Oh...that's just wrong...

...you can't deface a "Reward" poster for a lost cat! :(

Well, it seems there is no end...

...to Google's power, check this out...

Sorry it is super blurry, but there you go...probably shouldn't pan using a phone camera... ;)

Well, the weather turned...

...last night, it absolutely lashed it down, serious thunder and lightning, so bad, in fact that it kept on crashing the cable box (right in the middle of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nighmares, no less!!), I tried for ages to get a snap of a lightning bolt, but it's easier said than done...! Still, no need to water the garden this morning (always a silver lining)...

Just got an interesting...

...MMS from Mr Ninjabathy -

- that appears to be the work of this guy (odd website)...Can't work out what the ugly little creature is holding though...braces maybe? Later research is required...

Update - they are guitar straps...quirky ones... ;)

For the first time today...

...since I started doing this little hobby, I woke up and thought to myself, "What on earth am I going to blog about today?"...

(can "blog" be a verb? Ah, Answers.com says yes...thank you...)

*Ahem*, anyway..."What on earth am I going to blog about today?"...

There were a multitude of things in my head that I could talk about, for example - Flyingpops and I have been getting out on the bikes a lot lately (found some *awesome* downhill routes along the Surrey Cycleway btw.), my foot still ain't quite right, we have large flowering courgettes on the courgette plant (okay, where else would they be? Shame I don't really like courgettes, but I know someone who will wolf them down ;)...Squiz came and stayed the night on Saturday (we BBQ'd *again*, no bad thing though in my opinion ;) ...etc., etc., etc. (or as the Victorians would have it "&tc." which I think I prefer actually)...

Unfortunately, something else came to light while grazing my feeds (ooo, I like that! Wonder if anyone else has thought of that way of describing the activity - update - just checked Google, nope, I'm the first!) this morning more worthy of comment...
The BBC is reporting that in the United States of America, the Supreme Court has ruled that (and I quote) "(We) hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright ... is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties."...

This has broad implications...not least - every company or person that makes any code that can be used to swap copyrighted material can now be sued by the injured parties. Taking this at it's least extreme - Grokster, Morpheus, Streamcast et al, are now going to be sued to death (that's it). It's most extreme? You *can* use Google to search for illegal material quite easily, and I pity the guy that wrote Bittorrent...everyone is going to have to be very careful about what they say, and carefully check what they *have* said in public in the past...

Imagine if this had happened with the video recorder...how quickly would they have stopped making them? Would they have been so widely adopted? "Hey, you can record movies off TV!" from the mouth of the wrong company exec would have been enough for a barrage of law suits...I think the VCD player would have been the product of choice for many electronics firms from there on in...(and the winner? The Yakuza/Mafia/, who would have employed armies more hawkers and VCD pressing plants to flood the world with pirate copies)...the current trend of "boot sale" buying would have started ten years earlier...

One thing is for sure though, for the short term, this ruling is going to do is make a lot of lawyers a lot of money and push the scene further underground...

Well...

...this is now this -

- thanks to these guys -

- who, as you have seen previously, do rather a good job at this kind of thing -

Saw a guy last week...

...in bright sunshine, standing in one of the phone boxes holding his mobile phone - eye-height glance, phone level glance (tap keys)...eye-height glance, phone level glance (tap keys)..(repeat)...

Odd behaviour I thought, perhaps the poor fellow has got low battery? But then, I reasoned, wouldn't the glancing/tapping behaviour be the other way around, and the handset on the landline be off the hook? Clearly he was transcribing something onto his mobile...

Anyway, late for my train I hurried past and gave it no more thought until a couple of days later...same behavior, different guy...gent in a suit this time...

Investigation revealed a possible solution, but why, when standing at a convenient and totally anonymous means of communicating with these people would you opt to use the easily trackable and well recorded mode you carry around in your pocket, exhibiting obviously suspicious behavior? *shrug*

Another thing, if the activity is illegal, which I believe it is, why don't the police take a look at the cards, ring the number, arrange a meeting (if only to get the address) and go round and arrest them? Admitedly, it could be that the card advertising "Juicy, Fruity Melons" means just that, but if I were in the vice squad I know where I would hang out... ;)

Oh dear, poor old...

