Nearly first week on the allotment

I went to the allotment 4 times this week to try to make a start. The natural light, commitments, the temperature and the mains water to the loos having been turned off have curtailed my visits to a maximum of 2 hours. Hard work? Hardly - just great fun.








Tuesday I lifted the beetroot and carrots. It amounted to about 50 pounds of beetroot and about 70 pounds of carrots. Both taste great and I am a true lover of beetroot - but this may prove a little too much this year! We have also been eating carrots in most every known way but, as yet, we are maintaining a healthy skin pigment!

Lifting the carrots revealed a whole lot of leeks which, as I cleared some of the brambles revealed even more.

I also found a row of turnips which will come in handy sometime.

Wednesday I started to try to tidy up the plot to show the allotment committee that we are serious. The secretary was saying that people wait on the list for years and then when they have been given a plot they pay their rent and never show up! WE don't want anyone thinking we are not enthusiastic! But Wednesday was also a frustrating visit because there are so many things that need doing there is a temptation to start them all and finish none.

Friday saw a shorter visit where we decided to do some proper planning so we can focus properly on the next task in hand. On Wednesday I had started to define the path and bottom corner of the allotment and that is where we start our proper effort.

We also decided to move the strawberries - some to our garden and some to a 'out the way' bed. These strawberries are perpetual fruiting and have a lot of bud on even now.

But today it has snowed for the first time this year and that may mean less done for a little while.

First day at the allotment

The previous occupant of our plot quit the allotment rather abruptly and left a lot of things behind. We haven't identified everything yet but are trying to 'tidy up'.

I have started by moving some of the blue plastic out of site and gathering up the bags with compost that have been left sitting around and consolidating them into the compost heaps at the back. I have also been clearing brambles from along the back fence and consigning them to the council bin as they don't compost at all well.

Amongst the things left on the allotment is a poly-tunnel which has 3 young vines in. We are still deciding whether this stays or goes.

After that I have been clearing some of the surface weeds and seeing what lurks below..

Various brassicas are still there in various conditions.

There is a patch of carrots and these are gigantic. I suspect some could enter the 'Dibley Village Rude Vegetable' competition.

There is a patch of beetroot and mostly of a good size.

A raspberry pretending to be a bramble.

A gooseberry bush - no babies I'm pleased to say.

Autumn fruiting raspberry. And what's more...

it's still in fruit.

Various fruit trees, but only 2 are labeled - A Granny Smith Apple and a Conference Pear.

Chives.

7 or 8 trees in all, but mostly too close together.

Not sure what this is so we need to 'look it up'.

So I brought a little home with me while we decide how to store the carrots and beetroot.

On top of all this there are currant bushes as well, but I missed out on photos of them!

Digeus System Optimiser

I run Windows Vista SP1 with a 68gb Hard Disk installed. I don't like Vista (like so many others) and it really wants reinstalling. People talk about reinstalling like it's no big deal, but I hate the idea. Why? Well we are using 60gb of that 68 and that all needs to be backed up first and then check you have all the installation media for all the packages you have installed (quite a number) , then start the install of Vista (a couple of hours with a fair wind) then patch Vista (a couple of days with a fair wind) then install all the packages (a day or so) then retrieve the data - and finally reset all those packages the way you like them again. And in the meantime....  no pc!

The thought appals me - and my family even more. The solution is to do what is possible to keep Vista working and perform and protected.

I have just returned from holiday to find this email waiting for me:-

Dear The Mole,

I would be honored if you’d take the time to review our product on your blog.
In exchange for an unbiased review, We will provide a copy of the product for free!
We will also place link to your review from our product's page with your logo.

The review may be written in any language you want, min 100 words. You are free
to get photos and sample description from our site:
http://digeus.com/products/systemoptimizer/system-optimizer.html

If you use Facebook, Twitter, Digg or MySpace, please add this tool to your bookmarks.
The button for adding to bookmarks is located here:
http://digeus.com/products/systemoptimizer/system-optimizer.html

Here is a brief information about our product:

Digeus System Optimizer 8.2

Digeus System Optimizer is the smartest way to solve computer problems and 
protect your valuable data. This easy-to-use software helps you eliminate 
system crashed, prevent computer problems, and restore your system to 
a healthy state.

