1633 (Assiti Shards, #2)
1632 (Assiti Shards, #1)
The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2)
“I shall wear midnight” by Terry Pratchett coming soon.
Terry Pratchett’s new book is out (in London) on the 1st September. I’m not sure how long it will be before it arrives in the US but the good news is that there are only 11 people in front of me in the queue for the book from the Columbus Metropolitan Library which means it shouldn’t take long to get it. With the average Pratchett fan reading the book nonstop until they’ve finished – I expect to get it on the 3rd September 
Waterstones in London is having a book signing special event (http://tinyurl.com/384hxs) for 300 lucky people.
No longer using Vonage.
I’m (at last) no longer using Vonage at home. There didn’t seem to be any point in paying $25.92 per month for their $17.99 plan – especially as we made no calls and only received about 5 calls a month – mostly from telemarketers or customer service calls.
We’re going to use cell phones from now on (and Google Voice in my case). Drop a comment if you need the new phone numbers.
5 years in America.
It wasn’t until Wednesday when someone asked me where I was from and how long I had been here (within about 3 seconds of me speaking on the phone) that I realised that Tuesday was our 5 year anniversary of moving over to the States. Time has flown by really quickly (as opposed to flying by slowly) . Ton’s of things have changed over the past few years but three things remain constant – death, (more) taxes and Winston sitting on my lap.
Sometimes Daylight Savings Time can be useful
This morning is about the only time I’ve been relieved we have the Spring Forward version of Daylight Savings Time. I woke up at about half past three this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I eventually got up – the great thing about DST is that it was really half past four so it wasn’t such a bad time to get up (keep thinking positive)…
Due to the lack of sleep, I found it especially funny when Frankie decides to join me in the shower – the crazy thing is that I’m sure he’d have stayed in there if I hadn’t shouted at him to get out. He also protested a little bit too much when I went to towel him down and get him dry, but after a couple of attempts at chasing him around the kitchen he eventually settled down and purred like crazy whilst I petted him with the towel. Unfortunately I don’t think Basil would be as keen to get in the shower which is a shame as of all the cats, he is the one who needs a shower the most. However, he’s also the least likely to be able to jump out of a slippery bath tub.
Another sneezing weekend.
Today is the last day of a long weekend (I had Friday off) and it’s felt like a looong weekend. As usual I’ve ended up with a cold for my time off. I’m pretty sure the body relaxes when I get a break and so does the immune system 
With the amount of snow we had on Friday, I spent the morning shovelling the driveway on Saturday and spent the rest of the day coughing and sneezing. The annoying thing is that this cold has been around since about Tuesday – I could feel the symptoms coming on but couldn’t get rid of it. I felt better Wednesday afternoon and Thursday but not yesterday or today. I’ll be sitting curled up in a blanket with a Winston keeping my lap warm this afternoon watching the game. Hope your weekend went better than mine.
A Geek Christmas carol is now available for download.
Our FriendsInTech production of A Geek Christmas Carol is now available for listening – enjoy and let us know what you think of it. Previous productions are also available to listen to.
Machine guns in Helsby – over a bird?
I have a google alert that keeps track of the mention Helsby – partly to see if I’m mentioned somewhere on the web and also to keep track of other Helsby’s and also the town Helsby in the UK.
There was a recent article the other day where police were called, with machine guns, to help capture an escaped rhea (similar to an ostrich). I can’t believe that birds are that dangerous that armed police were needed. I think someone was watching too much Jurassic Park. The full article “Escaped Rhea causes chaos at Helsby High School” is online for more amusement..
Chihuly pictures posted online
Last Sunday afternoon I took Kristen out on a surprise trip to the Columbus Museum of Art Chihuly Illuminated exhibit as it was a family day and had extra events going on. What I didn’t know what that the family day meant the $10 entrance fee was waived which was excellent as it the exhibit area is pretty small and the rest of the museum was not very impressive. The exhibit itself was good although I don’t think it was as good as the one at Franklin conservatory. Although the big pieces were pretty amazing and made your mind boggle as to how they would have been made. Photos online in my Chihuly flickr set don’t really do it justice – especially as the forest of spikes seems to have come out in black and white for some weird reason.
Happy Anniversary Luv!
It’s our tenth wedding anniversary today – time flies by so fast. We’re off to a nice restaurant tonight to celebrate. Thought I’d add one of my favourite photos from our wedding all those years ago.
