Rather randomly....

... and even more trivially......

Whilst catching up on some Pogo badges in "Trivial Pursuit Daily", I have come across some interesting but entirely useless information....

Hitler's favourite film was King Kong.

Winston Churchill smoked two cigars a day.

The kookaburra is the largest of all the kingfishers.

150 years ago, Reuters began as a line of carrier pigeons, carrying banking information between Aachen and Brussels (a two hour flight).

Orville Wright flew for 43 years without a pilot's licence.

Go figure...... It snowed last night and it's bloody cold now - The peak temperature for the rest of the whole week is four degrees (C)!!!

Full speed ahead!

Seems the season of beer festivals is upon us. I have to be careful not to drink too much too often!! Having gotten myself a little bit blootered last weekend has made me slightly wary!!

Well I've been quite busy with one thing and another.... mainly Pokemon Diamond!! I DID manage to get my job application handed in on time though, so you never know..... Everything now remains crossed up to the point where interviews begin in the week commencing third November, and to hope that I get an invite!!

Shows how busy doing nothing I have been when I haven't even had a chance to look at my Pogo badges this week and they've been available for me for four hours or more!! Unheard of!!



Finding Nemo? A very lucky picture - indeed the one that DIDN'T get away!! A day at "The Deep" in Hull yielded some pretty crappy photos, and this is the best of a bad bunch. Shame the fish aren't bigger in the frame, but lovely colours and stuff.

It is with sadness.....

... that I report my excitement at the fact that my neighbour has applied for planning permission to install hardwood double glazing in his property.

Perhaps I am getting old when I await the outcome of Brian's application with trepidation?

The reasons I am so bothered are quite simple really.

a) The buildings are "listed" in that their character may not be altered... everything needs to be replaced on a like-for-like basis.

b) My house is the lowest quality property in the whole row.

c) I would love to get some decent hardwood double glazing in.

d) If they let my neighbour have it, then they surely can't object to me getting it done!!

My current mish-mash of softwood windows, some of which are falling to pieces, some with secondary glazing, some with the thinnest sealed double glazing panels in them..... all different, all scruffy, all in too poor a state to even open, could soon be the lovely windows I so desire.

Perhaps when the Pogo badges get released this afternoon I might calm down a littrle from all the excitement.

I wish I would get a response from the job application I completed recently..... fingers crossed.

Pogo schmogo.....

I play games online at a site called Pogo. Every Wednesday, they issue us with a pair of weekly challenges, that in return for our participation, eventually rewards us with a virtual badge, which we can wear in the chat rooms, and they appear alongside our names as we speak.

This week the challenges were in a special halloween slot machine game, called (imaginatively) Spooky Slots, and the other badge was in Hangman Hijinks (a variation on the old hangman game of course).

Well, the badges took me, wait for it: 29 minutes for the pair.

A new personal Pogo record.... now, what the hell am I supposed to do for the rest of the damn week?

In lieu of this impasse, I give to you two sites of amazing and bedazzling wonderment.

Enjoy.

Wow 1 !! - Thanks Sitemeter for tipping me off that someone had viewed my page this way!!

Wow 2 !! - Thanks Rol... What an amazing sight. I felt sick just looking at the photos.

Badges.

It's Pogo badge day today, and following on from their launch of the UK founders club, yesterday, we are now eligible to spend much more money with their website and of course buy even more badges. Hooray. I won't be buying badges, or at least that's my current standpoint. Following the founders club launch, we were all given some free "gems" which you can exchange for various virtual items. I swapped mine for badges because I couldn't wait until this afternoon for the weekly challenge badges.

So, I am all badged out.... Normally on a Wednesday we are offered just two weekly challenge badges, and we have a week to complete them. I think I have completed no less than seven badges!! It truly is a sign of a misspent middle age!!

I DID, on the other hand, manage to help Polgara out with a troubling spreadsheet problem, which I am happy to say, both stretched my mind, and taught me something useful about array formulae..... I mean, c'mon, what kind of afterthought is it in a software package when, in order to input a certain kind of formula, you have to press ctrl-shift-enter to put it into a cell?? Bonkers, and I am kicking myself for not guessing the secret code earlier!! It's a good formula though.... look:

{=SUM(IF($K$2:$K$65536=V8,$J$2:$J$65536))}

I am pleased with solving that!! Note the curly brackets, which is what happens with the ctrl-shift-enter secret code!!

