h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Congratulations on your trip to the resource-centre setting that was delightfully free of spillages. And being dry enough to enjoy the Dee Estuary - is that an area that gets overgrown in the summer?

This weekend I successfully voluntoured at Ganger Farm as barcode scanner, so that's one of my recommended 3+ volunteer turns completed and also the fourth parkrun I've volunteered at. With all the rain of the last day or so I'm not hopeful that Eastleigh will dry out by the weekend, so I may have to voluntour elsewhere.

A group of parkrun friends and I have started planning possibly going to the Netherlands to get a Z - though so far we've discovered that not everyone is free at the same time.

My staff trip to Tankfest has launched - though so far no-one else has purchased any tickets...

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The newish vantage point is owned by the RSPB as well - the path is currently good tarmac, so is hopefully relatively easy for them to maintain

Glad the voluntourism went well. Not hopeful for the ground drying out indeed - today here we had fog this morning, and even though it was sunny in the afternoon, there were still some muddy puddles around...

I'm having fun with my fitness tracker - I've discovered the stair climbing mode. I did my usual run up and down a small hill yesterday and it credited me with 5 metres of stair climbing, but weirdly today I did the same run and it only gave me 2 metres It did give me credit for cardio workout, though, so I got my full quota of Vitality Points I was awarded the virtual vitality silver medal a couple of weeks ago, so now I'm working towards the gold medal again Good fun

Difficult to get people in the same place at the same time, but that is a great idea for parkrun tourism I hope all goes well with that in due course Also good luck with the Tankfest trip

That's good that the new vantage point is accessible - are there any bushes or trees between that spot and the birds?

Ah, the joys of trackers! You may well have seen that when I do parkruns on Strava it thinks I've run all over the place, through walls and buildings, round in circles and apparently I'm able to run on water too. I think I said before that my same journey home when recorded on Strava has had a 2-mile difference between its longest and shortest recorded distance. Congratulations on getting your silver medal!

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There are a few bushes behind the vantage point, but at the front it is railings, so there is a good clear view of the birds

Ah, yes I have seen your Strava tracker where it thought you ran across the water to a boat and back again Whenever I try to do a tracked run, it says the GPS can't connect, so I'm not sure how it detects 'stair climbing'. Amusingly yesterday it said I had climbed 8 metres for the same hill! Today it gave me 5 metres as expected. Given that your journey is plus-or-minus 2 miles, the accuracy for 5 metres will be all over the place... Luckily climbing a virtual mountain doesn't count towards my medal, so I think I will give up on that (more annoying than fun) and concentrate on less variable activities, such as yoga and step counts that are good workouts for me

Yes, very pleasing to get the virtual silver medal relatively early in the year

Funny at work today - a meeting reminder popped up and I realised I hadn't done the prep for it, so I managed to do something within an hour - when I got to the meeting, my colleague admitted he hadn't done the prep for it either, so had managed to do something within an hour We did a pretty good job, considering, but our boss wants another meeting anyway, just to finalise things (we made a start on the prep for that already!)

Glad to hear your vantage point seems suitable year-round and won't be overgrown in the summer. My view out of my window is lovely in winter as I can see the railway and trains passing, but in the summer all I can see is the tree across the road. I must admit I've been tempted to prune just one branch - and a lot of what is blocking my view is parasitic bracken growing along the branch.

Did I say that our road is getting a public carpark - opening on Monday? Not sure what impact that will have yet.

Fun to hear an update on the joys of a fitness tracker. They're good fun, but definitely not 100% reliable. A bit like satnavs in that they can't always be believed, but as long as you are enjoying what they are doing, and if they are encouraging you to do yoga and increase your step count then that's positive.

Funny work situation indeed and sounds very familiar. I've definitely been in situations like that, and in my current job there have definitely been days when I've had meetings all day so I never actually get any work done, just pre-meeting planning meetings, meeting meetings and wash-up meetings all about work I'm unable to do as I'm always in a meeting...

