bookmark_borderDispatches from the deck(chair)

A week in the sun. Mild tan achieved (think healthy glow rather than skin cancer city) and back to the rain. So a few numbers, and a notable mention or two.

Number of crappy spy thriller novels read: 1 – Tom Clancy: Red Rabbit
Number of books from “list of books I really should read”: 1 – Kerouac: On the Road
Number of fascinating books that made me think: 1 – Maeda: Simplicity
Number of times I had to charge my iPod: 3 – mainly due to Albert Hammond Jr., Elbow and Starflyer 59 (with Stevie and Aretha as backup)
Number of runs: 2 – would’ve been three but for various circumstances, more on which in a moment
Number of pub quizzes entered and won: 1 – including me knowing that Abba’s last hit was SuperTrooper..
Number of ice cream cones eaten whilst watching the sun burn the horizon, and reflected in a mirror smooth Med: 1 – waffle cone, two scoops, one vanilla, one strawberry
Number of moments wondering how the hell the Spanish got anything done: 42
Number of times I had to charge my MacBook: 6 – more on that a LOT later
Number of tapas eaten: >10
Number of alcoholic drinks consumed: Hic

Item of note 1: Chatting with a friend of the Danish entry to Eurovision. Having watched a rather obvious (in both costume and song) drag queen swan around the stage to a rather catchy little disco number, I was amazed to hear that one of the guys in the pub knew her. What a small world.

Admittedly I was a little less amazed when he confessed that he was gay. Cue mock amazement from.. yeah I think the entire bar, as he’d spent the last 20 minutes yelping and screaming in excitement whilst doing that little tappy “seal clap” thing which appears to the remit of the overly camp. Alas just after the performance he swanned out, blowing kisses left and right. Apparently it was the only pub which had the Eurovision semi-final showing, but it was just “too straight for my ass, hahahaa, chow!”.

Yes, he really did say “chow!” when he left. Gloriously camp indeed.

Item of note 2: My father-in-law had an appointment for some treatment in hospital, he was only in overnight but these things are always a little stressful. Thankfully everything went well and he’s doing fine.

And so, it’s back to work tomorrow, and yeah, I guess I’d better fess up about that whole MacBook thing sometime..

bookmark_border12 days after?

Apparently decorations are supposed to stay up until 12 days after Christmas. Balls to that, this site will revert to a more subdued hue tomorrow. Similarly we’ve taken down our decorations. Back to the grind it seems.

But not before repairing the broken garden fence which we received as a new year present (at about 7.30pm on Hogmanay). Yes, that’s right, the concrete post snapped. Admittedly it was old and crumbling, and we do live at the top of a hill so it can be pretty exposed… but still, it was pretty bloody windy!

We ignored it though, and headed down to our friends house, returning home at 4.30am, lightly sozzled and ready for the New Year. Well, ready for bed at least…

The next few days will be busy for me, a few things to complete before I start my new job, and hopefully I’ll finally manage to shake off this bloody cold that has plagued me since Christmas Eve.

Anyway, it’s now 2007, time to look forward, and whilst we don’t make resolutions, we are both determined to continue with our ‘get healthy’ plans that we started in the summer. Needless to say we’ve regressed slightly… ohh ok, a LOT over the past few weeks, but I’m positively itching to go out for a run, hopefully at the weekend.

After that, who knows?

Here’s hoping 2007 brings people everything they desire and deserve.

bookmark_borderComing Down

Dunno about you, but our Friday night was spent avoiding Children in Need. It’s just awful. But then I feel the same way about can-shakers on street corners… same thing, different exposure.

Saturday and, after a quick stop off at Costco, we headed through to Dumbarton to help prepare the rest of the buffet for the leaving party that night. My brother-in-law, who really enjoys cooking and is a very good chef, had already prepared enough food to feed about 150 people so we didn’t have that much to do. Especially as we were only expecting somewhere between 50-70 on the night… Needless to say there was a LOT of food leftover, there are only so many chicken and sweet chilli blini a man can eat (37, in case you were wondering).

That aside it was a good night. My nieces both looked gorgeous, our youngest nephew was dragged up to dance and even managed to LOOK like he enjoyed it. and our oldest nephew, the guest of honour, had a great time. Allegedly there are even photos of me dancing with my wife! (shock horror!). It was an emotional night, obviously, as our nephew flies to Amsterdam on Wednesday from where he will sail down the coast of South Africa and then on to South America. Of course in this age of modern communication, we’ll be keeping in touch via email as the ship is equipped with a wireless network (man, there must be some range on THAT!).

We got home at around 2 am (I was driving), and I struggled out of bed on Sunday morning for a long, and very muddy, run. Sunday mornings are always harder than most, probably because I’ve not been up and about for most of the day, but yesterday was even harder. I spent the rest of the day, quite literally, sprawled out on the sofa, dozing in fits and starts. Still a little tired today although Louise is off her work so I hope we both haven’t caught the same bug (or if so, it’s only a 24 hr thing).

Still, I’m glad I struggled out for the run as I’ve signed up to run a 5K in December. My number? 13. Seriously.

It’s a small affair, Louise has entered (she’s number 14) and so have my Mum and Dad. Mum will walk it with Louise, and Dad will be jogging it with me. He used to do a lot of running (several half-marathons, 10Ks and one Scottish marathon under his belt) and has been back in the gym, pounding the treadmill, since his heart attack. He reckons he’s on for a 40 minute time, and I’m aiming for 35 (just under hopefully). Sponsorship still to be sorted out but don’t worry, I’ll be chinning you lot too! (go on, a couple of pound won’t hurt your wallet half as much as my legs are gonna ache after the run!).

I am becoming a little too reliant on parenthesis.

And yes, my hosting company, who also hosts several other blogs you may read, had a few “issues” today. Just in case you were wondering where I’ve been.

bookmark_borderOpen day wander

A few historical sites had open days this weekend, so Louise and I headed off to visit Glasgow Cathedral. What a glorious building. I can’t really say much more than that (or I’d be here all day), suffice to say that there is something very powerful about buildings of that stature, maybe not religious (for me at least) but very evocative.

After that we wandered round the Necropolis as Louise missed the guided tour last year as she wasn’t well. Odd to think that the very next day we were rushing to the airport only to find out it was too late…

Anyway, needless to say I took some photos (I took a LOT of photos, these are the best of a bad bunch).

Then it was off to Babbity Bowster for some hearty food in a smoke free environment – bliss indeed – and then a little bit of shopping before our weary feet headed for home. It was a lovely day, much needed after the marathon of last week. Louise and I had were more like house guests, meeting at breakfast and occasionally late at night, so it was good to touch base and spend a day with my loving, funny, and fabulous wife. I do love her so.

bookmark_borderStupid is..

I’ve received several of these emails over the past few days, all have the same subject line:

“Please open the Microsoft word document attachment to read this offer in Japanese”

Now granted I am slightly fascinated by the culture of Japan and the Far East but, come on. If you want to infect my system with a nasty virus you are gonna have to work a LOT harder than that.