I've spent most of the day working on Pinky's new website -- I've been working on it for just about a year, I think, and I just needed to sit down for a few hours and get it working smoothly. It doesn't look quite the way I wanted it to, but I'm quite pleased with it. I hope Pinky and Suzanne like it.
Otherwise I just walked Bertie a couple of times and had dinner. I went to Blackness, because (oh, this is so dumb!) I got a kilo of carrots for 10p at the supermarket last night and thought the carthorse might like some. Ahem, she did. When she saw me standing by the fence with a carrier bag she actually galloped over, which freaked Bertie out completely.
He got a snack later on though, when we met an elderly gent who used to race greyhounds and now has a portly Westie. He also had a bag of really tasty dog treats in his pocket. I thought Bertie might abandon me, he was so taken with this man. It was mutual!
28 February 2003
25 February 2003
:: should I stay or should I go?
I'm seriously considering moving to another isp. There are a lot of reasons to move on; but there are equally compelling reasons to stay.
What's tipping me towards change at the moment is that Easynet's webmail, which I use when I'm at work, has developed some kind of intermittent fault; it's possibly at this end, ie to do with the firewall or whatever, but Easynet's techs are baffled.
So I'm using another webmail service (hushmail) in the meantime.
The webmail problem is just the latest in a line of problems. None of them alone is enough to persuade me to give up on Easynet, but en masse they're getting pretty irritating.
Like when I discovered on uploading the famous helicopter photos that I'd exceeded the 10Mb size limit on a website I'd previously believed was unlimited. Easynet very generously upped the limit to 20Mb -- which I notice from their website is now what they're limiting all users to. It's too complicated to go into here, but the kerfuffle meant I had to move my site from the hockadilly.co.uk "free domain" back to the clunkily-named easyweb.easynet/bja domain, where apparently I can still have unlimited space, doled out in grudging increments. So that makes having a free domain name fairly pointless (though I still have an index page there). Another irritation about that whole business was that there are two different methods for moving files around; FTP for the easyweb space and Microsoft webfolders for hockadilly. Why? Just to annoy me, I think.
The other reason for going is that by today's standards, Easynet is reasonably expensive. It's £12 a month and I pay for phone calls on top of that when I connect. By contrast, I could get 50Mb of webspace at Abel Gratis free, and they offer a bunch of techie stuff like my own cgi-bin, PHP, MySQL and ASP to boot, plus they allow e-commerce on the webspace, which Easynet doesn't without an extra charge (or so I was told ... their website implies that it's jim-dandy). Also, Abel's tech support is on a local rate call, which is something you have to watch out for -- some isps charge 50p a minute for support.
Abel is a Scottish isp, it has a lot of other services with varying rates. But I'm a tiny bit dubious, mainly because it's a small firm and if it goes belly-up I'll have to pack up my tent and move on again.
Another option is BT. Their Openworld Anytime account seems pricey at £16 a month, but you get 50Mb of space and you don't have to pay for connection for up to 150 hours a month. And I wouldn't be on that much. Oh, I've just checked my last phone bill and from 20 Nov to 12 Feb I was only online for about 20 hours in total. Hmmm, I might be better to go for no monthly charge and pay for my connection on the regular local rate. I'd still be saving a bit over Easynet though, and I'd be able to go online a lot more without worrying about the extra cost.
The reasons for not moving are that I'd have to change my email address and website url (though this blogspot address wouldn't change) and go through all the palaver of moving the site and informing everyone of the change. What a pain! But it's starting to look like a worthwhile effort. Having the blogspot makes it all a bit less hassle.
What's tipping me towards change at the moment is that Easynet's webmail, which I use when I'm at work, has developed some kind of intermittent fault; it's possibly at this end, ie to do with the firewall or whatever, but Easynet's techs are baffled.
So I'm using another webmail service (hushmail) in the meantime.
The webmail problem is just the latest in a line of problems. None of them alone is enough to persuade me to give up on Easynet, but en masse they're getting pretty irritating.
Like when I discovered on uploading the famous helicopter photos that I'd exceeded the 10Mb size limit on a website I'd previously believed was unlimited. Easynet very generously upped the limit to 20Mb -- which I notice from their website is now what they're limiting all users to. It's too complicated to go into here, but the kerfuffle meant I had to move my site from the hockadilly.co.uk "free domain" back to the clunkily-named easyweb.easynet/bja domain, where apparently I can still have unlimited space, doled out in grudging increments. So that makes having a free domain name fairly pointless (though I still have an index page there). Another irritation about that whole business was that there are two different methods for moving files around; FTP for the easyweb space and Microsoft webfolders for hockadilly. Why? Just to annoy me, I think.
The other reason for going is that by today's standards, Easynet is reasonably expensive. It's £12 a month and I pay for phone calls on top of that when I connect. By contrast, I could get 50Mb of webspace at Abel Gratis free, and they offer a bunch of techie stuff like my own cgi-bin, PHP, MySQL and ASP to boot, plus they allow e-commerce on the webspace, which Easynet doesn't without an extra charge (or so I was told ... their website implies that it's jim-dandy). Also, Abel's tech support is on a local rate call, which is something you have to watch out for -- some isps charge 50p a minute for support.
Abel is a Scottish isp, it has a lot of other services with varying rates. But I'm a tiny bit dubious, mainly because it's a small firm and if it goes belly-up I'll have to pack up my tent and move on again.
Another option is BT. Their Openworld Anytime account seems pricey at £16 a month, but you get 50Mb of space and you don't have to pay for connection for up to 150 hours a month. And I wouldn't be on that much. Oh, I've just checked my last phone bill and from 20 Nov to 12 Feb I was only online for about 20 hours in total. Hmmm, I might be better to go for no monthly charge and pay for my connection on the regular local rate. I'd still be saving a bit over Easynet though, and I'd be able to go online a lot more without worrying about the extra cost.
