I fly a fair bit, less than some people I know but more than others. So I’ve spent a fair amount of time going through security, and it seems to have been a bit of a hot topic in the news lately so I thought I might weigh in.

I don’t mind airport security, I’ve done it often enough that I have my own little routine, and I generally know the best way to avoid the queues. Top tips: Fly as early as you can, or as late as you can, if you’re flying midday get there early and check-in online if you can. Most large airports have several security checkpoints, often one of them is much quieter than the others, it’s often faster to walk than to queue. Although you need to know your airports or do a bit of searching online beforehand. Aside from that, keep as much as you can in hand luggage and try and be patient.

I don’t mind security, I also don’t believe that it’ll ever be 100% perfect. There’s a whole flood of people pouring through the gates and, regardless of all the technology, the weak link is always going to be the human behind the screens. No human is 100% perfect, all we can hope for is that whatever slips through isn’t something bad. The odds are good, but not certain.

I don’t mind the full body scanners, I went through one in Amsterdam once. It was faster and easier than normal security and I have no real problems with people seeing my a blurry outline of my bits. Most stories are concentrating on the privacy aspects with only a brief aside about the usefulness of the technology. I think it improves the odds and I’m sure there are ways to offset the privacy concerns. Of course you have to balance the cost of beefing up security with the benefits it actually brings, but somewhere in the calculations you end up putting a price on life … good luck getting that past the Daily Mail.

I don’t mind the government rolling out the full body scanners throughout the UK, I don’t know if the benefits merit the costs involved, but then that’s not my job.

I do mind the reasons underpinning the increased security, this isn’t part of a periodic review, this is a reaction to the hapless underpants bomber over Christmas. A worldwide knee-jerk reaction to a fortunately failed bomb plot. A reaction that may not even improve the chances of detecting a similar plot, let alone whatever comes next.

As I said no security will be 100% perfect, but I rather that governments weren’t doing something just to be seen to be doing something. I’m not going to speculate on what form the next plot will take (and definitely not on twitter in case I get lifted) but we’re assured there’s a continued threat. At some point something else will fall through the cracks, and then more security will be introduced. There will be a point where there’s nowhere else to go.

If people, are their governments, are so used to the action/reaction between the bombers and the authorities where will it all lead? Do we keep getting more draconian or does the government have to turn round and say “mistakes happen, it was one of those things”. Again, good luck seeing how that flies with the Daily Mail.

Had the Christmas day bomber been successful where would we be, the same increased security or would it have been spun as a tragic one off?

By failing and demonstrating how they’d bypassed security have the terrorists pushed the world’s governments closer to introducing seriously dubious measures and policies.

Could a sufficiently intelligent group of people realise that there’s far more milege is causing havoc and sowing dissent with failed bombings than there is with successful ones … On the one hand I’d like to think that the people behind this aren’t really trying to blow up planes, on the other hand that sort of long term plotting puts them higher up the rungs of intelligence than I’d like to think they are.

Urk, three posts behind already (well, almost four). I’m glad I said ‘on average’ in my resolution.

I actually have some posts ready to go, but I wanted to post something about Manila rather than just my ramblings about technology and other guff. However I’ve spent a month doing very little post-worthy in Manila, you don’t really need a blow-by-blow account of how I spent way too much money and lumbered myself with a hangover.

So, I’m slowly settling back into life in Manila. I’m glad January is over, not just because it marks a milestone into the year but also because I’ve been paid, and can now ignore my over-indulgence last month and concentrate on having a quiet couple of months before I head to Australia in April.

Work is proving to be extra mental this year, and will likely be through all of February. This is mostly because we’re transferring a ‘live’ project from our Germany office. I’ve been trying to think of a metaphor for this but the best I can do is it’s like trying to ship a car overseas. By dismantling it in one place, shipping it bit by bit and putting together somewhere else. While the engine is still running. And the driver is still trying to drive it.

And we can now see what was becoming apparent during the process: this car is a bit of a lemon. But at least it’s here now, for us to clean up. Just in time for it’s new owners to come inspect it in a fortnight. Fortunately we’re quite good at shining up cars for their new owners, even if underneath they’re still a bit grotty they’ll stand-up to a quick test drive, and I’ll stop torturing that poor metaphor now.

There’s a good chance we can actually deliver a decent product on schedule but it’s there’s been so much effort involved and the politics of the whole thing drives me to distraction. But we’re in behind the wheel now (sorry) and I’ve discovered that I’d rather be I’m much happier be wholly responsible for everything even if it goes tits-up in the end.

If we get through the customer visit in a few weeks there should be much clearer roads ahead for the next few months and hopefully a chance for a few long weekends out of the city.

Sorry for the rambling work related post, I’ve got a few other random ones lined up but I’ve also got concrete plans to get out of Manila next weekend so I should have something more interesting to post after that.

Plus I’ve got a work jaunt to China in March and then I’m off down under in April. I’m bound to find some something worth writing about from that lot.

Until then I’m going to veg out on the couch, knock back some booze and watch the wrestling. Yes, some things never change.