Other than that, it's been a day of mindless nonsense. Reading blogs, writing a blog, playing Pogo, crashing my computer (I have this weird USB related issue that is driving me up the wall and all the way across the ceiling!!), playing about 5 minutes of Sims2 before it drove me up the wall and back across the ceiling the way I came when my USB problem reared its ugly head, again!

Full moon..... Everyone run outside and have a little howl!!

Ow-Oooooow!!!!!

Like the werewolves, I gotta go get changed!!

Stuff....

.... and nonsense.

I've been busy doing "background" tasks.

These tasks are essential to my "online" existence and take up a great deal of time. Not many people notice that I have done them or even care, but I know things are tidier, neater, more organised, and much happier - In complete contrast to my "real" life!!

So, for a few examples:

Flickr - I have been adding, subtracting, tagging, geotagging, dating, uploading, and generally making my whole collection there as comprehensive as possible. New sets for Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Black Moss walk. Lots of new "phone camera" pics too.

Random Shopping - I am trying to make sure that my "Random Shopping" blog doesn't die on its arse. It's hard enough to keep one blog going (as I am sure you lazy non-updating-buggers will agree) but to keep two on the go, and make them remotely interesting is a task of some size. In order that I DO keep Random Shopping open, I have diversified into the world of discarded shopping lists.

Reading - I now subscribe to forty-four blogs in my snazzy Google blog reader. I need to subscribe to so many, so that at least someone will give me something to read each day!! Consider yourselves "roasted" for inactivity, AGAIN!

In an "offline" context I've also been quite busy:

Reading: Having recently finished another Lynsay Sands historical - The Switch, I've moved on to: Ben Elton - Stark (in the bedroom) and Robert Sabbag - Snowblind (in the reading room!).

Watching: I don't get much time to watch a lot of television at the moment. I love the 4OD and BBC iPlayer, because they allow me to download the television I missed and watch it at my leisure. I am loving CH4's Dogface, and have been watching ITV's Hell's Kitchen (which has of course (for me at least) been dreadful and compulsive).

Playing: Sims 2 with my left hand and Pogo with my right.

Picking: Blackberries. Nature's bounty is exploding around us. We managed to harvest ten pounds of blackberries on Saturday morning. Nettle stings, and ripping of thorns. The blackberry plant seems so ancient and unsophisticated, yields its fruit so easily, and you can't help but feel the primeval surge, knowing it has always been this way. Low effort in, maximum reward. Survival.

Anything else?:

Getting depressed at the quality of these photographs.

Finding this link for my tap-playing cousin.

Drinking "real ale" at the Three Pigeons (an art deco pub) in Halifax.

Eating curry at Zam Zams in Elland - Bloody gorgeous!!

Hillyness.

Wednesday morning. The suspense is too much for me. I can't wait until this afternoon for Pogo to release this week's challenge badges!!

I go out and buy a new bottle cage and water bottle for my bike. A shop I don't use much but he's a friendly chap and we have a chat about "monkey - Journey to the West" because he has recognised my t-shirt. I fix the new cage, fill up both bottles with some "corporation pop" and set off.

Twenty four miles later and I am struggling to make the twenty three steps back to my bedroom to write a blog about it, even if I get off the bike first!!

Here's some lovely accompanying photographs.

In other news:

You all think you're so bloody funny don't you!!

I have a tooth that's started to crumble and I can't get to see a dentist for a week.... brilliant!!

The salt from my sweat has burnt my face to shreds.

I need a snooze.

Surprise!!

I am truly surprised by the reaction to my previous post. It would seem that my passion for birdfeeding is not such an isolated case. Messages of support have been flooding in.... well a couple of people mentioned that they also indulge, and that's nice.

This year is the first year that I have had baby birds living in and around my garden, and it fills me with delight.

There's a family with three baby goldfinches. The juveniles looking similar to their parents, but lacking the vibrant red patch on their heads. They have a resplendent yellow "Z" down their wings though.

A family with three baby robins, and they are just starting to get their red breasts and to lose their spotty juvenile down. They've been such good company this summer. Apparently they are rarely seen in July and August, but I have had a garden full of them.

Bluetits nested in the holes in the cement between my house and next door. You wouldn't even know there was a hole there to be honest, and it took me a while to actually find where they were flying their beakfulls of worms into. Lots of chicks and still a good number in the garden.

Other feathered friends without families it would seem are:

Collared dove; Starling; Dunnock; Wren; Sparrow; Chaffinch; Greenfinch; Blackbird; Thrush;

In other news.....

Big Brother.... we're winding down, and tomorrow is the final. I'd be lying if I said I was excited, but I am looking forward to it. I think I have managed to keep my blog fairly Big-Brother-free during the mammoth thirteen week stint.

