Spring snowfall
Like most of Wales, we awoke this morning to find a 1cm covering of snow outside - which was totally unexpected as the forecast had been for 'light snow showers'.
Having been up since around 7am DDWT Junior and I got to see most of the snow and the snow showers, as by the time Mrs DDWT surfaced from bed (around 9am) most of it had started to melt away in the warm 'ish spring sunshine. Come mid-morning and you'd never have said it had snowed at all!
With the afternoon sunshine, I decided to take the family down to Swansea's new central library - which they hadn't yet seen. Having been before I was in little doubt that they'd be impressed and I was proved correct as we spent the best part of an hour and a half in the children's area alone!
It really is a super library and if you are ever in Swansea, then I'd recommend a visit. You can even grab a bite to eat or have a nice cuppa in the coffee shop adjacent to it in Swansea City Council's civic centre.
I suppose it goes without saying that we couldn't leave without DDWT Junior borrowing a couple of dinosaur books and Mrs DDWT picking up her usual batch of autobiography's - Marie Helvin and Leslie Grantham in this case. Me well I went for my usual techy stuff, "Going to Bed With Google"!
No visit to Swansea is complete without a visit to the beach, so we took the short cut from County Hall straight onto the beach. At this point I thought it would be a good time to take a snap of the progress being made on Swansea's highest (to be) building - Meridian Quay - since the last time I took a picture.
It's grown quite considerably as you can see!
After last week's weight horror show, I decided not to put added pressure on myself by weighing this week, especially as I have been exercising and watching what I've eaten. I couldn't have handled the disappointment of not losing any weight this week.
Anyway, yesterday I did a 30 minute stint on the elliptical worker (10.8KM) and I did another 30 minutes today (11KM) and burnt 302 calories in the process. So I'm getting there, albeit slowly.
Shunting cars
I don't if it's me but there seems to have been one hell of a lot of road traffic accidents in the Swansea area over the last couple of weeks.
This week alone I've seen (well driven past) at least 5 accidents, all of which appeared to be shunts. All of this has been whilst driving approximately 12 miles a day (roundtrip) to work and back. That's a lot of RTA's for such a short distance.
Perhaps the poor visibility and saturdated road surfaces haven't helped matters or maybe that's just a coincidence. There's no doubting that drivers appear to be driving faster and in some cases tailgating more than ever before. A reflection of the ever increasing pressure on people to be at destinatation A before X time perhaps? Let's face it, life today is a hell of a lot quicker than it used to be. That's no excuse mind you for being aware of what's going on around you - especially whilst behind the wheel.
Talking of saturation, it's quite astonishing to think how much rain we've already had this month and with some the forecast being for up to 4" of rain over the next couple of days, it's little wonder that Janaury 2008 is heading for the wettest January since records began in 1914.
How many forum users…..
Someone sent me this little gem via email today, I'm sure you'll all agree it's pretty much spot on!
How many forum members does it take to...
1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed
14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently
7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs
6 to argue over whether it’s “lightbulb” or “light bulb” …
another 6 to condemn those 6 as stupid
2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is “lamp”
15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that “light bulb” is perfectly correct
19 to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a light bulb forum
11 to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum
36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty
5 People to post pics of their own light bulbs
15 People to post “I can’t see S$%^!” and their own light bulbs
7 to post URL’s where one can see examples of different light bulbs
4 to post that the URL’s were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL’s
13 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add “Me too”
5 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy
4 to say “didn’t we go through this already a short time ago?”
13 to say “do a search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs”
1 to bring politics into the discussion by adding that George W. isn’t the brightest bulb.
4 more to get into personal attacks over their political views.
1 moderator to lock the light bulb thread.
1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again.
Funny but true!
Marks and Spencers
After reading the BBC's article online about "retailers suffer after M&S slump", I couldn't help but chuckle given the recent experience I had at the hands of the Marks and Spencers sale.
Here we were on Christmas Day (yes sad I know) shelling out almost £300 in the M&S sale only to find days later an email arrive from M&S stating ...
Dear Customer,Thanks for your recent order.
We experience extremely high levels of demand during the M&S SALE and occasionally items sell out as other orders for them are in the process of being placed - orders are confirmed on a first come first served basis. As a result we're sorry to tell you that since your order was placed, one or more of the items you ordered are out of stock. These items have now been cancelled from your order and will not be visible in your online account.
Obviously you have not been charged for any of these out of stock items. Please check your online account to view any remaining items that will be sent to you.
We apologise for any disappointment this may cause. If you have any questions about your order, please feel free to call us on 0845 609 0200. If you are calling from overseas please call us on +44 1925 672 317.
Kind regards
Customer Services
Eventually I got my order, but the value had shrunk to under £200!
If we take a cynical view of this episode, surely M&S must have some idea of their stock levels PRE-SALE? And as a result you'd expect that their website (which is driven by Amazon I hasten to add) is capable of keeping tabs on stock levels. A quick google around finds that I'm not the only one who's suffered this fate.
I mean the Christmas season does come around the same time year in year out doesn't it? So you'd expect them to be stocked up to the hilt. Or maybe I'm just expecting too much *sigh*
I know the BBC article refers to the high street in particular and that the M&S online effort was indeed up on previous years. BUT for me profit and sales to any business are it's bread and butter regardless of the channel (high street, web, phone, whatever) used surely?
Little wonder then with retailers being unable to fulfill orders online (or not) that they'll lose money.
Back in school
I'm glad to report that DDWT Junior's first day back in school went without a hitch - thankfully! He even managed to be the first one there which was a surprise.
