I am not so pleased to announce that my starfleet nemesis has indeed brought soup and is ready to slurp! My headphones are on, my iTunes is set to ease me through for the next 10 minutes! I think he might have noticed the headphones making an appearance at the sametime has his slurping!! GOOD! :-) In a conscious effort to check that I have spelt nemesis correctly, I actually googled it. It is sad to say that I have to do this a few times throughout blogging in a conscious effort to try and stop some spelling mistakes - 750words doesn't seem to have a spell check facility and I think the process is to type your thoughts rather than worry about spelling. Anyway my google search revealed that there is a "Nemesis Appreciation Day". This has to be something I explore further another day!
But for now I go back to listening to Barenaked Ladies (of whom I am a big fan) and avoid slurping noise!
Thursday, 24 June 2010
What Football?
So apparently there was a football match yesterday. The pivotal, crucial match between England and Slovenia that England really had to win or alternatively draw with lots of other factors going in there favour. it's a good thing we didn't need to rely on favour as that didn't go our way and a late goal from USA would have resulted in lots of tears and sulks (not that the British ever sulk). It was a good performance it was good to have Rooney finding the ball and having some fun with it, unfortunately that is now 8 games in a row he hasn't scored for England and a goal is definitely needed. Gerard was very good, Lampard was ok but as normal went missing through the match, and then Barry was great, Milner played really well but was dead on his feet and could have done with coming off with 20 mins to go. Joe Cole was not his usual good self and I wonder if his transfer at home is putting pressure on him to perform. Upson was hmmm... debatable with the exception of one good tackle. Ashley Cole was ok, Glenn Johnson was great in defence and up and down the wing and should definitely never have been booked. David James made us put our heads in our hands, more than Rob Green can do without the fear of dropping that. And John Terry was phenomenal! Give the man the captaincy! I never thought at the time that JT should have lost the captains armband. Ok, he cocked up and it meant we lost a player out of the England squad, but that was due to their British sulking and they shot themselves in the foot. But surely no player on that pitch can be captain if we are judging them on past mistakes!? Even Lampard is dating Christine Bleakley and that must be wrong! To see JT throw his head at a shot, surely that must be putting your head on the line! That is leadership, that is what we want from Starfleet management! And then there was Defoe, whom I nearly forgot. I am sure he forgot he was on the pitch at some point, but others he was great. He was chasing no hopes (not Slovenians), shutting down options, and of course scoring a goal.
So now our route (thanks to the Americans) is a tough one. We have Germany on Sunday, with the possible route being against Argentina, followed by Spain, then onto the Final. We never do make it easy for ourselves! But at least we might play well or at least go out against a decent opposition. I was wondering yesterday if we play better against better opposition. When a Premiership team plays against a Division 2 or 3 side they often struggle, get kicked on and finally off the pitch, and either there is a giant killing or the top-dog stumble through. Slovenians yesterday were a Div 2 team, most of their players actually play in countries' division 2 teams so I am not meaning to be derogatory. So maybe we get a premiership performance when we play against a premier opponent. At least we might be the under dog and we can play the counter football, or have more space to play football.
But anyway somehow this was dwarfed by Tennis. Mrs Stretch is an avid fan of Wimbledon and goes every year. However she is unlikely to be going this year as she is struggling with the baking that she is doing internally and the journey, plus heat, plus crowds, plus numb bum on a plastic seat is not her idea of fun at the moment. She just wants cola icepoles and exotic fruit. You would like to think that Starfleet would have some perk with Wimbledon, but alas our force is not that strong. Unfortunately I missed the Germany football match yesterday as there was the longest game of tennis EVER yesterday, and it has still not finished! The final set in fact is longer than any other tennis match. The number sets played so far is more than Serena Williams played to win the tournament last year. And did I mention it is still not finished?! I hope they can both walk and they are able to continue the match today and I disagree with McEnroe, no I don't think it should be continued on Centre court.
It was worth noting that the scoreboard could not cope with score yesterday, either that or the guy working it had given up - I wonder if that was a Starfleet problem. Also of note the umpire did not take a "courtesy break" throughout the whole game!! It was the commentators first gig, and Court 18 match was supposed to ease him in!!
