I called my friend Odd Thomas this morning (getting him out of bed) to see if he fancied a run out to take some photographs - he said that he did so I picked him up and we took a drive to Stowe Ornamental gardens near Brackley.
Despite having been there last summer, almost a year to the day, I managed to get lost on the way and it was only thanks to TomTom on my phone that we found the place.
Unfortunately, despite it being nice in Watfford when we left, it had turned a bit overcast when we arrived there which didn't really make for inspiring shots - still we had a nice afternoon pottering about and did have some tea and cake in the only restaurant on the estate. We should have eaten when we first arrived as by the time we had gone back for the second attempt at queueing, all that was left was overpriced and underfilled.
On the drive up there O.T. had said that he always had this idea about taking pictures of bales of hay in a field - so on the way back when I saw the ideal 'photo opp' for this, we made a sudden stop to grab some photos. Unfortunately O.T. didn't appreciate my driving skills as swerving in front of a fast approaching car did nothing to settle his nerves - still, it didn't hit us, did it ??
When we got back home, we looked thru the pictures, which can be seen here, and here, and then we finally got around to booking our week up in the Lake District - woo hoo !
We're having a week away taking pictures at the end of the months, really looking forward to that as I've never been further north than Sheffield !
29 August 2007
Knebworth House
I was meant to be meeting me friend from Cambridge today - there was a Classic Car show on at Knebworth House which seemed a good reason to meet up with him and to get some nice photos at the same time. Unfortunately when my phone woke me at ten past twelve it was Paul asking which part of the show I was near so we could meet up - doh !
Anyway after a speedy shower and whizz up the A1, I made it to Knebworth by 1:00 pm which was pretty good going. It was nice to see such a variety of cars from my growing years, but most of them had the bonnets raised to show off the engine bays which didn't make for very good pictures - I did take quite a few though and you can see them all here.
My best comment was to my friend on a car that he used to own "Did your one have eyelashes too ?" "No, they're headlamp covers" - well they look like eyelashes to me :O)
The highlight (or not) of the day had to be the Dinosaur area. This was a part of the park where they had model dinosaurs to enthrall and frighten the kiddies - now I don't know what you think, but I've glimpsed myself in the mirror just after waking up and I'm much scarier than anything on show here.
23 August 2007
food for thought
Jan and Chris were just talking about eating in JD Wetherspoons pubs, and wondered what the chances were of getting Zebu meat in your burgers. This was a bit of a pointless discussion as Jans been vegetarian for about the last 100 years, and Chris has got to be one of the fussiest eaters I’ve met.
Apparently there was some show on the other night which basically said that you don’t always get what you were expecting when you order food. I’m always very wary when eating out, generally sticking to either fish or chicken so you have a pretty good chance of recognising what you are eating.
Anyway, this is the famed Zebu and what a sad looking animal it is – it can’t be much fun having all that loose skin hanging around its neck – and that’s without the second head growing on its back !
22 August 2007
water laugh
I’ve just been looking up on the Unison website to see what’s happening with our pay rise this year – the increase was meant to come into effect on the 1st April but so far there has not been any movement.
Anyway, I started to read this page about their ‘water@work’ campaign, which is trying to get employers to provide mains drinking water for their staff, rather than shipping in bottled water with all the associated transport costs, disposal of the plastic bottles etc. Now I’m sure that it’s a very well intentioned campaign but this paragraph did make me laugh, and I quote ..
“The second (point) is to make sure that employers provide adequate drinking water for their staff. "It's about getting drinking water out of the toilets and into the workplace," says UNISON senior national officer Steve Bloomfield. “
Hmm, well if it’s a choice of toilet or bottled, bottled wins everytime – just call me old fashioned !
Anyway, I started to read this page about their ‘water@work’ campaign, which is trying to get employers to provide mains drinking water for their staff, rather than shipping in bottled water with all the associated transport costs, disposal of the plastic bottles etc. Now I’m sure that it’s a very well intentioned campaign but this paragraph did make me laugh, and I quote ..
“The second (point) is to make sure that employers provide adequate drinking water for their staff. "It's about getting drinking water out of the toilets and into the workplace," says UNISON senior national officer Steve Bloomfield. “
Hmm, well if it’s a choice of toilet or bottled, bottled wins everytime – just call me old fashioned !
20 August 2007
The lull before the storm :)
You can probably guess from my lack of postings that nothing very thrilling has happened over the past few days – don’t worry its not that my creative juices have dried up, more a case of nothing spectacular to blog about.
Highlights since my last post include ordering a memory card for the new camcorder, going to visit my cousin in Pinner and taking Friday off to let Comet have a second bash at fixing my oven ! Whoopee doo I hear you cry :O)
Thinking about it, taking Friday off wasn’t too bad as I managed to get the lights wired into the decking whilst I was waiting for the Comet guy to arrive. Incidentally I now have a fully functioning oven and Rene is my new favourite name :OP. That’s the one good thing about scheduling work to be done on a Friday, it makes for a nice short week and an extended weekend.
