Bad Science

I love Thursdays - it's the day that Bad Science is published in the Guardian. A wonderful column for the science geeks of the world, as he comments this week.

In other news, Tim and I finally went jive dancing again on Tuesday. We've been meaning to go for months but never got round to it. Still, we haven't forgotten too much and we learnt some new funky moves to add to the repertoire. This means we should look OK on the dance floor at the wedding - as long as I work out how to jive in a wedding dress!

Hmmm, I don't seem to have posted for a while - right, prepare yourselves for an entry which doesn't mention brass bands!

Hope everyone had a nice Easter break. We spent Friday doing lots of DIY around the house, so how have some working smoke alarms as well as mirrors on various walls, none of which have fallen down yet... I also attacked the pampas grass in the garden and removed a lot of dead wood and handfulls of snails, which appear to have been living very happily in the middle of it. Not any more .

Saturday was spent at a wedding at Church, picking up hints for ours. It takes approx 40 seconds to walk down the aisle - a useful fact to know! Then, because no weekend is complete at the the moment without spending money, we went sofa shopping. It's amazing how many different styles there are, most of which are hideous/too hard/too soft/too big/too small. Still, aided by the free champagne which the sofa stores kept giving me (Tim was driving), we have now purchased a sofa and an armchair. ETA is four weeks, so they may arrive before the hen/stag weekend...

Sunday/Monday was spent at Tim's parents house in Norwich, along with the cutest child in the world, Tim's nephew Sam. Much fun was had playing with his stacking cups - now I know what to buy Tim for his birthday!

Now that's what I call music 2!

Now it's time for a report on our second brass band event of the weekend. We went along to hear Black Dyke Band playing at the Bedford Corn Exchange, in aid of Keech Cottage children's hospice. Black Dyke are one of the top brass bands in the world, and are the current National Champions of Great Britain. The concert was superb - it's quite a while since I've sat and listened to a top brass band playing, and I really enjoyed it. I think Elspeth did too! The highlights for me were Joseph Cook playing Czardas - a tuba solo, and the finale - the march from Resphighi's Pines of Rome. The solo was fantastic, both from an entertainment point of view and for me to marvel at his technique! I've never heard the Pines of Rome live - although I have it on CD, and I would thoroughly, thoroughly recommend anyone with the chance to hear it played live by such a class ensemble to take the chance, because today's performance was phenomenal. I'll run out of superlatives if I try to describe the sound the band made, but I was blown away. All in all, a great weekend of banding, which has made me proud to be a tuba player and a bandsman.

Now that's what I call music!

Tam O'Shanter's Ride. It's a piece of music written by Denis Wright about a chap called Tam who goes out and gets pissed, happens by an old church where there's a bunch of witches and warlocks dancing to the devil's piping, gets chased away but ends up safely at home, only to be nagged by his wife. It's quite a nice piece of music, though why anyone would want to listen to it 17 times in an afternoon is beyond me. However, this is what has been happening in Stevenage this afternoon.

I've had my first taste of proper brass band contesting today, playing with Hitchin band in the Londen and Southern Counties region 3rd section, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. The thought of spending 4 hours a week (plus much private practice, of course) working on the same 13 minute-long piece of music for 2 and a half months for the privilege of having one person judge you against 16 other bands of a single performance is quite incomprehensible to most people, but this is what brass bands are all about. To quote somebody at work, "So, it's like Brassed Off then?". Quite. Except that the national finals of the championship section are in the Albert Hall, whereas the national finals of the lower sections are in Harrogate. From our section, in our region, 3 bands qualify for the national finals.

We played off the 13th draw and thought we made a pretty good job of the piece. An hour and a half later, all of the bands gathered together to hear the results. When the adjudicator said that 4 bands stood out from the rest, we were convinced we'd end up 4th and miss the qualification. We hadn't produced a winning performance, but we thought we'd played well. So when 4th and 3rd were announced as Potters Bar and St Sebastians (Wokingham), we assumed we'd come further down - probably still in the top half, but a disappointment anyway. You'll have guessed what's coming next - I'm not a good storyteller. "2nd place goes to the band who played 13th". Yay! The excitement of the moment was infectious, and although we didn't win on the day, 2nd of out 17, along with qualification to the nationals in September, and promotion to the 2nd section due to consistently good results over the last 3 years, I'm dead chuffed.

Now all I need is for England to win the rugby. Where's my pint?

Awayday

We find ourselves in the unusual position of Ian's blog being the most recently updated. I thought I'd rectify that.

Yesterday my team at work had an awayday. I'd been looking forward to it for a while - a day off work is always good, and I've wanted to get to know the people here better outside of the work environment. So we went off to Walton on Thames and did a bit of Archery and some quad biking, followed by tea in Regent's park and dinner in a swiss restaurant in Soho. It was a really good day, although my dreams were invaded by the fondue. More specifically, all manner of things covered in the stuff. I also had a couple of problems on the quad bikes - as a cyclist, by natural inclination when things go wrong is to put my legs out. This is not a good idea, as you're likely to have your ankle ridden over by your own bike. I didn't quite manage that, but I have a sore ankle and bruised leg from the fun. I'm looking forward to another go at the stag do!

