Finally - the video thing!

I was trying to work out how to get the videos we took at the paintballing a couple of weeks ago up onto blogger....I've been experimenting with YouTube and Google Video - but, blogger have done a blinder and have just started supporting video uploading!!!! So here goes....this is the smallest of the 4 clips at 23MB;
lets see how it looks. It takes quite a while to upload the photies so I'm interested to see what'll happen with the movie.

OK start time 18 minutes past the hour.....at 27 minutes past 17/23MB uploaded.......at 32 minutes past it's all done! Is that good or bad? 1.65MB/min? Seemed quite slow to me especially as I have clips 4 or 5 times bigger than that!

Anyway, it's all part of the fun! Enjoy....!

Update after viewing the post - OMG this was only a 13 second clip. I can't believe that it takes over a minute per second to upload the videos. Hmmmm I think I may have to get some serious video editing software to condense the clips down to their 'action' content.

Shattered

Well the idea wasn't to work like stink all weekend, but in the end we have! I don't know id you can see in the photo....the big pile of leaves down the side of the HUGE skip. Massive amounts of hedge trimming and general domesticated gardening type stuff. The place actually looks as though someone gives a sh*t! Looks fantastic and compliments our beautifully clear garage perfectly! I think even the neighbours were impressed. John from next door said he'd give me marks out of ten for artistic impression if I managed to sculpt a peacock from the bush on the end! Please note Uncle Ste....you can see the kerb!

It's full.....

....of rubbish? Well ovbiously not Dan! But I can't believe we've actually got it full of stuff!
It's been only a couple of hours' work and the garage is looking remarkably clear. We're trying to get it down to a "sortable" level. Before we couldn't even get in there, never mind sort it out. It looks like you could even get a car in there (or 2) now. The plan is to spend the next day or two going through the remaining boxes, of which there are plenty; mostly left over from our 2 previous house moves. Mine contain sentimental stuff, Dan's are CDs! I can't possibly tell you what it was that he found in alight bulb box either! You'll have to ask him yourself!

The biggest skip in the world?

I'm not sure what happened, all I did was order the one that cost the same as the one I got last time, for clearing out Lower Rd which was quite big - fitted a 3 piece suite, some tables and LOADS of stuff. This behemoth has arrived on our drive and I'm not sure what to do with it - it feels like I ought to be cracking a bottle of champagne on the side and saying 'Ai name this ship.....'
It is THE BIGGEST skip I've ever seen! Hopefully we'll find enough to fill it!!!!

Poop Pie

We always have to put *something* on the top of a pie - last night's pumpkin and minced beef pie has 'POOP' on the top!
Yummy!

Some dodgy people out there !

Well i thought would add some dubious news stories i saw on the web today.

Be careful there are some dodgy people out there

1) Dodgy dan !
2) A woman loves meat balls !
3) I love Dolly Parton
4) Beers and bears dont MIX

Retirement!

Firstly, the party pictures are here!

Hard to believe, I know, but the Restaurant will finally exchange hands on Monday night - which means that last night was Dad's last working there!

With less than 48 hours to arrange a party, there wasn't too much we could get sorted, however a few things we DID manage!

Firstly the T-shirt - arranged by Mum being extremely brave and negotiating her way around Birkenhead market!

Then the balloons - Mum again, getting that sorted at the fancy dress shop up near Church. She also got a cake with a piccie of Dad looking about 12 years old (probably about 20 though) from ASDA and finally she got all the gang to come along after service for a 'bit of a do'!

Not only Dad got surprises - we also flambeed a VAT book in honour of Mum doing the books for 31 years - something which she greatly enjoyed!

It was a great night! Singing and dancing and general merriment happened! There were speeches - and the "Roberto Quiz" and in the end, it was a proper send off, for Mum, Dad AND Romagna!

Friday nights at the office!

Well it's 6:30pm on a Friday and JP and I are waiting for a package to build so we can get testing. There's nothing like getting something done on time....and this is nothing like!!! Here we are again, the night before JP goes on hols, and we're sitting here stressing out over the latest version of software we're just about to begin releasing next week! Oh joy, oh rapture, as my mother would say!
Hey ho.
I've given up doing any work, and am just waiting to check the output of the latest tweak, hence the blogging.
If anything happens - I'll continue to update this post!

Ouch! We went paintballing!

What better after a long hard day at the office, than rolling around in the mud in a forest, and getting splatted with paintballs. Thanks to Jeff, a group of 13 of us went paintballing just by the A1M at HPC.
At home now I've counted at least half a dozen places where I've been 'got'! Fortunately none of them on my already damaged bodily parts! It was great! There were smoke bombs, flash bombs, and of course lots and lots of paintballs! Here's a pic of the gang, more piccies up here thanks to the girl who was marshalling! She took a few movies with the camera as well, and I'm not sure how/where to display them. Dan reckons YouTube and then link to them, but that seems a bit peculiar. I think somewhere more private! Any ideas let me know!

Update 29/08/07 - Video uploads now supported by Blogger (aren't they wonderful!) so the 1st (and smallest) of the 4 movies is now available here. More to follow.

OMG our dinner was so tasty tonight!