Here is a list of tools included in suite:

* Digeus Data Encryptor
* Digeus Disk Space Analyzer
* Digeus Drivers and Programs
* Digeus Duplicate Files Finder
* Digeus Icon Manager
* Digeus IE Manager
* Digeus Junk Files Cleaner
* Digeus Memory Cleaner
* Digeus Multimedia Settings Tweaker
* Digeus Optimization Wizard
* Digeus Privacy Protection
* Digeus Process Manager
* Digeus Registry Cleaner
* Digeus Registry Defragmenter
* Digeus Repair System Settings
* Digeus Service Manager
* Digeus File Shredder
* Digeus Smart Uninstaller
* Digeus Startup Manager
* Digeus System Customization
* Digeus System Info
* Digeus System Security Tweaker
* Digeus System Speed Optimizer
* Digeus Unnecessary Files Cleaner

Download and install System Optimizer 8.2:
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Learn more what is included in System Optimizer 8.2:
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Looking forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,
Alise Johnson
PR Manager
Digeus, Inc

I had to say the idea sounded a bit attractive...

It offered the ability to get more from my present installation without the reinstall.  I downloaded it, installed it and started to play....  

First thing I decided to try the junk file cleaner and therein hangs a tale. It kept crashing about my ears. I persisted - cos that's the kind of guy I am and eventually found a few things.  It was crashing because there were too many files for it to handle. (I found in excess of 66,000!). Why did I have so many? I had a gut feel that it was caused by HP Update and using the startup manager disabled it. Lo and behold - the files stopped being created.

I then, through windows, removed the application to prevent a recurrence. After that the junk file cleaner ran without any issues BUT and it's a BIG BUT it listed the zero length files and included, the C:\BOOT directory BCD.log1 and 2. These are system files and I would hope that they are adequately protected but I certainly would not recommend deleting them! and therein lies a warning - SOME programs have empty directories and zero length files as an 'in case' and removing them could cause the application to crash so treat this list of files as a guide and not a safe list of files to delete. If you delete a file that causes a problem then it's on YOUR head not Digeus' and that goes for ANY optimisation software. 

I chose to run this one 'type' at a time and found little else that was controversial although 'sorting' by file size is alpha numeric so '729 bytes' is greater than '1,101,124 bytes'. This ought to be sorted.  Additionally I would like to see an 'export' button throughout the system so you can print the results and review them off line (and if you are geeky enough) use an editted version of the results to create a batch file - but certainly to review off line in a spreadsheet or similar would prove useful.

One nice thing about this software is that it moves the 'deleted' files to the recycle bin and asks if you want to empty it first. If you leave the recycle bin's contents in tact then you can test the effect of the deletions you have chosen by rebooting and testing the applications and 'restore' any files that you shouldn't have deleted before clearing the bin.


I reviewed the services in service manager and liked the presentation and prompts to help me see more clearly the options and found it clear and concise and took the opportunity of turning off a couple of services.

I then looked at the duplicate files finder. This works by comparing file dates and times and sizes - so files with different names [ e.g. jpg and a(1).jpg] are identified. I liked this feature BUT CARE IS NEEDED. It sees duplicates across user profiles so where two user profiles use the same software you could end up rendering one users software inoperable.

The disk space analyzer is nice and concise and gives a very immediate picture.

One thing I struggled with when I first got Vista  was the scheduled tasks.  There are a lot set to start too frequently, but the windows interface is less than explanatory and to see a pretty face put on the front of scheduled tasks would be nice - maybe later?

I have not tested the entire product and I certainly would not encrypt my disk for anything.

The product does claim to work on all windows platforms from 95 to Windows 7. 

On the whole - if used with care - I liked this product despite the bugs and despite some of the interesting spelling - it really needs to help the less experienced more though and I would suggest that there are some areas where the 'select all' feature should not exist or carry a severe warning about the possible use.  

If you would like to try the product you can download a trial and if you would like to review it after contacting Digeus using the email address alise.johnson AT digeus.com then you may also be able to qualify for a free copy.

 

Rant on Hollywood explosions!

If there's one thing that annoys me then it's the way Hollywood using exploding vehicles! They don't explode! If they exploded like Hollywood vehicles do then we wouldn't be able to drive them around safely!!

In order for an explosion to occur then all the right components must be present in as close as possible the right quantities throughout the mixture. Petrol requires air in it to burn and that is what petrol does - it burns! In a car engine the fuel and air is premixed in the correct quantities to cause the mixture to burn rapidly in the combustion chamber. Note the word 'combustion' NOT explosion. It burns so rapidly, turning a small amount of fuel and air into a very large volume of hot gas that people talk of an explosion - but it's combustion.

Now if you set fire to a petrol tank it will burn rapidly and will heat up the metal around it and could cause the tank to rupture spilling burning fuel everywhere - but it will not explode. If you do this to a larger vehicle or vessel the same thing will happen.

There is a seemingly contradictory element to this... If you weld an empty petrol tank it could very well explode! No, it may very well combust so rapidly and with so much force it will rip the tank to shreds and throw shrapnel around.  As good as an explosion anyway. This is because the tank is NOT empty but an 'empty' tank enjoys about the correct mixture of petrol vapour and air. So if you find yourself wanting to weld a petrol tank then fill it with water first!.

