Scents of Direction

	Scents of Direction


	This is what I think...


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	Tuesday, June 27, 2006 I'm not really a "morning person", I find it pretty hard to get myself awake and out of bed in the morning (on weekdays especially). What I normally do is to put my alarm clock (phone normally) in the bathroom, the idea being that when it goes off I go into the bathroom, switch it off and then jump in the shower. This worked for a little while, but now I just go in there, grab the phone and go back to bed. Part of the problem is that I don't like to get out of bed the instant I wake up (who does?) and I can't fight the urge to go back to bed for just a minute or two... The new solution is to have my old HP Laptop by the bed running Karen's Alarm Clock, this is good because the display is big enough for me to see easily in the night, and I can set multiple alarms. The mobile lives at the bottom of the stairs, also with it's alarm set. So, alarms go off upstairs every 10 minutes from 6.30am and the alarm will go off downstairs at 7am (if I haven't got there yet). So far (two mornings) I have been down there before the phone alarm goes off. Next step is to make the alarms a bit earlier! - Steve, 6:42 PM, Monday, June 26, 2006 I have a blister on the end of my right index finger, it's the finger I use for the touch-pad thing on the laptop and I keep forgetting. Next time I set fire to a nylon rope on the kitchen hob I'll wait for it to cool a bit before I pick it up by the end. You should too. - Steve, 12:38 PM, Saturday, June 24, 2006 I am loving local.live.com - Steve, 10:48 PM, I've just listened to the last ever Home Truths, what am I supposed to do on a Saturday morning now? - Steve, 10:03 AM, Thursday, June 22, 2006 Let me tell you something about me: I am very easily motivated. That doesn't mean that I am always motivated (the opposite is normally true at the moment) but I can quickly become super-interested in something if it catches my imagination. This morning I decided to have a quick read of both 43Folders and Lifehacker, not something I normally do, this was enough to get me interested in becoming more productive... The first thing I did was follow this idea of having three folders in Outlook: Action, Hold and Archive. It's working really well. Next step was installing a macro in Outlook to flag up those times when you forget to attach an attachment to an email before sending. I have also resurrected my Ta-Da lists, it's only day one but I can switch my machine on and instantly know what I need to tackle first. - Steve, 11:24 PM, Tuesday, June 20, 2006 I watched Derailed last night and I thought it was a pretty good film. I almost didn't watch it, Clare brought it home and when I saw "Jennifer Anniston" written on the box I decided to watch American Chopper instead... I assumed that is she was in it then it would be a chick flick. Clare watched it first and she said I'd probably like it, so I gave it a go and I enjoyed it. Err.. well, this is why I don't do film reviews... Just watch it, if you like. - Steve, 2:46 PM, Saturday, June 17, 2006 It's boiling hot today, so I have spent most of it under the kitchen work top attempting to fix the washing machine which has packed up. It stopped working a couple of weeks ago and I've already had one crack at it which turned out to be unsuccessful. At first I thought it might have been the programmer/timer but this is pretty unusual I hear. Next thought is that the outlet might be blocked and this was stopping it, so I took it all to bits, cleaned out the pump and the trap (it was full of crap) and then put it all back together. It did work this time but as the kitchen was pretty dark I was able to see a load of blue sparks coming out the back of the machine... not a good sign. So today I have had another go, took it all to bits and removed the motor. The brushes are a bit worn but OK. The commutator was in pretty bad shape, it was all black instead of copper coloured. I cleaned it up with a fine file and assembled it all again and it seems to be working OK so far (I'm letting it complete a cycle while I type this). So I'm pretty chuffed because we really didn't need to be spending a couple of hundred quid on a new machine, even repair bills would have been a bit of a streach. I knew that whole Electrical Engineering apprenticeship wasn't a complete waste of 4 years... - Steve, 4:08 PM, Thursday, June 15, 2006 If you stole my car and then crashed it and injured/killed yourself, would you expect me to feel sorry for you? I wouldn't. I honestly wouldn't give a toss about you, I think I'd actually be quite pleased about how things turned out. A police officer who voiced similar (less harsh) views faces disciplinary action. I don't think I want a "Politically Correct" police force, sometimes bad things happen to people who deserve it. - Steve, 1:47 PM, Tuesday, June 13, 2006 I've just collected my first ever thing from the local Freecycle group. I've now got a couple of weights benches, a load of weights, a barbell and a barbell stand. I've set it up in the living room to have a go (Mrs T not that impressed) and loaded 40lbs onto the barbell. Managed a pretty decent workout but I've lost a load of strength since I used to do this sort of stuff quite often! - Steve, 9:15 PM, It's all about the preparation. I knew I'd be working from home today and I want to be productive, so when it got cooler last night I tidied, scrubbed and cleaned the whole downstairs/kitchen area. It might have taken until 2am but it was worth it. Tidy work area = Tidy mind. So, I'm in the kitchen with the door open and it's lovely. A decent