...Glastonbury-goers...It has rained rather hard...check out the guy swimming to rescue his car keys in picture 2...(reproduced below)

In honour of Wimbledon...

...some shots of the strawberry plants, which are coming on really nicely, not going to get a full bowl of them any time soon, but it is nice to be able to have the occasional snack when pottering around the garden...

...this variety is a tiny alpine strain, very small, sweet fruit...only one ever seems to ripen at any one time though, oddly...

Oo-er...shock! Tim has gone out...

...(earlier than normal) and also (sort-of-Brit) Greg (which is more of a shock), but - über-shock of the tournament (apart from the lack of rain/hail thus far) is Murray (surname because he is most worthy of respect (it's Andrew by-the-way))...now, this is really rather odd, because -

• England hasn't had a good player in (my) living memory
• Murray is only 18, and *brand* new to grass play
• He is *thrashing* the number 13 seed (without sweating, swearing or breaking things)
• (and it's hot)

Most impressive... :)

Something interesting from...

...Marketing Week this week! Well, not so much them as the companion title "Precision Marketing" which I also get (it's for people in the direct marketing game, which is me, I guess, even if I am almost 100% B2B content)...

Anyway, Ubisoft are launching *another* remake of Bomberman (play a shoddy version of the original there ;) and *apparently*, if you go here (from tomorrow onwards, until the end of the campaign), you can get hold of a pack of free, personalised business cards to give out to your friends (that are also a five quid off voucher for the game!)...

It's viral marketing at it's sneaky best... ;)

Bet you have to register for spam too...(use your old Hotmail account)... :)

Flyingpops tells me that the....

...tickets for Bug Jam arrived today! Hurrah!



For those that aren't familiar with it, in essence it consists of a large number of air cooled Volkswagen enthusiasts descending on Santa Pod Raceway (near Bedford) for 3 days to watch apparently aged vehicles race each other at frankly astonishing speeds down the drag racing strip (whilst drinking beer (the spectators rather than the drivers (in most cases))). In the evening they have a dance tent and a couple of live music stages (festival style), this year we have a David Bowie tribute band and a Queen tribute band plus the usual 70's carwash disco (that seems to never be too far from the VW crowd). The last couple of years we have had an amazing guy called "Killa Kella" who is a one man band (in the beatbox sense) on the main stage, I just can't begin to describe how skillful the guy is, he can mimick pretty much any instrument (not just percussion instruments) and put them together into complete tunes with nothing more than a microphone and speakers, he'll be missed I think, but the tribute bands are a welcome addition...(I'm bored of the carwash (it was fine the first 3 times) and the dance tent doesn't do much for me)...

There is also a large fun fair and a load of shopping opportunities (mostly auto-jumble, VW parts, VW merchandise, clothes and shoes)...a VW sale field (for people looking for new projects) and a "show and shine" (for those that have just finished one) and the really very dubious "Mr" and "Miss" Bug Jam competitions, which in the "Mr" is basically who is the biggest prat, and the "Mrs" is who flashes the most flesh at the baying crowd (mentality stuck in the 70s also I think)...

Just noticed this picture that...

...has appeared in the office, stuck to the wall with selotape -

- A fitting end for the "Crazy Frog", although from the looks of things he needs to be dropped a few more times or the "until you are dead" bit of the "hung by the neck" sentence will not have been quite *properly* carried out ...at the moment he looks merely inconvenienced (in posession, as he is, with the ability to levitate on a pretend motorbike)... ;)

In super early again...

...today, gonna burn through some of my backlog in peace and quiet... ;)

And what is going on? It's Wimbledon fortnight and it isn't pissing down with rain??

(Sorry for the bad framing, but the train was moving!)

The canteen was a dead...

