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05/01/2008

Congratulations to Morgan and Cal

QuickImage Category Announcements

Yay! and all things jubilant - please join me in congratulating Morgan and Cal on their engagement - Woo!

Posted by Teresa Elsmore At 22:41:43 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (1)

04/01/2008

Lotusphere Boatrace 2008 - dev help needed

QuickImage Category Lotusphere

With only 17 days to go till Lotusphere - yes seriously, count them - Warren & I's thoughts are turning to getting the Boatrace sorted out. This is an initial posting asking for any developers who may have a few spare minutes or hours to help with building a site for us to run it from.

Any offers very gratefully received! Drop us and email or a comment. warren at elsmore dot net / teresa at elsmore dot net

Posted by Teresa Elsmore At 00:37:53 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (0)

02/01/2008

Schmap!!

QuickImage Category Photos

A little while ago I got a couple of emails from an organisation called Scmap!! saying that they had shortlisted two of my photos for inclusion in their upcoming new Amsterdam and New York editions and checking that was ok. So, naturally flattered, I agreed to their being included for consideration never thinking that they would be chosen. Well, both were in fact chosen for inclusion.

The New York one is of Lady Liberty's original torch and can be seen here. The Amsterdam one is of the view from the top floor cafe of Metz & Co and can be seen here.  

Now Schmap!! obviously benefit as they get photos for no direct costs, but I feel amazed that out of the hours they must have spent ploughing through photos on-line they chose some of mine. It's not the most amazing thing in the world, but I have to admit to feeling a small amount of pride in that.

I wonder if they are planning a new edition of their one for Barcelona? ;-)

Posted by Teresa Elsmore At 00:39:58 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (2)

31/12/2007

UPDATE: Edinburgh's Hogmanay Torchlight Procession

QuickImage Category None

UPDATE: We managed to get some pics of it - sadly our digi camera is not good in low light - they are on Flickr here. The fireworks were fantastic and we get the New Year's ones tonight which should be fabulous too. They set them off on all seven hills of the city at midnight. We will be up Carlton Hill again - it is only a few hundred yards from the flat - so we will get a great view. Always assuming the Scottish weather decides to behave - they have had to cancel the Street Party and Fireworks for the last two years due to high winds and lots and lots of rain!

Hogmanay is a BIG thing in Edinburgh. In terms of the number of people who come to our city for the celebrations it is as big as the Festivals in August but it only lasts 4 days rather than 4 weeks.

The organised events start tonight with the Torchlight Procession and that is where we are heading now. We go through the city and up Carlton Hill - a very special place to us as it is where Warren proposed - and set fire to some effigies of 2007 in preparation for welcoming in the New Year on the 31st. Oh and we get some fireworks too!

Posted by Teresa Elsmore At 00:00:00 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (0)

31/12/2007

Barcelona photos

QuickImage Category None

It has taken a wee while to get these catalogued and uploaded, but the photos from our trip to Barcelona (which inluded the VIEW Admin/Developer Europe 2007 Conference) are here!

A wee note on the photos of Casa Batllo - everyone who enters the house is under strict instructions not to allow their photos to be used for any commericial purpose so, in case you were thinking of it, don't!

Posted by Teresa Elsmore At 00:03:20 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (1)

28/12/2007

My new job

QuickImage Category None

I realise it has been - ahem - a while since I have blogged so a small update is due I think.

Naturally I was in on the sale of BE to Bluewave from the beginning so I knew I was on the lookout for a new job. I had spent quite a while refining my search and I now knew that I wanted to be working as the chief admin support for the Chief Exec or similar of a charitable organisation. It is just where I am meant to be. I spent a while getting my heart stamped on - and my thanks to those who listened to my rants whilst that lot was going on - as I went for several interviews.

Finally, literally a week before I was redundant, I got a phonecall from a guy I had met at a netwoking lunch the previous month. I was unashemedly using these lunches for job-hunting and had told G what I was looking for when I met him. I had a previous connection with his organisation through a previous job so I had made sure I caught up with him that day. When he called me he had just discovered that his Chief Exec's Exec Assistant was having a year's sabbatical to go travelling and - star of stars - he had told his Chief Exec about me and - miracle of miracles - she had said to go ahead and set up a meeting for us. So, somewhat nervously, I set off for my, very informal, interview with D.

