Had some things to do last week that stopped me doing lots of other things I had to do, but now I have to do them, so they are getting done.
At home, finished a clearup and now have to just dust, wetwipe and vacuum the place, ready for painting. If I am feeling brave I might even put some woodchip on the attic walls which are exposed plasterboard still.
On the book, Finishing up the 2D projects and the walk throughs, which is cool but slow, however it does give me about 20 pages of content per project to push the book forward to its target. I should get 100 pages this week..
Also I make have a tip on the long standing bug on the Colecovision sprite system that caused sprites to randomly go crazy on hardware but not emulators, am going to check that out tonight and see.. I hope that fixes it, the game is done, barring some testing and tweeks, and this sprite system issue has been preventing me from clearing it off.
Also have to admit to being a bit delecate this morning after a fun night out with my Puddin, bandmates, many things we discussed, most of it drunken rubbish, but it was still a fun night out where we ate half a cow between us at Goucho's Ed, had lamb...hes far too culturedn then got massible drunk....nice, not done that in ages.
Need to get a lot more coffee inside me, but time to head up stairs and continue, 20 pages today, then the CV test...
Ahthankyew
Sunday, 31 July 2016
Thursday, 28 July 2016
8 years
Yup 8 years ago this week, I started out on this phase of my life...Moving to Breda.
It was an exciting and challenging time, and its never really stopped being exciting and challenging, a lot of bumps in the road for sure, illness, relationships, some work stresss.
But its had so many more upsides...This is still the place I want to see myself in when I retire...though when I do actually retire, I hope to have enough cash to buy a small tropical island somewhere to actually end my days.. Tahiti maybe?
Brexit, has cast a shadow over things a bit, but I am going to move forward with my plans to take Dutch citizenship and leave the small minded idiots who voted out, to their own devices I've always consdiered myself European, British, Scottish, in that order, so adding a Dutch label in there isn't going to give me any sense of loss....apart from Pies!
Onward....need to get back to the book writng, Tahiti will need a lot of books sold!
Ahthankyew
It was an exciting and challenging time, and its never really stopped being exciting and challenging, a lot of bumps in the road for sure, illness, relationships, some work stresss.
But its had so many more upsides...This is still the place I want to see myself in when I retire...though when I do actually retire, I hope to have enough cash to buy a small tropical island somewhere to actually end my days.. Tahiti maybe?
Brexit, has cast a shadow over things a bit, but I am going to move forward with my plans to take Dutch citizenship and leave the small minded idiots who voted out, to their own devices I've always consdiered myself European, British, Scottish, in that order, so adding a Dutch label in there isn't going to give me any sense of loss....apart from Pies!
Onward....need to get back to the book writng, Tahiti will need a lot of books sold!
Ahthankyew
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
fucking migraines
I hate these silent migraines, I know I am lucky in not getting crippling pain, but the disuption to my vision and the wiped out feeling afterwards is very unsettling.
Was on a nice flow this morning working out some ideas on the book, when the scotoma started, small at 1st down in the corner of by vision, then increasing.....until I could not read the screen,
My vision is now starting to return, I can almost read this as I type it...but the wiped out feeling wil come next....bugger...its worse than watching 2 hours of daytime TV.
Ahthankyew
Was on a nice flow this morning working out some ideas on the book, when the scotoma started, small at 1st down in the corner of by vision, then increasing.....until I could not read the screen,
My vision is now starting to return, I can almost read this as I type it...but the wiped out feeling wil come next....bugger...its worse than watching 2 hours of daytime TV.
Ahthankyew
Thursday, 21 July 2016
Home sweat home
Wow, its even hotter here in Breda than it was in London, lucky though I have air con in the attic if it gets to be too much.
Loved my trip to the UK this time, mainly due to being able to just be a tourist for a change. Every other time I've been in the last 8 years has been business, so little or no time at all to actually just be a tourist.
My highlight has to be the trip to the RAF Museam at Hendon, oh I love that place, and going there myself meant I could really geek it up and take pics of all the silly stuff like undercarriage cables and cockpit details, even the nail patterns on a simply stunning Supermarine Southampton, such a lovely resporation of both a boatbuilder and aircraft designers craft. I could geek rant for days about the Boulton Paul Definent which sadly was shown in a dismantled state, but still one of my favourite quirky planes.
I even took time to get rid of my remaining cash notes to have a trip around london on an open topped bus with a tour guide...pure cheese but very informative. Though the blazing sun has give me a bit of a reddish hue on my arms and face...its all worth it.
Back home now, sleeves up, writing the book, finishing the CV game, after getting some on-line advise which might solve the long standing bug...and decorating, Time to get some paper on the bare walls in the attic and some paint on the walls.
5 weeks of rest, relaxation but lots of work.
Ahthankyew
Loved my trip to the UK this time, mainly due to being able to just be a tourist for a change. Every other time I've been in the last 8 years has been business, so little or no time at all to actually just be a tourist.
