Contentedly Discontent

Body Clock

2007-10-11T08:30:00.001+01:00

Last night we stayed up late to watch the 'season finale' of Brothers and Sisters. We caught the first episode while we were on holiday back in June and have said almost every week something like "this is rubbish" or "I don't know why we watch this" but it is so watchable! Every episode left me wanting to know what happened next and now I'm already looking forward to the new series next year. I just hope that now that this has finished we can have ER back, please Channel 4? It's October already! Anyway, because we went to bed late I set my alarm for a bit later this morning - 90 minutes later thinking there was nothing I had to be at work early for. But, by 6.30 I was wide awake and so here I am, at my desk a whole half an hour before I normally would be with my car parked in one of the premium spots by the back door. I'll be asleep on my feet by lunch time though - I'm already onto my second coffee.

Sick

2007-10-04T20:56:00.000+01:00

Things just haven't been working as they should recently. No internet/phone line for a while, no mobile phone for a day, and now no light in the toilet.

And, two weeks ago the Wife was struck down with a nasty bug which she finally seems to be getting over. Proof: a) it's nearly 9pm and dinner has only just gone in the oven; b) almost a whole bottle of wine has been consumed; c) she's 'harmonising' (her own words) with a fantastic CD she has put together - a bit folky, a bit poppy, a bit rocky - perfect. Oh and d) having been banished during her illness, I'm back in the marital bed tonight!!!

a & b are certainly related. c is a common occurance and d can only be classed as bloody good news!

Edited because the Wife wanted to add that d) is due to a mutual respect for each others germs.

Late Nights

2007-09-29T13:23:00.001+01:00

I don't understand why The L Word is on so late on a Friday night and why they don't repeat it at any other time of the week. Midnight is too late, especially after a really busy week and a few glasses of wine. Last night was only the second episode I've seen this series and it's been on for weeks already. Consequently, I didn't wake up until 9.30 this morning which means that it's not that long since we had breakfast and it's lunch time already. I love food but hate the thought of missing out a meal at the weekend!

Invasion

2007-09-26T21:43:00.000+01:00

I think we have a wasps nest somewhere in the roof. Wasps keep appearing in our bedroom and the spare room upstairs. The problem we have is that this house has a small loft above the master bedroom and from there the roof slopes down in all directions leaving a small space to crawl around in the eves. I've checked as far as I can in both areas, but there isn't much room to move in amongst the beams and old pipes and I'm afraid of crashing through a ceiling. I wasn't see or hear anything in amongst the dirt and the dust before my torch battery died.

I've read that the wasps will die off in the autumn and that the nest won't be reused but with the wife threatening to sleep on the sofa I'm not sure how long we can wait.

A Load of Old Rubbish

2007-09-25T17:59:00.000+01:00

In recent month I've become a wee bit obsessive about recycling. The council take garden waste and glass, paper and cans for recycling and I'm trying to reduce the amount we put out to go to landfill. Grass cuttings and other smallish bits from the garden go into our own compost bin along with fruit and veggie peelings, tea bags (of which there are many), egg shells clean bits of cardboard (toilet roll inner tubes etc). I have a box in the garage for all other card and plastics which I take for recycling myself. Last weekend we cleared out the garage and I was rather proud of the fact that out of a car full of rubbish, only one box full went to landfill while the rest went into the designated skips for rubble, wood, cardboard, plastic and green waste for recycling. The wife was cursing a bit at all the running around we were having to do but they keep re-arranging the skips.

Water is my other obsession. Since being on a meter I'm all too aware of flushing water down the drain. So the cold water that comes out of the hot tap before the hot water does is collected in empty 2 litre milk bottles and used to water the garden and I only wash the dishes once each day (yes, water conservation is my excuse). However, the wife has put her foot down at my suggestion to recycle bath water using a bilge pump and a pipe out of the bathroom window. To be fair, I can see where she's coming from.

Rugby

2007-09-19T19:15:00.000+01:00

On several occassions in recent times I've seen eight tries scored in a Scotland game. They are usually going the wrong way, rarely do we score them all ourselves. I am really enjoying this world cup! Being realistic, we are going to get beaten by NZ on Sunday and Italy may have beaten us in the Six Nations this year but my boys have been working hard and I have every faith in them. At the beginning I thought I was being optimistic hoping to make it to the next round but now it looks like England are at greater risk of not making the quarter finals than we are! And if Ireland manage to top their group (and it's always nice to see the home nations do well) we will be up against them for the semi's. Wait a minute, didn't we beat Ireland last month? He he.

Let's just hope it's not a case of 'famous last words'!

Court Jester

2007-09-18T18:09:00.000+01:00

My desk at work is part of a large open plan office space that we share with a group from a different school. There is one particular student in their group who wanders. He spends ages walking around the floor, weaving in and out of desks, stopping to look out of the windows and generally irritating me. I face the window with my back to everyone so that the only indication I have that someone is approaching is a reflection in the window and nine times out of ten it's him. It's getting to be really annoying. I came out of the toilets today to find him strolling up and down just outside of them. The one amusing thing is that he looks just like Timothy Claypole from Rentaghost (although I don't recall ever seeing the wanderer smile). Unfortunately he's probably too young to remember Rentaghost.

Change

2007-09-11T18:26:00.000+01:00

I may have written something similar last year. Or maybe the year before. Regardless, I'm going to write it (again) now.

September always feels like a new beginning to me. Perhaps because for the last 25 or so years my life has revolved around the academic year. Perhaps, in part, it's due to the change in the season. Summer is all but over; the days are cooler (although the weather is better than it has been all summer) and the nights have a chill to them. Flowers are dying off in the garden, the tomatoes are starting to limp in the greenhouse and there are large bare patches in the veggie plot. The roads and car parks are again full of traffic and the campus is soon to be invaded again. And, the next Bank Holiday is Christmas. Despite all that, I love this time of year.

So, my new season's resolution is to blog more and to comment more. Although I'm relatively anonymous around blogland, that shy streak that I struggle with in the real world often crops up around here too. And that's what I'm going to work on.

Improvisation

2007-08-28T17:31:00.000+01:00

Our big bedroom is a strange shape with sloping ceilings and a fireplace making fitting in furniture slightly difficult. We searched everywhere but couldn't find a wardrobe that would both fit in the space and would be big enough for everything it needs to house. We did however find a bookcase whose width and height was perfect, only it wasn't deep enough. Solution: Buy two bookcases, leave the back panel off one and leave the shelves out and stick them together. Screw in a rail and add in a couple of the shelves, hang a couple of nice doors on the front and you would never know that it isn't a wardrobe.

I just love Ikea flat pack!

Knockers

2007-08-11T16:40:00.000+01:00

It seems to have been a day for people knocking at the door telling me what I should be doing - however well meaning they have been.

Firstly, this morning it was a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses wanting to discuss the Sermon on the Mount. Dispite my Catholic upbringing and a basic knowledge of the passage he was threatening me, I declined the offer and managed to escape relatively quickley. Although the Catholic church probably aren't too impressed with my lifestyle I'm guessing that the Jehovah's Witnesses would be even less impressed.

Secondly, I've just had a visit from one of the old guys who lives up the road, the same guy who invited us to see his garden a couple of times last summer (and also told the wife a few weeks ago that the front garden grass needed cutting). This time he had a bunch of very fragrent Sweet Peas for us (or as the wife described them when I took them in to her: they stink)! Knowing that I'm a scientist, he seems to think that I'm interested in things such as different plant propagation methods (I'm not particularly - in fact, I have never had much time for plant biology) and so I've just had a telling off for not knowing that Sweet peas are annuals and therefore how can we have them in our garden if we have not grown them from seed ourselves. I don't know myself, but according to another neighbour they came from France many years ago and have flowered every summer since. They are very nice to look at and don't stink. I don't know why or how, that's just the way it is. And yes, the grass needs cutting again - it's on my to do list!

P.S. I'm still working on that list of 8 facts/habits thing and I will get around to posting it soon.

Out of Hibernation

2007-08-08T18:39:00.001+01:00

I'm still here and inspiration for blogging is slowly coming back. More and more over the last few days I've found myself thinking "I should blog that" - although I can't think of any examples right now!

I've been busy out in the real world and since my mom has recently discovered the internet, my online time has been taken up indulging her. It finally stopped raining a couple of weeks ago (the only experience we had of the floods were a few dodgy miles on the motorway as we wound are way up and down the country) and as summer put in an appearance in the last few days, much of my attention is focused on the garden. The cauliflower and broccoli didn't survive the wet weather but everything else seems to be doing well. In fact, I would almost dare to say that I could start to get fed up of courgette, cucumber and beetroot with everything!

Thanks for still dropping by, things will start to get a bit more interesting around here now.

Two Things

2007-07-06T19:08:00.000+01:00

I know why it hasn't stopped raining for weeks - I bought a new pair of shorts for our holiday. I rarely get my legs out and this is the first new pair I've bought in about five years. Sods law says I'll not get a chance to wear them this summer. (As I type the patio is flooded and at least 1 cabbage and 2 lettuces have got waterlogged and rotted - but thank God we haven't been flooded like other parts of the country).
I'm stuck. Tonight is my turn to cook. The wife has cooked all week and quite rightly, can't be bothered tonight. I thought this would be the case but didn't think ahead and so have nothing planned. After making a couple of suggestions that didn't go down too well my only option was to get a take away. "Sounds good" sounded good to me but I then promised to put some thought and some effort into doing something delicious on Sunday (we are out tomorrow). I have less than 48 hours to come up with an idea and then shop. Help!!! (i.e. feel free to let me know your favourite recipe)!

Doctor Who?

