Date: 8th September 2010

It seems someone is filming some TV show near here. That's about as precise as I can be, unfortunately. Yesterday we saw loads of crew and a big daylight-light beaming into a window at some place near the centre of the Jewellery Quarter and today on my walk in there was a crew set up doing something on Newhall Hill.

Manda thought it's probably Hustle, but I don't really know anything about which TV shows are filmed where. All I know is that Selly Oak train station was once on Doctors. Not that I ever watched Doctors as a student or anything.

Date: 7th September 2010

I don't think I mentioned my steak from Friday, so I will.

I had the 8oz sirloin (medium rare) and it was very nice. As Richard and Gavin may have said, it was very nice but also slightly disappointing. For me it was in a way I can't really explain. Basically I think it was that for some reason I was expecting it to be absolutely amazing but actually it was 'just' really good, if that makes sense? My final say is that I would certainly go again and recommend it to anyone, but for some weird reason I came out feeling strangely (and only slightly) disappointed. And as Gavin said, the garlic toasted bread, garlic and herb potatoes, my peppercorn sauce and even the fries were absolutely gorgeous which made for an all-round great meal.

It was a very nice lunch indeed.

Date: 6th September 2010

The weekend went very quickly. And I didn't do my normal Friday weekend plans.

We didn't really do much at the weekend. Went to Gavin's band's gig at the Flapper on Friday. I'm not personally that into Shapes (I need a consistent time signature in the music I like, sorry Gavin) but the night was a good one. Got to see some of Manda's work friends at the work's monthly drinks night and then went to the gig.

Saturday and Sunday consisted mostly of nothing. I played around with a bit of PHP on Sunday which I haven't done in quite some time, but Matt and I have a little project going so I'm getting back into the hobby programming.

Date: 2nd September 2010

I know it's a weird thing to be irritated by, but it is me we're talking about here. I'm not a fan of air drying (speaking of kitchen stuff here, not clothes). It clogs up the draining board so that if something new needs washing there's nowhere to put it, and also it has the ability to leave residue on stuff, either form bubbles if the items aren't correctly rinsed or just the water drying.

Personally speaking, whenever I do any washing up I generally feel compelled to dry it as well (assuming I don't have someone helping me already doing so). Not just because of my distaste for air drying, although I'm sure that does play a part. It just feels a bit wrong to do half the job. It's a bit like saying "well I've done this bit, someone else can do the rest". And, if that is what people feel when they do that, then think of the poor people who come to do some more washing who have to dry everything first because you left them no room on the draining board! And then, if they're like me, they have to dry the stuff they just washed up too!

I'm sure it's just me, and I'm not really bothered by it, it's just something that gets to me.

Date: 31st August 2010

I had my first ever pop tart the other day (yes, I've lived a sheltered life). Actually it was just one bite of Manda's pop tart, but either way I wasn't impressed. Thinking about it, all the things that make it up sound good, raspberry jam, icing (with sprinkles!), general sweetness. But for some reason, and I do like sweet things in the morning so it's not that, I just didn't like it. Maybe it's the pastry-type stuff it's made from, I'm not overly bothered by pastry. Actually I think it's because it was hot. I've got to be in the right mood for hot sweet food, and I guess the morning is not one of those times. Aaaanyway...

Bank holiday weekend was good, nothing much to report though so I won't bother.

Date: 27th August 2010

Recently there have been a couple of things about E numbers going around. On Wednesday there was an article on BBC News talking about them and then last night there was a programme (apparently part of a series) on BBC2 about them. I've known about E numbers for a while now, but for anyone who didn't read the article or watch the programme the general idea is this: you're very misinformed. Yes, some (comparatively very few) E numbers have been shown to have links to some not-so-good side effects, but the fact that a certain chemical has an E number means that it's been tested as being safe.

More specifically, as the article points out, many completely normal and common things have E numbers (lemon juice, vitamin C, oxygen, etc.) and they're not unsafe, so why people "try to avoid E numbers" is totally beyond me. Plus, just because something has an E number, doesn't mean that that's the only way of describing it. Take another example (from the programme this time) of E120. It can appear on packaging as E120, Cochineal or Carmine. It's the exact same thing however it's written (I like to refer to it as "crushed beetle surprise" but that's just me) and it doesn't make it less safe or more avoidable just because it may be written as E120.

Then there's the argument over natural vs. synthetic, but I'm not even going to go there. Anyway, I'm rambling now, so I'd just advise people, if you don't know much about E numbers (you probably don't - I happen to because I looked into them for a project of mine a while back) that you should check either of these out.

