Day Two!

Yesterday's post was my 300th blog entry! Pretty good going, despite the lack of attention over the past few months!

When I started out, I wasn't sure how long I'd manage to maintain a blog but I'm a few years down the line and it seems I can sustain something, albeit a little vague, scant or boring at times...? This month will no doubt be filled with a host of inane entries but considering I've made 300 (301 now!) if I can add another 30, that'll boost my blog entries by a whole 10% in one month! Pretty cool...!

My other challenge started well as it happens, managing a whopping 2,613 words on day one and right after this ramble, I'll be adding to that total. Id like to make 5,000 words in the first few days to set me well on the road before work rears it's ugly head and life starts to get in the way! I'm already negotiating computer usage during planned visits to friends and I've made plans to carry my memory stick at all times to allow me the chance to add a paragraph at any given moment, wherever I may be... Heck, I might even have to grab a spot in an internet cafe for the first time ever if I get that sudden urge mid-shop! Can you believe I never have internet-cafe'ed!

Anyway, time to top up the coffee cup and get back to the novel... We've still got to fit some kind of social life around the month so the sooner I get to it, the sooner I can close the laptop lid again for the day and enjoy the other things in life that make me happy... Which includes D, who's tolerance this month will be really stretched! Jxx

PoMo vs WriMo! Day One!

Day one, first of November... The start of the two challenges!

So far, PoMo is in the lead... But then, I'm in York having just attended mum & dad's Halloween party - this means I'm nowhere near the previous fifty thousand words of WriMo so I can't begin to start writing the next fifty... I'll need to remember where I'm at to encourage just a smidgen of continuity!

Can I count blog words towards WriMo too?

Part last night was fun! Not many attendees... Naughty invited non-rsvp'ers but it was good to see the young families and an old face!

Took a few arty light pictures and painted my left hand fingernails black (to get into the Halloween spirit) and then drunk Gay Beer (don't ask) and a little bit of Mulled wine till the early hours!

Looking forward to the kick in of coffee & Pepsi to jump start my brain again...! Jxx

Bloody Home Hub!

We may be seen as fools for sticking with BT for our home interent connection but we've had reasonable service with BT and they did offer us a new Home Hub 2.0 which was nice... Until it didn't arrive!

Having contacted them about this lack of equipment several weeks later, we did get a hub & hub phone sent fairly quickly, with apologies and having connected it to the computer, I was thrilled to find set up was pretty pain-free and - OMG - we were able to file / printer share on the home network for the first time ever!! Yay!

Two big thumbs up for BT Home Hub...?

Well, on Friday, the whole thing went tits up (following a software upgrade it wanted to make of it's own accord)! Whole wireless network stopped working for no apparent reason! Grrr!

Sudden;y, the Mobile Phone & Laptop just simply wouldn't connect to the network! Phone couldn't even find the wireless signal and the laptop said it had a great connection but wouldn't load any internet pages!

This has been a real headache to sort out! Several hours wasted on refining settings, checking the help topics in the manual, the online help, the help programmes installed with the hub and still not a blip of improvement on the connection front - frustratingly, the main PC connected fine so it kept saying everything was ok!!

However... In their uselessness regarding delivery of equipment, BT had (shhh - don't tell) sent us a second home hub! Rather than attempting customer services for a long drawn out: "have you tried turning it off and on again" conversation, going through all the steps I've already repeatedly taken, we figured it might not hurt to just try the new hub - why didn't we do this hours ago?

Whole thing works great again! File sharing, internet, printing... I've re-packed the old hub in the box all neat and tidy like - they can have it back if they want... I'm sticking with the new version - and just to ensure there're no more upsets, I've disabled all the BT software from the main system! Don't want updates and such messing up a configuration that works! I reckon the old hub was just faulty but I don't want to take the risk of software settings being a root cause!

Let's see how happy we stay this time...!?

So, would I recommend the BT Home Hub? Well, it looks good, allows easy file / printer sharing, has a broadband phone with it (may cost more but we got it free!) and it's simple to set up... But if they're gonna go pop at the slightest moment of software upgrades, I may have to re-consider our internet supplier when the contract comes up for review...! BT don't have the fastest speeds on the market (though we get fast-enough!) and despite great customer service in the past, I do want (and expect) a fully functioning, hassle-free service! Jxx

NaNoPoMo...?

I've signed up again for NaNoWriMo - in order to attempt to finish the novel I started in 2005... 50,000 words in thirty days is a tough prospect in itself, without having a continuation path to follow but when else will I find the motivation to finish what I started? It would be nice to have a draft 100,000 word novel to play around with - who knows what publication may be lurking around the corner...?

However, in amongst this witting chaos, I noticed another challenge... NaNoPoMo - the Bloggers response to NaNoWriMo offers mad fools the chance to sign up to a blogathon through November - writing a blog entry for every day! (National November Posting Month - NaNoPoMo)

OK, so I've tailed off my blog in October, having been busy and uninspired but this challenge still gives me a sense of longing - how cool would it be to manage to blog every day in November?

My realistic chances of achieving this are small - I work full time, with some 12hour shifts and I'll be away for some of November but I could make up for gaps with two or three posts on some days couldn't I?

I'm not committing myself to this one but I may make a greater effort in November to fill Wooley Insights with more information, discussion, reviews and nonsense to at least get things moving again around here...? If for nothing else, than for my own sense of achievement - and to give me something to do when the words dry up in NaNoWriMo...? Jxx

Iona!

Sorry I've been gone so long... I hope some fo these shots will make up for it!

