I've been writing this post since god know's when. It started out as an easy way for you guys to catch up with what I've been up to this fortnight. Unfortuantely I've yet to catch up with everything I've been up to. So I don't know how everyone else is supposed to! I really could do with some "Me time" but it doesn't look like I'll get anymore of that anytime soon.
Without further boring preamble here is a blog-lite version of the last fortnight.
Helen's Visit
Starting with my week off from work. Helen came up for a three day visit starting on the Monday. Unfortunately on the sunday night one of my water pipe joints burst and flooded the bathroom. It was one of those moments where you just think "Great" with as much sacasm as you can possibly imagine. Helen arrived before the plumber turned up, but it wasn't too long before it was fixed. Then we got down to some serious DVD watching, including Alias ,House and Battlestar Galactica.
I also introduced her to Wii sports playing Golf, Bowling, Baseball and Tennis. The overall score was 2-2 with Helen winning the Golf and the Bowling. I somehow managed to fluke a score on the Baseball to win.
Helen taught me how to cook Rissoto (if not how to spell it) so I've now been able to add that to my batchelor repatoire. If you've never tried it I can heartly recommend it. We also saw "The Good Shepard" at the cinema. That film is way to long and slow to recommend as a cinema experience. Best to wait for the DVD.
Unfortunately the visit was over all too soon by wednesday when I dropped Helen off at the airport. It was lovely to have the company for a few days ad breaks from the routine are always welcome.
Ashford
By sunday it was back to work time. I was due back at the plant in Ashford (Kent) first thing on Monday morning to finish what I started. So I drove back down on the Sunday afternoon just so I wasn't drving down at some ridiculously early time on the Monday morning. There was no snow this time and there was no drama either. Which makes a change.
Because I was sitting on the Channel tunnel there was a chance I would end up in Belgium later in the week (being the nearest engineer), however it never materialised.
Manchester
Which meant I could go visit the lads up in manchester the following weekend. Well that actually should of read "the lad" as bally didn't arrive until Saturday evening. But he had a good excuse so we forgave him. Of course there was football to be watched that weekend. Specifically Middlesbrough FC (my team) Vs Man Utd (Dave's team). It was 2-2 in the end with Man Utd getting a hotly contested penatly at the towards the end.
We lost the replay and I'm not bitter, honest!
Twelve of Twelve
New Toy
I won the weekly sweepstake at work twice in the same month. I'll tryand avoid the usual puns about buses. I've been part of the office sweepstake since I joined the company and statistically I should win once a year. But as we all know statistics like to lie. Anyway, With my winnings I decided to trawl ebay to see what bargins there were.
In the end I gazumped somebody and bought a PDA. I'd been looking to buy one for a while, but never really found one that I like (at the right price). The reason I wanted one was that now that I have a new PC at work I've been trying to organise my life using Outlook (including contacts, etc). I've been doing a pretty good job of it except that when I leave the office all the planning becomes useless. People ask - can I do this? Am I available to do that, but because I couldn't get at the PC, I couldn't give them an answer.
I hate written diaries and this way I let my PC rule even more of my life. How can I lose? ;-)
Eurovision
Oh my god! Okay, so it's typically Eurovision. The reason we don't win is that the people who voted for Scooch to represent us don't take it seriously. Okay I'll admit I think it's better than last years, but for the full on effect why don't we just enter some Butlins Redcoats?
Staff Development Course
After 5 days of work this is just what I needed. A full weekend of "death by powerpoint", but this is exactly what I had to do this past weekend. The staff development course is actually another hoop I have to jump through before I can apply to become a uniformed staff member with the ATC.
It was a residential course so I stayed the weekend at RAF Linton-On-Ouse. The course started at 7pm on the Friday and finished at 5pm on the Sunday. The days started at 9am and finished at 8pm (on the Saturday). A lot of it was "powerpoint" work, but there was the odd discussion and drill section to keep it intersting. The best bit was the bar prices in the Sergeants mess. I bought a round for everybody (10 of us) and it cost me £12 how cool is that.
Thankfully I passed the course so I can now apply to go into uniform. If I get though the application process it's back to polishing my shoes until I can see my face in them.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
12 of 12 March
It's 12th of March and that can only mean one thing. It's that time of the month where I avoid the censors and I'm let loose with my camera. At least until the men in white coats come along with the syringe nicknamed "Mr Happy".
I just wish a jacket with so many buckles was fashionable! So before I have to type this with my nose here we go again...
---
1. 07:30 Approx
By this time I'm awake, fed and ready for work. There is only one last thing I have to do before I leave - take my medication. I'm currently on 3 pills and a special orangr drink a day (+ a nasal spray for my sinus problems). The orange drink is the oddest thing. If I don't drink it as soon as it's made up then it turns to jelly and would require a Knife and Fork to drink.
---
2. 07:55 Approx
The traffic is backing up earlier on the commute than my previous 12 of 12. As always the matrix message signs (those displays above and beside the motorway) are right on the ball. Warning me of he possibilty of a queue and to drive at 40 mph. I'm desperately resisting the sarcasm at this moment.
---
3. 10:00 Approx
This is our testing panel at work. We use it to test any new equipment we plan to add to our standard systems. The display panels at the top are called HMI's (Human Machine Interface's) and the bottom electrical equipment are called PLC's (Programmable Logic Controller's). My working life is just full of TLA's (Three Letter Abbreviations), but we couldn't work without them.
---
4. 13:00 Approx
It's lunchtime and that's the time I can try and safetly get those jobs done during the day, that I can't do when I get back home in the evening. In this case try and sort out the mortgage on my house. I think they just make it this complicated on purpose to stop you switching and the fee's they charge are just horrendous. Power to the people obviously hasn't reach mortgage companies yet!
---
5. 14:57 Approx
A bigger picture of a TLA, sorry I mean a PLC. This is the device that control everything to do with the cremator (or incinerator). Each PLC has a software program running inside that takes information from a number of sources (including PC's) before deciding what to do. These little things take the place of huge panels that would take uo the space of a garden shed and make my life much easier than it was for some of my (older) colleagues.
---
6. 16:30 Approx
This is a machine that has just been finished in the workshop. What you are looking at is what is called the Primary Chamber. This is where the actual "Cremation" occurs, at temperatures of approximately 850 celcius (1562 Farenheit). We don't actually do any in the workshop, we just heat the machine up using the gas burners while testing. We only cremate when the machines are "on site" at the crematorium and running fully.
---
7. 18:30 Approx
The fridge of a single male in his mid 20's. It has just been restocked after a trip to the supermarket, from Top left to bottom right; Butter, Margarine, Mushrooms, Fruit Smoothy, Creme Freche, Spotted Dick, Cod Fillets, Pepsi Max (not mine, left by a friend 3 months ago). There is salad, corn on the cob and a potato in the trays at the bottom.
---
8. 18:45 Approx
But before I eat it's off on my trusty steed for some exercise. The bike is nothing to write home about as it is about 7 years old, but it is solid and everything still works well. I had to fit a new seat though as the old one could have been a cold war torture device invented by the KGB. Maybe the CIA has them as well, but they're not letting on. I like cycling it's helping me rebuild my leg strength afer I became rather inactive after an illness 3 1/2 years ago.
---
9. 19:20 Approx
Yep it's the obligatory dark picture (i'm doing it while I still can) and this one is very dark! On tonight's cycle route I passed a small track of which I've always wondered where it leads. I know curiosity killed the cat, but it always get's the better of me, so down I went. This is about halfway down the track. Although the photo's not brilliant, I felt like I was next in the "Blair Witch Project".
---
10. 19:22 Approx
The track didn't get very far and this is what greated me at it's finish. I'm in the middle of a pitch black wooded area and I've come across a sign that says "end". Needless to say you start to looking over your shoulder. I don't mind telling you I made it up the track faster than I went down it. As an aside for those of you who are unfamiliar with the British Highway code, the sign has nothing to do with "umbrella's required" (usually a necessity over here anyway) and is used to indicate roadworks.
---
11. 20:30 Approx
Food. I was so hungry when I got back from cycling. Do you remember that list from my fridge? Most of it ended up on this plate. I was so hungry that I ate half of it before I remembered to get a picture. Next time you might end up with an empty plate.
---
12. 21:45 Approx
Vanity, we all suffer from it and I am gulity as charged. I was looking at my passport with it's age old photo, before I happened to glance in the mirror. My hairline has defiantely gone backwards at a high rate of knots. However until eye's become detachable I've never known how bad it was "on top". The above photo confirms my worst fears. How I wish I hadn't given up the alcohol.
---
So there you have it. This puts 12 of 12, 25% of the way through this year and so far so good I'm still here. It's good job that this is all picture based, if I were let loose on my work stories I doubt you'd all be around next month.
If you have read all fo this and have no idea why I did this, then pop over here and read Chad's blog.
I just wish a jacket with so many buckles was fashionable! So before I have to type this with my nose here we go again...
---
1. 07:30 Approx
By this time I'm awake, fed and ready for work. There is only one last thing I have to do before I leave - take my medication. I'm currently on 3 pills and a special orangr drink a day (+ a nasal spray for my sinus problems). The orange drink is the oddest thing. If I don't drink it as soon as it's made up then it turns to jelly and would require a Knife and Fork to drink.
---
2. 07:55 Approx
The traffic is backing up earlier on the commute than my previous 12 of 12. As always the matrix message signs (those displays above and beside the motorway) are right on the ball. Warning me of he possibilty of a queue and to drive at 40 mph. I'm desperately resisting the sarcasm at this moment.
---
3. 10:00 Approx
This is our testing panel at work. We use it to test any new equipment we plan to add to our standard systems. The display panels at the top are called HMI's (Human Machine Interface's) and the bottom electrical equipment are called PLC's (Programmable Logic Controller's). My working life is just full of TLA's (Three Letter Abbreviations), but we couldn't work without them.
---
4. 13:00 Approx
It's lunchtime and that's the time I can try and safetly get those jobs done during the day, that I can't do when I get back home in the evening. In this case try and sort out the mortgage on my house. I think they just make it this complicated on purpose to stop you switching and the fee's they charge are just horrendous. Power to the people obviously hasn't reach mortgage companies yet!
---
5. 14:57 Approx
A bigger picture of a TLA, sorry I mean a PLC. This is the device that control everything to do with the cremator (or incinerator). Each PLC has a software program running inside that takes information from a number of sources (including PC's) before deciding what to do. These little things take the place of huge panels that would take uo the space of a garden shed and make my life much easier than it was for some of my (older) colleagues.
---
6. 16:30 Approx
This is a machine that has just been finished in the workshop. What you are looking at is what is called the Primary Chamber. This is where the actual "Cremation" occurs, at temperatures of approximately 850 celcius (1562 Farenheit). We don't actually do any in the workshop, we just heat the machine up using the gas burners while testing. We only cremate when the machines are "on site" at the crematorium and running fully.
---
7. 18:30 Approx
The fridge of a single male in his mid 20's. It has just been restocked after a trip to the supermarket, from Top left to bottom right; Butter, Margarine, Mushrooms, Fruit Smoothy, Creme Freche, Spotted Dick, Cod Fillets, Pepsi Max (not mine, left by a friend 3 months ago). There is salad, corn on the cob and a potato in the trays at the bottom.
