After I was late into work, breakfast consisted of chocolate and Coke from the vending machine, lunch was chips and chicken curry from the chippy and supper was shredded chicken in honey and garlic sauce from the Chinese. Not counting about 2.5 litres of Coke.
Critical mass has been reached after someone pointed out my stomach. Enough.
Work not helping. Dreaming about it, stress and poor diet has made my face erupt.
Argh.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Noinch
Spent the last two days in work building a new AIX server to run Oracle. Rather a challenge as it was on blade hardware which I'd never had to deal with before and added a whole lot more to consider. Got there on the end though and it wqs very educational. There's a couple of P510 machines on Ebay, tempting as it would be nice to have a machine that could run AIX well so I could practice at home. My old one is OK but limiting and can't run the new version.
Have walked the dog and did a bit of running yesterday and today. Spoilt it yesterday as I got an Indian on a whim (ooer) but it was very nice. Got caught in the rain yesterday but it was warm enough that I didn't really mind.
Not much else to report. Had a little go on DA:O but didn't achieve much. Last time I played it, I had just finished a prettu epic quest, so not sure what to do now.
Have walked the dog and did a bit of running yesterday and today. Spoilt it yesterday as I got an Indian on a whim (ooer) but it was very nice. Got caught in the rain yesterday but it was warm enough that I didn't really mind.
Not much else to report. Had a little go on DA:O but didn't achieve much. Last time I played it, I had just finished a prettu epic quest, so not sure what to do now.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Fun but lazy
Yesterday morning was spent watching a couple of episodes of the Walking Dead before heading to Rob and Caroline's for the swingball tournament and BBQ. Sadly there wasn't actually a swingball set available so we ate some food, chatted a lot, admired a cute mini horse and then everyone played Trivial Pursuit, which was actually really good fun.
Today haven't done much really, watched some more Walking Dead, only one episode of the first season to go now. So far really enjoyed it. I was hoping to get a bit more Dragon Age done today but didn't get around to it.
Work tomorrow, argh.
Today haven't done much really, watched some more Walking Dead, only one episode of the first season to go now. So far really enjoyed it. I was hoping to get a bit more Dragon Age done today but didn't get around to it.
Work tomorrow, argh.
Friday, 24 June 2011
Fucking Friday
After the week of shite in work which I know is not going to improve next week, I came home, ate some chilli and watched Transformers, something I could go 'Oooh, shiny' at but otherwise ignore.
Reading an odd book on the Kindle that Steve gave me about vampires.
This might possibly rank as one of the best things I have ever heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqlMtNV-b5A&
Reading an odd book on the Kindle that Steve gave me about vampires.
This might possibly rank as one of the best things I have ever heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqlMtNV-b5A&
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Stressed
Work not fun. Loads of shit come in and I have to cope with that and nursemaid the backup system through its tantrums. Not had a good day. My face has erupted in loads of pimples, usually a sure sign of stress in my case.
This evening no badminton as we all felt poo. However, we put Em's plan of potato wedges and Nutella into full effect. Oh yeah, that works. It works so well.
I came home and watched the first episode of The Walking Dead - pretty good. Should be interesting to see how that carries on. I've heard good things about it.
Repainted the bits of the car I had tried to strip so at least it's now all black again. Not looking good, but who cares. Developments on that front, will update on that later.
Tired.
This evening no badminton as we all felt poo. However, we put Em's plan of potato wedges and Nutella into full effect. Oh yeah, that works. It works so well.
I came home and watched the first episode of The Walking Dead - pretty good. Should be interesting to see how that carries on. I've heard good things about it.
Repainted the bits of the car I had tried to strip so at least it's now all black again. Not looking good, but who cares. Developments on that front, will update on that later.
Tired.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Focused
The car passed the MOT with nothing required but an indicator lense. I was so surprised when the garage phoned and told me that I actually said 'Are you sure?'
The paint however is a total, utter catastrophe and must come off. Sadly it's so thick it hasn't dried fully so attempts to sand it off failed. I've come up with two options.
1) Get a hardcore paint stripper, clean it off and try to make it acceptable.
2) Get a new car.
