Mahinda’s Little World

I’m feeling exceedingly grumpy today.

Maybe it’s because I’m a bit ill. Or because work’s not gone well today. In fact, it’s probably a combination of the two. As I write, I’m waiting for sodding Oracle to install. Again.

As well as all that, there’s a car share plan that’s going a bit wrong. Oh well. Serves me right for trying to organise people’s lives, I suppose.

The thing is, whenever you try to help, or organise something, and it doesn’t work out, it makes you less inclined to do it the next time.

The example I usually quote is the birthday day out. I used to organise a bit of a do for my birthday, which is shared with a couple of mates as well. Back in 2000 it was paintballing, then karting in 2001. Both of these were before lots of my friends had done them, which made them extra-exciting. Then the best of the lot was in 2002 - quad-biking, clay pigeon shooting and archery…for only £35! It was great!

However, that’s when I realised that it was getting too stressful. People dropping out late on, or having to be chased up. I think I lost over £100 on it in the end.

In 2003, I did it again. Just quad-biking this time, with the usual 30+ people.

While the day out was much fun, it was a nightmare to organise. I realised that, each time, I’d spent much of my birthday week running around and stressing…which just wasn’t worth it.

So I vowed never to do it ever again. But I’ve missed it ever since.

Maybe it’s the way I organise things - I give people too much choice, and try to accommodate everyone, whereas I should just be saying “right, here’s what we’re doing, take it or leave it”.

But that’s just not me.

Oracle’s now creating a new database. 26% and counting…