WMC's diary pages, 2002.

[January] [February] [March] [April] [May] [June] [July] [August] [Holiday: Quiberon] [September] [October] [November] [December]

See-also: http://www.wmc.care4free.net/diary/.

January 2002

2002-01-05.asc

Happy New Year!

Joke in madnews: Ghandi was a thin barefoot sage, but with bad breath, hence: 'a super callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis'.

Head home: pack for last time, leave 12:30. Sun. Via Ma to drop stolen keys: she has bought me a new turtle (hmpf?). D asleep (& ma off with rnlt) so head off through the lovely pm. Home before 3. Nothing has exploded. Unpack but not tidy: mess.

Wed 2nd

Up late & briefly to work.

Pm: take D to town (having prised him away from his cereal game). Stop on way to look at diggers: mistake: D gets hands v cold so to cup b'shop where poor D sobs with unfamiliar pain of returning circ. So skip swimming. It really is a cold day.

Thurs 3rd

More frost, but some cloud. Work: plough through journal sheets, check on runs.

See jon skating on univ ponds playing solo ice hockey. Slight creaks but he has dug a hole to check its ok.

Pm: cb1/arj.

D says: 'daniel likes watching'.

Fri 4th

D to Oliver (g'chester 3-5) where he apparently has fun. O is considered a Good Influence (because he plays quietly).

Soir: bg: really going now: the dragon to go!

Sat 5th

Weather has softened: now +5, the pond has a thin layer of water on top of 2" ice. D walks warily; a frog beneath. Hive: one bee tastes the air.

Pm: to town with D (after familiar not-getting-dressed). W/s for lunch, then reading mr men & catch the end of chicken run, which D watches entranced then declares bad - its too violent. Rs for curtain poles, I am now unwieldy. Then to toy bit.

D in bath Lunch-aid (my 1st time) since D is hungry. He has a choc muffin & as ever eats 1/2 of it. He looks pensive: D: I was thinking of cmas; of everyones presents. Pressed, his favourite is chocolate money.

E's 10:30 change: she cries, asleep. But manages to roll onto her side.

Late: install ftpfs but it fails to work. Upload d-in-bath for m+j & download go gifs & make r8.

Sun 6th

Grey again, but not cold. All 4 in bed happily, E gurgles to herself - or us - hard to tell.

To pool. Once there, D unaccountably (we had even brought his watering can at his req) takes against it & refuses to change. Argh. So M swims while De & I watch. Fortunately E is now asleep. [the cover of this has finally fallen off. So now I have a pen again... thats better]. My swim, while Med eat: 28, 28.5, 29.

Soir: do Bennys tenders for Dot to send.

To 12:30: bgii. I've solved the skinner murders.

Mon 7th

Vacs meeting... I'm bored. Late work: play with scsi cards.

D has enjoyed M'as, good. M cooks.

Soir: bg again: the planar sphere: killed by demon at 11:30.

Tues 8th

Have to wake up D: today is p'g'p. Take sleeping E into sleepy M. Get him there on time: pale misty day: & he is happy. Swim: 28.5x3. I excused myself the 4th set because I managed the 3rd in time. Hmm.

Cb1/arj/sa. W/s. Home. D says 'yes' to swimming lessons (lightly disguised as play) so I phone & try to reserve but you can't. So M takes him anyway & gets a place on 5:30 course. I am left - oh no - with E, but she is good & lets me play bg, cook (sos + my pots) & make her a bottle.

B has sent D his completed pink scarf plus a baq of mushroom spores.

Wed 9th

Work. Back: d is playing blinky bill. Hmm... so I...

Bonfire of accumulated boxes. D sits in the tree house & eats apples: mr box's: the compost rat has eaten my stored ones. B*st*rd. Dig heap over in revenge.

Later: try to see whats wrong with washing machine, which is making exs noise when spinning. Fail.

M has bought a pizza for us. D rejects it, of course.

Soir: bg: unwisely conjure up a Mindflayer: so p'ful it reaches out & kills game as well as me.

Thurs 10th

Resolved to Go, so home after work (no yoga today; J sick) via N re bw. Paper, coffee, lunch, hello Me (not in that order; well E was having her lunchtime sleep when I came in). Bg.

Off 4:30 into the gloom. Rs for patch for D's trous. Arj. Cb1. Lose to R. Read mm5 revised. To grad pad for dins.