Half an hour in she offered me the job - just like that - on the spot! Oh and they thought they couldn't afford me! In fact they pay very well for the charitable sector and I ended up with a small pay-rise!

So:
Who? The Thistle Foundation. They are a fabulous organisation who provide teams of personal care assistants for physically-disabled people to enable them to 'get great lives'. We support them to live their lives as independantly as they want and to take risks in doing things for themselves. This might be as simple as doing their shopping on their own or as complex as getting married.

What? Assistant to the Directorate. I work mainly for the Chief Exec organising her very busy schedule and life and I also work for other 5 Directors to varying degrees with their portfolios. Anything from making tea to study course admin, from diary managment to research on whatever D needs.

Where? Edinburgh.

Verdict so far? I LOVE IT. EVERY DARN MINUTE OF IT! My boss laughs, a lot, and is just wonderful to work for. I work for an organisation who really, REALLY care about training their staff - I have 10 chuncks of Induction to attend after I get home from Lotusphere - and they have serious training planning meetings and budgets to match. I work for an organisation who put people at the heart of everything they do - it is their philosophy - and it is wonderful to be part of it.

Who's Caroline? She is the lady I am taking over from for 2008 and she is off to Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia. On her own - for the most part anyway - and in a wheelchair. Go Caroline - have a wonderful time, keep us posted and I'll keep your seat warm for you whilst you are away!

Posted by Teresa Elsmore At 00:28:14 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (7)

27/12/2007

How (not) to travel 'light' - and

QuickImage Category None

Whilst searching for a 'bon voyage' pressie for the lovely Caroline (more on how she fits in in a mo) I found the 'Globetrotter II Kit'. I was looking for a particular travel adaptor which Warren & I, among others, use and which includes a USB connection. It costs about GBP15 and covers 150 countries Worldwide. The real beauty of our adaptor is that all the connector pins retract into the body of the adaptor so there is no more snagging of your socks or holing of your favourite t-shirt in transit - it all fits into a compact cylinder about  2" x 4".

By contrast The Globetrotter II Kit needs a suitcase of its own - seriously - it comes with its own bag!. Now, admittedly, it does do phone connections as well as power, but, on the other hand, to use the phone connectors you are going to need to carry either a pluggable-in phone base station & handset, or still be using a modem, as well as the suitcase of adaptors. Personally I think the mobile phone and wireless are handier and my phone charges off the USB on our GBP15 set.

Oh, the most amazing thing about this Globetrotter II Kit (aside from the fact that it is the second incarnation of this set - meaning the first was probably even more cumbersome) is that it is yours for the low, low entry price of GBP 185 or USD 185 - ON SALE!. Yup, it is the same numerical price on the .com or the .co.uk so, if you are tempted (a perfect pressie for Ed maybe!) then I recommend getting it from the .com.

The must-have accessory for your trip to Lotusphere I feel.

Posted by Teresa Elsmore At 11:46:10 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (2)

09/10/2007

Scrummy

QuickImage Category Food/Drink

On a cold, wet, definitely Autumnal, October day I am very glad that yesterday I found Whittard of Chelsea's Spice Imperial tea*! Wonderfully tasty black tea flavoured with cinnamon, cloves, vanilla and orange peel. Just perfect to warm your insides on such a day and very scrummy.  

* Just so you know - they package this as Christmas Tea for the Festive Season.

Posted by Teresa Fothringham At 11:07:29 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (0)

08/10/2007

the 'mrselsmore.com Dogs' B*llocks awards'

QuickImage Category mrselsmore.com Dogs' B*llocks Awards

Occasionally there are people, companies, products or things which just stand head and shoulders above the crowd or are absolute gems of finds. The mrselsmore.com Dogs' B*llocks awards^ seek to recognise these.


^The rules for awarding these are entirely my own and are too arcane to bother you with. Suffice to say they won't get awarded often¬ and those who receive them have REALLY impressed me.

¬ Aside from the minor spate of these awards over the next few days to catch up to the present  

Posted by Teresa Fothringham At 15:21:35 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (0)

08/10/2007

Caption Competition...

QuickImage Category caption competition


I found this looking through an old SD. Ladies and Gentlemen start your caption engines please.....



'Callisto says LEGO tastes goooood!'




Posted by Teresa Fothringham At 11:08:02 Location Edinburgh | | Comments (3)