Hello Stalker!

I really must start using this blog again!

Bit of a revamp coming soon methinks but in the meantime, I liked:

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Sighs of relief

After herculean feats by my semi-tame mechanic, the new gearbox & clutch was fitted late on Friday evening.

And it's working fine. Gone is the whine of an irritated bearing and the welcome sound of gently meshing gears accompanies my waftings around the City limits.

I really hope it behaves itself for a while now!

Not the clutch...

So yesterday I braved the perils of public transport to head towards the office with hopes high of finding a fully serviceable car - which is of course, vital to both full & part-time jobs. Without it, I am literally dead in the water. No transport = negligible income.

Arrived after a bracing walk in crisp weather to be greeted by glum faces at the garage. They'd thought it was the clutch. I'd thought it was the clutch. It wasn't the clutch.

Gearbox

The words entered my head. Rattled around my skull, pausing only to stamp on a few passing brain cells with their hob-nailed boots before shooting cold tendrils of dread to the pit of my stomach.

The normally unbreakable Toyota has killed its gearbox. This is not good. For a very large value of Not Good.

As my mechanic mate put it "If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all!"

Cue some ringing around to find recon boxes. £350 - £690. Oh Bugger. I've searched down the back of the sofa but a couple of 2p coins and some discarded nuts aren't going to cut the mustard.

I've had good times & bad in that office but I don't think I've ever felt so utterly wretched & dejected as I did yesterday. Shivering. Penniless, car dead and with an electronic 'job from hell' on the workbench that won't behave. And did I mention how cold it is?

So cold that I'm considering offering a specialist welding service for metallic simians.

Hopefully the new box arrives on Friday.

Will it fit?

Will it arrive in time for me to get a weekend's work in?

Will it be painted green with pink spots?

You guess is as good as mine on any of these...



If I can get mobile again then I start to get things back in order. I'll have to do some silly hours but it can be done although I know Bridge worries about me. Fortunately she keeps an eye on my physical & mental wellbeing. Now that's what I call 24hr NHS Service!

But I'm not holding my breath until I can feel the mighty Avensis tugging at the leash ready to do some drunk scooping from the streets of the Metropolis.

So to day I'm working from home. I lugged two laptops home to work on, one needs a used HD fitting and the other one is running slow. Although that one might be easer to fix if they'd given me the logon password.

Working from home is good for several reasons.

• I don't have the bus fare to get into the office.
• I have a kettle.
• I have central heating.

Ah well, keep lugging on. It's character building you know!

One down...

It was way back in May 21st 2007 when we put B's flat on the market, soon to be snapped up by a buyer.

We thought it'd all be boxed off before November 07 but delays in the leasehold extension saw our buyer pulling out in mid 2008...

Not good. Not good at all.

But hurrah, we now have a tenant.

I presume that makes me the Rigsby-esque Landlord... "More Tea Miss Jones?"


Hopefully this marks a turning point - I'm still freezing my whotsits off in this office though. (And waiting for news on the car...)

Did I run over a Gypsy?

Cars & luck are not going well at the moment...

Firstly Bridge's clutch (oooh-err!) lets go at Queens Drive/Rocket flyover.

Eventually gets help to push it out of the way of rush-hour traffic but not before being laughed at & refused help by at least one set of shop workers. Grrr... may they suffer the infestation of a thousand ants in their pants... (If I knew for sure which shop it was I would be deposting a piece of my mind...)

Anyway, a couple of builders helped push it to the roadside. RAC Roadside guy came out but only had Roadside cover on that car (it was on the list of things I wanted to do but the current state of the coffers kept it from being done. Ouch.)

Fortunately I know someone with a recovery truck. Still could've done without that & the ensuing clutch bill though. Hey ho. That's what happens when you run older cars.

But at least I manage to get myself a nice Toyota Avensis with the proceeds of a well-timed job. In very nice condition & if I get it plated by the Council, then I can save £100/week in my other occupation as part-time personal transport executive...

Get's it through the taxi MOT on 2nd attempt. Nothing serious, just needed a headlight realignment and then end up with plates that make Bridge shout "MUGSHOT!"

So on the car they go.

A day spent sorting out radio installation, insurance etc & off we go.

And then last night...

I knew the clutch had a bit of a whine. It was booked in for Monday...

It decided otherwise.

Whine.

Crunch.

Grate.

Shriek.

THUD.

