Yesterday was good. Rob, Em, Steve and I met up at the Alwen to go around it. Steve would be running with the rest of us on bikes. It's been a while since I have done any major exercise like that so it was quite hard in places, and there was no way I could cycle up the ghastly hill at the far end. Steve finshed before us though. It was good fun though, really enjoyed it. The rest of the day was spent mostly inside hiding from the sun as I got a little burnt.
Today was a meh day in work. My experiment in tape movements over the weekend did work, but didn't sort out as many tapes as I'd hoped, but it was a good start. Also at last went over some retention policies so hopefully some of that can be sorted out too. I also managed to go the whole day in work without going to the horrible vending machine, which is a good start.
Had a nice geeky evening fooling around with computers again. I should have done some exercise, but I didn't get around to it. I'm still thinking of better ways to incorporate exercise into my routine.
Monday 28 May 2012
Saturday 26 May 2012
Bike bits
I pumped the tyres on the Hardrock up last night and had a bit of a ride, only to find that the front had gone utterly flat this morning. I was taking it over to my Dad's anyway, so we had a look and found the cheesy stock inner tube had ruptured on the inside, by the rim. After a visit to the bike shop, it's now had new inner tubes, bottle holders and bottles, a pump, and a little bag under the saddle to hold a spare inner tube, puncture repair kit and spanner.
The stereo finally came out of the dashboard in the Astra, but only after a LOT of swearing and levering with screwdrivers. I now regret my anger because the surrounding dash is rather marked and the clock/temperature indicator now only lights up occasionally. Oh well, will have another look when I've had time to calm down. It kept losing its settings after the ignition was turned off but then I remember that with Vauxhalls you have to swap the red and yellow wires.
The more I hear about Windows 8, the more it looks like Microsoft is getting ready to dump 30 years of experience and development to try and follow the Apple locked down approach with the new Metro interface. I've tried the consumer preview of 8 and while certain things are really good (new task manager), the schizoid interface that flips between a normal desktop and the Metro interface is really hard to use on a desktop or laptop. I think it'll be OK on a tablet, but tablets suck for anything other than casual use. Also I find it annoying that perfectly ordinary Windows software is now called 'Classic' as though it's already obsolete. I guess I'll have to stick with Windows 7 then. Apple has become beyond evil in my opinion, selling sealed and locked down disposable hardware that is impossible to repair. I used to like Linux, but it's horrible on the desktop. Great for servers though.
It's still been a warm day but now there's a breeze which helps. Off to Rob and Em's in a bit to watch the Eurovision and mock it royally, and consume snacks of course.
This brings back happy memories of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 on the PS2. I spent so much time on that game. I remember playing the first one on the PSone, and being amazed that I liked it. I wonder what the HD remake of the first game will be like. Apparently it will have updated graphics but the original code for the controls and movement - it could work.
The stereo finally came out of the dashboard in the Astra, but only after a LOT of swearing and levering with screwdrivers. I now regret my anger because the surrounding dash is rather marked and the clock/temperature indicator now only lights up occasionally. Oh well, will have another look when I've had time to calm down. It kept losing its settings after the ignition was turned off but then I remember that with Vauxhalls you have to swap the red and yellow wires.
The more I hear about Windows 8, the more it looks like Microsoft is getting ready to dump 30 years of experience and development to try and follow the Apple locked down approach with the new Metro interface. I've tried the consumer preview of 8 and while certain things are really good (new task manager), the schizoid interface that flips between a normal desktop and the Metro interface is really hard to use on a desktop or laptop. I think it'll be OK on a tablet, but tablets suck for anything other than casual use. Also I find it annoying that perfectly ordinary Windows software is now called 'Classic' as though it's already obsolete. I guess I'll have to stick with Windows 7 then. Apple has become beyond evil in my opinion, selling sealed and locked down disposable hardware that is impossible to repair. I used to like Linux, but it's horrible on the desktop. Great for servers though.
It's still been a warm day but now there's a breeze which helps. Off to Rob and Em's in a bit to watch the Eurovision and mock it royally, and consume snacks of course.
This brings back happy memories of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 on the PS2. I spent so much time on that game. I remember playing the first one on the PSone, and being amazed that I liked it. I wonder what the HD remake of the first game will be like. Apparently it will have updated graphics but the original code for the controls and movement - it could work.
Friday 25 May 2012
A long and hot day
It was really warm today. The office was just about tolerable with a few fans going. We had ice cream at lunchtime as someone went out and got some as a treat for everyone, which was good.
While I was coming up the track, a disturbing noise came from the Astra dashboard and the air went colder. I think the aircon might have started working properly - if you turn the aircon on and off while the engine is idling, you can hear the revs change slightly. But when you switch the engine off, there is a disturbing sound like a drawn out last breath. I know aircon can affect fuel consumption but when the engine is a thrifty diesel to start with, I don't think it matters all that much.
Put a hard drive in the Studio 1735 and it's running an install of Ubuntu 10.04, which is before they ruined it utterly with that Unity nonsense. The hard drive caddy is missing so it's wedged in with bubblewrap for now. The machine does run well though, although the heat in the room led to both it and the Alienware M17x cycling their fans up and down in a somewhat annoying fashion. The Vaio UX needs surgery. I somehow managed to get the wifi antenna lead caught under the rear casing when I was putting the SSD in, so when it was screwed down it damaged the lead. I have spare laptop bits which include wifi antennas but not sure how much of a faff it's going to be to repair it. The wifi still works, but the range is now severely limited, so to get it online I had to use one of the other machines to create another wifi network for it to connect to.
