Capering to the Simpletons since 1976!

Wifey is ill...

2008-11-17T22:40:34Z

First me, now it's her turn.

We hate being sick.

My dad is coming this weekend, so hopefully he'll get it too! Buwahahahaha!

geordieyankee @ 2008-10-23T10:14:00

2008-10-23T09:30:46Z

01. What's the last TV show you saw?
Pardon the Interruption

02. What are you wearing at the moment?
Sweatpants, blue shirt.

03. Who is/was your favorite cartoon character?
The Brain (and Pinky).

04. What is your favorite scent?
how specific...I would say Cool Water by Davidoff.

05. What is your favorite drink?
Depends. I like lots, from wine to beer to water. But my death row drink would be Coca Cola with lots of ice.

06. What do you drink the most?
Water. Usually sparkling.

07. What is your favorite food?
My favorite cuisine is Indian. For a specific food, it would be good pizza or a good Thanksgiving dinner.

08. What is your favorite Disney movie?
Pirates of the Caribbean. I try to avoid Disney, as they are a truly evil company that gives off Nazi creep vibes.

09. What did you want to be when you grew up?
WWI fighter pilot, 3rd baseman for the Red Sox, or starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.

10. What mythological figure are you?
Thor. And I'm no myth...

11. *Changed question* What animal do you identify with?
At the moment, Bernie, who has come up for a huge purr-filled cuddle.

12. What 3 people would you invite to dinner?
I'd prefer to eat at a fancy restaurant with just the wife...

13.What is your current desktop?
a photo of the Angel of the North that the Wife took from the allotment.

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
no one tagged me.

15. What are you afraid of?
the unknown.

16. What's your favorite item of clothing?
My lucky Red Sox jersey.

17. What are you into right now?
Unleash the Force. Cool game.

18. What did you do today?
So far I have slept and then fed the cats, before the uber cuddle with Bernie.

19. What do you want?
Health, wealth, happiness. The usual.

20. What should you be doing right now?
making breakfast.

21. What's the meaning behind your LJ username/name/nicknames you go by?
A combo of my nationalities.

An appropriated blog....

2008-09-04T08:05:53Z

originally posted by author Christopher Moore at www.myspace.com/theauthorguy:

Vice President Whaaaaa?

From Time Magazine...

Stein is the former mayor of the town Palin was mayor of:

"Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

Ban books because the words might seem inappropriate to some people? Fuck that.

"A proven reformer who has stood up against special interest," they say. They don't say that special interest she stood up against was reading.

Here's the full article:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html

Here's a quote from the librarian in the Times:
New York Times

..................

Terrifying that this idiot might be President someday soon. Worse that Quayle. Unreal.

"Someone Bless America..."

Manny Being Manny

2008-07-31T20:21:20Z

I know he's a distraction and all. But I'm glad he's staying for 08, and hopefully 09 and 10 as well.

Go SOX!!!

Apparently this is meant to be serious...

2008-07-19T13:21:11Z

http://www.therepublicansong.com/about.html

Funniest thing I have read in a while. Rednecks are such assholes.

Jam Day 08!

2008-07-19T00:05:32Z

Yesterday was Jam Day 2008.

Every July we wander off to Brockbushes, a farm about 15 miles away near Corbridge that lets you pick your own fruit. So this year we set off about 10 days earlier than normal (we went on 26 July 06, 27 July 07) to steal a march on the other berry pickers. It was a grey, overcast day with intermittent showers, but it held off while we picked, happily.

The mother in law, the niece, Voddie and I departed at about 930 am (the niece skipped her last day of school to come picking, so i hope she had a good time!) to get to the fields. After successfully picking 7 kilos of gooseberries, 4 kg of raspberries and about 4 kilos of strawberries, we had some lunch.

When we got home we began the process of....JAM MAKING!!