So the Comet visit went quite smoothly but alas the memory card was a bit of a kerfuffle. Now I don’t know what happens where you live, but our postman has a habit of not knocking when there is a recorded delivery – he just slips a card thru with the regular post so by the time you’ve picked the mail up, he’s long gone and you have to go to the sorting office to collect your package. This happened on Thursday with my memory card so I went to the sorting office on Friday to pick it up. Despite the card saying that I could collect the letter 4 hours after receipt of the card, they couldn’t find my package and said that I should go back on Saturday morning - doh! So I went back again on Saturday morning and after a twenty minute wait they finally found my package filed under D which is neither my name or my road name – they’re really useless.
Sunday afternoon I went for a troll around Watford with Odd Thomas but thankfully he didn’t get me to spend anything this time – he’s a really bad influence when it comes to making a fool part with his money :) We did go into Prescence for a nice coffee / smoothie and a couple of huge biscuits though.
After a quick drive around looking for garden water feature shops we went back to mine where we messed about with the camcorder trying out the various settings etc – trust me, seeing yourself close up on a 37” screen isn’t good – still we did get the hang of most of the controls.
After that we had a play with the PS3 and downloaded a couple of trial versions of games, one being Rub-a-Dub. I’ve never liked all the killing and violent titles on the Playstation, so finding a game where you guide rubber ducks around a maze avoiding clockwork sharks could have been written for me !
Highlights since my last post include ordering a memory card for the new camcorder, going to visit my cousin in Pinner and taking Friday off to let Comet have a second bash at fixing my oven ! Whoopee doo I hear you cry :O)
Thinking about it, taking Friday off wasn’t too bad as I managed to get the lights wired into the decking whilst I was waiting for the Comet guy to arrive. Incidentally I now have a fully functioning oven and Rene is my new favourite name :OP. That’s the one good thing about scheduling work to be done on a Friday, it makes for a nice short week and an extended weekend.
So the Comet visit went quite smoothly but alas the memory card was a bit of a kerfuffle. Now I don’t know what happens where you live, but our postman has a habit of not knocking when there is a recorded delivery – he just slips a card thru with the regular post so by the time you’ve picked the mail up, he’s long gone and you have to go to the sorting office to collect your package. This happened on Thursday with my memory card so I went to the sorting office on Friday to pick it up. Despite the card saying that I could collect the letter 4 hours after receipt of the card, they couldn’t find my package and said that I should go back on Saturday morning - doh! So I went back again on Saturday morning and after a twenty minute wait they finally found my package filed under D which is neither my name or my road name – they’re really useless.
Sunday afternoon I went for a troll around Watford with Odd Thomas but thankfully he didn’t get me to spend anything this time – he’s a really bad influence when it comes to making a fool part with his money :) We did go into Prescence for a nice coffee / smoothie and a couple of huge biscuits though.
After a quick drive around looking for garden water feature shops we went back to mine where we messed about with the camcorder trying out the various settings etc – trust me, seeing yourself close up on a 37” screen isn’t good – still we did get the hang of most of the controls.
After that we had a play with the PS3 and downloaded a couple of trial versions of games, one being Rub-a-Dub. I’ve never liked all the killing and violent titles on the Playstation, so finding a game where you guide rubber ducks around a maze avoiding clockwork sharks could have been written for me !
15 August 2007
light fantastic
My second parcel was waiting for me when I got home last night – this time it was the LED lights that I had ordered from a shop on Ebay. Originally when I’d been looking for lights for my decking, I’d been quite taken with the idea of having colour changing lights running the length of the path. My ex always called me a Magpie and said that if it sparkled or changed colours then it was ideal for me, anyway I digress :O) *
The only places that stocked them were Homebase and Argos but both of those stores had no stock and couldn’t advise when more would come in – dammit !
So in the end I picked this set up from Ebay, I had the choice of white or blue and I went for the white ones on the basis that they would throw out more light – only time will tell.
That garden is gonna rival Blackpool Illuminations by the time I’m finished with it :O)
And I played around a bit more with the camcorder last night – I managed to get a video of CJ playing with his toys on the bed, but that silly cat has no camera sense and keeps turning his back to the lens – doh !
* This brings to mind an episode last Christmas when I went to Bluewater with Odd Thomas and had what can only be described as a 'funny turn' in Girl Heaven - that shop is so cool - why on earth don't they do shops like that for boys. And NO, O.T., I might have picked up the pink angel wings, but theres no way that I would ever have worn them :O)
The only places that stocked them were Homebase and Argos but both of those stores had no stock and couldn’t advise when more would come in – dammit !
So in the end I picked this set up from Ebay, I had the choice of white or blue and I went for the white ones on the basis that they would throw out more light – only time will tell.
