Cloud bathing today!

We had been booked on a trip yesterday  (29th) described as a "castaway picnic", leave at 1030 for a 45 minute boat ride to what i think is the edge of the atoll and relax on the sand.  Some good snorkeling to be had before a picnic lunch.  More snorkeling and sunbathing then back to Kurumba by 1600. Due to the wind it made the sea too rough so that was cancelled early on.

So after our champagne breakfast we sauntered around the island for a while, even with all the clouds its easy to see why almost anyone is taken in by the Maldives.

 A real effort has been put into making the gardens more attractive.  In the centre of the island there's a garden/nursery and we have promised ourselves a visit today

 This huge palm thing dominates one of the track junctions

  The pic above was taken from our decking in the early afternoon and as can be seen the sun broke through the clouds and the surroundings took on its sunny mantel.

Unfortunately though the clouds once again closed in and the sunset view from the sand bar once again indicated it could be a "rough night at sea"

 
Back home my web server machine decided it had had enough and stopped broadcasting the site.  I could log into my other machines but to begin with the problem was not evident.  I swapped the server and managed to get a temporary site up and running just before i managed to get the original machine to reboot.

It soon became clear that i had neglected to empty the access log and it had filled up the hard drive and the machine had then given up the ghost.  After deleting that (45gb) file it was easy to re-point all the cameras at it and we are now back up and running.  The last act was to put a monthly reminder in the diary to empty it!

I'm able to log into my machines from here by using a free app called "Logmein",  definitely worth having  https://secure.logmein.com/UK/ 

Right then, off to the champagne breakfast and then i must get some cloud bathing in!   

Who ordered the rain! (Maldives Holiday)

Second full day of the holiday and yesterday was punctuated by quite a good rainstorm around 1900, we could see the gathering clouds off to the west as we hung around the "Sand Bar" hoping to get some pics of the sunset



The pic above excluded any view of the event. 

This morning however was a different story with some stunning pics on the beach

This is the stretch of beach outside our "hut" it gets the full sun in the morning and tails off late afternoon.  By then we are usually "skulking" around the "Sand Bar" where once again its full sun

Here I am after a  "Challenging" champagne breakfast preparing to go for a snorkel.  We go in just in front of the hut then cruise around the reef to strangely enough the "Sand bar" area.  From there its a short walk across the island back to the hut.

The hut is pretty spectacular and we wouldn't normally have got such a swish bit of accommodation but due to a bit of an administrative cock-up  we finished up in 1 of 4 of the "Presidential Villa's"  there's only one better and they call that "The Royal Residence!" 

Here's a pic of the front of the hut

There are more pics on this picasa web album webalbum as well as 2 short videos of the inside of the hut if anyones interested.  

I'll add pics as we go to the web album throughout the hol. Back to the Sand Bar! even if it is raining

Holiday at last!

At last then the day arrives for our holiday on Kurumba in the Maldives.  The house is eerily quiet this morning though as we put both cats into the cattery yesterday afternoon.  Its strange to come downstairs and not have them clamouring around your feet demanding food. 

There was a bit of a scare yesterday because fog was causing some problems with flights out of Heathrow but there was no mention of problems at Gatwick.  I checked the weather there this morning and it looks as if we will get away at the appointed time. 

The flight is a shade under 11 hours and the first 7 or 8 hours are in the dark.  Apart from arriving one of the best bits is as you fly out the bottom of the Persian Gulf.  You can see the desert coastline of southern Oman in stark contrast to the turquoise of the Arabian Sea and from there until we land at Male it just seems to be wall to wall sunshine. 

We first however have to deal with the M1 and the M25 so i must away to pack, again!  and get the truck ready for the journey

I'll probably add a bit of blog at the airport!

Looking forward to the 15 minute speedboat trip to Kurumba island at the other end!

Gatwick update 1630hrs:  The trip down was uneventful if not a pain in the a**e.  Driving to Heathrow is not bad but that extra hour around the M25 then on the M23 is a real drag.  There is a bit of fog around but not enough to have stopped any flights so its fingers crossed that it doesn't get any worse. 

The bags have been checked in at the BA desk which was an altogether much more pleasant an experience than the one we had at the  BA desk at LA last year.  We have had a bite to eat in the sooooo expensive "Garfunkels" restaurant and are now sat in the VIP lounge enjoying the freebies before we fly out just before 1900. 

