January 26, 2010

Here fishy fishy fishy!

Despite having a lot of worked planed for today, the were a few things that scuppered my work through the entire day plan, though I did get a substantial amount done on my research project despite the interruptions.

First off was a phone call from the fridge repair company saying that they were 40 minutes away and will someone be home. News to me as I've got them in my diary for visiting on Thursday, not today, but since I'm at home working it isn't really a problem. Besides, it'd be nice to have the fridge dispensing ice and water as soon as possible again.

Next I get a surprise email from my friend Nic who is going through a bit of a time of it a work who was wondering if I could do a late lunch at The Fishes @ Hinksey this afternoon. It'll be nice to see her since she's either holed up at home working or stuck in Birmingham or Banbury depending on where her current project takes her so I jump at the chance to have a catch up and see that she's doing ok.

So whilst the fridge man is tinkering and for the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon I knuckled down to do some serious work so that I can escape later on for my lunch date. The hard work pays off and by the time I'm due to leave the house I'm at a point where I've got lots of information and have started to document it all in a cohesive manner. Not that it's rocket science to understand what is the most popular device in use at the moment, take a bow Apple, your iPhone is streets ahead of the competition by all accounts.

I have a very lovely lunch with Nic and manage to "put myself back in my box" (it's a SMINDE thing) when it comes to deciding what to order, though I think I spent the entire time staring at Nic's chips longingly which may have freaked her out a bit :) We also had a long chat about most things, but in particular the freedom the contracting offers and how permanent positions get less and less attractive the more you work for yourself. Its true of course, but there are downsides to contracting as anyone who's done it before will know.

Interestingly the waiter was chatting to us and asking what we did for a living. I explained my occupation and he asked for my details as he may have some work to put my way. I REALLY REALLY need to get my business cards sorted out as a priority next week, writing details on the back of a receipt isn't kosher.

When I get back home I do more work on the project which takes me right into the evening but I do manage to sneak an hour or so to myself to watch some TV and eat dinner.

It's been a busy day for sure, but busy is good!

Posted by Abi at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 25, 2010

O Now Glow, fly out the door...

First thing this morning it looked like it was shaping up to be a quiet enough day so I decided to sort out these elusive long reach hot glow plugs that Phil needed for his plane to keep the engine ticking over nicely. The place that we've discovered in Oxford that furnishes such items has been closed for a week or so and then after that I've not had time to go and visit, but since today is looking peachy my mission is to get what we need so the bloody plane can finally take flight.

So, not to be disappointed I ring the shop first to a) make sure they're open and b) make sure they've got what we need. Positive results on both counts luckily. The only downside is that I had to endure a 30 minutes conversation to establish fact A and fact B. It wasn't even a particularly constructive conversation either for that matter, because I don't know anything about why the plane engine is running lean nor do I know the reason why a hot glow plug might be the resolution. And no, I'm not sure why the plane came with the engine it did, or indeed that the engine we have might have a carburettor issue or the dynamics of engine size to wing span etc etc. Groan. Finally I gave up and said I'd ask our neighbour who's fixing the plane for Phil to ring the shop owner to ensure what I'm going to his shop for is in fact the right thing for the job.

I do that, and not long after Chris pops back around and said he's sorted it and yes it is definitely the hot glow plugs we need if I'd be so good to go pick them up.

Off I go then in the grasps of the Oxford ring road and down to Cowley where I'm fighting against the ensuing lunch hour traffic and possibility of the shop being shut for lunch, but I make it in time after a short jog down the high street. That was quite cool in fact as it was the first time in many years that I've been able to jog anywhere because of my knee - so 1 point to the Nuffield for that achievement.

Whilst I'm in the shop I also get the elastic bands need to attach the wings to the plane, several of the hot glow plugs and a pat on the back for being the dutiful lady providing for her husband *scowl* that comment didn't go down well as you can imagine!

On the way home I nip to the supermarket and get a super deal on some whole chickens, 3 for 10 quid. Not bad and cheap for a good couple of meals for sure.

Back at the residence and I drop off my goodies next door and then get down to doing some work I've been tasked to do by one of my clients - this particular piece is to do with researching mobile website and mobile device compatibility, and it'll be interesting since I've not looked at mobile development for close to 8 years when WAP was still in it's infancy.

I can only imagine things have moved on somewhat...

Posted by Abi at 6:01 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2010

I've tasted heaven...

... and it tastes like Fudge!

No, seriously it does. And the angels that have bought this little slice of the good life to our miserable existence on the mortal plane? The Fudge Kitchen.

And how have I stumbled upon this divine delicacy? Well, Phil and I headed into Oxford today after a long discussion last night about the advantages of buying a mac mini to do iPhone application development on, the conclusion of which was to go ahead and get one and see what we can come up with.

That decision involved us going into town to purchase said mac product, which also involved us walking past this tiny window in Oxford which when glancing through was like Willy Wonka had set up shop. Big copper pans everywhere, bubbling pots and layers of lavish fudge being gently manipulated into very fine fudge rolls ready to slice up and purchase.

So what are you suppose to do? Easy. Spend 600 quid on an apple and then spend another 10 on fudge. It's a food fest I tell you!

Seriously though, I am NOT a fudge fan in the slightest, all the fudge I've ever eaten has been nasty congealed grimness but this stuff is like velvet on your tongue, it melts away in your mouth leaving you more contented that the best Belgium chocolate you can think of, so much so you'll want more and more and more. But you can eat as much as you like because although it's rich it is not at all heavy. I can't recommend it enough, you simply must try it to believe it.

Back home and Phil sets about setting up the mac which is surprisingly painless. He's struggling a bit with the UI but that's to be expected after years of windows usage, just got to download the SDK pack now and I'll be sorted.

Whilst Phil is doing that I play some Fable 2 and download the See the Future pack which is pretty cool, even though it did take 2 hours to download.

Posted by Abi at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2010

Day Tripping

So, I had a call from Cara yesterday wondering if today would be a good day to do that day out after we had to abandon our arrangements earlier in the week. As it happens, Phil is working so I've little to do so I think that yes, in fact today would be a good day to go out and get an airing.

First things first though and in the morning I have some work to be getting on with but after I've done that I've just enough time to go to the gym, get back home and have some lunch and a bath before Cara arrives with Charlie and we head off into Oxford.

The prime intention is to have a wander around the covered market as it's full of nice stuff and we manage that too. Charlie it seems though wasn't so happy about the idea. It appears that at 5 years old he has reached the point that all men get to when shopping with women in that it just isn't fun any more, even more so if it doesn't involve cinnamon apple candies! Nonetheless we soldiered on amidst much protesting and I did pick up a few of Ben's Cookies for Phil along with a new t-shirt from a cool little shop called next to nothing. I avoided the one that said "sex, drugs and sausage rolls" on it, though that did make me laugh and opted for a much more sedate one that had a spectrum zx keyboard plastered all over the front. Probably more fitting for someone as interested in computers as Phil :)

We then make our way back home (much to Charlies relief!) and after a quick stop Cara and Charlie head back to theirs and I get on with nipping to the supermarket for a few things I need for tea. Tonight's delicacy is lamb marinated in yoghurt and garlic served with aubergine bake. Very nice too!

Posted by Abi at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2010

Luncheon

A very busy day today, not nearly made busier by the fact that I had a hasty call from my neighbour who has yet another staffing issue and required assitance from me first thing this morning. Oh well. Wouldn't ordinarily be an issue but I had plans for today which I then had to re-arrange to a degree so I could fit everything in.

I did however manage to keep to my lunch meet up with ex-work friends which was very nice indeed. Probably shouldn't have eaten the nachos, but you know what I made a concious decision to eat them so that's ok. I also made another decision at the same time to go to the gym this weekend to burn them off, so that is also ok, but not nearly as pleasurable.

Back at home in the afternoon and I've plenty of work to keep me busy, including the challenge of explaining resolution (display, digital and print) to someone. It's not an easy concept to grasp so I can see why people get so confused with it, but I tried my best.

I also had some harassing to do in terms of the fridge repair people. I can see this whole thing becoming a saga so I've started logging down everything I do in relation to the whole charade in case I have to get really shitting with LG.

Round 2 of low carb dinners tonight and I opt for king prawn stir fry. It seems that those south beach cook books I bought several years ago are being useful again. I am still however unconvinced that what I'm being asked to do is just a form of calorie reduction which in itself will result in weight loss, rather than the type and time of food being consumed acting as the catalyst losing weight. I'm not particularly numerate, but the argument for just eating less than you burn still seems to be the simplest solution so far... You'll have to excuse the scepticism here, but as somewhat of a diet tart I've yet to find any solution that works LONGTERM other than eating less and exercising more (and that includes low carb diets).

Posted by Abi at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2010

Stood Up!

Well, only a tiny bit :) I was suppose to be going to visit Cara today and we were going to have a girly trip to Cirencester, but just as I was getting my crap together and heading out of the door I got a phone call to take a rain check.. booo! Not to worry though, it was for a valid reason as they'd been offered a house viewing that they'd been waiting to go and see and thought it'd be a good time to do it whilst Charlie was at school.

So that left my day a little bit blank. I did however manage to parcel up one of our gadgets which is going back to the manufacturer as its apparently got an unfixable problem and they want to give it a post mortem to see where it all went wrong. That's fine, except the bloody thing has an inbuilt battery to keep it going and so kept making odd noises and talking to itself all the way to the post office. I did have to assure the woman at the desk that it wasn't in fact a bomb or anything, but that it was probably going to annoy her all day - how nice I am!

After doing that job I went down to the gym and got sweaty. Not a bad way to waste an hour and I also included some more work on my withering knee muscles.

When I got back I decided to luxuriate in a nice hot bath with considering it was early afternoon was quite flamboyant for me, but very relaxing all the same :)

Not quite sure what I did for the rest of the day, but it did involve cooking my first "no rice, pasta, bread or potatoes" dinner as according to SMINDE. Got to admit, I ate it and was promptly hungry thereafter, but had some fruit for dessert and a big drink which got me through it. I also finished off my sampler square of four stitch check, so that's 3 squares done, just another 100 or so to go :)

Posted by Abi at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2010

Snow Go... Now!

Woke up this morning, got out of bed, peeked out of the window. Snow? No. Thank goodness. Went for a pee. Peeked out of the window, thwump... the clouds just did the dirty on us and deposited a healthy smattering of snow all over the place. Great. And its not easing up in the slightest.

Ordinarily I wouldn't mind, but today I've offered to help out my neighbour delivering sandwiches to local businesses as she's got personal stuff to get done which is important and she's short staffed and I volunteered. Meh. And now it's snowing. The thrill of standing out in the snow pimping bread and meat isn't enthralling me in the slightest, but you know I said I'd do it, so I'll just get on with it. If anything it'll give me something to complain about later.

And it did. It was cold and wet (yes wet because the snow was wet, not fluffy like you'd see on an idyllic Christmas card) and the punters weren't all that interested. Also, interestingly and not surprisingly the smell of hot bacon rolls does little when one is trying to be virtuous and sticking to not gorging out when the mood takes.

Wet and sodden I came home, had some lunch and thought better of going to the gym since I thought it'd be nice for my knee to recover a bit more, after all I have just got in and out of a car 20 times which as you can imagine doesn't do wonders for a dodgy right leg with no cartilage on the outside of it (don't forget, I'm british, we drive on the right!). Besides, I'm going to the gym later on today for my SMINDE meeting, I don't want to appear to be over-enthusiastic.

Talking of which, the meeting itself was hmm, well I'm going to reserve judgement for now. I will produce a full summary at the end of the 12 week course. Plus points however is the challenge of a weekly weigh in. Negatives, I was easily the fattest person there with I would guess a good 6 stone on each and every other participant. That in itself is demoralizing.

Anyway, onwards and upwards (or preferably downwards if you relate this to weight).

Posted by Abi at 3:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2010

Pork & Mindy

So, today has been one of those days where I've not managed to muster the enthusiasm to do anything of consequence. Don't know why, but I suspect "winter" has got something to do with it. I hate short days, I hate cold weather, and joy, more snow has been forecast. Great! Bah Humbug.

Some excitement however in the form of a parcel arriving from France which contained the cute little knitted sweater that Phil's mum had made for Rupert from a pattern in my doggie knits knitting book. No sooner was it through the door it was on Rupert (see Photo). Not sure entirely what he made of it, but I think it looks cool, and the aim of it is to keep him warm when he gets his monthly crew cuts (though he's not been cut for 2 months now so he's a probably a bit woolly to be donning a further layer of insulation just at the moment, but is due a cut and blow dry in a week or so. Anyway, a big thank you to Sylvia for making it for him, one day I hope my knitting will be up to par so I can create something as complicated!

Other exciting news in the form of me actually getting to the gym for the second day on the trot, and I signed up to the "Sminde" meetings they run which are suppose to help with weight management. Phil aptly came up with a funnier name being the "pork & mindy meeting" which in truth brought a smile to my face so that's what I'll call it from now on :) The first meeting is tomorrow so we shall see what that brings.

**UPDATE**: second trip to gym without a break probably not a great idea, knee now swollen. Fantastic!

Posted by Abi at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2010

Knee'd to try harder

Up early this morning as I've got to be at the Nuffield for 10AM for my 6 week check up on my knee, so after rushing around like a fool and then realising I was an hour ahead of myself I actually had plenty of time to get there even though that involved hitting Oxford just past the rush hour which meant there was quite a bit of traffic.

I wasn't kept waiting long at all at the hospital where I saw a physio who explained what had happened to my knee quite thoroughly. I had a bucket handle tear to the lateral meniscus which had managed to completely detach itself, flip over and wedge itself in the space where the anterior crucial ligament and posterior crucial ligament are usually found at the centre of the knee. So it's no wonder I was in agony with it. Needless to say there wasn't a cats chance that the surgeon would have been able to reattach it as everything was mullered in there.

Aftercare? Well the usual really, try to lose weight (which I'm already trying to do), sensible well cushioned shoes from now on and just be a little careful with what I do with it. Pretty sensible stuff I suppose.

When I'm finished at the clinic I then make my way to the model shop to get Phil's glow plugs that he wanted but the shop is shut despite the telephone message stating that they were re-opening today after having a short break away. Oh well. So I make my way back home where I've a nice load of work waiting for me.

Once the work was done I then decide to take Rupert out for a walk as I can't remember the last time I did that and I took the neighbours dog with us so he could have a bit of company. I also strapped myself up to my heart rate monitor to see how many calories I could burn, and for the 45 minutes we were out I shed 175 calories so not too bad at all :)

When Phil gets home we then head out to the gym - something we've been threatening to do for a while, but with the all clear from the doctor to start going back again today seems as good a day as any to make a fresh start. We've decided that instead of flogging ourselves twice a week with 2 hour sessions we're going to try and go more often but only for 45 minutes at a time, and tonight that worked as we both felt we'd had a good work out but were not unfathomably knackered. I also spoke to the owner on our way out to explain our absence and she was very supportive, also she mentioned her weight loss support group she runs *again*, so maybe I'll sign up for this round of meetings.

Back home and its veggie sausages, mash and veg for tea. Hmmm. A veggie sausage whilst interesting is not a cut above one rammed with meat. Nonetheless, it was nice to have something rather than nothing!

Posted by Abi at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2010

Is the grass ever any greener?

That is a question I often ask myself, and frequently come to the opinion that of course it is, nothing could be worse than the UK, it's a poo hole and I wouldn't miss it for the world... but it seems with more and more of my family and friends moving away to foreign climes it is in fact becoming apparently clear that, no, in fact whilst the grass from a distance seems lush and wonderful, get to the middle of the field and you discover it's full of the same shit you'd left behind.

I say this because today I've had a conversation with my Mum, after a conversation with my sister who informed me that Mum was desperately miserable over in Greece and as a result my parents have reached the conclusion to sell up and ship back to the UK. I can to a degree understand the decision - the island that they moved to whilst lovely hasn't a lot to offer on the old mental stimulus scale and since my parents are not ones to get all tally-ho with the expats have made a few greek friends but without fully understanding the language that's been tough too. I'm sure there are lots of other reasons I'm not privvy to at the moment but the long and short of it is that whilst it's been nice for 18 months, long term it's not for my Mum, and if Mum isn't happy, Dad isn't happy. I'm just pleased that they have had the balls to make the decision, because it's a big one. I'm sure the thought of the "I told you so's" and the perceived degree of failure are difficult to overcome, but you know that means very little coming from people who haven't had the guts to give it a go, and they should be utterly ignored.

And this isn't the only story I've heard of the faithfully departed either returning to our shores or wondering if in fact they made the right decision to go in the first place... you know who you are.

So I have to conclude then that whilst I may bitch about the UK, and complain about the weather and how expensive it all is, it is the very fabric of our little island that makes it indisputably difficult to leave, it's almost as if it's native inhabitants are inbreed with a boomerang gene - you can throw them as far as you like to all the corners of the world, but one day they'll want to come back. And you know what? It'll probably still be raining, and Labour will still be in power when they do, but they'll be back home in good old blighty.

Wow, I almost sound patriotic...

Posted by Abi at 4:59 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2010

Not a lot...

... of anything going on today, in fact both Phil and I have been positively vegetative for the best part of several hours.

The only flurry of activity was this morning when we caught up on lots of paper work, namely our personal tax returns, and we also go around to booking our short break away to Prague which is shaping up to be quite a nice little break away.

We have booked into one of the SLH accredited hotels, part of the same group that the Lindos Blu is a member of that we stayed in when we went to Rhodes for Phil's sister's wedding back last year. Were so impressed by the standard needed to be SLH accredited we thought we'd treat ourselves to another stay in one of their recommendations and so have booked the Pachtuv Palace for our accommodation. Fingers crossed it will be lovely!

As for the rest of the day? We it was eaten up with more Fable 2 and finishing watching Watchmen which left me a bit "meh" - glad I didn't go to the cinema to see it. Not to say it was bad, just could have been better...

Tea tonight is a Linda McCartney lasagne for me (as I continue to eat my way through the stock of vegetarian food that I'd got for Phil's mum when they visited at christmas) which was actually quite nice in fairness. Phil had Mac Cheese, his favourite.

Posted by Abi at 9:13 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2010

More website, sigh.

More marvellous work today, well, that intermingled with trying to find a contact lens specialist optician for Phil, but the closest I can manage is Birmingham. I think I might put a call into our local one to see if he has any advice.

So, whilst not researching eye topics and scaring myself silly (google images can be an eye opener, no, really quite literally!) I also get on with some more of our company website design. I've done the home page, but what is now required is how the internal pages will operate as they need some kind of sub navigation incorporating into them. It took me quite a while to figure out what that should be and how it should look, but I'm pretty happy with the result.

What I'm not happy with is the fact the istockphoto are charging ridiculous prices for their stock photography, in particular vector graphics. I would say on average the vector files are between 10 and 15 credits, and on istock's pay as you go scheme this equates to about £1 a credit. So an image file will cost you around £10-15. Ridiculous! You might say I should change to their subscription scheme, but their "daily" credit allowance just doesn't make sense for me financially. I think I may have to look else where for my stock photography and imagery. One thing is for sure though, it's forced me to improve my photoshop skills no end, which is a boom, because when you're pretty close to the bone on charges for projects if you can save money, all the more better for your pocket.

Posted by Abi at 8:43 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2010

Eye see, or perhaps not.

I have Phil for company today as he's got an appointment with the eye specialist this afternoon after his last visit to his optician earned him a referral to the hospital because the pressures in his eyes was just above the normal limit. I need to play taxi for him as some of the tests they may do could render him temporarily blind and he wouldn't be able to drive himself home, so we head out around lunch time to leave plenty of time for arrival as we didn't really know what the roads and traffic would be like.

When we arrive at the hospital we have to wait around for a while, but Phil eventually gets taken in for a quick eye test and then another wait later he is called in to see the specialist. Now, I wasn't in the room but Phil tells me afterwards that the woman he'd seen had told him that his eyes were in the most terrible state and he was suffering from a bad case of Corneal Neovascularization due to the type of contacts he was wearing. Nothing wrong with the pressures, but he was about to go blind because he'd been stupid enough to take the advice of an optician who had prescribed 30 day continuous use contacts, something that only people with 3 fingers and no opposable thumb should be allowed to use. The remedy? No more contacts for a month, and if he does go back to them he has to use daily ones instead.

So, we've got two extreme opinions here, Boots say "use the contacts for 30 days, after all they're approved by the governmental health authority to sell over here and we check your eyes every 6 months and haven't noticed this particular problem with your eyes, plus we don't really want you to stop paying us £16 quid a month". The Doctor says "Contacts are the spawn of the devil. You are either too stupid or incapable of changing them daily. Begone!!".

As you can imagine this has left Phil a bit shell-shocked. It took him ages to get the hang of contacts and now as he's reaping the rewards for all his hard work someone either wants to take the prize completely away or leave him play with it even though his eyes might drop out. So, we decided to go and see our doctor who recommended we get an opinion from an optician who has a special interest in contacts, and if that doesn't work go private to seek a second opinion.

Phil and I both think that there is a middle ground to be had here, it's just a case of finding it and perhaps rendering the services of a more experienced eye care professional regularly to keep those capillaries at bay.

So, can you guess what my mission is for tomorrow?

Posted by Abi at 9:29 PM | Comments (0)

January 13, 2010

S'no Joke!

A day full of wintry delights today as I have to go into to town to do some banking, which involves me firstly getting all the snow off the car that has fallen over night - a good couple of inches - and then getting the car into town. I have to say that I'm impressed that Phil decided to go to London today because I'm not entirely sure it's the best weather for him to be braving the roads considering the chaos I had to get through to drive just a mile. It was as if the council just hadn't bothered doing anything! The story was much the same when I managed to get into the town centre and was walking around, the pavements were death traps and really slippy. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a multitude of personal injury claims going into the district council at this rate, a really poor show on their behalf of trying to keep public areas safe. And they can't use the diminishing salt situation as an excuse, as all it'd take would be a man and a shovel to fix the problem in the town. I do wonder why we bother paying council tax I really do!

Anyway, I gingerly make it around to the bank, get done what I need to do and then pick up a few items from the super market and make my way home again.

Whilst I'm having my lunch I get a call from Phil to say that he's leaving early and will be home in an hour or so, so whilst I'm waiting for him I continue battling with my company website that I'm trying to build and researching some 3d flash carousel options.

I down tools at around 5.30 PM and after some more Fable 2 activity set about making tea. A real mish mash tonight as I'm trying to get all the old stuff eaten up out of the freezer.

After food I then do a bit more knitting but don't get very far and have to unravel about 6 of the rows I'd knitted - a real pain! Talk about 8 rows forward 6 rows back....meh! Maybe I'll pay more attention tomorrow!

Posted by Abi at 9:24 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2010

Re-design

Not really much to post about today other than the fact I spent the majority of the day reworking the design I'd done for the company website - I have to say it was time worth spending as it now looks a lot better than it did with a few more details added in. Now I've just got to build it!

Our new mouse arrives since the old one's battery has died and you can't replace it. We got a logitech darkfield performance mouse as it's successor. A few teething problems when it was installed like causing the system to hang when it rebooted, but a reshuffle of the USB port the receiver was plugged into sorted that out.

Phil comes home and is in a grump as he's tired, but soon snaps out of it thankfully, we have a quiet evening and early bed. More snow predicted overnight. Joy.

Posted by Abi at 9:01 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2010

Sticky

I have spent most of the day today working on my neighbours website, not really building it as such but adding content. She's not really got a clue as to what to put in there so I've being doing some draft copy to give her a point in the right direction. To be honest, it takes quite a bit of time to do and all of the morning is eaten up contemplating and editing and getting a bit bored :)

I also do some other work that comes through and by the time it's 3PM I've completed everything that I needed to do today so I decide to do some baking.

When Phil's parents came over at Christmas they brought stacks of food with them, including some dates that I'd not gotten around to eating so thought it'd be nice to use them up somehow, and as it happens, Delia has a nice recipe for a Sticky Date and Walnut Loaf that I thought I'd give a go.

I need a few other ingredients that I don't have, like dark treacle and golden syrup so I go out and get those things that I do not yet posses and when I get home set about making up the cake. The recipe states to use a 2lb loaf tin but the last time I made such a big cake I was struggling to eat it all before it was getting to it's best before date so this time I plump for two 1lb loaf tins instead. It was a bit of a weird cake to make and a tricky one too considering just how much a pain in the arse treacle and syrup can be to handle and dates are a real nusience to chop up too since they are also sticky! I can see where the cake got it's name from! Anyway, after a tiny struggle the mixture made it into the tins and was plonked in the oven for about an hour to cook.

I have got to say, the struggle was worth it in the end. I tried a bit of the cake after it'd cooled and it was delicious! So much so I took the second loaf around to my neighbours to try out. The recipe states that the cake is better after it's been left a couple of days, so if it tastes this good now I can't wait till Thursday! :)

If anyone wants the recipe mail me as it appears that it's not on Delia's website. Boo!

Posted by Abi at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2010

Xbox is dead! Long live the Xbox!

Another day of excitement and potential peril today as Phil and I decide that we might venture as far a field as Oxford today. Not as stupid as it sounds, our run out was to serve several purposes. One, to give Phil a test run as to what it'll be like getting to work tomorrow as he really needs to go in to do stuff that can only be done in the office and two (and less importantly) to go an exchange our Watchmen blu-ray that we bought from HMV which is broken and doesn't play in any of our blu-ray players without making so much racket you'd think it was about to take off or something.

Thirdly, we made the decision last night to replace our now fixed but will shortly crap out xbox. I noticed last night that it was having trouble doing saves etc and was quite juddery and so despite our best efforts in breathing new life into the disable device I think we might have to euthanase it permanently. In it's place we've decided to go for an xbox super elite, and the only place we'll get that would be at Game in Oxford.

The trip in to Oxford was fine and the roads were clear all the way there which was a relief though we weren't in town for long, just enough time to swap the blu-ray, get the xbox and me to pick up an engagement card for my friend. We didn't even stop for lunch, most unlike us, instead we saved on the parking and were on our way home about an hour after we arrived.

Back at the house and Phil sets up the new xbox and sets about transferring all of our game data from the old to the new which takes quite a bit of time. While he is doing that I nip out and get some cheese as I'd forgotten to get it yesterday and we then have more toasted sandwiches for lunch, nice!

The afternoon is spent playing fable 2 again and then we watch some of Watchmen, but at 3 hours long this particular cinematic experience is going to have to be done over several sessions.

Heading to bed now, and it looks like the snow has started again... uh oh!

Posted by Abi at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

January 9, 2010

Out and about, at last!

Ahhh, it feels like the whole world is a new discovery today as Phil and I venture out of the house to run a few errands here and there that need to be done and judging from the noise of the main road not far from our house it sounds like the road might be good enough to drive on so we give it a go.

We head towards the supermarket as I need to put some fuel in my car as it's been running on fumes for a good few weeks now and we thought it might be a good time to pick up some more pop as Phil had drunk the Christmas supplies and we were down to tonic water and russcian. The plan on shopping however quickly changed when we got to the roundabout before the supermarket and saw that the queue to get in was tailing back a ridiculous amount so we settled on getting just the fuel instead rather than battling with 50000 other people over some loaves of stale bread and 2 broken eggs (however, see picture, curtosy of Cara and you'll see we might have lucked on the bread in any event!).

After we refuelled we then decided to try Waitrose instead, but even though they had considerably less people there the idiots that were creeping around the car park made it impossible to park up so Phil lost the plot and we went home.

Some lunch ensued, toasted sandwiches, very nice, and then when Phil decided to have a nap I headed back out to Waitrose to pick up the few things we did want (note I say want, not need, we are stocked up here for a good 2 months due to my usual unabashed grocery shopping techniques). There was only about 3 people in the supermarket and I got us Pop and a few treats, like the enchilada meal they do which wipes the board with Old El "I'll passo" thanks and it seems that their delivery trucks are running to schedule as one arrived just as I was leaving. Good stuff, Waitrose is definitely winning the war on being my supermarket of choice.

Back home and I nip next door to see that they're all doing ok, which they are, and after an nice chat I go home and cook dinner.

Not much on the box, so Phil spends some time playing fable 2 on our "a bit flaky" xbox and I do some more knitting.

Hot bath and bed me thinks tonight.

Posted by Abi at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

January 8, 2010

Cabin Feverish

Another day with us all at home. The snow is still on the ground, the temperature hasn't risen much above zero and to be honest it's perhaps becoming a little tiresome!

I'm only being grumpy as I think I've got a bit of cabin fever - even though I spend every day at home I usually manage to break the day up by running errands here and there which is great as I get an airing, but I've been in the house for 7 solid days now and it's starting to show. Maybe tomorrow I'll go out and do something, anything in fact just to get a bit of daylight and fresh air.

I make a considerable bit of progress with my sandwich website today spending a great deal of time practicing with my graphics tablet, though I need to realise there is a fine line between quentin blake style hand drawn stuff and stuff just looking crap!

I give up working at around 6 and make a start on dinner - roast chicken tonight, something nice to warm the cockles...

Whilst I'm cooking dinner Phil decides to have a go on the xbox only to be presented with the ring of death... of all the times for it to go when we could do with all the forms of entertainment we can muster! This will be the second xbox we've had as the previous one suffered in exactly the same way. With nothing to loose we you-tubed to see if anyone had a fix for the problem, and we tried out the one where by you overheat the unit for 20 minutes whilst it's upside down and then stick it in the fridge for 20 minutes upside down - long shot I know and it didn't work. What did work however was Phil repeatedly dropping the xbox on the floor in sheer anger. Sure enough it worked just fine after that! (I wouldn't suggest anyone tries this unless they have completely given up hope and do not require an additional door stop).

After dinner I manage to get a bit more knitting done, so much so in fact the 2nd of my sampler squares is now complete and I get to choose a different style to try out - cool! So whilst I knit, Phil watches Silent Witness - I find it hard to concentrate on doing knitting and staring at the goggle box especially when the sequence of stitches are quite complicated... I suspect practice will ease the difficulty somewhat!

Posted by Abi at 8:11 PM | Comments (0)

January 7, 2010

We're walking in the snow... (air) ish

No more snow today, but as predicted what we did have yesterday had frozen nicely making things just as precarious. As a result it was a last minute decision whether or not Phil would drive into work but a call from him boss made the choice for us as apparently the trip to the office was treacherous.

We did spend a good chunk of time trying to defrost the cars so that they would suffer less if we have even more cold weather (most likely) at least that way if we do have to get out for an emergency the cars will not be under a foot of snow with the doors iced shut.

Phil spent most of the day upstairs doing his work, whilst I meandered downstairs doing mine - a sandwich shop website was on the cards this morning as I continue to successfully plough through a lot of outstanding work. All was going well until we had a power cut which put pay to any work for 30 minutes or so, as well as the heating. Luckily though it wasn't long before we were firing on all cylinders again.

At around 6 we went out for a brief stroll down to the local shops - Phil had a doctors appointment so whilst he got seen I nipped into the shop to pick up some milk and other bits we were running short on, but to be honest there wasn't much of anything left on the shelves...we are doomed to starve! It did however give me the perfect reason to extract my hiking boots from under the bed and use them for the second time in the 3 years that I've owned them :-)

Back home and whilst tea cooked we both went next door so that we could drop their laptop back that Phil had been working on and also to see how the plane and Chris's finger was doing (luckily both are working fine!). We also had a chat about the car Phil is planning on getting - it will be invaluable this time to get the advice of people who know what they're talking about if we do go ahead and get the model car as maybe this time we won't get caught out on the niggly nuances that can cause havoc when trying to build your own whatever!

Dinner was nice if not a bit badly timed due to our stay next door being extended, and thankfully my feet have now got feeling in all toes after our snowy scoot out this evening. Suffice to say, another hot bath tonight and I'll be thankful for my lovely waffle blanket as I drift to sleep later!

Posted by Abi at 8:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 6, 2010

And it snowed...

And snowed, and snowed. It snowed so much last night that this morning we have a good 8 inches covering everywhere and so there is little chance that Phil will be going to work today. He did try in fairness, and at 6AM this morning was walking down to the main road to see if it might be passible, but seeing sense we decided that it would better if he just didn't try and sat it out for the day. Luckily, working in IT gives you a degree of liberalism as to where you work so it wasn't too much of a trauma. The only downside is that he will at some point have to put an additional trip down to London as that is suppose to be where he was today.

When I get downstairs I let Rupert out as usual and with some speculation he wandered out into the snow which is pretty much as high as his legs are making it a bit difficult for him to manouvor around, but sure enough after a few strides he turned it a gazelle and was leaping around throughly enjoying himself chasing snow balls and generally getting into mischeif. So much so in fact he was very difficult to get in and spent a great deal of time sitting in the middle of the garden staring at wonderment at the winter scene around him.

I also went out to have a look around and took a few pictures of the landscape, see above. There is something about snow that just reels back the childhood memories when winters like the one we're currently experiencing seemed common place rather than an apocolyptic even that the rest of the country is struggling to get to grips with.

Phil and I spent the rest of the day working and I make a start on a greek holiday studio website that's been sitting on my to-do list for far too long. We have a brief break for lunch and enjoy some nice warm soup and then get back to it and at around 5 I nip next door to see how our neighbour got on in the snow today since she'd ventured out to open up her shop in town. All is ok on that front, but Chris, the chap that has been helping Phil with his model plane had a bit of a minor injury in that he managed to forget the propeller on the plan was on full revs and accidentally stuck his finger in the way of the blade. Blood ensued, not pretty. I dutifully nipped back home and got some steri-strips, I just hope they're enough to fix it!

Red Thai Curry for tea tonight, thanks to those lovely folks at the Blue Elephant who have helpfully produced a ready made paste to do such a dish with ease. It was quite fiery but I think I saved it at last moment by putting a blob of creme fraiche in to cool it down otherwise it'd have been far to hot for me to eat! I also made an eves pudding (yet to be devoured, will do after I've finished typing this).

I suspect I'll have Phil for company tomorrow since the temperatures this evening are set to plummet, turning the snow to compacted ice. Nice.

Posted by Abi at 8:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 5, 2010

Freeeeezing!

Well, the usual scare mongering of the UK press has for once paid off, sort of, as after weeks of speculation we've finally had snow here. It started to float down this afternoon as I was in Waitrose picking up a few treats for dinner, and sure enough a couple of hours later we've got a couple of centimeters. Not a significant amount and much less than the rest of the country, but all the same it's always pleasing to see a blanket of white out the window. I suspect Phil will disagree with me though since he nearly wiped out our road sign this evening when the car elegantly glided off the road onto the path due to the tarmac turning into Teflon...

Other events of today include giving Rupert a bath, nipping into the bank to pay a cheque in and getting on with some work as well as making a batch of stew to freeze, some of which I had for my tea tonight and I have to say it was very nice indeed!

I also got around to taking down the rest of the decorations with the exception of the ones I can't reach. The tree was nicely bald by the time I finished ripping the tinsel and lights off it and also put up an impressive fight when I tried to deposit it outside, it had obviously become accustomed to a cosy living room.

It's time for bed now though, so I shall sign off. I wonder what the landscape will look like tomorrow, at this rate Phil won't be doing his usual weekly trip to Chertsey for sure...

Posted by Abi at 8:50 PM | Comments (0)

January 4, 2010

New Year, New Regime

Admittedly there is no excuse for the sever lack of postings to this blog since err November, but in fairness with the run up to Christmas and other things happening not really been much time to create posts.

I've also noticed that getting any more than a week behind means I am less likely to try and catch up as it seems so much work to do so and my memory is dross.

A quick summary in chronological order then of things that have happened since my last post:-

1. I had my arthroscopy done and they discovered I had a bucket handle tear in my cartiledge. I have since then spent the time recovering and only now after 6 weeks it feels like there might have been some advantage to having the op done in the first place.
2. My friend Brian passed away after a year long battle with cancer.
3. The UK was in the grip of avalanche levels of snow fall causing chaos and mayhem everywhere, with the exception of where we live
4. We have had 2 visits from Phil's parents, a pre Christmas visit and a last minute decision for them to join us over the festive period which was lovely!
5. I've discovered a new hobby, knitting.
6. We spent a lovely New Year at the Gardners, celebrating the arrival of 2010 with a home cooked Thai banquet curtosy of Paul and enjoyed marvelling over Cara's incredible hulk impression

Phil and I have also decided to get back to the sensible eating and trying to get to the gym when we can, but we are going to take a bit more of a relaxed approach to it in the belief that it is better to be a willing participant without any feelings of deprivation than begrudging every effort we make to try and have a healthier lifestyle.

I've also decided to try and update my blog daily... as I think this year is going to be one I'll want to look back on with fondness, so here is what I got up to today.

First things first and I caught up with some work that had be festering over the holiday period, not that I could get that much of it done as I was waiting on some confirmations before I started any work which didn't come through until the end of the day where I wasn't inclined to start a big chunk of photoshop madness.

So, in the interim I went out shopping and got some bits and pieces from the supermarket, mainly a few additional ingredients so I could bake a cake and use up some bananas that had gone past their best by baking a banana and walnut loaf, thanks to Delia once again! I also popped into the vets to get a wormer for Rupert and some flea treatment as he's due to be re-dosed on both counts this week, lucky him!

With the cake cooking I also started on making a lamb stew which will also use up the extra veg that didn't get used over Christmas and new year (can you spot another theme for 2010, waste not want not!).

I also managed to get my graphics tablet set up with the laptop again as it had been wiped when we installed windows 7, and with that working I was able to get a thing or 2 done for Phil that he'd asked me to get on with, one of those job which have a tendency to linger until you must absolutely do them to make any progress with other things! Anyway, it's all working now so no need to panic next time I need it.

I have also made a start on taking down some of the decorations, mainly lights and tinsel and will work my way through the rest of them this week, pack them up and put them in the attic ready for 12 months time yet again.

Anyway, tea is now cooking so I'd better keep an eye on it... I wonder if I can get another couple of rows of knitting in tonight...

Posted by Abi at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2009

Aunty Me

Ahhh, some good news to wake up to this morning in the fact that Phil's brother Peter and his wife Stine have had a healthy baby boy called Mateo, which means I'm now an official Aunty, which is cool!

I can't say it has helped my broody gene though which got just got kicked into overdrive...

... which then got kicked into hyperdrive when I found out one of my old work collegues and his mrs has just had a baby boy too, so congrats to Russ as well!

The morning then was filled with thoughts of baby stuff and work and generally unwinding after the weekend of visitors etc. I do get a phone call from my sister who is spending a few days in our local vicinity so we arrange to meet up for dinner in Burford at around 6.30PM to catch up.

It doesn't take long for it to become time for me to get a shift on to meet my sister so I plug in the address into TomTom and wind my way through many a country road (note to self, shortest route isn't always the best) until I make it to The Angel @ Burford where I meet up with Phil and we both walk to the pub together.

The meal we had was fantastic, probably the best scallops I've ever had and the belly pork was delicious, tender as anything you'll ever taste. Desert was marvelous - black cherry bread and butter pudding, and for once the cheese and biscuits had exactly the right amount of cheese:biscuit ratio. All in all I would throughly recommend this restaurant to anyone fancing a bit of a treat.

When we get home there is just enough time to watch a tiny bit of TV before we head off to bed - phil is in the spare room tonight again since my snoring is apparently still troublesome (can't comment myself, it hasn't bothered me yet!) :-)

Posted by Abi at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

November 9, 2009

Moving - again!

Up early this morning as a delivery arrives for Cara and Paul containing their most important worldly possessions that have been air-freighted over here on a super speedy delivery schedule.

Not long after that package arrives, Paul, Brian and now Martin all turn up from Liverpool ready for the off back down to Swindon where they have to pick up the keys to their rental property that they've hired until they find somewhere suitable to purchase.

With the car loaded up it's apparent that I'll have to make the trip in the Yaris as well so that all the stuff can be transported, so whilst Cara, Paul, Charlie and Martin make a start on the trip Brian and I wait behind a while to give them a head start to get the keys so we can just roll up and unload later on.

I get a bite to eat before we go but it isn't too long before Brian and I are on the road driving to the rental property with a fully laden car. When we get there and despite my best efforts of bringing tea and milk for a brew it becomes apparent that although the rental is furnished it is only to the most mininal of standards so there isn't even a set of mugs to be found in the place. Apart from that, it's a nice house in a nice area! Anyway, with little to be done and no tea to be drunk Brian and I head back to Oxford so he can catch a train back home, and the others hit the shops to pick up some critical essentials.

Unfortunatly for Brian we miss the train he'd planned on getting due to some rather -rubbish traffic in Oxford, but we're both pretty sure there will be a frequent enough service that it won't be too much of a problem, so I drop him off eventually, we say our goodbyes and I try to extracte myself from Oxford city centre.

When I get home I catch up on email etc and get a call from Phil to say that he is now stuck in the Oxford traffic and will be late home so I waste an hour or so doing blog entries and other non important things.

When Phil finally makes it through the door I prepare tea and we sit down and catch up on some television since there hasn't been much of a chance to watch it lately and get an early night after hedging our bets on where our friends will ultimately end up purchasing a house - hopefully it'll be close enough for frequent visits!

Posted by Abi at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 8, 2009

Oh! For the energy of a 5 year old!

This morning Cara suggests that we find something to do so that Charlie can get an airing - poor blighter has been couped up for days now and needs some form of activity to expel the excess energy he's been storing.

So, I investigate a whole new world of "childrens activities" within the local area (I have to admit, I'm quite impressed with the variety) and decide that the petting zoo and outdoor playground at Millets would be a good option since it's just down the road and it's free! Also, it's right near the uber farmshop that I love, so I can purchase some luxuries whilst we're there.

After Phil and I have done the shopping, everyone has some lunch and after a minor distraction involving xbox, rockband and the beatles we head out for Charlies excursion up the road.

The petting zoo was nice enough, the star of which was undoubtably the Kune Kune Pig they had there and Charlie had lots of fun in the playground exploiting the swings, merrygoround, diggers and electric tractor. It wasn't long however before it started to get dark so we had a quick squizz around the farm shop, picked up a cake or 3 and then went home.

Back at the house and Cara and I prepare a nice sunday roast for everyone which was enjoyed by all and after Charlie has been put to bed we relax in front of the goggle box for a while until Charlie wakes up complaining of ear ache - uhoh! We give him some pain killers in the hope that it will subdue the pain long enough for him to sleep and hope that it resolves itself, other wise it'll be a trip to the doctors tomorrow, eek!

Posted by Abi at 8:40 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2009

Broken...

I think with all the running around of this week and the late nights the decision I made this morning to ask Phil to drive everyone to Swindon to pick up the car was probably a sensible one as I am just exhausted to breaking point. I really don't do well on no sleep it has to be said. Luckily for me, Phil is happy enough to oblige and after breakfast he loads everyone up and takes them to the car shop.

Whilst they are all out I am left to my own devices and to keep Brian company so we while away many an hour playing fallout 3 together which was fun - makes me wish I'd had a brother!

When the gang arrive back with the car there is enough time for a brief break and then at around 4PM Brian and Paul start on their trip up to Liverpool.

With the lads gone, the remainder of us stay behind and relax, which is well deserved and we get good old fish and chips for dinner which went down a treat with everyone, including me, since I can't even recall the last time I had fish and chips from our local chippy! Yum!

I'm hoping I'll sleep better tonight, but according to Phil I've been snoring like a git lately, so who knows. Maybe I'll sleep ok but Phil won't - that's what happens when you get married to someone who has a natural affinity to catch every winter bug going!

Posted by Abi at 9:29 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2009

They've arrived!

Woohoo! My long lost friends have landed back on UK soil permanently and all that stands between them and me is about 60 miles! With that in mind I am up at 4.30 this morning and out of the house by 5AM heading towards Heathrow to pick up the Gardners and welcome them back home :-)

The trip down there was good enough with no problems other than my decreased driving ability due to the unearthly hour, but I arrive there with plenty of time even considering their flight had landed early due to some rather rapid tail winds.

Whilst waiting for them to get through passport control etc I meet up with Brian who is also at the airport to greet his family back home. I was a little shocked when I saw that he had a suitcase with him and so tentatively asked what his plans were, which apparently involved coming back to our house as he and Paul were going to head up to Liverpool in the wee hours of tomorrow morning. Now this was no problem except for the fact that I wasn't quite sure how we'd get everyone and all the luggage into the BMW considering it's a tight fit at the best of times, but I figured we'd just wait and see how much luggage and flesh we needed to accomodate before reverting to plan B (not that there was a plan B!).

Brian and I grab a coffee and a croissant and its not very long at all until the crew are with us looking very tired but excited to be back, so we make our way up to the car in the hope that the suspension and cabin space will hold up to what we were about to subject it to!

It has to be said, if I ever need a career change I should seriously consider some sort of job where you have to squeeze lots of stuff into a tiny space. It took some work, but eventually the BMW was loaded with 3 large adults, 1 normal adult, 1 child (with booster seat), 2 large suitcases, 2 small suitcases, 3 holdalls and 2 laptop bags, oh, and a granola bar.

Not suprisingly then it was a cramped trip home with 45 minutes of the 60 minute journey spent talking deliriously due to lack of oxygen and the remaining 15 minutes spent in silence as people passed out or went into temporary paralysis as cramp set in and their muscles gave up. What was funnier was trying to extract Paul from the back of the car when we arrived home, in Cara's own words, she "felt like a midwife".

Once the car is unloaded we all settle down to drink tea and plan what we need to do today to keep everyone to schedule, and first on the list is to get a car so that the gang can be independant and get around where they need to go. After I've been to the dentist to get my tooth filled (hurrah! it's finally done!) we go over to Swindon to one of those big car supermarket places where Paul finds something half suitable, but hits upon the problem of paying for it in the conventional way as they don't have any UK bank cards here. A short trip to the bank later and we fail miserably to get a bankers draft and get asked to return tomorrow with a more suitable form of ID such as a passport, as not surprisingly just saying who you are isn't enough. We will just have to go back tomorrow and sort it all out then and hope the car hasn't gone.

On the way back we stop at KFC to get a snack as everyone is hungry, and then when we get home it isn't long after that I'm ordering a curry takeout for everyone.

With no car in the offing Paul decides that despite the rather overbearing sales technique of the car shop he will return tomorrow to pick up the car he test drove once he's got the bankers draft, and this time he'll take Cara with him so she can see if she likes it too, since it's likely this will end up being her car. He'll then head up to Liverpool once it's all been sorted out so he can see his Mum.

Oh well, roll on tomorrow, I've no doubt it'll be as hectic as today :) Still, it is good to have me crew back :)

Posted by Abi at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)

November 5, 2009

Spending spree

After a morning of running errands in town it is only by the afternoon that I get around to completing what I need to finish before our friends arrive tomorrow.

I drive over to our local soft furnishing superstore and eventually manage to find a nice enough set of single duvet covers along with some flanellette sheets and pillow cases to make up the two single beds in the guest bedroom. Luckily there were in the sale so it wasn't too pricy, which for me is a bit of a change as usually when there is any involvement of me and purchasing sheets it's enough to make my credit card company rub their hands with glee!

I then make my way back home and go to our local Waitrose store to get some goodies and treats that I wouldn't usually buy to make a nice welcome for our visitors when they get here, because nothing says Great Britain like clotted cream rice pudding and decent bacon!

After that I then go into the town centre where I manage to pick up a nice basket to put the selection of toiletries in that I get from boots which will also go into the guest bedroom and I pick up a few kids comics and a lego toy for Charlie, who at 5 years old will probably appreciate them more than luxury body wash or nail files :) I also get a few other things like terry's chocolate orange (popping candy version) and some chocolate coins to sprinkle around.

Back home and I make the final touches to the rooms and also wash the new linen I bought and once it's dry put it onto the beds.

I have to say, by the time I've finished everything it is close to midnight, and considering I have to be up at 4.30 AM tomorrow it'll be interesting to see how I fair on a 1 hour car trip with only 4 and a bit hours sleep - we shall see!

Posted by Abi at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)

November 4, 2009

Dentists - round 3

Lord o lord - back to the dentist this morning for my 3 appointment to try and get this tooth filled and sorted out so I can not spend at least one half of a day each week sat in a dentist chair staring at a light and cringing as a big stabby needle gets shoved into my gum line.

Things get off to a bad start when I have to sit around for 15 min for my appointment and then when I do finally get into the chair and have the dressing taken out of the tooth I though everything was on the up as the dentist tells me that the infection is clear and she can fill the tooth today. Ladedah, skip the part where she files out more of my root canal and get to where I'm sat being x-rayed for the 3rd time. Only I appears I got zapped for nothing as the x-ray didn't develop properly and there wasn't enough time to do another one, so guess what. I got x-rayed again, my tooth got dressed again and I was told to come back on Friday because obviously I have very little to do with any of the other days of the week.

I suppose on the plus side I am very much making the most of my £46.50 that I'm paying for the entire course of treatment.

Back home and after some work I then set about getting guest bedroom number 2 fixed up for our visitors who arrive on Friday morning. Phil helps out as his train set needs to be dismantled and after some hard graft the room looks reasonable. I will however have to go and get some single duvet covers etc as it appears I don't have any, which is shocking as my airing cupboard is bursting as the seams with linen of one sort or the other.

Posted by Abi at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2009

Ringing in my ears...

I've devoted most of today to web related stuff, with the first of the tasks being to build a prototype booking system for a company I'm doing some work for. Instead of building it from scratch I have been using a programe called Axure - which once I got my head around is actually very good indeed and ideal for creating work quickly with a modecum of interactivity that is sufficent to get the idea across to those lacking even the tiniest bit of a clue.

Once I'd built the mock up I then get on with doing a job I'd been putting off for a while. My company website is in the process of being built and it has a nice flash navigation element to it but the rollovers need to have an associated sound, and so far I've failed to find anything suitable. So I spend another hour or so browsing through the istock audio files and not surprisingly I choose one of the very first ones I'd pick out about 3 weeks ago. At the end of it I felt like I had tinitus since I'd listened to so many bleep and blops and swishes and swooshes. I do hate having too much choice because it takes me longer to make a decision and inevitably I go back to one of the first choices I made - but maybe I'm also broken.

This evening we also get around to watching on of the blu-rays that we'd bought at the weekend, so Drag Me To Hell got whizzed around the disc tray for our enjoyment. I have to say it is very rare that I have openly laughed out loud in the middle of what was suppose to be a horror movie, but the scene with the possessed goat did it for me. Seriously, what where they thinking?!

I've also probably seen more that my fair share of people vomiting into other people's mouths, c'mon it's just not original after the 10th time you subject your audience to it. Meh. Maybe I'm just unscarable.

Posted by Abi at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2009

Mwahahahaha!

Oh, the joys of shopping in Oxford on a Saturday - as usual it was packed beyond being able to walk anywhere without tripping over someone else, so thankfully with an itemised list of things we needed to do less time was spent meandering and more doing.

We first go to HMV to get some blu-rays. We don't usually buy any from HMV as they seem to be so much more expensive than amazon but for a treat we picked up a couple which were competitively priced for once, including Bones series 4, Coraline, Drag me to hell and Dead snow, so a variety of movies to suit most people (ish!)

Phil then heads off to get his hair cut and whilst he is doing that I meet up with my friend Nic and we go to the Nosebag and drink lovely coffee and eat scrummy cake and catch up on what each other have been doing since we last met up.

After refreshments we then head to the hairdressers where Nic has an appointment to see what it would take to get her hair coloured blonde, which apparently would only require 6 months of time and lots of dosh, so we left thinking of alternatives to achieve the same ranging from Domestos to sever shock therapy. I think we'll have to revert to plan B for this particular problem!

We then met Phil and waddle back to the car park leaving Nic to finish some of her xmas shopping and us to nip into Game to get another motor racing game for the xbox.

Shopping done we go home and prepare for the trick or treaters - we get several, but next year I'm going to make much more effort to decorate the place all scary like. I used to love halloween when I was a kid and seems to be in decline, which I think sucks!

Anyway, hope y'all got scared witless at some point this evening!

Posted by Abi at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2009

What the Greeks don't have...

The first job of today is to fulfil a shipping order for my Mum who has requested a variety of goods be packed into my Dad's suitcase for export over to the Greek Islands as there is a distinct lack of these tresured tidbits where the sun shines and the sea is blue.

Before we get stuck into Mum's list, Dad and I head over to the furniture shop where the chair we had ordered has arrived and is waiting for us to pick it up. Luckily it came semi-flat packed meaning it fitted into the boot just fine. We then went to get dad a Saw, as apparently you just can't get them in Greece for love nor money.

With our errands done we then go to the supermarket to get Mum's many items, including baby clothes (don't ask), cheese, karvol capsules and razors. Dad also picks up a bottle of calvados, though I'm not sure what he's going to do with it! We then go to our local butcher and pick up several KGs of bacon, sausages, black pudding, and a gammon, and also pay a visit to the local fruit and veg store to get swedes and parsnips which it also seems are in short supply in the Med too.

At home we spend a good amount of time trying to re-arrange Dad's case and making sure it wasn't over the limit for his baggage allowance. Not suprisingly there were a number of casualties, lets just say there will be no swede mash or roast parsnips in Lesbos this Sunday!

With the case done and some lunch eaten we then travel down to Guildford and visit Sylvia and Brian. It was quite a difficult afternoon for reasons I won't disclose on here, but after some long chats with Brian we let him rest and Sylvia, Dad and I go out for an early dinner to their local Italian where we had a nice enough meal.

It was quite late by the time I started back on the road to get home and I didn't see my pillow and bed until gone midnight, I will regret it in the morning I'm sure.

Posted by Abi at 9:08 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2009

Tooth Trauma - round 2

After the nothingness of yesterday (see, no post ma!) today is a bit more busy with plenty going on to keep me occupied for the majority of the day.

First up I am of to the Dentist to get the second part of my treatment done. Whilst they did some drilling and filing of the tooth the last time, this appointment was far more hardcore and 40 minutes of invasive, reticulated jaw inducing procedures I was safely out of the dentist chair and pursuing yet another appointment for next week to see if they can fill the tooth provided the infection has cleared up.

Numb face and jaw intact I then nip back home to let Rupert out for a pee and then head straight on out again down to Swindon. Well, that was the plan, but half way there I got caught in roadworks and ended up being late to meet my dad from the train. Luckily though I managed to phone him and tell him to get a coffee and a newspaper and to make himself comfortable on the nearest park bench until I got there.

Eventually I got to the station and loaded Dad and his suit case up and we drove back home via the country route to avoid the traffic jam that had made me late.

Not much to fill the afternoon for me other than work while Dad also catches up on some paperwork and helps me with some copy for a website I need to start building.

Stew for tea (with dumplings, yum!) and an early night ensues - we have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow before I take Dad to Guildford so there will be little time for a late start.

Oh, and Martin had his interview in Reading today - hopefully it went well!

Posted by Abi at 8:24 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2009

'Ear mite u be a problem?

Not much happening today other than a trip to the vets with Rupert who after deciding to start shaking his head with much irritation has put me in a position where I can no longer ignore it. My suspicion is ear mites - he's had them before so I wouldn't be surprised if he'd got them again.

The appointment isn't until late, but when we get to the vets I also put him on the scales to see how he's doing on his diet. He's 7 KGs - which according the the books is about 1KG over the weight limit, but honestly there isn't an ounce of fat on the blighter so I'm going to work hard to keep him at the weight he is now and not try to strip him down any further.

When we get to see the vet there is little sign of any mites in his ears, so the vets prescribes some drops just to give them a clear out incase anything is beginning to lurk in there. A few other checks and we're good to go, which is a relief as Rupert was not best impressed with this particular outing.

Before bed I dose up Rupert's ears with some more drops which he didn't like one bit, but I'm hoping that they will start working sooner rather than later.

Posted by Abi at 2:02 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2009

Martin Moves In (temporarily!)

After the debauchery of yesterday (or should that be butchery!) today is a much quieter affair with very little to do other than prepare for a visit from Martin (Phil's brother) who is going to stay with us for a couple of days whilst he attends interviews in our vicinity to secure a job now that he's back in the UK to stay.

Martin gets here quite late, and so misses out on a rather nice Sunday roast that I'd prepared which Phil and I both enjoyed very much indeed.

And no, before anyone asks it wasn't roast frog.

Posted by Abi at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2009

Phil goes Tapacocky

It has been a very busy day for me today, with an early start taboot just to try and get through what I need to do by the time it's expected to be done so a good majority of the hours are spent staring at the computer screen losing the will to live.

Then in the evening I am very much left to my own devices as Mr. Philip is off out painting the town red with work colleagues by indulging in Tapas and Cocktails. Me being the respectable wife had volunteered to pick Phil up from town when he was done as a taxi would have cost a small fortune, and so while I wait for a text to signify Phil was either done or too drunk to do anymore I entertained myself with stew and dumplings for tea, any amount of television and a hot bath. I even allowed Rupert upstairs to kip on the bed with me whilst I tried to avoid a heavy slumber as to not miss "come get me" plea from 15 miles away!

Finally, and not too long after midnight I am getting dressed and driving back to town to get Phil who is loitering by a set of traffic lights outside nandos when I find him. He's drunk (actually I'd say closer to steaming but not completely frazzled) and is very chatty all the way home as only a drunk person can be, which is quite amusing despite the late hour. One pee stop later and we are rolling onto the driveway and it doesn't take long to get ourselves out of the car and into bed, where I have the pleasure of reliving Phil's evening out entirely based on his tapacocky breath, which was nice for me, as you can imagine ;-)

Posted by Abi at 11:43 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2009

Raise a hand if it hurts

Not being the type that is easily discouraged by my dad's dental issues, today it's my turn to sit under the glaring light of misery as I have got a dentist appointment to sort out a tooth that has been giving me jip for a couple of weeks now.

I've been putting the treatment off because I was not willing or able for that matter to pay the £ 300 that the local private dentists wanted and had been unable to find an NHS dentist remotely close to where we live to get it sorted, but by chance after a bit of ringing around I was given a number to ring and voila, as easy as it is to extract a tooth I got myself on to an NHS dentist books. So I made an appointment and by 12 noon I am sitting in the chair and having my tooth assessed.

So, she starts off by tapping my teeth to figure out which one is causing the problem, identifies it and then x-rays the tooth and its surrounding neighbours to get an idea of how bad the problem is. As it happens, it's pretty bad and she announces to me that I need a root canal treatment. Great! Luckily on the NHS this costs about 46 quid, so that's a relief.

I then get numbed up and given the statutory advice of "now, if anything hurts just raise a hand and we'll stop" and after a few minutes the dental nurse approaches with the suction pipe. No sooner had she gone within 50 paces of my bad tooth I was metaphorically clinging to the ceiling and recoiling from the complete AGONY of having freezing cold air sucked away from my apparently rather raw nerve. So no need to raise a hand, I had in fact raised my entire body! I mean the pain was so bad I ended up in tears... tears for god sake! This was exactly what I was hoping to avoid as the last time I went to the dentist they didn't wait long enough either and the exact same thing happened, so if I was every verging on the edge of a dental phobia I think I'm probably now 2 steps closer to it becoming an issue.

Several more injections and topical application of local anaesthetic later my face is numb enough that I wouldn't have felt a truck driving into it and the dentist continues to drill my tooth, file out the canals and then pull out the nerve. She then dresses it and I am out of there as fast as my stumpy legs can carry me (after making an appointment for next week to get it filled).

As you can imagine the rest of the day was spent unwittingly chewing my own face off until the anaesthetic stopped working, and doing actual work. Oh, and popping pain killers like skittles :)

Oh, if anyone else is struggling to find an NHS dentist, then ring 0118 918 3359 - they'll help you out.

Posted by Abi at 9:29 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2009

Beware of Greeks bearing Dentist Drills

It's a big day for my dad today as he is going in for his operation to try and fix that what others have failed to figure out and in the process of incompetence have right royally buggered up.

The whole saga started months ago now, as far back as June I think, when Dad had to go to one of the local Greek dentists on the island that they retired to. Now, I really do hate to be the one who said "I told you so..." but on this occasion I think it's warranted as I told my parents not to get the treatment done locally and that they should fly back to the UK to get the problem sorted (a rotting tooth in need of extraction) but no, they decided to go ahead and get the tooth removed by their local dentist.

I knew that the whole thing was going to go tits up the moment my mum told me the dentist had packed my dad's gum with cloves (yes, I know they have antiseptic properties, but come on it's the 21st Century, dentistry and medicine has moved on) to try and curtail an infection that had set in. That didn't work so they packed it because blocking the only escape route for the infection to leak out of was of course the best medical thing to do, and this lead to a sinus infection that just wouldn't go away.

Things then take a turn for the worse when my dad decides to visit a different dentist in the island's capital who realises that the previous dentist had left some of the old tooth in and he then dutifully extracts the remnants and then fits my dad with a temporary bridge, again sealing up the problem and allowing to the flourish into an even more considerable infection. He then apparently removes the temporary bridge and fits a permanent one in its place.

Despite the new teeth the infection still hasn't gone, so move up a gear and dad gets a consultation with the army medical surgeon in Athens, who is suppose to be the dogs dangly's when it comes to fixing broken humans. He x-rays my dad and indeed the x-ray shows up something going on in the sinus cavity, that in itself isn't a problem, but the € 5000 price tag is!

Well finally my folks realise enough is enough and Dad books himself in with a private dentist over here who when taking a look at my Dad refers him to a surgeon as the problem has now evolved into something far more serious than what a dentist alone can sort out.

Cut to today at around 8PM and I'm on the phone to my Dad who had his op and has returned to the ward and is doing ok. He's a big groggy after the operation but they did manage to extract the REMENANTS OF A DENTAL BRIDGE from his sinus!! No wonder he's been in agony, I mean what kind of dentist would not notice a piece of a bridge missing! Anyway, they found lots of other goodies in there too, all of which have been sent off for forensic analysis to figure out what the hell each of them are.

So, let this be a sultry warning to everyone in the UK - we may bitch about the NHS but by comparison to other European countries, it's light years ahead of its counterparts.

Posted by Abi at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2009

Work Widow - Day 2

Another day, another dollar, or so the saying goes, but for me it's just another day without seeing Phil as he's got to go into work again to rally the troops and help out with the seemingly impossible yet again.

So, without anyone to annoy it's up to me to occupy my time with "stuff" to do, and to be fair there is quite a bit to get on with after my monster blog-a-thon of yesterday.

First things first and I finally get around to unpacking what was left in the two suitcases we took on holiday as they'd both been loitering in the dining room and the lounge since we got back so I hoist them upstairs and re-home the surprisingly large amount of items that we had taken abroad (most of which we never used or wore!).

I did hit a slight flaw with my plan though whilst trying to squeeze my holiday rags back into my wardrobe which I realised on opening the doors to that it was about 1 stitch away from terminal clothes rail collapse and no sooner than you could say "did I really buy that?" the contents of the wardrobe were out on the bed and I began sorting it all out. I ended up with 3 piles - stuff that I could use throughout the winter and things I can't live without, another pile of clothes that were too big (hurrah!) and a further pile of clothes that would probably benefit from me losing another stone or 2 before I try to wear them. The later 2 piles I put to one side as they need to go into the loft, and the remaining stuff went back into the wardrobe.

Quite pleased with doing that I move on to get some lunch and faffing around on the computer, and I notice an email from my friends who are staying with us for a while that firms up their flight times for arrival in the UK - it's all very exciting to see that they've finally booked up and will be arriving in about 3 weeks! I then nipping to the supermarket to pick up a few supplies, namely the stuff I need to make my next batch of cupcakes.

Shopping done I get on with the baking. This week's batch consisted of chocolate sponge soaked in orange sugar syrup with Belgian chocolate frosting topped with a wafer of Lindt chocolate orange. Although not finished I and manage to resist trying any for the time being as I want Phil to try them too when he gets home.

While the cupcakes were cooling I set about watching Kung Fu Panda but only manage to get half way through and Phil arrives home which signals me to get on with dinner, the rest of the film will have to wait for another time.

After dinner I then frost the cupcakes and Phil and I give them the litmus test, result is A-OK, most definitely a winner! Although you wouldn't want to eat more than one in a sitting that's for sure!

Indulgence complete we head to bed. Another long week ahead of us so shut-eye is a must.

Posted by Abi at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2009

Work Widow - Day 1

Abandon all hope ye who enter here! Or it might be easier just to say that it is in fact me that has been abandoned today as Phil has gone into to work to help with a project with tight timescales.

So that leaves me with the conundrum of what to do with myself. There is plenty I could do but not much that takes my fancy, so instead of being remotely productive I decide to spend most of today updating this site as it's not been touched since we went on holiday.

Surprisingly, working out how much time I've spent on it today it could easily be a 9 - 5 job, but I suspect that is a lot to do with me being picky and also generally quite slow :)

I'm still blogging when Phil gets back but since my eyes have now stopped working due to squinting as a screen it seems as good a point as any to switch the computer off...

De Dum de Dum

Posted by Abi at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2009

Uh oh, here we go again

It seems that all to often in my life, just as I'm settling into something or a project or a job, fate has an unnerving way of fielding a ball full of confusion straight towards my bat and it doesn't ease off the spin either.

Sometime ago I flirted with playing veterinary nurse. Ok, so it wasn't small animals but horses which wasn't what I initially wanted to do, but due to most people not taking my application seriously it was the only option I had at the time. I learnt a lot during the 4 months I was doing the job, and I also learnt that it was horrifically underpaid, very long hours and not to put to finer point on it, horses are quite narky when they're broken, especially race horses. Anyway, because of illness (gallbladder gone bad and knee screwy) I couldn't realistically carry on with the job and if I'm honest it was more than I'd bargained for (see note about horses).

So I put all of that behind me, or so I thought. Got it out of my system, tried it, it didn't work so move on and give something else a go which is why I ended up back in the IT industry as a permanent employee which didn't work out either, but that's another very long and arduous story.

Quite contented then I thought I was with picking up my own business again and working from home doing websites when work was thrown my way, being my own boss has its own rewards which I was happy to receive on a daily basis, life was bliss.

Then, out of the blue I get an email today from one of the veterinary surgeries I'd previously spoken to who would have liked to employ me back in the day but were unable to offer any trainee positions. They were asking if I would still be interested in a role with them... which put me in a bit of a quandary....

What should I do? Should I try it again, give it a miss, so many questions going around in my head I found myself drowning in a whirlpool of possibilities yet again.

I need not have worried as it turned out as they still couldn't offer a trainee position and thought I might have been qualified by now and were going to offer me a job if I'd passed the mark of approval. Oh well. It was nice of them to think of me, just such a shame it couldn't work out.

Yet again the euthanasia of dreams has flummoxed the flicker of hope of a veterinary career.

Posted by Abi at 9:56 PM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2009

So, that's where all my clothes went!

As quickly as it started, it came to an end - well that's what holidays do I suppose which means both Phil and I are back to the daily grind and doing what we have to do to make ends meet.

I have a heap of work to be getting on with for one of my clients and second to that I frantically try to make a start on the mound of washing that needs to be done so that Phil and I actually have stuff to wear for the next couple of days.

I'd forgotten how much clothing you take and wear on a holiday as for most of our holidays we usually end up going some place where we can abuse a washing machine and so don't need to pack nearly as much as when no free laundering option is available. The result of which means our dining room is nicely festooned with undergarments and other such textile items as the washing machine slowely churns through the holiday laundry pile.

With plenty of washing to keep me going and a tsunami of client emails to respond to it doesn't take long for the evening to draw around which means there is time for some tea, to catch up on some of the stuff that was in the sky planner and to treat ourselves to a semi-early night once again to try and recover from the jet lag and post holiday blues.

Posted by Abi at 9:37 PM | Comments (0)

October 6, 2009

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

Ok, so I freely admit that I can't for the life of me remember what I did on the above mentioned days, but i think during any one of the aforesaid 24 hour periods I did any one of the following:-

1. Got Euros
2. Confirmed airport parking
3. Went to bicester village to get bodem glasses and poach pods
4. Packed a case, then repacked a more sensible case
5. Did an enormous amount of laundry
6. Failed miserably to get to the Gym
7. Failed equally as miserably to keep track of what I ate
8. Did a lot of doggy socialisation
9. Spent a lot of time soldering jump rings and making chain
10. Made a lot of bacon and sausage rolls and enteretained Phil's brother Martin and his girlfriend Cat who visited

If I ever remember in any detail what else I got up to, I'll be sure to update this post :-)

Posted by Abi at 8:31 PM | Comments (0)

October 2, 2009

This is Swindon, Swindon

Up early today again to do my usual errands in town, but this time I have some help in the form of my Dad. I say help, but it was probably more of a chance for us to have a chat whilst I was getting on with things about how we're both getting on. I'm not convinced from what I hear that my Mum is terribly happy living over in Greece but she'd never admit that so I guess we just have to wait for her to make her own conclusions about things - I'm afraid her stubborn streak is as bad as mine (I wonder where I get it from!).

With the errands done there is just enough time for lunch and then we head over to Swindon where Dad is catching his train over to Carmarthen so that he can stay with my Sister whilst having his dental stuff sorted. I have to say my dislike of Swindon just increased considerably. Whilst they may have got rid of speed cameras, they appear to have removed an presence of road signs as well so finding the station was a bit of a pain in the ass, that coupled with a sat nav that had a minor nervous breakdown just when I didn't need it to.

With Dad safely deposited onto the train I then wind my way back home, making a quick stop at HobbyCraft on the way to get some final bits to finish my earrings off that I've been planning to make to go with my dress that I've bought for the wedding. I have to admit, it's going to be a bit of a challenge to get them completed but I'm hoping the weekend will provide copious amounts of time to allow me finish them, and if not, well there are plenty of backups I can use in my jewellery box.

Overspend in HobbyCraft complete and I drive the rest of the way home, and when I get back I spend some time organising my beads again (since the collection just grew considerably!). Then, as soon as I've done that it's time to get dinner on the go, watch the box and head to bed.

All this travel has really knackered me out this week. Shame there is more of it to come next week.

Posted by Abi at 9:14 PM | Comments (0)

October 1, 2009

London Calling...

Not much time to do much of anything this morning as I'm up bright and early finishing a few tasks before I have to head over to Gatwick to pick up my Dad who is flying in from Lesbos today.

The trip to the airport was long, and a subtle reminder as to how far we'll have to travel next week when need to be there for 4AM to fly out to Rhodes, I'm sure it'll be lovely driving at that time in the morning, but today's trip was a bit busier.

I get to the airport just in time to meet Dad coming out of the arrivals hall. He's over here so a UK dentist can put right what a Greek one buggered up so it looks like it will be an indefinite stay until the problems are resolved and he won't have to rely on foreign healthcare to provide post operative care.

On the way home we stop off at Sylvia's who lives in Guildford. We eat cake and drink tea and also meet with Clive and Layne. The whole family needs a bit of support right now due to the ailing health of Brian and so I think it was good for them to get some light relief in the form of my Dad, who has a natural ability to bring humour to the most dour of situations. It was an interesting tea party to, we all had to sit outside as Sylvia is having a mass life laundry in the house meaning there is only enough room for one person to sit in the lounge. But outside was fine, if not a bit chilly! We also got to meet Karl, Clive and Layne's new dog, who I have no doubt will keep the pair of them very busy indeed!

We eventually leave at around 6PM and make it back home with enough time to nip out and get a Chinese meal. It's not often I get to eat Chinese as Phil isn't a fan, but when we have visitors it's a free for all and I got lucky on the restaurant choice this time.

There isn't much time left by the time we've eaten to do anything but have a quick chat and then head off to bed. Tomorrow is going to be busy enough with adding fatigue to the mix.

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2009

I think I may be turning into Fanny Cradock

An unexpected round of errands leads to most of the morning being taken up today but that's ok and it gets me out of the house and doing stuff, which is all good.

By the time I get home I'm quite a way behind with my list of things to be done that I made yesterday but crack on with a few bits such as a bit more cleaning. I also have to pop back to town as I'd missed a delivery earlier which I know was my beads that I'd ordered for my wedding jewellery so I had to go back and pick it up from the post office. Not a problem as that neatly fitted in with going to the super market and getting some supplies for a cupcake recipe that I'd seen in a magazine and wanted to try out.

Call me mad, but I have delusions of running my own cupcake shop one day because to me cupcakes are a just little servings of good soul food and decorating them is fun too! Especially now I've been looking around several sugarcraft websites, there is even more scope for potential in terms of making them look too good to eat!

Anyway, back in the real world I finish the shopping and head home and set about baking the cupcakes, making the sugar syrup they are soaked in, and preparing the orange zest cream cheese frosting to adorn them with... yummmmmmmm!

They take a little while to make but worth every ounce of effort I put in, they are delicious! Mind you, I can only ascertain this from the bite I had of Phils as I know each cupcake is about 60 zillion calories!

While tea is cooking I take the dogs out for a nocturnal walk, I'm afraid this will be more common now that then nights are drawing in quite rapidly. When I get home I then try to figure out how much each cupcake cost to make and was horrified at the 44p price tag. I'll have to work hard to get that down if selling them is a realistic idea....

.... and back to reality....

Posted by Abi at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2009

I feel an urge...

Well today started out fairly well and continued to do so up to the point where I'd done so much I couldn't face doing anymore and ended up exhausted!

In the morning I set about writing a bit long list of everything I need to do (about 28 items!) and then sit cogitating it for half an hour to try and figure out what I need to do before my Dad arrives on Thursday and what I need to do before we go away. It was a nice plan while it lasted but after some consideration it appeared that everything needed to be done sooner rather than later. Bugger.

Anyway I guess I needed to start somewhere so I start by having a mass onslaught in the kitchen and even go so far as cleaning the oven properly. It's a big job and takes a couple of hours but whilst the oven cleaner is cutting it's way through the grime I get on with one of the other major jobs I have to do.

Since we moved here I haven't even unpacked my jewellery making kit, so that's close to 2 years it's been doing sweet FA in the workshop. The primary reason for this is that the workshop is a spider lodging, and I'm not talking little ones either, the big fat hairy types. Eeek! So, since Phil no longer uses the garage for the car I decided that I should move all my hobby kit (jewellery and stained glass) into the garage as the spiders for some reason are less ikky in there and also, added bonus, the garage is right next to the house meaning I can get coffee etc really easily!

Add into the mix that I've decided to make my jewellery for the wedding we're going to then I really needed to set all my kit out again for easy access.

So, I set about moving stuff from one place to another, tidying and sweeping as I go and happily I finish just in time to wipe the oven down which is nice and sparkly after it's degrease session.

With those jobs done I also do some work and assess what I've got on at the moment. With a new website just coming into the midst, I now have a total of 6 sites to get to grips with which is cool, but I really must get to work on them. Admittedly only one or two have a deadline but it would be nice to get them all finished to add to my portfolio.

I also manage to get my neighbours to remove the fridge freezer they asked us to save for them. It's the old one we used to have before we got our new food centre and they asked if they could have it to put in their garage. Not a problem, but since it has been sitting in the garage for a while now and I needed the space to put my craft stuff in it seemed an apt time for them to take ownership :)

Posted by Abi at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2009

The disadvantage of indecision

Urgh. Monday. Yay! Seriously, who ever invented it need shooting! Anyway, the only way to get it over with is to get on with it so that's exactly what I do. After the usual morning errands I get some lunch and start about deciding how and what my jewellery should look like for the wedding.

First things first, assess if any of the beads I already have may be suitable. Of course they are but not really to match the colours of my dress and obviously I need to devote several hours to buying some more, so that's what I do (this is a problem I have given an endless choice of options, it takes me AGES to make a single choice about anything). I finally get a shortlist of what I want and put the order in so I'm hoping they will arrive in the next couple of days and I can get making stuff. If they work out, I should have saved myself a bomb on buying something instead (even if I'd gone to accessorize I'd have spent a small fortune I'm sure).

I then set about making an number of phone calls, one to arrange Phil's eye referral, one to rearrange my knee operation to a later date and another to sort out parking.

Next I get on and do some amendments to the job applications I've been helping my neighbour with, print them all out on posh paper and do some proper printed postal labels as well. I drop them next door and then take the dogs out for a walk (they are getting on much better now which is a good sign!). When I get back I then help my neighbour email some job applications (and also confirmed that anyone using AOL leads a tortured life) and after that head home and start our tea. Phil isn't up for the gym as he's got something weird going on with his foot so neither of us end up going but I will make the effort tomorrow!

I then drop Roomba next door as they are keen to see it working. 20 mins later we get a plea for help and I send Phil around to fix the problem. Whilst he's doing that I notice that the sunset is magnificent and manage to collar Phil when he comes back in to take some suitable shots to make up a HDR picture (see pic for result). And, after our dinner I nip back and pick Roomba up who has run out of juice but done a nice job on tidying up their carpets.

Phew. Busy day again. But it staves off the boredom.

Posted by Abi at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2009

Crafty Stoner

A much quieter day for me today, and certainly so for Phil. But there are several things I'd like to do which I think will amply fill the time Phil gawping at the Grand Prix so when that starts I head on out to do what I want to do. First job before that however is to unpot our Yucca and plant it in the ground.

What I learnt from that particular exercise is that the Yucca was very pot bound. Also, the hole we had to dig was very big and we have approximately 2 feet of top soil in our garden before we hit solid clay. Each and every one of these points made the job very difficult and both Phil and I were sweating by the time we'd finished. None the less, we got the job done.

Afterwards I get changed and set about the other things I want to do. The first stop is the dump. Yet again our garage was verging perilously close to getting too full of crap to be able to get rid of the junk by car alone, so I thought I'd take action and load up the car and dispose of the rubbish. It's quite busy down at the tip but I do manage to sort most of the rubbish out to recyclable stuff and landfill stuff but there were a few bits that I wasn't sure where to put so randomly distributed where I thought best.

With that done I then head over to Millets Farm as they have a craft fair on and I thought it might be nice to have a look and see what was on offer (secretly hoping I'd find some jewellery for my wedding outfit...). But, in actual fact there wasn't that much there and nothing really that I wanted to buy with the exception of a rather funny sign which I thought would be most suitable for our kitchen, so I bought it.

I also spotted a pair of earrings that gave me a good idea of how to make the ones I want for my wedding outfit, so I safely stored what they looked like in my head for future use.

On the way out I also had a chat to a bloke that was doing some traditional wood turning and we discussed the merits of traditional working methods as oppose to modern ones, notably about how little waste you get with traditional means compared to mass production. He was a nice enough man with obvious passion for what he does which is a rare quality these days.

I then pop into the onsite garden centre to see if they have anything suitable to form a ring around the Yucca so we can put some gravel around it which is contained and then lay the rest of the bark around that. They have a few things such as some nice big stones but nothing that jumps out at me or that I'd be capable of lifting on my own so I decide to abandon hope and move on to the garden centre in our town instead.

Not much luck their either, but a few possibilities which I'll mull over till next weekend and then make a decision about.

It's at this point I get a phone call from a close friend who imparts so rather sad news to me, there is nothing I can do to change what is going to happen but what I can do is be supportive as possible whilst the situation is ongoing and just be there, so that is what I will do.

I then go to the supermarket to pick up some essentials, namely dinner and pop for Phil and head home and make a quick lunch. Whilst we eat we watch City of Ember which I very much enjoyed (it's of a similar ilk to fallout 3 in it's story), though I'm pretty sure it wasn't really Phil's cup of tea!

Move forward a few hours and I'm busy cooking dinner and when it's ready we sit down and eat and eventually it's time for bed which can't come too soon, it's been a busy old weekend.

Posted by Abi at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2009

Blasted

I am up exceptionally early today as we have a lot to do and I want to get a session in down at the gym since this week has been a bit slack in that department. So I get up and leave Phil snoozing away and a couple of hours later I'm back after having quite a good workout. The only thing I've noticed is that I am burning less and less calories each time I go even though I'm working out for the same amount of time. I know in my head this is good. It means that my heart is working less hard to do the same amount of stuff it was doing a while back which means it's getting fitter. However, on the less positive side this means I need to work harder or reset my expectation as to how many calories I can realistically get rid of via exercise which won't involve me being down the gym every waking moment. Anyway, I still burn around 670 cals which I'm pleased with.

When I get back home I have a quick shower and we then head on into Oxford. Phil has yet another eye appointment so whilst he's doing that I wander around the shops in the hope of finding some jewellery to match the outfit I have got for the wedding we are going to. No luck however, so I think I'm going to have to resort making my own, which is kind of cool because it will give me a valid reason to get all of my jewellery making kit out and set up.

I also notice that Mr. Woodcote is back and busking in the square and has drawn quite a crowd which is good, because they deserve to get some attention as what they do is unique.

We do stop for some lunch in town and opt for Nandos. On our way there we notice that one of the faculty buildings of the college has had a bit of a face lift and has been sandblasted. It looks brand new so definitely a job well done, it looks spectacular! At Nandos I go for what I think is half healthy though I suspect it wasn't!

On the way home we stop at Maplin to get an aerial to put in the loft so that we can pipe TV upstairs and then at Homebase we pick up a load of bark to lay down on the huge flower bed we have in the garden to try and curtail the weeds from growing. We only manage to get 6 bags of it in the car which by my guesstimate will be half the amount we need so I suspect we'll have to pop back for more at some point.

When we get home the first job we have to do is set up the aerial and run a cable down to our bedroom. We've got a nice little LCD TV that has had virtually no use as the TV signal is so poor around here it was impossible to get a decent picture on one of the little aerials you can buy. So after a bit of faffing around and drilling holes through the ceiling we manage to set it all up and point the aerial in the right direction to get a rather good picture, both analogue and digital. Happy with the set up we then mount the TV on the wall and hey presto, lazy Sunday entertainment set up and installed :)

The next job is to move the bark from the car to the garden and once we'd done that I suggest to Phil it'd be a good idea to open one up just to see how much coverage we're going to get. Well, one bag lead to six and it turns out my earlier guesstimate will be about right, but we're going to wait until next month when the store has a discount offer on to get a bit more off the price.

There isn't a lot of time to do much else by the time we're finished with all of that, so just chill out in front of the TV and congratulate ourselves on a job well done. I also look up the calories I ate at Nando's, and let's just say it's a good job I went to the gym earlier as I've almost broke even on the energy intake!

Posted by Abi at 8:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2009

How much energy does it take...

The usual morning errands for me in town today but before I head out I decide to don my heart rate monitor and wrist watch and measure how many calories it takes for me to cycle into town. So I strap myself up and head on out, and to my surprise I manage to burn 150 calories in a little over 17 minutes which I'm quite pleased about, especially since I've been a bit slack down the gym this week. Just seem to be tired all the time and haven't mustered the energy to go, I'm putting it down to dehydration, because that's another thing I've been rubbish at this week, keeping my fluid levels up.

With jobs done in town I make my way home and start on doing the covering letters for my neighbour who wants to apply for a new job - I do 3 of them and get stuck on the 4th so I take what I've done over for them to review and amend as they please. Whilst I'm there we get chatting so it's a little while before I come out to go home and as I leave I notice that a bathroom installlation company is parked up outside the house.

I'd completely forgotten that they were coming to give a quote for the work today so apologise for being late and let them in. Not that I should have bothered because when I ask what the likely cost would be he says anything between 5K to 8.5K. WHAT???? Needless to say I don't bother entertaining him for long and I'm left sat bemused at yet another extortionate quote for work.

I think that Phil and I are now seriously considering doing most of the work ourselves! Either that or becoming plumbers because apparently their yearly salary is equivalent of 150K a year!

I then nip to the supermarket as we'd run out of spuds for tea and once tea is on the go I nip out with the dogs for their socialising session. Back home we eat and head off for an early night wondering if we both need a career change!

Oh, and I got my appointment through for my knee op... the 20th October, which is great but badly coincides with a number of things that we've already planned. Seriously, I'm not used to this level of efficiency by the NHS, I thought I was safe to plan things for at least 3 months, not 3 weeks! Oh well, I'll give them a call and see if we can't delay it while, maybe till mid November as that would be much more suitable for me.

Posted by Abi at 9:20 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2009

Stalled Delivery

Up very early this morning to try and finish what I started yesterday (ie. the cleaning) but on checking my email it seems I shouldn't have worried since our visitor is no longer arriving, well not for another 3 weeks or so. So that kind of left me at a loose end for today as I'd planned lots of things that I no longer needed to do.

Instead of wasting the day though I get on and do some other jobs that I needed to get done, including a website design for our neighbour who has a sandwich shop in our town and I'd offered to do it for her. That actually takes a lot longer than I imagined and realised working with a very strong local brand quite challenging, but I get half way close to what I think is acceptable and I'll review it again tomorrow, always helps to put fresh eyes onto something.

I also pop out to the local salvage yard to try and find a cabinet that I can use to go between the two single beds in our second guest bedroom and find a nice little piece of furniture that will suffice. It was only 40 quid but I know it will probably last longer than anything I can buy from Argos, for example.

When I get home I get a visit from the neighbour who has asked for my help in applying for her husband to various motorsport jobs which I'm only too happy to help out on, but it will have to wait until tomorrow when I have a bit more free time.

After that I pop out with Rupert and the neighbour's dog (since Rupert will now be staying with them since our visitors won't be here on time). I've been socialising them together for weeks now so that we both benefit if we need someone to look after either dog, so fortunately this has acted as a bit of a plan B in terms of where we can put Rupert while we are away.

Finally when I get home we have dinner and I chat to my visitor who is not quite with us, yet. Man, I thought I had a lot of thinking to do at times, but he and his family have got the mount Everest of life altering decisions to make over the coming months. Needless to say, rather them than me, but all I can do is offer my opinion if it's asked for.

Been a long day, so I'm glad to turn in after a lovely hot bath.

Posted by Abi at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2009

Scan, man

Busy, busy day here today with lots of preparation for our visitor going on, which primarily involved me doing lots of cleaning whilst trying to negotiate my mum and her plans for what I need to do when my dad arrives next week who is our second very temporary visitor that we will be entertaining this month.

Whilst I am busy upstairs with Mr. Muscle the Posty delivers my MRI scan images that I'd asked for from the hospital so quite keenly I have a look through them to see if I can self diagnose (bit late now since I know what the problem is!) but alas it appears they missed of MRI diagnostics off the national curriculum whilst I was at school so a bit difficult to decipher anything other than the general bone structure and makeup of the knee. I've no idea where the tear is but I'm guessing it is the bright spot you can see on the left of the pic where the cartilage should be, between the femur and the tibia.

With that quick break I then have a bite to eat and carry on cleaning/organising and sorting until Phil gets home by which point I'm fit to drop and so just get on with tea in the hope we'll get an early night if we eat sooner rather than later. I also put a phone call into a company that I'd ordered something from yesterday with next day delivery (and paid a handsome charge for such service) only to be told that it wouldn't be arriving today since it only got dispatched today which really peed me off since I had done everything I'd needed to do to ensure next day delivery. So I complained and have sent an email asking for a refund on the postage.

I also receive my anna scholz dress that I'd ordered and am very happy with it, just need to get some of that suck everything in underwear and some shoes and that will be another task done!

Food done and eaten I check my email and get zapped by our visitor who is due to arrive tomorrow to confirm the arrangements, the result of which means we'll probably have his brother staying over tomorrow night as well before they both head up north for the weekend.

Finally we get upstairs and start running a bath to relax in and just as I'm soaking my bones Phil chirps up and asks if I'd seen the deposit receipt for something he has on order to which I say it's in the filing cabinet, to which he says no its not. EEK! Had I shredded it in my effort to clean up the study? I had to find out, so bath ruined I get out and start looking for it and to my dismay I think to myself that I have in fact shredded it and then start mentally preparing everything I'd need to do to get a copy of the darn thing since it is quite an important purchase. What an arse ache!

I decide to have one last look before we go to bed (since sifting through rubbish bags wasn't my idea of fun) and low and behold I found the receipt completely misfiled under something completely irrelevant. I'd obviously scooped it up with a load of other paper work and not noticed.

Rest assured I'll sleep well tonight now that I don't have to go dumpster diving or grovelling to the vendor for a duplicate receipt.

Posted by Abi at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2009

Bush Begone!

With the news yesterday of our visitor turning up before the week is out I thought that now would be as good a time as any to start tidying up the house so it is reasonably acceptable to guests.

First thing I need to do is extract the dressing table that we have stored in our workshop as it will be required upstairs for visitor storage. Since the workshop is at the end of the garden I thought it would be a prudent move to poop scoop first as the most viable route to get the dresser to the house is over the lawn. So, poo baggies in hand I start cleaning up and after I'd done that I then think well, since I'm out here anyway might as well mow the grass since it will probably be its last cut before the winter.

So I set about mowing and with that done I think to myself, hmmm, that flower bed is mighty untidy, I might just do a bit of hoeing to sort it out and the next thing I know I've done the entire thing up to the point where there is a big tree that has gone epic and has taken over one corner of the garden.

Hmmm, I think to myself. That tree could do with a trim, and the next thing I know I've got secateurs in hand and I'm snipping it back. But apparently that wasn't enough and yep you guessed it, the next thing I know I've got a reticulating saw in my hand and I'm cutting off branches and a vague attempt to shape the tree up a bit.

Finally I'm happy with what I've done (see pic) and I set about tidying up the gargantuan mess I'd made and continue hoeing the flowerbed now that I can get to all of it.

Then, just as I'm finishing up I notice that the rose bush we have is also looking very unruly, so that gets bush whacked as well.

It is only now that I finally get to move the dressing table out of the workshop and into the house and I plonk it in the lounge as there is not a cats chance in hell that I will get it upstairs by myself.

With all the outside work done I then do a bit inside and move a large chest of drawers into the newly decorated guest room because as nice as it is it doesn't have anywhere for visitors to put their things. The dresser downstairs once moved can then go into the 2nd guest bedroom and used as storage in there.

You see the thing of it is I could have gone to Ikea and bought some new stuff and that'd have been 200 quid off the bat. Why do that when we've got perfectly good stuff sitting around doing nothing that won't cost us a penny to use?

I also get a phone call from the Nuffield asking if I could go in for surgery this Friday on my knee, which took me a bit by surprise as you can imagine since I'd not actually received the results of my scan yet. So after some explanation the lady on the phone tells me that I have a meniscal tear which needs an arthroscopic procedure to repair, and since they'd had a cancellation would I like to come in at short notice. Ordinarily I'd have jumped at the chance but since we are going away shortly I didn't want to run the risk of being in a foreign country having just been sliced and diced so I had to decline the offer. They have made a note however that I'm available anytime after we get back from hols so if another opening becomes available they'll call me again. I have to say it is kind of a relief to actually know what is wrong with my knee since its put me in agony for the past 4 years whenever I walk on it for more than 10 minutes, and confirms my suspicion of exactly when I damaged it by trying to move a king-size mattress on my own. So let that be a lesson for anyone who thinks they can do things that should take 2 people to do!

Anyway, with all the physical labour of today I don't see that it's necessary to go to the gym and spend the rest of the day unwinding and doing bits of work in between, namely making more use of my photoshop pen skills :)

Posted by Abi at 8:39 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2009

On Yer Bike!

Out and about this morning and with many a few errands to run in town I decide that I'll take the bike in and cycle there rather than take the car.

There are two reasons for this. 1, to park in our nearest town is a complete pain in the ass. There are about 10 free spaces and the rest you have to pay for and are not near the centre which is just rubbish, no wonder our town centre is starting to resemble a ghost town, no one can actually get to it to do any shopping. Madness.

Anyway, it takes me about 20 mins to get into town where I chain the bike up and get on with my odd jobs. The cycle back is quicker as it is mostly downhill and when I get home there is time to make a nice roast chicken sandwich which handily uses some of the left overs from yesterday's Sunday roast.... yum!

The afternoon is taken up with setting up the scanner on the computer upstairs since all the drivers etc got wiped the last time it went bang and starting the prep work on a gratis website I said I would do for a neighbour to help promote her business. Unfortunately she doesn't have any of the orginal brand artwork in digital format hence the need for the scanner so it's going to take a bit of time to digitize what I need onto the computer.

I also receive a delivery, it's the top I had ordered from Anna Scholz. Unfortunately I'd spoken to them earlier in the day and they didn't have the trousers I'd ordered to go with the top so I was pretty sure I'd be returning it anyway but I tried it on just in case. It was way too big so it's going back but I have ordered something else off her website in the hope that it might suffice (it was my first choice originally so lets hope gut instinct pays off this time!).

I also take Rupert and the neighbour's dog out for a walk together. With our trip imminent I am trying to get them used to each other as Rupert will be staying with them while we are away. There are definite signs of improvement, but if other events happen it may well be that Rupert can stay at home as we'll have house visitors while we are away in any event.

When Phil gets home we head on down to the gym. I don't think either of us really wanted to go (you can thank a couple of nights of no sleep for that) but make the effort anyway. Knowing how tired Phil gets from Wednesday onwards today really is the only chance he'll get to do his long routine. I manage to improve on my PI index from 20 to 22 on the treadmill which now puts me into the "very good" range! Yay! Shame it's only that good on the treadmill though, the other machines still have me on the "improvable list". My body is obviously tuned to walking up steep hills or something. Meh.

Gym session done we come home and I get on and do a quick dinner. Fish finger rolls for Phil and Singapore Noodles for me, both very nice. I also have chat with a friend on messenger, the result of which means we'll have a visitor by the end of this week which means I've a lot to do before then. Needless to say then I'll be busy, but in a good and excited kind of way!

Posted by Abi at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2009

Light Graffiti - Defacing the night!

After all of the running around of yesterday, Sunday it appears turns out to be a much more relaxing event to a degree that makes for a pleasant change. The morning is spent doing not much of anything but when it gets to lunchtime we sit and enjoy one of the most simplest pleasures in life, the humble tuna mayo sandwich.

By 1.45 PM we are heading down to the gym as we have our monthly assessment to see how we're getting on. Quite a good one for me too, as I've managed to shed 1 stone of fat and I'm now no longer on the "really fat" part of the weight conversion chart they have which was one of my own small goals met! My resting heart rate has lowered too and blood pressure was fine. Phil didn't fair so well with his blood pressure elevated again and putting on 1lb. So we then get put on the treadmill to do a fitness test and after 10 minutes of being evaluated I manage to get a score of 5 (where 12 is super human) and Phil gets a 4. No surprise since Phil gets little time to go to the gym. I just hope he doesn't get too demotivated. None the less, he was very congratulatory of me which was lovely and boosted my confidence no end, he really is supportive with this sort of stuff as he knows I have a continual problem with my weight, I just hope the time he gets to spend down the gym pays off and helps his heart health. We did do his blood pressure when we got home and it was normal so thats a good sign - I think we probably need to be less reliant on what the gym equipment has to say (for example, their scales put me at 5lbs heavier than our scales!).

When we get home we get showered and changed and head over to the supermarket to stock up. Phil also pops into Argos and gets a new computer game.

Shopping done and it's homeward bound once again and with the groceries put away I make a start on Sunday dinner (chicken tonight!) and have a chat with a friend via Skype whilst it's cooking.

After tea and when it is dark Phil and I start chatting about how they have done the talk talk sponsorship adverts for X-Factor this year and Phil narrows it down to something called "light graffiti" which he then duly investigates and announces that we can do it at home with the kit we have as it is in fact quite easy to do, all we need is a long exposure setting on the camera, a torch and some imagination (oh, and as we learnt later, a smidge of talent for drawing).

Phil then sets about setting all the kit up and we give it a go, nothing too adventurous but it's given me a taster for lots of other things we could do with this technique once we've practiced a bit more! It's amazing what you can do with a garden light for example (see flower above).

Posted by Abi at 8:38 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2009

McLovin' Does Oxford

Up nice and early this morning as the Carpenter is due to arrive at 8AM so both Phil and I have to endure early start number 6 of the week. It's worth it though because by 11AM the Carpenter has done his job and hung and swung our new bathroom door in the opposite direction to what it used to be which gives us much more room to play with inside the bathroom. Both of us are really impressed with the difference it has made and I'm extra glad I made the decision to go with a glazed option too. It means we can close the bathroom door and still get lots of light into the hallway which I like.

We then have a bit of lunch, this time it's Phil's homemade nachos as we have both decided the Old El Paso ones are not quite right and our local Sainsburys has stopped stocking the Discovery versions. They are quite nice, but still not brilliant so I think we've some way to go to perfect this rather yummy Mexican dish!

After lunch we then head into Oxford early since the hairdresser has rung up asking if Phil can come in an hour early for his appointment.

Whilst Phil is getting his locks trimmed I wander around town and fail to purchase anything that I wanted. Oh, don't get me wrong there was plenty of stuff I liked but I'm waiting on my wedding outfit to actually arrive before I decide what accessories to get to match. I'm also struggling on the shoe front, but if push comes to shove I can wear the ones I wore when I got married. They are Gina, so I should probably wear them more than once!

When Phil comes out of the hairdressers we then have a look around to see if we can get him a pair of casual trousers and shirt for the wedding and fail miserably. And I thought I had a limited choice of clothes because of my size, well I think men might get even more of a raw deal!

With little success on the clothing front Phil decides he'd rather sink his money into a shakeaway, so he goes to get himself one and since there is a huge queue I sit outside on a bench and do people watching. It's quite fun and I have a play around with the settings on my camera phone and take some snaps of what people get up to in the Golden Cross Arcade (which is mostly eating, drinking and talking).

Phil then arrives back with his shake and it seems he's charmed the lady that served him as she aptly names the milkshake he has created (Parma violets, refreshers, popping candy) "The Mclovin" as she'd spied his t-shirt and commented that she loved the film too. I have to admit, I love shakeaway milkshakes too, but with the diet ongoing they are far more of treat than they used too be! You always get good customer services from the Shakettes too, which is boom too.

Milkshake consumed Phil then heads to the opticians to get his eyes tested and while he is doing that I do even more poking around town, mainly in Pia drooling at the sparkly stuff, and then head over to Boots to pick up Phil.

When I get there I wait around a bit and Phil turns up shortly followed by the optician who suggests they go have a chat in private... uh oh. That can only be ominous news I think to myself and sure enough it is meaning that Phil has been referred to the hospital for further treatment. Nothing to worry about too much I don't think but better to be safe than sorry, we certainly are not drawing any conclusions until he's been for a full set of tests.

We then have some dinner in Oxford since it is quite late and enjoy a Pizza at Pizza Express up until the point where the "most annoying family in Oxfordshire" park themselves not far from our table. I swear if I'd heard the mother calling her children "sweetie" or "darling" one more time I might have had to say something. Worst still she didn't seem to do talking, only shouting, a habit which appeared to have adopted the nasty brats too who also shouted a lot a seemed to be demanding whatever they wanted. Had they have been mine the story would have been very different. Certainly when I was a child we were not taken out anywhere unless we could behave like adults (with manners).

We finally make it home quite late but with enough time to catch a bit of TV before we head to bed since we're both exhausted.

Posted by Abi at 9:11 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2009

Obscurity

It has been a busy old day today, and most of the morning was spent running errands in and around the local area which was great since I got to see places that I'd never seen before and meet people who I had no idea existed. So it was nice to get an airing and be out and about for a change rather than procrastinating at home.

With the morning jobs done I then make my way home and get some lunch, shortly after which I get changed and head on down to the Gym.

Before I get there though I stop off at the local builders yard to get some door stop wood. The Carpenter is coming tomorrow to re-hang our bathroom door so it opens outwards rather than inwards and to free up some valuable space in the room. He's given me a shopping list of things I need to get today so I thought since I needed something a little specialised (and I wasn't sure what it was) I'd use the local builders yard rather than the usual candidates.

