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Saturday, December 31, 2005
 
Yet another cat update.

In a surprise turn-around she's much brighter this morning after being on a drip all night and has been allowed home.

The blood tests last night showed slightly higher than normal levels of something (I can't remember exactly what they were testing), more tests are needed to get to the bottom of the problem but, as she's better, we are going to watch her and wait (Vet agreed to this).

It's all about money really, in the last two days vet bills have totaled more than £300 and we just don't have that spare. If she suffers she'll have to be put down but at the moment she isn't suffering and is recovering from all the stress (unlike me).
- Steve, 1:25 PM,
Friday, December 30, 2005
 
Another cat update...

Not looking good for the smallest of the two cats I'm afraid. She has always been a bit sickly (as documented here) and she hasn't coped well with being spayed today.

Right now she's back at the vets for the night because she became weak and couldn't stand up, lots of dribbling too. She's seen a different vet tonight and they think she may have a Portosystemic Shunt in her Liver, it's a kind of "short circuit" that stops the blood being cleansed by the liver and the nutrients being absorbed properly. It would account for her odd behavior and lack of growth, blood tests tonight may confirm this.

I think it's likely that she will be put to sleep, she's very ill tonight and even if she recovers from this bout she'll probably be left with a serious condition which isn't going to get better.
- Steve, 10:19 PM,
 
Probably going to take a trip this afternoon to the new Ikea store in Milton Keynes, it's finally open which is great because it's only around 20 miles away from here.

I like shopping at Ikea, furniture is one thing but I like all the other stuff like cheap batteries and pint glasses. Swedish food shop is great too; the root beer is nice and the pear cider is even nicer.
- Steve, 1:58 PM,
 
Both cats are at the vets today being Spayed, they probably won't like that much.

According to latest reports the op's have been done and they are both fine, but a bit wobbly. We can collect them later and I think they will be shut in a bedroom with all their stuff so that they can have some peace and quiet.

I wish I could do the same (peace and quiet, not be Spayed) as I'm feeling quite tired, the cats kept me awake last night because they couldn't eat after 9pm and I think they were vocalising their displeasure. Also, a while back they got collars with bells on that are supposed to give birds etc a fighting chance of not being eaten, what they really do is annoy me when they charge up and down the stairs all night.

I really should have gone to bed before 4am but I've been enjoying "me time"... alright, I do the washing-up while listening to Podcasts.
- Steve, 1:10 PM,
 
This Google Video is great, you might have seen it as it's linked from Boing Boing.

Record an old Lottery show, buy a ticket to match the numbers, play it back as live and watch the guy who isn't in on the joke... a classic.
- Steve, 1:03 AM,
Thursday, December 29, 2005
 
Pilot dumps drunk man on island - Excellent story, I hope he has to fund his trip back home personally and hopefully the airline will try to recover the costs of the diversion from him.

It's nice to see people being held resposible for their actions, I don't think it happens enough in the real world but airlines and airports are pretty hot on this sort of thing.
- Steve, 11:44 PM,
 
According to the local paper there might well be heavy snow tonight/tomorrow in North Oxfordshire, where I live.

I really would love to have a few inches of fresh snow, I'm not at work and we have a sledge all ready to go. It used to snow much more often when I was a kid than it does now, I don't want Georgia to miss out on it all.

If it doesn't snow I'm thinking of packing the car and going somewhere where there will be some snow, we can always get a cheap Travelodge in the area... It would be a kind of poor mans skiing trip!
- Steve, 2:59 PM,
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
 
I'm loving having a break from the usual routine of work, the big difference from taking time off at other points in the year is that everyone else is off now so the 'phone is quiet. It's been a busy year and I haven't had much time off to relax, taking last week off was a good move because it always takes me a while to wind down.

I like not having to know what the time is, it really doesn't matter because I have nowhere to be and nothing to do. It doesn't matter that I've stayed up to 4am hitting the "random article" button on Wikipedia* because I don't have to be at my best tomorrow.

If I won the Lottery my life would be like this all the time.

I think I might have a glass of Port now.

* You can't say that I don't know how to enjoy myself.
- Steve, 3:35 AM,
Sunday, December 25, 2005
 
Merry Christmas everybody!

So, 24 presents have been wrapped and put under the tree this evening, all of them for Georgia. I know that seems like an absurd amount but it's pretty much all "stocking filler" stuff with a couple of larger items too. It's a big pile but it's not really high value stuff, that's something you can get away with when you are buying for a 5 year old.

It's the early hours of Christmas morning and I'm just starting to feel Christmassy, I have drunk Santa's cup of coffee, I have yet to consume his mince pie and Rudolph's carrotts though. I'm about to have Daddies glass of Baileys, the lights are low, the tree is twinkling and there is Groove Salad spilling out of the laptop... yeah, I could get used to this.
- Steve, 1:15 AM,
Friday, December 23, 2005
 
Sometimes I wish I lived somewhere with a little bit of life in it. Bicester is alright, it's good for all the sensible things in life like schools, transport links and shopping, but when 6pm comes entertainment is very limited. If you wanted to go for a beer you would be ok but that's not what I'm after, since I passed my driving test in September 1993 I've preferred to drive rather than drink*.

Now is a good example, it's gone 2am I'm wide awake and would quite like to go out for a change of scenery. Ideally I'd like to go somewhere dimly lit for a machiato and some stimulating conversation, maybe even a smoke if the mood was right. There is nothing within miles of here that would suit my needs, the only things open are the 24hr Tesco and the Cherwell Valley Services, both of these are full of people who aren't allowed out during daylight hours.

So, I'll be staying in tonight with the only the cats and Keith & The Girl for company.

* Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy a drink it's just not a necessary part of having a good time these days.
- Steve, 2:03 AM,
Monday, December 19, 2005
 
I'm loving the Citroen C6, quality car but understated in the way that BMW's and Merc's aren't. I want one. At £29k it's out of my league though, Audi A6 might be the answer as it's more than £5k cheaper.
- Steve, 12:22 PM,
Sunday, December 18, 2005
 
It's been a really busy couple of weeks what with one thing and another, little time for anything but work and getting to and from work. I am officially on holiday until after Christmas now but I think it's just too busy to be completely free from work. This is a problem because, as the schools are off and Clare is working, it's my job to entertain a 5 year old all day and that's not easy when the phone is ringing all the time and the emails are flooding in.

I also need to finish an end of course project for OU course I'm doing, I've found it really hard to get enough free time (and motivation) to do enough study. The course is made up of three tests and the project, the tests are all done (80%, 90% and 80%) but the project is going to be hard as time is running out. I'm actually not too fussed about passing the course because it's the learning part that interests me, but it never hurts to have a certificate when you're job hunting (which I'm not).
- Steve, 8:20 PM,
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
 

mini_old_new
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
This is the newer Sportspack with the Mini Cooper 1.3i we already had.

The black one we had for a few years and it was great fun. We hit the streets of Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam in it, all the time topping the radiator up with mineral water. Good times.
- Steve, 11:23 AM,
 

mini_sportspack
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
This is probably my favourite car out of all of those we've had in the past. It's a '98 Sportspack and we had it from new for about a year.

I really wish I still had it, no good for the milage I do these days but perfect for long drives in the country and having fun.
- Steve, 11:18 AM,
 
So, David Cameron is the new leader of the Conservative Party and I think this is probably a good thing. I'm not a Tory voter but there are two things he has committed to that really endear him to me... actually, I may have misunderstood...

Anyhow; the two things are:

An end to "Punch and Judy" politics
and
Supporting the Government when they agree with their policy (i.e. not opposing for the sake of it)

These might actually be the same point but I hope that the "end of Punch and Judy" thing relates to PMQs. I listen to it when I can but I can't get through a whole session without being both angry and ashamed of the behaviour of the MPs in attendance, if you don't know what I mean then listen to it today. They are supposed to be representing us but it sounds like an unruly kids party.

The point about not opposing everything just because you are (or think you are) the opposition is also a good one. Some policies are correct and some aren't, if you oppose everything then you are just self serving and not looking out for the country.
- Steve, 10:26 AM,
Monday, December 05, 2005
 
I should point out that my friends Ernest and Julio have paid a 750ml long visit tonight, there is a good chance that disjointed rambling might follow (more than usual).

I left the house this morning at around 9.45am and was home around 5pm, between these times I drove for 4hrs 52mins. I only made two stops, Bletchley and Lichfield... what a waste of a working day. I shook hands with a couple of people but that is probably as productive as it got. Tomorrow I'll balance that by working from home where I can start work just after I get out of bed (sometimes I'll even get dressed first).

Tomorrow though a man is coming to fix the oven (I could fix it myself because I did an apprenticeship instead of going to university, therefore I call myself an "Engineer" (at least in private))

As we rent this house someone else fixes anything that breaks, this means that I should probably hide the cats as our agreement states "no pets"... will they stay in my sports bag without making too much noise?

I'm listening to todays DSC, I'm starting to quite enjoy Country music, keep that between us.

Where has Sheila gone?
- Steve, 11:39 PM,
Thursday, December 01, 2005
 
- Steve, 1:21 AM,
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
 
You know those Zorb balls you can get inside and roll down hills? How much bigger do you think they would have to be to make you indestructible?

