oopseee

Time to be a bit creative, even though last month was a bumper month with the bonus and tax rebate, there was also a couple of very big bills that needed paying, and I seem to have gone a bit mad with gadgets and toys...damn you paypal and your delayed payment system which still need paying.

I'm broke, before we even start the month off., might even go into the red in a few days...fortunately I have plenty of food in the freezer, and some spending cash in my wallet, but I've got to tread carefully this month and not waste a single cent on anything I don't need.

Its also about time I sold off some old things like my old projector and other odds and ends lying around...to raise a bit of cash.

With the summer holidays round the corner I can relax a bit, no need to be spending 5euros a day on bad canteen food. (I really really must get into a habit of taking lunch with me)
Its at times like this I really appreciate the mid month tax rebate from the mortgage that provides a bit of extra spending money but its still 2 weeks away, so the freezer, which is full of nice frozen curry, mince and tatties and a few other nice things will be emptied by then.

I will pop out and use the last of my cash to buy some mince and chicken to make a few more 1 pot dishes to freeze, so I won't be starving.

I've been trying to get hold of a bit of freelance work again, last year I had several gigs all lined up but couldn't get them to commit, and Sony's killing of their really nice PSM system has put paid to one especially nice gig that I had in progress.

The Z80 project has now been dragging on far too long too, its time to put in a full time push and finish it... I have let it slide far too much, due to pressures of work, and serious miscalculation of how bloody awkward it is to do anything significant in any kind of timescale.
Its been a very educational process for me as a coder, to step back 20-30 years and realise how hard it all was then, I genuinely had forgotten...yes we did a lot of games then but we had libs and tools to make it easier. We've lost all those.
I dunno if I want to do any more, I think my enthusiasm has been damaged by the constant stop start progress, but perhaps it might be a better idea to write some proper tools for it to make development easier....its a tiny market when all said and done, but an apparently loyal one...so I should consider it if I can churn them out fast enough.







Ahthankyew

3.13 and still awake, so marking

I have pretty much got all but a couple of awkward things marked now...just in time for another influx of assignments tomorrow...fortunately its not going to be more than a days work.

I'd rather be in bed asleep, but the satisfaction of finally getting on top of my grades is keeping me going...maybe that's the cause of the insomnia?


This academic year has been a busy one for me, not quite sure why, normally I get at least 1 reasonably quite block, but its been 4 blocks of madness, doing 1st and 2nd year beginner programmers as well as some advanced stuff...

We change to a new system next year, with a cumulative marking system, so these long sessions should be a thing of the past... Even if the whole thing goes pear shaped and needs fixing that 1 single feature is something to preserve..

It wont of course, a lot of smart people are planning all these changes, there' will be a few hiccups, but we'll get it sorted, and I can look forward to being more productive as a coder, and enjoying working with projects from my students.


Next year will be a good one, I'm sure of it.


Ahthankyew

Redemption maybe?

I worked out how to open the fuse cover on the monitor ....it has indeed blown..That may be a good sign, if the fuse blew before anything else, which of course it is designed to do,  it may still be serviceable...
Even better news the fuse box contained a SPARE.....brilliant..

I'll just pop it in, plug it in and....oh no....won't get caught with that again..

I've ordered a cheap step down transformer from ebay, no point buying an expensive one if it turns out that I did fry the inside. Hopefully this will work...and I won't have to go spending another 130 euros on a monitor......


In other news...oh god I'm knackered, 3 days of constant marking, and helping students when in the office, plus a long meeting...and I still have at least 1 days marking to do...then ...more to come....I hate marking. I had a few hours break for band practice, but just done another couple of hours..and off to bed, hopefully the insomnia that has bothered me the last few weels won't get in the way of a good 7 hours..

zzzz


Ahthankyew

How can you be soooo Stupid.

I can't believe what I did yesterday.....it actually started a few weeks ago, when I ordered a small and very portable personal monitor as part of our new audio set up for the band.
I had tried to order it vie Thomann in Germany, my favourite on line supplier of all things music...but they ran out just as I was ordering and the order was refused.grrr

So I scanned around and found another supplier, in the US..but shipped to EU with prices in Euro's...only 12 euros more, so I thought ok....and ordered it.

It arrived yesterday, and indeed it is exactly as ordered, the same as bandmate Richard got (he must have got the last one from Thomann).

It had a US power cable to a 3 pin kettle lead, but no worries have loads of kettle leads with EU plugs...(why didn't the bell ring at this point)

So I get hold of one, plug it in, and the blue light comes on...and immediately goes off....with a pop sound.
Arrhhh,,,,why didn't I check the voltage..this isn't identical to the Thomann one ...IT'S A US ONE...its 110v...

Despite almost every single EU device being dual voltage and auto or sometimes manual switching, US gear is nearly always fixed to 110v... I blew it up feeding it good old EU 220v.


I can't send it back...so grrrrrrrrrr.... It might be fixable, but even if it is I'd need to buy a step down transformer to get it to work...not worth the effort....sooooooo stupid.
I checked the website to see if it stated that it was US voltage, and yes there was a little banner (which I missed somehow) that stated they were all US config....... I somehow missed it.
The moral.....don't be a dickhead...

Ahthankyew

Free power

I very much doubt it, but according to my monitoring meter, during the day when there is decent sunshine, and I'm just sat watching tv...I'm using no energy... or at least not enough to register.
Making a brew or turning on  the PC (now with triple monitors) does bump up the usage to measurable levels but its pretty clear my panels are paying their way so far.. 4 -5 years from now I'll be loaded ;)


Am almost on my last legs now, crawling to the end of the year, one more marking splurge then I can drown myself in a bottle or 50 and stay unshowered and soiled for 6 weeks holiday...can't wait.

I won't though, not for more than a week at least.  I plan to get some videos made using some new gear I've acquired over the last several months, but not had the time to really get into. I'm especially loving a new ribbon Mic I bought (actually I bought 2, a cheap one and a not so cheap one but still budget) These things actually make me sound quite nice when singing....well... we'll see when I do the recordings.

My last couple of recording efforts as well as our disaster gig in Breda, seriously knocked my confidence for singing...its only the application of toys and effects that is bringing me back into it..I just hope the results are worth posting.

 I also have to get some time to play and learn how to use my Launchpads with Ableton Live. In fact lots of little toys I have bought this year have so far been on the shelf waiting for time to play. I'll have to remedy that.

2 more weeks of "teaching", and 4 of marking....then free....freeeeeee.....freeeeeeee


Ahthankyew

Start counting the cash

Well the pennies at least. My panels are up on the roof and clamped down to their frames, pointing south.

They are quite heavy but I still think I need to weigh them down with some sandbags/concrete... I'll do that in a day or 2.

There's room for a couple more up there but I'll stick to these 2x250w jobs and see how it goes.

I really have no idea if this is going to generate much income but I like the idea that I am cutting some of my power usage and putting a bit back into the grid...if it works. There's no way to actually tell..My meter seems to be showing a slight drop in power usage but sub 100w's if the figures are to be believed, but its so variable its impossible to tell.

I have to have a new meter fitted on Thursday and maybe that will give me some idea of the feedback into the grid..

Ahthankyew

Why do we post things on blogs an twitter?

I'm very active on Facebook, mainly as a source of amusement, information and occasional rants.....I kinda like Facebook, I probably post too often but its rare that I have full blown blow outs on there...unless very very drunk. or someone is just outright mad or wrong....its the OCD in me that has trouble letting go I think.
I make a point of only including people I actually know on FB, with a few exceptions that relate to work or special interests, its only my actual friends who are on there. The ones who know when I'm being a dick and don't mind telling me.

Here I post blogs as a form of therapy, originally to monitor my moods in case of depression, but more  now just to keep a record of things for friends and family that I am not in regular touch with.. .I look back on many of the posts myself sometimes wincing, sometimes with sadness and often with joy.
I have such a bad memory that many times I read things back and its all new to me again....it maybe a sign of senility....but its still nice to know the last 7 years of so of ups and downs as well as level flying have been noted for the future.