Began with the raspberry; 4 kilos is a lot of berries, and we managed, once it was all distilled out and mixed with the sugar, to come away with about 16.5 lbs of jam. We then used about half of the gooseberries to make another 12 lbs of that. Tomorrow looks likely to be the turn of the strawberries, which should be fun.

Jam Day is always great. We get to go off to Northumberland and wander through rows of berry canes, feel the wind in our face and remember what it is that makes life so wonderful. And at the end of the day, we have a shedload of jam to get us through about 6 months! You really can't beat it. There is something almost spiritual about picking, mashing, sugaring, mixing, testing, pouring, sealing and cleaning.  Maybe it's that from field to jar was about 2 hours, and everything is as fresh as can be.  Dunno. It's just fun.

And this year's labels are tastefully understated, French, and monochrome. Year 4 of Sweet FA Jams. "Nothing added, nothing taken away. Sweet FA!"

TTFN

Still Married

2008-04-01T22:10:01Z

So the greenhouse frame is up and sturdy and looks fine. All the bits went back on and it seems as though it probably won't fall over in the wind, which is nice. Wifey and Mother in law have now the task of inserting the glass back into it and then it will be good to go. When the frame had been tightened up I downed tools and went inside to work on a paper about OOXML while Wifey stayed outside, muttering something about "making the path". Well, about 80 minutes later I was bored to death of standards and looked out the window to see a gorgeous, brick-lined, red stone walkway encircling the greenhouse that was simply wonderful to see! The wife was placing tools away and looked flushed from the work, but she has really made a fantastically good job of it.

Right as I yelled out to her what a good job she'd done, her mother came strolling in (after all the work was done, as usual!) and proceeded to say that it was nice but might be better if she'd done it another way. I thought Vic was gonna hit her with a half brick... Eventually Ann saw it V|ic's way and harmony was restored, but I don't think she knows how close she came!

So we went out later to walk the horrible pooch, as she needed a good run after being inside for a few days, and while we were out M & N stopped by and pushed the pricing through for the three gates we need made. About £60 all told, including the hinges, etc. which seems a bargain. So I think they are coming this weekend to do it all. And we will be a little poorer, but the house will be one more huge leap towards being done.

So tomorrow I am updating a report and then beginning to organize which bits I am taking along to my London meeting next week. Feeling pretty confident, especially looking over all the stuff I have on offer. The analysis itself, public policy work, competitive analysis, two thought research papers...I am gonna bowl them over. It will be so.

Hehehe.

Hi Kids, On Today's Show...

2008-03-22T11:11:51Z

We will be erecting a fence in the midst of a hail storm! Doesn't that sound like fun? The only good thing is that maybe I can convince

voddiegirlto take me to Madrasi on Low Fell as a treat for all my hard work...

I hope the thing looks good when it's done!

I need new glasses

2008-03-13T23:18:43Z

I need new glasses. the ones I have are all wonky.
and I think it's time to get a cat. suggestions anyone? tom/queen? colours? temperament?

I know that I will forever try to find another Otto. A stone's worth of fury.

Or should I go for lovable, like Bob:

Hmmm...

The wife found an 11 month old white and orange boy named Bobby that I might have to look into.

Ah well. TTFN.

F^@king TETLEY!!!

2008-03-12T20:37:28Z

WE ARE OUT OF PG TIPS!!!

I am reduced to Tetley. I f^@king HATE TETLEY!!!

Rant over.

The Right Wing Falls Off

2008-02-27T20:42:12Z

William F. Buckley is dead! There will be rejoicing throughout the land! The Arch Proto Neo Con has finally gone to meet Ronnie and the two of them can roast together...

One more down. Only a few left in the current admin and then the world can cleanse itself of the smell of oil, corruption and wank.

Huzzah!

One funny aside; I remember an SNL sketch where they said that Buckley had agreed to appear on the show, but only if the plane flying him to NY had two right wings...

Ahh....The Weekend With Nothing To Do...

