Ghosts 'n' Stuff

Saw Andy chief for the first time over a year last night. A year ago we were having a leaving party for him at the deaf institute. Ian picked me up and we drove to Woodford to get the 157 to Didsbury. Rachel and Ian were telling me about about their endeavours on the new house.It sounded like they have worked hard on it, was easy for me to identify with that.

We joined Andy, Dave Claire and Will at the Feltcher Moss. Having a drink and a catch up Ian told us about his antics at the Phonix Woodford War Memorial Community Centre, his story about the Sunday night salsa was simply hilarious. Andy was quiet, he seems to be enjoying himself in Hong Kong. I'm afraid I mocked him terribly about his form for getting locked in his bathroom. So he told us that he also managed to  locked out of his apartment. On one of the hottest nights of the year, after a night out, he had to use sign language to communicate with the concierge and the locksmith. The locksmith took 3 hours to crack the lock after the key snapped off in the lock. Andy increasingly frustrated trying to communicate, towards the end simply trying to find out how much he owed the guy. In the end in perfect English he replied "three hundred dollars". Nonplussed, Andy left him in the flat while he went to the cash machine to cash, returning to find him supping a cup of tea.

We hadn't eaten so we went to Casa Tapas for dinner. I had a choose of Choritzo, Patas Brasvas, Chicken skewers, and spiced lamb, it was all very tasty.

After that we had another couple of drinks and a chat in the dog and partridge. The others went off into town, but like the old git I am I decided to get a taxi home so as not to be too trashed for work.

I am writing this post on my new Mac Book. My 7 year old Powerbook finally bit the dust so I managed to get a 13inch Mac Pro off ebay for a reasonable price. I was really impressed with how well Time Machine recovered my files. Add the to the fact the Virgin is about to double my broadband speed its been a good day in Tech for me.

Levels

I am feeling supremely happy this morning, yesterday I asked Kath if she would do the honour of becoming my wife, and she said yes!

I had been planning to ask for some time, the time I have spent with her have been the best of my life. I decided that she is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.

About a month ago I got some extra money thanks to doing a large amount of overtime. I decided that it was best spent on a ring. I spent a lot of time searching for something that Kath would be happy with, I needed something modern yet classy. I finally found this ring which ticked all the right boxes.

I ordered the ring at the start of the month, and spent the time sweating that it would arrive in time for Kaths arrival on the 26th. It eventually appeared on the 23rd, just in time!

Next dilemma, I had to choose the right time to ask. A few different scenarios spring to mind but in the end I decided to take Kath to Liverpool. It might seem an odd choice of place, but Liverpool was the first place we were together, we shared our first kiss near to the Albert Docks. I also hoped that it would be well decorated and pretty for Christmas.

All I had to do was hope for good weather, and be brave enough to ask the question. Her flight landed at 7pm at Liverpool Airport, was amazing to see her only confirming my intention. We drove to the Dockside and walked arm in arm past the docks to the 3 graces. It was pretty lit up with Christmas lights, and deserted we were the only ones walking there. It seemed like the perfect time, so I stopped Kath and asked her if she would spend the rest of her life with me. Luckily she said yes, was amazing to see the grin on her face.

We went for a walk round Liverpool One, both skipping and excited. We ate dinner at Cafe Rouge and phoned our parents who were happy. It was amazing just enjoying the moment.

B0rken

This weekend has been a blur, I had planned to have a long weekend off. Take time out to clean up the house and put up the decorations in time to see Kath next weekend. Instead a load of things went wrong.
Friday my Dad managed to get in between the dog and the postman and winding up with a bite on his hand. So had to take him to casualty. Fortunately it wasn't too bad more swollen than injured, he got a bandage and apparently doesn't need a tetanus booster as after so many you get a lifetime immunity.