I'm actually leaning towards option 2 because with 12 months MOT, even in the state it's in, I could probably get something for the Focus and put that towards something else that doesn't have the stupid shaking above 40mph that seems to be a complete mystery. Ideally I'd like another Focus but a diesel estate, which having looked around a little, might actually be doable. There's a 51 reg one in mid-Wales for just £499, although it does have 336,000 miles on it, hah. Oh well. The benefit of getting another Focus, particularly an LX, means I'd be able to transfer things like the stereo and brand new tyres from the existing one.
Not much else to report. Feeling better this week after not feeling 100% all last week.
The paint however is a total, utter catastrophe and must come off. Sadly it's so thick it hasn't dried fully so attempts to sand it off failed. I've come up with two options.
1) Get a hardcore paint stripper, clean it off and try to make it acceptable.
2) Get a new car.
I'm actually leaning towards option 2 because with 12 months MOT, even in the state it's in, I could probably get something for the Focus and put that towards something else that doesn't have the stupid shaking above 40mph that seems to be a complete mystery. Ideally I'd like another Focus but a diesel estate, which having looked around a little, might actually be doable. There's a 51 reg one in mid-Wales for just £499, although it does have 336,000 miles on it, hah. Oh well. The benefit of getting another Focus, particularly an LX, means I'd be able to transfer things like the stereo and brand new tyres from the existing one.
Not much else to report. Feeling better this week after not feeling 100% all last week.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Good day
I woke up this morning with a massive craving for chilli with nachos for some reason. I couldn't stop thinking about it so after a bit of a lie in, I went into town and got the stuff. I made a big batch of it using an adapted recipe I found on the BBC website. I left out the kidney beans because I think they're unnecessary and added a big slab of dark chocolate. I had it on top of some Doritos and covered in cheese and sour cream.
In the evening with to see Senna with Andy and Maz. We were hoping to go to Nando's as neither Andy or I have ever been but there was queue out of the door. So we went to the Fuxion all you can eat place. The food is good there, but it got a bit busy and noisy and it's always seemed a little industrial to me, a bit like a the kitchens in the Cities of the Asmov books that feed thousands of people at a time.
The film was good. Formula 1 isn't something I'm hugely interested in but it was a really well done insight into Senna's life and career. It was weird seeing all the races and rivalries and all that stuff when you know the film is heading towards the inevitable conclusion.
Car MOT tomorrow. The paint still looks shite but I think I can live with it, and Maz suggested that the worst of the runs could be polished down a bit.
In the evening with to see Senna with Andy and Maz. We were hoping to go to Nando's as neither Andy or I have ever been but there was queue out of the door. So we went to the Fuxion all you can eat place. The food is good there, but it got a bit busy and noisy and it's always seemed a little industrial to me, a bit like a the kitchens in the Cities of the Asmov books that feed thousands of people at a time.
The film was good. Formula 1 isn't something I'm hugely interested in but it was a really well done insight into Senna's life and career. It was weird seeing all the races and rivalries and all that stuff when you know the film is heading towards the inevitable conclusion.
Car MOT tomorrow. The paint still looks shite but I think I can live with it, and Maz suggested that the worst of the runs could be polished down a bit.
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Bollocks
I painted the car. It looks OK.
If you're standing half a mile away, looking in the other direction.
I think I'm going to have to put a Rat Look sticker on it and pretend the streaks, runs, bubbles and stuck insects were on purpose.
Or scrap it.
Oh well.
If you're standing half a mile away, looking in the other direction.
I think I'm going to have to put a Rat Look sticker on it and pretend the streaks, runs, bubbles and stuck insects were on purpose.
Or scrap it.
Oh well.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Busy week
Wednesday last week was getting the driveshaft put on the car. Still no change. Going to leave it now until it has had the MOT done which is due soon.
Thursday was usual badminton fun. Fairly interesting evening due to loads of people for a change.
Over the weekend I was at my cousin Pauline's place. I drove up on Friday then on Saturday we spent the day in Blackpool which was interesting as I'd never been there before. Sunday we had pizza for lunch and lazed about until I came home in torrential rain and heavy traffic, not good.
Last night it was supposed to be the biweekly D&D but Rob forgot the character sheets so we played Munchkin and Zombies!!! instead. The first game of Munchkin was great but the second less so, but Zombies was great fun. So it was a good evening anyway, and as usual vast quantities of snacks.
