Monthly Archives: January 2019

Ten Year Challenge

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The #10yearschallenge has been all over social media the past few weeks, so I thought I would join in. I cheated a bit pushed the limit of the rules, as the 2009 photo was taken right at the end of 2009. Come to thick of it, the recent photo was taken at the back end of 2018, making it more of a nine year challenge…

The 2009 photo was taken by my Dad, we had spent Christmas in Perth, there was so much snow that the road to Glenshee was closed, so instead of going snowboarding with my brother, I went on another photo walk with Dad – we had already been out on Christmas day. The photo was one of a series my Dad took of me on Moncreiffe Island, in the middle of the River Tay in Perth, however this one is my favourite – it was the one I used on the online auction dating profile where Jen found me! I still regularly wear the blue Finisterre jacket, even if it looking a bit tired now. It is still a great jacket and I think I will be buying a new one in 2019.

The recent photo was an iPhone selfie on a local bike ride back in November. I remember the light in Tile Hill Wood was perfect, so I just had to stop for a photo! This was back before I had sorted out my MTB photography kit, but fortunately even the front camera on my iPhone 7 works well with good light.

From looking at the two photos I do not seem to have changed much, I am still have the same stubble and am messing about in the woods. However, in 2009 I was in the woods in Scotland because after travelling up there I could not go snowboarding. In 2018/9 I cannot even remember the last time I thought about snowboarding, mountain biking has well and truly taken over! Another thing that I realised has changed is that I have not been out with my Dad on a photography adventure for a long time – something that I need to address in 2019!

My Backup Routine 2019

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Modern life produces a lot of electronic data, especially when you are involved in digital photography and software development. A lot of that data is irreplaceable, so backups are something that I take fairly seriously. Recently the main hard drive in my iMac had a bit of a wobble, indicating a failure is likely. This shouldn’t really surprise me as the iMac is eight years old, however it was a good reminder to review my backup routine. As I have enjoyed reading similar posts, I thought I would share my routine, hopefully to inspire and/or help people to backup their data.

My theory with backups is that they should be as simple and automated as possible, that one back up is not enough and one should be kept in a physically separate location to the main data. When there is a large amount of data to backup the first and last requirements contradict each other. A few years ago I tried an automated online backup service, but it would take days to backup a memory cards worth of photos. So now I tend to split my backups into two – one to save me from my own stupidity (deleting the wrong file etc) or a simple hardware failure, these can be automated and a second to protect from flood/fire/theft etc, which is kept offsite, but is a manual process.

I have four main sets of data to back up:

  1. The data on my iMac, this is all of my photography and software development work and is stored on the internal 500GB hard drive. There are bits in the cloud, for example iCloud or GitHub, but I do not really consider this a backup.
  2. My archive data, things that have ben deleted from my iMac, such as photos that did not quite make the grade, or back ups of my Lightroom catalogs.
  3. The data on my MacBook. Day to day my MacBook is used for general browsing/email etc, so anything I lost would be in the cloud. However, when I am travelling it is my main machine.
  4. My iPhone, aside from work, everything is on the small device in my pocket!

iMac Backups

My main backup for the iMac uses Apple’s Time Machine software to save my data to a G-Technology hard drive, which is permanently attached to my iMac. Data is copied hourly and automatically managed to keep a balance between frequency of data saved and how long you are able to rewind. It is ideal for when you delete the wrong file etc. However being permanently attached to my iMac means I need a second backup. After much deliberation and experimentation I settled on using another external hard drive, this time a LaCie Rugged, which is kept away from my house – I only bring it back to connect to the iMac to run backups. I use the CCCloner software, which makes a clone of the internal hard drive, rather than the versioned backup from Time Machine. An added bonus is that if my iMac were to get stolen I could plug the backup drive into another Mac and have my own system ready to use. As I need to physically carry the hard drive to my office, this backup is not automated, so I have set CCCloner to nag me that it has not seen the external hard drive in a week.

Archive Backups

I also use CCCloner and another LaCie Rugged drive to back up my archive data. Once the backup hard drive is plugged into the iMac CCCloner takes over and copies the data, ejecting the drive when it is finished. Whilst reviewing my backup strategy I decided that I should look at options for a secondary backup, previously I had not deemed this data important enough, however storage has become cheaper. I will blog about my findings soon.

MacBook/Travel Backups

For fifty weeks of the year I could probably get away without backing up the data on my MacBook, everything is in the cloud. However, the MacBook is the computer I take if I am travelling, which is probably the most likely time for equipment get lost, damaged or stolen.  When I am travelling the key data for me to backup is photographs. At the earliest opportunity I download my memory cards to Lightroom on my MacBook – keeping the files on the memory card. As soon as the download has finished I connecter yet another LaCie Rugged drive to the MacBook and let Time Machine copy the files over. That gives me three copies of the data. Whilst Time Machine is running, I look over the photos in Lightroom, process some and if I have wifi available save any important photos to the cloud, giving me a fourth copy. I always try to keep the laptop and external drive in separate bags, for example laptop in hand luggage and external drive in checked luggage when flying. There is no point having multiple copies of data if they are in the same bag that gets stolen!

iPhone Backups

There are two main ways to back up an iPhone – I use both! Whenever my iPhone is connected to a wifi network and charging it backs up to iCloud. As I have a lot of data on my phone I have had to pay for extra iCloud storage, but at 79p per month is cheap for seamless backups. Whenever I sit at my iMac I always plug my iPhone in, so that it performs a sync with iTunes. I have chosen “Encrypt iPhone backup” option to ensure that passwords and my health data is saved. Of course, this iTunes backup on my iMac then goes in to the iMac backup above.

