Not much happening

I haven't got much to write about today. Uneventful journies and too many meetings have sapped my creative process.

One things that I do have to put down is how brilliant my wife has been recently. Running around to garden centres, digging, planting, re-potting. At the weekend, I may have dug the trench and removed the earth, but it was my wife who humped the top soil into place and did the planting. Since then she has re-potted a number of our existing plants, and yesterday helped our hired gardener dig 2 new beds, and transplant a bush from pot to earth. I look forward to getting home every evening just to see what new garden features we'll have today.

I'm off to physio this evening for a second session on my foot. Ever since I got orthotics to correct my pro-nateing the muscle at the back of my arch won't stop hurting. I'm sure it's something to do with the inserts rucking up my sock, but as long as they can get it to stop hurting I'll be happy.

Right, that's it. My life is uninteresting at the moment; no commuter rage, no rants at the world, just a desire for sleep.

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First steps

My little daughter took her first proper steps at the weekend. Recently we have been able to support her whilst she is walking and then gently let go; she has then tottered a few steps before sitting down with a big grin. She knows what she's done, and she loves it.

This weekend I was putting her shoes on so we could go out, and she was wanting to stand up and lean against me. We started playing a game where she would stand up, let go, hold for a few seconds, and then fall forward onto me. Big grins and giggles all round. After a few goes I moved back a little, as it is the fall forward as much as the standing she loves. A couple more moves, a couple more falls, then she took a step! I shuffled back a little more, she took another. More shuffling, more steps, then I hit the wall, and she caught up.

She was sooo happy with herself. Smiles, giggles, clapping. My wife had come through half way through, so she watched as I moved her back and we did it again. More smiles and clapping. I then turned her round, and she walked to mummy. Then back to daddy. The she was a bit tired, so lots of hugs and praise and we went out.

We've repeated things since, but she still needs confidence before embarking on her own.

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Something for the weekend

I worked from home on Friday which meant 2 things. No post on here, and the weekend started that little bit earlier. Strange thing about working from home though; although the night at home starts earlier for me, it never starts as early as it could. Although I start working at the same time I always do, I find myself still working over an hour after I would usually have left to go home. With my daft commute this means I still start relaxing earlier, but theoretically it could be even earlier.

We did *stuff* this weekend. We haven't stopped. Saturday I got up, went and had my hair cut (which has been done really badly, it's far too short, and completely un manageable now), straight to a garden centre to pick up another water butt (our current one, like the new one, is a space saving one and doesn't have enough capacity), off then to Mothercare to buy some locks for the higher kitchen drawers, then another garden centre to pick up 24 pots of lavender. We then went to the pub for lunch. Once we got back it was into the garden. I removed a foot and a bit wide strip of grass all the way around our front, and then dug out a trench down to just under a foot deep. I loaded up the car with the grass and called it a day.

Sunday saw us up fairly early, and me off to the tip. Once rid of the grass it was back home, and out to garden centres again, this time for farm shops, edging, and top soil. At home, after lunch, I loaded up all the soil from the trench into the car (plastic sheeting providing much needed protection), then off to the final garden centre of the weekend for more top soil, home to drop that off, and then the tip to fnally get rid of the trench earth. When I got back my fantastic wife had just about finished the planting of the lavender, and my beautiful daughter was having a great time on the lawn playing. I picked up the little one, and we went for a stroll as the planting was finished.

On return, I tidied up outside, then vacuuming, bath cleaning, more vacuuming, more vacuuming, shower cleaning (whilst I had a shower!), sink cleaning, toilet cleaning. After that was dinner (cottage pie,yum), washing up, clean and polish kitchen benches, clean oven, put up coat hook for little one's coats, sort out washing, and then, finally, collapse into bed.

I come to work for a rest!

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Not urgent

I'm tired. For a change. For some reason it feels like Friday too, so tomorrow will be a disappointment!

Today, however, my tiredness is due to more than the usual reasons. Although they still apply too. Todays tiredness stems from working until 20:40 last night.

I left work late yesterday as things had overrun a little, but I'd had a good day. A number of things I had been trying to get done were released, and I was feeling ok. When I finally exited the tube, my phone had 6 e-mails, 2 missed calls, and a voicemail. I settled myself onto the train and started to listen to the voicemail.

