Sunday In The City

Picked up Harriet from Lizzies this morning. Sounds like she had a great time, not much sleep though. Dylan was glad to have her back.

In the afternoon we to a trip into town for a walkabout. Loads of things happening. A German wine festival, an great outdoor exhibition of large ariel photography, a street entertainers competition, Sportsfest in Centenery Square and Discovery Day at the ICC. We walked around it all. In Victoria Square the kids ran around over a huge map of the world. Harriet enjoyed the challenge of trying to find places we suggested to her. In the ICC we went into Symphony Hall a listened to an organ recital. Harriet seemed quite impressed.

Didn't put much stuff in boxes this weekend. Should I be worried?

Bubbles!

Following swimming lessons, we dropped Harriet up to her friend Lizzie for her birthday party and then sleepover. Asked Dylan where he wanted to go this afternoon and he said, "Saundersfoot". It's a bit far to the Pembrokeshire coast from Birmingham.

Paul phoned. Needing computer help. So went over. Pleasant sitting out on their new decking, scoffing pesto pizza. Can't do much with the pooters as all my disks are at work.

Bought Spidey 2 game for the Gamecube. Dyl was having fun swinging about. Wouldn't let me have a go! Then t'wife took over and she NEVER lets me have a go!

Day ends with me reading the paper in the garden while Dyl blows huge bubbles all over me.

Week Ends With A Whimper

No beers last night as it turned out both Mike and I are on the same drugs. Him for the neck and me for the knee. What a sorry pair we are! No matter. Good to see him as always.

Office less fun today for the obvious reasons. I'm now getting mad at myself for being mad. I SO need to rise above this but it ain't so easy.

Popped a couple of samples under the radar to keep up the creative push.

Phils iPod is sweet. Apparently recharges through the USB. I wonder if mine will do that? Need to get myself a cable when the new laptops arrive with USB 2.0 onboard.

Finishing at lunchtime then over to Mom & Dads for a visit. Hopefully catch the Olympics opening ceremony later on TV. I do enjoy a spectacle. See if I can get the kids enthusiastic for it.

A Good Office Day

Today I would say, was a good office day. Good dose of healthy bitching with Phil about the general state of things. The new laptops look like they've not been spec'd right. Another victory for our leader!

Anyway, the day was Beard-free so a light, care-free atmosphere surrounded our natural-break chats which ranged from the afore mentioned bitching through to creative endevours of many types. High point of the morning must have been notice of the arrival of Phils iPod! Much rejoicing was to be heard.

Managed to get in a lunchtime walk. Nice and brisk. Me, Phil and Adrian. Sun shining but not for long. The heavens soon opened over Coventry and Phil captured it here.

Dave was over from Worcester this afternoon for chats with managers about his future within the company. Can't work out if he's staying or going. Hope he stays as he's one of the good 'uns I reckon. Phil and I drooled over his laptop screen rez of 1400 by 1040. It sure looked sweet and crisp. Hopefully our new ones look as good.

Doc appointment to sign off my knee. No problem. Then I stupdily went and asked about 'the snip'. Before I knew what was going on, he'd got his dictaphone out and was busy dictating a letter referring me to the local hospital. So now I'll be getting a letter in the post! Shit! That was quick! Can't we take a moment and talk about this?!!!

Round to Mikes tonight to see how he is and nod to a few tunes (and maybe drink a beer or two).

Back On Track

Phew! Skipped a day blogging yesterday due to evening spent tweaking my flickr accounts. Managed to fuck it all up and actually DELETED one account! What a complete tool! Thankfully the lovely people at Ludicorp sorted me out (Thanks George!). So tonight it's all back on track. Uploaded some more pictures and STOPPED all tweaking.

Day on site at Hemel. Swopped out a PC that needs a rebuild. Fixed a few snags, well I say snags but really they're extras. Little bits the client wants adding. Got to keep 'em sweet.

Text with Mike. He's off work with some neck/nerve problem. Try and see him tomorrow night and see how he is. Says he got some tracks/ideas to play me.

Phils reports on the laptops aren't looking too promising. Once again dissapointment looks inevitable. But in saying that, during a break today I scanned through the latest Siemens UK newspaper and found myself heartened to be working for such a varied and interesting company. I just don't work in an interesting bit yet. Hopefully, emphasis on the YET. Any company that comes up with the Dressman has got to be quite cool. Don't ya think?

