Quiet out there isn't it....

We had overnight company last night, and I was soundly beaten at cards. I lost a trick here and there that I shouldn't have, because instead of keeping track of which cards had already been played, I had 302 redirect problems churning through my mind.

Today is a sunny day in Saskatoon, mild enough to have the windows open. As I sit at my desk, I can hear wild geese calling. They are coming and going by the thousands on the river a few blocks from here. It gives me wanderlust to hear them.

Hey, Nick, get your genuine ecom going and those of us with "spammy aff. sites" can promote it for you.

One of my sites was recently assigned a Dewey number by a UK academic site. The link they gave me won't be worth much as spider food, but I was delighted anyway.

Caught up with Dad yesterday morning, haven't seen him for a month (away & flu). So it was washing, shopping, eating, and a long yarn over a cuppa about rellies I recently caught up with.

Then Mum in the afternoon, more shopping, more yarning over cuppas about rellies, and then some gardening, she has always wanted a Lavender bush, now she has two. :^)

Today, well, now that we have recovered from a distinct lack of electricity (tree on cables) it is back to work.

...since my ears are still humming from the Judas Priest concert.

I had a sandwich with me, which I had to eat fast so I could use its little plastic bag to plug my ears and keep them from bleeding :-)

Still it was awesome. Hope to have pictures tomorrow, will put them in my 360.

Aren't they dead yet?

Rob Halford: "This is premo thrash metal..." Awesome, 20yrs ago.. :)

Just a real lousy day here in NYC, not fit for man nor beast. Of course, when I had the beast out for a walk earlier I had one of those do-ggoders come up and chastise me with the usual "How can you have that poor dog out in weather like this?" Well, listen lady, first you forget that I'm out in this foul stuff also, but if you'd like to come up and clean the crap off my rug I'd be very happy to keep the mutt -- and myself -- indoors where it's nice and dry.

Rant over.

Otherwise, just checking out a few CMSs for an upcoming project, figured it's about time I got my feet wet. Just looking at Drupal, though that might get me into water much higher than my feet. The support forum seems pretty solid, I still might take a shot at it.

Now that I look at the window, the sun is either below or above the yardarm, can't really tell as it looks the same as it did now as in the early afternoon. Doesn't matter much, feels like it's time for a pre-dinner cocktail or two.

The best numbers they did were the 1975 ones. And an unplugged ballad version of Diamonds and Rust (that was Joan Baez' originally).

Have you ever attended a live concert and thought "Hmm - they should stick to studio stuff". Not these guys, they can play. And Halford hits all the high notes, and is still way cool, even if he's about 85 by now...

Planned to do a lot of online work earlier, but my ISP was down, so spent the day switching between doing a full month's worth of accounts, and reading chapters from Storm of Swords by George R R Martin.

Been lovely and quiet - everyone else has been at relatives for the past 10 days or so. Peace will be shattered tomorrow when I pick up the kids - then my freedom dies again. :)

That's a damn good book! Im a bit lost as to whether im up to date or not, i *think* im waiting for the next one, but i must check... great series..

dog and whether

Are you fucking kidding me? People complain about taking a dog out in bad whether? Holy fucking shit, what is the world coming too?

I got some guy threaten to shoot my dogs if they go on "the fields" that he doesnt own, i told him i'd fucking shoot him if he even looked at me funny again.. wanker.

I hate it when people just dont get the dog thing - over here, if you see someone else with a dog, they're likely to put them on the lead (if they're off at all, tha's a rarity..) and walk the other way..

Thy're bloody pack animals! Social animals! Jesus &@$!!! arrrrrghghghgh... dont go there nick, dont go there......

Er. Have another drink Nickie....

Just words :) i dont have a gun for starters heh..

I do wish people weren't so damn weird out in the country though...

...as opposed to us - 100% sane city folk - you mean??

"We" are the sane and sensible ones, of course. It's always "They" who are weird.

I'm reminded of a fellow I knew a few years ago who went to a conference in the southern US. Afterwards, he told me quite indignantly, "A whole bunch of people with accents accused ME of having an accent!"

Just catching up with the threads here instead of working. Supposed to be putting a design that has been imposed on me onto an ecommerce site. Why cant designers work with the conventions that are there rather than decide their radical design will work far better, especially after the programming is done? They will be so suprised when there is no traffic or sales. Cant seem much as sun is too bright for my laptop screen anyway.

