Your Blogging With Dr P... search result is below this annoucement.
In April 2008 Blogging With Dr P... moved to Blog Bypass.
If you're using the Blog Studio Search Facility to find a link to a previous blog, then I've been very generous, and NOT included an automatic re-direct which would take you there.
So, what this means is you have to use this link: Blog Bypass to find more Blogging With Dr P....
Thank you to Blog Studio for all the help over years! :)
(Feb 2010 Update): Haloscan is no more. Therefore the comments on this blog are no more. Sad, but true. I'm not paying $12 a year for the occasional comment with Echo. Apologies to all those who have commented. I have saved them and may well stick them somewhere else at some point.
Saturday, January 31, 2004
Avast There Ye Surferboarders II !
Damn it was a bit blowy today! And then it started to rain as well. They kept announcing in the supermarket that "...due to the adverse weather conditions would customers return the trolleys to the trolley bays...". I couldn't work out whether this was for the benefit of the new customers coming into the supermarket, or was it because that the man who was making the announcement was also the guy who had to go and collect the stray trolleys strewn across the storm swept carpark. What do you think?
Why does bad weather bring out the talkative side in some people? Over here, as I'm sure it happens elsewhere in the world, the country would have been sprinkled with as many Bus Stop Conversations as there were rain drops today. For the uninitiated, Bus Stop Conversations fall into these categories:
A. A common bond to a common complaint, i.e. the weather, or no buses
B. To break the silence between yourself and the one other person you've been sharing the bus stop with for the past 30mins.
C. You're drunk.....or....they're drunk!
D. You're a secret agent working for the Govt., and to avoid detection you mix with the locals
E. You're on holiday in some Godforsaken backward country , it's raining, you've been waiting for at least half an hour, you're drunk and you think your cover's been blown!
How many Bus Stop Conversations have you had recently?
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Avast There Ye Surferboarders!
- or something like that. It's an incredibly blowy Saturday morning here in little old England. Gusts of up to 35mph. Okay, it's not going to rock the foundations of the town hall, but I've just been down to the garage - and it's knocked me breathless. (Probably a bad day for aliens to invade. They may think they can breathe the air, but it'll knock them off their little green feet when they step out of the flying saucer!)
Anyway...off to Asda :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Friday, January 30, 2004
Ctrl-Alt-Delete Retires
David J Bradley, one of the original engineers who created the original IBM PC at Boca Raton, Florida, is to retire this week after 29 years with the company.
Bradley's accomplishments are numerous - he wrote the BIOS code for the original PC and rose to become architecture manager at the PC group. But David's claim to fame is that he devised the most famous - and probably most used - three key combination in computer history: Ctrl-Alt-Del.
"It was not a memorable event," said Bradley, a longtime IBM employee, speaking of that day in 1980 or '81 when he discovered control-alt-delete.
"It wasn't intended as something we were going to tell the customers about," he said. "Then, it turned out that this reset was a problem-solver for people who were writing the programs and writing the instruction manuals."
But there'll be no praises sung for the name of the first guy who, after trying Ctrl-Alt-Del - and his PC was still stalled! - then went for the infamous:
It works everytime don't it? :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Know Your Movies...?
Okay, I've left the intials in. This is some of the final scenes from a famous movie. Award yourselves 10 points for the movie title, and a further 15 points if you can name the main actors.
228 EXT. OPEN COUNTRY - MED. CLOSE SHOT - MXXXXX AND DXXXXX
Mxxxxx hears Exxxx's horse riding down at them; he turns,
and Dxxxxx pulls free and starts to run away.
MXXXXX
No, Exxxx! NO!
He goes running into the path of Exxxx's horse.
229 EXT. OPEN COUNTRY - MOVING SHOT - EXXXX
as Mxxxxx runs and grabs hold of his stirrup, trying to
fight the horse to a stop. Exxxx swings on him -- once,
twice -- and Mxxxxx is knocked sprawling. Exxxx rides
on, relentlessly.
230 EXT. OPEN COUNTRY - FULL SHOT - DXXXXX AND EXXXX
She is running and dodging, trying to escape the horseman.
Exxxx has his gun drawn. She ducks to one side and the
horse goes past. Both figures are almost obscured in the
dust. Exxxx spins his mount and charges after her. She
runs and then falls -- and he is off his horse and striding
toward her.
231 EXT. OPEN COUNTRY - EXXXX AND DXXXXX
Exxxx is at the left of CAMERA and slightly closer to the
foreground, with Dxxxxx at the right, supine on the ground
and the dust swirling around her. Exxxx draws and raises
his gun. The hammer goes back.