The thud came when the transmission locked solid and the car skidded to a halt, straddled across a junction. Fortunately a quiet one. (Cambrdge Rd/Esplanade)

"Oh dear me" I said calmly "Dash it all, it appears to have gone for a burton".

The car was now locked in gear. Couldn't move the gearstick due to the loading on the box (I presume) and pressing the clutch had no effect. Therefore you couldn't even push the car. FUBAR. In a big way.

Let it cool for a few minutes. Followed by the application of lots of power, rapid dumping of the clutch and a nasty metallic sound, got the car to move off the junction & crawl home on tickover. Fortunately only about ½ mile. Burning clutch plates have such a distinctve smell...

And no, I didn't have any recovery cover on it. I was waiting for some quotes to come through (you can't just get taxi breakdown cover that easily online) so another call for private recovery and off it's just gone.

Argh!!! And breathe... Where's ERNIE when you need him?

So working from hoime this morning. At least I had some stuff here to be getting on with.

The duncit.co.uk website, sorting out Google Checkout & bumf for that.

The lancaster website. Some image juggling.

A laptop with 2000+ infections on. Cleaned & now refusing to accept SP2. Re-Register a few DLLs and it's away. Just got to fix the damage left by the infections & that can go back. Owner doesn't undersand how it happened as it had antivirus on. Somehow I don't think a 2004 copy of Panda is gonna cut the mustard! The number of daft toolbar downloads is another clue...

Another laptop with virus & assorted nasties on. It has current AV. One that's won awards looking at the packaging. However all it does is try & block file access rather than deleting or healing the infection. A lot of use! It's scanning now. About 100 killed so far & looking healthier.

I've also cleaned the heating filter for B's flat as we're over there later to do a few jobs. Hopefully better news on that front shortly to come.

I think I might just fit a broom up my posterior & sweep the floor as I go...

Mrs Seabank Calling.

After reading Dunc's last blog, I felt compelled to respond and he very kindly let me encroach on his blog.

I'm sat in the living room with a big mug of tea (no surprise there, then!!). Well, I need tea to lubricate the brain matter!

My technical ability is very limited, so no pictures or anything too fancy in this posting.

Yes, it has been to quote Dunc an"interesting" year but it has just proven to me, that we are meant to be. He is my strength and my soul mate.

On a lighter note, for the record -

- Dunc is a good cook!!

- Mysteriously Dunc appears to know the storyline for Coronation St and EastEnders! I catch him sometimes glancing over his shoulder "pretending" not to be watching.

- I'm considering searching the Internet for "tea drinkers anonymous". I think I may have a tea problem as in work they call me asbestos gob (charming!!) and they are considering setting up a special intravenous (tea) drip. I think it is an excellent idea.

- I've sewn on one button over the last year and there are no darning needles in this flat.

- "a smile and a cuppa works every time" - don't forget the hug, Dunc.

- That I've got a very special, kind and thoughtful man.

I will close now, as I notice my mug appears to be empty. I may post again if the urge comes over me!!

How Long?

Ok, ok... it's been a while since I updated anything but hey, I've been busy!

But who'd have thought it's been a year since that day?

In our first year of marriage, we've weathered burglary, family medical scares (now largely sorted I'm glad to say), business downturns (back on the up, it's hard but we're slogging away, bloodied but unbeaten), flat sale falling through, the credit crunch & the housing crisis. An interesting year to say the least!

Not only that but poor ol' Bridge has had to suffer my jokes & my cooking too!

But we're still here. Still Laughing. Very much in love and business is starting to pick up a little. I'm working about 80 hours a week between three or four different jobs but at least it means Bridge can watch Corrie without me moaning...

...and what has this year of wedded bliss taught me?

• That Bridget is single-handedly responsible for the tea export from a small province in China.

• That Coronation Street & Eastenders are sacrosanct viewing times & must not disturbed.

• ...but that Bridget mysteriously feels the need for a bracing yomp when Top Gear comes on.

• That most blokes navigate using pubs as waypoints but Bridget's internal GPS uses tea shops!

• That a request for button sewing or sock darning services will be met with howls of derision. I really should have included this in a pre-nup!

• That I married Miss Right - first name 'Always'!!
  

But more seriously it's shown me...

• That the support of friends & family has helped us through tough times. And no matter what gets thrown at us, we can take it. Together.
  

• ...and that no matter now gritty the day, a smile & a cuppa works every time.

