two weeks later!

mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa dear reader!

The last two weeks have passed in a blur as I have been to Harrogate for the BAM (British Academy of Management) conference; moved from the Welbeck Hotel to a serviced apartment about a 5 minute walk from the Welbeck in one direction and our offices in Park Row in the other; wandered through the Newton and Arkwright buildings that will be the NBS home in another 12 months or so; been back to London for a CBI conference; found what could become my local (The Hand and Heart); and shared a pint with friends Sarah and Murray at The Playhouse.  All the while, I have been on a steep learning curve as I come to grips with the School and its denizens, as well as the wider context within which we operate.  Throughout, Sue and Barry have been a great presence and support, both at work and at play (and at laundry for that matter).

What follows are the notes I wrote on the first night in Harrogate (the reason for it not being 'blogged' appears at the end):

Tuesday 9^th September

Amy, David, Betty and Nancy – the last 90 years of Lamond history summarised in these four names, as my Aunty Nancy (the youngest of the four at 81) recounted my grandmother Cathy Lamond’s offspring.  I’m not sure when I’ll get this information on facebook, but after an emotional evening of regular cups of tea from Uncle Joe (Nancy’s husband) “watering” Nancy’s recounting of so many different experiences, I wanted to get some of the details down in this Word document while they were still fresh and remembered.  But I get ahead of myself in my diary.

Monday had been a busy day of pushing the feet further under the table as I picked up on a number of issues with which my Dean had entrusted me.  I was even late for tacos at Sue and Barry’s place at 7.30pm, as I finally extracted myself from the office and the seemingly endless stream of emails.  We continued the Park Gate possibilities at Sue’s and Barry’s place, while we munched our way through some quite delicious tacos and a couple of glasses of Australian red (which is ubiquitous in Nottingham, thank goodness J).  This also provided some relief from the issues I was requested to explore at work (positively and successfully I hope, but time will tell).

So, after a restless night looking towards the trip to Harrogate for the BAM conference and my visit to Aunty Nancy, I put in a full morning’s work first before a visit to one of the Park Gate properties I had arranged to view with Denise.  While the viewing went well beyond the time I had anticipated, it was well worth the extra investment and I think there may well be a result to come from that one.  Back to the hotel for a quick pack that wasn’t managed in the morning before heading to the office, and then I was confronted by the need to extend the rental period for the car I had picked up at Heathrow (and which, dear reader, has sat in the garage next door to the Welbeck for the last week or so as I have walked from one end of Nottingham to the other to meet my work meeting commitments).

You might remember the fun and games I had trying to get the car I had reserved and paid for in the first place (albeit the windfall of the Toyota Prius as a result).  I spoke (eventually) to the folks at Heathrow, then at Nottingham, but it was all too hard because the original booking was through an agent in Australia. “So”, I finally said to the young lass in Nottingham in conclusion, “I guess what I do is just turn up a day late and pay the 30 quid” (because the system wouldn’t let her add it to the booking in real time).  “Yeah, well, I guess that would work”, was her reply.

So this combination of an extended viewing, the silliness of failed technologies (and, I guess, a degree of procrastination on my part), I left for Harrogate about an hour and a half later than the original plan.  Add the rain and traffic problems along the way and it was more like 6pm than 4pm when I arrived at Aunt Nancy’s place (the sat-nav had taken me to Harrogate from an unexpected direction, and so I pulled in to her place before I got to check in at the Old Swan Hotel, my “home” for the next couple of nights (and the site of Agatha Christie’s missing two days in 1926, as Joe was quick to remind me and as I read further about later in the hotel services directory, which was long on history but not exactly discursive on services – no internet connection for example J).

and so I pick up the story with another visit to Nancy and Joe on the Wednesday night and a meeting with my 2nd (?) cousin Daniel, son of Nancy and Joe's daughter, Joy, whom I had met the previous evening.  After a good day's conferencing, I was ready for another raft of Nancy's stories and left not only with knowing more about my family but also with a very special reminder, thanks to Nancy's generosity.

The little bear in the picture to the right is a white chocolate bear from "Betty's", a famous Harrogate tea spot.  More important are the two jugs/vases you see facing each other.  These were a gift from my Dad to his mother more than 60 years ago, when he was home on leave from (I think) his military service in the middle east.  Cathy had passed them on to Nancy and now they have come full circle to another David.

That's probably enough for this contribution.