There must be some cushioning between the passenger compartment and the ground due to all the air between the two, so, how big does it need to be for you to be pushed out the back of a transport plane at (say) 1000ft and bounce on the ground without injury?

See, I've never been in one but I can't imagine under what circumstances you could get injured.. They float, so being on water isn't a problem, if a truck hit you it would (probably?) bounce you out of the way...

Why don't they use these instead of parachutes? Parachutes aren't "fail-safe" and I'm sure a big ball would get you down to the ground a little quicker.
- Steve, 7:26 PM,
 
Odd weather yesterday, it wasn't forecast but there was quite a bit of snow around the Crewe area. I stayed in the Travelodge at the M6 Jct 16 and there was 3-4 inches of snow in their carpark, much sideways action was had in a seventeen-year-old stylee.

Back in Oxfordshire there is no snow and there wasn't any yesterday I'm told.
- Steve, 12:17 AM,
 
Tesco "Value" Bitter tastes a bit odd and is only 2.1%abv but it's actually quite satisfying and only costs 90p for 4x440ml cans... just don't let your friends see you buying it.
- Steve, 12:00 AM,
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
 
The network at work has been suffering a bit lately because it's not very good and we've taken on some new business that requires a permanent fast link back to the HQ in Oxford. The solution to the poor performance was to restrict internet access during the day for a couple of weeks while some important warehouse type work was going on, now we have full internet access again but they have installed a packet sniffer to see what people are up to.

As a result of all this I'll probably be posting less during the day, I'll have to save up my ramblings for when I'm at home with some free time...
- Steve, 11:52 PM,
Sunday, November 27, 2005
 
If you time your food shopping just right you can get some real bargains. We've been a bit skint recently (like that's anything new) and have been taking full advantage of calling into the local little supermarket an hour or so before closing and buying up the reduced stuff.

In the last few days we've had two whole chickens, about four packs of Aberdeen Angus steaks, a few microwave ready meals, apple pies and lots of sausages and lots of packets of chicken breasts. Most of this stuff has been sold for between 10p and 50p just because it goes out of date on the day of purchase (it goes straight into the freezer when it gets home).

There is something very satisfying about paying 50p for some steaks that were on sale for £4.59 2 minutes before you purchased them (it's all down to the timing, you can follow the lady round with the "reduced" stickers!).

The amount of cash coming into the house should be greatly improved from this month but I think the frugal shopping practices will remain as there are some big savings to be made.
- Steve, 11:50 PM,
Saturday, November 26, 2005
 
The first proper snow of the season has caught people out again, more motorists were stranded overnight.

I was only thinking yesterday that I'm going to pack a box in the car with a few essentials to be used in the event of getting stuck somewhere. I think some blankets or a duvet, some food and water, a torch, (company) credit card and some extra clothes and boots would be a good idea. The box lid could be a good shovel too. I'd like to get a 12v kettle too, like the one here.

I'll also try to make sure I always have at least half a tank of fuel all the time so that I can have heating and power.

I'm not expecting to get stuck anywhere but I am often a long way from home and even a shut motorway end up with you being in traffic for hours.
- Steve, 11:43 AM,
 
Channel 4 have got themselves into trouble over the length and frequency of the ad breaks they screen during Lost. I've noticed recently that many of the channels on Sky have really gone over the top with the amount of adverts they screen, it's not unusual for me to have forgotten what I was watching before they return to the program.

I wonder if I have become less tolerant of adverts since listening to lots of Podcasts, it's not that the Podcasts don't have them it's just that it's easy to forward through them.

I wonder if the long ad breaks are designed to persuade people to sign up to Sky Plus so that they can record the shows and skip through the breaks. I'm not going that route but if I ever get round to building a new PC I'll make sure that it's a pretty good PVR and record what I want to see on it.
- Steve, 11:26 AM,
 
RIP Mr Miyagi
- Steve, 10:48 AM,
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
 
I want to get a chest freezer, we've got space for it in the garage and there is power in there too*. I think it would be useful for taking advantage of all the cheap food that gets reduced late at night by the supermarkets, it would be good to stock up during more affluent times ready for those times when money is tight or you have a need to really save.

I'll keep my eye on Freecycle for one, it's the sort of thing that people give away because they are a pain to shift.

* The garage isn't attached to the house, it's in a block of two some distance away in a communal parking area, it has lights and power but I'm not convinced it's connected to our house. I keep meaning to switch our power off at the consumer unit and see if the power is still on in the garage, I can't see there being a feed to the garage from between the meter and the consumer unit. Free power could be useful, I could run some SWA cable back to the house and pay nothing for electricity...
- Steve, 12:39 AM,
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
 
Mother faces bypass crash charges

Good.

I don't want to seem heartless, this was an awful accident, but cramming seven kids and a driver into a car barely big enough for five is asking for trouble.
- Steve, 12:22 PM,
Monday, November 21, 2005
 
I've taken this week off work so that I can use up the days I have left and pick Georgia up from school while Clare works, so far I don't think I've been any less busy than a normal working day.

I've never really been good at delegating, I've always left my company phone switched on in the past but now I've got to the point where I'm not telling external customers that I'm on leave so I know I'll get the calls.

I think it probably all stems from a bit of insecurity about being disorganised, I don't like other people getting involved in my work stuff as I worry it will expose my less than ideal processes. The thing is that I'm an ideas man and I'm easily bored by the details; call me at 6am on a Sunday morning because you don't have the materials to put your railway track back together and I'll sort it all out without you doing a thing, ask me to file a time-sheet each week it ain't gonna get done until you chase me up a few times.

I sometimes strive to be a little more organised but each attempt is always effort and never turns in to habit. Deep down I think that this is because I do my best work while under pressure, if it's not occurring naturally in the job then I'll make my own by starting a job just that little bit closer to the deadline.

Would I change the way I am? No. I pride myself in being a fast thinker (and talker!) and I'm naturally altruistic, I like being the man people come to when something has gone wrong and it needs to be fixed.

I'm rambling, I'm off to bed.
- Steve, 11:56 PM,
Sunday, November 20, 2005
 

Hair Error
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
It took me a while to realise it was shaving *all* my hair off...
- Steve, 7:40 PM,
 
Ohhhh dear. I have made an appalling error.

The executive summary:

  • I just attempted to cut my own hair with the clippers.
  • All was going well but the lead wasn't quite long enough.
  • It appears that when I put the clippers down to go and get the extension lead, I knocked the guard off.
  • I didn't notice until I started cutting again.


Some of my hair is now very short.

Possibly pictures to follow.

- Steve, 2:30 PM,
Saturday, November 19, 2005
 
Having read the above story I just can't understand why this man wasn't prosecuted in the first place. If someone goes to a hospital and assaults two members of staff how on earth can the CPS decide not to prosecute?
If this was a fight in town between two drunken yobs then I can see that it's probably not worth the court time, six of one and half a dozen of the other... This wasn't a fight, it was assault, he should be in jail right now not undergoing "12 months of psychiatric supervision".
People say that prison does no good, but I've never been assaulted, mugged or burgled by anyone who was locked up.
- Steve, 4:12 PM,
Thursday, November 17, 2005
 
So, I set aside a little time to write a specific post and then notice that Lyle had written exactly what I was going to say, so go over and read that.
- Steve, 3:12 PM,
 

G_poorly
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
Probably just what you need when you have a bad cold; a day off school, a snooze and a cuddle from a sleepy kitten
- Steve, 11:49 AM,
Sunday, November 13, 2005
 
You've probably seen it for yourselves; driving past a gang of "Hoodies" and one of them pretends to run out in front of you... I knew the little bastard was going to do it, and I knew he wasn't actually going to run out in to the road but I couldn't bring myself to take the chance and not skid to a halt.

Still, I wound the window down and berated him in the strongest terms possible... I suspect my tyres will now be slashed some time soon.
- Steve, 6:30 PM,
 
I'm actively planning some relaxing time tonight. At 8pm Top Gear is back for a new series, and I at 9pm it's Lost, I specifically didn't watch Lost on Wednesday night so that I could watch it tonight.

I have been saving a nice* Sicilian Red for the occasion and I'm hoping I can persuade all of the four females (two of which are Feline) in the house to be elsewhere.

Before 8pm I'm going to get up to date with all the chores so that I have nothing to do afterwards.

* "Nice" becomes pretty subjective if you only spend around £3 a bottle.
- Steve, 2:06 PM,
 
At work the other day we were discussing a new service we are about to offer where we buy in certain components, assemble them into higher assemblies and then sell (and deliver) to customers.

It got me thinking and I almost came up with a fantastic idea.

What I though of was a service where people choose their furniture from Ikea (for example), then I could collect from the store*, assemble it and then deliver to the customer. I specifically though about assembly before delivery as it would make the actual time needed to deliver the product significantly less than delivering and assembling on site.

I would need an assembly area and a large van, I have the area (the garage) and I happen to know where I could get a big Fiat van for not much cash.