In other news, happy birthday to my grandad (sorry, I can't bear to spell it granddad, I've been conditioned with grandad and it feels more right to me) who's 87 today and have a good weekend everyone!

Date: 26th August 2010

We had our last vaccination last night - Yellow Fever - so we're now ready and set for our holiday at the end of September.

I'm still not quite feeling it yet, but I'm sure that by the time it swings around I'll be gagging for a bit of time off on the beach!

Date: 25th August 2010

Cyclists in the road can be extremely annoying. I think I've blogged  on this before so I'll leave you with an interesting observation from one of the comics I like to follow:

Slowing down traffic equals longer drive time. Longer drive time equals greater emissions, which is harmful to the environment. Thus, riding your bike on the road is harmful to the environment.

QED

Date: 23rd August 2010

As you've all heard by now, a few of us went to the Black Country Beer Festival on Saturday. Quite a few ales were had and it was a good day except for the rain and squidgy grass. I really need to get some new (more waterproof) shoes. Afterwards we had a curry at Isha (I think it was called) as Balti Bazaar was full (we didn't think ahead for booking at the most popular curry house in Lye on a Saturday evening) and it was decent but the food took ages to come. Luckily Matt knew how to complain and got his meal free, some condensed milk sweet things and coffees for the table. The total bill for for five of us was about £32, which wasn't too bad at all.

Yesterday we went to my cousin's daughter's christening (actually, my cousin was christened/baptised at the same time as he'd never been christened/baptised and needed to be in order to make the vows on his daughter's behalf, or something like that). It was a nice service although there was an awful lot of noise in the church from all the kids (there were two christenings happening in one service but a lot of general babies/kids). Afterwards we had a bit of a do in a nearby hotel with a very nice BBQ.

So yeah, a generally good weekend!

Date: 20th August 2010

You know what gets to me? People who use multiple cards at an ATM. I understand that every now and again it's something you have to do. Either you're getting money out for someone else or you have two accounts and need to do something there. So yeah I understand it, but it still doesn't stop me being annoyed by it.

Have a good weekend people.

Date: 18th August 2010

While we were in Bridgnorth we spotted this "found" notice on a lamppost. I thought it was quite good.

Date: 16th August 2010

We went to Bridgnorth on Saturday with Manda's friends. It's a lot bigger than I thought it was. I've been there once before but it was part of a Severn Valley Railway ale tour so we didn't spend too long there, and in fact we only walked along the top high street. I didn't even know they had the funicular railway or an upper/lower town, etc.

Unfortunately for us, while it had been quite sunny for half of the day, the dark clouds soon rolled in and a storm started right on top of us. We got soaked but it was a bit of fun. Unfortunately we only got to go one way (up) on the railway but there you go.

On Sunday Manda and I went into town to do a bit of holiday shopping. I didn't come back with much but Manda ticked a few boxes off her list, so it wasn't too bad. We were thinking about hanging around until dinner time and going to Pasta di Piazza or Lasan but by 4pm when we'd finished, we were somewhat tired and didn't even fancying hanging around in the Wellington for a couple of hours, so we went home instead.  I do fancy giving Lasan a try some time though.

Date: 13th August 2010

Tonight we're going to visit Manda's friends who have moved to Wolverhampton. We're staying the night so Manda doesn't have to drive back and can have a drink if she wants to. No idea what we're doing for the rest of the weekend, but I'm sure something will crop up.

Date: 10th August 2010

Is it just me or do apps where you have to 'bump' phones or swipe something across your screen for it to 'land' on the other screen seem entirely pointless? I'm sure when the first developer came up with the first idea to do such a thing it was a cool and outside-the-box idea, but in practical use it just takes time and makes both parties look like an idiot.

Maybe I don't fully understand the process. Maybe in the apps where you bump together, the act of bumping the two devices automatically works out which of the 10+ devices in the vicinity will be taking part in the transaction. But, if not, and you have to set it all up only to then bump the phones together, it just seems like an extra time-wasting step. And while I've never been about 'aesthetics' and ease-of-use when it comes to apps (I can't stand the fact that many apps on the iOS platform have very little in the way of settings, whereas Android apps are generally extremely customisable) I can't even see how the majority of people out there would also prefer this to simply selecting a device from a list and having both devices have a 'yes' button. Oh well, it's not that big a deal I suppose.