As an aside, why do I always sit in the same seat in a hotdesk office?? Why does the guy that slurps soup at lunchtime always sit opposite me so I have to put my headphones on to block out the noise.
So now our route (thanks to the Americans) is a tough one. We have Germany on Sunday, with the possible route being against Argentina, followed by Spain, then onto the Final. We never do make it easy for ourselves! But at least we might play well or at least go out against a decent opposition. I was wondering yesterday if we play better against better opposition. When a Premiership team plays against a Division 2 or 3 side they often struggle, get kicked on and finally off the pitch, and either there is a giant killing or the top-dog stumble through. Slovenians yesterday were a Div 2 team, most of their players actually play in countries' division 2 teams so I am not meaning to be derogatory. So maybe we get a premiership performance when we play against a premier opponent. At least we might be the under dog and we can play the counter football, or have more space to play football.
But anyway somehow this was dwarfed by Tennis. Mrs Stretch is an avid fan of Wimbledon and goes every year. However she is unlikely to be going this year as she is struggling with the baking that she is doing internally and the journey, plus heat, plus crowds, plus numb bum on a plastic seat is not her idea of fun at the moment. She just wants cola icepoles and exotic fruit. You would like to think that Starfleet would have some perk with Wimbledon, but alas our force is not that strong. Unfortunately I missed the Germany football match yesterday as there was the longest game of tennis EVER yesterday, and it has still not finished! The final set in fact is longer than any other tennis match. The number sets played so far is more than Serena Williams played to win the tournament last year. And did I mention it is still not finished?! I hope they can both walk and they are able to continue the match today and I disagree with McEnroe, no I don't think it should be continued on Centre court.
It was worth noting that the scoreboard could not cope with score yesterday, either that or the guy working it had given up - I wonder if that was a Starfleet problem. Also of note the umpire did not take a "courtesy break" throughout the whole game!! It was the commentators first gig, and Court 18 match was supposed to ease him in!!
As an aside, why do I always sit in the same seat in a hotdesk office?? Why does the guy that slurps soup at lunchtime always sit opposite me so I have to put my headphones on to block out the noise.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
It is just as Blur described
and more precisely it is Blur Parklife - yes, I get up when I want, except on Wednesdays when I get rudely awakened... unfortunately it was not by the binmen, but instead by my current youngest. So I am up at an hour beginning with a 4 and I soon realise that it would be futile to try and get more sleep out of boy and therefore me. So here I am downstairs watching TV, actually I am struggling to watch to TV. When it is 5 in the morning there is a limited selection of programmes, especially ones that are ideal for a child to watch, let alone me. But Sky Anytime has come to my rescue and I ended up watching Mark Knopfler live and intimate who was particularly good, and did you know he did the score for The Princess Bride and was once in a band called Brewers Droop, maybe that explains why Scobi didn't use that name for his band? and then a documentary of animals which went on to showing Ligers and Tigons (no, that is not a typo). It seems that the cross breeding of Lions and Tigers which can only happen in captivity results in one or the other. If it is a Male Lion and Female Tiger then you get a Liger, and this is where things get incredible. The Liger becomes larger than both of its parents, with bigger bones and stretch and actually never seems to stop growing and it has a bigger appetite - it eats about 3 times more than the Lion. Can they not see the monster they are creating?? I have to go with the thoughts of scientist that say if it doesn't exist in nature then it exist at all.
Squirrel - Do you know I have never noticed that my neighbour has their milk delivered. I didn't actually think people did that anymore. At least being up this early means I am not woken at 6.30 by the neighbour who goes to work on their noisy hairdryer aka moped.
