Did my first webcast today. Well, I say "did", I actually mean l Iistened in to my first webcast anyway! This was for work and was on a new product we are doing called Tofino. Essentially its a hardware firewall for process plants and is designed to protect PLC's, SCADA, DCS's and HMI's at a lower level than your traditional Cisco type firewalls. Looks impressive and should be something we are able to sell into the traditional MOST customers.
When I met S, I had a very good friend called D. D was my best man at S and my wedding and I was supposed to reciprocate at his wedding a few months later. To cut a long story very short, we fell out for really stupid reasons and haven't spoken since. I'd bee thinkning for a while of making peace with D and I'd texted a few times to see "how the land lay". Anyy, D and I spoke over the weekend and it was as though the last 6 years hadn't happened. We agreed to meet up at some point and just have a chat about things. I felt bad about this as I pulled out of being their best man a couple of weeks before their wedding and that is something I've always regretted. I'm glad that we have spoken and that maybe we'll salvage what was a very good friendship...here's hoping!
I also went to a very nice hotel today, the Nottingham Belfry. I went to meet D & N for our monthly MOST meeting. Hotel was really nice and food was excellent. If you're ever looking for somewhere to stay in Nottingham then I can highly recommend this place.
As I didn't go out last night, I joined some friends for a drink in Cannock last night. We wnt to Wetherspoons. My dad drove me i and picked me up so I save on the taxi fare. Was a good night and quite cheap too. Found out that Jagermeister is 38% and Disaronno is 27%. C got quite a bit drunk on wine and I had to go into the womens toilets to see if she was OK...luckily it was quite late on so there wasn't anyone else around! She was OK anyway, although a little the worse for wear. She had to be in work at 8:00 this morning...don't wish to worry anyone but she's a coronary care nurse!
Today is my grandfathers birthday - as you may have guessed from the title of this post, he's 86. We all went to the Molinueux for a meal. He'd hired a box and the food was broght to our table. There was 23 of us, only 3 of whom were blood related to my grandfather! I have a very small family, my only blood relatives are my mother, father and grandfather. I do have a half sister though and she has two children so I have two half nephews. Anyway, the rest of the party was my grandathers wife's family. Meal was Ok, nothing special. I had rib-eye steak and "fat chips". Had to drive though so that was a bit of a pain!
Well, what a busy week! Was in Luton again on Monday & Tuesday, finally managed to get the MOST node & SCADA package to work. Then, it was off down to Richmond, Surrey on Wednesday. Nice place, if a little cramped mind you. Very expensive to park though, I guess cars are not really wanted in Richmond. Yesterday I started to travel to Bristol but halfway down, my customer emailed to say he couldn't make it so I turned round and drove back home. To be honest I was glad for the break...feeling very tired this week. Too much driving. Whilst I'm on the driving front, I had confirmation this week that my RAV 4 is OK and is now in the "Signature Loop" whatever that is. Hopefully it should be here in a few weeks. Can't come soon enough really, the Saab is getting a little long in the tooth. It's now started to click whenever you use the windscreen washers! That is pretty frequently in this weather! I'm told its the recirculation vent so I suppose I'll have to get it done at some point...
Indi's improved, it took her until about Tuesday though to actually make any marked improvement, this stomach bug has really knocked her about. Its the last day of her anti-biotics today so hopefully she'll be back to her normal self soon. Haven't been kickbking in ages and I really wanted to go this weekend...oh well, never mind...
A & K have now split up...will they get back together, who knows? They're still at the "maybe" stage I think...here's hoping anyway, I think they make a good couple.
Indi was singled out at dog training this week to demonstrate how to do an "About Turn". I must say I was a little shocked to be honest, but anyway we gave it our best shot. Indi grumbled the whole time we were doing it but never mind it was "do as I do", not "do as I say" I guess!
Off to Cannock tonight I think. Haven't spoken to anyone as yet though so will have to see. Going out for my grandfathers birthday tomorrow night, he's 86. We're all going to The Jack Hayward Suite at the Molineux stadium, home to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Somewhere else I've never been so hopefully it will be good.
Bought myself a new Mac yesterday. Over the years I've had a collection of Macs, my first one was a iMac G4. This was joined by an iBook G3. I then bought an iMac (Intel Core Duo) and now this has been joined by a MacBook. I must confess that I am a bit of a gadget freak anyway. Whilst I was in the Apple Store in the Bull Ring yesterday, I also bought a JBL OnTime. My next purchase should be the Mac Mini to use as a Media Centre downstairs.
Indi's not been well for the last couple of days. On Wednesday afternoon she was like a tube of toothpaste if you know what I mean. Thursday she wasn't sick but there was plenty the other end...Friday, still the same so I took her to the vets. Diagnosis: Gastrointeritis. 1 x Anti-biotic injection, 2 x Anti-biotic tablets to take for a week and some Pro-biotic paste. £66 lighter and nothing but boiled rice and chicken for a week...great...
