a Change of Tempo

The Reading Half is finally out of the way. By my standards it didn't go too well, with a finishing time of 1 hour and 33 minutes...my goal was always to get round without an injury however, and that was aciheved, so we'll call it a draw and move on.

The next race is a triathlon in May, and before then I have to get myself upto speed on a bike. I intend to cycle into work every day over summer, and build up the confidence and speed on the machine. This weekend I bolted a cycle computer to it, nad I now know that I cycle at about 20 miles an hour, with my target being 25. It should be achieveable, just need to get the feel of putting the power down into the pedals. I also need to sort out some outdoor swimming practice, as I'd rather not have my first wetsuit swim being "in anger".

In other, non-exercise related things, the Descent Team recently finished a rather long campaign (we reckon about a year in total). Byrnie did sterling work as the Overlord, and managed to go into the finale with a decent lead, and we all thought that it would be a brutal death to the heores, however the game was against Byrnie in a quite horrendous way, and in aspects we never really thought about, resulting in a fairly unexpected (and rather un-climactic) win for the Hero team late on Saturday/early on Sunday. Overall it was a good experience, though I think we are all feeling a bit of balance-fatigue and rulebook-exposure. There is a plan to take a session or two's break, and then start another campaign.

We've been having a few Left4Dead online sessions, which are a riot. It's quite possibly the best team-based game I've played, as it actually involves working together (not just playing together). In three weeks time an expansion comes out for it, which should add to the fun no end! My xBox360, on the other hand, is currently sitting at a repair site in Germany, after deciding to stop outputting sound. The Microsoft support system for them is actually fairly comprehensive, and after two phone calls doing trouble-shooting a pickup from UPS was arranged. This weekend I picked up a cheap copy of House of the Dead:Overkill for the Wii, and it's quite possibly the most hilarious game I've played in a long time. Gill and myself spent a cracking afternoon blasting our way through the initial campaign. The entire theme of the game is done out in a camped-up 70's psychodelic horror (the closest film similie I can reference is House of 1000 Corpses, which I'm fairly certain in turn takes it's style from another, older film).

We have a holiday sorted for Wales in a few weeks time, which is promising to be an eclectic blend of walking, boardgames, consoles and food, with the pleasant backdrop of the Gower peninsula. I'm dragging along my bike, a wetsuit and a kite, though I probably won't try and use them all at the same time. Fingers crossed that the weather holds on, as for the last couple of weeks it's actually been rather spendid. I'll also have a couple of crates of games, including Smallworld, if it decides to arrive on time...

If the weather does hold on, then this weekend (Easter weekend) I plan to finish prepping the garden for summer. We spent a couple od days tediously scrubbing and cleaning the decking, ready for a new coat of stain. I've tried to seed the patches in the lawn as well, but it doesn't seem to have taken (and the bloody pidgeons have eaten it all now!). Once it's serviceable then I suspect there may well be a barbeque planned...well, it would be rude not to!

It's like learning to ride a bike...

...which turns out to be quite bloody hard.

The last time I rode a push-bike was about 5-6 years ago, when I used to trundle into work every day (about 4 miles) on a mountain bike. Back then I wasn't some kind of gym rat, and so wasn't really burning up the tarmac. As soon as I had a motorbike I relegated the manual option to the garage, and pretty quickly sold it to someone at work. I do vaguely remember that I was reasonably competent and confident on it, normally tearing in and out of traffic, whilst occasionally hitting it (well, once, and I gave the bastard a right verbal for it)...

...what I don't remember is having each and every undulation in the road passed straight up my spine, and a eerie feeling of exposure and extreme vunerability. I suspect that this is very much to do with having spent 5 years perched on a 200 kilo machine, coated in leather and capped with a large helmet, compared to a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and a shaped strip of polystyrene delicately strapped to your head. There is also a slight different in wheel width (about 8-9 inches, compared to the razor-like contact point on the new bike).

As a road (and racing bike) the setup is very different to a mountain bike as well. Some some insane reason the tyres are inflated to 130psi, which is like having iron bars. They absorb absolutely no shocks at all, and as the rest of the frame is also solid the end result is that my wrists and spine take everything. The dimensions of the frame force you to be low to the frame, giving little flexibility for body-weight adjustment to your balance, and the drop handlebars give less leverage. All in all it feels a very unstable setup (which of course it is...it's all designed for speed, not comfort).