But twitter leaves me cold, I simply do not get it....it seems to  me that the vast majority of tweets, are made by people pontificating,  or boasting about their current activity....  There's an endless race to collect followers by being more and more interesting or more and more controversial, and in someway that number of followers makes you important.
 Its basically just a massive ego wank fest....listen to me..I'm saying something important, re-tweet for the world to get the pleasure of it all too...

I have to use it, some work colleagues release info on it and I have to keep in touch with things...but man....its a pile of wank.
Nothing your average person posts or says is even remotely important to anyone except themselves and those around them...kidding yourself that your truncated utterances have any relevance to the "twitterverse" is just delusional nonsense.... I hope I never get that deluded.

Today I tweeted that I have got my panels ready to mount.... WHY THE FUCK would anyone care??

I suspect I will quickly be removing myself from my 56 followers pretty soon for another prolong period of twitter indifference.



Ahthankyew

Panel delays and new sounds

I cricked my back trying to lift a panel to fit the converters to it...nothing major, but enough to make me think twice about fitting them till its healed. Also the weather until today has been wet and windy, so not ideal roof weather... this weekend though we'll be up
 and plugging it all in.It seems I do need to have my meter changed to get full advantage of the possible rebates and that's being organised now.

Its rather galling that as we approach what is going to be the hottest brightest weekend of the year I still have no panels up...but soon...soon.

In other news, I bought a new mic, I wanted to get hold of a proper tube mic on ebay but my efforts to get one at my kind of budget failed (came very close but got sniped so often) so I opted for something else, a budget ribbon mic, these are old style mics which are not ideal for performance but great in studios....so I'm told....and I wanted to see what they sounded like without breaking the bank, since high end versions can cost many hundreds (as can high end tubes)
I have to say I am mega impressed with this, 60euros , less than the cost of my budget condenser mic but the sound from this thing seems so much softer and rounder.. I've only listened to it through headphones so far but I'll do some recordings soon and maybe get some confidence back into my singing.
It does indeed give a warmer and thicker sound, but for me more importantly I don't need to force my voice or sing loud, it pics up even the quietest vocals in its pickup zone...really sweet.

I do hope when I record something and listen back I don't get as upset as I did last time I tried to do some singing tests....I never claim to be a singer, but I hate when I sing something thinking its nice and listen back to a drowning cat.



Ahthankyew

Still no panels but interesting meter reading

I made a bit of a mistake with the meter, it is designed for measuring the house total input power....so it can't actually isolate the energy from the panels....when they arrive.

But very interestingly, the meter gives a reading of 0.10 kw usage more or less when I am sat watching the telly...that's 100watts...that's bugger all... it goes up to 500-600watts when the cooker and things are on of course but just idle usage is actually pretty low.

If the Panels do indeed produce 250 or so watts (50% of their capacity) that means that during the day I'm earning and in the evening while there is some sun. I'm not burning as much as I thought...of course I will use far more than I make but its very interesting..

Naturally this is all total speculation, I may have the figures totally wrong, but if I see a neg or 0 value on that power usage while I am sat watching telly, I'm gonna be a happy little bunny.

I had to register the panels with the government energy people, not sure if this gets me a tax rebate or what but it does ensure that the power company have to pay me for an excess that goes in, not much chance of that of course but more helpfully if I need to get a new meter they will supply one free. Pretty sure though that my modern meter is up to the job..

So..just waiting for the panels... The frames are bigger than I was expecting, and in fact I honestly have no idea how big the panels, are so the initial idea of mounting on the shed might not work, in which case I 'll put them straight on the roof

Ahthankyew

A flatulence post

there just havn't been enough of them in recent years, I may have most of my flatulence issues under control but this is a 3 way blog....and theres far too much life, no games and no where near enough flatulence


Ahthankyew

Phew it works.

For about 4 minutes I was pissed off beyond measure when the DL1608 seemed to be faulty, and had a massive latency when using it in band practice...... I was crestfallen that under live conditions it seemed to be no use at all

Fortunately it turned out there was a delay option I had set up.. I dunno exactly what it was meant to do, but removing it produced the perfect result

It was brilliant, less volume from the band, and feeding Britta's voice to a monitor so she could adjust her levels...so so so much better

No ringing ears when done...and everyone playing at controlled levels...

The gadget is a success.

Just need to get an Ipad2 that works to get full use of the software.



Ahthankyew

drunk again

Am drunk again...its becoming a regular thing....I know why, I just can't say here

so many sad songs to sing

not sure I can call this depression, just a sense of loss that won't go away.
have to stop now....this isn't helping me

more drink might


Ahthankyew

Saving energy is expensive!!!

The new panels have not arrived yet, and I'm having trouble sourcing a suitable frame for them, but that's small potatoes... But then again is it?  A  4 piece frame is going to cost around  80quid....whaaaaaat...maybe a trip to Hornbach the DIY place , will find a cheaper solution.

I've also made the decision to change all the current low wattage 7-11W bulbs in the house, with even lower wattage 3-5w LED's...yes I know its only a few watts but if you don't make the effort to do it nothing happens....but its an expense. 15 LED corn row bulbs for the overhead lights in the house...nearly 30 quid...
I quite like them though, they are very bright, like old style bulbs with a serious white light...which at 1st seems odd, but you get used to them. I have them in the Bathroom and office and about to swap out the playroom and kitchen spots for 5w LEDS instead of 22w Halogens.
So this fricking solar panel better be operating at full capacity for 9 months of the bleeding year just to pay for the damn bulbs and Aframe it sits on. Switching to lower wattage bulbs will help increase the kWhr return.

Of course the big power use isn't the bulbs, that's a drop in the ocean compared to the power usage of the TV's, Fridge, Freezer, Ovens and heating system...Not to mention the 2 or 3 computers I have on, though only 1 functional at any 1 time. And the Guitar gear is pulling a lot of ampage when its all fired up....dunno how to calculate Amps into watts...there's a formula... .

I just have to be sure to turn things off more..
However, anyone who invests in solar for the savings is rather missing the point, it'll be 5-8 years before I make any kind of profit on it.. Its simply a way to use clean energy and  invest some spare (lol as if I have any spare) cash in something that makes more than it would if it were sat in the bank for that same 5-8 years....

If only I could find a way to turn flatulence into energy....they collect cow methane in some farms in the uk as fuel... maybe I should investigate.

Oh weight...another blip in the diet, and another rise back into 88Kg ..though a much more distinctive amount of shoulder and chest muscle coming in. Also I am sure I can see, slightly hidden under layers of flab, the merest shadow of an ab or 2 coming into view on my ever so slightly flattening stomach, so there is some increasing muscle mass....or at least whats there is toning up..
Exercise regime is increasing to twice a day now, morning and night....push ups, sit ups and planking...increasing slightly every few days....I might walk past the gym again tonight....just to see if they are open


Ahthankyew

BB King is dead at 89

Not unexpected since he was taken ill a few weeks ago and announced he was in home hospice care. The end was close.
I never got to see him live, I had my chances, even here in NL a few years ago at the North Sea Jazz festival, I could have gone...but for some daft reason I put it off.

I wish I hadn't... Its hard to explain to people who don't know me, or who don't play guitar, but this man along with Peter Green inspired me so much when I first started to play guitar 35 years ago. I couldn't do the fast flashy stuff, but those 3 or 4 note licks from King and Green made me sit up and listen and I tried so hard to copy them, but never did.. Even now in my later phase of guitar playing frenzy, that wonderful tone is something I aspire to every time I shake a note.. I get close..but never there.

I shouldn't need to detail his career, or his eccentric naming of all his guitars as Lucille, his genre crossing style, his deep pure blues, his inability to sing and play at the same time, his reaching to white audiences, and his influence of the rock gods of the 60's and after... He was the greatest guitarist ever, who made 2 or 3 notes more meaningful than any shredders 100.. It was all down to tone and vibrato, it gave Lucille a voice no one could quite replicate.

