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I have been absolutely spoilt for sport on TV this weekend.

Last night, Venus beat Serena in the Wimbledon ladies final and the Tour de France got away in 2008 for the first stage, a non prologue stage for the first time since 1967. A fascinating race as the breakaway group was reeled back in and the race won by Valverde in an almighty sprint.

Tonight I had a massive problem. 3 different channels broadcasting major sports events simultaneously. The Silverstone British Grand Prix, a very eventful race in the on and off again rain. Lewis Hamilton drove a very safe race to come out eventual winner. His tyre choice could have been questioned but proved the right combination in the end.

The second stage of the 2008 Tour de France was as interesting as yesterdays first stage and saw Thor Hushovd win in a close sprint.

Finally the men's Tennis. I didn't watch most of the first set, only switching over occasionally, but Roger Federer lost the first set to Nadal. The unthinkable continued with a second set taken by Rafael.

Roger came out firing in the third set knowing he needed an early break and to win 3 sets in a row. The last time Roger dropped the first two sets at Wimbledon was in 2002.

It’s been a while since Tim has asked me to write an article for Back to Basics. Lately I’ve been more focused on our Geek Girl Blogger series, putting together their surveys and what not. Anyway, Back to Basics!

RSS! You may ask: “RS whaty whaty?” Or, “I’ve heard of that, what is it?”… or what I personally said was “I use RSS to read stuff at my work, but I’ve got no clue what it is exactly or how it works! What is it?” haha.

So I started researching it. When writing articles for Back to Basics I often don’t know much about whatever I’ve been asked to write about, and so I have to learn it myself and then write about that experience!

Not long after starting my research on RSS, literally I’d only clicked my mouse about four or five times! I came across a video from the commoncraft show called “RSS In Plain English” – wow! There’s my understanding and content for my RSS article! All in one little video. If you want to learn how RSS can benefit you… this video is well worth your time!
RSS In Plain English…. I owe my understanding and content to the guys who explained RSS in that video.

Last night was the last night my parents were here on their current holiday staying with us. It coincided with family night, and we kicked off after dinner with a game of UNO with everybody involved. Mercedes is funny. She likes to get the cards and when she has to put cards down thinks that is bad. When she has to pick she loves it!

Jude usually wins UNO and did again last night by a big margin.

After we put the little two to bed, Miranda Jadeen, Jude and I and Grandad and Grandma played a game of Carcasonne. Mum has played it before but Dad hadn’t. It was a very close game with the end result being a win to me, and then Miranda second with Jadeen and Dad separated by a point with grandma next and Jude coming last.

The results aren’t really important. What is is the time spent bonding as a family, learning group communication and playing skills (for the girls) and the time spent together.

I am finding my work schedule is working pretty well right now. I usually get up around 8-9am and start work within 10-15 minutes from getting up. I work through til around 4-6PM with lunch eaten at my desk thanks to my kind secretary / best friend / wife, From there I spend time with the kids and family, or go out to football training Tuesday night and basketball coaching Thursday night. The exception is Monday night where I break at 3:30 for running and hen start back into work at 5PM. Wednesday nights I do not go back to work until after everybody is in bed – around 11PM. The nights are then mine. I am finding that I can get in 4-6 hours each night before heading to bed around 2-3AM. Thursday nights I usually work right through til 4 or 5AM.

I have been taking some breaks to watch the tennis because this fits into the same waking time anyway (Wimbledon runs from 11:30PM to 3 or 4AM here).

This work schedule works best for the family and me. I don’t need more than 6 hours sleep anyway, and sometimes less. I have a very good sleep pattern and I can tell from my Xobni Stats that I am nearly always asleep between the hours of 4 and 8am.. The family gets my time from between 5 or 6pm and bedtime and also in weekends, particularly Sunday and plenty of regular sports and exercise means I am keeping fit. Clients in America are able to access me from around 10PM through 2AM my time when I am always awake and nearly always on the computer.