Pleasant Valley Sunday

Well, dear reader, it's midday on Sunday and here I am still in the hotel room, despite considerations about wandering about the hills and dales for the weekend - rain for most of yesterday, and tales of flooding at regular intervals, matched by weather predictions of continued rain, have kept me close to "home" instead.

At one level, it has meant that a lot of work, especially in regard to my journal editorial responsibilities, has been done, but it is hardly the vision of the pleasant valley Sunday that The Monkees had in mind (or maybe it was? - prompted by the song title, I've just "you tubed" a bunch of old Monkee videos in a very pleasant interlude; indeed the sun has just popped out!)

Yesterday I managed to clean up the leftover emails from my personal laptop, although I still need to sort out how I get all addresses, etc on to the University system (and then how I would get them off eventually when I leave in so many years time, but that's not for now). The emailing included a series of exchanges with Professor Joyce Liddle and we ended up at The Bell Inn on Angel Row between 7am and midnight, talking about the School, mutual colleagues and a raft of issues that could broadly be subsumed under the heading of "life, the universe, and everything".

... back to Sunday and still I hesitate to ring my Aunt Nancy, discovered by Kerry's detective work, and more than an ounce of luck in finding a third cousin of mine, Karen, who has been searching the family tree from her side and brought us together (and now I go to the good old standby - Layla with Eric (this is the live version but not the Unplugged version).

a little later at about 1.30pm:

Well, I've done it! Just got off the phone from talking with Nancy and her husband Joe, and I'll visiting them on Tuesday before I get into the BAM conference swing (when I know that the first trip out of Nottingham organised for me is to Harrogate, where Nancy and Joe live, and I match it to all the other examples of synchronicity and serendipity over the last month or so, then it was only the right thing to do!)

I've also subsequently been introduced to Second Life by Beattie Berry who is the overall co-ordinator of the Management Through Collaboration (MTC) textbook project, so while the day/weekend has not unfolded as I might have anticipated, it has still been a very positive, productive one (and it's just started raining again).

and so Sunday proceeds .......

teddybears' picnic

Another big day in the office as the Dean heads off to a well-deserved holiday break and I settle in for the next couple of weeks in his chair. In the meantime, I've had good news from Denise, who has a property for me to view on Monday, for possible purchase.

I've been round to Sue and Barry's place on the way home (well, back to the hotel) after work (still far too late) and picked up my laundry, all wonderfully fresh and dried. Sue has also gifted me Sir Neo, my very own teddy bear to cuddle and who now graces the photo on my profile instead of my ugly mug. A Call for Papers for the Management History Division for the 2009 Academy of Management (yes, already, even though this year's conference finished about 3 weeks ago) and I'll finish the night with a baguette and a glass of diet coke, while I work out what the weekend will bring.

Friday (with a nod to Joe Jackson)

Hello gentle reader,



Despite my best efforts to try to stop and reflect at the end of each day, time is passing in a blur of activity and excitement such that my ramblings here are more intermittent than I would hope, so forgive me if the entries are not as frequent as I would like them to be at this stage. That being said, I owe some thoughts about Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

First thing to say is that each of the days have been more than worthwhile as I have got to meet a number of the key people in the University, from the Vice Chancellor down, each of whom has been invariably personable, welcoming and clearly committed to the University. It's reassuring to find such a positive vibe and it is helping me to settle in as I come to grips with the SRFs, CMTs, RPGs and other TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) that are NTU's.

The only blip on the horizon at this stage is my frustration at trying to find a more permanent place to rest my head. I had lined up with Martin Co, one of the real estate agents that keeps bankers hours, to inspect a property in The Ropewalk yesterday (couldn't do it on Saturday or Sunday, of course) at 10.00am ("We don't get out of bed before 9.00am", quipped James, the young lad with whom I'd made the arrangement) and promptly arrived to wait, and wait, and wander from Ropewalk Court down to Derby Road and back, in case I had misunderstood the agreed meeting place - nothing, zippo, nada!

After half and hour of fruitless waiting and wandering, I walked back to our Park Row office and rang Martin Co, to be told that they had rung the office number I'd given them as a security check and, as there was no answer, they didn't turn up (they hadn't bothered to tell me they would do that, and I had no record of them doing so, but needs must). After some toing and froing as they frantically looked for somebody at their end to be available, we agreed to try again, this time at 11.00am. Again, I stood outside Ropewalk Court in vain - these people don't really seem interested in letting!