So there are some benefits for being up this early, and that is so I can take some time off later to watch England - come on England!! Unfortunately I have got the predictions right so far, and I am looking forward to my prediction of 3-0 coming true later. Yesterday was unlucky for RSA and they did themselves proud in the end, but just missed out. You have to give them credit, but certainly you have to question what the feelings are in France this morning. I wonder how much the country shot themselves in the foot with the arrangement of Laurent Blanc taking over being announced before the World Cup. It would be interesting to see what would happen if both USA and England draw today and England score 2 goals as it would then result in the drawing of lots for who goes through. Group G would be interesting if Ivory Coast try and score the 9 goals they need to proceed through the qualifying stage.
I am pleased to report that I can now drink Bravaria beer conscious free. Didn't they do well for ambush marketing, they couldn't have dreamed of getting so much coverage. But I do love that the article leads onto this one.
Here is the old ad
and here is the new one - which is ingenious
I think someone got their marketing bonus for this year!!
So although I have linked to 750 words, I have actually never bothered to register and start trying. But today is a new day and it is a start of an adventure. I certainly don't want to get into the mentality of back at University and HAVING to write essays but I don't want to start kick starting my brain and hopefully my life. Talking of University, I really am not sure how I managed to get through that. Don't get me wrong I loved it and I wasn't a bad boy, party animal; but the sessions were tedious and mostly straightforward - I guess that was eased by choosing a Mickey-mouse degree as it is commonly known also known as Sociology. Somehow it has done me proud and got me this far in life. I think once you have your foot in the door it doesn't matter what your degree is, it is just a tick box exercise. It is not a proof of what you know but maybe that you can know something.
Squirrel - Do you know I have never noticed that my neighbour has their milk delivered. I didn't actually think people did that anymore. At least being up this early means I am not woken at 6.30 by the neighbour who goes to work on their noisy hairdryer aka moped.
So there are some benefits for being up this early, and that is so I can take some time off later to watch England - come on England!! Unfortunately I have got the predictions right so far, and I am looking forward to my prediction of 3-0 coming true later. Yesterday was unlucky for RSA and they did themselves proud in the end, but just missed out. You have to give them credit, but certainly you have to question what the feelings are in France this morning. I wonder how much the country shot themselves in the foot with the arrangement of Laurent Blanc taking over being announced before the World Cup. It would be interesting to see what would happen if both USA and England draw today and England score 2 goals as it would then result in the drawing of lots for who goes through. Group G would be interesting if Ivory Coast try and score the 9 goals they need to proceed through the qualifying stage.
I am pleased to report that I can now drink Bravaria beer conscious free. Didn't they do well for ambush marketing, they couldn't have dreamed of getting so much coverage. But I do love that the article leads onto this one.
Here is the old ad
and here is the new one - which is ingenious
I think someone got their marketing bonus for this year!!
So although I have linked to 750 words, I have actually never bothered to register and start trying. But today is a new day and it is a start of an adventure. I certainly don't want to get into the mentality of back at University and HAVING to write essays but I don't want to start kick starting my brain and hopefully my life. Talking of University, I really am not sure how I managed to get through that. Don't get me wrong I loved it and I wasn't a bad boy, party animal; but the sessions were tedious and mostly straightforward - I guess that was eased by choosing a Mickey-mouse degree as it is commonly known also known as Sociology. Somehow it has done me proud and got me this far in life. I think once you have your foot in the door it doesn't matter what your degree is, it is just a tick box exercise. It is not a proof of what you know but maybe that you can know something.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
A week flys by
...or rather it can drag.
It seems my ability to update my blog regularly is in question, and I am sure my reader subscription list proves that fact! If it was the new year then I would probably be doing my resolutions on how I will better at blogging, however it is not and even if it was it probably won't last more than a week as a resolution. I am sure last year I was going to learn piano, and before that I was going to get fit, and you will know that that has still not happened!!
Today sees me connecting up to skype. There were a couple of drivers for me doing this;
Firstly, I was updating my add-ons in facebook. My browser was dragging and I wanted to make sure all plugins and updates were up-to-date and also see what the latest add-on was. This presented me with wisestamp and a seemingly very useful tool that it is and of course skype, which is probably an essential for most people. Or at least one of those tools that most people have downloaded and got installed but are now no longer using.
