Seany's Blog

Happy Blogday...

2011-11-22T18:41:00.002Z

Seven years old today and... nope... still got nothin...

Green fingered fun...

2011-06-20T20:29:00.024+01:00

Hard to believe that I've been back in work a year as of tomorrow and so far, so good. My realigned expectations of income have dictated that the old social life has taken a bit of a back seat which has left more time for pottering about in the garden

So I thought I'd drop by and post a few pics of how the garden is looking these days, seeing as it is over a year since I posted the last lot.

The veg bed has finally sprung into life with a few disappointing non-starters, serves me right I guess for trying to use last years seeds again instead of buying new! All the same, there's a selection of onions, carrots, beetroot, radishes and cabbages to look forward to (first lot of radishes were grown and eaten before anything else had sprouted)

Young Jim's giant Californian redwood has grown a few inches in the last year and is certainly looking a lot healthier. Not sure he'll be happy until it's taller than his sister's tree though

The spartan apple tree would be more aptly named "sparce" given the complete lack of blossom or fruit to appear this year. It has certainly filled out though and I'm hopeful of better seasons to come

The Zoe oak is now happily established and has become a favoured scrapping ground for the local blackbirds, sparrows and bluetits, all fighting for the fatballs on there [insert your own inappropriate comment here]

Looking at it now, its hard to believe I picked about 25 tiny apples of this English Cox last year in the hope that it would put the energy into growing into something more substantial. Another apple tree taking a year out I guess

My camera angle doesn't really do "little blue" justice as he's at least doubled in height and width over the last year. May be a while before I'm hanging Christmas lights from it though

and the hazel completes the tour of the trees. Still looking healthy but once again, a while away from contributing to the festive feast (or feeding the local squirrels)

Probably my proudest achievement, the box hedge all grown from cuttings taken from the front garden. Proudest because it's cost me absolutely nothing!

Next stop is the herb garden, varying degrees of success but everything has survived so far. From left to right there's chervil, chives, dill, garlic chives, lemon balm, lemon thyme, mint, oregano, parsley (flat and curly), rocket, rosemary, tarragon and thyme

Moving into the greenhouse, I've gone with three tomato plants: a cherry tomato, salad tomato and beef tomato. Different varieties to last year but they're already well laden with fruit

Following the success (and popularity) of the apache chillies last year I wanted to try something a bit livelier. so from left to right we have jalapenos, scotch bonnets and habaneros. That should help to warm those cold winter evenings...

On the continuing theme of something new, I thought I'd try growing cucumbers (partially challenged by neighbour and Dad never having managed to grown them succesfully). Well there's at least two decent sized on there so I'm happy that I've made back the 50p I paid for the plant

The final newcomer is a physalis, winter cherry, cape gooseberry, chinese lantern plant. Call them what you like, all I know is that they're delicious and if even a quarter of the flowers turn into edible fruits, I'll be more than happy

So there you have it, now if you'll excuse me I need to go off to find my slippers and pipe.
OK, nobody was ever going to buy that - but the gardening bit is all for real :o)

Merry Christmas 2010...

2010-12-22T19:28:00.004Z

Hey there blog...

2010-11-22T19:21:00.003Z

Long time no see. 5 months you say? Tomorrow we would have been together six years? Really, I feel pretty bad seeing that now but I guess it's no great surprise, we could both see that things just haven't been the same now for quite some time.

It's not that there's anything wrong with blogging whatsoever, but the last 12 months have been a bit of a rollercoaster and... well I know it's a cliche, but I've changed.

To be completely honest with you, and it's the least you deserve, I found I was no longer able to offer the same commitment and had become to easily distracted with other social networking applications. They never offer quite the same as we had (even after my photo sharing client disappeared with many of our early pictures), but I suppose thats little consolation to you now.

Let's not draw a permanent line in the sand, but I think we both know deep down that it's time to move on. I just hope that some day we can look back fondly over the last six years and who knows, maybe enjoy exchanging a few more words and thoughts from time to time
x

Tempus fidget...

2010-06-25T21:19:00.003+01:00

...or something like that.

It's been great to be back at work again this week and it's been made all the more enjoyable that everyone has made me so welcome, old and new colleagues alike.

Something I'd not accounted for was the in the 15 years I've been away, although there are a lot of familiar reminders of my previous time with the company, other people's lives have moved on significantly. Not that I'm decrying my career progression and experience gained in the meantime, but some lives have changed significantly in the passing of time.

Our M.D. had the morning off today to take his daughter to university and on Monday our receptionist brought her son to work with us over the summer before he starts college in September. Probably nothing out of the ordinary to you reading that, but the "daughter" in question was a mere toddler when I saw her last and the "son" was the recent reason for my colleagues maternity leave when I left.

And there I was thinking how much I'd changed since I was there last...

The meeting of media...

2010-06-19T10:04:00.003+01:00

I'm often reminded that I don't update the blog as often any more, but there seems little point posting here when there's nothing much to say and the last three months have mainly consisted of get up, look for a job, potter about in the garden, go to bed. Of course, I'm delighted that's all about to change again from Monday!

I do regularly post on Facebook and Twitter, but then it begins to get complicated. I've always tried to retain my anonymity on here (even though most of the readers know me in the real world) but I particularly like to have a forum where I can rant about work with little fear of it getting back to anyone concerned.

So we have the blog at one extreme which is reasonably anonymous, and Facebook at the other where every comment is blurted out to all of my friends at once and Very few of the Facebook friends know about the blog and posting a link to Facebook from here would compromise my anonymity.

Somewhere in the middle sits Twitter which is probably still my favourite and with a 140 character limit is ideal for the lazy blogger, but for some reason very few of my friends use it regularly. Some of my Twitter followers know about the blog and some don't, but there's no reason why anyone here shouldn't see my tweets so I've added a tweet feed on the left - feel free to browse, or follow if you wish.

Honestly, all this fuss about anonymity, anyone would think I've got something to hide...

More Bed Activity...

2010-06-12T13:37:00.004+01:00

Of course not... what were you thinking?!

Even though it's only a couple of weeks since I last posted a picture of it, the raised bed in the garden continues to flourish (except for the fennel) so having just planted my third crop, I thought I'd share a new photo here and I've labelled this one so you can see what's growing where...

Tis true what they say...

2010-06-11T17:05:00.002+01:00

...it's not what you know, it's who you know.

After fifteen weeks of unemployment, despite considerable and persistent effort on my part, I had no success whatsoever in getting a single interview from any agencies or any of my numerous job applications.

Then last week out of the blue, I had a message via Facebook from an ex-colleague at my employer-before-last, who said they might soon have something I could be interested in and how would I feel about going back to work for them. Two informal meetings later, I'm delighted to say that this afternoon I've accepted a job with them, starting a week on Monday.

Just the role I was looking for, about the salary I was expecting (although not necessarily what I'd ideally like!), loads of scope for development and only 2.5 miles from home.

I think that's what's known in the trade as a result...

First Harvest...

2010-06-05T17:31:00.003+01:00

Just a flying visit to share with you the first harvest of food from the vegetable bed.

No, they aren't uniform sizes or shapes, but I can assure you that they are much tastier than the radishes I bought at the supermarket earlier this week.

More radishes due in the next day or so, spring onions too and the first of the white onions aren't far from being ready to be pulled. Phase three of the veg bed to be planted next weekend.

Unfortunately, as it stands now these radishes have cost me about a tenner a piece so I'm banking on some more salad and veg crops soon to see an improved return on investment. Watch this space...

Gardeners Questionable Time...

2010-05-28T14:20:00.034+01:00

While tending the grounds of Seany Towers this morning, I realised that it's probably time I posted some more pics of how a few things have been growing in the last month or so.

Starting with the veg bed, there are definite signs of life. From the bottom upwards, there are white onions, carrots, red onions, cabbage, spinach, radish and lettuce. The only no shows so far are the fennel seeds at the far end, but they were only planted a week or so ago as an afterthought.

First seeds were planted down the left hand side and three weeks later, the second set were planted down the centre. In a couple of weeks time I'll plant the final set down the right hand side, so if everything grows to plan, I'll have a more even supply rather than a sudden veg and salad mountain.

The two apple trees finally bloomed (although not shown on these pics), hopefully a sign of some fruit to be expected from them later this year and the oak has finally sprouted leaves so I'm happy that it's survived the move from Mum & Dad's now.

The little blue spruce has suddenly burst into life and adopted a new pale green identity. Although I'm pleased to see it's unexpectedly grown so soon, I'm also curious to see when (or perhaps whether) it will turn back blue again.

In the greenhouse, all of the seeds have been a qualified disaster, the only ones to have really come to anything are the spring onions, of which there are now two pots of them growing

The garlic is coming on rather well too with 5 plants growing nicely and a 6th shoot just appearing above the soil line

I'm at a loss to understand why the seeds in the greenhouse have failed in such quantities, so I've cheated and bought a few plants for the growbags. On the left from top to bottom are green peppers, red peppers and chilli peppers. These have already proved popular with the local slugs, having almost completely finished off the chilli pepper plant. After an unsuccessful eco-friendly approach using egg shell, I've finally resorted to slug pellets to keep the greedy little blighters off, but the other two have grown considerably.

The next round of "cheats" was buying tomato plants, from top to bottom being pixie tomatoes, beef tomatoes and ailsa craigs. The pixie tomato is a strange little plant having refused to grow in any direction but has plenty of flowers on it, so we'll see how effective it is at bearing fruit.

The final seed cheat occurred after I spotted B&Q selling little herb plants, six for a fiver (cheaper than I'd previously paid for the seeds!) So combined with some cuttings from Mum & Dads and a couple I'd bought earlier, the herb "garden" now consists of ten planters containing chives, lemon balm, lemon thyme, Moroccan mint, oregano, parsley (flat & curly), rosemary, tarragon and thyme.

Quite honestly, I'm not entirely sure when I turned into the bloke who could identify plants and the various birds that frequent the garden and secretly hope I'm still not the one who'd openly admit to enjoying it.

I really must get myself a job sorted out soon. In fact, there may finally be some news to share soon, but more about that next time...

Dream on...

2010-05-25T02:47:00.004+01:00

Although I've always been fascinated by my vivid dreams and the occasional mystery behind them that I can't correlate to activity in the previous day, I also readily acknowledge that there are few truly interesting conversations that begin "I had the strangest dream last night..." Perhaps the fact that I'm writing this at such a ridiculous hour reinforces that this one was a bit unusual.

So, quick dream recap: I've just returned a board game to a criminal looking family down the road then hurried back home, locked the door and turned the lights off. As I stand there behind the locked door, I'm suddenly feeling really uncomfortable and nervous about being in my own home. Then I woke up.

Amateur interpretation time:
Board game? WTF, no idea what that's about
Criminal family? No idea, I'm very lucky to live in a cul-de-sac full of friendly respectable neighbours
Uncomfortable in my own home? I've lived on my own for most of my adult life and it's no secret that I absolutely love it. I have certainly never felt nervous about it, although like any other sane person in this day and age, I tend to keep the doors locked and the alarm is set whenever I'm not here.

So none the wiser as to what my subconscious is trying to tell me, I'm awake, a little confused perhaps, but otherwise, no big deal. Still wide awake a few minutes later, I decided to put the radio on to help me drift back off to sleep again when I'm suddenly aware of some unusual noise outside the bungalow. Then the sound of something like paper or card falling down, shortly followed by the security light coming on in the front garden.

Surely there's no-one posting leaflets or charity begging-bags at this time of the morning? I flew out of bed and went over to the window, but no sign of activity outside. Inside however, some well-meaning plod had posted a hand-shaped card through my window, warning of the dangers of leaving windows open for opportunist thieves.

Now I figure if the sound of a falling piece of card and the sudden illumination of the outside security light is enough to wake me from my slumbers, there's little chance that any scrote is likely to get anything significant through a small window opening before I get to them.

The police are not to know that though I suppose and I guess their intentions are good, but what's really intriguing me is the connection between my dreaming about feeling insecure at home, then someone actively promoting the idea in the middle of the night through a partially open window. Furthermore, it's now gone three in the morning, I'm completely wide awake and not exactly happy about it.

Still on the bright side, at least I don't have to be up for work in the morning...

Quiet Now, Settle Down...

2010-05-07T19:49:00.005+01:00

Finally I've made some progress this week on the Adult Education teacher training I've been chasing so many people for. Despite another meeting with yet another training organisation since my last post on the topic, everything was indicating that my funding for the course was looking very unlikely.

By chance, my continued frustrations came up in conversation with my ECDL IT tutor (who works for North East Lincs Council) when he asked if I had approached them. I explained that I hadn't as I was being led by the "powers that be" to make sure I took advantage of any free funding available.

After a quick word with the secretary there, it appears that they do offer the course locally and the fee was about £120 - quite frankly, I was considering paying it just to get things moving. Then she suddenly added that as I am unemployed and claiming benefit, I would only have to pay the £20 registration admin fee!

To cut a long story short, it was only a couple of emails and a phone call later that afternoon before I had enrolled on the course, met my tutor, caught up on the two lessons I'd missed and paid my registration fee which was actually only £10! OK, I also have two assignments to complete before my first lesson next week, but that seemed a small price to pay (first one completed this afternoon).

Consider me one happy bunny.

Another observation though, the centre where the course is held is on the premises of a closed primary school. As was the other centre where I studied for my IT course. It occurs to me that if perhaps they had kept some of the primary schools open and as a result kept class sizes smaller and more effective, surely there would not be the same need to invest in converting them all into adult education centres now?

Not that I should really criticise the council who's employees have been so helpful in my most recent quest. Even more so if this training goes to plan as I happen to know for a fact they are in short supply of Adult Education tutors...