The more I think about it the more I think it's a good idea. I know the flat packed delivery thing is there to cut logistics costs, but I bet it doesn't suit everybody. I could deliver at an exact agreed time, no need to take the day off work or stay in waiting and no need to spend the day with Allen keys.

Having a look on Google I see it's been done already, but not that I can see in this area.

I'm tempted.

* Of course it would make sense for me to stock the popular items here to cut down on transport costs.
- Steve, 11:42 AM,
 
I have at least 15 days of holiday to use up by the end of the year. It might be more than that because of the 10 days I have taken I worked at least a couple of them.

So, with the statutory holiday days over Christmas I could take well over 3 weeks leave in the next 6 weeks.

On my old contract you were able to sell holiday days back to the company if you needed extra cash, or if you had the cash and wanted more time off you could buy extra holiday days. I don't think that applies to my new contract though, pity.

I'll use the days up though, Clare has a new job in the daytime so the more days I can be at home to pick Georgia up from school the better.

Sometimes it would be nice to take some time off and have absolutely nothing to do.
- Steve, 10:35 AM,
Friday, November 11, 2005
 
Now I know this might seem crass and insensitive...

A 15 year old girl is stabbed with scissors after being bullied over the length of her hair, then the BBC tells the world that her dad is called Humperdinck... that should just about finish her off I reckon.
- Steve, 9:33 PM,
 
Yesterday morning I burnt holes in my favourite socks when I tried to dry them in the microwave. I have learnt my lesson and from now on I will only dry my pants in the microwave (they hold up much better) and I'll recycle socks from the washing basket.

I'm all about the self improvement.
- Steve, 9:24 PM,
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
 
I knew there would be some unpleasant driving conditions today when last nights shipping forecast mentioned "Hurricane Force 12" a couple of times. Driving back from Crewe tonight was a real pain, the M6 toll road never does very well when it's raining and there was stacks of standing water, it gave the traction control a bit of a workout.

One thing that really bugs me is the people who put their fog lights on in heavy rain and spray. It might look like fog but it isn't, putting your fog lights on just makes a plume of light that obscures my view of you and makes it almost impossible for me to tell when you brake. I think fog lights should have an audible warning when they are on, they almost never really need to be used.
- Steve, 8:30 PM,
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
 
Has anyone got any experience of free operating systems? My old laptop runs Windows XP but it's not exactly a legitimate version and I'm totally fed up with the constant struggle to keep it up to date with the security patches etc. I think I've pretty much lost the fight because each time it connects to the internet it goes s-l-o-w, even switching between applications takes ages.. I must sort that out.

So, I want to ditch Windows and use something else. The machine has a pretty easy life really, as long as I can connect to the internet and preferably use Firefox then I'd be pretty happy. The opportunity to learn something new is also pretty appealing, I think I have only ever used Windows and DOS machines (with the exception of Spectrums and an Amiga).

What would you recommend?
- Steve, 7:32 PM,
Monday, October 31, 2005
 
Well, we've made it through to dawn and we still have two kittens. She's much more lively now (unlike me) so that's a bit of a relief. I'm a little worried that she has some nasty disease, she is much smaller than her sister and has always been the sickly one. They have just had vaccinations, I hope she didn't catch something before them.

Staying up all night was easier when I was 10 years younger and doing it for fun, only 10 hours left and I'll have finished work for the day...
- Steve, 6:50 AM,
 
I wouldn't normally still be up and about at 3.30am on a work night, but tonight we've got a poorly kitten who needs some nursing. She's been to the vets this evening and although we don't know what the problem is yet, they said it "wasn't looking good". They gave her some antibiotics because her symptoms (not eating, not sleeping, dribbling and a slight nosebleed) might indicate an infection, they would have kept her in tonight to look after her but we decided she would probably be better off being looked after at home as there was nothing more they could offer medically.

I'm staying up tonight to keep an eye on her and to try and get some water and food inside her if at all possible, I've finally had some success and have managed to get her to have a syringe of water and some energy-dense food the vet gave us. She hasn't been interested in eating at all but I used a bit of a dirty trick by filling the syringe with the food and squirting it on the top of her paws, she cleaned herself and seemed to get a taste for it, eventually eating some from a bowl.

I'm hoping she'll rest now before a 9am appointment back at the vets.
- Steve, 3:33 AM,
Sunday, October 30, 2005
 
This morning, for the first time ever, I didn't realise the clocks were going back. It was a bit confusing because the time on Sky was different to every other clock in the house, took me ages to figure out what was going on
- Steve, 10:01 AM,
Saturday, October 22, 2005
 
The mp3 player I mentioned has arrived and I'm really impressed with it, perfect for what I want it for.

It's great to make a (small) portion of my music collection portable, it's great to do the normal chores around the house to a custom soundtrack. It's all about setting the mood; I needed to cut the grass because it's been left a while, so what better then to get in a Jungle Warfare mood with some Vietnam era Lynyrd Skynyrd? If I could have called in an air-strike of Agent Orange then I would have... damn Nanny State.
- Steve, 10:09 AM,
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
 
Here's a thing: An exact anagram of Georgia's full name is 'Argue an interrogation' which is fitting really because she probably would.
- Steve, 4:20 PM,
 
I'm still feeling a bit rough at the moment, the biggest problem is my mouth... it hurts.

In lieu of actually going to a real live doctor I decided to do a bit of self-diagnosis using only the internet, some household goods and a willing assistant.

According to Google I most likely have a case of Herpetic Stomatitis, the symtoms are:

  • Fever, may precede appearance of blisters and ulcers by 1 or 2 days
  • Irritability
  • Blisters in the mouth, often on the tongue or cheeks
  • Ulcers in the mouth, often on the tongue or cheeks -- these form after the blister pops
  • Swollen gums
  • Pain in mouth
  • Drooling
  • Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)

I have all of those.

So, using an Ikea uplighter and a Bic Biro, my assistant had a good poke about in my gob and confirmed that the roof, sides and back of my mouth are covered in small blisters.
This is something that normally only young children get, it should all clear up in 10 days of it's own accord.

Isn't the internet a useful thing? Of course I could have it all wrong, it might be something like Ebola and I might cough my insides all over a Victoria Line tube train tomorrow... but at the moment I'm feeling good about not having to take time off to visit the GP.
- Steve, 2:12 PM,
Monday, October 17, 2005
 
You'll probably have noticed that I'm not shy when it comes to linking to BBC News stories on this here Weblog. I think the reason I do this so often is that I'm a bit of a news junkie and generally read stacks of stories each day, the BBC is my favourite source but not my only source by any means.

I normally link to the stories that produce some sort of verbal response in me when I'm sat alone in the kitchen (like now). I've got a few months left of my twenties and there comes a time where a man likes to shout at the television, well it's 2005 and this is what we do now*.

So then, a couple of things that have made me go hmmm tonight:

A violent prisoner escapes from a prison up the road from here. - Wait, I missed a bit out there, it should be "A violent prisoner escapes from an open prison up the road from here". Can you see the bit that caught my attention? It's that whole "violent prisoner"-"open prison" thing, stands out like a pink tie with a green shirt doesn't it?

Look at it this way: A retired Vicar is jailed for not paying all his council tax out of protest at scandalous rises, he gets locked up in HMP Woodhill which is a category A prison and home to what our American friends would call "some serious bad arses" (probably something to do with the shower block). The low-life thug gets a stay at HMP Springhill which is a category D prison and is home to a Buddha Grove. Seriously, given the choice of an extended stay at Springhill or Butlins I'd have to give it some thought.

The other thing was that whole Army Captain leaves gun in Sainsbury's story. Now I know she's getting flack for leaving the gun in the toilet but isn't anyone asking what she was doing in a Supermarket in the first place? I've always hated shopping in Supermarkets, it's going to be so much worse now that I know that bint blocking the aisle with her trolley while she studies every brand of cottonbud on the shelf might be packing a piece!

*Yeah, ok, I do that too.
- Steve, 11:20 PM,
 
Early on Saturday evening I started to feel a little bit shaky and odd, my hands were shaking and I started to feel a bit sick. Looking back over my food and drink consumption for the day I realised that I'd had pretty much no food and lots and lots of coffee.

Obviously I didn't have any more coffee, but we did have dinner and I thought that might fix things, it didn't. I progressively felt worse, in turns boiling hot and freezing cold, lots of shivering and a crushing headache. I went to bed for a couple of hours but that didn't really help much, I spent the rest of the evening on the sofa with a duvet and then went to bed and had a really bad nights sleep.

Yesterday I felt even worse, all the same symptoms and a sore throat too. The worst thing is the hot and cold, peeling back the covers to reach for a drink resulted in about ten minutes of uncontrolled shivering followed by ten minutes of unattractive sweating. I slept as much as possible and ate a packet of Anadin.

After another bad (and very damp) nights sleep I actually feel miles better, not quite right but getting there. The headache has gone, the shivering has gone but I still have the mother of all sore throats. It actually feels like the back of my mouth is covered in blisters and it even hurts to move my tongue.