In an attempt to improve my handwriting and make it less childlike I bought a fountain pen for the first time in years. It's nice to write with but not sure if it's having an effect yet. Will wait and see.
Watched The Thing tonight, the 2011 version. I'm a big fan of the original so I wasn't really quite sure what to expect. I quite enjoyed it in the end and I thought they did a fairly decent job with the effects. It was fairly blantant CGI but they made the effort to make it feel like the original. Probably a good thing that they managed to contain it in the end. If everyone in the world became a shapeshifting monster, it would mean the end of factory made clothing as everything would have to be bespoke tailoring.
Had an amazing dream just before I woke up this morning. It was basically Go Ape, with the harnesses and stuff, but it was being used to simulate Mario, so the gear let you do his leaps and jumps and crush enemies and (somehow) use your head to smash bricks open. It was really good fun and for a while after I woke up I kept having this nagging feeling I was supposed to be looking for stars.
While I was coming up the track, a disturbing noise came from the Astra dashboard and the air went colder. I think the aircon might have started working properly - if you turn the aircon on and off while the engine is idling, you can hear the revs change slightly. But when you switch the engine off, there is a disturbing sound like a drawn out last breath. I know aircon can affect fuel consumption but when the engine is a thrifty diesel to start with, I don't think it matters all that much.
Put a hard drive in the Studio 1735 and it's running an install of Ubuntu 10.04, which is before they ruined it utterly with that Unity nonsense. The hard drive caddy is missing so it's wedged in with bubblewrap for now. The machine does run well though, although the heat in the room led to both it and the Alienware M17x cycling their fans up and down in a somewhat annoying fashion. The Vaio UX needs surgery. I somehow managed to get the wifi antenna lead caught under the rear casing when I was putting the SSD in, so when it was screwed down it damaged the lead. I have spare laptop bits which include wifi antennas but not sure how much of a faff it's going to be to repair it. The wifi still works, but the range is now severely limited, so to get it online I had to use one of the other machines to create another wifi network for it to connect to.
In an attempt to improve my handwriting and make it less childlike I bought a fountain pen for the first time in years. It's nice to write with but not sure if it's having an effect yet. Will wait and see.
Watched The Thing tonight, the 2011 version. I'm a big fan of the original so I wasn't really quite sure what to expect. I quite enjoyed it in the end and I thought they did a fairly decent job with the effects. It was fairly blantant CGI but they made the effort to make it feel like the original. Probably a good thing that they managed to contain it in the end. If everyone in the world became a shapeshifting monster, it would mean the end of factory made clothing as everything would have to be bespoke tailoring.
Had an amazing dream just before I woke up this morning. It was basically Go Ape, with the harnesses and stuff, but it was being used to simulate Mario, so the gear let you do his leaps and jumps and crush enemies and (somehow) use your head to smash bricks open. It was really good fun and for a while after I woke up I kept having this nagging feeling I was supposed to be looking for stars.
Thursday 24 May 2012
Stoned Kebab Match
Not much to report except we had a very entertaining match at badminton. We had previously indulged in a BBQ at Rob and Em's so were full of burgers and kebabs, but this somehow led to a match which was pure comedy. We forgot the score at least twice had a couple of 'I AM STRONGER THAN YOU' rallies. The funniest bit was when I somehow managed to hit the shuttle straight down in front of me at incredible speed, losing the point. Rob then served to me, sarcastically saying 'Are you ready?', at which point I smashed it back at him causing him to recoil out the way. It was far funnier than I can express in words somehow, but we did name the match 'The Stoned Kebab Match', deciding that there were more than just herbs in the lamb and mint kebabs I had bought for the BBQ.
Had a meeting in Chester with an outside supplier about various Unix related stuff. The migrations I'm working on have suddenly got a lot more complicated due to big changes in how the storage will be handled, although it makes a lot of sense. I've got a lot to learn when it comes to SANs and storage technology, but like the backup system, it's not really something you can easily practice with at home.
It's still hot. The Astra has done nearly 448 miles since I filled it up with diesel and it still has over a quarter of a tank left. I really like the way it drives too. I've decided that if it breaks, I will fix it. Unless it REALLY breaks, in which case I'll get another one. Yes, I like it that much. Having had one of these and a Focus of the same age, I have to say I prefer the Astra.
Had a meeting in Chester with an outside supplier about various Unix related stuff. The migrations I'm working on have suddenly got a lot more complicated due to big changes in how the storage will be handled, although it makes a lot of sense. I've got a lot to learn when it comes to SANs and storage technology, but like the backup system, it's not really something you can easily practice with at home.
It's still hot. The Astra has done nearly 448 miles since I filled it up with diesel and it still has over a quarter of a tank left. I really like the way it drives too. I've decided that if it breaks, I will fix it. Unless it REALLY breaks, in which case I'll get another one. Yes, I like it that much. Having had one of these and a Focus of the same age, I have to say I prefer the Astra.
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Handheld fun
Work was OK today. The weather has again been amazing. After some experimentation I think the aircon in the Astra does work, just not all that well.
Have been experimenting with a Sony Vaio UX. It's one of the UMPCs that were briefly trendy a few years ago and was probably the best one of the lot. They have 1.3ghz Core Solo processors, and mine has 1gb RAM and came with a 60gb 1.8" SSD. I quickly replaced it with the 32gb SSD from the Vaio P that came back, and set it up with Windows 7. It's a surprisingly snappy little machine, with very good performance compared to the dreadful Atom in the Vaio P.