On Saturday I had a big failure on my Servers, annoyingly several different things all failed at the same time creating a "perfect storm of failure". To add insult to injury my datacentre access card had expired so I spend an hour waiting in the lobby trying desperately to get hold of the person whom could get me access. Eventually we found the problem a faulty memory chip in one server and faulty connection on the other. Amazing how such simple problems together could cause a massive failure.

Phil and I spent the day in the data centre listening to the whirr of fans and struggling to get everything working. Tired and hungry we went to the Kathmandu for a curry then watched TV for a while.

We finally got the server working on Sunday after a lot of effort. Thanks very much to Bruce and Phil for their assistance.

It now leaves me with today to clean up the house and get to the gym, if I can make it off the couch.

Facebook Stops Feeds

I am a bit behind the curve on this one because I haven't written any posts recently. However I have just found out that Facebook no longer supports syndication of blogs or rss feeds. This is a bit of a shame as I enjoyed the my posts imported into Facebook.

Earthquake

The last couple of months have been a whirlwind.  Have been working long hours to try and get a new version of the companies website up and running. I hav ereally busted a gut to get it up and running, even working weekends to try and hit the November deadline.


It was my birthday on the 25th and I celebrated it big style. Firstly the weekend before Phil got me tickets to see the Smashing Pumpkins at the Apollo in Manchester. I had been a  big fan when I was a teenager but never saw them so was a real treat. Billy Corgan is an interesting chap, he has real stage presence.  Unfortunately thought they did play a lot of songs I knew they also played an awful lot of material from an upcomming album. Avant Guard is the best description I can think of. After the gig Phil and I got the train to Cheadle Hulme and had a Curry at the Garam Massala. All in all a really nice night.


 When we she finally disembarked (not de-plained!) we drove back to my place quickly changed and went out for a meal at the bulls Head. We both had fish and shared a bottle of wine. It was a very relaxed and enjoyable evening.


Saturday Kath and I went for a walk around the Christmas market in Wilmslow. There wasn't much to see really, nothing like the market in Manchester. We did however go and try the new Greek restaurant, the Stolen Lamb. Can highly recommend the Mezze there, it was delicious.


Saturday evening Kath and I went on a public transport adventure taking the 378 bus to Davenport, then walking to the Kathmadu restaurant. Bruce, Nina, Phil, Caroline, Jo and Holly all met us there for some Nepalese curry. I had a lovely sizzling mix grill with spicy sauce and rice. Was good to see everyone and catch up. Nina and Bruce gave us a lift home, which was really nice of them.


Sunday Kath and I went for a walk along the canal and Middlewood way in higher Poynton which was really nice.  The air was fresh and cool though a little cold it was nice to get out of the house. After the walk we went round to my parents to say hello, they were pleased to see us. Having a nice chat in the living room by the fireplace.


Good times, wonderful food and excellent company cant really ask for more.

iFixit

Thanks to the iFixit Nexus S teardown I managed to replace the screen in my Samsung Nexus S.I managed to drop and smash the screen after my phone fell from my top pocket onto the kitchen floor while I was feeding the cat. I always think that the insurance is overpriced (though I have subsequently subscribed to protect your bubble for my phone and Ipad). It took my about 2 hours to do the repair and I made one small mistake which has meant the the home key doesn't always light up. However given it cost £90 for a replacement screen I think I made the best of a bad job and have a working smart phone again.

