Thursday 29 January 2015

Make that 4 nights

Although the coughing has seriously reduced, its still keeping me up...just as I doze off I wake up choking, and I used the last of the bromhexineHCL up, which never really stopped it just make it easier to cough up.

This is truly horrible... I've come down to have a few drinks to relax and then try again, but I really can't explain how tired and sore I am now....


oh well, whiskey and honey is finished, back to bed.  I'm not setting any alarms though, if I am fit to go to work when I wake up I'll head in, otherwise  I need the sleep.


Ahthankyew

Tuesday 27 January 2015

3 days.....phew

3days (and nights) of non stop coughing,  I am utterly shattered, ribs and throat are sore as hell. and I am totally wrecked...but finally it seems to be passing, I even managed a few naps today

Need to try to get some more UK cold meds, its not so much that you can't get meds here but there are pretty week usually just paracetemol and/or vit C. Nothing to help with congestion, or other symptoms of colds which leads to other things.

Had to call in sick today which is a pain as I really wanted to go in to voice some concerns I have  over peoples perceptions of what we do at NHTV..

There is a slowly developing idea that interactive Apps, are "games" which is partly true, but there is a world of difference between am advertising app for a phone and a 2 year project built from scratch for a console...They are both "games" but the difference in what they are, how they are made and how they are sold is so vast that its hard to see any synergy with them...but people seem to be forcing that and pushing NHTV as a place to learn to make apps, rather than games....to my mind this is utterly wrong and needs addressing.

We had an education day today where someone from a company that develops these apps was going to give a talk... I really have no idea why they were brought in, and wanted to make that point, but I simply wasn't up to it.. I do hope I get a chance to voice my concerns another time.. We need to put some of our high ups in the picture a little more.

Ahthankyew

Thursday 22 January 2015

Nearly better

Not Man-flu
Just a heavy cold this time, think I'm over the very worst symptoms now...though today am getting a bit worried about the dry cough I seem to have developed over night.. I hate getting chest infections here cos the docs are so unwilling to give you antibiotics for them and as a result they seem to last for weeks.
In the UK a quick course of something non penicillin based (I'm allergic) has any chest problems cleared up in no time, without them it seems to take 2-4 weeks and they end up giving you steroid puffs, which probably do more harm than good. Given that I am now having to pay for my annual drugs due to the 375euro own risk policy, if I have to go to the docs I'll be insisting on some decent AB's.

I've not had to go into the office the last couple of days so just been busying myself at home wrapped up warm,  with students work and some of my Z80 project which I have gotten back into, I can finally see an end to this, and the client is start to get impatient, so one last push and I should be done.

Oh and I finally have my new LED HDMI projector up and running, I had to order special tools to remove the mounting clamp from the old one, as well as new screws to mount the new one into the clamps, then risk life and limb on a not very safe looking, but really quite secure ladder arrangement on the stairs to fit it.  But it is finally up and running and I'm now up to date with a BluRay based cinema system... I suppose I should buy a BluRay film so I can see if there really is much of a difference.
Still sad that the old one is broken, I could have sold the complete unit for a decent wedge but as it is just selling the old projector alone, won't raise more than a few quid.




Ahthankyew

Saturday 17 January 2015

17 days... a new record

17 days into the new year and I managed to stay fit and healthy, until I started sniffing and sneezing and became the world largest producer of raw snot....

Bugger... I have a cold....just as I was going to go to the gym....again..

I've also been risking life and limb trying to install my new projector, which turned out to require some interesting ladder placement, coupled with some surprising degrees of vertigo resistance.

Also a lack of tools as it turned out. I did finally managed to unhook and remove the old BenQ unit, after working out its clap was secured in place with a squeeze pin system. But actual removal of the clamp from the unit so I can put it onto the new one, requires special tools I didn't know existed. Tamper proof Allen keys..which are basically the same as normal Allen keys but have a hollow middle. the screws themselves having a bump in the middle of the hole, preventing normal Allen keys from going into the hole and allowing you to engage....major pain...

Will pop to Hornbach later, before the major manflu symptoms kick in and buy a set. The Ladders are still in place until then making access to the attic tricky, so don't want to leave it in that state too long.

The reconditioned Roomba I got on ebay is fantastic...It arrived  yesterday, and could not wait to see it in action so left it run through a cycle which also helped to flatten the battery, which is apparently a good thing on 1st use....Aside from being a bit of a cable puller-outer, so I need to make sure cables are not loose on the floor, it works perfectly. Especially on my hard floors downstairs.. So its now set up and scheduled to do its thing every other day at 6am while I sleep. No more hovering downstairs...and once a week letting it loose upstairs which also has hard floors should be more than enough. Though not this week as there will be more snotty tissues on the floor than a teenage boys bedroom before and after his 1st prom.
There are apparently mop versions of this you can get which would also be nice to do once a week, but I am not so impressed with those so I will have to stick to the bucket an mop method..once a year.