Date: 9th August 2010

As expected, Friday was a very nice day. Ian had told me the day was more of a social event that a proper sports event but I didn't know what to expect. It really was a nice social thing. I think cricket lends itself quite nicely to the social aspect as it's not necessarily a fast-paced game. That's not to say that you don't have to pay attention -the best moments happen very quickly but are worth seeing.

Afterwards, we headed down to the Maharaja for a very nice (as always) curry. When I got in my mom invited me out to a curry in Knowle for the Saturday night (which I obviously agreed to) so I've had plenty of curry for the weekend!

Having said that, I could quite happily live on curry as I'm sure I've mentioned before.

Date: 5th August 2010

I'm going to the cricket tomorrow with Ian, Matt and Ed. I've never been to a match before and I don't know a whole lot about cricket but it sounds like a great day out. I'm sure I'll learn the bits I don't know as the day goes on from the guys.

I'll let you know how it goes on Monday.

Date: 2nd August 2010

We had the third and final wedding of July at the weekend, and it went really well. I was the best man this time around so while I was supposed to be calming the groom's nerves I was too busy trying to calm my nerves - I was not looking forward to the speeches.

The ceremony itself was hosted at Burton upon Trent's registry office which has a really good layout for the chairs. Dudley's registry office's layout is more church-traditional with two side of chairs in longish lines from the front of the room to the back of the room, which makes it really hard to see what's going on at the back, but Burton's was really good. The room was in the opposite orientation and there were only three rows of chairs, but they fanned out in a semicircle around the 'altar'. While I was obviously at the front for this wedding, I got the feeling it'd have been much more visible from anywhere in the room.

The reception was at Blithfield Lakeside Barns and it was a very beautiful setting. You'll see a few photos on the website but they don't do it justice. Being right next to the reservoir it's easy to go and have a nice walk.

A nice weekend was had by all and now Matt and Maddie are off to the Maldives for a week for a nice relaxing honeymoon followed by four weeks touring India for a slightly less relaxing honeymoon!

Date: 27th July 2010

We went to Leeds at the weekend to go to Manda's cousin's daughter's first birthday. We actually went to Derby on Friday and stayed with my mom until Sunday, thus cutting down the journey time to and from Leeds by an hour. Anyway all I really wanted to say was that we had a very nice day in a back garden in Leeds (but didn't get to see any of Leeds itself!)

Date: 22nd July 2010

I said I'd tell you all about the rest of my weekend and I haven't yet, so here goes.

On Saturday morning we went to Go Ape in the Wyre Forest. It was really good. Really, really good. The zip wires were (obviously) the best, there are a few videos floating around somewhere, but I'll get back to that at a later date. There were some hard parts (you're always connected to a safety line, so no real danger of falling from a tree) mainly involving stirrups hanging from ropes, but it was a fun morning. I heartily recommend it to anyone, and we're seriously considering the Go Ape in Aberfoyle for its huge zip wire!

Date: 20th July 2010

Yesterday, while we were shopping at Tesco, Manda picked up some super glue. When we got to the checkout we were asked for ID to prove we're 25. Luckily I am 25 and could do so but it was the weirdest thing.

Date: 19th July 2010

It was a great weekend. The wedding on Friday was very nice and a great day was had by all. As one of the two main cameramen quite a bit of my day was spent going around taking photos of people and things, although it puts into perspective how limiting my kit is. I have a nice 50mm prime lens but couldn't use it for most shots as it's too zoomed in so I was on the 18-55mm kit lens but then the indoor shots weren't so great due to the low light levels. Oh well, we'll see how they turn out.

I'll get on to the rest of my weekend some other time.

Date: 13th July 2010

Bit of a full weekend was had. On Friday we went to the doctor (well actually the nurse) to see about our holiday immunisations, and I ended up having a couple there and then. All I have left to get is Yellow Fever (which they don't do at our practice) and I'm done.
Then I had a night with some uni friends while Manda went off on her hen weekend before heading down to London for the house warming party.
The party was very nice, although the weather really accented the need for air conditioning! We played a bit of Frisball (Frisbee and football) in a nearby park, it was a great day for it.
In the evening we had a few drinks and played the Great Gastro Game which is always a favourite. The premise of the game is really boring - teams answer questions on food and drink - but it's always a fun game.

The girls had a good hen weekend from the sounds of it - they hired a hot tub in for the weekend, and had great weather for it!

Date: 9th July 2010

Not me, but a friend recently has, so we're going down to Middlesex to go to their house warming party. It should be a good time. As for the rest of the weekend, there's not much going on. Manda's out on a hen weekend so I have the house to myself (when I'm there). I'll try my best to remember to watch the football on Sunday, too. I'm rooting for Spain, but that's because Manda have them in her company's sweepstakes!

