Can't believe Abigail is 6 months old already (well actually 27 weeks now!), but she is...and she seems to get more photogenic the more the camera is pointed at her. And that's quite a lot in our house!
Back Knacked!
What a bizarre weekend...!
So last night we had a few people round for drinks (saving the baby sitter passes for closer to Christmas!), and decided that we'd watch the Hatton v Mayweather Boxing Match. It was a long slog but the lads at least managed to stay awake for it. Result was obviously wrong, but it was a cracking fight.
I then went to bed this morning whilst Jen was up with Abigail. Later when Jen brought Abigail up for her morning nap, I got up and was just walking across the landing when BANG, my back went! Pain probably like I've never felt before and literally couldn't move it. Was having trouble catching my breath so went back to the bedroom to try and sit on the bed...worst thing I could have done. - I then ended up stuck in the position of the bloke (or woman!?) pictured above!! Yep I was doubled over like some fat bloke you see in the cartoons. Couldn't move up or down and was still struggling for breath. In the end Jen had to ring an Ambulance....!!!
7 minutes later (impressive!) there were now 2 paramedics standing in our bedroom trying to work out what was going on. Turns out that my back has apparently gone into some sort of spasm, and it's a case of waiting for it to sort itself out!
I still look totally ridiculous when trying to move and everything is an effort. Thinking back, you've no idea what a complete eejit I felt this morning I tell ya!
I'm already crawling the walls a bit, but I think I've now realised what laptops were invented for.
BEWARE! Baby Bites
It may look small but it's definitely there and blo*dy sharp! We first noticed it on the 25th and now look forward to many 'eventful' months as the rest come through...!!
Poor Abigail, I get the impression she's already had enough of the constant gum ache.
Take That.....Again!
So we went to see Take That last Monday (26th) for the second time since they got back together. Needless to say Jen was ubelievably excited about it, and was nearly uncontrollable by the time we arrived at the Arena.
Our seats were a lot better this time - approx 15 rows from the main stage and 10 rows from the centre stage. This was without doubt the closest I've been to the performers at a concert and it does make a bid difference like. (I've only ever been to Arena and Stadium gigs though).
They did all the well known 'back in the day' songs plus quite a few from their most recent album. The stage show itself was something else, - you couldn't fail to be impressed.
We were also on the end of a row so when they walked back through the crowd from the centre stage to the front - Jen was in grabbing distance...which she obviously did as you can just about make out from their reactions in the video below..!
Also got a couple of other quite good videos; Patience and Only Takes A Minute.....And needless to say there's also a shed load of photos Here.
See previous post title!
Yep Jen thrives on a bit Baby Competition!! This time it's the Evening Chronicle Baby Idol 2007 contest.
To be fair, at least I knew this one was on the cards, given that I went with Jen and Abbie on the day of the shoot. We went on the last day as we'd heard it had been like a cattle market all week with excited mothers determined to get the bairn in the paper dressed in his/her best clobber!
The photographer asked me to sit Abigail on a table and support her back. Given this was about 4 weeks ago, Abigail didn't take kindly to the whole sitting up thing due to her age, and I had to support her front too. I can't believe though that the knacka-jack photographer never thought to mention that my hand would be in the shot on the full size photo...!! We were under the impression it was just head photos they were taking.
The photos are available to buy on the web as a pack for the less than cheap price of 50 quid! which makes the fact that my hand is in the shot all the more ridiculous!!
(Shown in this post are both the photo from the web and also the newspaper).
The competition itself is judged in typical X-Factor style by the number of text votes received, which is something else I don't agree with! Anyway if you want to vote for Abigail you need to do the following;
TEXT: ECBABY 709 to 84080
(Cost is 25p)
Gotta worry about my Missus at times...!
Messing around on the computer upstairs last night and Jen shouts "Abigail's photo's in The Sun!".
Turns out the The Sun newspaper is doing a bonniest baby contest and of course Jen couldn't resist submitting a pic of the apple of her eye....
Click here to see the infamous pic of a very young Abigail. - Takes a while for the picture to come up due to the 18,000 entries!!
Early development of Night Vision
If the Auld Wives Tale about "eating Carrots helping you to see in the dark" is true then Abigail's getting an early start! 
