Reply to: test please delete

[NickFitz]

Tonight's major motion picture premiere was supposed to be Avatar: The Way of Water. I tried watching this once before, quite a while ago, and gave up on it; but I figured that might have been because I just wasn't in the mood and it deserved another chance. Turns out I was wrong and it didn't deserve any such thing. Last time I made it about forty minutes in; this time I stuck it out to about an hour and fifteen minutes, which left two hours still to go. And I just didn't care any more

I'll probably endure the last couple of hours at some point, but I hope that'll be before I forget how tedious the start of it is as I did this time. I really liked the first one, but this one is pretty much: sententious stuff about family being the root of happiness in life; special FX showreel; a bit of the story; sententious stuff about, I dunno, nature or something; a bit more story; sententious stuff about the duties of a father; another special FX showreel; another little bit of the story; a special FX showreel with the flavour of a holiday company commercial… you get the idea

So having abandoned that crap I turned to Red Sonja (2025) which I gather is based on a comic book. It turned out this also involved stuff about The Balance of Nature and such, but you know what? It started, it told its story, and it ended. It wasn't the best film I've ever seen, but it was pretty good and I enjoyed it! The story involved a lot of violence, which always helps, but it did the job it was supposed to do much better than the Avatar thing

I do think there may be a good film buried in that Avatar thing, but given that the first hour could easily be cut down to twenty minutes without losing anything, I'm not sure James Cameron knows how to get it out of there. I couldn't even be bothered to get the IMDb link for it given that he can't be bothered to make it watchable, and I say this as someone who bought and enjoyed the extended edition of the first one

Anyway, after that I rewatched BlackBerry (2023) for the sake of something rooted in reality. This is one of those hidden gems, a wonderfully entertaining film about a bunch of technical and business stuff that one wouldn't expect to be entertaining. The aspect of the nerdy guys having no concept of how to deal with business people rings particularly true. Have I ever told the story of when my boss and I went to meet the MD (we didn't call them CEOs then) of Loriciels, I think it was, back in 1988 or thereabouts? I wasn't sure what to do when I realised that whatever you say when meeting serious business executives from whom you're hoping to get lucrative opportunities, it wasn't the kind of stuff my boss was saying; it was as if he hadn't realised that the games industry wasn't a bunch of people sending out cassettes through the post from their back bedrooms any more

Goodnight all

[NickFitz]

Tea has been a thick-cut Aberdeen Angus ribeye steak and chips

The steak is a new thing at Sainsbury's, coming complete with a lump of beef dripping to fry it in and a lump of seasoned beef marrow to then melt in the pan and pour over it. Very nice it was, though a bit of a palaver

I didn't bother with the beans and fried onion this time, as I wanted to give it a chance on its own. I'll probably get it again, but I've just got back in the habit of getting the normal-sized ones so it'll just be an occasional thing

This was accompanied by the second half of the last episode of Trucking Hell… until the next series, of course

In addition to the light-fixing efforts, this afternoon has seen some additional t-shirts washed - these are the ones with stuff printed on them, so need a somewhat gentler wash and dry than the plain ones. I seem to have found a combination of settings that suits them, as my brand new one bearing Gail Myerscough's drawing of Forton Services on the M6 came out unscathed

And I also had the dishwasher on, and did some experimentation in combining RealityKit with GameplayKit

[WTFH]

Top tip: don't pick seats close to the front as they are right by the toilets and you'll have oiks queuing up next to you. I've sat in 50B before and it was a nightmare. Row 53 minimises the need to climb over a random to get out.

If you're flying from Heathrow I can keep an eye on your departure and give you an early heads up of gate assignment (and whether it's a bus!) and any delays. Just PM me the deets if such a service would be useful.

PM on its way.
Further buggeration now in that I can check The Wife in online, but it's saying there is an issue I need to check in at the desk.

[NickFitz]

Pukka steak slice for lunch

There's an LED light bar mounted under the cupboards in the kitchen, illuminating the long worktop, held in place by two springy metal clips. These have somehow become bent out of shape and for two years or more now, the bar has occasionally fallen off - sometimes because I've accidentally nudged it when reaching for something, but usually of its own volition. The other morning I found it had fallen off while I was asleep!

It usually took several goes to get it to stay back up, often involving bending one or both of the clips a bit more, but eventually it would stay in place - maybe for an hour, a day, a few weeks, even a few months. But eventually it would fall off again

Last night it got me three times while I was trying to make dinner, so I finally got around to working out what the clips actually are (T5 light clips, it seems) and ordering some off Amazon. They just arrived, so I unscrewed the old ones and installed the new ones, and gave the light a clean while I had it down then slotted it back in place, and that problem has now gone away!

Why I didn't think of doing this sooner is beyond me

[ladymuck]

The flight home is upstairs in a 380 in the ying-yang seats. The Wife still knows very little about where she is going, so it will be fun.

Top tip: don't pick seats close to the front as they are right by the toilets and you'll have oiks queuing up next to you. I've sat in 50B before and it was a nightmare. Row 53 minimises the need to climb over a random to get out.

If you're flying from Heathrow I can keep an eye on your departure and give you an early heads up of gate assignment (and whether it's a bus!) and any delays. Just PM me the deets if such a service would be useful.