---
8. 18:45 Approx
But before I eat it's off on my trusty steed for some exercise. The bike is nothing to write home about as it is about 7 years old, but it is solid and everything still works well. I had to fit a new seat though as the old one could have been a cold war torture device invented by the KGB. Maybe the CIA has them as well, but they're not letting on. I like cycling it's helping me rebuild my leg strength afer I became rather inactive after an illness 3 1/2 years ago.
---
9. 19:20 Approx
Yep it's the obligatory dark picture (i'm doing it while I still can) and this one is very dark! On tonight's cycle route I passed a small track of which I've always wondered where it leads. I know curiosity killed the cat, but it always get's the better of me, so down I went. This is about halfway down the track. Although the photo's not brilliant, I felt like I was next in the "Blair Witch Project".
---
10. 19:22 Approx
The track didn't get very far and this is what greated me at it's finish. I'm in the middle of a pitch black wooded area and I've come across a sign that says "end". Needless to say you start to looking over your shoulder. I don't mind telling you I made it up the track faster than I went down it. As an aside for those of you who are unfamiliar with the British Highway code, the sign has nothing to do with "umbrella's required" (usually a necessity over here anyway) and is used to indicate roadworks.
---
11. 20:30 Approx
Food. I was so hungry when I got back from cycling. Do you remember that list from my fridge? Most of it ended up on this plate. I was so hungry that I ate half of it before I remembered to get a picture. Next time you might end up with an empty plate.
---
12. 21:45 Approx
Vanity, we all suffer from it and I am gulity as charged. I was looking at my passport with it's age old photo, before I happened to glance in the mirror. My hairline has defiantely gone backwards at a high rate of knots. However until eye's become detachable I've never known how bad it was "on top". The above photo confirms my worst fears. How I wish I hadn't given up the alcohol.
---
So there you have it. This puts 12 of 12, 25% of the way through this year and so far so good I'm still here. It's good job that this is all picture based, if I were let loose on my work stories I doubt you'd all be around next month.
If you have read all fo this and have no idea why I did this, then pop over here and read Chad's blog.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
No News is Good News
Right?
For once I sat down to blog on a Wednesday as I usually do (mainly as it's a free evening) and I've just sat staring at my screen for 5 minutes. Nothing has happened in the last few days. Should I be worried? Will my life suddenly turn normal. Will I lose my powers of being interesting (if I do say so myself) watch this space if it remains blank, please feel free to fear the worst.
So I find myself in the odd position of turning to something relevant to mull over for once. Todays topic: Congestion charging.
* Lightning flashes, a lady screams and a poor orphen boy suddenly learns the awful truth about his father*
There has been a lot of time in the media devoted to this topic, mainly due to the phenominal number of people who responded to the online petition. In my opinion Congestion Charging via road charging is a bad idea. The government should be making public ransport more attractive, rather than making drving less attractive. I know causing the latter brings about the former, but for any government that relies on image this would be a bad idea.
Using me as an example here is how the car vs public transport debate works. At present I have a 12 mile commute to work using the car 90% of this is on the motorway (M1 and M621) and the other 10% is badly designed A roads and junctions between the 2 motorways. This takes me about 30 minutes on average. More during bad weather, less during school holidays.
My route on public transport would be much more varied. 12 miles is too far to walk/cycle to work so I need to take powered transport somewhere. It is 1 mile to the train station and then a 20 minute train journey to leeds station. £4 before 9am £2.50 after 9am, but of course it must be before 9am. Then I must walk to the bus station (about 10 minutes) to catch a bus that goes close to where I work. The bus would probably take 30 minutes to get to work. So far total transit time is 1 hour minimum.
Comparing current costs (40p a mile for the car) the car costs £4.80 and public transport £5.60 so there is only 80p difference between journeys. Over a year that translates to about £190 difference in cost. Now I could really reduce that if I cycled from Leeds station to work, which would be my prefered option. However I can't take my bike on rush hour trains. People are packed in like cattle already. There is no way they're going to let me on. They talk alot about reducing my "carbon footprint" but the most environmentally friendly option isn't available to me.
Obviously if they brought in road pricing they would definately price me out of driving my car to work. If public transport improves before they impelent this, then I'll gladly switch to public transport.
However if things don't improve, I won't go willingly, cully!
For once I sat down to blog on a Wednesday as I usually do (mainly as it's a free evening) and I've just sat staring at my screen for 5 minutes. Nothing has happened in the last few days. Should I be worried? Will my life suddenly turn normal. Will I lose my powers of being interesting (if I do say so myself) watch this space if it remains blank, please feel free to fear the worst.
So I find myself in the odd position of turning to something relevant to mull over for once. Todays topic: Congestion charging.
* Lightning flashes, a lady screams and a poor orphen boy suddenly learns the awful truth about his father*
There has been a lot of time in the media devoted to this topic, mainly due to the phenominal number of people who responded to the online petition. In my opinion Congestion Charging via road charging is a bad idea. The government should be making public ransport more attractive, rather than making drving less attractive. I know causing the latter brings about the former, but for any government that relies on image this would be a bad idea.
Using me as an example here is how the car vs public transport debate works. At present I have a 12 mile commute to work using the car 90% of this is on the motorway (M1 and M621) and the other 10% is badly designed A roads and junctions between the 2 motorways. This takes me about 30 minutes on average. More during bad weather, less during school holidays.
My route on public transport would be much more varied. 12 miles is too far to walk/cycle to work so I need to take powered transport somewhere. It is 1 mile to the train station and then a 20 minute train journey to leeds station. £4 before 9am £2.50 after 9am, but of course it must be before 9am. Then I must walk to the bus station (about 10 minutes) to catch a bus that goes close to where I work. The bus would probably take 30 minutes to get to work. So far total transit time is 1 hour minimum.
Comparing current costs (40p a mile for the car) the car costs £4.80 and public transport £5.60 so there is only 80p difference between journeys. Over a year that translates to about £190 difference in cost. Now I could really reduce that if I cycled from Leeds station to work, which would be my prefered option. However I can't take my bike on rush hour trains. People are packed in like cattle already. There is no way they're going to let me on. They talk alot about reducing my "carbon footprint" but the most environmentally friendly option isn't available to me.
Obviously if they brought in road pricing they would definately price me out of driving my car to work. If public transport improves before they impelent this, then I'll gladly switch to public transport.
However if things don't improve, I won't go willingly, cully!
Monday, February 19, 2007
It lives!
... insert evil belly laugh here ...
I've gone for a bit of a theme for the first part of this post. Why only the first part? Well because even with my twisted logic I couldn't make my the second half fit with the first part. I look at it and think it would be easier to stitch together chalk and cheese.
Part One - The Themed One!
Let's start with mentioning something that is currently among the unliving - my boss. He was away Thursday and Friday last week looking after the kids as his wife had flu. What was worse was his oldest daughter also had chickenpox so she couldn't even go to nursery. Unfortunately he's now also caught the flu as well! I wish him and his family well, not least because I'm running the office on my own at the moment. I may have next week off, but it looks like work is going to work me hard for it.
They have provided me a tool to try and make this easier though. The IT necromancer who works in his tower office in the emerald city has worked a miricle.
It lives...
Yes my laptop is back amongst the living pieces of electrical equipment. I didn't enquire too heavily as to how they managed it. All I know is that it involved lightning and some chanting in BASIC, when they started taking to me about sacrificing virgins I thought it best to beat a hasty retreat.
Another thing among the land of the living is ...
... me. Sort of. I'm feeling much better than I was a few weeks ago, but only thanks to the marvel that is modern medicine. I now have to take pills three times a day to stop the muscles spasms which are the cause of my discomfort and I also have to take dietry supplements as well.
The pills are fine, it's the supplements that are they odd thing. I need to take it once a day with breakfast and it takes the form of an "orange juice drink" I say form very loosly. Imagine talking your morning glass of orange and dissolving a weetabix biscuit in it, that's what it tastes like. It also soldifies if you don't drink it quickly. All I need is for it to bubble and steam to make my morning complete.
Part Two - The Random Stuff
Because it doesn't really belong anywhere else. For example I spent some of this weekend on a "Media Communications" course with the ATC. Bascially it was a course on how to write press releases, take interesting pictures and how to handle the media in a crisis. And that last part involves a lot more than just "No comment" I might add.
We also got chance to discuss the recruitment of Adult volunteers as they are planning a big recruitment drive over the next month. Did you know the ATC actually has more members than the RAF? But like most volunteer organisations we lack the people power to run all of our squadrons properly. It'll be intersting to see how the new campaigns works as last years wasn't all that good.
I've also started to watch the first season of "Life on Mars" which I bought on DVD last week. I have to admit it's one of the most intersting things I've watched recently. It has that little bit extra which to me makes it more than "just a cop show". I don't ever think I'll look at the girl from the test card the same again either. For those who haven't watched it I'd recommend it.
And finally, I found this picture on my camera, having forgotten it was there, I'll leave it up to you to add a caption.
I've gone for a bit of a theme for the first part of this post. Why only the first part? Well because even with my twisted logic I couldn't make my the second half fit with the first part. I look at it and think it would be easier to stitch together chalk and cheese.
Part One - The Themed One!
Let's start with mentioning something that is currently among the unliving - my boss. He was away Thursday and Friday last week looking after the kids as his wife had flu. What was worse was his oldest daughter also had chickenpox so she couldn't even go to nursery. Unfortunately he's now also caught the flu as well! I wish him and his family well, not least because I'm running the office on my own at the moment. I may have next week off, but it looks like work is going to work me hard for it.
They have provided me a tool to try and make this easier though. The IT necromancer who works in his tower office in the emerald city has worked a miricle.
It lives...
Yes my laptop is back amongst the living pieces of electrical equipment. I didn't enquire too heavily as to how they managed it. All I know is that it involved lightning and some chanting in BASIC, when they started taking to me about sacrificing virgins I thought it best to beat a hasty retreat.
Another thing among the land of the living is ...
... me. Sort of. I'm feeling much better than I was a few weeks ago, but only thanks to the marvel that is modern medicine. I now have to take pills three times a day to stop the muscles spasms which are the cause of my discomfort and I also have to take dietry supplements as well.
The pills are fine, it's the supplements that are they odd thing. I need to take it once a day with breakfast and it takes the form of an "orange juice drink" I say form very loosly. Imagine talking your morning glass of orange and dissolving a weetabix biscuit in it, that's what it tastes like. It also soldifies if you don't drink it quickly. All I need is for it to bubble and steam to make my morning complete.
Part Two - The Random Stuff
Because it doesn't really belong anywhere else. For example I spent some of this weekend on a "Media Communications" course with the ATC. Bascially it was a course on how to write press releases, take interesting pictures and how to handle the media in a crisis. And that last part involves a lot more than just "No comment" I might add.
We also got chance to discuss the recruitment of Adult volunteers as they are planning a big recruitment drive over the next month. Did you know the ATC actually has more members than the RAF? But like most volunteer organisations we lack the people power to run all of our squadrons properly. It'll be intersting to see how the new campaigns works as last years wasn't all that good.
I've also started to watch the first season of "Life on Mars" which I bought on DVD last week. I have to admit it's one of the most intersting things I've watched recently. It has that little bit extra which to me makes it more than "just a cop show". I don't ever think I'll look at the girl from the test card the same again either. For those who haven't watched it I'd recommend it.
