I started reading The Wolf of Wall Street as soon as I saw the film advertised on the TV shortly after seeing The Great Gatsby in 3D in the cinema. I really enjoyed The Great Gatsby and it seemed that this was a more modern version of The Great Gatsby in some ways. As it happened my partner had a copy on the bookshelf so I grabbed it and found myself struggling to put it down -although I replaced the paper copy for an eBook version to have on my iPad for easier reading.
The Wolf of Wall Street
So far I’m only half the way through and am thoroughly hooked. I’ve enjoyed reading what the Securities Industry was like when it first started out and what Jordan Belfort did with his fortunes (what seems an unspendable amount of money), from the finest Egyptian silk bed sheets and feeding his drug addictions at $1500 per pill to funding his wife’s latest interests and hobbies.
The whole story is just mind-blowing and I can’t wait to see the film now!
This is going to be a real quick post but I wanted to introduce you to my baby daughter Florence who was born just a few days ago. Mum and baby are doing well and keeping daddy plenty busy.
Florence minutes old
Florence sleeping
I wish for her to have the healthiest, happiest, safest, most fun and most successful future possible. Welcome to the world Florence and good luck!
I’ve just come back from the most incredible bike ride ever!
While on holiday in Majorca, I was lucky enough to receive an invitation from my chairman (he lives out there) kindly invited me to join him for a bike ride. He has been cycling for 8 months or so now cycling every day if he can and is very fit and healthy.
My bike for the ride
There were many tough parts to this ride and it started with me using a mountain bike with rather wide wheels! Bryan was riding a beautiful Scott and we passed scores of pro cyclists and teams riding some very very expensive bikes!
Then there was the heat, which was around the 25ºC mark. A temperature that I rarely experience when cycling back home in the UK. Lastly, there were the mountains (or hills, it’s open for debate) that began as steady inclines and worsened to 10% gradients. We finished the ride with a soul-destroying 15% gradient, although by this point it seemed as if I was sprinting along rather than the snail’s pace at which I started out at.
I just want to point out at this point, that I consider myself to be a keen, fit cyclist and really love to sprint whenever I have an opportunity. I can tell you there was no spiriting on this ride! I had that feeling I wasn’t going to make it up some of these climbs – they were tough but I pushed on!
After the climb and mastered control of those wobbly legs as you inevitably now have, you are able to reap the reward of the most impressive, stunning views at the peak. But better than the views at the peak where the seemingly never-ending descents…I cannot recall ever cycling so fast, for so long! The lack of speed of the climb, combined with the very hot temperature and the increased heart rate you can imagine this doesn’t paint a pretty picture but the net result is what goes up must come down and I certainly cooled off with the air I passed through as I descended. On one descent my speed registered 37mph!
Lunch in the sun in Port d’Andratx
We stopped for a bite to eat in a gorgeous fishing village called Port d’Andratx, which Catherine and I had previously visited and is one of our favourite places from the holiday. After a sandwich and coffee in the sunshine and an opportunity to catch a breath, we continued on with the ride.
The bikes having a rest
As we set out on the last leg of the ride, I had images of us cycling the reverse of our earlier climbs however we returned on a different route that was a little more forgiving for a cyclist like me, who is used to the flat!
After completing the ride I reviewed the stats from my iPhone App I had running (Cyclemeter) and smiled happily when I saw that I had climbed a total of 550 metres or 1,804 feet.
Ride summary
Route of the ride
Speed and elevation graphs
Elevation stats
Speed stats
Will I do it again? Absolutely positively yes I will! Thank you so much Bryan.
I have baked these delicious chocolate brownies countless times using an old recipe my mum shared with me many years ago. I’ve even enjoyed them with many a friend, colleagues & customers alike. I often bake these delicious brownies for customers when I’m delivering SharePoint and Microsoft 365 workshops or deployments, hence they have since become known as SharePoint Brownies or Microsoft 365 Brownies or simply the mum’s delicious brownies! Many have asked for me to share the recipe, so here it is…
It goes without saying…but whenever you download and use any code or script from this site, or any site for that matter, you should review and understand what the code or script is doing before you attempt to use it.
Rename
Using the PowerShell scripts that I share as an example. I distribute these scripts as text files as it provides an opportunity to review the script, after which you can knowingly rename the file. This also prevents any hastily or accidental execution of the script.
Test
And as with anything you download from the internet – you should test it in a dedicated environment prior to any production environment.
I just used this recipe to make these tasty muffins for everyone in the office – I do like to treat them all every once in a while. These muffins should be eaten as soon as they have had a moment to cool in order to experience the delicious molten chocolate inside. They are great on their own but worth trying with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream or served with alcoholic Chantilly cream.
Makes: 16 Prep: 15min Cook: 20min
Ingredients
4tbsp soft margarine
55g / 2oz caster sugar
1 large egg
85g / 3oz self-raising flour
1tbsp cocoa powder
55g / 2oz plain chocolate
Icing sugar, for dusting
Method
Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F and prepare 8 muffin cases by placing them in a muffin tray or even on a baking tray.
Whisk the margarine, sugar, egg, flour and cocoa together in a large bowl until just smooth.
Spoon half of the batter mix into the muffin cases. Break the chocolate evenly into 8 squares and place a piece in each of the half-filled cases, then spoon the remaining batter mix on top.
Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes until well risen and springy to the touch. Let them stand for two or three minutes and dust with icing sugar before serving warm to experience the deliciously yummy molten chocolate.
Many people have said to me “your using WordPress for your blog but you’re a SharePoint Consultant” and my response is typical “but why must use SharePoint – I guess you also have a problem with me using a Mac?”.
Yes, I do work with SharePoint – in fact, it goes beyond just working with it but we won’t go there. I have developed websites for many years and typically chosen to build these on the WordPress platform – it’s adaptable and responsive to the differing requirements and yet it doesn’t need weeks of custom development. Not only that but it was built for blogging and the user interface is more in tune to writing blog posts. Secretly I knew if I used SharePoint for my blog it would become more of a job than a hobby with all the extra work it would need.
SharePoint is just not the blogging platform for me – let’s just say when I’m blogging I want the night off!
This green pea chowder recipe is one of my favourites. It’s so simple with a delicious result under 20 minutes. It has a beautiful colour with a nourishingly filling flavour.
Pea Chowder or Pea Soup
It is perfect in the darkest of Winters or the warmest of Summers. It’s said to be best-served piping hot in the early days of Winter accompanied with garlic bread, but I think this green pea soup is excellent all year round. It’s perfected with a serving of pea leaf if you can track some down!
Serves: 2 Prep Time: 5min Cook Time: 15min
Ingredients:
2tbsp butter
450g frozen Peas (tablespoon kept back to serve as decoration)
600ml milk
1 large onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
Small bunch of mint leaves, chopped
Single cream for thinning
Salt and white pepper to taste
Chives, chopped
Pea leaf
Method:
Heat up the butter in a large pan over medium heat.
Simmer all the above ingredients apart from the cream for 15 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves and liquidise.
Thin out with cream and add seasoning as necessary.
Add garnish such as chives, a sprinkle of pea leaf and a decorative swirl of whipping cream.
