View from a phone

Stick man, oh stick man!

2012-01-24T21:47:00.003Z

A stick man has joined our family.

EBAY item - LEGO BIONICLES PARTS

2011-12-11T20:17:00.001Z

FREECYCLE - Computer Memory

2011-12-11T19:51:00.001Z

FREECYCLE - Mobile phone & charger & car charger

2011-12-11T19:22:00.004Z

FREECYCLE - IDE CD-R/RW DRIVE

2011-12-11T19:22:00.003Z

FREECYCLE - IDE CD-RW/DVD ROM DRIVE

2011-12-11T19:22:00.001Z

FREECYCLE - Computer PSU

2011-12-11T19:19:00.003Z

FREECYCLE - Computer PSU

2011-12-11T19:19:00.001Z

FREECYCLE - PCI modem

2011-12-11T19:18:00.001Z

Weekend sports roundup

2011-10-17T09:29:00.001+01:00

New shorts, new t-shirt, and new best time.

Hurty legs.

Short-ening my times?

2011-09-23T12:44:00.001+01:00

Tomorrow is a running race day. It will be interesting to see what effect my new shorts have on my result. I hope that they will not negatively influence the results of the other competitors.

Barcode Bad Boy

2011-09-12T11:10:00.001+01:00

On Saturday I went to the running race as usual, but omitted to take my runner ID barcode with me.

The photograph should act as evidence that I really was in attendance. I came in 22nd, with a time of just under 24 minutes, with which I was pleased. It was not my fastest ever time around the course, though. I wore my spaceman T shirt. When I achieved my fastest ever time, I wore my Carbon Cutters tshirt.

FOR SALE

2011-09-11T19:16:00.002+01:00

Winking under braking.

2011-08-24T22:37:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, I followed a car to work that only had one working brake light.

It is my opinion that more VW Golfs have non-working rear lights than any other model of car. It's just a view based on observations made on my travels.

Funny flower.

2011-08-21T21:44:00.002+01:00

We have grown a number of sunflowers this year. The one in today's picture has an interesting bloom. It would perhaps be accurate to report that it is blooming interesting.

Not really a bargain.

2011-08-20T22:34:00.002+01:00

This shelf-edge label in the supermarket appears to be promoting a deal that is not in a customer's favour. Fancy that.

Ridge tent

2011-08-16T21:07:00.002+01:00

This evening, I constructed a ridge tent as you can see.

Deconstruction before bed time was dismissed as a wholly unacceptable option.

Plasticine afternoon

2011-08-15T22:29:00.004+01:00

On Saturday we "did" plasticine for a while after we had finished our lunch. You can see the red spider to the right hand side of the picture, and the curious beige curly carrot on the left hand side.

5km in 24m23s

2011-08-08T22:22:00.002+01:00

A momentary lapse in acknowledging my minimal fitness level led to a 5km scamper early on Saturday morning. The scamper led to a red face and a lie down in the grass!

Freecycle things

2010-10-17T16:11:00.001+01:00

2010-08-27T21:52:00.000+01:00

Did you think I'd gone?

I've been busy.

Boiling eggs among other things

I can see a lion

2010-05-24T10:35:00.001+01:00

From where I am sitting, I can see two lions and and two aeroplanes. Most curious.

Lunchtime leg-stretch

2010-05-12T14:32:00.000+01:00

I needed some fresh air and a change of scenery at lunchtime today. Whilst out and about, I saw two disused things: a canal and a nest.

Funny loaf

2010-05-10T08:57:00.001+01:00

The loaf that was cooked in our breadmaker came out looking very pleased with itself yesterday.

Sofa.

2010-04-06T19:18:00.002+01:00

In training

2010-03-16T22:30:00.003Z

The once-neatly-packaged contents of the cardboard box that was in storage for a while have been laid out on this big board - as you can see.

Bookcase

2010-03-15T09:03:00.001Z

My family and other animals

2010-03-06T23:44:00.001Z

He was still breathing – but for this man, a brief trip to the playpark was enough for him to need a lie down. Well – it was his birthday, too.

This lady also seemed to feel the need to recline.

Oh dear. Gloves on the swing, and Marley (the dog) on a swing. Maybe the children should have been on the swing instead.

That’s funny

2010-03-02T19:00:00.001Z

Last week we went on an outing. While away, this furry friend joined in the seeing and the sawing. That’s funny.