It's taken some time to get the devices set up and working fully, but I've mostly got there. The build quality and design really is top notch. I don't rate Sony laptops at all mostly, but the high-end and quirky stuff they do is usually pretty good. Given that the UX range cost something like £2000 when it was new, you'd expect it to be nicely built. Nothing depreciates like high-end unusual computers though, so you can get them for a tiny fraction of that now.
I still need to have another look at the Studio 1735, get a hard drive installed and tested, and regunk the heatsinks with a decent thermal paste. That can wait until I've sourced a hard drive caddy for it however.
It's good to be actually doing something again, even if it's not all that productive. Now, if only I can get some actual exercise going, that would be even better. Currently thinking about walking the dog before work, but not sure.
Going to give Skyrim back to Steve in work. I enjoyed what I saw of it, but after spending months with Mass Effect and other games on the Xbox, I think it's time I spent some time doing other things, even if it that is just faffing around with computers. I won't dismiss Skyrim completely, but it's not for me right now.
Was having a shave and had a slip, so the goatee is gone again. When this happens I realise I look a lot younger without it because there's now quite a lot of grey in it, but it makes shaving so much easier when it's there. Oh well.
Still haven't logged my caches from Saturday, must get to it.
Have been experimenting with a Sony Vaio UX. It's one of the UMPCs that were briefly trendy a few years ago and was probably the best one of the lot. They have 1.3ghz Core Solo processors, and mine has 1gb RAM and came with a 60gb 1.8" SSD. I quickly replaced it with the 32gb SSD from the Vaio P that came back, and set it up with Windows 7. It's a surprisingly snappy little machine, with very good performance compared to the dreadful Atom in the Vaio P.
It's taken some time to get the devices set up and working fully, but I've mostly got there. The build quality and design really is top notch. I don't rate Sony laptops at all mostly, but the high-end and quirky stuff they do is usually pretty good. Given that the UX range cost something like £2000 when it was new, you'd expect it to be nicely built. Nothing depreciates like high-end unusual computers though, so you can get them for a tiny fraction of that now.
I still need to have another look at the Studio 1735, get a hard drive installed and tested, and regunk the heatsinks with a decent thermal paste. That can wait until I've sourced a hard drive caddy for it however.
It's good to be actually doing something again, even if it's not all that productive. Now, if only I can get some actual exercise going, that would be even better. Currently thinking about walking the dog before work, but not sure.
Going to give Skyrim back to Steve in work. I enjoyed what I saw of it, but after spending months with Mass Effect and other games on the Xbox, I think it's time I spent some time doing other things, even if it that is just faffing around with computers. I won't dismiss Skyrim completely, but it's not for me right now.
Was having a shave and had a slip, so the goatee is gone again. When this happens I realise I look a lot younger without it because there's now quite a lot of grey in it, but it makes shaving so much easier when it's there. Oh well.
Still haven't logged my caches from Saturday, must get to it.
Monday 21 May 2012
Grangy
Work was much the same again, but made worse by I think hayfever. I woke up in the night with a clogged nose and spent much of the day sneezing, snotting and with itchy eyes. Hopefully it'll go away. It has been really hot today so perhaps it's just a sudden pollen rush.
The car had a bit of a temperature wobble last night so I checked the coolant this morning and it was low, so I topped it up again. Need to keep an eye on that. It was warm enough today for me to conclude that the aircon doesn't actually work unfortunately. Oh well. Started up the Prelude and took it down the track and back to make sure it was OK. It feels pretty strange after a week of the Astra though. Not sure what to do about getting rid of it - might just take it to the car auctions and be done with it.
The Studio 1735 arrived. Other than a seriously busted left hinge and a lack of hard drives, it seems to work quite happily. I've booted it up off an Ubuntu live CD and I'm actually tying this on it at the moment. The damage seems to be confined to the lid rather than the chassis so hopefully it should be easy enough to fix it up. It also has a nice design where the entire underside comes off and all the parts are easily accessible.
The car had a bit of a temperature wobble last night so I checked the coolant this morning and it was low, so I topped it up again. Need to keep an eye on that. It was warm enough today for me to conclude that the aircon doesn't actually work unfortunately. Oh well. Started up the Prelude and took it down the track and back to make sure it was OK. It feels pretty strange after a week of the Astra though. Not sure what to do about getting rid of it - might just take it to the car auctions and be done with it.
The Studio 1735 arrived. Other than a seriously busted left hinge and a lack of hard drives, it seems to work quite happily. I've booted it up off an Ubuntu live CD and I'm actually tying this on it at the moment. The damage seems to be confined to the lid rather than the chassis so hopefully it should be easy enough to fix it up. It also has a nice design where the entire underside comes off and all the parts are easily accessible.
Sunday 20 May 2012
Supreme geekiness
Today was a good day. I was supposed to be meeting Steve and Rob P at the Alwen to go round it on my bike with them for their run, but I woke up far too late to even consider it. Also my only bike was my ancient mountan bike and I haven't had time to pump the tyres up or anything.
At lunchtime I picked up a new bike anyway, a Specialized Hardrock from a guy in work. It's a much newer one than the one I got for free a few months ago, much lighter and with disc brakes. Also because he's barely used it, it's in really good nick and everything works.
