Billy Young's Blog - Posts Tagged "cold"
8th January 2010
Hasn’t it been a cold beginning to the new decade and they’re saying it’s to last for a bit yet. It makes you glad for central heating yet still there’s a chill in the air that doesn’t seem to be shifted by the radiators. I think it has to be something to do with the concrete floor of our house. The carpet just isn’t enough in this extreme cold snap to insulate our feet against the cold. And you know what you feel like when your feet are icy. Makes you glad though to not be in a colder clime like Russia. There I heard that it didn’t get above -19c today, now that is cold. The coldest so far here was further north where it dropped to -22.3c last night. I’m glad to say round my way it’s not been quite that bad, about -14c so far.
The other thing that the cold has caused is a lack of salt. My wife and I were shopping yesterday and when we got to the salt shelf there was none. We used ours like so many are at the moment for the path so are very low on the valuable commodity. The supermarket though had none and so we’ll to be very careful with the little we have, saving it only for cooking. No more salting the path to free it of the ice.
Job hunting is very slow though I did phone the Jobcentre about one the other day. Now I’m just waiting for the application form coming through the post. It’s for a new store that is opening in the area. There was little detain on the job itself and the woman on the phone told me almost as little as was on the web page I saw the job.
Remember that my January sale is still on so head over to Smashwords.com and use one of my codes to get my e-books at a dollar.
The other thing that the cold has caused is a lack of salt. My wife and I were shopping yesterday and when we got to the salt shelf there was none. We used ours like so many are at the moment for the path so are very low on the valuable commodity. The supermarket though had none and so we’ll to be very careful with the little we have, saving it only for cooking. No more salting the path to free it of the ice.
Job hunting is very slow though I did phone the Jobcentre about one the other day. Now I’m just waiting for the application form coming through the post. It’s for a new store that is opening in the area. There was little detain on the job itself and the woman on the phone told me almost as little as was on the web page I saw the job.
Remember that my January sale is still on so head over to Smashwords.com and use one of my codes to get my e-books at a dollar.
3rd December 2010
The snow is falling as it has most of the past week, though I’ve bin luckier than some. We’ve only had a few inches around my way whilst other parts of the UK have had a few feet. The cold has been a bigger problem though as there isn’t a lot of heating where I work, which has made for a very chilly week. Extra layers of clothing has helped though. Mid-week I couldn’t feel my feet, they were like two blocks of ice. I was so glad when my shift was over and I could head home to defrost.
I’ve nearly finished re-editing Banshee 2. Next my son will read through it and see what my wife and I have missed. He’ll also look at punctuation, one of my weak points. I have a book that helped explain some of it but you know how it is. No matter how much study you put into something some of it never sticks, does it? Anyways I’ve done the best that I can which is all any of us can. Well at least I should have it finished this weekend ready for my son to see what he thinks.
I’ve also been writing more poems though I’m not sure of them. I think I’ve managed to keep the childhood voice of Spindly Bob but just think that they need a bit more work. Still it is just for fun and it has been that. Once I’ve done what I have to this weekend I’ll have a look at them and see if I can get them right. Not sure if I’ll post them, maybe just some of them.
I’ve nearly finished re-editing Banshee 2. Next my son will read through it and see what my wife and I have missed. He’ll also look at punctuation, one of my weak points. I have a book that helped explain some of it but you know how it is. No matter how much study you put into something some of it never sticks, does it? Anyways I’ve done the best that I can which is all any of us can. Well at least I should have it finished this weekend ready for my son to see what he thinks.
I’ve also been writing more poems though I’m not sure of them. I think I’ve managed to keep the childhood voice of Spindly Bob but just think that they need a bit more work. Still it is just for fun and it has been that. Once I’ve done what I have to this weekend I’ll have a look at them and see if I can get them right. Not sure if I’ll post them, maybe just some of them.
11th November 2011
I’ve got the cold. It began on Tuesday though I still went into work the rest of the week. What a week to get it though? With me having to get the bus. Dragging yourself out of bed at twenty past five in the morning all choked up is not the best of feelings. Then to spend the day grafting away does take it out of you. All you can do is get your head down and get on with it as I did. I was glad to get home though and back to my bed after surfing the net for an hour or so.
It is strange how we fill our time even when not at our best with the web these days. Yet what would we do with ourselves if the net was just to vanish tomorrow? When we have a problem with connecting up to the cyber world we have that panic that sets in or at least I do. It is like it has become another part of us that we can’t do without. A whole opens when you can’t reach your online friends to catch up on what is happening. It has become that important to us. It also gives us that other reason for not putting up the shelf we promised the wife, hehehe. Maybe that one is just me, luckily there isn’t any shelves at the moment.
