Spill Snake

At work we have these things called spill snakes... they're a 2m long flexible tube full of absorbent materials. The idea being is if you spill something large you can throw one of these around it in a loop to stop if spreading whilst you clean up. I use them on our Milling machine as it has a tendency to leak when you run the coolant at full pelt:

Excuse the video being on its side, just turn your monitor :-)

I was a little bored one day, so I decided to "decorate" one of the spill snakes:

No one's spotted it yet... :-)

Golden Eyes

Nope we've not become cyborgs, just wearing tanning booth glasses :-) I do like the picture of Paul :-)

Flame Wars

Anyone who's ever been on a forum will know what a "Flame War" is, for those that have never heard the term take a look at the Wikipedia, if you've still never experienced it you're very lucky.


Flaming is precisely the reason I don't post on forums... they mainly consist of a core "elite" of posters that spend all their time provoking others into conflict... I mean seriously what's the point? If you don't like the article don't comment or better still don't read. This particular entry on the register sums it all up really:

Specifically, we are still getting people banging on and on and on and on
and on about the lack of IT angle in some stories, repeatedly demanding "What is
this doing on The Register?" and indeed intoning the tired old mantra of "I personally am not interested in reading this kind of material, so don't publish any more or I will remove you from my bookmarks - permanently".

However,
and before you start imagining this is about to turn into a broadside against
these whiners, please note that we're not entirely unsympathetic. I for one am
not much interested in football. To my dismay, I recently opened a copy of a
well-known UK broadsheet to find it had dedicated several pages to this sport
and which otherwise might have been put over to subjects more to my liking.

Cue a (very polite, I hasten to add) email to the editor of the organ in question, suggesting he in future can coverage of The Champions League and carry
instead more Paris Hilton nipslip exclusives, and so forth. He quickly replied:
"I'm sorry to hear you don't like our football coverage, but might I suggest that you therefore in future stay out of the bit of the paper headed 'Football'? Now please go away or I will call the police." Well, despite the abrasive tone of his conclusion, it's hard to question the advice. And so it is in that spirit that we pass our own advice on to you - when browsing the Reg, the section you
want to avoid is Bootnotes, above all on a Friday. Thank you. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/11/bootnotes_advice/

I mean why? Why spend your spare time posting inane digs at reviewers/journalists?

But then without it where would we get our regular dose of laughter from reading some guys rant about the PSP being better than the DS, or the Wii being better than the PS3? I guess it just serves to remind us that everyone has a soap box to climb on... and on that note I'll climb down off mine :-)

Extreme Spider Sports

As a child whenever a spider, moth, bee or any other insect (with the exception of pests like ants, wasps and flys) found its way into my house, rather than getting splattered it was carefully trapped in a glass (sometimes with great difficulty if it was on the ceiling or fast) and then released back into the wild of my garden... After a suitable length of time gawping at it, if it was a particularly large or strange looking insect :-) That level of compassion has followed me into adulthood and whenever I come across an insect I feel compelled to catch it and put it back in its natural habitat. Call me sad but I actually get quite upset if someone kills one in my presence before I can "save it".

This big fella was waiting for me in Naomis bath this morning... Wonder what it is that is so interesting to spiders that they climb into baths and get trapped? Perhaps they climb up the overflow pipe and emerge from the overflow hole, look down and say to themselves "Wicked a giant free fall slide... wee!" then wait patiently at the bottom, until the giant cup and piece of paper transports them to the skydiving site out the bathroom window.

I swear I can hear a little "Wee!" as I throw them from the window :-)

Jager Cork in a Bottle

Video says it all really... we were rather drunk! What's been stuffed into the top of the bottle is a Jagermeister Test Tube Shot Glass (Made from plastic thankfully)

Didn't video it but after this Paul decided to break the top off the bottle to get to his drink. the only bit that didn't shatter into a thousand pieces was the neck... still with the Test Tube stuck in it!

Chillow

Naomi for Christmas got this nifty little thing called a Chillow. Basically it's a foam filled pad that you refrigerate and place in a pillow case along with the pillow and it keeps cool all night. How brilliant is that! I for one am forever turning over pillows during the night to get the cool side (I'm nearly always hot in bed). Only problem is she only has one so I end up sneaking over during the night and sharing her pillow :-)

Whoever thought of this is a genius... Now all i need is a chill-duvet to go with it... Somewhat think I'd need a industrial fridge to put it in... But that would be awesome in summer :)

The Spiderwick Chronicles

Munchkin Walking

The after show party's put on by the Abingdon Operatic Society are always dead funny. But it's a lot of inside jokes that I normally need explaining to understand, this rendition of Kung-Fu Fighting by the Munchkins had me in stitches from the word go :-)

The Orphanage

Sonic does MarioKart Wii

Naomi's just got a copy of MarioKart Wii, I have to say I was a total sceptic of the Wii wheel as a control system. But after a little getting used to it's sensitivity (or lack of) it feels really natural. One issue I had with the Gamecube version is that it's so easy to go from 1st to last after a simple mistake or attack from a fellow player is very annoying... This is still present in the Wii version, but as with the Gamecube version it's quickly ignored as it's such a fun game to play, especially with friends.

Just don't get it

Saw this poster for leak proof shower gel and deodorant... I just don't understand it? Any ideas?

Mini's are a Cult Icon

Mini's are a real British cultural icon, the earliest car I can remember is my mums old Mini Traveler... a little something like this:



but these days it rare to see a "Proper Mini" (IE Not one of the new Medium size German Minis).



See it's huge in comparison... looks even bigger when you're parked next to one in a car park with a real Mini.



Naomi has a mint condition Mini which she loves to bits, her first car was a Mini and since then she's always ownded one. And as long as she can still maintain/buy one she always will... as Mini's are for life you know :-)



I saw this Mini on the way home from work, sadly you can't quite read it... but it says "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off"



The Italian Job is a fantastic film... the 1969 version that is, not the 2003 remake but that's a rant for another day.



Randomly found this on the web... now that's a Mini you don't mess with :-)

Propper 4x4

Now that's what you call a 4x4, none of this namby pamby Chelsea tractor stuff... this will get you over anything... including parked cars! Must be dead easy changing the exhaust... all you do is stand under it! But that does pose the question, how do you get in? does a step ladder fold down when you open the door?

Snow in Witney

Well spring is so obviously not here yet... but I do love snow :-)