Armed and Dangerous

The nice man from Amazon came. He was clutching a new toy for the Gorse Fox.

Needing to shift the shelves in the oven housing, the Gorse Fox realised he would need to be able to cut through the dowels that are almost certainly supporting the existing shelves. This requires a tool that can slide up and cut close to edge.

Hopefully this will do the trick (though he may need to find the right blade if the dowels are steel!).

Just stuff

Jasper was not popular this morning. It was about 6:45 when he dragged the Gorse Fox downstairs. It wasn't as if we had a great deal planned.

After breakfast the Gorse Fox spent some time fiddling with a spare router and hard-wiring the TV in the family room to the network. Previously it had been WiFi connected but it was a fairly weak signal in that corner of the room. Now there is a Gigabit router handling the connection (though the TV seems limited to 100Mbps). As usual all was achieved with a bit of magic and some cable-ties (which are, as you know, the answer to everything).

Then the was a brief bit of exercise on the running machine before the Gorse Fox retired to the study. He started by transcribing the diary entries for our trip to Epcot in 1989... then the mood overtook him and he got the urge to write code. So it is that the last hour or two has been focussed on writing some code to extract and format blog entries from the private blog so that they can be compiled into some printed form or other. The extract side of the conundrum is sorted and coded - now the Gorse Fox needs to think about the formatting and printing/filing. That can wait for another day.

Tonight we have a NYE get-together with the Sonning Crew which should be fun.

Doh!

The phone rang just after 7:00. It was John Lewis on their way to install the new oven and combo-oven. This was good - everything would be sorted nice and early.

Wrong

The chap walked in and asked to see the existing set-up and whether everything had been explained in the store. The Gorse Fox said that he had taken all the existing measurements and power rating with him to the store to check. The conclusion had been it was ok.

"The oven requires 16A circuit", he explained. We have a dedicated 32A the Gorse Fox responded. "No it has to be exactly 16A as the lead is not fused".

The Gorse Fox said "No problem, will go to Travis Perkins and get 16A MCB".

"You also need a 16A fused circuit for the Combo-Oven". That should be ok - the existing combi uses 15-20A circuit according to the installation instructions. He checked the circuit... it was 13A. That too needs changing but that's not a simple matter. That one requires an electrician.

Finally he measured the housing and concluded the shelf needed moving by 5mm.

At this point the whole installation was aborted. The Gorse Fox told him to go away and we would call them when ready to proceed as it was clear he wasn't going to do anything to help solve the problems.

Domestic bliss

Very little going on today. Urban-cub, having been sent home from work yesterday, was off-sick. Whilst feeling a little brighter than yesterday - she is still full of cold. The nice man from Ocado turned up with our shopping. He commented on how foggy it had been on his way down from the Weybridge depot - and how he had been drifting on the ice. It seemed strange as we had a crystal clear, cloudless blue sky (though it was very cold).

The Gorse Fox caught up with the accounts and then spent some time looking at options for a brief holiday in the Spring. Several possibilities arise, but there is no perfect fit so far.

Last ~Game

Very frosty start to the morning was not helped by Jasper's insistence that the Gorse Fox was up about soon after 6:30. He had to be up early-ish, but that was taking it to unnecessary extremes.

Urban Cub emerged at some pint - she had not slept well and her cold was in full flood. She retired to the living room and sat in front of the fire. She wasn't due at work until mid-afternoon so she have a quiet morning.

The Gorse Fox headed out for his last football game of the year. Again we had some youthful ringers joining us. It was a lovely game - lots of fun and banter but no aggression or silliness. This is how it should always be played. The Gorse Fox played well but isn't sure how the final scores worked out. It may well have been a draw, but frankly we had lost count.

Back home Urban Cub headed off to Gatwick and the Silver Vixen finished the chores that she had been working through. We had a quiet hour or two in front of the TV. Urban Cub called. She had been sent home and was now on her way back. The cold was self-evident and fairly extreme so he boss had taken the position that she should not be at work. Right decision.

Santa Run

Tuesday dawned early, thanks to Jasper. (The Gorse Fox uses the word "thanks" in its loosest form). After a moderately gentle start we all set off for the distant wilderness known as Berkshire. It was time for a Santa Run and to catch up with family.

Avoiding all of the shopping conurbations we had a quick and trouble-free run through. We were plied with teas and coffees whilst we caught up on the family news and the Gorse Fox's little sister finished lunch preparations. The Gorse Fox's nephew, Mask, was already there and soon afterwards, Blade turned up with Soph.

As always lunch was a huge feast with mountains of food and lakes of drink available. It was great fun with chat and witty repartee bouncing round the table. After lunch there were presents to share and a lot more chat. It was a lovely day.

We headed home early in the evening - the Qashqai SatNave deciding that the 57 mile journey taken when we came would be better as an 87 mile journey returning home. Stupid. Once the Gorse Fox realised this his overrode the route and spent much of the journey thinking about how stupid the routing can be and fretting that it doesn't offer a route overview or options.