Tonight it was setting up a laptop for someone and then having a lazy evening at long last. Watched a bit of Futurama movies and made some odd bass noises before playing a little Dragon age and sleep.
Thursday was usual badminton fun. Fairly interesting evening due to loads of people for a change.
Over the weekend I was at my cousin Pauline's place. I drove up on Friday then on Saturday we spent the day in Blackpool which was interesting as I'd never been there before. Sunday we had pizza for lunch and lazed about until I came home in torrential rain and heavy traffic, not good.
Last night it was supposed to be the biweekly D&D but Rob forgot the character sheets so we played Munchkin and Zombies!!! instead. The first game of Munchkin was great but the second less so, but Zombies was great fun. So it was a good evening anyway, and as usual vast quantities of snacks.
Tonight it was setting up a laptop for someone and then having a lazy evening at long last. Watched a bit of Futurama movies and made some odd bass noises before playing a little Dragon age and sleep.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Fat, oh so fat
Not a good day for food. Lunch wasn't too great, a bacon and cheese turnover thing, and then some chocolate. Then went to my Dad's this evening as it's his birthday to drop off presents. He and his wife had already had a big lunch so I went out and got a chinese to eat at theirs, plus there was more chocolate.
Interesting article:
http://www.cringely.com/2011/06/iclouds-real-purpose-is-to-kill-windows/
I feel quite alarmed by all this shit going on. The idea that computers become locked down terminals accessing a cloud service instead of a general purpose tool has been a worrying one for some time, and since everyone follows Apples lead for some reason, this could be the thing that finally makes it happen. Not sure I agree with the idea that consumers have been leading IT for the last decade - maybe at home, but not in the business market.
I can't see it happening quickly in the business market - there's always so much legacy stuff to support and businesses like to know (or should do) exactly where their data is, but for home users, maybe. It's a scary thought to think that the traditional general purpose computer might become a niche market, like it was when they first came out.
Fucking Apple. Back when Steve Jobs came back and saved the company with the iMac, I was happy that the Mac survived. Now that he's turned Apple into something more evil than Microsoft could ever hope to be. I wish he'd never bothered and left it to die. I mean the Mac was always non-standard and locked down to a degree but now it's much worse with the iOS platform.
That bloody cloud. You'd think that people would think twice about sending their data into the great unknown with all the Sony shit that went on recently.
But at the same time I can see the other side of it. A lot of people don't know or want to know about operating systems, data security, or any of that. They'd quite happily put their data on Apple's servers if it meant they didn't have to worry about updates, backups or whatever. So I don't know. Perhaps the cloud and normal computers can co-exist.
Interesting article:
http://www.cringely.com/2011/06/iclouds-real-purpose-is-to-kill-windows/
I feel quite alarmed by all this shit going on. The idea that computers become locked down terminals accessing a cloud service instead of a general purpose tool has been a worrying one for some time, and since everyone follows Apples lead for some reason, this could be the thing that finally makes it happen. Not sure I agree with the idea that consumers have been leading IT for the last decade - maybe at home, but not in the business market.
I can't see it happening quickly in the business market - there's always so much legacy stuff to support and businesses like to know (or should do) exactly where their data is, but for home users, maybe. It's a scary thought to think that the traditional general purpose computer might become a niche market, like it was when they first came out.
Fucking Apple. Back when Steve Jobs came back and saved the company with the iMac, I was happy that the Mac survived. Now that he's turned Apple into something more evil than Microsoft could ever hope to be. I wish he'd never bothered and left it to die. I mean the Mac was always non-standard and locked down to a degree but now it's much worse with the iOS platform.
That bloody cloud. You'd think that people would think twice about sending their data into the great unknown with all the Sony shit that went on recently.
But at the same time I can see the other side of it. A lot of people don't know or want to know about operating systems, data security, or any of that. They'd quite happily put their data on Apple's servers if it meant they didn't have to worry about updates, backups or whatever. So I don't know. Perhaps the cloud and normal computers can co-exist.
Monday, 6 June 2011
Hectic day
Hectic day in work, rushed around all day doing stuff.