The reasons for not moving are that I'd have to change my email address and website url (though this blogspot address wouldn't change) and go through all the palaver of moving the site and informing everyone of the change. What a pain! But it's starting to look like a worthwhile effort. Having the blogspot makes it all a bit less hassle.
23 February 2003
:: a very trying week
Have you ever read Why Cats Paint? Well Bertie took a leaf out of that particular book last week, only he gave it a twist -- he used body fluids.
In the bedroom: Jackson Pollock, on one of the walls as well as across the floor. In the spare room: a Daliesque touch -- melting clocks, in a variety of colours and media. And for the hallway -- Hockney's A Bigger Splash, what else. The earlier works, created in the livingroom, kitchen and diningroom, employed an impasto technique, giving a rugged, painterly effect. The later works weren't as flamboyant, due to a shortage of materials, but were perhaps more subtle and detailed. The addition of specks of blood to the final works hinted at the artist's pain.
Yeah, that was a real good surprise for me at 1:30am. Thanks Bertie. I wasn't cross with him though, because he'd obviously been through hell (and back, a couple of times), and I think he was quite distressed at having made such a huge mess. It took me two hours to clean it up after work on Tuesday night, and there was a fresh splatter on Wednesday morning -- on a previously unmarked stretch of carpet of course.
So anyway I dragged him off to the vet in the morning and spent £30 on antibiotics and special dogfood. Leaking car: £20; leaking dog: £30. Something wrong somewhere.
In case of further problems, he spent the next few nights imprisoned in the livingroom, with the (shit-stained) Persian carpet removed and the sofa pushed against the door that doesn't close. He had also crapped on both his sheepskins, but not on his actual bed, so at least he had somewhere clean to sleep. He wasn't allowed to eat anything for 24 hours, which he found deeply unsettling. He was mightily relieved to get a few spoonfuls of the dietetic delight the vet supplied -- it seemed to be mostly rice -- and even more relieved to finally get back to normal feeding, including treats.
However, it hasn't stopped him trying to eat shit -- which is what I think caused the whole gut-explosion drama in the first place. Apparently when it's frozen it's mighty tasty; he's even going for it now the thaw's set in. There's one little dried-up scrape of poo on the footpath that he always tries to gnaw off, every day. I've left it there as a training aid, but so far he's learned nothing. The vet says it's not uncommon, and she also says dogs don't seem to make the connection between eating rotten, foul food and gut-ache.
So anyway, after all the horror of scrubbing doggie-do and vomit out of the carpets and getting up early for the vet and early/difficult shifts at work, by the end of the week I was knackered. Yesterday I did yet more loads of laundry and hoovered everything in the house, including Bertie (I used the upholstery brush; he didn't seem to mind too much). The carpets upstairs still look pretty bad, I'll have to get them professionally cleaned.
Otherwise, everything is fine.
In the bedroom: Jackson Pollock, on one of the walls as well as across the floor. In the spare room: a Daliesque touch -- melting clocks, in a variety of colours and media. And for the hallway -- Hockney's A Bigger Splash, what else. The earlier works, created in the livingroom, kitchen and diningroom, employed an impasto technique, giving a rugged, painterly effect. The later works weren't as flamboyant, due to a shortage of materials, but were perhaps more subtle and detailed. The addition of specks of blood to the final works hinted at the artist's pain.
Yeah, that was a real good surprise for me at 1:30am. Thanks Bertie. I wasn't cross with him though, because he'd obviously been through hell (and back, a couple of times), and I think he was quite distressed at having made such a huge mess. It took me two hours to clean it up after work on Tuesday night, and there was a fresh splatter on Wednesday morning -- on a previously unmarked stretch of carpet of course.
So anyway I dragged him off to the vet in the morning and spent £30 on antibiotics and special dogfood. Leaking car: £20; leaking dog: £30. Something wrong somewhere.
In case of further problems, he spent the next few nights imprisoned in the livingroom, with the (shit-stained) Persian carpet removed and the sofa pushed against the door that doesn't close. He had also crapped on both his sheepskins, but not on his actual bed, so at least he had somewhere clean to sleep. He wasn't allowed to eat anything for 24 hours, which he found deeply unsettling. He was mightily relieved to get a few spoonfuls of the dietetic delight the vet supplied -- it seemed to be mostly rice -- and even more relieved to finally get back to normal feeding, including treats.
However, it hasn't stopped him trying to eat shit -- which is what I think caused the whole gut-explosion drama in the first place. Apparently when it's frozen it's mighty tasty; he's even going for it now the thaw's set in. There's one little dried-up scrape of poo on the footpath that he always tries to gnaw off, every day. I've left it there as a training aid, but so far he's learned nothing. The vet says it's not uncommon, and she also says dogs don't seem to make the connection between eating rotten, foul food and gut-ache.
So anyway, after all the horror of scrubbing doggie-do and vomit out of the carpets and getting up early for the vet and early/difficult shifts at work, by the end of the week I was knackered. Yesterday I did yet more loads of laundry and hoovered everything in the house, including Bertie (I used the upholstery brush; he didn't seem to mind too much). The carpets upstairs still look pretty bad, I'll have to get them professionally cleaned.
Otherwise, everything is fine.
18 February 2003
:: catching my breath
Whew! it's been all go since I said, "More later! Andrew just showed up..." on Friday night.
Cooking oil: well, I just think that if you can run cars (and presumably trains and much else) on cooking oil, the government should be carpeting the land in oil-producing crops, not fighting wars over dwindling, non-replaceable stocks of highly-polluting fossil fuels. That's all.
