Monday 14-12-29 A Day at the Panto

So today, for the first time in years, I went to the panto with the family. Normally TW goes with the kids and Mama, but as my sister is visiting from Singapore, we went en masse, 11 of us.
It was absolutely brilliant. Two and a half hours of entertainment, right there. Aladdin and Jasmine were young and beautiful, as expected. Well, actually, Aladdin was Jon from S Club 7, tattooed to the hilt and 32, according to Wikipedia, and Jasmine was played by Jade Chaston, whom I'd never seen before. Anyway, they were both good, and could sing. They were having fun during the performance, making each other laugh.
When did women stop playing the leading man, though? Or is it too confusing for kids these days, if Aladdin were played by a woman? I dunno...
It's normally the supporting cast that normally make a panto, and the Dame Widow Twankey was brilliant. She was played by "Lola Lasagne", I expect he's a drag act for the rest of the year, he certainly had the audience in the palm of his hand.
The two DJ PCs were amazing, I don't listen to Heart FM myself, but apparently Tom and Jack are well-known in the area. They did a couple of numbers and were pretty good at being the light relief.
My claim to fame is that I knew the actor playing the Emperor of China, kind of... He used to live on our road and is a friend of a friend - Darren Clewlow. He was brilliant, and knowing that we knew him added to the fun of the panto.
There was one scene where they wanted to depict Aladdin flying on a magic carpet, which had us in stitches. Basically, they had Jon in a luminous outfit and turned the lights down, then they had him slip his feet into a luminous cardboard flying carpet, almost like a surfboard. He was in a harness and they lifted him up and swung (swang?) him from side to side across the stage, as he was singing a number. It was very effective, and certainly achieved the intended impression, but it was beyond cheesy. It was a moment of inspired theatre, and probably worth the entry fee by itself.
I was very proud of the Middle Child, as when they were trying to open the cave to get to the Lamp, Aladdin and Abernazer ("Half a Lager"?) asked the children if they knew the password, and she shouted out "Open Sesame!". They acknowledged her, and thanked her... I think they said something like it would be a bloody long play if no-one knew the password... :)

The whole cast could sing, and it was really enjoyable. I shall probably go again next year.

UKIP / UKIK?

I read this story in The Guardian yesterday and found it gently amusing:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/22/nigel-farage-sixth-fomers-ukip-parody-app-nicholas-fromage

I even went so far as to download the app and play it, but it's not that good. Anything that puts the wind up UKIP has to be a good thing, although at the moment they're have a pretty awful run of bad luck.
They're losing councillors and prospective Parliamentary candidates at a rate of knots. Some "rough diamond" with views from the Stone Age, and now some woman councillor who expressed some "jaw-dropping" ideas - I'd like to know what those were :).
But, if they carry on as they are, they might not be around at the May elections, or they might have been reduced to the rump of MEPs that they started with.
It'll be interesting to watch, that's do sure...

Eye Tests and The March of Time

I am not King Canute, nor would I like to try to be. But it's still a kick in the nuts when Time marches on without your approval. And so I find myself one eye test down, one prescription stronger, and one sign of old age more prominent.
With my previous prescription (+1.00) there was not much difference between wearing glasses and not wearing glasses - this meant I could more or less wear my glasses at will.
Now that my prescription has changed to +1.50, it is a whole different story. There is no way I can wonder round the office wearing those babies, I would be a danger not only to my disabled self but to my colleagues as well, and that is a burden I'm not prepared to bear.

Monday December 1st - A Birthday Treat

So as a birthday treat, TW bought a pair of tickets to see Beardyman at Concorde II, which was nice. I'd only just recovered from the trip up to Brixton to see Carter, so I was almost feeling like I had my finger on the pulse...
We did things a bit differently though, compared to my Brixton visit. No guilty Maccy Dees for us; instead we went to Sawadee, which is a lovely Thai place at the bottom of Kemptown. We shared a bottle of wine and ordered their delicious fishcakes, which we still talk about, even more than nine years after leaving Brighton.
We finished up and walked to the Concorde. The warm-up guy was a mixologist, JFB, who has apparently been the DMC UK champion twice, in 2007 and again in 2011. And as expected, he rocked. They had some cameras close up on his hands as he was working, and those shots were showing on the backdrop behind him. He was brilliant. I would pay to see him again, and apparently he is working on an album, which I shall be watching out for. The way he rebuilt DJ Shadow's "Midnight" was amazing.
Then it was the interval, and we were all waiting for Beardyman to enter the arena. A man came onto the stage and started talking Swedish or some other Scandinavian language, and TW and I didn't know whether it was Beardyman or not... Turned out, of course, it was him, and he started sampling his own words as he was talking to us. All of a sudden, he was playing some pretty cool stuff, looping his own words, and adding in some beats and basslines. It was really good; I started movin' and groovin' a bit - I wasn't throwing shapes but it was funky stuff.
Then it got a bit harder. There was a camera under his chin, so pointing up at him, and the images captured there were then refracted and disjointed and displayed on the backdrop. The room was pitch dark and the beats and tunes were getting heavier, and actually it was getting quite oppressive. I think we left about five minutes before the end. It was a great gig, and a brilliant way to spend my birthday and a cold Monday night. The amazing thing was that he was improvising the whole event. Of course he had a couple of hooks and ideas on which he based the whole show, so I'm sure that some elements would sound familiar to people who have seen him before. I would go and see him again, although I was expecting a lighter, more humorous feel, but there were touches of that. If I had been on drugs I don't think I would've enjoyed the end of the show...
Well worth going to see though - there was lots of techno, lots of mixing and lots of funk. Well done fella and thanks TW for buying tickets to see him. The night was topped off with a beer on the train home, and then we relieved M & P from babysitting duties...

22nd Nov 2014 - The Final Ever (?) Carter USM Show, Brixton Academy

So, last Saturday I went to see Carter perform their final ever (?) gig at the Brixton Academy up in London. I met up with my old mucker from Uni, who still maintains we saw Carter at Brixton in 1991, but I have absolutely no recollection.
We didn't get up to much in the morning, and so I set off at about 3pm feeling a bit "meh". I settled into my seat on the train and listened to a couple of podcasts and read a few bits of old newspaper from September. I had settled on wearing my red Poppies top, since I think the Stuffies top won't survive a stiff breeze.
I got to Victoria in plenty of time and immediately hit McDonald's - my guilty pleasure. Once I was sated, I headed to Brixton, admittedly earlier than planned, and hit the mean streets.
Brixton was full of "30 Something" long-sleeved tee-shirts, and I was worried I wasn't going to get into a pub. In fact, to tell the truth, I headed left out of the tube station to try and get off the beaten track, and find a quiet watering-hole. I really am a miserable misanthrope. What the hell was I thinking, agreeing to go and stand in a hall with 4,900 other sweaty 40 and 50 year olds? I could just go home and listen to the CDs, surely?
As it was, I found Plan B was mostly empty, so I texted E to let him know where to find me. We met up and had a few pints, and then headed along to the Academy. We were in time to see the end of Sultans of Ping FC play a few of their hits, including, of course, "Where's Me Jumper?". And then it was time for the main event - Carter USM...
They were ace. They hit the stage hard and played hit after hit, after hit. The most memorable points for me were "Midnight On The Murder Mile", with the mostly male crowd singing along with the "Oh Oh Oh Oh Ohs". I'd forgotten they even wrote and recorded "Rubbish", and "After the Watershed" with its "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" chorus.
The whole crowd seemed to be singing along to every song, and everyone was very emotional. It was a great evening, and it finished early enough for me to easily catch the last train home. I very nearly caught the penultimate train home, but missed it by a couple of minutes. Ho Hum... I waited in the pub and had a lovely pint of American Pale Ale.

It was well worth it, and I'm glad I made the effort to get my hands on tickets. On the Sunday morning I played "Midnight on the Murder Mile" to TW, and I found an old appearance by the boys on TOTP from 1992 singing "Rubbish", which made me feel old. Well, it was either that or the hangover...

Here's to the next Farewell gig, I'll be there with bells on... :)

A Family Sunday

So today the MiL & GiL came to visit. Of course, they intended to stay for lunch. The only problem with that was that we didn't have any food in to prepare. TW had overnighted in Portslade, seeing a friend, and she had consumed prosecco. I had stayed up late, drinking red wine and watching "Fargo".
So TW went to Lidl and did her weekly shop with the MiL & GiL, and then started preparing a roast. In the end we ate at about five pm, which wasn't the intention at the start of the day. We did consider going to a carvery at one point, but quickly dismissed that, causing great disappointment for the children. The Eldest had a real sulk about it, huffing and slamming doors... Eventually she went with TW to Lidl, and thank god for that, because if she had stayed at home she would have been unbearable.
The kids are in bed now, so it's the usual catch up on shit tv for the masses, a.k.a. SCD  and X Factor results. You gotta keep the masses occupied and distracted. I'm quite tired, it was hard doing nothing all day, so I shall be going to bed shortly, to forget this filth.

Welcome to Sunny Worthing

Days like Sunday are lovely. It's warm in the sun, but with a cold undercurrent. TW and I decided to drag the children out for some fresh air, and so we promenaded along the seafront. The girls were all on skates, and the Middle Child was particularly good, pushing and gliding effortlessly ahead. We had sweets in our pockets, to keep the energy levels up, and we were out for about an hour and fifteen minutes. The girls enjoyed it after whingeing that they didn't want to go... The great thing about going out and getting some good quality fresh air though, was that we got to mong out at home for the rest of the day... :)

When I'm 64...