Sun, sea, and sky

Boxing Day has been quiet. Urban-cub has a heavy cold and is struggling a bit. We discussed a walk - and though we left it until lunchtime, we decided to wander along the promenade.

Parking up, Bognor looked deserted. The car parks were almost empty and the on-street parking was almost unused. (Probably because everyone was parked in the roads of the Bersted estates). We wandered down to the promenade. On the corner was pile of rubble that had, until recently been an hotel and a fish and chip shop. This burned down a few weeks ago and has now been attacked by the demolition crew. The Gorse Fox can only comment that anything that is put in replace it will be a huge improvement.

The promenade was quite busy with walkers, cyclists, rollerbladers, skaters and dog-walkers. It was a little surprising as there had been so few cars around, but it was a pleasant afternoon for a stroll. We wandered along past Butlins and round the bend to the Lobster Pot where we did an about face and strolled back.

On the way back we were walking into what little wind there was - but it did have a cool edge to it. The sea was calm and with the watery sunlight marching across the glass-like surface towards us, made a lovely tranquil scene.

Feasting

We had a lovely long chat with Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit at lunchtime. It was good to hear from them as, somehow, it makes them seem a lot closer. We were instructed to send photos of the Christmas decorations and the Christmas lunch - which we duly did.

Lunch was fairly restrained compared to previous years - we didn't bother with a starter, had a normal plate of turkey and the trimmings, and didn't bother with a sweet. Indeed it was about eight in the evening before we returned to the kitchen and broke into the sweet course.

Overall, it was quiet Christmas Day, but it was very enjoyable.

In play

(Courtesy of Andrena McMenemy)

Well yesterday's Open House for the Sonning Crew seemed to go well and (surprise, surprise) there was plenty of food left over.

It's always fun getting everyone together. The Gorse Fox saw this photo on Andrena McMenemy's Facebook, and thought it appropriate.

Christmas Day started with Jasper the cat having a bit of a sleep-in and not disturbing the Gorse Fox until gone seven. This was a bonus.

Once up it was important to get the lunch preparations under way. There may only be three of us (the Silver Vixen, Urban Cub, and the Gorse Fox), but it still has to be done properly. Turkey was retrieved from the fridge and allowed to come up to room temperature as the oven was warming. As he writes, the Gorse Fox notes it has been nearly three hours since it was put in the oven and the smells emanating from that corner of the kitchen are wonderful.

We have to meet with Old Bill and Lady Penelope for a drink at noon - then we will return to complete the cooking - potatoes, stuffing, pigs-in-blankets, parsnips, brussel sprouts, peas, and carrots. Tradition is tradition!

Peek

We've just had a peek at the video the Gorse Fox edited yesterday. We are all very impressed by the quality of both picture and sound when played on the big TV. That has given him the impetus to do more in the near future.

Talking of battening down

Talking of battening down - the Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen are expecting the Sonning Crew to invade later for coffee, mince pies, a buffet lunch, a drink or two and heaven's knows what else. It should be fun.

Batten down

Yesterday the Gorse Fox was foresighted enough to check the garden prior to the forecast winds. He refastened the tie-downs on the garden furniture covers.

Fat lot of use that was! Trouble is that the winds are due to increase over the next 48 hours - so the question is: does he ignore it, or does he try again?

Organised

The Gorse Fox is not really one for being too organised. Well, perhaps that's a little unfair. He tends to have a strategic view of things, then as time passes the focus starts to become more intense. Yesterday he wrote a list of headline tasks... and today he focused on those tasks and ticked them off one by one.

• Gammon roasted
• Oven Cleaned
• Floors washed
• Marinade prepared
• Turkey out for defrosting

One by one they dropped off the list and the Gorse Fox managed to spend some time editing video from the trip he took with the family to Sea World in Florida in 1989.

(There is no sense in rushing things).

It was very much by way of an experiment with iMovie, but he is moderately satisfied with the results.

It was also wonderful to see the girls' faces as they watched the various shows, and this afforded their dad an opportunity to embarrass them.

Full

It had to happen.

We'd raided Sainsbury's, Ocado delivered, and we collected an order from M&S... the fridges are now full and the freezer is full. Food is overflowing into the Orangery. Hopefully it will be a cold night and that will act like a fridge.

The Gorse Fox has spent some time today with the iMovie tutorial. This gave him a good comparator for ShotCut. Frankly, he thinks there is very little in it. Both seem capable and both seem easy enough to use. He has even edited some old video today, just as a test.

Highlight of the day, however, was a brief online chat with Cousteau-Cub. It's good to hear that she is on the mend from her latest flare up of Rheumatoid Arthritis. It hasn't completely settled, but she has been able to dive and is likely to dive again over Christmas.