2008-02-23T21:38:25Z

So we are now having what feels like the first weekend since the turn of the year where we have nothing to do, no one to see, and nowhere to go. It feels great. Seems like we have just been rushed off our feet for quite a while now, with Nic and Brian and Mick and everything. It's just been haywire. It's great to have a chance to kick back. And with some movement finally happening on the work front, things are finally geting better.

Let's see...What's been happening. Well, we extended the veggie patch today by 4 square meters, which doesn't sound like a lot, but represents about a 33% increase. We realized that we have to plant some seeds tomorrow which will be nice; spring is here!

So far this year we have: restructured the patio, pulled up the path, removed one hedge entirely, severely pruned 2 other hedges and incinerated all the prunings, sawed down the self seeded tree out back, cleared out behind the fence, removed three trees from the front, enlarged and conditioned the front, planted 4 trees/bushes out front (including Mikao, the lovely Japanese Cherry Blossum that I picked,) assembled the cold frame (well, the wife did that,) and today we extended the veggie patch and conditioned the soil. Including removing a 50 lb. block of concrete that was, rather bizarrely, sunken 18" deep in the soil in the middle of the extended veggie patch bit...THAT was fun!! I wasn't sure if I was going to have a heart attack or give myself a hernia when I found it. I bent the spade trying to get it out, which pissed me off a bit. But it is all fine now, and the back is now looking about 100% better, even with dodgy turf and half a broken path in the middle!

Pria, the lass from next door, told us that she was considering writing in to a TV gardening show on our behalf. Apparently we are devoted above and beyond in her book, which is nice to hear. She said we had transformed the yard, which made us smile. I think she is insanely jealous! Hehehehe.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, which will be good. I am going to rearrange the shed hopefully, as there is too much crap in it right now. So we can remove some of the boxes and get them in the loft where they belong and theat will hopefully free up some space so that the Shower of Bastards can sit on a shelf out of harm's way.

Other than that, not much going on. The Toon were massacred again today. Just gotta avoid the drop. Dear me.

On the bright side, baseball season starts up in earnest soon. GO SAWKS!!!

I'm Thankful.

2007-11-21T22:31:43Z

I'm thankful for my wife, who loves me now and forever, who cheers me up when I'm despondent, who helps me and others without thinking about it, who is strong, funny, gorgeous, and wonderful.

I'm thankful for my dog, who loves me now and then, who wakes me up by flapping her ears, who shoves her nose up my shirt, who fights me every waking moment, and who is furry, cuddly and perfect.

I'm thankful for Ann, who proves to me almost every day that I won the mother-in-law lottery, and who has become such an important part of my life.

I'm thankful for prince_eric, who got me through some of the worst, but also the best, times of my life, and never asked for gas money. I'm thankful that his wife and two children are there to look after him now that I'm so far away.

I'm thankful for the_bags and vaxie, for being the wonderful people they are, and for always making me feel welcome, comfortable, and appreciated whenever we are fortunate enough to meet up. And also to Bob, for being such a joyous, smart, and caring lad.

I'm thankful for Mick for being the kind of friend every person should have. There's nothing he won't do for you, yet he expects nothing in return. I'm so thankful he's found his family now, too.

I'm thankful for my parents, whom I love and wish happiness for.

I'm thankful for my house, which is becoming my home.

I'm thankful for my sister, who always comes through in the clutch.

I'm thankful for my health, which has been consistently good (bad back not withstanding!)

Last, I'm thankful for the opportunities that life has given me to know all these people and live the life I have.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

They all got reasons...

2007-11-16T15:38:49Z

Nothing much to report. Had a worthless call with a worthless man the other night, whose first words when I called him to offer my services for his Fortune 50 company; services that will save them $millions, were: "So is this a part-time thing or a day job?" It went downhill from there. I was downcast and defeatist when I got off the phone with him, but have since come to the conclusion that if he can be a VP in a company that big and not only fail to grasp a good thing when it's offered cheaply, but fail even to realize HOW it could be used, then there are going to be plenty of folks who I can take advantage of.