Butterflies & Hurricanes

I am trying to catch up on some blogs, a couple of weeks ago I went to a wedding in Poland. I left on Thursday 9th September, flying to Warsaw where I met up with Kath and her friend Mike. He gave us a lift to the apartment he shares with his wife Karolina, and their kitty Helmut. They live in Legionowo about 45 minute drive from Warsaw. It is a really nice apartment, spacious with a balcony at the front and back. Karolina was working so we chilled round at the house listened to some music and Mike made dinner. Mike made a very tasty spaghetti bolognese. Helmut kitty kept us amused he is a little kitten full of beans chasing everything around the flat. The weather was terrible so Mike was to pick up Karolina after work so Kath and I took he opportunity for a nap. When hey arrived back we opened up a bottle of gin, then spent the evening chatting drinking and having a good time. The next day way Goofys wedding so we set out from Legionowo to Bialystock. They drive was long punctuated by Helmut kitty climbing about the car eventually falling asleep at my feet, and Mike shouting Whore at all the prostitutes stood at the roadside. Kath and I were dropped off at her place, we had some lunch and got ready for the wedding. The Church was only a few minutes walk away so we wondered over in time to see everyone outside. Inside the Onion-domed Russian Orthodox Church there were no pews, so we all stood. The service was in Russian and Polish so I had no idea what was going on but then neither did some of the Poles. It was a different experience, the only thing I knew about Orthodox ceremonies was what I remembered from Pierre and Natasha's wedding in War and Peace. So details like the groomsmen of which Mike was one, having to hold crowns above the head of the bride and groom. After the ceremony we went outside to watch the release of balloons and doves then queued to give our wishes to the newly-weds. Then we hopped on the bus heading to the reception. The reception was very different to a British one. There was lots of food, lots of vodka and no speeches. Essentially people mingled and danced, eating and drinking all night. Kath and I were seated on on a table with Goofy's friends. I got to know Kaths cousin Tomek and his wife Agnieszka. Also a couple who used to working London Mirka and Kamil and Ula and Grzesiek. Tomek told me an interesting story about the stag do, which I couldn't possible broadcast in this blog, to those that know "you animal" is all I can say... I also briefly met Goofys sister Maria and her husband Łukasz who seemed to bear the brunt of some of the jokes. Apparently after the stag do he got so drunk he left for a taxi only was so drunk he tried to pay with receipts and ended up having to raise his wife (and mother in law) to pay. The reception was really nice, I enjoyed it greatly. Met lots of people including reputedly a secret service person. I learned the secret of drinking vodka, I.E. don't take the whole shot each toast and make sure to eat. When we left Goofy made us drink a "traditional 9 shots" fortunately for us he could only remember 4 of them. The next day we got up early to catch a train to Warsaw, and then to Krakow where my flight home was leaving from. Travelling by rain in Poland is an experience. They are old and slow and this one had a hole for the toilet! Was weird to watch the tracks below. Sitting opposite us on the train was a very strange character. I think he was still drunk and he talked about all sorts to us. Eventually he reviled that he was a famous Polish conductor Tadeusz Kozłowski. I didn't really believe him but we googled him later and the picture matched. He was from Lodz which I learned is Polish for boat so when talking you need to be careful because people might think you came from a boat trip not from a place. I love Krakow, and when we arrived the sun was bright and the sky blue. We had a room for the evening above a nice bar (thought it was noisy when we were trying to sleep later). After a day of travelling there wasn't much time to do much other than have dinner a quick wonder around the square then to bed, in time to get up for the flight in the morning. Kath came with me to the airport then we said goodbye. I checked in and waited to fly, then just as I was getting onto the aircraft I got stung by a wasp. It really hurt leaving the stinger in place. The crew didn't have any tweezers so I had to get it out myself and spend the flight with a swollen throbbing hand. I wasn't the only one with problems one of the passengers had a problem they took him to the front to lie down, and made a call to see if there was a doctor on the flight. Amazingly there was both a doctor and a nurse, they gave him oxygen and laid him flat. It appeared he was with a group of men so had probably been over indulging on alcohol. By the time we landed he was feeling good enough to sit up and stop the oxygen. My dad picked me up from Liverpool and I headed home. I got a text from Paul he was up north having a drink with Ian and Jo in Bramhall. I was tired and my hand still hurt but I decided it would be good to meet them for a drink. Met them in Tiger Tiger for a drink and a chat mostly about their respective wedding plans and iapds. Paul could be a salesman for Apple! Rachel Ian's girlfriend. Ian, Paul and Rachel decided to get some food, I had eaten as had Jo so we headed our separate ways.