She seems a bit better today but the vets also thinks she is underweight...she currently weighs 24kg, light for a female malamute...she should be about 30kg's I reckon. When she's got over this stomach bug I'll be trying to feed her up a bit...
Just sorted all my stuff out to send to my accountant who fills in my tax returns. Not sure if I mentioned it before but I also have a wedding car hire business. You can see the cars here. The cars have been in my family since 1977, my grandfather buying them both the same week from the Express & Star. He did a few weddings in them but they are a bit unwieldy to drive so he gave that up as he got older. I resurrected them a few years back and have been doing weddings simply to pay for the cars upkeep and earn enough to pay for a holiday or so. This year I've been doing less weddings simply because I was moving house this summer and had enough on my plate without wondering if a 80 year old car was going to start (or stop) on someone's big day...
Went to Star City with A et al for something to eat and maybe some bowling. Eventually ended up in Old Orleans and I ordered a Combo Burger. What a whopper! It was basically a chicken breast and a beef burger in one bun. All this along with chips, "slaw" and "gator strips". Needless to say I didn't finish it all!
Went around the arcades later as bowling was full...
Just realised that today (13/01/07) is exactly six months to my birthday. The number 13 has always cropped up in my life. I was born on the 13th, first house was number 13, I have 13 tattooed on my chest and I also now live in a house numbered 13.
Went and met up with Mog and owner over the Chase again today...managed to remember my camera this time! Mog is a male Malamute known as a "woolie". This means that their coat is longer, sometimes much longer than the breed standard...he's also a big lad, much bigger than Indi, so his longer coat makes him look even larger than he actually is!
It's A & K's birthday on Sunday and C's tonight. Decided to go up Cannock. Went to The White Hart, then Bar Sport. Good night had by all...
First lesson back at dog training tonight. Indi was a bit hyper I must say, although she calmed down quite quickly so that was good. There are a few "naughty" dogs in this new class so Indi isn't the worst there...thank god. On a positive note, her heelwork was the best there...no question!
Travelled down to Dorset today for a meeting with CT tomorrow morning. My colleague D & B had booked me into The Mansion House Hotel in Poole. Very plush I must say. This is actually a Best Western Hotel but you couldn't tell that from the outside - no gaudy blue signs here!
Before that though I met up with N, my boss. We met up at a Little Chef in Oxford. All OK...seems happy with what I'm doing at the moment...
Had a very nice meal in the Mansion House restaurant, one of the nicest steaks I've had for a while. D & B are a bit of wine buffs so chose a very nice white and a very nice red. Can't remember what they were, suffice to say they were very nice indeed!!
The hotel was almost directly opposite a Sunseeker showroom, some rather nice boats in there. Don't think I'll be affording one for a while though....
Had to borrow my mom's hair dryer to finish off drying Indi this morning. I think I've mentioned before that Malamutes have a double coat. If you don't dry them properly, they can get hotspots. These are a type of "wet" excema which spreads like wildfire. I blew Indi dry and then put some AF Powder on her just to help kill any potential bacteria. Seems OK now... fingers crossed...
Decided to bath Indi today. Now this might seem like a pretty regular thing to do, but believe me when your're talking about a Malamute and your house bath...it isn't! First thing i had to do was completely cover the bathroom floor with towels. Next I had to put towels in the bath to stop her sliding around, more towels were needed in preparation for her exit from the bath.
I then carried Indi upstairs (a feat in itself) and plonked her on the floor in the bathroom. She then proceeded to run round this fairly small space at about 300 mph. Not a good start. Anyway, I cracked on and put her in the bath and proceeded to showere her down. So far, so good. I then applied the shampoo (of which you need copious amounts), by this time she looked like a rat. You don't realise how much of their body shape is fashioned by their coat...anyway it was at this point that she got the "shakes". Literally every time I laid my hands on her, she would shake. Shampoo and water went everywhere...I was absolutely soaked by the time I'd rinsed her off and I knew that as soon as she came out of the bath, the shaking would intensify...
Sure enough, she leaped out of the bath only to proceed with another bout of mad circular running, whilst simutaneously mamaging to shake herself at the same time. By now, the whole bathroom was covered in water...if only I had a "wet room". I then realised I do not possess a hair dryer since S left. Nothing for it then, 15 towels later, I started with the Garden Vac. I reversed the Vac so it blew and basically dried her off with that. not sure what Indi made of it but I thought it was a very good idea!
Getting back to the title of this post anyhow...washing a dog loosens the dead hairs in their coat and my god have they loosened! There is hair everywhere! Let's hope it stops coming out soon...
Went to Star City to watch Apocalypto. Quite good actually, I even didn't mind the entire film being subtitled. Reminded me a lot of The Last of The Mohicans so if you like that film, I've no doubt you'll enjoy Apocalypto.
A change to the walk today. Decided to explore the Beaudesert area of the Chase. Started off opposite the Beaudesert Golf Course and looped around Beaudesert Old Park. Not as interesting as my usual walks and very muddy (it had been raining for about a week straight). It also appeared as if a lot of the trees had been cut down and burnt. For what reason I don't know...