That garden is gonna rival Blackpool Illuminations by the time I’m finished with it :O)
And I played around a bit more with the camcorder last night – I managed to get a video of CJ playing with his toys on the bed, but that silly cat has no camera sense and keeps turning his back to the lens – doh !
* This brings to mind an episode last Christmas when I went to Bluewater with Odd Thomas and had what can only be described as a 'funny turn' in Girl Heaven - that shop is so cool - why on earth don't they do shops like that for boys. And NO, O.T., I might have picked up the pink angel wings, but theres no way that I would ever have worn them :O)
14 August 2007
Monday - Surprise package
Paul called this morning to tell me that a parcel had arrived for me – now much as I love surprises I knew that it was going to be one of two things. Either the LED decking lights that I had ordered for the back garden or a rather sweet little camcorder that I had seen and decided was this months ‘must have’
Knowing that there was something at home waiting for me made the day pass quite quickly and I was in quite a good mood for a Monday which is a pretty rare event. Anyway when I got home it was the camcorder – whoopee! Now at this point I really have to give credit to the online store
E-Atay – I’d ordered the camera on Friday morning and had opted for the free delivery which was stated as 7-10 days, seeing as I wasn’t in any great rush to get it. Having it there waiting for me on Monday evening was very good service in my book !
Now back to the camcorder – my reason for wanting one was that last weekend when I went to Brighton Pride, I’d recorded parts of the parade using the ‘movie’ mode on my stills camera and unfortunately they didn’t come out very clear , especially when you try to view it at anything bigger than a postage stamp size. Now I’m no budding Spielberg, all I wanted was something neat that would take a reasonable movie clip that would let me have a decent memory of days out.
After not very much research, I opted for a Sanyo Xacti DV2, based on the fact that it recorded in High Definition , it was the right price and it was small enough not to attract attention when I’m using it. I hate having things that get me noticed, especially when it comes to cameras and gadgets – blending into the background is the only way to go :O)
So I spent last night charging up the battery and having a bit of a play around with it – I’m not planning on winning any Oscars but hopefully I can get CJ doing something funny that I might be able to post on Youtube!
Knowing that there was something at home waiting for me made the day pass quite quickly and I was in quite a good mood for a Monday which is a pretty rare event. Anyway when I got home it was the camcorder – whoopee! Now at this point I really have to give credit to the online store
E-Atay – I’d ordered the camera on Friday morning and had opted for the free delivery which was stated as 7-10 days, seeing as I wasn’t in any great rush to get it. Having it there waiting for me on Monday evening was very good service in my book !
Now back to the camcorder – my reason for wanting one was that last weekend when I went to Brighton Pride, I’d recorded parts of the parade using the ‘movie’ mode on my stills camera and unfortunately they didn’t come out very clear , especially when you try to view it at anything bigger than a postage stamp size. Now I’m no budding Spielberg, all I wanted was something neat that would take a reasonable movie clip that would let me have a decent memory of days out.
After not very much research, I opted for a Sanyo Xacti DV2, based on the fact that it recorded in High Definition , it was the right price and it was small enough not to attract attention when I’m using it. I hate having things that get me noticed, especially when it comes to cameras and gadgets – blending into the background is the only way to go :O)
So I spent last night charging up the battery and having a bit of a play around with it – I’m not planning on winning any Oscars but hopefully I can get CJ doing something funny that I might be able to post on Youtube!
Sunday - the morning after
Needless to say I didn’t feel in top of the world come Sunday morning – Paul (housemate) got up to go to football training so I went downstairs and grabbed a cup of tea as he was getting ready to leave. That’s the trouble when you have pets, no matter how bad you feel you still have to get up for them – Paul had let the rabbits out for me, but CJ the cat had been standing over me for at least ten minutes, pawing at my face and using his ‘death breath’ as a final threat – I don’t know (or want to know) what he does to get it smelling so bad !
Things got worse when I had a bowl of coco pops and hadn’t realised that the milk had turned until I was on my second spoonful – blargh ! I think I was still under the effects of cat breath.
Then I thought that a shower and a walk around the shops would help to wake me up a little – the shower helped but going into Watford wasn’t such a good idea. Yes it was nice and quiet but I was walking around like some zombie thinking ‘sleep, sleeeeeep’ – I needed a nap
Plus the reason I went there was to check out if Monsoon had any different bargains in Watford to what the London Colney store had – alas no – more of the same and however great the reductions, theres only so much that you can do with stripey shirts !
So then I went back home and spent the rest of the day drifting in and out of consciousness on the settee – you’d not think that a night spend drinking J2o’s and Cola would have such a devasting effect – just imagine the mess I’d have been in on Fosters and Smirnoff Ice :O)
Things got worse when I had a bowl of coco pops and hadn’t realised that the milk had turned until I was on my second spoonful – blargh ! I think I was still under the effects of cat breath.
