Many many things

Oops...been a bit shit about updating this thing.

Work has been a bit of a nightmare over the last month - the upcoming staff changes due to the restructure have started to take place causing big concerns and problems and a corresponding dip in morale. Then, to make things even worse, one of my colleagues in the server team handed in his notice and isn't being replaced which is a bit of a nightmare. I've already had to start picking up extra work.

The Windows Server 2012 course last month was good, and surprisingly interesting. It covered a lot of AD too, which I will certainly find useful now. It was good fun exploring Manchester as well, finding places to eat. I had Chinese mostly and had a good time exploring Chinatown and finding amazing things in the supermarkets there like Pork Floss, Tempura Seaweed, Prawn Seaweed and Peanut Soup.

Haven't really played any game seriously since finishing Skyrim. I did try Arkham Asylum on the PC, but I just can't get into it, I really don't know why. I lost interest in FTL because of the randomness of it, but it is still fun. However after being intrigued by them for months I scored an Oculus DK2 on Ebay. For what is basically still a prototype it works pretty well, even on my aging PC. The head tracking and movement is spot on, the only downside is the screen resolution. Oddly enough the display in it is the same as a Galaxy Note 4, to the point where the DK2 actually has the front panel from the phone in it. Bizarre. The goggles fit OK over my glasses but my eyesight must be really bad because I have to use the lenses for nearsighted people AND my glasses.

Some of the demos and things for the DK2 are amazing, some less so. I think the best ones have been AirDrift, which allows you to fly around a mountain range or a village, and Birdy King Land, which is very impressive despite the stupid name. There's also Don't Let Go, which is pretty good fun with headphones on.

Now HTC and Valve have announced the Vive, and Sony the Morpheus and even Google have done the weird Cardboard thing. I'm still not quite sure how mainstream VR will become, even though I've been fascinated by the concept since I was quite young. But the idea of a 4k phone that you can pop into a headset for VR use is an interesting one.

I've consolidated the Yoga 2 Pro data onto the Yoga 13, which has now had extensive surgery to have a new 250gb SSD installed, and the original 128gb SSD moved to the secondary slot. The new SSD is a bit faster and has the space for the data from the Yoga 2 Pro. The 2 was nice with the 3200x1800 display, but was limited to 4gb RAM so I decided to move the data onto the Yoga 13 and put the Pro on Ebay. Not much interest yet - that might be because of it's French keyboard that I converted to the UK layout with stickers...ahem.

I've been to archery a couple of times since Rob and Em came back from NZ. It's been OK but I was out of practice, and I was very tired during the last shoot so my arrows went all over the place. I was very cross and on the point of getting a new, lighter, bow. But since then I've decided that I'll stick with it and sort out the grip with some badminton racquet tape to make it easier to hold. A guy at the club has just started using a back-tension release aid with his bow, which sounds terrifying.

The house works continue gradually. The roof is now adorned with solar panels, although they aren't actually hooked up yet. I didn't think it was the right time to do it but I was overruled. Otherwise the walls will be sorted soon after the electrics were done and then we can start redecorating for real.

I finally signed up for Netflix and have been watching a few things on it - mainly Better Call Saul and Black Mirror, both of which have been pretty good. The feel of Better Call Saul is very much like Breaking Bad, and that's no bad thing, but at the same time I feel you could watch it without having seen BB. 

Basses - I've been naughty and have picked up a couple more. The first one is a Mike Dirnt signature which was cheap as it's been badly refinished in black, so I've got a few ideas to do with that one. The next is a 5-string version of my beloved Squier Jazz Bass. Apart from the extra string, it's theoretically identical,but it has slightly different pickups and a satin finish on the neck, which is much nicer than the gloss on the 4-string. It's even got a two-piece body, which is unusual on Squiers. Anyway, it's beautiful, plays nice and I'm very pleased with it. I just need to get rid of a couple of the others and then it'll all be sorted.

The car has been OK, it needed a new battery last week and I put new wiper blades on it today. But it's future is still undecided until we know for sure if my Mum is losing her driver's license. The wretched Berlingo has been repaired and is back on the road. I've driven it since and I still don't like it.

I'm on leave this coming week, which will be nice as it's been a while since I had a full week off. I don't have any real plans apart from going to visit my cousin Pauline on Thursday. She's still suffering from the wretched cancer, but it looks like some of the treatment she's been having might be slowing it down. It's still upsetting to see her in that state, but she is coping pretty well with it all.