It’s been almost three years and three months (blimey!) since my last Sad Panda post, which isn’t bad considering. But I was strongly reminded of that time while flying back to Manila last week.

The situations are similar in some ways, both times I’d just left my ‘normal’ life to spend three weeks out having fun with a great bunch of people and both times I was travelling to find myself alone in a foreign city slightly at a loss as to what to do. The difference this time is that Manila is my normal life, or at least it’s supposed to be.

So on the plane I contemplated what moving to Manila means and, for the first time, I wondered if I’ve done the right thing. It’s easy to see what’s brought this on, one aspect is that previously I was only ever here for a few months at most. It was easy to view it as a series of jaunts rather than really moving, but now I’m here for a lot longer before I get back to Scotland. It’s finally sinking in that I definitely live here now. At least for the next year and a half.

The other thing is that I had a great holiday, not only did I not have to do any work but I got to hang around with a bunch of great people — and one special person. I pretty much managed to catch up with everyone I know, although I didn’t get to spend as much time with any of them as I would have liked.

So I find myself back in Manila, and somewhat adrift. But it’s been a few days since I started writing this post, and I’ve already settled back a bit. The last few days have flown by, and I can see me being stuck in a storm of work, sleep and entertaining the parade of visitors that seem to find excuses to visit the office from far flung places. It helps that I really like this job, there’s no way I’d have found a job like it in Edinburgh. I know that, at least until 2011, that this was the right move for me, after that I’ll just have to see where I am.

I can already see that once I get through January I’m going to be kept pretty busy with travelling (work and holidays), which means that the next few months are probably going to be a blur.

I must make an effort to get out of Manila at the weekends, even if I just end up sitting on a beach somewhere — plus I’m going to need to do something interesting if I’m going to manage to post another 51 entries this year.

So I accept that I’ve not posted a lot this year, I have no real excuse short of lack of energy.

In reality it’s been a great year, I’ve changed my life in ways that I could never have expected. I live on the other side of the world, I have a job that I love that is also a genuine career move. I’ve reconnected with a ton of people that I’d lost contact with and made-up with a few people that I’d fallen out with. In general I’ve been having a fantastic time.

2009 has been, all things considered, a pretty good year for me.

But not for everyone, so I don’t want to go on about my life too much. There are swings, and there are roundabouts. For those of you whose 2009 hasn’t been that great I can only wish that the worst is over, and 2010 brings better fortune.

Thank you for reading my continued ramblings, sorry for the complete lack of content last year but I will make it my 2010 resolution to make, on average, one post per week for the whole of 2010, and I mean proper posts — no filler, or link dumps. The first step is the new banner, the old EU2008 banners are still pinned to their associated posts in the archives … and, yes, I will get round to doing the missing country posts at some point.

52 original posts, how hard can it be?

Yeah, let’s see how that goes.

But finally:

Happy New Year everyone, I hope that 2010 gives you everything you need, and ideally everything you want.

See you all in the next decade!

Well, is anyone still here?

I have to admit it’s been a while since I posted anything useful … perhaps 2010 will see a better posting record, who knows …

However, I’d like to wish all of you still reading a Merry Christmas and ask that you check back in the New Year to see if I have something interesting to share then.

Have a great holiday, look for more posts in a few days.

Blimey, you’d think that I’d have something interesting to write about from the last six weeks.

But sadly not. The majority of my life has been consumed by work, and I don’t really want to bore you with the sundry details of pissed of customers, mountains of red tape, and piles of random management gubbins. Despite being officially a lead engineer I’m now resigned that I’ve done my last piece of actual engineer, my day to day work is all managing people, planning projects, buying equipment, and working on various initiatives. You can imagine how none of that would make a very interesting post.

I tend to spend my weekends trying to catch up on sleep, doing the odd bit of work and also the odd bit of drinking. It’s still raining most days here so I haven’t even been motivated to try and go do anything touristy. The rain should ease off in a few weeks and then perhaps I can go and take some decent pictures.

Until then here’s the view from my current flat especially for MasterMuir, although I’m moving out in a month or so to a different flat that mostly has a view of the roofs of the nearby buildings.

It does nicely illustrate something I’ve been trying to explain about Manila, it’s mostly just sprawling one/two story buildings of various types but with big pockets of skyscrapers dotted around. The ones you can see from my window is Ortigas Centre [map].

Anyway that’s it, I’d promise to write more soon but for all I knows it’ll be another six weeks before I manage to cobble together another meaningless post. For now I’m just going to settle back and watch the X-Factor which I’ve just downloaded (yes, I am that sad).

Well I should be careful what I complain about.

Shortly after writing my last post, complaining about how expensive it was, I came down with a stomach bug (not sure what it was, maybe food poisioning, maybe just something going round). A weekend of feeling terrible followed by a week of antiboitics and limited appetite really cuts down on the spending. Although I did find the local doctor, who was very helpful. I think I’ve now been to the doctor more times in two months here then I managed in five years in Edinburgh.