The solution, of course, is practice and familiarity. I'm sure that once I have clocked up a couple of hundred miles it will all feel far more natural. I've taken the decision to remove the race pedals while I get familiar (the idea of being bolted to a machine you're not 100% happy on doesn't strike me as the greatest idea ever), and replaced them with normal toe-clips (which several hundred hours of spinning classes have introduced me to). Once I'm not thinking about the bike (and the wierd-ass gears...it took me half an hour to work out that the brake lever pushed sideways was the mechanism to change down...) I can start thinking about speed, cadence and technique, however until I have rid myself of the "I'm about to eat asphalt" mentality I guess I'm back to novice status...

The Gauntlet has been thrown...

We are approaching the time of new year resolutions. Gill has gone and made hers all public, so I suppose I'd better go and do the same. I started doing these 3 years ago, and they have included such fun things as "Run a half-marathon", "get in shape", and "buy a house".

However, before heading off on what I'll be attempting next year, I'll just remind myself of some of the achievements from 2008.

1) Achieved a sub 1h30 half-marathon
2) Achieved a sub 40min 10k run
3) Learnt to swim
4) Swam over a mile non-stop
..and some non-exercise based ones...
5) Found myself a lovely girlfriend (who will probably complain that shes not no.1 on the list)
6) Sorted out garden and bathroom (just...)
7) Finished the year with more savings than I started with (ropey, but I'll count it)

Not bad...un-shockingly all rather exercise based (to be expected, in line with the "attainable and sustainable" one from 3 years ago...). So onto this year...

1) Regain running fitness after injury. Target is to achieve 1h30 in the Reading Half (end of March)
2) Start cycling to work. Target is early spring (like I'm going to start in winter...)
3) Do a triathlon. OK, not overly sure on this one, as there is equipment considerations. There seems to be a good beginner one in Henley in summer.
4) Sort out the porch...replace the flat roof with a tiled one, re-plaster, and new suite fitted.
5) Eat healthier. I've re-acquired my snack-habit, and it needs to be beaten back into submission.
6) Be a little less paranoid. I should probably have this as a standing one every year. Apparently not everyone is out to do me in (unless I'm on a motorbike, in which case I have a big bonus point sign floating over my head...)

That should keep me busy...

A Constructive Exercise

You can spot a bachelor house by the games room. I have one...it leads a schizophrenic life as a table football room, a library, and a board gaming den. For the boardgames I have some large pieces of MDF, covered in felt, that are tied to the top of the Foosball table. It's good in that it is 5 foot square, and can cope with any game...even one of fantasy Flights big-box specials. On the downside it's a little flexible, and does have a habit of bowing under a hardcore lean.

So over the Christmas break I intend to re-design it. I was originally going to completely re-build it using a less flexible surface, however after an hour wandering round B&Q with Gill patiently in tow I decided that it probably wasn't going to work feasibly...the wood was too thick, and too expensive.

So Plan B is to re-surface and re-enforce the existing panels. Fish has most generously supplied some new material (lots of it actually), and I've picked up 4 panels of furniture board. These will be screwed to the underside of the existing boards, and rather than the current hinges I have a collection of clips and deadbolts. I wasn't able to find any d-loops for the webbing, which is a little disappointing, however they can be affixed at a later date. I also need to add on some edging to hold it in position on the Foosball table, however again this is not vital, and I may be able to come up with some better mounting mechanism if I look around a bit...

On the downside?

It's been a funny few weeks... lots of things are happening, and I think I just need to step back a bit and work out whats best for me.

First off, the knee has not sorted itself out. I went for a run last Monday, and at 6 miles it started to seize again. This is the longest-lasting injury I've had, so I've taken drastic measures (for me) and sought out medical advice. well, to be more specific, I have registered with my GP and coerced him into a referral to a Sports Physio, which my medical insurance are happy to pay for. I have the first consultation on Tuesday. As of right now I'm not sure I will be running the Grim, which is going to really frustrate me, however, I have to be careful to make sure I am fully fit for the Tough Guy and Reading Half next year.

So instead of running I've been pushing forward with the swimming. I have now finished my course of lessons, and now have targeted myself to get up to swimming 1km non-stop. My current record is 500m, which is up a fair step from 8 weeks ago, when 2 lengths would destroy me. More and more I'm realising it's as much about being comfortable in the water and technique as strength and power.

