On the way to the leisure centre I saw this beauty parked in the car park. Now, it’s not a DeLorean but it’s close and it looks great. I don’t think you’d customise a DeLorean this much! Sciroccos are much easier to come by.
Lancia Delta
This had to be added to the communications because it’s just not that often you see one of these beauties. I also like the stock version in Gran Turismo 5.
Vixen
Just downloaded the eponymously titled Vixen from iTunes. I have four observations:
Rolling Green
What a lovely view. This was taken from the top of Rotary Hill.
Growing Up
So, after a few weeks this is how the vegetable patch is starting to look. There’s cabbage and maize.
And here’s our tomato collection. The problem is how to stop the dog eating the ripe toms.
Hanging Basket
A friend of WW made this lovely hanging basket for us. Nice.
Lovely View
Out on run yesterday and had just climbed 5-O hill (more later on that). The view over the Medway valley is lovely. Makes the climb worthwhile. For the route of the run click here.
Reptile!
This communication was going to be called Snake! but it turns out this would have been very incorrect. Last night once my boys were in bed we noticed a “snake” in the garden.
It’s a shame that my boys weren’t awake to see it. I think they would have been fascinated. WW took these photos and then I looked on a website to see what kind of snake it was. Turns out it’s a slow worm and not a real snake. Just a lizard that has evolved in such a way as to remove its legs.
Just love living in the countryside.
Latest iPhone Backgrounds
My latest home screen:
My latest lock screen:
Clematis
Here’s a picture of our clematis. Looks lovely. Also, given the dog ate all but one of the main stalks three years ago I’m surprised in got this far.
One or Two Fingers?
Recently the WW and I have been on a bit of a health regime. This requires us to not worry about supplements (mostly rubbish) and just keep track of food and exercise. It’s been a while since I have felt physically fit and at a healthy weight. There have been a number of times when my mass has been measured by a health professional and they’ve said that I was a bit over-weight. Yes, that was true, but I was also quite aware of it.
So over Christmas I decided to copy the WW and I installed an app on the iPhone that tracks my calorie intake. I can scan the bar code on foods and select the correct amount and then try to keep to a particular daily calorific maximum. This I have done reasonably successfully and have now reached a healthy mass of 82Kg (if you want my weight then just multiply by your local value of g).
More recently because of the change of official time to British Summer Time (something I am not convinced has any particular basis) I can also take advantage of the light evenings and go running. I should point out that my version of running is really just a jog. The biggest problem with this is that I also take the dog. He doesn’t really understand that I just want to go at a steady pace for 30 minutes or so and he runs off to sniff other dogs or just plain gets under my feet. Anyway, the upshot of the last month of running is that I can comfortably run about 5km in just under 30 minutes and am doing this about 4 times a week. A secondary bonus is that the dog has lost a little bit of his winter fat and is now also looking much healthier. See this Fooyah communication for the route I tend to run.
And so to the crux of this Fooyah communication. If you are calorie counting you need to decide whether certain foods are worth it. For me, cake is plainly not worth the calories. My enjoyment of cake per calorie is particularly low. To give me a sense of “is it worth it” I use the international SI unit of food expectation/enjoyment which is a finger of Cadbury’s Twirl. One standard Twirl finger is 115 kCal. Now whenever I am faced with a choice of snacks or foods to eat I balance it with the Twirl. Is the energy content I am about to eat greater in enjoyment to the Twirl or less. If the answer is less then there is a lower chance of me actually eating that particular food. For example: a small iced sponge cake from Tesco is 150kCal. Compared to the equivalent in Twirls the enjoyment is much much lower and so the cake should not be eaten. A banana is about 80 kCal and so although not really tasty is quite cheap in terms of calories and so worth eating. One teaspoon of Nutella is 81 kCal and so not really worth it but is a nice treat if I feel like it.
The rest of my life is probably going to be a calorie counting feast of Twirl decisions but I can live with that if it keeps me on the right side of healthy.
The app on the iPhone is called: MyFitnessPal.
Veg Patch 2012
This year’s vegetable patch. We’ve carrots, maize and cabbage.
Summer’s Day
A lovely summer’s day at work.
Latest T Shirt
Just received this T-Shirt from Cafepress. Really like it. Geekdom!
Keep It Tidy
Behave yourself in Eccles recreation ground or this chap will get you. He’s keeping watch!
One Of The Rules
I broke a cardinal rule today. Car windscreen wipers should ALWAYS be left at the “off” position when the car is turned off. I didn’t do that today!
The only time it is ok to keep the wipers in an “on” position is if you are driving a Le Mans prototype car or similar endurance car.
Local Names
When ww and I talk about routes for walking the dog we give names to parts of local footpaths so we can say the name rather than give a six figure grid reference. Here’s a snip of Google Earth with some arrows pointing at vague features.
A – Sports Field
B – Across middle field
C – George Corner (it’s where our dog did his first “on walk” poo)
D – Bushy Bushey Wood
E – Solar Farm Path
F – Rotary Hill
G – Cock Corner (there’s a graffiti picture of a penis)
H – Burham Route Road Return
I – Burham Route Field Return
J – Burham Route Path
K – School Path
L – Middle Vineyard
M – Vineyard Hill
N – Sheep Path
O – Aylesford Corner
P – George Gate (The dog once ran so fast he couldn’t stop at the gate and hit it hard)
Q – Pylon
R – Stake Corner
I’ve missed an arrow by I and J and this is called Burham Route Near Stream.
So there you have it. A list of terms used in a single household about the local area that is of no use to anyone!
Mutiny?
Had a naughty thought last night. Having heard that DTM will be broadcast on ITV4 and if that coverage is any good and if it’s in HD and if Eurosport keep showing FIA WTCC then I might, just might, give up watching Formula 1.
I only have so much time to myself to watch these things and I try to drag myself away from F1 but keep going back to that mistress. I feel kinda sick just thinking about leaving. Mind you I only watch about half the races all the way through and trying to avoid the result is very tricky. Oh no, where is this argument going?
Right.
Let’s see what Hockenheim is like on ITV4. Then I’ll think about deserting again! More to follow. . .
Kent Rainbow
Here’s a rainbow I saw while out having a jog.
Snap Shot
Here is a snap shot of the skies above Essex on the Easter Monday of 2012. You might find this interesting, you might not. I don’t care.
The picture is a screen grab from the iPhone Flight Finder app.