Tim

broad-minded?

It was the church annual meeting yesterday. We went along to show support, and also as there was tea afterwards, and Priory do a good line in catering :-) After the usual financial review, which boiled down to the fact that we all need to up our donations slightly, we split into small groups to discuss the churches 'what we believe' statement. The group that Tim and I were in ended up having a good discussion on whether the church really is broad-minded, both theologically and in styles of worship. We ended up deciding that it is - lots of different things go on, and if people aren't keen on one particular aspect of the worship, or a particular service, they don't mind as they understand that other people are attracted by or enjoy it.

In the final discussion at the end, when all the groups came together again, we put these points across. Then one of the other groups summarised what they had talked about - which seemed to end up being a list of complaints and their dislikes about the services, with no understanding of other groups at all!

So maybe our church isn't as broad-minded and tolerant as I thought... still, we're making some friends and get on well with lots of people there, so I think we'll keep going. And we don't have to talk to any of the narrow-minded people if we don't want to... ;-)

shopping and cocktails

What a surprise - we've had a rather busy Saturday. Today was down in our diaries as furniture shopping day, so that's what we did. We have now ordered a dining table and chairs, two wardrobes, two bedside tables and a chest of drawers. We've also bought and brought home a computer desk and a TV stand, both of which are now in position. So we're feeling rather poor now!

Tim's parents popped in for a cup of tea and a hot cross bun in the afternoon. They were very impressed with the house - it's always nice when other people like it!

We haven't stopped yet... Tim has been cleaning the glass in the study door, while I've been faffing about with bits and pieces. We stopped for dinner, though, when Tim surprised me with a cocktail made with the shaker we got for Christmas and ice from the ice compartment in our new freezer :-) Very decadent!

Friday lunch

I've just got back from a team lunch - to see off one of our team and to celebrate a birthday. It has helped me to identify the key difference between doing my PhD and working at PwC. Previously, I could happily let a friday lunchtime pub visit stretch well into the afternoon, and maybe make it back to my desk before the end of the day. Here there is very little chance of that happening. However, the lunch and all of the drinks were on expenses...

Blocked up Bedford

Lots of people in bedford are going to be very late for work today: there appears to have been a rather bad accident, right at one of the busiest road junctions, on one of the two routes heading East out of town. I was lucky - I was going in the opposite direction, so drove past the police cars blocking the road and the two ambulances treating people. The cars trying to get out of town were tailed back for miles in each direction from the junction, though - and no hope of moving for quite a while! I have to admit I felt a little smug as I sailed past them all. But then I remembered the person on the stretcher... hope no one was hurt too badly.

More singing

Choir again last night - there are now whole movements where I know what note is coming next, and have a vague idea how the Russian should be pronounced! There are also movements which feel like I've never sung them before, though. The concert is in April, so hopefully it will all come together in the next few weeks.

We were all slightly put-off last night by a just audible whine, which kept changing note - it sounded like someone's hearing aid playing up. Of course, it was never on the same note as we were singing! No one owned up to it being them - I'm not certain it was a hearing aid, but I have my suspicions who it might have been... and he's the sort of person who wouldn't admit he was doing something wrong!

The next big musical event on the horizon is Tim's band contest in Stevenage next weekend. If you're lucky, he'll tell you all about it at some point...

Home sweet home

You'll be glad to know that we now have a cooker which works without blowing the fuse - my nice friendly and helpful electrician came round yeaterday and found the problem. Some twerp had replaced a floorboard and screwed right down through the electricity cables - how they managed not to electrocute themselves in the process I don't know! The wire was almost burnt through, so it looks like we got it fixed just in time...

Having a cooker that I'm not afraid to use has really started to make the house feel like our home. We're spending this weekend on a big furniture hunt as well, so hopefully we'll sort out wardrobes, a sofa and a dining table. How exciting!

On a completely different note, we went to Oxford on Saturday for Ian's reunion wind orchestra. Tim was playing, and I poppe dover in the evening to listen to the concert. It was all very impressive - I couldn't believe the musicians had only had one day to rehearse. It was good to meet up with Ian for a quick drink afterwards as well.

Sunday was spent at John Lewis, sorting out our wedding list. We got a fun barcode zapper to play with, and free tea and coffee to sustain us. We've ended up with a rather random assortment of things on there - we already own rather a lot of stuff, so it seemed silly to repeat ourselves! You'll be glad to know there's a new duvet and pillows on the list... ;-)

IKEA Hell

We had another busy weekend: a wedding in Birmingham on Satruday, followed by yet more house shopping on Sunday. Seeing as we were just down the road from IKEA, we braved the hordes on Sunday and had a look round. We came away with some bookcases and a step stool, but impressively no tea lights and not much else. There are a few other, larger, items we'll eventually buy, but they wouldn't fit in the fiesta!

I have to say that I wasn't as impressed by the IKEA furniture as I have been in the past. Mind you, one is supposed to be opening in Milton Keynes soon, so I may change my mind again when it's just around the corner...

