Polish wedding adventures

I headed to Poland last Thursday and Kath I and had been invited to Mike and Caroline's wedding. I arrived before Kath, and following her text messages managed to navigate myself to the Coffee Heaven. Her coach was delayed thanks to bad traffic in Warsaw. Eventually she met me at the coffee shop. We grabbed chai latte and a sandwich for the journey on the coach bus back to Białystok. The coach took several hours and so didn't arrive back in Białystok until after 11. We bought a couple of beers took a taxi back to Kath's flat. She made some dinner and we headed to bed.

After a lie in Kath made a breakfast of French toast topped with Parma ham and a caprese salad. Kath's gran gave me a warm welcome with kisses. She also talked to me in Polish forgetting I don't understand it. After which we headed out early so that Kath could go to the Polish NHS to sign a new contract for her prescriptions. We took a walk around the Palace gardens, stopping for a Coffee at the Odeon Jazz club.

After another walk we decided to try out the new Japanese restaurant Tanoshii. It was a really good choice, I had spice dragon soup, Kath had Tanoshii soup. We shared a sushi mixed set. Kath had a Mochi dessert with rice and cherries and I had tempura ice cream kind of a baked Alaska. All accompanied with Japanese beer and Jasmine tea. All of the food was of a high standard and we enjoyed it very much.

It was the night of restaurants in Białystok so our plan was to eat out but first we headed to Esperanto Cafe bar for a Gin and Tonic. However thinks took a different turn when Kaths friend Goofy and his dog Kliper  joined us. We struggled to have a drink and a chat there but the service was terrible so we switched venue to Pub Fiction. A film themed bar near the centre of town. Sitting outside with the dog we talked and talked while drinking. We carried on that way until it started to get light, Goofy made sure that the last drink was a large whiskey which pretty much finished off Kath and I, we finally headed to bed.

Our heads felt very sore when we woke. We had an easy morning before making a short trip into town to pick up something for Kath then changing and getting dressed for the wedding. Goofy had organised a coach for us, himself and his wife Ela, Goofy's sister Mary and her husband Łukasz, their parents, Mr Goat, and Dominc and Agata.

The coach took us to the Church a large place. I couldn't understand the ceremony however Mike told us later that the priest managed to get his name wrong, not that anyone could hear as there wasn't any amplification. 

After the ceremony we got on a different coach to the venue for the reception. It was a place out in the country quite picturesque, it will be even better when all the plants have bedded in.

We took our seats and eat something, drank and chatted. They had a very cheesy DJ, apparently they call cheesy disco music, Disco Polo; basically cheesy disco music with simple rhythm and lyrics. We danced a little but it was very hot and the DJ was a little overpowering, so we mostly mingled outside. As the evening went on and the Vodka flowed peoples English improved. Everyone was really nice, Mikes Mum and Gran said hello, I met Caroline's sister mother and father again. It was nice to join in with the party and meet everyone.

The coach home was scheduled for 4 however we were absolutely shattered well before that. We managed to grab a lift back with Mirka and Kamil. Kamil was very drunk and Mirka was driving for the first time in many years, so it was rather an exciting drive. She did very well though and we were very happy to get back to Kath's flat earlier. Kamil was hilarious  I was nodding off and he kept shouting "Alright mate". He also delivered a soliloquies about Mirka, "my wife is so angry with me but I am so proud of her".

After another long lie in we went out to see a film, the Avengers, which I enjoyed very much. Afterwards we went for a meal out at Lejdis. It was very tasty, and nice to spend time together. It was still fairly early after we got home so we decided to watch another film. We watched Intouchables, a very good film about a man who becomes the carer of a tetraplegic man. I hadnt really wanted to watch the film but I was glad that I did, it was unexpectedly good.

The last full day we went to look around Białystok historical museum and looked at a potential wedding venue. The museum is a collection of traditional Polish buildings, the weather was great and we took a leisurely walk around. The venue was near to the museum, another traditional wooden building. We ate lunch there it was very good and the venue looked perfect for us. A large space, with plenty of potential for a good party. Afterwards we went back into the into the city spent the afternoon enjoying a few drinks as Esperanto, then an early night in time to get up for the early coach and my flight home.

