Personal – Page 5

British Design Classics

I used to love collecting stamps when I was a kid and this new set of British Design Classics which is out next year from the Royal Mail is just lovely and brought back some nice memories.

More stamps from the collection can be seen on the CR Blog.

Following on from the weight loss (continuing but slowing down) I’m trying something new. Hill walking. I’ve always fancied doing it but always had the excuse of ‘I don’t have the proper gear’ or people who were doing it were pretty experienced and I definitely was too out of shape to try it. However one of the guys that I play badminton with is trying to get a monthly hill walking group started…and I hope to join them.

I picked up a proper pair of walking boots last week and went out for a trial walk on Friday. Just a couple of miles to try out the boots. Thankfully they are spot on and very comfy thanks to Cotswold Outdoor who were very helpful and spent quite a bit of time helping me choose the boots. Next I need to get some waterproof gear and also something to keep me a bit warmer. It’s quite a steep initial outlay to be honest but I hope to make good use of it. The first walk should be on Sunday 9th November. Probably not the best time of year to start something like this but beggars can’t be choosers.

Even the short walk on Friday was very enjoyable. Walking through the autumn leaves brought back memories of Glasgow Uni. Walking down Kelvin Way was always nice when the leaves had fell until the rain kicked in and it turned into a nice muddy mix. Thinking back to Uni, me and Hamid walked everywhere. Walked to town, then into The Barras for some, erm, software, then walking back home. Walked to each others houses no matter what the weather. Those were the days.

The walk on Friday was also a first test for some geo mapping iPohne app’s. First up was Runkeeper. It tracked the walk with great accuracy as can be seen in the screenshot below. The other app that I’ll try this weekend coming is TrailGuru. Want to do around double the distance as the first hill walk is around 8 miles. One thing that won’t last though is the iPhone battery life. To use one of these app’s over a walk will need a battery pack of some sort. A Kensington option is looking favourite at the moment if I can find it in stock. Really looking forward to the first walk though. Don’t get out and about enough around Scotland but this should certainly help.

Sunday Feel Good Story

My mum came in from the shops a couple of weeks ago. She was in a bit of a fluster. She had been picking up the bus in Partick and as she passed by the Salvation Army shop on her way to the bus stop her eye caught on something in the window. A little orange teapot with a cat on top. Nothing glamorous or expensive but when she was growing up she had one gifted to her exactly like that. She’d loved it but was upset when one day she came home to find her mother had sold it alongside some other trinkets she kept so she could buy more alcohol. She’s never talked about her younger days much – sounds quite tough.

All these years later and here was a chance to get one like it again. I popped in to see if I could buy it but the way the Salvation Army work is they display soon to be sold stuff in the window – you couldn’t buy anything in the window until Saturday 25th. So over the last week my mum kept thinking about whether to get it or not. It was stirring some mixed memories for her. However yesterday morning she had decided to try and get it so we both headed down (in some awful weather) for the 9AM opening.

There was quite a queue and just after nine the doors opened…and people started to rush in and I mean rush. We started looking and very quickly my mum saw it and grabbed it. It was in ok condition apart from a new looking chip and it was valued at the princely sum of £1.49. She actually thought of not buying it as she thought she was being daft. There was also a scratch on the side which she was sure she had done when she was younger, but she remembered it as being bigger. But that was something like 50 years ago. Anyway she bought it and we headed home. As you can see, it’s pretty simple and certainly wasn’t bought to be put on display.

As my mum cleaned it up I heard a bit of a shriek from the kitchen. Asking if she was OK she shouted on me to come down. As she was cleaning the insides she spotted D.B on the inside of the lid. Her initials. When she was young she had been told to write her initials on the inside or bottom of things so she wouldn’t lose them. Fifty years on, passing through god knows how many hands, the advice had finally borne some fruit. She was so happy – she had her teapot back. It’s not the size or value of gifts but sometimes the thought and story behind them that make all the difference. Most folk don’t need reminding of this. I certainly do.

Miscellaneous Monday

I’ve not blogged for a long time. Been very busy and not really had too much to post about that Twitter can’t take care off. Still, in times of post crisis I always resort to this kind of thing. Lot’s of bullets and lot’s of bite sized….tweets. Ahem. Anyway, on with the nonsense:

O2 broadband has been up and running for two weeks and so far it’s all good. Great for online gaming and I’m getting a rock solid 8-9Meg with no throttling. I’ve now left Virgin so saving quite a bit of cash each month. Take that credit crunch!
Speaking of which – crazy times eh! Makes me question the pension I’m in. Eats up lot’s of my salary and I’m again questioning what I’ll really get at the end of it. At the same time I know I need to do something for when I eventually get old. Or do I? Could anyone have predicted banks being nationalised, taxpayers bailing out the massive institutions and the global demise in the stock market? I guess Alistair Darlings warning at the end of August doesn’t look so negative now. Brown is also coming out smelling slightly better than he was just a few short months ago. Is this finally turning the tide for Labour? I have my doubts as ultimately they will be portrayed as the guys that got the economy into this mess. Still, interesting to note how quiet the man with the plan is. Knobber. Also nice to see shareholders moaning that they have been wronged. Ho ho ho.
I’m enjoying Fringe.
New Apple laptops. Macbooks, Macbook Pro’s and…thats it. While everyone wants a tablet I still can’t see it happening. To much of a clash with the iPhone. I don’t think we’ll see a glass touchpad either. Just doesn’t sound right but you never know. I won’t be buying whatever they release (that was bold!). Although I do want to replace my current desktop and laptop with a new laptop at some point. Time will tell.
Had a nasty migraine this morning. First in quite a while. Annoying.
Fifa 09 is superb online. Best online footie game by quite a margin. This will probably be the first year that I won’t buy Pro Evo. Only thing that sucks is people who quit games early because they are losing. I still get the win but it’s pretty unsatisfying. The club options where you and friends get to play in the same team against others is a real highlight. Highly, highly recommended.

Sunday Night Blues

What a lazy weekend. Potentially the only productive output from this weekend is this post. Embarrassing. Especially when this post is just really a thoughts post. A post made up of tweets really. OK, long tweets.

Starting on a high, aren’t the Olympics just superb! I’ve spent most of the weekend in front of the TV or the BBC Olympics site watching the Brit’s success. Unbelievable. Usain Bolts run was jaw dropping, Michael Phelps achievements will probably go unmatched for decades, it’s a great games so far. Still a week to go so plenty chance for more British golds. A week before Boris Johnson is handed the Olympic flag. Mind boggling. Seb Coe did joke that 5000 Morris dancers would be used for Britain’s eight minute segment during the closing ceremony but it does make you think – what will we do?
iPhone is still causing me grief. App’s have stopped working three times in a fortnight meaning a re-install to get them going. My paid app’s now work as my account history has been restored but if they fail I can’t download them again – I need to buy them again. Apple have assured me that they are trying to fix my issues and that they have noted to get in touch with me again. Cheers.
New app that came out on Thursday on the iPhone is Simplify Media which allows you to stream music to your iPhone from your home computer – Mac, Windows or Linux. It’s buggy but when it works it’s superb. Worked well for me over 3G too. You can also invite friends who can listen to your library and vice versa. If they can iron out the bugs and make it more reliable this takes away the size issue of the iPhone. All my music…anywhere. Some screens from the app below.

Weight loss has stalled. However stall is no surprise as I’ve been eating more and doing less exercise. So need to get back to what I was doing as I want to lose a bit more by the end of the year. So it was back in the saddle today with a 19mile cycle. Felt good.
Contemplating blog restyle. Again. In fact, contemplating blog and what I should do with it. Again. It’s not really doing what i want and I’m not publishing what I really want to publish. What to do?
Last iPhone comment – here’s why I waited for 3G iPhone:
3g – download – 1.67mps (1666kbps/203kB/s)
3g – upload – 0.25Mbps (254 Kbps / 31kB/s)

Edge – download – 0.34 Mbps (340 Kbps / 42kB/s)
Edge – upload – 0.05 Mbps 949 Kbps / 6 kB/s)

Quite a difference and the 3G makes it usable, unlike edge which can be pretty frustrating.
Everyone seen Dark Knight then? I had a draft post that I couldn’t be bothered finishing off. Basically it said ‘I loved the Dark Knight’ and I’m a Batman geek. It’s dark and very true to the comic featuring many characters and scenes from comics like Hush and Long Halloween. Watching in the Imax was pretty special and the opening robbery scenes and those in Hong Kong were amazing. Heath Ledgers Joker was very impressive and contrasted so well with Batman. Film ended on a muted note but that felt the right thing to do. Loved the real world feel of it all. Using special effects sparingly I think emphasised the fact that Batman is a normal guy – no special powers. Lot’s of gadgets but no powers. Hopefully there will be a third in a few years time.
Rangers have made some interesting signings in the last four days. Pity they weren’t three weeks ago when they might have made a difference. Someone needs to be held accountable for why these signings took so long.
One last moan. Dog owners especially the one that lets their dog shite at my front gate. Fuck off please. Thanks.

Weight Update

Back in December I posted the last update on my weight loss. I’d lost over two stones and decided it was time to at least post an update, set a target and give me something to aim for. Well, it’s just over 10 months since I started trying to lose some weight and I’ve hit another milestone.