2007-07-03T18:04:00.000+01:00

This post was going to be about the weather but once I got started I just couldn't stop. Actually I forced myself to stop because I could go on for hours on this topic

More often than not I get frustrated during my drive home from work but today I was early enough to be ahead of most of the traffic. The potential was there for a relaxing half hour. It wasn't to be. Gillian McKeith (note the deliberate omission of her 'title') was on the radio advertising her latest TV programme. I may have ranted about the woman before on here but today saw me waiting at traffic lights in the middle of a city centre landmark yelling my head off at the radio and almost missing the green light.

She's not just irritating. She's frightening. And not in the way she would like to be! Some of the garbage she comes out with, dressed up as science, is just plain wrong. For example, today she was talking about how important a healthy, nutritionally balanced diet is. Now that makes perfect sense and I would never argue with that. But she followed up by saying that, as part of that diet, tea (ordinary black tea) should be ditched in favour of the likes of nettle tea because it contains various essential vitamins. So tell me please, if I am eating a balanced diet why should my delicious morning cuppas, which provide me with a good dose of antioxidants along with a splash of calcium and various other goodies found in milk, need to be replaced with crap that tastes like dish-water which provides nothing more than my balanced diet does.

And does a balanced diet really mean not eating protein and carbohydrates at the same time? As for smoothies for breakfast, why? The types of fruit she recommends for her smoothies are far too expensive, just eat a balanced diet! As for quick and easy (3 mins to make according to the 'good doctor'), by the time you've prepared the fruit, blended it and washed up I've had my tea and (wholemeal) toast and am half way to work.

It's crap. Everything she says is crap. And I have been known to stand beside her products in the supermarket and tell the wife, and anyone else within earshot, just how crap her over priced products are. Even the recipes she was talking about today contain various beans I have never heard of. I despair that people spend money on these sorts of products. Head round to the fresh fruit and veg aisle - it's cheaper, healthier and you won't be lining her pockets!

Home and Away

2007-07-02T18:05:00.000+01:00

I've not been completely lost, life has been storming ahead and I've been running behind. Apart from a holiday. The wife and I decided to escape to the other end of the country (via a short visit to my mum conveniently situated half way down - 420 miles might not seem like a long journey to some but here it is literally from the north east to the south west corner of the country. The journey was made that much more enjoyable by the compilation CD's the wife had put together beforehand). So here is Cornwall in pictures:

Tintagel and the remains of the castle which, according to legend was the home of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Or his birthplace. Or something like that. History/mythology never was my strong point and I was too busy looking at the ocean to take notes.

The harbour in the lovely little village of Boscastle - site of the huge floods in 2004. The shops on the main street had markers showing the height of the water and it reached the ceiling on the ground floor and whole buildings were destroyed. Work was still ongoing on deepening the river bed and this photo was taken two days before the town flooded again. Fortunately this time the water only reached 3ft and the town returned to business and usual the following day.

New York, straight on, 3000 miles.

At the end of the scariest lane I have ever driven down we were rewarded with views like this. The photo doesn't do it justice, the sea was so blue. After a stroll in the sunshine we had a bargain lunch in the hotel perched on the headland and just as we were leaving the rain started. I stopped the car and jumped out to snap this, getting soaked in the process:
This picture doesn't do it justice either, it was stunning, even in the rain.

It was a great week and just what the two of us needed. It's the first holiday with just the two of us for four years and although it rained a bit (the risk you take holidaying in England) we also managed to dump the coats and get some sun.

Good Neighbours

2007-06-03T19:24:00.001+01:00

Our house is on a corner plot, at the entrance to a small cul de sac. Since the old guy who lives at the other end told the wife that the grass needed cutting a few weeks ago I've been trying to keep on top of it. Just as I was finishing the front lawn another old guy who lives a few doors up stopped and introduced himself (he seems to pride himself on knowing all the goings on in the road but can't be too good at it as he didn't realise we had bought the place and thought I was cutting the grass for the old lady). I was hot and sweaty and the wife was waiting for me to finish so that we could go shopping. Having been grilled for my details (husband, job, birth place etc) I think I was only half way through his life story when the wife came to see what was takinging me so long. Hours we were there for. So long in fact that my nose got sunburnt.

Apparently he knows Bill Gates but I wasn't really listening to closely. The woman in the house across the road was in her bedroom trying on different clothes. With the curtains open. And three of us stood in front of her. Next time I'm cutting the grass it'll be head down and mow.

One Year

2007-05-25T18:42:00.000+01:00

I can't believe that it's a whole year since we moved into this house. Looking at the old photos, the inside is barely recognisable (apart from the bathroom and the upstairs; and there are still bits falling off the roof - but they'll get done eventually). However, the biggest transformation has been in the back garden. The flower beds are kind of bare, but we're in the process of getting rid of all the overgrown stuff and putting some sensible plants that we like (like the little osteospermum with pretty flowers that close up when they get cold - so cute!).

Back in March the veggie plot was a load of stones covering some very, very compacted mud. And now it looks like this:

What can't be seen in the picture is the tomatoes, cucumber and peppers in the Greenhouse (Mark II). There is also a couple of large bins of potatoes behind the greenhouse and a small patch with some spinach and rocket in. Any available space will be filled with more of the same and any unlabelled pockets are radishes, which are taking over the world. Those pots along side the greenhouse are our herb collection.

It all makes dinner time so exciting!

The Wife's Life

2007-05-24T19:01:00.000+01:00

I've been working from home again today (although I did actually do some work today) and The Wife was doing her tax return. Since she is self employed and also in the last year has started renting out property it sounded as though it was getting a little heated. The upshot is, that the tax man owes her and it looks as though he will do next year as well. She is quite comfortable with this.

In celebration I took her to the walk-in clinic this afternoon. 25 days ago when the wife was working in the garden she'went over on her ankle' and it is still bruised and swollen (being the dutiful partner I am, at the time I tried for days to get her to have it seen but she can be a little bit stubborn). Anyway, they don't think it's broken but as it's over 2 weeks since the accident they can't x-ray it. (They said that if it was broken it would probably be more painful, it's probably a sprain). I don't think she told the nurse that her gardening boots have two inch heals!

Homeward Bound

2007-05-18T11:15:00.000+01:00

As I type, the wife is heading home and I can't wait until she gets here (I'm 'working at home' so that I can ~~tidy the place up~~ welcome her home). She often tells me that I have a bit of an obsessive personality and that has been evident this week without her. Not checking taps are off or doors are locked multiple times, but watching videos. There has been nothing on the TV so I dug out my Bad Girls collection and started at the very beginning. By bed time last night I only had two episodes of series 2 left. And, because I remembered what happened at the end of the series, I stayed up and watched them. 23 episodes in three days (evenings only, I'm not quite sad enough not to find better things to fill my days with). I had forgotten just how good a programme it was back in the early days, before it got a bit too far fetched.

Anyway, back to reality. I just wish my wife would sometimes drive a little bit faster!

It's Oh So Quiet

2007-05-15T17:13:00.000+01:00

The wife has gone away for a few days with her daughter and granddaughter leaving me and the dog home alone. All the dog has done for the last 24 hours is sit by the front door pining (and I'm feel like he looks - lonely). Apart from when I went to bed last night and then he sat at the foot of the bed looking at me as if to say "no, you can't go to sleep, the boss isn't here. What are you doing? Go and get her!"
It's the first time in our six year history that the wife has gone and left me at home and the place seems very, very quiet without her. I also don't really see the point in cooking just for one - why waste all that electricity on putting the oven/hob on for just myself when the takeaway down the road have theirs on anyway!

Dunched

2007-05-14T17:35:00.000+01:00

Last week I got stuck in traffic on my way to work so got there too late to get parked in my usual little car park on campus. The only option was the large, council run car park near by (which costs twice as much per hour and where the ticket machines always reject at least half the coins I try to feed it). It being the first time I'd parked my new, bigger car in a proper car park I walked around it ensuring that I was within the white lines and checked the time on the ticket before heading into work. On getting back to the car later that day I spotted one of these:

Along side this was a scrap of paper onto which someone had scribbled the words "you were dunched by a Picasso" followed by a registration number. Slowly, it dawned on me that something had happened to my shiny new car and on walking round to the passenger side discovered exactly what. The door and front wing are no longer quite so shiny and are slightly bent and twisted. Since some kind person (I'm guessing not the driver involved) left the reg number I contacted the local police. One week later I'm still waiting to hear if they contacted the other driver and what he (I'm assuming it's a he, it makes me feel better) had to say and if he/his insurance company will pay for the repairs. Now I know it's not a serious incident, but it should be easy to sort - they have to speak to just one person and by doing so could save me a few hundred quid in repair bills.

As for the £30 parking fine, I've appealed (assuming that the jolt of the collision caused the ticket to slide down the dash and out of view) and all I have to do now is send them the ticket to prove that there were 20 mins between the penalty notice being issued and the ticket expiring. Oh and I've also lost the cost of the theatre ticket for the show I missed while I was waiting for the police. Did I mention that one week on I (and my insurance company) am still waiting to hear back from the police.

One week after getting the car, this has, quite literally, taken the shine off it.

Eurovision

2007-05-12T18:31:00.000+01:00

We don't get out much and perhaps that explains why we are actually looking forward to the Eurovision Song Contest. It looks like it's going to actually be fun - Eurovision is not supposed to take itself seriously. I don't hold out much hope for Scooch but it's not the winning that's important, it's the being camp that counts.

Free Kicks

2007-05-11T19:29:00.000+01:00

I have just realised that the football season finished last weekend (the Black Cats being promoted to the premiership as champions = one happy Wife = one happy blogger)! This means that where by 3pm each Saturday afternoon for the last however many months we have had to be near a radio, I now have at least a few weeks of weekends where I have the Wife all to myself. I'm now racking my brains trying to think of something fun to spend a cold, wet Saturday afternoon doing!

