After a nice lie in we took a walk around Białystok. From Kaths apartment around the Branicki palace gardens. Since I was last there they have and are doing an awful lot of work. They have been renovating and restoring the gardens, including the fountains.
I found out that Białystok has a community wireless with free WiFi in large parts of the city. It requires only a simple signup. Result!
After the walk we met up with Kath's colleagues Paul and Joanna. We met them at a Mexican restaurant, which had featured in the Polish equivalent of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares.
Paul and Joanna were both very nice, bringing Kath her insurance form for her upcoming surgery and her timetable. They seemed like a force of nature trying to sort out there little business.
Paul told us a funny story about Kath trying to get her expenses repaid. Back in their early days of medicine they were working at a hospital out of town, they had basically no money but were supposed to have their bus tickets refunded. However as with most bureaucracy the money didn't appear. Paul goaded Kath to call and complain, so she rang and delivered a speech down the phone to the shocked women on the other end of the line. The women seemed terribly shocked and took a minute before she responded, "I wish I could help but this is 66 Pizza!". Apparently Paul didn't stop laughing the entire bus ride home.
After Dinner Paul arranged for us to take a tour of the anatomy department where he works. It was very interesting for me to see all the anatomical exhibits, sections of brains, lungs, and various body parts pickled in formaldehyde. It must have taken a long time to section out the various parts, not to mention the drawings.
We had to get back to Kaths apartment, for 3.30 as her gran was having physiotherapy. After which Kath and I went to the awesome African Coffee house. They have coffees from all over the world, different blends and types. I took an expresso and we tried a cold coffee, with mint and coffee ice cubes.
In the evening Kath and I headed out to meet Goofy and Ella. We started in Bierhalle. Its hard not to like Goofy, he is the life and soul of a night out. Funny even in English, and more fluent than I remember. He reminds me very much of Matt Woller. We ate and drank, chatting and laughing, while the Barcelona, Real Madrid game placed out on the TV screens. It was a fun evening we even went to another bar for a nightcap.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Gąbin to Białystok
Another day of travelling beckoned as Kath and I left the parents house and headed to Białstok. Wojtek was also heading to Warsaw back to university. The weather was hot and sunny again, the sun shone hard as we waited for the bus to Warsaw. Unfortunately the world and dog had the same idea, the bus arriving full of people.
After some debate we decided to head to Płock as there was a direct service from there to Warsaw and our train. Technically we could have taken a bus directly to Białstok. However it would mean 6 hours on a bus, so changing to the train in Warsaw seemed like a much better plan.
Kath's dad was good enough to give us a lift to Płock, where we picked up an autobus to Warsaw. Wojtek slept most of the way, so much so Kath was worried about being able to wake him up. The autobus took a few hours and dropped us all off in the Centre of Warsaw. We said goodbye to Wojtek, and narrowly missed one train. So we enjoyed a coffee and a muffin at coffee heaven. Our enjoyment only slightly dampened by the little girl begging.
After coffee we went for a wander around the weirdly shaped department store next to the central station. Killing time before the train arrived. I wanted to get a magazine so we went into a shop which sold magazines around the world. I took a copy of the economist, Kath got a copy of a womens magazine. I noticed the times on sale for 68 złotys, about £15!
We took the train to Białstok finally arriving about 9.30 in the evening. We felt pretty tired after all the travelling so ordered a pizza then had a early night.
After some debate we decided to head to Płock as there was a direct service from there to Warsaw and our train. Technically we could have taken a bus directly to Białstok. However it would mean 6 hours on a bus, so changing to the train in Warsaw seemed like a much better plan.
Kath's dad was good enough to give us a lift to Płock, where we picked up an autobus to Warsaw. Wojtek slept most of the way, so much so Kath was worried about being able to wake him up. The autobus took a few hours and dropped us all off in the Centre of Warsaw. We said goodbye to Wojtek, and narrowly missed one train. So we enjoyed a coffee and a muffin at coffee heaven. Our enjoyment only slightly dampened by the little girl begging.
After coffee we went for a wander around the weirdly shaped department store next to the central station. Killing time before the train arrived. I wanted to get a magazine so we went into a shop which sold magazines around the world. I took a copy of the economist, Kath got a copy of a womens magazine. I noticed the times on sale for 68 złotys, about £15!
