Posts Tagged Sunday Column

Sunday Column (62)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column, personal on 02/05/2010

Sometimes weeks just pass. And sometimes you don’t even realise they do. My week was driven by this weekend. Chilling out, a massage and going out for diner. I was so looking forward to it.

Work seemed almost secondary, but kept me very much on my feet with long hours in front of my laptop and blackberry. I went to Internetworld, caught up with many friends, networked and established new relationships. I had a few conference calls, meetings and …. half a day off on Friday :-)

Yes, it was my birthday. I am now officially 33 and getting old. Mid-life crisis I guess. Still no lottery win and still a mortgage, but hey, I am healthy, fit and happy. With my boy and wife, we spent a fantastic afternoon. Colin starts standing himself now, at least a bit, and he soon will get the hang of “high five” :-) I just have to be patient.

I decided this week, that I will look more into productivity at the workplace. After reading and visiting the seminar of GTD (getting things done), I thought to myself that I already knew 90% of it before I read the book. With my NLP skills and my enthusiasm for efficiency and effectiveness, I decided I will develop my own seminar series. All in the name of cb consulting of course. So watch this space.

Now, there was my birthday this week too. Thanks for all the wishes. I have to say, and this is not meant in any negative way, that I didn’t feel like having a birthday. Maybe it is because you are happier with your son’s birthday, or other people’s birthday, but for the first time in my life, I really wasn’t bothered about the birthday at all. Ach well, we still had a great day and went to the London Aquarium. We wanted to do that for ages!

Besides the aquarium, we also went to London Borough Market. I got some lovely smelly cheese, some olives and the wife got herself some nice beers. It was great and we got home very late. Apologies to anyone who tried phoning Friday night.

Saturday I had a massage which was really important. My back is aching and I desperately need to do something about it. Afterwards I met a great friend for lunch, and later at night my wife took me out for some Greek food whilst our neighbour was watching Colin. A perfect weekend I find.

The weather changed dramatically on Saturday night: rain and clouds. So Sunday we spend the day doing what you do: shopping, visiting friends, playing with Colin and trying to avoid the rain ;-)

That is really it. Colin is teething and hence he is not in the best mood. But he stood himself this week, surely he will be walking before we know it. He also got his kilt, pictures can be found on Facebook.

With the bank holiday on Monday and a very busy week ahead, I hope you having a good night. We will have a cheese fondue with a nice bottle of wine. We have been naughty food and drink wise this weekend, but we truly enjoying it too :-)

Volker

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Sunday Column (56)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column on 21/03/2010

Another week full of virus or flu or bug – I am getting seriously fed up. I just hope it gets better, but hey – it can’t get worse. Really, just today I noticed that I got better. I still feel weak, and all the DIY over the weekend didn’t help, but it needed to be done.

It was a busy week on top of it. But it was good busy if that makes sense.

One of the highlights was me speaking at an event from King’s College London on Online Reputation Management. Presentation below.

Online Reputation Management Cb Consulting Volker Ballueder

I really enjoy speaking and engaging with students and sharing my knowledge with them. And, according to the feedback, they did too! One of my aims is to work part time as a lecturer for digital marketing, or a running a course on inbound marketing. Something along those lines would be great! That would be, if I had the time of course :-)

The other, and main highlight is Colin: my wee man is now properly moving forward and gets better by the day. He was poorly too but recovered now. Did I mention he spewed on his new car seat and in the new car. Never mind…..

It is a joy to see him growing up and my wife is documenting every move with her camera, which is even better. If we are friends on Facebook or you do receive our updates, then you know what I mean. He is VERY cute (although I totally understand me being biased ;-) ).

I am trying to work out a new schedule too – on the one hand I have more work, and that will lead me to stay in the office longer hours than before. However, on the other hand, I would like to spend more time with Colin. A dilemma that is not too easy to be solved. One way I believe is to go home early and then do more work once he has gone to bed. An alternative is to see him in the morning and possibly not going in until 9:30 but not to see him at night. I am still debating, and whenever you ask someone experienced, the answer is “see him in the morning because you never know when you get home”. Guess they are right.