I've never lost that love of hearing his vibrato. When, When Love To Comes town was first on the radio, I immediately recognised BB's playing and wondered what the hell was he doing playing with U2..his sound, his tone, his touch was unmistakable. He renewed his career with that one and became accessible to new generations, kicking off more tours... I still put off seeing him...next time I thought

I'm a fucking idiot for not taking the chances I had to go watch and enjoy... I won't make those kind of mistakes again.

Today though. I am sad, genuinely depressingly sad, that a great great guitar legend, the one who inspired all the others has gone.

I'm going to take my own Lucille down off the wall, give her a dust and play here along with a few BB backing tracks in his honour.

RIP Riley B King. You will most certainly be missed.

Ahthankyew

Solar is go..energy saving is good...

Well I did it, I pulled the trigger on a couple of high output Sharp Solar panels....got 2 for 386UKP...
I am still investigating the best micro grid tie, invertor to buy, ideally the external ones you fit to the panel itself, since the more wire that goes from the panels to the invertor, the more power is lost...and with these things every inch of cable/power lost matters. There are some cracking ones in the US but not as simple to fit, and I need it to be very simple..


But there are some options, I just want to keep the total budget for the project under 600ukp... 500 would be even better.

Once everything arrives I will set them up on the Shed roof. as that has all day sun on it.. If the figures work out as expected to be better than interest from the bank after a year. I'll set up a couple of Kw's on the main roof.

In the meantime, I've become considerably greener than I realized.. I am switching all my halogen 22w lights to 5w LED's and a few other lights with led based systems....all picked up from ebay. The less kw's used in the house, the better my chances of getting a good return from the solar units.

The ideal thing would be to have 0 power bills, that's of course unlikely, but the closer I can get to it, the better.


Weight loss is also progressing, I did very briefly hit 76.999999 kgs on Friday, but Sundays BBQ and a bit of a "must eat the left overs" few days, has brought it back up to 77.5.. but I am continuing with the exercising and all is heading in the right downward direction


And after an especially hectic 2 days back at work, after my week off, catching up on work,  I am having a nice 4 day weekend...thanks to the Catholic south Netherlands' desire to celebrate Ascension Day. I am almost caught up on all my marking and can look forward to a chance to do a bit more Z80 coding...



Ahthankyew

Solar ...hmmm

I've been giving very serious thought to the idea of getting a few large solar panels and fitting them on the roof to provide some additional income/reduction on bills.

As I've become more aware of my power usage due to the size of 1 power bill a few years ago, which was in error, I've started to replace all my lights with very low wattage systems and put timers into things that are not needed to be on all the time. This did result in a reduction of my overall electricity bills,. I expect some more of a rebate this year when the annual statement arrives.

Also turning the heating down a degree in the winter made no difference to me personally and produced more savings.

I'm especially interested in micro grid tie systems, which push the energy they generate back into the mains and allow you to use it, or have if fed back to the grid. The good point being that what you don't use effectively reverses the meter and you can, in theory get the power company to pay you if you put in more than you use...but that's unlikely. However it certainly reduces your bills.

Now some very rough calculations show that a 500euro system, of a set of 500w panels and converter, can generate about 80c a day income at half efficiency...considered a good guideline. ......assuming it does that all summer and gives even a few cents in the winter...it would still take some time to pay for itself....that makes it sound like a bad idead...

But..here's the thing.. I currently have about 4.5K sat in a savings account, its some grant from the government I have to give back as I've not started my Masters as planned. But till they request it, its sitting there...earning interest...at the massive rate of 13c a day......

so...500 euros can generate a daily average over the year  of around 40c's and 4.5K can generate 13c.......

Clearly its a better investment than putting any spare cash I have in the bank...though the bank lets me take it out...so I won't put all my cash into solar.
But I think this is the time to use my upcoming tax rebate for this(or rather whats left after my Dl1608 splurge)... I have space on my shed roof which gets sun all day long. If it works out as expected, and continues to outperform the banks interest rate.. I'll invest one of my 2 yearly bonus's in a couple of Kw system for the roof which has plenty of non-obscured space



Ahthankyew

over the hill after all

Well I decided to get back into the dating game.....dunno why, I seem to be perfectly happy getting piss drunk and crying into my pillows at night, but might be time for a change.

As usual I joined a dating site, lexa its called, its the Dutch version of Match. Its just a lot easier for a non Dutch speaking computer geek.

What a depressing experience that is though......scammers mostly Russian sending impossibly beautiful pics and clearly trying to hook you into sending them money. And then there's the "matches" who have not been on the site for months so clearly have moved on....great matching algorithms there.

But worse than that,  are so many people who simply ignore you...probably because they are not real, just shoved in there by the website to keep suckers like me pumping in money.

Its hard enough trying to sound interesting, windswept and witty in 200 words, picking your 5 best photo's that don't have you looking like a shaved sasquatch in a teeshirt but to get nothing when you say hello is demoralising.
.I think I was doing it right, sending nice emails with long explanations of why I'm not into one night stands, but like long walks on the beach, pina colada's and getting caught in to rain with someone who ticks all your boxes only to receive......  Nothing...not even a piss off you old fucker.
I actually quite like getting a no thank you, its some kind of contact after all.
Its not entirely bad, a few people have made contact, but nothing really clicking, I don't fit their set of tick boxes. Its very apparent that us over 50's are basically screwed (or not as the case may be). The meat market isn't really the place to find true love.

To top it all, both my ex's are on there too...sheez the whole world is single and yet no one seems willing to talk to nice honest blokes with flatulence issues....I knew Bina moved on a long time ago and have no interest in anything she does, but Brenda making a clear decision to find someone else...leaves me with a final bit of closure I needed....maybe time to stop getting drunk.



can't imagine why.


Ahthankyew

87.5Kg :D Nice to break barriers and sound fixes implimented

phew the 4 days in a row gain was just a blip, last 3 days have seen the weight drop and yesterday dipped just below 88kg and today 87.5. Really pleased to see that 88 barrier broken, it seemed to stick there for ages.  Longer walks, and more pushups seem to have shifted it though. As well as making my own sushi. I find my 2-3pm sushi meal really fills me up nicely so I don't need to eat till much later. Now I am a bit more confident about how to make sushi I will whip up a batch every couple of days for lunch.

Now to break the 87 barrier... ideally before the weekend, when I'm having a bit of a party/BBQ with work, poker and band mates. I suspect there may be some grazing of food as I prepare most of it on Saturday.

My trousers are also falling off...not that that's entirely a good thing, I don't want to be out buying new clothes just yet... Belts for now. Oh and folds are gone...yup, no more folds... I am very pleased about that, stomach is flattening, moobs are not swinging as much and overall I am starting to see a noticeable improvement 6Kg is not a huge amount but the toning up as well helps it all come together... I might walk past the gym again today.



The DL1608 is really wonderful, still not 100% happy with channel 13's little bit of noise, but when something is plugged in it is working fine...I mailed Mackie to get an opinion, if they don't warm me of an error I'll let it go.

Had a band meeting to autopsy the bad gig and watch some video of us, and yes the sound at times was fucking  terrible, especially my singing parts, the vocals were horrible..as well as horribly distorted, it puts me off singing...but I know it was just too much signal to the PA causing massive clipping which we could not hear behind the PA speakers. But even so...I have so little confidence in my singing normally and to hear such horrible noises....uggg....

All the band members have agreed to invest in their own mics and/or personal monitors so we can make full use of the DL1608. We will use the gig money to help with that.
None of this will make us sing/play better but if we can hear each other better and eliminate sound swamping issues we often have in rehearsals and most noticeably at the Happy Days gig we will create an atmosphere for improvement.
Onward an upward.



Ahthankyew

Small faults, I can live with....

The DL1608 arrived and after a bit of phaffing about getting it to downgrade its firmware to work with my Ipad1, its fucking awesome....but....

2 of the channel signal lights light up and stay lit regardless of any input.. This isn't right, they should only light up when there is a signal, so staying lit suggests some kind of noise...sure enough turning it up to 50+ you hear some hiss, but then you hear hiss on any empty channel at that level, however this is slightly higher.

