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I was up rather late last night, and thought I’d check Twitter on my iPad one last time before heading to bed. I did so just as the news of Steve Jobs passing away hit Twitter; somehow it felt fitting to be watching people express their sadness and thanks on one of the amazing devices he created. As President Obama said in his tribute:

there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented

I am an unabashed fan of Apple, and therefore Steve Jobs as they were for many of us inseperable, but I was surprised how I felt on hearing the news; the best way I can describe it is as a feeling of hollowness.

I didn’t know him, I never met him or even saw him present, but I feel I understand him. Every time I use a piece of Apple hardware or software I can see, and understand, his values and passion.

Two of my favourite Steve Jobs philosophies are that Apple products should be “insanely great” and “it just works”.

I’m reminded of these philosophies when I watch my six year old son creating music in Garage Band, export that music to iTunes and then sync it to his iPod. I like to think that Steve Jobs would be as proud and delighted as I am to see him beaming away as he listen to “his music”.

This is Steve Jobs legacy: insanely great products that are a joy to use and bring delight their users.

Guilty Pleasures
Inspired by my old friend Simon, and my new friend Cole I thought I’d share my musical guilty pleasures with you.

Like Simon and Cole I have exquisitely perfect taste in music – I mean truly excellent taste.

And like my friends I have those tracks lurking in my iTunes Library that I enjoy, and even love, but aren’t perhaps as ‘cool’ as the others.

So here for your listening pleasure, and musical delectation are my guilty pleasures:

Video Killed The Radio Star – The Buggles The first video played on MTV and the first track in my guilty pleasures playlist. This a childhood favourite that I enjoyed then for its novelty, but now appreciate for it’s pop artistry. I sit waiting for that kick drum to arrive around 30 seconds in, and smile each time.

Hasan Al Sabah – Hawkwind (video) This track is ridiculous and lightly rubbish, but I love it for that and for an associated memory. When my chum CJ first travelled the Indian sub-continent he sent me a series of very funny letters. My favourite was one that was simply the chorus from this song, which repeats the word hasheesh, followed by “Subtle Huh”. What could it have meant…

Under The Bridge – All Saints I love the original Chilli Peppers version of this but a true guilty pleasure must be a rock band covered by a girl band. I gotta say their version is flippin’ great. I remember seeing the video for it at the cinema as a short preceding the main film; which I think was Pulp Fiction of all things.

99 Problems – Jay Zed Yeah it’s a tad misogynistic, but I can’t help myself. Hard not to love that rocking backing track, and the verses where he deals with the racist cop.

Beautiful – Pharrel and Snoop Dogg A great groove combining the lyrical stylings of NERD and Neptunes superstar Pharrell and Snoop Dogg. Good video as well (ahem)

Too Old To Rock n Roll, Too Young To Die – Jethro Tull I saw Jethro Tull at the first ever ‘proper’ gig I went to, Marillion’s Garden Party at Milton Keynes Bowl, and they were frankly brilliant. I often find myself singing the “too old to rock n roll, too young to die” line in nasal Ian Anderson style. I can’t think why…

James Bond Theme – John Barry Come on… all boys love this piece of music… don’t they? Haven’t we all had a little Bond fantasy moment when its come on in the car? No? Just me? Well they are my guilty pleasures! For a piece of music 1′ 48″ seconds long it’s had a heck of impact I think. I also highly recommend the brilliant ska version by the Skatalites which they some how extend to 7 minutes.

Ghost Riders In The Sky – Johnny Cash This is an odd one. I hate country music, it makes me feel physically ill, but I can’t help but like this track.

Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties – Jona Lewie Another childhood memory and a sentiment I came to sympathise with in my teens. But like Mr Lewie I met a girl to dance with in a “new way” and I’ve done my time in the kitchen at parties.

Band On The Run – Paul McCartney and Wings The whole Band On The Run album is a guilty pleasure for me. I remember the cover as a kid and the album has been with me ever since. The original Wings track isn’t on Spotify so the link is to a Foo Fighters cover which is predictably brilliant.

Cocktails For Two – Spike Jones Yet another track I cam across as a child; my Dad had the most wide ranging record collection I’ve seen. This track is silly, funny but very clever. If you don’t smile once listening to this seek help.

My Friends – Johnny Depp David Hughes in show tune shock! I loathe musicals I really do, but I went to see Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd and really enjoyed it. Yes I was surprised too. The music and lyrics are in many places really clever, and the story is wonderfully dark – not a hint of Sound Of Music or Wizard Of Oz here. This track is a particular favourite with the two singers moving in and out of each other in a musical spiral; one light and positive the other dark and brooding. Johnny Depp sounds like a mix between David Bowie and Keith Richards; although if you really want to him channel Bowie listen to the opening track London.