It's only a number...

2010-05-03T13:32:00.003+01:00

I've always maintained that age is only important to you until you leave school - once I'd left and gone to college and started work, I found myself on equal footing with people of a variety of ages.

A few of my managers have been younger than me, but as long as they knew their job, their age seemed irrelevant.

I remember being a little shocked when Matt Smith was named as the new Doctor Who, not being sure how I felt about being older than a timelord, but I then discovered that I'm older than his predecessor too so it wasn't really anything new to worry about.

Apparently I'm older than the current James Bond too, although with the new film now being put on hold, there is talk that the role will be re-cast - but I doubt it will be to someone older.

This afternoon I discovered that I'm older than two of the individuals campaigning to become Prime Minister later on this week and it was the political theme that got me thinking about my age.

With three days to go before the election, our local Labour candidate has finally decided to distribute some literature to introduce himself and between the predictable waffle about being local, deeply caring and empathetic to the concerns of our village, he mentions that he is currently reading politics at university. That would also explain why the picture looks like his school photo.

Even if I thought Labour stood the slightest chance locally (or possibly elsewhere), there is no way I could entrust any responsibility to someone with such limited experience of life and "grown up" issues like trying to buy a house, or working for a living.

Still, I'm sure his Mum is very proud of him and given his age, there's a very good chance that I went to school with her...

Time for bed...

2010-04-29T15:05:00.008+01:00

More lovely weather, so more fun in the garden to be had. The soil in my garden is particularly poor (probably more accurately described as clay with an inch or two of topsoil) so the only chance I had of growing anything edible in there was by building a raised bed.

So, thanks to a kindly local scaffolding supplier who let me have a couple of old scaffold boards for a fiver, a few bits of wood I had kicking around in the garage, some compost and a bit of time (which I have no shortage of right now) I managed to convert a little corner of the garden from this

To this

Next decision is what to grow in there. Carrots and onions are quite easy, but are also ridiculously cheap all year round so I'd rather plant something that will return real value for the effort put in. I like the idea of a salad garden right outside the kitchen door, but there is only this little 8x3' area to work with so I'm going to have to limit my choices somehow.

I'll update as the plot thickens (yeah, he's still got it!)...

Not so hairy biker...

2010-04-27T19:25:00.003+01:00

It comes as quite a surprise just how much exercise I obviously got chasing up and downstairs at the office or around the factory, or more accurately, how unfit I seem to have become now that exercise has been removed from my daily routine.

It's not that often I have the excuse to go very far of late and when I do, it tends to be in the car, but last week with no more incentive than a bright morning, I decided to hop on the bike that I bought with oh so good intentions last year (and to be honest, hasn't been very far since). A little wary of exactly how unfit I was, I found myself back home again after only four miles or so and frankly, a little ashamed of how wobbly my legs were and how out of breath I was.

This morning, greeted with a similar excuse of fine weather, I headed off in another direction towards the coast and returned home having covered about 8 or 9 miles, still with equally wobbly legs but admittedly not so short of breath. Big difference today was the rediscovery of how pleasant it is to take a leisurely ride out on a sunny day, enjoying the country lanes and exchanging pleasantries with several other cyclists I passed along the way. So much so, I'm quite happy to get out there again a bit more often.

Like most of my mates, in my teens I would think nothing of cycling those sort of distances and much more, several times a week, probably on the grounds that it was the easiest and most effective form of transport I had. Of course that was a lot of years (and several stone) ago, but having just realised that it was a year as of yesterday that I bought this bike, I really ought to start getting a bit more use out of it and with a bit of luck, will get a bit fitter in the process.

No ambitious claims or predictions this time though - Lance Armstrong I certainly ain't...

A tour of the grounds...

2010-04-19T15:46:00.024+01:00

You've got to love the British weather; I managed to get sunburnt arms only yesterday whilst sat reading in the garden, yet today we're back to grey skies, persistent rain, jumpers and the central heating back on.

I've not usually been one for posting heaps of piccies on here but inspired by Delcatto's recent post of potting activity, I thought I would share some photos of what's been going on in the garden over the last few months. You may notice a theme of gardening on the cheap...

Firstly let me show you the trees, starting with a hazel tree actually grown from a nut and currently standing a couple of feet tall

Next along is a blue spruce, actually bought from a garden centre, but on the cheap as I chose to make a project of it rather than spend 40-odd quid for a more fully grown one

Then in the corner is the first apple tree, a Cox's Orange Pippin. This one actually had one apple on it when I bought it so I know it worked at the time.

Currently the tallest in the garden (although looking a bit weary at the moment) is an oak tree. Affectionately known to the family as the Zoe Oak as it was grown from an acorn planted by my Dad around the time my niece was born 10 years ago. Transplanted from Mum & Dad's garden late last year, I'll feel happier when it reassures me that it has survived the journey.

The second apple tree is a Spartan, predominantly picked because it fruits later in the season than the Cox's. Once they are both settled, between here and Mum and Dad's garden we hope to enjoy a few consecutive months of free apples.

The last tree in the garden is a Calfornian Giant Redwood. OK, not quite so giant yet (approx 2 feet tall) but this was grown from a seed planted by Dad around the time my nephew was born nearly six years ago. I share similar concerns here as I do with the oak, that this may not have endured the transplant & journey too well, but time will tell I guess

My last "trees" are from my attempt to emulate Dad's success of growing trees from seed and resulted from my planting the contents of some dried and emptied pine cones. Currently reaching the dizzy heights of approx 4cm tall, there are two survivors from a considerably larger number of seeds.

Along the long border of the garden, are a dozen or so boxwood shrubs, all grown from cuttings taken from the front garden and therefore, falling nicely into my preferred price range

Meanwhile... back in the greenhouse...

Rather than dig out a herb garden I opted to buy ten planters, loads of seeds and a couple of plants. To date, only the plants have shown any signs of growth, but it's still early days yet.

In fact, the greenhouse crops have yet to really show any signs of success. Having planted two lots of tomatoes, peppers and spring onion seeds, it is only the latter that have started doing anything and will shortly need moving to more substantial pots

There are a couple of other pots in the greenhouse which I've planted out of curiosity. Firstly a ginger root this weekend (obviously nothing to show you yet) but one of the garlic cloves has certainly sprung to life

My hopes are pinned on all of these to start producing some shoots soon.

Finally, is the Kiwi Fruit plant I bought for a couple of quid last year, largely out of curiosity to see whether they could be grown in the UK. The picture here would seem to suggest not...

The Waiting Game...

2010-04-13T13:12:00.006+01:00

Well we're into week seven of the unemployment game and I can't pretend I'm getting on with it too well. I should be grateful for that mindset I guess, as there seems to be no shortage of individuals quite happy with their lot as I wade amongst them during the bi-weekly humiliation ritual of signing on. I think on reflection so far it's all of the waiting that I'm finding so frustrating.

My job search criteria is now extended to anything within a 20 mile radius with at least 2/3 of my previous salary but vacancies are still few and far between. When you do apply, nobody ever replies unless it's an invitation for interview, so you wait around wondering until an appropriate amount of time has passed before following it up.

I'm registered with about 20 different employment agencies but with only one exception so far, they seem more interested in having lots of names on their books than placing anyone in suitable roles. There's only so often you can update your CV as an excuse to contact them and give them a shove (I'm currently chasing them all every 2 weeks), so in the meantime you find yourself waiting.

In an attempt to make myself more employable, I've tried to enrol on some training courses. The ECDL IT course was relatively easy to get on and I completed the 18 week course in 2 weeks, but I'm waiting for the Easter holidays to finish so I can take the final exams.

The PTLLS (Adult Education Teaching) course is proving more troublesome. I have filled out the same registration form umpteen times now and had the same accompanying "How to look for work" workshops in the process, but each organisation just keeps referring me onto another one. I don't understand what all of the delay is - there are millions of pounds set aside for training "victims" of redundancy, but the red tape I've encountered on this exercise makes it crystal clear that it's almost impossible actually getting your hands on any of it. I have another meeting with another training organisation on the same topic next week.

To my absolute amazement (and to an extent, shame) I seem to find myself spending any spare time either in the garden or the greenhouse. Quite frankly, not the best choice of hobbies for someone who has a problem with too much waiting around. There seems to be some signs of new life in the garden now, but I'll save the details of those for another post.

But on current performance, who knows how long I'll keep you all waiting before you get to read that...

Snow joke...

2010-01-06T20:55:00.004Z

Happy New Year! I've always said you can't beat a deluge of snow and a healthy coating of black ice to add a touch of excitement to the daily commute.

For some reason I feel obliged to share this morning's incident; could possibly be described as a blonde moment, would that I had sufficient hair to dye blonde in the first place.

So yesterday morning the car was covered in a couple of inches of snow and without stopping to think, I unlocked the car from the remote key then opened the door to watch a handful of snow fall inside the car right onto the drivers seat. Cue a few harsh words muttered beneath my breath whilst wondering why they design car doors which allow that to happen.

This morning in full view of my snow-scraping neighbours, the car was in similar condition but I'd remembered what had happened yesterday and brushed off all of the excess snow from the door before opening it. Car seat perfectly clear this time, cue smug, self satisfied smile to the neighbours. Unsatisfied with my little victory, whilst stood there I then decided to take the de-icer and scraper from the door compartment, reach inside the car and turn the key in the ignition so the car could be warming up while I cleared the remainder.

Unfortunately the windscreen wipers, still on from when I had parked up the night before, decided at this point to remove the deep covering of snow from the windcreen and yes... you guessed it, deposit the entire lot all over my seat, footwell and pretty much any other little opening it could settle into on the way down.

Bloody weather...

The end is nigh... or is it...

2009-12-29T20:29:00.003Z

Evenin' all. I hope anyone looking in has had a nice Christmas and is looking forward to the new year.

On the subject of looking to the future, I posted this on Facebook a little earlier, but now I've decided to follow Delcatto's lead and post it on the blog too.

It's important that this message is spread as far and wide as possible. I appreciate that it is a long video clip but please believe me when I say that it is definitely worth taking some time to watch it...

Noughty Films...

2009-12-19T05:26:00.002Z

An old schoolmate of mine is now a film critic (amongst other things) and he asked us via Facebook to list our top 5 films of the last decade. I thought my reply would be worth a lazy blog post on here - please feel free to comment with your top five:

I don't get to watch many new films unless my niece and nephew are staying so I didn't think I would find much in the last decade. Then, thanks to IMDB, I realised just how long 10 years really is and how tough it is to narrow down my top five!

So here goes and I'll start with a cheat:
Lord of the Rings (Trilogy). I'm probably the only person left of my generation who still hasn't read ANY of the books (despite owning them) so watching the film was my way of catching up

Gangs of New York. I just loved the atmosphere

Casino Royale. In my [controversial] opinion getting Bond films back where they should be

Pay It Forward. Great philosophy that I actually try and live by anyway and top candidate for "well I certainly didn't see that coming..."

Happy Feet. One of my favourite films of all time. Unashamed family fun, great animation, imaginative soundtrack, singing and dancing whilst saving the world and Brittany Murphy sings Queen - what more could you ask for!

Close contenders that didn't quite make the top 5:
Eulogy - very funny but primarily because I'm in love with Zooey Deschanel
Mamma Mia - put your brain on one side, relax and enjoy some fun and Abba music for a couple of hours
Bubba Ho-tep - great film currently residing in my "wtf" category
King Kong - I thought it was an excellent remake up until the nonsense in Central Park which I thought was completeley superfluous

And that concludes the voting for the Seany jury...

Long time no blog...

2009-12-12T18:03:00.006Z

Well the old place doesn't look much different from the last time I dropped by, although maybe a bit neglected. So what's happened in the last month?

The biggest and best event had to be the wedding of my friends Nick and Claire where I was honoured to be the best man. It was a textbook wedding with everything you (and of course they) could have wished for. My speech seemed to be well received, but the fact that I was the only person at the top table drinking the red wine meant that I was suitably relaxed when the time came.

Christmas has got a bit closer, but all presents are bought, wrapped and where appropriate, posted and received at the other end. The folks are having Christmas Dinner with me this year, I'm at theirs for Boxing Day breakfast, then we're off to see New Year in with Little Sis & Family.

I missed my blogday on 23rd November, but I guess after 5 years of waffling on here, I'm entitled to a bit of a quiet spell now and then.

The big question - what's happening at work? Well nothing new. I'm still there until the end of February, although I can't say I'm looking forward to saying goodbye to my team a week on Wednesday. The good news is that people do appear to be finding jobs and getting interviews, so even though I haven't had any success to date, it seems only fair that those leaving first find new placements first.

So I think that's about everything I have to report for now. I hope it won't be so long before I'm back again, but just in case, I'll take this chance to wish anyone reading this a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Oh and of course in the time honoured tradition, I've prepared another silly little animation.
'Ave a good 'un...

New Trick for an Old Dog...

2009-11-07T13:47:00.003Z

It's been a change of scenery this week as I've taken a few days away from the usual day-job learning how to drive a fork lift truck.

I had been looking forward to it anyway, but it turned out to be much more fun than I expected. There were three of us on the course, all learning from scratch, all approached it with the same sense of humour and all just there to for CV fodder rather than any desperate desire to drive fork lift trucks for a living.