Then I thought that a shower and a walk around the shops would help to wake me up a little – the shower helped but going into Watford wasn’t such a good idea. Yes it was nice and quiet but I was walking around like some zombie thinking ‘sleep, sleeeeeep’ – I needed a nap
Plus the reason I went there was to check out if Monsoon had any different bargains in Watford to what the London Colney store had – alas no – more of the same and however great the reductions, theres only so much that you can do with stripey shirts !
So then I went back home and spent the rest of the day drifting in and out of consciousness on the settee – you’d not think that a night spend drinking J2o’s and Cola would have such a devasting effect – just imagine the mess I’d have been in on Fosters and Smirnoff Ice :O)
Cambridge - saturday night
On Saturday evening I was going to Cambridge with my friend to meet up with another couple (lets call them P and S) for a night out. The day started pretty well as I drove to London Colney to get my food for the week – the Sainsbury’s there is huge and they always have ‘odd’ bits that the other stores don’t stock. After the food shop I took a walk over to the other side of the park where there is a Next and Monsoon – basically because I wanted to see if I could find something smart to wear for the evening. I found a t-shirt and polo top in Next, but my biggest bargain was in Monsoon where they had a 70% off promotion – picked up a lovely brown striped shirt for £13.50 reduced from £55.00 (Yes, I couldn’t work out the math either!)
I picked up my friend at about 5:30pm and we arrived at P’s on the outskirts of Cambridge just around 7:00 – we had a cuppa there and then went to collect S, arriving in town at about 8:00. Theres something weird about going to new towns and looking around, especially at night. Its like they’ve picked up your local High Street and put all the shops and bars back in the wrong order – you know that you’ll find a Top Man, Miss Selfridge, JD Wetherspoons and Millie’s Cookies there somewhere, its just a matter of time !
We started out at a bar called Revolution (there’s one of those in Watford) which was quite busy but had a guy about to start playing bongos so we got out of there after just one drink ! Then we went for something to eat in Wagamama which was quite nice although not as good as Osatsumas in London. I had a strange drink in there, it was like a smoothie but with Pomegranate, cucumber and something else – it looked like a cappuccino but tasted of freshly mown grass (you know that smell – that’s what it tasted of)
After we had eaten we decided to have a walk about the town and try out some different bars. Now all week P had been saying to me that S used to be an estate agent and knew Cambridge like the back of his hand – well I can only assume on Saturday night that he was wearing very thick gloves ! We must have gone to at least 3 places that were ‘really cool bars’ only to discover that they were now restaurants, closed down, or pound shops ! But overall we did have a good night, going to about 4 different bars ending up in one of Cambridges pubs for ‘gentleman who moisturise’, called The Rose and Crown. To be honest this was really quite a nice friendly bar and we stayed there until it closed at 2:30
After that we dropped S and P off home and drove back to Watford, getting back to my place at 4:10 am
There were three things to be learnt from Saturday night
1. You don’t have to get drunk to have a good night out – I was on pop all night
2. Most towns are much the same, it’s the people you are with that make the difference
3. If you’re going to have people to come up and visit you – don’t let them catch you chewing the face off somebody else in a pub doorway :O)
I picked up my friend at about 5:30pm and we arrived at P’s on the outskirts of Cambridge just around 7:00 – we had a cuppa there and then went to collect S, arriving in town at about 8:00. Theres something weird about going to new towns and looking around, especially at night. Its like they’ve picked up your local High Street and put all the shops and bars back in the wrong order – you know that you’ll find a Top Man, Miss Selfridge, JD Wetherspoons and Millie’s Cookies there somewhere, its just a matter of time !
We started out at a bar called Revolution (there’s one of those in Watford) which was quite busy but had a guy about to start playing bongos so we got out of there after just one drink ! Then we went for something to eat in Wagamama which was quite nice although not as good as Osatsumas in London. I had a strange drink in there, it was like a smoothie but with Pomegranate, cucumber and something else – it looked like a cappuccino but tasted of freshly mown grass (you know that smell – that’s what it tasted of)
After we had eaten we decided to have a walk about the town and try out some different bars. Now all week P had been saying to me that S used to be an estate agent and knew Cambridge like the back of his hand – well I can only assume on Saturday night that he was wearing very thick gloves ! We must have gone to at least 3 places that were ‘really cool bars’ only to discover that they were now restaurants, closed down, or pound shops ! But overall we did have a good night, going to about 4 different bars ending up in one of Cambridges pubs for ‘gentleman who moisturise’, called The Rose and Crown. To be honest this was really quite a nice friendly bar and we stayed there until it closed at 2:30
After that we dropped S and P off home and drove back to Watford, getting back to my place at 4:10 am
There were three things to be learnt from Saturday night
1. You don’t have to get drunk to have a good night out – I was on pop all night
2. Most towns are much the same, it’s the people you are with that make the difference
3. If you’re going to have people to come up and visit you – don’t let them catch you chewing the face off somebody else in a pub doorway :O)
10 August 2007
boring..
