Jackson King V Demmelition Signature Model

Ever since Sonisphere, when I got to jam on the Jackson stage, there has been something missing in my life. Well, now I might be able to fill that gap. I found a local store who can get me one of these to look at this weekend. It is a signature series from Machine Head's Phil Demmel - comes with some astounding hardware and a flight case. It's a neck-through model (like my Kelly KE2) and has all the usual: shark inlays,Floyd Rose, ebony fret board and EMG active pickups. Will see how it plays tomorrow...

UPDATE: Hmmm, had a play but was not as impressed as I remember. Turns out this one was a very early model, and did not even have the hard case. Am thinking about it...

Win7 x64 BSOD - aswTdi.SYS

Oh dear - out of the blue (excuse the pun) I got this - seems some sort of Avast AV issue. Let's hope this is nto a sign of things to come and that they fix the issue quickly. To be fair though, this is the first and only one I have seen.

Dissertation Finished :)

I couldn't sleep, so instead of watching rubbish TV in bed I decided to work on my dissertation. Ended up completing it - WOOHOO! It is 123 pages (including appendices) and the official word count (excluding the bumf) is 15,158, which is pretty close to the 15k guideline. All I have to do now is print two copies and bind them and then submit them along with one electronic copy. I have to say - I am SO glad it is over, but I don't feel I can celebrate until it is handed in.

Kitchen Goes White

In preparation for the extension we wanted to overhaul the kitchen. First thing was to change the colour of the doors and woodwork. It was blue - and is now in the process of turning white. This turns out to be a lot of work! We spray-painted the doors and have been brush painting the rest of it. This would be a lot easier if the gloss paint did not require 16 hours to dry after each coat.... that's my lunch-break for the next few days sorted then!

Padstow Weekend

K and I made a impulse decision and drove to Padstow this weekend to see Grandma. We had a great time - drank champagne, walked around the town, visited an art show, listened to a Jazz concert and even managed a pint in the Red Lion and some of Mr. Stein's fish n' chips (we even managed to find room to eat-in this time). Only problem was having to leave...

Dell E6400

My new laptop came yesterday and today has been spent installing all the various bits and pieces needed on it for work. You forget quite how much you have until you have to set it all up again!

Braun 7 790

I finally got fed up of wet shaving when I am away on business - carrying everything through security at airports is a nightmare. So, I finally bought an electric shaver - the Braun 7 790. It comes with a stand that is also a cleaner and a travel pouch. Will see if it is as good as a wet shave when it arrives later this week. Update - it is good, but not as good as a wet shave.

Garden Swing/Parasol

We went to a garden centre this weekend to buy some bamboo cane. We came back with one of these :) A bit of an impulse buy but we got a fantastic deal for the last one in the store.

I'm trying to figure out how to get heating to it...

Quad Core

In an attempt to speed up video transcoding (I'm putting many of my DVDs on iTunes) I bought a new processor for my main machine today. I am upgrading from a Core 2 Duo 2.4 to a Core 2 Quad 2.88 (Q9550). Should be here early next week...

UPDATE: It's here - it's fast!

Windows 7

...it's here - downloading Ultimate x64 (and x86 in case) from MSDN as we speak...

Planning

It's official - our planning application for our kitchen extension is on - today our neighbours received their forms and we had this attached outside the property. It's slated for the Parish meeting next week - all seems well so far...

More details here: North Herts Planning Site

Sonisphere

Had a great weekend at Sonisphere (Knebworth's Rock Festival). Heard Metallica, Linkin Park, NIN, Paradsie lost - just to name a few. Only annoyance was that my phone was pinched on the last night :( Photos linked in title and vids on my youtube page.

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