Well, sort of. I've been trying my hand at photography recently, I'm not using a top of the range camera or even one designed for serious photography, just a simple point and snap style digital camera. In fact to be precise its a Pentax Optio A20 compact.
Even so, and inspired by Brandon Klein (whom I sort of know from the website pocketotaku.com) I've decided to keep an extra blog that records a photo I've taken each and every day starting today.
You can view (and follow) that blog here.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Update on repairs.
So the surveyor came and went, he was roughly half an hour early but thats fine it made things a bit easier otherwise I'd be rushing around showing him whats what and then rushing out to fetch the Sprog from school.
It was an old guy, the guy who was supposed to come was double booked so we got this guy, the same bloke we'd had out two times previously to look at the toilet bowl. All he'd been told was he was to look at the rear entrance to ours and our neighbours back garden. There's a gate leading to a back alley that leads to our garden gates, the gate at the end of the alley is padlocked and we don't have the key, nor do the neighbours, we'd asked on the phone if we could just take some bolt cutters to it, but they insisted on having a look...
So he looked at that, did a doodle on his A4 notebook, had a look at the radiator and its accompanying crack, wrote down my complaints about the toilet (the bowl, cistern and overflow pipe) but didn't bother to take a closer look and said he'd get back to us before leaving, he was here about 5 minutes and I can't see anything being done unless we keep chasing it up every bloody week.
It was an old guy, the guy who was supposed to come was double booked so we got this guy, the same bloke we'd had out two times previously to look at the toilet bowl. All he'd been told was he was to look at the rear entrance to ours and our neighbours back garden. There's a gate leading to a back alley that leads to our garden gates, the gate at the end of the alley is padlocked and we don't have the key, nor do the neighbours, we'd asked on the phone if we could just take some bolt cutters to it, but they insisted on having a look...
So he looked at that, did a doodle on his A4 notebook, had a look at the radiator and its accompanying crack, wrote down my complaints about the toilet (the bowl, cistern and overflow pipe) but didn't bother to take a closer look and said he'd get back to us before leaving, he was here about 5 minutes and I can't see anything being done unless we keep chasing it up every bloody week.
Repairs repairs repairs, oh and general house work...
We've got a surveyor from the housing association coming over at some point today to take a look at a few things, some of which we've had him look at a few times before that are still awaiting repair.
The cistern to our toilet is leaking from the handle, the overflow pipe has also been dripping for months and they've done nothing about it, likewise, we've been requesting a new toilet bowl since we moved in 5 years ago as the one thats currently there is badly stained and/or all the enamel has come off it and quite frankly its not very nice to look at, it stinks and its hardly hygenic. One of the brackets holding the main radiator in the lounge has come off and there's a huge crack in the wall where it used to be (going right from the windowsill down to the skirting board!) not to mention other cracks in the walls in the lounge.
Time will only tell if these things are seen to, although they probably won't be too pleased with our overgrown back garden (which we're aiming to see too over the next few months). Speaking of gardening, I took the strimmer to the front lawn yesterday, which was knackering work, then I tried to take our hover mower to it, but the blades keep spinning out I'm not sure why it keeps doing that but its far too annoying to mow the whole front lawn (which admittedly isn't very big) when I'm having to stop 10 or so times each time I attempt it to slot the little plastic blades back into the spinning disc.
The cistern to our toilet is leaking from the handle, the overflow pipe has also been dripping for months and they've done nothing about it, likewise, we've been requesting a new toilet bowl since we moved in 5 years ago as the one thats currently there is badly stained and/or all the enamel has come off it and quite frankly its not very nice to look at, it stinks and its hardly hygenic. One of the brackets holding the main radiator in the lounge has come off and there's a huge crack in the wall where it used to be (going right from the windowsill down to the skirting board!) not to mention other cracks in the walls in the lounge.
Time will only tell if these things are seen to, although they probably won't be too pleased with our overgrown back garden (which we're aiming to see too over the next few months). Speaking of gardening, I took the strimmer to the front lawn yesterday, which was knackering work, then I tried to take our hover mower to it, but the blades keep spinning out I'm not sure why it keeps doing that but its far too annoying to mow the whole front lawn (which admittedly isn't very big) when I'm having to stop 10 or so times each time I attempt it to slot the little plastic blades back into the spinning disc.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Sebastian's Voodoo
Great animated short about a Voodoo doll who tries to save his friends from getting pinned.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Walking in a Geordie Wonderland?
Before I start let's make on thing clear, I'm not a fan of Newcastle United, I'm a Gunner. Anyhow, carrying on...
This season has been a bit of a pantomime for the Toon Army, what with their seemingly clueless owner, Keegan walking out, Kinnear needing heart surgery and Houghton and Calderwood working as a team (and the least said about Calderwood from a man who's place of birth is Nottingham the better), now it seems that Alan Shearer has finally given into demands and seem's set to become the next manager of Newcastle United.
There's a lot of fuss, especially from those passionate about the club, and talk of him being a Geordie God (much the same as when Keegan returned), but do they honestly believe that he's the answer to all of their problems? Sure his appointment will lift the fans' hearts, but I honestly don't think thats enough in the modern game. Watching Newcastle United play leaves you with the impression that certain members in the team just don't give a shit, either because they're happy just doing a days work and collecting their wage or because they can't cope with the pressure of playing for a team that has the fanbase Newcastle have or some other reason.
There's the exception of course, Martins always seems to be impressive and selling Given was a huge mistake, whilst if Owen started focusing on his general fitness rather than his horses he might not pick up so many injuries, actually play some games for the team and get Capello's attention, that's if he even cares about that anymore, the man just looks like a shadow of what we have seen from him before his move to Real Madrid.