The Muse

Had a funny day yesterday. Jonno popped round and asked if I would help him choose a laptop. As he was interested in the budget end of the market and wanted to pay in cash PC World seemed like the best choice. So we headed off to Stockport and had a look around. They had a LENOVO G575 15.6" 4GB Ram 500GB hard disk for £299 which seemed like a good spec for that price point. Unfortunately after finally tracking down a sales rep he informed us that they had none in stock. They did he assured us have one in Aston. So back in the car heading up the motorway to Ashton, only to find we had been sold a dummy. We were pretty pissed off the salesman at Aston suggesting that the Stockport saleman should have rung through for us. He assured us that they had 34 at the Arndale centre. So off again this time to the centre of Manchester. I don't think Jonno had ever been to the Arndale centre before, its very busy and crowded. Fortunately this time they did have the laptop in stock. It still took a while to buy though the sales guy trying to sell the usual insurance, which we declined. I made the point if he wanted such insurance it would be a lot cheaper to add to his home insurance. We headed back armed with a new laptop, 3g dongle and a mouse. I unboxed it, removed a top of useless pre-installed software and put on the free Microsoft anti virus security essentials. I was quite impressed with the Laptop, the screen was bright and clear with 1366 x 768 resolution and LED backlight. The full sized keyboard was easy too type on. Overall considering the budget price the build quality was good and the speed more than acceptable for browsing and office tasks. Afterwards I sat with Jonno and helped him to set up an email account and a Facebook page. In return Jonno treated me for dinner at the Bull's Head which was very nice. I had a chicken on a bed of Choritzo and sweet potato mash. It was very tasty just a pity that they were understaffed an the food took an age to arrive.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Today was very average, this evening was exceptional, but not in a good way. I got home had a sit down and started to chat to Kath on skype then the door bell rang. Half expecting to see my mum I rang down and opened the door to find my neighbour. He started asking me where the panel was, I had no idea what on earth he was talking about. He kept saying it was in my garage and I had to give it to him. It took me a while to comprehend what he was talking about, finally I started to piece it together. He was talking about fencing panels. Last summer I replaced three of the that were damaged. It cost £55 Nick gave me a lift to Stacks to pick them up. I also painted them with Ronseal. The fence is 5 panels in total but two were ok so they didn't replace them. At the time the neighbour seemed grateful to Nick and I asked how much it cost and gave me some money towards them. At the time I thought it was a nice gesture, after all he offered I never asked. If only I had realised, I would never have excepted! Anyway back to this evening, the neighbour was getting more and more irate insisting that he had seen four panels and that I was hiding one from him. I decided to call his bluff went upstairs found the receipt and showed it too him. It showed the date, the number of panels (3) and the price. At this point I expected an apology, I didn't get one! He insisted I was ripping him off that the receipt was a forgery and that I was a cheat and a liar. At this point I had enough, so I pulled out £20 and told him he could have his money back. At this point he was really super angry and went for me with his cane (my neighbour is an old chap). I dodged and told him is he tried it again I was calling the police, I handed him the money again and he stomped off. I rang my dad, first thing he told me was I should have asked for a receipt for the money second that I should just ignore him. He also asked me if I had seen the fence, I admitted that I hadn't. Apparently my mum had already mentioned to dad that it appeared like the bottom panel was disappearing piece by piece, it looks as if he has been tearing it down one piece at a time. What a crazy guy, nothing like good neighbours. No doubt they will tell all of the other neighbours his twisted version of events. They are a retired couple with nothing better to do than sit around and complain about everything. I doubt anyone is good enough to live in their precious neighbourhood. Kath thinks that he must have dementia and might not even remember. I was so angry afterwards I went for a walk then for beer in the bulls head with Phil. Phil seemed good, busy with work.