Tried to get a Nokia C3-01 to connect to a PC again. Fail. It's a piece of shit. Connects fine to my Windows 7 laptop but not to anything running XP, which is a bit of a sod when the user wants to download site photos from the thing. I haven't felt good about Nokia since the masterpiece that was the E90, and now...I don't know what it is but I can't stand them any more. Just using the dismal C3-01 makes me feel sick. I think it's because the diabolical N97 ruined Nokia for ever for me and then when it sold out to Microsoft...well.
After trying to get used to the Unity interface, I've sadly decided that Ubuntu has jumped the shark. Unity is slow, confusing, inconsistent and unfriendly. So I'm trying out Mint, which is one of the many forks of Ubuntu but is sticking to a more traditional Gnome interface. I'm currently installing it on the Acer 7741g which I was supposed to be selling but haven't got around to yet.
Feeling catastrophically tired this evening, not sure why. I did some more sanding of the car which left me aching like I'd done an upper body workout, which in a way I suppose it is.
Busy week. Tomorrow it's my Dad's birthday so I'm heading over there after work. Wednesday the car is finally having the driveshaft fitted, Thursday is badminton and then Friday I'm driving up to Kirkham to spend the weekend with my cousin.
Just had a good blast on Dragon Age. I keep sitting down to play it for a few minutes but then get drawn in and suddenly it's two hours later.
Tried to get a Nokia C3-01 to connect to a PC again. Fail. It's a piece of shit. Connects fine to my Windows 7 laptop but not to anything running XP, which is a bit of a sod when the user wants to download site photos from the thing. I haven't felt good about Nokia since the masterpiece that was the E90, and now...I don't know what it is but I can't stand them any more. Just using the dismal C3-01 makes me feel sick. I think it's because the diabolical N97 ruined Nokia for ever for me and then when it sold out to Microsoft...well.
After trying to get used to the Unity interface, I've sadly decided that Ubuntu has jumped the shark. Unity is slow, confusing, inconsistent and unfriendly. So I'm trying out Mint, which is one of the many forks of Ubuntu but is sticking to a more traditional Gnome interface. I'm currently installing it on the Acer 7741g which I was supposed to be selling but haven't got around to yet.
Feeling catastrophically tired this evening, not sure why. I did some more sanding of the car which left me aching like I'd done an upper body workout, which in a way I suppose it is.
Busy week. Tomorrow it's my Dad's birthday so I'm heading over there after work. Wednesday the car is finally having the driveshaft fitted, Thursday is badminton and then Friday I'm driving up to Kirkham to spend the weekend with my cousin.
Just had a good blast on Dragon Age. I keep sitting down to play it for a few minutes but then get drawn in and suddenly it's two hours later.
Sunday, 5 June 2011
A random day
First thing went out to the car boot which was a bit meh, didn't see anything interesting although it was quite large for the overcast weather. Then went to a large geocache I know to drop off the remaining travelbugs.
Came home and went mad with sandpaper on the car. The paint is now largely flatted except for a couple of bits but I ran out of sandpaper. I left the roof alone though as it's the only bit of the car which wasn't scratched, dented or the wrong colour. I did nearly all of it by hand except the left doors and the tailgate but then I borrowed a neighbour's sander and that was much easier. Tired and achy now as it took bloody ages. Got a big tin of Hammerite ready, just need a half decent day to get the paint on. Could be a while though. Oh well. I find it fascinating that as soon as the car gets wet it looks perfectly normal again. This could all go horribly wrong of course.
Haven't done much else today except watch Blade Runner all the way through for the first time ever. Pretty good I thought, ending wasn't what I expected it to be. Good though.
Came home and went mad with sandpaper on the car. The paint is now largely flatted except for a couple of bits but I ran out of sandpaper. I left the roof alone though as it's the only bit of the car which wasn't scratched, dented or the wrong colour. I did nearly all of it by hand except the left doors and the tailgate but then I borrowed a neighbour's sander and that was much easier. Tired and achy now as it took bloody ages. Got a big tin of Hammerite ready, just need a half decent day to get the paint on. Could be a while though. Oh well. I find it fascinating that as soon as the car gets wet it looks perfectly normal again. This could all go horribly wrong of course.
Haven't done much else today except watch Blade Runner all the way through for the first time ever. Pretty good I thought, ending wasn't what I expected it to be. Good though.
