Another good day at the seaside with old vehicles.
Pictures now going up on Flickr so click through to see more.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Steppin' Out (not with Joe Jackson)
Although it is generally recommended, there is some debate in medical circles about the benefits or not of walking 10,000 steps a day. Whatever the truth, it is at least a target to aim for. And we all like those, don't we?
I have only managed 10k a handful of times so far in 2009 but I hit my new high point for the year so far yesterday, with 14,644 clocked up on the pedometer built into my phone. And as that only records distances of 8 steps or more, and it was on charge during the evening, I'm guessing I actually beat the 15,000 mark. The 8 step thing is a problem when going for a big target as it means a lot of steps just don't get counted. Mooching slowly round shops or museums, only moving a few steps from shelf to shelf or between paintings doesn't add to the total even though the steps themselves are still taken. Still, they say you should only really count brisk walking when counting for health reasons.
We have been measuring our steps here for a good four or five years now, on and off. I have had free pedometers from Kellogs cereals and also a work and local paper-sponsored plan to collect enough steps to walk to the moon (which I don't think got more than halfway there before the colective will vanished). Neither of those lasted more than a few months of active use before being conveniently forgotten about. Plus the clicking used to drive me up the wall.
For the last year though, I have had this mobile phone with pedometer software that doesn't click for every step I take. It has certainly kept me motivated to try and aim for the 10k as being a proper mobile I do actually have it with me all the time. I confess I do get a bit fed-up sometimes when I can't get close to my target though. When the weather conspires agianst me, or meetings run into the lunchtime period I will be lucky to make 4,000 on a work day and most of those come from the walk to and from the bus stop. A wet weekend can be even worse at maybe only 2 or 3,000.
Since Christmas (when it went away for a replacement screen due to an unfortunate car park incident) the phone reckons my average daily wandering is 7131 but as it only retains the daily totals for four weeks I am not sure if that is an overall or rolling average. Mind you, the "advanced" results page gives me a total of 414,401 steps and a daily average of 6578 so I'm more than happy to stick with the higher figure to boost my ego! Hopefully I can get to the million step mark without breaking another handset.
And you never know, I might eveb manage to lose a few pounds into the bargain.
I have only managed 10k a handful of times so far in 2009 but I hit my new high point for the year so far yesterday, with 14,644 clocked up on the pedometer built into my phone. And as that only records distances of 8 steps or more, and it was on charge during the evening, I'm guessing I actually beat the 15,000 mark. The 8 step thing is a problem when going for a big target as it means a lot of steps just don't get counted. Mooching slowly round shops or museums, only moving a few steps from shelf to shelf or between paintings doesn't add to the total even though the steps themselves are still taken. Still, they say you should only really count brisk walking when counting for health reasons.
We have been measuring our steps here for a good four or five years now, on and off. I have had free pedometers from Kellogs cereals and also a work and local paper-sponsored plan to collect enough steps to walk to the moon (which I don't think got more than halfway there before the colective will vanished). Neither of those lasted more than a few months of active use before being conveniently forgotten about. Plus the clicking used to drive me up the wall.
For the last year though, I have had this mobile phone with pedometer software that doesn't click for every step I take. It has certainly kept me motivated to try and aim for the 10k as being a proper mobile I do actually have it with me all the time. I confess I do get a bit fed-up sometimes when I can't get close to my target though. When the weather conspires agianst me, or meetings run into the lunchtime period I will be lucky to make 4,000 on a work day and most of those come from the walk to and from the bus stop. A wet weekend can be even worse at maybe only 2 or 3,000.
Since Christmas (when it went away for a replacement screen due to an unfortunate car park incident) the phone reckons my average daily wandering is 7131 but as it only retains the daily totals for four weeks I am not sure if that is an overall or rolling average. Mind you, the "advanced" results page gives me a total of 414,401 steps and a daily average of 6578 so I'm more than happy to stick with the higher figure to boost my ego! Hopefully I can get to the million step mark without breaking another handset.
And you never know, I might eveb manage to lose a few pounds into the bargain.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Fangs a lot!
Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.
Anyway, what we have here is my first book blog since the resurrection, so it seems appropriate to delve into the world of the undead. Sundays With Vlad by Paul Bibeau is an entertaining look at how Dracula, his real life counterpart and vampire culture in general has entered into the world we inhabit.
To get the negative vibes out of the way first, I was disappointed that in a book marketed as Travel we don't get to visit either London or Whitby, where several of the major plot points of Stoker's novel take place. I can forgive Bibeau for not venturing to Exeter, home of the Harkers, but it would have been interesting to compare the church at Whitby with the castles of Transylvania. And there are still plenty of dark and forbidding alleys in London which evoke the feel of the period and can indeed have you imagining vampires lurking around the corner amongst men in stovepipe hats and ragamuffin urchins.
The places we do get to see, however are vividly described and Bibeau gives a very good sense of the history which pervades into modern attitudes, even given the inevitable changes wrought to the scene over the centuries. I was particularly taken with the section looking at carnival attractions, haunted houses and the like in a decaying American seaside resort. So much of that could equally apply to much of the British coast.
Delving into the sub-cultures who have adopted the traits of the vampire (from role playing games to political hopefuls to the inevitable goths) we see a bunch of people who fervently believe in the powers or attributes of the creature of the night and yet try to integrate with society at large rather than just walling themselves off in a crypt or hiding in the darkness. We also get lots of small asides and vignettes such as the fancy dress store trying to keep up with demand for vampire costumes in the run-up to Halloween and the reactions of "normal" guests sharing a hotel with a vampire convention.
