Just Faffing

Alive

2007-02-16T13:01:00.000Z

30 things I have done since I last wrote a blog post:

1. Applied for a new job in Leeds
2. Started the new job aforementioned job and joined the other thousands of people who commute to Leeds every day
3. Bought a new car
4. Sold the bullet and made a grand total of £10 profit
5. Become the proud owner of an overpriced parking space in Leeds town centre
6. Bought quite a few things in the Leeds branch of Harvey Nicks
7. Joined an equally overpriced gym in the centre of Leeds that has a very cool swimming pool on the 5th floor with a glass roof. (which incidentally I haven’t swum in yet).
8. Agreed to go on a bike ride for 4 days to get from Lincoln to Cromer which is a total of 160miles.
9. Thought about buying a bike
10. Agreed to run a 10km race in July.
11. Bought tickets to see Muse at Wembley in June so it had better be finished
12. Learnt to get up at 5.55am everyday
13. Sat in a lot of traffic jams
14. Worked far more overtime than I have ever done in the past
15. Learnt lots of exciting new architecture stuff
16. Got used to working in an office of 80 people and the amazing volume of crap you get emailed everyday when you work in such a large office
17. Found a route from my car park to work along the river which is really pretty
18. Went to the Costa Del Sol for a very ‘classy’ mini break!
19. Learnt that when your oven is broken for 3 months that there are in fact a lot of dishes that can be cooked on a hob
20. When deciding that when the oven is broken buying a new kitchen is not the answer as it cost lots of money to fit (boo)
21. Decorating is my least favourite way to spend a weekend
22. Discovering Phil can actually sit through Happy Feet without falling asleep or complaining
23 Discovering Phil can’t actually sit through any Audrey Hepburn movie without falling asleep or complaining
24 Realising that with the new series of Top Gear that I still hate Jeremy Clarkson
25 Discovering the Shield is the best cop drama ever made..role on season 6.
26 Lost is rubbish
27 Went to see Ben Folds who was again a genius on the piano
28 Went to see Richard Ashcroft who was amazing live
29 Found that I love Masterchef Going Large
30 Had no time to write my blog

Helloooo

2006-08-18T11:58:00.000+01:00

I’m not very good at this website thing am I? I have a list as long as my arm of things to tell you. Some of it is from so long ago I doubt I’ll ever get round to it.

I’ve still got loads of pictures from my phone to post but first I must magic them on to the computer. Recently I have mostly been nursing Phillip back to health after a rather nasty bout of man flu and stressing about camping. Lots of decorating has also been done and I have finally stripped all the horrible wallpaper from our stairs and landing. (The painting hasn’t quite happened yet.)

Tomorrow I am going to lay everything out on the bed I am taking to Leeds and then try (probably unsuccessfully) to pack it all in my rucksack and still be able to lift it! I have definitely bought enough wipes to cover all occasions!

Going to see ‘Snakes on a Plane’ on Sunday - will report back next week on whether it lives up to the hype!

Future City

2006-07-14T09:35:00.000+01:00

I have come into work an hour early to print out my CV as I have run out of black ink at home. Unfortunately so has my boss who sits only 2 desks away so there is no way he wouldn’t notice me printing out my CV. So I have an hour to kill and I’m buggered if I’m doing an hour of work.

Well it has been a busy few weeks. So I haven’t been blogging much. The sunshine has definitely been a factor in reducing my posts. Most evenings I much prefer sitting on a bench in the garden with a G+T and gossiping with Jo to going to type up a post! So what’s been going on? I shall write up my adventures in London the other week bit by bit.

I had one day on my own in London which was actually really odd. I can’t remember the last time I had this kind of time to myself with the choice of exhibitions, shops, etc before me. So I decided to visit the Future City exhibition at the Barbican.

I have only been to the Barbican once before when I was a child. I couldn’t really remember it very well and as the Barbican is an icon of architecture of a sort I thought I’d go. The exhibition was also curated by Future Systems, the Architecture firm famous for the Lords cricket ground and the Selfridges store in Birmingham.

I was interested to see how the exhibition was designed as much as its contents. The show attempted to bring together urbanist’s ideas for the future of the city from the 1950s to now. The first part of the exhibition spanned the 50s, 60s and 70s. Each major movement in urban design was represented from the Situationists to Archigram. There were some pretty spectacular models of the Smithson’s future house from 1956 and crazy living pods for space from the 1960s. I thought this part of the exhibition was very simply designed and easy to follow if a little bit boring. It felt like Future Systems had simply put together a history of urban design. There was no discourse on the success or failure of these ideas neither had they related them back to the modern day city.

Downstairs was put together differently. Projects rather than manifestos were the order of the day, running in approximately chronological order. The projects were interesting and included all the modern starchitects you would expect. Libeskind, Tschumi, Foster, OMA, MVRDV. It was an interesting collection and mostly in Model format but again there lacked any kind of discourse about the relevance of the ideas in the project on urban design and the future of the city.

