Author Archives: thatconsultantbloke

thatconsultantbloke's avatar

About thatconsultantbloke

Based in North Wiltshire UK I try to have fun whilst making things happen. I spent almost 40 years climbing the corporate ladder before getting bored with being too far from the action. Now I use my experiences of that time, the good and the bad, to keep the bills paid and have fun helping clients turn strategy into positive results.
by | August 7, 2010 · 12:20 pm

Motorsportmania blog goes live this weekend!

Over this weekend I will be moving my motoring and motor sport (auto racing) posts over onto a new blog, Motorsport Mania here on WordPress. Motorsport Mania

This will allow those who are following my motoring mutterings to do so without having all of the other stuff that apears on John’s Jottings cluttering up their message boxes.

The new blog will feature all of my car related stuff from this weekend onwards and I’ll have a look at building a page of links back to the various motor sport and driving blog entries from the JJ site.

So that will be the place to go for my thoughts on current matters in F1, NASCAR, Indy and other types of racing and, expecially as I’m doing some other writing at present (Truck & Driver took an article from me last week for future publication for example), I’ll mention these as and when they come up.

Thanks to my followers, and I look forward to your comments on the the new blog as it gets under way.

1 Comment

Filed under auto racing and motor sport, cars planes and trains, F1, journey logs

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

by | August 4, 2010 · 9:57 am

It’s a wet day in Swindon – Wildlife Report

The day started dull, but the sun came out for a while around 0900 for me to walk over to the newsagent and enquire where our paper had gone (school holidays – delivery tends to get a bit erratic).

Samantha Squirrell was round again for breakfast and is hopefully snug back in her drey now. The sparrows were fairly swarming. Whatever the decline may be we are certainly not seeing it in our garden. There are usually at least 9, and sometimes 12+ (it gets hard to be sure becuase by the time you’ve counted to 12 they’re all on the move again). The starlings have also be in with the juveniles starting to get their adult plumage.

All of the birds seem to be on their second broods of the season and this new batch are just about staring to feed themselves. The magpies are also doing well again and there were well into double figures around by the footbridge as I walked to the shop. Not being supersticious I don’t salute them (or count them too closely).

My efforts at thwarting the pigeons seem to have worked for now and they are spending a lot of time sat in the cherry tree trying to work out how to get at the bird food. They’ll have to make do, like Samantha does, with what falls on the floor. At least I’ve given the smaller birds a better chance at getting their fair share.

We’ve not had a fox in residence for the second year running after being on the Good Earth guide for about 5 years. In their absence it rather looks as though the bees have taken up residence under the deck, so maybe I can reclaim the compost bin. I’ll have to cut the honeysuckle back to find it, so that can go on the autumn job list.

Anyway, that’s it for now as the sky has got a bit lighter and I can see what I’m doing with the decorating again. Time to go back to work.

Leave a comment

Filed under wildlife encounters

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | August 3, 2010 · 8:53 am

Education vs. Experience – The Trump Blog

You’ll find this topic here and there amongst my blogs here and on Monday Musings (ThatConsultantBloke). Given that many graduates I meet these days don’t actually have a great education then I tend to favour experience, but the Trumpster has a valid point here, and you don’t build a business empire like his unless you’re right more often that you’re wrong.

See what he has to say here: Education vs. Experience – The Trump Blog.

1 Comment

Filed under business life

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | August 2, 2010 · 10:52 am

more #F1 musings on the #hungariangrandprix

I’ve been looking at that incident between Cobbler senior and the Barra Boy again and believe that MSC really knew what he was doing. As he moves over he appears to keep watching his mirrow long after Rubens had got into the blind spot part way alongside him.

We know that those mirrors are pretty useless, so was he so focussed on looking that he moved a bit too far over? Or had he seen Rubens come across and was waiting until he got alongside just to intimidate him as much as possible? I think the latter.

If, as he appeared to claim in his post race interview, he was trying to let Rubens past on the other side (his left), why wasn’t he looking there? Why stay focussed on the right?

We know of his opinion of Rubens and maybe he just thought he could make him chicken out. They both swerved left together, so got away with it all even if Rubens did take off slightly as he passed over the kerb at the pit exit, and Rubens had the experience to use his track position there to make sure he got the corner.

All in all an ugly moment and rather uneccessary.

Something else that troubles me though: A certain other Brazilian used to dish this sort of thing out every bit as much as MSC does and yet still gets revered whereas everyone queues up to throw rocks at MSC and want him penalised. MSC’s move on Rubens was nasty, but almost identical to one that the yellow helmeted Brazilian pulled on Nigel Mansell once (like Rubens, he didn’t bottle it either), but that isn’t the only example of overdoing intimidation; turning into Mansell (yes him again) at Spa, ramming Prost off the track in Japan. I could go on.

MSC and Senna both have (had) sublime driving skills, but I will never be able to regard either of them as true greats because they have this tendency to be bully boys. Both are/were good enough not to need to behave that way, but neither had enough character to kerb their animal instincts.

