picking up where we left off

Harvey is in the dog house...we've barely spoken to him all day, and he knows he's cocked up somehow...but not quite sure how.

We've changed all the house locks, and Bina was able to get the car ignition system re-programmed...it won't stop anyone getting into the car with the key but it will stop them driving off. The garage also very kindly put in a new stereo system to replace the nicked one (well they nicked the facia which was removed from the car and brought in) for almost nothing..

All told forked out about 320euro's to get things back to normal.

twats...and I lost my Ipod with all my lovley music and stuff, had to spend the morning changing all my passwords which were probably on the pod too, at least all the mail's were.

We're safe and secure now though, the whole thing happened becuase we were careless with locking up. That won't ever happen again.

As for Harvey...I'm giving serious thought to replacing him with an attack hamster, which will probably be more effective. Stupid dog barks at leaves flying past the windows, when friends come to the door, even if we come to the door...can't believe he didn't react this time. Annoyingly I heard the door open, but dismissed it as probably the neighbours since a certain mutt was not barking his head off.

oh well...lesson learned, move on.

I was going to blog about the great sunday dinner I cooked yesterday as a thank you to those who had helped us move in and settle, plus a few hangers on ;). The meal was awesome, I was really pleased everyone enjoyed it and as usual there were lots of suprised faces when such nice dishes were served up and tasted as good as they looked. I havn't felt like cooking in a long time so it was nice to do that, and not have any major cock ups...apart from the whipping cream splitting, when I was making dessert...so they had clotted cream raspbery shortbreads instead.
I had to improvise a bit though on a trip to the supermarket but never the less I made

Starter
Goats cheese brie and caramalised red onion with basil in a crisp smoked ham case with a puff pastry cheese parcel top, on a bed of creamed leeks and a side of butter tossed Chantrelle mushrooms

Main
Slow Roasted Leg(s) of overnight marinated lamb (lemon, thyme, rosemary,sage) , with roast herb potatoes, boiled potatoes, home made rich yorkshire puds and roasted pumpkin and carrots served with stock/dressing made gravy.

Dessert
Shortbread biscuit base with crunchy whipped cream (add crushed biscuits before serving), topped with fresh raspberrys and clotted cream, drizzeled with reduced Raspberry syrup (seeds in).

For 8 people and it all went smoothly, only thing I didnt make myself was the puff pastry, I always buy ready made squares and the biscuits for the crunchy cream.

I wasn't totally happy with the starter, the ham which was used to line individual cake holes in a 6 hole tin as if it was pastry, crisped up nicely in the tin ok but it stuck fast during cooking. So I had to prise it out with a spoon which made it lose its shape a bit, but I managed to disguise that on the creamed leek base...
Next time..grease the tin. Oh and the puff didn't rise as much as I wanted (maybe I should make my own), but everyone loved it...and while they were eating it I was able to get my yorshire puds on, which were fantastic and puffed right up.

The clotted, rather than whipped cream was actually a fantastic accident, I'll have to see if I can do that every time (basically I let the cream get warm before I whipped it)

Was a really great meal and a really great day with friends.


Ahthankyew

But he always barks!!!

Our little dog Harvey goes nuts when anyone comes to the door or window.

Every time!


Except last night when we had burglers, it seems he slept right through that...

Dammit, our little idyl has been tarnished a little by some local scrots. Our fault....well mine really, I didn't check the door/gate was locked before bed and they just came in and helped themselves to a few disposable items..Ipods, phones, car radio facia,old video camera, DS, maybe a couple of other thing's we'll discover as we go.

They also took a small tub we keep our keys in, so now we have to go and change the car and house locks as soon as possible. That will be more costly than the items pocketed.

Annoyingly I heard the door opening last night, after 3....thought that was odd...but ignored it becuase Harvey didn't bark.

baaaaahhhh.


Ahthankyew

Back to the UK....