We took the train to Białstok finally arriving about 9.30 in the evening. We felt pretty tired after all the travelling so ordered a pizza then had a early night.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Płock
Today we decided to go and see Kath's cousin and her boyfriend. We took along Karolina, Wojtek couldn't get out of bed.
Płock was about an hour away by bus. Briefly the capital of Poland 1079–1138, so has some nice buildings and architecture. The current source of wealth is the nearby oil refinery.
First stop was the Zoo where we met up with Kath's cousin. The zoo is fairly new and very well done. With a range of animals, Penguins, Kangaroos, Lions, Snow Leopards and a really nice butterfly enclosure that you can walk through and watch the butterflies close up. I enjoyed the Zoo, especially the Meerkats and the Pengiuns.
Karolina, got a chance to go in the petting zoo part to see the goats sheep and rabbits. She seemed to have a fun time.
After the zoo Karolina went off with her cousin while Kath and I went into the town. The weather was gorgeous and it was a nice walk from the Zoo past the Cathedral then down into the old market town. We found a nice bar with its own brewery, we tried out several of the beers. The wheat beer was really nice. Then we had a lunch, I had a highlander special, a kind of pancake filled with meat and sauce served with cabbage, it was really tasty. While we were sat we watched people playing in the fountain and squirting each other with water. Apparently it is Polish tradition to throw water over young women on Easter Monday, it ensures that they get married apparently!
After lunch we went to see the cousins flat they had decorated. It was quite a nice place however, I found it very difficult as they spoke no English so it was a very awkward time.
We all left an attempted to get the bus back to Gąbin, unfortunately it being Easter Monday the bus we had been trying to catch wasn't running. Instead we had to wait for a while and goto a different place to get a city bus. Killing time at McDonalds, where I was able to get online. My mobile plan doesn't have roaming data so I was reliant on free WiFi. I was stuffed and just had a drink but Karoline and Kath shared a McFlurry with smarties, yummy!
After a long wait finally we managed to get the bus back, as we alighted and walked back to Kath's parents a car drove past and someone sprayed us all with a water pistol, nice!
Płock was about an hour away by bus. Briefly the capital of Poland 1079–1138, so has some nice buildings and architecture. The current source of wealth is the nearby oil refinery.
First stop was the Zoo where we met up with Kath's cousin. The zoo is fairly new and very well done. With a range of animals, Penguins, Kangaroos, Lions, Snow Leopards and a really nice butterfly enclosure that you can walk through and watch the butterflies close up. I enjoyed the Zoo, especially the Meerkats and the Pengiuns.
Karolina, got a chance to go in the petting zoo part to see the goats sheep and rabbits. She seemed to have a fun time.
After the zoo Karolina went off with her cousin while Kath and I went into the town. The weather was gorgeous and it was a nice walk from the Zoo past the Cathedral then down into the old market town. We found a nice bar with its own brewery, we tried out several of the beers. The wheat beer was really nice. Then we had a lunch, I had a highlander special, a kind of pancake filled with meat and sauce served with cabbage, it was really tasty. While we were sat we watched people playing in the fountain and squirting each other with water. Apparently it is Polish tradition to throw water over young women on Easter Monday, it ensures that they get married apparently!
After lunch we went to see the cousins flat they had decorated. It was quite a nice place however, I found it very difficult as they spoke no English so it was a very awkward time.
We all left an attempted to get the bus back to Gąbin, unfortunately it being Easter Monday the bus we had been trying to catch wasn't running. Instead we had to wait for a while and goto a different place to get a city bus. Killing time at McDonalds, where I was able to get online. My mobile plan doesn't have roaming data so I was reliant on free WiFi. I was stuffed and just had a drink but Karoline and Kath shared a McFlurry with smarties, yummy!
After a long wait finally we managed to get the bus back, as we alighted and walked back to Kath's parents a car drove past and someone sprayed us all with a water pistol, nice!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter in Poland
Poland is a fairly religious country, following the Catholic faith so Easter is a really big deal. There was lots of preparation, the table was dressed. Wanda even said a prayer before we ate. The preparation took a while, there were loads of different things to eat, different meats, salads, and lots of eggs.
It was a really incredibly spread, so much so that I ate my own body weight in food. After Easter breakfast Kath and were so stuffed that we decided to go for a long walk through the forest. This time about 5km to a nearby lake. We had a beer at looking out over the water, it was beautiful.