Each day was a gradual progression:
Monday we learned how to manoeuvre the truck both forwards and in reverse, initially in a straight line, then in clockwise and anti-clockwise circles and finally a tight figure of eight.
Tuesday we moved on to the hydraulics, how to lower and raise the forks, tilt them backwards and forwards to the appropriate levels.
Wednesday we built the test course and had a few practise runs as our instructor was called away for the day
Thursday was the first test day where we completed the practical test, theory test, pre-check test and I'm pleased to say we all passed.
Friday was the chance to re-run the practical test again to try and improve our scores, which again, I'm pleased to report we all did. Personally, I was delighted to have knocked a further couple of minutes off my time and with 16 less penalty points to come out top of the class. Little things eh?

So as a qualified counterbalance fork lift truck driver, I'm now trying to get a reach truck conversion course organised to expand my repertoire still further. This would seem all the more possible now they've announced that I will be staying with the company now for a further month until the end of February...

Big Dipper...

2009-10-27T20:08:00.002Z

Its almost a tradition for me to moan about this every year so I thought I would get it out of the way early.

Only my second day driving home from work to the seasonally adjusted clock and yet already so many hundreds of motorists have seemingly forgotten the difference between dipped headlights and main beam.

The lights are supposed to be there for them to see or be seen, not to glare all on-coming traffic into driving off the road. Inconsiderate bunch of bastards...

Pub Report...

2009-10-25T19:38:00.001Z

Now a more responsible person in my position would be spending every waking minute trying to decide how he's going to earn a crust after the end of January, but some times you just have ot put other people first. With that in mind, I took a trip out to visit my old mate Andy over the weekend to delivery a present and help him to celebrate (?) turning 40 earlier this month.

Thanks to Sharon who was taking little Laura to a more sensible birthday celebration, we had a lift from their remote farm to Ashbourne to see what delights the numerous hostelries had in store for us. With only a couple of hours or so to spend exploring, the itinerary went something like:

George and Dragon: Leatherbritches Dr Johnsons (and great jukebox incidentally)
Ye Old Vault: Deuchars IPA
The Horns: Wytchwood Hobgoblin
The Green Man: Leatherbritches Goldings
Smiths Tavern: Andy had a questionable Hobgoblin, whereas I opted for the much nicer Jennings Cocker Hoop. Pity we only found out as we were about to leave that Marstons Pedigree was their speciality, but a quick half was sufficient to prove the point.
Back to the George & Dragon, where each pint this time was accompanied by a JD to toast Andy's birthday
Back to the Ye Old Vault, but due to a technical problem the barmaid was having while the queue at the bar grew deeper, we panicked and fled back to the George to cram in one last pint and a game of pool before getting the call to say our lift back had arrived.

So there it was Ashbourne, a delightfully picturesque market town with a plethora of real pubs, full of real people and selling real food and most importantly, real ales. I don't really know what more I can tell you other than "go there".

I might possibly add that after a session like that, it probably wasn't the best of ideas to crack open the bottled real ale as soon as we got back to the farm. Possibly even less wise to then take a trip to the nearest village to partake in a further three pints of their real ales which equally went down a treat, although to this day I couldn't tell you what they were...

Taking it all in...

2009-10-21T20:05:00.002+01:00

Two job applications still in progress right now, both of which have outlasted the earlier one (not much of a challenge, I admit).

Monday saw my first meeting with the outplacement consultants and I'm pleased to report that I was very pleasantly surprised. Although he complemented me on the quality of my CV, he went on to give me some good ideas towards improving it further still and provided some fascinating insights as so better ways to launch myself into the job market.

While I'm wading through the elements of the outplacement program, I also started the first of my in-house training sessions today. I'd heard a lot of positive feedback about the Basic Laboratory Techniques course and considering I'm part of the Technical Department, I probably should have followed it up earlier. Regardless, I managed to latch on to the course today and I'm glad I made the effort - it was really interesting with the added bonus that I got to play with some kit I otherwise probably would never have done.

Next training course is week after next when I'm on a fork truck driving course - now that's one I'm really looking forward to. I've no long term ambition of becoming a fork truck driver (or lab technician for that matter) but all of this training is being laid on for free and I figure I should take the opportunity to stuff the CV with as wide a range of experiences and training as possible to make myself more employable.

In the meantime, there is another training course being planned in the background that I'm particularly excited about. I can't say too much right now as some considerable strings are being pulled to get it provided for free, but if it works out as planned, I'll certainly be telling you all about it later on...

Our Survey Said...

2009-10-12T20:48:00.004+01:00

It's laughable really - the application I sent off last night was returned and rejected mid-morning today!

I can't pretend I'm overly surprised as the last time I applied for a position advertised by this particular agency, the rejection came back even quicker. Seriously concerned the last time, I called them for some feedback on receipt of their email, only to be told that the position was very highly subscribed and she "didn't feel the role best suited my skill set". She then went on to reassure me that I had a strong CV and that she would be happy to work with me to find something else, but she would have to get back to me in a few weeks. You could almost smell the sincerity over the telephone and unsurprisingly I never heard any more from her.

Truth be known, it was the salary and geography that offered the main attraction for this role so perhaps there's a lesson to be learnt there. Not that I'm concerned right now anyway, after all, the game has only just begun...

Gizza Job...

2009-10-11T15:41:00.003+01:00

The moment finally arrived last Tuesday and I received the letter giving me notice that my employment terminates on 29th January.

I had expected it to be a little later than that and I genuinely think its unwise to let me go quite so early in the overall scheme of things, but it is more than most have been given so I can't really complain. Furthermore, I now have the basis to start building my future from. So onto the master plan.

Plan A: to make sure my lottery tickets are always up to date. Hey, let's face facts, I'd rather not have to work at all, or at least would like to have the option to work on my own terms. Admittedly, this is a tad of a long shot.

Plan B: stick with the current job until the end of January. They have now confirmed my redundancy package in writing and it's far too much to just walk away from unless something quite amazing turns up. Next week is my first meeting with the outplacement consultants they have provided to help us all in our move towards a new future. They are also providing heaps of training which I'm taking advantage of; everything from problem solving techniques to fork lift driving.

The second part of plan B is to start looking for a Customer Service Manager role within about 20 miles from home. Clearly I'll be taking advantage of every resource out there on the internet and writing to absolutely anyone who I think may be interested, in addition to whatever the above-mentioned consultants have in mind.

Plan C kicks in around December and basically involves expanding the job search to any managerial position with similar prospects and package as I have now within about 50 miles from home.

If this hasn't reaped any rewards by the end of January then plan D is to take a couple of weeks break then pretty much apply for anything just to buy me a bit more time until a more appropriate opportunity comes along.

Best case, I'll get a better job than I have now that starts at the beginning of March next year. Worst case, I can actually afford to be out of work until the back end of next year if absolutely necessary. Given the choice though I'd rather put my redundancy payout to something a little more exiting than just living from.

First job application has gone off today so the plan is now officially under way and the fun starts right here...

Office Moves...

2009-10-02T17:44:00.004+01:00

I spent most of the morning moving office again today even though it's not that long since the last move. It came as a bit of a surprise to many as an office to yourself is a luxury that was only enjoyed by the MD and myself (more by circumstance rather than my status within the organisation I hasten to add) and as offices go, it is quite a nice one...

Truth is, the redundancy letters have started being distributed now (I haven't had mine yet but I know it's on it's way) and I thought the room would be put to much better use as a private area for people to make personal calls to arrange interviews etc., somewhere for people who want to talk in private about any problems or challenges they are personally facing, or at worst, to host some of the countless meetings resulting from the transfers to other sites.

As for me, I'm now closer to my own team as well as being amongst the other teams I work most closely with and now we can all see out these last few months in the same office together...

A Quick Pint...

2009-09-25T17:30:00.003+01:00

Despite the title, it's an alcohol free post in all senses; the content doesn't discuss it (from here on) and the writer hasn't had any since last Saturday (and that won't last long either).

I had an appointment at the blood donors for later on this evening, but as I happened to be passing and the car park seemed empty, I thought I would see if they could squeeze me in early. Although officially they were just about to close the afternoon session, they very kindly agreed to sneak me through as the last donor before their break.

Now I don't mind waiting around there and they usually don't keep you too long. Sure, I'm not a big fan of sitting around doing nothing, but the potential end result of my donation far outweighs the importance of anything else I would be doing with that time.

I'll spare you a blow by blow account but I walked in there just before 4:00pm this afternoon and little over 30 minutes later I had registered, been tested, given my donation, downed a coffee and a couple of Club chocolate biscuits and was on my way back home. Never in my 39 pint history can I remember getting through so quickly.

So what else was I supposed to do with the time I'd saved other than come on here and encourage you to do likewise? You know my opinion on the matter by now: if you can't donate that's fair enough. If you can but just don't want to, you should be ashamed of yourself. If you want to find out where your next nearest session is so you can make a donation, click on Billy below...

No news is no news...

2009-09-23T19:47:00.002+01:00

Well we are getting ever nearer to the end of the 90 day consultation period at work and today they have announced that they intend to close the plant a couple of days before Christmas.

Effectively that means that many of the employees will now all finish on that same day. Some will be required to work on for a while afterwards but as yet they haven't determined who that is going to be and how long they will be needed for.

Indeed, some have decided not to wait, forego the pot of gold at the end of the "rainbow" and have already been fortunate enough to find employment elsewhere.

For now though, my plans remain unchanged - I fully intend to sit tight and claim my rightful reward for enduring 14 years there and will not start looking for anything new until I have a clearer idea of a finishing date. I may find out as early as next Tuesday or maybe not until much later on in the year.

It probably wouldn't hurt to have a clearer idea about what I want to do when the time comes. As of right now, I still have absolutely no idea...

Trichological tale...

2009-09-02T06:40:00.004+01:00

Ever since that fateful day about 6 years ago when I had my head shaved in the pub for charity, I think I've only ever paid for a haircut once or twice since, preferring instead to cut my own. Fair enough, I'm into my second pair of clippers, but I'm thinking that as I'm saving about £7.50 every other week, they have pretty much paid for themselves.

Whilst giving my self a once-over at the weekend (I could probably have phrased that better) one of the teeth fell out of the attachment comb so having finished my trim, checking carefully that I hadn't left any rogue black stripes, I set about finding a replacement.

Unfortunately, it seems that everywhere only sells the attachment combs in full sets of six, a little wasteful for me as I only ever use the 3mm attachment. So I rang the Remington Help Desk, where the automated voice gave me an alternative number if I was looking for spare shaver or clipper parts. The company at the end of the other number advised me that they were only available in sets of six, but she could sell me a set at a discounted price (plus postage which then worked out about the same!). I politely declined.

Not exactly angry, I thought I would give the Help Desk another quick call just to share my experience with them as I'm sure it is a quite common problem. To my surprise, without my even having to prompt, she happily told me that they always have spares about the office and would gladly pop a couple of replacements in the post to me free of charge.

So there you have it a happy post, with a little good news twist in these times of recession. Oh and of course, if you find yourself needing to buy a set of hair clippers, make sure they are Remington...

Blog Sulk...

2009-08-29T20:53:00.000+01:00

I discovered earlier this year that the file host I've been using to store pictures for the blog is closing in October, but since they announced this they have been assuring me that they would soon be posting simple instructions to transfer my files.

Last night I finally remembered to check back in again and these "simple" instructions involve signing up to a $4 a month subscription. OK, it's not exactly a huge sum of money but I'm not going to start paying it out of principle. The only real free alternative it seems is to check each post on the blog over the last 5 years and save the pictures individually. That ain't gonna happen either.

As well as the pending disappearance of many of the pictures, the YouTube copyright police have been removing videos here, there and everywhere leaving even more holes in my blog posts.

I still believe there is a place for the blog, Twitter, and I hate to admit, even Facebook, so I will be keeping it going. Chances are that nobody would have even noticed if I didn't mention it...

Sporting Life...

2009-08-26T19:58:00.003+01:00

Like thousands of others, I looked on in disgust this morning at the footage on the news of the violence at the Millwall vs West Ham match last night. You can't really call them football fans as it appears that the actual sport is merely an aside to the taunting and fighting that many of them seem to have paid their entrance at the gate for.

Now it is widely accepted that I know absolutely nothing whatsoever about sport, maybe not even that much, but I think I have a solution; a bit off the wall maybe but then you should expect that by now.

If I understand correctly, half of the football grounds across the country are empty on a Saturday afternoon as their teams are playing away that weekend. In addition, most of the clubs could use an extra few quid to top up the coffers.

So I propose that every Saturday the teams go and play each other as scheduled and the fans who want to enjoy a couple of hours with their friends and families cheering their sides on, go along and do so.

We can also assume that there are a proportion of "fans" for both teams who are largely indifferent to the sport but just want to go and kick the shit out of each other for a couple of hours. So why not charge them the same price to be allowed onto the pitch of the other ground (i.e. of the team playing away) where they can merrily beat the living daylights out of each other to their hearts' content?

No police presence, no St Johns ambulance or other medical assistance, just someone to clear up the remains and usher the last few stragglers out at the end of it all. If a few of them get hurt along the way, well surely that's what they were expecting wasn't it? If they want to fight, let them do it, locked in a ground where they are no bother to anyone but each other...

Holiday Fun...

2009-08-23T19:58:00.002+01:00

I've just enjoyed great long weekend with the family here and we've surprised ourselves at how much of a good time you can have without necessarily spending a fortune.

Thursday we didn't stray too far from home but we enjoyed the sunshine in the garden while the kids were happily out there playing.

Friday we ventured out to Cleethorpes beach which some would consider brave for a Friday afternoon in the middle of the school summer holidays. A couple of spits of rain en route but I think we were all surprised to find the beach looking like this

What more could you ask for?

Saturday afternoon we took a walk down to the village green to satisfy our curiosity as to what the village show had in store. As it turned out, everything you would have expected: cake stalls, hook-a-duck, face painting, bouncy castles, emergency services displays and a mountain climbing rig that my 5-year old nephew couldn't wait to get his harnessed little arms and legs at.

