It's completely foul today -- sleet, high winds, urgh. Got drenched on the morning walk but once I've dried out I'm off out again -- to spend my vouchers, whee! I've also got to visit the supermarket -- the shelves are bare -- but I might leave that till later on. Last time I supermarketed on a Saturday it was so crowded I nearly had an agrophobia attack. It helped that everyone else seemed to be as shocked as I was at how crowded it was, leading to a kind of Blitz spirt where we all co-operated rather than stressing out at aisle-blockers. I much prefer supermarket shopping at 2am; the only disadvantage is not being allowed to buy booze.
It's been a hectic week at work, due to Hutton and its aftermath, so I'm looking forward to having a weekend off. Shopping today, lunch with Andrew and supper with Fiona tomorrow, housework on Monday. Faye arrives on Tuesday, back from her NZ sojourn. I hope the weather's improved by then!
31 January 2004
29 January 2004
:: cold in winter shock
Yes, after a nice little mild spell it's gone all Arctic again. Or what passes for Arctic here in Blighty. The papers say things like "snow causes chaos in Highlands", when in fact they closed one or two roads (which are closed by snow so often they have snow gates and special poles so the snow ploughs know where to go) and Mrs McPherson's sister Agnes slipped and sprained her ankle on her way down to the shop for a pint of milk and a loaf. Arctic is permafrost, people. Arctic is 50 below zero plus windchill, it's frostbite and hypothermia.
I still get a big thrill from snow, though. My first winter here there was a cracking snowfall one day, so I jumped in my car and drove out to the countryside to get some photos. Driving down through the Borders, visibility started to fall as the wind piled driving snow up in drifts against the fences. How exciting! Then, in the next village, a policeman flagged me down. "Where are you heading?" he asked. Heading? Errrr.... "Jedburgh," I said, having seen that on a sign somewhere. He looked concerned. "You'll not get to Jedburgh this way, the road's closed," he said. "I'm not sure how you'll get there, let's see..." "That's ok, I can stay with friends," I babbled. I turned the car round and went straight home, chastened. I didn't even have a coat on, never mind a thermos flask of coffee, a shovel, sacks for traction, blankets, a torch .... Tsk tsk.
Today I confined myself to a nice walk with the dog - who very much enjoyed the snow.
On Monday we went to Dollar Glen -- it was a good walk, but hell on my knees, despite my walking stick (sorry, Adventure Pole). It was fiercely cold up on the tops, although the sun was shining.
Here's Bertie striking a striking pose (he held it for four shots, while I messed about with exposures and flash!).
And another one, dog walkers on Blackford Hill:
I still get a big thrill from snow, though. My first winter here there was a cracking snowfall one day, so I jumped in my car and drove out to the countryside to get some photos. Driving down through the Borders, visibility started to fall as the wind piled driving snow up in drifts against the fences. How exciting! Then, in the next village, a policeman flagged me down. "Where are you heading?" he asked. Heading? Errrr.... "Jedburgh," I said, having seen that on a sign somewhere. He looked concerned. "You'll not get to Jedburgh this way, the road's closed," he said. "I'm not sure how you'll get there, let's see..." "That's ok, I can stay with friends," I babbled. I turned the car round and went straight home, chastened. I didn't even have a coat on, never mind a thermos flask of coffee, a shovel, sacks for traction, blankets, a torch .... Tsk tsk.
Today I confined myself to a nice walk with the dog - who very much enjoyed the snow.
On Monday we went to Dollar Glen -- it was a good walk, but hell on my knees, despite my walking stick (sorry, Adventure Pole). It was fiercely cold up on the tops, although the sun was shining.
Here's Bertie striking a striking pose (he held it for four shots, while I messed about with exposures and flash!).
And another one, dog walkers on Blackford Hill:
22 January 2004
:: whoops
Another hiatus while I get busy with other things. I've actually spent a ridiculous amount of time finessing the comments (see below). Ridiculous considering how few comments are left, that is. But it was interesting tinkering with them.
I wrote to blogger about the intermittent problem getting this blog to show, and they said they're working on it. In the meantime, if you get a message about the page not being available, click on the refresh button on the browser and it should show all right.