I came away thoroughly entranced by the subject, and with knowledge on facets of Vampire lore I'f never considered before. Recommended.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Not a diary
Just thought I'd mention, should anyone wonder, that I've not brought this back in order to keep it up as a diary as happened in the past. That was never my intention last time and somehow it slipped into a list of things I'd been up to rather than a place to get my thoughts down in words.
So don't expect daily posts and details of what we had for tea - unless it was something worth writing about of course! I do intend to go back to talking about the books I read, music I listen to and so forth though in amongst more discursive posts.
To that end, right now I have stuck Media Player on a random trawl through the music on the hard drive and so far have experienced:
808 State - Timebomb (Fon Mix)
Interference - Overload (Live)
Back To The Planet - Teenage Turtles (Extended Version)
A snippet of an interview between Jeremy from the Levellers and Simon Munnery, and
Hot Chocolate - Are You Getting Enough Happiness.
Which goes to prove something about which CDs I've ripped but quite what I'm not sure!
Tonight I have also listened to the latest Collings and Herrin Podcast (I get them here, but you can also find them on iTunes) as created by Andrew Collins and Richard Herring. For now suffice it to say that I enjoy them terribly and that Mr C's three volumes of memoirs are some of my favourite books and will probably get their own post at some point. Give the podcast a go if you can spare one hour, six minutes and thirty six second smetime.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Things to read
So, why have I decided to come back into the blogsphere just now?
Well, I've spent the last five years reading other people's words after getting fed up with trying to think of my own. Gradually the need to waffle on again has overtaken me and adding the occasional comment to the other blogs I read hasn't fulfilled that need, so here I am having a go a the real thing for myself once more. Hopefully someone, somewhere will get some enjoyment out of reading this along the line.
Some of those other blogs have been talking about magazines recently (see for example David Hepworth and five-centres) and that got me thinking about the ones I have pored my way through over the years.
There were always magazines in the house when I was growing up. Mum favoured My Weekly and Family Circle while Dad was a subscriber to National Geographic and also had some relating to his job as an Electrical Engineer. There were also two others we had all the time, but I'll come back to those later.
When we first got our ZX81 (and probably beforehand during the decision making) the Computer Magazine made it into our lives. Sinclair User was the first, to be followed in time and as the computer changed by Your Spectrum/Your Sinclair, Crash, Computer & Video Games, ST Format, Edge, Mean Machines, Mega, Games TM and Retro Gamer. I have subscribed to some of these over the years, and bought others off the shelf religiously every month but now find I read no computer or gaming magazines at all.
Music mags had a stronger hold on me, with Q, Kerrang, Raw Power, Sounds, NME, Mojo, Vox, Classic Rock, Rock & Reel and even Lime Lizard holding my weekly or monthly affections from time to time. But, as with the computer ones, I have stopped buying music magazines at present. I will still dip in when there is something particularly tasty on the cover or something I want to hear on a covermount CD but there is just too much out there and not enough time to consume it for me to be a regular reader right now.
So what do I still get month in, month out? Well, just SFX and Death Ray (and that one is a bi-monthly publication anyway). I've been buying SFX since the first issue and just can't seem to stop. Same with Death Ray. Even if I do only read half of most issues these days. Too many articles on films and tv shows I'm just not interested in, but enough wheat within the chaff to keep me going.
And then there's the Radio Times. This, along with the TV Times up until the listings market got de-regulated and we onlyhad to get one, has been the staple magazine of my entire life. I cannot remember a time when Tuesday evening wasn't spent ploughing through the listings to see what we might want to watch next week. The arrival of the Christmas double-issue, presaaged by a couple of weeks of early publications, is still one of the highlights of the year. Even if the amount I actually choose to sit down and watch shrinks on an almost daily basis, knowing what I have to choose from (or choose to avoid) is one of those things I just have to work out. Every Tuesday.
Well, I've spent the last five years reading other people's words after getting fed up with trying to think of my own. Gradually the need to waffle on again has overtaken me and adding the occasional comment to the other blogs I read hasn't fulfilled that need, so here I am having a go a the real thing for myself once more. Hopefully someone, somewhere will get some enjoyment out of reading this along the line.
Some of those other blogs have been talking about magazines recently (see for example David Hepworth and five-centres) and that got me thinking about the ones I have pored my way through over the years.
There were always magazines in the house when I was growing up. Mum favoured My Weekly and Family Circle while Dad was a subscriber to National Geographic and also had some relating to his job as an Electrical Engineer. There were also two others we had all the time, but I'll come back to those later.
When we first got our ZX81 (and probably beforehand during the decision making) the Computer Magazine made it into our lives. Sinclair User was the first, to be followed in time and as the computer changed by Your Spectrum/Your Sinclair, Crash, Computer & Video Games, ST Format, Edge, Mean Machines, Mega, Games TM and Retro Gamer. I have subscribed to some of these over the years, and bought others off the shelf religiously every month but now find I read no computer or gaming magazines at all.
Music mags had a stronger hold on me, with Q, Kerrang, Raw Power, Sounds, NME, Mojo, Vox, Classic Rock, Rock & Reel and even Lime Lizard holding my weekly or monthly affections from time to time. But, as with the computer ones, I have stopped buying music magazines at present. I will still dip in when there is something particularly tasty on the cover or something I want to hear on a covermount CD but there is just too much out there and not enough time to consume it for me to be a regular reader right now.
So what do I still get month in, month out? Well, just SFX and Death Ray (and that one is a bi-monthly publication anyway). I've been buying SFX since the first issue and just can't seem to stop. Same with Death Ray. Even if I do only read half of most issues these days. Too many articles on films and tv shows I'm just not interested in, but enough wheat within the chaff to keep me going.
