A shaky start but then OK after that

Well, it poured with rain and I grabbed my umbrella and headed off to the pub/restaurant and waited.... and waited and eventually wondered what had happened and I didn't have her phone number so was ringing around for it when... I got a call that I missed but eventually we spoke.  Poor P had a puncture on the way to me.  So she was waiting to get that fixed, didn't have my number and so on.... she was mortified but it was just one of those things.  So I by now had three pints and a fourth had not long been ordered when she arrived.

It was lashing down, it was around 2 pm but I had spoken to the waiter and got a very nice romantic spot in the corner near the Wishing Chair. So we both had a wish :-) we had a nice meal and a long chat, at last.  We then had a walk as it cheered up and then came back to the house and met up with S who didn't fancy and evening in the pub...  So we had a long chat, some coffees some Lemon Drizzle Cake (Mmmmmm) and a few drinks.

I lent P my Eckhart Tolle book so she might be able to focus on some issues she was having.  It was like one long therapy session :-) Quite funny really. I think she left around midnight or thereabouts. So there we go.  Let's see what happens from here on in.

Just Ask ...

I'm terribly bad at asking a straightforward question.  Last night, I finally asked P, as she was in the village visiting her friend in the morning, if she would like it if I bought her lunch.  And she said that would be great and so in a few minutes time I'll head off there and meet her.  I wasn't expecting her to be there last night at all but her friend S who I happened to arrange to meet at the Beer Festival texted her and she was nearby and called in.   Hopefully I read THAT right but I'll find out later in less than 25 minutes in fact :-)

It will be the first time I will get to actually talk to P without shouting at her or her shouting at me across band amplified noise.  I need to get my best listening ears on too.  I always seem to be apologising to her for not hearing her.  

Most people who know me would be surprised that I'm actually pretty quiet normally - unless I know you - then you can't shut me up :-) I'm happy to be getting out and meeting someone new even though it's chucking it down with rain today.  I shall though enjoy my walk to the village and I hope a nice lunch with P to find out more about her.    

Thursday - Feels Like Friday

It's one of our Lodge meetings this evening and I'm Treasurer and have prepared my report for that.  All is in order, audited and I realised that I've been doing the job for about 10 years now!  So I'm going to suggest that I get someone to take over from me so I can do something else. I'd like to give up all my Treasurer jobs but I'm not sure that is going to happen any time soon.

My website proof just came through and I'm excited by the front page already.  It sure is nice.  It is simple and easy to understand and it works nicely on tablets and smartphones too.  Excellent, delighted but I knew I would be with J doing the work.

I have my business partner coming over tomorrow and also an ex business partner too for lunch so I am looking forward to that and taking them to the Beer Festival in the village.  I've also had one of those surreal conversations with a friend who's wife wants me to meet some of her friends.  Now interestingly you may recall they started introducing me to people last August or September.  I've met both of the ladies in question and they are very nice - it is amusing to me that they are like this but I know what it is.  She knows I'm very similar to her now husband (No. 2) and she's impressed at how nice we are, our impeccable manners (someone noticed) and she thinks her friends ought to meet me.  I do so with some trepidation :-) 

Other than that, health remains good, blood pressure normal, still alive living on my own, organised and happy.  Yes above all I'm happy and that's really great :-) 

How annoying

Better find it now than later I suppose.  I have been transferring video from DV 8mm tape onto my PC and found a program that does this for me.  It worked fine until I used the Digital Films which are great as they stamp date and time on but they also load up as separate video clips at each cut in the tape.  Again, no problem as it helps to find places for chapters etc.  What it does though is truncates the audio file on the first clip which means the first clip on the film has video only and no sound.  I wouldn't mind but I'm some 20 hours in advance loading films to producing them and to have found out this glitch is a real pain in the arse.

I am now trying to capture directly into the production software to see if this will work.  It means an even more convoluted routine otherwise to capture video and then edit it!  It's a real nuisance as it means I am limited to the way I work to produce DVDs.