This system works well for me, although there is some room for improvement, especially in automating off site backups. The key thing is that if my iMac died or was stolen I am confident that I could be up and running again with all my data intact.

Instagram Best Nine 2018

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https://www.instagram.com/p/BsG4fFKFQuO

Instagram was my most used social network last year, I think it helped that I split my social networking up a bit – cars on Twitter and bikes on Instagram. As many people have done, I used the #bestnine2018 tool to find my best nine images from the year. In addition to posting them on my Instagram grid I thought I would post with a bit more detail on my blog.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfoZnLWhZAN

From my first ride back at Cannock after injuring my knee. I love a black and white photo and should really take more!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bda9ZJeAHzA

This was taken/posted to my grid on the first day of 2018, from a short ride round my local urban woodland loop. The caption includes a lot of my MTB related goals for 2018.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj2XnX9BhnC

Probably the first photo of Owen and I riding together! The #bestnine tool only shows the first image from the set, but the second one is still the desktop image on my work PC. The reason that I am dressed “full enduro” for a ride with Owen, is that somehow I managed convince Jen that we should have a family trip to Ryton Pools, but that I should take my bike and ride home. Via Rugby. I had done this loop previously, but without the ride back to Coventry. Maybe this year I should try riding it from home…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlQEUEbh6L1

I thought that I would be able to give my Orange Four a full service around the time of our trip to Spain, sending the suspension off to be serviced whilst we were away, to minimise time off the bike. I was slightly naive. It ended up being on the work stand for over a month, as I kept finding extra jobs to do – including drilling a drainage hole at the lowest point of the frame. This photo was taken on my first ride back, a shakedown on local trails that I am familiar with, which allowed me to tweak the suspension and stop for photos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn00P-SBtR3

The only thing better than a Monday morning bike ride, is a Monday morning bike ride, with a cooked breakfast at the end! I like how the green and blue hues on my sunglasses work with the background colours of the hills and see. The lens colour was not at the front of my mind when I had to urgently replace my old pair of Oakley Fuelcell sunglasses, which had died protecting my eye from a stone at 60mph. Once again the #best9 just showing the first image does not tell the full story. However I did blog about the ride, which was whilst I was on holiday in Croyde.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgwvuTtBRCO

Llandegla in North Wales is one of my favourite places to ride. This shot was taken from my only ride there in 2018, which I blogged about at the time. I like how the bike is so muddy it almost blends into the background, with the fork stanchions and shaft of the shock being the only clean bits. This was taken near the top of the blue trail on my second run.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoobVm4h–r/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Another photo from a local ride on my Orange Four – I wonder if it is the beautiful Coventry scenery, or my tactical #hashtagging that has made these so popular… This one was taken on my Meriden loop, which actually takes me outside of the city, but can be a bit hit and miss, depending on how overgrown the trails are, from what I remember, this was one of the good rides!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmGXA85Bfxj

Riding with Owen also seems to be a popular theme, even if Owen was on the back of my bike for this one. Jen was also out with us on her bike. The reason we were all out, riding round Coventry’s notorious inner ring road was for the Let’s Ride Coventry event, a family cycling festival on closed roads in the city centre.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bot4uYPhf-P

I was surprised to see this shot from 2014 in my best nine for 2018, but I did a before/after post when I upgraded my hardtail mountain bike. I am sure it was actually the after post that would have garnered the likes, but once again the #bestnine tool only takes into account the first photo from the post.

2019

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Happy New Year!

2019 is going to be an exciting year for us – Owen will be getting a little brother! Baby Craik is due in March, hopefully he will wait a bit longer than Owen did before coming out! Owen seems to be excited about being a big brother, he has already been shopping with us to pick out a special toy for his new brother – he was very decisive and chose an elephant soother – hopefully it will be loved as much as Owen’s blue rabbit toy! We are currently busy preparing for Baby Craik’s arrival, my office is being relocated to the dining room (meaning a lot of sorting/decluttering in both rooms) and Owen is being promoted from cot to proper bed. I’m sure that wrangling two little boys is going to take up most of our attention this year, but we do have a few other exciting things planned!

June is going to be especially busy, with Coventry Motofest, Monster Jam in Coventry, Malverns Classic MTB festival (including Strider racing for Owen) and Owen will be racing again at the Strider Cup at Kingsbury Water Park. In September we’re planning on going away for a week, somewhere in the UK, ideally near a beach – but for the first time in ten years, not Croyde! Pembrokeshire is looking favourite, but if you know anywhere good to holiday with two small boys, please let me know!