I enjoyed my little visit to the Barbican though and wasn’t surprised to find it is difficult to find anything. The exhibition leaflets and the website just said The Barbican so I took an educated guess that it was in the main centre. Once I arrived after walking under a really ugly concrete road underpass I found no sign of it. In the end I asked at reception and they directed me up to the Art Gallery on the 3rd floor, obviously!

Right I shall publish this now and stick the pictures and links in later or it will just sit on my computer for another couple of weeks!

New Gadgets

2006-06-13T21:06:00.000+01:00

Phil has a new phone. It is a smart phone obviously that does all the things a computer does apparently but also makes a lot of annoying noises. It even looks geeky this time. It is giant with a slidy keyboard. I have banned Phillip from wearing it on his belt in public!

This phone isn't really what I wanted to tell you guys about. We now have satellite navigation for the bullet! (It came free with the phone apparently...not sure I believe him.) This clever gadget also means we can look up on line where the bullet is at all times and send each other messages to it over the interweb like 'When will you be home?'. Funny I thought that what phones were for but oh well I am but a technophobe. I know we all need as many multifunctioning gadgets as we possibly fit our pockets. (Like Phil's new LED packed pedometer which is rubbish at counting steps but great for putting silly messages on and then pinning to your shirt.)

Well Phil was just demonstrating this new technology and it tells us that the bullet is currently in Chichester. Wow I think someone has actually managed to steal it..but no it is still outside the house, faithfully not breaking down. Phil got a bit annoyed when I told him it was a bit rubbish this new gadget and went off mumbling something about the website crashing.

On another gadget front I have decided to buy a MP3 player with a screen because my shuffle is pissing me off. So if anyone is off to USA soon let me know and I'll put an order in.

Race for Life Mark 2

2006-06-06T21:36:00.000+01:00

It is now 2 days since the race and I have now just got round to writing. Jo and I were very conscientious and tried not to drink for a whole week before the race….harder than it seems when you consider how beautiful the weather was. Perfect for sitting in the garden having a BBQ (which we did on Saturday) and drinking Pimms (this we left out).

I was feeling pretty nervous about the race on Saturday and quite apprehensive. Jo and I had been training quite hard for the last few weeks but all our runs were based on time not distance as we don’t have a pedometer or anything similar. So we started getting stressed thinking we probably only run about 1 mile and would collapse on race day. Jo came to the rescue by looking up our normal route on a website called mapmyrun.com or something. Thankfully it turned out we had been running the right distance so we stopped panicking.

On race day we got the tram out to Don Valley and did the big group warm up session and then before we knew it we were off. We managed to run the whole thing in 37 minutes so we are feeling proud of ourselves especially Beth who got a stitch half way round and still managed to keep going. The weather was really sunny and hot so by the end we all looked bright red and pretty sweaty. The photos are here so have a look!

Thanks everyone who sponsored me. I raised £170 for cancer research which isn’t bad considering it wasn’t too painful! The only injury sustained was a blister on my right foot.

Jo and I are planning to carry on running throughout the summer and maybe run a 10 km race later in the year. I have really surprised myself by enjoying running plus the added advantage has been losing an inch and half around my waist which can’t be bad! I have a feeling we will feel less keen when the winter comes so I might as well make the most of my new found fitness levels while it lasts!

Race for Life

2006-05-29T19:31:00.000+01:00

As you may or may not know I am running in the Race for Life in Sheffield next Sunday. I have been training for the last couple of months and I think I am just about ready. Gulp. I am raising money for cancer research. I have sent out a load of emails but if you don't get one please, please, pretty please dig your hands in the pockets and sponser me here. I think it is pretty safe to say this is the one and only time I will run a race so be generous!

Thanks everyone.

xx

Saville gardens Vistor Centre

2006-05-29T19:27:00.000+01:00

Here are the pictures of Saville Gardens Visitor Centre under construction I promised ages ago. Please excuse the quality, I took them on my phone.

Up date

2006-05-29T19:08:00.000+01:00

So what has been going on? Not much worth writing about really!

The past few weeks have been massively busy. I have been at work, been training, throwing Eurovision parties, going out for Chris's 30th and lots of other stuff too. Some of my uni friends all made the effort to come last Saturday so thanks Rachel, Liz and Lottie. You all travel a pretty long way and I really enjoyed seeing you all.

Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago I hurt my back and have been going to a Chinese doctor for the last few weeks so that I am able to run in the race next Sunday.

In the wake of the recent comments about complimentary medicines by the NHS I can definately say acupuncture helped me. I know lots of people are very suspicious about complimentary medicine and all I can say is that chinese herbs and acupuncture have helped me with migraines and exzcma far more than my normal doctor ever has.