I hope you have a great weekend! Are you spending time with family? I have a quiet one other than voluntouring as a marshal at Itchen Valley as Eastleigh is cancelled (there are often insects at Itchen Valley so it lives up to its name of being itchy) and then on Sunday there's the final CC6 also at Itchen Valley, where I'll be volunteering as it is our club's turn to host.

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I can imagine you're tempted to clear your view, given that it is bracken more than tree... Not something that would be easy to do surreptitiously, though

I didn't know your road was getting a public car park - could be helpful, or could be difficult indeed... Good luck with that

Yes indeed fitness trackers have limitations but do have positive uses. Coincidentally I spotted an article about them on the BBC website today that says just that http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1H8bCl2wB80BK3QljdYrzvj/can-fitness-trackers-actually-help-you-to-get-fit

I learned today that my fitness tracker detects floor climbs via a 'barometric altimeter' but without GPS it can't calibrate, so it won't be one of the most useful settings for me to use. Fun to test, but not to take seriously indeed

Tricky indeed about meetings - when I was a PA, my boss asked me to schedule in a meeting with himself every day to make sure he had time to do the work he was being asked to do in all the meetings Our current boss falls into the meeting trap, though - wants people to do lots of things, but also wants them to attend meetings to tell him what things they're doing, reducing the time available to do things to tell him about... We have follow up meetings scheduled, but hopefully they will be as productive as hoped

Glad you've got some voluntourism lined up My mum's not well again today, but hopefully the doctor can help with working out what medication to take out of the bag she was given from hospital, as not all the instructions were written down

Hopefully it's early enough in the season for Itchen Valley not to be too itchy!

Sorry to hear your Mum's not well again - I wish her all the best - particularly for this weekend, what with it being Mothering Sunday.

Yep, new car park opening on Monday - it seems to be looking for the all day users of the station as it is advertising at being £3:45 a day - they're just using land that was previously a parcel sorting office. At those sort of prices I suspect it is going to be popular, which may make getting in and out of the road more difficult especially as the road at the end of the road is quite busy.

Strange indeed that your fitness tracker uses a barometric altimeter - would it pick up anything if you started with your arm as close to the ground as possible and finished with it raised high above your head, I wonder...?

We had meeting overdose about this time last year, but we've just about got the balance right now - so they're planning on introducing more meetings and with more people (including the person I do not get on with, alas).

My line manager before the line manager before the line manager before my current line manager (excluding the periods between line managers when my line manager's line manager acted as my line manager) who went on maternity leave this time last year who lives in Scotland has announced she isn't returning to the job.

Tomorrow is the last CC6 of the year, but I can't run it as it is our turn to host. There were a lot of biting insects at Itchen Valley in the wet grass, but fortunately I was marshalling in the woods.

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Thank you - mum has been feeling better today and hopefully didn't overexert too much The supermarket was ridiculously busy with people buying all sorts, and the shops aren't even closed tomorrow... Some items were out of stock, but I managed to get enough for the week Bouquets of flowers were going like the proverbial hotcakes, but I didn't need one - my mum was much more appreciative of the clothes I bought her, as I did detective work on the internet to find her favourites that had been discontinued

"would it pick up anything if you started with your arm as close to the ground as possible and finished with it raised high above your head, I wonder...?" - I wondered that, too I did try it by climbing into my wheelchair from the ground and raising my arm, but didn't get any credit for it even though that was a genuine climb! The barometer in the watch is more likely to give me accidental height on an outside walk if it is windy

Ah, that is difficult that meeting balance is about to be disrupted again Disappointing but not really surprising that the line manager in Scotland isn't returning to the job...