Google docs Reasearch tool

Just went into Google docs (it has been a while) and noticed the new research toolbar. Basically a search tool that floats to the right hand side of the writing pane. It allows you to search Google while writing. I realise this is already pretty simple given you could open another tab pretty easily.. However having it right there in the same window seems like a real winning as it saves time switching between tabs there are even shortcut keys Cmd + Opt + R on Mac, Ctrl + Alt + R on PC.

Hopefully the guys at Blogger will add the same to the Post Window....

Windows backup gets my back up

A few months ago I replaced my ancient (in computer terms) Apple PowerMac G4. One of the best things about getting the new one was that to restore everything I simply had to plug in my time machine disk and within an hour I was back up and running with all my files and programs. I mention this because backup is one area where Windows is seriously poor. I had high hope when Vista came out boasting a new backup tool, however like the operating system it sat on the new tool was rubbish.

Windows 7 is now better, I just tried to backup to a new external 2 TB drive. Comparing Windows 7 backup to  Time machine is like comparing a Ferrari California to a Trabant. Firstly Windows backup is very very slow, backing up from an SSD to an external USB 3 device should be fast, very fast yet hours later the backup is still slowly chugging away, a quick Google and its clear lots of people are having issues. No only that but somehow it can work out Deltas (file changes) on files properly. Not much data on my computer actually changes however subsequent backups are massive filling a TB drive in only two backups given that the machine has got less than 1TB of data, I find that pretty odd.

So in Short Time Machine is full of win, where as Windows backup is a joke, I can only hope that Windows 8 boasts an improved tool.

Friday night was Dan's birthday do. I picked up Ian and Rachel from their place and headed to Dan's pad. Dan was in good form, Ian had brought a bottle of champain to start the evening off. He looks in good shape apparently.y down to his new walking habits. Something certainly is doing him good. We headed up the road to the Joshua Bradley pub. Meeting some friends of Dan's and Wooler. Wooler is another chap who simply looks better every time I see him. A healthy diet plus daily yoga seems to be doing him a lot of good. After a few drinks there we headed futher down the road to the Cheshire cheese. Described by Dan as "a proper drinking pub", it lived upto the hype. Being a rather traditional pub. There was a good atmosphere and a nice mix of people. I had a LAN party on Saturday so made my excuses around 12 and left for home with Ian and Rachel. Dan seemed to have enjoyed a dry good evening. Saturday's LAN was pretty busy 18 people attended, call of duty worked well but it's obvious that we need to do something more about finding some new games. I tried to find an updated unreal stairs of doom map but the only port is pret woeful. Today I was fit for nothing, I managed a lunch at my parents and a short 3 mile jog other than that I just relaxed, watched some tv and started reading a book my parents gave me called lands edge. It's a description of the Austrlian coast, the first few chapters bout back a few memories already. Kath and I talked a lot this weekend, I think we were both missing each other a lot this weekend. Fortunately only another 2 weeks until I see her. I am heading to Poland and we are attending the wedding of Kates friends Mike and Caroline. In other news Phil has had an offer accepted on a house in Cheadle Hulme, I hope it all goes well for him. Certainly looks like a good place from the photos.

Freecycle

Just a note to big up Freecycle. I am part of the Wilmslow group and so far have managed to stop several things going to the tip.

If you have something like for example a paella pan given to you which takes up too much space, its not worth selling on ebay but someone might like it, don't bin it put it on Freecycle!

Leave it

We had the first session of the Easter Drinking club last night. Ian, Woller, Danny Jo and I met up at the John Millington in Cheadle Hulme.
Jo had to wait as characteristically we were running late. He told up that while searching on ebay he managed to stumble upon the cockpit for a Tornado jet. Apparently 6000 buys 27 feet worth of cockpit weighting 1.5 tons. Ian was considering whether he could fit it into his van!
Jo had to leave early, leaving the rest of us talking about business, well I say the rest of s but its sometimes hard to get a word in edgeways when Dan gets into full flow.

The topic of the evening was staff and looking after people. Ian Dan and I have all had different experiences trying to look after people. Whether its the stress of running a business and having to foot the bill for national insurance, or look after errant reps we all have experience of dealing with people.

Its interesting to see how things have changed. We have got aged and more experienced, in life and in our work yet somehow we remain the people we always have been. Wollers casual but sharp observation, Ian's charm and Dan's bravdo are all still present.

