Monday, 16 November 2009
Wow - I got a Medal!
Just got back from Club. Tonight was the used-to-be-annual Awards, the last of which was at least three years ago now. Much to my surprise I won one. I got the "Best GM Flange" award for getting the whole party home alive in Celtic Double-cross!
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Home again.
But I don't dare go to sleep just yet. I'm gonna try and stay up 'til ~21:00 tonight and get back onto UK time quickly.
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Letters from America
Well, I made it to the US OK, and survived the jet-lag. For a day with that nmuch travel in, it went well. I got to the airport at 06:15 for a 06:55 departure, changed at Heathrow without problem (Terminal 5 is good!), and the trans-atlantic flight was, well, if not fine, as good as 8 hours on a plane gets to be.
Today we did laundry, lunch and doctors before heading off to Germantown Splash Park to meet Matt, Erin and Henry. Unfortunately, there was a little thunder and they closed the splash park, so we went to the playground acorss the road for a while. I'll try & post some pictures on the family blog soon.
Today we did laundry, lunch and doctors before heading off to Germantown Splash Park to meet Matt, Erin and Henry. Unfortunately, there was a little thunder and they closed the splash park, so we went to the playground acorss the road for a while. I'll try & post some pictures on the family blog soon.
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Last day
Ok, today is going well so far. I was up on time, got the last wash into the dryer, then set off for Seascale for dinner at Mum & Dad's. The Potters and the Watsons were there as well, so it was a nice big dinner - roast pork, stuffing, roast potatoes and lots of veg, including a few of our courgettes and Dad's runner beans.
Dad loaned me his angle-grinder and we cut out the seized bolt on the spare tyre cage. I needed to get this done before I fly because while I can manage with the spare tyre in the boot when I'm on my own, once we have the whole family and all a bags in the car, there'll be no space for it.
Since Dobies hasn't managed to get us a replacement part yet, even though it's been over two weeks, I ended up pushing the tyre cage into place with Dad's little hydraulic jack, then wiring it into place with a coat hanger. It sounds very Heath-Robinson, but it is secure, and I can still get the tyre out if I need it.
After dinner, I picked Ben up and we did a couple of little odd jobs around the house for travelling, then went o to the big one in Ruth's room. I had wanted to put Ruth's curtains back up while she was away. The old rail had fallen down a while back. The bad news was that the old rail was to damaged to go back up - the good news was that we had a spare rail, only a little shorter, in the flat.
It took a while, but Ben and I got it up in the end. Proably the worst bit was when we thought we had everything sorted, but one of the hanging loops fell off and bounced out of the open window onto the kitchen roof. Fortunately we were able to recover it by taping Ruth's fishing net onto the end of a 7-foot pole and scooping it up. Here's a picture of the finished job, with fishing net...
Dad loaned me his angle-grinder and we cut out the seized bolt on the spare tyre cage. I needed to get this done before I fly because while I can manage with the spare tyre in the boot when I'm on my own, once we have the whole family and all a bags in the car, there'll be no space for it.
Since Dobies hasn't managed to get us a replacement part yet, even though it's been over two weeks, I ended up pushing the tyre cage into place with Dad's little hydraulic jack, then wiring it into place with a coat hanger. It sounds very Heath-Robinson, but it is secure, and I can still get the tyre out if I need it.
After dinner, I picked Ben up and we did a couple of little odd jobs around the house for travelling, then went o to the big one in Ruth's room. I had wanted to put Ruth's curtains back up while she was away. The old rail had fallen down a while back. The bad news was that the old rail was to damaged to go back up - the good news was that we had a spare rail, only a little shorter, in the flat.
It took a while, but Ben and I got it up in the end. Proably the worst bit was when we thought we had everything sorted, but one of the hanging loops fell off and bounced out of the open window onto the kitchen roof. Fortunately we were able to recover it by taping Ruth's fishing net onto the end of a 7-foot pole and scooping it up. Here's a picture of the finished job, with fishing net...
And the packing is... (Saturday)
Almost done. I'm waiting for one last wash to run for a couple of shirts that needed stain-treating.
Apart from that, Ben's been over most of the day, and he's been a great help.
We've harvested loads of courgettes and a couple of dozen cherry tomatoes, planted out the sweet potatoes and salad-thingies, watered everyhting in the greenhouse, and done a bit of tidying.
After that, we emptied out the car, washed the rear seat-cover, vacuumed everything, and put the car seats etc back in again.
Then, we folded loads of laundry and put a lot of it away, and made chicken tikka masala for tea.
For a rest in the evening, I did the next couple of stages of putting WindowsXP on Mel's new laptop for her. It came with Vista, but Vista won't support her scanner or any of her printers.
Apart from that, Ben's been over most of the day, and he's been a great help.
We've harvested loads of courgettes and a couple of dozen cherry tomatoes, planted out the sweet potatoes and salad-thingies, watered everyhting in the greenhouse, and done a bit of tidying.
After that, we emptied out the car, washed the rear seat-cover, vacuumed everything, and put the car seats etc back in again.
Then, we folded loads of laundry and put a lot of it away, and made chicken tikka masala for tea.
For a rest in the evening, I did the next couple of stages of putting WindowsXP on Mel's new laptop for her. It came with Vista, but Vista won't support her scanner or any of her printers.
Friday the 14th part 2...
Well, I got the light switch done, then made cheese omlette & garden veg for tea.
Unfortunatey, it's Sunday now, and I can't remember what else I did!
Unfortunatey, it's Sunday now, and I can't remember what else I did!
Friday, 14 August 2009
Friday the 14th part 1...
OK, got a severe lack of motivation going here, so to remove myself from distraction. I'm going to turn the electricity off. This way, I can't be tempted to compute, game, read* or watch movies.
I'm justifying such a drastci step by reming myself that I need to replace the failing bathroom light switch before it gets too dark.
After that, I'm going to see how many other jobs I can do before I have to put the power back on.
I'm justifying such a drastci step by reming myself that I need to replace the failing bathroom light switch before it gets too dark.
After that, I'm going to see how many other jobs I can do before I have to put the power back on.
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