The last week

Boxing Day (26th December) was a quiet one, getting ready for the kids arriving on 27th.

Early morning on 27th December we went to Heathrow. I'd reserved a car at Alamo rentals. Maria dropped me off and then waited for me. As I drove out she followed me, but she was delayed at the exit barrier and a bus joined the queue behind me. As I left the car lot I saw Maria drive off towards Terminal 5, when we needed Terminal 3. I waited for 15 minutes and then went off to the airport. She returned my call as I got to the car park - she was now in the terminal arrival hall.

I got there 10 minutes later and met the kids. No sign of Maria though! They had been waiting 10 minutes. Beth went off and had her paged but then we spotted her.

We got home at about 10 am, had breakfast and then started on "Christmas dinner" preparation. We finished eating at about 4 pm after sitting down at 3.30 pm. We had desert later on though!

On 28th December Daughter No 1 and Son No 1 went off to the football with Grandad. Arsenal won (against Portsmouth). But then Grandad didn't turn up at the kebab shop where they had arranged to meet. They waited 20 minutes and then rang a family friend who they knew was at the match and put him on standby, then they rang me, then they rang Grandad's house in case he contacted his son. They then went to meet the family friend in the pub. Grandad turned up an hour later. He'd been turned back by the police and sent the wrong way, got lost and eventually went backwards and forwards looking for them before thinking to try the pub. He hadn't thought to call anyone - and he'd left his mobile at home too! They got home at 7 pm

29th December Grandad, his son Steven and daughter in law Cheri and their daughter Rebecca came for a cup of tea/coffee and to exchange gifts. After that we went to Guildford shopping (to spend gift vouchers the girls had been given). No 1 son and I went off to find a barber as he hasn't had a hair cut since we had it done on 29th August. We met the girls in Starbucks - here Caroline was able to get us staff discount off the drinks. Maria wasn't answering her phone though. She eventually called at 5 pm - her coffee was nearly cold by then and the girls had gone off shopping again. Back home Caroline and Maria watched "Mamma Mia" on DVD - I sat through it too. It was quite fun, bad plot and worse singing but if you ignore that its a bit like The Rocky Horror Show. Maria says the singing is supposed to be bad to show how it doesn't matter if you can't sing! Tom had gone over the road to see his friends and Beth went too - she stayed to watch "Superman Returns" with them!

Christmas Day and recap of last night's TV

The Carol Service and Midnight Mass ended at 1 am, and we got home by 2 am.

I opened a bottle of port and we had some cheese. The cork broke on the port, so I had a few minutes fun straining the port through paper towels. There was loads of sediment too, so I took the opportunity to clear that too.

Got woken up at 9 am by the b&%^$%^g cat scratching on the door.

Yesterday before we went down to Portsmouth we watched a re-run of Heston Blumenthal's Perfect Christmas. This was shown last year but we missed it, this was a re-run opn UKTV Food. He made Christmas themed food: Gold Frankincense and Myrrh was a bouillon block covered in gold leaf, with Frankincense tea to disolve it to make the soup and a spoon whittled out of a piece of Myrrh. He made an apple sorbet that wouldn't melt when he set fire to it. For the main course he made Goose with Chestnuts, with scents of leather, wood smoke and chestnuts roasting. He'd fed the geese on pine tree extract. Then he finished with reindeer milk ice cream on a brioche slice with mincemeat and pancetta. The brioche was dipped in egg before being fried. So it looked like scrambled egg on toast with bacon. He fed the food to a group of "celebrities". Totally amazing stuff.

Midnight Mass

Down to Portsmouth tonight for carols and midnight Mass.

Happy Christmas!

Little Visitor

We had a little visitor yesterday. It came and looked in the window while we were eating and then played "tig" with Nala who was sitting on the table outside. Tosca, who was inside, got all "offended" and started hissing at it and showing off to me.

We did our main Christmas food shop last night too. We got there at 7:30 thinking it would be quiet. It was manic. We finished at 9:30, came home and had pizza while watching "Holby City". Luckily we'd used "Fast Track". There was no queue at the "Fast Track" till and we didn't get a rescan. I've never seen Sainsbury with queues at the tills at 9:30 at night. No sign of a credit crunch in Farnham!

Further to the post a few days ago about the Mad Hatter, I've remembered who else had an alarm clock bed. It was Wallace from Wallace and Gromit - "The Wrong Trousers"

Portsmouth, etc.

A manic day on Monday. I went out recruiting for the Neighbourhood Watch at about 2 pm. I signed up 2 more people. However I got talking to one of them for 45 minutes - then Maria called me as we had to leave. At that rate it will take 8 hours to do the rest of the street!

We went down to Havant at 3:30 pm. Maria went to the chiropractor at 4, then we went into visit Argos to pick up an item I'd reserved. Then to Hobby Craft to return some of the stationery we got for the wedding. It was too late for a refund as I got the stationery in July and it should have been returned within 28 days so we got a credit note and then spent it on a jigsaw(yes, that's number 4) and some envelopes for Mum's birthday invites (I'd used some of the wedding stationery to do these so I was able to get matching envelopes). 