And then there's the Radio Times. This, along with the TV Times up until the listings market got de-regulated and we onlyhad to get one, has been the staple magazine of my entire life. I cannot remember a time when Tuesday evening wasn't spent ploughing through the listings to see what we might want to watch next week. The arrival of the Christmas double-issue, presaaged by a couple of weeks of early publications, is still one of the highlights of the year. Even if the amount I actually choose to sit down and watch shrinks on an almost daily basis, knowing what I have to choose from (or choose to avoid) is one of those things I just have to work out. Every Tuesday.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Back at the keys again. Friday's visits went pretty well and while we haven't had any feedback from the operators yet the impression on the day was good so we are hopeful. Then Friday night was the wedding...
First time either of us had been to the football club here in Felixstowe. Quite a nice little clubhouse with a splendidly cheap bar (not that I over indulged on one pint, but I did buy some for other people...). Bride and Groom were great, the company was pretty good (even if I still couldn't bring myself to do too much conversationing - I will get the confidence one day), the music was good (first time I've seen a DJ at a function playing music from a PC) and overall it was quite fun. Joan danced her feet off and I stood by and did my best to mingle.
Most of the weekend was spent blitzing the house and garden but we also had Alexander to stop over on Saturday night, which was a laugh.
And not much more to add really. Joan is over the road at a Body Shop party and I'm debating whether to do any ironing or just go wandering around the web for an hour or so...
First time either of us had been to the football club here in Felixstowe. Quite a nice little clubhouse with a splendidly cheap bar (not that I over indulged on one pint, but I did buy some for other people...). Bride and Groom were great, the company was pretty good (even if I still couldn't bring myself to do too much conversationing - I will get the confidence one day), the music was good (first time I've seen a DJ at a function playing music from a PC) and overall it was quite fun. Joan danced her feet off and I stood by and did my best to mingle.
Most of the weekend was spent blitzing the house and garden but we also had Alexander to stop over on Saturday night, which was a laugh.
And not much more to add really. Joan is over the road at a Body Shop party and I'm debating whether to do any ironing or just go wandering around the web for an hour or so...
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Much as I enjoy the chance to get away from the office with all the interruptions, phones ringing and so forth and much as i enjoy learning new stuff I can categorically state that today was a pain in the backside and an almost total waste of time. We were out (at the Novotel again! Slightly better lunch than last week but still nothing startling) for the second phase of training on the mPLAN software that is supposed to revolutionise our lives if we ever get a working version. But of course the data still isn't ready to go in to it (and won't be until September or Christmas depending upon who's estimate you believe) and even the chap from the firm who wrote it didn't seem to know what parts he was trying to demonstrate were intended to do. Really fills you with confidence that does. Plus with the first session a couple of months ago now the morning was further wasted in going back over what we covered then, with the afternoon deviating from plan when we started picking holes in things and wanting more detailled explanations than were probably expected. I think we were all pretty fed up by the end of the day (especially when the expected 1615 finish turned in to a 1730 one).
Must think positively about what it will do if we ever get to use it.
Add to that the late finish meaning I wasn't able to get back to Felixstowe in time to pick Joan up from work (and the message I left her got garbled so she stood around for 20 minutes waiting for me in vain) and I was not a happy bunny. Especially as she is now out at a hen party for someone who works with Helen (the wedding is on Friday and we should be at the reception later in the evening - depending upon what time they get finished at Argos as it is Catalogue launch time again). Would have been nice to unwind with her company tonight but I shall just have to do the best I can alone.
So, what else has been going on? Well, as mentioned Joan was working all weekend so I didn't really stray very far from the ironing and shopping and stuff. And then more sorting of timetables and so forth at work. Chris and I had our first operator negotiations meeting for all the new timetables on Monday, but I'm not sure if we have any feedback from it yet. I think they were pretty receptive but we shall have to wait and see. Of course there could be stuff in the in-box that arrived while we were out getting frustrated today... We are out again on Friday so hopefully some good results from those. Thrills galore with the ususal mix of emails and stuff otherwise.
Saturday also saw the last page being turned on Harry Potter 5. I definitely enjoyed it, and less of a cliff-hanger than the end of the last one, but I still want JK to get the rest of the series written please. Wasn't all that impressed with the much vaunted tragic death either - both in the way it was engineered and how the aftermath was handled. Or indeed the actual event. OK, I know the series is intended for children but I think a bit more drama could have been put into that scene. Last night saw the close of another book read since Saturday - a collection of questions and answers from the Last Word column in New Scientist magazine. Things like Why is the sky blue? (Because of the way light is scattered by the atmosphere) and Why doesn't superglue stick to the inside of the tube? (It needs damp to set). Interesting stuff in the main and looking forward to the second volume I also got at the same time.
Have now started on Sprout Mask Replica by highly recomended teller of tall tales Robert Rankin. It has been a good few years since I last read any of his stuff and I've kind of missed him. Very strange stories mixing the mundane with the ridiculous - every day meeting elements of the fantastic and science fiction but not really categorisable with anything else I've ever read. Good stuff though and I really must get round to picking up all the books he's written since I last bought one...
Must think positively about what it will do if we ever get to use it.
Add to that the late finish meaning I wasn't able to get back to Felixstowe in time to pick Joan up from work (and the message I left her got garbled so she stood around for 20 minutes waiting for me in vain) and I was not a happy bunny. Especially as she is now out at a hen party for someone who works with Helen (the wedding is on Friday and we should be at the reception later in the evening - depending upon what time they get finished at Argos as it is Catalogue launch time again). Would have been nice to unwind with her company tonight but I shall just have to do the best I can alone.
So, what else has been going on? Well, as mentioned Joan was working all weekend so I didn't really stray very far from the ironing and shopping and stuff. And then more sorting of timetables and so forth at work. Chris and I had our first operator negotiations meeting for all the new timetables on Monday, but I'm not sure if we have any feedback from it yet. I think they were pretty receptive but we shall have to wait and see. Of course there could be stuff in the in-box that arrived while we were out getting frustrated today... We are out again on Friday so hopefully some good results from those. Thrills galore with the ususal mix of emails and stuff otherwise.
