…grayblog…

Category: grayblog.co.uk

  • Old posts that live on

    This post seems to live on, with good comments going on. Maybe I should write more food posts….

  • Time to pull the plug?

    I’m thinking about pulling the plug on Radio Grayblog. Judging by the records, it is getting less than 50 hours per month of listening time. That’s an average of one person a day for little more than an hour and a half. Or three people a day for only half an hour each. Or 30 people logging in and listening to one song before they switch off in disgust.

    With the USD/GBP exchange rate shifting about, it now costs me around £125 per year to run it and times are hard. I can probably think of better ways to spend that money (on a dozen new CDs, for example).

    Also, half the reason I set up Radio Grayblog was so that I could listen to my music whilst in the office. That was back in the days when office and home were nearly ten miles apart. Now, office and home are not much more than ten feet apart. Turn the stereo up loud enough and I can sing along. Alternatively, I can just take a CD or three out to the office (no evil MP3s here!).

    So, give me some good reasons why I shouldn’t pull the plug.

  • Borked

    Hmm. Looks like the del.icio.us publishing thingy is borked again, after successfully publishing one link only. So it’s time to look for an alternative solution.

    Thankfully, I see that Gordon has linked to this one. However, it requires WP2.5, so it looks like I must finally get around to that upgrade that I’ve been putting off for, well, forever. It would be helpful if I actually read anything – this plugin posts things to del.icio.us from your WP blog, not the other way around. Look, I was still in a meeting at 12.20am this morning (yes, you read that correctly), so I’m not firing on all cylinders this morning, ok?

  • del.icio.us

    Anyone else having problems with the del.icio.us blog posting tool (the one built in to del.icio.us)? It hasn’t posted for a week, which means you’ve missed out on three or four exciting links. I’ve rebooted it, so hopefully it might work now.

  • Blogmeeting

    Well, there’s a funny thing. For the first time in at least five, maybe six years, I made it to a meeting of blogging types organised by Gordon and featuring an impressive collection of bloggers, some known from years past, some from their writing and some new to me. It was, undoubtedly, excellent. Links to at least some of the attendees as soon as I’m not blogging from my mobile.

    UPDATE: I knew that, if I waited long enough, someone else would do the hard work and link to all the attendees.

  • Not that boring

    Apparently, this blog has turned boring in 2008 (so says my wife). It seems that posts about my new laptop and bag are not exciting enough (my new phone will be delivered tomorrow, so there’ll be another subject to discuss! And my laptop case (along with the plants) have been delayed and will not arrive until Friday, which means I won’t get my hands on them until Monday).

    So, in a probably futile attempt to change the subject and make reading more interesting, here’s a recipe (serves two):

    INGREDIENTS

    • 1 whole fresh squid, cleaned and prepared into tentacles (separated), wings (cut into strips) and mantle (cut into rings). See here for a good step-by-step guide to cleaning and preparing squid if you haven’t done it before – it’s not that difficult. You should look for a squid that will yield around 225g/8oz of useable flesh. Our local Morrisons has an excellent fish counter and is our preferred source, but you might know a better place near to you.
    • 1 pepper (capsicum for our overseas friends) – I used yellow, but red would do. Cut into small pieces.
    • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
    • 12 or so baby plum tomatoes, halved
    • juice of half a lime
    • 1 head of pak choi, divided to individual leaves
    • 275g/10oz pack of fresh (not dried) fine egg noodles. If you only have dried, prepare them as normal but drain them from the water when they are not-quite done
    • Olive oil, black pepper, salt

    METHOD

    1. Heat a wok over a high heat and add about two or three teaspoons of olive oil.
    2. Throw in the pepper and squid. Toss about until the squid is just beginning to “catch” on the pan.
    3. Add the chilli and lime juice. Toss for another minute or so.
    4. Add the tomatoes and noodles. Keep tossing in the pan or else the noodles will burn. Reduce the heat a little if necessary.
    5. For the last thirty seconds or so, place the pak choi on top of the pan just so that it wilts a little (not too much – you really just want it warmed through without becoming soggy).
    6. Season and serve.