Then we had to go back to the chiropractor as Maria had left her earrings behind. She dropped me off and I scampered in to get them. When I got out Maria had gone. She'd had to keep moving as she couldn't find anywhere to park and traffice was queuing to get into Asda. She'd gone past Asda and had stopped in a bus stop. So I had to navigate the Asda roundabout on foot. I nearly got run over twice as it was now 5 pm and even busier than usual. 

We then drove in to Portsmouth where Maria had a rehearsal for the Carols and Midnight Mass at 6pm. We went to Starbucks where I had a Gingerbread Latte. The Starbucks closed at 5:30! Then we went to the Cathedral for 6 pm and I wandered round until 7:30. I looked round Debenhams - which was open 'til 10:30. HMV and Carphone Warehouse were open til 7 pm. Everywhere else was shut.

I took some pictures of the Cathedral (St John's) using my camera phone so they are not very good.

Got home late - about 8:15, so we didn't eat until 9 ish.

"Mad" Hatter and The DTs

After doing some more research, notably in the British Medical Journal article "Did The Mad Hatter have mercury poisoning?" it looks like my probable ancestor wasn't mad. It also suggests that The Hatter in Alice wasn't mad either. The chapter in Alice in Wonderland was called "A Mad Tea-Party" though, and the Cheshire Cat warns Alice that he is mad. The BMJ and Wikipedia say that the character of the hatter was based on Theophilus Carter, a man who invented an alarm clock bed - which I thought had been invented by Caractacus Potts in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (or maybe by "Doc" Emmett Brown in "Back to the Future"). The phrase "mad as a hatter" predates the Alice books apparently - and possibly predates hat making as an industry. 

As for James Hamer, he died of "Delerium Tremens": also known as "The DTs" which means he was probably an alcoholic and was suffering withdrawal.

He was in the Union workhouse in West Street, London. This was formerly St Sepulchre's workhouse near Newgate and Smithfield. Conditions here were pretty grim.

The Police came round last night. 3 PC's from Whitehill Police Station, not Sting and the band. They were handing out Neighbourhood Watch packs round the street. 

Tuesday in Windsor

I went to Windsor for an interview today (Tuesday). The meeting was in St Leonards Road. This is just down the road from the Castle. The pictures above were taken at the top of St Leonards Road and a few hundred metres down it.

I should hear the result of the interview on Wednesday, but they have someone to see on Thursday too.

I went and got some more Christmas cards, gift wrap and another jigsaw. We've nearly finished our second one of the season already: this makes three!

Winchester Saturday

We were in Winchester on Saturday: Maria was playing for Jubilee Brass again. We were by the Christmas tree next to the "Butter Cross" Above are some views of the High Street, the "Butter Cross" and the band. 

We went shopping afterwards: it was very busy. Then we came home and had mince pies for tea and watched The X Factor Final. We voted for Alexandra. She was certainly the best. In any normal year JLS would have won, but they couldn't match her. 

Thursday and Friday: Career Development in Alton

I was on a career development course at the Job Centre in Alton on Thursday and Friday.

Some useful networking, plus we did some exercises on body language, expanding outside our core areas of focus, checking for key issues on applications. Not really trail blazing stuff, but it got me out of the house and meeting people which I think will be the best part of it.

On Friday evening we received in the post the death certificate for the person who MAY be my great great grandfather's father. There is nothing on it that helps at the moment. He is listed as being a "hatter" and dying of "delerium tremens" in what looks like a workhouse in 1849. So it looks like I may be related to The Mad Hatter.

Street Walking

"Dave" and I walked up and down the street tonight. Visited all 40 houses, signed up nearly everyone who answered the door. It was VERY cold. Some kind people let us come in to their nice warm houses while we explained about the Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

Dave is going to get the list typed up and we go on from there.

Neighbourhood Watch progress

"Dave" - a PC from Whitehill called me. We arranged to walk the street tomorrow evening after I get back from my course. Progress at last!

VB again

I did some more VB.net today, working through the online course.

I had an email from the sergeant at Whitehill asking me to call in about volunary work. So I went down there. He was a bit annoyed that the PCSO hadn't been in touch about the Neighbourhood Watch, walking round the street with me to sign up members. So I left it with him.

I hired a car for when the kids are over. Hertz had none left so I found a car hire comparison site and used that. I got quite a good deal I think, but we'll see when we pick it up.

Maria went to visit her sister who has just come out of hospital, She got admitted yesterday with an ectopic pregnancy, apparently all okay now. So Maria got home late and was tired. We watched "Spooks" and she fell asleep on me :-)

Job Centre Monday

I went to sign on again today, I don't have to go back until next year - unless I get a job.

Walked into town as usual, got quite warm too.

I went to the post office and posted the foreign Christmas Cards, then came back home.

Southampton - Jubilee Brass

We went to Southampton yesterday as Maria's band were playing and fundraising in the town centre outside the entrance to "West Quay" shopping centre. I was on bucket duty. It was a nice afternoon but I was pretty cold by the time they stopped at 4:15pm. 

People seemed to like the music though: all the old favorite carols and Chrsitmas tunes.

We then went Christmas shopping for an hour and a bit before going to her parents for dinner: roast beef and all the trimmings! We left them at 9:30, got home soon after 10 and then we stayed up to watch "X Factor" rather than risk hearing who was eliminated on the news. The rather wierd and inconsistent Diana Vickers went out which was a relief. She can be very good but she has an odd voice: a bit like Kate Bush. I'm sure she'll do well anyway.

