recipe I devised. It wasn't as good as last time because I inadvertently used too much water to release the goodness from the shucks, but that's a lesson learned for next time. In the afternoon, Ashley and I drove to Chepstow for another visit to our equipment supplier for some troubleshooting on a batch of handsets unable to lock on to the GPS signal they'd been programmed to receive. It's a rare glitch, but a fix had already been devised, so it was just a matter of going through a series of diagnostic tests before applying the remedy to the relevant sets, then returning them to service. I marvel at the sheer complexity and capability of our radio handsets. What can be done to configure them from the server database to enable them to be used with scores of optional settings for different environments impresses me greatly.

There was thunder and a little rain in the night and today was cooler and cloudy. We slept late and lay in bed listening to the radio before Owain arrived to go with Clare for a swim at Ogmore. I didn't join them as I had an appointment to repair a broken filling at mid-day. Once that was fixed, I went and booked an appointment for a hypertension review with the General Practise nurse, for later this month, and then went into the office to prepare a couple of urgent invoices for issue ahead of new radios being supplied to a couple of licensed premises. Occasional demands of this kind come sporadically, not often two in a weekend however,  but the job must be done efficiently in the best interests of service and of security. 

Martin phoned early evening to report that Archdeacon Richard Pain a fellow Ty Mawr Associate of long standing, was elected Bishop of Monmouth on the third ballot. Instead of the process taking several days, it took an afternoon - a measure of support for the man who has been mooted widely as the best choice since Bishop Dominic announced his resignation six months ago. For Martin and family it will mean a new near neighbour to befriend and support just up the path in Bishopstow.

And then to cheer my day further, Rufus emailed to arrange a meeting for coffee and catch-up Friday morning. I'm looking forward to hearing how his first four weeks in Blaenavon Parish have unfolded.

    

Tracking technology

Kudos to Cardiff City Council's Highways Department. The Meadow Street hole in the road reported by Clare on Friday was patched yesterday morning, before I was awake enough to notice.

What's going on under the surface to create subsidence is anybody's guess, and digging up the entire road to investigate may absorb the street's road maintenance budget for the next few years. The subsidence is not as bad as last time, but the reason for it remains as hidden as before.

I went into College at lunchtime to deliver a text I'd written for Peter to read, and catch up on the news. I hope to forge some useful links between Cowbridge Benefice Ministerial Development programme and St Michael's Core Skills training activity in the coming year.

Today, I drove Ashley to the Chepstow headquarters of our suppliers PMR Products with a couple of dozen radio handsets for re-configuration. Some of our radio handsets need to be adjusted so that their GPS tracking capability can be utilised, to make sure that lone radio users can be tracked on duty around the city centre.

We had an interesting conversation with Phil, one of their engineers about the use of 'mesh' technology to track tagged equipment in an area covered by a linked series of reception devices, not in an industrial warehouse, but in an American retirement village that needs to track defibrillation equipment, and other strategic items to ensure inhabitant safety.

A few days ago there was a news item on Radio Four about tagging Alzheimer's sufferers using a 'mesh' network so that if they wander off they can be found without raising too much anxiety. Somehow this acquired a new significance after our little chat.

   

St Mark's Day inauguration

Drove Clare to the Steiner School in Llandaff North for her classes this morning, then made my way East through the suburbs to reach Lakeside in time to celebrate a St Mark's Day Eucharist for seven faithful people. Then headed in to town, and left the car in the assigned parking place under the Motorpoint Arena where it had been arranged I would rendezvous with Ashley for another trip to Chepstow. As I was early, I made a trip to the Co-op Bank to complete a transfer of funds I'd only done half of during yesterday's bank visit to deal with a savings account come to maturity. This was followed by a visit to Santander's nearest banking station to arrange an account status change and take advantage of their latest offer. Then, back to the office to collect some equipment and set out for our radio suppliers' HQ in Chepstow.