    Low fat, healthy, tasty. And not too expensive either (we got our squid for three, er, quid).

  • Hold onto your hats, it’s the End Of The Year Post

    Yes, once again we come around to the annual grayblog end-of-the-year introspection. I know you’ve been looking forward to this for at least, oooo, twelve months?

    Firstly, let’s look back and get the resolutions thing out of the way. At the end of 2006 (the archives are over there, on the right), I said I’d carry on improving the things that I had starting improving in 2006. But who has time for that? The garden isn’t finished, I haven’t done enough exercise and the writings here have become ever more sparse as the year has gone on.

    So, do resolutions have any value if they are so easily broken/ignored? Comments welcome on that subject. And, given my obvious feelings on the value of resolutions, you can set as much store as you feel is appropriate in the following:

    • to write here more frequently (not too hard)
    • to take more exercise (we now have bikes which spend far too much time locked away)
    • to keep my office in a more tidy condition (also not hard)

    What else can be said about 2007? Well, at a professional level, things have generally improved through the year. I don’t think it’s a huge secret that I wasn’t terribly optimistic about the prospects for my business late in 2006 and was feeling pretty demoralized. Things have improved markedly since then and whilst it is still tough going, the light is clearly visible at the end of the tunnel and, if all goes to plan in 2008, I might be able to talk about my business and the “P-word”* in the same sentence without laughter. To a large degree, I’ve been carried along by the faith shown in me and my business by others around me – my backers and my clients. Even my bank has been supportive (although I’ve yet to ask them to dip their corporate hand into their corporate pockets for me, and hopefully won’t need to). The one person who keeps me from believing too much of what they say has been Hels, who frequently questions me and challenges me to test what I’m doing and show that things truly are going the right way. That is a good thing and has encouraged me to look hard at the business and the direction that it is going in. And I’m happy with it right now.

    2007 has also seen us seriously (VERY seriously) looking at emigration to the Netherlands (or possibly just inside the Belgian border). Ultimately this plan has been shelved – we have decided to stay close to friends and family. We also can’t really afford it at this stage – if my business was making more money and we hadn’t been so crippled by not selling Hels’s flat for so long, then maybe it would have been different. Note that I say that the plan is shelved, not abandoned. It’s something that we will keep at the back of our minds and may return to in the future. And our love for Maastricht is undimmed, as you might have guessed from the number of Dutch-related del.icio.us links that I post.

    The year has seen its usual bunch of travelling, this time including trips to the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Poland. I didn’t get to a few destinations that I had in mind for lack of time and resources, but the opportunity is not lost, merely deferred. I do promise to stick some photos on here somewhen of some of the places that I/we have been to this year – feel free to nag me to keep to that promise. Highlights of this year’s travel for me included:

    • San Pellegrino in Alpe, Italy – breath-takingly beautiful and wonderfully peaceful (although I suspect it might be busier in high season)
    • Hamburg, Germany – drinking cocktails whilst standing in the rain on the morning of my birthday
    • Warnemünde, Germany – bobbing about in a launch on the Warnow river with Hels and Tom
    • Kanne, Belgium – getting the “I could live here – this just might work” feeling
    • A12, Netherlands – driving from Gouda towards Zoetermeer and marvelling at the sodium-lamp orange mist with enormous wind turbines looming darkly out of the gloaming and wishing my camera was handy
    • Tiercé, France – having possibly the best cheese board I’ve ever had or am ever likely to have in “Sarkozy’s restaurant”
    • Przydworzyce, Poland – driving through the woods and seeing locals who had gathered mushrooms offering them for sale at the roadside, often only a single punnet-full

    Travel plans for 2008 are subject to change, but look likely to include Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands (no surprise there), Switzerland (2008’s first for me – 2007’s was Poland) and Italy. Maybe Spain. And maybe Ireland and Poland. Too many places to go to, for both business and pleasure, and too little time and money to do them all.