EXXXX
(quietly)
I'm sorry, girl...Shut your eyes...
The dust clears. The CAMERA MOVES slightly forward along
the gun arm and HOLDS on Dxxxxx's face -- the eyes gazing
fearlessly, innocently into Exxxx's. We HOLD for a long
moment and then the gun lowers. Exxxx slowly holsters it
and walks over to her.
232 EXT. OPEN COUNTRY - CLOSE SHOT - EXXXX
He looks down at her.
EXXXX
(softly)
You sure favor your mother...
233 EXT. OPEN COUNTRY - MED. CLOSE SHOT - THE TWO
He extends his hand to her. She takes it and he helps her
to her feet. And then she is against his chest and his
arm goes protectingly about her. They are standing that
way when Mxxxxx stumbles up -- and stares.
It's an absolutely excellent movie, and one of my all time favourites. Have you guessed it yet?
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
France Again On Sunday
Yes, it's that time of year when I shall be abandoning y'all for a few weeks, (maybe!). And when I come back from there, I have a few days at work, and then Sue & I are off to Colorado for a week to see some of Sue's folks out there.
Unfortunately, due to illness, my colleague Stephan will not be coming with me to France, so I'll probably have to title all the great photos myself :). I'll be, as they say in Cockney Rhyming Slang "On my Jack Jones" - alone. Which means more concentration on parlying the old Franglais, and having to rely a lot more on my French colleagues to get these audits actioned correctly. Oh la la....lol....:)
And it'll be bloody freezing as well. Still - I'll be off down to Bordeaux some time in March, that'll be a little warmer. Anyway, time to go peeps - I've got emails to do and fings to arrange en France.
See y'all later.
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Monday, January 26, 2004
Private Health Care
As I understand it, in the good old US of A, there is hardly any state health scheme, and everything is done by private medical plans. Equally, I understand that a lot of job's benefit schemes include company medical plans for employees & their families. It's big business.
Here in the sunny UK we have the National Health Service, or the NHS as it is known. It's funny seeing that it has a website now. The NHS was created in 1948 in the post war years. It was masterminded by Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health (1945-51)for the then Labour government. Basically, it allowed a free health serice for everyone.
Of course, things have changed for better, or for worse, over the years, and now we find ourselves drifting in the private health sea as well. I myself have a scheme with BUPA, who are probably the oldest, largest, and 'best' of the providers. (Fortunately for me I started the scheme only a few months before a road smash back in 1998 which has left me with a permanent whiplash injury. And, of course, this and this would never have happened with the speed and efficiency at which they did.)
I got a letter in the mail today from a company called HSA who have a deal with my company, (have I mentioned who I work for? It's Dixons), to provide health care for it's staff & family. But when I looked at the small print it wasn't all it claimed to be on the front page. For example they say that:
1. "HSA will pay 100f your dental & optical bills". - only up to ?55 p.a.
2. "HSA will pay 75owards osteopathy etc etc". - only up to ?350 p.a.
There are other anomalies in their pamphlets, but those two were the worst. Granted, their premiums are cheap - ?7.36 for a single person, or ?14.72 for a couple, (or ?14.72 for a single person where the ?'s covered is doubled). I did have a look through their website, but I am now totally distrustful of an organisation, particularly in the area of health, that quotes one thing, but it turns out to be something else.
I may be paying about three times the HSA premiums for BUPA, but at least I know what I'm getting, and the quality of service has been first rate so far.
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Sunday, January 25, 2004
It Was A Dark And Stormy Night
Actually, it was a very pleasant day here in the sunny UK, and I had the pleasure of putting together on of those snap-together cabinets for use in the office. It's just a little shorter & narrower then your standard office cabinet, and is in a tasteful shade of...er...grey. Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to put together, and after a few years of box moving & paper tearing, the office is in a much better state.
Now, I am "knackered" - it's an old Anglo Saxon word for knackered. Time for a cup of tea, I think :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
The Consumption Of Alcohol
Due to increasing products liability litigation, American liquor manufacturers have accepted the FDA's suggestion that the following warning labels be placed immediately on all varieties of alcohol containers:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell happened to your bra and panties.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a retard.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe that ex-lovers are really dying for you to telephone them at four in the morning.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with other members of the opposite sex without spitting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is the leading cause of inexplicable rug burns on the forehead, knees and lower back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Audio Blogging
I think I've mentioned this before. There is a place called audioblogger. It is a new technology where you can make an audio blog entry from your telephone. I came across this about a year ago and thought - "Hmm, this looks good. I'll come back to this." So now I'm coming back to this.
