Building shelves

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Today I spent a while building some Ikea bookcases (it's always like this when I finish writing something - I have a frenzy of DIY followed by an abrupt return to usual levels of torpor).

I've a lot of respect for Ikea stuff. I get the impression that they have really thought about process whenever they put together their kits. I guess it is really Lego for grown-ups. Or perhaps Lego for people who want to think they are grown up every now and then. 

Sofa so good

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If you've ever wondered whether an Ikea Vilasund sofa bed will fit in the back of a BMW i3 it turns out that the answer is yes. But only just. However, beware. It turns out that buying a sofa can be just the start of a chain reaction of effort. At least it was for me. 

  1. Dismantle old sofa.
  2. Take old sofa to tip.
  3. Move large sofa out of way.
  4. Build Vilasund sofa in place of large sofa.
  5. Empty other room.
  6. Remove carpet from other room.
  7. start laying laminate flooring in other room.
  8. Find out you've not bought enough flooring.
  9. Buy more flooring. 
  10. Lay it. 
  11. Find out that you've still not bought enough flooring. Question arithmetic skills where area calculations are concerned. 
  12. Buy more flooring. 
  13. Finally complete the floor.
  14. Put large sofa in other room. 
  15. Take more rubbish to tip.
  16. Rebuild other room.
  17. Buy nice rug and fit same.

We've finished now. By a process of considerable effort and expenditure we've just about got back to where we started.

My points are expiring and I don't care

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Internet companies seem to be getting increasingly desperate in their marketing. The latest trick seems to be to award me some discount coupons and then send me loads of emails telling me that they are about to expire. Just FYI folks, I neither know nor care about your coupons. If you happen to be selling something that I need right now and you've got coupons that make it cheaper, then great. But there's no way I'm going to rush out and spend money on stuff just because you're giving me some discount. 

I've a horrible feeling I might be growing up...

Journey from Hell

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Well, that was fun. In retrospect signing up for the 10:40pm flight home was not a great plan, but it did give us one more day away. We arrived back in the country at 2:00am all bleary eyed, but just about up for the two hour drive back to our house that I was expecting. After all, the roads would be nice and quiet, right?

If only. All the motorways were shut. And I mean all of them. And the diversions seemed to send us from one shut motorway to another. And another. And there was fog. 

Apparently they are working on "installing smart motorway technology". And adding dumb diversions. The diversions were so bad as to actually feel insulting. We lost track of the number of different symbols we had to decode in our fruitless quest to find "the one open road over the Pennines".

We got back at around 5:30 in the morning, unplugged the radio and slept 'till 10:00am. 

It was a great holiday though. 

Curse you, Windows 10

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I tried something a while back and it worked when I didn't expect it to. Always a bad sign. Of course, today I wanted to do it again and it failed. Nothing much has changed in my system. Except, oh yes, Windows 10 Creators Update.  Not much use if what you want to create is printed pictures from your Polaroid Pogo printer. Used to work fine over Bluetooth. Now I get this masterpiece of an error message. Useless at pretty much every level. I've done some searching, but nothing so far has worked. It looks like my little printer and me might have reached the end of the line. 

Oh well, such is progress. 

Sock neurosis

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These are definitely wrong

Some time ago number one wife bought me some socks. Very nice. With days of the week on. Arrgh. I've had them a while, and always had a problem wearing them. If there's one thing a chap with a mildly obsessive nature really gets problems with, it's things like these. And never take them on holiday. Especially if you're flying over time zones. 

To make matters even worse, number one son got a set as well. And he came to see us. And the socks got mixed up, so that I have two left hand Tuesday socks. Which I'm wearing today. If you're going to be wrong, do it properly I reckon.

Not for sale

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I keep getting emails from people who like my blog and want to put some sponsored content it. I've been offered up to 35 dollars for a slot (assuming these things are for real)

Go me. 

However, at the moment I'm afraid that space on these hallowed pages is not for sale. I don't really want to turn my blog into a profit centre. I write the posts manly for my own amusement. At least, I'm the only one that laughs at most of the jokes. 

Monday Snaps are going to be on holiday over the next couple of weeks while I write about Python. 

Happy Birthday Me

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I'm now officially and properly old. Bus passes beckon. Thank heavens I've still got my youthful good looks (although I've forgotten where I put them).

However, I've just had the most fantastic of birthdays, starting with a trip out for coffee in the morning and then a slap up Sunday Lunch at 1884 Dock Street Kitchen.  They do a roast beef that is just perfect (pro-tip, have the sausage roll snacks as starters, lovely). The meal was a surprise treat, and a great time was had by all. Particularly as a whole bunch of family members turned up, some of whom I wasn't expecting. 

So, we headed home after the meal and I reflected what a great day I'd had. And then it started all over again. The family, who's reputation for subterfuge has gone up several levels, had arranged to fill our house full of friends to do the surprise party thing, even down to the hiding of cars in distant car parks and stealthy arrangement of shoes and coats so that the big reveal was just that.  I had a great time, and we even ordered Domino's Pizza for tea. 

Thanks so much to everyone who attended. We played some games, I blew out some candles, cake was eaten and a wonderful time was had. If this is what birthdays are like when you're sixty, sign me up. 

Tons of Culture in Hull

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Oh to be in Hull in the summer time. This summer is astonishing in terms of the range and quantity of goings-on in the city. We wandered up town on Saturday for lunch at Nibble (wonderful place, you should try it) and found ourselves listening to a BBC Prom being broadcast from the stage right next door. Full orchestra action. The city was also alive with a whole bunch of folk acts around the town, numerous Morris Dancers and a Gay Pride march. 

Blimey.

The return of nobody else

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I was having a conversation about the internet tonight and I was reminded of something I did a while back. I setup a Twitter account called nobody else. The idea is that if you would like to disengage with the platform, just let me know your Twitter username. 

Then you'll get the message "Nobody Else is following you on Twitter", so you can shut down your account and get on with your life. 

The account is still active.  I guess you could follow nobody else too, but I really can't see the point. 

Oresome Birthday

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I stole this picture off their web site....

We had a significant birthday in the family this week. Ending in zero. No, not mine, that's next week. 

Anyhoo, as a present we organised a session at Oresome in Hull. You start with a strip of silver and finish three hours later with a really nice ring that you made yourself. It turns out that the process is more complex than you might think, and gives you a lot of respect for people who make things like this. 

It seems that the trend today is for experiences rather than just buying stuff. I reckon that this kind of thing does both. They are lovely folk at Oresome and took the trouble to make the event even more special for our lucky birthday person. And apparently you get to use a hammer, which is always good. Strongly recommended.