Amy's Birthday Party Pictures

Online at http://photoalbum.rockbox-themes.org

All pictures taken by Amy (Except the few with Amy in them) - I take no responsibility for the camera work!!

Amanda's 40th Birthday Meal

Online at http://photoalbum.rockbox-themes.org/

Can't Leave Alex out...

even tho' it's not his birthday, it seemed only fair to take his picture too... so I present Alex - Aged 8 1/2



As before, click on the image to view the 170 KB larger version

Amanda's 40th Birthday Portrait

With the success of Amy's birthday Picture I decided I had to do something similar to mark Amanda's landmark birthday too...



As before, click on the image to view the 210 KB larger version

Long Gap in the Blog...

Well, since the end of October, I have been a bit lacking in the Blogging department... What has been happening ?

OK, This week is obviously Amy's 13th Birthday - so quite a major event. We took her and a few friends to TGI Fridays yesterday as an alternative to a party. Much fun and merryment was had by all present, and the staff were fantastic. May take a day or two for my hearing to return to normal though... 5 (almost) teen girls in one car makes a Motorhead concert seem quite tame in the volume stakes...

Last Week, that was Amanda's 40th Birthday - another milestone event. On that occasion we took 18 guests to the 'Himely House Country Club' for a meal on the Monday night. Again, a good night was had by all - it turned out to be a late night for the kids (11pm on a school night is not really reccomended), but they coped well, and enjoyed it.

A few days before that, we were at Symphony Hall, Birmingham to see Katherine Jenkins in concert (again), and once again she was fantastic. Her 'guest' tenor was an Iclandic fellow named "Gardar Cortes", and he was quite spectacular in his own right - and thats from someone who does not really like Tenors!!

The 'BBC Good Food Show" was also a recent event - waaaay too much money was spent on that day! Including £20 for a small(ish) bottle of 12 year old, oak matured, Balsamic Vinegar!!

Finally, I got around to putting some pictures from Deb's wedding into an album. If I get time later I will try and sort out the Birthday Pictures for Amy and Amanda...

OK, enough time on the computer for this morning... I have two days off, and I really need to spend some time in the Gym - I have managed to put on about 4 pounds recently... That really has to go!

Amy's 13th Birthday Portrait

Following on from the picture I took last year for Amy's 12th Birthday,
I have this year taken one for her 13th!!



Clicking on the thumbnail above, will load a larger version of the image (179 KB)

I am rather pleased with this photo, and have ordered a couple of 8x10 enlargments for the garnd parents

Which browsers are using my website?

November - www.rockbox-themes.org

Rank	Browser	Hits	Percentage
1	Firefox 2.0	1525	31.47%
2	Firefox 1.5	1105	22.80%
3	Internet Explorer 6.0	1047	21.61%
4	Internet Explorer 7.0	374	7.72%
5	Opera 9.0	246	5.08%

So a good showing by the new boys, FF2, IE7 & Opera 9

Man Utd v Liverpool

I have just finished watching the Man Utd v Liverpool match on Sky Sports... I am very pleased to say that Manchester won 2 - 0, Paul Scoles scored the 1st on his 500th appearance for the club, and Rio scored the 2nd ( A contender for goal of the month)

Coolpix back from repair

On the 27th of August, I reported that the Coolpix 7900 was damaged whilst on holiday, and that it was with Jessops for repair.

Well yesterday, it came back. Fully working, and at no cost - Result !!

Running with Vista RC2

I downloaded and installed RC2 of Windows Vista two weeks ago, installed Office 2007 (Beta 2, Technical Refresh 2) and a number of other 'Must have' applications, and found that it ran rather well, and I am getting to quite like using it.

One problem, however, was that I was not happy to use it too much without any Anti Virus software installed. That was cured e when I installed Live OneCare 1.5 on a 180 day trial. This supplies AV, Spyware, backup, Tuning tools etc. and is compatible with Vista.