"Am I Bovvered"

2007-05-11T18:23:00.000+01:00

The other afternoon I got a phone call at work from the Wife saying that the dog had escaped. He followed her into the front garden and jumped the wall without her noticing and it was about two hours before she realised. By then we both thought that he would have been squashed - although the roads around here are fairly quiet it's not far to a couple of major routes in and out of the city. After phoning around various vets and the police station there had been no reports so there was still hope he would a) come home or b) be found. So while the Wife waited I went for a drive around. The trouble is that there are so many side streets and back lanes in the area that at the time it felt like an impossible task. After checking around the old house I decided to head home the long way and by chance spotted him out of the corner of my eye, trotting down the middle of a side street. When I reached him he just looked at me as if to say "what are you doing here?" and then proceeded to jump all over my shiney new car as I drove him home. As soon as he walked through the door he was after his dinner then slept for the rest of the evening. I'm amazed that he survived five hours out there (indeed as I picked him up a woman told me that he had just narrowly avoided being run over) and I don't think he would have made it home on his own. He of course must have found it to be just one big adventure and is oblivious to the trouble he caused. At the time I was saying that if he does make it home alive I would quite happily murder him but he really is a big part of the family.

Introducing...

2007-05-02T18:13:00.000+01:00

Dr Me!

The graduation ceremony was held the other day making it official. I managed not to fall down the steps or trip over the gown and the only daft hat was for the official photograph (which will not make it onto this blog, for two reasons: 1) to retain some degree of anonymity and 2) it hanging in my mothers living room will be embarrassment enough)! Needless to say my mum enjoyed it more than I did and the highlight for my brother was getting drunk with the wife that evening. As for me, it marks the end of my 20 years of education (although I hope that I will never stop learning). And two fingers to my sixth form biology teacher who told my parents not to expect me to get any A-levels!

Vroom

2007-05-01T16:46:00.000+01:00

Time flies when you're having fun!

So much of the time I was spending on the computer is now spent in the garden and various other projects have been keeping us busy. Including new cars. Back in February I decided it was time to get rid of my old one as things were starting to go wrong but (as with the tale of the houses last year) it takes me a while to make decisions. In the mean time the wife decided her car also needed replacing and it was her deciding to change and finding a car within a week that spurned me on. So last night I picked up my shiny new car and this morning we collected the wifes sparkly new bubble. The only problem is that a couple of days ago the wife tripped in the garden and can barely walk let alone drive so not only did I have the ordeal of driving my own new car but I had to drive hers home as well (and for that reason I cancelled my BP check at the doctors this morning)!

My old car (which was my first and therefore has a special place in my heart) was just about the smallest you can get so I'm freaking out a bit about parking the Astra - I have been known to get into spaces then have to wait for the other cars to go before retriving it. But, I can fit more than just a wee bag in the back which will save much effort squeezing and squashing the weekly shop. Although I doubt that the wife will stop reminding me to mind the eggs!

And on that note, normal blogging service has resumed.

All Go

2007-04-11T18:59:00.000+01:00

My life seems to have been taken over, mostly by little people but it looks like I finally have a moment to relax. It would seem that all of the grandkids would like to move in (and made a pretty good attempt to over the Easter weekend). Someone decided it would be a good idea to have a BBQ on Sunday so Saturday was spent shopping and preparing all sorts of yummys. Come Sunday the weather forecast was good, the sun was shining and the wife and I had a great couple of hours in the kitchen. Then they all arrived and things started to degenerate - apart from the easter egg hunt we arranged for the 6 kids, which was just chaos. When they decided it was too cold outside I stopped enjoying myself and started to regret going for a beige carpet (of course it was too cold - who has a BBQ in north east England in April?). The only way to get through it was to sit it out outside and stay warm beside the BBQ (safe in the knowledge that babywipes get just about anything off the carpet).

Monday we went to the races. The wife and I have only been once before and that time we made a profit. This time we just about broke even, which I guess makes for a cheap day out. The six year old came with us (her mum was going to come as well but couldn't afford it) and we let her pick a horse in each race to put a pound on. After the first three races she had won nothing and was starting to get bored (the wife and I on the other hand had winners and placed horses in every race). But, in race four Dead Mans Dante did good and the grandkid was back in the black (the same horse also gave me my best result of the day). When it came to choosing a horse for the fifth race she didn't even need to look at the parade ring before deciding to put the pound back in her pocket and was happy enough just to cheer on the horses that her nan and myself had picked. We worry about her taking after her mother - spend, spend, spend being her motto - but after the day at the races I'm not so worried.

Smiles

2007-03-29T10:55:00.000+01:00

I'm ill. I'm lying in bed, dozing and listening to the wife entertain two of the grandkids (the 4 and the 3 year old). She's wonderful, listening to her making them laugh it is making me smile. Laughter truly is the best medicine.

Filth

2007-03-21T18:28:00.000Z

The tenants have moved out of the other place. They were two guys, both just split from their wives and having seen the state the place was left in, I can see why they are now single! They claimed to have cleaned the place but it took me 3 - yes, three - hours to clean the bathroom. How it could get in that state in 6 months is beyond me, I've never seen so much slime in my life. I would post pictures but I wouldn't want to put anyone of their breakfast/lunch/dinner. Fortunately they had cats so I just kept telling myself that it was the cat hairs that got everywhere. And I'm blaming them for the smell on the bathroom floor!

Mark 2

2007-03-19T19:10:00.000Z

Previously on Contentedly Discontent:
The original greenhouse survived the summer but as the year came to a close it fell victim to the weather.

The latest (and ideally last) installment:

So last weekend Greenhouse Mark 2 was constructed. Complete with three bags of B&Q's finest quick set cement, every single nut, bolt and clip included in the box as well as a few salvaged from Mk 1. Of course this weekend was blowing a gale resulting in one sleepless night. But, apart from an emergency replacement of a few clips whilst still in pyjamas on Sunday morning, it seems to have withstood the weather this time.

While I was constructing, the wife was harvesting stuff planted in the autumn (in pots rather than the greenhouse for obvious reasons)

The first carrot - I think that the shape makes it obvious that this is an organic carrot (the suits in Europe wouldn't approve of). It was delicious. I didn't manage to snap the first leek before it went into tonights dinner.

Throughout construction, I was being watched by two cuties - the wife won't let me post her picture here but Freddie didn't object:

Do I look Stupid?

2007-03-06T15:37:00.000Z

I'm looking for a new car. Having sat inside a few there is one model that I'm keen on and so let the sales guy take me into the showroom to talk numbers. All I wanted to know was how much money I need to find. Having got out of me that I prefer the 3 door over the 5 door version (they just look funkier and the back seats don't get much action anyway), and that silver (or blue) would be my fave colour he went away to tap on a computer then came back and said he had found the ONLY car matching that description and that because it's the only one and they were going to do me a great deal I should hand over the deposit straight away. Oh and after taking a measly sum off for part-ex it was only just a few hundred over my budget. I umm'd and ahh'd a bit and sensing he was loosing he was replaced by the sales manager followed by the finance manager all telling my I was mad for not taking it. They even managed to convince The Wife - and it's a bloody good salesman who can do that! I eventually left, to much shaking of heads - it was the ONLY 3 door, silver Focus in the country and I was walking away.

Imagine my surprise then when I checked the dealers website and found page after page of 3 door, silver Foci! Imaging my greater surpise on seeing the very one that they had been trying to sell me was £1000 cheaper on the website than the 'fantastic' deal they had been offering.

Only one at a rock bottom price indeed. Pah! They have my number, now I'm just hoping that they call me.

House Hunting (Again)

2007-02-28T22:37:00.000Z

The other day we went to view a house - almost a year to the day since we agreed to buy our current home. But we're not looking to move. For years we have been talking about investing in property (blame Sarah Beeny) so this is nothing new, we tried to buy a place four years ago but missed out by just a few quid (the same house sold recently for over twice the original price, having been renovated and rented out).

The agents details for the latest house said it needed a "full scheme of modernisation". We came out saying it needed pulling down and rebuiling. In one room I felt like I was about to go through the floor and the walls didn't look much healthier. We've seen a few renovation jobs but that was in the worst state I've ever seen. And some poor old person had been living in it until relatively recently by the looks of it. I think for the moment we are going to stick to decorating the guest bedroom here and worry about my retirement fund later!
(Yes it is all about making money. With the wife being so much nearer to retirement than I am, I'm looking for an alternative income so that we can then enjoy retirement together).

Mirror, Signal, Manouver

2007-02-27T19:05:00.000Z

My drive home from work can take anything from 20 minutes up to an hour, depending on the mood of The Gods. Today as I set off and hit the back of the queues I decided to just go with the flow and relax - there was nothing I could do about it so I just crawled along, singing along to the radio. Once we did get moving I let people out in front of me, ignored people indicating left but turning right or sitting in the wrong lane and enjoyed the drive. I managed to stay calm for the whole 15 miles! When I arrived home there was a van parked in my place in front of the gate so I parked up behind it and got out. I didn't curse once. Just as I reached in to get my bag the van started up and reversed - straight into the front of my car, shoving it and myself backwards. "Sorry, I didn't see you" was the womans reaction. "Do you not look before you move" was mine.

Fortunately no damage was done but bang (literally) went my relaxed state!

Shopping Trips

2007-02-22T19:39:00.000Z

This evening we had to go shopping. I just wanted to be in and out of the shop whereas the wife likes to browse. So having negotiated isle one, I started heading off down isle three, only to have the wife root herself to the spot and shout after me "where do you think you're going? We've not done this isle yet and you can't be sick already." I never get away with that trick but I just can't help trying, and a big grin in the wife's direction always speeds her up a bit.