Training session

2010-02-16T22:06:00.001Z

A rug was put to particularly good use as a train on Sunday evening. Frequently,one of the passengers chastised the others for their omission to shut the imaginary doors or to fasten the imaginary seatbelts.

Shiny shiny.

2010-02-16T20:20:00.001Z

My brother has a lot of pets.

My sister in law melted down their (the pets’) food containers and made some polish. As you can see, our windowsills have benefitted significantly from the application of the polish.

Drawing lots

2010-02-11T21:17:00.002Z

I have been drawing lots - in the sense that I have created a picture (rather than gambling)

A clothing crisis

2010-02-02T22:00:00.002Z

The clothes I had hoped to wear tomorrow are approximately 240 miles from my current location. An absent minded moment on my part led to this unfortunate situation.

Stripey Stripey

2010-01-27T20:40:00.003Z

The view in the north today is very stripey from where I am.

Catching up (part 4)

2010-01-25T11:19:00.001Z

We ordered some skirting board for our back lobby area. I was expecting some plain white skirting board to arrive, but the large parcel contained lengths with a much more detailed profile. As you can see from the picture, the skirting that was actually sent to us makes a notably good slide for piglet and his friends.

Catching up (part 3)

2010-01-25T11:16:00.001Z

On Saturday morning, my special helper was assisting with the task of removing an accumulation of road-dirt from our car. Between the two of us, a particularly effective team was created as you can see in the photograph.

Catching up (part 2)

2010-01-25T11:14:00.001Z

While away from home, as reported in the previous post, I encountered this little friendly furry creature. We didn't have much of a meaningful conversation, but it was very clear that we were interested in one another.

Catching up (part 1)

2010-01-25T11:11:00.001Z

I've been a slack blogger, for which I declare my apologies.

The first report here details a cold and frosty morning. Last week, I was sent to a northern destination to work on a project. It seemed to be dark for a large number of hours each day. However, as you can see from the photograph, the sun did make an appearance just as I was arriving at work one day.

Number 1a in our street has no heating.

2010-01-14T22:29:00.001Z

The longevity of the walls (and roof) of the property “1a” in our street will be extended if the weather stays as cold as it has been so far this year. Someone was looking out of the window of the property when this photograph was taken.

Who goes there?

2010-01-14T22:19:00.001Z

Bird, pushchair, a motor vehicle and a biped.

Like an apple

2010-01-13T21:06:00.001Z

The report from today’s activities was “crunch crunch – like an apple”. Hopefully the photographs explain this riddle.

Slow Snow Journey

2010-01-11T12:07:00.001Z

This morning I arrived at my desk one hour later than I had predicted, based on my departure time. As you can see in today's picture, the road was somewhat slippery.

Looking in a box.

2010-01-10T23:35:00.001Z

Today we went out for dinner. After a good meal, one of the diners was looking for Big Thomas Book (BTB) in the Pooh Bear Box (PBB). It was, unfortunately , not to be found.

Noman

2010-01-06T21:40:00.001Z

Today saw the construction phase of the noman you can see below. Luckily, the lost property box provided him some garments to keep ~~out~~ in the cold.

Curious colours

2010-01-05T22:32:00.003Z

Everything outside has turned very very white. The lights from the town, however, add an orange tinge to the night sky.

Smoky

2010-01-04T22:26:00.001Z

Today our vacuum cleaner was sick. More accurately, it was briefly on fire. The charred item you can see here is the thermal cutout. I think there might be some irony in the situation.

Hopefully I will encounter a similar model on my travels which might yield the requisite spare parts.

“Race Daddy”

2010-01-03T22:39:00.001Z

There was some high speed action in our garden this afternoon. The grass was out-of-bounds due to the subzero temperature, but the path made a good race track.

Seasonal craft.

2009-12-24T19:46:00.001Z

Last Friday, some visitors to our house made a particularly good nativity scene from polymorph. It’s good, don’t you agree?

Something I didn't see

2009-12-21T12:06:00.001Z

This bear was photographed outside 53 Great Russell St, London. Very curious indeed. You can perhaps see him more clearly here.

A large sock?

2009-12-17T12:37:00.001Z

In this photograph, you can see Big Bear looking out of a large Christmas stocking. He's been watching all the other "big stuff" in our office for a few days now.

A large tree

2009-12-15T16:51:00.001Z

There is a large tree in our office. It stands in a particularly elegant pot.

What I almost saw yesterday.