Bizarre points from the conversation: [with my comments in brackets]

1. "It's my job to know what my people are doing and what strategic direction to take." [You know what every one of your people is doing? Because by my count you are active in over 85 organizations, with multiple people in each. You must have a very good memory.]
2. 5 minutes later: "Things work from the bottom up; my people spend money on things they think are worthwhile and let me know, and I decide if it is." [This is exactly what my project will do for you, so you can do more VP like things, like decide/run policy.]
3. "Your dad is more involved in policy making and politics. I'm involved in more nuts and bolts; things like what interfaces with other things." [You are a VP doing a junior engineer's work. No wonder your company has problems.]
4. "Send me some exaples and we'll see if it meshes up with what I think is going on, and if it does, then I'll let you know we should have a further conversation." [The entire point of the project is to make you look at things as they really are, not as you think they are. Because, given the conversation I've just hadwith you, what you think will be wrong. With my help, you will be able to more effectively manage your resources, you dundering bumblefuck!!!]

But some people are just too dumb. I'll be surprised if anything comes of it, let's put it that way.

Still, a smart guy got back to me as well, and he wants to work with me on the project for sure, so I am excited by this. And one other client is still out there, hopefully thinking things over. Get to call him next week and give a gentle nudge, methinks!

Right. I'm off. Have a great weekend!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2007-11-11T12:53:38Z

To my lovely Wife! Happy 30th, babe!

Muchas Smooches!

Halloween In Kibblesworth

2007-11-01T14:04:35Z

So I hope everyon had a good Halloween. I cleaned the house up as Wifey was out for the day in the Lakes with a friend of hers, having a Thelma and Louise type day out. The dog was ancey all day and wouldn't leave me alone, except when I put on the vacuum. So I did some work, had some mini pizzas (since Wifey fnally allows me to have them sometimes now) and got things mostly tidied up. I lit the pumpkins, got the candy ready, and put on Young Frankenstein to await the revellers.

Now, we live in a semi-rural little cul-de-sac community which has a lot of young couples with small children. I HATE giving out Halloween candy to kids, as I feel very awkward and dopey, mostly because I can remember very clearly how stupid and norky I thought the adults were when I went around begging for candy as a kid. PLUS I generally find it hard to understand kids' high, chirpy voices...PLUS their mouths are usually obscured by ill-fitting costumes...PLUS they are all little broad Geordies, and while I am much better at translating it now, I still need the two second pause before I understand what the hell has just been said. PLUS the fact that, at two meters tall, kids generally do that slowwwww upturn of the necks until they stop at my face with awe and fear in their little eyes, and it just creeps me out a bit. HOWEVER, I decided that the best solution was simply to grin broadly and tell them all how scary and lovely they looked while distributing liberal amounts of tuck to them. Oddly enough, this strategy worked very well most of the night. The kids, far from being the bastard cretin that I was on Halloweens, were very polite and sweet and thankful and one even reprimanded her friend whom she accused of grabbing too much with a well placed "ASHLEIGH!!! PUT SOME BACK!" Ashleigh, suitably chastised, hastily dropped half her loot and gave a nervous giggle before her friend thanked me politely and they trundled off. I was reasonably stoked and even more grateful that we had moved to a nice place and I wasn't going to have to remove TP or shaving cream from anything in the morning...

Then things got funky....

The doorbell rang and I opened it to a small, bejewelled little white fairy princess, complete with golden curls, a glittery tiara, and a big cheesy grin. She might have also had wings. I said "Happy Halloween...What do you say?" "Trickortreat!" As I handed her some candy, I said "There you go; you look very pretty." Suddenly, an apparition stole out from the darkness; where the girl was sparkly and white, the new person was taller, dressed in black with a big witches hat and cape. As soon as the words "you look very pretty" left my mouth to the child, a big smile lit up the face of the other figure who said "But her mum's prettier..." AND THEN WINKED AT ME!!!