Which reminds me of our shopping trip on Saturday when the wife bumped into an old friend. The conversation started off well enough but, within a couple of minutes I was listening to this woman talk about giving birth and the number of stiches she needed and various infections she's had 'down below.' Nice to meet you, but we're in the middle of a supermarket and I was about to choose something for dinner!

Deep Breath In...

2007-02-22T16:21:00.001Z

... and relax!

I'm banging my head against a brick wall trying to figure out this analysis software. Help manual describes very simply what I should be doing:
"Edit Button: Applying this button opens the List Editor" which is exactly what I want to do but, that it all it is saying. One short line. It's not bloody telling me where to find this edit button or what to do if and when I find it. I can see 8 different edit buttons but none of them take me to where I want to be. A am tempted conclude from this afternoons experiments that I'm trying to do the impossible!

Differences

2007-02-17T22:10:00.000Z

Today the age difference in our relationship became apparent. The Wife and I were outside planning the garden and measuring up for the vegetables. I worked out the optimal width for each of the raised beds in the veggie plot, allowing for paths and borders, and marked them out with canes. The Wife was pleased with the amount of space available for planting and brandishing the tape-measure, asked how high the raised beds should be. Of course I was working in cm and the Wife was working in feet making for a very confused conversation - 2ft vs 50 cm - or in the end 1ft or 30cm seemed a logical conclusion, I'm sure inches came into it somewhere but I couldn't figure it out. Now we just have to hope that B&Q sell the right sized timber and label it appropriately.

Planting

2007-02-14T11:32:00.000Z

About a month ago I came home from work to find that the wife had turned the kitchen into a potting shed. She was determined to start the tomatoes off early this year and while she was at it sowed onions, leeks, cabbages, carrots and parsnips. I got home yesterday and the first thing she said to me was "Don't play war with me". This usually means that she's been shopping and filled the freezer (the freezer is always full to bursting but the wife can always seem to find more space to fill). However, I soon discovered that she's been transplanting the original plants into bigger pots and then planting more - this time radish, lettuce (3 varieties), spring onion, cauliflower, sprouts, peas, more leeks and more parsnips. How could I play war about that. It just means I'm going to have to get outside and build the replacement greenhouse. Besides, the plants keep her happy. The other morning she got up to put the kettle on and when she didn't return for 10 minutes I went looking for her. She was bent over the seedlings, talking to them and watering them with a teaspoon. It amuses me everytime but she swears that that is why the stuff tastes so good.

Verdict

2007-02-12T23:47:00.000Z

The Verdict is probably the best thing I've watched on TV for a long time (so good I even missed ER for it tonight). Briefly, a mixed bag twelve 'famous' people make up the jury for a rape trial. The defendents and the victim are actors but the judge, barristers, court officials and the court itself are real and the trial is unscripted and conducted as though it were real. It makes for fascinating viewing, not only to see how such a trial works, but also to listen to the evidence and form opinions on who is telling the truth or not.

At the moment I'm coming down on the side of Anna, the 'victim', but I think I'm basing that mostly on gut feeling rather than the actual evidence. It will be interesting to see what tomorrows sessions bring!

Observations from the Laboratory

2007-02-08T15:47:00.000Z

A couple of thoughts from my afternoon at the bench:

1) Every time I wash my hands I get an electric shock due to build up of static electricity, probably a combination of my 65% polyester lab coat and friction! I know I'm going to get this shock every time but it still makes me jump. (Which reminds me of the time I had a conversation with my boss about wearing nylon knickers - again apparently it's a static problem, but not one I have experienced, strictly cotton here).

2) I have a really snotty cold at the moment. What are you supposed to do when you're all gloved up, working in a fume hood and you need to sneeze? Your sleeve really is the only option. Unless anyone can give me a better option?

Possibilities

2007-02-07T16:30:00.000Z

I've found a job which would be perfect for The Wife. It's a one year contract at the uni where I work, although in a different faculty. It's been a few years since she did any research and I think that what she's doing at the moment isn't enough for her. The job being advertised follows on virtually from the stuff she spent years working on. I'm pushing her to apply because it would mean we could travel to and from work together and meet for lunch/coffee/anything else we feel like (the building she would be in is across the road from my lab). On the down side with working for herself at home she currently does most of the shopping (which I hate to do) and most of the cooking (which she is so good at). In weighing up the pros and cons I think I'm prepared to have to do a few more chores if it means getting to spend more time with my woman.

But We Can Still Rise Now

2007-02-06T16:31:00.000Z

A follow up to the last post: Okay so Wilkinson was back but he shouldn't have had that try given, he was clearly in touch. And he missed a couple of kicks! All the hype about his return before kick off yet it was only after half an hour of the game that we were told that actually our man Chris Patterson has the best kicking record in the world! Take out the try that wasn't and a couple of dubious penalty decisions and the 42-20 score line would better reflect the game. We still wouldn't have retained the Calcutta cup but it would have been fairer!

Flower of Scotland

2007-02-03T14:34:00.000Z

The Six Nations has kicked off and just 1 hour and 25 minutes until Scotland defend the Calcutta cup! Yet again everyone is saying it's going to be a walk in the park for England, especially with Jonny Wilkinson returning, but we won last year and finished above them in the table and there's no reason why we can't do it again. Wilkinson hasn't played a full game in months, England have lost eight of their last nine games and it's their first outing with the new coach. Then again the Scots have only won at Twickenham four times in the last 100 years almost and not at all in the last 24 years. Still, today I'm playing the optimist!

Alcoholics

2007-02-02T19:20:00.000Z

It being Friday night, all three of us are enjoying a beer. Not just myself and the wife but the dog has joined us! It's a while since we've had our favourite bottles of kronenbourg but as soon as the dog saw them he started barking. He has his own little bowl for his beer and after the first one he must have remembered how much he loved the stuff because he kept coming back for more. Five bowls later and he's passed out in the corner. It's only a matter of time before the snoring starts.

Delayed

2007-01-30T10:25:00.000Z

As I was drinking my tea this morning and trying to wake up, the local news told me that my route to work was gridlocked because of roadworks and to avoid the area. So I did. I started off working at home planning to go in later this morning. Then the wife started making a big pan of soup which smells delicious so I think I'm going to have to work at home all day.

Edited at 17.25 to add:
The other advantage of working at home today was that I got the paper which is due by the end of the week finished and sent away and I got to play (and loose) a few games of uno since the grandkid was off school today (of course we only played during my lunch break)!

Bonjour Mes Amis

2007-01-27T23:53:00.000Z

Today we spent hours working out our holiday for this year. We've been talking about 'doing' France for years and having not had a proper holiday for almost four years this year we're going to do it. There are two reasons for why we never got over to France. Firstly, it would cost too much to fly and hire a car to see all that we want to see and secondly taking our own car would mean spending several days driving virtually non-stop on the wrong side of the road. However while the former is still a problem, the latter I can do something about. So come June we're packing up the car and heading south, (approximately following the route marked on the map). A couple of overnight stops on the way down through central France to the Mediterranean coast where we're going to spend a few days then another few days travelling through the Pyrenees to the Atlantic coast, via Andorra. Then another few days driving back up the other side. The plan is, in two weeks, to travel around 3000 miles, explore many places, climb several mountians, eat lots of good food, drink a few bottles of good wine (and bring a few bottles home with us), and anything else we find to occupy our time!

Tasty

2007-01-27T19:35:00.000Z

Our saturday morning routine has become a bit of a habit. We lie in bed watching the various cookery programmes on the TV, taking it in turns to run up and down the stairs with cup after cup of tea, until we get too hungry. At that point we relocate downstairs and finish of watching the food stuff with sausage/bacon sarnies. This morning was better than most Saturdays for two reasons - 1) Breakfast was bacon and cheese oatcakes with Oatcakes that I brought back from my last visit to my mum (can't get them in this part of the world) and 2) Rachel Allen on all morning, not just her own show but also on Saturday Kitchen. Every week she does something delicious that we want to try. The food - I mean the food! Well, mostly I mean the food! Her enthusiasm for the food and down to earth nature is fab and the Irish accent adds a certain something. In fact, as much as the wife might protest, I think we both find her rather tasty!

Smelly

2007-01-22T18:29:00.000Z

On Saturday morning I rifled through all of our cookery books looking for inspiration. Although I enjoy cooking, I'm not particularly creative in the kitchen. Having come up with a shopping list off we went to Asda. Whatever possessed us on a Saturday afternoon I'll never know. Despite being a 'Walmart Supercentre' they had nothing left. No leeks for leek and potato soup. No cauliflower. No decent bits of pork. No crusty bread. No apple filled donuts. All my dreams of cooking up a delicious dinner went out of the window and Sunday dinner was pasta and meatballs.

Imagine my delight when I walked through the door this evening to find the wife preparing beef in red wine (we'll ignore the fact that she used the last of my red wine for now), with all sorts of yummys in it. With mustard mash. And she found a cauli! I wish I could post smells here. It's not the only way, but it's true about the way to a girls heart being through her stomach!

Straightening things out

2007-01-18T18:54:00.000Z

This article worried me a bit when I first read it.

"Scientists are conducting experiments to change the sexuality of “gay” sheep in a programme that critics fear could pave the way for breeding out homosexuality in humans. The technique being developed by American researchers adjusts the hormonal balance in the brains of homosexual rams so that they are more inclined to mate with ewes.

"It raises the prospect that pregnant women could one day be offered a treatment to reduce or eliminate the chance that their offspring will be homosexual."

Yes, apparently a simple hormone patch, similar to those used by people wanting to quit smoking, could be all that you need to ensure that your kids are straight.

Perhaps most worrying is a quote from a Neurology prof.: “Allowing parents to select their children’s sexual orientation would further a parent’s freedom to raise the sort of children they want to raise.”