We gave her Baby Rice for the first time last week and although she ate it, she was less than impressed with the taste. Yesterday Jen did the blended carrot thing and to our surprise it seemed to go down quite well.
I could comment on the COMPLETE difference in her nappies as a result today but I'll leave that to your imagination. Couldn't really do it justice anyway until they invent smelly vision!!
Bairns In The Baths
I went along to Abigail's 2nd Water Babies class on Monday armed with 2 cameras! (ours and Pinars).
The rest of the class are relaxed enough about photos been taken so I snapped away for 45 mins whilst getting my first insight to the world of baby swimming lessons!
Have to say I was really impressed with the techniques they use to get the little-uns confident with the water, and at the same time keeping them entertained.
Obviously the best part was watching them actually go under the water (see videos below and in the 'AbbieTube' bar), and not one of them came back up distressed.
We'll be taking Abigail abroad next year and I think I might have to seriously look at an underwater kit for my camera...!
As usual there's a flickr set of the photos, and don't forget the 'View as Slideshow' option at the top of the flickr page. (Note: Some of the pics will look a bit odd, as I thought it best to blur all the other babies faces out except for Abigail and Amber).
Royalties Due..?!
We were at a wedding doo last night and whilst standing outside talking to the smoking brigade a lass I've not seen for a good few years pipes up with;
"Eeeh you're Revell aren't you?"
Aye
"Did you take your Baby swimming a few weeks ago"
Aye
"Eeeh do you know ya photo is on the Blyth Valley website?"
Erm No!
Turns out the photo I blogged at the time was also used on the Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure website HERE.
(Incidentally, Abigail's proper 'Water Babies' classes start on Monday).
QE2
The QE2 recently visited the North East as part of it's round of tours before heading off to the far east to become a floating hotel (have you ever!?!).
After a few troubles it eventually entered the mouth of the Tyne and sailed up to North/South Shields.
Seemed only right to capture at least one shot of her before she left to sail up to Edinburgh.
(QE2 is back in the North East in Oct '08)
Picture Postcards
Jen recently went to Warkworth and Amble for the day with her parents. She took the camera for the obligatory Abigail shots, but also took a couple of scenery ones. I was particularly impressed with these two. The colours, the sharpness and the reflections give the appearance of shots from a far more expensive camera! Click on the photos to see the full size ones.
(Flickr'd the pics as usual)
A Religous Experience
We went to a Summer Fayre at my Mam's work on Saturday. She works in a care home and each year they have a fayre with all the usual stalls and raffles etc. 
John Middleton was there to open proceedings so it seemed only right to get the little-un in for a pic....
John plays Ashley the Vicar in Emmerdale, and of course we had to get Jen in on a pic too to add to the 'Famous People' section of our Flickr!!
NOTE: I use the term 'famous people' VERY loosely because there's some proper Z listers in there!!
Water Baby
Our local Sports Centre had an open day at the weekend to show off the results of the recent refurbishment.
We went along to look at the changes and were quite impressed. It was all well overdue and quite basic stuff, e.g. the addition of family changing rooms, but at least it's done.
The pools had extended ours for the day and as it was free entry we decided it would be an ideal oppurtunity to see what Abigail made of the water. After heading home to grab our stuff and the baby swim seat (another kind donation from a work colleague!), we headed to the 'little pool' which for me must have been for the first time in over 25 years!
After getting over the initial temperature surprise Abbie seemed to be really quite relaxed. She's quite used to being up to her neck in water from the Tummy Tub, and I think that might have actually helped to prepare her. After about 10 mins we tried her in the swim seat (pictured), and again she seemed to take the whole thing quite calmly.
There was a supervised photographer also around to take photos for the local swimming club. They asked permission to take our photo and I obviously leapt at the chance. He then kindly agreed to e-mail us the pic after we explained it was Abbie's first time in the pool etc.
Abigial was completely exhausted after her 20 mins of being in the pool, but it seemed like an enjoyable experience and something which we'll have to do regularly.
Monkey Tennis *
My usual fantasy football competition was disbanded at the end of last season so I decided to try the free 'metro' one this year.
As well as being free to join, you can have mini-leagues to make it more interesting. I set up a league and tried to get as many teams as possible for the start of the season, - ended up with a respectable 28 participants.