I have absolutely no idea how it works as I am dubious about the existence of Qi. But it does work for me. I went to a new doctor this time and he not only did acupuncture on my back but cupping a la Gwenyth Paltrow. Oh I feel like I should be in the pages of Now. Here is a picture of one the bruises it caused on my back. Strangely it didn't hurt and they faded in a couple of days. I was pretty shocked at how bad they looked though!

Right I'm off. Byeee

A Rant

2006-05-08T13:59:00.000+01:00

I am fully taking advantage of this blog being a forum for me to moan about things that annoy me.

Jeremy Clarkson et al (the short one and the one with really, really bad hair) get on my nerves.

Maybe that is the point of Top Gear, to get on the nerves of every girlfriend in the country.

I truly believe that Philip can find a programme at any time of the day with Jeremy blithering on about some crap, generally looking smug about smashing a crap car or caravan up or driving a car that costs more than 3 times my house did.

This rant was caused by the smug student walking by me at lunchtime with a T-shirt that stated in white writing on a black background…

“I am the Stig”

Oh for god’s sake.

Eurovision

2006-05-04T16:57:00.000+01:00

I may have mentioned before that I love Eurovision. So as the boys are shaving off Jim’s eyebrows somewhere in Scotland on Eurovision weekend I thought why not combine 2 of my favourite things?

I hereby announce a Eurovision Cocktail party. I shall email out some invites but if you are free on the 20th May, female (no boys allowed as they smell) know me or one of my friends and can be in Sheffield you are welcome to join us.

I shall be making up some kind of sweepstake relating to the countries involved and the type of drink and food everyone should bring to the party. Watch this space for more details!

Come on Daz, you can do it.

Windsor Great Park

2006-04-28T10:42:00.000+01:00

Whenever I visit my family we go walking in Windsor Great Park. We generally go around Saville Gardens (not in it as it is expensive and we are cheap and prefer to spend our money on a ridiculously over priced coffee and big cake in the cafe) and then down into the Valley gardens. These gardens are beautiful and cover a huge area.

They are generally pretty quiet except for the odd family picnic or plant enthusiast tourist. Unless you happen to be going for a walk when the Polo is on, then there are lots of over enthusiastic Americans trying to get a glimpse of Prince William and blag their way into the posh enclosure where all the toffs and celebs are drinking champagne. Thankfully this only happens once a year. The rest of the year there is normally some Pony club buggering about on the polo fields not affecting the rest of the park.

I have been going to the park for as long as I can remember. We always used to go for a long trek on Christmas Eve as children. I think it was in the hope my parents would manage to tire us out enough to sleep at least a bit before Father Christmas arrived. My Dad used to be friends with one of the gardeners and I remember stopping off in his cosy cottage near the Queen Mum’s house for a hot chocolate on the way round.

The park has some of the most beautiful rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias I have ever seen. But the park has minimal visitor facilities and no gimmicky attractions. I think for this reason there is currently a drive to encourage more visitors. They are therefore building a new visitors centre.

Every time I go home it is really interesting to see the progress they have made on the build. The building has a beautiful larch frame roof that was slowly jacked into an organic wave that perches on top of clear storey glazing giving the impression that it is floating. On my last visit the roof had been clad in green Oak taken from the park. I have never seen a roof clad in wood like this anywhere in England before. It will be interesting to see how it weathers.

When it is finished the building will have a panoramic view over Saville gardens and will house a café, learning centre and nursery. It is really good to see that the Crown estates have made such an effort with the design of this building when they could have quite easily plopped a shed down on the site. Instead they will have a landmark building which should give a clear identity to the gardens and Windsor Great Park. It already looks settled in the landscape. I took some pictures on my phone which I will post when Phil magically downloads them onto the computer without the use of any wires. Technology nowadays is quite amazing but sadly still just out of my grasp.

I recommend a visit if anyone is down South for the weekend (or lives there obviously!).

Easter

2006-04-21T13:43:00.000+01:00

Hello everybody. Hope you all had a good Easter.

Easter has been and gone in an orgy of chocolate, lots of food and booze and no DIY or exercise predictably!

Jo and I had planned to go running at least once but once the hangovers took a hold it didn’t seem such a great idea.

Thursday night was spent catching up with Jo and Lisa in Ha Ha bar. Rob then turned up and it turned into a real drinking session first in the Wig and Pen and then in Boho until the bar staff started sweeping up around us at around 2. Jo then made us a very tasty middle of the night bacon sandwich which I think helped ward off the worst of the hangovers.

