Monday – Rupert decided to “come out” @ about 10:15am

Weird the Doctor pulled him out – didn’t need a local in the end.
And he wasn’t just on his one, but brought his whole family – about 12 strands of hair 4 cms long!!!!

Sunday

Py came to Kingsbridge by bus and we drove over to Salcombe, I didn’t got out to Plymouth as usual because of my not being up to driving.

We had lunch at the Ferry Inn – Quarter pound burger and chips. Which were damned good. Py had a Guiness, I had a Fosters. Then we visited Camp Cross for tea! (First time since Christmas or Boxing day to be more precise.)

Cream tea – Py brought her coffee maker that her mum sent her along with Uncle Don’s Colombian coffee. Afternoon went down well from what I could see… but Py hasn’t said anything on her page. The coffee was the Mutts Nutts as usual and is something I always look forward to when ever I visit Py. It’s just sooooo good like her.

I really missed her this week! XXX

Saturday – Rupert burst! OUCH!!!

Rupert visited the Doctor with his owner – Monday is now D-Day decision day to his fate

Well on Thursday night I got this really cool software to work Geeklog on http://www.iotn.com/. With a little help from Steve HW for the mystery mySQL username he’d set up.

Friday – worked from 10 till 10 OUCH!

Henry’s brother has a reprive until Monday.
Other than that no real news – visited Mike in order to know how to feed his cats over the weekend.
Fish and chips for dinner.
“Who wants to be a millionaire?” is on in the background, patent application search and preliminary examination form (9/77) on the hall table. Just needs a £130 cheque to go. Got to be more fun than the lottery.

Wednesday I decided to stay at home the drive back on Tuesday was awful and I had to skip a dinner appointment in Plymouth.

Potter about on some work and took a couple of urgent calls.

My Py seriously talks to her mother…

Hurbert my new personal carbuncle is still with me.

Sunday evening I stayed after the lab trip and Py made a wonderful meal – Chicken and Thai Noodles. xoxox
Monday lunchtime – get in the car from visiting a client – ouch!

Hmm – I appear to have a lump at the bottom of my back.
Osteopath has a look at it for me after lunch – “go see Doctor”
Doctors at 8:40!! – Anitbiotics that look like a nuclear deterant and if it’s not gone by Thursday…

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about surgery for pilonidal sinus.

We got back from chatting to Mich and both Py and I had a good night sleep in 907.

Sunday – we started of with Sainsbury museli saved by Sainsbury’s honey, toast and REAL coffee. A fuller explanation of REAL coffee with come out later.

After a very late breakfast with did a Sainsbury’s run to help Py out for next week we sit in the labs tapping away.

I’ve been research some PC monitoring tools, failed miserably to find a copy of Bob the Builder as an MP3. All I got was blooy p0rn sites! – I’ve sort of missed it charting locally. May have to get one from Amazon at this rate – they appear to have copies.

Py has been busy on yet more pictures – see:

http://www.pythonesque.org/bristolbath.html
http://www.pythonesque.org/halloween.html
http://www.pythonesque.org/salcombe.html
http://www.pythonesque.org/headstones.html
http://www.pythonesque.org/miscellaneous.html
http://www.pythonesque.org/bengals.html

It’s 7ish… and I’m getting hungry again – Py, I thing it’s time for supper 🙂

xx MX

I got a text from Py at 23:04 on Friday night asking where had I been? – “I’ve been in the labs since 8…”.

As you can see from my other posting I got off the Net and SMSd her to say give me a call. 2p/m for her to call me on contract – 35p/m for me to call her. Telecom companies are so bright they’ll put the sun out of business sometime soon.

At about 23:40 Py called me in tears, her Uncle Don who has been “like a father to her” died early Friday morning US time of a heart attack. His wife who is a cardiac nurse gave him immediate CPR and the ambulance was with them in 3 minutes. Unfortunately he did not make it through surgery.

I drove over to be with her and tried to comfort the best I could, we had a cup of fruit tea with Roz then turned in for the night. I slept OK, but Py told me later on Saturday she didn’t get to sleep for what felt hours.

