3rd year

Well its the start of our 3rd year in a camper van. On Sunday 4/3/12 we head off to Brighton and the Kent coast for 2/3 weeks depending on weather and points of interest.

We picked up the van from storage 3 weeks ago and took it to Brownhills for its habitation service and to have the electric element in the water heater replaced under the guarantee.

Since getting it back we have been quite busy, washing and cleaning but my main job was to install a inverter so we could have 240v while staying in aires and stellplatzes. From the inverter I ran cuicuits out to shaver socket (electric toothbrush), vacum cleaner charger, camera charger, and a supply to the fridge/freezer so it can run on ferry crossings

Just the other side of the fence

In my current role at my new main client I am an integration architect rather than the senior developer/architect; the difference sounds small, my deliverables are virtually the same as are the technical skills needed to produce them, but there is one huge difference and that is WHERE I am sitting. Now I am with the BAs and Accenture consultants rather than the devs, where smartness is more important than the spec of your laptop, where consistently being there and typing when your boss arrives and leaves is better than being able to pull an all-nighter to get a problem fixed.

Now this may sound like I don’t approve of being on the other side of the fence, and historically I have always been one of those who go “What the hell is this?” or “Were they drunk when then wrote this?” when faced with a new spec that rolls down to IT, but after only a couple of months I now have a completely different viewpoint on it. Previously when the business asked for something daft, I would storm up and rant at them and being a senior tech who knew the systems intimately, they would give in to some extent and we would sort it out. But the BAs and PMs are asked by the business to define the impossible and sign their name to it; the business seems to just haggle with the BAs as you would with a used car salesman, and this is a general thing. I checked with other BAs and PMs colleges that I have known throughout my career and all have the same experiences, petty political battles and attempts to hide badly patched systems are jammed into the ring and made the problem of people who genuinely just want to make a single project a success.

Come on business these people are on your side, give them a break !!

New Anime Series- Moretsu Pirates

First Episode Review for: Moretsu Pirates

Summary : A happy normal school girls suddenly finds out that she is the daughter of famous (and legal) space pirates, can she leave a normal life with one of the ex crew as a teacher and a strange new transfer student? (holds face in hands).

Animation : The first bright anime of the season, bouncy cheerful and eye watering.

Plot Potential: How they have managed to get space pirates into a normal school anime is quite beyond me be they have done it, and bar a bit of head scratching it looks good fun.

Characters: Due to the odd mix of space and normal school themes the characters have not settled down but the stereotyping seems to have been kept to a minimum, so all good there.

Music: So so, nothing amazing, but it does have all the cute effects.

Reminds me of: Captain Harlock mixed with Galaxy Angel

Overall: Thoroughly entertaining, it wont win any awards but i will enjoy it each week as the most fun series of this season.

Disclaimer: These are mini reviews of anime’s that are fresh out in Japan and are not licensed in the UK, buy them once they have been licensed or at the very least buy the merchandise, remember if the anime makers make a loss, THEY WILL STOP MAKING ANIME!!