so proud

Im so proud of James, he started his new contract job last Thursday...

Talking of jobs (or rather lack of them) I saw this sign in the window of Lush I think this shows just how bad the job market is here in the UK :o(.

Just click on the picture for my flickr pictures

I have been taking my camera to work with me in the hope of being able to film some more people playing the Street Pianos, incidentally I was able to upload the video onto flickr eventually with the help of James ;o). Ironically I havent seen anyone playing the pianos (its like they know!!!).

I took Als advice and had a little tinkle on the piano (even though I cant play), the first time I ran my finger across the keyboard (someone I used to work with was walking past at the time and called me a hooligan ;o)). The next day I was feeling more defiant and gave the keyboard three bashes as I was walking past. The next thing I knew I heard someone else doing the same thing (he gave it one bash ;o)) its good to know I inspired someone ;o).

I found another piece of Innocent Vegpot reading, this time it was on the Spicy Chermoula Tagine

"power lunching

When did you last get genuinely excited about lunch? Was it when Jean Claude Van Damme came over and Brevilled you up a nice ham and cheese number? Were guessing it probably was. But we think we can provide even more lunchtime excitement. Right here, inside this pot. 3 of your 5 a day quick as a flash to heat and eat. Admittedly there will be no Belgian high kicking. But there will be vegetables, good health and good taste. And as JCVD once said "God gave me a great body and its my duty to take care of my physical temple" So please let this pot worship your er physical temple" ;o).

On my train line we normally get air conditioned trains, but shock horror on Tuesday there were problems and I had to sit on a non air conditioned train, it was horrible!

In my bid to get the word chocolate mentioned more on this blog see my wordle, I had today a piece of chocolate with Chili (there are three more pieces in the bar I bought) , it was really nice, the chocolate had a really hot flavour to it - I will most definitely buy that one again).

I weighed myself this morning and was well gutted that I put on two pounds, I cant put it all down to meeting my friends for lunch as I only had scrambled egg on toast, oh well I will see how I do next week.

Street Piano

First thing first...
...before I get told off by Al for not uploading this video to flickr, I have tried uploading this about ten times. Thinking I was probably doing something wrong James tried uploading it too, and it still didnt work. Apparently it is a known error with this type of file!

Anyhow, in my last post I mentioned about a piano having been left in St Helens and wondering what it was about. It is part of Street Pianos, 30 pianos are left around London until 13th July, then the pianos are going to be donated to local schools. How good is that ;o)

On my way to Liverpool Street Station on Tuesday night, on the corner of Leadenhall Street and St Mary Axe, I saw this bloke sitting at the piano, and thought I would wait to see if he would start playing it. There was a lady sitting next to him and I could hear her tickling the ivories. So I got out my trusty mobile phone and recorded it for your viewing pleasure ;o).

I apologise for the poor quality of this video but am going to take my camera with me to work next week, so hopefully I will be able to get something better ;o). Incidentally Wednesday night I witnessed what can only be described as a "classically trained" lady playing the piano. She was really good and was doing all the head movements too ;o).

I had Thursday and Friday off this week, and we decided to go to Westfield Shopping Centre, I just went there primarily for a look around. It wasnt as big as I thought it would be, but is bigger than what we have here in Chelmsford.

I ended up buying a t-shirt from DKNY Jeans, it was in their sale too, so was a bargain to boot ;o).

I must have done loads more walking about than what I normally do, as the backs of my legs were really aching all night!

Friday we went to Southend, just for something to do.

While waiting for my Indian Daal Curry Vegpot to cook, I was looking at the packaging (as you do) and I read this ode to lunchtime on the inside of the sleeve...

"Let us give praise for lunchtime. For it is a time for when work is stilled. Computers flick to screensave, the mouse ceases to scurry and people of the world unite in the need to be anywhere but near a workstation. They may sally forth into a place of fresher air. They may look at a newspaper or favourite tree. Any they may visit the office kitchen to indulge in a veg pot. They may think to themselves "What a lucky soul am I, to be alive on this planet and have all of these vegetables, and stuff in a pot" And then they may go back to work".

I will have to look out for more of these ;o).

While doing the big shop this morning, I swiped the scanner display holder to get my scanner (so i could pack the groceries as I go around) and the lcd display was reading my card number for about two minutes then the screen went blank and started going through what looked like a "reboot". The display about a minute later then was back to normal saying "please swipe your card" or something like that, so I swiped my card again and again the same thing happens. At this point the other people trying to get their scanners are asking "are you able to get your scanner" and I tell them about it rebooting etc. The screen again at this point asks to "please swipe your card" so I do this again and the display now says "you can only have one scanner" *sigh*. I tell the other person who asked what was happening and she says "let me try my card" so she tries her card and it said the same thing! At this point I thought to myself there is no point hanging around I might as well get on with the shopping.

So I am down the fruit aisle and I see someone with a scanner, (and he was scanning his shopping too) where he got his before it all started to reboot. A couple of minutes later I see a lady going behind the customer services counter so I ask her if she can reset my card as I was unable to get a scanner and she tells me "the scanners are out of order". So I tell her about the bloke and his scanner and again she says "the scanners are out of order, Im going to put a notice on them". Then right on cue the bloke comes to the counter and says "my scanner has stopped working". I then had to carry on with my shopping.