Glad you managed to avoid itches in Itchen Not too many insects here yet, as it is still relatively cool, but I did find a midgy of some description sitting on a wall in my house today - fortunately it let itself out when I opened the front door I hope you enjoy the CC6 hosting tomorrow

Mum was OK yesterday, so we had a nice time birdwatching in the reception hide of Burton Mere - they had the heater on so it was very pleasant No new species for my list, but it was good to see Oystercatchers, Lapwings, Godwits and Redshanks. We also did a video chat with my sister

There were some insects around, even though the weather was still quite cold and damp. The funniest was a cloud of midgies just in front of the door to the reception hide - luckily I was able to go round it rather than having to go through it like I do when the midgy clouds congregate on narrow paths at just my head height!

I hope it wasn't too muddy and insecty for the CC6

Glad your mum was okay and you enjoyed a warm birdwatching session and had a video chat with your sister. I had one of those with my mum, surprisingly enough.

Itchen Valley was swampy where I was stationed in the big field - the groundwater just doesn't drain (I think the soil is clay) and everywhere you trod on the grass you sank into water about an inch. So there were lots of insects about and the runners finished completely covered in mud. For the CC6 I was the one on finish tokens, so I saw and spoke to everyone finishing. One woman crossed the finish line, vomited into the hedge and then promptly went straight to the cake table...
They are making a gravel path all around the park so by the summer it should be suitable for all weathers.

I finished the season in 132nd place out of 134 - I don't think I've made the podium or won a medal somehow...

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"I had one of those with my mum, surprisingly enough." -

Wow, that wasn't good about the swampy conditions... It certainly has rained a lot this season, and the drainage is struggling to cope at the best of times, never mind with clay soil (lots of clay soil round here, too). That's good that there are plans to make a more solid path for all weathers Fascinating what you observed at the finish - sounds like the woman was OK overall, to be able to contemplate cake after being ill... I hope you managed to avoid too many insect bites

No podium for 132nd, but you win a virtual participation medal for doing regular 4-5 mile runs

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My first follow-up work meeting today was almost as productive as hoped - I got a bit more animated than I had planned during my presentation, as people got distracted by someone mentioning out of date information from last year. However, I wasn't the only animated person - someone else started swearing when describing all the work they had been doing, because of all the challenges caused by restructures. The meeting ended on a friendly note, though, and the document listing the agreed points should be useful for everyone in the second follow up meeting, so we'll be ready for the third meeting

Thanks indeed for the medal - I really appreciate and love that

I think she was fine after a second or two - or maybe just wanted something to take an unpleasant taste out of her mouth.

Lots of meetings this week - including one of the rare Vice Chancellor's Briefings. Lots to take away from it.

"This will be a positive, backwards step"
Between 2005 and 2017, where I work was called 'Southampton Solent University' when the VC before the VC before the current one made two stupid decisions, one of which was to close half the University's courses 'to encourage growth by concentrating on the university's core subjects' (a very Liz Truss definition of growth, as we've gone from having 12,000 FTE students to 5,000 FTE - turns out if you have half the courses available, you only get half the student numbers, who could have guessed?). The other decision was to rename us 'Solent University' to develop our identity as separate from the University of Southampton and futureproof us - and so he can say he did something and change the logo. The current VC wants to change our name back to 'Southampton Solent University' to help our national stakeholders identify where the university is and also futureproof us.

"You will have seen in the press that there are many universities announcing very large scale redundancies or 'restructurings'. I'd like to reassure you that almost everybody in the sector is considering it".
- I think the VC has a very different definition of 'reassure' than everyone else in the world does. Absolutely no-one found that reassuring.

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Wow, there is a lot to take away from the Vice-Chancellor's Briefing...

So funny but not funny how history repeats itself with the logo... Reminds me of when my uni decided to open a new central department, as it would increase capacity and improve student experience. A few years later they decided to close the central department and move the services into the faculties because that would increase capacity and improve student experience Wouldn't be so bad doing the Southampton hokey cokey if it didn't cost money to do that...