For some reason during the evening the conversation turned to fantasy football. Now believe it or not I have a fantasy football team at work and am in the same league as Rob’s work. Now I don’t think I am doing too badly as I am currently around 62nd in our mini league and 3rd in the office (which does mean I am beating 2 blokes in our office who actually know about football). So I tell Rob this and swear blind that I am 70th in the country. He was suitably impressed until I checked my actual position countrywide not just in my mini league. I am an amazing 88645th. Oh dear!

Friday was lost to a lie in and lots of house work….borring. Then on Saturday Phil’s Dad turned up for a visit. We had a nice walk down Rivelin valley and looked at all the ruined mills and knackered allotments. (Glamorous is Sheffield.) I left Phil and his Dad in the pub and went home to make a big curry to feed at least 5 of us as Jo and Rob were about too. Luckily I made extra as Tim turned up to drop a few things in just when I was about to dish up and so he got fed too!

I made lamb Dopiaza, chicken Balti and Aloo Gobi. It was all really nice and I’ll post up the recipes one of these days. When I first started this blog I thought it would mostly become a food blog. I try new recipes every week and love cooking but so far none of it has appeared. I am going to try and take pictures when I am cooking which should encourage me write it up here.

On Sunday Phil made us a nice roast and then we went for a long walk at Yorkshire Sculpture park. The sculpture park is near the M1 junction to Huddersfield. It is really big park with loads of sculptures from different eras (really I here you say!). Most notably a large collection of Henry Moores, a new gallery and visitors centre. It was pretty busy as it was Easter Sunday but not disgustingly so. It is definitely one of my favourite places to go near our house. It is free which definitely scores high on the enjoyment versus cost ratio. Phil’s dad headed back down South that evening and so we just flopped and watched ‘The Village’ which proved to be pretty unscary and a bit rubbish.

Phil had to go to work on Monday which was crap but we both had the day off to go to Harry’s naming ceremony on Tuesday. We drove to Lincolnshire on Tuesday morning and arrived just in time for the ceremony. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I have only ever been to christenings before. In fact the ceremony was really sweet with Charlotte and Neil getting a bit teary along with everyone else. Phil and I were sat next to a small child named Kyle throughout and after his Mum came up to us and said..”oh I do hope you both have had chicken pox!”. I say yes, Phil says no and looks a bit stricken. We are awaiting the arrival of the spots as we speak!

Bugger

2006-04-13T14:03:00.000+01:00

I don't think I have quite got the hang of links yet. I'll sort it tomorrow!

So what has been going on recently?

2006-04-13T13:57:00.000+01:00

As Phil has so eloquently posted here we spent a very pleasant weekend in Linlithgow with Rachel and Nick. It was really nice to see them as they are missed back here in Sheffield.

Otherwise not a lot is going on. I have started to train outside for the race for life. I was afraid I would hate it but it is far less tedious than running in the gym. There are loads more to look at and I am running with Jo so we can gossip as we go (well when we have enough breath). So far we have run in the rain so I have become one of those people you look at on the way home and think to yourself

‘What a crazy bastard running in the rain. You would never catch me doing that!’

I shall let you lot know how we get on. So far there haven’t been any funny stories or mishaps but as you all know it is just a matter of time. I am quite amazed I haven’t fallen off the back of a treadmill yet.

I have booked a table for my birthday in a couple of weeks at Wasabisabi which I am looking forward to. (To all those who are coming it is 7pm, 28th April.) This Japanese restaurant opened a while ago and has built a very good reputation. I booked early so we would get into the part of the restaurant where they cook the food in front of you. I think it is called the Teppenyaki bar. Hopefully it should be a tasty and fun experience.

It is Easter again and Phil and I are planning to pretty much do bugger all. We have loads of annoying jobs around the house that need finishing and the running training will carry on. Phil’s Dad is threatening a visit so I think we may visit the Kelham Island Industrial museum and have a few real ales in the Fat Cat afterwards (well they will but I will be a philistine and stick to G and T).

On Tuesday we are off to Harry’s naming ceremony in Lincoln where I will invariably get broody again and scare Phil!

So that is it. See you.

It'll probably pour down....

2006-04-05T13:46:00.001+01:00

Yay..I'm going to the Leeds festival with Phil and Tim. I managed to get tickets yesterday so I am very pleased with myself.

I am a bit worried about the whole camping and not washing a lot thing. But nevermind, I'll just have to buy a hat I suppose.

Sorry about the lack of posts of late. I have been pretty busy. I do have lots of posts on the back burner though so watch this space.

Today I did something very stupid….

2006-03-27T22:00:00.000+01:00

And as you all know that is very unusual for me!

I had a meeting today at a Primary School in an old pit village outside Barnsley. This village is pretty much how you would imagine a very depressed area with high unemployment. The school is practically a prison. The fences are 6ft high palisade with the tops that are designed to kill burglars. These fences aren’t designed to keep the children in but rather the druggies out at night. This particular school also happens to be slap bang in the middle of the village’s council estate. Lots of the houses are boarded up and covered in graffiti.