Intersperse this with plenty of food and drink throughout the weekend and of course, the chance to catch up with everyone, it was unfortunately over all too soon.

All that remains now is some lively exercise to burn off some of the excesses...

Life and Music...

2009-08-15T20:05:00.001+01:00

Another lazy blog post tonight I'm afraid.

It's just that every now and then you're directed towards something that really makes you sit up and think and this would seem as good a place to share it as any.

Although I've also posted links to it on Facebook and Twitter...

Something for nothing...

2009-08-09T11:46:00.003+01:00

I'd completely forgotten that before my last blood donation, I'd received a letter from them telling me that for donating three times within a year, I could collect a slate coaster as a thank you gift the next time I went.

Unfortunately, at the time they had none left but assured me that one would be posted on when they got some more. Not only did it arrive this week, which was a nice surprise, but they sent me a second one by means of an apology - as if it was necessary.

So if it's not sufficient incentive that you may be saving someones life, or that you or a loved one may need a transfusion yourselves one day, then go along because every now and then they send you free stuff. Click on Billy below to find details of your next available session...

50 bands...

2009-08-07T19:17:00.000+01:00

The internet has been infuriatingly slow these last few days and appears to have brought Facebook to a grinding halt. One little gem I did find though (but haven't been able to reply on there yet) was a tag to list 50 bands you have seen live.

Cue a trawl through the memory banks after which I was surprised that I managed to count 50, but I did impose a few rules to get there. I included solo artists aswell as bands, but only counted most of them once. Personally I think Marillion with Fish were a different band than when I saw them with Steve Hogarth, likewise, the remaining Queen members at the Freddie Tribute were significantly different to the Queen & Paul Rodgers show. Having seen Quo a dozen times with several line-ups but with Rossi & Parfitt to the fore, I've only counted them the once.

Oh and I've seen so many pub bands over the years, some excellent, some shall we say less so, I've left them all off the list too. So for anyone who's interested, here they are in approx. chronological order starting from about 26 years ago (gulp) and rather like the pub bands, most were excellent although some were significantly less so...

Spider (my first gig)
Status Quo
Air Race
Meat Loaf
Chas & Dave (Quo's Farewell London Concert)
Little Steven (Quo's Farewell London Concert)
Phil Lynot & Grand Slam (Quo's Farewell London Concert)
Dave Edmunds (Quo's Farewell London Concert)
Jason & The Scorchers (Quo's End of the Road Concert)
Gary Glitter (Quo's End of the Road Concert)
Marillion (with Fish) (Quo's End of the Road Concert)
Nazareth (Quo's End of the Road Concert)
Marillion
King of the Hill
Extreme
Deacon Blue
Elkie Brooks
Tears for Fears (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Cliff Richard & The Shadows (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Genesis (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Oleta Adams (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Phil Collins (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Eric Clapton (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Elton John (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Paul McCartney (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Pink Floyd (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Dire Straits (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Paige & Plant (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Metallica (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Def Leppard (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Bob Geldof (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Spinal Tap (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Guns N Roses (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Roger Daltrey (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Zucchero (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Paul Young (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Seal (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Lisa Stansfield (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
David Bowie (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Mott the Hoople (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Annie Lennox (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
George Michael (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Liza Minelli (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Queen (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Crown of Thorns
Thunder
Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar)
Bon Jovi
Queen & Paul Rodgers

Consider me consulted...

2009-08-05T19:39:00.000+01:00

It was my first one-to-one consultation today, although actually it was a two-to-one as both my manager and our HR Manager were there.

Do you understand why the closure has been proposed?
Yes, although I obviously don't agree with it

If we close on 31st December, here's how much you can expect to receive. Do you understand how that has been calculated?
Yes, it's pretty much what I had worked out

Any other questions?
Not really - nobody can answer the most important ones yet...

Question Time...

2009-07-24T19:46:00.006+01:00

A regular visitor here since the early days, Jeremy from Montreal, left me a few questions to consider and rather than leave my answers tucked away in the comments pages, I thought I would share them here. All of course based on my current knowledge and state of mind.

1. If not working here, where would you prefer to work?
I suspect I have spent too long worrying about where I work. Right now it is important to me to be able to remain living where I do and am really happy, so I would consider working anywhere that will facilitate that

2. What is your passion?
Tricky one. My greatest passion would have to be music (listening and playing) but it's going to be difficult to carve out a lucrative career with my limited talent! A more professional passion has always been around problem solving and customer service, served up with something a bit techy on the side. Perhaps the Geek Squad beckons?!

3. What contingency plan have you put together in case you lose your job?
There is no "in case" here I am afraid. Despite the political noises the company are legally obliged to make, the site will close, it is just a question of when (currently not known). The trick here is mainly around timing - trying to ensure I can find alternative employment without jeopardising the significant proposed redundancy package by leaving too early.

4. If not this job, where would you NOT prefer to work?
My only negative criteria right now is that I can't foresee any way from here that I would consider permanent employment with this company again. Beyond that, I expect that I will become significantly less choosy as the big day gets closer

5. Have you sought information from those people you visited on your job? (clients/suppliers/other locations)?
Not yet although I have been networking with colleagues past and present. Most of our clients and suppliers are either outside of the UK or much too far away for my considerations in point 1

6. Do you have a goal date in mind to put into action your contingency plans?
Well I can't make any firm plans until I know when they no longer need me. As I am on three months notice, I currently plan to take a more active approach to job hunting as soon as my notice is served.

7. It is always good to have a plan even if it is remote, so that you are not caught unawares.
My current general plan is to stay there as long as they need me. Despite whatever I may be feeling emotionally, the option of walking away from my current salary (which is proving difficult to match locally) to potentially nothing has to be delayed until absolutely necessary.

Apologies if this post comes across as a bit self indulgent, but I thought it may answer some questions that may have occurred to some of the rest of you...

Ever changing moods...

2009-07-22T18:28:00.003+01:00

Its safe to say that the mood at work has certainly been a strangely unsettled one since they announced our potential closure later on this year.

Even though I am in the thick of it all with 150 or so of my colleagues, I still find it interesting to see how people are coping with the situation and the difficult challenges that lay ahead for us all. For some reason, I keep relating it back to the seven stages of grief that people apparently go through.

Shock/Disbelief. Although we all figured it would happen sooner or later, very few of us had anticipated that it would be quite this soon,

Denial. I've had or heard the conversation so many times, the longer term implications don't seem to have been thought through very well and they can't possibly close the plant at such short notice.

Bargaining. Some may have hoped that there would be some sort of rescue plan for the site, although given that the parent group are not in financial difficulties, this was never really likely.

Guilt. Strange, but only natural I suppose. Could we have worked that little bit harder or smarter? Is there anything we could have done to avoid or at least delay this action?

Anger. Oddly enough (or maybe not), I jumped straight in at this one. I've worked damned hard and sacrificed a lot of personal time over the last 14 years, but now it makes no difference, we are all down the road together, exceptional efforts and achievements or otherwise.

Depression. The job market is not a healthy one at the moment. How are we all going to find jobs? What are we going to do next? How am I expected to pay mortgage/feed family? Little wonder people are worried

Acceptance. Well there is nothing we can actually do about it. Although officially it's still only a proposal, we know damned well that the place is going to close, so lets just try and leave with the best package and prospects possible. Better still, use this as an opportunity to pursue something you always wanted to do with your life.

I know I have been through all of these in varying degrees and even been back to revisit a couple of them before arriving at what I now believe to be some level of acceptance. When I look at some of my colleagues though I am not quite so sure.

Some are still hopeful that a plan will emerge to get things back as they were, some are still as infuriated as they were the day they found out, while some still seem quite numbed by the whole experience and still find it hard to believe what's happening. But, for the best part, most are still flitting in and out of each of these stages rather than following them in any particular sequence.

I guess we have as much a responsibility right now to try and support each other over the coming months and try to look out for those at the more vulnerable stages than others...

As years go by...

2009-07-21T18:19:00.000+01:00

Just another one of my random musings.

As someone born halfway through the sixties, I also witnessed the seventies, eighties and nineties along with many of the rest of you.

At the turn of the last century, or milennium for that matter (and what a huge anticlimax that turned out to be) we welcomed in the "noughties". Oh how amusing the media are when they set their mind to it.

But what happens at the end of this year? The teenies? Seeing as many of us are going to be unable to afford any extravagant holidays, I thought perhaps we should enter the new age of camping with the tenties...

Can We Have Your Glasses Please...

2009-07-14T04:44:00.001+01:00

On the continuing subject of people on YouTube who are far too talented for their own good, I stumbled upon this unbelievable talent on there.

Now I like to think I'm quite musical but I don't recall ever managing to do this with even a single glass...

A Little More Harmony...

2009-07-13T19:29:00.002+01:00

The car sailed through its MOT this morning needing only a new tyre and that, coupled with the half price test fee, would seem to be a lucky escape so I think it's time for a cheery post.

Last October I posted a couple of YouTube clips on here to demonstrate some excellent examples of acapella singing and to be fair, I thought they would take some beating.

Well take a little listen to this. Sure the song itself (Africa, originally by Toto) is impressive enough, but get a load of the way they introduce it...

Death by tray...

2009-07-11T21:03:00.003+01:00

No news on the job front and none really expected this early in the proceedings. Lots of uncomfortable shuffling in-house and no shortage of inaccurate reporting via the press, but no, nothing to report yet.

Oh, except my CV. That was my quest for this weekend, I've updated the CV to bring it up to date and to try and make it a tad more appealing than the other 2 million or so I'm going to be in competition with in a few months time.

Anyway on to far less serious matters. Take a look at this video I found tucked amongst my YouTube recommendations - I think it's hilarious . Perhaps its just that I find most material by Eddie Izzard hilarious. Perhaps its because I've decided to pour copious quantities of Jack Daniels down my neck this evening. I guess I will know for sure when I look at this again tomorrow. Of course if I then decide it isn't funny and I delete it before you have seen it, then you may never be any the wiser. Anyway, take a look...

What you talkin' about...

2009-07-01T05:00:00.004+01:00

I was in a bit of an odd mood yesterday evening and looking back now, I can see that my previous post was maybe a bit cryptic! So what is actually going on?

UK employment law states that you cannot make more than 100 people redundant without entering a consultation period of 90 days, essentially to ensure that the best options for all parties have been considered.

Technically it is only a "proposal" from those on high that we cease production in the UK and transfer the work to our other plants but realistically, I can't see why it won't be followed through.

Being pragmatic about it, I'm trying to see this as a fantastic personal opportunity as they have now forced me into doing something I should have pursued further a long time ago. For too long now I have really enjoyed my job and working with many of my colleagues there, but found it challenging to respect the organisation I've been doing it for.

As it turned out, my instinct wasn't far wrong but there is no place for self pity when you are one of around 200 people in the same position, many of whom are probably wondering how they are going to support their families and keep a roof over their heads.

Sure, its going to be tough looking for new employment in the current climate and especially coming from an industry which is quite unique in its nature. Personally, I have been fortunate to have gained a variety of experience during my time there and will be trying to pitch the various aspects of that to anyone locally who is remotely interested.

I can't go into too much detail as while I retain some level of anonymity on here, I can speak freely about how I'm really feeling about things and added to which, my current contract specifically restricts discussions on personal blogs about company matters.

So I'll keep the blog updated as this forthcoming adventure unfolds, but maybe not always at such a ridiculous hour of the morning...

Always look for a positive...

2009-06-30T20:17:00.002+01:00

Well today has been an interesting day at the office.

Suffice to say that when the management team are suddenly summoned to the boardroom at short notice, it's seldom to tell us anything particularly pleasant.

Then an hour or so later after the site briefing when you are all handed a letter that contains the phrase "consultation period", it is seldom bearing encouraging news.

I'm increasingly inclined to agree with Little Sis that these things usually happen for a reason. The reason in this case is that I've spent the last 14 years of my life working for a bunch of...

No, that would be unfair as it's only in recent years that things appear to have taken a bizarre direction and gone pear shaped, not solely down to reasons of global recession.

Still, many of us have said that perhaps its the kick up the backside many of us needed to start making some serious decisions about our future. I'll settle for that as a positive right now while I try and figure how what the hell to do next...

A Quick Plug...

2009-06-25T19:25:00.002+01:00

What a brilliant idea this is...

Nothing Succeeds Like Excess...

2009-06-21T17:47:00.002+01:00

You can't beat an opportunity to help friends celebrate something really special, even more so when they go to the extent that Andy and Sharon did this weekend for their wedding.

I'm not going to post a minute-by-minute account of the weekend's activities, but I doubt that any of the 90 or so guests involved would have any cause for complaint whatsoever.

The actual ceremony had everything you could asked for, from the beautiful bride to a sincere but light hearted service from the local vicar. For those who like to keep track of that sort of thing, the bride entered the church to "Heaven" and they left to "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" both sung by Bryan Adams with yours truly at the controls. OK, CD player.

There were mountains of food throughout from the generously stacked barbies on Thursday and Saturday to the heavily laden tables with all manner of things sweet and savoury to make sure that everyone had their fill throughout the afternoon and evening receptions. All skilfully co-ordinated by our friend and chef Dave.

You are possibly familiar with the phrase "enough booze to sink a battleship" but I think I may have actually set eyes on such an amount this weekend. In the marquee erected behind the holiday cottages were drinks of every conceivable description. Countless bottles of real ales, a paddling pool full of cold water and cans of beer, cases of bottles of red, white and rose wine and bottles of every spirit you were likely to look for. And yet with all of this free alcohol available, it was reassuring to see that nobody seemed to be abusing the situation. Sure, I guess all of us drank more than we know was probably good for us but we still left plenty behind this morning.