I suppose it is lucky that I found it out now. I've just finished sorting out my mum's negatives they came to over 2,500!  

I've been a busy boy today, shopping early, three loads of washing and now re-doing the videos.  

I've ordered plenty of meat from my supplier for next week and will get that and freeze it all ready for summer - I've got a number of half price steaks and loads of cheap chicken breasts, cheaper to buy in bulk of 5kg a time and I have bought 40 steaks of between 6 and 7 oz each, 2.5 kg of bacon etc.  It makes sense to buy in bulk and freeze so I can just pull it out when I need it.

I'm still having the odd wobbly time doing these DVDs because they are of the kids when they were younger and the nostalgia trip they invoke.  Of course most of the videos are going to be of good times, on a canal boat, on a cruise, by the seaside and so on.  I have to say that the sadness really is about how it could possibly have got from those happy days to where it ended up.  

I'm not unhappy at the moment at all, in fact I'm pretty happy but I do miss being in the same house with Mrs. F. and the girls.  Here isn't the same and I'm on my own a fair bit.  So perhaps I miss the company although, I know people locally and I can get out of here whenever I want to, if I want to.  

Mrs. F. wondered what "I" might want to do next and I really hadn't thought that through.  I said I'd think and get back to her after Easter.  It would be about 3 months then and so perhaps we could agree something to move forward?  I hadn't really given it any thought as I'm too busy being single!

New Film Coming Soon about US Obesity

My only reservation about this film is that the Producer is Laurie David who produced An Inconvenient Truth which is utter bollocks and based on fear mongering and no real substantiated science - even though they said it was.   So in some ways I bet this gets the same treatment but let's see.  At least it is saying something that can be clinically and scientifically proven and that an Occam's Razor test would substantiate.  I find the other bullshit that is based on computer projections and cherry picked data to be an offensive PR exercise that has wasted billions and wants to subject us all to go back to the dark ages without actually having any thought through joined up argument.  But then that's me.

Sugar, man made foods that don't exist in nature and processed foods.  I actually had a small chocolate egg the other day as a treat - it near on flipped me out the sheer amount of sugar in it.  As I don't touch the stuff and eat very little carbohydrates the shock that tiny chocolate gave my body is enough to tell me how dangerous this stuff really is.  

Back to the old house

I had to pick up some stuff for the Easter Egg hunt on Saturday and so had to contact Mrs. F. to go around and collect some bits plus my nice patent leather shoes (for my black tie outfit).  We were civilised and spoke business like about things.  She asked me whether I'd made up my mind what I'd decided to do?  I haven't really but said I'd contact her after Easter and perhaps we could chat it over then.

I still feel quite stirred up about meeting her.  It's terrible really we did have some good times but it is such a shame that we are where we are.  It is disappointing really but there isn't much I can do about it .  Whenever I feel bad I just have to cast my mind back and ask myself what it was like the past 10 years or so and then know that I've made the right decision.  Of course there's always a seed of doubt.  I cannot see that changing for a while because deep down inside I'd love for it to all be fixed and back to normal but it isn't going to happen.  I hate the idea that she's hurting as much as I am but I think we are both in the acceptance stage at the moment.  

Anyway - it's certainly shaken my day around a bit. 

Blood Pressure Back Down To Reasonable

So I thought I'd at least check it out after my little walk to the Post Office and I'm rather pleased that it is back to reasonable at 114 over 89 which is pretty good for me.  Last week it was off the scale for a couple of days and it was a bit of a worry but this is more like it.  I really want it to be around 110 over 80 which would be great.  I'm working at it. 

I've lost some weight around my middle despite my trip to the pub on Friday night and Sunday.  But all work and no play makes Jack a very boring chap.  Both my new pair of trousers and now loose on me and my belt - only three weeks old needs another notch in it!  Doh!  :-) 

Anyway that isn't a problem is it?  Another inch off my waist in a couple of weeks.  I actually feel a little lighter.  I just need to keep this going and see if I can lose some more as we head towards summer.  Flocky's just booked himself a holiday and I suppose I ought to try and work out some time off - I need to get up and see my mum at some time to get some paperwork sorted so maybe I can do that and then see what I can do.