Date: 8th July 2010

I love curry, and the one we had on Tuesday night was great. That's about all I have to say.

Date: 5th July 2010

I have three weddings to attend in July. The first was on Saturday just gone and it was a nice day. The church was a very nice building but I can't be doing with religious weddings. Too much formality and praising of God and all that. The service ended up being about 2 and a half hours, whereas the wedding at the end of the month is a quick 30 mins in the registry office. That's more like it!

Date: 1st July 2010

Like Ian I regularly think of things to blog about (not while driving, but generally when I'm unable to do any blogging) and then forget them when it comes to it.

So that's your blog for today because I always remember that I forget my blogs!

Date: 29th June 2010

Excellent! The storm decided to go away. Maybe the small downpour this morning was what it was reduced to. The BBQ on Sunday was really good. The football wasn't so good.

Date: 25th June 2010

Got a BBQ on Sunday (followed by the match) but the weather's not looking too good.

I'll let you know how it went on Monday!


Update: Weather's looking much better.

Date: 23rd June 2010

On Friday I whacked my finger (in exactly the same way I original whacked it) on a chair in the office. It hurt lots and now it's even worse than it was before. But still no numbness or weird temperatures so I'm not too concerned.

Date: 23rd June 2010

Good work England!

Date: 22nd June 2010

iOS4 is okay. The app-switching is something I've craved since leaving Android, and while I haven't really had the need to use it yet (although I did need it the night before I updated!) I can see it being somethgin I'm happy about. So there we go, the free update was already worth it for me.

Other features are a bit meh. I thought there'd be loads of little tweaks with some other bits I've been annoyed by (comma on keyboard, for one) but I haven't noticed any annoyances going away. Oh well.

Date: 21st June 2010

The weekend went very well, other than the match on Friday. I wonder if iOS4 will be any good...

Date: 18th June 2010

This weekend is packed full of goodness. Tonight it's the England game at the Red Lion, tomorrow it's up to Derby and Sunday it's over to the Fountain in Clent for a Father's Day meal.

Matt has suggested I go for the Lamb Pot Roast, and normally I'd go for it, but being Sunday they have Sunday dinners on so I don't know how tempted I'd be to have a bit of pork or beef. Hrmm.

Date: 15th June 2010

I had pepper on cheese on beans on butter on toast for lunch yesterday. It was nice.

We also have a nice new front door and side window.

Date: 14th June 2010

Someone came along and just added a load of lightbulbs and whatnot to your brother's garden, Richard? Or maybe some of its mass (and therefore weight) suddenly disappeared.

Okay I'll shuttup now.

Date: 11th June 2010

Poker night tonight at Lee's. I don't think I'll be as lucky as I was at the last poker night but it'll be a nice drinking, poker and socialising session. Got a (Manda's) family lunch tomorrow so I'd better not overdo it.

See you back here on Tuesday, I'm off on Monday having a new PCVu front door installed. It's been a long time coming - the wooden frame started really going a few months ago, and as of about two weeks ago we've been unable to lock it. Luckily it's the outer porch door and we have an internal front door that will lock, but it's a bit worrying!

Date: 9th June 2010

Doesn't look all that great. General hardware upgrade yeah (and the screen's nice), but the other features (particularly video calling) are a bit meh. Having said that, I wouldn't say no. Just not desperate to get one!

Date: 8th June 2010

My finger still hurts.

Date: 7th June 2010

I'm not sure how sitting in a room with your mates screaming at the 'tele' helps 11 millionaires ruin a good lawn three thousand miles away either but you fancy doing that!

Anyway, sorry for not blogging much at all last week. I had a serious plan to do one every day (cheating as it was a four-day week) but somehow I messed it up. Oh well, I have a serious plan to make up for it this week...

Date: 2nd June 2010

I forgot to blog yesterday. Weekend was good, thanks for asking!

Yesterday, on the way home, I saw a "did you witness this accident" board. Well actually, here's a photo.

What really annoys me is that it's an official board by West Midlands Police. And it says "CAN U HELP?"

I don't know if they're trying to appeal to idiots or something but it really gets to me; it really isn't necessary at all.

Date: 28th May 2010

Last phone-related post for some time hopefully.

Right, so I got my new iPhone on Tuesday and here are the good and not-so-good points so far.

