There are lots of little tweaks I'd like to do to IJY, however it's rapidly turning out that it would probably involve a fairly hefty re-write, and some things also seem to be set against me.
1) I'd like to change the Picasa and YouTube feeds to just show the picture, and when you hover-over them an info box appears with the text. This would give me back a lot of screen space. the problem is that I went down the "absolute positioning" way of doing things, and this doesn't play nicely with DHTML boxes...
2) I'd like to change the logic of the page over to use jQuery, however it looks like their documentation is out of work at the moment...I haven't been able to access it from any of my machines.
3) Yahoo Pipes do this funky little badge things, that accept an RSS stream and output image slide shows. I'd like to feed in an "all my pictures" feed from Picasa, however it looks like their feed for all photos from a user is broken, with the sort image coming out very strange. For me it starts with my Cornwall pictures taken a few years ago, and then randomly skips around. It's been acknowledged as an issue, but not fix has been developed as yet.
4) Bring the blog more onto the page, which would mean less sizing issues, and no need for such small text. This is mainly dependant on (1) though...
5) Integrate the Twitter feed into the header. I can probably do that without too much hassle
6) RSS caching. For this I need to split out the feed retrieval logic and change it to storage, and then point the current scripts at the stored versions. This would also mean letting rip with cron jobs. Again its all doable, but I need to sort out the layout issues first, before I start playing with that as well...
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Monday, 28 July 2008
Sunburn and blisters
Well, I've had my "best part of" a week off, and for once the weather decided to work with me...so what did I achieve?
Tuesday - Replaced the flat roof at the front of the house. This was hard work, far more so than I initially realised. As always it was the prep work that killed me...ripping off the old one by hand took all morning in the boiling sun. The new stuff, by comparison, went on fairly easily. Now I'm just waiting for a bit of rain to see how it holds up!
Wednesday - Built my newly arrived garden chest up and placed it in my garden, and then took delivery of 25 square metres of turf. This was put down on the back garden, and cut/stamped into place. It changed the look of the garden immediately from a mud-pit to something quasi-respectable!
Thursday - Cleaning and staining the decking. This took longer than expected, mainly as I had to wait around for stuff to dry a lot. Also, the stain I was using came with a pad-type thingy, which should have made doing everything really fast, however in reality it was no good on the grooves of the decking, and I ended up using a brush. End result was fantastic however, and really cleaned the garden up loads. On the downside I was doing all the work barefoot, and I ended up getting sunburn on my toes!
Friday - Painting the wall. I was running out of steam by now, and some extra work I had planned (putting up some arches, a bit of weeding etc etc) fell by the wayside. I think I fell asleep in the afternoon.
So in the last 3 weeks the garden has changed out of sight...you can either check out the Picasa gallery, or there is a funky slide show below to track the transformation. There is still more to go, however its less industrial, and smaller work packages...
Tuesday - Replaced the flat roof at the front of the house. This was hard work, far more so than I initially realised. As always it was the prep work that killed me...ripping off the old one by hand took all morning in the boiling sun. The new stuff, by comparison, went on fairly easily. Now I'm just waiting for a bit of rain to see how it holds up!
Wednesday - Built my newly arrived garden chest up and placed it in my garden, and then took delivery of 25 square metres of turf. This was put down on the back garden, and cut/stamped into place. It changed the look of the garden immediately from a mud-pit to something quasi-respectable!
Thursday - Cleaning and staining the decking. This took longer than expected, mainly as I had to wait around for stuff to dry a lot. Also, the stain I was using came with a pad-type thingy, which should have made doing everything really fast, however in reality it was no good on the grooves of the decking, and I ended up using a brush. End result was fantastic however, and really cleaned the garden up loads. On the downside I was doing all the work barefoot, and I ended up getting sunburn on my toes!
Friday - Painting the wall. I was running out of steam by now, and some extra work I had planned (putting up some arches, a bit of weeding etc etc) fell by the wayside. I think I fell asleep in the afternoon.
So in the last 3 weeks the garden has changed out of sight...you can either check out the Picasa gallery, or there is a funky slide show below to track the transformation. There is still more to go, however its less industrial, and smaller work packages...
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Coming together...
Fingers crossed the garden should be completed tonight. I'll be out of work at 4pm sharp, and dashing home to see what the final result is! Once that's done, there is still a fair chunk of work that needs doing, and as all my weekends seem to vanish into the ether, I've taken some time off next week to try and get everything done.
1) Flat roof. Really need to get this done. All the kit is sitting there ready to go, but whenever I have the chance it rains! This is currently scheduled for this Saturday but (shocker) there is rain expected, so it may have to move to Wednesday
2) Prepare the lawn. This will consist of killing the remains of the plant life there, raking it level and watering it, preparing it to take the grass. This is scheduled for Wednesday, but may swap with the flat roof repair.
3) Lay the lawn. The turf should be arriving some time on Wednesday, and the plan is to get this down Thursday morning. It's not a huge area to do, though I'll need to make sure I have a nice big knife for the edging.