Guess this is enough for another Sunday. I am feeling, as mentioned, much better, and hopefully I will be back to normal within the next few days. I have a busy week ahead, and I am looking forward to it!

Have a good one too,
Volker

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Sunday Column (55)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column on 14/03/2010

Ok, I am feeling better. So I stay positive and tell you that, after three weeks, I am now ready to go back to the gym on Monday, feel better and hopefully stay healthy for a while.

That said, Colin has been sick for a few days with temperature and being whiny, not eating etc. Probably a mix of him getting more teeth and having a virus. Shame that we cannot tell him that things are going to be better. So lots of cuddles, calpol and patience is the way forward. Bless him.

My work is going well. I had many meetings this week and things are moving in the right direction. So this is all good.

What else happened? I ask this question every week :-) Monday I worked late, whilst Tuesday I went home early to babysit whilst my wife went out for a few drinks. However, I ended up working till late at home.

Wednesday we had a preparation meeting for a talk on Online Reputation Management at King’s College London. Next Thursday I am speaking about Inbound Marketing for online reputation management for students. Of course I will put my presentation here and on Slideshare.

Thursday I went to Tai Chi after a two week break and really enjoyed it. Tai Chi, a glass of wine afterwards and you sleep like a baby :-) It is so relaxing and comforting…..anyway :-)

At the weekend we were hoping to get some stuff done around the house. Whilst ironing took very long, I discovered a few rusty bits on the car. So I ended up covering them up. Then I spoke to a few good friends from Germany.

Whilst my wife wanted to sow some grass in the garden we discovered that two fence panels didn’t survive the winter. So we got rid of them and the Christmas tree that didn’t survive the cold either. However, even our new car is too small to transport 5ft by 6ft panels, so we get them delivered next week. In the meantime we have a fence that looks like a giant’s smile with some teeth missing – if that makes sense.

Overall a good weekend. Less activities due to Colin’s bad health but still a nice Mother’s Day Sunday.

Have a good week.

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Sunday Column (54)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column, personal on 07/03/2010

This week was nothing but SICK. I went to work on Monday, went to a (honestly) small birthday party on Monday night and was home and in bed by 11 pm. From Tuesday I was off work for two days with a stomach bug. Thursday and Friday I forced myself to work, as my boss has been in the UK. It was worth it but I needed this weekend to recover and trying to get back to normal.

I have been sick for three weeks, and it really annoys me. I know there is little I can do but I really get sick of it! And, it is not one illness. Starting with a virus, then a cold, now a stomach bug.

Colin: he is continue to strive. I love his cute little actions and interactions. It is so hard to describe. He is so curious about anything and everything. He cuddles you one minute, then cries because he cannot play with your Blackberry cover, and then he grabs Jen’s glasses. If I put on her glasses, then he almost doesn’t recognize me. His age is fantastic. You can play around with him and teach him so many things.

The picture above is such a typical one of him. I believe it is hard to describe, but anyone who has children knows what they are like. I think that I still have to find the right work-Colin balance, as most days my days go way beyond 6 pm, so that I don’t really see Colin at all during the week. Whilst I am trying to make an effort to come home earlier two days a week, this might look less likely in the future. We shall see.

That is about all I can speak about this week, unless you want me to go on about sickness and work. No, not a pleasant week, but next week can only get better :-)

Have a great week and stay healthy. Look after yourself.
Volker

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Sunday Column (53)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column on 28/02/2010

Another week being ill. It was a struggle this week as my cold (man-flu) seemed to get worse rather than better. Of course I survived but had some very tough days. Also seemed to have another stomach bug over the weekend, nothing serious but just not feeling right. Will that EVER stop :-(

I stop moaning now, but cannot help it, can I? I haven’t been to they gym at all but was surprised to only have 100 kg on the scales. Maybe not eating all these greasy meat really made me loose some weight? Hopefully I can be back to the gym sometime next week.

Work wise this week flew past. Although a few meetings got postponed, we made huge progress and I am very pleased with it. Fingers crossed, I really enjoy it.