As for me I got older and slightly heavier, I realise after tucking into a kebab after the drinking session that I need to make some changes. I think Woller has the right idea with his hot yoga.

Regulators

It was Paul and Sakia's wedding on Saturday. Kath flew over on Thursday so she could join me for the wedding.

We travelled down together with Jo and Holly arriving at the Holiday Inn around 12:30, plenty of time for Lunch and a quick change before getting the coach to the wedding. Nick and Charlotte arrived about the same time as us and together with Ian we all went to the nearby Toby carvery. Holly is a vegetarian and so  requested a sandwich, I wasn't hungry enough for a carvery and asked for a sandwich too. The server said yes then gave a diatribe about it being a carvery and how they really didn't normally do that. I thought to myself either offer graciously or say no, don't offer a service then begrudge someone taking you up on it.

Ian looked tired he had come up the day before to sort out the bar for the wedding. Apparently to make things worse the Van carrying all the alcohol to the wedding had been pulled over by VOSA on route.

Everyone made their way for the coach at 3pm. Congregating in the bar first of all before making our way to the coach. We said hello to Andy Fletcher and his girlfriend Daisy,  Paul, Woller, Danny, Ian, Rachael and Ian and Sarah Simister. It has been years since I last saw Sarah, she was looking very well.

The coach took us to Paul's fathers place, where a Tentpi was in place. The ceremony was a humanist one with a female celebrant. It was a lot more fun and joyful than the Church weddings I have been to, Paul and Saskia's vows were really heartfelt and warm. Paul's friend Teaspoon did a really lovely song, and there was a reading of Dr Zuess. It suited there personalities very well, injecting a lot of fun into the ceremony.

Foods was in the form of Indian, it was very very nice especially the barbecued lamb which was incredibly tender and succulent.

After the ceremony there was music from Paul, teaspoon, Paul's Uncle and dad and Joe Berger. The music and dancing were fantastic.

The night grew cold but there was a fire at the back of the tentpi, to keep warm by. Kath and I were shattered, this is quite a common theme when we are together as there is always a lot of travelling involved. 

Free apps eat up your phone battery just sending ads - tech - 18 March 2012 - New Scientist

Free apps eat up your phone battery just sending ads - tech - 18 March 2012 - New Scientist

Real Human Being

Yesterday was St Patrick's day, the friendliest of patron saints. Seemingly co-opted by Guinness for the last few years Phil and I decided to join the fun. Starting in will slow at the Coach and Four we went to the Kings Arms, then finished in at the Bulls Head. Of the pub visited I would suggest that the Coach and Four did the best pint of Guinness. I was browsing the web this morning on my iPad and one of the sites I visited was behind a pay wall because the iPad accesses the mobile version. There appears to be a growing trend to charge uses for mobile versions of websites. I guess providers rely on the fact that people are used to paying their mobile bills. Certainly in most cases there is no technical reason that the mobile version would cost any more. Take Spotify for an example there is no real reason that the mobile version should cost more, yet it's firmly behind a pay wall. If tablets really star to take over it could mean that these pay walls are the rule rather than the exception. I guess we are walking into a future where everyone will have to pay for the sites we want to see. Talking of free stuff, I have just found a great sound of free legal ebooks. Librivox. The books narrated all all in the public domain. I have listened to are the scarlet pimpernel and the three musketeers. I find listening to audio books while walking is a good way to relax.

Feel To Follow

Arndale Void

This week there were two stories about transport in Manchester that interested me. The Guardian ran this blog about the Manchester Underground that never was. Envisaged in the 1970's the plan was to link up Picadilly to Victoria with a station under the Arndale.

The Government cancelled the plan with only a small amount of groundwork done, leaving behind a subterranean reminder.
The second announcement was the news that chancellor George Osborne has given the go ahead to an £85 million pound project to connect Picadilly and Victoria with a new direct Rail connection.

What interested me was that the budget for the underground in the 1970's was £9 million. Adjusted for inflation that is about £85 million today. So somehow its as expensive to build an overground rail now as it would have been to construct an underground line 40 years ago.