And finally, I found this picture on my camera, having forgotten it was there, I'll leave it up to you to add a caption.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Thoughtful
Happy Valentines Day!
Although for me today is just like any other. Except I can't help but reflect on certain things. Especially when they seem intent on ramming it down your throat for the entire day. Don't get me wrong, it's great that a day like this exists. Love is definately a think that should be celebrated and to be quite honest romance is defiantely an idea that appeals.
However to make valentines the more special for those who celebrate it, maybe advertising should be toned down a bit. I would like to think I'm showing my affection because I wanted to, rather than because this is the only month of the year that WHSmith has a rack of cards allowing me to do so.
It was interesting to see how different people at work celebrated valentines day. Some went the whole hog, flowers, cards, chocolates etc. Other's were sightly quiter, but probably no less affectionate. And there were one or two who didn't do anything special (so they say).
Of course being completely honest with myself I do get slightly jealous around this time of year. Being brutally honest I don't make it easy for myself, but that's just the way I am. Even with all this I can still see the humour in it all.
I was stood in the queue for the checkouts at Tesco, when I actually looked up to study who was in the queue in front of me. There were 5 people in all, 4 blokes with baskets full of ready meals and the staples of bread, milk etc. The other was a bloke with a bouqet of Tesco value flowers. It was like somethign out of the start of a comedy sketch. What made me smile though was the realisation that I was stood in this queue and probably didn't look out of place at all.
That put me in a whimsical mood. And as always happens with at this time, I decided to do something on a whim. I went round Tesco's and worked out how much Valnetines would probably cost me if I weren't single. That money is now set aside for a good cause.
I just wish I had some chocolate in the house at the moment!
Although for me today is just like any other. Except I can't help but reflect on certain things. Especially when they seem intent on ramming it down your throat for the entire day. Don't get me wrong, it's great that a day like this exists. Love is definately a think that should be celebrated and to be quite honest romance is defiantely an idea that appeals.
However to make valentines the more special for those who celebrate it, maybe advertising should be toned down a bit. I would like to think I'm showing my affection because I wanted to, rather than because this is the only month of the year that WHSmith has a rack of cards allowing me to do so.
It was interesting to see how different people at work celebrated valentines day. Some went the whole hog, flowers, cards, chocolates etc. Other's were sightly quiter, but probably no less affectionate. And there were one or two who didn't do anything special (so they say).
Of course being completely honest with myself I do get slightly jealous around this time of year. Being brutally honest I don't make it easy for myself, but that's just the way I am. Even with all this I can still see the humour in it all.
I was stood in the queue for the checkouts at Tesco, when I actually looked up to study who was in the queue in front of me. There were 5 people in all, 4 blokes with baskets full of ready meals and the staples of bread, milk etc. The other was a bloke with a bouqet of Tesco value flowers. It was like somethign out of the start of a comedy sketch. What made me smile though was the realisation that I was stood in this queue and probably didn't look out of place at all.
That put me in a whimsical mood. And as always happens with at this time, I decided to do something on a whim. I went round Tesco's and worked out how much Valnetines would probably cost me if I weren't single. That money is now set aside for a good cause.
I just wish I had some chocolate in the house at the moment!
Monday, February 12, 2007
12 of 12 February
Well it's that time of the month again, it's 12 x12 x2, which could be 12 x 24. 24 huh?
"This is a day(ish) in the life of Andy Ellis. He has 24 hours to save the worldwith only his digital camera for company" I'll tell you now if I only had 24 hours to save the world I'd ask for an extention. I could guarantee that I'd want to sleep for at least 8 of those 24 hours. Can you imagine that...
... "Now on FOX, 5am - 6am on 24, beep, beep, beep..." All you would get would be an hour of me in bed asleep. Punctuated by adverts of course. In fact I could guarantee that those adverts would probably be the most exciting part. What am I saying such a programme already exists over here in the UK, it's called Big Brother.
So let's start todays 12 of 12 where I would spend those 8 hours of the day I mentioned earlier.
---
1. 06:45 Approx
This is the time my day begins when I'm working in the office. Although I'm not above catching an extra 5 minutes here and there. In cold weather I like to rap myself in the duvet like a sleeping bag and only my bald spot is probably visable between the covers. Well, nobody else needs the covers at the moment!
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2. 07:10 Approx
Breakfast. I'm never one for a cooked breakfast, however I always have a bowl of cereal which is bigger than the recommended serving. I'm also a big fan of banana's which is why I always add one to breakfast whenever possible.
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3. 07:45 Approx
My steed for this mornings ruch hour traffic. Although I'm back in the office I have a works van due to working on site last week. This was featured in Yesterdays Fable of the tale of the "Snow White Van Man".
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4. 08:05 Approx
And the rush hour is in full swing. I sit at this junction every morning rain or shine. In my opinion it is one of the most ill-designed junctions I have ever had the misfortune to come across on a regular basis. Also do you notice those white stripes painted on the road. You are not supposed to drive over those lines unless it's an emergency. I wonder where the truck is on the road? *Sarcasm*
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5. 09:30 Approx
My desk at work. It's a much more comfortable place to work than round the back of a cremator or on top of an incinerator. Yes there are 3 mugs on there, but I only use the one. I don't know who the other two belong too. They just seem to multiply.The last time somebody left a mug on my desk I planted a cactus in it. It's still on my window sill growing away nicely. Notice the fan heater in the bottom right hand corner. Until last week the radiator in the office didn't work.
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6. 11:00 Approx
Tea Break. Or in this case a biscuit break. This is the office (okay my) biscuit barrel. Can you guess what it actually is? Yes it's actually a plastic urn, although as far as I know it's only ever had biscuits in it. It currently houses my Jaffa cakes.
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7. 12:45 Approx
Lunchtime. Our canteen is only open Tuesday - Friday, so we have to fend for ourselves on a Monday. Usually we just wander up to the local sandwich shop or for those of us not watching what we eat, the chippie. As you can see I I took option A. It's a bagel with Salmon and Soft Cheese filling, a chocolate caramel slice (okay so I'm not watching my weight weight that much) and a fruit smoothie. Eaten at my desk as I've got stacks to do of course.
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8. 16:00 Approx
My true steed. Yes this is actualy my car when I'm not tearing around the countryside as teh country's slowest white van. I took this shortly after transfering all of maps, spare glasses, CD's etc from the van back into my car. The van and the car were parked less than 5 feet apart yet I still managed to lose the van keys walking between the van and my car!
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9. 19:00 Approx
Straight after getting back in after work I try and go out for a bike ride if it's dry and not to windy. I tend to cycle upto the top of the hill next door. Although Helen would probably argue that it isn't a hill. Anyway this is the view of the motorway at night from the top of the hill. I'm actually really pleased how this picture came out. Much better than the pier from last time.
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10. 20:00 Approx
Dinner. I wasn't too tired by this point tonight so I decided to cook something rather than break out something from the freezer. So what you see here is a low-fat chicken Korma, side salad and a not so low fat Peshwari Naan. The camera had to be quick as I was v. hungry. It was also very tasty as well. I'm glad I could enough so I could put together another one later in the week.
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11. 20:30 Approx
The aftermath. I hate the washing up. That's actually a couple of days worth of washing up. I do it that way to try and claim to being "Environmentally Friendly".
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12. 21:30 Approx
My "To watch pile" of DVD's. I'm getting to the state where I'm actually buying DVD's faster than I can watch them. If i get chance I'm going to reduce that pile by one tonight. You may notice quite a few Anime DVD's in that pile. At present my anime DVD's outnumber all my other DVD's by a ratio of 7 - 1.
---
So that's my 12 of 12 for February. You've now seen parts of the other side of my job, when I'm actaully sat behind a desk. Unfortunately some parts of it can't really be shown in a public forum for obvious reasons, but I hope it's intersting none the less.
If you have read all fo this and have no idea why I did this, then pop over here and read Chad's blog.
"This is a day(ish) in the life of Andy Ellis. He has 24 hours to save the worldwith only his digital camera for company" I'll tell you now if I only had 24 hours to save the world I'd ask for an extention. I could guarantee that I'd want to sleep for at least 8 of those 24 hours. Can you imagine that...
... "Now on FOX, 5am - 6am on 24, beep, beep, beep..." All you would get would be an hour of me in bed asleep. Punctuated by adverts of course. In fact I could guarantee that those adverts would probably be the most exciting part. What am I saying such a programme already exists over here in the UK, it's called Big Brother.
So let's start todays 12 of 12 where I would spend those 8 hours of the day I mentioned earlier.
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1. 06:45 Approx
This is the time my day begins when I'm working in the office. Although I'm not above catching an extra 5 minutes here and there. In cold weather I like to rap myself in the duvet like a sleeping bag and only my bald spot is probably visable between the covers. Well, nobody else needs the covers at the moment!
---
2. 07:10 Approx
Breakfast. I'm never one for a cooked breakfast, however I always have a bowl of cereal which is bigger than the recommended serving. I'm also a big fan of banana's which is why I always add one to breakfast whenever possible.
---
3. 07:45 Approx
My steed for this mornings ruch hour traffic. Although I'm back in the office I have a works van due to working on site last week. This was featured in Yesterdays Fable of the tale of the "Snow White Van Man".
---
4. 08:05 Approx
And the rush hour is in full swing. I sit at this junction every morning rain or shine. In my opinion it is one of the most ill-designed junctions I have ever had the misfortune to come across on a regular basis. Also do you notice those white stripes painted on the road. You are not supposed to drive over those lines unless it's an emergency. I wonder where the truck is on the road? *Sarcasm*
---
5. 09:30 Approx
My desk at work. It's a much more comfortable place to work than round the back of a cremator or on top of an incinerator. Yes there are 3 mugs on there, but I only use the one. I don't know who the other two belong too. They just seem to multiply.The last time somebody left a mug on my desk I planted a cactus in it. It's still on my window sill growing away nicely. Notice the fan heater in the bottom right hand corner. Until last week the radiator in the office didn't work.
---
6. 11:00 Approx
Tea Break. Or in this case a biscuit break. This is the office (okay my) biscuit barrel. Can you guess what it actually is? Yes it's actually a plastic urn, although as far as I know it's only ever had biscuits in it. It currently houses my Jaffa cakes.
---
7. 12:45 Approx
Lunchtime. Our canteen is only open Tuesday - Friday, so we have to fend for ourselves on a Monday. Usually we just wander up to the local sandwich shop or for those of us not watching what we eat, the chippie. As you can see I I took option A. It's a bagel with Salmon and Soft Cheese filling, a chocolate caramel slice (okay so I'm not watching my weight weight that much) and a fruit smoothie. Eaten at my desk as I've got stacks to do of course.
---
8. 16:00 Approx
My true steed. Yes this is actualy my car when I'm not tearing around the countryside as teh country's slowest white van. I took this shortly after transfering all of maps, spare glasses, CD's etc from the van back into my car. The van and the car were parked less than 5 feet apart yet I still managed to lose the van keys walking between the van and my car!
---
9. 19:00 Approx
Straight after getting back in after work I try and go out for a bike ride if it's dry and not to windy. I tend to cycle upto the top of the hill next door. Although Helen would probably argue that it isn't a hill. Anyway this is the view of the motorway at night from the top of the hill. I'm actually really pleased how this picture came out. Much better than the pier from last time.