When I think of my cold today though it puts it into perspective, this being Remembrance Day. The eleventh day of the eleventh month. The day that the Great War finally came to an end. As well as the day we think of all those that gave their lives defending our way of life. It also makes me grateful that I was never put to that kind of test.
It is strange how we fill our time even when not at our best with the web these days. Yet what would we do with ourselves if the net was just to vanish tomorrow? When we have a problem with connecting up to the cyber world we have that panic that sets in or at least I do. It is like it has become another part of us that we can’t do without. A whole opens when you can’t reach your online friends to catch up on what is happening. It has become that important to us. It also gives us that other reason for not putting up the shelf we promised the wife, hehehe. Maybe that one is just me, luckily there isn’t any shelves at the moment.
When I think of my cold today though it puts it into perspective, this being Remembrance Day. The eleventh day of the eleventh month. The day that the Great War finally came to an end. As well as the day we think of all those that gave their lives defending our way of life. It also makes me grateful that I was never put to that kind of test.
18th January 2013
Finally Calum’s desk is finished. We got it done last weekend and as is the norm it took longer than I had thought it would. Still it was worth the effort as it turned out not to shabbily. Calum is made up with it which is what really matters. It did mean I never got round to much else over the weekend. Those two days never seem to last long enough for all the plans we have for them. It just takes that one job that you thought you could do in an hour or two to end up taking three times as much time to complete to throw everything out the window. Still one job done is always better than none.
Even though I didn’t manage to do any editing I did push the number of roughs up to five. That just leaves another ninety five to go plus a lot of editing. The editing is the harder part of course as you have to have something to work with. Yes I have five that I hope to work on this weekend while, with any luck, write some more rough drafts.
That is if the man flu stays at bay as I can feel that tickle at the back of my throat. Magz has been suffering with it for the past couple of days and being the sharing individual that she is she has passed it to me. I only hope it doesn’t hit me as hard and that after a good long lie in it shall pass quickly. Another weekend with the cold I don’t want. I had enough of that over December and I don’t wish to repeat.
Even though I didn’t manage to do any editing I did push the number of roughs up to five. That just leaves another ninety five to go plus a lot of editing. The editing is the harder part of course as you have to have something to work with. Yes I have five that I hope to work on this weekend while, with any luck, write some more rough drafts.
That is if the man flu stays at bay as I can feel that tickle at the back of my throat. Magz has been suffering with it for the past couple of days and being the sharing individual that she is she has passed it to me. I only hope it doesn’t hit me as hard and that after a good long lie in it shall pass quickly. Another weekend with the cold I don’t want. I had enough of that over December and I don’t wish to repeat.
15th March 2013
Tammy has shared another cold with me this week. It was to be expected with the weather turning back to winter snow this week. Just when I thought that spring was showing the first signs of arriving. My strawberries have suffered from the long winter and I may have to replant my patch though that will now be a few weeks away now. I’ll look over them this weekend when I tidy up the garden. It is amazing how much of a mess your garden gets over winter. Stuff blows in with the storms you get and though you clear it several times there is always more that seems to magical find its way in as soon as you think everything it tip top.
The last of the Six Nations is this weekend. Scotland are in Paris and the French are sure to be tough opponents as they try to avoid the Wooden Spoon for the first in their history. The big game though will be between England and Wales as the Welsh try to end the English winning streak while at the same time snatch the championship from their grasp. Italy v Ireland which I think could be a good game though it is the least hyped of the three games.
All the games are on tomorrow with the Scottish game not starting till around eight in the evening which will mean I won’t have the time for gaming this weekend. I didn’t get much last week as the game crashed a few time. The first time it happened I’d been playing for over an hour and as happens to us all I hadn’t saved. My own fault I know. It does mean I’m in the middle of a great game with no time to play. Well it will be something that I can keep to the following weekend.
The last of the Six Nations is this weekend. Scotland are in Paris and the French are sure to be tough opponents as they try to avoid the Wooden Spoon for the first in their history. The big game though will be between England and Wales as the Welsh try to end the English winning streak while at the same time snatch the championship from their grasp. Italy v Ireland which I think could be a good game though it is the least hyped of the three games.
All the games are on tomorrow with the Scottish game not starting till around eight in the evening which will mean I won’t have the time for gaming this weekend. I didn’t get much last week as the game crashed a few time. The first time it happened I’d been playing for over an hour and as happens to us all I hadn’t saved. My own fault I know. It does mean I’m in the middle of a great game with no time to play. Well it will be something that I can keep to the following weekend.
