…grayblog…

Month: August 2006

  • More stuff coming soon

    I’m back. I’m really busy, but I’m back.

    When time permits, a post on:

    • Leiden
    • Arrow Jazz FM
    • Kraak en Smaak
    • Miffy
    • Utrecht
    • a David Lynch moment
    • Maastricht
    • Pruevenemint
    • the Atomium
    • Antwerpen-Zuid, and
    • why EuroTunnel is doomed

  • Expect quiet

    Don’t panic. Travel, workload and other stuff will preclude writing new content for this site for a little while, plus delay the long-awaited redesign.

    But things are good.

  • Why we are not exactly leaping around at the moment

    This week has included:

    • learning that a friend and client is very unwell
    • literally dozens of phone conversations with two different sets of lawyers and two different sets of surveyors
    • realising that I’ve cocked up my plan to go to a trade show in Poland (note to self: VIII means August, not September – d’oh!)
    • dropping a client because he is really not on my wavelength and I can’t be bothered to struggle for what would be a potentially small reward
    • getting a very long document from the Borough Council
    • not getting a whole bunch of things sorted out that I planned to do this week
    • cleaning up purple projectile vomit after Tom had blackberries for tea (he’s fine now, but I’ve got to redecorate a wall)
    • having to clean the cat litter tray every day after one or other of them decided that the garden was too cold and wet to use now that the weather has turned.

    And that is just what I’ve had to do – Hels has had just as much. 

    But there are positive things too:

    • Sussex beat Durham in the cricket
    • it rained (very good news in this part of the world)
    • we caught up with some people in the pub
    • it’s Friday
    • we’re going on holiday soon
    • Tom “pulled” a waitress in the place we went to today for lunch (very funny – you had to be there)

    So it’s not all bad. It just feels that way.

  • Three thousand and twenty seven

    This government has made 3027 new offences since coming into office in 1997 (more than 330 per year), compared with just 500 or so introduced under John Major (roughly 100 per year) and the rate of introduction is increasing.

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just wade through some red tape to the kitchen and fill out an application form to make myself a cup of tea.

  • WiFi wabbit

    Pointless. Useless. Bound to sell shedloads.

    In other wireless news, my high gain antenna has boosted the signal in my office from around 48% to about 65% and resulted in only one dropped connection since installation. So I think we can consider it a qualified success.

  • Good listening

    Things on Radio 4 that you may have missed:

    Radio 4 is, I think, producing some of the best programming I have ever heard right now. Whatever would we do without Radio 4?

    UPDATE: I forgot to include:

    • Unseen China. I don’t normally enjoy Peter White’s radio style (I remember when he was on South Today, 15-odd years ago), but this series is excellent.

  • Bacon mayonnaise

    Bacon mayo, for the perfect BLT. via Cal.

  • 33 things to do before you are 10 years old

    This list of things that "every child should do" comes via the linkbunnies. I like the idea of number 32.

    How many of these things did you do before your tenth birthday?

  • Not quite full of beans

    We’ve just had our first harvest from our runner beans in the garden. However, one bean does not a meal make.

    Still, it was very fresh and tasty. And there are more coming.

  • Tinkering

    Some of you may have noticed some oddness here. I’m working on it. Expect great change.