Interview, LMA, WAN and LAN fun

Maria dropped me at the station so I got to London at about 8:30 yesterday. Went over to Piccadilly by underground/tube and then walked. I had a coffee in Starbucks and looked around Fortnum and Mason briefly. The interview was on the 1st floor of the Cavendish Hotel in Jermyn Street. I got there at 9:50 and he wasn't there. I rang him and got his voicemail. He arrived at 10 past 10. Interview seemed to go okay, but I heard today (Thursday) that I didn't get it. It was close apparently but they picked someone with more "financial services" experience.

I then went on to the London Metropolitan Archives and looked through the records for St Pancras and Woolwich for my Great, Great Grandfather and his family and for Maria's Great, Great Grandfather. I found my Great, Great Aunts and Uncle which is some help. My Gt Gt Grandfather was born just before they started recording births and his sisters and brother were christened in a new church built a couple of years after he was born. Very frustrating as I went through thousands of records for the old church.

As usual I had to wait for the bus at Liphook as I got the train that DOESN'T have a connecting bus service! It was VERY cold last night.

I went over the road today to help Sharon set up a wireless network as they have got a laptop for their son for his birthday. It took longer than I expected as I didn't realise at first that their home PC had a network port, but had no drivers installed. So I set it up and then found that I couldn't see the router. After going back to basics I traced that the network card wasn't working, found this was due to missing drivers, downloaded and installed them and then we were flying. The router had a bit of trouble being convinced that it should change it's SSID and password but it managed it in the end.

Tom came over to say thank you later on, which was nice of him.

VB - 2

Today's interview got moved to tomorrow in London, so I will go to the Metropolitan Archives while I'm in town if I'm up to it after the interview.

I carried on with the VB lessons. I have created a calculator that can "add". It can't do anything else yet, but that's a start!

I've mostly finished decorating the cloakroom. I put up the tiles for the splashback today. It just needs grouting and the floor tidying up where I took away the nasty old cover for the pipes.

VB

I have started trying to learn VB.net. It's going ok so far. It is interesting. I have an interview tomorrow in Croydon again!

Fareham - Havant Symphony Orchestra

On Saturday I went Christmas shopping as Maria had a rehearsal for a concert. In the evening we went to "Ask" in Fareham for something to eat, accompanied by her fellow musician Jon the Tuba player. I then went to watch them in the concert given by the Havant Symphony Orchestra. (Grieg "Overture in Autumn", Svendsen "Norwegian Rhapsody No 1", Rachmaninov "Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor"and Glazunov "Symphony No 6 in C minor"). The soloist was Katya Apekisheva. We stayed for drinks afterwards too.

On Sunday we had a quiet day to ourselves, apart from food shopping at Tesco.

Man Flu

I've got a cold today...feel pretty lousy.
Maria got me some "Lemsip Max Strength" which help. Basically I've spent two hours doing the "christmas jigsaw" which will get me into trouble I know :-)
The new "10,000" hour light bulb that I fitted in the lamp outside last week has died, so I put in another one. Luckily we've received 2 free packs of long life, low energy bulbs, one from British Gas and one from EDF energy.

Family History

I went off to Aldershot Family History Centre today - its provided as a free service by the Church of the Later Day Saints (Mormons). I'd asked them to get a copy of the parish register from St John the Baptist, Hoxton for me.

I went through it and found what MAY be my Great, Great Grandfather's baptism record. However on the 1851 census his place of birth is given as Cumberland Market (which is near Regent's Park) London. In this entry his parents are living in East Road, Hoxton. In 1851 there is another Richard Hamer who is in Whitechapel. He gives his place of birth as Whitechapel too. Whitechapel is about 1.5 miles away. Cumberland Market is about 3.5 miles.

In both cases they are living with their mother Mary and their father is not there. Two James Hamers died in London between 1841 and 1851. I guess I'll have to track both families for now.

Croydon!

I went off to Croydon for an interview yesterday.

I got there nice and early so I was able to walk around and enjoy the sights. The picture is of the "famous" "threepenny bit" building near East Croydon station. I think threepenny bits were phased out in the 1960s so that dates it a bit. The guy in the hoody looks a bit surprised that I was taking a picture.

I used to work in East Croydon, the shop has been converted into a solicitor's office. The buildings opposite have been knocked down and are to be re-developed as Ruskin Square / "Croydon Gateway" This second picture is a view from the station of the development area. At least the Warehouse Theatre will get a make over as part of the works.

Anyway, I've been invited back for a second interview next week which is nice.

I went by train, using the vouchers sent to me by SW Trains after the farce a few weeks back.

The local police Sergeant called me today. They've leafleted the street asking if anyone is interested, but the PCSO who was due to accompany me on a walk about tonight is off sick so I guess we'll do it another day.

Digger

The local council have finally started doing something about the drainage (surface water run-off) in our street.

It floods every time it rains...see picture taken from upstairs at our house :)

This morning a big yellow jcb digger (Nizlopi reference anyone?) turns up and started digging a hole. Good job the neigbours have taken down their trampoline!

I had a word with the driver. I offered to take out the end fence panel to make it easier for him, but he said it wouldn't help as there is a concrete weather board under it.

