After being Mr Grumpy most of last week when my back began playing-up on Tuesday, I’m pleased to say it feels like it’s on the mend. Not totally – it’s still a delicate balancing act trying to put my socks on in the morning and press-ups are also off the to-do list for a while …
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Author:Steve Palmer
I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 - well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I'm no Samuel Pepys! If you're looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you've arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it's all done with love!
I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!
TV: Being Human (Series 3, Episode 1)
Being Human returned to our screens last night after much hype – and for the first time, in HD too! I wasn’t sure what to expect. Series 1, in my view had been really, really good – in spite of the weird premise of a ghost, vampire and a werewolf living together in a …
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‘Maj’ – 1 Year On
Hard to believe, but Ann’s Fiesta – ‘Maj’ celebrates its first birthday today. It’s been a great little car – a still is. It’s nippy around town, easy to park and great to look at, with its ‘hot magenta’ paint-job (Maj – geddit?) and body-kit. It’s been worked hard though – almost 15000 miles on …
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Licensed to Drill
The first stage of returning the Mondeo to the Lease Company began today. The paperwork arrived from DVLA now that I’ve de-registered the personal plate. The car gets back the original registration mark from three years ago, so all I need to do, is whip off the existing plates, and put …
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PC Refresher
Popped round to Lee’s to investigate a problem she thought she had with her PC. As it turned out, it was nothing to worry about – just running a little sluggishly because of numerous updates going on in the background. It was a perfect opportunity to give her a short refresher on things like: iPlayer, …
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The Cat’s away..!
Ann’s off to Ragdale Hall for a few days with her good friend, Nicki. The house feels strangely empty – and very quiet! Err, best not repeat that!!! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and …
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Back to the…
Ibuprofen and diclofenac! Looks like my back is playing up again. No warning – one minute fine and mobile…next minute, a dull thumping ache across my lower back. It hasn’t been this bad since 2008… and that went on for ages!!! Grumpy b****** now! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing …
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Ian, Mags and Steve: Dinner in Stratford
I drove over to Stratford-upon-Avon to meet up with Ian and Margaret for our regular three-monthly get-together. We haven’t seen each since our visit to the Saxon Mill in November. I left here early afternoon, so I could get to Ian’s by 2.30 in order to finish resuscitating his laptop. That seemed to go well, …
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Lunch with Antony and Sue – and Lee
A while back, in a galaxy far, far away, Sainsbury’s restructured, and some of their long-servers sought other homes, whilst a few, through a variety of circumstances, stayed-put. Ann headed for pastures new, Antony, her closest work-colleague, chose ‘option b’. He and his wife, Sue came to lunch today. We haven’t seen them since we …
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Turning our wet room into err, a Wet-Room!
For a while now, having tried to swing a cat in the shower room – we found we couldn’t! – either we (or the cats) are getting larger or the room is shrinking, whatever is it, there just doesn’t seem to be enough room in there anymore. Add to that, the fact that it never …
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Yo! Sally
I met up with Sally B in Cambridge today. In a change to our normal haunt – Brown’s – I ventured into the unchartered territory of Yo! Sushi – me…?…raw fish..?, surely some mistake! Actually, it was a really good atmosphere – really buzzy – and the food? Well, it wasn’t all on my list …
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Hairy Mammoth (sort of)
Image by Steve Palmer (UK) via Flickr Imagine a hairy mammoth…err, a fiftieth of the size…smaller feet…a different colour…without tusks…sleeps on a bed and is definitely not extinct – and you have Bon-Bon our white Chinchilla (I’m beginning to think the mammoth analogy wasn’t the best choice!). She’s a …
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New Car 2011–Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 CDTi 4×4
Ok, I officially signed-on-the-line today for my new car. It should here towards the end of March/early April. Apart from the challenge (for just 24 hours!) of the finance deal – in terms of will they or won’t offer it?, the only other difficulty was choosing the colour. I nearly went for silver…nearly!, but …
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Just occasionally… – Part of my ‘nerd alert’ series :)
Just occasionally, even I underestimate the potential of a piece of ‘tech’! Take the Logitech Squeezebox Boom, that Ann bought me for Christmas. Initially I thought, that it’ll be good to be able to listen to radio stations in crystal clear digital clarity, pick-up a few new stations that you can’t receive on an …
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Film: The King’s Speech
Lee, Ann and I dropped into the local Odeon to see: ‘The King’s Speech’ starring Mr Darcy, Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, (amongst many other famous stars). Worth seeing, even if you don’t fancy Colin Firth? A definite ‘yes’ in my book. If he doesn’t get an Oscar for his performance, then there just isn’t …
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On-Off-On!