Beer: I've got a hankering for some real ale this weekend. I am going to give both The Star at Lockwood, and The Grove at Springwood a shot. From what I've read, they are two of Huddersfield's finest "ale" pubs, and I am getting a bit old for drinking wihtout being able to speak to my companions.

Antichrist: I have made the fatal error of reinstalling the antichrist of video gaming onto my computer. I had it before, but after it ruined my lust for gaming and lowered my self esteem to nothingness, it had to die. The Sims 2 rides again!! How many weeks will I spend maintaining my virtual real estate, while my real house and life fall into complete disrepair around my ears??

Yorkshire Pudding: You don't scare me, you big puddin'!

Random kindness: Still working on this one. Pol, it was also on R2 the other day when the lovely Davina was standing in for someone. Those blagards have robbed me blind and cast me assunder.

Blog updates: I know it doesn't look like I have been here much lately, and the posts have been thin on the ground, but believe me, I've been working my fingers to the bone for you. Here's a brief list of things that have changed:

Random Shopping has started again.

The navigation stuff on the right hand side of my page was looking really shabby, and there were so many sections with different little snippets in them, and I know nobody read any of them, so I have turned each section into a blog entry.... Feel free to click some fo the things under the "Blogbits" section on the right hand side to see what I mean.

Flickr: Not only did I upload a little section of photos for Connor (and tag them all, and geotag them all, and title, and description them), but I also uploaded a few new ones of my own. Feel free to head across to Flickr and look at mine and/or Connor's pics.

Bloglines: My cousin Sophia mentioned (sometime earlier this year) that there was a product out there called "bloglines" which manages all the blogs that you read. My list of blogs to read was becoming so long, that I have (more by necessity than curiosity) invested some effort into it, and I am loving it. If you have a long blog list to trawl through, then I suggest you set it up for yourself. Thanks Soph.... Also: I found the Guitar Hero disc that I couldn't find when you were here - didn't take me long huh?

Bowling cam: More new pictures on my dedicated bowling cam highlights page.

Pogo; Sims2; Battlefield 1942; Dungeon Keeper2 - Too much time to mention on the aforementioned.

Pogo.

I have a problem, and the first part of curing it is to admit to it.

I am a Pogo addict.

Moreover, I am a complete and utter badge whore.

Even as I type this blog with my left hand, my right hand is arranging cards in a game of "Rainy Day Spider Solitaire" trying to earn my "Itsy Bitsy Spider" badge for a personal challenge.

I can only imagine that maybe one in a hundred people who might read the above paragraph is not scratching their head in dumbfounded response. Those that know, will instinctively know what I mean.

My free internet big brother link is buggered. The result of its buggery is that I now have to occasionally leave my bedroom, my laptop and pogo, to go downstairs and watch a snippet or two of the live big brother feed. Grrrrrr.

Happy anniversary to me. Last night was in fact my fourteen week anniversary of stopping smoking. I tend to mention this at various milestones, but today I mention it for the following reason:

Emma has stopped smoking!!

If you can all press your hand on your monitor and send some positive vibes and healing power in Emma's direction, I know she will appreciate it.

As for the nicotine lozenges.......

Yes, indigestion was a side effect.

Yes, the worst case of flatulence ever imaginable was an added bonus.

Yes, it did last for quite a while.

On the bright side, the downsides will make you want to wean yourself off them at the first opportunity.

I managed to take nine of the four mg lozenges per day for six weeks, then I just stopped altogether.

Stay with them, learn to love them. I found they made my throat a bit sore, but eventually came to associate that sensation with the idea that I was getting my fix. In the end, I loved the sensation in the same way that you might have once loved smoking a cigarette. Coming off the lozenges was the easiest thing to do in the end, and I know I didn't follow the guidelines...... I only did half a course.

Try to keep a record of when you had your last cigarette, and how long it has been since then.

Don't be afraid to know that if you want a cigarette you can have one. I have had cigarettes in the house ever since I stopped and haven't wanted one once. Knowing I can have one if I want one makes it easier for me.

Here's me giving advice..... Ignore all advice and do whatever helps you through it.

You have all the support right here.... Good luck, and well done for making a start.

Premature declaration.

Further to yesterday's statement, that my pyramid of Maslow's hierarchy of needs was now satisfied.... My house has now sprung a leak in the torrential downpour that continues, as I type!

The kitchen floor is wet, and further more, my desk is wet at work as the roof is also leaking there. It seems that God is crying on my head wherever I shall wander.