While I am there and getting super customer service as usual, I ask if they can get the carronite bath I think we're going to get. As it happens they can, next day delivery and they'll give me a discount, so that might well be a plausible route to go down.

I then make it to the gym and after a rather good workout head home, get showered and then both Phil and I head over to Homebase to pick up the new door for the bathroom.

We were lucky since they had 2 of the doors in stock so we picked the better of the two and also picked up some film that will obscure the plain glazed glass in the door... just for a bit more privacy (Phil and I are quite happy without it, but I'm sure visitors won 't be so amused!). We also got some hinges to hang the door and since we had a set of knobs spare at home (see picture) there was no need for us to get anymore.

Back home and we watch some gogglebox and the latest of Derren Browns Events. Needless to say I did not stick to my sofa as he had perhaps intended.

Posted by Abi at 8:47 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2009

Beads, you can never have too many

When I woke up this morning I actually had a lot of things I planned to do, not least of which was to finish my tidying exploits of yesterday since whilst doing that I had discovered a mountain of beads that I'd purchased over the year and not organised or done anything with.

But just as I'm about to get into the swing of things a batch of work comes through which I need to get done so I have to delay my plans.

Later, when things have quietened down a bit I set about more organising. I have to say I was truly aghast at the amount of beads I have and have failed to do anything with so I'm hoping having gone through all of them I'll now be inspired to create something, I'm not sure what, but anything is better than nothing.

Half way through sorting I get more work that I need to sort so I get on and do that and postpone my planned trip to the gym until later, which was unfortunate since I was all geared up and ready to go, but none the less, money is money and you gotta work to earn it.

By 6PM everything has been done and finished (well, as much as it can be for today) and so I do finally get to go down the Gym. It's quite quiet down there for a change which is nice because I don't feel like I'm getting evils for staying on a piece of kit for more than 30 seconds and I have a good work out. I also book myself in for a yoga class next week as I've always wanted to try it out and could do with being a bit more flexible.

When I get home we have a delicious tea of haddock, chips and mushy peas. Oh my, you might think I've fallen of the diet wagon but no! 490 Cals for the lot so I'll be making it again.

Posted by Abi at 9:06 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2009

What can happen in 9 months?

It's been an odd day today, with no real defined action plan in place I kind of swaggered from one job to the next and cumulatively managed to achieve a small amount as the result.

I busy myself with some work in the morning and then in the afternoon with the news that we may well have visitors sooner than we thought so I decided that I needed to do something about tidying up the dining room.

Since my last bout of crafting what was our eating place has slowly turned into much more of a hobby room than I'd have liked (and also since June, my office!). Considering the last time I did anything remotely crafty was Christmas you can see that most of the materials and kit required have been procrastinating in the corner for some time now (9 months!) and so it probably was time that I sorted it out.

Most of the crap is mine, some of it is Phil's and a tiny bit my friends, so I sort it all out into various piles of ownership and arrange to deposit the missing items with their respective owners. I also nip out and get some plastic drawers to store some of the stuff in that I know we use regularly and so needs to be in the house, but not necessarily on the windowsill or on the dining table.

With that done and Phil home I cook dinner, after which I nip over to Nic's house to give her back a wealth of goodies I'd found that were hers and also to drop over a book I'd recommended along with my old heart rate monitor and wrist watch which I'd said she could have since I've replaced them with new devices. We have a good ogle at her new shiny MAC and a coffee and a chat and also discuss what we might be able to do with my not so little black dress to jazz it up a bit. I'd found a nice flower that I wanted to use and so after a few ideas I think we fathomed out a direction we can take it in. I'm strictly the non-leader on this project, Nic is far more artsy than me and way more talented so whilst I'll pitch in where I can it won't be me doing the doing on this occasion!

Posted by Abi at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2009

Bathroom installers - the new millionaires

For about a week now I've been on this apparently never ending task of trying to decide how to renovate our upstairs bathroom which is sadly stuck in 1960 and has had very little TLC over the years. As a consequence, it is falling apart. The sink comes off the wall, the bath has all but a smear of sealant around it, the bath panel frequently detaches itself, the lino floor tiles move about, the heated towel rail is useless and the toilet soil pipe has for some reason been positioned about centre to the room. Add to these inflictions the fact that it is battleship grey you could say therefore that it needs to be updated.

The only plus side (if you can see it as one) is that the bathroom is very small. It's only 2m by 1.7m so whilst a lot of work needs to be done the amount of work and materials is reduces simply because of it's size....

Well, you thought that might have been the case.

Apparently though this is not so.

What is in fact the horrific truth of it all is that whilst the actual parts to make a bathroom in themselves are not too expensive (with the exception of taps) the labour to complete the renovation work is truthfully not short of extortion and a wonderful example of demand outstripping supply.

The UK it appears is so lacking in plumbers and bathroom installer type people that it has given them carte blanche to charge prices that are eye watering!

The company that I went to yesterday for example to get a rough idea of prices were suggesting that it would be reasonable for them to charge circa £300 for them to install some under floor heating. Not bad you may say, but consider this. The area to heat is about 2m². The parts were on top of that price and all they needed to do was lay it and connect it to the electricity circuit.

For the LOVE OF GOD! There is making a good margin on work and then there is taking the piss. From what I've seen so far, most of these bathroom installation companies are verging on the latter. Having said that, it was the same story when we were looking to get the kitchen done.... yes madam, that will be 5K for the kitchen and 7K for the labour, thanks!

The only tiny ray of hope I got out of yesterday's research was that B&Q have a bit more of a realistic price point on their installation service and parts. I think therefore they will be the next avenue I venture down in the torturous and costly route to home renovations.

Posted by Abi at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2009

Rekindling the past

I'm not sure what really to make of today, it seems to have been a day of lots of small nothings really in terms of watching the hours tick by.

In the morning I have a bit of a tidy up downstairs since it's messy to the point of irritating and then get on with the pile of laundry that has been building up for the past fortnight or so.

With the washing machine and dryer spinning away it's not long before it's lunch time and I rediscover my like of tomato soup and when the Grand Prix has finished Phil decides to have a go at building one of this new kits that he got from Maplin.

After lots of cussing, a few mistakes and erosion of the circuit track he finally gets the kit working, sort of. A few of the LED's don't work meaning a connection isn't quite right which in turn means that programming it to display a personal message is a tad difficult. None the less, a good way to waste and hour or two, especially since he had me as his gopher fetching this that and the other from the workshop. At this point I will add that this wasn't as easy as it may seem for my part since the path to the workshop was adorned with a million spiders who had expertly cast their webs in a pattern so regular even the most agile of people wouldn't have been able to avoid them, and if there is one species of insect I hate, it's spiders. So I had to battle my way through them a bit like Indiana Jones, which reminds me, I must sharpen my machete for the next round of cobweb cutting!

I nip to the supermarket just before it closes to pick up a few things, and I mean a few since there was nothing on the shelves, and when I get back set about making tea.

Whilst we are eating we watch One Missed Call, which I found quite enjoyable but I am also pretty sure that the original Japanese version was much better than the dummed down Hollywood remake.

Then, just before bed Phil shows me what he always lusted for as a kid, which was an Atari Falcon. He also showed me the graphics package he used to use on there too, something called Degas Elite written by a bloke called Tom Hudson. I have to say, I thought it was pretty neat! Especially if you wanted to create genuine retro graphics on it! So with electronic kits and Atari's, Phil really has immersed himself in the past today, which is cool if it makes him happy!

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2009

A lot of hot air!

It's been a fairly quite day to day with little going on in the morning other than me going to the Gym for my fat burning session, which went well enough though I was trying to beat my "burn 100 calories in 10 minutes" goal on each machine I went on so in fact it was probably more Cardio than fat burn, but none the less, I got it down to about 12 minutes so a little improvement and I should be closer each time I visit.

When I get back we have a spot of lunch and then head out to Oxford. We visit the Bathstore that I had been to yesterday so that Phil could have a look at the suites and see what he thinks. It went ok, but by the time we priced everything up the bath, overhead shower, glass shower screen, toilet and sink were coming in at around £1800. Add labour on to that and tiling and flooring and I don't think we are going to be shy of around 5K for the entire thing which is a lot of money. I guess I wouldn't have minded if I thought that I'd picked out the most expensive of everything to go in there (ok, the limestone tiles might be excessive at 1K but that was a bit of a pipe dream really, we can always cut back a lot on that side of things) but just for the basics to come in at nearly 2K was a bit of a shock. I don't realistically think we'll get the labour costs below 2.5K (I had a quote a while back and it was that price, and the man at the bathstore said a similar figure) so I'm not sure where I will cut back on things to get the price more realistic. I mean we could go for one of these bog, bath and basin deals for like 500 quid or something, but the intention is that we don't end up with something falling apart and tatty in 5 years time, so a lot of thinking and planning to do.

We then head over to Maplin as Phil appears to have developed a bit of a soldering fetish and pick up a few more little projects for him to do. Note to self here that Maplin shelves slide, so in fact there is a lot more stuff on offer if you move the shelves around. The 2 projects Phil gets are a Mini Message Board and a Message In Space. They should be quite cool if they work.

When we get home it's not long before we are setting up the BBQ, Agnese had kindly donated one of the disposable types to us before she left so since the weather was so nice we thought we'd use it and slap some sausages on there for dinner.

Mid-cremation and overhead a very brightly coloured hot air balloon flies over so Phil busies himself taking some shots of it with the telephoto lens (one of the rare occasions that the camera has the right lens on it to start shooting straight away!). I've never been in one before, but it does look very serene and peaceful up there looking down on everyone else going about their daily lives.

We watch the end of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans which we'd started a while ago but never finished. It was Ok I guess, but for the entire movie I couldn't help but think that Bill Nighy was about to burst into song with jazz hands. No idea why, but for me he's not a convincing bad guy.

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2009

Voila, new car (ish)

I haven't moved from the house today, and the primary reason for that was that I was waiting for my car to be redelivered from it's repair of it's repair job. But you know, waiting in wasn't necessarily a bad thing because I was exhausted from yesterdays adventure and so doing a little less today was probably a good move on my part.

It really has given me an appreciation of the sort of thing Phil has to go through on a daily basis so kudos to him, I don't know how he does it, nor how I did many years ago during my commuter phase. I must have been on smack. Or speed. Or possbily both!

The morning is filled with bits and pieces of work with a minor panic from one client which was quickly resolved after someone screwed up, not me for a change, and then most of the afternoon was spent pottering on the computer and honing my Pen tool skills.

The car arrived back at around 4PM, so I just enough time before they arrived to fill the loaner up with a bit of juice so it was ready to be returned to the garage. It looks like they've done a better job this time which is great. The only thing I need to do now is go back to the previous repairers and complain to them since the boot hasn't closed properly since they supposidly fixed it last year. Good job then they give a 5 year warranty on their repairs!

I guess part of me would really like to get a new car, but I'm trying to be logical about it. The Yaris is all paid for and it's functional so really there is no need to replace it other than the burning desire to get a Toyota IQ³ (seriously the site is worth a visit just for the funky music!). But even if I did cave and got one of those, it would be redundant next year if the family planning all goes as it should because it would be way to small to ferry me, phil, baby, dog, baby accessories around in.

So I guess for now I'll stick with what I've got, but get it fixed up. I have to say I quite like the fact it only takes £25 to fill it up and I only have to do that once a month at the moment!

As an aside, I noticed on one of the pictures I posted yesterday the word "Filbert". I had no idea what it is, but apparently it's a type of hazelnut.

Posted by Abi at 9:06 PM | Comments (0)

September 9, 2009

London Delights

Up very early this morning to go into London. The purpose of the trip was to go and see a very close family friend who after being admitted to hospital for emergency surgery has just been told by the doctors that the cancer he had been diagnosed with had returned once again.

On my way into London I notice that Derren Brown is splattered all over the front cover of the Metro newspaper (the rag that most commuters read as it's free) as he is promoting his latest round of mystical mayhem. It was a bit eerie actually since there were so many papers with his face all over it, it felt a bit like being stuck in a Derren Brown labyrinth of terror... with his eyes watching your every move. If you know who Derren Brown is you will appreciate why this felt a bit weird for me! And as I was sat there I noticed this one particular paper which was crumpled in the just the right way which made Derren's face look very distorted, apt I thought for someone who twists the ordinary into the inexplicable. So I took a pic, one of my more arty moments, much to the suspicion of other people on the train who thought I was a freak.

Because I get into London very early I decide to leave it a couple of hours before going to the hospital so that I don't arrive so early as to be unsocial and so I head over to Covent Garden and have a look around to while away some time.

Covent Garden is a lovely place to sit and people watch, it is full of what I would consider true london characters as well as a wealth of tourists mooching around and taking in the sights. The things I appreciated the most were the following:-

The architecture of the building. Look up and you'll see what I mean, it's full of iron and rivets which reminded me a lot of Waterloo station. The building and surrounding area contains a lot of history and it was very easy to imagine what happened in the market many years ago. Most things there have an element of wear and tear which when combined with the renovated parts add to the overall feeling of historic adventure and excitement!

The next thing I noticed was the array of stores available to browse, there were all sorts of things to see and purchase provided you had sufficient funds! I think the best shop to give you that feeling of yester-year was the tobacconist, Segar and Snuff. It was almost as if I could see the Victoriana ghosts milling around. The shop frontage was truly delightful and it makes me even more angry that every UK high street is now exactly the same, bring back specialist privately owned shops and get rid of the multi-conglomerate dross!

Another store that caught my eye was Ella's Bakehouse. This delectable tiny store was full of any kind of cupcake you can imagine, each and every one of them a perfect package of glitter, sparkle, sugar and sponge to make even the hardened dieter cave in and indulge. Luckily for me though, they were not open until 11 so I didn't have a chance to taste the cakes, but, no fear, I will be back to get some!

There was also a very interesting art gallery inside the market, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it which is a real shame because there was a piece of art there that I really liked but couldn't see clearly enough to establish how much it was or who the artist was so I'm going to have to do a bit of digging to find out.

UPDATE! I found out. It was in fact the London Miles Gallery, and the piece of art I liked was by Jade Klara. I don't know why I like Lilith & Blob so much, or why Fat Bird caught my eye, but I really do like them. So much so I'm thinking of buying one just because.

After meandering around a lot I then start to make my way over to the hospital but not without stopping at The Bead Shop. When I get there I am happily filling my basket with everything I need for some half baked idea I'd come up with for a necklace I wanted to make but by the time I totted up the cost of everything I had to buy for it I decided that it would probably be cheaper to buy something instead!

Which as it happens I could have easily achieved when I walked past Les Nereides, a French jewellery shop which a bit like the cup cake shop was full of nice eye candy! There were so many things I could have bought there the list is endless, but again it all comes down to money! But, what I can say is that I've found a shop Phil can shop for me in for many years to come!

After the distracting bling incident I make it to the hospital where my friend is staying and I have to say if there was ever an argument for private health care this was it. The place was like a 5 star hotel and has an excellent track record for the treatment of cancer patients so I was happily convinced that he was in the best place possible for his care. We had a lovely chat that lasted a couple of hours and I left behind a load of reading material and some playing cards to keep him occupied (though with internet access and flat screen TV I'm sure he'll be more than entertained. I guess all we have to do now is hope that the treatment plan they are devising works this time and things get back to normal. Like I said to my friend though, half the battle with cancer is your mental attitude towards it so we have to keep hopeful and positive that things will resolve themselves.

I have to say though the only thing wrong with the hospital was that it was perilously close to Harley Street, god darn it! If I'd have had 10K in my back pocket I might have popped in for a nip and a tuck, and a suck too actually. Probably more suck than tuck truth be told...

After my visit I then head on homeward bound. It's been a long day and I'm fit for nothing by the time I get home.

London is exhausting, I've no idea how people actually live there or why they'd want to live there. I think I can safely safe that it's a nice place to visit but not somewhere I would want to call home. I am too old, too antisocial and too agoraphobic to immerse myself in that sort of environment on a daily basis.

Signing off now. El Groucho.

Posted by Abi at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)

September 8, 2009

Sealant not cured madam?

Wow, not sure where today went, but I didn't seem to get very much done at all it seems!

I know for sure that I had a play around with SwishMax as an alternative to Flash at a fraction of the price but kept getting interupted so not much of a chance to actually learn anything.

I do however get a chance to improve on my new found Adobe Photoshop Pen tool dexterity much to my great delight. I really don't know how I managed before without using it as it adds so much more flexibility to creating your own custom shapes etc. Well, blessed is the person that can create more than a box or a circle in photoshop, the world is my oyster!

Later in the day the car repair people turn up to pick up my car after it appears the "repair" they previously did hadn't quite worked, in that I could see daylight through the weld that they had put in place to fix the damage that was there, and sealed the join with some sealant that hadn't cured properly which meant that there was a gaping hole in it. Anyway, off got carted the Yaris and in it's place I have a Volkswagen Polo which seems ok, but it's very utlitarian inside and sadly lacking any personality in it's design.

Before tea we set about planting the loganberry and strawberry plants that I picked up yesterday so we have quite a busling community going on it the veggie plot now. Just got to make sure we protect the plants from frost in the winter with some insulating wrap.

Not much else going on so we watch a bit of TV and head to bed early as we both have early starts tomorrow.

Posted by Abi at 8:11 PM | Comments (0)

September 6, 2009

Pick your own... maybe next year!

Living up to its name quite well, today's Sunday was indeed for Phil and I a day of rest (sort of!).

Most of the day is spent continuing our sorting and tidying of yesterday so we manage to put a load more stuff up into the attic and finish sorting and cleaning the spare room that had been used for a dumping ground for some time. We then rearrange Phil's train set so it's all back to rights and make sure it's all running as it should, and it does with the assistance of some vigorous track cleaning by Moi.

After we'd done all of that we then head on out to the local garden centre to see if we can pick up some strawberry plants. According to our allotment bible September is a good time to plant strawberries for next year so whilst they were still in the shops we thought it would be a good idea to get some. I think we've both been quite proud of the fact that our Raspberries have done quite well and so since we both enjoy strawbs and rasbs we thought growing our own would be a good experiment.

Unfortunately though our local didn't have any of the plants we wanted, so we have a bit of a longer drive to a bigger place about 5 miles away. Success this time and we come back with 7 nice plants (2 varieties, including the Elan type) which were half price, so even better!

When we get home we set about planting them in our veggie plot and it's not long before they are dug in and being watered by the soak hose.

The rest of the day is spent pottering, and to be honest it was nice to mooch around the house instead of being out and about.

Posted by Abi at 9:23 PM | Comments (0)

September 5, 2009

Stacked

It's been a day of doing today for both Phil and I and we make a grand start in the morning by putting together the stuff I'd bought from Ikea yesterday.

First off we make up the Antonius wire rack that I'd bought to add some well needed extra storage in our kitchen. I have absolutely no idea how the previous owners coped but there simply is no place to store anything in the rather antiquated units we have (not aided by the fact that I can't use 1/3 of the units as they are so high up the walls you'd need to be a giant to reach them). Luckily in true Swedish style the shelves didn't take long to put up and we'd soon transferred the contents of temporary larder over. I'm very pleased with the result, we most definitely have a lot more room now than previously and although the stuff is "on display" it's not nearly as messy as before.

With that done, Phil makes a start on the new office chair that I had got myself - it's the Ikea version of Phil's Herman Miller Aeron one only a fraction of the price and will suit my butt just fine.

The rest of the day is spent watching part of a film called Franklyn, a bit odd for my liking but still, interesting enough. Phil goes for a kip not long after so I make the most of the time by clearing out some of the crap I had stored in the sky planner, notably Penelope, Ugly Betty and Holby City.

Tea tonight is spicy chips thanks to the actify and fish and we settle down to watch another load of x-factor humiliants take to the screen. Talking of X-Factor, have you seen this? I wish my true passion for life got me this excited I really do...

Posted by Abi at 6:14 PM | Comments (0)

September 4, 2009

Arrivederci Agnese!

It's a sad day today because after over year of having my mad Italian friend around she is finally going back home to pastures new and a whole world of exciting possibilities. So after a morning of doing work stuff I head on down to Newbury to pick both her and Elisabetta up so that I can drop them over to Bristol Airport for them to catch their flight back to Italy.

Everything is going great, up to the point where we get onto the M5 and the traffic stops dead with no movement in sight. So we turn around and head on back to the M32 and try that way instead which is equally rammed and we don't get anywhere fast. By 5.30 and still stuck at the outskirts of Bristol we are resigned to the fact that there is no way in hell we are going to get the girls to the airport on time.

A quick call to Phil and we discover that there plenty of flights out in the morning so we resign ourselves to getting to the airport when we can and seeing if we can get them on one of the flights tomorrow and finding a place for them to stay overnight.

When we get to the airport at 38 minutes past 5 we thought we'd just see if there was any chance they could get on the flight and by some miraculous event the bloke at the desk said YES! So it's a mad rush to get the bags checked in then the ladies scoot upstairs through departures and to what I assumed would have been the plane, so I go back to the car and head off towards Ikea to pick up the stuff I wanted.

I then get a call not long after from Agnese to tell me that the flight had been delayed an hour! So it was a mad rush for nothing with hind sight, but the most important thing is that they both got on the flight and will be home later in the evening.

I finally get to Ikea and on the way get stuck in more jams giving me the opportunity to take a picture of some sights I saw whilst not moving anywhere, notably St Mary Radcliffe Church which was a very nice gothic building.

I thought I'd hit it lucky whist looking at the show room in Ikea since there were very few people there so I decide what I'm going to get and then head down to the collection area where it all went a bit awry. It took me absolutely ages to find some of the wire baskets I wanted and by the time I did find them and head to the check out a tsunami of customers who must have arrived after me were also heading for the checkouts so I got stuck in ANOTHER queue! Nightmare. Anyway, I thought it most kind of Ikea to pin gargantuan hot dog posters everywhere considering I hadn't eaten since 12 noon and it was now 8.30 at night!

I finally get to pay but not without fretting as I couldn't remember the pin number to my card and when I escape the Swedish clutches of materialism I head over to Tesco to buy a sandwich and also the biggest bottle of mineral water I could find to try and dilute the tar that is pretending to be washer fluid in the car. After eating my dinner and topping the car up with the mineral water (how very posh!) I am on the M4 by 9 and home by 10 which gives just enough time to unload the car, catch up with Phil and head for bed.

I can't wait for tomorrow, I love putting flat pack together!

Posted by Abi at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

September 3, 2009

Seeing things for the first time

I had a bit of emergency work to do this morning in relation to some funky caching issues with a homepage I'd built for one of my clients, but once that was sorted I did a bit of washing and got ready to go out to Oxford.

After my appointment with my FAM instructor I then headed into the town center to do a bit of shopping.

While I was meandering around I thought I'd make use of my nokia n97 and take some pictures of things I saw which I see on most occasions when I go shopping but don't really give much thought to and these included the Carfax Tower and Christ Church. I also stumble upon a rather unique band called Mr Woodnote who are playing in the new square that has been redeveloped. Basically it's 3 blokes with a Saxophone and some electronic giggery pokery mixed in with beat boxing and rap. A very interesting combination but really quite enjoyable to listen to whilst the sun was blazing down, so much so I got one of their albums. I think I spoke to Lil Rhys who despite outward appearances of being a hard ass rap gangsta innit was in fact a lovely bloke who was chuffed to beans about the good reception his band was getting.

I finally make my way home and hop online to see what's been going on and get chatting to a very good friend of mine who moved away a couple of years ago but it looks like the brood might be moving back this way which is very exciting news indeed! Lets hope it all goes to plan!

Late as it is by the time we are ready to go to the gym we do actually make it this time which is good because I thought Phil had about given up on the idea so it was nice to see him going though I do believe I might have overdone it - tomorrow will tell I suppose!

Posted by Abi at 9:12 PM | Comments (0)

September 2, 2009

<welsh accent>Tidy!</welsh accent>

Today has been one of those days where you seem to do lots of little things but never achieve anything big.

In the morning I do some work but not long into the day I get a call from Agnese who is at a loose end since she's now finished work and was wondering what I was doing. I didn't have much to offer on the excitement front with the exception for a trip to Sainsbury's to pick up a few bits I'd forgotten to get at the weekend so we agree to go and get a coffee and a bun and do the shopping.

Whilst I'm waiting for Agnese to arrive I have a further stab at tidying the spare bedroom which has been used as a dumping ground whilst we were decorating the other spare bedroom and it really needed to be sorted out a bit more rather than just the token effort I'd made earlier in the week with the clothes that were in there.

So I have a go at getting shot of stuff we dont need or want and repacking the stuff I can't throw away for various reasons (mostly sentimental!). When Agnese arrives she helps me put the couple of boxes I've packed into the attic and then we head out to do the shopping.

The afternoon is then devoted to more sorting and packing and by the time Phil gets home I've just about cleared the floor ready to clean and put the room back to rights. I also had the chance to review all of our art that we've bought that still hasn't gone on the walls and smiled at each piece, so that has to be good news!

I head off to the gym shortly after on my own as Phil is very tired from his early start and get back at a reasonable time so that we can enjoy tea and relax ready for bed.

Posted by Abi at 7:29 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2009

What has been happening?

Well, not a lot really but I think that may be to do with my considerable memory loss over recent years... I can't remember one day from the next! Which makes me wonder if I should go back to doing daily posts rather than leaving large spaces of time between each, I think if I do that it may well help with the dementia.

Anyway. I'll try to update my best.

Posted by Abi at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2009

Ladies wot do tea and Bad Companies

Everything was going swimmingly today up until the point where the post plopped through the letterbox.

With the exception of the usual junk mail I notice that I have a letter from the company the provided my curtosy car whilst mine was in for repairs after a caravan rolled into it.

I open the letter and am immediately horrified by the fact that for some reason they have marked on the car collection report that there is a new bit of paint damage to it and the car was returned in a "dirty" state.

I am absolutely furious at this news considering the car was only driven 3 times so was not by any shot of the imagination dirty and when the car was collected I was informed there was NO new damage on the car and therefore I would not need to worry about extra charges (I even SIGNED the report that said as much!).

Add into the mix that this company has already got a serious reputation for trying to rip customers off with miraculous damage that appears on cars and other very dubious dealings that earn't them a featurette on watchdog, and you can start to understand why I was less than impressed about the whole thing especially since I knew the company was dodgy and as such had taken the most laborious steps to ensure I wouldn't get duped as well.

Oh and before you wonder why I got embroiled with this company in the first place, well that would be because my insurance company left it so late to arrange my curtosy car I doubt they even had a choice about who the used to provide it (and yes, they will get the short end of my tongue after the bank holiday!).

So as much as I wanted to ring this "company" immediately, I thought that it would be better to calm down first and be methodical about it. So I went into town and met Nic for tea and cake first. It was a welcome break and we had a good gossip about all things lady like which was fab though a wasp did interrupt proceedings at one point... my fault for having Jam on the table I suppose!

When I get back from town I decide to ring the company to try and understand what the hell is going on. I feel sorry for the poor lad that was on the end of the phone because I really didn't hold back and after my 10 minute tirade of small claims court threats et al he finally gets a chance to tell me not suprisingly that he can't help me and I'd need to speak to the disputes department. WHAT!? Can I have their number I ask, er no we can't give that out he replies. When will they call me I ask, er probably not until after the bank holiday he replies... and to which I just explode down the phone and explain that if I don't get a call back within the afternoon for them not to be suprised if their company is splashed all over watchdog again.

30 minutes later I get a call back from the disputes department. A very pleasant girl explains down the phone that in fact that damage has been noted under their general wear and tear policy and there would be no extra charges. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I explain to her, don't they put that in the accompanying letter they send out!!

Anyway. I'll be sure to avoid them at any cost - I mean come on, if you're company has a bad rep the least you can do is make your processes crystal clear to avoid confusion, you'd think it was rocket science!

Posted by Abi at 7:12 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2009

Designer Block

Isn't it annoying when you have a fab idea in your head for something but lack the ability to turn ideas into reality.

That's what I'm going through at the moment. I'm sat here listening to Rupert chew his squeaky ball to death and thinking of all the seemingly endless possibities of how I'd like to achieve the idea I have in my head, but have no means of actually bearing the fruits of my labour.

I could of course pay someone else to transcribe what I have in my head into reality but that isn't an option. I need to figure it out myself which means I may well be in this particular hole for while.

Hmmm, nevermind. Stiff upper british lip and all that.

Posted by Abi at 4:17 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2009

Zapped!

Finally, the day has arrived where I get to start on the long and well trodden path of diagnosis under the NHS. 6 months after my first consult with my GP about my knee problems and today is the day where I get to see the Registrar who will assess my jointy type problems.

So up fairly early to make it in time to the clinic where I'm whisked away to X-ray as soon as I arrive. Luckily I'd had the foresight to put a pair of shorts on under my jeans so when the technician asked me to whip my jeans off I wasn't the least bit coy! A couple of clicks later and I'm sat waiting for my appointment with the Registrar.

He was a plesant enough chap though a little clinical if you'll excuse the pun. The x-ray came up just fine with no sign of bone damage which is a good thing. However, it does mean the increased likelihood of it being a cartilege or ligament issue so I'm now going to be booked in for an MRI scan on it to get a good picture of what's going on inside. If it is what the doc suspects it will mean I'll have to have key hole surgery to fix the problem and will have to wait about 2 weeks to recover.

Not too bad I suppose, but it will scupper my gym regime for a short while, but the benefits of being able to be fully mobile again? Well, I'm willing to be laid up for a fortnight if that's the case.

Posted by Abi at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2006

Singalong now...

Sunday Sunday, so bad for me,
Sunday Sunday, it wasn't all I hoped it would be
Oh Sunday morning, Sunday morning could guarantee
That Sunday evening I'd be bored with the TV.

Sunday Sunday, can't trust that day,
Sunday Sunday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh Sunday Sunday, you gave me no warning of what was to be
Oh Sunday Sunday, how could you be such a torturous entity.

Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Sunday comes, but whenever Sunday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time

Sunday Sunday, so bad for me,
Sunday Sunday, it wasn't all I hoped it would be
Oh Sunday morning, Sunday morning could guarantee
That Sunday evening I'd be bored with the TV.

Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Sunday comes, but whenever Sunday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time

Sunday Sunday, ...

Posted by Abi at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)

September 9, 2006

Fancy A Bit Of French?

I've been a busy old bee today with lots of things to do and keep me busy.

First off Phil and I have to go into town for his follow up appointment with the optician to see how his first night of contact lens wear went. We have to get into town for 9 am, only to be kept waiting for 20 minutes for the fat walla pseudo russian airport man to get his act together and to see phil. I'm quite angry when he waltzes over his voluptuous manner and so promptly leave to go do some shopping.

It appears that there is a french market in town today, so I have a gander around that to see what's what and thank the lord I've got no money in my purse since the mobile boulangerie was soarly tempting. Instead of the bread though I make do with a brownie baking tin and a jiffy bag and trudge back to the opticians to pick up Phil and we wind our way home via the super market to pick up a few more bits and pieces. It seems Phil's eyes have coped well with having plastic wodged in them overnight, so he's got the go ahead to wear them constantly for the next week until we have to go back to the optician to wait pointlessly for another 30 minutes or so for another check up. So that's good news, we've just got to keep a close eye out for any problems that may crop up.

This afternoon I decide to make some french fancies - cakes in other words. This time though they are made with a very light sponge and filled with french butter cream - sounds good eh? Only problem is they are an all day affair to make. Not only do you have to make custard from scratch (yes, I just about managed it without it turning to wall paper paste) but there is an extraordinary amount of chilling time involved too. Nonetheless, they taste divine, I just don't know when I'll have the energy or endless cavern on time to make them again heheh :) The only slight problem was when it came to the icing you're suppose to put on the top of them - the book said "split the icing into two bowls. Add a tiny drop of blue food colouring to create a pastel blue in one half and then add a tiny drop of yellow food colouring to create a pale yellow in the other half". Hmph, my hand slipped so the cakes actually ended up looking like a 3 year old had gotten loose with a crayola.

Sweet diddly going on this evening, with just the usual entertainment of x-factor to keep us occupied. Oh well, long gone are the days where we didn't have time to think on the weekends.

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

September 8, 2006

Early

More baking for me today this morning, as well as popping out into town and picking up a few essentials, such as more doggy treats for ratbag and more human treats for the other pack members.

By the time I've rushed around town and the supermarket I've not got long before I get back home and unpack, have some lunch and then bake Phil some cakes since I'd promised him a batch. I have even less time after doing all that before Phil gets home early since we've got yet another opticians appointment today so they can do a pre-overnight check on his eyes before he attempts to sleep in his contacts for the first time.

We arrive at the opticians in plenty of time, however the same can not be said for the man we are suppose to be seeing since as we are walking down the opticians we see him walking in the opposite direction. We then spend the best part of 15 minutes waiting for him to arrive (that includes a phone call made by one of his collegues to see WTF he is). Shocking service really I'm half minded to write to boots and put a complaint in. Everytime we go in there we either have to wait for 15 - 30 minutes for our appointment to start or we get back chatted by the bloke who obviously took his customer service skills course at a BT call center.

When we finally get home Phil ponders about what he's going to do for the rest of the evening since he's home a good couple of hours earlier than normal and I finish icing the cakes I'd made earlier. We then have a debate on "icing: the correct ingredients for perfect fairy cakes" and I resolve that I'll make some different ones tomorrow to see if they are more to the liking of Phils more traditional icing tastes.

Posted by Abi at 9:14 PM | Comments (1)

September 7, 2006

Beadilicious

Not up to much today really, so to subdue the boredom I decide to make some jewelry with the large array of beads I've been gathering for some time.

Whilst I was in America I picked up some lovely blue tigers eye beads along with some rather unusual ones which whilst predominantly brown in colour when you turn them in the light have patches of metallic blue in them, and alas they've been sitting on the side for several months now, so I string up 5 bracelets with the beads, all with various combinations of blue to brown beads which I'm really happy with. I also make up another bracelet but this one is a combination of tiny haematite beads with some swarovski fire opal crystals (they are almost burnt orange with fading to an orangy yellow). The black and orange look really good together and I'm very pleased with it - I think it will become one of my favourites without a doubt :)

This evening is a bit of a no brainer, Phil is home late tonight after fixing someone elses feck up and so by the time we've eaten (and I've recooked the chicken since it wasn't quite done) and watched Dragon's Den (twice since Phil had a phone call half way through) there ain't much else to do before it's time to go to bed.

Posted by Abi at 9:20 PM | Comments (0)

September 6, 2006

More doggy practice

I've had a very quite day today, so much so it's quite difficult to write any kind of entry, but I did do a few things to keep me occupied.

The first thing I did today was to do a bit of research on this whole pub idea I've got. I spend a lot of time evaluation what the sort of prices I'd be looking at to get myself into my own pub which varies depending on if you want to lease somewhere or buy somewhere freehold. Ideally I'd like a free hold pub but without the backing of about £500,000.00 I'd be lucky to get anything with 4 walls and a cellar. The reason I like freehold is because you have no obligation to any brewery and you can get your supplies from anywhere you want. You also own the property outright (except of course from any lender) so you're pretty much left to your own devices.

But as you can see, freehold is a pretty big financial commitment so I've also looked at other options. If I was lucky there is an option occasionally to get a "free of tie" lease, which is cheaper than freehold but also gives you the freedom that I mentioned before. Only problem with "free of tie" is that they are relatively hard to come by, and are also expensive by comparison to an ordinary tie in lease, which are more common and less expensive.

So ultimately then I'm left with the choices of a tie in lease or the rare chance of picking up a free of tie lease. Ideally, the latter would suit, but I think I may well be lumped with a tie in if I do decide to go further ahead with my plans. I suppose the upside of a tie in is that for a newcomer like myself it is easier in terms of getting supplies (you'd be required to get them from one place stipulated in the contract) and also a lot of the tie in leases are offered by companies who provide training for first time landlords and the like.

Anyway, I've sent off for some information from one particular company that looks promising, and bookmarked several websites specialising in the sale of licensed premises so I can keep a regular eye out for anything that might come up.

Doing all of the above pretty much took up most of my day, but by 6.30 we're off to doggy training again. For some reason Rupert is a bit ditzy tonight confusing his sits with his downs so I've got to do more work on that to help him reclarify what he's suppose to be doing. He did do pretty well on his puppy recall though and was once again the star of the show when we had to practice grooming (getting the dogs to lay on their backs etc) which he found very easy since he spends 90% of his day on his back asleep!

Posted by Abi at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)

September 5, 2006

Tending bar

So I've got my tester day at the local pub today, but before that I have to go to the opticians to get my eyes tested. I don't think there is anything wrong with them, but since they were offering free eye tests in boots I thought I'd sign up and just get them checked out. Better to be safe than sorry.

After air being puffed into my eyes, bright lights shone into them and general retinal burn and poking and prodding the upshot of it all is that my eyesight is fine - I'm slightly long sighted in my right eye but no where near enough to warrant a prescription.

By 11 I'm at the pub and being shown the ropes, but truthfully nothing much happens till around lunch time when every mother and their uncle turns up for food. So with a mad rush at the bar and me not being overly familiar with their fancy tills I don't know if I helped much or just got in the way, but I tried my best and only really fucked up when I corked a bottle of wine. Oops. By 2 I get to take my break and go and let Rupert out for a pee, he seems to have coped pretty well whilst I've been out and after a quick lunch and a bit of play time in the garden with pupster I'm heading back to the pub to do my afternoon shift. It went a bit smoother than the earlier one and by the end of it I was much better at getting the hang of the till and also remembering where everything was and I actually enjoyed myself - I'd forgotten how much fun it was to work behind a bar, and after spending so much time at home lately it was nice to go out and do some sort of socialising.

By the end of my shift though when the landlord said "see you thursday then" I was a bit taken aback since I was under the impression that it really was a trial day and we'd have a chance to take about things at the end of it, rather than assuming I'd be up for it straight away. Like I said yesterday, I had a number of concerns, primarily with working every weekend without the opportunity of having any off at all (they don't run a fair rota system) and so when I mention this to him he kinda goes off on one, and even though I try to explain to him the difficulty what with Phil being a weekday worker and us only getting the opportunity to see each other in the evenings and at the weekends, we'd never see each other. It wasn't as if I was asking to never work weekends, just to have one off every month, but he couldn't offer that sort of guarantee. He also then went into a big spcheel about the trade doesn't work 9-5 Monday to Friday which I managed to stop him preaching about when I said to him that whilst I fully understood that he had to understand my point of view, after all he and his wife worked and lived in the pub so there wasn't really an issue with their relationship suffering due to lack of attendance by one party.

Urghh by the end of it I was glad I told him I wouldn't be back, but thanks for the day. Seriously the man was a right proper grouch and I don't know if I could have worked with him in the long term. It's also made me realise that these big pub chains might not provide the sort of experience I want - everything is so regimented (like having to serve coke out of branded coco cola glasses) it doesnt really offer any opportunity to reach out and do something different. You're just following a set of rules and sticking to them with out any imagination or spark, everything comes from head office and you'd better like it because if you don't follow them the likely hood is you get fined or something ridiculous like that.

I'm thinking that perhaps I'm going about this all the wrong way - maybe I need to be brave enough to just jump from the frying pan into the fire and see if I can do it on my own (with Phils help of course!) without the trauma of being subjected to pub chain bureaucracy. Something to think about tonight I guess :)

Posted by Abi at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

September 4, 2006

Impromptu Interview

I make a rather off the cuff phone call today to one of our local pubs (a hungry horse chain run by greene king) after looking at their website and noticing that they do training to see if they have any jobs available. As it happens they do and so they've asked me to go for an interview today at 3 pm. Not a problem really so I just spend most of the morning relaxing in front of the Tv, doing a bit of squatting up on the pub and not a lot else.

The interview went well and they've asked me to go in for a training day tomorrow to see if I like it or not and then to discuss the position further there after, the only problem is I need a pair of black trousers and a black top to wear, which currently I have none in my wardrobe since I've thrown most things of that description out as it was too big.

So after the interview I nip back home, get changed and then head back into town to get the required clothing for tomorrow and luckily I hit the jackpot in dorothy perkins and pick up everything I need within 20 minutes flat and 5 minutes before they close. I was going to do all of this in the morning but quickly remembered that I'd booked an eye test in the morning and so probably wouldn't want to run the risk of finding suitable clothes, having an eye test and getting to the pub on time because knowing my luck it would end in disaster.

This evening is a bit weird, but I think I know the reason for that. Having explained the possible hours of the pub job (3 - 11pm 3 days a week, and 12 - 9pm at weekends) to Phil I think he's concerned we might not ever see each other and he's right, and thinking about it it does seem a bit unreasonable they they would expect someone to work every weekend without some sort of rota in place to ensure weekends are spread out amongst employees to make it fair. It's something I'll have to mention tomorrow I guess, of course this would be academic if phil and I both ran/lived in a pub rather than me working for someone else. It's another consideration I need to think about I guess.

Posted by Abi at 9:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 3, 2006

New Bin

And this is how exciting today has been, the only thing we did today was go to homebase to get a new kitchen bin since this morning I managed to break our old one by snapping off the little peg thing which the lid clasps onto in order for it to open and close nicely.

Anyway, we manage to get a new one, with 10 litres more capacity so that's helpful. We also nip to the supermarket to get a few bits and pieces for lunch and dinner and for Phil's lunches next week, but apart from that, really, not much else to say.

Posted by Abi at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

September 2, 2006

Shake it baby!

Quite a busy old day considering it's the weekend today, and first things first this morning we're off into town to the opticians to get some help / advice about Phils contacts. He's being having a lot of trouble with his one eye that has an astigmatism in it, to the point where he can't actually use a PC because his focus is so crap so we want to go see if they can up the prescription to help out (I mean after all, he's suppose to be wearing them 24/7 and he can't do that if he can't see!)

After a bit of a wait we are finally seen by the bloke who sorted phil out with the contacts in the first place. To give you an idea if you've ever watched the series "airport" here in the UK there is this fella called Jeremy who works for some Russian air line. Well the eye bloke is the spitting image of him, and as if that wasn't bad enough he also appear to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning because he was far from courteous and quite rude in fact - like excuse us for interrupting you because you fucked up in the first place arse wipe! Urghh, I hate people like that, so stuck up their own arse they think they are better than the customer, when in fact its the customer that's keeping them in business. Nevermind, eventually he gives Phil a new prescription and we leave before I punch the dudes lights out.

We don't go home for long because we are going into oxford this afternoon so that Phil can get his his hair cut, and whilst he's doing that I have a poke around the shops and pick up a few things. First off is some new games for the PSP, I get a number of tetris like games but restrain myself when I see frogger on the shelf, I wish I hadn't really because I love that game and have fond memories of it from childhood. If it's there next time I go into town I'll buy it I guess!

I also go to the toy shop and pick up some hair pin turns and extra side swipes for the scalectrix since Phil has been after them for a while now, and by the time I've done all my shopping it's not long before I have to go pick up Phil from the hairdressers. On the way back to the car Phil gets a MaccyD's and I indulge yet again in crap food by stuffing a hot apple pie down my gullet. Secretly I'll admit it was quite nice, but I know I shouldn't have eaten it!

Taking of eating badly, I've really gone off the rails these past weeks what with being ill and the like. I mean I've stuffed my face beyond belief and really have gone back to my old habits, but I want to nip it in the bud for next week and get back to dropping the pounds (including the 3 I've managed to put on in the last week). Monday is d day, so out with the old and in with the new once again.

I should perhaps mention here whilst on the topic of food a new place that has opened in oxford called Shake Away, which is basically a funky place to get fabulous milkshakes pretty much of any description you can imagine with top quality ingredients. Phil had an "aero" one and it was very nice indeed - icecream blended up with 2 aero bars and quite a generous portion too. It's a little pricey, but I'd put it in the genre of expensive rare treat but worth it - a bit like ben's cookies. I hope they do well, it's a unique service for oxford and I think the novelty factor will pay dividends quite nicely.

Posted by Abi at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

September 1, 2006

Sorry, but...

Sorry for the lack of posts around here lately but a) I've not been up to much and b) I'm still trying to get shot of this cold. Consequences? I couldn't be bothered to post because I didn't want to bore everyone to death. I mean I could have recited some poetry or something but what would the point in that be? :)

Posted by Abi at 9:13 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2006

Bank Holiday

Considering it's a bank holiday today it doesn't imply that I have the luxury of a sleep in this morning since my sister and her boyfriend are rattling around fairly early getting their stuff ready to head off back home.

After I've cooked them some breakfast and filled them up with tea and coffee they leave at about 10.30 and get home around 4 I guess after a few stops here and there for groceries and the like.

Whilst they were travelling home Phil and I do very little indeed. We watch a few films - Scary Movie 4 (crap) and Basic Instinct 2 (looked ok but I was too busy playing Lemmings on our new PSP to pay it much attention). Phil also has much better luck with his contacts today getting them into his eye much quicker than he'd hoped. I think with no time limit on him and no stress he relaxed more making it easier to pop the blighters in. He had to wear them for 4 hours today but I think we've decided that until he's happy getting them in and out quickly we won't push it any further than the 4 hours since I think if he tried to put them in in the morning it would be too much pressure to perform before he goes to work. So, the plan is keep practicing putting them in and out and once he's got that down to a fine art then increase the amount of time they are in his eyes until he gets up to the 18 hours or so he needs to reach before he can try his first night of sleeping in them.

I also spend a lot of time today keeping an eye on Rupert. He's not up to his usual perky standards this morning and I think it might be something to do with the coffee he scarffed down last night - but by the time this evening rolls around he's much livelier and happier however and so I feel less inclined to worry about him. Luckily I managed to keep myself entertained whilst on puppy watch by making lots of use of our PSP and the lemmings game we got with it - highly addictive stuff dontcha know!

Posted by Abi at 9:36 PM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2006

Sunday Shopping

After a fairly late night by my standards last night, I'm still up early this morning sorting Rupert out and preparing breakfast for everyone - a good old full english, something which I haven't had for a hell of a long time, and it was lovely!

Once we've all eaten it's not long before we are going out of the door and heading into Oxford to do some shopping. My sister has never been to Oxford before and her boyfriend used to live in the area about 15 years ago, so it will be nice for them to have a look around. Our first stop is a big electrical store as we want to have a look at the TV's where Phil and I eye up a 60" plasma but decide on the slightly smaller compulsive purchase of a PSP instead since they had a fairly good deal on them with a discounted price along with a good selection of games which came at a reduced price also.

We then head into the centre of town and have a poke around the shops, and after splitting from the boys my sister and I hit the clothes shops to see if we can find her some new trousers and jeans. Like me she has also lost a lot of weight recently and her clothes are also hanging off her arse so she needs some new ones and after we've tried on practically every pair in several shops we find some that she's happy with. We also pick up some bath supplies from Lush since bath season is almost upon us and Beth and Ian head into the mobile phone shop to upgrade their phones to some fancy motorola ones. Phil also gets some more bits for the scalectrix and by the time we've also raided the chocolate shop and stocked up on the cornish pasties for lunch it's time to head home.

Back at the house and Phil sets up the race track for everyone to have a go around on and then tries to put his contacts in. It doesn't go very well and I think part of that is because he was rushing to get them in as we were going out for a meal, so after trying for 30 minutes to get them in I convince Phil to leave it for today and to try again tomorrow since it was obviously frustrating him and getting him right royally pissed off. He takes my advice and we go out to eat and have a very nice indian meal and then come back home for coffee and dessert and Rupert also decides to get in on the action by drinking Ian's coffee which he'd left on the floor. Oh dear, I dare say that won't do him any good.

Posted by Abi at 9:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2006

Rushing Around

You have to wonder if having guests is really worth the hassle sometimes! heheh, seriously though I've got loads to do this morning before my sister turns up with her boyfriend to spend the bank holiday with us.

I'm first out the door this morning and off to the supermarket to pick up all the requisite bits needed to feed 4 people over the weekend and when I get home I pack it all away which leaves me with about 30 seconds before Phil and I both have to head out of the house since Phil has got his eye appointment at 12 to check his prescription and see if his eyes are suitable for contact lenses as he rather fancies getting some of these ones that you can wear for 30 days / nights without having to take them out.

We get into town with just a few minutes to spare and whilst he is getting his eyes prodded and poked I do some shopping. I pick up a few things, namely a new coat for autumn and also another pillow for the guest bedroom as it appears we've only got 3 and 4 would be much handier for a double bed. I also get a few new cooking utensils as well as a bigger cooling rack for cakes and the like.

By the time I've done all that I head back to the opticians where Phil is having a lesson on how to get contacts in and out of his eyes which IMHO looks really tricky and difficult but eventually he gets them in and we go back home where I get on with cooking some chocolate fairy cakes and preparing dinner for tonight as well as squeezing in a shower so I look at least half respectful when my sister arrives.

Our visitors are on the door step by 4 pm and we then spend the rest of the evening chatting and eating and generally catching up - it's been a long time since I've actually seen any of my family rather than just chatting on the phone.

A lovely evening then, and now I'm popped and my cold or cough doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Posted by Abi at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2006

Sprucing Up

By comparison, I feel a bit better today and its a good job really because I need to clean the house before our visitors arrive. The bad news is that my cold has migrated from my head and now landed itself nicely on my chest giving me a rather nasty bark combined with lots of ickky phlegm and the like.

I've not got much time to complain though because I do need to start with the cleaning from the top to the bottom, including sorting out the guest bedroom which always takes longer when you have to make up the bed and the like.

Whilst I'm cleaning I'm also trying to catch up on the laundry as well as keeping an eye on Rupert who today, bless him, has been rather neglected since I'm busy with other stuff. He's been everso good though just sleeping in the lounge and not creating too much of a fuss. He didn't even have any accidents either which is good news.

By the time Phil walks through the door at just gone 6 I've not long been sat down after finishing off the cleaning and I'm knackered. Cleaning is hard work at the best of times let alone when you're coughing, sneezing and snuffling your way around the house.

Anyway I'm off to bed because all I want to do now is collapse.

Posted by Abi at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2006

Down

Urghh! I hate being ill! My gym routine has gone down hill, my eating is up the swanny and I feel like cack! It sucks and I don't like it!

Sigh.... I don't suppose there is much I can do about it though is there, just got to wait for my immune system to kick in and sort me out, but I'd just like to reiterate the fact that I hate being ill.

The only other thing I've done today other than feeling sorry for myself is go to dog training with Rupert. Today we practiced "sitting" and learnt the basics of getting a dog to lay down. I think Rupert has got the hang of it already which is good but I need to practice even more with him. We also practiced puppy recall where the trainer holds the dog about 50 paces away and the owner has to call the dog back to them. Rupert did really well, but bless him, it took him much longer to run to me because of his short little legs where the other dogs managed it in seconds. Still, the trainer was well impressed with his progress and he was the star of the show again, even when the trainer tried to trick him with a few curve balls here and there he still did as he was told and behaved himself. He's also getting much more confident and he's not so worried about walking around in front of other dogs and is definitely happier around other people. So lots of progress being made on that front.

Posted by Abi at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2006

Illness

It appears the itchy throat I had yesterday has decided to morph itself into a full blown head cold today and I feel like crap.

I've got aching everything, I'm hot then cold, bunged up with snot and my throat still hurts and looks ikky. I feel like all of my energy has been drained out of me and as a consequence of which I don't feel like budging off the sofa at all - so I don't for the best part of the morning and Rupert and I spend plenty of time sleeping on the couch minding our own business.

By the afternoon I still feel horrible but boredom and daytime TV is getting the better of me so I decide to go into town and get a few things - I've rather gotten into this baking malarkey and as much as I love my old hand blender it was dirt cheap when I got it and a consequence of which is that it's been gradually falling apart since I first used it - I've only got 1 beater for it now after the other one died miserably by falling apart some time ago and I swear the motor smells like it's about to burst into flames everytime I switch it on. So I pick up a brand new dualit soft touch one, which whilst quite expensive I still get 8 quid off it through luck and the sheer incompetence of the sales man who couldn't quite grasp the stock software - his loss my gain! :)

I then go to the supermarket to get a few things for the cakes I want to bake this afternoon and head on home. Today I make some retro fairy cakes (vanilla sponge with blue icing and dolly mixtures on top) and also some more pear bran muffins for my breakfast. The more indulgent of the 2 are for Phil since I think its nice for him to have a treat in his lunch box for work every day and despite that I enjoy making them too (I will admit here to licking the bowl and the beaters after making the cake mix!). I have to say the new hand blender worked a treat too, much more powerful than the old one and it has this handy retractable power cable which means the cord doesn't get all over the place when you're using it machine itself (I'm a messy cook and so usually I end up with food mixture all over the electrics!)

The cooking pretty much poops me out so I then just chill on the sofa again until Phil comes home. I still feel awful and so don't feel like doing more cooking and we settle on just popping a frozen pizza in the oven for tea, and now I'm about to run myself a scolding hot bath to see if I can get my body temperature up to anything above sub zero.

I hate having a cold, I hope I get over it soon because it's limiting my ability to go to the gym (can't breathe, feel like crap etc) and I've got my sister visiting at the weekend and I don't want to be a misery guts for when they come over.

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (1)

August 21, 2006

Marathon Interview

I've got another interview today so I spend the best part of the morning brushing up on stuff and then stressing terribly over it to the point where I was going to make up an excuse and blow them off because I just didn't want to go. I think the main reason for it is because despite them thinking I'm qualified enough for the job I'm not so sure that I am - they require someone that has worked within a well defined project methodology and to be honest everywhere I've worked has been so fast paced there has been little time for such luxuries.

I summon up enough guts to go in the end but the interview lasted for 3 hours! That's a long time to be grilled by anyone, especially when you're trying to sound as if you know what your doing and impress people without coming across as big headed or impolite. They asked me so many questions I can't recall any of them now, and ended the torture by giving me a technical test which involved me coding up a pseudo website, which would have been fine except they made me do it in Microsoft word and on top of that I couldn't view the page in a browser window because apparently as a guest logged into the system I didn't have the right privileges! Handy eh!

I've not really got any inkling as to how the whole debacle went so we will just have to see - from what the lady was saying it will be a while before I hear anything back so I'll just forget about it for the time being until I get some feedback.

I don't get home till 6.30 or thereabouts and after my day I don't feel like cooking so we have a treat and get fish and chips for dinner, which whilst very nice was a huge portion of which I probably only managed to make a dent in about 1/6th of it. And on top of all that I've got a nasty feeling I'm coming down with something as my throat is itchy and sore, so much so I've had to resort in scoffing anaesthetic pastels to try and ease the pain.

Posted by Abi at 9:03 PM | Comments (1)

August 20, 2006

Bug Zapper

I actually treat myself to a lay in this morning snoozing till around 9 when I thought that I'd better get up because Rupert would probably be crossing his legs and everything else by then.

With the usual morning stuff out of the way we then pop out to run a few errands. First stop is homebase to pick up an electric bug zapper - this year we seem to have been inundated with flies and as much as Rupert is trying to kill all of them he's not quite mastered the fine art of fly catching quite as well as the karate kid so we figure he needs a hand. With that purchase made we then go to the pet shop to get Rupert some more food and some treats, and finally we head over to the shopping village to see if we can get Phil a new pair of Vans (trainers) since his old ones are sadly dying a miserable and slow death. They don't have the ones he wants exactly but he manages to find a substitute pair that will do for the time being.

When we get home Phil makes his self busy upstairs with his train layout by adding some gravel around the tracks and pinning the layout down so we don't have to dismantle the whole thing when we have visitors. Unfortunately whilst Rupert and I was visiting Phil to see what he was up to Rupert decided he was going to eat a rubber nipple thing quicker than I could extract it from his mouth. So now I've got to wait to see if the little bugger craps it out, which means checking his poop thoroughly every time he goes.

That's going to make my mornings even more fun!

Posted by Abi at 9:14 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2006

Icing A Cake

I'm up at my usual early time today since I've got more than enough to do this morning before I head on over to my friends house for this birthday party she's arranged.

The first thing I do is sort myself and Rupert out and then I start on finishing off the birthday cake which I'd started yesterday. What needs doing is to ice the thing, but having read the instructions properly yesterday I realised that I had to leave an hour between each layer of icing and since I need to leave at 11 I really have to get my skates on. So I melt the chocolate for the icing and smother it all over the 3 tier cake and then leave it set and an hour later do the same thing again and then top the cake with chocolate coated amaretti biscuits and then pat chocolate sugar strands around the edges because you can never have too much chocolate!

I get the cake done with just enough time for me to have a shower and get ready to go and leave roughly on time, it's a shame the British transport infrastructure wasn't so helpful what with road works, traffic jams and accidents extending my journey by about an extra hour to what it usually takes.

When I get to my friends house it's nice to catch up with Richard - he's made loads of progress since I last saw him at around Easter, he can sit up on his own, join in with conversations (though his speech is a little slurred) and most definitely has his sense of humour intact. He can't walk on his own yet but can with assistance and has had his trach removed. His mobility has improved no end and seems to have the same amount of functionality on both the left and right sides and has stopped clinching his fists. Less improvement has been made on his eyesight though and everything is still blurred though the hospital has given him some glasses to help with that. He also has trouble with his short term memory and has a span of around 30 minutes or so before he starts to forget things that he's already told you or conversations that you've had. His long term memory seems to be ok and we all tried to keep stimulating it by recalling funny stories or details of things which he used to enjoy and the like and he remembered most things straight away. All in all he's doing very well, a vast improvement to say the least and I reckon with the continued rehab he'll continue to do well. I don't think he'll ever be back to his old self but he'll get somewhere close for sure.

After plenty of chat and some BBQ food I then decide it's time for me to be heading home and I get back at around 9 pm only to discover some anonymous car owner has dumped their car on our driveway effectively blocking up my parking space and also preventing Phil from getting his car out of the garage. I was miffed to say the least, after all I don't want to leave my car on the street because some miserable fucker has been inconsiderate. So I then have to do a door to door search of our neighbours to see if they've any idea who's car it is. I strike gold on the 3rd house who had spied someone parking the car there earlier and they also knew what house he'd gone into, so I march over there and after a bit of persistent knocking and door bell ringing someone finally answers and I politely ask them to shift it, whilst gritting my teeth and spitting feathers :)

A whole load of faffing around then before it's time for bed and I can tell you I'm gonna sleep like a log tonight.

Posted by Abi at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2006

Baking A Cake

I've got my day fairly well planned out today since there are a few things I need to do all of which can't wait until tomorrow or the like.

First of all I need to go to the gym since I haven't been for a couple of days, and once I've got all that out of the way I then head off to the supermarket to get all the ingredients I need for the birthday cake I've decided to make for my friend. I flicked through the book yesterday and made my mind up what to do, but the recipe requires quite a lot of chocolate and things like sour cream and buttermilk which we don't commonly have in our fridge.

Once I get home I decide that it might be a good idea to do a test run of the cake to make sure it's ok, after all I wouldn't want to make the cake and take it over to a house load of people and it to taste horrible. So with plenty of good intention I start to make the cake, but it seems to take me forever to just get the sponges done - the method for making the cake is quite complicated and fiddly and what with all the cooling time needed for various aspects of the cake I'm still cooking and it's getting later and later into the evening. So I decide that there won't be any test run cake after all and I'm just going to have to pray that it comes out ok and tastes as it should.

What with the hive of activity in the kitchen tea is a very quick affair tonight with me rustling up some spice rubbed chicken - luckily I'd reserved the coriander dip from the last time we had the same dish so I didn't need to make it again. A neat trick as it saved lots of time and something I'll do again when I need to cook dinner in a flash.

Posted by Abi at 9:17 PM | Comments (1)

August 17, 2006

Let Down

Well, after discussing my options with Phil and my family I've made my mind up that really the accepting the vets job and shunning the IT one would be a bad mistake to make so the first thing I have to do this morning is make the call to the surgery and speak to the practice manager and tell her that I won't be able to accept the job.

They are very understanding however and have told me that they wish to keep my CV to hand should another vacancy arise to which I told them I'd be more than happy for them to do so - after all it always helps to keep options open and contacts available.

After that I then have to go into town since I've agreed to make a birthday cake for my friend Richard (the one who had the stroke) because this weekend we are having a party for him at another friends house. Of course volunteering for such a job is great at the time but I quickly realise that I don't have any decent cake recipes and probably not all the equipment I need to make a cake.

The first thing I do in town is go to the book store to see if they have any good cake books and they have a few so I pick up a variety, but one in particular looks very promising - Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell and by the time I've had a flick through I've already seen the recipe I'd like to use for the birthday cake as well as a recipe I'd like to try out tonight to satisfy Phil's sweet tooth. The other books I get which I'm hoping will be useful in the future are The Delia Collection - Baking and Cakes & Decorating, step by step which I think will be super when I've got a bit more confidence with my artistic ability as some of the projects are quite complicated but certainly have some wow factor about them.

With the books bought and some additional cake tins purchased I then pop into the supermarket to get the few extra ingredients I need to make the "French & Flourless" chocolate cake I want to make for Phil tonight and then head on home - it's already getting late and I'm not leaving myself much time to bake a cake for Phil before he comes home!

When I get back I sort Rupert out and then get on with baking the cake for Phil and I can tell just by the ingredients its going to be delicious - it is a bit like brownie mix so the cake will be very moist and chewy as well as very chocolaty as well - so much so in fact I might well have to try some myself :) Phil has to pop to a leaving party on the way home so it gives me a bit of extra time to finish the cake off and also to get myself some dinner.

Apparently my baking attempt was much appreciated and by god, did it taste scrummy!

Posted by Abi at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2006

A Taster

Up very bright and early today to make sure that I can fit in all the usual morning stuff before I head on out to the veterinary surgery for my day of "work experience" to see if it's really what I want to do.

So after I've done the washing up, made lunch for Phil and myself, had some breakfast I then settle Rupert down for the day. I've decided to put his crate over the kitchen door facing in towards the room, so the door is blocked off but he's also got his den to go in and out of should he wish to. I figure the kitchen is a good place to put him in since the lino is much easier to clean should he have any accidents. Hopefully with our neighbour coming in though he won't be bursting too much, but with free rein in the kitchen you never know what he might get up to!

With all that done I go to the surgery and have a very busy morning, what with x-rays and helping in an operation to remove a cyst from a cats head and give him some dental treatment and in the afternoon we do some more mundane stuff like steralizing surgical kits and cleaning out pens etc. All in all I had a really great day, but after discussing the facts and figures over with the practice manager I'm in 2 minds wheter or not it will be feasible for me to work the hours they want for the money they pay what with Rupert to consider. Thinking about it logically I would have to get a walker in to see to rupert in the day time while I'm away, at least until he's older and the cost of that, plus the fuel to get to and from work, well there would be very little left at the end of the day, which I just don't think is sustainable let alone practical. The other problem is that I wouldn't be able to start offical training until 2007, meaning I'd be on a trainee salary for 3 years rather than 2. I've got some more thinking to do about the whole thing but at the moment dispite it being a good opportunity I'm just not sure it's the right one at the moment.

Typically then with all this going on in my head it's sods law that at the end of the day they offer me the job asking me to give them an answer tomorrow and if it's a yes to start work on Monday. This then gives me another problem as I've another interview on Monday for an IT job, which by comparison to the vet's job is much more approriate for where I'm at personally. It pays much more, has a super benefits package and involves less hours on a daily basis - meaning I could get someone in at least twice a day to see to Rupert with out worrying about the financial consequences. I mean don't get me wrong I'm chuffed to bits I had the vets job offered to me, but I think I'd be foolish to not attend the other interview and pass up a rather appealing opportunity.

When I get home it seems Rupert has been fine and the neighbour gave him a glowing report though it's obvious he's missed the usually companionship he gets on a daily basis - I felt so guilty when I came home and he just looked at me as if to say "Oh, it's you is it!?". He's not got long to have a grump though because he's off to dog training tonight and he is much improved on the last time we went. He did really well with the "sit" command, in fact the instructor was very very impressed to say the least (and I'd go so far as to say he was the best in the class, but I'm bias!). He's still quite overwhealmed by the whole thing really and is no where near as confident as the other dogs, but at least this time he did come out from under the chair :)

With all the activity of today there is little time to do anything else this evening, especially after the food shopping arrives, so we have a sloppy dinner and then a bath and call it quits for the night - both Phil and I are knackered.

Posted by Abi at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2006

Proposition

The only thing to note today is that apart from the usual humdrum stuff I got a phone call from an agency to which I submitted my CV last week for a job I'd seen advertised locally for a web development job - I know I've said I don't want to go back to IT, but this job sounds very attractive and would give me more responsibility rather than just coding. Anyway, it seems that although I'd submitted my CV for a developer role, they would in fact like me to apply for a more senior role as a web producer (so they employers have told the recruitment agent) and on top of that they'd like to see me for an interview on Monday next week where they'll have a chat and give me a test to see if my technical skills are up to scratch.

I'm quite excited to to be honest though I'm not sure I have all the necesary skills they are looking for for the senior role but I think it's worth going along and seeing if perhaps I am what they are looking for - I think I've the advantage for coming from a techincal background so I've seen both sides of the fence which judging from some of the managers I've seen is a sadly lacking quality in most of them. Anyway, I'm not getting my hopes up but just taking each day as it comes and wait to see what happens. The company seems to be quite employee orientated too, which IMHO is a big bonus from my perspective.

What goes around comes around eh?

Posted by Abi at 9:42 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2006

Mini Duo

Well, I've given my knee a weeks worth of rest so it's about time I got myself back down the gym before I give it up all together.

So I go and do the do, and it's not as harder work as I though but it's still a sweaty 2 hours of pounding myself around my usual circuit. Once I've done all that I then decide I should go into town and buy those extra bits for the scalectrix Phil and I had discussed - namely 2 new cars and some bits of track. After much deliberation I decide on getting 2 mini coopers to cover the car contingency - they are really good and have working headlights and rear lights so should look super for night driving. They've also go less bits to break off so should stand up to our rather bad driving skills :) I also get some banked corners, a jump ramp and some additional straights to make our track layout even bigger! I also decide that while I'm in town I should get a smart new pair of shoes (flats) for interviews and the like since I don't have any and they really would be handy now that I'm job hunting again.

By the time I get home there isn't much left of the afternoon and Phil is walking through the door not long after I do, and like any kid at christmas he's setting up the scalectrix with our new additions as quickly as he can open the packets :) I let him get on with that while I cook dinner and after we've eaten we have even more races (with and without lights) though I have to say the night driving is somewhat tiresome on the eyes!

Posted by Abi at 9:31 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2006

Miserable

Urghhh the weather has taken a turn for the worse today. Its raining, it's cold and it's windy - that's 2 of my hated weather phenomena all rolled up into one day so that's a bit of a shitter!

Anyway despite the weather we've had a semi productive / relaxed day. We pop out in the morning to get a few things. We need a storage box to put all the scalectrix bits into and also I need some bits for rupert, like poop scoop bags, some more puppy treats and of course those impulse buys like another toy and a flashy light thing to put on his harness to make him more visible in the night :) We also nip to the supermarket to get some stuff for tea and the vitals to make up Phil's lunches for next week and after all of that we head home.

We watch Hostel today, and despite the hype of it being the "sickest film" ever I have to say I was unperturbed by it, which probably means I'm a natural born sicko or something :) But seriously I've seen worse horror films than that, I think the general public are just all wooses or something! Sign of the times I'm afraid :) Later on, after we've had tea we have a race or 2 on the scalectrix but unfortunately we had a bit of an RTA involving a Renault formula 1 car and a pekingese who inadvertently stepped onto the track as Phil was zooming around a corner. No harm done, but Rupert decided the sofa was the best place to sit after that.

Posted by Abi at 9:22 PM | Comments (1)

August 12, 2006

High Tea

Wow, it's been a busy old day for me today, I don't feel like I've stopped much all morning since I've got plenty to do before my visitors arrive this afternoon.

First of all I'm heading off to the supermarket at 8.30 to get the ingredients I need for my cooking session later and after I've swanned around the aisles for an hour trying to find everything I make it out but not before I hear them announce that they are having a sale on diesel making it the cheapest price I've seen for many a month now. So once I've loaded up the car with the shopping I then fill the car with juice to make the most of the cut prices.

On the way home I nip into town and pick up the other half of what I need (ie non-food stuffs) such as a variety of baking trays and a cake tin with a removable bottom and by 10.30 I'm back home, unloading all the shopping and start cooking my nibblets for later.

I've decided on cooking a whole host of goodies, the first of which is banoffee pie which takes a bit more preparation than the rest of the stuff and once I've done all I can on that I stick it in the fridge and leave it to chill. I then make some dark chocolate and hazelnut muffins which are quick enough for me to make and cook before it's time for us to drop Rupert back over to the vet to see how he's doing.

The vet was very pleased with Ruperts progress, and you can see that Rupert is so much happier today and back to his old self. He gets another jab of antibiotics and also a prescription of special food for a couple of days which will be easy on his tummy and also some antibiotics in the form of pills that I need to shove down his throat for 5 days. Bless him, he didn't even flinch when he had the jab and we weighed him too and it appears he's put on a KG since we've had him so making good progress on that front too.

Back at the house and I continue cooking, finishing off the banoffee pie and then making Caramelised Onion Tartlets with Goats' Cheese and Thyme along with some Savoury Mini Muffins with Two Flavourings (goats' cheese, red onion and rosemary and Gruyere, sage and onion). I tell you something, it's bloody hard work cooking lots of stuff at the same time, not only for the logistics of the matter, but also keeping up with the washing up and keeping counter space clear to actually do stuff on, but I got there in the end, even if I did have to finish stuff off while my guests were here.

We had a really pleasant afternoon though and all enjoyed the food lots, including the rather scrummy carrot cake that was brought along and it was good to catch up with the ladies since I'd not seem them in quite a while.

Posted by Abi at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2006

Vomit

Oh dear, it looks like we've got a sick member of the family today :(

When I got up this morning I went downstairs to let Rupert out. Now, I usually open his crate and give him a hug when I let him out, and this morning when I do that I notice that he's got a rather peculiar aroma about him. I can't quite place it but when I take a quick gander at his bed I realise what the smell is and it looks like rupert has been ill all over the place. Shucks. So I let him out and give him his breakfast, but it's not long before his breakfast as extracted itself from his tummy and landed itself on the carpet. So that's twice he's been ill and he's looking very sorry for himself indeed.

I decide to leave him alone for a while whilst I cleaned the house, but it's not long before the poor blighter has been ill again and really is looking worse for wear. So I decide that I should take him down to the vets to get him checked out and luckily they've got a free appointment just after 5.

So after he's been sick again (3 times now) it's time to go to the vet and the poor little sausage really isn't his perky self. The vet and I narrow the cause down to a stomach bug which he has probably caught from his dog training lesson since that's the only thing different in his life this week, and he gets a couple of jabs (some antibiotics and something to settle his stomach) and some hydration fluids which I've got to replace his water with. He also gets his temperature taken, and if I've ever seen an undignified look in a dog it was exactly at the moment the vet put the thermometer up his jaxy, he didn't like that much. I'm also told to give him a mashed up boiled egg later on this evening and to make an appointment for tomorrow so he can have a further check up to make sure he's recovering.

Back home and the throwing up has stopped but Rupert is still very quiet, but by 9 when it's time for me to give him his egg he's perked up considerably and thoroughly enjoys his dinner, I've never seen his dish so clean! So after he's eaten I put him to bed, but tonight he's not so happy to be alone and does a bit of whimpering before he settles to sleep. I guess it's because he's been out of sorts all day, so nothing to worry about on the grand scale of things. I just hope he's better by tomorrow.

Posted by Abi at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2006

And another...

I've got another interview today for another job as a veterinary nurse which causes me a bit of trouble since I'm running rather short on smart clothes to wear to such an occasion, but after a little perseverance and a lot of imagination I come up with something half suitable and wind my way to the surgery.

But as I'm quickly realizing it's commonly the case for student veterinary nurses that the pay and conditions are rather rubbish. The pay is only just the minimum wage, you only get 15 days holidays and you have to pay towards your examination costs as well. This position would also not be based in once place, but over a larger area covering satellite surgeries depending on where you're needed and the rota is strict meaning that I wouldn't be able to go to the evening classes I've booked for September or in fact continue Rupert on his dog training sessions. I've also got the added disadvantage of Rupert in terms of leaving him on his own for long periods of time, I mean we do up to 4 hours now, but 9 is pushing it and I'd have to get a dog walker / sitter in at least one a day to see to him and make sure he's ok. The only plus side is that the people were very nice and on that basis I've agreed to do a voluntary day next week to get a feel of the place.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to work with animals but it seems perhaps in this life time it's just not the right thing for me to do on this occasion, there are too many external factors that need addressing. I don't know, maybe next year would be better for me, but in the meantime I might just have to find something else to do instead.

Posted by Abi at 9:14 PM | Comments (0)

August 9, 2006

Dog Training

Most of the day has been very boring, especially since I'm not going to the gym at the moment because of my dodgy knee, that means I've got at least 3 hours extra to fill with something, and sadly the only thing I can think of to fill it them with is by playing The Sims 2 (well I wouldn't actually call it playing The Sims because all I managed to do was build a house!).

The evening is a bit more exciting because it's Rupert's first dog training lesson. Luckily Phil was able to get home in time so that he could come along with us and we get there in plenty of time for Rupert to have a sniff around and see what's what. He gets lots of fuss and attention off the other dog owners who had a variety of other breeds with them, most of which were sweet enough just a bit hyper and noisy. There was however one husky dog who seemed to be more than and handful and not in a playful sort of way. I'd go so far to say as it looked a bit vicious if you ask me. It didn't help that it was a rescue dog I suppose, so no one knows it's history, but what also didn't help was that it was pretty close to Rupert who didn't like it in the slightest and spent the entirety of the session rooted underneath Phil's chair with very little intention of moving or participating in anything, not even the tempter of sausage could get him to do much! :) It was lucky at the floor was of the polished wooden sort because it made it much easier to drag Rupert along when he decided his legs didn't work anymore :) I'm hoping next week will be easier and he'll be more comfortable and relaxed, but as it goes I think I've paid the money just to get him used to being around other dogs rather than learning new tricks :)

By the time we're back from the class Phil is so hungry he decides to get fish and chips for tea where as I make a half arsed effort at cooking a chicken breast with some other stuff. Not hugely enjoyable but food all the same.

Posted by Abi at 9:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 8, 2006

Faster

It's an even earlier start for me this morning than normal since I've got to get myself organised to go to the gym for 8.30 am for a session with my personal trainer. Over a month ago when I booked in it seemed like a good idea at the time because what with it being August and all doing the session in the morning ran less of a risk of it being boiling hot and me struggling to do anything. Oh for the benefit of long term weather predictions, because I need not have worried about the heat as it's cool as a cucumber outside and I've also realised I'm not a "really early" morning person :) Never mind though, I'm up and doing and well ahead of my normal schedule and down the gym in plenty of time.

My session went well and the knee support I got yesterday helped no end. In terms of progression my trainer has upped my weights and also the speed on the treadmill and was generally very impressed with all the work I'd been doing. I did ask for some advice on my knee and he told me to make sure I warm up on the elliptical trainer before I start on the treadmill and also to stop if it hurts, and then when I get home to make sure I ice pack my knee for a good 5 - 10 minutes. I hope my knee does rectify itself because I don't want it to become a hindrance to my exercise, especially since I've come so far.

When I get home I grab a shower and then shortly after head out to drop off my CV to another vet surgery that is advertising for a student nurse. Don't know if I'll get anywhere with it but it's worth a shot, if you don't try I guess you don't get anywhere do you? On the way home I also nip to the garden centre to pick up a few things, some superglue for Phil to repair both the Scalextric cars, yet another spice rack to accommodate my growing collection and also some compost to repot the mint plant I got from Tesco as it needs a bit more space to grow.

Even after doing all this it's quite early still in the day so I'm left pretty much to my own devices and after a period of boredom I decide to give the lawn a cut and have a bit of a tidy up outside, I do the washing and then move on to sorting out my wardrobe and eradicating any more clothes that are too big for me - I get rid of yet another bin liner full of them!

When Phil comes home we have some dinner and then Phil sets up the Scalextric for another race or 50. He designs and new track layout tonight which has a nice hair pin turn in it but despite the sharp corners my BMW seems to be doing much better at sticking to the track and I give Phil quite a good run for his money :)

Posted by Abi at 9:37 PM | Comments (0)

August 7, 2006

Treats

Phil is taking one of his many remaining holidays today so it gives us the opportunity to spend plenty of time together by nipping into Oxford to indulge in a junk food lunch which I'd been promising myself for some time now as one of my goal treats.

First of all though I go down to the gym, and I do my usual routine but I'm constantly aware that my knee isn't quite right. It's not that it's painful or anything like that, but more like there is a weakness there which you're aware of and if you catch it right it feels a bit like your knee is giving way. I can only thing I've twisted it at some point and not noticed at the time. I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on it and get a support for it to prevent any more damage that my exercise might cause.

When I get back from the gym we then get ready to head on into Oxford and shortly after we're sat at our table in Pizza Hut and waiting for our meal. I have to say though wracked with guilt I did enjoy the meal so that made up for thinking about how many hours I might need to spend down the gym to circumvent any fat deposits building up! After we'd eaten we then go to get my knee support and then go to the toy shop with the intention of getting some gravel for Phil's train track. We do get that, but also end up with another purchase in the form of a Scalextric set! Yah, talk about a blast from the past - we used to have a Scalextric when we were kids but my sister and I burnt out the cars so quickly that my Mum eventually banned us from playing with it because it was getting to expensive to replace the cars :)

We then go back to the car and nip to the fish shop to get some replacement bulbs for the tanks and I also pick up some cockles in the shell for my puffer fish to give them more of a challenge at dinner time and then we go home.

As you can imagine it's not too long after we've walked through the door that Phil has laid out the Scalextric and we're zooming around like bandits seeing who can get the fastest time. I have to say Rupert didn't think too much of it, but it provided Phil and I with hours of entertainment at the end of which we'd manage to inflict body work damage to both cars - me losing the nose off mine and Phil ripping his front wing off and losing a break light! hehehe :) It was super fun and I think Phil was pleasantly surprised at my driving skills, I reckon I gave him a good run for his money :)

By the end of our grand prix there is just enough time to talk Rupert out for a walk and then we're all tired enough that going to bed seems like a good option.

Posted by Abi at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)

August 6, 2006

Parasol

It's Sunday, so by any standard it's a day of not doing very much in the grand scale of things.

I do however realise that upon waking and getting out of bed my knee is damaged. I don't know why, I don't know when but it's not right. It feels weak when I put a full lock on it and it's difficult going up and down stairs. It's almost as if I've twisted it or something, or I've done something to the outside of it as that is where most of the discomfort is. The only thing I can think off is that either I've done too much on the treadmill of late, or it's delayed damage from my riding which is only now rearing it's ugly head. Sucks really since I don't want a cronky knee to get in the way of my exercise so I'm going to have to go steady on it for a while.

The only other significant event of today is that Phil and I go out to see if we can find a replacement parasol for the garden since our last one got broken in that storm we had a few weeks back. We try numerous homebases to see if we can get one but to no avail, with most of their summer stock gone and them replacing it with autumn and winter stuff (it's only August!!!) but we do strike it lucky at the local Blooms centre who have a fair selection of the things. This time we go for a metal one rather than a wooden one and its feels a fair bit more substantial and hopefully will last any breeze more significant than an asthmatic breathing on it.

Posted by Abi at 9:11 PM | Comments (1)

August 5, 2006

Hypersensitive

Well, I'm pleased to report that the new mattress was very comfortable, however Mr Phil has an issue with the new bedding that I've bought.

It seems that when I got into bed last night, Phil has taken the duvet cover off and removed the pillow case from his pillow, and under close interrogation it appears that the 100% cotton covers are not gentle enough for his baby soft skin, in fact he likened it so sleeping in a bed wrapped in grease proof paper! Cheeky bandit, all I can say is that perhaps he's not used to new sheets and their crispness, or the benefits of cotton bedding... but for sure he's adamant that he doesn't like the sheets and isn't going to sleep with them on the bed. I did try to explain that the new stuff is the same as the old stuff, it's just we've not slept in them for, ooh I dunno, at least 700 days and worn them in, neither have they been spun around a washing machine at 3000 rpm on a regular basis being blasted with fabric conditioner. We do have a bit of a scuffle about this and eventually we settle on the idea that Phil will sleep with one of my uber soft fleecy blankets while I'll sleep with the duvet with the cover on. I don't have a problem with it after all but then perhaps my skin is rather crocadillian in comparison to Phil's peachy covering.

In light of all this, this morning I put the sheets in the washer to see if I can make them more to Phil's liking and once that is done its time for Rupert to have his fortnightly bath and bouffant management session. He was a bit better in the bath but rather like a sponge he soaks up so much water he usually weights twice as much when you lift him out of the bath and before you can wrap a towel around him his shaken himself from head to tail getting most of said water over you, the bathroom and anything else that maybe in the splatter zone.

Once he'd dried off we gave him a hair cut, this time a number 1 all over (well that was the intention but Rupert was getting fidgety so he's got a number 1 over the top half and the rest is all a bit long! We'll try again tomorrow to tidy him up a bit.

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (1)

August 4, 2006

New Bed

I'm stuck at home today until our new mattress has been delivered so I spend the morning mooching around, and then I get a phone call telling me that my delivery slot is between 10 and 12 in the morning. I don't have very long then to wait and by about 11 the men are knocking at the door with the mattress stuck between them.

I manage to sweet talk them into taking the mattress upstairs for me (since it says on their delivery guidelines that they are not obliged to take the mattress any further than the front door) and after I've put some washing on (the sheets from the old bed) I head on out to get some new bedding and a new mattress protector thingy (and no, we ain't taking about a waterproof one!)

I decide that the best place to get the stuff I need is down at John Lewis, which is a 30 minute trip down the m40 for me and from past experience I know they do good bedding even though its a tad pricey. Once I get there I spend a good while deciding on what to get, make my 160 quid's worth of purchases and head on home.

By the time I'm back at our pad I'm starving so I get a bite to eat and then set about organising upstairs - so moving the old mattress off the old bed and putting it in the guest bedroom out of the way, putting the new mattress on the bed frame and making the bed up with the new sheets. It's hefty, hot and sweaty work but I finally get there and it looks lovely, and on a quick test starfish challenge I have to say it's very comfy too :)

It's not long till Phil gets home who also checks out the new bedroom furnishings and he also has an early night too to make sure he's given it a good test drive in the 30 - 40 days we have to decide if we're going to keep it or not.

Posted by Abi at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)

August 2, 2006

More Exercise

After a morning of the usual stuff I go to the gym as it appears I don't have any of the nasty muscle soreness today even after my riding, so I can only assume that all those muscles I've not used in some considerable time have actually got accustomed to being put into motion.

My session down the gym goes very well, everything seems to be that bit easier now the temperatures have fallen to 20 degrees or less, we've even got rain and the sky is overcast - who knows maybe we've had summer already and this is the onslaught of autumn!

When I get home there is enough time for a spot of lunch and then since Phil enjoyed the gingerbread men I made last week I decide to make some more for him. It's not as if they are hard work to do and this time I have a bit more fun decorating them with butter icing, smarties, icing and hundreds and thousands (tiny balls of sweet stuff). I think I get a bit carried away though because by the time I've finished it's not long before Phil is walking through the door and I need to get tea on the go.

Later on we take Rupert out for a walk, he's getting much better now in terms of experiencing new things on his circuit, though has developed this habit of being very nosy when other people walk past, he loves staring at them!

Posted by Abi at 9:31 PM | Comments (1)

August 1, 2006

Tally Ho!

I'm off out again today as I've got another riding lesson booked, this time at a different riding school south of Oxford.

Not being sure where it is exactly I decide to leave a bit early so I'm not late, and after the Sat Nav failing to find the place I resort to asking a rather old lady who was sat at a bus stop if she had any idea where the riding school was, and after she'd toddled over the road with her walking stick she gave me some sort of idea and I managed to find the place.

Anyway I arrive in plenty of time and get a chance to see what the people in the lesson before me are up to from the viewing area of the indoor school. They all seem to be very much into their jumping which I have to say I'm not, but it was interesting to see them practice. I also have a gander around the yards and the horses and I'm then introduced to my instructor for my 30 minute lesson. She's a nice enough person, though I have to say after hearing her shout "AaaahhhhBee" in a French accent across the school for 30 minutes it began to grate a bit (that's probably cause she had to keep picking me up about the position of my lower leg, but in my defence I was still nursing a groin injury which made things uncomfortable to say the least!).

I had a great lesson though and was let lose on my own with the horse, so no lunge rope this time. I made sure I was much more relaxed this time on the horse in the hope that I wouldn't stiffen up as much as Friday. The only slightly crap thing was that because they were not sure of my ability I was put on the a proper riding school horse (the type that knows what it's doing and is pretty stubborn at the best of times). However, now they know what I can do the chances are I'll be put on a different horse next time.

On my way home I stop off at the super market to get some baking ingredients as I'm going to make some peanut butter cookies when I get home which are another treat I can have on my diet. It was a little strange walking around the aisles with my riding kit on, but what the hell I got what I needed and it's not long before I'm home and cooking in the kitchen with my ever attentive helper in the form of Rupert. The cookies came out just fine and taste really nice, however after all this time of not eating sweet stuff they certainly ranked high up there on the scale of sugar highs!

I also make sure I do some stretches when I get back - but I'm not aided by the fact that Rupert wants to sit on my lap whilst I'm sat on the floor and despite my best efforts to ignore him the consistant dropping of toys on my legs made it all a bit tricky!

Posted by Abi at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2006

Stretching Out

It's pretty much a normal day here but today when I go down the gym I want to make a concerted effort to try and stretch out my muscles which are still aching somewhat after my riding session.

I have to say that my usual session down the gym was a bit harder with my damaged bits but I got through it in the end, and in my cool down section I spend a lot longer pulling out all the tight bits. Judging from the amount of pain I had at various points of stretching I'd say I've definitely done something to my adductor muscles in my left hand inner thigh - just going into a small stretch absolutely killed and it was a bit like pulling teeth! I go as far as I can before I might inflict more damage than whats already done so I'll just have to make sure I do my stretches sooner rather than later when I next go riding (which is tomorrow!).

On the way home from the gym I pick up a few items that I need to make tea, we're having spice rubbed chicken tonight and I need some coriander for the dip that goes with it.

Not much on the books other than that I'm afraid, though I have rung up about another possible stable job - this one is a bit further away than the last, but it appears they are much more of a professional outfit with a modern yard, but I'm not pinning my hopes up just yet.

Posted by Abi at 9:40 PM | Comments (1)

July 30, 2006

Marathon

Considering it's a Sunday I'm quite busy whilst Phil chills out at home and looks after Rupert when I'm out of the house.

First things to be done include starting to clean the house. I can't rightly remember the last time I gave it a good scrubbing from top to bottom, certainly before we got Rupert, but with Phil at home and able to keep an eye on him I'm free to get on a start with the dusting etc.

After I've done downstairs and some of upstairs I nip out for an hour or so to do a few things. I need to get some sort of storage device for all of Rupert's toys which seem to be all over the floor - he's like a teenager, just leaves stuff where it is once he's done with it :) I also want to go to the gym, but not to do any exercise, I'm still way to stiff to do that, but to give some support to one of the instructors who is running 26 miles on a treadmill for charity. I get to the gym in time to see him do the last 4 miles and I'm gobsmacked at his determination and will power - you could see he was totally exhausted, but kept on going till the bitter end and even sped up the treadmill to its max capacity (12.4 miles and hour) for the final mile so he could get a good time (he needs it to qualify for a competition he's entering next year) which was somewhere in the region of 2 hours 43 minutes.

After the gym I then go to tesco to pick up some bits for our tea - I'm trying out a new recipe for zesty crab cakes and creamy pepper sauce, and as usual I don't have many of the ingredients I need, including celery seeds which I've never seen on a supermarket shelf! But I manage to get most things, with a few substitutes which I hope will work ok.

When I get home I unload the shopping and then finish off the cleaning and it's a relief that the house is back to some sort of order now - having little Rupert wandering around doesn't half increase the amount of vacuuming you have to do :)

There isn't much left of the day by the time everything is done and it's time for tea soon enough, which Phil lends a hand with. Have to say I enjoyed the crab cakes lots, though Phil thought they tasted a bit "weird" :)

Posted by Abi at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2006

Core Stability

Ouch, Ouch, Ouch, Ouch... I could just do a whole blog entry repeating the same word because really that's all I have to say :)

Honest to God, I feel like I've been run over a bus after my riding lesson yesterday, so much so in fact it's a real struggle to get out of bed and actually move myself from A to B without holding on to something for support or taking an eternity to get there on all fours since that would be the least pain inducing way of doing it!

My shoulders ache, my abdominal muscles feel like they've each done 1000 abcrunches each, my inner thighs, well, feels like someone has ripped them out and I've got bruising in places that only Phil gets to see (and me too if I look in a mirror at a funny angle ;)) However, I'm sure it's done wonders for strengthening all those little muscles that never get a work out and so will be useful towards improving my general strength.

Needless to say then I've taken today very easy, only popping out briefly to go for an interview at a local stable for a part time job. I won't say it went well because I don't think it did, I didn't like the owner of the yard for a start and the stables were in a very shoddy state making it that much more difficult to do any basic duties - so I think I'll chalk that one down to experience! Never mind I'm sure there will be other opportunities.

We have a make shift tea tonight - well that was the idea but when Phils jacket potato came out of the microwave it had shrunk to the size of a bullet and was about as hard. So he ordered take out whilst I had crunchy tuna salad with sweet potato fries, which was quite nice and appreciated as a quick fix to fill my hunger.

Posted by Abi at 9:42 PM | Comments (1)

July 28, 2006

Riding

Well I'm pretty pent up with a mixture of excitement and nervousness today since I've got my first riding lesson in 15 years at 2pm - I've no idea how I'll do and it feels like I'm waiting for an exam all morning until we have to get off to the riding stables.

To fill the time a bit in the AM I go to the gym. I know it's probably not the best idea in the world considering the inevitable pain I'm going to be putting myself through later, but it's a scheduled day for exercise so really I should go and get on with it. The exercise goes well, and luckily for me Mr X isn't there so I don't have to put my guard up. Also because I go earlier in the morning than usual it's cooler weather wise and I have a much more efficient session. The heart rate monitor and wrist receiver I have are very handy to monitor this, the only thing is that you have to make sure you're weight is kept up to date in its memory banks. So, since I've lost 3 stone now I need to adjust it (I usually do it every stone or so) and it usually changes my results quite a lot. What I'm noticing now is that I have to work a lot harder to burn off the same amount of calories that I was previously. I guess this is because I weigh less and my heart rate is much lower now during exercise than before. This is all good news I suppose but does mean I need to push my regime up a notch, which in itself isn't such good news! :) So the gym goes fine and I make my way home to get ready to go riding.

I also finally get to speak to the head girl of a local stables who I've been playing telephone tag with for the past week and we had a chat about the part time job they've got on offer. It sounds interesting and so we've arranged to meet up tomorrow morning to have a more face to face talk. I hope it goes well, but we'll just have to wait and see.

When we get to the stables the instructor has been caught in traffic on the m25 so we have to wait around for an hour and while we do that I show Phil around the stables - I don't think he's been around horses before so it's all a bit novel for him, and finally the instructor turns up and quickly after that I'm standing on a mounting block ready to get on Bolero, who is my stead for the next 45 mins.

I have to say it felt very unnatural for the first 10 minutes though slowly the old feelings came back. My session was on the lunge rope this time since I haven't ridden for so long (a lunge rope is like a big lead that the horse is attached to while the instructor hangs onto the other end so he has an amount of control over the horse as well as the rider) and we started off with the basics of riding position, balance etc all at walking pace. Once I felt more comfy we then went onto trotting which was a bit more difficult - trying to remember to rise from the knee, squeezing with my legs, getting the rhythm right and all of that, and it was hard work too, so it was almost a relief to get onto the cantering which I immediately got the hang off as if I'd never stopped doing it. Luckily my horse had a very comfortable deep seated canter so it was easy to relax into. In fact the instructor was quite impressed with me saying that it was a better canter than one of his other students who he'd been teaching for years!

After 45 minutes of doing the above I'm knackered and so is the horse so its a little bit of a relief to dismount (I'd forgotten how far down it is from the back of a 16.3 hh horse!) and when my feet hit the concrete my legs turn to jelly! I could hardly walk! I was so crippled in fact Phil had to drive home because I was in no condition to do so :)

Despite that though I had a great time and it was fantastic to be back in the saddle, I can't wait to go again!

When we get home, I get changed and try to recover a little bit and then we head on out again to the bed store to buy a new mattress. We've decided on getting one of those memory foam beds as we've tried them out before and both agree they are quite nice. They are not cheap though and after a bit of haggling, well to be honest we don't get anywhere because it turns out if we get a discount we don't get the option to return the mattress within a month if we're unhappy with it - and for the amount of money they were offering off the bed it wasn't worth it. Never mind, it's ordered now and we're expecting delivery of it next week. It will be nice to be able to turn over in bed without the springs groaning :)

Anyway, as you can imagine after such a busy day the evening is left to do absolutely nothing other than eat dinner. Phil is so tired he goes to bed at 7.30 pm and I just mooch around until it's time to take Rupert out for his walk and then to put him to bed for the night.

Posted by Abi at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2006

Gingerbread Men

After the events of yesterday it's rather nice to get back to my hum-drum life of sweet sanity and normality!

Luckily for me today it's a rest day from the gym and so I make the best of my time by going into town to get a few supplies. I need to get a puppy gate since I don't think its a good idea for Rupert to go upstairs unattended, which he's done a few times, the last of which resulted in him pooping up there - I've a feeling the reason for that is that he got up there but couldn't get down again and so did his business where he saw fit. I manage to get the puppy gate and then head on over to the supermarket to get some bits to make some gingerbread men. Phil had said a couple of days ago he fancied them (not in a gay sort of way but in a sweet tooth sort of way) so I thought I'd bake him a treat this afternoon.

When I get home I unpack all the shopping and then start putting up the puppy gate which in actually fact has turned out to be more of a puppy portcullis, it's huge! I get some lunch then set about making the ginger bread men. I've never made them before but the recipe was easy to follow and after an hour or so I've got 2 dozen little fella's cooling on a wire rack waiting to be decorated up. Once they've cooled of I set about icing them in the usual gingerbread man style except for one where I put a special effort in and decorate it to look like Phil, complete with blonde hair and work uniform :) hehehe - it's quite a good likeness to be honest! :)

I've also spent part of the day playing telephone tag with a lady from a local stables who is looking for some part time help which I thought would be a good way to get me out of the house again - I guess I'll just have to wait for her to return my call again.

Not much else going on really except the weather is still hot and humid leaving Rupert and myself somewhat lazy and tired. We go out for a walk again tonight and there are no major dilemmas to get over except for the fact he scoffed a bit of stale bread on the path quicker than I could get to it and extract it from his gob. He swallowed it whole the little git! Serve him right if he has the shits in the morning :)

Posted by Abi at 9:03 PM | Comments (1)

July 25, 2006

Fatal Attraction

You know, my life is pretty ordinary on a daily basis, but today has been a one off - a series of extraordinary events so to speak that have left me dumbfounded and feeling a little icky to say the least.

The first that happens is down the gym. Over the past couple of weeks I've noticed a new face down there and without putting too finer point on it the bloke has obvious mental problems (I'll call him Mr X). I don't have a problem with that, but I'm there to do my exercise and so in the same way I treat everyone else down the gym I don't speak to them unless I'm spoken to, and so I've never had any verbal contact with him whatsoever. I have however noticed on the odd occasion that feeling that someone is staring at you - you know what I mean, you can't see them but you know they're doing it.

So I'd just finished my exercise and I'm quite happily minding my own business sat in the corner of the stretching area and I've just gotten myself to a very complicated stretch after 5 minutes of trying, when in my peripheral vision I spy that I'm being approached - a head on collision on a mission and I've an awful sinking feeling its Mr X judging from the manky trainers, skinny legs and blue shorts. I mean come on, I can be as social as the next person but I'm tired having just run my arse ragged for 2 hours, I'm sat in a corner with no obvious escape and my legs are in a position that only bendy barbie could manage after a good oiling - I'm not really in the mood to make chit chat with anyone!

If you can imagine then I'm stuck in some sort of contortionists hell, or more to the point like a rabbit in the head lights. As much as I try avoiding any eye contact what so ever its to no avail and within seconds I sense Mr X looming over me. And as if that wasn't bad enough, not only is he hovering over my like some demon from hell he's also sweating on me too... drip, drip, drip - yes, that's right, his sweat hitting my skin, in particular his sweat landing on my cleavage. After he's finished perspiring on me he then crouches down and makes him self quite comfy on the floor, introduces himself and goes to shake my hand. Ok, I'm a nice person I'll shake his hand, but from what is a quite ordinary greeting the traditional handshake quickly progresses to him slobbering all over my mitt in the over gratuitous fashion of kissing it! WTF!... I can tell you at this point my initial thoughts of "Well, I guess I must still have it even if I am getting chatted up by nutter" quickly turned into "Holy shit, I don't need another creep harassing me, I've already had 2 stalkers in my brief existence, I don't want to add a 3rd to the list!"

Ok so now my guard is up, much like a rottweiler changes his tune if someone took his bone away and I decide that the pleasantries are over and I need to hatch a plan to get away before things turn ugly. With that in mind then I begin to extract myself from my rather contorted position and say things like "well I really should be going now" (you can add a hysterical laugh in here if you like). But, as if it would be that easy. Oh no, no sooner am I on my feet he grabs my hand again and chows down on it again! I mean come on! I'm not a free for all you know! And like it couldn't get any worse he then lunges at my face and plants one on my cheek and tries to wrap his arm around my shoulders. NO FECKING WAY IS THIS GOING ANY FURTHER!! And although my prime instinct is to either come out with a suitably nasty and non politically correct retort or give him a nasty right hook followed by a quick kick in the nuts I decide on the somewhat less damaging rebuttal of "Oh, I don't think my boyfriend would like that" quickly followed by me extracting myself from his vice like grip and scampering off to the sanctity of the ladies changing room, where I hide out until he's safely removed himself from my immediate vicinity.

When I think the coast is clear I decide to make a run for it and in my haste I run into an 80 year old bloke, and I mean literally - so not only have I just been courted by mad man I'm now going to be responsible for killing off an old timer by mowing him down like a steam roller on my mission to escape the clutches of an overly friendly nut case. Of course I apologise to which I get the rather saucy reply "Oh, don't worry about it my dear, you're rather nice to bump into". Actually scratch that because I don't get the reply at all, in fact my tits get the reply because for every moment hes talking to me he's in fact have a one way conversation with my breasts! I mean what is this?! Is the whole bloody gym full of letches or what?! It was a relief to get out of there! And I'm seriously hoping that both my suitors are not at the gym next time I go.

With all that cuffufle it was quite pleasant to drop off at the shop and pick up the few things we need for tea - Phil has a fancy for some lager tonight so I get that and some chicken breasts to make the curry, I dunno, about 10 quids worth of stuff altogether so you can imagine my surprise when the bill comes to 20 quid. Darn, I know I haven't bought booze in a while but is it really that expensive? So I check the bill and they've only charged me for the lager 4 times over! Doh! So I point it out to the cashier who is very apologetic and not only gives me a refund for the difference but also gives me the lager for free too! Yah! Result!