2009-12-14T12:05:00.001Z

Yesterday we went to Uncle-Dan-and-Aunty-Cat's house. We stopped for a picnic lunch at (15° 54' 16.17", 1° 25' 45.55").

I had hoped that we might have stopped somewhere marginally further South-West of this location, in order that I might have observed some seafaring transportation.

As a consolation, I did catch a glimpse of a very orange ship labelled "Wallenius". On first inspection, I had thought that the ship was named Walrus, but that was not the case.

As I was responsible for driving at the time, I did not acquire a photograph of the Wallenius, but it was very much like the one pictured here.

Looking up

2009-12-11T11:23:00.001Z

On Thursday, my walk to work provided this sight up in the early morning sky. It might be necessary to click on the picture in order to see it more clearly.

A dark morning

2009-12-09T22:17:00.002Z

It was very dark this morning as I walked to work. This view is of a huge cathedral high up on an outcrop.

Unfortunately, the low light conditions do make the view somewhat difficult to appreciate.

It has been far too long.....

2009-12-03T12:21:00.001Z

The elapsed time since my last blog post is much too great. I must try harder.

Recently, our bathroom and kitchen windowsills (which are wooden) had begun to look tired and soggy. Last Friday, I purchased some exterior varnish. After the application of a cocktail of elbow grease and varnish, things are looking much much better. Hopefully you agree with the evidence in the photograph.

No clear information is available.

2009-11-23T22:01:00.001Z

It has been noted that the unavailability of an item of confectionery known as the Kit Kat Peanut Butter Chunky (or KKPBC) is causing some misery within our locality.

The online encyclopaedia “wikipedia” declares the KKPBC as “now discontinued due to lack of demand”. There is, however, no cited source of this information

The website of the manufacturer does not indicate this status at all. I will report any further investigations here.

How good are we – how good are they?

2009-11-23T21:53:00.001Z

On Saturday afternoon, I happened across a sign like this in a hospital corridor. I’d never seen one like it in a public building before.

I will keep my eyes open for other such signs in the future

A significant climb

2009-11-16T23:03:00.001Z

On Saturday morning, we climbed from the stone you see in the centre of the first photograph, to enjoy the view.

The climb in itself was more interesting, since one of our climbing party was in an unpowered wheeled vehicle as you can see below.

In the dog house.

2009-11-16T22:58:00.001Z

Dog spent a night in the castle. Very palatial.

Did Nigella visit?

2009-11-09T21:18:00.001Z

We have a friend who is keen on the idea of cookery, but frequently lacks either ingredients, time, facilities, (or possibly motivation?)

Yesterday evening, we had a really rather splendid surprise when the objects in the photograph were revealed. I was very very fortunate to experience one of the pictured objects with the following of my senses: sight, touch, smell, and taste. The best response I can make is probably Mmm Mmm Mmmmmmm.

Hot Hot Hot

2009-11-09T20:55:00.001Z

On Saturday, I went to a bonfire party, which was noteworthily enjoyable. You can see some of the fun in the photographs, but particular respect is due to the individual who identified a remote marshmallow toasting method (R.M.T.M.) and also proved the value of the R.M.T.M by assembling a remote marshmallow toasting device (R.M.T.D)

I hope that this reporting provides adequate respect for the ingenuity that was shown.

MOsTly acceptable

2009-11-05T21:26:00.001Z

Tomorrow morning, the Pat van is going for it’s MOT test. I have checked the basics – only time will tell how it fares on the finer points of the test.

A little bit about me

2009-11-02T21:25:00.001Z

I used two different “online calculators” to identify what our actions might be doing for (or against) climate change. Interestingly, the two calculators give a similar output if you subtract the “secondary” category from the first.

Arise

2009-11-01T22:17:00.001Z

This afternoon, our walk took us to the Citroen garage at a minute past closing time. Some sorry-for-themselves balloons were drifting in the forecourt, so we dutifully retrieved them. Later on in the evening, we discovered that the balloons were helium filled. They had been weighed down by strings, valves, and other paraphernalia. Once liberated, they caused very very much enjoyment in the short time between tea and bed.

An uninvited visitor

2009-10-30T12:16:00.001Z

Earlier this week, I was downloading photographs from our camera. There were certain images which I was expecting to find... others that I wasn't expecting, but was unsurprised to find... and this one, which I was not expecting, but was particularly surprised to find!