In the evening we watched a film with Wojtek. The American starring George Clooney as a hit man. He hides in a Remote Italian town on the run from other hit man. It had a good rating on IMDB however I didn't think it was deserved. I found it a plodding drama, with far too many silent shots of Clooney brooding. In what I felt was a vein attempt to build up the tension. I never identified with his character at all, given in the first moment he guns down a potentially innocent women.
It was a really incredibly spread, so much so that I ate my own body weight in food. After Easter breakfast Kath and were so stuffed that we decided to go for a long walk through the forest. This time about 5km to a nearby lake. We had a beer at looking out over the water, it was beautiful.
In the evening we watched a film with Wojtek. The American starring George Clooney as a hit man. He hides in a Remote Italian town on the run from other hit man. It had a good rating on IMDB however I didn't think it was deserved. I found it a plodding drama, with far too many silent shots of Clooney brooding. In what I felt was a vein attempt to build up the tension. I never identified with his character at all, given in the first moment he guns down a potentially innocent women.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Arrival in Poland
My dad picked me up bright and early, at 5am. I was feeling somewhat sleepy and a little achy after spending the previous day helping my parents re-roof their shed.
Everything was on time and a few hours later I walked out at arrivals to find Kath mesmerised by a pet raccoon who was waiting with its owners for someone arriving.
We had a coffee and a sandwich then headed to the bus station. Kath warned me that is was a pretty awful station and while she wasn't wrong. I looked like something out of a 70's era Soviet station. It stank, and looked more like Stalag 17. What was more interesting was part of the station includes a hostel. It looked more like a horror film, next to the bus station and railway lines, grey, ugly and dirty.
Fortunately I had Kath to keep me company. I was a bit afraid that we would end up on one of the 70s era bus, fortunately ours was a more modern variety.
Our eventual destination was Gąbin, a small city where Kath's parents live. Easter is a big thing in Poland so Kath and I were to join them for a few days. I had never met Kath's dad before and am unused to big family gatherings so was a little apprehensive.
We arrived in the late afternoon, the weather was beautiful. Met up with Kath's mum Wanda, sister Karolina, brother Wojtek and dad Marek. It was a little overwhelming at first, so Kath and I went for a walk in the forest. Luckily they all speak English so I wasn't totally at sea.
After the walk we sat down to a traditional post Easter meal. There was no meat on Easter Saturday so the meal had lots of herring, and salad. It was tasty and different for me.
After the meal we had a gin and tonic and some Lithuanian Vodka in celebration of Wojtek's names day. Polish celebrate both birthdays and names day. It was very nice family time.
Everything was on time and a few hours later I walked out at arrivals to find Kath mesmerised by a pet raccoon who was waiting with its owners for someone arriving.
We had a coffee and a sandwich then headed to the bus station. Kath warned me that is was a pretty awful station and while she wasn't wrong. I looked like something out of a 70's era Soviet station. It stank, and looked more like Stalag 17. What was more interesting was part of the station includes a hostel. It looked more like a horror film, next to the bus station and railway lines, grey, ugly and dirty.
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Fortunately I had Kath to keep me company. I was a bit afraid that we would end up on one of the 70s era bus, fortunately ours was a more modern variety.
Our eventual destination was Gąbin, a small city where Kath's parents live. Easter is a big thing in Poland so Kath and I were to join them for a few days. I had never met Kath's dad before and am unused to big family gatherings so was a little apprehensive.
We arrived in the late afternoon, the weather was beautiful. Met up with Kath's mum Wanda, sister Karolina, brother Wojtek and dad Marek. It was a little overwhelming at first, so Kath and I went for a walk in the forest. Luckily they all speak English so I wasn't totally at sea.
After the walk we sat down to a traditional post Easter meal. There was no meat on Easter Saturday so the meal had lots of herring, and salad. It was tasty and different for me.
After the meal we had a gin and tonic and some Lithuanian Vodka in celebration of Wojtek's names day. Polish celebrate both birthdays and names day. It was very nice family time.
Friday, April 08, 2011
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Blogger mobile
Just visited pets at home to buy food for Cocoa. Mum came with me ostensibly to buy food for storm only she decided the the 20kg bags are too big. Playing with my phone I found the blogger mobile app so I thought I would give it a try. So far its pretty good, though I prefer a real keyboard over a virtual one any day.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Under cover of darkness
I just finished reading The Road of Bones: A Journey to the Dark Heart of Russia
Inspired by the painting Vladimirka Road by Isaak Levitan Poolman and his friend Max decide to embard on a trip down the Vladimirka Road from Moscow to Siberia. Tracing the route taken by millions of unfortunate people purged by both the Tsars and the Soviets.