4) Clean the decking. the building work and general lack of attention means the current decking looks a bit ropey. I have some cleaning chemicals already, just need to get the hose and scrubbing brush out... This is booked in for Thursday afternoon.
5) Treat the decking. Part 2 to cleaning it is sealing it so that its easier to look after. A few options here, including a rather funky spray system, that should speed the entire process up no end. That's a Friday morning job.
6) Paint the wall. The wall to the patio should be unpainted, and I'll need to crack out a brush and give it a couple of coats. This can be done in an evening if needed, but officially its down for Friday afternoon at the moment.
There is a bit of leeway, and weather permitting I can go on into the evening if needed. The biggest issue is that some stuff can only be done in dry weather (the flat roof, painting, treating the decking etc etc), so I could end up staring at the sky, waiting for a dry spell...
1) Flat roof. Really need to get this done. All the kit is sitting there ready to go, but whenever I have the chance it rains! This is currently scheduled for this Saturday but (shocker) there is rain expected, so it may have to move to Wednesday
2) Prepare the lawn. This will consist of killing the remains of the plant life there, raking it level and watering it, preparing it to take the grass. This is scheduled for Wednesday, but may swap with the flat roof repair.
3) Lay the lawn. The turf should be arriving some time on Wednesday, and the plan is to get this down Thursday morning. It's not a huge area to do, though I'll need to make sure I have a nice big knife for the edging.
4) Clean the decking. the building work and general lack of attention means the current decking looks a bit ropey. I have some cleaning chemicals already, just need to get the hose and scrubbing brush out... This is booked in for Thursday afternoon.
5) Treat the decking. Part 2 to cleaning it is sealing it so that its easier to look after. A few options here, including a rather funky spray system, that should speed the entire process up no end. That's a Friday morning job.
6) Paint the wall. The wall to the patio should be unpainted, and I'll need to crack out a brush and give it a couple of coats. This can be done in an evening if needed, but officially its down for Friday afternoon at the moment.
There is a bit of leeway, and weather permitting I can go on into the evening if needed. The biggest issue is that some stuff can only be done in dry weather (the flat roof, painting, treating the decking etc etc), so I could end up staring at the sky, waiting for a dry spell...
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Gardening?
I was going to get a new bathroom, but you wouldn't believe how much they charge for those things. MFI gave a finger-in-the-air quote of £6,000! Even with my larger-than-expected bonus that's not really in my reach right now. So instead I've turned my attention to the garden, and plan to get that sorted out instead.
First on the agenda was the fence, which was crap to begin with, and took a battering in the horrendous weather we've been having. After asking round I got a couple of guys in to rip out the old one, and replace it with a new one, as well as re-doing the posts and sorting out a particularly shitty corner. that was finished today, and I've planned in with them to next sort out the old pool site.
Before I moved in here there was a 6,000 litre pool in the back garden. Earlier in the spring I drained it, and removed the skin and insulation, thus leaving a 3m square hole in one corner. This is now going to have a wall placed around the inside, and a patio floor placed in, with steps leading down. It's the corner that catches all the sun, so should be a nice seating area once done. Also, once that is done all I really have to do is lay some turf on the dead area, and clean/treat the decking, and it will all be done!
It will be nice to have it as usable space again...hopefully before the weather turns bad again. I may even be able to pull off a barbecue!
First on the agenda was the fence, which was crap to begin with, and took a battering in the horrendous weather we've been having. After asking round I got a couple of guys in to rip out the old one, and replace it with a new one, as well as re-doing the posts and sorting out a particularly shitty corner. that was finished today, and I've planned in with them to next sort out the old pool site.
Before I moved in here there was a 6,000 litre pool in the back garden. Earlier in the spring I drained it, and removed the skin and insulation, thus leaving a 3m square hole in one corner. This is now going to have a wall placed around the inside, and a patio floor placed in, with steps leading down. It's the corner that catches all the sun, so should be a nice seating area once done. Also, once that is done all I really have to do is lay some turf on the dead area, and clean/treat the decking, and it will all be done!
It will be nice to have it as usable space again...hopefully before the weather turns bad again. I may even be able to pull off a barbecue!
Monday, 7 July 2008
Long Day...
yesterday was a long day indeed. A long time ago I signed up to do the British London 10K. At the time I didn't consider what a 9.30 race time start meant...it turns out that it means getting up at 5am, being on a train at 20 past 6, and being in an immense throng of people for a couple of hours...
That said it was a really good race. There was no official timing, and as I knew there were going to be a lot of people I wasn't pushing myself for a fast time...instead I took a camera with me, and attempted in vain to take some shots of the sights. I ended up coming in at about 41 minutes and 20 seconds, which is pretty good, and I enjoyed the race more as I wasn't constantly worrying about how fast I should be going.