They are putting in a new pipe under the fence to link our drain to the one 50 yards away in the next street. Then they are putting in a new over-flow to take the extra into the culvert down by the play park (about 200 yards further down). He said they were going to put in a new soak away, but after under 2 metres they hit sand so they gave up on that idea.

I was a bit worried about damage to the fence - loosening the posts, and to the tree - as they have taken out half the roots but we'll have to wait and see what its like afterwards.

I've been painting the cloakroom today as well - I took out the cover for the pipes under the sink, so I've got some more "making good" to do as well now.

I've got a meeting later with the Police about Neighbourhood Watch, down at the police station.

Neighbourhood Watch

I've been emailing the police for the past couple of weeks about the neighbourhood watch. The Inspector called me this morning so I told him that I'd offered to help and to speak with the police sergeant and had no reply yet. So I assume he'll chase it up. I spoke to Mark, Graham and Mary (up the hill) yesterday. They seem interested too. It appears that not only did someone drive into Mark's van and drive off without leaving their details but also someone tried to break into it. Mary said yesterday that someone tried to steal the alloy wheels off someones car the other day.
Maria was wondering if she'd heard the thieves the other night when she woke up at 4 am.
The owners of the car whose wheels nearly got nicked have installed CCTV monitoring.

Blackmoor walk

We went to church this morning (15th Oct 08) - Maria sang solo in the penultimate hymn which went down very well I thought. I went to the DIY shop and picked up the paint for the toilet. On the way home there was a huge queue of cars waiting to use the recycling centre in Station Road, so I rand the "101" service when we got in. They said they'd send the police round if they were free. Later on we went for a walk and I took these pictures of the autumn leaves, St Matthew's church and one of a local dog wearing a florescent jacket. I emailed the picture of the dog (Jack) to Beth. She loves florescent jackets.

On the way back we met Mary. Turns out she had been hassled by an inconsiderate driver while out walking. I told her to report it to the police/council using the "101" service.

Petersfield

Maria went to get her hair done today. I went looking for the paint to "do" the walls in the cloakroom/toilet. We'd chosen the Dulux "Lught and Space" reflective paint called "morning light". None of the DIY shops in Petersfield stock it. I did the big Tesco shop as well.

Car

We picked up the repaired car today. Looks very nice indeed. Smells funny though: they'd valeted it as well inside using some sort of honey-smelling cleaner.

Outpatient appointment

I got the bus to Alton today as I was due to see the Doctor. That went well, however on the way back I couldn't find a bus stop that claimed to serve the bus I was going to get back (the 272). So, stupidly, I thought I'd walk back. I did a mile or so before I found that the pavement disappeared, so I had to walk in the road and jump onto the kerb when a car came by. Then it got dark too. I walked on to East Worldham (and 2 1/2 miles in all) then called a taxi to go the rest of the way. I should have given up on the 272 and got the no 13 and walked from Whitehill centre. Got home about 6 pm.

Half eaten

I was woken up last night by one of the cats meowing...usually a sign that she has caught something. No sign of anything when I came down stairs in the morning, but then I found half a mouse on the back step when I went out. She must have dropped it as she came through the cat flap...eugh! Apologies if anyone finds this disgusting.

Remembrance Sunday

Maria was playing trumpet (Last Post, etc) at a Remembrance Day service at a care home run by her Dad in Aldershot. We had lunch beforehand at The Princess Royal in Runfold. Lunch was okay...a bit dull I suppose, but the service was okay. Not as busy as last time we went there, possibly as the lunches were more boring. Most of the deserts had chocolate in them too.
The service went well...the old folks liked it

Refund

I got a letter from SouthWest Trains today (7th Nov).
They apologised for the problems I'd had last month (see post for 23rd October) and sent me rail vouchers for £10.
No explanation for what went wrong with the "live departure boards" though.

Neighbourhood Watch

Yesterday (3rd Nov) I went to a Neighbourhood Watch meeting at the Forest Community Centre. I'd registed with the Hampshire volunteer service and opted to help with the Neighbourhood Watch. I was called by the Inspector who passed my deatils to the Policeman who deals with the watch. In turn he suggested I could come along and maybe volunteer as local co-ordinator.
There was no obvious way to volunteer at the meeting, so I've emailed them today.

Halloween, Car, etc

On the 27th October we sent off for Maria's new driving licence - to get it updated with her new nam and add a new photo.

We picked up the wedding photo album from Coole Media on 29th October. It looks great. Nigel has done a great job on it.

After getting the album we went down to Lyme to stay with mum, unfortunately we had a small car accident shortly after Ringwood. The car in front of us (a BMW) was "tail-gating" the van in front if it. In short, the van stopped abruptly, the BMW in front of us stopped, released his brakes and then stopped again. Our car went into the back of the BMW. The BMW driver apologised, he said that his brakes "locked" but despite that it was "our fault" as we went into the back of his car. Not much damage to his car though. We were able to keep going to visit Mum, but called the insurers from the McDonalds at Dorchester. We then arranged to swap over the courtesy car on Saturday morning between 10 and 12.

After visiting Mum for a couple of days we went to Wells for Halloween.

We had fun going out with Rosie, Henry and Mary. We walked around Wells in the afternoon, then made "scary" biscuits with Rosie and Henry.

