We found out late this morning that Sebastian was run over on Tuesday morning - about an hour after we last saw him. From what we understand it was instant and he did not suffer at all. K and I are devastated but at least we know what happened to him. We'll miss him a lot...
K last saw Sebastian on Tue morning - since then he has not been home. He has, in the past, gone walkabout for up to 48 hours...but never this long. We called all of the vets in the area but none of them have him (good I think). He is microchipped so if someone does find him we should get a call. Hopefully he is just out hunting but we are worried he is trapped or has been hit by a car/train. Fingers crossed he'll stroll in some time soon and wonder what all the fuss is...
I forgot to mention - we were out for Chinese on Mon night and spotted Anthony Hamilton and family at a table a few down from ours. No Lewis unfortunately but I guess he may have been recovering from the recent Grand Prix and his blowout. What with these guys and the Friday Night Project chap last week I am becoming a bit of a celebrity spotter - must take camera next time!
This weekend saw another of the Lytton's famous beer festivlas. We took our new neighbours L and C along for a couple of pints. Amongst the highlights were the Ginger beer (not ginger-beer, but ginger flavoured real beer - more of an after-taste) and the sunshine - when it was out. Among the lowlights were the bland sausages and the clouds.
K, A and I went to the Bennington Worship Chilli Festival on Sunday. This is its second year and there were nearly double the number of stalls. Between us we bought 7 plants, numerous jars of chilli related things and whilst there tried numerous chilli-treats and sipped mint-tea. A very nice day out... I am totally glad to have another Thai-Dragon plant as it produces some seriously hot fruit :)
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I was in Torquay last week and whilst there I heard news that the 'Black Perl' from 'Pirates of the Carribean' was in town. So - after work I went to the quay and had a look. It turns out that the ship is the Bounty and, despite a very good Captain Sparrow lookalike wandering around, the ship was not the Perl. It was in the film however..... Nice ship!
Whilst driving to the hotel last night I spotted Lustleigh on the map - this is where my 'Nonny and Grandad' used to live. Feeling nostalgic I turned off and went for a visit. I don't think I have been here for 10 years or more and it was the most perculiar feeling turing ever corner to a scene you had long forgotten but were totally familiar with. Whilst there I walked thorugh the park I spent days playing in, visited their old house and even popped into the local pub where they are still remembered. I stumbled accross the bench that Grandad put up when Nonny died - just next to the stream I spent hours fishing in. I also found their grave in the churchyard where my parent were married and (I think) I was baptised. A slightly emotional but totally rewarding experience. It is nice to remember them...
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I've been down in the West Country this week - namely Bristol, Exeter and Torquay. Working hard on our new WebSite Management tool. Whilst here I managed to hook up with a few friends. Firstly I went for drinks with C from Uni and her friend C. It's been 7 years since I last saw her and amazingly she seems not to have changed one bit. It was great to catch up (and endulge myself in some Darwin-Bashing). The next evening I hooked up with S, who I try and see every time I am in Bristol. We had a good night that involved choc-milkshakes and gourmet-burgers! We also saw a famous person - the long haired one from Friday Night Project. Am now in Torquay but staying in Exeter before heading home tomorrow...
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Oh Dear - I was doing so well, the gadget deamon in me has been quiet for so long. Until this afternoon. Canon released details of the 40D which will be available in a few weeks time (link in title). It offers a similar 10.1MPix sensor as the 400D but has much more control and a better ISO/Noise ratio. How tempting! BE GONE YOU GADGET DEVILS!!!
So, thanks to the ever useful chaps at xda-developers I hack-flashed my TyTN to WM6. It took about 15 mins in total and has bought a whole range of nice tweaks and visual improvements. Unfortunately the skin-theme is still green though! Whilst scrabbling around to re-install all my cab files I came across Google Maps for PPC. This is fantastic. If you have an address associated with a contact you right-click and it takes you directly to the map - FANTASTIC!
In Sweden there is a time of year when people enjoy crayfish parties (I presume that this ties in with crayfish season - link in title above). Well, K - with her new-found love of nearly all things seafood - has decided that *we* need a crayfish party. She sites being homesick, wanting to be more Swedish, and tradition but I know that she just wants an excuse to stuff her face full of mini-lobsters :) In order to prepare for this we went to IKEA twice (yes *TWICE*) to pick up packs of crayfish and all the other decorations, bibs and accessories in order to make our party genuine. There was only one hitch - we had to empty our freezer of just about everything else in order to fit the crayfish in... Party is this weekend - will let you know how it goes.
For those of you out there that do not instantly understand the context of this title please skip to the next post. For those that do - this is the answer to your MP questions. Finally a scientific and accurate answer to one of life's GREAT questions.... http://style.org/unladenswallow
I have just had an hour-long visit with the tutor for MSc Project Management at Herts University. The course (click link above) seems perfect for where I want to position myself over the next few years. As such I have applied.... It is such a long time since I went to Uni I forgot how niggly the application process can be. Anyway - presuming I get accepted, I'll start in Oct.