The whole dog thing. Surely you have a dog knowing you will have to walk it? Personally I prefer cats because I dont have the time or routine that allows me to walk a dog. When we move to winnipeg (heh, such optimism) I will hopefully be working for myself so would love to have a couple of those dogs that look like huskeys but arent.

Makes me sick the people around here that shoot dogs and cats with air guns. Animal cruelty is one of the many reasons I hate Yorkshire.

'They' really are the strange ones. They also should do something about 'it'. I am glad I am not one of 'them' :O)

Walked (well, waddled) without crutches for the first time in 2 mnths, a whole month before the doc said I would :-)

Chris, I can't believe you're casting aspersions on God's own county. What part of Yorkshire are you in?

More like satans own armpit ;O)

I am in Barnsley and work in leeds. Trying without much success so far to leave :O)

I have brilliant memories of cheap cheap cheap beer at the uni and afternoons spent scared out of my mind rock climbing in the sun (notably I only ever went up there in the summer after the first winter visit when in temps of minus 2 I saw girls wearing mini skirts with bare legs. Scared me more than the rock climbing)

And close to Manchester. It can't be that bad in Barnsley?

But you do all speak a bit funny.

- i had this problem with Thunderbird, that i kept seeing email return that i had moved to other folders, plus it counted the number of mails in each folder wrong (sometimes double the number of emails).

Anyway, finally today i discovered what it was. I am supposed to be compacting my folders occasionally. And it takes a few minutes... per folder. Yeah right, and i have a lot of folders and thousands of emails, and i have never done this before (been using Tbird for more than a year) so a few minutes is more than that - it takes ages...

Why is it that a program does not do this automatically, on a schedule, when it's so essential to successful operation? makes me wonder...

Wit, I know the directions fine, just have to keep coming back :O( One day soon I will either start making some aff money or get a fantastic job somewhere nice, until then I am stuck in this tar pit :O)

Gurtie, the phenomenon of not very many clothes in subzero temperatures is well documented in the whole of the north and north east I think, as is blokes walking round in tshirts in similar temperatures. And wearing trainers to weddings. :O)

Strange thing is the locals love it. Stranger still I have met tons of people who not only think the area is great, but have never been out of the area to compare it. No kidding, the furthest they have been is like a 12 mile radius. Take them to the other side of town and they are scared sh'tless that you will abandon them and they wont be able to find their way back home.

Nick, just been to a local park - similar intollerance of dog walking noted. Seems people with big dogs are allowed to let their furry friends do whatever (including chase small children or frighten ducks into the river) but little, by all appearances slightly overenthusiastic I will admit, dog ("rat") owners should keep theirs on a lead, preferably in the car. Didn't see any threats of gunfights though ..yet ;O)

It depends what you're used to, and what you mean by "subzero". Minus two is subzero, sure, but if you make it to Winnipeg you'll have to learn to cope with winter temperatures as low as minus forty.

I lived in Winnipeg during my high school and university years, when miniskirts were in fashion the first time round. Even in winter it would be quite ordinary to see groups of girls waiting for the bus, wearing short skirts and short coats too, with bare legs or with sheer stockings that had negligible insulative value. If you were going from one well-heated building to another, and were only outdoors for a few minutes at a time, you could get away with that. However, on days when the temperatures or wind chill dipped below minus thirty, we'd give up and wear slacks. If that's what you're used to, bare legs at minus two is no big deal.

(STT hehe)

I have skinny friends who complain often about being chilly, when I'm perfectly comfortable!

Winnipeg is a great city, and winter on the prairies rewards us with much beauty. Winnipeg has a rich and creative cultural life, growing out of a diverse ethnic mix. It has two universities, several technical schools, lots of sports, lots of performing arts, great restaurants, great parks, great shopping, you name it. I seize every chance I can to get back for a visit.

If I'm honest, though, I'd have to add, "On the other hand, in summer there's the mosquitoes ... "

and I went to the big show last night here in Copenhagen. All around a nice show, with some minor technical hickups and a few of the performers not really performing or just being totally out of concept - nothing to do with HCA really.

The logistics of getting 35,000 people in and out of the stadium was a joke, a joke. Took an hour and a half to get out and get home (6 kms).

Our tickets was for some really bad seats out on the right edge of the stand, but the orgnaniser desided that they would move us smack down in the front of the stage (national TV was there ;)). We didn't complain and enjoyed the seats that supposedly sold for DKK 2600/$450! :)

Today, garden and house maintenance work.