But...it does work, since that line input will never have to be gained that high, so the best case scenario is that the light is just faulty and won't go off... given the saving I made, I can live with that,
But if it indicates a possible component fail...it might need to go back. Even though the seller isn't admitting to any fault, its there for all to see.

I've contacted Mackie to ask them what they think...we'll have to see.

It is an amazing thing though jut rough tests demonstrate it is something wonderful....can't wait to use it in anger...if its not going to blow up next week.




Ahthankyew

That better be muscle!!!

hmmm despite sticking to the diet (more or less) I seem to be gaining weight, only a fraction of a kilo but its started to go up rather than down since Friday when I did splurge a bit...I find this very strange, as I am being quite harsh on myself, food wise..avoiding snacks, no sugar, small meals and seldom breaking my 1500cal limit but still aiming for the 1000 a day.

But I am noticing that  my stomach is flattening and shoulders and chest are getting a little more defined... trousers also feel a lot looser, and teeshirts a bit tighter.

so.. I am assuming I am gaining a little bit more muscle mass, and since muscle is heavier than  fat...that's a good thing......I hope so... I don't really want to drop the calorie intake any more.

I am doing more pushups, sit ups and walks, so my overall condition is also improving and I even walked past the gym yesterday...to check the opening times.....that's progress!!

But I still need to lose the weight, so I'll slowly start to increase the exercise, and try harder to stick to the core 1000 calories. The gym may soon have to make space for me........
I still have the VL2, got a message from the potential buyer last night that he wasn't able to arrange the funds, so its still on the pedal board, not really too unhappy about that, but I do want to get a VL3X and am determined to sell at least of few of my existing pedals to fund it. The older gear is depreciating terrible now that new stuff is out so I need to get rid soon.

Having splurged on the DL1608 I really don't want to dip into my pocket any more..Its been an expensive month and rice and lentils is not that appetising.





Ahthankyew

PAAAIINNNN

getting old sucks

bent over to pick up some shopping and tweaked my back big time, my knees are aching and I have an ache in my groin....probably from lack of use.


The back ache is real though, nearly fell to my knees when it snapped or whatever it did...fucking painful

knees have been a problem for 30 years...but all the long walks with the dog, are not good for them..but its still the easiest way to burn calories.


I did a mega shop today at Makro, our so called discount store...its not really very discounted but if you need to buy 32 rolls of bog roll its great.. But I also bought loads of store cupboard goods, since I really don't have a lot of dried and tinned goods in... I do now.. I think I can last a month or more on this, though the point is to have stuff in the house when you don't get fresh..
I was careful to stock up on Lentils and rice.
I also picked up a load of chicken and mince, so curries and mince and tatties for the freezer tomorrow.

Once I clear out the freezer.

Ahthankyew

Bye bye VL2, hello DL1608 and poverty

Sigh...the Voice Live 2 has a buyer for only 10 euros less than I asked for it,  Its been a good bit of kit, but its time to fund the update, no sense in hanging on to the older units so am selling pretty much all of them.

Still need to sell a lot of kit to afford the new VLX3 which looks amazing...

I get a nice tax rebate in a month or 2, so that and the proceeds of the sale will fund. the new unit

After the embarrassing gig last week, I have isolated the main issue...sadly it was me... The levels on my patches were too high and far too inconsistent...causing me to be screaming loud at the press of a button...
I have learned...every gig is a leaning process, and this was a biggie.

I am resetting all my levels to be equal and going to fit a volume pedal to the board in place of the mixer, which it turns out was a mistake, not being able to easily balance the 4 individual outputs from my GR and GTX was a mistake.. It does mean I need four inputs in the PA, but I have also thought of that, and splashed out on a DL1608 mixer.

That....is a huge expense, and it means I'm eating rice and lentils most of this month, but I won't have the same cockup happing again... The DL1608 is this...impressive looking isn't it

 

 

This beast of a machine has several benefits...16 inputs being one...so both bands will have plenty of inputs to allow me to steal 4, but most importantly we can preset and store set lists and remove the ipad from the dock unit to let a friend of the band wander around a venue and make small Front of House changes to suit.  Trying to mix a set from the side of the stage is just a total waste of time.

By mixing our live levels on this, all we need to do is plug the stereo output into any PA or in house amp and just adjust the volume...no more screaming (though damn good) solo's from me shaking the rafters......Gadget resolution found.
It has a few other benefits such as reverb/echo and compression/gate features but also it can handle 6 aux outs for personal monitoring which each band member can adust themselves on their own iphones...that is a very useful feature, assuming we can get over some peoples reluctance to use tech. Also we can record ourselves as we play.. I'm not sure my old Ipad 1 will manage that, but Asime the Gadgeteers drummer, has an Ipad 2 we can use for performances and recording.

As my Ipad1 is now pretty much useless for even internet browsing, it will find a permanent home here....it seems to run a slightly oler version of the control software ok..though I may have to try to find a cheap Ipad2/3 at some point next year.

Might even use this for Starrcase, though we tend to play gigs with a sound engineer around so its not going to be needed.

 



And finally, the diet is still going well, I touched 88.0kg on Friday, sadly a few drinks and a curry Friday night pushed it back up on Saturdays weigh-in, but a lean weekend should see it back down and hitting 87 soon.... Still quite happy with the diet, not feeling hungry too much and the pushups/situps are all improving my overall fitness..I have bumps in my arms and shoulders which I think are called muscles.....impressive.


Ahthankyew

Opa Brian

I wasn't allowed to say anything till she was a bit further along but my snotty little kid, that I changed nappies for only yesterday, and took to school for the 1st time, yesterday as well....is going to have a baby :D


I cried with joy and pride when she called me,  as indeed I do whenever I hear some of the wonderful things she does... but this is a biggie..

I'm gonna be a Granddad....and I'm only 39.....ok 40 then.

So very proud of you Danielle, I hope you have a nice easy pregnancy and look forward to meeting my little Granddaughter or Grandson later in the year.





Ahthankyew

Well that was strange.....

Our gig tonight was cut short...very strange, we had a big crowd, dancing and applauding us...seemingly enjoying it, but the club owner had some issues with the sound quality.
We were using their PA, and we we're not very happy with it ourselves, with some of the levels being very unbalanced...and the monitors, were next to useless, with very poor sound check time, but we were making small adjustments as we took short breaks to fix things..and things were starting to balance up.

But after one monster, though very loud solo at the end of a song, from me, the bar owner asked us to wrap it up...we'd only done about a 3rd of our set...so this was very very upsetting for us...

We still got paid, but I really was upset that we didn't get a chance to work our entire 30 song set...we'd worked so hard on it and all that was needed was a bit more of a boost on Richards guitar, and a reduction on mine....but with the mixer at the side of the stage, it wasn't something that could be done in real time...

I dunno, even with the level issues, the feedback we got was mostly positive, even from those who are normally quite negative, but clearly we just weren't the bar's cup of tea...despite having our set list it seems they didn't like our repertoire, or my loud solos, even if they were really good...and they binned it.

sad...but I guess we learned something....no more 30 song sets... that's almost our entire repertoire it prevents us tailoring the set to the bars requirements...

Ahthankyew

Another one bites the dust

Despite some serious eating and drinking at the weekend, when I went "on retreat" with Starrcase doing some wonderful recording sessions up in the woodlands of Rockanje my diet is back on track. A kilo or so gained then has been dropped again and I am also under 89kg for the 1st time

scales reported 88.7.  :D

That's pretty good going, keeping the calories to under 1500, ideally 1000, is working very well and I am enjoying the food, especially the lunch/later afternoon Sushi/Bento box which is surprisingly filling.

For me the trick of not going to bed hungry, eating something like 300-400 calories in the evening is proving very effective. Added to the basic push/sit ups and long walks....oh I've also discovered a stress exercise called planking. Which is very good too.
I haven't had time to go to the gym yet...busy rehearsing in the evenings and makring too, but I will.......(I do hope you are getting the running gag....that I promise much on the gym front but never deliver)

The folds are definitely going, I can see that...still have a beer belly to work on, but the folds are going... I will continue till I hit 70kg...and can fit in my teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini.