Been really tired for the past couple of days and severely lacking in motivation, so theres not a great deal to write about.
Work has been ok this week, made better by the fact that I've done too many hours so I have to finish at 1:00 today so as not to lose my Flexitime! I'm hoping to make good use of the day by going to B&Q on the way home to buy some decking stain - then I can get that treated this afternoon.
Going to Cambridge at the weekend with my friend - going out for a bite to eat and a drink with some mates - looks like it should be a nice night out.
anyway, thats about all for now - watch this space eh !
** Friday afternoon update - Couldn't find the decking stain that I wanted in either B&Q or Homebase - they had loads of products but none that were the right colour. And the hunt for 'colour changing LED lights' drew a blank as well - I'll look on the internet later.
Work has been ok this week, made better by the fact that I've done too many hours so I have to finish at 1:00 today so as not to lose my Flexitime! I'm hoping to make good use of the day by going to B&Q on the way home to buy some decking stain - then I can get that treated this afternoon.
Going to Cambridge at the weekend with my friend - going out for a bite to eat and a drink with some mates - looks like it should be a nice night out.
anyway, thats about all for now - watch this space eh !
** Friday afternoon update - Couldn't find the decking stain that I wanted in either B&Q or Homebase - they had loads of products but none that were the right colour. And the hunt for 'colour changing LED lights' drew a blank as well - I'll look on the internet later.
08 August 2007
Film night
I went to see Transformers last night with Paul my housemate (he didn’t like being called ‘Paul the Lodger’, probably because it sounded like a challenge!) and Odd Thomas. Having never seen any of the original cartoons I didn’t really know anything about Transformers apart from them being cars that turned into robots or vice versa.
The action started within a couple of minutes of the film credits and was pretty constant all the way through the whole two and a half hours. My only gripes were that some of the ‘transforming scenes’ did go on a bit too long, and that when the robots were battling, the camera view seemed to be in too close – it might have been better to see the whole fight scene rather than up close – still I guess that would have pushed up the special effects budget.
Overall it was a good evening and probably helped to take Pauls mind off the car accident that he had on the way home – now if only he could get that Rav4 to transform and repair itself he’d be laughing !
Another good thing about the cinema are the trailers, there were three previews that really caught my eye. Stardust, Run Fatboy Run and Superbad – take a look at Stardust especially, that one looks really promising.
The action started within a couple of minutes of the film credits and was pretty constant all the way through the whole two and a half hours. My only gripes were that some of the ‘transforming scenes’ did go on a bit too long, and that when the robots were battling, the camera view seemed to be in too close – it might have been better to see the whole fight scene rather than up close – still I guess that would have pushed up the special effects budget.
Overall it was a good evening and probably helped to take Pauls mind off the car accident that he had on the way home – now if only he could get that Rav4 to transform and repair itself he’d be laughing !
Another good thing about the cinema are the trailers, there were three previews that really caught my eye. Stardust, Run Fatboy Run and Superbad – take a look at Stardust especially, that one looks really promising.
07 August 2007
charm offensive
I booked yesterday afternoon off from work as I had the Comet repairman coming to fix my oven (you might remember that its developed this phobia about getting hot and switches itself off when it gets to 150 degrees – not a good selling point for an oven). When I’d booked the appointment for between 12 and 6 they told me that the engineer would call an hour beforehand to let me know he was on the way, giving me time to clear the decks.
So anyway, at ten past ten my mobile rang – “Hello, I’m the Comet engineer, I’ll be there in about 15 minutes”
“Hang on, you’re supposed to be there between twelve and six, I’m still at work”
“Well that’s no good to me mate, I’m in London this afternoon, I’m doing all my Watford jobs this morning”
I decided that it was pointless in arguing with him and managed to get home for an hour to let him in – thankfully he got there 5 minutes after I got home.
As luck would have it the cooker cut out just as he was saying that he couldn’t see what the problem was. He took the top off and prodded around inside for a while, finally deciding that he needed to order some parts
“So I’ll book you in for a service call on Friday 17th then, can’t give you a time I’m afraid”
“But will the parts be in on the 17th”
“No, I’ve not ordered them yet”
“But theres no point in me booking a day off if the parts aren’t in is there, who do I need to contact , you or Comet”
“I really don’t need this today, I’m having a bad day and I really don’t want to be here”
“So who do I chase up to see when the parts are in, am I better ringing Comet”
"Yeah, ring them mate, the numbers on the top of this slip, sign it by the cross, ta"
And that was it – gone in 10 minutes – no cooker for another week, and a snotty letter winging its way to Comet Customer Services!