Max dies of cancer before the trip, so Poolman embarks on his own, and the book recounts his journey across Russia, interspersed with harrowing accounts of the dissapeared people, and the horrifying stories of lives destroyed by the oppressive regimes in Russia. Interspersed with the history his journey is interspersed with meetings with Russians each of whom has their own story to tell.
It was a really depressing read, though cathartic and moving. It made me feel glad to live in a country which doesn't persecute and march its people off to gulag simply for telling a joke at the expense of the generalissimo.
Max dies of cancer before the trip, so Poolman embarks on his own, and the book recounts his journey across Russia, interspersed with harrowing accounts of the dissapeared people, and the horrifying stories of lives destroyed by the oppressive regimes in Russia. Interspersed with the history his journey is interspersed with meetings with Russians each of whom has their own story to tell.
It was a really depressing read, though cathartic and moving. It made me feel glad to live in a country which doesn't persecute and march its people off to gulag simply for telling a joke at the expense of the generalissimo.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Machu Picchu
Its been a crazy week. Last weekend Kath was here, we had an amazing time together. Friday night we had a cuddly evening with Fish and chips from the new chips shop in Handforth. They were very tasty. Amusingly as we walked back with dinner, there was a gaggle of young girls outside my neighbours house having a party. We decided not to join them, and went inside to devour our dinner and enjoy a few beers cuddled up on the sofa.
On Saturday Kath and I headed into Manchester. We had a ticket for Afternoon tea at Cloud 23 bar in the Hilton Hotel. The views are pretty spectacular, and the tea and cake were very tasty. Some photos here After the tea we wondered into Manchester to do some shopping. I got myself some new trainers, and Kath got some things from Primark. We had dinner in Chiquito, then met up with Phil and Caroline for a drink.
We took the train back to Handforth and had a beer in the Railway before meeting up with Bruce for a drink in the renovated Bulls Head.
On Monday I had the day off and we went to visit Dunham Massey. A National trust property, we walked around the grounds. In an effort to find a place to park were I didn't have to pay £5 I managed to stupidly hurt my back. So I was slightly hobbling around. It was a nice walk though, the day was beautiful Spring had arrived, cherry blossoms have come out. We saw lots of deer running around. Heading into Altrincham for lunch at the Slug and Lettuce slightly spoiled by the young women on the next table who was having an argument with her dad. Moaning about the unfairness of the world. I resisted the temptation to slap her and have a rant about her!
Tuesday Kath went home, I was very sad to say goodbye, it seems to get harder everytime.
Wednesday I met up with my previous work colleagues for a sort of goodbye meal. It was a very pleasant evening at the bulls head.
Thursday I had a random message from Paul to tell me that he was coming up to see Ian. I met him Danny Jo Berger and Woller at TGI Friday at the Trafford Centre. Was really good to catch up with everyone. Having chat about what we have been upto. Jo bought Ian a wonderful book full of breasts which will make an interesting coffee table material. Wonder how Nicks' Char will think about that on the coffee table?
We took the train back to Handforth and had a beer in the Railway before meeting up with Bruce for a drink in the renovated Bulls Head.
On Monday I had the day off and we went to visit Dunham Massey. A National trust property, we walked around the grounds. In an effort to find a place to park were I didn't have to pay £5 I managed to stupidly hurt my back. So I was slightly hobbling around. It was a nice walk though, the day was beautiful Spring had arrived, cherry blossoms have come out. We saw lots of deer running around. Heading into Altrincham for lunch at the Slug and Lettuce slightly spoiled by the young women on the next table who was having an argument with her dad. Moaning about the unfairness of the world. I resisted the temptation to slap her and have a rant about her!
Tuesday Kath went home, I was very sad to say goodbye, it seems to get harder everytime.
Wednesday I met up with my previous work colleagues for a sort of goodbye meal. It was a very pleasant evening at the bulls head.
Thursday I had a random message from Paul to tell me that he was coming up to see Ian. I met him Danny Jo Berger and Woller at TGI Friday at the Trafford Centre. Was really good to catch up with everyone. Having chat about what we have been upto. Jo bought Ian a wonderful book full of breasts which will make an interesting coffee table material. Wonder how Nicks' Char will think about that on the coffee table?