Considering the fact that I don't have any of the normal cold symptoms and that this all came on very quickly, I'm left wondering what I had. Could it have been the coffee?
- Steve, 7:59 PM,
Sunday, October 16, 2005
 

Then you're obviously not the right man to lead the country. There is drug use in this country, even in safe Tory seats, you would do better by electing someone from the same world as the rest of us live in.
- Steve, 1:11 AM,
Friday, October 14, 2005
 
Sometimes I feel like the only person on the planet who doesn't have an ipod or equivalent type thingie, I've been tempted in the past but never enough to justify shelling out all that cash for one. I suppose it's because I spend my time at home, in the car or at work and in all of those places my entertainment needs are quite well looked after.

On Thursday there was an ipod related announcement from Apple. On Thursday an order was placed from my first mp3 player...

There is no link between these two things.

No, I'm not going to get myself a video ipod, what would I do with that? I ordered one of these babies and they are cheap.

You see, I have a modest collection of music in mp3 format and it all lives on my laptop, there are very few occasions when I ever want to listen to any of it when I'm not sat with the laptop in front of me. The only reason I want an mp3 player is for Podcasts, I listen to a couple regularly and I normally burn them to CD to listen to in the car, a cheap mp3 player will save me doing that.

So, I'll be having 128mb of audio in a portable device all for £30, cheaper if you shop around. That'll do me nicely.
- Steve, 4:18 PM,
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
 
So, Google reader then. Well it's the first web based feed reader I've used and it pretty much does what you would expect, I find I'm using it more often than Feedreader due to location mainly.
It's not all roses though... I'm pretty sure I could jump in the car and drive to the homes/offices of all the feeds in my list and read the content on their monitors before that "loading" icon disappears. It's s-l-o-w but it gets there eventually, it is free and it does do what it should so you won't hear me complaining.

In other news: Well, there is very little at the moment, I'm a little bit pissed and I'm listening to Neil Diamond and Barbera Streisand.
- Steve, 10:42 PM,
Monday, October 10, 2005
 
I'll be watching the progress of the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill with interest, it's one of those debates that I think most people will have a position on.

The Church have voiced their opposition to the bill, which isn't a surprise as anything else would probably be seen as a kind of support, I wonder how representative their views are of the public?

Personally I feel lucky not to have witnessed the kind of suffering these articles describe, I can't imagine what it must be like to watch a loved one slowly come to the end of their life in pain.

I am very much in favour of this option being available to those who choose it, I try to live my life with some dignity and I would like it to end in a similar manner if at all possible.

Dr Williams wrote in the Mail on Sunday that life was "a gift from God that we cannot treat as a possession of our own to keep or throw away".
The value of ones life is surely more than the manner in which it ends, isn't it?
Normal service will now resume!
- Steve, 11:47 PM,
 
Go on, tell me you wouldn't want a kettle that you can switch on by sending it a text message.
- Steve, 11:21 PM,
Sunday, October 09, 2005
 
I've just exported my OPML list of RSS feeds from Feedreader to the new Google Reader. I think I've mentioned before that I only have feedreader on my machine at home, and not on the work laptop, this is the ideal solution, a web based feed reader. I'm sure there are plenty of other system out there, but this is the first one I've tried.
- Steve, 12:48 PM,
Saturday, October 08, 2005
 

IMG_0016
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
Saturday is laundry day, FiFi isn't really helping much by looking cute in the washing basket...
- Steve, 12:22 PM,
 
Amphibious homes - I do like elegant solutions to problems.

Via Plasticbag.org
- Steve, 10:03 AM,
 
I had it all planned, but I got distracted. The plan was to wait until everyone else in this house had gone to bed, and then spend a little quality time having a 1 to 1 with our SQL server in Crewe, it was going to be such a productive night.

What I actually did was play Burnout Revenge on the PS2 and then watch QI followed by more QI and then Road Wars on Sky One. So, now it's gone midnight and I'm just about to start some serious number crunching. Should I go for the pot of coffee and make a night of it, or the hot chocolate and make a start?
- Steve, 12:10 AM,
Friday, October 07, 2005
 
"The optician told me it would take six months for my brain to settle down again."
And just look at what it did to her face...
- Steve, 7:47 PM,
 
Jim's post a couple of days back about cookery shows (well, podchef anyway) got me thinking about Lapdancing.

See, I've never been a big fan of cookery shows, audio or video based, it makes no difference . The problem is that I can appreciate the art and science that goes in to the cooking process, but the fact that someone else gets to eat the dinner at the end of it just doesn't sit right with me.

This is where the Lapdancing comes in. Now, I've never been to a Lapdancing establishment, and I really have no desire to do so, the principals are the same. I might really enjoy the show but I'm not going to bed the dancer at the end of the evening, in the same way as I don't get to eat Jamie's souffle, and that spoils the whole thing for me*.

If I get the munchies late at night, I won't be satisfied by just sniffing someone else's kebab, I'm gonna need my own!

*I know there are other establishments that might be able to sort me out, but that's a whole different subject.

- Steve, 4:59 PM,
Thursday, October 06, 2005
 
I like dark chocolate, I also like chillis... so I wonder if I'd like this.
- Steve, 9:39 AM,
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
 
There has been plenty of talk on the Daily Source Code recently about Biodiesel, I was surprised to find that there is a supplier in Oxford. I'm thinking about giving it a try, it's not much cheaper than regular diesel but this is because of supply and demand; if you sell a lot of something it's cheaper, so I can do my bit for the cause by becoming a biodiesel user now. There is half the amount of tax on biodiesel than regular diesel, so if the production costs come down because of increased demand we'll have cheaper fuel that is better for the environment than the alternative.

In a related note, funds are running low at the moment so I'm trying to save fuel by working from home more often and traveling to the NW once a week where possible (as compared to 3-4 times!). I also tried hard to drive economically on the way home tonight and I averaged 71.6mpg over 122 miles, not bad for a big-ish car is it?
- Steve, 9:41 PM,
Sunday, October 02, 2005
 
There aren't many places round here that you can get kitten food after 10pm of a Sunday night, cat food maybe, but not kitten food. It's not a disaster, I won't have to go out in the cold and forage for a fresh Cod or anything, but it's one more thing to add to my list of stuff to do before work tomorrow morning. So far:

  • Iron a shirt, possibly two shirts depending on what's in the wardrobe.
  • Make lunch to take to work.
  • Pack bag with enough stuff for an overnight stay.
  • Get my OU course materials together.
  • Have breakfast
  • Make coffee to drink on the commute
  • Buy diesel
  • Buy kitten food
  • Drive 2hrs North
  • Get to work before 9am.

Of course I could do some of those things now, but you haven't seen my list of stuff to get done before I go to bed.

I've said it before, if I could get away with no sleep things would be easier.

- Steve, 10:14 PM,
 
Big fat bold blokes shouldn't dance and I, for one, stick to that rule quite religiously, but even I could be tempted to throw a few shapes to that Pendulum remix of the Prodigy track Voodoo People. It's ace!*

*I know nothing about this music genre, so it might actually be rubbish, but I like it. Lots.
- Steve, 5:50 PM,
 
My Open University course started yesterday and so far it looks like I'm going to really enjoy it. It's completely online, so that makes it very flexible in terms of when you study, they expect you to put in around 8hrs per week which doesn't seem too bad. In practice though finding 8 hrs of free time per week isn't a problem, but finding 8 hrs per week when it's quiet enough to study might be a bit more of a challenge.

I suppose I'm quite lucky because I work away from home for a night or two per week, so I'll take all my materials with me and do some studying at the hotel.

I really wish I had done a course like this for MS Access (yeah, I know!) but I learnt that myself, I can do some pretty complicated things with Access but I can't help thinking that I haven't quite got the basics right.
- Steve, 11:06 AM,
Saturday, October 01, 2005
 
On Cillit Bang and a new low for marketers...
Go and have a read.
- Steve, 11:36 AM,
Thursday, September 29, 2005
 
You know how it is when you get a song stuck in your head and you just have to get it? Well, it happened to me recently, that's nothing unusual, but this is a Country song...

Can you see my Redneck sticking out from there?

Yeeha!

Update - The song is "It's five o'clock somewhere" by Alan Jackson
- Steve, 5:20 PM,
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
 
Tired. I feel like I could work for a week non stop with no sleep and still be miles behind. I've been home for an hour and I'm just about to crack open the work laptop and do just a little more... need to be in Birmingham tomorrow for a meeting I don't want to attend (even though I called it) all I really want to do is go to bed.
- Steve, 8:43 PM,
Monday, September 26, 2005
 
I mentioned a while back that I was going to check out Earthcore "the worlds first Podcast only novel" well, I'm about three episodes from the end and it's been ace! It's well written and it draws you in to the story, I'm certainly going to be checking out the sequel.
- Steve, 7:29 PM,
 
Been a bit quiet here for a while, you know how it is, same old stuff going on and not much to report.

I did go for a meal last week at the Bhurtpore Inn near Nantwich and it was just excellent. It's a really nice place to be, good atmosphere, really friendly staff and a huge selection of beers, ales and ciders. I'd make it my local if it wasn't 2 hrs away from home.