As an aside, my housemate went to a Foam Party at Destiny last night, he rolled in at 3am (on a school night too!) you should have seen the state of him heading to work this morning !
So anyway, at ten past ten my mobile rang – “Hello, I’m the Comet engineer, I’ll be there in about 15 minutes”
“Hang on, you’re supposed to be there between twelve and six, I’m still at work”
“Well that’s no good to me mate, I’m in London this afternoon, I’m doing all my Watford jobs this morning”
I decided that it was pointless in arguing with him and managed to get home for an hour to let him in – thankfully he got there 5 minutes after I got home.
As luck would have it the cooker cut out just as he was saying that he couldn’t see what the problem was. He took the top off and prodded around inside for a while, finally deciding that he needed to order some parts
“So I’ll book you in for a service call on Friday 17th then, can’t give you a time I’m afraid”
“But will the parts be in on the 17th”
“No, I’ve not ordered them yet”
“But theres no point in me booking a day off if the parts aren’t in is there, who do I need to contact , you or Comet”
“I really don’t need this today, I’m having a bad day and I really don’t want to be here”
“So who do I chase up to see when the parts are in, am I better ringing Comet”
"Yeah, ring them mate, the numbers on the top of this slip, sign it by the cross, ta"
And that was it – gone in 10 minutes – no cooker for another week, and a snotty letter winging its way to Comet Customer Services!
As an aside, my housemate went to a Foam Party at Destiny last night, he rolled in at 3am (on a school night too!) you should have seen the state of him heading to work this morning !
06 August 2007
"No, its frostbite !"
Well dear readers – what a stunning weekend, the sunshine came back with a vengeance didn’t it ? Unfortunately on the hottest day of the weekend I went out totally unprepared and so I’m sitting here on Monday, glowing a lovely shade of dusky pink !
But I digress, I’ve got three days worth of postings to rattle off here so I better get going :O)
Friday evening I went to visit my cousin who lives in Hoxton Square near Shoreditch. If you’ve never been there you really should give it a visit (not my cousin of course, the square!) It’s a green haven in the middle of an otherwise pretty grim area. A nice square with trees and grass and the perimeter made up of clubs, bars and eating houses. It’s a bit too busy for me, coming from the leafy backwater that is Watford, but it is nice being able to leave the flat and have this vast selection of places to go on the doorstep.
I stayed over there far too late really, considering my plans for the weekend, but managed to make it back home by 2:00 am
Saturday morning I was up at 7:30 and went around to collect my friend as we were going down to Brighton for the day for the Pride carnival. We made excellent time, arriving there at 10:30, and managing to get parked almost exactly opposite Preston Park where the after parade party takes place. We took a nice walk down the parade route and decided on our vantage point to get the best photographs of the procession – thankfully a steward pointed out a traffic island where we had an excellent position, didn’t get squashed nor asked to move on.
After about an hours wait (which passed quite quickly) the main parade started to pass us. This was the first time that I’ve seen the parade and it didn’t disappoint in the slightest. The theme this year was musicals and some of the costumes and routines were excellent. The highlight for me was the Wizard of Oz float with the 30 Dancing Dorothys – if I can work out how to post it onto you tube, I’ll post the link here.
After the carnival passed we waited for a while, comparing out photos, before walking up to Preston Park. I can honestly say I’ve never seen the park so mobbed – the combination of the good weather and a great atmosphere must have bought the crowds out. We stayed in the park for a couple of hours before taking a drive into Brighton and getting something to eat.
Now the last time we went, we found this Tapas bar on the seafront which looked really good and we said that we would go there next time we visited. Unfortunately it didn’t live up to expectations . We had to wait about 15 minutes for a table, another 10 minutes for a waitress to come and take our order (Meatballs, spicy potatoes and chicken/chorizo stew) and an hour later we were sitting there looking at empty drinks glasses and still no food – I think it was about seventy minutes from placing the order to getting served – really spoilt the meal.
Now I’d arranged to meet up with my mates from Cambridge whilst we were down there and he called just as we finished eating – he was leaving the park and coming into town. The idea being that we would meet up and go for a bite to eat and a drink with them. Unfortunately I’d only put 3 hours on the parking ticket, so thought it was better to go back to the car and put some more money in. Only to discover that after a 25 minute walk in the blistering heat , the car park was free after 6:00 (by now it was 6:30! Bugger :O( We just grabbed some water out of the boot and walked back along the seafront into Brighton
We eventually met up with Paul and Simon at around 8:00, found some nice little restaurant around the corner where I had fish and chips (nice) and they all had pizza / pasta dishes.
After that we just walked about trying out the bars and people watching – a really nice way to pass the evening. By the time we’d said out goodbyes and got back to Watford it was 2:00 am but a very enjoyable day – roll on next year !
Yesterday morning I work up quite late feeling the effects of two late nights, a lot of driving and the quite a bit of sunburn – ho hum !
