Plan for the weekend is to get into the shed and have a good sort through all my boxes.
My landlord has gone away on holiday, so I'm going to use the opportunity to shift stuff around and have a good sort out. Last time I had a look at the small crates I was pretty sure there were several crates worth that I can put on e-bay.
The main thing, though is to go through the big crates as I'm pretty sure I can sell/throw away quite a lot of that stuff as well. I also know there's stuff there that I just chucked in a crate to get it out of the way while my landlord was decorating.
I don't think I'll actually e-bay stuff this weekend, but might do some of the prep work - take photos, weigh things, work out postage, etc. But I'm not going to be overambitious - if I get some of that done it's a bonus. The only aim is to actually sort the boxes out.
I'm pretty much expecting that this will be my last go through of stuff in the shed for a good while. Certainly I'm hoping to repopulate my shelves in a sensible way such that I won't have to go out to the shed to get stuff. Hopefully I might even start watching/reading stuff on those shelves such that I can then e-bay those too.
Anyway, in order to clear the decks for the sort out I've actually been doing some of my weekend chores during the week, since, as mentioned, my landlord hasn't been here, so I wasn't at risk of disturbing him (I've decided I really need a new vacuum cleaner- my current one is falling apart!).
The only possibly fly in the ointment is that it's the Korean Grand Prix this week, which could account for quite a few hours. Also, quite a few good shows have started on TV now that we're properly into the colder months, so I'm hoping I don't get too far behind if I spend all my time sorting through boxes.
I guess on the upside it'll be more in the way of good exercise!
Friday, 22 October 2010
Thursday, 21 October 2010
brrr
It really has been cold recently.
Although, surprisingly during the day it's mostly been sunny and when you're in the sun quite warm. I mean, last Sunday it was sufficiently sunny and therefore warm for me to spend the bulk of the day washing the car.
At this time of year I'd expect to have to wrap up really warm and use rubber gloves to keep my hands dry (and so warm) while washing the car, but it wasn't actually necessary. To be fair I wasn't exactly wearing shorts and as the afternoon went on the temperature did suddenly decline, putting paid to my notion of polishing the car as well.
But then in the evenings I've been having to turn the radiators on and up and when I wake up it's really cold. I even broke out the vests this week, although to be fair, the heating at work has always been rubbish, so that's probably not all that good an indicator.
What makes this change in weather more scary is that I've heard predictions that the temperature will actually plunge lower than it did last year - possibly as low as minus 20! That could prove very costly for me from a heating bill point of view.
At the time I hadn't heard these forecasts of doom, but over the last few months I've actually been trying to build up my credit on my electricity meter. This was partly because of all the e-baying - I figured it was a sensible use of some of the money, as the thought of being in a situation of running out is not one I relish.
However, I made a bit of an odd discovery, in that the meter thing will only allow £249 of credit. I was quite a bit below this, but was trying to put another £75, which would have taken it over this limit and it was refusing to take it. This promoted some scrambling around trying to make sure the money had really gone on the key (it's a weird key meter thing), before I eventually called their helpline and discovered the limit.
According to the bloke I therefore need to wait until there's enough room before I can try again, but that'll be a while. I'm hoping (assuming I haven't lost that £75) that the amount I've got will pretty much see me through the winter. If it doesn't, it should just be a matter of one extra top-up, rather than the situation I've had in previous winters where I'm constantly afraid of running out.
I'm also hoping that if it does get cold again we don't get the monumental snow we had last year. I've always been a fan of snow, and fundamentally 'snow days' off of work aren't bad things, but the way the country's transport infrastructure properly collapsed last year was pretty scary.
It wasn't much fun struggling into work with the roads in the state they were.
Although, surprisingly during the day it's mostly been sunny and when you're in the sun quite warm. I mean, last Sunday it was sufficiently sunny and therefore warm for me to spend the bulk of the day washing the car.
At this time of year I'd expect to have to wrap up really warm and use rubber gloves to keep my hands dry (and so warm) while washing the car, but it wasn't actually necessary. To be fair I wasn't exactly wearing shorts and as the afternoon went on the temperature did suddenly decline, putting paid to my notion of polishing the car as well.
But then in the evenings I've been having to turn the radiators on and up and when I wake up it's really cold. I even broke out the vests this week, although to be fair, the heating at work has always been rubbish, so that's probably not all that good an indicator.
What makes this change in weather more scary is that I've heard predictions that the temperature will actually plunge lower than it did last year - possibly as low as minus 20! That could prove very costly for me from a heating bill point of view.