My luck was on the change though, it seemed, because while I was standing there, a lady from another letting agent had arrived to show a different flat and her viewer hadn't showed. We chatted and I established that Denise and her colleague are the principals of at your service a relocation services company they've been operating since 1997. Serendipity or no, Denise now is charged with finding me a place to rent or buy and I'm hoping to hear good (or at least better) news this afternoon when she calls me.

In the meantime, Sue and Barry have been keeping a friendly eye on me. I visited last night for "bangers and mash", laundry detail, and another delightful evening of conversation, washed down with a medicinal glass of red wine.

Another day of briefing and learning awaits .....

i can't think of a song with ... doh! Ruby Tuesday!

Tuesday and the last couple of days have flown past.

Sunday was another delightful day, thanks to Sue and Barry, who took me on the "Cook's Tour" around Nottingham, including "Beeston Tech" (the friendly nickname for the other University in Nottingham), Trentbridge, Notts Forest, Notts County and Nottingham Trent's Clifton Campus.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon with neighbours Adam (from Sydney) and Elsabe (from South Africa via Germany) who were as delightful as Sue and Barry. It was when Adam and I popped downstairs to the local Budgens (7-11 equivalent) to replenish the red wine supplies that the whole notion of "the migrant enclave" hit me.

Having watched folks from all over the world arrive in Sydney (the Greeks in Newtown, the Italians in Leichardt, the Vietnamese in Cabramatta and the Chinese more latterly in Carlingford, Eastwood, Epping and, especially, Chatswood), I had a "textbook" appreciation of the gathering together. Within 3 days of arriving in Nottingham, I was part of the Aussie "enclave"! I now have a much fuller appreciation of the experience and the gathering together, even to the extent of "Yep, this is an OK neighbourhood and I'd like to live around here" (sotto voce, of course, is "and I'm close to Sue and Barry, to Elsabe and Adam").

We rounded out the evening with a viewing of "Kenny", a quintessentially Australian movie about a man and his loos, and I headed back to the Welbeck well set up for the week.

Yesterday was the first full day in the office and I dutifully arrived, suitably suited and ready for action, beginning with a briefing session with Baback, the Dean. I think we get on well - we share similar views and thought processes and he is very open to ideas. This was particularly evident in the afternoon's school executive meeting where we had a very fruitful strategic planning session - it also exposed me to a very sharp, but nonetheless personable group of people with a great collective sense of humour. We did some good work throughout the afternoon and I could end the first day well satisfied with the results.

I've got an office, a phone and a laptop that works (although I don't yet have a security card, coz the folks in card services are "training"). I've got a payslip and filled out forms, met lots of people already and no-one's snarled at me or bitten my head off yet, so I'm doing more than OK. If I can just find somewhere to live .....

saturday in the park after all!

Returned to my room here in the Welbeck after a "full English breakfast" all energized and ready to engage the new home hunting process, only to discover that, after several calls to the estate agents for the properties I had identified as of interest, no home hunting is going to occur today (or tomorrow for that matter).

Unlike Sydney, where the real estate agents' busiest days are Saturday and Sunday (well people work during the week don't they) our gentle real estate agents here in Nottingham keep banking hours - every one I rang this Saturday morning was closed! It was then I thought to ring Sue McKnight, NTU's Director of Libraries and Knowledge Resources and an Aussie to boot, to say "Help!", well more just to say g'day and make myself known to her, but she understood the plaintive tones and saved the day with an invitation to join her and husband, Brian, for lunch and a roast lamb for dinner (yum!). Now to find an off-license so that I don't turn up empty-handed.

saturday in the park

Well I doubt I'll get to the park today, not even to Park Row where the School's offices are based, as this is the day that I get serious about the hunt ... for an apartment that is. A couple of interesting alternatives have presented themselves on the net, in Hockley, Lace Market and Ropewalk Court, each with different agents in different parts of the city, so I'll let my fingers do the walking initially on the trusty "dog and bone".


Being up early gives me pause to consider my trip to "the city" yesterday.
60 quid and most of the day to spend 5 minutes with my "account manager" in London while he pushed a few buttons on his computer and pronounced me the same "David Lamond" as the one in Austraila who applied for the account to be opened gave me cause to wonder about the monumental waste of time and money. On the other hand, it does mean I am now "liquid" and able to transact, so it can't be all bad. And the young fellow who looked after me is pleasant and competent enough, so I could have done worse.