In total I’ve lost 25.5kg, 56.2 pounds or 4 stones 2 pounds. The fourth stone was a lot more difficult than the others but in truth the biking has calmed down recently so I kind of know why. There’s also been some blips along the way (Christmas, some illnesses etc) but overall there’s a nice shape to the graph above.

So my total weight is now 98.6kg or just over 15 1/2 stones. Another 1.5kg will see me reach my true target, a BMI under 30 which would mean (according to the BMI scale) that I’m no longer obese but overweight. To some reading this that will sound crazy but for me it’s a massive difference to what I was less than a year ago.

What brings it home are things like clothes – some of them are hanging of me now and look really baggy. My waist size has dropped a few sizes and the belts are to big now. The neighbours had their two kids in yesterday and their combined weight is 4.5 stones, just over what I’ve lost. When you see the physical space that they take up and that has disappeared of me over the last 10 months. Well, it made me smile. Reactions from friends and colleagues have also been good, especially those I don’t see often.

I also feel a lot fitter. Two hours of non stop badminton holds no fears, something I couldn’t say last September. On the bike I can now push for a solid hour cycling for just under 19 miles. Some might laugh but it works for me and I’m pretty pleased the way my weight loss and fitness is progressing.

So what next? Well I expect to lose that kilo and a half over the next 3-4 weeks. I thought I would really struggle to hit this target but it’s not been too bad. So I’ll crack on and try to lose another stone by year end. And then? Maintain it!

Rambles

Some quick updates…

Virgin Media’s tech support is useless. My IP address still resolves to Ireland despite the fault seemingly being fixed. Trying to get any sense out of tech support is difficult at best. Seriously giving consideration to moving to Sky broadband now. It will be slower, probably disconnect slightly more but almost a 1/4 of the price of Virgin. At that price a few MB of speed isn’t much.
Really looking forward to Radiohead at Glasgow Green this Friday. Hoping the weather will be drier than the last few days though. Coincidently it’s Glastonbury weekend too – chances of dry weather are slim. Wimbledon starts tomorrow too – I guess we’re fecked.
Firefox 3 has been a really good upgrade for me. Stable, faster and plugin’s (sorry, add-ons) I use have been updated to support it. Happy days.
Great looking Ironman and Joker figures. I feel a purchase coming on.
Euro 2008 – fantastic groups stages, not so fantastic quarters. Same for most tournaments now. Tonights game was poor. Penalties again. Cheating Italians. Some things never change.
The iPhone’s shocking cost of international downloads. I guess the journo was desperate for someone to read his article so targeted the iPhone? The real problem is the telco’s and what they charge but it’s an old story and been down to death. Very shoddy. is it even more surprising it’s from the Times?
728 tonne ball helps stabilise a skyscraper
Doctor Who – a poor season 4 has really lifted over the last four episodes. Final two parter looks good but could it be too jam packed with people to be enjoyable?
Battlestar on the other hand has been cracking so far. Episode 10 felt really rushed though…and it’s not back until next year. Fail.
Hardly watching any Big Brother. A good thing by all accounts.

Another word for miscellaneous?

Just had a great week of work. Weather was glorious and I got a lot done around and outside the house. Also organised for the fireplace to be removed and replaced with something nicer and safer. It turns out our chimney is a bit defective and potentially dangerous so that needs a new lining. A horribly messy job awaits but needs must and it means I’ll need to decorate afterwards. Just hope the back gets a bit better as it’s very sore today. Too much straining this week.
Loving the Thunderbirds Specsavers advert.
GTA IV. Metacritic shows it’s the highest rated game. Ever. While reviews and scores are all pretty subjective it certainly is a must own title. The world simulation is so impressive. You can easily lose yourself in the game and forget about doing any missions. Driving around, phoning people, taxi runs, sight seeing, surfing the net etc. So much to do and it’s so enjoyable doing it. Mission have been pretty good so far although I’m only 15% into the game. Multiplayer is also starting to show some hidden depths. The free race modes are a great laug and very unpredictable. Cops n crooks is also a favourite with a lot of strategy required behind a seemingly simpe concept. This game has months of gameplay. Whenever I load it up I do a couple of missions and a little exploring – a great mix which is keeping the game very fresh.
Battlestar series 4 is a return to form so far. Certainly up there with series 1 & 2. Episode 3 is a highlight so far.
Summize is a nice way of searching for topics on Twitter. Also let’s you track tweets on topics you are interesed in – iPhone for example.
Scottish football – totally mismanaged. I hate the fact we still have the split in the SPL and no winter break. We also need more movement between the leagues. Having only one team drop from the SPL just isn’t enough. In fact, four leagues is too much. Two bigger leagues would be far more interesting and sustainable for Scotland. However the biggest joke has been the lack of support for Rangers in their Eufa Cup quest. Back in 2003 Cetic were given a free week before the final to help them prepare. Not so Rangers who have been forced to play two games against strong opposition the week before their final. Shame.
Can’t wait for the final on Wednesday night though. Changed flight so that I can get back to Glasgow from Bristol on Wednesday afternoon. I just hope there are no delays!!! Do not fail me Easyjet. Do not dare!
Not that it will be this year (and probably won’t be until end of next) but I’ll replace the desktop Mac and laptop Mac with…one laptop. Keeping data in sync between the two is easy with .Mac but it’s keeping software installed on both that’s a pain and to be honest the only thing I’d miss is the desktop real estate. A 24 inch screen is very nice and is far more productive than a laptop’s screen. One option to consider is a screen for the laptop but that’s way in the future. Resolution independent software and higher res screens may be a reality by the end of 2009.
Monotone is a photo theme for WordPress. It’s pretty simple but has nice archives and also colours each page by analysing the photo displayed on it. Very neat. I set up Crackle and Pop on WordPress.com and may use that to publish photo’s. Individual photo’s that is with links to Flickr sets. Time will tell – need to take mor ephoto’s first.
Gears of War 2 trailer. Looks very impressive. Roll on November.
Codemasters get the F1 licence. So yet again we’ll get an F1 game with great intro’s, great graphics but questionable handling (try the Race Driver demo to see what I mean). Maybe the 2009 rule changes will make for a better game…and a more exciting F1.