So on Saturday, all fired up, I headed off to do a spot of protesting. Andrew and Bertie walked me to the station; neither of them came along -- Andrew was too ill (flu) and Bertie too cowardly. The man in the Dalmeny ticket office sucked his teeth; "Are you sure you want to go to Glasgow? It's chaos..." And so it was. There was a huge, stationary queue at Waverley station, and I was in it for about an hour. However, eventually, I got to Glasgow. I'd managed to leave my map behind and feared I'd never find the SECC rally-point. Walked out of the station and thought, hmmm, I wonder if those thousands people waving placards and shouting slogans know the way? I joined at George Square, just down from the station, and the march stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. I found myself behind the Scottish Socialist Party banner, with a very lively bunch of people.
I'd had a couple of calls on the train from my old boss, who was on his way to the rally with his wife, so I called him when we arrived at the SECC and got vague directions on where to look for him. He's very tall, so he was easy to spot! They left soon after that, and I declined their invitation to join them in going to Loch Lomond, or even just going for a drink, because I wanted to listen to some of the speeches and generally soak up the atmosphere. I heard the Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan speak, quite the fiery orator ("Brothers and Sisters!") and someone else who didn't speak up well enough for me to hear. I roamed around looking for people I knew (didn't see anyone, though they were there) and admiring the endless variety of protest (Squirrels for Peace: Nuts to Bombs).
Finally I was weary enough for home and made the long trek back to the station. "Would passengers travelling to Edinburgh please begin queuing on Platform 6," said the tannoy. There was only a tiny queue! Hurrah! But it was a trick -- "start queuing" meant queue at Platform 6 to hear someone say "go out into the car park and join the real queue". It snaked all the way round a really large area! However, it moved quickly, so in the end it was only half an hour or so before I was sitting in a train seat, opening my flask of coffee.
Andrew phoned; he was on his way back to my place from town (no jeering, he really was sick) and said he'd take Bertie for a walk and meet me at Dalmeny or thereabouts. And we timed it perfectly.
After a meal (pork and noodle stir-fry, cooked by me), we decided to go to see Gangs of New York. We left it a bit late and ended up sitting down in the last seats -- front row, far corner -- just as the film started. Despite the neck-cricking view and the violent content, I enjoyed it. It's a part of American history I knew nothing about, and it's very well-made. I'm a fan of Daniel Day-Lewis, and he acted everyone else off the screen. I hope he gets the Oscar, he deserves it.
Sunday, after walking Bertie, we went to IKEA. Andrew's in nest-building mode and wanted to get some ideas for interior decor. We didn't buy anything -- I couldn't bear the thought of standing in another queue, and Andrew was getting the train home -- but had a good time looking at everything. Andrew hadn't been before and was a bit overwhelmed by the totality of the IKEA experience. Yes, you can furnish an entire home at IKEA. We had intended to have lunch at the cafeteria, but it was too crowded, so we just grabbed a hotdog and fled.
On the way home we stopped at Holyrood Park to walk Bertie. (Yes he had been left in the car, but it was freezing cold, so that's all right. And he enjoyed his IKEA hotdog.) During the walk we saw some crows (or are they ravens? I can't tell) curling on the frozen pond. At least that's what it looked like they were doing. After watching them for a while, we realised they were trying to crack open chunks of ice, thinking they were snails. They even fought over them, poor things. They were flying up and dropping the chunks on to the frozen surface, pecking at them to see if they were "open", then dropping them again.
Back home I cooked Andrew a quick omlette and drove him to the station for his train. Then I had a quick breather before going off to meet Fiona for another film, Two Weeks Notice. Her choice, not mine, and I can't say I enjoyed it. It was ok, there were a couple of ok jokes, but it was ... dumb. And I hate Huge Grunt. However, it was nice seeing Fiona again and catching up over a drink.
Monday morning I was up at sparrow fart, walking Bertie in the permafrost before going into town on the bus to see my craniosacral therapist, Joanna, and then on to the hospital for the follow-up MRI scan. Both involved lying down, which was welcome. I was also supposed to take my car in to the garage to have its oil leak diagnosed but put that off due to lack of time. After the scan I went to a bookshop and bought some poetry (a Fleur Adcock collection and Milton's Paradise Lost) and Computing Projects for Visual Basic. I also got some music, a cheapo early music compilation and a collection of Persian classical music.
When I got home I walked Bertie and had something to eat and then pretty much conked out. I gave Bertie some leftovers, which apparently had an electrifying effect on his innards. He had to go out into the garden urgently at 3am and again at 7:30am. Sigh.
This morning I finally took the car to the garage. The mechanic had said he was too busy to fix it but would see what was wrong and book it in. He took a look, measured the oil (almost empty) and said it was so bad he would fix it today. I was imagining the worst, but it was only the oil filter, which was so old it was corroded through. I was "this close" (tiny amount) to a catastrophic engine failure, apparently. But hurrah, it was only £20 for a new filter and two litres of oil.
And now I'm back at work. I was on my own tonight, so it was mega-busy all the way through. I have a last go at learning the new system on Thursday, then we start training on Monday. After that it will be insanely busy for six weeks or so, training and trouble-shooting the new system on top of this job. But there's my lovely holiday to look forward to...
Cooking oil: well, I just think that if you can run cars (and presumably trains and much else) on cooking oil, the government should be carpeting the land in oil-producing crops, not fighting wars over dwindling, non-replaceable stocks of highly-polluting fossil fuels. That's all.
So on Saturday, all fired up, I headed off to do a spot of protesting. Andrew and Bertie walked me to the station; neither of them came along -- Andrew was too ill (flu) and Bertie too cowardly. The man in the Dalmeny ticket office sucked his teeth; "Are you sure you want to go to Glasgow? It's chaos..." And so it was. There was a huge, stationary queue at Waverley station, and I was in it for about an hour. However, eventually, I got to Glasgow. I'd managed to leave my map behind and feared I'd never find the SECC rally-point. Walked out of the station and thought, hmmm, I wonder if those thousands people waving placards and shouting slogans know the way? I joined at George Square, just down from the station, and the march stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. I found myself behind the Scottish Socialist Party banner, with a very lively bunch of people.