Got an ok from the boss to have my 1st ever oversea's conference...shame its in the UK, I was hoping for Vegas, or Toyko, but instead I am going to be in Liverpool of all places :D in November :(

Its all part of a presentation and conference thats happening for 2 days with our Sony Education program, as we're one of the 1st members we get to go and show off anything we've done by then. After that, there's a bit of good old fashioned geek fest game confence, Develop Liverpool, where I am sure I'll bump into a lot of old friends and collegues, propping up the bar's I am sure.

I might also get a chance to pop to Lyon for a couple of days also in November for Game Connection...not quite so geeky but a good chance to shmooze and increase our visibility in the industry...oh if you think industry geeks can drink...you really should see how industry bosses handle a bar..its a sight to behold.

Quite like the idea of jetsetting around again even if its only Europe.

Ahthankyew

Pig in Shit

My little corner of the attic playroom


Ahthankyew

Personality tests...

I had to take a personality test today as part of a course I am doing....what a load of balls... here's part of it.


Note especially the anchor thing...I mean...seriously..I am a games coder, I do boring repetitive task as a matter of course and have so far worked on nearly 70 projects in my professional career to completion...Thats my job, something I take seriously and am well known for my ability to see things through.

Makes you wonder really, if it can get such a basic aspect of my personality so fundamentally and demonstrably wrong, how can you take any of the other assessments of my personality as accurate.. It also suggests I am not a risk taker because I have no entrepreneurial aspirations...It fails to take into account that I have had a successful business in the past and have already been there done than and frankly lost interest in it, also having cancer makes life a little more focused on the important things..


We all like to read nice things about ourselves, and its a fact most people will recognise faults in themselves if someone points it out, whether its true or not...but the idea that an on-line test could "accurately" provide some kind of insight into the kind of person you are is nonsense..

In this case, the test was part of an education course to provide some kind of self reflection, I don't know exactly how its going to be used to forward the course but I am going to point how just how demonstrably flawed it is when it is discussed.

But there are companies who make serious hiring decisions based on things like this....I honestly think you'd be better off examining the entrails of a goat than looking at rubbish like this.


Ahthankyew

Normality is cool

Had an awsome and busy week at work with the students, no tiredness or speech issues got in the way, and it was great to be back at it after 4 months. I know my bosses were a teeny bit worried I had come back too soon but those fears were soon dispelled.

As the summer finally draws to a close we need to try now to arrange for our housewarming party before autumn really kicks in, ideally including a BBQ, though looking out the window at the rain, that may be less possible than I'd like, but booze and party nibbles followed by some poker should be quite possible.

Been out a few times with our new collegues, some eating and drinking has been getting done to help them find their way around and all seem to be enjoying Breda's delights.

Home wise, Bina and I had a bit of a snit at the start of the week, which resulted in a couple of days sulking,...ah well. Sorted in the end....(she was wrong of course ;) )

Got to do a bit more tidying up upstairs, I now have an almost complete recording studio up there, kinda bizzare given the fact I can barely play and certainly can't sing or rap, but its all good fun, so long as I don't expose my efforts to any poor unsuspecting listners..I tend to mess about when everyone is out. I'm going to put my guitars up on the wall after the work is done to make a bit more space up there.

We have still not heard back from our builder about the boxing off of the door area in the attic which will make it a bit more sound proof. Seems he's busy on a current job for a collegue and dealing with a new baby. I will need to chase him.




Ahthankyew

Loving my Ipad, but hating Itunes

People go on and on about how much they hate Itunes...personally its never bothered me in the slightest. Fire it up, buy stuff or import a CD and there you go...runs on your ipod/iphone as expected.

Then I bought an Ipad...which I have to say is a fantastically geeky gadget that I am going to really enjoy doing some coding on when my PSP thing is finished.

Because I bought it in HollandI set it up with my address and credit card details for the app store and itunes...and was all ready to get started when it refused to let me install any apps complaining my card details and post code were invalid..??
Oh ok a bit of investigation later showed I still had the territory set to UK and was therefore expecting a UK postcode and card.

Ok so into the settings, chance the location to NL and voila...everything goes in fine...except of course now I only have access to the Dutch Itunes store in Dutch..

