Life the Universe & Everything

Biking in the Dales

2009-05-11T11:48:00.005+01:00

I went up to the Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales this weekend with a bunch of friends to do a spot of mountain biking. It was a great weekend, some very tough parts though. But that was balanced by some insane down hills that threatened (on more than one occasion) to chuck me flying into some very unforgiving looking landscapes! I didn't have my computer on (broke the sensor and tumble-dried the main unit - don't ask) but one of the guys hit 39mph on one downhill spot. The worst bit was at the end of an awesome run I realised that my brakes were shagged from overuse and there was a sharp turn at the bottom into a closed gate.... I just about held it together but it was a very wobbly finish with the back-end sliding all over the shop.

The scenery in the Dales is stunning, I believe the correct term is rugged natural beauty. However, there were a few parts that were a little more rugged than we could manage to cycle (see me in pic above).

Michele is married!

2009-05-11T11:34:00.002+01:00

My baby sister got married last weekend! How weird is that, properly grown up now ;)

It was a lovely day and she looked absolutely beautiful and so happy. It was a great day celebrating and I didn't even mind dad's dancing (although mine was no better!). The "offical" photos will be up soon...

Grand Slam!

2009-03-22T23:38:00.004Z

I managed to get a ticket to go and see Ireland play Wales in the 6 Nations this weekend. Super Saturday turned out to be absolutely amazing with an incredibly nervous nail-biting finale to the competition, but we won! First time that Ireland has taken the Grand Slam since 1948 and I was there! An absolutely amazing day and night - had to have a Guinness to celebrate. Just the one of course... ;)

More pics on Flickr.

Ouch

2009-02-23T12:40:00.002Z

I had to pick a hobby that would hurt. Went out biking at the weekend with R & J and just towards the end managed to fall off because my pedals jammed (rock in the chain perhaps?). Not only that but I, once again, managed to do so on the hardest part of the run - that is to say on a road between one field and another. I went through all the really difficult, muddy, rutted and tree-root-studded areas without a problem and then fall of at low speed on tarmac. It was very sore but when I got home I realised my tights were welded on with dried blood and my knee was not a pretty picture when I got them off. It is still swolen and bloody today and missing a large patch of skin. I think I'm a little mad to do this for fun! ;o)

Hurumph

2009-02-18T11:15:00.003Z

So I've lost all this weight and bought loads of new clothes (probably more than I should have given that I am continuing to lose weight) but the girls in work have decided my new clothes are apparently "old". The particular items in question are all new season but my secretary has made a fuss of this as she doesn't like my cords or belt and once she started all the others felt free to chime with their two-pence worth. Various descriptions including dad, grandad, 70's and sack-of-potatoes were used. It now seems that every day there is a new problem. Today it is the belt and my hair - I'll be off to get it cut next week and in the meantime it is neatly combed. Seems that is also a problem and topic for ridicule.

One is not amused. I can't imagine what the reaction would be if I pointed out to any of the girls that what they were wearing was not fashionable (although I probably wouldn't know) or that it made them look frumpy or old. At least when I was fat everyone was too polite to point out that I looked like a hippo or comment on my clothes :(

Cookbook madness

2009-02-16T15:00:00.003Z

I was out for a wander yesterday, bored and avoiding doing the housework. Apart from being reminded that St. Evenage is the pits, I was in Waterstones and browsing the cookery section as I often do and saw an interesting title that promised recipes "Just like Grandma Used to Make". The cover stood out from the bright modern titles around it and I had to have a look. I was expecting good old pies, stews, steamed puddings - hearty artery hardening fare resplendent with lard and suet. I was rather surprised to find the first recipe I turned up was a roasted butternut squash risotto. The second (random page turning) was a hot & spicy prawn dish. Very much not what you would expect (unless your grandmother was Italian or Chinese). Despite the cover, the inside was presented in a bright modern fashion with photography to match (not quite minimalist but getting there). Overall, tres disappointing and definitely not like granny used to make... fresh soda bread, vegetable roll and champ please!

Published!

2009-01-16T17:39:00.002Z

Although I've written a few articles in the past but I've now got one in a client's publication that is widely circulated in the shipping world :o) If you fancy reading about charter cancellation (slim possibility I know) a link is below (I'm on page 5)

http://www.standard-club.com/pdf/StandardBulletin/StandardBulletin-Dec08-2.pdf

And yet more changes...

2008-12-10T13:38:00.004Z

An yet more shrinkage. I have now lost around 7.5 stones (or 105 pounds to those in the USA or 47.6kg to the rest of the world). I've got a little way to go yet to get where I want to be but it is really making such a difference. I am now onto my third wardrobe - the "fat" clothes are gone, and the new ones I bought to replace them are now themselves too big.

I've had to have my work publicity re-shot (vain I know) but it is a real difference as you can see from earlier shots (see http://awsemo4000.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-difference-year-makes.html). Below is my current and the last shots taken.

From Life the Universe & Everything

Charming...

2008-11-14T17:10:00.002Z

I have just had a conversation with a partner who stated that sometimes clients want the organ grinder (him) and not the monkey (me). Charming. Of course I had to say that I understand and it is only natural that they will want the partner there etc etc. BS I know but such is life.

Ships

2008-11-10T23:51:00.003Z

Things have been really busy at work recently but I managed to get off to Greece last week to work out of the office there, meet some clients and go crawling around a bunch of ships. It was really good to get to see all the ships and the different bits and pieces that go to make them up and make them move. I took loads of photos (yes, I know some of them are a bit nerdy such as ladders, cranes and inside tanks), which are up on flickr but a couple below give you an idea of the things I work with everyday. The crankshaft I am sitting on below was worth about a million dollars until the steel in the centre cracked (doh!).

What is in our food?

2008-10-21T12:12:00.002+01:00

Since I've been eating more sensibly, and particularly in the last couple of months, I've been paying more attention to what is in the products that I buy. I have to say that I am more than a little concerned. Why is there vegetable oil in a "diet" fizzy orange drink? Why does toothpaste need fertiliser (potassium nitrate)? How on earth can a packet of dried cranberries contain only 28% cranberries? NB before anyone mentions it I know that toothpaste is not food (unless you are K).

I can't answer the first two but with the cranberries it appears that these are infused with large amounts of sugar to make them sweet and coated in vegetable oil to stop them sticking together.... I don't think that needs any comment.

I have stopped buying the fizzy drink mentioned and the toothpaste, and I didn't buy the cranberries. I have to say that I am glad that I am not eating much processed food any longer (baked beans being the only notable exception).

I wonder if I worry too much?

Gym

2008-10-20T10:42:00.001+01:00

Oh, and I joined the gym last week. Need to trim and tighten now that I am nearly 6.5 stones down! Watch this space.