I'd had a couple of calls on the train from my old boss, who was on his way to the rally with his wife, so I called him when we arrived at the SECC and got vague directions on where to look for him. He's very tall, so he was easy to spot! They left soon after that, and I declined their invitation to join them in going to Loch Lomond, or even just going for a drink, because I wanted to listen to some of the speeches and generally soak up the atmosphere. I heard the Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan speak, quite the fiery orator ("Brothers and Sisters!") and someone else who didn't speak up well enough for me to hear. I roamed around looking for people I knew (didn't see anyone, though they were there) and admiring the endless variety of protest (Squirrels for Peace: Nuts to Bombs).
Finally I was weary enough for home and made the long trek back to the station. "Would passengers travelling to Edinburgh please begin queuing on Platform 6," said the tannoy. There was only a tiny queue! Hurrah! But it was a trick -- "start queuing" meant queue at Platform 6 to hear someone say "go out into the car park and join the real queue". It snaked all the way round a really large area! However, it moved quickly, so in the end it was only half an hour or so before I was sitting in a train seat, opening my flask of coffee.
Andrew phoned; he was on his way back to my place from town (no jeering, he really was sick) and said he'd take Bertie for a walk and meet me at Dalmeny or thereabouts. And we timed it perfectly.
After a meal (pork and noodle stir-fry, cooked by me), we decided to go to see Gangs of New York. We left it a bit late and ended up sitting down in the last seats -- front row, far corner -- just as the film started. Despite the neck-cricking view and the violent content, I enjoyed it. It's a part of American history I knew nothing about, and it's very well-made. I'm a fan of Daniel Day-Lewis, and he acted everyone else off the screen. I hope he gets the Oscar, he deserves it.
Sunday, after walking Bertie, we went to IKEA. Andrew's in nest-building mode and wanted to get some ideas for interior decor. We didn't buy anything -- I couldn't bear the thought of standing in another queue, and Andrew was getting the train home -- but had a good time looking at everything. Andrew hadn't been before and was a bit overwhelmed by the totality of the IKEA experience. Yes, you can furnish an entire home at IKEA. We had intended to have lunch at the cafeteria, but it was too crowded, so we just grabbed a hotdog and fled.
On the way home we stopped at Holyrood Park to walk Bertie. (Yes he had been left in the car, but it was freezing cold, so that's all right. And he enjoyed his IKEA hotdog.) During the walk we saw some crows (or are they ravens? I can't tell) curling on the frozen pond. At least that's what it looked like they were doing. After watching them for a while, we realised they were trying to crack open chunks of ice, thinking they were snails. They even fought over them, poor things. They were flying up and dropping the chunks on to the frozen surface, pecking at them to see if they were "open", then dropping them again.
Back home I cooked Andrew a quick omlette and drove him to the station for his train. Then I had a quick breather before going off to meet Fiona for another film, Two Weeks Notice. Her choice, not mine, and I can't say I enjoyed it. It was ok, there were a couple of ok jokes, but it was ... dumb. And I hate Huge Grunt. However, it was nice seeing Fiona again and catching up over a drink.
Monday morning I was up at sparrow fart, walking Bertie in the permafrost before going into town on the bus to see my craniosacral therapist, Joanna, and then on to the hospital for the follow-up MRI scan. Both involved lying down, which was welcome. I was also supposed to take my car in to the garage to have its oil leak diagnosed but put that off due to lack of time. After the scan I went to a bookshop and bought some poetry (a Fleur Adcock collection and Milton's Paradise Lost) and Computing Projects for Visual Basic. I also got some music, a cheapo early music compilation and a collection of Persian classical music.
When I got home I walked Bertie and had something to eat and then pretty much conked out. I gave Bertie some leftovers, which apparently had an electrifying effect on his innards. He had to go out into the garden urgently at 3am and again at 7:30am. Sigh.
This morning I finally took the car to the garage. The mechanic had said he was too busy to fix it but would see what was wrong and book it in. He took a look, measured the oil (almost empty) and said it was so bad he would fix it today. I was imagining the worst, but it was only the oil filter, which was so old it was corroded through. I was "this close" (tiny amount) to a catastrophic engine failure, apparently. But hurrah, it was only £20 for a new filter and two litres of oil.
And now I'm back at work. I was on my own tonight, so it was mega-busy all the way through. I have a last go at learning the new system on Thursday, then we start training on Monday. After that it will be insanely busy for six weeks or so, training and trouble-shooting the new system on top of this job. But there's my lovely holiday to look forward to...
17 February 2003
:: march pix
No time to catch up just yet, but here are some photos from the march on Saturday:
The queue in Waverly Station, Edinburgh -- the first of much queuing..
I'd forgotten my map of Glasgow, but fortunately the march was easy to find ... I just joined in.
It was huge. You can't really tell from the photo but it stretched as far as the eye could see...
In both directions.
It was freezing, but Scots are hardy folk when their dander is up.
At the rally point, the SECC, the crowd was massive, and still arriving.
Police estimates were 30,000, organisers said it was more like 80,000 or more.
Tony Blair was supposed to speak at the conference at 2pm, but chickened out and spoke at 10am, the time the marchers gathered at Glasgow Green. Here, we're listening to Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist MP. Excellent speech, stirring stuff.
Some Iraqis were there too.
There were lots of dogs on the march. Bertie would have hated it -- too noisy for my delicate pooch.
The queue in Waverly Station, Edinburgh -- the first of much queuing..
I'd forgotten my map of Glasgow, but fortunately the march was easy to find ... I just joined in.