Not-so-good:

• I'm used to Android which has a few more buttons on it! I'm constantly pressing the 'back' button when going through menus or whatever. And then I realise it's on-screen and when I finally get to the 'beginning' of the menu trail there's nothing to press to exit the program. Then it's the "home" key. That's something I'll get used to though.
• (Good) app switching is basically non-existent. Again something that'll hopefully be ironed out with time (in this case, come the OS 4 update). Basically if I'm in an app that launches the browser, there's no easy way of getting back to the app when I'm done in the browser. I have to go to the home screen and then back into the app. Weird.
• This is a biggie. So far I've used it to write exactly one text (last night) and I noticed this straight away. Where's the comma key? Yup, to type a comma (arguably one might need this as often as a full stop) you need to go to the symbols palette. Now, I guess this is something else I'll learn over time, but quite frustrating. Then again, I use brackets an awful lot and they'll always be in the symbols palette.

Good:

• The general experience is much nicer and smooth. Admittedly I moved from the first ever Android hardware to the newest iPhone hardware, but I'm sure even the oldest iPhone hardware is better than my G1 was in terms of user interface and whatever.
• So, as part of that, the keyboard is much better than Android's. The multitouch screen makes it very easy to type very quickly. Presumably the newer Android phones are good at this too, but I wouldn't know about that.
• Apps, apps, apps. I already knew this, nothing much to say here. All is good.
• iTunes. Hrmm. I didn't used to like the idea of being tethered to a computer on my phone. I still don't. You shouldn't HAVE to sync to iTunes, it's stupid. You should be able to sync with iTunes if it's what you fancy though, and I think I've come around. I certainly like the idea of the sync-to-backup, and being able to browse an app store on my computer is never a bad thing.
  I was really hoping Android would soon get this, whereby you browse the Market on your computer, select what you want to download/buy and over the air the phone will jump into action and download the apps.
  I've now set up iTunes with my music and podcasts and whatnot and I'm hoping it'll make my life easier by doing some of the stuff I would currently have to. Let's see shall we?

So that's that. There's probably more here but I've only had it a few (busy) days so I haven't had a real chance to have a play.

Date: 26th May 2010

About three weeks ago now I seriously bent my left-hand little finger by catching it on something while running up the stairs. It hurt quite a bit at the time but I figured it'd go away. After an hour or so it didn't hurt any more, unless I squeezed it or something so I assumed I was safe.

Since then it's been the same. If I bend it to the side or up or down too much it hurts. Not a lot, but more than the lack-of-pain in my other fingers if I did the same. I'm quite a knuckle-cracker, so it's quite annoying that it's still doing this as, when I go to crack the knuckles on my left hand it hurts. Maybe my constant knuckle cracking is what's kept it from healing properly.

It hasn't gone hot or cold or numb so I don't think there's anything seriously wrong with it.

Date: 24th May 2010

iPhone it is, then. That's enough of the phone talk now.

Weekend was good, decided to visit Stratford which ended up not being idea as we ended up being stuck in traffic for about two hours at junction 15 of the M40 (there were roadworks there and one of the roads off the junction was closed). But once we got there it was nice. Due to the traffic, us already being a little bit late (we were heading there for lunchtime, ended up getting lunch at 2.30) and the worry about the traffic back (it was fine) we didn't spend a lot of time there, but we had a nice walk and sat people watching for a bit.

Date: 21st May 2010

Hmm, I think I'll stick with Android actually. It looks like it's finally getting to the stage where it's getting big enough to seriously attract app developers. Who knows what'll happen though, I'm sure Apple have a plan for when Adnroid starts getting bigger (due to having a lot more different types of handset and therefore more handsets being bought) or maybe they're going to go back to their niche roots.

Either way, the latest version of Android (2.2 a.k.a. Froyo) looks pretty decent. Quite a few things that annoy me about my current version (1.6 on my G1, but it'd be 2.1 on whatever phone I'm likely to get next) are gone.

The problem is that the only phones available to me have the Sense skin, and they've got a bit of a track record when it comes to updating Android on their phones. 2.1 has been out since about January/February (and they've had it for probably much longer) and ye their phones are only just being upgraded to 2.1 from 1.5 (yes, 1.6 was skipped) purely because of this Sense skin. Not the end of the world because at least upgrades do eventually happen, but if I hear about all the new cool things and can't get them for 6 months that annoys me. Having said that, Apple do that with all their new OS upgrades!

Blah. It's a tough call!