Skipping back a day, the wedding was good fun in the end. I got a bit tipsy on red wine as no one else on the top table was drinking it. When the karaoke machine came out, and the teenagers started yelling Eminem songs we decided it was time to go... but Jo looked lovely, and Darren looked suitably adoring at her all day. I think we'll next see them at our own wedding - only 9 weeks to go!

Snow!

We've finally got the snow the forecasters have been promising us for the last week. OK, so it's not as impressive as Colerado, or even Yorkshire, but it's coated everything with a nice layer of white :-) I'm always amazed by how quiet snow is!

I have discovered that the best way to enjoy the snow is standing at the window of our back bedroom, by the radiator, with a cup of tea. Lovely!

Hectic weekend

Well, we're in - we moved out of the flat and into the house at the weekend, so we can't find anything now as it's all packed away in boxes, which of course we didn't bother to label! This evening's task is to go back to the flat and clean it from top to bottom so that we get our deposit back. What fun!

Catriona and her new boyfriend, Ian, came over to help us move. We hadn't met Ian before, so it was good to meet him before the wedding. Seems like a nice bloke, and he was very good at carrying furniture and advising on DIY so he passed muster! Mum and Dad haven't met him either, so I had to report back last night. I gave him a thumbs up, so hopefully Catriona will be pleased!

Anyway, as we were waving Catriona and Ian off on Sunday Chris and Sian turned up, having been at a Haskoning shindig in Kettering the night before. As the cooker was still playing up we ended up having take-away curry for Sunday lunch - I've never seen so much orange food in all my life! It was all very tasty, though, and it was great to sit down, relax and not unpack anything for a while. Chris and Sian liked the house and were very impressed by how organised we seemed. Little do they know...

The washing machine is now plumbed in and not leaking - this involved sawing holes through a couple of cupboards to fit in the waste water pipe, then actually moving one whole cupboard about an inch to the right to fit the washing machine under the counter. We're feeling quite proud of our DIY skills on that! The cooker still isn't right, though - it keeps turning itself off which is very annoying when you're trying to cook and also rather worrying. Looks like we'll be getting another visit from the electrician...

A tragedy

I have just read this story http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4276553.stm, and I have to say that I am disappointed. This does explain why, when the radio turned on this morning to wake us up, the first thing we heard was "firing an orange smarties lid across the playground".

A man in demand

It's all happening today at work. After managing to charge absolutely zero hours to contract in the first half of January, my time now seems to be heavily in demand. In fact I am booked out on projects until 22nd April, and have had to turn down a couple of projects due to clashes. I realise that I'm so popular because I'm cheap, but it still feels good to be wanted.

How romantic

We spent yesterday evening at the new house - Tim was putting together a new chair we've bought for the dining room, and I was playing with the new drill we've just bought. We'll have to get a tool box for all the bits and pieces we're collecting! Moving date is Saturday, which is when the furniture will be moved. At the moment we're just moving a few boxes each time, and putting them all in the spare room. Once we've moved in we can unpack them all...

My sister is coming over on Saturday to help us with the move, and bringing her new boyfriend, Ian, with her. I'm looking forward to meeting him - at least then I'll have met him before the wedding! I shall report on him later...

My parents are stars

My Mum and Dad came down on Thursday night and helped me get lots of stuff sorted in the new house - being retired, they've got nothing else to do and they seemed to enjoy it! Dad put up curtain rails in the sitting room, dining room and bedroom, while Mum cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom then made curtains for the bedroom. Meanwhile, I moved a doorknob from one room to another and drilled one hole in the bathroom ceiling, so I did some DIY as well ;-)

Unfortunately, Powerhouse managed to completely muck up delivering our white goods. I'm giving them until lunch time tomorrow to sort it out and want all the delivery charges refunded! If that doesn't happen, I'll be going round after work to stand in their shop and complain very loudly. I shall let you know if I win...

On the wedding front, we spent Saturday buying outfits. Tim's dad and brother came over, and all the men went to MK and bought suits, shirts and waistcoats. Meanwhile, Mum and I went shopping for the 'mother of the bride' outfit. She's got a lovely suit and a very funky hat to wear now...

We seem to have rather a lot to get sorted in the next few weeks - I'm starting to get stressed! I'm sure we'll get everything done, but I think I'll be spending a lot of my time at work on the phone. Hope my boss understands...

Our house...

... now belongs to us - well, to Nationwide really, but we've promised to pay them back. I'll go and pick the keys up after work and see if it looks the same as we remember it!

Ironing television

I don't mind doing the ironing - in fact I quite enjoy it, as long as there's something suitable to watch on the TV while I'm doing it. It has to be something I can follow without really watching and which isn't too taxing on the brain. So last night I finished off the weekends ironing in front of 'the 100 greatest music videos' on channel 4. Perfect ironing TV - lots of music and useless facts with various 'famous faces' talking abotu them, joined together by Jimmy Carr being mildly amusing. Unfortunately, in the end we stayed up until midnight to find out the number one (Thriller, not a huge surprise) so we're both a bit tired this morning.

Next Sunday evening is the '100 greatest tearjerkers', featuring missed penalties and probably Elton singing candle in the wind. So I'm saving the ironing up until then!