I whinnied like a startled horse, simpered a smile, mumbled out a "happy halloween" and closed the door as quickly as decorum would allow...That sort of thing is NOT ON!! Especially in front of her bairn!! For FUCK'S SAKE!! When I texted the wife with my horror, she laughed!!!!

Good Lord. Next year, the wife is handing out candy and I am staying cuddled up in bed.

Happy Halloween +1!

Opening Weekend

2007-09-10T11:16:09Z

As Advertised:
New England - Through a preseason of off-field turbulence (Baby Brady, No-Show Moss, Hold-Out Samuel, PUP Seymour) the Patriots proved that there is no one better when the wins and losses count. Brady(22-28-297-3) was able to sit back and slice up the Jets secondary with pinpoint throws to Moss (9-183-1) and Welker (6-64-1). In addition, Laurence Maroney (20-72) held up and had a fine game, as the New England defence easily handled Chad Pennington and Thomas Jones (14-42).
Final Score NE 38-14 NYJ.

Indianapolis - After allowing the Saints to play even for 30 minutes, the Colts simply decided to win and what started as an ugly slugfest in the first half developed quickly into a blowout as 31 second half points made for a dominating victory. Manning (18-30 -288-3) looked sharp, the offence looked like it hasn't missed a beat since the Super Bowl, and the defence looked revitalized with Bob Sanders back and Jason David gone. The key will be the health of the defence as the season wears on. But for now, they looked sharp and dominating.
Final Score IND 41 - 10 NO.

San Diego - The ugliest win of the day, but a solid victory. It took a trick play for the Chargers offence to get into the end zone, but it proved enough in the end. LT might not have played in the preseason, but looked sharp enough as he lofted a touchdown to Antonio Gates in the third quarter. The San Diego defence was swarming and unstoppable. Rex Grossman (12-23-145) took some nasty hits, and the Bears could only manage a field goal. Shawn Merriman is simply a monster at linebacker. Philip Rivers (22-31-190) needs to be sharper if the Bolts have a chance against New England this week.
Final Score: SD 14 - 3 CHI

Positively Surprising:
Dallas - A strong showing for the post-Tuna era to begin with, at least offensively. Tony Romo showed that he was no fluke as he effortlessly dismantled the Giants pass D for 345 yards and 4 touchdowns, 2 to TO. The Dallas D was a problem, however, as Terence Newman's absence exposed the poor coverage skills of strong safety Roy Williams who was repeatedly beaten by Plaxico Burress (2 touchdowns) and Eli Manning. Adding to the Cowboys woes is the loss of nose tackle Jason Ferguson for the season with a torn bicep. Dallas can't score 45 every game, so the defence needs to step up for them to have a chance.
Final Score: DAL 45 - 35 NYG

Pittsburgh - Ben Roethlisberger's start to the post-Cowher era was impressive, with 4 touchdowns establishing a new career best. First year coach Mike Tomlin had to be pleased with his team's total dominance. The only downside was the fact that their opponent was Cleveland, who look to be perennial cellar-dwellars, especially in what might be the toughest division in football. A good start for Steely McBeam, but can they keep it up through 16 weeks?
Final Score: PIT 34 - 7 CLE

Carolina - John Fox knows his job is on the line this year. He has the talent at QB, WR, RB, and his defence is second to none. Last year's massively disappointing 8-8 can be attributed almost directly to a series of very unfortunate key injuries. But every team has injuries. Opening against Steven Jackson and Mark Bulger's Rams should have been a true test, but the Rams were awful. Jackson lost 2 fumbles (my starting fantasy back, of course!) and Carolina dominated every facet of the game, with a nifty 60 yard strike to Steve Smith (7-118-1) mixed in. Let's see if they can keep the momentum going.
Final Score: CAR 27 - STL 13

