Scents of Direction

	Scents of Direction


	This is what I think...


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	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,


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