Yesterday afternoon we took a couple of the cars out for a scenic drive around Derbyshire on our way to Bakewell (you've got to love sat nav eh?!) and I'd forgotten what a charming little town Bakewell is. From the stone buildings which are quite commonplace throughout the area, to the trout in the river Wye being admired by the passers-by and of course we couldn't leave without stopping off for a quick cuppa and a Bakewell Pudding (not to be confused with Bakewell tart).

So there you have it, three days of total excess and excellent company in some absolutely beautiful surroundings. I highly recommend that you discover the area for yourself and you can book one of their holiday cottages here, but I would respectfully ask though that you don't hassle them expecting any of the free booze and food that we've just enjoyed...

Movie Subtitle Mistakes...

2009-06-14T12:38:00.003+01:00

I know that Twitter has been taking a bit of flack in that many people, celebrity or otherwise, are using it to share every boring minute detail of their day to day lives.

Sure there is an element of that sometimes, but you always get to choose who you "follow" and you can easily "unfollow" people who are guilty of that. With a bit of effort though it can really bring out the imagination and talent of some people and this last week has been an interesting one.

On Monday night, they hosted a live comedy gig with comedians (unsurprisingly) invited to tweet a set each with material in chunks of 140 characters at a time. It went fairly well given that it was really quite experimental, but I'm sure they will get even better as they organise some more. The full transcript if you're interested is here.

This weekend, twitterers were invited to join in a game of movie subtitle mistakes by being a bit mischievous with photo editing software and there were some hilarious results. My contribution was from Goodfellas, which I didn't think was too bad until I saw the sort of talent I was up against. My personal favourites were from Superman, First Blood, Silence of the Lambs, Fight Club, Airplane, Snow White, Gone With The Wind and the one that went on to win, Sixth Sense, but if you want to see them all, follow the Twitpic links from this page.

I accept that Facebook is maybe more easily accessible, but I've never known it as entertaining as that...

Pause for thought...

2009-06-10T06:04:00.002+01:00

Reading Delcattos blog this morning, I was reminded of a story I heard on Radio 2's "Pause for Thought" a few weeks ago and decided perhaps it was worth sharing with you all.

A Buddhist student had travelled far and wide in search of a wise old teacher and after many days of travelling through treacherous conditions, he finally spotted him on the other side of a wide, fast flowing river.

He glanced up and down the river bank and with no apparent crossing place, he became frustrated that the end of his journey was so tantalisingly close, but unattainable. He called across to the teacher, explaining about his long journey and asked how he could cross to the other side.

The wise old man looked up and down the river, paused, then eventually replied "but you are already on the other side"

Don't get me wrong, it's not my intention to preach to anyone, the sentiment behind the story applies to me as much as anyone here...

Calling all the heroes...

2009-06-05T19:42:00.003+01:00

No apologies, you know the drill by now. I've just got back from the blood donors and once again I'm going to get all self righteous about how simple yet important it is.

To those that already go, good on yer, I think we have every right to feel proud of ourselves.

To those who don't (and can) please believe me, there are few opportunities to do something so potentially heroic with such little effort. Just ask yourself when was the last time you took about an hour of your time to do something which very realistically could save someones life?

Please click on Billy's picture below to find the next session in the UK near you...

Virgin on the ridiculous...

2009-06-03T19:25:00.004+01:00

I'm ashamed to admit I've been 'ad.

Further to my last attempt in January, last month I rang Virgin Media to check what special offers they had running as I've been itching for an excuse to upgrade to 10MB broadband but (quite typically) wanted to pay as little as possible for it. The best they could offer at the time was an upgrade to 10MB, keep my existing TV package and switch phone package to include free evening and weekend calls, all for the princely additional monthly sum of 45p. In a moment of uncharacteristic extravagance I agreed to accept the deal there and then.

Now it wasn't the end of the world, but I was a bit irritated that a couple of days later I received both email and a leaflet in the post explaining that as a valued customer, they were upgrading my broadband to 10MB for free. I figured this was just unfortunate timing on my part but rang them anyway just to clarify what was going on and sure enough, my upgrade and their offer had crossed somewhere along the line so I would still have to pay the additional 45p. Irritiating sure, but not exactly going to keep me awake at night, then my bill arrived today with a couple of unexpected surprises.

Firstly, despite a month's notice they had not updated my bank details and as a result had not taken my direct debit payment last month. In fact they were so annoyed that they had neglected to take my money, they decided to charge me a late payment fee of a tenner for good measure.

Secondly, my monthly charge had actually increased by £2.45; again not exactly the end of the world but this coupled with their absurd late payment charge led me to think that perhaps it was time we had another little chat.

Fair play, they accepted that their late payment charge was unreasonable and refunded it. As for the new bundle fee she couldn't understand why I had only been quoted 45p extra - twice actually, I reminded her. Not only are they unable to keep to the quoted price (which unfortunately I only ever had verbally), but I couldn't even revert to my previous package because the phone deal it included was an old one that is no longer available, so I'm stuck with it.

I realise we aren't talking enormous sums of money here, but with a few pence here, a couple of quid there and the occasional charge that many people may feel too uncomfortable to challenge, it's little wonder they are making money...

Holiday in the sun...

2009-05-31T14:34:00.002+01:00

Well who would have thought? I finally got around to taking my first full week off since last June and the weather has been superb. So much so, that I've overdone it a little over the last couple of days and I'm a bit too sore to venture out into the sun again this afternoon.

As May is our family birthday silly season, Little Sis and family have been staying at my place for the latter half of the week and the weather has meant that we could all actually venture out and see some of the local attractions between munching birthday cake and other goodies. And yes, I did say local attractions.

Thursday we headed out to Willingham Woods for a walk and thanks to a couple of recommendations from Delcatto, also managed to track down the giant golf ball on the top of the Lincolnshire Wolds and sample a multitude of different flavoured chocolate at Special Edition Chocolate before stopping off at Brigsley on the way home for some home made ice-cream.

Friday afternoon, we took our lives into our hands and headed off towards Cleethorpes beach (bound to be quiet on a sunny half term afternoon). As it turned out, it was busy but not as packed as you would have thought. Plenty of opportunity for a bit of sandcastle building, shell collecting, donkey rides, general laying about frying on the beach and finishing with a trip on the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway.

Yesterday morning, the five of us headed off to Weelsby Woods with our bikes. Aside from being surprised to see how they had cleaned the place up since I was last there (a considerable number of years ago), it was interesting discover the number of cycle routes surrounding the area that are within easy reach of home. We rounded of the day with a barbie which despite my efforts to keep helpings modest, still ended up with far more than we could eat between us

So everyone has gone again now and I'm sat with the remains of last nights barbecue to finish off, all the while wishing I'd been a bit more liberal with the sun screen and trying not to think of what might be waiting for me at the office tomorrow...

More musical perspective...

2009-05-22T20:52:00.005+01:00

Even though I can claim to have a little sister who is celebrating her 35th birthday today (Happy Birthday Sis!), I've never been particularly bothered by age.

As I am quite generous with my working hours Monday to Thursday, I feel no guilt whatsoever in trying to claim the odd one back by getting a flyer on a Friday afternoon. If I get away early enough, I get to hear the non-stop oldies feature on Steve Wright's radio show on the way home, although I do sometimes struggle with the concept of what some people consider to be "oldies".

Amongst today's collection I heard a song I'd completely forgotten about which despite my initial horror at not being an "oldie", I discover this evening is 29 years old. Now there is a girl who works for me who is mystified by those of us that refuse to admit to middle-age and firmly believes that nobody should indulge in bedroom activity after the age of forty - this song is older than she is.

Back in the day of course, we were mid Mod-revival and having found myself much more comfortable in the "rocker" category, could never have owned up to thinking that this was actually a good song.

These days of course, I'm too o... actually never mind. Let's just say that the passing years have allowed my musical tastes to become much more eclectic and I'll say that I think this is a good song without caring particularly whether anyone agrees with me or not...

Hidden messages...

2009-05-19T21:52:00.003+01:00

Driving into work this morning, a magpie flew across in front of me and as I instinctively did the saluting thing, I was surprised that at that very moment Stevie Wonder sang out from the radio "Superstition ain't the way". Hmmm... strange coincidence.

On the way home tonight I glanced over the horizon to my right and at the split second that the church tower of St Mary in Wrawby came into view, Labbi Siffre sang out "bless you and bless me". Hmmm... that's funny, something similar happened earlier.

It's only when I sat down and worked out that I spend about 400 hours a year sat in the car, listening to the radio, generally gawping at the scenery as it goes past, that I realised that this probably goes on all the time and I just happened to notice it today...

A quiet evening with my mate Jack...

2009-05-17T08:05:00.003+01:00

Although I happily managed to avoid the selection process itself, there was clearly no way the British media was going to let this year's Eurovision Song Contest go by without playing our entry to death at every concievable opportunity.

I'm in no place to criticise Mr Lloyd Webber as a songwriter and you can't deny that Jade Ewan is a very talented singer, but as I have heard said many times before and since, it just wasn't "Eurovisiony" enough to win.

As a result, there didn't seem much point watching this year when you can't cheer on your own team, but sure enough, come eight o'clock I found myself watching it regardless and in hindsight, I'm glad I did. Not that the actual songs were any better than usual but I thought Graham Norton did a great job on the commentary given the restrictions he would have been working under.

Better still, there was a much funnier unrestricted alternative commentary on Twitter courtesy of Jonathan Ross, Sarah Cawood and Phil Schofield. Being the open forum that it is, it also meant I was able to contribute about 30 tweets on the event and with a bottle of JD at hand to help the evening go by, its the best laugh I've had (on a night in) for ages.

So spasiba to the Russian hosts, until this time next year in Norway...

Hey Big Spender...

2009-05-13T20:55:00.006+01:00

I doubt I'm the only one who has heard enough about the current politician expense scandals. Initially, it seems ridiculous that people of such responsibility who already earn a high salary should go to such lengths to claim items of varying levels of trivia on expenses.

Stephen Fry clearly believes that it is more a question of media frenzy by journalists who surely should have something more important to investigate/report and to an extent, I'm inclined to agree with him. After all, plenty of us have bought a meal in a restaurant/hotel/service station way beyond the price that we would ever spend from our own pocket. Significant difference here being that first of all, its our money being spent and secondly, not many of us have had the opportunity to extend such perks into thousands of pounds worth of personal luxuries and home comforts.

I suppose the breaking point for me was today's comment that Health Minister Phil Hope has decided to repay over 40 grand in expenses to help to restore his integrity. If we are talking about real integrity, then surely the real reason he has decided to repay it is because first of all he was wrong to claim it all and secondly because he got caught...

Motivation? It Pays The Bills...

2009-05-06T19:58:00.005+01:00

I fully accept that I am not alone in working in challenging surroundings.

All too frequently I find myself struggling with the cultural differences of some of my international colleagues, disappointed at how difficult it is to make my seemingly valid opinions heard, or more recently, utterly astounded and the issues considered to be most important to the future of our business.

Unfortunately for me, I have a reputation for not being afraid to speak up (I like to think tactfully) when I believe something is wrong. Where in the past such behaviour was nurtured and encouraged, we are now fast becoming an organisation who storms ahead based on knee jerk reaction and with little regard for the people managing the business nearer to the coal face. We left that behaviour behind 10-12 years ago but it is difficult to draw the fine line between being someone who thinks he has some ideas worth sharing and being the gobshite who thinks he knows it all.

After a wave of redundancies and an order book far quieter than many of us can remember, you would have thought it appropriate to start pooling the resources of the management teams and formulating a strategy to secure our company a place in the future. However, it has been decided that we should tackle this by getting everyone to move offices again. After all, it's been almost a year since the last one.

Cue weeks of disruption, lost telephone and PC links, disorganised workstations and general frustration. Everyone is being pissed about because someone on high has decided to put the music back on while we all run around in circles, quietly hoping that a seat will still be available when it stops again.

Unfortunately, the harsh truth is that we all have to be grateful that we are in work at all. Deep breath and count to 10... again.

If you're lucky, amidst all this sort of nonsense something comes along to cheer you up and this video received from one of my colleagues did just the trick this morning - with apologies to the politically correct brigade out there...

Tim for a song...

2009-04-28T21:07:00.004+01:00

Another one of my lazy posts, but I hope you'll agree, something worth sharing.

This guy is Tim Minchin, a relatively new name to me, Australian now living in the UK and the rare combination of an incredible musical talent who is bloody funny too. After some recent research on YouTube, my current favourite is called "Not Perfect", more for the fact that it's a beautiful song than it's hysterical comedy content. Certainly worth a look.

This one however is a love song which I'm confident will have a wider appeal...

[Edit:]
Apologies - due to further YouTube censorship, the videos I originally linked to have been removed. Don't let that discourage you, just search for Tim Minchin Inflatable You or Not Perfect to see them as someone is bound to keep re-posting them...

On Yer Bike...

2009-04-26T20:13:00.004+01:00

I remembered last night that in return for changing my current account, I have apparently got £100 heading my way, so I thought it would be appropriate (and traditional) to spend it before it arrived.

I've been meaning to get a pushbike for years now but I had no idea how hard it would be to get a reasonably priced one. Every bike shop and sports shop I visited seemed determined to push some overly featured contraption my way for hundreds of pounds but basically, I just wanted something to get me from A to B in a healthier and greener manner.

Of all places, I eventually found exactly what I was looking for at Tesco. It was clear from the box that I would actually be assembling it myself and there were considerably more parts in there than I'd expected. Sure I used to dismantle and tinker with bikes as a kid, but they didn't have anything like disc brakes or dual suspension.

