Is this dead?

Is this dead?, a photo by richardfrost on Flickr.

Talk about a dead leg. This is my ankle after 22 hours inside a compression stocking and walking fucking miles around three airports. So not just a sprain. Apparently, there's a small fracture in there somewhere. Good job you don't need your left foot to drive in America.

I spent my final hours before setting off on this trip in various combinations of Casualty Review Clinics, X-Ray departments, Pharmacies and on the phone to the Travel Insurance people, after my ankle sprain was upgraded to a minor fracture.

Having bought a walking stick I thought I would be fine, but because of concerns over Deep Vein Thrombosis, I had to wear a surgical stocking, thigh length in black, very kinky. But this photo reveals what I saw when I finally took it off. The compression really brought out the bruising.

Of course walking miles around New Jersey airport looking for a McDonalds for Ben didn't help. The kids told me I should have flagged down Taaj in his electric cart to ferry us around. Actually, I did get asked once to 'cut the line' at Security because of the leg.

Arrived in style

Arrive in style, a photo by richardfrost on Flickr.

Well we certainly arrived in style in to San Francisco. We were collected by our driver, Savoy, in his beautiful stretch limo, after around 22 hours after leaving home. He drove us in style to our hotel at Fisherman's Wharf.

Around 10pm we went out to eat at Fisherman's Wharf. Shrimp and Garlic chips. garlic Chips! Chips....with Garlic!

I have to say Continental Airlines are pretty good. The flight to Newark was great with good leg room (important to me, see next entry), and free inboard entertainment. Food was OK also.great views of New York also as we landed and from the airport. We must go there soon.

Flight on to San Francisco was a bit more tedious, same leg room and free soft drinks but everything else was charged for. At least I got some lime with my $6 Corona.

Finally, I always leave something behind, and this trip it is my brand new 50th birthday present £200 compact binoculars. The wonder of Google and Google Maps tells me there is a binocular store one block over so guess where I'm heading after breakfast? Anyone want to buy an unused pair of binoculars?

Same method has turned up Skates on Haight where Ben can get a new skate deck and shoes.

It is 6 in the morning now, I've slept 5 hours maybe and I'm wide awake. We have our stretch limo tour of San Francisco later so it's going to be a great day.

Walter Trout and Todd Rundgren

So I didn't really know what to expect when we went to see Walter Trout last week in Hebden Bridge at the Picturehouse. I guess I was expecting Delta Blues or something, not my favourite musical style. What we got was superb guitar playing, fantastic musical performances and a great night out. Bought his new album, Common Ground, on the way out and can't recommend it highly enough.

Lesson learned - have faith in Yvonne's musical taste.

http://www.waltertrout.com/index.php

In other news, Todd Rundgren is touring in the UK again so we have tickets for Manchester, HMV Ritz, on Saturday October 1st. This will make my 4th time of seeing him, making him my most frequent gig, putting the Stranglers into 2nd place with three gigs.

We might go near Area 51 on our trip

If so we might meet weird aliens!

Sprained ankle won't stop my trip of a lifetime

So, I created this blog a couple of years ago ready for when I wanted to blog something significant, and that time is coming. On Saturday 2nd July 2011 the Frost Family will depart for San Francisco for our three week adventure and road trip. It is true that I sprained my ankle quite badly last Saturday, but elevation, ice, rest and Ibuprofen are working their magic. Tomorrow, I will venture into the office for a few hours and buy myself a walking stick, or should I call it a cane? That would be more glamorous wouldn't it?

So I am reviving this blog and will be posting updates every day or so so I can better remember this trip when it has been and gone. Of course if there is anyone out there who wants to follow our trip, well come along for the ride. I will not lay out too much information in advance so as not to spoil any surprises.

Lord Percy tests my photo blogging

Photo, a photo by richardfrost on Flickr.

Yep, here's a picture of Lord Percy, our cat. No reason to post this other than I am testing getting photos from my iPad to my blog via Flickr.

Why am I doing this? Because next week we are setting off on our trip of a lifetime and I want to blog it, so I can remember it forever.

Vote for Rob's (rstudios) Avatar film...

Vote for Avatar by my son Robert, at the Empire Online 'Done in 60 Seconds' comp.. http://www.empireonline.com/awards2010/donein60seconds/

If you liked it a lot, you can vote for it as many times as you like!

It's a 60 second spoof, which you can also watch in 3D on Youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/user/rstudiosfilms

What is your personal mission?

Having a personal mission statement helps answer the question "Am I doing the right thing for me?". Along with this, it is key to gain personal inspiration. Do you know where to find your inspiration?

In 2005, I was lucky enough to be in the English Lake District, at Brathay Hall, taking part in a team development exercise. I have to say the location was inspirational to me. Check out the view from my bedroom window.

Rowing out into the middle of Lake Windermere, taking in the surroundings in silence and then visioning the future with your team mates in a boat is definitely something I have not done before.

A few years later, I was fortunate again to be invited to present at a conference in San Francisco. I took advantage of the trip to do some sightseeing around the city, and then paid myself to visit Yosemite, one of the most visually arresting and personally inspirational places on the planet. This is one of my favourite photos, of sunset over the Golden Gate from Pier 39.

One of the lessons I have learned is to take time out of the day to day hustle and bustle to reflect and review. To revisit in my mind those personal inspirational experiences. To mentally take myself back to those moments and draw strength and inspiration from them. In these moments, whether in the office or out, I take a checkpoint and ensure that the things I am doing and the prioritizations I am applying are right. Right for me, for my boss and for my team.

As an architect and strategist, I spend time thinking about the goals for my personal work, for the team and for the bank as a whole, to understand where we need to be, where we are now, and how we get from one to the other. However, it's not often enough I take the time to consider my own personal strategy.

This set me wondering about how many of us had so far taken the time to form our own personal view of what we want from our time at work. What makes us decide to get out of bed in the morning, or choose to roll over throw a sickie? Where are we going with our careers? Do we have careers, or just jobs? Are we clear what our own personal mission is, what are our values and goals?

I thought it might be useful to share a few quotes to get you inspired....

Anonymous...

"Give me results, not reasons."

"To get what we have not got, we must do what we have never done."

"It's what you do, not what you say."

"The trouble with the future is it usually arrives before we’re ready for it."

"The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining."

"By intentionally raising your own expectations of yourself, you create a gap between where you are and where you choose to be. Having created this gap for yourself, everything about you automatically begins working on your behalf to close it. This explains why people with a mission enjoy boundless energy."

"Wherever you are now is where you choose to be."

Henry Ford – Founder of the Ford Motor Company

"Whether you think you can or you can't, you are right."

Ancient Chinese proverbs

"Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up again."

"Be not afraid of going slow, be only afraid of stopping."

“To talk much and arrive nowhere is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish.”

“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.”

“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.”

Marcus Aurelius – Roman philosopher and Emperor

"Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live and it is in your power."

"He that is unacquainted with the nature of the world must be at a loss to know where he is. And he that cannot tell the ends he was made for is ignorant both of himself and the world too."

"In the morning, when thou findest thyself unwilling to rise, consider with thyself presently, if it is to go about a man's work that I am stirred up. Or was I made for this, to lay me down, and make much of myself in a warm bed."

So, what is your personal mission statement?