Ross Goodman

Blog

  • Marathon Training Update

    how about this one
    Creative Commons License photo credit: damianromero

    Parkrun

    Last Saturday (10th April) saw the the launch of the Strathclyde Park Parkrun.
    After recieving so much encouragement from the folks at the Glasgow Parkrun I decided to give something back and volunteer to help. This is a win-win situation as I can run the ~4 miles from home to the park run, help out then run home so I’m doing my good deed for the day AND getting a run in !

    Injury

    Unfortunately on my run home after just 2 miles I got to experience just how bad “shin splints” are!
    My other half was working so I had to hobble the last two miles home where the kids were great keeping me supplied with frozen peas.
    To try and speed my recovery: 5 weeks until Edinburgh marathon (donate here: http://www.JustGiving.com/26Miles4CHAS) I did not do any running at all.

    I’m Back!

    It’s only a tiny niggle now so I thought I would brave a wee short run: 3 miles, Chatelherault and back. My time was “down” but no new or reoccurrence of any injuries. Despite having wun ~25 miles in my new shoes I have swapped back to my old ones “just in case”, and I’ll stick with them until post Edinburgh.
    Hopefully a week of short runs will set me up for a longer run at the weekend then I’ll get back on track.

  • Google Calendar Sync – Auto Run

    A nice quick hint.

    I kept forgetting to start Google Calendar Sync when I started Outlook. I don’t always start Outlook when I start my laptop and I’m not always online when I run Outlook so puting it in my Startup folder is not really an option.
    My solution, a macro that runs when Outlook starts that gives me the option of running Google Calendar Sync if I feel it’s appropriate.

    Private Sub Application_Startup()
    Dim response As Integer
    Dim RetVal
    op
    response = MsgBox(prompt:=”Do you want to run Google Calendar Sync?”, buttons:=vbYesNo)

    If response = vbYes Then
    RetVal = Shell(“C:\Program Files\Google\Google Calendar Sync\GoogleCalendarSync.exe”, vbMinimizedNoFocus)
    End If

    End Sub

    NOTE: WordPress seems to “prettyfy” the quotes so when copying the code above it is better to delete and retype the quotation marks in your code editor of choice.

  • Edinburgh Marathon Training Update

    yellow
    Creative Commons License photo credit: darkmatter
    It’s been a while since I have written anything so apologies in advance about the length!

    Marathon Team Update

    Start with the good news: as of today the fundraising total hit £300 which is great but the marathon is no sprint, so lots more time (6 weeks gulp) to go. http://www.justgiving.com/26miles4chas
    The not so good news: unfortunately Paul has had to pull out of the Edinburgh Marathon due to an injury he has picked up during training.
    The better news: Paul has agreed to competitively run the distance of the marathon before the end of the year. Due to this, we will be keeping the fundraising page open until the end of the year so you can show your support.
    (more…)

  • What A Week !

    Busy Busy Busy
    It has been a very busy/eventfull week this week!
    (more…)

  • Get It On With Bryan Burnett – Radio Scotland


    WOW! What a way to start the week!
    Bryan chose my suggestion from Friday to be the theme for tonight’s show.
    Then to top it off he even played my suggestion.

    A fantastic show (as always)

    I’m a happy man!
    http://www.JustGiving.com/26Miles4CHAS

  • Dell Tech Support – Must Read The Script


    Dell: Can I confirm that your laptop has been collected.
    Me: Which one, I have had two collected in the last week.
    Dell: The one that needs the repair to the palm rest and screen.
    Me: Yes that was collected last week, a day later than was arranged.
    Dell: OK, Thank You.
    Me: Can you confirm the status of the repair?
    Dell: Yes we received the laptop last week and are waiting on the replacement parts.

    I’m glad to see that the Dell quality processes have finally kicked in and they are confirming that they are actually repairing the laptop that they have collected and that they have not mistaken my laptop with someone else’s that has the same service tag and the same fault.

    Update

    The laptop was returned all fixed today !

  • Dell Support Woes Again


    As you will have read here I previously owned a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (1011) and had a host of issues that resulted in the laptop being returned for a full refund.
    I really liked my Dell Mini 10 so I thought I would give them another go.
    I ordered another Dell Mini 10 from the Dell UK Outlet.

    Once Bitten…

    (more…)

  • Running Edinburgh Marathon For CHAS

    On 7th September 2008 my daughter Emma Berry Goodman passed away from Motor Neurone Disease.

    Last year I ran a half marathon and cycled across Scotland to raise funds for MND Scotland.

    This year (before my 40th birthday) I will complete the Edinburgh Marathon on 23rd May 2010. I have also managed to elist the help of my two best friends Angus Denham and Paul Crawford.

    The childrens hospice, Rachel House in Kinross was a favourite outing for Emma and she really looked forward to her time there. The staff and volunteers there go out of there way to bring a smile to everyone’s faces!

    If you would like to show your support for the fantastic work done by CHAS please consider adding your donation on this page : http://www.justgiving.com/26Miles4CHAS

    You can see some of the photos that I have taken at Rachel House in Kinross here.

  • How Annoying is the Microsoft At Home RSS Feed?

    Microsoft At Home
    I’m using Microsoft Outlook 2007 and I think it’s a great piece of software.
    It has a built in RSS feed reader. Typically I use Google Reader but as that can’t handle authenticated feeds I’m using Outlook for all of my work related Sharepoint feeds.
    In order to introduce people to RSS, Microsoft have included two “standard” RSS feeds: “Microsoft At Home” and “Microsoft At Work”.
    The only problem is, I’m not really interested in reading these feeds.
    (more…)

  • Dell Tech Support Woes


    I bought a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 in October directly from Dell via the Dell Outlet.
    After the usual few days it took to get all the service packs and fixes etc onto it I noticed that the screen resolution was incorrect. The screen has a maximum physical resolution of 1024×600. The properties only listed 1024×768.
    When you used the laptop you were missing the bottom 168 pixels worth of screen. The desktop did not scroll. It was still usable, press the start button on the keyboard and the menu appeared, you just couldn’t see the task bar.
    If I used the screen magnifier and dragged the mouse off the bottom of the screen, the magnifier showed me the area off the bottom of the screen (the missing 168 pixels worth).
    (more…)