On the outset it looks as though you have to have a Blogger weblog, as it is developed for it. Also, the access telephone number is for the USA only at the moment. I have emailed them and asked them a few techhie questions about stuff.
This "audioblogging" could be the saviour for me when travelling around. Imagine all those little French escapades.....as they happen (!) - oh la la!.
Anyway, just to get you in the mood for this sort of thing. Below is a link to an audioblog for some guy's weblog. It is very funny and...(watch out)...it is also very rude...but ultimately...very funny! :)...
It's about hurricanes & politicians
Now can you imagine that coming from me...lol....yeah, I can! :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Friday, January 23, 2004
Spontaneity For Beginners
"There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood will lead onto great things, but if ignored..." Julius Caesar, that Shakespeare bloke, (and not his sister). I think it was Caesar that said it as well. Hell, it was a long time ago. No, I'm not talking about the play wot he wrote, I'm talking about when we studied it at school. It was all so stuffy and educational then. But now as a fully grown mature adult....ahem (!)... it's just not that interesting really is it? I mean, it's not even got a car chase in it, right? (You've got to watch "Ben Hur" for that. The scene when Charlton Heston races around the Colliseum in Rome and crashes his chariot into a fruit cart and gets helped up by a gorilla, and he utters those immortal lines: "Oh yes, we have no bananas....we have no bananas today!" Magic movie moments, eh?). The point I'm trying to make is this - if you don't grasp the moment - it's gone.
How many times have you heard yourself saying to yourself - "Damn, I wished I'd......." Huh? That's because at that point you're probably laying in a gutter in the back alley of the bar with an impression of a steel chair in the back of your head, and what you were really thinking was; "Damn, I wish I'd.....DUCKED!". Okay, that was a bad example, lets try again......
What I was trying to say was that there are times in life where acting spontaneously, acting on instinct, acting on the spur of the moment, can quite often get the best results. Now, a lot of us just aren't that spontaneous, I know, otherwise there'd be a lot more people mysteriously bursting into flames then there at at the moment...??? Anyway...I thought I'd give you a few tips in being spontaneous. You can try these almost anywhere....(!).....:
1. You see a car crash, people staggering everywhere. Don't stop and gawp - GO STEAL SOMETHING! - there's usually a wallet/bag/jacket laying around somewhere. This will net you a few dollars, a night in the county jail before they cart you off to the looney bin on the edge of town when you claim temporary insanity, or a beating with a night stick.
2. You're in a supermarket queue, someone opens a fire door and sets the alarm off, everyone turns their head. DON'T TURN YOUR HEAD....GO STEAL SOMETHING! - there's usually a wallet/bag/jacket hanging off the side of a trolley you can get. This will...(see 1.)...
3. It's mass. The priest brings out the Holy Chalace. Everyone bows their head. DON'T BOW YOUR HEAD. GO STEAL SOMETHING! - there's usually a wallet/bag/jacket left unnoticed by your religious head bobbing neighbours. This will....(see 1.)...
4. It's the Easter Parade. Everyone is all lined up along the road. The floats pass by. Everyone starts jumping up and down cheering. DON'T JUMP UP AND DOWN. GO STEAL SOMETHING! - there's usually a wallet/bag/jacket jiggling around the waist of your bouncy-Easter-loving street companions that you can snatch.
Now, I know some of you reading this might be wondering at the subtle use of theft and crime in these lessons of spotaneity. It is a well known medical fact that there is a massive increase in adrenhalin around the body when you commit an act which you know is wrong - a crime. This increase in adrenhalin will also improve general health and well being. It will prove useful in the exercise yard and the showers
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
He Must Be Out Of His....
F**king mind:
"A man walking the length of Britain naked to promote public nudity finally reached his destination Thursday, after spending most of his seven-month odyssey behind bars following complaints from the public. Stephen Gough, 44, dubbed ``the naked rambler'' in Britain, reached John O'Groats in far north Scotland just before night fell, cheered on by a group of local residents and welcomed by a large media contingent."