coffee brewing away in the French Press is making the world alright again... that is when he started his chainsaw. The bloke across the road is trimming a privet hedge with a petrol chainsaw. Before he started hacking it about this hedge was around 12" high, it's now about 11.5" high. Using a chainsaw is overkill, a nice pair of shears would do the job just as quickly... I reckon I could do it in the same time with a pair of nail clippers! Update: Of course! Now we need the petrol powered leaf blower! - Steve, 10:31 AM, Sunday, June 11, 2006 Yesterday I cycled from the Park & Ride at Peartree in Oxford all the way to Abingdon via Kennington and Radley. I'm not sure how many miles that was though as I couldn't find my cycle computer before I set out. It took about 55 minutes to do the trip, I was trying not to go too fast because of the heat (29 degrees C when I set out) I quite enjoyed it, it was a little bit too hot really but I took a couple of big bottles of water with me. It was also more windy than I expected too. Went to a birthday party in the evening and drank far too much wine, so much so that when I got home I was sick and now it's Sunday afternoon and I'm still feeling a bit drunk. Classy, eh? Still, all this exercise is doing the trick; I've lost 12lbs in 12 days. - Steve, 12:37 PM, You'd like to watch a Kitten playing with Front Row on a MacBook Pro, right? - Steve, 9:08 AM, Thursday, June 08, 2006 My postman never runs up the garden path like Linford Christie, I've never seen a postman on a bike doing a Lance Armstrong impression either... so why is it that they drive their vans like they are Carlos Sainz? - Steve, 12:59 PM, I'm feeling pretty good today, I think it's due to a combination of the continuing nice weather and ditching the normal morning dose of Radio 4 for a bit of KERRANG! Whatever, I'm feeling good, driving up the A38 this morning I was very tempted to just keep going and spend the day in the peak district but I came to the office instead. I'll be camping tonight and for once the weather is looking like it'll be great. - Steve, 10:25 AM, Tuesday, June 06, 2006 A crappy day today really. I had to come home tonight rather than stay at the office as planned, shame really as it's quite a lovely evening. On the way home some arse in a Volvo deliberately cut me up big time at the M42/M40 junction, I should have let it go but I couldn't... I followed him for around 30 miles at speed (lots) with the intention of re-educating him as soon as he stopped (and I figured he had to at some point). I started to calm down eventually and I let him escape, it was hard to do but it was the right thing. I try to be a nice guy as much as I can and I really will willingly help anyone who needs it, sometimes though someone will wind me up into a deep rage and it ruins my day! I came home and pounded the streets on my bike for 7 miles, I feel an inner peace now (also lost half a stone by doing this as often as I can, which is a bonus) - Steve, 10:29 PM, Monday, June 05, 2006 There are plans to have an Oxford Bloggers meet-up in Oxford (last attempt was a little too ambitious!). You should come along, have a look here - Steve, 10:39 PM, Sunday, June 04, 2006 news Originally uploaded by Saturner. So, the current knife amnesty has worked wonders, wouldn't you say? - Steve, 11:13 AM, Saturday, June 03, 2006 Image020 Originally uploaded by Saturner. Such a perfect day. On a bit of a whim we decided to head south and hit the beach today. We didn't leave until about 1pm and we didn't have a location in mind... didn't have a map either! Eventually we ended up in Hythe which was really very nice, but no beach. Shortly afterwards we found this spot overlooking the Solent and it was perfect, we were very lucky. So we chilled on the beach all afternoon and Georgia played in the waves and collected stones and shells (most of which are now in the lounge at home!). We had the beach to ourselves and I had some of the camping gear in the car too, so I cooked a mean Chicken Madras on the beach and also a meal for Georgia. Just call me Mr. Al Fresco. A great day out and it didn't cost us anything except a bit of diesel. This is what we did to celebrate our 7th Wedding Anniversary which is tomorrow. - Steve, 9:55 PM, Friday, June 02, 2006 Ooops i did it again Originally uploaded by Saturner. I am not eighteen anymore. I went out for a ride tonight and managed a respectable 8.5 miles. All was going well until the last section... I decided to head off-road for a bit of thrill seeking. What I forgot is that my mountain bike is fitted with slick road tyres... I managed the first patch of mud without incident but the second was more tricky. I lost it and ended up tangled amongst a large patch of brambles. You know what? I feel great! I think it's time for a bath and a bottle of red for medicinal purposes. - Steve, 9:26 PM, Thursday, June 01, 2006 I've got this urge to take myself on a bit of a journey. I've been thinking for a couple of weeks that I'd like to hike somewhere (what with me being an "outdoor type" now) and I've been thinking of walking the length of the Ridgeway. I wouldn't do it all in one trip though, it could be done as it's only about 80 miles total, but I think I'd rather do it in a few weekends, camping up there on the Saturday nights. Then I got round to thinking about cycling it... I have to say that I'm even more tempted by this! My bike is a simple MTB with no suspension or anything, but I'm sure it would be up to the job... I'm trying to lose a couple of stone before August... something like this is more likely to keep me motivated. - Steve, 4:29 PM,


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