At the time I hadn't heard these forecasts of doom, but over the last few months I've actually been trying to build up my credit on my electricity meter. This was partly because of all the e-baying - I figured it was a sensible use of some of the money, as the thought of being in a situation of running out is not one I relish.
However, I made a bit of an odd discovery, in that the meter thing will only allow £249 of credit. I was quite a bit below this, but was trying to put another £75, which would have taken it over this limit and it was refusing to take it. This promoted some scrambling around trying to make sure the money had really gone on the key (it's a weird key meter thing), before I eventually called their helpline and discovered the limit.
According to the bloke I therefore need to wait until there's enough room before I can try again, but that'll be a while. I'm hoping (assuming I haven't lost that £75) that the amount I've got will pretty much see me through the winter. If it doesn't, it should just be a matter of one extra top-up, rather than the situation I've had in previous winters where I'm constantly afraid of running out.
I'm also hoping that if it does get cold again we don't get the monumental snow we had last year. I've always been a fan of snow, and fundamentally 'snow days' off of work aren't bad things, but the way the country's transport infrastructure properly collapsed last year was pretty scary.
It wasn't much fun struggling into work with the roads in the state they were.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
gangs of new york
In the commentary for Gangs of New York, the director - Martin Scorsese - describes the film as an opera.
What he means by that is it's a heightened reality, as opposed to real reality. In other words, it's exaggerated, amped up to make broader points that hold truth, rather than showing us the truth.
I can see exactly where he's coming from, but I'm not entirely sure if I really liked the end result.
Part of the problem is that the film is very long and quite a few bits of it feel a little unnecessary. They feels like they could easily have been compressed or even removed, and the end product wouldn't really miss them.
Unfortunately, one of the elements that's really the most responsible for this is the romantic thread. The romance feels the least well developed - and the least necessary - thread of the story.
The problem there is that without it this would be a rather woman free zone, which from a traditional point of view is a risky road to tread. Films can work without romance, but it's often cynically observed that it helps with the female box office to have a romantic element.
And I guess that's my real problem with it - it does feel like a bit of an odd on to try to please that demographic, rather than something that's fundamental to the story. I mean, it's woven in in such a way that key plot elements result, but to be frank you could quite easily have achieved them in other ways.
Anyway, the thing that does work is the thing that Scorsese mainly intended - the film works as a sort of large, overblown allegory to convey things like the breakdown of society, honour, bigotry, oppression and man's inhumanity to man. Sometimes it does this with almost comic book violence, other times with genuine humour.
But it does this with an interestingly subtle and clever touch. For example, just about everyone in the film has moments of real unpleasantness, but equally they mostly have really touching moments. In other words, they're surprisingly complex characters given the overblown, stylistic nature of the film in general.
And yet sometimes it can feel a little like pastiche. So, for example, this part of New York is portrayed as almost being on the verge of descending into total lawless-anarchy, and yet at the same time you've got upper-class people wandering about the streets. If it was that dangerous and anarchic, they'd avoid the place wouldn't they?
So yeah, I have rather mixed feelings if I'm honest - on some levels the film works very well, but on others it doesn't work so well, especially given its long running length.
What he means by that is it's a heightened reality, as opposed to real reality. In other words, it's exaggerated, amped up to make broader points that hold truth, rather than showing us the truth.
I can see exactly where he's coming from, but I'm not entirely sure if I really liked the end result.
Part of the problem is that the film is very long and quite a few bits of it feel a little unnecessary. They feels like they could easily have been compressed or even removed, and the end product wouldn't really miss them.
Unfortunately, one of the elements that's really the most responsible for this is the romantic thread. The romance feels the least well developed - and the least necessary - thread of the story.
The problem there is that without it this would be a rather woman free zone, which from a traditional point of view is a risky road to tread. Films can work without romance, but it's often cynically observed that it helps with the female box office to have a romantic element.
And I guess that's my real problem with it - it does feel like a bit of an odd on to try to please that demographic, rather than something that's fundamental to the story. I mean, it's woven in in such a way that key plot elements result, but to be frank you could quite easily have achieved them in other ways.
Anyway, the thing that does work is the thing that Scorsese mainly intended - the film works as a sort of large, overblown allegory to convey things like the breakdown of society, honour, bigotry, oppression and man's inhumanity to man. Sometimes it does this with almost comic book violence, other times with genuine humour.
But it does this with an interestingly subtle and clever touch. For example, just about everyone in the film has moments of real unpleasantness, but equally they mostly have really touching moments. In other words, they're surprisingly complex characters given the overblown, stylistic nature of the film in general.