Would I change a thing? Well, there is that get-out clause in the vows should Keira Knightly come knocking but no. Not a thing (well except for the habit of midnight duvet-stealing).

I said it so well a year ago.

The first track was called "My Woman" from a local artist, Phil Jones - excellent, do go & support him.

As the lyrics put it...

My Woman

My Lover

My Friend

...and now My Wife.

How Incredible is that?

ProudBlog

So today Mrs Seabank sat her promotion board...

... and is now the equivalent of a Sister!

Proud & chuffed I am. Well deserved after a lot of hard work & tea drinking.

I do wonder when the proper uniform arrives though


(Have you ever tried doing a Google search for Nurse's uniform? This wasn't the first result that came up - but probably the only one I can post!)

Flat for sale

Want to buy a flat?

How about one of the nicer, leafy suburbs of Liverpool? Home of the Beatles, close to Penny Lane & only a stone's throw from the bustling life of the metropolis whilst nestling in quiet tranquillity.



Then just click here & with no chain, you could be moving in as soon as the ink's dry on the dotted line!

Macro Comp

As requested by Andy & Derek...

This is the un-cropped original, not much in the way of background as I knew I was going to be doing a tight crop & was exposing for the flame.

One of the other possibilities which I decided against.


I thought it needed the flame to give it some context.

How Cold?

Hands up everyone that thinks Bridge only drinks tea all day?

Well, here she is hard at work bossing the job!

Thankfully she only threatened one of my customers with being Sectioned... (personally, I think they should all be Sectioned, but only after they've paid if you don't mind!)

That was a mere -23°C. What do you reckon the chances of getting her into a freeze drier at -55°C?

Pretty unlikely I reckon - unless they let her take a kettle in...

Geek & Proud

No, I'm not the Uber-Geek who was sad enough to be sat outside Carphone Warehouse at 6:30 in the morning waiting for an iPhone!

What do I want with iAnything? I work in Support, Windows not working is what pays my bills...

But I was out in the car with Little-Miss-Roadrage before and spotted something I saw a couple of days ago & went to investigate. There were lots of mutterings from the passenger seat amongst which I could just about make out "...blah... blah... geek... twitter... sad... where's my cuppa tea... geek..."

But Yes! I was right...

Parked up close to The Lathom, an iconic point in the Beatles Story, was a gleaming, black Opel Astra.


Very nicely engineered too. The housing on top hides a multi-headed camera, linked to GPS and forms the data collection element of Google Streetview.

It's a far cry from some experimental work MrCowblog & I did (which coincidentally started & finished in a convenient pub carpark) encoding GPS info on the teletext potion of a videosignal. That was cutting edge (& done on a shoestring) at the time but the level of integration of imagery within Google's Streetview & Microsoft's Virtual Earth Bird's Eye view is stunning. Huge amounts of data, geo-referenced & rectified to that extent is a seriously non-trivial task.

But that's it... the black cars have now hit Liverpool...

All Hail Our Google Overlords!

Imagine

Bridge's fave shot from our stop at the 'Murial'...

Urbs - Urbis

So the Urban competition at Cowblog is open...

I was the last to submit this month - sorry! I was hoping for a good shot of the Liverpool Mural Project but after a lot of head scratching, decided one of my others was more suited. We'll see...

In the meantime, here are some of the also-rans...

Cook with Mark

Mark is of course an accomplished master of the kitchen and BBQ (leaving aside the disfiguring incident with the chicken curry sauce that led him to be hidden away like the Elephant Man...)

...but our spies have just sneaked a unique behind-the-scenes look at the preparations for Sunday roast.

Nipples!

Yes folks, this is the day when the blog suddenly gets a lot more hits...

Are we talking these?

No we're not... but we are talking about male nipples.

Apparently, The good Nurse Bridget heard a radio report that - irrespective of build & size - all blokes' nipples are 11" apart.

So far it would appear to be true - but further research is demanded by Bridge in the interests of anatomical research!

(Quite what this has to do with mental health nursing I'm not sure, it may simply have been an excuse for Bridge to fondle my chest)

Bridge would like feedback as to the veracity of this claim but cannot be held responsible for the ensuing disappointment when your other half approaches you with a tape measure...

Dyserth Falls

A couple more from our trip to Dyserth Falls.

A very well done to Andy & Mark for joint 1st at Cowblog's May competition.



But I've already got several ideas for urban...