After that I headed down to hang out with Rob. First we tried out the starship simulator Artemis, using the demo. It said it supported two players, but we didn't realise we needed three machines, one to act as the server and viewscreen. Still, it gave us an idea of what it's like and with suitable equipment and people, it looks like a lot of fun. Then we had a retro fest by firing up Tony Hawk 3 on the Xbox, which neither of us had played for years. It was a really good laugh but took some getting used to again.
Then it was off to the Prosperity to meet up with Em and others who had been having a girly watch of the new Johnny Depp film. We all had banquets so it was a fat evening. Combined with the Italian on Friday, it's been a very fat an expensive weekend!
Work tomorrow.
At lunchtime I picked up a new bike anyway, a Specialized Hardrock from a guy in work. It's a much newer one than the one I got for free a few months ago, much lighter and with disc brakes. Also because he's barely used it, it's in really good nick and everything works.
After that I headed down to hang out with Rob. First we tried out the starship simulator Artemis, using the demo. It said it supported two players, but we didn't realise we needed three machines, one to act as the server and viewscreen. Still, it gave us an idea of what it's like and with suitable equipment and people, it looks like a lot of fun. Then we had a retro fest by firing up Tony Hawk 3 on the Xbox, which neither of us had played for years. It was a really good laugh but took some getting used to again.
Then it was off to the Prosperity to meet up with Em and others who had been having a girly watch of the new Johnny Depp film. We all had banquets so it was a fat evening. Combined with the Italian on Friday, it's been a very fat an expensive weekend!
Work tomorrow.
Saturday 19 May 2012
Assault on the Wirral
So today was the Assault on the Wirral, the epic geocaching trip that Andrea in work had been planning for so long. I picked up Steve who hadn't got any caches yet, and we set off her her Mum in tow. It didn't start out too well, we couldn't find some, and we tried to do a multicache which was a dismal failure. It was through lots of wet grass so we got wet feet almost instantly, and I dropped her beloved GPS while climbing over a stile and didn't realise for ages, but fortunately we found it quite easily.
But once we started heading up the Wirral, the caches came thick and fast, and we ended up with quite a lot. There's some interesting and beautiful places on the Wirral, and we were intrigued by the Wirral Way, an old railway that's been converted to a cycle track. We also had really really good ice cream, and I had chocolate lime flavour, something I've never seem before but was delicious. Towards the end of the day we got to Wallasley and Birkenhead, which was somewhat of a shock, literally five minutes after nice country lanes it suddenly felt unsafe to leave your doors unlocked.
Still, it was a fantastic day. Steve and I got 41 in total, so that was ace, while Andrea and her Mum got 36 as they had done some of them already.
But once we started heading up the Wirral, the caches came thick and fast, and we ended up with quite a lot. There's some interesting and beautiful places on the Wirral, and we were intrigued by the Wirral Way, an old railway that's been converted to a cycle track. We also had really really good ice cream, and I had chocolate lime flavour, something I've never seem before but was delicious. Towards the end of the day we got to Wallasley and Birkenhead, which was somewhat of a shock, literally five minutes after nice country lanes it suddenly felt unsafe to leave your doors unlocked.
Still, it was a fantastic day. Steve and I got 41 in total, so that was ace, while Andrea and her Mum got 36 as they had done some of them already.
Friday 18 May 2012
Stinky cheese
An extraordinarily tedious day in work, even though it wasn't much different. It just seemed to drag on, and on, and on. Oh well.
Birthday meal at local Italian place tonight, really good food as always. I had calamari and a gorgonzola pizza, which was delicious but enormous. Good fun. Rob and Em got me some Bacon Jam, which is interesting, can't wait to see what that is like.
The Astra is going well still. I'm rather impressed at how good it feels to drive after nearly a quarter of a million miles. I haven't found anything that doesn't work yet, and I think even the air con works. Not bad at all. So far I've done 185 miles in it since I filled it up a week ago and it's still got over three quarters of a tank left. It seems to be a more honest fuel gauge than the Prelude, which pretended everything was fine for ages and then suddenly plummeted.
Tomorrow is a giant geocaching trip on the Wirral, then I think I might have somehow been persuaded to ride around the Alwen with Rob P and Steve. Not sure about that one yet however.
Birthday meal at local Italian place tonight, really good food as always. I had calamari and a gorgonzola pizza, which was delicious but enormous. Good fun. Rob and Em got me some Bacon Jam, which is interesting, can't wait to see what that is like.
The Astra is going well still. I'm rather impressed at how good it feels to drive after nearly a quarter of a million miles. I haven't found anything that doesn't work yet, and I think even the air con works. Not bad at all. So far I've done 185 miles in it since I filled it up a week ago and it's still got over three quarters of a tank left. It seems to be a more honest fuel gauge than the Prelude, which pretended everything was fine for ages and then suddenly plummeted.
Tomorrow is a giant geocaching trip on the Wirral, then I think I might have somehow been persuaded to ride around the Alwen with Rob P and Steve. Not sure about that one yet however.
Thursday 17 May 2012
The behemoth gets an excursion
Average day in work. Not much to report except continuing frustration with undocumented Unix systems and being expected to know all the ins and outs of the SAN which I've had no training on, or even have a login for. Also how am I supposed to know if 15k SAS disks will perform as well as 15k fibre disks, or even 15k SCSI disks attached directly to the machine?