13th September 2013
I got my day off on Tuesday and this weekend is a long one. Yes Today as well as Monday off so it has been a very short week for me at work. Unfortunately My daughter Tammy has share her cold with me. To be truthful though there have been one or two people at work with the sniffles so I may have caught from them. Of course though I'll still windup my daughter. Well you have to don't you? It is one of those things that comes with family life. Tammy for her part joked back that she was only doing what comes naturally to her, sharing. I had to laugh.
I didn't pull the potatoes last week but decided to leave them for a few more weeks as they still looked like they had a bit more time in them yet. I did pick my apples to day as well as more blueberries and tomatoes. I still have a lot more blueberries to pick. The tomatoes though are beginning to die off as autumn has brought cooler weather over the past week or two. Add to that the lengthening nights, you get the picture.
Still it doesn't stop the grass growing does it. Yes I did get the front clipped on Tuesday but Magz had a washing out the back. Tomorrow is to be a good day so it will give me the chance to get the rear grass tidied up before the expected stormy weather arrives Sunday.
I know it makes little sense to get the garden in order just for it to be wrecked by storms we know are coming. Still there is little we can do about the gales that are on there way. I can at least shave the grass so it is easier to re-order once the bad weather has run its course.
I didn't pull the potatoes last week but decided to leave them for a few more weeks as they still looked like they had a bit more time in them yet. I did pick my apples to day as well as more blueberries and tomatoes. I still have a lot more blueberries to pick. The tomatoes though are beginning to die off as autumn has brought cooler weather over the past week or two. Add to that the lengthening nights, you get the picture.
Still it doesn't stop the grass growing does it. Yes I did get the front clipped on Tuesday but Magz had a washing out the back. Tomorrow is to be a good day so it will give me the chance to get the rear grass tidied up before the expected stormy weather arrives Sunday.
I know it makes little sense to get the garden in order just for it to be wrecked by storms we know are coming. Still there is little we can do about the gales that are on there way. I can at least shave the grass so it is easier to re-order once the bad weather has run its course.
18th October 2014
The cold I have had is still not full gone though I ain't suffering as much as I was earlier in the week. Yes the first half of the week saw me grumpy as I dealt with the choked up feeling that goes around as the cooler months close in. It didn't stop me from seeing to the grass but I still have some things to do out in the garden. Yeah I did use the cold as a bit of an excuse to not do everything I had been planning. I think we all do that from time to time.
Elite Dangerous has had a very steep learning curve. I did the first of the tutorials but found that they were very good a teaching you. They would be greatly improved with a voice over telling you which buttons you need to press and when. Yeah more of a walkthrough than they are at the moment. Of course that may come as time goes by as we are still in the beta phase of the game with a long way to go before we reach the polished game that will be the release model. Anyways it took me until Wednesday to get to grips with the game. I think the hardest aspect was Super Cruise mode, it allows you quickly to fly through a solar system, or rather exiting it. Of course my son wasn't pleased with all the moaning I did as I vented my frustration of the games mechanics. I so wish it had auto-pilot it would have been so simpler. I think that is another thing that will come later in the development but I did miss it when I started playing. Saying that though I am no enjoying the game much more now though there are one or two small niggles. One of them is finding your docking bay on some stations is not as easy as I would like. Especially if it is a station where the landing pads are on the exterior of the station. The first time I tried landing on one of these I ended up in a panic as my time counted down, you have ten minutes to land, and I couldn't find the pad. Yeah why panic I hear you say. Well it does draw you in, well it does to me. Another niggle is that I have been fine twice as I entered a station. I slow right down so I can get my bearing to the landing pad I have been assigned. Sadly the game see this as me loitering at the entrance sometimes and fines me. Luckily they are too large so easily paid. In general I am enjoying the game and look forward to more content later this month. That will come in the form of being able to mine asteroids just as I remember in Frontier. Until then I still have some exploring to do in my Eagle.