Negatively Impacted:
Chicago - The story all year, since the Super Bowl and even before, was Rex. Rex, Rex, Rex. Mr. Inconsistant. "Brian Griese should be the starter..." was the constant refrain. When the Bears franchised Lance Briggs and finally signed him, everyone went back to concentrating on Grossman. Perhaps the Bears should have looked harder at letting Thomas Jones go. Grossman did reasonbly well against the Chargers vaunted D, finding Berrian a number of times. But Cedric Benson and Adrian Peterson each coughed the ball up at a crucial point and lost them the game. Thomas Jones wasn't effective for the Jets this weekend, but he didn't fumble. All this being said, with Tommie Harris and Mike Brown back for Chicago's defence, they are definitely championship caliber.

New Orleans - Perhaps it was inevitable that New Orleans should come back down to earth. At the start of last season, they were, maybe, a 6-10 team. No one expected anything. But Reggie Bush's dynamism and the cool leadership of Drew Brees turned the team around and they got within a game of the Super Bowl, with only their defence letting them down. In the off season, they didn't do much to help themselves. Adding Jason David, a cast-off from the Tampa-2 playing Colts and expecting him to match up against Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison man-to-man is simply not going to work. He's a stiff and now New Orleans is stuck with him. And he was an ADDITION.  Sean Payton will get the pffense going; there is too much talent there to score only 3 points every week. But they looked intimidated.

That's all for now. Next week's big matchup: New England v. San Diego. Might be an AFC championship preview.

Brain Dump

2007-09-07T12:07:54Z

Let's see...the NFL is back. Was up until almost 4 last night watching the Saints get pulverised by the Colts, 41-10. Still, it was fun to see everything again, all the hitting, passing, Madden, etc. I love proper football too, but there's still an inborn visceral American rush seeing two good teams play American football. Not sure if it's the violence, the strategy, or what, but it has it all. I've missed it. And Madden 08 is a lot better than the 07, which is a good thing.

Had Mr. H visit last week to give me some pointers on how to capture clients. Some good stuff. Gonna revamp some literature and get my talking points down based on our coversation. He also promised me some figures for ROI calculations which should enable me to blag with the best of them. So, nervous as hell about that, but must needs push on, as the tax man looms...

Did yardwork all morning, mowing, weedwhacking, tidying. Lawn looks good! Have to do some more cleaning up and putting things away, but Wifey and the M-I-L are mulching the border today and hopefully setting some onions, garlic, and other assorted bulbs in. Everything looks so lovely. And as Hippy had a bath yesterday, she is smelling good and looking fluffy, which makes me happy.

Had BBQ pizza a week ago when M was over. Was okay, but I did not sufficiently clear the coals from under the stone, so the bottom was a bit burned. Still, I happily munched away, as I thought it was great; reminded me of brick oven work back in the US. I could tell WIfey and M found it different and not terribly to their liking, but I figure they are British and don't know what they are talking about! (Well, Wifey liked it lots, to be fair, and will no doubt indulge me further with my experiments in BBQ pizza despite having to eat semi-carbonized crust until I get it worked out, so she gets an automatic pass!)

Got tickets to the Foo Fighters for November!! Can't wait. Really looking forward to it. Also want to see KT and Bill Bailey, but they are sold out and too expensive, respectively. And Billy Connelly ticket prices are fucking astronomical!

Other than that, things are good. The sun is shining, the birds are twittering, the dog is fluffy, the wife is happy, and I am a content man.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Manly Things...Girls need not read.

2007-08-17T14:00:11Z

Fixed the toilet today. Very good moment. Pulled it apart, reassembled it, and it works. I know it's not much, but I am no DIY whiz. So this is good. Wifey was very impressed. Sarcastically, but nonetheless...

Got the prospective tax bill in, due in January. Not good. Have to get lots of new clients or else go into penury. Still, have half a year, let's see what we can do. As soon as the panic attacks stop, all will be fine.