Half way through the voicemail the call was interrupted by an incoming call. So I dropped one call and answered the other. What everyone was trying to tell me was that one of my systems, that feeds a number of other systems, may have lost some data. As a result, all those downstream systems may have lost their data.

I then spent the rest of my journey home writing mails and taking phonecalls trying to trace down what could have happened. Speculation was rife. Imagined scenarios getting more dire with each new iteration.

Finally I got home. I remotely connected to work, and started to look through the system whilst responding to more e-mails as they came in. It should be noted that I didn't build the system, and don't know that much about its internal workings. However, after a while I sent a note off saying I couldn't see the problem, we'd have to wait for a developer in the morning, I also couldn't see evidence of the problem, and was there anything else anyone wanted me to do.

The reply came back: tomorrow will be fine, thanks for your efforts. By the way, this isn't urgent. !!!

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Aargh

50 metre walk from one tube line to the other. As our train gets in, the other line is just arriving. Easily made if you move at a reasonable pace (not running, just walking with purpose). The woman in front of me insists on strolling, in the middle of our side of the passage way, with handbag over one out stretched arm, and coffee cup thrust out in the other. No urgency, no purpose. The doors close as I reach them.

Bitch.

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Boring conversations

The guys standing next to me on the train this morning have blathered on for the entire journey about cars. This wouldn't be too bad except they haven't a clue!

Apparently buying a mini is a waste of money, but a BMW Z3 is a "really good motor". Of course you want to look at the MX-5 as they just go and go.

They've discussed whether cars they've never driven have 16 or 17 inch alloys like it makes a difference (although one of them finally decided, with authority, that it had 17, and you should check them out on etires.com.

The various merits of Z3s, TTs, and MX-5s have all been argued. Even though they admitted (at various points) that they have never driven any of them.

Going back to the mini, it will apparently depriciate from day 1, so is a stupid investment (because a BMW is a smart one), and you should get a fiesta! Or a yaris!!

Thankfully I've now escaped to the tube. Peace and quiet has returned.

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Tuesday morning blues

Probably a short one today as I fell asleep on the train! I haven't fallen asleep on a train for well over 6 months. I don't, usually, get a seat, and when I do the journey is only 25-30 minutes, so by the time I've read my feeds (and obviously started writing a blog entry) the journey is over.

Just couldn't keep focussed today though. Felt myself dropping off in the middle of a post, and decided to get a few minutes shut eye. I don't even know why I'm that tired; we've had 2 reasonable nights kip, and last night we even got the light off before 11! However, this morning my eyes feel so heavy, and I can't stop yawning. Probably down to lack of coke, but that's another post!

I'm off, this evening, to the physio. Something is wrong with my foot. Actually, there's plenty wrong with my foot. I pro-nate which means my foot turns too much on my arch side when I put my foot down. I wear various inserts in my shoes to correct this. Recently though I've started to get pain in my arch that seems unrelated to whatever I'm doing. I can walk all day with no problem, or I can cross the office shuffling like a hunchback zombie. I can also be fine until I put my feet up, walking around, doing jobs, once I sit down and relax, pain!

So I'm off to see someone (else) about the problem. No doubt there will be more exercises and inserts of torture. Fun.

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Good morning London

So the bakerloo line is stuffed. Again. Time to get the circle line, change, walk, and arrive a little later. Thankfully I got up on time this morning, so I won't be late for that 9am meeting!

A constructive weekend was enjoyed. We ordered a hedge (that's now next weekend's job), bought some pots, re-potted some plants (and a tree!!), picked all the leaves off the grass, made a casserole, fixed a curtain rail, watched a couple of films, and did the ironing. It's an exciting life.

Swapped trains and lines now. Hopefully no more problems between here and work.

A reasonable week ahead at the minute. Not too many meetings (yet!), but one at 08:30 on Wednesday which I think is rather cruel.

Not much else to say at the moment. Too much Monday morning, not enough brain power!