NOTE to APPLE.....living in a location does not automatically mean you speak the language!!!!!

Ahthankyew

slightly less rich, cos I'm stupid

I paid for my dark fire with a paypal transfer..pretty standard way to do business on ebay of course, but I didn't realise that when doing certain types of transfers which result in lower costs...you can't use the credit card.

So...I accidently dented my bank account rather than my planned credit card/pay over a few months. I believe the correct term for this is...doh!!

So in some ways it was just as well I got that bonus this month or I'd have been paying for lunch with the credit card due to lack of cash.

The Dark Fire has arrived at mums though and even she was impressed when the chap opened it up to show her...this is a women who when shown my Gibosn Lucille, said it was very nice...very nice...the sexiest thing ever made with wood and strings by mans hands...very nice!!! So she is hard to please, but thought the DF was top class. Am sure Bina will think the same?

Still need to shift the Explorer though, I have a few people interested, just have to work out some kind of payment plan.

Its been a good week at work, I'm not quite properly organised yet, but I am almost on top of things. The paperwork before classes is a pain but nearly there now..just got to polish up my slides and read a bit of reference material and I'm good to go.

2 weeks in and classes start on Monday, I can't wait I am really excited to meet all the new 1st years, and be reunited with my new 3rd years as we start doing console coding in our new secure console room..going to be a busy but fun week.

Ahthankyew

I'm still rich

It wasn't a mistake, it was a bonus for having an outstanding evaluation this last year, which I am totally overwhelmed by. I knew my evaluation was good and that my managers were happy with my work, but I did not know it came with a cash bonus.

I love this place....I love this job, and it seems people are loving the way I do it....how awesomely cool is this? In all my years working in the Games Industry it was a never ending struggle for recognition and cash, and when I finally decide to backout of it, I get both...damn I wish I'd come here 10 years ago.

Better not tell Bina, she'll be wanting to spend it on a holiday or something....oops.

Ahthankyew

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo

Theres a crack in the heel of the neck in my Breedlove 12 string...oh dammit...Thats the 1st time i've had it out since we moved so I guess its possible something happened then.

It does not appear to be unstable and may only be a varnish/surface crack, but it is still a crack, I'll take it to a luthier and see if its a problem...dammit...

I think the household insurance will actually cover this, but I'm dam annoyed at the fact its possibly damaged

Ahthankyew

Kicked out, so make the most of it.

Bina had a girly dinner party, so I was tactfully requested to leave the building. Which is fine, as me and a few other colleagues from work had agreed to go out for a few drinks anyway..Sadly...for them, they cried off, and I ended up on my lonesome for a few hours before the 1 brave soul and his partner were able to meet up.

Time then to indulge in one of my favourite things....eating

I went to Ganache in town, its a really nice fine dining restaurant, but with no Michelin stars it's affordable. The food is always amazing, wonderfully presented and changes every week so you never quite know what your are going to be able to get. I love trying their surprise 5 course menu where its the chefs job to impress you.

Of course I don't normally do this on my own but I was hungry and had time to kill so off I went. this week was apparently restaurant week in Breda so the menu was 3 courses with a choice of meat/fish for starter and mains. All good stuff even if I have no idea what the whole restaurant week is and why it resulted in a reduced menu on this visit.

The waitress spoke perfect English, with a Dublin accent after 3 years there she told me, and offered me a selection of wines with each course, after my prosecco to get things started, I thought why not.

I ordered, Roast smoked duck starter, with a veal main course. The dessert was a ginger biscuit crusted amaretto ice cream and a raspberry sauce.

I had a really fantastic but slightly sad meal...mainly because my sense of taste and ability to move food around my mouth are still not quite 100%, excessive chewing is a little painful too.

The looks and smell was amazing, but its hard to really get the flavour when you can only put a tiny morsel into your mouth on one side....ah well its getting better so I can't complain.

