This entry will be a bit different than those in the past in that normally by now I've gotten two entries out or at least half prepared and I haven't but anyway I think I'll start by hoping you've all had a great Christmas.
Christmas was a bit different here being at home unlike previous years so we did a lot home catering which providing you're up the preparation part is fine and actually work out at least as good as if not better than the meals we've had out for a good deal less of the money.
When it comes to salads which if you're like us, you've had your cooked meal middayish the one thing I tend to find is many of the so-called classic Pork Pies tend to be thick on the pastry side with a fair amount of jelly so when you take a bite into them, you get through quite a bit before you taste the pork.
Well, given we live in a market town in the North-west Midlands, we bought a lot of stuff from local shops and that included our Pork Pies which came from Chatwins of Cheshire as the large ones, the sort you divide up into portions had a nicer thin pastry so it was more like a pie made from pork so you bit right into the pork which was delicious.
With not being well some of my presents are due to arrive soonish but I had some money, vouchers for HMV which I can use in Liverpool, Stoke or Wolverhampton for cd or vinyls and coming soon will be some micro sd cards for my Fiio music player.
Incidentally if you bought any Beatles albums from Amazon, do check your Amazon Music folder as they may well of given you some complementary Mp3 versions as last night I found I had a few!
Usually around the New Year I talk a bit about the previous year and how I see things going into the next and this time it's no exception.
Last year was quite a different year for me in that some things that had held me back in the past got some attention, I had a number of emotionally painful events take place that really tested my ability to cope, the help I've been given and also challenged head on some the assumptions around what really matters the most to me personally.
I also learned the time I spent with friends by it face to face or in small groups online had the most value, being supported and coming through the pain to carry one with deal what we have to - that continuing life - mattered the most so I'll be structuring my life more to take account of what I've learnt.
Endless hours into the morning on social media really is not good for me.
On this blog we've looked at music quite a bit not least cos I find it very therapeutic once one avoids the smart arses at some sites, the growing number of so-called high resolution downloads and 'bare bones' inexpensive box sets the major companies are putting out.
I'd like to end this entry by thanking the Angelic Crew and the Boneses for your company and laughs (do you know anyone that makes such awful puns?) and wishing you all a Happy New Year.
Yes on the 555th post on this blog, the last entry before Christmas Day, I thought I'd put up a seasonal card style illustration cos I think most of us are near enough ready not that we don't have the mad panic on Christmas eve if we've gotten X their present and just why is Z's card still on the table.
Over recent years I've just adopted more the attitude that what's been done is and anything that hasn't can be put aright afterward where in any event it may be more appreciated anyway rather than rushing around the shops and then round to folks.
*****HAPPY CHRISTMAS FOLKS*****
Yip, that's very much how I feel at the minute here tired, unwell and tying to get things done when it seems time is running out..
After evening meal here I'll write out a few more cards for when folk come at the weekend although having been unwell enough to visit the local store and cash machine, presents may just have to wait until later even possible after Christmas day as there's just no way I'm well enough to get them sorted out and have a hope in heck of being well myself for Christmas.
The only minor consolations of sorts from this severe Winter Flu is I did get around to setting up SlimJet fully on the laptop, ditching chrome and using the secure master password protected autofill data manager for stuff like log ins to sites.
As well I did get a bit of music file management done, recopying a good number for better sound and full sets album art not least on my Rolling Stones discs outside of those I got the Mastered For iTunes editions of which has worked out very well.
While I was at it I got the 1994 editions of the Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock And Roll albums which I allowed myself to replace by the first editions at the instigation of others but regretting it shortly afterward.
It was during an era when I was very much in awe of one website and it's more prolific posters, thinking they were 'the ears' just ditching discs because they were saying what they had were better rather than if I felt there was any reason to.
I've matured quite a bit since then making my own decisions in my time to suit what I feel is best to my ears and learned to appreciate the music more.
Between unplanned events I'm slowly getting ready for Christmas here although the tree isn't up just yet and I should be seeing a few relatives at the weekend as we don't see each other much at any other time which I guess is a good side to this time of year.
I have almost done filling up one of my music players cards with just a few hundred megabytes left so I'll be starting another one soon but anyway I've added my Depeche Mode albums to it and that really took me back in time.
The themes of many of their songs fitted well with my exploration of different lifestyles outside of the rather socially conservative upbringing I had while their use of synthesizers and samples was trailblazing.
I might add politicians went further down in my estimation this week with the totally amazing idea to have Yet Another Meeting to decide the future of the third runway for London's Heathrow Airport and kicked it into the long grass until after the London Mayorial elections as the Tory candidate and friends is at odds with other tory big wigs so after 50 years we put off a decision until the Summer of 2016.
Never mind keep this up and it won't be in place until I'm dead and buried!!!
In what has proven to be a wet week that's no good for my bones, I've been kept awake with overnight rain around twice which does nothing for my sleep and has kept me in a bit more than I'd like.
Apart from all that serious business around Isis, the Paris attacks and what the UK's response should be if we still have a military to speak of by the time the man up the road has sold everything to reduce the budget deficit (I have visions of him walking the streets of Knutsford shaking a collecting tin shouting "War Effort"), I've been fixing a few things like updating the codecs in dbPoweramp, my cd to audio file program of choice simply cos it just does everything well which makes the small fee for a on off license for three machines and ongoing support worth my while.
I've restored an old favourite when it comes to wallpaper cos I had a bit of an accident and wiped off the one I first had on this machine while looking at some image files, replacing purely by accident with something that wasn't so good for when I'm in company.
My co-ordination's a bit wonky at best and I just mistook 'open' for 'set as background' and that was it-gone!
It's very 2011 and lived on 'Treacle', the old shot at desktop at the time before migrating to original HP Compaq laptop that's no more so in that way I've been going back apart from removing junk off the desktop which somehow you just aquire over the months.
I remember in Windows XP that silly dog character popping offering to clean it but haven't seen Windows 7 try that yet!