It was huge. You can't really tell from the photo but it stretched as far as the eye could see...
In both directions.
It was freezing, but Scots are hardy folk when their dander is up.
At the rally point, the SECC, the crowd was massive, and still arriving.
Police estimates were 30,000, organisers said it was more like 80,000 or more.
Tony Blair was supposed to speak at the conference at 2pm, but chickened out and spoke at 10am, the time the marchers gathered at Glasgow Green. Here, we're listening to Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist MP. Excellent speech, stirring stuff.
Some Iraqis were there too.
There were lots of dogs on the march. Bertie would have hated it -- too noisy for my delicate pooch.
15 February 2003
:: well i'll be jiggered
It did work ... kind of. I can post here by email. Kind of.
Today was lovely. Andrew arrived last night but he'd gone to bed by the time I got home. I got up early this morning but he'd gone out shopping: for flowers and a Valentine's card, the sweetie! Awww, shucks! Then we had a long yacketty-yack breakfast, catching up on everything. After walking the dog we went into town for lunch, which was delicious ... that restaurant's a find. We both had "petits pates" for starters, little lamb-mince pies that were like more sophisticated versions of Scotch pies (mutton pies from Mosgiel, for kiwis). Then Andrew had squid pockets with a seafood stuffing and I had a stunning dish of farmed rabbit with creamy mash and dreamy veg. All the waiting staff were lovely, the decor was stylish and the chef kept popping out to see how we were getting on. He even shook hands with us as we left and thanked us for coming!
After that we went shopping for a mobile phone for Andrew and then I went to work. Did I mention it was a sunny day? Heavy frost on the ground, but crisp and dry. Andrew went home and walked Bertie, and right now he's out on a date. He may show up here (at my work) later for a ride home, depending on how the date went and how he feels -- he's got a heavy cold, poor man.
Work was manic, beyond manic at times, but I enjoyed it. A daily deadline suits me; if I had a weekly one I'd be bound to procrastinate and end up in a mad rush, but this way I have to be disciplined to get everything done. Very little time for emailing and blogging, unfortunately.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to the protest tomorrow (or later today, now it's after midnight). My former boss is going, and so is his wife, even though she's not feeling very well, because she's so aerated about the prospect of war. So I'll wrap up warm and pack a flask and my hillwalking whistle. The plan was to drown out Tony Blair's speech at the SECC, but apparently he's going to speak earlier now. I'll probably go straight to the SECC rather than to Glasgow Green -- the march will have finished by the time I get to the starting point!
One thing I remembered today in relation to the whole war-on-Iraq scenario is the story about running your car on cooking oil.
More later! Andrew just showed up...
Today was lovely. Andrew arrived last night but he'd gone to bed by the time I got home. I got up early this morning but he'd gone out shopping: for flowers and a Valentine's card, the sweetie! Awww, shucks! Then we had a long yacketty-yack breakfast, catching up on everything. After walking the dog we went into town for lunch, which was delicious ... that restaurant's a find. We both had "petits pates" for starters, little lamb-mince pies that were like more sophisticated versions of Scotch pies (mutton pies from Mosgiel, for kiwis). Then Andrew had squid pockets with a seafood stuffing and I had a stunning dish of farmed rabbit with creamy mash and dreamy veg. All the waiting staff were lovely, the decor was stylish and the chef kept popping out to see how we were getting on. He even shook hands with us as we left and thanked us for coming!
After that we went shopping for a mobile phone for Andrew and then I went to work. Did I mention it was a sunny day? Heavy frost on the ground, but crisp and dry. Andrew went home and walked Bertie, and right now he's out on a date. He may show up here (at my work) later for a ride home, depending on how the date went and how he feels -- he's got a heavy cold, poor man.
Work was manic, beyond manic at times, but I enjoyed it. A daily deadline suits me; if I had a weekly one I'd be bound to procrastinate and end up in a mad rush, but this way I have to be disciplined to get everything done. Very little time for emailing and blogging, unfortunately.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to the protest tomorrow (or later today, now it's after midnight). My former boss is going, and so is his wife, even though she's not feeling very well, because she's so aerated about the prospect of war. So I'll wrap up warm and pack a flask and my hillwalking whistle. The plan was to drown out Tony Blair's speech at the SECC, but apparently he's going to speak earlier now. I'll probably go straight to the SECC rather than to Glasgow Green -- the march will have finished by the time I get to the starting point!
One thing I remembered today in relation to the whole war-on-Iraq scenario is the story about running your car on cooking oil.
More later! Andrew just showed up...
14 February 2003
testing
An experiment. I'll be amazed if it works.
---------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through http://www.easynetdial.co.uk
13 February 2003
:: so anyway...
I've been trying to remember what on earth I've been doing that's kept me so busy.
I went to Ingliston Market on Sunday, always entertaining. It's shabby and shady and chaotic, but also cheerful and brash, and there's usually something interesting going on. I got peanuts and fat treats for the birds (over two dozen regulars now; happily the starlings seems to have deserted me but sadly so have the ring-necked doves) and visited my favourite computer software stall, then fell right off my moral high horse (which is actually more of a moral pony) and bought a couple of pirated videos. I make a fairly feeble point of not buying anything pirated if it's something I could easily afford, so normally I wouldn't get a video. But hey, they were films that aren't out on video yet and I hadn't seen them in the cinema.
I bought the Banger Sisters and Star Trek: Nemesis. I got my come-uppance with Star Trek, or Star Drek as it should be called. The sound quality is rubbish, it's as if someone has taken a video camera into the theatre and filmed it, and the visuals are muddy and blurred. It's not helped by a clunker of a plot and grotty acting. Boo! And I speak as a Star Trek fan -- I once queued up outside a science fiction bookshop to get the signature of Chakotay (Ellen made me! And he wasn't wearing his uniform, or his tattoo). The Banger Sisters is ok though -- it's like a normal video and it's a lively film, though a bit cliched. I haven't finished watching it yet, I haven't had time!
