I’m pleased to announce that myself and the beautiful Nicola have got engaged!

I first met her about 8 months ago and we have grown closer and closer ever since, now perfect for each other and really happy.

I gave her the ring (and the surprise of course!) last Saturday (8th) whilst we were on holiday in Dublin, a nice (cold but) sunny afternoon on the arched bridge in St. Stephen’s Green park. Thought it the ideal time to do it, rather there that in the middle of West Orchards or somewhere like that in Coventry.

I know I’m a bit late posting it here, well we were away and didn’t want to use too much international bandwidth on my mobile net dongle (just in case I got charged). Had to make sure all the close family knew first, and I sneaked the news subtly onto Facebook a few days ago.

No wedding date set yet though, there is no rush, it will take time and money to sort it all of course and we have to do something more interesting that the local registry office (although I am told it’s ‘a lovely building…’)! And we both just want to enjoy the engagement for the time being

I have selected about 60 photos from my collection taken when I was away in Ireland.  These will be blogged shortly.

Do you want to see them before I blog them? Well I’ve uploaded them to my Facebook account. Find me on there to have a look. Or if you can’t be bothered, click here.

Hope you like them, any comments on them welcome.

and I can’t think of a better title, sorry!

It occurred to me recently that I would struggle to charge my iPod when away. It would be awkward to rely on the Macbook to do it (if it worked, the iPod is Windows formatted so data won’t work with Mac, but charging might do, and no I’m not faffing about reformatting it). I know Apple do a USB to mains adaptor for twenty quid which I considered (I guess there are cheaper nasty ones available!) but decided on spending an extra tenner on a Logic3 i-Station 3, which is a dock with basic-but-decent speakers and is also good for charging. It does data transfer too but I’ll probably not need to use it for that.

Also ordered a sleeve for the Macbook too, something I’ve needed for a while but not got round to getting. But I don’t want it getting scratched in my flight bag or rucksack. My work bag is fine as it has a perfectly sized compartment, that’s probably why I waited. So that’s 2 things sorted.

Just enjoyed a relaxing 3 days off work, back in on a late one this evening (later than usual as the schools are off so don’t need to do Guilsborough). Hope the weekend is good, quiet and not rainy will be very welcome. Been fairly pleasant so far today, although we had a cracking storm last night. Apparently a man in Coventry was hit by lightning, but luckily he lived (his shoe disintegrated and clothes went black). Walking through a grassy area I think, not so wise.

And finally… I’ve been importing these entries into Facebook, now they don’t seem to be working! Any ideas? My RSS feed is fine.

Take care.

Summer is here. It’s the season of the smoothie! Amazing how delicious such a simple recipe of pineapple, banana and ice cubes can be! I’ve recently started to ensure I eat more fruit as that sort of thing is where I could do much better. Mango smoothie is also delicious

Got myself a nice pair of sunglasses yesterday, polarised ones. Now polarised ones are good and well but they have a habit of interfering with LCD displays (if you haven’t a clue see these two articles: polarisation, LCDs) but luckily this pair is good. The polarising filter is angled so I can still read my phone,and other LCDs without tilting my head. Except for one… the screen in our Neoplans blacks out which is awkward for knowing which gear it’s in as it’s the only way. Controlling the 12 speed box through speed and revs alone takes some getting used to (it’s just a flappy stick lever). Screens in new Plaxtons are fine, luckily. (And yes, it is inportant as I spend lots of time driving these things!).

One thing I like about polarised glasses is all the pretty rainbow colours that they bring out, odd patterns on car rear windows, stuff like that. Yep, I am easily amused.

Finally signed up with Facebook in the last few days. What a strange place. Anyone else there? Need to have more of a play with it. T first look it seems similar to Myspace, but stricter yet more useable.