The other day I stumbled across a post on the internet that gave me lots of good ideas how to organise and simplify my world. When I was sorting out Miles’ new bed and desk at the weekend I used one of the ideas to sort out his chargers for his laptop and ipad/ipod so that he always knows where his chargers are and so that they remain tidy.

With the simple use of the bulldog / paper clips you can make sure that your chargers are always secured somewhere. With the thick laptop charger cable you can unhook part of the clip, thread the cable through and then rehook the arm of the clip back in place. The ends of the chargers are going no where.

This is what it could also look like

For more really useful ideas check out the post on TwisterSifter

Its always noticeable at this time of year that the days are getting shorter, and the past few days I have noticed it being much darker in the mornings than before, which signals that the clocks will soon be going back and then the evenings will start to draw in.

This year (2012) in the UK, the Clocks will go back 1 hour on Sunday 28th October at 01.00 GMT, so don’t forget

Having just returned from a weekend camping at VW Festival I thought that I would make a checklist for myself of the camping gear for next time we’re heading somewhere, and you might find it useful too.

Last updated 2nd September 2013 .. as the list will keep on growing

Equipment

Sat Nav
Tent (we have a Khyam Quick Erect Motordome Sleeper, its great!)
Groundsheet
Wind breaks
Mallet
Picnic Rug & blanket
Chairs
Flag pole & flag
Airbeds and 12v pump
Sleeping bags & pillows
Camping lantern
Duct tape
Bungee cords
Torches
Matches
Pebble chargers
Big battery charger for campervan

Cooking

Kitchen stand
Gas stove & gas
Grill plate
Pan set
5 litre water bottle
Plates & cups & cutlery
Kettle
Drum BBQ
Fire logs
Charcoal & lighter gel
Marshmallow skewers
Washing up bowl
Washing up liquid
Sponge & teatowel
Kitchen roll

Keeping Clean

Antiseptic wipes
Antiseptic hand gel
Bin bags
Bog in a Bag & refills
Toilet roll
Tissues
Baby wipes
Dry shampoo
Toothbrush & toothpaste
Towel
Foamburst & 2 in 1 shampoo
Deodorant
Lipsil
Mirror
Chewing gum
Insect repellent
1st Aid kit
Sun Cream

Food

Ice packs
Cool bag
Cool box
Tea bags
Sweeteners
UHT milk
Lager / Pop / Water
Bread buns
Butter
Bacon / Sausages / Eggs
Burgers
Cheese slices
Tomato sauce
Snacks & crisps
Baked beans
Cooking oil
Cup a soup
Marshmallows
Chocolate

For the dog

Dog bed
Dog food
Poo bags & Dicky bag
Treats & Treat bag
Food and water bowl
Peg out stake and lead
Towels and mat
Chew toys
Whistle

I think that’s it (apart from clothes to suit the weather) but at least now I won’t lose my list and I can add to it overtime. Good job we have the campervan to store all of this lot in!

Happy Camping!

So the dilemma is … do I or do I not? This is the question? I refer to what to do for the best when you’re out of the office for a period of time. I would normally set an Out of Office on my emails when I go to a conference or go on holiday, but I get so much spam emails and I think every time I set my auto responder I end up getting more.

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It’s been 2 days in the office since I spent last week in New York and I’m please to say that I’m all caught up and even further ahead than where I was before we left, even though I brought extra work back with me from the conference following a couple of productive meetings.

So how did that happen? Well not by magic by any means … but partly by lots of planning before I went to New York including getting the SEO schedule all planned out before I went ready for April, and getting all the scheduled web projects passed onto the team to work on while I was away.

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