Perhaps what was more surprising however was that at least six new classmates joined today - taking the number in attendance up to around 20. A number - in my opinion - which is quite small even if the class is only a nursery one. Not that I'm complaining of course 
It's quite weird actually that as first time parents we often think is it only us who has a child that perhaps (delete as appropriate).... doesn't sleep through, won't eat fruit, doesn't like vegetables, has tantrums, etc, etc.
Then, as I have today, you strike up a conversation with work colleagues about said topic and guess what - yes indeed, they have exactly the same problems as us. Will we ever remember that when we're faced with the same dilemma next time? I doubt it. Human nature eh.
Road to/from hell?
Today is my first day back in work after my 2 week festive holiday and unsurprisingly I've been faced with a deluge of email and voicemail. Typically this usually means I can kiss goodbye to the best part of the day as I trawl through what I've been sent. This process usually reveals that 70% of the stuff is crap and I can either simply delete or ignore it. It begs the question I guess of how did we manage before the advent of email, etc. Ah yes I remember, a mound of scribbled notes on my desk 
And what with no lunchtime training to look forward to for a few weeks, the days ahead are going to feel rather long and increasingly frustrating no doubt. Just what you need before a nice slow commute home via Oystermouth Road - which just happens to be at the centre of 13 weeks of roadworks commencing today I hasten to add! Now, where did I leave my bike...
I'm currently wasting the bandwidth (LOL) of work's internet connection listening to Radio 5 Live in readiness for the FA Cup 4th round draw. Hopefully the Swans will get a decent draw and then go on and paste the cloggers from Havant & Waterlooville in their 3rd round replay on January 16th. Let's hope that Stuart Atwell isn't reffing that game shall we!
It's all over
We've had another busy day really even without leaving our humble abode, although the general mood has been of the bah humbug variety - due to me having to return to work tomorrow.
I can't believe how quickly the past 2 weeks have gone by, but having said that it does feel like a lot longer, so that can only be good news and means that I've switched off from work and chilled out completely
So how have I spent my last day of the holidays? Well, I've put up our new bathroom cabinet, got a load of stuff ready for a trip to the civic amenity site, sorted out the paperwork in the office (@ home) and played Lego/Hotwheels/Leapfrog Clickstart - oh and cooked a lamb dinner which was lush (from what the Mrs tells me).
I also decided to weigh myself just to see what impact the festive season and the injury enforced absence from training had on my body. The result was 17st 3lbs, which isn't as bad as I'd feared but means I have work to do, i.e. lots of walking and a keener eye on my diet!
Talking of health 'ish matters, my severe bout of man flu (LOL) seems to be getting better by the day - aided admirably by some vicks (no not the rub on variety) but the liquid type.
I decided to give it a try a few months back when I had the most irritating dry cough. I found that the honey soothed my throat and obviously the cough syrup did the rest. So here's a tip for any guys with man flu, get yourself some vicks and some extra strong menthol lyptus - that'll get rid of the flu, as for the rest of it, well try a good lads mag, Sky sports and some over-egged "I feel terrible" ramblings to the better half. It usually works
Time to take them down
Yes indeed, with the festive season now well and truly over it was time to take down the Christmas deccies and pack them away in the loft for another 12 months. The task didn't go off without some rumblings of discontent from DDWT Junior however, his mutterings only being calmed by the promise of baloons et al for his 4th birthday next week.
In fact the whole day has been a rather busy affair. We've had umpteen deliveries - Next sale, M&S sale, Toys'R'Us sale, etc and my dad having to go back to hospital due to some post-operation problems (which thankfully turned out to be ok). Mrs DDWT got a few bits and bobs for DDWT Junior's birthday - whilst I built aeroplanes, buses, robots and such like out of lego (in between watching Tom & Jerry, Scooby Doo and Go Diego Go). I also somehow managed to find the time to repair a broken toilet seat, don't ask.
Our movie watching ritual has continued into the new year, with us watching 'The Sentinel' last night. Quite a decent movie really, but how corny is it that Michael Douglas should be having an affair with Kim Basinger eh?!?! Must have been something to do with his self-confessed addiction to sex - and here was me thinking that's normal behaviour
It's the turn of 'The Da Vinci Code' tonight .....
Knee ligament damage
My worst fears were confirmed today when I visited my local GP - whom happens to be a sports injury specialist - with the news that I've damaged my medial collateral ligament and possibly the cartilage.
The actual injury occurred way back in November and I've obviously aggrievated it further by trying to do the odd bit of training now and then - rather than resting it completely. What's next for me, well I'm to give it another 2 to 3 weeks complete rest and if it's still playing up, I'll be referred to an orthopedic surgeon for the magic eye.
It's not really the start to 2008 I was hoping for and I can now only hope that a proper rest will aid the recovery. Having said that, I'm not overly optimistic or positive about the situation, as the GP pointed out these sorts of injuries usually mean some form of permanent damage and as a result, the weakness will now be with me for good.
To add insult to injury I've also now seem to gave caught THE cold that everyone else in the family, work, community, wherever has had. So I'm a right bundle of laughs at the moment as you can imagine.
Happy New Year
Happy New year to you and best wishes for 2008!
The house of DDWT hasn't long surfaced this morning after an unexpected late night - the plan was to go to bed early after having a few too many late nights th elast few weeks. We ended up seeing in the new year watching 'Hot Fuzz' - having now become fans of Simon Pegg since watching him on the Jonathan Ross show a few weeks back. Now there's a guranteed laugh for you!
The plan for today is to welcome in the new year with a nice walk along the river tawe and Swansea valley canal. You simply can't beat the fresh air and some exercise