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2 posts (part 2)

The following is a taken from an article on slashdot:

Over the past few weeks Chinese bloggers and people on Internet forums have been reacting to events in Tibet and the protests disrupting the torch relay. The BBC and Global Voices have interesting insights on the recent happenings on the Net. A western commentator says, 'Lots of Chinese people now view the Western media, human rights groups, and Western leaders' criticisms of their country as part of the Racist Western Conspiracy to Stop China From Being Successful.' One of the most vocal appeals by the Chinese blogs, forums, and text-messages has been to boycott French goods in response to the protests that accompanied the torch relay in Paris. One response post reads, 'Who is abusing human rights? Who is bringing violence to this world?' There also are two versions of music video of the song Don't Be Too CNN, and its lyric has assumed the status of a cult catch-phrase. Sina.com has a popular page: 'Don't be too CNN, fire to the Western media.' Many analysts believe that the protests over Tibet have only served to strengthen Chinese nationalism rather than evoke sympathy for the Tibetan cause. Sina.com has a petition against the Western media which has reportedly accumulated millions of signatures. There is also Mutant Palm, a blog by an expatriate in China who has been watching and commenting on the fallout from Tibet and torch protests online.

And so, at the risk of saying "Told you so", that is what happens when you protest to a nation with no free media. Hands up anyone who thinks they get the full story? The reason behind the protests? The history, the full facts? Now hands up those who think they got an edited version, heavy on violence towards chinese, big on over zealous security forces with a cross reference bit on guantanamo, iraq torture, and anything else that can be pulled up and edited to show human rights violations perpetrated by the west?

Why do all those who think they are doing the 'right thing' fail to see the big picture and the obvious outcome and consequences? Protest by all means, but do it in the right way to the right audience.


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2 posts

For once I have too much to blog (rant) about! So, here is 2 rants in one. The first is new, the second is a follow up to a previous post.

My wife received a letter today from a collection agency. They were asking for over £300 in unpaid vodafone bills. My wife doesn't have a vodafone contract, she has an O2 one. Before that she had t-mobile, and before that orange. She hasn't had a vodafone contract in 7 years, when she had a different name, and an address nowhere near our current one. The previous vodafone contract is all paid up long ago.

She had received a phone call about 2 weeks ago; a cold call asking if she was the resident of 'not our address' or 'also not our address'. She said no, was thanked and thought no more of it.

Then today's letter arrived, threatening CCJs, balifs, repossessions. This is the first of these letters, there hasn't been a simple request to pay, just this one letter. She phoned them up, and was asked to confirm if her birthday was 'not her birthday / month / year', on saying no she was asked if it was similar in any way (not clutching at straws or anything), she replied no. They then asked what her birthday was! Strangely she declined to tell them. The matter is now, apparently, closed. Mistaken identity! Yeah, right!

In this day and age of identity theft how are you supposed to prove who you are without handing enough details over to pose a problem to your identity? Also, why should you have to prove who you aren't? Shouldn't they be working better to find the right person without bothering you? I'm willing to bet their due dilligence in this matter went as far as ringing all those in the county with the right sort of name, and then, on getting no where with that, sending all of them a letter hoping to bully / flush out the guilty party.

Now to write them a nice letter requesting they purge all my wife's details from their database in accordance with the data protection act. I wonder what the response will be.

2nd post to follow once I get the web browser on this phone to work properly!

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Another week ...

Here's a ponder; waiting for the train in the morning, 2 arrive pretty much together. For some reason the station announces the later train first. Everyone who has read the depatures board is waiting for the earlier train. When the late train is announced the early train is visible, and about to start moving down the platform (as is the late train). Even though people can see the train, they move platform. Why? There is no delay. Neither train is packed (although you'll get a seat on neither). Both trains will arrive on the platform at the same time, and chances are the earlier train will leave first.

Ok, so today is interesting so far... It's not yet 8 and I've already spent over £4000! Such is the cost of commuting for a year. The marks another point in my conversion to permanent. I have never bought a long term ticket as a contractor because you can never guarantee your employment for the life of the ticket. Going permanent hopefully offers a bit more security. Also, my company offers you a loan for the cost of travel repayed from your salary over 12 months before tax is calculated. So at least the money is tax free. Now all I have to hope is that my paperwork gets processed properly, and the loan arrives early next week!