Saturday also saw the last page being turned on Harry Potter 5. I definitely enjoyed it, and less of a cliff-hanger than the end of the last one, but I still want JK to get the rest of the series written please. Wasn't all that impressed with the much vaunted tragic death either - both in the way it was engineered and how the aftermath was handled. Or indeed the actual event. OK, I know the series is intended for children but I think a bit more drama could have been put into that scene. Last night saw the close of another book read since Saturday - a collection of questions and answers from the Last Word column in New Scientist magazine. Things like Why is the sky blue? (Because of the way light is scattered by the atmosphere) and Why doesn't superglue stick to the inside of the tube? (It needs damp to set). Interesting stuff in the main and looking forward to the second volume I also got at the same time.
Have now started on Sprout Mask Replica by highly recomended teller of tall tales Robert Rankin. It has been a good few years since I last read any of his stuff and I've kind of missed him. Very strange stories mixing the mundane with the ridiculous - every day meeting elements of the fantastic and science fiction but not really categorisable with anything else I've ever read. Good stuff though and I really must get round to picking up all the books he's written since I last bought one...
Friday, July 16, 2004
Been a busy week these last few days (does that make sense?). Tuesday afternoon I was back across town to the old dingy St Edmund House for a briefing from our graduate trainee Mark on how his review of what we do is going. In the presence of our Assistant Director, Director and Portfolio Holding Councillor (as well as Ian and Mitchell with Charles and Derek and Julian to back us up). I actually found it quite useful - and not just in terms of finding out what he is up to - lots of stuff I've never really thought about before taking this new job. (I wonder how long I can continue to think of this as the new job...). We also gave an update on what we are doing
with the PSA area routes which seemed to go down well.
After that we all (well, us from the group, not the bigwigs) went over to the bar for a swift half. So that was the first time I'd been over there since the move as well. Also called in to say hello to Richard and was reminded again how pleased I am with Endeavour House despite the minor niggles. However, all was not joy and happiness. While I was over there Mum & Dad's cat got hit by a car and there was nothing the vet could do. Really sad as he was great fun.
Wednesday was a presentation skills course which was held at the Novotel in town. It was pretty good as courses go, but where we should have got:
What we actually had was a load of stuff about using Power Point. Not exactly what it said on the tin. And standards of lunch have also gone downhill since I was last at the Novotel (only one vegetable on offer - and that Broccoli!) although the mid-morning bacon rolls were up to scratch.
There was also a pretty good mix of people on the course from across the council (although biased towards Education) so we got a variety of topics covered and things talked about. Although they all managed to find a word or two of praise for Park & Ride.
Yesterday I was again out of the office - in a minibus with Charles doing route timing runs. One of mine/Chris's for the PSA area and one of his for his Lowestoft changes. Not a bad little run out in the ocuntry really. Most of our guessed times proved to be spot on the mark so just some minor tinkering to do. If only the weather had been a bit better and lunch in Yarmouth hadn't been so grotty (I should have suggested we find somewhere other than ASDA to go but you can't win them all - especially when Charles is involved).
Today back to a zillion emails and phone calls so will be glad to leave here soon for a night of relaxation and watching someone else get kicked out of the Big Brother house.
with the PSA area routes which seemed to go down well.
After that we all (well, us from the group, not the bigwigs) went over to the bar for a swift half. So that was the first time I'd been over there since the move as well. Also called in to say hello to Richard and was reminded again how pleased I am with Endeavour House despite the minor niggles. However, all was not joy and happiness. While I was over there Mum & Dad's cat got hit by a car and there was nothing the vet could do. Really sad as he was great fun.
Wednesday was a presentation skills course which was held at the Novotel in town. It was pretty good as courses go, but where we should have got:
- Strategies for designing effective presentations
- Defining clear objectives
- Gauging different audiences
- Proper preparation
- What technology to use and back up equipment
- Clarity of information
- Hints & tips for presentations (body language, appropriate eye contact)
What we actually had was a load of stuff about using Power Point. Not exactly what it said on the tin. And standards of lunch have also gone downhill since I was last at the Novotel (only one vegetable on offer - and that Broccoli!) although the mid-morning bacon rolls were up to scratch.
There was also a pretty good mix of people on the course from across the council (although biased towards Education) so we got a variety of topics covered and things talked about. Although they all managed to find a word or two of praise for Park & Ride.
Yesterday I was again out of the office - in a minibus with Charles doing route timing runs. One of mine/Chris's for the PSA area and one of his for his Lowestoft changes. Not a bad little run out in the ocuntry really. Most of our guessed times proved to be spot on the mark so just some minor tinkering to do. If only the weather had been a bit better and lunch in Yarmouth hadn't been so grotty (I should have suggested we find somewhere other than ASDA to go but you can't win them all - especially when Charles is involved).
Today back to a zillion emails and phone calls so will be glad to leave here soon for a night of relaxation and watching someone else get kicked out of the Big Brother house.
Monday, July 12, 2004
So here I am sat at my new desk. I wonder if I can get round the whole allocation of the group before we move to another building. Can't say I have noticed any improved group dynamics resulting from this revised seating today, but we will all be keeping a weather eye on things.
Good weekend, which was nice. Worked away at home on Saturday - and also finished the Dam Busters. Comments from previous days still apply! Then as it was released to the paperback preferring hordes I popped in to Smiths on my way to collect Joan and obtained the 5th in the series Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Enjoying it just as much as the first four thus far.