---
10. 20:00 Approx
Dinner. I wasn't too tired by this point tonight so I decided to cook something rather than break out something from the freezer. So what you see here is a low-fat chicken Korma, side salad and a not so low fat Peshwari Naan. The camera had to be quick as I was v. hungry. It was also very tasty as well. I'm glad I could enough so I could put together another one later in the week.
---
11. 20:30 Approx
The aftermath. I hate the washing up. That's actually a couple of days worth of washing up. I do it that way to try and claim to being "Environmentally Friendly".
---
12. 21:30 Approx
My "To watch pile" of DVD's. I'm getting to the state where I'm actually buying DVD's faster than I can watch them. If i get chance I'm going to reduce that pile by one tonight. You may notice quite a few Anime DVD's in that pile. At present my anime DVD's outnumber all my other DVD's by a ratio of 7 - 1.
---
So that's my 12 of 12 for February. You've now seen parts of the other side of my job, when I'm actaully sat behind a desk. Unfortunately some parts of it can't really be shown in a public forum for obvious reasons, but I hope it's intersting none the less.
If you have read all fo this and have no idea why I did this, then pop over here and read Chad's blog.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Snow White Van Man
I'm sure their should be some "quotes" in that title somewhere, but I just can't seem to decide where to put them!
Once upon a time there was a wicked EnVIronmentaL health officer. Who one day decided to confer with his magic filing cabinet. You could tell it was a magic fling cabinet as it could speak and somehow everything could be filed under the letter 'V'. Yet when you reached your hand in he the file that came to hand was the one you actualy wanted.
"Cabinet, Cabinet on the floor, who is the cleanest on this shore" spoke the EHO. And low, the middle draw on the filing cabinet did open and did a single file rise slowly from it's unfathomable depths. And the file contained the information on a site in the fabled land of Kent. The EHO prided himself on being the cleanest in the land, but in his hand was a site that was clean, but was not as clean as an identical site in the land of Suffolk.
"How can this be?" cried the EHO. Another file rose from the cabinet, this time from the top drawer. Reading this new file a wicked smile came to the EHO's face.
"Bring me the Whtie Van man who cleaned up this site in the far of land of Suffolk. I want him here, send my minions forth. I want my site to be the cleanest in the land, whatever it takes to keep it that way!" So saying the EHO then issued an evil belly laugh. This laugh was so evil that all the birds nesting in the nearby trees took flight, for they are sensitive to such things.
And so White Van man was forced to travel to the fabled land of Kent, but only after working a full day in his office as a scullery maids work is never done. So after working "around" the fire he threw his tools in the back of a borrowed cart (okay van) and took the many pathways that led to Kent. Arriving late in Kent White Van Man got lost, but was taken in by a kindly inn. Well as kindly as an inn gets when they are getting paid by expenses.
Now at this point in the story you are probably expecting 7 dwarf (or dwarves if you prefer), but due to the EHO also having a political correctness fetish ther will be none of these in our tale. In fact there is nobody of a vertical challanged nature at all, not even a Jockey!
Feeling utterly knackerd the White van man immediately went to sleep. Not even wondering about the feeling of De ja Vu that engulfed him as he walked into the decidedly purple room. When awoke the next morning this is the site that greeted him.
After digging it out and still undecided where the quotes should go in his new name, Snow White Van Man set off to fufill the EHO's request not knowing that this story would not have a happy ending (there you've had fair warning, but read on if you must).
At first the request seemed an easy one. Snow White Van Man had already done this one and it should of been a simple matter to repeat the feat and at first all went well. But as the days past he came to realise all was not well in the land of Kent. And at the end of days he had to give up on his task, much to the displeasure of the EHO.
And so he was cursed to return to the land of Kent someday. To try and try again and again until the end of time until his task was done. And so he returned one last time to the inn, planning to sleep the sleep of a thousand years.
But no, he was awoken the next morning. Not by a fair prince I may add and for this he was glad because he didn't swing that way. Nor by a fair princess either (because Snow White Van Man is all for equal oppotuinities) it was not to be, although someday he hoped that would be true. So with a heavy heart he mounted his white steed and drove off into the rain.
Fin
Once upon a time there was a wicked EnVIronmentaL health officer. Who one day decided to confer with his magic filing cabinet. You could tell it was a magic fling cabinet as it could speak and somehow everything could be filed under the letter 'V'. Yet when you reached your hand in he the file that came to hand was the one you actualy wanted.
"Cabinet, Cabinet on the floor, who is the cleanest on this shore" spoke the EHO. And low, the middle draw on the filing cabinet did open and did a single file rise slowly from it's unfathomable depths. And the file contained the information on a site in the fabled land of Kent. The EHO prided himself on being the cleanest in the land, but in his hand was a site that was clean, but was not as clean as an identical site in the land of Suffolk.
"How can this be?" cried the EHO. Another file rose from the cabinet, this time from the top drawer. Reading this new file a wicked smile came to the EHO's face.
"Bring me the Whtie Van man who cleaned up this site in the far of land of Suffolk. I want him here, send my minions forth. I want my site to be the cleanest in the land, whatever it takes to keep it that way!" So saying the EHO then issued an evil belly laugh. This laugh was so evil that all the birds nesting in the nearby trees took flight, for they are sensitive to such things.
And so White Van man was forced to travel to the fabled land of Kent, but only after working a full day in his office as a scullery maids work is never done. So after working "around" the fire he threw his tools in the back of a borrowed cart (okay van) and took the many pathways that led to Kent. Arriving late in Kent White Van Man got lost, but was taken in by a kindly inn. Well as kindly as an inn gets when they are getting paid by expenses.
Now at this point in the story you are probably expecting 7 dwarf (or dwarves if you prefer), but due to the EHO also having a political correctness fetish ther will be none of these in our tale. In fact there is nobody of a vertical challanged nature at all, not even a Jockey!
Feeling utterly knackerd the White van man immediately went to sleep. Not even wondering about the feeling of De ja Vu that engulfed him as he walked into the decidedly purple room. When awoke the next morning this is the site that greeted him.
After digging it out and still undecided where the quotes should go in his new name, Snow White Van Man set off to fufill the EHO's request not knowing that this story would not have a happy ending (there you've had fair warning, but read on if you must).
At first the request seemed an easy one. Snow White Van Man had already done this one and it should of been a simple matter to repeat the feat and at first all went well. But as the days past he came to realise all was not well in the land of Kent. And at the end of days he had to give up on his task, much to the displeasure of the EHO.
And so he was cursed to return to the land of Kent someday. To try and try again and again until the end of time until his task was done. And so he returned one last time to the inn, planning to sleep the sleep of a thousand years.
But no, he was awoken the next morning. Not by a fair prince I may add and for this he was glad because he didn't swing that way. Nor by a fair princess either (because Snow White Van Man is all for equal oppotuinities) it was not to be, although someday he hoped that would be true. So with a heavy heart he mounted his white steed and drove off into the rain.
Fin
Monday, February 05, 2007
Splash! A-ha.
God's I'm tired.
I attempted to stay up and watch last nights Superbowl....
We interupt this programme to bring you a special news flash, there is currently water coming out if my ceiling...
... excuse me...
In the name of everybody everywhere. Why me? I've just spent the last half an hour mopping up all of the water on the floor of my bathroom and the kitchen. One of the joints on one of the toilet fittings has just decided now was the time to break! It was like a garden fountain as the pipe just pointed straight upwards. I've managed to fix the joint, but I think I'll keep the water turned off when I'm not out of the house. At least until I can get a plumber to look at it.
Which won't be this week as I'm away from wednesday evening until Sunday. Why do these things happen at the most inconvenient times. I'm not at my best at the moment anyway as my digestive system is giving me gip at the moment so I'm having to watch what I eat or drink more so than usual. Which is going to be made soubly difficult living out of restaurant in Ashford later in the week.
There are days when I just think the world is out to get me! Do I really want to get out of bed tomorrow. Roll on my time-off at the end of the month.
The big question which I was going to blog about before my house turned into a waterpark was the age old question...
...should I stick with my glasses or go back to my contact lenses. My glasses need replacing due to running into one too many solid objects. I'm caught in two minds wondering whether to go back to contact lenses or just replace the glasses. The reason I stopped wearing them was originally due to catching an eye infection - swiftly followed by that illness of mine. I never really got back into them after that.
If I stick with the glasses, do I stick with similar frames or go for something different. It'd be nice if I only had this trivial thing to worry about at the moment.
I attempted to stay up and watch last nights Superbowl....
We interupt this programme to bring you a special news flash, there is currently water coming out if my ceiling...
... excuse me...
In the name of everybody everywhere. Why me? I've just spent the last half an hour mopping up all of the water on the floor of my bathroom and the kitchen. One of the joints on one of the toilet fittings has just decided now was the time to break! It was like a garden fountain as the pipe just pointed straight upwards. I've managed to fix the joint, but I think I'll keep the water turned off when I'm not out of the house. At least until I can get a plumber to look at it.
Which won't be this week as I'm away from wednesday evening until Sunday. Why do these things happen at the most inconvenient times. I'm not at my best at the moment anyway as my digestive system is giving me gip at the moment so I'm having to watch what I eat or drink more so than usual. Which is going to be made soubly difficult living out of restaurant in Ashford later in the week.
There are days when I just think the world is out to get me! Do I really want to get out of bed tomorrow. Roll on my time-off at the end of the month.
The big question which I was going to blog about before my house turned into a waterpark was the age old question...
...should I stick with my glasses or go back to my contact lenses. My glasses need replacing due to running into one too many solid objects. I'm caught in two minds wondering whether to go back to contact lenses or just replace the glasses. The reason I stopped wearing them was originally due to catching an eye infection - swiftly followed by that illness of mine. I never really got back into them after that.
If I stick with the glasses, do I stick with similar frames or go for something different. It'd be nice if I only had this trivial thing to worry about at the moment.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Well Tickle Me Pink!
... er well maybe not. I don't go pink when tickled. I wonder where that expression came from?
Anyway I saw something yesterday that gave me a good laugh. It was something with good intentions, but ultimately useless. I was driving along (I'll get onto where later) when I came across the sign "Test Your Brakes". Now this is a great sign to have before you descend down a very steep hill however...
... in this case I came across this sign when I was already half way down the hill! I think half-way down the hill is a bit too late to be testing the brakes. I'd imagine if they didn't work you'd get a similar feeling as the sky diver who's just pulled the ripcord and nothing happens. The sense of impending doom as you hurtle steadily downwards.
Where was this hill I hear you cry (I'm hear lots of voices nowadays don't you worry). It was just south of Bath on one ofthe back roads between a place called Frome and Bath itself. I ended up down there with work on a very last minute job. So last minute I learn't of it at about 3pm on Tueday afternoon and drove down Tuesday evening as I had to start work at 8:30am on the Wednesday.
I'm now back in Leeds. I have a meeting with a customer tomorrow, so I had to finish the job today. Work just seems ridiculous at the moment, I have loads to do in the office yet I'm finding myself out on site more often lately. Next week I'm due to work on an incinerator in Ashford, Kent for 3 days next week. And one of those days is a Saturday, just so I can have 3 days in the office. Oh and again Im travelling down in the evening after working a full day.