Misc.

Some quick updates, all misc.

Unlucky St Johnstone. Watching the game as a whole you couldn’t tell who was the first division team. In fact Rangers were shocking and it was St Johnstone who showed more ingenuity and had good spells of possession. I fear that tiredness and injuries are finally catching up with Rangers and i have the genuine ‘The Fear’ for the remainder of the season. Thank goodness we’ve at least won something this season already.
Tempted to buy a Wii. The urge to play Mario Kart is strong despite some of the iffy reviews. However, I’ve put it off this long and I’m still expecting (really desperately hoping) that a 3G iPhone will drop in June which will need funds. And GTA IV is next week. So I really shouldn’t. If only I didn’t have that urge.
While on the topic, how good does GTA IV look? Bloody amazing! Watched all the trailers again and I just can’t wait. Spent the weekend listening to Vice City and San Andreas soundtracks – class.
Not class is Konami. Metal Gear online beta was due to launch today. Firstly the download took a few hours on Thursday. Then as soon as you launch t it requires another 400Meg download which took a very long time and couldn’t be downloaded in the background. Now you need a Konami ID and a Game ID to play the game….which doesn’t work. And their website is virtually unusable. WTF? Why they wanted to use their own ID’s to play the game baffles me and also shows the lack of cohesion throughout the PS3. Shame. Hopefully when the beta finally gets moving later this week the game actually plays well…although Pro Evo online is hardly a good advert of what they can achieve online.
Alex Salmond. Honestly. Why are you such a smug git?
Fuel shortage? Panic buying? Doesn’t really take much to get people into a frenzy these days. It’s time we relied less on petrol, cars etc. I’ll fill up tomorrow though, just because I really don’t have any fuel left. The price at the moment is shocking too.
New BBC idents – very nice but how long has it taken to get to this point and how much money did it cost?
Job still going well. Time still flies, it all still feels new.
Radiohead tickets arrived. Just over two months until the concert at Glasgow Green. Cannot wait for that one.
Weight loss still progressing although rate of weight loss has slowed. Still, can’t complain really although clothes are starting to look baggy so shopping trip required soon.
Speaking of job there is one downside. There’s a right old moany bastard that sits close by three days a week. Tue-Thurs. Thank goodness for iPod and also being busy as it keeps me focussed. That guy just sucks the life out of anything in the vicinity. Annoys me even as I write this.
I’ve got a week off soon – first holidays of the year. Lot’s of jobs around the house so hopefully the weather gets a bit better.
The back lawn we put down last year looks pooh at the moment. Lot’s of moss and what looks like lots of weeds. Sigh. It’s at times like these concrete and chuckies sound like a great idea.
Still got some old drafts to post here. Onkyo 705 thoughts and also how GT5 plays. Don’t know if I’ll finish them off or not.
Mum’s birthday at the weekend and I’ve got no clue what to buy her. Wonder if she’d like a Wii?

Easter Eggs

As it was quite a nice day yesterday I took a walk down to Maplins for a couple of bit’s and pieces which also meant I got to see the annual Easter Egg Run to Yorkhill Hospital. There were thousands of bikes!

The noise was superb and even 30 mins after it had started there were still bikes passing by. I can remember when this event started. I was living in Argyle Street and over 3 or 4 years it grew from a few hundred to a few thousand bikes. Estimates yesterday were of over 10,000 bikes from across the UK. Impressive.

Full set of blurry pic’s can be found here.

Category: Personal