    Of course, the true highlight of 2007 has been watching Tom growing up. He is fantastic, a life-changing element of existence. He continually amazes and surprises us. It’s impossible to feel down when he’s around. I’m looking forward to more in 2008. And more of married life with Hels, but I’m going to stop on the emotional family gushing now before your keyboard gets covered in vomit.

    What do I think 2008 will bring? Goodness knows. If there is one thing that I’ve learnt, it is that you can never tell what the future will bring. I think politics and the economy will both be fascinating in 2008 (and might finally push crappy nonsense “entertainment” out of the headlines a little) although the ride might be a bit bumpy. My business will increase in strength and stature. Family life should continue to be splendid, particularly as we have settled on our home here for the time-being and should have fewer disturbances to routine (famous last words). And I might knock-up a decent duck à l’orange or two.

    Thanks to the regular readers who keep coming back here – I know there must be at least half a dozen of you still braving the digital elements to come here. Happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year to you all.

    * profit hahahaha!!

  • Me and my meme

    I’ve been asked to meme. I think this breaks a rule somewhere, but the flesh is weak. I hope it is painless.

    1. There are some sweet pea seeds on my table – they are a heritage variety that I grow and propagate every year from self-sown plants. They should be in a paper bag, but where do you get paper bags these days? Shops are hopeless in this regard, addicted as they are to plastic. I think I may have to use an envelope.

    2. I’m currently drinking a cup of black Earl Grey tea. I only have milk in my tea when someone else makes it and doesn’t ask if I take milk before liberally applying the bovine lactations. And I only have tea other than Earl Grey when there is no Earl Grey available unless, of course, I’m having a mad day and treating myself to some Darjeeling or lapsang souchong.

    3. I have discovered that there is more to vodka than meets the eye. Of course, it probably isn’t sensible to put vodka in your eye, although a quick search of Google reveals umpteen people who are prepared to try it.

    4. The above thought reminded me of a link I saw Darren post today which provides top tips for new bloggers. Amongst the tips is this: “If you spend a little time searching before you post, you can probably find your idea well articulated elsewhere already.” Which has probably sent my already weak blogging mojo into hiding completely.

    5. I am thinking of getting a new phone as my old phone has a nasty habit of switching itself off at random. But I’m concerned that all the latest models of the candy-bar variety (my preferred phone format) are perfectly rectangular and therefore very difficult to grip. Have these people never heard of ergonomics? I’m quite tempted by the Nokia E51 though.

    6. I have never been a Venture Scout. I was in the Cubs though. Dib dib, dob dob.

    7. Are we there yet? I’m not a fan of memes and have generally avoided them. However, I’m sure I’ve done more than a couple in the seven years (seven? really?) that this blog has been going. So I will not damn them entirely as somebody would end up searching the archives and I’d end up being hoisted by my own underpants.

    8. Right, I’m off now to light the fire.

     

    Now here are the rules:  

    Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. At the end of your blog, Chose people to get tagged and list their names. Or don’t. Who’s going to check?

    I’m tempted to go for a few high profile bloggers like Samuel Pepys or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the first one is dead and the second is unlikely to join in a meme. So, if you are reading this and you have not already done this meme, then consider yourself tagged.

  • Three things

    British nuclear weapons were enabled and disabled by a bike lock key. How very British – just as it should be.

    Three Gorges Dam causes geological deformation. No surprise really – the weight of water is bound to have this effect.

    Graybo updates Amazon wishlist. Christmas is coming, geese need fattening. Or just send cash:

  • Not as good as it used to be…

    …could probably be an appropriate new subheading for this website, but hey-ho. I could bore you with all the usual stuff about being time-poor blah blah blah, but you get enough of that on other sites.

    However, in the meantime, here are a few things that I’ve been pondering:

    • are standards in education and general knowledge so poor these days that a crew member (in catering) on a ferry between Dover and Dunkerque really doesn’t know where the Netherlands are?
    • is the proliferation of carved pumpkin usage in this country the result of an increased belief in evil spirits associated with an increase in secularism or merely the by-product of the Hallmarkisation of every other day of the year?