Scents of Direction

	Scents of Direction


	This is what I think...


	< oxford blog > Blogger


	Thursday, July 27, 2006 This always happens to me; book time off and then work stupidly hard in the days before trying to get loads of stuff done. So, really I should be on holiday now but I can see a long night of work ahead of me. Still it's not all bad because the temperature has dropped a bit (not much), the phone isn't likely to ring, I have a fan pointed at my head and Annie Mac is on Radio 1. Another thing that is going to help me out is that today I discovered the Remote Desktop thing in Windows XP, I'm using a desktop on a Server at work and it's just so much quicker when working in Access and SQL. I'm not really a tech type (but I try) and I don't really understand what it all means, but it's much better now! - Steve, 9:22 PM, Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Image037 Originally uploaded by Saturner. This car is really good for working in... I have to work today but the girls want to go shopping in Milton Keynes, ideal solution is for Clare to drive while I get on with some work, then I can meet up with them for a coffee once the shopping is done. As the front middle seat folds down into a table there is a good place for the laptop, the middle rear seat can slide back into the boot leaving loads of space to work. I think I'm more comfortable here than in the office. Writing SQL while travelling at 70mph makes me feel a bit queasy though. - Steve, 3:59 PM, Tuesday, July 25, 2006 The new Central Oxford Mosque had an open day at the weekend, I wish I had known about it before now as I would have liked to have gone to it. I wouldn't class myself as a religious person, but I am interested in religion and I would specifically like to learn more about Islam. I'll keep an eye out for future events. - Steve, 11:18 AM, Sunday, July 23, 2006 I was right about the storm, it arrived here really quickly and it was one of the most violent ones I've seen for a long time... it was great! I have four work days left until we are off on our holiday for a couple of weeks, I'm hoping I can work from home for those (going to have to really as schools are off and someone has to keep an eye on Georgia). I have quite a lot of stuff to fit into these days, I want to leave with nothing major left on the "to-do list" as, for once, I won't be taking any phonecalls when I'm away. I think I really need this break, it will be our first proper holiday for seven years! - Steve, 9:17 AM, Saturday, July 22, 2006 Watching the Storm Data at the moment, I've been following the progress of what looks like a pretty decent storm working it's way up from Southampton. It looks like it's coming this way, batten the hatches! - Steve, 1:37 PM, Watching the Storm Data at the moment, I've been following the progress of what looks like a pretty decent storm working it's way up from Southampton. It looks like it's coming this way, batten the hatches! - Steve, 1:37 PM, Image034 Originally uploaded by Saturner. I overtook these people on the A14 in Cambridgeshire yesterday, I hope they don't crash (A14 in the area tends to come to a stop quite suddenly and not everyone is quick enough) as that baby will stand no chance. - Steve, 1:29 PM, Wednesday, July 19, 2006 I'm sat watching Ray Mears on the telly (it's what I do) and he's making a wig-wam type thing with an American chap, I instantly identified the background music as Triptico from Gotan Project. Pete will be so proud. - Steve, 8:46 PM, Monday, July 17, 2006 We went for a bit of a drive tonight, partly to stave off boredom but mainly because I think we all needed an "aircon moment". While driving through Oxford I saw a young woman with (what looked like) pretty serious head injuries. There were plenty of police officers with her and I could see an ambulance and a Fast Response Unit (FRU) on the way. She was concious, sat on the kerb holding a wad of bandages to her head, but she had a white top on that was almost completly covered in the blood which was pouring down her face and neck in torrents. I hope she is OK, I feel quite haunted by what I saw. - Steve, 11:27 PM, That pub used to be called "The Brewhouse", it came to me in a flash of inspiration without the aid of Google or a Safety Net. This will mean nothing to you unless you were at the Oxford Bloggers meet-up (and maybe not even if you were) - Steve, 11:16 PM, Sunday, July 16, 2006 Image027 Originally uploaded by Saturner. You can see this building (the other side of it though) when you drive on the A34 North of Oxford. I've always wondered what it was, so today I went for a good look around. It used to be a Grain Store* and, as you can see, it's now derelict. It seems to be quite well fenced off, I have a huge urge to go inside and have a proper nose around... maybe I'll do that sometime * Alright, I found that out by Googling when I got home - Steve, 11:44 PM, iTrip to be legalised. I didn't realise these sort of things were not legal, the Honda I've got has one built in so that you can listen to audio from the DVD player over the main audio system (otherwise you can use the two pairs of infrared headphones). - Steve, 9:48 PM, Friday, July 14, 2006 Remember, if you are near Oxford tomorrow and you have a passing interest in "Oxford Blogging" (and passing interest is as good as it gets!), we should all get together for a beer. - Steve, 9:47 AM, Thursday, July 13, 2006 Today, for the fourth time ever, an RAF fighter jet has crashed in the local area. No serious injuries this time although it looks like it was a bit a close one. We were sort of going that way tonight so went