I mean, it's not exactly sumer time in Tahiti up in the far wintry North Of Scotland. And if he had had any clothes, or valuables on him, he probably got them all nicked off him by some thieving scouse git when he walked through Liverpool in the dark! :)
Anyway - hiking naked? Where would he stick his woggle ;)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Karen Carpenter's Longest "Outro"
It occured to me this evening as I was listening to the melody radio type slumberland tunes whilst piling around the motorway at breakneck speed to get home........that the sound of Karen Carpenter's near perfect voice had an unusual effect on me. Normally I would think "God, she has a near perfect voice/tone/pitch...." - except without the /'s in there. But this evening as she warbled her way through Good bye To Love, I noticed something other then her lovely warbling voice. It was this -:
HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW DAMNED LONG THE "OUTRO" TO THAT SONG IS...????
I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a good song - but the actual singing, apart from the "ah...ah ah ha....ah ah..ah.." chorusy bit, finishes way back in the tune, before you realised she stopped singing a good two to three munutes ago and was probably slurping on a popcicle - main meal of the day (!) - in the corner of the studio whilst the lesser talented brother attempted MOR rock n' roll suicide with his pseudo tribute to Metallica, (who were probably all still in nappies when this song first came out....hmmm.....interesting thought for a cover version?), by getting heavy with the strings*.
The actual stats are:
Total track length = 3:57 mins
Total Singing Time = incredibly s..h..o..r..t time
Total Guitar Time = indredibly l..o..n..g time
*Remember RC wasn't even playing the guitar, it was a guy called Tony Peluso. Talk about trivia...lol...I must get some sleep! :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Want Meds?
Not really. Not from some annonymus email spamming porno site thank you very much. I think I'll stick to getting my prescribed drugs from a doctor. Although, right now, maybe I could do with some 'meds'.
I just spent another evening wrestling with XP. If it wasn't for the fact that it's installed on my company laptop, I'd wipe the f**king thing and install Windows 98 instead.
Anyway, it's abeen a long old day today. I was up early this morning to go to Newmarket to do a one-day audit at a smallish store. I'll be up there again on the last weekend of July for far more social reasons involving drinking, gambling, snooker, bowling and lots of alcohol & junk food :). It's an annual get-together for my brothers and a few friends. it's our Xmas in summer. More of that some other time...
Time for bed.....zzz....zzzzzzzzz.......zzzzzzzzzzz
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Monday, January 19, 2004
Windows XP - As Used by Lucifer
What is it with Windows XP? Is it the Devil incarnate spawned from the bowels of Bill Gates with one evil intent to ruin & dominate the nightmares of every free thinking computer geek in the world? I've just spent a day trying to master the beast. It was like Peter Cushing aimlessly waving a tatty looking crucifax at Christopher Lee in one of those classic Hammer House of Horror Movies - and good old Chris, with one of his red-eyed snarls, brushes it to one side and proceeds to beat up poor old PC, and then he moves onto chomp the neck of the nearest vestal virgin.
Similarly, I had the onerous task of attempting to battle against the hounds of darkness today, in some vain attempt to get Windows XP to operate the software we use for our auditing. Perhaps I should have had a bell, bible & holy water or something. Because following the hallowed instructions of install,reboot, click on icon, didn't exactly work. How nice of XCrap to tell me that all though I had some file missing......"the instructions would still be shown in English..." - What the Hell does that mean? The programme only comes in English anyway?!"?$I reckon it was some PC Devil messing with my head.
The big bonus of this new company laptop is, although it is as much use as a chocolate fireguard at the moment - it does play DVDs - which might come in handy as I wait for the priest to come and bless the keyboard and drive out evil spirits :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Sunday, January 18, 2004
And After All That....
Time has eluded me once again :). We went out purse & coat shopping in Lakeside Mall today - for Sue. And then we went on a little expedtion into Ikea to try to find a filing cabinet for the office here - and that turned out to be a waste of time.
And by the time we got back home, I started to play with CSS in Netscape Composer in the hopes of developing a new looking page. In the mean time, Ray, Sue's dad, has left an off-line message on her Yahoo Messenger thingy to call him as he's got a few queries with Norton Anti-Virus etc.
"And so Dear Listeners, once again it is time to say 'goodbye'. 'Goodbye' and sleep tight - where ever you are"
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Blogging Mania
I suppose it could be called an addiction as well. But aren't there times when you think "My God! There's loads to do on my blog?" - and get a bit of thrill about the fact that's there's things to tweak here and there, entries to do, people to visit etc etc? I know I do. And sure, I suppose I could be doing something, perhaps, more constructive with my time - but would I be enjoying at as much? Let's be honest, this is our free time here isn't it? And we can do with it what we jolly well want, can't we? :)
The current list of things to do include:
1. Set up, (involving restructuring the basic template software), photo albums using JAlbum.
2. Review the overall layout - cruise some more CSS templates and see what ideas I can...er...use.
3. Do a proper 'header'/banner - maybe go back to Paint Shop Pro and figure out how to manipulate pics. (I know Lauren told me once last year sometime, but it still seemed a bit complicated then. Perhaps I'll go back and review it again).