All in all then a day I wouldn't wish to repeat any time in the future (apart from the free booze bit). And after scrubbing myself clean in the shower of my sweat, Mr X's sweat and saliver on old geezers perverted stare I almost feel human again.

Posted by Abi at 9:16 PM | Comments (1)

July 24, 2006

Close Encounters

It's an ordinary sort of day today and things are more to the norm than at the weekend. So I get on with the usual stuff and then nip down to the gym after my 2 day absence.

The gym goes well and the rest of the day zips by with me doing the usual job search and the like and soon enough it's time for me to start dinner, which is no mean feat when it's so humid outside. I have steak and Phil has sausage and mash and by the time I've finished mine I'm sweating a cob.

I then take Rupert out for his walk - its just me and he for tonight since Phil decided on an early night after his weekend of working and the trip around the block was slightly more eventful than normal. First of all we come across a bit old mongrel dog called Meg who was very friendly and gave Rupert a good old sniff all over which he didn't mind too much. Next, was a springer spaniel who was also friendly but much more lively than Meg which I think freaked Rupert out a bit and resulted in him sitting on my feet with his tail between his legs. No sooner have we moved off once again then we meet 2 girls scoffing pies who take a shine to Rupert and give him plenty of fuss and attention which he rather enjoyed shown by lots of tail wagging.

By the time we get home all the excitement has pooped Rupert out and it's a job to get him to go to bed because he just wants to lay down exactly where he is - bless his cottons. I'm pleased though that he got to encounters lots of new things tonight, especially the other dogs because it means he'll be less bothered when his dog training starts.

Posted by Abi at 9:34 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2006

Jodhpurs

Well, even though it's a Sunday it doesn't really feel like it since Phil has gone into work leaving me on my own with Rupert so I need to find something to fill the time in.

Eventually I decided on taking a trip out to a large saddlery store about 30 miles from home and pick up some jodhpurs for my riding lesson on Friday. I'd already rung the store yesterday to see if they had what I wanted in stock, which they did and so since I've got little else to do I get myself over there to see if the jods they'd reserved for me would come anywhere close to fitting.

When I get there I have a browse around the store and then ask the assistant to get me the jods. I was worried they wouldn't even get close to my wodge, but hurrah! They did! I'm so chuffed that I fitted into some store bought ones you just don't know, because it was that or having to get a pair hand made for me :( Anyway, I made my purchase - they are lovely full seat jods - so basically have a suede bum bit which extends down the inside leg for better grip and the like and the rest are nice stretchy elastic stuff. They cost a bit, but never mind, now all I've got to get is some decent footware.

And on that note on the way home I stop off at a local store to revisit some riding shoes they had which I saw the other day, but on trying them I didn't like them so gave them a miss. I had seen a nice pair in the other shop I'd just come from, but at 70 quid I thought they were a bit expensive. So I guess I'll have to have a look around the Internet to see if I can find something else instead.

And that really is all the excitement of the day - neither Phil or I fancy anything heavy for tea so I have an omelette and Phil has a mini pizza thing and once we've taken Rupert out for his nightly walk we're all ready for bed. I think we'll all sleep well tonight.

Posted by Abi at 10:30 PM | Comments (1)

July 22, 2006

Acquiring

A rest day from the gym, but I've plenty of other stuff to keep me occupied.

For starters, I've got to get to the stables I rang yesterday for 10 am to meet up with the instructor, who turns out to be the trainer for our national team of dressage riders and a consequence of which is he charges quite a bit for a 45 minute session. However, he doesn't think I'm too heavy for the horse and toboot he's a nice chap which I got on with quite well, so I've arranged a riding lesson for next Friday at 2pm :) It's a bit of a treat because I'm hoping by that time I will have finally reached a big goal in my weight loss, that being losing 3 stone in total and so to reward myself I've decided that 45 minutes of arse ache is the perfect prize for actually getting to a weight where I can ride again :)

After the stables I then head on into Oxford to go pick up Phils train that I'd reserved yesterday. Not only is it blisteringly hot but there are thousands of people in Oxford too, which made it doubly hard work trying to lug the huge hefty thing through the town and back to the car. It was a good job the shop dude had kindly wrapped up the train and put a make shift handle on the box so I could carry it with slightly less difficulty. What was also nice was the 10% discount I got which made it financially sound for me to treat Phil to something a bit extra in the form of a rolling road (which is basically a bit of track and runners you can put the train on and get it running without it actually going anywhere). I thought it might be a good idea because from what Phil has told me about these live steam trains they are quite difficult to control and get running, so perhaps the rolling road will be a good place to get the feel of the thing and how it works before he lets it loose on the track layout.

It was helluva job getting the purchases back to the car and by the time I'd got to the multi storey and gone up several flights of stairs I was dripping with more sweat than had I have gone to the gym. Thus, the car's air conditioning was a most welcome relief to say the least.

On the way home I also nip into the Argos Extra store as I want to get an electric waffle cooker thing since I'd seen a recipe I'd like to try which required such a contraption. Well lets face it, any thing that involves waffles on a diet it's worth spending the 30 quid to get the right equipment to do the job right!

When I get home I unload the car and let Rupert out and as he's wandering around the garden the clouds start to roll in at a rapid pace of knots, and with them comes the most horrendous wind and torrential rain. I mean I've seen some bad weather in my time, but nothing compares to this. Thunder and lightning right over the house, the electricity cutting off, no satellite signal, enough rain that the whole of the garden is submerged in a good inch of water within seconds and a wind who's aftermath left the garden looking like a hurricane had just whipped through it. The honeysuckle was torn off the fence, the parasol was ripped out of its stand, the solar lights were ripped out of the lawn, even Stanley the gnome got blown over - seriously bad stuff, it's a miracle the damage wasn't worse. And all Rupert and I could do while this carried on for 30 minutes was sit and watch it all unfold from the lounge, though Rupert was pretty insistent that he wanted to go outside so I just had to entertain him until it all blew over - I'm sure the temptation of things flying around the garden was proving too much for his eager little paws.

So what with the stables, shopping and storms it's been a pretty exhausting day - though no doubt not nearly as bad as Phils, since he was trying to do a major release of a bit of software whilst dealing with frequent power cuts.

Posted by Abi at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2006

Researching

Well, for what started out as an ordinary sort of day it quickly developed into me doing lots of research on line and on the telephone.

It all started last night really, when Phil decided that he might like to buy a hornby live steam train to go with his existing set up, and after doing some research on the net he'd found one at 350 quid rather than the usual 500 that was being charged for them. We'd seen the one we wanted on sale many months ago in the train shop in Oxford, but at the time we didn't think it was a purchase we need to make and so skipped the idea. And, of course we didn't think it would still be on sale now and so the Internet one might be a good deal.

However on looking at the delivery charges for the site (we'd want it insured and next day) they were asking for a whopping amount of money which made the sale price not so appealing. So I suggested to Phil that perhaps today I'd ring up the shop where we'd seen the other train for sale and see if it still was, after all, whats the harm in asking?

Today then train hunting was my first task. And luck was on our side since the shop did indeed have the train we wanted on sale, so I made arrangements to have them put it to one side and I told them I'd be in to pick it up tomorrow.

Then, I get talking to one of my friends on messenger and we get around to talking about how we both miss riding horses. As it happens I'd been given a URL by another friend for a website forum for larger riders and had found on there a number of riding schools that would perhaps be happy to allow those of us with a bit more weight to have a lesson or 3 on their larger horses. What with that and the conversation I was having I thought it might be worth ringing a few and see what they had to say.

As you can probably imagine, most of the schools on hearing my weight decided I wasn't suitable for their horses but there was one who was willing to do it, but for only 30 mins and they were 40 odd miles away. I made a note of their details but decided to try a few more schools in my local area, because you just never know, and it paid off. I found a school which were willing to let me ride and so I've arrange to go visit them tomorrow so I can meet them, and they can see me in person to make their own minds up. I'm quite excited as you can imagine, I just hope they don't get the weigh bridge out when the see me coming :)

After all the ringing around and such like I'm late going to the gym, but go still and do the usual things. And then when I get home I decide on doing a bit of baking and make some pear bran muffins (from the ingredients I got yesterday) and also make Phil a slab of brownie to cheer him up since he's got to work at the weekend.

Let me tell ya, it ain't easy making chocolate brownie when it's 30 degrees outside and you don't have any grease proof paper.

Posted by Abi at 9:37 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2006

Walkies

This infernal heat is still with us causing much discomfort and general unhappiness in our house, though I dare say other people are loving it. It's not as hot as it was yesterday, but it's still an uncomfortable 29 degrees outside with the humidity rising - I know we're in for several uncomfortable nights ahead and I'm oh so glad we've got air conditioning in the bedroom, but even that seems to struggle for a while before it kicks it's arse into action.

Despite the weather and using it as an excuse not to go to the gym I buckled up my shoes and donned my tracksuit and got myself down there... and I'm not going to say "hey, it went great, I could have kept going for ever" because it simply wasn't the case. Every step I took, or weight I lifted or sit up I did took every ounce of my will power. The little voice in my head was in overdrive telling me to quit every moment, so much so I turned the volume up on my headphones to drown the whining blighter out good and proper. So hard work it was, but I managed to do it and saved my own sanity by not giving up on myself.

After I've finished at the gym I then head over to the supermarket as I fancy doing some baking at some point this week. I've seen a nice recipe for some muffins I'd like to try out but as ever I don't have the ingredients required. Of course it's never as easy as just going to get what you need and it all being there. I can't find any wheat bran on the shelves and so opt for wheat germ instead. I've no idea if they are the same sort of thing, but it will have to do since there is a distinct absence of a health food store in our town which probably would stock such an item.

By the time I've shopped and returned home the rest of the afternoon is donated to the "do nothing" charity I've been supporting for some time now, and in the evening both Phil and I take Rupert out for his second walk - a bit further this time and in unfamiliar territory. Funny, he's happy as larry on the route I took him yesterday but as soon as we passed the invisible boundary of the unknown he wasn't so sure of his footing.

Posted by Abi at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2006

Hottest Day

It's all about preparation today since the weather forecasters have predicted that today could be the hottest July day ever in England. In light of this fact I've decided not to go to the gym and instead spend the day at home (well I'm on a rest day anyway) with Rupert to make sure he's ok in the blistering heat.

So much of the day is making sure we both stay cool, but that's a job in itself since the temperatures just kept on rising - at 5 pm it was 35.5 degrees in the shade in our garden and it was unbearable as you can imagine. All Rupert does is remain very still on the kitchen floor and all I do is remain very still on the sofa trying not to exert any kind of energy that might result in me producing more sweat than what is already beading all over me.

I do manage to give Rupert a bit more of a trim around his head and ears, but other than that it's a case of doing very little indeed.

By the evening thunder is rumbling in the sky and the clouds are gathering threatening to produce a down pour or two, but we miss the storm somehow - it does however clear the air a bit and cools the temperature down nicely and as a result Rupert is now super hyper as it's cools enough for him to start playing in the garden. However, even after trying to exhaust him ready for bed for at least an hour he's still going for it and I decide we should perhaps use his energy in a constructive training sort of way, and take him out for his first walk around our estate.

I have to say it went pretty well and he was very good on his harness. It's also good because having him walking on tarmac and concrete will keep his nails in trim. He had a good sniff around and despite a few scaredy cat moments we made it back in one piece and he was quite tired too, so mission accomplished! Now he's done it once I'll start to make his evening walk routine as it seems to be a good way to burn up that excess puppy energy :)

Posted by Abi at 9:41 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2006

Roasting

Looks like we're in the grip of yet another heat wave today, with temperatures in our garden reaching 33.4 degrees in the shade - it's too hot to do anything of use or interest!

I do go to the gym in the morning, but it's incredibly hard work today for some reason, it took every ounce of my will power to not give up a 1/4 of the way through my routine but I got there in the end. Needless to say the gym was very quiet today, and according to one of the bods who works there even those people who had been in had found it hard work as well, so I'm not alone on that front.

When I get home I sort Rupert out with his lunch and sort myself out too and then flake out on the sofa with the little fella not far behind - and an hour and half later I wake up in a pool of sweat. It's times like these where I wish I was in Greece, at least at the villa there is a pool to jump into when things got too warm! But even though I can't dive into some crystal clear waters (with the exception of the bath perhaps!) Rupert gets to play in some water when I load the watering can up and sprinkle it over him. He loves it, and it also cools him down as well as gives him plenty of fun.

Its burgers for tea tonight, but unfortunately for Phil his usual chips are off the menu because I just can't face putting the oven on - it's already too hot in the house let alone adding the stifling heat by zapping the oven on to gas mark 7 especially since the grill has to go on anyway.

Posted by Abi at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2006

Baby Steps

Well well, there are 2 very proud parents in our household today due to the fact that our little baby (AKA Punk Rupert) has taken a major step forward in his quest to explore the whole house!

Yes, whilst Phil was upstairs putting his train set back together after months of derailment, Rupert decided he needed to see what was going on and with a little encouragement (and a safety back up team, ie Me) he managed to climb the stairs to the landing! Oh bless his cottons it was extremely hard work for the little fella but he made it all the way to the top but was pooped by the time he launched himself on to the last step. Of course going up is very different from going down and that's not something I'm willing to let him try out - Pekes are top heavy (so to speak) and so don't do well if confronted with going downwards in a head first fashion as they are off balance and so I just know it would be asking for a disaster to let him go downstairs on his own). I'm very proud of him but also realise we have now opened the gates of hell in terms of keeping an eye on the little bugger - I've a feeling a puppy gate might well be purchased in the near future!

So apart from that excitement the day isn't full of many other surprises. Phil is home on holiday and spends the majority of that trying to set up another laptop since our other one has blown up and pottering with his trains, whilst I go to the gym and do my usual daily stuff. We do go out to pick up yet another fan that Phil can take into work since his office is like a small furnace in the afternoons and also go to tesco to pick up tonight's tea which is oven fried chicken with almonds. I've never made it before and is a recipe gleaned from my new cook books that I got on Saturday, gotta say however is nicely curbed my craving for KFC and tasted delicious, but perhaps I don't need to cook quite so much next time :)

Managed another 30 mins on the treadmill today as well btw, not as hard work as I'd expected so quite happy with that, and will be looking to increase some of the weights I'm using by the end of the week as though it pains me to confess this, a few of them are getting a bit too easy :)

Posted by Abi at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2006

Shaved

According to the weather forecast for next week we are in for another heatwave. Now, this has 2 concerns for me - a) I don't like it above 30 C in the UK and b) Poor old Rupert will probably suffer with the heat. So disregarding concern (a) because that's just me being a picky cow, we really need to do something to address point (b) because Rupert shouldn't have to suffer.

As you're probably aware I bought some clippers a while back and we've been trying to get Rupert used to them by leaving them on the floor, playing around them with his toys and switching them on and off now and again and rubbing them over him on occasion, all of which has been going well but we've not tried to actually clip him as we don't want him to have an eppy fit and never go near them again. But it seems mother nature has put us in a bit of a corner with the heatwave pending so we decide to give them a go anyway - well it's either that or have a heat stroked dog on our hands.

So first up I give Rupert a good brush all over to try and get rid of most of the loose fur, and then sin of sin he has to have his first bath to get rid of all the dirt in his coat. I have to say the bath didn't go too badly and my vintage rubber duck served some purpose by distracting Rupert whilst I shampooed him and rinsed him off. I got considerably wet however in the process, but all in all it wasn't too long before we had one very drowned looking rat wandering around the tub feeling a little sorry for himself.

After the bath we then have great fun with the towel who is Rupert's newest arch enemy and then leave him to dry out naturally as the hair dryer was a big no no. And, once Rupert has dried out enough we then decide to plonk him on the garden table, Phil at one end with a chewy stick and me wielding the clippers and set about trimming of some of Rupert's coat. I start with a number 3 but it quickly appears that isn't going to be short enough so we go for a number 2 all over and I have to say Rupert now looks very smart! Even Phil had a go a clipping him and did a fine job too!

So instead of a fluff ball wandering around the house we've got a punk instead who now looks even cuter (in an evil sort of way!)

We also go to the cinema today to watch Pirates Of the Caribbean : Dead Mans Chest, and as much as I dearly love Johnny Depp I have to confess to have hated the film. It was too long, too dull and lacked any of the zest of the first film - and to make matters worse it's quite obvious from the ending that there is a third film on the way.

Oh Hollywood, when will you learn that if it ain't broke don't fix it.

P.S Happy birthday to my sister, who is 32 today!

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (1)

July 15, 2006

Packed

Hurrah it's the weekend, not that these days it seems to be much different from a week day except for Phil being around and the presence of hundreds of other people on the road :)

I have to say it's a bit chilly this morning when I get up to sort Rupert out - overcast outside and almost cold enough to be putting a jumper on, but it's not long before the sun has burnt through the cloud and everything is hotting up rather quickly, which is a good indicator to me to get my butt down the gym before the aircon in there can't cope with the heat either.

So off I toddle and despite the heat I manage to have a bit of a break through on the treadmill, and by that I don't mean I broke the conveyor belt thingy either :) Nope, today I managed to run for 30 mins solid and I didn't even realise I'd done it (I cover the timer on the treadmill over with my towel) even though usually I can tell when I've hit 20 mins or so because my heart rate starts to climb - but for some reason today I was strong as an ox and just kept on going all the way to 30 mins and I expect I could have done a lot more if I'd wanted to but I was limited on time. So this milestone along with everything else I did down the gym resulted in me burning up 1171 calories, 55% of which was fat according to my heart rate dooby thing! Yay for me, and yay! for the treadmill not dying under the pressure of having me pounding away on it for longer than usual!

When I get home I only just have enough time to grab a shower and a bite to eat then Phil and I are back out the door and heading into Oxford for Phil to get his hair cut - he's due a shave since he's looking a little long locked at the moment and so while he is doing that I thought I'd have a gander around the shops....

.... Hmmm the shopping didn't last as long as I thought it would because Oxford was horribly busy (in fact packed to an even higher density ratio than a tin of sardines) and horribly hot toboot so by the time I'd picked up The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook and The South Beach Diet Cookbook I was buggered and decided to seek out refuge in a pub and have a mineral water and read my books while Phil was in the hairdressers.

Once Phil is finished we pick up a few other purchases (male grooming aids... I'll say no more than that!) we go home and get back just in the nick of time to get Rupert out and give him some attention (we left him for about 3.45 hours) and then I ponder for a considerable time about what to have for dinner. Unfortunately when I've made my mind up it involves me going shopping to get the necessary bits. Oh well, it was tasty enough :)

Posted by Abi at 9:08 PM | Comments (1)

July 14, 2006

Drop in

I've got to leave Rupert for 3.5 hours today and as much as I'd love to spend all that time in the gym I just can't face it. That's not to say that I don't go, in fact I do and do my usual stuff as well as a bit extra and still manage to do over 1000 calories which is more than adequate for my liking. To kill the extra hour I've got remaining though I decide to nip into town and have a gander. There are a couple of things that I need, such as some bigger nail clippers to do Ruperts nails and also I'm still on a mission to find some knicker spinners which I manage to find in Woolworths for 99p each - much cheaper than the ones I'd found on ebay and without the hassle of putting more stuff on my credit card which I'm trying not to spend on what ever the cost.

I don't get home until about 2.30 and no sooner have I had my lunch and done a bit of tidying and sorted the washing out I get a phone call from Phil's brother who's currently enroute to his parents and wouldn't mind stopping by until the traffic dies down a bit.

He arrives at around 5 and I then spend a few hours entertaining him as well as making sure Rupert is happy enough around a new face, which he is and copes very well with someone else in the house. When Phil gets home he and his brother go get some fish and chips whilst I do my own dinner. Tonight I had chicken breast wrapped in parma ham served with some stuffed field mushrooms with grilled halloumi cheese. I've never had that sort of cheese before but I have to say it was very nice and went well with the whole ensemble.

After we've eaten and our visitor has left we then spend a lot of time in the garden with Rupert trying to knacker him out as he's super hyper tonight. I think I've narrowed the activity to one particular treat he's had twice now and on both occasions it's been like he's had some speed so I think perhaps we'll steer clear of those from now on! He's also getting used to the neighbours as well and now goes to them when he gets called which is cool, so all in all I reckon his confidence is growing on a daily basis.

Posted by Abi at 9:32 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2006

At home

It's a rest day from the gym today and so it leaves little for me to do in the meantime. I do catch up on the washing (2 loads of it!) and do other odds and sods around the house in the morning but when it comes to leaving rupert I opt for just going upstairs and having a kip. I didn't think I'd actually get to sleep as I didn't feel that tired, but sure as eggs is eggs I'm out like a light for 3 hours and by the time I get up and go downstairs I've managed to leave rupert from the requisite amount of time (3.15 hours).

He's been well behaved and I didn't hear a squeak out of him all the time I was upstairs. I think it maybe something to do with the fact that I left him with his puppy kong and also even though he was in his crate he knew that I was upstairs and so wasn't stressing too much about the whole ordeal.

The rest of the day is pretty hum drum except for one particular news item that popped up informing the world that a harrier jet crash landed about 8 miles from the house, missing a pub by about 500 yards and then falling out of the sky on a road just missing a motorist shortly after the pilot ejected 3 seconds before the crash. I didn't hear anything or see any of the smoke, but still a near miss by all. It's bound to cause some problems with the traffic as they've got to close the road until they've done a full investigation and of course cleared the wreckage from the carriageway.

Posted by Abi at 9:31 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2006

Mmmm blueberries

Ooooo, save my bakery goods soul I've been resurrected from the pit of all things forbidden and treated my taste buds to sublime deliciousness in the form of fluffy sweet pancakes jammed full of juicy blueberries!

It was worth getting all the ingredients yesterday because the pancakes made for some scrummy eating - a bit like American pancakes but made with south beach friendly ingredients and with the goodness of plump berries all together made some fantastic breakfast fayre. A lovely change from the usual and a recipe I'll be keeping to hand, even though it was a bit of a faff to make them (well compared to whipping up some scrambled or poached eggs anything else is more time consuming).

So after breakfast I do the do and get on with most things morning like and then head off to the gym once again. I've got to leave Rupert for 3 hours today and I spend the best part of that in they gym doing stuff and just generally filling in the time to the extent I manage to burn of 1222 calories. I'm chuffed with that really, but am a little concerned as to whether or not I should ease off a bit because I don't want my body to go into starvation mode because I'm pretty sure that there is a considerable difference between the amount of calories I'm burning up in the gym and how many I'm consuming at the moment. I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

In the evening I pop out to the dog training class and sign Rupert up for his session that starts in August and also put out some feelers for a good dog groomer - personal recommendation is always better than winging it I think, so he's all signed up for his class....

And speaking of classes I also signed myself up for an evening course starting in September, the one I mentioned a few days ago. It didn't take too long and I did it all over the phone which was handy so I've secured my place and hopefully the 10 weeks worth of tuition will help me come up with something creative. I'm quite excited, so what with Ruperts lessons and my lessons I should be going out and about quite a lot.

Posted by Abi at 9:42 PM | Comments (1)

July 11, 2006

Ingredients

You know despite doing these early mornings for the past fortnight or so, they don't seem to be getting any easier, I feel a bit like a zombie for the first 15 minutes or so from waking its quite amazing that I can coordinate myself sufficiently to get dressed, go downstairs and let rupert out and prepare Phil's lunch let alone feed myself and do the washing up from the night before.

None the less, that's what I do and soon enough it's time for me to head on out to the gym and get motoring. I'm up to leaving rupert for 2 3/4 hours today so that leaves me plenty of time down the gym and to make the most of my temporary eviction from the house and I spend a good part of the free time doing some extra exercise in the gym - might as well, I don't have anything else to fill the time. Anyway by the time I'm done I've burnt off 1106 calories which I reckon is pretty impressive :)

On the way home I swing into the supermarket to pick up some ingredients for a recipe I've seen that I'd like to try. South beach is a wicked diet, the only problem for me is being a big fan of all things in the bakery department and I have to say I've had some cravings for some kind of baked goods. So before I fell off the wagon completely I thought I'd look for a south beach friendly recipe for something in the right genre to satisfy my insatiable appetite for things I shouldn't ideally have. As it happens I'd only been looking for such a treat for about 10 minutes when an email pops into my inbox from the south beach website for Blueberry buckwheat pancakes which I think will solve my bakery dilema quite nicely - only problem is I don't have any of the ingredients I need to make them with the exception of baking powder :) Luckily the supermarket is very obliging in it's stocked goods and I manage to pick up everything I need, so I'm all set for a scrummy breakfast tomorrow which will make a nice change from my usual A.M noshings.

In the evening Phil and I try to trim Ruperts nails, but he's very squirmy and doesn't like it much. I manage to do 3 of his paws but we've still got to get to the remaining one and of course his jute claws as well, but before I can do that I need a bigger version of the nail clippers we've got to make the job a bit easier. Luckily for me all of his nails are white/clear which makes it easier to see the quick and prevent a blood bath, but the clippers we have, well the opening is a bit narrow to get the nail into, so a bigger pair will probably be much more agile when competing with a fighting pup.

Posted by Abi at 9:38 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2006

Sleep

It's pretty much the usual routine today with Rupert, but instead of leaving the house for his separation hour I decide instead to go upstairs and catch up on some sleep. I've got a rest day at the gym today and lately I've just been so exhausted I reckon I need to get a cat nap to see if I can regain some energy, so that's exactly what I do, though only with some grappling with my conscience because for some unknown reason I think sleeping in the day is lazy.

So, 2 hours and 30 minutes later I get up and feel much refreshed. Rupert had a few yelping sessions while I was upstairs but nothing serious, just a couple of yaps now and then but he soon settled down (I assume he did because I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow).

I get some lunch and then spend plenty of time with Rupert playing and then leave him to his own devices whilst I make some more of that pistachio bark except I get the quantities wrong and end up with more nut than chocolate! Oops :) Anyway, it tastes just as good as the last batch and comes out well from the molds after I've chilled it down.

We also got an evening class brochure through the post today and there are a few I reckon look interesting - namely a jewellery and silversmithing course and there is also a stained glass course as well. I think I might sign up for one of them, the only problem is they are held in the centre of oxford which might be a bit of a PITA to get to, none the less they still look interesting enough for me to apply to.

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

July 9, 2006

Pee Post

Up at the usual time today and once I've done the usual morning tasks of sorting Rupert out, doing the washing up and sorting my breakfast out it's not long before I'm out of the door again and making my way to the pet shop to pick up some necessities.

I need to get some puppy shampoo for a start since Rupert is a little ripe. I think it's probably to do with all the talc the breeder has stuck all over him. I also need to get some enzyme cleaner for the carpet to make sure that all the smell from Rupert's accidents is removed good and proper from the carpet to discourage him from re-peeing on it again. I also pick up a pee post, which is something you stick in the garden and is soaked in doggy pheromones, the idea is that encourages the dog to pee next to the post rather than anywhere else. I'm not sure it will work but it's worth giving it a go.

With my purchases made I then head off to the gym where for some reason I have a really good session, burning off 926 calories, 50% of which was fat. I've still not figured out how I did it, but its a good result!

The afternoon doesn't yield much excitement to say the least, there is nothing on the TV except sport (if it's not football, it's tennis and if it's not tennis is some religious stuff here at the moment) and so we spend the rest of the day mooching around until it's time for bed.

Posted by Abi at 9:53 PM | Comments (1)

July 8, 2006

Restock

I'm up early as usual today and while has a sleep in I sort Rupert out. Once he's done his business and had his breakfast we have a bit of a play after which I've decided it might be a good idea to not let him have his toys with squeakers in them because he gets very excited when he's got them in his paws, and I don't think its a behaviour I want to encourage.

Once Phil is up I head off to the gym and it takes me 40 minutes to drive the 1.5 miles to get there. My delay is 2 fold really, first of all a double decker bus decides to block the road by offloading its entire contents of Japanese tourists who filed out one by one and took at least 10 minutes to do so. After I get past that I then am confronted by a road block sign shutting off the road I need to go down. In fact all the roads I need to go down to get to the gym are either road blocked or jammed with other cars stuck in the same situation as myself. Eventually however I make it to my destination (after a considerable detour) and make it to the gym and have a very good session. I manage to do 23 minutes on the treadmill and my heart rate was in good order throughout, in fact I dare say that I could have done even more if I'd have wanted to but since I'd already been out of the house for long enough I decided to get on with the rest of my routine and head on home.

On my way out of the gym I learn the reason why most of the roads around town have been blocked off and it's because of some army parade in the town centre, very handy on a saturday and I don't even remember seeing any advance notices of the roads being closed either. So a nicely planned traffic stopper designed to cause chaos which worked very well.

When I get home I do Phil and I some lunch and after we've eaten and I've grabbed a shower we head off into Oxford to fill Ruperts Separation period. We decide to go to the big fish shop and get some new stock for Phils tank since it's looking a bit sparse and after a quick look at all the options we get some cardinal tetras, rainbow guppies, yellow snakeskin guppies and some zebra danio's. We did try to get some live bait but unfortunately the only bags remaining were mainly full of dead bait.

Back at the house Phil gets on with unbagging the new fish and changing the filters in his tank and I head off to tesco to get some bits and pieces for tea and for Phils packed lunches next week. But by now I'm exhausted so it takes me an age to get around the shop, get home, unpack and then start dinner. It's all very exhausting, and it's made even worse when Rupert decides to pee on the carpet twice within minutes of each other. I don't know why he did it, I just hope it isn't a habit forming. I'll have to keep a very close eye on him from now on.

Posted by Abi at 9:30 PM | Comments (0)

July 7, 2006

2 Hours To Fill

The weather is still pretty dull after the heavy storms of yesterday and it's still raining today, which whilst isn't what most people would want for their summer season it's a welcome relief for the garden, in particular the lawn which is a rather nice shade of brown at the moment.

I'm on a rest day from the gym today so to fill the couple of hours that I need to leave Rupert on his own I take a trip around town to see if I can pick up a knicker spinner (for those of you not in the know, it's a contraption you can hang on the washing line which is like a mini rotary washing line, on which you can hang lots of knickers and socks and the like). Unfortunately my search is futile as I can't find one anywhere, so I then go to the aquatic shop and get some more frozen food for my puffers and a few plants to put in the tank as the others have all died.

I manage to be out of the house for the required time and when I get back home Rupert has been well behaved. So while he is out doing his thing in the garden I get on with tidying up my fish tank with my purchased goodies.

The rest of the afternoon is spent just pottering around and I also make some Pistachio Bark which is a sweet treat they recommend on South Beach. It's basically some very good quality chocolate which you melt and into which you put some chopped up pistachio nuts and then leave it to set. I decided to pour my chocolate mix into some star shaped flexible ice cube molds since that way I can get some portion control into the equation and after I'd left the chocolate in the fridge for an hour or so the newly formed chocolates popped out of the mold very easily. Of course I had to try one to make sure the effort of preparing them was worth it, and I'm happy to report they more than pass expectations :) The only problem now is kicking my will power into action and control how much of it I eat in any one sitting, I'm hoping I'll be able to control myself however :)

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (2)

July 6, 2006

Cracking Wake Up Call

Well, up much earlier than normal today but not because of anything Rupert related (well not really) but we had some rather hefty thunderstorms and lightening this morning at around 5 am which woke me up and kept me awake.

So instead of being restless in bed I decide to get up because I need a shower and I am a little concerned for Rupert because of all the crashing and banging and rumbles of thunder, let alone the flashes of lightning and whip cracking strikes zipping around the sky. So far though I've not heard a peep out of him so I get washed and dressed and head downstairs.

I'd really shouldn't have worried about Rupert because he was sound asleep when I came downstairs totally oblivious to everything. He even went out for his morning business and was quite happy rooting around in the garden with big huge raindrops falling all over him and what sounded like a heavy metal concert playing all around him.

I nip out to the gym in the late morning, I'm not sure if it's going to be open though because our hometown is on the news because of the flash flooding and lots of buildings being under water but as luck has it (if you see it that way) the gym was open so I got on and had another crack at my new regime. I'm doing well on it and my heart rate is well down now when I'm doing my 20 minute run (this is something I can only get an accurate reading on when the weather isn't too hot because I seem to flake out with anything over 25 degrees).

Other good news today is that I can fit into a pair of old jeans that haven't see the light of day for about 2 years now and I've thrown another pair out because they are just too big (the ones I've been living in since forever) and I also had to wave good bye to a pair that I bought while I was in the states because like the others they kept falling down.

All in all a fairly good day, shame about the weather.

Posted by Abi at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)

July 5, 2006

Back To Some Normality

A bit of a milestone today in terms of getting back to some kind of normality on the home life front.

I went to the gym this morning which is when I was going pre-rupert and despite my best efforts I didn't make it back for 2 hours. I was wondering what sort of damage I'd come home to but Rupert has been very good indeed. By the time I get back however the thunder storms are rolling in and the rain has started which meant that I got very wet indeed taking Rupert in and out for wee's and the like.

The afternoon flies by and in the evening me and Rupert head out to go and see what one of the local dog training schools is like. It's not far from here, and since I left Rupert on his own already today I decided to take him along in his car carrier just to give him a bit of an airing.

The dog class looks like it will suit Rupert perfectly, though I'm not sure how well a peke will do :) He may well surprise me. He also got lots of fuss from the trainer and met some of the other participants (human and canine) and I also picked up a few tips I can start to teach him at home before he starts his formal training in August. It's 70 quid for 10 sessions or so and I think it will be money well invested. My only concern is the size of some of the other dogs that may well be there when Rupert starts his session. The group seemed very popular with breeds like labradors and other types that will tower over Rupert on some of the exercises. The trainer didn't think they'd be any problem though and I'm happy to take her word for it. What did surprise me was the number of people who had either never seen a Peke before or hadn't seen one for many years - especially a white one, that seems odd to me but then again we've had a peke of some description in our family for the past 10 years at least.

We don't get home till late, and Phil isn't far behind us as he's had to work quite late tonight as well. When we are all home though I get on with dinner and Rupert has more play time with Phil and we also try to get rupert more used to the clippers - he seems far more confident with them now (but only when they are switched off) so we've decided to leave them on the floor so he sees them all the time and they become nothing of importance to him. After he's got through that then we'll switch them on some and go from there.

Posted by Abi at 9:12 PM | Comments (0)

July 4, 2006

Extended Leave

After giving Rupert such an awful hair cut yesterday I made it my mission to go and get some hair clippers to tidy him up. So when our separation hour came around (around 10 am) I go out to see if I can find something suitable to do the job.

I've got an idea of what I want after doing some research on the web and what I want is some Wahl cordless clippers. The reason I want cordless ones is because I know if Rupert sees a cable dangling around him he'll just try to grab it and chew and I ideally don't want him distracted. I found a pair at Argos, but I can only get them from an Argos Extra store and the closest one to us in Oxford, so I thought I'd try a few other places first.

I don't know why I bothered because none of the 2 places in town which I thought might have some didn't so I have to head off to Oxford anyway. This is a bit tricky because before I leave town I'm already cutting it fine in terms of how long I've left Rupert already and I have to have a pit stop at the gym to use the loo too. Luckily though the traffic to Oxford was ok and I made it there and back in good time meaning I only left Rupert for 10 minutes longer than I wanted to.

He's doing quite well on the separation front I have to say which is good because I can get out and about more, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get back to going to the gym in the mornings which means Phil and I can spend the evenings together again.

When I get home I give Rupert plenty of fuss and then watch the DVD that came with the clipper set and have some lunch. I then try to introduce him to the clippers - not to cut him or anything but to just get him use to the noise etc. He's ok if they are just on the floor switched off and with me running them over him, with them switched off, but no way does he like them when they are switched on so I think I'm going to have to do some more association with them before I can even try to clip him. Having said that I gave him a thorough brush today and he didn't squirm at all, in fact I think he rather enjoyed it so at least that is one step in the right direction towards getting some sort of grooming regime into place.

This evening I spend lots of time with Rupert playing and I think he's kind of getting the idea about bringing his toys back so they can be thrown again for him. He's also much better at letting go of toys on command, unfortunately I have taught him to do so when I say "can I have that?" rather than "drop!" but hey ho, it works :) Another command he's picked up well is "down" - there are still plenty more to learn but I guess we'll get there slowly.

Not much going on this evening because again the weather is far to hot and humid, in fact poor old Phil stays on the sofa for much of the evening without moving in fear of dripping with sweat. He does come out in he garden for a while to do some sky gazing, but not long enough to let the hay fever kick in. Looks like they are predicting thunderstorms tomorrow so hopefully the weather will cool down and the air will not be so suffocating.

Oh and happy Independence Day to all those it may concern :)

Posted by Abi at 9:04 PM | Comments (1)

July 3, 2006

Moth Eaten

Oh dear, it's been so hot today again poor old Rupert doesn't know what to do with himself so I've had to do something rather drastic and cut his coat, which isn't easy with a squirming pup and perhaps not the most ideal pair of scissors in the world.

I had tried lots of alternatives before giving him a snip including going out during his separation hour and picking up a desk fan for him to sit in front of. Whilst I was out I made the most of the free time and also picked up some more rawhide chews (since he rather likes them) and a new toy since his favourite puppy toy is looking rather dog eared to say the least. I also go the bed superstore since they have a 50% sale on at the moment, but the bed we want for some reason is the same price it was a month ago when the sale wasn't on, even though the bed is apparently included in the sale. I would have asked someone about this but there was no one around - so even if I had decided to get the darn thing there wouldn't have been anyone to take the money! Oh well it's there loss.

When I go home Rupert has been good, but he's still hot so I assemble the fan I'd just got and put it on the floor so he can sit in front of it. It takes him a while to figure out what it does but after a while he's stuck in front of it like glue fully enjoying the whistling breeze through his nether region whilst he lays on his back with his belly to the world :)

So the fan works to some degree but he still doesn't want to go outside, which has led to a few carpet incidents over the past few days. So before it gets to the point where I have to measure up the lounge for new flooring (hehe, really 4 incidents in over a week isn't that bad is it) and so I take the ultimate option of giving Rupert a hair cut myself. I'd rung around some groomers but they are all fully booked for weeks in advance which is no use when I really need him doing now. I have to say I did an awful job but which each snip you could see the relief in the pups eyes and he was much livelier than he was precutting.

I also got hold of a dog trainer today who had been recommended to me by my personal trainer and while she doesn't have any vacancies at the moment she invited me along to go to her puppy group on Wednesday to see what the do. I also provisionally booked Rupert in for the August group in the meantime.

On a personal note I hope this weather breaks soon, it's getting depressing because its too hot to do anything.

Posted by Abi at 9:59 PM | Comments (1)

July 1, 2006

Torture

Yet again it is roasting here, so much so that the government has started to announce health warnings about the current heatwave and piling out advice, but of course that doesn't stop me from going to the gym at noon, which probably wasn't the best thing to do :)

I've got a session with my personal trainer and he has decided that I'm far too comfortable with my current regime, and I have to say I probably agree with him :) So today he's shook my gym time up so I'm now doing cross training - cardio then weights, cardio then weights etc and he's also ot me using different weight machines too and a gym ball, which is interesting to say the least. Anyway I can categorically say that after 50 minutes of a rather gruelling routine every muscle in my body is aching and I've probably sweated enough fluid to fill a bath. I'm knackered, and in all honesty I'm not looking forward to going the gym next week when I have to go through it all again - the only blessing is knowing that it will get easier the more that I do it.

I should perhaps mention that before I went to the gym Phil and I popped into town - primarily to do some more separation from Rupert, but also to go and get a firewire cable so Phil can hook up the new camcorder to the computer so we can edit the footage that we take. I find it a bit stupid that it didn't come with one, but I suppose that would decrease the profit margin! I reckon we managed to be out of the house for 45 minutes or so, which is the longest Rupert has been left on his own, but when we get back he's been clean and doesn't appear to have gotten into much trouble either.

It also look like whilst I was out killing myself Phil has been playing with the camera and edited some footage we shot of Rupert yesterday and added a very suitable sound track to it as well, which when we figure out how to compress it to some kind of reasonable size I'll post on here.

I was going to do some cleaning downstairs this afternoon in preparation for Phil's parents arriving tomorrow, but it's just to hot to even move let alone think about expending some serious energy so we just spend the rest of the day relaxing and trying to stay as cool as possible, but do break the boredom by nipping to the fish and chip shop and tesco to get some dinner before all the very disappointed England football fans evacuate the pubs fully loaded on booze and frustrations.

By the evening the temperature has dropped enough for Rupert to regain his energy levels and he's in a very naughty mood indeed, including ripping up plants and the like. I figure its just because he's been disable for most of the day and now has lots of energy to burn off, so Phil and I do our best to knacker the little blighter out before he goes to bed.

Posted by Abi at 9:12 PM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2006

10 out of 10

Well, what a difference a change in tactics can make! Not a peep out of Rupert at all last night - not even the usual complaints this morning either, in fact he was so quiet I was wondering if he might have done something to himself. So it seems our new nightly plan is working well so we will obviously stick to it.

With the above in mind I decide to crack on with the separation stuff today, I tried some yesterday but Rupert just complained a lot (well not as much as he has been doing, but still not happy) so today I thought I'd try again but do the same thing as we did last night when I leave him.

So at around 9.30 am I put him into his crate and sit for 5 mins watching the TV and then leave the house after I've turned his radio on. I leave the house and have a listen at the door and nothing so then I walk to tesco pick up a few essentials and half an hour later I return, have another listen at the door and still nothing :) So lots of progress on the separation front which is good news.

It's been hot here again today and Rupert has been quite sleepy because of it, but between naps we do some more harness training and I also start his grooming sessions as well (checking his ears, eyes, teeth, paws and the like). While I'm at it I also give his belly a wash down since it was looking rather dirty and he handled that well too, so it might be a good grounding to get him used to having a bath at some point.

While Rupert was sleeping I got on with some housework and attacked the kitchen. I gave all of it a good clean down including all the cupboard doors and shelves and a bit of rearranging where necessary. I also cleaned the oven too and cleaned all the glass doors in the house. I got the vacuum out again as well and Rupert was again a bit shy around it but was walking past it without putting his tail between his legs which is an improvement on yesterday.

Phil gets home relatively early tonight and as he's bought himself a new toy we thought we'd give it a go. It's a Canon MV960 camcorder which while undoubtedly a natty little device, i won't be going anywhere near the wrong side of the view finder!

Posted by Abi at 9:50 PM | Comments (1)

June 29, 2006

Day Of Rest

What with all the running around yesterday with Rupert I decide to give him a day at home proper today and see if I can get him accustomed to some more household noises and perhaps give him some more training sessions.

I leave it further 10 minutes this morning before I get up to go and see to him, he was very good last night with not a whisper from downstairs from the moment we left him till I got up this morning. I think he's doing so well with this because Phil came up with a better idea for how we leave Rupert at night time. Up until now we'd put him in his cage, turn the radio on and leave straight away, but last night we took a different tact and put him in his cage and sat downstairs with him whilst watching a bit of TV for 10 minutes or so, and then said good night. This worked really well because he didn't yelp at all whereas before he was for a while and then settled down. I think we will stick to the new regime since he goes to sleep much easier and it appears much less stressful for him.

It's pretty warm here today so Rupert isn't up to doing much in the daytime really - he's too hot. However I did introduce him to the vacuum cleaner for the first time. I wasn't quite sure how to approach this really since our hover is quite loud and a very strange shape and no doubt Rupert wouldn't like it much. I decided in the end to wheel the vacuum out and leave it in the lounge for a while so he could have a sniff around it. I then sat on the floor with Rupert near the vacuum and played with him and his toys to try and get him to interact with the hover as much as possible. After about an hour of doing this I then take the vacuum into the hallway, turn it on and shut the door so the noise wasn't overwhelming to start off with and gradually opened the door more and more until it was fully open. After that I slowly moved the vacuum around. I think Rupert reacted quite well though he was quite weary of it - he seemed much happier when I put him in his crate out of the way, but all in all it went quite well.

No gym for me tonight as it's a rest day so it's quite nice to be able to spend the evening with Phil and to actually eat together, catch up on some TV and just be in each others company for a bit longer that the average 30 mins or so we've had for the past couple of nights.

Posted by Abi at 9:35 PM | Comments (1)

June 28, 2006

Socialization

So far the nights just keep getting better and better with Rupert so we're definitely making improvements on that side of things - there is still the issue of sorting out leaving him on his own in the daytime, which is something I intend to start doing tomorrow properly, but it's all slowly slowly catchy monkey for the time being.

In the morning Rupert and I spend a good deal of time in the garden, primarily this is to do with lots of playing but I also want to do some more weeding out the back, so whilst Rupert is merrily occupying himself I get on with plucking all the weeds out of the soil. To be honest it's a miracle anything is growing in there since the soil is as hard as concrete at the moment. Rupert lends an hand (or paw) by chewing the weeds that I'm removing and removing bits of bark from the flower beds, which of cause I'm eternally grateful for ;)

The afternoon is set aside for socialising, so I take Rupert to the vet where we pick up a list of puppy training classes. Then we head off to the local pet superstore where they allow you to take your pets in - so we have a look at the fish and guinea pigs and also get a puppy Kong toy and some squirty stuff to put in it which I think will keep Rupert occupied for many an hour. I also get a harness as I might try him with that rather than a lead. Rupert gets plenty of attention in the store by the people working there, and also 2 ladies and a baby who came into the store on purpose as they'd seen me go in there with Rupert and they couldn't make out if he was a rabbit or a cat :) We then go over to my gym and he gets introduced to everyone and there were lots of volunteers prepared to look after him which he enjoyed. When we finally get home the next door neighbours have some young children over and so I pass Rupert over the fence so he can be introduced to them as well. He was a little more nervous of them but was generally ok.

So I'd say on the socialisation side of things we're getting there, along with travelling in the car.

In the evening I go to the gym again and Phil is left in charge with Rupert who apparently had a mad 30 minutes or so of acting like a lunatic after Phil introduced him to the watering can, and he'd also left me a nice present on the path when I got home, which is good news since it means he's not adverse to having a poo on any old surface, but hopefully not carpet :)

We did have one accident today, but that was my fault. I went upstairs for a pee and Rupert decided to follow suit on the doormat in the hallway. Nevermind, it can be easily cleaned up.

Oh, for anyone who's not managed to post a comment to my blog of late this is because I'm being spammed like a biatch at the moment and have had to set a limit on the number of comments submitted on a daily basis. If you've got sommat you'd like to say in the meantime please do drop us a line via email.

Posted by Abi at 9:38 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2006

Improvement

Well the little blighter didn't disturb us as much last night which is a small blessing since I think both Phil and I need the sleep to say the least :) Rupert was also clean all through the night which is becoming more of a rule than the exception which is also encouraging! I'm still up early though (but again a little later than yesterday) and by 7am I've had breakfast, done Phil's lunch for work and washed up last nights pots and pans.

Today is pretty much a re-run of yesterday though I ring the vets in the morning and book Rupert in for his registration consultation this afternoon, just to make sure everything is in order and there isn't any more vaccinations I need to have administered and the time quickly comes around especially since both me and Rupert fall asleep for a good chunk of the morning in from of the box :)

Between sleep and vet visit I also put Rupert on the lead again to see if I can get any further than before, and as it happens we do make a little progress, but not an awful lot - he seems to be far more interested in chewing the lead than being led around, cheeky monkey. I guess it will just take a bit of perseverance.

The vet check went just fine, Rupert is in tip top condition. I asked lots of questions, and got lots of answers such as when to get him neutered (4.5-5 months), is there an increased anaesthetic risk (not really, but they delay removing the breathing tube for as long as possible), will that stop his rather embarrassing infatuation with inanimate objects when he gets excited (yes), is he the right weight for his age (yes), when should I get him micro-chipped (when he's being neutered) and so on. All very useful stuff, and I picked up some wormer and flea treatment (not that he has either, but better to be safe than sorry) and it cost me 50 quid. Which reminds me I should really get some pet insurance sorted out :)

Back home and both of us do very little. I have my dinner before Phil gets home as I want to go to the gym this evening and when Phil rings me to let me know he's on his way home I get his tea ready for when he gets through the door. I leave him troughing and head off to the gym, which is a nice break from the house and also a good opportunity to pick up a few necessities from the super market.

I roll in at about 9 pm and we give Rupert a final run around, though he doesn't seem to be very interested by the typical indignant Peke look, and from what Phil tells me Rupert has done much the same to him all evening. Probably the start of puberty then :)

Posted by Abi at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2006

Attention Seeker

Well it is safe to say that Rupert has a very fine set of lungs on him because he cried all of last night continuously. Now, not alone is this very damaging for your own personal sleep, but it's also a bit of an assault on the old emotional heart strings. I was very tempted to go see to him but we've decided to stick to our strategy of roughing it out and letting him get used to the idea that at night he sleeps on his own. The sooner we can get him over separation anxiety the better, and more the point the sooner I won't be housebound :)

I get up a little later than yesterday to try and get him used to the idea of sleeping in a little and do the usual of not going downstairs until he's been quiet for a couple of minutes and despite the crying he'd been clean all the way through the night and promptly did his business as soon as he was let out the back garden.

What with an early start and all of that it gives me plenty of time to do lots of things with Rupert. I put his collar on today so he can get used to it and he took that very well with just a little bit of scratching. I then also put his lead on and let him get used to it by just dragging it around - tomorrow I hope to get him to walk a little with me with his lead on. We also spent a good deal of the day trying to make his crate a fun place to be since I think he'll help with him at night. So I've started to teach him to get into the crate on demand by saying "in to bed" which he has picked up really quickly. I've also made him a toy which is basically one of his squeaky toys which I removed the squeaky from and cut a smallish hole into the top where I can put tidbits into, the idea being that when Rupert goes into the crate so does the toy and it will distract him for long enough that he settles in the crate more easily.

Other things we did today was practice walking down the ramp we've set up for him out the back door and generally encouraging him to do his business outside and plenty of other play as well.

Phil doesn't get home til late tonight so when he does get home we have more play time with Rupert and then put him in bed (Rupert, not Phil!). I've donated a smelly t-shirt from the bottom of the laundry basket to put in his crate and Phil warmed up his microwavable beeny baby and put that in there too, along with my homemade toy, so it was as comfortable as we could make it. There's no grantee that he'll be any better than last night, but from what one of Phils work mates tells us it gets better hereon in.

Posted by Abi at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2006

It Could Have Been Worse!

Well we thought we were doing quite well last night for the first 6 hours after heading to bed, but at around 4am Rupert decided he wanted to whine. So I waited until he went quiet and then went downstairs to see if he was ok. He'd done a wee in his bed so I scooped him up and took him outside to see if he had anymore stored up. So there I am at 4 in the morning wearing nothing but the most hideous nighty and pair of flip flops standing in the garden whispering "do your business" to a puppy who apparently had no interest at all in actually closing any kind of business deal at all, so after 5 mins or so I take him back inside, into his crate and leave him be.

I guess the silence lasted for about an hour or so before Rupert decided he wanted out again so at around 6.15 am I get up again to go see to him (again waiting for him to quieten down before attending to him). This time though he has a poo and a pee outside and I decide that since I'm up I might as well stay that way, get myself some breakfast and then Rupert and then spend a good deal of time in the garden before Phil gets up.

We spend the majority of the day entertaining Rupert in some way or the other and progressed some on getting him to run between Phil and myself on command. Then in the afternoon when I nip to the gym Phil puppy sits and they both watch the Grand Prix together and do some snoozing.

The remainder of the day was spent playing with Rupert and trying to get him to empty himself of as much food and drink that has gone in and giving him a final good run around just before bed to tire him out good and proper after which he's produced another doo doo, which in my book is good news :)

I've no idea what tonight will be like in terms of sleep since we've not really had a nightly routine with him as of yet. Tonight will be the first night we have some sort of procedure to put him to bed. I've got everything crossed but no doubt it won't be as easy as that :)

Posted by Abi at 9:14 PM | Comments (1)

June 24, 2006

Welcome Home

The big day has arrived and were up bright and early heading down the motorway to go and pick Rupert up. The trip there was fine, and surprisingly the trip back was ok too, save for the fact Phil and I froze all the way home since we had to keep the air conditioning on sub zero to keep Rupert happy. He was very good in the car and after a bit of whimpering to start he soon cooched down and went to sleep. He didn't even puke or go to the loo in th carrier so I think we got off quite lightly :)

When we do get home (after a quick stop at the services to fill Phil with fuel, which as it happens is the same services as we stopped at last time only on the opposite side of the road, which was coincidentally also being invaded by at least 10 coach loads of old people), Rupert is a bit bewildered by it all and quite shy and nervous, he has a wee and a drink though so I suppose that's a good sign. I play with him for a while after I've been out and picked up a pooper scooper and after I've had a late lunch and fallen arse over tit out of the back door, he settles down in his cage and has a good long kip.

An hour or so later and it's like we've suddenly got a new puppy! He's up and about, doing lots more investigation, even did a poo in the garden and decided he has 2 firm favourite toys which he happily gnawed on whilst basking in the shade of the garden. He's almost got the hang of going up the step to the kitchen (least he does it better than I do judging from my earlier performance!) though he'll complain for a bit before making a leap for it. We've also found he has very ticklish sides and will sort of stay and then come to you when you call him, which I think is a wonderful start!

After we've had our tea in the evening, Rupert then gets his and by the time he's done and had a bit more fun in the garden it's time for his bed (and ours to be honest!) so we've just put him in his cage in the vain hope that we might perhaps get at least a couple of hours sleep at some point :)

Posted by Abi at 9:26 PM | Comments (1)

June 23, 2006

Hammers And Picks

Its been quite a busy day for me today with plenty to keep me more than occupied, so once I've had breakfast I'm out and about getting jobs done.

My first stop is the bank since I have to withdraw some money to pay for Rupert who we are picking up tomorrow, so after providing umpteen bit of information to prove who I am they finally hand over the cash. Once I've done that to make the most of my parking ticket I nip to one of the local book stores to see if they have any good books on rearing puppies, which they do so I pick 2 up which should provide some useful information about the correct way to do things.

I then go back home and get changed and ready to go to the gym where I spend the next 2 hours doing my thing and once I've done and come home again I have some lunch and then set about starting the edging around the lawn. It was all going very well up to the point where the exact place where I need to put one of the stakes happens to be the exact point in time and space that someone had decided to bury a breeze block. It's too big for me to dig out of the edge of the lawn (besides i would have left a great big hole and messed up the nice straight line I'd just dug) so instead of trying to excavate it I get a pick and use it in a chisel like motion to bore a hole right through the block so the stake would penetrate it nicely. It worked well but took ages to get right and I still had to hammer the sh*t out of it to get it to go where it should be going. And so I gradually worked my way around the rest of the garden until I got to the final corner which will take a bit more planning as the meter strips need cutting down to the correct size. It will have to wait for another day though because its getting late and I need to grab a shower and start tea so Phil has something to at when he gets home and I don't smell of rancid sweat and dirt.

The evening is pretty quiet and we have a relatively early night since I managed to miscalculate our start time to get to Abergavenny for 10 am by about an hour. Oops :)

Posted by Abi at 9:14 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2006

Still Windy

Still no edging project for me today as it's still blowing a gale outside, so much so in fact that we've had to double tie the sunflowers to give them half a chance. Most of my flowers have been battered with very few blooms left to speak of, which is such a shame because it was all looking quite nice up until the past couple of days.

So with no gardening to do there isn't much else for me to be getting on with. I do a little housework, like vacuuming downstairs again and moping the kitchen floor (I've no idea how it gets so grimy so quickly) along with giving the cooker a clean as well.

I also go to the gym. It's been a blessing over the past couple of days since the temperature has dropped nicely which means I can get back on track with my running and plenty of fat burning stuff as well. I'm hoping that the next time I have a dietician appointment (in about 3 months) I'll have been as successful as my last visit with a nice bit of weight loss to show for my efforts. I'm still following South Beach, but have had to modify it a little as to what it is I have in the fridge rather than going out and buying all the foods their menu plan requires, it was getting a bit expensive and now I figure I know the basic premise of the whole thing I reckon I can do ok on my own with a quick glance at the book now and again to make sure I'm doing the right kinda thing.

In the evening I notice that the sunflowers still look ragged and since I'm staring at them whilst our irrigation system is on I realise that the wind is not the only contributing factor to their declining health. It appears that some of them are not getting drip fed at all and so I remedy that by giving them all a good dosing of water in the hope that it will improve them and save them from certain death. Fingers crossed, because they are getting quite impressive now to say the least.

Posted by Abi at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2006

Edging My Bets

Ahhh, today is a day of rest so no gym to worry about. Instead I have set my mind to doing all those little jobs that keep building up and need to be done.

First of all I go to one of our local garden centres to see if they have any suitable edging to go around our lawn. They do have some which is similar to the stuff we put out the front (little logs strung together with wire) but these ones have been nailed together in straight 1 metre lengths which would make it ideal for doing along the lawn. However, the stuff they have is 9" high, which by my reckoning is a bit to lofty - so I leave it for the time being and head on into town where I pick up a bog standard radio which I can leave on to keep Rupert company when I'm out and about.

After I get the radio I then go to Wickes to see if they have any edging. They also have the same stuff as what I'd just looked at, only they have it in 6" heights which is more suitable to what I need. It's also cheaper. So I bare that in mind and go to Homebase to see what they have on offer, which as it happens is very little apart from some god awful concrete stuff which on a scale of 1 - Ugly ranks pretty much around a "not in my garden" score.

The next stop was the pet store to pick up the very last bits for Rupert, including a bed, a feeding mat and some training pads - I'm hoping they will make the house training easier!

I then go to Travis Perkins who also have a poor selection of edging and the only thing that sparked a little interest was some dome shaped bricks which might look nice. Thinking about it though to do a proper job with bricks I'd really need to lay a cement base which is a whole heap of hassle that I don't want.

So, it's back to Wickes where I get the stuff I'd seen earlier. I might need to make some adjustments to it here and there but it's easy to install (each section has a stake at each end which you hammer into the ground) and so all that remains for me to do is get a lawn edger and a rubber mallet to do the job.

Purchases made I head on home and get some lunch before I unload the car. I was planning on doing the edging today but the wind has been wicked to say the least making it very uncomfortable to be outside so I decide I'll leave it till tomorrow. I do trim the hedge in our back alley though since it was becoming very troublesome to walk down there without getting scagged by brambles and by doing so have regained about a foot in alley width making it much easier to traverse.

In the afternoon I set about fiddling with a website my friend is trying to set up which also includes an online shop. By god, they don't half make things difficult these so called "easy for novice users to customise" packages. I could have gotten 3 times as far if I wasn't constrained by the user interface and the like. Truly crap! Anyway, I make a bit of headway, though I wouldn't want to put my name to any of the work really :)

When it's time for tea I hit a bit of a dilemma. I'd gotten some cod fillets out and defrosted them and so having prepared all the veg I open up the fish package and give it a sniff and let me tell ya, I wouldn't put it anywhere near my mouth cooked or not - it smelt very dodgy indeed! So I'm now wondering what on earth I can do since the fish is useless and I've got all the other stuff to go with it cooking away. As luck has it after rooting around in the freezer I discover some frozen cod fillets which I can use instead. So after dumping some mozzarella cheese and a crust of breadcrumbs, parsley and lemon juice on top of them I sit and pray that maybe they'll come out alright.

They do as it happens, though I think I overcooked the fish a bit - I still haven't got the hang of it yet :)

Posted by Abi at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2006

Ho Hum

It's been a very quiet day for me in the grand scheme of things really. After the usual morning routine I go to the gym and now that the weather has eased of temperature wise I find myself able to do a bit more in terms of running and the like and in doing as much I notice that my heart rate is improving all the time and I can go much further before I tip over the 180 bpm, with the average being about 165 or there abouts.

I then give up the afternoon to doing very little indeed, the reason being that it's not a gym day tomorrow so in order to while away the hours then I'd much rather save up all the little jobs I have to do to make the day go that bit quicker.

I do spend a little time sorting out Phil's bonsai in the bedroom. Looks like with the hot weather of late it's had a spate of shedding it's leaves which are now nicely scattered all over the window sill and on the carpet. So I vacuum them up and the also vacuum the plant itself to get rid of any more detritus that may be lurking to prevent it spreading all over the place again.

We also watch Underworld Evolution, which whilst entertaining enough when there is little else on the TV I wouldn't recommend to anyone else for the pure and simple fact it's more eye candy than story. Though I am left bewildered on the logistics of how they got Kate Beckinsale into that outfit... no doubt it must have involved something greasy to slip her into the skin tight rubber.

Posted by Abi at 9:34 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2006

Pants

Back to some sort of routine today after my weekend away, and first of all is a session down the gym.

Everything is going fine until I start running, and it appears that where I have lost weight my track suit bottoms don't want to stay up so I'm constantly pulling them up to preserve my modesty and not end up flashing my pants to everyone in the gym. After about 10 minutes of constantly hoisting them I give up and slow the pace of the tread mill to a slow jog, which sorts the problem out and allows me to get through my cardio / fat burning stuff without too much distress thankfully!

After the gym I go home and get some lunch and a shower and then head on into town to go buy some new tracksuit bottoms in a smaller size. I was doubtful if any of the sport shops in town would be able to accommodate my ample arsage, but luck has it that I find a pair of tracksuit bottoms that fit nice and snug and will probably last me for the foreseeable future. So not only was I pleased about that, I was also pleased about the fact that I have now increased my clothes shop choices to at least 2 rather than the 1 I've been spending my money in since about the age of 16 :)

When I get back to the house I then potter around the garden for a while and do a few little jobs that need seeing to. The grass needed cutting, the rose out the front needed tying to its trellis and I also needed to mark out a new edge to our lawn since its gotten a bit uneven and is slowly creeping into the flower bed. All that remains for me to do on that front is to pick out some suitable edging and dig out a channel to pop the edging stones into. I think I'll leave that till Wednesday though when I don't have to go to the gym.

The dregs of the day are then spent faffing on the computer and then preparing tea - it's chicken tonight with oven roasted veg and once we've eaten Phil kindly puts some new code into my blog meaning that the archive section is now in the form of a drop down rather than a huge long list. It's neater and saves on screen real estate, so I'm happy :)

Posted by Abi at 9:12 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2006

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Dad! Though I'm pretty sure he didn't think that since he was stuck in hospital. Not for long though it appears since he rings the house at 8.30 am to tell us that he wanted picking up since he was no longer in pain and figured all the stones were now in his bladder. So Mum goes off to fetch him after we've had some breakfast and walked the dogs to do their number 1's and 2's (my parents are currently staying with my sister, and my sister has no garden to speak off that is dog safe).

Whilst she's doing that my sister, her boyfriend and I go to a local garden centre as they need to pick up some hardy hedging plants to put around their borders and I get to have a gander at some of the weird and wonderful plants they have. They are all very nice but at the same time hugely expensive, so while I walk away empty handed they do well with a mixed bundle of various shrubs and the like.

We aren't home long before my parents arrive back and Dad is looking much better, so we give him his pressies and cards for Fathers Day (a t-shirt saying "just another sexy bald bloke" from me, and as set of outside "realistic rock shaped speakers" so he can listen to Eartha Kitt whilst in the garden). We then go out for Sunday dinner, which IMHO wasn't exactly wonderful, but food nonetheless. In fact the only thing that looked half decent was the yorkshire pudding, but I couldn't eat that because of the diet I'm following, so ended up with some roast beef, cabbage and cauliflower instead.

After lunch I decide that I should really start to head home since it's 3 pm already and I would like to be back at some kind of reasonable hour, so that's exactly what I do and by 7 pm I'm having some tea with Phil whilst watching a bit of TV. I am exhausted though and can hardly keep my eyes open. That's probably something to do with the fact I had a crap nights sleep last night giving up on the air mattress about an hour after first setting down on it - it was like sleeping on a load of rubber tyres, only not so comfortable. So I gave up and settled down on the sofa for the rest of the night which left me with interrupted sleep and a stiff neck.

I've no doubt in my mind that I will be out like a light in about 30 minutes or so.

Posted by Abi at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2006

New Record

It's yet another scorching day here, edging up to 28 degrees again which means I'm probably in for some considerable punishment at the gym, but never mind, the momentum hasn't fallen short so far so I'd best keep it up before it has a chance to dwindle.

It does take me a while to get there though, being somewhat distracted by a game of Sim City 4 before Phil reminds me that it's now noon and I have to go to the gym and then head off to Wales this afternoon. So I pull myself away from the monitor and head on over to the sweat house. As expected it's way too hot for me to do lots of cardio, so after 10 minutes of running I drop the speed of the treadmill to a steady jog keeping my heart rate in the 150's for a further 20 minutes. I then do a 30 minute session on the elliptical trainer and move onto the weights machines thereafter - I've just increased the amount of resistance on each machine so they were all a fair bit more challenging this time around but I managed to get through them all quite well. At the end of it all it appears that I've managed to burn of a whopping 1093 calories, which is the first time I've ever gone over 1000 calories in any session so I'm very happy to say the least, and best of all I don't feel completely beat afterwards either.

Back home and there is just enough time for me to have a quick lunch before I jump into the shower and then pack my bags and head off to Wales for the weekend. The reason for my visit is 2 fold really, not only is it Fathers Day tomorrow, but I had a phone call of my sister last night telling me that my Dad had gone into hospital because after his last session of blasting on his huge kidney stone it had broken up into 3 slightly smaller pieces and now that they were on the move down his tubes he was in considerable pain. So the plan is for me to drop in and see him in the hospital, stay overnight with my sister and then pop to see him again on my way home on Sunday.

The trip was fine up to the point where I had to get across the Severn Bridge where the muppets had decided to close 2 lanes of the motorway meaning I was stuck in a huge jam for about an hour and a half before I got past the obstruction. That left me running very late to meet the hospital's visiting hours, but when I do get there they are kind enough to let me see my Dad in any case. He's doing ok, though doped up on all sorts of pain killers but he says he can feel the stones moving so is hoping that they'll be in his bladder by tomorrow and he'll be able to check out from the ward and be back home soon after.

I guess I stayed with Dad for almost an hour before I head off back to my sisters where she cooks me a nice steak. It's just a shame the sleeping accommodation is reduced to a choice of inflatable mattress or the sofa - I hedge my bets on the air mattress for the time being, but either way I'm sure I'm in for a shoddy nights worth of sleep.

Posted by Abi at 9:56 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2006

Debt Free!

Oh joy of joyness, today I have hit a landmark in the fact that I am now officially debt free! Yes, this was one of those big decisions I'd decided to take a week or 2 ago and I've actually made it happen rather than just ramble on about it insanely the result of which usually just ends up as another caput idea.

So, I have now paid off the car completely, and got rid of all of my student loans - all gone! Not a penny do I owe on any form of loan or hire purchase agreement, and boy does it feel good. No more scrabbling around every month for car payments and paying back my dues for my education, it's as if a whole weight has been lifted from my shoulders and fluttered away on the breeze like the cash laden burden it was. I'm well chuffed as you can probably imagine :)

In order to accomplish such a feat of debt defying insanity we pop to the bank this morning where I have to arrange a CHAPS payment for the car, and after providing umpteen bits of information and filling out a form almost as long as a brand new toilet roll the payment is all arranged and the direct debit cancelled! Yay! So to celebrate we head over to home base to pick up some more flowers for the garden. I've taken a particular shine to some Primula vialii that they had so we got some of those along with some other herbaceous perennials which will hopefully come back year after year (provided I remember not to dig them up). We also got some wire mesh to tack along the bottom of our garden gate to make it puppy proof.

Back home and I set about preparing the flower bed for the new plants. We've had this monstrous green thing growing in there since Phil moved in, and whilst fills a blank space it's actually not that interesting and swamps everything. So I dug it up and weeded the whole bed and turned the soil over. It took ages but after I'd done we stop for a bite to eat and then the planting started. Phil helped me arrange where each of the new plants should go and then I set about putting them in the ground. In between all of this I also make 2 phone calls to the student loans people to pay off my final balances which felt mighty good to say the least :)

So after all that excitement the rest of the day seems to be pretty hum drum with just a quick outing to tesco to pick up a few bits for dinner after Phil has had a kip. It also looks like my puffer fish gave birth to something last night, and from my limited knowledge of fish anatomy I'd say it was part of his gut. It appears he's been eating gravel for some unknown reason and since he's now given birth to a small quarry's worth of stone he's also buggered up his swim bladder because he can't stay at the bottom of the tank anymore, just keeps floating to the top. I guess it's safe to say then he won't be with us for much longer, but there really is little I can do to help him.

Posted by Abi at 9:36 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2006

Extra Company

Phil has managed to confuse the hell out of me today, since he's got 2 days off this week excluding the weekend. So since I'm so used to only seeing him all day on a Saturday or Sunday, having him home today has had me thinking its the weekend already when in fact it's only Thursday. None the less it's still nice to have him home and have some company rather than swanning around the house on my own.

This morning I go to the gym and do my usual stuff and 956 calories and 40% fat burn later I'm done and tired but not exhausted. I think the fat burn was less today since I remembered I really should adjust my user settings on my heart rate monitor and the like to reflect my current weight, and as a result it's had to recalibrate my "own zone" facts and figures meaning I was working at less of a heart rate today than I was yesterday.

When I get back home it appears that the new motherboard has arrived for the server and Phil has been busy installing it and thankfully it seems to have resolved the problem nicely. The server is running, our data is intact and websites are all back online. Needless to say Phil has also written a dandy little backup script so that should the server die again we know that any data loss will be minimal.

After some lunch we then head out into town so that Phil can get a Fathers Day card for his Pa and we also go over to the pet store to pick up a dog carrier and a dog crate for Rupert ready for his imminent arrival.

The evening is spent with not a lot to while away the time, except perhaps cooking tea and the like. There isn't much on the box so it's a good job we had plenty recorded to take a gander at.

Posted by Abi at 9:42 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2006

My Own Devices

Been a funny sort of day today, the weather isn't up to much struggling to reach a meager 16 degrees C which means I can fill my time in by going to the gym in conditions much more suited to doing a workout.

I decide to take a slightly different tact today however and instead of doing my usual stuff I decide that I'll try to incorporate a bit more fat burning to see what it resulted in. It seemed to work a treat too, with me burning of 926 calories, 55% of which was fat. So I'm pretty chuffed with that to say the least, and so much so in fact I think I might try to do more fat burning in the long run, something I'll discuss with my personal trainer when I next book an appointment with him.

After I've been to the gym there isn't that much to do around the house, so I play a few computer games and after road testing a few I end back to one of my favourites which is Sim City 4 - I don't play it by the rules whatsoever and use every cheat available, but try to apply some of the stuff I learnt in geography all those years ago to see if it makes any difference. Can't say it really has, but it's fun trying :)

On the server front it appears Phil has gone and ordered a motherboard to see if that fixes the problem, he decided to make the most of his sleepless night and research our problem a bit further and it looks like he's found a proper hopeful that might work, which is handy. Should be delivered in the next day or two so everything crossed it fixes the puter and we'll be back up and running.

Posted by Abi at 9:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2006

Interview

I've had an interview for a job today as a PA to an Architect - it went quite well, but I'm not overly sure if I'm the type of person he wants. Seems he deals with rather well to do clients who own large manor houses and the like and deals with people like the National Trust helping them to restore old buildings to their former glory. A consequence of which I'm sure he's looking for more of a matronly person to deal with the clients if you know what I mean. But we'll wait and see what happens.

After my interview I then pop home to get out of my interview clobber and then head on out to town to pick up a fathers day card, which I sadly lack to do. I then go over to the Pet superstore to pick up a few initial bits for Rupert such as some toys, a collar and lead and feeding bowls and then to Halfords to get some screen wash for the cars. As I'm doing that the sky look very laden with rain, and ignoring my better judgement I head on into Oxford to see if I have better luck on the fathers day card and hopefully to pick up some sort of present for my dad too.

It rained all the way into Oxford and for most of the time that I was there, which when you're dressed in summer clothes and flip flops isn't perhaps a wonderful idea :) Nevermind, I get a card and a pressy and also manage to pick up some wax sticks for Phil and also some of his favourite cookies and then wind my way home.

By the time I get home there really isn't that much left of the afternoon so I knuckle down and get on with a few house chores that needed to be done, today I've got my sights on cleaning the kitchen floor since it's minging and really could do with a bit of attention.

I've then got most of the evening to myself as Phil is working late again, but when he gets home he has a go at fixing our server by replacing the PSU which we think was causing the problem - however it appears that this is not the problem part afterall, and after unplugging everything and testing various combinations we think that maybe it's the motherboard that has gone. The problem with this is that a replacement may well be hard to find since the server is quite old and getting a motherboard that is compatible with the case, hard drives and CPU etc could turn end up in being a witch hunt all by itself.

Posted by Abi at 9:41 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2006

Hot & Humid

Cor, what a scorcher! It's 31 degrees here today and I think the humidity is off the scale, it's a bit like living in the tropics but with the disadvantage of council tax and VAT. Seriously it's roasting again today, but thankfully the forecast predicts a drop in the temperature and invisible water circulating in the air when a few nice thunderstorms head our way in the next day or so - what a relief, something to clear the air.

I've been good today despite the weather and I've been to the gym. I've taken a slightly different tact however because of the weather and modified my routine so that it is primarily a fat burning one instead of intensive cardio - at the moment I can't manage more than 10 mins on the treadmill without feeling badly broken and ready to pull the emergency rip cord from the "don't panic" receptacle. I'm glad I made the choice to do a longer but less frisky session too since it paid off in calorie burn (856 in total) with 45% of that being fat used up. So I'm chuffed and I didn't kill myself in the process.

Another thing that I'm pretty proud of (and should have mentioned yesterday) is that I lost 7 lbs last week after being on the South Beach for 7 days - the best bit is I'm pretty sure it's not water loss either because I've been hydrating like crazy. So back on the downward scale for now, I just hope it keeps up.

Not much else going on really today except I get a phone call from one of the vet surgeries who rang me for an interview. I decided to glean some more information out of them about the job and after hearing that they were only going to pay minimum wage (and not even the right bracket of such for my age) and wanted me to work 47 hours a week (excluding the 2 hours commuting every day) I thought that it might be best if I didn't go for that particular interview. Nevermind I have another one tomorrow for a PA job, so we'll see how it goes.

The evening was very quite too, what with this blasted football being on tv prime time and the BBC taking entire chucks of the schedule to show people kicking a ball its has, quite literally ballsed up everyone elses viewing who perhaps are not fans of the beautiful game. I could say the same for Sundays when we are blitzed with religious stuff too of which I have absolutely no interest whatsoever, but I won't get political about that - don't want to be hot listed on some government secret anti terrorist SWAT team for speaking my mind about such sensitive matters now do I?

Posted by Abi at 9:36 PM | Comments (0)

June 11, 2006

Feeling Crabby

The oppression the heat is bringing here at the moment is almost unbearable. You see the problem with heat in the UK is that is ordinarily associated with humidity, and so whilst I don't mind temperatures of 30 + degrees whilst I'm sitting on a sun lounger in Greece sipping a dry martini and lemonade with the warm DRY air wafting around me, doing the same here in equivalent climatological situation is akin to having all the life sucked out of you.

As a consequence of which it takes me the best part of all morning to decide if I should go the to the gym or not, and eventually I decide that much as I'd rather not I better had since I slip up leads to another and so on.

So I get Phil to drop me off and I set about trying to do my usual routine but much as I try I fail at keeping to the minimum amount of time I've been running (falling short a couple of minutes or so) and I put this down to the simple idea that I might as well have been in a sauna and trying to complete a marathon. It was just too hot to keep going, and I wasn't the only one complaining - even the super fit people there were grumbling that they were finding everything much more hard work than it should have been.

I do eventually get through it though and have a brief chat with one of the gym bods to get them to explain to me some of the gadgetry on my heart monitor wrist strap, and it appears that although I didn't burn off as many calories today the % of fat I got rid of was higher. So maybe it might be worth reducing my intensity a bit as my main aim at the moment is to reduce the size of my fat cells - and I can only go about that by doing more fat burning stuff (so working at a lower intensity but for longer). I may well give it a try next week and see how I get along.

When Phil picks me up from the gym we do a quick shop at tesco to pick up some bits that I need for lunch - today I'm having Crab Cobb Salad and while I was a little dubious about eating it (I think I've had crab meat about 3 times in my life) the combination of blue cheese, bacon bits, crab and salad was in fact remarkably nice and I think the recipe is definitely a keeper.

The remainder of the day is spent doing very little indeed (well, it is still too hot to do anything of use), except perhaps pondering on the fact as to why Sedgewick has developed a very odd body shape over the past few days - I think he must have a blocked tube somewhere along the line because he just keeps getting bigger and bigger and is now looking a bit like a ¬, with his belly drooping downwards so much so that his head is about 2 cms above the bottom of his belly, which is dragging across the bottom of the tank. Very strange, but I doubt there is much we can do about it.

And I guess the same could be said for our server, which hosts all of our blogs and websites because it decided to die in the afternoon. No lights, no nothing, completely knackered. We reckon it might be the PSU so we've ordered a new one which will take a couple of days to get here, but who knows if all the data is still intact - we'll just have to wait and see.

Posted by Abi at 9:33 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2006

Doglet Trip

Yay! I'm so excited! Today we have taken the day out to do a mini road trip to go visit Rupert, and see what he's like in person. The down side is that he's about 2.5 hours drive away from here, somewhere near Abergavenny in Wales and so we leave at around 11.30 am to get there in good time.

The drive is pretty good and I think both Phil and I both appreciated the virtues of air con in the car as the temperature outside remained at a steady 28 degrees all the way there, and all the way back for that matter (and this was at 6 pm!).

We did make a brief stop at the services so that Phil could get some lunch and I could eat my Caesar salad which I'd prepared before we headed off, only to be confronted with an army of Saga coaches which turned up at roughly the same time - actually they could have been there an hour before us for all I know as that's probably how long it took the old coots to get off the bus and all head for the toilets in unison - they were everywhere! It was like one of those garden mazes but instead of being lined with conifers it was lined with old people, who moved just enough every few seconds for you to lose any sense of direction and make you get very frustrated. I know I shouldn't complain and I know that I'll be old in the not so distant future, but blimey, we couldn't have picked our timing any better now could we? :)

Anyway, after Phil has eaten a rather rank burger from Wimpy and I've had my lunch we're back on the road once again and we arrive just on time to go and see Rupert - oohh and he's such a cute little white fluff ball :) He's a lovely temperament and already knows his name and wags his tail an awful lot too - he even settled down on Phil's lap quite happily and found a nice couchy spot between my boob and armpit to nestle down in. We also got to meet the "gang" of other dogs he's related to in some way or the other and they were all lovely as well. All very good natured an healthy so it wasn't a difficult decision to lay down the deposit money and arrange to pick Rupert up in 2 weeks once he's had his final vaccinations :)

And then we head off back home, where again we stop off at services because we're both starving (we spent a little longer with Rupert's breeder than expected - and here's me thinking I couldn't possibly meet anyone who spoke more than my mother!) and I struggle to find something suitable for me to nibble on to keep to my diet but manage to get some pistachios and Phil gets some over-sized monster burger from Burger King.

With food in tow we get home at around 7 pm after seeing a rather nasty accident on the other side of the motorway involving what appeared to be just one car, which from the seems of it had hit the gravel barrier in the middle of the carriage ways, lost control, flipped over several times, landed on its side and burst into flames. And judging from the number of paramedics huddled around the driver on the ground I think he probably didn't fair to well out of it all.

Posted by Abi at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)

June 8, 2006

Meet Rupert

Man, it's hotter here today than it was yesterday and there isn't a breath of wind in the air either - it's sweltering and with the prospect of it getting only warmer as the days go on I'll be lucky if I don't ooze into a nice puddle of fat somewhere when I reach my melting point! Arch....

But despite the heat I still go to the gym (I try to go before midday when it's bound to be super dooper hot) and also get around to running a few errands like posting letters and disposing of a few more bags of stuff we don't need, this time extracted from the airing cupboard which has nicely housed an array of linen that will never see the light of day again.

The posty has also been and Sandra has been true to her word and sent a picture of Rupert through to me. It's not a wonderful picture, but it's enough for me to ring her and figure out when would be a good day to go visit her so that we can meet Rupert in person and get and idea of what he's like - we arrange it for Saturday (hopefully the roads should be blissfully quiet with the World Cup being on) and I have to say I'm quite excited :)

I then spend the rest of the afternoon helping a friend with his website (like designing it). He wants to set up an ecommerce bit too, but that probably is beyond what I can help him with, though I will have a go - I'm not used to all this "done for dummies" way of working where some genius has come up with an overly complicated GUI for non-techies to use so they can get results, its a complete abandonment of what I'm used to (working from the ground up) and so looks a bit like Spanish overlaid with Greek to me.

I've also decided I won't be buying monkfish again after a disaster in the kitchen - to expensive and too difficult to cook right (then again I might just be tight and a bad chef) :)

Posted by Abi at 9:26 PM | Comments (2)

June 7, 2006

Pupaia

Been a sort of mixed bag of things for me today, but primarily I've been on a bit of a mission to track down a puppy.

After much discussion with Phil he's finally come around to the idea that I've been posing to him for many many months now - you see I come from a house of dog lovers and now I've moved from home I'm sadly lacking in any canine interaction what so ever, and I really miss my doglets back home (but travelling 284 miles just to see them is a bit OTT). Anyway we've decided to get a puppy, and since I love pekingnese's I've been trying to track down a breeder that may have some pups ready to go to new homes.

It takes a bit of investigative work (in terms of finding the man who my parents got theirs from, and from him finding out if he knows anyone that might have some puppies at the moment (since he didn't have any) and even more in particular if he know of anyone that might be breeding black pekes). Turns out he did and he gave me a number of a lady called Sandra so I gave her a call.

20 minutes later of gabble later (I would classify sandra as a typical "Valleys" lady (anyone from Wales will know what I'm speaking about) and I've gleaned enough info to get me interested. Although she doesn't have any blacks at the moment, she does have one white dog puppy called Rupert. He's not ready to go from his parents yet but will be in a couple of weeks and sounds like a doll. I also establish that he's quite pricey, and quite rare as it happens as he is pure white all over with just a black nose and brown eyes. I'm not so worried about the price tbh since from looking around on the web it appears Pekes are generally expensive, and everything else seems dandy. So I asked Sandra if she'd send me a photo of Rupert, which she said she would.

Now, I know a Peke might not be everyone's choice of dog, but they've a number of characteristics which make them unique - they are very intelligent, comical and very devoted and are ideal for a small house and whilst they do need exercise I won't be doing a 10K marathon every night. Some people might say that they need a lot of grooming too, but my families experience of Pekes is that unless your showing them the kindest thing you can do is keep their coat shaved off (something like a number 4 or something) to keep them cool and keep them clean.

Anyway enough dog talk from me, the weather is bucking up every day with it getting warmer and warmer and predictions of it being 28 degrees C at the weekend and I skip the gym today since I feel like someone has punched me in the gut with a battering ram on at least 12 occasions whist pausing for tea and biscuits in between.

Posted by Abi at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)

June 6, 2006

Neighbourly Saving

It's pretty much a normal start to the day for me today and I set about doing a few chores such as the washing. However that doesn't quite go to plan since the machine decides to pack up once again with a chorus of grinding and humming leaving me with a washing machine full of wet clothes and water and no easy way to drain it. So I struggle trying to get rid of the water by putting the machine on the drain setting, which doesn't work very well since all the sucking power the pump can muster is the equivalent of about 1 mm of water every 5 mins (after which the machine stops trying). In order to get rid of the water then (or as much as I can) I have to sit in front of it and keep turning it back to the drain setting each time it switches off. I guess I did this for at least an hour, at the end of which the water line is below the door meaning that I will be able to open the machine with out a tidal wave of water landing all over the floor. Now I just have to wait for the machine to decide it will open the door and I should be someway to home free.

Whilst I'm waiting for the door to magically open I decide now would be as gooder time as any to go to the gym and on my way out I have a chat with our neighbour and as him if he knows of any good washing machine repair men, to which he answers he thinks he does, and he'll root out the number, to which I said thanks, and I'll pick it up when I get back from the gym.

When I get back home I realise that I've missed a delivery - this time it's for the duvet we ordered ages ago and for which we had a letter saying it wouldn't be with us till at least the 25th June, which is a bit of a bummer because we really could do with the duvet now that the weather is hotting up and currently being in bed is like being wrapped in tin foil on gas mark 8 for several hours (our current duvet is quite a high tog). Arse, so I ring them back and leave a message to see if they can redeliver tomorrow.

I then decide to tackle the washing machine again and thankfully the door release has kicked in meaning I can get the soaking wet clothes out and hang them on the line to drip dry, and I also manage to extract the several litres of water that remained in the drum. I then pop over to the neighbour who said he might have a helpful number of a useful man to fix the washer and when I'm describing the symptoms to our neighbour he thinks he knows what the problem may be and offered to come have a look.

We pull out the machine and voila, we find the filter which we think may well be causing the problem. In the filter we discover a five pence piece and the remains of my security pass from my previous job (which would explain why I couldn't find it) so we take all that out, push the machine back and yay! it seems to be working just dandy again.

So this entry is in lasting memory of our neighbour, who kindly fixed the washing machine and saved us the cost of calling someone out - I'd better get him some kind of thank you present.

Posted by Abi at 9:28 PM | Comments (1)

June 5, 2006

South Beach

Having been incredibly impressed with a friend who is currently following the South Beach Diet (she's lost 43 lbs so far) I've decided that I might give it a go and see how well I get along with it.

So before I nip to the gym for my usual session (up to 20 mins solid running now!) I go the local book shop and pick up a copy of the South Beach Diet book. After I've done my workout I then zip off to Tesco to get most of the ingredients I'll need for Phase 1 of the diet which lasts 2 weeks.

When I get home I have a good read of the introductory blurb and from what I can see it makes some sort of sense. If you wanted a summary, it basically says cut way back on white bread and potatoes and other such food that contains a certain type of carbs and increase your intake of food that has another type of carbs or have a high level of good healthy fats. All of this apparently helps your blood chemistry / cardiology etc etc. Its a bit complicated to list it all on a blog entry so here's a summary.

So for lunch today I find myself munching on a chicken breast with salad instead of the usual sandwich and packet of low fat crisps which made a bit of a novelty on my part - but still it was very nice, especially with the dressing that I made of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil, thyme and seasoning. Lovely.

For tea it was salmon with asparagus and salad (whilst Phil had chips and peas) which when I ate it didn't seem much to say the least, but strangely I felt satisfied.

I gotta say it's gonna be difficult to live with out bread and potatoes, but if the effort reaps rewards, then I'm willing to go without.

Posted by Abi at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

June 4, 2006

Jet Wash

Another quiet day today, but we manage to fit in a few things to keep us semi-occupied.

The first thing we have to do is sort out Phils car insurance stuff, he's decided to change insurers since the last lot thought it would be very fitting to charge him an xtra 100 quid for an accident he wasn't responsible for and didn't claim off his insurance for, the penalty for changing however is the huge amount of paper work the new ones require. So after a lot of faffing around finding driving licenses, chassis numbers and remembering what modifications he's done to the car we finally get all the bits together in an envelope ready to post back to the paper pushers.

We then decide to take Phil's car to the jet wash since we can't use the hosepipe here and after scrapping the bottom of the car on the drainage dip we finally get round to spraying, scrubbing and generally running around to complete all sides of the car before the buzzer went off.

After that we then go to Tesco so that we can pick a few bits up for a BBQ that we have planned for later, the shop is heaving with people and most unpleasant to say the least at it seems everyone else has had the same idea. Well, it's not like we get super weather here on a regular basis so everyone makes the most of it when it arrives.

The afternoon was mainly taken up with eating scrummy food and watching the complete drivel on TV, I sometimes wonder why we bother with sky, it seems every channel is full of rubbish and actual entertainment value is very limited.

Posted by Abi at 9:26 PM | Comments (1)

June 3, 2006

Sweaty

Ok, I've tried to un-bored myself today, but there seems to be nothing that keep me from sinking into that familiar feeling of thinking of lots of things to do, but none of them seem appealing enough to actually get off my butt and do any of them.

However, but noon I'm almost going out of my brain with the nothingness to do and so force myself to go down the gym.

I realise that this is perhaps a stupid idea on at least 2 occasions on my way there. First of I realise that I've not put on my sports bra, which is going to prove interesting when it comes to jogging, and secondly the car is telling me that it's 24 degrees outside, and even though the gym is semi-air conditioned I quickly begin to start to imagine just how much I'm going to sweat once I get down to working out. I'm bad enough when it's a normal day, but with added heat I'm probably asking for trouble. Oh well both of these factors don't put me off too much and I still go to the gym, and promptly regret it somewhat when my boobs are bobbing everywhere and I'm drenched in sweat.

I do make it through the session however and finally wind my way home, where again not much is waiting to be done so I just do sweet F.A all afternoon.

Posted by Abi at 9:41 PM | Comments (0)

June 2, 2006

Some Big Decisions

Boy oh boy, it's been a tough couple of days with me not knowing if I'm coming or going, depressed or happy, sad or normal, I don't know what the feck is going on, so I've had a good long sit down today with myself to try and pinpoint some of the problems and see if I can figure out what to do about them.

It seems the main problem for me is 2 fold - I have an amount of debt with I'm finding incredibly hard to pay off every month, and the prospect of having at least another 17 months of it is making me feel rubbish. Secondly I still don't know what it is I want to do with my "career" - not that there is anything left of the I.T. one.

So taking the finance problem first after a lot of consideration of numerous options (including selling the BMW) I've decided that I won't sell it, but I will pay off all the finance from my savings this month. The same goes for my student loans. I've got a final figure for all of it and thinking about it more and more I would be so much happier not having to worry about finding 500 odd quid every month when I'm not working.

As for the career, well I didn't get quite so far with this one. I think I'm formulating some sort of plan though, and that is to get another part time job for the next year or so and making my career me - if that makes sense. I want to concentrate on me, just me, until I'm happy with me, and I figure a year would be enough time for me to make sufficient headway for me to get my confidence back. In that year I want to change the way I look (primarily my weight) and learn upon the 2 days training I had glass bead making. I really enjoyed doing it, and I figure if I practice enough I can get to a point where I could make a living out of it. All that remains on that front is for me to get the kit I need to start, which I've made an allowance for in how much I'll take out of my savings.

So there you have it, I think I'm almost there now, just need to start putting the plan into action.

Posted by Abi at 9:01 PM | Comments (1)

June 1, 2006

Not So Deflated

But all the same I'm still down in the dumps. Maybe not as much as yesterday, but still I can see the bottom. Which is good I guess, because once you hit the bottom there is no where to go but up. So thats got to be positive right? Well see I suppose.

I've done sod all today apart from go the gym, where uncannily I meet another person who starts chatting to me to lay some words of wisdom upon my disheartened ears. This time it's an old man who says that he used to have a French Au Pair (nuff said) who was once as big as me, but kept working at it down the gym and managed to become a very svelte and fit (his own words) person. He told me to keep at it and the rewards would pay off which were kind words from a stranger.... I don't know, 2 similar incidents in 2 days, I think there is a conspiracy going on or something like that! But it has made me more motivated so I guess it can only be for the better of my own sanity.

The afternoon is slightly tarnished when I get an email requesting shed loads of money for an enterprise I'm running at the moment, which made me gulp with despair, think about the problem some more then realise that perhaps someone has got their sums wrong, which thankfully was the case so it's not as bad as I thought it would be. It never rains but it pours when it comes to my finances, it's like the big bird of debt has just doo-doo'd on my head again, it seems to fly over every couple of months these days.

So I need to spend money relating to the email, and of course perhaps on a new tyre too - though that might not be as bad as we first thought. We checked the pressures on all the tyres on my car tonight and they were all shockingly low, so it may well be that the puncture warning has come on because the pressures were all screwed up. So we've pumped them up to their proper pressure tonight to see if they lose anything over the next 24 hours or so. If they do then perhaps we do have a puncture, but there might be the slightest chance that due to neglect the car was just screaming out for some air.

After a couple of hours we can't resist going to see if they have lost any pressure and so far so good, they seem to be where they were when we re-inflated them. So now we have 2 possibilities, a slow puncture or just a glitch which has been fixed when we got all the tyres at the pressures they needed. I'm seriously hoping on the latter.

Posted by Abi at 9:46 PM | Comments (1)

May 31, 2006

Good God Not Again!

Well the day couldn't really get off to a worse start, I get a phone call from Phil when he arrives at work to tell me that my car has decided that it has yet again got another puncture - this will be the third tyre that has gone caput since I've had the car, and at £135 a pop it's not a cheap exercise to get a new one. It seems to me that this car has been nothing but bad luck since I've had it, from putting the wrong fuel into it, getting it smashed up, broken parking sensors and now a triplet of tyre replacements... I think it is some sort of chalice of malaise to say the least.

I really have had just a guts full, I think my streak of any kind of luck has gone on an extended vacation, it really does seem to be one bad thing after another these days, and I'm getting the distinct impression some one up there doesn't like me very much at the moment.

A result of everything just not going anywhere near to plan of late has let me quite miserable and fed up. I'm fed up of the car, I'm fed up of not being able to decide what I should do for a job, I'm equally fed up of not having much money (see previous fed up item) and I just don't see how I can continue to pay for the car until I've sorted out fed up points 2 and 3. I seem to lack any lustre anymore and it's almost as if I can feel myself being sucked into a permanent state of depression.

Part of me thinks the best plan of action would be to sell the car and just get a cheap run around. If I sold the BMW it means I could get enough cash back from it to buy a small motor with no finance on it, reduced running costs and lesser premiums for road tax and insurance. In fact I've already rung the dealer who I got it off and they came back with a reasonable price for the car (depreciation of course a debilitating factor when it comes to pound signs). I mean it is a nice car for sure with lots of bells and whistles, but what do I use it for? Going to Tesco and the Gym, it's wasted.

I really don't know what to do about anything at the moment, I feel like I'm suspended in animation. I can see everything thats going on around me but it's almost as if I'm cloaked in a dampening field which is stopping me from making any positive moves to rectify any of the problems I have.

Everything just sucks. But on a brighter note, I did meet a nice lady at the gym who gave some motivation and inspiration to me - she was a similar size to me last year and is now considerably smaller and much happier. Maybe theres my problem - maybe I'm so unhappy about myself everything else has been tarred with the same brush.

Posted by Abi at 9:36 PM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2006

Back On The Treadmill

On my own today after the bank holiday where I had Phil to keep me company for 3 rather than the usual 2 days at the weekend.

I don't get up to much really... I go the gym and feel horribly ashamed about how my fitness levels have plummeted due to my absence, but happier in the fact that I've actually got off my arse and gone. It was a bit like visiting a nursing home however since the place was inundated with OAPs, who were using most of the equipment and also walking very slowly between everything.

I also get around to ringing the double glazing people and arranging a date for them to come out and check our letter box as it appears to have sprung a leak somewhere around the edge which is letting water in, which while isn't a major pain it still would be much better if there wasn't a leak at all. The chap was very helpful and said he'd be out Thursday to fix it (from what he says it probably just needs some sealant around the edge, which should have been done at the factory but was probably missed).

The rest of the day is just miserable.

Posted by Abi at 9:30 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2006

Property Tycoon

And I ain't talking about the computer game :) Phil and I have been up to a number of things today, but perhaps the most entertaining was a game of Monopoly we had in the late afternoon. I got seriously slaughtered by Phil the last time we played, which sucked, but what goes around comes around dunnit! I managed to bankrupt Phil to the point where he gave in after he landed on Mayfair, on which I'd just placed 3 houses, meaning he had to pay up £ 1400, which he didn't have :) Har Har, so I won! Yipee! Respect redeemed from my previous poor performance - not that I gloat that much about winning such things, but you know, I thought it was worth a mention! :)

So apart from playing board games, we've had a pretty busy day really and continued to clear out all the clutter we'd manage to collect since moving in to the house. With Phil being home it means I can get him to go into the attic and sift through what we have up there so it can be sorted into what we want to keep and what can go down the dump. By making space up there it also means that we can put other stuff which has been lurking around the house and whilst isn't needed for our every day lives is still either valuable or just impossible to part with (like the 100's of CD's we've got between us, and since they are all on the computer there isn't much reason for them to be in the study).

It takes a good hour or two to shuffle things around but by the time we're done the shed is virtually empty and we've got a huge pile of stuff to take to the dump, so we load up the car and head over to the landfill where it seems everyone else has got a similar idea and are also partaking in their annual clear outs.

After the first trip we then get some lunch and after that load up the car a further 2 times to get rid of more stuff, but which time the weather has decided to lend a hand by throwing down some heavy rain and hail so we get soaked to the bone by the time we've actually finished.

There isn't much left of the day by the time we've done so what is left is spent having a bath and watching TV, in particular X-Factor Battle Of The Stars, and oh dear... I don't think Sharon Osborne is Rebecca Loos newest fan after a few fiery comments regarding knickers, and the apparent inability of Ms. Loo's to keep them where they should be! Ooo everyone loves a good celebrity bitch fight!

Posted by Abi at 9:31 PM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2006

Holey Smoke!

What a day for DIY, hmmm, it's even more difficult when the stuff you need doesn't come with any instructions!

With my monster clear out I'd unearthed some shelves that we bought back 2 years ago on a trip to Ikea. They've been in the shed since we got them, and with good reason, they are a real PITA to put up - they are the shelves that fit flush with the wall with no visible fixings, and after Phil put up one set in our bedroom he swore he'd not put up anymore, and so as a consequence they remaining shelves we had have been sat in the shed doing little more than taking up room.

Bless him though he overcame his avid hatred for them today and put up another set in the study. Well that was the idea, but after re-drilling the same holes 3 times to try and get the hole the right size he's thrown his toys out of the pram and given up. I don't blame him, it's soul destroying when you can't get something right. THe only problem now is that we've got a wall with 6 very large holes in it and no shelf to cover them up. So we nip to homebase to get some polyfilla or some larger plugs to accommodate the holes, either will do really! As it happens they have these special plugs called Twist N Fix which apparently help to fix mis-drilled holes if they are out of line, and whilst they are not exactly for the problem we have they might well do the trick so we head home to give them a go.

And, hurrah! They work a treat so we've got one set of shelves up but have decided that perhaps the best place for the last remaining set would be the dump.

Of course I don't think we were aided that much by the fact that one of our neighbours was taking more than the occasional toke on some Margie Wana, and the passive smoke was rolling out of their window into our study - it stunk!

Oh we went to see The Da Vinci Code today as well - it was crap, not a patch on the book and Tom Hanks looks rank with that mullet thing he had going on.

Posted by Abi at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2006

The Duvet Code

I tell you, for all the difficulty of finding the duvet we want in any of the debenhams stores in our locality we might as well be on the quest for the holy grail I tell you....

Phil and I head off into Oxford today so he can get his hair cut, and whilst he's doing that I have a look around the shops. One thing that springs to mind is that I should perhaps nip into Debenhams to see if they have the duvet we want - I don't know why I thought they might have it, after all the Banbury store didn't - but ever the optimist I thought I'd give it a go, and yes! They do have the one we want (well I thought it was, but on closer inspection with Phil it appears it's not the one we want at all).