I am now a converted VISTA user, and have not needed to switch back to XP all week. That was until now...

1st: I recieved my BT Homehub, and found the software will not install under Vista, initially I thought it may be an IE7 thing, but it worked OK under IE7 in XP...
2nd: I have tried several times to use w.blogger v4 in Vista, and whist it runs fine, it fails to upload... hence the 20 day gap since the last posting!!
3rd: I have a web based training course to attend on Monday/Tuesday and that too will not work in Vista

So for now, it's back to XP - for a couple of days at least

2nd Round in a week!

With a few hours to spare again this morning, and the prospect of improving weather. I decided to go back to Warley Woods and give the new fairway wood a go.

The results were promising, my overall score was still not great for 9 holes (54), but it was 9 shots better than last Thursday, and it was mainly my putting that cost me - 3 and 4 putting was common place this morning. I also found three bunkers today, which obviously had an impact on the final score.

The Fairway wood is spectaular, I can hit it straight, and get about the same distance as the 3 wood. The biggest problem I had with this club was using it too oten, and overshooting the green a couple of times!!


6(4), 5(3), 7(4), 5(3), 6(3), 5(4), 8(4), 6(4), 6(4)
Total 54

Wicked - But totally stupid and pointless - web game

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/40255643/

You'd never believe that you could create an addictive game in just two seconds with a swipe of your mouse.But that's what you do with Line Rider, an amusing Flash cartoon in which you become the animator. Just click "Play," then "Continue."
Draw a line and click the new Play button you see at the top of the window and you're in business.The game's creator, who goes by the handle of "fsk," suggests you start by drawing a line from upper left to upper right. But try drawing a gradual, smiley curve instead and see what happens to the little toboggan rider who careens down your slope.The game was just posted on Saturday but has already been played more than half a million times by fans around the world. It's another productivity enhancement from Deviant Art

Equipment Upgrade

One of the things I realised yesterday, was that I am completely useless when it comes to playing any iron lower than a 7... I tried to use the 3 and 5 irons and just could not control the shot at all - and that was only if I actually managed to get the ball off the floor in the first place.

The other things I found were... A golf bag with only a single should strap, is very uncomfortable to carry, A golf bag with a 7inch top makes it very tricky to get individual clubs out, and finally, A bag that will not stand up on it's own is a pain. Not that I can really complain, it was a freebie from Barry, and has done the required job till now.

So today I paid a visit to DirectGolf at Solihull, and after trying a few clubs on their range, decided upon a 'Founders Club - Double Sole, 24° Loft Fairway Wood"... It is a really nice club, and made hitting the ball from the floor as easy as hitting it off the tee. I managed to place several shots at about 150 yard, all on line!! It is the most expensive club I have purchased to date - by quite a large margin £80 including Head Cover (cw £20 for my putter, and £6 - £7 for each of my woods/Irons). That has now gone in my bag, and the 5, 3 and 1 Irons have been consigned to the "Spares" container.. Maybe Alex can use them in a few years time?

I also treated myself to a new bag - A "Founders Club - 14 way Deluxe Divider bag" in Red/Black, and a "Proline Neon Aluminium Trolley"

Now lets hope the weather improves on Monday morning, so I can go and test them all out at Warley Woods again!!

1st Round in Years!

This morning I visited the 9 hole golf course at "Warley Woods"... The first time I have been back there in almost 30 years!

My previous visit was during my final year at school, when I had Golf as my option in Games. On that occasion I scored a truly terrible 72 for 9 holes. I was hoping for a somewhat better score today!

Well, the score was better, but not good! I completed the 9 holes in 63... still some 30 over par. My first 7 Tee shots were terrible, but I did finally start to get it right towards the end of the round, but the main problem was the putting... I found it difficult to 'read' the green, and with the grass still quite damp, I had difficulty judging the weight of the shots and managed to take four on the green more that once!!