The kids dressed up (as a ghost, a skeleton and a little witch) and we went trick or treating. Rosie made Maria dress up as a witch too!

We left early the next morning to get home to swap the car. We got home at 9:45. The driver arived at 10:00. He'd arrived early but had gone off for a cup of tea while waiting for us. The loan car is a Mitsubishi Colt. Slight panic as Maria's driving licence hadn't come back from the DVLA yet, but they accepted the driver number only. Luckily the DVLA's form told us to keep a record of it.

Glow in the dark cat

I found this on MSNBC today, it amused me. The cat "Mr Green Genes" looks a bit like Nala.

Prizes and meeting

Did I mention that I received an email a few weeks back telling me that I'd won a prize in an on-line competition?

Well the goody bag arrived today. It was all connected with the film "How to lose Friends and Alienate People". I'd read the book a couple of years ago. They sent me a poster featuring Kirsten Dunst, Gillian Anderson and Simon Pegg (I'm a fan of all of these!), a copy of the book, the soundtrack CD and a very rude t-shirt. The t-shirt words read "Young, Dumb and Full of C*m" which is very subtle. I'm not allowed to wear it out of the house and have to keep it away from the kids. See the picture.

In the afternoon I went up to London to meet a recruitment agent. Nightmare: I checked the on-line departure for the train running status at 14:30. It was "on-time". When I got to the station I spent 2 minutes getting a car park ticket (£2) after the first machine wouldn't take my money. I then went and queued for the travel ticket machine and bought my ticket. When I went inside the screens showed that my train (the 15:09) was "cancelled". So I then had to get a refund on my travel ticket (but I couldn't get one on my car park ticket). I then had to drive to Haslemere which is the next station up the line. I drove round their on-site car park which was full and had to go to the off-site car park and park. I then paid another £4 for another ticket. It was only £3.50 but I now had no change other than 2 £2 coins so I am now out-of-pocket by £2.50 extra on car parking. The train ticket was a bit less £15.50 rather than £16.40 so I'm now out-of-pocket by £1.60 plus my fuel costs. I got a train to London that arrived at 16:23. My meeting was at 16:30 in a cafe at the station. The meeting took 20 minutes and I got the 17:00 train back to Haslemere. The guy I met got me a cup of coffee which I really needed, but potentially if that meeting doesn't "pay back" it has cost me £15.50 on the train fare, plus £6.00 in parking and 20 miles driving (say 1/2 a litre of fuel at £1 a litre) so all in £24 for a load of stress and a medium latte. I'm not impressed with south west trains on-line "how is my train running" service either. I'll send them a complaint I think.

Bankers! part 2

Maria went to NatWest in Southampton today. Changed her name quickly and easily on production of the marriage certificate. No other ID was needed at all even though she was no more known at this branch than at Guildford. Which just proves that the manager in Guildford was being an idiot.

Deer

I received this by email today from Ron. Interesting ring that the vet is wearing.

This is what Ron wrote:

I thought that you'd like to see this as it is from the St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire, very where to where we (Ron and family) lived in Chesham.

This tiny deer was delivered by Caesarean section at a wildlife hospital after his mother was killed by a car.

More info and pictures at the St Tiggywinkles website...

I mailed Ron back about this, as St Tiggywinkles web site says that the baby deer died after a couple of days. It doesn't look like he knew/checked before he forwarded the message to me.

Using Word 2007

I am trying out the "blogging" capabilities of Word 2007 today.

I told it about my blogger.com account and am now typing this post using MS Word rather than the blogger dashboard.

I have had a couple of job opportunities today, one in Farnborough (Hants), and the other in Crawley (Sussex). It is interesting how the agencies try to keep the hiring company names confidential but then send out job descriptions that include the hiring company name in the document properties. Office 2007 allows for checking of and removal of personal data before documents are sent out but they don't bother with anything except a quick "find" of "XYZ Company" and "replace" with "The Company".

Blackmoor Apple Tasting

We went to the Blackmoor Estate Apple Tasting on Sunday. Apparently they have been doing it for nearly 40 years now. We think that it is just the right sort of community event, not over-pretentious or trying to do anything else like carry a political agenda. Local stall holders, craft fair, community groups and activities for children. What more could you ask for?
It was a lovely day. We walked through the woods behind the church to the estate and then joined in the tasting. We'd waited until about 3 pm so the queues for tasting weren't too bad. Maria's favourite was the Reubens variety which I liked too, but I preferred the pears.
We bought some earrings for Maria at a craft stall, some local honey and some (Lyme Bay) fruit wine too.
We sampled the other English wine, which wasn't that good really.
They had sold out of Reubens in the shop, but we got some other apples and pears

Bankers!

We went to change the name on Maria's Halifax bank account last week, and decided to open a new account there rather than change her name on her NatWest account as well as Halifax offered to do the transfer of all the direct debits and standing orders.
Today (Saturday) we got a letter from the Halifax saying they could not do the transfer as the NatWest account was in Maria's maiden name...Great!
So Maria rang NatWest to ask what she needed to bring in. All the Halifax had asked for was the marriage certificate and her debit card. NatWest said she needed the certificate and some form of ID.
So we drove over to Guildford, which is not quite the closest NatWest, but did mean we could go to a decent bookshop as well.
Turned out they meant "photo ID" with proof of address....or they were just being difficult as she was closing the account.
Typical of them and justifies why Maria is closing the account with them. So on Monday Maria is heading into Southampton with driving licence and passport as well as marriage certificate.