Esther McVey is obviously deluded when she says that because the Rolling Stones are still gigging, people can work into their seventies.
How she can compare the Stones, who gig "every now and then" and are adored by millions, to carrying on pushing paper into pension age is beyond me.
One simply cannot use "pop stars" as examples for everyday behaviour, since they are outliers in every sense - they don't work 9 to 5, they don't work every day, they don't have thousands cheering their every deed. The Rolling Stones are very lucky and envied by millions, but they should not be used as a yardstick by which others should be judged.

East of West

I started collecting East of West some time ago. It's a comic written by Jonathan Hickman. I read the first issue and then I stopped reading comics for some reason.
I didn't stop collecting, oh no, that would've been too logical. So I've got about 15 issues to catch up on.
I've just re-read Issue #1 and I am so looking forward to binge-reading this story. Death is abroad, and it's not a pretty sight...

London Extended

The first weekend of the half-term, we spent mostly been in London.

TW had been frantically searching for a reasonably-priced hotel for one night, so that she could take the girls up to London. She had some harebrained idea that she "needed" to take the girls to London. I thought the idea was that we could crash in London and avoid the children whingeing on the way home, but as it turned out, I was wrong (more on that below). Any way, she wasn't having much luck. All the places she found which were affordable looked a bit dingy and a bit sub-par. I dare say that after a day trudging around London, any room could look inviting, but I was of the opinion that we should wait to get the right accommodation before arranging to go to the Big Smoke. But sitting in the comfort of our living room, the hotels she was looking at didn't seem to be that appealing. 

Then, on the Friday night, as we were discussing what alternatives there were, a friend of hers phoned and told her that he'd seen her trials and tribulations on Facebook, and why hadn't she phoned him? We could all stay at his, he said. TW replied that he lived in Essex, so why would she call him? Au contraire, he responded, we're on the Central Line and quite easy to get to on the Tube... So we had a quick chat and decided to take him up on his offer. On Saturday morning we came down to see the girls lounging in front of the TV as normal, and told them of our plans. They were pleased and excited, to say the least. Since TW's friend is godfather to The Youngest, and has visited recently and played with the kids, it may have been that seeing him was the bit they were looking forward to the most. 

We had breakfast, got dressed and ready, TW made some sandwiches and boxed up the left over chilli, and we headed to the train station. We bought the tickets, and had a few minutes to wait, so I popped to the Co-Op and picked up some pastries and a newspaper. We caught the 10am train up to London, and we were on the way. 

Once we arrived in Victoria, we headed east towards the Houses of Parliament, and then TW remembered her nephew was in Halls near Victoria Station. So she called him and miraculously he was in. In reality, I should say miraculously he answered, as he'd obviously had a big night out on Friday, but if you're in your early twenties and living in SW1 why wouldn't you take advantage of that? The girls were surprised and pleased to see him. We talked for a few minutes and then headed on, across the river and left (north) on to the South Bank. The route was crowded, as you would expect on a Saturday lunchtime. Not only with tourists, but locals getting about their business. In addition, there were "street entertainers" on the bridge, blocking up the pavement. There was one bagpiper, which was fine, but the rest were con-artists "playing" Find The Ball", with wads of £20 notes in their hands. It was a bit depressing. In addition the other annoying people taking up street space for no apparent reason were Christians. There were Born Agains, Jehovahs, and probably some others I didn't recognise. They were hawking their irrelevant wares, so many of them that you probably couldn't spit without hitting one of them (not that I tried it, natch). 

The hordes didn't start to thin out until after we got past the London Eye, which is an attraction we need to visit at some point in the future. We sat and had a sandwich, and watched a couple of street acts. There was a woman juggling knives while balancing precariously on some wobbly stuff which the girls watched, and then we saw some Jamaican acrobats. The Middle One actually got picked to be in the show, but she became embarrassed and didn't participate, which was a shame because her finale would have been being picked up and whirled around by the acrobats. Then we walked on.

Part of the reason for visiting London was to go to Shakespeare's Globe, because The Eldest is studying the Tudors in school and Shakespeare is a big part of that. It was more expensive than we would normally spend, the tour of the Globe was £36 - there are much cheaper ways to be entertained in London (as well as much more expensive ways!) - but the tour was led by a jobbing actor who made the whole thing very entertaining and enjoyable. It was well worth the money. And the Eldest learnt a lot; she came back from school and told us that she'd shared a lot of the facts with her class. In fact, she had remembered quite a lot of things which I'd forgotten.
After the Globe, we went to the Tate Modern for a short time. I'm always amazed at the works of art one can see there for free; there are works by Picasso among others which are just there within touching distance. Walking around the rooms with three small children is not the best way to appreciate the art on display, but I was very impressed with some of the pieces.
We weren't there for very long, as we were all getting a little tired, and then we headed to the Tube and aimed to meet up with TW's mate in Gants Hill.
Onthe Sunday we headed back into London and saw Covent Garden, then made it to Hamleys. By that point though the girls were tired and so we caught the 38 bus to Victoria. We headed homewards and made it back to Worthing at about 4pm (as I recall). What a weekend.

Tantrums

Our middle child is particularly susceptible to tantrums, but only when she's tired. So on nights like to last ht, when she stayed up late to watch fireworks, tantrums are pretty much guaranteed. And thus it was; lots of loose accusations about it "not being fair", and we're "horrible parents " and we "never let me have sleepovers".
To be honest, I was pleased that I managed to remain calm throughout this particular episode.
I guess it's a mix of the emotional high of being with friends and watching fireworks, and the low of going home alone to bed. When you combine that with being tired, it's quite a potent mix, and the whole thing becomes a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.
I'm not sure how to smooth out those steep dips and awesome climbs once the ride starts. I think it's just a case of staying calm in the face of the heartfelt outpourings and not react. After all, it wasn't like she was refusing to go to bed, or clean her teeth, she was just crying and accusing us of being hideous while she was doing the normal things she would do while getting ready for bed. So I think I need to expect it and plan for it in future.
Indeed, I think I've entered a period of calm all round with the children. I do shout at them when they annoy me, and the causes of annoyance are many and varied. It can be not putting something away, or arguing with me when I tell them it's tidying up time. I need to implement a trigger where I take a breath and don't react at their level of ferocity / emotion. And I think I've got one that will work for a bit, at least. The answer is to say "I don't want to shout at you, ...", and in that time I have averted my normal unthinking switch into shouty mode, and it ends up being a bit of a calmer discussion, at least from my side of the dialogue. We'll see how it works out - it's early days yet.

A Fat Man in an Ill-Fitting Shirt

I looked at myself in the mirror today and all I saw was a fat man in an ill-fitting shirt. Strange how liking at the same thing at different times produces different results.

A Trip Up Chanctonbury Ring

This morning I had to wake two of the girls up at 07:20, which is unheard of, mostly. TW was sleeping in, because she had been in A&E until 2am (but that's another story), and to be honest I was starting to panic - how was I going to feed the girls and make sure that they had lunch with them before they left for school?
The reason was that we took a long walk up Chanctonbury Ring yesterday. We had discussed it on Friday night, when we were round at a friend's house; as it turned out, there were four families trekking up the hill yesterday afternoon. I was feeling a bit jaded, and thought a walk and some fresh air might do me some good. I was expecting a 45-minute stroll, and home for a nice cup of tea, but I was wrong. Two and a half hours later, we headed home.
It took about half an hour to get parked, because the car park was full, so we had to wait for a space before we set off. A family had come back to their car, but then decided to dry off the dog, and change their boots, and clean their footwear and take off their coats before vacating their space. That took about twenty minutes, and the hordes were getting impatient. But eventually we gathered and started up the hill. Apparently on Facebook it's classified as a mountain, but I don't think so. It was a bit steep at the start, but we found the rope swings and the children (ten of them) played for a while. The rope swing was a bit of a death trap, but everyone managed to survive, so we headed on with a full complement. The youngest then got a bit grumpy (he is only two) and he went back to the car with his mum. The rest of us headed on. It is quite a nice walk; it's noticeably steep, but it is through woodland, and at this time of year it's lovely. Lots of brown leaves blowing around our feet, falling off the trees. It was quiet and still, and we passed several families all walking their dogs on a warm autumn day.
Once we got through the woodland, we hit the South Downs Way. It was open fields then, and the wind was blowing something fierce. I had a coat with me, because I'm cautious like that, and I kept putting it on to keep the wind off and then taking it off because I was too hot. Ah well, some people, eh? We strode to the top and sat for a while, while the kids frolicked around and ate sweets.
We were quite proud of the fact that our three kids made it to the top without whinging. I guess because there were so many children with us, they were distracted and didn't realise how far they walked...
On the way back, someone suggested we go the steep way, as it was shorter and quicker. What I didn't realise was that it was a hell of a lot steeper, to the extent that when I kicked a couple of stones, they built up their own momentum, and didn't stop (I think) until they got to the bottom... I couldn't walk straight down the slope myself, I had to track horizontally across the incline and hold on to the trees as I went, to stop me falling over. Several of the group resorted to going down on their bums, which would have been the easier option, but I enjoyed the challenge, I suppose I have to admit. I am aching in several places I never knew existed though; I really need to exercise more often. And once we were back at the bottom, we headed back home for a tea of gammon, roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese (with yorkshire puddings, beans and carrots). A brilliant way to finish the day. And that explains why the kids were sleeping in this morning, I think...