The big thing floating about right now, however, is my job, or more precisely, the potential loss of it. My company announced a series of redundancies about a month ago, and as of today we were advised of some of the specifics. My team of 18 is losing 4, and as of today I am officially "At Risk". I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this...it's all very new and very strange, and quite apart from myself it does rather kill off the office atmosphere. I've been at the company for 11 years, and my understanding is that a redundancy package would be fairly impressive... I have to be honest, there is a part of me willing to take it and move on. Quite aside from the mercenary temptation, there is a fair argument that the place is turning into a career dead-end. Six months ago I was in a good position to push for promotion, however now that is simply not a realistic possibility...redundancies and promotions do not easily share a bed in business.

I have a couple of weeks to think about it...as I have officially been told I'm under threat I will automatically get a quote about the redundancy package, and I suspect my next move will very much be dictated by how large it is. I have to be impressively selfish, and determine the best course of action for me. Take the money, or stay in the box?

Getting things done

It's been a busy few weeks. As I mentioned last time I've been arranging to get my bathroom done. I got in the same chaps who did the garden, and arranged that they would start while I was off on holiday with Gill to Devon. She has already done a rather good write-up on the week, though I should probably mention the Commando Challenge, which I did last Sunday. This was a 7 mile jaunt around the Royal Marine Endurance course in Exeter. It consisted of a 2 mile road run (quite hilly), followed by 3 miles off-road, taking in a number of crawl tunnels, water obstacles, bogs and mud. I ran with Harry (a lad from work, who also does Road Runners), and his mate Nick. You can see some of the photos on Picasa...as you can see it's fairly muddy stuff. We came in 8th around the course, which is all fairly awesome.

The bathroom is currently half-done...lots of stuff needed to be done with the entire infrastructure of the room (plumbing, electrics, walls, ceiling and floor)...now the bath, some tiles, the lights and some of the plumbing is in, as well as a fairly hilarious window at the moment...again, there are photos of work in progress. Hopefully it should be finished by Tuesday/Wednesday this week. Alongside this, I've put up some display cabinets in the games room, of an Ikea ilk. I'm quite proud of the lighting system I've managed to squeeze into them :-)

Swimming-wise, I've had 2 lessons so far, and have backed this up with a handful of lanes sessions. My technique has improved on the front crawl, and I have the basics of a breathing pattern, though my stamina is still atrocious (after 2 lengths I'm utterly blown). That's going to take practice, and getting more comfortable in the water...

Vast Expense

The next phase in doing up the house, and probably the most expensive one, is the bathroom. Over summer I went round a couple of places, and was given quotes in the ballpark of £6,000 to refit the place (which , given that the room is 4 square metres, can be considered a lot of money).

I've now gotten the money together, and I've spent the last couple of weeks going through various shops and brochures looking for my idea bathroom within that space (of course, ideally my bathroom would require a supply station halfway across, and the design would take into account the curvature of the earth). Tomorrow the builders (the same guys who did the garden, cracking chaps) are coming over to quote the work... The big question is how much am I going to be hit for. A brief list of the work can be found here.

There are a couple of big bits in there...resizing the window, and underfloor heating are bound to be big. I've had a rough quote on the electrics already, and that's about £1000! The suite is going to cost about £1000 as well (those curved glass screens are very expensive), and the tiling is not exactly discount either. I've gone for a natural slate floor, which should give it a very posh feel (especially given it will probably burn your feet!).

It's one of the areas that I don't dare risk myself. Plumbing and electrics are bad enough by themselves...combine them and you're pretty much assured of death if you don't know what you are doing...

A bit of a catch-up

Things have been occurring, and I've not really been keeping track of them. This will be a bit of an attempt to cover the majority of them...it will probably fail.

First off, La Manga. As my previous post pointed out the weather was fantastic. The whole weekend went rather well really, and I fully recommend all-expenses paid holidays to everyone! Some highlights;

• Breaking the jet ski's - We blame the Spanish bloke. There were 6 of us out, and pretty much the only instruction we got during the Spanglish safety briefing was "follow the speedboat". One of the guys at the back had to swerve to avoid the wake of a large boat, and went over a reef, sucking a load of stones into the engine. The speedboat turns to get him sorted (basically turn off the engine, and get towed back in) and we all dutifully follow him...back over the reef. 4 dead jet ski's later, and one very stressed Spanish guy hating us for laughing in the boat back.
  