Secondly, my best mate "Knobby" is off to Oz next week as a recon. This is received with mixed feelings... I am gutted that he might be going, even if it will take him 6 months for him and the family to go. I am pleased for him for making the move, I am jealous that he is doing it, and I am upset that I didn't know sooner as I would have joined him on the recon. On Radio 2 yesterday in advance of the budget today, a listener said "The debt is only my problem, if I still live here!". It seems the consensus on the call for most public sector employees was to leave the country. Of course that only works for policemen and nurses, the tax collectors are quite rightly stuffed and stuck on the mantelpiece. I tried to work out whether I can line up interviews both with starfleet and others to join Knobby on the recon, but alas I couldn't line up enough to justify the trip. I could justify it to myself but Mrs Stretch thought it was too much of a jolly without having activities lined up. Although she is up for the option of emigrating she would prefer Canada rather than Oz, and the conversations have now moved around to moving to Norfolk - not quite the land of surf, fosters and BBQ!
Now seeing as I have updated you with a couple of new toys/gadgets, I also need to mention to you another one. As one of my readers was made aware today of VieraCast. There are already some good reasons to buy Panasonic (mostly because they are good quality and a reknowned make), but if you get a choice get a device with vieracast. My bluray player has this and it is good! Not VERY good, just good for now as it still needs more options (video on demand is coming) but it is still handy to watch my youtube movies and photo albums.
It seems my ability to update my blog regularly is in question, and I am sure my reader subscription list proves that fact! If it was the new year then I would probably be doing my resolutions on how I will better at blogging, however it is not and even if it was it probably won't last more than a week as a resolution. I am sure last year I was going to learn piano, and before that I was going to get fit, and you will know that that has still not happened!!
Today sees me connecting up to skype. There were a couple of drivers for me doing this;
Firstly, I was updating my add-ons in facebook. My browser was dragging and I wanted to make sure all plugins and updates were up-to-date and also see what the latest add-on was. This presented me with wisestamp and a seemingly very useful tool that it is and of course skype, which is probably an essential for most people. Or at least one of those tools that most people have downloaded and got installed but are now no longer using.
Secondly, my best mate "Knobby" is off to Oz next week as a recon. This is received with mixed feelings... I am gutted that he might be going, even if it will take him 6 months for him and the family to go. I am pleased for him for making the move, I am jealous that he is doing it, and I am upset that I didn't know sooner as I would have joined him on the recon. On Radio 2 yesterday in advance of the budget today, a listener said "The debt is only my problem, if I still live here!". It seems the consensus on the call for most public sector employees was to leave the country. Of course that only works for policemen and nurses, the tax collectors are quite rightly stuffed and stuck on the mantelpiece. I tried to work out whether I can line up interviews both with starfleet and others to join Knobby on the recon, but alas I couldn't line up enough to justify the trip. I could justify it to myself but Mrs Stretch thought it was too much of a jolly without having activities lined up. Although she is up for the option of emigrating she would prefer Canada rather than Oz, and the conversations have now moved around to moving to Norfolk - not quite the land of surf, fosters and BBQ!
Now seeing as I have updated you with a couple of new toys/gadgets, I also need to mention to you another one. As one of my readers was made aware today of VieraCast. There are already some good reasons to buy Panasonic (mostly because they are good quality and a reknowned make), but if you get a choice get a device with vieracast. My bluray player has this and it is good! Not VERY good, just good for now as it still needs more options (video on demand is coming) but it is still handy to watch my youtube movies and photo albums.
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Shall I take the red pill….
..or the blue pill?
Sometimes life is filled with big choices and sometimes in life you just have no choice.
This week has been a low week, I think we all get them. And women who say men don’t have PMT are just liars! I think it doesn’t help that Starfleet has been kicking the pilots around and that has taken it’s toll, and now things at Starfleet are quiet and I am still not in the correct squadron. So I feel like I am in limbo. Anyway today sees me in a Starfleet office and I am actually sat in a box that can only just sit 3 people and I have an all day workshop with 8 people in here today... mmm I think the organiser got that one wrong and we will now spend an hour trying to find a better room!
