A Splash of Colour

A colourful phalanx of beach huts lines the seafront at Ferring.

These are kept busy in the summer, but now as autumn gets into its stride they are locked up.

Out

It was too nice to stay in. The Gorse Fox, however, hadn't got a specific walk planned for the Downs, soresorted to the easy option. A stroll along the beach as the tide went out.

It would be easy to become accustomed to this and treat it as nothing special. The Gorse Fox, however, can't believe his luck and still feels as if he is on holiday when ever he strolls down to the sea.

Starfleet

The Teddy Bear has just sent a newsletter and it incorporates these words of wisdom:

The top ten signs you work for Starfleet....

10 - You lecture the neighborhood kids selling lemonade on ways to improve their process.
9 - You get all excited when it's Saturday so you can wear shorts to work.
8 - You refer to the tomatoes grown in your garden as deliverables.
7 - You find you really need Freelance or Powerpoint to explain what you do for a living.
6 - You normally eat out of vending machines and at the most expensive restaurant in town within the same week.
5 - You think that "progressing an action plan" and "calendarizing a project" are acceptable English phrases.
4 - You know the people at faraway hotels better than your next-door neighbours.
3 - You ask your friends to "think outside the box" when making Friday night plans.
2 - You think Einstein would have been more effective had he put his ideas into a matrix.

And, the number one sign you work for Starfleet...

1 - You think a "half-day" means leaving at 5 o'clock.

Acknowledgements, as usual, to original author!

The ageing process

Old Father Time sent an email which included the following salutory words...

'OLD' IS WHEN..... Your sweetie says, 'Let's go upstairs and make love,' and you answer, 'Pick one, I can't do both!'

'OLD' IS WHEN.. Your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes and you're barefoot.

'OLD' IS WHEN. A sexy babe catches your eye and your pacemaker opens the garage door.

'OLD' IS WHEN.... Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.

'OLD' IS WHEN..... You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.

'OLD' IS WHEN..... You are cautioned to slow down by... the doctor instead of by the police.

'OLD' IS WHEN.... 'Getting a little action' means I don't need to take any fiber today.

'OLD' IS WHEN..... 'Getting lucky' means you find your car in the parking lot.

'OLD' IS WHEN..... An 'all-nighter' means not getting up to to pee

Acknowledgments as usual to original authority

Que?

The Gorse Fox parked the car in the usual place and walked from the car park towards the main entrance to the offices. The door opened and the chap from post room walked towards him.

"Morning, Sue" he called.

The Gorse Fox looked around. There was nobody else there.

"Errr, good morning" he ventured

"Oh sorry," came the reply "I thought you were someone else"

Mmmm, evidently. Not quite the start to the day he was expecting.

Rumbles

Two o'clock is a stupid time to wake up.

The Gorse Fox had obviously eaten something that didn't agree with him, but was not virulent enough to wish to leave the cosy confines of his vulpine frame. It seemed a long, long night. He never got to the bottom(*) of the trouble but was feeling as right as rain by mid morning.

(*) as it were

Hopping

Gorse Fox has spent a busy day hopping between one meeting and the next - most scheduled, but several impromptu. Not too much to report...

Oh yes! GF was presented with a certificate:

The position of
Honorary Project Manager

is hereby granted to:
The Gorse Fox
for an outstanding XXX Bependency Diagram (with A* for colouring in) for the
XXX Technical Architecture Team
Awarded Friday 21st September 2007

See the level of insults he has to put up with ! Not sure why he puts up with it.

Done

Well that was an interesting (if you are a geek).

The Gorse Fox was busy working on some diagrams and trying to reveal different parts of a timeline based on the way he had placed symbols on different Visio layers. After a little fiddling he managed to create a series of buttons and macros that would switch different layers on and off. The frustrating thing was the way in which Visio numbered its layers... but once that was decoded it was pretty easy.

Wet. wet, wet

A very wet start to the week. Gorse Fox is glad he's not on the roads this morning. There's always too many drivers who over-estimate their abilities in these conditions and make the roads a dangerous place for everyone else.

Help

The Gorse Fox has been helping the Silver Vixen set up her second email account and complete the monthly newsletter that she writes for her coven. It has to be sent off for final review by the Stitch Witch before being published.

Urban-cub popped in for a while, which was nice. She was in a previously unseen car - "It's a prison car" she announced. The Gorse Fox had heard of Open Prisons, Prison Ships, and this week even Prison Lorries, but he hadn't realised things had been down-sized quite to this extent. He supposes that with childlocks on the back you could probably keep 2 prisoners fairly well-contained as long as you didn't need too many staff.

