Speedway Weekend Part One

The Friday night Pairs Championship went well tonight.

I was roped into sending text messages so that our online friends could keep up with events at the stadium. It was hard work but I felt part of the network of fans again. Looking at the comments of those stuck at home it was worth the effort to allow them to join in the fun albeit in a limited capacity.

There were some upsets that pleased the neutrals and some great racing at the end.

The final between Isle of Wight and Glasgow was the highlight for me as Glasgow got into a winning position with Shane Parker leading and Craig Watson in third place. The scoring system of 4-3-2-0 meant that Glasgow were in a winning position at 6-3. In the third lap of a four lap race Chris Holder overtook Shane Parker to take the score to 5-4 to Glasgow but that was still enough for a win.

As I pop over to the Isle of Wight every year they are my second team and it was pure pleasure to watch Jason Bunyan pass Craig Watson on the last lap to take the title back off the south coast.

I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and I now have to hope that the British Grand Prix in Cardiff lives up to expectations and provides some exciting racing to match that witnessed tonight.

Checking In

I have nothing to say.

I hope you believe it, but that is a GOOD thing.

Just got the time right

Having noticed the time of my afternoon blog as 8:55 am I decided to hunt out the option to correct the time to British money, and you can from now on see the actual time that I have logged the posts.

They are now correct as at 17:00 on Sunday 24th June 2007.

See!

Another Sunday Afternoon

What do you do on a Sunday afternoon when it is raining?

In winter you watch the football on television, but this is the height of summer and there is no football on television. Fortunately for me, my wife and daughter decided to go shopping at the visiting 'foreign market' so I had the place all to myself and my wife had insisted that we buy the Arsenal video "49 The Complete Unbeaten Record" so I watched that.

The beauty of this particular DVD is that I could watch the Arsenal play knowing that we were never going to get beaten - all afternoon - no danger of defeat - there might be the odd nil nil draw and there was but I knew I could enjoy every game with no risk of depression setting in. One of the major problems with maturity is that rather than be carried high on emotion when your team win and digging the depths when your team lose you learn to treat both those imposters just the same (I borrowed that) AND YOU MISS OUT ON THE HIGHS.

I am writing this the day after Thierry Henry announced that he is leaving Highbury (or rather The Emirates Stadium) for Barcelona. Good luck to him. He was truly world class while at the Arsenal and made many goals from nothing, but watching the DVD both he and Robert Pires never gave up the chase and could often be seen rushing in at the far post to score.

Arsenal will find new strikers and the team will go on. It will be rare to get the likes of Henry, Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Dennis Bergkamp playing together but all of them knew how to thread the ball like a needle through a pack of defenders. We may have to rely on the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Tomas Rosicky coming through from midfield but just perhaps the likes of Theo Walcott will come through quicker as a result of the departure. I do remember that it took Thierry Henry a little while to get going.

So there go my thoughts on this particular very wet Sunday Afternoon.

Puchai Aber Carlem Gabindo Camerinthum

Check out the title of this blogbit. Why would those five words in that order be so important? The answer is (unless you already know) Runescape. Those five words in that particular order are needed to defeat a demon. That is after you have defeated the monk. I do enjoy the game and have wasted many hours completing all of the free quests. I should really join up and carry on playing the members quests but I know I am not making best use of my time although the sense of achievement when a task or a quest is completed is tangible.

I have always been a fan of adventure gaming and still remember with fondness the games where you had to guess the correct word to progress further in the game. Police Quest had me stuck for ages trying to get the officer to do a 'breathaliser', a 'breathalizer', a brethalizer' only to find out in an American article that they refer to the test as the 'sobriety test' and the key to continuing the game was 'Administer Sobriety Test'. That one had me stuck for days.

My favourite was always Space Quest. I missed out on Kings Quest but intend to play it one day when I get the time (probably after I retire). There were one or two online adventures but they were always limited. Does anyone know of any good adventures. Runescape is holding my attention at the moment but it will not last forever.

Muppetalike

You Are Rowlf the Dog

Mellow and serious, you enjoy time alone cultivating your talents. You're a cool dog, and you always present a relaxed vibe. A talented pianist, you can play almost anything - especially songs by Beethoven. "My bark is worse than my bite, and my piano playing beats 'em both."

The Muppet Personality Test

You Are 55% Addicted to the Internet

You're somewhat addicted to the internet - but who isn't? You can keep it under check, and you're by no means a hermit.