So I arrive just about on time for my meeting this afternoon. The school has some LEA funding due to it being in such a shit area. I think it is classed as being poorer than most of Usbekistan. The school are targeting the early years in an effort to get the youngest children toilet trained or something along those lines. They therefore are building a brand spanking new foundation unit.

Enter Jane. This school is an hour and a quarter drive from shef. I need a wee and am in a rush. And a flap. She is on time but will be late if she doesn’t get a wiggle on and change out of her driving shoes, brush hair, locate drawings, etc. It is also pissing down with rain. I run inside. Have 2 hour meeting discussing merits of scheme and how LEA have no money. At this point school has finished and not many people are about. It is still pissing down.

Return to car. Realise I have left lights on. I am also, bear in mind, in the middle of nowhere, a distinctly dodgy nowhere. Get in car. Try and start it. BUGGER. Not working. Before all you lot go ‘How on earth could you forget?’, the bullet does not have a buzzer telling you the lights are on when you open the door. Far to sophisticated for a J reg Nova. I start to wonder whether I really should have joined the AA. Like the advert where the bloke bought some Jeans instead of joining and then got stuck. (Except I have a nasty feeling I spent mine on gin.)

Then my client (a typical local authority employee who is incredibly nice but a bit useless) appears. Thank god…savour in a crumpled suit. Mr W (for that is his name) very kindly jump started the bullet for me. I am so grateful the school car park was on a bit of a hill. He then told me to be careful not to stall it on the way home and drove off.

The paranoia. I hardly ever stall. I have never driven as carefully as I did on my way back to shef. I made it though and the bullet is safely outside and I will never leave the lights on again. Really.

I've been saving this since Friday's Final

2006-03-22T14:44:00.000Z

A quick note about a TV programme that all 3 of us at Ball Road got addicted to for the last month. Masterchef goes Large.

This programme (series linked) was for half an hour every week day and was the 2nd year of the updated version of the Masterchef programmes that odd bloke from ‘Through the key hole’ presented in the nineties. (His name escapes me at the moment but he now has a line of pasta sauces oddly.)

After a month of viewing and a final that lasted a whole week I just had one thing to say. Digger Dean was robbed. Peter should have been chucked out weeks ago for being a pompous idiot.

I feel a bit better for having a public forum to express this view. I may even email the BBC.

Ill

2006-03-22T10:42:00.000Z

Today I have a cold. Not flu or anything. Just a cold. I hate colds. That is all.

Photos Imminent

2006-03-21T10:13:00.000Z

I have finally got round to signing up for a flickr account so Just Faffing will be coming to you with actual pictures as soon as I upload them!

I went to visit Lottie at the weekend and have some very cute pictures of Harry. I haven’t seen Lottie since she was pregnant and now Harry is 11 months old. Time has definitely flown. We are going to his naming ceremony at Easter too which I am looking forward to.

We had a really nice weekend in Lincoln. Phil and Neil were sent off to the pub to watch the rugby and Lottie and I went and had a good shop and a sit and gossip. We all watched The Island on Saturday night which was complete drivel. Review later.

Lottie and Neil are also proud owners of a classic Beatle and they took us for a drive around Lincoln on Sunday. It is a very cute car but very noisy and cold due having no heating system. I forgot to take a picture of it so you lot will just have to put up with baby pictures when I upload them tonight.

Architecture Book Review

2006-03-20T14:02:00.000Z

With my Christmas bonus this year I decided to buy one architecture book. (My work do give us more money than that but I wanted to spend the rest on paying off my credit card and decorating our bedroom!).

I hardly ever actually buy a new architecture book. Mags keep us up to date on buildings around the world and now all architects have websites if you particularly interested in something it is easy to look it up on the web. At work we also have the barbour index which means it is pretty pointless buying technical texts especially considering how quickly it goes out of date.

For ages I have wanted a book which has lots of construction details. Like a cross between detail magazine and the Barry and Mitchell books which are pretty horrible. I found the book while reading book reviews on archinet (A good architecture forum). It is a classic architecture text that has been recently translated from German. It is like Chudley with a bit of class added. I ordered it from Amazon in January and it finally turned up this week.

It is called ‘Constructing Architecture’ by Andrea Deplazes. The drawings in it are simple and easy to read. It is really useful to have a set of standard details for every kind of junction ever imaginable as well as loads of info on vernacular structures and historical details. It even details up solid concrete modernist houses. Not sure they meet regs here though!

The details give you the principles of using different structure and materials together. It doesn’t give you the up to date u-values etc so most of them will need amending but it is nice to know I could now draw up a glass staircase without too much hassle.

The book also has lots of pictures of the details in reality which I think are useful. I quite often draw something up (like weep holes) without knowing what they will look like until the builder has done them. I think that is because I haven’t really been to site much.