Weird dog story: Regular readers may recall the story of Sandy and his dogs, Amber the alsatian and Cassie the poodle. Shortly before he died last year, Sandy asked Pat, a neighbour, if she would take his dogs if anything happened to him. At the time she had one, a fairly elderly black lab cross. Sandy helped her find a nice white alsatian as a "replacement". So when he died, she suddenly had four dogs. First to go was her original dog, which was expected. Then Cassie was put down -- she was about 14, so again, no big surprise.
The other day I bumped into Pat and she only had Amber with her -- Kita, her other alsatian, had been put down after suffering severe fits and finally going into what the vet said was a state of constant fitting. She was only 18 months old, and she was doing well under Pat's care. She'd been kept shut up in an upstairs flat with very few walks before Pat got her, and she'd made great progress at learning to walk quietly on a lead and not bark hysterically at people and other dogs. She was lovely. Amber's always thrilled to see Bertie, relieved to see he's still alive I guess. She used to bark at him, but now she licks his face. Unfortunately he misinterpreted this as a come-on, and made his first attempt to try it on with a bitch. Pat threatened him with castration, so I guess he and Amber won't be allowed to play together any more!
Work has been great, I've been enjoying learning the new software. We start training the other staff a week on Monday. Oh, next Monday I have my follow-up MRI scan. Mum, if the CDs you've sent arrive in time I'm taking one with me: they have a very limited selection there, and you have music playing (with earphones) because of the noise the machine makes. They also talk to you via the earphones, so you have to wear them.
I went to Ingliston Market on Sunday, always entertaining. It's shabby and shady and chaotic, but also cheerful and brash, and there's usually something interesting going on. I got peanuts and fat treats for the birds (over two dozen regulars now; happily the starlings seems to have deserted me but sadly so have the ring-necked doves) and visited my favourite computer software stall, then fell right off my moral high horse (which is actually more of a moral pony) and bought a couple of pirated videos. I make a fairly feeble point of not buying anything pirated if it's something I could easily afford, so normally I wouldn't get a video. But hey, they were films that aren't out on video yet and I hadn't seen them in the cinema.
I bought the Banger Sisters and Star Trek: Nemesis. I got my come-uppance with Star Trek, or Star Drek as it should be called. The sound quality is rubbish, it's as if someone has taken a video camera into the theatre and filmed it, and the visuals are muddy and blurred. It's not helped by a clunker of a plot and grotty acting. Boo! And I speak as a Star Trek fan -- I once queued up outside a science fiction bookshop to get the signature of Chakotay (Ellen made me! And he wasn't wearing his uniform, or his tattoo). The Banger Sisters is ok though -- it's like a normal video and it's a lively film, though a bit cliched. I haven't finished watching it yet, I haven't had time!
Weird dog story: Regular readers may recall the story of Sandy and his dogs, Amber the alsatian and Cassie the poodle. Shortly before he died last year, Sandy asked Pat, a neighbour, if she would take his dogs if anything happened to him. At the time she had one, a fairly elderly black lab cross. Sandy helped her find a nice white alsatian as a "replacement". So when he died, she suddenly had four dogs. First to go was her original dog, which was expected. Then Cassie was put down -- she was about 14, so again, no big surprise.
The other day I bumped into Pat and she only had Amber with her -- Kita, her other alsatian, had been put down after suffering severe fits and finally going into what the vet said was a state of constant fitting. She was only 18 months old, and she was doing well under Pat's care. She'd been kept shut up in an upstairs flat with very few walks before Pat got her, and she'd made great progress at learning to walk quietly on a lead and not bark hysterically at people and other dogs. She was lovely. Amber's always thrilled to see Bertie, relieved to see he's still alive I guess. She used to bark at him, but now she licks his face. Unfortunately he misinterpreted this as a come-on, and made his first attempt to try it on with a bitch. Pat threatened him with castration, so I guess he and Amber won't be allowed to play together any more!
Work has been great, I've been enjoying learning the new software. We start training the other staff a week on Monday. Oh, next Monday I have my follow-up MRI scan. Mum, if the CDs you've sent arrive in time I'm taking one with me: they have a very limited selection there, and you have music playing (with earphones) because of the noise the machine makes. They also talk to you via the earphones, so you have to wear them.
:: safety first
I bought a car restraint for Bertie today, after reading an article about how an unrestrained rear-seat passenger can kill the driver in an accident. Apparently even at town speeds, braking suddenly can send your back-seat pal flying into you with enormous force. There's also a fairly scary ad I saw in a cinema recently that shows a boy killing his mother in a prang. Lots of blood and screaming. Then there's this, from Pet Planet. Baby elephant! A baby elephant with bony elbows!
It's also for Bertie's own good -- a few times he's ended up in a heap in the footwell after a brisk traffic manoeuvre on my part. And just the other day he was panting out the window when he fell over, and caught his top jaw on the glass. I thought he'd broken a tooth, he carried on so much, but I think it was just fright and maybe a sore tongue.
Anyway, from now on we'll be motoring in complete safety. Heh.
It's also for Bertie's own good -- a few times he's ended up in a heap in the footwell after a brisk traffic manoeuvre on my part. And just the other day he was panting out the window when he fell over, and caught his top jaw on the glass. I thought he'd broken a tooth, he carried on so much, but I think it was just fright and maybe a sore tongue.
Anyway, from now on we'll be motoring in complete safety. Heh.
:: busy week
It's getting to be spring -- snowdrops are out, the daffs are in bud and I today saw a branch about to burst into blossom -- but it's turned cold again. And it's muddy too, which means that although I cleaned all the floors with astounding thoroughness on Monday, they're already all dirty again. Cleaner than they were though, so that's something.
