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.

"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want an overally expensive one, - apart from my history with then, technology changes so fast meaning they soon become out of date.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!)