I continue to keep an eye on what is happening in Oz, discovering that PM Kevin Rudd says that the short term future in Australia is bleak and, worse, that "Roy" (Andrew Symonds) has gone walkabout in the Nothern Territory, catching fish instead of cricket balls at practice with the Australian XI and has been sent home to think about his priorities.

That being said, the UK Chancellor, Alistair Darling, is painting a not dissimilar picture about the UK economy (worst position in 60 years) and poor old Steve Harmison is getting a serve for making himself available for the English XI so the broad frameworks are not so many poles apart. The Times will be part of my daily read, although I won't be letting the Sydney Morning Herald go in a hurry. Ah well, hi ho hi ho, it's off to the hunt we go ....

Here I am in Blighty!

Greetings gentle reader, from Murray Steele's place in Renhold near Bedford, on my way to Nottingham. I rang Murray to say g'day and he kindly invited me for coffee, a shower and a chance to check emails, before we go and have lunch with Leo Murray and the Cranfield Old Fogies.

Arrived at Heathrow a little ahead of schedule this morning at about 6.40am and managed my way through immigration, baggage collection and customs before I hit my first "experience" of being back in the UK.

I was struggling manfully towards the Eurocar bus stop to get the courtesy shuttle to the depot to pick up my rental car for the next couple of weeks when, about 50 yards from the stop, I saw the Eurocar shuttle bus lights go on and knew it would be a close thing. I left the trolley to head to the sidewalk and do my best to get the attention of the driver, which I did, so he was able to look at me waving at him while he drove away!

Fortunately the wait for the next shuttle was relatively brief and I was in the Eurocar rental office after a drive round the Heathrow perimeter and a queue that was already lengthy, but moving at reasonable pace. My second "experience" was not long in coming as I was "segued" by the counter attendant from the auto VW golf that I'd prepaid 2 weeks for to a manual Vauxhall Vectra, on the basis of "Go to zone 15/16 and pick out the car that suits". I returned in state of some frustration and requested I be given the car I had reserved and for which I'd paid ("but sir, see it says 'or similar'"; "indeed, but 'manual' is not similar to 'auto' - I want the car I reserved and paid for". A few minutes out the back and your man returned to say "Please go to zone 5/6 and choose a car". I am now the happy driver of a Toyota Prius Hybrid with GPS, cruise control, etc and I've got to Bedford without making much of a dint at all in the fuel guage! My mate Mark Hindwell from Emerald is fond of "instant kharma" both as a song and observation and he would have said same in the context - I was annoyed but remained civilized, was assertive rather than aggressive, and did well :-). Now for that shower .....

wednesday morning, 3am

Up early this morning (as I am most mornings these days at least a couple of times - men's business) and blow me down if I haven't got suitcases packed and ready to go ahead of time! Now to make sure I don't leave any of the important electricals (like iPods) behind.

I'm jumping out of my skin with a mix of excitement and nerves about heading over to the other side of the world and taking on this great new job in situ. I was joking with an online buddy that, by the end of next month, I'll either be part of the furniture or on a plane back to Sydney wondering what that was all about!

Seriously though, I think it's the right amount of "performance anxiety" - wanting to do well, knowing that the capability and enthusiasm to do well are both there, but just enough uncertainty (and therefore anxiety) to have the adrenaline pumping and the systems working. Most people don't appreciate the difference between stress and disstress - if we didn't have the former, we'd not get out of bed in the morning (we need to eat and drink!) but we can do without the debilitating aspects of distress (something to remember for the workplace with which I'm about to engage).

so .... back to the packing and I'll be back for more blogging in a couple of days (unless I find a spare computer in the lounge at Bangkok on the way through).

Sunday, Sunday

A rather "lazy" day today after an enjoyable afternoon/evening yesterday having a barbeque with friends and famile. It was a mixture of farewell and Kerry's 29th birthday celebrations, with lots of work to ensure guests had an enjoyable time - still great to catch up with friends and family before I head off to Blighty. The continuing struggle against this flu that I can't seem to shake combined the hosting responsibilities, a few glasses of medicinal red wine and cleaning up duties shared with Kerry and son and heir, Luke, left me ready to snooze away some of the afternoon.

Only two full days now before I head off, so I begin packing in the morning with purpose. I'm working on the basis of taking "sufficient" to be able to settle into work and not creating a huge carbon footprint halfway across the world in order to do so (having all my CDs now transferred to the iPod will certainly help, saving more than a few kgs in baggage).