Strange that I only spoke to Don for the first time on Monday and was really looking forward to meeting him in the summer when I hope to visit Py, family and friends. Don has passed away at 53 and leaves Liz his wife and several children from his first marriage.

Good luck Don – I will try my best to look after Py for you until we all meet again.

xxx

Mark X

---

Saturday – we popped over to Kingsbridge and SML to pick up a fax for Py’s student loan and scanned in all our holiday photos from last week. Py’s choice of the selected highlights from the the photos can be found here

Just gone 8 we dined on Chicken Kiev, pasta and cheese, finishing on apple slices.

9ish hoffed over to the labs. I churned out the mx journal – whilst Py did her stuff doing http://www.pythonesque.org/kernow.html the Cornwall Expedition Easter 2001.

Thurs – nice lie in.
The full monty breakfast cooked by the two of us at 907
Eggs, Bacon, Beans & Toast AND real coffee.
Made it over to Twin Peaks (Kingsbridge)
Went to SML – needed to catch up with a few work things…
Up to Solicitors to pay for new Land Registry search on #11
Off to Batson for Tea at 4pm Py’s diary reads like this :

---

it’s april 20th and i have nothing to celebrate it with. piss.
you don’t even want to know what i’ve done yesterday or for the past few days. i offered my soul to the devil incarnate – okay, well i went to a peace treaty w/camp.cross since norwich is constantly getting dumped on for the malice it has caused. we all came to meet in symbolic reference that we all wronged in some way, as equal quarters of the whole. margaret had the right idea, but there is only so much i can tolerate, and in fact, i never said that i would never see them if they decided to patch things up.

things will never be ‘patched up’ though. we know this, so don’t wig out. we just drew a line.

it was still evident that janet didn’t really want to be there, and she still had to do the incredibly stupid trivia-thing. this woman can only speak about dogs, brands of food and other products, and coronation street. no, i’m really serious. she couldn’t stand the fact that mx and i had a great holiday in cornwall so she had to say something in order to dampen it in some way.

oh land’s end isn’t anything to see

oh of course you got a pizza for only £6.95 in st. just–what do you expect of the poorest county in all of britain

oh i’ve only been there once but rah rah rah…
ugh. stupid cow. then when we kept ignoring her winging, she had to go show off her new handcreme to margaret. margaret was busy getting the tea out for fuck’s sake, the last thing she wants to hear is janet telling her how great her new hand goo is. i don’t think she paid attention to a damn thing in the real conversation. instead, she watched how margaret cut the buns or served the tea. when we came to the details of some house in salcombe though, she was able to rattle off all the owners and previous owners and family history of the owners and …. oi. i really detest her. i only did this for mx though. i think when meesh and roz read this they’re going to cruxify me. no, i hope it doesn’t seem like i’ve given in, but at complete stalemate we weren’t going to get anywhere, and they were just going to continue to give mx more grief and such.

i can’t believe i’m going home in less than two months though. i’m afraid of the changes. i just keep hearing worse and worse things everytime i call someone in chicago. i’m afraid of getting lost somewhere i’ve walked thousands of times before. it’s going to be a huge shock of course, and living back w/the.maternal.unit isn’t sounding very pleasant. maybe i can rent a room off of uncle.d or something. that way i’ll be a bit more free and closer to the.irish.pixie.

i’m way too good at playing the game of procrastination. vah. back to the books.

————————————-
ambling rambling back and forth
do i really know where i’m going
back again
back again
lost somewhere between here and now
confusion sets in
i cannot see anything familiar
lost in my own space
looking for that familiar face
any sign of confirmation
that i know where i am
that i know what i am doing
other people seem to be able to pick things apart more clearly than i can
it upsets me
i’m supposed to be in control
i’m supposed to know the way
and yet i feel i don’t
that pie has been long forgotten
the whole is lost
the good is gone
and i mourn it’s loss.

---

Supper – Py made a wonder meal as usual – Turkey & Black peppers, I helped with the spuds.
Back to camp cross.