Mrs Stretch has been baking and now has an “ickle” growing inside her. We thought she had starting baking 7 weeks ago, and the other day we had a scare whereby we had to make emergency appointments. Yesterday we found out that she had started baking “ickle” me, about 11 weeks ago, and scans show everything is ok! It is still a bit of a shock, and now my house hunting involves finding one more room or a re-jiggle of accommodation somehow.
On the positive side of things the stag do in Liverpool was great. I managed to see Robin (another stag) handcuffed to a midget (little person) Batman. There were also quite a few other views to behold. But the main thing was how surprised I was with Liverpool. I was expecting to see some fights amongst locals and some serious binge drinking girls, but it was all well behaved. There was an incredible amount of people out, I guess this was due to the football (not to be discussed again). Managed to somehow get up in the morning after a “few” beers and have a walk to the Albert Dock. Once again I was impressed with Liverpool and I was able to briefly reminisce of “This Morning” . That was until we were summoned back to the minibus and commence on 5 hour return journey in a rickety, cramped, bumpy, no air-con’d, distorted speaker, minibus – still good fun though.
Sometimes life is filled with big choices and sometimes in life you just have no choice.
This week has been a low week, I think we all get them. And women who say men don’t have PMT are just liars! I think it doesn’t help that Starfleet has been kicking the pilots around and that has taken it’s toll, and now things at Starfleet are quiet and I am still not in the correct squadron. So I feel like I am in limbo. Anyway today sees me in a Starfleet office and I am actually sat in a box that can only just sit 3 people and I have an all day workshop with 8 people in here today... mmm I think the organiser got that one wrong and we will now spend an hour trying to find a better room!
Mrs Stretch has been baking and now has an “ickle” growing inside her. We thought she had starting baking 7 weeks ago, and the other day we had a scare whereby we had to make emergency appointments. Yesterday we found out that she had started baking “ickle” me, about 11 weeks ago, and scans show everything is ok! It is still a bit of a shock, and now my house hunting involves finding one more room or a re-jiggle of accommodation somehow.
On the positive side of things the stag do in Liverpool was great. I managed to see Robin (another stag) handcuffed to a midget (little person) Batman. There were also quite a few other views to behold. But the main thing was how surprised I was with Liverpool. I was expecting to see some fights amongst locals and some serious binge drinking girls, but it was all well behaved. There was an incredible amount of people out, I guess this was due to the football (not to be discussed again). Managed to somehow get up in the morning after a “few” beers and have a walk to the Albert Dock. Once again I was impressed with Liverpool and I was able to briefly reminisce of “This Morning” . That was until we were summoned back to the minibus and commence on 5 hour return journey in a rickety, cramped, bumpy, no air-con’d, distorted speaker, minibus – still good fun though.
Friday, 11 June 2010
A Definition Higher
So this week has involved the Stretch household unveiling HD on a new Plasma. (my address won't be posted for all those techie burglars! Plus my TV has got a clever tracking data stored within it). The timing of this has been impressive with the start of WorldCup just being now hours away! Mrs Stretch had a huge input into this and I was surprised that only a few mentions of wanting a new TV and leaving the odd Stuff magazine cutout lying around resulted in her saying "yes, lets go shopping". I have wanted a new TV for a while, but I unfortunately brought a very good TV years ago. It was a Sony trinitron 32" and when I brought it, it was brilliant. However, it never died! And all the time it was working fine, I couldn't justify replacing it. And it wasn't the kind of TV that you could stick in a bedroom as it was as deep as it was wide. I got excited about a year ago when the colours were flicking and I thought the tubes were going to blow, however it just turned out to be the scart cable not plugged in properly. And so it lived on. I had to resign myself to selling it for £20 in the end, a bargain for a friend and I suppose a bonus for me that I didn't have to take it to the tip.
