One I actually like taken under the bridge nearby.
And this has been unsharp masked and sharpened edges.
It’s clearer but it’s not the image I took ..
Jake loves Charley
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Monthly Archives: February 2009
More wood, less metal
We pass an industrial estate on one of Winston’s walks.
Normally this area is full of company lorries – or employee’s cars – or it has Caterpillar heavy equipment set 3 or 4 deep waiting to be taken around the country. For a few weeks now though there have been no cars, no earth-movers, just wood.
Thousands and thousands of wooden pallets stacked high and deep. The only noise we have heard is the small machine that stacks it all up. The beep-beep-beep as it reverses.
It was strange seeing all the machinery parked so squarely and the lorries so carefully but this is .. spooky almost.
Fraser Wallace. Unintelligent.
Chairman of the bench, Fraser Wallace, said: “We find the manner of your skating put pedestrians at risk and exposed them to harm.”
He said it was clear Chapel Street was not meant to be used as a “skate park” and said Dornan’s behaviour “causes a danger” to the public. BBC
Mr Dornan is 71 and someone many can learn from.
Mr Wallace is probably younger and should remember that rules are there to be followed by the thick and creatively interpreted by the intelligent. Mr Wallace failed to interpret and has proved himself to be thick. Sefton Council must be proud.
490 to do.
Having a really great time online with Burnout Paradise. I’d played a fair amount using the cars but there is probably more time spent taking other cars down and generally smashing other cars to bits. It’s all good stuff but challenges are where it’s at. Few nights ago I started with the bikes online. I have my Elite license so I know roughly where I’m going and bikes are so much better. More time riding and completing challenges than smashing each other up simply because you go down too. I’d forgotten how excellent this game is and for the price it’s a steal (That said, if you buy it now you may wonder. I bought it before the free updates which brought in more cars, the bikes, night-time). And the 490 – that’s the number of challenges.
Needles
The last time I had a needle stuck in my hand was in a Birmingham Travelodge. Mrme did it as he’d not pierced anyone before and I offered my hand as to test on. The piercing in the hand web didn’t last long but they don’t seem to just there, too mobile I think. But yesterday I stuck a needle back in close to there – and it hurt in a strange way.
J has been having some acupuncture to help with the leg pain and although it’s been tricky to see an effect yet it has had no adverse effects. But we have had to go to a hospital on the other side of the city for this and therapeutic effects don’t always travel so well. Because I’ve done injections before and done J’s interferon when she was on that I had said I would happily do it. Yesterday the nurse in the acupuncture clinic showed me – easy. She did one and I did the other 7. Technique is not tricky, J felt no pain, all was good. So now I have 100 acupuncture needles and a burn bin (time was I used to have great big piercing needles, a bigger burn bin, cauterising pen….). Anyway, one place the nurse had wanted to place a needle on J was in her hand so when we got back I thought it only fair that I try it first, see how it felt. So up here in the ‘office’ I got the needle ready and pinged it into the right place. It didn’t hurt, barely any sensation. But…
Ladies you will not understand this. Ever been whacked/kicked/hit in the nuts? There are (at least) two parts to the pain. The first is the pain to the actual site but that’s like normal pain – you get it, it hurts. But then there is that other pain, the one that renders you immobile, a deep deep agony of a pain that isn’t actually between your legs – remember that one, the one that doubles you up, the one you can’t dismiss as “Yeah I’m okay”? Well I thought the needle wasn’t in quite far enough – must have caught the top of the needle on the guide tube – so I gently held the needle and pushed it in. This felt… strange. I twisted the needle and I got that same deep pain in my hand. It was the same agony but in my hand. It was everywhere and it really hurt in a deep dull agony sort of way. I actually left the needle there because I didn’t want the pain to get worse by touching it. Several minutes later the hand felt normal again and I removed the needle.
J – “Did it hurt when you put the needle in your hand?”
Me – “No” (and I’ll be telling the truth too). Will I elaborate? Life would be hell if I did not.
Will I do it again? In my hand, no. Elsewhere, probably, could be interesting. Did I do something wrong? Probably but I’ve learned to not do that again.
Digit discomfort
Back in late 2007 I had a form of RSI – tender fingers, painful hand, shooting pains in my forearm. All mouse related. Switching to a wacom tablet worked brilliantly. I used 2 of different sizes to alternate any posture / repeated movements. Until late 2008 I had no pain, no discomfort.