Ahthankyew

weight is important

Yup I am down to 89.5kg, another 0.2 dropped,  :D


And my lighter pedal board is now complete. I did purchase a new dual XLR mixer which arrived this morning, but sadly its too big, No matter, you can never have too many small mixers, But for this, I need to consider other options, though I am pretty sure all I need are some XLR->1/4 Jacks...and the jobs a good un...I'll have a hunt
Soon as I work out what to do with that, I'll drill some holes in the board and hide the connecting and power cables and that will be my carry too band board...quite pleased overall, aside from routing the GTX to the mixers Aux inputs which have no level/gain options, there are ways round that.

Ahthankyew

hmmm thought it was too good

Marking was going really well, so it stands to reason it would go horribly wrong, some diabolical and I do mean diabolical submissions ruined what has been a fun couple of days, oh well they fail, not my problem...(no really they didn't do a damn thing more than class work and then submitted it...bahh)


The new board works great, of course I can't quite fit all I want in it, but on reflection I need to fit what I need, not what I want, and it does that perfectly. Just need a few right angled cables to finish fitting it all in and make sure that the holes in the board are clean and tidy, if I ever do want to use a looper on it, I'll take it as a separate unit, rather than fit it on to the board. (I must resist)

I have used it without mixer, but now the mixer if fitted, and I tested it with cluttered cables and its great, a bit of earthing noise to deal with but other than that, its fantastic. More important, I can carry it and put it in the boot.....its been fine at 2 rehearsal so far, and now with the mixer fitted, I can take it and only use 2 channels and lose 2 huge XLR cables...once the current titles are tidied up under the board, the GK cable and the dual jack (or jack to XLR depending on venue) will be tucked in and secure in the case ready for transport.

I've also fallen head over heals in love with a new toy, TC-Helicon have brought out a new Voice Live 3, extreme edition.. It is fantastic, especially if you plan to play along to backing tracks, which I like to do....its dammed expensive though....So I have made a decision to sell off all my older voice processors, and see if I can come close to the price of a VL3X, I don't intend to buy one unless I sell at least 3 of the other unit...watch this space. (it will fit in the new board, replacing my GTX and 3button switch).

Ahthankyew

Marking going well so far..and 89.7Kg

I'm genuinely quite pleased so far with the CT1 grades of my non programming students, so far, pretty much all of them have actually done a good job, even those who failed didn't fail by much. Non programmers usually have a really hard time with this course and there's a lot of staring at blank screens in the class usually, but this years crop certainly had a go.
Hoping to get them finished up by tomorrow, then I can do the PR4's.


And yes, the scales didn't flicker this time I have properly cracked the 90kg's. The Diet...is still going ok, I am finding, that I tend to eat a small meal/snack, something healthy and low carb around 3/4in the afternoon then later in the evening, around 10 I will have a larger meal...this goes against the usual advice of not eating later, but I find it stops me going to bed hungry, and I'm not exactly an early to bed person, usually heading to bed 1 or 2am, depending on whether I have to be in work early.

The weight is indeed slowly dropping without me feeling constantly nagged by hunger. Of course, I have to cut out all sugar,(still tend to drink a few sugary fizzy drinks at band practice, that needs to stop) reduce my calories as much as possible; I aim for 1000 a day, but going up to 1500 is ok on occasions.
The push ups and sit ups are also increasing... as are the long fast walks with the dog...who's starting to get left behind sometimes.

I tried to find one of those door mounted pull up chin bars in the local sports shop, but nothing.... Guess I have to start getting my 25euros a months worth out of the gym soon...
I do plan to (yeah right) as soon as I'm not completely out of puff going up and down stairs a few times....I want to get some proper use out of it.

Cycling to places also helps too... now the nice weather is here its nice to be out on the bike,I am trying to only use the car for to and from Band practice.
Anyways...back to marking for a few more hours, then back some guitar practice.


Ahthankyew

Rehearsals begin

This is just us in rehearsals, its a rough mix and we had Britta's voice over gained so she sounds a bit distorted at times, but we'll learn...less gain when the wee one is doing the shouty stuff

Ahthankyew

Phew... Cracked 90kg

Finally, I cracked 90kg....granted it was only flickering on and off but the scales defiantly said 89kg then 90 then 89 then 90...clearly my intake of air I my lungs was kicking it over, I shall stop breathing.


But at least the diet and exercise is starting to pay a visible dividend....no difference yet to the folds though...Now that the better weather is here I 'll be cycling to work more so it we can start to up the exercise parts.


The Gadgeteers are on tenderhooks (tenterhooks?? I never know) at the thought of a live pub gig in 2 weeks, we have 33 songs in our repertoire we have to become note perfect on in 5 rehearsals...

shiiiiit

Maybe that's why I'm losing the weight...nerves



Ahthankyew

The Gadgeteers Ride again, getting a new board ready.

We have a gig, on the 26th April at Café Happy Days in Breda...one of the busiest nights here, its called Koningsnacht, Kings evening, the evening before a National Holiday for the King...so always a busy evening, the Dutch love to party.

Its short notice, but we do have a fair set arranged and can add a few numbers, it is far longer than we have ever played though, 3.5 hours...not all playing of course we can take breaks.

Scary though to book a gig only a few weeks away...better get our practice heads on. I hope this will be the 1st of many new gigs in the pubs and cafe's


https://www.facebook.com/events/1594814947431440/


In honour of this event, and the fact I am getting a cool tax rebate in a few months, I am finally putting the finishing touches to my new gig board idea. Something much more portable for band based events. The Mega Board is just tooooooo huge to lug around for band events, it's staying at home for recording my looping efforts, unless I ever get some gigs on my own...unlikely.

The new Gigboard, will consist, of a GR55 (I picked up a 2nd one super cheap on eBay), my VoiceLive Play GTX, which will also serve (with the GR55) as my main guitar source and of course vocal processor, perhaps with the Tone Synth added for Daft Punk covers.. A small 5 port mixer, going out to my RC3, and maybe...just maybe a few of my single pedals, hooked up via my 5 way signal looper. (not an audio looper, it routes the guitar signal to different paths, allowing different pedals to work in different routes.)

The VL-GTX is not as powerful as my VL2, but it works fine for the singing and backing I do in the bands, so no need to load up the VL2 to the board.

I need to keep this light, so the single pedals, and even the RC3 are probably going to be overkill. But the Mixer to bring the 4 cable outs from the GR and GTX will make it easier to hook up to a PA. At the moment I take 4 inputs which is a lot.
If it turns out its getting too heavy I'll keep my single pedals in their current board and use when I am only playing guitar.

I've bought a basic but strong pedal board on eBay, its on its way now, so assembly will start next week when it arrives. Pics will follow

As will some video and audio of our rehearsals.

Ahthankyew

My board Final?

Always hard to say for sure, but I think this is my final board configuration, at least with these pedals.

Under the tier is still a shambles of cables than will need some work to tidy, but aside from a sticky out XLR on the VL2 everything is looking neat..and more importantly working fine

Behold..the new "final" board.
Of course, there's more... The Adrenalinn III is capable of far more than just being an Amp modeler, its a fantastic fx unit in its own right, so it can connect up to my Berhinger FCB1010

Which then gives me the ability to select presets, volume control, wha control, and a few other things...

 

Now....to learn how to use it all.



The BeatBuddy is still proving to be a bit hard to get my head around when the RC-300 is the midi master (it refuses to be a slave) so I need to adjust my timings to work within that and see if I can get some recording done.

The cold/cough from hell kept me from recording for the last few months, but it hasn't stopped me practicing a few songs,  I've got holidays soon, so I'm going to gear up for a mega recording session with all toys fully on display.








Ahthankyew

The temptations of the flesh are many and tasty

Not going to do the weigh in today.. I know for sure I blew it big time the last couple of days.. And especially last night at Poker with Peter and Liz and the gang..

