They even offered to come in and help us develop and emergency response strategy and carry out an analysis of our IT infrastructure to check we’ve got everything we need!!

Has anyone told them it’s not that kind of virus?

You gotta love them for trying.

Went to one of those running shops which analyses your gait in order to sell you more expensive shoes.  Now, this may surprise anyone who’s seen me trying to run or kick a ball, but it turns out my pegs are pretty much spot on.

However, having built me up by telling me how well my legs are calibrated, the assistant then proceeded to knock me back down by telling me that I had unusually small feet.  Now, most of my shoes are a size 9; not huge, but I don’t think you could describe them as being dainty either.  Having got a few pairs of size 9′s out, the expensive ones seemed to fit ok but a bit uncomfortable in the heel and the ones at the lower end of the pricing scale were just a bit too big.  This being a fancy running shop, I asked if they did half sizes.  The assistant gave me a rather indignant look and told me that ‘of course’ they do.  A few minutes later, she returns with a single shoe box, my selection now having been reduced from 5 to 1.

Apparently, this lack of selection was my fault for having unusually small feet and not a stocking issue on their part.  I could only apologise as I handed over my wad of cash and ask for her forgiveness.

Anyway, next step is actually putting these bad boys on.

That’s for another day though.

Anyway, bearing in mind my abject failure in the Great North Run (I entered but didn’t even make it to the start line, far less the finish line), I’m going to blog my preparations in the hope that publicly declaring my intentions, and the potential shame in not carrying them out, will act as an incentive to get out there and start running.

… not today though – it’s wet outside.

Only problem is that our new flat doesn’t yet have broadband.  Always one to rise to a challenge, I hot-footed it down to the cafe down the road which has free WiFi.  Only problem is I have to put up with this kinda thing all day long.

I can only hope that the media’s over-reaction to a bit of snow continues for a bit longer so that I can justify a few more days like this.

Incidentally, you can judge a cafe to a large extent on how they decorate a cappuccino.  The one above is simple but effective – and requires more skill than perhaps it looks.   My favourite decoration used to be the coffee served by tinderbox on Byers Road which did the strongest coffee in the world topped off with a really cool ‘fern’ design.  However, this was recently surpassed by the following coffee which was served to Aileen (at an Airport!) in Singapore.

Note that this hasn’t been done with a stencil – this is a barista at the top of his/her game!!

Weekend started well when I overheard the following conversation between a father and his (~) 9 year old son in WS Smith:

Dad: (incredulous) “You want me to buy you a copy of the Qur’an??!”

Son: “No Dad … ‘Kerrang!’”

Weekend ended well with this dancefloor & all of us throwing some shapes to match:

Yarm Dance Floor

Inspired by the ever increasing number of blogs that I subscribe to, I’ve decided to take the plunge and subject the big wide world to my insignificant rants, musings and misgivings.

Now, I’m not entirely sure how this blog is going to take shape, or even what I intend to write here. To try and get some focus, I’ve been looking through the blogs I currently subscribe to in order to see what kind of format I should be looking at.

My current blog roll can be neatly divided into 2 broad categories: 1) Work related; and 2) non-work related. It’s not difficult for me to decide which of these groups I want this blog to fall under.

My non-work blogs can be further subdivided into 2 sub-categories. Blogs that are aimed at the public at large (e,g Bad Science, Stephen Fry, etc) and those aimed at people who know me (and anyone within 1 or 2 degrees of separation to them). I’ll be honest and say that I would love to write something that falls within the former category. However, as well as being honest, I’m going to be realistic and recognise that, at least without a flagship issue to champion, it’s unlikely that the Guardian are going to be setting aside column inches for me any time soon.

So, now that I’ve identified my target audience, I need to start thinking about my content. I like the idea of setting myself a set of a set of frivolous fiscal rules by which to live and documenting the consequences in my day to day life. Whilst this would no doubt be of significant benefit to my bank imbalance, I know myself well enough to recognise that I’m neither disciplined enough to comply with these rules, nor humorous enough to produce a fitting record that would come close to the excellent One Hundred Pounds.

I’d like to be able to share photos, doodles and reviews of sandwiches with you all (like here) but I’ve got a crap camera, couldn’t draw a straight line supposing my life depended on it and have only 2 options of sandwich shops at lunchtime (Waitrose or a Bakers Oven if anyone’s interested). Incidentally, I’d have thought that any town with a Waitrose would have been in uproar at the thought of their High Street being sullied by the absence of an apostrophe in “Bakers Oven” – perhaps that’s one for another post.

I’d like to be in a position to document my experiences working abroad and immersing myself in another culture like this, but I don’t think that a Scot living in England is really of sufficient significance.

However, above all, I’d love to do this … but with extra ginger.

Anyway, now that I’ve established all the things I’m not going to do, my concern is that I’ll do something like this (Wan – I’d be delighted for you to prove me wrong on this one). Any tips from experienced bloggers out there on how to keep the momentum going, or on bloging etiquette generally, would be greatly appreciated.

Until next time, I beg to remain your most humble and obedient blogger,

Paul.