Otherwise, things are okay. A is coming back today to finally finish the flooring; he was here until about 1030 last night angle grinding (or is it orville sanding?) doors down and placing beading and thresh's for us, and needs to come back today to finish everything up...And then Wifey and I can spend tomorrow cleaning everything up for her class on Sunday, when I go to the Mother-in-law's for some R&R. Well, I'll read a book and take another crack at writing up my website. Have notes from a few sources, so let's hope we can get everything sorted out and get it up next week.

Right. Gotta go get A, so must needs be off. More another time!!

The Turd Blossom

2007-08-13T18:41:52Z

Karl Rove has resigned. I feel slightly better. Doesn't it say something when "Bush's Brain" resigns about 18 months before the end of his term??

Update on my life. Well, let's see. The house is almost done. The yard is looking great. We are walking fiarly regularly on the Healthy Heart walks around the house; only 1/2 mile or so, but it's a 1/2 mile more than we would otherwise, and we have gotten some good pics out of it.

Mowed the lawn today, which was nice. I always used to hate mowing the lawn back in Groton, as it was a suck-ass job that I had to do in 95 degree weather. Over here, in nice sun, when it's only about 20-22 degrees, it's very nice and comforting. Everything is taking shape now, and my first plum tomato is ready to be picked. It's all juicy and red and happy. And I can't wait to make sauce out of a bunch of them, and have pizza from my own garden!! Our garlic came up, and though it didn't split into separate cloves, it has still grown to a massive size, which is good. We have a few onions ready to pop now too, and the few beanstalks we have left seem to be really taking to the copious amounts of sun we've recently had, so keep your fingers crossed. With the house nearly done, we can concentrate more on getting the garden ready for next year, and get a whole lot more stuff on the go. I have bought about 80 bulbs for over the winter, so we should have a bunch of lovely spring flowers, which will cheer me up no end in March!!!

I built Wifey a hammock over the weekend, and in doing so lost my temper for the first time in about 2 years. It finally allowed itslef to be built, but only after the sky turned blue and it is only held together with curses and venom. But the Wife looks so peaceful on it, I guess it was all worth it.

The Kingsford.
On Saturday night, I staged what may have been the world's most perfect barbecue for friends and family. It was just like in all the films; big flames, men clustered around the bbq, women having drinks at tables, children playing with the dog, huge amounts of beer and meat. It was like a dream. Got my official BBQ hat out; THE GRILLMASTER. Had bbq chicken marinated in a sticky, sweet bbq sauce; made some officially licensed Dazza brand Red Pesto Pasta Salad, a clump of special Mitzi Burgers, chips (crisps, then), fixins, and lot of wine, Stella, Guinness and soft drinks. The_bags and Vaxie brought over some buns, sausages, more burgers and a special peri-peri chicken. We lit up the Kingsford with 4 kilos of charcoal and we were off - everything done but not burned, cooked but not dried out. A masterful display, if I say so myself.  And M showed up later to scarf all that was left, bless him, after working 12 hours on a Saturday. He ate, drank, and then fell asleep on the couch.  And the mother in law turned up too, bearing solar lights for our garden.

Overall, my favourite day since coming here.

I want another one.

Someday the pain will stop...

2007-06-12T16:39:26Z

So it's been 3 weeks or so since the last entry, and what an eventful time it's been! We moved, slightly illegally, into a new house, which then became our legal house, and then we have spent 3 weeks tearing everything to bits and building it back up again all on my poor strained back, hence the headlne of this piece! Actually, truth be told, today has been a very lazy day physically (first in about a month) and my back hasn't really been objecting too much, thank God. Wifey is off fixing Carson and doing family things I think, while it has been raining all day and I have been sat in front of the computer for 9 hours getting work done, which I have!! I finished the fucking list, FINALLY!!!!! Now all I have to do tomorrow is record the data, graph it, make my final sheets up and then corollate reports about each segment...Actually, that's a shitload of work, but once it's done, I can breathe easy for a day or two...

