I understand that someone is more likely to divorce their partner than they are to change bank account.

When I registered my company, back in December, it came with a referral to automatically set up an account with Barclays. They made one phone call to me. I did not hear from them again until 8 February. It was a standard letter without even a date or a signature on it.

I wrote them a very nice email wishing them well with their business efforts. It was amusing that the following day they announced a large drop in profits.

Compare that to the HSBC, who helped me every step of the way. (With the exception of telling me that printouts of my personal online bank statements would be sufficient to open the account and then retracting that statement.) Not only that, but their banking is free for 18 months and they gave the person who referred me cold, hard cash.

Another amusement was that the Barclays letter had a web link to a site that would explain how Barclays were different. I noted that they seemed to offer the same services as other banks, but charged for them.

Ho hum!

This month I started my own company.

I am specialising in IT consultancy.

From now on I want to share with you what is, already, an exciting journey. I’m afraid it is not ‘National Geographic’ exciting, but ‘may you live in interesting times’ exciting.

In my next post I will be looking at opening a business bank account and the things that (nearly) tripped me up.

http://www.photonetcast.com/

and

http://www.tipsfromthetopfloor.com/

I intend to listen to them this evening. I hope you find them useful.

Below is a photo from a recent walk

Well, here is Smoogie, the model.

What do you think is good about this photo? and what is bad?

Promises, promises!

This year, I went along and found eight! This gave me a great, but difficult photo-opportunity. Photographing in the near dark – required some illumination, but also wanted to preserve the glow.

Here is a photo taken with flash:

You can see the glow worm perfectly, but the glow from the tail is not very evident. (To the naked eye, the glow is similar to that of a bright LED.)

I tried long exposures with no additional lighting. I had no tripod, so this is laughable.

Below is my favourite picture of the bunch. For this one I used the light of an iPhone, just off camera. Long exposure, camera seated on the ground and ISO 1600.

I like the graininess of this photo – to my mind it adds to the atmosphere. Do you have any photos of wildlife in challenging lighting?

Also, if you want to see some other wild-life photography, here is a good link: http://www.facebook.com/paulwilliamsimaging

This was one of the first pictures that I took with the camera, back in January. Since then, I have learned a lot more about the craft and the later results are far better.

Over the coming months I am going to share some of my more recent photos and some of the tools that I have used to improve them.

Bear with me on this one: Within that company, I look after many of the third-party products. This includes web hosting, SSL certificates, domain registrations, etc. These are things that mean NOTHING to most people.

At the same time, if you have ever thought of putting something on the web – a web site, setting up your own e-mail address (rather than one that ends ‘yahoo.com’ or something generic) then your ears should be pricking up. For most people it is difficult to get started. There is information on the internet, but where do you get started?

I am in the process of developing a course that will make it blindingly simple!

If you have any interest in this, here is the sign-up link.

Internet Technologies Made Easy

I have some materials prepared, but as it goes along I am going to find out from you what you want. Where possible, I will include that material.

I see this as a bit of a hobby and a chance to ‘give back’. The initial course will be free. You can see if you like it and whether you want to take it any further.

… and there is no obligation. You can unsubscribe from it at any time. I also will not spam you or give your e-mail address to any third party. I hope you will sign up. I want to develop a superb course. I can only do that with you!

It runs like this…

I have a job that I do reasonable well

I have interesting hobbies

I am reasonably fit and well

I have a great partner

Life is good… and yet I still yearn for something more. I see a world that is so full of opportunities and possibilities.

At the same time, I see that I waste a lot of those opportunities. Perhaps I sit and watch rubbish TV rather than getting out to ‘smell the roses’, or catch the breeze or gaze at the beauty of stars.

I have it all and yet I want more. Is this part of the human condition, or is it just me?

What are your thoughts and desires?

Does this lead you to better things? or is it all so overwhelming that you end up doing nothing?

Not so long ago, I left a kiln out in the front of the house. There was no where else to put it. Various ‘scrap merchants’ asked what it was (most thought it was a fridge) and whether they could take it away. In all cases my partner and I refused. It even got so that the ice cream vendor was asking.

One day it disappeared.

Now, I know it was wrong to leave it outside.

Earlier this week I was pleased that I had been saved money by thieves. They had taken without asking. The case with the kiln is identical, except that it cost me money.

Now, the legitimate ‘scrap merchants’ ask before taking. The thief has a business advantage over them, in that they have a quicker turnaround and they get things that might not be intended to be taken. The only way to remove this advantage is to report the crime.

Should I report the removal of the tumble drier?

Why?