Sunday we went to the market and for the first time in ages I actually got something other than fruit, veg and bird food. OK, so only a book but one I've been considering anyway for £5 less than the price on the back. More details when I come to read it. Then a bit of shopping and a lazy afternoon followed by relaxed evening. Waking The Dead has returned for a new series and we are pleased.
Today has been fine for me, but frustrating for Joan as there seem to be loads of internal squabbles going on in the shop right now. Feel very sorry for her but not sure what I can do to help. Oh well, four weeks from now we will be in the mountains so hopefully able to forget things for a bit.
Good weekend, which was nice. Worked away at home on Saturday - and also finished the Dam Busters. Comments from previous days still apply! Then as it was released to the paperback preferring hordes I popped in to Smiths on my way to collect Joan and obtained the 5th in the series Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Enjoying it just as much as the first four thus far.
Sunday we went to the market and for the first time in ages I actually got something other than fruit, veg and bird food. OK, so only a book but one I've been considering anyway for £5 less than the price on the back. More details when I come to read it. Then a bit of shopping and a lazy afternoon followed by relaxed evening. Waking The Dead has returned for a new series and we are pleased.
Today has been fine for me, but frustrating for Joan as there seem to be loads of internal squabbles going on in the shop right now. Feel very sorry for her but not sure what I can do to help. Oh well, four weeks from now we will be in the mountains so hopefully able to forget things for a bit.
Friday, July 09, 2004
Looks like I will be moving desks again on Monday (well, I might start now actually). Seems that the arrangement of Community Transport and Network teams on our block of desks isn't to everyone's liking so it's musical chairs again to try and appease some of the moaners. So just when I had got used to a right hand desk I get to go back to a left hooker. Not 100% pleased as it means giving up being able to hide behind a cupboard (which has also proved useful for sticking information on out of the way) but I will just have to cope with that. Also a bit dubious about my new desk neighbour but that's life. Will just have to arrange things so I work at home more if required.
Not much else to record today. Still reading the Dam Busters and appreciative even more of what they went through in the cause of defending the country and so forth. Really don't know if I could have met the challenges the same way. No plans for the weekend so will just see what occurs.
Not much else to record today. Still reading the Dam Busters and appreciative even more of what they went through in the cause of defending the country and so forth. Really don't know if I could have met the challenges the same way. No plans for the weekend so will just see what occurs.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Well, we are now on our third new Dyson in as many weeks. Having phoned the firm up and played it down the line to them they agreed it was something that was in need of an engineer visit or replacement so after booking the former Joan obtained the latter from Marion (well, it does still come in the old 30 day replacement window with Argos anyway despite being a replacement already) so I then had to cancel the visit. Hopefully nothing else will go wrong or we will just get a refund and be done with it. Mind you, I'm not sure what we would get in exchange as I have no desire to return to the days of emptying bags after cleaning a carpet or two, and when the thing works it does a great job.
But I was kind of right about Sunday - all we really did was go to Sainsburys and Makro to pick up a few odds and ends and didn't get a lot more than that acheived. We did have lunch at (no longer "Fatty") Arbuckles as it was conveniently located on our route. Quite tasty and they have had a repaint since we last went, but they have also changed menus and so forth and not the same as it used to be. I guess we will still go there occasionally (it must be about once a year or so) but won't be rushing back in a hurry. Mind you, we could have been put off slightly by the incredible number of screaming kids dotted around the dining area. Another reason I am so glad we have no offspring - I couldn't be doing with all the hassle frankly! Still, they do at least have variable portion sizes on the menu so we were able to go with small meals and actually finish them for a change. So many places these days seem to serve vast amounts that the wastage factors are ridiculous. I don't mind paying for what I eat, but object to a huge portion costing more then being wasted.
Yesterday and today spent getting to grips with my target of writing a procedures manual for the team. I should probably be doing things with the PSA area timetables but as Chris is off and has left no instructions I don't know where he is at with them. OK, so I could phone him at home, but I prefer not to. If nothing else it might encourage him to phone me at home on my days off, which I'm not at all in favour of.
New detective series starting tonight (55 Degrees North) set in Newcastle so I expect we will give that a try and hope it doesn't get Joan too homesick. And best of the current crime bunch Waking The Dead returns next week for a new series. Looking forward to that a lot.
And finally, finished The Gun Seller yesterday. Not much to say really, the plot all came to a nice end that was reasonably well paced but it hasn't left me wanting to know what happened next to the protagonists. Have now returned to the truth with the second Paul Brickhill world war two book in my collection - The Dam Busters. Again, one I've read before (and also seen the film a few times) so familiar ground but good stuff anyway. Am now in slight shock at realising it must be a year since I read the Great Escape but never mind, time flies and there's nothing we can do to stop it. This one is just as meticulous in searching out the facts and just as enjoyable to re-read.
But I was kind of right about Sunday - all we really did was go to Sainsburys and Makro to pick up a few odds and ends and didn't get a lot more than that acheived. We did have lunch at (no longer "Fatty") Arbuckles as it was conveniently located on our route. Quite tasty and they have had a repaint since we last went, but they have also changed menus and so forth and not the same as it used to be. I guess we will still go there occasionally (it must be about once a year or so) but won't be rushing back in a hurry. Mind you, we could have been put off slightly by the incredible number of screaming kids dotted around the dining area. Another reason I am so glad we have no offspring - I couldn't be doing with all the hassle frankly! Still, they do at least have variable portion sizes on the menu so we were able to go with small meals and actually finish them for a change. So many places these days seem to serve vast amounts that the wastage factors are ridiculous. I don't mind paying for what I eat, but object to a huge portion costing more then being wasted.
Yesterday and today spent getting to grips with my target of writing a procedures manual for the team. I should probably be doing things with the PSA area timetables but as Chris is off and has left no instructions I don't know where he is at with them. OK, so I could phone him at home, but I prefer not to. If nothing else it might encourage him to phone me at home on my days off, which I'm not at all in favour of.