The wines though...hmm I liked the starter wine, a Syrah with lots of nice earthy flavours and dryness to cut through the smokey duck, but the Medoc that came with the veal was too heavy, as was the 10 year old port sauce, but it was tasty...the dessert wine though, a Semmion/Sauvingon blanc blend, was wrong, with the bitter ginger biscuit crust and heavy amaretto flavour of the ice cream a sweeter wine might have been better...


oh hark at me the food/wine critic?

I topped it off with a fine expensive brandy and staggered out of the restaurant more than a little tipsy, which forced me to stick to coffee when I met up with my colleague and his partner for drinks later...by the time the Martell finally got into my system I was quite pissed.


Aside from a few steak restaurants, this was my first "fancy" meal since the op and its nice to get back to normal again, even if I can't shove it down my gob like I used to..I can at least take some inspiration from the meal to do some more cooking again, which I've not really done much of, again since the op....hmmm

Making Roast Lamb for dinner today....ahh theres a story there too...I went to Ken Markt in town, which is a turkish store, to buy a shoulder of lamb after seeing a great recipe on BBC Saturday kitchen. But when I got to the counter they had none on show but they did have a single Lamb Shank...Now slow braised lamb shanks is one of my favourite dishes, so I asked them in my terrible dutch if they had 2 more of those shanks....twee lams bout..after a bit of a translation issue I made it clear(???) I wanted 2 lams bouts...so off the butcher goes into the back and brings back a whole sheep...ermmm...and proceeds to chop off the back legs and holds them up for me quoting 60 euros....

At this point I realised I had actually asked for 2 Lambs Legs...whole legs...oops.. I was about to correct him when I though..bugger it, we love lamb, and it is hard to come by here, and this shop was selling a whole rear end of a sheep for 60euros...I can make a few roasts and also cut some up for curries and stews to last a month.

So I brought home a bunch of meat, and also some lemons and onions to slow roast at least some if it for Sunday dinner.

A bit of home Butchery later..I have my 2 lamb shanks for later slow braising, a few chunks of cubed lamb for curries, 4 roast joints and plenty of meat on the bones to make stock for some hearty broths...when I can find pearl barley that is.

Not bad for 60 euros..I spent more than that on my meal at Ganache.


Time to start getting my cooking mojo back...as well as my other mojos which ran away screaming when I was ill :)




Ahthankyew

I'm Rich!!!!!

But I suspect its only a mistake, I seem to have been overpaid by a fair margain and have had to 'fess up to the company to see how to resolve it...ahhh well...maybe they'll let me keep it ;) (positive thoughts Brian, positive thoughts, maybe its a bonus for ummm.....comic relief?)

Work is proving to be a great thing, yes I get a bit tired from it after the excitemet of the 1st day but it is really great to be back. I have been getting my head round setting up our new PS3 dev kits which of course is really strange. Fortunately I myself won't be teaching much on the PS3 this block so we have time to get it all set up and ready before the stdents are let loose.
We are setting up a dedicated secure room for all our consoles and networking them so that we can be sure the kits are not messed with or used for things we do not allow.

This of course is the Sony edu program, Nintendo and Microsoft don't have education programs and in Nintendo's case usually cite "security" issues as the reason they won't allow us to teach with their kits.

Its a problem I have raised several times and will probably continue to raise, but I think its important. We can't teach console coding to students without actual consoles.
Sony's initiative to allow universities to have dev kits is a sound and sensible decision which they should be thanked for. Nintendo, who I have always had a soft spot for with their easy to code machines, should join in...maybe one day.


Ahthankyew

Back to work :D

Back to work today, a good full day, it was awesome and I had a ball being back with the team again.

During the holidays we also had our new Sony PS2 and PS3 dev kits delivered so I got to open up a couple of boxes and tinker away, was waaaayyy cool.



Ahthankyew

Hello & Goodbye

Hello to this stunning little beauty





Yup a Gibson Dark Fire...one of only 4000 made worldwide, part of Gibsons experiment with new electronics and auto tuning which eventually culminated in the disgusting Dusk Tiger. But the Dark fire is something of a work of art I have to say. I wanted one for quite some time but they are pricey and don't come up for sale often at all in Europe. The do show up sometimes in the US ebay but the thought of buying another expensive guitar (like Lucille),waiting months then getting hit with a huge customs bill did not appeal.