There is not much else to report from the week. I didn’t do much else outside work. However, Volvo Doves Croydon, our car dealer where we bought the car, pissed me off by not offering me the warranty they said they would. I escalated things and now got a 12 months warranty as promised. Still to hear about my promised 12 months RAC membership :-) I decided to wait until Monday lunchtime for them to call me back. However, I will have a nice blog post ready by then, and of course will make sure their parent company and Volvo will get a copy. I don’t like to be lied to. And, I expect better customer standard than that from an authorized dealer. Maybe my expectations are just too high.

Maybe some words about my wee man: Colin. He has been loosing weight, or really, he has been growing a lot. He is robbing around on the floor, still backwards. He is so much fun to play with, to look at or just to watch. He manages to move from one end of the room to another without any trouble but still needs to figure out how to crawl forward. He got stuck under the table today. The only drawbacks at the moment is him trying to wiggle himself out of getting dressed, changed and washed. He can be a real pain – but a lovely one of course. We really adore our wee man!

Then it was Jen’s birthday this weekend. We managed to get a friend to babysit so that we went to our most favourite Thai place in Beckenham. Jen also went for a head massage and pedicure and got a surprise present. I am getting better at this whole birthday things, I think anyway :-) We had a really good weekend, and enjoyed time together, although she didn’t feel too good either.

Off to another week. It is raining a lot and with the earthquakes and all you sometimes wonder about global warming. Or we don’t really, do we?

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Sunday Column (52)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column, personal on 21/02/2010

Now, this is the year’s anniversary of my Sunday Column. Times have changed in my blog and currently I only manage this weekly post to keep you up to date with what I am doing, nor not doing.

Like this week, I was ill. Saturday night’s food poisoning turned out to be a virus infection I didn’t get rid of until Thursday. So no gym! And, once it was gone, I got a cold or man-flu. So I am glad the week went quickly.

The days I went to work were fully packed with good and exciting meetings, SES London where our CEO spoke about mexad’s view on search and display media, and a full day home office packed with many calls. I think I almost managed to catch up on most things on Friday – so I finished the week on a high.

There wasn’t much private life this week. We got (or I got) more accessories for the car, like a car boot liner, floor mats, paint, leather cleaner, a cloth and an air freshener. Not overly exciting but I am. I have to say that for the first time ever, I really like the car we are driving.

Saturday I had a fantastic massage. The first in over 2 months as I had been too busy the last few weekends. So that was good, just to lay down, relax and not worry about anything. I think it helped my cold too.

A year of Sunday Columns makes you reflect a bit. 2009 was a very bumpy year and whilst I had lots of time to write on my blog, I now have less time and another focus on life in general. Colin wasn’t here last year either.

He is now over 8 months and explores new things every day. I hope to have some time to write yet another review of being a dad. It is fantastic to see him grow, minute by minute almost! He is so curious, interested and likes the engagement with his parents, a whole lot of fun being around him.

The weekend passed quickly with a new business opportunity, a nice French wine from the Lirac region, a trip to Faversham, an average fuel consumption of approximately 16 l/100 km (18 mpg) for the last tank, a wife that loved parking the car and we also visited an old neighbour. Guess that is enough for a weekend.

We now have some clearing up to do, some food to eat, more wine to drink and…you know, the usual :-)

Have a good week.

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Sunday Column (50)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column on 07/02/2010

Ok folks, first things first. The big question this week was whether, and if so, which car to get. And the winner is:

I feel like I am getting all family. Married, house, child, now a VOLVO :-) Neither my dad nor me, and he is the biggest Volvo fan in the world, would have ever thought I ever drove one. But here we go, family does change you….for the better of course.

What else happened this week (as if the above wasn’t enough)?

Monday I went back to the gym. I continued to do that every day, but Wednesday I was too knackered from the day before, and Friday my knee hurt too much. I overdid it on the cycling machine ;-( I know, laugh at me, but any circular movement to my knee seems to hurt the ligaments. I need to check with my physio massage therapist next week.

