Updates from a relatively quiet month — A short update this month: August was a quiet month during which I visited some of my family, and the procedures of travel — all those swabs! — took their toll. So here’s a brief overview of what happened. The new Data/Technology Lead in my team, Amadeus, started on 1/8…

Project updates, holidays, and programme-vs-function — One: the holidays and the pre-holidays work meetings Well, the big July news is that I spent 10 days away in Malta with my partner and the in-laws… and yet so much managed to happen at work in the 3 remaining weeks. …

Evolving the vision — Busy month, although probably not as busy as Gareth Southgate’s… The major news was that I was told in very firm terms that I risked not passing my probation. I had to pull a full 8-hour on a Saturday to work in order to make sure I did. …

A personal guide to approaching the workplace and its relationships — Throughout my professional life, I’ve kept notes of things that bothered me or gave me some eurekas. I’ve worked in different roles from very technical ones to advisory/consultancy, and all of them have one thing in common: the real challenges were always centred around people. …

On new colleagues, admin fights, and the unavoidable realisation that the strategy is delivery — May has been a busy month, during which I spent way too many hours navigating the odd recruitment processes that need to be run in order to get 3 new starters. In absence of my usual admin support, it required much longer than I thought (with a bit of frustration-induced…

Open source, new people, and donkeys — Last month started with one of my favourite things in the world: releasing open source code. The Data Lens project is something that had been agreed and initiated before I started, but that resonated a lot with my core passions: data, search, applied NLP, and replicable platforms. It was the…

Don’t you hear my call though you’re many years away — March has literally flown past. I turned 39, and it’s the second time I (don’t) celebrate a birthday while COVID-19 restrictions are still in place, albeit more loosely than last year. Everyone I know who’s over 70 has had a vaccine, as did almost everyone I know who’s over 50…

The shortest month of the year — February is the shortest month of the year, and it always flies past very quickly. But it’s also a bit of a dark month for me, locked in between the Christmas vibe and the promises of spring. We had a few days of freezing cold and snow in London, and…

It’s a new year, hopefully — This month’s TL;DR: NYE was a little sad work was busy but good my newsletter keeps bringing me joy mental health has been challenging UKGovCamp and other data virtual meetups were energising I’ve started a local campaign for better broadband in my isolated block. Wow, we’re in another year. My…