An Afternoon of Rugby

So today we've not had any social plans, which has been nice. I had to go to Asda to replace a toaster, but after that, I've been able to watch some rugby. Earlier it was Sale Sharks vs. Munster, and it looked like Sale had it sewn up. But you can never discount Munster and they pulled themselves back into the game in the second half. Eventually they ended up winning by one point, with a dropgoal in the 81st minute. I really thought Sale had done enough to get through, but unfortunately not - what a gripping game!
After that, there were highlights of the Bleddisloe Cup, Australia vs. New Zealand. Again, as expected, it was an exhilarating game. New Zealand played close to the wind as they always do, but Australia matched them early doors and were ten points up at one stage. Then in the second half one of the Kiwis was sin-binned, but incredibly New Zealand upped the pace and forced the score. Then as we hit the 80 minute mark, New Zealand were in possession but six points behind. They managed to get the try and the extras, robbing Australia of the bragging rights. Again, it was a brilliant game and reminded me why I watch rugby.
There is a third match today, Northampton Saints vs. Racing Metro, but I'm not sure I will be able to watch it in full. Let's give it a go though...

Five Weapons (Image Comics)

I have just finished reading Five Weapons #10. What an excellent comic, and such a shame that it was cancelled at this point.
The first five issues were printed in 2013 and I picked those up from my local comic shop, Uncanny Comics in Worthing. I bought them because the guys in the store were big on Image at the time (and still are), and they knew what I liked and recommended it to me.
The second series started early in 2014 and again appeared to be a five-part series. This time, I missed that it was being printed and had to pick up all five parts off of eBay.
It's a great comic. I'd recommend it to anyone, even people who dismiss comics as being for kids (cough, cough, TW, I'm looking at you...). The artwork was bright and clear, lots of blue sky, thinking back on it. The set-up was just wonky enough to be slightly unreal - where would you find an assassin's school in real life? And there was a definite plot; once I got into the rhythm of the first issue, I was looking forward to the next instalment and the hero's encounter with the next weapon club.
Apparently the author thought he could get fifteen issues out of the story, to tell it completely; in Issue #10, the last two pages seemed rushed, so that he could close it out. Reading stuff on the web, though, he knew it was going to be cancelled and so tried to reach a conclusion. It's a bit of a shame, I might have preferred being left in mid-air.
But it's comics like this that make comic collection such a joy. You can discover really great stories out there, that you might never have found if you didn't go into the comic store at that particular time, on that particular day. Five Weapons almost reads like a Mark Millar book, it maintains the tempo and your interest and there is hardly a frame wasted; it's a real tour de force.
I'm sure that Five Weapons will remain a fave read, and I look forward to finding more gems from the same author, Jimmie Robinson.

eBay Rogue Sellers

Not a consumer advisory posting, merely an indication of how single-minded and irritable I can get.

You've probably guessed or inferred by now that I am a neophile. I love looking at and acquiring new things. I keep this manageable (mostly) by looking on eBay, lots. My favourite category, of course, is "Tablets and eReaders" - I keep thinking that surrounding myself with new tech toys will make me happy. Of course, what I am beginning to realise is that it's not actually having these devices, it's what you do with them. It's how you use them, they should be enablers, not items to be admired in their own right. In fact, they should be unobtrusive. So when my Chromebook freezes and needs to be restarted, that is a fail. But the situation we find ourselves in today is a combination of the consumerist culture we live in, and the beatification of new tech products; so we think that acquiring new tech will save our (basically empty and meaningless) lives, as well as proving to our peers that we are doing well for ourselves - we must therefore be happier and more content.

Anyway, there is a seller on eBay who sells hundreds of tablet cases. He/she (hereafter referred to as "they") must have some sort of automated program, because within seconds, the pages of the "tablet / eReader" category are flooded with adverts for these cases.
My problem, or issue with this, is that there is a perfectly good category in which tablet cases should be advertised. And that category, surprisingly, is "tablets & eReaders Accessories".
When I want to get vaguely aroused by looking at new Amazon Kindles and the latest Samsung eight inch tablets, and iPads that are completely out of my price range, I don't want to have to scroll past pages and pages of adverts for cases for said tablets.

So this morning I reported one case per page that I had to scroll through. I'm not sure that will have any effect whatsoever, but I must have scrolled through 12 pages of the "tablets / eReaders" category and I probably saw about three tablets. The rest of the listed items were cases sold by Ecell Accessorize. So eBay now have 12 reports of items for incorrect listing. I expect no-one ever normally looks at those reports, but I am hoping that the volume of reports might indicate that something is amiss.
Either that, or they will think that I have a personal vendatta against this seller and they will dismiss my reports as the twisted ravings of a bitter and spurned madman.
Let's see if the process works...

An Illness in the Family

Unfortunately The Youngest was ill this week. On Tuesday night we were all sitting in the living room after dinner, when she turned to TW and shouted, "Mum, I'm going to be sick!" So we told her to get upstairs to the bathroom, which she did, where she proceeded to vomit the most amount of vomit I think I've ever seen.
The Youngest is five years old, and I was very proud that a) she realised she was about to be sick, and b) she handled it really stoically.
Unfortunately she blew it later, when she was sick while she was still asleep, and she covered her bedsheets and duvet in vom. But the beginnings are there... Then she was sick several times more during more the night; a couple of times she came up to our bedroom to let us know she had been sick, but we shouldn't worry, and a couple of times she called us to help her.
These days, of course, if a child is ill, i.e., she vomits, she is not allowed to return to school for at least 48 hours. So that meant The Youngest was off school Wednesday and Thursday. I dashed into work at 6am on Wednesday morning to get my laptop, and worked from home that day. I actually got quite a bit done, I left TY in the living room watching telly, while I got to work in the kitchen.
Friday morning was quite funny; we had told her that of course she would be off school for two days. However, on Thursday night she still seemed a bit touch-and-go, so I brought my laptop home just in case she didn't go to school on Friday.
But it seems our fears were groundless, she came down to breakfast in her school uniform, and would brook no interference; when we asked if she was okay, or if she wanted to go to school, she was set on going in. Which was great, that meant that I got to go to work as per normal.
So that's been the major drama this week, there have been other smaller things but I might get to those later.
TTFN.

14-09-27 Throwing Muses

I went to see Throwing Muses on Wednesday night in Brighton, with a couple of fellas, and the music was great; we saw a bit of Tanya Donelly supporting, and she was on stage again later with Kristin Hersh for a spooky rendition of 'You Cage', which was great. I need to listen to more Muses (not Muse!), I reckon.
 That's the beauty of live music, isn't it? You can get enveloped by the loudness of it and transported by the immediacy.
Two more gigs at least for me this year; Cud at the end of October and Carter USM in November. Bring it on.

Sunday 14-09-14 An Impromptu Barbecue

We were at home today and we got a text message inviting us to an afternoon bbq starting at 15:30. I don't think that the invitation mentioned '15:30' precisely, the invitation probably mentioned half past three, but I took it as 15:30.

I wasn't intending on snooping but I couldn't help but notice that other guests arrived at 15:25. So I quickly phoned TW and told her to get her skates on. We arrived en masse and started drinking (my head hurts this morning) but it was a lovely day and evening, a lot of merriment was had.

Saturday 14-09-13 - Laid Low by a Headache

So yesterday was a strange day. TW went to work early in the morning, and so I was left in charge of the girls. I was not doing much, upstairs and down, when I realised that my vision was not great. It was like I had masses of sunspots, or big sunspots, in my vision.
I was feeling okay though, so I carried on with what I was doing (the washing up, mostly). It was only after about 30 or 40 minutes that I started to get a hideous headache. We hadn't planned to do much in the morning anyway, so I let the girls veg out in front of the telly and I had a bath and put the washing on. When TW got home, we had lunch (she was due home shortly after 11, but only got home at 12:30, just after the youngest had had a creme caramel...) and then she took the girls out for the afternoon.
That was about 2pm, I went to bed and slept until 5pm, so I must have been ill... Never mind.
The evening was a bit of a non-event, the girls stayed up past 8pm watching the final of 'Tumble', another one of those shows where 'celebrities' attempt something they're not very good at. And it wasn't even as though the best gymnasts won, instead they gave the 'winner' award to the injured contestant. Some sort of sympathy vote going on, I think.
Anyway, that was my Saturday, I'm not sure what Sunday will bring, but it looks like the Winx Club is already here, thanks to the girls, let's see what else happens along.
TTFN.

Monday 14-08-25 - The GiL

Yesterday we headed to a big Sainsbury's nearby, to buy school uniform for the girls. On the way we stopped in to see the GiL. We'd phoned ahead and warned her that we were coming. When we got there we rang the bell, and waited for her to answer the door. Then we rang the bell again. And then a third time. At that point TW headed into the garden and through the back door, to check that everything was alright - after all, she is 96.
GiL was sitting in front of the TV, apparently watching F1, and was oblivious to the doorbell, and TW shouting "Grandma!" as she entered the house. It quickly became apparent that she was absolutely stocious, she was on a Gin bender. She had drunk herself into a stupor. She had to gather her thoughts before she  spoke, and every time she did speak, she had to speak slowly to enunciate her words properly.
I know that she's 96, and probably bored, but it seems like she's removing herself from living. She had drunk herself into a place where she didn't need to think or worry about time passing. If she had been an 18-year old on a Friday evening, she would have been saluted as a drinking hero. However, as a 96-year old on a Sunday lunchtime, she's a cause for concern. Still, I'm not sure that there's anything we can do about it. She's 96 and that's all  there is.