Shocking about the 'growth plan' that involved so much shrinkage... Worrying that similar could happen here, as there is tension between cheap unpopular subjects and expensive popular subjects... Partnership tensions made the news recently, too http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-68480576

That is a rather different definition of 'reassuring' indeed... Sort of like, 'I'd like to reassure you that, if you get made redundant from your current job, you'll likely not get another job any time soon!'

More rain here again today off and on, but some sunshine in between and a bit warmer, too. Still plenty of puddles around, though.

You're right - absolutely everything that the university has will have to be rebranded. The thing is, as we've introduced a new student record system, we've spent the last three years creating absolutely every report and letter in it with the old name - had the rebranding happened when the new system was being introduced, it could have changed organically rather than suddenly everything needing to be backdated overnight.

We've centralised, decentralised and localised a couple of times, that's the usual cycle. I think I told you that a few years after I started, when I was working in the faculty central office on the first floor, it was decided that faculty staff should be positioned closer to the academic staff they supported - so all staff looking after a particular course shared an office. The academic staff for the courses I looked after were on the second and third floor, so I and my team were moved into the basement - geographically moving a floor further away in the name of being 'closer'.

Yesterday was an awkward day going to the crematorium for my friend's father's funeral. As there is only one crematorium on the Isle of Wight it is a place with many memories of funerals in the past, from my other friend's father's the last one I was at 8 years ago, two of my grandparents and others. It still surprises me how impersonal it is, and they really do usher you in one door, you get half an hour and then you're kicked out the side door to let the next body in through the front. Everyone gets their equal, allotted 15 minutes of fame.

The local parkrun's still cancelled.

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Gah, yes indeed it would have been a good opportunity to rebrand when introducing new systems, rather than setting up the systems with existing branding and then changing it later... We're not doing too badly, introducing new systems while the restructure is taking place, but that does lead to a bit of difficulty when things don't happen in suitable order for each system, so some negotiation has to take place.

Disappointing when changes are introduced without consultation with people who know how things work practically, like moving you 'closer' by moving you further away... Funny that there are consultations about uni name changes these days, though, so I received notification about Solent yesterday I also experienced the Frequency Illusion - Solent popped up in another report because it has a 0 Gender Pay Gap! (although Solent University Services Ltd doesn't)

That is sad that the service was so impersonal. I guess that happened to us (as I was a bit rushed at first, not having time to take my coat off) but didn't feel rushed when leaving, thankfully. There isn't just one in the area, though, so not quite such pressure as for the one on the Isle of Wight...

Disappointing but not surprising that the parkrun was cancelled again. Did you do some voluntourism again?

My mum's in hospital again this weekend - the doctor did something with the medication last week, but the instructions still weren't clear... A health visitor managed to work out what was what on Wednesday, but mum was unwell in the night before getting chance to take the right pills in the morning. At least things can be monitored more carefully in hospital, and hopefully the medication can be sorted out so mum can go home again next week

I will go food shopping in a bit and endeavour to avoid anything that is not sealed and will aim to not run over anything I buy, either A88046148

Sorry to hear your Mum's in hospital again - wishing her the best of luck and a speedy recovery with the right medication so she doesn't need to return.

I didn't realise that the consultation went nationwide. I know that the last time a VC decided to change the uni's name and not just the logo as normal there was a local consultation, and I had thought that at the very least the OfS and University of Southampton would be involved (as there is a degree of overlap in the name) but you learn something new all the time.
I've been working there so long that I'm employed by Solent - I always got the impression that it was a bit dodgy, and that employees of Solent are entitled to better pension benefits as they are employed by the university than employees of Solent University Services Ltd, which is a private company owned by Solent to employ staff for Solent.

So this weekend I've been under the weather, but I did do barcode scanning at Itchen Valley and yesterday we did our first Easter puppet show - in a church at Romsey we've not been to before. The building really was gorgeous, a Victorian restoration of the medieval gatehouse: http://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1231458?section=comments-and-photos Not entirely sure how they heard of our puppet group, but they seemed delighted with what we did.