New clothes

2008-10-20T10:32:00.003+01:00

I got rather stupidly excited at the weekend. I needed to get some new shoes (failed) as I've dropped a shoe size and all my shoes are too big. Now that I have choice it is actually quite difficult. I used to just buy on the basis "if it fits". Surprisingly size 12 with a wide fit was hard to come by. Anyway, that isn't why I got excited. I had noticed that my new shirts were getting a bit baggy so I thought I'd try on some slightly smaller ones - turns out that my collar is 2" down from when I bought new shirts in August. Incredible...really amazing. I still have a bit of a belly (ahem) but that is slowly going too, so much so that I have dropped another size in tops and trousers. I even managed to get some jeans in the Debenhams' sale yesterday. I could never shop in sales before as they would never have larger sizes. So I managed to pick up a nice pair of jeans for just £6. Excellent stuff - can't wait to drop even more.

As an aside, I've had to start being thrifty with buying clothes as they aren't going to last long at this rate. I'll have to save for the spending spree when my weight stabilises and I am a consistent size.

Shrinking fast

2008-09-30T14:32:00.002+01:00

I have to say that if you'd told me at the beginning of the year that I'd have lost 6 stones in less than 8 months I wouldn't have believed you. But I have :) I weighed in last night and have now clocked up a total loss of 6 stones and half-a-pound (very important that 8 ounces). To those who use new money that is a total of 38.3 kg. Thanks to S & K for getting me started and keeping me going.

Shopping

2008-09-25T10:21:00.002+01:00

Earlier this year not long after I'd started losing weight I said to S that I'd be happy if I could buy clothes from Next. I find them quite conservatively sized compared to some shops but that was an aim I had in mind. Shopping for nice clothes not just anything that would fit has been a fantasy for so long but I am now just a fraction off 6 stones down and I have been able to buy clothes from Next this week. I am very happy indeed with that. A couple of things were a little tight but I found two very nice jumpers that fitted. I can't wait to lose abit more and do some serious shopping (perhaps the Janauary sales?).

A day of ups and downs in customer service

2008-09-08T16:30:00.004+01:00

My camera battery grip has been broken for some time now. I had bought it from a local store to support them over on-line and also to ensure that I had somewhere to go back to should things go wrong. This was in fact a little more expensive than on-line but they were price matching my very nice 17-55 lens and so I was happy enough. Unfortunately they have turned out to be total pricks now that the battery grip has broken. They are refusing to do anything about it even though I have original packaging with their own label on it unless I can produce the original invoice that they provided at the time of sale. They do not have a computerised system and so all their sale records are on individual paper invoices in an archive. This is bizarre enough. However, unless I can produce the original they won't deal with me and will not look through their records for the invoice to prove I bought the grip from them. The chap in the shop today was a total idiot and seriously pissed me off. A seriously stroppy letter is about to find its way to that place.

On the up-side I called into our local chocolate factory to buy some after-dinner chocolates for a dinner party at the weekend and the girl in the shop was really sweet (sorry but no pun intended) and after we had chatted for a few minutes she slipped a little bag of the imperfect chocolates they have into my bag for me for free. It was a small gesture but the first time in a long while that a shop assistant has made me smile.

I also managed to score on getting my brakes replaced on my new bike. This has been a bit of a saga (defective brakes that should never have been sold, a dodgy attempt to sell expensive replacements and considerable delays) but I now have new brakes. The Hendon store of Evans Cycles has gone a long way to redeeming their pathetic and occasionally dishonest service from the Waterloo Road and Milton Keynes stores. Hendon agreed to replace my entire front brake set since there had been ongoing problems since I bought the bike. Unfortunately the set they ordered on Friday did not arrive today but they then offered to upgrade the brakes and fit a better model. I wasn't too happy about having mis-matched front and back brakes but not only did they do the front but they also replaced the back too. So I now have brand new Shimano SLX brakes back and front. This also means that my broken brake lever has been replaced, which I am very happy about.

The Office

2008-09-03T11:07:00.003+01:00

One is not amused. I have now been told by several people that the photo I am really proud of (my work photo taken after I had lost 3 stone) makes me look like the character David Brent from The Office. I can't see it myself but this means that I will have to have work re-do that photo for my publicity and will have to change this and facebook too :(

Shrinkage

2008-09-03T10:59:00.002+01:00

I have now gone past the 5 stone mark with the weight I've lost and I've thrown away all my fat clothes! It isn't easy but it is worth it - I didn't really appreciate how much my weight was holding me back until I started losing it. Enough said really.

Planted again

2008-08-24T20:29:00.001+01:00

A is off!
Originally uploaded by rakh1

Thanks go to R for snapping this rather fetching shot of me just after I had involuntarily abandoned my bike and thereafter used my face to slow my descent. This photo does come after several minutes of me rolling on the floor in agony thinking I'd broken my ribs (just winded). Lots of cuts and bumps but nothing too bad. I think exercise is bad for my health!

Planted!

2008-08-18T18:54:00.005+01:00

R and I went out riding today - a little jaunt in the woods mud plugging (it has become very boggy with the recent rain). We were riding along fine when R heard a bang and a shout and turned round to see me lying flat on my back in the middle of the road with my bike on top of me. I had hit a rut as we crossed the road that runs through the woods and went flying over y handlebars. I don't think any lasting damage done but me knee has been bashed and is swelling nicely. A few other scrapes too :(

I also managed to bend my brake handle backwards in two, the end of which then snapped off!

Not bad for my first effort ;)

[PS. I have just been corrected - apparently when R turned round I was flat on my front, face in the tarmac!]

V Festival

2008-08-18T14:27:00.004+01:00

I have just returned from the V Festival. OH MY GOD was it good. I have never been to anything like it. It was amazing. The Prodigy were absolutely brilliant and I danced my little socks off. I also saw Alanis Morissette, The Squeeze, The Stranglers, Sterophonics, Lenny Kravitz, Amy Winehouse, Hot Chip, The Chemical Brothers, The Charlatans, Duffy, The Lost Prophets and The Courteeners. They were all really good but I have to say that my top were The Prodigy, Hot Chip and The Lost Prophets. Chemical Brothers were also amazing and got everyone dancing like they'd been plugged into the mains. My biggest surprise was liking the Lost Prophets - not my usual thing - and the Squeeze too. The only annoying things were the crowd control jobsworths who p*eed off a lot of people and the fact that I couldn't buy any of the official V t-shirts or sweatshirts because they do not make them above size XL :( Despite that, I had a fantastic time and can't wait to go next year.

Loads more pics on flickr.

Good times...bad times

2008-08-15T09:46:00.004+01:00

I was rather pleased last night when I tried on some shirts that I bought quite some time ago. I couldn't bear to throw them out as I'd only worn them a couple of times (literally twice) and they were very nice (and may have cost a little more than one should have been spending on shirts at that time). The shirts fitted, and probably a little better than when I first had them. They are another half-inch down on my collar over the new shirts I bought recently and they were a little tight when I tried them on about 6 weeks ago. Good times.