Youngsters

We had a couple of youngsters playing football with us this morning. One, the grandchild of a regular player, was about 11 and very talented; the other, the son of a regular, was about 18. This made the game quite good fun as they were struggling with the "walking" rule but had very quick feet and a some great skill. Without any of the trouble-makers, the game was great fun and an absolute joy. This was heightened by the fact that a) the Gorse Fox's team won 7-5, and b) the youngster was driving Renaldo (as we call him) absolutely to distraction.

Back home there was stuff to do to help the Silver Vixen with the ramp up to Christmas.. Once that was done though he retired to the study again to review the options for a non-liner editor for his videos. There is Apple's own iMovie (which the Gorse Fox already has) but he wanted to know what other options existed (with wider options for encoding the output). In the end he downloaded ShotCut. He watched a quick online tutorial and then had a go himself. It seems quite good and is abe to handle a very wide range of formats. Impressive so far and perhaps this adds the next line to list of projects the Gorse Fox will work on. (The private blog still sits at the top of the list, but there is huge backlog of diaries, letters, and journals still to transcribe).

Motion

Tuesday morning saw the Gorse Fox in motion and Tuesday afternoon has seen motion pictures being shuffled.

The morning started with the car dance. This is the fandango we perform when each of the car is in the wrong relative position for our respective journeys. The Gorse Fox's car was in the garage, but the Silver Vixen was parked by the garage, and Urban-Cub was parked in front of her. Once we had finished the automotive-tango, the Gorse Fox head off of football.

It was the usual enjoyable two hour session. The Gorse Fox played adequately, though not really well. He managed to make some important interceptions and set up one of our goals. He was not, however, inspired. Maybe tomorrow!

Back home, Urban-Cub had gone to work and the Silver Vixen was out for a Birthday Lunch for one of her girl friends. The Gorse Fox had a quick shower and a snack then settled back down in front of the computer to finish the transcoding of video (motion pictures) that he started over the last couple of days. This is now complete, given the digital data that he has, but as mentioned yesterday the Gorse Fox suspects he will send some of the original tapes off to be re-processed.

More Video Transcoding

After a bit of discussion over menus and so forth, the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox headed for Sainsbury's to pick up those items that we wished to choose for ourselves rather than rely on the automated picking used by Ocado (which is fine for most of the shopping). Considering we are in the run up to Christmas, we were amazed at how quiet the shop was, and even more so to find there was no queue at the checkouts.

Back home the Gorse Fox returned to the video transcoding he started yesterday. This has revealed that some videos that he had digitised several years ago are suffering from poor colour quality. He suspects that he may have to send the tapes off for professional capture. That, however, can wait for the New Year.

Video

The Gorse Fox had no football today. With only 8 players we failed to reach a quorum. He used the time to look for some photos to add to the diary entries he had been transcribing. Now at the time these diary entries were made, the Gorse Fox was taking more video than ordinary photos. This meant looking through old vide and trying to capture suitable stills from the hours of coverage he had on file. This turned out to be more problematic than expected.

The LightWORKS software that he had used in the past wouldn't start at all. Apple's iMovie software would play the videos but despite following the online instructions, the Gorse Fox could not actually capture any still frames. In the end he used Quiktime. Not ideal.

This has triggered him to try and import his videos into LightROOM and try from there. He left this running and will have to have a play during the week.

AT lunchtime the Sonning Crew marched down to the Pink Pub. It was time to try some of the "Rockin' Rudolph" guest beer or some mulled cider. Several hours of chat and laughter ensued.

Productive

That's been a productive start.

The Gorse Fox has managed to complete a number of tasks on his mental "to do" list. Christmas decoration boxes are all stowed away but easily accessible for 12th night. The blanket weed forming in the rill has been cleaned out. Various delivery boxes have ben cut down and added to the recycling. Paintwork out the front of the house has been washed down... and the ironing has been cleared. On top of this, the last of the emails from 1990 have been transcribed and filed in the private blog. (The GF has also just found another notebook full of diary entries for a holiday we took in Florida in 1989 - that will have to be transcribed next).

Such excitement!

Mulling it Over

Jasper was insistent and dragged the Gorse Fox from bed earlier than planned. The Gorse Fox got a degree of revenge by delaying putting out his breakfast until ten minutes later than usual.

It was a quiet morning - the Silver Vixen was preparing to meet up with friends for lunch so the Gorse Fox retired to the study and continued with the scanning and transcribing of old emails from 1990. The task is nearly finished - only about 5 pages to go. The task has taken the Gorse Fox right up to the weekend before the family flew out to meet him for a holiday in Arizona.

With Christmas fast approaching, the Gorse Fox spent a while wandering around the local supermarket. He wasn't looking for anything specific, more a case of seeking inspiration. He did make the most of the trip, however, to pick up a decent sized gammon joint and several bottles of mulled wine. Whilst the checkouts were almost empty, the aisles were fairly chaotic - though this is relative. In the old days, at Tesco in Chineham, you would be advised to wear shin pads and body armour. Here and now it is more appropriate to whisper the odd "excuse me" to pass a doddery shopper confused by the choice.