4. Get back to writing some interesting stuff. Look at all this from 2002 - 2003. Who could forget such classics as Farting In The Gym, or the equally well written related subject of Urinal Politics. I know there's more of that in me somewhere...lol.
5. Links - I have 100's of links for tools, software, etc etc that I need to get through.
And a friend of mine at work, Steve, appeared on one of those gardening make-over programmes recently. I recorded the programme, and he sent me some still pictures. So, I reckon there's a little webpage appearing soon :)
Anyway, the best part about all this weblog activity is visiting you wonderful people whose names appear under Blogging Folks, and seeing what you're getting up to in your part of the WWW. It's also quite nice to see who else has stumbled across me as well - these stats things are great aren't they? (I use Freestats.com the most). And it's also quite amusing to see how the search engines find me as well. (I see my Catherine Herridge rating has slipped from Page 3 on Google to Page 10 - must try harder :) ).
Okay - time for a big cup of tea - see y'all later :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Friday, January 16, 2004
More Dover Castle
Up until that point I do get a permanent photo album posted on the net, I thought I'd post a couple more of them. The first one was taken by being hanged from my ankles over the battlements & dangling down the wall....
Okay. I just poked my head out and took the photo :). Inside the castle the masonary & architechture was fantastic. This was a shot of one of those ceilings....
Once we made out way to the roof....er...I mean the battlements, Ray took this great archers-eye-view shot from the battlements....
And finally we went back to where this was, and give you a good view of those wonderful....er.....White (?) Cliffs of Dover Dover Western Docks as well....
Thanks for your nice comments on the earlier stuff. More history soon :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Tom is Fifty :)
Yes. It's true. Tom Is Fifty - tomorrow Jan 16th. And Tom is my big bruvver :). There is one older brother, Chris, whose picture is also on the webpage...safely at the bottom. Why? I hear you ask. Well - take a deep breath, don't let any small children or animals see this, but this(!) is the reason why....lol....:). He does try to defend himself in the Guest Book at the foot of the page, but there really is no defence :)
Okay - and relax. No more frightening photos to keep you awake at night.
And all that little webpage was set up for FREE!. And free, as we know is good. I registered at Web1000.com. It's 50MB - free!. All I had to do was get to grips with a piece of FTP software from Leech FTP - and it was very easy. So with a few uploads of piccies and a main page of HTML massaged together by my own fair hands......one birthday website :)
And while I'm in a caring/sharing mood, here's a couple of other freebie thingies that came in my direction this week:
1. Encryption software for files and emails.
2. Sygate Personal Firewall protection.
There. Now wasn't it worth a visit today? (Apart from the photo of Chris of course..lol...:) )
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Driving Thoughts...
I don't mean thoughts that drive you to something, I mean thoughts that you have while you're driving.
I have to say - there are many. This all depends whether I'm in a really thoughtful mood, or just wanting to bet to B.
Today it was a mixture of both. This morning I was more concerned with the traffic report, so I could get to work on time. This is when the more music less talk station isn't much help. Equally, the station that revolves it's Very Short traffic reports around one form of public transport only is very annoying. Trains? - nope. Inner City traffic? - nope. And by this time when the motorway has finally arrived - after about 30mins.....I'm already in the traffic jam.
This evening, because of the time I was leaving Head Office, I was going to be stuck in traffic jams anyway, so I decided to turn the radio off and phone a few people. Naturally, I was using my hands-free kit - a fixed company-installed phone cradle etc - in the car, as "using a phone in a car without a hands-free kit is now illegal in the UK" :). But as I trundled along, the traffic started to get obscenely heavier. So, instead of the radio reports, I went for the mobile phone traffic report.
I think most networks have this kind of service. You dial a special number and it tells you where you are and what the traffic conditions are up ahead etc etc. So I dialled up...and sure enough....it told me I was in a traffic jam - ye ha! But the thing that got me really thinking was when it said: "You should expect a 20 min delay"....