That's the other thing about spring -- sunlight finds my house again, and shows me just how clarty it is. Grimy windows! (On the inside; the outsides are now benefitting from hired help) Drifts of dog hair! Muddy paw prints! It'd be a relatively clean house if it weren't for Bertie, I have to say. For a clean dog he's very grubby.
Big treat for him tonight though -- Andrew's arriving! He does love to have visitors. We're going to lunch tomorrow in town, at La Garrigue. I haven't been there before but it gets good reviews and looks nice from the outside. And it's French! I like the French again since they started standing up to the Americans. I even forgive them slightly for the Rainbow Warrior.
Speaking of which, I'm thinking of going to Glasgow on Saturday for the peace march. It's a bit of a long haul, and it's early in the day, but I'm annoyed enough about the whole Iraq thing to make the effort. I first went on a peace march in 1972, how about that! A guy at work says his first was in 1961 -- we're just a bunch of old peaceniks.
I've finally uploaded the slightly gussied-up version of my website and it works ... it's not dramatically different, but the coding is cleaner. Yes, that will be a relief for those visitors appalled by my messy coding.
That's the other thing about spring -- sunlight finds my house again, and shows me just how clarty it is. Grimy windows! (On the inside; the outsides are now benefitting from hired help) Drifts of dog hair! Muddy paw prints! It'd be a relatively clean house if it weren't for Bertie, I have to say. For a clean dog he's very grubby.
Big treat for him tonight though -- Andrew's arriving! He does love to have visitors. We're going to lunch tomorrow in town, at La Garrigue. I haven't been there before but it gets good reviews and looks nice from the outside. And it's French! I like the French again since they started standing up to the Americans. I even forgive them slightly for the Rainbow Warrior.
Speaking of which, I'm thinking of going to Glasgow on Saturday for the peace march. It's a bit of a long haul, and it's early in the day, but I'm annoyed enough about the whole Iraq thing to make the effort. I first went on a peace march in 1972, how about that! A guy at work says his first was in 1961 -- we're just a bunch of old peaceniks.
I've finally uploaded the slightly gussied-up version of my website and it works ... it's not dramatically different, but the coding is cleaner. Yes, that will be a relief for those visitors appalled by my messy coding.
6 February 2003
:: Snow pix
Here are some photos from the weekend:
First a "white hell" shot of Bertie in a slight blizzard. It was quite dark, but I turned the flash off after discovering I'd taken a photo of lots of bright white lumps.
And a few from Cramond:
Bright and sunny, but snow right to the water's edge.
Brrr. On the left, across the River Almond, the little Cramond ferryboat is tied up ... you can't see it, it's too dark. It's closed until further notice - ie forever - which is a shame. It was lovely being rowed across the river for 50p.
5 February 2003
:: winter wonderland
Well I got my wish -- I was walking Bertie in the Braid Hills park when it started snowing seriously, on Sunday that was. There's still snow in my back yard, but only because it doesn't get much sun in winter. We had some good walks over the weekend. Saturday I drove out to Gullane and walked along the Bents past the golf links. Then on the way home we stopped off at Holyrood Park. Sunday was Braid Hills, and Monday Cramond -- where snow was lying on the sand, right down to the water's edge.
Saturday's visit to Holyrood Park resulted in me booking a holiday to Greece. I was just loading Bertie into the car (wet and in disgrace after dashing into the pond in pursuit of swans and nearly catching them) when a young woman came up and asked for a lift. She'd climbed Arthur's Seat from the other side of the park and had gotten lost coming down. It was almost sunset and she wasn't wearing a jacket, poor thing. So I gave her a lift, and it turned out she was Greek! I said I was thinking of visiting Greece, blah blah, and when I said Halki, she nearly leapt out of her seat with excitement. "Oh that would be perfect! You'd love it!" etc. So I've booked! I'm going! It'll be May 7, for a week. The flight (to Rhodes, the nearest airport) leaves from Gatwick, so I'm also going to spend some time in London catching up with friends and seeing the sights.
I'll post some photos tomorrow, of snow and swans.
Saturday's visit to Holyrood Park resulted in me booking a holiday to Greece. I was just loading Bertie into the car (wet and in disgrace after dashing into the pond in pursuit of swans and nearly catching them) when a young woman came up and asked for a lift. She'd climbed Arthur's Seat from the other side of the park and had gotten lost coming down. It was almost sunset and she wasn't wearing a jacket, poor thing. So I gave her a lift, and it turned out she was Greek! I said I was thinking of visiting Greece, blah blah, and when I said Halki, she nearly leapt out of her seat with excitement. "Oh that would be perfect! You'd love it!" etc. So I've booked! I'm going! It'll be May 7, for a week. The flight (to Rhodes, the nearest airport) leaves from Gatwick, so I'm also going to spend some time in London catching up with friends and seeing the sights.
I'll post some photos tomorrow, of snow and swans.
31 January 2003
:: brr
It's fuh-reeeezing. Last week it was so balmy it was actually warmer here than on the Mediterranean. And now it's positively arctic. They're having blizzards further north, and in England too, but here it's just plain cold -- icy and clear. I like it -- sunshine is good, dry is good -- but it would have been nice to have some snow. I never used to bother much about the weather, but now I'm out walking three times a day it's become a real issue. A rain and wind combo makes me want to train Bertie to use a flush toilet, but a violent storm is thrilling. Fog is mysterious and great for photography, but a wet mist is just ... wet.
Depending on the weather I'm going on a hillwalking expedition this weekend, probably the Pentlands again. I need to get my fitness back up after a slackish few months.
I'm still dithering about Greece. I picked out the perfect place, but it's almost £500 once the single supplement is added. For a week that seems an awful lot ... but it is really lovely. I can't decide.