New detective series starting tonight (55 Degrees North) set in Newcastle so I expect we will give that a try and hope it doesn't get Joan too homesick. And best of the current crime bunch Waking The Dead returns next week for a new series. Looking forward to that a lot.
And finally, finished The Gun Seller yesterday. Not much to say really, the plot all came to a nice end that was reasonably well paced but it hasn't left me wanting to know what happened next to the protagonists. Have now returned to the truth with the second Paul Brickhill world war two book in my collection - The Dam Busters. Again, one I've read before (and also seen the film a few times) so familiar ground but good stuff anyway. Am now in slight shock at realising it must be a year since I read the Great Escape but never mind, time flies and there's nothing we can do to stop it. This one is just as meticulous in searching out the facts and just as enjoyable to re-read.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
I dunno, you spend the best part of a Metallica CD humming and ha-ing over what to write and completely forget to mention what you did last night. Yup, we went to the production of Camelot referred to on Tuesday. Apart from it being in a tent (with very squeaky frame making a lot of racket in the high winds) rather than strictly outdoors it was very good indeed. Not seen the film or a previous production so it was all new to me too. I do enjoy a bit of live theatre from time to time, and the amateur groups round here all do a stonkingly good job. Plus we won two prizes in the raffle!
Saturday's not what it used to be, so goes the Kingmaker song, and I'm inclined to agree. I seem to recall back in the dim and distant past that Saturdays were to be treasured as the first day of two away from work but it never seems to feel like that any more. If Joan is at work then I crack on with housework (and yet all my efforts never seem to make a difference - I may iron for hours but the pile never seems to go down or get rid of several sacks full of rubbish but there is always more to be found) and if she is off then the chances are we just work together. Or go shopping. Neither of which options seems to leave much room for the realxing, going out or having fun I'm sure weekends are supposed to consist of. We shall have to see what happens tomorrow, but I bet both shops and cleaning will be involved at some point. Possibly in an interconnected manner of course - especially if Joan agrees with my diagnosis that the new Dyson is making a strange racket as that may end up going back for another replacement. Makes me mad the way new things just don't work properly. Anyway, back to nicer things.
The trip to Rome seems to have been really good. OK, so Joan came back with some terrible blisters and a bit put off by the way some of her fellow travellers were a bit full of themselves but otherwise she had a really good time. Saw the Colliseum, Vatican and a bunch of other top sights, had some nice food and lots of sunshine. So that was good.
Wednesday we had a lazy day - went in to town and had lunch at The Office which opened around Christmas and we have been meaning to try it ever since. Very nice (we both had savoury pancakes) even if the portions were just too vast. Not a lot else doing though - just got her pictures done (and also the last few from Switzerland which were also in the camera - the perils of going digital meaning we have only used 1 normal film in a year!). Then another two days of work before today.
I did manage to finish A Short History... on Wednesday too. Really enjoyed it and I think I will have to go deeper in on some of the topics covered again at some point. Which may be helped by having re-joined the book club of course as at least now I might get to hear about some of the interesting science or engineering or historical books that I would otherwise miss. Never enough time to browse for them properly in the real or virtual worlds so a gentle reminder every month or so is nice. Am now about half way through The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie which I confess I only bought because it was cheap and I like Hugh's comedy work on the screen. Turns out to be quite good but not laugh out loud funny as implied by the quotes on the cover. Sort of spy thriller but based on an accidental involvement with the plot rather than a career spy. If that makes sense. Not going to become my favourite book but also not likely to never be read again...
The trip to Rome seems to have been really good. OK, so Joan came back with some terrible blisters and a bit put off by the way some of her fellow travellers were a bit full of themselves but otherwise she had a really good time. Saw the Colliseum, Vatican and a bunch of other top sights, had some nice food and lots of sunshine. So that was good.
Wednesday we had a lazy day - went in to town and had lunch at The Office which opened around Christmas and we have been meaning to try it ever since. Very nice (we both had savoury pancakes) even if the portions were just too vast. Not a lot else doing though - just got her pictures done (and also the last few from Switzerland which were also in the camera - the perils of going digital meaning we have only used 1 normal film in a year!). Then another two days of work before today.
I did manage to finish A Short History... on Wednesday too. Really enjoyed it and I think I will have to go deeper in on some of the topics covered again at some point. Which may be helped by having re-joined the book club of course as at least now I might get to hear about some of the interesting science or engineering or historical books that I would otherwise miss. Never enough time to browse for them properly in the real or virtual worlds so a gentle reminder every month or so is nice. Am now about half way through The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie which I confess I only bought because it was cheap and I like Hugh's comedy work on the screen. Turns out to be quite good but not laugh out loud funny as implied by the quotes on the cover. Sort of spy thriller but based on an accidental involvement with the plot rather than a career spy. If that makes sense. Not going to become my favourite book but also not likely to never be read again...
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Once again I wonder, where has the time gone? As I write this Joan is somewhere in the air between Rome and here having had a really good time as far as I can tell from a handful of text messages. She got picked up OK at 3 on Sunday morning and was there by 9.30. Really can't wait to get home tonight and hear all about it (not sure who will get home first as yet). So what have I been doing in the interim? Not much other than work to be truthful.
In fact I started early on the work front by coming in on Saturday for a change. Done it once or twice in the past when deadlines have loomed but don't intend to make a habit of it. However, I really needed to spend some uninterrupted time with Chris working on timetables and this seemed the best way to acheive that. Plus it means I get to take tomorrow off to spend with Joan without using up any of my accumulated flexi-time. Which is nice.