...loss today, so "Torquay Slag" suggested a little walk up to Angel to find something wholesome and cheap to eat, we had a stroll round the market first, which was a *lot* more exciting than my last visit (midwinter)...pirate DVDs and fake jewellery/watches were evident in great abundance plus about 6 Thai food stalls, the ubiquitous fruit and veg men and various colourful knick-knack purveyors..."TS" was intending to get a BBQ going for his housemates tonight, so he took the opportunity to pick up some peppers and mushrooms, as well as a few nice looking chicken breasts and mangoes to facilitate kebab action in the garden...

The place we chose to munch was called "Indian Veg", funnily enough a vegan resturant, not really my normal kind of thing at all...but the price was right to risk the experiment (£2.95 for **ALL YOU CAN EAT**!!!) -

- and it was actually rather good, there were 3 kinds of rice (standard pilau, brown and some sort of pearl kind) and 5 curries on offer (including a really watery, yellow dhall, something really lime flavoured and most notably a fairly hot potato and pea one in a thick tomato gravy) next to the hot plates there were 4 salads, various fried goodies and mini chapaties. Take a selection of the above (for "selection" read "heap of everything on offer") topped off with a mint raitha and a nice firey mango sauce and you get this -

- which was, not *special* like a fine chicken Dhansak, but certainly very nice (I think I just can't get used to curry without chicken after all these years seeking perfection), and was equally certainly worth the money (I filled, and almost cleared 2 plates, so it must have been fairly good)...on the right day, I might even think about a return trip... ;)

Hmmm...

...perhaps the fortress-like aspect isn't so foolish after all...click the image to blow it up so you can read the text...

It does rather beg the question though, exactly what was the person doing in a dark alley at 2am in the morning to fall victim to the crime...? It's certainly not the kind of thing you would catch me doing in Kings Cross...

It's the Summer Soltice...

...today (doesn't look like we're going to get a "battle of the beanfield" this year then), it's funny, feels like we've only had a couple of sunny days this year and we are already on our way back towards winter...

Interesting shops of Kings Cross #5

...okay, not really a shop, the pub called "Central Station" doesn't exactly present a welcoming façade to the general public (and not without good reason either) -

- which, until I "googled it" was rather an enigma (revealing the weekly calendar of rubber fetish nights etc. which one doesn't normally find among the guest bands and lager promotions)...there was *obviously* something a *bit* sus about it, interestingly my initial impression was that it was the hang out of a dangerous gang of crack dealers, but it somewhat dissapointingly turns out it is rather a normal gay bar most of the time. I'm a bit suprised that the owners have decided to dress it up like a fortress, it makes me wonder if this is just a hang-over from less tolerant times? You wouldn't see this sort of nonsense in Amsterdam, a great big pink Neon "GAY" sign would be more likely...anyway, if I had kept my eyes open a little longer before curiosity and the internet took over, just recently there were abundant clues for the observant of the activities conducted within -

Really muggy today...

...temperatures are down a bit on yesterday, but the humidity is almost unbearable...standing and waiting for the train this morning everyone on the platform (most people in full suit/tie ensemble) were in a zombie-like daze, I only just snapped out of mine (nose buried deep in the "Lamb and Mutton" chapter of "Mrs Beaton's Book of Household Management") when I caught the last words of the Groundhog day-like announcement (that I ususally ignore) were subtelly different, ending with "four coaches" instead of the usual "eight"...uh oh...

I think I can honestly say I was the only person that actually heard the difference (miasmic-atmosphere to blame, perhaps) and hurried the length of the platform to just past the 4 car stop sign, and lucky I did, I got the last seat (right in the back corner, between an overwieght woman, a man using a laptop and a bloke soundly asleep) which was *rather* close...everyone else stood and as you can imagine, with half the normal amount of coaches, we were packed like sardines in a sweatshop by the time we hit East Croydon...nice... :(

What a load of crap...

...why such a lack of respect for the sport...? We have 6 runners, 4 tiers of US spectators throwing things onto the course, stamping their feet and giving the thumbs-down...great victory for Ferrari...very mature...