Sally leaves, Dave leaves, Everybody's leaving!

Twas a busy day for Sally on Friday, her last day at work.  We decided she should have some "time out" at the beginning of the year and it seemed fitting that she should finish before our holiday to the Maldives in a few days time, have I mentioned that before!? lol. 

She has had a good send off with a bash organised by the "big hitters" from the sales side of her business back in September.  A quiet dinner with 4 of the girls from the office turned out to be a surprise bash with 20 others last Thursday. 

On her last day the Company Chairman gave a speech, and her old boss who actually gave her the job 13 years and six months ago jetted in from her home in Spain to be at the send off.  Quite an emotionally drained Sally stepped from her faithful Boris the Land Rover Defender on Friday clutching 3 bunches of flowers an enormous box of chocs and a number of other little pressies. 

So CCSMedia has lost one of its "happiest" employees as the Chairman's speech testified  and countless telephone calls and e mails agreed throughout the day. 

Not to let the grass grow under her feet she performed a culinary masterpiece on Saturday turning out what looked to be a "Christmas Dinner" for us and 2 friends which was devoured with great gusto!

Back at the fun factory it was for a colleague, "lets call him Dave" his last day in the bakery.  To say he has had a love hate relationship with the boss, "lets call her TracEy" would be stretching it a little but I think he's glad of the change. 

I have waxed lyrical with him many times trying to calm him down when he gets on one of his "rants".  I have also told him that he is his worst enemy, setting himself up for many a fall.  Most if not all my advice has however fallen on deaf ears mainly because he has failed to stop talking when I am trying to offer it.   I couldn't resist one final dig though by telling him we would probably have a party at his leaving, pausing just long enough before saying that he wouldn't be invited.  Farewell Dave enjoy the checkouts!

My boss, "lets call her TracEy" has had a bit of a "Bee in her bonnet" since part of my blog "Lunch at the Library, 3/10/2012" was devoted to a description and pic of a friend and colleague, "Lets call her Debs" looking ready to devour a lunch at Chatsworth. 

Appalled at the fact that I had not taken her to lunch both myself and Debs have had the rough edge of "TracEy's" tongue on more than one occasion.  The tables were turned however when yesterday a colleague, "Lets call her Becky" a sweet young thing about 19 years old,  agreed to mention during the day that i was taking her out to lunch on my return from the holiday. All in jest I might add!

I had almost forgotten it when, in what passes for the shop colleague canteen I am having an animated conversation with "TracEy" across half the distance of the room.  In walks "Becky" calmly puts down her lunch at "Tracey's" table and says, "Dont foget Mike we are going out to lunch when you get back from your holiday"  The bosses face was a picture and she launched into another rant about being spurned.  I just managed to interject with "Lets face it TracEy you're just too old for me" before making a quick exit back to the shop floor.

To finally turn the screw a little tighter Debs then wound up Tracey by mentioning the Becky lunch date and in the reply all i heard was "Yes apparently I'm too old!"  It just go's to show that amongst all the work that does go on we do still have time for a bit of fun.  It was fun wasn't it or am I reading this all wrong - - - -Mmmmmmm! I might buy one of this old flak jackets!

So Sally's left Dave's left and so must I to do another shift down at the "fun factory" - - challenges and opportunities, challenges and opportunities! 

Just this and that

The weather has been definitely autumnal for the last few days although not as cold as was reported from Scotland last night minus 8c!  The wind has been quite strong as can be seen from our weather station report a few minutes ago

The data however is hardly a reflection from this morning when it was hammering down with rain and looked like it might be in for the day. 
Even the picture from over the River Derwent below seems to hide the fact that autumn is upon us with its sunshine and shadows in the meadow. 

There has even been talk on the weather forecast at lunchtime of an "Indian summer"  Mmmmmmmm!

 

We (Sally & I) are impervious to these suggestions because in 1 weeks time we will be on our way to Gatwick to fly out to the Maldives on our 2 week super holiday.  I think I might have mentioned it to a few people already!   I have developed a "holiday theme" for the website during our absence and will publish it on the day we leave.  There's a link to "our current holiday" on there as well and i will add the odd pic as the holiday develops. 

 

Our next door neighbour John of the gardening bent is expressing surprise at how well his freshly laid turf is doing and I have to admit it is well on its way to being a "green sward"  as long as it gets the odd manicure. 