  
• Spa - Spent about 4 hours here...firstly got my sweat on in the gym, then a massage, followed by a prolonged jacuzzi session and generally vegging around. Lovely.
  
  
• Sugababes no-show - The shitty no-pro's that they are the decided that they couldn't be arsed to turn up, so instead the MD gave us all a £1000. So far I have heard from no-one who would have preferred it the other way!

Great weekend, and really enjoyed it. Just the right mix of relaxing, and doing stuff for me. I also found out that one of our senior managers (board room level) like a bit of foosball, and he's keen to get some in the new office we are having built. I, apparently, am already banned :-(

Work has been a mixed bag, and while projects sit in the "what are we going to do" phase, I've been doing some tech support work with XML formats and Schema's. Not really my area, but I'm picking it up fairly well, and no-one has blatantly labelled me as a fraud as yet. We've moved office, and while the new place has more space, there are less good facilities (no kitchen, and we are back to sub-standard drinks machines). I've blagged myself a window seat, though the view is less than stellar.

The running training continues. Roadrunners is brutal at the moment, and we are in the middle of a 6-week distance training improver series. It must be helping though, as I did Dorney Lake on Saturday (same race as I did in April), and I set a new PB over 10k of 39.32...my first time under 40 minutes, which has me really chuffed! I've signed up for Reading Half again, and this puts me about a minute faster over 10k than I was at the same point last year. I've set myself a training target of 40 miles a week by the new of the year.

Cricket is faring less well. A combination of bad weather, and holidays has meant that I've played very little in the last couple of months. This really showed in the game yesterday, with huge strides backwards, and a developing bruise on the right thigh (yeah, it's me that smells of Deep Heat...you can probably smell it from there...). The season is over soon, which means that at least I get my Sundays back for a while. It will probably mean more time dedicated to running, and getting stuff sorted in the house.

Ah, yes...the house. The garden is all done now, and has had its inaugural barbecue. There is still stuff to do (put up some arches over the stairs, some more painting, and I'd like to get some light systems out there to make it more evening friendly), however that can wait until next year, and spring. The next area of focus will be the bathrooms. I have cashed in some under-performing share-options, and should be contacting some workmen soon to try and sort out a window. I need to do some measurements and plans first, as I'm a little concerned that the door is going to get in the way quite royally for some stuff I want.

So there you have it...my life in a small, bite-sized capsule. Don't chew, and take with food!

Warmer Climates

It was announced yesterday that August was basically a bit of a shitty month overall...frankly we were lucky to get the barbecue in there at all. Summer in general this year has been a bit of a let down, and now we are in Autumn its only going to get worse!

So lets have a quick look at the forecast for the next 5 days...


So, its going to shit it down here, while I'll be mucking about in the south of Spain on jet-ski's and quad bikes. Damn :-( Yes, it's finally time for me and Gill to bugger off down to La Manga, and enjoy ourselves at someone else's expense. Expect photos of sand, sea, sun and (depressingly) me in a tux...sigh... Well, it can't all be perfect, can it?

I have a couple of days off either side, and tomorrow I'll be busying myself putting a TV up in the bedroom, playing furniture chess, and probably doing a set down the gym (though that depends on how vicious Roadrunners is tonight). I somehow doubt cricket is going to occur this weekend. Monday will be sorting myself out, getting supplies into the house, and generally keeping the relaxing feeling going for one more day...

Have fun y'all!

Horse-based Hilarity

OK, the modern Paentathlon is possibly the most inspired event at the olympics!.

Lets take a bunch of people who have probably never even seen a horse before, pair them up randomly with a feisty equine, and then make them showjump. the end result...?

Carnage!

Obscure Sports Quarterly...

I love the Olympics. You'll never see archery televised anywhere else, outside of films about men in green tights. I also love the BBC, who'se iPlayer allows me to watch it live on a laptop right now, at work. As I type this, serious men in big sunglasses are showing that target who's boss (It's Korea vs China).

I can't wait for London 2012... realistically I'll never get another chance to see the olympics, and to have it on my doorstep, and give me the chance to pick and choose what I want to go and see is amazing. I'll get to wave a union jack and cheer like a loon for a few weeks!

Ooh...its getting tense, China are coming back on Korea! There's also some (rather mainstream) rowing on, however I think that the UK teams are already through on that one, so may have to hold with the Team Archery!