Tuesday and Wednesday just passed by. I didn’t do much this week after work, just had good meetings, one of which lasted 10 minutes, and I believe that we are making progress. Slower than expected but quicker than anticipated – if that makes any sense.

Thursday I started the day with a fab meeting and ended the day with drinks and networking. However, although (and I promise) I only had 3 pints, two ales and one stout, I felt like I had about 10 lager the next day. You know that I cannot drink lager to some intolerance, and I thought it might be down to whether the beer was over or under fermented. Stout, Ale and dark beers should be ok, but maybe the one beer I had, a very dark one, was a “Schwarzbier” and not a Stout. Never mind, I don’t in particular like beer anyway.

Friday we finished the day with some nice finger food (and it still smells of home made garlic mayonnaise) where we shared a nice bottle of Californian Zinfandel I bought in Harrods a few years back. Money well spend on this one ;-) I don’t believe how much of a connoisseur I have become on one hand, then still going on about intolerance to beer on the other. Guess life is for sharing ;-)

Last but not least I bought an audio book of the book I read a few years back: “Eckhart Tolle, The power of now” – I will write an exclusive post on that but thought I mention that this book is both fascinating and helpful. Sometime I do worry what we are all worrying about….

Enough said, have a great week ahead, mine looks fairly busy!

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Sunday Column (41)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column, personal on 06/12/2009

This week was rather interesting, not to say quite busy.

As you might know by now I have left my job after only 6 months. In summary: it just didn’t work out. However, onwards and upwards. I have been in touch with a few companies over the last few weeks and continue to do so. So far we have not had to cancel Christmas, and I really enjoy the time with my boy!

On Tuesday afternoon I went to see an osteopath for my back and she cracked it well. I felt better afterwards but my muscles that are mainly used to lift heavy things, e.g. Colin, are still very weak and hurt. It also doesn’t help to sit on a too low desk I suppose. However, I go back next week to get more mobility into my back. And, they recommended me to do some exercise….I know :-( Although, a neighbour got me to go to the gym on Saturday, and I did do some exercise, went off to the Sauna and steam room too :-)

Wednesday was busy. I had an unexpected meeting with a good friend in the morning which resulted in possibly another job opportunity. Afterwards I met a friend for a late breakfast, another friend over lunch, having a frutti di mare pizza. Trying to abstain from meat until Friday for my weekly kebab ;-) In the afternoon I found time to catch up with a good friend before heading to a Tweet-Up.

I met two guys I met on Twitter, hence Tweet-Up, who are very much into Social Media. We met in the Albannach and tested a few whiskys that night, later being joined by another good friend. So overall that day has been very sociable, online and offline. Unfortunately one meeting had to be canceled which I hope to reschedule for next week.

I spent most of Thursday to catch up on emails and sorting out some potential part time work to tie me over to January. In theory I could start working in telemarketing for a friend in Germany as of today, but I don’t really have an office space yet. So that decision has to be made depending on a few things next week.

It is great to have a reliable network and friends who can offer and do offer you jobs. Because they know, how reliable, hard working and honest I am. So it is good to have friends and to help each other out sometimes.

What else happened this week. Whilst speaking to so many people, the nice things that I heard was a mortgage approval for friends who were seeking to buy for a while. Congratulations again, we will be neighbours soon! Then, another friend’s wife is feeling much better and might be home for Christmas, which I hope for him and his family. Fingers crossed and good luck.

We got a couple of early Christmas cards too and I realise again how strong our network of friends is. Particularly around Christmas and in these hard times. But, it is all good and we enjoy the company with our friends, and as hard as the times might seem, there are still people out there that are much worse off that us. We should not forget about them!

On Sunday we had an excellent breakfast with our friends and Colin’s god-father. “Il Coskino” and his wife were over for a cooked breakfast where I had some bacon, and a sausage. But that should be all for the meat for a while. Back to veggies and fish.

Have a fantastic week, not long to Christmas now!

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Sunday Column (40)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column, cb consulting, coaching, personal on 29/11/2009

Yes, this week was quieter than expected. However, this has been my happiest week for a long time. Really since February if you exclude my two weeks paternity leave this summer.