To say a lot of planning went into some people's teams is an understatement.... My work colleagues looked at literally all factors including; last year's player points, summer transfers and even which teams have the easiest start to the season. As it happens, for the opening weekend this all turned out to be in vain...!
On Wednesday evening (2 days before the deadline) Jen decided she'd like to try and enter a team. She insisted in selecting completely her own players and ignoring suggestions from me - apart from obvious help about who was currently injured and therefore wouldn't be playing. This was the result!! - A 5 point lead over her nearest rival, and me somewhere near the relegation spots!! ('Pos' refers to the teams position in the overall nationwide league as oppose to the mini-league).
Call it luck if you want, -but don't let her hear you say that!!
EDIT: You can keep track of the mini-league via the link which will remain to the right of my blog throughout the season. (Jen is no longer top after last night's game).
*A common metaphor for Women's Football
Lake District
We went to the Lake District last weekend as a kind of trial run for a wedding we're attending there in October. (Jen's a bridesmaid and had to go to be measured for her dress).
Stayed in a place called Stainton which is between Ullswater and Penrith.
We weren't really sure how it would go given Abigail has only just gone 7 weeks and it would be her first time away from home, but as it turned out everything was fine. She slept through the journey both ways, and thankfully didn't manage to keep the other guests in the hotel awake as she slept all night!
I guess the only thing we weren't fully prepared for was the amount of luggage a baby needs! We remembered everything but if we'd had one other passenger other than the 3 of us we'd defintely have needed a bigger car. Think the hotel receptionist thought I was nuts with the amount of trips I had to make to the car to empty it.
Best of all, the weather this weekend was better than it was for my whole 3 weeks paternity leave so we lapped it up!
Just need to hope that the actual wedding goes as well now....
Just need to hope that the actual wedding goes as well now....
Certified
Our Health Visitor seemed big in to all modern baby techniques and was qualified to run the Baby Massage classes. Jen decided to give it a try and although Abigail was the youngest baby they've had there, she seemed to find it worth while. Anyway as ridiculous as it seems, Abigail has her first certificate!
Abbie's development is still spot on - literally as you can see from her baby growth chart, which tracks weight against age. Most recent measurement was at 7 weeks when she weighed 10lb 9oz (+3lb since birth).
She's still sleeping like a dream (probably wrong choice of words there?), in that she sleeps from approx 9.30pm - 8.00 straight through with only one feed in between. Even then she goes straight back down after the feed. I know, I know her sleep pattern is unlikely to stay this good but for now we're trying to make the most of it by getting out and about whilst we're still relatively refreshed!
5 Weeks
Abbie is now 5 weeks old and it feels like she's been here forever!
The photo's were getting out of control in the original Flickr set so I've set up a 'Collection', which is basically a collection a sets.
At this point we would like to thank everyone for all of the cards and gifts. People warned us about how much stuff you get but we were still blown away by how many outfits Abigail has ended up with! And as for cards, - all I can say is there must be a canny bit of money to be made from selling 'New Baby' cards!!
Abbie was weighed again yesterday and is now a bouncing 9lb9oz, which is a gain of 2lb since birth and 1lb1oz in 2 weeks. Good stuff in that milk by all accounts!
Finally here's another video. The previously mentioned swing only seems to serve to put her to sleep so we felt she needs something to keep her entertained when at her most active, - hence her first Baby Gym. She loves it, but our dog and cats really don't know what to make of her on it! (Video was taken 2 weeks ago).
:o)
Abbie started smiling last week, and it's still early days so every one is like a little event! You dismiss the first one as "it'll just be wind", but they become unmistakable after a while. Jen just sent me this pic via MMS, - too cute!
Spooky
Strange coincidence that I used the title 'Girl Power' in a Blog post the day before the Spice Girls announced that they are reforming...!!
Girl Power
Took Abigail to get weighed again today and she's now up to 8lb 7oz and still gaining weight perfectly.
Ross and Pinar came round later in the day with Amber, who although is only 6 weeks older than Abigail - she made her seem tiny...! Probably best illustrated with this picture.
Ross and Pinar came round later in the day with Amber, who although is only 6 weeks older than Abigail - she made her seem tiny...! Probably best illustrated with this picture.