The Futures So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades Another novelty record and another memory. Towards the end of my 6th form I was chatting to a friend I worked with in my evening job at Comet, who upon hearing my plans exclaimed that “my future was so bright I’d need to wear shades”. It would seem he was overly optimistic perhaps.

Summertime – Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince The ultimate summer pop song. I need say no more than that.

The Chain – Fleetwood Mac I’m not a Fleetwood Mac fan, but own and like the Rumours album. I love this track and freely admit I wait for the moment about 3 minutes in when the wonderful bass line kicks in, and I imagine I can hear Murray Walker and James Hunt in the background.

Bullet The Blue Sky – U2 Like Simon I’m far from a U2 fan, but I love this track. The drummer in full Bonzo mode and the Edge’s searing guitar over the top. I can hear those fighter planes…

Supersonic – Oasis (video) And like Cole I never really got Oasis, but again love Wonderwall. However I thought I’d include Supersonic as it sums up their simianly swaggering sound, and I love that intro.

Mr Blue Sky – ELO Last and by no means least Mr Blue Sky; a guilty pleasure shared by Simon and I. This is the perfect feel good song. It is wonderfully eccentric and English right down to the last “Mr Blue Sky”.

There you have my guilty pleasures laid bare for your perusal and enjoyment.

Have a listen over at Spotify.

Enjoy…

Whilst rummaging through my Instapaper queue for some lunchtime reading I found this video.

I was struck by this comment:

thousands of people… working long hard hours, at jobs they hate, to buy things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t like

OK so this is perhaps a little overly dramatic, but it’s not that far from the truth for many people I think.

There’s go to be a better way. Right?

As I enter week three of working a four day week I thought I should keep my promise and update you on week two: it passed without incident.

The end.

Sorry, but I’m pleased to say there is little to report. It is working well for both me and my wife who is enjoying the flexibility it has given her in starting her new job. My HR contact has been very helpful in answering a few questions not least how do I calculate holiday.

I had been told I needed to deduct 1.25 days from my holiday for each day I took which didn’t seem 100% fair to me. The official process is slightly more elaborate but much fairer: you add your holiday allowance to the bank holidays and then multiply by 7 to get an hour based allowance. I then take 8.75 hours for each day I take as holiday. This means I’m not penalised by bank holidays and also gives me more flexibility should I want to take a few hours here and there during the year.

When I worked at Vodafone they introduced hour based holiday; it initially seems more complex but I’m now all in favour of it for the flexibility and fairness it brings.

I won’t keep blogging about the following weeks unless something extraordinary occurs.

If you have the opportunity to adopt a flexible working pattern I strongly recommend it. Employers I recommend you consider offering flexible working to your employees; I believe that they will be happier and more productive.

Our son will be starting school in September allowing my wife to return to work; she wants to I’m not forcing her – honest. She has always wanted to train to be a nursery nurse, and through a chance conversation at our son’s pre-school she has secured a position starting immediately.

To give her the greatest possible flexibility I said that I would request to adopt a flexible working pattern which I am entitled to under UK law. Sadly my manager initially refused my request, but following a successful appeal I started my flexible working last week.

I now work “five days in four”; working all of my contracted hours in four days as opposed to five. I  work from 8.15 to 18.00 Monday to Thursday and don’t work on Fridays. This has allowed my wife to take the great opportunity presented to her and to start training right away.

Having talked about other companies that have adopted a similar pattern wholesale I thought it might be interesting for others to document my experiences working a four day week in a five day week company.

Last week was my first four day week and it looks like this work pattern will work out well for me and my family and have no negative impact for my employers.

Not being a morning person I will admit to being concerned about actually making it in on time and being effective. Perhaps the biggest and most pleasant surprise of week one was early rising. I’ve found that I’ve had no problem actually getting up and that I feel more awake and alert through the day as a result. I wonder if it’s anything to do with seeing more daylight.

Having said that I also think that my increased alertness may be due to a greater focus and awareness of time I now have. I want this arrangement to be a success for me, for my family, for my employer and also for others that may want to work this way in the future. To this end I have found I have a much greater sense of engagement and focus.

So all very good so far.

Week two may be more of a test as I have a day in London on Thursday giving me have just three days in the office, but such days are a fact of business life so I don’t expect big problems.