Unfortunately as I was heading into work this morning in my nice shirt with my nice new jacket on and feeling very good (especially as I have 2 weeks off work) some idiot rams me in St Pancras and I end up with espresso all over my shirt. Bloody marvellous. I couldn't do anything about it there so it dried in and although I got the worst out when I got to work I still have large stains that I'll have to put up with all day. Bad times. Karma? Hubris? Murphy's law? Who knows, still need to get the Vanish out when I get home.

Like riding a bike...

2008-08-09T16:17:00.003+01:00

My sister is training for a marathon walk in October, well by training I mean trying to increase her activity so that she can get to a level where she can complete the walk. So, as she is visiting this weekend, and with my new (although not so shiny anymore) bike I thought we would go for a ride. Approximately 5 minutes later, and less than a mile away from the house she is about to collapse and had to turn round and walk home! I though K was bad when we went out the other week but she did in fact make it most of the way.

Anyway, R and I carried on and had some fun in the woods, we didn't go far. I think we covered less than 7 miles in about an hour but we were getting round all the knotty bits in the forest. Great fun. Although I have discovered that I am a bit of a tree-hugger. I think my sub-conscious is trying to tell me something as I was constantly being steered into trees. No serious injuries though but I did get a nasty cut down the bottom of my calf (it is about 4 inches long!).

There are some really fun bits in the woods near me and a particularly interesting slope that R attempted. Unfortunately he clipped his pedal but was to far gone to stop himself...

Some pics of today, and last weekend with J&S on flickr (link to right). Look out for the dashing Mr R in a rather fetching gillet - apparantly it looked good on the internet...

Perfect job?

2008-08-06T00:38:00.002+01:00

I thought I'd spotted the perfect job this week - in-house legal at Lotus (not that I'm looking but one does like to know what is out there and see what the industry is up to). Perfect job because of the company car....downside would be not being able to fit in the company car and having to live in the middle of nowhere in Norfolk :(

Now the plan will have to be to see if we can persuade Ferrari or Catheram to set up near Knebworth and create a need for a lawyer. Well if it was the former then there would probably be a full time lawyer's position keeping the injunctions going to stop R drooling on the merchandise ;) (kidding!)

New suit

2008-07-24T16:52:00.003+01:00

I said I wasn't going to buy lots of new clothes until I had lost lots more weight. However, my current suits were made to fit me as I was and now are really looking silly. They are so big that I look ridiculous. I had held off as long as I could but I have a hearing next week so have to dress up and so I went and got a new suit today. I guessed at the size I would need and when I put it on was very happy to see that it was too big! I have dropped an amazing 4 sizes (8 inches) in my jacket and 2 sizes (4 inches) in my waist. Together with 2.5 inches off my collar, I am disappearing fast! I am also very happy to have been able to buy an off-the-shelf suit in a normal shop for the first time in many years - and it wasn't even the biggest one they do. Woo hoo! I did have to resist the temptation to buy 2 or 3 as I'm sure I'll need smaller ones soon. My interim target of a 20% loss is just 11 pounds away so not long to go for that.

New offices

2008-07-23T14:31:00.002+01:00

Our new offices are coming along nicely. They are now getting ready for the fit-out as all the designs are done and materials chosen. However, one loose end is what to call our new staff restaurant. It will occupy most of the 31st floor of a landmark building and has views over most of London (there is a picture on an earlier posting). The designers have called it the Sky Cafe just to give it a name but that is a bit naff. The floor is therefore open for suggestions. Hmm creative hat on I think....

Temptation

2008-07-23T11:04:00.002+01:00

Just got a pay rise - temptation to go and spend loads in celebration is very high. Must resist...but resistance is futile...oh dear.

Decorating - the closing act

2008-07-21T14:15:00.003+01:00

So that is the end of a long week painting the house. I have almost finished - there is just a very small amount left to do before it is complete. I have hung one set of curtains (the front of house) and they look good. They are dressed in so it will be a week before I can draw them properly but the colour and hang are just right. I am very pleased. I just have to wait for the cushions to be delivered and then that will complete the soft furnishings. I also have a few trips to the dump left and I will have to clear the shed out to put my new bike in... That was the other development this week. Since I have lost over 4 stone I have decided I need to increase my activity levels so I have invested in a rather handsome new bike. The first trip out was to the pub in the old village yesterday and very nice it was too (although no beer, just diet coke). I have, however, discovered, that there is a killer little hill leading up to my house, which is not too good on the way home from a ride. Now we just have to see if this has any impact on the weight loss.

Yet more decorating

2008-07-18T15:14:00.003+01:00

Well I have got the second coat on all the walls and it looks so much better. Unfortunately, even though I was more generous with the paint today, a third coat is definitely needed. However, it only took me 4 hours to do all the walls today so the first area is ready for its third coat. I'm going to leave it a short while and then plough on with it and get it done today. That will just leave the accent wall to do but that shouldn't take more than 30 minutes per coat. Also the vestibule (I have been told off for calling it a hall since it is very tiny!) but the ceilings are done in there and the walls should be 30 to 40 minutes per coat - luckily that is painted bright white and so two coats should be more than sufficient. Now I just have to see what the new colour looks like with the new curtains and I'll have to get a new tv unit, coffee table and paint all the woodwork, which is now looking really shabby next to the nice newly decorated walls.

Once I've done all that I have to get on to the downstairs bathroom, kitchen (although not much to paint and spruce up there) and the next major jobs will be the bedrooms. If I get through all that then I can get new carpet!

Decorating III - revenge of the soft furnishing

2008-07-16T20:15:00.004+01:00

I now have my curtains and hopefully should be able to hand them at the weekend. They look very nice - although I haven't unfolded them out of the box yet as that would invite disaster given the current state of the house and large amounts of paint being applied to walls. For those who are interested, the curtains are in an olive fabric with a cream and gold detail (see pic below).

I have also ordered 6 cushions in complimentary fabrics, samples below. Now we just have to see what it all looks like when put together.

Decorating part deux

2008-07-16T15:34:00.004+01:00

I have seriously underestimated how much wall space I have got. It has taken nearly 5 hours to do the downstairs, stairs and landing (which included some rather scary ladder work to get into the top corner over the stairs). I am once again shattered. Definitely no second coat on that today. Although it will definitely need a second coat and I am fearful a possible third to get a good dense colour. Unfortunately the colour before, despite being of a "neutral" palette is rather strong and is showing through my much paler brighter cream. I will be seriously miffed if I have to go to 3 coats. I will also be cutting it fine as there were only 3 tins of paint of the same batch and I have them all but it is taking one 2.5 litre tin per coat. Possibly a day off decorating tomorrow as I am going to the dentist and maybe into town to buy a new bike.