That's irritating, but do you know what's been the most irritating thing this week has been? The light switch congiuration in the Frome Travel inn. Each switch is for a different bulb in the room. You walk in the rooma nd you can only see one switch, you press it and the light above the door comes on. You can now see the switches for the lights above the bed, so you walk over and switch them on. You then walk back to the door to switch the first light off. You need to reverse the process when leaving the room. Argh! The amount of times I climbed into bed forgetting about that light near the door!
Here's a statistic for you: Last month I spent 25% of the month in a travel inn.
Anyway I saw something yesterday that gave me a good laugh. It was something with good intentions, but ultimately useless. I was driving along (I'll get onto where later) when I came across the sign "Test Your Brakes". Now this is a great sign to have before you descend down a very steep hill however...
... in this case I came across this sign when I was already half way down the hill! I think half-way down the hill is a bit too late to be testing the brakes. I'd imagine if they didn't work you'd get a similar feeling as the sky diver who's just pulled the ripcord and nothing happens. The sense of impending doom as you hurtle steadily downwards.
Where was this hill I hear you cry (I'm hear lots of voices nowadays don't you worry). It was just south of Bath on one ofthe back roads between a place called Frome and Bath itself. I ended up down there with work on a very last minute job. So last minute I learn't of it at about 3pm on Tueday afternoon and drove down Tuesday evening as I had to start work at 8:30am on the Wednesday.
I'm now back in Leeds. I have a meeting with a customer tomorrow, so I had to finish the job today. Work just seems ridiculous at the moment, I have loads to do in the office yet I'm finding myself out on site more often lately. Next week I'm due to work on an incinerator in Ashford, Kent for 3 days next week. And one of those days is a Saturday, just so I can have 3 days in the office. Oh and again Im travelling down in the evening after working a full day.
That's irritating, but do you know what's been the most irritating thing this week has been? The light switch congiuration in the Frome Travel inn. Each switch is for a different bulb in the room. You walk in the rooma nd you can only see one switch, you press it and the light above the door comes on. You can now see the switches for the lights above the bed, so you walk over and switch them on. You then walk back to the door to switch the first light off. You need to reverse the process when leaving the room. Argh! The amount of times I climbed into bed forgetting about that light near the door!
Here's a statistic for you: Last month I spent 25% of the month in a travel inn.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Back in the Old Routine
Another milestone for the year. For the first time this year I got my bike out of the garage and have started cycling again. As far as possible I am managing to stick to my resolution to improve my overall fitness levels. This included a resolution to try and eat more healthly, which I am only just managing to keep.
I decided to not go to far this evening as it has been about 2 months since I last got on my bike. So I just did circuits up and down the hill by the side of my house. The break was due to work commitments before Xmas and the weather after it. I try not to go out when it's too windy. There is something soul sapping about trying to cycle into the wind. It takes so much energy and you just never seem to get anywhere.
I'll tell you what if it was any colder I would have had second thoughts about going out. It wasn't so bad on the slower sections (ie uphill), but on the faster sections (downhill) my cheeks felt like they were going to freeze off. My fingers also started to become numb, which is a definate problem when you need them to operate the brakes at the bottom of the hill. ;-) Next time I'm definately wearing my thicker gloves (supposedly for going skiing so they should be warmer).
T'ai Chi is also in full swing. I attended an all day course on Saturday from 11am until 4pm. All of these courses are run in the sterotypical church hall setting and they all have no heating and are bloody freezing. After a while you do get warm, but things like fingers don't get used much so they were cold for most of the session. Except for during the break when one of the other students on the course brought round warm pasties. There's nothing like a cornish pasty to warm your hands!
Finally hooray for the return of Top Gear, you have been sorely missed. Apparently it won the ratings war for the first time ever on Sunday night. Still, that's what they have to go through to get it, let's hope it never happens again. Here's also hoping that it doesn't curtail their sense of fun.
My sunday evening routine is now complete.
I decided to not go to far this evening as it has been about 2 months since I last got on my bike. So I just did circuits up and down the hill by the side of my house. The break was due to work commitments before Xmas and the weather after it. I try not to go out when it's too windy. There is something soul sapping about trying to cycle into the wind. It takes so much energy and you just never seem to get anywhere.
I'll tell you what if it was any colder I would have had second thoughts about going out. It wasn't so bad on the slower sections (ie uphill), but on the faster sections (downhill) my cheeks felt like they were going to freeze off. My fingers also started to become numb, which is a definate problem when you need them to operate the brakes at the bottom of the hill. ;-) Next time I'm definately wearing my thicker gloves (supposedly for going skiing so they should be warmer).
T'ai Chi is also in full swing. I attended an all day course on Saturday from 11am until 4pm. All of these courses are run in the sterotypical church hall setting and they all have no heating and are bloody freezing. After a while you do get warm, but things like fingers don't get used much so they were cold for most of the session. Except for during the break when one of the other students on the course brought round warm pasties. There's nothing like a cornish pasty to warm your hands!
Finally hooray for the return of Top Gear, you have been sorely missed. Apparently it won the ratings war for the first time ever on Sunday night. Still, that's what they have to go through to get it, let's hope it never happens again. Here's also hoping that it doesn't curtail their sense of fun.
My sunday evening routine is now complete.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
The Big Five-O.
Wow for some reason this post is actually my 50th post since I started this blog. Can you belive it? If I'm not careful this thing will be surpasing my post count for the WD! I know that 50 isn't that big a milestone, but at the rate I post 50 IS a big milestone. ;-)
Unfortunately there are no big earth shattering announcements that would be suitable for a milestone post, so instead you'll just have to put up with a whimsical post looking at my current favourite things.
The first thing is this little device I bought on Thursday.
And yes, it is a toy helicopter. But it is actually a tiny thing, about the size of your average paperback book. It is remote controlled and it actually flies! I bought it to use as a teaching aid, for when I teach principles of flight at ATC. The fact that I also have a lot of fun flying it has nothing to do with that decision. It's almost virtually indestructible so I dont have to worry when the cadets try to fly it.
The next is this little white box that lives under my TV.
Yup. I'm a single 27 year old male who still loves playing computer games. But this one is slightly different - okay we'll get the jokey bit out of the way now. It is called the Nintendo Wii (yes pronounced We, I refuse to add another 'e') and since I bought it both my parents and my Grandparents have played on it. Now they are the sort of people who don't normally play on these things.
The reason is, is that it is so much fun. It has remotes that mimic the movement of your arm rather than you having to press a button. Which means to play bowling, you swing your arm like you were bowling a real ball. Or to play tennis you swing it as if you were holding a racket. It's that simple, it's also quite energetic if you want it to be. Although I'm not suffering from tennis elbow... yet.
Next is my favourite treat. Yep, this is the food that I can't get enough of, but I hav enough will power to only treat myself too once in a while.
Tesco's Finest White Choc Chip cookies. Moreish (and fattening) don't quite cover it. They are just so moist...(drool). The glass actually contains one of the various smoothie drinks that you can buy at the moment. I discovered it quite by accident, when Tesco ran out of the orange juice I like. It's actually, Banana, Pineapple, Apple, Coconuts and Orange. The taste has grown on me and I now quite like it.
Have you ever had a picture that brings a warm glow whenever you see it?
This is picture is one of many in a book of work by an artist called Shin Takahashi. I think it's beauty is in its simplicity and I just wish I was able to scan it rather than photgraph it.
Finally I think at the moment this song has the title of most played on my PC at the moment, will it be the same after another 50 posts, we shall have to wait and see...
Unfortunately there are no big earth shattering announcements that would be suitable for a milestone post, so instead you'll just have to put up with a whimsical post looking at my current favourite things.
The first thing is this little device I bought on Thursday.
And yes, it is a toy helicopter. But it is actually a tiny thing, about the size of your average paperback book. It is remote controlled and it actually flies! I bought it to use as a teaching aid, for when I teach principles of flight at ATC. The fact that I also have a lot of fun flying it has nothing to do with that decision. It's almost virtually indestructible so I dont have to worry when the cadets try to fly it.
The next is this little white box that lives under my TV.
Yup. I'm a single 27 year old male who still loves playing computer games. But this one is slightly different - okay we'll get the jokey bit out of the way now. It is called the Nintendo Wii (yes pronounced We, I refuse to add another 'e') and since I bought it both my parents and my Grandparents have played on it. Now they are the sort of people who don't normally play on these things.The reason is, is that it is so much fun. It has remotes that mimic the movement of your arm rather than you having to press a button. Which means to play bowling, you swing your arm like you were bowling a real ball. Or to play tennis you swing it as if you were holding a racket. It's that simple, it's also quite energetic if you want it to be. Although I'm not suffering from tennis elbow... yet.
Next is my favourite treat. Yep, this is the food that I can't get enough of, but I hav enough will power to only treat myself too once in a while.
Tesco's Finest White Choc Chip cookies. Moreish (and fattening) don't quite cover it. They are just so moist...(drool). The glass actually contains one of the various smoothie drinks that you can buy at the moment. I discovered it quite by accident, when Tesco ran out of the orange juice I like. It's actually, Banana, Pineapple, Apple, Coconuts and Orange. The taste has grown on me and I now quite like it.
Have you ever had a picture that brings a warm glow whenever you see it?
This is picture is one of many in a book of work by an artist called Shin Takahashi. I think it's beauty is in its simplicity and I just wish I was able to scan it rather than photgraph it.Finally I think at the moment this song has the title of most played on my PC at the moment, will it be the same after another 50 posts, we shall have to wait and see...
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
State of the Onion Address
My fellow orangutans,
I speak to you today not looking forward, but first of all looking back. Today I personally lost something today that has been a constant source of support these last few years. I am of course talking about my works laptop! Finally after a long stuggle with bad sectors it finally succumbed to the inevitable. It did not suffer, there was no blue screen, it past away peacfully as the system froze before the life support was switched off. There was no recovery.
It will be sorely missed. It was interned on a shelf in the IT cupboard in the hope that some of it's organs may allow another patop the chance of life. This does not leave us without a PC, the laptop has spent the last week passing it's information onto it's successor. I hope my new desk bound PC will be just as successful as the laptop. I'm sure we will be able to work around it's lack of mobility.
With the current impact of humans on the environment we must commit to using 20% less oil in the next 10 years. To this end I urge you, like me to give up frying your food. Instead we should be grilling or using other cooking methods that require no oil. I myself used my new kitchen top grill today for the first time. Although there were no instructions we do not go forward blind. Improving our environment will not prove a chore. I myslef spent half an hour cleaning the used grill and loved every minute of it. ;-P
In closing my fellow critters. May bob dress Anita.
I speak to you today not looking forward, but first of all looking back. Today I personally lost something today that has been a constant source of support these last few years. I am of course talking about my works laptop! Finally after a long stuggle with bad sectors it finally succumbed to the inevitable. It did not suffer, there was no blue screen, it past away peacfully as the system froze before the life support was switched off. There was no recovery.
It will be sorely missed. It was interned on a shelf in the IT cupboard in the hope that some of it's organs may allow another patop the chance of life. This does not leave us without a PC, the laptop has spent the last week passing it's information onto it's successor. I hope my new desk bound PC will be just as successful as the laptop. I'm sure we will be able to work around it's lack of mobility.