I had a whole weekend off and managed to squander most of it faffing around with mp3s and reading books (I'm reading Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson; Last Act In Palmyra, a Falco mystery, by Lindsey Davis; and The Tattooed Girl by Joyce Carol Oates). I did get in a few good walks, though, and Andrew swung by for lunch and to collect the furniture from Anthea's old flat: a double bed and a chest of drawers. He brought the main farm car, a big Astra, and it swallowed everything up no trouble. He's just e-mailed to say that his aunt had an awful accident the other day: one of her excitable dogs pulled her over while she was walking in the woods and she broke her ankle badly in two places. She managed to crawl home and from there phoned Andrew, who rushed over and rode shotgun in the ambulance, guiding the driver through the country roads. They've been minding the three dogs since then, though they're going into kennels shortly.
I also went to see a fantastic film, which I've been meaning to see for ages: Touching the Void. It's the true story of Simon Yates and Joe Simpson, who climbed a mountain in Peru. Simpson fell and broke his leg in a fairly gruesome way, so Yates one tried to get him down by lowering him on a rope, section by section. At one point, though, he went over the edge of a cliff, so he couldn't take the slack off the rope so his Yates could come down to lower him down the next bit. So Yates had to cut the rope, letting him fall into a crevasse. When he saw the crevasse he assumed Simpson was dead. But he wasn't (obviously, since he wrote a book about it all) -- he'd landed on a ledge. He managed to crawl off the mountain and across a glacier and rocky moraine to the campsite. It's not all grim: there's quite a bit of humour. The photography is stunning too, and the narration has the kind of matter-of-fact, undramatic feel that is so true of mountain-mad men. A colleague who's a climber came in to work with a gash on his face once, and it turned out he'd fallen 300ft while roped up. "I would have been fine, but my ice-axe bounced off into my face." We were all going, "three hundred feet!!!!", but to him it was nothing.
We've been pretty busy at work, one way or another. Tonight's drama was a computer glitch that had the whole IT department running around feverishly. Once it was sorted we caught up pretty quickly though, and still hit the deadline.
Did I mention my long service award? I'm getting £200 of vouchers and an extra day's holiday for hitting the ten-year mark as a permanent employee (on 3 January). No sign of the vouchers yet, though the boss's secretary offered to let me look at them. The boss is apparently writing me a letter. Jolly good. Must be a long one ....
I wrote to blogger about the intermittent problem getting this blog to show, and they said they're working on it. In the meantime, if you get a message about the page not being available, click on the refresh button on the browser and it should show all right.
I had a whole weekend off and managed to squander most of it faffing around with mp3s and reading books (I'm reading Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson; Last Act In Palmyra, a Falco mystery, by Lindsey Davis; and The Tattooed Girl by Joyce Carol Oates). I did get in a few good walks, though, and Andrew swung by for lunch and to collect the furniture from Anthea's old flat: a double bed and a chest of drawers. He brought the main farm car, a big Astra, and it swallowed everything up no trouble. He's just e-mailed to say that his aunt had an awful accident the other day: one of her excitable dogs pulled her over while she was walking in the woods and she broke her ankle badly in two places. She managed to crawl home and from there phoned Andrew, who rushed over and rode shotgun in the ambulance, guiding the driver through the country roads. They've been minding the three dogs since then, though they're going into kennels shortly.
I also went to see a fantastic film, which I've been meaning to see for ages: Touching the Void. It's the true story of Simon Yates and Joe Simpson, who climbed a mountain in Peru. Simpson fell and broke his leg in a fairly gruesome way, so Yates one tried to get him down by lowering him on a rope, section by section. At one point, though, he went over the edge of a cliff, so he couldn't take the slack off the rope so his Yates could come down to lower him down the next bit. So Yates had to cut the rope, letting him fall into a crevasse. When he saw the crevasse he assumed Simpson was dead. But he wasn't (obviously, since he wrote a book about it all) -- he'd landed on a ledge. He managed to crawl off the mountain and across a glacier and rocky moraine to the campsite. It's not all grim: there's quite a bit of humour. The photography is stunning too, and the narration has the kind of matter-of-fact, undramatic feel that is so true of mountain-mad men. A colleague who's a climber came in to work with a gash on his face once, and it turned out he'd fallen 300ft while roped up. "I would have been fine, but my ice-axe bounced off into my face." We were all going, "three hundred feet!!!!", but to him it was nothing.
We've been pretty busy at work, one way or another. Tonight's drama was a computer glitch that had the whole IT department running around feverishly. Once it was sorted we caught up pretty quickly though, and still hit the deadline.
