Author: philjackman

In my blog way back in March last year I said that I had been blessed with a bad memory.  There are large parts of my life that remain, for the majority of the time beyond the reach of my mind.  No matter how hard I squeeze its dark recesses it just won’t let up … Continue reading Still looking for John

In one of my recent blogs, Things I would like to understand, I raised a phenomenon that was taxing my brain.  What is happening is that users contact our ICT Service Desk with problems and we log things that have gone wrong as calls on the software.  These are then fixed and the calls closed.  … Continue reading Harmonic business

Here is my pitch for the next James Bond movie.  It has to be something big, it has to be something that threatens the stability of the world as we know it and it has to be run by an evil tyrant bent on world domination.  Above all, it has to be something to do … Continue reading The next James Bond movie?

Are you worried?  Do you find that you can’t sleep at night?  Are your nails bitten to the quick?  Well worry no more. Worrying Times is an organisation that has been set up to help relieve the stress and strains of modern life.  ‘These are worrying times.  Everyone seems to be concerned about something,’ says … Continue reading Worrying times

All was quiet now.  The sun was starting to rise, painting the sky the lightest of blues as I picked my way across the field.  The ground was strewn with the dead and dying and I stepped carefully looking for the slightest sign of life, ready to help where I could.  Some crows had flown … Continue reading Valiant in battle

This isn’t snow!  I remember when I was a lad, back in the winter of ’63 when it really snowed.  It went on for weeks it did and we had to dig a tunnel to get out of the house because it had drifted over the height of the doors.  The electricity went off for … Continue reading Call this snow?

I’m well annoyed.  I’ve spent most of the day trying to make sense of a tender document that was stitched together from a dozen or so different other documents.  I’ve been trying to make it look as if it was written by the same person, in the same style and in the same format in … Continue reading Use good English like what I do

Filling a role can be a pain.  You have to give it some thought and if you work in a larger organisation you will probably have to create a job description and a person specification which will be used in the associated adverts and recruitment process.  So where do you start?  You could get a … Continue reading Before you go, tell me five things

Back in the day everyone was clear about where they stood.  You left school, got a job and when you were old enough for a bus pass you retired and spent your time either cruising or pottering in your allotment depending upon a) your financial position and b) your interests.  If you were lucky you … Continue reading Don’t retire, pretire

No, I don’t think I could ever be an astronaut; in fact I’m pretty sure.  It’s not the intellectual effort that concerns me, not all the physics and the maths and the endless hours of studying.  I’m not sure whether I have that capability but I think I could apply myself and settle down to … Continue reading I could never be an astronaut