for a look, couldn't get anywhere near the place though (not a great surprise really). Other crashes that I remember was the fatal Phantom crash at Abingdon just before the Airshow one year, a Tornado crashed between Abingdon and Drayton (pilot/navigator ejected), one plane overshot the runway at Abingdon and crashed through the boundry fence and now this one (Harrier). Of course, the worst crash in the area happend in '65 - Steve, 8:49 PM, Wednesday, July 12, 2006 New FRV Originally uploaded by Saturner. Old car went back to the lease company yesterday with slightly over 100,000 miles on the clock, new one arrived with about 70 miles on the clock. My first impressions of it are excellent, it's a really clever design which gives loads of space inside without having a massive vehicle. There is plenty of room to sit three people in the front and three in the back, leaving a decent sized boot too. I'm glad I ordered a few extras to go on it, the big alloys are pretty sexy, leather seats are nice and the Sat Nav just blows my mind. I've not driven a car with Sat Nav before and I find it fascinating, even if it's not directing you it's interesting to see your progress on a map which you can zoom right in or right out to see most of Europe. It comes loaded with info too, so you can use the touch screen to select the nearest Hospital, Restaurant or Bank etc. I took a drive at lunchtime and checked out the nearest "Historical Monument", it took me right to the door of Lichfield Cathedral. Sat Nav screen also doubles up as a touch screen control for the audio system, that's pretty cool. I've yet to try the DVD player or the wireless headphones that come with it, should be good for killing time while waiting for Clare to finish shopping though... - Steve, 2:12 PM, Thursday, July 06, 2006 In other news; I've been feeling dizzy for two days now, I thought it might have been the heat, or me not drinking enough but I think it's something to do with my ears. I find that if I tilt my head back or to the left, the room starts spinning... so I won't do that. My ears feel a bit odd too, so I think I might have an ear infection (used to get those a lot). I suppose I should get to a doctor, might just wait and see what tomorrow brings though... yesterday I felt like I'd had six pints, today only three pints. Going in the right direction! - Steve, 11:16 AM, There was some proper end of the world weather this morning, massive storm right overhead left lots of flooding and some damage caused by lightning... it was ace! It's much cooler and fresher today, which is nice! So far this morning I have been to KwikFit for new tyres and now I'm in the VW dealer waiting for the car to have it's first MOT. New computer controlled MOT system means that I'm going to be here for "a few hours, mate", that's progress for you! At least the coffee here is good, but there are no biccies! The car has done 101,000 miles so far (almost 3 years old) and the lease ends on Tuesday, the weekend will have to be spent cleaning it and tidying ready for inspection by the lease company. Seems like a lot of hassle for a vehicle which will probably be heading straight for auction. - Steve, 11:12 AM, Tuesday, July 04, 2006 Live storm data, I'm hoping some of these storms come our way tonight! - Steve, 9:21 PM, Sunday, July 02, 2006 As from today I am no longer in my twenties... - Steve, 9:35 AM, At 1am this morning I was still up, Clare was asleep in bed. She came running to me and said "Steve! Quick! the house next-door is on fire!" I'm naturally sceptical, so I took a look out the bedroom window and there was a load of smoke and a whole bunch of flames leaping about 5' in the air... On closer inspection I could see that the fire was outside the house, rather than coming from inside, a huge relief! Clare was pretty concerned and Georgia (also awake by now) was terrified and assumed (as a 5 year old would) that the house was going to explode and we were all going to die... I got some clothes on, put my boots on and got round there. By this time my neighbour (single Female) had woken up and was a little bit flustered! On my way round there I ran to my garage and grabbed the fire extinguisher from out of the mini. When I got into the neighbours garden I set about tackling the fire with the extinguisher, I pulled the trigger and nothing happened! I settled for the old fashioned method of using lots of water. What had happened was that earlier in the evening the neighbour had had a barbecue in the garden, she had used three of those disposable barbecues which were placed on a wooden table. A couple of hours after everyone had gone home one of the barbecues had set the table alight. It must have been burning for some time because it was blazing well by the time I got there. I made sure it was properly extinguished, it took a while to damp it all down but I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to light up again in the early hours. Exciting stuff! - Steve, 9:12 AM, Saturday, July 01, 2006 I had breakfast in the garden this morning, on the big trampoline (not bouncing, just sitting/lying!). I had some decent coffee and read a couple of chapters of my new book. Even at around 10am it's already too hot for me to be out there, fortunately the kitchen is pretty bearable.... If it wasn't for the pile of washing-up I am about to tackle. Too hot to sleep last night (an early evening nap didn't help) so I went out in the car for a drive, I do love climate control. Ended up at the motorway services at around 1am for coffee and bought the book on impulse. - Steve, 10:35 AM,


	Archives
	Comments by: YACCS

Home \| Archives