Books and Clay

It's 18 months since I last posted so I obviously broke that New Year's resolution!  Of course, in that time, Blogger has changed and moved some of the settings etc so I'm trying to figure out where things are. Life has been a bit hectic since my last post plus the PC slowly died (again) but it's now up and running.  It always seems to die at the most inconvenient time e.g. trying to order a bathroom suite! So quick update on life in the last 18 months: I originally created this blog to show many of my weird and wonderful pottery creations.  I stopped pottery about four years ago as I had other commitments that clashed and when I could return, I discovered that the classes ceased.   Hopefully, I can take it up in the future if it returns. Thanks to a wrist problem, I haven't crocheted for at least a year.  I actually miss it especially during the winter months as that's when I tend to do most of the work.  I'm hoping to...

Well, my resolution for this year obviously has to be to update the blog at least more than once a year! I'm suffering at the moment with tenosynovitis in my wrist so I'll be updating it bit by bit as typing is difficult, as is writing, reading, cleaning, cooking, washing the car etc or basically anything the wrist objects to doing really. Driving isn't too bad though cycling is out as I can't brake let alone hold the handle. It's quite annoying as the weather's been ok for cycling too. I'm waiting to start physiotherapy in 3 weeks time though. I decided to replace my car in the autumn as the foam gasket leaked (more like gushed really) which meant the floor of the car was constantly soaking particulary after any amount of rain. The garage did try to sort it but some water was still getting through so thought I'd better bite the bullet and get a new one. I've got a brand new Corsa which had to be built as there were none left in stock so it...

Oops, hadn't realised I hadn't updated this since August!! So in a nutshell...... I'm still at College though I've got my HNC in Computing. I needed to do another 3 modules to be able to go on and do the HND in the future. Block (term) 3 starts this week and I've only 1 module to do which is building a network - quite looking forward to that. I've also been to another 2 author events. Stuart MacBride writes a crime series set in Aberdeen featuring DS Logan McRae and manages to combine some humour with the gory descriptions. He was really good, chatted for ages and had a good banter going with the audience. The other author was Alexander MacGregor who is a Dundee author. Funny thing was he turned up at the Rotary Club a couple of weeks after! So, another 2 signatures in my autograph book. I'm still cycling though I stopped during the winter. I had intended trying to cycling through winter but gave up with all the snow and ice we had. I dug the bike...

I heard Christopher Brookmyre speak tonight - very entertaining guy, had us all in stitches. I've been listening to "Pandemonium" on CD though I'm only half way through it and it's very funny. The first disk had me worried to begin with - I thought the CDs were in the wrong box as I couldn't figure what on earth the story was about! Words we used at school like "boufin" and "barkit" came flooding back (no idea if that's how to spell them!). I got my autograph book signed as well as buying "Be my Enemy". I got the autography book as a present about 6 years ago and it's fairly filling up with author signatures. When I used to run children's reading groups and events, we'd have competitions to see how many and which authors had signed our books. I also decided a few years ago to only buy books that I either would read over and over again (something I rarely do) or if I got them signed by the author. This is mai...

I’m off to London for a week in September and I’m going by sleeper which I've been dying to do since I was a child. Because I'm going by sleeper it actually works out a longer stay as I gain two days by travelling overnight. I’m staying with my aunt and uncle and I’ve been trying to narrow down things to do. I looked on the Visit London site and within a couple of minutes found cycle tours – fantastic idea! I vaguely remember taking an open top tour on a bus the last time I was down but the bikes sound more fun. I’ll either go to the British Museum or Natural History Museum (I keep swithering) and the London Eye is a must. Apart from that, I’m not sure what else I’ll be doing. I want to spend time with my aunt and uncle as well as pounding the pavements so I’ll probably just wait and see how the week pans out (especially the weather!). Before London though, I'm due to go to the Scottish mobilemeet in Kilmarnock on 11th September which will mean an early start espe...

Yikes, didn't realise it had been ages since I've updated the blog! This is my third attempt to try and update and no wonder it takes me forever as it doesn’t always save properly or there’s a problem with the editing and you’ve to re-type everything! I really enjoyed the cycling course the Council ran in April and managed to change my inner tube with help from the tutor. I have 20" wheels which are harder to get the tyre off but much easier to get it back on! We cycled round Forfar mainly practising turns and roundabouts and I was surprised at the abuse we got from some drivers because we were cycling in pairs. Apparently, it's recommended that you cycle in pairs instead on one big line (there were nine of us) as it's much riskier for a driver to overtake and they could knock you off. I’ve also been cycling round Angus, up the Glens and even got more abuse when using a cycle path. I’ll stick to taking my chances with the traffic I think. I was on holiday for a cou...

It's been ages since I've updated so now that I've got a week off, I've time to catch up on things and the blog is one of them. I've been quite busy with, well, everything really. First of all, work is going ok at the moment though I'm so far behind I doubt I'll ever catch up. Also, my boss is away to retire in a couple of weeks and I don't know if I'm taking over from him or not. No doubt I'll be told eventually but in the meantime he's handing over to me which means I'm constantly taking notes. The day-to-day stuff in the office is fine, it's managing the servers and interrogating the system that I'm more worried about. There are implications whether I move up or leave (I'm still job-hunting) as my post will cease to exist but I don't know what they plan to do about my responsibilities. Still, if I do get moved up, it's a good opportunity and more secure than some positions because it's system admin and IT ...