Play 2 games: a quick one against Geoff, 9 st but should be more. He had been at cb1 having probs with outlook. Then lose (2pts) to Phil Beck who is now 1d. GP now shuts 10, so home early: sneak in more bg.

Fri 11th

Work: scsi (why does setting the tape id to 1 prevent n4 from booting!?). Tidy room: bscomp is f*ck*d.

Home: ma is here, lunch in progress. At D's req she has made choc cake but he decides he would rather have ginger... M to town, alone. We go putting up Burns Night posters (such is the fate of p'g'p members).

Ma to dinner: I make pancakes. She puts D to bed.

Soir: bg till 11: in spellhold.

Sat 12th

D late enough up that I get lie in. Sun. Coffee+paper. Bg: escape, hurrah!

To town with D (he wants smarties for smartie machine). W/s for lunch; read mr men, & now watching toy story ii.

To rs for frames: they have no 6x8 for me but D gets a big one for *his* sugar wrappers. Toy dept to look. Make D digger! (err, once finished bg).

Sun 13th

Wash load: mach sounds v sad on spin. Main bearing going?

pm: briefly to dixons for wash mach. Then onto l-c's for 'tea'. A success: D taken up by Tim (7) & they play pebble sorting, making balloon traps & 'potions' in the washbasin (shades of hp; lucia has a hp wand & a hedwig). 'tea' is enormous.

Mon 14th

Work: dlt ok with Dougs advice: need the correct low-level driver.

Soir: m off to yoga. E sleeps (in disposables during wash crisis). I bg.

Tues 15th

Drag D kicking & screaming from bed (literally; headbutting too) at 8:30. He woke in the night 'hungry' & had gone down for early b'fast - M found him when feeding E. Anyway, carry him downstairs naked & screaming (him not me) & he scuttles under the table & soon calms down when I ignore him.

D to pgp, me to town. No swim: bored of it. Will do yoga instead. I hope. Rs to look at wash mach, telling them apart is hard. Arj/Cb1.

[oops. Pause to delete tealpaint to free up space]

pm: take D to N's so n+i can discuss Bennys.

Wed 16th

Up with D in compensation for tomorrow. He is sweet.

Work. Frustration. Home. Tired.

Soir: pub. Good sesh: not back till 12.

Thurs 17th

Up 6 (argh) with glimpse of Me's nocturnal world to get to swindon by 9:30. Sleep most of way.

'manager as developer' - course. Ok. Ish. Bored by end. Not aimed at science side.

Fri 18th

Course just about passes the 'coffee test' - could you describe it over smoko?

Pm: mr wash arrives: bearings gone: would we like a good deal on a new one? (hints of conflict-of-i).

Cook haggis + cabbage. Then to gp in Simons new house via H (retrieve hp&tps). Admire his self-built kitchen

Sat 19th

RS to look at wash. Confirms that all is on intangibles 'build quality'. Phone m+j.

Beat Richard, ha!

Home. E has learnt to blow raspberries & smiles when D makes them.

Intensive lego with D.

Bg soir: M does her tax form.

Sun 20th

Up with D - have to flght him off at 7. The light is getting earlier.

Wash: machine sounds really sad despite light load.

Quiet day. Bg: out of underdark. Cannot rest: house of ghosts.

D must go out: he hasn't really been out since ?thurs? Take him to b+q to look at wood & sheds: I have conceived a desire for one where the gravel is (made plan of area before going out). Look around. D climbs, until apprehended by security, who he instantly obeys.

b&q: 8x8: 539 (verandah); 8x6 225 (shiplap)

cladding: 
2.1x95x7.5 £3.48
timber rough
47x100x2.4 £6.69
47x75x2.4 £5.15
47x50x2.4 x6 £16.29
22x100x2.4 x5 £17.49
smooth
44x96x2.4 £8.26
44x70x2.4 £8.93 (x3 £20.23)
44x44x2.1 x4 £16.04
ply
1819x607x12 £12.78
1220x1220x12 £24.47
1220x607x12 £8.99
polycarb twinwall roof (corotherm)
2.4x0.7m £27.36
3x0.7 £29.58
bar base 3m £20.59
bar cap 3m £9.09
and so home.

Mon 21st

Short day in compensation for last thurs. Home. Bg a bit, tidy a bit: clean out passageway, hurrah!

Soir: M yoga, de sleep, I bg.