I discovered a new favourite drink, Moonshine cider brewed by Broadoak. It's a still white cider, quite strong at 8.4% but it's very drinkable, I could get myself in to a lot of trouble with it because it's as easy to drink as orange squash (but apple, obviously...).
I was surprised to see it didn't get very good reviews here but that could be that I don't know much about cider, doesn't matter though because I liked it and I'll have it again. The other reason I might have liked it so much is that I was drinking it with a hot Goan Beef Curry and it just suited it somehow.

I've found a place to buy it too, all I need now is disposable income and I'll be alright.
- Steve, 5:40 PM,
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
 
I tried to listen to The Daily Source Code tonight, but I've had to turn it off because it was making me angry... It's the same thing that winds me up with most broadcast media, I hate it when people whisper or talk somewhere miles away from the mike.

During the podcast Adam Curry made a cup of coffee and was talking from what sounded like another room, that pushed my buttons and off it went.

Maybe I'm just tired and pissy.
- Steve, 10:43 PM,
Monday, September 19, 2005
 
That's a very specific interpretation of the word "negotiation"
- Steve, 10:30 PM,
 
Alright, I know I still have about 9 months until the my current car goes and I have to choose another one, but a bit of window shopping never hurt anyone did it?

I know I posted a little while back with a favourite, but that has now been superceded by this. Sexy isn't it?

The good news is that it falls in to the correct price range, and there is a diesel version (150bhp!) which should keep the tax man happy.

It's not a huge car but there is enough room inside for our small family and, having had a sit in one today, I'm pretty smitten.
- Steve, 7:21 PM,
Sunday, September 18, 2005
 
Is it a blogging faux pas when one of the Vice Presidents at hp comments on one of your posts and you don't notice for a couple of weeks?

Must get Feedreader on both machines.
- Steve, 10:14 PM,
Friday, September 16, 2005
 
Despatch or Dispatch? Both are correct spellings, which one would you use?
- Steve, 3:42 PM,
 
The hotel I stay at in Cheshire normally has free coffee and biscuits on tap (well the biscuits don't come out of a tap, but you know what I mean) but last night there were no biscuits left! This greatly upset my after dinner routine as it's just about the only time that going to bed with a pack of Brownies is appropriate
behaviour for a 29 year old.
- Steve, 8:59 AM,
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
 
Had to attend a meeting in London this morning, so I traveled in by train. As long as you can get a seat then it's not a bad way to travel, had one of those trains that don't have tables but still managed to get a bit of work done on the way.

Although the journey is good, I always find that I never leave enough time to get to the station and it all becomes a bit hectic, I was relieved to get a phone call on the way telling me that the meeting was going to start 30 minutes late.

The extra time allowed me to properly wake up by having a Moccachino at Puccino's at Euston, and then an Americano when the Boss arrived. The day sort of went downhill after that.
- Steve, 9:00 PM,
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
 
Panic buying of fuel ahead of planned protests has started. I saw plenty of closed petrol stations around Crewe today, not sure what the situation is like in Oxfordshire but I bet the same thing will be happening here too.

I have been badly effected by it today; on two occasions I have been desperate for a cup of coffee but the petrol stations I have chosen to frequent have had about 10 cars waiting at each pump and no room for me to park!

Maybe I should panic buy cups of coffee to see me through this protest?

The reason I visit petrol stations for coffee is that I really, really like coffee from Tchibo, especially the machiato that you get from this machine . I've seen a few of these in Total petrol stations (like the one at Jct 16 of the M6, just before I get to the office!) so I hunt them down.
- Steve, 9:30 PM,
Monday, September 12, 2005
 
I've downloaded the first few chapters of the Earthcore Podcast Novel for my aural pleasure on the way to Crewe tomorrow. I'm not really in to Sci-Fi but I generally enjoy most novels and stories and I have found that listening to audiobooks fits in with my commuting lifestyle pretty well.

I really wish that car audio kept pace with other technology. The system in the car is pretty good and it has some neat tricks like: increasing the volume in relation to your speed (and road noise), pausing the CD when the 'phone rings and recording the latest travel bulletins but it seems quite "clunky" having to burn mp3's to CD in order to listen to them on the motorway.

I should be able to send audio files directly to the car from the house, or better still, have the car download selected audio overnight (or during office hours) ready for the commute.
- Steve, 11:31 PM,
 
We had a really great evening today. It's Georgia's 5th birthday (already!) and we had a party for her and her friends at the local indoor entertainment place. I can't find a link to it on the web but it's one of those places where there are ball pits, slides and foam covered climbing frames.

In the evenings you can hire the whole place out and play a laser quest type game amongst all the obstacles, the kids had a great time and when they got tired of carrying the heavy guns the Daddies took over and we had a right laugh!
- Steve, 11:21 PM,
Sunday, September 11, 2005
 
Poor memory almost got me in to a lot of trouble tonight.

I went to a family gathering this afternoon to celebrate a couple of birthdays, we were there from 3pm until about 6.30pm and had a meal and some wine (Clare was driving). 4 hours later I need some sellotape to wrap presents, so I jump in the car and head off on a mission to find some.

luckily I had driven all of about 100yds before I remembered that I had been drinking earlier on in the day and parked the car.

I don't do drinking and driving so this was something of a close call for me. The trouble is that all the effects of the alcohol have worn off and I feel normal, but in all probability I'd still be over the limit now after drinking what was probably a whole bottle of red wine earlier.

I'm sure there is a calculation that would tell me for sure if I was over the legal limit in terms of blood-alcohol level but that's not really the point.

- Steve, 11:46 PM,
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
 

Kittens
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
We went shopping today and look we we've got! They are 7 week old sisters and are small bundles of cute.

As yet they don't have names, if you have any suggestions then comment below.

I can now be a "real Blogger" and post about my cats!
- Steve, 6:54 PM,
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
 
Ask me something.

Go on.

Here's the thing; I have no inspiration to write anything witty, entertaining or acutely observational here at the moment so I'm going to leave the choice of content up to anyone who happens to be reading.

Ask me anything and I will attempt to make a post on the subject. If you want to know anything about me, then here is the place to ask, nothing is off limits*. Want to know my views on something? Ask away. Post anonymously if you like, it's all good.

* Alright, I can't think of anything I would be uncomfortable answering but if something like that does come up I'll say so and give my reasons why.
- Steve, 4:20 PM,
 

Toy Tattoo
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
So, it said on the box that it made washable tattoos... maybe I should have clarified that; does it mean that they wash off, or they can be washed without coming off?

My tiny tattoo artist drew a butterfly on me last night and despite prolonged scrubbing and a shower, it's still there.

I know it's not the greatest photo, but you can still see it, right?
- Steve, 4:11 PM,
Monday, September 05, 2005
 
That post below with the Pimp My Ride clip has got me thinking about modified vehicles and specifically what I would want if I were to design something for my needs. What would be really useful is a car that can be used as an effective and comfortable mobile office, somewhere where you could drive to your place of work and complete your daily tasks from the vehicle.

The obvious choice of vehicle to use would be a Van, Camper or MPV, but I'm sure that with some careful thought and design work it would be possible to make something that fitted the criteria in terms of usability but based on a small car.

I'm sure there are lots of people who, like me, are based "out in the field" with no permanent office location. In the construction and civil engineering world you are often literally in a field because that's how these projects start life! These people probably already have the laptops and the mobile 'phones, but I bet that when they work from the car they find it difficult to stay comfortable and have everything at hand.

I really think I could come up with some designs which would fuse the practicality of a modern office environment with the convenience of motorised transport. Furthermore, I bet I could come up with a set of designs which would achieve all this using the classic mini as a base vehicle.

More later!
- Steve, 8:12 PM,
 
I'm surprised this has passed me by: Ditch Monkey as spotted in this BBC article.

His plan is to live rough in the woods in Oxfordshire for a year while working for Sotherby's in London. It's in aid of the Woodland Trust

Sounds fantastic to me, I'll be reading when I get some time later tonight.
- Steve, 4:47 PM,
 
Up late last night watching the storm, it was quite impressive. At one point some sustained lightning fooled the streetlamps in to thinking it was daytime and they all switched off!

So maybe it's just me that finds that exciting then.
- Steve, 8:25 AM,
Sunday, September 04, 2005
 
Like big audio? Like Pimp My Ride?
Then have a look at this clip. 23" diameter sub woofer with 6000w instead of a back seat.
- Steve, 10:09 PM,
 
Ohh, I want a Honda Element* and there is a UK importer of them here. I don't specifically want a 4x4 because I don't need one (and I've had 3 different ones in the past) but what I like about this vehicle is that it's so practical; the interior can be changed around (even into a bed!) or removed to make lots of space. It looks pretty cool too (check out the gallery).

*yeah, I know it should be "an" Honda.
- Steve, 6:09 PM,
Thursday, September 01, 2005
 
And another thing that's annoying me: There is no room number 13 in this hotel... why? I understand that some people are superstitious, but to design a whole hotel and leave out room 13 as a design feature seems to be a really odd thing to do.

Do they shoot black cats if they cross the perimeter, just in case? Do they have a stash of Magpies in a cupboard to make sure they never appear singularly, after all, we wouldn't want any sorrow on site; much better to stuff another Magpie out there and have some joy isn't it?

