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Hello,
I love going to our HQ in York. Of course one reason for that is the business and I enjoy seeing everyone and being part of our great team at WebCertain.
The other thing is that I get away from London for a day. Although that means I am busy all day in meetings and cannot stay on top of my voice- and emails, I enjoy sitting in the train and catching up on my emails (and voice mails of course). In the mornings it is more about business that came in over night and things I need to follow up on, whilst at night I sit on the way back to London and usually get through all my emails of the day and can take the time to give comprehensive answers.
And, I usually have some time to catch up with my blog, tell you all how great everything is, update my status message on Facebook and so on. So, by the time I meet my wife at Kings Cross, I have finished all my “duties” and am ready to take her out for a drink or a snack sometime.
It makes it a full day! A satifying day with lots of work I got done.
Not sure if anyone understands that. Also, if I look outside the window, it is green and nice. The great English country side that makes a difference to a grey London outlook from my office.
Volker
I always wonder why consulting works and people spend lots of money to get a 3rd party to advise them. Maybe there are 2 ways of looking at it.
1) someone does not have the internal resources nor the expertise
2) someone lost the site of things and needs a third party to look at it
Latter is my experience from last night, sitting as I like to do, on the Southbank in London with a good friend and have a couple of Ales. And whilst we talk about job, personal life and past experiences in jobs, he helps me (and sometimes I help him) to see things a different way.
He pointed out a lot of good things where I can sit down, have a think, improve and then hopefully come back stronger and better.
I will keep you updated.
Have a good weekend, Volker
Hello All,
Again it has been a while. Sorry. Been busy.
Monday / Tuesday I attended the SES, Search Engine Strategies, in Hamburg, Germany. It was good to re-connect to my friends in the industry, getting to know new people and working hard for 2 days on networking, German wheat beer and my presentation/moderation. I will publish my ppt on www.cb-consulting.co.uk shortly.
Coming back from Hamburg meant to be back in the usual rat race in London. Full trains, late tubes, hot tubes and too much work. I am not complaining about the latter but at the moment it seems like it is not calming down for a while. With me just having moved, preparing a best man’s speech and a trip to Scotland as well as still unpacking boxes and trying to learn more technical details of SEO it is getting a bit much.
However, I am aiming that from next week and the week after I will have more time for my friends. L - listen, I did not forget you but I just did not have time. Sorry sorry sorry.
Trust you are all well, don’t get me wrong, am not complaining, just needing to calm down a bit and relax 
Volker
What has happened? Volker? You still there??
Yes, I am still there. What should I say. I moved house, do DIY (if the wife lets me) and been busy at work. Speaking at SES Hamburg next week, visiting an event in London, moving offices. Then up to our HQ in York, another wedding, some work for my coaching business and so on.
It has been busy and apologies for canceling private appointments, not watching or being interested in the Euro2008 and being almost vanished from Earth. Please forgive me to have so much me time!
However, it will all be better soon. We will send you all an invite (one at a time) to share some lovely German sausages from our BBQ in the garden soon. As promised, we will not leave you out.
Also, I promise to write more frequently again.
Speak soon.
You know where to find me.
Similar to Rome which was not built in one day….our house will take some time until it is “ours”. What I mean is that we make it our home.
Yesterday, we finished the bedroom. Finally we got some curtains and got the chest of drawers up etc. It makes such a difference. It is all painted too. Furniture is due to arrive on Saturday, that will be another big step. Getting rid of more boxes.
I keep you up to date - as we go along.
Cheers
Volker
PS: I cut the grass the other day. A new experience every day.
What a week. Packing boxes and arranging for the big move. Deadlines at work, late nights…..
Wow! We made it. Thanks to a good friend we managed to move all our stuff yesterday. 6-11 Thanks for your help S.
We moved the kitchen stuff Thursday night - thanks for the patience everyone who helped. Am not the easiest person to be around if tired, exhausted and moving….
Guess that comes into self development of patience.
As far as I can tell all things are good. The washingmachine proved to be most tricky. Not only did I have to take a side board off to connect it to the mains, the connection to the water supply was hidden behind a kitchen construction and the drain was not overly tight. But, so far so good, it is running this morning without leaking. Fingers crossed.
