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I try to make a point of writing up all experiences where I feel strongly positive, or negative about something, for restaurants, shops, service, software and so on. Recent comments on a thread, and search engine hits I’ve been getting on another, have focused my attention on some of my previous negative posts, so I thought I’d cheer myself up and highlight a few positive experiences I’ve had (see here, and hopefully a few more to come following our wedding).

So, set the clock back a few weeks back at my Stag do - organised very successfully by my best man Stew. I’d originally expressed an interest in ‘shooting and eating small creatures‘ (I know, I know), perhaps as part of a hunting lodge getaway somewhere up here in Scotland. Practicalities, including distance, travel, costs, time required and so on, but mostly the relentless forward march of time (it does do that, I’ve noticed), so we settled on Clay pigeon shooting. I’d get the shooting part, the eating part would come later. It was going to be an entirely new experience, and one I’ve always wanted to do, and it transpired a lot of my friends did too, so good all around

Stew did some research and came up with a few companies, and finally settled on Lee Leisure. They were based near Luton, so easy for everybody to get to (whether driving, flying or by train). Whilst finding the facility was a bit of an experience (the drive from the gate was somewhat longer, and bumpier, than we’d anticipated!), we found ourselves in what looked like a former quarry with the two instructors.

They were at pains to explain that they weren’t going to just give us a gun, fire up some clays, and let us get on with it. They wanted to teach us what to do, so we’d get the most from it. And they lived up to their word. After working out about dominant eyes, explaining safety proceedings, ear protectors, how the gun recoiled, and how to minimise the recoil, we got on with the shooting, and had a great time.

One of the biggest surprises to me, having never done this before, was that there was more to it than just a clay being flung into the air. There were three different types of clay shoot, to mimic the different hunting experiences. A clay being fired up as if a bird was flying out of a bush (the only one I’d heard of); A clay being fired more towards us (and further away) to mimic a bird in flight; A clay being fired along the ground. Like what a rabbit does. Which was great fun, and the hardest.

They offered a money back guarantee - should you not hit any targets - but it was entirely unnecessary. They’d done a great job of coaching, and advised us as we went along. I think everybody got a few 6 hits from 6 successive shots. We each had about 20 shots on each type, and my shoulder certainly felt that that was more than enough!

There was a tie-break for the prize, and Alis won that, but I don’t think anybody begrudged him that after a spectacular first-shot hit that I think surprised the instructor, who’d taken 5 shots!

So, I highly recommend Lee Leisure for your clay pigeon shooting needs. Far more than “here’s a gun, there are the clays, shoot them”. It was an entertaining and enjoyable experience, showing us all how it’s done, and giving all of us an experience, I think, we’ll remember for a long time.

URL: www.lee-leisure.co.uk

All go at the moment, so only time for a brief update:

• Wedding plans are proceeding well. We’re being cautioned by friends to stay calm as the day approaches, and I think we are managing that quite well. Got quite excited picking up the rings, as well as getting to see the finished product for something we’ve arranged. More on that after the big day

• Jury service. I’ve received a “you are on the shortlist” letter last week. Inevitable really given all of Frances’ family have had similar, so it was only a matter of time before I got one. I’m in two minds. On the one hand I’m fascinated by the process, and obliged to ‘do my civic duty’, but on the other it will stomp all over my business. Being self-employed has some big draw backs at times. More on this later, no doubt.

• Anime: Last year I hired “Spirted Away“, and absolutely loved it (Frances wasn’t quite as struck). Whilst poking about HMV last week, I figured it’d be fun to watch some more, so have “Laputa, Castle in the Sky”, and “My neighbour Totoro“. This last one has intrigued me as it’s frequently on muted loop at Ichiban. The blurb reads “Conceived as a family film devoid of conflict and suffused with the carefree pleasures of the summertime”. How can you not like the sound of that? Can’t wait.

