We’re planning to go to Kelmarsh Hall later today to see English Heritage’s ‘2010 Festival of History’. Ann’s friend Nicki joined and we just had time to whizz down to Lee’s to assemble her new bed and then returning home for a quick lunch. By 12.30 lunch was almost ready, however, the weather still looked …
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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!
Useful Software: ‘SugarSync’
I’m putting ‘SugarSync‘ through its paces over the weekend. It’s a piece of software that keeps multiple PCS in synch with each other – in short, you change a file on one PC and the changes are copied across in real-time to other PCs on your network such as your laptop. Great for when you’re …
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5ive go mad in London
Well, maybe not quite! I set off for London around 2ish and got into town around 3.30. After a quick walk to the Circle Line, I was soon at the Embankment, heading across Jubilee Bridge, heading for the South Bank. It was hot muggy day and perhaps as expected, the place was very busy with …
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LNG Meeting in London
I took the train down to London for one of our regular Learning Network Group self-development meetings. I cut the timing a bit tight for the 11am start, but on arrival, I noticed so did half the others! Six members attended in total where Philip P ran a very interesting session on Gender Dynamics. I …
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Long Weekend Away – Day 3: Final day, shopping
For our final day in Chester, we took a drive to Cheshire Oaks, a massive out-of-town designer shopping outlet about 15 minutes from the hotel. It’s massive – certainly the biggest we’ve ever visited. Ann thinks it’s the largest in Europe. Literally hundreds of shops and even some more outlets at the Coliseum just down …
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Long Weekend Away – Day 2: Four go shopping in Chester
We slept-in (ish!). I was up at 7 and Ann followed shortly afterwards. Time for a shower. The bathroom had been stocked with high quality toiletries, so it was a an opportunity to indulge ourselves fill our suitcases indulge ourselves! We got down the breakfast around 9 – and the place was already busy. A …
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Long Weekend Away – Day 1: Green Bough Hotel, Chester
We left home around 10am and had a pretty good journey to Chester. By 12.35 we were parking in the Green Bough hotel and Ralph and Karen arrived not long after. We’re here until Sunday and aim to take in the sights, sounds and of course, the shops! First impressions were superb. We were given …
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Lumix G2 – First photos
This is hardly scientific – I just wanted to ‘bang-off’ a few shots without too much consideration for settings, lighting, subject etc. The interesting part for me was that all the interior shots didn’t require the flash to be used. I’m very satisfied with these, but I’ll get a chance to try some more considered …
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Smile please..!
Way back on July 20 2005, I made a big decision to trade-in my existing camera for the then new and exciting DSLR, Canon 20D. At that time, this Canon model was pretty much the top-of-the-tree as far as semi-pro DSLRs were concerned. How times (and technology) move on! Here we are almost five years …
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Little things
After yesterday’s technological fiasco, things are more-or-less back to normal with the PCs – Phew! The rest of the day turned out to be much more enjoyable – full of ‘little things’ getting sorted: Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! …
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“I luv Compooters…I hates compooters”
Well, I was looking forward to my new router turning up today.It was destined to replace the ageing one that’s become increasingly unreliable over the past few months – dropping connection to the ‘net without warning. Having done my research, I settled for the Netgear dgn3500 Router Modem. A shiny beast with lots of flashing …
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Financial Future
Ann and I met with Chris, our financial advisor today as part of our annual review. We can both see the end of our working lives more clearly now and I’ll be the first to retire (well, that’s the plan!) in or around 2013, when I’ll close the business down. Failing that, it’ll be 2015, …
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Bed Build
Ahh, you know me with DIY assembly tasks – absolutely hopeless! – maybe it’s because I’m just no good at reading instructions that have been translated into English from Chinese!! So, with a screwdriver, a hammer and a phrase-book in hand, Ann and I attempted to assemble a new bed for the single-bedroom. Actually, it …
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Two go Shopping
Ann and Lee have gone to London shopping, leaving me to fend for myself. Is that the smell of melting plastic??? If they’re not back by Wednesday, I’m going to call the Bank! :)) Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! …
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Annual Reunion