Date: 17th May 2010

I currently have an Android phone, but am at the end of my contract. I'm tempted by an iPhone. It's more expensive than going for the latest Android phone, but I dunno. Android's good, iPhone's good, iPhone has more/better apps. Many pros and cons to weigh up. Plus, Manda thinks I should get an iPhone.

But then there's the decision to wait (or not) until the new one is announced/released and either get that if it's any good or get a 3GS presuming the price will drop some amount.

Date: 14th May 2010

Hmm. Sorry I haven't blogged much this week. Been very busy indeed.

And unfortunately I don't really have much to say either. My weekend will consist of going up to Derby and that's about it.

Date: 10th May 2010

Cambridge is a really nice town. It's middle-class-ville but that's actually quite a good quality Everyone's polite, and while we were only there for one night we didn't see any evidence of rowdy kids or anything, and we were there on Saturday night! It's also got a good town centre which is easy to navigate and is full of shops, some big chains and some independent quaint shops. Also there are plenty of pubs. A great place to live!

In other news, my cat had twelve teeth out on Friday. Luckily I think three of her canines are still intact, but other than that her mouth is almost empty! But her breath doesn't stink any more and hopefully her kidney problems will be somewhat relieved from all that bacteria no longer sending bad stuff to them.

Date: 7th May 2010

Darts was good as expected. I shouldn't have had the lamb shank shepherd's pie again though. It was huge last time and it was huge this time. Also,  and the lamb shank was more disappointing) than before but hey. Still, the shepherd's pie bit of it was amazing. I have no idea what they put in that thing!

Anyway, this week has a lot going on for me. Yesterday that cat had to be taken to the vet (which Manda very nicely did on her own so I could go to darts - she joined us later on though) and today she'll have to be collected from the vet. In addition to that yesterday was darts, today I'm seeing another bunch of friends and then tomorrow we're going down to Cambridge to visit another friend. And all of the organising for all of it has been a big mess.

Date: 6th May 2010

Finally! Darts is on tonight. I've been waiting for ages to have another trip tot he pub for some darts so it'll be a good night for me, win or lose.

It'll also be interesting to see how my game has gone as I haven't played in some time (unless you count Wii darts on Saturday (I don't)).

Date: 4th May 2010

Not sure if I mentioned this before but I'm best man at a friend's wedding in July. Well on Saturday we went suit shopping (well, a preliminary look at what's available and a general idea of themes) on Saturday. We're not going too fancy or anything, as cool as tails are! Just a standard jacket shirt and trousers but with a funky waistcoat. The groom got measured up for a test suit they ordered in so if all goes well when they get that one in we actually have the decision made. Then all we'll need is a proper measure and we're good to go.

Otherwise, nothing much happened at the weekend, just the way I like it.

Date: 28th April 2010

I saw a fish jumping around in the canal this morning on my way to work. Very odd.

No idea how fish survive in the canal although I have seen people fishing in it before.

Date: 27th April 2010

Wow I haven't blogged in a while. Partly I forgot and partly it's because I've been on holiday since Friday.

Specifically, I've been in sunny (no, really) Rhyl. Rhyl itself isn't exactly amazing, as one would expect, but the surrounding area of North Wales is very nice with plenty of places to explore. We went to Conwy, Caernarfon, Betws Y Coed, Llangollen, Llandudno and various other pronounceably-named places!

I'll add more about it as the week goes on as there's no time now. Straight back to the grindstone...

Date: 19th April 2010

On Saturday we had a family photoshoot in Hinckley. It was a nice fun day out in Hinckley for the fourteen(!) of us, shame the photos are so expensive to buy. We'll have to see how that goes. I have a feeling that it'll end up being too expensive to get many photos. Even the photo CDs (which admittedly do come with the copyright) are expensive.

Oh well. As I said, it was a fun excursion!

Date: 16th April 2010

We had a company breakfast today (thanks Ian!) and I've had more than my fair share of Gordon Blue ordering mishaps before, and in fact I've blogged about them, but today takes the biscuit.

Of an order of bacon and egg sandwich with red sauce all they managed to get right was bread.

What I ended up with was beans and cheese sandwich (on toasted bread) with some weird sauce. It looked like brown and red sauce mixed together and tasted about the same. I have no idea how they managed to get it so wrong. When I first got the sandwich in its brown bag, the following was written on it: "BE, extra bacon. R/S" Obviously this is supposed to be "Bacon and egg, extra bacon with red sauce". I even joked I'd probably end up with beans due to the "BE" but I didn't REALLY expect it.