Sunday I just pottered about the house and got through some of the backlog of ironing (thrills!) before going round to Ma & Pa's for dinner. Wasn't intending to go round and act all helpless with Joan away, but they insisted so who am I to turn down a free meal! Dad was actually out most of the time I was there (he is stage-managing a production of Camelot due to take place at Landguard Fort later this week and is heavily into getting things to work at the moment) so only three of us anyway.
Then back to work yesterday with more tinkering with timetables and so forth. This afternoon we have a feedback visit from the firm who did the timetable distribution for us. They were a bit put out by some of the work last week when I spoke to them on the phone, but hopefully they will have calmed down a bit now and be OK to continue with the work. Fingers crossed and all that as I don't want it back again!
In fact I started early on the work front by coming in on Saturday for a change. Done it once or twice in the past when deadlines have loomed but don't intend to make a habit of it. However, I really needed to spend some uninterrupted time with Chris working on timetables and this seemed the best way to acheive that. Plus it means I get to take tomorrow off to spend with Joan without using up any of my accumulated flexi-time. Which is nice.
Sunday I just pottered about the house and got through some of the backlog of ironing (thrills!) before going round to Ma & Pa's for dinner. Wasn't intending to go round and act all helpless with Joan away, but they insisted so who am I to turn down a free meal! Dad was actually out most of the time I was there (he is stage-managing a production of Camelot due to take place at Landguard Fort later this week and is heavily into getting things to work at the moment) so only three of us anyway.
Then back to work yesterday with more tinkering with timetables and so forth. This afternoon we have a feedback visit from the firm who did the timetable distribution for us. They were a bit put out by some of the work last week when I spoke to them on the phone, but hopefully they will have calmed down a bit now and be OK to continue with the work. Fingers crossed and all that as I don't want it back again!
Friday, June 25, 2004
So England are out of the reckoning for Euro 2004. Another tournament, another defeat from a penalty shoot-out. Not the best way to be knocked out of a championship (is there a good way?) and another cause of trouble and fighting on the streets. Times like this I really hate the way people react and behave. Idiots, the lot of them.
Staying on a down note, we had a letter from Supreme on Wednesday telling us they were cancelling the Austria trip through lack of demand (so even fewer people than we went to Switzerland with last year must have booked up). Naturally we were a bit upset by this as we were really looking forward to it - new country to visit and all that. Still, they offered us a bit of a discount on anything else that was running which meant we were able to plump for our original second choice previously rejected for being a bit more than we wanted to pay:
The Glacier Express - The Jura, Montreux, Swiss Alps, the Rhine Falls and much more
Day one - leave home and travel cross channel and through France to spend the night in Dijon. So probably mustard for tea!
Day two - in to Switzerland via Lake Geneva, Montreaux and the Rhone Valley. Arrive in Brig where we spend a couple of nights.
Day three - "a trip to beautiful, traffic-free Zermatt affords views of the Matterhorn and the possibility of a mountain train to the Gornergrat."
Day four - "Glacier Express journey is a day of amazing scenery from Brig to St Moritz. During the 71/2 hour panoramic journey, it has been calculated that you will cross 291 bridges and travel through 91 tunnels." We then spend the next two nights just down the road from St. Moritz at Bivio.
Day five - more spectacular views when we go to the Maloja Pass and Pontresina and also into St. Moritz.
Day six - Homeward route via Zurich, Shaffhausen falls on the Rhine and through part of the Black Forest and the last night in Saarbrucken.
Day seven - all the rest of the way home.
So we will get to sleep (in beds as well as on the coach - neither of us manage to get through a whole journey without dropping off at some point) in France, Switzerland and Germany. And depending upon the route they take from Saarbrucken to Calais may get to touch on Luxembourg and Belgium as well. As we had wanted to go back to Switzerland this will be a worthy replacement to the Austria choice I think. And Charles is really jealous as we will be doing bits of Swiss Railways he hasn't managed yet. Hee hee. Being largely in the south of Switzerland it should be a bit warmer than last year (and August rather than September should help too).
Fingers are crossed that it all goes to plan now (they did say this one was nearly full - and yet we still have seats near the front of the coach...).
Been very quiet in here today. Only a couple of people in per team - but just when I thought that might give me the chance to catch up on stuff there have still been loads of minor interuptions to the flow of work. Must disconnect the phone system!
Really enjoying A Short History... - very good accessible style and all the info is just going in nicely. OK, so I am familiar with a lot of it from just general reading and education but very good nonetheless. Although I have been surprised by just how much I have retained from Physics and Chemistry lessons 15-20 odd years ago. I have also been surprised by quite how much of what we know about the world and universe etc was only discovered very recently. You always assume the stuff you get taught at school has been known for years and endlessly debated at higher levels before it gets down to mere kids books, but actually it seems to have been amazingly fresh as I was learning in the 70s and 80s. Also staggered somewhat by just how few people have been involved in some of the major discoveries etc - the same names keep cropping up time and again. Not always good of course, it seems CFCs were invented by the same guy who had already invented putting lead in petrol.
Oh well, weekend beckons, Joan off to Rome and me wondering what to do with myself...
Staying on a down note, we had a letter from Supreme on Wednesday telling us they were cancelling the Austria trip through lack of demand (so even fewer people than we went to Switzerland with last year must have booked up). Naturally we were a bit upset by this as we were really looking forward to it - new country to visit and all that. Still, they offered us a bit of a discount on anything else that was running which meant we were able to plump for our original second choice previously rejected for being a bit more than we wanted to pay:
The Glacier Express - The Jura, Montreux, Swiss Alps, the Rhine Falls and much more
Day one - leave home and travel cross channel and through France to spend the night in Dijon. So probably mustard for tea!
Day two - in to Switzerland via Lake Geneva, Montreaux and the Rhone Valley. Arrive in Brig where we spend a couple of nights.