The good news is that it actually came in exactly on budget. Well the bike did. I had overlooked that I would need a helmet, a pump, a speedometer/milometer (OK, perhaps I didn't really need that) and, sign of the times, a bloody substantial lock. The other significant extra I opted for was a rack for the car which means I can now look forward to some rides amongst scenery further afield than Lincolnshire.

It also means that if I fancy a crafty few beers, I can drive into town and leave the car, then when the beer has worn off the following day, cycle in and collect it again. Aside from burning off some of the the earlier excesses, it would also save me best part of £20 in taxi fares each time.

So I just need to start going to the pub more often again and this lot will practically pay for itself in no time...

By George...

2009-04-23T21:21:00.003+01:00

Happy St George's Day!
Another year and again barely a mention anywhere.

To my complete shame I usually find a suitable tipple on Paddy's Day or Burn's Night but I've no English spirits to hand and it's too late to go out and buy something now. In fact I was so late getting back from work tonight that I'm afraid I'm not even going to manage a cuppa having barely found time for a quick moan on here before turning in.

However, I heard about this a little while ago which makes me curious and although it may prove to be a bit of a gamble, I'm tempted to try it, if only to make sure I'm not caught out again in future...

Run like hell...

2009-04-19T15:12:00.003+01:00

Ever since I started using the running machine regularly, it's always been tucked away in the back of my mind that once I have lost the weight I wanted to, what would happen next?

I was always lousy at sport as a child and although I don't actively partake in any now, I sincerely doubt anything has changed particularly. Having been reasonably successful so far in terms of weight loss though, I had recently begun to wonder.

Since the London Marathon first started in 1981, the family would sit around the TV at home to watch it and Dad would invariably say that perhaps he should start training and give it a go. I can report that in the subsequent 28 years, it hasn't happened yet but I have been told by several people I know who actually have run marathons that it does give you a tremendous sense of achievement.

So what are my chances? I know I have a brother-in-law waiting in the wings who would jump at the chance of someone to run a marathon with, but I guess my biggest problem is that I don't really enjoy running or jogging that much.

In all honesty I am an intrinsically lazy person and the only reason I keep to my current daily routine is that a mile or so each morning seems little effort on my part for the great results in weight loss I am achieving in return.

But never say never I suppose. A couple of years ago, I would never have believed that I would be prepared to jog over a mile every weekday morning, or even be able to for that matter. It isn't beyond the realms of reason that a mile or two could soon become three and 3.1 miles is the equivalent of a 5k race.

Whether 5k goes on to become 10k, 10k goes on to become half marathon and the half becomes whole remains to be seen, but certainly don't go looking out for me on TV next Sunday. I'm a long way away from dragging my still bulky frame around that sort of distance, even at a jog.

Perhaps a more appropriate title would have been: Run? Like hell...

Nothing to do with me...

2009-04-18T19:42:00.009+01:00

I know, three posts in one day - it doesn't happen often, but I've just noticed the site stats and I'm amazed to see its passed the 30,000 hits mark!

Of course, I'm delighted that the old blog is still generating interest but as usual, the truth is revealed when you examine the detail. However, informative, amusing, or just generally verbose I try to be on here, there no denying that most people land here as a result of image searches:

In fifth place, searching for this photo of Nigella

In fourth place, actually searching for "Seany" (I doubt they're after a picture)

In third place, searching for this photo of Emily Maitliss

In second place, searches for this photo of Samantha Janus

In first place, even though I posted the image at Easter 4 years ago, searches for this photo of some bunnies

In fact to be honest, given the choice of looking at those delightful people, or reading my inane ramblings, they've probably got the right idea.

However, to those who do keep coming back for the genuine content, no silly pictures, songs or videos this time, just my sincere thanks.

And of course, this post will have done nothing to help matters...

In the interest of completeness...

2009-04-18T19:15:00.003+01:00

Another couple of items I picked up this morning were the original ingredients for the chocolate cake in a mug recipe.

So purely to fulfil my service to the reader you understand, I made another one tonight using caster sugar instead of granulated and self raising flour instead of plain. I suppose the sponge did come out very slightly lighter, but the difference was so insignificant that it wouldn't warrant buying the ingredients in especially.

I would have taken another photo for you but it seems to have disappeared already...

A Few Words About My Mate...

2009-04-18T11:08:00.006+01:00

They say you either love it or hate it and I have never made a secret of the fact that I love Marmite. Indeed it's been mentioned on here before, whether I'm lathering it on home made crumpets, or trying to decide the best addition to cheese on toast.

I have dabbled in the Guinness and Champagne limited editions and have tried the supermarket own label, but there is nothing quite like the real thing. You can imagine my delight then when I spotted these in the supermarket this morning.

As I'm usually very careful with what I eat during the week (what about the cake in a mug I hear you ask), I like to pick up a treat, usually something like a pack of crumpets to dowse in the aforementioned spread or very occasionally bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon (trimmings on my budget).

My brother-in-law introduced me to the delights of humous on rice cakes last weekend so there was this weeks treat sewn up. Humous on Marmite rice cakes, absolutely delicious and as a bonus, reasonably healthy.

Seeing as I did a bonus mile on the running machine this morning, I'll bet neither pack lasts the day...

A Sneaky Advert...

2009-04-17T23:12:00.003+01:00

I know the other blog is supposed to stand on it's own merits (or otherwise) but seeing as it's been not been updated for a while, I thought a quick plug wouldn't go amiss.

It's a bit of a far stretch from the music I usually listen to, but I suppose it's a classic of sorts and I'd had a few ideas while away with the family last weekend. So please feel free to check out my latest futile attempt at video entertainment here...

Here's one I made (and ate) earlier...

2009-04-16T20:18:00.004+01:00

You have been warned. Not that this post is concerned with any intrusive examinations of any nature, but I'm about to share something that you may just wish you hadn't read.

Last week on Chris Evans' Radio show, they made a chocolate cake in a mug and tonight was the first opportunity I've had to see whether it actually works. I had to improvise using ingredients I already had in the cupboard, but as you look on the net, there are lots of variations on a similar theme out there.

The recipe is quite simple:
4 tbsp plain flour
4 tbsp sugar (granulated)
2 tbsp cocoa
Mix these thoroughly together with a fork in a large mug, then add
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp milk
1 egg
Continue to mix these together until you get a smooth mixture.
Apparently at this point you can mix in extra ingredients if required such as orange peel, chocolate chips, or a splash of vanilla essence, whisky, rum, etc. I chose to keep mine simple for the first attempt.

Then microwave at full power for 3 minutes - this was sufficient in my trusty old 750 watt machine. Don't be surprised when the mixture rises above the top of the mug (thankfully, mine didn't spill over).

When it's done, leave to cool for a few minutes and empty out onto a plate. Or if you really can't wait, get a spoon and just dig straight into your mug.

Unfortunately, it is as simple as that, it really does work and if mine was anything to go by, it's delicious.

So there you are. You are now only ever 5 minutes away from a freshly baked chocolate cake. Don't say I didn't warn you...

A blog too far...

2009-04-02T20:15:00.002+01:00

I gave much consideration before writing this post tonight as some things are probably best kept to yourself.

On the other hand, the whole raison d'etre of this thing was to share new experiences with you all in the hope that it may be informative, or at the very least, I could provide some amusement in the face of my adversity. So apologies in advance. You may wish to stop reading now, as today's tale revolves around somewhere entirely opposite from my face, adversity or otherwise.

The past couple of mornings this week whilst going through my daily routine of getting ready for work, lets just say I spotted something unexpected and rather shocking during my time spent in the bathroom. Not that I was in any physical discomfort or that there were any physical anomalies that I was aware of, but something was clearly quite wrong.

I tried some internet-enabled self diagnosis last night which (unsurprisingly) scared the bejeepers out of me and convinced me that having "cheated death" (man-flu stylee) from the mysterious shadow behind my eye, other gremlins could still be lurking.

So this morning, I thought it best to nip down to the surgery and get myself checked out. I explained the situation to the stand-in GP. It's very rare I get to see my actual GP first time, but in the hope that it may help me get in and out of the place quicker, I'll gladly talk to any professional in there who is prepared to listen.

I told him the details and the shocking potential diagnoses I'd found on the internet which led me to be there. His reply surprised me "So you were bothered you might have cancer then?" rather in the same tone as a big kid in the playground would have jeered and said "What are you scared of dogs for?"

Now clearly I'm no doctor, but from the little I do know about cancer, it is something to be pretty fucking scared about. I should also add that I didn't for one minute think that actually was my diagnosis, but I did think it was something worth checking out. What I hadn't thought through, was how I would be examined as he went on to explain it was going to be that examination; the one we have all heard about and laughed at on American sitcoms, but secretly hoped you would never actually encounter yourself. The surprise was such that I missed the opportunity to tell him that he ought to at least buy me dinner first.

Not long afterwards, I was called through to one of the exam rooms where I was shortly followed by the above-mentioned stand in and my regular GP who had decided to come along for the show. "Are you OK?" he asked. I couldn't avoid the absurdity that I was sat there in collar and tie from the waist up and below... a pair of socks, but said yes regardless.

I'll spare the rest of the details (as if anyone was still reading by now anyway), but everything is OK and as embarrassing or uncomfortable as the experience was, it is still a close call as to whether I would rather have been at work.

So how on earth do you finish off a post like this? With a song of course! Not the original video I'm afraid while the YouTube/PRS debate continues, but I couldn't think of anything more appropriate...

Dear Santa...

2009-03-31T19:30:00.002+01:00

Tonight's challenge is to take a few minutes to watch this video clip, then tell me that you don't want one...

Just doing my bit...

2009-03-29T11:03:00.005+01:00

I'm a bit late on this one really and should have mentioned it earlier, but yesterday evening I took part in earth hour. Not heard about it? No surprise really as it didn't seem to get much media coverage. I just happened to read something about it on... well, you know where.

The idea was that everyone, wherever they are in the world, should vote earth by turning their lights off for one hour from 8:30 to 9:30pm and I went for it whole heartedly. When the time came, off went the lights, TV, DVD player, cable set top box; I even unplugged the laptop and ran it on battery power for an hour. I'm not too sure what I achieved as I'm already quite frugal with the power I use and I doubt any global leaders were peering in with concern to see how fast my meter was spinning. At the very best I've maybe saved a few pence of my next electric bill.

I also read this morning of another eco-initiative, but I can already state categorically that I will not be taking part. Monday 27th April marks the start of Walk to Work Week 2009. Now I'm all for contributing towards a good cause, but this goes a bit above and beyond the call for me.

At a steady 3.5 mph it would take me 10.5 hours to get to work, that's 21 hours both ways leaving me 3 hours to spend at the office (where presumably I would feel the need for sleep, or maybe grab a bite to eat). Were I to step the pace up to a 5.5mph jog, then I would only travelling for 13 hours of the day.

Now by coincidence, my daily running machine programme alternates between both of the above mentioned speeds (albeit on a steady incline) but I usually find that after the first mile or two, I've pretty much had enough. Now that would barely get me to the neighbouring village let alone to work, Not to mention the harmful CO2 I would be exhaling in huge quantities along the way.

The Americans and Australians have a much more modest approach with a walk to work day. At least that way I could just take the day off...

Will you please change the subject...

2009-03-21T11:07:00.003Z

I'm sorry guys, but there's no denying that it's considerably easier (ok, lazier) to blog at 140 characters at a time, but I will keep coming back whenever I've done anything more exciting than eat, work or sleep.

I've got Mum and Dad coming over for Sunday roast tomorrow to celebrate Mother's Day and I've already managed to get the chocs and flowers sorted earlier this morning. So once I'm finished here, I need to get all of the the weekend chores out of the way today.

So until next time, here's a couple of things that made me smile, courtesy of the the very same application that's been keeping me so distracted of late.

Firstly this one, via the great tweeter himself, Stephen Fry, which throws the whole Twitter and Blogging habit into question

Secondly this one from Jason Manford (8 Out of 10 Cats team captain) for no other reason than that it really made me laugh...

Tee Hee...

2009-03-15T15:58:00.002Z

More lazy blogging from me I'm afraid, but I just had to share this link that I picked up from Alan Davies on Twitter earlier...

How Cool is This...

2009-03-10T05:57:00.001Z

Not exactly sure what I'd use it for, but I want one...

Yes, I'm still going on about it...

2009-03-01T18:16:00.005Z

More about Twitter I'm afraid. No, I'm not afraid, just enthusiastic about it.

I got a better idea today of just how many pathetic people there are out there who have set up Twitter profiles in celebrity names and then imitate them in order to pass false or misleading information out to their fans. What can they possibly get out of that? Pricks.

But don't let that deter you. On a lighter note, I had my first tweet from a genuine celebrity today, which more than made up for any earlier irritation.

Now I know a few of my regular visitors have looked into this already and signed up, but for those who are looking for a little more info, have a listen to this guy, Evan Williams. The clip is about 10 minutes long but it's well worth listening to as he knows what he's talking about. Well I guess he ought to seeing as he is a co-founder of Twitter.

Incidentally, he is also responsible for Blogger, without which I wouldn't be sharing this with you right now...

Quick update...

2009-02-28T21:29:00.003Z

Updates on here seem to be a bit sporadic again, but I've been continuing to find my way around Twitter.

In fact, I'm so impressed with it that I've decided to give up Facebook for Lent this year and all of the annoyances that go along with it. I'd expected it to be much more of a challenge to ignore it completely over the last few days, but now I'm thinking it may become a longer term decision.