I also went over to my sisters. I recommended to my 16 year old nephew that he should buy an Apple Mac for his next computer so he went and bought himself a new MacBook. Thing is, he's had real trouble connecting to their wireless network. Feeling a bit obliged to go and sort things out for them I've been over a couple of times and managed to get it working but without really knowing why. I've suspected its been something to do with their router - a Belkin 54g. Anyway, I took over my spare Negear router and hey preston it was working within a minute. Not sure why the Belkin wouldn't work but I have read on a few of the Mac forums that others have experienced problems with this particular router and the new MacBooks.
Little Josh isn't well...he hasn't been feeding and so they've put him into Critical Care...he's also got a spot of jaundice. The hospital say they think he's been traumatised by the manner in which he was born...don't ask but suffice to say not an easy birth...
Decided to go up to Sherwood for the dog rallying again. This one was organised by the SHCGB. Thought I would also take Indi along to this one too just to allow her to get a feel for a rally. They're realy quite noisy and there's a lot going on so I thought if I am going to enter Indi into a race, she'd better get some idea of what its like beforehand!
It rained for pretty much all of the day. I met a few people who I knew and some who I didn't. Indi made friends with Miko, a 10 month old male Malamute, in fact I think they were a bit too friendly if you know what I mean! Sue was also there, Indi's breeder with Lily, Indi's sister. They do look quite alike in terms of their coat but Indi is still a little smaller, particularly her head.
I left before a lot of the Malamutes got started as Indi was getting a little wound up and I thought best to leave on a high. Just before I went, Indi decided to roll in a big puddle of mud (isn't that a band?) and so she was absolutely filthy for the car journey back. Roll on the new RAV 4...
Have ordered a new Walking Belt from Culpeppers, hopefully should arrive in time for the Sherwood rally at the weekend. I emailed Canine Concepts where I had the other (broken) one from and they are going to send me a replacement...great, that's something I'm now going to have to sell on eBay...
Ordered my new car today, I've gone for the Toyota RAV4. I really wanted the new Freelander but it was too expensive from the leasing company. Should arrive in a few weeks I reckon so that'll be something to look forward to.
Just come back from Tesco where Indi and I had been doing our weekly shopping (Indi stays in the car incidentally). Was feeling a little peckish so I thought I'd get a bag of chips. Settled into the car to eat them, Indi was on the back seat and was leaning forward to try and get her nose in my chips, front feet on the centre armrest. It was at this point she decided to be sick...twice...I was not impressed! Managed to get it in my chips, my lap, the seat and car floor. Just taken me about an hour to clear it all up! Nice...
J & K have had their baby, a boy, Joshua Aaron, born at 5:00 4/01/07...
Welcome to the world...
Well, back to work today. Not really in the mood for it but managed it all the same. Interestingly the roads were pretty quiet today, I think a lot of people have extended their Xmas hols into this week as well, particularly as a lot of schools are not back until later in the week or next week in the case of some schools!
Had a day in the office in Luton today and I'm back in Luton tomorrow for another meeting. Should have stayed over really but I wasn't really in the mood. At least I've got Thursday & Friday at home anyway.
First off R & L's baby was born on New Years Eve, Mia, 6lbs 10oz. Mum and baby doing well...
Secondly S's brother J and his girlfriend K's baby was due on New Years Eve too. Still no news so she'll probably be induced on Tuesday (tomorrow). Fingers crossed it's all OK...
So, for New Year, I went out with J & L over in Tamworth. J & L are a couple that S & I met whilst they were on their honeymoon in Mexico...we were on holiday at the time...anyway I stayed in touch with J & L and they became good friends.
The night was booked for the Tamworth Castle Hotel It actually cost about £50 per person so it wasn't cheap...there was supposed to be a six course meal, band, disco and the obligatory haggis at midnight. I got over to J & L's about 5:30 and had a couple of drinks in the "Madison Bar" (Jim's converted garage). L's brother and girlfriend came round then we caught a taxi to the hotel.
First course was canapes...absolutely foul, I didn't eat mine as they'd stuck to the paper serviette they were served on...and it was fish based...! Next course was seafood platter. That was actually quite nice. Next up was a vegetable soup. This could only be described as a vegetable stock cube with a couple of frozen carrots in the bottom. It had the same consistency as pi$$ water. It was also served in pretty much a pi££ pot! I didn't have that either! Beef Wellington was the main course and that was nice. Dessert was creme brulee, that was alright too. All in all, an OK meal but not worth the money. The band was about 70 years old and the lead "singer" looked like Alan Whicker! The best bit was the disco and the Vodka Bar that happens to be downstairs at the hotel! Haggis was served at 12:00. Only had haggis a couple of times and from my limited taste reference this one seemed OK.
Went back to J & L's afterwards and fell asleep about 3:00.
Back to work tomorrow. I've got to go to Luton for a meeting at 2:00 then back on Wednesday for another meeting at 3:00. Would normally stay over but I'm just not in the mood at the moment.