I drove down to the School today. An extra busy event as, I’m chairing the sub-committee for the Old Croydonians’ 2011 celebrations AND attending the reunion as well. It was a good ‘do’. It was a swelteringly hot day and the decision to change to a different room (that has air-conditioning) was a wise-one especially …
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Shake
I took Lee up to Woodland Hospital, for her appointment with the specialist. After a thorough set of tests, he can’t yet determine whether Lee’s shaking is caused by the early stages of Parkinson’s or it’s just, as he called it, ‘a tremor’. We’re assuming the latter, and Lee starts on a course of medication …
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Susan’s web-site updated
Caught up with Susan today and updated her web-site www.susansheridan.com 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 seemed to be the …
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Project Canvas
The BBC Trust has given Project Canvas the green light. It’s a proposed partnership between Arqiva, the BBC, BT, C4, Five, ITV and Talk Talk to build an open internet-connected TV platform – that means easier access (in the future) to internet related stuff straight to your TV – such as iPlayer and other VOD (video on demand) …
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TV: Doctor Who – Series 5: Series Finale
I just watched it on Sky+, as we were out yesterday. Entitled ‘The Big Bang’, what a fantastic final episode! Steven Moffat, the head script-writer, who penned this final episode, didn’t disappoint. I reckon he ticked all the boxes for all the fans – and that’s a challenge in itself! Matt Smith next returns as …
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Lee’s back home
Ann dropped Lee back to hers tonight. She seems to have recovered fully from her ‘wobbly’ spell. But I will be taking her to see a Consultant on Thursday evening. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of …
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Embarrassing or what..?
Our national soccer side continued its lack-lustre performance by being thrashed by Germany. That means we’re now OUT of the World Cup Yeesh! 4-1 – it’s just embarrassing!!! 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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“Ooh Arr, avast there, me hearties!”
With eye-patch and peg-leg firmly in place we joined David and Val on their new boat Osprey One today. It was a perfect day for it, plenty of sun and a pub-lunch destination in mind! Lee was able to join us too as her final piece of furniture arrived slightly earlier than expected and we …
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DVD: Alice in Wonderland
Jo and Janet popped round. We tucked into a curry from Mazza’s and then watched the DVD: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ directed by Tim Burton. It had mixed reviews after the cinema release, so we were looking forward to see how good it was (or not!). Well, I thought it was just brilliant – great acting, …
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Stick (Wrong end of…)
It’s a well-known fact that if I had a brain I’d be dangerous! Hence last night’s confusion. Because the England match was on in the afternoon, Rosi, (whose turn it was to host the BBQ), recorded it, and I thought we were all sitting down to watch it together around 6.30. For that reason, I’d …
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Nice Lunch
We drove over to Kilworth House for lunch. It was a really nice place and the food was good too! Add to that the beautiful views from the terrace and a bit of sunshine, it was more or less perfect!! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until …
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Day with Ian and Ann
We drove over to beautiful Stratford-upon-Avon today to spend the day with Ian and Ann. We arrived around 12 and had a light lunch before heading off for the National Trust property – Upton House. Wow! What a gorgeous place – can’t think how Ann and I haven’t been there before. The terraced gardens especially, …
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Eng-er-land
We went round to Paul and Karen’s for a pizza feast and to watch the England v Algeria game. All the gang were there – brilliant!! Pity about the soccer though….0-0!!! A crap result and we played like crap too! Luckily the company and food made up for it! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite …
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Hello Polo
I picked up Lee after work and we headed over to High St Cars in Burton Latimer to pick-up her latest ‘wheels’ – a 2005 VW Polo 1.4 automatic. She’s named it ‘Clyde’! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My …
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Mum travels back
Mum travelled back home today, having been here for about a week. It felt longer! 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 …
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BBQ at Tom and Julie’s
Today was the first England match of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – and what better way to spend it than over at T and J’s with one of their legendary BBQs. The weather could have been a bit warmer, but at least it wasn’t raining. All the usual crowd were there, plus …
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