Chancellor George Osborne's £85m budget bonanza for a direct train link between Manchester's two main stations.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1413410_george_osborne_confirms_85m_piccadilly__victoria_rail_link_in_budgetCHan

Chancellor George Osborne's £85m budget bonanza for a direct train link between Manchester's two main stations.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1413410_george_osborne_confirms_85m_piccadilly__victoria_rail_link_in_budget

Chancellor George Osborne's £85m budget bonanza for a direct train link between Manchester's two main stations.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1413410_george_osborne_confirms_85m_piccadilly__victoria_rail_link_in_budget

Chancellor George Osborne's £85m budget bonanza for a direct train link between Manchester's two main stations.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1413410_george_osborne_confirms_85m_piccadilly__victoria_rail_link_in_budget

Chancellor George Osborne's £85m budget bonanza for a direct train link between Manchester's two main stations.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1413410_george_osborne_confirms_85m_piccadilly__victoria_rail_link_in_budget

Polish letters

Remember to spell:

sz - like English sh (bush)
cz - like ch (chimney)
rz - like sh but more hard
ą - like o and a together
ę - like e and y together
ż - like sh but with the sound
ł - like w (window)
ch - like h (hair)
ń - like -ng (England)
ć - like ch but more soft
ś - like sh but more soft
ó - like oo (moon)

Pelican

I was my mums birthday today, so I decided to take her out for a meal. She wanted to try the new Indian resturant in Handforth, the Viceroy.

I had North Indian Garlic Chicken, it was a great combination of spice, garlic and chicken. My mum ad Jaipur Chicken which was a chicken breast in sauce with spinach and vine tomatoes. £11.99 for each of the chiefs special main courses which include peas pilau rice. I very much enjoyed my dish it was spicy but not too hot that you couldn't taste the flavours. The rice was worth a mention rather than the usual bog standard pilau it was flavoured delicately. The restaurant itself has been given a facelift, the decor is elegant and stylish. Slightly 70's retro vibe but done very nicely. All together its a slightly more upmarket affair than the Maharajahs was but if they continue to serve that quality of food then it should do well.

My mum enjoyed her birthday treat. I bought her a new purse (which Kath helped me to choose) and Kath got her a book recommended by her mother. Its nice to make my mum happy she deserves a treat after spending so much time looking after everyone else.

Shuffle (Berlin part zwei)

On Monday morning we woke up late, Paul and Chris had caught an early flight so it was now just Kath and I. It was another cold day -11c with a breeze that felt like ice. We took the train to Museum Island, stopping for a coffee and breakfast on the way. The cafe we found under the arches was amazing, bohemian with excellent food and coffee, it was better than any chain store I have ever visited. There are several museums all together on Museum island. We decided on the Pergamon museum, as recommended by my friend Hanna.

The Pergamon is a large Museum, and features the reconstruction of parts of Pergamon an ancient Greek settlement. Its very impressive. They also has a 360degree panorama view of an artists impression of the city as it would have looked in the Greek era. It was very well done, changing from day to night using florescent paint to give the impressions of movement.

After the Pergamon Kath noticed that there was a Salvador Dali museum, so we decided to give that a try.Dali was such a character, instantly recognisable. I never realised how many films and TV adverts he was involved in. For example designing this scene from Hitchcocks film Spellbound. He also did lots of illustration work, I knew about Don Quixote but not Faust nor Alice in Wonderland.

Sony Centre roof

After the Dali museum we met up with my friend Hanna and her husband Silvio. I haven't seen her for years since she was working at Bristol. They took us on a little walking tour first to the Potsdamer Platz. During the communist era this was divided by the wall. I mused what had happened to the underground. Apparently they was also bricked up by the communists.

Next stop was the nearby Sony Centre. Built as a retail store with a roof to ape mount Fugi its an impressive shopping centre. Kath and I went for brunch there the following day. Its not the first Sony Centre I had been too after visiting the one in Toyko. I must admit this one is pretty impressive too.

Hannah and  Sylvio then took us to the Brandenburg gate. It was nice to see at night and hear some more trivia from natives.

Heading from there to the holocaust memorial. What I hadn't realised is that was Hitler's bunker. We were unable to go down as it was closed. On returning from Belirn I read about the underground Berlin tour, which take in Bunkers, and various underground complexes I hope to take this next time I visit Berlin.

After the walk we were feeling pretty cold, we asked them to take us for German food. They recommended a Bavarian restaurant. We shared a plate of meats, it was very enjoyable.