Two issues here 1) the idea that it could be possible to breed out homosexuality and 2) that parents should have all this freedom to decide what sort of person their child is going to be.

I could go on for hours on this subject but after reading the article I went on to read this Bad Science article. Phew! It seems like the Times got a little bit carried away, possibly something to do with the fact that the research was first mentioned in an animal rights campaign.

I'll leave the last word to Ben Goldacre:
"we cleared up the question of Lamarckian inheritance of acquired traits over 100 years ago. If it helps, you could think about whether boob jobs will make future generations have larger breasts. And even if you could intervene to make a gay human straight... you might reasonably expect this to make any inherited tendency towards homosexuality more prevalent, rather than less."

Questionable Lifestyles

2007-01-18T16:11:00.000Z

Following my having to look after myself last night I asked the wife if it was a bad reflection of my lifestyle that when I went into the off license to get the wine the assistant recognised me and then the same happened in the Chinese where I am also known. Her reply: 'Well the woman in the betting shop went on as though she knows me as well today*'. It appears we both live a good, wholesome life.

*In her defense, she had a bet on the horses over Christmas and won so placed another bet when she went to collect her winnings. Yet again she won, and so it goes on.

Missing an arm

2007-01-17T20:44:00.000Z

This evening I've realised how sad my life would be without the wife in it. She's gone out for the evening leaving me and the dog to fend for ourselves. After I dropped her off I picked up a Chinese takeaway, bought a couple of bottles of wine (red for me, white for the wife for her return) and with nothing better to do I've eaten the whole chow mein and worse still, resorted to working. As for the dog, he's alternating between sitting by the front door and whimpering at my feet. Whether he's also missing the wife or after the remaining prawn crackers, I don't know. Can't even open the wine yet as I've offered to go pick her up when she's finished.

Boardwalk

2007-01-15T18:24:00.000Z

When we bought the house my mum sent me some money to 'buy something for the house' and we decided on a painting of some sort. We love Jack Vettriano but he's a bit above our budget. Mark Spain had also caught my eye but although cheaper would still have been pushing it. The other day in the local department store I spied three Mark Spain limited editions, two of which were sold, one of which wasn't. Better still they were reduced in the sale. I phoned the wife who found the picture I was looking at on the internet, pulled out my wallet and Boardwalk is now hanging on the bedroom wall. The only problem is we can't work out if it should be Boardwalk or South Beach - the painting says Boardwalk but the website says the South Beach.

The way it should be

2007-01-15T10:33:00.000Z

I've just had my weekly meeting with the boss and it was just perfect: in at 9.59am and out at 10.03am. In that time we both said everything that had to be said and managed to exchange pleasantries. If only it went that well every week. But was it wrong to walk the long way around campus to get back to my building? I spotted someone heading towards my office that I can't be doing with this morning. He's bound to catch up with me later but I have enough trouble with monday mornings without having to wipe his arse as well.

Monday, Monday

2007-01-08T09:24:00.000Z

Monday morning already! It seems everyone is back to work this morning after the holidays. My commute last week took just 20 minutes and I was at my desk by 8.30 (never been known). Today it was back up to 45 minutes giving an average speed of 20mph.

The weekend was a productive one. Saturday saw the decorations come down and the house getting a thorough cleaning along with loads of washing and shopping. Sunday I finally unpacked my last two cases of clothes and sorted out the wardrobe (it's only been eight months since I packed them away for the move and it took until last month to get the wardrobes built and so only now can I access my winter woollies). Anyway, this all means I'm not ready for Monday morning, couldn't we just postpone it for another 24 hours?

Starting All Over Again

2007-01-04T23:11:00.000Z

So now that the holidays are over would someone please tell me what all the fuss was about for so many weeks before hand!

Christmas was nice and quiet, spent with my mum. Ate too much, drank to much... the usual. The only downside was going to friends for Christmas dinner meaning no left overs for Boxing day. The next few days I spent fighting off a virus to make sure that I was home in time to spend New Year with the wife. Again, New Year is usually a quiet affair, just the two of us and while last year was quite exciting when we thought the latest grandkid was about to appear (she didn't, she was born a few days later) this year was far more exciting.

We made an effort for each other, I even went so far as to put on the one dress I own (first time since a wedding April '05), opened a bottle of champagne and settled on the sofa. At about 11.10pm the wife headed off for nibbles in the kitchen and noticed something amiss in the back garden. It was the beloved greenhouse. While I thought it was well fastened down it would appear not well enough for the gales blowing that night. I would post photos but didn't have time to take any. In my best frock, in a gale there we were pulling apart what was left of the tangled frame and flapping plastic before it flew off again and damaged something other than the wifes lettuce.

The following morning and all that's left is the path. Next time I will use more concrete!

We flung the remains into the garage and made it back inside with 5 minutes before the bells, just enough time to wash the mud off ourselves. And what else could we do but laugh.

Happy New Year!

2006

2007-01-04T21:17:00.000Z

Been trying to write a review of the year for a few days but have pinched this instead.

What did you do in 2006 that you’ve never done before?
So many DIY things around the house that I would probably never have done had the wife not said ‘go on, have a go.’

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?
Not sure I made any. I thought about it but couldn’t decide on anything.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yup – grandkid number 6 appeared early on in the year.

Did anyone close to you die?
No thank God.

Did you go anywhere special?
Not really – all our special times this year we spent at home.

What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
Successful experiments at work.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my PhD. And plastering a wall.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Plenty of cuts and bruises working on the house but nothing serious.

What was the best thing you bought?
Our house!

Where did most of your money go?
On doing up the house.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Getting our house (is there a pattern emerging here?).

What song reminds you of 2006?
America by Razorlight

Compared to this time last year are you:
a. Happier or sadder?
Happier.
b. Thinner or fatter?
About the same.
c. Richer or poorer?
Richer – why I don’t miss being a student.

What do you wish you’d done more of?
Visiting family.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Eating & drinking!

Did you fall in love in 2006?
Yes – with our house! And of course I love the wife more each day.

What was your favorite TV show?
Anything on the Gardening channel!

What was the best book you read?
Instruction books for flatpack furniture. I think I did read a novel back in the summer but I can’t remember what it was called.

What was your greatest musical discovery of 2006?
Don’t think I found anything new this year.

What did you want and get?
This house (getting a bit repetitive this)

What did you want and not get?
I think I got all I could have asked for this year.

What was your favorite film this year?
Have I seen any films this year? Certainly never made it to the cinema.

What did you do on your birthday?
Nothing much. Probably ate at my fave restaurant.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Getting my system working at work.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
Mostly paint-splattered and when leaving the house the cleanest pair of jeans I could find.

What kept you sane?
The wife. Or is that who? If a who doesn't count then probably the escapism of pottering around the garden.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
No one comes to mind.

What political issue stirred you the most?
The campaign by the media to get rid of Blair really pissed me off.

Who did you miss?
My Dad. Time to bury the hatchet.

Who was the best new person you met?
New grandkid.

Party Time

2006-12-24T10:45:00.000Z

Last night our next door neighbours returned from where ever they had been to continue their party, just as we were heading off to bed for a party of our own. I couldn't help but laugh when they played Cyndi Lauper 'cos in this house the girls really did just wanna have fun!

And now it's time to hit the road, I'm heading south to spend the next few days with my mum, leaving the wife to entertain her own family. At least she's sending my on my way with a smile on my face, if a little bleary eyed!

Live and Let Live

2006-12-22T21:41:00.000Z

There seems to be so much hassle surrounding being politically correct at Christmas so as to avoid offending non-christians. This afternoon the wife and I went into town to finish our shopping and I noticed that while the lights used to feature Santa and reindeers and Christmas trees, for the last few years they seem to represent nothing in particular. Indeed in a number of places the decorations are no longer Christmas lights but have been renamed 'winter lights'. As I understand it, the UK is a Christian country, our head of state being the head of the Church of England and all that, therefore what is wrong with referring to this holiday period as Christmas. Further more, I have colleagues at work who are Muslims and all participated in the various celebrations we had and they each gave me cards saying 'Happy Christmas' - the very phrase which the P.C. brigade claim non-Christians are offened by. I just don't get it. Is it yet again all about pandering to the extremists?

Holidays are here (almost)

2006-12-21T16:34:00.000Z

I have finished work for Christmas. I can't remember the last time I finished this early. Further more, the university is closed until the 3rd of January so I don't even have the choice of going to work until then. It gets better. We closed at lunch time today (unfortuantely that meant that the Christmas drinks were at 10.30 this morning and as much as I enjoy the odd glass of wine not even I could manage it at that time of the day) giving me time to hit the shops. One hour and fifteen minutes later I was heading home with as many bags as I could carry and very little left to get. That's what I would call a successful shopping trip.

I also remembered today why I leave my shopping until the last minute. We finally got around to getting a tree but had no decorations to put on it - lights, baubles and tinsel all at half price. And two giant stockings to fill with little things for the kids (of any age) to dip into whenever they come to visit. Tree now up and twinkling away in the corner, just waiting for those presents to be wrapped to go around the bottom. It's starting to feel like Christmas around here.

Pet Hates

2006-12-19T19:59:00.000Z

I hate doctors. The last two occasions that I went to the doctors were not becuase I was ill but becuase I had to, and both times they found something wrong with me and subjected me to all sorts. I've had ear pain for several weeks now. I've tried the 'ignore it and it will go away' approach and drops to get rid of any wax but neither of them worked and in the end the wife convinced me to see the doctor. The doctor couldn't see anything wrong with my ear. The doctor kept talking about referred pain and said I should get checked over by a dentist. I hate doctors but I hate dentists even more! The pain isn't really that bad. No really, it isn't.