Amber is now 10lb 15oz and changes so much each time we see her.
(Prior to the photo being taken it turned to fisticuffs, so they were seperated and I took the photo as Abigial was in the middle of her Maori Haka routine, which Amber seemed to be finding hillarious!!)
Honda wouldn't get a look in
Remember that Honda advert from a few years ago with the various car parts all laid out in a room and performing a chain of events which finishes with a car rolling off the ramps? - Well they're apparently known as Rube Goldberg Machines, and I challenge you to find a better one than this....!!
You can't help but smile as you watch the video, whilst at the same time thinking "how the hell can they be bothered?"!!
Parcel Tracking
The story here is some bloke sticks a camera in a box with a small hole in the side and the camera automatically takes photo's every 10 seconds. He then sticks the box in the mail to himself and joins the resulting photos together in a slideshow - Genius!
I dare say if he did this a couple of times, it wouldn't be long before you'd uncover some nasties about the way parcels are treat whilst in transit.
"I'm a Diva, get me out of here"
We introduced Abigail to her automatic swing last week (to give my arms a break!), and she took to it instantly. However her attention span is somewhat limited, and as this video shows - when she wants out, you'll know about it....!!
Jen thinks it's hillarious the way her expression changes and the dummy goes flying. Check out the pose with the hand too!
Should also mention that Abbie's piling on the beef..! Health visitor weighed her on Tuesday (13 days old), and she was 8lb1oz, i.e. she's put on 8oz in 13 days which is a cracking start especially for a baby which is breast feeding.
I've uploaded another selection of photos of Abigail from the past week to flickr. As you can imagine there have literally been hundreds taken, so I'm trying to be selective!!
Here will dae!
Abbie falls a kip in some flippin queer positions... Although it gets to the point where you don't give a flying which way she is as long as them eyes eventually shut! In all seriousness, we can't complain at all about her sleeping habits so far given that she sleeps right through from about 11pm to 9pm with a max of 2 feeds between, and even then she drops straight off after each one.
Birthmarks
Since I was born I've had a tiny hole on each side of my head just in front of each ear. Doesn't bother me in any way, it just occasionally needs squeezing to remove a soap build up! My party piece when drunk is to stick a cocktail stick in each one, - I'm sure you get the picture!!
Anyway, you can imagine how taken aback I was when Jen spotted one of these holes in the same place on Abbie's right ear. CLASSIC!!
(Click the link to go to flickr for a clearer pic)
Foto Fest
There's a shed load of photo's of Abigail now on-line here.
Set will obviously be updated as and when.....
Dossed
Looks like butter wouldn't melt, but she can't half wail I tell ya! Pediatrician said she's a long baby, ie long and thin like her Dad! They're all really pleased with how mam and daughter are doing and they might be coming home today....if i can figure out how to work the car seat!!
"Our survey says..."
As you may have spotted I've had a 'mini-poll' running in the side-bar of our blog to guess the sex of button.
Well the votes are counted and the results are in....
Button is now Abigail Lily and interestingly most people got the result wrong.
Obviously there will be loads more Abigail postings and photos to come once Mother and Daughter come home from hospital and things settle down a bit....if ever!!
N.B. Now that the poll is gone the annoying blooming pop-ups should now stop...!!
D-Day + 10
By D-Day plus 10 in the famous 'Operation Overlord' D-Day operations, Eisenhower had managed to land 18 divisions of men on the beaches of Normandy.
Whereas in modern times we're at D-Day plus 10 and there's still no sign of Button's arrival just off the beaches of Blyth....!!
Right up my street.....well eventually....!
If anyone hasn't tried Google Maps new Street View feature then you need to!
Only available in a few areas of the U.S. at the minute, but would be amazing if they ever got it up and running here.
Of course people are starting to find all sorts of funny / bizarre pictures on their street tours. Click the 'Full Screen' option on each one;
- Here's one from outside the Google HQ
- A random bloke in San Francisco
- Speaks for itself!
- Entrance to Google's place in California, - even the cones are Google coloured!!
And no doubt loads more will start to appear around the web....
Still all quiet
Well the countdown might say this is the due day, but there's still no signs at all of Button making an appearance.