In other news, we bought an olive tree last weekend, and it arrived yesterday. It looks good sat on the patio, and will look even better once I've re-potted it this weekend. After a pause around Easter and beyond, our internal painting has restarted and entered the final stage. Almost everything is primed, undercoat and gloss to follow. Then carpets and flooring. Then we're done! All that remains is the planting in the garden.

Sleep continues to be patchy. Managed about 6 hours last night, not enough really. We need to work on getting little one to bed earlier so we can do the same. Easier said than done of course. Bed time is set by nap time which is set by meal times which are set by my daughter! We have very little say in the matter!

Techie thing. Why is my linux box capable of playing a movie out of the box while my windows machine requires me to faff around downloading codecs and apps, (blindly as it gave me no clue as to what I needed) and re-booting before it will finally play (with an average cpu load of 70%!) All those who ask when linux will be ready for the desktop; I ask, when will windows! It's not even a new format of video either, the codec I finally got to work was released in 2004. Surely windows media player 11 could have had it built in.

Oh well, I digress. The tube whips me ever nearer to work, and the end of another week. Here's to a good weekend.

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Portishead

A place towards the end of the M4 (possibly). Also, one of the best bands around.

I 'discovered' Portishead, like most people my age, at uni. 'Dummy' was one of the soundtrack albums to my year in dorm, and a constant companion thereafter. Listening to 'Roads' at high volume after I dislocated my shoulder and ruined the summer of canoeing and windsurfing I had planned is probably partly responsible for making me who I am today! The album still sounds fresh today, and even after all this time, and more listens than I can recall, there are no tracks that get skipped.

The second album came along, the first track a huge dissonant noise, the rest an assault on all the senses. Poinant lyrics set against looped samples and distorted guitars. It was fantastic. It's never had as many listens as 'Dummy', but it is a staple of my collection.

It was followed by the live album. A fantastic collection of there 'best' songs delivered with a huge string section, and a lot of effort put into the production. If you haven't heard any Portishead, this is probably the place to start. The only annoyance is the audience starting to cheer before 'Roads' is finished, interupting a clearly heart felt song with their applause.

Then, nothing. For years.

Now, the third album is due (named 'Third'). Finally. It says something about Portishead that even after all these years, and my dwindling interest in music in general, this can still get me excited.

I have managed to get an advance copy of the album, and have nearly finished the first listen. I won't, however, offer an opinion at this point. One listen, on a crowded train, does not do it justice. I can say that I have heard enough to look forward to the next time I have a free evening, when I can turn the volume up, get a glass of wine, and lose myself once again in Portishead.

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Spaced

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to write something this week. In a morning I seem to be a spectator to the life going on in front of my eyes. Decisions and cognitive thoughts take time to arrive, moving through my brain like icebergs! (I mean, just look at that analogy!)

I should be getting enough sleep; although we have been a bit late getting to bed. My daughter has been sleeping through, and there have been no disruptions (more or less) until the alarm goes off. However, this week has been incredibly tough so far.

Things are coming together nicely at work. There are still deadlines, and stresses, but nothing like last weeks emergencies.

All in all, I think more good nights are called for. An attempt to get to bed earlier. And some sort of lie-in (8am!) At the weekend would be nice.

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Not liking trains

On reflection, I probably dislkie those people and circumstances that make me late for a train. However, the fact that they only run every 30 minutes is useless. If I arrive at the same time as the train, I've had it. 30 minutes of radio 2 in the carpark. It's a useless service.

Also, why is the train always late when I'm early, but never when I'm late?

I was rather pissed this morning. A few choice words. Starting with the stupid woman at the roundabout who wouldn't accelerate, and stopped at an orange light. It's a very good job she couldn't hear me. Then as I turned the corner and the train pulled in, Terry was rather drowned out for a while.

When I've got up, made the effort, and done everything I should need to do to get there on time; then events conspire against me, the world seems rather an annoying place to be.

Oh well, on my way now (have been for a while). It'll all be forgotten by lunchtime.
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Quick one

Haven't got long this mornng. 21 posts to read after the weekend have carried me almost to work.

It's Monday, I'm tired (for a change), but this week *should* be easier than last.

Maybe I'll write a bigger post on the return journey.