I am furious...everyone seems to have half a point with their justifications, but *NONE* of them amount to this result...I wouldn't be suprised if the US is out of the listing next year, great work everyone...and safety? I'm seeing stewards running out onto the track to retrieve beer cans! That's not exactly safe, is it??!

I think I will now have to write this year off, points-wise at least...from what I am hearing, if it finishes the way it is looking this will propel MS (unfairly) into 3rd place in the drivers championship, what a shame...

This race needs to be cancelled...

What is going on with F1...

...today...the BBC are carrying this short summary and the latest news at ITV here...this is *total* chaos...it could even be that all drivers on Michelin tyres won't even start the race...Well 35 mins to go now...can't believe this! Can't they just grow up!?

It was 27 degrees centigrade...

...at ten AM this morning, and "on the up" according to the offical figures (conveniently we have a Met Office monitoring station in town, so I can be sure of that figure. My own observation puts us at closer to 30, but I cannot be sure that my garden thermometer is accurately calibrated, costing, as it did, one pound from a cheap shop)...finding sufficient shade, enjoying the breeze, and keeping my drink cool are all I have had to worry about this morning, which is not a bad position to find oneself in... it almost feels like being on holiday (apart from the lack of a full English breakfast, and beer)... ;)

Update - We did hit 30 in Redhill...the start of summer proper, must get the big fan out of the loft...

Good news!

Collected the new drive (file-server quality model with modern liquid bearings, designed to be thrown around the server room and generally thrashed by busy users) and got the internet PC up and running again, it was really easy, apart from catching 2 naughty viruses within about 6 minutes of connecting to the rest of the planet...it's a dangerous place out there! Anyway, pretty much all the essential protection is now in place...virus checker, spyware tools, peerguardian, a *really* grumpy firewall...so back to business as usual...(with a slightly more aggressive backup policy in place) ;)

Oh, I'm also going to practice what I preach now and get the image absolutely perfect, and then Ghost it (drive cloning tool), so if this happens again it won't take half a day to rebuild, it'll only take 15 minutes to get back to a fully working system...

Some new visitors...

...to the bird table in the garden arrived over the last few days (zoom in, they are pretty small) -

- they came first of all with mum and dad, and accompanied by a few brothers/sisters, but, as I discovered, these two are absolutely fearless (stupidly, when one considers the number of cats that live in the environ) letting me walk *right* up and take the picture within a foot of where they were stuffing their beaks with fat ball and seed...I don't expect them to last very long exhibiting that kind of behaviour...!

Oh, this might be my last post now until Monday, unless I manage to get the Internet PC up and running again over the weekend, the delivery of the new hard disk has failed to arrive three times now, so collection at the depot tonight is in order, then just need to bodge some sort of XP install onto it, and the weekend is looking pretty busy (*another* BBQ, Grand Prix of America and visiting Tiny Alexandar all booked in), so that *may* not be possible...we shall see! Enjoy the nice weather (if you are in the UK), we are forcast the same temperatures as Florida for Saturday and Sunday...woo hoo! :)

Can't believe I'm in the office...

...so early...zzzz....how did I get talked into this? No-one else is going to be here for an hour and a half! Still, gives me a chance to attack my backlog a bit in peace and quiet...

There is always something...

...worth looking at in the window of the rebel "Porcupine" bookshop, it seems that at the moment the owner is supporting Ken Livingstone in his quest to rid London of large SUVs -

- after their failure to convince everyone not to vote Labour... ;) If you check out their website you may note that it looks like they are holding a "Nude Shopping night" sometime in July (actual date TBC) in partnership with these guys (not sure if it is SFW btw, so don't click if in doubt)...what an amusing place Kings Cross is to work... :)

The Warehouses have started...

...to come down now -

- and the poor old pub is just a tangle of metal -

- and a pile of bricks -

Did a bit more...

...gardening at the weekend - threw in 3 large bags of compost to enrich the soil and planted a load of new plants to replace the dead and dying bulbs of spring -



- have since had 2 neighbours comment on how nice the garden looks, and how much they are enjoying watching it grow...very satisfying indeed... ;)

The bulldozers have arrived...