The next day Kath and I both felt very tired. Eventually heading out for a walk ending up back at the Sony Centre where we stopped for an enjoyable Brunch. In the evening we met up with Hanna and Sylvio again. Taking a quick walk and to Alexander Platz home of the the world clock. Then went for a Curry. Unfortunately Kath was feeling a bit feverish so we basically eat dinner and left. It was nice evening thought Hanna seemed more relaxed having gotten her exam out of the way.

Wednesday was the final day for Kath and I in Berlin, Her train left at 10.15. I went to the station with her, and hugged her goodbye. Then I went to meet  Sylvio, Hanna had to work. After taking a short walk to see the O2 Arena Berlin and some bits of the wall,  Sylvio and I had a look round the Berlin video games museum. Although small it was a voyage of nostalgia for me. We had a kebab for lunch then he was kind enough to accompany me to the airport. I think he got a good laugh when I got stopped by the security guard. I am not sure what but something on me triggered the metal detector.

I really enjoyed Berlin, there was a lot to see so I hope to be able to return there and take in all the places I missed out on. It was especially nice to meet up with Hanna again, and meet  Sylvio, Kath and I were both grateful to them for their hospitality.

Titanium

This time last weekend I was in Berlin eating Indian food in Mitte after a cold day sightseeing in Berlin. I had travelled to Berlin for Paul Aiden stage do. Ian, Danny Joe and I travelled from Liverpool on Thursday meeting Paul, Chris and Matt in Berlin.

Reichstag

Brandenburg Gate

We stayed at the MEININGER Hotel Berlin Central Station, located right next to the central station, only a short walk to the Reichstag and Brandenburg gate.

Thursday

Thursday we were tired and hungry so decided to go out for a meal. Chris found a Vietnamese on Trip Advisor. Taking a taxi as we walked in I noticed that there was a Rainbow flag on the door. The owner was a very talkative person, and offered that we could have a mixture of food. When it arrived it was incredibly tasty, the ingredients were all fresh. My favourite was the duck, it was crispy and fresh not too fatty.
As we left the owner thanked us for "being so open minded", someone asked for directions to a strip club which the owner was only happy to provide us with. Walking a block we came to it, the posters outside of toned men and the Rainbow flag confirmed it was a gay strip club and we were in the hear of Berlin's Gay district! Taking a short ride on the lookout for a club we came to another area, we weren't able to find the place we were looking for so we went into a large video shop on the corner. The young chap running it came out with two funny lines, first he asked "what are you looking for, you want to watch or you want to...?" then after we informed him that we were interesting in watching rather than participating he told us, "this place you buy two drinks then you must fuck", smacking his hands for extra emphasis. Deciding to give up on the search for a strip club we ended up at a rather cool bar. There was sand on the Floor, and a very relaxed vibe, on a cold Berlin evening with snow falling it was just the ticket.

Friday

Heading out of the hotel we set off for a day at a shooting range. A taxi ferrying us from the hotel out of Berlin to a range used by the Police. Originally built for the War we were a little apprehensive, it look more like something from a horror film. Fortunately the guys who met us were really nice, unveiling an arsenal of handguns to get started. 3 semi automatic pistols, including a Glock, Beretta and a revolver. Each of us took turns to hit metal targets. After the pistols we got a chance to try out a pump action shotgun on the same target range. This time it was against the clock, seeing how fast we could get the rounds out. Following the shotgun we had to wait for a different range to try out the rifles. We decided to brake for lunch. The ranges were open the the elements so we were all extremely cold. Fortunately the nearby cafe had a roaring log fire and warm food. At 3pm we went to the shooting range to try out an AR-15 rifle and a WW2 issue Mauser which I think was this. The Mauser was so loud, even wearing ear protectors it sounded like a canon. I can't imagine what it must have been like in the war with these going off all around. I was pretty useless at the target shooting, mostly because at 50meters I couldn't actually see the target very well. It was pretty upsetting considering I had been very good with the pistols, nevermind. Our scores were