Still, I feel much better, Now I’m just knackered from work, 7am meetings four days a week (with a customer in the US) really don’t suit me. Plus all the various things I have to do mean I don’t even get to leave early. Hopefully this is a temporary situation that can be resolved once we’ve appeased our (understandably) cranky customer.

I did what I always do when I think I’m working too much — book a holiday! Actualy that’s what I do when I’m bored and working too little. I’ve never really needed an excuse to book a holiday.

So now I’ve got an five day trip to Tokyo to look forward to in November. It’s a few months away but I’ve got a couple of jaunts back to Europe before then, and a seamingly endless procession of visitors to the office will cause enough distruption to keep me busy until then even if we can cut down the early-morning calls.

Illness, tiredness and rain have all prevented me from doing anything interesting in Manila. I’m begining to think I’ll just never get round to it — like living in Edinburgh and never visiting the tourist parts.

It occurred to me today that, due to some rearrangement of my finances, I almost had enough money to make me a millionaire in Pesos. Sadly the money was still in pounds and at least half of it disappeared to clear other debts almost as soon as it arrived.

This occurred to me while I was doing some budgeting, and I was budgeting because I finally have a contract. Not only do I have a contract I’m also now, apparently, on the Manila payroll. I think I now officially work here.

Sadly this means that I’m no longer on expenses, the company still pays for my accommodation, utility bills and so on. But now food, transport and day-to-day stuff comes out my pocket. Booze always came out of my pocket (mostly) so no change there.

The bill for the first ten days of the month leads me to discover that Manila isn’t as cheap as I thought, even discounting my weekend poker and pub crawling, it still mounts up. Maybe I’m just shopping in the wrong places, or maybe it’s just living in the capital.

It doesn’t matter anyway, I have to stop thinking in pounds, I have a monthly budget in pesos which is more than enough. Still whichever way I look at it, Manila’s a cheap place to live. Not expensive, just not as cheap as I thought it would be. Maybe I should just start winning at poker.

I guess I should add a bit about how I’m doing. Work is mad, Manila is fun, and I’ve finally moved into a nice new apartment which has internet. Not very good internet, lousy for Skype, but it’s still internet.

I know that’s not a great update but now I’m more sorted I’ll try and do some more posting about life over here. I must remember to take my camera out with me and get some pictures.

Blimey, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. I have the flimsiest of excuses.

For the first half of my long absence I was running around madly in Edinburgh trying to sort out the details of my impending relocation to Manila.

And Manila is where I’ve been for the second half of my absence. Everything’s going about as well as can be expected and I’m enjoying myself but I’m still settling in. Manila is one of those places where everything just takes slightly longer than you expect, so I still don’t have everything properly sorted out. Like internet access in my apartment.

Of course that’s no excuse, no ‘net access in my apartment doesn’t stop wandering to the nearest Starbucks (sadly as common here as anywhere else on earth), or just using the connection at work (until the reactive firewall decides to block the site).

My excuse could be that I’ve been too busy over here. It’s almost true, I’ve been thrown into the deep end of my new job and I find myself thrashing around trying to work out exactly what’s what while trying not to screw anything up too badly. Planning projects, inducting new employees, interviewing potential employees and – urk – talking to customers has actually kept me fairly busy.

But not so busy that I’ve stopped wasting a fair amount of time reading whatever junk websites the corporate IT department deems fit for my time (Facebook is blocked but Twitter is fine, I’m confused.)

And if I’d really been spending time settling in I’d have unpacked more than half the suitcases and boxes I’d brought over.

I had meant to head out to do something interesting this weekend so that I’d have something to write about today. I’d dug out the camera, charged the batteries, packed the guidebook and planned a bit of tourist trail.

And then it rained.

And I thought I’ll give it an hour and it’ll pass.

And then it rained harder.

And than, to hammer home the point, it rained even harder.

So I decided to skip the wandering around in the wet, and hung around watching the Discovery Channel. That would have been an excellent point to dart across to Starbucks and do write this post, but I didn’t.

I have no excuse.

The rainy season lasts for months, but hopefully I’ll be fully connected in a new apartment within weeks. Perhaps then I’ll find the correct combination of interesting content, motivation and free time to return to regular communication.

Or I’ll find a better excuse.

And so I find myself back in Edinburgh, for six weeks or so.

My calendar is already full to bursting, with every weekend spoken for.

I’m trying to do two jobs, and attempting to schedule workmen and various deliveries around my early morning calls back to the Manila office.

Add to that the various visitors and house guests I’ll have over April and the whole thing just turns into madness.

No wonder my body has given up and decided to give in to some nasty cold bug. Also no wonder that updates to this site have been non-existent.

Still, it’s all under control, planned and organised chaos, just the way I like it. Despite work doing their best to throw a spanner in the works by sending me to China for Easter weekend (I said no).

That’s about that, I’ve no idea when I’ll find time to write any more but I’ll leave you with this final bit of housekeeping.

This website has no wish to indulge in an extended ham-slapping with any other websites so I choose not respond to his thrown gauntlet with a surcial strike.

I will respond with a blanket bombing of barbarous baconisty: The Baconcyclopedia.

Hock and Claw!