I had my mobile telephone stolen last night. It was taken from my jacket pocket as I took wine with a number of friends in a bar near Liverpool Street station in London. Liverpool Street is one of the four stations on the Monopoly board. On the bespoke board I have at home, the stations have been replaced by bars, so there is some sort of symmetry here.
My jacket was hanging over the back of my chair, and early in the evening I had used it to text one of my daughters. The perpetrator must have seen me place it back in my blazer pocket, and dipped me sometime later as he or she was leaving. The ease of the crime was increased by the fact that I was sitting on a bar stool type chair, which made the pocket more accessible without any need for an average height person to bend down.
It's only a phone, and I was not mugged for it, so its no big deal really. It's just the fag of having to recreate all the records and reload the apps and synchronise the diary entries that really bug me. It took me over an hour today just to go through the crime report and the insurance claim to allow another phone to be sent out to me. The joy of recreation starts on Friday, wish me luck
If I had been smarter at the time ( it was late and as already mentioned, alcohol was involved) I could have logged into my laptop and done a GPS search for the phone and tried to track it down. There is a facility on the Windows phone home page to do just that. It would have been a bit 'Jennings and Derbyshire'.
As it is, I am now phoneless and will face the four hour drive back to Scouse without the urge to phone anybody and tell them I am still on the M6......the car does have a link to the BMW control centre though, I could always ring them up for a chat I suppose!!!
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Cardinal sin
Strange things afoot at England Rugby 2015, as new Chairman, Andy Cosslett, dispenses with the services of Paul Vaughan, the CEO and my sometime golfing companion.
Andy considered that Paul had taken the organisation of the Rugby World Cup as far as he could, and wished to move the planning onto a different plain. With everything involving the organisation of the tournament, the venue selection process and schedule planning all on track, Paul may well feel a bit put out.
He is being replaced by Debbie Jevons, a key player in the London 2012 Olympics process and one of Seb Coe's inner sanctum. Andy's wish is for Debbie to create the sort of feel good factor which surrounded the Olympics, and transfer it to the Rugby World Cup.
I do wonder, though whether he has taken sufficient counsel on the whole matter. Andy's CV lists his previous roles with Cadbury Schweppes and InterContinental Hotels. This indicates a well honed background in leisure and retail, a background which Paul shared through his time with GrandMet and Whitbreads. Any previous exposure to Rugby which Andy may have does seem to be absent from much of his biographical data.
The appointment of somebody with such fresh experiences from London 2012 into the rugby environment is certainly a forward thinking initiative, however, I worry that the image and enthusiasm of one, may not necessarily be suitable to the other .
Lets look at some specifics:
The Olympic Games runs full on for two weeks, there are events morning, noon and night all over London, and save for the football, only in London ( sorry Weymouth, you too!). The Rugby World Cup will be a three or four week event, with matches primarily at the weekends, and with dead periods through the week. Matches, like the football will be distributed to the main conurbations of England and Wales. Developing a new approach to rugby support for that length of time, across the Country will be challenging.
The Olympic Games events had British and Irish participants in one or more events so giving a constant support focus for the fans so that when one star got eliminated, there were others to fill the void. The rugby World Cup has four national teams competing in an overall population of 16. Some of them may not make the knockout stages, and if one of those is England, then a huge percentage of potential spectators will lose interest. Yes the stadia will still be full, but the need for fan zones will greatly diminish.
Now lets consider the fan zone concept. Rugby supporters are a very predictable lot. They will have a few beers before the game, watch it and adjourn back to the bar afterwards. Those who do not have a ticket will either watch at home , in their local rugby club or watch in their local pub, I can't see swathes of casual fans sitting on Twickenham Green, in Princes Street or at Cardiff Castle on a damp and cold Autumnal afternoon watching Italy take on Namibia.
Finally, what of the travelling fans? The Olympics has hundreds of different Countries to support, and London is an attractive City to visit. Its straightforward to focus all your attention in one place. I did not notice a huge number of Olympic visitors in Scouseland, and the trouble that LOCOG had selling the football tickets is a warning sign for Debbie and her team.
So all in all, it will be interesting to see what new initiatives Debbie does come up with, and how they add to the success of the tournament. Nothing will contribute more than another England victory, and that is something that is out of her hands.
Andy considered that Paul had taken the organisation of the Rugby World Cup as far as he could, and wished to move the planning onto a different plain. With everything involving the organisation of the tournament, the venue selection process and schedule planning all on track, Paul may well feel a bit put out.
He is being replaced by Debbie Jevons, a key player in the London 2012 Olympics process and one of Seb Coe's inner sanctum. Andy's wish is for Debbie to create the sort of feel good factor which surrounded the Olympics, and transfer it to the Rugby World Cup.
I do wonder, though whether he has taken sufficient counsel on the whole matter. Andy's CV lists his previous roles with Cadbury Schweppes and InterContinental Hotels. This indicates a well honed background in leisure and retail, a background which Paul shared through his time with GrandMet and Whitbreads. Any previous exposure to Rugby which Andy may have does seem to be absent from much of his biographical data.
The appointment of somebody with such fresh experiences from London 2012 into the rugby environment is certainly a forward thinking initiative, however, I worry that the image and enthusiasm of one, may not necessarily be suitable to the other .
Lets look at some specifics:
The Olympic Games runs full on for two weeks, there are events morning, noon and night all over London, and save for the football, only in London ( sorry Weymouth, you too!). The Rugby World Cup will be a three or four week event, with matches primarily at the weekends, and with dead periods through the week. Matches, like the football will be distributed to the main conurbations of England and Wales. Developing a new approach to rugby support for that length of time, across the Country will be challenging.
The Olympic Games events had British and Irish participants in one or more events so giving a constant support focus for the fans so that when one star got eliminated, there were others to fill the void. The rugby World Cup has four national teams competing in an overall population of 16. Some of them may not make the knockout stages, and if one of those is England, then a huge percentage of potential spectators will lose interest. Yes the stadia will still be full, but the need for fan zones will greatly diminish.
Now lets consider the fan zone concept. Rugby supporters are a very predictable lot. They will have a few beers before the game, watch it and adjourn back to the bar afterwards. Those who do not have a ticket will either watch at home , in their local rugby club or watch in their local pub, I can't see swathes of casual fans sitting on Twickenham Green, in Princes Street or at Cardiff Castle on a damp and cold Autumnal afternoon watching Italy take on Namibia.
Finally, what of the travelling fans? The Olympics has hundreds of different Countries to support, and London is an attractive City to visit. Its straightforward to focus all your attention in one place. I did not notice a huge number of Olympic visitors in Scouseland, and the trouble that LOCOG had selling the football tickets is a warning sign for Debbie and her team.
So all in all, it will be interesting to see what new initiatives Debbie does come up with, and how they add to the success of the tournament. Nothing will contribute more than another England victory, and that is something that is out of her hands.
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