 

I had to take Tom our old black cat to the vets yesterday because he was being sick quite a bit, memories of taking poor old Grumpy who had to be put to sleep flooded back and I sat nervously cradling the cat basket awaiting our turn.  After a thorough examination and a quick jab to "settle his stomach" he was pronounced fighting fit and has been eating and not throwing it back up since.

Here he is in a philosophical pose a few days ago

I spent quite a bit of time yesterday getting all the sludge out of the bottom of the pond in preparation for winter.  There are 2 schools of thought about getting rid of it, one is that it prevents the build up of gasses through the winter as the stuff rots down and its harmful to the fish.  The other is that, "well ordinary ponds seem to manage!" I think I might be wandering down the second one myself, but as long as my pond hoover continues to work I will follow the first! 

We have had a good clear pond apart from a couple of weeks early in the season when it clouded a little, so I think we are getting it right!  I must remeber to put in the heated rod that stops it freezing over before we go on hols,  even with the promise of the "Indian summer!"

 





Finally then, today is my last "day off" before 6 straight days of shifts at the fun factory which is the local sainsbugs and then off on hols.  I think i might even enjoy every single 1!    

Rules of engagement! & the Daves are about!

I read with interest a report in the papers this morning about 7 Royal Marines having been "arrested on suspicion of murder after an incident in Afghanistan in 2011 the Ministry of Defence says"  In particular the report mentions an insurgent i.e. only 1 in the "incident".  They probably had a contact wounded the insurgent walked up and shot him.  Only my take on the "incident" you understand. 
A "spokesperson" said that troops are under strict "Rules of engagement" to ensure they act in accordance with the rules of engagement and our standards".  Excuse me! can this person verify that the "other side" know these "Rules of engagement?"

The Lance Armstrong debacle rumbles on with Bradley Wiggins putting in his 2 pennyworth and defending the fact that GB cycling is squeaky clean!  Mmmmmm. 

Anyway back to "Local life", the promised torrential rain of daylight yesterday crept up on us after dark and splodged down just over half an inch between 1900 yesterday and 0230 this morning.  The result across the road in the River Derwent sees an increase in depth of about a foot as the pic below shows

     The Autumn colours are also more discernible on the trees just over the other side of the river.

Having just started my series of days off i can reflect on my past shifts at the fun factory with the odd smile.  Dash about Dave the new "Team Leader" is beginning to realise what he has let himself in for although he does seem to be up to the task!. 
Sunday last was its usual slow start with plenty of time to get everything ready before the hoards descend.  It then takes on a bit of an administrative gallop as the tasks that pop up in strict order on a weekday seem all to be needed to be completed by 1400.

As Dash about Dave was on his own behind the creamy cake counter after 1300 he suddenly realised that he needed to "multi task" to complete the administrative bits in time.  He quickly got to the end of his tether as he tried to work in the isle with the hand held computer and serve what appeared to be the evenly spaced customers wanting their creamy cakes.  No doubt he will come to the conclusion that I should either do the admin tasks or serve behind the counter! - - - "A hoary old chestnut", once more will fall to the ground!! 

The other colleague, "Lets call him Dave" has starred in the blog before.  His unerring ability to open his mouth only to change feet rather than "putting his foot in it" has not diminished one jot.  He continue's to have massive delusions of grandeur in his abilities, even though having failed to secure a post in any number of "interviews" for other jobs. 

He does however provide me with an "Aunt Sally" and I continue to point out to him that he is in fact his worst enemy.  His biggest gripe is that "I get blamed for everything", he fails to see that this normally occurs when he pokes his nose in where he has no reason to! 

It is however with great delight and I think I might just be speaking for just a few other people that after threatening to leave the bakery ad-nauseam his "time" Is drawing nigh. 
He trumpets that he has enrolled in a college management course, not sure what meaningless letters he will finish up with after his name but I feel sure they will help him on the "Checkouts". 
As the new Checkout manager is still an unknown quantity to me, I shall watch with interest, Au revoir!  Dave 

Less than 2 weeks to go until our Maldive hols and its get the cases out and check off the list of gear to take this weekend.  I will change the website background and header pics to more of a holiday view on Monday next!! http://hakuraman.gotdns.com

Finally, "at last went the cry"  the birds are feeding almost in a frenzy in the garden see them on this link Bird Feeder Cam
 

"How the mighty are fallen & Carnage in the kitchen!"