Techno-geekery

Mark's twitterings about the new iPhone made me mull over the pace of change & ever increasing integration of technology.

I've often talked about what I call the 'Star Trek effect'. The usually unreasonable expectations of the public who see something on Star Trek & think that it can be done that way right now.

It's no secret that OS designers see the Star Trek computer interface as the holy grail but I was struck by how close we're getting in a random thought the other day.

Not that long ago, I used to carry a big wallet of diagnostic CDs on service calls. From virus checkers to memory diagnostics to registry editors and hard-to-get device drivers, they were all in my CD case.

But you'd never see anyone on Startrek doing that - Star Trek engineering uses plug-in isolinear chips or rods.



Most of my calls now no longer need that mass of CDs but a simple, cheap 4GB USB stick - one of these...
maybe not that different after all...

Wassup?

Been working on updates to www.sefton-computer-repairs.co.uk as part of the drive to bring in more work & introduce some more services.

Also just finished findmetherighthorse in conjunction with Matt. Very pleased with it & the associated adwords campaign. Bringing plenty of quality traffic in for such a new site.

Today is more updates to the SCR site & then some way overdue accounts paperwork. As the esteemed Mr Blackadder once said... "Honestly, Baldrick, sometimes I feel like a pelican. No matter where I turn, I've still got an enormous bill in front of me"

Twittering on

I do tend to lead a bit of an online life so in response to an entry on MrC's site, I've set up a Twitter account. All good fun & a splendid work avoidance technique...

On a day trip...

Not to Bangor but to Dyserth in North Wales which apart from the anti-car efforts of the local traffic taliban is a hidden gem of a day out.


I recommend paying the 30p entrance fee & going for a walk round the waterfalls & woods. There is of course a cafe...

No more Nookie...

Fortunately my ears were deceiving me and it was mere slur on my culinary abilities.

Mark (& fellow survivors of the great Gnocchi disaster of '96) will be amused that my attempts at a different gnocchi recipe were met with disapproval...

(Picture posed by stunt Gnocchi)

No more Gnocchi it is then...

BurntBlog & Update

Ah yes, the outpouring of sympathy was of course deafening...

Still, the burns have faded now with just a slight discolouration to show social services to prove I'm a battered husband. Ouch. Not a mistake I want to make again...

Steve's comment that my mistake was in making the chain too long so that Bridget could get out of the kitchen has been passed on but I think you're ok Mate, she hasn't found the key to the knife drawer yet but I'd keep a good lookout if I were you!

But what else have we been up to?

The lease for the sale of Bridge's flat has been signed. And again disappeared into the darker corners of the legal system. All a bit of a nightmare, not helped by poor trading conditions (as they say in 'The City' to mask the sound of brokers jumping from the windows) which is making things a bit tight but hey ho, it's all character building! Plenty of plans to move things forward but they need money to implement... that'll be Catch 22 then :)

Recent months saw a trip down Peterborough way for a great couple of days with Av, John & Sam. Very relaxing, just what the Doctor ordered - and Bridge got to wear her new sparkly wellies... (£8 from Matalan, that girl knows how to shop!)


A good walk through the forest at Rockingham once we got Bridge away from the cafe tea urn...

LobsterBlog

I've heard that lobsters let out a whistle when they're dropped into boiling water in the kitchen of your favourite restaurant.

I'm not surprised... I feel a remarkable affinity for my nippy-clawed, crustacean brethren.

[Dunc's Thought For The Day #1] Take more care when lifting steamer full of veg & boiling water just in case it catches on the edge of the fridge and tips.

[Dunc's Thought For The Day #2] When said steamer tips a small - yet statistically significant - amount of near-boiling water down your body. Do not be surprised at one's reaction to hurl the (thankfully plastic) steamer across the kitchen.

[Dunc's Thought For The Day #3] It's quite amazing just how far broccolli florets can travel when flung in pain...

...and yes, it does rather hurt.

Still, if a social worker sees my burn marks, I may yet be able to find a place in a hostel for battered husbands...

The also-rans...

A well deserved win for MrC in this month's competition, even if he did take it whilst lying drunk on the concourse at St Pancras... A great photo though, one of the best of the competition so far I think. Git.

Anyway, here's a few that I was considering but that didn't make it...

The bascule bridge again - just been closed due to corrosion, no shit Sherlock!

I like this one, will probably go back & get it face on sometime. I do wonder if the original workman got a kicking from the foreman though...

