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Post by karla on Mar 26, 2009 18:13:24 GMT
hooray!!
the clouds are terribly dark outside, its quite sacry, wonder if anything will happen
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 26, 2009 18:24:18 GMT
Been chucking it down here since the early afternoon!
Andy
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Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
Posts: 7,494
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Post by Hero on Mar 26, 2009 19:08:15 GMT
Been sorting out coursework, fostering panel assignment, youthwork Friday evening, and Wrestlemania weekend.
I got Matt Kelly (who some from old-skool TMUK will remember for Trans-Humans fanzine) staying over to watch the event and catch up on old times. I also got a whole bunch of stuff, interviews, cutaways to record for my upcoming unnamed short film with a rather lovely sharp quality camera the uni is loaning me.
Busy but exciting times ahead.
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Post by legios on Mar 26, 2009 22:06:55 GMT
I had my first day of work this week, as I had been away at the beginning of the week visiting my mother. It went about as well as could be expected considering that having three days leave entails having three days work to catch up on when one gets back.....
The rest of the week went very well. I went down to see my mother and was immediately put to work! First on digging out several lavender bushes in order to clear space for a row of runner beans to be planted. Secondly, a little wiring job.... my mothers television had died irretrievably on Friday, so I was called upon to wire up the shiny new digital television and also find a method by which the video recorder could still be used. (Bearing in mind that the new TV had an internal digital tuner and no sockets to export a signal to any other device.....) The end result was that I disappeared beneath a blizzard of wires and devices for a while, and emerged having rigged up a Heath Robinson assembly involving the TV, a freeview box, the video recorder, and assorted connectors and signal boosters. It had the unlooked for benefit of restoring my mothers ability to tape one channel whilst watching another into the bargain, and all for very little extra money. All told I view it as a job well done.
It wasn't all work though, we also went out and about in the local area one day - and I got a chance to walk a short length of the track bed of the Stockton to Darlington Railway - the route of the first passenger railway in the UK, as well as going on to Yarm to do some shoe shopping.
Tuesday was spent taking a bus across the Moors to Whitby for a day there. Great scenery on the way there and back, several hours lost in the Whitby Museum amongst its fascinating fossils (the best preserved prehistoric crocodile specimen in the UK amongst other things), and other exhibits and a wander up to St Mary's churchyard from where you can look down on the town and harbour.
Great stuff. Always nice to find a few new things in places that you thought you already knew.
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 26, 2009 22:09:48 GMT
Fun fact: in a unique twist of fate, my office is one street along from Karl's. He may think he owns that patch of Edinburger but from Monday...
THERE'S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN!
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 26, 2009 22:12:10 GMT
I look forward to seeing the inevitable showdown....
Andy
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 26, 2009 22:14:27 GMT
We can now take out 1/2 of the scots contingent with a carefully aimed missile.`
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Post by legios on Mar 26, 2009 22:18:44 GMT
Fun fact: in a unique twist of fate, my office is one street along from Karl's. He may think he owns that patch of Edinburger but from Monday... THERE'S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN!-Ralph You think we gon' give up our real estate easy? You making a mistake if you thinking that. You feel me? We can now take out 1/2 of the scots contingent with a carefully aimed missile.` You'd still need more than one missile surely? We can break on different headings and make use of all the ground clutter that Edinburgh provides to spoof your lock-on........ Karl |
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 26, 2009 22:37:33 GMT
I've played Missile Command. I know what to do.
-Ralph
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Post by Shockprowl on Mar 27, 2009 11:40:05 GMT
Maybe missiles aren't the way to go, Phil. What 'bout the Borg? Get 'em to scoop up the city and do their mojo on our celtic associates?
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 27, 2009 12:06:02 GMT
It's a thought
Me, xl & 5 years worth of gas bills have spent the morning trying to work out how far out of sync my gas payments are with my new supplier compared to what I use.
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 27, 2009 17:31:33 GMT
A four-weekly travel pass to get to work and back will be £336.40. This is why I shall need to move as soon as financially possible!
-Ralph
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Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
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Post by Hero on Mar 27, 2009 18:28:24 GMT
That's like £84.10 a week if I've done the sum right in my head. Hope something works out, Ralph.
===KEN
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 27, 2009 18:52:20 GMT
It would be crippling to keep up, but it's hopefully just in the short term for 2 or 3 months until I can move and cut down travel costs significantly. Some difficulties in the short term will result in a better situation long-term so I'lll just get on with it. The alternative is going back on the dole, so in the big picture I'll cope.
I am very fortunate in that family are able to assist with travel costs for the first month, or I would be unable to take up the job. I'll pay it back when I'm able.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 27, 2009 22:44:50 GMT
Mrs Toys is 40 on Sunday.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 28, 2009 9:56:07 GMT
Don't forget:
a) to switch off your electrics for Earth Hour at 8.30pm if you can manage it
b) to put the clocks forward one hour when you go to bed.
Martin
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 28, 2009 18:26:18 GMT
Clocks already forward, earth hour shall be observed.
Happy birthday to Liz in advance Phil!
Andy
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2009 19:25:05 GMT
The sky emptied its closet of hailstones down on me today as I was waiting for a bus. And this is Spring as well!
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Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
Posts: 7,494
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Post by Hero on Mar 28, 2009 19:38:51 GMT
Candles at the ready for earth hour.