So I'm getting a bit fed up with not being able to get this duvet in the actually shop outlets, so collar a woman to ask here if they can order one in, which it appears they can't - they just get the stock they are given, which on past experience probably wouldn't include the duvet we want because it's "expensive" - isn't that some kind of fooked up marketing?! Anyway, we do manage to glean some info out of her which is a bit more useful that the website description of the duvet, that being that yes, in fact it is 2 duvets which make the the 13.5 tog, so idea for summer use since you can either have 9 tog or 4.5 tog. But we don't come out of the shop completely unscathed as she tries to sell us this other type of duvet. Now forgive me for being none sales orientated here, but considering she knows the duvet we want is a feather and down one (ie natural filled) you'd have thought she wouldn't have tried to palm us off with a man made hollow filled thing which was just nasty. So with not much reluctance we manage to escape the tentacles of the misinformed rep and head home.

When we do get back I make a call to the Debenhams customer service line and after being cut off the first time I finally get through to someone, who whilst not very helpful, or incredibly polite for that matter (I think he was a born complainer) he's also pretty sure the duvet we want is 2 in one, so we take the plunge and order one on the website.

Well we thought we did, see the problem is that the website is so slow, despite putting in all the credit card details etc etc we don't actually get a confirmation page saying the order has been taken. Nor do we get an email saying the order has been received for a good 30 mins or so, leaving us in a bit of limbo as to what to do beforehand, should we buy again, or wait? It seems waiting paid off though, I guess we just have to wait and see if the duvet actually shows up now...

I dunno, I don't understand these companies who have online facilities but don't make those facilities able to handle heavy loads of traffic. Ok, granted they were having a 25% sale, so there would be much more traffic than normal, but it's not as if they didn't know the sale was going to happen now is it?

2 words the IT industry and marketing departments could be more aware off then.... planning and foresight....

Posted by Abi at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

May 26, 2006

What Lurks Beneath

I'm still going strong with the cleaning today after my break of yesterday and today it's under the stairs that gets my attention.

I've cleaned stuff out of there a number of times now, but as always things just get dumped in there and it all gets a bit disorganised which doesn't help when you're trying to find something you need.

So whilst I do manage to throw some things away (like my aerobic step which just fucks up my back and breaks my knee), a lot of well, rubbish and a few other choice things a lot of the time is spent just reorganising all the stuff back into some kind of logical order.

It takes most of the day to do it, partly because I'm slow and partly because I've got the TV to look at whilst I'm doing it but by the end all the tools are in one box, all the fixings in another, all the car stuff segregated and miscellany is organised into one final box. I can't believe how much more room is now in there, it's fantastic, as is the fact I found the missing schnozzle for the vacuum cleaner, which had been irking me for some time now.

Posted by Abi at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2006

A Pricey Question

I've had a day off from all the cleaning today because I just can't be arsed! So instead I've caught up with a number of other things, like paying bills.

I also get around to doing a semi-realistic pricing list for all the stuff I'd need to set up a bead workshop, and I think a close estimate would be about 1500 quid when you take into consideration all the tools and materials you need. I mean for that price I would get everything I need to sell beads commercially (the main thing being a kiln), and I've listed it down right to the core, including things like steel sheeting to put up around the shed to limit the fire hazard and the like... I dunno, I guess it shouldn't be a shock really, but when you write it all down it sure does lay it down as it is!

I could happily afford to pay that amount of money if need be, but on the other hand and after making another phone call it seems I'm a bit shorter on cash than I'd hoped, so it may well be that my spending spree will have to wait a while until the stock market picks up again.

Posted by Abi at 9:52 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2006

Re-sensitized

You'd have thought by now that I'd be bored of all this rubbish removal I'm doing at the moment, but really with little else to do at the moment it's the ideal thing to fill my time - so today I am on a mission to permanently rid the house of stuff I've already deemed fit for the dump and to make some headway with the garage.

First things first and I have to make room in the car for my next load of crap, so I'm off to the dump with last nights car load fairly early - but shock of shocks I get to the dump and there's a nice notice planted on the gates saying basically they are shutting the dump down for 4 weeks from the end of this month meaning that if I want to keep up with my frenzied cleaning exercise I've only got about a week to do it.

After I've unloaded the car I then head off to the garage that repaired my car after it go smashed at new year to get the parking sensors fixed since they'd managed to forget to seal the light unit, which had let water into the cavity when the sensor unit is located and as a consequence it had shorted out and broken. I guess I was at the garage for 45 mins or so and then I'm on my way again back to the house. I think the sensors are ok, only thing I noticed was that you can get a lot closer to objects before the beeps flat line meaning you're about to hit something. I did some thorough testing of this, such as reversing up to a brand spanking new BMW and a rather dilapidated Volkswagen and yes, I'm pretty sure it gives you less warning. So I'll have to make sure I remember this in the future.

Home again and whilst the neighbour collars me to have a chat about the random car damage that was caused over the weekend to cars parked on our road (I had no idea) the clouds are gathering and there is a distinct rumble of thunder in the air, which signalled to me that I really should get the rest of the stuff in the car to take to the dump before it piddles down yet again. I'm halfway though this when strike me down with hail and brimstone the heavens open and it's like the whole of the Atlantic has suddenly been deposited in one great big splosh. I got soaked! Soaked to the point where I had to take off my clothes and put on some dry ones.... dripping wet wouldn't even begin to describe it! And the prize I got for accumulating about 10 litres of water on my person in 3 minutes was that I got all the stuff in the car - I'll do the thank you speech later ;)

I then grab some lunch and dry off a bit more then head over to the dump again and return back to the house via Halfords to pick up some bike covers (they are going into the garage when I've cleared some space).

It was with some intrepidation that I opened the garage door, and I'm glad I took the cautious route because on opening the door and flooding the garage with light I hear a skitter of many thousands of little feet and lots of very agile black blobs darting into the crevices. Urghh... makes me wanna scratch when I think about it! There are cobwebs everywhere, the back of the garage just has this veil of what I would describe as impending doom hanging from floor to ceiling and it's a good 3 foot thick too. *Shudder*. So I have to decide on my plan of attack, and with a lack of any biohazard suit to hand I decide the best option would be to start at the front of the garage and work my way back using the brush to take the cobwebs down from the ceiling first - least that way I can see whats landed on the floor rather than just waiting for some monster to pounce on me, get in my hair, crawl down my neck and then take a bite from my jugular....

I can tell you it was the longest hour of my entire life! But the stress was worth it because with out being big headed I do a fine job considering my debilitating phobia of all things spider like. I'm sure it helped with the aversion therapy ;). I've now got enough room to put the bikes at the back of the garage all nicely covered up along with Phil's ramps and spare exhaust and there is plenty of room for Phil to get his car in too, which is always helpful.

With all that done I've had enough for one day and do very little till Phil gets home and I cook tea - we then wait for the shopping to arrive, and after 5 weeks or so of not bothering with groceries there is a fair amount to pack away when it does turn up on the doorstep... what a relaxing way to spend the evening :)

Posted by Abi at 9:10 PM | Comments (1)

May 23, 2006

Broken Cycle

A busy old day really in the grand scale of things. I've been up to more de-cluttering, this time the shed got my attention.

We've got heaps of stuff in there that we haven't bothered looking at let alone needed, it's generally become a dumping ground graveyard for things we can't find room for in the house, and with my plans afoot to make the shed into a mini workshop then really I need to get in there and sort out what is what, and what we may need and those things that we will never need.

It's a fairly big job for sure, not aided by the fact it's got lots of creepy crawlies in there, which try as I might I can't quite get over my insane phobia of things with 8 legs that move quickly. Never mind, I get stuck in and an hour or so later I've got a nice pile of crap on the lawn that needs to go to the dump. I can't take the stuff now however since it's Tuesday, which means that Phil has my car to remove it from harms way when the bin men come around (well, they did manage to knock down our garage wall at some point, and since my car is usually parked in front of the garage it's pretty safe to assume the further away the car can be from said previous accident location the better).

So, that was the physical exercise for today, and the only disaster I had was that the washing machine decided to pack up - it wouldn't drain the water it just got stuck at one particular point in the cycle and accompanying the lack of movement was the most awful grinding noise. But, after a quick call to Phil I hold off on doing anything till he comes home so he can take a look at it. Well - the washer was only cheap when we got it and for the cost of the darn thing in comparison to how much it would cost to get a plumber to look at it, it's more viable to see if Phil can fix it, or ultimately screw it up completely, in which case we'll just get a new one.

With the evening looming and Phil home we first set about seeing if we can sort out the washer, and after dragging it out of the hole and poking and prodding it a bit we manage to get it running again. I've no doubt it's not a permanent fix, but for the mean time it means I can get the clothes out of the washer. It looks like it will manage a few more cycles before it dies completely, but that grinding noise is still there so I'm not holding my breath to estimate on its foreseeable lifespan.

After the washer is back in place we then put all the stuff I'd isolated for the dump into the back of my car. We've had lots and lots of rain here for the past week and I'd really rather get the crap in the car dry than putting it in when it's all soaking wet.

No guesses to where I'll be going tomorrow then...

Posted by Abi at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2006

Playing Catch Up

Well I can't avoid it any more. I've been playing a game of cat and mouse with the cleaning here for about 2 months now, with various things getting in the way of sprucing up the place, like workmen and the obvious fact that I have in fact spent very little time at home for quite some time now. But today I put on my big girl panties (as a good friend would say) and got down and dirty with cleaning the house top to bottom.

It took all day, but the reason for that is 2 fold. A) the house was a pig sty and B) I did a bit of decluttering whilst I was at it. See, whilst I was at my parents I realised that I don't want to accumulate as much shit as they have year after year, so if I tackle our mounds of "stuff" sooner rather than later it will be much better should we ever have to move or just run out of room to store anything else.

I make good head way sorting out draws of stuff here and there and making mental notes of what needs to be done (for example, the airing cupboard, the shed, the wardrobe in the guest room) but will probably need Phil here to help lift the heavy stuff and export it to the landfill site. By 5 pm I'm just about finished with only the lounge and kitchen to clean up, but I've plenty of time since Phil is going to be late tonight as he heads out for a few beers with colleagues after work.

It's quite late when Phil walks through the door, so we get fish and chips for tea, watch a bit of TV and that my dear friends summarises my day today.

Oh, yeah one last thing, I get around to ringing the people who fixed my car after it's crash, who confirm that they've got the part in that they need to fix the parking sensors which are now broken because the didn't seal the light unit properly (thanks BMW for pointing that out to me after making me wait for 2 hours). So now I've just got to take the car at my convenience to the work shop to get it fixed.

Posted by Abi at 9:26 PM | Comments (1)

May 21, 2006

Bead Making Day 2

There is no rest for those on a 2 day course eh? Ah well, needless to say I'm up early again, though now I know how long it takes to get to Leicester from here I can afford a little bit of a lay in before I scoot off up north again.

Today, we get to do more advanced stuff with the beads since we'd learnt the basics of it all yesterday and we do a wide variety of decorating and other techniques such as:

• Gravity twists
• Twirls
• Dots
• Flowers & Encasing
• Applying stringers and twisties to beads

All in all I had a great time and I've really got the bug now to set up my own workshop and start producing properly. Figuring it out I reckon it would be about 1000 quid once you'd got all the equipment (most of that is a kiln for annealing, which you need to do if you want to sell commercially) and I'd have to clear out the shed too to make some space, but for the enjoyment you get from doing it, it might well be worth the investment.

So here are a few pics of what I made, do bare in mind these are my first attempts!

Posted by Abi at 9:02 PM | Comments (1)

May 20, 2006

Bead Making Day 1

Up nice and early again today as I'm off to Leicester for the first day of my 2 day weekend course in bead making with Diana East, which Phil bought me for my birthday.

The day flies by, with us learning all sorts about the properties of glass, how to handle the flame we'd be working with and what to expect and what sort of equipment you need to make your own glass beads, and after the prep talk it's not long before we're actually melting glass for our first lesson, which is how to make stringers and twisties.

Ok so those of you not in the know about bead making will probably find this entry tedious, but none the less I'll write down what we did anyway!

Basically to make glass beads the raw material you have is glass which comes in rods. The rods are pretty thick and so to make finer decoration on beads you need to make it narrower. One way of doing this is by making a stringer, which is basically pulled out glass from the main rod so it's stretched and therefore thinner and easier to handle (imagine spaghetti pasta, but thinner). So we practice the main ways of doing this and once we've produced some usable results we move on to twisties. These are more complicated, but are similar to making stringers in terms of pulling and stretching the glass, only this time you're using 2 different colours and twisting them around each other whilst stretching to get an affect a bit like a barbers pole (stripped). We also did 3 colour twisties too, which were again a bit more difficult but very cool. We also practiced mixing colours so you can make your own shades of colour.

After lunch we then had our first go at making cylinder and doughnut beads and practicing that till we'd got puckering right and the shape reasonable. Puckering is basically the finish you get at the ends of the beads, the result you want is so that the ends are slightly concave inwards towards the main body of the bead which reduces sharp edges and just looks nicer!

By the time we'd done all of this it's not long before we have to pack up for the day and I head off home, quite pleased with my efforts so far and I'd say I've definitely got itchy fingers to get on and do some more!

Posted by Abi at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2006

Interview

Luckily for me I'd arranged this job interview for 7pm this evening, so that gives me more than enough time to chill out and relax a bit after my more than manic past couple of days.

I do a few things, like fill in another application form for a job and drop it down to the surgery in person, they'd posted the form out while I was away and didn't want to delay any further it getting back to them by relying on Royal Mail.

But sure as eggs is eggs time creeps up quickly enough that I need to get my arse into gear and leave the house and head off for my interview.

The first hurdle is to get through the traffic, it's jammed and a result of which I can see that there is no way I'm going to make it to the interview on time. So I ring the surgery and tell them I'm going to be late which they were very understanding about, and I arrive about 10 minutes late.

The interview was interesting, well, it wasn't really an interview but we did lots of chatting about digital photography, the dubiousness of "LOVEFiLM" (ie. a company I worked for previously) in relation to the name (it appears the vet thought it was a porn site!), planes and also a bit about the job.

It appears that it wouldn't be an official training job and so wouldn't lead to any qualifications as such, but as you might imagine plenty of on the job experience. The hours would be ok, except I'd have to stay overnight at the surgery one night in so many to cover 24 hour on call service, but roughly would be 8.30 - 5.30 or 10 - 7 (which might be better for me in terms of traffic). Pay was roughly covered and while it's not brilliant it's better than the average guide range I'd read about because of my age. I also got a quick tour of the surgery, they have a lot of capacity to look after many animals and also specialise in eye surgery (cataracts and the like).

So at the end we decided that it would be a good idea for me to do a couple of trial days in a fortnight to see if it's what I expected, which I think is a good idea, after all, I might hate it. Then again, I might love it. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Posted by Abi at 9:34 PM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2006

Missed Deadline

Another early start again, and by 6 am I am stuffing a bacon sandwich down my gob and drinking tea preparing for the onslaught of today, which by no under estimation is going to be pretty busy to say the least.

Mum is home today and while I leave her to get on inside (I assumed that's what she was doing anyway) I go outside and start to tidy up the outside and the garden and the garage. I get a good bonfire going and then troll around with a wheel barrow and anything that can be burnt and looks redundant goes on the fire.

So there I am slogging my guts out in the garden for a good hour or 2 and go back to get a drink in the house only to discover my Mum has done sweet FA. It was the same story yesterday, when she came home at 2pm she spent most of the afternoon and evening on the telephone to what I can only assume were random people! Seriously she helped very little indeed yesterday and it looks like today is going to be a similar story. Sheess... so after a few very pointed remarks she does manage to do a bit, but most of that is directing the removal men, who, lets face it, already have a pretty good idea of what they need to do without any intervention from people who would rather give orders than actually do them. In the end I lose my rag a bit more but it doesn't work, the price she had to pay for this was not having her clothes folded up to be stored, they got dumped in a bin bag with no care or attention, I mean come on! It's like 11 am, we have to be out by 12 and she's still got a walk in wardrobe full of stuff!

By 11.30 its apparent there is no way we will be ready by 12 so we have to delay until 2 and after a lot of hard work from me, my sister and gale (the cleaner) we are all but evacuated on time. There are only 2 things left to be moved, and that is Pongo and Scrumpy, so while I take Pongo, Dad puts Scrumpy in his convertible and we take them over to the house my parents are staying at until their new house is ready.

By 4pm I am ready to leave and head home back to Phil, but not before I pick up my sisters birthday present to me and have a quick bite to eat. I get home at around 8 pm where I just feel like dying to be honest, I'm knacked, filthy (I fell over twice in the garden!) and feel like I've been rolled around in superglue than sandblasted with dust and crap and then sprayed in 'eau de bonfire.

I guess you could say then it's most definitely time for bed.

Posted by Abi at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2006

Early Bird

Good God, what evil bastard invented 5 am in the morning. It's just not right getting up at this time in the morning, having little time to even consider getting everything working before you head off down the motorway for a 4 hour drive just so you can slog your guts out for the rest of the day.

Luckily for me however, the drive to Wales was ok and the traffic kind and I make it to Wales in just enough time that I don't have to utilise the verge as a portaloo.

I meet my sister at her house and shortly after we head down to Mum's and start with the packing. And let me tell you, my sister wasn't joking when she said my parent's hadn't done much towards extracting themselves from their current pit of hoarding.

So, we start at the top of the house and work our way down and as we do so we clean each room. I swear however my parents house is like the Tardis, I mean a built in wardrobe looks nondescript from the outside, but once you open the door it's a whole new world of crap that needs either throwing out or packing, or just shouldn't exist on this plain of humanity or need.

I mean we do our best, but after an hour of packing stuff we know my Mum hasn't used in the past 8 years we just get brutal and start to burn it - I mean, who the hell needs half a dozen single duvets?! She's only got 3 beds, all of which are king size! Anyway we came, we burnt and we conquered!

Needless to say then the rest of the day was spent packing stuff up and we don't finish until about 11.30 pm by which time I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer (due to tiredness and dust irritation), and after being awake for 20 odd hours you might not be surprised to learn that it doesn't take very long for me to fall to sleep.

Posted by Abi at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2006

Hassle, Death & Stress

I've done a lot of mooching around today, but I did receive a phone call from my sister telling me that my parents were in a right pickle with regards to their impending move. They complete on the sale of their house on Thursday at 12 noon and from what my sister has to say my parents seem to have forgotten about this fact and have done very little towards actually shifting their shite to where they will be staying.

So, after a lot of thinking (I mean do I want to devote 2 days of my life to shifting someone elses crap) I decide that tomorrow I should head off to Wales and help out with the removals. I don't want to, but for some unknown reason I feel duty bound and so I spend the remainder of the day preparing my stuff to take down to Wales. This includes our vacuum cleaner as I'm pretty sure that mum's has as much suck as a sucky thing without it's suckers.

You may wonder why I pack my things up a day before I leave, but the truth is I need to be out of the house by 5 am to make it down to Wales for 9, and this get a full day in... I think we're going to need it.

I also get a phone call off my Mum, but it's bad news. One of our sheep dogs has had to be put down today - she developed a growth under her belly last week and it's been growing ever since. We had her taken to the vet's when we first noticed it and they said it was an abscess and it would pop, but it hasn't so today she got taken to the vets again to see what was going on. This time it's all a bit more serious, after a thorough exam they discover that she has a heart murmur as well, and she needs a load of teeth taken out too. Not only that they think that since the lump has got rock hard, and is hot to touch, and the fact it's grown so much it is most likely to be cancer.

What with the heart problems, her age (she's 14 now) and the likelihood that the cancer has spread too far to make it easy to extract cleanly Mum made the decision to have her put down.

I'll miss Tess, she was always the most obedient of our pets and was super friendly (even if she did snarl a lot at Pongo). So that leaves us with just 2 dogs now, Scrumpy (Tess's Mum) and Pongo.

After that bad news I then get another phone call from (ironically) one of the vet surgeries I'd written to so that the vet could arrange to meet me for an interview. Not a problem but I'd just made plans to go to Wales so we sorted something out for Friday when I should be home.

It's quite difficult sounding professional when you've just had bad news, are sobbing away and have to hide all that away while you're singing you're own praises. Don't get me wrong, I can do the emotional detachment necessary for working with animals, but it's a bit different when it's your own pets.

Posted by Abi at 9:40 PM | Comments (1)

May 15, 2006

What did I do...

And that my friends is a very good question. I'm sitting here pondering what on earth it was I filled my day with today, and so far nothing has sprung to mind.

Oh yes, I can think of one thing. After nearly a months absence from the gym I decided today would be as good a day as any to start of my fitness regime again. I've not purposely been avoiding the gym by any means, what with being in Wales for a week, popping to Greece for nearly a fortnight and having double glazing men rampaging around the house, so really I've had little opportunity to go... I've found though that even after all the interruptions my enthusiasm, and let's face it, just having the umph to go, have been waning as the days tick by.

However, I was spurred on to go today when I finally jumped (well not jumped cos that would probably break them) on the scales and realised that I'd put on 5 lbs in little over a month. I can attribute this gain to several things such as not exercising, eating all sorts of grub that I really shouldn't be shovelling down my gullet and becoming dehydrated and as a consequence my body storing water since it probably thinks it, like much of the south east of england at the moment, is in a drought.

So without giving myself time to find something else to do which would obviously be much more important than going to the gym ;) I get changed and head on over there. I was really dreading it to be honest, and felt even more crest fallen when I walked into the gym to see my personal trainer, who by now probably thought I'd given up the ghost and become a gym drop out. He was cool though and after a brief catch up I start out with the routine I'd been doing before my temporary departure from the sweat laden world of treadmills and weights.

All in all I didn't do too badly - I managed the same amount of time running none stop on the treadmill and found the weights challenging but not impossible. The one thing I did notice though was that my heart rate was high, where as previously it had been just about in the right zone when I was exercising. I guess it goes to show that you've got to keep it going to retain the benefits of exercise.

Posted by Abi at 9:53 PM | Comments (1)

May 14, 2006

29 Years

That time of year again, and I've hit the dizzy heights of 21 + 8, not long until I'm 30 now (shocking!).

It's been a really quiet day for me, other than the excitement of opening prezzies and cards.. Phil has very kindly got me a weekend worth of training up in Leicester to learn how to make glass beads with a lady called Diana East who makes some very nice pieces, so next weekend I'll hopefully be busy learning something new and exciting! Along with that, and very appropriately I also got some very good books about glass bead making from my friends (I sense some communications between Mr. Phil et al!) all of which will prove handy I've no doubt, so I'd better make time to do some ready before I go away. I also get what looks like a bird house to put up in the garden, but on closer inspection (and after reading the instructions) it turns out to be a butterfly house which when put in the right place and loaded up with sugar water provides a nice habitat and safe house for the little critters for when they want to roost and lay eggs. I've already spied a good place for it to go so it's just a matter of hanging it from some sort of suitable hook.

So, since it's my birthday I treat myself to a slap up brunch, american pancakes, eggs, bacon and maple syrup on top which was bloody gorgeous to say the least and then once again we head to homebase to get some more of the wooden edging I got earlier in the week to complete the front garden - it was a pain in the arse to install let me tell you, but it's worth it - it will look even better once the wood has weathered a bit.

I then settle down to watch some good old kids films (batteries not included, Matilda) whilst doing some more cross stitch and then set about cooking dinner, which tonight ladies and gentlemen is that good old british classic, sausages, mash and onion gravy. Delicious!

Posted by Abi at 9:43 PM | Comments (1)

May 13, 2006

A Matter Of Tog

Ah, the weekend - a time for gentle relaxation and usually an opportunity to spend some money on something, or so you'd think....

First of all, Phil kindly drills a big old hole in the outside wall so that I can resurrect the washing line by inserting a very heavy duty special medieval type eye bold which expands when you screw it in so we can attach one end of the line to it , and with that done we decided that we needed to extend the irrigation system in the garden so that the plants I'm planning on putting in pots can get some water when they need it, and we can rearrange it slightly better so pipes aren't running over the path and therefore slightly less obvious. So, with a rough idea of what we want to do we head off to homebase but fail miserably to buy any of the bits we need because they simply don't have anything there.

So we head off home and when we get back the house is like an oven. I'd noticed that over the past couple of nights I'd been flinging the duvet off me in the middle of the night because it was so hot, and when we take a gander at the internal thermometer that we have we realise that inside the house is about 22 degrees, and upstairs is even warmer. I can put this down to 2 things, a) we've had a spell of warm weather and b) the double glazing is doing as it should, which is great, except it's uncomfortable at night.

With that in mind we have a look around on the internet to see if we can get a combination duvet, ie. a duvet that is in fact 2 duvets in one that are joined together - one is around 9 togs, and the other is around 4, ideal for the the summer. The duvet we have on the bed at the moment is probably around 13.5. It looks like Debenhams might have a good match so we head off to Banbury to see if we can get said new duvet. Well, they had every duvet except the one we wanted, so they lost out on about 150 smackers.

It wasn't an entirely wasted trip though since Banbury also have an exceptionally large homebase which makes our local one look like a wendy house so we head over there to see if they might have the extra irrigation stuff that we need, and BINGO! they do, so we manage to get all the bits that we want in one go.

Back home and Phil and I both get busy rearranging the irrigation and the like and after doing that it's not long before we're out of the door again, this time heading off to the Indian restaurant where I'm being treated to a birthday dinner a day early - very nice too it was :)

Posted by Abi at 9:21 PM | Comments (0)

May 12, 2006

Not A Lot

Things are a little on the sparse front today and I guess you could say the majority of my time has been spent mooching around doing very little of anything.

I did however spend a lot of time doing my x-stitch, I'm afraid I've reached OCD capacity again and thanks to that I've made quite a bit of progress with it, who knows at this rate I might have it finished by the end of the month!

I also popped out to run various errands, like going to the post office to pick up a parcel that I missed yesterday, and then heading into town primarily to pick up some of the key covers you can get so you can tell what key opens what door with out too much effort - and whilst I was getting those I also picked up a load of veg and salad stuff from the local sellers since there was a market on in the town centre, but failed miserably to get the one thing I needed which was parsley - not because they didn't have any, but because I simply forget to pick it up... never mind a quick stop at Tesco and I was fully stocked and ready to make fish cakes for tea.

I also managed to pick up yet another cross stitch, this is another one in the same series as the one that I'm doing now, and I figure when I have finished both of them they'll look rather cool framed and hung together.

The afternoon is pretty much a blur, but I do manage to prepare the fishcakes with plenty of time to spare and of course, do some more cross stitch :) I also hear that they've let my dad out of the hospital - it appears that he's got 3 kidney stones, one of which is in his bladder, the other 2 in the tubes ready to drop into the bladder. He's got an appointment on Monday next week to go get the remaining ones blasted out, so hopefully he'll be fully recovered by next week.

Posted by Abi at 10:05 AM | Comments (1)

May 11, 2006

Gardening Again

The sun is shining again (it's been a very good week for weather so far) and so today I make it my mission to get on and sort out the front garden since it's been lacking much attention since last year.

The main job to do is the weeding, since we've got a rather large flower bed out the front, and whilst it's been planted with plenty of shrubs and creepers there are still plenty of places for the weeds to get through - this year it seems to be particularly popular with chick weed for some reason, which whilst is easy to pull up gets everywhere very easily.

Whilst I'm weeding away (takes me the best part of a couple of hours) I decide that we should really put some edging along the flower bed which follows the line of the front path. The people who used to own the house had put some plastic retainer stuff in (to keep the stones for the path on the path, and the soil from the flower bed in the flower bed) but it's falling apart on a daily basis so really needs to be replaced. So I set about digging a small trench along the border line of both ready to put in some wooden edging, which hopefully will last a bit longer than the plastic stuff.

After I've finished that I then nip to homebase to pick up one roll of the edging I'm hoping to use, it's like half circle posts that are around 12 inches high and all strung together in a line. I also pick up a super strong bolt thing that we need to insert into the wall at the back of the house so that I can put up the washing line again - an unfortunate casualty of the our double glazing exercise. I also spy a rather nice set of hanging solar lights - a trio of star shaped LEDs encased in plastic domes, so I got them too to add a bit more night time colour to the garden.

Back home and it really is quite warm by now so that leaves me finished for the day, it's way to hot to be in the garden really, especially if you're exhurting yourself with jobs to be done and instead I set up the parasol and relax in the shade for a while. It was one of those hours where you wish you had a camera as it seems our resident birds are getting quite cocky when it comes to invading the garden for goodies, I could have got a number of really good shots of them, including 2 sparrows who were having a bitch fight on the garden fence about one thing or another.

Later on when Phil gets home I do dinner - we haven't been shopping in ages so I'm scrapping the barrel on that front hehehe.... and after that Phil tinkers with the camera to get some shots of the moon. Its a very rare occassion we have clear skies and little light pollution, but tonight was one of them and I have to say they came out pretty well, you can even see the crater Tycho and it's ray system quite clearly.

Oh, and it looks like my dad is in for another night at the hospital - it seems the "specialist" forgot to see him yesterday... says it all dunnit.

Posted by Abi at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2006

Out & About

I forgot to mention yesterday something that I did do that was more useful than making tea and the like for workmen.

Whilst I was away in Greece I got to thinking about what I should do with this career change I've been planning and after much mulling over I came to the conclusion that yes, I do still want to leave IT and perhaps take up a career in animal care. I've always wanted to do it, ever since I was a kid I had grand ideas of becoming a vet, but falling short in the academic requirements I never quite made it. So what could I do that is animal related but not as grueling as training up to be a vet (7 years of study no less!). Veterinary Nurse springed to mind as it happens.

So yesterday I set about finding out how I actually get to do Veterinary Nursing. It appears that you have to first of all get a placement / job with a vet surgery that is registered as an approved training practice with the Royal Society of Veterinary Surgeons, and from there it takes you 2 years of on the job training and day release to college to qualify fully as a nurse.

With that in mind then I get a list of all the approved practices in my area and start to ring around to see if any of them have any availability to take on a student nurse at the moment. Of course most of them didn't, just the usual reply of "send us a CV and we'll keep it on file"... but just as I was giving up one call I placed said that in fact they were thinking of taking on a student in the near future, however the senior partner wasn't in at the moment so if I left a number they'd give me a ring back as soon as they could.

Pessimistic me thought that might have been yet another brush off, but as it happens they were true to their word and I got a call back about an hour later from one of the partners, so we had a bit of a chat and she asked me to send in my CV and covering letter and although she was going away for a week she'd have a look at it when she got back and let me know.

And so back to what I've been doing today then - and that was to brush up my CV, do a suitable covering letter and then hand delivery it to the surgery for perusal. The job would be about 20 miles from here (if I get it) which is about 30 mins either way in the car, but I'm not going to jinx anything by writing anymore about it, I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope they give me a chance.... it's proving everso difficult to get ANY job that isn't IT - so all this tosh about a degree being a must to get a job, it's a load of bull.

Along with all that then I also spend a good deal of time in the back garden trying to sort it out a little. Seems the hot, wet and sunny weather has provoked everything to go into overdrive, including the weeds. So I've extracted all unwanted plants, mown the grass and trimmed back anything overgrown. I've also therefore managed to top up my tan from Greece :)

Not so good news came in the form of a phone call from my sister who told me they were taking my Dad to the hospital since the kidney stone that has been giving him trouble for a couple of months has reached such proportions that he can hardly move or pee or anything - so he's been ferried off for the tender mercies of the NHS overnight to keep him monitored and fill him full of fluids and see if they can do some pain management - he's booked in to have the stone blasted on Tuesday next week, so hopefully they can do something to keep him comfortable until then.

Posted by Abi at 9:40 PM | Comments (1)

May 9, 2006

Double Glazing II

The lads are back today and with the weather having eased off a great deal from yesterday they are in fine form and ready to complete the installation of our windows. They've got trickier stuff to do as it happens - the front and back doors to start and the bathroom, lounge and kitchen windows and some cladding to do at the front of the house that I arranged to get done yesterday as a bit of an extra - just to finish off the outside of the house and to have the whole of the house in keeping with itself.

I get to do even less today personally than I did yesterday with the lounge in a state unsuitable for watching TV so I potter around on the computer for the majority of the day as well as keeping up with tea and refreshment duties!

By about 5 pm they are all done and I have to say they've done a really good job. Not only were they clean and tidy and picked up all of the mess they'd made (including hoovering!) but they have done a super job of finishing the windows inside and out. The whole job has given the house such an incredible freshness and face lift it was well worth forking out to get it done. The hallway is now much lighter than it was before, thanks to the new front door, and it also looks a lot bigger (I think that's because the new door is white rather than the dark brown the old one was - which is handy cos it fits in with the decor or the hallway much more). The kitchen door is also great - we had a door which is primarily glass put in there and so it also lets in loads more light and makes everything much more airy. Another thing I've noticed that with all the windows shut, the house is now much more quieter than it was, I can hardly hear the traffic going by, and as an added bonus we now are draft free (but I guess I won't be able to test that out properly until winter sets in).

So all in all, the windows are great, and the company we used... well I'd recommend them. FWIW, they were M & S Windows (Witney) Ltd - not only did they give a very competitive quote but they were easy to deal with, friendly and not in the slightest bit pushy when it came the sales rep (well, we left it a whole year from getting the quote to actually ordering!).

Posted by Abi at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

May 8, 2006

Double Glazing

Well, there is nothing quite like getting back into the swing of things with a bang is there :) Before I went away I booked in the double glazing men to finally come and fit our windows - and as it happens today is their first scheduled day to come and do the job. On waking however it quickly became apparent that nobody *in their right mind* would be bothered to come and fit windows in this weather, I mean it is pouring down, a kind of delayed April showers.

So, imagine my surprise when there is a knock on the door at 9 am, and standing there are 3 very wet looking workmen ready to install the windows. So I prep them up with a cup of tea and a biscuit and they start about doing the job. Handily, their experience has done them proud in dealing with adverse weather conditions (lets face it, in the UK you don't know what the weather will do from one moment to the next) and by looking at the existing windows and seeing which ones have got rain drops on them and which ones don't they decide to start at the front of the house since the rain is falling in such a way as to not cause to many problems with the inside of the house getting wet.

And so on they go, and at around 2pm they've fitted 3 of the windows and finally give into the elements and head off for the day - they'll be back tomorrow. I have to say I think they've come on leaps and bounds considering the weather that they were having to deal with, they were all squelching around by the time they left with shoes full of water and I dare say they soaked through to the skin too.

As for me, well I've not been able to do that much really what with workmen everywhere, so I've spent the day doing my final catchup with the TV that Phil recorded for me whilst I was away and brewing pots of tea at regular intervals to keep the troops happy.

Oh, and as a quick aside, the photo's I'm putting in with recent entries are all ones I took whilst I was away, when I run out of interesting ones it will be back to the same randomness as before.

Posted by Abi at 9:33 PM | Comments (1)

May 7, 2006

Irrigation

Back to some sort of normality today and after a nice lay in bed I'm up and about and catching up with some more TV that I'd missed. So, after I'd managed to wake Phil up with Strictly Dance Fever I do breakfast which is scrambled eggs and bacon... bloody gorgeous even if I do say so myself. If there is one thing I can cook, and cook well its scrambled eggs, and the secret is to add some eggs with out the white bits, makes them nice and rich.

After we've had brunch, we zip off to homebase where we get an irrigation system for the garden - we've loads of stuff in pots and so the plants can't get water from the ground and rely on us watering them. And when you consider that can be a bit hit and miss we figured an automated system would be much better than a human run one, which more often than not fails to deliver anything :)

I then settle down to watch even more TV, and to do some cross stitch whilst Phil plays around with his pipes and with all that activity the afternoon soon disappears and we get chinese take out for dinner since the fridge is devoid of anything other than butter and tomato puree.

Posted by Abi at 9:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 6, 2006

Cutting It Fine

Ah well back to the land of the living for me today after spending 10 days in Greece. The weather was a little hit and miss, but it was nice to potter around and do enjoyable things - like messing with the camera lots and going on safari by myself around the islands dirt tracks, getting lost, getting found and generally not giving a toss about anything!

Have to say though, I very nearly didn't get back as scheduled today. We arrived at the airport at 6.45 am, and our flight was due to leave at 6.55 am. So we all did our best to pull distraught faces at the check in desk when we were told that the flight was closed and we wouldn't be getting on it. Kindness prevailed however and they allowed us on, something that you'd not get over here if you were so late for a flight!

Anyway, after a brief stop in Athens we then head out back to Heathrow and get in early. Phil picks me up from the airport and drives me home and after that we nip into Oxford to get a KFC since we both had a craving for it. Greek food is nice, but needs must when you just get that urge for some junk down your gullet! While we were in Oxford Phil picked up his new fancy razor that he'd been eyeing up before I went away (and with 60 quid off the marked price, it was a good deal) and then we headed home, where we did very little other than catch up on some of the TV I'd missed since I've been away.... there is plenty of it - should keep me busy for a good while!

Posted by Abi at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2006

Departure

Lets see, its 12.21 pm and I've still not managed to do anything practical towards my impending departure abroad. Hmph. I guess I really should do something about that, for example finishing packing my case, charge my IPOD.... just generally GET MY SHIT TOGETHER!

Cue bright idea number 1. Stop writing in blog and get off said fat butt and do something about it.

That's a good idea, I'll do that. So adios for a couple of days everyone, be back soon, hopefully with slightly less insipid skin colour too. It's 25 degrees out there today, with bright sunshine dontcha know...

I'm rambling... I'll go now.

Posted by Abi at 12:21 PM | Comments (1)

April 24, 2006

Makin' Music

It's been a pretty busy day all around for me today. I don't know if I mentioned it before or not, but I'm off to Greece for 10 days on Tuesday since my presence is required for some legal gubbins and what not over there. So I've had to rather hastily had to book a flight to get me over there in a timely manner.

The flight though is the easy bit, I did that online and just have to pick my ticket up at the airport, however I have spent the best part of today arranging all the other associated things that need to be done in order to go away.

I've had to sort out some Euros, find my passport, driving license and birth certificate, pack a case and also arrange some way or the other for me to get to the airport (I don't really want to fork out for 10 days of parking at the airport cos it will cost a bomb). The first lot of stuff I manage to arrange easily enough, along with ringing the bank, cancelling the appointment with BMW to fix my parking sensors, rearranging the double glazing men so they don't turn up whilst I'm gone and other such admin type things. However the transport to the airport is a PITA to say the least.

Ordinarily I would have got Phil to take me down after work (its a night flight) but poor old Phil has to entertain some people that are visiting his office, and it looks like he won't be home until very late for the next couple of days. So I looked at the trains (2 hours of travel, including the underground (ikky!), and then check out the buses (would have to get a taxi to Oxford, then spend 1.5 hours on a bus). So I decided to take the easy option in the end and just book a taxi from home to the airport. It'll cost £55, but WTF, its just *easier* all around.

So with the majority of my tasks done I then spend the rest of the afternoon, and most of the evening (until Phil gets home at around 9pm) messing with EJAY Techno 4 which Phil had bought off Ebay.

First impressions, its a nippy bit of software and is easy to use. Second impressions... it's as wobbly as jelly. It randomly crashes (this I discover after I've spent hours on a song) and has now developed a glitch whereby it won't save at all - you can only export files as WAV once in any session before it flakes out and dies miserably.

So, good if you want to dabble and don't intend on being the next Mozart or Paul Oakenfold and don't mind if your work gets eaten up by buggy code. If however you get a taste for doing your own music I'd suggest you go for a bit of software that isn't so unreliable.

Oh, and you can listen to my tune if you like. It's not fab, but almost worthy of my putting on my IPOD.

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2006

Vegetation

And I'm not just referring to Phil and my serious lack of activity today :) It seems my greenhouse has come along leaps and bounds with lots of things sprouting up thanks to Phil's care and attention whilst I've been away. He's also been busy weeding the garden as well to try and keep on top of things in that department, and something I'm very appreciative of since I hate weeding!

We don't get up to very much at all really today, however we do pop to town so I can pick up a suitcase (it appears my presence is required in Greece for some legal and financial business, and so I've had to book a last minute flight out there for Tuesday evening) and then head to the garden center. We were going to pick up some plants but Phil decided it might be better if we actually bought them when I get back from Greece, so for today we just had a look around and see what the possibilities were, and there seems to be plenty for what we need, which is primarily lots of creepers for the front (to limit the amount of weeding that needs to be done).

And since were there already we walk over to the fish and aquatic center to see what they have on offer as well - pretty much the usual stuff but they did have some terrapins which were well cute! I think we'd have almost gotten one if it had not been for the fact we'd need a 200 litre tank to house 1 adult - so we decided that maybe a tortoise would be a better option at some point in the distant future :)

Not much happens after that really other than nipping to the supermarket to get some supplies for tea - and the rest of the day is completely and utterly wasted by watching oodles of TV and some films, namely Valiant and Bad Santa - both of which were suitably entertaining for Sunday viewing :)

Posted by Abi at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2006

Butterflies

Well, there isn't much for me to do today other than pack my own bags up (makes a change from packing other crap!) and head off back home to spend some time with Phil.

However before I do go home I decide to take a trip to the local butterfly farm and rain forest centre which isn't too far from my parents. I've got the camera here so it might be cool to see if I can get any decent shots of pretty things. When I tell my sister and her boyfriend of my plan they decide it might be nice to come along as well, so once they've run a few errands of their own we head off to go see what we can see.

Although the butterfly house is quite small, it was packed with a myriad of flying insects and the like, and the butterflies it has to be said were magnificent. However it took a good 15 mins for my camera lenses to demist and once I'd sorted that out actually getting shots of the flightwise buggers proved to be quite difficult! The most impressive thing we saw wasn't a butterfly at all, but a Giant Atlas Moth, who rather handily is nocturnal and so remained perfectly still while I got some photo's of it - the most incredible thing about it was that the tips of it's wings are coloured to look exactly like snake heads (see photo) and I have to say, it's done a pretty good job mimicking mother nature.

It's not long though before the heat of the tropical house beats us and we head out, grab an ice cream on the way then drive back to my parents where I hang around for a while then decide I should be going and leave at about 2.15.

Needless to say then I was quite impressed when I get back home at around 6pm, making a journey time of 3.45 hours - the quickest I've ever made the trip and I wasn't even speeding.

Posted by Abi at 9:02 PM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2006

Humiliated

Although I am to go into work today again, first things first and I have to take Scrumpy, our eldest dog, to the vet's. She seems to have been in season for the last 2 months or so and it doesn't want to let up, the poor mutt has been on a constant period which isn't fun for anyone. So this morning I take her down to the vet to try and see if they can figure out what's wrong with her.

Of course the first trauma is getting her into the car - her back legs aren't what they used to be so knowing she wouldn't be able to make the leap into the back seat I push the passenger side front seat all the way back and put her in the footwell (of course making sure there are plenty of blankets down because I don't want her to blob all over the leather seats!). We get to the vets in once piece, but the next problem is actually getting her into the vets. She's not having any of it and drops like a dead weight and digs her claws into the tarmac. So insistent is she I eventually have to resort into carrying her into the examination room (and let me tell ya, at 20KG she ain't no light weight!).

Once we've finally hoisted her on to the exam table the poor sausage then has to endure the vet giving her internal exams of her butt and puppy canal and then has a thermometer hooted up there as well just for good measure. And as if that wasn't enough they decide to give her an ultra sound of her womb - so out come the clippers and 20 seconds later she's now devoid of her belly hair and lathered in something similar to KY Jelly. It seems the trauma was worth it though since the scan didn't reveal anything cancerous.

The vet though it might be hormonal so he's given her a jab of steroids which should hopefully stop the bleeding in a week or so. If that doesn't work however the only viable option then is for to get a hysterectomy, which at her age might be a bit risky - we'll just have to wait and see what happens I guess.

So 40 quid lighter and one very miffed dog afterwards we head on back home so I can drop her off and then get to work.

By the time 4pm comes around there is no work left to do whatsoever so I go pick my sister up from work and after showing her my parents new house we go home and while she prepares tea I do some more packing - this time it's my Mum's posh dining set which she's had for like 30 years or something daft like that - but after a lot of wrapping and newsprint messiness it's all boxed up and ready to go.

Posted by Abi at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2006

Spy In Camp

Yawn... man I shouldn't have stayed up quite so late reading that book, because today my eyes are like p*ss holes in the snow and I feel like I haven't slept at all. Nevermind, I need to get to work, so after I gulped down some food that's exactly what I do.

Today is basically a repeat of yesterday to be honest, but with the added advantage that all the typing I did yesterday has much improved my typing speed back to it's original WPM of about 120, something which has been sadly dwindling since I left the office a couple of years ago. It's nice to know that typing is much like riding a bike, you don't really forget how to do it properly.

And because of that I've finished all the work there is to do at about 4.30 pm and so head on out to my parents new house to see if the builder has actually started any of the work yet, since he was suppose to start yesterday as promised to my parents before they left for holidays. So I go and do my spy investigation and much to my disappointment it appears that no work has started on the property yet and so ring my Mum to tell her as much, so that she can ring the builder and sound him out (ie. find out if he lies about starting the work or not...).

After the quick pit stop then I head back on over to my parents old house and continue to pack up various bits and pieces, including pictures and my Mum's prized Mason's pottery which took up the majority of the evening since you have to be considerably more careful with things that break easily, unlike books where you can just throw them into a box and pray you don't make the box too heavy to lift.

Posted by Abi at 9:38 PM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2006

Typing

So, up with the larks this morning (and that's no work of a lie since my parents have the most pointless curtains in the universe in their guest bedroom that don't block out any sunlight whatsoever) and getting ready for work. It's still raining here which is no surprise and by the time I'm in the office it's still raining, as it is by the time I leave as well.

I think it took me all of about 2 minutes to remember how to use DPS and Word Perfect (after a 2 year abstinence from it) and soon enough I'm motoring along churning out a plentiful supply of work that my Dad had left before they flew on holidays. By the end of play I'm pretty much caught up with all the outstanding work (including that done by the Locum today) and so we all trot off home.

I spend most of the evening packing stuff up for my parents move at the end of the month, and tonight's target was the majority of what they have in the lounge, so mainly DVD's, LP's, CD's and books and have made pretty good progress with that side of things by the time we have dinner.

What is left of the evening is devoted to entertaining ones self with some more tv and drinking tea, and ultimately reading some more of the new Jeffrey Deaver book, The Twelfth Card- which is annoyingly one of those books where you think to yourself, "oh just one more chapter..." which actually means you're up until the small hours of the morning because you just have to find out what happens next....

Posted by Abi at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2006

Croeso Yr Cymru

Another busy morning for me as I prepare all my stuff to head off to Wales today.

I've been asked by my Mum to do some work in their office for a couple of days whilst they are away to help with the mounds of conveyancing that they have on the boil at the moment, and since they have a locum in to cover for Dad whilst he's basking in the Greek sunshine, someone will need to type up all the work she is dictating.

I head off at around noon and get to Wales in good time and early enough not to miss dinner which my sister had cooked, very nice too it was :)

The rest of the evening was spent catching up with the old times and watching the box... and of course fussing the dogs since it's been ages since I saw them last....

... and Pongo our Pekingese has now got a song, it goes something like "He's a stinky dirty filthy pekingese-e" (repeat several times until it gets annoying).

Posted by Abi at 9:06 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2006

Aborted

Well, the plan for today was that I'd be taking my friend over to Great Yarmouth so he could surprise his folks with a visit, since he's not told them he's in the country.

However, after yet another English Breakfast he's insisting on catching the train over there rather than allow us to drive him (about 7 hours in total). I put up as much of a fight as I can muster but to little avail, so at around noon we drop him off at the station and he heads off eastwards and towards the coast (via London).

It's been lovely to see him again (shame the rest of his family couldn't make it over) but hopefully it will only be several months before we meet up again if Phil and I decide to go over for our summer vacation.

So after suddenly regaining the majority of the day we suitably waste most of it by sleeping, or watching TV. We do however go out twice, once for fish and chips and the second time to go to the cinema to watch Ice Age 2, which while amusing in places wasn't a patch on the first one.

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2006

English Breakfast

Considering I went to sleep so early this morning, I'm quite impressed with myself that I'm up at 8 am *and* being social with it!

Half of our group of revellers from last night head off early enough that they miss out on a rather super english breakfast buffet of goodies cooked by our hosts, and so not to be impolite the remainder of the group (ie. me and my friend) do our utmost to make some sort of impact on the 20 or so sausages, rashers of bacon, eggs, beans, mushroom and toast as we can.

After an ample feast and a phone call from my mum who has now given me my instructions for my visit to Wales later on this week (including buying a cooker, taking the dog to the vets, packing up their house ready for their move when the come back oh and of course actually working in their office) we head back home again and when we arrive literally spend enough to to recharge our batteries yet again (mine are just about all out of juice!).

When we get home we then hand out easter eggs and chocolate goodies... I'm now the proud owner of 7 Lindt Gold bunnies thanks to Phil, bless him, they are going to last a life time!!!

I've just enough will power though to cook American Chicken Pie for tea which goes down well, and then we watch The Day After Tomorrow... death and destruction is always a good way to wind down for sleep!

Posted by Abi at 9:34 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2006

Arrivals

I'm up at what feels like Satan's idea of torture this morning and winding my way towards Heathrow airport to arrive at around 7.30am.

The trip to the airport is fine, and after a little hanging around at the arrivals lounge my visitor arrives and we then head off into West London so that he can go visit a friend briefly before we head home so we can relax a bit before we go out again, this time to Harlow, to visit our mutual friend who's residing there whilst he tries to recover from a stroke.

We had a good visit at the hospital as a whole troop of friends turned up to entertain my ill friend. We go lots of laughter and smiles and his progression is impressive from the last time I visited. He's now regained movement in his right hand side and is generally much more with it and a lot less tired than he was a fortnight ago, he was also showing us what he could do with his movement and trying desperately to communicate with us - he still can't talk but I think that is mainly due to the tracheotomy that he still has. I have to say though I think I might nick name him "slimer" from now on since he landed a big flob of goo on me from 8 feet away when he had a bit of a coughing fit!

After we've been chucked out from the hospital we then head over to another friends house where we generally sit around, have a few drinks and the like and catch up on old times, and I finally meander to bed at around 2 am.

Needless to say, I'm out like a light.

Posted by Abi at 9:23 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2006

Pom Pom

With all of my activity of yesterday, today seems much like a holiday in comparison, and even better it's a bank holiday here today so it means Phil gets a day off too.

I've not got a whole lot of anything on my list of things to do and so I spend the morning pottering around mainly in the garden. We do pop to the local garden center however and pick up some very nasty spiky bushes to plant outside our back gate to try and dissuade the local youth population to stop using our alley as a short cut since they can't be arsed to walk the extra 25 yards or so to get where it appears a small herd of troublesome teenagers like to hang out and cause trouble.

With the spiky plants embedded in the ground Phil takes a nap (he's not feeling 100% at the moment) and I head off to the gym for my session with my personal trainer.

The session went really well and I think I even managed to impress myself to some degree. I managed 18 minutes running without any breaks which at the speed I was running at was about 2 miles in total, and my heart rate was just a little above what the personal trainer expected... so lots of progress on that front! He's cut down the amount of cardio I'm doing though to no more than 40 minutes, and even with that reduction I still burnt off about 800 cals during my hour of work out.

When I get back home I busy myself with some more jobs in the garden such as planting some of the many flower seeds I've been accumulating over the past fortnight or so. In doing that I can spot a theme running through my choices and nearly all the flower seeds I've got will hopefully result in blue or black flowers which if they germinate should look rather swish.

After the planting I then set about mowing the lawn front and back whilst Phil is still asleep as to minimise the chances of him sneezing the rest of the day because of the grass pollen, and after that I settle down to do some bits and pieces in the house.

I also get around to making my Easter Chick for my friend who is in hospital (with some help from Phil) and after that it's time for bed since I have to be at Heathrow by 7.30 am tomorrow morning to pick up my transatlantic visitor.

Posted by Abi at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2006

Cleaning & Shopping

Up very bright and early today so that I can fit in everything I need to do before the evening rushes in and I don't have the advantage of daylight.

First up is a trip to the supermarket to stock up on food needed for me to be a good hostess to our guest who is arriving on Saturday, and I also treat myself to a new music album whilst I'm at it. The shopping takes for ever, but eventually I manage to extract myself from the hoards of equally frustrated shoppers who have the added disadvantage of having to shop with kids who have obviously been on easter holidays for way too long!

Back home and after I've unpacked the shopping (and repacked the freezer so full of stuff even an rubric cube buff would have trouble reconstructing the intricate puzzle I've managed to make out of frozen peas, chicken, fish fingers and pizza's), I start to clean the house top to bottom.

[insert 6 hours of cleaning here....]

I'm absolutely phuqued by the time I'm done but luckily the repair job Phil did on the futon after I broke it last night has worked well enough that I didn't have to rush out and get a new bed to add to my exhausting work load. It seems "no more nails" does exactly what it says on the tin!

Anyway the house is gleaming, I've caught up with the washing and even managed to make tea as well.

Posted by Abi at 9:40 PM | Comments (1)

April 12, 2006

Easter Egg Hunt

So Easter is nearly upon us and so it would make some kind of sense if I got my arse into gear and went out and got Phil's Easter egg.

I'd seen one in Tesco a couple of days ago that I thought would suit him down the to ground, it was enormous (and considering when I'd asked Phil what sort of egg he'd like all he asked for was a "huge" one I thought it would be ideal). However I didn't buy it when I saw it since I was in a bit of a rush and thought I'd just come back, and so dutifully today I head back out to Tesco to pick up said egg.

Bugger. I shouldn't have waited because Tesco had very slim pickings of any kind of easter eggs at all. Slightly disheartened then that I couldn't get the egg I wanted I headed into town to see if the shops there had anything on offer. Let me tell you the choices were hugely crap - thinking about it I should have learnt this lesson from last year as I seem to remember having problems with getting easter eggs then as well. Nevermind, I eventually choose an egg which while isn't what I really wanted it is of another favoured genre by Mr. Phil.

Whilst I'm out I also nip to the local haberdashery and get some yellow wool, sticky on eyes and some pipe cleaners. My friend is still in hospital and whilst I'm sure he'd like to get hold of some chocolate he's not allowed. So as an easter present to him I'm going to make him an easter chick in good old fashioned blue peter style with nothing but some odds and sods and a lot of imagination!

By the time I get home I've just got enough time to eat some lunch and let it go down before I head out to the gym again. I don't do very well today and feel absolutely shattered by the time I've finished. As it happens I see my personal trainer whilst I'm there and mention to him that I'm zonked. He suggested that we delay my session with him until Friday so I can get a day's rest and he can re-evaluate what I'm doing to see if it's too much.

I'm relived to say the least because I don't think I could have made it through an hours session with him tomorrow without running the risk of dying or some other such inconvenience... it also means I have to rearrange my plans for tomorrow and Friday. We've got visitors at the weekend and so I need to clean the house tomorrow in stead of Friday (I won't have time to do it then).

Posted by Abi at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2006

Taking Stock

Things are looking a bit brighter today as my blisters are drying out nicely, sufficiently so that the pain has subsided enough so I can walk properly again.

However, despite my new found mobility I spend the morning finishing off the forms I've been doing for my Mum and after a couple of hours of graft they are all completed and ready to be sent off to my parents so they can print them out and start using them.

With that done I then head out to PC World to pick up some things. Primarily I'm after lots of stock photography that I can use as and when I need it, and also a load of fonts too. I've an idea brewing and for that I need the above. I manage to get more than I need (some 10,000 fonts and about 750,000 stock photography photos) and so with my purchases bagged I head home with my goodies and get back in enough time to get some lunch and then head off to the gym.

Considering the poor state of repair of my feet I actually do fine at the gym and manage to bump up my running time by a little bit, but even a little bit is an improvement so I'm happy with that.

The rest of the evening rushes by after I've cooked tea and done the usual evening activities of watching the box and generally relaxing.

Posted by Abi at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2006

Foot Rest

Ouch.... ouch.... ouch.... 3 words that nicely sum up how my feet feel today. I'm finding it very difficult to walk anywhere at great speed and if I do walk it's on the sides of my feet to avoid putting any pressure on the blisters which have now popped and are weeping. Lovely eh?

So then it is unrealistic that I can fill my day with anything other than sitting at the computer and doing work for my mum on those forms, and that's what I do for what feels like enough hours that I could have probably baked a fresh loaf of bread from scratch, eaten it and dealt with the aftermath.

I don't even go to the gym because I know that I would be able to do very little there in my current condition - and to be honest I'm a bit peeved that I can't go because this week is going to be short on gym time as it is due to visitors at the end of the week. Oh well, I've got plenty of lifetime to make up the difference (hopefully!).

On the brighter side of things being housebound has resulted in me making lots of progress with the work I'm doing, so hopefully it will be all done by tomorrow....

... another thing off my plate then.

Posted by Abi at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)

April 8, 2006

Drinkipoos

Despite it being the weekend that in no way means I'm slouching around in bed all day doing sweet FA.

First things first and I'm off to the Gym for my usual hour or so of exercise, and for a change it is blissfully quiet with all but 3 other people in there at the same time as me.

When I get home there is enough time to cook Phil and I a substantial lunch as we're heading off to London later to go out in Soho to share some drinks with a friend who's birthday has arrived. And so as soon as we've eaten I then take a shower and get ready.

That sounds relatively easy you might think, but after literally trying on every outfit I have in my wardrobe I've drawn a blank as to what to wear. You see everything is either too big, or just that bit too small to be remarkably uncomfortable. However I do finally get something that looks vaguely decent and once we've packed the bags for our overnight stay we're off down the motorway heading into the big smoke.

We arrive at my friends house with just enough time to drop off our bags and then make our way to the tube to get to Soho. However disaster strikes when it appears the tube station is actually a fair old trog down the road and the result of which has left me with 2 very huge blisters on the balls of my feet. That means that not only am I pissed off that the shoes I'd chosen because I knew they didn't rub have indeed produced some nicely fluid filled sacks on my soles but I'm temporarily disabled because walking is excruciatingly painful.

I just about make it to the tube, but no sooner have we got to Leicester Square I have to take my shoes off and walk around bare foot until we find a shoe shop that sells flat and fashionable shoes and also found a chemist that sells blister plasters. Luckily I manage to find both, and after a quick pit stop and Maccy D's for tea we make our way to the pub we were suppose to be at about an hour ago.

The rest of the evening is fine, though the pub we are in is ludicrously crowded and deafeningly loud, so much so in fact Phil and I resorted to text messaging each other to communicate since there was little point trying to shout over the din of socialites and bass. Was nice to catch up with old friends though.

Posted by Abi at 11:20 PM | Comments (1)

April 7, 2006

Final Day

Ah, at last, the day has arrived that summarises itself nicely as my final day of employment.

As expected really there isn't that much for me to do in work, though there are bits and bobs that come my way during the morning. The afternoon really is much of a muchness, with nothing for me to do but tidy up the computer I'd been working on and the desk I'd been sitting at.

I get a nice speech given to me as well, along with a card and a bottle of champagne (shame I don't drink it!) but after that there is nothing left to do but say my goodbyes and walk out of the door for the last time after first starting work there about 11 months ago now.

It's a bit of a relief I have to say, and I must confess to having the biggest grin on my face as I drove the car out of the car park for the last time... so I guess all that remains now is for me to figure out what my next move is....

.... and when I do that it will be nothing short of a miracle :)

Posted by Abi at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

April 6, 2006

Serviced

A slightly disjointed day for me today since in the middle of it I have to take the car for it's first service.

So in the morning I do very little, at least I don't start anything that I need to really get my teeth into (ie. things that require several constant hours of uninterruption to complete) but faff around with things like washing up, emailing and the like.

I head out at around 11.30 to the garage and arrive in plenty of time for my service appointment. Luckily it's only an oil service which gives me the benefit of 2 things:- 1) it's only 120 quid and 2) it only takes an hour so they can do it whilst I wait. Handily I'd forgotten to take my book which I'd purposely put on the sofa to remind myself to take it so I could while away the hour reading some fiction, so instead I make do with trash mags and the local rags to keep me occupied and of course abusing the complimentary coffee, mini baklava's and biscuits.

Sure enough after an hour the car is ready, and they've also given it a wash as well and filled in the service booklet. I have to say it does sound slightly less tractor like with its new oil insitu, so it must have been worth the walla to get it done.

I spend the rest of the afternoon struggling with those forms for my Mum and cooking tea, which is fish pie and whilst undeniably delicious takes forever to cook and prepare (cheese sauce from scratch is a PITA for a start!)

Posted by Abi at 9:16 PM | Comments (0)

April 5, 2006

Oh no I'm not...

The penultimate day at work today and it's a small relief that none of the managers are in the office meaning it's a quiet day all around in terms of being pestered and leaves plenty of time to get on with what needs to be done.

There was somewhat of a surprise towards the end of the day when one of the developers comes up to me and starts to tell me what I need to do tomorrow in terms of work, and he looked even more surprised when I told him that I wasn't in work tomorrow and no body had even asked if I could work tomorrow either. From what I can gather he was given the impression that I was by one of the managers, who had neither broached me about the subject or even asked outright for that matter. Not that it matters much because I can't work tomorrow even if I wanted to since I've got the car booked in for it's oil service at 12 noon, for which I need to go to Oxford.

After work I head off down the gym and whilst it's quite pleasant to start with by the time I get down to the weights room it has yet again been filled with a load of yobs who are generally hogging all the machines, sitting around in big groups and making life very difficult for those people who are not part of their gang and wish to use the machines they are currently using as loitering posts. I do finally managed to do my routine but only after being badly put out by people who when questioned about using the machine they have placed their arse on and subsequently are doing nothing with quite categorically state that in fact they are using the machine and then promptly launch themselves into a display of adolescent manliness by frantically trying to build muscles.

Matters reached a head when my Personal Trainer couldn't get into his office because another group had decided to set up an impromptu boxercise ring outside his door, and which point I departed leaving one very fuming trainer about ready to show the amateurs exactly how to punch and where it hurts most.

Unfortunately the above seems to be increasing in regularity which leads me to think that I'm either going to have to change the times I go to the gym or change my gym entirely. We'll have to see how things go, after all the word on the grapevine is that the behaviour of these fellas has been noted after numerous complaints from other members to the owner of the gym and it's staff.

Posted by Abi at 10:11 PM | Comments (1)

April 4, 2006

Civil Unrest

We were woken up in the middle of the night last night with a lot of kerfuffle going on down the alley that runs parallel to our back garden with wheelie bins being knocked over and a lot of shouting going on. When we have a gander out the window it appears the police are chasing down some scrote for one reason or the other and the grand finale appears to be taking place about 20 feet from the house outside our back gate. Of course we completely fulfil the criteria for being nosy neighbours so we scoot to the front of the house where the police have taken the crimbo and it appears he's gotten himself a whole cavalry of police men and entourage of cop cars too.. and after a bit of a fight they manage to get him into one of the cars and ferry him away to spend the night in a cell.

Of course with all this going on I start to think that something may have happened to my car since it's parked directly in the line of trouble, so Phil and I both go out and check to see if any harm has been done. Which it hadn't, luckily, so we then try to get back to sleep.

So after all the excitement of last night I've spent all of today doing those forms I mentioned yesterday and now I've got a good template to work from I'm flying through them. However there are a few which are quite long and so take a bit more time to do. I've also taken the liberty of re-organising most of the forms so they are clearer and easier to understand and they're looking pretty good I have to say.

When I've had enough of staring at the screen I take a trip out to the gym - I'm quite pleased with my progress on the treadmill and I'm now running for about 15 minutes at a time with a few well placed walking breaks in between. I know it doesn't sound much but when I think about the first time I went on a treadmill and how cataclysmically bad I was, by comparison I'm almost a marathon runner!

On the way home from the gym I have a blat around in Phil's car with the roof down since it's such a nice day. I was almost tempted to go for a longer drive but sense prevailed in the end as I knew I had to get home and cook tea.

The rest of the evening was pretty dull, with just the usual Tuesday dross on the box. Never mind, Ice Age 2 is now in the cinemas so I'll be making sure that I go see that at some point in the very near future.

Posted by Abi at 9:05 PM | Comments (1)

April 3, 2006

Miscellaneous

A mish mash of all sorts of things to be doing today, from paying bills to arranging my car's first service since I've had it as well as the daily looking for jobs routine.

After I've done all the mundane stuff I spend a bit of time in the garden where I finally get around to planting some seeds, pretty much the same variety as last year's harvest with sunflowers and a mixture of herbs and a few flowers as well, but they are all potted up and basking in the greenhouse now.

Doing the above got me to thinking about whether the local garden center would have any jobs so I take a trip out in the car and hope for the best. As it happens they don't have any jobs at the moment, so in order to not make the whole effort wasted I pick up a fancy bird feeder and a cast iron hook to hang it on, as well as some blue and black flowers which will look nice if they actually germinate.

Back home and I do a bit more paper work, post a letter and then settle down to do some work for my parents. One of their computers blew up in the office and of course it was the PC with all the forms on it that they use daily, and typically they hadn't taken a back up, ever. So I'm recreating all of those form now for them, and whilst I make a fair bit of progress, not enough to warrant a pat on the back and "well done" by a long shot.

Posted by Abi at 9:00 PM | Comments (0)

April 2, 2006

Visiting

I'm up bright and early today again as I'm meeting a friend back in Harlow, and we are both going to visit my other friend who was struck down with a stroke a couple of weeks ago and is now in hospital on a long a slow recovery.

First of all though I go to the gym, and when I get back I set about preparing tea as I know that I will be quite late back from Harlow and probably won't relish the idea of cooking once I return. With those things done, I have a quick shower and then jump in the car to head over to Essex.

The trip wasn't too bad at all, but I have to say that considering I used to do this journey 3 times a week when I worked in Harlow, looking back I think I must have been insane, 3 hours travelling a day and fitting work in between probably wasn't the best move on my behalf I think.

The hospital visit went well, and it seems my friend has made much improvement since he was first admitted to hospital. He's off the ventilator now and can breathe on his own, but they have fitted a tracheoctomy just in case of an emergency. It also helps keep his lungs moist apparently. He's on a feeding tube as he can't eat anything that we'd classify as food yet and they've put him on an air mattress to prevent bed sores and the like.

As for the affects of the stroke, well you can see that the lesion he had was on the right side of his brain as it appears the left side of his body is mainly affected. He has feeling on the left side, but can't move his arm or his leg and his face has been affected too. The right side though seems to be working well, with his motor ability responsive and he can move bits of that side on demand. He can't speak of course what with the tracheotomy, but I think once they remove it his speech should be ok since I'm sure I heard him say "please" when asked if he wanted some water. Another thing unaffected is his sense of humour as we managed to raise quite a few smiles from him with cheeky comments about where the nurse was going to stick the thermometer to take his temperature and the like :)

I also got to meet his parents, who understandably are trying to adjust to the circumstances but seem to be coping well.

I have to say it's a shocking revelation of the state of the NHS when the nurse informed us that the physio equipment they have is in very short supply, well, practically none existent, and so we ran a few ideas past the nurse as to what would be useful to get to help my friend. We've now got some ideas on that front, and I also think that some kind of entertainment is called for. It's clear that my friend is fully aware of what is going on around him and so sitting in a hospital bed all day with little to do must be awfully boring. I think maybe if we got an ipod or something similar and put some talking books on it that would be a good way to while away a few hours. Maybe even a portable DVD player would be handy too. I'll have to see what the others think.

I stayed for about 2.5 hours in total, and after handing over my healing rock I made my way home and got back at around 7 pm, where I made tea and then we sat at watched TV for a bit (the last in the series of Planet Earth).

Posted by Abi at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

April 1, 2006

2 Years

Well, it's that time of year again, and I'm not talking just about April Fools Day... Phil and I have have been seeing each other for 2 years now, and my God how the time has flown...

So in order to celebrate such delights we have a very nice day pottering around the countryside and doing stuff we both enjoy. First of all is a trip to Bourton On The Water. Phil has now designed a new layout for the train layout which maximises the number of circuits his big train can run on, and so we go to the train shop in Bourton to pick up all the new bits he needs in order to create it. He also gets a little diesel shunter train thing and picks up another controller (since we now have 3 circuits that need electricity) and the bits needed to motorise all the hundreds of points that his new layout includes.

So with a hefty bill paid for that lot of stuff we then have a gander around the rest of the shops where I pick up a present for my friend who's birthday party I'm going to next week in London, and also we drop into the Rock Shop where I get a Carnelian stone for my friend who is in hospital. You can't take flowers or any of that guff into the HDU so I figure the rock would be a good choice since it's suppose to have healing powers for the brain, and it looks pretty too.

We then head home and Phil makes himself busy by dismantling his old track and rebuilding it to make his new layout, and I do some more cross stitch. Both of those things while away enough time to see us through to about 8 pm where we then go out for an Indian meal in town - and I gotta say, it was top notch, I've never tasted such a good naan bread ever! And besides that it was nice to go out for the evening. I can't really remember when we last did that as a treat.

So, happy 2 years to us! I wonder what the next year will bring...

Posted by Abi at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2006

Confirmation

Today really has been a tribute to my decision to leave work as I've had a crap day all around.

I've got a whole heap of rubbish that needs doing for one particular website, and I'll be honest it takes me 3/4 of the day to complete it. In the meantime I've had something else dumped on my plate too, but having to prioritise the work it will just have to wait.

I do get to start it at around 4 pm, but its a monster piece of work in itself, but I get on and start doing it and I'm making quite good progress up until the point where yet again someone wants to butt in and intervene. The person who gave me the work nonchalantly comes up to my desk and asks me if I've "done the work yet". To which I reply, no, I'm still working on it. I then get a snooty retort in the form of "well, you've had it for 4 hours already, what have you been doing all day?". Well that was enough for my boiler to burst big time and I replied without holding anything back.. something along the lines of "You know, I've not been sat on my arse doing Sweet FA all day. I've had other work to do, one piece of which has taken most of my day so far. I've only just got around to doing your piece of work and I've only been working on it for 30 minutes or so, so no, it's not complete and now you know what I've been doing all day, satisfied?". Well that raised a few eyebrows amongst the other developers, but it also go a "oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise you had other stuff to do" response from the complainant.

So, I thought that was that and I'd be left to get on with it. But no, said person then comes over to me saying, I want you to use the layout I've done and for you to stop doing it your way, it's taking too long. Well excuse me if my way is the correct way and I take enough pride in my work not to cut and paste a table from word and dump it into dreamweaver and allow the horrific code it produces to seep its way into a page which already looks like it was built by a 2 year old on speed because the templating system they have for this website is *awful*.

But you know at this point I give up caring. I use his layout (effectively starting from scratch again) and as a consequence of which I don't leave work till 6pm.

Fantastic, another reason to be glad to be leaving.

Posted by Abi at 9:02 PM | Comments (1)

March 30, 2006

Something Of Nothing

A day at home, and a day in which I do little yet again. I do catch up on some paper work and pay some bills, and the like. I also go to the super market and get some essentials in that we'd run out of, like salad stuff and lunch time food - but really nothing exciting.

Posted by Abi at 9:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2006

Late

Back to work again today and all I seem to do is count down the number of times I have to repeat this process before I can do something new.

It's very busy too, and I end up not leaving until gone 5.30 pm as I'm handed some work to do at the last minute which has to be done there and then - not that I mind of course, it's not like they haven't had the work since 3.30 pm and only choose to give it to me at 4.50 pm, 10 minutes before I'm due to leave.

As a consequence of that I don't make it to the gym tonight which I'm a bit pissed about, but if I'd have gone when I'd left work it would have been uber busy, and whilst I'm not bothered about bouncing my bits in front of some people, having an entire audience is a bit naff.

So, I get home and cook dinner, which is spaghetti bolognese, and then after we've eaten Phil plays around with his train software some more and I decide that it's high time I start my cross stitch again - it's been over 7 months since I last did any! I'd forgotten how relaxing it is, especially when you figure out where it was you left off all that time ago. Anyway, made a fair bit of progress with it - and the effort will be worth it since the design is quite nice.

Posted by Abi at 10:05 PM | Comments (1)

March 28, 2006

Woot!

I've done very little today, I'd even go so far as to say I've done nothing productive, useful or in anyway outstanding.

The one thing I did do was waste an excessive amount of time playing Zuma, and managed to crack level 9 and get to level 12. I don't know how many levels there are, but having been stuck on level 9 since forever it was nice to make some progress on it.

Along with that I spend some time chatting to a buddy on IM and trying to make arrangments for a birthday party coming up which is being held in London, so need to sort out accomodations and the like as well as try to come up with a suitable birthday present idea which is presenting itself to being a bit of a problem... need to do some more thinking on that one.

I also go to the gym where I have all my measurements done again to see what progress I've made, I don't know the results yet but hoping they'll be good, have to wait for the personal trainer to put the data into his fancy software and give me the news.

We don't get up to much this evening either - Phil potters around with the new bit of software he got to help him re-arrange his track layout and I watch TV. All in all, everything has been a bit dull today.

Posted by Abi at 9:56 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2006

And Rained Some More...

Everyone at home is in work today which leaves me the morning to do as I please back at my parents. Despite that however I seem to spend a lot of time doing stuff for other people :)

I sort my parents digital camera out since they've managed to fill the memory card up and have no idea how to extract the photos onto the PC, give one of our dogs a haircut since he looks like nothing more than a ball of fluff at the moment and then wrap some presents which I'm delivery on my way back home to my friend who had a baby last week.

After I've done all of that there is just enough time for me to grab a jacuzzi, pack my bags and then wander into town to meet my parents for lunch before I head back home. With goodbyes said, and hour and a half later and I arrive at my friends house where she's got most of her immediate family down to help out with the new baby. I even did my bit and held Lily for a good while, though at nearly 8lbs its a bit of a task to hold a baby still for ages in fear of walking them up! :) I leave my friends at about 5.45 pm which as it turns out was a good time to go since I missed all of the rush hour traffic on the motorway.

What I didn't miss however was the rain, yet again! This time though it piddled down when I was about an hour or so from Oxford, so it must be the leftovers from what Wales had all weekend, which from the amount of flooding I saw was a bit Noah/Arc/2 by 2 like to say the least.

I get home at about 8pm, where we get take out for tea and generally chit chat about our weekends. We watch Planet Earth on TV and I've never ever seen such a big pile of shit in my life (and no, I'm not talking about the documentary per se, but much rather the big pile of bat guano that featured in it for about 10 minutes...). There was also some astonishing geological formations too, such as the 6ft gypsum crystals found in the Lechuguilla caves.

Honestly though, a fascinating series with spectacular filming techniques... you can take a peek at the highlights from the show here, and I'd recommend you do, truly amazing.

Posted by Abi at 9:17 PM | Comments (1)

March 26, 2006

And rained...

Despite being Mothers Day, it's still raining in Wales. And I ain't talking splishes and splashes here and there, I'm talking onslaught of equatorial monster water bombs lashing down in sheets of tsunami proportions!

Honest, there is all this talk of drought here in the UK (and in fact we're gonna have a hosepipe ban from 1st April) but if they just piped all excess water from Wales, they'd have enough water to keep the South East going and then some... I know I miss Wales, but I certainly don't miss the weather!

Anyway, since it's Mothers Day we let Mum decide what she'd like to do - and inevitably that usually involves a bit of shopping. However, since we're in the middle of nowhere that involves taking a 30 mile hike to Carmarthen, a town which actually has shops open on a Sunday. First stop is Curry's where Dad eyes up a very nice 60" HD ready plasma TV, but at £6,999 decides it's a bit pricey! We then go to Focus where my sister and future brother in law pick up some screws that they need, and then go to the Fabric Warehouse where my sister spends what feels like an eternity deciding on curtain material for her new house. I do however manage to pick up some nice cushions for the sofa's at home, pay for them and make it out of the shop in under 10 minutes leaving the others to suffer my sisters pinickity curtain sense.

After that we then go to Allied Carpets where my parents get some prices for wooden flooring (they are buying a new house, but as ever they can't possibly leave it as it is even though they'll only be living in it for a year) and I demonstrate some strange behaviour by going around stroking the various carpet samples they have on display. Typically the one I like the feel of the most was 35 pound a square metre and that was with 50% knocked off the price :)

Our last port of call was B&Q where we looked at bathroom suites and the like. This was vaguely interesting to me because after we've done the double glazing back home the next thing on the list is the bathroom. And, judging from the amount of time it takes Phil and I to decide to do something and actually implement it (roughly 11 months) I figure it wouldn't hurt to get ahead of the game! We get a nice greasy burger too whilst were there and then head back to my parents house.

Again, the afternoon is spend doing very little of anything, though I do watch Keeping Mum which was quite amusing for Sunday viewing, and help my sister prepare dinner which we are cooking for all the family. By the time we've eaten it's pretty late so I finish the evening off having a good old chat with my parents about all sorts of stuff, like remodelling houses, business ideas, retirement and emigration.

A good day then, even if it is still raining.

Posted by Abi at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2006

And it rained...

I am up early again today, this time it's because I'm off to Wales for an extended weekend but before I can shifty up the motorway there are a number of things I should do before I go.

First off I'm down the gym to fill my quota for the week. I've now completed all the sessions I need to do for the particular routine I've been doing since I joined and so the next one should hopefully be modified so I don't get used to doing anything and thus keep my body in check. Next week then I'll be adding some more weight machines and the like, not sure what else but Tuesday should be the day when I find out.

When I get back from the gym Phil has been busy sorting out various things, including giving his car a wash and clean so that we can take the hard top off it and store that in the shed for the summer. However to do that he also needs to sort out the shed to make some room - we've gathered lots of crap in the shed over the winter, a lot of which can go to the dump, so thats exactly what we do and once we've disposed of numerous things we then extract the hard top from the car, wrap it up and put it away for a good couple of months.

After all of that has been done there is enough time for a quick shower and to pack my bags and make some lunch for the trip and I'm out of the door by about 1pm, with Phil not far behind me as he's off to see his Mum this weekend too.

The trip was a bit of a nightmare to say the least, but not because of traffic, but the weather. It pissed down from the moment I was about 50 miles from Wales until I got to the west coast of Wales - about 3 hours worth of driving. The visibility was horrid and I can't remember how many times the car aqua-planed and generally struggled with the amount of water being poured onto the tarmac with little chance of the drainage systems keeping up with the volume. Not only that the wind was wicked too, pushing the car from side to side, which as you can imagine combined with pools of water deep enough to prevent tyre rubber making contact with road surface was an awful and exhausting drive for me.

None the less I made it to my parents at about 5.30 pm, where upon I did precious little but soothe my nerves and count my blessings that I'd made the 280 mile trip in one piece. All of this was nicely facilitated as you can imagine by my Mum making a lovely dinner and having a good old welsh cup of tea, which in all honesty beats the english stuff hands down (it's to do with the water you know...).

Posted by Abi at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2006

Last Minute

Work for me today, and thankfully it's inter-disbursed with enough stuff that I don't get bored and it makes the day go that bit quicker. I also learn that I'm not the only person to be leaving at roughly the end of month and as another lady who does a similar job to me (but working on the GUI's of web based applications) is also departing as she's got a contract at a place that won't involve her commuting for an hour and half every day. Looks like work might be a bit short handed in a couple of weeks then.

At lunch I pop out into town to see if I can get a pressy for my Mum for mothers day, I failed miserably to spy anything in Oxford yesterday but I had a bit of a brain wave last night and figured she might like some cross stitch to do in her spare time. I pick up a lovely design which is of some fushias - however they had done it in a way where as it looks just like a water colour, sort of wishy washy with colour melting into eachother, which is something you don't often see with cross stitch designs as they can be quite blocky at times.

So with that purchased I head back to work where they've got even more awful work waiting for me, this time it's taking screen shots of an application they've built. Ordinarily I'd have just stuck with the printscreen function and stitched the images together in photoshop, but some of the pages they want grabs of are incredibly long so I decided to take the cheats way out and download a bit of software called SnagIt, which very handily will take screen shots of scrolling web pages with one mouseclick and save them however you so desire. So instead of taking me all afternoon to complete this bit of work it takes me less than an hour and I'm all done.

After work I go to the gym and do my usual thing, then back home I do tea and then set about wrapping gifts and writing cards out. I'm off to Wales tomorrow for a long weekend and so want to get as much prepared as I can before I head off - I'll have enough to do in the morning what with going to the gym without worrying about sellotape, wrapping paper and the like.

Posted by Abi at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2006

Here, There, Everywhere!

Cor, it's been a non-stop day for me today, with plenty of stuff to do that gets me out of the house and scooting about various parts of Oxford.

First things first and I do a bit of housework and put some washing on. It's the first warmish dry day we've had in a long while and so it would seem to be a bit of a shame to let the day go to waste in terms of abusing it to dry the washing on the line.

Whilst the machine finishes it's cycle I hop on to messenger where I have a bit of chat to my sister. I mentioned to her that I was nipping into town to pick up a present for a friend of mine who gave birth to a lovely 7lb baby girl called Lily Gabriella earlier in the week (Wednesday). She mentioned to me that she'd see a really cute Steiff teddy bear on QVC. I think that's a cool idea, but unfortunately I need the gift for the weekend and QVC's quickest delivery seems to be 3 working days - not good enough.

I'm not put off by the idea of getting a Steiff however and find a wonderfully helpful shop call Ashby Bears who had what I wanted and did next day delivery as well. Man, how would I cope without the internet for last minute shopping!

By this time the washing is done, and I can put it out on the line. I grab a bit of lunch and then head off to the post office to pick up yet another ebay delivery that we'd missed earlier in the week - more train carriages I've no doubt, then swing around to the south of Oxford to pick up some Mothercare vouchers for my friend (handy idea I thought). I then go into Oxford itself and pick up a variety of cards (from birthdays to births to mothersday!). Wrapping paper is on the list too so I get some of that and of course a trip to Ben's Cookies was inevitably in order too!

Finally then after all of that is done I make it back home pretty much unscathed, and all that is left for me to do for the rest of the day (not that there is much left of it) is to wind Phil up about his much wanted train carriages by telling him that they arrive horrifyingly damaged and broken and wouldn't be any good for anything other than scrap hehehe :) I'm evil!

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2006

Caught Red Handed

Not much to report really today, mainly due to the fact that I've been in work - still only got to do it 5 more times and then my IT career is over, hurrah! :)

Work was ok, busy in the morning then a lull in the proceedings until about 4 pm where I was given a load of work to do. Ordinarily I would have stayed until I'd completed it all, but today I took a different view of things. Since I'd been asking for work to do most of the afternoon I thought it a little unfair only to be given some so late in the day that would obviously take longer than the hour remaining, so I actually stopped at 5 and left stuff unfinished, most unlike me but what the hell. I wanted to go to the gym and so that's what I did.

Have to say I'm glad I didn't leave it much later for going since it was packed out by the time I left with most of the machines being used. Not only that but the beenie crew turned up again, so I was happy to have done my routine before having to circumnavigate around hoards of wide-boyz.

Phil had some interesting news when he came home. Seems someone had been helping themselves to the charity money box they have in work - of course being IT bods it was pretty easy to set up some surveillance to see who the penny pincher was, and this morning they struck gold with some nifty footage of the thief in action. Needless to say then, someone is gonna get one helluva bollocking in the very near future.

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (1)

March 21, 2006

Busted

Busy old morning really, I start off by finishing of my job application I mentioned yesterday and then head to town to post it. Whilst I'm there I also note down a number of contact details for the 3 new stores that are opening and are looking of employees - Marks & Spencer, Jessops and Costa Coffee. I'm not sure if I'll apply to these places yet, but its good to have the details to hand. I guess applying in volume is better than picking and choosing and ending up with nothing.

After I've done that the rest of the day is pretty much my own, but I do make it down the gym and have a good hour blasting along the treadmill, circulating on the elliptical trainer and pushing some weights. I do have a bit of an embarrassing moment on the seated leg press however. If you've ever used one you'll know that you have to sit on a seat, and put your legs up on a panel in front of you. The idea then is that you push on the panel and the chair moves backwards as you move the weights. You'll also know that in order to get enough leg extension on the push you have to adjust the chair so the starting position is as pretty close to the panel in front of you. Well to achieve this you have to imagine yourself in a flower press, because that's really what it's like! Anyway I was busy squishing myself into the machine and all of a sudden I hear a crack. Umm... that could either be a rib or something else I'm thinking but the absence of any pain I realise that in fact I've managed to bust my wired bra - the wire has snapped good an proper on one of the cups.

So that left me slightly lop-sided for the rest of the session :)

We watch Barry Trotter and the Tankard of Beer tonight, which I thought was ok, but Phil went to bed half way through, I guess mermaids, dragons and mazes aint his thing then :)

Posted by Abi at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2006

Pheasant

I've been on a bit of mission today to tart up my CV and the likes since I've seen a job I think would be very cool indeed.

There is a trainee position available at a local estate around here for a Gamekeeper - what that basically means is looking after the land, breeding shooting birds and looking after the hunting dogs. It's a very niche market to get into and I don't think trainee positions often come up for grabs so I decided to give it a go. I had a lovely chat with the head Gamekeeper who was brutally honest about the amount of work and the hours it involves, and also that the pay for a trainee is quite awful, but even after all that the job he described sounded really interesting, and not only that I'd be working towards a NVQ qualification in Gamekeeping.

So after hearing the good and bad about the job I thought I'd still apply and see if I get anywhere. The problem I have now is formulating a CV - all I've ever done is IT jobs and so applying for something like this job I have to basically scrap my existing CV and start all over again.

In the end I decided my best option would be to include my IT CV, I mean who knows, maybe building websites is remotely related to forestry work!? And then on top of that do a mini-cv which includes experience I have that is related to the job in question. I'm quite lucky on that front since I was raised on a small holding where we had to care and look after lots of animals, from cows to goats, ducks and geese but to name a few. I also had to do quite a bit of land maintenance too, repairing fences, making hay and all of that good stuff. So along with the 2 CV's I also did an explanatory covering letter as to why I was moving career focus and what I could offer to the job.

That's taken the best part of all day to do, just a bit of tarting up tomorrow and I'll be ready to post it to the employer.

Posted by Abi at 9:04 PM | Comments (1)

March 18, 2006

V for Vendetta

Yet another old busy weekend today and we start off by running a number of errands around town.

First up we need to go to the post office so I can send various get well cards and happy birthdays cards across the globe, and also pick up some small tupperware pots to put the ever growning selection of nuts and dried fruits I have into to save them going stale. We also pick up our lunch (hot dogs again! hehe) and then head back home.

I decide to go to the gym for an hour and leave Phil to watching ER - an episode that I'd already seen earlier in the week whilst he'd retired to bed. When I get back there seems there is little else to do today apart from head off to the cinema and catch a film. The decision as to what to watch is left to me, and I settle on "V is for Vendetta" - I'd seen a trailer for it a couple of day's ago and it tickled my fancy.

We head of the the cinema at around 5, get parked, popcorned and then told to go to screen 6 where our film was apparently showing. Well thats fine, and we're just about to go in to said screen when I see a 3 year old being carted in there as well. Thinking to myself, WTF would a 3 year old be let in to see a 15 rated film, it suddenly clicks that the everso not very helpful ticket checker had told us the wrong screen number and we were in fact somewhere else entirely. Good job we spotted the problem or we'd have ended up watching Chicken Little or something!

Anyway, confusion over and we find some seats and watch the film. It's not bad, but a little drawn out in places. Mind you, any film that insights revolution against an opressive government is good in my book, I found it particularly tantilising that in this movie it was the british government being attacked, with a grand finale of the houses of parliment being blown up. That'll teach um then...

Posted by Abi at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2006

More Crap

In work today (only got to do this for 6 more times!) and it seems my never ending hell of testing still hasn't come to an end as I'm stuck doing much of the same yet again for the majority of the morning.

With that in mind then I make a concious effort to take my hour's lunch break and head off into town to pick up some things that I need - primarily a get well card for my friend who was taken so drastically ill yesterday and some packing and parcelling stuff to send a box of stuff overseas.

Since I don't take my lunch break till 1.30pm I don't have to get back to the office to 2.30pm, which is good because it means I've much less time to spend there in the afternoon. Having said that I am given some work for which I was originally employed to do in the PM, but it's a right PITA to be honest and takes me forever to complete. However, I get there in the end and put it live. No doubt that will be nit picked over as well.

I also learn today that they have taken my friend off sedation and when they did that he managed to open his eyes briefly and twitch a little. They also now know that he suffered from Multiple strokes, the cause of which is unknow at present.

When I get home from work I then spend a good deal of the evening on the phone to various people - a friend in belgium who's just recovering from surgery, and then a friend here in the UK who is quite close to my sick buddy who suffered the strokes. It appears that my ill friend had a bad ski accident a few weeks ago, and the night before he fell ill he was at karate lessons. I don't know if either of those are related to his current predicament, but I can only assume "possibly". The hospital have also prohibited visits from friends for the time being so I won't be going to see him on Saturday.

It's going to be a long waiting game I guess.

Posted by Abi at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2006

Just Shocking

Had some terrible, terrible news today.

A friend (and admittedly I haven't spoken to them in over a year) has been struck down with something awful. He didn't show up to work and so his work place rang his sister to see if she knew where he was. She couldn't get hold of him either and so rang the police. When the police turned up at his flat, they found him unconscious on the floor so they called the ambulance and he was rushed into hospital.

From the info I know so far, they think he has had some kind of brain lesion, and the early scans show that it's about 5 cm long. My friend is still unconscious, sedated and in the High Dependency Unit on a ventilator.

What is so horrible about this is that he was one of the most health conscious people I know, he's also only 28. I can't believe something like this would happen to someone so young and apparently so healthy. Life just isn't fair.

I've manged to trace down what hospital and what ward he is in and have planned to meet another friend on Saturday to go see how he's doing - I've no idea what to expect. You see the problem is that he may well get over the lesion, but who knows what the side affects will be - you just can never tell with this sort of medical problem.

What makes it worse is that I've let our friendship lapse over the last year or so and now of course all the "what if's, and should haves" come into play. I know realistically that very little I could have done over the last year would have an affect on what has happened today but it still doesn't make it right. I should have been a better friend. Isn't it horrifying that it's only when things go bad you are forced to re-assess your historic actions.

I tell you another thing though, it also makes you face up to your own mortality. Life is far to short, and indeed fragile to be fucking around with it.

Posted by Abi at 8:30 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2006

Push Or Shove?

My first day in work today since I resigned, and lets just say I don't think some people want me to work out my months notice, and would rather I left without taking an extra months pay with me.

First things first and I'm dumped doing testing on a system I know nothing about. That was at around 10 am and I was told I had to do it all day. Great fun. And get this, on telling me that they'd require me to do testing, they then say as I'm walking away "well, you could just leave now..."!!!! Then I get a bollocking for not being able to think quickly enough of excuse number 500 as to why someone wouldn't take a phone call, and the excuse I did come up with wasn't plausible enough. I didn't take too kindly to that and promptly reminded them that if in fact they did take phone calls instead of avoiding people continuously I wouldn't have to lie continuously either and run the risk of actually telling a caller that whoever just didn't want to speak to them.

So it seems everything I now do at work is nit picked, and I'm given a telling off about even if I've done nothing wrong, or if I'm doing it the same way in which I've had done for the past year and nobody cared to point out previously that they'd like it done a different way.

Well they can play that sort of game if they like, I don't give a shit. I'm also pretty good at mind-phuques too, so I don't think they know who they're messing with. And of course there is always that handy back up plan of having a Dad as a solicitor... I don't know if they know about that...

I go to the gym after work to try and vent some frustration and it works, but because I didn't get out of work till 5.30 pm the gym was a bit too busy for my liking, full of young lads wearing beeny hats trying to look hard in the weights room. I don't mind, I was pumping considerably heavier iron than them :)

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2006

Replacement

So I'm up bright and early today as we are due a visit from a Sky+ technician to have a look at our sadly demised Sky+ box a little after a month after it was first installed.

Fair dues to the bloke, he arrived when he said he was going to arrive, and as chance would have it, it was the same fella that installed the system in the first place. He didn't even bother to run over the standard checks when I told him that it didn't come out of standby and it just sat there making whirring noises, and instead just got a new box out of the van and installed that instead.

After he'd finished I waved him goodbye under the promise that we'd probably see him in another month. I think I can safely say that since the replacement box we've got is an Amstrad, and from the research Phil has done on the net it appears they are even more unreliable than the last model we had.

The rest of the day is spent doing not a lot of anything except a bit of work, ordering some stuff online (a card from moonpig and some pressies for a toddler who is well advanced into his construction career already). I then waste a huge amount of hours playing Zuma. It's not a very complicated game but it's highly addictive to say the least (I started playing it during my trip away and haven't really stopped playing it since... I'm determined to get past level 9!).

When Phil gets home I cook tea and settle down to watching a bit of TV as well, and already I think there is a problem with the new sky box. Watching live TV is fine, however if you watch something that you recorded via the box the sound seems to cut out on a regular basis. I'll keep an eye on it, but I reckon that sky dude will be back before he knows it!

Posted by Abi at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2006

Complete

I've made lots of progress today with a mini project I had in hand, and after it taking me over a week to acquire all the information and data I need I can safely say it's now finished...

Well I thought I had, until those Gremlins of yesterday decided to turn up unannounced again and scupper my plans of crossing another item of my to-do list. Seems I can't actually transfer the work I did on the local computer over to where it needs to be, and poor old Phil yet again gets roped into trying to figure out whats gone wrong.

After hours of trying we get nowhere, even with the assistance of someone else, and so give it up as a bad job until we can figure another way of achieving what needs to be done. I try to placate Phils mood by popping out and buying him some ice-cream, chocolate, yoghurt's and pop which I think went someway towards him being less miffed about the solution to the problem evading him.

By now it's time for bath and bed, and whilst I'm soaking in the tub and Phil is dozing in the bedroom, he gets a moment of work-around genius and fixes the prob so I can do what I need to do on a temporary basis. As he says... The Power Of Sleep is a wonderful thing....

Posted by Abi at 11:05 PM | Comments (1)

March 12, 2006

Gremlins

Seems we've had a bit of a Gremlin day here at home.

The first thing to break is the Sky+ box, it won't switch on or anything. It's well broken and its just sitting there making odd clicks and grinding noises rather like a dying terminator or something. Phil tries to fix it, but after exhausting every option possible he finally gives in and calls Sky Customer Service, and after 39 minutes of waiting on hold finally gets through to someone who can't fix it either. Figures. So now we've booked a bloke to come out and fix it or replace the box completely - should be on Tuesday if we're lucky.

Then the DVD player decides to fanny around and screw up (well it could be the player or it could be the disc, who knows!) so all in all it appears the gremlins have well and truly been at work. I think they also managed to get into my system too since I've had an all around dropsy sort of day... Butter Fingers would be a more than appropriate name to call me today as it's highly accurate in describing my inability to pick anything up for more than 30 nanoseconds without dropping it and making a mess everywhere.

But despite my clumsiness I do make it to the gym, and out of curiosity jump on their proper medical scales to see what they have to say. According the them I'm actually 8lbs lighter than I am at home. So from now on then I guess I'll be hopping on the scales there rather than at home :) I know weighing is bad, particularly with my muscle building regime, but what the hell, anything to subdue my insatiable appetite for knowing just how far into that band of morbid obesity I 'm in :)

Again though it's been a pretty quite day all around, Phil's been busy watching the Grand Prix and making more models (this time the cardboard ones) which I have to say look pretty impressive by my book :) And as for me, well I've been doing not a lot of anything in particular, just odds and sods.

Posted by Abi at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2006

Hot Dogs

It's the weekend, and a fine one it is too. We have a nice lay in this morning, followed by a gander around town since we've got to pick up a parcel from the post office and drop off a parcel at the post office. Whilst we are there we also get supplies for hot dogs at lunchtime (since yet again we pass one of those burger vans who taunts us with delicious smells of fried onions).

We also pop into Homebase to pick up some more paints for our model houses and buildings we are putting together and whilst were there take a quick look around the new Pets At Home store which had it's grand opening. They had plenty of stuff, but more importantly they had some really cute guinea pigs. I love guinea pigs, when I was at school we had a class pet named Gussie, who was also a guinea pig and a very adorable one at that. I think Phil was quite taken with them too, but of course the age old problem of what to do with said pig when we are away raised it's head, and the chances of there being a Guinea Pig Kennel anywhere around here is very slim indeed :)

Back home and the rest of the day is relatively quite. We catch up on some episodes of Lost, well lets face it we only watched the first 3 episodes of the first series and so are quite dramatically behind schedule, and do some more modelling, this time some American style buildings, namely a Rib House and a Saloon :) That was fun :)

Posted by Abi at 8:14 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2006

And Follow Through...

Well I've done it, I've handed my notice in at work. So I've one month tied to a desk, and who knows what thereafter :)

I think they took the news ok, I'm not sure they were that surprised however. On asked why I wanted to leave I took the diplomatic route and told them that "IT just wasn't for me anymore, I wanted a change" so that left few feathers ruffled I've no doubt. I think it pays to be nice about these things expecially if one requires a reference or such like.

So not surprisingly my day at the office went pretty well, and quick enough and I felt the happiest I've ever been there safe in the knowledge there was light at the end of the career tunnel!

Having spoken to my line manager I think he was quite envious of the fact I'd decided to take the leap out of IT for something more enjoyable (even if that does mean less money) afterall, whats the point of having loads of cash if you don't have the time to spend it, or you drop dead with stress before you get to fritter it away on those luxury items you'll never use because your trapped at work saving the internet world much as Jack Bauer saves America on a regular basis.

Snarf... anyway. It's done, I'm proud of myself for making the decision and actually sticking to it. What remains now is to see what I fancy doing instead.

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)

March 9, 2006

Still Decided

So, some 24 hours later (and some) I'm still decided upon the fact I'm going to resign, it wasn't just a flash in the pan. All that remains to do now is break the bad news (or good, depending on your view of things) and write a letter to confirm it all.

But before I do that, I've got a plenty full day of stuff to be getting on with here at home, namely some more of the stare and click thing I mentioned earlier in the week and just pottering around. I also take a gander at some job websites and see if there is anything of interest... not really as it happens, but it was interesting to see what was available, the majority of which involved desk work and so not appropriate to what I'm looking for.

I take a trip to the gym at around 3 and do my usual workout (with a few additions) and then head to the supermarket to get some things that would be useful, such as tinned salmon since I'm making fishcakes for tea. I also pick up a variety of dried fruits since I've found eating them suppresses my need for sweet stuff like chocolate, and also a variety of nuts to nibble on too - I can't remember the last time I ate a brazil nut, and as I recall I quite like them :)

By the time I get home it's time to start preparing tea, which takes me up to and beyond the point of where Phil is home. After we've eaten I then call a good friend of mine who's about to drop a sprog to see how she's coping. I guess if "I feel as fat as a house and can't move" is anything to go by, then she's doing pretty well!

After a bath I then do my resignation letter, which wasn't too troublesome since I reused the one I scribed at my last place of work. Phil has nicely set up a folder called "resignations" on the computer for me to store my growing collection of the same... cheeky bugger!

Posted by Abi at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

March 8, 2006

Enough Is Enough

Well that's it then, a decision has been taken out of my hands today.

If you've read this blog since about the middle of last year you'll appreciate the fact that although I only work part time, the place where I earn pennies has been hissing me off for months now and I've been pondering over the idea of extracting my self from IT for good, moving on, and trying something completely different.

