Nice new house on the the market

Let's hope it sells...

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Raiders of the Lost Bungalow

On Friday we went up to Manchester to Great Uncle Arthur's (GUA) bungalow. GUA is eccentric, and definitely a favourite great uncle, but sadly he's moving into a retirement home - so many of the family heirlooms (and much else) have to go. With Great Auntie Astrid (GAA) we went through many of the memories, and photos of past Astburys. GUA is a great collector, and has assembled a museum's worth of ornaments. Who knows if there is something priceless amongst the collection of unidentifiable relics? We took away a few artefacts which have been passed down the family, including a 200 year old solid oak dining table, and a rather dodgy statue of the Duke of Wellington.

Stepping into GUA's bungalow was like teleporting back in time 50 years. With the exception of a kettle and microwave, there was nothing modern. I kind of liked the place, from the ornament-lined windows you could see rolling hills of peaceful countryside. It must have been an inspiration to the enormous amount of writing he did over the years. I aspire to one day be just as eccentric. All I need are some great nephews and nieces.

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Disney, Daytona and Dunkin Donuts

I spent last week in meetings in Orlando, so Clare came along to catch some winter sun, revise and eat steak. We spent our first day in the Magic Kingdom, where it was drummed into us that if we believe, our dreams will come true. If my dreams came true, Earth would be invaded by giant warmongering robots from another planet, so let's hope there are some exceptions to Disney's claim.

On the last day we (along with my work colleagues) took our 3.5 litre monster SUV up to Daytona Beach, just in time to catch 'Bike Week'. This was an interesting assortment of large beardy men riding high-powered choppers and Harleys up and down 'Main Street' with scantily clad young women trying to sell them beer. Needless to say, fun was had by all.

Thanks goes to my parents for looking after young Morris for the week we were away. I think he misses his doting grandparents already.

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Grandpa

On Thursday it was Grandpa's funeral, a very sad occasion, we'll all miss him. He filled his 90 years of life with learning, engineering, humour, interesting anecdotes, and giving his grandson rides on his back (when I was small anyway). I hope by the time I die, I can achieve just a handful of the things he did.

How big are your carbon feet?

Carbon footprints are all the rage these days, so I decided to calculate mine using the Act on CO2 website provided by the government. Its a nice site, and I recommend you have a go. I was astounded to find that our household footprint is over 22 tonnes - maybe I should change a few light bulbs. How does yours compare?

http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/

Board stupid

Long time, no posts - I've been too busy snowboarding with Al and EJ (as pictured above).

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GRIM Challenge 2007

On Saturday I successfully completed the GRIM Challenge, an 8 mile off-road race over a vehicle testing ground used by the British Army. It was wet, really wet, and on several occasions I was waist deep in cold muddy water. Surprisingly though - it was really fun - and I can't wait to do it again - well I can wait until my joints have stopped hurting. There were 1560 people running on the same day, I came 705th, with a time of 1 hour 21 minutes - which I was very pleased with. Many thanks to all of my supporters (including those who couldn't make it). I'm trying to decide what to do next, a marathon or Mont Blanc?

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Brussels

Clare and I just spent a long and very cold weekend in Brussels with Kev and Suzanne. We had a great time eating exotic uncooked meats, drinking rather nice beer and sampling the sights and sounds of the city. We headed over to Bruges for a day trip, although the highlight was taking part in a debate in the European Parliament - yawn.

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Book review: Frankenstein

I don't normally do book reviews, partly because I'm a really slow reader, but this book surprised me so I thought I'd write something about it. I was expecting to read about the green monster complete with bolt through neck, brought to life with electricity. However, none of these elements exist in the original book. Instead it's a sad story describing how Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessed with a scientific experiment to create a life form. The result of which is a polite, well meaning and rather pleasant being with an unfortunate appearance, so disgusting that his creator abandons him without giving him a name. A series of rejections, and the refusal of Frankenstein to create a partner for the monster forces his creation to seek revenge, and to destroy Frankenstein's life. The story is really more about how the scientist attempts to make good his tragic experiment, rather than the trail of destruction left by the monster. At times the book's linear path begins to drag, but it was written by a 19 year old girl in 1818 so I guess I can forgive that!

6 Months Left...

There are now only 6 months left until Clare sits her final medical exams, so the long slog of revising started today with the creation of the 'revision plan'. This mass of paperwork has been stuck to the wall to assist in the planning of time, and to record the coverage of each topic. I'm not sure I quite understand it, but hopefully Clare will by the end of May.

Richard is doing his part by cooking and baking some delicious food. Sadly yesterday's apple pie was not a shining example - bit too much butter in the pastry :¬[