Monday 14-08-25 Glad to Not be Karen Carpenter

How does the song go? "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down."
Imagine how pissed she'd be to encounter a Monday which was also a rainy day. Well, right there you have the traditional British August Bank holiday. And so it has come to pass today, the heavens have opened and the rain has prevented us from handing the kids off to the grandparents. So we've been stuck altogether in the same room all day, looking at the grey skies outside, getting slowly more crabby with each other. We've played Scrabble and the girls have watched a film. The grandparents have been over for a cup of tea. TW has been out shopping. I can't believe I'm going to have to go back to work tomorrow having wasted a day here at home.
Ah, well. I'm sure it'll dry out soon, and maybe we can go out and get some fresh air.

Thursday 14-08-21 - Jessie

So my girls watch 'Jessie', a TV show produced by Disney.
It's awful.
The premise is that an aspiring actress becomes nanny to a family of adopted children. The parents are generally absent because they are very successful film stars. So you can see that the target demographic is very limited.
Because the parents are mostly absent, the show is about the kids, and they are damned annoying. There is a white kid who lusts after all grown women, and seems to think that Jessie is his girlfriend. There is an Indian kid who has a lizard as a pet (Mr Kipling) and is generally dorky. There's a black girl who is quick-witted and sassy but has poor grades. And there's a white girl to make up the numbers, by the look of it.
All the children are over-privileged and horrible to each other and everyone else.
And because they are children (apart from Bertram the neurotic butler / housekeeper), it degenerates into a high-pitched whiny insult-fest, with no redeeming features. Unfortunately it's not even funny.

I can't believe Disney have endorsed this tripe. There are no positive role models and it is not wholesome family entertainment. If you get the chance, avoid it at all costs. If there is any paint drying in your immediate vicinity, it would be more entertaining to watch that than 'Jessie'.

Of course, all of the above is my personal opinion and it may or may not have any bearing on reality as experienced by others.

Wednesday 14-08-20 - Sunshine and Showers

At Sussex County Cricket Ground again, for the last game of the season.  We've already had a shower, although it was nothing really to talk of.
So here I sit, mellowing in the afternoon tranquil atmosphere, in my raincoat and sandals. I brought my sandals with me because I thought it might be warm enough; as it is my shoes and socks were too  warm, so I've decided to dress down.

Monday 14-08-11 - Mercy Dash to the Post Office

So, we were up and at 'em early yesterday morning. I'd been awake since about 04:45, so I got up and read some stuff on the Web. Then back to bed,  and up again at 06:15. I had a shower and then listened to the news headlines,  then went downstairs for breakfast.
I was intending to get to the Post Office before going to work. I think that's why I woke up so early; I was excited. I'd been away for the weekend and there was a note through the door advising that there were TWO parcels waiting for me to pick up. I've ordered a case for my Nexus 7, which I'm using to write this, and I was hoping that one of the parcels would be the case. It's been over a week now, I think I ordered it last Sunday night.
So I headed off to the Post Office, replete with Weetabix and tea, and slightly anxious that there would be a queue of Twirlies so long that they would be spilling out onto the pavement outside. As it was, the drive in was fine, apart from not taking as much caution as I should have done while circumnavigating a bin lorry. No one was hurt, or in danger of being hurt, but I could have used more caution. At the Post Office there was only one chap in front of me, so when it was my turn I eagerly handed over my ticket, and I waited with bated breath.
You can imagine my disappointment when I was handed two flat packages. Comics. Not nice cosy things for my electronics. Comics.
Don't get me wrong; I love comics. I buy a lot of comics, and should read more of them. But I was really looking forward to receiving a snazzy case for my tablet.
So, I walked back to the car with less of a spring in my step. I drove home and took the appropriate care around the bin lorry, which was a bit further along the road this time. And I made my sandwiches.
I left for work, the comics unopened on the floor in the living room, worrying that I might have to do it all over again tomorrow morning.

Saturday 14-07-19 eBay Disputes

I don't use eBay that much, mostly to sell unwanted (but pristine) comics, and to buy some cheap electronics. I managed to get a lovely Barnes & Noble HD+ 9" tablet for under £100, which I was very pleased with, although I got stung on p&p charges :( But those fade in the memory over time and I am able to enjoy the tablet.
You may have noticed by now that I love a bit of technology. I was counting up the number of electronic devices I own the other day, or actually that exist in the house, and we arrived at the following answer:

HP Laptop - 15" running Vista, due for replacement
Samsung Netbook - 10.1" running Linux Mint
Samsung Chromebook - 10.1"
Barnes & Noble HD+ 9"
CnM 7" tablet
Nexus 7 tablet
Samsung Tab Original 7"
Barnes & Noble Simple Touch e-reader
HTC One X

I did buy a 'broken' Samsung Tab 2 cheaply off eBay, all it needed was a factory reset, then I decided that I didn't need it so I sold it on eBay, again, and made a few pounds. The trouble is, though, that eBay and PayPal fees eat into any small profits, and in the end it ends up costing money rather than being a benefit.

The one tablet I'd not tried was an Amazon Fire. So I bought one which was again sold as 'not working'. It switched on, but didn't get past the initial power-up screen. I thought that maybe I could do something following an XDA script, and possibly recover it? So unfortunately I didn't get it to work, and relisted it on eBay as 'spares or repair', and that's where the disputes bit comes in.

I was quite pleased with the price that the device sold for, but then the buyer started asking questions about the device. I had described my attempt to replace the bootloader, and I had also included the fact that I had taken the back off and tried to repair it. Admittedly, the focus of that was that I had damaged the edges of the Fire, but the information was there. I had also advised that returns would not be accepted as the device was described as not working.

So, the buyer's first gambit was that it wasn't the type of Kindle Fire he was looking for. I asked what his intentions were, and he advised he was thinking of returning it, which came as a surprise to me, as this was the first I'd heard. Then he claimed that I'd interfered with the tablet and it was not as described. At no point did he actually ask for a refund, and I think he was hoping that I would offer one. Unfortunately I had listed the item as 'no returns', so I wasn't going to offer voluntarily. And now there is a case open against me, because apparently the item is 'not as described'.

I think he was hoping that he would be able to plug the device in and get it to work, in a similar manner to the method I had employed with the Samsung tablet earlier. Unfortunately that wasn't the case; as I'd described in the sale, the device was completely unresponsive. And now the buyer is trying to back out of the sale, claiming it was not as described. And that's just part of the problem with culture today, in my opinion; no-one is willing to take responsibility for their actions.

If the buyer had asked for a refund, I would have considered it, which is the strange thing. If he'd said that actually he hadn't read the description, that he had made a mistake, I would probably have (reluctantly) refunded him. After all, I would then have to relist the device, or contact the 2nd highest bidder and offer the tablet to them. But I cannot accept that the device was 'not as described', I spent a lot of time ensuring that the description gave any reader fair warning of what to expect. And so we have come to an impasse. I rejected his claim, because in my opinion it is as described, and the buyer hasn't actually asked directly for a refund. Of course, we are now past the point where that kind of request might be accepted. So it is now 'sub judice' with eBay and we are waiting for their adjudication. We'll see how that goes.

This is all of course the turn of events from my point of view, and actual facts and happenings may have occurred differently in reality.

Sunday 14-06-29 - Party Day

And the day of the party arrived.
I was in bed at about 22:30 on Saturday night, and I woke up at 00:30. TW was still not back, and I was slightly concerned. I did think about texting her, but decided not to, and went back to sleep.
I was woken again at 03:30, when a very drunk TW staggered in and slumped into bed. I was a bit miffed at the time, as she didn't close the toilet doors or the bedroom doors.
To explain, we've recently moved up into the loft. Things are still a bit ad hoc, and we haven't got any blinds or curtains up in the stairwell or the bathroom. And, what with it being right at the height of summer, or at least the time of the longest days, it's important that we close the doors to keep the light out as the mornings creep up on us - it's only sporting to give them a chance.
So that was annoying. Then when I got up later, at about seven and went downstairs, I thought it was odd that I could feel a breeze. As I got to the ground floor, I spotted that the front door was open. So not only had she not closed the doors in our bedroom, to keep the light out; she hadn't closed the front door to keep the burglars out!
I did a quick check; of course, nothing had been taken. In matters of that nature we are quite lucky. Eldest had requested three types of sandwich for her party: ham, jam and egg mayonnaise. Once the others roused themselves and I had drunk a sufficiency of tea, and caught up with the latest events in 'The Winx Club', I headed to the kitchen and started buttering. I made the jam and the ham sandwiches, and then TW surfaced. I told her she had to make the egg sandwiches, but unfortunately she wasn't up to the challenge. She had boiled the eggs the night before; on Sunday morning she got the girls to peel them, and then mash them. When it came to loading the mixture into the actual slices of bread, she couldn't take the smell.
It was cruel of me to make fun of my wife at such a time, I admit it. But hangovers are self-inflicted and it wasn't like Eldest's party had come as a surprise: TW had booked it, planned it, and organised it. For her to lie on the sofa, groaning, asking me to take over, was a bit much, especially as I hadn't really been involved up to that point. She eventually knocked on a neighbour's door and asked her for help when I refused to make the egg sandwiches - which I wasn't expecting.
As it turned out the neighbour wasn't available but her daughter came round to help out. So once I'd cut up the carrot sticks and celery, I took over the egg duties, for my sins (I really don't like egg sandwiches).  And once we'd done that, it was time to go to the party.
Once others were involved TW perked up, of course. But that was good because obviously it meant that the girls had a good party. Of course, after we had cleared down and got everything home, TW went straight to bed, until about 5pm. We spent the rest of the day eating party food; all those ham and jam sandwiches I made earlier, and party sausages (no, not that type of party sausage...). And then, of course, it was bedtime.