Badminton evening was good. Took our laser printer and the M17x down to Rob and Em's to print out labels designed by Wes for Rob's homebrew. It worked out rather well in fact, and the labels look great on the bottles. The labels were for inkjet but we tried a sheet through the laser, at full alert, and they worked OK. It's the first time the M17x has had an excursion since I got it, as it's not the most portable machine in the world.
Badminton itself was OK but we had some curious games where we fluctuated wildly between hitting some amazing shots and rallies and fumbling around like we'd never tried to hit a shuttle before. It was weird. Good fun and tiring though.
It was an odd day with doors today. Twice I went to open a door just as someone else did, and then I opened the door of the computer room rather forcefully into a consultant who was standing just inside it talking on his mobile.
Still feeling a bit down. Every now and again it hits me that nearly everyone I know of my age is basically settled and doing the whole grown-up thing, but somewhere along the line it all went wrong for me and I don't have any clue what to do about it. Difficult not to get a bit resentful sometimes but it's my own fault.
Badminton evening was good. Took our laser printer and the M17x down to Rob and Em's to print out labels designed by Wes for Rob's homebrew. It worked out rather well in fact, and the labels look great on the bottles. The labels were for inkjet but we tried a sheet through the laser, at full alert, and they worked OK. It's the first time the M17x has had an excursion since I got it, as it's not the most portable machine in the world.
Badminton itself was OK but we had some curious games where we fluctuated wildly between hitting some amazing shots and rallies and fumbling around like we'd never tried to hit a shuttle before. It was weird. Good fun and tiring though.
It was an odd day with doors today. Twice I went to open a door just as someone else did, and then I opened the door of the computer room rather forcefully into a consultant who was standing just inside it talking on his mobile.
Still feeling a bit down. Every now and again it hits me that nearly everyone I know of my age is basically settled and doing the whole grown-up thing, but somewhere along the line it all went wrong for me and I don't have any clue what to do about it. Difficult not to get a bit resentful sometimes but it's my own fault.
Wednesday 16 May 2012
Fundle
An average day in work. Still working on tape movement. Not sure if getting anywhere.
Found that the Astra will take a bike with the seats down and the front wheel off, which is good news. The Puch is going to Nigel in work as it's too big for me and he wants a retro project. Still stuck with the CD player at the moment which I wouldn't mind, but it seems reluctant to eject the CD I put it in it the other day, and I'm bored of the CD already.
Fired up the Xbox this evening but everything I put in I couldn't be arsed with. I did however boot up ME3 and delete my most recent playthroughs. Put in Skyrim, but I just went 'meh' and turned it off again, wasn't in the mood. I really hate the new dashboard. I resent that of the five options on each of the screens, three are set aside for advertising, even the large one in the middle. The options that are directly relevant to me are left to one side. Given that Xbox Live isn't free, I think it's quite a cheek to have adverts on there at all. Apparently it's possible to block them using router settings but that's not the point. It makes me miss the original dashboard with the flippy tabs that felt so much faster.
After dismantling a laptop in work to replace the serial port, twice as we bent a pin, I realised it's been too long since I had a proper project laptop. So I've picked up a Dell Studio 1735 with a damaged lid. Should be interesting to get it up and running again.
Minecraft is out on the Xbox. I've been aware of it for some time and saw the full scale Enterprise D that someone made in it. It was quite impressive as it made you realise the true scale of the ship. Otherwise, I don't quite get the appeal of it. I did try the Android version on my phone but it just didn't grab me.
Although this is very funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnjSWPxJxNs
Found that the Astra will take a bike with the seats down and the front wheel off, which is good news. The Puch is going to Nigel in work as it's too big for me and he wants a retro project. Still stuck with the CD player at the moment which I wouldn't mind, but it seems reluctant to eject the CD I put it in it the other day, and I'm bored of the CD already.
Fired up the Xbox this evening but everything I put in I couldn't be arsed with. I did however boot up ME3 and delete my most recent playthroughs. Put in Skyrim, but I just went 'meh' and turned it off again, wasn't in the mood. I really hate the new dashboard. I resent that of the five options on each of the screens, three are set aside for advertising, even the large one in the middle. The options that are directly relevant to me are left to one side. Given that Xbox Live isn't free, I think it's quite a cheek to have adverts on there at all. Apparently it's possible to block them using router settings but that's not the point. It makes me miss the original dashboard with the flippy tabs that felt so much faster.
After dismantling a laptop in work to replace the serial port, twice as we bent a pin, I realised it's been too long since I had a proper project laptop. So I've picked up a Dell Studio 1735 with a damaged lid. Should be interesting to get it up and running again.
Minecraft is out on the Xbox. I've been aware of it for some time and saw the full scale Enterprise D that someone made in it. It was quite impressive as it made you realise the true scale of the ship. Otherwise, I don't quite get the appeal of it. I did try the Android version on my phone but it just didn't grab me.
Although this is very funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnjSWPxJxNs
Tuesday 15 May 2012
Weekend of variety
Friday was another half day in work. My Dad and I put some fuel in the Astra and I brought it home. It cost £70 to fill the tank, which was pretty much empty, but hopefully that will last a long while.
Saturday was a really good day. It was the Go Ape experience with a load of work colleagues and Rob. I hadn't had time to read up on it so had no idea what to expect, but it was really good fun. After a little while, being 30 feet in the air while climbing over various obstacles becomes second nature, although it was very testing of body strength. It came as something of a shock when I had to climb up a net and found it very hard because my arms were crying mercy.