Depending on the weather I'm going on a hillwalking expedition this weekend, probably the Pentlands again. I need to get my fitness back up after a slackish few months.
I'm still dithering about Greece. I picked out the perfect place, but it's almost £500 once the single supplement is added. For a week that seems an awful lot ... but it is really lovely. I can't decide.
30 January 2003
ASK-A-SCIENTIST
ASK-A-SCIENTIST Archive - Veterinary
This is a US government department thing; I've earmarked the veterinary section (everything you need to know about Fruit Bat Histoplasmosis) but there are stacks of categories: weather, molecular biology, chemistry.
This is a US government department thing; I've earmarked the veterinary section (everything you need to know about Fruit Bat Histoplasmosis) but there are stacks of categories: weather, molecular biology, chemistry.
29 January 2003
Pepys' Diary
Pepys' Diary
The original blog! This is such a great idea ... there was a series recently on Radio 4 about Pepys, I used to sometimes catch it when I was driving home, if I managed to get out early. I think it was readings from his biography. Anyway, I've never read the diaries, so I was delighted to find this.
The original blog! This is such a great idea ... there was a series recently on Radio 4 about Pepys, I used to sometimes catch it when I was driving home, if I managed to get out early. I think it was readings from his biography. Anyway, I've never read the diaries, so I was delighted to find this.
26 January 2003
:: friends reunited
I just signed up at the Friends Reunited site, but it was a bit dull -- I'm the one and only ex-pupil registered for Port Chalmers primary, and didn't recognise any names from the Girls' High list. Another anti-climax.
My home email is working again.
My home email is working again.
:: more
The early PA report:
POLICE SURROUND PARLIAMENT OVER GUNMAN REPORT
By Gordon Darroch, PA News
Armed police tonight surrounded a building near the site of the new Scottish Parliament building following reports of a firearms incident.
Police cordoned off a section of Holyrood Road in Edinburgh after receiving reports that a man had been seen carrying a gun at about 3.30pm.
Eight police vehicles, including six vans and an armed response unit, rushed to an address between Holyrood Road and the Pleasance, about 300 yards from where the Parliament is being built.
A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: “We are responding to an incident involving and individual. Armed response officers have been deployed because we have reason to believe a firearm may have been involved.
“As the situation is changing all the time, we cannot comment any further at the moment.”
mfl
"an address between Holyrood Road and the Pleasance" is an odd thing to say, because they are at right angles to each other, they intersect. If they mean on the corner of Holyrood Road and the Pleasance, then it's possibly the homeless hostel, which is near the corner -- the building nearest the corner is a business premises. There's also a pub across the road from the hostel. Then there are university buildings and the Dumbiedykes housing estate, then us. Across the road from us is the parliament site and a lot of other new buildings -- flats, a hotel, coffee bar etc.
POLICE SURROUND PARLIAMENT OVER GUNMAN REPORT
By Gordon Darroch, PA News
Armed police tonight surrounded a building near the site of the new Scottish Parliament building following reports of a firearms incident.
Police cordoned off a section of Holyrood Road in Edinburgh after receiving reports that a man had been seen carrying a gun at about 3.30pm.
Eight police vehicles, including six vans and an armed response unit, rushed to an address between Holyrood Road and the Pleasance, about 300 yards from where the Parliament is being built.
A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: “We are responding to an incident involving and individual. Armed response officers have been deployed because we have reason to believe a firearm may have been involved.
“As the situation is changing all the time, we cannot comment any further at the moment.”
mfl
"an address between Holyrood Road and the Pleasance" is an odd thing to say, because they are at right angles to each other, they intersect. If they mean on the corner of Holyrood Road and the Pleasance, then it's possibly the homeless hostel, which is near the corner -- the building nearest the corner is a business premises. There's also a pub across the road from the hostel. Then there are university buildings and the Dumbiedykes housing estate, then us. Across the road from us is the parliament site and a lot of other new buildings -- flats, a hotel, coffee bar etc.
:: under siege
It's all excitement here tonight. It took me half an hour longer than usual to get to work, because the street was cordoned off by police. The road through the park (which has a turnoff just behind our building) is always closed on Sundays, so getting here involved a long detour -- and in the end I had to drive round the barrier on the park road and talk my way past another police barricade.
Apparently someone saw a man with a gun just before 4pm, and now, two hours later, there are still police everywhere. The BBC has a brief report on it, but there doesn't seem much information around at all. And yes, it is amusing that it's a news organisation and none of us know what's going on.
Apparently someone saw a man with a gun just before 4pm, and now, two hours later, there are still police everywhere. The BBC has a brief report on it, but there doesn't seem much information around at all. And yes, it is amusing that it's a news organisation and none of us know what's going on.
23 January 2003
:: picture post
I spent an hour -- one whole hour -- this afternoon rescanning two photos. It didn't take me that long to just scan them, it took me that long to find the originals, then to browse through the rest of the photos in the three albums and two shoe boxes I found them in, and to roughly sort out another two piles of photos and postcards lying around loose. I have mountains and mountains of photographs and I really need to do something about them -- I do like looking through them and I don't want to throw them out. The ideal would be to scan them all in I guess, but that would take forever.
Thank goodness for my digital camera. A bulging hard drive is much less messy than shoe boxes.
Some sad news: one of Chad and Leslie's huskies, Cheena, has cancer. She's over 12, so I guess she's had a good innings, but it's still awful for them to contemplate losing a dog they've had so long.
Thank goodness for my digital camera. A bulging hard drive is much less messy than shoe boxes.
Some sad news: one of Chad and Leslie's huskies, Cheena, has cancer. She's over 12, so I guess she's had a good innings, but it's still awful for them to contemplate losing a dog they've had so long.
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