...next door, this building was actually shaking with the vibrations as the axe fell on the Waterside Inn (click that link to see some shots of it before the men in HVJs arrived)...Not much of it left now, suprising how quickly a building of that size vanishes into rubble -

Tesco Home Delivery...

...just recently, in a fit of "ease of life" experiments, one of the welcome casualties from previously busy weekends has been "doing the shopping"...this has not, however, been the total success it *could* have been, thanks to a succession of spoilt vegetables and almost out of date ready-meals being delivered, which I would never have selected myself...the jury is still out I think...it's better than walking round the shop for an hour and a half (and certainly cheaper, as you only buy what you *need* and avoid all those tempting offers), but it is a bit annoying having to go through every single item and check it off the list once it has arrived, just in case the delivery man has had your pork pies away...

Very interesting bit of...

...pop art, pictured the right way up (dispite what you might think), as it was posted to the wall...very interesting and funnily enough it has appeared right next to the George Bush/Hitler spray art (which someone has been trying to remove with a knife, oddly)...

Nazi Mini-Nuke...

...drawing and story on the BBC...! Scary...!

What a morning... :(

...160 emails to go...(all the complicated stuff)...this will teach me to be unwell!

Well...

...my foot is still not right, it's still quite swolen and painful, but not half as bad as it was...it is getting ridiculous trying to rest it all the time, so I am back in the office today, journey went okay, and no-one stood on it, which was nice...I'm sat at my desk with my shoe off to give it a rest after the walk... ;)

You might notice also that there haven't been any blog entries for a while, this is in some small part down to the fact that we have had a hard disk failure on the main internet PC (my games machine hasn't been able to get on the internet since christmas, and is in dire need of a re-build, and I still don't know how much moblogging from my C500 cost me at Laughton, hence no posts), however, thankfully the vast majority of the data on the Internet PC has been backed up onto DVD-Rs, or CD-Rs at one time or another, so I don't think too much has been lost (which is a bit of a relief)...I have requested a data recovery quote from these guys though, as it would be nice to rescue some of the early shots of AJ we took...

Anyway, 300 emails to get through and a tattered "To-Do" list to refresh await me, so I must get on...I hate being away from work, everything just seems to go to pot...!

Internet has been up and down...

...all day, pretty laggy too, I am being optimistic and thinking that it is something to do with this (at last test it was still 756K)...anyway, a quick foot update, currently it is feeling numb (which is an improvement on painful, I'm putting it down to the mixture of medication), but I still can't bend it...I'm not worrying too much because they said it will take a few days, but one thing I *am* worrying about is the fact that it being numb might mean I bang it on something and not realise I am causing damage...(the reason, or so I understand, why leprosy is a problem...)...so I am being extra careful, had it in the air all day and going up to bed in a minute...might even be able to stand putting it in the bath water in this condition (bonus!)...

Night night... ;)

Well, I gave up and...

...handed myself over to the medical professionals today, last night it was quite difficult to sleep and I began to think that maybe I had broken the damn thing after all...this morning, it still wouldn't hardly move, I can't quite explain how frustrating this is...It's like it's made of a solid bit of plastic (which hurts) :(

So, usual Hospital experience (which almost doesn't need repeating to those of us who have used the NHS) after lots of form filling and lots of waiting, a lot of questions (and "Oo, that looks nasty!" comments), more waiting, prodding and poking (until you say "Ouch!"), some extra waiting, more questions, confirmation of previously made statements, 2 X-Rays (one of which involved rather painful contortions (and not on the part of the Radiologist, I might add) (oh and annoyingly during the very short walk I was easily outpaced by the tiny nurse leading the way), analysis (very long examination of said X-Rays, making me suspect that they were rather expecting to see a fracture, but none was forthcoming) and further waiting - The final diagnosis of my condition was "Severe bruising", estimated time to repair - 1 week - method of repair - a combination of strong painkillers, keeping the limb raised to waist height while remaining seated, and application of cold things in order to help with the swelling... :(

Still, at least it isn't broken I guess...!

Stupid...stupid...stupid...