I usually find it easier to write in the morning (despite the knackeredness!), I guess the day hasn't yet dulled the brain. (Although if this morning is anything to go on, my brain will have shut down completely by the time it's done a whole day!) Oh well, I'll see if I can come up with something.

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How the ....?

I shouldn't be here. I should be cold and shivering on a platform in deepest Berkshire. Instead, I'm on a warm train heading towards work.



I didn't get up this morning. Tough night (following the foreseen tough day) meant the alarm got snoozed, then turned off and ignored. Somehow I managed to wake again at 06:41, 10 minutes late at best. I dragged myself from bed, showered, cleaned my teeth, dressed, put the bins out, and got to the station in time for the 07:02 train. My usual. How? I don't know. I didn't speed (other traffic in suburban areas sees to that). Everything else takes a finite, and usually fixed, amount of time. And yet I made it.



The majority of me wishes I hadn't bothered. Caffeine (sorry hunny) tastes acidic; a sure sign that my body is too tired to accept a stimulant. I know I have another tough day ahead of me. All I really want to do is roll over and sleep a dreamless sleep.



Which reminds me. (Warning, this is a very sad reflection of my life) My dreams last night were all about SQL, statistics, and spreadsheets. Everything was about numbers, pivots, data. I have recollection of it being stressful too! What has my life become?! Unfortunately, it was a fairly accurate prediction of what my day will be like.



Roll on Friday evening. Bring on the duvet.

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Tough day

Inspiration has left for the day. Motivation is lacking too. I know I have a day with almost back to back meetings ahead of me. I also have an operational crisis to avert. Doing both in the same day may be tricky to say the least!



Even with all that ahead of me, the temptation to roll over and hide under the duvet was fairly easily ignored. I guess they DO pay me enough to get out of bed in a morning!



Thankfully my daughter slept through last night, and went down fairly early too, so I got to lights out at 10:40. Still, the weeks (months) of disturbed nights, including a couple this week, don't disappear after one nights kip (especially when you have to get up at 06:23!) so I'm still on the knackered side. It's bearable though, like an annoying itch, not a missing limb!



People issues are going to make today extra special. No details, suffice to say politics and incompetence (or possibly laziness) will come into play at various stages.



On reflection, maybe the duvet was a better option after all.



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Loud mouthed muppets

Commuting this morning (for a change), waiting for a train. There is the usual game, working for position in the approximate place where the door will stop. Nothing is guaranteed, so there is always some jostling for position as the train arrives. A couple of people are doing the doorway shuffle when a voice is heard; high, mighty, definitely Daily Mail reader, "He certainly wants to be on first doesn't he." I look across, as I'm not the one jostling, and personally couldn't care less about getting on first (more on that in a month), and there is a rather large, older bloke looking all high and mighty. Carrying a copy of the Daily Mail. Who's he talking to? A companion? A workmate? Nope, just the world in general. Wally.

We all get on, and I head for the buffet. Experience has taught me that the passenger cars can be a dangerous route. Head in and you may get a seat, but if you don't, you're trapped. There is nowhere more uncomfortable to spend the journey than trapped in the aisle. You have nowhere to lean, nowhere to go. The next option is to wait in the vestibules. If you're on quick, you can lean against the door, in the corner supported on 2 sides. It's not bad, and better than what usually happens; being stuck in the central area of the vestibule with only a bit of partition to lean on.

Option 3 is the one I go for. Head for the buffet. If you're quick, which I usually am, you can get to the counter, a proper place to lean, with arms crossed, and legs extended. As the corridor is a bit cramped at this point it discourages over crowding, affording you a little space. I make myself comfortable, at the end away from the till, out of the way of where people get served. A couple of other people are at the bar, one's been there a while, has the paper out, and a coffee on the go, the other is ordering coffee. Another person turns up, and also orders coffee. There is, it should be noted, room for at least 2 more people at the bar.