Elite Dangerous has had a very steep learning curve. I did the first of the tutorials but found that they were very good a teaching you. They would be greatly improved with a voice over telling you which buttons you need to press and when. Yeah more of a walkthrough than they are at the moment. Of course that may come as time goes by as we are still in the beta phase of the game with a long way to go before we reach the polished game that will be the release model. Anyways it took me until Wednesday to get to grips with the game. I think the hardest aspect was Super Cruise mode, it allows you quickly to fly through a solar system, or rather exiting it. Of course my son wasn't pleased with all the moaning I did as I vented my frustration of the games mechanics. I so wish it had auto-pilot it would have been so simpler. I think that is another thing that will come later in the development but I did miss it when I started playing. Saying that though I am no enjoying the game much more now though there are one or two small niggles. One of them is finding your docking bay on some stations is not as easy as I would like. Especially if it is a station where the landing pads are on the exterior of the station. The first time I tried landing on one of these I ended up in a panic as my time counted down, you have ten minutes to land, and I couldn't find the pad. Yeah why panic I hear you say. Well it does draw you in, well it does to me. Another niggle is that I have been fine twice as I entered a station. I slow right down so I can get my bearing to the landing pad I have been assigned. Sadly the game see this as me loitering at the entrance sometimes and fines me. Luckily they are too large so easily paid. In general I am enjoying the game and look forward to more content later this month. That will come in the form of being able to mine asteroids just as I remember in Frontier. Until then I still have some exploring to do in my Eagle.
7th March 2015
I've come down with the cold. It is at that annoying stage where its sitting at the back of my nasal passages and causing me a minor headache. Being the last in the family to get it everyone else is basically unsympathetic to how I'm feeling. Which really is the norm I suppose. As you know though I hate it when illness strikes but who does? You just have to let it run its course though. Sadly that will be several days going by how the rest of the family suffered it. Calum made the biggest moan while Magz was the sickest. That is to be expected considering her health isn't that great to begin with. Sadly the Flu shot she got in autumn didn't give a great deal of protection this year. Luckily now she is on the mend just as I start to feel the rough runniness that signals the beginning.
Gardening season should be upon us soon. The garden is in need of some major tidying. I also need to get out to spray the trees to improve the chance of getting some fruit from the cherry trees. I already pruned the cooking apple tree a month or two ago but lazily left the trimming on the green. The rain was starting so I just wanted to get in doors before the heavens drenched me. I did put it all in one small pile so my excuse isn't that great. And I should have went out by now to clear the grass of the twigs. I just been to lazy to tell the truth. Or rather I just haven't been able to motivate myself beyond doing a daily job search. It is like the energy I had when I became jobless has now drained away. With it days have drifted by leaving me wondering where they have gone. Maybe I will regain so of that energy as the gardening season sweeps in. At least I hope I do.
Gardening season should be upon us soon. The garden is in need of some major tidying. I also need to get out to spray the trees to improve the chance of getting some fruit from the cherry trees. I already pruned the cooking apple tree a month or two ago but lazily left the trimming on the green. The rain was starting so I just wanted to get in doors before the heavens drenched me. I did put it all in one small pile so my excuse isn't that great. And I should have went out by now to clear the grass of the twigs. I just been to lazy to tell the truth. Or rather I just haven't been able to motivate myself beyond doing a daily job search. It is like the energy I had when I became jobless has now drained away. With it days have drifted by leaving me wondering where they have gone. Maybe I will regain so of that energy as the gardening season sweeps in. At least I hope I do.
16th January 2016
The cold snow falls outside. Our heating is off to save it for later. Extra layers help a little but I still hate the chill. It holds on to your bones for hours after the heating does come on. Being chased off just as the radiators begin to cool again. So as winter finally snaps at the northern hemisphere I am reminded, as if I needed it, of why I hate the darker, colder season. We have been lucky as the week did warm after last weeks bite. Unfortunately it has snapped back to being colder than it was last week. I'm just glad to know that the radiators will come on soon and I'll rest my self against one for a few minutes to warm.
My job search continues fruitlessly. More applications have been sent though no replies received. I was informed that I will be getting sent back on work placement soon. At least it will give me something to do other than just sitting around. Though I will still be expected. as before, to do a full job search every day. It is one of those conditions that the jobcentre expects from me so I get money. Well it is a small price though so is the amount we have to live off of. Mind I shouldn't moan as it is better than in some parts of the world where there is no safety net. And you never know maybe I shall turn that corner to find a job before I am placed on the work placement programme again. I can hope.
My job search continues fruitlessly. More applications have been sent though no replies received. I was informed that I will be getting sent back on work placement soon. At least it will give me something to do other than just sitting around. Though I will still be expected. as before, to do a full job search every day. It is one of those conditions that the jobcentre expects from me so I get money. Well it is a small price though so is the amount we have to live off of. Mind I shouldn't moan as it is better than in some parts of the world where there is no safety net. And you never know maybe I shall turn that corner to find a job before I am placed on the work placement programme again. I can hope.