• Comments (1): My advert music post passed 800 comments recently. Quite scary, but fascinating to watch, and I’ve discovered some great music. With Sigur Ros’s new album due, maybe we’ll start to get some new background music for adverts and documentaries

• Music: R.E.M. released their new album “Accelerate” on Monday. I “pre-ordered” it from the iTunes Music Store (as I had a birthday voucher to use), but winded up having to cancel my pre-order and order it again. Doubt I’ll use that service again as “you may not be able to download it when it’s made available” strikes me as undermining what pre-ordering is about. Surely I should get it first? As to the music, whilst the album is good, it didn’t really jump out at me on first few listens on the train through to Edinburgh yesterday. To be honest, I quite like where REM has been going (in particular I liked ‘New adventures in HiFi’ when it came out, which isn’t viewed as one of their best by critics), so this “return to form” leaves me in a funny place.

• Comments (2): It seems a comment from a friend on an old (2006) post about the misery of our kitchen/downstairs update, has attracted the attention of the company he was referring to. I take great care in what I post, and what I allow through in the way of comments, so this thread is exercising me right now. Thoughts appreciated.

• Work. I’m in the midst of great change. A new contract with an existing client, and finishing up with an old long-term client for a number of reasons (not least that work is coming at me thick and fast right now, so I decided to go with the challenge rather than the easy option). Plus this new arrangement, whilst featuring less working from home, does give me a bit more time to work on some longer term projects and clients. All good.

• Comments (3). A new plugin. In the hope of showing that there’s stuff going on here even when I’m not posting, take a look at the (tidied up) sidebar for the most recent comments to my various posts.

• Aching muscles. Went for a ‘trail/route familiarisation’ run in Pollok park with the club on Monday night. Oscar, one of the group B coaches, led proceedings. I discovered more paths I didn’t know existed in the park, and had a great time running through muddy puddles (much to Frances’ disapproval when she saw my shoes). But trail running seems to use different muscles, so came back quite achy and muddy. But great fun. Can’t wait for the next couple of seasons in the park.

So, bar the Jury service, things aren’t too bad.

As I was down in London over the weekend, I thought it only made sense that I try and get along to one of the growing number of UK Time Trial events, and as my friends Dave and Sharon were helping out with the 3rd ever Richmond Park Time Trial, that seemed the place to go. They were taking part in a club “mob match” later in the day.

We had booked a hotel right next to the Richmond Gate entrance, so it was easy to get to the start first thing in the morning. Of course, a few beers and a hurried meal the night before didn’t exactly mean it was what you’d call ideal race preparation! Plus I’d been warned it’s a slower and tougher course than the Bushy Park Time Trial I’d run in September. No matter, I was feeling quite good, and even had a bit of hope I’d be able to improve my previous 5k personal best time of 00:23:41: My recent training sessions with my club have been hard, but productive, and I thought I had a good chance of getting a good time out of it.

I took a while to find the start as I hadn’t brought a map with me, and the event is still quite small compared to BPTT, so no obviously large numbers of runners. But got talking to a runner who was waiting for something, and turned out he was a regular. So I was in the right place. After a warmup, and the numbers grew, we were given an overview of the circuit, and sent on our way on what was a glorious autumnal morning.

The first half was fast - felt slightly downhill - which was deceptive. My splits were even in the low 4 minutes (4:30, 4:07 and 4:37), until the 3k-4k distance, when the course returned towards the start and got more of an incline: Ouch. Splits then of 5:03 and 4:57. Got to the end and my watch said 24:20, and I’ll confess I felt tired and disappointed. I’d run hard, but (seemingly) not come close to my PB of 23:41. Clearly the beers had a lot to answer for!

Dave - out on photographer duty - managed to capture me along the way. You can see his highlight photos at rowephoto.co.uk, and all of them at the RPTT site: Some stunning pictures in there that showed what a lovely day it was. Sharon had been helping with the timing with a very impressive looking timing device. Very neat it looked too.

So whilst the seeming lack of a PB was a bit of a downer (remember, it’s the journey, not the destination!), Frances and I then had a thoroughly enjoyable catchup with Dave and Sharon, and some of the other runners and volunteers in the Pembroke Lodge Cafe (a wonderful ‘discovery’!), before everybody went on their way.

On returning to Glasgow the good news about my race time came through: I was delighted to discover that my official time was much better than I’d thought! 00:23:18 - A PB of 23 seconds! The reason for the discrepancy was simply that I’d mucked up with my Garmin whilst warming up, and not reset it. Doh!