Did I mention my long service award? I'm getting £200 of vouchers and an extra day's holiday for hitting the ten-year mark as a permanent employee (on 3 January). No sign of the vouchers yet, though the boss's secretary offered to let me look at them. The boss is apparently writing me a letter. Jolly good. Must be a long one ....
18 January 2004
:: comments are back!
Hurrah! Quick ... say something.
Another site stepped in to help -- read about it here. All this is free, by the way -- though I will probably send them a donation.
Another site stepped in to help -- read about it here. All this is free, by the way -- though I will probably send them a donation.
16 January 2004
:: talking back
I just noticed the commenty thing wasn't working and did some poking around. I found this angry diatribe (Contains fruity language, by the way.)
Erm... so ... send me an email if you have something to say, I guess.
Erm... so ... send me an email if you have something to say, I guess.
:: bertie's new best friend
At last, some Christmas pix:
Wee Jenn is mad about dogs and was thrilled that Bertie liked her.
The two Jennies and Bertie.
Awwww!
Wee Jenn is mad about dogs and was thrilled that Bertie liked her.
The two Jennies and Bertie.
Awwww!
14 January 2004
:: time out
I hadn't realised I'd left it so long between entries. I've now almost completey recovered, phew. I've been surrounded by sick people for weeks, so it was only a matter of time before I caught something. I'm just relieved it was so minor. My knees are feeling a bit better too (now I've got the new hard plastic orthotics) so good news all round. Might get out into the hills at the weekend, I could do with a long walk, especially uphill.
I've been thinking a lot lately about people and their dogs -- I meet so many of them, and their relationships with each other (people to dogs, dogs to dogs, people to people) are fascinating. They vary as much as dog breeds, so much so it's impossible to stereotype them (though of course people do have reasons for choosing certain breeds). And when you get talking to other owners ... wow. Weird and wonderful. Dog owners can be intense about their pets. Uh, sorry, "companion animals".
My favourites are the relaxed types who let the dogs get on with their own socialising. I was lucky enough to meet a man just like this when I first got Bertie, and he taught me not to be anxious about Bertie's boisterous behaviour. Then there are the prim folk who think bum-sniffing is rude even when dogs do it and who think Bertie might eat their precious yorkie. Bertie can usually win them over with his big brown eyes and gentle manners, though.
The scary dog-owners are those who get scary dogs because they're scary. Pit-bull terriers, that kind of thing. After a few terrifying encounters, Bertie has learned it's not a good idea to go prancing up to these dogs pretending he's hard enough. He isn't. Sure, he can run faster than them, but they're smarter. There he was, running and running and running and yet this staffie still managed to catch him! How? He was running in a circle, and the staffie just cut him off at a leisurely jog. Pooooor Bertie, he's dumb as a sack of hammers.
I've been thinking a lot lately about people and their dogs -- I meet so many of them, and their relationships with each other (people to dogs, dogs to dogs, people to people) are fascinating. They vary as much as dog breeds, so much so it's impossible to stereotype them (though of course people do have reasons for choosing certain breeds). And when you get talking to other owners ... wow. Weird and wonderful. Dog owners can be intense about their pets. Uh, sorry, "companion animals".
My favourites are the relaxed types who let the dogs get on with their own socialising. I was lucky enough to meet a man just like this when I first got Bertie, and he taught me not to be anxious about Bertie's boisterous behaviour. Then there are the prim folk who think bum-sniffing is rude even when dogs do it and who think Bertie might eat their precious yorkie. Bertie can usually win them over with his big brown eyes and gentle manners, though.
The scary dog-owners are those who get scary dogs because they're scary. Pit-bull terriers, that kind of thing. After a few terrifying encounters, Bertie has learned it's not a good idea to go prancing up to these dogs pretending he's hard enough. He isn't. Sure, he can run faster than them, but they're smarter. There he was, running and running and running and yet this staffie still managed to catch him! How? He was running in a circle, and the staffie just cut him off at a leisurely jog. Pooooor Bertie, he's dumb as a sack of hammers.
