First signs of deterioration

When I’m unwell I try to brave it out. My antibodies have done a good job in keeping serious illnesses away from me and Ken Norton anti-virus will punch any pathogen that dares to intrude. Lately, however, there’s been a pain in my shoulder that’s hampered my sleep. This ache would probably be a sports injury or so I thought. Continue reading “First signs of deterioration”

Irene, Goodnight Irene.

I’ll see you in my nightmares more like.

Looks like we creek dwellers are in the path of Hurricane Irene, the storm may just graze the Delaware beaches on its (her?) way north.  The beach areas are under compulsory evacuation. Current predictions here on the eastern shore are for 70 MPH winds, 10 inches of rain and an eight foot tidal storm surge.  Depending on the state of the tide late on Saturday that may put water three or four feet over my dock and could completely submerge my pilings.  Right now we have no water at all in the creek, it went out like water down a drain today and will probably come roaring back almost as fast late tomorrow with the wind.
Continue reading “Irene, Goodnight Irene.”

Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 1

I first went to Germany in early 1948, aged 5. My father, then serving with a County Regiment, had been posted to Dortmund in 47. My mother and I travelled via Harwich to the Hook of Holland and then onward by train. The things that remain in my memory about the journey are that I, along with many more, was sick on the ship, the smell of vomit was everywhere, the journey seemed to take for ever and I was labelled like a piece of luggage. I also remember boarder guards checking passports and papers. All really strange and frightening for mother and child. Continue reading “Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 1”

Following on from some post or other (can’t remember which one)

I thought that this may be of some use.

Since more and more Seniors are texting and tweeting there appears to be a need for a STC (Senior Texting Code).  If you qualify for Senior Discounts this is the code for you.
 Please pass this on to your children and grandchildren so they can understand your texts. Continue reading “Following on from some post or other (can’t remember which one)”

Use and Misuse of Language

Following on from certain posts on this site concerning swearing and an article in yesterday’s Telegraph about the fact that students will lose marks for poor grammar, you will be delighted to know that I have decided to give my attention to the use of language in its various forms.

In broad terms, the purpose of language, I hope we can all agree, is for the communication of ideas, feelings and information. Leaving aside signing (and possibly other forms), language falls into two main categories, spoken and written. Within this context, we have several tools at our disposal that enable us to communicate more effectively.   Continue reading “Use and Misuse of Language”

A conundrum and wasps

We have a cat and we tend to feed her outside, unless it’s raining. Like most cats she tends to leave some of her food for Ron (later on) which please the crows and a few other birds that descend upon an unguarded food bowl.

Now for the odd part, we have noticed this summer that when we return home her food bowl always has a number of dead wasps in it. Why? Is there something in the cat food that’s killing them or is the cat killing them (highly unlikely).

Any body else come across this and if so is there an answer?

How true this is!

Anyone who has ever worked in the software industry will know how true all the thoughts expressed in this link are.

However, this is not quite the full story, although I am sure few of you will believe me. The really difficult bit is gathering the customer requirements (the real ones and not what the customer thinks they want), writing the specifications and design and then defining the testing regime. Writing the actual code is relatively easy, by comparison, as long as the design and specs are OK.