About Stuff – Page 58 – … my musings on, er, "stuff"

January 15, 2017

Brilliant Mind – Furniture

Track of the week 15/1/17

Since I’ve set up my new room, I’ve got my “stereo” out – radio, CD player and iPod dock, and I’ve found my original 10 year old iPod.
I spent a lot of time selecting and uploading (from CDs) tracks onto that iPod. Nothing made it on unless it was a top tune. I reckon I have about 90 tracks on it.

Today, I put my old iPod in my dock, selected shuffle, and listened. Some fantastic, forgotten about tracks that will, I’m sure feature at some point as track of the week.

I love the instant gratification of streaming music (currently use Amazon music) – no need to buy music, just think of or hear a song and , bam, its on your iPhone. But I’m glad I’ve kept a curated paylist.

This stonker from Furniture stopped me in my tracks when I heard it again today. A worthy track of the week.

And I’m at the stage
Where I want my words heard and no one wants to listen though
No one wants to listen ’cause everybody’s yelling
About you and yours and how I’d have the answer if only I’d open up up up and let you in

They must be out of their brilliant minds …

January 15, 2017

Cactus

Pic of the week 15/1/17

I bought this cactus in mid-December from IKEA.

I rather like it, and it seems to be thriving in my new room. Thought it’d be a good idea to have a pic of it now, so I can compare it in the future.

Fortunately I am better at looking after plants than I am at taking pictures.

January 8, 2017

Something Good – Utah Saints

Track of the week 8/1/17
A good, hi tempo oldie – with a great video – to start the year. Enjoy.

January 8, 2017

2016 – a montage

Pic of the week 8/1/17

OK – so a bit of a cop out for pic of the week, 2017 is now fully up and running, yet I’m posting a pic of 2016 pics. That’s because I couldn’t find a good pic to summarise the week just gone – S & S have gone back to school, Becky’s been madly fulfilling sales orders, I’ve run, swum, spun, ref-ed and endured a day’s INSET. Back to school for me too tomorrow, a short five week sprint ’till half term and the weather starts to improve …!

January 2, 2017January 2, 2017

Goals, aims and targets – 2017

With 2017 up and running, its time to write down (and commit to) my goals, aims and targets for the year ahead. Looks like its going to be a physical year!

Run 300Km – a much lower target than I set myself last year, but not a target I met, completing 296 Km in 2016. Should be do-able despite the demands on my time from other physical pursuits (swimming, spinning, referee-ing and who knows what for 2017)
Run up the Tor. In the summer of 2016, when I was regularly running, I set myself this goal for 2017: to run from home to the tor, run all the way up the tor, and then run back again. This is a tough ask, particularly as I am not running as much as I did last year. Would be a real achievement to do so. If I don’t write it down, it wont happen. Think I’ll have to target the summer hols to do it, if I’m going to do it.
Swim 150Km (4,500) lengths. Toyed with putting in a higher total – I did 200Km, 6000 lengths in 2016, but don’t think I’ll be swimming as much this year as last, so have given myself a very achievable target to ensure that I do make it.
Gardening: 2016 was all about the structure of the garden, this year I hope to focus more on the planting. So this year I want to: plant raspberry canes & rhubarb, grow and eat runner beans, peas, courgette and onions and grow some sweet peas and sunflowers.
Refereeing – enter the promotion programme from Level 7 to Level 6. Promotion year runs from March to Feb so won’t be able to clinch promotion in 2017, but hopefully will be a significant way down the track.
Weight: before the Christmas excesses, I would say that my “normal” weight was 12 stone 7 (today its up around 12 stone 12). I aim to be back at 12 stone 7 within 3 weeks and establish 12 stone 6 as my “normal” weight (normal weight: allows a swing of 3 lbs each way, so range between 12 3 and 12 9 following a festival of feasting)
My maths blog: this was an aim I failed last year, and want to rectify again. Write at least twice a month on my maths blog – A Maths Teacher Writes

December 30, 2016

2016 – How did I do?

So how did I do?

At the start of the year, here, I listed my goals, aims and targets for the year. 2016 now draws to a close – time to review how I did …