Inner Bandage off

So now we can see the actual scar...
I took the inner bandage off today for the first time. The scar is really neat - looks like they glued it together rather than stiching it.

The area is a bit tender - as it dries. It hurts if it rubs on clothing so I'm wearing a tee shirt despite the chill.

Fixed the light switch: swapped it for a new one (non-dimming). As predicted one of the blubs had blown too. We decided not to get a new dimmer as the old dimmer hasn't worked for years and we hadn't worried about it.

New Milton

New Milton Station

Visited New Milton station in the rain today (Wednesday 1st October). My arm is hurting after leaving home at lunchtime by taxi and getting here by train at 2:45. Had an interview for an I T Operations Manager job not far from the station. I had a nice walk there but got a taxi back. Enjoyed the walk so much I missed the turning and had to walk back, so arrived a bit warmer than I intended.

Got the train back to Southampton and met Maria for coffee.

Things have calmed down in Florida. Daughter is back home and all is quiet again.

Light and Child

The light switch in the bedroom blew up last night - Maria turned it on, there was a flash and the thing no longer works. The lights didn't fuse, so I guess the dimmer switch - which hasn't worked to dim the lights in years - decided to give up the ghost. Probably one of the bulbs blew and overloaded it.
The other exciting thing was the phone call from my ex wife, she was upset and saying she'd had enough of daughter no 2 and was going to send her to live with us. We got an email from said daughter at about the same time. Ex-wife said daughter was failing all her classes and she was fed up with her. Daughter said she was scared of going home as she'd be shouted at so she was hiding at a friend's house.
I stayed up late waiting for her to call back but she didn't so I guess things have calmed down. We may hear more later today.

Arm update - bandage off

The bandage on my arm was due to come off today. However when I woke up it was loose so I just had to unwind it.

This is a view of what was underneath.

The other plaster stays on for another week.

Havant Symphony Orchestra

This was the annual event at Hayling Island Community Centre and was conducted by Jason Lai former bursary conductor of the Havant Symphony Orchestra and now well known due to his appearances on TV - notably on Maestro! as a tutor and Young Musician of the Year where he was a judge.

Maria was playing 2nd Trumpet as usual and can't be seen in the picture as she is behind Jason! They kindly reserved me an aisle seat to help with my arm. I wore a sling partly to warn people off and partly to hold the arm. We just missed the last parking space at the centre so had to walk from Tesco Metro's car park which has a maximum wait of two hours. Luckily they didn't seem to notice we stayed there nearly three hours.

They played pieces by Beethoven Overture Consecration of the House, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor Op 64 and Dvorak Symphony No 8. The violin soloist in the Mendelssohn was Jeanine Thorpe. It was very well done - only a few minor errors by the orchestra that I noticed - not that I'm an expert. The soloist and conductor were both very good indeed. The Hayling concert is a bit more "fun" than the ones they normally do at Fareham. They can take themselves very seriously at Fareham, they try and be very professional. This is a good thing but it can be a bit pompous and stuffy at times. Hayling Island Community Centre doesn't lend itself to that as a venue.

Arm

recovering today after surgery yesterday to relieve pressure on my ulna nerve in my elbow.

Sorry for the graphic picture...

Hedgehog

Had a little visitor to the front garden this afternoon. (S)he was enjoying lunch - looking for worms I guess.

I saw him/her/it/one just like it in the car headlights a few days ago, just wandering over the road outside the house.

It must have a "nest" nearby.

Operation

I’m in hospital tomorrow having my bionic hand fitted (a bit like Luke Skywalker at the end of The Empire Strikes Back)

Picture is probably copyright Lucasfilm Ltd but is freely available on the web.

I’ll post graphic images of the operation, if I can hold a camera that is.

Talking of The Empire Strikes Back, try this link … http://www.firsttvdrama.com/funstuff/vader1.php3

I didn't get the job in Kew by the way. It appears that I am "too heavyweight" for the role. Another interview arranged for Wednesday week though....

Piercings

My daughter called me at 4:35 and left a voicemail saying she'd call back later. She called again at 11 am (6 am in Florida). She was wondering if I'd allow her to get her nose pierced! Her mother had already said no - so she called me for my opinion. I said no too! She's apparently getting her cartilage pierced this weekend - that's the top of her ear. I'm still not keen about that.
Her mother stayed out the night at her boyfriend's house.

Signs and Wonders

I saw this while walking to the post office today. It amused me - beware of tanks!

Wonder of wonders, the BT Broadband was activated this morning. I've spent some quality time changing the wireless settings around the house of course but all seems to be running ok - except for the old Windows XP PC in Caroline's room.

Lyme Regis

Went down to Lyme on Saturday after fun and games with the car. It stalled on Friday night when Maria was on her way to orchestra. It had also done this on Tuesday, Wednesday and a few times easier in the month. Now the 'service' light stayed on so she drove it for 30 miles in "emergency mode" which meant it loses power and performs like a very sick animal. So I took it to the dealer on Saturday morning who fixed it. I was stunned. You normally have to wait 3 weeks for an appointment but he told me to bring it straight down. Had to pay £122 of course for the parts and fitting. It was a faulty sensor that was shutting off the engine.
Nice meal at Mum's - roast lamb. We walked down to town and bought some fudge before dinner. Then we tried some 'sex on the beach' before we went back - a type of fudge!