===KEN
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 28, 2009 21:49:06 GMT
Seems to have gone well. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7969515.stm"Critics describe the event as a symbolic and meaningless gesture." How can something be both symbolic and meaningless? Martin |
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 28, 2009 22:47:45 GMT
I discovered today that laces, calamine lotion and long sleeved casual shirts are ******* hard to find in shops. This vexed me so.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Mar 28, 2009 23:01:13 GMT
Ah, the lights are back on.... An hour in the dark was a fascinating experience. Although I couldn't call it completely dark - the Tesco Metro next door was putting out enough light that it felt like you could probably sight on it from orbit.... But the principle remains. I can see how the BBC might describe it as "symbolic and meaningless". Earth Hour certainly stands as a symbol in terms of expressing a view on energy/resource consumption, but arguably it is a symbol without any meaning if everyone jumps back in their cars to drive a half-mile to the shops tomorrow or if no-one with the power to actually do anything on a governmental level pays any attention to it (which is not impossible sadly, with the divided priorities that I would anticipate as a result of the current economic turmoil).
I think I am lucky though - I have the knack of making any shirt look somewhat casual so I don't have to go hunting specifically for casual shirts. Of course, this has its own drawbacks - it means I can never actually quite manage to look smart. Presentable is about all I can hope for....
I seem to have had a fairly good day. I picked up a stack of books in Waterstones 3 for 2 sale this morning - including one on the Crusades, an era of history on which I am woefully under-informed. This afternoon I had a moment of "if at first you don't succeed, try a better signal booster". One Freeview box and one signal booster of the same make that I used for my mothers new TV setup later and I have a smattering of digital channels viewable on my television. More to the point my television can recieve Channel Five for the first time in a couple of years, and can get a watchable picture on BBC 2 just in time for the terrestrial run of The Wire. (A decent reception of the BBC World Service won't go amiss either).
When I wasn't earning my wire-man certificate this afternoon I have been doing some more clearing out - making another large pile of books that it is time to pass to charity shops.
Karl
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Post by Shockprowl on Mar 29, 2009 14:50:43 GMT
A four-weekly travel pass to get to work and back will be ?336.40. This is why I shall need to move as soon as financially possible! -Ralph Bloody Hell!!! |
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Post by Shockprowl on Mar 29, 2009 14:51:12 GMT
Mrs Toys is 40 on Sunday. Happy scoobery-dooberies to her! |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 29, 2009 15:23:45 GMT
A nice sunny weekend in Cardiff. Besides finishing off my re-watching of James Bond films, I've tidied the garden, attended the opening service of an evangelical church 15 minutes walk away (I was invited by one of my RSPB friends - not really my cup of tea, in terms of beliefs, but all the people were nice and it's good to hear different viewpoints), heard a live performance of Handel's Messiah at an Anglican church 5 minutes walk away (much more my cup of tea), observed what remained of Earth Hour after I got home from that, and today participated in the kick-off session for 2009's peregrines project at the National Museum.
We had a talk from a new chap in the Cardiff RSPB fresh from Scotland, who previously worked with the peregrines at the Falls of Clyde 23 miles south of Glasgow. It looks like a beautiful place from his slide show - are any of the Scots contingent familiar with the place? According to him you also have peregrines nesting on the main museum in central Glasgow, with a volunteer project to show them to members of the public same as here.
Happy thoughts to all for the coming week - especially Ralph!
Martin
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 29, 2009 16:10:13 GMT
According to him you also have peregrines nesting on the main museum in central Glasgow, with a volunteer project to show them to members of the public same as here. Martin First I've heard of it. Not terribly well advertised! Or I would have been down there many times. -Ralph |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 29, 2009 16:19:18 GMT
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 29, 2009 17:17:20 GMT
Ah, the Glaswegian. Never distributed in my area, even when I lived in the West End for nearly nine years!
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Mar 29, 2009 20:34:14 GMT
We had a talk from a new chap in the Cardiff RSPB fresh from Scotland, who previously worked with the peregrines at the Falls of Clyde 23 miles south of Glasgow. Martin I'm dimly aware of it. On a level of being able to remember that I have been there at some point, but not being able to remember much about the place besides that. I must admit I hadn't heard anything about Peregrines in Glasgow either. We have a few Buzzards who live just on the other side of one of the canals around here, you sometimes see them hunting in the open land at certain times of the year. I'm fairly sure that they make their home around the woods overlooking Falkirk. Didn't see any Peregrines or Buzzards today but I did see some birds of prey. A hawking centre had brought some up to the Falkirk Wheel for display - several Sparrowhawks, an Eagle Owl, a Barn Owl (which always look like winged barrels to me) and a Golden Eagle. They were at once an imposing sight to see, and elicited a certain amount of sympathy. Imposing because I have always had a certain fascination with birds, and these are very impressive examples of the genus. Sympathy because I always feel it is a shame to see them tied to a perch, with only a metre or so of freedom. Something in me always feels that they deserve the open sky, and that it isn't right for them to be denied it. Bought myself a new vacumn cleaner today, mostly because one of the wheels had fallen off my old one. Turning it on for the first time was an education - I hadn't realised how much power the old one had lost over the years until I fired up its replacement. It is going to take some getting used to this newfangled idea of not having a bag in a vacumn cleaner though. It confuses my poor old brain. Karl |
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