Right, anyway better get back to actually drawing some sections. Hope I haven’t bored you non architects too much.

Two bits of News

2006-03-16T14:57:00.000Z

1. A couple of weeks ago I bought some proper running trainers, what Phil calls a spastic water bottle and some new running trousers. Typically since then my private job suddenly got urgent, it has been bloody cold and I’ve been away so I haven’t actually run in them yet. So tonight I will christen them. I am looking forward to it, as they really are the most comfy shoes I have ever owned. Thanks for the advice from Chris and Jane. I still can’t run very far but hopefully I will improve! I will only be on a treadmill but as soon as it stops bloody snowing I will go running outside.

2. Can’t remember what this news was now. I’ll get back to you

3. Oh yeah…sorry I have a bad memory. I booked a table at Fifteen (Jamie Oliver’s restaurant) for lunch with my mum and sister in the summer today. I am quite sadly excited about potentially seeing the man himself. They do a set menu for £25, which I thought, was bargainous.

Misadventures in Birmingham

2006-03-15T13:55:00.000Z

Why is it you always have the best nights out when you aren’t planning to? The big nights out that you plan always seem to be a bit of a let down. And then a night out takes you completely by surprise and you have a real laugh.

You may wonder why I ended up dancing to Kanye West at 2.30am in a classy joint named Rococo on Saturday night. Well I went on a girlie weekend! I can’t remember the last time I left all the boys behind and had a really good shop and boogie. I think it was Rachel’s hen do when she made us do an aerial assault course before any alcohol was cracked open!

Lisa, Jo and I thought it might be fun to go away for a night and as Lisa has just got engaged we thought we could have a warm up for the Hen night. So off we went to Birmingham. It seemed the obvious choice. Not very far, good shops and a big enough city for a good night out. We met at shef station and stocked up with M&S Harvey Wallbangers and we were on our way. Jo discovered that M&S sell portable cocktails on a journey to London when she drank 5 while sat down and then could hardly walk when she got to St Pancras. Lisa and I tried them when we were getting ready to go out one Friday night and they definitely hit the spot.

We got to Birmingham with no hassles on the train mind you, you do have to wonder when people are drinking cans of Tennants at 10 in the morning. Dumped our stuff at the hotel and went shopping. Lots of money later we stopped for a boozy lunch in café rouge then it was back to shopping. We made it back to the hotel by about 4 and had a good snooze before we started on the cocktails. It all started going downhill from there really.

We didn’t make it out until 9. We had a pizza for tea and decided it was a brilliant idea to have a bottle of Prosecco then it was onto the Pitcher and Piano next door. A couple of gins down the line and some very dodgey men claiming it was their birthday we decided to make a swift exit. Then we hit a problem. Where to go next. We asked some girls in the loo. We even asked the bloke who claimed it was his birthday. Everyone replied Reflex or Walkabout, which surprised us, but we decided to go with the flow. Reflex and walkabout were just round the corner but they had huge queues! After a look at the people in the queue for Reflex we decided to go with pot luck instead. That was how we found ourselves in the Rococo bar.

Those of you who haven’t been out dancing for a bit like me and certainly been out dancing in Birmingham will forget how odd a weekend night out can be. I ordered 3 Cosmopolitans at the bar thinking ‘that’ll save time they’ll make them all together'. But no the bar man made each one by one and kept putting the ingredients away after each pour. Odd. Jo kept saying…’This is what it is like in the Midlands. I hate the Midlands’, and chasing off hopeful looking drunk men who were eyeing up Lisa. When you aren’t on the pull and sufficiently drunk to keep spilling your own drink over yourself and not caring, like I kept doing, Saturday night out on the town was surprisingly amusing.

The next morning my god we were relieved the hotel bar was closed when we got back. At the time we were very disappointed but with a few more drinks the hangovers would have got out of control. And god did they hurt. Lisa’s lasted a good 2 days. That is the last time I drink cocktails, bubbly, vodka and gin in one night. No really.

Private Job

2006-03-10T16:16:00.000Z

Yay it is FRIDAY!!!

It seems to have been a long week. I have been doing my very first private job which constitutes a Building Regulations Application. I need to get it done so we can apply before the new Part L, Part B, Part P and Part F come into place in April.

It was hard enough doing all the details without having to deal with revision to have the blooming regulations. The new legislation is meant to help reduce carbon emissions and will be quite onerous. They will for the first time effect house renovations. If you are refurbishing more than 25% of a building element i.e. rendering one wall out of 4 you will have to apply, so look out house owners out there.

I have hated every minute of doing this private job. The money is good but I definitely prefer the spare time. I spent hours on this one mainly because it is the first application I have done without the benefit of advice from my directors, full use of the library, etc. Definitely a steep learning curve but god am I glad to be nearly finished. I just need to write my specification at the weekend and it is all done.