Broadband Update

I had another chat with BT's customer service people this afternoon :)

Fairly quick this time, I only had to wait a couple of minutes for an agent and was only put on hold for about 2 - 3 minutes during the call.

My residential broadband will now be activated by 6 pm on Monday 22nd September - apparently. Good thing my old service is still active or I'd be really irritated!

Broadband Saga, Hogmoor Inclosure

Well, as I sort of predicted, my Broadband didn't change over at midnight last night. My service is still working via my "old" router and my new BT home hub is sitting quietly on the desk with the "broadband" service light dark. When I'm feeling stronger I'll give them another call and see what's happening with it.


We had sort of planned to go out shopping last night as the cupboards were looking a bit bare, then we decided to stay in. So I made a prawn risotto for our evening meal. BUT this meant there was still a food shortage. When I looked into this in more detail there were some basics around so I as I was supposed to be dropping some stuff off at the Post Office I walked down to town, calling in at Tesco on the way back and got stuff for Saturday breakfast and for meals until Wednesday.

We are visiting my mother over the weekend, so we don't need meals on Saturday and Sunday other than Saturday breakfast and something on Sunday night. I suggested we get a pizza on Sunday evening if we need one after Mum has fed us. We had some chicken, fish and mince in the freezer so the plan is chicken with cous-cous on Monday, pasta bolognese on Tuesday and fish on Wednesday. Maria may go shopping on Wednesday while I'm in the hospital having the surgery on my elbow for my trapped nerve. I suspect that I won't be very hungry Wednesday night despite being "nil by mouth" from 8 am but I should be able to manage fish, chips and beans. I picked up some stuff for Maria to have for lunch - but forgot to get anything for me. So I'll probably have to go out again on Monday!

I walked back through the woods of the Hogmoor Inclosure, which is where I took this picture. Assuming the "eco-town" bid gets approved and they build 5,500 new homes in Bordon & Whitehill they will probably put a "relief road" along the route of the old Longmoor Military Railway - pretty much exactly where this picture was taken (the railway route was to the left of the picture in a cutting). In fact, they will probably build the new homes even without the "eco-town" funding so we'll either have traffic grid-lock through the town or a dual carriageway through this wood. According to the "Bordon Herald" the planners are meeting in London to discuss the transport options for the town. So they may decide to re-instate a railway link either north to the Alton service or south down to Liphook.

Photographer and Broadband

Got the train to Southampton, which was nice and easy. Bus to Liphook, Train to Havant and then change for Southampton.
Walked up to Maria's school. On the way spoke to an agent who'd found my CV on the web. I grabbed a coffee and we then drove to the Photographer. He's going out of business, we're his last customers. He said he can't keep it running any more. He may continue with the portraits and "glamour" work though.
We choose our 70 pictures for the wedding album and bought the DVD with all the pictures on it.
Got home to find the Broadband was still working on the "old" link.
I called BT this morning and they said it should transfer by midnight tonight. They made it sound like it was my fault and I should have known it wasn't going to transfer yesterday, even though that's what it says on the letter.

BT transfer / Photographer

Official transfer date for the Broadband today. The new router box has arrived (at 10 am). No sign of a transfer yet though.

Heading off to Southampton to see the photographer this afternoon. Final decisions on the wedding album.

Cholesterol Results

I got my fasting blood test results today from my GP's surgery.
Total HDL Cholesterol was 5.1 mmol/L, Total Serum Cholesterol was 6.0 mmol/L
My G.P.'s comment was that this was "much improved" and he doesn't want to see me. So I'm statin-free from another year.
HDL cholesterol is recorded in order to allow calculation of the 10-year Coronary Heart Disease risk (along with smoking status, age, sex and Blood Pressure). It is also used to work out the chance of getting Primary Cardiovascular Disease - something like stroke or angina rather than just CHD.
The helpful staff at the surgery wouldn't give me the other details so I can't calculate my LDL Cholesterol exactly. (LDL is the "bad" cholesterol).

LDL-cholesterol = (Total cholesterol) - (HDL-cholesterol) - (plasma Triglycerides / 2.2). So if my plasma Triglycerides were 0 my LDL cholesterol would be 0.9. This seems to give me a 2% chance of developing some form of Primary Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) over the next 10 years. My "target" cholesterol is 4.0 still though so I have a way to go.

I have been taking plant sterol capsules for the past 3 months. These have been shown to give a 12.4% reduction in LDL cholesterol - which is pretty much what I have seen. They are also especially effective where there is familiy history of high cholesterol (familial hypercholesterolaemia). However, there are no reliable clinical trials hence the guidelines from the government are that "NICE do not recommend that these are prescribed routinely for the primary prevention of CVD. Although sterols and stanols have been shown to reduce total cholesterol, further research is required to demonstrate whether this translates into a reduction in CVD." They are also SUPPOSED to help prevent some forms of cancer, including bowel and breast cancer. At £7.00 for a month's capsules I think its worth it.

Kew Bridge

I went to sunny Kew today - for an interview.