Never being one for letting Jen have all the attention it was me that ended up going to the hospital this morning with an infected eye! Yep it was the same hospital where Jen's meant to be giving birth. Typical eh, - went to the hospital as planned on the due date but for the wrong reason!!
Loose Ends
If I had a pound for everytime someone's tried to lecture me about how much my life is about to change with the arrival of the baby, blah, blah, blah, I'd be a seriously rich man by now.
I can't help but think though, that a few other things going on elsewhere in my life also seem to be drawing to a close in preparation, - it's bizarre...!
- Football. The end of the season, including cup finals couldn't have been timed better.
- TV Shows. The main TV we watch is American downloads (as we're too impatient to wait for the UK releases!). This week, E.R, 24, Lost and Heroes have ALL had their double bill season finales! Managed to catch all of them.
- Work. Even at work there have been a number of large projects recently that have just finished, and others about to start in a few weeks time. Obviously this one won't have gone to plan like the others if Button decides to delay his/her arrival!!
- Smoking Ban. July the 1st sounds nearly ideal for a smoking ban to start in England for a baby being born into the World about now.
I guess the main thing that never comes to a natural stop in my book is alcohol....As they say, "There's never a good time to stop drinking"!!.
Not long now
Well I've no idea where the last 9 months went, but Button's arrival could literally be any time now.
Jen's still doing fine - apart from a massive dose of hayfever kicking in at the worst possible time of year for her! It was her Birthday on Tuesday and it was certainly a strange one. What do you buy a 40 week pregnant woman?!?!!!
We managed to make it as much of an event as possible anyway, and went out for a meal etc.
We're all ready now and it's just a case of playing the waiting game.....
EDIT: I've just noticed that the rabbit at the top of the page is running out of ground..!
Red, 'Amber'......GO!!! *
After a hugely eventful year, it's a massive CONGRATULATIONS again to Ross and Pinar this time on the birth of their daughter Amber Charlotte.
They had a stressful couple of days leading up to the birth, but Amber's here now so that'll all soon be forgotten about. Keep an eye on their blog for more updates, pics, videos......
*Sorry - I know that's a terrible headline, but it's Ross that's the journo!
Star Wars Academy
Jen mentioned some posters around her work for a Star Wars event at a local high school where "the man who plays Darth Vader will be there". As any Star Wars fan worth their salts knows - David Prowse was also the 'Green Cross Code Man'.
I didn't have much fancy to go because I thought it would just be some plain clothed bloke signing stuff surrounded by annoying teenagers. (How old do I sound!). However one my mate's girlfriend lives at the school (Dad's the caretaker - still following this?!), and he rang to say there were load's of Stormtroopers there. Well that was enough for me to jump in the car complete with camera and Jen in Tow...!
I don't think the event had been advertised very well as there weren't many people there, - either that or the school decided it was too 'un-cool' or summit, but it worked out better for us! Photo opportunities galore!!
The costumed crew were all from UK Garrison, which judging from the website is of huge importance to it's members. They were certainly very accurate and imaculate costumes, and the way they acted combined with their digitally sythesized voices all made for a great effect.
Another of my mates turned up later with his 1 year old son, and the local press loved the photo's they got with the pair of them and the Stormtroopers. They'll be in our local rag next week.
I totally didn't agree with the way they were charging for David Prowse's autograph, but I wasn't too bothered as it's not what I went along for.
EDIT: It is worth pointing out that Jen is seriously not happy with being pictured in the same top in 2 consecutive blog entries!! (If only I was better with Photoshop!).
Where did the last 7 months go?!
Time is really flying now and all of a sudden there's only 7 weeks to go.
People have said that the last few weeks seem to take an age, but I'm starting to wonder!
Jen only has 9 days left at work (at the time of writing), and her hours are being reduced each week. - There's a lot to be said for working in the public sector I tell ya!
Plum
We couldn't put it off any longer, - Jen's car was simply too small for our future needs and it was time for the Plum to go...!
Her little Micra has been known as 'The Plum' from day one (for obvious reasons), and everyone knew it as her car.
We got the plum for free (a long story), and it's certainly served us well. It may have been basic and had literally none of the mod cons, but there can't be many other people who've gotten by on £20 petrol a month for the past two years, and paid just over £100 for a years insurance!!!