Decorating

2008-07-15T19:00:00.002+01:00

I am absolutely knackered! I have taken the week off to decorate as I have been really slow to do so - it's only been 16 months since I moved in. I spent yesterday doing some tidying and then today got on with the ceilings. I have painted two coats on the downstairs, stairs and landing ceilings as they all have to be the same colour since it is a relatively open plan house. Regency White if you are interested. I have also taken out all the nails and picture hooks (the lady who lived here before had hundreds of little pictures everywhere) and filled the holes. I should be able to crack on with the walls tomorrow. Again, if you are interested, Adam Cream. The only mishap so far is that a cat managed to get paint on its paws and then walk on everything before I'd realised. Little rascal - luckily there are dust sheets over everything valuable. I have also added some unintentional white highlights to my hair. I think a well deserved pint is in order.

The current state of play is illustrated below.

S's birthday bbq

2008-07-13T20:47:00.004+01:00

It is S's birthday on Monday and to celebrate we had a bbq - there haven't been very many this year - and it absolutely tipped down. Luckily S had bought a gazebo and the rain stopped by about 6pm. Unfortunately we had started the bbq at 5.30 as we were all getting hungry. It was good fun - very civilized until I got home about 1am and realised I may have had a sip of wine too much! Anyway, good food, wine and friends - what more could you want (saving for the obvious like squillions in the bank, a private island, mansion...). S made very nice cheesy vegetarian sausages and I made my special burgers and some veggie burgers since S&S wouldn't be able to eat the meat ones. It will also be SP's birthday on Monday so the cake was a joint affair with lots of candles!

Some photos on my flickr (link to the right).

Preserves

2008-07-07T11:45:00.004+01:00

For some reason I've had a hankering to make preserves recently (probably a combination of boredom and compliments on recent experiments). So a little bit of playing in the kitchen has landed me with some interesting bits and pieces including my absolute favourite - blackberry and apple jam. I've also made a tomato chutney (although from the looks of it I may have overdone the raisins since it looks like raisin and onion chutney as most of the tomato has disintegrated!) and a spicy chutney that I think will need a few months to mature. Oh, and raspberry and nectarine jam too - although that was almost a disaster (will post details in kitchenbriefing). Oh, yes and a big jar of balsamic shallots with thyme. A curiously satisfying undertaking. The funniest thing was that rather than buy preserving jars from a cookshop, it is actually cheaper to buy supermarket value products and ditch the contents for empty jars. I have discovered that value hamburger relish and pasta sauce are the vilest smelling concoctions that I've ever come across being sold as food (although granted I haven't smelt the famous Swedish delicacies of lutfisk or surstromming).

Next on the list is the pear chutney that I made ages ago. I can't find the recipe - I think the cook-book fairy (aka my mum) might have it. Not to worry as I have a little bit left in the back of the fridge so will have some fun deconstructing it and trying to reconstruct a new batch. Will also have to make more piccalilli as that disappeared very fast in the village!

[PS I've been told off by my the lovely Swedes that I know - apparantly lutfisk is fine, it is just surstomming that is pongy! Sorry L :) ]

What a difference a year makes

2008-06-21T10:20:00.003+01:00

I am officially a loser. Well, in the good way. As most of my friends and family know I have been losing weight recently. Although I still have difficulty seeing it in the mirror I do see it in my clothes (which fit now). I also asked the office to re-do my publicity shots. Below is a photo from last week and one from last year. Can you spot the difference?

The Village People are breeding.

2008-06-20T11:53:00.002+01:00

I have been told off for not adding the new baby blog for S&K (and the rapidly growing bean) to my link list. This grave oversight has now been corrected and one is suitably ashamed.

New clothes

2008-06-17T12:07:00.002+01:00

And not the Emperor's either.... I was a little bit excited yesterday as I went out and managed to buy some new shirts in a normal shop (not one reserved for those who are excessively wide). They fit really well but I probably spent a little too much as I also bought matching ties and cuff links! I have lost 2.5 inches off my collar size, which is a lot for collars as they tend to shrink very slowly, so I am pretty pleased with that. It actually makes me look a bit thinner too having clothes that fit properly as all my old ones are starting to look really baggy. My suit that I wore yesterday was huge on me and looked a little stupid. It is certainly not the well fitted item of clothing it used to be.

Despite being excited about being able to get nice new shirts I do have to restrain myself. I don't want to buy loads and find them all too big for me in a few months time! I should probably save up for the new wardrobe when I am properly slim.

New office

2008-06-10T11:47:00.003+01:00

About the most exicting thing going on at work at the moment is that we are gearing up to move to a new office next year. There is an earlier post with a CG fly-by video but we are so near completion of the build now that we have pictures. Below is the view from what will be our new staff canteen on the 31st floor. Most of the canteed looks west (this view) but as it takes up a large part of the building there will also be views to the north and south. Not a bad view. The benefit of this will, however, depend on one managing to get away from one's desk for long enough rather than munching whilst working.

Back blogging

2008-06-10T11:44:00.002+01:00

Ok, so I haven't blogged for a while. I thought I would take a break but now a few people have commented and mum wants to keep in touch with what I'm up to (I'm a bad son and don't call often enough). So here goes...

Ageing

2007-11-19T19:21:00.000Z

So that is it, the last 30th birthday of the year and it was mine. One party left to go next weekend though. On Saturday we went down to Southampton to suprise my baby sis since we are twins and it is therefore both of our birthdays. She thought I couldn't make it and got all weepy when I turned up (sweet). It was a great evening - thanks to all who made it and R, K & S who made the trip despite having to drive back the same night. Thank you all, it was really really nice to have you all there. Rich continued his paparazzi trianing (by request) and the results are on his flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/rakh1). Some nice pics (although what is M doing?). So despite all the jolliness, one is now old. Oh well. I suppose it had to happen some time and it beats the alternative ;)

Apologies in advance...

2007-10-21T21:45:00.000+01:00

I just have to say that it is very poor form when one sits in the bar of a spankingly expensive swanky hotel in the heart of Dublin and opens the menu to see 4 errors on the Martini page. The most amusing was that apparently you can have your drink served with a "twiat".

The other errors were that one could apparently have a drink "served & straight up". That just begs the question, straight up where? Straight down maybe (sacrilege but possible). Lastly a drink could be "serves straight up". The most glaring error was heading up the list as "Martini's" - Martini's what might I ask? Grrr

Dublin

2007-10-21T18:18:00.000+01:00

I've just got back from a weekend in Dublin celebrating R's 20 10th birthday. It was a great 48 hours (although not sure my liver agrees with that assessment). Elephant & Castle chicken wings rock - nuff said!

The entire weekend can be summed up in the two photos below. More on flickr if you are interested.

I'm happy (contd.)

2007-10-18T10:57:00.001+01:00

I got my certificate today. It has taken absolutely ages but it is finally done and as of yesterday I am authorsied to exercise rights of audience in all courts in all proceedings. This may not mean much to most people but it is a big deal for me. So yay again! :) :) :)

I'm happy!