I won't say what I paid for it, but it was a really good price as its in immaculate, played at home condition with only 1 owner from new. The seller has agreed to wait till I can shuffle some money around before delivering it to my mums house, since they live in the same town and I'll pick it up next time I am over.

Sadly though, I have to say goodbye to at least one of my other Gibsons to fund this, the Explorer and/or the Les Paul studio. I have interest in the Explorer though so will see if I can shift that 1st, nice as it is, its not really my style of guitar and it needs a better home.




Ahthankyew

Insomnia

I thought I was in Holland but I'm actually in somnia.

bahhh

bored...thankfully I still have filmon.com so I can catch up on the terrible X factor auditions.


But that wee zimbabwean girl with the scots accent fom her 5 years in sconny botland, was something else...wow.
There was also a strange moment with that odd G&S couple....the girl could clearly sing really well, but her friend was a total waste of time....how could he be so deluded, and more important how come she never once said to him you can't sing...do it like this, like this........people are wierd....especially on reality pop shows eh!


Ahthankyew

building up to the return

We go back to work next week, around 2 weeks before our students arrive to give us time to prep our courses and get all our paperwork and other academic stuff set up and ready.

Theres a few issues with my schedule at the moment, I seem to be teaching some extra classes I am not supposed to, and also I have no work at home day which is usually allocated for marking and prep, but I am sure this will be resolved before we start.

I am really excited about getting back to work. I've popped back a few times to the office before the summer break, but have not really done anything in anger since just before my operation in April.

It's been too long to be idle. I don't object to having days off, but being physically or mentally restricted from doing much really does get very boring very soon. The few bits of DIY and unpacking I've been doing have kept me busy but its not the same as dealing with a class of students.

A few people have urged me not to rush back to work, but I'm sorry I really must, it is important to me to get back to doing something I enjoy and regain the normality that cancer has taken away from me.

Every day I am getting a bit fitter, and the discomfort levels are reducing. I can't quite speak at classroom volumes for prolonged periods but that just means I need to make my presentation slides a bit more interesting and explanitory. I'm sure in 2-3 weeks I'll have my tongue and voice back to something usable.

I really am excited about the new academic year, a whole new group of eager students with some occasionally brilliant insights into their career paths and of course the total dreamers who are convinced they will have a Ferrari next year while being quite happy to let their software be sold for free.

hehe, I love my job, getting to prick the balloons of these dreamers and at the same time see talents blossom in very short periods of time. I suppose I should go do some coding ;)


Ahthankyew

10 years and 1 day

Yesterday, was the anniversary of the 1st time I met Bina, 10 year ago.

I wish I had been able to take her out for a romantic candle lit dinner to celebrate the event but sore mouth and tiredness from the treatment and meds made it all a bit impractical so we spent the day together, and attempted to spend a romantic evening watching for the persied meteors..which were obscured by clouds and have also resulted in Bina catching a chill...not the greatest 10 year anniversary ever..but I will make it up to her when my health and time allow.

Its been an incredible 10 years, a few low points of course as you have in most relationships, the worst caused us to split up for a year, which had the effect of making me face up to the fact I was a pretty hopeless human being without the stability that comes from being part of a true partnership.

Bina is my other half in so any ways, a calming steady voice when I want to rush in, and a force for change when things aren't right. hmmm this isn't sounding all that romantic is it? This is also where Bina is my opposite, able to express her feelings for me in ways that make it sound like she is describing someone totally different to the fat, grumpy, middle aged foul mouthed scotsman who's feeling a bit worn out and sorry for himself. She makes me feel like Brad Pitt....only smarter.

I don't know any other way to describe her except she is the 1 person in my life, who has made me feel good when I feel bad, made me feel confident when I've felt insecure, made me laugh when I was sad and for 10 years, 10 whole years...with probably much needed years break, has found me to be a funny wonderful person and made me feel truly loved.
In truth, she's the most wonderful beautiful warm person who has ever come into my life. whatever ups and downs our life has for us now I can't imagine ever being without her. I know how horrible that was. I don't deserve her, I really don't. I am nothing without her and I love her with all my heart and soul even if I have no adequate way to ever express that.

