Category: General Musings

New site

After two years of blogging it is time for a change. Pivot has done me well but was starting to come up short with its functionality. I would like to say that I produced this new website but alas, no. There are a large number of true IT geeks out there working away producing themes and widgets to make our lives easier when it comes to finding a snazzy website to present our musings.

I should also admit that it is actually Steve that has slogged away migrating my files, adjusting all the settings, finding funky widgets for my site etc.

During the migration we noticed that Pivot had lost some of my postings. I have added the headings back in but still have to re-write the content. In addition we took the postings over to the new site but are doing the photos separately. This is going to be a HUGE task. So in the meantime I hope you enjoy the new look of the site. Don’t forget to leave comments!

Cheers – Carleen

Eye exam

I went and got my eyes tested in the weekend. Been getting a sharp pain just above my eye and with generally about 7 hours of computer work each day (including at home time) it is no wonder. However, it would seem that my eyesight (in particular my long distance is great). There is a slight degradation for short distance but nothing that I should be concerned about. More so to do with age than anything else. I could get some glasses by they won’t do that much so I didn’t bother. Going without them also won’t escalate any issues.

However, I did decide to pay the extra and get a photo of my eyeballs. How cool. By looking at the blood vessels they can provide an earlier detection for glycoma, diabetes, hypertension etc. All clear here as well. Yee hah. I just wanted to post a picture of my eyeball. It looks really freaky! Now if I remember correctly, the white bit that looks like it is glowing is the optic nerve. I have forgotten what the darker bit was.

Carleen's left eye
Carleen's left eye

The Artful Dodger strikes

That’s right. After nearly 2 years here and a blissful thirty (plus some) years of pickpocket avoidance some scum bag decides to strike. Had it been a wallet that wouldn’t be so hard to take. You just cancel the cards (annoying yes) and more than likely you probably end up on some credit blacklist because your identity has been stolen (OK not so easy to fix) but no, they went for the Canon IXUS 75. This was a dream camera. A tool that we use daily to capture so much of what we see around us. It is an instrument that we enjoy using and provides us with incredible pleasure. Do you get the feeling we enjoy photography? Anyway, some scummy pooh head decided to lighten our pocket! Note to reader – I can tell you now that “scummy pooh head” is my censored version of a more colourful rant that occurred on the evening.

We had been browsing through IKEA. We sometimes do this just for general inspiration and somewhere dry to escape too. Actually if I’m truly honest its because I LOVE their meatballs with loganberry sauce. We were kidding around, jumping on the furniture, enticing other children to break free of their parents and do the same but generally probably not being wary enough of our surroundings. By the time we got home, the camera was gone. Lifted without even being noticed. All I can say is that they were darn good at it. Pity they don’t put that kind of effort into a real honest job. Fagan would be proud of him/her anyway. With any luck they will get enjoyment out of the camera but in all honesty I get the feeling it was probably sold for a fiver in order to get a hit of some mind altering substance that can only work to further decrease the brain cells they already have.

We realised pretty quickly that we needed to replace it ASAP so after an intense internet search we finally came across one place in the South West that had one in stock. It was on special as it was a shop demo version. We barrelled over to Cribbs Causeway to pick it up and are again the proud owners of another Canon IXUS 75! What was the lesson I learnt from this? Booby trapped pockets – a practical new fashion trend.

Avon Gorge Trail – Bristol

Day 3 of stunning weather. Isn’t it sad that I can remember specifically days when the weather has been fine. More pathetically is that when we have good weather it totally dictates our lives. The urge to do something, anything, as long as it is outside is almost too much pressure! Arrrgggghhhh.

Exercise. That’s always the first choice anyway. We decided to do the Avon Gorge Trail again but this time get to the end. Stunning day, plenty of bikes on the trail darn it and 3 hours later we completed it. Hooray! Can I just say that 4 miles in when you finally get to Pill. There is NOTHING there!!! No loo, no picnic tables, just a farm gate and tragically bread clogged pond in which, if there were any resident ducks, they would have long since died from binge eating.

We also decided to have a look at the new Cabot Circus mall that opened up last month. Not bad for a gazillion dollar mall in Bristol of all places? All the posh brand names are there, the stores look great although you can clearly see that the workmanship on the build was rushed and doesn’t seem to be holding up so far to the million or so people that have visited to date.

Finally, here is a pic that Steve captured on our walk.

Bee caught in flight
Bee caught in flight

Exam

Over the last 2 days I have been undertaking the ITIL Foundation course for work. Having been 13 odd years since I last studied for an exam it has been rather daunting. It is the final day tomorrow and I sit the exam. I have been thinking for a while now about finishing off my degree however diversifying from marketing to leadership and management. After the last 2 days I have realised that I have been just plain lazy really not to do it. There is always an excuse of some sort, too expensive, not enough time, indecisive about what degree etc. Anyway, we’ll see how I go tomorrow and maybe that will be the catalyst for change (or the nail in the coffin).

Two weeks and still raining

The sound of rain on the roof is very relaxing, unless you have heard that sound for 2 solid weeks. We did have 2 days of respite but this morning it started again. Did I mention that I am OVER THE RAIN!!! So as I prepare to catch my train to work, I contemplate having to pull on my wet weather gear, trudge through the rain and then de-gear at the other end. However I am very thankful that we have not had to endure any flooding such as other areas of the country.

Wedding Anniversary

To mum and dad, happy wedding anniversary to you for the 20th of August. We were thinking of you both especially as it is a nice reminder that ours is on the 21st.

As we head to Germany this weekend we are just going out for a quiet Italian meal tonight at our favourite local restaurant in Queens Square. We don’t go there often as it is for special occassions.

To Megs, Nic, Phil and Rochelle, thanks so much for contributing to such a wonderful day. We had a ball and so much more fun to have shared it with you guys.

Love Carls & Steve

Run in with the law

To be honest the title sounds more exciting than the facts but I was having a slow blog week. In the weekend as we were cruising in our high stylin’ Rover (read – yeah right), we noticed that a police car had pulled off on the same road and was travelling behind us. As I had decided to take a slip road to get around some slow traffic I thought the police might have been a bit curious as to my speed but they didn’t turn their lights on at all. Oh well – maybe they thought my idea was a clever one?

Anyway, at the round about, they went the same way as us. Turn left, they turned left. Do a right for fun, oops they turned right. You pesky police car, I’ll show you. 100 mile an hour, crest the hill, hit the ground, drift through a few curves, hand brake turn 180 degrees, accelerate towards them…OK, so in reality we are still in our Rover that has a top speed of 0 to 60 in 1 hour driven by me (still frequently referred to as “safety mum”). We continued cruising at my grandpa speed of 30 mile an hour. However, I was now starting to get the feeling that they were following me.

We had managed to make it all the way home and still they continued to follow but not put any lights on to pull us over. Maybe they think we are on the lookout for business as we live near a rather dodgy area of town? I finally pulled into the street we regularly park our car in and the police car pulled up next to us. Slowly we rolled down the window to look at two of the most good looking police officers you will ever see. Steve and I wonder if the constabulary in our region has a “Baywatch” criteria for recruiting their officers as we haven’t seen an “average” looking cop yet. Anyway, the reason they had been following us for the last 5 miles is that our brake light was out. Have a nice day, they said and drove off. Are you kidding me? All that for a brake light? Told you the title was more exciting than the facts. He he he.