Here's a picture for fun:

Date: 13th April 2010

I've always been annoyed/confused that kilogram(me) is the base unit of mass, too. I mean, base units should be single units, right? Everything else I can think of is in the single units: joules, metres, litres, so why was the unit mass defined to be a kilogram rather than a gram?

I've never really looked into it and my guess would be that if the unit mass was gram (i.e. 1 what-we-know-as-kg = 1 g) then most things in everyday life would have to be measure in the milligrams, but that's not a big deal is it? We do the same with water and it doesn't hurt anyone.

Anyone with me this time?

Date: 12th April 2010

I meant to write something of a big rant on the use of the word "calorie(s)" to mean "kilocalorie(s)" but I'm not sure I have it in me at the moment. Suffice it to say, it's surprising that food companies can get away with saying "Only 79 calories!" when they actually mean "Only 79,000 calories!"

On the back of the packets, the energy sections always (as far as I can remember) have the correct units, and I fully understand that using calories instead of kilocalories is just the thing that people do. But I still think that it is, strictly speaking, incorrect to advertise on the front of your packet of crisps or whatever that it's only 79 calories when it isn't.

Anyone with me?

Didn't think so.

Date: 9th April 2010

Last night's curry was very nice. No plans for the weekend, which I always like.

Date: 8th April 2010

Happy birthday to my auntie Susan and Manda's dad. Tonight we're going out for a curry to celebrate the milestone age of Manda's dad, it's all good.

Date: 6th April 2010

My Easter weekend went very well. We did most of the things on Thursday's list and a bit more, so it was quite full. I won the second game of bowling and we managed to have two curries over the weekend (one at 'Kamran Baltis' in Lye) so I'm really happy! And I have another one coming on Thursday. I could live off curry.

Date: 1st April 2010

Yesterday I met up with a friend from secondary school who I haven't seen for a couple of years now. She went down to Bristol for university, went to Australia for  some amount of time and now lives in Cardiff so it's not too much of a surprise I rarely see her but still. She's doing well for herself and it was a nice meal out.

As for the weekend, there are plans in place. Nothing major, just a spot of car fixing, bowling, visiting auntie, visiting mom and decorating. Sounds a lot more packed when you type it out!

Date: 29th March 2010

Saturday was the grand finale of the annual talent show at Austin Sports & Social Club. We go along to the final every year as it's always a bit of fun for the night. There were some rather entertaining acts this year - some guy called Gathan (from Quinton, woohoo) won for me this time around on star quality. His rendition of Smooth Criminal wasn't exactly perfect on the voice, but the MJ dance moves and the rest of his songs were very good. and entertaining He really should have taken the glove off for the non-MJ songs, though!

As it happened the winner was actually probably my fourth choice, but there you go. The judges always seem to have different ears to any of us!

Date: 24th March 2010

Yesterday we went to see Arthur & George at the REP. It's been some time since we've been to the REP but it's nice to get to go again. Thanks to Jackie at Homestart for the tickets.

The play was quite good. There was a secondary plot of Arthur's love interest (with Jean Leckie) which didn't really bother me - I think I could have done without it. The rest of the story was pretty good though. And it's based locally, which is always fun. I'd say I've seen better but it was pretty decent indeed.

Date: 22nd March 2010

My weekend was spent mainly lying down. I was ill. Apparently something that's going round at the moment (although why do I never find out about these things until I've just had them?) involving some not-so-nice bodily functions.

I'm just about over it hopefully and should be back on form by Wednesday wih any luck!

So yeah, I did nothing over the weekend.

Date: 19th March 2010

Richard: I saw the first advert on a billboard yesterday so I'm not sick of seeing them yet. Sounds mediocre.

Mark: I'm reading a book that Matt lent me (Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton) and while it's really good and I'm very into it, it's extremely long. And it's part of a three-book saga! The chapters are so long that they have sub-chapters and I can't even finish one chapter in a night's reading (30-60 mins normally).

Ian: You might be on to something there. I never realised it before but yes the M6 (and M5 heading towards the M6) is awful for drivers. Usually the middle-lane-hoggers. I'll try to remember to keep an eye out next time we're on the M42.

Date: 18th March 2010

Some kind person decided to give our car's image a little face lift last night. We woke up to a nice line of yellow paint across the passenger side. They also got the neighbour's car.

Luckily it was easily washed off with water, even from the paintwork and rubber bits.

Date: 15th March 2010

On Saturday we went to Pasta di Piazza and had a three course meal for Manda's auntie's birthday meal, and on Sunday we went to a pub in Derby for a three course meal for Mother's Day.