A 20 minute delay compared to what?. I mean, did someone drive that stretch of the motorway, at say, 2am and then the detectors put some kind of electronic ruler on the motorway or something? It's always confused me as to what that annoucement means. The motorway is generally a crap place to be at rush hour, so do I really want to know the comparative time to what it's like when the motorway is empty.....particularly when I'm in a traffic jam....particularly when I'm only ever on this stretch of the motorway at this particular time of day?
Should I just turn the radio back on and listen to Magic Radio instead? :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Helpful English Driving Tips
In the event of an onslaught of tourists from the good old USofA following my recent pics of London etc, (I will get some proper photo albums sorted out - honest), I thought I'd post two photos that you would find incredibly useful over here should you rent a car and want to drive around this fair isle.
That sign means - "Watch Out! Speed Cameras!". And just to show you what the things look like...
The backs of the cameras used to be painted grey like the posts. But then they, (whoever they are?), decided to paint the cameras yellow - so everyone could see them. I believe it was a balance between collecting fines from speeding drivers, and actually cutting down road deaths by people slowing down because they saw the yellow speed camera.
So y'all drive safely now in little old England :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Monday, January 12, 2004
Weight Watchers - The Post Xmas Groan
Well. Last week we actually had our first weigh-in of the New Year, whilst Sue's mum & dad were still here. (This then involved another three days of non-WW eating). Even though we'd munched our way through the whole Xmas season on chocolates, beer, Chinese take-aways and moutains of other festive nosh, I'd only put on 4lbs - hurrah! :)
Tonight was the first real proper weigh-in. And the winning number was...(drum roll)...I stayed the same as last week :) This was a bit of a relief as we'd had a huge Chinese meal, (again!), on Tuesday night. And naturally, like most other folks, we've been finishing off all the left-over festive bits like chocolates & peanuts :)
Jill, the lady who runs the group is quite funny. For a volunteer, (although she has been doing this for 11 years), she really is quite good at controlling the crowd. In fact, if there was a Weight Watchers Stand Up Comedian Competition she would probably win first prize as well! It's not as bad as it is painted. I mean, hell - I go, right? And if you do need motiviation to go - go with someone else - there's nothing like a bit of competition :) Yes - Sue has lost a lot more than I have. My excuse is that I keep going off to France evry few months......like again at the start of February :)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Sunday, January 11, 2004
I'm Back From Being Gay!
Okay, I'm sure there's plenty of you who hadn't realised that I'd gone, but I am, in fact, back. "From where?" I hear you ask in your collective internet caring voice. "Well, I'm back from that great abyss which webmasters call an "OUTTAGE".
Well, forgive me from being homophobic, or something, but isn't an outtage something that happens when a person is discovered to be gay? I mean, has my weblog been whisked away for a whole Saturday's worth of frolickiing in some high class, (or low class!), 'gay bar' in some seedy corner of the WWW? Should I check it's collar for tell-tale lipstick marks, and check it's pockets for telephone numbers?
Has my weblog matured enough now, (being just over a year old), that it thinks it can start to go out by itself? Should I be asking it who it's friends are, and where it hangs out?
What are the tell-tale of my weblog turning gay that I should be looking for? If there are any more of these "outtage" incidents, I'd at least like to know that it is safe and with...er...friends. Perhaps when it starts to load a little slower, or can't open so quickly first thing in the morning...? I just don't know. I just don't know. Perhaps there are some advice centres I could turn to?
Has anyone else had "outtages" with their own weblogs? How have you/they coped with the situation? Any advice would be gratefully accepted..;)
[Link] - | Old Blog Search
Friday, January 09, 2004
History & Culture
I was so impressed to your response from my photos of Dover Castle, that I thought I'd include a couple more of them. The first picture,(below), is of the throne on which Henry II sat.
And now a little history lesson...
Built off a high cliff, in a strategic position facing threats from Europe, Dover castle has always been an important part of Britain's line of defence.
The Romans built a 80 feet high flint lighthouse on the remains of an iron age fort. In Saxon times a chapel was built for the castle garrison.
Immediately after the Battle of Hastings William the Conqueror went to Dover Castle and spent eight days strengthening this key fortification.
Henry II carried out a complete reconstruction between 1168 and 1188 providing the castle with the towered walls of the inner bailey, the beginning of the outer walls and the great square keep - the largest in England.
In 1216 during the reign of King John the castle was besieged by Prince Louis, heir to the throne of France. The French breached the barbican and undermined the gatehouse causing the east tower to collapse. The French forces would have certainly penetrated the inner walls if it wasn't for the fact that King John died at during the time of the siege and was succeeded by his son Henry III.