Of course, what you really want to do after an early start is plan a nice long day, full of things to do. So I did. First off I dragged Gill to Camden, and we wandered round for a couple of hours, without ever really finding anything we were looking for. Then we headed down to Covent Garden, took shelter against the elements in Starbucks for a bit, before heading to a restaurant I'd booked (Surprise!!). The food was delicious, and we took our time going through it, before heading off to the Ambassadors Theatre to see Stomp (Surprise!!), which is a stage show on there. its hard to describe as its not really a play, or a musical. It consists of 8, probably superhuman, people spending a couple of hours creating rhythms and beats out of lots of everyday items. It was extremely loud, and fantastically good. Not only that, it was done with a great blend of slapstick humour, and even some audience participation (mainly coupled with embarrassment that we couldn't clap out a simple pattern).
So a busy day...we were pretty lucky with the trains coming back, and just managed to catch Nadal beating Federer in the tennis, before collapsing asleep!
That said it was a really good race. There was no official timing, and as I knew there were going to be a lot of people I wasn't pushing myself for a fast time...instead I took a camera with me, and attempted in vain to take some shots of the sights. I ended up coming in at about 41 minutes and 20 seconds, which is pretty good, and I enjoyed the race more as I wasn't constantly worrying about how fast I should be going.
Of course, what you really want to do after an early start is plan a nice long day, full of things to do. So I did. First off I dragged Gill to Camden, and we wandered round for a couple of hours, without ever really finding anything we were looking for. Then we headed down to Covent Garden, took shelter against the elements in Starbucks for a bit, before heading to a restaurant I'd booked (Surprise!!). The food was delicious, and we took our time going through it, before heading off to the Ambassadors Theatre to see Stomp (Surprise!!), which is a stage show on there. its hard to describe as its not really a play, or a musical. It consists of 8, probably superhuman, people spending a couple of hours creating rhythms and beats out of lots of everyday items. It was extremely loud, and fantastically good. Not only that, it was done with a great blend of slapstick humour, and even some audience participation (mainly coupled with embarrassment that we couldn't clap out a simple pattern).
So a busy day...we were pretty lucky with the trains coming back, and just managed to catch Nadal beating Federer in the tennis, before collapsing asleep!
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
To Do Lists
Mine is fucking enormous, and they are all big things as well, typically with a big price tag attached to it.
Fix the Flat roof - The stuff is sitting in the back garden ready to go, however its going to take a full day to do it. This weekend would be good, only on Sunday I'm doing the...
London 10K - which starts at an ungodly hour in the morning, meaning I'll need to be up super-early and get myself on the train. On the plus side afterwards we'll have a chance to trawl round London, and go a bit tourist. So instead of the roof I'll probably be...
Sorting out the front garden - which involves weeding, spraying areas with liquid death, and then piling about a metric tonne of sand and stone on it to quasi-patio it, and gravel the top bed. There is also a bit of brickwork that needs doing. Talking about gardens there is the...
Back garden - Which is currently a shit-hole. We spent this weekend clearing it out (and the loft), and managed to move 2 transit vans of crap to the tip. It needs something brutal doing to the lawn/dirt to get rid of the tree-weeds, and get it ready for turf. The ex-pond is now a large hole, and needs to be walled (probably blocks), rendered and patio-ed, as well as having some steps constructed down to it. The decking all needs to be cleaned and treated as well. The other big job is the...
Side Fence - Which is currently held up with rope after suffering a bit in the wind. It probably needs replacing, which will cost a bit, however first on the agenda is the...
Bathroom - Which basically needs ripping out and starting again. I've got some basic quotes, and its above my budget, so I'm going to need to take on some of the work myself...probably the tiling. I'll need professionals for the plumbing and electrics, however I can tile, help fit etc etc.
Not enough spare time!!!
Fix the Flat roof - The stuff is sitting in the back garden ready to go, however its going to take a full day to do it. This weekend would be good, only on Sunday I'm doing the...
London 10K - which starts at an ungodly hour in the morning, meaning I'll need to be up super-early and get myself on the train. On the plus side afterwards we'll have a chance to trawl round London, and go a bit tourist. So instead of the roof I'll probably be...
Sorting out the front garden - which involves weeding, spraying areas with liquid death, and then piling about a metric tonne of sand and stone on it to quasi-patio it, and gravel the top bed. There is also a bit of brickwork that needs doing. Talking about gardens there is the...
Back garden - Which is currently a shit-hole. We spent this weekend clearing it out (and the loft), and managed to move 2 transit vans of crap to the tip. It needs something brutal doing to the lawn/dirt to get rid of the tree-weeds, and get it ready for turf. The ex-pond is now a large hole, and needs to be walled (probably blocks), rendered and patio-ed, as well as having some steps constructed down to it. The decking all needs to be cleaned and treated as well. The other big job is the...
Side Fence - Which is currently held up with rope after suffering a bit in the wind. It probably needs replacing, which will cost a bit, however first on the agenda is the...
Bathroom - Which basically needs ripping out and starting again. I've got some basic quotes, and its above my budget, so I'm going to need to take on some of the work myself...probably the tiling. I'll need professionals for the plumbing and electrics, however I can tile, help fit etc etc.
Not enough spare time!!!
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