BridgePix

Another good Cowblog competition this month. I'll put some of my also rans on the blog tomorrow but here's some of Bridget's taken when we went looking for inspiration along the Dock Road - We stopped at 3 or 4 locations and each went off, snapping away furtively at our own compositions - competitive or what!?

Typically, we got back, I looked at Bridge's & thought "How did I miss that shot?" Perhaps I'll have to sabotage her camera after all!

Oh yes, and when I checked, last month's photos were taken at 0.3MP due to memory constraints. Now with a 512MB SD card, the only thing holding her back is battery life.

...And the fact that she can only shoot for 15 minutes before demanding a cup of tea.

To me this is so reminiscent of 1970's strike photos

Health & Safety? What Health & Safety....

I really like this one...

BridgeyBlog

Thanks for the comments folks! As a matter of interest, I'll put a pic up here in Blogger's 'Large' format in case it's the blogspot software that's being a bit unfriendly. Although I suspect that the resolution may be turned down a bit on Bridge's camera as it's got no SD card in it & not much internal memory otherwise. I'll have to have a look round the workshop for a spare SD. Had some in the van but Billy Burglar got there first!

For those of you that remember Laurence from the wedding - this is his new sprog... Emma.

Bloody Hell - I'm an Uncle!

CowBlog Photos

What a great set of entries in this month's competition - a very, very close thing indeed and every one of them worthy of hanging on a wall I think.

A difficult month with weather but managed to get a shot from by King's Dock that I was fairly pleased with.

These were some of the others that just didn't cut the mustard. The light trails needed a bit more light in the sky I reckon.

Even got abused by white-van-man this month! Setting up a tripod with Bridge on Hawthorne Rd in Litherland for a cry of "Saddos!" to be heard from a battered transit!

ShutterBridge

In tandem with my snapping away for the cowblog photo competition, Bridge has also been clicking away and is convinced that her pics should see a wider audience. Personally I think her camera might have to meet with a nasty accident as her composition is often (ok, usually) better than mine.

So here they are - You are instructed to leave your comments!

BigDayBlog

Ok, so I had the lurgy from Hell, lasted a good 3 weeks & meant I couldn't drink (much) on my Wedding Day but wow... what a day! And made very special by the actions of so many family & friends in helping out & just being there.

The day started by finishing off the packing for the honeymoon, shopping for stuff Miss Bridget had forgotten and clearing the shelves of Boots of all their cold remedies. And no, they didn't work against this particularly virulent strain of man-flu.

I was glad to see that Bridge has mastered the art of traveling light, out of her 20kg baggage allowance, 0.4kg was left unused...

I felt quite calm throughout the day even when the Best Man rang to make sure I'd not done a runner. So off to the hotel we went.

As a pair of suave, debonair, rakishly handsome James Bond look-alikes, it would be fair to say that we both scrubbed up well...

The time just flew and in no time at all, the registrar was calling everyone to their places.

...and then called me up to stand at the front. All of a sudden it was real. And everyone was looking at me - although that soon changed once the gorgeous bride arrived.

This was it, the culmination of months of planning (and just a little stress) since I'd popped the question only 8 months previously on the beautiful shores of Loch Garten.

Nerves? No, I felt strangely calm (a feeling mirrored, it turned out, by Bridget who felt calm & serene).

Then the music started. Gulp.

Then Mark gave me a running commentary on the arrivals. The two bridesmaids & pageboy looked fantastic, they did a great job throughout - and were delighted when they found the complimentary bowl of sweeties in the loos!!

Then Mark muttered "You might want to take a look now..." So I glanced over my shoulder.

Wow.

Stunning.

The Bride looked a Million Dollars of course and scrubbed up even better than the Bond wannabees.

Fantastic floral decorations & bouquets provided by the best little flower shop in the Northwest - Thanks Carol! (Not to mention Al for his delivery services)

Great & touching speeches were provided by Peter, Matt & Mark - thanks guys!

The 3 Wise Monkeys. Matt the Master MC, Guess Who and Mark, the World's tallest Best Man

The rest of the evening passed in a blur as so, so many people crowded around smiling, laughing & congratulating. The evening even saw that 'Once in a Preston Guild' event - Bridge & I dancing... but her feet soon recovered.

The first track was called "My Woman" from a local artist, Phil Jones - excellent, do go & support him.

As the lyrics put it...

My Woman

My Lover

My Friend

...and now My Wife.

How Incredible is that?