It was good to have time to chat things over in the quiet of the car during our pleasant journey there and back. We got our new Dell tablet configured for remote access to the SafetyNet server as needed and retrieved the Asus Transformer which proved unsuitable to access a Windows VPN in the way it's been set up. It'll still be a superb platform for an on-line file library to make office facilities accessible in any location. Moreover, I get to take it home and figure out how to get it to play with our office system. All this new technology requires a good deal of thinking though to get the most out of it. Just when you've got used to a new way of doing things, another presents itself. For every innovation there are new complications, and everything has to be looked at with total security in mind. So there's never much room for uncritical enthusiasm when making adjustments to the total system.

We got back to Motorpoint car park and unloaded the consignment of radios purchased on our last visit there, all configured ready for use, then it was time to head off to Llandaff in the evening traffic, with just enough time to get to St Michael's for Evensong with the special ceremony to license Fr Mark Clavier as Dean of Residential Training and Dr John Wilks as Director of Post-Graduate Training. The College chapel was packed with visitors and students. I felt very pleased to squeeze on to the end of a pew next to one of my tutees, having discharged my last responsibility as acting Dean by negotiating and producing the service sheet for the occasion.

It went off perfectly and the Archbishop preached in a way that did justice to contemporary biblical understanding of  scripture. It was comforting to have such a positive message 'from the top' in the light of the last term's out-break of fundamentalist dogmatism, attempting to re-fight battles dismissed by the church catholic as irrelevent even before I occupied a pew in this chapel, three generations ago. It's just not good enough. The Church in Wales is a diverse body. But there are limits to diversity. Convictions about the nature of scriptural authority that contradict the freedom which the Gospel Jesus proclaimed are a challenge to everyone to think deeply about what gives confidence, purpose and openness to the journey as His disciples. 

The dynamism of the Gospel and the richness of ways in which it is proclaimed offers both security and freedom to those who follow the way of Jesus - trusting in a living Word, as opposed to a very fixed idea of how God's mystery is to be understood and lived. Launching out into a different way of thinking may be for some a disconcerting exit from their comfort zone, but the blessings are beyond conception.
    

Chepstow - re-visited from a different angle.

I went into College to do some report writing this morning, then into town by car for a change, to collect Ashley for a visit to the headquarters of our radio equipment supplier, PMR products, at their Chepstow home base. The company office is in the vicinity of Chepstow railway station. Trains to Birmingham pass through there and a few local trains stop daily. The old grey stone station buildings are now occupied by commercial companies, as they are surplus to the requirement of current railway use. They testify to a much busier era, when the wonderful scenic line up the Wye Valley was still open. What a tragedy it was ever closed, when it had such potential for development as a tourism resource.

Our initial task for the day was to agree a deal on the purchase of a batch of radio handsets at an attractive price which can be of particular operational usefulness to CBS. Once that was done, we were given a demonstration of the GPS tracking facility inherent in our radio handset's operating system. A mapping display of the area ibn question can be superimposed with location data - just like on the movies! Is it as good, as accurate and speedy in updating? My experience in GPS enabled digital cameras left me with doubts. 

A clear account of this handset function by Adrian, PMR's chief programmer, was reassuring. Then I became part of the demo, sent out into the wilds of Chepstow with a live handset to be tracked on screen by Adrian and Ashley. Every now and then I would report my location and have it confirmed by Adrian from the map on-screen, or else, he would tell me where the screen reported I was standing, and I would confirm it. It was quicker than I'd imagined, plus, I  discovered that the GPS update speed was configurable - useful in a sudden emergency. Just like the movies!

My brisk walk around lower Chepstow was a nostalgic affair, revisiting part of the town where we'd lived as the family was growing up and I'd been working for USPG. It looks a lot cleaner and tidier than it did in those days. It's gratifying to see how many of its 18th and 19th century houses have been restored, rather than swept away in the cause of progress. There's a new Tesco's. Town centre shops and eating houses have been up-graded. It's a nicer place to live now that it was when we lived there in the eighties, but nowadays, I suspect we couldn't afford it.