Saturday 14-06-28 - Party Prep

So the weekend arrived. And the first thing I had agreed to was a work-related call at 09:00. How very relaxing. I logged on to the laptop in advance of the call and saw that the team had emailed me the results I needed to check, rendering the call unnecessary. So, I checked the results, provided some feedback and thought that would be it. 'Ah', advised my colleague over IM (Instant Messaging), 'now we can move on to the second stage of the change'. Oh, bugger.
'Do you need me online for that?' I asked. In three hours or so, came the reply. 'Okay, I'll log back on at one pm', I wrote back.
TW had, by now, taken the girls to gymnastics, and so I showered and went to pick them up. Once we returned, I was faffing around with something, then TW's best friend (and husband, and young son) arrived. So we had a very nice time chatting and drinking tea. TW made lunch, some lovely burgers in rolls, and by then the son was getting tired and so our visitors left, heading back to the Big Smoke. Or actually Maidenhead, I think it's where they've moved to. Anyway, then I checked the TV listings and saw that there was some T20 cricket on, so I sat and concentrated on that while TW was very active doing washing, and shopping and stuff. She does do things in a disorganised manner; if I was her I would arrange my life so that I actually got to sit down for a few minutes. But that's not her style; even when she's busy (or says she's got a lot to do), she's quite happy to sit and play Candy Crush for 20 minutes. So, I've given up trying to work her out. She was going out in the evening, some wedding reception which I wasn't interested in attending, and she wanted to make sure that things were ready and in place for Eldest's party on the Sunday.
At 6:30 or so she got a text message - we had arranged to buy a tent and the guy selling it was back and available. So I jumped in the car to go and pick it up, and guess what? Heavy summer showers. As soon as we do anything related to camping, it bloody well rains. We just don't have the luck. So I collected the beast (it was so big that light was bending around it)  and took it home.
Once I'd unloaded that, it was time to ferry TW in to town.
That evening I had a couple of EPAs from River Cottage and watched a bit of telly. I headed up to bed at about 22:30 I think.
I had forgotten to log back on to the work laptop to validate the second lot of results...

Friday 14-06-27 - Sussex vs. Middlesex at Hove County Ground

Friday came as a bit of a surprise; as I had taken Thursday off, I was in full-on weekend mode, and not really in the right frame of mind to be in the office with my nose to the grindstone. But I struggled through and made it to 4:50pm.
On a Friday it's one of my customs/traditions/habits to get a sausage sandwich from the canteen in the morning, but unfortunately on this occasion by the time I got to work they had run out. Just lately they've been pushing the breakfast items - sausage and egg muffins, bacon and cheese croissants, and I think they've created a bit of demand for cooked goods early in the morning. I had to take the second-choice option of a Danish, which is probably just as enjoyable, but it wasn't a sausage sandwich.
At lunch I decided to save my sandwiches (homemade by TW) for the evening, and I had a salt beef ciabatta with piccalilli. It was delicious, but I think that was down to the piccalilli rather than anything else; the salt beef was a bit chewy, but I managed it nonetheless.

So, anyway, on to the cricket. As ever, I left work slightly early and tried to get to the Hove County Ground in time for the opening of the gates. Of course I missed that, but I got there early enough to get a front row seat, which was pleasing to me.
The cricket was okay; Sussex managed to restrict Middlesex in the first innings, which was a surprise after seeing how Middlesex performed on Sky on Thursday night. One of Middlesex's sure-fire boundaries was stopped by a seagull, and the moment was captured for posterity by the cameras:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&CMP=EMCSPTEML942&v=g2C22nbwg2s

Sussex's response was pretty good, but inevitable. They completed their run chase in 16 overs. On the way out, people were saying that it was the best game of the season; somehow I don't think they were right. The first game of the season was a real thriller and that one was nip and tuck all the way, with Sussex winning off the last ball of the innings. I think that is the best game I've seen so far this year - and possibly for a number of years.
So I headed home a happy man that night :)

Thursday 14-06-26 - To Goodwood Festival of Speed

Thursday came, and I had booked a day off work. Dad had bagged two complimentary tickets to the Rolling Roadshow, the first day of the Festival of Speed at Goodwood.
The Festival of Speed (FoS) is a petrolhead's wet dream, a living record of the racing industry from its early days in the 1910s and 1920s, all the way through to the current day. They have Formula One cars, Nascar entrants, touring cars, winners of Le Mans and supercars, as well as trade stalls showing all the latest street-legal and concept cars.
We got there by about 9am, and wandered in. The first stand / stall is the exhibition of the cars who will be driving up the hill. The whole thing about Goodwood is showing the cars off, how they drive, and during the day there was a steady procession of Fiats, Peugeots, Fords, Audis, Ferraris and others going up the hill.
I did suggest to Dad that he ring up Audi and ask for a trip up the hill; to be fair, he did, but unfortunately the woman he spoke to advised that she had already allocated all the spaces and so he was fresh out of luck. But that didn't ruin the day; we enjoyed ourselves and the weather stayed with us.
We skipped past the first stand and proceeded deeper in to the FoS. Dad had done some research and apparently there was a GT40 somewhere in there; Dad used to own a kit GT40, and so that was a highlight he was looking forward to. The way that the cars are displayed at FoS, you can walk up and down and in between them, peering into their cabins and inspecting their engines and exhausts. As I said, it's a petrolhead's dream. Dad was in his element; I was just there for the day out. We talked about allsorts; the economy, work, family, you name it. It was a nice relaxing day. The Thursday is normally busy but not crowded, and so it proved. Dad got to see his GT40 in the 'Style et Lux' paddock, which is where it really belongs; I'm not any kind of car specialist but the smooth curves of the GT are something to behold.
We left at about 1:30 or 1:45 and headed home, Dad had seen all he wanted to see and TW was busy in the afternoon and relying on neighbours to look after the kids, so it made sense.
It was a good day; it was good weather and it was nice to spend some time with the 'old man' (i.e., Dad). Hopefully we can have a few more like that during the summer.

Monday 14-06-23 (II) - Delays Ahead

So, on Monday morning  I set off to work early, having already celebrated Eldest's birthday and opened her presents with her. As a family we were awake half an hour earlier than normal, and I thought I would take the opportunity to get to work early and start the week at a canter.
I headed to West Worthing station and jumped on the 07:47 and decided to change at Worthing; that normally means I can get a seat, and the train goes direct to Brighton. If I'm reading,  or  listening to a podcast, I can carry on uninterrupted. The other option is to change at Hove, which means (normally) waiting longer on Hove station, and then not getting a seat on the train. I know it's only two minutes from Hove to Brighton, but I like a sit-down if I can.
So I got on the train at Worthing, and it promptly went nowhere. The conductor advised that some piping had fallen off the bottom of one of the carriages, and they would attempt to fix it. This meant that they switched off the electricity feeding the tracks, and so all trains behind us were also delayed.
Eventually he advised that, due to the electric tracks and the hot train exhaust, they would not be able to rectify the issue, and so we were obliged to disembark and get on subsequent trains.
As a result, I didn't get into the office until 09:10, probably twenty minutes later than I would normally expect to arrive.

I am starting to believe that I am jinxed; life seems to plod on normally and all is well, usually, but as soon as I try something different or unusual, Fate slaps me down. So from now on, it's routine, routine, routine. I shall aim to be at the station in time to get the 08:02, and take it from there...

Monday 14-06-23 (I) - A Birthday!

Monday was our Eldest's birthday. She was nine years old. She is so grown up, though, it is more like she's 12 or 13. She so wants to be a grown-up, it's a bit sad. I spend most of my time wishing I was a kid again, while she's wishing her childhood away.
TW did well with the presents, as usual; she managed to procure some dungarees off of eBay, BNWT (brand new with tags, for those of you not keeping up with the modern yootspeek). Also we got her a baseball jacket, which is nice in pink. Her aunt and uncle sent some lovely turquoise headphones, and her other aunt and uncle sent a bag, which Eldest liked very much. M&P got her some weights, and we also agreed she can have her ears pierced at the start of the summer holidays, so we gave her a voucher entitling the bearer to have her ears pierced at the Leisure Centre. No, I don't know why the Leisure Centre are piercing kids' ears, but apparently they are doing it much cheaper than anywhere else, so that is what we're going to do.