:: on the mend
Did I mention I've been sick? I've been sick. Just a cold, nothing serious, and now I'm getting better. I took huge doses of vitamin C, then read on the label that I shouldn't exceed the stated dose. Oops. So I got on the net and after trawling through hundreds of "spam" sites, finally found a list of the symptoms of vitamin C overdose: diarrhea, abdominal cramps, high stomach acid, increased urination, insomnia, irritability, joint pains, osteoporosis, headaches, hypoglycemia, weakness, reduced oestrogen, PMS, may increase infections by causing copper deficiency. Hmmm. Don't think so ... There was also a Dutch piece about the bossy old EU saying it was "probably" bad for your body to take too much vitamin C.
But I think the best therapy has been getting plenty of sleep -- thanks to my wonderful new bed. It really is fantastic.
The weather yesterday was conducive to staying indoors but of course being a dog-owner I was out there slogging around in the wind and rain. Later it hailed heavily and it snowed overnight too. Ugh. Today was sunny though, so Bertie got a longer walk.
Oh, I forgot to say that 3 January was my 10th anniversary at work! Of working full-time that is -- I was a casual for three years before that. By a marvellous coincidence, the company has brought in a scheme to reward long service -- starting 1 January! I get an extra day's holiday and ?200 worth of vouchers to spend at the high street store of my choice. Whee! I'm going to get a Palm Tungsten PDA. Ten years. Blimey, that flew by.
But I think the best therapy has been getting plenty of sleep -- thanks to my wonderful new bed. It really is fantastic.
The weather yesterday was conducive to staying indoors but of course being a dog-owner I was out there slogging around in the wind and rain. Later it hailed heavily and it snowed overnight too. Ugh. Today was sunny though, so Bertie got a longer walk.
Oh, I forgot to say that 3 January was my 10th anniversary at work! Of working full-time that is -- I was a casual for three years before that. By a marvellous coincidence, the company has brought in a scheme to reward long service -- starting 1 January! I get an extra day's holiday and ?200 worth of vouchers to spend at the high street store of my choice. Whee! I'm going to get a Palm Tungsten PDA. Ten years. Blimey, that flew by.
6 January 2004
:: back up! back up!
Whoops, I didn't have such good backups as I'd thought -- a couple of the CDs I used can't be read. No disastrous losses: just a few dozen early digital-camera photos and some of the music CDs I coverted into MP3s. I also discovered I hadn't backed up a lot of older files, and had to hook up my antique SparQ drive for those.
However, now I'm all reinstalled and back on line and updated, phew.
I had a great weekend off -- lots of walking, a bit of shopping, a movie (Cold Mountain) and much, much time spent hunched over this computer. Back to work today.
However, now I'm all reinstalled and back on line and updated, phew.
I had a great weekend off -- lots of walking, a bit of shopping, a movie (Cold Mountain) and much, much time spent hunched over this computer. Back to work today.
2 January 2004
:: weekend off
Yes, so, back online ... I was in a bit of a rush by the time I finished setting the modem up and there is still some fine-tuning to do, but basically I got it going, that's the main thing. Phew. Now the big ghastly grind is downloading all the updates for Norton Anti-virus and Windows XP -- I had it set up for a "live update" so don't have backed-up files. Tsk.
I have three days off now, hurrah. Lunch with Andrew tomorrow (I think -- we've been communicating by text, which I'm rubbish at. Plus my phone battery keeps running down). I found my old answering machine the other week when I was looking for my Christmas decorations and thought I'd give it to him. But now I can't find either the answering machine or the decorations! Plenty of other junk though ... anyone need a scsi card?
Nice moment today walking Bertie: we met a girl he's previously barked at and he cosied up to her immediately. "He likes me, he likes me!" she said. Aaaahhhh, sweet!
I have three days off now, hurrah. Lunch with Andrew tomorrow (I think -- we've been communicating by text, which I'm rubbish at. Plus my phone battery keeps running down). I found my old answering machine the other week when I was looking for my Christmas decorations and thought I'd give it to him. But now I can't find either the answering machine or the decorations! Plenty of other junk though ... anyone need a scsi card?
Nice moment today walking Bertie: we met a girl he's previously barked at and he cosied up to her immediately. "He likes me, he likes me!" she said. Aaaahhhh, sweet!
:: back online
Phew. Took some doing, but I finally got my shonky modem to work. I found a nice boxed warning on page 15 of the user's manual: you're supposed to physically remove the modem before reinstalling XP. Gee, thanks Zoom! I didn't have to reinstall XP again, thank goodness. That would have made me crazy.
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