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Sleeping In A Winter Woonderland

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:38:01 GMT

As i work from home most of the time, but occasionally work at my client's ofice in Baker Street in central London, if I find I'm going to be 'up town' for more than a single day at a time, I tend to stay in a hotel to cut down on travelling time.

So on Tuesday night, I spent the coldest night of the year so far in the coldest hotel this side of the Arctic Circle!

The heating had broken down in only a couple of rooms and the occupant of the other room phoned reception first, so they got the only available portable heater - all I got was an extra blanket! I know it was snowing outside, but it felt like it may as well have been doing so inside.

At about 3 am, I had to get out of bed and sit in the bathroom for 15 minutes hugging the heated towel rail in an attempt to thaw out! B->

Next morning i complained and got more than half my money refunded. Luckily it's only two minutes to the office, but it took a couple of cappucino's before I could do any useful work.

Who In Their Right Mind...

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:29:21 GMT

...would buy a Cockatiel when you already have four cats?

ME! That's right! (I must be mental!)

On Sunday we bought a Cockatiel (called Harry), who seems to be settling in nicely.

The cats still aren't sure what to make of him, but it probably involves a couple of slices of bread! B->

Photos for the curious.

I Love My Mac!

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:49:25 GMT

Having just watched the highlights of Steve Jobs' CES keynote on Engadget , I'm pleased I recently switched to the Mac platform - my nice, shiny MacBook Pro is by far the best laptop I've had and I have no regrets about switching.

I was interested by the AppleTV box, but a little dismayed, as I've bought a Mac Mini at the weekend to replace the PC which has served as my HTPC for the past couple of years (and has absorbed an inordinate amount of my free time configuring and tweaking it).

I was far more impressed with the iPhone! I've just found my next mobile phone!

I WANT IT NOW!!! B->

It won't be available in Europe until Q3, which suits me, as my current contract runs out in October - perfect timing!

I sincerely hope it is capable of supporting Flash Player 9 - can you imagine the combination of the iPhone, running Flex applications, accessing corporate data wirelessly!

Is this the killer combination we've all been waiting for? Only time will tell.

Noodle News

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:41:24 GMT

I caught the following story on the BBC News website yesterday: The inventor of instant noodles, Momofuku Ando, has died in Japan, aged 96, of a heart attack.

I know it's not nice to laugh at the dead, but that's a great name!

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What Was I Thinking?

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:02:32 GMT

I've just been outbid on eBay for a Reebok Treadmill.

That's not the scary thing - the sheer size of this thing - where would I have put it? B->

Day One Of The Rest Of My Life

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:40:16 GMT

Without wanting to sound like a self-help book, I decided when i got up this morning to go for a walk.

Now, this might not sound to unusual, but it was big news to my family! B->

I'm overweight (my own fault), lead a sedentary life and don't exercise - basically I'm my own worst enemy. I drive pretty much everywhere, so for me to go for a walk was highly irregular.

As I've said before, I don't do New Years Resolutions, but I've decided that I need to lose some weight and do more exercise, so I walked to my friends house, which is about half a mile away. After spending some time talking with them, I walked back.

I know a mile isn't much, but it's a start. I plan on walking at least this far on each day that I'm not in the office - I already walk quite a bit to and from the station when I commute, which is normally twice a week.

I currently weigh 250 lbs (17St 12Lbs/114K, depending on where you are), but hope to lose quite a bit of this over the coming months, with exercise and healthy eating - wish me luck!

New Years Revolution

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 23:30:29 GMT

I've been planning to start blogging for quite some time now - I got as far as setting up WordPress and BlogCFC on two separate occasions, but didn't have the time to maintain it, so they both fell by the wayside.

I don't normally do new years resolutions, but this year I've made an exception.

So, this year I resolve to keep the blog going, to become a better developer, to do more exercise and to lose some weight.

Only time will tell!

Happy new year to everyone.