The Sturdy Soapbox

Halloween Grrr...

I've had one of those days when I was left feeling that people were taking the piss. I was out before 7 this morning on a mission to install an accounts package on a computer for someone (as a bloody favour). From the moment I sat at the keyboard.  You clicked on an icon and nothing happened.

As I went into my usual diagnostic mode, things got worse and I became more wound up, because as usual with other people's computers, a half hour job was becoming a living nightmare.

Cutting a long story short, I spent 2 hours on this machine, before some bright spark told me "when we came in this morning, there was a blue screen with funny writing on it".

I asked like a putz, what the writing said.  They didn't know.

Of course, if I had known the day had begun with a fatal blue screen, I would have adopted the correct behaviour to attack the computer and attack I really wanted to, come ten o clock, but with a hammer.

I ended up bringing the thing home.

Now I really have to announce to the world, that despite the fact I have a talent for fixing errant PC's, I really HATE pissing about with them.

All this crap about them being based on logic and objectivity is BALLS !

I have spent far too much time as a poor person, keeping my own PC running, because I have to ! 

I get no fun whatsoever from fixing other people's, even if they want to pay me, because what it is worth to fix is not how much they want to pay.

I'm afraid at my age, I don't have 5 hours left to arse about with someone else's problem when I've plenty of my own.  Yes, I love working with computers, but with them, not against.

I also hate taking the case off and having to piss about with RAM chips and replacement cards.

So, just because my life is engulfed with PC's, please, no one any more, get the idea, that I get some sort of pleasure from mopping up the mess made by your computer crash, because to me, it's a bit like cleaning up after a kid's crapped itself (and you know how I feel about kids).

David pulls the plug on the Tardis

This just in from the Skaro news agency...    Daleks were jubilant at the news announced last night that David Tennant is leaving the Dr. Who show at the end of next year.

He has been perfoming Shakespeare for most of this year and has stated he wants to return to classical acting.

Fans are po pooing rumours that Johnathan Ross or Russell Brand are being considered as replacements.  Look out for months of speculation on who will replace David, who has firmly established himself with many as the best doctor to have ever piloted the Tardis.  William Hartnell aside, I would tend to agree.

It's a kick in the nuts for any successful show when a popular cast member leaves.  The loss of Rose Tyler took with her the Tyler family (Jackie especially).  I for one and Mrs. OBC never considered Donna Noble as much of a character and right now, the Tardis has no co pilot after Rose returned to her alternate existence, Martha to UNIT and Donna to north London life as a temp.  

With no time lord to protect us, expect the earth to be invaded and conquered by Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans and tele marketers any time soon.                                               

Widget says snow

If you look at my weather widget on the right of my desktop, it's saying snow and 4 degrees though I can't see any snow in the rain outside at the moment.  Just glad I got back from McBark's before the rain started.

Later - The widget was right, it's really snowing now but not sticking because it rained earlier.  Still it's our first snow of winter.

Send a scary talking Halloween e card

Using this site, you can send a Halloween e card that's customisable both in your choice of ghoul AND you type in your message and it says it for you.

Here's the URL, have fun: http://host.oddcast.com/halloweencard.php?door=119&cl=1&AID=1

Next time I'm in Asda

For the last few days or so, I've had a hankering for something I've not had since I was a kid.  Blancmange !

To be honest, until I looked on the Asda website, I didn't even know whether they still made the stuff or indeed what it is made from.

Basically, it's just cornflour and flavouring, you put your own milk and sugar in and bring it to the boil before chilling to get a tasty wobbly dessert.  So, I can substitute the recommended 3 tablespoons of sugar with sweetener like Splenda.

It's only fifty something pence for three sachets.  I wonder if you can still get raspberry ?  That's the flavour I remember having as a kid.  My mum used to make it on Sundays and I remember living with my sister for quite a long time when I was 8 because my mum was in hospital and she made it in a rabbit shaped mould.

I made sugar free raspberry jelly this morning, which isn't quite the same.  I also started to clear out the corner where the Christmas tree goes and found about half of last years behind the coffee table.

After my comments on Saturday about the reported price hike of trees this year, I am not curently sure whether I will be having one.

Charlie Chalk's having prawn puree tonight (poo-ree).  It's a sort of Indian naan, which is then fried to make it puff up.  Then the prawns are served on top on a rich onion and tomato spiced sauce.  I've seen more appetising purees than the one in the picture, but you get the idea.

You don't see it on too many Indian restaurant  menus, but that and Narghis kebab (a sort of Indian Scotch egg)  are my favourite starters on an Indian menu.

I called to see how the welder was earlier.  Pat answered and said he's in his "jamas".  It was only 6 o clock.  Apparently he was chilled out after work and was complete in his socks and sandals.

I reminded him that Soxer of the Year will be open for votes very soon.

So the weather reports go, we are due for some snow this week and plummeting temperatures.  Oh, those heating bills !

Nice sofa eh ?

Happy Birthday Growler

Can't say fairer than that

Charlie Chalk was mooching on the internet as you do, when he discovered this.  Wally the Welder's business card.