I was going to blog about the antics of my work colleague "lets call him Dave" but that can wait until tomorrow! 

You cant help noticing that the politicians are out of the news a bit which must be a relief for them.  The papers are once again full and have been for a few days of the graphic illustrations and allegations about Jimmy Saville.
 All kinds of links to unsavoury behaviour have been paraded around like its carnival time.  His family have removed his headstone which was an elaborate affair, with a picture on one front page today of it broken up and in a skip. 
No pointing of fingers anywhere you understand but it looks as if the BBC knew what might have been going on, the police certainly did by what has been said so far.  Begs the question why was something not done about it years ago!  

Another "Fallen Star", Lance Armstrong (Of Tour De France fame)is still around to refute the allegations about him but seems to choose not to.  His lawyers are however pointing to the US Anti Doping Agency and labelling their eveidence/report as a"one sided hatchet job".  I cant quite see why they are taking this stance if Armstron won't defend himself. 
There are it seems a string of current and passed cycling greats lining up to paint him as a "bully" and "Serial cheat".  All these were in the US Postal Team when he was wining his string of Tour De France victories.  Once again it begs the question as to why no-one has spoken up earlier.  It's a terrible indictment to the "win at any cost attitude" dont you think?!  

Back down to earth though when I realised I had lost all my research notes for my book when my computer went into meltdown the other day.  See Blog of 2nd Oct "Computers and other distractions"  So I must get on and trawl, once again through my old army records for dates to be added to my tales and annecdotes. 

Finally though I came down this morning to a scene of "Carnage in the kitchen!".  Sainsbury, the tabby cat had obviously had a very productive night hunting as there were 3 bodies alongside the leftovers of some poor creature on the kitchen floor.

We must have the most scrubbed floor in the district!




 

I lose my "G" spot, Gain a log burner, Its "Toad" time and I am 5

 

 

That's my 3G spot at work by the way!  I have to sit in 1 particular spot to get 3G on my iphone to be able to check on my website.  For some time now we had been informed that the canteen would be closing and that "colleagues" would have "Facilities" to cook their own lunches etc.  Its amazing how you miss something immediately its gone.  The canteen was a noisy vibrant smelly place where it always seemed someone was having a meal served. 

 

It closed just after I finished my last shift on my last series.  We were the new "Facility would open on the 6th Oct.  As the refurb was only a paint job and new furniture I walked into it this morning and pronounced it akin to a bathroom.  Empty soul-less and echoing like crazy. 

 

I noticed that the walls were bare and observed that "it will be ok once we get all the photo's back on the wall", to be told we weren't allowed to put anything on the wall.  Ah progress, its a wonderful thing, in the right place!  I must hunt down another G spot! 

 

On the home front we have for a long time talked about having a small log burner in the kitchen.  More for the aesthetic appeal than a necessity to keep it warm but realising it would do just that if we got one.  I walked out yesterday to see John. he of the "gardening persuasion", his newly laid "lawn" is coming along a treat and going quite green now, however I digress. - - - John was sorting out a bit of scrap to take down to the scrapyard and was looking longingly at this small log burner he had taken out of a conservatory on one of his jobs. 

 

"Will I ever fit it?" he mumbled,  "No! i said take £40 for it"  "£40 he said looking like he was going to hike up the price but eventually he cave in and the deal was done.  A little cleaning and some special black stove paint later I heaved it down into the kitchen to await her Majesty's return.  See pic below of item in situ.

 

Delighted with our new purchase we both agreed it would probably still cost another couple of hundred £s to get the chimney fitted but are looking forward to hopefully having it roaring by Christmas. 

 

I moved like a young gazelle, well maybe an old stag, when i heard the postman deposit something through the letter box.  This was all in anticipation for our holiday documentation.  "Result I cried" in triumph as I leafed through the small booklet with E tickets and the like before I noticed what appeared to be a "body" on the floor just inside the living room.

 

I scooped it up and realised instantly it was "not dead" It was a baby toad!  It must be another Sainsbury trophy I surmised as I watched it move slightly in my hand.  Toads it seems are a little like the Shrews in that they have glands that make them offensive to eat by cats.  I quickly took the pic below and deposited it in one of our flower tubs in the garden.  