Run 700Km, by no means a given. Running 500K is a minimum target, 800K – 500 miles – would be excellent but I don’t think I will have the time to complete this challenge, but 700K will be an achievement if I can do it. Nowhere near! I ended up running a mere 296Km in the year (approx 185 miles) To be fair, shortly after writing these targets I suffered a knee injury that pretty much put paid to my running until April. I ran a lot in the Summer hols (150K) but then once the Autumn term started I was ref-ing most Sundays so the opportunity to run was not there. Although I failed to make this target, i don’t feel bad about it as I wasn’t sat on my backside when not running, I’ve swum a lot (see below), started spinning, referee-ing,… am now fitter than I have been for 20+ years.
Swim the channel. OK – so not all in one go, or in the freezing sea, but in the calm warmth of Strode swimming pool. The Channel Swimming Association gives the distance as 32 Km which, by my calculations, is 960 lengths. France, here we come! Smashed it. Partly because of my knee injury, I really got into my swimming this year and completed 6,000 lengths (200Km)
For the past couple of years I have been in a football predictor league. This year, I find myself top of the table as the new year dawns. I would dearly love to win the league this year. Failing that, I would be content with a top four finish. Oh, and this year, I so want to beat my good pal Marc Radford – aka Menaggio Myla – but he has an uncanny knack of coming from behind to pip me at the post. (I’m Senor Cuerpo Guisante (use Google Translate) sitting pretty at the top of the table in the pic above) And how the mighty fall – I ended up about sixth or seventh overall and, once again, below Marc. This season is not going well – am currently 14th (out of 22) although a good couple of recent weeks bode well for the future … Currently lie one place and 5 points behind Marc. Not enjoying it as much this year – perhaps this’ll be my last season of statting for a while?
It was 1996 that I first qualified as a football referee, so long ago that my level of qualification no longer exists. This year, I have three goals, in ascending order: re-qualify & re-register as a official FA referee; referee a non-school game; get paid to referee a game. Smashed it, and some. Did the course in July and haven’t looked back since. Am loving it, reckon it is my mid-life crisis! Have re qualified, have done many school games and 14 non-school games (including Yeovil Academy trials) for which I’ve been paid. Am ref-ing in Yeovil and District Adult and Youth leagues.
Weight – I’m a stone and half down on my long term weight of last year. I’m claiming a weight of 13 st 7 for the start of 2016. Two goals: 1) establish 13 st 6 as my new long term weight or 2) (better) get to sub 13 stone. Another one met: Definitely sub 13 stone – even with the Christmas excesses of recent days, peaking at 12 12, I’ve been sub 13 for months. I’d say my “normal” weight is now 12 stone 7.
Write at least twice a month in my maths blog – A Maths Teacher Writes. I feel I’ve begun to neglect it a little of late and I need to rectify that. Fail! Despite good intentions, it just hasn’t happened. When I’ve had something to write about I’ve enjoyed doing it, my the ideas and inspiration about what to write has just not been there.

On the whole, a successful year. Now time to start pondering the goals, aims and targets for next (2017) year.

December 30, 2016December 30, 2016

2016 – That was the year that was

The year began with us living on a building site – although the main structure was up at the start of the year, there was still much to be done:

I would say it was the start of the Easter holidays that the build was finished – although there was still much to do. If 2015 was characterised by the build, 2016 will be remembered for re-structuring the garden. I built the deck:

I removed the side panel, took out a lot of bushes and built a shed:

I tackled the front hedge (in several goes!)

… and took down the old summerhouse:

Sophie took, and passed (and excelled) in her GCSEs

I did, and passed, my referee’s course, and “caught the bug”

Sam continued to grow. And grow. And grow.

We “did” the sitting room – I laid the floor, Becky painted & styled everything:

Taking down the stone fireplace ... — Taking down the stone fireplace …

I swam a lot, I ran a lot and I took up spinning. All this led to me being the fittest I’ve been for years, and also the leanest I’ve been for years:

And Christmas came around – fun family time, gathering of the clans before Christmas, just the four of us on the big day itself:

The Peabody Massive, December '16 — The Peabody Massive, December ’16

Despite all the turmoil in the wider world (Brexit, Trump, seemingly endless celebrate deaths) 2016 was a good year in Peabody Towers, who knows what 2017 will bring?

December 27, 2016

I Love It – Icona Pop

Track of the week 25/12/16

It could be argued that the final “track of the week” for ’16 should feature one of the fallen heroes – it does seem like a disproportionate amount of talent has passed this year; just in the last couple of days, Rick Parfitt from Satus Quo and George Micheal have moved on. I only just discovered that Greg Lake, who penned one of my favourite Christmas songs – I Believe in Father Christmas, dies on 7th December.

But no, my final track of the week is a bit of a surprise, and neatly emphasises why I do this – songs pop in and out of my head all the time, for a while they’ll be at the top of my playlist but then drift back into the obscurity that is my mind. This track is one that I’ve been aware of without really knowing it and then, today, whilst spinning in a vein attempt to burn off some Christmas excesses this track kicked in. I must admit, I thought it was little mix, but Sophie quickly identified it as Icona Pop (must have been my excellent rendition!)

Don’t know if they are a “cool” group, but I like this track, and that’s good enough for me.

December 25, 2016December 25, 2016

Christmas 16

Pic of the week 25/12/16

It’s Christmas …!

December 23, 2016

2016 – A Review

Not a review by me (I shall review my year in a later post), but I thought that this was a brilliant/funny/frightening review of 2016 – a year that most are predicting will go down in history as a bad year.

Watch the film, its funny (and, sadly, quite true)