Sunday 14-06-22 - The Day After

So it was the day after the Summer Fayre. And didn't I know about it. I had a horrible hangover, which I've not had in a long time, and in addition my body ached from all the standing I did while serving burgers and hot dogs on Saturday, as well as the lifting and carrying we did to tidy up afterwards.
Eldest wanted to go to Arundel Lido, which of course made my heart sink, as there was nothing I wanted more than to sit inside and not move all day, but I started to feel better about the possibility when TW advised there was shade. I could sit in the shade and read my newspaper, maybe? But then TW put her foot down and said no, it would cost £16 and that was too much. She was planning to take Eldest out for dinner the following day, so two treats in two days was out of the question.
We decided to go swimming instead at Splashpoint, which was a bit of a busman's holiday for TW considering she works there, but at least the kids were pleased and it was a good choice to soothe my aches and pains. Probably not the headache, given the noise levels, but you can't have everything, can you? We were joined in the pool by some friends and after the swim, when we were mooching in the cafe, they offered to look after the two youngest for the afternoon, which was nice. We arranged to go to theirs for a bbq later, so we dropped the kids off and went to Tesco to get supplies, and also a new phone for TW. She's been using a 7" tablet as a phone for the past three months or so, since hers just inexplicably stopped working. At least I get my tablet back. She got a nice Moto G, which I hope will last out the two year contract... We also bought a new TV, which was a bit unexpected, but we were planning to get one for the loft and they were selling them off, so I think we've done okay. Apparently though we do need an aerial, so I'll have to look into getting one - I'm hoping an indoor aerial might be sufficient, and they're only a fiver or so off of Amazon. We'll see...
The barbecue was nice and relaxed, despite the children all being in high spirits. It's amazing how much enjoyment can be extracted from a bit of sun and a paddling pool by five girls. I thought we had our hands full with three, it's quite crazy how much energy five children can expend when combined.
A couple of beers (quite literally, two cans) and then home. I could have quite easily gone to bed at nine I think, if I'd been on my own, but TW watched Masterchef and we headed up at ten, as usual.
It was a good day, despite the unpromising start. I really thought I'd prefer lying in my pit, but a bit of activity and conviviality goes a long way.

Saturday 14-06-21 Summer Fayre Day

So,  Saturday was the day of the summer 'fayre'. On Friday I was working like a Trojan to set it up, and Saturday afternoon I was drinking like a bastard to forget how involved I'd been.
In the morning, I served a *lot* of burgers and hotdogs. It was a hot, sunny day, and the barbecue stall was probably the busiest of the lot. Nothing like making things hard for myself. Oh, it started nice and slowly, but soon ramped up. At times it seemed that the queues were never-ending. In the two and a half hours we were trading, we sold all the meat we had - 250 burgers and 250 sausages, all at full price - which was a good deal. I think we were selling them cheaper than last year, so maybe we could have made more profit for the school funds, but we didn't have to discount any at the end to ensure we sold all the stock.
There was another helper, an old boy, who didn't appear to be interested in any system or organisation. He was a pain in the bum, swanning off and eating the burgers, or stealing the cheeseburgers I had asked for & planned to sell, or taking cash from my customers while I was sorting out the orders. Still, I suppose there always had to be at least one fly in the ointment.
So it was full-on for the full two and a half hours. And once the 'fayre' had ended, we needed to put things away, so we carried tables and hay bales, and deconstructed gazebos and drank beer. Did I say we drank beer? It didn't even feel like it touched the sides on the way down. Then, at about four pm we finished up and went to the pub, for more beers which slid down just as easily. That was a nice session; we all felt that we had achieved a lot, and we're all in a good mood. We were home by seven thirty or eight, to tell the truth I was quite drunk and can't recall precisely. But the kids were in bed and TW fell asleep on the sofa at a quarter to nine, so I brought her up to bed and went back down. I had another bottle of Fursty Ferret and a cider, and then came up to bed.
A full-on day, and I'm glad we only do it once a year!

Friday 14-06-20

Friday was spent at school, preparing for the school summer 'fayre'. It was a day of hard work, lugging tables about and generally faffing. We put up gazebos, because the weather was great, and left them up overnight. TW drove to school and I walked with the children, which was nice. I'd taken the day off work to help TW set up, and it was a bit manky really. Obviously she had a plan of what she wanted to achieve, but to be honest, she's not very good at sharing the big picture. So I did bits and pieces, and everyone else (all women) remarked on how 'good' I was for taking time off and volunteering. I don't feel I did very much; I went to pick up a shop from Tesco Click and Collect, and I also went to the Post Office to pick up a Kindle Fire I'd bought from eBay.
I was begging to leave by 4:30, but as Molly in the Middle had a final practice for her country dancing demonstration on Saturday, we stayed quite late on Friday, putting the finishing touches to it all.

When I got home I tried to fire up the Kindle, but of course it was sold as faulty, and so it turned out. It did get past the boot-up screen to where I should have been able to unlock it; but unfortunately as soon as I touched it, the damned thing rebooted. Since then, I've not been able to get that far again; it's stuck on the boot screen, displaying 'Kindle Fire' in white and orange, and steadfastly refusing to be recognised by my laptop. If my laptop was able to recognise the Fire, it would be relatively straightforward to fix. Unfortunately these things are never straightforward for me... :) So now I've ordered a 'factory cable' and I hope that that might work. I *think* the device is not in fastboot mode, and I'm hoping that the cable can help force that. We'll see. If it doesn't work, I shall just put it back on eBay and sell it, hopefully for about as much as it cost me - £30 inc. P&P.

Wednesday 14-06-18

Well, it's the third day and I think I've run out of things to say. I spent the day at work, the same as usual. I don't want to talk about work though, it's quite dull. It's just office work - relationship / account management.
I did hear a news item on Radio 4 this morning about making the school day longer, so that children will be able to do their homework at school. That doesn't make any sense to me; with my 'Dad' hat on, surely that means that the responsibility for bringing up our children is being taken away from us? And at Parents' Evening at the start of the year, it was stressed to us that bringing up the children was a shared responsibility between us as parents and the school. But if the school now take responsibility for the children doing their homework, surely that takes away our parental duties? Oh well, if that's the way they want it...

I've been quite busy on the Oneplus forums today, trying to get my greasy mitts on an invitation for a Oneplus One. I'm patient enough.
Anyway, that's enough for today - more of the same tomorrow, I expect.

Tuesday 14-06-17

So today I did something really Dad-like; I went to a presentation at Eldest's school about a week-long residential planned for September 2015. It looks like it's going to be pretty good fun; lots of outdoor adventure type stuff, but it's also going to be pretty expensive. We need to provide our £100 deposit by 11th July, and in total it's going  to be £350 for a week away.
There are going to be 140 kids or so, and I'm sure they'll have a great time, it looks like what the Eldest did previously at her First School, but that was only a three day residential, which I believe was two full days' worth of activity. They are not allowed to take their phones with them (aged 10!) or anything they can put a SIM card in, so no iPads either :)
Eldest loved the three day residential, and I'm sure that she will love this. She was apparently really good at orienteering last time, and I hope that she finds a new skill this time out too.
Now we just need to decide where we are going to find the cash to pay for it. And then that will set the precedent, and the other two, "Molly in the Middle" and Youngest will also want to go. That's over £1k in the space of five years for a week away each. I don't think we paid that much to go to EuroDisney - in fact, I know we didn't. Ah, well, the alternative is that she stays at home and has an "activity week" at school. It might be worth £350 to have her go away for a week. In fact, if we pay £1,050 now, can TW & I have a free week? It might almost be worth it... :)

Monday 14-06-16

So, more GiL-related escapades today. GiL, that is, Grandmother-in-Law, not 'gilf'. Brrr, I've just made myself shudder. She's 96, you know. She doesn't have all her own teeth any more.
Anyway, the GiL.
As TW had looked after her all night in hospital and had only come to bed at 03:00, I made sure the girls were dressed and had sandwiches for school. I also walked them to school before setting off for work.
I had reached Brighton rail station before TW called and advised that the GiL had absconded from hospital. She'd walked out unnoticed, possibly in her slippers (although that's unconfirmed at this stage), without telling the staff she was going. I tried calling her home number (the GiL's, that is) but she wasn't there. I had a bit of a brainwave and called TW back to tell her she should alert GiL's neighbours that she might be coming home - after all, where else would she go? I got a pat on the back for that later on.
Apparently she was a 'misper' for a while - I knew those years of watching The Bill would come in handy - that means, the Police were supposed to be out scouring the streets to track her down. As it turned out TW drove to Angmering and knocked on the door, and GiL let her in. The police phoned later, while TW and the MiL (Mother-in-law, of course) were there.
It turns out that GiL had started cooking a microwave meal - not in the microwave though - oh no, perish the thought; she had taken it out of its sleeve and put it in a saucepan and was cooking it dry on one of the rings on top of the cooker. Because of course that makes much more sense. Then, of course she had forgotten what she was doing (I had to write that down so that I don't forget) and the neighbours spotted the smoke coming out of the door. Of course because she'd been melting plastic the firemen wanted to take her in to hospital for a check-up, but she refused to go. And that's when TW got involved and the whole circus began.
So one outcome, the immediate outcome, is that GiL's cooker is being disconnected and removed tomorrow. So that when she inevitably changes her mind in a week or so, she can't reconnect it. And we'll have to see what the other consequences are over the next few days.

Sunday 14-06-15

So I have decided to try and write more often in this forum, and it seems like I chose the right day. I went with a friend to watch Sussex play Somerset at Arundel, and although it wasn't sunny, the clouds refused to share their load with us and we had a relaxed and enjoyable time. The only fly in the ointment was Sussex's refusal to win.
Unfortunately when we got home The Wife had to go to see her grandmother who had smoked out her house. She's still at the hospital now, so we'll have to see how things go there. I think that physically she's okay, we'll have to see what the doctors say.
The children all got on well and enjoyed each other's company. Because a friend was with TW, I and his partner had to wait at home with the kids until he returned. That was about nine pm, the two youngest had already gone to bed but our eldest who isn't nine years old yet was still up. I hope that they're all okay getting up in  the morning. I shall be heading to bed very soon... Tomorrow looks like I might be working from home to ensure that The Wife gets a rest and I'm around in case I'm needed. I'm beginning to like working from home, it is a bit more relaxed and on occasion I actually get more done than I would in the office.
So, nighty night and maybe more of an update tomorrow - who knows?