I've basically gone a full circle when it comes to cars; When I was younger I literally ploughed every penny (and more) I had into my cars. But as your priorities start to change I now see them as a complete drain and hate spending money on them. They're basically a constantly depreciating asset you chuck money at! Therefore no-one will appreciate the plum as much as we did. To coin Jen's favourite phrase, "There are other purple Micra's, but there'll only ever be 1 Plum" :o)
By the way she's now got a Focus Estate, and is perfectly geared up for transporting Button as well as Bertha, in what will feel like luxury to everyone...!
4D, - The Garlic Bread of scanning
We went to BabyView in Barnsley last Friday to have a 4D scan. Yeah ok, you could argue there are other things we could have done with the money but what the hell, money came from the sale of an old TV anyway!I wasn't too sure what to expect because there are some less than impressive examples of this technique on the internet. It also depends which way the baby is lying. i.e. if it's back is facing forward (if you see what I mean), there isn't anything to see. As is happens, Button was facing forward and awake so we got some quite impressive results. We got a DVD film of the scan and also a cd with 30 odd photos on it, - the best of which I've flickr'd. The images are all rotated through 180 degrees, i.e. baby is acually upside down - as it should be during the pregnancy. Yes it is possible to again find out 100% what the sex is during the process, but we chose not to. (The person carrying out the process had actually identified 5 cases in the last year where the sex he determined was different to that given by doctors in the earlier 2D scan!). To clarify the difference, - the pictures are classed as 3D and the DVD film is classed as 4D.
After the scan we carried on down to London for the weekend and attended the Baby Show at the ExCeL, London on the Saturday. Got there quite early before the crowds started around lunchtime. Was quite an interesting day, - obviously there were freebies galore as you'd expect at these things, but there were also some good stage talks; There was one from St John's Ambulance about Baby first aid, then another from Annabel Karmel about Baby nutrition. Flickr'd some pics of the event.
Then seeing as the Saturday was also my Birthday we did a bit of London exploring! We decided
to head to Hamley's via Piccadilly Circus for some photo's on the way. Quite a busy day really and Jen did amazingly well considering the miles we put in and the how far on she is!
I was surprised at how on every Tube journey there was always someone courteuos enough to offer Jen their seat! Not what I would have expected in London.
One of the most bizarre things we came across was a London transport employee who's job seemed to be to warn people about the dangers of standing under a ledge full of pigeons on one of the platforms....which was covered in their mess!
Went out for a meal with my family on the evening before heading home on Sunday to relax!
"Canny Ara's"*
Went to one of the Premier League Darts nights the other week, when the tour came to the Newcastle Arena. It was certainly an experience...!
After arriving and firstly being dissapointed at how far back our seats were, it turned out to be a good laugh. Yes the seats weren't ideal but if you think about it, how close would you actually have to be to properly see a dart board?! Luckilly there were 4 Huge screens showing the broadcast as it went out live on Sky.
The atmosphere was best described as mental! - It didn't take me long to realise that most of the people there had been out drinking all day. Anyway, I've stuck some of the photos online and have to say I'd definitely go again next year.
The only downer on the night was the Sunderland and Newcastle fans that decided to have a couple of fights, - erm Hello, it's a darts match. Who cares which football team you support! - Simpletons!!
*"Good Darts"
*"Good Darts"
EDIT: Just uploaded a video too, - gives a better idea of what the set-up was....
Blooming
Jen's now 25 weeks gone, and not everyone see's her regularly so thought it was about time we posted a pic of her bump.
Photo was taken at 24 weeks, and she's getting bigger by the day!
We're busy sorting the nursery now,- of course that involves decorating just about the whole of the upstairs of the house!
Also been getting rid of a shed load (literally) of furniture; Bookcase, DVD rack, Dining Table and chairs have all gone. Just a TV unit and a Sunbed to go now.....and takers??. I'll give them a week and then they're getting skipped!!
Sssssttttrrrreeeetttttccccchhhhhhh
Changed my Blog template to spread across the screen, - makes it easier when trying to wrap words around pictures.
Last of the scheduled scans
Had the 20week scan last week, which is actually the last of the scheduled scans.
The baby is of such a size at this point that it doesn't all fit on the screen in one go!
