With the weather steadily improving, there was a really good chance that our fish & chip supper could be hosted outside! – Maybe Summer had finally arrived!!! So we set up chairs in the garden (and just to be safe, in the lounge too!) and then I drove over to Atlantis Fish Bar to pick …
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A Week with the Galaxy S4
OK, I’ve had the phone for only a week now, but it’s given me plenty of opportunity to give it a good work-out. O2 delivered the phone in record time – it was ordered at 3pm last Thursday, and it arrived 11am, the day after. Impressive!!! Here’s my impressions so far: Look and Feel – …
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Bedroom Redecoration – The Final Phase
We can now see ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’. The wallpaper is up (thanks to Honor), and the room is beginning to look more inhabitable! So, all that’s left to do now is: – Reinstall the new radiator – Site the new furniture – Position the bed – Replace all the brass …
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Big Blue for Kettering!
Nothing really exciting ever happens in Kettering – it’s a nice place to live but nothing really ever gets the local tongues wagging! Until June 2013 that is! The Council has decided that the current refuse collection arrangements of a Black bin, Grey bin, Blue box and Red box, don’t quite cut it any longer. …
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Flat-Pack Frenzy!
And so it begins – The final stages of the office/bedroom conversion! Honor arrived bright and early to begin the painting and wallpaper-hanging whilst David and I got on with the manly task of assembling the flat-pack furniture! Five hours later (and no spares bits left over) we’d assembled the filing cabinet, desk (almost!) and …
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Market Harborough
Nicki stayed overnight and with a complete change in the weather compared to yesterday (today – hot & sunny, yesterday – rain, rain and more rain!), we decided to head over to Market Harborough to look for some more bits and pieces for the office/bedroom conversion. Result! We managed to find some suitable glasses, two …
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Which Smartphone? – The Result
Finally, I made the decision! After months of research and consulting others, my replacement mobile phone is now on order, and it’ll replace my HTC Sensation that’s served me well for the past 24 months. In the end, NOT being an Apple fanboy helped the decision-making, as it narrowed down the choice to just TWO …
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i Love Technology! (Part 12039)
Technophobes look away now! Today, the BBC released a major update to the legendary iPlayer app for Android. Now it’ll work on high-end 10 inch Tablets too! It’s been a long time coming, but definitely worth the wait!
Steve and David do the Ivy
A full-on day today! David popped round and we spent an hour or so removing the ivy from the front of the house (a job I’ve been putting off for ages!!!). Then it was off to The Trading Post for lunch. David hadn’t been before, but Ann and I went there around 10 years ago …
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Ouch! my Head Hurts (geddit?!)
Even for a confirmed Doctor Who geek like me, last night’s episode left my head spinning. The episode began with some touching and clever scenes that very much fitted in with 2013, the anniversary year. What else? Well, definitely a wtf moment right at the end (I won’t spoil it here, just in case you’ve …
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Han’s On!
We don’t normally do spontaneous (unless it’s in the diary!), but Ralph was on his way south and it made sense of him to stay over tonight. And with Ann planning to visit her Dad in hospital in Dorchester tomorrow, we brought forward our regular monthly meal with David and Val from Saturday to …
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What Does it Mean Doctor?
Doctor Who series 7 comes to a close this weekend at 7pm, where we’ll apparently learn the answer to the question posed by Dorium Maldova in an earlier episode: ‘the question that must never ever be answered’* . Stand-by afterwards then for the gazillions of Internet Forums to overheat big time as the topic is …
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Web Design changes FOREVER!
I discovered Google Web Fonts over the weekend, and although they’ve been around for a while now, it’s taken me this long to get my head around their significance to web design. In short, you’re no longer limited to using what’s known as safe fonts when designing sites. Courtesy of Mr Google, in addition to …
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Bev’s 40th
Together with Lee, we travelled up to Lincoln FC’s VIP suite in err, Lincoln to celebrate Bev’s 40th. On a positive note, it was a great event – yummy buffet, good range of music and a spacious venue. There must have been over 50 people there, and everyone had a good time. On the …
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Strada’s – Meal with Ian and Mags
Ann as working from home today, so that meant I could borrow the car! I drove over to Stratford to meet up with Ian and Mags for our three-monthly eatathon and to catch-up with each others’ news. I met Ian at his place and we walked (yes, I know, a rare experience for me! – …
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The Temptation of Teal
With just over two weeks before the decorators weave their magic on the office-bedroom conversion, things were getting a little tense at this end as we still hadn’t found the right wallpaper! You know what it’s like – there’s a particular colour that just works with everything else, but nowhere seems to have it. We …
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Last Chance!