The business is now really becoming real and the web site is being built and I'm hanging out for that before I get trading properly.  I think once that is there I actually have something for people to see.  That's my plan anyway. 

A few more shots of the area

This is on the walk to the Post Office and Shops.  What a lovely sight and what lovely smells along the paths and hedgerows.  This looked particularly nice walking down the street.  The houses are lovely too, 1920 and 1930 style.  It's near the station hence the yellow no parking strips but they are only for one hour a day on either side - it's just to stop the commuters parking there.

That WAS fun

S is a very funny lady, very pretty a real head turner and very funny indeed.  She was on good form and cracks jokes and really enjoys herself whooping and yelling at her band :-)  P is a little more reserved but even so the girls enjoy a bit of a party.

It was funny because S was dressed to kill and as we parked up and walked up to the pub to see the band we ran in to a friend of mine.  His expression was absolutely priceless when he saw the two of us.  He knows my situation and then later on I came out of the pub with S & P together and ran into him again.  I expect that the floor of his car has a large dent where his jaw impacted it :-) 

The whole evening was great and I just love the way people were trying to work out how I could possibly be with two lovely ladies for the evening :-) 

On Sunday the sun shone brightly and I took myself down to the village to have a few beers.  the blossom is out, the birds were singing and it was just a lovely day out.  The pub wasn't busy and the beer was very nice.  They are preparing for the Beer Festival over the Easter weekend - Nice :-) 

This is the lane away from the Station towards the Village

 A Look back up the lane from where I'd come - the Blossom has gone over on these bushes

 Heading towards the Cemetery 

  The Cemetery

 The Cemetery

 The Cemetery

 The Pub Fireplace Circa 1560 which puts this around the time of the Tudors - if these walls could talk?

 The Tiny Bar Area - Mind your head "Duck or Grouse!"

Daisy the Pub Dog - A Zen Master - She Owns the Pub - or thinks she does 

Exciting Evening Ahead

Well I hope it is an exciting evening.  I am picking up S from around the corner, she is the lady who manages bands and one of them, that we saw a few weeks ago, is performing at a pub in Sevenoaks (a nearby town).  Also P will be there and I really like them, they are really nice people.  So I suggested that I will drive tonight as S drove last time.

The band were very good and I imagine it will be quite an evening.  I may take my chances and not wear a jacket - I don't like to take a jacket and then leave it on a chair unattended especially the nice suede one my dad bought for me.  I imagine it will also be quite warm in the pub - it's another 16th century pub with beams and low ceilings so could be quite interesting in terms of acoustics etc.

I hope that the girls might also come up with some more activities over the Easter period.  The Beer Festival is on down in the Village and that sounds positively great with some rather nice local fire water type Ciders and Beers available.   

Let's see how it goes.

Website ordered at last and nostalgia

I finally got around to ordering the website and it was funny that a number of people are surprised that I didn't do it myself having built plenty of websites myself.  Well I need the time.  An expert will take two or three weeks to get it to work and so I'd expect to take double that time and I want the thing in and working so that I can really commence business.  At the moment I need to concentrate on the sales and marketing of the business.

I am now doing some of the more difficult things with capturing video, cleaning it up and burning to DVD.  It seems to be working OK as I am capturing video, scanning and burning DVDs simultaneously. It seems to be working OK.  I am also onto the difficult negatives that have been folded up for years and have a nasty bow in them.  It is taking some time to get them processed but I am trying a few different settings to see if I can get them done quicker.