The last two holes were much better, the tee shots actually carried some distance (160 yards+) and had a nice 'fade' to their path... still screwed up on the green tho'.. LOL

7(4), 4(3), 7(4), 8(3), 9(3), 9(4), 8(4), 6(4), 5(4)

Firefox 2 RC1

http://www.hardocp.com

Anyone interested in grabbing the Firefox 2 RC1 should head over to Cybernet and grab the version they need. Versions for Windows, Linux and Mac are all available so there is something for all you adventurous souls out there willing to try it out, regardless of the OS you are using.

There have been quite a few great visual changes going on since Firefox 2 Beta 2 was released. I think everyone will be much more pleased with how the theme is progressing as we head into the final homestretch. The tabs look much more streamlined and the navigation buttons don’t look so washed out. Oh, and we can’t forget about the cool new Refresh button in this release.

The Car Saga...

OK...

Since returning from Turkey, the car had shown a disturbing reluctance to start from cold, this coupled with a month or so of 'rough running' on tickover, and the fact that the [Service] light was comming on intermittently persuaded me to book it in for it's 1st service. The car has only done 15,000 miles in it's 18 months, so it was still some 3000 miles or 6 months away from a service, but 'what the heck' I thought... it has to go in for the door mirror repair, so I may as well do both at the same time.

On Saturday 26th of August, I had to go to the dealers to pre-pay for the mirror, and booked the car in for both jobs to be done on Friday 1st September (I had a days leave on that day, to be able to deal with it easily.)

On Monday 28th we took a trip to Lofty's house in Cambridge for his daughters birthday party, and were a little concerned when it took 5 attempts to get it started for the return journey. Once going, however, the car was fine and made light work of the high speed (70mph) journey back (A14 & M6).

On Tuesday 29th, Amanda tried to start the car to take Amy to Merry Hill (A Hot date with Harry !!) but it did not want to know. She then called the AA, who also failed to start the vehicle. The car was then towed away by the AA to the Dealers in Birmingham. (Amy got the bus and still met up with Harry, so that was OK) On the downside, there was no dealership courtesy car available, and as the vehicle was over 12 months old Renault would not cover the cost of a hire car.

On Thursday, the garage called to say that they still could not start the car, and that it would not be ready for collection on Friday as they needed to remove the cylinder head for more investigation - No compression in one cylinder!

On Tuesday 5th September I was called by the dealers, Renault had agreed to a complete replacement unit I.E. A new engine!! This would have to be ordered and fitted, and as such would take about a week. At this point we were offered the use of a hire car, which would be covered by Renault. On Thursday I collected the Nasan Micra 1.4 from Enterprise in Birmingham.

On Friday 6th, upon returning home at 17:30 I found a message on the answering machine asking me to contact the dealers re the hire car. I called back, but was unable to talk to the person I needed to, so a message was left for him to call me back.

On Monday 11th, Tony returned my call... it seems that Renault only cover the Car Hire whilst the components are ON ORDER, but as the engine arrived on Friday, I needed to return the car ASAP and that I was liable for thr weekend hire!! After some discussion, it wsa agreed that the dealers would cover the additionanal charges, so I spoke to Enterprise and took private hire of the same vehicle for an additional two days (at the Dealerships corperate rate of £15 per day)

On Tuesday 12th at about 16:00, I was informed that the car was ready for collection, and agreed to pick it up on Wednesday at about lunchtime. Unfortunately, I have an appointment on Wednesday AM for British Gas to come and fix a problem with my boiler... so I can't leave the house till after that has been done, and may well have to pay for an addition days car hire on the Micra, as that was due back at 11:00!! And to add insult to injury, I still have to pay for (most of) a service to maintain the warrantee (Air con. pollen fillters, brakes etc.) some £230

UPDATE #1: The very nice people at Enterprise didn't charge me extra, even tho' I was almost 2 hours late returning the car, and they gave me a lift back to the dealers - which was good of them.