2007-10-11T16:28:00.001+01:00

I have just learnt that my application for an award of rights of audience in the higher corts has been signed off today (after several months of waiting). I should get the certificate next week but I am very happy that it has finally been granted. Yay. :)

Kitties

2007-10-11T16:22:00.000+01:00

My kittens (well they are more like cats now) are growing up. They have learnt a lot in the last few months. Indeed, I believe that Cosmo has learnt pub closing times. There have been several occasions (and two so far this week) where he has been waiting for me at the bottom of the hill where I turn into the area where I live. It is quite cute that he comes out to meet me, usually bolting out of the field alongside. I have also noticed that he doesn't like to get his paws too wet and mucky and when it is wet he runs along the kerb all the way home without setting foot on the grass verges. But then he just comes in has something to eat and goes to sleep (or runs off to catch mice).

Jeep mods...

2007-10-03T14:47:00.000+01:00

Well I've finally got round to buying the new bits for the jeep that I've wanted for a while. Last few days have been quite thoroughly shite so have indulged in serious retail therapy. Nothing like spending large amounts of money to make me happy :) So give it a week and I should have a new suspension set (lifting the jeep by 2 to 2.5 inches) and a new roll cage (just in case) and a new permanent air filter (to increase engine efficiency).

Once I've got that it will be about anouther £400-500 for the new tyres. Hurrah!

(The snorkel is planned but on hold due to serious work involved in fitting such as re-routing the air intake and cutting a hole in the side panel. Not one for the faint hearted...)

Roll cage:

and big springs:

Kittens at play

2007-10-01T11:32:00.000+01:00

Well, having their bits lopped off hasn't quelled any hunting instincts in my kittens. Last night Tini brought two bird eggs home. He got the first one in and was playing with it and eating the contents. I took it away and he just went and got another one. Cosmo also got to play but the contents had all been drained by Tini first. To cap it all I woke up this morning to find the pair of them playing with a dead bird. They were having great fun flinging it up in the air and tossing it around. Although not quite as dramatic as R&K's cat's efforts (http://rakh1.blogspot.com/2007/10/pigeon-and-fire.html) it has made a bit of a mess! Luckily it didn't burst....

My new office...

2007-09-28T12:01:00.000+01:00

OH MY GOD

2007-09-15T16:57:00.000+01:00

This guy is insane - awsome though!

http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q201/shepdude/?action=view&current=hillclimb.flv

Not happy

2007-09-14T09:39:00.000+01:00

This weekend marks two months until the first anniversary of my 29th birthday :( Will be in need of beer and cuddles - good think the kittens have remembered where home is.

Baby jeep

2007-09-13T11:09:00.001+01:00

How seriously pathetic does my jeep look here! It is actually quite big and has a fair bit of grunt to it but it looks tiny compared to some of the others (which all started out the same). Lets just consider them as before and after pics!

New offices

2007-09-12T15:49:00.000+01:00

We have finally gone public with the worst kept secret in the City and formally announced that we have leased 11 floors in the new Broadgate Tower (the tall building in thepic below), including the top 10 floors. The building will be the third tallest in the City when complete. The top two floors (33 and 32) will be the conference suites and reception, the 31st floor will be the staf facilities including staff cafeteria (the present one is in the basement and now moving to the 31st floor!) . Then the legal staff will get floors 30-25! It is really exciting but will take about another 18 months until we are fully moved in. The really scary part is the money - the landlord/developer had made a press release saying the average rent is £58 per square foot and we have taken 155,000 sqaure feet - that is just shy of £9m! Bye bye pay rise :(

Cheapfest

2007-09-12T12:55:00.000+01:00

R filmed the weekend Cheapfest. He is away on business but has managed to cut together a teaser for the full video. This clip uses some of the night footage that he shot. If you are wondering what the shot is, it is R filming my wing mirror and so most of the shot is reflection of the convoy behind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zch0hW0JTZc

Cheapfest

2007-09-11T21:45:00.000+01:00

I went off-roading in the jeep at the weekend with R &K . It was great fun, two days of throwing the car around various hills/forest. I'm really getting to enjoy this - now I really want to modify the jeep to make it more capable and to have more fun. The stock jeep can do lots but there is loads more it could do. It was also nice to go camping again, haven't done that in ages.

Some pics of the event are here http://flickr.com/photos/alancurran/sets/72157601957386498/

I have to say one of my favourites is below - what you can't see here is that the guy had forgotten to close the window and the passenger seat was caked in thick mud- makes for a nice ride home!

Women drivers

2007-09-04T16:10:00.000+01:00

Before you shout at me this is justified...

Because there is a tube strike on and transport in London is up the proverbial, I decided to ride to work. All was fine apart from the idiots on the road. The top three from this morning were (in reverse order):

3. On the phone. (Astra-ish car)

2. Head tilted back looking at car ceiling whilst drinking a huge cup of coffee. (Chelsea Tractor)

1. Applying mascara using rear-view mirror!!!! (07 plate Beemer)

And the commong factors - all three were in the driver's seat of moving vehicles (I hesitate to say that they were "driving" and all three were women. Will someone please let me know why they get lower insurance premiums.

Sad day...

2007-09-03T11:01:00.000+01:00

It was very sad this morning as I went into work on the train and noticed that the leaves on a few trees were just beginning to turn golden. So that is it folks, the trees are shutting down and autumn is on its way…. I don’t think I’m alone in asking what happened to summer?

Mouse in the house!

2007-08-29T13:22:00.000+01:00

Tini manged to catch a mouse last night and he brought it home! I heard him come in the cat flap but didn't think anything of it but then I heard a strange growling noise so looked over and saw Tini staring intently into a corner and then I saw the mouse. It was really small (about the size of half my thumb) and Tini was playing with it. It wasn't dead or even injured but Tini would bat it with his paw (no claws) and it would jump up or be pushed across the floor. The growling was Tini keeping Cosmo away - possessive chap. Cosmo just watched the events. When I went to take the mouse away from Tini he grabbed it in his mouth and went upstairs and carried on playing. I tried a couple of times more and then Tini just hissed at me to keep away! Eventually the little thing got into a small box that was on the floor and which Tini couldn't get him out of and so I took the box and mouse outside and he was gone this morning. He appeared uninjured but will probably die of shock as he was being played with for nearly an hour - poor little thing. And so the bringing home of trophies begins...

Village crime wave

2007-08-16T13:01:00.001+01:00

Great concern was expressed at a recent Neighbourhood watch meeting about the problem of people riding bicycles on the paths of the village. There was some confusion as to what could be done about this and so I had a quick check... I found out that it has been an offence to cycle on a footpath since 1836 and the grievousness of the offence can result in a fine of up to £500 (or a £30 fixed penalty). The dastardly criminal underbelly of the village better beware our local bobbys out to put a stop to this particular "crime wave". (Can you tell how seriously I'm taking this?). I was highly amused when checking this to find out that it is also an offence to willfully lead one's ass on the footpath. Probably not one of the classics of English law but amusing nonetheless (to me at least).