Finishing touches

The rest of the bonus was spent this weekend pretty much. On Saturday we went round the various garden centres in and about Reading, and managed to hunt down some decent garden furniture. I've ended up with a large wooden table, 4 armchairs and a large blue parasol. Alongside that there is a blue charcoal barbecue (gas is cheating!), and covers for winter/bad weather. We also picked up a lawnmower, some lighting for the parasol, and a couple of nick-knacks (including the biggest drill bit you've ever seen, so that I could put some drainage holes in). We had the added bonus that the DIY centres scanner didn't seem to work properly, so some items were not picked up...ooh!

Saturday evening we had friends round for dinner, so I spent a couple of hours constructing everything, before doing a Nigella chicken (bacon and brandy, though I don't really think the brandy added much). The weather held off, so we were able to enjoy "drinks on the deck" before eating inside, and subjecting them to Carcassonne :-D Gill whipped up a dessert of yogurts, fruit and crunchie which went down a treat as well!

Sunday was a trip to Ikea...the weather on the way was miserable (I was on the bike, as we'd worked out that once we'd bought the bookcases Gill wanted there would be no space left for me in the car). Once there a short recharge on Swedish meatballs (which are delicious!), and then a wander round the show floor. I had only planned on getting a whiteboard, and maybe something for the bathroom, but also ended up getting some draws for my shelves, a counter-top lighting system for the kitchen, as well as some new cups, a couple of bins, and lots of ideas for another visit...oh dear.

Sunday evening was installing the lighting system. It's almost done, just need to drill a hole in a wall to put the power cable through, and its done. Looks great when its on, well chuffed with it!

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...

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...

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!

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!

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!!!

The Death of Dune

I'm setting myself up for abuse simply by writing this, but I've just finished reading the Dune series of books, and I found the ending to be a real let-down.

I suspect a good number of people have read the original book by Frank Herbert, which typically gets universal acclaim, and indeed made it onto the 100 Greatest Novels by the BBC. Its a great book, that takes on and deals with vast subjects...not only the story of the people it involved, but of their families, the politics, religion and nature of the universe, as well as a huge amount of detail on the world itself.

Frank Herbert went on to write a long series carrying on after Dune, and its here that he lost a lot of readers. While Dune itself was focused on the planet, future books in the series become more and more about people with strange powers, and huge upheaval of the human race. I personally enjoyed them...they had an epic feel to them, and while the subject matter was sometimes a bit cranky (and it gets really strange once you reach God-Emporer of Dune) it painted the world very well. Even later in the series there is a shift in focus to the Bene Gesserit (which is effectively a military knitting circle). The series covers thousands of years in total, though it carries through certain characters and themes, and focuses on certain time periods very heavily. As with many old-school sci-fi authors, the underlying themes are very much based on society, and how it copes with situations.

Frank Herbert had the indecency to die in 1986, leaving the series incomplete (the last book he wrote being the 6th, Chapterhouse:Dune). It's very much a cliffhanger, with an ongoing theme of a huge, unknown threat being levelled against the entire human species. He had always planned a 7th, and final, book to complete the series, and had completed notes on the book, but just hadn't gotten round to writing it.

At this point in steps Brian Herbert, his son. Together with Kevin J. Anderson (who is probably best known for being a co-writer of the X-Files) he has spent the last 9 years visiting the universe his father created and expanding it/raping the corpse (delete as you feel appropriate). He started by writing a series called the "Prelude to Dune", which covers the history immediately before the original book. With the best will in the world he is not the writer his father was, and the guidance he got from Mr Anderson is obviously less cerebral than Frank Herbert. The end result is a writing style with a bit less delicacy, and less refined. It does read a bit like a screenplay. That said, it dealt with the subject matter fairly well, and for the most part avoided doing a Star Wars Episode 1 by introducing glaring continuity errors ("I don't remember owning any droids"). As someone who has read the original series, it was great to see old characters back, and to revisit the world. I will admit to a small amount of pink-vision. Even at this point, however, the shift from social commentary to character-based plot was already showing through.

Next up came another series, which covered a part of the Dune history with was often referred to, but never fully explained...the Butlerian jihad. Without wishing to spoil the story too much in the Dune universe there are no computers/robots etc, and it is explained several times that "thinking machines" are banned due to a slight Terminator-style issue at some point in the past where they took over. Over the course of three books Brian and Kevin depict this key part in the history of Dune, I suspect without too much attention to his fathers notes. There is some mention in Dune of key families, and their alliegence during this time, however I suspect it didn't include giving the AI Overmind that much personality, or giving him a sidekick. Again, while it didn't do too much in the way of continuity errors, and did meet all the requirements it felt a little over-hammed. Fine in separation to the Dune series, but other than that it didn't blend too well, either stylistically, or content-wise.