So will Newcastle beat relegation? Probably yes, they're a better team than Stoke and I prefer watching them to Allardyce's Blackburn, but they do have a very difficult end of season ahead but I think they can scrape it, afterall only 3 points seperates them from 14th placed Sunderland.
Monday, March 16, 2009
2 months!
Wow, didn't realise it'd been two months since I last posted here.
As usual not alots gone on, just job hunting and I've taken up a spot of photography, although I'm only using a compact digital camera at the moment, it's a Pentax Optio A20. Not a bad camera but not the best thing for what I wanna do.
You'll find all of my pics on my Flickr page, here. I've also created a blog for video's I've captured in SKATE 2 from EA, which you can find here.
I've got an interview at the Job Centre tomorrow about Job Seeker's Allowance, it's also a means towards making finding a job a little easier in the crazy economical crisis we're all having, or at least I hope so anyway, 4 years out of the game is a bloody long time, especially for someone who has no qualifications above GCSE level.
As usual not alots gone on, just job hunting and I've taken up a spot of photography, although I'm only using a compact digital camera at the moment, it's a Pentax Optio A20. Not a bad camera but not the best thing for what I wanna do.
You'll find all of my pics on my Flickr page, here. I've also created a blog for video's I've captured in SKATE 2 from EA, which you can find here.
I've got an interview at the Job Centre tomorrow about Job Seeker's Allowance, it's also a means towards making finding a job a little easier in the crazy economical crisis we're all having, or at least I hope so anyway, 4 years out of the game is a bloody long time, especially for someone who has no qualifications above GCSE level.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Me cook? OK I'll try
So the missus has been doing twelve hours shifts this week. This means she's hardly seeing our daughter and I'm having to cook, something that is usually left to her because, well, because she's good at it, where as I'm not confident.
I decided to try my hand at a stew, I figured it was pretty much prepare everything and chuck it in a pot on the hob and leave till its cooked, obviously stirring every so often. We do have a slow cooker, but it doesn't seem to thicken too well in there.
So anyhow, the stew turned out fairly well in the end (this was Tuesday evening), good enough for Missus to request I make another tonight, well, maybe she didn't want me to try my hand at making a curry just yet...
So here's what I did
440g diced beef (although substituted for diced pork tonight as the supermarket had no beef left)
2 medium carrots
3 large potatoes
1 parsnip
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
500ml of beef stock
400ml of chopped tomatoes
220ml of Guinness Draught
salt, pepper and herbs depending on your taste.
I cut all the carrots, parsnips and potatoes up into small chunks and chucked them straight in the pot.
Make a small mix of plain flour, pepper, herbs and salt then lightly covered the cubes of beef/pork in it.
Shallow fried in olive oil the beef/pork until it was slightly brown, then fried the onion and garlic alongside the meat until the onions were slightly soft, and chucked them in the pot.
Added the tin of chopped tomatoes, Guinness and Beef Stock and left on a low light for 2 and a half to 3 hours, or until I was satisfied with its thickness.
I then served it inside a large Yorkshire Pudding each (I cheated her and used Aunt Bessy frozen ones) with a chunk of French Baguette for dipping.
Admittedly on Tuesday, I burnt it a bit so some of the taste was lost,I was trying to find a heat on the stove that would cook it in time for Missus getting home, but ended up partially rushing it a little too much, luckily it was still edible, but as I stated earlier in this post, it must of been nice enough for her to ask for it again (either that or she was trying not to hurt my feelings), I enjoyed cooking and eating it anyway, which is a rarity as usually cooking seems to put me off my food. I even managed to cut and cook the onions without being blinded (I cannot cope at all with the stingy eyes onions give me).
I decided to try my hand at a stew, I figured it was pretty much prepare everything and chuck it in a pot on the hob and leave till its cooked, obviously stirring every so often. We do have a slow cooker, but it doesn't seem to thicken too well in there.
So anyhow, the stew turned out fairly well in the end (this was Tuesday evening), good enough for Missus to request I make another tonight, well, maybe she didn't want me to try my hand at making a curry just yet...
So here's what I did
440g diced beef (although substituted for diced pork tonight as the supermarket had no beef left)
2 medium carrots
3 large potatoes
1 parsnip
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
500ml of beef stock
400ml of chopped tomatoes
220ml of Guinness Draught
salt, pepper and herbs depending on your taste.
I cut all the carrots, parsnips and potatoes up into small chunks and chucked them straight in the pot.
Make a small mix of plain flour, pepper, herbs and salt then lightly covered the cubes of beef/pork in it.
Shallow fried in olive oil the beef/pork until it was slightly brown, then fried the onion and garlic alongside the meat until the onions were slightly soft, and chucked them in the pot.
Added the tin of chopped tomatoes, Guinness and Beef Stock and left on a low light for 2 and a half to 3 hours, or until I was satisfied with its thickness.
I then served it inside a large Yorkshire Pudding each (I cheated her and used Aunt Bessy frozen ones) with a chunk of French Baguette for dipping.
Admittedly on Tuesday, I burnt it a bit so some of the taste was lost,I was trying to find a heat on the stove that would cook it in time for Missus getting home, but ended up partially rushing it a little too much, luckily it was still edible, but as I stated earlier in this post, it must of been nice enough for her to ask for it again (either that or she was trying not to hurt my feelings), I enjoyed cooking and eating it anyway, which is a rarity as usually cooking seems to put me off my food. I even managed to cut and cook the onions without being blinded (I cannot cope at all with the stingy eyes onions give me).
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