Monday kicked off with lots of meetings. Caught up with good friends and interesting partners which hopefully leads to more business soon. The same really happened on Wednesday, another busy day. Also had to go to the dentist which resulted in us buying a new toothbrush, an electric one: Oral B Professional Care 3000. Not only do we get the “dentist feeling”, which I am not sure about whether that is a good or bad thing, but we also get a polishing function. Wednesday ended with a networking event on Search Marketing organised by the great guys from NMA. Thanks again for a great night.

Thursday I finished my Tai Chi form. Finally :-) I only started Tai Chi in Beckenham this February. But, given the size of Bromley, we are not really many in our class. The Greenwich Tai Chi group allegedly is much bigger. Anyway, we finished the Hine Tai Chi long form in less than a year. Now it will take probably another 10 years to perfect it……

Friday I set up a PPC (pay per click) campaign for cb consulting. As you know, besides my main job, I am offering coaching and consulting services, mainly focusing on inbound marketing for start ups in London. But also, I am focusing on youth and career coaching. A friend asked me for some help, so I thought I try out some Google Adwords campaigns myself before spending money for someone else :-)

I often get asked how I have so much time. But, often all my posts are written during the weekend, and I try to do them outside the “Colin time”. This way they just get published during the week and don’t take up much time.

The weekend was great too. I booked 2 days holidays Monday and Tuesday, so we went away over the weekend. We visited friends in Raleigh in Essex, and also went to Leigh on Sea, a small fishing village. It was a beautiful but windy and cold day. We really enjoyed our first night away with Colin who managed not too badly.


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So I am looking forward to two days off….. :-)

All the best,
Volker
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Sunday Column (39)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column, job, personal on 22/11/2009

Hello,

This week must have been the best in years. It is almost like I found my life and found a way how to achieve it. Really, I spend a lot of time with the family and noticed how important that is for me. Just on Saturday I got myself, I mean I got Colin, a hippo for the bath:

On Wednesday I met with good friends from my old work and realised how much I enjoyed the job. Working with the people you like and working as a great team towards a common goal. It was so good to catch up over a few glasses of wine, pizza and great chat. Thanks people.

And, I heard this story about life, work and work life balance – still not sure what to make of it:

A farmer once got some land and thought it was on the sunny side and has a fruitful and great soil. So he was full of enthusiasm to have the responsibility to dig up the land and grow his crops.
He knew that it would take until the next year for him to harvest the fruits, and that it would be a long way to get there. But he wanted to make sure that the soil was perfect, the seeds were perfect and that things would grow in it came out perfect too. So he worked together with some friends who helped him choosing the seeds, and helped him choosing the water, and helped him choosing the right time to put things in place. Some lend him machinery and some helped him to understand how he got the best crops in the world.
Times weren’t easy, times were hard. He had to chase people to get the water for the field before the few shoots dried up. He had to chase people to get some of the machinery in time to get the seeds in the ground. Whilst sometimes it happened in time, sometimes it didn’t. At the same time he started looking around.
farmworkOn the left was a field his predecessor had worked on and he noticed that it was drying up and didn’t really produce any profit from the crops. It seemed as if they had tried to put more and more effort into the field, just to see that they couldn’t harvest enough to make a profit. However, on his right was a big field. That belonged to a farmer who had done what he was planning to do. But look, he had all the equipment, a few full time helpers and has started a few years earlier than him. He had been harvesting for long, made more profit and ultimately could afford more machinery. Really, a field how it should be.
The farmer got really sad. He knew what he was doing was right, but he thought that he was a few years too late. It seemed that no matter how much effort he put into his field, and however much help he might get, his field would never meet the expectations he had for himself, nor would it be able to compete with the older, flourishing fields. It just wouldn’t work out.

The morale of this story is simple. Sometimes you get into situations in life where you never harvest what you sow. Even in the best playing field with the best players in any game, you never get the best result if they don’t all play towards the same goal. And the same was true for the person who told me this story. He eventually gave up his field and moved on to a new pat, with new friends.

Enough of a story telling for today. Have a great week.

Love and Happiness to you all,
Volker

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