I still find myself choking up a bit looking at the family videos.  I suppose it was way back in happier days when the children were young.  The one on at the moment was where I set up my own business and was able to take the children to Lapland for Christmas - it was truly magical and when I see how they reacted it was great.  Thinking back I remember Mrs. F. wasn't impressed but then again, as I often say, it isn't about you all the time, for me it was about the kids having a magical time.  It's a bit like whatever you think about Disneyland and I am no fan of it, the wonder and excitement seeing it through a child's eyes is magical indeed.

It is amazing to come across photographs (from my parent's collection) that I've never seen before.  Hopefully we will all get some enjoyment out of these once I've finished.  I've actually completed all the ordinary negatives today and I'm now onto the rolls and rolls of film in another bag having to carefully unwrap and cut it to fit into the scanner.

Healthwise - I feel good, I seem to be losing weight gradually, certainly an inch or two off my waist but of course a beer or two soon starts to put it back on again :-) My blood pressure is a little high but at least I know that and can monitor it.  It was fine a few weeks ago and now seems to be above normal.  Other than that all seems to be well still and I'm still happy and enjoying myself and whilst it has taken me a little longer to get into my business than I'd have liked it does at least give me the opportunity to really understand my business and my competition.  

It seems a long and short time we've been in the house.  It's 10 weeks already!  Now that Spring is here and slightly lighter evenings it really is quite a pleasant place to be - I love the village itself and it feels "just right" as Goldilocks would say :-) Finally I'm happy but I wish these sad feelings would move on - it's just the videos of the children when they were younger and seeing how it used to be - happy, with all our friends and family around us.  I don't think that anyone had a bad time - we all look happy and contended.  I think it is a regret in my head that it isn't like that now. 

That Was A Little Unexpected

Or was it?  I am practising capturing videos and have started on the archive which starts in 1990 when daughter A was born.  I hadn't expected to be quite as emotional as I suddenly feel.  I feel quite choked up about it.  We were happy back then and in many ways up to quite recently.  

That's the one thing that I hadn't banked on when transferring the tapes across.  How very strange it is - I guess it is regret and just upset that it isn't like it was then anymore.  Of course you can't turn the clock back and hey, I'd be some sort of magician if I could tell where it all started to go wrong, but I know it was a long time before I was ill that I started to realise it wasn't great.  

There are some great shots of my mum and dad and my brother and his family too.  Yes, we were happy and life was a little simpler then.  I was about to change my job in a year or so and that changed my life in other ways.  

I hate seeing and hearing myself on camera I've decided.... :-) I also hope that I'll get past this strange feeling of sadness - for what I am looking at isn't sad at all, it's happy days.  The mind is a strange thing sometimes.  I realise that all I am looking back on has happened, it's part of my history and it's there to remind me of happier not sadder days.  

The trick is to live in the moment.  You can't regret the past - it has happened and nothing you can do will change it.  The "Now" is the only reality.  Amazing, I've pulled myself out of the sadness where I started writing.  This happens a lot, I just need to work out what my mind is trying to do and then I can tackle it.  

Website Woes

I suppose I ought to consider myself lucky that I have a number of options to choose from and yet, somewhere along the way, it makes things so much harder to decide what to do.  I hate complexity for complexity's sake.  So the Indian solution jangles my nerves a bit but, of course, these days, websites are interactive things and most code has been written and is out there plying its trade day-by-day in the real world.  In fact you can just make it modular and bolt it together and away you go.

The website needs to be simple and convey information quickly to the customer.  I reckon that's the key and also not to make it difficult to buy although I'm not allowing a customer to press the button and buy without my providing them with an estimate before hand.  

Anyway - it is a good problem to have I think as it will force me down a route that I need to follow for a good few years as I don't want to change it for a long time. It will make me decide whether to have a simple straightforward site or to have one that adds complexity for me but simplicity for my customers.

Out tonight with my old school chums - this time I don't have to drive so can have a few beers :-) excellent - looking forward to that.