Henry had the support of the Church, many influential barons and the loyalty of Dover castle. Because of this new unity Prince Louis retreated to France. Henry III spent a considerable sum of money to strengthen the castle.
The Constable's Gate was rebuilt around 1227 and it is here that subsequent Constables have had their residence.
The castle was seized by a small force of Parliamentarians during the Civil War in 1642. It remained in Cromwell's hands until the Restoration which ensured the castle remained intact unlike most other castles in England.
During the Napoleonic wars the castle underwent drastic alterations. The ditches were lowered, earth ramparts were constructed behind the walls and the outer walls were cut down to provide suitable platforms for artillery.
In World War II the bastions were rebuilt to enable heavy guns to be mounted over the harbour.
No other castle in Britain has such a long recorded history.
The second picture is me pretending to have a c**p on Henry II's other royal throne...
And it really did smell in there...lol...! You can't beat a bit of history & culture can you, eh? :)
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Thursday, January 08, 2004
Back To Work...
Okay. The folks were deposited at Gatwick, and are currently winging their way over the Atlantic Ocean back to Texas.
My car nearly broke down on the way, (an emmissions warning light came on! Oh er missus!), and it started to splutter and die. We'd have been okay if I hadn't had to reverse out of a toll booth at Dartford Tunnel, (that links both sides of the River Thames at Essex), because some pratt had gone into the exact change booth.....yes....without exact change - some bloody continental! It was then that the car decided to play silly buggers. Thankfully we managed to make it to the airport - only just getting up the spiral ramp at the car park before spluttering to a halt on the 4th floor.
I phoned the garage. They said "Can you bring it in now?" Er no. I was at the airport. "Have you got AA coverage in case it breaks down?". Er no. But I do have RAC. (Great words of encouragement there!) I said "I'll bring it in tomorrow - first thing". They said "Okay".
I phoned my boss. I told him I was at Gatwick Airport, and that I decided not to come back to work, and that I was going to live on an island somewhere. He nearly said "Okay". But then I said I was joking. (There then followed a slight diplomatic pause for breath). "I was just sending you an email." he said. "Oh yes?" I said.....enquiringly :) "You can tell me about it now if you like?" I continued. "No, "he said, "I don't want to ruin your holiday"......ha ha ha :)
I checked my emails when I got home, (yes - the car just made it), he had sent me something to do with the next few weeks work etc etc.
Oh joy. Back to work tomorrow.
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TV Weather Annoucement
This, alledgedly, had most of the state of Michigan laughing for 2 days and a very embarrassed female news anchor who will, in the future, likely think before she speaks...
What happens when you predict snow but don't get any?....a true story...
There was a female news anchor who, the day after it was supposed to have snowed and didn't, turned to the weatherman and asked: "So Bob, where's that 8 inches you promised me last night?" Not only did HE have to leave the set, but half the crew did too they were laughing so hard!
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Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Buckingham Palace & Covent Garden
So yesterday we went to...
There were lots of strange people about...
Naturally work continued as usual...
Unfortunately, the Royal Household Cavalry needs to know how to tidy up after itself...
And opposite the Palace is...
Following the Palace visit, we jumped on the tube and headed off to...
Where we enjoyed an afternoon of street entertainers including Steve Faulkner...
He is a juggler, (above), and an escapologist, (below)...
He was then followed closely by a bit of culture....
They were a very talented string quintet. However, when in Rome - one cannot go to Covent Garden and NOT see opera. (That's opera, not Oprah...lol...)...
The lady, (above), was singing her heart out with bits from Carmen etc, whilst Ray, (not known for his love of opera...lol), was standing outside Pastimes waiting for Sharon.
Finally, (above), it was cameras across the table whilst we had hot chocolate & sticky buns before heading back down onto the underground...
And that's how to do Buckingham Palace and Covent Garden in a day :)
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Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Big Time Touristing
I'll post pics of this trip over the next few days, but suffice to say that a day going to Buckingham Palace and Covent Garden was quite a blast. The day was slightly marred, and made a lot longer (!), by the inclusion of the Ultimate London Transport Experience - delayed trains getting out of London during rush hour.
It was a fun day. Including seeing this guy, Steve Faulkner perform.
