Monthly Archives: April 2010

Considering buying a bike

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I’ve not owned a bike since my last one was stolen years ago. Recently I’ve been very irritated with catching the bus to do what would be a fairly short bike ride. I would probably have to leave the house at the same time, too.

The problem I have is with getting the bike on the train all the time. I’ve heard stories of people not being allowed on because there was no room, etc. I don’t want it to end up costing me even more of what little time I have for myself after work.

I’m fairly sure there’s nowhere safe to chain the bike up at Mansfield Train Station, or the surrounding area. What I really want is a bike locker, or at least a security camera pointing at my bike, or some kind of insurance so I know I won’t lose a quick-release wheel or something bigger while I’m at work.

Suppose I should just buy a cheap-ish bike and see how it goes. At least I’d have a bike for the summer (or a small part of it).

Camping at Darley Dale

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I went camping at Darley Dale to celebrate Panda’s 30th birthday. It was nice to get out of town with a few folks (Kate, Ry, Pidge, Belly, Rhiannon, Helen, Panda, etc. etc.) and just sit in a field having barbecues and drinks until the early hours of the morning.

It really wasn’t very expensive, so I could actually see that being something fun to do once a month in the summer or something.

Helen and Rhiannon spent a great deal of time wrestling with each other on the floor. At one point they ganged up against me and tipped me over in my chair. My open can of Strongbow covered most of my right side. 🙁

We all spent a little while in the pub and then went back to the camp ground a few at a time. People started to go to sleep at this point.

I got to sleep at some time just after 3am and it was the most uncomfortably cold night I have had in my entire life. I woke up lots of times in the night. The rain helped to keep me awake at one point, but not for too long. I woke up again when people started moving around at 8am. Helen and Rhiannon left pretty early before I even got out of the tent. Everyone else had a leisurely breakfast followed by breaking up camp.

It was a really good night, and hopefully people enjoyed it enough to consider doing it a few more times this summer. 🙂

Shake ‘n’ Not Stirred Android Alarm

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I recently released an Android app called Shake ‘n’ Not Stirred which is basically just the default Android alarm clock but I added the ability to shake to snooze the alarm. I also added a mode for the alarm so that the volume begins fairly low and gradually increases so it doesn’t make me jump first thing in the morning.

I decided to go ahead and create a website for the application, so I threw the site linked to above together in a couple of hours. It’s completely basic, but it’ll serve the purpose for now. I should probably add some screenshots and a contact form at some point, but there’s no immediate hurry because I’m currently working on a complete rewrite of Remote Recorder.

Yay for Android applications! 😀

Riga

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A couple of weeks ago I went to Riga with Gordon, Matt, and Lee. It was a fairly eventful trip for everyone involved, and turned out to be quite a bit more expensive than any of us was expecting. Still had loads of fun and saw lots of interesting things.

There was still snow on the ground! Big piles of the stuff just sitting there ignoring the fact that it’s April.

We found some interesting bars to hang out in, and at one point decided that it would be a great idea to dance in the middle of the square in the middle of the night… On camera.

I helped out a completely pool-inept Matt in our doubles games against Gordon and Lee to bring us in a close second (or last).

We found an awesome tea house where you sit on cushions on the floor looking out onto the park from the circular mostly-glass building. It did get pretty boiling hot in there on the sunniest day though. I can’t imagine it’s very comfortable in the summer.

When we got back to Luton we found that Matt’s car window had been wide open from Tuesday to Saturday and nothing had been stolen. Quite incredible!

Many things happened, but I don’t think I can really be bothered to type it all up. Perhaps I’ll come back at a later date and do this blog entry better. I doubt it though.

How exactly am I 26 right now?

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Seriously… How am I 26? I remember being 16, I was just about to finish school, and that’s now a decade ago. I don’t understand where the time has gone!

Hell, I can remember when I got hit by a car when I was 13 years old, and that was now half of my entire life ago!

The passage of time can be quite depressing. Just think of all the things you’ve left behind already. You’re going to be doing that for the rest of the time you’re here. Nice, huh?

You might say that’s an incredibly pessimistic view, and you’d be right, but I’m a pessimist today, so go fuck yourself. 😛