After that we had lunch (very nice burgers!) and headed out onto the mountain bike trail with hired bikes. Again I had never really ridden a proper mountain bike trail, but it was amazing fun. It was only the basic track, but it still had banked curves and little jumps and things. The bike had front suspension and hydraulic disks, and was quite a revelation to ride - fantastic. The others went round again but Em and I admitted defeat due to tiredness and had some cake in the sunshine.
Sunday was spent largely lying around in an aching heap, but in the evening it was off to Llandudno with Andy and Maz to see the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. I was inititally a bit dubious if it would be my thing, but I decided to go. We had Pizza Hut first, which was surprisingly good and probably one of the best meals I've had from there, and then headed into the place. I've never actually seen any classical music live, and I was quite blown away by it. Somehow it's much better live, with all the instruments right there. It was really good, definitely would do that again.
Yesterday and today have been fairly OK with work and various things. The Astra went in for a service today and had some extra work done as it had a broken rear spring, knackered rear brake pads and a faulty handbrake cable. But it was all sorted and it's had a thorough service too, so it should be good to go. The guy at the garage was impressed at the condition of it given the high mileage.
No D&D this evening at the last minute due to an unexpected meeting for James. I was hoping we'd do something else instead but nothing was forthcoming so I watched some more of the new Walking Dead season 2 episodes. Only one episode left now, but so far it's been quite decent.
The Prelude auction ended on Saturday with no bids, annoyingly, so I relisted it. This time I had a question from a guy who seemed quite interested in it, so that's a good sign. So long as he doesn't want me to take the side skirts off and post them to Lithuania, that's fine by me.
Having one of those weeks where I consider my age and wonder if I have actually achieved anything. Bit sad to realise that I'm the only loser still stuck at home and single, which is becoming increasingly lonely as time goes by. I can't see it changing either, which is sometimes too depressing for words.
Saturday was a really good day. It was the Go Ape experience with a load of work colleagues and Rob. I hadn't had time to read up on it so had no idea what to expect, but it was really good fun. After a little while, being 30 feet in the air while climbing over various obstacles becomes second nature, although it was very testing of body strength. It came as something of a shock when I had to climb up a net and found it very hard because my arms were crying mercy.
After that we had lunch (very nice burgers!) and headed out onto the mountain bike trail with hired bikes. Again I had never really ridden a proper mountain bike trail, but it was amazing fun. It was only the basic track, but it still had banked curves and little jumps and things. The bike had front suspension and hydraulic disks, and was quite a revelation to ride - fantastic. The others went round again but Em and I admitted defeat due to tiredness and had some cake in the sunshine.
Sunday was spent largely lying around in an aching heap, but in the evening it was off to Llandudno with Andy and Maz to see the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. I was inititally a bit dubious if it would be my thing, but I decided to go. We had Pizza Hut first, which was surprisingly good and probably one of the best meals I've had from there, and then headed into the place. I've never actually seen any classical music live, and I was quite blown away by it. Somehow it's much better live, with all the instruments right there. It was really good, definitely would do that again.
Yesterday and today have been fairly OK with work and various things. The Astra went in for a service today and had some extra work done as it had a broken rear spring, knackered rear brake pads and a faulty handbrake cable. But it was all sorted and it's had a thorough service too, so it should be good to go. The guy at the garage was impressed at the condition of it given the high mileage.
No D&D this evening at the last minute due to an unexpected meeting for James. I was hoping we'd do something else instead but nothing was forthcoming so I watched some more of the new Walking Dead season 2 episodes. Only one episode left now, but so far it's been quite decent.
The Prelude auction ended on Saturday with no bids, annoyingly, so I relisted it. This time I had a question from a guy who seemed quite interested in it, so that's a good sign. So long as he doesn't want me to take the side skirts off and post them to Lithuania, that's fine by me.
Having one of those weeks where I consider my age and wonder if I have actually achieved anything. Bit sad to realise that I'm the only loser still stuck at home and single, which is becoming increasingly lonely as time goes by. I can't see it changing either, which is sometimes too depressing for words.
Thursday 10 May 2012
34
It's been a funny old week. Sunday was another day at my Dad's so that was good. Monday was spent finishing off Battlestar Galactica, so that was fun.
The rest of the week has been a bit meh, trying to work out what to do about cars. The auction on Tuesday was a bit of a bust. We saw some nice cars go through, including a nice diesel Focus estate, and a Bora TDi for reasonable money. We had our eyes on another diesel Focus estate of the same age as the first one, but then they changed the auctioneer for some twat who kept making up bids to drive the price up of them all. So we left.
Anyway, today I bought a 2000 Vauxhall Astra 1.7 DTi off a guy in Llysfaen. A thoroughly sensible car, which cost only £600 because it has 245,000 miles. Yes, that's a lot, but it's had a lot of recent parts including a cambelt, alternator and four new tyres, and it drives like it's done a fraction of the mileage. Also because it was so much less than my budget of £1000, that's £400 I can put aside to sort out anything it needs. I was sure to drive it up and down steep hills on the test drive to make sure it pulled well and the clutch was OK and drove it over a thoroughly rough road to make sure the suspension was OK. It needs the handbrake adjusting as it's a bit hopeless and the airbag light is on, and the seller said it's probably due for an oil change. Minor things though and worth doing.
It was nice to phone up the insurance and get a £277 refund and see my monthly payments return to normal. Somewhat annoyingly, because the Astra was registered before March 2001, it comes under the old tax classes, so £116 for six months and £220 for a year, whereas the exact same model after March 2001 is half that. Oh well.