So a new PB to my name on a harder course than my other 5k runs. That should hopefully mean I stand a decent chance of breaking 23 minutes in the not too distant future

Great stuff, and a big thank you to everybody who took part and helped organise the event.

I imagine many runners who take part in races, or read any of the regular running magazines, will have heard about the growing phenomenon that is the Bushy Park Time Trial. A small, regular and most interestingly of all, free, 5km timed trial. Since it’s inaugural race in October 2004 (with only 13 participants) it’s grown, such that last Saturday when I turned up, 439 other runners were taking part. They’ve also expanded with three other events, and there’s talk of a time trial starting up in Leeds soon. More details at the UK Time Trials website.

My friends David and Sharon Rowe are regular participants (Their most recent write-up here). David is currently 2nd in this years points competition, and Sharon is currently knocking chunks off her Personal Best times almost every week. So it was inevitable really that as I’m currently in London, and was attending a wedding reception on Saturday evening, that I try and make the effort to go and see for myself what all the fuss was about. So I was up bright and early, and rattling on a train out to Teddington arriving in enough time to get a good warmup run in for the 158th Bushy Park Time Trial.

The race itself was great fun, and it’s a great course - delightfully flat too, so in the end I was just four seconds off my own 5km Personal Best (I finished 188th out of 439, so completed it in 23:45, against my PB of 23:41 at The Bella 5k), which I don’t think was too shabby on an unfamiliar course with a lot of congestion at the start - especially at the first corner (well, tree!). My first 1km was somewhat slower than my other splits, so think there’s definite potential to knock a my time down further before too long. I’m running the inaugural Barrhead 10k race next Sunday, and am even wondering if a sub-50min 10km might even just be within my reach.

Afterwards it was off to Cafe Nero for a coffee and chat with Dave and Sharon and some of the regulars, before heading back into London Waterloo. I figured it would be fun to run back to our hotel near Tower Bridge, so ran the 4.5km along the South Bank. Despite the wonderful city vista, it proved tough going given it’s concrete and paving slabs most of the way, and quite slow because it was full of tourists and Londoners enjoying the nice weather, as well as having a clunky and uncomfortable backpack on! It enabled me to get a bit more mileage in this week: I often struggle to get as much running done as I’d like when I’m London given I’ve a lot of work (and the inevitable socialising) I have to squeeze in, as well as limited space for all the extra gear I need.

I also can’t help but wonder if the Time Trial format/idea will make it’s way up to Glasgow before too long: There’s certainly a lot to be said for more ‘free’ races using their clever timekeeping mechanisms, marvellous volunteers, and an informal atmosphere. I know there’s a big Glasgow running community, as a result of Jog Scotland and the many existing running clubs, and there are certainly plenty of super locations in which it could take place. On the strength of the fun I had at BPTT, I’d certainly be amongst the first to sign up

I’ve been genuinely taken aback by the generosity of everybody who has sponsored me for my forthcoming half-marathon run, in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity. It’s really quite something to receive so many notes of encouragement from so many people. A heart-felt ‘Thank You!’ to everybody so far!

My initial target had been £500. That, I figured, was quite a useful sum to aim for. But I seem to have wizzed past that in no time, and I’ve not even started following up on verbal assurances of support yet! So after some careful consideration, I thought I should revise it up a bit more and set it to an even higher target of £1,500, given I’m quite close to £1,000 already.

I’ve also a shiny new Facebook application for anybody who uses that, which is quite neat. It’s only just been released onto Facebook, so bleeding edge stuff! Alternatively, see the brand new widget in the sidebar, or just click to visit justgiving.com

The training is going really well. I’ve run the half-marathon distance now, and on Tuesday this week went for a lunch-time run in Hyde Park with a friend who works at one of my clients. That was actually the first time I’ve ever run with somebody, and we chatted all the way. Not sure of my exact time or distance (not helped by Garmin-sluggishness to locate satellites at the start), but we ran safely in my usual pace zone of 5-6 minutes/km and it was approximately 10km.

Depending how I feel this Sunday, I’m hoping to do another long half-marathon distance training run, as the race is now only just over a month away, so my training plan shows that I really need to be getting the mileage under my belt!