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Magic Treehouse
Started my new job last week, quite a different environment to the last place. From a tiny office sat with one guy to one corner of a huge open plan space. So Far I have met all my new colleagues, and busied myself learning about the project I will be working on. At this stage its all a bit overwhelming, hopefully in time I will get into the swing of things.
One of the biggest departures is that I am now dependant on an IT department. In the past I have always been an administrator able to set up things as I wanted. Now I am merely another sheep, I have to go cap in hand and ask the helpdesk to give me access to servers. Its quite strange, and more than a little frustrating. I guess it is the problem with large companies, they have to protect themselves from potentials rogues.
One of the biggest departures is that I am now dependant on an IT department. In the past I have always been an administrator able to set up things as I wanted. Now I am merely another sheep, I have to go cap in hand and ask the helpdesk to give me access to servers. Its quite strange, and more than a little frustrating. I guess it is the problem with large companies, they have to protect themselves from potentials rogues.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Adding a disk to VMWare Centos
First add the disk from the VMWare server manager
- From the VMWare Server select the VM.
- Choose "Add Hardware"
- Create a new virtual disk.
- Choose the capacity for the example 20GB.
- Finish off
Next to get the Linux guest to recognize the disk. Assuming you already have one physical volume mounted using LVM the new disk should be /dev/sdb NB I had to reboot before the new disk was recognised. I wanted to add the new drive as an extra block of contiguous space.
- fdisk /dev/sdb
- n
- primary partition
- 1
- accept the defaults for first and last cylinders
- w
Add the disk to the LVM Volume. The current disk is 20GB and I am adding an additional 20GB
- vgextend VolGroup00 /dev/sdb1
- lvextend -l 40GB /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
- resize2fs /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Mirage
Yesterday was notable for two things. A massive earthquake hit Japan, the 6th biggest recorded since records began. The pictures of the following Tsunami sweeping houses, cars, and roads away creeping across Japan was incredibly scary. My thoughts go out to the people affected by the quake.
Life in the UK goes on though and it was my last day at my current job. What a last day so many issues at one point I had to switch off my phone and email just to try and focus. I was so stressed trying to keep everyone happy. Its one of the main reasons I decided to leave. The company policy seemed to be if someone was good at their job just give them more and more work until they drown. Still I did not want to leave with work unfinished to I pressured on and I managed to fix the final two pieces of development about 4.30pm packed up my stuff and said goodbye to everyone.
Monday morning I start off at Close Asset Management I am finding it pretty scary starting a new job after so many years working for my current company. I just hope that I am able to do a good job for them and improve my career.
Life in the UK goes on though and it was my last day at my current job. What a last day so many issues at one point I had to switch off my phone and email just to try and focus. I was so stressed trying to keep everyone happy. Its one of the main reasons I decided to leave. The company policy seemed to be if someone was good at their job just give them more and more work until they drown. Still I did not want to leave with work unfinished to I pressured on and I managed to fix the final two pieces of development about 4.30pm packed up my stuff and said goodbye to everyone.
Monday morning I start off at Close Asset Management I am finding it pretty scary starting a new job after so many years working for my current company. I just hope that I am able to do a good job for them and improve my career.
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Ready to start
I spent most of the weekend fixing computers, first for Charlotte then Alison. Al's pc was particularly bad lots of viruses and a lot of missing data. I used NTFS undelete to restore her music collection.
Last night I went out with Nick, Ian and Danny. Heading to the Governors house in Cheadle Hulme. Hadn't seen him for ages. It was a very funny evening, as usual blokes spent in light hearted banter.
We arrived at the bar and while I was queuing for a drink whom should appear but Hannah Fairhurst. We had a good catch up, she is getting married in only a few weeks. It seems like another lifetime when I used to hang around with them.
Ian told me about his business partners plan for a Nuclear powered cruise ship. Personally don't think it is much of a goer, a reactor might be cheap to run but would cost millions to buy, not to mention the paperwork required!
Danny made us laugh unintentionally with he stories about trying to get a test drive of a BMW. The moral of the story for me was don't kid a kidda ;)
Something strange happened on the way home, the Police pulled us over. Nick was sober so all was OK. I was last pulled over when I was a teenager!
