All Change

So that was fun.

A blog post every day in January, on the subject of 'Change' as per NaBloPoMo rules. You can see them all here (Fork Handles: Change) if you are still remotely interested. However, having got to the end of the month and only had to use my trusty backups of money and/or socks three times, I thought I'd treat you to some recently unearthed photographic evidence of how much I have changed in the last twenty years or so... *deep breath*


I think I was possibly a surly French exchange student in a previous life. And the hair...

Change 31

Today's change was dificult to choose, as there were two.

We went over to a bar in deepest, darkest West London this afternoon to say adios to Dan and Mishka, who are moving to Seville next week. It was worth the schlep through the traffic as there were quite a few people we hadn't seen for ages, good food, the footie was on and Freyja was in a terriffic mood, generally being hilarious, entertaining all the adults, charming all the bar staff and scoffing all the chips. But that's really a massive change for them so I am more inclined to go for the discovery that our local pub, The Honor Oak, has just started doing Saturday brunch. On the spur of the moment this morning, we decided to brave the cold and walk over the hill to sample it. I am so glad we did; I had literally the best sausages* I have ever eaten, alongside wonderful thick cut bacon and some crispy black pudding.

I think we may go every week.

* apparently from a local butcher called Peter James, which we will be checking out forthwith!

Change 30

Today's change was the bed. Not just any bed, but the transformation of Freyja's cot into a little single bed, complete with duvet and pillowcase adorned with Russian dolls. No more baby sleeping bags or having to bring her books and drinks. She's all growed up now.

Oh.
Hang on.
No more Saturday morning lie-ins for us either...

Change 29

Today's change was - and non-geeks can look away now - installing Eeebuntu on my Asus Eee 701 (thanks for the USB drive Mr R, beers on me at the BHT).

So far, excellent; even wireless networking worked out of the box (always often sometimes a sticking point with Linux) and whilst I am more of a KDE man than a Gnome [insert joke here] the OS does appear to be a good fit for the very particular challenges of my - sorry, Freyja's little netbook. Nice.

Change 28

Today's change was yoghurt, instead of granola, for breakfast. Our local Pret has said it is stopping its granola offering shortly (the fools) and it has been in increasingly short supply all week. Still, yoghurt clearly still counts as 'gloop' so my January resolution* is still intact. Two more days and counting...

* my trademarked and patented Soup 'n' Gloop diet, in case you were wondering.

Change 27

Today's change was actually an additional change from yesterday (I know, I know, so sue me...)

Anyway, at the aforementioned vendor lunch, I ordered Cha Han as a bit of a change from my usual. Obviously I'd spotted that it came with prawns but assumed that, given my well-documented-since-childhood disdain for things-of-the-sea, I would just push them to one side and think no more about it. However, when my dish arrived, not only was it steaming hot (and accompanied by those great little multicoloured pickles) but the advertised prawns were most definitely not the pathetic nonentities you might stumble across in a badly-thought-out late night chow mein; no, these were monsters, seemingly grilled to perfection and laid on top of a mound of golden, steaming fried rice, glistening in the lunchtime sunlight ('steady on' - Food Porn Ed). I simply had to try them. And do you know what? They were great.

So I think I may have just had a seafood epiphany. And for anyone who knows me, that's change.

Change 26

Today's change was a last-minute invitation to lunch with one of our vendors, which was rather nice. There's a lot of it about at the moment; anyone would think they were the teensiest bit worried about the threat of major cost-saving contract negotiations amongst City brokerage institutions...

Change 25

Today's change was difficult to put my finger on, as I had a stinking hangover due to excessive Chianti intake and a late-night SingStar marathon (thanks, Katie & Paul!).

So maybe I'll leave it at that :)

Change 24

Today's change was to my age. Yes, thirty-eight years ago (around 6.30pm, I'm told, just in time for a gin & tonic) I arrived in the world, a little yellow* bundle of joy**. From Kingston Hospital back home to Richmond*** where my mum finally got to tuck into her pork chop****.

Still here, though; so far, so good. Happy birthday to me!


* like all the best people, I had jaundice
** possibly a little artistic licence here
*** now there's posh
**** long story...

Change 23

Today's change was a visit to a new (to us) restaurant, Sapporo Ichiban in Catford Broadway. What can I say - fantastic Japanese food including fresh gyoza, ramen, teriyaki & katsu, all made to order in front of you and at credit-crunch prices. Whilst nothing to look at from the outside, the 'sunken' tables at the rear are an fun & interesting feature and it would be worth coming with a big group and taking advantage of the unlimited buffet, with a shed-load of Sapporo (what else!) Did I mention they do takeaway as well? We have a new favourite place...

Change 22

Today's change was the arrival of my parents for the weekend, who were greeted by the sight of a very excited Freyja in a vest, performing some modern interpretive dance in the hallway (either that or she needed a wee).

Change 21

Today's change involves us entering the astrological sign of Aquarius, which also means it is very nearly my birthday! Now I have to admit that I am not a follower of the mystic art of astrology, as it is what is commonly known as 'a load of claptrap' but apparently Aquarians display some or all of the following traits *deep breath*

Strong-willed, stubborn, obstinate, very opinionated, conceited, far-sighted, visionary, revolutionary, original, innovative and inventive, tolerant of other views, seeing both sides of the argument, unprejudiced and objective, humane, humanitarian, altruistic, idealistic, having high expectations, friendly and sociable, inconsistent, shirking personal commitment, loyal in friendship, remote, detached, aloof, impersonal, emotionless, cold, devoted to goals, free-spirited, rebellious, hides true feelings, independent, individualistic, intelligent, intellectual, curious, seeks mental challenge, very clever, witty, unpredictable, eccentric, unconventional, misunderstood, enigmatic, magnetic, progressive, imaginative, intuitive, frank, outspoken, unwilling to participate in any standard of protocol.

So we are friendly & sociable but detached & aloof, objective & progressive as well as obstinate & outspoken and loyal & enigmatic whilst still emotionless & cold.

Er, right...

Change 20

Today's change was to our monthly payments for our gas & electricity supply. Suffice it to say, it wasn't downwards. Robbing b*&%@#£$.

Change 19

Today's change was that I started five-a-side football again, after a lengthy hiatus.

I scored twice in an 8-5 win, thanks for asking. And today, I can hardly move :)

Change 18

Today's change was to the three black-and-white photos on our mantelpiece, which now include a rather fetching one of Theo (in which he looks slightly like Employee Of The Month at a photocopier repair firm in Weybridge).

Change 17

Today's change was a massive clear-out of clothes, toys and books for the charity shop. We all piled into the car, loaded the various bags and boxes into the boot, and set off to unburden ourselves of some of the detritus of modern living.

It was closed.

Change 16

Today's change was Roy's mobile phone. His previous one had a rather abrupt landing and subsequently ne marche pas. Luckily, 30 quid gets you a decent Nokia and £10 of PAYG credit. Sorted.

Change 15

Today's change was actually rather a lot of changes, to an Excel VBA app which runs one of our client reports. You see, the original author rather forgot about the inexorable march of time itself, and hard coded all the annual data, thus ruining my day when I realised and had to amend all the references to 2008. Alex knows my pain...

(Could be worse; could have been socks again :)

Change 14

Today's change was updating Google Chrome to Version 2.0 Pre-Beta including auto-complete, full-page zoom, profiles, autoscroll and most excitingly*, experimental Greasemonkey support.

*stop yawning at the back -- it was socks yesterday, give me a break...

Change 13

Today was a bit short on change so I'll have to go for the obvious. My socks were successfully changed earlier today (I'm sorry).