My highlight has to be the trip to the RAF Museam at Hendon, oh I love that place, and going there myself meant I could really geek it up and take pics of all the silly stuff like undercarriage cables and cockpit details, even the nail patterns on a simply stunning Supermarine Southampton, such a lovely resporation of both a boatbuilder and aircraft designers craft. I could geek rant for days about the Boulton Paul Definent which sadly was shown in a dismantled state, but still one of my favourite quirky planes.
I even took time to get rid of my remaining cash notes to have a trip around london on an open topped bus with a tour guide...pure cheese but very informative. Though the blazing sun has give me a bit of a reddish hue on my arms and face...its all worth it.
Back home now, sleeves up, writing the book, finishing the CV game, after getting some on-line advise which might solve the long standing bug...and decorating, Time to get some paper on the bare walls in the attic and some paint on the walls.
5 weeks of rest, relaxation but lots of work.
Ahthankyew
Monday, 18 July 2016
Book progress
Well, aside from walk throughs on getting the projects up and running,(and actually writing a few more) I seem to have done all the major content....pre-edit phase of course, I need to print it out, have a good read through, since I know I waffled on a few points and sometimes repeated myself.
I also have to include the code sections but I think I've got all the main topics covered now...
I scanned through it all last night and yeah, its what I wanted it to be. :D A beginners guide to programming on any machine.
Current page count (with almost no code) is 340 pages...another 50 or so for walk through, and maybe another 10 pages for illustrations, leaves 300 pages for code, That should be it!.
wooo hoooo
As I say though this is all pre-edit, I will probably cull quite a lot of it and re-write major sections but I feel I've covered all the relevent points I wanted to include and that anyone with some aptitude for coding should get themselves up and running in 30 days....
still 2 months till I hand over but happy so far
Ahthankyew
I also have to include the code sections but I think I've got all the main topics covered now...
I scanned through it all last night and yeah, its what I wanted it to be. :D A beginners guide to programming on any machine.
Current page count (with almost no code) is 340 pages...another 50 or so for walk through, and maybe another 10 pages for illustrations, leaves 300 pages for code, That should be it!.
wooo hoooo
As I say though this is all pre-edit, I will probably cull quite a lot of it and re-write major sections but I feel I've covered all the relevent points I wanted to include and that anyone with some aptitude for coding should get themselves up and running in 30 days....
still 2 months till I hand over but happy so far
Ahthankyew
Saturday, 16 July 2016
London is busy
I mean Daaaamn its busy, so much hussle and bustle.
I am having what should be a nice quiet weekend, of tourism in the daytime and writing/coding in the evenings but I find the simple process of walking around london to be quite exhausting, mostly avoding bumping into people
I went to see a west end show last night too, something I seldom have time for when I am here.. It was ok, a Michael Craford piece called the Go-Between, it was his name that convinced me to give it a go, but I wish I hadn't. Not hat it wasn't well acted, or staged it was, but it was a total musical with the flimsiest of plots, which sounded very old fashioned and outdated to me.. Even worse there was not one stand out musical number from any of the cast individually or collectivly. 2 hours, and it was pretty dull. The guy next to me didn't return after the intermission and the half full, quite small theatre would suggest its not going down all that well. In spite of a rather enthusiastic Bravo call from the guy in front of me, who I think was actually an actor taking over one of the roles as he continually read from a script, silently mouthing his words when before the play and in intermission.
Other things..well I went for a foot massage, in china town, as I was really feeling the burn on my old plates, and I have to say was rather surprised half way through to be offered an extra special massage...ermm.. I came in for my feet love..if I wanted extra's I'd be naked and oiled up by this point. She seemed quite surprised that I didn't take her up on it.. I guess I mistook the type of place it was...seemed legit to me though.
Did do a good job on my feet though :D
Book is coming along well too, I feel I'm in a nice flow, and will continue when I get back, though my hotel room in London is far smaller than in Brighton, and I don't have the space to set up the raspberry Pi and small screen, so just focusing for now on concepts rather than code..Thats next weeks job :D
Brighton was fun too, somehow I got my dates mixed up for checkout, and returned after a final session at the Develop Conference to find them packing up my stuff...I had to hurridly collect my used undies and so on and pack up then head over to London.. but I did enjoy my time in Brighton, very proud to be with Yan when he recieved his Search for a Star award
I have a pic somewhere but the new iphones upload system seems to have stored it somewhere I can't find at the moment
Ahthankyew
I am having what should be a nice quiet weekend, of tourism in the daytime and writing/coding in the evenings but I find the simple process of walking around london to be quite exhausting, mostly avoding bumping into people
I went to see a west end show last night too, something I seldom have time for when I am here.. It was ok, a Michael Craford piece called the Go-Between, it was his name that convinced me to give it a go, but I wish I hadn't. Not hat it wasn't well acted, or staged it was, but it was a total musical with the flimsiest of plots, which sounded very old fashioned and outdated to me.. Even worse there was not one stand out musical number from any of the cast individually or collectivly. 2 hours, and it was pretty dull. The guy next to me didn't return after the intermission and the half full, quite small theatre would suggest its not going down all that well. In spite of a rather enthusiastic Bravo call from the guy in front of me, who I think was actually an actor taking over one of the roles as he continually read from a script, silently mouthing his words when before the play and in intermission.