During every scan we've had, the baby has been jumping all over the place! - Legs a kicking and arms a waving. It's certainly entertaining to watch and you never fail to get a view from all angles!
No, before you ask - we didn't ask to find out the sex which is offered as part of the scan.
The baby is of such a size at this point that it doesn't all fit on the screen in one go!
During every scan we've had, the baby has been jumping all over the place! - Legs a kicking and arms a waving. It's certainly entertaining to watch and you never fail to get a view from all angles!
No, before you ask - we didn't ask to find out the sex which is offered as part of the scan.
"Walkies"
Yeeha
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula.
We took Bertha and Cedar (ours and my parents dog), for a walk through some nearby woods yesterday, - 'Hollywell Dene'.
They had a canny time in the river and mud, but we consequently ended up having to take them to the beach straight after to get cleaned off in the sea!! Not that they were complaining mind.
Maybe I should buy a waterproof one..?!
As Button's arrival becomes ever closer we are going to have to invest again in a Digital Camera. As documented on here in the past I don't have the best of records with Cameras (and electrical gadgets in general!), so I'm trying to be very choosey before investing in another one;
I've decided that it must be compact, preferably enough to fit into my pocket. I've been using my Bro's digi-cam recently, and being able to carry it round in your pocket makes so much sense.
Also don't want an overally expensive one, - apart from my history with then, technology changes so fast meaning they soon become out of date.
That said this camera meets these criteria and then some..! You will notice from the picture that it actually has two lenses. One for normal pics, then the other kicks in when you use the zoom function. Most impressive of all is that this results in 10x optical zoom, which is far more than 99% of other digi-cams on the market.
It also boasts Bluetooth meaning that pictures can be immediately transferred wirelessely to mobile phones etc. A very useful feature in my opinion.
Finally something that has always bugged the hell out of me with digi-cams is the shutter lag. i.e. the time it takes from when you press the button to when the actual photo is taken. It turns out that this varies massively from camera to camera but is rarely advertised as a feature. This table shows that the v610, scores very well in the category too.
I know we've got a shed load of Baby stuff to buy, but we also MUST have a camera. When the funds become available, this looks my choice so far.
Thanks to my boss, Jon for pointing me in the direction of this one :o)
Overpriced
Towards the middle of last year I ordered a BT network circuit for a new site we were commissioning at work. I won't go into detail but lets just say the order was for less than £20k.
It turned out to be a very convoluted job and the work itself took months to complete, involving the digging of roads etc. All along though we were confident in the knowledge of a bill to be less than £20k.
That was until November when this bill arrived at work for £671,606.38 !!!!
After half an hour spent nervously laughing about the fact that it must be wrong or a couple of us would be out of a job, the bill was queried with BT.
The person from BT was also surprised at the large amount but said she'd have to check it out and get back to us. She eventually called my boss back and knowing that he'd be bricking it, decided to wind him up..! She asked if he was sitting down then said it appeared the amount was indeed correct! PRICELESS, - they make and error of over £650k but still manage to keep their sense of humour.
Everything worked out fine in the end thanks to a rather substantial credit note arriving, but still thought it was a story worth sharing.
N.B. Obviously I have stripped all data from the bill apart from the amount.
Look out Trevor McDonald!
My Dad being the opinionated bloke that he is, is known for ringing Radio stations etc to voice his opinion when ever he feels like it!
In early December he rang Mike Parr, during his daily Radio Newcastle Breakfast Show phone in. (I think the subject at the time was bank charges or something). Anyway, once the show had finished the Producer rang my Dad back to say they liked what he had to say and the way he put himself across, and invited him to be a guest on the show!!
He readilly accepted (as you'd expect if you know him!), and was on the show yesterday morning (Thurs 3rd Jan '07) between 9am and 10am. I didn't warn to many people before hand, in order to not give him any added pressure, and I didn't listen at the time. - It all seemed a bit too cringeworthy to be listening to my auld man on the radio! Jen did listen via her phone radio at work and rang me near the end to say it all sounded ok.
I recored the show via a DAB radio, so we'd have a copy to keep and possibly add to, seeing as he's also been asked if he'd like to return again in the future...!!
He really enjoyed the experience, and to quote him, "he is now available for autographs"!!!
(If there was ever a time I wished we didn't have the same name!)