Amazon madness

2007-08-13T16:59:00.000+01:00

So I know that Amazon have various sites for the various locales in which they operate but I would have expected some sort of harmonisation. There is a cook book that Nigela Lawson refers to as one of her favourites (it is in the TEmple Food episode) and I had been meaning to have a look at it for ages. Eventually I looked it up but it was not available here and had to be ordered through Amazon Marketplace to ship from the US at the grand price of nearly £50! There was another by the same author that would bring the total to £90 (with 6 -8 weeks shipping). Fook me but that is a lot even by my rather non-thrifty standards. As the book was coming from America I decided to check Amazon.com .... lo and behold Amazon stock both books and together with international shipping they charge just $72 (about £36). They say long shipping dates but I ordered on Sunday and they were dispatched today so shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks. Not bad at all. Strange that Amazon UK do not talk to Amazon USA!

Lunch

2007-08-10T17:29:00.000+01:00

Ah, not such a bad day when you can wander out to lunch and then get back at 3.30! It was with a former client (at my old firm) so completely justified. Not very boozy lunch but nice to take time over it and relax. It is Friday after all and the corporate Amex just hasn't had enough of a work out yet ;)

I'm in love...(well almost)

2007-08-08T14:37:00.000+01:00

A pub near work does great sausages and today they had Scotch venison with juniper and gin sausages. With mash and onion gravy.... heaven.

I went there with a few of the firls from work as one of them has her birthday today. The pub's staple is sausages and H quite innocently said on the way up "I love sausage" this revelation was greeted with much amusement! ;)

Round up

2007-07-27T13:47:00.000+01:00

It has been a manic couple of weeks and I haven't really been able to do much online. Probably good for me but I thought I would round things up:

1. Kitten-nappers in the area - one of my kittens visited a neighbour which wasn't suprising but then she fed him and he went back and then he went missing. I find out that she had kept him in "because it was cold outside". You daft woman. He has fur and he knows where home is to snuggle up. He is obviously also domestic as he has a collar and tag. I was really annoyed but I restrained myself as it was 11.30 at night when I got him back and one had just been out with clients and so was a little tipsy. I just hope she doesn't do it again.

2. Work was manic last week.

3. Lots of work this week. Although not jealous of the partner overseas at the moment as he is investigating a claim in Lima and not enjoying what the other partners describe as "a bit of a s..t hole". However, two days sunning in Florida on the way back can't be bad.

4. More work next week (two partners on holiday, one in Peru and one associate on secondment).

5. Tons of work in August as several people away all at the same time.

6. Trying to find a cleaner - this is harder than one may suppose. I found a lady who was going to come round for 4.5 hours every two weeks and clean the house and do all my ironing (yay!). However, she came round the first time and then left. She expected teh house to be all neat and tidy for her! That is what she was paid to do. Quite frankly if I had time I wouldn't have to hire someone to do it for me. Grr.

7. Got my first pay cheque from the new firm. Makes up for points 2-5 :)

8. Corportate Amex arrived this morning :)

My sister's blog

2007-07-27T13:42:00.000+01:00

M has a blog! I just love the tag line: "sling-backs secured and running"

Bloody trains

2007-07-16T09:50:00.001+01:00

I got up nice and early this morning to get the early train into work (I’m trying to show willing in the new job) and met a guy half-way to the station who said the trains were out. I called national rail and indeed there were no trains at all running from Knebworth because of power line problems. Not only that but the whole area was affected and the train people wouldn’t/couldn’t offer any alternatives. So I am now hot and bothered having walked home got my motorbike and raced in to London. The southern part of the A1 is not fun in rush hour. Plus I couldn’t get a parking space near work and had to park a 10 minute walk away (not fun wearing a bike jacket and carrying a topbox and rucksack – v. v. warm). Then there were the funny looks walking in looking like a bike messenger, plus hot, plus sweaty. Nice. Need beer but don’t think it is appropriate at 9.50am!

New job

2007-07-10T00:03:00.000+01:00

So first day in new job over. Just one thing - open plan....hmmmm not sure about that.

Off-road adventures

2007-07-08T15:12:00.000+01:00

I went off-roading for the first time ever last weekend. It was absolutely brilliant - loved every minute (well except for falling over in mud, sliding down a hill with just bramble to grab on to and then having to crawl out of a ditch). The driving was great fun - I haven't had so much fun in ages. J and R also came along for the fun and J nearly killed my baby :( R took loads of pics and a selection are on my flickr. The best one has to be the mud washing over the bonet up to the windscreen - great capture but also the poo your pants moment that nearly hydrolocked the car....that would not have been good.

I now need to get a suspension lift, bigger tyres and a snorkel before the next event. I'm going to a weekend bash in September but there is also on over the bank holiday weekend that I may go to - would have to go all weekend for that too as it is a bit of a trek to near Lincoln. I see my bank balance bleeding dry oh so quickly!

The end...

2007-06-29T10:55:00.000+01:00

I'm leaving work today! I'm almost certainly not staying all day - I have nothing to do so there is no point really. So after two and a half years I bow out quietly.

A shame the partners can't be arsed to say goodbye or thanks for all your work or make some gesture to show that the time I've been hear has meant something to them. C'est la vie and typical of the firm. They still don't get it even though I've told them that their openly expressed view (by the senior partner and at least one other equity partner) that they don't give a toss about assistants unless they bring in work is not conducive to a happy and productive work force. If you don't care unless/until I bring in work yet won't support me to go out and get that work then it is unlikely you will ever care about me/the other assistants. Hence I have left and why the remaining assistants are questioning their future at the firm.

Onwards and upwards!

New job

2007-06-26T12:08:00.000+01:00

First day at Reed Smith Richards Butler coming up on 9 July - nervous but also very excited. Plus I have a week off to veg before throwing myself in to the new role.

Just 3 working days left at Elbornes :)

Leaving work

2007-06-13T16:47:00.000+01:00

So my final day at the office has been agreed as 29 June - bit of a cut down on the three months notice I was obliged to give! I really hadn't been expecting that. I think they may secretly be glad to save two and a bit months salary. I also wasn't expecting the email from my boss to the shipping group that told them about this and ended with

"I have no doubt that he will be digging deep into his pockets to buy you all drinks on some date prior to then."

Excuse me! How very dare you! I would rather hope that the partners might club together for a shandy or two one lunch time to wish me luck and say thanks for all the blood sweat and tears. This is all the more amusing (in a twisted sort of way) when they know that part of the reason I'm moving is the fact that they didn't give me a bonus this year and the pay rise was shite!

New job

2007-06-13T13:59:00.000+01:00

I have recently found a fantastic new job and have resigned my current post. I am very excited about the new job. At the same time I am really pissed off with my current firm as they have basically taken the resignation without batting an eyelid as if the last 2.5 years here meant nothing. After everything I have done for them they could at least have said "sorry to see you go" or "we'll miss you". Just a token gesture that I had made an impact in my time here would have been nice. Hurumph!