You'll also know from an earlier post this week there was a whole load of shenanigans going on about email addresses on a particular website. Well when I got into work today that already "blown out of all proportions" problem seemed to have developed itself into a quagmire of bureaucracy and stupidity with requests of precise details of what went on being hurtled into my inbox for me to respond to.

Well, in my humble opinion there are better things that I could be doing with my time and life than being caught up and dragged under by such trivial nonsense especially when the original source of the problem was in fact nothing to do with me.

So after spending all day at work on the verge of walking out, I managed to suppress the fight or flight response and make it through the day. But whilst sitting in my own little vacuum of make or breakness for the best part of 8 hours, I've reached a conclusion that will force me out of my comfort zone and into uncharted territory.

I'm going to resign from my current job at the end of this week and start ventures a new. I'm not sure what yet, but undoutably it will not involve a desk or a PC. I'm quite excited really, I like a sense of the unknown.

Posted by Abi at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 7, 2006

Unicode

Yes, that has been the bane of my life today. I've got a job to do which requires me to make a template of a web page, then duplicated it many times but insert different data therein. Not a problem, once I've done the template, but then it all went a bit pete tong.

The original template I do works just fine (once I get over the security issues with running flash on a local directory rather than a server) and so happy its all lah-de-dah I go ahead and start to duplicate the page making content changes as necessary. They'll all be fine no? All copies from an original working page... there surely can't be much that will go wrong with that...

Alas no, as it appears at some point during my editing I've hit the unicode button which has nicely screwed up all the pages, I get lots of gobbledygook rather than my slick html in the browser. Hmmm. You see the amount of time it's just taken me to write the previous sentence is just a smidgen of the time it took me to figure out wtf the problem was. I tried everything, from cutting and pasting the HTML from the original back into the copies, downloading plugins, googling, you name it, I tried it. It was only sheer luck I found out what the problem was when curiosity got the better of me and I clicked a button which looked vaguely promising.

I don't know how I'd managed to save the files as unicode, I can only assume it was a case of mistaken mouse click identity which whilst I was busy working went unnoticed.

You live and learn eh?

I also went to the gym today and stumbled upon another astounding feat of nature.. so I ask, why is it when you are doing weights in the gym which are challenging, if you let out a big grunt during the resistance bit (such as the upwards movement on a bicep curl) does it help you lift the weights. I hadn't tried it before now, but it does work... save the embarrassment of sounding like something out of a xxx movie.

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (1)

March 6, 2006

Gone And Forgotten

Oh, was there a day today? I seem to have forgotten what I did already, or more realistically what I did do today was so insignificant I failed to store any of it in my failing memory banks which are already full of enough meaningless data and codswallop to last most ordinary people a life time.

Oooo hang on here comes something, that's right, I went to the gym... what I did for the rest of the 23 hours of today remains a mystery (though I can put a sure bet on the fact that 8 of those hours were spent sleeping).

Posted by Abi at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)

March 5, 2006

Modelling

And no, I don't mean me in a pair of frilly pants (that would be just too scary!). But today generally has been very train orientated after our purchases of yesterday.

First things first, and we need to sort out the spare bedroom which currently houses Phil's layout. It's very cramped in there at the moment what with the layout on the floor and the futon along side it, it's a bit like an obstacle course! So we decide that putting the layout on top of the futon when it's fully extended would afford us plenty of space to walk around the layout. So after dismantling all the track, pulling out the futon and then placing the baseboard on top and relaying the track we've managed to regain about 1.5 feet either side of the layout which is a bit improvement.

We then head off to homebase to pick up an organiser thingy so Phil can put all his bits and pieces that are train related in once place and whilst were there we are blasted by the smell of hot dogs and onions from the van which is there... so tempting they are in fact we nip to tesco on the way home and get the necessary ingredients to make our own at home, and that's what we have for lunch.. yum!

After lunch Phil sets about making on the of the plastic house models he'd purchased, and after a lot of cussing and swearing, false starts and the like he gets it made and painted it (but not until we've gone back to homebase to pick up some brush cleaner). I help out a bit, by painting the roof, and enjoyed doing it too, between cooking tea (meatloaf) and catching up all the episodes of 24 I'd missed since I'd been away.

Disturbingly it's only now I've noticed that Kiefer Sutherland has very strange earlobes, and now I've noticed it I cant seem to focus on anything else going on in each episode... just his ears!

Posted by Abi at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)

March 4, 2006

Exhibiting One's Self

We're up relatively early today since we'd spied an advert in the local rag for a train exhibition that was being held just the other side of Oxford and we though it might be cool to go have a look and get ideas / things for Phil's layout.

When we get there (after some pretty horrendous traffic jams) we are both quite surprised by the sheer number of people who are exhibiting at the show, and the number of people there. It was all quite serious, and I've a feeling Phil and I might have stuck out a little bit since lets say the show attracted a certain genre of people!

There were a few really impressive layouts, but I have to say equally there were quite a few naff ones, but I'm not really an expert so shouldn't pass opinion. We got some very cool cardboard model kits of various types of buildings that we can add to Phil's layout once we've glued them all together, and had a good gander at all the various bits and pieces on sale. We didn't buy any trains or rolling stock though since the prices at the show were on a par, if not a bit more expensive, than the shop we currently get that sort of thing from.

We then head off into Oxford since Phil has got a hair appointment booked and after devouring a KFC, he gets washed and clipped and I wander around the shops.

The evening is quite dull in comparison :)

Posted by Abi at 11:13 PM | Comments (1)

March 3, 2006

Interference

I've come to a definite conclusion today, and that is that if people minded their own business and stopped interfering with things that really don't relate to them, there would be much more time and opportunity to sort problems out before they become problems.

I'm in work today, and after receive a rather spurious message from a client that their email accounts aren't working I relay that message to the person who deals with such - it's not my domain that's for sure. Anyway I get a call from the bod who I've told about the problem, and lets say its rather heated. It starts off with "since when have I been responsible for fixing typos on websites"... to which I say I've no idea what he's talking about (what I should have said was "well, since just about now since I'm resigning" (the beauty of hindsight!)). It seems that the person who'd rung in was in fact complaining that her name was spelt incorrectly on her email address... something she'd not told me, I'd just been told that it wasn't working. Anyway to cut a long story short we have a bit of discussion about what I'd been told, why I'd mailed him and he could be gracious enough to drop the issue I'd fix the problem.

Of course someone is eavesdropping on the conversation and no sooner am I off the phone to one person I've got this other chap giving me the spanish inquisition as to whats going on, who's responsible, how long it will take to fix, and the possible repercussions on the future of the world if it's not fixed... seriously I spend 10 mins explaining all this in which time I could have fixed the problem in question and probably have sorted another 5 things in the meantime.

Sigh... really, sometimes people need to learn to butt out and mind their own business, especially when they can't contribute to resolving a problem.

It seems this is a regular issue working in IT, there is always someone who gets involved who doesn't need to, and inevitably makes small things into weapons of mass destruction.

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

March 2, 2006

Stare and Click

For some reason today I can't seem to get my arse out of bed until 10am. This is most unlike me, I'm usually up and running by 8 am. I can only attribute it to delayed jet lag or something equally as tiresome.

The consequence of my laziness is that I miss the postman who had a recorded delivery and I'm an hour or 2 short of work time. Shucks.

I finally get on with some work, which broadly involved me staring at a screen for about 5 hours and clicking a mouse at appropriate points. Lots of fun! I take a break at around 3, nip to the post office depot to pick up the parcel that they'd tried to deliver earlier and then spend an hour in the gym. Well I'd might as well make the most of my 40 quid every month eh?

When I get home there is enough time to do some more staring and clicking, and then to do tea... I'd almost forgotten how much time that can take having been catered for over the past 3 weeks... nevermind. I do tea, we eat, and then I get down to some more staring and clicking, and at the end of which I think I'd forgotten about blinking all together, well, until one particular point where what I was staring at was so astounding I had to blink to clear the astonishment from my now retina burned eyes!

Ah well, its Friday tomorrow :)

Posted by Abi at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 1, 2006

Urghhh

Well I guess the holiday had to end some time, and today seems to be that day.

Back in work and all the loveliness that entails. It seems they've had someone in whilst I've been away, and in all that makes obvious sense, they've given him my login and email address to work with whilst I was in foreign climes... that's just fantastic eh? So I spend the best part of an hour trying to figure out what mail actually relates to me, what work needs to be done or has been done already and generally tidying up the mess that has been left in the wake of someone else faffing with my workspace. He's also managed to adjust the settings on my editor, leaving me struggling to figure out how the f*ck to get word wrapping turned off, which IMO is the most annoying thing in the world. Not only that, the option to rid myself of this plague is not in the standard sort of place you'd expect (ie. under "options/preferences" perhaps) but nested deep within the menu system hiding in place where you'd never expect it...

Anyway I guess all the effort was worth it, because when I do get down to the core of my mail it appears I've not got that much to do, which is fabulous because in all honesty I'm in no mood to be in this work place... I've got plenty to do outside of it to keep me busy for some weeks yet.

And so the day trudges on and on, and I'm out the door by 5pm winding my way home. The rest of they day seems pretty much of a blur... that will be the old age then...

Posted by Abi at 9:56 PM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2006

Hot Pants

What a fun day so far, I start by unpacking my case, only to find that I've been security searched and my pants have been riffled through. How do I know this, well not only is my case resembling a tombola stand, but they handily put a nice little slip in there telling me they've had their sticky mitts in there looking for the bazooka that I'd obviously hidden between my socks and bras. Tsk. See once again the minority ruin it for the majority.

Next up is a trip to the model shop in Bourton on the Water to pick up the remainder of Phil's birthday present (I can safely write this now since I'm writing this post birthday celebrations!). His one lonely looking choo choo needs a bit of company so I get him "The White Knight" to go with it. So that combined with the other goodies I got him whilst away should make up a nice bundle of birthday happiness!

I then head into Oxford and get a few other things I need, like wrapping paper, a card, some cookies (essential!) and some stuff that I want to send back to the states as a homely reminder of britishness for my friends.

After all that is done I get home, wrap all the gifts for Phil and then twiddle my thumbs for an hour or 3 until he gets home, and sadly he's late again this evening with dilemmas at work... so no change on that front then :)

Posted by Abi at 8:57 PM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2006

The Bitch Is Back!

Well you see I was goaded into using that title by a familiar and well liked reader, so I thought I'd take the bait and blat it up there for the sake of humanity and humour :)

And so, alas, I am home. Back from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, removed from the snow lined countryside and extracted from SuperSize portions... I had a wonderful time it has to be said, and despite the 16.5 hours on a plane and 11 hours spent in a car, on my arse travelling to and from said destination, it was worth the numb butt and back ache :)

It may be surprising to hear that despite being some 3000 miles from home, I stayed far removed from the tourist side of things, though we did have time to go see Smith Mountain Lake which was beautiful. In all honesty just being nestled on the side of another mountain, surrounded by forest and doing sweet FA was good enough for me, after all I wasn't there to relax, I had much more important things to the details of which are sufficiently boring to not divulge on here.

Other highlights for me included a trip to IHOP where I got food sweats (if there was one thing I had to do in the US was to indulge in some american pancakes!), and participating in a meatfeast at Texas Steak House who may I add have a rather zealous view on portion sizes :) I also got to shop for clothes whilst I was there which was super great considering there are not the constraints on sizing that we have in the UK, it's also shed loads cheaper too. So I'm now fully stocked up on decent underwear, jeans and tops.

Another day we took a trip out to a railway model shop and yet again the variety was the thing that struck me the most - lots of choice and a fantastic layout up and running for all to have a look at - it even had kids flying kits, dogs chasing people, bulldozers digging up the road, flashing neon signs, smoke from chimneys, moving cars and trains etc etc I could keep the list going for ever! You may be wondering why I went to a model shop, well the answer is simple. I thought I could pick some stuff up for Phil for his birthday, the prime intention being that a train would be a good idea since they are cheaper in the US and the HO scale is virtually the same as OO in the UK. My plan was somewhat scuppered however upon being informed by a very helpful salesman that despite the fact the HO trains would run on OO track, because of the voltage/current differences between the US/UK it might not be a fab idea to try it.

Being a train newbie I decided to take his advice and settled on getting some more scenery bits for Phil, including some "fat people" and "park bums" to dot around ;)

We also got snowed in for a couple of days, and had I'd say about a foot of snow in a very short period. Other weather curiosities include the fact that the temperature went as low as -17 C at night and as high as 20 C in the day, and you could still see snow on the ground. Which I found very odd. The forecasting system in the US is way better than here in the UK, it seems much more accurate and updated that the bog standard crapola reports we get from the 100 untrained monkeys locked up in the MET office :)

In summary then I'll do a comparison list, US v UK:

US:	UK:
Everyone is very polite and helpful in shops	You get happy slapped for even thinking about bothering a shop assistant
Everything is big including houses, cars, chicken breasts, eggs and garlic bulbs	Big is bad, expensive, frowned upon and the only indicator of wealth
It's cheap, in a good way! Finger in the air... I'd say everything is about half the price we pay in the UK, maybe even cheaper	It's expensive! Nuff said... theiving government.
There's no shame in asking for a doggy bag after a meal, in fact it's expected if you leave anything edible on your plate	Doggy bag? Are you on the bread line or just a tight bastard?
Religion, everyone's doing it (or so it seems from the number of churches I saw)	No where near as devout (I include myself in that category)
Traffic jams are a thing of myth and mystery, as are roundabouts	No one's day is complete unless 1/8 of it is spent sitting in a queue of equally frustrated commuters who's misery is compounded only by the fact that the root cause of the delay is a set of broken traffic lights on a roundabout 30 miles away in the wrong direction

Posted by Abi at 9:29 PM | Comments (2)

February 3, 2006

Making the most

It seems that the penny has dropped at work today that I'm not going to be there for a month, a consequence of which means that I have spent all day (and I mean every minute) ploughing through the mounds of work which seems to have wound its way into my to-do list. Its no surprise then that I don't leave work until 7, and ultimately don't get home until about half an hour later since I have to stop and put some diesel in the hire car as it is being picked up at some point during tomorrow.

TBH, I'm glad I'm going away because after the way that I was spoken to in work today by a senior member of staff, and after receiving a snooty email from the same, my 3 weeks will give me plenty of time to assess whether or not I want to go back there when I return. I don't see why I should have to put up with that sort of behaviour from anyone, I've been there and bought the t-shirt and so far as I'm concerned it can stay in the bottom of the laundry basket where it belongs - especially considering I've worked my pseudo bollocks off way beyond the call of duty on a number of occasions. People who are unable to keep their emotions at bay at work and as a result of which make other people's lives a misery should be subjected to their own treatment in a very small, windowless cell for extended periods of time until they have some idea how careless and intentionally embarrassing comments feel when they are flown around a room with little tact and consideration.

Anyway, Phil is home again tonight after his overnight stay, I'm glad too because I didn't sleep well last night, waking up at every little bump in the night - and after getting to bed at around 1am last night I could have done with the 6 hours sleep I had being uninterrupted.

Posted by Abi at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

February 2, 2006

Home Alone

Cor I've been busy today with preparations for before I go away, in fact I can truthfully say that it's been non-stop (except for 30 mins for lunch).

First off I need to give the house a good clean, since it's been neglected of late because everything else life has had to throw at me has gotten in the way of domestic chores. That takes me the best part of 4 hours and so despite starting at around 8.30 am I still don't finish until lunch. I guess there were a number of reasons why it took me so long, like changing the sheets on the bed, and cleaning out Sedgewicks old tank now that he's been moved to his new home (and let me tell you, it stunk!) and beginning to pack my case, but I finally get to a point whereby I'm happy enough with what I've done that I can leave it be.

I then get to doing some work that I really need to make some headway into before I sod off and that's what I do for the rest of the day all the way up until about midnight when I realise its time to stop because I'm making silly mistakes, such as spending half an hour trying to figure out one of my CSS classes won't behave properly and change to the right colour and finally realising that I had in fact missed one digit out of the hex code I was using to define said colour. I really should learn to give up before I get to that point in future.

Anyways, time for bed now, it's late, Phil isn't here as he's in Manchester, and I've exhausted all forms of entertainment for this evening. It's a bit creepy being in the house on my own...

Posted by Abi at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

February 1, 2006

Late

In work again, and for each email I cross off my inbox another 2 appear, so I really feel like I'm taking 1 step forward and 10 back and no matter how further on in the day I get I'm still not making any headway into the work.

There is some relief at the end of the day and I manage to break the back of the work load, but there is plenty more to do when I'm back in the office on Friday.

This evening I head off to the gym straight after work and have my weekly session with the personal trainer - the same routine as last week and I have to say I think I'm making progress since I found it a bit easier this time around.

Back home and I don't do much with the little remaining time thats available until I'm tired enough to go to bed... it's all a bit boring really... but we do transfer Sedgewick into his new tank, and I think he likes it, even if he is the equivalent of a very small fish in an extremely large ocean.

Posted by Abi at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2006

Biking

Today I've been out on the bike. I want to get a tailors tape measure and whilst I could take the short route to town on the bike, I decide to go the long way around which equates to a 6.5 mile round trip.

You may be wondering why it is I need such a tape measure, the answer is simple. With all this exercise I'm doing I can't rely on the scales to tell me how well I'm doing with the whole body fat ratio thing. Not only that, since I'm so goal orientated I know my motivation will flag if I can't track my progress in some way and I know the scales will shortly not be the best quantifier. So the tape measure is to measure me and see how many inches I'm losing rather than the pounds.

I then spend the rest of the day doing work, and do the same until Phil gets home. It looks like the guppies are doing a fine job of seeding the new tank with poo and stuff to get the bacteria going , so fingers crossed Sedgewick will be able to take up residency tomorrow.

Posted by Abi at 10:46 PM | Comments (1)

January 30, 2006

Puffer Sushi

Well, not quite but we're no longer the owners of 2 puffer fish this morning.

It's a strange story, but last night I woke up at around 4am because I'd had this sudden flash of imagery in my head that there was something wrong with the puffer fish, almost as if the new puffer was somehow caught in the air stream of the pump and couldn't escape.

Anyway, so strong was my concern I went downstairs to see if everything was ok. And whilst I wouldn't quite go classifying myself as a psychic just yet, my premonition was right. The new puffer fish was indeed on deaths door - it looks like he'd gotten himself so stressed out that he'd puffed up so much he'd burst his air bag or something and was floating around the top of the tank unable to sink. There isn't much I can do, and Phil doesn't have any suggestions either (though at 4 in the morning I'm pretty sure he wasn't best pleased about trying to come up with a rescue plan) so I decide to let nature takes its course... and sure enough at 8 this morning there is one very rigor set fishy in the tank and another who if I were an expert if fish body language would probably suggest looked quite pleased with himself.

After cleaning up that mess then I then set about ripping my cd's to mp3 - I've done most of them but since my last ripping session I've bought a few more and haven't gotten around to getting them on the computer, and ideally I'd like them in a suitable format for me to put them on my IPOd for my trip.

I then go for a long walk and I'm out of the house for about 3 hours, in which time I've walked into town and got a decent rucksack to pack my hand luggage in, and then walked to the fish shop and got some plants and an air pump with air stones to put in the new tank.

It's late by the time I get home, but when Phil gets back we put the fancy guppies from our established tank into the new one so they can help establish the bacteria and things that make the tank healthy... they seem happy enough at the minute.

Posted by Abi at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2006

Recovery

It's not so much I physically knackered after yesterday, its just I ache a bit ;) And as a consequence of such I've decided to take it a bit easier today and just plod along rather than gallivanting!

We go into Oxford today, for 2 reasons... one is to try and get those elusive rail bits for Phil after his failure yesterday to buy any, and secondly for me to get some last minute things before I head off on hols. I do very well, picking up a super winter coat in the Millets sale at a snip of the original price, I also get a nice top and also some girly indulgence bits in the form of Benefit lipscription which for you girlies out there is a "silky lip balm and buffering lip beads exfoliant" ... I personally just like the packaging, but then I am fickle about such things :)

However, Phil doesn't fair so well since the shop he'd planned to visit was closed for a stock taking exercise, and he now thinks someone is telling him that trains aren't for him after all... I'm sure he'll get the bits, we've just hit one of those bad luck and inconvenience streaks that most people get for months on end...

On the way home we stop at the fish shop, my puffer fish needs to go in a bigger and better tank since the one he is in at the moment is a plastic one with a curved front panel, which proves to be a bit difficult to clean because it scratches easily and the bend in the plastic makes it tricky to get standard aquarium cleaning equipment to do a good job. So we decide on a tank and get the various accessories to go with it. We also get a spotted puffer to keep my red eye company since apparently you can keep different puffers together provided they are well fed so they don't eat each other.

So, 120 quid lighter we go home, and after a bit of lunch we set up the new tank, but its gonna take a while to settle down me thinks. We also put the new puffer in with Sedgewick.... I've yet to decide if it was a wise move, though they seem to getting on OKish, I guess, it's hard to tell, they are both puffed up and at opposite ends of the tank giving evils.

Posted by Abi at 10:08 PM | Comments (1)

January 28, 2006

The Triple

Cor blimey! I haven't stopped today, and neither has Phil.

We're up at around nine, and with some breakfast inside of us (boiled eggs, and for once I managed to get them cooked right!) we've both got plenty to do. Phil's mission for today is to chop back the tree that we have in the front garden, and truth be known I think he actually likes swinging from branches as it's such an extreme opposite from what he has to do on a daily basis (though the phrase "Jump monkey jump" springs to mind...) anyway, so whilst he's doing that, I set about my exercise for the day.

My personal trainer has come up with "The Triple", whereby I walk 3 miles, cycle 3 miles and then do this fancy routine utilizing the 13 stairs that we have in the house. The idea of the stairs is that you go up one, go down one, go up two, go down two and so on until you reach the 13th step. Having got Phil to do the math, its the equivalent of running up about 91 steps, and then running back down them again without taking a break.

So I do the walk, with my IPOD nano, which shaves off about 30 minutes from my usual ramble down the road since I was walking to some dance music, I then do the stairs... oh lord did I do the stairs! Bugger me, if I had to run up 91 stairs because my life depended on it, I think I'd get them to just put me out of my misery, don me with some concrete boots and throw me into the river! It was such hard work I never imagined! Wow, so it definatly got my heart rate up, and then I did the 3 mile cycle ride, which by comparison was a walk in the park (or a cycle in the park for that matter!).

Back home, and quite frankly exhausted we get some lunch and after that we nip to the railway shop in Bourton on the Water to see if we can get Phil some more bits of track for his new found hobby. Alas, the shop was closed, so we settled on buying some cool rocks instead and then driving home.

What with the flurry of activity today I'm not fit to do anything this evening, so I settle on doing nothing instead, except gawping at the TV and impressing my ego with how well I've done on the exercise front.

Posted by Abi at 9:42 PM | Comments (1)

January 27, 2006

Frieday :)

You know, who ever invented this work thing, really had an appalling sense of humour! Yes, yes, I'm back at proper work again today, and just like Wednesday I am flat out all day doing lots and lots and plenty more boring stuff. In fact I've some much of the stuff to do I'm the last one out of the office this evening, leaving me with the onerous task of locking up... do you have any idea how many times my OCD kicked in this evening? Well about 10 times I'd say, and that was before I made it out of the front of the building. It also decided to premeditate a panic attack when I was 1.5 miles down the road resulting in me turning around and going back to work to make sure I'd done what I was suppose to do.

The worst thing is that I know I'm being stupid, and I know I've done what ever it is that I think I haven't done, but I'm not happy until I've checked and triply checked 5 times over. I've got the point now where I have to tell myself out loud that I've done something to stop me ending up in a cycle of madness which could probably last long enough to get exceedingly boring and tiresome.

Hmph... anyway, my IPOD showed up to day so that's super cool... it's tiny! Though I'm reassure by Phil that I'd need to drop it from 40 foot in the air onto concrete to break it.. knowing my luck I could drop it from 1 mm above a cushion of bubble wrap and jello and I'd knacker it. Safe to say then I'll be avoiding both of those scenarios :)

Good news on the car front also, it's now being spray painted so I reckon they might not be far off with their estimate of it being completed by the early part of next week.

So, here's to hope, what little there is of it in this miserable world!

Posted by Abi at 8:50 PM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2006

Fursday!

Another day back at the desk, but this time I'm at home instead of 3 miles down the road. Handy that since I've got loads to do today, including some of my all time favourite pass time, CSS. The joy of it, I can hardly contain myself.

But, before I sit down on my arse for several hours, I take a walk out into town just to get some exercise in and have a gander around the shops and pick up some toiletries that we need, including Phil's must have man's grooming essential, hair wax.

When I get home I really do knuckle down and get through loads of work, and at the same time manage to calm my sisters nerves about an impending medical examination she has coming up for a life insurance policy she needs to take out.

By about 3.30 pm I have to take a break, but not cos I'm bored or tired of looking at the monitor, but to go off to the gym and have my first full on full hour's worth of work out with my personal trainer. It was easier this time, and considering I was working as hard I see that as a good thing, so all this walking must be paying off somewhere. We did 30 mins cardio stuff today, and 30 mins in the weight room where I learnt a valuable lesson on when to keep your gob shut. Lets put it this way, I won't be saying anything is easy ever again because the direct consequence of that is that whatever it was you were doing that was easy at the time, suddenly becomes very difficult :)

Back home and I've just got enough time to make tonight's tea, which is salmon fishcakes - very nice they were too. Shame my IPOD didn't turn up today, I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow.

Posted by Abi at 8:37 PM | Comments (1)

January 25, 2006

Whensday?

Back to work today, and anyone would think I'd been away for months on end with the amount of work I have waiting for me.

You see we're in the middle of doing the annual check up of the sites we maintain, so guess which sucker gets the "to do" list... yep, you'd be reading her words... lucky old me!

Anyway I'm busy enough that I don't get a lunch break, and I work solidly through till after five to try and catch up on what needs doing, and to slice down the quantity of crap in my inbox. Of course my efforts are hampered somewhat by being asked to do things in between the work I'm trying to concentrate on, and I hate losing my train of thought because it always takes me longer to figure out where I left off.

I did order my 4gb IPOD Nano today though, so hopefully that will arrive in the post soon - I've wanted an IPOD for a while now, and with my impending trip I figured now would be as good a time as any to buy one so I can entertain myself on the flight, and have an easy excuse to not engage in pointless conversation with my flight buddies for 8.5 hours :)

Posted by Abi at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2006

Chewsday

After my gallivanting around of yesterday, today I've kept the day free so that I can do some more stuff that I need to catch up on before I go away - it's all pretty boring stuff so I wont bore you with the details here, but needless to say that boring doesn't necessarily mean non-essential... I keep forgetting that I'm going next week, it seems so far away at times, and then hits me in the face full whammy when I catch myself dawdling around and not being very productive.

I have to say that after my fitness assessment yesterday I feel like my lower legs have been run over by a truck, my calves are killing me making it slightly difficult to negotiate the stairs and the like. I don't let a bit of pain put me off though and I go for my usual 3 mile walk today and combine that with cycling the route as well - and by the time I get home I'm pooped. Not only that, since I started out at 9am this morning I feel like perhaps it may have been a little cold outside to be trekking around because the first 10 mins of the walk I felt like I was slowly turning into a snowman/woman. It helped in a way because it made me walk quicker to warm up and get home before I stuck to the pathway in a cryogenic state :)

Posted by Abi at 8:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2006

I Spy

Another busy day for me today, and after getting some usual chores out of the way in the morning I decide to take a trip to the garage that currently has my car in for repairs.

You see they have an online tracking system which allows you to see how well they are doing with your car, and since the progress metre hasn't moved much for a week I thought it would be a good idea to nip down there on the excuse of "needing something out of my car" to go have a look see and get an update in person.

And again, without satnav I have to rely on google maps and Phil to get me there, and when I do finally arrive it's quite difficult to park amongst the graveyard of 100's of recently deceased motors, some of which obviously met their demise in tragic circumstances.

I did get to see my car, ravaged of its bumper and a good chunk of the side where the panel has been cut out ready for the replacement - it was looking very sorry for itself I have to say. I also got to have a chat to the manager about the completion date of the car, whether or not they'd noticed that the back door doesn't shut properly and if they were dead sure of the colour they need to respray it with and also how they'd make sure the rear parking sensors all worked ok. I got good replies on most of them, and was quite relieved when he told me that they ship the car back to BMW to make sure everything is ok once they'd finished their part of the job. As for the completion date, well it's suppose to be the 30th, and I hope they stick to it too, because other wise I've another problem to try and resolve and that's how on earth I'm suppose to get to the airport, cos sure as eggs is eggs their aint no way that me, phil and a suitcase can all get into this car in one go. Fingers crossed for the time being however.

In the afternoon I went in for my fitness assessment with my personal trainer - never have I been so intimate with a pair of callipers and tape measure! Ho hum, it was good fun though and the end result was worth it because after all the sums were done we got a pretty good numerical / graphical view of my current state of fitness, and therefore what we need to do to improve the figures (the numbers and of course my own profile!). After that we did a mini work out session for 30 mins, which was a killer, but the time flew by having someone to chat to and to encourage me as well.

I've got my next session booked for Thursday, I'm only slightly dreading it based on the fact that I'll be working out for an entire hour, and let me tell ya, the personal trainers idea of working out, and my idea of working out are quite dramatically at either ends of the scale hehehe ;)

Posted by Abi at 9:23 PM | Comments (1)

January 22, 2006

Lots To Do

Even though it's Sunday, that doesn't prevent me from getting through a big long list of things that need doing.

Firstly I've got to clean the kitchen because whilst I'm clinging on to the mere hope that I can get away with doing a full house clean for the moment, and saving it until just before I go away, the use the kitchen has been getting of late has left it somewhat dirty, I might even go so far as saying filthy. And indeed, to demonstrate just how dirty it is, it takes me about an hour to do a proper job.

I then head out into the garden, and though some may say prematurely, I give the grass a mowing. There is some logic behind the early trimming however, and that is that the mower acts quite well as a dead leaf vacuum and the lawn has gathered more than it's fair share over the autumn and winter, thanks to the mighty big tree that we have at the back of the property. I also gather up all the dead leaves that have festooned the flower beds and do some more trimming back of plants which have long since bloomed and withered up in the frosty weather.

Further to my plans of going away, I also manage to extract the suitcase from the shed and became bitterly disappointed upon realising that it wasn't of the magnitude I'd envisaged during my shopping trip for all things warm - fear not though because it does expand nicely, and I'm pretty sure that if I launch myself onto it from a great height I will be able to compress it sufficiently so in order to do the zip up. I've had plenty of practice with this sort of thing, especially on the "jean size too small" phenomena.

I also get a chance to do a bit of baking, this time it's banana loaf - and although it is no where near the standard of one of my friends version of said loaf, for a low fat version its just about edible and will probably curb my cravings for all things cake like for a while.

Posted by Abi at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2006

New Shoes

Up and about today bright and early as we head into Oxford so that I can do some shopping for my trip away. This weekend is really the last weekend I have to do shopping before I go, since next weekend is already fully booked with a family event going on in Cardiff.

So once we arrive the first places we hit are of the genre "outside sports" since where I am going will probably be very cold. I pick up some warm fleeces and also a warm hat and a scarf - I've already got the gloves covered.

By the time that we've done all of that it's close enough to lunch time and so we get some food - I opt for the healthy option of some Boots Shapers snacks whereas Phil treats himself to a Maccy D's since he's had a pretty hard time of it late and feels he deserves some junk food.

After we've eaten we then head into my bank to sort out some stuff, and what a waste of time that was. It took them 30 minutes to sort something which should have taken 5 and to cap that off they put me through to a call centre in India, and for 15 minutes of that I have to struggle in a tedious conversation because of a general lack of understanding on the other persons part of the English language. So much so in fact was the whole experience a nightmare, I've decided that I'm going to swap my bank when I come back to one of the very few in the UK who guarantee that you can have a direct line to your branch and call centers that are only in the UK. This is the second time I've had a bad experience with an Indian call center, the first time the person on the other end was too overly friendly and darn right intrusive, asking questions which to be honest bared no relation to what I was asking him to do - what business is of his to know why I'm transferring money and for what reason I'm spending it? Anyway, enough is enough and I'm swapping.

By this point both of us were a little fed up and wanting to go home, but we had not got one of the vital things I needed for my trip- some suitable footwear that will bare up the rigors of wintry weather. And, after much indecision on my part I finally decide on a proper pair of walking boots, which whilst were not cheap I'm sure are more than suitable for their purpose and hopefully with have a long lifespan ahead of them.

Back home and we watch The Island, which is pretty cool and worth the watch and then I get on with dinner which is nothing fancy but nice all the same.

Posted by Abi at 9:34 PM | Comments (3)

January 20, 2006

Introductions

At work today and again I'm busy for all of it whilst trying to get my inbox down to a reasonable size. But work isn't important today, I've got much more exciting things to look forward to.

You see this evening after work I have my first face to face meeting with my newly instated personal trainer which whilst for the first few moments was a little terrifying, I think we'll get on just fine. :)

To cut a long story short, the meeting went a little along these lines...

I was early so was minding my own business sat in the reception of the gym reading a magazine and chatting to the bloke on the desk, who was very personable, when all of sudden this shadow is cast over me which even by it's mere existence was somewhat intimidating. As I look up I am confronted by a chap who is about 5 foot 10 and built like a greyhound, not a scrap of fat on him and more muscle than a genetically modified beef cow. With his shaved head I could only liken his appearance to an army corporal or sergeant, but such illusion was only temporary when I notice he is clad in very little other than some tiny shorts and a tight sports vest.

But despite my initial shock and horror of thinking I'd signed up with a drill master, he was in fact a lovely fella. He showed me around the gym, told me what he'd expect we'd be doing and what to prepare for and even took the time to have a look into my eating habits and the like to get an idea of my intake and where it could be improved.

So I've now got my first session, which includes my fitness assessment booked in for Monday, I have a feeling I'm gonna be knackered at the end of it!

Posted by Abi at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2006

Plodding along

Despite not having anything in particular planned for today I've still managed to fill the majority of it up with odds and sods that needed to be done, nothing terribly exciting mind and certainly not credible enough to be noteworthy but the jobs have managed to prevent me getting to bored and merrily whisked me along the time path of the day up until Phil gets home.

Posted by Abi at 9:24 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2006

I'm Sorry But...

In work today, and I've some rather bad news to impart on my boss - you see they don't know that I'm going away for most of February, well, they didn't up until about 9.15 this morning.

Actually they were quite good about it and agreed to me having the time off. I think I phrased it well enough to let them know it wasn't a question I was asking, more to the point a fact I was stating which probably helped. Anyway, they said yes, albeit with me taking half of it as unpaid leave. I can cope with that for now, who knows maybe when I get back I will make that career move I've been rattling on about for X amount of months now.

I've so much work to do today that I don't stop for lunch and I work right through till 6 pm after being landed with some more "urgent" work to do for a presentation tomorrow - amazing isn't it... I figure someone has known that this presentation is coming up before today so why hasn't anyone planned ahead a bit better instead of inconveniencing everyone else with work that just has to be done or the whole world will end. Strangely this place is getting more and more like my old job, which isn't optimistic from my point of view.

So my plans of doing some exercise this afternoon when I got home went out the window, and instead I booked my tickets away and cooked tandoori chicken for tea, and since it had been marinading since this morning it was pretty darn good!

Posted by Abi at 9:08 PM | Comments (1)

January 17, 2006

A Shock

Buggering blast - I gave myself a bit of a shock today and dusted off one of my keep fit videos and decided to give it a go. I almost wish I hadn't because the depressing fact of the matter is that after being on the lazy wagon for the best part of 9 months I've sadly lost the meager fitness level I achieved the last time I was making a regular habit of exercise.

Half way through the tape and I feel like I'm dying - I can hardly imagine that some months ago I was screeching at the TV to tell the bint to get on with it, stop talking and put a bit more effort in. It seems therefore that the last laugh is now on her as she knowingly stared at me through the plasma with that look of "Who's the fit one now bitch?"

Oh well I made it through in the end, but I have to say it was the longest 50 minutes of activity ever in the history of the longest minutes of the universe - I'd even go so far as to say time was going backwards!

Not much went on today really, though I did manage to make a list of everything I need to do before I go away. I like lists, they keep me on track and I get a sadly satisfying gratification from ticking things off the list when I've completed them.

Posted by Abi at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2006

Wet

In my uncensored need to get more exercise in my daily routine, today I decided that I should walk into town and pick up some things I needed as well as post a parcel overseas.

Having analysed the sky with my superior weather forecasting skills (right!) before I set off, I figured it might be a safe bet on it remaining dry whilst I walk there and back, and for the "there" part of the journey I was right - no rain or anything, just an unremarkable winter day in the UK - dull, a bit damp and very overcast.

So I get to town and do the jobs I need to do and decide to head home. Just before I reach the turn that takes me directly to our house I realise that I'd forgotten to get something in Tescos. That's not really a problem but it is a little inconvenient. After thinking about my conundrum for a while I realise that if I take a different route home I can swing by our local mini-supermarket and pick up the outstanding item without a problem. Ok, the route is a bit longer, but whats the problem? I've nothing to kill today apart from time and the extra walking will probably do me good.

I'm about 1/5 into my newly planned route when the heavens open and it pours with rain. This in it's self takes the gloss of my walking experience, but on top of that the route that I've taken is along a pretty busy road. So not only am I being pelted by some very persistent rain, I'm also getting drizzled upon about every 5 seconds by what ever car/van/bike/lorry happens to be travelling along the road and kicking up a nice haze of road spray.

Eventually I get home after making my pit stop and the supermarket once again. I'm wet, my coat is dripping wet and my jeans certainly weren't cut out to be a wet suit of any description - but it's only water and some hours later we're all dry again.

In the evening I get some exciting news which means I'll be away for most of February travelling - it will be the first time I've gone overseas on my own but I'm looking forward to it (if not the planning and organisation that accompanies such a trip).

Posted by Abi at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2006

Baking

We have quite a busy day considering its a Sunday. First things first and we take a walk to the post box to return our hired out DVDs so we can get some more in for next week. It was quite a nice walk too, and we manage to enjoy the sunshine whilst it lasts.

When we get back home we nip out in the car and go to one of the local gyms here in the town which I'd found on the internet. The main reason for choosing them to have a look-see is because they provide personal trainers, something which I've been considering for a while now. You see I'm fine doing exercise here at home, but the videos and things I have only go to a certain level before your left floundering in a regime that doesn't intensify as you get fitter. So my thinking is that if I've got someone who can monitor me as I go, and adjust my programme as I get healthier that that's got to be a good thing.

The gym it's self is very nice, but typically gym like - loud music and protein shakes galore. They do have a good array of equipment however which is always a plus because most gyms that I've been to there is always a queue for popular machinery, where as here they have plenty of everything. Unfortunately the personal trainer was in the middle of session so I couldn't get to speak to him, but I did get a business card and number to ring to arrange an appointment.

After our mini-excursion we then do a bit of pottering in the garden. Phil attacks the tree in the front which needs a regular annual pruning whilst I set about tidying up out the back. Our path way has been shrouded in rotting leaf mulch since the autumn and so that all needed tidying up, and I also pruned back some of the plants, that if left to their own devices would take over the entirety of our small back yard.

Wet, and somewhat muddy I finally finish the job and after getting changed because most of the water I'd used to hose down the path had now been absorbed into my jeans I then set about doing some baking.

I'd decided to make hot cross buns, and I mean make them from scratch - with yeast and everything! As you can imagine the recipe is a bit fiddly, with allowing yeast to ferment, and rising the dough etc etc but some 3 hours later I'm taking them out of the oven and hurrah! They look almost palatable :)

It doesn't take me long to tuck into one, and they taste pretty darn good for a "healthy" recipe, I'm quite proud of my baby dough balls!

We also watch The Interpreter today, which IMHO is again far to long to hold the interest of most viewers, to I have to give credit for Nicole Kidman who managed a very convincing South African accent.

Posted by Abi at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2006

Riot

We have a very lazy start to the day, and by the time we've gotten up and eaten and done the usual weekend fluffing around it's time to head off to Oxford so that Phil can get his hair cut.

Whilst we are travelling in on the bus from the park and ride we notice that the police are busy shutting off roads and the like, and after discussing the reasons for this (from important people visiting the centre to murder) it doesn't take long to realise what is going on once we get closer to the shops.

Phil tootles off to get his hair cut, and while he is in the chair I do some shopping and pick up some various baking tins. I've decided that even though I'm eating healthier I shouldn't deprive myself to the point of resentment (which then leads to giving up). Luckily for me I've got a number of healthy baking recipes and so I've going to give them a go, but to do that I need the baking tins, which I manage to get in the sales at a reasonable price.

When I finally extract myself from the hoards of other shoppers looking for a bargain, no sooner have I walked out of the shop I am confronted with a line of 10 or so police horses and a host of other coppers who have blocked off the road ahead. It appears the Animal Rights protesters were in full throw of having a rally about the animal research center that is being built in Oxford. From what I gather the center has had a bit of a marred history since its conception with a number of building contractors leaving the job due to suggested threats and harassment from animal rights members. This latest rally is because the building work has begun again with new contractors, and I should think the protesters want to highlight their cause again, the cost of which was 5 arrests later on in the day.

Back home and we don't get up to much - I bake some healthy brownies, though I'm not convinced of the outcome and so decide to do some hot cross buns tomorrow instead. And the rest, as they say is history.

So it's good night from me!

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

January 13, 2006

Doomsday

Perhaps for some, but as it happens my Friday the 13th went without glitch which is always a bonus.

Today I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out vector graphics, and more over how to get the hang of the pen tool in photoshop - something that even after a few hours practice I've still not got the hang of properly. I guess I'll have to keep on trying some more and see if I get any further.

I took an hour out of computery stuff at lunch time and sat down to watch a documentary which we'd recorded last week too. It was about the benefits and pit falls of having bariatric surgery (obesity surgery to put it bluntly). Being the size that I am the thought has often crossed my mind to have a gastric band fitted, it seems like a solution to fix all and though I'm not currently of the mind set to get it done I thought watching the documentary would help educate me a bit further to make an informed decision if and when I ever get to the point where I want to put myself under the knife.

The information it provided was quite stirring. It was quite well balanced, with success and failure stories but it also made me aware of some of the side affects the surgery can have. They basically described the 2 types of surgery available - a gastric bypass and a gastric band. I would never do the the bypass, the side affects for me outweigh the benefits - there was one woman who after the surgery lost complete control of her intestinal tract which left her incontinent and housebound for ever - it was irreversible. Other side affects including all sorts of complications after surgery which were life threatening, and stays in high dependency units, and that doesn't account for those who suffered malnutrition and diseases that related to that.

The gastric band surgery was more optimistic, but again people had problems. For example one woman who despite having the band fitted was still not losing any weight. The problem? Her oesophagus had started to act like her stomach and was storing the food she ate in her gullet and was slowly drip feeding it as and when the stomach could handle it. Another woman had to solely survive on milk since she couldn't eat anything else due to a curvature in her gullet. The latter of the two however was determined that she was happier now than she'd ever been at 25+ stone and would recommend the surgery to anyone despite the risks.

So from my perspective if I had NO choice other than surgery to help me loose the weight I'd go for the band. Having watched the documentary though it made me think of something - what happens once you shed the pounds? It also made me realise that the surgery is a life long commitment and not just a quick fix, its much much more difficult than just having your stomach turned into about 1/3 of its size to stop you eating so much.

I made me quite upset that my idealised back up plan was so fraught with dangers, it was my safety net if all else failed but in all honesty I don't think I'd have the guts (excuse the pun) to go through with it. For now I'll have to stick to my current way of thinking and do it by myself for myself.

I was planning on doing chicken piri piri for tea tonight, but as it happens when I get out the recipe book it appears I'm missing some of the more important ingredients. But instead of giving up and opting for take out instead since my plans had been thwarted, I put my logical hat on and see if there is anything I can make with the ingredients I have. I see this as a good indicator to my determination to have a more healthy lifestyle, and so we have tandoori chicken instead. It was easy to prepare and tasted good even though it probably would have benefited from a little more marinating. I also did a yogurt, cucumber and garlic dip to go with it, which was equally as nice.

Posted by Abi at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2006

Catching Up

I've spent the best part of today catching up with various things that I needed to do, which have been festering for a while.

They aren't difficult things by a long shot, but none the less they are a bit tricky and since I've not done anything on them for a while it takes me a while to find me feet so to speak with what it is I need to do and how to go about doing them - I get there in the end however and I'm quite happy with the progress I've made.

I also send off a letter to the insurers about my car so that they can get on with the work, and make use of the copy facility on the scanner, which despite my worries of being a whole heap of hassle (having to plug in the scanner and such) I've got to say it was a cinch - a case where plug and pray actually worked well, and just a button press later I had a dandy copy of what I wanted reeling of the printer.

Later on whilst I'm still faffing with things I have an interesting IM conversation with an old work colleague who may have a proposition for me - it's a tempting one to say the least, but would involve working in London for some days of the week even though they seem to offer very flexible working hours and are not adverse to remote working - a privilege I had to fight tooth and nail for in my previous job. I'm not sure if I'm in a position at the moment to take them up on the offer, but it was rather nice to have it mooted - so I've got a bit of mulling over to do on that front.

Phil doesn't leave work till 7pm again, and so by the time he gets back there is precious little time to do anything other than eat then sleep. Dinner was a success again, this time it was tuna pitta breads - really simple and quick to prepare, but the tuna mix of sweetcorn, capers, seasoning, spring onions and mayo was delicious (despite Phil's reservations about the capers!).

Posted by Abi at 9:33 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2006

New Position

And no, I don't mean I've got a promotion :) I do however have my very own desk at work now after months of shifting between 2 desks and sharing one of them with someone else.

I guess it takes me about 30 minutes to move the computers around and sort out the heap of crap that the previous occupants had left, but finally I now have the ability to put stuff where I want and make phone calls without leaping across the room everytime the darn thing rings.

It's a pretty busy day at work with little breathing space to do anything other than what I'm paid to do. I do however take a walk out at lunch time since the sun is shining (first time in a long time!) and nip to the local garage / shop and pick up some All Bran for Phil since he's had a craving for it for a couple of days now. It was very nice to stretch my legs for an hour and feel the sun on my face even if the route was along a particularly busy road.

Back home and it's a reasonably hum drum sort of evening. Phil isn't home quite as late, but still late enough, so it's a good job it's leftovers from yesterday for tea - easy to cook and not much time to prepare, but it's still verging on 9pm by the time we eat.

Posted by Abi at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2006

Where O Where Has Phil Gone?

Hmm, it appears that something is missing from the house. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is definitely something gone AWOL. I'm pretty sure it was rather nice and something I was very keen on, but alas, it seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet. I even seem to recall that I could interact with it and poke it and it made a funny noise - and it was pretty much house trained as well.

So I sit here and contemplate with you... "What could it be?".

The simple answer is Phil! Poor old thing has been working more and more extra hours every day to climax in a blazing crescendo of unpaid work resulting in him not getting home till about 8.45 pm yesterday - that's an 12 hour shift in one day.

I know he can't help being away and working so hard, but the house is distinctly empty and surprisingly gun/train/car/ and fart empty without him - its just not right, and yes Goddamnit!! I'll admit it! I miss him.

However until his work eases off a little it appears that those chats I've been having with myself of late might well turn into full length conversations very shortly.

Oh yes, happy "too many years" wedding anniversary to my parents!

Posted by Abi at 9:45 PM | Comments (0)

January 9, 2006

Surprises

Well, today has turned out to be a bunch happiness, and I'm not even being sarcastic when I say that :)

It starts off relatively hum drum, but I do make some progress on my new found healthy lifestyle. I've a number of errands to run today, the first of which is to post a letter via registered post to the people who are dealing with my car claim. To do that I need to go the post office which is in town, and despite the miserable and bitter weather I set aside the car keys and decide to walk instead of drive. It only takes me about 25mins there and back, and even though I'm a bit red faced by the time I get back I feel pretty chuffed with myself that I didn't take the easy option for one.

I then have to go to the post office depot to pick up a parcel which had failed to have been delivered because it wouldn't fit in our letter box. This time I do take the car because the depot is quite a way from the house.

By the time I get back I realize that I've had a number of missed calls on my phone from my parents who flew back from Greece yesterday, and so I get hold of them and it turns out that they would like to meet for lunch on their return trip home back to Wales. After a bit of negotiation as to where we should meet we settle on Bourton on the Water since its about halfway from where they are to where I am - but it's still an hours drive so I need to get my skates on and leave point A to get to point B without the aid of sat nav to meet up with my parents for an unexpected lunch together.

But, before I head out I can't resist the temptation to see what it is that is in the parcel that I'd picked up earlier. And, to my delight I've got a bag full of goodies from a friend with lots of Miso Pretty products in which are gorgeous - I can't wait to try them out!

I manage to get to my destination ok though I'd forgotten how tricky it is to find where your going with just the aid of some bits of paper and no one giving you voice commands, and we then find somewhere to eat. Another tricky moment in the healthy living ranks - eating out and eating healthily but I pull it off by having the ham salad and not being tempted by the luscious dessert menu and settling on a coffee instead.

We then have a poke around the shops and despite my lack of expenditure my parents more than make up for it when my Mum spys a rather nice dressing table which is made entirely of mirrored glass and decides to buy it for a small fortune. After we've loaded it up into the car it's time for goodbyes and we both head off in our separate directions and I find my way home.

Whilst I'm waiting for Phil to get back (he's working late again) I do a bit more dabbling on the new site I've set up, and eventually when Phil gets home I cook tea which is the mini chicken fillet burgers that I did last week since Phil enjoyed them so much. We also get chance to do our shopping online and the rest of the evening flies by what with watching some tv, having a bath and discussing the process required to get Phil's Mini disk player reinstated so that I can use it whilst walking or biking or whatever in general.

Posted by Abi at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

January 8, 2006

Oh So Lazy

Urm, yeah, so I know I did some stuff today, just not very much of it at all :)

I had a very long lay in bed this morning, not getting up till about 11am, and after having a shower and washing my hair (which can I add at this point is about twice as thick as it was a week ago, something I can only attribute to drinking more water) which took an eternity, I have some breakers and then wonder what I'll do for the rest of the day.

Phil sets himself the task of washing his car, so whilst he's doing that I nip to the supermarket to get some ingredients I need for tea tonight. By the time I get back he's still at it, and so to keep myself occupied I set about making some parsnip soup to munch throughout the week.

And still, even by the time the soup is almost done, Phil is just finishing his car - it was incredibly dirty to say the least, but now it's all sparkly and new again. He comes in rather wet and rather exhausted and so we have some lunch and watch The Amityville Horror which is plenty scary enough even for watching it in the daylight - tell you something there is no way I'd buy a house which I knew had a bad history of murder and the like, no matter how attractive the price tag.

After that I faff around for a while watching some tv and the like then get on with tea, which tonight is spaghetti meatballs with tomato sauce and pasta (all homemade too I'll have you know) which while a bit tedious to prepare and make turn out to be well worth the effort as they are rather delicious :)

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)

January 7, 2006

Housewifery

I have a bit of a lay in bed this morning, but by about 20 past nine hunger gets the better of me and I get up and have some breakfast.

After I've eaten I then get on with my main task of the day and that is to clean the house from top to bottom, which takes me the best part of 4 hours. I then get some lunch since yet again, I'm starving, having not had a break between the vacuum and the duster.

We then pop into town and do a bit of shopping - we've some left over vouchers from Christmas that could do with being spent and get a couple more DVDs as well as a CD designed for working out to which I got since most of my exercise videos have the most diabolical sound tracks imaginable. We also get a couple of new soup bowls since I managed to break the only one we had that could accommodate a whole tin of soup in one go.

Back home once again and I'm pooped from all the activity of earlier in the day so we sit down to watch Herbie Fully Loaded, which is good enough to waste an hour or 2. I then get dinner on the go which is breaded chicken fillets with mash - not as extravagant as the tuna, but certainly fills the ever needy hole in my stomach.

Posted by Abi at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 6, 2006

Day Of Rest

No work today since I've done my allotted hours for this week, so I settle down to implement and skin the site design I've done for a communal gathering of thoughts and support for me and my friends, which is basically related to fighting the flab. The skinning takes a lot of time, in particular because as well as the recipe database it will also be a blog. The time aspect comes into play because with the blog software we use here you have to rebuild the entire site every time you make a change to any of the numerous templates that make up the blog before you can see the changes you've made, and with running that software on one of our antiquated computers it takes a while to do it's thing.

It doesn't take long for the afternoon to creep up on me, but by the time it does I've finished most of the site. So I then set about adding some more recipes to the database, which as ever I get so wrapped up in it is time for me to start tea before I've looked up from the monitor when I hear Phil getting home.

Luckily dinner doesn't take too long to make, it's fresh tuna steaks which have been covered in fresh pesto sauce and grilled. As a side dish I make a salsa of chopped cherry tomatoes, finely sliced red onion, freshly chopped basil with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and of course a bit of freshly ground salt and pepper to taste. I really enjoyed it, especially the salsa which was delicious. I don't think Phil was so fussed, but then he didn't have any of the salsa which really complimented the tuna. His tuna steak was also a lot thicker than mine and so perhaps the tuna/pesto ratio wasn't quite so good as what I experienced.

Never mind, I'm sure with a bit more fine tuning it can be even nicer.

Posted by Abi at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

January 5, 2006

Early Start, Early Finish

So, up with Phil today so that I can get into work at 7.30 to launch a website which has to be live to the rest of the internet world by 8am.

The release goes well, and after getting on with some more work which is all pretty standard stuff I end up at somewhat of a loss what to do next. So I spend 30 mins or so mulling over the fact that Renault Meganes are in fact the worst cars to drive on the planet- not only do they have steering that is as responsive as a tug boat in stormy weather they have as much omph as... well Omph (as in 0 miles per hour). On top of that it's also like driving a milk-float since the driving position is as perch like as a parrot on it's stand.

I then set about brushing up my CSS skills and building a pseudo site or 2, and that manage to while away the time till 3.30 when I got to clock off early because of my early start.

Back home and I then do more web related stuff, this time it's tarting up the web interface for the database that Phil built for me so that I can input the recipes that I have without having to use the phpAdmin screens - which goes well enough.

For tea tonight I have to utilise the mini chicken fillets that we had substituted in our shopping instead of the turkey mince I'd ordered. So we have chicken fillet burgers, and I add some salad and a slice of bacon and some mustard mayo. Very tasty indeed! I will do them again for sure.

Posted by Abi at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

January 4, 2006

Back To The Desk

Well it had to happen at some point, and today was the day - lucky me! As you guessed I'm back at work today and a very hard day it's been too.

First of all because I don't have the use of my car I have to cycle into work - the first time in a very, very long time. So I'm earlier than usual and getting all my stuff together so that I can leave the house in good time to get to work promptly.

The first battle I have is that I have to get my bike out of the shed where it has been hibernating for the past 6 months, which isn't easy considering boxes and garden furniture have been secreted in the shed too for the winter months. Eventually though I heave the bike out and I'm able to make my way to work. I don't go the long route which I was taking in the summer, but cut through town instead making the trip a bit easier and shorter considering my fitness levels are at an all time low.

The ride itself wasn't too bad apart from the biting cold and damp conditions and I make into work on time, though it doesn't take very long for my legs to ache and burn and I'm grateful to make the last turn into work and give my butt a break which is also starting to grumble under the pressure of my overly plumb body exerting extreme amounts of weight on to a saddle which is perhaps only a 1/4 the size of my arse.

Luckily it's only today that I have to go through this suffering as I've arrange to have my hire car dropped of at work at lunchtime, which turns up on a very impressive low-loader. So imagine my horror when I look on the back of the thoroughbred stud to see that the rider is somewhat of a lower class of citizen, in this case a renault megane. Like I don't have a big enough arse as it is, I am now subjected to driving a car which quite aptly imitates my silhouette quite nicely. Anyway, after having checked the car thoroughly for bumps and scrapes I then get back to work.

At lunch time I nip out to halfords on the bike and pick up some front and rear lights to put on the bike so that I don't get killed on my way home - and despite picking up the set that say "quick release and fitting" I still have to borrow a screw driver from the bods in the shop to fit the rear light.

The problem now is that I've got the bike and the hire car at work. So when I finish work I cycle home again and wait for Phil to get back so that we can go pick the hire car up and bring it home - its a good job too that we get the car back as it appears I have to go into work at 7.30 tomorrow morning to do a software release, and I sure as hell ain't gonna be cycling 3 miles in the dark at 7 in the morning.

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (1)

January 3, 2006

Hot Ears

And no, it's not because someone is talking about me but due to the sheer fact that I've spent the best part of today trying to make some headway into getting my car fixed.

Since I'd not head anything from the repairers about picking up my car I decided to get their contact details from my insurers so that I could give them a ring and see what the situation is - after all I do have work this week and so need to know when and where they will be picking my car up. I even ask the insurers if they are sure they'd passed on the instructions, to which they said they had. Lo' and behold, when I ring the repairers, they hadn't heard a thing from the insurers, so I then promptly ring them back and say "oi! whats going on - you told me on Saturday and today that the instructions had been sent?!".

So after going through another merry-go-round of press 1 to continue, press 2 to get frustrated and press 3 to give up entirely I get through to the insurers again who this time tell me that the well known and now frequently abused "system glitch" which they had the misfortune of encountering on Saturday when I rang resulted in the instructions going to the repairer by post rather than by fax. But no fear, they will send the fax over to the repairers right away.

I then ring the car hire people who I'd got the number of from the insurers and go through yet another 30 minute conversation about my driving history etc etc and all that jazz and finally get to a point whereby I've arrange for the hire car to be dropped of at work tomorrow.Hmm, the paper trail on this whole event is getting somewhat troublesome so I then take the time to document everything that I've done so far, who I've spoke to and when just for my own benefit and of course documentary evidence should I need to sue to insurers at some point.

With that done, I decide to give the whole car thing a rest for the time being. It's depressing enough at the moment with out having to remind myself that my precious baby is the hands of bureaucrats and fools, and it may be some time before it's back from boarding school, that's if it ever gets to go there in the first place.

So what can I do to cheer myself up, oh oh oh I know! Why not pay my tax bill, that's always good for a giggle init? The delightful story behind this one is that I know I have to pay a tax bill because I had to send in a tax return from when I contracted earlier in the year. So far so good. I've now had a reminder that I need to pay my tax bill by the 31st January unless I want to die in a pit of burning money surrounded by cannibalistic taxmen and accountants whilst they chant and poke me to see if I'm cooked to a rare, medium or well done standard. The problem here is that despite me having a rough idea of how much tax I'll have to pay, I haven't had a confirmation of the amount I need to pay from the inland revenue, I've just had a "pay up or suffer" reminder.

The next phone call as you can guess then is to the Inland Revenue to find out the figure I need to pay (that made my eyes water!) and if I can pay via direct debit to make my life easier, which I can as it happens, but in order to do that I need to transfer some money around - fantastic, online banking! It is what it's made for... easy and convenient eh?

Not so because the online banking isn't working, so I then have to go the torturous maze of ringing the bank, selecting 5 zillion options and the result of my hard work was only rewarded by being put through to an Indian call center and being hooked up with someone who despite having a firm grasp of the english language was somewhat disabled by his very thick accent.

Will this day ever end? Eventually it did, and after cooling my ears after the intense radiation exposure from being on my mobile so long today I fill the time by doing some data entry into a mini project I've got brewing - and once I've hitched myself off that I prepare tea, which is roast lemon and garlic chicken served with mixed roast vegetables.

Very nice too it was.

Posted by Abi at 10:08 PM | Comments (1)

January 2, 2006

Preparation

We're not up to much today and there are perhaps only 3 things I can recall that are of any importance and worthy enough to report:-

First off, I've been peeing like a horse because I've started drinking 2 litres of water every day. As a consequence of this my body is now getting rid of all the skanky fluids it's been holding onto tighter than a yorkshireman and a pound coin as it's realised that fluid isn't in such short demand. It's not a terrible inconvenience though since I get more exercise running up and down the stairs to the bog, and my face no longer represents that of a snake shedding its skin (dry and a bit shrivelled). Good to say then that I won't be scaring the neighbourhood brats any time soon.

Secondly Phil has written me a database so that I can input the hundreds of healthy recipes that I have spread amongst 3 books and search through them easily based on main food ingredient, or category of food, such as a snack or light lunch or main meal. We spend a good part of the day doing that with me playing the typical client role (ie, has a vague idea but no real comprehension as to what is needed) and Phil doing his technical bit. He does a fine job too considering PHP and MySQL are not his daily programming languages.

Finally we nip off to the cinema to watch Just Like Heaven which despite being 100% a chick flick is actually quite good fun, and even raises a few smiles from Phil.

Posted by Abi at 9:38 PM | Comments (0)

January 1, 2006

New Years Realisations

Yes, as the title suggests this year I am not making any resolutions because I always break them. So instead I've come up with some realisations instead. Things I need to face up to and sort out before another year goes by and I end up in the same situation 365 days from now.

1. I eat, therefore I am fat
   This has been a long running issue in the life of me. I eat too much of the wrong things. In fact I just plain eat too much. So this year I'm going to make a change or 3 to stop that. I'm not going on a temporary diet, I'm going on a life change instead, something I can stick with. I don't mind if I lose 10 stone or 10 lbs but if I do it in a way that means it's sustainable I'll be happy. I'm going to cut out the crap, make sure I'm hydrated and eat more fruit and veg.

2. I can play fetch as good as the next dog
   I have now sat on my arse for the best part of a year waiting for things to happen or come my way served on silver platter with no effort or assertiveness expressed on behalf of myself. Ok, I've had the vacation now I need to get back on track with making the things I want to happen happen because of my own efforts.

3. I'm not glue, I don't have to be stuck to anything
   And my career has been a major sticking point throughout 2005. I have come to the conclusion that ultimately the degree I took wasn't the key to the career I wanted to do. I'm not a desk jockey, never have been if I face up to facts which would explain why I move jobs on an annual basis, because my God it's boring! I've got as far as figuring out I need a social interaction job, and if it involves outside work then all the more better. Now I just need to narrow it down that what might be the most of interest to me. Answers on a post card please, but in the meantime I'm going to make a concerted effort to abandon the desk and get out there to try different things.

4. Time is naturally of the essence
   I'm 29 this year, and on an optimistic guesstimate of living till I'm 70 that means I've only got 14,965 days to make the most of everything this planet and this existence has to offer. I want to do scary things, fun things, risky things, stupid things and be sensible about things to the point whereby I don't feel I've wasted my time. I also want an IPOD :)

So there you have it, my 2006 realisations - I wonder what I can accomplish by this time next year?

Posted by Abi at 9:11 PM | Comments (2)

December 31, 2005

Smashing New Years Eve

And I'm not talking in the good way. After a lay in this morning we eventually get ourselves organised enough to take a trip over to Bourton on the Water to visit a model railway shop so that Phil can pick up some more bits for this set up. Everything is going well up until we pull up to some traffic lights behind about 10 other cars. There we are minding our own business when all of a sudden there is a squeal of breaks and tyres from behind us and then a very big clank and that nauseating sound of metal being bent. Yes we'd been rear ended.

Phil pulls the car over and the other driver pulls over too and we get out to look at the damage - it seems that a 2 tonne land rover can do substantial damage to a 1 series even at slow speeds as he has destroyed the rear drivers side of my car - lights have gone, parking sensors, bumper and rear side panel all fucked. As you can imagine I ain't very happy in the slightest and let the other driver know as much, where as Phil was a bit more diplomatic about it all. So after taking photos of the damage (thank god for camera phones) we swap insurance details and the other driver admits liability.

Luckily my car is still drivable and while Phil drives I ring up the insurance company to tell them what has happened - they are very helpful and put me through to their legal department who will process the claim against the other drivers insurance company, I've even got a replacement car sorted out whilst mine is being assessed and either fixed or written off, not sure which yet.

When we get home we can have a closer look at the damage, and it's not very good news really. You see the rear panel isn't a singular unit that you can just replace by itself - the panel is part of a conglomerate which makes up the entirety of the roof and the equivalent rear on the passengers side, so that's gonna be expensive to fix. Not only that but the drivers side rear door doesn't shut properly anymore either, its about 1cm out making it troublesome to close and open. I've a feeling that's not a good indicator either and means something is bent somewhere which will probably be equally expensive to fix.

All in all then a pretty shit start to what will soon be 2006 - I just hope it isn't an indicator as to what the rest of the year is going to be like, and I'm certainly in no mood what so ever to celebrate the fact that after a pretty turbulent 2005 I might be in for an equally bumpy ride next year.

And so because of the above I won't be celebrating tonight - oh no, I'm going to stew in my own misery and feel sorry for myself and hope that Mr. S has as shite a new year as me.

Posted by Abi at 10:08 PM | Comments (2)

December 30, 2005

And it rained...

Hmmm, both Phil and I are nursing a slight hangovers this morning and so when the clock turns to 8.30 am I'm rather regretting the fact that I'd arranged to meet my parents at 9 for some breakfast!

Though I had to struggle through the initial saga of actually getting dressed and being sociable thereafter, having eaten a good fry up I start to feel somewhat human. Whilst having breakfast my Dad invites Phil and I to go along to have lunch with them at Windlesham where they are meeting some friends, and so since it's not really that far off our beaten path to go home I say we'd go along too.

And so we pack our bags and head off, and the weather for driving is not exactly favourable, it's peeing with rain and the spray on the motorway makes the visibility virtually non existent. We get to the pub we're eating at a couple of hours later and I have to say the grub was very good indeed - so if anyone should find themselves in need of a good eatery in the Windlesham area I'd fully recommend the Brickmakers Arms.

Having eaten we then say our goodbyes and head back to Oxford which was a pain free journey and when we get home we do very little indeed except nurse our hangovers and try to conserve the very sparse energy we have in order to get upstairs to bed.

I can safely say then that old age is catching up on both of us - I certainly can't party like I used to, I'm such a light weight!

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2005

Knot tying

We are up early today as we are heading off to Cardiff for my Cousins wedding. So, after getting a bit of chow, we are on the road by 9.30 and heading westward.

We arrive dead on time for my hair appointment at 12 at a hairdressers just outside cardiff city center which I'd booked earlier in the week and after a little faffing and a lot of painful insertion of pins into my hair we make it to the hotel at just gone 1pm, which as it turns out is just enough time to get some room service and get ready for the ceremony. And everything was going nicely to plan up till the point where Phil puts on his shirt and realises that we'd forgotten to pack his cuff links. Ooops! So Phil has a quick sprint down to the high street and visits a store which from what he describes I can only liken to the department store in "Are you being served?" - i.e very old fashioned, even down to handwritten receipts :)

Still, even with that set back we get ready in time and after a bit of milling around it's time for the big "I do", which for once wasn't terribly drawn out and long winded, just nice and succinct - a blessing when there were a number of small children in the audience who invariably have a boredom threshold of oooo about 30 seconds.

We then sit down the wedding breakfast (why it's called breakfast I don't know considering it is now about 5.30) which was your typical kind of fayre and adds to the total of 5 xmas dinners we've had this month. Of course then there were the usual speeches and the like and after all of that Phil and I pop out to get some cash and I change out of the top that has been revealing even more breast than what was served at dinner.

The evening do was good fun, with us getting rather familiar with all varieties of aftershock and inhaling a small blimps worth of helium making Phil sound a bit like Joe Pascale and just tipping me over the "beyond human hearing levels" which was amusing enough in itself.

I have to say though it was a bit of shame during the latter part of the evening when the arrival of a famous face and her famous other half seemed to turn the less gratuitous members of my family into Star Tarts - you know the types, they generally start to behave like flies around shit trying to impress etc, which IMHO is not only embarrassing for them to act like fools, but annoying for the person to which the attention is aimed at.

I think I eventually roll into bed at about 1pm, after having a good old natter with my parents and then removing the 70 hairpins that had been skewered into my head. Not an easy job when your coordination has been slightly marred by intoxicating substances.

Posted by Abi at 9:45 PM | Comments (2)

December 28, 2005

Sales Beginneth

I've got a few things to do today, but most importantly I've got to go and get a wedding card for my Cousin who is tying the knot tomorrow in Cardiff, an event that Phil and I will be attending.

First off though I spend the best part of over an hour trying to book in with a hair dresser in Cardiff so that I can get my hair put up (I simply can't do it myself to any standard that doesn't scream "Mad Wench On The Loose") for the wedding and eventually find one that can fit me in at a time that suits me (12 noon to be precise - enough time to get to Cardiff, have hair done and attend ceremony).

With that done I then head into Oxford and after fighting with the traffic I manage to park up and set about going to the shops. I get the card just fine and then the lure of the sales starts to set in like dry rot in a very old roof - ie. you know it's there but ignore it but eventually you have to get it fixed and it ends up costing a small fortune. So I end up coming back with a new shirt and 2 ties for Phil and some more shoes for me. They are very nice the shoes, and with 1/3 off the price they are even nicer! I also spend some of the WHSmith vouchers my sister gave to us and got Madagascar and Layer Cake on DVD.

I then head off to Milton Keynes where they have just opened a new Ikea store which is dead handy for us since before yesterday the nearest store we had was either Birmingham or Bristol. But now instead of a good hours drive all we need to do is nip down the road for 20 miles.

My mission was to pick up a glass display cabinet that we though would be handy to put all our trinkets in, and after penetrating the entrance of the building I made stealth like progress to the item in question, got the top secret information (aisle number and location) and made a quick exit from the market place with the aid of a trolley and laser guided precision to my destination - Aisle 23 Location 45 here we come! I tell you what though 38KG is bloody heavy to carry on your own, and after nearly bursting something somewhere inside myself I finally heave the darn box on to the trolley and head for the checkouts, and whilst doing this start contemplating how I'll get the box into the car by myself.

Seems I need not have worried too much, I just collared a parking attendant on my way out who very kindly helped me load up my Swedish goodies and sent me on my way back home :)

As you can probably imagine then the evening is spent with Phil putting up said new cabinet and me ironing the stuff we need for the wedding tomorrow. And might I just add here I am now distinctly aware of the fact that my steam iron is f*cked - it leaks more water out of its base than it releases as steam - the consequence of which is that it will by tomorrow be sleeping with the fishes.

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2005

It's Snowed!

Yay! A couple of days late, but it's finally arrived and despite it only being a smattering of the stuff, it don't half make it feel like winter is here proper rather than all this faffing around it's been doing with rain and such like.

I remember when I was a kid it snowed every Christmas, and you could pretty much guarantee that it would snow so much the village we used to live in would be cut off from the rest of the world for about a week whilst we tried to dig ourselves out, and everyone else tried to dig themselves in. Ah, those were the days - the days where you had feet of snow rather than inches, and certainly enough to make a yeti sized snowman!

We are off to see Phil's family today, and even though our estate road is really slippy once we get on to the main streets the roads are all clear and fine, and so we arrive at our destination just before lunch, which means we've knocked up 4 separate Christmas dinner occasions between us both so far this month - not bad going eh? :)

It's nice too see all of Phil's siblings together too, and it shows that it doesn't matter how old you are, you always end up treating your brothers and sisters like they were 10 again, I do it with mine too :) I guess you never really grow up after all!

We also get some nice pressies from Phil's Mum and Dad, including an Air plant, which apparently needs very little attention to maintain, which is handy cos we only do cactus here :)

At around 4 we set off to come home, what with not really knowing what the weather will be doing and because Phil has to work tomorrow, and get back at around 6 with both of us being knackered. So the rest of the evening is spent doing not a lot of anything, which suits us both just fine :)

Posted by Abi at 10:35 PM | Comments (1)

December 26, 2005

Carpentry

After all the excitement of yesterday (and of course my self induced late night) it's much of a relief to have a bit of a lay in today. In fact, it was for most of the day and it's not short of midday by the time we are up and have had breakfast (or lunch, whichever you want to call it).

So filled with some food we then go to homebase to pick up some supplies for our project of the day, which is to build from scratch the base board that phil needs for his model railway. He's already chosen a layout from the book I got him, and for it to work we need a base board that is 4ft by 8ft. Thing is, to buy them costs a fortune, so we opt to make one ourselves.

Once we get all the pieces we head home and unload the car. We were going to nip to Oxford and pick up a small train and the bits you need to make the train run around the track, but unfortunately the model shop wasn't open, so we put aside the rest of the day to actually construction the base board.

Considering that neither Phil or I are qualified carpenters, and haven't done any kind of CDT since about the age of 13, what we finally come up with is a masterpiece of engineering, and even though we were fighting against the fading day light we get the board completed at about halfpast twilight - leaving just enough time to pack the myriad of tools away and get the baseboard upstairs and into the guest bedroom which is it's ultimate final resting place. So you see it's not just the Egyptians that were dab hands at getting large structures into difficult areas, the Phil and Abi alliance are pretty good at it too :)

There isn't that much left of the day by the time we've finished so I get on and do some dinner, which is jacket potatoes and the rest of the evening is spent catching up on some blog entries, handing some picture and watching the last half of my Lee Evans DVD - boy that man is funny - he has a very accurate, but hilarious routine about the pitfalls of relationships which can only make you smile since more often than not you've "been there and done that" time and time again. Definitely worth a watch if you fancy a giggle or 10 :)

Posted by Abi at 9:55 PM | Comments (1)

December 25, 2005

It's Chriiiiisstmas!!!

In the immoral words of Slade... "So here it is merry Christmas, everybody's having fun..." - and its true, we've had a great day here today, so here's a quick rundown :)

First things first and despite fighting the excitement of getting pressies through out the night we resist the temptation of getting up early - that was until the neighbours decided that they couldn't wait to see what Santa had brought them and to celebrate the coming of the present giver decided to play what sounded like the Beatles at full blast at around 8am.

Shame really that they woke us up, after all what were we suppose to do...? Might as well get up ourselves and open up our gifts as well! :) hehehe

And it appears that I must have been a very good girl this year ;) I'm now the proud owner of a fantastically super Links of London sweetie charm bracelet and charm to match courtesy of Phil along with a game for the PC which I've been pining over for ages, wormz3d. I also get the latest Lee Evans DVD as well, and since I'm a big fan of the man himself its a brilliant present to get :). I also get a variety of goods from my family including some very fancy garden ornaments from my sister, and a gorgeous pottery horse from my mum and dad along with a fruitful goodie bag from my friends in the states.

Phil also gets plenty of presents, including some more "recapture your youth" items such as new steering wheel and pedals to use to play racing games on the pc, and the beginnings of the model railway that he has been contemplating putting together. I reckon the pictures I got him went down well too, along with the levi's and jelly bellies :)

So after we've cleaned up the remnants of packaging and wrapping we get some breakfast and then have a leisurely afternoon, playing our new games, watching dvds and generally mooching around. I get on with Christmas dinner later on in the afternoon, which this year is prawn cocktail followed by lemon chicken served with roasted new potatoes wrapped in parma ham and glazed in honey and finally steamed chocolate pudding with melted Belgium chocolate center served with fresh double cream. Very nice indeed!

After tea (which we spread out over time with about 20 mins between each course) I then do the usual round of telephone calls, especially to my family since this is the first ever Christmas that I've not been at my parents house for the big day. The repercussion of that is that this is the first Christmas that Phil and I have spent together, and it's been lovely since last year we had to have a delayed Christmas whilst each of us spent the 25th in Wales and Shropshire respectively.

And when I've rung up my phone bill to extortionate levels I then get around to having a go on Worms 3d, in particular the tutorial section to re-learn how to shoot, maim and generally blow things up after being spectacularly beaten by Phil far too many times to count. Unfortunately I get a little carried away and forget the time and eventually fall into bed at around quarter to midnight - but by god, I can now blow a hole in a pin head from 100 yards!

I've had a great day, and I hope everyone else has too!

Posted by Abi at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2005

Christmas Kong

We have a well deserved rest this morning, and I have to say I sleep wonderfully well even though I have a bit of a duvet scrap with Phil in the night. I'm pretty sure that Phil is just dishing up a smidgen of revenge since I apparently elbowed him in the face the other night! Ooops! Anyway I think my good night's kip is partly attributed to the fact that I was knackered when I went to bed, and also due to the fact that yesterday I turned the mattress over yesterday meaning I wasn't sleeping on such a broken bit :)

After breakfast (scrambled eggs, yum!) it's close to lunch time already and we wonder what we can do to fill the time between now and present opening tomorrow, and so we decide to go see King Kong - after all it's Christmas eve, how may other people could possibly spend Christmas eve at the cinema?

When we arrive at the cinema, despite the car park being full the cinema itself is very quite indeed, hardly anyone around, and so we don't have to queue for popcorn and get some cushy seats too. It was just a shame that 10 mins into the film a whole gaggle of kids and adults arrive, one of which decides to sit next to me and then continue to talk to his brother for another 5 mins before he shuts up and watches the film that his parents had paid for him to come and see. Very annoying, only outdone by his smaller brother who was sat in front of me and for his own muddle reasoned had decided that standing throughout most of the film would be a fantastic idea! It's a good job he was relatively short or he would have been made several inches shorter by my fist hitting his head repeatedly until he was of a suitable height not to interfere with my vista.

The film was ok, but as with most Peter Jackson's epics just too long, they could have cut plenty out of the film and got much less of a bum acher and more of an action packed thrill seeker. I of course cried my eyes out at the sad bits whilst Phil fidgeted as he got bored. But, credit where credit is due, they did a fantastic job of Kong himself- I especially liked his crooked sticky out tooth :)

Posted by Abi at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2005

What To Do First?

I've got a number of things to do today, all of which I had planned quite nicely until the events of yesterday.

You see my Dad has decided to go and see his Aunt after all, and with it being such a long drive I'd offered to help out if I could in anyway, either that be by offering my Dad a place to stay here overnight or by helping with the driving if I could. But it's not until 1pm that I know if he needed my help or not and so up until that point I didn't know if I'd be driving to Boston or not or even for that matter staying away tonight in Skegness.

As it happens he decided to make the trip on his own, which meant that I could get into doing all the jobs I need to do today, including giving the house a bloody good clean so that it's all nice for the holidays. The cleaning really does take most of the day (with the occasional break to watch some trip or the other on TV, after all tis the season of good old fashioned Christmas films) and afterwards I have very little time to do much else as Phil gets home almost on time (which is a first for a good couple of months now). I also keep in touch with my Dad on a regular basis via mobile to make sure he's doing ok on his long trip - and it seems he makes good progress throughout the 6 hours of driving, and makes it to his final destination at around 9.30pm.

The rest of the evening is spent eating pizza (take out as a treat) and watching Mr and Mrs Smith - which wasn't quite what I was expecting, but non the less a pretty good film. You can definitely tell that Ms. Jolie and Mr. Pitt had a thing going on whilst they were filming it, you couldn't get some of those knowing looks even with the best acting skills.

Posted by Abi at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2005

Absentee Relatives

It's my last day in work today before the Christmas break, meaning I don't have to go back until the 4th January 2006, hurrah!

With the morning being relatively quiet, I take the opportunity at lunch time to take a walk to our local DIY store (which is just around the corner from the office - working on an industrial estate has it's advantages sometimes!) to pick up a timer switch for the christmas lights. I also discover some rather nice suede canvasses with a rather abstract Japanese maple design that has been embroidered onto them, and so buy them as well because I think they'll look nice somewhere in the house, I just haven't decided where yet :)

I also notice that a new store has opened on the industrial estate, a place called Dreams, which sells beds and things. "This is quite handy" I think to myself because the nearest such place to our house post today was in Oxford, and considering we need a new mattress at some point it may well be worth going to have a look to see what they've got in the January sales.

My venture out only takes up about 30 mins of my lunch break, so when I get back to the office I decide to give my sister a ring to see how shes doing. She's fine, though it appears that my Great Aunt is in the final clutches of pancreatic cancer.

Hmm, I'm a little confused about how I should feel about this whole scenario, you see I've not seen her in over 15 years, and the parting of the ways (so to speak) wasn't exactly on friendly terms. The story goes something like this:-

When my family lived in Lincolnshire my Great Aunt and Nan from my Dad's side of the family still lived in the Welsh Valleys and they were getting to the point where they couldn't look after themselves at all well. So my parents built them a granny annexe (that's not the right way to describe it really, it was more like a small luxury bungalow to be precise) onto our house for them to move into. They paid for everything, right down to the carpets and crockery. Moving them next door had a 2 fold effect:- a) they still maintained their independence and b) they were close enough to get help in an emergency and have a friendly eye cast over them on a daily basis.

My memories from all those years ago are vague now, but I distinctly remember that whilst the first couple of years were ok, everything then got a little bit strained. You see my Nan suffered from depression (and looking back on it psychotic episodes as well), quite bad it was too, but under the right medication she managed to keep a level threshold.

The problems however evolved when my Great Aunt neglected to / withheld my Nans drugs and lied constantly about the well being of my Nan to everyone - saying she was fine, when in fact she had been bed ridden for days and having a considerable downer. And of course the my Nan didn't need those drugs at all, they weren't helping her one iota, oh no the side affects of the drugs far outweighed the benefits. The problem was here you see that my Great Aunt knew best and no one would be able to intervene without a tirade of verbal and sometimes physical abuse, let alone the vicious rumours she'd spread against anyone who would doubt her say so on matters concerning my Nan. Their bungalow was off limits, no one could go in there unattended or without explicit permission, and in all honesty the place ended up as a health hazard, it was in a terrible state. I even remember my parents having to pay for my Nan and Great Aunt to go on vacation for a week so that they could break into the bungalow and fumigate it, things really got bad.

Eventually, after one particular severe incident which ended up in a crescendo of knife throwing and battering all aimed at my Mum, and the revelation of a rather sensitive family matter in front of an inappropriate audience, my parents decided that enough was enough - my Nan needed to be in a home where she could get proper medical attention. That in itself was a feat, but after a couple of months of complaints, both my Nan and my Great Aunt realised the benefits of having laundry done, a clean place to stay and having food cooked and put on the table for them.

It was at around this time my parents decided to retire (or that was the intention) and so we moved to Wales. My Nan and my Great Aunt had the opportunity to come with us, but they decided to stay in Lincolnshire. Of course my parents sold our house and moved away. My Nans health was faltering at this point and it was precisely then that my Uncle who had not even bothered with my Nan or Great Aunt for many many years suddenly showed up on the scene again. And with him he brought his own bad intentions and filled my Nan and Great Aunts heads with ideas of grandeur relating to them getting a percentage of the proceeds of the sale of our house because they lived in the bungalow that my parents had built and paid for. He even got them to change their wills, and by no leap of the imagination he became the sole benefactor of the entire estates. It was as if he'd never neglected them at all, he was once again the apple of everyone's eye and boy did he have a really big stick to stir the shit up.

And that's exactly what he did, the result of which ended up in civil law suits between my family and the "extended family". As you may well imagine, all of the above lead to some considerably sour grapes, the consequences of which lead to a blockage of silence between all parties concerned.

Luckily for my Nan (who, IMHO was just a puppet controlled by my Great Aunt and Uncle in this whole charade) she passed away shortly after all of this began, by my Great Aunt carried on however - up until about now.

So you see I don't feel any remorse that she is dying, and nor do I feel remotely happy about the fact - more than anything I feel sorry for my Dad who because of his brothers greed and manipulative prowess, and his Aunts conniving dexterity, has not had ANY family for the last 15 years, and the only one who was worth anything died of a heart attack probably brought on by the stress created by his brothers desire to inherit everything.

And I may well be biased in my opinions here, but there are defined by what I first saw through the eyes of a 13 year old and later understood as an adult. I'm not a believer in forgive and forget (I think its an idealised naivety postulated by those who dare not face up to facts) but I do presuppose to the idea that what is done is done.

You can take that how you like, but for me it provides a substantive answer to most things - you accept something has happened, you can't change it but at the end of the day you learn from the experience, you certainly don't forget it ever happened, after all, what on earth would you learn if you forgot the misdeeds of others, you might end up repeating them yourself.

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (1)

December 21, 2005

Diminished Daylight

And so the shortest day of the year, not that I get to see much of the dwindling light outside since I'm in work for the day - but sure as eggs is eggs it's pitch black when I leave, the sun having set at 15.56 a little over 8 hours after it first rose for the day.

I think since we've now reached the winter solstice, it means we gain a minute of light at the end of each day from here on in until the summer solstice, so that's dandy as it means I won't be quite so SAD any more :)

With that aside, today has been relatively quiet, so much so that I go home at lunch time and write out some xmas cards to work colleagues and the neighbours, and then wander back to my desk and fill the afternoon with nonchalant kind of things just to fill the time.

Back home and when Phil returns we nip out to our local supermarket to get a top up of pop and things for the festive break - I think we now have enough soft drinks to supply a primary school for a year, but it's all good stuff and means we have plenty of mixers to go with the gallons of gin and other spirits that we most likely won't even make a dent into whilst we're both at home. Never mind, it's there if we need it :)

Tea tonight is fish and chips from our local chippy, and despite my rather santa claus like appearance it seems the lady behind the counter still thinks I need fattening up somewhat to Hansel and Gretel standards and provides me with a portion of chips that even back in 1845 the Irish would have struggled to get through.

Posted by Abi at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2005

Hey Big Spender!

So after my failed attempt and shopping online yesterday I have set aside today to get it done once and for all, even if that does mean ramrading other people with trolleys to get the last of the satsuma's and the one remaining Christmas pudding that is hiding at the very back of the top shelf which requires me to scale the rows of mince pies and christmas cakes to retrieve, and then find out that it's either out of date or half eaten already.

First off though I need to pop to Oxford to pick up a few bits and pieces, brave I know considering the time of year, but all in all the city centre wasn't that busy and I had no problem parking, which was good since it meant that I wasn't put in a bad mood before I had to do the grocery shopping.

I'm only in Oxford for an hour or so and them decide that after the disappointment of not being able to get my groceries online from Tesco I'd give Sainsbury's a go instead. I mean I know I won't be able to get the stuff online from them either, but if I'm going to the trouble of actually visiting a supermarket I might as well visit a different one, and one that most likely will have better quality stuff than our local Tesco, after all it's christmas, why not have some treats?

The first mistake I make is that I pick up a big trolley rather than the smaller ones we usually go for. The rest of the shopping however is a dream, I've got lots of trolley space to fill and the food looks sumptious and tasty. I do notice that the fruit and veg is of a much better quality than Tesco's, even the "value" range looks tidy, rather than the rotting stuff you'll find donning the shelves at our usual shop. And so as I wind my way around the aisles I pick up our usual stuff, and some extra's as well - including the alternative I'm getting to traditional xmas pud, which is a chocolate sponge with melted Belgium chocolate in the middle that I've been drooling over every time they advertise it on TV.

When my feet start to ache I decide it's time to go and checkout and get back home. By the time they'd rung everything through the till not only were my feet aching but also my purse as it appears my random selection of seasonal goodies have racked the bill up to about £125. Naughty me, but I'm sure it will be worth it.

The remainder of the afternoon is spent unpacking the shopping and pottering around the house doing odd's and sods until Phil gets home. Then we have tea (which is American hot dogs) and I settle down to watch my usual soap-a-thon.

Posted by Abi at 9:58 PM | Comments (1)

December 19, 2005

Uncertainty

Where as I'm in work today, Phil is still slogging through his remaining days of holiday and so spends his day in the luxury confines of the house.

All is going pretty much to plan up until about midday when he finds out that someone in his department has decided that in the spirit of christmas he's going to resign from his job. Not only that, poor old Phil is inundated with work that needs doing despite it being his day away from the desk. All in all then, Phil doesn't really get a day off having to sort this that and the other out, but I guess there is some advantage to being at home and doing it rather than being stuck in the office.

Of course the resignation of someone at work always has far reaching repercussions, one of these being that Phil may well not be able to come to the wedding we have to attend on the 29th as he might have to cover for the bloke who's moving on to the other side of the fence. There is a faint glimmer of hope at the end of the long dark tunnel of uncertainty at the moment, so it's fingers crossed that the glimmer can produce enough wattage to enable me not to look like a billy no-mates in about a weeks time :)

The rest of the day is very insignificant (from my point of view). We do try to do our christmas grocery shop online, but after me spending the best part of 30 minutes adding everything to the basket we soon find out that we are just one mouse click away from disappointment and inconvenience since the store say they can't deliver until after chirstmas. Very helpful indeed. I guess I should have read this first, but it just so happens I didn't see it and the online shop certainly wasn't advertising the fact that they couldn't deliver before xmas. So tomorrow I have to brave the supermarket for real instead of the safer climes of bytes and clicks.

I can hardly wait.

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2005

A Tenuous Trip

I'm absolutely pooped (if you'll excuse the pun) after my night of toilet occupancy, and things haven't perked up this morning either, so I spend the best part of the morning feeling glum and getting the piss taken out of me by my oh so lovely family (The Taylor coat of arms really should read "if you don't laugh you'll cry").

After the umpteenth visit to the loo I give in and take a pill to resolve the issue once and for all, I mean we've got a long trip home tonight and I really don't want to play mercy to traffic jams and the like in my current state. Phil and I then help my Dad put the hard top on his car and then pop out and take a trip to one of the beaches for a bit of fresh air, where Phil graffiti's the sand and I look in vain for some kind of interesting oddity that has been washed up by the tide but only end up finding a bit of drift wood that looked like a bird with half of it's beak missing (and no, I'm not talking about Daniella Westbrook either!).

We then head back to my parents where Mum has prepared Christmas Dinner number 2, which was very nice and shortly after that we pack the car up with all of our stuff and donated xmas pressies and head off back towards home.

No sooner had we been on the road for an hour my worst fears come to light. There's been an accident on the road which was blocking the dual carriage way that we were on, and we were stuck fast in a queue of stationary traffic with no escape route. This of course would be a minor inconvenience any other day of the week, but considering my current ailment it certainly wasn't a happy state of affairs. So whilst we wait I'm frantically looking around the road embankments to see that if the need arose and suitably large bush was handy that I could utilize as a portaloo. Thankfully it didn't come to that and we got past the accident before the police shut off the road.

It was a bit of a relief then that I'd arrange to drop off at a friends house on the way back (well, she's only a 5 minute detour from our route) and it was a rather handy pitt stop for me to say the least (see yesterdays post). It was lovely to catch up with her again, it's been ages since I last saw her (in fact it was her wedding) and now she's in the full throws of being pregnant it was good to see how she's getting along. We don't stay for too long however since we've still got a good 3 hours or so before we make it home.

And we do make it home in fairly good time (after another pitt stop) and for the most part I think I may be over the worst of my brush with the Turkey of Death.

Posted by Abi at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2005

Christmas Dinner Down The Pan

After the late night last night it's a bit of struggle to get out of bed fairly early, load the car and head off to Wales. But, after a shower and some food I'm fit to go, and it doesn't take much persuasion to get Phil in the car either even though he's tired after his big night out.

The trip to Wales was good, no traffic problems, and we make it to my parents in plenty of time to help erect my parents new bed (they've got a new bedstead and one of these fancy space age matress, which from first impressions seems pretty comfy) and to also decorate their Christmas tree. It's quite sentimental getting out all the old decorations, which includes a string of bells that I made when I was 2, which despite being made of egg box cups, tin foil and wool have stood the test of time pretty well - I can see however that my artistic ability hasn't progressed much from those early experimentation's with glue and scissors :)

We then get ready to go out and head over to the restaurant that my Mum has booked for her office do. The food was alright, but I'm reserving judgement on the company (excluding my immediate family and Phil) - I mean I can be as course as the next person, but at least I can do it with some witty intellect rather than the tact of a neanderthal with limited diction.

Anyway, with the meal over and done with we head home and its not long before we're in bed and fast asleep.

And it takes about 2 hours after that when I realise that something I've eaten wasn't all it cracked up to be, and 2 hours after that I realise that it isn't just a passing moment of intestinal tract failure, I really have eaten something dodgy, and consequently I'm up and down all night visiting the bog. I am so desperate in fact to try and resolve the issue I subject myself to taking tablets which are 4 years out of date in the vague hope they might have a smidgen of active ingredient left. They didn't.

Posted by Abi at 11:25 PM | Comments (1)

December 16, 2005

The Iron Age

It seems that today has been just one big bag of crazy spiders, I don't know if I'm coming, going, arrived or departed. Everything is just so manic towards the run up to Christmas it makes you sometimes wonder why it is you bother with it all. Oh well, it's only once a year and I suppose I can put up with that sort of minimal self inflicted larceny of personal time when it only happens once every 365 days.

So why am I grumbling? Well first off I have to go to work. Any other day this would not be a problem, but I still haven't received my Mums final present for xmas, and considering we are going to Wales tomorrow it might be nice to have all the presents to take with us. So after a rather fraught and work filled morning I then have to go home at lunch time to see if the parcel has been delivered. And it aint. Luckily I have the phone number of the courier who delivered the last parcel from the same company (a number which apparently is only to be used for returns). But, what the hell, I give it a ring anyway to see if the dude has any parcels for me.

As it happens, he does and was going to deliver it tomorrow morning, that's great in respect of the fact that he actually has the stuff, what's not so great is that I'll be out of the house quite early tomorrow and heading off to Wales, and most likely that will be before he comes over to the house. So I manage to persuade him to let me come over to his house after work and pick up the parcel directly from him, he lives in the same town as us anyway, so it shouldn't be any great shakes. With that all sorted then, I head off back to work...

...Where it appears that as well as doing my ordinary stuff, I have now become the delegated christmas card writer, and let me tell you I certainly don't have any calligraphy skills in the slightest. My handwriting could in fact be likened to a modern piece of art that you'd probably find hanging in the Tate Modern which most laymen would find to be in the style of despicable bad taste, critics would swoon over and psychologists would decipher as the scribblings of an insane woman with a broken arm and 2 thumbs and 3 fingers missing. Anyway, with having to do the cards and the rest of my work for the afternoon I wind up staying later than planned and have to give my boss an ultimatum as to what jobs he had left for me to do, what jobs he'd like doing, and which jobs really had to be done, because if I hadn't I'd have been there till god knows when.

I finally get home, and then set about ironing Phil's shirt for his xmas party that he's going to tonight and after he gets home and gets changed I then take him to Oxford and drop him off. I tootle on back home and get on with packing all the stuff we need for the weekend, more ironing (that will be the second time this year, if you include the shirt I did about 2 hours ago) and sprucing myself up a bit to avoid the usual wave of criticisms I get from my Mum which are solely based on the fact that if I've moved out of home I can't possibly be looking after myself that well.

By the time I've done all that and had a bite to eat it's time to go pick Phil up again, though I have a slightly longer trip there this time as they rather handily closed the slip road off that I need to exit on. When I finally get to the rendez-vous point it becomes quite apparent that whilst Phil enjoyed the food he had at his party, the pygmy pigeon sized portions didn't quite fill the abyss that is Phil's appetite as he is clutching a Mcdonalds paper bag like an old woman protects her purse when he arrives at the car :)

Oh and I wasn't seeing things when I mentioned the big bright moon yesterday, apparently it was the biggest and brightest it's been for 20 years!

Posted by Abi at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2005

Chemical Poisoning

Phil is home on holiday's today, so its a good chance to do very little other than a few festive finality's.

First things first and we extract the christmas tree from the loft, fluff it up so it looks like a tree rather than a pencil and then set about decorating it. I have to say, its a masterpiece of overloaded glitz and glamour and not in the slightest bit coordinated, but it's our tree so we can do whatever the hell we like with it :)

I then set about wrapping all the presents that have to be transported to Wales this weekend, and that takes ages, and a huge amount of gift wrap too, yards of the stuff! So I guess it's a valid lesson in "what not to buy for christmas", in particular housewares of the kitchen bin size. I get so far with the wrapping, but then run out of paper so we take a trip into town and pick up a few more necessities. Whilst were there we also manage to get some plastic cement (which is basically fancy glue used to stick plastic models together) - in fact we get a variety of the stuff just to be sure, which included a small jar of it that rather resembles a pot of nail polish. The reason we need this is that one of the presents I've got my dad is in fact a model which will need gluing together, and knowing my Dad he won't have the right stuff to glue everything in the right place - which will be a bit of a bummer come Christmas Day when he opens his present and can't do anything with it.

Whilst we're in town Phil eyes up some new phones that he'd like to get for the house, since the old ones are a bit long in the tooth and a touch flaky to say the least. Alas however they don't have the ones that he wants in our local Argos store, but they do in the Oxford one. So the next trip, after a quick pit stop at home to get some lunch is the Argos Extra which is about 11 miles away.

Please bare in mind at this point that for all the time since we picked up the glue, it's been in very close proximity to me.

Just before we leave the house to go get the phones I notice that I've got one mutha of a headache coming on, so pop some aspirin to try and disperse it. By the time we get back from our phone trip (about an hour later) I notice that despite having prescribed myself some pain relief the headache is still there, it just won't shift.

I then set about doing some more wrapping of stuff (Phil's pressies in particular whilst he's banished up stairs) and for the hour or so I'm doing that I'm sitting next to this glue we'd bought earlier in the day. When I finally get to wrapping Dad's glue I notice that the nail polish pot of sticky stuff is quite stinky, in fact it wreaks! And the source of the odour is due to the fact that the lid isn't quite on right. Phil has a sniff too, and our consensus of opinion results in putting the pot of glue outside because the smell is so bad.

It was like the curtain of death had been lifted! Pre-pot presence my headache was getting beyond the point of ridiculous. The left hand side of my head was thumping and my left eye felt as if someone had pinned a bag of sugar to my eyebrow and left it hang there. Forming sentences was confusing, and as for walking well I looked like I was half cut from a big night out, any my ears were ringing like the Hunchback of Notredame giving a rendition whilst on speed. But now, everything was starting to ease off, and I felt almost human again.

So there you have it, I can now categorically say that I seriously doubt I'll ever become a qualified glue sniffer or ever indulge in the art of flirting with fumes. It appears I'm already chemically imbalanced, and the glue sent me over the edge.

You learn something new everyday eh?

Oh, and did anyone else notice how big the moon was tonight? Or was it me hallucinating because of toxic glue fumes?

Posted by Abi at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2005

Pretty Boring

I wish I had something interesting to say about today, but in all honesty it has been very samey, with not a lot of anything happening anywhere in my confined world of Abiness.

I did notice on the news an article suggesting that the Major of Biritiba Mirim, Brazil had decided to ban people dying in his town. The reason? They don't have the space to bury anyone else in the local cemetery because of a planning restriction prohibiting further encroachment of the surrounding area.

A genius plot to highlight the bureaucratic nonsense that is a global phenomena.

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2005

Abort, Retry Or Fail?

Last week I booked my car in for a service since the computer biatch was telling me that it needed one. So I dutifully haul my butt down to Oxford for 10 am and roll up at the BMW garage expecting an hour or so wait whilst they serviced the car. TBH, that's no great hardship, the dealership is quite plush for waiting customers, with free coffee freshly made to any description you care to proffer, cakes, biscuits, newspapers, magazines and a huge plasma TV to keep you entertained.

So having prepared myself for a little of BMW's hospitality, I was quite surprised to get a rather curt response from the service rep who told me that "I was early". Hmm, this I know, the car was booked in at 10, and I arrived at about 9.45 and so explained to him that I was early because I didn't know what the traffic would be like on the roadwork congested a34. It seems however we'd got both of our wires crossed. What he was referring to was to the fact that the car was early, not me.