Of course the timing of the TV would have been even better if I was actually at home to watch the England game tomorrow night. Although I can't complain as I am instead out on a Stag weekend, gone are the days when a simple couple of pints down the local nagshead would suffice. It is now about how far you can get and what extravangent challenge you can put in the mix. It is more like University challenges of seeing who can get as far as possible by spending no money - the name escapes me now of what it was called. So this stag do consists of travelling to Liverpool, playing football (yes playing!) against a Liverpool team and then checking in the hotel and going to a private function room to watch the football with a buffet! In a way this is civilised event and journey back from Liverpool will be the funniest as there will be 16 of us in a minibus with a mixture of aching limbs, dodgy knees, sore backs, and minging hangovers and probably some bad guts caused by too much Guinness. None of us are spring chickens anymore! The cherry on the cake will be England winning against the US, which will probably be compared in the papers to the BP catastrophe somehow the following day.
Of course me being away will cause strain for Mrs Stretch, not because she will have mini-me to look after but as she will now have to work out how to use Sky HD and the new TV! Hopefully she will abstain from the Blu-ray player! I am expecting a text at some point panicking as America's next top Model is starting and she can't find the channel!
Anyway it is with pleasure that I say...
******* COME ON ENGLAND*******
But....
Please don't let me get as frustrated as I normally do with the style of your play or your incompentance! Please don't lose on penalties, and please don't get sent off! Oh, and no more injuries!
Of course the timing of the TV would have been even better if I was actually at home to watch the England game tomorrow night. Although I can't complain as I am instead out on a Stag weekend, gone are the days when a simple couple of pints down the local nagshead would suffice. It is now about how far you can get and what extravangent challenge you can put in the mix. It is more like University challenges of seeing who can get as far as possible by spending no money - the name escapes me now of what it was called. So this stag do consists of travelling to Liverpool, playing football (yes playing!) against a Liverpool team and then checking in the hotel and going to a private function room to watch the football with a buffet! In a way this is civilised event and journey back from Liverpool will be the funniest as there will be 16 of us in a minibus with a mixture of aching limbs, dodgy knees, sore backs, and minging hangovers and probably some bad guts caused by too much Guinness. None of us are spring chickens anymore! The cherry on the cake will be England winning against the US, which will probably be compared in the papers to the BP catastrophe somehow the following day.
Of course me being away will cause strain for Mrs Stretch, not because she will have mini-me to look after but as she will now have to work out how to use Sky HD and the new TV! Hopefully she will abstain from the Blu-ray player! I am expecting a text at some point panicking as America's next top Model is starting and she can't find the channel!
Anyway it is with pleasure that I say...
******* COME ON ENGLAND*******
But....
Please don't let me get as frustrated as I normally do with the style of your play or your incompentance! Please don't lose on penalties, and please don't get sent off! Oh, and no more injuries!
Monday, 7 June 2010
all fished out
well what a palaver that was... we were all set to go and then the skippers wife got ill (how inconsiderate), but hooray she got well enough to let us go out a bit later so we did manage to get out and do a good 5 hours fishing! However we did not catch a single fish!! I did win the day by catching a snail and that was the best!!!
It was slightly more reassuring that we didn't see anyone else in other boats catch anything either, and the word on the streets (or harbours) is that there is a problem with too much seaweed from France causing a problem and everyone is struggling! Of course some people are a bit more successful!
Although there was a lack of fish it was still great fun and I got to use my new kit! I just wanted some mackerel for the BBQ!
So now instead it is back to work for a FULL week - moans... But I have a good weekend to look forward to with a Stag trip to Liverpool to play football and then a night out in 'Pool to watch the first England game - cause unlike most of my readers (actually all 2 readers) I do like football! Shouts of "Calm Down" will be heard for miles!
It was slightly more reassuring that we didn't see anyone else in other boats catch anything either, and the word on the streets (or harbours) is that there is a problem with too much seaweed from France causing a problem and everyone is struggling! Of course some people are a bit more successful!
Although there was a lack of fish it was still great fun and I got to use my new kit! I just wanted some mackerel for the BBQ!
So now instead it is back to work for a FULL week - moans... But I have a good weekend to look forward to with a Stag trip to Liverpool to play football and then a night out in 'Pool to watch the first England game - cause unlike most of my readers (actually all 2 readers) I do like football! Shouts of "Calm Down" will be heard for miles!
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