Are You Addicted to the Internet?

WTF is OCSP

OCSP is implicated in my sudden inability to load Runescape correctly. It has something to do with the verification of Java scripts, or at least that seems to be the case. If I mark the option not to verify then everything works, but when I try to verify by whatever method the whole site is out of reach for me. Maybe this is an indication that it is time to stop playing.

I have enjoyed my time in Runescape and have completed all of the free quests bar two. There is much more to the game that I can discover if I become a member but it is such a huge timewaster that I may deny myself that pleasure. Now that OCSP is interfering I may just leave the game where I am and move on to other pleasures.

Today we are going to visit some friends as we are celebrating our wedding anniversary along with another couple who also married in June. There was talk of a barbecue but we will confirm all the details later in the day.

Now that I have actually continued this BLOG past the initiation stage I may just have to pass the information of its location to a few close friends. If I enjoy reading about them then just maybe they will be interested in me.

A Quiet Saturday

Jessica fell asleep in the armchair halfway through Carry On Cruising. The level of humour seems so low to me now but she has been laughing and it is good to hear. Dawn is working on her own and seems to be very happy crafting whatever takes her fancy these days, from birthday cards to imitation plants.

I have been playing Runescape which has proved remarkably addictive. Time spent in various activities earns rewards in increased options. I have learned the odd thing or two as well. If the game is accurate then copper and tin make bronze, news to me before the game.

I agreed earlier in the day to take the wife to Poundland. We can afford things in there so she has spent many a happy hour picking up bargain after bargain along with a few "That looks nice" bits.
We have a picture being framed due for collection today, and I need to pick my suit up from the cleaners. We also need some cement and mortar for a brick retaining wall that I need to build at the top of the garden.

Be good and stop reading now as you have reached the end of this entry.

A Pleasing Result

Your Mind is 38% Cluttered

Your mind is very free. You've liberated yourself from most worries and problems. And even if something does start to clutter your mind, you're easily able to let it go.

How Cluttered is Your Mind?

The view from the window

It is just past 6 O'Clock in the morning and I am awake.

As I gaze from the window I can see the morning mist obscuring the hills. The cows are hoovering the grass and every so occasionally have to move a pace or two forward. The air is still as not a single branch on any tree is moving. The cars are silent as none of them have yet awoken. A single gull glides across the morning sky and ducks behind a nearby garage. The birds are starting their morning natter. Some birds are in the bush. I can tell because the branches are moving. The sky is grey with mist but it is turning gradually bluer. It is going to be hot.

The television has just informed us all that George Bush is going to "seriously consider" climate change. If the worst predictions are true it is already too late to save the human race but we have life forms developing right now around the deep sea vents at temperatures of 400 degrees Celcius. They will be the ones that thrive if the warming trend continues. So many species have terminated their development, from dinosaurs to dodos that I see no reason why humans should not be just another redundant life form.

Today we are heading north for our entertainment. Somerset Rebels Speedway team are taking on the Glasgow Tigers and we intend to join the crowd for what promises to be some good racing. One of the old Exeter riders is now with Glasgow. Lee Smethills was always a competent middle order rider and I would like to see whether he has developed his skills.

The clock is now ticking very loudly. It must have been ticking all along but I must have reached the end of this entry if I am reduced to talking about the noise.

A Good Day

Today went well.

That is about all I can say without boring you and telling you about the division of accounts into separate portfolios for various members of the team to manage. AND. What about the account that has a single set of charges but has charged the customer four times in a single bill. The experts in the IT department are still working on that one.

The weekend exhibition of Speedway memorabilia went very well as part of a model railway meeting. A London Underground model won the day with a couple of tube trains and a little camera in the cab so you could get a model drivers eye view.

The garden is coming on nicely and we have carted over 200 bricks from the garage up two flights of stairs to the garden. It only remains to carry them on up the garden (1 in 2) ready to build the retaining wall that is needed to prevent the winter falls that we have experienced over the last two years.

The area immediately outside the back door is now useable as we have got rid of most of the rotten wood and broken implements. Paving slabs have been laid so the shed now has a very solid base and the barbecue is in its own corner with a paving slab all of its own to rest on.

Jessica is in a very fetching orange and white summer dress.

Dawn is in the bath.

Second Site

My second post is simply another chance to practice.

I will add some serious content once I am happy with the setup.

First Entry

I have just created this blog.

I hope I remember to update it.