You see rather handily, all the important info about my car (such as how long the brakes have left, how long till an oil change etc) is stored on my key, and having put my key into his special key reader, all the info popped up on his computer screen. It appears that the car did indeed want a service, but a *statutory service* which basically is a MOT test. The car is only a year old, and consequently won't need a MOT service for another 2 years - it appears that this particular date wasn't reset via the software before the car was delivered to me. More to the point, the car won't need a normal service for about 5,000 miles yet (or so the info indicates on the key).

That's all good news for me, means I save a wod of cash for a couple of months, but it gets better. I was about to leave when the dude asks if I'd like a complementary valet, and who am I to refuse, after all the car is a complete pig sty inside and filthy outside to-boot!

I then set about the rest of my chores for the day, which I'm not going to discuss because they are top secret... even though Phil tried to extract information from me for most of the evening I've still not spilt the beans :)

Posted by Abi at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2005

Hither And Fither

Despite the fact that I'm in work, that really is only a minor part of the comings and goings that I have to get on with throughout the day.

First off we are up very bright and early to drop Phil's car at the garage to get it serviced, and to get the brakes looked at. Luckily Phil has the day off, so once we've deposited the car in the capable hands of the dealer we then drive back home so that I can get to work.

At lunchtime Phil then picks me up again and takes me home so that I can cook him a bacon butty for sustenance (only joking!) but we do get to have lunch together, and then I'm ferried back to work for the afternoon. It looks like most of my xmas parcels have been delivered too, so that's one less thing on my mind to worry about, now all I've got to do is wrap them. I guess therefore it was a good job someone was home all day to take delivery of them, otherwise it would have meant endless phone calls to couriers to try and re-arrange a suitable day and time to drop off the parcels.

Phil then picks me up from work at 5pm and we head off back to the garage to pick up Phil's car which has now had it's disintegrated brake pad replaced and is in tip top condition once again rather than sounding much like a bag of bolts every time you touched the "I'm going to die, please slow down" pedal.

Finally we get home, I cook scampi for tea and after a nice bath (with fizzy bath bomb) it's time for bye bye's - I dunno, I just can't do these early morning things!

Posted by Abi at 9:52 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2005

It only takes one match...

It's been a bit strange today to say the least, so let me start at the beginning.

When I finally get up this morning, as with every weekend morning, I disturb Phil from his slumber with my faffing around. So, when I've woken him up today, he tells me that he had the strangest dream. In this dream he thought that the boiler had blown up, and quite dramatically so. In fact it went up with such a bang the whole house shook and it felt as if the side of the house had fallen down. So realistic was this dream he even woke up and checked to see if the boiler was working ok by feeling the radiators and making sure they were still working. Assured that they were piping hot, he went back to sleep and casually noticed that the time was about 6.03 am.

Now step ahead a few hours. After I've gotten up and Phil decides he's had enough sleep, he checks out the BBC news website to see what's going on in the world, and low and behold what should he read? A petrol storage facility went BOOM this morning, at exactly 6.03 am, and this explosion happened at Hemel Hampstead, 34 miles away from our house.

So the dream was no longer a dream, the explosion had woken Phil up as the shock waves and sound emanating from the bang ripped through our place, some 34 miles away. Of course I slept through the whole thing (I sleep like the next dead person most nights), but I find it amazing that we felt the blast, but you can put it all into perspective when you find out that the explosion has been the biggest in 60 years in Europe (that's like since the last war), and it was heard as far away as the Netherlands and France - pretty darn big then.

That was the exciting part of the day, the rest was relatively humdrum. We watched Ray, which was way to long and very slow (despite being mildly interesting) and then in the latter part of the afternoon we went to the cinema to watch The Chronicles of Narnia. Well that was the plan, but on arriving we discover the showing we wanted to watch was sold out and we'd have to wait over an hour for the next one. Not a problem, we just get some food and wait around. I almost wish we hadn't. The film wasn't nearly as good as I expected it to be, and was very drawn out and somewhat empty in parts (which amazes me because from what I remember of the book there could have been plenty more interesting bits of the tale to tell, which would have cemented the whole thing together a little better and made it a pleasure to watch, rather than ending up with the audience thinking "so when will something happen".

In light of that, I think I've come to the conclusion that there are some books which just don't translate that well to film. What makes books like Narnia special, is that the imagination you need to fully appreciate what it is that the author is trying to describe, or lead you to believe. When you impose a directors view of that world on to a wider audience it just doesn't work because everyone imagines and translates text from a book differently. Consequently if you make a film you're guaranteed not to meet everyones expectations if they have imagined something better.

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (1)

December 10, 2005

When things go right

Having looked further ahead at our plans for this month, we've quickly realised that this weekend will be the last weekend we'll have to do any form of xmas shopping that requires feet and motivation rather than a mouse and an internet connection.

And so we summon up enough courage to head into Oxford, and get done what needs to be done and hopefully be victorious in our mission to complete our shopping list requirements without ending up and road kill stricken down in the mad stampede that occurs every weekend in December as we go about busily fulfilling the proviso's that sadly Santa no longer participates in since it appears he has either gone on strike or is lazing in the mid day sun on a coconut lined beach whilst downing cocktails and making jiggy with the female elves.

Generally then you can imagine that we're not looking forward to the trip into the city, it most likely will be hell on earth, but it's got to be done.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as we thought. The A34 wasn't gridlocked, Argos wasn't heaving like a snake pit of writhing vipers hungry for fresh Yule blood, and the city shops proffered everything we needed without even looking that hard, I even managed to get my outfit for this christmas wedding we're going to with out any stress what so ever. Everything just clicked into place nicely all of which made the day quite pleasurable rather than a right pain in the chocolate log. (you'll have to excuse the christmas pun's hereon in!).

The evening was slightly more disappointing, what with Brenda being booted out of the Semi-final of x-factor, leaving Andy, Journey South and Shayne in the running. IMHO Andy should have gone (I mean he's a fab singer, but I would assume a limited market appeal of already seasoned Nat King Cole groupies) which would have left Brenda in the running for next week - I mean, the lady can sing! Oh well, next week should be even more interesting, though I am pretty sure the final vote will be swayed by the hundreds of girlies voting for Shayne. I don't even know why I write about it to be honest, it's not like any of the remaining people will be the next big crooner, bon jovi or robbie williams for that matter, I expect they will suffer similar fates as the rest of the people who have won such competitions - ie. interesting until the novelty wears off.

Posted by Abi at 9:36 PM | Comments (1)

December 9, 2005

Dirty Stop Out Payback

So tired! I can hardly believe that I used to think going to bed before midnight was unthinkable, but after our late night yesterday I'm now dead on my feet!

Consequently it then takes me the best part of *all day* to fell almost human again, and the only way I make it through work is by a constant feed of coffee, but even that struggles to do the trick as I battle with Flash stuff - talk about making a hard job even more difficult by mind boggling software, I think marcomedia have definitely earned the title of "Where would you like your mental break down today?".

As you can imagine then its a relief when home time comes around and I make my way back home after watching the DVD of yesterdays skydiving fun.

This evening all is quite on the western front, with nothing interesting happening except for the usual pre-christmas phone call from my Dad asking what he should get my Mum for Christmas, and to be honest, I don't have the faintest idea! :)

Posted by Abi at 9:30 PM | Comments (0)

December 8, 2005

Flying High

I've got a lot to do today despite being at work, and primarily my work load is based around logistics.

First thing and I'm off to the post office to pick up the parcel which they couldn't deliver yesterday, and as soon as I've got that in my mitts I'm heading into town to pick up the various things that I need to post a variety of cards and parcels to people all over the place.

It takes me about an hour to get what I need (jiffy bags, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons) but with that done, I go home and set about wrapping and packing.

By lunchtime I'm finally done but decide to hold off going into town again to post all the items until after 2 when hopefully the post office will be a bit quieter.

Ha! I should have known better because when I do get to the post office it's full of people waiting to do exactly the same sort of thing as me, but after about 15 mins it's my turn to harass the counter staff for a while and I do indeed take my time since I felt I'd earnt my right to take as long as everyone else. And, 20 quid later I have indeed posted everything I needed to, and so that's another job off my mind.

By the time I get home I don't have long before I'm back out of the door, since tonight it's my office party and Phil and I have to be in Milton Keynes (about 25 miles away) in about 30 minutes after we've left the house. So it's a bit of a mad rush, with me waiting in the car before Phil gets home, ready to go as soon as he arrives.

We just about make it in time and then everyone gets ready for their sky diving experience. The basic principal is that you get put in a funnel at the bottom of which is a huge turbine type fan which blow air upwards at about 100 mph and then you float around in it to get a pseudo sky diving experience. I don't have a go, but do take lots of photos of those participating (including Phil).

I think everyone almost got the hang of it, the only complaint was that if you opened your mouth whilst in the funnel you ended up with drool all over your face :)

After that we then go for a meal, which is also nice, but a tad difficult to have any kind of conversation since the noise levels are somewhat elevated from the numerous other Christmas parties and birthdays going on.

We finally get home at around 11.30pm, and we're knackered.

Posted by Abi at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)

December 7, 2005

Early Christmas

I'm in work today, but imagine my surprise when I read my email that work has decided to give all its permanent members of staff a £ 500 xmas bonus! How cool is that, and it certainly put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. I'm well surprised to be honest, and currently the money will be extremely useful (yes I managed to finally book that car service for next week which will see me 140 quid lighter in my pocket).

Work in itself was pretty quiet, with just enough to be doing to not get bored. The boss left early too, since he was in at some stupid hour which meant the rest of us could just get on a do stuff.

I popped home at lunch to see if the posty had left me another "while you were out card", my plan being that I would get the card, nip to the depo (which is right near work) and pick up the parcel. Problem is posty only came at 1.20 (before I got home) and I have to wait 2 hours before I can pick the parcel up. I guess therefore it will have to wait until tomorrow, when I've got more than enough to keep me busy, let alone having to go to the post office again.

Phil is home well late tonight, meaning I ate without him. And no sooner as he walked through the door and eaten he's heading off to bed absolutely zonked. I volunteer to wait for the tesco order to be delivered which is suppose to arrive between 8 and 10, and at 9.50 it finally arrives. So, but the time I've packed it all away, fed the fish and locked up the house I'm knackered to... and so to bed I go.

Posted by Abi at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

December 6, 2005

Trudging Onward

I'm only working 2 days this week, and so today I have set aside for trying to make some headway in to a mini project I'm doing.

And, by the time Phil gets home I have indeed made lots of progress, which I'm happy about - you see I'm the type of person that hates having things left half finished. To me, a half finished project is like a little niggle that is constantly worming it's way around my brain until it gets to the point where it bursts out of an ear or something and the whole thing just explodes into a huge problem that can never ever be fixed or resolved (or at least that's how I see things in my head!).

Anyway, I'm pretty confident that for the time being the niggle won't grow into a full out grenade of frustration for the time being, but I'm not holding out any hopes that it won't in the future.

I have to go to the Doctor's today to pick up my usual prescription, but I changed from my normal doctor to see the locum that was working instead, and what a relief - no condescending or, to be quite frank, rather too personal questions asked which are not in the least bit related to what it is I'm at the doctors for, and as an added blessing no rambling about Operatics either (which is another favourite). I hope the locum stays as I found I got on with her much better than the other doctor, but considering she gave me a year's worth of my all time favourite pill to pop I don't think I'll be down the surgery for a while (at least that's what I'm hoping anyway!). Though I have arranged an appointment to go see the dietitian to see if I can get that area of my life back on track.

The evening is pretty quiet, with me watching my usual Tuesday soap-a-thon and Phil making movies and getting chased by the police again :)

Posted by Abi at 9:38 PM | Comments (1)

December 5, 2005

Tsunami

Phil is home today as he's taken some more of his annual leave which he needs to use up before the year is out, and so whilst he has a lay in I get on a do some more work, after answering the door to several delivery men baring gifts - which is cool because it means they've arrived before xmas and I don't have to do any last minute shopping!

I then spend a good part of the day in front of the computer doing "stuff" and making some headway, although I didn't manage to book my car in for the service it keeps telling me it needs since no one was ever available to take take the appointment booking. Oh well I'll try again tomorrow. I also do some more online shopping to, and pick up some weird and wonderful stuff at find-me-a-gift.co.uk which seems to be an accumulation of firebox, IWOOT and other such sites and consequently has more choice too.

We nip out in the afternoon to pick up some xmas lights for the windows in the front of the house, and although we've put them up we won't actually turn them on for another week or so, well, we don't want to appear too festive now do we :)

We also remember to post the zillions of xmas cards too, but only the ones to UK destinations today, all of the international ones will have to wait until I'm next in town (probably Thursday) since they have to go airmail - I can see the counter staff loving me... "and this one to New Zealand, this one to America, this one to Belgium etc etc etc... oh and don't forget this one to Hawaii too... " I guess that's what the internet does for you :) I've got almost the same number of cards going overseas than I do being dispersed around the UK this year, which I think is super cool :)

By late afternoon I've had enough of the computer, and gracefully hand over the controls to Phil who gets his fill of his new favourite racing game, and once we've had tea Phil continues his mission to get arrested whilst I watch a documentary about the Boxing Day Tsunami, which although quite harrowing, was fascinating too (I don't know if that's quite the right word to use considering the loss of human life).

I think what I found most interesting about it was the fact that a small primitive tribe known as the Onges who live on Andaman Island which was also hit by the Tsunami. They came out unscathed from the wave as they had foreseen it coming by using knowledge from their ancestors and by noticing changes in their environment days before the wave hit, and consequently moving to higher ground before the events of boxing day. Compare this to the many people who lost their lives living in the so called modern world... it makes you wonder if technology has the answer to everything.

I think all of us would do well by not relying so heavily on the inventions of modern man and reduce our complacency towards the knowledge and insight that our own ancestors, and for that matter, the planet, can offer us.

Posted by Abi at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)

December 4, 2005

Dispelling Ones Demons

We get off to a late start this morning what with the early rise of yesterday and the late arrival of bedtime last night, and its a pretty good job too because no sooner have we been awake for an hour or so we begin to wonder what we'll do today.

It doesn't take long to decide upon going to the cinema to watch The Exorcism Of Emily Rose. So off we trot, get tickets, popcorn, drink and sweets and settle ourselves down in the virtually empty cinema.

The film itself is quite good and plenty scary enough especially considering its "based on a true story" (or so the foot high lettering stated at the beginning of the film). So with that in mind, when we get back we do a bit of googling to see if we can find out any more info.

Isn't it amazing how Hollywood can magically transform the phrase "based on..." to something more akin to "Not remotely related to...". After a bit of digging around we discover that in fact Emily Rose is a moniker for Anneliese Michel, who was not from America, but Germany. She had a history of Grand Mal epilepsy since 1968 which remained with her until 1976 when she finally died of Pneumonia and emaciation - a period during which the attacks came and went, and when she was lucid she was quite able to do ordinary things. A slightly different tale from Emily Rose who was stricken with possession and shortly thereafter died after exorcism failed to remove her demons. Anyway, there is a pretty good article about "the real Emily Rose" should you care to read it and are interested, and you can even watch some videos and recordings of alleged exorcisms in Russia if your daring enough.

I tell you, maybe I should get someone from Hollywood to write a screenplay of my life story, it would be a darn site better reading than this blog! ;)

Posted by Abi at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

December 3, 2005

Air Head

I'm woken this morning by my Mum rattling around the house at about 8 am, and so being the dutiful hostess I get up as well, and cook a good old fashioned english breakfast for both of my parents before they head off back to Wales.

It's been really nice to see them as I've not see them since my Nan's funeral which seems such a long time ago now, and it was also good that my Mum came to see where I'm living because I'm sure she had different ideas about the place than what she actually got to see. Anyway, I'll be seeing them soon again (2 weeks in fact) when I go to Wales for their office party, so not such an extended leave of absence next time around.

Whilst my Mum was here she noticed that our fish were all swimming at the top of the tank, and suggested that maybe we didn't have enough air going through the water. So with that in mind, once my parents left we then decided to nip to the local fish shop and pick up some air stones and a pump to add to the tank and hopefully aerate the water a little more. We also got some new plants to put in there too, since the old one was kind of manky to say the least.

It takes a while to take all the old stuff out, put all the new stuff in and generally have a spring clean (aquatically speaking) but after we'd put everything back and plugged everything in again it doesn't take long for the water to clear. And it seems the fish like their new additions to the tank too, and they all seem a lot more sprightly and happier.

We watch a film or 2 in the afternoon which winds us nicely to the evening, by which time we're both pretty tired, so all that is left to do is to do some more relaxation in the form of computer games and even more tv :)

Posted by Abi at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)

December 2, 2005

Clean Expectations

Despite not being in work today, I've got oh so much other stuff to do it's not funny.

My parents are paying a flying visit to us this afternoon, and consequently that means that I need to clean the house so it's "parent perfect" so to speak. So I'm cleaning by 8.30 am and by 1.30 pm I'm finally done, having spruced up the place from top to bottom, washed and dried 3 loads of washing and done a mini shop to stock up on the essentials such as milk and bread.

I then have a quick shower (cos even though it's 3 degrees outside, my activities have still made me sweaty) and relax for about an hour when my parents ring me to tell me that they are somewhere in the town, where do they go now.

So I then have to go find them, and guide them back to the house. No great shakes, but with Christmas shoppers on the rampage the traffic was a bit troublesome.

We spend the rest of the afternoon generally chatting and catching up, and my parents telling me about the great time they had in France and how wonderful the food was etc etc - I think France may well now be on there destinations to retire to list. And in the evening we go out for Bangladeshi food (which is really just a different name for Indian so far as I can see). The food however was nice, and after noshing we head home where my Dad insists on putting a DVD on. Baring in mind it's now about 10 pm I wondered what the point was knowing full well that he'd be asleep within 30 minutes of hitting play, and sure enough he was :)

So we call it a day and head to bed - I just hope my parents are OK on the futon guest bed we have.

Posted by Abi at 11:43 PM | Comments (0)

December 1, 2005

T'is The Season To Be....

To be what I wonder... as the song would suggest, to be jolly, trah la lah la lah de dah de dah. Hmm I don't know if I'm quite up to festive happiness just yet, I've got too many things to worry about, too many things to do, too many loose ends to tie up and I now find myself in a state of general bah humbug misery.

I have to stay late at work due to some enormous document that needed to be transposed to to a web page, and to top that I then have to deal with a top ranked posh idiot, who after 13 minutes of condescending conversation I was about ready to tell to "**** off, and **** your website too".

Grumpy me. I did go out at lunch though (I seem to do that whether or not I've anything to do just to not be there) and today I decided to sort out christmas cards. I've bought a varied selection so hopefully there will be one to suit most of the recipients. Now I've just got to write them out and post them, except I need to postal address of the majority since my list has gone AWOL after I moved from Wales.

We're very bad today and get take away again. For some reason I am just exhausted when I get home (not sure if it's physical or mental or whether I'm just ailing towards my first winter cold) and I don't want to cook. And to top that Phil is home late after fixing yet another drama/crisis/E.L.E at work.

We don't do much tonight, I'm trying to relax before my parents arrive tomorrow (I've got a huge house clean to do in the morning before they arrive) and poor old Phil is saddled with doing work from home for a hour or so.

Posted by Abi at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

November 30, 2005

Post Offices

I've been in work today, and let me tell you it was a welcome break to get out of the office at lunch time to run an errand for Phil, ie. shoot down to the post office to send a parcel to his sister recorded delivery.

I'll complain about work in a moment, but first let me get another one of those British idiosyncrasies off my chest. Post Offices, like marmite, you either love them or hate them. Some days you can go to the post office and there is no one waiting other than you and you end up being confronted by a barrage of counter staff waiting to serve you. They are polite, but succinct and get what ever it is you need doing done quickly and efficiently. Other days however (like today) you end up queuing behind 20 people (the majority of which are old), there are only 2 counter staff on and they seem to be in a different time dimension to everyone else. A blissful almost utopia like place whereby some magical wonder all images of frustrated people and indeed, the necessity to work have been removed and replaced by fluffy clouds and pina coladas.

So I wait and wait and wait, in fact about 20 minutes of waiting of later and finally the queue starts to move after a seemingly endless conversation about the weather, the council and the general meaningless existence that one particular old lady decided she needed to share with one of the only two counter staff working. Ok, so she may well be old and lonely, but really, surely if the staff member had a modicum of professional conduct she could have handled the situation with a bit of courtesy, got the job done and thus ending the conversation and the dull ache in my feet which was now occurring due to standing in the same spot for 20 minutes and thereby risking a thrombosis of the leg.

I finally get back to work, though I don't know why I went back. I don't think I'm happy working there, it doesn't seem to matter what I do its never good enough. And ultimately I'm being paid a pittance to endure something I don't enjoy. I'd much rather be paid in peanuts and actually get some kind of job satisfaction. The New Year is always a good time to start afresh, and consequently I may well just do that.

We have fish and chips for tea which was very nice - but I was slightly marred by the fact that our favourite chippy didn't have any curry sauce to go with my chicken and chips. So we stopped at a different one to get some, ate tea and went to bed (after breaking our new keyboard slightly more than it was broken before).

And so endeth today.

Posted by Abi at 9:04 PM | Comments (1)

November 29, 2005

Faffing

Home today thank goodness, and back to my world of everything in its place and a place for everything, a place where I don't end up looking like a work shy muppet due to badly planned changes, and I'm pretty happy with what I do rather than being at the mercy of other peoples criticisms.

I spend a good part of the day working on some stuff in Photoshop, and generally learning some more bits and pieces, in particular getting the hang of paths and channels, which rather than just appearing as odd curiosities before have now proved to be invaluable when doing stuff that is a little more complicated than a coloured box and a bit of text.

At the end of it all I'm happy with my learning curve, and have produced some nifty things, some of which Mr. Phil decides he'd like to "borrow" though I put a swift ban on him stealing my hours of sweat and frustration (or rather coffee and confusion).

It was going to be curry for tea until I realized we didn't have the stuff we needed so the chicken miraculously turned into tuna pasta bake instead. I catch up on my usual Tuesday viewing and eventually the Tesco bods turn up with our online order, though I freely admit I'd forgotten they were coming and was about ready to run a bath and go to bed before Phil reminded me that at some point between 8 and 10 pm the delivery van would be showing up.

Eventually though its time for bed, and I'm just like to mention how proud I am of Sedgewick (my puffer fish) - you see despite Phil's best efforts to annoy him by inserting his R/C controlled submarine into his tank and thus penetrating Sedgewicks territory (and therefore hopefully provoking an episode of puffer air filled insanity), Phil didn't even manage to budge Sedgewick from his favourite spot in the tank... and no, he's not dead either :)

Posted by Abi at 9:20 PM | Comments (1)

November 28, 2005

Oops

In work today again since I'd offered to do an extra day. So there I am minding my own business (after finally getting a PC to work on) and for the first couple of hours everything is dandy. However by the afternoon it's suddenly gone very quiet on the old email front. I haven't had a mail from anyone, including Phil, which is odd, especially not to even get a one liner from Phil to let me know how he's getting on.

I don't think much of it really, because there are often days at work where I don't get any mail, or at least very few - and by 5pm I've happily wasted the afternoon brushing up on my photoshop skills since it appeared that no one had any work to give me to do.

It so happens that as I'm leaving work I also give Phil a call to make sure he's ok, since I'd not heard from him all day despite me sending him an email - he's fine and I even make a comment somewhere along the lines of "I ain't heard from you all day, everything ok?". Nothing too odd about that...

It's only when Phil gets home and after our usual banter, I causally say something like "I've had a really quiet day, quite pointless me even being there, I didn't even get an email off you" to which he replies "yes you did, I sent you mail at around noon!".

Hmmmm me starts to think, Phil checks his mail and indeed he did sent me mail to my work address at, you guessed it, around noon.

Suddenly then like a curiously loud bong made by an even more curiously small cymbal an idea strikes me like a fly lacking any sense of direction, and the "what if.." moved swiftly in behind.

You see I had to have this new PC set up from scratch just about, mail and everything, and to add on top of that I had to leave myself logged in on my old PC whilst the bod was sorting out the new PC too, so he could get settings and everything. So, WHAT IF, I'm now wondering, if my mail wasn't set up like I was used to it (IE, automatic send / receive every 5 mins) and DOUBLY WHAT IF the bod didn't log me out of the old PC and left my mail program running on it.

What if indeed, so with Phil as company I scuttle off to work to see if in fact my quiet afternoon was in fact fraught with tasks aplenty to which I was blissfully unaware of.

It wasn't so bad, as it turns out. There was mail there which I'd not seen which had arrived in the afternoon, and so I quickly get on and do the work which seemed most urgent, and then make a phone call to the boss to explain the situation, and why he was getting "work done" emails from me at 7pm rather than at 2pm when he'd originally sent it.

And so it appears that my mail wasn't set up as I was used to, and indeed I had been logged on to the old PC all day with my email running, and helpfully downloading items without me even knowing or in fact seeing.

I really, really, really do not like change, I am therefore a certified creature of habit.

Posted by Abi at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2005

Replacing Phil's Balls

Ah, the joys of being close to your loved ones, even more so when you are both sleeping in a 3/4 bed :) Not that I'm complaining really, but I did have an usual dream about the smell of burning pork, and the promptly realised that it was my flesh sticking to the radiator which I'd been propped against all night. ouchy ouch!

We take a trip to Telford in the morning to while away a few hours, and do a bit of shopping. We come back with a new set of balls for Phil, which he then promptly dumps in my bag. So instead of him lugging his balls around all day I get the pleasure, and let me tell ya, those balls are heavy! (yes yes, I am talking juggling balls). By the time we get back, have some lunch (it always tastes so much better when someone else cooks for you!) we're heading back south to home once again, but I don't last more than 30 minutes before I've fallen asleep.

And I hate falling asleep in the car! You always end up with head jerk, and to top that off you know you're sleeping with your gob hanging open and generally not looking too flattering to the passing motorists who think they are overtaking the "special bus for special people". Oh the embarrassment!

It did make the trip go quicker though, which is good, and we get home in plenty of time to have a good part of the afternoon to do sweet FA - so Phil goes to bed and I slob in front of the TV for a couple of hours.

Posted by Abi at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2005

Belated Birthday

Up fairly early this morning since we're off to Phil's parents to celebrate his Dads birthday (albeit somewhat belated).

First things first, and I've tidied up the kitchen after last nights baking ordeal, there is stuff everywhere - frosting on the floor, cake crumbs on the work tops and stuff which I can't even identify dripped down the cupboards. And, not wanting to come home to it all tomorrow I set about cleaning up a little before we head off up the motorway.

With that done, we then pack our bags, and just as we're about to leave the postman turns up with the new keyboard I'd ordered in the hope that it would work with the new PC since the old one didn't. Not being people who like to leave parcels unopened, we quickly set the keyboard up on the puter and give it a test run. It's ok, but as always the keystrokes are slightly different and I think I'm going to need a bionic thumb in order to get used to the amount of force needed to hit the space bar. Never mind, I'm sure I'll adapt to it in time.

We then set about our journey, and an hour and a bit later (after encountering every idiot on the road, and me having to do some tricky maneuvering as to not miss our exit off the motorway (because someone had turned off the Sat Nav biatch's voice without telling me!) we arrive at Phil's parents.

The cake seems to go down a treat and it's decided we'd take the cake to the restaurant we're going to tonight and have it as dessert, which is a fab idea, I just hope to god it tastes alright!).

The meal itself was ok, the only problems with the place that we went to were 2 fold really. Firstly, we all decided that it smelt like an old peoples home. Secondly, the staff. Not only are we greeted by the Shropshire equivalent of Cruella Deville behind the bar, the other half of the duo is sadly lacking all intelligence except what is is required for basic bodily functions.

For example, when we get to the cake and coffee round, she brings out the cake, but nothing to cut it with or serve it upon. Eventually we ask for some knives and plates etc very politely and she obliges, but have I have had the foresight I'd have probably asked her if she "could get us a knife to cut the cake, or would she rather we use the razor sharp tongue of the barmaid?". Shocking really! And to add onto that Phil's tuna was so rare it was almost breathing still, and I managed to put my foot in my mouth when answering the following question:-

Yes, you can already see what's coming eh? I did indeed reply by saying "That's me, I'm the tart!".

All in all an eventful evening, but pleasant all the same. And nobody puked when they ate the cake either - hurrah!

Posted by Abi at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2005

Role Reversal

Its a bit odd today, because instead of Phil getting up before me a zipping off to work, it's me that is struggling to get out of bed to meet my impending 9-5 doom whilst he snoozes away without a care in the world.

At lunchtime Phil picks me up from work and we go into town to pick up the things we need to make this birthday cake, and it isn't a cheap skip down the high street either, I think we spend the best part of 40 quid on ingredients, cake tins and cake storage oddities before we think we've got everything covered.

Phil then drops me off back at work where I get on with the usual.

Back home (and I'm running late) I set about baking this chocolate cake, and it's a big job to say the least. My arm is aching by the time I've mixed together all of the ingredients, and its a relief to stuff the darn thing in the oven and leave it cook. We get pizza for tea whilst that is happening, and soon enough the cake is ready to come out of the oven. It looks ok, but as its an untried recipe I've no idea what it will look like.

By 10pm the cakes are cool enough so that we can decorate it, and after much dilemma over the use of raw eggs in cake frosting (and a distinct lack of guaranteed Salmonella free eggs) I decide to cheat a little and use some bought frosting from Betty Crocker. I mean if it had been just Phil and I eating the cake I wouldn't have worried about using the frosting recipe I had, but since other people would be eating the cake I didn't want my first cooking experience for the Hough family to end up in food poisoning!

Phil helps out with the decorating too, proving to be a dab hand at eating chocolate buttons as well as sticking them on the cake, and by the end of lots of sprinkling, piping and spreading, the cake certainly looks like we made it hehehehe :)

With all of that done we then head to bed, I'm all baked out for this evening!

Posted by Abi at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2005

Homeness

Back home today, but instead of the usual company of just myself (which might I add gets a little boring after a while) I've got Phil to chat to etc, since he's got a couple of days off work again to catch up with his annual quota of "get out of the office free cards".

Consequently then we have a bit of a lay in bed this morning, but it's not long before I get fidgety (and a little guilty) so I get up and start on my usual tasks that I do when I'm home, ie. working here and there and tidying up a bit now and again.

By lunch time I'm safely ensconced in front of the computer getting on with some work, leaving Phil to his own devices, which include him watching a few films and the like, and him sending his dad an apologetic email since Phil forgot to put my name on his Dads birthday card! As a consequence of that, and sheer indecision as to what to get his Dad for his birthday, we decide that a birthday cake might be a good idea since we are going to see Phil's family at the weekend - a discrete phone call to Phil's mum later and we're decided on Chocolate Cake, so now all that remains for me to do is get all the stuff we need to bake the cake - a job for tomorrow however.

The evening flies by, with nothing but the usual stuff happening, ie. not a lot.

Posted by Abi at 9:29 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2005

Lazy Cooking

Back to work today and once again and its a pretty ordinary day in most respects. My late night last night caught up with me about about 11 am and I'm dead at my desk, head in hands, thinking of nothing but crawling back into bed and having a kip. Alas though I can't do that, so settle for making some strong coffee instead.

Luckily for me there isn't too much working for me to do, though I do have to tackle the info overload website once again which drained the last wisps of energy from my increasingly knackered mind and body.

Back home and we get Chinese takeout of dinner, I just can't be arsed to battle in the kitchen tonight. Once we've eaten Phil then continues his mission to get the new PC updated with all our old data, including installing the Sims 2. I gotta say, the game looks so much better than it did previously and looks almost playable now where as before it was a challenge of patience and determination just to get past the loading screens. Phil also put on Black And White 2, which looks super duper, even down to the ants!

And so it's then back into relaxation mode for me, watching the new episode of Threshold (still enjoying it), taking a really rather hot bath and then resuming the horizontal position most of endure just before we get to sleep (and no I aint being rude either!) :)

Posted by Abi at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2005

Another Day, Another Website

Home today, giving me the opportunity to finish off the site design I have been building for my ex-boss.

That all goes pretty well, and by the afternoon I've finished the design. Once I get the go ahead from the new owner, I then set about building the HTML template for him so that he can add the content and any other new pages that may want to add. And being such a nice person, I even Ftp it up to his domain - you can see it here.

I also get a chance to pop into town to post my parents birthday cards and presents to them so they get to them before they go away on Friday. November is turning out to be a mad month for birthdays, with 4 being in this week alone!

Another thing I did today was try out the DVLA's website so that I could apply for my car tax via the web rather than having to queue in the postoffice for hours on end with heaps of paper work. Because my car is new it means that the DVLA have an electronic version of the MOT, they know the car is insured also because they are linked up to the insurers combined database - all of which makes it much easier for me to be road legal. I just hope the new disc arrives before the old one runs out!

So with that done I've had a good chance to break in the new PC and the 2 monitors now rigged up to it. I've got to say, it certainly is useful to have the extra screen space when you're using graphic imaging programmes - I guess I'm a messy worker and always have lots of things open, so being able to move things to the second screen which I not immediately working on is pretty darned cool to say the least.

After tea, we then have a play on some games, and I get my mouse behind some pretty hefty firearms which whilst I'm not an expert gamer I still enjoy. Phil stays up later than me playing games, and manages to wind himself up so much that despite coming to bed he soon is up again trying to wind down so that he can get some sleep.

I have to admit I'm like that too, if I do anything brain intensive before I go to bed I can't sleep well, too much whizzing around in the old nut to even consider the calm and relaxing climes of dreamland - so I try not to to avoid restless nights.

Posted by Abi at 9:06 PM | Comments (1)

November 21, 2005

Monday, Monday

Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time

Monday Monday, ...

Oh Mama, Oh Papa, I couldn't have said it better myself. Not only is it a Monday which sucks, it's worse than that since I've had to go into work today to do some extra hours to cover off all the work that we have had come in over the past couple of weeks.

So not only am I battling with the phones which are ringing off the hooks, in the absence of wearing my invisible cloak the boss realises that I'm in the office on a non-standard day and starts sending me other work to do as well. Thanks for that!

Back home and Phil arrives with the new PC that had been delivered to his work place, so no sooner as we've unloaded it all from the car we start to set it up in the study. Thats quite a task in itself since we have to make room for it and move a lot of stuff around, but eventually we squeeze everything somewhere.

The more tricky bit of course is setting up the PC in terms of the software, files and settings that we had on the old computer (we have a lot more weird stuff than most people) and whilst we (ie. Phil) has a good crack at it there are still a few things that we (ie. Phil) needs to do to get us (ie. Me) up to full speed ;) heheheh :)

After a long slog then the new PC is going well (thanks Phil for getting it usable for me for tomorrow!) and we test out the graphics card with some pretty graphic intensive games, and it copes very well indeed.

I have to say I'm not sure how well I'll adjust to using 2 monitors at the same time, but I'm sure it will be a useful thing to have once I remember that there 2 of them at my disposal. Certainly will help with getting around the old flicking between windows PITA.

Posted by Abi at 9:56 PM | Comments (2)

November 20, 2005

Oh God It's Sunday

Bored.

Really.....

I'm not taking the pith either, this is the most boring Sunday since the day of creation.

Posted by Abi at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2005

I'm All Puffed Up!

There isn't much for us to do this morning, in fact nothing that is compulsory so after some breakfast (scrambled eggs) we settle down to watch The Aviator. Actually, let me rephrase that to something along the lines of "We settle down to watch The Aviator, Phil got bored after 20 minutes and went to bed, leaving me to finish the film on my todd...". So the film itself was ok, but it was way too long and I'm pretty sure the scene of Leonardo Di Caprio donning nothing but a long beard, greasy hair, overgrown toe nails whilst living in a room filled with scrunched up kleenex and jars of piss will stay with me for a long time to come yet! - as will the bizzare filming of scenes with blue grass, trees and foliage (dontcha just love artistic interpretations!

At around 2pm, Phil gets up from his kip (after I'd kindly annoyed him by causing a riot and removing the duvet) and we have a bit to eat before heading off into Oxford so Phil can get his locks cut once again. Well, that was the plan anyway, but no sooner had we gone 3 miles down the road the main arterial route into Oxford was jammed solid and not moving anywhere. Luckily for us we were still on the roundabout when we realised there was a problem and so were able to do a complete 360 and take an alternative road to Oxford, which whilst a bit longer managed to get us to town just in time for Phils appointment.

So whilst he is getting a scalp massage (I can't stand them, they always give me headaches!) I set about getting some birthday cards (which is always difficult at this time of year when the choice seems to be limited to xmas cards alone). I also get some more of Ben's cookies (after waiting in a huge queue) and then meet up with Phil. I gotta say a bit of the old bah humbug came out of me whilst in town, I can't abide lots of people around me especially when they are all pushing and shoving to buy the latest must have piece of crap the marketing people have decided should be the gift for everyone. It sucks and has only confirmed my desire to do all my christmas shopping on line this year.

We pick up some more bath goodies from Lush, and then head off to the Fish Shop to pick up an inhabitant for the tank which we'd set up to be a nursery, but with the lack of offspring we'd expected, we had decided we might as well put something in there rather than nothing.

I have a good look at all the fish, and whilst Phil is eyeing up Siamese Fighting Fish, I'm more attracted to the Kissing Gourami and the Puffer Fish. I finally decide on a Puffer Fish, and after a quick pep talk from the dude who was working there about feeding etc, he fishes one out of the tank for me. Hehehe, it made this mad clicking noise and yes it did swell up too by gorging on air. A feisty fish to say the least then! We get some bloodworms as a treat for the other fish, and some frozen muscles for the Puffer too, since he won't eat flaked food.

So fish in hand we head off home getting back in enough time for me to do tea and then we settle down to watch X-Factor, which again was sadly lacking in getting rid of the horrid Conway Sisters, but I can understand Sharon's ambition to remove on of Louis' acts from the show. Ah well.

Whilst we're watching the TV we notice that the puffer is demonstrating some odd behaviour and zooming around the tank zipping left to right, up and down and generally having a paddy fit. I can only assume it is his territorial behaviour showing. We've left him too it for tonight, I hope he has settled down by the morning :) (well if he hasn't he might well have a concussion by the time day breaks tomorrow!

Posted by Abi at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2005

Ditching The Dragon

A day away from the office today, which is much needed since I've still got plenty on my plate to do at home.

I start off by finishing the left over chores from Tuesday, which in all honesty is a good day's work in itself but by late afternoon I've finished and thus brought to the end a task that has lasted for what seems like forever.

I then set about working on a design for my ex-bosses website, and it takes a while to figure out what it is I am going to do with it. He has a logo you see, which I did for him all those years ago, and whilst its a pretty cool rendered dragon the look and feel of it doesn't really fit into the site designs you would implement today. So after taking the decision to ditch the dragon I make a fair bit of headway into coming up with a new funky design which I think portrays his company quite well, and also think of a snappy tag line.

The only problem now is that I'm lacking content, as anyone who designs websites will know, having content is all important to the design process as it helps with things like navigation for a start.

Tonight's entertainment is quite good too, with 2 episodes of Eastenders and the new series of Little Britain being shown. So that keeps me occupied for the most of the evening.

Posted by Abi at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2005

A Long Day

So, to work I go today and I'm flat out for the entirety of the time that I'm there, so much so that I don't finish work until gone 6, over an hour later than my usual home time.

I do have a chat with the boss about my suggestions for me working extra hours, something along the lines of "well whilst I'm happy to help out, I can not guarantee that I will be able to offer an extra day a week every week due to other commitments". So on that note we're gonna discuss it with the IT director on Friday to see if we can move forward somewhat with it. And I'm not pulling a fast one about the other stuff I have to do during the week when I'm not in work, I really do have plenty of other stuff that I need to do, whether it be paid or unpaid.

Back home and it's not long before Phil follows me through the door so whilst we wait for our Online Shopping Order to appear (after it failing to turn up yesterday since the delivery van broke down (my god, don't they have contingency plans for that sort of thing!)) we order takeaway and start to watch Hitch, which is almost palatable but a little slow in places.

Eventually the groceries arrive and after we've unpacked them all its time for a new series on Sky which we've wanted to watch, Threshold.

From the looks of it, it's got the makings of a good series, certainly interesting enough and with it being shown on a Wednesday means that finally there is something half decent to watch in the evening rather than the usual showings of dross and rubbish that haunts the midweek viewing.

Posted by Abi at 9:37 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2005

Finding New Stuff

I've been very busy at home again today, doing various stuff and as a result learning some new tricks in Photoshop.

I am the first to confess that I have no idea of the boundaries of Photoshop, I use it often enough but don't explore its many functions, I tend to stick to what I know. However today I've been fiddling with tarting up photos and have come across some cool filters and stuff to use to improve the quality of a dodgy snap by no end.

And that really has been the guts of my day, sitting in front of the computer for the best part of it and doing very little other than that, but I've made some fair headway into the work I was doing which I'm pleased about.

Tomorrow I've got to brooch my boss about these extra hours he wants me to do, and which I'm not so sure about. I think I've come up with a happy medium though, so lets hope he bites the bait.

Posted by Abi at 9:28 PM | Comments (1)

November 14, 2005

All Swished Up

I've spent the best part of today building my parents website - a chore that has been long overdue since the last one I did for them was done whilst I was at University, so thats about 6 years ago now and it hasn't had many updates in the meantime.

So whilst I'd done a design a couple of weeks back, today I actually set about building it. The HTML side of things was easy enough (if you disregard the usual madness trying to get something cross browser compatible). I've gone for a much simpler design than their last site, and perhaps the new one is a little more fitting for a solicitors firm. But I've added a bit of va va voom by adding flash banners to the site. I found a natty script that allows you to display the flash banner if it's installed on the users PC and a static image if not so I don't have to worry about the issues associated with that.

And since I'm no expert at flash, I've been using Swish, which is really cool and an easy way to get some nice effects without using Flash MX etc. So with Swish, and the aid of the designers dirty secret I've come up with a pretty good site.

By the evening I am almost ready to show my parents the site even though it's not completed and the content needs updates etc, and hurrah! they actually like it, no complaints, no "could you justs" or "wouldn't it be better if...", and for my parents that's a first!

I also showed the site to one of my old bosses, who having gone through somewhat a difficult couple of years has got himself back on his feet and started up his business again. And he'd like his site redesigning too, again the existing site is one I did in the late 90's (and it shows, I'm almost embarrassed by it!). So I need to come up with some ideas about that, though it's just a project to do as and when rather than here and now.

So what with doing sites, cooking tea and talking to my parents the day has rocketed by, and after some serious pillow talk with Phil it's then time for bed.

Posted by Abi at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2005

In Good Company

Ahhh... another restful morning for both Phil and I, and after the day that we both had yesterday it is well deserved.

So whilst lolling around in bed for a good part of the morning was nice, getting out of bed was a bit of a trauma. My muscles have completely seized up, I feel like someone has stuffed a metal rod up my backside because I can't bend or do nothing, everything aches and it's like I've aged 90 years overnight. Phil isn't in a much better state either after all the removals he's been doing for the past couple of days, so between us it's like watching two OAPS struggling without their Zimmer frames.

Consequently then it takes us a little longer to get motoring than usual, but after some scrambled eggs for breakfast we then head off to get some screen wash concentrate since we'd run out an my car uses screen wash like it's going out of fashion. We then go to tesco, but we don't do our usual huge weekly shop of everything we'll need. This time we literally get fresh stuff such as fruit and veg and a few things for today.

Then, when we are back home we give online grocery shopping a go. First impressions, not bad, by why oh why don't they display pictures straight away rather than having to open a pop up window to see the product? It's well annoying... I mean think about it logically, most of us shop by sight, ie looking for something that's a familiar colour or shape, basically by the branding... so why take out the most identifying feature when shopping online? Bizarre. The other thing I found annoying was looking for products, I mean yes this gets easier when you've got a list of all your favourite things already stored, but the initial shopping experience is time consuming. I think they should liken it more to a conventional shop, after all they all have the same layout, I'm sure it couldn't be too difficult to overlay that experience into an online shopping one. The final thing I didn't like was the "variable" final figure you get for the cost of the shopping. Again, I can understand this if you've got a lot of weighed goods in your basket, because weight can't be exact for most products in a practical sense. But online discounts? They should be applied as soon as you hit the checkout, not when your order is delivered. After all, you are buying the goods because they are on offer when you are "shopping", you shouldn't have the discrepancy of them being removed because an offer may have finished by the time your goods are delivered.

Anyway, despite the above we are still trying it out and the stuff is being delivered on Tuesday. I don't know if I'm convinced about the whole scenario, but if it means more time for Phil to do as he pleases then that's all well and good - I just think the supermarkets need to do some serious usability testing on the way in which their online shops works, they could be so much better were it for a little more forethought and consideration for the shoppers.

This afternoon we watch In Good Company, rather apt considering Phil has been effectively away from home for a couple of days, so it's nice to have him home and have someone to annoy and chat too. We also have an early tea and are in bed by 9 to try and catch up with some shut eye and muscle repair.

Posted by Abi at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2005

Home Alone

Phil is up early again today as he's got to go back to London to finish the job he started yesterday - poor sod! But after my late night last night I don't get up very early and have an unexpected lay in (you know one of the lay in's where you say you'll just have 30 minutes more, and then all of a sudden its 2 hours later).

When I do get up, and after a bit of breakfast, it isn't long before I've got the vacuum and various other cleaning implements in my hands and I start to give the house a good going over. It's not been cleaned for a few weeks and so tackling it is a bit of a mammoth job to say the least... but 5 hours later and I'm done.

I then make the fatal mistake of just sitting and doing nothing. I can't stand to go to the computer and look at a monitor, I just can't face it and so sit in front of the TV instead. You see I guess you could say that I should have taken a leaf out of the "how to warm up and cool down after a cleaning session book" because just stopping dead after 5 hours of bending, stretching and general body movement has resulted in me ending up like a cripple. I can hardly move! So what's a girl to do? That's right, just stay sat in front of the TV where nothing hurts :)

Phil gets home a little after 5 and is still tinkering with work stuff, but he takes a break to go to the supermarket where we get some things for tea. We then watch X-Factor, and what a travesty! A load of squarking-irish-wanna-be-Corrs stayed in at the expense of a very talented could-be-tina-turner all because the judge with the deciding vote was irish! Shocking, he needs shooting, as do the Conway sisters. The last thing the pop world needs is yet another manufactured girl group with variable talent. I hope Louis Walsh gets lynched for making such a terrible decision based on nationality rather than ability to perform.

I hope Maria gets a contract despite being voted out, and so she should, I mean she's got the legs, the boobs, the looks and the voice to make an enviable singer.

Posted by Abi at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2005

My Own Devices

In work today yet again, and there isn't much to report about that. It's a quiet enough day with sufficient lull in the proceedings to get me bored at some points. Another person has left today, it seems anyone who sits in a particular chair lasts no longer than a couple of weeks, and it's a shame because the bod who's left was actually quite nice.

I spend the morning helping out the future ex-employee with some work, and then at lunch time I nip to the garage to fill the car with diesel and make the most of the 5p per litre discount we'd got from spending over 50 quid at the supermarket. No only that, I need to fill it up as Phil is heading off to London tomorrow at some unearthly hour and I suspect the last thing he wants to worry about is refuelling the car.

The afternoon is relatively quiet, except of course when it comes to about 4pm when my boss looks over the work the ex-employee has done and decides it needs a lot more tweaking to get it looking presentable, so I crack on with that, and then realise that whilst the ex-employee might have been a good back end coder he wasn't made to be a front end developer.

Ah well, I manage to correct most of the issues, and finish work on time. I also manage to put off giving the boss a decision on whether I can work extra hours - I'm not sure what to do about that as I've heard rumours that they might be moving the office, and I don't want to commit to doing more hours if they are going to move the office somewhere out of the local vicinity.

Back home and I'm left to my own devices since Phil has had to go to London this evening on work stuff - so I order some food, have a few drinks and continue doing that never ending task I keep bleating on about.

By 11.30 I've finished the job, though I'm not so sure how good the latter results will be due to tiredness and alcohol induced confusion. I then hop in a bath to relax further, and I've only been in bed for an hour or so before Phil gets home.

Posted by Abi at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2005

Tea Overdose

Back home today, and I'm determined to make some significant headway with respect to the never ending chore I've set for myself.

After some advice from Phil though I decide to take a slightly different approach today, and instead of sitting for 8 hours constantly without a break, and consequently slowing to a near snails pace by about hour 2 of working, I'm taking a regular 15 minute time out every time I reach a predetermined goal.

Which is great, my eyes don't hurt and no sign of a flaky finger either. The only problem is that as a reward for each goal I meet I decide to make a cup of tea - the result of which is that I've had about 10 large mugs of tea today, and I'm all tea'd out to say the least.

So whilst there is method in the madness, I think I either need to get a different reward each time I hit a goal, or set the goal posts slightly further apart to reduce the risk of drowning my kidneys on a near hourly basis with the great british cure all remedy.

When Phil gets home I'm banned from doing any more work for the evening (apparently everybody needs a break, who knew!?) and to be honest I'm glad the decision has been taken out of my hands... because otherwise I would have continued on until I'd done everything (and by that point I know the work I'd have been doing would be sloppy because I was tired).

Posted by Abi at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)

November 9, 2005

Paper Murder

I'm in work today again (getting a bit regular this eh?) and the morning goes very well, what with lots of bits and pieces coming my way to implement and certainly enough to see that 1pm arrives quickly enough so that I don't end up twiddling my thumbs.

At lunch time I have an errand to run, and that is to go into town and pick up the paper shredder that we'd reserved from Argos last night. It's a strange thing, but a couple of days ago both Phil and I almost simultaneously came up with the idea of getting a shredder for mutilating paper work that would best be recycled as tiny bits rather than as a whole - and besides, with identity theft becoming a regular problem these day's it's probably better to be safe than sorry.

Whilst I'm in town I also raid a couple of the charity shops and manage to get some more glass beads, which I think will be dandy once they have had a bit of a clean and such like, and met a very sociable lady with whom I had an extended conversation about the virtues of having a bath rather than a barth, mowing the grass and not tending the grrahasss, glugging out of a glass rather than sipping from a glaahrse and trapsing up the path rather than walking up the parth... as they say you can take the girl out of lincolnshire..... :)

The afternoon then goes quick enough, with the quick dismissal of one project that's been sitting in my inbox for weeks waiting for some clarification from the Boss. It seems he didn't understand it either so we've sidelined it again until he gets time to figure it out - they also ask me if I'd like to work another day a week, which I told them I'd think about. If I do, it means I'd have to work saturdays to compensate for other work I do at home, but it's something to ponder.

Since there is nothing on the box of interest tonight we watch Meet the Fockers, and uncannily it struck a chord with me, I can only hope that if and when my parents meet Phils' it is slightly removed from the filmscript of the Fockers...

... though I doubt it :)

Posted by Abi at 9:30 PM | Comments (1)

November 8, 2005

RSI

So, with phase one complete, I have devoted today to phase two. I almost wish I hadn't because by the end of the day my eyes are burning and my vision is fuzzy to say the least.

I know it is just eye strain and nothing actually wrong with my sight as a whole because every time I go to the optician with what I perceive as a problem with my eyes they always tell me that my vision is perfect and that I don't need glasses. The one time I did think I was getting them the optician kindly told me that the "lens" I thought I was seeing clearer through was in fact just plain old glass and nothing fancy.

Whats more I've noticed that my shoulder is starting to ache, and along with that my mouse scroll finger feels like someone is stabbing a needle into it and wiggling it around, constantly.

There we are then, I guess I have a fairly productive day, but at the end of it I've broken myself in several places. I think I may well have to take up Phils suggestion of taking regular breaks when I'm doing tasks that involve a lot of the same repeated movements because if I carry on as I am none of the work will get done as I'll be in a sling, with a cast on my finger and a mask over my eyes.

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2005

The End Is Nigh

Today I am determined to finish off the task that I've been mauling over for the past week, and so with little delay I am back at the computer trying my best to toil through the remaining things I have to do.

And by God it takes me all day to finish it, but when I say finish it I'm actually referring to the first phase of completion, there are still at least 2 more iterations that I have to complete before I can say the job is actually finito, but as it stands I think I've done enough for today to warrant a pat on the back and some sort of sense of congratulatory self praise :)

Phil is delayed getting home from work, and when he does get home it appears he needs to go out again, so I volunteer to drive him and keep him company. By the time we get home its about 8.45 pm and so the tea I had prepared is put aside and we get take out instead - I think it's well deserved for both of us.

Posted by Abi at 10:16 PM | Comments (1)

November 6, 2005

Toads And Such Like...

Well, I did have all intentions of continuing my mammoth trek through the mountains of Workaholia today, but Phil serupticiously manages to keep me away from the computer for most of the morning by filling the time with a trip to the super market and such like, and we also go to the cinema to watch The Brothers Grimm.

I'm pretty sure most of you are familiar with the Grimm tales, and the film nicely wraps them all up in celluloid, but I can't help wondering if the individual tales would be just as good at creating a similarly feature film as The Brothers Grimm in their own right (and not necessarily under the guise of cartoons and the happy endings that most of us are familiar with). The film includes aspects from Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and the Princess and the Pea to name just a few, and although a little long, I enjoyed it.

Back home and we watch another film, this time Kingdom of Heaven, which is very Ridley-Scott-esque as expected. I dunno, I just get the feeling that all his films are following a far to familiar path - you know. Bloke scorned and sworn to a vendetta, throw in a love interest and some big CGI horse battles etc... you get the picture.

This evening we do very little apart from having club sandwiches for tea, and I also spot a toad on the patio so we get some pictures of it.

Posted by Abi at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)

November 5, 2005

Gone With A Bang

Well, as the old saying goes, remember remember the 5th of November, and quite rightly so since its Bonfire night - an annual celebration in memory of a fella trying but failing to blow up the houses of parliament. But before the night sky is lit up there are the usual tasks to be completed before anything else. For a start, I'm up at virtually the break of dawn and it's not very long before I'm perched in front of the computer carrying on with the work I started earlier in the week. And that's where I stay for most of the day, only breaking for some lunch and helping Phil put on the hardtop to his car, which is definitely a 2 person job.

As evening approaches it's pretty obvious that us brits like to put on a bit of a show on bonfire night and so the entirety of the early evening and well on until about 11pm we are surrounded by flashes, bangs, whizzes and explosions - in fact so much so that you'd think that the whole of the fireworks stock had been sold to the residents on our estate.

The fireworks remind me of my trip to Hong Kong in 1997 when control of it was handed back to China. It was also the chinese new year - and boy do they know how to do fireworks over there. I remember that it felt like the entire population of Hong Kong and Kowloon turned up at the harbour, there were thousands and thousands of people there all standing around waiting for something to happen... then wow didn't it just! The sky scrapers that surrounded us rattled with the power of the explosions, car alarms went off, you could feel the force permeate through your body as if you were standing right in front of the biggest sub woofer you can imagine. And the colours? You wouldn't see more variety if you were standing in the middle of a mardi gras procession.

It makes british displays look somewhat feeble by comparison, but I've no doubt with the current aggression of our parliament and it's attitude towards implementing an even more suffocating nanny state, it won't be long before the tradition is ruled out as a health hazard and banned from our skies for ever. Maybe Guy Fawkes had the right idea after all...

Posted by Abi at 9:43 PM | Comments (1)

November 4, 2005

The Run Around

My day starts with the hope that the postman will deliver something I've ordered. The problem with this is that I know the parcel won't fit in the letterbox, so if he doesn't turn up before I leave for work it means I'll get the dreaded little "while you were out" slip, meaning I'll have to go to the post office depo to pick up the parcel, rather than have the convenience of it being delivered to the doorstep.

But by 10 to 9 the posty still hasn't delivered and I have to go to work. It's not a problem I decide to myself, I might as well nip home during my lunch break, see if he's dropped the slip off and I can then nip to the depo which is near work on my way back to work.

So I go to work, which is much of a muchness, though I did get the blame for breaking the search facility on a website after apparently doing a "global update" to one of the sites. Hmmm, I know it wasn't me in fact due to 4 things 1) I didn't create the link that needed to be put on each page of the site, and 2) I didn't create the page that the link went to 3) I never ever ever use the global update facility in Dreamweaver because I don't trust it for exactly the fuck up I'm now being blamed for and 4) I have no record of making any such changes for the site in question, and I keep ALL my emails for blatant ass coverings such as when required to protect my integrity - and I've got nothing to suggest I was ever asked to make the change.

Anyway, just another pit fall of working in an office, I'm quickly going off the idea, and as such I'm going to start looking for a job that means I don't have to be stuck behind a desk, but that's another blog entry I'm sure.

At lunch I do go home, but alas the posty has not delivered anything, not even a slip. Oh well. I then have to go into town to pick up something else that I'd ordered. I know how much it costs, so I'd borrowed the money for it (and 50p for parking) from Phil as I knew I wouldn't have time to go get any money before work, and without a penny to my name at the moment I'd be stuck to even pay for the parking ticket.

And I was bad, very bad. You see, the parking lot is right next to the shop that I need to go to, and I know that I'm going to be a matter of minutes picking up my delivery. So I flirt with the law for once, and don't bother with a ticket, why pay 50p for an hours parking when I'm going to be exactly 57 minutes shy of using my allotted and paid for time. And it pays off, because the cost of the thing I'm picking up has gone up 20p from the time of ordering it - so if I'd have bought the ticket I'd have been 20p short for the bead board that I'd ordered.

Hmm, being risque was fun (hahah, my god how dull I must be to think that was risque!) but I probably won't make a habit of it - I'm pretty law abiding most of the time, you just need to break out of the shell now and again you know? :)

The afternoon was then, by comparison to my completely wreckless behaviour of lunch time, quite boring...

Posted by Abi at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 3, 2005

More Of The Same

Today is really a continuance of Tuesday's events with me pretty much occupied for a good 9 hours doing what I was doing earlier in the week, a bit of a groundhog day to say the least - but I am making good head way with the task in hand, it's just a shame that it's so monotonous.

But monotonous is good, I seem to be quite good at getting on with jobs that are like this and I guess my secret to getting through lots of tasks which are the same (in this case checking data and filling in missing bits) is that I set myself regular goals that are not unrealistic. For example today I'm doing 200 checks and then taking a break to have a coffee or something similar.

And it's amazing how quickly the hours dissipate into nothingness and it's not long till it's dark outside, Phil gets home from his trip into London, and I stop for the evening to get on with dinner and take a break for the eye burn of staring at a monitor for the best part of an entire day.

So really not much to write about today, it kinda gets like that when you've just done one thing all day and nothing else....

Posted by Abi at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2005

A Little Less Annoying

Back to work again today, and it's a relief that when I get in I've only got 2 emails that need dealing with immediately, much better than last week when I was plagued with a plentiful supply of work that really could have been avoided in the long run had it no have been for some better organisation and a little bit of common sense from those involved.

The day goes quite smoothly in all, with things picking up towards the afternoon with more than enough to keep me busy and out of trouble.

Other than that, there isn't much to report, other than they are still rioting over in France - I hope they stop before my parents tootle over their for their birthdays, I think the building itch is starting to kick in again, and having completed their villa in Greece they are on the look out for another place to either build or renovate.

I swear that they have got nomadic genes somewhere stitched into their DNA, it would explain why I get twitchy feet now and again - or that could be down to the belief that the grass is always greener on the other side (which more often than not it isn't, it's just a bit more interesting than there here and now).

Posted by Abi at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2005

Categorisation

I've got lots of things that I want to be doing today but as always happens I got sidetracked with one in particular and so all others failed to be completed.

I do get a few things done in the morning though, the most important of which was to set up the old triop tank again, but this time to act as a fish nursery. We'd noticed that something the big tank had been laying eggs (we've no idea what, but certainly not snails) and so we thought it might be a cool idea to extract the eggs before they get eaten and see if we could hatch them out in an environment where there are is no one waiting further up the food chain.

With that in mind then, I nip to the local aquatic center and pick up some new gravel, a few plants and some decorative things to stick in the tank. Whilst I'm there I notice that they have some fresh water puffer fish which look kinda cool, and something I'll bear in mind if the nursery doesn't work out, it would be a shame to have bought the stuff to fill the spare tank only to not use it. Whilst I'm in the shop I also get a fish tank submarine which is operated by radio control and even has LED lights on it - just something for Phil to use to terrorise the fish should he feel like it! heheh:)

It takes me a while to set the tank up but it's not too long before all the water is in and the heater is on warming up the water ready for us to transfer the eggs, a job for Phil when he gets back.

I then get on with some work that needed doing - a whole heap of data amendments which involved a lot of repetitive stuff and classification of certain things (parents! just another name for slave drivers). I've got about 2000 records to amend, but by number 800 Phil is home from work and my eyes and butt are killing me so I stop for the evening, and promptly realise all the other stuff I wanted to do will now have to wait until Thursday.

It's scampi for tea, and I then watch some TV and try to sort out my ever growing bead odds and sods into yes, you guessed it, slightly better categorisation than the tried and trusted method of "all dumped in one place".

Posted by Abi at 9:37 PM | Comments (1)

October 31, 2005

Halloween

And so comes the time of year yet again where small children dress up as ghouls in order to extract sweets and money from innocent home owners under the treat of being egged or worse should they not come up with the goodies.

I remember when I was a child no house was off limits, we went to all of them in our village without discretion leaving no door unknocked and no pathway untrodden - we didn't look for signs to see if the inhabitants were Halloween goers or not, it didn't matter if the lights were on or off, or if they had a pumpkin glowing in the window or a witch dangling from the porch we trick or treated everyone who had a pulse.

So imagine my surprise, and Phil's astonishment when we hear oncoming trick or treaters who having just stung our neighbours walk straight past our house suggesting that "it wasn't even bothering with"!!! Cheeky monkeys! Ok, so we don't have anything particularly halloweeny and inviting adorning the house, but surely we worth looting, what's the matter with the little punks!

If anything, I'm a bit pissed that I'd gone to the hassle of buying sweets for the little shitzers and it now appears that we're not good enough! Tisk! So with that in mind, and a huge bowl of calories in hand we string up some pumpkin lights I'd bought last year and not used.

My God, it was like opening the gates to hell, quite literally. We had non-stop trick or treaters and they were even queuing up the path way at one point.

So it seems that the rules of trick or treating have changed since I last donned my black bin bag and cardboard witch hat in the pursuit of ill gotten gains - modern halloweeners have developed an unwritten code that if the house has no inkling of devilish treats they give it a miss....

Ah well, makes you wonder where the next generation of risk takers and profiteers is going to come from...

Posted by Abi at 10:32 PM | Comments (1)

October 30, 2005

Till Death Do Us Part....

So much for the extra hour in bed, I'm up at 6.30 am thrashing around in bed because my back is killing me, so I decide to get up rather than suffer being a complete cripple that laying in bed for any longer would undoubtedly give me the misfortune of becoming.

I go down stairs to see how the triops are, and as suspected Brutus' brother has snuffed it. Brutus it appears is having a bit of trouble too. I noticed last night that he was going through another shedding phase (he gets kinda twitchy and quiet) and by this morning it seems the poor blighter has only managed to get half of the skin off and is not managing to get the rest of it removed from himself, and he's looking exhausted (slow gill movement etc). I decide to see how he's doing by this afternoon before I interfere, but I have to say my uncanny knack to sense near death in pets is kicking in (I had it with most of our pet dogs, horses, guinea pigs, rabbits, goats and cats...).

When Phil gets up we go do our weekly shop, and we also decide that it might be nice to have lunch out and combine that with a film that I want to see, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. I quite like Tim Burton films, and really enjoyed The Nightmare Before Christmas, so working on the basis that his new release is very similar to that I thought it would be worth going to see.

We get some good grub at Frankie and Bennies (I have steak for the first time in I don't know how long) and then go get our tickets and popcorn and watch the film. I enjoyed it lots, though I'm pretty sure it wasn't Phil's cup of tea (but bless his cottons for putting up with it just because I wanted to watch it). To give you a brief run down: Poor living girl betrove to rich Boy, rich boy has second thoughts, rich boy accidentally marries dead girl, living girl is tricked into marrying a con man, meanwhile rich boy finds out living girl is married and decides dead girl isn't so bad but he has to die to be properly wed to dead girl. Rich boy decides to snuff it but just in the nick of time everyone figures it all out and they live happily ever after and dead girl gets to go to heaven.

We then head home, and poor Brutus is just about dead. At a last ditch attempt to help he we try and remove some of the excess shed to make it a bit easier for him, but by the time we are heading to bed it's pretty obvious that he's given up the fight.

RIP Brutus 20/09/05 - 30/10/05.

Posted by Abi at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2005

Frankinbush

I actually manage to have a lay in bed this morning until gone 10 am, and it's not often I do that, so I must have needed the sleep.

But, once I do get up, there is plenty to be doing. Phil has a number of things he'd like to do as well including trimming the conifers in the front garden. I guess it would be an easy task if they were like normal conifers that are easy to trim, but the ones we have are a bit different. It's hard to describe, but they grow in a very compact (almost egg like) form so if you remove a branch, then the whole tree looks like it's been moth eaten and it loses it's shape dramatically (or as Phil called suggested it would look like a "Frankinbush"). So obviously a saw isn't the solution to the problem, what we need is a hedge trimmer.

So we go get one, and at £20 it's cheap enough to be viable to buy, after all we probably will only ever use it once a year. We then pop into town as I've got to post my tax return, and after a quick amble around the shops its back off home.

Its not long after that Phil starts up his new toy it doesn't take too much time before he's cut the trees down to size, and they don't look half bad either.

Meanwhile I have to rescue Brutus who has got himself stuck under the fake coral thing in the triops tank.

The rest of the day is spent doing very little indeed, Phil goes for a snooze and I nip to the supermarket to pick something up for tea (curry yum yum). It's only after I've had tea I notice that Brutus' buddy hasn't been swimming around the tank so I go check out what's going on. It seems that when I rescued Brutus I accidentally squished his brother under the rock, so whilst he's still alive he's not looking good. I suspect he'll be dead by the morning :( So now I feel guilty and rightly so...

And after that it's the usual of sleep time, not forgetting that the clocks go back an hour tonight meaning we get an extra hour in bed tomorrow (not that it makes much difference on a Sunday).

Posted by Abi at 9:39 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2005

Punctuation Potty

You know when you get those days where you wish you hadn't bothered to get up, because with the benefit of hindsight you'd have realised that the day you were about to have was going to be so utterly awful it wasn't worth the energy in the first place?

Well today was one of those days. To appreciate how annoying it was it might be beneficial to give you a little idea of what it is I do. I work for a company who builds websites for other companies. That process involves us getting copy from those companies and other content in order to put on their new websites. But please bear in mind, we are not a copy writer company, nor are we paid to peruse a company's copy to check for erroneous data, bad spelling and misuse of punctuation.

With that in mind then you can imagine my horror after I've spent the best part of a 2 weeks tweaking this website with various amendments that have been requested, the day that the site is to be launched I receive several very long emails, each containing copious amounts of punctuation corrections. And the changes are not even in a sensible format. The easiest way to make lots of copy changes in one go on a website is to have the complete and correct copy in front of you so you can cut and paste it in one foul sweep. But oh no, I've got what must be over 500 punctuation changes to do in the format of "in the first paragraph on the 21st line please put a comma next to the, and after the and..." RIDICULOUS!

But not only ridiculous but just plain stupid, such as wanting double spacing after each full stop (no sorry you can't have that because the browser removes excess spaces from copy all by itself). By the end of the day I am just about at my wits end, why can't people CHECK the content they are sending over before it is implemented into code, is it really that difficult?

For god sake, shouldn't it be a common decency to make sure you do your job correctly the first time to prevent unnecessary work being carried out time after time?

Needless to say I've had a bad day and it's made me realise why it was I left my last job, perhaps this one will go the same way.

Posted by Abi at 9:30 PM | Comments (1)

October 27, 2005

It's all in the name

I don't really know why I'm writing an entry for today, since it seems that I've not done anything to constitute a noteworthy bit of publishing, but for what little it's worth I did cook Phil's favourite tea.

Other than that the only other thing that happened today was the receipt of a rather funny email from a friend, the contents of which I will divulge here:

People spend a lot of time thinking up their children's names. It's just a pity they don't always think as hard about their domain names:-

Posted by Abi at 9:23 PM | Comments (1)

October 26, 2005

And Again...

Back to work again today, gosh, its almost like I did this on Monday already ;) I don't mind in the slightest really though since October/November/December see like they are going to be expensive months for me for some considerable years yet (what with car tax, car insurance, car services, christmas, birthdays and any other type of annual event that incurs cost you wouldn't get at any other time of the year).

And again, my work load today is considerable. I'm usually pretty good and deciding what needs doing when, what really is urgent, what can be done to get a few brownie points from the manager etc etc, but with working with such antiquated websites I've had a few jobs in my inbox that I've not really wanted to because I know they are going to be tedious and long winded - mainly because of the way that the older sites have been built.

But I face up to them today, and get a good majority of them done, as well as the usual inter-dispersed urgent things that get passed my way, and the pretty standard "could you justs...." that have to be done with the Could You Just Requester standing over my shoulder. All of which result in me being late home, but I'm still back before Phil.

We get pizza for tea, and after I manage to spill the garlic and herb dip over the table, and then over the kitchen counter there isn't much left to do but watch the TV... and I don't even pay much attention to that, after all I've got more important things to do, like buy sparkly adornment supplies.

Posted by Abi at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2005

Being Creative

Ahh, a well earned rest (har har) after what turned out to be quite a busy old day at work, to the point of not even having time for a coffee. But that was yesterday, and today is today, and very welcome it is too.

So, I've been gathering various bits and pieces for making beaded jewellery now for what seems like a very long time, long enough in fact for Phil to start taking the piss about how I've got all this "stuff" and I don't seem to be doing anything with it. And he's right. I haven't. No excuse, just the age old conundrum of "where do I start" preventing me from getting all hands on and actually producing something of a viable nature.

But today I've really go no excuse because a) I don't really have anything else to do and b) some of the final bits and pieces I wanted (but not really needed) arrived in the post.

And so I set about making my first bracelet, and typically of me I rush in and fluff up a few times before I get it right, but I'm quite pleased with the result. I've managed to make something I'll wear and I think is quite pretty and sparkly. And I like pretty, and I like sparkly even more, so I must be on to a winner.

The bracelet itself is made up of black diamond swarovski crystals, with tahitian-look pearls and clear crystal silver rondelles. They are strung on silver wire and finished with silver findings (thats the clasp and associated bits).

On the whole I'm pretty impressed with myself, I've got a UNIQUE (and I use that term in the strictest sense) piece of jewellery, which I made myself, one of a kind. And I like it.

I'm actually quite taken with the whole idea of making my own stuff to wear now and have a few ideas about my next piece that I'll do, I've just got to get the right stuff to make it... thank god I've found a decent supplier of the stuff I need at very good prices.

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (3)

October 24, 2005

Overtime

I'm in work today and so it makes a bit of a change for me to be first out of bed and on my way to work whilst Phil sleeps in on his day off, the lucky so and so!

The morning is pretty busy for me, dumping lots of content into a website which we are building but I do go home at lunch time to see Phil and see what he's been up to... and it looks like cooking :)

I'm only home for about 30 mins before I have to head off back to the office and the afternoon flies by as it always does when you've got lots to do, or quite involved projects to be getting along with. So much so I leave work a little later than normal and get home at about quarter to 6.

And, it's very nice to come home too, because Phil has prepared tea! :) We're having homemade salmon fish cakes with chips and rocket salad, and wow, the boy CAN cook! They were fantastic, very tasty indeed and even more so for the fact that someone else had cooked for me :) And, considering it was a recipe that he'd made up all by his tod, its a keeper, though I've yet to extract exactly how much of what he put in the fish cakes!

So after a very relaxing evening of being somewhat pampered I settle down to watch some soaps, in particular EastEnders (but only because Grant and Phil have made a reappearance) and I then go to be bed feeling fat (well I get that most nights) full, and very contented :)

Posted by Abi at 9:26 PM | Comments (1)

October 23, 2005

Ladies Wot Lunch

A bit of a lay in bed today, which is nice, but it's not too long before I'm up and about and getting ready to entertain some lady friends who are coming up from the big smoke to see me today.

The first thing I have to do is go to the supermarket and get provisions in so that I can cook lunch for my visitors. I've decided on a well favoured recipe that always seems to go down well, which is American Chicken Pie (layers of broccoli and chicken topped off with a slightly curried sauce with cheese and breadcrumbs on top) and as a tried, tested and approved dish of my friends I figure I can't really go wrong. I get some fresh bread and some salad to go with it too, which seems to be the best combination.

When we get back from the supermarket I get a phone message saying that my guests are already here, but have gone to do a bit of shopping since I was out when they called at the house, which is no problem at all since it means I've got plenty of time to cook lunch, or at least get it prepared as much as possible so all that needs doing is for it to go into the oven to finish it off about 40 mins before everyone is ready to eat.

The ladies arrive at about 1.30 and after a good old natter and catch up (assisted by the eating of some lovely banana and walnut muffins that arrived with my guests, and some super biscuits too) we settle down and have some the lunch that I'd prepared, and it was very nice.

After lunch the conversation some how ends up on the topic of sports cars and how one of my friends could quite fancy herself driving around in a convertible, so I volunteer Phil to take her out for a spin in his motor so she could get the feel of it and the handling too - I guess the fact that she comes back from the test drive quite exhilarated is a good indicator that she enjoyed herself!

It's not long after that the ladies leave to head off back to London, and we then spend the evening unwinding - Phil has got the day off tomorrow so he takes much pleasure in relaxing slightly more than me since I'm in the office for 9am to help with the excess of work we seem to have accumulated.

Posted by Abi at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2005

Diverted

I spend the best part of this morning lazing around in bed, before I get up and start to do something useful!

First up is to give the house a clean, we've got visitors tomorrow so it might be nice for them not to walk into the current mess that we've managed to disperse all over the place since the last lot of visitors came. So the cleaning takes the best part of 3 hours (after I've made brunch which is some very nice scrambled eggs) and I'm knacked.

It's not long after I've sat down on the sofa to chill out for a while that Phil comes downstairs and suggests we go to the fish shop to pick up some algae eaters. It seems our Pleco is more intent on eating the bog wood we put in the tank and not focusing at the more important task in hand which is to clean the tank up and control the amount of algae which is growing, so we head off into Oxford to the Goldfish Bowl to see if they have any Loaches, which we know from experience love Algae and are pretty good house keepers.

Our plan is somewhat thwarted though since we hit a major traffic jam on the main road into Oxford, luckily though since we were in my car we just pulled up the SatNav and figured a route around the problem and got to the shop in plenty of time before it was due to close. It was nice not to go on the dual carriage way for a change and we got to see plenty of very pretty villages on our travels too, never know, one day we might be rich enough to live in one of them!

At the fish shop we find what we're looking for and also Phil decides to pick up another Red Tailed Black Shark to replace Oscar who we lost earlier in the year. So, with the loaches and RTBS bagged up and also some sea monkeys bagged up we head off home via a load more villages rather than the main arterial route and get home just fine and slightly more wiser of the back roads around here.

The new fish take well to the tank too, with the loaches immediately cleaning the tank and the RTBS already trying to assert his position in the fish heirachy (somewhere near the top is his current aim I think), and all the fish have a field day when we add in the sea monkeys for bit of a live bait treat (they don't last longer than 30 seconds with the Danioe's proving to be the quickest hunters).

We get chinese for tea tonight and after watching the X-Factor (what are the public thinking voting in Phillip, who can't sing at all!!!) and a bit more crap on the box it's time for bed.

Posted by Abi at 9:33 PM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2005

Missed it...

What a delightful day, it's pouring with rain and the wind is nasty and it's dark when I wake up... and on top of all that I have to go to work.

And a busy day it is, considering I had very little to do from scratch, there was plenty to do in terms of finishing incomplete projects and tarting up the odd things here and there. I also get a mammoth load of financial charts to do, all of which needed to be converted into HTML... I tell you, its been a long time since I've had to build such complicated tables and it took a while.

I also get asked to go into work on Monday to cover for 2 people are that away, and of course timings being as they are their absence coincides with the need to launch another website for a client so my services are required to help with that. It's just a shame it's the Monday since Phil is off work then and I won't get to be home when he is, I guess I'll just have to make sure I go back home for lunch to at least get an extra hour with him.

So what with being busy all morning I quickly forget to check out an item on ebay that I wanted who's auction ended at 2pm, despite making a mental note of the fact this morning and putting a yellow sticky on my monitor saying "EBAY 2PM!!!"... oh well, guess I couldn't have really wanted it if I didn't remember it.

We have curry for tea tonight (once I go to the shop and buy it) and watch The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse... which I'm sure is good if you're familiar with the characters already, but for me it was just an easy way to while away the hours before bed time.

Posted by Abi at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2005

New Town Order

Today I've been on a bit of a road trip, heading out at around 10.30 and not getting back till gone 5.

My first destination is Milton Keynes. The reason for this is that they have an antique and bric-a-brac fair on and I think it might be worth while taking the trip up there to see what the stalls have on offer.

I get there at about 12, and the first thing that strikes me about Milton Keynes is the number of roundabouts. I was going to count all the ones I had to go around, but I lost count after about 20 and not only that it's probably a poor reflection on myself about how nerdy I can be at times (the last time I did something that sad was counting the number of HGV's from Harlow to home on a particularly slow and congested trip). But despite the number of roundabouts, the other thing that I noticed is that there is plenty of parking, its everywhere! Which is great for me because I manage to park right near where I want to go.

Once I'd parked and found the market with the stalls I then have a gander around and spot a nice clear glass bead necklace. It's pretty old and dirty and the vendor wants 15 quid for it, so I tell him I may be back later to buy if I don't see anything else.

As it happens, I didn't see anything else that caught my eye, so I went back to the store an got a discount on the necklace, handing over just 10 pounds for beads that would have cost me a lot more than that if I'd have bought them new.

Pleased with my purchase I then head back towards the car, and on the way stop at a rather enticing looking chocolate shop aptly named Hotel Chocolat and as much as I tried to resist the cocoa aroma was too much for me to handle and I came out of the shop slightly less empty handed than I went in.

On the way out of Milton Keynes I stop at Hobby Craft, which is a arts and crafts superstore. I get a few things I need, but have decided that I most likely won't bother again since the prices that they charge for things are almost 3-4 times more than what you can buy the same item on the internet for.

I then head home going via Oxford where I get some more of the delectable Bens cookies and not a lot else, and by the time I'm opening the front door its late enough that I only just have enough time to to tidy up a bit and get dinner ready for when Phil gets back... it's club sandwiches for tea tonight which are now back on the menu after the supply of american bacon has regenerated in the freezer.

Posted by Abi at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2005

Doing Charity

I'm in work today, but that by no means that I don't have plenty to do of a non-work nature.

So, whilst 9-1 is spent doing worky type things, 1-2 is devoted to running hither and fither around town to get a few things done - a much pleasanter experience when it isn't piddling with rain.

My first port of call is a small motorist shop in town which I'm hoping might supply some of the 15amp mini-blade fuses that Phil needs to replace the on that blew in his car. And, as luck has it they have a plentiful supply of them. Its at times like this I'm grateful that there are shop owners who do not shy in the might of the numerous superstore chains that spring up on the outskirts of towns depleting the number of shoppers who are willing to traverse the numerous problems and lack of ease that surround a shopping spree in any town centre, because for the most part these small shops are more successful at supplying things that are either not widely required by the masses or will often have a supply of something that you need somewhere in their stock rooms.

Anyway, back on track.

I then head off to scout around the charity shops in town to see if I can pick up any cheap glass beads, and again I'm lucky managing to get several necklaces made of quality glass beads at a price you'd expect in a charity shop. And by the time I've done that it's late enough that I need to be going back work to get on with the afternoon's chores.

Posted by Abi at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2005

Learning Curve

Since I don't have a lot to do today (waiting on other people to get back to me) it meant that my mind had plenty of other things to start cogitating.

It's not long before I'm tripping along the now familiar route of "what should I do with my life" path and eventually I come to a cross roads leaving me with a couple of options.

Today however, one of the options is more appealing that the others. I'm quite enthused with my new found hobby of making jewelry, and so I start to wonder if there are any part time courses that I could take to further my knowledge about all things sparkly and expensive.

Thank godness for the internet, for it's not long until I have found a number of course that might suit in my local area. So I get on the phone, and after several phone calls I start to spot a familiar pattern with each conversation that I have:

Ok, so maybe it was a bit over enthusiastic to assume that I might be able to get on a course that had already started and catch up with the week or so work I'd missed out on, but it would have been great to do so because when I get an idea and my mind is set on it I don't like to wait!

None the less, I've now got a rough idea of when the classes are and I should be getting plenty of application packs to fill in for the next free courses.

I also pondered on the idea of doing a full 3 year Uni degree in Jewelry making, but that idea fizzled out when I was told that I had to have a portfolio of work to show artistic ability before they'd even accept me. Not only that, I'd have to do an Access To Higher Education (Art and Design) course to even be considered because all of my qualifications are scientific... the shame of choosing "the sensible options" at A level and degree level, what was I thinking!

But I've not given up, it's all good information which I can use, should this current idea last more than the statutory month that they usually do :)

I did have some success on another front however. On my quest to find interesting things to incorporate into jewelry I have taken quite a fancy to some of the Lampwork that I've been seeing. For those not in the know, lampwork is just a fancy name for making your own glass beads, and from what I've seen it is quite a fine art and requires a good eye and a steady hand. The cost of the beads is quite a lot however, and so I thought I might have a go at making my own, but I don't know the first place to start to even try to do that.

I've located a course though, and despite being a bit pricey I think it will be worth while and enjoyable. So depending on how flush I'm feeling after this month (what with road tax and car insurance going out) I think I'll book the 2 day beginners course that they do...

I'm hoping that it will be fun, and that I might develop a knack for it, but like they say, you don't know until you try.

So try is what I'll do!

Posted by Abi at 9:53 PM | Comments (1)

October 17, 2005

Rhombic

Yet again disturbed by the postman, but this time he's delivering something that I've been waiting for. I'd bid on this very strange crystal formation on ebay and since it had to be shipped from the States its taken sometime for it to arrive in the UK, but it finally has.

The crystal I'm talking about is known as a rhombic bismuth crystal, and I got it from this fella, Ken, who seems to have made somewhat of a hobby of perfecting the art of making the crystals himself. They do not occur in nature very often, and when they do they are not such fine structures as the ones that can be made at home, but all the same, I'm pretty glad I've got one to add to my collection. You can see lots of pictures of the crystal in all its weirdness here.

So I spend a good part of the morning photographing the crystal so that Phil can have a gander whilst he is at work, poor thing needs something to cheer him up since he's still suffering quite badly with the cold that he has developed over the past couple of days. I'm still waiting for me to catch it, but so far so good :)

The rest of the day is given over to doing some work on a project I've got brewing at home, and the rest is history... (well actually just very boring...).

Posted by Abi at 9:41 PM | Comments (2)

October 16, 2005

Flying Visit

Not much going on today, but we do have a quick visit from Phils brother so that we can see his new car that he's purchased, a Mazda MX-5. Of course he and Phil take the car out for a good old ragging on the route Phil takes to work, and I guess it went pretty well... if you consider the phrase "I'm surprised I'm not dead" to be a positive one!

Phil then sets about trying to set the neon lights that he'd bought for the interior of his car, but after numerous failed attempts he gives up, even more so when he blows the 15 amp fuse to the cigarette lighter which is the power source you're suppose to use to power up the lights. We then take a trip to Halfords to see if we can get a replacement, and in typical Halfords style they have every amp on the planet except the one that we want. Oh well, I think Phil's Dad has a suitable replacement that he's going to send in the post.

I watch a bit more of the Little Britain Series 2 DVD that I bought a while back which was cool, and we also set about making some more yoghurt too which should be nice. I make toad in the hole for tea which worked quite well, though I've still got to get a handle on portion sizes, I'm currently cooking for an army!

And, hardly worth the mention but we watch 10 minutes of 2046... which is crap, no matter what the critics say.

Posted by Abi at 5:21 PM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2005

Nottingham

With not a lot on the cards today I decide to attempt to get to Nottingham and the shop that I wanted to go to a fortnight ago before the SatNav screwed up on the car. So after some breakfast we're off and on our way about 100 miles north of here.

Considering the last time I went to Nottingham was nearly 18 years ago when I lived in Lincolnshire, the time lapse since my last visit didn't prepare me for the shambles that has become what once was a city famed for Robin Hood et al. Honest to god, the place is as rough as a badgers arse, and I aint exaggerating! The route we took to get us to the the city centre was an accurate portrayal of what lies through out the city with XXX rated sex shops, casinos and general seediness everywhere not to mention the plentiful supply of houses and premises that have been boarded up and abandoned and subsequently vandalised!

I was pretty glad to get to the shop, buy what I needed (which was a load of stuff to make jewelry) and head on out back home again, I for one would not want to live there ever, which is shame because I have much better memories of the place from the last time I visited.

We only just make it home for 2 reasons... a) we get back at about 4.10 pm which is in the nick of time for phil to put a winning bid on another lump of rock we'd seen and b) we run very very low on diesel. In fact we have a range of 1 mile when we get to the doorstop, and a range of 0 miles when I make it to the garage and put in £50's of diesel to fill the tank. So needless to say then we were running on fumes for probably the last 10 miles of the journey.

What is left of the day is then devoted to sitting on the couch and doing very little indeed except having a go at making some bracelets and eating... all in all not too stressful, though we do have to make sure we're up early enough as to not oversleep when Phils brother pops by tomorrow for a flying visit...

... and I finally get to bed when I finish doing a bit of impromptu work on the old puter.

Posted by Abi at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2005

My Own Devices

The usual story for a Friday I'm afraid, with me being in work for the most part. It's not a particularly dull day what with several interviewees coming in to take the standardization test we give to most candidates who's CV past muster its just a shame that most of them fall at the last hurdle and either don't complete the test full stop, or don't complete the test and have made a dogs ear of it it, or those who do manage to finish the test but the end product is less than desirable.

So the steady stream of foreigners keeps things from getting dull, even though one of them looks most like he should be a psychopathic murderer rather than a programmer (it's all in the eyes you know). Needless to say then I wouldn't like to meet him in a dark alley on a stormy night.

At lunch time I nip out and go to the bank to order a new cheque book and paying in book and also drop into homebase to pick up some more plumbing olives that I use to display my cats eyes on. I pick up 15 just to be on the safe side, though from what I can gather I've just about collected all the colours that they make already so I may have no need for the excess stands after all. Oh well better to be safe than sorry.

This evening I am left to do what ever I fancy since Phil is out on a leaving do for an extra hour or 2 after he finishes work, so I just spend some time photoing more of the rock and mineral collection and the cats eyes. It's not too late when Phil gets back and we get pizza for tea.

Alas though it is another earlish night for both of us, Phil because he's ill and me well... just because.

Posted by Abi at 9:18 PM | Comments (1)

October 12, 2005

Sin-full

I'm in work again today, joy of joyness, but the time rapidly flies by with plenty of work to be doing, including making lots of screen grabs of a product we've built that needs a user manual to be created for it. That was fun, as was creating the skeleton structure for the manual itself by someone who didn't have the faintest idea what the software was suppose to be doing (ie. me).

I take a break at lunch time however and nip to the garden centre who have finally taken stock of the lamp we ordered for the triops fish tank almost 2 weeks ago, so it was nice to get out of the office which currently is the temperature of a sauna and most uncomfortable to work in.

The afternoon tootles along quite nicely as well but I'm ready to come home by 5.

This evening we watch Sin City - thats this Sin City and not this one which I stumbled across whilst trying to find a website for the film.

I dare say the film is fantastic, the cinematography certainly was, so much so in fact I've done some screenshots so you'll see what I mean. However to fully appreciate the film I think you need to be mentally alert and perky since there are so many underlying themes that can easily be missed if you just plonk the film in after a day at work, and if you miss um, the whole plot of the film will be wasted.

So I say, go rent Sin City if you aint seen it already, but be prepared for a long haul mental workout - it's most likely one of those films you need to watch twice to pick up all the intricacies.

Posted by Abi at 9:32 PM | Comments (1)

October 11, 2005

Putting Things In Perspective

Up early again this morning to go pick up my car from the garage and to drop of the loaner that I'd been given for the day.

First thing I notice about the car is that the dealer has given it a valeting, which is cool cos I find cleaning the car hard work. They'd even vacuumed it! So it's all looking sparkly and new :)

Second thing is that they have in fact upgraded the software in the car to try and resolve the SatNav issues. So I've now got the latest software running and it's alot more nippy in terms of loading and changing between functions than the last version. It's also added a "perspective" view to the SatNav meaning that I don't have to solely rely on a flat map alone, I've got a further choice to help me get from A to B.

So of course on noticing this I have to give it a go and set the SatNav off to get me home. The perspective view is quite cool, you get to see the road laid out as it is in front of you, and even better for the ladies it orientates itself to the direction your going (well it would have to really). The roads are also a bit clearer to see, and they've also put on some fluffy clouds and blue sky to add to the realism (though in the UK I'd have thought storm clouds and rain would have been a better option). I also notice that the bint's voice directions have been amended too. For example, when I previously drove the route I tested the new sat nav on, there are 2 roundabouts that are very close together. Originally the SatNav would say something like:-

Now however that is all cumulated into one voice command, so you get "at the roundabout take the 2nd exit, then take the 1st exit".

Pretty cool provided you've got an ounce of ability to follow directions.

They've also tidied up the menu navigation is the SatNav section too, with a handy menu on the right hand side which displays when you've got the map up whereas before you had to exit from the map view to go to any other menus. Dead handy for cancelling the satnav bint in an instant when before you had a good 3 or 4 idrive maneuvers to perform.

Another thing too that I've noticed is a change to the central locking. Previously the car would lock the doors as you drove off and the doors would remain locked until you physically pulled on the handle to get out. It still locks the doors as you hit 20mph or so but now it automatically unlocks all the doors when you take the key out of the slot. Kinda handy :)

All in all then the upgrade is cool, the only downside is that I've lost all my settings that are controlled by the software and all of the addresses that I had stored in the SatNav. Not a problem really, I'll just have to add them as I arrive at places.

I then spend the rest of the day getting down and dirty with some tricky CSS stuff, and at the end of it I had 1 whole page to be proud of.

Layout was so much quicker with tables!

Posted by Abi at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2005

New Car

As I mentioned last week my car decided to have an eppy fit with regards to the SatNav and so today I've got to take the car to the garage and try and get it sorted.

I'm at the garage for 8 am (just) after battling with the rush hour traffic into Oxford and happily drop my car off and pick up the loan car that I'd booked for the day. It's another BMW, only this time a 3 series (318 ti). It's also a petrol rather than a diesel. It's not a bad drive, but with the cushty suspension and quiet engine it's a bit like driving an american car and it certainly lacks the grunt that the turbo affords me in my car. None the less, it still handles well around corners and roundabouts, and is certainly a step up from the Ford Ka I had previously on loan from the garage.

I spend the rest of the day hanging around waiting for the garage to ring to tell me my car has been fixed. And boy was it a long wait. I get a fidgety at around 3.30 pm and give them a ring to see how it's going. Apparently the car is in the middle of having all of its software upgraded and once they've done that they of course have to test it (like any good software release eh?!). So I go back to waiting and I finally get the call at 5.40pm to say that my car was ready if I wanted to pick it up, but they close at 6pm. Not much use for me because it will probably take at least 45 mins to get to the garage in the rush hour traffic.

So I arrange to pick my car up tomorrow morning at 9.30, which is ok except I forget that I'm suppose to be at a training course at 10 am. I aint gonna make both picking up the car and getting to the course in time so I guess I will cancel the course and rebook it for another time - I'd rather have my car back than learn about tax and stuff :)

The evening is whiled away by getting fish and chips and taking Phil out for a drive in the loan car to see what he thinks. I reckon we are both of the opinion that my car is nicer, and has substantially more gizmos than you could shake a goose at.

Ah well, I guess that's what happens when you option up a car to the extent whereby you only missed one or two things off the list :)

Posted by Abi at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 9, 2005

Recovery

Ohh, it seems to have been such a long time since I've gone out and got rat-arsed I'd almost forgotten the pleasurable aftermath of the hangover one usually associates with drinking far to much and not having a lot to eat afterwards / during said intoxication.

Yes I have have a hangover, but not only that have spiralled down the smokers slippery slope of social smoking... and I'm ashamed of myself. Fancy having some cigarettes, bad me... I'd spank myself but I fear it might hurt to much due to the unexplained tenderness my entire body is currently enduring so for the time being I'd just mentally torture myself instead. Oh well, I guess I'll just get on the band wagon again and go from there.

Things don't look good first thing in the morning when one of my house guests thinks he might be coming down with something terrible. On closer examination I whittle his symptoms down to a nasty hangover rather than anything else and promptly pump him full of paracetamol and water to kick start his body into action.

I however opt for the more traditional hangover remedy of a full english breakfast, which puts me on the the right track towards normality for an hour or 2.

Phil has a rather long lay in bed today, getting up just in time to say goodbye to our guests and no sooner have they gone then I settle on the sofa with a duvet and chocolate with the tv remote within close proximity and get on with the tedious task of watching TV all afternoon / evening without moving as much as a muscle until it's time for tea, which is left over lasagne from yesterday.

All in all a quiet day, and it really really needs to be :)

Posted by Abi at 9:06 PM | Comments (1)

October 8, 2005

And We Laughed...

Up nice and early once again for both Phil and myself... Phil since he has to go to work again today and me because I need to finish off the cleaning from yesterday as well as run a few errands before our visitors turn up.

I start about cleaning the kitchen and after getting a bit carried away (some 2 hours worth of carried awayness) I finally finish, and it's looking fantastic. So the next chore on the list is to pop into town and get some stuff I need such as a blanket, some new pyrex dishes and some more cutlery. All of which is relatively easy to do and only somewhat tedious when I hit a massive queue in Argos in which it appears that everyone in the local vicinity has turned up to purchase something or the other.

With the shopping done in town I then pick up Phil who's now home and we head off to do some food shopping for the weekend and we don't hang around either, we're in and out pretty quickly since both of us are starting to flag again as the long week of doing "stuff" and early mornings starts to creep up on us rather rapidly.

Home again and once the shopping is all unpacked and I've made up the guest bedroom it's not very long before the visitors arrive and I get on making lasagne for an early tea before we head out to Oxford for the evenings entertainment.

We are going to Jongleurs which is a stand up comedy club and well to be honest probably more appealing than spending the night squished into a hot and sweaty and overpriced nightclub where you can hardly hear yourself think let alone speak.

So after somewhat of an extraordinary taxi ride into town by a man who we have all now aptly renamed to "Psycho Dave" (due to his obvious anti-everything including government, police and immigrants) we arrive at the club, and after hanging around for 30 mins or so we are finally let into the venue.

I then spend the best part of 45 minutes queuing at the bar to try and get some drinks in before the show starts but give up after realising that the bar staff are completely useless. No idea how to optimize the pouring of a large round of drinks, or even how to memorise who was next in the queue... completely pants the lot of them! Luckily though Phil manages to collar a waitress who we sneak a drinks order in with and also place and order with her for some food and more drinks at the interval to save queuing at the bar again.

The first comedian we see was ok (Jay Sodagar - his website is here), but not really worth a mention, the second one however was very funny. His name was George Egg who facilitated his act by using lots of props and the like all to the appreciation of the audience who had more than a few belly laughs at his gags and humour.

We then have the interval break, and after waiting 20 minutes or so it becomes apparent that the food and drink we'd ordered previously wasn't coming! We manage to grab a waitress type person and complain who then goes to investigate the problem, only returning to tell us that the order for some reason hadn't gone through to the kitchen or bar, but she'd take personal responsibility to get the food and drinks herself before the 2nd half of the show started. Fair enough, but 10 minutes later she returns and this time tells us that we won't be able to get any food since the kitchen had shut, but she'll be sure to bring the drinks along, and give us a refund for the food.

I mean if there was a sure fire way of putting a dampener on a evening, the loss of food and drink sure does go along way to snuffing the flames of what could have been a very enjoyable time - but never mind, the next act is up and now that we've got some drinks it doesn't take much for us to sit back and listen to the virtues of Brian Higgins, who shared his thoughts on everything from parental responsibility to drunken departure lounge antics. A very funny comedian then who's only let down was the fact that he screamed into the microphone a lot resulting in a few ear cringing moments.

The show ends at around 11 pm and rather participate in the disco we head home and after a bit of chit chat we then go to bed to let our livers process the Malibu Woo's and Sex On The Beaches.

Posted by Abi at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)

October 7, 2005

The Things You Do

Back to proper work today and all the joys that it brings with it, but in all honesty it wasn't so bad since I had plenty of work to keep me occupied even beyond my usual finish time of 5pm.

It's also now been 2 weeks since I stopped smoking, which I'm pretty chuffed about.

Back home and Phil is working late moving furniture at his office, so I take the opportunity to do a house clean.

I wouldn't ordinarily bother cleaning the house after I've come home from work, but I've run out of time to do it and we have visitors this weekend. So after faffing around with the computer for an hour or so trying to get something important to work and failing miserably, I start the house clean and I'm still doing it when Phil walks through the door about about 8 pm... worse still I've only done upstairs and haven't even thought about downstairs yet.

But with the very life being sucked out of me with each and every push of the vacuum or swipe of the arm with duster in tow, I promptly give up when I get as far as the lounge and thats with Phil's help hovering the carpet. I've only got the kitchen to go, but I can't face it so it will have to wait until tomorrow morning, there is no way I'm brandishing my Mr. Muscle kitchen cleaner at 9 pm in the evening.

We get take out for tea and the sight of a comfy bed with nice clean sheets on it is so appeasing it's not long till we're both taking full advantage of the fruits of my earlier labour.

Posted by Abi at 9:45 PM | Comments (0)

October 6, 2005

A Bit On The Side

Today it's almost like I've been at work, the only difference is that I've not been paid for what I've been doing today.

I've been doing a bit of work for my parents and some other people which basically involves me putting my web knowledge to use and designing / building a few websites here and there and it's been quite a nice change to be doing that than the usual hum drum stuff I do at work (which mainly consists of text changes and rebuilding pages to make them a bit more efficient in terms of page size and accessibility).

I then spend a good part of the afternoon preparing a roast dinner for tea tonight. It's been such a long time since we had one, and to be honest I'm just missing having some honest to god vegetables. Sometimes you crave these things till it drives you distraction!

All in all a pretty mundane sort of day, I'm still wondering what I did with most of it :)

Posted by Abi at 9:30 PM | Comments (0)

October 5, 2005

Creepy

Another busy day at work today, with more than enough work to keep me occupied throughout which makes a pleasant change. A good part of that is spent re-doing some work that an ex-contractor had taken upon herself to do willy nilly and so I have to fix. A case of where tables really do work better than divs I'm afraid to say - yes, it is still possible in today's anti-table world.

Other than that not a lot is going on - except for a number of weird things that happen. For a start a bit of a history lesson. Apparently the street we live in once upon a time had a murder happen in it. So being a curiously morbid sod I decide to google it. No results as such, but I did get one sponsored link which made me smile:-

Next up was when I take a gander at my Triops. It appears that the biggest of them all has decided to turn cannibalistic and is in the process of eating the other larger triop which is / was in the tank. I have to say it made me feel quite sick looking at it munching away whilst the other one was obviously still alive. So I nearly had a second round of pizza this evening albeit a partially digested one.