[NickFitz]

Shopping done!

I went to Big Sainsbury's in the end, as I got 3x Nectar points if I spent over a certain amount, and they have a wider range of stuff from which one can grab something to make up an extra five or ten quid if necessary. But by dint of treating myself to a few bits plus inflation, I was comfortably over anyway

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

It was quite bright when I got up but quite gloomy when I got out of the shower, so I suspect the blue sky with clouds to the west is being driven out by the overcast moving in from the east. It's 11°C and aiming for 16°, with the barometers down but not out at 1012/1020mB

Got to do the shopping in a bit so I now have to ponder the question that has baffled sages and fools alike for centuries: Big Sainsbury's, or Not as Big?

[WTFH]

The Club Suite is a vast improvement on the old ying-yang seat but doesn't seem to be aging very well.

Qatar have so many seats variants that it's like a lottery. I personally find that the Q Suite is nice but lacks some of the storage you can get in one of the older seat styles.

The flight home is upstairs in a 380 in the ying-yang seats. The Wife still knows very little about where she is going, so it will be fun.

[ladymuck]

Just discovered that one of my upcoming flights is in a Club Suite, this will be my first time trying it out. A bit disappointed that the second sector is in a plane that hasn't been upgraded to Q Suites, but the service will be just as good.

The Club Suite is a vast improvement on the old ying-yang seat but doesn't seem to be aging very well.

Qatar have so many seats variants that it's like a lottery. I personally find that the Q Suite is nice but lacks some of the storage you can get in one of the older seat styles.

[ladymuck]

Morning all

Clear blue sky. Currently 6 degrees with a high of 17 expected. Likely to cloud over as the day progresses. Barometer continues downwards to 1024 mBar.

Sunrise 07:11; Sunset 19:05 BST

I have a cold. There has been much sneezing and I have a scratchy throat.

Here's hoping today isn't too taxing.

[WTFH]

Morning all
No, I didn't manage to get back to sleep. A combination of a big tasty bowl of pasta last night and pre-holiday excitement.

Anyway, TFIF, etc.
CBS, etc.
Pleasant walk with Max earlier, the last I'll have with him for a couple of weeks. He knows something is up, as we have been packing bags in the 2nd bedroom, and I've been packing his bags as well. He possibly thinks we are going away together, just like we did a couple of weekends ago.
Need to get timesheets done and month end paperwork processed, and by the time I have done that, it will be almost time to turn on OOO.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Friday.

Dark.

Awake like a fecking lark at 05:55.

Dry.

Not sunny.

Cool in here at 16.9 deg, 16 in the kitchen, 13.5 in the leanto.

1018.5 mBar, 30.08 in Hg, 763.9 Torr, 14.77 psi, (down from 1020 last night), 55% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile on the 18th of February 2020 BR14 reckoned he'd seen fewer deaths in many a war film than happen in Midsommer, NF cooked a very big chicken & ate much of it, I totted up the box sets I had, of which I've watched three: Hill Street, Bab5 and Roswell: that's 15 seasons/series out of 46, and I finished off ST:V The not quite final frontier, whereas NF watched something that uses characters that aren't on my keyboard.

Sunny now.

Freecell score: 93%, running average: 84%.

Walk (towpath, unabbreviated) walked in the sunshine. Quite chilly to start with, still not warm now. Chap passed me: walking faster than I: doesn't happen very often.

Sneezed a lot at one point. Might be some lurgy or other.

Shopping trip to B&Q: 34 down, 34 back. The sheer excitement of life.

Lunch: brunch. Entertainment: TWATO. Ming the Merciless is defunct. Well there's a thing.

The sky now looks as if it's out of The Simpsons.

No good shall come of this.

Small amount of gardening. Truly knackered now.

Entertainment: 101 People who created the 20th century: 49 to 33: the guy who made McDonalds wot it is came above someone who actually did something that mattered: Alan Turing. Who'd have thunk? .

Tea: chilli con carne etc. Entertainment: PM.

The News Quiz. Mildly amusing.

Last bit of "The Blue Lamp (1950)" with that Jack Warner, soon to be resurrected by the Beeb. That last bit is excellent.

Bit of a thing about Domesday and those Norman bastards.

Bit of a thing about Sandringham (made in 2022).

Thing about Alzheimer's Disease on PBS: I like a little light viewing on a Friday evening. . Feck me, this is showing me why I couldn't cope with stuff 10 years ago. . These carers are heroes.

"What on earth?" on Blaze. More bollox.

Thing about Disease X on BBC2W.

Should see me through to midnight, thusly might sleep past 05:55 tomorrow with any luck. .

[WTFH]

Wide awake, can’t sleep.

[NickFitz]

Started reading Andromeda Breakthrough. I'd vaguely assumed it would be some kind of "five years have passed…" sequel, but no - it picks up the story at the end of the first one (strictly speaking, a few hours before the end but from another perspective) and carries on from there!

The washer-dryer's QuickPower programme turned out to be excellent, getting a typical mundane laundry load washed and dried in just over two hours

Early night now, and shopping in the morning

Goodnight all

[xoggoth]

Went into Poundland today and an aisle was full of Christmas stuff! Gets earlier every year.