Tues 22nd

Swim: 20x2 in 30, 33: slow. Arj/cb1. Then to Ridgeons for wood again. Confusing: not like b+q: racks & racks of wood but no prices, & lots of tradefolk. Go ask & get useful advice & prices. Takes getting used to.

Home earlier. Lunch. Communal lego. To bas for Helene Banks hadcm3 southern ocean talk. Good. Home.

5: Md off for swim lessons. I change E then bg: in the sewers. E wiggles herself 50cm backwards & gurgles.

Md back, D seems to have had fun. E had got screetchy at 6:30 so I juggled her and artichokes.

To wi hall for 7:30 for bennys way meeting, which I'm in now. I've done my 'figures' bit & we're into random unfocussed debate on inessentials. A few -ve voices are loud & in danger of outweighing the +ve majority.

23rd

am: work. Mostly webby.

pm: N over. She & D play passably but have a tendancy to seperate: she to Maisie computer, he to crane lego. She cuddles little bear very carefully & correctly as her baby. Make then paint plaster casts.

M makes veg soup but I've eaten too many eggs.

Soir: to pc meeting: we're currently on drains & the great october flood. Onto benny: ok.

Thurs 24th

Up with D. E seems to have had a better night: M was up at 2 & 5 on wed. M discovered a raw patch on E's next in a fold of skin: perhaps this had been irritating her.

Work rather taken up with webby stuff. Yoga. Home. Bg (get one room of mindflayers on about 10th try; room 2 now on about 5th...). D is off with M'a', E sleeps, M races to complete her tax form then plays with her hairy pooter jigsaw stick-on book (I'm re-reading hp&tps).

Think about loft: head up with tape measure when remember plans. Mention cutting roof beam (in fact its not a beam, its an x). M insists on an engineer - which I suppose is sensible. Anyway she has a veto. So phone on - first in book in cambridge. He will come out, perhaps tues.

To town 5:45, to cb1. On way look up at sky - mostly clear, bright 1/2 moon, v thin cloud veil lit up, stars.

To warner 7:45, A arrives just before 8, as I was starting to panic.

Fri 25th

D to our bed in middle of night - cries piteously when put back - 'but I get so loney'.

Work: jt has wimped out when aw said boo to him so we get smelly piv's. I'm pissed off.

Home: w/mach delayed (deliverer says despatch f*ck*d up) but installed promptly. Hurrah. D watches intently.

Pm: D to town: drive to p+r as weather is smelly. Rs: new bulb for kitchen; service kit for vacuum. Upstairs: socks & buggyboard. Now & ever, D is playful: runs around, hides. But doesn't know when to stop. Mild threats (be good or no buggy board) work I'd like not to.

To toy bit: when time to go, D says: I must play more or I will get up to mischief.

Home. E has had a ratty day & M is irritable.

Change inner filter & out filter which had gone black...

Sat 26th

Washing machine set to start with delay did work: so quietly we didn't hear.

Changing E. She gurgles happily.

Dem to D's french club then w/rose. Me to town: nudge eyelink; red cross for diary & 'the prof handbook of the donkey' (will have to wait, since I am officially still pissed off with him). Cb1.

Sun 27th

To pub for lunch sans Me. D tells a long serial story about some naughty knives & forks which lay themselves but make messes at night. J attempts to interpret. D's cutlery have now driven all people out of the country & are following in their own h/copter. D says he knows the end of the story, but its a secret.

Mon 28th

Work. Copy M's completed tax forms.

Soir: M yoga. De sleep. Bg: out of the planar sphere & the rogue-stone vortex.

Tues 29th

Surface at 8: sun. Good: the world needs to dry. D is already downstairs: he says he got up with the sun.

Swim 28, 29, (30.5). Hmm. I am getting v bored with swimming & can barely force self to do it. Would running be better?

Cb1.

Home. D not interested in going out so stay home.

Soir: bg: into suldenesselar. But feel ropey.

Wed 30th

Ropier. Short work. As I get home D is pulling on his duffel coat to visit E/G. Fortunately K lets him stay with E till time to pick up G from school. Sleep some of pm - M is kind.

Soir: to pub, since arranged, but leave 10.30.

Thur 31st

Sleep almost all day.

At 6, D comes up v gently & quietly tells me pancakes are ready so I come down.


Main | Diary | Email: wmc@bas.ac.uk