More Fun With Flickr

Kids Go Crazy

Tonights blog entry is via flickr as I happened to be uploading a few more of my favourite pics from our recent holiday in Wales.

Working on site this afternoon wasn't as tough as expected as the bug was spotted almost immediately and the fix simple. Got home nice and early. Harriet playing over at Lizzies and sleeping over. Bet she's having a ton of fun. She's probably still awake chatting as I write this. Jacq and Dyl are picking them up in the morning and they're all off to the cinema.

Managed to blag a couple of samples inbetween paperwork in the office this morning. Unfortunately some system somewhere stripped the zip off the mail when I tried to send them home. Oh well. I'll have to get myself a memory key.

Surrounded By Cardboard Boxes (Updated)

Have had to dismantle the dining table to enable the front room to be the main storage area for the growing number of cardboard boxes. Although normal at the moment I'm sure life in the house will start to get more inconvenient as stuff dissappears into boxes. But the computers stay on till the end! Heaven help us when the broadband connection is cut!

Decided to sell the kids playhouse as it's too small for them. No point moving it to the new place. Jacq has her eye on a new playhouse. One that we can all fit in. That will be fun.

Still taking the tablets for my knee. Still hurting but I'm fully mobile so mustn't grumble.

Trip to the dump this afternoon I think. Better get back to stuffing things into boxes then.

Later that day...

Dump trip ain't happening cos it's just too hot and sweaty to sit in a massive queue of cars surrounded by smelly refuse. I'll do it after work one night this week. More stuff is now in boxes.

Paul & Lyn came round. Haven't seen them for weeks. Not much news. They've just booked to go away at Christmas. Dubai then Australia. Cost a fortune. If I had that kind of cash I still wouldn't to do anything like that. No offence to those countries, I just ain't interested. But who's interested in my opinion anyway.

Kids in bed. Seems like there's no air in the house. Head's thumping but I can't take any Ibuprofen cos it clashes with the anti-inflammatry drugs. Doc said it would cause my stomach to burst. Nice.

Test Blog Entry From Flickr

Dylan In Eden
Originally uploaded by Tingy.

Just checking out my new account at flickr. From what I've seen so far, I must say that I'm well impressed with the whole flickr concept and website. It's well worth a try for free. Give it a go. www.flicker.com

Housemaids Knee!

I thought I had blogged from my phone but something must have gone astray so let's get up to speed...

Down on site for a few days this week. Work under control, no issues. Mad storms around London. Driving around the M25 was a lightning show. At the end of day 1 my knee felt sore as I got into bed and proceeded to wake me through the night. In the morning I noticed it was red and tender to the touch. Had a bit of trouble putting weight on it. By the end of day 2 I was running a temperature. I was in obvious need of anti-biotics. Day 3 didn't really have much work for me but you've got to keep the client happy haven't you? I was away off site by lunchtime and Jacq made me an afternoon appointment with the Doc.

Got home after a right tough drive. Knackered and feeling the sweats again. Jacq and the kids had enjoyed a stop-over last night at Marys. Harriet had so much fun and such a late night that she was spark out on the sofa.

The consult with the Doc led to swift diagnosis. Housemaids Knee. No!!! Please, a sting or a bite at least. I said, "You can't call it that! It MUST have a techie name?" As he wrote the offending phrase in my records I demanded he replace it with its proper name Prepatellar Bursitis. Doc seemed convinced it wasn't infected but I protested my case and got some anti-biotics for the fever feelings.

Spent the evening gently. Jacq busy boxing books using my new tool, a packing tape sealer! Top job, kids wanted lots of goes sealing the boxes with tape. Spoke with Dad who told me that Rene had broken her leg in 3 places! That put's all in perspective then doesn't it? He laughed when I told him this story.

It seems that a possible move date may the 27th of this month. That focuses the mind. It's a bad time to get restricted movement. So I'll just have to to stop being so gay and get stuff done.

I WAS thinking of working from home tomorrow but I'm going to be feeling too shitty. When I phone in sick I MUST remember to NOT call it Housemaids Knee!