I was going to be cruel and remind him to put his clock forward tonight (actually here in the UK they go back tonight), but I hadn't the heart, he's such a trusting welder, he'd have done it...

So, if you're a Brit - put yer clock back one hour and enjoy an extra hour in bed, lighter mornings, but it will be dark by half past 2 in the afternoon !

The north wind doth blow

What a difference a couple of minutes makes.  My bus in to town was a couple of minutes late this morning, which meant I missed the 7:05 to Darlaston making me later arriving at Bob's, so I missed the 7:31 back which in total added an hour on to the time I was out in the cold this morning.

Last week, I was back a minute or two inside an hour.  Also, you may recall that bob was giving samples of cooked pork and garlic sausage away.  I learned this morning that the smell of them on the counter got to him and he managed to scoff about a pound of them himself "they was bostin" he told me this morning.

He'd also been looking forward to the return of his car the following day, but on the Sunday morning the man doing the work replacing the engine, called him to tell him that the oil pump wasn't working, so poor Bob's still on the buses like me.

He had his merchandising hat on this morning, reviewing a three fold flyer I did in the week, where the punters write the weight or quantity of their Christmas goodies and Bob the Butcher does the rest.

All I have to add are pork pies (hand raised, not the delinquant ones) and game pie.  If you'd like to see a PDF of the almost finished item take a look here:

Download 3FOLD.pdf

Because I have spent many years studying types of paper for different types of output, we deliberated over 90 gram paper or 160 gram card.  I favour the latter, because it adds a perceived quality to the finished item and you can't see the print from one side through the other. "I fuckin hate Christmas" Bob concluded.

I was talking to my brother in the week, who does like Christmas and always has a huge Christmas tree (about 10 feet).  Last year when I still had a car, Charlie Chalk  and I went over to Cannock Chase Forestry to get one for me and had to abort the mission due to the silly prices that were being charged £ 35.00 for a six footer.  We retired to the nearest pub for a consolatory pint instead.

I usually go for 7 feet, higher in the past, because I too like bro, have a high ceiling.

Fortunately, my brother tongue lashed an Indian trader into doing a deal on two trees, one for his poor unemployed brother.

An article in this week's Telegraph suggested that the average price for a 6 foot tree could rise to fifty pounds this year, due to (insert lame excuse to inflate prices here).  A shortage of elves to harvest them is my choice.

With everyone licking their wounds over the the high price of everything, I think the last thing The Christmas tree "industry" (if there is such a thing) should be doing, is trying to screw people with a forty percent increase in the price of a throwaway item, just because they see the likes of the gas and electricity suppliers doing the same.  People who want to keep warm, have little choice but to heat their homes and pay the bandits, but fifty quid for a medium sized tree ?

Despite rising costs, fifty quid still buys a lot of Christmas beer, turkey, kids toys so, maybe the vision of a lot of unsold lumber will sober these guys up to basic economics.

I had to reproduce this title and all

From Advertising is good for you:

When product designers drink  http://pzrservices.typepad.com/advertisingisgoodforyou/2008/10/product-design.html

Free sausage at Bob's

Get yourself down to Bob the Butcher today, he's been cooking sausages and will be giving samples away.  The moment I walked in, he thrust a hot pork and garlic sausage into my hand.  Actually they are very nice, I've had some before, but never standing in the butchers shop.

Everything went smoothly this morning.  The bus past here was a couple of minutes early, so I managed to connect with the Darlo bus which leaves at 7:05.  I was back at the bus stop on the return journey at 7:25 and the Walsall bus appeared at 7:31.  I was back home in a minute or two over an hour.

Now that the weather is getting colder, I am in winter cook mode, so today I got a bit of braising steak which is a warming treat cooked with onions and gravy.

Many years ago, I attended a meeting at my company's head office in Stockport (up north).  At lunchtime, we went to a place over the road which had been causing a stir locally (because it was new).  A huge place called Quaffers, which couldn't make its mind up quite what it was.  Restaurant, bar, sporting venue ?

The decor was "northern expensive"  Burgundy dralon velour and polished brass everywhere.  The place had a boxing / wrestling ring which came up out of the dance floor and I recall that day, they had a power cut, so we had no choice of lunch menu.  it was braised steak or nowt (and we didn't get to see a demo of the ring arising from under the floor).

Now the fact I mention it, was it was the braised steak was utterly delicious, considering I still remember it 28 years later and I doubt that Quaffers is still there after all this time.

I once met a man from the north who had a very nice lilac coloured Rolls Royce.  He'd had the interior done out in a deeper purple velour and was bragging to me how much extra it cost (when Conolly hide comes as standard).  True testament, that money and good taste don't always go together.

Beacon Tone who does very up market interiors, once got me all worked up, by offering me a roll of expensive carpet free.  He told me it was big enough to do my lounge and was the sort that when you walk across it, you feel yourself sinking into the pile.  Only one problem he added.  It's purple and orange and has LUCKY 7 BINGO woven into the pattern...

I turned down his kind offer.