Going... going...

Well, yesterday's viewing of GF's Golf went well, but failed to result in a firm offer. As a result he pinged some of the other candidates and 60 minutes later one was at the door. Thirty minutes after that we had a deal.

GF if a happy bunny.

eBay Classified

GF is rather pleased. He advertised his Golf on eBay Classified. Today he has a viewer coming to see it, and he also has 4 other buyers waiting to see if it's still available afterwards... one willing to drive down from Manchester for it!

The advert went something like this:

This has been my pride and joy for the past three years, but the private lease is about to expire, and I've been out to order a replacement. I've been offered a good part exchange but thought that there may be a caring soul out there is just itching to own this little beauty. If so, on the successful exchange of a suitable number of monetary tokens, you can take over the care of this car as long as you keep it in the way to which it has become accustomed.
Over the 3 years I've always managed to average over 50mpg on every tank of diesel, and on a run have had it up to 68mpg - not bad for an auto, eh? (I would point out that despite the cruise control and the auto-DSG gearbox the driver is still expected to retain full control and can't rely on telepathy or telekinesis to direct the car).
Good condition throughout, though there is a small chip in the windscreen, and a mark on the front bumper where an evil troll reversed into me in a car park - then drove off without leaving his/her details (a special corner of hell has been reserved for this person).

What was nice was that several messages and responses were written in the same whimsical style... and one was just a note to say they weren't interested in the car, but had a good laugh at the advert.

List of scientists opposing the mainstream scientific assessment of global warming - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of scientists opposing the mainstream scientific assessment of global warming - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Well it looks as if pressure is beginning to be applied to Wikipedia. The referenced article is in danger of being removed. It looks as if people should not be allowed to think for themselves.

(The Gorse Fox has saved a copy of the page in question, just in case "they" win).

Computer Error

Ooops. BT may had a slight problem according to Ananova. A couple reported:

"We only rang Chester 30 miles up the road. This bill was beyond ridiculous. Our normal bill is only £35 a month."

Seems reasonable... but what of the comment on the ridiculous bill? Oh yes, that was

The Chadwicks, of Nant-y-Gro, were charged £74,585.39 plus VAT for a seven minute phone call to Chester.

Apparently,

"We felt slightly more than horrified."

That would be an understatement!

Night moves

Driving at night can be immensely boring and tiring. Particularly if you are not used to diving long distances. To help alleviate the boredom the Gorse Fox phones the Silver vixen every so often on her flight back. She has a bluetooth connection on the broomstick so at the press of a button she can keep the GF in touch with her progress... and he can warn of traffic reports he's read from the interwebnet.

GF notes from Cousteau-cub's Facebook that she's left her phone in a taxi in Bangkok. Twit.

Variety

It's been a funny old day - the Silver Vixen hopped on her broomstick first thing (Gorse Fox had to fill the washer bottle at the outset - these modern broomstick come with all the mod-cons) and headed up to Jimmy's place to see her aunt.

GF started about half a dozen separate bits of work, each interrupted by the next as things cropped up throughout the day. Several remain incomplete... but they can be finished over the weekend. At least it was full of variety.

Networking

The evening was a pleasant affair. Only a few of us were staying at the venue, so we met up at a convenient time in the gym for a workout(*) then settled down to a fine three course salad and evening of putting the worlds to right.

(*)this bit may not be a totally accurate reflection of the truth. Replacing the word gym with bar, and workout with beer may be semantically more correct.

On Course

Gorse Fox is on a course. It's easy as you become older to become a little cynical over courses. This one is entitled "High Impact Presentations" - and the Gorse Fox must say that he's very impressed so far.

Having said that, he finds the "improv" a little stressful!

Matchplay

The Gorse Fox has several people now interested in buying his car (VW Golf) - he's really rather pleased with e-Bay. By using the "Classified" service he is not at the whim of auction bidders - he set the price and gets contacted by those who are interested.

Tats

Gorse Fox was just distracted by the sound of the Silver Vixen's sewing machine. This drew him to think of needles and in turn that led to tattoos.

Maybe the girls(*) of SV's coven could get tattoos - maybe a death's head bobbin with crossed needles on a field of fat quarters; or a tea cup with the legend Forever Full?

(*) GF uses the word "girls" in the loosest(**) sense

(**) He uses the word loose in the specific context of the above sentence and categorically denies any double entendre that may be constued from its use.