I got home made a drunken phone call to Kath, then watched an episode of the killing. Its the first crime drama that has really gripped me in ages. The whole series is the investigation of one murder. The effects of the crime on the varies protagonists including the family friends and suspects is excellently played out.
Today I finished offf Als pc and handed it to Ian, then had an incredibly lazy day. Basically chilled out with Cocoa watching TV and reading Time. At some point in the afternoon the doorbell rang. It was neighbours kids rang my bell asking if I knew how dirty my cars was and whether I would like them to clean it. I must admit I was slightly peeved but it is very dirty. Keeping the car clean hasnt been high on my agenda. Anyway given that Cocoa had just thrown up on the floor I gave it a pass. Hope I'm not regarded as a terrible reclusive neighbour. Sometimes I think I am the wrong demographic to live in this neighbourhood. There are a lot of older people who spend a lot of time on their gardens.
Last night I went out with Nick, Ian and Danny. Heading to the Governors house in Cheadle Hulme. Hadn't seen him for ages. It was a very funny evening, as usual blokes spent in light hearted banter.
We arrived at the bar and while I was queuing for a drink whom should appear but Hannah Fairhurst. We had a good catch up, she is getting married in only a few weeks. It seems like another lifetime when I used to hang around with them.
Ian told me about his business partners plan for a Nuclear powered cruise ship. Personally don't think it is much of a goer, a reactor might be cheap to run but would cost millions to buy, not to mention the paperwork required!
Danny made us laugh unintentionally with he stories about trying to get a test drive of a BMW. The moral of the story for me was don't kid a kidda ;)
Something strange happened on the way home, the Police pulled us over. Nick was sober so all was OK. I was last pulled over when I was a teenager!
I got home made a drunken phone call to Kath, then watched an episode of the killing. Its the first crime drama that has really gripped me in ages. The whole series is the investigation of one murder. The effects of the crime on the varies protagonists including the family friends and suspects is excellently played out.
Today I finished offf Als pc and handed it to Ian, then had an incredibly lazy day. Basically chilled out with Cocoa watching TV and reading Time. At some point in the afternoon the doorbell rang. It was neighbours kids rang my bell asking if I knew how dirty my cars was and whether I would like them to clean it. I must admit I was slightly peeved but it is very dirty. Keeping the car clean hasnt been high on my agenda. Anyway given that Cocoa had just thrown up on the floor I gave it a pass. Hope I'm not regarded as a terrible reclusive neighbour. Sometimes I think I am the wrong demographic to live in this neighbourhood. There are a lot of older people who spend a lot of time on their gardens.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Codex
Spent most of yesterday trying to recover data from a friends pc. I found quite a useful utility ntfs undelete. Using it I think I have recovered the bulk of her files.
In the evening Bruce and Nina invited us round a to watch the England versus France in the rugby 6 Nations tournament. Nina cooked a lovely spread. Spinach and Feta pie, with tomato and potato salads. It was really tasty; Two nice meals out in two days I am pretty spoilt.
I was going to catch the train round then Phil offered me a lift. Caroline was with him. She had managed to fall out of bed and bruise herself. We arrived just in time for the 5pm kick off. The match was pretty nail biting. The first half was very even, both sides making lots of mistakes. In the second half England came out stronger and took the game to France.
After the match we watch Lets Dance, and then the film Faster. The Rock plays a criminal looking for revenge after he gets out from Prison. I found the "plot" quite convoluted however it wasn't important to really follow, the film was all about the action set pieces.
I worked through a pack of Peroni during the afternoon and was a little tipsy by the time I got home. I phoned Kath and fell asleep talking to her. We try and talk every night before bed and I find it hard to sleep without saying goodnight to her.
In the evening Bruce and Nina invited us round a to watch the England versus France in the rugby 6 Nations tournament. Nina cooked a lovely spread. Spinach and Feta pie, with tomato and potato salads. It was really tasty; Two nice meals out in two days I am pretty spoilt.
I was going to catch the train round then Phil offered me a lift. Caroline was with him. She had managed to fall out of bed and bruise herself. We arrived just in time for the 5pm kick off. The match was pretty nail biting. The first half was very even, both sides making lots of mistakes. In the second half England came out stronger and took the game to France.
After the match we watch Lets Dance, and then the film Faster. The Rock plays a criminal looking for revenge after he gets out from Prison. I found the "plot" quite convoluted however it wasn't important to really follow, the film was all about the action set pieces.