We popped along to The Burrell Collection in Pollok Park yesterday with a view to seeing The Emperor’s Terrapin.

I have to confess I was rather disappointed. This exhibition has been advertised around Pollok park quite extensively. Somehow, I’d imagined that it was a collection of exhibits. So when we turned up and found out that the exhibit was very much in the singular, I had one of those moments where you have to adjust your expectations quite dramatically.

Don’t get me wrong: the terrapin in itself was remarkable. Really a beautiful piece of work, but I really thought the Burrell and British Museum could have done better. It was in the open seating area just past the shop - we almost missed it but for two ladies who walked over to it as we walked passed - and the explanation next to the terrapin struck me as rather hurried (a bending, laminated printout), and was not written particularly clearly: Both Frances and I didn’t really leave much the wiser for why this particular terrapin was so revered (other than it’s size and beauty, which anybody could tell you). In fact, there’s more detail on the Burrell and British Museum exhibition website than next to the terrapin!

The Burrell collection is remarkable, and I was really excited that the British Museum (which is probably my favourite museum) was going to be exhibiting something up here close to home. Unfortunately, it was a tiny exhibition, not put together particularly clearly, that didn’t quite live up to my (admittedly incorrect) expectations.

We took a walk through the rest of the collection (not having been in for a while), and I left feeling a bit frustrated that such a beautiful setting doesn’t make more of it and show more items from outside the main Burrell collection: Which doesn’t really have the breadth for repeated regular visits. There are thousands of exhibits gathering dust in museums all around the country. It’s a real shame more tours aren’t organised, where (of course) it’s safe to do, to encourage repeated visitors to one of this countries most impressive Museum buildings.

I’ve previously written about my experiences with the west coast mainline, and that it was now my preferred way of travelling to London. It seems I’m not the only person who’s impressed with the new service, as the BBC has been covering it’s success (you need to read past the “upgrade warning” headline) - it’s ahead of it’s passenger growth targets, but may actually reach capacity within 10 years.

It’s all good news for the anti-airport lobby. People are returning to the trains, when they provide a good service. Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to build and maintain a rail system like this, and it’s still incredibly frustrating when the trains slow down due to interference on the tracks, delayed trains and other problems.

Here in Scotland, with elections next year, all the major parties are talking about upgrading the Edinburgh/Glasgow railway link, which is appallingly slow, and somewhat unreliable. Took their time, but can they really invest what is needed?

But the west-coast mainline is proving a real success story. I hope they can get the occasional delays worked out of the system, and find ways to resolve the capacity problems (and get a decent weekend service, please?), because otherwise we’ll all find ourselves forced to use the airports more and more, and I don’t honestly think anybody really wants that.

Twenty years ago, finance in the UK changed fundamentally with the “Big Bang”, opening up and liberating the previously cosy world of finance in radical ways, leading it to become perhaps the biggest international marketplace. The BBC is marking the occasion with a great overview article about the changes, and the state of the financial market now. With finance dominating so much of the London economy, and the rest of the UK, and also having been a major part (and still is!) of my career, it’s a shame this sector is often viewed as dull, boring and irrelevant by many.

Whilst I’m primarily an IT practitioner, I necessarily need to understand more about the companies I have worked for and supported along the way. Whether Banks or Hedge Funds, the flow of money, and the subtleties and distinctions between classes of product, either fixed income, equity, or the more complicated derivatives, all sounds high and mighty and out of reach. But all have interesting, and simple, underpinnings, and affect every one of us substantially in the products we buy, either savings accounts, ISA’s, insurance policies or direct share dealing (which is really a lot easier, and low-risk and tax effective, than many people think). Spend a little time reading the financial section of your weekend paper (I’ll confess, one of the first extra sections I go for) and anybody can pick up on the jargon, and therefore understand the products on offer better, and work out what’s best for their financial planning.