Bass

2006-12-15T19:52:00.000Z

Last night the wife did us sea bass and Mediterranean roasted vegetables - thrown together from the contents of the cupboards and fridge. Today was our departmental Christmas lunch and I went for the sea bass (ordered last week before knowing what we were eating last night). So of the two meals, one costing less than £4 for the two of us or the one meal for £15, guess which was the nicest? It's not just that I'm prejudiced by that fact that my wife prepared last nights meal with her own fair hands. I paid good money for shite today and if there's one thing I hate it's a meal that I don't enjoy, whether I'm paying for it or not. Food is one of lifes great pleasures.

Let me catch up

2006-12-14T15:49:00.000Z

At a time when most people are decorating their homes with all things festive we are still decorating with wallpaper and paint. The aim was to have the downstairs finished by Christmas and we are determined to do so (not least because it means we can get a wardrobe up in the downstairs bedroom - we haven't had a wardrobe since we moved in May and I still have two suitcases full of my winter clothes that I'm getting desperate to unpack). People keep giving us Christmas cards and telling me how they are all ready for Christmas. I've only bought one thing for one of the six kids and not even managed to get anything yet for the Secret Santa at work tomorrow. This weekend Christmas has to start in our house, regardless of whether we are ready or not. I mean it's not as if we haven't known it was going to be happening for a while now!

Friday Feelings

2006-12-08T11:30:00.000Z

The experiment I've been trying to get to work for weeks will today give me something good. I can feel in in my bones. Or perhaps it's just the fact that it's Friday, the rain has stopped, the sun is shining and all is well with the world. Sort of.

Update 2 hrs later: Of course it didn't work! What was I thinking! I have one more trick up my sleeve before giving up.

Our house...

2006-12-06T18:18:00.000Z

... is a very, very, very fine house

It's six months and a few days since we moved into this house and yesterday we got the final coat of paint on the walls to finish the kitchen (apart from a few tiles above the cooker). We started it not long after we moved in but it's now finally looking finished.

It is virtually unrecognisible as the same kitchen. It feels so much bigger and we've gone from having one small bench to acres of space, plus all mod cons!

Much blood, sweat and tears have been spilt in this house in the last six months but it is starting to feel like it was worth all the effort.

Christmas meme

2006-12-06T17:26:00.000Z

As seen over at Sassy's place.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate every time, and not just at Christmas. Just the thought of egg nog... blurgh.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Of course Santa wraps them, but he never bothers with ribbon or bows in our house.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? We have two a fibre optic trees, the main tree and then a tiny one I inherited from my Gran. Both are coloured. This year though now that we've got extra room we're getting a real tree as well - who knows what sort of lights we will put on it!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Oh yeah! I'm thinking putting it in the hall between the three main rooms will give the best value for money!

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually a couple of weeks before Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Just one dish? That's hard. I love sandwiches made with cold turkey, stuffing & cranberry sauce on boxing day (and the following three days)!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: My Dad disappearing into the garage at about 5pm Christmas day and reappearing with a big box. Just when we thought we were all done, out came this one last parcel.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth about Santa? Just what does he get up to with those elves?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope. A couple of years ago we didn't even manage to open any on Christmas day, they had to wait until Boxing day.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Just a bit of tinsel and a few baubles. I'm planning on going to town on the real one this year though, I just don't know how yet. And of course there are sweets and chocolates on them - for the kids, honest!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it. Just as long as it clears in time for my drive back home.

12. Can you ice skate? Haven't tried for years but now that you've put the idea in my head I might have to borrow a kid and find out if I still can.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? A rocking horse when I was about five. I loved that rocking horse. Oh and one year I got a fountain pen with pink ink and an autograph book. My two grandmothers were the first to sign it and I still have it. There they are, ahead of sports stars of the 1980's and the 90's boy band 'Worlds Apart'. And the wife surprised me with a guitar a few years ago - I'd wanted one for ages but am ashamed to say that I've never really made the time to learn to play it properly.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? These days it's getting to spend some time with my family then coming home to spend more time with the wife.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? It has to be traditional Christmas pud with my mums homemade brandy butter.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? The family meal we have on Christmas eve, after the shops have shut and there is no option but for everyone to stop worrying and just enjoy it. My most favorite is the tradition the wife and I have started - celebrating our own christmas on New Years day. Since we spend Christmas with our respective families we make this our special day - presents, a walk on the beach, big, big dinner and whatever else we have the energy left for.

17. What tops your tree? I think it's usually a white fluffy angel.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving, but only if it's appreciated and not "I hope you kept the reciept". But I do love receiving something I wasn't expecting.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Wham, Last Christmas. It just puts me in the mood. But you can't beat a good medley of carols.

And after that I now feel ready to attempt some Christmas shopping.

Polythene and Paint

2006-12-04T15:05:00.000Z

I'm that used to being able to find the information I want on the internet that when I can't it really bugs me. Is it me and the search terms I'm using or is the info just not out there? All I want to know is if I can buy replacement glazing panels for the greenhouse. Yesterday morning we discovered that one of the panels had blown away over night, and we were worried that the wind getting inside would lift the whole thing. So in the wind and the rain we fashioned a repair out of some plastic sheeting and a cardboard box that was lying around the garage (i.e. that we hadn't got around to throwing out yet and that's why I like to hoard things). Anyway now I need to know where I can get a replacement from or if we have to buy a whole greenhouse worth. The rest of my weekend was spent up a ladder with a paintbrush in my hand painting the ceiling and walls, I'd forgotten what a pain it is to paint over new plaster. I'm still picking bits of paint from under my fingernails.

Jam

2006-12-01T16:51:00.000Z

Just passing time until the clock reaches the point where I don't feel too guilty about leaving work. Last night there was an 'incident' on the main bridge across the river i.e. some idiot picked the rush hour to decide to pretend he wanted to jump. An hour and a half after leaving work I could still see my building. Then I remembered I could access the internet on my phone and read some blogs, of course at which point the bridge re-opened. Tonight my logic is that people never try to jump two days running and everyone else in this city finishes early on a Friday meaning my road home will be clear!

(Yes today has been that dull that the most interesting thing I can find to talk about is a traffic jam)

Time Management

2006-11-30T17:28:00.000Z

Some of my male colleagues have a problem with time management. It is all too common to witness them leaving the gents, still doing up buttons/zips/belts and rearranging themselves. Gents, I know you lead busy lives and that at times there just aren't enough hours in the day but it would take seconds to put yourselves right before exiting the toilets.

Blowing a fuse

2006-11-27T22:31:00.000Z

On Saturday night the bulb blew in one of the bedside lamps and caused the fuse to go in the process. So yesterday we went into an electrical shop looking for fuses. We ended up spending half an hour playing on a keyboard but settled for an ice-cream machine instead. We found the same model of keyboard for half the price on Ebay. It's being delivered tomorrow. (For years I had keyboard lessions when I was a kid and have been wanting to get back into it for a while - I was never very good but I enjoy making a noise). And the ice-cream is delicious.

Wild life

2006-11-25T18:58:00.000Z

The day started at about 5 this morning when we each realised that we were both wide awake and things rapidly descended into a state of giggles. Yet today was one of those days when a good nights sleep would have been the preferred preparation - we had three of the grandkids for the day, ages 3, 4 and 6. The idea was that we'd take them out into the country, feed the ducks and run around to expel some energy and the wife spent the morning putting together a yummy picnic. Of course the kids had already had a McDonald's by the time they arrived so weren't interested in lunch but they enjoyed the rest of it. For me the highlight had to be the 6 year old saying "wow, I've never seen a horse in real life before" as we stepped aside to let two horses pass. I don't think their parents ever take them anywhere yet we had travelled less than 10 minutes out of town. They, and I, had a great time - there is something special about doing this sort of thing.

I did have to bow out early however to get my hair chopped - I only go when I have to so I've been cropped and the draft around the back of my neck is strangely enjoyable. And me being the fool I am arranged all of this despite Scotlands last match in the Autumn tests being on this afternoon - fortunately the Aussies beat us, otherwise I might have been upset. Phew, is it bedtime yet.

Gibbering Gibberish

2006-11-24T15:22:00.000Z

This afternoon my motivation for work is promotion. One day I want my own office where I don't have to sit listening to people spending hours on the phone gibbering gibberish. Any minute now I'm going to lose it. Just shut the f... ahhh it has! And a peace descended on the office. For now.

Broken Things

2006-11-23T10:58:00.000Z

I know I keep going on about her, but she's brilliant and I've just discovered an old Juliet Turner video on YouTube. The song is actually called Broken Things and she performed it at the Memorial service after the Omagh bombing in 1998. This is Juliet at her best - just her and her guitar.

Hear more of her here and here.

Itchy and Scratchy

2006-11-22T17:45:00.000Z

The Grandkid has got headlice! I only discovered this after spending time with her sat on my knee, playing computer games. Now I can't stop scratching. The wife and I have been inspecting each others heads and can't see anything but I'm still feeling itchy. I spent last night getting nudged if I dared stray too close to the wifes pillow then I turned over this morning and wrapped myself around her, only to be told "I hope your head's not too close". The kid was supposed to be staying with us tonight but she won't sleep on her own, she has to sleep with her nan. Her nan isn't having any of it and is now feeling guilty for rejecting her own grandchild! I on the other hand am going to book a hair appointment - I'm going short.

The Grey Train Robbery

2006-11-17T09:13:00.000Z

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this story and the cctv image of the criminals involved. Thankfully they came forward and gave themselves up to police. But why is it that when our town makes the news it's for something that makes the locals look stupid?

The Real Reason

2006-11-16T12:01:00.000Z

Last week at work I felt like I was constantly banging my head against a brick wall. Just when I think I've got the methodology sorted it all goes wrong again. I wasn't sure if it was something I was doing wrong and that it should be working or if it was just one of those things that goes wrong in every lab on a regular basis. Then I got to talk to some people affected by the disease I'm working on and who took a real interest in me and my work. That followed by a couple of days training and I'm now convinced that I can get the experiment to work, get some useful results and hopefully do something to make a difference. It doesn't have to be a big difference, just move things forward a bit.

