Category: Life

As I previously mentioned, I’ll be in London at the end of the week and, specifically, on Friday night I’ll be in the Ship & Shovell from around 6pm (probably earlier, I’m always early).

Several other people will turn up, some you may know online, some you may have met before, some you may have wanted to meet but haven’t managed to yet, and some you will want to meet even if you don’t have the foggiest idea who they are. You’ll also have to put up with me.

If you are thinking of going, but are a bit wary, please let me know. Most people will be bloggers/twitters, and none of them have two heads (ohh except him, but he always leaves early). It’s a ragged group of smart, funny, and down to earth people, the last twice I’ve managed to arrange something like this it’s been great fun.

Also, it’s in a pub. Pubs serve alcohol. What can be so bad?

Ohh and happy to exchange mobile numbers if you aren’t sure but want to check we haven’t moved on if you decide to come along (we won’t, although reception wasn’t great when I was last there), let me know.

Hope to see you all there, mine’s a Guinness!

I’ve packed in my photography course, largely because the ‘lecturer’ was about as far from a natural teacher as I could imagine and, whilst it’s interesting seeing someone talk about the photos they took, I couldn’t face sitting there for 3 hours a night, 10 weeks in a row, hearing story, after story, after story.

Still, I have a new camera and I’m determined to experiment. I’ve got precious little time in the coming weeks, but the lighter mornings and evenings have kicked in so that gives me a bit more scope as to when I can go for a wander with my camera.

I’m also going to take it to Brighton/London next week, so that’ll be fun. Never been to Brighton. I hope it doesn’t rain.

Regardless, it’ll be good to get some time with my new camera, re-teach myself the basics as, for the last year or so, all I’ve had is my iPhone. It was a deliberate decision, not to have any other camera, and I find myself far more prone to a quick snap with it, allowing me to leave the camera for when I want to be a bit more thoughtful/artistic/expressive.

Time will tell how my usage of both the iPhone as a camera will balance out now I have a dedicated camera again, but it’s gonna be fun whilst I find out.

Right then you lot, let’s get this sorted out.

I will be in yonder London Town for a couple of days at the end of the month so this is your chance to meet a world renowned blogger, ply him with booze and hope that you can understand his Scottish brogue. Alternatively, it might just be me, but same rules apply. Apply booze. Repeat. Etc etc.

I’m flying down on the morning of the 24th (Thursday) for a couple of nights.

I’m already busy on the Thursday, drinks with my mate then on to The Rebels Elixir.

I’m staying in the city, so will spend the day with my new camera but as yet I have no plans for the evening of Friday the 25th. That’s where you come in!

I’ve managed to get a few people along for drinks in the past, and, let’s be honest, it’s an excuse for a few drinks, innit.

So, if you fancy a few drinks in the centre of London somewhere, leave a comment and suggest a venue. Somewhere central, easily accessible and cheap (I’m Scottish, remember) preferred. I don’t know London well enough to suggest anywhere so it’s IN YOUR HANDS!

What’s the worst that could happen?

Apart from bumping into me, that is…

Friday night, a delicious dinner at Stravaigin then on to drinks until the wee small hours.

Saturday a leisurely, lazy lie-in then it was off to Custom Inc to get booked in for some ink (roll on 8th March), and a trawl round DFS for a new sofa (delivered in 11 weeks, yes, cheap and cheerful, but it’ll do for now).

Visited my Mum on Saturday night, she’s much brighter every time I see her, and she’s starting to get some movement in her upper arm. Still slow progress, but it’s progress and that’s all that matters. Her sense of humour hasn’t ever really left her, and seeing her giggling away really helps us all.

Today, I’m going to finish off a couple of things that have been hanging over me for a few months now. Whilst they’ve not been the main cause of stress, they are still adding to a myriad of things that have made the last month pretty heavy going. I have been at my grumpiest, and certainly not firing on all cylinders but I’m determined to get past all that, get my head in a good place (as much as it ever is) and, in essence, get this year started properly.

That’s January almost done then, blimey.

Not been quite the month I’d hoped but, in some ways, it’s been better. Rather than having grand plans and failing to achieve them I’ve been forced to reassess my priorities and, as such, I’m much the happier for it.

Seems obvious, but it’s people that matter, everything else is just filler.

Mum is doing ok, hopefully she’ll be getting moved to a hospital nearer my Dad soon and she’s able to stand and walk/shuffle with only a cane. Getting stronger every day.

If you are currently looking to purchase any cookware, bakeware or other such kitchen based utensils, may I humbly point you towards Denny & Sons.

The reason I mention them specifically is because I think it’s worth pointing out companies who do things properly, who care about the experience their customers have. There are plenty of instances of bad service so it’s nice to be able to highlight a good one!

Case in point.

I ordered a couple of items from Denny & Sons, and whilst one arrived in a timely manner, the second hadn’t appeared. I wasn’t in a hurry so yesterday I politely emailed them to check if it had been dispatched.

This morning I received a polite and friendly phone call (Hi Charles!) from the company, explaining that their had been a labelling error at their end (delivery was marked as “1 of 1” instead of “1 of 2” items) and that they were sorry for the mistake, and that I’d receive the second parcel tomorrow by 4pm.

It’s simple enough to do. If you make a mistake, acknowledge it, fix it, then tell the customer what happened and that their order is on it’s way (giving a firm day/time gets you bonus points!). It’s not rocket science yet so many companies don’t handle mistakes well at all.

Mistakes happen. It’s how companies deal with them that matters.

Bravo Denny & Sons (and if you are gonna buy from them, they are listed on Quidco too).