So, I ordered my new car on Tuesday and yesterday, the dealership rang me to say that the finance proposal had been declined! WHAT! UNBELIEVABLE! That’s the closest I’ve been to throwing a strop for a long time! I’ve been buying cars for 20 years on finance and never, ever, ever had a problem. The …
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Techy Day with Ian
I spent the morning with my good friend, Ian, working on sorting out some problems he was experiencing with his Netbook and Laptop. We managed to sort out the Netbook in no time at all, but the Laptop with its constant pop-up screen on boot-up saying ‘cannot install status.msi’ proved to be a little more …
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Boys and their Toys (Part 479)
After a lot of research towards the end of 2010, I popped into the local Vauxhall dealership today to do the deal for my next car. This follows a very enjoyable three-day-test-drive just before Christmas of the Vauxhall Insignia. The superb Volvo S60 came a close second – but the fact that my nearest Volvo …
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Wot, no more Christmas?
So that’s it then! Christmas is officially over and my waistline is the only evidence of our period of indulgence. After a rather large lunch, Nicki helped us remove the cards and dismantle all the decorations and the tree. The cards are now in the recycling bin and the decorations and the tree are back …
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Nicki and Lee
Nicki joined us for lunch and so did Lee – I think in another life we’re hoteliers! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the …
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Files Like the First Time
We spent a good proportion of today going through ‘the filing cabinet’ in the office. Designed by the same team as the Tardis, it was definitely bigger on the inside! – just where did all this paperwork come from? Yeesh! we even found stuff dating back to 1994! Still, it’s ‘job done’ and the weight …
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Ralph and Karen depart…
After a late night last night (2.30am!!!), Karen and Ralph left us after breakfast for IKEA. Thanks both – you helped us get our head round a load of things to do with the wedding – and the honeymoon afterwards. We’ve now got the rest of the day to ourselves – time for a clear-up …
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Party Party!!!
Off to Nick and Celina’s for their new year’s eve party! Happy New Year! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing …
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DVD: The Wolfman
After our busy morning, we chilled out in the evening to cold-cuts and the Blu-ray DVD: The Wolfman. I’ve had it for quite a while now, but hadn’t had an opportunity to watch it until now. Starring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, it tells the story of a nobleman returning to his estate to …
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Ralph and Karen – here for a few days + DVD: Centurion
On a much more joyful note, Ralph and Karen joined this evening. They’re staying for a few days, in part, to discuss some of the details for ‘the event’, now that there’s only 351 days to go! After a tasty meal of home-made shepherds’ pie plus the obligatory quantity of alcohol, we sat down to …
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Mae’s Funeral
It’s not one of the happiest days of our lives, as we travelled up to Lincoln today for the funeral. The Service was at 11.30 followed by the burial, and then we all went back to Denis’ for a bite to eat. Ann had made a wreath from cream and red roses which looked amazing! …
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Mum travels home
Mum travelled home today, courtesy of John, our taxi-driver. A good journey GOING, but almost twice-as-long coming back! Well, at least it wasn’t snowing! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its …
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Boxing Day 2010: Darth Vader 13 – Me, 0
It’s very cold outside – another severe frost here registering –6C on the thermometer. We’re going to make the trip ‘dahn sarff’ to visit Ann’s brother and his family. We set off around 10.30 and as Mum wasn’t feeling too well during the journey, we took a little longer to get there, arriving just after …
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Christmas Day 2010
I was up earlier than I thought – around 6am. It’s a white Christmas, but it’s ‘old’ white as there hasn’t been any new stuff for a few days. It’s cold though – the temperature gauge is showing ‘-7C’. We had a a lazy breakfast and prepared for the main event – presents! 10.00am: Pressy …
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TV: Doctor Who 2010 Christmas Special – ‘A Christmas Carol’
For me, a devoted Who-fan, this has been the most eagerly awaited TV programme of the Christmas period. Penned by the new Who Supremo, Steven Moffat, it weaves a parallel tale of the story of Scrooge – just right for Christmas Day! In contrast to last year’s yuletide Tennant-exit storyline, this episode wasn’t hyped to death, …
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