Thanks, Amazon !

I ordered a shaving soap from Amazon and paid for it using my mobile phone. One of the options you can set is 'mobile 1-click settings', to easily buy things. To be honest, I'm a bit wary of these settings which make the checkout process too quick, it takes away any chance you have to reconsider the purchase.

Nonetheless, it was early in the morning and I gave it a bash.

The item I was purchasing was £11.89 so you can imagine my surprise when I saw £17.90 on my credit card bill. I wrote an email to Amazon complaining that there weren't any options to choose free postage in the 1-click settings; I didn't request a refund, but to be fair to them they refunded me £6.01 postage.

Nevertheless, if you can't choose free postage as a default in the 1-click settings (and you can't), this makes the option a bit useless for me. I looked at all the outlets selling the particular item I wanted, and some were selling it for £10 + £3.95 p&p. I figured £11.89 without p&p costs was a fair price. So to add 50% to the selling price unnecessarily makes Amazon uneconomic. The item I wanted was £10 from the retailer so obviously the £1.89 covered the p&p. I don't want to then pay for p&p a second time.I'd be better off searching out the item in a real shop In Real Life. And I don't like things In Real Life...

So what's the point? Several things, I guess...

• 1-click settings might suit Amazon, but they might not suit the consumer.
• Amazon are good at providing refunds, even if not requested
• Amazon are not always the cheapest solution; you should watch the cost of things in real life.

Sussex vs. Surrey, May 16th, 2014

And so to Hove County Cricket Ground for the opening match in Sussex's bid for T20 glory.

Gates opened at 17:30, and I was in the ground by 17:40. I chose a nice spot in the second row in the General Admittance area, at the Cromwell Road end. I did choose to sit in the Pavilion area once last season, and it wasn't all that... I had purchased a chicken pasta dish and an Orange Fanta from the Tesco at the station, so I tucked into that as I caught up on last Saturday's Times. Get me; reading the Times and watching cricket - am I old before my time? Anyway, it was a lovely sunny day and so I applied the suntan lotion liberally several times. It seems to have worked, I'm not sunburnt today. The ground filled up around me as I caught up with what used to be current affairs, and then it was time for the match.

Surrey won the toss and decided to bat first, led by Graeme Smith. I was struck (and continued to be struck throughout the match) by how tall he was. I know Sussex are a short side, with Yardy, Wright and now Zaidi, but Smith towered over his own players as well. Very tall. Apart from that, Smith didn't trouble us much; he was out for seven in the fifth over. The rest of the Surrey players were a bit of an unknown to me; Smith's opening partner was Roy, who stealthily accrued runs and got a half-century while no-one was watching. Davies, who I did recognise, was out quickly, and Roy was then partnered by Wilson, who again accumulated the runs without anyone noticing. He also scored a half century. O'Brien, who troubled England a while ago didn't trouble the scoreboard at all; he was in and out quicker than the Hokey Cokey.

Towards the end of the Surrey innings it seemed that they were just getting more runs than they should have done. Sussex had done well to limit Surrey's scoring ambitions, but they had seemed to let Surrey away with it in the last overs. When Azhar Mahmood came in to bat, he managed a bright n' jaunty 23 off 12, and all of a sudden Surrey had managed to get 171 for 7. It was probably 20 or so more than I expected them to get, but that did include a six run penalty because Sussex were bowling their overs slowly. We were all watching the clock tick down, but Sussex showed no signs of hurrying. And then, when the clock ran out they got pinged. It was a silly piece of organisation; we were all concerned in the crowd but it didn't seem to bother Joyce.

After a shortened interval, Wright and Machan came out to open the batting for Sussex, and to start the run chase. It was getting colder now, so out came the fleece on top of the jumper I was already wearing. Machan and Wright had to keep up a run rate of nine an over, and they were managing to keep at about eight. I say 'they', Machan was out for one, Joyce was out for seven - just like the illustrious Smith, and Yardy was out for five. Hamilton-Brown came in and tried to keep Wright company for a bit, and I thought they were having a boundary competition between themselves, and unfortunately Wright then got himself out - but not before getting 56 off 31, and losing a ball over the hospitality area (south-east corner).

It always felt that Sussex were on the back foot, and after Wright went that didn't change - in fact, it became more apparent. RHB tried his best but was only able to hold steady, and not push Sussex ahead. Nash caused himself an injury and Joyce had to come on as a runner. Things never end well when runners are involved, but actually he did okay. 21 off 20 wasn't good enough, but it kept Sussex in the game.

In the final overs, Sussex needed 30 off 12. In the 19th over Jordan hit the only boundary, and then Nash was out. Brown came in, Jordan was out, Brown hit a six to put Arafat on strike and eight required off the last two deliveries. Given their performance to that point, I wasn't holding my breath. But they had stayed in the game, and it had been a brilliant start to the season. Dernbach ran up and bowled, and Arafat hit it to the boundary. So from the final delivery he needed to do the same again. Dernbach delivered the final ball and Arafat nudged it behind to the boundary for four runs. It was a great match, Sussex managed to come from behind and take the match away from Surrey right at the last second - you might optimistically call it good timing, but I think Sussex only just managed to stumble over the line in time. It was thrilling to watch, and Sussex managed to achieve the impossible, which you only see rarely in sporting fixtures. They didn't give up but kept on playing, hoping that things would turn their way - until they did.

Unfortunately I am going to miss next Friday's fixture against Hampshire, which is a shame, but I'm looking forward to the next chance I get to see Sussex play.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my new phone...

I am taken by the specs and the low, low cost. Apparently this bad boy comes with a Snapdragon 801 processor (I'm not so worried about that, my current HOX is fast enough), a 5.5 inch screen, with some kind of power-saving technique which means it draws as much power as a 5" screen, and a 3100 mAh battery. And it's 4G. Excellent.

Except...

It's not 64-bit. I was listening to Android Central's podcast the other day and they mentioned the move to 64-bit is gathering momentum. Not that I really understand the difference between 32- and 64-bit; I need to look it up again. But they were talking about a possible future where the apps / OS were written for 64-bit and the 32-bit solution was a half-baked, cobbled together afterthought. Having said that, though, 64-bit processors for Android won't be available until 2015, so I'd get at least 6 months with what is apparently the best processor in the market at the moment. And what will this bad boy cost, I hear you ask?

£269.

You read it right, people. £269. I don't have it in my hand yet, and I haven't told my wife, but the 64gb version is going to be my next acquisition.

There's a bit of controversy around the way this phone has been promoted. Firstly, the company have claimed they are a start-up. Oneplus was started by a VP who left Oppo, and wanted to have a company with a different philosophy. Both Oppo and Oneplus have Oppo HQ as stakeholders, but apparently they are different firms.
Secondly, they encouraged people who wanted a One to smash their current flagship phone. They were running a comp to identify 100 people who would be able to buy the phone for $1. They will also be given three invitations to buy a phone which they can give to their friends. And then those folks, when they buy their phone, might also get invitations which they can hand on...
Thirdly, the invitation set-up is rubbing some people up the wrong way. Some people reckon they should just take pre-orders like everybody else. But at least people are talking about it.

Either way, none of those things bother me. This is a phone I'm planning to keep for at least two years. I can hold on for another month or two before ordering, and the specs look good enough at a reasonable enough price, that every time I look at it or use it, I will probably be reminded of what a bargain it was (will be).

Once I get my sticky mitts on this lovely beast I'll update here. I hope to have a glowing report. :)

Easter

A long weekend was upon us.
Friday, we did think I would take the girls to a National Trust property, but as it turns out they were tired and I didn't.
On Saturday we
Sunday was Easter, and so if course the girls received their eggs. Mum and Dad came over and gave them more eggs. Then we spent the day at a neighbour's house (thank you Chloe). A lovely roast lamb dinner, a game of chess, and Epic - a good way to spend the day .
Monday was the day to go to Silverwoods, our annual pilgrimage to GETH, the Great Easter Treasure Hunt. We yomped across the West Sussex countryside and of course we won - we got the most clues in the quickest time, and Daughter #1 found the champagne as well, but The Wife decided that we would not take it all - at least, not on this occasion.
Today was back to work with a bump - roll on the weekend!

Galaxy Tab 2 7.0

So  I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 from eBay. It's not like we don't have enough tablets in the house, but this was a proper bargain. The seller described the tablet as 'not working', but in the description she went on to say that the tab was locked because a family member had set a lock code and forgotten what the code was.
Now, you and I know that if you forget your lock code, you can factory reset your device (if it is Android) by pressing a combination of the power key and one or more of the volume keys. So, as the tab was on eBay for less than £20, and the postage was £7 (or £6.95), I put in a bid of £33.75. I knew that would take me over the £40 mark, but I thought that would be an okay price for me. Please remember, I am a skinflint and we already have several tablets in the house, so it was an impulse bid and I would not regret losing the auction if the price went above £40 (incl. postage).

