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Finishing off at the back
Last time anyone on here saw a photo of our imminent new deck, it looked like the last photo in this post, which was the position after three days' work. Unbelievably, the next ten working days saw the...
View ArticleThe eRoute to eSuccess
When I first started writing War of Nutrition (so long ago it even had a different title), self-publishing was frowned upon by "real" authors. It was a route for amateurs and, more importantly, it was...
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Why we called him Hobo
What with one thing and another it's been well over a year since I posted a cat update. The last time a photo of our lad appeared on here, we didn't even have him yet.When he arrived we decided to call...
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Our new aquarium... prototype
During the long project dubbed the "new new lounge" last year, we debated what to do with our fish. We've now had them three years, and I think I can claim that the spectres of my past fishy disasters...
View ArticleThe snow is falling
Writing is often referred to as a solitary activity. Even though you may choose to undertake it in company, by  its very nature unless you're writing collaboratively you're obliged to spend a lot of...
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KaraTankee
Well, you know, KaraTe is "empty hand". KaraOke is "empty orchestra". So KaraTankee is "empty tank."Yep, the new aquarium! Collected from the supplier Tuesday evening, cabinet assembled yesterday and...
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FuruTankee
Hot on the heels of yesterday's post, where I claimed "KaraTankee" might mean empty tank, we have FuruTankee. Because Google translate is my friend, and tells me that the Japanese for full is...
View ArticleFun with ammonia
You may have heard the comedic feminist epigram: "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle."Well... fish may not need a bicycle, but they do need a cycle. The period, in the life of a new...
View ArticleNew Review
I've been soliciting.Not like that! No... a few months ago I happened across a post by a well-known blogger of "all aspects of writing, publishing and book promotion" suggesting how one might go about...
View ArticleOcellations
Took the plunge last Friday and transferred our five ocellated barbs to the new tank. I wanted them to have 48 hours in there, producing their ammonia, so that when I borrowed some of the BiUbe's...
View ArticleIn a life I more nice
I'm a lucky man. There can't be many men as sought after by hordes of Russian beauties as I. They write to me all the time.Some of them, of course, take themselves out of the game with their first...
View ArticleThe February of technology
Which is a whole lot different to the march of technology.Because our February (and our January come to that) has seen the wheels start to come off of our tech-filled home. Or at least, that's how it...
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Ouch
I never learn. It's always when I'm most distracted that I ignore my little voice, and it never turns out well. In the past I've cut myself, broken an ankle, smashed crockery, shattered glassware,...
View ArticleCucking Fookies
Been on the Internet for years, me. I can't claim to have been "one of the first" to hit the wires, but I wasn't far behind. About twenty years ago I think it was when I first read a newsgroup. Roughly...
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The crux of the matter
Here we are at a nexus...Literally. A Nexus 7. Following the rapid and unexpected demise* of my iPad on Tuesday last, I was faced with a dilemma. Stand and fight (aka get it mended) or run (to Android,...
View ArticleReaching the plot spot
It's about six weeks since I wrote that I'd completed Snowflake Stage 3, and now I've moved on past stages 4 & 5. That's taken a little longer than the method itself estimates, but it's still...
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Barring the code
I bought some printer ink yesterday. I know - rock and roll, eh? I had an urgent letter to print. Naturally the printer, which had been showing "zero ink" (a friendly black cross in an empty cylinder)...
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The fish move in (with video!)
As I'm sure you remember, our ocellated barbs were in the vanguard of fishy occupancy in the new tank having moved in last month. Apologies in advance for the photo quality. They only sit still for...
View ArticleTaking the tablets
Almost exactly a month since I posted about my new tablet.I'll be taking it back today.No, I haven't dropped it! Nor am I bored or disappointed with it. Far from it, especially since I discovered...
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Money! (It's a gas)
After almost exactly two years, I'm finally getting to the bottom of the eBay pile. Maybe I'm overstating it slightly in the title. There has been money, of that there is no question, but for the most...
View ArticleThe plot thickens
...but it's not gravy yet.Last time I mentioned The Second Book, I'd arrived at the synopsis expansion stage, or the bit where I have to get really detailed about the whole story arc. Writing time has...
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The Great Outdoors
After the transformation of our back garden at the end of last year from tattered wilderness to outdoor designer living space, we've watched with eager anticipation as the lengthening days have worked...
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Croaking Frogs
One of the features of our new garden that surprised me when we first saw the design on paper was the pond.I don't remember explicitly asking our designer to include one, yet once I saw it on the plan...
View ArticleThe Dead Pool comes to life
It's been exactly a year since I wrote my sad tale about the frogs we were "losing" in our pond, which I'd started referring to as the Dead Pool.Since then the rate of loss has decreased, but the...
View ArticleGatekeeper in beta
It's been very quiet here for a year or so, but that's because my writerly time has been spent drafting, honing, editing and polishing the "first" (really, now it's done, the fifth) draft of my second...
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