Person	Score
Chris	156
Paul	134
Joe	111
Matt	96
Ian	83
Dan	73
John	4

We had one thing left, each of us had one shot with the shotgun using a solid shot where we could shoot at juice carton full of water, my video is here. Friday evening we were all geed up after the shooting headed out on a pub crawl. Visiting several bars, stating in an underground pub with a shot of peach snapps. Onto a place where you could pour your own beer another cool little place then onto a club. My memory is hazy of the event (probably good for some ;) I do remember getting into an altercation in the queue. We took a train, I had been talking to someone and feel behind the others, so I cut the line front of a couple of people to join up with Ian. One guy took real offence claiming to have been waiting for 45 minutes (though we all arrived on the same train). I pretty much ignored him, and the line moved quickly. Then literally as I was walking in he grabbed my hood. At which point the bouncer (who was pretty much the biggest guy I have ever seen in my life) asked "Do you have problem?". When a 7 foot guy asks if I have a problem the only answer is no, strangely this idiot responded "Yes"! At which point the bouncer lifted him out of the queue with one arm and plonked him down outside of the queue, gesturing to all the other bouncers he said "this guy, he has problem". Trying hard to keep a straight face I entered the club not looking back.

Saturday

Danny wanted to go off shopping, but the rest of us decided to do some sight seeing. We went to the TV tower in the centre of Berlin. We had to queue for a while so Chris went off shopping for his souvenirs. When we finally got up the tower it afforded a really good view of the City. In the evening Joe and Danny went off to watch football, and eat out so the rest of us went to Mitte. First taking a tour round an abandoned building taken over by artists called Kunsthaus Tacheles. It was really interesting, lots of different artists with their own styles and collection. I wanted to take Kath there but we never had a chance hopefully next time we are in Berlin I will. Feeling hungry we went into an Indian called Amrit, a cavernous place split over two shops. There was some confusion because they relied on a computerized ordering system, which was suitably German and efficient. Only issue was they moved us so our food got delivered to the wrong table. We had to hail over the waiters, fortunately when the food did appear it was exceedingly tasty. Matt's vindaloo was spicy and hot but not overpowering, in fact all the food was delicious.  Especially Paul's scampi.
After the Indian we met back up with Joe and Dan. Drinking a beer we convinced Paul to wear a Leather Doggy bondage mask.

Paul contemplates the mask

After a few more drinks in a little bar which had a rather impressive fish tank. We decided to see what the strip clubs were like. Danny got directions to one form the barman. Joe decided he didn't want to join us in hindsight it was a good move. We just found Gold possibly the worst strip club in Berlin. We paid to €10 get in and this gave us each a dollar, dollars were given to the strippers. Before we got to the strippers we were forced to check our coats. When we finally sat down with a rather expensive drink we were confronted with two well chubby tattoo girls. I can't say I found either very attractive. Worse though was the other girl who came asking if any of us wanted a private dance. She looked like she had a serious drug habit. We pretty much drunk up and left as quickly as possible.

Joe told me that as he as walking back to the train station he was propositioned by one of the many girls, apparently on telling her that he was engaged she said, "that's marriage I am talking about fun".

Sunday

Sunday was the final day for Ian, Matt, Dan and Joe. Sunday was Also Kath was arriving so I was excited. In the morning our head were heav but we managed to go for a walk from the Hotel to visit the Holocaust memorial, then walk from there to checkpoint Charlie. The guys went to eat at a steakhouse, Argentinian beef is very good they tell me. I went back to the station to meet Kath, her train arrived around two. I took her to the Hotel we had a quick snake then went for a walk to the Brandenburg gate, meeting the others returning as we did so. It was cold the river was frozen over but for Kath it was actually warmer than Poland had been. In the evening after the others had left Paul Kath Chris and I went for an Italian meal. The food was tasty but the bill nearly gave me a heart attack. They charged us for thing which we thought were free. Like break we didn't ask for it, they just put it on the table, ditto water which was expensive mineral stuff. Not the best way to round off the stag do, but I think we all had an excellent time, it was one to remember.

The Look

I had an issue with my server this evening. Actually its been going on for a few days. There was a big surge in traffic, so I started investigating. Most of the traffic was email, I did some digging.

Found a rouge php file, its hashed so not exactly sure how it works, but simply it appeared to allow mail to be sent via a call to the rouge page. Quite clever really it show how increasingly intelligent these attacks have become. In the past it used to be script kiddies automatically scouring using penetration tools. Now they are targeting hole in exiting websites and injecting in rouge code.

I guess that a sysadmins life never gets any easier.

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.