I thought Harvey might go a bit nuts at it, but he just looks at it with distain and keeps out of its way.

Better get a lemsip or 2 down me then head over to Hornbach... I can feel the life draining from me as my eyes start itching..........manflu!!!!!!!

Ahthankyew

Sunday 11 January 2015

Operation clean up....nearly done

So without actually setting any specific resolutions I have been quietly cleaning up. My house, my work, my life...kinda

The very cool sale at C&A has allowed me to restock my wardrobe with garments more fitting a man of my advanced years....though I did also buy a few new pairs of jeans to replace the desperate old and ill fitting ones I cling on to, like much loved children... I can wear them at weekends.

Sales in the shoe store also reaped some new basic shoes, so I can keep my "good" shoes for....y'know I never know what  you should keep good shoes for?


But a few hundred euros of sales spending has given me a totally new wardrobe and look, which pretty much everyone at work has commented on, saying how smart I looked? what the !@&*#!? ...making me feel a little self conscious but I guess it proves my old "style" was a little too scruffy, just wearing a collar shirt and jumper makes stand out so much now...I must have really been a bit of a sight.

Now I really have to learn how to iron.

The house is also cleaning up nicely...I am still pissed off about the death of my old reliable  (well it did last nearly 7 years)  DVD home cinema, now replaced with a Sony BluRay unit, but which also resulted in the need to replace the old and still reliable, just no longer up to date, BenQ projector... It can't handle the output from the BluRay. I suspected as much as my projector could not handle PS3/PS4 output either....At least I can sell it on.. It will still be useful.. I did briefly consider setting it up downstairs..but...why have the attic cinema then?
Fortunately  I managed to find a decent priced HDMI unit on ebay... only a few hundred for a new one. I just got myself out of a financial deadfall, thanks to the Xmas bonus, so don't want to be spending too much replacing these things. It should have arrived yesterday but I was out when the DHL man arrived and it seems he didn't want to leave it with the neighbours.
But overall a good ebay buy if it all works ok.

Oh and while on ebay, I could not resist a bargain bid on a Roomba Robot Vac....an extravagance perhaps but I think it's perfect for my hardwood floors and it can be set to work when I am not around... assuming Harvey does not try to kill it. It should be here in a day or 2.

New projector will need a bit of installing as will the speakers for the new BluRay, so the attic at the moment is a work in progress, still a bit messed up.... I will have a proper go at it (maybe let the Roomba loose) soon.

I also want to source a couple of nice recliner chairs for the attic.. I really don't like the Ikea sofa bed any more, its far too bulky and not that comfy when you want to actually watch movies... Time for something else.

And as the end of Block B approaches I can look forward to 3 reasonably quiet weeks to get my work stuff back on track, I have let a few admin things slide, I need to stop letting things slide and get on top of them..

I also made a more focused effort on my Z80 project, I have been having issues with it over the last few months as lack of free time and chronic lack of memory in the ROM, have really stopped me getting on with it.. But I scrapped some of the early set up code on it in favour of some new code and its starting to pull back together again...I really want to get that out there, and start another one. This experiment in the feasibility of Z80 work has taken too long..its fun in some ways but I need to get a proper project done and make a bit of money with it...so this test project needs to get out there...establish my name in the market place and see what the next one can do.

2015 .might even see me visit a gym soon... I almost went on Friday...almost...  I at least considered it...but it was raining and decided not to....damn that rain.... ;)

Ahthankyew

Friday 9 January 2015

Another Great Gig

the Mighty Starrcase played yet another Graduation party, and were brilliant...a few minor flubs but still brilliant.

I really do enjoy the feedback from these gigs and seeing people dancing is very cool

Next one in May/June....better get practicing.


Ahthankyew

Monday 5 January 2015

And back to ....

Sadly not the future..but back to work

A New Year and a new fresh start. I will do my best to keep things going for the better. Time to get on with stuff that has been lingering far too long, also a bit of an image change.

I suspect my Jeans and T-shirt look is starting to seem a little jaded, as is my weight...so not exactly a new years resolution but I am definitely going to lose the weight I half heartedly set out to do last year..no more yo yo-ing.
Am going to cut back on the cake...hmmmm cake..
And get myself trimmed...I won't make empty promises about gyms, but I will at least try to go, I have noticed my condition as they say here in NL is less than stellar, so.....we'll see

Also during the sales I stocked up on some sensible clothes, collar shirts and slacks....not quite enough to see me through a week but enough to start the image change..

Apart from my attic, the house is clean and tidy, and I will keep it that way, new vacuum has proven its worth. Just have to work out how to use that iron thing...can't seem to work out where you insert the clothes!!!


Come on the 2015...I'm ready for you.



Ahthankyew