It's been bugging me so much that I enquired at reception as to why they have no room 13, they didn't know... and now they think I'm a Twat.
- Steve, 10:36 PM,
 
I sometimes just wish stuff would work! All I want to do is print out a .pdf file at 10.30pm in a hotel, and so far I can't.

There is an "Internet Cafe" in the hotel that has a printer, but the file is on my laptop. I can't plug my flash drive in to the PC's in the hotel, nor can I burn my file to CD and do it that way because the base units are locked in a cupboard!

I've tried emailing it to my gmail account but there is no GPRS coverage here and even GSM is patchy and it's just not happening.
- Steve, 10:31 PM,
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
 
Today it's hot and wet, like Adrian Cronauer said; "That's nice if you're with a lady, but it ain't no good if you're in the Jungle". I can also confirm that it ain't no good when you're working in Alderley Edge either.

Temperature is around 30 centigrade but it's very humid out there, it's also quite overcast and becoming a bit cloudy so there could be thunderstorms later (I hope so because I'm staying in the middle of 100's of acres of golf course so should get a good view!).

Tonight will be the second night in a row that I've had to stay up in Cheshire, and I'm not going to be home until Friday night, I'm not really enjoying being here. Apart from the fact that I want to be at home with my family at night (hello to you), I'm covering another persons project while they are away and I hate doing that because it takes ages to figure out how stuff works.

In Podcast listening news I have so far consumed the following (no links because I'm on a GPRS connection and I can't be bothered to find them):

Troubled Diva - Lots of music that was new to me, enjoyed it, listened while washing up.

The Daily Source Code - Really good, liked the mix of conversation vs music (prefer talking), interesting but without being too heavy, listened on the M40/M42

The Dawn and Drew Show - Proper laugh-out-loud funny, exactly my sense of humour and Dawn has a sexy voice too, listened on the M6 toll.
- Steve, 9:24 PM,
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
 

beardy_git
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
As requested by gaekwad; here is a graphic representation of my beard growing progress. I must point out that, because it gets shaved almost all the way off every two weeks, this is not the result of 6 months growing!

Don't make me prove that I am a real man by posting pictures of my hairy back, no one wants that!
- Steve, 12:45 AM,
Monday, August 29, 2005
 
Just realised that it's been a long time since the last Beardy Update. Well, I haven't had a shave since March, that's pretty good going!

Although I no longer shave as such, I do keep myself from becoming a ZZ-Top-a-like by some regular trimming action. What I* tend to do is trim hair and beard at the same time to the same length; grade 1 on the clippers. This actually produces quite a satisfactory result and because hair and beard grow at the same rate it continues to look quite tidy for a couple of weeks.

There have been times when I've been tempted to have a proper shave, but all things considered, I think I like having a well maintained beard!

There may be picture(s) later.

*with the help of the current Mrs Turner of course.
- Steve, 10:43 AM,
Sunday, August 28, 2005
 
I had no idea.
This podcast thing has totally passed me by, although I understand how it works it's not really grabbed my imagination so I've not searched any podcasts out to have a listen to. Tonight though I have searched and I have listened, I have popped my Podcast cherry!

My first Podcast was Killer Innovations from Phil McKinney, it was really very good. I didn't quite realise the vast range of subjects available to listen to, I'm kicking myself a bit now because I've missed out on loads.

You can probably tell that I'm in a particularly creative mood today, I've been doing lots of worky type reading and lots of thinking. It's ironic then that today is a Sunday in the middle of as long week end as you can bet that when Tuesday comes along my creative libido will be flagging.
- Steve, 7:41 PM,
 
I mentioned yesterday that I'm about to start studying again after a break of ages. My employer have kindly agreed to fund the Certificate in Web Applications Development course and I should be starting in October.

I may have mentioned this last year because I was all set to start it then, admin problems meant that I missed the registration deadline by a day and there was nothing that could be done about it.

The reason I've chosen this particular course is that the skills I should learn will be of immediate practical use in my current role. My job has evolved to include massive amounts of management reporting and analysis, it's something that I've been very successful at providing (even if I do say so myself!). The "problem" is that the suite of automated reports and user interfaces are all done in Access and, although it works very well, it limits the accessibility of the system somewhat. The plan is to create a Web-based system where individuals can access relevant information to their projects, I just don't have the skills at the moment.

I'm quite excited about getting started because for once I have the time and the enthusiasm to put the work in, plus if it all works out well I should expect some serious recognition for my efforts (that may seem mercenary but I give a lot).
- Steve, 11:43 AM,
 
It's the perfect way to start the day: Get up earlier than everyone else, tidy up, make a cup of tea, sit on the sofa listening to Fi Glover and reading the latest Management Today (I know, I'm such a Wannabe). Perfect.
- Steve, 11:38 AM,
Saturday, August 27, 2005
 
Life is a bit of a whirl-wind at the moment and it's all being driven by being busy at work, lots of working in the evenings and lots of staying away in the NW.

Next week I need to be working with a customer for four days so I'll be staying away for three nights in a row, I really hate that. You'd think it would be great to get away and have a break but it's just not really like that because I tend to work in the evenings and, as a Daddy, I think I should be at home.

The week after next I'm taking as a (half) holiday, I'm still going to get some work done but I'm going to do it when and where I want and not worry about taking calls or going to meetings.

There is very little other news at the moment, I'm in the process of registering for an Open University course but I'll post about that separately.
- Steve, 4:55 PM,
Monday, August 15, 2005
 
Not much going on here at the moment, all the action is over on Fatboy.
- Steve, 10:59 PM,
Sunday, August 14, 2005
 
Police block motorway to retrive a toy Tiger. Good on them I say! I hope it doen't hget lost in the post now...
- Steve, 10:20 PM,
 
Weather was crap. Raining hard all day Saturday and windy and cold today, no sancastles got erected.

Maybe we'll be third time lucky and get a dry day next time we try.
- Steve, 10:14 PM,
Friday, August 12, 2005
 
Spending this weekend in Norfolk, hoping to get some Sandcastle time at Hunstanton but the weather forecast isn't looking great.

There is very little other news, been looking at replacement cars and quite fancy getting something a bit larger like an MPV along the lines of the Toyota Previa or the Chrysler Voyager, we'll see though. The extra space would be useful because I spend a lot of time working away from offices and I often have to work in the car, both these vehicles allow you to fold the middle seats down in to a desk. Also thinking of taking some long trips in the next few years (down to Spain) and these would be ideal for that.
- Steve, 11:58 PM,
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
 
I've been enjoying getting out on my bike again recently, what I really want to do is increase my fitness level so that I can buy a proper Mountain Bike and then hit some decent trails somewhere. My brother has a very nice new Marin and I know he would be up for a day in the hills but he is a million times fitter (and slimmer) than me and I know I wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

I'm trying to get around 8 miles riding done most nights at the moment, using my old faithful Mountain Bike (picture coming to Flickr soon), it's odd to think that there was a time when I was cycling 18 miles each day on it by choice. If I can keep the effort up for a few months I reckon I'll be ready to get muddy in earnest, in the meantime I'll make do with reading BIKEmagic to keep myself keen!
- Steve, 1:09 PM,
Monday, August 08, 2005
 
Sometimes you just know when someone isn't going to return your call... Like those times when you're trying to leave a message but they are desperate to put the 'phone down, even before they have taken your contact number.

In this case I'm trying to speak to someone at a recruitment agency and it's proving to be a bit of a challenge!

I'm not looking for a new career (at least not at the moment) but I do fancy getting myself a well paid (subjective of course) job at the weekends. The problem with having a job with a salary that gets paid monthly is that you always get the same amount in the bank no matter how busy you are, sometimes it would be great to work harder and earn more cash. No matter how much money you get each month it all gets accounted for and used on those mundane things like bills and rent.

So, I've been thinking that it would be a great idea to work at the weekends for a while and earn some extra cash that can be used where it's needed or put in the bank for future entertainment (like a big holiday next year). Ideally I'd like to do something completely different to my office job and I'm thinking Warehouse/Industrial/Delivery Driver would be right up my street, if I can get fitter by doing it then so much the better.

Of course, this plan would mean that I would be working 7 days a week and this hasn't gone down too well with the current Mrs Turner. I can see her point, she thinks I'll need a break after working all week but to me it feels like doing something totally different is a break.

The facts are that as a young (ish) strong (ish) and intelligent (well...) male I should have some pretty good earning potential. I'm not afraid of hard work and it's in my nature to do the best job I can. If they would just return my calls I might get somewhere!
- Steve, 4:45 PM,
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
 
My days of painfully slow GSM connections are finally over. For the last 3 years I've been roaming the country (well the bits near the West Coast Main Line) with nothing faster than a 9,600 bps connection through IR on a Nokia 6310i, it's been OK but frustrating at times. The biggest annoyance has been the times when I got half way through downloading something and then the phone rang, if it's important I've had to disconnect and take the call and then start all over again afterwards.

Now though I have an AirCard 750 on O2 and it should make life much easier. I know it's not that fast in the scheme of things*, but it's the convenience of having a separate data line that will come in handy, especially connecting to multimap for directions when on the road.