Suffice it to say that I didn't have any dinner last night.

Date: 11th March 2010

Richard stole my joke for his blog!

Which I stole from Ryan Carson.

Date: 9th March 2010

Driving down St Mary's Road today we noticed some serious roadworks. Looks like the pothole reporting site that Shaun linked to really works! Actually, the works looked a little heavier than pothole-filling but there did seem to be cones at every speed bump/pothole (one and the same).

Although oddly I've just received an e-mail from the council saying they're looking into it. It looks like an automated response save for the fact that it's six days later!

Date: 6th March 2010

Some have whole biospheres within the cream apparently, but I just saw a great advert. The opening line:

"Inspired by the science of genes"

Unfortunately, I automatically switched off after hearing that, so I'm not sure how they followed that, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had nothing to do with 'the science of genes'.

Date: 3rd March 2010

Thanks Shaun, I've just reported my first (of many?) pothole road! St Mary's Road, round the back of Harborne, is deadly. The material used for the speed bumps is rubbish and all the speed bumps are crumbling at the edges and the road suffers many potholes one and around the speed bumps.

As for Coventry, the whole map looks like it's in the wrong place if the blue is supposed to be sea. But, assuming it's just land-that's-not-included-on-this-map rather than coastline I think Coventry may well be in approximately the right place. I like the unlabelled Solihull, though.

But yes, the 'Direct Gov' map is extremely confusing and misleading!

Date: 2nd March 2010

Oops, Playstation 3s thought there was a leap year this year and subsequently messed up big time yesterday. But the problem magically fixed itself this morning when 'February 29th' was over, so all good I guess. How odd.

In other news, the weekend went nicely as expected. Manda's friend's flat in Wolverhampton is pretty cool. The living room is nice and big and it has a corner cut-out style door to the bedrooms. The place is much bigger than it looks from the outside.

Date: 26th February 2010

Tomorrow we're heading up to Wolverhampton to visit the new house of one of Manda's friends, and on Sunday we're having Sunday lunch with a couple of my friends.

Then it's back to work.

It'll go quickly.

Date: 24th February 2010

I'm looking forward to the curry tonight. That's about all I have to say.

Date: 22nd February 2010

We went to the Jewellery Quarter farmers' market again on Saturday. It was only a quick whizz through on our way back to the car from town but it's always quite pleasant. This time around I bought some bottles of beer and some pakora. The pakora was just because the guy I was buying the beer off was eating some pakora and I got hungry. It was very nice, as was the beer.

Date: 19th February 2010

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Date: 17th February 2010

We saw Avatar (in 3D) on Saturday evening. It was very good, we enjoyed it a lot. And 3D worked better than I thought it would, so I'm very happy there. It's a shame the screen has edges though, as the 3D effect can go a bit weird if something is big and comes out at you a lot and its edges are cut, etc.

Anyway, good film, I recommend it if you haven't see it yet.

Date: 15th February 2010

We went to the Clent Hills again yesterday. This time we went to a car park that Amie suggested we use. We had to pay for this one, but hey that's an extra £1 to the National Trust.

It was nice and sunny but it'd been raining overnight so it was a little muddy and we couldn't be bothered to put out muddable footwear on, so that meant a bit of cleaning at home. Oh well. I think I got a nice picture of the standing stones although I haven't yet had a look at my photos on a computer so I'll have to see.

Date: 14th February 2010

Happy Birthday Mom!

In other news, I managed to smack my hand down on the blunt end of a needle earlier. That's what I get for sticking a needle in the arm of the sofa.

Date: 9th February 2010

I made some bread on Saturday up in Derby. It's very easy and it turned out very nice. I think we may soon be investing in our own bread tin and maybe some more accurate scales.

Date: 8th February 2010

Well, in terms of functional productivity, nothing got done. On the other hand, the birthday meal at a Turkish restaurant in Syston was very good. Not exactly the focal point of the meal, but I love the way Turks do rice. It's just so good!

On Saturday, the beer festival was quite decent. Well, it would have been better if they'd had ciders, perries and the continental beers as Mom and Manda were looking forward to a perry or a fruit beer. The ale selection was also slightly misadvertised - they said "over 100" beers, but there were only 30 on at any time. Still, there were a couple of good ones, and some not-so-good ones. I had another go at Blue Monkey's '99 Red Baboons', and it was the nice one from the pub last week. And it gets a 5/5 in my non-existent book. I heartily recommend it!


Happy birthday Claire and Gavin F!