To the best of my knowledge, the creature in the picture is not a family member, nor a resident of our dwelling-place. All in all - quite a mystery.

Who does this remind you of?

2009-10-30T12:12:00.002Z

The question for today: Which Scarry character does this gingerbread shape most resemble?

Partial success

2009-10-26T23:08:00.003Z

Another task that I wrestled (very physically) with this evening was the liberation of this broken belt from its' resting place between the clutch unit and the motor drive of a vacuum cleaner. As soon as a new one arrives, things should be back to normal operation as far as the vacuum cleaner is concerned.

Success

2009-10-26T22:53:00.005Z

This printed page was the culmination of a number of weeks' procrastination, and one evening's attentiveness.

Tomorrow morning I will return the equipment to its' rightful owner.

Reading the printed text makes me realise that there is some clarification required. The first "it" relates to Naomi's computer. The second "it" relates to the text itself. Sorry for any confusion.

A hungry bird

2009-10-24T13:34:00.001+01:00

This bird was very hungry. It is a goldfinch, I believe.

Socky hands

2009-10-24T13:29:00.002+01:00

The problem with going to sleep is ... that you can't do it with socks on one's hands and not on one's feet.

Energy use

2009-10-22T12:56:00.001+01:00

In the last 12 months, I've driven 9500 miles at an average of 61mpg, and our household has consumed 1932kWh electricity and 5590kWh of gas. What about you?

We must never become complacent, as we're living an unsustainable lifestyle, but there's an element of comfort in knowing that the "South Oxfordshire average domestic consumption" is 19463kWh gas and 6026kWh electricity.
(data from http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/regional/regional.aspx)

The statistics show that some people do spend a lot of money on energy.

Plastic friends

2009-10-19T22:45:00.003+01:00

Today we went on a very very exciting outing. It is possible to guess where we were from the photographs.

Someone moved the mountain.

2009-10-13T18:14:00.002+01:00

Today the mountain disappeared. There was a scoopy-uppy-lorry.

Are you going to come out?

2009-10-12T23:13:00.003+01:00

These flowers have been at the "bud" stage for a very very very long time. I do hope that the flowers come out soon. The grass has been cut since the photograph was taken, but the flower bed has not yet been edged.

Mathematical errors

2009-10-12T14:03:00.001+01:00

On Saturday, we purchased the yellow items visible in the photograph. They were marked for sale at 55p / kg

Curiously, our till receipt showed that we had purchased just 0.055kg of bananas. More curiously, we were charged at £1.10 / kg.

They're very tasty bananas, though.

A mountain

2009-10-08T21:53:00.003+01:00

Due to a reported mis-scheduling of "work" and "skip", the re as been a mountain across the road as you can see. Somewhat curiously, the mountain has steadily grown since it first appeared.

Today I was party to a discussion indicating that there may be a very formal removal of the mountain shortly.

The vehicle that has been flytipping to augment the pile is AJ05ZXX. You can see a picture of the vehicle below.

Looking down

2009-10-02T09:47:00.001+01:00

Yesterday evening, I was faced with this view. My photographic inability has led to the picture being somewhat less impressive than the sight of the setting orange sun on the fields.

View from a gate

2009-09-28T12:44:00.001+01:00

This morning, I stopped off at a field where there is a gate labelled "My Place". As you can see in the photograph, there are a number of creatures residing there. None came to greet me, so I continued my journey to work.

Brilliant Bhajjis

2009-09-27T22:47:00.003+01:00

We had an Indian meal this evening. It turned in to a bit of a dinner party, which was awesome.

As you can see, we had a special guest bhajji-cooker. His confidence was inspiring, and his dedication to the task to be undertaken was noteworthy. Big respect to the SF.

Flying at night.

2009-09-27T22:41:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, an Owl moved in with us. Certain activities are now forbidden.

The under-counter lights in the kitchen are not to be used, as the overhead lights are proven to be significantly more efficient. The lighting in the loft also requires attention. I hope to post owl-statistics periodically. We have consumed 4.2kWh of electrical energy in the last 24 hours.

What is open?

2009-09-25T12:51:00.001+01:00

Many people that I talk to seem to be jumping on the "Open" bandwagon, some believing that Open Source Software replaces what was Freeware. Some folks will bleat for a while about how good all this new free stuff is.... but my increased use of Open Source software has somewhat pricked my conscience. Open Source systems only work when there is collaborative working, feedback is given, upgrades are made, and so on and so on - i.e. people like you and I get involved.