* This Dell laptop has wi-fi built in but it's disabled due to "company policy", I'm sure we would all be using slates and chalk if they had their way.
- Steve, 10:14 PM,
Saturday, July 30, 2005
 
There are some stunning murals on this site, I think the first one is the most breathtaking, it's hard to believe that you are looking at a flat wall... Incredible!

There used to be a pretty decent mural in the garden of a pub in Jericho (Oxford), on the corner of Walton Street and St Bernard Road. I can't remember what the pub is called though...
- Steve, 11:52 PM,
Friday, July 29, 2005
 
I've been using Sage for a while to keep track of XML and Atom feeds for my favourite blogs and other regularly updated sites, it's been very good and transformed the way I "surf".

A few weeks back all of my feeds disappeared from the list and I couldn't add any new ones. I uninstalled it and re-installed it and did the same with Firefox but I still have the same problem, I've now run out of enthusiasm for fixing the problem and have moved on.

Now I'm using Feedreader and it's also really good, I'm not using many of it's features yet but it's already fitted in well with my needs as well as my low ish threshold for "fiddling about with stuff to get it working".

One thing I have learnt today is that Blogspot blogs (like this one) automatically have an Atom feed, add a /atom.xml after the URL and there you are... Why didn't I know about this before?
- Steve, 11:38 PM,
 
Today is the end of the week I've taken off work because weekends don't count*. I've enjoyed a change from the usual drag of getting to the office and it's been nice not having one eye on a clock all day long.

It has been said that I've been a nicer person to be around this week and that's got to be a good thing, right?

Surprisingly, I am quite looking forward to going back to work because I feel refreshed and ready to get back in to it. Work has it's drawbacks (the traveling is the biggest) but in many respects I'm quite lucky as I have responsibilities but no clearly defined role . I don't have people working for me and although I do have a line manager I don't really get managed. This all gives me the freedom to work the way I choose and prioritise those projects that suit my needs best. The daily grind of 'phone calls and emails can make me forget that I have the opportunity to be creative.

*Because I'd be off anyway and Clare will be at work
- Steve, 8:51 PM,
 
There are some outstanding examples of pavement art on this site, the 3D stuff really blows my mind.

Via R2K
- Steve, 5:42 PM,
 
I like the look of this: CradleVue Laptop Harness.
- Steve, 2:49 PM,
 
Travelodge are starting their £10 rooms offer again here.
- Steve, 2:34 PM,
Thursday, July 28, 2005
 
Tomorrow I'm going to start exercising every day and eating healthy food, I keep starting well and losing a stone or so and then giving up in spectacular style, this time I'm going to try even harder than usual.

The reason for all this is that in exactly a year from tomorrow we are going on holiday to Florida again and I'm determined that I'm going to be a fit and healthy Daddy ready to get my kit off in those water parks (well, some of my kit off...). Last time we went was '99 and although I could have done with losing a few pounds (several maybe) I had a good time and did everything I wanted to, if I went tomorrow I'm sure I wouldn't get the most out of the trip because I'd feel self conscious and just plain tired.

Progress reports will be in the usual place
- Steve, 7:08 PM,
 
We're back from Devon, it was all a bit wet...

I know I said that the weather wouldn't spoil it for me, but I think it probably did. It rained for practically the whole time we were there and yesterday it was torrential, it limited the entertainment options greatly (we didn't even get to build sancastles on the beach).Yesterday we went to the National Marine Aquarium and it was OK but it was absolutely packed full of families who were only there to escape the rain and clearly didn't really want to be.

The hotel we stayed at was fine, it was right in the centre of the City and because of that it didn't have it's own parking facilities, we had to park in the normal carparks and that cost a fortune.

Talking of carparks, the hotel is right next to a multi story that gets used by the Plymouth boy-racers each night, it was a nightmare. From about 9pm to 1am all you could hear was squealing tyres and big exhausts (all on crappy Corsa's and Fiesta's), last night some American (I think) chap got in to a bit of a verbal exchange between level 3 of the hotel and level 9 of the carpark... the police came and briefly restored calm and then it was back to the handbrake turns.

Quite glad to be home really.
- Steve, 6:51 PM,
Monday, July 25, 2005
 
So I'm having my first week off work in months and as soon as it starts I get ill, typical. It's only a cold (well a man version) but it's just annoying because this always happens.

We're off to Devon for a couple of days in the morning, should be good if the weather holds up but even if it doesn't it'll be nice to have a change from the usual routine.

My dad suggested that I "go down on the Plymouth Ho", which I thought was surprisingly uninhibited and modern of him... turns out he wasn't being all "Gansta" and he was referring to the Plymouth Hoe still, I'll give it a go.

I'll be taking Laptop and camera, so there may be posts and pictures to come, contain yourselves!
- Steve, 10:47 PM,
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
 
If you ever feel like you're not earning enough cash, or you find yourself getting jealous of those with more disposable income than you, visit this site

via Treehugger
- Steve, 4:26 PM,
Monday, July 18, 2005
 
There have been no updates on here for a while, purely due to that fact that nothing is happening at the moment.

It's probably the weather, it's the time of year when you really don't need to *do* anything to enjoy yourself.

I'm trying to get this week out of the way as quickly as possible because I'm taking next week off, it's been ages since I've had a decent break from work (around 7 months or so).

More later!
- Steve, 4:40 PM,
Saturday, July 09, 2005
 

stagnight
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
Getting ready to hit the town in Amsterdam last year (2004).

Over my left shoulder is Austin Powers, over my right shoulder is Mini Me.

To my right... well it looks like some sort of "manhood competition"

We walked through much of the city dressed like this, and then went to a comedy club! I must say that the crowds seemed pretty impressed!
- Steve, 10:37 PM,
 

Our terrorist attack this week seems to have become a proper branded event, now known as “7/7” that just doesn’t seem appropriate somehow.

Looking back at Thursday the thing that strikes me most is that my fellow commuters became real people for once. You probably know what it’s like on busy public transport, you don’t make eye contact, you don’t speak and you keep to your own space. These rules didn’t apply after around 10am.

We were asking each other for news, we were asking for advise on how to travel and where to go. People still had their sense of humour even as the terrible news continued to roll in. At Beconsfield station I connected to the BBC news website and a small crowd gathered to get the latest news. I chatted to a South African defence contractor who had been in most of the worlds trouble spots at one time or another, I chatted to an architect who had taken the first train out of the City regardless of the destination. Almost everyone I met was phoning friends and family to tell them they were OK or to check they were safe.

The London Transport staff have received much praise in the media already and in my experience they really do deserve it, they were efficient and very helpful. In NW1 there were scores of people who were starting to hear the news and, like me, wondering if they should continue to their destinations or turn back, all the station staff were great under the circumstances. Now things are getting back to normal

- Steve, 12:00 PM,
 
All of my RSS feeds have dissapeared from Sage and it won't let me add new ones. I really don't have the energy to fix it at the moment but it's a right pain, let me tell you.
- Steve, 10:46 AM,
Thursday, July 07, 2005
 
I've just got back from London. Absolute nightmare.

I suppose I'm lucky that I got to NW1 later than normal because of that collapsed tunnel, I attempted to get to Euston on foot but was advised to turn back. I got one of the only trains still running out of the city.and now I'm back home.
- Steve, 1:49 PM,
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
 
Off to bed in a bit, I've realised that I generally fall asleep at one of two times; 11.30pm or 00.50am. This is all down to my choice of bedtime entertainment (no, not that), at 11.30pm Today in Parliament is on and it will normally bore me to sleep, if that fails then The Shipping Forecast will probably get me off (again, not like that).

I much prefer to fall asleep listening to the shipping forecast, it's the closest you get to a lullaby for adults.
- Steve, 11:11 PM,
Sunday, July 03, 2005
 
If you ever find yourself in the position of writing "phishing" emails, firstly make sure you can spell or use a spell checker and at least attempt to observe the basic rules of grammar. I'm no expert in these fields (as you'll probably have noticed) but if you're trying to fool someone that you're representing a major corporation then schoolboy errors are going to let you down straight away.

Also, if you want me to give you my credit card details, don't address me as "Dear eBay".
- Steve, 10:43 PM,
 
Currently listening to Nina Simone - Ain't got no/I got life, it's always been one of my favourites and is perfect for a lazy Sunday.
- Steve, 11:52 AM,
 
For the last several days I have been out of bed, showered and off in the car to work in record time.

This could have been the result of some good forward planning and preparation on my part the night before, or some process improvement on my morning routine... but it's not.

The reason for my speedy departures each morning is that there is a spider the size of a dinner plate* in the bathroom and I'm scared of it. I still do the same routine, but the "waking up in an invigorating shower" part has been greatly reduced to a 2 mins-half my body at a time-eyes on the ceiling-and run! type thing.

I'm tempted to leave it there as it's been quite refreshing being early for work, but I'm afraid the time has come... It's had long enough to move out of it's own accord and I've resisted taking any hostile action against it so far, but a period of arachnid cleansing is about to start.

I don't like harming any of gods creatures so I'll be giving it a fighting chance... only, in this case it will be fighting a Dyson Root 8 , good luck with that.