However, as much fun as micro blogging is, I can't always say what I'd like within my 140 character per tweet allocation, so I still have every intention of keeping this blog going.

Oh and on the subject of updating blogs, I thought it was about time I posted something new on the other one...

Enough to make your eyes water...

2009-02-24T20:06:00.003Z

I can't say I'd been particularly looking forward today. I don't like hospitals at the best of times and this time I wasn't just there in visitor capacity.

You may recall that during my eye test last month, they spotted a "mysterious shadow" behind my right eye and decided it needed further investigation. Even with the aid of the detailed photos, my GP (or rather, his stand-in) was unable to make a confident diagnosis and referred me to the eye specialist at our local hospital.

Having been forewarned that I would be ill-advised to drive, I made my way down there this afternoon by taxi. Unpredictably, the taxi rolled up a couple of minutes after I called which meant I arrived well before the "no longer than 10 minutes before your appointment" sternly stated on my letter. A cup of filthy hot water vaguely disguised as coffee helped pass the time.

After a brief conversation with the grumpy receptionist who told me she didn't have me on her list, then mysteriously did, I took a seat and waited.

First was the visual field testing, having to stare at a central light then click a button each time I saw another light flash in my peripheral vision. Quite honestly, it felt like the most important computer game I'd ever played. Then back to the waiting room. To wait, obviously.

Next up, the vision text. No surprises there, reading letters from a chart covering one eye at a time. The nurse telling me that she was going to put drops in my eyes to dilate my pupils was no surprise either. The surprise was her advice that it was likely to make my eyes sting quite nastily for a couple of minutes. Wonder why they don't mention that in the pamphlet? Truth be known, it was no worse than the way your eyes run when chopping onions.

Then back to the waiting room for, you guessed it, more waiting. This time with the added bonus that my sight was slowly going blurred as the drops took effect so I couldn't read anything to pass the time. I refused to stoop so low as to look at the pictures in the Hello magazine perched my the chair.

When the doctor eventually called me through, he asked a few questions, shone some more lights into my seriously dilated pupils then announced I had a choroidal nevus behind my right eye. Thank goodness no-one mentioned those words to me earlier - I Googled it this evening and found it on the website www.eyecancer.com. Now there's a trouser filling URL if ever you read one (and not in a pleasant way).

Fortunately as the site goes on to explain, it is (as my optician originally anticipated) little more than a raised freckle on the reverse of the eye that rarely requires treatment. He wanted to get a better photo of it for future reference (i.e. make sure it doesn't grow) but their camera was out of action today so their "photographer" is going to call me back in.

So another eye-wateringly fun-filled afternoon awaits. But all of that said, I'm more than a little relieved to know that it's nothing serious...

Did you know...

2009-02-22T20:14:00.002Z

No rant, no wise cracks and no funny remarks this evening.
I was directed to this video this evening via Twitter and I thought it was worth sharing. Certainly makes you stop and think...

What are you doing...

2009-02-15T12:12:00.005Z

No new videos this week I'm afraid as I've been busy trying to make my house look as though somebody actually lives in it before Little Sis and Co arrive later in the week.

On the subject of Little Sis, she had a bit of a rant a few weeks ago about the futility of Facebook sometimes. Now although there were mitigating circumstances behind that particular post that I will not go into, I have to say that to an extent I agree with what she had to say.

I really enjoy being able to see what my friends are up to and it is a convenient way of keeping in touch with people I don't see very often, but there is quite a price to pay in terms of irritation factor.

On so many screens you are constantly told how many of your friends apparently "have a crush on you" and "want to kiss you" or "want to go even further". Then there is the bombardment of futile gifts of virtual hugs, kisses, chocolates, drinks, snowballs, muppets, local landmarks, etc. For each of these you receive, you then feel somehow morally obliged to return the gesture but before you can do so, you need download the application that drives them.

This weekend I finally took a good look at Twitter having heard how many people in the media were "twittering" regularly; Stephen Fry being one good, and I would previously have thought unlikely example. I have to say that it seems to be a much more grown up way of keeping track of what your friends and favourite celebrities are up to without all of the other annoying distractions that Facebook permanently regurgitates in front of you.

Basically, it's a micro blogging site where each post is limited to 140 characters; a limitation that I may well have benefited from during some of my waffles and rants in the past.

For the more adventurous amongst you, there is also a great application called TweetDeck that helps you to organise your tweets more effectively. The only down side I've seen so far is that it can be just as addictive and a drain on your spare time.

So for those that know me in the real world, please sign in and look me up and I'll look forward to twittering with you...

Strange celebration...

2009-02-09T19:49:00.008Z

The 2009 get-fit campaign is well under way now although I think it's fair to say that it hadn't exactly been going to plan so far.

With the exception of one pub meal and a few pints a couple of Saturdays ago, I've pretty much stuck to the same diet that worked so well for me last year but the weight didn't seem to want to budge this time.

Each day I'd been ramping up the running machine program but to my horror, it seemed that my weight was actually increasing. Screw that for a laugh, I'm no real fan physical exercise at the best of times, especially if I'm not going to see any benefit from it.

However, persistence seems to have paid off over the last few days as the scales finally started moving in the right direction again and today marks a very special day. Yes folks, today for the first time in at least four years that I know of, I am officially overweight.

Why am I so pleased with this result? Today my BMI dropped to below 30, which apparently means I am now only overweight rather than obese. Now although it would have taken more than a light breeze to carry me off over the tree tops, I've always thought that the term "obese" was a bit harsh.

And if I was a bit miffed, imagine what the apparently obese (according to BMI) Johnny Wilkinson must have thought...

Video Vault...

2009-02-07T19:50:00.003Z

Firstly I'd like to say thank you for all of the kind comments of late regarding the "literal" music videos. They are certainly good fun to put together and I'm glad that others are getting enjoyment from them too.

However, this blog was never really intended for that purpose so I've decided I won't be posting any more of them on here.

The good news is that I've set up a brand new home for them where I can keep them all in one place, along with the other daft little animations I've made along the way. The plan is to keep adding to them there as I hopefully continue finding ideas for new ones.

So please feel free to head on over there now at http://seanysvideos.blogspot.com where, to get the blogwarming party started, there's a brand new one waiting ...

For no other reason...

2009-02-04T21:31:00.002Z

While the ideas were still buzzing around in my head, I couldn't resist putting another video together for another of my favourite Queen songs.

Admittedly, this one is shorter than the last and does make use of several images I already had, but it was more of a challenge trying to sync the pictures to the music this time. But hey, what does it matter? It's only supposed to be a bit of fun...

By popular request...

2009-02-01T21:02:00.004Z

Seeing as you asked so nicely (and quite honestly because they are quite good fun to make too) I've given the Seany Silly Video treatment to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen...

Seal with a kiss...

2009-01-31T12:07:00.005Z

Listening to the radio on my way into work the other morning, I heard Terry Wogan comment after playing Kiss From a Rose by Seal that it was a beautiful song, but he had absolutely no idea what it was all about.

On the CD sleeve notes, Seal actually says that he prefers not to print the lyrics to his songs as it's the general vibe that he is trying to get across and the listeners are able to take their own interpretation from it.

With that in mind and after the fun I had making the Christmas one, I thought it would be an opportunity for me to put together another one of my literal (i.e. silly) videos, or if you prefer, what BBC news teams would put on the screen if the song was played during one of their bulletins...

Any excuse...

2009-01-25T10:50:00.003Z

Despite all of the financial doom and gloom lurking at the moment, there are a couple of good excuses for celebration on the horizon.

Tonight of course is Burns night. I can't lay claim to any Scottish heritage that I'm aware of, but that won't deter me from having a wee dram later on in honour of the Scottish bard. I believe it falls under the "rude not to" category.

Tonight is also Chinese New Year's Eve as tomorrow sees the arrival of the year of the ox. Again, I'm quite certain I can't lay claim to any Chinese ancestry, but I understand the ox symbolises prosperity though hard work so let's hope that we can all look forward to some fruitful rewards for our efforts this year.

Had I realised earlier, I would have used the excuse to have a play in the kitchen. I've yet to try haggis and I've frequently knocked together a sweet and sour something-or-other, but yesterday I made a delicious steak and ale casserole that I'm afraid I can't wait to finish off.

Closer to home, we've one more celebration pending. It's Emma's birthday next weekend and seeing as I didn't get to the pub for Christmas, New Year or my birthday, I'll be out on Saturday night for a long awaited reunion with the pint glass.

Only a short-lived reunion though. I've finally got the running machine back into my daily routine after a four month break so I'm hoping that I can finally start chipping away at the weight again having managed to maintain last years weight loss. However, if this last weeks results are anything to go by, it's not going to be as easy...

Highway Robbery...

2009-01-19T20:16:00.005Z

Apparently this issue has been known about for a little while now, but I've only just heard about it and thought it was worth sharing.

Do you have a UK photocard driving license that looks something like this?

(click for larger image)

Do you know when it expires? Are you sure?

You are probably aware that your driving entitlement expires on your 70th birthday and if you turn your card over, you will see valid to and from dates alongside each of the vehicle categories you are permitted to drive.

But did you know the actual license expires after ten years? If you look at the minuscule writing to the left on the reverse of your license you will see a key to the numbered information on the front, including "4b. license valid to"

(click for larger image)

So your driving entitlement continues until you are 70, but you must update the photo on your license every 10 years. Current renewal cost is £17.50 and it's been estimated that the treasury will net £437 million over 25 years from this lot.

Of course, you could choose not to bother renewing, but then you run the risk of a £1000 fine for driving without a valid license.

At least Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask...

On the plus side...

2009-01-17T14:18:00.002Z

One of the things I do enjoy about Virgin Media TV is the "catch-up" facility where you can watch missed episodes of your favourite shows. Personally, there is very little I'll go out of my way to watch, but the aforementioned feature brought a new Channel 4 comedy to my attention, Plus One.

Basically, it's about a bloke who's girlfriend has just dumped him to go out with Duncan from the boy band Blue and his endeavours to get an impressive "plus one" to accompany him to their wedding. Fair play to Duncan James, he's certainly not afraid to send himself up.

It's the most I've laughed out loud at a TV programme since the last series of Mock the Week finished and I heartily recommend you check it out. It's back on Channel 4 next Friday night at 9:30 or you can find out more here where you can also catch up with the first two episodes...

You don't know until you ask...

2009-01-17T11:53:00.002Z

While the financial climate is in it's current condition, I think you can be forgiven for pushing your luck with sales people.

It's been in the back of my mind for a while now that I ought to give Virgin Media a call to discuss what they are charging me for my TV, phone and broadband internet package. Not that I think I've got a particularly bad deal at the moment, but it irritated me to see that they appear to tempt in new customers buy offering my package at half price, but do little to reward existing ones for their loyalty.

I wasn't overly surprised to hear that the half price deal is only available to brand new customers so by being a loyal, trouble free, timely regular-paying customer for over three years, I didn't qualify. Then young laddo starts with his sales pitch:

Pitch one: he could give me a free weekday phone calls and upgrade my broadband service to 10MB for only another 95 pence a month. Quite tempting, except that I don't really need cheaper weekday calls as most of the ones I make are on Skype which cost nothing. Perhaps he could find a package that would actually save me money.

Pitch two: existing phone package, existing TV package and 10MB broadband for a reduction of £3.50 a month, the only catch being that I would have to subscribe to a new 12 month contract. I admit, he almost had me there. It was only when he went off to check some details that I decided to push them further. I actually get by quite nicely with my current 2MB a month and if they can offer this 10MB package for a £3.50 reduction, surely they can reduce the cost of my existing package even further. Apparently he couldn't, but facing the harsh reality that he had just lost his sale, he somewhat begrudgingly put me through to customer services.

As it turned out, they couldn't offer anything better either, beyond knocking another £1 a month off for e-billing rather than paper bills. Rather more worryingly, they advised me that the 10MB deal in pitch two would only last for a month after which it would revert to my existing speed (unless of course I chose to upgrade at that point). Apparently, it's not unusual for their sales team to overlook this short term detail.

So while I consider the virtues of Freeview over cable TV and how necessary a landline really is, at least I am happy in the knowledge that my call to them didn't cost anything...

Me and my big mouth...

2009-01-12T19:28:00.003Z

It's always a dead giveaway when you pick up the ringing phone and there is a momentary pause at the other end while their auto dial system does the equivalent of calling across the office "hey up, we've got a live one here!"

A girl at the other end with more accent than dialogue asked me how I was this evening then proceeded to waffle on without pausing to hear my reply.

"I'm calling you from ???????". Believe me, I would tell you if I could have understood her and was still no better off after asking her to repeat the name twice.

She continued "I'm pleased to tell you that your name has been pulled out of our prize draw and you have won a prize worth 12 thousand euros"

"I haven't entered any prize draws" I replied in my best faux-naive voice "but I am registered with the Telephone Preference Service so I sincerely hope this isn't a thinly veiled attempt to try and sell me something"

"Very sorry sir, we will remove your name from our database"

Unfortunately she hung up too quickly to tell me the rest of the details of my prize...

All together now...

2009-01-11T07:24:00.000Z

A pea berth data ewe too if you are Emile Heskey, Dean Reynolds, Brian Robson, John Sessions, Arthur Scargill or one of the millions of other people celebrating today...

Look at these...

2009-01-08T19:35:00.003Z

For some bizarre reason I feel compelled to share this picture of a part of my anatomy that none of you will ever have seen before.

You'll be relieved to hear this is obviously totally innocent. When you have an eye test with Vision Express, they now offer an additional service where they take a photograph of each retina so the health and condition of your eyes can be examined more thoroughly. Then they store the pictures in a secure site on the internet where anyone who has need to can look over them. I couldn't resist.