The little thing never opened its eyes the whole time I had it but when i checked about 20 minutes later it had scurried into cover somewhere in the tub foliage.

And finally!  I Am 5.  It seems the shop, our local sainsbugs has been open 5 years today.  So we were invited to wear the badges in the pic below.

Quite funny really as no-one seemed to notice the badges or asked what they were for.  I remarked to a couple of colleagues that I had sometimes been accused of acting like a 5 year old so maybe it was fitting I had the badge! 

It must have been a couple of weeks ago that a "Birthday party" was organised by the powers that be, I declined however as you were required to pay £10 to attend.  Its the first time I have head of having to pay to go to a birthday party!  Mind you "times is hard", what was it "they" announced back in May. 

"Announcing a better-than-expected 7% rise in full year profits to £712 Million, the UK's third largest chain said it would reduce annual space growth from more than 7% to around 5%"  

"Oh yes, times is hard!" 

Lunch at the "Library" then its back to the "Salt Mine"

Its been a long standing joke from Sally my wife that Chatsworth House, to her, looks like a Public Library.  She much prefers the Elizabethan lines of Haddon Hall just around the corner on the way to Bakewell.

Living only a short distance from Chatsworth is a real bonus for me having been fascinated with the place since I visited it when I was 14 on a school trip from my home town of Leigh 50 miles away. 

The park is a joy to walk around with its gentle rolling hills where if you are lucky and know where to look you can come across the startled herds of Red, Roe and fallow deer.  The house and gardens are worth a trip especially in May/June although the decorations in the house just before Christmas time are a treat to behold. 

It was then with a keen eye on the weather that I invited a friend for a walk to try and see the deer and then a spot of lunch in what used to be the stables years ago but is now a bar restaurant and 2 shops. 

Here are a few pics from the walk

 Both fallow and red on the upper pic and fallow alone on the lower

The Autumn colours are really beginning to show up behind the house now

The "Public Library" on the left with the hunting tower up in the woods behind it.  You can just see the emperor fountain shooting up above the trees right of centre and the sunlight is highlighting the new autumn clours in the garden. 

Lunch is served! nice pie - - gorgeous company!

And so back to reality tomorrow with the first of 6 shifts at the local Sainsbugs or as we call it "the fun factory" or "the salt mine", quite looking forward to it really.  Especially as once I finish this series I only have one series left before we go to the Maldives for our hols!

I'm thinking of having a "holiday theme" to the website starting next week so watch this space http://hakuraman.gotdns.com

Computers! and other distractions

You know how it is, a couple of spare hours and you think I'll sort out where all my pics are on my PC.  All of ours are on an external disc drive along with anything else thats important, - - - or so I thought!! 

Just moving some pics around when the pc froze did the standard "switch it off and back on" - - - nothing!  I had 2 operating systems Vista and XP so no problem boot into the other OS and see whats wrong.  I managed to get into the other system but couldnt access the other drive.  After a lot of trying I gave up and wiped the drive down to just the Vista system. 

Having not lost any pics music or docs I thought setting it up again  would be easy, the computer gremlins had different ideas!  I use MS Office 2003 and my CD would not let me load Outlook (for e mail).  After some Googling I managed to find the problem, deep in the registry there was a figure that said 2 when it needed to say 1.  How do people find out these things? but thank goodness they do. 

My Iphone had all my contacts on so no problem, but of course you have to jump through  lot of hoops to make it sync back to the PC, do it wrong and the PC wipes it clean!!!! Once again thanks to the people that take time to document these things online. 

So after 2 days of downloading uploading transferring and in some caseshandballing the data back in I'm finally back up and running having only lost my last 12 months e mail records. 

Lessons learned.  I now know that Windows comes with an adequate back up programme if you care to just switch it on, which I have just done,  Find it in, Start/All Programmes/Maintenance/ Back up and Restore Centre.  Mmmmmmm! 

As I was working away this morning little sainsbury the tabby came to help and put some time in on the scanner for me!

I noticed on Saturday during a break from the computer rescue work that the leaves are on thier way to autumn colours so made a point today of getting my across the river shot here it is. 

You cansee the leaves on the branch in the middle of the shot are turning brown. 

I'm out to lunch tomorrow so will get some Chatsworth autumn colour pics!