Frumious Brandysnaps

First time I've ever actually done this, but there's a first time for everything. Had a bit of a tidy-up of my friends list, left a few communities, generally just a bit of a spring clean.

If you're not on my friends list any more, it's not because I don't like you, it's more likely that

(a) we don't actually know each other in real life
(b) we do know each other in real life but have drifted apart
(c) you haven't posted in years and aren't likely to ever again

In the unlikely event that you are upset that you're not on my friends list any more, you can always send me a private message, I'm disabling comments on this one because firstly it's a public post and secondly it's just admin.

TTFN.

A collection of photos from the Tinsley cooling towers demolition on Sunday morning.

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

...and because I couldn't resist it, I've glommed them all together into an animated image.

Overall, I was quite chuffed with how well these came out, considering how dark it was - I had to use quite a long exposure time, with a fully open aperture, so focussing was a bit of a nightmare - manual all the way - and did I mention how dark it was?

It was a fun night, although exhausting, especially the hour and a half wait until the car park had cleared enough for us to leave (we didn't get home till around 5am) but it was worth it, and I'm glad I managed to go.

Thinking mostly of longrat and the girls, but you might want to watch out for symptoms, Evie's not very well at all today - she's been quite sickly today, and is utterly shattered. She's currently curled up on soul_rider's lap, watching "Space Pirates". She's been really hot, as well, but she seems to be cooling down a bit now.

Poor old goblin :(

Ooh! Thunder!

...so that's why I've been headachey all afternoon.

In other news, yes I'm still here, aten't dead, etc. Just been sorting things out around the house today, on account of plasterers coming early tomorrow morning to re-plaster our living room ceiling.

Oh, and doing laundry. Glad I didn't put anything out on the line. Oh, and potting out some Swiss chard. It's a glamorous life.

Edit, 10pm : am now also stripping wallpaper as part of the "get the living room sorted out" project.

I remember when weekends used to be all about sitting in an armchair with a cup of tea and reading the sunday paper in peace. Could I have one of those again soon?

M1 J36 at Tankersley is the Junction of the Beast - our milometer hit 66,666 just as we pulled off the M1 onto the roundabout. Very tired. More later.

Just, damn.

I'd write more, but right now I just don't have the heart.

"School-leavers should be encouraged to swear an oath of allegiance to Queen and country, says a report commissioned by Gordon Brown on British citizenship."

(Full BBC article)

So, school-leavers are encouraged to swear an oath of allegiance, with "council tax and student fee rebates" for those who comply. I'd just like to say that I consider this complete and utter nonsense, jingoistic rubbish. The fact that there are financial incentives for those make this oath nauseates me, quite frankly - if you're ever going to swear an oath, it should never be for expectation of a reward, but based on a genuine depth of feeling.

I am British by birth, a subject of Queen Elizabeth II, but I would never take this oath. I couldn't make such a solemn promise. I feel a connection to this country, our monarch and her people, but I do not hold them higher than any other. It was the country I was born into, the country my family came from, nothing more. I feel neither pride nor shame in my nationality and culture. It simply is what it is.

I will not ever swear unquestioning allegiance to any higher power as I can do no more than follow my own conscience. I reserve the right to change my mind.

I spotted this a couple of days back on rangerchris's LJ, but felt a need to re-post it here because it's genius.

linky

Did I mention it was windy today?

This (mp3 file) is what the inside of my building sounded like, on the 12th floor, this afternoon.

No windows open or anything, this was just at the top of the stairwell. Made me glad I was inside with a nice cup of tea...

With help from next-door neighbour this morning, I put a new battery in the car, as the old one was knackered.

The car feels so much smoother now, and the engine feels much peppier - after a quick run round to drop off some recycling this afternoon, I was feeling so good about the car that I just wanted to find a nice fast road, open her up and just drive.

Next long drive will be a trip up to Newcastle the weekend after next, really looking forward to it!

*grin*

Strictly an FYI - I have created a second LJ account specifically for posting photos and photography discussion. It's at edchiversphoto, and in the future my photos will most likely end up in there. This also gives me a way to logically separate my personal blog from my photography.

I realise I haven't actually posted any photos in a while. I'm also hoping this new account will prompt me to (a) take more photos and (b) post them online more regularly.

Posts to this new account will be public, so please no discussion of personal-life details, that's what the friends-locked posts on longhairedhippy are for.

TTFN.

We have an entire cupboard full of glass jars of a variety of sizes, which would be perfect for jarring-up home made jams, pickles, pickled onions, or just for general storage.

They're all washed and have had the labels removed, we've got far more than we'd ever need, but I thought I'd offer them on here before I took them for recycling.

(cross-posted on homemadeshef, sheffield_uk and goth_w_i)

Happy new year!

All the best for 2008, folks!

*raises glass*

Why are people not screaming about this?

BBC News: Darling admits 25m records lost

Two computer discs holding the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 have gone missing.

The Child Benefit data on them includes name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and, where relevant, bank details of 25m people.

This exposes 25 million people to increased risk of identity fraud and financial loss.

I'll repeat that, in case you didn't hear: 25 million people.

And we trust these people to run the country? Frankly, I wouldn't trust them to run a bath.

The question is, what are we going to do about it?

Our new replacement laptop power cable has broken, I can't access my email or my own website - although Mr delanthear tells me it's ok.

Would anything else like to break, this evening?

Did I loan you my copy of "V for Vendetta"*? If so, can I have it back?

Asked in the vain hope that I loaned it out rather than merely misplaced it somewhere in the house...

*the book, not the film

Hmm... it looks like my cat Lindisfarne's killing drought is over - I've just found two squirrel corpses in the back garden. Nice.

It's clearly his handiwork, he has a very distinctive preference for brains. I wish I was kidding.

*sigh*

If I am logged in to my Windows XP computer (at home) with the administrator account, why can't I access the "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents" folder? I can access all the other folders under "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users"...

Is there a Windows equivalent of chmod which I can use to figure out what's going on?

Those of a folky, musical bent might find this website useful : thesession.org, a site set up for sharing traditional music, with quite an extensive library of tunes, all freely available.

I might have to get my violin out this evening :)

Good afternoon all -

I finished Harry Potter book six last night, and am eager to get on with book 7. Would any of those who bought and read it the other week be willing to loan me their copy?

Don't all shout at once...