Sometimes it is very easy to become engrossed in the small tubes of colourless liquids that I play with all day in the lab and forget about the human side of the disease. Meeting those people was just the motivation I need right now.

Edinburgh

2006-11-15T18:25:00.000Z

We had a great time in Edinburgh last weekend, so nice to escape and get some time to ourselves. We wandered around the city, dodging the rain (who said it doesn't always rain in Scotland, twice we've been up this year and both times we got wet), andseeing the sights. The food was good, the wine was good and the hotel was perfectly positioned, right beside the Scott Monument with views of the Castle in one direction and Arthur's Seat in the other.

The Castle at night taken from our hotel room.

The Castle from Princes Street Gardens

The Ross Fountain and Castle in Princes Street Gardens

The Scott Monument (and the corner of Jenners - my Granny's favourite shop)

Travels

2006-11-07T22:56:00.000Z

I compromised and watched the first half of This Life and just managed to get up early this morning. This morning just reiterated why I don't normally bother trying to get to work too early - I left the house 45 mins earlier than the day before and got to work just 15 minutes earlier, with the amount of traffic those extra few minutes just ain't worth the hassle.

But, just one more working day this week before I'm off to a conference. It's only one day so the wife is coming with me and we're having a long weekend in Edinburgh. It's a city I love, my Grandmother lived there all her life and I have many childhood memories of the place. It's also the first time in two years that the wife and I are going to get some time away for just the pair of us. So, although I'm having to present on Friday I'm actually really looking forward to the trip.

Bloody Typical

2006-11-06T19:02:00.000Z

In the space of half an hour today I found out that This Life is on late tonight and that I have to be at work early in the morning. Normally I wouldn't worry but I was told that the early meeting had already been put back by half an hour to allow me to be 'fully functioning'!

So, do I stay up and watch it and suffer the consequences tomorrow (I'm an eight hours a night girl) or do I splash out on the DVD boxed set? It has to be one or the other since the BBC put it into my head that I have to see all episodes again before the reunion episode.

One of those days

2006-11-05T21:22:00.000Z

I thought Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest! After a morning spent cleaning and washing it was off to a grandkids birthday party where I made the mistake of sitting on the floor (I was trying to be polite and let the other big people have the chairs). Of course once one of the little people discovered that it was fun to jump on me and launch a balloon attack they all decided it was fun. Then it was back home to finish off the crap I didn't get chance to do at work last week.

The best bit of today? Hearing that the wifes son told her that I'm part of the family. I was always worried that being virtually the same age as the wifes kids and moving in just as they moved out, that they might have a problem with me. It's good to have this adopted family, I've been made to feel welcome and really do feel like part of the family. And even if they do inflict pain at times, I adore all of the grandkids (and the kids aren't too bad either)!

Who ya gonna call?

2006-10-31T10:57:00.000Z

Working at home this morning trying to finish the presentation I have to give next week. One of the kids is having a halloween party tonight for all the grandkids and their freinds and the wife has been asked to put together some music for it (her being the Queen of the downloads). She's 6 feet away playing things like Time Warp and Ghostbusters and got me dancing in my seat. By the sounds of it the wife is having a more productive morning than I am! I'm off to sort out an invite to the party.

Bad News

2006-10-30T16:17:00.000Z

The first thing I do when I get up is make tea and put the TV news on and the first thing I heard this morning woke me up good and proper. One of the headlines was that scientists Down South have succeeded in doing what I am attempting to do in my work and the way the news was delivered I was convinced that my project was now redundant. When I got to read the original research article however it was far from 'problem solved' as the BBC had led me to believe. While interesting, it really is nothing new and although they claim to be using this "cutting edge" approach, the methods they're using are about 30 years old and they haven't implemented the more recent modifications which would make it a much more powerful technique*. What really bugs me about this though is the way it is being reported in the media. The research is interesting but really not "a breakthrough in the fight against the debilitating disease". It happens all to often that news is overhyped to the point that it becomes inaccurate and misleading (okay, so not just in science reporting). Take the case of the MMR fiasco for example, the story about the MMR vaccine causing autism. But the fact that the research was repeated and found to contain a fundamental error hardly made the news at all because it wasn't nearly so catastrophic. Rant over.

*Yes the vagueness is deliberate since it wouldn't take much fishing to work out my true identity (not that anyone could be bothered I'm sure) and that's something that I, perhaps even the world, is not quite ready for!

Don't be Sad!

2006-10-27T17:50:00.000+01:00

Firstly we had the singing sheep ringtones, now there's the escape line.

"The special telephone line has been launched to help those who retreat into hibernation mode at the official end of British summertime on October 29. Callers can listen to seven inspiring and comical sounds aimed at encouraging them to make the most of the precious available daylight this winter".

This site is great if you've ever wondered what fresh air sounds like!
The sound of Lake Windermere lapping against a jetty is however pretty special since that's where the wife and I spent our first holiday together shortly after we met.

Time Flies

2006-10-24T10:24:00.000+01:00

It can't be Tuesday already! I spent the weekend trying to be domesticated by grocery shopping (twice because I'm not very good at shopping), cooking good food, scrubbing floors and tidying up the garden. Everything has died back out there apart from the roses which have been going all summer and are still surprising us. The lady who lived here before loved her roses. I'm trying to get some flowers flowering over winter but it's all a bit experimental (i.e. I don't really have a clue what I'm doing).

Work is busy at the moment, projects which need me at my desk have landed at the same time as work in the lab is keeping me busy and I've been given the task of introducing the new guy to the equipment. While he has far more experience of the techniques than me he has never used the type of equipment we have so I'm never quite sure if I'm not going into enough detail or going into too much detail. And then there is always the chance that actually I'm talking a load of bollocks and telling him the wrong thing entirely. At least he seems like a nice guy and it will be good to have someone else working on the same sort of project as me for a change. Up until now it's just been me and I feel like I'm expected to know everything but now I'll have someones brains to pick.

My Piece of Earth

2006-10-19T18:25:00.000+01:00

I may be a bit slow but I've recently discovered Google Earth. This sort of thing fascinates me. I can spend ages just looking at maps and this is like a giant map with knobs on. I can see hours of procrastination ahead of me. One of these roofs belongs to my house:

Surprises

2006-10-19T16:33:00.000+01:00

Working from home today because I discovered a large puddle of oil underneath my car this morning. My car never gets sick, I'm gutted. Working at home does have it's advantages however, for example the dog sits on my feet and keeps them warm, the loo is just across the hall rather than down the stairs and at the other end of the building and the wife makes me delicious sandwiches for my lunch. I also get to look out over the garden rather than the city rooftops.

I've been working on a presentation I have to give in a few weeks and in trying to liven up the story of how genes produce proteins thought I'd put in a few pictures. A search for a double helix to represent DNA surprisingly produced something which really would liven up the presentation - a rather graphically demonstrated sex toy. And that's why I'm glad I was working at home today because you never know who's looking over your shoulder at work!

Music to my Ears?

2006-10-18T16:22:00.000+01:00

Again the little person is staying with us tonight and has just come in from school where today she was at music club. She's been learning to play the ocarina and her enthusiasm is lovely but I think it might be a long evening.

All together now (for the fifth time already): twinkle, twinkle little star...

Revenge?

2006-10-17T16:50:00.000+01:00

Last year I had a paper published and the following week got a snotty email from someone who obviously had too much time on their hands and wanted to point out what I should and shouldn't have included and in particular that I should have cited his work. I actually couldn't see why he should have been included but politely thanked him for bringing these issues to my attention.

Today I have been asked to review an article. Its author just so happens to be that very same person who pissed me off and I just happen to be the annonymous reviewer who has to comment on, among other things, its suitability for publication. It's not that I would ever be anything but professional but it's nice to let my inner bitch influence just a couple of my comments!

Transformation

2006-10-16T19:00:00.000+01:00

Four and a half months after moving in we have finished the second room! This is the first one that we have stripped back to the bare walls and started again (the living room we just painted over the paper that was already up). In fact in removing the paper from the chimney breast the plaster came off too so that bit was down to bare brick. But, a bit of patience and several layers of plaster later (and a few quid saved) the wall was as good as new and with the new wallpaper on you'd never know anything had gone wrong, much.

And just incase you want to admire our handywork, here is a before and after shot of the fireplace.

**Pics removed**

We kept the wood surround but stripped off the layers of varnish and replaced the old, cracked 1930's tiles with marble. We couldn't have a gas fire because the chimney flue is knackered so had to replace the old gas fire with electric, it's sooo cosy, even if the heat isn't on. However, the carpet has been the biggest transformation.
The after shot doesn't actually show off the colours, the room was painted white but is now is a lovely warm colour with a pattern on the fireplace wall. Those are our lovely comfy new armless armchairs and the old welsh dresser is there full of things that need to be re-housed. Although the room isn't huge it also houses the dining table and the wife's desk as well as the old TV, making it the room in which we spend most of our time. Those chairs also push together to make a really cozy sofa!

Friday the 13th

2006-10-13T15:26:00.000+01:00

I should have known when I made the appointment that going to the doctors on Friday the 13th was a bad idea. At least she didn't take my blood pressure, I think after the readings two weeks ago she's realised that she will never get a sensible result from me in her office - instead we will review it in three months. All of the blood tests I had done last week came back normal (including the Guilbert's screen so she still can't decide if I do or don't have it) but my cholesterol is at the higher end of normal. She also made me get on the scales, complete with boots, jeans, chunky jumper and pockets full of junk like keys, purse, phone then told me that if I'm 5'6 I'm overweight, if I'm 5'8 im normal weight (she didn't want to measure my height). I'm certainly not 5'8 and even 5'6 might be debatable. So she sent me packing with instructions to drink less, eat a low fat diet, exercise more and to come back just after christmas to see how I'm getting on. I think the woman likes to see me suffer!