Friday
10 Trip to Kingswear to see an SML client
1.30 give film from hols to D&P shop
Back at SML
3-5.30 work
Potter at work
7 home – supper
8-9:15 strimmed back bank – gave up got dark
-> On phone
11 Online
11:30 Need to catch up with Py
NN MX

Wednesday
Nice late start, tea, bacon sarnies, REAL coffee.
Trip to Totnes – arrived 2:40
Picked up my brogues from what must be the only cobbler South of Bristol.
Strolled downtown for something to eat. What at struggle ended up at Safeway’s supermarket!
Found a really cool handmade card for Auntie Mary, Py found some international coins and wickedest of all we found some ‘teaspoons’!
Bought fudge from show just above the butchers coming up on the left hand side of the main street.
Went around St Mary’s Church – consumed some of the said fudge.
4.30 popped over to Dartington Cider Press – picked up a US Cheese Grater.
*Twilight Zone MUSIC* pumped into Auntie Margaret and David – who had been trying to get me all day on my mobile. I had given them the wrong number – so now somebody now has a new Uncle David they never knew they had!
6.30 tea at Batson – near Salcombe with M&D
11 back to 907 – Py reheated meatballs and made some Pasta 🙂

Here goes I’ll try not to leave anything out – photos to pop-up sometime in the future, courtesy of good olde worlde silver halide technology!

Friday – lunch with Py 12 ish

PM
Set off for Tintagel – into …. CORNWALL. MX has been there just once for a Lodge meeting.

Arrived about 3.30 Py and went around the King Arthur museum, AV by Robert Powell – “the romance and tradegy of King Arthur, Guinevere and Sir Lancelot in the Electronic Show with light, music images and classical art”. “Some of the world’s finest stained glass windows in 72 jewelled coloured scenes depicting the quest for the Holy Grail and the symbolism of chivalry”…

5pm locate Hotel – Tolcarne House Hotel. £25 ppn. Ensuite – very nice.

Looked around St Symphorian’s Church at Forrabury, Boscastle. Py’s photos here

For supper we drove to Bude via Widemouth. Nice slap up meal at “Anna’s Cornerhouse” – not listed on Yellow Pages directory – sorry no link.

Saturday
Bostcastle Harbour walk
Witchcraft museum
Tintagel Castle

2:45 St Austell – investigation roundabout before the Eden Project, oh dear – end of investigation, non happening event.

Tesco’s car park sandwiches, oranges juice bananas. hmmm.

Right lets go to Land’s End!

*Penzance and St Michael’s Mount photos to appear here*

5pm Look for somewhere to stay – St Just.
On the way – get attacked by killer geese – see Py’s entry on Diaryland.
No photos were taken – too dangerous to get out of the car.

5.40 ish Stayed at “Llawnroc”, 1, Truthwall Villa, Botallack, Nr St Just Tel 01736 788814.
Plain B&B no ensuite £15 ppn – “Would you like a pot of tea on arrival?” Is Sid the Sexist a Viz character?

8 ish – Supper at the King’s Arms St Just 16″ Nice and Spicy pizza £6.95. The locals kept looking around ‘cus they didn’t believe we’d finish it. Pub built in 13C – as a pub 15C.

Sunday
10:30 Lands End
11:50

12:20 St Ives – Tate Gallery – pasty – ice cream
14:45

15:45 Truro Cathedral – wow most impressive stained class I’ve ever seen
16:40

17:50 – The Bowling Alley in Plymouth to meet up with Steve and Lee

7ish back at Twin Peaks (aka Kingsbridge). Chillie Concarne a la Lee and Py – excellent.

Watched High Plains Drifter with Steve HW, Lisa and Lee fell asleep.

Monday
Long lie in, bacon sandwiches. V late start.
3.30ish – popped over to see Uncle and Aunt staying in Batson.
5.30 MX, Py and Steve & Lee drove up to Fred & Roz to Kingsteington. Great meal at the Passage House on the banks of the river Teign. I attacked a quarter Chicken.

9 ish off to Exeter to Ray K gig at the The Fizgig.

11 ish head of for new Py place of residence – 907!