Weekend

2007-06-08T17:35:00.000+01:00

It's the weeknd, it looks like it is going to be sunny and I'm going to rip the top off my car and drive around all weekend. However, this time I am going to remember the sun screen. According to my receptionist and secretary, I looked like a little tomato after last weekend when I drove around with the top down and no sun screen (I forgot as I was so excited about getting the car. DOH!

New car

2007-06-04T17:49:00.000+01:00

I got my new jeep at the weekend and R took a little video of me driving along....

Macro photography

2007-06-04T17:08:00.000+01:00

I recently bought a 60mm macro lens and have been playing with it for a while. The focusing is pretty difficult where you are so close and have a very very shallow depth of field. We were out on Sunday and a friend of mine was taking some macro shots and got a couple of cool reflections zoomed in on my sunglasses (on flickr) but the best was this shot.

Birthday dilema

2007-06-01T16:33:00.001+01:00

I've been trying to think of good things for me and my twin sister to do for our 30th later this year. In the meantime I have managed to get a present sorted for a friend who turns 30 just before me - I wonder if he'll guess what it is... ;)

(Disclaimer: no expectations should be unduly raised!)

Ozzie desperation

2007-05-31T16:12:00.000+01:00

An Australian guy I used to work with is clearly getting desperate....

Metro article

Facebook

2007-05-31T15:25:00.000+01:00

Not being that techy I had not heard of face book until a friend blogged about it. Thought I would have a look and I have found a friend that I thought I had lost contact with ages ago. Absolutely random but brilliant! I'm crap at keeping in touch with people and this is excellent. What is even funnier is that the system can look through your address book and it tells me that the head of legal for one of my major clients is registered!

New car!

2007-05-21T12:53:00.001+01:00

I have finally got round to buying myself a new car. This is only my second car, my first having been bought when I was at law school. That met an untimely end and I have since only had use of my mum's car on occasion. Although I have a motorbike I wanted a car too (indulgent I know) and so I have bought a Jeep Wrangler. It isn't the smallest or cheapest car to run but it is fun - I was seriously unattracted to the myriad boring cars produced by almost all manufacturers. It has to be functional but that is no reason to detract from form or fun! I can't wait to take delivery....

S & K tie the knot

2007-05-21T10:28:00.000+01:00

S & K got married at the weekend and I got seriously piddled! Was good fun though. I took a few pics (see flickr). It seems that everyone had a good time and the girls all looked lovely. I was, however, left wondering if the groom's rather bright attire was his own choice or his wife making sure he could be spotted across the room!

Favourite pic of this night is this one. It just screams out for a naughty caption but I think I'll behave since he has just got married!

Cheeky monkeys

2007-05-21T10:18:00.000+01:00

The kittens are really cheeky. I put down a yogurt pot for a moment and they were straight in there. Cosmo managed to get it all over his face and then they spent a while licking yoghurt off each other. I never appreciated how big their tongues are - just look at Cosmo's tongue relative to his head size!

Registration

2007-05-16T17:36:00.000+01:00

I have found a great reg plate - my initials and name are very common and so plates are very VERY expensive (try £30k!). However, I have spotted this for just £800 - AL05 UED. It looks like "Al sued". Superb! £800 is a lot though :(

Insurance madness

2007-05-16T16:02:00.000+01:00

I am getting a new car and I've been looking at insurance quotes. I have discovered a very bizarre twist - even though I will be the main, if not sole, driver of the car, if I add my parents as named drivers and a friend to make 4 drivers with three over 30 then the premium drops by a staggering £140. If I volunteer an extra £50 excess then it drops a further £40. A total saving of £180 over the premium with me alone on the policy. I am still the policy holder and it is still insured at my home address and quite frankly my mother would never drive a 4l Jeep but it is still so much cheaper if I add people into the policy. Crazy! I tried several combinations and it seems the best is parents and an additional male over 30. Christ knows what the underwriting criteria are but I'm happy to take the discount! Now all I need is to find a friend over 30 and see if they want to be a named driver.....

Kittens II

2007-05-15T20:02:00.000+01:00

Funnily Cosmo seems to be the most keen to have his picture taken - Tini is not keen at all but I will get him! Cosmo is also the techology fan - he loves getting up and walking on the keyboard, which has led to some amusing typos, and watching the moving images/cursors on screen. He also likes to watch TV (snooker seems to be popular). Nice little portrait below (poser!).

Kittens

2007-05-15T19:52:00.000+01:00

Does somebody look guilty?

Nice bit of ear for supper sir?

Salary insanity

2007-04-27T12:28:00.000+01:00

The magic circle are doing their usual salary competition to ensure that no one is too far behind (and therefore increasing their already high risk of assistant attrition). I can't believe that A&O now pay £62k to newly qualifieds and a whopping £92,500 to 3PQE (my level). I am feeling seriously underpaid. :(

Cool and fizzy amnesia juice needed ce soir me thinks.

Councils

2007-04-26T12:23:00.000+01:00

I really do wonder what I pay council tax for. Whilst they come nowhere near close to the people at my former council who have utter arse dribble between their ears, North Herts District Council have to get the award for jobsworthiness. I have finally worked out when the recycling collection is - first of all I left the boxes with the bin, then I found out that the collection was only fortnightly and then some 7 weeks after I moved in I found out that the boxes had to be at the front of the property (even though the bin is collected from the back gate!). However, they were not collected and I now am told that the boxes have to be at the borderline of the property but mine were apparantly too far away being by the front door around 2-3 metres away from the path. For the love of God will someone PLEASE tell council's to get a grip on reality. For £1300 a year you can walk 2 metres to get my recycling.

I have to ask what the incentive to recycle is when they make things so difficult. If they will collect a wheelie bin from the back gate then I might as well just put everything in that. If facilities were easily available then I would be able to recycle around 80% of my household waste but it looks like that will have to be around nil recycling for now.

Sooooo cute

2007-04-24T10:54:00.000+01:00

My babies are totally adorable - see pic below. Nothing more to say :)

Kittens

2007-04-20T16:10:00.000+01:00

The kittens are coming home on Sunday - I can't wait.

The difficult bit has been names - the following were the top contenders:

1. Tini & Cosmo

2. Scrumpy & Jack

3. Sue & Settle

4. Rummage & Muddle
5. Alfie & Crystal

6. Marmite & Toast
7. Buffy & Angel
8. Luke & Leia
9. Spanner & Socket
10. Hinge & Bracket

I think that I am going to call them Tini and Cosmo. Tini for the girl is derived from Martini and Cosmo from the boy from Cosmopolitan. Enough said really!