I worked through a pack of Peroni during the afternoon and was a little tipsy by the time I got home. I phoned Kath and fell asleep talking to her. We try and talk every night before bed and I find it hard to sleep without saying goodnight to her.
Little by Little
Friday was my mums birthday, I bought her a copy of a book she wanted "The Road of Bones: A Journey to the Dark Heart of Russia
". I picked up my parents and my mums friend Kath and we all headed to the Kathmandu Tandoori for a meal. I have never been before, but a women I used to study Japanese with recommended it. Walking in I was a bit apprehensive the décor was a bit dated. The staff were very friendly though. The menu was very appealing, I tried a rather interesting dish with noodles chicken, lamb and prawns. Mum and Kath had the chicken chilli and my dad had the prawn chilli. When it arrived, I was incredibly jealous of their meals. Not that my Chow Chow wasn't tasty, it was very nice. It was just the Chilli was so well presented, the chicken strips were nicely cut and the flavour of the sauce was great. Kath also bought my mum some books, so she will have plenty to read.
It was a really nice evening, I think my mum enjoyed herself very much.
". I picked up my parents and my mums friend Kath and we all headed to the Kathmandu Tandoori for a meal. I have never been before, but a women I used to study Japanese with recommended it. Walking in I was a bit apprehensive the décor was a bit dated. The staff were very friendly though. The menu was very appealing, I tried a rather interesting dish with noodles chicken, lamb and prawns. Mum and Kath had the chicken chilli and my dad had the prawn chilli. When it arrived, I was incredibly jealous of their meals. Not that my Chow Chow wasn't tasty, it was very nice. It was just the Chilli was so well presented, the chicken strips were nicely cut and the flavour of the sauce was great. Kath also bought my mum some books, so she will have plenty to read.It was a really nice evening, I think my mum enjoyed herself very much.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
As You Are
Found this great guide to setting up a replication mysql replication slave.
That when I started the salve I had a particular problem that I got the following error "Could not find target log during relay log initialization".
I found adding the following to /etc/mysql/my.cnf
relay-log = /var/lib/mysql/slave-relay.log
relay-log-index = /var/lib/mysql/slave-relay-log.index
Then deleting any remnants of failed attempts
cd /var/lib/mysql
rm *relay*
rm master.info
Fixed the issue.
That when I started the salve I had a particular problem that I got the following error "Could not find target log during relay log initialization".
I found adding the following to /etc/mysql/my.cnf
relay-log = /var/lib/mysql/slave-relay.log
relay-log-index = /var/lib/mysql/slave-relay-log.index
Then deleting any remnants of failed attempts
cd /var/lib/mysql
rm *relay*
rm master.info
Fixed the issue.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Morning Mr Magpie
Went out to Manchester yesterday for Caroline's birthday. I met Phil Caroline and TJ at TV21 in Manchester. In a rather surreal moment I found them nestled in a mock spaceship having a few drinks.
After a few drinks in there we headed towards the station stopping off for a couple of drinks along the way.
Next stop we went took the train to Stockport then a cab to the Joshua Brook in Gee Cross. This is where the party really started, with Caroline's family and Phil's parents brother and Jules all turning out.
I managed to cadge a lift back with Jim and Jules which was very nice of them. Was pretty toasted by the time I got home, I'm not the drinker I used to be.
After a few drinks in there we headed towards the station stopping off for a couple of drinks along the way.
Next stop we went took the train to Stockport then a cab to the Joshua Brook in Gee Cross. This is where the party really started, with Caroline's family and Phil's parents brother and Jules all turning out.
I managed to cadge a lift back with Jim and Jules which was very nice of them. Was pretty toasted by the time I got home, I'm not the drinker I used to be.
Friday, February 18, 2011
The International
As most of you know I have a special interest in call rates to Poland.
I have just discovered a rather bizarre disparity in Three Mobiles call costs. I am currently on PAYG, though looking at the monthly tariffs.
PAYG calls to Poland are 9pence per minute for mobiles and 2 pence per minute for landlines. That is cheaper than I can make calls to landlines in the UK.
However if I take out a contract and pay monthly the costs rises to
Voice Call. 46p / minute
Text Message. 25.5p / text
Photo Message. 35.7p / message
Video Message. 76.6p / message
Video Call. £1.50 / minute
I have just discovered a rather bizarre disparity in Three Mobiles call costs. I am currently on PAYG, though looking at the monthly tariffs.
