Wednesday, 29 November 2006

At times, today was pleasing and satisfying; and in the morning it shimmered with great promise. But then came frustration and exasperation, and finally peaceful sleep. Perhaps a microcosm of life itself? Allow me to explain my day.

A good start to the day

7:00 am: I arrived at the office and spent time catching up on mails, sorting out the big database project, and working on our business plan.

9:00 am: I received a telephone call from Allan, leader of a local bowls club. A week or so ago, I had written to him (and many others) about Watford Borough Council’s new lease proposals. Allan has just undergone triple by-pass surgery, during which he contracted an infection and he now hopes to be released from hospital in time for Christmas. But he telephoned me from the hospital to talk about the needs of his club and its contribution to Watford’s community since its foundation in 1912. Where else but the voluntary sector could you find such devotion and commitment? We talked about the clubs particular problems adn possible solutions. Allan also asked about the club’s charitable status and said he would forward a copy of its constitution so I can advise properly on this.

Guideposts Trust

10:00 am: I arrived at the Guideposts Trust, a local mental health project, to talk about borrowing some of the work produced in their arts group so we can display it at the WCVS offices. Katie was very welcoming and explained to me the Trust’s various programmes of support. She introduced me to Andy who runs the arts classes and the three of us talked about specific works, needs and timetables. While at the project I also talked with their Director and others about their needs for an IT training programme for their users, and for volunteers to help redecorate their rooms.

12:00 am: I returned to the office to respond to the morning’s e-mails, including more queries on our database project. Christmas is coming, and people are getting very tense - I wonder if testosterone levels increase in the winter?

I also took a telephone call from the local Police station. They are engaged in next week’s meeting on the future of the Sunflower project (a local project that works with the victims of domestic violence and hate crimes) but, like me, have been having difficulty contacting the Chair of Sunflower’s management committee. We compare notes.

And again

1:00 pm: It happens again: our server crashed. I rebooted it, and the server failed to start. I rebooted it again and managed to start the old Windows 2000 server (thank heavens for that bit of forward planning!) and run a scan disk, and then successfully rebooted the Windows 2003 server. Everything seemed ok at first, but it soon became clear that the crash affected our e-mail services. With telephone and dial-up support from our IT chap Angelo, I ran another scan disk and this revealed corruption on the hard disk, right where the e-mail service is stored. We tried to restore the e-mail service from last night’s back-up, but this crashed the server again. We agree that our plans to replace the server’s hard disks over the Christmas break have to be brought forward to asap. While Angelo wrestled with the server, I asked one of our volunteers, the delightful Maria, to make sure that all members of staff had back ups of their local e-mail files.

2:00 pm: At Francis Combe school, I met with their Connexions co-ordinator and with our Connexions contract manager. The school are very pleased with the work of our Connexions worker and very positive about the progress being made. But the meeting was overshadowed by the death of one of their pupils who it appears may have committed suicide. An distressing situation for the school, but what must the girl's friends and family be going through?

With so many stories in the press about the poor state of schools, it was good to see something positive and to meet with such optimism for the future.

3:00 pm: Back at the office, Angelo is still dialled into the server trying to rescue our e-mail files.

Never knowingly undersold

3:30 pm: WCVS was visited by Jenny, Chief Executive of the Watford John Lewis store. She is considering ways to become more involved in Watford’s community, having moved here only two years ago, and I have a brief to encourage her to join my board of trustees. I talked (perhaps too much) about WCVS’s plans, and Jenny explained John Lewis’s record of community involvement, and her own interest in community and charity groups. We had a very amicable talk for an hour or so, and Jenny agreed to attend our next trustees meeting as an observer.

A change of plans

4:30 pm: I had hoped to leave the office directly after talking with Jenny, but our e-mail services are still down. Angelo has ordered the new hard disks and will install them on Friday. We talked about other tactics for restoring services in the meantime.

5:00 pm: While Angelo began putting our current IT plans into action, I worked on WCVS’s future budget plans.

7:00 pm: Angelo is now nearing the “moment of truth” with our e-mail services, and is waiting for the reinstallation of MS Exchange to be completed. He advised me that this could still take 2-3 hours. I left the office and headed home.

8:00 pm: I arrived home to the wonderful Jackie. We ate and spent time planning our final bits of Christmas shopping. I am so lucky to have Jackie with me!

9:00 pm: Angelo and I talked on the telephone, The reinstallation is still underway.

10:00 pm: ditto.

10:30 pm: Angelo and I talked again. He thinks the re-installation completed, but he has lost dial-up contact with the sever. This may mean the server is re-booting. Or it may mean it has crashed again. I told him I would call him early from the office.

Peace at last

11:00 pm: Jackie and I closed the day with a crossword.