That was the plan: however there were train problems. An "electrical fault at Witley" meant that all London-bound trains were terminated at Haslemere and replaced with buses. I'd planned the trip to leave time to relax at Kew before the interview, then had to change things when I heard on the radio about the problems. I rang the agency to warn them I may be late and then decided to stick to my plan anyway rather than try to go to another station. A quick check showed there were delays at Bentley too anyway. I'd have to get a taxi to Guildford which seemed madness.

I went to the station anyway: walking to the bus stop for the rail-link. I forgot my signing on book so I had to dart back for that, but then had a few minutes wait for the rail-link bus. It didn't seem good after I was warned by the bus driver about long queues at Haslemere for the replacement coaches to Guildford. Then when we got to the station, while I was buying my ticket I was told that the power was now back on and there was a good chance my train would run through to London.

The 10:09 arrived at 10:21, so I knew that I'd missed my connection at Clapham Junction, but the trains to Kew Bridge from there are every 15 minutes so that didn't matter. I got to the office for my 12 noon interview at 11:55! If I'd left earlier I would probably still be sitting on a bus trying to get to Guildford.

Loads of stress and hassle, probably because someone wanted to steal some cables from the track to sell the copper as scrap.

I left the office soon after 1pm and grabbed this pic at the station. Then back to Clapham Junction, and down to Liphook again. This time the connections worked like a dream. I got the bus back to Bordon to sign on at the Jobcentre and then walked home from there.

What I've been doing today

I went to get a blood sample taken for my cholesterol test. It is supposed to be below 5mmol/l according to my GP. However it appears that my family suffer from familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). So that means I don't have much chance of bringing it down.
I've been on a low fat/low cholesterol diet for 6 months and have increased my exercise levels. This has had a good effect on my weight: I've lost 13 pounds so far since January. However living on oats and carrots may not be giving me the stamina of a racehorse on its own.

Basically I've been eating a diet low in cholesterol and fat and rich in fruits (apples), vegetables (carrots), lean meat, fish and olive oil. Oats are supposed to remove LDL (bad) cholesterol from the system so I eat Oatibix or Optivita for breakfast and take plant sterols in capsules. The "big" Oatibix taste awful unless you cover them with sugar - which sort of defeats the object. However the mini ones with sultanas and apple are nice (bitesize). They don't go soggy so fast either. Optivita is quite nice too. Again I prefer the version with raisins to the "berry" one. The berries go all soggy and mushy in the bowl. I buy the plant sterols online - my sister in law recommended a company. I used to drink the yoghurt drinks with them in, but found I could buy a month's supply of capsules for £8 when this would get me a week's yoghurts.

I've managed the moderate consumption of red wine with no problem. This is supposed to reduce the damaging effects of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and increases HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol).

It is very important to stop smoking if you have high cholesterol or a risk of it. Smoking significantly increases the risk of a serious heart condition in patients with very high cholesterol levels. Luckily I don't smoke anyway, so this was an easy one.

An active lifestyle and physical exercise strengthen the heart and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. I try to walk every day or do some other physical exercise.

The phlebotomist had to have three goes at drawing blood because muggins here had forgotten to drink loads of water before going to the surgery. She managed to get some out of my arm just above the wrist in the end though. The results are due on Monday or Tuesday.

I downloaded the new iTunes before I left for the surgery and left this updating the new "genius" feature while I was out. This seems to work just fine and probably better than the Nutsie side bar that I had been using to spice up my music. There is a new version of Nutsie too, so I've downloaded that too.

I walked to the surgery and back, so that's 4 miles today according to the odometer on my phone. Nice stroll through the Hogmoor Enclosure, cobwebs on the bushes looking very nice. I should have brought a camera with me.

Back home again, nice and snug with the rain hammering down now. A couple of companies are looking interested in seeing me for interview as well so that's all good news.

Wedding Pictures

Here are some pictures from our wedding on 30^th August 2008.

 

 

Set up

I've set up this blog to record life...kind of deep that, but I suppose that's what it is: an online journal for me and the family.

Wedding Reading Texts and Music

I spent so long sorting these out that I thought it would be nice to publish them for others to see.
We had to get these readings and music approved by the (UK) Registrars before we could use them. They had to be devoid of religious content of all types. My daughters did a great job of reading them at Cain Manor on 30th August 2008.

Readings
Before the Vows:

From the book “Beginning to End: The Rituals of Our Lives” in the Chapter called “Union” by Robert Fulghum (pronounced full-jum). Bits in italics weren't read out.

You have known each other for three years, through the first glance of acquaintance to this moment of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry (and in this case I believe, it was the bride who asked the groom).From that moment of yes to this moment of Yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks - all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will”- those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”- and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.”Catch hands now and face each other to make your vows.Look at one another – remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband, this- is my wife.

After the Vows:
From a Native American Wedding

Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion, and your days together be good and long upon the earth.
Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves.
When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong.
In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there.
And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.

Music

Processional
Henry Purcell – Trumpet Tune

During the Signing of the Register
George and Ira Gershwin – Embraceable You
Henry Mancini – The Sweetheart Tree
Henry Mancini – Anywhere the Heart Goes / Meggie’s Theme (from “The Thorn Birds”)
Henry Mancini – Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Recessional
Jeremiah Clarke – Trumpet Voluntary