The Prelude has 7 people watching on Ebay which is hopeful, although I was annoyed to find it's pristine beauty spoiled this morning by a giant bird shit all down the side. Yesterday I took all my stuff out of it and swapped out my stereo for a spare JVC one I had lying around.
Other than that my birthday was nice, work was OK this morning with a rather amazing coffee cake made by Em, and some other cakes I took in.
The rest of the week has been a bit meh, trying to work out what to do about cars. The auction on Tuesday was a bit of a bust. We saw some nice cars go through, including a nice diesel Focus estate, and a Bora TDi for reasonable money. We had our eyes on another diesel Focus estate of the same age as the first one, but then they changed the auctioneer for some twat who kept making up bids to drive the price up of them all. So we left.
Anyway, today I bought a 2000 Vauxhall Astra 1.7 DTi off a guy in Llysfaen. A thoroughly sensible car, which cost only £600 because it has 245,000 miles. Yes, that's a lot, but it's had a lot of recent parts including a cambelt, alternator and four new tyres, and it drives like it's done a fraction of the mileage. Also because it was so much less than my budget of £1000, that's £400 I can put aside to sort out anything it needs. I was sure to drive it up and down steep hills on the test drive to make sure it pulled well and the clutch was OK and drove it over a thoroughly rough road to make sure the suspension was OK. It needs the handbrake adjusting as it's a bit hopeless and the airbag light is on, and the seller said it's probably due for an oil change. Minor things though and worth doing.
It was nice to phone up the insurance and get a £277 refund and see my monthly payments return to normal. Somewhat annoyingly, because the Astra was registered before March 2001, it comes under the old tax classes, so £116 for six months and £220 for a year, whereas the exact same model after March 2001 is half that. Oh well.
The Prelude has 7 people watching on Ebay which is hopeful, although I was annoyed to find it's pristine beauty spoiled this morning by a giant bird shit all down the side. Yesterday I took all my stuff out of it and swapped out my stereo for a spare JVC one I had lying around.
Other than that my birthday was nice, work was OK this morning with a rather amazing coffee cake made by Em, and some other cakes I took in.
Saturday 5 May 2012
Fatty fatty
Thursday was an average day in work, and badminton in the evening. It was delicious pork casserole and bread, which was great. Also got to see Rob and Em's remodelled living room. With the newly varnished floor and rearranged furniture, it's difficult to tell it's the same room, amazing. Getting rid of the retro 70's carpet has made such a difference. Also Steve has had an offer accepted on a house, which looks great.
Friday was another meh day in work and had a quiet evening. Annoyingly the Prelude developed a ticking sound in the engine which doesn't seem to affect it much except make the exhaust note rougher. Regardless, I'm not spending any money on it. Today, my Dad and I washed and polished it before taking pictures and listing it on Ebay. Then, on Tuesday, it'll be time to hit the car auction but I'm letting Rob, Em, Rob P and Steve pick the car for me. I've done spectactularly badly at choosing cars recently so I'm leaving it entirely in their hands - whatever they think suits me best for £1000. I won't lie - I absolutely adore the Prelude, but I now have to own up and admit it was one of my frequent jaunts into automotive insanity. I did hope it would last until next payday though.
My cousin Pauline was down today so we hung out while we weren't polishing the car and then went to the Prosperity Chinese. Pauline likes it a lot because they cater very well to vegetarians, and have a whole page of specific dishes. We had a really good meal so I now feel very fat indeed. The chocolate fudge cake was delicious but perhaps a mistake.
I have been really shit with exercise and food recently, and I'm really starting to feel it. But I just can't get motivated to get to the gym or anything. I think I'm going to cancel the gym membership and try to find some other way of exercising.
Got the 2nd part of The Walking Dead season 2 to watch, and also the rest of Battlestar Galactica, and then Skyrim. Not sure what I want to watch/play first. Probably BSG. I'm still not sure about Skyrim. I think it looks like a great game but I'm not sure if I want to start investing that much time into a new game when I should be trying to get some exercise.
Friday was another meh day in work and had a quiet evening. Annoyingly the Prelude developed a ticking sound in the engine which doesn't seem to affect it much except make the exhaust note rougher. Regardless, I'm not spending any money on it. Today, my Dad and I washed and polished it before taking pictures and listing it on Ebay. Then, on Tuesday, it'll be time to hit the car auction but I'm letting Rob, Em, Rob P and Steve pick the car for me. I've done spectactularly badly at choosing cars recently so I'm leaving it entirely in their hands - whatever they think suits me best for £1000. I won't lie - I absolutely adore the Prelude, but I now have to own up and admit it was one of my frequent jaunts into automotive insanity. I did hope it would last until next payday though.
My cousin Pauline was down today so we hung out while we weren't polishing the car and then went to the Prosperity Chinese. Pauline likes it a lot because they cater very well to vegetarians, and have a whole page of specific dishes. We had a really good meal so I now feel very fat indeed. The chocolate fudge cake was delicious but perhaps a mistake.
I have been really shit with exercise and food recently, and I'm really starting to feel it. But I just can't get motivated to get to the gym or anything. I think I'm going to cancel the gym membership and try to find some other way of exercising.