Why Is Nothing Easy

Back early from my normal Monday night soiree as there just aren't enough people to make it worthwhile and for some weeks now we have just given up and gone home.  It's a damn shame but whereas 30 years ago there were regularly 20 people on a Monday now we are down to 4 or 5 - it is alarming but we know it's been coming down the tracks - we aren't in a great position to do much about it either at the moment.  

The website is proving difficult for me as I was speaking to some developers in India earlier today and then appear to be able to deliver me a full bells and whistles website which I can use to upload customer's photos to.  That's impressive and I have unlimited hosting so it would work very nicely.  They can do quite a bit for me so I am impressed but I know these guys and they can dither and hang around a bit too. 

I'm pulled because I can probably get three times as much web site for half as much money and yet I trust my graphic designer to do a good job too.  

I have another quote coming at some time - I hope tomorrow so I will see what that will bring.  No one said it would be easy I guess.

I am looking forward to getting started but the web site is now the bottleneck to get things moving.  I think though I can at least work on the introductions and I have some more videos to transfer so I will probably get cracking on those whilst I am waiting as well as the thousands of negatives I was scanning last week. 

Wow - Zonking Coffee

A few posts back Steve gave me a recipe for coffee as I was rattling on about blood pressure and coffee.  Here is the recipe.  Well I can't get quite the same but here is my own take on it.  I use a teaspoon of Coconut Oil (brilliant stuff for cooking and all sorts of reasons see here) I then take some butter I'd estimate this as 2 teaspoons full - I just cut off a 5mm slither and throw it in with the coconut oil.  I then use something like a Colombian or Kenyan Voluptuoso stirring all the time to dissolve the butter and coconut oil.  I then top this off with double cream and stir.  It's stunning and completely decadent :-) 

I have no idea whether it is doing me any good at the moment but wow what a nice start to the morning it made - it wasn't at all oily but then I'm using good unsalted butter and pure coconut oil and it just seems to make the whole thing like a really creamy / milky rich coffee - MMmmmm.

I've lost a good inch off my waist if not a bit more in the last week or so which I am dead chuffed about.  I've really gone into the LCHF diet or should I say lifestyle and just concentrated on thumping into plenty of protein and very very few carbohydrates apart from Saturday where I was out but I didn't touch potatoes but did have a few beers - as long as I don't do that everyday I should maintain weight loss.  Of course I don't have any scales so can't tell how I'm doing it will all be guess work! 

Getting Out Of The House

I had not figured on it but this weekend I am on my own again and so it was interesting that last night I decided I'd take myself off to the pub for a beer.  The locals were a bit rowdy so I had a few beers in one and then a beer in another pub before heading off home through the graveyard - torch in hand - spooky :-)  It is the quickest way home and quite a nice walk really.

I sat and watched the Grand Prix qualifying and watched some background stuff before taking myself off home.  I found out what was wrong with my PC - I should have guessed that I'd filled up the storage doing all this work and that was causing it to behave badly.  i've cleared down  a lot of space now and it is a lot better.  More house keeping to do though to make it run better.

I went out today - just went shopping - I seized a break in the rain to go and recycle all our glass and do some shopping.  It was quite busy which surprised me.  But hey ho....  It was nice to get out and do a little shopping for vegetables and eggs which I've done without for most of this week.  It has had the desired effect as I am losing weight and the trousers and belt I bought last week are an inch too big already.  Mind you I just need to watch out for the beer consumption which will throw weight back onto your middle in a blink.

It was nice to get out and I don't get all het up like I used to when waiting to be served or that people in the queue take a long time to pack.  It's all part of the way it is.  I can't change it so I might as well enjoy it and talk to whoever is on the tills.  A couple of nice smiles and pleasantries is all it takes.  Whilst it is a pain to go shopping it needs to be done so I just enjoy it.  It sure is nice to see my fridge full up with vegetables :-) 

I'm happy but do find living here on my own sometimes a bit quiet and a bit lonely but that isn't going to last for long (I hope) and I can entertain myself and do pretty much what I want so it is just a matter of getting used to it, making up the rules as you go along and enjoying it.