K and I went to our usual Mon night Yoga class yesterday (yes, I know , I know, you think me doing Yoga is funny). K has been doing Yoga for years but I only started a few months back - half to support her but also to try and cure me being the most unflexible person in the world (that and an achy knee). Anyway - it dawned on me last night that I am actually quite enjoying this. Not only does it allow me to seriously stretch out once a week but it also is a bit of a workout. We have two teachers - our usual gives a very relaxed - stretchy class. However, the stand-in does a much harder and faster paced class. Needless to say I was not the only one perspiring like mad yesterday. So, there you go - me and Yoga - weird hey!
We had a very busy weekend. Sat started with the gym (I know! On a weekend!). We then did a food shop, took the cats to the vet and then headed into Ikea for some more food shopping (I got an orange laptop bag - nice). After we returned we went to Mr C's for a BBQ dinner - which went well until we accidentally scorched one of his patio dors on his security light. Sun was just as busy - it started at 08:00 with a call from work :( Once up we washed K's car (it needed it), did a load of gardening and openend the TIKI Bar for an afternoon of BBQ, beers and F1. We finished the night at our next-nextdoor neighbours for a few end-of-weekend drinks. Very nice indeed. All of that and the temp peaked at around 30C - it was gorgeous!
My MINI is in for its 45,000 mile service today. A lot of miles for a car still under 2 years old! I have to admit I have been very surprised with the MINI so far - no real let downs and only one niggle when the clutch started to click (I had a new clutch and gearbox FOC within 4 days of me noticing the problem and a seemless switch to another MINI for the duration). It has started every morning, been excellent on the motorways and the toys, oh the toys, have all worked fine and kept me entertained non stop. In fact in 45k miles it has needed 4 new tyres (total cost £220), 2 new windscreens (hardly its or my fault) a couple of bits of replacement trim (done when it is in for service) and a whole load of petrol. The servicing was paid for all up front amking this the most hassle free and cheap car I have ever owned. I hope it does its last 15k in the same style - if so a new new MINI may be on the shopping list.
Some new neighbours moved in a few months back and are proving to be quite annoying. They have a drive (which they use) but they insist on reserving the spaces on each side of the drive for their own use. Nothing wrong with that I hear you say - the problem is that they use a car and a motorbike, one on each side to extend their drive entrance by some 4 metres and in doing so remove 2 further parking spaces from the road - in effect taking 3 spaces for one house. This has of course caused annoyance all round. The other day I dumped my MINI outside their house for 4 days. This however seems to have angered them - they now play tag, replacing the car on the street with the one on the drive (leaving the drive empty - as in the pic below). It is frustrating - but it must be even more annoying having to synchronise your car movements all the time ;)
On Sat K and I went to 'Smart - Destination Brooklands', a replacement for the old London to Brighton run. We met at the local dealers for breakfast and to see the new For2 for the first time. We then convoyed along the M25 to Brooklands with 30 or so other Smarts. Once there we joined around 1,000 other Smart cars. The actual event itself was not great - the queues for driving the new car were over an hour long and there was not an aweful lot to do. Anyway, we had a nice lunch in the Gull-Wing restaurant, wandered around some static displays and eventually left after 3 hours or so. Still, it was fun to be a part of it.
BTW - we should have won the competition for dirtiest Smart. We must have been the *only* car that was not clean - the shame!
Last night, presumably as I was bad or something, my wife beat me...with my own car! Yes, it is true - the MINI was used as a weapon to infict maximum damage on me. She waited until I was standing underneath the boot, arms full of shopping, before she *JUMPED* with all her weight and *SLAMMED* the bootlid onto my shoulder. Luckily I didn't drop the wine. Needless to say I had a sleepless night - both through the agony of the bruising and the FEAR of a repeat attack!
'k ok - the image above is not *actually* me. I don't visably bruise much so I had to resort to someone else's injuries to emphasise my own...
The last two nights have been my first official meetings as a Councillor. Tue was a Planning Committeee and last night a Village Hall one followed by a General Finance and Planning. I have to admitt they were fairly interesting - although I am shocked at the procedures and cost of putting up xmas lights in the village. I have been asked to choose which committies to affiliate with and am going to chose the Planning and F&GPC - they appear to be the most interesting and the ones in which I feel I can contribute. Councillor Haigh is enjoying this...
As I am working this weekend I figured I wouldn't be able to watch the Grand Prix so set up the Sky+ to record it. However, it turns out that the building I am working in has a full on projector - see below. Awesome! Not only that but I got the hear Murry Walker saying "go go go" once mroe time thanks to 5Live. And what a Grand Prix too......
I am shattered! Those of you that know me well know that mornings and I do not mix. At the moment I am in Nottingham where I have been since Wed. Last night we went live on a new system which meant I was in from midday until 03:00 this morning. After 3 hours sleep I was up again at 07:30 for another full day....ug! Red Bull appears to only be giving me the jitters and not actually staving off tiredness......maybe Starbucks will work???
I just finished watching a very cool film. If you enjoyed the futility and horror of "Children of Men" then you may well like "Right At Your Door". Low budget but a hard hitter. The reviews are mixed but for £5.99 delivered (link above) I don't think you can go far wrong. Note - not for those who suffer from nightmares!
I upgraded my WiFi today to the latest firmware - link in title. Always hassle with these Netgear units as you have to reset to factory afterwards and then re-programme. Annoying as I use a 10.0.0.x network in place of the default 192.168.1.x which means I have to physically connect to it to reconfigure