Actually, at this stage let's take a small detour and list the tablets we have / had....
Firstly I started with a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7, the original. I used it as a phone for a while, because it has 3G capabilities. And while my HOX was being repaired recently, I went back to using it. God, it's cumbersome! But a great little device.
Then when the Blackberry Playbook started tumbling in price, I bought one of those. I think it was £129 for a 64gb 1080p 7" device. It had a very nice screen, and I used to watch TV shows on it while commuting to work. Unfortunately the design flaw in the Playbook was that you could put the USB cable into the socket either way, and if you put it in the wrong way, you could damage the socket. Guess what I did? Unintentionally, of course... Luckily I had taken out insurance from Currys, and so they replaced it with a 1st generation Nexus 7. Then I think we bought a no-brand tablet for Daughter #2 for Christmas.
I also bought a Nook Simple Touch when they were being sold off dirt cheap, and then became interested in the Nook HD 32gb when they were being sold off cheap. I managed to get one of those off eBay for £87 or so (the P&P was unreasonable though :) ).
Next I bought a broken Blackberry Playbook for £21 but couldn't get it to work, so I sold it for £25, and now I bid on the Tab 2 7.0.

So for a while the bid was sitting at £16.70 or so, then it rose to £33, just shy of my limit. I hmmed and hawed and upped my max bid to £38.25. With the postage that would have been just over £45. But as it happened, no one else put a bid in, and so I got it for £33 +£7 postage.

So it turned up yesterday and I spent most of last night trying to reset it, The problem was (and this wasn't mentioned in the eBay description) that even when the power cable was unplugged, the device thought it was charging. When it was plugged in, the red 'x' showed in the battery, but it was charging. When I unplugged it and switched it off, if I pressed the power button the screen showed the charging animation. The state of the phone (that it thought it was charging) was preventing me from booting into Recovery and resetting the tab. But I scored a breakthrough, and realised that if I unplugged the charger from the wall but left it plugged into the tab, it could work... And so it did, I was able to reset the device. So I had a working Tab 2 7.0 for £40 including postage.
Then, unfortunately I noticed that the issue with the battery was persisting; that when I was charging it, the red 'x' was on display, and when it was unplugged it thought it was charging. But I noticed that there was a software update available, which would take the device up to 4.2.2 from 4.1.1; would that fix the issue? I was thinking that if the update didn't fix it, I could always put it back on eBay as 'not working', but aim to make a small profit.
As it was, the update did work, the tab is now running Jelly Bean and the battery issue appears to be fixed. So that is a result - perseverence pays off :) .

Now though, I am in a quandary, as She is expecting me to sell one of the tabs we've got in the house.
I am not losing the Nook 8.9", nor am I losing the Nexus 7. So it's down to either the OG (Original Gangsta) Samsung Tab or the Tab 2 7.0. And to be fair, the Tab 2 7.0 is really nice.
I've hacked around with the OG Tab, it's running 4.2 as well, I believe, but I think I will sell that one. I see that they go for about £100 on eBay, even £75 would be okay I guess. We'll have to wait and see, though. I know that until recently I had kept the box it came in, but I suspect I've thrown it away in the moves in and out of the loft, and so I'll have to take a hit on that. It does have a lovely case though... I'll let you know how it goes.

Cruzer Force (32gb Thumb Drive)

So I bought a Cruzer Force 32gb usb stick earlier in the week and it arrived yesterday. Looking at the photos, I was expecting a large-ish drive that would slope down to a usb junction. How wrong I was.

It's tiny! I don't know how they managed to write 'SanDisk' on there, let alone squeeze in 32gb of memory...? It's a great little invention, and it was in a flash sale on eBay - £9.99.
A bargain piece of tech. And I might find a use for it...

Speek Yer Branez I

So that Maria Miller then, eh? Gone, like that. In a flash of allegation and half-truths.
I'm not going to go into them. I'm sure it's all well-documented somewhere.
But, how depressing must it be to wake up day after day, and realise that your fizzog is going to be all over the news AGAIN, for all the wrong reasons? Politicians are a hardy, egotistical bunch (my own conclusion based on my senses), but to know that your 'misdemeanours' will be driving the news cycle must be depressing. Ah well, we build em up, and we knock en down. And tomorrow's another day.
Sleep well.

Windows Vista Service Packs 1 & 2

You know, it's strange. For such a neophile, I didn't realise that I hadn't installed Vista Service Packs 1 & 2. Crazy, when you think about it. I've been fussing about the latest update to Android and sweating on the release of the Chromecast. But my laptop was running an outdated O/S.
So I've updated to Service Pack 1, via manual installation. And I'm currently installing Service Pack 2. It seems to be going well. I'm hoping to get regular updates once this Service Pack is installed. But I know that Vista is at the end of its serviceable life, and really we should get a new laptop. But I like tinkering, as you know by now, so it's a good way to pass the time :)

Mayor's Charity Swim, Worthing

And so to the Mayor's Charity Swim in Worthing.

This was held at Splashpoint, the new swimming pool in Worthing, and very nice it is too. The only possible criticism is that it is not big enough. (I reckon when the old Aquarena was still in action, a lot of people used to go to Burgess Hill, so maybe they underestimated its popularity on that basis?) Even though the leisure centre was closed to the casual swimmer, it was still packed. There was the choir from Thomas a'Becket First School, as well as their parents, and the swimmers and their parents/families.
The choir sang 'Learn to Swim' to open proceedings (Daughter #2 is in the choir, I have to declare an interest) and then it was to poolside to watch the swimmers.
There was a delay in starting, as it took time (as I understand) to arrange the swimmers into ability. And as a result, there wasn't a clear break between the first and second session; more swimmers just kept being herded into the pool.
There were a load of people raising money for the Mayor's charities, and I'm sure he was pleased with the turnout. All the swimmers got a certificate and some goodies, that certainly seemed well-organised.

All-in-all, it was a good afternoon, and a lot of people came together to do something good. Well done Worthing,

Jonathan Creek - A New Series

Well, I'm not a happy bunny.

Alan Davies is back, playing Jonathan Creek, and I have a lot of time for his downbeat, slightly other-worldly portrayal of Creek. He manages to get over the idea that Creek is always thinking about slight of hand and deception, to the detriment of observing what's going on here and now.
This is a run of three all-new episodes, but the twist is that the crime is shown before Creek arrives on the scene. Unfortunately this takes away the dramatic intrigue and the engagement of the viewer. All we're left with is Creek bumbling around in his usual way, humming and hawing, and 'Oh, I see'-ing until we know that he has caught up with us.
I watched two of the three last night (thanks iPlayer and Tivo!) and I will watch the third, but I'm not waiting with bated breath - which is a shame.

Chromecast for the UK

So, disappointed to realise that the Chromecast is not available in the UK today. I've been checking the Google Play Store, Currys, and teh interwebs in general, but no joy.
I don't know what I would do with it; I quite fancy signing up for Netflix, but I can access that through the PS3, so I don't need a Chromecast for that, The girls will probably end up using it for 'casting Youtube to the TV, and we can do without that.
I guess I just want to be at the forefront of technology; again, I think that tech will provide the answer, but really the Chromecast is a means to an end, and not an end in itself. Likewise my Chromebook, and my Nexus 7, and my HTC One X should all be means to an end and not an end in itself. But I believe the acquisition of new technology is driving us onwards, to consume more and more...
I've just replaced the battery in my One X for the princely sum of £45. I'm hoping that will enable me to put off replacing it for at least another six months. And then I am very interested in getting the Moto G as a replacement. £160 for a 16gb mid-range Android phone running the latest software with ease - nice.
My O2 contract is up for renewal on 5th April and I think I'm going to go SIM-only with Tesco. I believe they have a decent mix of minutes and data. I don't use many texts, so that's not important to me. With the combination of a Moto G and a SIM-only deal, I reckon I'll save a few pounds...

The UK Royal Family and Ivory

From The Times yesterday: Charles Hides His Ivory (paywall)

Basically the gist is: Wildlife and campaigning charities are asking the royal family to destroy their antique ivory pieces; that is, ivory pieces that they collected and were given before the trade in ivory was declared illegal.
To me, this sounds insane. Destroying these items won't change how they were made, or the pain and death  inflicted on the elephants killed to make these items. But they were made at a different time, when we had different values. Destroying these items will mean they no longer exist, and therefore the pain and suffering of the creatures killed to make these items will have been in vain.
Surely it would be better to display these items and change the message to a 'never forget' kind of message? Reinforce the hideous way in which these items were obtained and impress on the public / kids looking at these displays that we've moved on and are not so barbaric any more?

The Saturday Times

Who says the Times is dumbing down? These five (four on show here) full pages of ads give me a breather before continuing with the important info contained in the 'Register' section.

Resetting a CNM 7" Android Tablet

So my daughter, the silly sausage, set a password on her CNM 7" tablet and promptly forgot what it was.
I googled a solution, but was unable to find anything that worked.
First suggestion was to try Google's password recovery service. Tried that, no luck.
Then, link the tablet to a PC using a USB lead, and find the Username in the Play Services downloads.
No dice, tablet didn't link to the PC.

I found one suggestion, that I should turn the tablet off entirely, and then hold the Power and Volume Down button in together for 12 secs, which (the advisor claimed) would put the tablet into reboot menu. As it was, the person seeking advice saw a table of options but in oriental (Chinese?) script.
The next bit of advice was to turn the tablet off, and then hold down the Power and the Volume Up buttons together. I did that and got into the necessary menu - and from there, chose the Factory Reset option.

So if you're looking, the solution is:
1. Power off completely.
2. Hold down the Power and Volume Up buttons at the same time for approx. 15 seconds
3. Choose the Factory Reset option.

This will reset the tablet though, and you will have to reapply any settings and preferences, as well as download again all apps, widgets and wallpapers you had installed. The reset will restore your device to 'factory fresh' condition.