Old Friend Makes Contact

Overnight I got Moon Safari by Air off Soulseek. Heard it in a store yesterday. This morning I'm driving to work listening to it on my iPod. Ain't technology wonderful? Also got Horse With No Name by America. Haunted by that tune. Been humming the La La La bits to myself all day
Not exactly a bad day in the office I suppose. The Beard was back and was roundly ignored by everybody. Nat was in. Probably won't see him again as he leaves on Thursday and I'm out on site. Updated Adrian with the mods I'd done to his project. Preparing kit for a couple of days on BPA sites. Lunchtime walk entertaining. New name for Mavis is Princess. Sometimes just general workplace piss-taking is as funny as any comedian. The general comedy of life I suppose.
Got email in the afternoon from Andy. Good to hear from him. And glad to know that he hasn't fallen out with me. Got another mail from him at home. Sounds like all is well with them. Must try and meet up with him sometime. A drinkie would be good if we could organise it.

Sat & Sun Summary

Saturday morning a bit rough following previous evening drinkie (see previous post for evidence), eased into things with a bit of post-breakfast Photoshop action. Decision made to grab small moments to continue creative activities ("putting the hours in"). Working on the new tingy 2.0 website, pleased with the results of an hours dabble.
Midday swimming lessons for the kids. It was Dylans second lesson and he was way better than the two other newbies in the class. In the changing room I told him how proud of him I was and he replied, "what's proud mean?" He talked me into agreeing to go swimming again in the morning. I could not refuse his enthusiasm.
Rest of day occupied with the usual chores. Following the groceries run, got dragged into ToysRUs and got fleeced for 50 quid. Feel like a ripped off mug in a street gambling setup. But with a receipt.
Jacq made me watch Down With Love, not exactly bad I suppose, but I'd rather have had another blast on Photoshop.

So, Sunday morning and though I didn't much feel like it either I dragged t'wife out of bed and down to the swimming baths. Good fun once in there. Dyl discovered putting his head underwater with Harriets goggles on. Had to take of his floats so that he could get under as much as he wanted. Treated ourselves to McBreakfast afterwards.
Popped into town later for a walkabout. Lovely sunny day. Deckchairs were out in the Bullring. I tried to use a book token I've had in my wallet since Feburary but still nothing grabbed my attention. Picked up some notebooks in Paperchase sale. Down to a quid each these beauties were full of lots of different style lined pages. Hopefully another tool in the creative toolkit.
Back home I got busy breaking up our crappy old chest of drawers and taking them down the dump along with various bits of trash from under the stairs. Full car but I'll need to do it again next week to finish the job.

And that's about it for this weekend. Kids are in bed and it's just a couple of hours of relaxing for us then another weekend is done.

Making Connections (Caution! Involves Rambling!)

Checking Phils blog I was once again struck by the connections he makes out to other blogs and sites. I decided to follow through a bunch of blog links and found myself back at two sites I had checked on the very first day that I set about blogging. They were Memoria Technica and Gaping Void. On the Gaping Void site I was drawn to an old post called 'How To Be Creative'. In the post I found point three hit home very hard.

"3. Put the hours in.

Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. 90% of what seperates successful people and failed people is time and stamina."

I know that I've said this line before to myself and others but tonight it struck me hard, almost like I'd never realised it before. If it's true (and I know that it is), where does that leave me? Because I know that time is the one currency I don't have much to spend. It's an obvious truth that greatness cannot be achieved in a lunchbreak but believing that it can gives some small comfort to me. I'll never shake off the dreams of doing something that outlasts me. Something that can impact on others that I don't know. I HAVE to believe that I can attempt stuff even on a very small scale otherwise it all looks a bit hopeless. Creativity, expression, call it whatever is good for mental health. To feel that you're making some sort of mark gives a kind of validity that helps negate the final truth that in the end it's all meaningless.

This could of course all be wine fuelled rambling. But wouldn't that make it even more valid in an uninhibited kind of way? I don't know. YOU DECIDE.

Sunny And Dull At The Same Time

Work involved a drive to Hemel for a meeting about snags. Planned site work for 3 days next week. At least that means Jacq can plan on some car usage next week. The driving was tough due to loads of traffic. Made bearable only buy air conditioning and general bantering with Stuart.

Props to Phil for ordering his iPod today with the proceeds of his brouchure design work for the Staffordshire Creative County Guide. Nice work.

More motorway chaos on the way home. A cool bath soothed and refreshed. Bit of telly. Bit of puter. Half a day tomorrow then hurrah, it's the weekend.

Hellboy

Picked up Jacq and the kids from Marys on my way home from the office. All the cousins were there running wild around the place. Apparently Jimi is working for Sony now. Wonder if his employee discount rate is any better than Andys was. That reminds to drop Andy a line. It's been ages.