I become aware of a presence at my right shoulder. Someone standing off the bar, to my side. I'm oblivious really, I start reading my blackberry once I get to the bar, and I'm used to people queueing around me as they wait for their turn to order. Then that voice again, "Are you ordering?" I look up. Daily Mail reader is talking to me. I look at the buffet staff, indicate negative, and go back to reading. There is room for 2 people next to me, and plenty of room to get round. "Well would you mind moving so the queue can get served?" A tone of indignation. I look up again. There is a look of expectation on large man's face. I look round him, there is no queue, only him. I look to my side, at the obvious space (closer to the staff and till I should point out), shrug, and move over. Fat man gets his coffee. He then moves slightly round the corner, vacating the space. No one takes his place. No one else wants to order anything. " Not much of a queue then was there?", I say, quietly, to no one in particular. Quiet, but I know he heard me.

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Olympic Torch

2 posts in one day! What's going on? Not much really. This mornings post was a bit mediocre, and I thought I'd post on the farce that is the global journey of the olympic torch.

As far as I can gather, from paying next to no attention, the olympic torch is lit in Greece, by sunlight no less (symbolises purity apparently), and then paraded round the world being extinguished and relit many times by the same 'flame' kept safe in the modern day equivalents of miner's lamps.

This year, China are hosting the olympics. China have made a few dodgy foreign and internal policy decisions in the past. Some people think that protesting during the torch ceremony will change those policies.

There, for me anyway, is the disconnect. Exactly how do those protesting think this affects the Chinese government? How is a banner, or a bit of pointless violence, 15 minutes of (in)fame(y), going to influence Chinese policy? Internally the Chinese control all the media; television, internet, newspapers, all controlled. There may be some activists that get some external access; but for 99.9% of people, they have no idea what's going on except for what the government tells them. Externally, why do the Chinese care? Their market and economy go from strength to strength whilst the western ones crumble. They make and export a huge percentage of goods the western world wants, they import very little.

Given that we, both as a people, country, nation, and demographic, can't influence the Chinese government as we have nothing to influence them with (are we ALL going to stop buying Chinese goods?), and the only people who can influence the Chinese government, the Chinese people, can't hear our message, what is the point of disrupting an event that is meant to symolise world unity?

I feel it's important, at this point, to state that I disagree with Chinese policies both foreign and internal. The attrocities in Tibet shouldn't be allowed to go unpunished, and the human rights violations the Chinese are reported to have committed demand reproach. I just don't believe that hanging some banners, argueing with policemen, and disrupting the passing of the Olympic flame will achieve anything.

Change can only come from within. External factors, especially when backed by nothing more than empty threats, won't do anything at all. Throughout history it has been shown that the ordinary people of a nation won't stand by and let attrocities be carried out in their name. Information is the only weapon the west has, and in these days of all pervasive access we forget that not everyone has access to that information.

I don't have a total solution, nor an answer, but I do know that running encrypted proxies and gateway servers, investing the time and energy to create as many holes in the wall of misinformation, allowing ordinary people access to the same information we have will achieve far more than hanging a banner from a bridge.


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If life gives you lemons...

...learn how to trade them for something nicer.

Can't think of much to write today. Same old, same old. Broken sleep at 12:30, nothing major, but it seems to have knocked me a bit. It's probably Sunday night catching up with me.

Up early (on time), and commuting again. Another day, another early night. (I can hope can't I?!)

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White Monday

Why is it that the further south you go in this country, the more likely it is to grind to a halt at the first sign of white on the ground?

Train signals freeze, roads are gridlocked, small animals are sacrificed to the sun gods.

Up north, 3 foot of snow? Chuck a spade in the boot and head off.

Down south (like this morning) 3 mm of snow? Stop everything, grind to a halt, roll out all the excuses about cold / freezing conditions / snow.

Anyway. That wasn't what I was going to write about this morning, but as I am currently 45 minutes behind schedule due to it being a bit fresh I'm a little pre-occupied!

Variable sleep over the weekend, fairly good Friday and Saturday, but last night was a non-starter. The usual indicators; not enough food eaten at tea-time, and a bit of a sniffle. Little one went to sleep easy enough, but definitely didn't stay there. Cue Daddy walking up and down stairs at 03:30 for rice cakes and beakers of water. My poor wife had already been up once at just before 1, and hadn't had the best of sleep anyway.

Earlier in the day we had gone to Next to exchange a pair of jeans (I know! How I get through all the excitement I'll never know), and I'd wandered around the shop with little one toddling beside me holding only one hand. Later we went to the park, and after palying on the swings, she walked most of the way home pushing her little trolley. Fatherly prediction: she'll be walking in weeks (not months).