So then we come to the most recent two books..."Hunters of Dune" and "Sandworms of Dune". It should have been a giveaway that a story-arc that Frank Herbert planned for one book was eventually published as two. These books represent the culmination of the Dune series, and are allegedly based on Frank Herberts notes for Dune 7. The first one was passable, however the second was bloody awful (and I've really, really been trying to give this leniency upto now). It's full of contrived situations, awful dialog, and horrendous continuity. One of the main issues is that it re-introduces many concepts and characters from the Butlerian Jihad series, and this finally breaks the continuity. There is information suddenly made available that quite literally magics up from nowhere. Several people develop insane abilities from thin air, and it reads in places like badly-produced fan-fiction. Its a crime against the entire series. Its even got a "happily ever after" ending to it where everyone hugs and is best friends, which is never what Dune was about...I mean, God-Emperor was all about how shit a situation like that was for everyone involved! The story covers 14 books in total, over the course of 43 years, and right at the end its screwed up fatally...

I'm quite depressed after finishing it...I can't unread it, and to some extent it's soured Dune for me...perhaps I was better off always wondering what the big threat was, rather than have Brian Herberts sledgehammer of crass pour it into my ear like so much hot tar. He's already announced plans for a new book, a sequel to Dune no less (that fits into the time gap between Dune and Dune Messiah). There is no way that this can be good, as it deals with more core times in the Dune timeline, and will undoubtedly contain huge signposts of contrived plot to link to the later books he's written. There is also a new film in the offing, which they hope to turn into a series. Brian and Kevin are involved, so my hopes are very low...

There is another series of books I've had on the go for a long time ( The Wheel of Time ), where the author has also recently died just before writing the final one. Another author (friend of the family) has picked up the baton, and is currently in the process of completing it, with input from several other sources, and the notes of the author. I desperately want this book to be good, and to do justice to the series (which is massive...11 books of huge weight, and an overarching plot and storyline with insane levels of detail). Robert Jordan was part of a community of authors, and always worked closely with his family and friends, so I'm holding out hope that the spirit and integrity of the series can be maintained to the end.

I'm not scared...

...well, maybe just a little bit...

I'm meeting Gill's parents tomorrow. Unfortunately the only thing that I can think about is that bloody Dr. Pepper advert.

The state of the world

Roadrunners again last night, and a fairly brutal set it was too, made all the harder by the wind and rain. We were doing 4 sets of 4 x 600m, with a pace increase in each set. By the end of it my legs were tightening up nicely, and my hobble was coming on a treat. I was supposed to be having a sports massage immedaitely afterwards, but unfortunately it was cancelled at the last minute.I'm really glad I got to finish the set, as many people left early due to the appauling conditions. I really, really need to up my mileage (I keep saying that, don't I?), as my endurance is nowhere near the point it should be at.

I think Mondays are going to get harder, as a new outdoor circuits class has started (Bootcamp), and its at the same time as I normally run, so the plan is to run earlier, and then do Bootcamp immediately afterwards. If that doesn't kill me in short order nothing will. I've been signed up for a multi-terrain race in October called Commando Challenge, which looks like a great laugh, however its a team thing, and I don't want to let the others down, so have to knuckle down and start improving the distance and strength.

Geek wise, I've "invested" in a couple of new board games. Pandemic is a co-op game for 2-5 players, where the objective is to cure 4 diseases ravaging the earth. Its gotten good reviews on BoardGameGeek, and looks like a good alternative to Settlers of Catan for an hour filler slot. The other game is called Agricola, and is comically all in German (the english version is not out yet). In this you have to build up a farm in a set number of turns. I've given it one solo playthrough so far, and there is a lot of depth to it... I need to engage the other lads and give it a proper playthrough to see how good it is in practice.

On the work front, I'm now full time on the new project, and I've been given a few areas to work on. Its all very new, and its going to take a bit of time to get my head round the documentation style and project structure. On the plus side I've been blagged a window seat (views not great, but can't complain). They do have proper kitchen facilities here, which means proper tea for once.

SPeaking of work, I really should start doing some...