...(not that it wasn't fun)...yesterday I gritted my teeth and honoured my commitment to go and visit the annual camping exhibition (aerial photo if you follow that link btw) that appears in a field near Horsham at this time of year. You see, my toes were feeling much better (still couldn't bend the big one at all, but I managed to squeeze my shoes on and hobble around the house a little bit)...and I reasoned to myself that it always was fun to look through all the latest gadgets etc. and I had been sooooo looking forward to it...So, unsteadily and with the odd wince of pain I got out to the car and was chauffered to the venue, which, as I said, is essentially a large field -

- filled with loads and loads of tents, folding caravans and even tents that are so big that they come in a trailer like the one below (one day perhaps!) -

- now in my opinion, this really is the only place to come if you are in the market for some outdoor living...there is nothing like actually seeing them all pitched and being able to climb in and out and unzip bits and lay down to see if sleeping areas are sufficiently large for certain tall people etc., however -

- with the BBQ season approaching, and a certain storm from Laughton in mind, the object of attention on this visit was actually a gazebo. The one pictured above was the final selection. The poles and canvas are integrated and the whole thing takes shape with a couple of simple twists - from bag to the state you see it in above within about 5 minutes - which is *just* what you want, especially if it's windy! Anyway, the visit finished with a tour around the several large marquees containing camping goodies, where purchases included a couple of new camping chairs (I even got an "XL" model, which is new on the market, and super comfortable!) plus some new tent pegs, a 3 LED torch and a few other essentials -

- all very well, you might think...the *problem*, came in the evening - having spent at least an hour walking round the field and even whacking my poorly foot on a stupid tent peg (ouchouchouch!) by the time I got back for dinner (guests - Mum, Dad, Kipperfrog and NinjaBathy, constituents - curry/beer/wine/and at least *some* of a movie) my foot was totally inflamed again and super painful...

*Idiot*...

So today, I got up, I had a bath, I came downstairs and sat at my PC and I haven't moved since (apart from to grab Advil from the cupboard and water from the drinks fridge)...and, fingers crossed, it's feeling a bit better again now...

I think I am going to risk the commute tomorrow...just hope no-one treads on it when the train gets full or there might be a "scene"... ;)

Wow...!

Kipperfrog has been busy, some amazing photos appearing on her stream...! Especially some awesome Macro work...I gotta get me one of those cameras...! ;)

Oh, and this isn't funny either...

...was feeling a bit lazy (cooking-wise) yesterday when I got in, so decided to have nachos with some of Chilli Pepper Pete's "Tasmanian Devil" dip (it contains - Mangoes, onions, carrots, apricots, kiwi fruit, lemon, lime, english home grown tasmanian habaneros, coriander, sugar, garlic, sunflower oil and salt) and, I must say is quite delicious...as a result, I ate quite a lot...after about 10 minutes of idle dipping and grazing, I noticed that my mouth was starting to become rather swolen...I stopped eating, it didn't hurt so much as really start to make me worry about quite how swolen it was...forcing me to glug down some cold beer which immediately turned to froth as it boiled the capsicum away (an old curry-hand's best rescue remedy...oh pity the fools who ask for water, hehe ;)...so anyway, I shrugged, and forgot about it......until this morning, that is....

Now I have a second reason not to wish to leave the house, but in this instance I can assure you that there will be no photography involved (in the interests of common decency)....

So, overall this is not turning out to be a good day...I can't blame the stairs, being inanimate, and I can't blame Pete, who clearly marks each of his products with the disclaimer "If you play with me, you play with fire" (and I have certainly now developed a healthy respect for his W@r3Z...woof woof!), so I guess I am just stuck with sulking and the occasional pout...bah! >;P

*eyes watering*

**Totally** whacked my foot as I was running up the stairs last night...caught my big toe and a couple of the other ones on the lip of a stair at speed and went down hard, absolute agony...my whole right foot is now totally swolen up (bit better than it looked last night, I took a pic (is that a sign of obsession or what? ;) but Flickr is "having a massage" at the moment so I can't post it)...