Steve next door passed me a copy of Hellboy on DVD. Top quality rip version. Watched the movie late into the night. Doesn't maintain the excitement level that the trailers suggested but then what movie ever does? Not many. The Matrix maybe. Anyway, enjoyed Hellboy, good fun, cool characters.

Egghead Is Dead

I really meant to blog this last night but was up till past midnight packing away the last of the CD's into boxes. Dad phoned to tell me an old school friend had died. I wasn't suprised that I felt nothing. I haven't seen the guy for 20 years. A wasted life. I watched from quite close up as he seemed to deliberately choose a different path through our school years. We had been good friends for ages. He was really smart. Then one day on the way to school he said, "I think it's time I started having some fights". I'll always remember that phrase. Completely unnecessary. From that point he was on a slippery slope down into the abyss. Violence, thieving, glue, homelessness, chaos. I haven't given it any thought over the years but now I do, I can't see why it happened that way. Oh well. His choice. See ya Eugene.

Post-Holiday Monday Morning Office Blues

Back in the office. Phil not in (bummer). Beard not in (hurrah!). No news reported as predicted. No sign of the new laptops (was I really expecting any?). MUST try to get back into the work groove.

Tested out email text from phone into the blog. Worked OK but the post title is just a default that can be editied later. Hopefully phone blog will be useful in the future when out on site.

Suppose I should read some more emails.

MMail Message

test blog entry by phone.

The Return Of Tingy

Last night I checked out my old domain name at lowcostnames and found to my suprise that the domain was available once more! The previous arrangement between freenetname and nominet had obviously expired. So I grabbed my Switch card and signed up for a 2 year registration for just seven quid plus vat. Bargain.

This morning I uploaded a quick page of text as a statement of intent. I've not managed to grab enough time throughout the rest of today to develop a new home page yet but the thoughts have been swirling around the brain and I'm confident that a new design will form over the coming week via scribbled sketches and Photoshop dabblings.

So, watch out! Tingy's back! CLICK!

Not exactly looking forward to returning to the office tomorrow. Being away for a week feels like a long time and I always expect great changes. But of course, nothing ever does.

Just before bed tonight I told Dylan that I was going back to work in the morning. He whispered in my ear, "Will you miss me?". He has no idea how much!

...And We're Back

Back today from a week in Pembrokeshire. A great holiday which could have been even better if the weather had let us play on the beach as much as I'd hoped. Yes, the good old British summertime really did not deliver for us this time. Still, much fun was had by all. The kids got their first taste of a caravan holiday and I was reminded why I had a gut-instinct aversion to the whole idea! Maybe that's a bit unfair, but my god! I had to back out of the toliet into the hallway to get enough room to pull my kecks up! The caravan site was nice. Better than I remember them. It had a nice little indoor swimming pool which the kids loved and we made full use of. I also enjoyed the steam room. Tried the sauna but didn't like it as much.

Saundersfoot was a really nice little place with a cute harbour and beach. Tenby didn't do that much for me but was ok. Narberth was a groovy little town with lots of nice arty shops. Bought myself a sculpture of a head which I'm going to call 'Head'. Here is a picture of him. I don't know the name of the artist but the woman in the shop Jellyegg said that he is an Irish bloke who lives in Kent.

We didn't explore Pembrokeshire completely but we really liked it and definitely intend to return for another holiday in that area. Just probably in a cottage next time!

We're All Going On A...

Friday night at the start of a holiday is a nice place to be. Looking forward to being away, playing on the beach, reading the last part of Harry Potter 5 which I've been saving, taking some photographs, looking at the world around me, thinking creative thoughts, relaxing.

Got Organic Art Deluxe in post today. Cool eBay purchase. 99P plus postage. Top bargain. Boxed and shrink-wrapped. I've always wanted to have a play with it. Even though it's not exactly cutting edge anymore it was still lots of fun.

I'm enjoying the Firefox browser experience. It's very quick and efficient. I think I'm sold. Try it at http://getfirefox.com

In a meeting this afternoon, the concept of Siemens installed ADSL line for engineers who wish to would like to work at home part-time was floated and met with much agreement around the office. I've registered my interest and we'll see what happens. I won't start to nag until we've moved house.

Lots of Spidey ads on the telly tonight. Both Jacq and me saying how much we want to see it again. Roll on the DVD. Hopefully before christmas?

Loaded up the GBA with a couple of games for the holiday. Wario Ware, Pokemon Pinball and Harvest Moon. I actually played the pinball game for 20 minutes. The longest I've ever held a GBA. Made my thumbs ache. Fun though.