I pigged out on Gourmet and more importantly on some absolutely fantastic rum

 

Wow this stuff was nice, I had quite a lot of it.....which probably caused me to play quite brilliantly at poker even though I suffered a massive loss when sitting 2nd or 3rd in chips with over 50euros, when I had a nut flush only to lose out to 4 kings....ouch that was a killer, but my betting strong actually scared the 4 king hand into thinking I had a royal flush....he bravely played and caught me out...
Damn it was the hand of the evening...and pulled in  a wedge of euros, wish I'd won it lol
.
Lucky I  still had 10euros in reserve and managed to push that all the way back to 27.50 in only a couple of rounds, for a 2.50 profit. at close.(we only play 25euro stake games and set a time rather than last man standing). If it hadn't  been for that big loss I would probably have left as chip lead, but no matter, I'm always happy to leave in profit.

I did however lose a clear 1kg when I checked on Friday... If will try to walk/exercise the excess of the last few days away.

I had some awesome news on Thursday too, but can't say just yet....I did however celebrate...more to follow on that one when its all out in the open.

Ahthankyew

Hungry...but determined, and more toys

ok I've upped the stakes now....calorie counting and a bit of light exercise, walking , using stairs, and the sit ups and push ups....grrr, will try to pop to the gym (yeah right) sometime soon.

I'm trying to stick to 1000-1500 KCals, basically, a breakfast biscuit eaten as later as possible around 11. A small sushi or bento box from AH (ideally the 35% discount one)  followed but a small evening meal...no supper
Drinking lots of coffee, with no sugar of course, I've not had sugar in my coffee for years.

So yes by 9-30 am hungry, but am not going to give in.. I have FOLDS....

if I haven't started to lose weight with this on Sunday's weigh in.. I'm just going to pig out and go with the rag on a stick.
I am hoping once the weight loss becomes noticeable, I will be able to focus better on ignoring the hunger...right now, though there's a couple of cheeseburgers in the fridge that are calling to me....I am resisting, even though I'm well under my quota, I don't want to go to bed with food in my stomach...It needs to burn off.

Onto Toys....
I picked up a Google Chromecast dongle today, only 35euros so I can easily get Netflix on my downstairs (or bedroom) Tv. Its  not without flaws, the thing is controlled by your iphone, or laptop, but it seems to sometimes lose the connection to your chosen control device and then it can't be controlled, needing a reset to get it going again... Hoping they fix that, as resetting is a bit of a pain.
But it does stream well, no major issues there.




Ahthankyew

not lost an ounce

I've cut out snacks, I have a small lunch and dinner, I take the dog for much longer walks, and try to do a bit of power walking as I do it...I even gulp, have been doing pushups and sit ups.

and 2 weeks later


not an ounce lost....


I hate diets..but I still have folds, so have to keep it up.

increasing the pushup count from 1 to ...1.5 next week maybe...


Ahthankyew

Sober code review

Damn I was drunk last night......but boy was I productive...and after going though it today, aside from misspelling a lot of labels, the code is excellent. As was the graphic optimisations I did to try to produce a graphic solution to a scrolling issue I didn't have the space to code.

I seem to be becoming more coherent and focused while drunk.....

Scuze me, I have to do a quick shopping trip to the off-license...4 crates of Cabernet Sauvignon should do it.


Ahthankyew

quite drunk

yup did even more coding, and fuck me it all works.

seems to be the way to do it.

only trouble is it makes me sadder than hell, wish Brenda was still here, I miss her so much

being drunk and productive isn't worth the pain I feel not having her here.

Ahthankyew

maybe not yet

With the benefit of wine, I managed to do quite a lot of Z80 coding today

of course, it was with the benefit of wine, so it may not actually work when I am sober.


ta daaaaaa!



Ahthankyew

Am I past it?

Health issues aside, (99.95% now so pretty much there)

I worry if I am still up to my job..not the teaching, I still love that, and enjoy the challenges it gives me. But as a programmer, can I still cut it?

The last year, I have had so little time to do much programming, but when I get time, it never seems to be productive.. I can't seem to finish my Z80 project, though I usually work on it 5-10hrs or so a week, I seem to spend more time firefighting and hunting for memory than actually progressing towards a clearly visible but still distant end. I can't do much more till that's out the way as people are waiting for it to be finished and I can't let them down. There's an old coders adage, 95% of the work is in the last 5% of the project....very true in this case.

I have also a PSM and a PS4 project on the back burner...but just no great inspiration to move forward with them. The PSM one is dead though, since Sony have sadly decided to kill of the PSM program...so sad..
But the PS4 gig is potentially a great thing.. it was going to be my Masters gig project but the masters never kicked off, so back burnered, with a glance from time to time. I fear disappointing an old friend who has let me run with this project he originally created with his brother...But I do still hope it will be the masters project in Sept... Not that I want to do the masters..but if I have to, that's the project I want to do. etc....moan moan rant rant. Masters crap shit fuck..


I dunno what I need to do, I've had writers block before of course, but I never used to suffer prolonged writers block, I have an enviable reputation for getting projects finished, but that drive seems to be missing.. I can't just sit down and do it....all my tips and tricks which I pass on to students are not working...I need a kick up the arse from somewhere, but its just not there.

We're moving into a quiet period at work, for 3 weeks, and I have a quiet block also coming up then summer...that might finally give me some chance to recharge... I can't wait for the summer holidays, though mostly I plan to sleep and do as little as possible, before going down to La Moreau in France, for a special week of guitar playing and performing in memorial to a lost friend.

I think I need to do something else for a while...once I get the Z80 thing done..music still fills my time, but not when I am so busy with work.  Could it be time to clear out the shed and get my model building tools set up on the workbench?? hmmmm naaahhh...too much hassle.

Being single also isn't helping, I can't say how much I miss Brenda, she doesn't read this, so I can be open, I can't really get over her, nothing would make me happier than having her back in my life, but I know in time nothing would make her sadder....can't win!

Need more time,  apparently it heals all wounds....might bleed to death waiting though....hmm there's a song lyric for someone.

hmmm that got depressing quite quick........can't think of a way to make it lighter right now...Better just go get back to staring at my screen, I have some odds and ends of marking and project reviews to do...suppose I might as well crack on with this.






Ahthankyew

New Board Layout

I don't carry this around as much as I did, its too heavy, this is what I now consider my solo performance looping board, since I don't need to do much vocal effects or any looping with the band, the looper and big vocal unit are not essential to band work. Since I don't gig solo (maybe one day) it now mostly static in the attic.

But I like this board a lot, I've now added the Beat Buddy to it, which I love to use but am having some issues getting it to midi sync with loops, I dunno if its a problem with the RC-300 which is known to have issues as a slave, or the BB which may have issues being a slave...but bottom line is they drift after a few loops making it hard to have the BB as the drums in a performance piece......I don't beat box expexially well with a paralysed lip so I do kinda need a drum system that works for me.

If its a BeatBuddy software issue with its receive being slightly wrong, it will get fixed.. boss sure as hell have no interest in fixing the RC-300 slave functionality...shame.


anyway heres the new layout of the board... A bit of space I could fill in but won't, and a few straight cables still in place which will be changed for angled ones soon to clean things up a bit more.

Ahthankyew

Diets make you hungry....and my will power is terrible...but 91.3kg

I have cheated several times, the packet of choccy raisins was just asking to be eaten

But slow and steady the grams are dropping... AND I have discovered something very useful

Breakfast grain biscuits...choccy ones from Aldi... 79Kcals for 2 of em, but they stop you feeling hungry for at least a couple of hours in the morning.. I'm not normally a breakfast person, except at weekends, but I do get hungry as hell around 11 and often sneak in a sausage roll or baguette snack before lunch...no more..

The breaky biccies let me last till lunch time when said Sausage roll or baguette is lunch, and even then only 1 sausage roll or half sized baguette. So trading in 79Kcal for 500 or so is a good plan.
They do have a salad bar at the work canteen but its not very inspiring, I might just walk to the store and buy a ready made one..only use half the dressing.