The real greats like Ascari, Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Lauda and others could be hard, but would not pull these sort of stunts.

Leave a comment

Filed under auto racing and motor sport, cars planes and trains, F1

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | August 1, 2010 · 7:48 pm

letters to the editor number 77 – defiling classics #sherlock

Sir

Having alread been outraged once this weekend I am appalled again this evening to find that amongst the offerings is another episode of the dreadfull Sherlock.

Is it not bad enough that TV programme making has fallen to the gutter standards of modern viewing? Why do people feel the need to also mess with the classics? With perfectly good stocks of the excellent Joan Hickson Miss Marple stories some moronic group had to mess with the stories to produce the dreadfull Geraldine McEwan versions, but why oh why should someone then sink to the depths of wanting to mess with something like the works of Conan-Doyle?

Surely this represents grounds for re-introduction of capital punishment?

I think that we should be told.

Staggered of Swindon

Leave a comment

Filed under Letters to the Editor - I think we should be told

Tagged as , , ,

by | August 1, 2010 · 6:48 pm

#F1 Musings on the #hungarian grand prix

Great drive Mark Webber! Did what you had to and good call by the team when the SC came out.

Renault vs Force India – Ooops. An accident waiting to happen. Maybe F1 needs to look at NASCAR on pitting under SC conditions (not that get it right every time, but they do have a pit for every car on the track, and they have 43 in a race. OK, the pits would stretch half way round the lap at Monaco, but you get my point.

What were you thinking Michael? That was just plain stupid, and good job Rubens for not backing out.

SV will grow up one day, and we can maybe put up with the tantrums as they aren’t hurting anyone else. The kid is bloody quick, but maturity is one of the reasons why his team mate has won 4 races this year.

Well done Williams and Sauber, and also to the Ruskie Kid.

So, tight at the top going into the Summer break. Who’s your money on?

Leave a comment

Filed under auto racing and motor sport, cars planes and trains, F1

Tagged as , , , ,

by | August 1, 2010 · 6:38 pm

letters to the editor number 9 – more fun with words

Sir

I write on behalf of all the structures that hold back water and protect those living in low-lying lands such as The Netherlands and the Fens.

Are their feelings to be overlooked by these inappropriate associations with a certain former lady jockey turned TV commentator?

We might urge those concerned in this tiff to get their fingers out and apologise, but digital extraction, too, has inappropriate connotations where our earthen banked friends are concerned. Perhaps the best course of action would be them both to get a life.

Yours faithfully

Dorcan Dyke Appreciation Society

Leave a comment

Filed under fun stuff, Letters to the Editor - I think we should be told

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | July 25, 2010 · 6:42 pm

#F1 musings on the #German Grand Prix

Once again Red Bull can’t translate qualifying pace in to race pace, but McLaren again show how to run a race even if not that quick in qualifying. That’s how they win championships, and why they’re leading both again this season..

Ferarri? Well that was a pretty flagrant team order despite the language used. My view is that, under current regulations, Alonso should not have been allowed past. If he was so much quicker then he should have just taken the place.

To me the obvious choice for the stewards would have been to just reverse the result and put Alonso back to second as it was really only those two that were affected, but we’ve been left with the unsatisfactory result of having to wait to know the outcome.

As far as the second division are concerned, a bad event generally for Force India, but Sauber had another good day as did Williams.

Good to see what looked like a decent crowd. Like Silverstone and Monza you can reckon on a good turnout in Germany and this is, for me, why F1 needs to retain the classic events regardless of what Bernie’s mob demand in terms of finances.

So they’ve cleared the Ferarri and Red Bull front wings. Maybe they do pass the static tests, but there does seem to be something that happens under dynamic loads when running. Good luck to them if they’ve found a demon tweak. F1 should be about innovation and I’m all for it.

Going back to team orders, there was a time when the drivers would have sorted it out between them, but those days are long gone. I’m against a ban on them though because we need less rules not more. Massa could just have said no. The team could have turned his engine down from the pits. There are all sorts of things that could have been brought into play so, for me, legislation is pointless.

That’s my lot for now. I’m off to see what is going on stateside with NASCAR fvrom Indy and how Will Power is getting on in Indycar.

Leave a comment

Filed under auto racing and motor sport, F1

Tagged as , , , ,

by | July 23, 2010 · 2:12 pm

10 things to do with business cards

Some free advice with 10 top tips over on the Gulfhaven web site Click here to check them out

Leave a comment

Filed under business life

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | July 21, 2010 · 7:49 am

The tale of That Consultant Bloke – how I got the tag

People keep asking, so a short video clip telling a little of the background to the That Consultant Bloke name tag. Filmed on the laptop rather that my Flip cam. Click on the link below to check it out on YouTube.

The tale of That Consultant Bloke – how I got the tag: The tale of That Consultant Bloke

Leave a comment

Filed under about me, business life

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,