Other than that, I got my wife's voicemail working on her iPhone, cut the lawn (first cut its ever had!), and finally indexed all the photos taken this year. So a reasonably productive weekend.

Hope you all had a good one.

Good luck to Abi in her new job too.

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Films

My Mother-in-Law is visiting, so my wife and I got to go the cinema last night.

A quick rant! Why do cinemas insist on playing films at about 19:30 and 21:30? Very little starts between those times. 19:30 is an impossibility for us, and 21:30 is really a bit late.

We ended up seeing (and what a poor choice of films there is at the minute) 'The Spiderwick Chronicles'. A film, admittedly, for children. It was, however, good fun, and reasonably scary in parts. Given the PG rating, it was surprising to see children in peril, legs getting bitten, and some out of left field shocks that make you jump. It was nice to get out of the house and do something a bit different.

We rarely get to watch a film these days. By the time little one is finally asleep, and we've cooked any of the time critical ingredients for dinner, sat down, and started to eat, the most we can usually manage is an episode of a TV program. I get entire series of programs, either on DVD, or saved on the Sky+, and we work through them. Torchwood at the moment, Heroes before that. The chance to watch a whole movie is rare. The last time we tried was with 'Ratatouillie', and that ended up taking us 3 nights to watch!

Even more of a luxury, we are off to lunch tomorrow. Just the 2 of us. Looking forward to it!

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Feeling groovy

I'm feeling a little strange actually. I got some sleep last night. Uninterrupted sleep.

It wasn't the earliest of nights. My daughter woke just after 10, and was very snuffly. We fed her some calpol, and I left her getting Mummy cuddles whilst I did the washing up. After finishing up downstairs, I went and checked on them, and then got ready for bed. My wife appeared a short while later, and off to sleep we went. It must have been about 23:20. Next thing I knew the alarm was going off.

It's amazing the difference a nights sleep can make. Especially one where you aren't woken at 1 in the morning. The headache that has become a constant companion is dulled this morning (I had hoped, initially, that it might be gone. No such luck), I feel capable of more than one thought at a time. Things are generally better.

Still feel a little weird though, not quite right. I can't put my finger on it. I feel slightly warm, but internally; I also feel as though the humidity level is high; and a feeling of having eaten well (not too much) which is strange as I didn't have a big dinner, and haven't eaten since.

I can put up with this though as I definitely feel better overall. Another night like the last one, and I feel I can face a weekend!

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In other news

Shocked to read, this morning, about a new breed of fish found in the toxic outflow near one of the local factories. The water is so dense and unpleasant, the fish has evolved without eyes.

They're calling it a fsh.

Oh dear.

Seperatly, what do you call a three eyed fish?

Fi-i-ish.

I may need help.

UPDATE: Google has updated their software syncing outlook with google calendar. It finally works. With my already working method of syncing google calendar with the blackberry, I have acheived sync heaven!

If they could work on contact sync next, that would be great.

The red arrows flew over our office block yesterday. Something to do with the RAF turning 90. Impressive looking, but it was over quickly, and disappeared from view behind another building.

Right, that's it for today. Less tired than I have been, and content too; but a bit spaced and achy. More tomorrow.

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Inspiration

Writing a blog regularly is sometimes harder than I thought it would be. I do pretty much the same thing day after day, and I'm fairly sure it would get boring if I blogged about it continually.

As I only write in the morning, anything interesting that happens during the day has to be interesting enough to be remebered overnight. Things that interesting don't happen very often!

An example (that has happened this morning, so it's fresh). We left the station on the way into London a minute or so before another train. 5 minutes into the journey, there was the sound of a horn, and the train was overtaken. That was strange enough, but less than 10 minutes later, our train overtook that one. (See how exciting my life is!)

The journey into London takes about 25 minutes and there are no other stops for us. There are 2 lines in, a fast line, and a local line. We were on the fast line, the other train on the local. When it overtook, I assumed it was going to change lane further down onto the fast track and that would be it. When we overtook it was still local. At some point it would need to transfer or it will be stuck behind local traffic all the way to London.

Hopefully I'll be able to find something more interesting to talk about tomorrow!

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