I am off on a girly weekend to Birmingham tomorrow which will be nice. Will probably go and try very expensive shoes in Selfridges so expect some girly fashion pictures next week!

I made my mind up

2006-03-08T16:30:00.000Z

I know I am a few days late with this post but i haven't had much time to write this week as I have been trying to finish off a private job. But I have been saving this one up....

One word which either brings up emotions of dread, amusement or indifference.

EUROVISION

I love eurovision. I love its cheesiness. I love the way that neighbouring countries always vote for each other, Terry Wogan taking the mick. Watching subtitles for the dodgey lyric translations.

I can think of nothing better than settling down to watch eurovision with my sister. When we were teenagers we marked each act. We did this again last year and I don't remember laughing so much for ages, although there is a higher alcohol consumption now we are nearer 30 than 15.

Each year we give points for costumes, unlikely instruments and bonus points for any additional gimmick for example pieces of clothing being removed. If my memory serves me right last year the act with a knitting granny in a rocking chair got our highest bonus mark.

I watched 'Making your mind up' on Saturday night. For all you noneurovision fans this is the programme in which the UK showcases our finalists for our eurovision song. You must bear in mind that we don't actually enter the competition expecting to win. It is all in the taking part.

All the acts were dreadful. Not in the eurovision spirit at all except one. Daz Sampson. He looks like a 40 year old plumber from Newcastle (slighty pervy really), wears stone wash denim, Raps about teenage life with 18 year old girls dressed in school uniform dancing in the background. Pure eurovision genious.

For info see his website. I'd post a picture but I haven't worked that out yet instead here are the lyrics for 'Teenage Life'

Teenage Life

Now hear this
"What did you learn at school today?"
That's what the teachers used to say
But they don't know
Don't understand, do they
Why do they always give advice
Saying "Just be nice, always think twice"
When it's been a long since they had a teenage life
"What did you learn at school today?"
That's what the teachers used to say
But they don't know
Don't understand, do they
Why do they always give advice
Saying "Just be nice, always think twice"
When it's been a long time since they had a teenage life
Dwelling on the past, from back when I was young
Thinking of my school days and trying to write this song
Classroom schemes and dreams
Man they couldn't save me
Cos my days were numbered when I signed down on Avy
Teenage kicks running out what could we do
I still show respect to my boys who made it through
And getting told off Mr T how my life would be
Then giving him a signal
So everyone could see
Sunshine and shade
Those girls I'd serenade
Thinking of those sixth form chicks that misbehave
Hoping that those days would go on and on forever
Every day something new

Now that is my style of model making.

2006-03-03T14:16:00.000Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4733304.stm

(I promise to ask Phil how to make these links actually work without having to cut and paste them.)

Thank crunchie it's Friday

2006-03-03T13:55:00.000Z

My legs feel like they are going to fall off. My arms aren’t doing to well either. Bloody training regime. There was I thinking

‘Oh well I’m not very experienced in this running lark. I know I’ll get a review at the gym as well as following the training thing on the website.’

Enter Nipher. Nipher, god knows why he is called that as his name badge says Neil, got very excited when I said I was going to train to do a run. I should have known then I suppose. He fooled me by being small and friendly looking as opposed to some of the other trainers in the gym who look scarily muscly and big. So he devices me a plan of cardio and resistance training that will compliment my running. Compliment my arse. Actually that is probably the only place that isn’t hurting at the moment! Humph. Hopefully it will get easier the more I do it.

I was going to start a regular feature today in honour of Lisa. Ever since we discovered cuteoverload.com and kittenwars she always calls me over to have a good ‘ahhhhh’ atleast once a week. So the feature will be:

‘Cute picture of the week’

(Hopefully a girly enough feature to keep Christian happy). But I have absolutely no idea how to get a picture onto my blog yet and no time to find out. I will ask Philly how to do it this weekend.

I’m off to have a good nosey round Karen’s brand new house this evening so I will report back next week

A nice alternative to the normal error message.

2006-03-02T14:52:00.000Z

http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~geoffo/humour/flattery.html

Running (well more like jogging at the moment)

2006-03-02T13:56:00.000Z

I am doing the race for life this year and I am feeling quite worthy (although scared). It is a 5km run for Cancer Research.

Those of you who run regularly will be going

‘Oh that is soooooo easy. I run that in 10 minutes’

But those of you who have never run for longer than 5 minutes in their lives will understand my feelings of trepidation. I am not a natural runner. I am blessed / cursed with a large proportioned top half which has led me to buy the unsexiest piece of underwear to keep them under control. At the moment I am on the hunt for a pair of trainers that don’t give me blisters and aren’t going to cost me more than a pair of heels in Karen Millen. I bought a new pair of running shoes in the John Lewis sale. But unfortunately I made the elemental error of not really trying them on.
(Yes the train of thought went something along the lines of: God aren’t trainers boring? Would be much better to spend this money on a nice pair of flats that I saw in Faith. Oh these will do.)
So I have found that they are enormously uncomfortable and give me very big blisters. Grrr.