UPDATE #2: Seems that Renault Birmingham have 'missplaced' the door mirror that I have paid for, and as such have not been able to fit it to the vehicle. I am now awaiting a call back from them to let me know when I can take the car back to have it fitted!! I don't think I will be taking my custom back to that dealership again...

Mrs D South...

There you are, my sister is no longer Deborah Bright, but is now Mrs Mark South...

The wedding was yesterday, held at the Mill Hotel at Alverley. On the whole the day went well, and the service was nice and informal (well at least, as informal as a wedding is allowed to be), and I did not miss the Singing of hymns etc. in the slightest.
There was a touching moment when Mark had to choke back his emotions during the "I give you this ring as a symbol of our marriage" bit, but he got through it and all ended well.

The photographer could have done with a bit more help trying to round everyone up, but that is a problem you are going to get when you have such a large area of gardens and hotel for people to get lost (or hide?) in... He was using a Nikon D70, and carried a D50 as his back up :-)

The buffet afterwards was excellent, and if that is typical of the standards of the Mill, we may have to go back for a meal some time!

There was one moment that took the edge off the festivities, Deb & Marks first dance was to "Who painted the Moon black" by Hayley Westenra, this was one of Amanda's dads favourite songs (Hayley was played at his funeral) and a combination of wedding memories, and Hayley was a little too much for Carol to cope with... Note, this was not Deb being insensitive, they had spoken to Carol weeks before and asked if she was OK with the choice of music, and she had agreed... you just can't always control your feelings

Our car is still in the garage, so Carol took us down there, before returning to dudley to collect my mom and Val... Thanks Carol, you are a star. We left with the party still in full swing just before 8:00PM, borrowing my Brother-in-Law's car to get back home, a Ford Mondeo, that compared to the Scenic drove like a tank!! But it is greatly appreciated, and thanks again...

Redbreva's Online PhotoAlbum, Beta 1

Check it out...

There are still a couple of issues at present - the date the picture was taken is wrong, exposure time on the Coolpix is not calculated etc., but overall, quite pleased with it.

The entire site is just two web pages (Album & Image), there is - of course - a Style Sheet, and the rest of it is data. Once I have ironed out a couple more display issues, and added the rest of the caption files, it will be time to migrate a couple of other existing albums over to this site...

EDIT #1: The URL has now changed, the album page is now in it's own sub-domain at http://photoalbum.rockbox-themes.org/ A few minor cosmetic changes have been made, but to be honest, if you notice, you are paying *way* too much attention... Still Beta1

EDIT #2:One thing that was bugging me, was the 'Back To Album' link from the images pages, it always returned to the top of the page. I have fixed that now, it uses 'Named Anchors' for every image, so it can return back to whence it came...

Back from My Hols

I just realised, it's been almost a week since returning from Turkey, and I have not updated my blog!

Well, Holiday was good, took lots of photographs, broke the compact camera, and spent way too much money.

Since returning, I have been catching up on e-mails (personal and work related) editing almost 400 images down to my printable selecting of 133, and writing my own 'web album' page in PHP... It's almost ready now, so keep tuned for a peak in the next few days. It has taken quite a bit of work this time, but it's all very generic, and combined with a few Photoshop Actions to generate the thumbnails etc, should involve minimal work to add to the album list.

On the negative site, the car was vandalised on Thursday evening - the passenger side door mirrow was snapped off! £230 for a colour coded replacement!!

The Coolpix suffered damage when a large flying insect can past my ear, just as I was about to take a picture.. The resulting "snatched hand" motion caused the extended lens to hit my arm and become stuck. It is currently back with Jessops awaiting repair - hopefully under guarantee.

The D50 was not used as much, it was a bit too warm to carry the large camera about too often, but I have been very impressed by the quality on the images taken.

Off on my hols...

I am going to bed very eary tonight, on account of having to be up, washed and dressed for 03:15 for a taxi to Birmingham airport...
We are off to Turkey for two weeks, and really looking forward to it... see you all soon.