Anyway, we just got back. We're tired. We're hungry. And we've just ordered a Chinese meal - not Weight Watchers I know....lol....but it's only a few days into the New Year :)
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Monday, January 05, 2004
Socialising...and that
Last night we all trekked off sarf of the river, (River Thames), to go to see my brother Dominic, Lilia, (his partner), and their kiddie winkies. Of course, my mum was there as well. So, it was a bit of a family gathering type thing. And it was the first time that Ray & Sharon got to meet them. Naturally the camera came with me :) There were many, many pics snapped that evening....but, I believe, here are some of the best:
Dom at his best - acting the arse!(Lilia looking sensible)
And Lilia had cooked a really nice lunch. In fact the lunch went on for about six hours - which is not unusual thing when everyone is talking & drinking etc.
Yes - there was chocolate involved!
Anyway, much later on we returned back to Grays, Essex for a drink down the local:
The Theobald Arms
So, we had a few pints (!) in there, and then headed back for traditional English fish & chips....from the local Chinese take-a-away. And just to prove that we were there...
Chip Shop Security Camera
The shaky, brown, looking image is Moi - looking like somebody off Crime Watch. Yup- it was a good day out :)
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So.....
...what else has been going on in the Universe? Well, those bright young things at NASA have got another Rover thingy on Mars. Here's what's all the fuss is about at the moment:
Yes - it's the Rover thingy waking up on Mars. I hope it doesn't bite the postman or chase the neighbour's cat! :)
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Sunday, January 04, 2004
Battlesbridge
The other day, in our quest for all things English :) we went to Battlesbridge. It is a small village in Essex which is an antiques centre. The main part is in a huge grain mill thingy , with several floors, which has been converted to dozens of different antique sellers rooms.
And it has a little coffee shop at the top of it which overlooks the River Crouch...
Further down the river, towards the coast, it widens, and people moor their little boats there for winter...
And you can happily spend a Sunday afternoon taking a stroll along the sides of the river taking in the scenery.......
Naturally, it was bloody freezing when we were out that day, and we never did buy any antiques, but it did provide us with a good healthy appetite after all that yomping about in the cold :)
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Saturday, January 03, 2004
Dover Castle Re-Visited
Okay. I can't just leave you with a picture of the gents toilets in Dover Castle :). So here are a few more traditional ones. First, a couple of castley type pics:
Now, down below the chalky White Cliffs of Cover lay some tunnels. Lots of tunnels. Tunnels that have been there since the Napoleonic wars. Since then they have been used over the years for various military operations. (Most notably during the evacuation of Dunkerque & also the Normandy Landings - both in WWII). There are tours of the tunnels where YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS......ha.......:)....
Those rooms above were used as the command centres for military operations during WWII.
Out on the headland overlooking the English Channel is a place called Admirality Point. Here there is a platform & a viewing telescope to spy across at the Frenchies etc - if you're that bored. But I was appalled at the pricing of it:
50p for a family viewing! You must have to rotate the kids & granny pretty quickly on that metal footplate to get everbody in for 50p. No, I didn't time how long a 20p & a 50p view cost. (I know you would have expected me to, but it was bloody cold out there - and there was a NAAFI calling with lovely hot chocolate instead!). But if that was the price of tourism for a good voiew of Dover......then I'll just stick to looking through my camera for free :)
More hysterical pics to come later on...perhaps :)
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Friday, January 02, 2004
Today's Little Adventure...
...was to Dover Castle. And of the many, many historical photos I took today, I thought this is the one you would want to know about the most....
Yes - it's a loo without a cubicle. In the gents.
I knew you'd be pleased with that :)
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Hello Munchkins :)
Well, things are going well on the recent Anglo-US visit. After the New Years shenanigans, (below), there was a long lay in, then off for lunch at the local Harvester Pub/Restaurant for typical English nosh :)
I'm working on a photo album set-up for here. I'm trying to use these happy folk at JAlbum. It seems very whizzy and easy to use. Hopefully I can master it. Then I load up some pics of the in-laws :) visit, and various bits of England. If you want a look at some of my older photos, then have a look here at my Fotolog collection.
Anyway munchkins, time to go to bed now. I've a tough day's touristing to do tomorrow :)
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Thursday, January 01, 2004
Ho Ho Ho - Happy New Year - Hello 2004!
Yup - it's official - it's cold & dark :). Me, Sue, Ray & Sharon went down to the River Thames with a bottle of Cava, (and were given some sparklers by some other party animals down there), to celebrate the new year. It looked a bit like this:
There was lots of fireworks going off, river boats blaring horns, cars being stolen, shops & offices being broken into, police sirens going off - the usual kind of New Year :)
It's 2004 - enjoy :)
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