I have been playing around with HRD images again. It involves taking a bracketed series of photos and under/over exposing them. The software then compresses the information to a single image. Here you can see before (a normally exposed photo) and after (the HRD one).
I met an architect last night to look at this property we are thinking of buying. The meeting went quite well and most things seem to be achievable with maybe a few points that might snag with planning. The biggest problem seems to be creating a 4th bedroom. External 2 story extension would be expensive and not provide an ideal layout which leaves the roof. This could be great but there is little scope for access from the 2nd floor. At this point it became tricky. I think it is do-able, but the problem will be trying to create another room without destorying an existing one in the process. Anyway, we now have an idea of cost so it's a case of sell ours and make an offer...
We travelled all the way to Norwich on Sat night to go and see S&E's house and attend their housewarming / engagement party. After figuring out that their place was in what my sat-nav thought was an empty field (and I am running the latest maps!) we eventually, with the help of a Policeman, found their house. Turns out it is about 3 miles up the road from Lotus - cool! Awesome house with a bar/games room on the 3rd floor. Had a great time and look forward to going back. By the way - the party was Bond themed - we don't dress up like E here every day...
So, we had our first set of viewings this weekend. We had 4 booked on Sat and 1 on Sun. By the end of the weekend we had a cancellation, a last minute (drive-by) cancellation, a re-schedule, 2 actual viewings (one good, one mediocre) and two more booked in for today and tomorrow... Exhausting!
UPDATE: just had another viewing - hard to tell if they liked it or not - some people are difficult to read!
Last week (just as we put the house on the market) the ***** kitten knocked over a pot plant upstairs scattering thick and damp (recently watered) mud all over the carpet in one of our rooms. To make matters even worse he then figured that the mud smelled like outside and took a pee on it! So, 4 days before we have viewings we have two large patches of dark stain on our cream coloured carpets that we cannot clean up.... and it smells a bit. I was NOT happy. LUCKILY - I have just said goodbye to a carpet cleaning company who successfully got all the stains out and more importantly all the smell. In fact the carpets are as good as new - thank God! Cat will live for another day...
So, you've seen my little map on the right of the blog. I notice there are now more USA hits than European these days. Weird - seeing as I only know a few ppl in the States (hej L&P!!) So, if you are popping by for a visit leave me a comment and let me know where you are from (and how you came to be reading my blog), I'd be interested to know....
So - my first semester appears to have been good. I did two modules, both requiring coursework and exam passes. I have not got the exam grades yet but I do have the coursework grades...
Principles of Project Management - 70% (A3)
Project Budgeting and Scheduling - 65% and 75% average of 70% (A3)
So, a straight A student so far - not bad eh ;) I am actually pretty chuffed...
PS - got 4 viewings on the house for the weekend - nice!
Things ARE happening quickly today. Vet just called and Rasmus is fine - everything went to plan. He'll be ready to pick up early this afternoon. Hope he forgives me... Other news - having the HIP done on the house as we speak....
UPDATE: Rasmus has been back for a couple of hours now and has a feocious appetite and seems perfectly normal. Notice the little bald patch on his leg where the needles were in him.
Having had the house on the market for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes we have had our first viewing request. Other news - Rasmus made it to the vet's this morning without incident and as we speak is being turned from Mr. Cat into simply ... Cat :(
K and I have put our house on the market - why I hear you ask? Well, we have found a house along the road that *MIGHT* be suitable for a new project. A lot depends on what the architects and planning say and how the money side works out but we hope it is possible. Watch this space for updates.
Meanwhile if anyone would like a prestine Victorian semi-detached cottage, 3 beds, attic study, new kitchen and bathroom, timber garden studio, private garden and open fireplaces then get in touch - yours for £310,000. Comes with free instant social life courtesy of the 'Village People' - like being at Uni whilst not...oh, hang on - I still am....
The b****y cat. He was due in today for neutering. We kept him in overnight and removed all food. This morning we let him out to pee and he came straight back thinking it was breakfast time. All good so far. Anyway - we were not going to give him breakfast and it was too early to go to the vets so we mulled around tidying. I went outside and he followed which was fine because at this point he was just after food and we figured he'll stick around. However, after 5 mins he got bored meowing for food and bolted into next door's garden and would not come back. Even teh magic food whistle was not working. 15 mins later he returned but at this point we could not guarantee he had not eaten anything..... So, we had to cancel the vet visist. A lucky escape... ...for now!!!
Well, the new server is installed - of course I had to take it apart first to see how it was done. Nice packaging actually. I now have 1TB of networked storage, auto backups of all my machines and a place to store all my itunes - not bad. Add to that a perfect first time print server and a way to connect from the outside world and I am quite pleased actually.
With one exam gone and the other over in two days I have finally ordered my Windows Home Server (I was waiting so as not to distrupt my revision). I opted for a pre-built HP Mediasmart EX475 as it comes in a VERY nice looking box and has several useful extras included (such as an iTunes aggregator and server). Due to arrive tomorrow - I have also taken the liberty of ordering a 2GB RAM stick to up the measly 512MB it comes with ;)
Had my first exam today for my masters. Project Budgeting and Scheduling was scheduled to last 2 hours. I left after 1:20 as a very happy chap. Either exams got easier in the last 10 years or finally my revision methods are paying off (I like to think the later). I was very content that I knew all the answers to all the questions. I guess the real decider is if I added enough details and did not miss anything....
I am revising for the rest of the week - have got an exam on Mon and one on Wed. Wish me luck...
I've always wanted to do this - open up a HDD, plug it in and see everything spinning. So, with a recent physical corruption issue on an old laptop drive I took the oppertunity. Actually, I bent the heads on the way out so although it spins I couldn't get the heads seeking.... It was interesting though.
We finally joined the rest of society today by purchasing one of these:
Not guessed what it is yet? Does this help:
Yes - you guessed - we got a Dyson!
Now, let's see what all the fuss is about...
A good day yesterday. Back to Uni for one last lecture before exams and we were given our results from our first piece of coursework. I got the highest mark in the class - an A3! Not bad for my first ever essay style piece of work. The only weakness noted was that my style and language used is more of a magazine style instead of an academic. Will have to look into that to see where I can improve. In other news I managed to finish Guitar Hero 3 last night - a very difficult battle with the Devil nearly beat me but I stuck in there an beat the game (on medium mode for now).
Better late than never - here are the pics from New Year's Eve - link in title. We had a great time with excellent food and plenty of champagne.
Forgot to add that I saw several of these signs in Sweden. They warn you not to take your bin in the lifts in case it attacks you! Apparently there have been a few occurances...