I called my friend Odd-Thomas and asked him if he wanted to come and help me put down the decking in the back garden – luckily for me he said yes
So he arrived armed with a bag of Magnum ice creams and we started working. Unfortunately I bought the wrong type of drill to use on the concrete path and after 5 holes, it gave up the ghost on the 6th – the end snapped off and it turned into corkscrew !
Eventually we got about a third of the decking done, then my housemate Paul came in from work so we called time for the day and relaxed with beers, Jack Daniels and a barbeque – a fitting end to a great weekend !
So this morning I’ve come into work, still looking a lovely shade of lobster, and people are coming up and asking “have you been in the sun over the weekend ?” No, I got caught in a blizzard and its frostbite !
But I digress, I’ve got three days worth of postings to rattle off here so I better get going :O)
Friday evening I went to visit my cousin who lives in Hoxton Square near Shoreditch. If you’ve never been there you really should give it a visit (not my cousin of course, the square!) It’s a green haven in the middle of an otherwise pretty grim area. A nice square with trees and grass and the perimeter made up of clubs, bars and eating houses. It’s a bit too busy for me, coming from the leafy backwater that is Watford, but it is nice being able to leave the flat and have this vast selection of places to go on the doorstep.
I stayed over there far too late really, considering my plans for the weekend, but managed to make it back home by 2:00 am
Saturday morning I was up at 7:30 and went around to collect my friend as we were going down to Brighton for the day for the Pride carnival. We made excellent time, arriving there at 10:30, and managing to get parked almost exactly opposite Preston Park where the after parade party takes place. We took a nice walk down the parade route and decided on our vantage point to get the best photographs of the procession – thankfully a steward pointed out a traffic island where we had an excellent position, didn’t get squashed nor asked to move on.
After about an hours wait (which passed quite quickly) the main parade started to pass us. This was the first time that I’ve seen the parade and it didn’t disappoint in the slightest. The theme this year was musicals and some of the costumes and routines were excellent. The highlight for me was the Wizard of Oz float with the 30 Dancing Dorothys – if I can work out how to post it onto you tube, I’ll post the link here.
After the carnival passed we waited for a while, comparing out photos, before walking up to Preston Park. I can honestly say I’ve never seen the park so mobbed – the combination of the good weather and a great atmosphere must have bought the crowds out. We stayed in the park for a couple of hours before taking a drive into Brighton and getting something to eat.
Now the last time we went, we found this Tapas bar on the seafront which looked really good and we said that we would go there next time we visited. Unfortunately it didn’t live up to expectations . We had to wait about 15 minutes for a table, another 10 minutes for a waitress to come and take our order (Meatballs, spicy potatoes and chicken/chorizo stew) and an hour later we were sitting there looking at empty drinks glasses and still no food – I think it was about seventy minutes from placing the order to getting served – really spoilt the meal.
Now I’d arranged to meet up with my mates from Cambridge whilst we were down there and he called just as we finished eating – he was leaving the park and coming into town. The idea being that we would meet up and go for a bite to eat and a drink with them. Unfortunately I’d only put 3 hours on the parking ticket, so thought it was better to go back to the car and put some more money in. Only to discover that after a 25 minute walk in the blistering heat , the car park was free after 6:00 (by now it was 6:30! Bugger :O( We just grabbed some water out of the boot and walked back along the seafront into Brighton
We eventually met up with Paul and Simon at around 8:00, found some nice little restaurant around the corner where I had fish and chips (nice) and they all had pizza / pasta dishes.
After that we just walked about trying out the bars and people watching – a really nice way to pass the evening. By the time we’d said out goodbyes and got back to Watford it was 2:00 am but a very enjoyable day – roll on next year !
Yesterday morning I work up quite late feeling the effects of two late nights, a lot of driving and the quite a bit of sunburn – ho hum !
I called my friend Odd-Thomas and asked him if he wanted to come and help me put down the decking in the back garden – luckily for me he said yes
So he arrived armed with a bag of Magnum ice creams and we started working. Unfortunately I bought the wrong type of drill to use on the concrete path and after 5 holes, it gave up the ghost on the 6th – the end snapped off and it turned into corkscrew !
Eventually we got about a third of the decking done, then my housemate Paul came in from work so we called time for the day and relaxed with beers, Jack Daniels and a barbeque – a fitting end to a great weekend !
So this morning I’ve come into work, still looking a lovely shade of lobster, and people are coming up and asking “have you been in the sun over the weekend ?” No, I got caught in a blizzard and its frostbite !
03 August 2007
Shopping fun
I went shopping in Watford last night, trying to find clothes and a pair of trainers for the weekend. Now unfortunately I never have much luck when looking for clothes – everything that I like always looks better on other people, or I’ll see somebody wearing something that catches my eye, and I can never track the thing down.