The Weekend Arrives

I'm in two minds about weekends - I ought to get out more but somehow I am trying to avoid the gravitation towards the pub.   I feel I've lost 3 or 4 pounds in a week and most of that is by a serious protein fest, no carbs or very few and I can feel that my trousers, snug last Friday are actually loose now.  I will try on my suit tomorrow as we are off to a Masonic meeting and the last time I went about three weeks ago it was "snug" to say the least.  I have a feeling that I've lost enough to make it comfortable. We will see.

I have turned off both work PCs leaving just this one on.  It is playing up as I've added a second screen to it and also Chrome is misbehaving itself again.  Damn technology!

Well I'd better go get to bed and get ready for tomorrow - looking forward to being an honoured guest once more and getting a nice lunch and a beer or three as I've been a reasonably good boy all week.

OUCH - How Much? Good Grief!

My web site is double what I was expecting to pay for it and I can hardly believe the costs but I've been assured that the reason is that I need to make it work across all platforms and tablets and smartphones are prevalent these days.

Sheeesh.  It is a bit more than I bargained for but I suppose I'll have to go with it.  I have a few days to think about it and then I need to bite the bullet and do it.  I have two others quoting but I know the guy who will do my site and he did all my logos etc.  I've known him a long time and trust him so there's a bit of that in my decision process too.

I suppose it just means I need to bring in more customers to cover the costs.  Anyway, the main thing is that it needs to be done and sooner rather than later. So it's a "bite the bullet" situation once again and hopefully that will be the end of the big spend.  I reckon that I should have taken my own advice and doubled my initial estimates for the investment required.

No More Jazz Nights :-(

Pretty sad state of affairs.  I've been going since 1988 to the Jazz Nights on the 1st Wednesday in the month.  That's 26 years.  It just wasn't getting the support anymore and I'm not surprised as there aren't many of the old timers left that used to frequent the place.

All good things come to an end of course and this is just one of those things and it fits in nicely as the person I usually go with doesn't know I've moved or that I've left Mrs. F. and so it is sort of useful.

It was nice to see my daughter A today for lunch it was OK a little uncomfortable but OK.  It must be difficult for her as it is for me getting used to the new order of things but she went with her mum to Lisbon so they appeared to have had a good time.  I am so pleased about that.  I really really want Mrs. F. to be a friend in the future. It's not as if we've rowed or thrown stuff at each other we just drifted apart and I'd hate for her to be sad - there's no reason to wish her ill  at all.

I've just sent off the web site stuff to my designer, hopefully he will come back with a half decent price for getting my web site off the ground.  Almost there - just need to now concentrate on getting some customers.

FInally A Coffee

A late afternoon coffee and it is day three so all is fine but for some reason my blood pressure is way up on last week's normal readings?  Not sure but I'm going to keep my eye on that it shouldn't be that high at all.  If it is stupid for a long time I will have to get myself checked out.  The coffee doesn't appear to have done much difference really, nominal.

I've spent the day sorting the words for my web site and all my service offerings out.  Almost there now I think just a few more tweaks, tidy the documents up and then send out to my man and a few other suppliers.

I hope it won't cost me too much - hopefully as the heavy work is done and I've written all the copy it should be a straightforward case of a design and then to inject the words and photos.  

That's the plan anyway.

My diet is beginning to kick in and I can taste the "Atkin's breath" as I've gone almost fully onto a protein only diet at the moment to kick start the process of losing some more weight. I feel that I've lost a few pounds in the last week as my belt that I bought last Friday isn't holding my trousers up :-) so I've gone from XXL to XL in a few days which is interesting.  Mind you I need to get back to losing weight regularly and as it is coming on to summer I will be able to eat lots more salads too.  

I'm very content with my lot at the moment.  My daughter A is coming over tomorrow so she can see the house and we can then go for a spot of lunch for her birthday.  I need to lose a spot of weight but I have new clothes, new outlook, a new business and I'm really looking forward to getting started now.