Oh goosey goosey gander!!

Pol: I don't know if you got my text or my emails, but the photo album you so desperately seek, is now available for you to view online. You can even buy bloody prints of them!!! How professional is that??

Pogo schmogo... new badge day today, and guess what... I completed the two badges on offer, in a record twenty five minutes!! Touch me, I am hot!!

I can hardly contain my excitement (can you detect the note of sarcasm in my writing?) that I am tonight visiting Ikealand AGAIN!! This time, with my mother, for some serious "rooting"! (Before y'all get the wrong impression, that's "rooting" as defined: v. intr. - To rummage for something: rooted around for a pencil in his cluttered office).

Ho hum, even my PC is turning against me now, and doing the most strange series of things you can imagine. It's cream-crackered I fear.

I better go get ready to hit the Swedish mecca!!

Au revoir!

Maslow's hierarchy of needs...

Now that my boiler is fixed... yippee.... my pyramid is complete!!

I am happy again... a little lighter in the pocket, but most definitely happy.

Pogo badges this week have been less than demanding, and I am now well in front again. I needed an easy Pogo week.

I am even going back to Ikea again... I think I am becoming domesticated!! Bugger!!

Not much to blog today really.... I am experiencing good (the boiler repair man) service... and bloody bad service (Sky Television and Yorkshire Water, who promptly kept me sat in a queue on the phone for an hour and then gave me a different number to ring). If it wouldn't bore you to tears, I might feel inclined to write about it.... I won't.

I am alive, I am warm, and bloody hell I am hungry...

Gonna go get me some scrambled eggs on toast... yum yum yum.

D-Day...

Today I have an appointment with the bank manager!!

These meetings are rarely enjoyable, nor are they fair.

The bank manager generally holds all the aces, and when I ask him if he has any aces, he tells me to Go Fish!

Fingers crossed for a positive outcome, otherwise I might be looking for a new house, and THAT is something I just don't need at the moment.

I am still kicking myself about losing my ring and then finding it where I left it - The tricks your mind can play on you, eh? I would have sworn on my own life that I was wearing it, both yesterday morning AND the previous night!! It was also interesting that, having noticed it gone, I became preoccupied with the fact that my hand felt strange without it, and I was missing the worry bead aspect of it. Little did I know, it hadn't been there for 15 hours or so previously.

Minds are mad... I don't try to understand them anymore!!

New Pogo badges are out, and I have started them... Started being the operative word... There's still a long way to go. This week sees Jungle Gin, Penguin Blocks, and of course the ongoing killer badge Quick Quack Quick Shot Quack or whatever the hell it's called.

Busy, busy, busy at work and at home lately.... Things are piling up around me, and everyone who knows me will testify... When the going gets tough, I generally bury my head in the sands of procrastination.

Now you can't see the wood for the trees.... Now like anybody on their knees.... Far away enough to catch our breath.... Looking to click.... Picking up sticks!

Ok, it's official, my bank loves me, and I get to keep my house without any hassle at all - the paperwork is done and everythings smelling of Fox!

Stats all folks....

Cue Woody Woodpecker's infectious laugh, which I wouldn't know how to spell even if I thought about it.

Especially for my cousin, Jo - here's a Woody woodpecker link - If you go to the site - Go into Woody's Arcade and select MATCH. Play the game and you'll see an old favourite character!!

Ok, Woody Woodpecker aside, the title of the blog was what I really meant to write about.

I am obsessed with my stats. I guess that having had a break from blogging for a while, and having let my reading figures trail off into obscurity, the prospect of turning round the reading trend is taking over.

I can't imagine how long it will be before I get back in touch with the audience I had before my little hiatus. I seem to remember I had about 1100 visitors a month.

I'll keep you posted.

I had forgotten all about the "Bloggies" and randomly stumbled back into their site through one of the 2005 winners. Here's the list of this year's winners, and there's some bloody good blog reading to be had here.

The power of blogging - I have managed to find my cousin Sophia, who lives in Canada. I must admit, I am particularly lazy when it comes to staying in touch with people, and I guess that's the reason I have been blogging for so long.... Go and say "hi" to a cousin I haven't seen in three decades!!

In other news:

My search for the Ajuga Arctic Fox plant is over - It turns out, that my mum already has the plant in her garden, and she's gonna split it for me - Result!!

My search for the Estonian translation of the word Ajuga is NOT over!! Very frustrating indeed - Thanks Kris!! X

My quest for my "quick quack" badge continues!! Relentless, ain't it??