Well I don't know about you but the more lovely something looks, the better it seems to taste! I HAD to get a picture of what we've just eaten for tea tonight up on this blog. I am definitely chanelling Jamie Oliver tonight - using strips of beef leftover from our roastie dinner last night, and doing a version of Rukmini's Thai salad (prevoiusly blogged about) crossed with Jamie's Thai Carpaccio - one of our all time favourites. Flavoured with fish sauce, lime, chillies, chilli powder, sesame oil, salt, pepper, lime and a bit of our really good oil. YUMMMMMMMEEEEEEEE. This one is for you Carl!

New band

Been up and down the motorway the last few weeks and have been listening to a new CD Thirst for blood by cherry ghost.
The music is very like the turin brakes (another one of the bands we like).

So enjoy this track off the cherry ghost album.

Penguin Madness

We've done it - part 1

A while back I blogged a bit about how unusual it is for us to decide on ANYTHING let alone furniture or interior design. Well, I can hardly believe it, but, WE'VE DONE IT! We have had a new carpet, new wardrobes, and put our lovely new bed into the room. Here is the pic on the day the wardrobes had been put in. (New carpet on the floor too!)

Llamas on the A66

Look what we found on our way home from Scotland! The Mainsgill Farm Shop on the A66 has a lovely collection of Llamas, Emus and a Camel! Can you see the look that Llama is giving Dan! The baby llama was so fluffy! We spotted it on the way out and decided to stop for a cuppa (and some nice foodie bits) on the way back. Some more Llama shots on my Picassa Web Album for Llamas!

Scottish Pipe Band World Championships

It seems rather ironic that on a rather wet cold and miserable rainy day in Kaikoura, we were sitting in a weird Irish bar listening to some pretty awful "Scottish style" music of the sort that only people who have never been to Scotland, and who are called McSomething, and who are nostalgic for the "home country", would listen to, and we were deciding about fun things to do when we went back home. Dan started talking nostalgically about the Highland Games in Dunoon which he used to go to many years ago. We decided as soon as we got back in the UK that we'd book up for this year's games. When we did some further research, we realised that the pipe band championships part of the games had been split off into a separate competition. Dan was really enthusiastic about the pipe bands and so that's the bit we decided to book up for....the Scottish Pipe Band World Championships in Glasgow.
The 'irony' part of the above discussion is the fact that although it was August, and that the day before had been a beautiful, warm, bright, sunny day; the day of the championships, Saturday, dawned grey and gloomy, and it went downhill from there! It rained, and it poured. Then it rained some more, and then it poured again. Then, there was some rain, and a bit of drizzle, and some more...errrr....rain! We sat and watched the top 14 bands battle it out in 2 rounds for the title of World Champion. It was spectacular! The soggy clothes (wet through as far as the underwear) were worth it. The hypothermia was worth it. The pipers were superb and nothing could dampen their spirits! Next time though, I'm going to be wearing a wetsuit!
Link to all the pics on Picassa Web Albums - SPBChampionships

Mad Cow Disease

At some point yesterday afternoon, I reached forward to pick up my work folder with my right hand and my right arm brushed against my right boob. "Ow" I thought to myself. "I've got a nice little bruise there". Throughout the course of the afternoon I became conscious of the pain inside my breast, even when I wasn't touching it. "Ow! That really hurts" I thought in the car on the way home. The pain was stabbing, throbbing and sharp. It felt like someone had stabbed me on the inside, leaving no trace. There were no marks, lumps or external symptoms at all. By the time I went to bed I was on the painkillers. 2 paracetamol & an ibuprofen. That'll sort me out.
Midnight. I wake up thinking I must have left a window open, it's sooooooo cold in the room. I grab the extra quilt and snuggle up under 2 quilts and a sheet. Shivering. Hmmmmm, eventually I realise that the cold is coming from me! I have a fever. I turn over. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
my boob is soooooooo sore, I can't move. I try and turn over, it's excruciating. Really. Really. Bad.
9:10 am - appointment at the docs. Mastitis. What? Isn't that something cows get? I definitely recall reading something in 'All Creatures Great and Small ' about cows with gangy udders!
Funnier still is the fact that usually it's breastfeading women who get it, and the doctor said, "so, are you breastfeeding?", "No" I replied. "Are you sure?" she said. I think I'd notice, don't you think?
So anyway, here's me, sore boob and high temperature - again -with a wierdy disease - and I can't even drink away my sorrows because I'm on antibiotics. It's udderly udderly terrible.

Attempted Burglary.....the little buggers have been at it again!

So, after the last rather unsuccessful attempt at a break-in we have had several security measures put in place - based on the recommendations of the C.A.S.A.C group who work in association with West Yorkshire police for burglary prevention - well prevention of future crimes, after the original crime event, if you see what I mean! Anyway....so a couple of weeks ago I was at home during the day with a lovely temperature, and had been mooching around the house feeling a bit sorry for myself. When Dan came home that evening, he decided to mow the lawn, and went into our middle room to go out through the side doors.
"What have you done to the door?" he shouted through. "Nothing, I've been in bed all day".
"Why is the lock spinning round then?". Well, as soon as he said it, we both knew! The exact same door, the exact same method.....the exact same burglars?
Well it certainly looked like we'd been 'dun' again. So the police came round and took our statement, again. The next day the SOCO was the same guy as last time, and so was the CASAC guy who fixed the locks. The BEST part of the story is that, although our lovely visitors had completely removed the lock from the door, our new security mechanisms meant that they had no way of opening the door, even with no lock in it. (Read this article about locks in UPVC doors - they're wothless, basically.)
So another 2 fingers up at the burglears......ha, come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!