The verdict? Apparently they are in pretty good condition except for a mysterious shadow lurking behind one of them. They assure me that it's probably just the eyeball equivalent of a harmless freckle, but now they know it's there they are referring me to a specialist to investigate further.

Oh whoopee, a bit more excitement to kick off the new year...

Out with the old...

2009-01-04T18:42:00.005Z

It may be the time of year to be considering resolutions again but I'm running short of ideas.

Thankfully I've just passed the 4 year milestone of non-smoking and although temptation has been greater of late, I'm pleased that I've managed to resist so far.

My alcohol intake took a huge nosedive towards the end of last year and having just learnt that my new specs are going to cost me over 170 quid, I certainly won't be going out anywhere this month, possibly even longer.

Of course, I can't overlook the success with the weight loss last year. Two and a half stone down from where I started, I fully intend to get back on the old running machine and see if I can shed a couple more.

The one major factor I need to focus on this year is getting my work/life balance back in order, which despite good intentions last year still had far too much emphasis in the wrong area. Something has got to be wrong when you feel pleased that you only worked 4 weeks worth of unpaid overtime last year as opposed to 8 weeks in the previous one. It's heading in the right direction I guess but I don't see pressures of work relieving to make 2009 much of an easier ride.

As if to deliberately catch me at the first hurdle, I received a call this afternoon asking if I can start three hours earlier tomorrow. Well of course I said yes - I was caught off guard by receiving a call at home on a Sunday and it's not as though I had got anything else planned at that time of the morning tomorrow...

Altruism. It's not for me...

2009-01-02T17:31:00.006Z

Happy New Year everyone!

I've just got back from a very enjoyable break to see the New Year in with Andy, Sharon & little Laura and although I don't usually do the whole New Year thing, it was nice to get away for a couple of days.

So back to the first witter of the year. I'll spare you the tale of how I managed to ruin a completely good set of specs, despite my not feeling overly drunk when I eventually turned in. I say that, but my head the next morning gave a tell-tale clue to the 20-odd bottles of various real ales we managed to put away between 5pm and 3 the next morning.

The nearest Vision Express to where I was staying couldn't repair rimless glasses so I resorted to driving home this afternoon wearing prescription sunglasses. As luck would have it the sun actually shone so I didn't look the monumental tosser the occasion might have warranted.

Anyway, with eye test appointment arranged back in Grimsby for tomorrow, I set off for home then suddenly remembered there was a blood donor session in the neighbouring village. I had to miss the last session at my usual venue as I was out of town that day, but knowing they are always desperate for donations this time of year, I took the chance of just dropping in.

They do operate an optional appointment system now that helps them to organise staffing but you can never be sure how many impromptu donors will show up so sometimes you may need to wait a little beyond your appointment time.

For the first time in my 25 years as a blood donor, I felt truly embarrassed tonight as people started complaining that they "had better things to do than wait around all afternoon" and left without giving a donation. Worse still, they made a point of doing so with raised voices to the poor nurses who were clearly busy enough trying their best to reduce waiting times for the more patient among us.

Where the hell do these morons get off? Before the appointment system, it was perfectly acceptable to wait around for as long as it took, but now they can give an indication of when you might be donating, apparently it's supposed to be exact to the minute. Worse still, what is ever going to be achieved by shouting at the poor nurses? I'm pretty certain they all have places they would much rather be.

Please don't let any of this put you off though. I was less than an hour from getting out of the car to getting back in again, a pint of blood lighter (well, about 470ml actually); a small price to pay for the proud claim that it may save someones life. I make no apology for promoting this at any opportunity so please click on Billy's image below where you can find out more, or better still, see where the next session is near you...

A bit more festive fun...

2008-12-24T13:47:00.002Z

I saw this on Facebook today and hunted it down on YouTube so I could share it with you here.

This is our very talented friend Richard with his take on Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. In my opinion, this would have been a much more worthy occupant of the Christmas number one spot than whatever eventually made it there.

Oh and when you have finished watching this (and telling all of your friends about it) don't forget to check out Norad Tracks Santa to see how our other festive friend is getting on. At the time of writing he is just leaving Sydney. Who says it's just for kids...

A bit of festive fun...

2008-12-23T22:53:00.003Z

Well I finally got away from work tonight for Christmas and I've resisted the obvious temptation of hooking myself up to an intravenous real ale supply.

Instead I decided to call in our local kebab shop and walked out with the equivalent of a grilled Turkish farm. Admittedly, my appetite is not what it used to be but I doubt a family of four could have waded through so much meat. Lesson for next time I guess.

Anyway, its been in the back of my mind that this years little festive animation hadn't exactly involved a huge amount of effort on my part and although I've no reason to feel guilty about it, I've had a go at something a bit different this evening.

I've stumbled across loads of clips on YouTube where people have added their own "literal" videos to existing songs so here's my homage to the Christmas Song by Nat King Cole. It's festive and more than a little bit silly, but then what else did you expect...

It's on the cards...

2008-12-20T13:33:00.009Z

I can't pretend I'm finding it particularly easy to get into the festive spirit this year.

Perhaps it's because we had to say our final goodbyes to my uncle yesterday. Perhaps it was because at that very service we discovered the shocking news that one of his sons in New Zealand is sadly no longer with us either. I'll spare you the few details I know as there has been enough sad news on here of late.

Our Christmas shutdown at work this year is more fragmented than usual so I'll ending up working on and off throughout, where usually we enjoy a bit of a longer break. Still, I suppose I should really be grateful that I have a job go to back to at all really.

I'm acutely aware that finances are a bit tighter this year than they have been for a while, so I've also made a concerted effort to avoid putting my liver through it's traditional punishing schedule. Fortunately, the last time I went out I managed to catch up with most of our friends and bought them all a drink in lieu of a Christmas card (a bit kinder towards the trees and generally better appreciated I find).

On the subject of Christmas cards, I have continued my personal tradition of keeping them to an absolute minimum again this year. I will never understand why people sit down and write hundreds of cards each year, most of which are then distributed out of some kind of obligation rather than need to share Christmas wishes. For example, this is my 4th Christmas in the bungalow and yet I continue to get cards for the previous owners, one of whom sadly passed away a few years ago. I have no means of letting the senders know and clearly they have not heard from them in return for three years, but in the words of Jeff Wayne "still they come".

However, I haven't lost my Christmas spirit entirely, they do say that the best presents or cards are the ones you make yourself, so I've put together another one of my festive little animations for you all. Despite the absence of a coloured piece of card through the post, I sincerely wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and hope that 2009 brings you continued health, happiness and prosperity...

It's started...

2008-12-13T09:30:00.003Z

The weekend has got off to a good start with my waking to find that I have effectively shrugged off my latest bout of man-flu within 48 hours thanks to little more than a few paracetamol and a few extra hours sleep.

Keen to maintain this advantage I braved the elements around 7:30 this morning to nip to the bank (cashpoint obviously) and then hit the supermarket for my weekly shop. To my amazement, I had to queue at both, at that time of the morning and with 12 days still to go before Christmas. Realistically, given the days that the seasonal holidays have fallen this year, I doubt many stores will be closed beyond the festive day itself but I'm sure people will still stock up like there's no tomorrow.

The title reminds me of a story about a guy who gets in from work, slumps in his armchair in front of the TV and calls through to his wife "Quick, get me a beer before it starts".
Dutifully, she brings his beer which he chugs in almost one go then says, "still not started yet, can you get me another?"
He polishes off the second can at the same pace then says "Still not started, can I have another?"
At this point his wife slams the can on the table by his chair saying "Who the hell do you think you are? I've been busy all day running round tidying the house, trying to keep the kids occupied, preparing a lovely meal for when you get in and all you can do is perch in front of that bloody TV barking orders"
To which the husband replied "and there you go, it's started"...

Departures...

2008-12-09T19:32:00.003Z

Almost a month to the day, I posted about the discomfort we feel when we part company with friends and colleagues and how perhaps we should be grateful for the way they have enriched our lives and for their opportunity to move on.

It's not quite the same though when you know you will never see them again. This morning I received a call from Mum telling me that our Uncle John passed away early hours this morning. He has been battling ill health for many years, indeed it must be at least five years since he was told he had only months to live, but his sheer determination and refusal to give into his illness often disguised any physical clues whatsoever.

We had been told on Sunday that he had been admitted to hospital and we decided there and then to take a drive out to see him that evening. Sure he was in a hospital bed and occasionally a little short of breath but that didn't stop the stream of tales about how they had been teasing the nurses, or his trying to work out whether mobile phone frequencies actually would interfere with hospital equipment.

Rather like Little Sis has said, I will always have fond memories of him, from the extravagant tales of his travels across the world to the ingenious tricks I could have tried to beat the exhibits in the Science Museum as a child. A generous man to the extreme, ever willing to help you through a financial scrape or to treat his family and friends to some of the memorable restaurant meals I've ever enjoyed.

As our busy lives take us all our separate ways, its all too easy to feel guilty and wonder why perhaps we didn't keep in touch more often, but it's probably more important to realise that he is now free from the pain and discomfort he has battled with so bravely in recent times.

So I'll raise a glass to you tonight Uncle John (single malt of course). God Bless and I'm sure that you and Grandma have got some real catching up to do...

License to print money...

2008-11-28T15:14:00.004Z

It's been a good day, probably something to do with not having to go to work.

Ever mindful of how long it took to sort out last weekend's quick plumbing task (eventually sorted by paying the plumber a handful of notes Monday night), I decided to set forth this morning with a little electrical task. OK, no big deal really, just changing a couple of light switches over to dimmer switches as my contribution towards saving the planet. The screws that came with the switches were too short for the pattress but fortunately I had a couple of spares in the garage that obliged and it was sorted in about 15 minutes.

Every other little "get out of the way" job I tackled went according to plan until I decided that perhaps it was time I set my printer up with the laptop. Should have been straight forward, the printer was still perched on the desk along with cables and discs, fresh from the time a set it up with the previous laptop only a few months ago.

However, Lexmark obviously had other ideas. No discs, cables or any other accessories could cater for the fact that there are no drivers released for my all-in-one printer to run with Windows Vista and by all accounts it looks as though they have no intentions of doing so either. Oh bugger - it would seem I need to buy a new printer.

Am I alone in thinking that is a bit naughty? I'm now stuck with having to replace a perfectly good printer, well OK, it isn't really that good to be honest but the scanner has been really useful and best of all, it was free when I bought my first PC. Fortunately my old laptop hasn't breathed it's last yet so I do have a protracted means of printing anything that won't wait for me to send to work to print there and when it does come to upgrading, I think I'll pick another manufacturer. Or at least see if anyone is still giving away free ones...

On and on...

2008-11-23T11:08:00.003Z

I thought I really ought to post something today seeing as it is my 4th Blogday today! As usual at this time of year, it's hard to believe it's been another year since my first post and it's all the more remarkable that people keep looking in even though, by my own admission, posts have been a lot less frequent and less inspired of late. However, I'm continually grateful that you all do keep dropping by and proud to remain the "I'm Feeling Lucky" or first search result on Google for the word "Seany". Perhaps the popularity of reality TV "celebrities" is short lived after all.

I'm not sure that you could call it a celebration, but today I also find myself the owner of the biggest fridge I could ever have dreamt of. Perhaps the situation would be more accurately described by saying that the snow has settled outside on the very weekend my central heating system decided it doesn't want to play any more.

Determined not to let another weekend disappear into combination of beer swilling and sleeping, I decided on Friday morning to put my day off to good use by getting a replacement radiator for the dining room. The old one had developed a tiny leak quite a while ago and although it wasn't doing any significant harm, it clearly wasn't going to get better on it's own and equally, would be unable to heat the room once the weather took a turn for the worse.

I took Dad up on his earlier offer to help with replacing the thing and although it took a little longer than expected, by teatime we appeared to have reconnected a brand new radiator with no sign of water leaking from anywhere and any residual air removed from the system. What I didn't discover until later that evening was that now, none of the radiators were working and it was getting bloody cold outside.

After a brief review again yesterday morning, we couldn't see where the problem was and as neither of us are qualified plumbers, I've had to resort to calling a professional in. So now I'm playing the waiting game until he replies to my message and then ultimately to find out what the damage to my wallet is likely to be. It's not really an emergency as I do have a solitary gas fire which is going it's best to keep the living room warm, but it isn't up to the challenge of heating the entire bungalow.

It could also prove a good excuse to plug in the Nintendo Wii in as all that jumping around provides some natural warmth...

Have you ever wondered...

2008-11-14T18:26:00.003Z

...where mobile phones go to die?

By the look of this little lot (which isn't exhaustive), it would seem there is a veritable cellphone graveyard developing in my house.

It's not that I keep changing them to keep up with fashion, but I'm not as careful with them as I ought to be and all too often end up replacing them rather than going through the hassle of trying to find a repair outlet or worse still, trying to convince an insurance/ warranty company that I had been less careless.

But there is good news ahead, all the more topical to tell you about it today. If you have any old mobile phones lurking around the place, put them in an envelope, marked Freepost BBC Children in Need and pop it in a post box.

Apparently there is an organisation called Regenersis (formerly Fonebak) who have the licenses to unblock phones from all networks and if they can repair them, will send them off for use in developing countries. If not, they break them down and their constituent parts and they are recycled.

They have agreed to make a donation to Children in Need for each handset that can be economically repaired. So I've cleared out a load of handsets I'll never use, potentially improved communication in developing countries, added to my existing donations to this year's Children in Need appeal and if nothing else, they will be more environmentally responsibly disposed of than they would have been otherwise.

Everyone's a winner...