With the current impact of humans on the environment we must commit to using 20% less oil in the next 10 years. To this end I urge you, like me to give up frying your food. Instead we should be grilling or using other cooking methods that require no oil. I myself used my new kitchen top grill today for the first time. Although there were no instructions we do not go forward blind. Improving our environment will not prove a chore. I myslef spent half an hour cleaning the used grill and loved every minute of it. ;-P
In closing my fellow critters. May bob dress Anita.
Monday, January 22, 2007
(Money + Interest) x Time = Evil
It is said that money is the root of all evil. But over the past few days I've come across things that challange that theory.
My hypothesis, if you will, is that money is not the root of all evil, it is actually just the leaves. I have come to the conclusion that mortgage companies are actually the root of all evil. Let me explain:
When I bought my house I took out a 2 year fixed mortgage, the repayments are fixed no matter what happens to interest rates. Once 2 years are over the mortgage reverts to a rate that is much greater than what you were paying, which also tracks with interest rates. Well last week i received a letter from my mortgage companies evil lair, reminding me that the 2 years fixed would be over in April.
Aside :April! Bloody hell, has it be been that long already. My house must actually be built on a spacial disturbance visable only in the 4th-dimension, for time to pass this quick. I half expect Jean-Luc Picard to ring my doorbell at any moment. Which would be another physics defying feat in itself as I don't have one. ;-)
My current mortgage company also sent me an offer of another fixed rate (more than I'm paying now, but less than what I would pay once my original is up). Plus there are no fee's to pay for setting up this mortgage.
This offer is only valid for 7 days. Hmmm, I wonder if they are trying to rush me into a decision. Looking around I can get cheaper fixed rates, however there are fee's involved in setting up each that reduce the savings somewhat.
Then there are the problems of switching before the 2 years are up. There are heavy penalities for early repayment (and hence switching mortgages). Which mean if I wanted to setup a different mortgage now it would actually save me nothing (in fact costing me more). So I can't actually switch until the 2 years are up. Which is actualy 3 months away, when all the current deals will have changed.
It's all a bit like a game of Pontoon, do you stick, or do you twist. Who knew that such problems await the house buyer after they have owned there house for awhile. I certainly didn't and while I won't lose any sleep over it all I can't believe how complicated it all is. Also I can't believe how much you have to work out before switching and that tactics employed by companies to muddy the waters as it were.
Therefore I nominate mortgage companies as the root of all evil, while thanking them for lending me the money to buy my house in the first place!
My hypothesis, if you will, is that money is not the root of all evil, it is actually just the leaves. I have come to the conclusion that mortgage companies are actually the root of all evil. Let me explain:
When I bought my house I took out a 2 year fixed mortgage, the repayments are fixed no matter what happens to interest rates. Once 2 years are over the mortgage reverts to a rate that is much greater than what you were paying, which also tracks with interest rates. Well last week i received a letter from my mortgage companies evil lair, reminding me that the 2 years fixed would be over in April.
Aside :April! Bloody hell, has it be been that long already. My house must actually be built on a spacial disturbance visable only in the 4th-dimension, for time to pass this quick. I half expect Jean-Luc Picard to ring my doorbell at any moment. Which would be another physics defying feat in itself as I don't have one. ;-)
My current mortgage company also sent me an offer of another fixed rate (more than I'm paying now, but less than what I would pay once my original is up). Plus there are no fee's to pay for setting up this mortgage.
This offer is only valid for 7 days. Hmmm, I wonder if they are trying to rush me into a decision. Looking around I can get cheaper fixed rates, however there are fee's involved in setting up each that reduce the savings somewhat.
Then there are the problems of switching before the 2 years are up. There are heavy penalities for early repayment (and hence switching mortgages). Which mean if I wanted to setup a different mortgage now it would actually save me nothing (in fact costing me more). So I can't actually switch until the 2 years are up. Which is actualy 3 months away, when all the current deals will have changed.
It's all a bit like a game of Pontoon, do you stick, or do you twist. Who knew that such problems await the house buyer after they have owned there house for awhile. I certainly didn't and while I won't lose any sleep over it all I can't believe how complicated it all is. Also I can't believe how much you have to work out before switching and that tactics employed by companies to muddy the waters as it were.
Therefore I nominate mortgage companies as the root of all evil, while thanking them for lending me the money to buy my house in the first place!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Normal Service, Yet to Be Resumed
Looking back to last week I realised I actually worked for 7 days straight for a total of 74 hours. Gods, I'd hate to do that every week. It's no wonder I seem to be behind at everything at the moment. I came back from Eastbourne with piles of washing, ironing and house cleaning to do. Plus I still had to fix the toilet in the bathroom.
The good news is that the bathroom now has a leak-free toilet installed in it and everything else has now dried out. The carpet no longer fits properly, but that doesn't matter. It'll do until Iget round to tiling the floor. But I have a couple of other jobs in the bathroom to do, before I can do that. I need to sort out a plumber to fit a new show and taps for bath, plus I'm thinking of installing a towel radiator instead of the current tiny one that's currently in there.
The washing ironing and cleaning have also been blitzed. I don't know how I found the energy to do it all, but I'm sure they haven't put something in the water. Speaking of the water, I had an argument with the water company of my bill on Monday. It turned out to be right (although in my opinion it might still be suspect), but I'm awaiting the full year statement in June before I'm completely happy.
Work has been really busy this week. I was looking forward to being back in the office as it should be entirely less stressful but...
... my boss is working in Holland this week, out tech support engineer is on the sick suffering with DVT and our trainee engineer is also on the sick after being assaulted at the weekend. I'm doing the work of 3 men (although it's technically 2 as I haven't had chance to do any of mine). It may all be worth it eventually when the overtime comes through, but at the moment it is a complete pain.
So I currently have no social life until this weekend. This is becoming a habit I'm definately going to have to break this year. Work took up too much of my time last year and I don't want to let it happen this year. Call this a late new years resolution if you will. I won't blame my lack of a love life on work though. I'm totally honest on it being failings at my end more than anything else.
I've basically lost contact with the person I meet before Xmas. I tried to get in touch a couple of times but she was too busy and also not feeling well. I felt really bad for ringing. In fact that's a problem I always have. I never like ringing people or starting online conversations in case people are busy and I'm disturbing them. Stupid I know, but there you go. I'm sure psychologists would have a field day with that one. Another look into the mind of Andy, be careful what you find there. ;-)
The aslt conversation I had I asked her to get in contact when she was feeling better and not busy, needless to say that was 3 weeks ago. Do I try again, or do I just leave her alone and move on, or does coutesy demand one more try. Gah!
I am glad that it's only the friverolous (sp?) things I have to worry about at the moment.
The good news is that the bathroom now has a leak-free toilet installed in it and everything else has now dried out. The carpet no longer fits properly, but that doesn't matter. It'll do until Iget round to tiling the floor. But I have a couple of other jobs in the bathroom to do, before I can do that. I need to sort out a plumber to fit a new show and taps for bath, plus I'm thinking of installing a towel radiator instead of the current tiny one that's currently in there.
The washing ironing and cleaning have also been blitzed. I don't know how I found the energy to do it all, but I'm sure they haven't put something in the water. Speaking of the water, I had an argument with the water company of my bill on Monday. It turned out to be right (although in my opinion it might still be suspect), but I'm awaiting the full year statement in June before I'm completely happy.
Work has been really busy this week. I was looking forward to being back in the office as it should be entirely less stressful but...
... my boss is working in Holland this week, out tech support engineer is on the sick suffering with DVT and our trainee engineer is also on the sick after being assaulted at the weekend. I'm doing the work of 3 men (although it's technically 2 as I haven't had chance to do any of mine). It may all be worth it eventually when the overtime comes through, but at the moment it is a complete pain.
So I currently have no social life until this weekend. This is becoming a habit I'm definately going to have to break this year. Work took up too much of my time last year and I don't want to let it happen this year. Call this a late new years resolution if you will. I won't blame my lack of a love life on work though. I'm totally honest on it being failings at my end more than anything else.
I've basically lost contact with the person I meet before Xmas. I tried to get in touch a couple of times but she was too busy and also not feeling well. I felt really bad for ringing. In fact that's a problem I always have. I never like ringing people or starting online conversations in case people are busy and I'm disturbing them. Stupid I know, but there you go. I'm sure psychologists would have a field day with that one. Another look into the mind of Andy, be careful what you find there. ;-)
The aslt conversation I had I asked her to get in contact when she was feeling better and not busy, needless to say that was 3 weeks ago. Do I try again, or do I just leave her alone and move on, or does coutesy demand one more try. Gah!
I am glad that it's only the friverolous (sp?) things I have to worry about at the moment.
Friday, January 12, 2007
12 Of 12
I know this post is on the 13th, but the hotel internet wasn't playing ball and I had a promise to keep...
This really shoube be 12 of 12 x 1 as this is my first ever 12 of 12. Yes we virgins still exist! Anyway onto my day and for those of you who know what I do for a living, well these pictures have been selected to be appropriate to all who may be wandering the internet.
For those of you wanting to try it and follow our decent into madness you can particiapte by first reading Chad's Blog.
Enjoy.
1. 06:45 approx.
This has been my home away from home for the week. A small room in a Travel Inn on the Outskirts of Eastbourne. Loving the lovely purple theme going on.
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2. 07:00 approx.
To get to the restaurant for breakfast you actually have to leave the hotel and cross the carpark. I was always the first one into breakfast, hence the reason it was still dark. I was at work for 07:30 every morning.
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3. 07:25 approx.
My trusty steed. This is a works van and is exactly like all other vans, slow and smells of cigerettes. It has a top speed of 70mph (80mph down hill) and the windscreen washer jets are on strike. I could actually walk to work from the hotel, but I couldn't carry all of my tools.
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4. 10:00 approx.
My current place of work, Eastbourne Crematorium. That's another I can add to my list of "Crematoria of Europe" I have visited.
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5. 13:00 approx.
Lunch time! I had a choice of Tesco and Sainsburys today. I'd frequented Tesco's for most of the week so I decieded for a change. Nuff said really.
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6. 13:30 approx.
I call this the Architects nightmare. When designing a crematorium I always feel for an architect. No only do they have to restrain there creativity without being bland, they must ensure they have one of these. There are only so many ways you can hide a large chimney.
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7. 15:00 approx.
This has been my other home away from home this week. I took this picture before I packed away my tools. And yes it's as cramped as it looks.
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8. 16:30 approx.
After all my hard work this week, this is all I have to show for it! I sliced the back of my hand open with a screwdriver. What's the point of a scar where nobody can really see it?
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9. 18:00 approx.
This is the view out of the back of the crematorium and was a chance to test the ability of my camera at night. You can just make out a church in the background, but you can't see the graveyard in the foreground. When working late I sometimes have to walk through a graveyard.
---
This really shoube be 12 of 12 x 1 as this is my first ever 12 of 12. Yes we virgins still exist! Anyway onto my day and for those of you who know what I do for a living, well these pictures have been selected to be appropriate to all who may be wandering the internet.
For those of you wanting to try it and follow our decent into madness you can particiapte by first reading Chad's Blog.
Enjoy.
1. 06:45 approx.
This has been my home away from home for the week. A small room in a Travel Inn on the Outskirts of Eastbourne. Loving the lovely purple theme going on.
---
2. 07:00 approx.
To get to the restaurant for breakfast you actually have to leave the hotel and cross the carpark. I was always the first one into breakfast, hence the reason it was still dark. I was at work for 07:30 every morning.