So I will keep you guys updated on the training or possibly the worrying lack of it and post a link for sponsorship so I can make lots of lolly for Cancer Research.

And it is only Tuesday

2006-02-28T12:19:00.000Z

Right well I have obviously failed to sort this blog template over the weekend but hey-ho. I did manage to nearly complete my bedroom curtains though so it wasn't a completely unconstructive weekend. I may have watched quite a lot of Rugby too. (Bloody scots bringing out what looked like all the extras from braveheart.)

On Saturday Phil and I also had a surprisingly good curry at the 7 spices including a v hot sidedish of curried squash. The only other time I have been to this particular curry house was on Rachel and Nick's leaving do which I'm not sure any of us can recollect very well. It was really busy at 9 on a sat night which is always a good sign I suppose.

Right off to the megalopolis of Barnsley again now to see about another Primary School. Bye

This week

2006-02-23T16:30:00.000Z

Phil and I have been decorating all weekend and so I haven’t really had to sort my template out but I am just going to start blogging regardless. My bedroom now has white and very pale blue walls. Thank god. After 2 years of living in lime green and violet patterned hell it is amazingly restful even though we are still using a large powder blue blanket as a curtain. I haven’t quite got round to making our lovely new curtains even though I bought the fabric with my 2004 Christmas bonus. Now that is what I call procrastination.

Well, although I swore I was going to the gym tonight, a last minute suggestion of going to the Florist for 7.30 has thwarted my plan. Although I didn’t put up a lot of resistance. Should be home just in time to sigh a lot over lovely Dr Kovac in the new series of ER. And then in the morning I am off to the megalopolis of Barnsley to see about another primary school. So shall get back to this on Saturday. Byeee

This took me back.

2006-02-22T10:12:00.000Z

YOU KNOW YOU'RE STUDYING ARCHITECTURE WHEN...

1. the alarm clock tells you when to go to sleep.
2. when someone offers you a Bic pen, you feel offended.
3. you know what UHU glue stick tastes like.
4. you CELEBRATE space
5. coffee and cokes are tools, not treats.
6. people get nauseous just by smelling your caffeine breath.
7. you buy 50 magazines that you haven't read yet.
8. you think it's possible to CREATE space.
9. you've slept more than 20 hours non-stop in a single weekend.
10. you fight with inanimate objects.
11. you've fallen asleep in the washroom.
12. your brother or sister thinks he or she is an only child.
13. you've listened to all your cds in less than 48 hours.
14. you're not seen in public.
15. you lose your house keys for a week and you don't even notice.
16. you've brushed your teeth and washed your hair in theoffice washroom.
17. you've discovered the benefits of having none or very short hair.
18. you've started to appreciate inheriting baldness.
19. you've used an entire role of film to photograph the sidewalk.
20. you know the exact time the vending machines are refilled.
21. you always carry your deodorant.
22. you become excellent at recycling when making models.
23. when you try to communicate, you make a continuous and monotonous whine.
24. you've danced YMCA with excellent choreography at 3 am andwithout a single drop of alcohol in your body.
25. you take notes and messages with a rapidograph and colourmarkers.
26. you combine breakfast, lunch and dinner into one single meal.
27. you see holidays only as extra sleeping time.
28. you've got more photographs of buildings than of actual people.
29. you've taken your girlfriend (boyfriend) on a date to a construction site.
30. you've realized that French curves are not that exciting.
31. you can live without human contact, food or daylight, but if you can't make prints, it's chaos.
32. when you're being shown pictures of a trip, you ask what the human scale is.
33. you can use Photoshop, Illustrator and make a web page, but youdon't know how to use Excel.
34. you refer to great architects (dead or alive) by their firstname, as if you knew them. (Frank, Corbu, Miles, Norman...) while you cant seem to know even your close family!

Hello

2006-02-16T12:40:00.000Z

Yes I have finally got round to starting a blog. As the name suggest there was a certain amount of faffing involved in just making the decision to start a blog. I mean anyone can read it. Not that they will particularly want to. But just by having a blog you lose a bit of your privacy. For example by publishing the drivel that occurs to you in everyday life (such as this post) some stranger will know something about me. Odd. I'm going to faff about learning how to add links etc. So the blogging will probably commence sometime next week. We will just have to see how I get on with it. Here we go.

What I will mostly doing on this blog:

2006-02-15T15:50:00.000Z

faff[Brit] to spend your time doing a lot of unimportant things instead of the thing you should be doing