As "Big Kev" used to say, "I'm excited!"

wednesday on my mind (with apologies to the Easybeats)

It's Friday, but I do indeed have next Wednesday on my mind, when I'll head out to the airport in the afternoon for the flight to the UK and a drive up the M1 to Nottingham on next Thursday morning. It's been a cold, wet and miserable day in Sydney, weatherwise at least, so I can think I'm being conditioned for the weather I'm about to experience between now and the end of the year in the UK, but that would perhaps be unkind, given the 21C temperatures in the UK at the moment.

That being said, I did have a productive day today, meeting up with my former VC from my Macquarie University days, Emeritus Professor Di Yerbury. Gracious as always, she kindly hosted a lunch at her harbourside apartment, where we were joined by former colleague and good friend, Richard Braddock, and Di's Executive Officer, Mercedes. The conversation ranged far and wide and we managed to identify a variety of opportunities for the future in the process. It made the 'joys' of the train ride into and out of the city worthwhile.

Tomorrow's going to be a big day, as we welcome the family and other friends over throughout the afternoon and evening for a farewell barbie and a few quiet medicinal glasses (and perhaps a few noisier ones later in the evening :-)) I'm more excited with each contact I have with Nottingham about the decision being the right one as far as a place to work and a group of people with whom to work but I'm also working hard on containing my (fear, trepidation, uncertainty, concern - I'm not sure I know what is the right word here) regarding the move to the other side of the world, albeit to the country of my birth, and away from everything I know on this side of the world. Ah well, yeehah! :-)

.... misery

not because "the world is treating me bad", gentle reader, but because I can't seem to shake this flu that I picked up on the flight from Sydney to LA and that appears to have developed into a nice dose of pneumonia. One of my "kinder" colleagues in Copenhagen suggested this was a good thing because it meant that now I would rest, whether I liked it or not (an observation on my work ethic I think). But the work doesn't stop and between editorial, research, and associate dean's duties, I've got plenty to keep me occupied.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get ready for Nottingham and already it's clear that I'll be doing plenty to keep working apace - the Dean has shown a significant degree of confidence in my capacity to keep the place ticking over while he heads off on a well-deserved break, four days after I walk into the office (either that or a degree of confidence that the systems he's set up can't be dismantled by me in the time he's away :-)). The news is all good from my point of view though - the School is already doing good things, but needs further contribution to take it along the road in which it is heading, so challenges ahead but a very solid foundation on which to begin to tackle them. Goody! (he said, rubbing his hands in anticipation).

Baby you can drive my car ...

For those not familiar with my blog titles, I try to find a song title (usually from the 50s, 60s and 70s revealing my age and musical tastes) that reflects some aspect of the blog contents.

This title reflects the fact that part of my day today has been spent in the process of selling my car here in Australia so that I've got the readies to pick up something at the other end of my flight (I've got a rental for the first couple of weeks I'm there so I'm not too rushed in making a choice and, hopefully, it means that my good mate Gerry will have enough time to sell the car at this end and get a reasonable price for it). Gerry's also kindly volunteered to get me and a couple of bags out to the airport next Wednesday for the flight so that's at least a hefty cab fare saved (less the tolls, the petrol, etc).

In the meantime, I'm up to my armpits in emails from Anaheim and the continuing work I'm doing as I get ready - I'll probably find myself with too many shirts and too little time when the crunch comes to complete the packing but, well, there you go. Back to it ....

Lamond in Notttingham - A new beginning

Hello gentle reader,

If you've had an opportunity to read some or all of davidinkochi.blogspot.com, you'll be familiar with my approach to thinking and writing about my experiences in a different culture. This first post of a new blog, as I prepare to leave Australia's shores to return to the land of my birth to live for an extended period for the first time in 50 years, is the beginning of my latest adventure.

I leave for England next Wednesday afternoon (27th August), ready to walk into the office of my new employer, Nottingham Trent University on 1st September. Over the next week or so, as I say farewell to friends and family, I thought to jot down the experience of some of the reflections and emotions that come to me, and so set the scene for what is to come when I arrive.

At this stage, I've already been engaging with my colleagues, by phone and email, as well as in person last week at the Academy of Management meeting in Anaheim. After some of my previous experiences in Australia and other places, I have been keen to do the due diligence before and after my decision to accept the Associate Dean's position in the Nottingham Business School. So far all the efforts at triangulation have produced positive results - from academic colleagues and friends, as well as graduates of the School. Accordingly, I look forward to this next stage in my career and life with a great deal of optimism. More thoughts to come.