There is Hope!

2006-10-10T18:05:00.000+01:00

In my work today I came across two bits of research that prove (well as much proof as I need) that at least two of my habits aren't really bad ones. Firstly, five cups of coffee can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. I never could see the point of decaf anyway. Secondly, cabernet sauvignon can also reduce the risk. I'm hoping that Shiraz has the same effect.

I just mentioned these studies to the wife and pointed out that the article about cab sauv says "one drink per day...". Her response: "yes but they don't say if that's one glass or one bottle". At least there's a chance that her liver can be fixed!

New Shoes

2006-10-10T11:06:00.000+01:00

Approximately 50% of the meetings that have been scheduled between me and my boss never happen, usually because I turn up but he doesn't. Apparently today he's at the other end of the country. Usually I don't mind too much because it's a nice walk across campus but today it's pouring with rain and I have discovered that my shoes leak. So I'm going to go shoe shopping. Now. This is not a pleasure, I hate shoe shopping, but my socks are wet and I need new shoes.

You Make Me...

2006-10-08T19:12:00.000+01:00

For the first time in weeks we had nothing that had to be done in the house this weekend. Yes, there is still some painting to do, the walls in the bedroom and kitchen are still bare plaster but these can all wait a little bit longer. This weekend was for us, not for the house!

Yesterday we went to a local market to see if there were any bargains and then just as we were about to find a pub for lunch decided on a picnic, even if it was blowing a gale and threatening rain. So after a quick run around Tescos we took our crusty bread, pate, quiche, paper plates, plastic cups and miniture bottle of wine and settled ourselves beside the lake in a local country park. It felt like the sort of thing we used to do, before the life took over. (I know that this weekend is what life should be, the rest is just the shit that gets in the way).

Today we ended up toy shopping - no, not that sort of toy shopping! It seems that there is some important event around January/February time since most of the grandkids birthdays occur within the next few weeks. Needless to say, it was great fun and regardless of our respective ages, our inner-children came out to play. In fact, I haven't stopped grinning all weekend. The following song was on the radio in the car today and couldn't be more appropriate;

You make me feel so young
You make me feel like spring has sprung
Every time I see you grin
Im such a happy individual

The moment that you speak
I want to go and play hide-and-seek
I want to go and bounce the moon
Just like a toy balloon

You and I, are just like a couple of tots
Running across the meadow
Picking up lots of forget-me-nots

You make me feel so young
You make me feel there are songs to be sung
Bells to be rung, and a wonderful fling to be flung

And even when Im old and gray
Im gonna feel the way I do today
cause you make me feel so young

You Make Me Feel So Young - Frank Sinatra

Who'd Have 'Em

2006-10-07T17:06:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I wrote about jealous kids but the dog is even worse. Half the time if I try and give the wife a cuddle he jumps up in between us and always thinks that if theres any kissing going on he should be included. He is absolutely banned from the bedroom at bedtime but if he thinks there is anything going on in there he starts howling. It can be most off putting at the time and I often wonder if the neighbours have worked out whats going on!

Fun and Games

2006-10-06T17:21:00.000+01:00

Last night I was once again kicked out of our bed to make way for another girl. The 6 yr old GrandKid stayed with us for the night meaning I was relegated to the spare bed. I don't mind, she's fab and I love her to bits and what better way to spend an evening than baking chocolate cake - although I don't know what got covered in the most chocolate, the kitchen or us (it certainly wasn't the cake). One thing we have noticed however is that she is jealous of the closeness between me and the wife (her nan). The wife has a habit of calling everyone 'darling', including family members, shop assistants and anyone else who hasn't upset her and the GK is the biggest darling of all! Often when the wife calls me darling the GK gets stroppy and asks "why do you call her darling and not me?" Of course she's always calling her darling. The GK has no idea of the true relationship between me and her nan but has always sensed, and been jealous of, the closeness (the first time I met her she was 18 months and she climbed up on the sofa between me and the wife, cuddled in to her nan and gave me a filthy look). At the same time she loves the fun we have and the attention she gets, which I don't think she gets at home and the place is a mad house when she's around (okay, so not just when she's around). If I have to sleep in the spare room for anyone I'm glad it's her, and not just because it gives me an excuse to do what six year olds do and give up being a grown up, just for a few minutes.

Umph

2006-10-04T15:46:00.000+01:00

I'm suffering from a complete lack of energy today. It took me nearly an hour to drag myself out of bed this morning and that was after nine hours shut-eye. I then spent the morning 'working from home' before mustering the energy to get to work (only to get here and want to disappear under my labcoat and sniffle and sob quietly for no apparent reason). I just want to be at home curled up on the sofa in sloppy clothes, with a big plate of comfort food - the wifes yummy cottage pie would do nicely - and watch a nice easy going film (something like When Harry met Sally or Dirty Dancing would suffice) whilst getting sympathetic looks from the dog.

There is no reason for this behaviour and I'm simply going to pull myself together, stop being feeble and get on with some work, then go home and pamper the wife who has had a hellish couple of days and is the one who deserves the sympathy.

Bloody Carpets

2006-10-02T20:41:00.000+01:00

The carpets were fitted on Saturday. Twenty minutes after the fitter left the wifes' son came stumbling through the door with a gash in his head, dripping blood and looking like he was about to collapse in a heap on the floor. He made a beeline for the living room with the new beige carpet and I wasn't really being unsympathetic when I diverted him into the kitchen, (with the wipe clean tiled floor)! I really wasn't unsympathetic because I did spend half the evening in A&E with them.

Deep Breaths

2006-10-02T10:54:00.000+01:00

This morning I had to go to the doctors for a review of my medication (I'm taking meds to control my blood pressure). One of the drugs I'm on shouldn't be taken in pregnancy so every time I see the doc she reminds me of this and asks me what form of contraception I use. When I reply that it's not an issue she assumes I'm 'not sexually active' and that if that changes I should go and see the nurse about contraception. Why I don't just come out to her I don't know, but at least she didn't start asking about smear tests. Is it any wonder that every time I enter the surgery my BP goes rocketing up. Systolic started off topping 200 (ideally it should be below 120). After five attempts it was coming down but still far too high considering the meds I'm on. Trying to stay calm at the docs has become such an issue for me that the complete opposite happens and now I'm betting that they won't let me go antoher year before I have to go back and be tortured some more.

Pain and Pleasure

2006-09-27T23:02:00.000+01:00

I have to speak at a conference soon so I spent the day working at home on my presentation. Inevitably I ended up going out for lunch with the wife and fighting with powerpoint before giving up and taking my frustrations out on the carpets. All rooms except for the two upstairs bedrooms are getting new carpets in a few days so the rearranging of boxes (still unpacked), furniture and piles of junk has started in preparation. We also have an electrician in tomorrow and he needs to pull up floorboards, hence the pulling up of carpets today. Like everything else in this house, that particular carpet is so old that it isn't one whole piece but is several strips sewn together and surely didn't need quite so many nails. We're also in a mad panic trying to get all of the messy jobs finished before the new carpets go down - the last thing I want is to splash paint or plaster or ANYTHING on the new floors, my life would not be worth living. Last night I was busy trying to repair some plasterwork so the wife took it upon herself to do dinner - home grown salad followed by homemade apple pie. I refer you to my last post!

Surely not

2006-09-26T10:59:00.000+01:00

Who would really want to live to be 100 by giving up food and sex? They are two of lifes greatest pleasures! I'll take quality of life over quantity thank you very much.

Temper!

2006-09-25T17:37:00.000+01:00

Most nights on my way home I get stuck in traffic on a dual carriageway through the city. The other night the guy behind me was determined not to let anyone get infront of him by staying as close as possible to my rear bumper. I noticed that the bigger the gap I left in front of me the closer to tried to get and I tested my theory by not moving forward too quickly. The funniest thing happened when I let a couple of cars in infront of me, I actually heard this guy swearing at me. Now I'm not the kind of person that can let an opportunity like this pass me by so I quietly chuckled to myself as I let anyone who wanted to cut in front of me as I slowly crept forward in the queue. It was more entertaining than the radio!

Oops!

2006-09-23T18:39:00.000+01:00

I posted a couple of weeks ago about having won £10 on the lottery twice in one week. The wife has used the same numbers for years and three of them came out again this week. We went to claim the tenner today but the shop assistant said it hadn't won and it was only as she handed the ticket back to the wife that I noticed a 2 where a 3 should be. Who bought the ticket last week? Who was very, very thankful that only three numbers came out and not all six? Who is fortunate enough to have a forgiving wife? It wouldn't be quite so bad if it was the first time I'd made this mistake but only the other week I had to go back and buy a second ticket because I'd got it wrong then as well. I must start paying more attention.

I can't do it

2006-09-22T14:34:00.000+01:00

It's not a case of won't, I can't! It involves knowing three different bits of software and the instruction manual for the first is 506 pages long (this work isn't going to be done by the end of the day). If someone would just show me what to do I'm sure I could manage after that, but I can't work all this shit out on my own.

UPDATE at 5.10pm: I came up with a solution which was to say bollocks to the lot of it and bugger off home. So now, rather than still sitting in traffic frustrated at having achieved nothing all day I'm already home and drinking tea with the wife. All is right with my world again.

UPDATE at 11.30pm: My wonderful wife knows how to make me feel better - a bottle of wine and a listening ear AND while I was having a crap day she got half the dining room wallpapered. I suppose I'd better make sure I'm fit to do my share of the decorating tomorrow and get myself a good nights sleep.