Then toward the end of last year I noticed that come Friday my hand felt slightly uncomfortable. Not badly so but I was aware of my hand feeling odd, as if it had been gripping weights all day. The rest of my arm / shoulder wasn’t a problem. As the weeks went on the discomfort increased and in the middle of last week two things happened – it actually got painful and my fingertips on my thumb, forefinger and middle fingers became very sensitive indeed.
Looks like a good fit
This morning after starting with the wacom I had to change back to the mouse. I’ve lost the receiver for my mx revolution so I’m using a wired mouse (no difference as such but the mx has more functionality). This has produced good and bad effects. Good – I can now use one mouse/kb for both computers (wacoms do not support this). Good – the pain that I had with the wacom subsided. Bad – the fingertip sensitivity was not reduced. Bad – my arm muscles which used to hurt in 2007 started to tense. So it appears I’m swapping one set of problems for another.
Using anti-rsi software is needed. Westi suggested on Twitter that Workrave would be good. I used this when I had the PC and it is excellent. On the Mac there is Macbreakz which I never got on with and Hanni mentioned AntiRSI. This is downloaded and installed. Seems to do the job and so far is tolerable. So, I need a plan.
Getting under my skin
First is to break my work into smaller chunks. Perfectly doable if I change the AntiRSI to hourly sets – I think it’s at 45min by default (though why change….). Second is switch between the wacom and the mouse at those intervals to rest one and not irritate the other. Thirdly is to see the GP for a referral. It’s at that point I have to convince them that the steel in my hand is not to blame. I genuinely do not think it is – there is no pain local to them and it’s been there for 7 years – I am not sure how that will go but it’s not like I can remove it – minor surgery needed for that. And I have a possible 4th element – play games. This will use different muscles and will use the irritated ones differently so that might help. It might not of course but going for the last few 100% Burnout Paradise will at the very least distract me. Painkillers are on the menu for a week too to see how much they help.
To the driver of Toyota VVTi Y378 LEN
There is a dual carriageway along which we travelled and this eventually comes together in one lane. Coming along it earlier we saw that there was a long tailback which is not uncommon on this stretch. The white car in front moved straight into the empty right lane. Wondered what he was doing for a moment then we realised he was stopping the traffic that would otherwise zoom past and squeeze in further down. He is in the right lane and we are on his rear left wing. A blue Toyota VVTi gets right up to the white car, starts moving back and forward, revving the engine – all intimidation. It was a squat little asian lady with huge sunglasses on. She was barely tall enough to see over the wheel but according to her where she needed to be was far more important. This aggression continued for close to 3/4 of a mile. As the road did start to narrow into one the white car stayed wide and came closer only as needed and she was still there, still looking to get past him. As we stayed where we were she eventually had no choice but to fall behind us. The white car dropped into place in front of us and the guy put his hand up to say Thanks. He got two thumbs up right back from us. So.. the bitch in the Toyota has to stay where she is until the next roundabout at which time she pulls up alongside the white car and appears to be giving him some crap. He didn’t move at all which was supremely cool of him and can only have infuriated the poisoned dwarf. He drove off as he wished and she even hung back to give us some hard stares. So if you know a stumpy little woman with huge sunglasses and drives a Toyota VVTi Y378 LEN I’d stay well away. Nasty bit of work.
Only the really bad guys get in
BBC: The Home Office said there was a blanket ban on Mr Wilders entering the UK under EU laws enabling member states to exclude someone whose presence could threaten public security.
My emphasis because wtf don’t they use these laws then?
Guantanamo people? Known terrorists? Known inciters of racial and religious hatred? They are okay? Must be. And Fitna? Find it and watch it.
No gym
Cancelled my gym membership a few days ago. What with work, doing all the house stuff, walking the dog and other stuff like shopping, going here and there for various bits it just was not happening. I want (need) to go, I enjoy going but unless I make my life go in hourly chunks and rigidly stick to it then it’s just not going to happen. I tried, I really did but there we go. No more machines for me.
Winston: profile
Close to the actual shot I want.
He can stand more squarely, head lifted up higher, neck straighter and he looks great in profile when he does. Full-on pose mode. And then he moves so this is not a bad compromise.