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2005-08-25 07:30:30 Source: Web

The latest news is that I am now an employer! I have felt that over the last few months, the main thing slowing down growth of TrainingTime has been that I haven't had more production capacity. So I've taken the plunge and hired an excellent young programmer who I've known for a couple of years. He is super-enthusiastic and definitely will learn and grow in the role.

Hiring people in Sweden is expensive! Companies pay a tax over and above the income tax that an employee pays. As a result, the attitude here is very often that hiring people is a gigantic risk. It's a shame that people feel this way, as hiring people is something that *should* be seen as an enabler. I am sure that by bringing in a second person in my organisation I will open up a bunch of new possibilities that I hadn't considered before.

The other side effect of me hiring someone after 5 months of operations is that it has the effect of making people's jaws drop when I tell them. This is of course a Good Thing(tm). It means that people associate TrainingTime with success - and they would be right. TrainingTime is moving in the right direction and as my goals include expansion I will be looking to bring new people into the organisation as the customer base grows.

This is how we worked at Bluewave - organic expansion based upon the assumption that if one hires enthusiastic, motivated people they will create business for the company.

2005-08-18 10:09:20 Source: Web

Hmmm - I forgot to mention here that I added an account of my ride round Nordjylland to my other blog. Yes - it went very well thanks!

A few days later I rode an evening group-tempo ride with HCK and was surprised to find that I didn't just manage to hang onto the group as is usual - I had energy left over. Whether it is attributable to a physical improvement after the weekend's ride or a mental improvement (or both) it felt fantastic! So hopefully I can keep my peak until the last race of the season which is Mjörn Runt (a route around a lake north of Gothenburg) a 100km ride. I'm planning to ride with a group from HCK that will hold a 29kph average speed. Should be fun!

2005-08-10 13:39:11 Source: Web

Yay! I was just on Radio 6 Music on the Vic McGlynn show. I listen pretty much every day and today I decided to take the plunge and enter their Today's The Day music quiz as I could work out what it was from the clue Vic gave even before she played the day's clip.

I have always wondered whether they send prizes out of the country or not, but that was apparently no problem and I got to chat a little with Vic on air before answering the question.

I'll see if I can capture the clip once it appears on their weekly archive and pop a link to it on the site ;-)

2005-08-10 10:19:45 Source: Web

Nordjylland Rundt is this weekend and I'm looking forward to it. I cycled a good 250km+ last week with fast rides on Tuesday and Thursday and then a long day on the bike on Sunday. We started with a dawn ride around the forts of Gothenburg (up at 5:00!). After a nice breakfast at a cafe in town we cycled off to join the main ride of the day which was a 100+km ride. With the two combined I put in 155km that day and felt pretty fresh at the end.

So hopefully I'll make it round the North of Denmark in one piece, even if my total km cycled this year is only the same as it was before Vättern Runt last year (which was 6 weeks earlier in the year).

2005-08-03 13:57:32 Source: Web

Training for Nordjylland Rundt is going well - I was out last night with my cycling club for a 50km ride and completed the 140km ride at the weekend with just a little knee trouble.

Our group leader took some photos last night - that's me on the left in case you couldn't tell ;-)

2005-07-29 11:01:56 Source: Web

I got approved for Google ads on my Inspiration Log.

;-)

I'm looking forward to some good cycling this weekend. There's a 140km ride north of Gothenburg with HCK on Sunday. Some good practice before North Jylland Rundt in a couple of weeks.

And it's our 1 year wedding anniversary on Sunday, so we'll be going out for a nice meal in the evening. Amazing to think that it's been a year already since we tied the knot. Ahhhhh - happy days ;-)

If you haven't checked the wedding gallery for a while Lotta has made sure that it is updated from time to time.

2005-07-28 09:21:59 Source: Web

I'm definitely back into the swing of blogging again! In fact I launched a new blog yesterday - TrainingTime Inspiration Log. The blog is a part of my company website and is aimed at providing tips, inspiration and recipes for people looking to make positive lifestyle changes or who are responsible for a workplace preventative healthcare campaign.

http://www.training-time.com/inspiration.aspx?lang=en

2005-07-27 08:46:43 Source: Web

Aaaagh! My monopoly on the use of the phrase "jammy junket" on the web has been usurped by my mate ChrisR. No longer am I the only Google match for the use of that phrase . *sniff*

"Jammy junket"

Though to be fair, the phrase did originate from him in the first place ;-)

2005-07-27 08:42:53 Source: Web

Terrible terrible man! Several months without an update. It's been a busy time - but that's just an excuse of course. Oh well, at least it's a sign that my focus is on the right things.

Having said that, it's been slightly less busy the last few weeks. Lotta and I went up to the summer house for 10 days. It was lovely to have a real change of scenery, although I took my "office" with me and got some very useful work done while I was there.

Some highlights include a 100km cycle ride around the area north of our summer house. Beautiful countryside with lots of lakes and some moderate hills. I'm in training for a 250km cycle race around North Jylland (the northern part of Denmark) in a few weeks, so that was some useful mileage.

Lotta and I also hiked an 18km (11 mile) trail which led through woodland and over a 400m hill. Some fantastic scenery and amongst other wildlife we saw an elk grazing at a distance, found a slow worm on a path and saw some truly beautiful butterflies. We coped with the distance OK - Lotta got a few blisters and my knee complained a lot at the end, but otherwise it went well.

Now I'm back at the office and working on developing the base products for TrainingTime. Exciting stuff! I'm putting together a central product base that will be a simple set of tools to help companies inform, inspire and evaluate around their preventative healthcare program. From that central base there will be add-ons available that expand upon the basic concept. The goal is to have the basics in place by the autumn.

Aside from that the consulting work has been going very well and there are some great possibilities on the horizon. I feel I've settled into the new routine of being my own boss and taking care of taxes and ensuring my own income! All-in-all it's been a very enjoyabl last few months and I'm looking forward seeing whether I can keep up the pace over the rest of the year.

2005-05-24 13:17:08 Source: Web

Ahhh - finally! I haven't posted for such a long time because a change on the server broke my blogging tool! Anyway, I have finally had a chance to get my hands dirty and fix the problem. It's not so much laziness that's stood in the way - more that I've had waaaaay too much to do.

But that will have to wait as this is mostly a test post to make sure I've fixed the admin problem.