While my technical ability might well render me unhelpful in the open source communities around operating systems and applications, I believe that I am capable of assisting with the Open Source mapping project.

During my lunchtime today I added some missing footpaths to the map that covers our locality. Hopefully the map will become a useful (royalty-free) resource as it increases in accuracy. I also added a postbox, but it doesn't seem to appear on the map (yet)

A visit

2009-09-24T12:17:00.001+01:00

Yesterday evening I went on an IET visit to the JET and MAST projects. I did not take a camera, which was remiss of me, but I was suitably impressed by the hypertroid and the gigatron. I hope that I remembered the names correctly!

Stones? or not?

2009-09-22T18:00:00.001+01:00

This evening, there was some confusion at the dinner table. Button mushrooms were mis-identified as stones.

Apples

2009-09-20T23:09:00.002+01:00

It has been a significantly apple-y weekend.

Some of the apple-activities of our household members are more graphically (and more promptly) reported here

It

Hopefully not a runny lunch

2009-09-10T12:08:00.000+01:00

One of my luncheon items islabelled today. I hope the labelling is correct!

I have returned

2009-08-28T10:15:00.001+01:00

I was overseas for the last few days, as you may have gathered from the preceding post. The documents relating to the reservations made for my travel were notably intriguing as you can see in today's picture.

Who has been here?

2009-08-27T09:46:00.001+01:00

On my evening walk, I encountered these "pierres" as the locals might say. I wonder who might have left them in such a curious arrangement.

A vehicle for Julian Clifton

2009-08-25T22:07:00.003+01:00

When Julian Clifton is seventeen, I expect that he will dream of one of these. The "Zero Emissions" version may be ready by then.

Various observations

2009-08-25T21:15:00.004+01:00

Last week, I was on holiday. A selection of the curiosities that I encountered are shown below.

evening view from "The Mermaid" public house

Martin next door

Take home presents?

Having a ride.

Dog meets cat.

Watch the birdie

2009-08-13T23:18:00.001+01:00

While I was enjoying my breakfast this morning, so was someone else.

Tractor

2009-08-12T12:48:00.001+01:00

Today I saw a tractor on the main road to work.

Dig dig.

2009-08-09T19:25:00.003+01:00

Someone has been digging holes. I don't yet know why.

New house

2009-08-09T19:24:00.002+01:00

The new house now has windows, roof, and foundations.

The tomato plants moved in yesterday!

Empty field

2009-08-06T09:07:00.001+01:00

This field has a label on the gate, which states "My Place". Frequently, there are a number of different animals residing there, but on this occasion, the field was empty.

Greenfinch

2009-08-06T09:05:00.001+01:00

In this picture, there is not a greenfinch on the bird feeder. There was a greenfinch on the bird feeder until about five seconds before this photograph was taken.

Missing "in the system"

2009-07-22T12:18:00.001+01:00

A while ago, when my mobile phone contract had come to a natural conclusion, I decided to send my mobile phone back, in order to raise some funds.

Time passed, and nothing happened. More time .... more nothing.

That was over one month ago. I have now completed and returned Post Office form P58 and hope to see whether the benefit of a certificate of posting is as great as is claimed.

Long time - no post - apologies.

2009-07-21T12:09:00.001+01:00

It does seem to be a while since I last posted anything here. Please accept apologies for the sporadic service.

We have acquired a new house (a green one). It is currently in the cleaning phase, and awaits reglazing. Undoubtedly, pictures will follow

We had 22 people come to the big lunch on Sunday. Despite the precipitation, we all had a splendid time, and the little people in the road certainly all got along very well with one another. The photographs are on the camera belonging to the lady-next-door, but you can get an idea of what we got up to by looking here.

Photographs from the Sticky Bun.

2009-07-15T12:50:00.001+01:00

Further to the last posting here, I've now received photographs from Saturday's outing.

Sticky bun?

2009-07-11T23:29:00.003+01:00

Today I was here:

View Larger Map.

Once we had climbed to 600metres above sea level, the view was somewhat hampered by the inclement conditions.

The image below is one I took when making the same ascent nearly exactly five years ago. The weather was not so inclement on that occasion.

Woooof Woooof!

2009-07-08T09:06:00.001+01:00

Does anyone know who these furry creatures are? They certainly look very happy.

Please add comments below if you know anything that might help to solve the mystery.