OK, in a few hours, you won’t be able to access my business website anymore as it’ll be digitally ‘airbrushed’ from the business world forever. Go on, you know you want to – take a look at www.StevePalmerAssociates.com one last time! Thank you!!! Too late – it’s gone!!!!
All at Sea
Well… ‘river’ anyway! We picked up Val and joined David, Nick and Celina at Buckden Marina to spend a day on D and V’s boat – Osprey One. It was unusually good weather for a bank holiday – sunshine… and more sunshine! – and the plan was to sail to the nearest pub and have …
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Worcester: Long Weekend – Saturday: Tewkesbury & Gloucester
Today, we headed for Tewkesbury. It was mainly to look around as tourists, but also to find somewhere for wallpaper and other bits and pieces for the converted bedroom. After parking the car, we had a quick look round the shops and the old architecture in the town before heading for Tewkesbury Abbey for a …
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Worcester: Long Weekend – Friday
We’re off to Worcester for a few days. We haven’t been there for about 10 years, so it’ll be interesting to see if/how the place has changed very much. First stop was intended to be the iconic Royal Worcester Shop, only to find that it ceased to exist (much like the the Royal Worcester Porcelain …
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Battle of the Titans
Ok, those that know me well, know that I like my ‘tech’; even more so, I like my mobile-phones. So, here we are almost at the end of my current two-year contract with O2, looking at what’s out there to replace my now rather dated HTC Sensation. I’ve never been an iPhone fan – they’re …
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Taxidermy
Is ‘Taxidermy’ 1. A ‘skinny’ mode of transport? 2. The craft of preserving dead things? 3. Getting ‘stuffed’ with a tax bill by the Taxman? I’m opting for ‘3’: My last obligation to the Business is sorted – I’ve paid the final Corporation Tax bill this morning!
Holey, Holey, Holey – See the Light!
Today, the ceiling was sorted in the ‘new’ bedroom. I’d like to say it was all my own work – I’d like to, but the hard work was sorted out by Chris and Shayne! If you look carefully at the picture above, you’ll see the rather fashionable artex look (well, fashionable in the 90s anyway!). …
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Journey to the Centre of the Tardis
A great episode on Saturday – with some good references to the Doctor’s past.
Miracle on Oxford Street/Britain HASN’T Got Talent
We travelled into London today to see our fave Opera: The Magic Flute. We would have normally travelled from Kettering but engineering work meant that there was no way of getting back tonight due to a lack of trains. And so, a new railway station has now been added to my recently visited list: Huntingdon. …
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Gift Man meets Voucher Woman
It’s official: I AM turning into a Pensioner as I find myself becoming attracted to money-off deals for food! It was off to London today to meet Sally B for our regular ‘catch-up and for me to handover the last of my management books. We met at King’s Cross and then took the short walk …
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Sea-Dogs, Cider and Elbow Grease
Having practised my ‘poirate’ accent all week, David and I took the short drive to Buckden Marina to spend the morning cleaning and preparing Osprey One (David’s boat) for the sailing season ahead. It was a gorgeous day, probably the warmest so far this year, and that made the morning even more enjoyable. We met …
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Voucher!
David and I drove over to Market Harborough for lunch. In common with most of mankind, lunch at Pizza Express was financed by vouchers, courtesy of Mr Tesco! The food and service was spot-on and we even had a chance to wander around the town in the sun, sans jackets and pullovers – cor! what …
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Job Done!
OK, that’s it! The Home-office, like the dodo, is now extinct. Only the fittest survive, and the old black-ash furniture won’t fit with our new plans. Hats off to Bob, our local carpenter, who custom built all the office furniture (desks, bookcases, printer stations and concealed storage) over 20 years ago. If the furniture was …
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Speedy DoDO!
Yummy!