---
3. 07:25 approx.
My trusty steed. This is a works van and is exactly like all other vans, slow and smells of cigerettes. It has a top speed of 70mph (80mph down hill) and the windscreen washer jets are on strike. I could actually walk to work from the hotel, but I couldn't carry all of my tools.
---
4. 10:00 approx.
My current place of work, Eastbourne Crematorium. That's another I can add to my list of "Crematoria of Europe" I have visited.
---
5. 13:00 approx.
Lunch time! I had a choice of Tesco and Sainsburys today. I'd frequented Tesco's for most of the week so I decieded for a change. Nuff said really.
---
6. 13:30 approx.
I call this the Architects nightmare. When designing a crematorium I always feel for an architect. No only do they have to restrain there creativity without being bland, they must ensure they have one of these. There are only so many ways you can hide a large chimney.
---
7. 15:00 approx.
This has been my other home away from home this week. I took this picture before I packed away my tools. And yes it's as cramped as it looks.
---
8. 16:30 approx.
After all my hard work this week, this is all I have to show for it! I sliced the back of my hand open with a screwdriver. What's the point of a scar where nobody can really see it?
---
9. 18:00 approx.
This is the view out of the back of the crematorium and was a chance to test the ability of my camera at night. You can just make out a church in the background, but you can't see the graveyard in the foreground. When working late I sometimes have to walk through a graveyard.
---
10. 18:30 approx.
In Memory. This is a sight that always greets me when I drove out of the crematorium on an evening.
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11. 19:15 approx.
I went out for a walk on the seafront. Yes, I was out in the gales I must be mad! This is my attempt to photograph the pier, which was all nicely lit up. I won't give up my day job I think.
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In Memory. This is a sight that always greets me when I drove out of the crematorium on an evening.
---
11. 19:15 approx.
I went out for a walk on the seafront. Yes, I was out in the gales I must be mad! This is my attempt to photograph the pier, which was all nicely lit up. I won't give up my day job I think.
---
12. 20:00 approx.
Back in the hotel and I thought I'd pay tribute to those things that have kept me sane over the week. I'm gad I don't work away from home all the time as it can get very lonely.
----
There we have it my first (slightly late) 12 of 12. Only 11 more to go for the year. Wish me luck!
Back in the hotel and I thought I'd pay tribute to those things that have kept me sane over the week. I'm gad I don't work away from home all the time as it can get very lonely.
----
There we have it my first (slightly late) 12 of 12. Only 11 more to go for the year. Wish me luck!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Colour me Fushed!
Well, er...
...not quite. Before I get into the latest installment of the soap opera of my life I'd just like to wish everyone the best for 2007. May all your dreams come true, except one.
This year I decided it would be the year I re-decorate the bathroom. If there is one room in the house that really needs it, it's the bathroom. The house obviously decided this as well and decided to give me a little push in that direction. My toilet has devolped a small leak and I got back to find my carpet was sodden with water. This has obviously been going for longer than I thought as the carpet was funny colour on the underside when I pulled it up to inspect the floor.
Eww!
So I spent yesterday evening drying and cleaning the bathroom and I'm currently staying at my parents until I get it fixed this weeked (i'm then going to proceed to rip out the carpet). And just like the six million dollar man I'm sure it can be rebuilt. The plan is to install new taps on the bath, tile the floor (waterproof) and tile the rest of the wall that currently isn't tiled. If i'm feeling really handy, I might just straighten out the bathroom cabinet which surprisingly hasn't fallen off the wall since I put it up 18 months ago. But is still as crooked as ever.
However work is trying it's best to get in the way of my plans. After my glamourous trip to Strasbourg before Christmas, I have an even more glamourous one lined up. Next week I'm working in the elephant graveyard known as Eastbourne. I'm testing a machine that was damaged by fire just before christmas. And before anybody asks I don't think it was due to overuse either.
I've decided to travel Sunday to give me more working time and to catch the M25 on a 'good' day. Which is why I need to get things fixed on Saturday. I may also get back at a reasonable time on the Friday as well, although pigs may of course be soon landing at Heathrow! Apparently we work £4200 a year of unpaid overtime and I can quite well believe it.
I know what my overtime is going to pay for! ;-)
Happy New Year Folks.
...not quite. Before I get into the latest installment of the soap opera of my life I'd just like to wish everyone the best for 2007. May all your dreams come true, except one.
This year I decided it would be the year I re-decorate the bathroom. If there is one room in the house that really needs it, it's the bathroom. The house obviously decided this as well and decided to give me a little push in that direction. My toilet has devolped a small leak and I got back to find my carpet was sodden with water. This has obviously been going for longer than I thought as the carpet was funny colour on the underside when I pulled it up to inspect the floor.
Eww!
So I spent yesterday evening drying and cleaning the bathroom and I'm currently staying at my parents until I get it fixed this weeked (i'm then going to proceed to rip out the carpet). And just like the six million dollar man I'm sure it can be rebuilt. The plan is to install new taps on the bath, tile the floor (waterproof) and tile the rest of the wall that currently isn't tiled. If i'm feeling really handy, I might just straighten out the bathroom cabinet which surprisingly hasn't fallen off the wall since I put it up 18 months ago. But is still as crooked as ever.
However work is trying it's best to get in the way of my plans. After my glamourous trip to Strasbourg before Christmas, I have an even more glamourous one lined up. Next week I'm working in the elephant graveyard known as Eastbourne. I'm testing a machine that was damaged by fire just before christmas. And before anybody asks I don't think it was due to overuse either.
I've decided to travel Sunday to give me more working time and to catch the M25 on a 'good' day. Which is why I need to get things fixed on Saturday. I may also get back at a reasonable time on the Friday as well, although pigs may of course be soon landing at Heathrow! Apparently we work £4200 a year of unpaid overtime and I can quite well believe it.
I know what my overtime is going to pay for! ;-)
Happy New Year Folks.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Tales from the Bourg
... as in the Stras. Not as in "Resistance is Futile"
Yes it is I! Having returned from visiting our European cousins, I find myself 2 weeks behind in my preparations for christmas. It's unbelievable how quick christmas seems to have snuck up on us this year. Or should I say, snuck up on me. Today for instance, I only just finished writing out all of my cards. I'd have usually have done this days ago. If I hadn't been ahead of the game and done my christmas shopping before I left I would definately be in trouble by now.
It doesn't seem like I was away for 2 weeks either. The time just seem to have flown by. Maybe that's because we were working for 12 hours each day with a 45 minute drive between the site and the hotel (each way). I don't think I have ever worked so hard for such a long period of time. And to top it all off...
...the bloody thing still didn't work by the end of it all.
There were times when I phoned the office over the last 2 weeks and my first words were "The French shouldn't be allowed to build things". The biggest thing was they built it in the wrong place. Which is a particualr problem when the item in question weighs around 20 tonnes and has had all the ancillary equipment positioned and fitted around it . It was only 4 inches out of alignment, but that is enough to make the machine virtually useless. It took a day to move it the requeset distance..
After it had been moved there was a big hole in one side. Without going into too much detail, this hole is the equivalent of having a hole in the side of a straw when you are trying to have a drink. The French solution, was to stuff it full of heat resitant wool and bugger off.
We then had a usuable machine, which needed to be run-in for 3 days before it could be used properly. So we ran it for the requiset number of time and then when we came to use it...
... the door failed. It failed open, letting all the pent up heat (all 700 C) of it out into the room. Melting various fixtures in the process. The emergency release handle failed when we pulled it. In fact it could have been one of those TV comedy moments as the cable on the emergency release snapped leaving the handle in our hands. It took them 3 days to fix this and by that time it was time for me to leave. As far as I know the machine still isn't working.
Overall the job wasn't the best in the world and there were point's where I wasn't particulary happy during those 2 weeks. The French don't have a monopoly on silly mistakes though. I made the mistake of taking a wrong turn on the way to site one day. That doesn't seem to bad until I tell you that if I hadn't realised I would have been driving the wrong way down a German motorway!
I did manage to get into Strasbourg on one day though. It can be best described as "Very Quaint". A lot of it looks like Ye Olde England in place with whitewashed buildings with wood panelling. The Christmas decorations though were superb. The tree in the square is huge and nearly all the streets around the centre are lit up with a different set of lights.
Yes it is I! Having returned from visiting our European cousins, I find myself 2 weeks behind in my preparations for christmas. It's unbelievable how quick christmas seems to have snuck up on us this year. Or should I say, snuck up on me. Today for instance, I only just finished writing out all of my cards. I'd have usually have done this days ago. If I hadn't been ahead of the game and done my christmas shopping before I left I would definately be in trouble by now.
It doesn't seem like I was away for 2 weeks either. The time just seem to have flown by. Maybe that's because we were working for 12 hours each day with a 45 minute drive between the site and the hotel (each way). I don't think I have ever worked so hard for such a long period of time. And to top it all off...
...the bloody thing still didn't work by the end of it all.
There were times when I phoned the office over the last 2 weeks and my first words were "The French shouldn't be allowed to build things". The biggest thing was they built it in the wrong place. Which is a particualr problem when the item in question weighs around 20 tonnes and has had all the ancillary equipment positioned and fitted around it . It was only 4 inches out of alignment, but that is enough to make the machine virtually useless. It took a day to move it the requeset distance..
After it had been moved there was a big hole in one side. Without going into too much detail, this hole is the equivalent of having a hole in the side of a straw when you are trying to have a drink. The French solution, was to stuff it full of heat resitant wool and bugger off.
We then had a usuable machine, which needed to be run-in for 3 days before it could be used properly. So we ran it for the requiset number of time and then when we came to use it...
... the door failed. It failed open, letting all the pent up heat (all 700 C) of it out into the room. Melting various fixtures in the process. The emergency release handle failed when we pulled it. In fact it could have been one of those TV comedy moments as the cable on the emergency release snapped leaving the handle in our hands. It took them 3 days to fix this and by that time it was time for me to leave. As far as I know the machine still isn't working.
Overall the job wasn't the best in the world and there were point's where I wasn't particulary happy during those 2 weeks. The French don't have a monopoly on silly mistakes though. I made the mistake of taking a wrong turn on the way to site one day. That doesn't seem to bad until I tell you that if I hadn't realised I would have been driving the wrong way down a German motorway!
I did manage to get into Strasbourg on one day though. It can be best described as "Very Quaint". A lot of it looks like Ye Olde England in place with whitewashed buildings with wood panelling. The Christmas decorations though were superb. The tree in the square is huge and nearly all the streets around the centre are lit up with a different set of lights.
One street has a set of lit chandeliers strung between the shops. Each chandelier is made of real crystal as well. Those decorations muct be worth a fortune! It was packed as well when we went in. Strasbourg and the market are very popular this time of year. That was why our hotel was in Germany and we were commuting into France every morning.
I also saw a French Beaver *snigger, steady boys* which I never expected to see while emerging from a French multi-story. If you can keep yoursleves calm here it is:
The Beaver Shot!
Finally I returned home to find my heating and my hot water were off. The boiler has broken down again and guess what? Yep, you guessed it. The same part which failed last year has gone again. Looking at my records it has failed after 1 year and 5 days. The warranty on said part lasts 1 year.
I think you can guess which company received a very stongly worded email yesterday! ;-)
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
It's a Small World After All.