And finally we watch a film call Creep which is more than adequate to while away a few hours before we head to bed.

All in all a strange day, but not nearly as strange as some previous ones :)

Posted by Abi at 9:30 PM | Comments (1)

October 4, 2005

Expecting...

... nothing exciting really, but I am due a visit from the Gas Man today who I'd called up since our boiler has started to play up considerably, consistently locking out and resulting in having no hot water or no heat at the most arduous of times (mainly first thing in the morning or in the evening when all one wants to do is soak in a steamy bath and forget the troubles of the day).

As well as the gas man, I've also got to stay in the house as Phil is expecting delivery of a new phone. It's taken some effort, but finally he is now on a tariff whereby he will actually be able to speak to people without it costing a fortune. He's also got a new phone with the package (RAZR like mine) so that means that he will have more than the hour talk time he gets with his old samsung, which runs out of juice quicker than a Cadillac eldorado doing 90 mph on the freeway.

Things go well though, the phone arrives early and then the gas man turns up way before he's due to and spends 20 minutes doing a temporary fix on the boiler so that it will run until he can get the new circuit board which is required - hopefully that will be installed on Thursday afternoon.

That leaves me the afternoon free, and so I go to town to post a parcel to a friend who has just had a baby and also take a gander around the shops. I've seen 2 nice frames that I think we can use to put Phils wax pictures in, but I'm not sure of the sizes so they will have to wait for another day when I've measured the pictures and can be sure they'll look ok in the frames.

Back home and there isn't much to do, so I occupy myself with a bit of tidying (saving the big clean for the weekend) and generally chatting to friends online.

Hard life for me.... ;)

Posted by Abi at 9:27 PM | Comments (1)

October 3, 2005

Abandonment

What a wasted day I've had. It's a long story, so if you've nothing to do keep reading. If however you're flirting with using office bandwidth I should move along.

At the weekend I decided that I should add a new hobby to my arts and crafts portfolio, and I decided upon beading, in particular beaded jewellery. So, in order to start doing said beading I need to get supplies in and of course the first stop is the internet. I find numerous sites that provide the goods I require, but most of them look well dodgy, and forgive me for being over cautious, but I wouldn't plug my address details into them let alone my credit card number. However, I find one online shop that whilst looks amateurish has a good amount of stock, and in particular they have a vast array of Swarovski crystal which is what I'm after. They also have an actual shop in Nottingham which is about 1.5 hours drive from here.

Today then I decide to take a trip up to Nottingham to get the stuff that I need in order to make some bracelets and the like. I've got the address and punch it into the SatNav on the car and start up the m40 towards my destination. Everything is going fine until the SatNav bitch decides to go on strike. In fact not only does she go on strike, but the map bit does too. I'm currently hurtling into Birmingham with no idea of where the hell I'm suppose to go. I cant even cancel the SatNav and just go off the map because its frozen in time and space, it thinks I'm in Warwick which was where I was at about 30 minutes ago.

I'm now in a bit of a panic, so I pull over on the hard shoulder of the motorway (since the next services are 20 miles away) and I try all sorts to get the SatNav back working. I try to take out the navigation DVD and the bloody thing won't come out of the slot. So I try to enter a new destination, which it lets me do but the bloody thing thinks I'm still in Warwick so works out a route which is completely useless. I switch the car off for 15 minutes to see if that helps, not a sausage!! I then try to get the SatNav disk out again and this time it gives it to me. I give it a quick clean.... still nothing.

So in complete despair I ring up Phil at work to ask his advice, to which he suggests I turn around and go home, there is no point in getting insanely lost by carrying on, when I'm only partially lost as it is and could probably make it back in one piece if I cut my losses. So thats what I do when I finally get to a junction which allows me to switch over to the other side of the motorway.

Let me tell ya, it didn't take me long to get home, in fact I go so far to say as it took me precisely 20 minutes less time to get home than it took me to get to halfway to my illusive destination.

You may be wondering why I didn't have a good old paper map in the car, well tbh why should I have when I forked out a small fortune of a GPS version. You may also wonder why I didn't pull over and buy a map... well forgive for not knowing a) where all the map sellers are in Birmingham or b) not wanting to drive another 20 miles out of my way to the nearest service station.

Anyway, enough whinging from me. I've had a bad day.

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (1)

October 2, 2005

Bacteria

Today we've got a number of errands to run, the first being heading off to get some things from homebase. The main reason for this is that we bought a yoghurt maker off eBay, but didn't realise that it came with an american plug, so we need to go get a british plug to stick on the end of the wire so that it will work. In the event that we do get it to work we also need a few kitchen utensils according to the recipe book, such as wooden spoons and nylon sieves. We manage to get the plug, but fail on the other stuff so nip into town to get them.

We get what we want at one of the local department stores after being served by a very peculiar lady who wouldn't pick up our wooden spoons with her hands, and somewhat dumbfounded as to her aversion to wood we then head out and get Phil a Maccy D's.

It's not long after that and we are back home and the triop tank looks to be the right temperature to move the little blighters over so thats what I do - and after adjusting the force of the air filter (the triops don't like it too strong for obvious reasons) they settle in fairly well, probably wondering why the world doesn't look so green anymore.

Afterwards we then get on with using the yoghurt maker. It seems easy enough. Get some fresh milk, add some powdered milk to it, bring it all to the boil in a pan, cool to a certain temperature then add some starter yoghurt to the mix, then put it in pots and incubate said pots for 3 hours in the warm climate of the yoghurt maker and let the bacteria do their thing. I guess the test will be as and when we taste it, but so far its looking good.

We watch Alexander afterwards, and it's crap. It seems to me all the people in all the places that Alexander conquered (and Alexander himself) all seem to be speaking with an Irish accent, and forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the film is set several *thousand* miles from Ireland. Colin Farrell is certainly no Russel Crowe when it comes to these favoured epic sagas we are seeing rolled out of Hollywood at the moment.

Posted by Abi at 10:10 PM | Comments (1)

October 1, 2005

Lushness

We have to go into town this afternoon since Phil has got a hair appointment, so whilst he is in the chair I trot around the shops and pick up some stuff that we need. First of all, since the weather has taken a turn for the worse (winter is definitely on its way) I get some more bath ballistics from Lush. They are basically balls of bicarb of soda or something similar with lots of nice moisturisers and things in them, all made of natural ingredients which fizz a lot when you dump them in a bath of hot water. They are a bit of a luxury, but both Phil and I enjoy baths, so why not make them more relaxing? :)

Next up I have to go baby stuff shopping, the sister of a close friend of mine has just had a baby and so I need to go get baby things to send as a gift which wasn't too troublesome.

By the time I've done all of that Phil is waiting for me and we go to Pizza Hut to get some late lunch / tea. It seems to take for ever for us to be seated despite the fact that there are plenty of free tables. I can only assume that they drip feed the customers to the tables as to not get too overloaded with orders, but none the less, its still a pretty poor show to keep you waiting in a queue when you could be sat down deciding what to eat. Eventually though we do get a table and order only to be disappointed when my starter and main meal arrive at the same time. I know I have a healthy appetite but not even I could face eating all the food at once, so sadly the nacho's got wasted.

On the way home we stop off at the local garden / fish centre and pick up some various bits and pieces for the fish, and also get a cheapo tank to put the triops in. Their current one is very small and very algefied and there is no way to control the temperature except via a light which has to be on for most of the time (hence the algae). So we pick up a tank with a filter, and hopefully we will be able to use the spare heater we have to warm the water to the right temperature.

Back home and I set up the new triop tank while Phil changes the heater / filters in the fish tank and after that we just get on with having a quiet evening watching the box.

Posted by Abi at 9:41 PM | Comments (1)

September 30, 2005

Quit Smoking - 1 Week!

So I've made it, I week gone without a cigarette passing my lips, and I have to say that I feel quite proud of myself and astonished that I've devoted enough will power to get me through the cravings and the like. I honestly didn't think I'd do it, and half expected me to cave in at any point, but I struggled through - even if it was to the detriment of turning down an offer for a night out in london knowing that I'd be surrounded by smokers, a situation where the most strongest of will powers probabably wouldn't have prevailed.

I guess to keep the momentum I should make a list of pros and cons so far of not smoking (for me anyway):-

Pros	Cons
Saved £17.50	Sleepless nights
Don't smell of smoke	Cold sweats (day 3 & 4)
Got blood pressure down to normal	Being an angry and frustrated bitch
No more nicotine dependancy	I've eaten a lot
Have gained about 1 hour in every day through not smoking
Reduced my risk of getting lung cancer
Dont feel like a social reject when smoking in a public place
Sense of smell and taste much improved
Dont plan my day around cigarettes

I'm sure that there are plenty more, but you get the general gist of things, pros outnumber the cons.

Posted by Abi at 10:09 PM | Comments (1)

September 29, 2005

Quit Smoking Day 7 - Occupied

With the success of diminished cravings yesterday due to being kept busy at work, I attempt to simulate the events to and keep myself out of the "devil makes work for idle hands" category.

So in the morning I do various bits and pieces, like tidy up a bit and do the dishes, and stick some washing on. I also pour over a job application that I'd asked for to get a feel for what it is they are looking for, and if therefore I should bother applying in the first place. As it goes, I think I may have a slim chance so I may well apply.

Then in the afternoon I'm kept out of mischief by settling down and doing some work that I've been meaning to do for quite a while. I've been avoiding it insofar as that I'd started and not finished it some time ago, and since then couldn't quite face up to picking it up from where I'd left off.

But the idea that I might crack under boredom pressures and slip in a sly ciggy was enough incentive to relight the torch and get on with it. And that's what I do, but I start from scratch rather than spend hours trying to figure out wtf I'd done which I've no doubt saved me an hour of pondering why I'd done what and cussing myself for doing it shabbily.

By the time Phil comes home I'm in full swing of things and as usual, compulsively completing work like there is no tomorrow. But despite my fervent work ethic I seem to have forgotten that we need to eat tonight. That can only mean that we need to get take out, and fish and chips wins the vote.

We have a relatively early night, but not before I fix a bug in my code that had been narking me for most of the day - well, I probably wouldn't have slept too well knowing it was lurking.

Posted by Abi at 9:38 PM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2005

Quit Smoking Day 6 - Busy

Today hasn't been too bad on the old quitting front. I thought that going to work could have 1 of 2 results. 1) It would be worse because I was in a familiar routine of having a smoke at certain times of the day at work, and I may not have any work to do which means I'd get bored which means I'd think about cigarettes even more. OR 2) It would be better because I'd have so much stuff to do I wouldn't even have time to think about smoking.

As it happens lady luck was shining on me because in fact I did have a lot of work to do today which kept me more than busy, and I think the only time I thought about smoking was when I was in reception telling a former smoking buddy that I'd given up and gone cold turkey, not seeing the point in using quit smoking aids since they prolong the nicotine withdrawal.

So for once I was grateful to be in work, and managed to get through quite a lot of my inbox to-do's, as well as finishing off some work that I'd been trying to complete for a couple of days.

When I get home I take a look at the triops to see how they are doing. Out of the 7 or so babies that we had, 3 have survived and 2 of those are now about 2 cm long - I've now got to start feeding them carrot and fish as special treats, which will probably mean I'll have to make their water changes a bit more frequent too.

After tea I watch Vanity Fair whilst Phil does some work and then reads his book. The film is ok, but I've a feeling its another of those whereby it does not justice to the book - I guess the only way I'll find that out is by reading it.

Posted by Abi at 10:06 PM | Comments (1)

September 27, 2005

Quit Smoking Day 5 - Narky

Day 5 it is then, and the cracks are starting to show. I'm in a pissy mood with everyone and everything I come across including myself. Having nothing to do for a modicum of seconds is enough to send my brain into a nicotine deprived hissy fit whereby all I can think about is having a smoke. I'm going insane.

So it appears that the only way I can muffle the screams of nicotine currently deafening me by my inner voice is to try and avoid it. Play music loud, eat stuff, keep my hands busy or try to get compulsively involved into something other than getting wrapped up in the vicious typhoon of cravings and will power.

Some shopping eases the problem for an hour or 2, and I pick up Rick Steins Fruits of The Sea. I'm not a fish lover, but tonight we've got 2 tuna steaks to eat and not knowing the first bit about how to cook fresh tuna I decide the book might give a fairly good indication. I also pick up some bits and pieces that I need to do the tuna, including a griddle pan and a salad dressing shaker (that didn't have anything to do with the tuna but I thought it would be a cool idea). On another unrelated note I also buy Burnout Revenge for PS2, the adverts look appealing enough so I figure it would be worth giving it a go (besides, I liked the last one!).

By the time I get home its not long until I have to start preparing tea, which was a Grillade of Tuna with Olive Oil Mash, and very nice too - the homemade tomato sauce that went with it was delish! Phil has a go on Burnout Revenge whilst I'm faffing around with the last bits of tea, and then we eat. And, for a new and untried recipe I have to say it was very nice, I even managed to cook the tuna right (not dry and not raw either).

The rest of the evening is spent watching some TV and bidding on a few more things from ebay - this time mineral rocks. We didn't get the one we really wanted, but nonetheless, have some fab curio items on their way.

I really should think about getting a display cabinet for all our funky rock things.

Posted by Abi at 9:42 PM | Comments (1)

September 26, 2005

Quit Smoking Day 4 - Eating

Hmmm, another day at home today and so the added disadvantage of easily becoming bored, a factor I have already identified as a trigger for me smoking. So to try and circumvent it, I've tried to keep myself busy doing things.

Unfortunately those things seem to be revolved around food. I went to the super market and did the shopping (and managed to buy about 20 quids worth of stuff more than we'd usually get) so that wasted an hour or two. I then did very little indeed apart from eat. I guess I can live with the weight gain for the time being (in particular the first couple of weeks where by I'm replacing cigarettes with food) but I plan to put a stop to the binges as soon as the cravings subside. And to be honest, today they've been pretty harsh, and I think that's probably to do with the fact that I've got no nicotine left in me. I certainly felt it this morning when I woke up with the shakes.

I'm not happy with the fact I'm eating enough to sustain an elephant at the moment, but if it stops me from smoking then what the hell. I can lose the flab again once I've won this particular battle - fat busting is for another time and place at the moment. In terms of priority I think quitting smoking must come before losing weight.

Anyway, what the hell I shouldn't be making excuses, I'm proud that I've got this far and managed to do something beneficial towards my health, even if it is to the detriment of my waist line. Smoking aids are crap IMHO, the fake inhalers make you barf they taste so foul, and as for the patches, well even at the lowest level they made my heart rate jump sky high and brought me out in a rash. And the gum? Well that's just plain disgusting. So I'll stick to my remedy for the time being, and save a very substantial small fortune on not forking out on nicotine replacement hoaxes, or cigarettes for that matter.

I figure I've saved £10 on cigs so far this week - that's 10 quid towards a new camera lens.

Its now been 72 hours+ since I stopped smoking:
Breathing becomes easier.

What this means
Bronchial tubes begin to relax and energy levels increase.

Posted by Abi at 9:14 PM | Comments (2)

September 25, 2005

Quit Smoking Day 3 - Shopping

We're up relatively early today (well Phil more so than me), and after a little breakfast we head out to Telford to do some shopping.

We have a good look around, and pick up the Da Vinci code for Phil's Mum and also a new vase to put our bamboo in since it's outgrown its current receptacle. So even though we didn't come back with mounds of merchandise it was sufficient to keep me busy and not think too much about ciggies, which is good.

Phil's dad then cooks a lovely Sunday dinner and we're just about to leave when Phil gets struck down with a terrible bout of indigestion and doesn't particularly want to sit in a car for a couple of hours just yet. So we go for a brief walk to see if that helps (which it doesn't) and finally resort to filling him up with fizzy pop, making him jump up and down several times, and then seeing if he can burp to try and relieve some of the excess gas which is making him feel so ill.

It sort of works, and despite not being 100% himself we head off back home, making a quick stop at Ikea in Birmingham to check out their lounge and dining room furniture and to get some catalogues as well.

I guess we get home at around 5.30 and Phil goes to bed and watches the Grand Prix in the comfort of a king size duvet, whilst I do very little indeed apart from watch TV and try to ignore the fact that I really really want a cigarette. I'm brave though, the raisins kick in and I'm good.... I'm guessing the domino's helped on that front as well however. It is however becoming increasingly hard to ignore the urge to stuff a stick in my gob. I hope I've got enough will power to ignore the cravings.

Its now been 48 hours+ since I stopped smoking:
Nicotine is eliminated from my body.

What this means
As well as being highly addictive, nicotine has a number of unpleasant side-effects on the body. It can act as an emetic (cause vomiting) and it can produce stomach upsets. It raises blood pressure, and increases the likelihood of hypothermia and seizures. Get rid of the nicotine and you will get rid of these symptoms. Ability to taste and smell is greatly improved.

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2005

Quit Smoking Day 2 - Raisins

We are going to Phils parents this weekend, which as it happens is dead handy on my "I've quit" campaign because not being in familiar surrounds will make me less susceptible to nipping out for a ciggy as and when I feel like one.

So after we've packed the bag we head of to Shropshire and arrive just in time for lunch. For the trip I'd packed some small boxes of Raisins, which I ate every time I had a craving for a ciggy, or was just plain bored. And I have to say they worked! Yes, not only did it give my hands something to do (the raisins are dead fiddly to get out of the boxes) they also gave me a satisfying sugary warm feeling too, and a sustained one at that, all of which helped me overcome the 5 minutes or so where you'd be pretty much willing to chop off your own hand in exchange for a ciggy. So I'm sticking with the raisins, not only are they better for you than chocolate (or cigarettes for that matter), they taste ok too!

We then give Phil's parents their presents that we bought back from Greece for them, including some olives, a bit of local art and a lump of petrified wood, all of which I think were appreciated. We then head out and take a look at Ironbridge Gorge, the site of the very first bridge made completely of iron, and now a world heritage site.

In the evening and I'm still cigarette free! Yup I'm feeling pretty chuffed with myself. We go out for a very nice meal near Phil's parents and I have some very nice calf's liver served with bubble and squeak (mashed up vegetables) and a super ice cream filled brandy snap basket for pudding. All very nice indeed.

But it's not long after we get home that I'm ready for bed (feeling tired) and that's what we do, head to bed and hopefully add another 8 hours to my no smoking marathon.

Its now been 24 hours+ since I stopped smoking:
Carbon Monoxide is eliminated from my body

What this means
Carbon monoxide from smoking can also produce distortions of time perception, psychomotor and visual impairment and negative effects on cognitive skill. Reducing the level of carbon monoxide in your blood will reduce these problems. Carbon monoxide reduces the uptake of oxygen from the lungs - the higher the levels of carbon monoxide, the lower the levels of oxygen. Oxygen is vital for the functioning of all energy systems in the body; so as soon as you cut carbon monoxide levels, you will experience enhanced energy levels. Look forward to better sports performance, with stronger endurance, lower levels of fatigue, improved recovery after exercise and a lower heart rate for each level of exercise.

Posted by Abi at 10:25 PM | Comments (1)

September 23, 2005

Quit Smoking Day 1 - Sleep

So, I'm biting the bullet and finally giving up the cigs today. And it wasn't even a premediated though either, it was just a decision I finally came to whilst have a cigarette just before I left work at 5.

I don't know why either, but everytime I've tried to quit and have put some thought into it, it's always ended in failure, so maybe the brute force tactic might work, who knows.

So before I made that life altering decision I had to do work from 9 - 5 which was awful. I had to do a new site, and had built the template from the design's I'd be given, only to realise that the content didn't match the design at all and I had to rip my work apart and start again in order to get some kind of perceptable navigation running across the site. The joys or not getting a spec, or a badly written one. Sometimes the latter is worse than the former.

Anyway I get through work, then decide to give up the fags on the spot and ultimately end up home, where I while away the non-smoking hours watching tv and eating fish and chips. But the time I get to go to bed it's been 5 hours since my last cig, long enough to have a craving, but not long enough to do anything about it. So I figure that if I now go to sleep for 8 hours or so I'll have gotten over some of the habit cravings you initially have to deal with - so thats what I do.

Its now been 20 minutes + since I stopped smoking:
My blood pressure and my pulse rate has returned to normal

What this means
Raised blood pressure and high pulse rate both put strain on your heart, increasing your risk of a heart attack. The minute you stop your risk is reduced.

Posted by Abi at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2005

More I's Than Kinnikinnick

Someone shoot me for coming up with such a clever heading for today's entry it almost doesn't make sense. So let me explain... More I's (as in eyes) than kinnikinnick (N. A preparation made from dried leaves, bark, and sometimes tobacco and smoked especially by certain Native American peoples).

Oh, who am I kidding, what I'm trying to say is that I had 3 more cats eyes delivered today, a red one, a brown one and a gray one. Kinnikinnick has nothing to do with my day what so ever except that it happens to be a word that has lots of I's in it (4 to be precise) and was a better option than gingivitis (N. Inflammation of the gums, characterized by redness and swelling) or philistinism (N. An attitude of smug ignorance and conventionalism, especially toward artistic and cultural values).

Moving swiftly on then... the rest of the day is set about me trawling nominet trying to find some suitable domain names for people who want me to do websites for them, and let me tell ya it is not easy getting a domain these days that is half reasonable and logical, and consequently I spend a good couple of hours dithering with that. I also get around to a bit of site design but not much else really.

We go out for a chinese this evening as I fancy not cooking and I fancy a chinese meal, and the usual excellent service we get at the chinese was doubled this evening which all in all made for pleasant eating, even down to the imperial mints being handed to us on a silver spoon as we walked out. I don't know what we'd done to deserve such honoured treatment, but it was quite obvious the other patrons were not getting the same treatment. I dunno, maybe its because we tip generously when we go there.

Posted by Abi at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2005

Worky Worky

The joy's of a Wednesday, I'm back in the office and set the task of doing more trivial stuff, including some data entry, which let me tell you must be the most soul destroying job any person could ever have to do. Why people would choose to do this as a job on a full time basis is beyond me completely. It's like working in a cookie factory.

The afternoon is a bit more exciting with me developing a site from scratch, but knowing my work would be reviewed and probably altered beyond recognition I didn't much see the point in busting a gut to get it all done. It didn't help either that I was working from paper designs, with no overall design in digital format. It's very tricky decipher the hex code of a particular colour when its only representation is on a bit of paper. In fact is also very tricky to establish how wide things are too, and not wanting to resort to a ruler I just had to guesstimate a lot of the structure.

When I get home we've had another cats eye delivered, only this one is tiny. Tiny enough that we lost it when inspecting it so now I fear its fate lays in the form of being sucked into a vacuum cleaner at some point during next week.

We also spec up a new PC on the Dell website, and after a bit of manipulating the system Phil manages to get the PC I'd specified under the "home user" section 400 quid cheaper under the "business user" section - exact same spec too. So it's possible that a new PC may be on the horizon at some point.

Posted by Abi at 9:57 PM | Comments (1)

September 20, 2005

Conundrum

Today, as often occurs with days that I'm not in work I quickly run out of things to do after a morning of activity.

I spend the best part of the pre-PM hours in the garden. I mow the lawn (and after realising the blade wasn't level) re-mowing the law, and generally tidy up outside. I also plant the two thyme plants that I'd grown from seed - one in the front flower bed, the other in the back garden. They'd outgrown their pots ages ago, and it seemed a shame to lob them in the garden recycling bin. From experience I know that they are pretty hardy, dying off a little in the winter but then sprouting back in the spring - so hopefully they will grown into some nice fragrant bushes next year.

The triops have also hatched, there are about 5 of the blighters swimming around in the tank we set up, and although tiny at the moment I've a feeling it won't take long for them to grow, and then probably eat each other until there is one sole victor. If that's the case I've already decided to call it Brutus. A suitable name for a carnivorous tank dweller I feel!

So that leaves the afternoon for me to twiddle my thumbs, and yet again I get around to thinking what it is I want to do with my life in general (in all honesty its a thought thats been running around in my head for a week or 2 now). Mainly its a career thing. Do I want to stay in computers, or do I want to turn my back on it completely? I honestly don't know.

The problem is somewhat exasperated by the fact that I'm currently in a position whereby I could try anything if I was willing to train or just jump in at the deep end. I've also got enough financial backing to do a broad spectrum of possibilities, from setting up on my own or investing in another company. So you see the choices are not easily limited (except perhaps geographical location) which means for a person such as myself who finds decision making a pain in the ass unless it's critical, is suddenly confronted with a whole barrage of options. I can't see the wood for the trees.

Don't get me wrong, I KNOW I'm in a lucky position and I KNOW I shouldn't complain about the fact, but seriously... I wish sometimes I could make a big decision and stick to it, rather than making the decision, thinking its a great plan and then decide there might be a better decision rather than the one I'd made already.

Confused? Welcome to my club.. or should that be group, maybe sect or perhaps faction...?

Posted by Abi at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2005

Fire Starter

With the holiday now almost as far and away in miles as it is in my memory its back to the normality's of life in the Hough Taylor household, and today is by no means an exception.

Despite cleaning the house before we went away, with us being ensconced back in the nest for the best part of 2 weeks its time it had a clean once again. So with little hesitation (except for breakfast) I set about doing the usual chores involved with cleaning the house top to bottom, with a little sorting thrown in for good measure.

The guest bedroom was starting to become a repository for crap again, and with visitors 2 weekends out of the 4 in October I really need to spruce it up. I resisted the temptation to strip the wallpaper however and start to redecorate it (though it would be considerably easier than the hallway). I should decide on colour schemes and the like before I do that, rather than trash it and then wonder what on earth I am going to do with it thereafter. Once thing is for sure, the wood work will need doing and we probably need to get some furniture and shelves put up in there. Another task for another day perhaps.

I also have to pop to town to get rid of the post we are still receiving for the previous residents, and also send a package to a friend who's birthday it is today (I know I've cut it a bit fine and in fact the present will be a belated one). Whilst I'm there I get tea for tonight, which is scampi and chips.

Back home and I don't get up to much really, just a lot of faffing around on the computer with not much achieved at the end of it. The evening then goes quietly....

That is until about 18 minutes past midnight.

At that point we are woken up by a car alarm that has gone off. Phil jumps out of bed somewhat bewildered thinking it may be the beemer, but imagine his surprise when he peers out of the window and sees a car across the street ablaze, with the flames getting higher by the second. There is no one around, we can't hear any sirens of a fire engine either, so I ring 999. There wasn't much point in doing that as the person on the end of the phone tells me that they already know about it. So we wait, and for what seems like an extortionate amount of time, when finally a fire engine turns up and starts to dampen down the blaze, which by now is in full gusto and belching out reams of black smoke. And, not that I like to revel in someone elses misery, but we managed to grab a few pictures as the car incinerated itself in the night.

I've no idea how the fire started, or who started it but it seemed like to me that the car caught alight from the inside as all the windows were shut. Add to this the fact that the flames were roaring from inside the car out of the gaps above the window where the seals must have already been burnt up, it maybe that there had been some kind of electrical fault, or maybe even a discarded cigarette butt left in the cabin.

Who knows, but I'm glad it wasn't my car.

Posted by Abi at 9:37 PM | Comments (1)

September 18, 2005

Square Eyes

Yup, it's Sunday and I get off to quite an energetic start for a change.

First up is helping Phil with his car (the age old problem of the suspension) and despite our best efforts we still can't get it to stop making the rather unnerving clanking noise that rumbles from the anti roll bar every time you hit a corner or go over a bump. So I've made a decision to end the saga here and now, and next week I will be taking the car to the garage to get them to look at it. It's not that we don't know what the problem is, its more to do with the fact that we don't have the correct equipment to fix it - so the car needs to go to a place where they do have the right tools for the job, and hopefully therefore the problem can be fixed once and for all.

Next we clean my car. I wouldn't ordinarily bother doing it, it isn't that dirty after all, but there are two things that are bugging me (excuse the pun). 1) After signing up to babybmw.net (a forum for BMW 1 series owners) I found out that bird shit is really bad news in the land of german paint jobs, so I need to get the crap off my car. 2) the front grill has taken a right pounding over the summer by various and copious amounts of insects who have had the misfortune of seeing eye to eye with the beemers very distinctive and almost insect grater like grill.

It takes a while, and after doing the Alloys as well with my new alloy brush (which despite being very good at what it's suppose to do has the unfortunate side affect of making me look like I've been trampled on by a small army of boot wearing ants who have just marched through the dulex black paint department) all that's left to do is to leave it dry.

We then have some lunch (cheese omelets) and watch Ladder 49, which is excruciatingly boring, but ultimately very very sad. Phil gets stuck into some more Sudoko puzzles whilst I get a fill of Star Trek, and then its time for tea. We also watch The Ring 2, or I should say partially watch it... it's a bit boring.

On the up side I think I've got a few triops hatched, well its either that or there are some very odd particles of dust in the water which swim every which way but downwards.

Posted by Abi at 9:21 PM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2005

Replenished Stocks

Today we are off to The Goldfish Bowl to pick up some new fish to replace the ones that we lost whilst we were on holidays. We've waited for a week or so just to make sure that the water is ok and that the fish we didn't lose haven't developed anything nasty - there would be little point in forking out a small fortune on more fish only to see them snuff it the next day.

So after having a good gander at all the fish they have, we finally decide on what we are going to get. Some of the usual of course in the form of 6 Cardinal Tetras, 4 Zebra Danios and 4 Guppys (2 blue and 2 yellow). But we also opt for some slightly different fish too, and we both quite like the look of the Glass Catfish. The are very different, and get their name because they are transparent and so quite difficult to spot unless you've got a keen eye. We also get an Orange Spot Plecostomus to keep up the housework around the tank, and at 20 quid a pop we hope he's worth his money :)

Back home and we accustomise the new fish with our tanks water and finally let them loose. We had bought a piece of bog wood at the fish shop under the recommendation for the sales bod who told us that Plecos like bog wood an awful lot to hid out under, and sure enough as soon as we'd sunk the bog wood the Pleco quickly assumed position under it, making it quite clear to the other fish that this was now his crib.

I also set about putting my triops eggs into the tank, the water temperature is about right so I'm hoping that in the next day or 2 we'll get some babies.

The afternoon is spent with doing a bit of shopping for the coming week, and then for tea we have Smoked Haddock (I don't know if thats appropriate or not with all the fish antics of today) with some rather nice potatoes (even if I do say so myself). We eat that whilst watching another load of dissolutioned people competing in The X-Factor... honest to god, do they really believe they can sing?

Posted by Abi at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2005

In Vivo

I'm back in work today, and all though the morning is pretty frantic, the afternoon soon dwindles into not much of anything to do (including work) - all very time consuming and not very productive.

This evening though I set about having another go at the triops kit now that I've got enough mineral water and the like to fill the tank. It's quite fiddly, and we have had to rig up a light over the tank to try and maintain the water temperature, but I'm hoping that by tomorrow we will be able to add the eggs into the tank and see if any of the triops hatch. I hope they do, I had reasonable success with sea monkeys and so my thinking is that the triops can't be all that much more different.

Not much going on otherwise, it seems the day has slipped away like a stealth bomber, only it's not been so exciting.

Oh, I just thought of something, I saw my first robin - is it a sign that winter is on its way? It feels like it that's for sure.

Posted by Abi at 9:33 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2005

Errands

I've been pretty busy today with things that need to be done away from the house.

First jobs are to go into town and nip to the post office to send a registered letter my Mum, and then to go to the bank and pay in a cheque for Phil.

I then go back home and grab some lunch, to realise that the posty has been whilst I was in town and had left me a nice "While you were out" slip. So after waiting the statutory 2 hours before going to pick up the presumably massive parcel that couldn't be put through the letter box I then go to the depo, hand over my slip and prepare the cart to take delivery of my mammoth package. Oh how disappointed I was to be handed a very small box, which by no stretch of the imagination could have easily fitted through the letter box and saved me a trip.

But nevermind, I'm chuffed that the contents were in one piece, another catseye to add to my collection, a deep purple one this time which I bidded on Ebay for.

I then decide that since I'm near homebase I'll go pick up some new lightshades for the hallway, and also something to use to display each of my catseyes on. I've tried quite hard to locate stands of a uniform type to plop the orbs onto, but most of the places I've found are in America, and it seems a bit silly to pay the postage charge on items that are less than 50 cents each. So, after hunting around the plumbing section I manage to get 5 brass olive cup which are a little bit like life rings in shape - but ideal for holding the catseyes. I also pick up some electrical pendant kits in case we should need them for the new shades (the existing ones are not standard ones we can reuse I've no doubt).

Back home and when Phil gets in he sets about putting up the new shades. It turns out that we do need the pendants sets I'd bought but after hooking one up it looks like 9" of cable is a bit too much, so we then have to go back to homebase and pick up some shorter ones at 6" (after some rather overzealous DIY massacring of the 9" to make them shorter).

Nonetheless we get there in the end, and despite Phils dislike of DIY, I think he gets better at it each time he does it.

Posted by Abi at 9:27 PM | Comments (1)

September 14, 2005

Orifice

Back to work for me today, but with no luxury of a 10 am start - oh no, I'm in for 9 and frankly I don't leave my desk until 5.30 pm (with the exclusion of toilet breaks). There is a lot to be done, including shoving all the content into a new website we'd been building as well as pandering to the ever demanding but somewhat inane demands of clients who, with the greatest respect, have no idea of what should go on a website.

Enough of the complaining anyhow, it's a nice day outside, I just wish I could have enjoyed it a little more.

I did start to read Dan Brown's Digital Fortress today though, and so far well it seems to be ok (though from what I gather so far is pretty much the same plot and characters that he uses in all of his other books) - not that it detracts from the reading, they are still good page turners in my opinion so I'll keep on going until I get to the end.

Nothing much going on this evening - we have a relatively early night after a failed attempt at setting up my triops kit. I've no doubt however I shall sleep well, I think my eyes are still trying to get used to staring at a monitor for the best part of every day.

Posted by Abi at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2005

Catch Up

As you've probably gathered (if you've ever read this site) I try to keep it up to date for the most part. But what with being on holidays, and attending a funeral... well new entries have been somewhat amiss of late (17 days amiss to be precise).

With that in mind then I spend the best part of today catching up with my blog, adding in all the entries from when we were away (which thankfully I'd done as each day passed) and putting in a few pictures here and there of what we'd seen etc. I've still got to do a photo album section for the holiday, but I think that will be more a staggered process, since we probably took enough photos to fill the Louvre.

I also get around to doing a little bit of a tidy up such as unpacking my case from the weekend and doing some washing - all in all enough to keep me busy until Phil came home when we had a curry for tea - my first one in ages!!! And it was very nice too :)

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (1)

September 12, 2005

A Good Send Off

Everyone is up early today getting ready to head to Cardiff for my Nan's funeral. I've got a number of things to do before I can get ready though, those being nipping to my parents office to drop some work off for Dad's secretary, and then going to the car wash to zip the car through to make it half presentable for the funeral procession.

With those jobs done I then get myself ready, and by 11 we are leaving the house - by 1 we are in Cardiff and stop of for a drink before we go to the Funeral Home.

By 2 pm we are meeting up with the family at the Funeral Home. There are lots of people that I've not seen for years and years (mostly cousins) and it was interesting to see that most of them haven't changed much at all.

The flowers for the funeral were fantastic, including one made up to look like a Whisky Mac (a mixture of scotch whisky and green ginger wine) which was one of my Nan's favourite drinks (along with a good G & T).

After a short time we all head off to the Crematorium where even more people have gathered for the service, including some of my parents friends from Lincolnshire and Sylvia - a good friend of mine and my parents whom I haven't seen in what feels like a year.

The service was quite emotional, but not conventional! (Well, nothing the Coopers ever do is! :)) We had Tom Jones' Green Green Grass of Home playing when everyone was waiting for the service to start (one of Nan's favourites) and after some brief words from the Priest, Uncle Robert did a speech all about Nan's early days, and then my Dad did a speech too. And a funny one at that - something to lighten the mood, and something that Nan would have laughed at and no doubt found very appropriate for the day. It certainly raised plenty of giggles from the congregation. At the end of the service we played another of Nan's favourite songs, Tina Turner's Simply The Best, which I'm afraid was the breaking point for me. I'd managed to keep back the tears until then, but hearing that song opened the flood gates for me.

After the service we then headed to a small pub near Llandaff Cathedral where everyone had plenty of time to reminisce about the old times. We'd also put together a colliage of photos of Nan for years ago and more recent ones which were great, and fascinating to see all together.

I guess what I'll remember most about my Nan is that she wasn't your typical grand parent. She was feisty, young at heart and had a wicked sense of humour. She was a card sharp, you could never beat her at a game of rummy and she could cook the best pasti, sausage rolls, sponges and chips you'd ever taste. She never went out without her Slap (makeup) on and took pride in how she looked and how others thought of her.

She had a hard life, but lived it well and I can only hope that if and when I become a grandparent, I can offer some of what she gave me back to my grandchildren.

R.I.P. Elizabeth Hetty Cooper 1925 ~ 2005

Posted by Abi at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2005

Dog Grooming

With Mum and Dad both in work today trying to get ahead of the game what with funerals, holidays and franchise visits all looming, I've pretty much got most of the morning to myself.

With that in mind, I set about watching The Wedding Date, which was a fairly good film to while away an hour or 2. I have decided however that Debra Messing (Will and Grace) really should wear her hair curly as it detracts from her nose... but on the other hand maybe it 's a good thing that there is a prominent star up there with the best who hasn't gone under the knife to fit into the Hollywood Mould... yes, thats the answer, Debra Messing's nose rocks!

In the afternoon Mum comes home and while she gets on with some housework I set about giving Pongo (their Pekingese) a haircut. We keep his hair short, particularly in the Summer because otherwise the poor little blighter would suffer terribly with the heat - well you imagine carrying around the equivalent of a 13 Tog duvet on your back! So after some careful scissor work he's got a crew cut, and despite looking a little moth eaten he's obviously much happier with his sleek new do as he's running around like a puppy making the most of the pound or so he's lost in hair weight!

We have a lovely Sunday roast that mum prepares, and then I go have a bath and read some more of my book whilst the rest of the family watch The Terminal (which I've seen already), but alas I don't get too far with the reading it seems and drop off to sleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Posted by Abi at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2005

Westward Bound

I'm going to Wales today to be with my family, it what I guess you might call a belated mourning as a result of the death of my Nan. So I'm up earlish and Phil and I go shopping to get some supplies as there is nothing in the fridge or the cupboards, and after that it's not too long before I'm zooming down the motorway heading towards my parents.

I make a quick stop at Carmarthen to pick up an outfit for the funeral. Ordinarily putting together an ensemble of black for a funeral wouldn't be a problem - most of my wardrobe is black, but for Nans funeral we have a "no black clothes" policy, which has left me a bit stumped. So after a bit of umming and ahhing, I pick out an outfit. I also nip into a rather cool Gem and Rock shop, and manage to pick up 2 more cats eyes (which I've started to collect) - which are polished orbs of tourmaline. I've now got 4 of them in various colours - green, white, lilac and brown.

Eventually I get to my parents house, where as you'd expect most people are a little glum, but that's to be expected. We spend the evening making small talk, but I grab an early night as everything is catching up with me.

Posted by Abi at 9:32 PM | Comments (0)

September 9, 2005

No Rest For The Wicked

Despite preliminarily booking Friday off work, I've had to go in today since we've got some new websites that have to be built, as usual, ASAP. So whilst my boss has been busy doing them, the usual amount of maintenance work on the existing ones has reached somewhat of a backlog... so I have to plough my way through 2 weeks worth of the stuff just to get everyone back on track.

The mountains of work make the day go quick enough, but then I did start an hour later than normal what with the traveling of yesterday I just couldn't face a 9 am start. It seems we've got 2 new starters at work again - an usual duo of whom I don't even know their names. A couple of missing faces too, and so I can only assume that the new bods are here to replace those that have left for whatever reason.

Phil is at home today though, but left with a rather grim task of rejuvenating the fish tank. Last year when we went away we had no problems with it, but this year something has gone horribly wrong... all but 4 of the fish have died and the tank to be honest looks like some kind of morbid fish soup. One of the causalities was Oscar, Phils pride and joy - a rather large red tailed shark who had quite a lot of personality for a fish. But by the time I get home the tank looks a little better, with the dead fish removed and a 3/4 water change, but we are going to have to replenish the stocks at some point.

The remainder of the evening is taken up with getting takeout pizza and watching a little TV, but it's another relatively early night spent trying to catch up with some sleep that traveling and a loss of 2 hours has robbed us of.

Posted by Abi at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2005

Preparation

There is lots to do today since we are going away on holiday tomorrow. So for starters I set about packing the case - luckily we don't need too much since where we are going has a washing machine, so no need for the compulsory 14 pairs of pants, socks t-shirts and the like.

With the case done, and perhaps more shoes, gizmos, books and crosswords packed than clothes it's then onto giving the house a clean so its not a mess when we come back. Phil helps out too with the dusting and vacuuming and it doesn't take too long before we're all set.

We do have to nip to town to get some Euros which was simple enough (except for the fact that if we wanted to get the euros via debit card we had to produce our passports!) so cash it was, after a quick trip to the cash point.

Despite getting most of our stuff done by early evening, somehow though we still don't manage to get to bed until about 10 pm, meaning we've just got 3 hours kip before we have to be up again and ready to drive to the airport.

Posted by Abi at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2005

Busyness

In work today since I've swapped days with the lady I sort of kinda job share with.

There is plenty to be doing as well, but typically most of that work load comes through at 4.30 in the afternoon when I'm just about ready to go home. So I end up staying for an extra hour and a half just to get the work done, meaning that my boss won't have to be lumped with it whilst I'm away.

Interestingly we were 2 staff members down again today, one who only started on Monday as a trained c# developer didn't bother coming back in, and a contractor who'd apparently had a "pull your finger out" chat with the boss yesterday has miraculously developed a bad back over night and won't be in either. C'est la vie I guess, but seriously, do people just not want to stay in any job nowadays?

I also had a chat with one of the other developers at work who felt the bright lights of the city may well be calling him and was thinking of getting a job in London. He didn't seem quite so keen when I pointed out the pitfalls (increased living expenses, commuting, having the very life blood drained out of you by corporate policies, blah blah blah blah) - but he's only young, so I guess everyone has to try it to see if it suits them or not. I think city life is like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it. I am a firm member of the latter group.

Anyway, with me back late no sooner have I walked through the door at home we are walking back out again - Phil needs to pick something up at work which he's forgotten so we go for a jaunt in the countryside, picking up fish and chips for tea on the way back.

All pleasant, but after watching Silent Witness I'm ready for some shut eye, I've got plenty to do tomorrow and not much time to do it in (surprisingly).

Posted by Abi at 9:36 PM | Comments (1)

August 22, 2005

Raining

Looks like summer has come to a temporary halt today because the weather is abysmal. It's absolutely pouring with rain, and seriously, I'm talking almost tropical.

I've got a number of errands that I need to run in and around town, so once the weather has backed off a little I head out. Silly me though for thinking I could get most of what I needed doing while it was still dry, because no sooner had I parked the car at my first destination it started to piddle down once again.

It continued to rain for the rest of the day, meaning that by the time I'd finished my errands (quite late) I was soaked to the bone. I just love the british weather!

And because I got back hours after I'd intended to, it means the jobs that I wanted to do today around the house will have to wait until Wednesday, since I'm in work tomorrow.

So not only a work back log to clear, but also a home one as well.

Posted by Abi at 10:28 PM | Comments (1)

August 21, 2005

Fish

It looks like we are in for a quiet day today with not much happening at all - makes a change if you ask me :)

We do nip out in the morning and go to The Goldfish Bowl to get some food for the fish and have a gander at the Marine fish life whilst we're there - which renews my thoughts on setting up a marine tank, rather than just the tropical one we have at the moment. They have one very comical cowfish in the shop (one of the breeds I'd like to get) who actually pops his head above the water and follows your finger as if waiting for food - very cool indeed.

In the afternoon we don't do a lot apart from watch some TV and then a film. Today its Assault on Precinct 13 - a film about good cops, bad cops and a bunch of criminals trying to beat the living hell out of each other. Good fun :)

Posted by Abi at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2005

Hair Thinning

We're off into town today to get our hair cut and noon, and with little to do before that there doesn't seem too much point in getting up early. Well that was my plan anyway, but it didn't quite work out like that.

You see despite the fact that I have no need whatsoever to get up at 6.30 am this morning, my body has decided that in fact I should be up for no apparent reason. I do try to go back to sleep, but with little avail. So I give in and go downstairs. It's 6.45 am and I'm stuck in front of the TV watching cartoons and stuffing a bacon sandwich to nullify my complaining stomach.

And what I do for the next 3 hours it pretty much as above. Phil gets up at around 10, and I then start to get ready to go into town - we need to leave at about 11.30 to get there in good time.

I'm now plonked in front of a mirror in the hairdressers, with the dreaded question being posed of "what would you like done?" I've got no idea at all, so I tell the hairdresser that I'm going on holiday and need my hair to be more manageable for that. With a rough idea of what she needs to do she then sets about thinning my hair out - and by god does it need it. The hairdresser guesstimates that my hair is so thick its the equivalent of having 2 heads of hair on one head, now thats a lot of hair! But by the time she's finished my hair has some shape and because she's taken all the weight out of it the wave that is in there has suddenly sprung to life - which actually looks quite cool!

With our hairs cut we then go get some lunch at Greasy Slut (AKA Pizza Hut) which was very nice, and then do enough shopping that both of our feet are killing us.

The queue for the bus back to the park and ride is massive, and whilst we are waiting there Phil disappears for 5 mins. I've no idea where he has gone, the bus has turned up and he has the tickets. So I'm not going anywhere. But, just as the last of the people are getting onto the bus he reappears donning a bag from The Natural World, and when I ask him what it is, he tells me its a surprise for me.

I get to open my pressy on the bus, and he's got me a Triassic Triops kit! Hheheheh! I'd seem them ages ago in the shop and desperately wanted one, but we didn't have time as the bus had arrived and we had to go. But now I have one, and I can grow my own mini monster! I can't wait to give it a go!

Back home and we spend the rest of the day doing very little, except we watch The Woodsman which is boring enough that we switch it off and decide to watch the end tomorrow.

But for now, its time for shut eye.

Posted by Abi at 9:53 PM | Comments (1)

August 19, 2005

Early Start

Today I am up at an hour that I haven't seen for some considerable time so that I can get to the TV repair shop for 9. It's about a 40 mile drive, but on a busy commuter route, so I leave with plenty of time to spare in case I get stuck in a jam.

I shouldn't have worried really because the roads were fine, and I ended up sitting outside the repair shop for an hour until they opened - so it was a good job I stopped off at a shop and picked up a magazine to while away the hour.

Eventually the shop opens and when it comes to paying up I was very very surprised to find that the repair cost nothing what so ever. Not even labour (which I was expecting to pay) as it seems Pioneer pay for the lot - so I'm well chuffed. In fact I'm so chuffed with the service I've received of J F Associates I even offered to re-do their website for free should they ever want a redesign. It seemed the least I could do, and wouldn't take much of my time. Any business which is honest and doesn't rook it's customers is worth its wait in gold and always scores high on my "will use again" list.

With the TV loaded I then head straight to work, and make it back spot on 10 am. I then spend the rest of the day working, including my lunch break to make up the hour off in the morning. The afternoon was a little varied, as we had a speech and present giving thing for the fella that is leaving, and pretty much after that it was time to go home. A relief too, because a whole day working without a lunch break is exhausting.

When Phil gets home in the evening we unload the car of the Plasma and set it all up. We then cross everything that is crossable and power it up, and bingo its working like a dream! Hurrah! It's so nice to have a big screen back rather than looking at a poxy portable TV (though I won't slag it off to much because it did its job while the plasma was broke).

So, therein endeth the Plasma Saga for now, until the next time it decides to give off a cardiac arrest inducing light and sound show.

Posted by Abi at 10:27 PM | Comments (1)

August 18, 2005

On The Mend

I'm not in work today, but that by no means that I'm lazing around being fed grapes by an Adonis who panders to my every need. Far from it. Today you see I'm on a TV transportation mission.

It starts off early, and by 11.30 am I'm pulling up outside the TV dude's house who I'd arrange to meet today to pick up the TV on the grounds that I needed it back because the insurance company needed to see it. To my surprise as I'm pulling up, he's pulling out of his driveway, and as I roll down the window he tells me "oh, you were late and I have to go out". I tell him however that since its 11.30 and I'm on time that I'd like to pick the TV up. We get the TV into the car and then the discussion of money arises. He tells me that he usually charges £125 an hour, and he'd spent 4 hours on the TV!! So I tell him since he'd told me it was roughly going to be £50 for the work he'd done so far I wasn't willing to give him his £500 that he'd requested. I told him all I had was £80 (which was a lie) and thats all he would get. Begrudgingly he took the money - if I'd have been a bit braver I'd have just driven off without paying him a penny, I had the TV loaded up so there was nothing stopping my apart from my debilitating honesty. Next time I will listen to Evil Abi.

TV in the back seat and good riddance said, I then head off to Maidenhead to the authorized dealer (J F Associates - website doesn't do them any justice) to drop the TV off to its 3rd home in as many days.

They are very helpful the bods behind the counter, and tell me that they'll do their best to get the TV fixed before next week but they will have to order the power supply for Pioneer, as the one spare one they had has gone to another customer who beat me to it. That's fair enough - so I leave them to it and ask them to ring me as soon as they can confirm its the power supply or let me know if its something else and give me a quote for fixing it.

I head home, and sure enough at around 4pm I get a phone call from the service centre. Its good news too! It was the power supply after all, and since they are super dudes, they are going to let me have the spare power supply so the TV will be ready to pick up tomorrow! Yay! That only leaves on problem, I'm in work tomorrow so theoretically I can't pick it up. I make a quick phone call to my boss and ask him if it would be ok if I came in at 10 rather than 9 and worked my lunch break, which he was happy to let me do - and then ring the TV people back and tell them that I'll be at their place at 9 on the dot to pick it up.

So it's good news - the plasma isn't going to cost £500 to fix and it's now been fixed by people who seem to know what they are doing and have a plentiful supply of certificates to prove as much. And I am more than relieved that Phil and I won't have paid out extortionate repairs for something that was free to fix, we haven't wasted a lot of money on a TV that will never work again, and we haven't had to buy a new TV either.

I am now officially indebted to the powers that be for a run of good luck which has been very fortuitous. No doubt the shit will hit the fan in the future... ying and yang and all of that :)

Posted by Abi at 9:31 PM | Comments (1)

August 17, 2005

Back Into The Frying Pan

With my long, and slightly stressful weekend out of the way, it back to the bollocks as I return to work. It's not too bad, I'm back to working 2 days a week now which is cool.

I manage to keep out of trouble in work, just getting on doing stuff and there is plenty to keep my busy. I nip to the post office at Lunch to pick up a parcel which was "too big for our letter box" and it turned out to be the camera ruck sack that Phil had ordered which should nicely house our growing camera collection.

In the afternoon I find out that yet another person is leaving the company, this time its a chap who does a bit of everything from front end work to back end stuff, and he's decided to go as he has got himself a job back where he used to work. Apparently he finds it too stressful at our place, which I wouldn't agree with entirely, but then I'm not doing his job and so have no room to comment.

Its a bit weird all these people making life choices. I had a good chat with my mum about things when I was in Wales at the weekend because even at 28, I still don't know what it is I want to do for my career. Oh, IT is fine and dandy and pays well enough if you get a cushtie number, but I'm still of the impression that I am not, and have never been cut out for office work. It's not me really - there is too much politics and backstabbing and life is too short to get tangled up in hatred and deceit just to get what you think you want only to discover that you didn't want it in the first place.

So thats left me with a lot of thinking to do about what I should be trying to achieve. So far I've thought about going back to Uni to do something like Psychology, or Photography - but I've also been thinking about taking up a traineeship with a brewery who will teach me all I need to know about running and owning a pub - something which has always tickled my fancy. And if I'm incredibly big headed about it, I'm a dab hand at tending bar.

It's all stuff I need to mull over, but what I'm doing now a stop gap will suffice until I've made my mind up.

Posted by Abi at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2005

Subsidised Blessing

Before I leave to go home today from my parents I nip into their office to help mum with a few things before I go. She's lost some files on the computer and would like to find them, and needs some help getting images together for the new letter head that she's designed. Once I've done that, and eaten a doughnut and had a cup of tea, I head off and start the long trip home.

I decide that since I can't readily understand the bloke who has the TV over the phone (he has a very strong indian accent) I'd pop in at his address so that he could explain to me what the problem is. So far I've only managed to decipher from him that the power supply might have gone - I'm also a little concerned about his estimate for the cost of the work and to be brutally honest, I don't know if he's the best man for the job.

As it happens he rings me to see if I want to part with my 500 quid (not sure about that really, I mean he's going to spend my money before he knows if what he thinks is the problem is the problem) so I tell him that I'll pop in on my way back, to which he agrees to.

As I pull up to the TV dudes place I decide to do a bit of research. I know that it may be the power supply thats gone on the TV, so ring an pioneer authorised service center who helpfully tell me that it may well be the power supply from the symptoms I describe and that if it is, the parts to fix it are free since Pioneer subsidise the replacement of these parts (obviously had a lot of problems with them). Useful info that, and I'm now wondering even more where my 500 quid is going since the part is free. I think therefore I will take the TV away from here and take it to the place I've just dealt with, they seem a bit more with it.

With my newly found information I go to the door of TV man and knock on it. A woman then peaks out of the letter box telling me "no key, husband take it, I no let you in". I explain to her that I'm here to see the dude and perhaps she'd like to try the back door to see if its open. She manages that, but doesn't understand a word I'm saying to her so she cant answer me when I ask her where her husband is whom I'm suppose to be meeting. So I have to ring the TV dude and see where he is, and it turns out he's going to be late. I tell him thats not a problem, I'll just take the TV since "the insurance company are sending an assessor out and he needs to see it in situ". He then tells me that I can't take the TV as he needs to put it back together. SHOCK! HORROR! OH BOY!

Reluctantly then I tell him I'll pick the TV up on Thursday 11.30 prompt, return to my car and hit redial for the authorised dealers and book it in with them on Thursday at 12.30.

With all that trauma and fiasco I'm not in the mood to cook by the time I get home, so we go out for Chinese which was very nice indeed.

I can honestly say that despite the back luck with the TV, I'm glad to be home. The 14" replacement TV that we have in the lounge at the moment will probably cause severe eye damage since you have to squint at it with one eye shut just to see the darn thing!

Posted by Abi at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2005

So Long Weekend

Ahh, the usual pitfalls of having to go to work today but it does provide me with an opportunity to go into town at Lunch and sort out some bits and pieces that needed doing at the post office, and pay some money in for Phil.

Other than that, there isn't much happening at all, it's been a very quiet day all round but I do have to organise and book a trip for some people in the office who are going to Scotland for a meeting. It's amazing how easy such things are with the advent of the internet - 30 mins and I was done, though I was vetoed on booking the Hilton hotel for their overnight stay... strange, I thought it looked nice and was reasonably priced (about £140 a night per room). In the end they opted for a travelodge, which at £75 a night per room is a bit more reasonable, though it looks more like a YMCA than anything else.

Back home and we have tea and I then set about watching the first half of Deep Impact. It's a good film, but with the intervention of the news at 10 pm I don't quite make it to the second half. Not to worry though, Phil has been super generous and has said he'll order the DVD for me so I can watch the entirety of the film at my own leisure. Thank you Phil! :)

I also have a phone call with my Mum who tells me that my devious plan of obtaining something from my sister whilst she visits a hotel near us this weekend has gone to pot, she's not coming this way after her party was cancelled. So it looks like I'll be going to Wales tomorrow to pick up said item. I might well make a long weekend of it too.

Posted by Abi at 9:52 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2005

De-clutter

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much more with it today - the "I can't be arsed" doldrums have dissipated nicely and so I get on and do stuff that I've neglected during me week of "depression" so to speak.

First on the list is to clean the house - it hasn't been done in a while and so there is quite a bit to catch up on. So I merrily start at the top and work my way down - and when I hit the lounge I decide now would be as good as time as any to do some decluttering.

We have two main areas in the lounge which could be considered as junk magnets - the first being under the stairs and the second being the sideboard, which accumulates "stuff" as easily as dust. I start off with the sideboard, arranging, re-organising and throwing out all sorts of odds and sods that would either be better placed somewhere near items of a similar nature or just put in the bin. I manage to clear enough space to put the compendium of games that we've managed to gather away and out of site and all of the things that had been merrily piled upon each other have also found a place in a draw or cupboard. It's much more tidier.

I then hit the black hole that is under the stairs. Whilst there isn't much stuff I can throw away here, after re-organising it, it is now much easier to find things when you want them. For example, all of Phil's spare car bits are now in one box, and all of the DIY stuff is in another. There are a couple of boxes of things that really need to go into the attic (left overs from the move that we just didn't know what to do with), but apart from that it's now far easier to get at what you want without turning out every box. I tell you what, I don't think we'll need to buy any car cleaning stuff for the next year or so, we have enough to clean a whole fleet let alone the 2 we have!

So with the cleaning and decluttering done, all that remains is for me to do tea, but JP's don't take too much effort, so with the spare time that I have I play a bit of Sim City - this time playing with the "create your own territory" bit, but judging from my results so far I need a bit more practice within "God Mode" as all of my efforts seem to be geologically impossible!

We do watch the first 2 episodes of Lost, and from what I can gather so far its a bit like Jurassic Park, in terms of people being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a monster in the woods which is probably the result of some kind of scientific experiment that went awry.

Who knows though, I may be completely wrong!

Posted by Abi at 10:32 PM | Comments (1)

August 10, 2005

Turnover

Another day, and yet another new face in the office (and surprisingly the marked absence of another). It seems we're having a run of bad luck recruiting at the moment and people seem to walk out the door quicker than they sit down. I don't know if its because we're asking them to leave, or they just don't like the place... either way we have a hot seat in the office which is occupied by a different arse almost on a daily basis.

So the Italian I was talking about didn't cut the mustard (though it now appears that he was in fact Greek (might explain the olive skin, dark hair and black coffee with 3 sugars) and so today we have a new dude starting who's a little older and has keep his head down at his computer nearly all day (which I don't know is a good or bad sign).

I on the other hand spend a good part of today playing hostess at work - brewing tea and coffee for meetings that are being held and clearing up afterwards. I also have to find out about some flights to Scotland and generally carry on with the odds and sods of work that get sent through to me.

So pretty busy all in all, which is good because it means the time goes quicker.

When I get home I do nothing - I can't do the usual of preparing tea as there is nothing that would stomach worthy by the time Phil gets home - so I wait, and when he does get back we go shopping and pick up the usual supplies and some curry for tea. I get to watch Holby City and Silent Witness, but we had to record Lost as it was on at the same time.

I don't know what Lost will be like, its a new series being aired over here after great success in the US, but the trailers so far look pretty intriguing - we'll probably give it a go tomorrow night and see what all the fuss is about.

Posted by Abi at 9:33 PM | Comments (1)

August 9, 2005

Save Me

Arghh! Any motivation that I didn't have at the weekend has some how warped itself into an even bigger black hole of infinite misery today, as I struggle even to get out of bed in time for the UPS man to turn up and take some parcels away.

This is no fun, none whatsoever and I've no idea why it is I feel like I do (ok, well I may have an inkling but I don't see the point of divulging it here). It's the most unusual thing this "can't be bothered" attitude I've had over the past few days - things that I would quite merrily occupy myself with seemed to have withered into non-appealing, time wasting and uninspirational and I wish I could just kick myself in the butt to snap out of it. But today, alas, it seems I can't even be bothered to do that!

The day is broken up sufficiently enough for me not to end up hugging myself in a dark corner of the bedroom whilst rocking back and forth and mumbling insanely to myself. At lunch I do something new - I've never cooked an omelet before (I know, how bizarre!) so I attempt that with quite a bit of success. Apparently the secret is to no over whisk the eggs before you put them in the pan so the omelet is nice and fluffy in the middle.

I also have 2 delivery guys show up, one with a surprise parcel from iwantoneofthose.com which turned out to be a rather cool pressy from my friends in the states, and the other finally delivered a pair of jeans that I'd ordered yonks ago and had almost forgotten about.

To waste a couple more hours I go for a snooze. The bed just looked so appealing. The sun is shining through the window and it's nice and warm. So what initially was "just an hour" turned into a 180 minute luxurious kip marathon, and I woke up just in time to get dinner started.

It's pasta bake again (trying to clear out the clutter from the back of the larder) and a bit of TV. Not my usual viewing since the BBC decided to flood their main channel with football, but enough to keep me occupied.

Posted by Abi at 9:23 PM | Comments (1)

August 8, 2005

Small World

Back into work today, my last week of 3 days working, it's back to normal for me next week working just 2 days instead.

We have a new chap starting at our work today too, and by chance he happens to be someone who used to work at Phil's company who decided to take his chances at contracting rather than being a permanent employee. I can see the appeal having contracted myself, you don't have to stay any longer than you want, and don't get drawn into the daily politics - you just simply do the job they hired you for and then move on once you've completed your time. Of course though there are the downsides too, namely finding another job once a contract has completed, but the freedom it gives you probably out weighs that fact.

As it happens, apparently someone else who currently works with Phil has also worked where I'm currently employed... which just goes to show it is a small world after all.

It's a pretty quiet day for me in all honesty though, with sporadic bits of work here and there, and of course the usual 4.55 pm "could you just...." favours being thrown about. Not that I mind much, as what needs to be done doesn't take long.

I also got around to reading some more of Charlie and the Chocolate factory during my lunch break - not quite at the end yet, but one obvious difference between the 1971 version and the book is that there is in fact NO geese that lay golden eggs which Veruca Salt demands to have (and consequently ends up going down the bad egg shoot). The book tells the tale of the nut cracking squirrels as portrayed in the 2005 movie version of the story. I'm nearly at the end of the book, but with only 3 minutes of my lunch break remaining, and another chapter to go still, it will have to wait until I've got some more spare time to finish it.

Back home and I'm at a loss as to what to do for dinner, so I wait till Phil comes home and we settle on Pizza. We're suppose to go shopping tonight, but neither of us can summon the energy, so instead we watch Monster Moves - a sort of fly on the wall show about insane people moving even more insane objects, like Big Boy and complete houses in one go. Interesting stuff it has to be said. We followed that by another episode of Silent Witness, which is shaping up to be a good come back series.

Posted by Abi at 10:15 PM | Comments (2)

August 7, 2005

Film Fest

It's amazing what boredom can cause an ordinarily sane human being to do. For example, today I'm so bored it's horrible. What makes it worse is that even though I'm bored (and you'd think therefore eager to do something) everything I can think of to do I just can't be bothered to do it. Absolutely nothing seems appealing and I don't feel I can summon the effort even if it was remotely interesting. It's just one of those sorts of days.

So after poor old Phil has tried numerous suggestions of what we could do (including visiting some nearby caves, a railway museum, a castle and even a safari park!) I decide that it might just be easier to go to the cinema and watch a film, play some bowls and maybe we could get some lunch out (ok, the lunch bit was Phils idea).

The first problem we encounter is whilst we are going down the duel carriageway towards the cinema. I look down at my feet and realise that I've got no socks on (they don't really go well with sandal type shoes). So thats the bowling out. There is no way I'm putting my bare feet into shoes that have probably seem more verrucas, athletes foot and general skankyness than I've had hot diners. So our afternoon is now narrowed down to a film and some food.

We go and watch "Fantastic Four" which, IMHO wasn't so fantastic, but maybe more akin to "Mediocre Quartet". But it's probably not fair me even commenting on what quality of film was like since I'm in such a "everything is crap" sort of mood. We then go get some lunch at Frankie and Bennys which was nice and then drive home.

I spend the remainder of the afternoon on the sofa eating chocolate and generally feeling sorry for myself (ladies, you'll probably understand why) and end up sticking a DVD in to overcome the serious amount of bollocks which constitutes Sunday viewing on TV. So I then scare myself shitless with Event Horizon (good film!) and then add even more "WTF?" confusion to my day by taking a gander at Somersault - which is a load of arty farty filming nonsense.

Thank goodness Top Gear was on at 8, at least that drew me back to sanity for an hour... until they announced it was the last episode in the current series... Lord only knows what I'll do next Sunday.

Posted by Abi at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)

August 6, 2005

On A Mission

Today we're up bright and early to meet some of Phils MR2 Club Friends local to this area so that we can travel in convoy to a meeting in Essex. Well, it's not so much of a meeting, much rather a treasure hunt! We get at the rendez-vous at about 11 am, and after stocking up on nibbles and the like it's not long until we're given a clue sheet and we're off on the road.

Considering I've quite familiar with the area, after about 15 minutes of following clues (which were also the directions) I'm totally disorientated and it seems we are in the middle of nowhere! But we carry on and manage to get a fair few clues collected - even though we did get accosted by some yokels in the middle of a cricket pitch who whilst very pleasant were not particularly helpful at answering the questions we needed to find the answers for!

The hunt is made even more fun by the addition of bonus photo clues of things that appeared around the course. It has to be said though that since we were traveling quite quick, we only got a few of these clues, we missed the rest in the blurred frenzy of hurrying from one ordinary clue to the next.

It also has to be said the anyone with neck problems should probably avoid this sort of activity. The amount of speeding up then slamming on the anchors as you fly by something which could or could not be a clue is quite astonishing :) It's also helpful to have a car that easily reverses - and to have the eyesight of a hawk so you can read things on signs and posters as you blat past, exhaust screaming.

I guess it is a bit like Challenge Anika, except we aint got a helicopter, and by the end of it Phil and I are quite hyped up on adrenalin and have had a really good time. We don't win of course, we went around the course too quickly and made a few mistakes on the clues, but we did hand our clue sheet in first, which got us a few extra bonus points.

So after a little lunch we then head off home - get some fish and chips for tea and generally mill around until bed time.

In summary then, judging on our abilities to follow clues accurately (ie we didn't) I don't think that Phil and I will be the next Black Beard and Anne Bonny any time soon :)

Posted by Abi at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

August 5, 2005

Disappearing Accent

Wohoo! Today means that I only have one more week of working 3 days per week, and then its back to the norm. Which is good news, though I have to wonder what I'll do with the regained spare day of no work... I'm finding it difficult enough to fill 2 free days a week at the moment, let alone adding a third. But in no way am I complaining, oh no - I'm far to lucky for that malarkey.

Work is fine and we have a new contractor starting with us today, who's name is Dino and from first appearances is very italian. Olive skin, dark hair... you know, a bit of eye candi for a Friday. He's also got a very strong Italian accent and takes his coffee black with 3 sugars.

Anyway, the reason I mention this is that up until about 2pm Dino is merrily chatting away with his I-talian twang, but amazingly by the time I've gone to make a coffee and come back all traces of said accent have disappeared! He now sounds like an Essex Wide-Boy which is most odd! Maybe he's got a split personality or something, who knows! :)

I do have to go into town at Lunch and pick up some bits we need for our treasure hunt expedition tomorrow (a clip board and stuff) and whilst I'm there I notice that Matt Lucas and David Walliams (the bods who brought us Little Britain) have released Rock Profiles, one of their earlier comedy programs. So since I like Little Britain, I pick up a copy of Rock Profiles too.

The afternoon at work goes fine (apart from me wondering what Dino's next accent will mutate into) and I spend plenty of time playing with animated graphics and the like. So nothing too tedious for a Friday afternoon.

Back home and we have home made curry for tea (which I'd prepared yesterday) and I watch Rock Profiles, which is quite funny, but no where near the standard of Little Britain.

Posted by Abi at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

August 4, 2005

Dynamite?

So, I spend most of today doing paper work... and I hate paper work. Not only because I'm crap at it, but it just seems to take so long to do, and that it usually involves paying out money, money and more money. It's a good job that I only do it once a month otherwise I think I might go insane.

I do finally get through most of it... so it's all clear for another 30 odd days which is most gratifying.

With the boring stuff done, I do some baking... brownies today, one of Phil's favourites, and since I think he probably deserves a treat I make them as a surprise for him. Though it has to be said I'm not that nice really because I did make him hunt for them when he got home :) hehehe

Tonight we watch Napoleon Dynamite which I can quite categorically say is perhaps the most bizarre film I've watched since Donnie Darko. Whilst the story line is pretty kitsch it's pleasant enough (the tales of geeks do good so to speak) and it can't have been that bad since it passed Phil's 10 minute boredom test. I think my favourite part of the entire film would have been the dance scene (and if you've watched the movie you'll know what I'm on about) - I've not seen a bloke dance like that for a long time... let me think, oh yes, that would be it... the last time I saw someone dance like that was my gay buddy at his sisters wedding.

Very impressive!

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (2)

August 3, 2005

Mad Busy

No sooner do I sit down at my desk today in work I've got incoming from every angle. Work, left right and center with very little respite in between.

Both the boss type people are in today so thats a major contributing factor, along with the fact that AWOL bloke is still AWOL, in fact I think I'd go so far to say he is no longer AWOL but GFG (gone for good).

I do manage to get my lunch break in during which I start to read Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and so far from what I can see (I've got up to the bit where they have just gone into the factory), the 2005 version is much more faithful to the book than the 1971 version. I have to wonder if that will be the case for the entire book, will be interesting to find out.

The afternoon is just as busy for me, and by 5pm I still haven't finished everything in my inbox, but I'm knackered, so unusually for me I head off home with stuff remaining to do at work, it will just have to wait until Friday.

Lemon chicken for tea, and whilst were eating that we watch Hotel Rwanda, a film about the genocide atrocities and rebel war which occurred there between the Hutus and the Tutsi's in 1994, and how an ordinary Hotel Manager struggles to save over 1000 refugees within the confines of a hotel. The film is excellent, though difficult viewing and for someone who was ill informed of Rwanda's past, very enlightening.

Posted by Abi at 10:02 PM | Comments (4)

August 2, 2005

Wasted

I hate days like this. You wait around all day for someone to provide a service that you're paying through the nose for, only to be told that when they do finally arrive they can't fulfill that service because they didn't inform you of the full requirements needed before they made you wait hours and hours and hours for them to turn up.

I won't divulge what particular sort of service I'm complaining about, but suffice to say in my humble opinion that it's a business sector that is frightfully overloaded by red tape and helpfully has an intangible relationship with greedy government. Needless to say then that I'm not impressed by a long shot.

That pretty much summarizes my day for me, it's been pretty shit. In fact the only time the day did perk up was when Phil suggested we get a Chinese takeaway for tea instead of my cooking dinner. So thats exactly what we did - my only regret now is that I know I'll have a tongue like a bit of cardboard come 3am in the morning (it's the salt you know).

I should probably mention as an aside here that what us westerners consider Chinese Food is in fact unrealistic. Western Chinese food is basically a bastardized version of the original - mutated and altered over time to become more "palatable" to our tastes.

Several years ago I went to China and had the pleasure (or I should say *SHOCK*) of indulging in proper Chinese food. Strange really because before that trip I'd never entertained the idea of eating chicken feet, or having Peking duck served with its nicely roasted head still remaining. That's not to say that the food was bad, in fact it was lovely - much tastier and fresher than what we get (and when I say fresh, really... one minute the crab was in the fish tank minding it's own business, the next it was scurrying across a chopping board with only 3 of its remaining legs and the chief frantically trying to finish the beast of with a machete type weapon).

It was in China that I learnt to use chopsticks too, there really was little choice in the matter as most of the restaurants had about 3 forks and knives in total, so despite not having the option to eat with a fork, it was far less humiliating to eat like a 3 year old with food flying everywhere whilst trying to manipulate a stick between my untrained opposable thumb and finger, than to suffer the sneers and laughter of the locals during the time it took for the other tourists to finish with the sparse array of knives and forks.

I love holidays... whats that saying? When in Rome...?

Posted by Abi at 10:54 PM | Comments (1)

August 1, 2005

Reading

In work today where it seems that one of the bods who failed to show for an entire week has in fact done a runner of sorts. Not heard from him or nothing, not a dickie bird, even the agency he came through can't get hold of him. Weird in a way because when I gave him a lift to the station last Friday he seemed ok, wasn't complaining or nothing like that. In fact the only remark he did make which seemed a little out of the ordinary was that "He was the loser of the family". I guess then maybe his self esteem has gotten the better of him and he's moved off to different waters. Well I hope thats the case and he's not done something stupid.

Anyway, I pop out at lunch time and go to the bank to pay some money in, and also go to the book shop to get a copy of Charlie and the Chocolate factory. The different endings in both of the films have left me somewhat confused to the actual ending, and since I can't remember the book from when I read it way back when I thought I'd refresh my memory. I also got Boy by Roald Dahl, after Phils recommendation. Ample reading for me then to keep me occupied.

I also try to arrange some shipping of stuff to some friends, but with little success as I didn't realise I need the exact dimensions of the boxes I was sending. So I'll have to sort that out another time.

The afternoon flies by with me plenty occupied with a humongous document of changes to one of the websites we maintain. I've got say, I think the site is probably more confusing now than it was before. Oh well, not my site, not my call.

When I get home I set about making a roast dinner, we haven't had one in ages and TBH, I quite like my roast potatoes, so to indulge in them was very satisfying.

An earlish night follows, but I do manage to watch Silent Witness before I fall asleep. Handy, cos I quite like the series :)

Posted by Abi at 9:50 PM | Comments (2)

July 31, 2005

Wonkers!

I'm so pleased that today I managed to actually have a lay in bed until 9 am, thats a new trick for me as usually I'm up early even at the weekends... so to stay in bed a little longer was quite a novel treat.

Apart from a quick trip to the super market to pick up the "essentials" for the week the only other stuff we do is start to re-skin Phils blog, and watch the Grand Prix, which was only exciting for the first 10 minutes when someone crashed!

We then head off to the cinema yet again as Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is on and I really want to see it, I guess that is the big kid in me :) As expected when we arrive the cinema is chockablock, but since we'd reserved our seats it wasn't really a problem. So loaded up with yet more popcorn and pop we trundle off and get comfy in our places amid a sea of mainly adults.

The film it's self was certainly no disappointment, and I have to say Johnny Depp does a great job at playing the slightly deranged Willy Wonka. In parts the film was just well, weird! But it was nice that it stuck to the story well and the kid actors did good jobs too at being annoying brats (though I expect it wasn't too much of a far cry from normality for the little darlings!). What was also good about it was the fact that the story writers had obviously had a good think about who their target audience was to be, and had mixed in a good dose of off the cuff comments that would probably only be appreciated by those of slightly less tender years and previous Gene Wilder Wonka fans. I gotta say though that the Oompa Loompa's weren't quite up to par with the 1971 orange munchkins, but still not bad for CGI generated ones.

It's all good stuff and if you're in the mood to rekindle some childhood memories I'd suggest you go see the film, even if its just for curiosity's sake!

Posted by Abi at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2005

Ear Piercing

First things first this morning, and we get on and do some bits and pieces that need some attention around the house.

I had bought a mirror and a picture a couple of weeks back, and they need hanging. Both are done quite easily, though I have to say the optical illusions of cronky walls in our house really are amazing :) So even though the spirit level is telling us the picture is straight, for some reason to the eye it looks as bent as the back end of a donkey. So we settle on having the picture not instrumentally level resulting in something which doesn't make you look twice at it every time you pass it by.

Next on the hit list is a couple of DVD towers that we'd got from my friends who have emigrated. We knew already that there would be a bit of a problem with these because our skirting boards are quite high, and the nook that the towers already have taken out of them to accommodate skirting boards isn't quite high enough. So with a bit of impromptu carpentry and a few close shaves (or in fact amputations) we finally managed to get the towers to fit almost flush to the wall.

With that done we then have a quick bit to eat and then head off out to the Cinema to watch War of The Worlds. Not my cup of tea really, it seemed boring and the ending was naff... almost as if the crew had just decided to elope on holiday without giving it much thought or care. But I've not read the book, so maybe it was suppose to be like that. I have to say the film probably doesn't score high on my "greatest films of all time scoreboard" for the sheer fact that Dakota Fanning has the most god awful high pitched scream I've ever heard.

I'd go so far as to say she's put me off kids for life... at least kids who are a) annoying b) incredibly stupid c) have limited vocal capacity of a soprano on helium who has learn't no words other than ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Posted by Abi at 10:15 PM | Comments (1)

July 29, 2005

Amnesia

am-ne-sia n.
Partial or total loss of memory, usually resulting from shock, psychological disturbance, brain injury, or illness.

Urm... I know I did something today, I just can't quite remember what it was, or who I did it with, or in fact if I did anything at all, and if I did, whether or not it was legal, stupid or crazy.

Oh well, roll on tomorrow, if there is a tomorrow, I might well have forgotten it by today. ;)

Posted by Abi at 10:07 PM | Comments (1)

July 28, 2005

Suspicion

Hooorah! A day off work (not like that's anything new)! So I've a full day to do "stuff".

Well in fact the only "stuff" I manage to do is wrap some parcels up to send to a friend and do the shopping. The first job goes very well up to the point where I run out of parcel tape. That means I have to go into town, which leaves me with 2 options. You see I'm wearing a pair of "doing stuff" jeans (ie. really tatty ones) upon which the zip has broken. It don't stay up anymore, which is no problem if I'm wearing them around the house. After all who is going to see me? Oooo ... urm... me. I really can't be bothered to change my whole outfit just to go into town, so in order to overcome the belly button peephole I'm currently donning I decide to put on a jumper which will cover the zip up. Brilliant idea, all I have to do is change my top. Which I do, the weather isn't great outside and it's a bit nippy and I shouldn't be too long either. Problem solved, so off I go into town.

No sooner had I parked the car in town then the sun comes out. Blazing heat, and its 76 on the old relative humidity scale. In other words, I currently fell like I'm running a marathon in a portable steam room from which there is no escape. As unbearable as it is, I do the jobs I have to do in town and head back to the car.

Since I'm out and about, I decide to go do the grocery shopping. With Phil being home late these days it doesn't leave much time for us to do it in the week and I don't see why we should eat up weekend time if possible in order to do a mundane task such as shopping. Besides, the supermarket is air conditioned so the thought of hauling a shopping trolley around suddenly becomes quite appealing.

So there I am, minding my own business looking at carrots and I hear the kind of noise a police radio would make when its on an open frequency... kind of "beep boop". Don't think much of it so I move onto the bread isle and as I'm eying up some croissants I hear the noise again. This time I think to myself, "well if that's their idea of undercover store security they are a bit crap, cover blown dude". And I wind my merry way onto the household products aisle. No sooner am I looking at the fabric softener I hear the noise again. So now I'm thinking, Jesus, do I look that suspect that they are following me around the store? Are they that stupid that they think I'm gonna make a trolley dash with all of this stuff without paying?! A little uncomfortably then I make my way to the snacks aisle and in glorious harmony as soon as I pick up some monster munch I hear "beep boob". I glance around and see no one apart from and old lady summing up the pros and cons of salted and roasted peanuts.

By now I'm getting a bit pissed that I'd been singled out, and the fact that I could be made to feel guilty without actually doing anything. So I disappear down the dairy aisle with "beeb boob" close behind me, pick up some yoghurt's and go to the checkout.

I'm then making my way across the car park and FFS!!!!! BEEP BOOB, BEEP BOOB, BEEP BOOB!! That's it, I've had enough, if they are gonna stop me I'm gonna face them head on. I swing around only to discover nobody! So what the hell is the noise??? It's like an angry wasp I can't shake off! I check my pockets... nothing. I check my bag... ah ha! The noise is only my phone telling me the battery is going flat! Why the hell did they make the noise sound like that! Gits! My car is like that too, when the turbo kicks in it sounds like the police are after you with a siren on. Maybe its me, maybe I just have a guilty complex!

With my brush with the imaginary police over, I pack the car, go home and unload the shopping. I then bake some muffins to make me feel better, which they did, very nice thank you Betty Crocker!

Posted by Abi at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2005

Stinky Poo

Ah... another un-eventful day for me. I go to work, I come home and absolutely nothing exciting happens in between. Well, ok, maybe the fact I got paid today was exciting but thats about it for the hours of 9am to 5pm.

Back home and all I do is wait around for Phil to come home, poor sausage is late again. So as a treat, and because we have no food in the house, we go out and get fish and chips from the local chippy.

Nothing spectacular about that, except when we walk into the chip shop it stinks. Like someone has walked in dog doo or something, but worse (combine the protein rich body waste and present humidity and you'll get the picture). Anyway, in my inevitable style I'm just about to say to Phil "Bloody hell it stinks of shit in here" when a sudden rush of "faux pas premonition" hits me rather strongly, so I bite my tongue. The reason for this? Well it appears that the source of the stench is in fact the rather large, sweaty dude who is first in the queue. How do I know this? No its not a matter of Sherlock Holmes intuition or detective skills... more to the point the quite obvious removal of the smell once the bloke has left.

The smell was that bad that there was in fact a clear radius of about 4 feet in any direction of the man who had the smelly problem. It was almost enough to put me off getting the fish and chips. What made things worse was the fact that he'd decided to slop his ample fat filled flesh over the counter whilst leaning on it waiting for his chips. To which I fell foul of when I realised I was touching said counter with my hands once he'd gone. Hmph.

I don't want people to assume I'm very prudish from what I've just written, but there are some things I can't abide. Poor personal hygiene is one of them.

Posted by Abi at 9:16 PM | Comments (1)

July 26, 2005

TV Hijacking

Ho hum... another quiet day at work today, with most of the boss type people being out and about they didn't have much time to push any exciting work my way, so once again it was down to coffee and telephones. Strange that, coffee and telephones isn't nearly as catchy as cigarettes and alcohol.

When I get home, I spend a good deal of time messing on the computer. I've promised Phil umpteen times that I'll do him a blog redesign, but I find it difficult to design stuff for people who are close to me, I guess I find the criticism even more difficult to swallow when it comes from someone I know well. I'm not brilliant at taking criticism at the best of times as it is. So anyway, I do come up with a design, considerably more lighter than his existing site, so it's up to Phil whether or not he wants to use it. I do have a go at mocking up the HTML template for the site too, which seems relatively easy and so hopefully quite well adaptable for use in a site that uses moveable type.

I then spend most of the evening in front of the box... well with Eastenders, Holby City and the second part of Silent Witness all showing back to back I'd be a fool to miss out. It's not often you get an evening of not having to channel surf to find a decent TV program to watch, or to avoid the deluge of adverts which seem to be spreading across the airways at an alarming rate like a commercial cancer.

Posted by Abi at 10:27 PM | Comments (1)

July 25, 2005

Tick Tock

I'm not usually a clock watcher, but today I had very little work to do despite asking for it. It wasn't too bad mind, a slow trickle of stuff, but nothing meaty to get my teeth into.. you know the kind of work that gets you so absorbed you hardly realise the working day has passed and you're slipping into overtime.

Nonetheless though, I make it through the day, and when I get home I start to tidy away the sprawl of camping stuff that is laying around the lounge - not a problem, most of it has gone into the shed, where I dare say it may well gather dust and cobwebs for some considerable time to come. That is unless of course the house falls down and hell freezes over at about the same time.

I also notice that the neighbours are having a hot tub installed, which whilst a nice idea certainly aims high on my Fugly {definition} scale of one to 10. Their garden was lovely before, but now it seems to be over powered by a big plastic tub... I guess it matches well with the big plastic caravan they have too :)

Pizza and chips for tea as it's the only viable option as I ravage through the remnants of freezer stock, with Angel Delight for pudding. I love Angel Delight, its one of those things that remind me of my childhood, when taxes, terrorists and death seemed to be the ingredients of fantasy rather than reality... I guess we all have to grow up though, it's just nice to have a snippet of that innocence for a moment whilst indulging in food.

There isn't much on the box tonight either, but we do watch the first part of a new Silent Witness story... quite good to, though if its got blood, dead bodies and forensics in it I'm hooked anyway. Where as Mr. Phil just decided to pick holes in the continuity and details of the plot... with skills like that maybe he should be a detective rather than a computer bod, he certainly has an eye for detail whereas I just blindly bumble along paying little attention to anything. :)

Posted by Abi at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2005

Email

Since I did the vast majority of house stuff at the beginning of the week, my enthusiasm has left me with somewhat of a quandary as there is very little for me to do today in terms of housey things.

Not that I should have worried too much. You see my new phone has the ability to send and receive emails, which is a functionality that I'd like to get working as I think it could be useful. So I spend most of the morning trying to figure out how to set it up - with no avail to be honest.

So I give in and ring up the vodafone customer service help line - twice. The first call was pointless, the woman on the end of the phone has as much idea as I do, ie. none. So I struggle along on my own for a bit longer. I then see if my Knight in Shining Gadgetry Armour can help.. Phil, but with out him being here with the phone its difficult for him to find out whats wrong with it too.

I've now spent the best part of 3 hours trying to figure out the darn thing, and decide to give the customer service bods another go, you never know I might not get the same person twice. Luckily for me the second person was much more helpful than the last, and even emails me the setting up guide for me to use. And finally after much swearing, I get it to work. I can now send mails from my phone, but not much luck with receiving.

I'm not particularly bothered by this, the main reason for me wanting to set up the email was so that I could go into town, take some photos of a mirror and a painted canvas that I'd seen in town that were on sale and I think might go well in our newly decorated hallway. If I can take the photos and email them to Phil at work I can get his opinion of both instantly and purchase them there and then.

So phone in hand I go to town, take the pics and email them to Phil, who ultimately says to get them, though in his own words "If it's not got cables and circuitry then I'm not the best person to comment". Hmm. Well I take that as a yes and get both items. The canvas was originally £60 reduced to £23.99 and the mirror was £40 down to £19.99. I then leave them both in the shop whilst I go to the local book store to see if they have any books that might be relevant to my new found photography craze.

As it happens they do, and I pick up The "Adobe" Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers and Adobe Photoshop CS One-on-One. Both are good books with easy "just do it" sections which skip the theory and tell you step by step how to get the results that you want. Pretty nifty.

I then head back to the shop where my mirror and canvas were waiting, pick them up and then head home, but not before I've gone to the supermarket to pick up some essentials, like bread.

Not much doing this evening to report, so I'll leave it there!

Posted by Abi at 9:35 PM | Comments (1)

July 20, 2005

Lunchtime Rush

So it's the second day this week I've to go into work, I've got a couple of 3 day weeks a head of me, but all in all the money is welcome considering the shortfall I am suffering this month what with new tyres and hotel visits.

The day is filled with enough to keep me busy and at lunchtime I've got more than enough errands to run to fill the whole hour and some.

I've got to go to the bank, the post office, get some lunch, buy a mallet (for our camping trip) and get some eye wash for Phil since his eye went a big gammy yesterday. Now that doesn't sound too much to do in all honesty, but when you factor in the amount of time required queuing for any particular service that you desire, it could easily run into several hours. It seems to be that the fine art of forming an orderly line in anticipation of being served by a rude and incompetent (and all too often lethargic) reject from the gene pool is common place here in the UK, and something you just learn to live with.

I eventually get back to work where I then embark upon a mammoth update of one of the websites we maintain. Apparently we need meta description and keyword tags putting into every page... funny, I thought most worthwhile search engines ignored that sort of thing completely because of previous misuse and abuse. But who am I to argue, I'll just get on with it. It's more likely the site will be listed because the content has been updated, not because of how they've chosen to describe it.

Back home and I am faffing around with the camera some more whilst waiting for Phil to come home. We're thinking of entering the Photo Friday competition at some point, so the more practice the better. The latest photos are situated here for your viewing pleasure.

There is still no food in the house as we haven't been shopping, and this late on in the week it seems pointless doing a big shop as we are away again for the weekend, this time camping. So we settle on Chinese, which was nice.. and I then watch White Chicks while poor old Phil does some more work. The film isn't too bad, and a bit of light relief in comparison to the doom-mongering which is inevitably on the rest of the broadcasting network.

Posted by Abi at 9:24 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2005

Busy Bee

It's been none stop for me today with plenty to catch up with on the home front.

First I set about giving the hallway it's final coat of paint. I can't remember how long it's taken to decorate it, but it seems for ever and so I'm pretty much determined to finish it today. The weather is a bit cooler too, which is an advantage.

I'm a little dismayed though when I first start putting the paint on, it seems to be even more patchy that the first coat despite the fact that it is virtually dry. Not really knowing what to do, I sit out in the garden with a coffee and contemplate things a bit more. There seems to be little point in me continuing with the paint if it's going to look crap, but now half of the hallway has had a second coat and the other half hasn't, so I cant really leave it as it is. So maybe then I need to struggle on and give the remaining half its second coat and then go out and buy some dulux "once" (guaranteed not to need a second coat). But that means the decorating could quite happily go on for another month or so by the time I get around to doing it.

The dilemma was quickly resolved though because by the time I'd finished my coffee the paint had dried even more, to a near perfect unpatchy finish! Quite happy with the results so far then I set about finishing completely, and an hour later the hallway was done! Hurrah! It's taken long enough, but I have to say looks marvelous in comparison to its original decor.

So having now reached the final chapter of "Abi does decorating" I'm happy to report that the next edition of the series will not be published for some considerable time to come... I've had enough of stripping, sanding, filling and painting to satisfy even the most addictive form of decorating bulimia.

I then cut the grass, which whilst it hasn't grown much due to the lack of water, is looking decidedly untidy, growing sporadically and unevenly. It is whilst I am doing this that I realise that I most definitely do not have an allergy to grass pollen, as the front lawn produced a most impressive pollen storm during is trimming, something you could easily equate to a sandstorm in a teacup if you wanted to.

When I finally get back into the house I realise that even though I'd finished the hallway I'd failed to remove the masking tape which has been clinging to the wood work for the past month or so. Well thats no big problem is it? Just pull it off, shouldn't take too long. Theoretically no, in reality it was a right pain in the arse! Because it had been on so long, and had been painted over so many times actually removing it was quite tricky, especially where the paint was thick. I spend another 30 minutes trying to extract the darn stuff, but eventually manage it.

It's pretty late by now, but I decide I should really clean the house. Phil has been putting in some late hours at the office this week, so with little else to do I get on and start cleaning. It will be the first time in a long time that the house will be virtually back to rights since the decorating started.

I'm just about done when Phil gets home, but I'm knackered. We have lemon chicken for tea, and then set about taking some pictures of a bumble bee which had the misfortune of getting stuck in our guest bedroom. The bee was quite difficult to take pictures of as he was a little camera shy - also, we didn't have the advantage of natural day light. So, the pics are ok, but not wonderful... you can have a gander here.

Posted by Abi at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)

July 18, 2005

Monday Schumunday

I've got to go to work today as I'm covering for a girl who is on annual leave, not that it's a pain or anything, but it does leave me one day short for doing things around the house that I'd usually do whilst I'm at home.

The day goes by quick enough however, and sooner (rather than later) I'm winding my way back to the house.

At home I get busy with the camera again, and take some close up shots of one of the sunflower heads, the results of which you can see here.

I really am quite liking doing the close up work with the camera, I find it much easier to do this kind of shot than perhaps framing a landscape or such like. I know from previous experience that I'm not much good at that sort of thing - so to have the ability to explore a different field of photography is a hobby which I think I'll probably keep on looking into. I know I've got a lot to learn about such things, but really there is nothing to stop me from learning. I like the way that you can make everyday things look quite abstract by just zooming in on them.

With the cupboards bare once again, there isn't too much choice for tea, so I nip to the supermarket and pick up some chicken and set about making a curry - very nice it was too, when I eventually got around to cooking it... got a little side tracked with the old photo library on here :)

Posted by Abi at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2005

Just Another Day

Well there is not much going on today, I'm in work, Phil is in work and the weather has cooled off a little making it almost bearable to do most things without dying from heat exhaustion.

Absolutely nothing exciting happens in the day, apart from me booking a room in Cardiff for our weekend stay. All the places were full except of course for the Hilton so somewhat begrudgingly I book the room at a cost of £141 a night (including breakfast which would ordinarily be £20 a head).

This evening Phil is experimenting with the camera and how to do night shots, but with no tripod it's quite difficult to hold the camera still enough for the amount of time that is required on the exposure to get a good photo. That keeps us busy for most of the night and finally we head off to bed.

Got to be up reasonably early tomorrow so that we can be in Cardiff for 2pm.

Posted by Abi at 10:37 PM | Comments (1)

July 14, 2005

Snaptography

No work for me today, and it's quite a relief because considering the weather, I don't think I'd want to be couped up in an office.

However, that doesn't mean I've been sat on my butt all day, quite the opposite.

The morning is taken up with catching up with some household chores, such as washing and the like. I try to get as much done as is needed and with it being so warm it doesn't take long for a line of clothes to dry and consequently another line being put out. It's all about planning on my part, since we are away for the weekend again it would be nice to have something to wear for the occasion :)

I then set about trying to track down a case to put our new camera in. It didn't come with one, and Phil and I both decided that whilst we don't need a huge kit bag to put it in, a case for the camera as it is (ie, the body and the lens) would be handy and useful to protect it against knocks and scrapes. I eventually find one thats just right, it's a semi-hard case made by canon, but instead of ordering online I ring around a few of our local camera places to see if they have any in stock that I can pick up today.

Luckily for me a place in town has one, so after a quick bite to eat I head off to the park and ride to get myself into town and pick the case up. The trip in was fine, the bus was air conditioned and not very full, so plenty of room to chill out (literally). So after I've got the case, treated myself to a very nice lemon meringue ice cream and bought Constantine and Racing Stripes on DVD and an album by Stonebridge. I then head back to the bus, but it seems my luck has changed as this bus not only is packed to the brim, but also has no air conditioning at all! It was the most unbearable 4 miles of my life to say the least.

When I get back home I then have a play around with the camera some more and go out into the garden to take some pictures. I've not read the manual or anything really, so I was pleasantly surprised by the results which you can see here... please bare in mind that the images are over .5mb each, so may take some time to download. I have compressed them just to make it practical to put them on the web, so the quality you see isn't what you get directly from the camera which shoots at a resolution of 3456 x 2304!

I then have a further tinker with my phone and install the software it came with on the computer which apparently makes it easier to organise stuff... well maybe for some, but I quickly lost patience and left Phil to have a go whilst I got on with tea.

The rest of the evening is relatively lost, filled by watching a few snippits on the tv, and not much more than that.

Posted by Abi at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2005

Group Failure

I'm back in work today, and having spent a night under air cooling conditions I'm not terribly appreciative of the lack of the same in the offices I work in.

It's 30 degrees outside, and all we have in the way of equipment to cool yourself down is fans... small ones at that. So the office is very warm, and very stuffy.

Only at lunchtime however when I go outside to eat my lunch I realise just how bloody hot it is, I only last 10 minutes in the sun before I have to scamper off and find shade. Even my twix has bit the dust, turning into a mushy goo contained only by the plastic wrapper that is now neatly retaining melted chocolate and caramel.

I'm very happy when it's hometime and stick the aircon in the car to maximum warp and leave it that way for 5 minutes before I even put a foot in it, so by the time I get home I'm nicely chilled.

Phil brings home my new phone and so whilst dinner is cooking I have a fiddle with it. Firstly, getting the SIM card is is quite tricky to say the least, but after getting over that hurdle and removing the copious amounts of protective wrapping off the phone I manage to have a play. It seems though there is a problem with either the phone or my sim card. For some reason I can't get the phone to read the sim in terms of the phone book, so whilst I can make calls by manually typing in the number, I can't access any of the entries I've got stored on the sim - all the phone does is say "Please wait..." indefinitely, and whilst I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to it taking a bit of time (what with Java etc) I think 5 minutes is totally unpractical in terms of trying to make phone calls using numbers I have in the phone book.

So now I'm onto vodafone customer service, who despite being very pleasant were ultimately useless, opting for them just to send me a new phone (because it's obviously faulty), but they don't have any in stock. Not content with that solution then I tell vodafone I'll ring them back if I can't figure out what's wrong with it, as I don't really want the hassle of returning a damaged phone and waiting for a replacement.

Phil then tries his SIM in the phone, and voila, the phone book seems to work fine with his sim, it loads with no problems. So there is nothing wrong with the phone, the problem seems to lay with my SIM card. He then sticks my SIM into his phone (a samsung), and notices that there are loads of weirdo characters next to the names in the phone book, which I surmise must be from where I had organised the names into groups on my Nokia.

Some fancy finger work later we've managed to get rid of all the weird characters, and try my SIM back into the motorola, and hey presto, it works just fine! So obviously (now of course!) grouping numbers on a Nokia results in the Motorola not being able to read any of the data, and the work around for that is to either ungroup the names, or get rid of the strange characters that assigning a number to a group seems to generate when you do it in a Nokia.

Anyway, it's all working now, hurrah! I have to say my worries about the menus were to some extent unfounded as it seems pretty intuitive. Things I have found difficult to do though are deleting an entry from the phone book (the only way I've managed to do this so far is by deleting the name and number from the details which seems to prompt a "Delete contact" option - which IMHO is a bit long winded to say the least. I also haven't figured out how to have one name with lots of numbers associated to it... a job for tomorrow maybe.

I did try out the camera though, pretty cool with zoom ability and now have a photo ID of Phil so his picture comes up on the screen when he rings me... pretty cool!

All I need to do now is to get me a funky ringtone, the ones that come with the phone as standard are a little dull for my liking... needless to say though it won't be that stupid crazy frog that will be prancing around and squawking from my phone.

Posted by Abi at 10:01 PM | Comments (1)

July 12, 2005

Paint, Travel & Upgrade

It's my turn (as in actually me rather than workmen) to be busy today.

Since I have the whole day to do stuff, the first thing I set about doing is some more decorating in the hallway. Having painted the walls white with a base coat, the ceiling suddenly looks really scummy, and so I give the ceiling a coat of matt white paint to freshen it up, and it looks much much better.

Next I set about giving the walls their first coat of coloured paint. I've gone with white with a hint of green, to try and tie it into the carpet a little. And it goes on ok, the problem is that because it's so hot at the moment it's drying too quick and therefore not leaving such a nice finish. Doing the hallway walls takes me the best part of the day, and by the time I'm done I think I've sweated more sweat than paint gone on the walls! The thing is now I think I'll probably have to give the walls another coat of paint, which is no biggy, but I may well wait until the evening to do it, or until the weather has cooled down a little to prevent killing myself with exhaustion and to limit the chances of the paint drying too quickly again.

I've also sorted out my mobile phone contract and handset. I've been wanting to change my phone for some time, it's a Nokia 8910 (the one with the titanium casing) and whilst it look cool and all of that, actually its a bit of a pain in the butt to use. It doesn't have any backlighting on the keypad, and the keys are quite tricky to press, especially if you have long nails as I do (or did until I started decorating and things).

As for my contract, well I've been on the same one since I signed up with vodafone, so whilst it was only £11 a month for line rental I was getting quite high call charges because I only had free minutes at certain times of the day and only to land lines.

So after a little investigation, and realising that despite the fact I had a month left on my existing contract I could still upgrade now, I decide to upgrade to vodafones Anytime 200 (plus stop the clock) package. It gives me plentiful free minutes to any mobile network or landline and the stop the clock bit means that I can talk for an hour and only pay for the first 3 minutes. Pretty handy.

As for the handset, well I've gone for a motorola RAZR V3, which looks pretty cool. However, I am a motorola virgin, so I'm not sure how well I'll adjust to the menus after spending so long traversing the Nokia "menu's for dummies" idealisation.

