The Picnic

Sunday, July 12, 2009 ~ Comments Off

It was a glorious day yesterday, wisps of cloud slowly meandered across the sky as the gentle breeze softly buffeted the long grass. Somewhere in Balloch Park a group of people were sitting on the grass, picking at various foodstuffs, drinking various concoctions, and chatting and laughing with nary a care in the world.

We were there as a wee celebration for my sister-in-law gaining her degree. She was quite tipsy by the time we left and apparently went on to the pub afterwards too!

It was a nice, relaxing day and I even found time to have a wee nap in the sun, dreaming of future picnics in the sun. All rather lovely.

Smarty Pants

Thursday, July 9, 2009 ~ 3 comments so far

I wanted to mark today, specifically to mention here so I don’t forget it. My memory is lousy and no matter what the future may hold, I want to mark down today as a day I was inspired.

My sister-in-law graduated today and now holds a degree in Dietetics. I’m not quite sure what letters she can now use after her name, I’m guessing BSc, but I do know she got the equivalent of a 2.1 (but they don’t state that as she isn’t doing her Honours).

She’s not the type to make a big fuss over things, and chatting with her after the graduation ceremony she was quite calm and accepting of the fact. And why shouldn’t she be? She’s done all the studying, the essays, the juggling of placements around her work hours, so I guess she’s at the point where it’s a bit of a given that she now has a degree.

Her kids are all very proud of her, three of them were there today but unfortunately her oldest son couldn’t because he’s just (this morning at 2am) become a Dad for the first time, and I’m certain her Dad is thrilled and the only shame is that her Mum couldn’t see this day.

So, well done Claire. I don’t think there are all that many mothers who aren’t long past THAT ‘big’ birthday, have brought up four wonderful children, have kept down a job and who have just received a degree (which included a year of pre-degree coursework at college).

I have to admit I had a little pang of jealousy as, having not found my passion until later in life, I didn’t finish my degree (Electronic Engineering for what it’s worth… not much, trust me!). It might spark me into pursuing that MBA I’ve been eyeing up for the past couple of years.

Regardless, I’m chuffed to bits for her, she’s worked her ass off these past few years and I’m sure the true sense of her achievement will start to sink in soon.

And I’m really not trying to bask in her glory by suggesting that proof-reading her essays was what really made the difference, honest I’m not…

It’s RIGHT THERE!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 ~ 2 comments so far

I almost shrieked like a girly girl. There it was, floating a metre in front of me, within touching distance, if I just stretched out my hand I could probably feel it under my fingertips. I wondered if anyone would notice and, glancing around, I saw the same look of wonderment that I could also feel plastered across my face.

Yup, there was no doubting it. Floating in the space between my seat and the cinema screen, the Nickelodeon logo was slowly revolving and looking very 3D. Ohh sorry, very RealD.

It was quite awesome. I wish I could find some better words but, like, seriously, it was AWESOME!!

All very impressive and that was before the movie started. The movie, Ice Age 3D, was about Mammoths and Dinosaurs, some cute baby dinosaurs, a cute baby Mammoth, had no real plot but a few giggles and on that front probably met all its requirements, although to be honest, it was a largely secondary affair to the technological wonder of the evening.

I can remember when Jaws 3D came out and how underwhelming the experience was, there seemed to be a disconnect between the 3D elements and the movie which broke the suspension of disbelief, never a good thing.

But last night, once I’d gotten past the schoolboy amazement of seeing things float out of the cinema screen, it struck me (not literally, it’s 3D but it’s not THAT good) that it felt natural and connected to the movie I was watching. Ohh of course there were a few gratuitous “lets put some grass at the front to show off the 3D-ness” moments but pretty soon it stopped surprising me that some of the characters seemed to be sitting in the front row of the cinema.

I can also happily report that George Lucas will soon be remastering the entire Star Wars franchise in RealD. Well, if not, he probably should given that one of the chase scenes (featuring flying dinosaur type things) was a straight rip off of the Pod Race which was so FREAKIN AMAZINGLY AWESOME that I almost wet my pants as the winged dinosaurs flew past me, into the screen and beyond at a zillion blurry miles an hour. AWESOME!

So, all in all colour me impressed (which I believe is just a bright purple).

It’s not all roses though. Some of the trailers were in 3D whilst the animated movies looked OK, those feature live actors looked like the reality was being forced, like there was a deliberate effort being made to introduce depth where none was needed.

Safe to say though that I was hugely impressed and the novelty of watching items from the movie float around and leap past me easily got me through the movie. The fear is that it will be just that, a novelty.

Dump

Sunday, July 5, 2009 ~ 4 comments so far

A large chunk of the weekend was spent clearing out our garage. We’ve not done if for a couple of years and by god it needed it, full of crap it was. Pots of paint with only an inch left in them, some broken garden electrical equipment, and old tumble dryer, random bits of wood, and some garden rubbish and rubble all bagged up and left over the winter.

Three trips later and I can finally walk from one end of the garage to the other without tripping over anything, quite a danger when said garage is home to various sharp and pointy garden tools. It’s the kind of job that is a real chore, especially on the first full weekend I’ve had off for a month, but now that it’s done I do have a small sense of achievement.

One thing is evident though, we do not recycle enough.

Our local council run dump is an organised affair with several different places to put all the different kinds of ‘rubbish’ which a dump receives. Glass here, wood there, plastics over there, electric items in that skip, white goods in that one, fridges on the left, and grass cuttings and other green waste in that big area at the back.

I can remember a time when a visit to the local dump was occasionally an opportunity to find something for free. The headboard on my childhood bed came from the local dump, and was in perfect condition. Alas this doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

For example, we found a small box of leftover tiles from when we got the kitchen done. We kept 5 or 6 for ourselves, in case of breakages, and put the rest in the car to take to the dump. My thinking was I could leave them at the side and maybe someone else could find a use for 20 or so tiles that were left. Alas this was not to be the case as, upon arrival, the ‘helpful’ council worker told me I couldn’t just leave them lying, into the skip they must go!

Pardon the pun, but what a waste.

Of course it’s really down to me whether or not I try and recycle that kind of thing. Perhaps freecycle could’ve helped? Or a form of car boot sale or… well this is my point. How else would I get rid of such things? Put an advert in the local paper?

No, far better to throw it away, make it someone elses problem. Right?

I’m quite ashamed, to be honest. Whilst a lot of what we threw out was rubbish, there were a few things that could possibly have been reused. I wonder how I get to the point where, instead of only pausing before hurling that old table over the barrier into the wood-only skip below, I actually stop and reconsider.

Given the evidence at the dump, it’s safe to say that I’m not alone. That whilst a lot of what I saw there was broken, unusable trash, there were items that could be reused by others. Sometimes I feel bad for our planet, that we abuse it so much.

But apparently, I don’t feel sorry enough.