To blog or not to blog?

Today we are told that we should enjoy a 'web presence'. But why? Having read blogs by friends and not-friends I seem to see many different reasons. And why should we read them?

As I gain more experience from blogs I see several reasons for both.

Some people write blogs because they feel they should but they ponder hard about their blogging and come up with blogs that are interesting, entertaining or both. Some blog interesting ideas and some blog anything - seemingly just because they can. Some use it to seek popularity or to be reassured about their popularity. Some blog quietly while others are constantly prompting us to read their blog. It just leaves me wondering why there are so many reasons to blog. Myself, I think of blogging as a way of recording my thoughts and if they go unread then they were my thoughts anyway.

And why to read the blogs? This one is for me just as big a question. I am a slow reader and reading has always been hard work. I recently re-read a sentence 4 times before I realised the word was 'four' and not 'hour' and suddenly it made sense. When reading is like this for you you do not read everything put in front of you. If I see a friends blog post I will scan the first paragraph and if it doesn't catch me I will give up - sorry! Even if it does I may give up before the end anyway. Mary will read over my shoulder waiting for me to scroll down. I may be asked 'Did you read?' and I will ask for the gist and then maybe go to read it for myself.  Having read will I comment? Why do people comment? I will comment if I have to something to say at the time. Because I haven't commented doesn't mean I haven't read. I don't feel I need to leave my footprint in the sand just to say that I have been there. I probably enjoyed it, or I didn't finish it. I was always told ' if you don't have something to say then say nothing' and that's what I do. But I see so many comments that seem sycophantic, popularity grabbing - 'Please, I read it sir/miss!'. I am told that it's my badly developed social skills and so I apologise to all.

To all the bloggers I enjoy may I say "PLEASE keep on blogging" - for the main part I do enjoy them but don't leave my footprint to say I read them and apologise but I would miss them if they weren't there.

Reflections on a birthday...

What did I want for my birthday?  I don't have so many things. I could do with another laptop, a digital camera, memory for my laptop, a new scroll mouse, a day riding heavy horses - the list is endless, but what did I want for my birthday?

Well truly none of them. It was my 55th and I had always hoped to retire by my 55th and I had achieved it. What I wanted for my birthday was surprises! Small surprises. I wanted a happy day, not just for me, but for my family too. I wanted memories of a day enjoyed.

Was I disappointed?  Certainly not! Having just finished an excellent book I was looking forward to starting another and a good book always leaves you with a warm glow for a while.

An early start and out for a walk with Dylan in a magical wonderland of snow made a fantastic start to the day.

We returned home and opened presents. T-shirts - probably the most useful item in my wardrobe as they layer in winter, go in the gym and are great for summer too. One had a Haynes manual cover reproduction on, one was a 'popeye' and a plain one - all absolutely great! Books, always a welcome present. Sweets and snacks - Liquorice, jellied fruits, dates, wine gums - you name it and all low fat! Toys and snacks for Dylan and other things. All great and really appreciated.

I then squandered time on facebook while people got ready but we were running late so rather than stress and rush we rescheduled the day to have dinner before we went out.

We then went, with Dylan, to Monsal Head to go for a short walk through the Dale and along the trail, where he played with his new toys in games of 'fetch', before returning to the café at the head. They should have been closed but they gave us tea and hot chocolate and cake for Lizzie.

It was then getting too late and we returned home to sandwiches, cake and a video followed by a final walk of the day Dylan. Finally, a brief spell on facebook replying to the many birthday wishes from my facebook friends. A truly lovely day with lots of memories.

Regrets? Forgetting the camera for the first walk of the day AND the trip to Monsal Head. Also it was a shame that the café had no scones and jam, but it was the end of the day and we did get tea.

So did I get what I want for my birthday? I most certainly did - and in spades! And Many thanks to everyone who helped to make it so!

Anger!

Dylan had an accident last night. He woke Mary about 5:30 who thought nothing of it. He later came to me and I got up. When I came down I found he had had an accident all over his bed - and only his bed.

I put him in he garden and set about cleaning up which wasn't too arduous a task. I then let him in and it became apparent that he was terrified of me! Why should this be? It was his first accident in more than a week and we are still learning about each other. I hadn't spoken harshly to him in any way because I could see he knew he had erred and was remorseful. So why was he terrified of me? I took him his walk and he was as good as gold and we both seemed to enjoy it, but when we got back in his tail went down and the terror showed itself again.

The only logical conclusion is that the previous male in the household in which he lived was violent with him and he doesn't know to trust me yet. It has really made me so angry, I just cannot describe.

We had wondered why he had become a stray and I would have asked the previous owners 'Why?'. I think I know why now and if I ever met the previous owner I really feel like punching his lights out - and I abhor violence.