Got a message from RR today telling me that the big contract was going to be paying hopefully at the end of next week (rather than mid-end July, as I'd thought!) which is always nice to hear. I have to find two more folks to peddle it to and then I can relax a bit, but this payout will give me the room to be able to do that effectively!

Let's see...With the enormous deluxe birdfeeder that Wifey installed the other day and the 25 kg of seed we purchased yesterday, Tippy Hedron better bewareof our garden!!! We have magpies, jackdaws, finches, tits, swallows, blackbirds and a whole bunch more things all desperate to get at the seed. There is also a rather clever calico tabby from next door that was waiting on top of the shed for one to drop into his lap earlier today. Well, I can't have that, so sent Doodles out to frighten him away, but i admired the initiavtive there!!

Yesterday we bought a shower, a couch, a dining room table and chairs and Hot Fuzz. It was a good day. The table is small, but it looks nice and will do us fine for a few years. The couch is simply stunning and will really tie the living room together the way the current sofa REALLY doesn't...The shower is nice and powerful and it better work, cuz I am really starting to hate having to take baths to get clean. To relax and unwind, fair enough. But the fact is that to actually get clean you need running water, and anyone who thinks otherwise is probably very smelly. So there.

What else? I actually have a reasonable browny type colour to my skin (well the exposed bits anyway) from gardening, and I am loving it. We have, growing now: carrots, gooseberries, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, chard, olives, lemons, oranges, potatoes, garlic, strawberries, chives, basil and coriander. Soon to be augmented with raspberries, more taties and God knows what else!!

Wifey is home, so off I go!

HOLY SHIT!!!

2007-05-17T20:14:26Z

WE MOVE TOMORROW!!!!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

:-)

Congrats!!

2007-05-17T20:10:29Z

To prince_eric and wife, who today welcomed 19.5", 8lb 2oz Alexander James to the family at 11:30 am EDT! Both mother and baby are doing well and prince_eric is thrilled that he won't be outnumbered anymore.

I still think that they should name him James Tiberius, but that was apparently nixed by Mrs. prince_eric on grounds of really bad taste!!!

Can't wait to see him!!!

SISO

2007-05-16T13:27:12Z

Having a better day today getting my orgs knocked out, 6 down, maybe 6-8 more for the day and I will be all caught up with where I am supposed to be. So that's good.

Haven't been sleeping well lately, as work creeps into my mind, but I am determined to get it done and get it out of the way so I can concentrate in June on getting it sold to at least two other groups. :-) Can't wait. It's nice to have a little bit of cash in the bank (actually have a comma in the account now, for one of the first times since I've been here!!) Sent off my signed contract to Belgium yesterday; hopefully they will get it today/tomorrow and we can make sure I get paid in June!!

Had a bad back day yesterday, which made sitting and doing work particularly ratty, but it's feeling a bit better today, so I am much more pleased. Tried to get NFL tix today to the London game, but they wanted ridiculous cash for the sky high seats and I simply refuse to pay it AND have to go south to see the match...With train fare and hotel, it would have run us a few hundred quid, and I don't like (or hate) either team enough to throw that cash away. Still, it would have been nice, but I'll watch it on Sky all snug in my new house instead!! :-)

Big Sam arrived in the Toon yesterday and has already done what at least 4 other managers should have done in getting rid of Titus Bramble. How many fucking times were they going to cover up for his total stupidity and absolute lack of football intelligence...For about 4 years from what I could see...Good riddance!! Go play for Portsmouth, Water Boy!!

Right. Back to work!

Bernard Black day

2007-05-14T20:19:54Z

In the words ofthe immortal one:
"I can feel my brain falling away like pieces of wet cake..."
Ran through 10 freaking organizations today...Going blind...