Multiball!

I’ve always been a great fan of pinball and most modern games have a feature called ‘Multiball’. If you hit the right sequence of bumpers, ramps, loops and slots it initiates a period of play where you have 3 or more balls whizzing around in Brownian-motion fashion, requiring a good degree of focus and flipper coordination to keep them in play, while a cacophony of sound and flashing lights tries to distract you. Brilliant.

A few days back I mentioned that a number of balls were about to start rolling…and so they are.

Ball 1: Project Dennis
By the end of today we will have determined which developer we will be contracting to turn an idea into reality, and the project will press ahead in earnest. We hope to have a working Beta-site before the end of the first quarter next year.

Ball 2: MSIB Exit Strategy
Some details to resolve still but terms are agreeable. We are in the final weeks. UDH Boy, Trywalker, TB and the rest will soon be free of my totalitarian tendencies.

Ball 3: Secret Alpine Hideaway
This one is threatening to get stuck in the Swiss Architect-locust feature. Having admitted a couple of days ago that the ATIA mountain retreat will not be ready on schedule, they have exposed themselves to the ‘failure to complete’ clause of the contract. This allows for the buyer to withdraw from the purchase and claim 10% of the property value as a penalty. I would imagine in the current climate, losing a nailed-on buyer and having to shell out a large wad of cash is disconcerting. The SA-Ls have for the very first time in two and a half years started being reasonable and courteous. I think there is some room for negotiation here…

Ball 4: The Greatest Escape
After almost six years sausage-side I can’t deny that I am looking forward to saying auf wiedersehen. Allied POWs captured at the beginning of WWII got out after about six years and I know how they must have felt. However, having spent a long time digging the tunnel towards the Swiss border, it might be time to look in the opposite direction if Ball 3 is lost. Our removal company just thinks we are indecisive.

Ball 5: Winter Holidays
Plans for friends and parts of the Somnambulistic clan to stay over the end of the year holidays, not to mention the prospect of spending a fair chunk of the ski season skiing, have collided head on with Balls 3 & 4. My biggest worry is disappointing the mini-Somnambulists…

When I started this blog it was with the intention of recording my path out of the comfort zone. No sign of the Holy Whale, but I guess this is the sort of fumbling and bumbling I was referring to. It’s a lot of fun!

Demanding Dennis II

Reviewing proposals for the Alpha-site development on Project Dennis.

First impression are: I feel like the punter at the blackjack table, looking at the dealer, knowing that whatever happens they are going to end up richer than me. I now remember WHY I trained as a systems analyst, and cannot for the life of me remember why I didn't follow that career path.

Ho hum, where's the cheque book...?

Phriday Photo XV

Daddy Papersurfer's friends organised a bit of a bash for his birthday. It all started in a cupboard, apparently. Now I'm not suggesting for a moment that things got out of hand (at his age that could even be dangerous), but I did get a sneak preview of some photos of the aftermath...

OK, own up. Who opened the Unicum?

Birthday Ditty

While surfing I found a git, funny and old

He made blogging seem easy and soon I was sold

I'd have long stopped my writing

If it wasn't so exciting

Trading nonsense with that old git, whose heart's made of gold.

Tig Tag Toe

I got tagged by Jay at The Depp Effect. Being a newcomer to the blogosphere, this is the first time I have come across this diarised version of chainmail (clearly initiated by someone with blogger's block), and while I am not sure whether my tagees will thank me for passing the hot potato, I'll give it a shot.

Now then, what can one say about oneself when one is incognito...?

Seven random or weird Somnambulistic facts:

1) When very young I had a recurring nightmare involving dinosaurs, earthquakes and fireballs.

2) If I had a daugther, I'd want to call her Halo.

3) When skiing, I find it harder to turn right than turn left.

4) I can draw and paint a bit, and have even made some money at it, but I have always been secretly envious of Penfold's natural talent.

5) I worry that sometimes my closest friend thinks that I do not regard him as my equal.

6) I have learnt that P&L and golf balls do not lie.

7) I have a secret that only one other person knew. They took it to their grave, I will take it to mine.

The magnificent seven: Tagees who I'd like to know something more about...

Trywalker - who'd write something wise beyond his years
Muttley - who'd write something mad
Patsou - who'd write something piercingly insightful
His Lordship - who'd write something musical
Tango - who'd write something inspiring
Lynne - who'd just write for our pleasure of reading
Teddy - who'd... I can't think of anything even remotely sensible

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Demanding Dennis

Project Dennis has a lot of requirements. At present, there are 12 categories, 50 sub-categories and 123 specific deliverable requirements, most of which are being carefully considered by 3 of the 4 short-listed developers we screened over the last few days. We await their quotes/proposals for our prototype Alpha-site with great anticipation.

Developer #4 was labouring under the misapprehension that we would be flying our assigned project manager back and forth between London and New Dehli for face-to-face project meetings. Pensez encore un fois, mon ami. This, combined with the fact that the "business development manager" didn't take a single written note during our 2 hour+ meeting resulted in a courteous email indicating that we wouldn't be pursuing things further.

Interestingly, they were also the only one to request that we sign their own NDA as well as ours. Weird, since we heard nothing worth disclosing even if we wanted to.

Proposals due cob Friday. Watch this space...

Bratwurstdorf Olympiad, 2008

Over half-term we had a spot of bad weather one day, and so we decided to stay in and play some games. Now I won't go as far as suggesting that there is an abnormally wide competitive streak in the Somnambulistic household, but suffice it to say this quickly morphed into an Olympic Game extravaganza.

It was a lot of fun and I only pipped mini-somnambulist I to the gold because, against all the odds, the form book, and to everyone's astonishment, I didn't come last on the Singstar Playstation game. Wonders never cease.

Anyway, we are busy cooking up the rules for the Winter Olympiad this xmas, dans les Alpes Vaudoises...

can't believe I played my Joker on Hotel and came last...