I'd like to sign up for 10 more years please with an option for 50 more.





Ahthankyew

Garden furniture and cosy cardies

I know I am getting older, but I somehow never realised how much older I was getting. Having once again joined the ranks of the owner occupiers of the world, I am starting to look at the world differently.

Like, hmm lets get some nice garden furniture to make best use of what's left of summer.

arrghhhh...me buying garden furniture?? I am getting old...All thats left now is for me to stock up on cardigans to wear while outside sat on the wicker chairs we we just bought at a local store......I did manage to haggle him down a bit though.

I must offset this tendency towards old age and retirement thinking, by buying the biggest most sophisticated BBQ I can find. I've seen a few of those gas ones with mega burners o them...oh yes...that'll do nicely.

Ahthankyew

Flatulence has returned

I am very proud to report, that after a short and noticable break, flatulence has once again become part of my life.

I'd like to thank all those responsible for giving me back this gift to humanity, and of course to you dear reader for bothering to read this far.

Actually this is a side effect of my reducing my morphine doses and my bowels starting to fire up again. But where there's a fart, there life, so lets rejoice in that rather pungent tang while we can.

Ahthankyew

Internet, oh how I've missed you

Strictly speaking we've not really been without, there was an unsecured signal available in the area, we think from the local car dealership at the end of our street. It was weak and we could only see a bar or so when sat up in the attic holding our laptops at just the right angle, but we certainly didn't go without.
Not quite as bad as the Southpark internet is gone episode.
But now we have our own back, as well as our landline phone, so we can get our PC's, macs, and ipods all synced up again anywhere in the house...life is good again, 20MB internet is an absolute joy when you have it.

I'll be downloading more aeroplane porn in no time.

The house is really starting to take shape now, more and more boxes have been cleared, the attic has had a couple of tidy ups and my guitars and recording gadgets now have their own special corner. I am missing several pedals and things which were in a drawer before we moved..but they've been transferred somehow and will be in a box somewhere.
My DIY efforts were not entirely successful, I simply could not drill the holes in the ceiling needed to fit the lights in the study, so we'll have to stick with lamps in there for now until I work out a solution. But the attic has light now, and soon the shed will too.

We have to get hold of some garden furniture soon, to make full use of our patio area while summer is still here, and also some shelving for the shed and attic. There's a cool outlet shop round the corner selling garden furniture and so on, but only open on weekends, so we'll pop round there this weekend.
A few more trips to Ikea are also on the cards, for a 2nd sofa for downstairs and cheap cheap cheap shelves to put my model collection in some kind of order in the shed.

I am planning to turn upstairs into a home cinema area with a large electric screen at one end of the room, but the only supplier I had lined up wants 150quid to ship to The Netherlands. Thats too much, so I'll try to locate someone in Holland or nearby, its a low priority task.

There's still some issues with our old apartment to deal with due to our collegue not taking it, the landlord has issued an ultimatum to clear it out by the 16th August or he'll fine us €1500. But we've had a word with them and they are extending the deadline till the 1st Sept, which hopefully will allow us to find another collegue who wants to take it on, or get the 1st collegue to go in and rip up the carpets and dispose of them.


Nothing very comedic happening here as you can tell, its all busy busy busy getting things unpacke and placed and seeing how things go as we settle in. We're starting to find lots of nice things we like, the afternoon sun on our balcony for example, and things we don't like, like the over abundance of mosquitoes. But overall we're really enjoying settling in.

Bina has agreed to let me have the study for the most part, and she will use some attic space for her work, unless myself or Jodie are up there disturbing her, so that seems a good compromise.

Went to the bank today to inform them of our change of address and sort out some credit cards and other essential things we need now we're officially settled in Holland.

Everything is looking good....mind you, I'm still stoned on Morphine, so its probably all really shit and I just don't care ;)



Ahthankyew