I must say having to load all my shopping on to the conveyor belt and packing at the end wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. But I still prefer packing as I go along.

I weighed myself this morning and not only have I lost the 200 grammes I put on last week, but lost another 200 grammes too ;o).

Who on earth is Paul

I finally did my wordle, and wasnt surprised to see that James is prominent, but I have to wonder who Paul is? I even thought I had used the wrong website when creating the wordle! No I definitely used the right one! I also thought the word chocolate would appear in there but not a sausage (mind you I didnt see sausage either!).




click here for the flickr copy

Paul, Paul, Paul? Who could Paul be...


...damn if I keep typing Paul then he will appear even bigger when I do my next wordle!


I actually did something interesting yesterday, I went for afternoon tea with my friends at Marygreen Manor in Brentwood, it was a joint birthday celebration as three of our birthday are close together. It was nice, we had a good natter and ate cakes ;o)


see my pictures here...


I still cant think who Paul is!


I tried another new soup this week at Pret A Manger - Minestrone Soup (pasta, tomato, Savoy cabbage, celery, haricot beans, red wine, garlic, onion, paprika, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme & parsley) it was really nice and filling ;o).


Paul, Paul Paul...


...who could Paul be? This is doing my head in!


Walking to the station the other night I saw a bloke playing chopsticks on a piano in St Helens (this was actually on the street) I wish I had my camera with me as it was very surreal!


Oh, Paul...


...it has to be Paul A Young as in my favourite chocolate shop, blimey thats a relief!


I only have a three day week this week as I have booked Thursday and Friday off - so hopefully it will go quickly ;o).


I weighed myself this morning, expecting a massive gain after stuffing myself with cake yesterday and was well pleased that I only put on one pound (well 200 grammes to be precise) what a result ;o).

a strong cup of me

The train I catch in the mornings (the 7.03) usually attracts contractors as well as the usual insomniacs, on Monday morning a chippie was sitting in the seats opposite to me. We pull into Liverpool Street Station, as I was getting off the train I glanced around to make sure I hadnt left anything and spotted a saw tucked between the seat and the wall! Knowing how much NXEA charge people to return lost property I caught up with the bloke and told him I thought he had left something on the train! I didnt take the saw with me in case I couldnt catch up with him or recognise him - Im normally half asleep at that time of the morning (I tend to be most awake when its time to leave ;o)).

After my good deed that morning, I thought I would have good karma, but no, I get into work and our e-mail isnt working again! Because I work for a small company the IT is outsourced, and their helpdesk inst open until 8.30. Provided Im in (and the trains arent up the creek) then any IT problems will be being dealt with by the time my bosses are in.

On Wednesday & Thursday you could tell there was a tube strike on, there arent normally too many people leaving the station but there were hundreds of people milling about and the bus stops were heaving too! I saw loads of taxis on the road too - I later read that there was a taxi share service arangement (what a great idea).
Earlier in the week James texted me to tell me that there was a new vegpot out. Because I buy all my food for the week on Sunday morning I had to let him eat it as the other one I had was one he didnt like. Ironically the other vegpot he bought (to get the 2 for £5.00 offer) was the same one I had! Anyhow I tried a bit of the sauce and it tasted nice, so I bought one today to have in the week.
The Apprentice final was on last Sunday, and the challenge (which got my full attention strangely enough) was to design a new box of chocolates. I was watching intently (I didnt even notice James dancing around the lounge naked whilst waving his boxer shorts in front of me I tell ya I was that engrossed) when one of the teams was talking to a chocolatier that I recognised. Yes it was none other than Paul A Young the very person who owns my new favourite shop ;o). I went in there on Tuesday to buy some more chocolate provisions, and the French guy told me that they were rammed in there Monday lunchtime and that 90% of the customers were in there after seeing Paul on the show.
While on holiday a couple of years ago I saw a plaque, that really caught my attention - especially with its aptness...
"A woman is like a tea bag - you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water".
I can say Im a strong cup of tea, although to be honest I would much rather still not know - but I do ;o) Should I be happy or sad about this? Hmm I dont know!
I weighed myself this morning sure as sure could be that I had lost an incy wincey teeny weeny bit of weight, but no I put on 100 gramees oh well...

moody Thursday

On Thursday I was put in a bad mood even before work started...

...why? I hear you ask

Well, I got in and was going to make a cup of tea, while waiting for my PC to boot up etc. I passed someone from another company carrying two cups back to his office. I got around to the kitchen and not only did I have to fill up the kettle, but there wasnt any milk left in the fridge either! (We are in managed offices and they provide tea, coffee and milk) So I went upto the fourth floor and took a pint from their fridge (dont worry they already had an opened pint and two unopened ones so it wasnt like I took the last of their milk). Why oh why didnt he say to me "I have just used the last of the milk" As you can tell those are the ways to wind me up (if you so wish ;o)).

