Day 33 – 18 February 2014 I thought I’d get the train in this morning but when the announcement came over the Tannoy that it was at least thirty seven minutes late arriving at Morpeth I decided to give up and drive in. Thankfully I had my old friend Mr Laptop with me and so … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 33
A year of work in progress – day 32
Day 32 – 17 February 2014 Take two one-to-ones with members of my team, two tier 4 managers and two heads of service. Add to this a couple of other meetings and that was my day. I started at Meadowfield, travelled to County Hall and ended up at Tanfield. Eight meetings in three locations was … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 32
A depression in the bed
It’s funny how your memory works. Skansen, the world’s first open air museum. A Beamish in Stockholm’s Djurgården. Fifteen years ago and the girls are sitting on the Dahl horse just inside the entrance posing for a souvenir photo. The red lacquer and their red cheeks. The queues at the café, the bears in the … Continue reading A depression in the bed
A year of work in progress – day 31
Day 31 – 14 February 2014 Valentine’s Day is the day when love hangs heavy in the air. What better way to spend the morning than with BT? We have a meaty contract with them to deliver the broadband infrastructure for the Digital Durham programme and so it’s important that we maintain excellent relations throughout … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 31
A year of work in progress – day 30
Day 30 – 13 February 2014 I have known Gill for some time and so I don’t know if I can claim her as another notch in my tier 4 belt yet in the past we have met to talk about a project or an issue. My mission (should I choose to accept it?) is … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 30
A year of work in progress – day 29
Day 29 – 12 February 2014 I woke up to snow today, the first of the winter. It wasn’t much, just a light dusting. We don’t get a lot of snow at lower levels normally but to have gone this long without any is unusual. It’s been an unusual winter for weather all-round though what … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 29
A year of work in progress – day 28
Day 28 – 11 February 2014 Ah well. I didn’t win. Newcastle and Bucks did so at least something came to the region. I got down to the last six out of fifty seven bids and I made a couple of useful contacts, one from the Department for Communities and Local Government and one form … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 28
A year of work in progress – day 27
Day 27 – 10 February 2014 Today I was in Slough, at O2’s offices. I’d entered a competition to win some help from The Local Government Digital Fund. I hadn’t expected to get anywhere but got shortlisted into the last six and was asked to present my thoughts at a Dragon’s Den style event. I … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 27
A year of work in progress – day 26
Day 26 – 7 February 2014 Today was all about Building Schools for the Future or BSF to use its initials. The brain child of Tony Blair’s government, BSF was designed as an investment programme to improve the lot of secondary schools across the country. Apparently politicians from all English political parties were supportive of … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 26
A year of work in progress – day 25
Day 25 – 6 February 2014 Last night wasn’t bad at all I’m pleased to say. There were no flaming torches or pitch forks, just a small group of people who are (and have been for some time) interested in getting broadband into Teesdale. Getting provision into the further flung parts of the County was … Continue reading A year of work in progress – day 25
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 