Not much weight coming off yet but still early days, and only just beginning to exercise...risked a few morning pushups, which I will try to do every day as well as a some Ab crunches, also taking the dog for much longer faster paced evening walks... I'll try to hit the gym soon..(grrr)

A rough BMI calculation has me at 30.9 which is obese...well the folds told me that.. I basically need to lose 30Kg to be in my perfect weight for my height, but I'll settle for getting down to around 70kg without the folds. Less than my stated target, but that sill has me in the overweight group, so I need to aim lower but not at the 60 it wants for ideal..I am 51 after all I can't expect a washboard stomach and pert pecs...so just lose the weight and tone up and I'll be happy...might live a few months longer.

Oh, so far today...no coughing fits...a bit of throat clearing but no cough.....it won't last the whole day, but its nice to not notice the cough...now that I think about it, I want to cough...dammit.

Ahthankyew

Oh and I really am going on a diet.

Caught sight of my nakedness in the mirror this morning.....there were folds....FOLDS...I just can't handle that...

Not going to do anything fancy...2 small meals a day, avoid butter/oils/fat and no eating after 8pm

Can't believe there were FOLDS!!! oh ugghh... I'll be washing myself with a rag on a stick before long.

start weight is 92Kg.... target 80kg... It will be done, and I will buy myself a new bikini for the hols when I get there.



Folds!!!!




Ahthankyew

stuck at 99% maybe I should use some homeopathy

Still can't shake the damn cough...doctor time....though as soon as I tell him/her that I feel better he'll suggest I come back in 2 weeks...watch this space.

There is an astonishing argument going on, on Facebook, which I have been part of but no more, It has made me realize that people are just unbelievably dumb and unwilling to accept facts if it does not fit with their view.

Its about homeopathy of course, I dunno how to link a specific FB thread but its the Richard Dawkins page, where they highlighted the homeopathy research in Australia, as I did in the last thread.

What follows is an absolute clusterfuck of misinformation, misunderstanding and blind stupidity on a level I can barely comprehend.

Misinfomation 1st...sadly they used an image of a rack of herbal essential oils...now I'm not going to say these are utter nonsense....some good does come from their use in massage, and inhalation, but its hardly medicine...but more importantly its not homeopathy....so many people just jumping on that as a sideways means to defend their belief in homeopathy.

Misunderstanding and stupidity....I cannot, I mean I really cannot comprehend how incredibly bad this is, 99% of the people posting in defense of homeopathy clearly think it is a herbal remedy, in the same way as Aspirin, ginger and garlic etc are.....its incredible to me that people are so astonishingly misinformed... It matters not how many people post on the thread to point this out, THEY KEEP MIXING IT UP.

Herbal remedies are not useless, they may not have a lot of efficacy, but for some very specific things they do work and many modern drugs own their origins to herbal remedies.

Homeopathy is something totally different, it is basically like taking a tablet of aspirin, which we know helps with many things.....throwing it in a reservoir.. and expecting every one who takes a glass of water from that reservoir to have their headaches cured... It is utter madness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy


When I was a kid, I genuinely was amazed at they way communication and travel made the world a much smaller more intimate place. The sharing of knowledge convinced me that in time we would see an end to wars, a global understanding of science and an ability to tap into the knowledge of mankind to make life better, a bit like Star Treks utopia..
We have all that global understanding today via the internet, but rather than enlighten us it seems to have made us more and more convinced our stupidity is right because we are able to find other stupid people to back us up.

The internet has caused confirmation bias to run wildly out of control, we no longer trust anyone we appoint to take care of or lead us, doctors, scientists, governments are all out to destroy us with their massive conspiracies and evil deeds to keep us down. We've seen the rise of fanatics, and a glorification of stupidity and ignorance. Not just Homepathy; Anti Vaxxers, Jihadists, 9/11 truthers, Neo Right wingers of all styles, Illuminati, Lizards in government...the list is too long....too incredibly stupid to bother getting our head around.

If I could afford it... I think I really would just go find a cabin in the woods somewhere, take my retirement collection of scale models to build and hide away waiting for death or a UFO lift to some other planet. I just don't think I care anymore about this planet and the naked apes running it.


But everyday I read the news and I know...we're heading for oblivion....

Hey Aliens, if you're reading this....please take me with you?

Please?








Ahthankyew

Well I already knew this wouldn't help

As always, the Alternative medicine nutters are swarming all over the internet now that another massive study on the efficacy of Homeopathy has shown......it does nothing.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/11/homeopathy-not-effective-for-treating-any-condition-australian-report-finds?CMP=share_btn_fb


Hardly a surprise of course, but still people refuse to listen, from the Big Pharma consipiracy nuts, to the, well it works for me gullible people, are rushing all over the net to comment.

And Missing the point as always.

Why?

Placebo....its as simple, yet complex as that. The Human body is fantastically effective at fighting illness, virus, diseases even some of its own genetic conditions, every single minute of every single day our bodies are working hard to kill infections and grew and replace damaged tissues that occur as an everyday fact of life.
We probably get attacked by a 1000 cold or flu viruses a day, but for the most part our body kicks their asses and moves on and we never notice/

Its only when the body gets overwhelmed and our defenses routed that we get sick, a virus, we don't know, or damage too big to fix quick, then we need help.

What controls our level of immunity to sickness, is basically unknown, but we do know that stress, poor mental outlook and a host of other life issues can have an impact on our immune system, that makes us less able to fight and gives the bugs a chance to get us.

But equally, we can boost our immune system, positive thinking, positive actions all work wonders and help us fight a whole range of illnesses, from Cancer to man-flu (actually there is no cure for man-flu, millions of men die every hour from it)

Placebo is the trigger for this positivity, it comes in countless forms, but the basic idea is that someone cares how we are doing and is paying attention to us, and we feel good about that...allowing us to fight. Even babies and animals can benefit from placebo, they just need to be made to feel that someone cares and is doing something for them.

Now...if you accept that placebo is a real thing, and it most certainly is....then you need to realize all the quack medicines out there are just pandering to that placebo effect...if it makes you better that's fantastic, but sugar pills and a cuddle from someone you love will have exactly the same effect.

Lets not be stupid about this, its just making greedy people rich.



Ahthankyew

97% fit

Creeping up a bit, I STILL have a cough, last night it got quite bad too, it seems any time I expose my lungs to cold night air I have to pay for it.

This is 8weeks of a cough...I can't recall ever having a cough for so long, I am getting nagged to go to the docs but while that has merit I know that I am improving, which gives you some idea how bad it was originally.
If I can just keep away from cold night air I should be ok...


hmmm I wish the dog could walk himself before bedtime


Ahthankyew

95% fit

One advantage of work at home days is I can have a really good lie in,  at least as long as the dog stays cuddled up in his bed and does not want to go walkies

I still have a bit of a cough, but overall, I am sleeping all night and the cough is not chronic and constant

Can't say I'm 100% yet, till the cough finally goes, but I am feeling so much better, sore ribs and stomach have eased and the coughs are more of a clear out than a bring up a lung and pop several blood vessels while you're at it.


Still want to see the back of it.

Not much other news to speak of, been busy finishing the last of my late grading, only to discover I can't enter the damn things on the school system..grrr

Finally getting some time to code on personal and school projects too, so my mojo is slowly returning. But my frustrations with slow internet connection to my PC (caused by my dongle not the ISP) are proving to dent that mojo.

Soon be done with my Z80 gig, its been painfully slow and much harder than I expected but after a couple of major bug finds I can now creep toward the finish line at last. Next up is a PS4 gig I've been back burnering for too long




Ahthankyew

90% fit

Well I have to say that was not fun, I even coughed up pure water at one point, which according to google is a sign of pulmonary edema.....not good, Lucky I don't get all hypochondriac on my own ass about things like that. Google is never a good place to diagnose yourself...but clearly it was a mother fucker of a chest infection.

But there wasn't a lot I could do in-between coughing fits so I waited...I had planned to go the docs on Wednesday morning  but couldn't get out of bed early enough to book a same day appointment, so waited a bit more.

And Thursday night finally I started to stop coughing after one especially severe fit and resulting lung water episode....but I think that was just my lungs clearing out.