Day three - "a trip to beautiful, traffic-free Zermatt affords views of the Matterhorn and the possibility of a mountain train to the Gornergrat."
Day four - "Glacier Express journey is a day of amazing scenery from Brig to St Moritz. During the 71/2 hour panoramic journey, it has been calculated that you will cross 291 bridges and travel through 91 tunnels." We then spend the next two nights just down the road from St. Moritz at Bivio.
Day five - more spectacular views when we go to the Maloja Pass and Pontresina and also into St. Moritz.
Day six - Homeward route via Zurich, Shaffhausen falls on the Rhine and through part of the Black Forest and the last night in Saarbrucken.
Day seven - all the rest of the way home.
So we will get to sleep (in beds as well as on the coach - neither of us manage to get through a whole journey without dropping off at some point) in France, Switzerland and Germany. And depending upon the route they take from Saarbrucken to Calais may get to touch on Luxembourg and Belgium as well. As we had wanted to go back to Switzerland this will be a worthy replacement to the Austria choice I think. And Charles is really jealous as we will be doing bits of Swiss Railways he hasn't managed yet. Hee hee. Being largely in the south of Switzerland it should be a bit warmer than last year (and August rather than September should help too).
Fingers are crossed that it all goes to plan now (they did say this one was nearly full - and yet we still have seats near the front of the coach...).
Been very quiet in here today. Only a couple of people in per team - but just when I thought that might give me the chance to catch up on stuff there have still been loads of minor interuptions to the flow of work. Must disconnect the phone system!
Really enjoying A Short History... - very good accessible style and all the info is just going in nicely. OK, so I am familiar with a lot of it from just general reading and education but very good nonetheless. Although I have been surprised by just how much I have retained from Physics and Chemistry lessons 15-20 odd years ago. I have also been surprised by quite how much of what we know about the world and universe etc was only discovered very recently. You always assume the stuff you get taught at school has been known for years and endlessly debated at higher levels before it gets down to mere kids books, but actually it seems to have been amazingly fresh as I was learning in the 70s and 80s. Also staggered somewhat by just how few people have been involved in some of the major discoveries etc - the same names keep cropping up time and again. Not always good of course, it seems CFCs were invented by the same guy who had already invented putting lead in petrol.
Oh well, weekend beckons, Joan off to Rome and me wondering what to do with myself...
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Something I failed to mention last week was both David from the Community Transport Team and Tracy from the Admin/Data team leaving. So that's four people left the group since we moved across town here to Endeavour House. Admittedly neither of them left because of the move but it has got to start looking suspicious to those higher up than us if anyone else goes in the near future (David has gone to National Express and Tracy just fancied a break). Not that I think anyone else is planning it just now. OK, so there are always rumblings of change afoot (like, Gary keeps threatening to go off and drive trains but never seems to put it into action) and I would of course tell them exactly where they could stick their targets if we were to win big on the lottery; but the chances of that are so astronomically slim...
Still, there have been a few enquiries already about our still-vacant post (the third one doing the same as Me and Charles) so hopefully we will get someone in there before the end of the summer.
Joan is now getting nicely excited for the Rome trip at the weekend. I'm still wishing I could go with her but hoping she has a good time in equal measure. She thinks she will get on with everyone OK (and they are only there for two nights after all) and the weather looks like it will have picked up again by then so fingers are crossed.
Today I have had the thrill of a lunch-meeting with East Babergh councillors. Only a couple of them turned up (I think there are only four anyway) and they were late. I think we answered a few questions OK but most of it was irrelevent. Also inedible - but I'd planned for that and had proper lunch before going!
Still, there have been a few enquiries already about our still-vacant post (the third one doing the same as Me and Charles) so hopefully we will get someone in there before the end of the summer.
Joan is now getting nicely excited for the Rome trip at the weekend. I'm still wishing I could go with her but hoping she has a good time in equal measure. She thinks she will get on with everyone OK (and they are only there for two nights after all) and the weather looks like it will have picked up again by then so fingers are crossed.
Today I have had the thrill of a lunch-meeting with East Babergh councillors. Only a couple of them turned up (I think there are only four anyway) and they were late. I think we answered a few questions OK but most of it was irrelevent. Also inedible - but I'd planned for that and had proper lunch before going!
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Late start for me today (like, 12 noon arrival in the office) as I was at the dentist this morning. Saw both Kirstie for a scrape and poke about and Mr Norfolk for the usual everything looks fine but we'll take some X-rays to be certain about the bone loss. So I was fine but he is leaving. The swine. He's been there the longest of any dentist we have seen in Felixstowe and will be sorely missed. OK, so he has inflicted a reasonable amount of pain and suffering on us all but generally we have pretty healthy mouths as a result. The big problem now is that there is a real shortage of dentists doing NHS work at the moment and thus no guarantee that they will get anyone decent to replace him. Or indeed anyone at all. At least we will still be registered with the practice as no-one seems to be taking on patients anywhere at the moment and we can't afford to start going private for everything. But it would all appear to be down to many of the same reasons that Joan didn't go for the job there she could have walked in to with her eyes shut. That is the practice boss being a pain in the backside to work for. Oh well, we shall just have to see how things turn out.
Not much else to say today (I am working on thrilling procedures for how to do my job). We did watch a bit of the football last night (the European Championships are on right now and England are through to the quarter finals) but haven't looked at Wimbledon as yet this year. Maybe later in the week I will throw in a round up of recent films we have watched...
Not much else to say today (I am working on thrilling procedures for how to do my job). We did watch a bit of the football last night (the European Championships are on right now and England are through to the quarter finals) but haven't looked at Wimbledon as yet this year. Maybe later in the week I will throw in a round up of recent films we have watched...
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