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Fun days
Thursday was a fairly meh day in work and then I had to take my Mum to her writing thing over the weekend.
Friday was OK in work, did some more work on the backup system and discovered one of the onsite tapes was corrupted so will need to be restored from the offsite copy. Bah. Had an unfortunate encounter with a Golf on a single track road, had to go into the hedge to avoid a collision with broke the glass in the left mirror and scratched up that side of the car. Also noticed that the dented arch was rusting where the paint had flaked off so wire-wooled it and slapped some Hammerite on there, but the only Hammerite I had was white. After that met up with the gang for a couple of drinks, which was nice.
Today walked the dog in the morning but it was VERY hot. Then went to Rob and Em's for some BBQ food and snacks and rugby but had to leave after a couple of hours as the dog was at home alone. After that, went out and did a couple of geocaches as I had some travelbugs to move on but the ones I found were too small. Will have to do that tomorrow instead. Hope the weather keeps nice.
After the fuss about the so-called sex scene in Mass Effect, Bioware seems to have gone quite insane in Dragon Age. I found a brothel in it that allows your character to select someone of either gender and several species to have sex with. No nudity (but only barely) but well, it's quite suggestive. Still enjoying it as a game, think it's going to be a long haul through it though.
Friday was OK in work, did some more work on the backup system and discovered one of the onsite tapes was corrupted so will need to be restored from the offsite copy. Bah. Had an unfortunate encounter with a Golf on a single track road, had to go into the hedge to avoid a collision with broke the glass in the left mirror and scratched up that side of the car. Also noticed that the dented arch was rusting where the paint had flaked off so wire-wooled it and slapped some Hammerite on there, but the only Hammerite I had was white. After that met up with the gang for a couple of drinks, which was nice.
Today walked the dog in the morning but it was VERY hot. Then went to Rob and Em's for some BBQ food and snacks and rugby but had to leave after a couple of hours as the dog was at home alone. After that, went out and did a couple of geocaches as I had some travelbugs to move on but the ones I found were too small. Will have to do that tomorrow instead. Hope the weather keeps nice.
After the fuss about the so-called sex scene in Mass Effect, Bioware seems to have gone quite insane in Dragon Age. I found a brothel in it that allows your character to select someone of either gender and several species to have sex with. No nudity (but only barely) but well, it's quite suggestive. Still enjoying it as a game, think it's going to be a long haul through it though.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Meh
OK day in work but once again the server 'lost' some files that I had to restore, this time nearly a gigs worth. I wish people would just admit it when they fuck up and delete stuff by accident.
Did more unicycle. I can get about 10 feet now (three rotations) reasonably consistently, so getting a little better. While looking them up found it is possible to buy a unicycle with a 36" wheel and a disk brake for £615, or with a titanium frame for £999. Impressive.
Played some more Dragon Age. Completed the bit I was stuck on which was great, but then some stuff didn't quite work out but never mind. Picked up a rather interesting new party member.
Not much else to report. For the first time I think I've got a non paying bidder on Ebay, annoying. Especially as I could use the cash...
I've had a message from a geocacher about a travelbug I've had too long, guess I'll have to do some caching this weekend to move it on...ooops.
Nearly finished Lost in a Good Book. I really like the Thursday Next books. I think I read the first three or four of them when they first came out, and I really enjoyed them at the time so I don't know how I came to ignore them ever since. Strange.
Did more unicycle. I can get about 10 feet now (three rotations) reasonably consistently, so getting a little better. While looking them up found it is possible to buy a unicycle with a 36" wheel and a disk brake for £615, or with a titanium frame for £999. Impressive.
Played some more Dragon Age. Completed the bit I was stuck on which was great, but then some stuff didn't quite work out but never mind. Picked up a rather interesting new party member.
Not much else to report. For the first time I think I've got a non paying bidder on Ebay, annoying. Especially as I could use the cash...
I've had a message from a geocacher about a travelbug I've had too long, guess I'll have to do some caching this weekend to move it on...ooops.
Nearly finished Lost in a Good Book. I really like the Thursday Next books. I think I read the first three or four of them when they first came out, and I really enjoyed them at the time so I don't know how I came to ignore them ever since. Strange.
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