Whilst Dragons’ Den has an admirable aim, but (I feel) misses the mark, I think it’s still encouraging that finance is getting more serious coverage in the media, if you go looking. Working lunch, which I sometimes manage to catch if I’m fortunate with my timing, is also carrying some Big Bang anniversary coverage - and also has some excellent financial information for anybody interested in learning more about personal financial products and services than the best credit card deal (Although getting rid of debt, particularly ‘expensive’ ones such as credit cards, in invariably the best place to start)

I’m fed up to the back teeth of flying, having done it for protracted periods of time to travel between Glasgow and London over the last few years. Every week, for a period of 6 months, I’d be up at 5am, getting a Taxi out to Glasgow airport about half an hour later (only about 15 minutes away from the airport by car at the time), wizzing through with hand-luggage only and pre-checked in, getting on the plane, down to Gatwick, and in to the centre of London some 4 - 4.5 hours after leaving.

Red-eyes are horrible things though, and the time-delay is only good if everything runs on time. A slight delay and things get knocked for six, especially coming in to the London airports. Heathrow is a place of horror for me. It’s too big, too far from anywhere, expensive to get to, and not a pleasant place to be at the best of times, other than for the worlds best people-watching location. Flying out of airports is awful, and you soon learn the techniques for getting the best boarding time, minimising queuing, and unplugging yourself from any sort of stress. Getting stressed when travelling regularly is unproductive and silly. When things got delayed, I worked out what I’d do if things were cancelled.

Most recently, Virgin Trains west coast mainline has been my route of choice, and I’ll be doing that this coming Monday when I visit London. The tilting Pendolino trains may not get up to full speed for much of the trip, but they are what train travel is all about. Good facilities. Clean. Fast. And seemingly reliable too: Something that has markedly improved in the last five years or so.

Door-to-door, it’s more like 5.5 hours, but it’s an altogether more relaxing experience (especially with an iPod, a book, and a window seat to savour the views), and it’s much much greener. I’ve always had a soft-spot for train travel, and it’s good to see it’s comparable on price (especially if you’re booking quite late). £94.10p return, at peak times, counts as good value, and there are no connection times, or long hauls into town, at the other end to worry about as at the London airports.

As for the current travel restrictions, I’m getting very sceptical about all this. The Register has an interesting article that analyses the feasibility of creating the liquid explosives the media have got all excited about. There is a positive side to it all though in that it’s forcing a re-assessment of the amount of hand luggage, which had just got out of control, with larger and larger cases, plus laptop bags, getting allowed on. More reasons to hate Ryanair come out of it too - Their CEO Michael O’Leary is milking the media attention, presumably because their recent attempt to charge people to put luggage in the hold is unravelling their business model.

I’m sure the train down to London on Monday will be busier than normal. I’m probably not alone in figuring it’s altogether easier to take the train at the moment - and not have to worry about losing your laptop in the luggage system. But, for my money, sitting back on a train a few feet above ground, even at fast speeds, is much safer, environmentally friendly, enjoyable, and - hopefully - more reliable right now than anything else.

Interesting article on the BBC’s website about the cost of living, putting Cardiff at the top of the list, with Glasgow at 80% and London at 73% of average income going out on bills.

I’m not very surprised by this ‘news’ (you can tell it’s the Silly Season) for a couple of reasons: Council tax bills here in Glasgow require a deep breath and a stiff drink when reading. We’re paying over £2000 a year to the council (admittedly, that includes water rates) for a Band E property. But this sum comes as quite a surprise to folk when I tell them, as many people (including, I’ll confess, myself until we started looking at moving up here) think that the rest of the UK is cheap, and that fleeing to the regions is a recipe for saving money.

Ah well, like many statistics, it’s rather flawed. Whilst Londoners may well pay more money out, they’re also earning more (as explained in the article). But also average wages are just that - there are plenty of people above the average, and below the average (by definition), and you have to wonder how big the survey size is (Just look at the small print on cosmetic adverts to see what you can get when you have a small survey size) . So it gets altogether rather muddy, and silly, especially as credit card debt repayment is included in this, and far too many people are just plain foolish with them. Is it any wonder we’re seeing a raft of adverts for getting out of debt right now, hot on the heels of the interest rate rise?

As Disraeli said, There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Plus a lot of people don’t seem to know how to manage personal finances, and including that in the curriculum would go a long way to solving the dangerous problem of ever increasing levels of debt.