My wife painted a lot already too. Now we are sitting between 100s of boxes and stuff and need to clear out, pack out, organise, paint more, IKEA etc. Just another usual weekend….
I keep you updated.
By the way, nothing beats a fresh ground coffee in your own garden on a sunny Saturday morning.
You find pictures of the wedding here.
What I found quite funny in Germany was that I was seen as a tourist or example of someone being different. Wonder why
However, going into a local shop got me the looks. Lost 50 Euros on the way - or later whilst dancing. But overall, it was great.
I sometimes wonder if I miss Germany. The rural area we went to was great. It was a nice get together with all my friends and of course it was the great day for Kathi and Jochen which I did not want to miss out on.
But Germany? Still not really an option. Germans seem to have this black or white mentality. I do not think I could get used to that again.
Volker
Hello,
Just home from a fabulous wedding in Germany.
Thank you J&K for a great wedding ceremony and a great weekend. Have a good honeymoon and speak soon.
C - I hope you sobered up again and got home ok.
Thank you V&T for giving us a lift and spending a great weekend together. Thanks to all really!
Next weekend is the big move - I will then post more regularly again. Bear with me.
Volker
It is a friend’s birthday today.
Happy Birthday.
A friend that I have not seen for a good while and that I truly cherish.
A friend that I miss of having close to me although our paths have not crossed for long.
I spoke to him on the phone.
He is well - well, sort of.
We spoke about our common experience/history.
We spoke about our lives.
We spoke about how things changed since we saw each other.
We spoke about how things might be if we see each other.
We spoke about us, the we.
We spoke about him, the him.
And, we spoke about me.
I truly love you as a friend. Hope to see you soon.
Enjoy yourself.
Volker
…or romantic highway.
What used to be the wild west and the carriage is now the car and the motor way. Or not quite?
I am just on my way back from York, about 2 hours on the train from London. No nice car, no carriage (luckily) but a great view from a comfy seat. Shouting children, young ladies and sleeping adults. Might take a nap myself in a while.
What has changed since the good old days of carriages, horses and the wild west?
For me: WIFI. I can sit in a train, watch the country side passing by, having WIFI access in the train (and that for free) and write on my blog about having a romantic feeling looking over the country side. How great?
England is actually quite pretty. Up here in West Yorkshire. Down in Kent. Just London seems to be different. Neither does it feel particularly English with many foreigners and accents (including myself of course) but also it is a different feel - it is a city. A big city. A city that has a lot of green, which can be romantic too but, compared to the green countryside, it will stay a “town”.
Not sure what I actually would like to say here but that England has a nice countryside. No doubt.
Best Wishes to London, be home soon.
Volker
When moving into a new place, the most important question for some is - what to do with the good wine?
There is no basement in our house, so we need to think of something…..
I found the perfect solution which, unfortunately, costs a fortune. But, it is very clever:
Spiral Cellars offers a great solution. Different sizes, different ways of entering the cellar and the ability to store almost 2,000 bottles of wine. How amazing is that?
Only problem is the price. If you spend £20,000 on a wine cellar and try to sell your house at some point to someone who does not like wine, the ROI is nil. And, before adding a wine cellar, I believe my wife would prefer to add the loft conversion.
Still, fascinating thought to have a secret wine cellar underneath your living room.
All I need to do now is find a nice place where I can store my wine…..
Have a great week.
Volker Ballueder
Hello,
Apologies for being so quiet. Just been busy.
Work during the week and evening commitments but also, this weekend, saw our spare bedroom disappear into about 6 boxes, the windows cleaned and the garden furniture putting in place.
Countdown to moving is 14 days, even less now. Wow. Things speed up once of a sudden.
So been a busy bee. Trying to find some nice wine online, bought half of Majestics on Saturday to get a nice variety of Chilean, Spanish, Portuguese and some Argentinian wines in. Ach well, love my vino.
Saturday also saw me stocking up on my most favourite coffee beans. Brazilian, Columbian and Puerto Rican Coffee…..
Have a great weekend.
Volker
ballueder
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