Got the 2nd part of The Walking Dead season 2 to watch, and also the rest of Battlestar Galactica, and then Skyrim. Not sure what I want to watch/play first. Probably BSG. I'm still not sure about Skyrim. I think it looks like a great game but I'm not sure if I want to start investing that much time into a new game when I should be trying to get some exercise.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
So...Skyrim
Work was OK, yet more data shuffling and another guilty lunch from a place in town that simply kicks arse. It's run by a scarily energetic woman who seemingly conjures up random but incredibly tasty menus from nowhere. The worst is her milkshakes which are made with double cream, and the giant monster toffee cake. Delicious but so, so wrong.
I fired up Skyrim this evening. I'm not sure what to think yet. I'm quite impressed at the character creation though, with the variety of races. I ended up being a human, but one that is good at magic, since I always tend to go for that kind of thing. After the intro bit, it basically just goes, here's the world, explore. I chose a random side mission and just followed the indicator in the most direct way possible, perhaps not the best way though since there were a lot of hills and wolves that didn't like me. Also everyone I meet says I look awful and according to the stats I've got a disease but so far I haven't found a way to look at myself yet so I'm not sure what they mean. Oh well. After a lot of traipsing through snow I made it to a college where I can apparently learn magic. Yay. We'll see. I've heard the game is stupidly big so I don't know, it might be too big.
The world is pretty amazing though. Several times on my travels I simply stopped and looked around as some of the scenery is absolutely incredible. Also the lack of loading screens or anything like that really makes it feel like a gigantic world.
Watched the first episode of the second half off Walking Dead season 2. Interesting.
I fired up Skyrim this evening. I'm not sure what to think yet. I'm quite impressed at the character creation though, with the variety of races. I ended up being a human, but one that is good at magic, since I always tend to go for that kind of thing. After the intro bit, it basically just goes, here's the world, explore. I chose a random side mission and just followed the indicator in the most direct way possible, perhaps not the best way though since there were a lot of hills and wolves that didn't like me. Also everyone I meet says I look awful and according to the stats I've got a disease but so far I haven't found a way to look at myself yet so I'm not sure what they mean. Oh well. After a lot of traipsing through snow I made it to a college where I can apparently learn magic. Yay. We'll see. I've heard the game is stupidly big so I don't know, it might be too big.
The world is pretty amazing though. Several times on my travels I simply stopped and looked around as some of the scenery is absolutely incredible. Also the lack of loading screens or anything like that really makes it feel like a gigantic world.
Watched the first episode of the second half off Walking Dead season 2. Interesting.
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Argh
Not a particularly good day at work. Someone managed to accidentally backup an extra 800gb of data overnight, so it threw off all the processes and led to something of a nightmare. It wouldn't have been an issue except the 800gb was not actual data, it was just crap to take up space.
D&D was great fun today, a riverside encounter which involved much strategy and problems with horeses, which was finished by me riding my horse up a vertical cliff face to the astonishment of the poor guy I then decimated with one of my most powerful attacks. It was really good fun all round though and this time we were really open to trying new things - like before an attack, offering the enemy a chance to surrender, etc. It didn't work, but hey, we tried.
Downloaded the new Eisbrecher album yesterday, and picked up the E Nomine best of as well. Eisbrecher were as good as always, while E Nomine is something new. Basically it's a mix of orchestral chanting type stuff overlaid onto techno, with sometimes a hint of metal. In German. It's pretty weird stuff but very good.
Not much else to report really, it's been a quiet couple of days.
Thought I was coming down with something today but it came and went. I think initially it was because someone cleaned a whiteboard with horrible stuff that seemed to trigger a reaction, but also my wisdom teeth are playing up so I think that's affecting my ears. Bah. I don't feel too bad otherwise.
I've been lent Skyrim, which should be interesting as I've heard a lot of good stuff but ummed and aaahed about it rather a lot. So it'll be fun to try it out anyway.
In a moment of weirdness I picked up a mandolin, this time an electric one that's like a mini Telecaster. It looks and sounds OK but I think it is jinxed. My Mum managed to set the parcel on fire and only just rescue it in time so it stinks of burning and when I was setting it up, one of the strings snapped so I've already had to order a new set. Bah.
D&D was great fun today, a riverside encounter which involved much strategy and problems with horeses, which was finished by me riding my horse up a vertical cliff face to the astonishment of the poor guy I then decimated with one of my most powerful attacks. It was really good fun all round though and this time we were really open to trying new things - like before an attack, offering the enemy a chance to surrender, etc. It didn't work, but hey, we tried.
Downloaded the new Eisbrecher album yesterday, and picked up the E Nomine best of as well. Eisbrecher were as good as always, while E Nomine is something new. Basically it's a mix of orchestral chanting type stuff overlaid onto techno, with sometimes a hint of metal. In German. It's pretty weird stuff but very good.
Not much else to report really, it's been a quiet couple of days.
Thought I was coming down with something today but it came and went. I think initially it was because someone cleaned a whiteboard with horrible stuff that seemed to trigger a reaction, but also my wisdom teeth are playing up so I think that's affecting my ears. Bah. I don't feel too bad otherwise.
I've been lent Skyrim, which should be interesting as I've heard a lot of good stuff but ummed and aaahed about it rather a lot. So it'll be fun to try it out anyway.
In a moment of weirdness I picked up a mandolin, this time an electric one that's like a mini Telecaster. It looks and sounds OK but I think it is jinxed. My Mum managed to set the parcel on fire and only just rescue it in time so it stinks of burning and when I was setting it up, one of the strings snapped so I've already had to order a new set. Bah.
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