Other things..well I went for a foot massage, in china town, as I was really feeling the burn on my old plates, and I have to say was rather surprised half way through to be offered an extra special massage...ermm.. I came in for my feet love..if I wanted extra's I'd be naked and oiled up by this point. She seemed quite surprised that I didn't take her up on it.. I guess I mistook the type of place it was...seemed legit to me though.
Did do a good job on my feet though :D
Book is coming along well too, I feel I'm in a nice flow, and will continue when I get back, though my hotel room in London is far smaller than in Brighton, and I don't have the space to set up the raspberry Pi and small screen, so just focusing for now on concepts rather than code..Thats next weeks job :D
Brighton was fun too, somehow I got my dates mixed up for checkout, and returned after a final session at the Develop Conference to find them packing up my stuff...I had to hurridly collect my used undies and so on and pack up then head over to London.. but I did enjoy my time in Brighton, very proud to be with Yan when he recieved his Search for a Star award
I have a pic somewhere but the new iphones upload system seems to have stored it somewhere I can't find at the moment
Ahthankyew
Sunday, 10 July 2016
Summers here...
I have one more day effectively of teaching, and then have to head to the UK for a week attending conferences and other such things....a bit of a chore, but at least it does finally signasl the end of a long hard year.
I won't deny I have issues with our new teaching system, some of those issues have been listened too, and changes will be made, though I still have other issues, but I will pick my battles. and try to make sure that whatever happens students are educated to the same high standards we've always taught them.
Ultimately how good a student is, isn't really down the teachers, its down to their own desire to improve and use what the teachers tell them, we are still doing that. I still get the chance to motivate and demystify the arcane science of programming, hopefully when my book is done (plug) I can use that as well.
But there's not going to be a lot of holiday time I have to finish my colecovision game, yes its still there...it just never seems to want to finish....finish the book, and also planning to do a bit of decorating- 6 years I've been here and not a lick of paint has been applied, so its time to add a little bit of colour to different rooms.
I quite fancy having a new kitchen too, but I think I'll wait and see if the book generates the money to do that.
oh well better go start packing...have to take a suit with me this time as I am attending an awards dinner for a student as well....going to be rather a long week, but I get a nice free weekend in London, as it would be more effort to fly home then fly back
No guitar for a week though...gulp...must not go to Denmark St...must not..
Ahthankyew
I won't deny I have issues with our new teaching system, some of those issues have been listened too, and changes will be made, though I still have other issues, but I will pick my battles. and try to make sure that whatever happens students are educated to the same high standards we've always taught them.
Ultimately how good a student is, isn't really down the teachers, its down to their own desire to improve and use what the teachers tell them, we are still doing that. I still get the chance to motivate and demystify the arcane science of programming, hopefully when my book is done (plug) I can use that as well.
But there's not going to be a lot of holiday time I have to finish my colecovision game, yes its still there...it just never seems to want to finish....finish the book, and also planning to do a bit of decorating- 6 years I've been here and not a lick of paint has been applied, so its time to add a little bit of colour to different rooms.
I quite fancy having a new kitchen too, but I think I'll wait and see if the book generates the money to do that.
oh well better go start packing...have to take a suit with me this time as I am attending an awards dinner for a student as well....going to be rather a long week, but I get a nice free weekend in London, as it would be more effort to fly home then fly back
No guitar for a week though...gulp...must not go to Denmark St...must not..
Ahthankyew
Tuesday, 5 July 2016
I got a cheque!
An actual paper cheque....from my publisher... My advances on royalties for signing the deal
amazing.. I didn't know anyone still used cheques these days, and I did give them my bank details so it was quite a surprise.
But also...how sweet. I can scan it and frame a copy of my 1st ever payment for writing...hopefully it won't be the last
Mind you, I need to go to the bank and ask them how to deposit it, I wonder if there's even a counter left at my bank,its all done electronically these days.
:D
Ahthankyew
amazing.. I didn't know anyone still used cheques these days, and I did give them my bank details so it was quite a surprise.
But also...how sweet. I can scan it and frame a copy of my 1st ever payment for writing...hopefully it won't be the last
Mind you, I need to go to the bank and ask them how to deposit it, I wonder if there's even a counter left at my bank,its all done electronically these days.
:D
Ahthankyew
Friday, 1 July 2016
even more bad news
As if the whole brexit nonsense wasn't bad enough.. I was sat watching TV with my 15 year old bessie mate Harvey 1....when I decided to look up how long Jack Russells live for....13-16 years.
oh great....that means that my longest relationship outside of family, is in its final phase....still at least he does not seem fed up with me, or hide thiings (apart from bones) from me, or only pretend to love me...
He has a cracking life though, still thinks hes a puppy, and I'l make sure he carries on thinking that,
Ahthankyew
oh great....that means that my longest relationship outside of family, is in its final phase....still at least he does not seem fed up with me, or hide thiings (apart from bones) from me, or only pretend to love me...
He has a cracking life though, still thinks hes a puppy, and I'l make sure he carries on thinking that,
Ahthankyew
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