Sorry to hear of the hummus incident - at least you can rest assured you won't be attacked by in the near future!

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Yes, I guessed that setting up services as a separate company would have advantages for the uni and disadvantages for the staff... Risky, though - a member of D's family had that in the council, being outsourced but then service quality went down while costs went up so they were brought back in-house a few years later - another hokey-cokey...

Glad you managed to do some volunteering even though you're under the weather Glad the puppeting went well in the new venue - that is impressive architecture

Thanks for the good wishes - we visited mum yesterday, and she was able to walk along the long corridor with us, so the medication monitoring is making a difference

Shopping on Saturday went well, especially considering the cyberincident that affected Sainsbury's tills - I went a bit later and had no problem paying with chip and pin. I also safely transported the hummus home in its sealed container - no round here because I do like garlic, but garlic is much better on bread than on wheelchair

I did a bit of birdwatching, hoping to see an owl, but I think the weather was still too damp (and there were a few dogwalkers out on the marsh) so not ideal conditions. Plenty of Little Egrets around, though, so they were interesting to watch

Somehow I suspect that our VC isn't employed by the services company rather than the Uni. He's announced more senior posts will be created in the VC Group, while all the staff who actually do something remain on tenterhooks. This VC is much worse than the previous one, though not as bad as the one two VCs ago. Another born boat rocker.

Glad you managed to avoid having garlic-flavoured wheelchairs again this week, and it really is excellent news for your mum, I send her my best wishes. I've no news, but I did learn that an independent film that I thought had been abandoned long ago, 'Midas Man', has been finished after all. It took 3 directors and filming stopped and started a couple of times, but it was actually made - though no release date as yet.

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Hmm - yes indeed it is very unlikely that the powers that be would sign themselves up on less favourable terms and conditions... Disappointing that the new VC is much worse than the previous one, but would have to go some to reach the level of the antepenultimate one... Sad that the appointing panel thought that more boat rocking was what was needed, after all the turbulence of previous years...

Wow, that is impressive that the independent film wasn't abandoned after all, even though it was a struggle. I hope it isn't too much of a struggle for them to get a release date after all that work

I had a good evening at the horticultural society - all about growing and showing vegetables. Pleasing that there was mention of carrots A87763035 and the discussion of potatoes was just what I used to do with my dad - selecting fine soil and planting the potatoes in bags so the skins weren't spoiled, and then polishing the potatoes in soapy water ready for the show bench Interesting about purple vegetables, too - my dad and I always used to grow purple french beans, because they are the tastiest, but they always came second to green french beans in the horticultural show. The person giving the talk last night had chance to show Kohl Rabi, and selected a purple variety because it looked good to him, but it came second to the pale green variety! I can't say which would be tastiest, because I haven't ever tried it, I don't think - I see it is a member of the cabbage family with a turnip-like base.

I miss the old days where if someone made something, they released it on DVD. Nowadays everyone wants you to sign up for their social media platform - so if I want to see the Complete & Utter History of Britain I need to sign up to ITV X Premium, or to watch the latest 'Chicken Run' I have to go on Netflix, etc etc. Can't I just get a DVD and then I own the DVD whenever I want to rewatch it, rather than subscribe for a month only to end up with nothing at the end of it, and things are dropped from the streaming services non-stop anyway. You know where you are with a DVD on a shelf.
So anyway, that's my worry about the independent film - that it'll end up on a streaming service, not DVD. Like 'An Action Hero' did...

Today is my son's birthday - so we've had a good evening celebrating and it is very much a full flag day.

Other than that all I've been doing is more doodling - though still no real plot. I'm going for the 'put lots of characters in the pub and if they interact, hopefully a plot will turn up' approach. Plus unexpected trousers.

Good to hear about the horticultural show

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