PAYG calls to Poland are 9pence per minute for mobiles and 2 pence per minute for landlines. That is cheaper than I can make calls to landlines in the UK.
However if I take out a contract and pay monthly the costs rises to
Voice Call. 46p / minute
Text Message. 25.5p / text
Photo Message. 35.7p / message
Video Message. 76.6p / message
Video Call. £1.50 / minute
I Robot
I have been quiet for some time, so I decided it was about time I updated where I am.
First piece of news is after 6 years working at my current company I have decided to move on. I have accepted a new position as a support developer at a company based in Northwich. It was a hard decision to make however I am pretty excited to work on something new. I will be supporting and developing a new portal.
As part of the move I will lose my current mobile phone, which is provided by my current employer. I had long wanted to get an IPhone but after two failed attempts at buying one I decided to go down a different route. I got myself a Samsung Nexus S. It is an Android phone and so far I must say I am very impressed. Its very responsive and does multi tasking really well. I was talking to Kath on Skype while composing an email an attaching a picture of Cocoa
.
My old phone is a Blackberry Storm and while I briefly had an Apple Iphone 3G to play with the Storm is the phone I draw most of my comparisons from. The Camera is much better than on my Blackberry Storm. Also much better than the Storm is the haptic feedback. The Storm uses something called "Sure Type", where you actually depress the screen. It was an attempt to give your fingers some feedback for people missing keys which depress; I believe that Blackberry have dumped this on the Torch. The sure touch thing is good for new users but actually slows typing plus over time bits of the screen don't depress so well. The Nexus has feedback in that it vibrates as you hit the navigation keys or when they are locked. The screen is a lot larger, brighter and more sensitive to the touch.
One interesting factoid is while the Storm you can hold it in any direction in landscape mode. Android definitely has a top and bottom, both in portrait and landscape mode.
The Storm was dreadful for applications. It small memory and the General lack of decent applications meant I basically only had a couple. In a couple of days of having an Android phone I am swimming in them. I can edit photo on my phone, use the GPS, call Kath on Skype (please can you add video calling Skype?), and play angry birds! I am missing some applications that are Apple only, like Speed test, though given how many Android users there are I think most applications will end up with a Android version
Most people say I am crazy but I kind of miss using ITunes for music syncing. It acts as a mass storage device I can simply drag music into the music folder.
Overall so far I am very impressed with Android, and not missing the the Blackberry one bit!
First piece of news is after 6 years working at my current company I have decided to move on. I have accepted a new position as a support developer at a company based in Northwich. It was a hard decision to make however I am pretty excited to work on something new. I will be supporting and developing a new portal.
As part of the move I will lose my current mobile phone, which is provided by my current employer. I had long wanted to get an IPhone but after two failed attempts at buying one I decided to go down a different route. I got myself a Samsung Nexus S. It is an Android phone and so far I must say I am very impressed. Its very responsive and does multi tasking really well. I was talking to Kath on Skype while composing an email an attaching a picture of Cocoa
My old phone is a Blackberry Storm and while I briefly had an Apple Iphone 3G to play with the Storm is the phone I draw most of my comparisons from. The Camera is much better than on my Blackberry Storm. Also much better than the Storm is the haptic feedback. The Storm uses something called "Sure Type", where you actually depress the screen. It was an attempt to give your fingers some feedback for people missing keys which depress; I believe that Blackberry have dumped this on the Torch. The sure touch thing is good for new users but actually slows typing plus over time bits of the screen don't depress so well. The Nexus has feedback in that it vibrates as you hit the navigation keys or when they are locked. The screen is a lot larger, brighter and more sensitive to the touch.
One interesting factoid is while the Storm you can hold it in any direction in landscape mode. Android definitely has a top and bottom, both in portrait and landscape mode.
The Storm was dreadful for applications. It small memory and the General lack of decent applications meant I basically only had a couple. In a couple of days of having an Android phone I am swimming in them. I can edit photo on my phone, use the GPS, call Kath on Skype (please can you add video calling Skype?), and play angry birds! I am missing some applications that are Apple only, like Speed test, though given how many Android users there are I think most applications will end up with a Android version
Most people say I am crazy but I kind of miss using ITunes for music syncing. It acts as a mass storage device I can simply drag music into the music folder.
Overall so far I am very impressed with Android, and not missing the the Blackberry one bit!
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