T-shirts and tops are the worst, why on earth do they make them longer, the larger size that you pick up. Generally I fit most ‘M’ sizes, but if I pick up a top that’s a bit more ‘fitted’ I have to go up to an ‘L’ – this usually ends in the item fitting around the chest and arms, but it hangs down past my waist and well on its way to my knees. I think the only retailer that is any good in this respect is H&M. Don’t they understand that not all men have that are large around the chest have beer bellies and need the extra length of cloth to cover their girth :O(
Another of my gripes are the ‘greeters’ – to me theres nothing more offputting than seeing a shop with no customers, six staff laying in wait and an array of things that are screaming ‘buy me – you know you want to!’ You just know that as soon as you set foot in the door, one of them will peel off and ask if you are ‘ok, mate’ or if you need any help. NO ! I just want to look without feeling like I’m a prospective shoplifter being watched every step of the way .
And then you always get the one that follows you around the displays, just a couple of items behind where you are looking, straightening up the piles or adjusting the items that you have looked at. Grrrr !
This reminds me of shopping in Burtons in Harrow years ago when this assistant wouldn’t leave me alone – he must have asked me six times if I needed any help or if I knew what I wanted. In the end I said “yes, you can help me – I’m trying to get one of these jumpers up my coat without anybody noticing – do you think you could turn your back for ten seconds ?” Eventually he muttered something and walked off – and I walked out ! :O)
Anyway, last night wasn’t too bad in the end – I managed to get a couple of tops in Blue Inc and a pair of trainers from Sports Soccer – at least in that shop the assistants actively avoid you :O)
T-shirts and tops are the worst, why on earth do they make them longer, the larger size that you pick up. Generally I fit most ‘M’ sizes, but if I pick up a top that’s a bit more ‘fitted’ I have to go up to an ‘L’ – this usually ends in the item fitting around the chest and arms, but it hangs down past my waist and well on its way to my knees. I think the only retailer that is any good in this respect is H&M. Don’t they understand that not all men have that are large around the chest have beer bellies and need the extra length of cloth to cover their girth :O(
Another of my gripes are the ‘greeters’ – to me theres nothing more offputting than seeing a shop with no customers, six staff laying in wait and an array of things that are screaming ‘buy me – you know you want to!’ You just know that as soon as you set foot in the door, one of them will peel off and ask if you are ‘ok, mate’ or if you need any help. NO ! I just want to look without feeling like I’m a prospective shoplifter being watched every step of the way .
And then you always get the one that follows you around the displays, just a couple of items behind where you are looking, straightening up the piles or adjusting the items that you have looked at. Grrrr !
This reminds me of shopping in Burtons in Harrow years ago when this assistant wouldn’t leave me alone – he must have asked me six times if I needed any help or if I knew what I wanted. In the end I said “yes, you can help me – I’m trying to get one of these jumpers up my coat without anybody noticing – do you think you could turn your back for ten seconds ?” Eventually he muttered something and walked off – and I walked out ! :O)
Anyway, last night wasn’t too bad in the end – I managed to get a couple of tops in Blue Inc and a pair of trainers from Sports Soccer – at least in that shop the assistants actively avoid you :O)
01 August 2007
And then there were two
Paul, my housemate returned from holiday last night – he’d been for a 10 day break to Dubai and came back looking sickeningly healthy with a lovely tan, and he reckoned that he’d lost loads of weight over there as it was too hot to eat
I wonder how long I’d need to be there to get the figure that I’d like!
His most poignant comment to me yesterday was ‘I can’t wait to get back home to have some decent food’ – it just didn’t seem the right time to tell him that the cookers broken :O)
On another note, Chanelle has left the Big Brother house – well hurrah for that !
I was discussing it with one of my colleagues at lunchtime – Jan was of the impression that Chanelles outbursts were down to the way that she’d been treated by Ziggy – personally I think she was just a bit of an attention seeker who was worried that she might get a few boos when she finally left the house. Did you see the fuss she made about playing that violin and in the end she was quite good – and then when Ziggy had to perform his song / dance routine she was running about telling everybody that ‘my boyfriend's a pop star’ – it was ok when it suited you love, wasn’t it !
I wonder how long I’d need to be there to get the figure that I’d like!
His most poignant comment to me yesterday was ‘I can’t wait to get back home to have some decent food’ – it just didn’t seem the right time to tell him that the cookers broken :O)
On another note, Chanelle has left the Big Brother house – well hurrah for that !
I was discussing it with one of my colleagues at lunchtime – Jan was of the impression that Chanelles outbursts were down to the way that she’d been treated by Ziggy – personally I think she was just a bit of an attention seeker who was worried that she might get a few boos when she finally left the house. Did you see the fuss she made about playing that violin and in the end she was quite good – and then when Ziggy had to perform his song / dance routine she was running about telling everybody that ‘my boyfriend's a pop star’ – it was ok when it suited you love, wasn’t it !
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)