So I am on the mend, incredibly croaking and squeaking  voice and still coughing a bit from congestion rather than infection but nearly there.

I also had the most wonderful lie in this morning to celebrate my 1st full 10 hour sleep in over 6 weeks...Boy I needed that.

Normal service should be resumed after the weekend, I'm going to stay in out of the cold as best I can (dog walks are unavoidable) and should be back to 100% soon.





Ahthankyew

Brian's health update....for both of the visitors who are interested

Even though I seriously wasn't up to it, I managed to do a walking dead like shuffle into work to support my co-lecturer as he was giving his 1st lecture in our PR4 course... I coughed and wheezed though the whole thing but at least I didn't go down as taking a sick day.

I am just a little bit better, sill having the odd little coughing fit, but it is clearly reducing....I can only hope a few more nights sleep will see the back of it... I have a friend who's been sick for 11 weeks so far with a similar cough, I can't imagine how horrible that is.. I hope she gets better soon.



Ahthankyew

only a teeny bit

still coughing up a lung so fever might be gone but my god I am sore....ribs are at breaking point.

If I can get to sleep I might be ok...but so far no go.


Might have to take another sick day tomorrow, can't believe that, I've had almost none in 5 years and already this year I've had 4 maybe 5if I can't get to sleep.....bahhh!


Ahthankyew

0.01% improvement

Better whisper it...but I am a teeny bit better...still coughing and my ribs are aching from it all, but slightly less and it seems the fever and sweats have passed....now the problem is just the cough...how long will it last.




Ahthankyew

Week 5 in the big brother hospital

ohhh goawd....just kill me now

constant coughing, sweats, headaches....this is just horrible.. I would go to the docs but its just COLD......the cold from hell but just a cold, on top of a cold on top of a possible chest infection that they wont' give me AB's for because its just a cold..

Another day in for me I think, hmmm though I do have to take the dog for his obligatory walks, maybe that's what keeping me sick, the constant exposure to cold air on the dog walks.... Harvey is killing me???


He did a funny thing last night though, as I got all wrapped up, in double coat, scarf, hat and gloves to take him for his evening walk..he trotted to the door, then stopped dead in his tracks.....

looked up and me and pretty much said, 

"Yo..Bitch....It be raining, I ain't goin' out in no rain"..

And stood his ground...totally refused to go...

At least I got away with that one, but had to force him to go out before bed time, otherwise there'd be a present or 2 for me in the morning that I wouldn't want.



Ahthankyew

Really???? I mean...REALLY?

So despite not quite being over the last cold, and coughing pretty much all the time...I am the recipient of yet another virus from the cold hell.
runny nose, headache, often caused by dry cough/heaving, sweats and fevers....this is just fucking unreal. How long to have I have to feel like shit physically, when I'm still coming to terms with feeling shit mentally.

And yes I have been swallowing OJ like its water, bought a bulk pack of it from Macro last month and have had 2 glasses at least every day.. proof as if it were really needed that nothing stops a cold kicking you when you're down.

I've not enjoyed much of this holiday break at all, marking and working and now the last weekend I will be in bed most of the time sniffling.. There's more tissues round my bed than a 14yo boys room...grrrr



Ahthankyew

No X factor for me....dammit

It's taken me several days to get a video made, I had all sorts of issues getting the sound in to the laptop and it just was a pain.

I rehearsed some songs over and over again, and in my headphones I sounded fucking Ace...really, best ever. Confident, strong, in tune, good phrasing, I nailed them.

finally I get the audio sorted, I sing and play a test track


And its not fucking Ace..its fucking awful....but why was the sound in my headphones so good??

sigh....the guitar playing was good though, I just need to find a singer.

Ahthankyew

Nice weekend....but frustrating

Been catching up on all the code stuff I have to do, finishing marking and as a special treat to myself, been setting up an Acoustic recording session. I find I need sometimes to provide myself with a reward to drive myself to do the boring or hard work I need to do.

So after 4 hours of so of practice on Saturday getting 4 songs sounding just right I got ready to record them during my Sunday session......nope, technology decided to get in my way.

My Zoom R24 is a lovely bit of kit, and it does an amazing job as an 8 channel live mixer with USB out, but no matter what I tried I could not get Debut video to take the sound..it saw it, it registered the input but all the resulting videos were mute...grrrrrr

5 hours I spent doing that... 5 HOURS! and still no joy...my enthusiasm for recording went.

I can resolve this by hooking the R24 to my RC300 which I know works fine with Debut, but I really shouldn't have to, but I want to get these songs on my youtube library since I've done nothing for months, despite practicing a lot of nice songs...

So even when doing something simple like an Acoustic session, technology twats you about.


Oh well, maybe todays session with the RC300 as the A/D system will work... I'm betting something will screw up.

Ahthankyew

Carnival madness...or in my case peace

Avoid Breda for the next 4 maybe 5 days...Carnival is here.

10's of thousands of people in costumes singing and drinking and having a generally good time, but its all a wee but too much for me.

I enjoyed it the 1st couple of years I was here but now its just a bit of a madness I try to avoid.

But I will gratefully take the weeks holiday we are given to celebrate it and rest and relax and do as much coding as possible.

Brian time.....


Ahthankyew

phew

Fortunately slept fine,  though didn't get to bed till late.....

no major ill effects so it was not a cold/flu thing probably just a shitty numb throat from surgery thing that sometimes crops up. I probably should note it in my cancer blog....wonderful things to look forward to for the rest of your life.....

marking is sill ongoing, I've got most of the PR and PRF's done, will try to finish the last of the PR's today so they can go in,the PRF's are a bit quicker to mark since they are much smaller projects but not really very well done....shame.

Anyway...gotta go get ready for a lecture and then back to marking.



Ahthankyew

Oh C'mon

Coughing again....

weird kind of cough, more like a something going down the wrong way choking cough, probably due to phlegm dripping down my throat, which normally just gets swallowed, but if it hits the right spot on my right side, I have no feeling there...so it gets breathed in.....nasty retching cough follows.

Very unpleasant and not much I can do about it except wait for it to settle and try to sleep

fuuuucccking sick of being ill...especially when I don't currently feel especially ill.




Ahthankyew

Picking up the pieces

So after more than a week of feeling utterly shit, its time to get things back in order, dishes done after stacking them for days, guitars and gear left on the floor put away, clothes off the floor and in the wash basket, or wash and generally trying to get a momentum going.

I let things slip when I was ill, mostly marking which I tried to do some of but was unable to do very fast.

Will be mainly catching up on that for the next few days, hoping I can still get them all graded within the 10 days deadline..I might miss by a weekend though.

Kinda pissed I didn't have the energy to do more on my Z80 work, but I was just so wrecked with the cough, tiredness and general lethargy. I will get back on to that when I am done marking.

Quite pleased that my new cheapo reclining chairs for the attic arrived though, and were taken in by my neighbours, which considering the size of the boxes was very kind of them

I built one up to try it out, only took 30mins or so, and well....its cheap, its supposed to be leather, but its not really, however it seems hardwearing enough, and once built, with the obligatory missing washer, and unscrewable bolt..it looks quite nice and is indeed quite comfy for sitting back and watching the movies on the big screen. So job done. I look forward to sitting back with wine on the side table and popcorn watching movies in 5.1dolby surround on my 300cm screen

As I was sitting checking it out I also took some more time to investigate my new projector which was troubling me with its highly saturated redness...but I found some settings (colour) to drop the saturation down from 50 to 20 which produced much more pleasant skin tones... I think its all set to go now.  Only thing left to try is a PS4, not that I play many games if I am honest but will be interesting to play a race game or something on a movie screen. I doubt I will buy one though.

Netflix is a bit of a hit and miss, most of the movies are pretty B grade moves, which is a shame, as it would be nice to have a real choice of movie. I still like having my actual DVD's though, and will soon be buying my 1st BluRay to see what the fuss is about. But, the odd buffering problem aside, likely due to my router being a fair distance from the player, its not really a bad system, and if I have no new movies to watch I am sure I can find something to watch.




Ahthankyew

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

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

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

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

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

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

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