In the good old days, which I can remember more and more of these days, a man used to come round to our house and read the meter.
Today, it seems I have to do this myself. I don't mind doing this, but I do mind getting repeated email reminders to go and do it. It's as if they think I work for them.
I keep getting emails from people who like my blog and want to put some sponsored content it. I've been offered up to 35 dollars for a slot (assuming these things are for real)
Go me.
However, at the moment I'm afraid that space on these hallowed pages is not for sale. I don't really want to turn my blog into a profit centre. I write the posts manly for my own amusement. At least, I'm the only one that laughs at most of the jokes.
Monday Snaps are going to be on holiday over the next couple of weeks while I write about Python.
It seems to me that the only thing I'm getting better at as I grow older is snapping my fingers. Nothing much ever happens when I do though.
I'm now officially and properly old. Bus passes beckon. Thank heavens I've still got my youthful good looks (although I've forgotten where I put them).
However, I've just had the most fantastic of birthdays, starting with a trip out for coffee in the morning and then a slap up Sunday Lunch at 1884 Dock Street Kitchen. They do a roast beef that is just perfect (pro-tip, have the sausage roll snacks as starters, lovely). The meal was a surprise treat, and a great time was had by all. Particularly as a whole bunch of family members turned up, some of whom I wasn't expecting.
So, we headed home after the meal and I reflected what a great day I'd had. And then it started all over again. The family, who's reputation for subterfuge has gone up several levels, had arranged to fill our house full of friends to do the surprise party thing, even down to the hiding of cars in distant car parks and stealthy arrangement of shoes and coats so that the big reveal was just that. I had a great time, and we even ordered Domino's Pizza for tea.
Thanks so much to everyone who attended. We played some games, I blew out some candles, cake was eaten and a wonderful time was had. If this is what birthdays are like when you're sixty, sign me up.
Oh to be in Hull in the summer time. This summer is astonishing in terms of the range and quantity of goings-on in the city. We wandered up town on Saturday for lunch at Nibble (wonderful place, you should try it) and found ourselves listening to a BBC Prom being broadcast from the stage right next door. Full orchestra action. The city was also alive with a whole bunch of folk acts around the town, numerous Morris Dancers and a Gay Pride march.
Blimey.
I was having a conversation about the internet tonight and I was reminded of something I did a while back. I setup a Twitter account called nobody else. The idea is that if you would like to disengage with the platform, just let me know your Twitter username.
Then you'll get the message "Nobody Else is following you on Twitter", so you can shut down your account and get on with your life.
The account is still active. I guess you could follow nobody else too, but I really can't see the point.
I stole this picture off their web site....
We had a significant birthday in the family this week. Ending in zero. No, not mine, that's next week.
Anyhoo, as a present we organised a session at Oresome in Hull. You start with a strip of silver and finish three hours later with a really nice ring that you made yourself. It turns out that the process is more complex than you might think, and gives you a lot of respect for people who make things like this.
It seems that the trend today is for experiences rather than just buying stuff. I reckon that this kind of thing does both. They are lovely folk at Oresome and took the trouble to make the event even more special for our lucky birthday person. And apparently you get to use a hammer, which is always good. Strongly recommended.
,,,this one from 2013. It's after the C# Yellow Book and this blog. It must be that every day a bunch of people have this problem and I'm somewhere up the search lists for it.
Answer, when you press Save in the Squarespace blog post editing tool.
So, you may never see this post.
Update: Actually you can, because the Edge browser works, but Chrome does not.
Update update: Ha. It's working now, but will I ever trust it again.....
It's the last day of Paper City in Hull today. The weather's lovely. Get out there and enjoy it.
I've seldom been so happy to lose a bet.
A week or so ago one of the taps in the kitchen broke. Or, perhaps to be more precise, I broke it. While replacing the internal fitting (the bit that you have to change every now and then otherwise the taps drip) I put the handle screw on cross threaded and managed to strip the threads so that the tap handle wouldn't fit properly.