Me and James have been sky+ing Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is since Tuesday the programme has kept on dropping out of the schedule where they must be messing around with the tv guide. So to cambat this for tomorrow Ive set it to record on BBC Scotland so there! Yes, this winds me up too...

On Wednesday evening there was "trouble wit trains" there was a fatality between Shenfield and Ingatestone, now I dont normally mind being stuck on the train especially if its in the morning, but I dont like it when it encroaches on my time. I didnt get to Chelmsford until 7.10! At least the ticket inspectors had the barriers open and were handing out compensation forms! So as I was well tired when I got home I didnt do anything of the exercise bike either! I had a seat which was a good thing, mind you I normally do or I would just get on a later train provided their arent any problems.

I weighed myself this morning and stayed the same in stones and pounds anyway (not too sure about the kilogrammes) so am well chuffed considering the one night that I didnt do any exercise.

Sorry this has been a bit of a whinging post, but its good to get these out of the way ;o)

Burger me...

After saying in last weeks post I really fancied a jam donut, I bought myself one yesterday and it was blooming gorgeous - and well worth 17p ;o)

James said the other day that if he could be any super hero he would like to be The Incredible Hulk I think I upset him when I said he was more Sulk than Hulk, it so made me laugh when he gave me the silent treatment for the rest of the evening ;o).

I was in Tescos again yesterday to see if they had anymore buy one get two free offers, and they didnt. I even had a look through the doors every morning to see if they had any displays to entice me in. The Jaffa Cakes were back on a respectable buy one get one free offer!

On Friday James had his interview by Tower Bridge (Im keeping everything crossed for you there ;o)), he then met me for lunch and we went to Corney & Barrow, being the fussy eater that I am I went for the Home made Organic Beef Burger with chunky chips asking for just a plain burger, but as usual the burger came with all the garbage (I hear from all the reality tv shows thats what they call the garnish), so poor James got the bits that I didnt like including half of my bun as it had butter on it. It was really nice and I would definitely get it again.

We even came into London together which made a nice change ;o) We even had a coffee together in Starbucks.

Yesterday I got my roots coloured in at the hairdressers (I would do it myself but I end up making far too much mess), so I was out yesterday afternoon with that Just out of the Salon look. My hair must normally look really naff because the lady from Holland & Barrett actually came upto me to say how nice my hair looked ;o) I think I am going to have to buy myself some straightening irons as this has shown me that I really should do something to make my hair look nicer - sorry James I may/will need your help with this ;o). Basically I have what I call witches hair (its frizzy and has a life of its own), when I was a kid my Mum would spend hours trying to make her hair straight, but I have never bothered myself!

I was umming and ahhing about whether to weigh myself this morning after the lunch I had on Friday, and decided its best to know what Im up against, and I was well surprised to see I have lost one pound. I was well chuffed ;o)

Buy one get two free

This was the sign that caught my eye as I was walking past Tesco in Bishopsgate on my way to work on Thursday morning.

So I hear you asking, what product was this brilliant offer on? It was Jaffa Cakes, what a great bargain. I guess they had them by the door to draw in customers (which they certainly did in my case) in the hope that they would then buy more products, which I didnt do!

If deflation means more offers like this then thats great...

Im now waiting for the cost of my annual train ticket to reduce, somehow I think we will see flying pigs first!

James has been moaning that the birds have been messing up the birdseed that he has left out on our unused waterbutt for them to eat, by yesterday I was getting fed up with his constant whinging, and jokingly suggested that he should glue the birdseed to the waterbutt so it doesnt get messed up. It took a full five minutes for him to realise the full impact of my suggestion and then I got an almighty glare ;o) Its a good job looks cant kill!

Because its a Bank Holiday weekend my Boss decided to close the office at lunchtime on Friday, and because Im normally ravenous by then I decided to get my half a lamb sandwich (yes, it still makes me laugh) and eat it on the train. I managed to catch the Intercity train to Ipswich and there was a Canadian lady on the train who by the sounds of things had just landed that morning and was on her way to stay at her Sons, she was saying that whenever she comes to England she likes having jam donuts. She was also saying it was years since she had a Cornish Pasty (but I cant stand those). Anyhow, I now fancy a jam donut and will make sure I get myself one next weekend I think ;o).

Its amazing how hearing someone talk about a certain food product will immediately make you want to eat it. I wonder if food companies have ever thought of employing people to sit on trains or in public areas and bring conversations around to the said item, and they could have a mobile stall selling those foods nearby.

You could imagine going to see a Stand up comic and he or she being sponsored by a food company, and they bring the different products into their routine, and you come out thinking about it and what do you know theres a concession stand with those products. I think I shall market that idea ;o)

Because I left work early on Friday I then didnt have enough fruit for Friday, I decided to walk down to Asda to get myself some more (I like to eat fruit before having something nice for my dessert in the evening). While I was in there I saw they had garlic baguettes for 50p each and loving a bargain the way I do I bought two.

I had my one last night, and it was nice, but I think next week I will stick to having a garlic flatbread as its a lot nicer ;o).

I weighed myself this morning and have put on another pound, I blame that firmly on the garlic baguette, as I thought I was pretty good earlier in the week. So I shall see how I go next week and as Fagin says I shall review the situation.