I really thought I had broken it, it was that painful, but I can *just* about wiggle my big toe, and it's feeling a bit better this morning...can't get my shoe on though without considerable pain, so I'm working from home today...(thankfully this is possible)...

On a serious high note though, last night I *also* had a cuddle with tiny baby Alexander, who is sooooo small, the pictures the others took just didn't illustrate exactly how wee the bairn is, it was still doped up from the epidural I guess, so was very sleepy and quiet and mum and dad seem to be doing just fine...made me feel very happy indeed...if I try I can still picture him laying there in my arms, in my minds eye... :)

Update - pic -

Reflecting...

...on the name, I think it was a particularly good choice because it can be easily shortened to "AJ", which sounds cool...("Alex" is a more likely contraction though)...there are also the initials "AM" which are pretty cool too (important for future logonids), I was always quite pleased with mine actually - being "FM" or "FA" (depending on which AKA I fancy using)... ;)

And it is named...

..."Alexander (Saviour of Mankind) John (God is Merciful) Exton (Ox Farmer) (Surname for us only)" ;)

I have a(n unnamed) nephew!

The "bun" is no more! We now are facing a (five pound) bouncing baby boy (that doesn't appear to need any further incubatory attention)!! Can't tell you how happy I am feeling... ;)

I left the office really early (got lots more to do tonight, but that can wait for now), and thankfully arrived *just* in time to join my folks and see "Mr S" emerge from the operating theatre with a great big smile on his face...! :) :) :)

Oh my goodness...!

Flyingpops just rang, "Mr S" had SMS'ed her saying that the "bun" is definitely going to be delivered this afternoon!!!!

Oo-er!! I hope everything goes okay...it's going to be a ceasarean delivery, so everything should be pretty much routine I guess...can't help worrying though...it's going to be a long day today, might try and get out a bit early just to make sure I am in the vicinity if needs be...not that there is a lot I can do (I suppose), but it would make me feel a bit better to be 5 minutes away instead of 2 hours away!

Oh and a I have a bit of a confession to make...

...for the last 2 months I have been traveling with a ticket that is not valid for my journey...(there, I have said it!)

Each day (since I discovered my crime), I have had to run the gauntlet of the luggage barrier, casually waving my illegal ticket at the guards hoping that they are so hypnotised by the monotony of their occupation that they wouldn't notice...it worked, every day except one very recent one, where I had to buy a £1.70 extension (thus alerting me to my crime)...Now, the reasons for this, you ask?

• Moving to Redhill - The initial ticket issued to me when I asked for a monthly return to Kings Cross was £50 more expensive and encompassed the London underground (which I no longer use after moving)
• Both the Redhill ticket staff and a guard at Kings Cross told me that a ticket just to "London Terminals" would be fine, but it refused to work in the barrier (which was admittedly confusing), however this coincided with the introduction of the new computerised ticket machines and there were lots of barrier problems *anyway*

I don't feel the least bit guilty about my crimes though, as today, when the irregularity was queried, it transpired that the actual ticket that I needed to get to Kings Cross (and check this out for skewed logic!!) is actually *cheaper* still than the one that expires 2 stops earlier, and not by an inconsiderable amount - £8.35!!

I surrender... (but not before cheekily asking for a refund (a comment which was ignored btw))! ;)

Hmmm...

...(I know it's not the first time I have mentioned it, but...) this is getting really quite worrying...If China is being anything like as forthcoming with information as with SARS we are in for a bit of trouble...See also Nature's webfocus...(sorry about the annoying popups by the way, I have complained about it to the relevant people ;)

Interesting...

...article on Slashdot...pasted here - "When you hear about blogging, you're most likely to hear about personal journals, self-expression and youngsters sharing their daily routines online. However, as Wall Street Journal notes, the word blogger can now frequently be seen in corporate job ads. Blogging jobs pay anywhere from $40,000 to $70,000 and frequently require writing copy for corporate Web sites and ability to promote on the Internet. A search for blogger and blogging on one of the job meta search engines yields several hundred open positions."