Off work

2007-04-13T18:12:00.000+01:00

And so the end of two lazy weeks at home draws to an end and I really can't face going back to work. However, I do have some nice new shirts to go in when I do! I haven't actually done much - quite honestly I needed the down time to re-charge. I have, however, spent a lot of money. I have bought new bedroom furniture to finish off that room (although the house is now quite messy while I do sort it out!) and I have bought a few new books - only two on cooking ;) In preparation for my kittie arrival I have bough a couple of kitten care books to check that there is nothing that I should be aware of that I am not already (save for more frequent feeding than I had planned there isn't).

Other than that I haven't done much at all! I did have a nice Easter weekend comprising a bbq at R&K's house on Saturday and a long walk on the Sunday (rather longer than planned!) to a nearby pub with a beer festival (v.nice) and then on to a friend's house in the village for Pimms and scones (followed by vast amounts of alcohol, a stagger home and an horrendous hangover on Monday :(

They say no rest for the wicked but actually I think the saying should really be not enough rest for us - I have had some but could do with some more. Must try harder on tonight's lotto!

Cat climbing frame

2007-04-02T17:53:00.000+01:00

My new cat climbing frame/scratching post arrived today. My only concern now is that the kitties might be too small to use it for a while. They are sooo dinky that I don't know if they'll even be able to make it onto the first level! They will of course be able to use the scratch posts on the bottom level for now. I'm sure it won't be too long before they are bouncing all over the place and onto the top level.

Kittens

2007-04-01T13:09:00.000+01:00

Ok, so the debate is over - I am getting kittens. They came round for a visit today... see below. They are soooooo cute, The one with the white bib is a boy and the mostly black one is a girl. Now I need to think of names.......

Looking into the Tiki Crystal Ball....

2007-03-29T14:14:00.000+01:00

This is the Met Office forecast for Spring 2007.

Temperature
There is a 70% probability that the mean spring season temperatures will be above the 1971-2000 long-term average over most of western Europe, including the UK. These conditions would follow a 12-month period that has been the warmest on record.

Initial outlook for summer 2007
A preliminary assessment, based on climate trends and initial forecast signals, favours a summer warmer than the 1971-2000 mean. This would continue recent trends, with the last summer below the 1971-2000 mean now nearly 10 years ago in 1998.

At this time, it is too early to assess the likelihood of very-warm mean summer conditions such as those experienced in 2003 or 2006.

The first full forecast for summer 2007 will be issued on 11 April 2007 at 1000.

Note that the mean for April between 1971 and 2000 (taking our nearest station as Greenwich) is 13.3 and for May it is 17.2. With a 70% probability of exceeding this the more astute observer (namely R) will note that this means that there is a very good prospect that we are looking forward to a long TIKI TIKI SEASON!

Cats

2007-03-27T16:47:00.000+01:00

Catford & Chunk (below) are two lovely brothers at Battersea who have been looking for a new home - sadly for me they have just found one so I can't adopt them :(

There are plenty of others though...

Cats

2007-03-26T14:40:00.000+01:00

So I was thinking of getting kittens but there are none at either the local shelter or Battersea. I suppose this is a good thing though. My neighbour's sister's cat has had kittens so she may have some that need re-homing. The alternative is older cats. There are some lovely lonely looking souls at Battersea that are just crying out for a decent home. I just can't decide - I would love kittens and I really want some but then the older cats just look at you from their cage and I just want to take them all home (obviously I can't but you know what I mean!).

So kittens or cats. I thought I'd made my mind up but seem to be undecided still - I have, howver, bought a climbing/scratching thing already....

Oriental City

2007-03-26T11:07:00.000+01:00

I went with R & K to Oriental City in North West London yesterday. It is an oriental shopping centre with a great supermarket and a good food hall - I love the dim sum. We had lunch there at the dim sum place and as R decided he wanted to try the chicken feet (yuk) and went for the ones in black bean sauce. They came and looked as revolting as the picture and name. R described it as like sucking the skin off an old man (although quite how he can draw that comparison I don't want to know). R wisely decided not to attempt the appetising pickeld vegetables with pig intestines (seriously vomit worthy). The rest of the dim sum was its usually yummyness and included a comedy moment when half a dumpling shot out of my chopsticks and landed in a little pot of vinegar to the great amusement of all. Karmic balance was restored when K then did almost exactly the same thing a little later!

Housewarming

2007-03-22T18:38:00.000Z

Had a little bash at the weekend to christen the new pad. I even had a bbq in the dark and freezing cold (well it wasn't that cold but hardly glorious summer). It was really nice to have people round to my house (my first) and use my bbq (my first) in my garden (my first). We did, however drink a large amount of guinness - it was St Patrick's day and I needed to drown the despair at Ireland's six nations loss. It was good fun though and we found out that R has a huge mouth that can fit 12 pringles in in one go but that J's is even bigger at 14 pringles!

Roll on summer for more bbq and party time!

Speed of light

2007-03-16T08:57:00.000Z

I was rather perplexed to see the speed of light stated in The London Paper as 670.6 miles per hour. Whilst that is fast I grant you it is not quite as fast as light - I think that they have missed off a couple of zeros and were intending to say 670.6 million miles per hour.... DOH!

New cats

2007-03-14T16:26:00.000Z

Thanks for the offer of the cats K! I can't wait to give S&M a new home ;)

New bbq

2007-03-13T17:58:00.000Z

My new bbq (in fact my first bbq) has arrived today. I'm actually quite excited about something so mundane but it is nice to have a garden and a proper house now and one way to ustilise them is bbq parties! Man make fire ;)

Catch up

2007-03-13T11:29:00.000Z

So much has been happening over the last few weeks that I haven't posted anything. To my two loyal readers I apologise ;) So I am in the new house and have spent a lot of money in the last few weeks. I've got a new tv - it is huge! My last tv was a cheapie out of Sainsbury's and before that a portable. I now have a 40" LCD (Samsung R74 range for those interested in such things) and it is gorgeous. I am not a convert to HD - having been very sceptical I have watched a few things in HD (although Virgin media only broadcast BBC HD) and the difference is incredible. I watched the Ireland match on Saturday (and England on Sunday) in HD and that was superb, the level of detail is amazing. I have also bought a lovely new phone to replace my £1.99 bit of rubbish that you could barely make calls on and I have moved into the modern age by finally getting an internet connection at home!

I have also bought a new shower but not fitted it yet - the exisiting one sounds like a pneumatic drill going off! Hope to get round to that in the next few days.

With the move an all teh acquisitions I have had to make several runs to the local dump and I have a few more coming up. The house is now starting to take shape as my new home and is due to be christened on Saturday (Rugby, St Partick's day, house warming all in one) and if the weather holds I will probably also christen my new bbq which should be arriving today.

On top of all that I hope to get a cat soon!

New home

2007-02-22T11:16:00.000Z

At long last I have my new home. The completion went through just after 11.00 this morning and I now live in the sticks - peace, quiet (well after the move and party) and a new start. :)