This was the cue for a whole selection of MacGuyver-esque escapades as I tried a bunch of different tricks to try and attach the tap cover. Some were quite successful. One lasted all of a day.
Number one son watched these attempts up until the point they stopped being amusing (i.e. for around ten minutes) and then suggested that I contact the company and ask for a replacement for the broken part. "Don't be silly" I replied haughtily. "No one does that kind of thing any more. I bet you fifty pence that if I contact them I'll get no response".
Anyhoo, a bet is a bet, so last week I filled in a web form describing the problem and received a reply from Anna telling me that the replacement parts were in the post. No charge.
Astonishing service. Thanks so much Brita. You've restored my faith in customer service. I'll pay number one son next time I see him. And be very happy to.
They've put these rather clever water features in Trinity Square in Hull. They look like big square puddles, but if you watch them for a while the water in them is pulsed to form patterns.
Very nice.
Here's a nice quote: "The world is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine."
Now, here it is in action. On Thursday last week I blogged that I was giving a talk about robots taking over the world, but I had no recollection of arranging it. The blog post then gets some comments from folks who think that this Rob Miles should probably have been booked instead.
Then, today, AI Rob Miles (as I shall refer to him) got in touch offering to do the talk. From the videos that he has produced (you should watch them) I reckon he'd do a much better job than me. I've fiddled with AI and whatnot, but I wouldn't call myself much of an expert. AI Rob Miles is.
Rob Miles is not an uncommon name I suppose, and there are lots of techy people out there. But even so I'm impressed by the coincidence.
Another glorious day today. In the middle of town they had a rather splendid brass band playing.
Today I got up bright and early to catch the train to London and take part in a webinar.We were talking about "Moving to Windows 10 - the mobility imperative". It was great fun.
After the seminar I took a wander round London and then, after a brief stop at the British Library for a coffee, headed back home.
The video goes live some time next week.
I've just discovered that I'm giving a talk about robots at the university on Monday 26th June. Or at least someone called Rob Miles has been booked to do 30 minutes on whether or not robots will take over the world as part of the Annual UCAS Exhibition which this year is in Hull.
I probably said yes to it when I was drunk. Or something.
Anyhoo, if you fancy coming along on Monday at 10:15 in LR13 in the Wilberforce Building on the University campus it would be lovely to see you. I will, of course, be showing off some robots of my own. And I'll be sober. Or something.
I don't teach at the university any more, but I retain a strong affection for the place where I spent my professional life. They even made me a Fellow of the University, which was very nice of them because I think it means I get to give talks like these.
I'm taking part in a webinar at the end of this week. It's titled "Moving to Windows 10 - the mobility imperative".
I'm going to get on a train, travel to London, be light, witty and knowledgeable for two hours and travel back. Should be fun. I'll post the link when the recording is live.
Nice day for a christening. Tip for the day: If you're thinking of having a post-baby-dunking bash you might like to consider Khristoff's. They did a lovely buffet for us that included some chicken wraps that were awesome.
Put a new mirror up in the hall. Now I can check that I look my absolute handsomeist best before leaving the house. It's a very optimistic mirror.
We carefully decided where it needed to be hung and, just before I fired up the drill, I ran my trusty stud-finder over the wall. I bought this a while back. It's a metal detector for wall use. It tells you if you are about to drill into a pipe (messy and expensive) or a live wire (messy, expensive and fatal).
Anyhoo, it bleeped in a fairly conclusive manner right over the spot I'd marked. Turns out that the wires from my mains sockets go up to the ceiling rather than down to the floor. So the mirror is four inches to the left of the optimal positon. And I'm not dead.
Oh. Good.
Rob Miles is technology author and educator who spent many years as a lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Hull. He is also a Microsoft Developer Technologies MVP. He is into technology, teaching and photography. He is the author of the World Famous C# Yellow Book and almost as handsome as he thinks he is.