I'm still here!
Yes to quote just about anybody "You know what they say bout best laid plans..." It's not our fault this time though. The customer hasn't finished the actual building yet and doesn't have the necessary clearence from the French Government to cremate. So they asked to postpone it a bit...
... and then an email popped into the inbox this moring from our French office. Basically they expected to be ready for week 52 and they wanted an engineer sent then. Week 52 is exactly as it sounds. The last week of the year. Our reply to that was a firm, but polite "Fat Chance". I'm sure that would sound much more
poetic in French.
Next week is still a go though. I travel out to Strasbourg on Monday from Manchester Airport and won't be back until Friday 15th. So I'm away for about 12 days. There has been some trouble finding me a hotel at the moment because the Chrsitmas market starts in Strasbourg this weekend. Apparently it's VERY popular
and lots of people go there to visit it! I 'm keeping my fingers crossed I get to stay somewhere local.
I'm actually looking forward to it. I'll hopefully get some free time over the weekend to visit the market and maybe get to other places as well. My only worry is that the job has a few problems and I don't get any free time.
Given that I thought I wasn't going to be in the country for 3 weeks (inc. this one). I told the agency not to sort out anymore introductions until the New Year. So in true predictable style, the details of my next introduction landed on my doormat 2 days later. Typical. Still now that I had this week spare, I actually had the time to meet her before I went to France. So last night we went out for a Curry (her choice) before going on to a bar (as we got chased out of the restaurant). I had a really nice evening, we basically talked for most of it (apart from when we were stufing our faces). I'm sure we could of talked all night if it wasn't for the fact we both had work the next day.
I thought me going to France for 2 weeks would be a problem, but in fact she was quite happy to meet up again when I get back. She is actualy very busy anyway during the next fortnight, so it's ideal really. Do you want to know the really amazing thing...
... I actually knew her housemate about 18months ago, but had never met her before last night. It was only during a phone conversation on Sunday night, when I mentioned the ATC, that she actually mentioned she used to live in York and that her housemate was also an ATC instructor. When the truth emerged there were cries of "Oh my God" all round.
How small is this world getting?
Yes to quote just about anybody "You know what they say bout best laid plans..." It's not our fault this time though. The customer hasn't finished the actual building yet and doesn't have the necessary clearence from the French Government to cremate. So they asked to postpone it a bit...
... and then an email popped into the inbox this moring from our French office. Basically they expected to be ready for week 52 and they wanted an engineer sent then. Week 52 is exactly as it sounds. The last week of the year. Our reply to that was a firm, but polite "Fat Chance". I'm sure that would sound much more
poetic in French.
Next week is still a go though. I travel out to Strasbourg on Monday from Manchester Airport and won't be back until Friday 15th. So I'm away for about 12 days. There has been some trouble finding me a hotel at the moment because the Chrsitmas market starts in Strasbourg this weekend. Apparently it's VERY popular
and lots of people go there to visit it! I 'm keeping my fingers crossed I get to stay somewhere local.
I'm actually looking forward to it. I'll hopefully get some free time over the weekend to visit the market and maybe get to other places as well. My only worry is that the job has a few problems and I don't get any free time.
Given that I thought I wasn't going to be in the country for 3 weeks (inc. this one). I told the agency not to sort out anymore introductions until the New Year. So in true predictable style, the details of my next introduction landed on my doormat 2 days later. Typical. Still now that I had this week spare, I actually had the time to meet her before I went to France. So last night we went out for a Curry (her choice) before going on to a bar (as we got chased out of the restaurant). I had a really nice evening, we basically talked for most of it (apart from when we were stufing our faces). I'm sure we could of talked all night if it wasn't for the fact we both had work the next day.
I thought me going to France for 2 weeks would be a problem, but in fact she was quite happy to meet up again when I get back. She is actualy very busy anyway during the next fortnight, so it's ideal really. Do you want to know the really amazing thing...
... I actually knew her housemate about 18months ago, but had never met her before last night. It was only during a phone conversation on Sunday night, when I mentioned the ATC, that she actually mentioned she used to live in York and that her housemate was also an ATC instructor. When the truth emerged there were cries of "Oh my God" all round.
How small is this world getting?
Sunday, November 19, 2006
The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers!
Good Evening Folks!
I can defiantely say I'm much more perkier at the moment than I have been over the last 3-4 weeks. I'm still suffering with my sinuses, but I've now been switched to a stronger set of Antibiotics as well as a nasal spray. Add that to the fact that my boss was back at work on Thurday, which has really lifted a weight from my shoulders. So overall I have every reason to feel perkier. I certainly feel more awake.
I decided to blitz the house today, which is something I periodically do. So it was dusted, washed, swept, bleached, mopped, vacuumed from top to bottom. Once I started I just didn't stop. After lunch (yes that was before lunch) I went out for a bike ride while the weather was dry (but boy was it cold). I decided to ride on to the next village just to see how far I could get. It's only 3 miles away, but what I didn't take into account was that it was mostly downhill on the way there. I got there thinking "That was easy" and then on the way back all I was thinking was "bugger"! I helped myself to an extra slice of malt loaf after that one.
Looking back on the week, we also had our Annual Formal Inspection at Cadets this week. Basically that's when 2-3 higher ups visit the squadron. We then get rated on everything from our paperwork to moral. They can be very picky. I mean, we got marked down for not having any "No smoking" signs in the building. We don't allow smoking in the organisation for crying out loud. Still we got full marks for moral if nothing else. :-)
My trip to France saga took another twist this week. As you know I was supposed to be there this week. Well it looks likely that I'm now going out to France on Moday 27th for 5 days. Not to bad except...
... I have the weekend and then it looks like I'll be going to France again (Strasbourg this time) for at least 2 weeks. That's going to mean I'm away for half of Decemeber. So I'm either going to have to be really early or really late with my Xmas shopping. Do I dare leave it late in case I'm in France for longer? At least work have given me some warning over this one. Still it's this sort of thing that plays havoc with my social life (what little of it I have ).
Speaking of social life I have a little news. I went to meet my first introduction last night. It was a last minute thing as she'd just finished working nights and I wasn't in France. We went out for a Thai meal which was ratehr nice and we bascally chatted the nigth away. It was a nice evening, but at the end of it we decided that we both weren't what each other was looking for. I can't believe how nervous I was at the start as well. So I'll be going on to the next introduction, although not until I get abck from France probably.
But it makes me wonder, would I even know what I'm looking for, even if it's sitting right in front of me? Or am I too slow to realise these things. I guess we'll find out. It makes me wonder how many opportunites we let slip by because we don't realise they are there...
... or because we weren't willing to risk something.
Oh and blogger keeps telling me that V2.0 is now up and running. Should I be switching?
I can defiantely say I'm much more perkier at the moment than I have been over the last 3-4 weeks. I'm still suffering with my sinuses, but I've now been switched to a stronger set of Antibiotics as well as a nasal spray. Add that to the fact that my boss was back at work on Thurday, which has really lifted a weight from my shoulders. So overall I have every reason to feel perkier. I certainly feel more awake.
I decided to blitz the house today, which is something I periodically do. So it was dusted, washed, swept, bleached, mopped, vacuumed from top to bottom. Once I started I just didn't stop. After lunch (yes that was before lunch) I went out for a bike ride while the weather was dry (but boy was it cold). I decided to ride on to the next village just to see how far I could get. It's only 3 miles away, but what I didn't take into account was that it was mostly downhill on the way there. I got there thinking "That was easy" and then on the way back all I was thinking was "bugger"! I helped myself to an extra slice of malt loaf after that one.
Looking back on the week, we also had our Annual Formal Inspection at Cadets this week. Basically that's when 2-3 higher ups visit the squadron. We then get rated on everything from our paperwork to moral. They can be very picky. I mean, we got marked down for not having any "No smoking" signs in the building. We don't allow smoking in the organisation for crying out loud. Still we got full marks for moral if nothing else. :-)
My trip to France saga took another twist this week. As you know I was supposed to be there this week. Well it looks likely that I'm now going out to France on Moday 27th for 5 days. Not to bad except...
... I have the weekend and then it looks like I'll be going to France again (Strasbourg this time) for at least 2 weeks. That's going to mean I'm away for half of Decemeber. So I'm either going to have to be really early or really late with my Xmas shopping. Do I dare leave it late in case I'm in France for longer? At least work have given me some warning over this one. Still it's this sort of thing that plays havoc with my social life (what little of it I have ).
Speaking of social life I have a little news. I went to meet my first introduction last night. It was a last minute thing as she'd just finished working nights and I wasn't in France. We went out for a Thai meal which was ratehr nice and we bascally chatted the nigth away. It was a nice evening, but at the end of it we decided that we both weren't what each other was looking for. I can't believe how nervous I was at the start as well. So I'll be going on to the next introduction, although not until I get abck from France probably.
But it makes me wonder, would I even know what I'm looking for, even if it's sitting right in front of me? Or am I too slow to realise these things. I guess we'll find out. It makes me wonder how many opportunites we let slip by because we don't realise they are there...
... or because we weren't willing to risk something.
Oh and blogger keeps telling me that V2.0 is now up and running. Should I be switching?
Sunday, November 12, 2006
I want the last week of my life back.
Have you ever had a week where it has taken you the entire weekend to recover?
I can honestly say that this week has definately been one of those weeks! We have just had so much to do at work this week I couldn't believe it. Although I could of guessed it would happen the week when both my boss (paternity leave) and Stuart (who is the tech guy for customer support) were both away. I haven't worked so hard since I joined the company nearly 3 years ago.
I can't believe it has been that long! Where has my life gone?
I basically worked until they locked up the offices on a night. Got home, ate, then went to bed. I have never felt so tired. What made it worse was the fact that I'm currently on Antibiotics for a sinus infection. I won't say anymore, needess to say it's not nice. I can't wait until I can take some time-off from work.
I did all that work mainly because I was supposed to be in France next week. However my trip to France got pushed back by 2 weeks (I got told this on Friday) because the French have yet to get the gas connected. They don't half know how to mess up my life as I'd cancelled all my plans for the following fortnight and planned stuff for the following weeks.
Arrrrggggh!
My boss comes back to the office on Thursday next week and I can't wait. I might be able to get some of my life back before I go to France.
Anybody willing to place bets on if I can manage it?
I can honestly say that this week has definately been one of those weeks! We have just had so much to do at work this week I couldn't believe it. Although I could of guessed it would happen the week when both my boss (paternity leave) and Stuart (who is the tech guy for customer support) were both away. I haven't worked so hard since I joined the company nearly 3 years ago.
I can't believe it has been that long! Where has my life gone?
I basically worked until they locked up the offices on a night. Got home, ate, then went to bed. I have never felt so tired. What made it worse was the fact that I'm currently on Antibiotics for a sinus infection. I won't say anymore, needess to say it's not nice. I can't wait until I can take some time-off from work.
I did all that work mainly because I was supposed to be in France next week. However my trip to France got pushed back by 2 weeks (I got told this on Friday) because the French have yet to get the gas connected. They don't half know how to mess up my life as I'd cancelled all my plans for the following fortnight and planned stuff for the following weeks.
Arrrrggggh!
My boss comes back to the office on Thursday next week and I can't wait. I might be able to get some of my life back before I go to France.
Anybody willing to place bets on if I can manage it?
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