Tuesday
Omletes
Shop in Plymouth – great finds in the Pannier Market, Photography book for Lee, long lost CDs for both of us. Pair of trainers for Py. Sinful Cheeseburger at Burgerking and Sainsbury’s run. Semi-defrosted the fridge in the kitchen allocated to 907 – so the door now shuts properly and it freezes properly.

20:30 Lab run – Py does Diaryland for the same Easter Weekend – MX does this one!

Night night world – we’ve got to get some dinner and do some washing.

Long work day.
Got home 6:30 ish – had dinner, then went back and worked till 11:30.
Ouch – good night’s sleep though.

Friday morning – my patent filing arrived 🙂

Nearly there, saw my solicitor at 12, decided to take the plunge.

Organised a new cheque for the survey, faxed offer to subject to survey and contract. Vendor on holiday! In the words of Victor Meldrew – “I don’t believe it”, yet more of a wait…

For some reason, despite my previous offer, they still want to check with the vendor and I’m offering the asking price!

How do you keep an idiot in suspence number 946? – suggest to them that property ownership is a good idea and watch them try it.

Today Py moved rooms in the Mary Newman Halls of Torture @ Plymouth University.
Reason – they refused to shut the noisy person up above her. Instead Py was forced to move in order to get some sleep.

Print a rule book – then don’t bother to enforce it. *ankers.

Still no Property Management Constitution on the Flat purchase
Mortgage company rep leaving the company on Monday – terriffic. No wonder the requote hasn’t come through… Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh – I am beginning to really hate property purchase. I am rapid danger of becoming a forthing coming party bore about the pitfalls and nightmares involved.

Finish off the day reformatting the Fusion2 PC in Rob’s nightclub.

Lodge in the evening.
B time.
Journal time.
nn py.

What happened at work today (or my day):

Popped back to Rob’s – made the PC so damned secure, you could do *anything* with it!

Then we nearly lost 215 .com domains for a client today, I just happened to look at my in-tray and notice something was up, it then transpired that Steve B had forgotten to email me an .XLS – whoops, quick scrabble for 1000 EUROS to top up the account.

Sussing DreamWeaver at the deep end – I really like it. (On the PC anyway)

Spent the rest of the afternoon at Gara sorting out Colin’s email.

While I was out the Estate Agent faxed over the Property Management Constitution on the property
– WICKED, at LAST!

Sunday drove out to see Pythonesque, we had a really chill day, first I beavered over to the labs. Py was finishing of her new web ring site for agnostics and atheists. I just got Verdana font style running though most of my new site. After we got all that fixed up we popped of to Goodbody’s on Mutley for an English Breakfast and mighty welcome it was at 15:00 ish – I was famished. Py really did the epic the other day – went into the labs off a cereal in the morning (11am) and didn’t make it back to her cell until 10pm.

Then for supper it was Chicken Kiev with Pasta and cheese which Py did. If I had died and gone to heaven I’d have been happy for that to have been my last supper.

Watched most of Nicholas Nickleby on ITV at 9pm

Sunday night I got my first decent’s night sleep when I didn’t cough in the morning.
MX had sore throat followed by a cough which started a week back.
Twice daily a Benyln sessions etc.

Well it’s taking shape and I’m begining to get my head around it:

Looks like I can move it my home page to

http://pythonesque.org/mx/

I’d don’t have to run it from

http://pythonesque.org/mx/journal/

And the other thing is – I can use Greymatter to power my entire personal pages!!!

Just got to suss how I could get posting from other authors to appear in their own sections…

There is just so much more to doing you own thing – even if I did have to borrow the code from a wonderful individual(s) who helped make the Grey Matter Journal Tool possible. Noah you are a *star*. The thoughts of using diaryland.com were just too * for words!

And BTW for the readers at large Grey Matter was the first company I started working for after leaving Plymouth University

00:37 on Saturday night – hmm sussed it – whoops spoke to soon path debugging on submitting…

Still a lovely set of code Noah. Just one little bug for me – up and running in a hour or so – bloody fantastic!

Cheers MARK X