Anyway, its all ordered and hopefully I should have the phone tomorrow.

In the evening, Phil and I pop over to my friends house (the ones who have emigrated to the States) and pick up a portable air conditioning unit. We don't leave here until 8pm, meaning that we don't arrive there until gone 9. And by the time we've loaded up the unit, and shifted some furniture around it's late enough that we don't get home until about 11.30 pm. I have to say it was worth the travelling time and diesel, our bedroom was icey cold after about 10 minutes of turning the unit on, a most welcome relief considering it is so hot and muggy here at the moment.

Did I mention that our Canon EOS 350d camera arrived today too? Well it did, and it looks well impressive. We haven't had much time to play with it yet, but did watch the DVD that came with it promoting what you can do, and of course more importantly what accessories you can buy to get the most out of you new camera ;) I think of all the things I'd most like next to buy for it though would be a macro lens, although I'm not good a photos, I do like taking piccies of things close up, so a macro lens would probably keep me entertained for hours and hours!

I will say though that the software that comes with the camera has drivers of a different kind, because it managed to DRIVE Phil up the wall into a right tiss-was... no worries though, I think he managed to take most of his stress out on his sister :\ (in a good and productive way!).

p.s. I forgot to mention that the etyres people came out and fixed my second punctured tyre. And I have to say, a fantastic service with a great fitter who was very professional indeed (I'd go so far as to say he gave a better service than what I got at the BMW garage when I went with the first flat tyre). Very considerate towards those of us with Alloy wheels, didnt scratch them at all, he even cleaned them! Explained everything as he went along, made sure the pressures were right, made sure the balancing was right, even made sure the nuts on the wheel were tightened to the correct torque! If anyone needs a mobile tyre fitting service I'd recommend you give them a call and see what they can quote you on for your tyres (if you live in the UK obviously!).

Posted by Abi at 11:32 PM | Comments (1)

July 11, 2005

Workmen & Mechanics

Oh boy, what a day today. It's really been non-stop, not so much in a physical way, but in more of a "hello, you must be the {insert workman description here}, please do come in and destroy the house" sort of way.

First up then was the glazier, who I'd arranged to come and replace the bathroom window from when the little gits smashed it with a catapult and stone. Please bare in mind that its only 9.30 in the morning and already 26 degrees and the window is exposed to the full glory of the morning sun. So by about 9.37 am the poor bloke is cooking up a right sweat, but he's managed to get the old window out and in almost one piece and is about ready to put in the new glass. I do the dutiful "would you like a drink before you pass out on my lawn" bit and with a bit of re-hydration he's sets about hoisting up the new glass and inserting it - only he measured the hole wrong and has to nip back to the work shop to get another bit. Eventually though it's all done, and he's made a very tidy job of it.

Next up involved a little bit of effort on my part. I'd rung around earlier in the day to see if there were any local garages that would repair a run flat tyre. I track one down and have arranged to take the car over to the garage so that they can see if the tyre is suitable for repairing or not.

So I tootle on down there, but as expected with my current run of very bad luck, the screw is apparently outside the repairable area. Typical! Not that I think I'd trust the bod to fix my tyre, considering he asked me where the spare was.... it doesn't have one!! Thats why it has runflats! Total despair on my part. But desperation overtakes my usual mental clarity and I arrange to get a tyre shipped in for him to fit tomorrow, cheaper than BMW by a tenner, but I have to wonder if it's a particularly wise move on my behalf.

I then come home and await the arrival of the locksmith who is coming to fit a 5 lever mortice lock onto our door, for a bit more anti-thieving git deterrent appeal. He arrives, and 2 HOURS later finally has finished the job, I mean he's done a very neat job, but 2 hours?

So while to bloke was massacring the door, I do a bit more checking around for suppliers and fitters of run flat tyres. Phil mentions etyres.co.uk who do mobile fitting. So after a brief phone call with a sales rep and confirmation that they have the particular type of runflat that I require, the price they quote me is most welcome... £144 in total, so a further saving of £30 from BMW's prices. So I've arranged for them to come out and fit the tyre tomorrow, hopefully it will all go to plan. They are going to bring a repair kit too, so if they assess that the tyre is repairable they will be able to do that instead of replacing the tyre completely - though my hopes of that are dashed somewhat when the actual fitter who is coming rings me up and has a chat with me about repairs to runflats. Since we'd already driven 50 miles on the runflat (getting to and from the cinema) the likely hood of the tyre being fixable is slim, add to that the fact that the screw is closer to the outside edge than the midline of the tread, then basically we're screwed, as well as the tyre.

So in all quite a busy day for me today, with mucho to keep me from the grasping claws of boredom.

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2005

False Hope

With daylight on our side, the first job this morning is to go and investigate my punctured tyre. Whilst the car is very good at telling it has a puncture, it doesn't tell you which tyre is flat so we go around each tyre testing the pressures to see if there is an obvious difference with any of them.

So imagine our surprise when we find out that the tyres are all fully pressurized, in fact the rear ones are over inflated. Since the puncture warning system works on the basis that a tyre is considered flat if the tyre rotates at at a different speed than the others, we correct the pressures of the rear tyres and take the car for a spin. No warnings or nothing, so its looking promising!

We nip to homebase to pick up some paint for the ceiling, nothing spectacular on the colour front, just white. But what is rather cool about the paint is that it's magic! I'm sure anyone who has tried to paint celings or walls white over white realises that there is some considerable difficulty telling where you've painted and where you havent. So Dulux have come up with the idea of this paint which goes on pink and dries to white, making it much easier to see where you've been with the paint brush.

A quick pit stop at home to unload the car, when I notice that in fact the car really does have a puncture, there is a screw sticking into one of the rear wheels - not good really, but because the pressure has not gone down at all there is a chance that we can get the tyre repaired rather than have to get a brand new one. So my job tomorrow is to find out if there is anyone that will repair a run flat... I'm hoping the answer is yes.

A trip to the supermarket is definately in order since we have no food in the house, well there is food, but I can only liken that to that what you'd get in the 1940's when everyone was on rations... ie. lots of tinned stuff but nothing substantial.

With the shopping done, Phil then watches the Grand Prix while I catch up on my blog entries, which to say the least have been somewhat sparse during my epic and somewhat manic week. It's annoying when I fall behind on my blog, so to clear the back log was nothing but a relief to say the least.

We then set about watching Flight of the Phoenix, a film about a plane which gets blown out of the sky by a freak sandstorm and the occupants quest to rebuild a new plane from the remenants of the old one, whilst fighting of hostile natives.

It's not a bad film, but nothing in comparision when you have seen Alive.

Posted by Abi at 9:43 PM | Comments (1)

July 9, 2005

Screwed Again!

A welcome lay in bed this morning and general lazing around too until we have to go into town so that Phil can get his hair cut.

So by 2pm we are in the city centre and it's boiling. I am consequently regretting the choice of top that I've put on, so whilst Phil is getting trimmed I nip and get a couple of t-shirts, one of which I change into in the changing rooms (after paying for it of course) and then continue about my business, mainly looking at mobile phones, none of which I can have yet until a months time when my current contract runs out.

I meet Phil shortly afterwards and we have a quick squizz around some of the camera shops to price compare what they are asking for the Canon EOS 350d - most of which I'm happy to report were asking about £100 more than what we are paying for it off Amazon.

We also pick up some camping gear, such as a tent, and some ground mats, and a few foldable chairs for our weekend away at JAE which is coming up shortly.

Eventually we wind our way home, and Phil checks out our order for the camera on Amazon, good job he did too, because it appears that the delivery estimate has gone up by about 4 weeks (plus a week for posting)!!! So after weighting up the pro's and con's we cancel the order with Amazon and buy the camera from Dabs instead, its more pricey but we'll be guaranteed to get the camera in time for our Hols and various other events that we might want to take it to.

We're off to the cinema tonight and so head off down the motorway. Everything is going fine, and then "BOING" goes the car, and you'd not believe it but the bloody puncture warning light comes on the car again! 2 bloody flat tyres in as many weeks! Plus the fact were half way between home and the cinema - what to do? We decide however to carry on to the cinema (I'll be darned if I'm gonna waste £12 on tickets and not see the film), but just at 50 mph rather than the usual 70 odd we do on the motorway. We turn off and take a back route so we don't endanger ourselves or anyone else on the road by going so slowly on a fast road.

We watch Madagascar, which is quite good, but doesn't really extract me from the rather big strop I'm in facing the fact that I'm now going to have to fork out another £170 for a new tyre - I'm really not a happy bunny at all to say the least. I just can't believe it!! Talk about bad luck... never had one single flat tyre ever and now I've had 2 - I wouldn't mind so much if there were cheap tyres but they ain't - not by a long shot. I almost feel as if I don't want to drive the car anymore for the fear of running over something else that might cost me a small fortune.

Finally we get home rather late after traveling back at our restricted speed, and after me cursing everyone / everything under the sun I chill out enough to get a little shut eye, though I dare say I was probably cussing in my sleep also.

I hate days like this, it's like fate, bad luck and sod's law just shit all over you without so much as a thankyou.

Posted by Abi at 11:09 PM | Comments (1)

July 8, 2005

Small Fry By Comparison

Well with yesterday's events, anything I have to report here would be insignificant and pointless.

In summary then, all I have managed to do today is go to work and come home again. I did manage to pop into the bank and pick up some paying in slips so I can have my wages paid in for me at work on time rather than me waiting until the next time I'm in work which is usually about a week after pay day.

There is no food in the house again, well to be honest neither Phil or I have had the opportunity to go shopping since we've both been rather busy this week, so we settle on getting some Fish and Chips for tea.

A good old british favourite, and a very tasty one at that, though I have to say the film we watched wasn't particularly wonderful... So any horror fans out there, steer clear of The Toolbox Murders, its shite.

Posted by Abi at 9:21 PM | Comments (0)

July 7, 2005

To Be Expected

Well it's happened then, London has had its payload delievered for all of the wrongs of the western world (in extremist terms) in the form of several bombs which were detinated throughout the transport system of the capital. 4 bombs in total, 3 on the underground and 1 on a bus. All of which resulted in the death of at least 49 people and leaving an estimated 700 injured.

It is in my view no surprise that this attack has happened, it was inevitable really, just a matter of where and when. I guess the start of the G8 summit and the announcement of London's winning bid to host the olympics in 2012 were too much of a temptation for those responsible.

And whilst what has happened in London is terrible and inexcusable - a blatant attack on innocent people - it surprises me that we got off so lightly when you compare it to the events of 9/11. You've got to wonder if there is worse to come.

I think though if the terrorists goal was to scaremonger and frighten the UK population they have been sadly misguided in their assumptions about the British and in particular me. My message to them is this:-

Posted by Abi at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

July 6, 2005

See Y'all Later!

Another early start today, and it's gonna be a long one to say the least.

First job, get to Heathrow with my friends hubby and brother and not forgetting Emily, the basset hound who is also emigrating to the USA. We set of early enough but by the Dartford Tunnel it appears we're in a bit of traffic doo doo. I.E. we aint really moving much and time is ticking on by. Emily is suppose to be at the airport by 7.30 am so that she can be packaged up and loaded onto the plane from the Cargo area, but the time is now 8.30 and we still aint near the airport.

We finally get to the doggy departure lounge at around 9.15, where the staff are very helpful and agree to let Emily on the plane despite the fact we are so late. So a bit of paper work and doggy number 1's and 2's done I wave goodbye to 1/4 of my friends family as she's wheeled off into the distance in her crate.

Next, we head over to the terminal which the flight is leaving from and meet up with the other 1/2 of the family, and with some of our other friends who have turned up to say goodbye... I hate goodbyes too, but since we're all running so late its pretty short and painless, though I have to say that didn't stop me blubbing like a baby - I'm gonna miss all of them so much, they've been fantastic friends for over 6 years now, it will be weird not having them within a commutable distance. But this isn't about me, it's about them starting anew and making a go of things in a different place... and I hope it works out well, in fact I'm sure it will, they are the sort of people who make any situation work out to their advantage.

With my friends safely through to the departure lounge I then head off back to their house with my friends brother. We've got to go back to their place to finish loading up the skip with the remainder of the stuff from the house, including a sofa and 2 super king mattresses and anything else that needs to be removed from the house and either disposing of, or putting to one side for other people to pick up.

The trip back to their place was much easier than the trip to the airport, and since I'll be loading my car up with bits and pieces again I reverse my car into the drive way. It was however only when I got out of the car I noticed that the skip was missing. MISSING!!! How can a huge yellow metal box go missing??? It wasn't even full!

What's worse is that I don't even know who they got the skip from... but what I do know is that the skip shouldn't have been picked up till tomorrow, so who ever they hired the skip from has fucked up and removed it a day early.

So I get on the mobile, which isn't an easy task when you take into account that the house is a mobile black spot, no reception anywhere unless you stand in one particular place in the house facing a particular direction and don't move. I finally trace down the skip people who at first deny hiring the skip to my friends, they after they admit that they did, then deny that they had received the message about picking the skip on Thursday... and when they finally admit that tell me that the skip was fully loaded anyhow... which it wasn't.

I have to say my patience was worn about as thin as a piece of paper sideways by now, and so quite frankly I was very rude to the skip people, and told them basically if they didn't have a replacement skip here ASAP I would be suing them for the loss of a days skip use and would make their lives very unpleasant from hereon in.

Strangely, the rude approach worked, to some degree. They deliver another skip, but it's a mini skip. So despite me telling them what I had to put in the skip (a sofa, and 2 super king mattresses) they had decided to deliver something the same size as a shoe box. I mention this to the driver and he tells me not to worry, just stuff what ever I can in it, after all it's free. So thats exactly what I do - I stick it all in there to the point where there is more sticking out of it than in it. Screw the skip people, they've messed me around and consequently they can suffer an over loaded skip.

With everything now done at the house I take a final gas and electricity reading for my friends and set about going home. To my delight the m25 has reopened and I have a breeze of a drive home with very little traffic on the roads.

But by God, I'm knackered...

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)

July 5, 2005

Return Trip

So I'm up super early today so that I can make the trip home in time to get to work for 9am. So I leave at 6.30 am thinking it would be more than ample time, and it was, just. I get to work with about 3 minutes to spare... the traffic was terrible!

Work was work, was work... was work... nothing particularly interesting there, but just before lunch I get a phone call from my friend telling me that something was packed in one of the boxes that I'd taken back which infact they needed quite urgently. Not being able to leave work, I promised I'd drop it off after I'd finished, so I'd see them around 8.30 pm.

So after I'd done my days duty at the desk, I nip home long enough to catch up with Phil (he probably thinks I'm a stranger by now!) and then head off back down the motorway... or so I thought.

I get about 8 miles from the m25 when the sat nav tells me that the m25 is a big no no, its off limits, we have to go another way. So we do, around the bloody town and houses too. And the traffic is horrendous, even by London standards.

I've no idea what is going on with the roads, but eventually we hook back onto the M25, and it's like a ghost town in both directions, no cars or anything... it's actually quite eerie. It's only when we go past one of those big motorway signs that can have different messages on them that we realise the m25 has been closed from Junction 23 to 21a. No wonder Sat Nav has diverted me. I give Phil a call and see if he can find out any more info, and it appears that a lorry carrying gas canisters has caught alight on the motorway and they probably won't be reopening the motorway until 5pm tomorrow.

This leaves a bit of a problem since my friends are flying out to USA tomorrow for good, from Heathrow. To get to Heathrow from theirs the best way is to go on the m25 past the junctions which are now closed and won't reopen until 5pm by which time they will probably be somewhere over the pond.

So when I finally arrive at my destination I have to be the barer of bad news, but all is not lost. We decide that we can just go around the m25 the other way (which is longer and will probably be screwed because everyone else will have the same idea).

No worries though, we'll just have to grit our teeth and bare it, shit roads are just something you have to deal with when you live in the South East.

Posted by Abi at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

July 4, 2005

More Maneuvering

I get some sort of lay in this morning, and I need it after all of the running around at the weekend. However, just because it's Monday doesn't mean I get to stop for an instant really.

I've got to go back to my friends today so that I can load up my car again with the stuff they've given us, including some rather handy DVD towers and a cool Optimum glass table to put the Plasma on, and various other bits and pieces.

So after feeding and washing, I get back into the car and head off into the wilderness once again. When I arrive at my friends I help him to fill the skip with stuff from the garage and the house and once we'd done that we then load up my car with the stuff I've to take back with me. The DVD towers only just fit in as they are quite long, but after a bit of seat adjustment and bungee rope trickery we get them in good and proper.

The evening then is left to a bit of relaxing, though I do have to be up at some stupid hour to get to work on time (since I'm staying over at my friends tonight)...

Roll on 5.30 am.....

Posted by Abi at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 3, 2005

Delicate Transport

It must be the week for it. Flat tyres that is. Seems that the brother of my friend (who's house we are staying at this weekend) has gotten himself a flat too, a great big screw in the tyre.

So after pondering what to do as he needs his car pretty sharpish, Phil drops him off to his destination in my car whilst me and my friend nip to Halfords to get a jack and a thing to undo the tyre bolts - we also pick up a KFC whilst we're there, well any sort of labour requires sustenance before embarking upon the task! :)

So with food eaten, we then change the tyre on his car, but the spare is in pretty bad shape with the rim being very rusty. So whilst he has now got 4 tyres none of us would be particularly keen driving on them. It should however get him to a tyre place to get a new tyre put on.

With the tyre fixed, we then set about loading up our car of the various bits and pieces that we have bought off our friends. They include a 43" Pioneer Plasma TV and a wall mounting kit for said plasma. We decide that since the plasma is quite delicate to transport we won't load up the car too much, and I'll come back tomorrow to pick up the rest of the stuff.

The trip home seemed to take forever, despite the fact that we'd got the plasma wrapped in duvets, sleeping bags and strapped into the back seat with the seat belts, it was still nerve wrecking driving it home. Every pothole in the road seemed to be the size of the grand canyon and every time we went over one Phil and I pulled grimaces which would disturb any other driver on the road to the point of distraction!

We do manage to get home however in one piece, and once we'd unloaded the car we hooked up the plasma to ensure it was still working, which it was! And it looks even bigger in our lounge since the room is much smaller than where it was previously housed.

So, convinced it was working, we got the sound for the satellite and tv to play through the DVD player / speakers and set about customising the settings (brightness / sharpness etc) with a handy DVD that we'd also gotten which gives you step by step instructions on how to set a TV up for the best picture. We then stick on Final Fantasy just to have a gander at the quality, and I have to say... blummin heck! Its fantastic! :)

Posted by Abi at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

July 2, 2005

Car Boot Sale

We are up at some stupid hour this morning so that we can get over to Essex and help our friends out at a Car Boot Sale, we (I) promised to be there for about 8.30, so that means we have to be out of the house by 7 am. Phil is ok with this, provided I do the driving so he can doze on the way, which considering it was my idea to go in the first place I'm only too glad to agree too.

By the time we get there, my friends have laid out all the stuff they are trying to get rid off... and that is a lot of stuff. You see they are emigrating on Wednesday of next week, so it's all got to go, come hell or high water. There are bedsteads, sofas, chairs, toys, computer stuff, hundreds of DVDs, storage units, combi ovens, mathmos lights, buggies, tables, kitchen utensils... and so the list goes on. Phil and I manage to rescue some Harman Kardon Multimedia Soundsticks II which look super cool, though I haven't heard them yet.

Selling picks up through out the day, and they manage to get a stunning deal on a rotavator and a dyson vacuum cleaner, going for the asking price which is a miracle when you think that most of the people there were penny pinching tight arsed money grabbing bandits.

By about 3pm though were all flagging, and since "we ain't taking none of it back to the house" we start to give stuff away... literally, for free. Which was handy for one couple who had just had a house fire and had no insurance, so they fell very lucky and were on the receiving end of some very nice kit to refurbish their home.

We then head off back to my friends house where we have a little bit of shin dig finishing off the booze pile, and generally sit around reminiscing of the old times and theorizing on what the future holds... including inventing breathing apparatus for sharks, should they ever wish to venture onto dry land....

Seriously, don't ask, it was one of those conversations where you really had to be there... ;)

Posted by Abi at 9:11 PM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2005

Organising

I get work out of the way... which wasn't much effort since I was quite busy :) , and then get home and start organising stuff as we're off for the weekend.

By organising I mean packing our bag, getting stuff I'll need such as duvets, sleeping bags and the like. Not for sleeping mind, no, for packing my car up - we've got a lot of expensive and delicate equipment to pick up, including a 43" plasma TV, so I want to make sure it is transported as well as possible.

I also get around to putting the second coat of undercoat on the hallway, which wasn't as much hard work as the first coat, but still pretty time consuming. This time I use the paint pad which I bought as it has an extending pole and is a bit more easy to negotiate edges with. I have to say though, with the second coat on, I could almost leave it as it is without the final colour, but I wont :) Phil helps with the really high bits when he gets home, and after doing a lot of stuff which I can't actually remember we roll into bed quite late considering we've got an early start tomorrow.

Posted by Abi at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2005

Value Added Tyranny

A day off from the grind today, but it doesn't mean I've not been busy.

First thing this morning and I'm *tearing* down the duel carriage way to the BMW garage... ok, so when I say tearing I do in fact mean crawling. Whist the run flat tyres mean that I can still drive the car, this is in no way a license to go over 50 mph. So I have to suffer the embarrassment of driving like a granny and have to put up with HGV's, motorbikes, cars, electric buggies over taking me with ease.

Eventually then I finally get to the garage, only to be told that they "can fix the tyre tomorrow, we don't have one in stock today". Well bugger that for a game of laughs, it's not a cheap car, I paid for most of it in cash, and I think I deserve a little better customer service, quite rightly so too considering I was told that the tyre was in stock and they would be able to replace it whilst I waited.

So having aired my disgruntlement and the service agent, he then suggests that I could come back at 4pm when they will ensure they have a tyre to replace the broken one. Ok I think, but wait a minute, what the hell am I suppose to do at a BMW garage until 4pm? His suggestion was for me to go home and come back at 4pm, fantastic idea, except there is no way I am driving the car back home at 50mph down a really busy duel carriageway.

I then have to put up one helluva fight to get a hire car out of the bastards, but eventually they cave in and I get a BMW 1 series, a 118 d, which while is more than ample for my needs today, doesn't have the engine capacity nor the numerous options I chose to have on my car. Still, its better than the KA they gave me last time.

I figure then that whilst I am so close to town I will pop in to the shops and pick up a few bits and pieces for my friends who are emigrating to the USA in a couple of days - I wanted to get them some "Rule Britannia" kind of goodies, to remind them of the UK, and surprisingly for me I manage to get everything I need in a matter of about 2 hours. A record for my usual shopping spree timings.

Having done the shopping, I then head home, but by the time I get home I almost have to walk out of the door again to go back to the garage to pick my car up.

I'm beginning to wish I hadn't. There I am sitting at the service desk waiting for the bod to do the invoice. He's looking at the bit of paper a little odd to say the least, almost with shock and confusion. He then scampers off to the back room and has a mini conference with his boss, and comes back. By now, I've figured it has to be bad news, and it is. The £144 the quoted me... well it seems they excluded the VAT on that price, so I end up forking out over £170 for the tyre!!!!

So now I'm penniless, but have a nice shiny tyre. Fantastic, fat lot of good a tyre will do me when I'm trying to buy more useful stuff, like food.

Posted by Abi at 9:21 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2005

Broken

I woke up this morning and I feel like the evil "screw you over whilst you're asleep" fairy has paid me a visit in the night. I've done something to my shoulder (most likely due to yesterdays decorating) which makes it really painful to move my arm in any direction, especially upwards.

But since I have to go to work today that isn't so much of a problem, I can't readily paint the hallway and work at the same time. And I'm kind of hoping that my shoulder might sort itself out by the time I come home so that I can get on with the second coat of base coat that needs to go on the walls.

Work is pretty average with plenty to keep my occupied (including a chinese website, with chinese writing and the like which tests my powers of intuition somewhat since I don't understand chinese). We also have some more thunder and lightning storms and boy oh boy did it piss down with rain.

I make a phone call the BMW garage to tell them that I will have to bring the car in and can they give me a price to replace and fit the tyre - £144!!!!!! But apparently they have one in stock so I can go down tomorrow and get it fixed.

I'm late home from work again today, but luckily I've already prepared dinner (well I did it yesterday but couldnt be bothered to cook it) so lemon chicken skewers is on the menu for tonight. Cooking though also made me realise that I use my left arm quite alot, as it kindly reminded me everytime I went to pick something up... the pain hasn't eased off since this morning and its becoming quite tiresome as I can't get on and do things, especially decorating.

When Phil gets in he then sets about putting the second coat of paint on since I'm incapacitated, and steams ahead finishing in a record time - so tomorrow I have to go over the bits which he couldnt reach or get to with the roller. I'll also have to remask the wood work as when we ripped up the plastic drop sheets (yes, I really couldnt be doing with them anymore, and they were more of a hinderence than a help) some of the masking tape also got taken up.

So after all is said and done, there wasn't much left of the evening to fill - Phil is knacked and I'm broken, a suitable combination for an early night.

Posted by Abi at 10:20 PM | Comments (2)

June 28, 2005

Sanding

So, I've stripped, sugared and now I need to fill and mask. The sanding is incredibly hard work - I have to go over each of the holes that we've filled and make sure that they are level with the wall surface. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, and by the time I'm finished I look 10 shades paler than I did already, I'm covered in polyfilla dust, it's gotten everywhere!

With the sanding complete, I then set about clearing up the mess it has produced and vacuum the hallway completely. I also vacuum the walls to remove any of the dust which has got on to them.

A brief break for lunch and then I set about masking off all the wood work that I want to protect from stray paint splatters and the like. It's amazing how much wood stuff we have in the hallway, but finally (after I've used about 1 mile of masking tape) I'm done. All I need to do now is protect the carpet.

We picked up some plastic drop sheets the last time we were at homebase, and so I place them down on the carpet and stick them in place with more masking tape to make sure that they don't move too much with me walking around on them. The are a good idea, but require you to walk barefooted on them so you have some extra grip, rather thank going arse over tit as you would if you had just socks on for example.

So finally I'm ready to start putting on the base coat of paint. We haven't gone with just a cheap old white, but instead we got some Polycell Base Coat. This is kinda like paint, but it has the added advantage of covering up minor blemishes in the plaster, it also will cover the quite horrid purpley/brown paint which we stripped down to.

By the time Phil comes home I'm in a right grumpy strop. I'm covered in paint, I'm dripping with sweat and to add to the misery I keep sticking to the plastic drop sheets. I have however managed to do 80% of the hallway with its first coat of base coat.

I have to say my mood isn't improved much when I hear the dreaded words "Do you want the bad news?". It appears my car has developed a puncture, and considering the tyres are Bridgestone Runflats I've already got an inkling that getting it fixed is not going to be cheap.

I then help Phil with his troublesome anti-roll bar a bit more, and as I'd managed to pick up a hexagon key which may well be the right size we get a bit further in tightening the loose bolt which is causing the noise. We take the car out for a spin after we've tinkered a bit and indeed the noise has lessened a little, but it's still there. Whilst we're blatting around the sky has gone incredibly dark with the sound of thunder in the air, I think we're gonna have a pretty big storm at any moment.

We get something easy for tea, I really can't be arsed to cook, but before we eat we go and measure up the back seat and boot of my car. We're picking up a plasma TV at the weekend, and because you can't transport a plasma laying flat on its back (something to do with the gases in it) we have to know if it will fit the right way round in the back of my car, otherwise I'll have to hire a van. Luckily though, it seems like it might just fit if we lay it across the back seats and belt it in.

The storm is really kicking up a fuss now, it's almost as if lots of storms are all converging upon us, and the lightening and thunder show is quite spectacular, resulting in the electricity flickering lots and the satellite signal going haywire - so with not much to do we go for an early night... and I am most definitely ready for it, big style.

Posted by Abi at 9:59 PM | Comments (1)

June 27, 2005

Sugaring

I have spent the majority of today preparing the walls of the hallway so that I can start painting them.

So that involves me firstly going over the walls again with a scraper and wet sponge to remove the bits of paper which are clinging to the walls for dear life and then sugar soaping the walls down. Sugar soap is basically an alkaline substance that is used for cleaning, ie. it gets all the gunk like wall paper paste, grime, dust and dirt away from the walls so that you've got a nice clean surface to work with.

After doing that I then set about filling the craters and smaller dents in the wall with polyfilla, and I have to say I don't think I'd ever consider becoming a Plasterer for a second career choice :) It's well tricky trying to fill the holes and then get a semi level surface without using too much of the darn stuff.

All of the above takes me most of the day, and by the end of it I'm knackered and have probably lost half of my body weight in water due to copious sweating (ok, so I now realize that decorating in the summer is not the brightest of ideas!).

I then help Phil with his car, it appears that whilst he was changing the suspension on the car something has gone a bit tits up, and he thinks its to do with the anti-roll bar. It's making a clanging noise when he goes over bumps. So we take the wheel off to have a gander and what is going on, and it looks like a bolt has been cross threaded, which means that it isn't on as tight as it should be, which is causing the noise. There isn't much we can do as we dont have a hexagon key the right size, so it will have to wait until tomorrow when we have the right tools for the job.

We have roast chicken dinner for tea which is very nice and a good change since we haven't had it in a good while, and I also do a bit of internet research and find this rather cool bit of software which allows you to use pictures of the room you want to decorate and change the colours to what ever you want. It's called the My Room In Color tool and comes from Crown Paints, and is well handy.

Meanwhile I get a phone call from my Sister who tells me that she and my Mum have just been to visit my Nan - and its good news, she's much better than she was and is sitting up in bed and talking to people. It also seems that she is considerably less confused than she was, and now remembers most things.

It seems that the infection she had only intensifies the dementia, but with the infection on the way to being cleared up it has aided her mental clarity. The doctors in the hospital have also taken off the cocktail of medication that her GP had prescribed her, including the Warfarin which it now appears he'd been overdosing her on.

Posted by Abi at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2005

Stripping

With all of yesterday's events, and still no change with my Nan I really need something to keep me occupied today... I don't want to have little to think about or do as that will only result in me being incredibly miserable all day.

The morning is pretty much taken up by doing the weekly shop (which for some reason is turning more into a fortnightly shop). We did quite well on the froogle side of things too, it was as if someone had analysed our usual shopping list and put all sorts of offers on the things we regularly buy, such as BOGOF (buy one get one free) or BOGOHP (buy one get one half price). So we actually manage to save £10 in total from our usual average spend and get almost double the food.

By the time we get home and unpack the shopping it's time for lunch (tomato soup, fresh bread and grated cheese) and then of course there is nothing to do....

Not for long however. I've been bleating on about the colour scheme of our hallway for months now. It's horrible. It's blue and green and has a yellow dado rail... nuff said? But despite my ramblings of disgust etc I'd not actually done anything about it. But with the prospect of and after noon filled with nothing looming, when Phil suggested we should strip the hallway and rid it of its evil wallpaper painted coverings I went along with the idea willingly.

We went and got a wall paper stripper and all the other things you need to do such a job and 4 hours later we'd removed 99.9% of the paint which was covering the wallpaper and the wall paper which was covering the browny purple paint. It's well weird because in some places you can trace the decor of the house all the way back to when it was built (shiney plastic blue paint, yellow paint, purple paint, white wall paper, blue and green paint).

So with the bulk of it done we have some tea and watch some TV, ending in the last two episodes of 24.... who'd have thought they'd do that to Jack the back stabbing bastards!

Posted by Abi at 10:31 PM | Comments (1)

June 25, 2005

Hospital Visit

I'm up early today as I've no doubt in my mind that I should be seeing my Nan, so after a brief phone call with my Mum (who despite her best efforts to convince me not to come to the hospital) I arrange to meet as soon as I arrive.

Phil very kindly offers to come with me and with an overnight bag packed in case we need it we head to Cardiff and arrive at about 12 noon and promptly go to the hopsital with my Mum, Sister her boyfriend.

I was totally shocked at what I saw. The last time I saw my Nan was at her 80th Birthday Party, just a couple of months ago. Then she was ok, she was walking around, talking fine, a bit confused at times but we can now attribute that to the vascualar dementia that she'd finally been diagnosed with. She was happy and laughing along with the rest of the family.

The person I saw laying in the hospital bed wasn't my Nan, it was a wreaked shadow of someone who would be utterly devestated to suffer the humiliation of having to be nursed 24 hours a day, unable to do anything for herself. She's certainly had another stroke since I'd seen her last, she couldn't speak, just groan. She couldn't focus on anything or move any part of her body - I don't even know if she could hear anything we were saying to her. My Mum is emotionally broken, there is nothing she can do, as was the case 25 years ago to the week when Granddad died in the exact same hospital.

The nurses are helpful enough and I learn that as well as all the other ailments my Nan is currently suffering from she also has septicimia and so they are trying their best to get as much fluids and antibiotics into her as possible - but they won't have the results to the identification of the initial infection she caught until Monday. I am however very fucked off of the attitude of one of the doctors, who when asked by Mum how my Nan was doing promptly told her that she would have to make an appointment to discuss the matter... what the fucking hell is wrong with these people?

We then go to have something to drink in the hospital, and by the time we get back my Nan has gone to sleep - you can tell that she's fighting sleep with all her will (for fear of the inevitable I've no doubt) but whilst she's resting we decide to leave as our presence there seems to keep her awake, when in fact what she needs is to conserve her energy to fight the infections running through her.

Eventually then we head for home, no knowing what the next hours or days will bring.

Posted by Abi at 10:06 PM | Comments (1)

June 24, 2005

Bad Communication

I'm at work today, and there is nothing out of the ordinary about that. What was somewhat distressing however was the phone call that I received from my sister to tell me that my Nan had been rushed into A & E because she was very unwell.

I get the phone call in the afternoon and I then ring my Mum who is already on the road to go and see my Nan in the hospital who tells me that she'll ring me when she gets there so that I know what the score is. But, from what I can gather it's not good, she's almost certainly going into kidney failure and has an infection of "unknown origin".

So most of the afternoon is spent worrying about that, with only something to distract my mind from things when I get handed some urgent work to do which ultimately results in me being at work until 6.30 pm.

By the time I get home I've still not heard anything from my Mum and then make a few calls to the hospital to track down where my Nan is and what her condition might be - it is only then that I get a call from my Sister who has spoken to my Mum... it's not good, it's not good at all. And whilst I'm quite prepared to zip to Cardiff right away the general concensus of opinion is that in fact both me and my sister should wait until the morning as my Nan is currently in a stable condition, though that condition is not particularly promising.

My evening then is spent glued to my mobile phone in case I get a phone call (and quite possibly one that I don't really want to receive).

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2005

Ordinary

Pretty much an ordinary kind of day today, where much of it is spent catching up with my usual early week doings which I'd had to neglect since I was away at the beginning of the week.

I do manage to get on with some of my own personal work related stuff too, which is good and I made progress with it which is always satisfying.

For tea we have jacket pototoes with prawn mayo, very nice indeed I might add, and also helps in the current demise of freezer food stocks that we are trying to eat up in order to replace said goods with some newer versions. We're almost there on that front it has to be said, though when we'll get round to eating the antelope hooves I'm not sure ;)

Posted by Abi at 9:39 PM | Comments (1)

June 22, 2005

Astonishing Mileage

No rest for the wicked as they say, and well then I must be at the top of the wicked list as I'm up bright and early to get ready for work.

I've every intention of cycling there as well, the sun is out and the weather is nice from what I can tell standing at the window. That all changed however as soon as I opened the door and realised that if I were to cycle into work today there would be a good chance that I might not make it in at all. It is soooooooo hot you can't move without breaking into a sweat, so the chances of me biking 3 miles into work are quickly wiped out as the realisation that a car with air conditioning would be a much more appropriate means of transport.

Nothing much happening at work to say the least, I do have a rather nice hour outside for lunch though enjoying the sun and reading a book, and have decided that taking lunch at 1 rather than 12 is fantastic as it means that I only have 3 hours to work in the afternoon before I can come home.

I also worked out the exact mileage that I did during me extended break away - 751.46 miles in total, it's no wonder I had drivers knee at the end of it all! :)

Back home after work and we have club sandwiches for dinner, very nice too, though you really do have to have the american dry cure streaky bacon to make a good one.

Phil is pretty exhausted and has an early night, whereas I set about catching up on some TV that I missed whilst gallivanting around the country. First off Dr. Who (the final episode of this series) and then 24 (I reckon it was the penultimate episode, but can't be sure).

All in all very entertaining stuff, and it's rather nice to be back home.

Posted by Abi at 9:47 PM | Comments (1)

June 16, 2005

Finger Ache

Anyone who does what I do for a living, or something similar, will be well familiar with the associated finger ache which is acquired after you have done alot of the same thing, for a number of hours. In particular CTRL C, V, N, A and W.

So today, with having to rip the content from a disheveled website into a new CSS template driven one, it has had a bit of an affect on my little finger... i.e it hurts! I don't have an ergonomic keyboard at work either, which I don't think has aided things when you consider I use an ergo one at home all of the time, so using an ordinary one 2 days a week is a bit of a pain in the arse, and the finger for that matter.

Yet again then another day at work where I don't even stop for lunch, I just keep plodding through all the pages that need to be built, have content added and of course building it nicely so that its using CSS and is accessible/usable. Its a bit laborious to say the least, as the old site which I'm taking content from is wholly done with tables, so its not easy to extract the content by looking at the source code as it is just viewing it via a web browser and cutting and pasting the text. That of course though means that I have to go in and add the appropriate tags for formatting.

By 7pm I'm finished for the day, the site isn't finished but I'm starting to make mistakes, so I figure I'd rather call it a day than having to keep rectifying things that I am breaking because I'm tired, so I head home.

Not much going on this evening either, well there isn't much left of it! We get take out for dinner because I'm in no mood to cook, and then watch "The Strangest Village In Britain" - a documentary about a isolated village called Botton which is effectively a safe haven for people with disabilities like autism and downs syndrome. The village has been established for over 50 years and provides a home and a job for the 135 residents. It's an interesting piece of film and whilst the village has received professional criticism (suggesting people with learning difficulties should be part of a wider community) it seems to be doing a fine job to me, with many of the residents being alot more active and sociable than they might otherwise be if they were left to the mercies of society as a whole and social services.

Posted by Abi at 9:52 PM | Comments (1)

June 15, 2005

Back To The Grind

So long farewell, auf weidersehen adieu.... that's what we should be singing to the summer weather, as today its most definitely packed its bags and gone elsewhere. There isn't even a hint of summer in the air, its raining big style.

Which leaves me with no choice but to take the car to work rather than cycle. I mean, its one thing taking the bike to work and it rains after you arrive (there isn't much you can do if you just get caught in it) but it's a whole different kettle of fish if you make a conscious effort to cycle 3 miles in the rain. I'm afraid I didn't see any advantage in doing that and so drove into work instead.

It seems the new bod that we hired at work has resigned already (after an astonishing 5 day career with us) because he doesn't feel he's up to the job. I'll give him credit for admitting so rather than struggling and ultimately causing more work than he is able to complete, but perhaps he should look into modifying his CV a bit to be a more accurate portrayal of his abilities.

It's a common theme that really, I've seen so many front end web developers CV's which have turned out to be farsicle... I found that the only way to find out if you had a good developer on your hands was to issue a test, a standard design done in photoshop which they then had to turn in HTML under timed conditions. If they managed that (and their code didn't look obviously generated by a WYSIWYG editor) then they'd get an interview and a second test done at the office. It certainly weeded out the crap from the not so crap, and gave you a good idea of those who genuinely could code HTML with just notepad, which in a commercial environment is a must.

Anyway, work went really quick as I had plenty to do, including rewriting a website we'd inherited from someone else who'd done a pretty piss poor job of it. So before I know it its past my clocking off time and I decide to head home. I'd already worked my lunch break as I need to leave early on Friday, but it was only after I'd done this I find out that in fact they'd like to work tomorrow instead of Friday to get this website completed. Which suits me just fine :)

Back home and Phil doesn't get home till late, so I occupy myself with some more Sim City and doing tea, though I do have to plate Phil's up for later when the poor sausage finally arrives through the door gone 7pm.

Posted by Abi at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2005

Innocent Until Proven Guilty?

I could hardly let today pass without mentioning that the world has been *stunned* by the outcome of Michael Jacksons child abuse trial (please excuse the sarcasm).

For the 4 months and $2.1 million dollars the case has cost the residents of Santa Barbara County, and the $500 hourly rate charged by defence and the apparent imminent bankruptcy of Mr. J (well lets face it being $300 million in debt isn't something I'd be particularly proud of) it seems to me the only people who stand to gain anything out of this mess are the lawyers and the media.

But putting all of that aside, you've got to wonder if the outcome of the case holds any validity at all. I suppose it would be preposterous to think that just possibly there were some other ill gotten gains on offer to those in a position of influence and who were willing to take the bait.

Not that I'm cinical about the legal system in any country (cue sarcasm again), but honestly you've got to wonder what its all about and it's actual efficiency dealing with those who should find them selves up against Judge and Juror. I know that in the UK things certainly need redressing - criminals get too many chances, know the system too well and can play it to their advantage time after time.

I wouldn't say I have a zero tolerance approach to offenders, but I believe I'm edging towards 1 strike and your out rather than 3, and spending time in prison certainly wouldn't involve TV, Internet and recreation time. I think the words "boot" and "camp" would closer describe my feelings on the matter.

Posted by Abi at 9:04 PM | Comments (1)

June 13, 2005

And So It Begins

Another week that is :) Which ultimately is good as it brings me one step closer to going on holiday and pay day, but tiresome because it's 5 days till the weekend, when I am off for a girly weekend away to the east of England.

It's the usual Monday stuff for me then, giving the house a clean and the like, and finding something exciting to cook for tea, as well as doing some stuff I need to catch up on work wise.

After considerable trawling of the net, I finally settle upon doing Oven-baked Chicken in Maple Barbecue Sauce which was quick and easy to prepare, but does take about 50 minutes to cook. It was quite nice actually, and quite similar to a recipe my Mum does (though for some reason Mum's always tastes better).

So upon deciding what we're having for tea I then nip out to pick up various things that I need for the recipe which we don't have, and whilst I'm at it I pick up a Fathers Day card for my Dad, and some Piriton for Phil, which usefully was on a 3 for 2 deal in Boots, meaning Phil should be stocked up of anti-sneeze gubbins for at least a week! ;)

The evening is devoted to eating (naturally) and we then pop out to do the weekly shop since we didn't have time to do it yesterday. I then get my daily Sim City fix while Phil watches some TV and eventually I shimmy into bed after my eyes start to burn from staring at the monitor.

P.S I'd just like to mention the disturbing nickname I seem to have acquired from one of my friends - you know who you are! Apparently I am now legally known as "Little Bo" - a character from the Fimbles children's TV show. And no it's not because I'm pink and stripy, carry around a back pack and have a Busy Book, but more to do with the fact I have a welsh accent - WELSH????? I sound as welsh as the next english person!

Posted by Abi at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2005

Charity

We are up early today as we've got to be about 100 miles away for 10.30 am where we (and some of my other friends) are planning a surprise attack on one of our other friends, who is running in a "Race For Life" 5km charity run.

We head off in Phil's car since the sun is out and after a bit of commotion and confusion about where we need to go (conventional maps are not as handy as satellite navigation by a long shot) we arrive in time to all meet up and find our running buddy and give her the shock of her life :)

After the warm up we all do the dutiful encouragement and motivation pep talks and shortly after that she's on her way leaving us to have a good catch up until she arrives back only 40 odd minutes later - well done to her, I'd have still been going around on Monday if it had been me!

We then head back to my friends house to relax and get some food, but only after getting stuck in the flood of traffic heading out from the event - with some 2000 runners in the race you can imagine the queues to leave the event were quite large and were certainly not aided by the fact that the person in front of me was letting every mother and their uncle out in front of him. Ah well, I'll not be bitter, it was for charity, and a good one at that.

So after feeding, watering, chatting and generally catching up with each other some more, it's time to head home and an hour and 45 minutes later we get back home in one piece.

There isn't much left of the evening however, so what is left is taken up with some TV for Phil and more Sim City for me... I think I may need to go on a detox program or something :)

Posted by Abi at 9:52 PM | Comments (1)

June 11, 2005

Modification

The best part of today is spent helping Phil make some modifications to his car. He's been gathering bits and pieces to add to his car ever since I've known him, but unfortunately his car insurance company are not particularly lenient with people who make modifications. However, now that he's renewed his insurance with a different broker, things are slightly different as they are much more accommodating when it comes to those peeps who like to tinker with their motors beyond the usual manufacturers specification.

So we attach some new mud flaps (which IMHO look a bit kinky - sort of leather / latex thing going on, but still uber cool) and a new front grill, which replaces the plastic one with a nice shiny metal one, very swanky.

Now that might not sound like a lot of work, but when you consider that most car areas are inaccessible for the best part, after we'd removed wheels and put them back on again (for the mud flaps) and taken off the front bumper (for the new grill) it's taken the best part of a couple of hours to take everything off, put the new bits on and then return the car to its former glory.

A quick break for lunch then and I get handy in the garden again. We bought some pretty plants earlier today when we had to pop to homebase and they need to be put into the ground, so I do that. Then I plant some of the Paper moon plants that I'd grown from seed in the garden as well and set about repotting the last sunflower into a bigger pot.

After heaps of "doing" both Phil and I are about flat on our feet, so with sufficient tinkering and potting etc to last for a few weekends completed, we put our feet up and watch From Hell....

Ok let me rephrase that, I watch From Hell as Phil goes to bed absolutely shattered! hehehe :) I've seen the film before and reckon its quite good and it's got the added pleasure of some rather nice eye candi in the form of Johnny Depp. It's about Jack the Ripper who is being tracked down by a detective who relies on opium and absinthe induced premonitions to find the killer. So if you're into that sort of thing, it might also be you're cup of tea :)

Posted by Abi at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2005

Contemplation

I'm working again today, but under the shadow of waiting for a confirmation phone call as to whether or not I'll be flying out to Greece at 10 pm tonight, so most of the morning is spent rapidly completing work to get it done as soon as possible - so if I need to go I can do so early and at reduced risk of missing my flight.

If I admit it, I'm probably secretly liking all the drama of it - flying off with little or no notice, with just myself, toothbrush passport and a clean pair of pants, and of course the lure of duty free - but by the afternoon I'm informed that I wont be needed after all... so a little crest fallen I stay at work till the usual time then wind my way home in the sunshine on the bike and instead of thinking of what could have been I concentrate on what I will do this weekend, I think I've plenty to keep my occupied in actual fact :)

Not much going on the evening, though I do play some more Sim City, I've quite an impressive Metropolis going on now, but rapidly running out of land space for the little critters. It's strange, I don't play this game for months on end, the get the bug whereby I can't stop playing it :) It's quite cool trying to apply the stuff I learnt in Geography about demographics and the like to a city I can build from scratch...

Then again I could just be incredibly sad :)

Posted by Abi at 9:03 PM | Comments (1)

June 9, 2005

On Call

I've been working today to try and get some extra hours in as it appears I might well be going to Greece tomorrow to sort out some legalities which I need to be present for (after a rather brief phone call from my parents who are currently holidaying over there) - not something that can be sorted via modern communications it appears, and thus I most likely will have to get my butt on a plane tomorrow.

So with an unexpected bout of work on my plate most of the day is reserved for the good old hard slog of the rat race once again, but never mind. I manage to get a lot of work done which means that if need be I can escape early to the airport to catch my flight should I need to do so - I'll know more later in the day or early tomorrow.

Not much else to report really, everything is up in the air at the moment, and consequently that could well be rubbed off in this blog - higgledepigildy to say the least.

Posted by Abi at 8:53 PM | Comments (0)

June 8, 2005

Simulated

Work today for me again, so after a rather manic cycle to work (that will serve me right for leaving late) I get to work with minutes to spare and in a new record time - about 19 mins to be precise.

And whilst it was the usual at work, my usually refrained paranoia about dreamweaver reached an unsurmountable head today - it is the most impossible piece of software to use when you come from a background of being talented enough not to have to use it - and that's not blowing my own trumpet, its a fact. It does not help me in anyway, it is a hinderence, it is overerly complicated and tries to emmulate things that could easily be acheived by other means which are much more simplified, coherent and logical. I'm not saying it doesnt have its place in the market, but really - anyone developing sites on a commercial basis really should be in a position whereby they do not have to rely on the clumsy mess that WYSIWYG profers.

Anyway, that was work, and work is work, and there isn't much you can do about it.

I get home about the usual time, only to arrive to an email, well which I really could have done without. It means I've got to rethink short term and long term plans, and make some choices which are going to be difficult - in summary, the arse just fell out of my world.

Phil is out for the evening so while I simmer and brood and distract myself with some Sim City 4 (you really can't play that game without cheating) and watch a documentary called "Being Pamela" which is about a woman who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. Its both a heart warming and disturbing account of 2 years worth of filming of Pamela Edwards, and all her associated personalities (Sandra, Susan, Andrew and Margaret). The saddest part of the film is its conclusion - you see Pamela wasn't born like this, her condition was brought about by years of abuse and traumatic events as a child inflicted by her parents.

All in all then, a pretty shit day for me, I hope yours was considerably better.

Posted by Abi at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

June 7, 2005

The Usual

Having had a good old rant yesterday, and quite frankly ending up seething for the best part of the day, its a relief that this morning arrives - and the weather is glorious. It's most definitely a day that needs to be spent in the garden and catching up on the odds and sods that have to be attended to.

I start out by mowing the front and back lawn, which despite almost being ready for hay was manageable enough to get a tidy end result, though it's a bit brown in places. I think we may well have to invest in a lawn sprinkler of something - but with the threats of a water shortage looming that might not be such a good idea.

I then set about with some more weeding - I did the left hand side flower bed the other day, so this time I attack the right hand side one. I culled a few plants that we inherited from the previous owners, because in all honesty they were awful and I don't think placed in the correct position to actually grow. I also give the soil a good turning over, which was considerably difficult since it was like digging into concrete. But after a bit of blaspheming and sweat the end result was well worth it.

My sister gave me some nice lights for my birthday, which up until today have been sitting in a box whilst I wondered what to do with them. They are for inside and outside use, and are little silver dragonflies with blue LED's inside. So since I'm pottering in the garden I decide that they might be nice if I pin them up around the shed (easy enough since we have power in there) - so I do exactly that and I have to say they look fantastic, I just need to line them up a bit better.

This evening is spent quietly in front of the TV whilst we eat Hot dogs. I want to mention what we had for tea yesterday though, Lemon Chicken Kebabs. The recipe for that requires bay leaves, oregano and parsley, all of which I have grown in the garden. The plants are big enough now (with the exception of the oregano) that I can start to use them in cooking, so thats what I did. I have to say the fresh herbs made the world of difference to the food, and it was most satisfying eating something I'd grown! :)

We watch Layer Cake, a film about well, drugs basically and how, should you desire, you would best get ahead in the wheelin', dealin', murderin' and untrustworthy game. A good film only bettered by the not so happy ending.

By the time we've done all of that its sleepy time, and I'm ready for it.

Posted by Abi at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 6, 2005

Greedy Government

Another day, another slap in the face of the UK electorate and motorists, delivered by our intrusive, money grabbing, idiotic and insane Government. It amazes me that at after a little over a month of being re-elected, a previously unheard of, brand spanking new policy can be unearthed from the stinking quagmire of filth and corruption that forms the foundations of our so called political system.

Not content then with the preposterous idea of issuing everyone with an ID card and breeching a smattering of human rights and privacy issues, the latest gem of ingenuity comes from the transport department who, in their infinite wisdom, have come up with what one could only describe as utter insanity.

In the latest big brother annihilation upon personal rights and liberties, the government has decided that it wants to charge every road user for each and every mile that they drive on the road. The price of a mile will depend on what classification of road you are on and the time of day that you are traveling. For example, if I'm on the m25 at 8.30 in the morning I might get charged £1.34 for every mile of tarmac I traverse upon. Then again if I'm on a B class road at midnight I might only get stung for 2 pence a mile.

You might wonder how they are going to implement such a system - the answer to that is of course GPS. Every car would have a little black box which records where you are and how far you've gone so say the government.

But it seems to me they've missed an opportunity - I mean if they can track where we are and how far we've gone, surely they can tell how fast we were going too? I'm pretty sure they haven't missed this trick, and so what initially starts out as track and trace exercise can immediately and covertly be recognised as an opportunity for catching people who are speeding (a well know revenue income for the government) - hell, if the motorist is effectively carrying the gatso themselves, we wont need traffic cops, speed cameras, radar guns etc etc - you can just incriminate yourself!

But its not just that aspect of it that pisses me off, here are my other FOAD comments to the government regarding their latest plan:-

• Road & Fuel Tax
  Despite stating that road and fuel tax would be replaced by the new pay per mile scheme, why fix something that isn't broke. Fuel tax works well and still effectively taxes people by how much they use the commodity - if I do more miles I have to put more fuel in the car which means they get more tax. As for road tax, it is my understanding that this goes towards maintenance of the roads and the like, so if they implement the new scheme and don't have the revenue from road tax (a similar amount for all road users) surely they will be losing income as people won't make journeys that will bump up their pay as you go bill.
• Congestion
  Considering one of the main aims of this bill is to cut congestion I fail to see how it will do this, it will just move it to different times and different places. People will avoid rush hour (and thus create a new ones) so they don't get charged a premium. They will also avoid the higher cost major routes and utilise other cheaper roads which probably are not built to sustain heavy volumes of traffic (causing congestion on other roads and increasing their maintenance costs).
• Privacy
  The government already knows too much about everyone and it's about time they stopped meddling in matters of privacy. I for one would rather go to prison than allow a device in my car which allows the government to see where I am, and at what time. It opens the flood gates to a whole realm of intrusive privileges that this government feels it has the right to undertake - if they get a foot in the door it will only lead to the inevitable downfall of what the western world is suppose to strive for - freedom.
• Public Transport
  Say for some inexplicable reason the government get this ridiculous policy approved (and I really hope that the UK populous would fervently disallow such a move) then how the hell are we suppose to get around on a public transport system that is what valves are to transistors - outdated, unreliable, infrequent and unsuitable in today's world. If every person in the UK, for one day, used our public transport system the whole country would grind to a halt a darn site quicker than what is caused by the current congestion on our roads. There isn't enough of it, it is too expensive and it certainly doesn't cover enough of the country effectively.
• Restrictive cost to the user
  Consider this. Currently I live 284 miles from my family. God forbid, something happens to one of them - its early in the morning and I need to get there ASAP - so I have to travel through rush hour and on the motorways. To get there under the new scheme I would have to fork out about £380.56 as well as the cost of the diesel without tax added. For a return trip that would be £761.12!! I find it hard enough to put the £40 in my tank now to fill it up, there is no way that I would be able to pay the £761.12 expected of me from the government. Therefore I wouldn't be able to see my family, a liberty taken away from me by the bastards in the Houses Of Parliament.

I have to wonder how much more lunacy is required on behalf of the government before the people of the UK sit up and take note, and actually do something about the problem before it's too late to do anything. I can't imagine what other gimmicks will be introduced if they are allowed to remain in power for another 4 years. It's time the people had a voice, and in political terms, a choice. The UK has been brow beaten enough already - it's time to oust out the deceit.

Posted by Abi at 9:41 PM | Comments (2)

June 5, 2005

A Bright Idea?

Since I complained sufficiently enough yesterday about not doing anything and being bored, Phil suggests that to prevent a repeat of that today we install a light in the dining room that we got at Ikea over a year ago.

The current light in the dining room is somewhat of a pain in the arse, it's one of those ones that you can pull up and down, but unfortunately ours doesn't retract high enough - so anyone over 5'4" invariably twats their head / eye / ear / jugular vein on the glass shade.

The new one we got at Ikea is a bit more funky and is a sort of spot light arrangement - except the spots are on a bendy rail which is malleable into pretty curvy shapes - so you turn into the designer, and you can shape your lights in pretty much anyway you wish. The problem however, and the reason it's been sat in a box for over a year, is that neither Phil or me know anything about wiring up lights and the instructions look terrifying.

So after brushing off the dust we get all the bits out and start thinking about what shape we want the rail to be in - an "s" shape seems the easiest considering that we have to drill into the ceiling beams to hang the rail - easy enough if you know where the beams are, which way the run and how much distance is inbetween them - none of which we had the foggiest idea about.

Putting that problem aside for the moment then, we set about undoing the old light to put the new lights transformer in its place. Easy peasy, you just unscrew the wires from the old light and stick them in the new light... right? Well actually no, a big part of getting this step right is to note down how the old light was wired before you rip it apart. Ooops... we neglected to do that. So after unwiring the old light, wiring up the new one and flicking the switch we have no wattage what so ever.

Buggery bollocks - we've already been trying to fit this new light for about 2 hours and we've gotten no where. But after a bit of advice from Phil's dad, and Phil having a think about it (I gave up and ate something instead) we eventually manage to wire the new light up so that it's working! Yay!

It's now about 3 hours in and after stuffing a lot of cable up a very small hole (suits you sir) we make it to the next stage of fitting - screwing the flexible rail into the ceiling beams, which for all intense and purposes are invisible to us as the plaster board nicely covers them. So after using divining techniques similar to that of a Y shaped stick (Ok, Ok, it was in fact just a lot of pilot holes and knocking) we manage to get the rail in place, screw on the spot lights, and hey presto we've got light!

Despite the fact the lights are a vast improvement on the old death trap decapitator device we had previously, had I have known it was going to take so long to put the bastards up I'd have never complained of being bored :)

What's left of the day is devoted to a bit of film watching. I've seen The Butterfly Effect before, but liked it so much I got it on DVD. We give it a second viewing today and it's still a cool film - even more so the second time around because you pick up on all the little hints and clues that you miss when you first watch the film. Its fascinating stuff, all about Chaos Theory and Time Travel, and the obligatory love story naturally - worth seeing if you like that kinda thing :)

If you wanna know more about Butterfly Effect - the theory click here.

Posted by Abi at 10:15 PM | Comments (1)

June 4, 2005

Game Show Memorandum

Saturday, an day most people look forward to due to the fact that it's the beginning of the weekend and they can take time out from the rat race. But for me, Saturday (especially this one) is a day that needs to be filled with something. Anything in fact, just as long as there is something to occupy the waking hours.

Sadly, today, I've not manged to find anything to do with the very long minutes that turn to excruciatingly tedious hours, with the exception of repotting some of the bigger sunflowers from their big pots into humongous ones whilst Phil pops out to exchange goods with a friend.

So that leaves the conundrum as to what I can write about in here really, and as Paul Daniels would say "not a lot".

However, I have a cunning plan. You see late tonight I've watched a program about the best UK game shows *ever* and it's brought back a few memories for me (mostly childhood ones). Let me elaborate on some of my favourite game shows rejuvenating their way from my somewhat sparse memories...

The best game show I remember as a kid, aimed at kids, was called "The Adventure Game" - a show that had totally slipped my memory banks until some shots were shown of the show. Hosted by the Argones (yep humans dressed up in some rather dodgy dragon outfits), 3 celebrities would have to undertake a number of challenges to get to the final, which involved them treading across the Vortex (a lattice grid that if you stood on the wrong place would vaporise you)- of course the best bit about this is that the audience can see the bad bits where as the contestant can't - all aided by some rather super 80's tastic computer graphics (definitely retro these days).

Next on the list was 3-2-1, probably most famous for Ted Roger's seemingly lightening speeding finger twisting antics, his trusty side kick Dusty Bin (a super cool mechanized robot who rather liked dressing up in costume) and the rather mindboggling cryptic clues that had to be answered (oh and I should probably mention the lower than average IQ of some of the contestants). The aim of this game was to eliminate the booby prize (a dust bin) and get a decent one, such as a crystal glass set. To my shock and horror though it eventually became apparent to me that if you got the booby prize it wasn't "Dusty bin" you'd be wheeling away, oh no - it was a proper, honest to god dust bin.

As I grew up so did my humour I think, and with that came familiarity with Blankety Blank and it's best host, Les Dawson. This show was really tongue in cheek, and full of innuendo - but ultimately fabulous fun. And you can see why it was ripe for it, the contestants would be asked a question such as "Is that a BLANK in you're pocket or are you just happy to see me?". The contestants would then have to fill in the BLANK word and match it up with what a host of celebrities had also written down. The more matches you got, the more points you received. Winners would get the stock prizes of the day, but losers would get the Blankety Blank Cheque Book and Pen - marvelous!

Finally then, the last game show I can remember making a conscious effort to watch was "Whose Line Is It Anyway". Hosted by Clive Anderson, it was basically in improvisation show and the contestants were mainly comedians such as Greg Proops, Stephen Fry and Paul Merton. They were put through their paces in a number of rounds, the one I remember most would be the "Party Quirks" round, where one contestant would be hosting a party whilst the others had to attend the party but pretend they had some kind of "Quirk", I dunno, like walking like a chicken or something.... the host then had to guess each of the quirks.

So there you are then, my all time favourite historic game shows. If had to chose one for the now, it would of course be "Have I Got News For You" - famous for one of its contestants being replaced by a tub of lard - British humour at its best :)

Posted by Abi at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)

June 3, 2005

Wurk

To work again for me today (listen to that I make it sound like a chore... ffs, it's only 2 days a week...). Anyway, I ride the bike in since the weather doesn't look too bad, and I stick to my new route which is a little less perilous, and arrive safe and sound.

I don't really get much chance to stop today, I've got to import a load of content from an old site into a newer design, so that keeps me busy most of the day.

At lunch I have to ring my car insurers to find out my past history of scrapes, bangs and bruises so that Phil is fully equiped with any info he'll need when he comes to renew his insurance and they inevitably ask about any additonal drivers bad behaviour. I couldn't remember what / when the last crash I had was, but it seems it was over 2 years ago now and involved me, a van, a narrow lane and some very slippy leaves...

By 5pm sod's law has decided to pay me a visit, and its pissing down with rain again. Phil kindly offers to pick me up from work when he's done, but that would mean hanging around for an hour and a half, so I decide to suck it up and just head on home it the torrential downpour that is sweeping across my route.

When I do get home I'm soaking... literally dripping with water, and to top it off I need the loo really bad (must have been all the splashing of water everywhere) but before I can go to the loo, I've got to unlock the back gate, unlock the shed, put the bike in the shed, lock the bike up, lock the shed up, lock the back gate, unlock the back door, scamper up the stairs and finally release (so to speak).

Could've been a close call I'd say :)

Posted by Abi at 9:33 PM | Comments (0)

June 2, 2005

Trekked Out

Today, I can quite safely say, as been one of complete and utter nothingness - I've done zipperdy-do-dah all day - in fact the most effort I've put into anything would have been zapping a croissant in the microwave for 20 seconds for breakfast - very nice to it was.

Most of the afternoon was spent infront of the TV, watching a seemingly endless stream of star trek (enterprise, voyager, the next generation, deep space nine etc etc), and pretty impressively most of the episodes I hadn't seen before - so maybe I'm not as much of a trekkie as I thought I was.

My lethargy continues into the evening resulting in me having a relatively early night - I deserve it afterall, I've had *such* a busy day.... ;)

Posted by Abi at 8:56 PM | Comments (0)

June 1, 2005

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Well, actually more like "Ridin' Ridin Ridin'" - back to work today for me, and instead of starting the car for 6 minutes to get to work, I take the bike as my preferred means of transport today :) The weather isn't too bad, it's spitting with rain, but what the hell, I ain't made of sugar and I sure as hell ain't gonna melt.

It took me a little longer than the timed test we did at the weekend, so about 25 mins or thereabouts, which still isn't bad considering that I did have to stop at every junction and wait for a break in the rush hour traffic to get across the road.

Work was fine, got a shed load of stuff done, partly because there was lots to do, but also because I'm getting a little more familiar as to where things are etc - though a brush with dreamweaver templates leaves me a little wary - I quite honestly don't see the advantage to building a site in such a way, when in essence if you can use a decent file include system you get the same result, without code being excessively repeated in every page that you have. Well, thats my view anyway - probably because I'm anti dreamweaver :)

On the way home I take a slightly different route which cuts out a big chunk of riding on a fairly busy part of the ring road, with no paths to speak of. It's a bit of a detour around some of the local estates, but worth it in the knowledge that I'm not readily going to be splatted by a HGV or a tractor gone awry.

Back home and there isn't much doing - I do pasta bake for tea with some garlic bread, which is very nice and then the best part of the evening is given over to watching the usual poop on TV - tonight its about Traffic Cops and bad drivers. One particular incident was quite amusing, where 2 dudes get pulled over for driving a car with 4 illegal tyres and no road tax, the police then discover lots of drugs paraphernalia in the car (tin foil, needles etc etc). So 1 dude realises he's in for shit and admits he's got some heroin in his cigarette packet - so he gets nicked for possession and the car offences, you'd think his luck couldn't get any worse.... it did however when he discovered that his so called heroin, was in fact baking soda. So not only did he get arrested, he also got ripped off...

I can honestly say I think he probably deserved it!

Posted by Abi at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)

May 31, 2005

1 In 100 Million

A busy old day for me today - something which I can only attribute to the fact that I made a to-do list to get me motoring. So rather than just sitting and contemplating all the things that I need to do, and not doing them, I've got something to aim for, such as ticking things off as I go along.

So as I gradually trundle through my list of things to do, including the usual house clean, a bit of work, paying bill and the like, I actually feel like I'm accomplishing something - albeit small things that aren't really going to solve world poverty or such like, but things that have been weighing on my mind and needed to be resolved.

With the list almost complete by the time Phil gets home (Ok, so I didn't quite finish everything!) I'm about ready to mellow out a bit and I watch a documentary that we recorded the other night.

Entitled "The Six Stone Baby", it's the story of Archie Thompson, a 2 year old who currently weighs in at 6 stone (37.8 kg or thereabouts), and is gaining weight at an astonishing rate. But it's not through over feeding or an excessive diet, Archie is suffering from a rare genetic disorder known as Momo Syndrome, with about 1 in 100 million people suffering from it. To put that in perspective, there are only 3 other documented cases in the world.

It's a very moving account of the prejudices the family faces - from Social Services investigating the parents for abuse, to anonymous neighbours putting slimming products on the family's front door step with notes saying "It's a shame they don't make this for babies" - and of course the usual medical diagnosis of anything unexplained resulting in Archie's lifespan being described as life limited.

But there is some light at the end of the tunnel as Archie's Mum travels to Brazil to meet Danielli, a 17 year old girl who also suffers from MoMo and despite her difficulties is living a happy and fulfilling life.

Diagnosing Archie has resulted in a lot of research into his disorder, and a spin off from that is that Doctors are someway towards relating what happens with MoMo to other weight problems that the general population seem to suffer. This of course in no way excuses bad eating habits and the like, but there is the possibility that the reason some people gain weight so easily could be attributed to the fact that somewhere along the line their genes are responsible.

What saddens me about this whole thing is the fact that people are openly bigoted towards those who may suffer weight issues - and from this documentary it's quite easy to see that those who are intolerant are unintelligent enough to not realise that for some, being fat just isn't a choice.

Posted by Abi at 9:06 PM | Comments (2)

May 30, 2005

Almost Famous?

Considering it's a bank holiday today, it certainly leaves no rest for the wicked (that would be Phil and me).

First things first, and we have to go shopping to get supplies for next week's run of packed lunches and the like, so we head out to da shop and whilst we're there we pick up an Oxford Mail to see if the blogging article has made the final edit. A quick scan at the super market and I can't see it, but we buy a copy anyway to have a gander at later.

Back home and after I've unpacked all of the groceries we nip out on the bikes to see how long it would take me to cycle to work - about 20 mins or thereabouts, so not too bad at all.

Once home again we then set about giving both cars a good valeting, inside and out. I plump for a mixture of washing and hovering whilst Phil gets on with rinsing, dusting and feeding the leather seats. Finally we get to the pain in the arse bit, that being waxing. So with Phil sploshing the wax on I follow him around the car with a big fluffy mitt thing polishing the rapidly drying wax off - hard work let me tell ya, and or some reason I start to feel a little to akin to the Karate Kid!

After we've finished Phils car we then go out for a quick spin, and after a near collision with a motor cyclist who obviously thought being a foot a way from my side of the car whilst hurtling around a roundabout was a good idea, we head for home, just in time to eat the Jacket Spuds I'd put in the oven before we went out.

Phil manages to find the blog article in the paper after a bit more perseverance than me, I tend to just look for pictures etc :) We don't get our mug shots in the story, but I get quoted! Which is cool! I've scanned the article in as a JPG, but its quite sizey (500 kb or so), but feel free to download and have a gander :) I didn't get my URL in either, but I am convinced that WWW.THEBITCHTROLL.COM is probably a little to unpolitically correct to stick in a paper :)

Posted by Abi at 9:22 PM | Comments (1)

May 29, 2005

Burnt Bananas

Up early again today (well for me anyway!) as I've a few things to tidy up before the photographer comes over to take Phil and my mug shots for the local paper. It doesn't take long to pilfer things away and have a quick bit of breakfast, and finally get myself tidied up a bit too - all in enough time to sit down and watch a bit of the goggle box whilst waiting for snap happy man to arrive.

We've been watching the american equivalent of DIY SOS, a program called Extreme Makeover : Home edition. And well it just goes to show that if you're in America, bigger really is better. With the UK program well they limit themselves to one or 2 rooms in an already existing house and give them some new decor and the like and on occasion may rip out a wall or two - but the american version is a whole lot more interesting. From the episodes I've seen so far, they usually demolish the house completely and then rebuild it in 7 days, pretty incredible really when you consider that in the UK the average laying of bricks per day is about 10, and thats if you can find a builder that isn't a cowboy. All in all pretty entertaining stuff :)

The photographer arrives and so after lots of "look at the camera", "try not to blink", "stare into each others eyes" (Yep, I nearly went bozzeyed with that one) he reckons he's got enough shots to satisfy the paper, and winds his merry way homeward bound.

So without any interruptions to the day it means we can now get about doing stuff which needs to be done. For me that involves getting tea at tesco and weeding the garden once again (I'm seriously considering graveling the whole lot!) whilst Phil watches the Grand Prix (apparently the crash on the last lap made the other 58 laps worth watching).

We have a BBQ despite the weather becoming a little overcast, and for dessert I stick bananas on the coals until they are nicely black on the outside and squidgy in the middle - one of my favourites, but not so popular with Mr. Phil. And whilst were eating we watch Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events - which is quite good and includes an typical over the top, face contorting performance from Jim Carrey.

Posted by Abi at 9:36 PM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2005

Go To See Film, We Shall

Quite an early start for the weekend today as we're off to Heathrow to meet my parents before they fly off for 3 weeks of fun in the sun - lucky buggers.

After a quick trip down the motorway we arrive unscathed and not long after a little bit of hanging around my parents finally make it through check in and we go and have brunch before they enter the point of no return, i.e. the departure lounge.

By 11.30 ish we're heading back to the short stay car park with I have to say a little bit of intrepid fear knowing that the hour and a bit that we've been inside the terminal somehow cumulates into an extortionate money laundering exercise on behalf of the NCP car park - yes, one and a bit hour's worth of parking somehow equates to £7.30 in exuberant spending - money which IMHO could have been better spent elsewhere. Nevermind though, it was worth it to see my parents - it's always nice to see them when I get a chance.

Heading home we decide that since we're going past the UCI cinema we might as well pop in a catch a movie whilst were in this neck of the woods, and Star Wars Episode 3 : Revenge of the Sith gets the thumbs up this time around.

Tickets, pop, sweets and popcorn in hand we head of to screen one thousand and twenty seven (seriously, they are going to have to start handing out maps if these multiplex monsters get any bigger!). Its only 12.30 in the afternoon so the cinema is relatively quiet, but I was most miffed when it seems I get some bloke sitting next to me, quite uninvited (nope, I ain't talking about Phil ;)).

It's insane... the cinema is only about 1/4 full, there are tonnes of free seats. Phil and I are quite happily sitting in the middle of one of the rows, of which there are at least 15 other rows unoccupied. Anyway this bloke not only makes us stand up so he can get to the seat next to me, he then tries to ratify his disturbance by saying "Star wars?" - no bloody Einstein, its not, it's Spongebob Squarepants - what do you think? Sheeshh.....

The film eventually starts, and about 30 mins into it (oh I think thats sort of after the first battle scene - how long winded and drawn out could they have possibly made it, perhaps they ran out of dialogue?) I start to notice wafts of smelliness hitting my nostrils - and we ain't talking odors of the Calvin Klein / Chanel denomination, oh no. Seems intrusive boy has now morphed into stinky pillock - he is farting continuously and it stinks. In fact after 20 mins of covert annihilation of every single clean air molecule in my immediate vicinity I'm about ready to get up, pretend to go to the loo, come back and sit the other side of Phil. But no, I can't do that because if I do any other film buff sat near us will automatically assume its me gassing everyone to death. So I sit and suffer instead.

So I'm sat in a cinema, with a malodorous freak to my left, watching a film which is so drawn out its painful, and my arse has given up the ghost completely - I feel like I've been sitting on a bed of nails for the past hour. It's not surprising then what a relief it was to finally see Darth Vader get his makeover and Yoda go into exile.

Thankfully the evening is much more interesting, considerably comfortable and a lot less smelly :)

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (1)

May 27, 2005

Record Breaker

Today, so the forecasters say, is to be extremely hot by british standards - and by 10 am I can safely say that this time, they've got it right!

It's swelteringly hot, and not a nice hot either - its humid and sticky, I'd almost say its a british equivalent of an ordinary day in the equatorial rainforest. Not only is it hot, but it's raining to and the sun is out, all at the same time. Which is a bit mad by any standards.

By lunchtime I'm about ready to melt into a pile of dripping, thank god I've got a desk fan at work otherwise I might well have passed out. This seriously is not nice weather, it's like being suffocated in one of those microwaved / steamed face towels they bring you in chinese restaurants after you've gorged yourself on sweet and sour and spring rolls.

At home time (5pm) I jump in the car and put the aircon to "Cryogenic Stasis" setting, what a relief! The outside thermometer says its 29.5 degrees centigrade outside, and I ain't gonna argue with it. I do a quick shop at tescos and then head home, doing a strip tease as I get in the house to the bare minimum of decency and try to do as little as possible to remain in a non-sweaty state (excluding the 5 minutes of bliss I gained from sticking my face in the freezer).

Apart then from the weather, and yes today has been a record breaker, the hottest day in May in over 50 years reaching 32 degrees centigrade in London - the rest of the day has been good. I've gotten a bit more familiar with stuff at my new job and so a bit more productive, spoken more with my new work colleagues, and after a few fluff ups finally / almost of got the hang of the telephone system at work. I also get a phone call from the reporter who I've been speaking to - the photographer is coming out at the weekend now rather than tonight - which is good because I don't think a photo of me today would be particularly flattering.

It's burgers for tea, then a very cold shower and then sweet F.A. I love heat, but humid heat just isn't fun - dry heat, now thats a different matter altogether.

Posted by Abi at 8:27 PM | Comments (0)

May 26, 2005

Newbie Me

It's my first day in my new part time job today so naturally I'm a little nervous - not that I have too much time to worry about that because it's also the first time in a long time that I've had to pay attention to the alarm clock. I can now see what I've found it relatively easy to ignore it for the past couple of months, because it's highly irritating :)

So after a 6 minute commute (yes, how cool is that!) I turn up to work a little early and get the usual introductions etc and finally get set up on a computer and get given a bit of work to do to familiarise myself with their systems / file structures / working practices etc.

The day flies by, with me nipping home for lunch, and by the afternoon I'm a little more comfortable with what I'm doing - though working with numerous websites certainly will require more RAM on my part in terms of remembering whats what, and whats where.

Not a bad first day then really, I just hope that after a couple more days of working within a new system I'll be up to my usual development speed - I guess I'm being a little cautious at the moment as fluffing up on my first day wouldn't be a great entree on my part at a new company :)

After tea there really isn't that much left of the evening, though I do watch a documentary on TV called "Middle Sex". As if the title isn't enough to give the game away, it was an investigation into the common misunderstanding that there are only males and females, when infact there are numerous stages between the two, it's most definitely not a matter of black and white.

For example, a genetic male may have developed the appearance of a normal female - or vice versa, or anything in between. Maybe better way to perhaps describe one aspect of the whole debate would be that of the Thai Katoeys (lady boys) - get the picture?

But despite the scientific findings suggesting that in between sex is just nature and the associated diversity that procreation brings about, there still seems to be a considerable distain for any opinion that varies from the traditional "Adam & Eve" approach - which in my view is a little out dated and a certainly short sighted. I found one experiment that they ran particularly interesting...

30 males were chosen based on the answers they gave to a questionnaire. The questionnaire helped group the males into homophobics and those who were nonchalant about homosexuality. They then proceeded to put each member of the 2 groups in a room where they were hooked up to a gadget that detected any changes in the circumference of their jangly bits, and then asked to watch some gay pornography.

Can you guess what the results were? Let me enlighten you. You see the homophobes all had a greater sexual response to the gay porn than the other group - what does that say to you? I'm not sure, but perhaps it goes some way to understanding why pent up frustration more often than not leads to violence towards those who you envy.

Strange really because there is a saying in the UK that goes along the lines of "You always take out your anger on the ones you love the most"... guess there might be more truth to that than I first thought.

Posted by Abi at 8:54 PM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2005

So-fa Not So Good

For all the wonders of modern medicine, you'd think they'd have come up with a vaccine for the flu, or even a cold by now. I mean, we can grow human ears on mice, clone embryos, transplant organs and vaccinate against some of the biggest killers of past times, then surely something like flu could be overcome.

The reason I gripe about this fact is that last night I spent the majority of it sleeping on the sofa. No, Phil didn't kick me out of bed, it was a purely voluntary action by me because I couldn't sleep. Why couldn't I sleep? Well thats easy enough, because every time I closed my eyes and tried to sleep I ended up snoring. Snoring bad enough to wake myself up! All of this as a consequence of the only viable inlet of air to my body at the moment is through my mouth. My nose is more congested than the M25 at rush hour and after a 3 lane, 50 car pile up.

So after several hours of going to sleep, then waking myself up repeatedly (oh and don't let me forget the hot and cold sweats in between either) I mooch downstairs to the lounge, set up camp on the sofa and switch on the box - if I can't sleep I might as well be entertained.

Needless to say then I'm not my usual sunshiny self. And despite the temptation of laying in bed all day, yet again I can't as I've got stuff to do - which after much effort, perspiration, and germ spreading I finally get finished.

I do get an interesting email today though from a reporter at one of our local newspapers, who is doing an article on blogging. She'd found my site through britblog and had sent through a number of questions which she asked if I'd mind answering. Which I don't, not at all. After a little email banter back and forth it turns out she'd also like a photo for the story too - which again isn't a problem. I think it will be rather interesting to see how it all pans out :)

Not a long post today, but I do have to get this in. IF I HEAR / SEE THAT &$£#!*? CRAZY FROG RING-TONE ONE MORE TIME ON TV I'M GOING TO SABOTAGE THE WHOLE JAMSTER EMPIRE AND LOCK ALL OF THE EXECUTIVES IN A VERY SMALL ROOM WITH VERY LOUD SPEAKERS AND SUBJECT THEM TO SENSORY DEPRIVATION AND TORTURE BY THEIR OWN HAND ***.

I fail to understand how people *pay* for such utter twaddle - they don't even change the tune! Would the world be so amused if Jackie Stallone was nekkid and pretending to ride a bike going "brrrinng ding ding dinnng ding"? No, quite frankly I think we'd all be dead from the shock.

*** I am of course joking, to some extent.

Posted by Abi at 7:47 PM | Comments (4)

May 24, 2005

Bug Ridden

I'm ill. And I hate being ill. I certainly would classified as far from Munchausen Syndrome as possible. But today, I've got the beginnings of what appears to be a summer cold / flu.

Wonderful, 2 days before I start my new job and I'm going to be snotting and sneezing over my new co-workers - and as if that wasn't bad enough I've gone deaf in one ear because me tubes are blocked up, and my throat is on fire. It always happens when I start a new job, some kind of misfortune, the last time I started a new job my dog snuffed it, and the time before that I had to have my horse put down.

But enough drowning in my own misery and mucus, I've got a full list of things to do today so I don't have the time to be proper ill.

For starters, I've got to clean the house - it's well in need of a clean, and worst of all, the oven needs a going over - oh happy times. So I get on and do all of that and by the end of it I'm roasting (not literally you understand) but the sweat is dripping off me - I feel like I've been dumped in a sauna with a broken thermostat. If this is *anything* like the menopause, then I don't want to go there, bring on the HRT! Seriously though, my temperature is up and not through hard labour - the twinges of an irritating sniffle are quickly erupting into a full blown dose of something nasty.

Undeterred however by my body's inability to regulate itself, I need to go into town and pick up some things, such as a box for the scanner that we sold on e-bay which now needs to be posted to its rightful owner. I also get the new Kelly Osbourne CD "Sleeping In The Nothing" after hearing the single "One Word". I've no idea what the rest of the songs are like, but I'll be darned if I'll pay £3.99 for a single, when I can get the full album for £9.99 :)

Did I mention I'd also picked up a Roy Orbison CD Collection too? Well I did after hearing one of the contestants singing "Cryin'" on American Idol. I'd forgotten I liked his music up until that point, which is surprising considering my Mum brainwashed me with it up until the age where I discovered people like The Cure and Massive Attack.

After gallivanting around I finally come back home and put some more pictures up on this site of our trip to Wookey Hole - which considering we weren't allowed to use a flash camera in the caves, and after a little tweaking, have come out alright :)

Not much going on this evening however, which is a relief as I don't think I've got the energy or inclination to do anything!

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2005

Crash & Burn

I've been out and about today from late morning as I've got a lunch to attend with some friends in Essex. And, to be hugely selfish, I was half tempted to steal Phil's car because the weather is lovely (and his car is a convertible). But no, I refrain, and stick to the beemer and the air con. Shame really because I left it so late to getting ready to go out I could have done with some natural hair drying power down the M25! :)

Lunch is nice and afterwards we then head off for a very relaxing afternoon at Rich's, where there is copious amounts of x-box action, namely in the format of Burnout 3.

And... I know it's and old cliche, but women (and I say this as one) really are worse drivers than men! "How can SHE say this blasphemy?" you may well ask yourself (if you are a fellow female), or if your a bloke you're probably thinking "Told ya so" - but listen, it's not as heathen as it sounds...

You see the point of Burnout is in fact to drive as badly as you can in order to crash into other cars - the more damage you cause, the more points you get. And so in an unsurpassed winning streak of chaos and mayhem, I casually wipe out my fellow male comrades with nothing more than bad driving and an uncanny amount of luck. So there you go, being bad at something isn't always such a bad thing :)

I don't get home until about 8.30, and Phil has very kindly made some fish finger sandwiches, topped off afterwards with an ice cream sandwich (no, not made with bread, but a block of icecream wedged between 2 wafers - a childhood favourite of mine when you could nip to your local sweet shop and buy ice cream straight off the block).

There doesn't seem to be much on TV either, except a documentary about the "Boy With The Incredible Brain" - who in summary is a savant with the social skills that are more often than not absent from those who could be classified as such. Fascinating stuff I have to say, and this particular chap has a knack for maths. No, in fact it isn't a "knack" at all, it's an astounding ability. For example he could recite Pi (which most people think is an infinite, non recurring number) to about 22,514 places. Which, when considering I can't even remember my pin number most of the time, is enough to knock me off my impressive socks.

I also have some rather good news today, when I finally get to check my email - I've received a job offer! Yay! How chuffed am I?! It's with the company I was yabbering on about on Friday, 2 days a week, a good hourly rate and some really nice peeps from what I've seen so far. I start on Thursday and I'm already quite excited about the prospect of doing something different for a couple of days a week.

I really should see how long it takes to bike from home to the office - it's 3 miles in total, so hopefully not too long at all :)

Posted by Abi at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2005

Not Much Of Nothing

After a late night last night, we have a rather rewarded lay in bed this morning - I mean we ain't talking the sort which easily waves good bye to the entire morning, but enough to recharge the old batteries which were somewhat dilapidated from yesterdays trekking around.

We see Phil's sister off, complete with TV, TV Stand, blow up mattress, blow up mattress foot pump, kettle and free view box (satellite TV, but not quite) and once Phil has gotten her on the right road to her destination we set about getting a trip to homebase in before the Grand-Prix starts.

Every time that we've visited homebase in the past couple of months I've been eyeing up these blue LED lights, kinda shaped a bit like bullets, which can be used outside or inside, with grand ideas of setting them up around the patio (which is a circle). So far though we haven't got any for 2 reasons, they are quite expensive and we ain't quite sure how to go about wiring them up. But today the temptation of £10 being knocked off the price for a set of 4, we stick 8 of the gizmo's in the basket, along with a couple of stakes to prop up a rather lop sided cactus, and to give my black bamboo a bit of a back bone really, it's looking a little bent atm.

Back home, and whilst Phil is watching the Grand Prix, I set about sorting out the guest bedroom. Now that the huge TV isn't in there anymore our box room has been turned into somewhat of a tardis - so with a little more re-organisation and rather intricate packing skills we've now got a room that you can easily move around in, and is looking rather spacious to say the least.

Eventually we head off to tesco to get some groceries including something quick and easy for tea, and when its all transported from shelves to trolley, trolley to conveyor belt, conveyor belt to trolley, trolley to car, car to kitchen and finally back to our shelves (man what a pain in the arse that is) I stick Garfield in the DVD player and we have a gander at that whilst having tea.

I don't think its a bad film, it made me laugh in a few places, but it definitely lacks the satire of the cartoon strip most of us have at some point read.

Posted by Abi at 8:32 PM | Comments (1)

May 21, 2005

My Wookey Is Wet

Up relatively early today because we're out and about on a tourist mission today :)

I'm not quite sure how it came about, but the subject of stalactites and stalagmites nudged it's way into a conversation Phil and I were having about a week ago, and he mentioned a place called Wookey Hole - some show caves in Somerset. After a quick bit of research on the web, we decided it would be rather cool to go see them in the flesh, and so today's the day :)

The trip there took forever!!!! I opted for the drive there, and some 3 and a bit hours and enough rain to fill an ocean we finally arrive. A quick bite to eat, and some rather cool "avoid the million french school kids that have turned up" defense tactics, we wind our way up to the entrance of the caves where the tour guide is waiting.

The caves really are quite impressive, made even better by the fact that they've added some quite funky light and sound affects to make the tour even more interesting. The guide is also very funny, making what could have been a rather laborious 30 minutes of staring at rock rather more fascinating and insightful.

Although the caves are considerably more extensive than the bit the sightseers get to see, they've got a rather impressive portfolio of history (involving cavemen and a witch) and a few records toboot, including the largest unsupported dome shaped cave. This cave in particular has several 1000 tonnes of rock upon it, and to this day nobody has been able to fathom just how it is remaining upright, in fact it could "collapse at any time" - so we are told as we are standing in the middle of it, and "in times of flood, the cave fills up in about 30 minutes to create a vast whirlpool of tretourous water" - as the torrential rain continues outside!!! hehehehe - honest, you could physically feel yourself making your way to the exit as the guide was quite cooly reiterating the facts and figures!

After the cave visit, we then have a quick look at some of the other attractions they have at the centre, including a dinosaur park, papermill, penny arcade (full of very old slot machines and the like) and a very disorientating mirror maze (which I didn't like one bit but Phil was fascinated with) :).

With some typically "I've been to [insert attraction name here]" goodies purchased we then set off home, only now it takes half the time to get back, where we then wait for Phils sister to arrive. She's staying over the night with us and also picking up a spare TV that we have laying around.

We get Chinese for tea, whilst watching The Eurovision Song Contest (oh how proud I am to be british ;)). Not that political / tactical / hate / brown nose voting goes on obviously (har har!) but from what I heard, well the greeks deserved to win! Mind you, the whole thing has certainly gone down hill since the days of Abba and the like.

Wish me luck with the nightmares tonight, I'll probably have a few after being subjected to 2 over enthusiastic Ukrainian presenters, one with a voice that could shatter glass, the other with a monobrow ;)

Posted by Abi at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2005

Butterflies

I've not got anything to do today, apart from one thing. But considering that one thing is a nerve wreaking experience then I don't much feel like putting myself through anything else to say the least.

You see yesterday I submitted my CV for a job, I got a very prompt phonecall back from the people and we arranged an interview for today, 2pm.

It's just a part time job, but it would provide enough cash for a little pocket change and will get me out of the house for a couple of days a week. It's within cycling distance too, which is even better - and to top it off will nicely fill the inevitable gap in my CV whilst I'm deciding when and what it is I want to do on a more permanent basis.

I thought I was doing quite well up until about noon, then the old nerves kicked in, which is madness considering a) I don't really need to take the job and b) compared to what I was doing previously the job would be quite rewarding. But nonetheless, I feel sick and I've got sweaty mits - fantastic.

Anyway, the interview time comes - it lasts for about 1h 20 mins, and I think about 30 minutes of that is actually talking about my technical skills, the rest of it is general chit chat about the pit falls of running an IT business, The Hitch Hickers Guide to the Galaxy and the intricacies of liaising between IT and Marketing. I also get a tour of their current business clients and their systems, which for a start up company is impressive.

So in summary I think the interview went OK. The fella was really nice and if they offer the job there would be the chance of further hours should I want them. Not only that, the offices they are based in are really laid back (the kinda place you can take your pet in should you wish to). But for now, its a case of wait and see.

This evening is nice and quiet, with sausages and mash for tea. But instead of plain old mash I stick some fried onions in it and some whole grain mustard, which zinged it up quite nicely.

Posted by Abi at 9:52 PM | Comments (2)

May 19, 2005

Leg Work

Another day, another sales man - this one is here for even less time than the last one, but leaves without a quote so I've no idea if the first bod was trying his luck or not. Apparently though he's going to post the stuff out for Monday so that should give a better indication.

But with only 2 of the 4 people who I rang about double glazing actually returning my phone call, I decide to see who else is around. When I was in tesco last I managed to pick up a business card for some local double glazing people, so I decide to give them a ring. Very polite, very pleasant, the only problem being is that they don't come out to measure windows?!

So trusty tape measure in hand (and after some advice from the bloke as to the best way to measure windows) I go around the house getting all the measurements and drawing pictures of each of the windows. I then head off to their showroom and give them the details and have a look at some of their stuff. An hour later they ring me back and well, despite the fact they look considerably like they supply direct to builders / double glazing installers their quote still only comes in £100 less than the previous one. So despite me running around with a metal retractable tape measure (and can I add here I have an avid phobia of them - long story, but they do kind of act like a cheese wire when you get one that recoils through your closed hand) it seems that leg work doesn't always pay off.

I guess that means then that so far, they are all on an even keel with each other, which therefore will probably result in the arduous game of playing them off one another to see who will discount the most. I can't wait for that one :) Though I have to say with the prices looking like they do at the moment, it may be a while before we actually order the windows... it's not exactly pocket change to say the least!

The weather today is drab to say the least, with plenty of rain which rather limits my options of what to get up to. Eventually I decide to watch Vera Drake - a film about a lady who "Helped Girls Out" back in the 50's, not to put too finer point on it she was in fact what we'd probably call a back street abortionist. It was an interesting film, with lots of different perspectives intermingled in the story line (such as the poor girl who has an abortion illegally, the rich girl who goes through more respected channels, the extortionist who makes profit from arranging the appointments, the medical point of view, the criminal aspect, and ultimately Vera's ideology that she was simply helping people who needed her help.

It's quite a long film but the makers did a very good job of approaching what is, even in the 21st Century, a taboo subject.

Posted by Abi at 10:59 PM | Comments (1)

May 18, 2005

Sales Patter

Delightful, an early afternoon dealing with a double glazing sales man, who (and lets be honest about it) most of us wouldn't let through the front door on any ordinary occasion.

But today, their services are actually required, and so dutifully I allow them in, provide tea or coffee and smile appropriately when needed. TBH, it's not too much of a trauma. The chap is actually quite pleasant and seems to measure up accurately and doesn't lay on the old pressure selling - you know the kind of thing "Well if you sign today I might be able to get you 10% discount, let me just make a phone call". But I probably preempted those attempts by telling him that "It's not me you've got to convince, I don't own the house - so I'd save the sale's patter and just come up with a quote" :)

And a quote he did come up with, though in my strictly unprofessional view I'd say it was more of a guesstimate... I mean were talking nearly £3,000 when you add on the VAT, and that didn't include getting the front door done!

But, it's not all at a loss, I mean he was the first of the people we've had out so far and so whether or not he's in cloud cuckoo land with his quote, or we're just way out of touch with the cost of double glazing remains to be seen. I've another bod coming out tomorrow so maybe that will shed some light on what is about ridiculous, about right or a bargain.

My afternoon is spent doing some more on my CV, and then a little baking, as well as repotting the remainder of the herbs which were wallowing in self pity in their seed trays. So they are all now relocated in big pots, though I have to admit the transfer process was somewhat brutal! Hopefully though the post traumatic stress won't be too evident :) I also pop to the shop to get a few necessary bits and pieces.. well it's pasta bake for tea, and I figure some pasta might be handy ;)

Not much going on in the evening, very little in fact, only just enough to keep me occupied until shut eye time. Which is about now :)

Posted by Abi at 9:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2005

Peddling

A nice day again weather wise, so it's time for me to get out the bike, dust it off and take it for a spin into town. It's been a while since I last went on it (shame on me!) but I have to say I noticed a considerable difference in the arse department, ie. more of my arse was on the seat rather than loping over the sides of it. So that made the ride all the more comfy!

I get a CD called "The Weekend" which I'd seen advertised on TV, and after listening to it I'd say it was pretty good, if that sort of music is your thing! I also pick up a DVD, Spaceballs to be precise. If you've never heard of it, it's basically a spoof of Star Wars, and quite a funny one at that :) So instead of Yoda, you have Yogurt. Darth Vader becomes Dark Helmet, Jabba The Hut is now Pizza The Hut and Chewbacca becomes Barf (a MOWG, half human half dog). It's quite good fun, and particularly scathing of all the marketing that perhaps could be related to the current Star Wars after sales empire :)

I also pick up some new cutlery, since all of our stuff is either rusting or falling apart (thus proving my theory that Ikea stuff really does only have a life span of about 3 years) :) The new tools are quite cool too, having a brushed steel effect as well as polished steel.

The afternoon is mostly used to spruce up my CV, which it appears I last updated when I was 25! Hehehe, so yes it did need quite a few amendments, but it's just about there now should I feel the desire to push it out to some agencies... And I get about to ringing some double glazing firms to get some quotes to do the house (well it seems like an ideal opportunity since some little hooligan catapulted a stone through the bathroom window at the weekend) and so after several calls I manage to set up a few appointments to get an array of quotes.

I also watch Spaceballs (well I had bought it for that reason) so that kept me entertained up until Phil came home. After tea we then set about sticking some stuff up on E-Bay. Namely a TV, Scanner and an ADSL modem. It's just a few things, but we thought we'd test the waters first, and if they sell, well then we'll hit the attic and see what else we can dispose of :)

Posted by Abi at 9:51 PM | Comments (1)

May 16, 2005

Life Laundry

After a couple of weeks of feeling slightly less than motivated (I don't know why, maybe it was a subliminal message or something from my brain about nearly being 30, or the fact that I had stuff that needed doing and I'd been avoiding it) I feel considerably much more on track so far this week. So today, as well as the usual house cleaning attack, I also set about unpacking some more of the boxes that had been laying around since I moved in with Phil, just about 10 months ago.

Amongst the various items of bric-a-brac were several things I'd forgotten I had, such as a full length python skin and hundreds of glass pebbles. Not to mention the copious mounds of other bits and pieces that I'd not been bothered to extracate from bubble wrap and newspaper.

So I'm sat on the floor thinking to myself, oh well I can't live with out this (an over exposed photo of nothing), and I can't live with out that (the same photo but from a slightly different angle)... when in actual fact I can live without 90% of it, I have done so for the past 10 months so whats stopping me now?

So most of it gets trashed and enables me to free up some valuable storage space. Next on my hit list is to make a list of stuff that can be ebay'd - I've no doubt in my mind that one persons junk is anothers treasure, and if I can make a penny or 2 to put towards our digital camera fund well thats good!

With the life laundry therefore underway, I'm going to make a concerted effort to try and unpack one box every week and exorcise any unwanted, unneeded, unused, underutilized or duplicated items to ebay, or the trash can :) It's not as if we have a huge house, so any extra room is always a bonus :)

Not much going on this evening, though we do watch a documentary about a baby who was born with out a face, or more scientifically, someone suffering with Treacher Collins Syndrome, this incident being most extreme case to have been reported. The family certainly have my admiration, I have to question myself if I could go through what they have.

I guess it goes to show that no matter what the odds, there is always the chance it could be you affected.

Posted by Abi at 9:41 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2005

Up, Up and Away

Ahhh, the blessed tranquility of a lay in after the night before.... and it's much needed :) I must remember from now on to stay asleep until at least 11 am the morning after a large intake of booze, because it seems that I've missed the usual 30 minute shaking session you usually get after a skin full and you're dehydrated. Yay!

And, the weather is beautiful! It's really hot, not a cloud in the sky and no breeze either... and with that in mind it seems like today would be the ideal opportunity for the maiden voyage of the Rocket that Phil bought yesterday.

So after a little recovery time, coffee, tea and food we head off to the biggest field we can think of to set the rocket off - and boy does it fly! It also "Scares the crap out of people too" - thanks for that useful comment football playing dude ;) I think it went up about 325 feet or so and comes down nearly as quick as it goes up! All very good fun though! There are some pictures and a few movie files [rocket1 and rocket2] if you're interested.

We then have a barbecue (no, we didn't use the C6-5 that came with the rocket to light it either!) with burgers and sausages and finally then get about to planting the bamboo and acer that we got.

Typically of course the 2 places that we chose to put the plants happen to be the two places where a)a bloody great brick is and b) a bloody great tree root is. Needless to say there is now no brick, no tree root and I've lost several finger nails :)

Nevermind, they look cool, I don't have a hangover and I'm still in my 2nd decade and I could possibly still be pissed. Rah!

Posted by Abi at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2005

21 Again!

Hehehehe, goodness, it only seems like yesterday when I turned 20 ;) and here I am today at the ripe old age of 21 yet again (plus or minus 7 years) ;)

Yes, it's my birthday today! Happy birthday me, and well done me on getting this far with out killing, maiming or irrevocably damaging myself (well if you discount the time I twatted my head on a school desk and knocked myself out). Anyway... :)

I get lots of cool pressies and cards ranging across the whole spectrum of edible goods to IT Gadgets and not least from Phil a rather exceptional Rally Driving Day Experience!! Get me!! hehehehe - I've been to these people before and did a 2 wheel drive car rally day, but this time I've hit the big time in my all time favourite GT4 car, a Subaru Impreza WRX! I can't wait!! All I have to do now is book it, and you know what, I'm gonna wait for the weather to get nice and ikky - I want mud, puddles, gravel, dirt n slidin!

Pressies opened and card displayed we have some nice french toast for breakfast (ok, so I had bacon and banana and maple syrup with mine as well, come on its my birthday!) we then head off into town as Phil has a hair appointment. So while he's getting sheared, I poke around the shops and pick up a few board games. Namely, Othello and