And yet sometimes it can feel a little like pastiche. So, for example, this part of New York is portrayed as almost being on the verge of descending into total lawless-anarchy, and yet at the same time you've got upper-class people wandering about the streets. If it was that dangerous and anarchic, they'd avoid the place wouldn't they?
So yeah, I have rather mixed feelings if I'm honest - on some levels the film works very well, but on others it doesn't work so well, especially given its long running length.
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
okay, now I'm confused
When I weighed myself on Sunday morning I discovered that I've apparently lost 5 pounds.
And I haven't a clue how.
You see, last week, while I wouldn't exactly describe it as a disastrous week, I did stray from my proper regime. By that I mean that, now that it's turned cold and the nights (and mornings) are drawing in, I just wasn't able to summon the mental fortitude to go for my morning walk or to walk in the evenings.
Don't get me wrong - I still went for a walk at lunchtime, even increasing the length of that walk, but a quick look at the old pedometer shows this wasn't enough and meant my step count dropped. I also still walked at the weekend, though even there I didn't manage to break past the 10,000 steps where I have on some previous weekends.
Also, I had a bit of cock-up with bread, so ended up having to eat an extra loaf. When you remember that it's the eating of too much bread that I thought was the reason I wasn't loosing weight before, you can understand why I didn't think it was a good week. If you add in the fact that I chose to consume said bread via French toast, you can see why loosing 5 pounds has mystified me.
I mean, the previous week I walked miles and miles, but slipped with the diet and had therefore assumed the two cancelled each other out (I lost 1 pound). This last week I didn't do as much exercise and slipped a little with my diet and yet lost loads (5 pounds).
I was tying to think that maybe there's a delayed effect from the exercise from the previous week, but then where does that leave the junk food eating I did - shouldn't I have gained weight?
The ray of hope possibly comes from the weather, in that now it's turned proper cold I'm burning more calories by way of just trying to keep warm. Certainly when I was out walking on Sunday morning it was really apparent how cold it was - I was wearing a hooded jumper with the hood up and my heavier coat and didn't really warm up until about half way.
So I dunno. On the one hand I'm pleased at the loss, but I'm not sure how it's happened. Which you may wonder why I'm bothered, but the thing is I need to loose so much weight that it would be good to work out exactly what process works best, because that will allow me to repeat it.
And I haven't a clue how.
You see, last week, while I wouldn't exactly describe it as a disastrous week, I did stray from my proper regime. By that I mean that, now that it's turned cold and the nights (and mornings) are drawing in, I just wasn't able to summon the mental fortitude to go for my morning walk or to walk in the evenings.
Don't get me wrong - I still went for a walk at lunchtime, even increasing the length of that walk, but a quick look at the old pedometer shows this wasn't enough and meant my step count dropped. I also still walked at the weekend, though even there I didn't manage to break past the 10,000 steps where I have on some previous weekends.
Also, I had a bit of cock-up with bread, so ended up having to eat an extra loaf. When you remember that it's the eating of too much bread that I thought was the reason I wasn't loosing weight before, you can understand why I didn't think it was a good week. If you add in the fact that I chose to consume said bread via French toast, you can see why loosing 5 pounds has mystified me.
I mean, the previous week I walked miles and miles, but slipped with the diet and had therefore assumed the two cancelled each other out (I lost 1 pound). This last week I didn't do as much exercise and slipped a little with my diet and yet lost loads (5 pounds).
I was tying to think that maybe there's a delayed effect from the exercise from the previous week, but then where does that leave the junk food eating I did - shouldn't I have gained weight?
The ray of hope possibly comes from the weather, in that now it's turned proper cold I'm burning more calories by way of just trying to keep warm. Certainly when I was out walking on Sunday morning it was really apparent how cold it was - I was wearing a hooded jumper with the hood up and my heavier coat and didn't really warm up until about half way.
So I dunno. On the one hand I'm pleased at the loss, but I'm not sure how it's happened. Which you may wonder why I'm bothered, but the thing is I need to loose so much weight that it would be good to work out exactly what process works best, because that will allow me to repeat it.
Monday, 18 October 2010
holiday pics
So I lied - there's one more post on my holiday, but this one is just a bunch of pics, and everyone likes pics.
First off, just to note that there were smudges on my camera lens, which is why there's the consistent dark spot. Mine is not an SLR, so because it was really bright and sunny, I couldn't really tell there was a problem on the little LCD screen my camera has.
First off, just to note that there were smudges on my camera lens, which is why there's the consistent dark spot. Mine is not an SLR, so because it was really bright and sunny, I couldn't really tell there was a problem on the little LCD screen my camera has.
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