We saw in 2019 with our friends in York, which was really nice. Especially as Owen is now big enough to play with the other children. Owen loved having access to lots of toys, and a few slightly older friends to play with. This meant the adults could have a good catch up. I really hope Owen is as good with his baby brother as William, Billy, Violet and Catherine were with him! New Years Day continued in the same style, albeit at a different house. The kids had a hotdog party and the adults had a burger party – my sort of party! Owen slept through most of the long drive home, but it gave Jen and I plenty of time to reflect on how much we always enjoy seeing our friends in York and also to discuss our goals for the year ahead.

As in 2017 and 2018, I have set myself some goals, stating them publicly gives me more motivation to get them done. Having said that, I had a few fails last year.

Get my weight down to 85kg

This is carried over from last year, as I ended the year weighing 88kg. I got close to 85kg in the spring, but got carried away with too much nice food in Spain.

Reinstate my mid week cardio session

I used to get out on my bike, or go for a swim pretty much every Wednesday evening, but I have slacked off over the last few months. I need to get back on it. I also want to start climbing, after my taster in 2017.

Do a strength workout at least once a week

Jen bought me some resistance bands for my birthday, I am ashamed to say that four weeks later they are still in the packaging. There is also a new gym opening next to my office. I have no excuses for not fitting in at least one workout a week!

Ride at the pumptrack at least once a month

After riding at the pumptrack last month, and realising what a good workout it is, I want to make sure I do more of it in 2019. My plan for 2018 had been to ride at the pumptrack with Owen, but it didn’t quite work out, as he still isn’t confident enough to ride without me following close behind. Hopefully 2019 will be the year we can ride together at the pumptrack. As a stretch goal, I would like to be able clear some tabletop jumps and/or manual through some rollers.

Ride at a bike park

I used to think that downhills had to be earned, but after doing some van assisted riding in Spain with Basque MTB last year my opinion changed. Not killing yourself on the climb gives you the energy to focus on the downhill, and doing laps of the same trail really allows you to hone your skills, so I can now see the benefits of doing an uplift day at a bike park. 417 Bike Park is an hour’s drive from Coventry (about the same as Cannock Chase), so I will be booking a day there fairly soon! I hear they also have good trails for kids, so maybe Owen will get to ride there too.

Clock over 100 active hours on Strava

I have added this goal mainly because I “only” clocked 99 active hours in 2018 and it seems a good target to aim for.

New blog server

I have been dabbling with AWS for a few years now, and have identified a few ways that I can improve the server set up I have for this blog. I would also like to move it to blog to WordPress 5.0 and write a new custom theme. All geeky stuff, but as my day job is getting more and more project management based I like to keep my technical skills sharp.

Take control of my open tabs in Safari

I have been thinking for a while that I have too many open tabs in Safari across my two Macs and iPhone. I counted (well used the “Bookmarks” menu on the Macs and “Close all tabs” button on iOS) almost 400 open tabs, so need to work through and close them. I am sure that there are some duplicates and ones that I opened for something i was researching, but never got around to implementing. I am going to try and close a few each time I use Safari.

Replace my ageing iMac

I have been thinking that I would do this the last few years, but keep stretching it out for “one more year”. However, now that it will not run the latest version on macOS, is running out of space on the hard disk and is incredibly slow, the time has come. There are two things making this difficult – deciding between an iMac, Mac Mini or MacBook Pro and saving up for it!

Do some night photography

I always look at astrophotography in awe, and enjoyed doing some night landscape photography when I lived in Rugby, but haven’t done any in ages. Now that I have switched camera systems to Fuji, and I am more interested in photography again I would like to get out and try some night photography. Hopefully I will be able to get my Dad to join me…

Detail my MR2

I took the MR2 out for a quick spin on Sunday and realised that I last washed it in 2016! After the Peak District hoon, I know I have not driven it much, but it deserves better! I bought some special Japanese car wax for Jen’s Yaris, I think it would also work well on the MR2.

Get my MR2 to 60,000 miles by its MOT in April

I actually set this goal after its last MOT, when it had 57,239 miles on the clock and I was disappointed that it had done less than 2,000 miles in the previous year. Unfortunately I forgot to check the milage last time I drove it, so have no idea how likely I am to meet my goal.

Drink more whisky

A strange resolution I know! I am not a big drinker, but do enjoy the occasional wee dram of single malt whisky. However people have latched on to this and I am being bought whisky faster than I drink it! I currently have ten bottles (plus one miniature), with six that haven’t even been opened. I am still yet to finish the Tomatin twelve year old that I bought when we visited the distillery in 2014!

I got this off to a good start by seeing in the new year drinking a dram of Tasmanian whisky, that our host Will had been given as a gift. As a Scotsman I usually only drink Scottish whisky, but I doubt I will have another chance to try Tasmanian whisky, so I gave it a go. Now to make a dent in my own collection…