Stop the world spinning…

I have been so busy recently that I have not had time to post (again!). A few weeks ago I changed departments at work again, and am back in development though now the functional test department has merged with development, so I have been testing for the last few weeks. This means I am up to my neck in perl modules. It has been fun, and quite a learning experience. Unfortunately I have found several defects in the perl automation libraries, which really slow down my work.  I have also started to use zOS, and it is quite different from anything I have used before. Thankfull I am using USS (Unix System Services) most of the time, so can find my way around that, but sometimes I have to use the real zOS interface, and that is rather tricky when you have no idea what you are doing.

I have also become the server admin for an internal Debian repository at work, which supplies several essential internal packges all sorted out to install on Debian nicely – this can be a challenge to achieve sometimes. I am doing some packaging too, which is fun but has been another long learning experience – I always though Debian packges were  lot simpler than they really are.

On Saturday I was up in London for the WildChild dance festival, which was moved from Shoreditch Park to Kings Cross freight yards (home of the keys, the cross and canvas) which was just as well as it was a really wet day. The day was really good, lots of great music though the rooms (of which there must have been 8 or 10) varied in terms of size, neatness and amounts of lighting. The only regret was that somehow I missed Dogzilla – we were in the right room at the right time, but no mention of them…

On the way back from London the train got stuck outside Winchester while the Police armed response unit was called for a security incident on the train at winchester station. Strangely the conductor called smokers to the back of the train and allowed people to stand in the back drivers cab with the windows open and smoke, while he was at the other end of the train. This is more strange because the next morning smoking is banned in all enclosed public spaces in England, and smoking on trains has not been permitted for several years (I can’t remember it happening, though I can remember smoking on planes).