* well, egg cup at least.
- Steve, 10:41 AM,
Saturday, July 02, 2005
 
Live8 is on the TV at the moment, I'm also keeping an eye on Flickr for photos tagged with "Live8"
- Steve, 4:34 PM,
 
Looks like commuters had a lucky escape when a tunnel collapsed at Gerrards Cross (I bet Gerrard is livid by now!) this week.

This is the line I use regularly to commute in to London and I bet it's going to cause problems for me. I think I might drive to Watford and go in from there as it's easy to get to and the train stops right next to the office at Euston.

Although I've not been involved in this tunnel project, it's the sort of project I do work on normally so I'll be paying attention to the investigation to see what went wrong with it.
- Steve, 1:09 PM,
 
Today I start the last year of my Twenties, so far the day has involved feeling a bit queasy and having a determined headache.

Damn you red wine...
- Steve, 11:09 AM,
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
 
There is a most impressive thunder storm raging outside at the moment, I'm splitting my time between working in the kitchen and standing under the gazebo in the garden.

I do love a good storm
- Steve, 9:34 PM,
Monday, June 27, 2005
 
Travelodge are doing a good deal at the moment, they have a selection of rooms available for £26 per night, details here.

I've just booked two nights in Cornwall next month (in the school holidays) for a total of £52, that's pretty good value as there will be 3 of us in the room. It's a family room too and they are quite resonable (I've stayed in them plenty of times recently!).

We'll be staying in Plymouth, but it's ideal for going to nicer places like Looe
- Steve, 3:15 PM,
Sunday, June 26, 2005
 
I alluded to it in one of the posts below, we have bought a new printer.

It's not the most exciting of purchases but we haven't had a printer at home for ages and there are times when it's just useful to have one. It's also sometimes useful to have a scanner and a copier so an all-in-one was the ideal choice for us.

We went for the Lexmark x5260 because it's pretty cheap at £50 and we don't need a high quality photo printer or anything like that.

I'm really happy with it, very easy to use and the quality is pretty good too (although it doesn't always get the colours spot on on colour copies or prints). For £50 it's a good buy, nothing flash but handy all the same.
- Steve, 11:48 PM,
 
My head is exactly 24", or two foot, in circumference. I know this because I measured it. This is the reason hats don't fit me well.
- Steve, 11:44 PM,
Saturday, June 25, 2005
 

me_Tommy
Originally uploaded by Saturner.
We bought one of these all-in-one printers , scanners and copiers today and this is the first scan.

This was me (I'm the one on the left) 9 years ago, time really flies!

The poodle was Tommy and he belonged to Clares family, he's much missed.
- Steve, 9:43 PM,
Saturday, June 18, 2005
 
I did some shopping today at Ralph Lauren, get me! I'm not really a label whore though*, the purchase was a child's baseball cap for Georgia (burny hot out there) and it cost £3. Ralph Lauren childrens shop was just the first one I came across on the way in to Bicester Village.

I also bought myself a cap from Tog 24, again it was a purchase born of necessity as I'm now a great big slap-head and didn't fancy getting burnt at the school fete. My problem is that I have an almost freak show worthy large head, all headwear makes me look like a grown man wearing a cub scout cap... I felt self conscious, left it in the car... now I have a bright red burnt head that looks even bigger.

Marvelous.

*Alright, I'm wearing Calvin Klein jeans but they are shorts and they are the only pair I have, they are 6 years old too so it's fine, ok?
- Steve, 7:43 PM,
Friday, June 17, 2005
 
Imagine coming home at the end of a long day to a house like this. Perfect.
- Steve, 9:23 PM,
Monday, June 13, 2005
 
I was watching Extreme Machines with Georgia yesterday, they were talking about Navy fighter pilots (like in Top Gun) and showing lots of footage of the jets in action. One of the clips they showed was the launch of a surface-to-air missile during the Vietnam war, it looked quite spectacular and prompted this conversation:

Georgia: Cor, would you like one of those Daddy? Shall we get one?
Me: What a missile?? I don't think so!
Georgia: Why?
Me: Well what would we do with it?
Georgia: (Thinks for a while) We could use it to kill horses...
Me: What? That's horrible! Why would we do that, you like horses don't you?
Georgia: Yeah, horses are nice, but they aren't very good are they?

I think we have the beginning of a wicked sense of humour, or a personality disorder.
- Steve, 10:47 AM,
Sunday, June 12, 2005
 
The other day while sat waiting for the train to leave Marylebone Station I downloaded another ebook from Project Gutenberg, this time War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. It's not my normal sort of reading as I'm really not a sci-fi fan, but I didn't have long and I was on a very slow connection so I thought it would be better than nothing.

I'm not getting much time to read it, but I am around half way through and I'm really enjoying it. Hopefully I'll be able to put an hour or so in to it tonight.

I started the book before I heard about the film, I'll try to finish it and then take a trip to the cinema to compare and contrast...
- Steve, 3:31 PM,
 
Tired.

I need to take some time off I think, I'm not sure I have taken any holiday at all this year which on one had is a good thing (because I can take 25 days over six months now) but on the other hand has left me tired and a bit grumpy. I want to take the first week in July off as holiday (to build a patio and have barbecues)

I'm starting to get fed up with driving so many miles all the time, this week I put the 70,000th mile on the car and it's not even 2 years old yet. There are things I can do about the situation though:

  1. Move up north - I'm half tempted because it would solve the problem of traveling and we would be able to afford to buy a house on my wage alone. The problem is that we're settled here and it's home, also I can't see me working for the same company for ever so we would probably have to move again.
  2. Get another job - It would be nice to work somewhere close to home, Ideally about 10 miles away so I could start cycling again. Problem is that I have worked my way up to a "good job" and although I have the experience, I don't have the paper qualifications that make me easily transferable. I also have some benefits that I don't want to give up...
  3. Get on with it - It's hardly the end of the world having to drive a few hours each day and it's a bit of time to myself.
  4. Work locally - If I hold for about 6 months there should be big projects within an hour of here, I could work in those if I'm lucky
Option 4 is favourite, until then it'll be option 3!
- Steve, 3:15 PM,
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
 
I'm sure I've said it before; Random Acts Of Reality is a great site and this is a great post on it!
- Steve, 8:38 PM,
Sunday, June 05, 2005
 
Sunday evening already?

This weekend the current Mrs Turner and I have been celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary, it seems like a long time but at the same time those years have passed quite quickly (does that make sense?)
I have had a terrible dose of 'flu (alright... I have a cold) and that's taken the edge off of the celebrations for me a little bit. Still, we went out for a nice meal at our local pub yesterday(second time we've ever set foot in the place) and that was very nice.
Today on the spur of the moment we decided to take a trip into London and visited the Science Museum, we had a great time and Georgia enjoyed it too. You really need to spend the whole day there if you want to get the most out of a trip, but as diversion on a quiet Sunday afternoon it was really quite pleasant.

We thought about getting the train into London but that would have cost us £37, so we drove in. A few quid spent on diesel, a few quid more on parking, and we got there quicker, more comfortably and parked right next door to the museum*. I'm all for public transport but it shouldn't be the most expensive option by a factor of 4 should it?

* We parked in Imperial College but I bet I could have parked for free if I had taken more time looking, it was a Sunday after all.
- Steve, 9:04 PM,
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
 
I haven't read an autobiography for some time now (James Dyson was the last) but I really want to read Rules of Engagement by Tim Collins. The fact that the whole war in Iraq has been so divisive is one of the reasons I want to read it; I'd like to understand how it feels to go to war on behalf of your country but not (necessarily) population of it.

The other reason I'd like to read it is because it was Colonel Tim Collins who made that speech, I thought it was sensitive but at the same time appropriate when addressing 800 men about to go into battle. Motivation and strong leadership are easy buzz words we hear in our air-conditioned offices but I'm sure the battlefield is one of the places where they actually mean something.
- Steve, 7:06 PM,
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
 
I've been passed the baton by him, so here goes:

Total volume of music files on my computer?
A lowly 901Mb, I have more mp3's than this but they aren't music

The last CD I bought was?
The last one I bought for myself was Riding with the King - Eric Clapton and BB King
It was a long time ago now, I don't buy music often.

Song playing right now?
Paris - Guerilla Funk It was a random selection, but it's quite good.

Five songs I listen to a lot/mean a lot to me?
Hazel O'Connor - Will you? (I've always liked this one, even before the liaisons with the opposite sex that the song is all about!)
Martha and the Vandellas - Nowhere to Run (I know it from the Good Morning Vietnam soundtrack. Reminds me of the freedom to travel I got when I passed my driving test, trips to Wales and beaches)
China Drum - Wuthering Heights ( A great cover of a great song, I first heard it while Clare was in Hospital having Georgia (it was either just before, or just after))
50 Cent - P.I.M.P. (Teasers Bar in Amsterdam...)
Armand Van Helden - My My My (This is my "driving track", it's impossible not to attain stupid mph when this is on)

I'm passing on the baton to?
Ohhh, I think Jim (good timing as he's all mp3 playered up), Sapientum (I think he'll enjoy it) and Smallkat
- Steve, 7:08 PM,

 

  
 
   
 
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