We went to Iona, a small island off Mull, which is a bigger island off Scotland...! It was really rather beautiful:







There are many more on my Facebook page - if I'm not your friend there, I should be...! Jxx

Cardiff - The best shots!

Time to add some shots from Cardiff, for all those who haven't yet joined me on Facebook! I'd still recommend signing up for FB to see the rest of the photo's (There're loads of 'em) but here are the ones that I like best...

I've tried emailing these to some of you but the files're too big to send! I hope you can enjoy them here anyway! Jxx

The Plas at night - A great time to get shots of the Millenium Centre!

Reflection of the Millenium Centre in the tower!

Ianto's entrance of course!

The tower in daylight!

A dalek in the Who exhibition - I was shaking so much the camera couldn't quite compensate!

Statue from 'Blink' - very scary!

A view across Cardiff Bay! Such a great place!

Little ol' me in the Beret! I was sooooo cool! Hmmm!

If you enjoyed these, pleas do join Facebook to get access to my other shots... It's the only way you'll get to see all the other fun folk who were in Cardiff over the weekend - bunch of freaks the lot of us! Jxx

Bose Boy!

OK, so having listened to my dad's Bose stereo, I have to admit I've been hankering for some Bose stuff of my own to get that superior sound quality in our own home... And finally, having spotted an ipod dock, at a reduced price, I succumbed!

The dock is purely that - somewhere to dock, charge and play your ipod but with a hefty price tag - however the musical quality is superb, even if it is just MP3's that're being played! It's amazing that you can get such good quality from a small device (in comparison to the large stereo systems that some folk buy to get the best audio quality) and it looks pretty sleek too!



In addition, I stumbled upon the Bose in-ear headphones reduced by about £50 (a ridiculously large reduction) and having been so impressed with the ipod dock, I couldn't resist - they only took 24hrs to arrive too!



Soooo - All my music will sound even better than ever before - even if my musical tastes haven't improved! Hehe!

Next we'll have to invest in the Bose DAB, the Bose CD player, the Bose big headphones... Jxx

The impossible task!

It's taken around fourteen hours of senior ward staff time to produce and yet it's likely to be the most controversial four week duty rota of the year!

The Christmas & New Year off duty is notoriously difficult, with the pressure of requests from staff, matrons and heads of nursing expecting all major holiday days to be covered and fitting in the correct amount of weekend and night staff into this 'special' week.

No one wants to work on the bank holidays, yet full time staff members still have to fit their hours into the working week and with the added pressure of two full time staff on career breaks and two other staff on maternity leave this has been a very difficult puzzle.

I must admit to a slightly cowardly finale to the duty preparation... As I finished the plan yesterday, tying it into the four weeks beforehand to ensure it was as fair as I could make it, I then placed it in the duty folder and made a hasty exit from the ward. Having worked hard with the deputy sister to make the Christmas & New Year weeks work as best possible, I'd then had to fiddle with the rota's as we tried to knit the four weeks prior to the duty into place (this being written by the usual staff member who thankfully produces most of the off duty!) that had been been completed and sent to me yesterday. It was always going to be awkward fitting things in but we've together managed to make something that should cover most shifts pretty well but I expect a backlash from some people, who'll always find some reason to question our decisions.

Next step is to face the music and try to listen to the rants and explain our reasons to those who probably won't want to hear them. Whilst I view the Xmas Off Duty as a bigger picture of ensuring we are adequately staffed, I remember the days when all I saw was my own shift pattern and know that others still think like this. It's hard to put perspective on such a demanding time of year when we're often working around families, friends and commitments.

And I know I'll feel guilty about some people. It's been so hard to try and fit in the requests everyone made (and we always acknowledged that these were simply requests and not a definitive plan)but again, some people see these requests as determining their duty plan despite what you may communicate to the contrary.

I'm kind of dreading going to work this afternoon but I know that the best way is to simply get it over and done with and hopefully let the dust settle over the coming weeks. I will listen to those with genuine reasons for questioning their rota and will of course allow people to swap between themselves so long as the skill mix of qualified and unqualified staff is maintained but I also know that it's impossible to please everyone and there's going to be some upset.

Maybe I need a few more staff who simply don't celebrate Christmas... There're plenty of religions out there who have other cebrations I could honour...! Jxx

Dental Drama!

OMG!

I just went to a dentist for the first time in eighteen years!

It was a weird experience!

Firstly, arriving at the dental practice, the computers were down so they couldn't check me in. Then the dentist I saw had just lost his wallet so was trying to sort that out... I sat in the dental chair whilst he did so (though he checked I was ok and apologised profusely!) Having not sat in a chair like this for some time, I was getting really nervous and by the time I actually got the focus, I was feeling pretty wary!

It went reasonably well! The noises don't bother me but I can't say i like having probing fingers around my mouth... That's what put me off as a kid - I was an interesting case so had up to five orthodontic folk sticking the fingers in to get a good view - not nice!

Anyhoo - He commented on how clean my teeth were... But did find some 'fissures' that led to the discovery of a little decay which was removed and filled. I also had an annoying bit of sharp tooth removed which has bugged me for years!

And that was really that... Not the nightmare I had worried about, nor that which I've heard from so many folk! It was a really straight forward event... Though now my teeth feel a bit 'funny' - I'm so used to them feeling one way that now they've been changed slightly, they don't feel quite right! I'm sure I'll get used to that! And there's no need to have my semi-grown wisdom teeth removed unless they cause pain & discomfort which they don't generally so I'm home and dry for six months... Next appointment is March!

Why did I leave it so long? Jxx

Wooley's Inner-Mini!

Whilst waiting for D to finish work the other day, I got to taking some pics inside my beloved new car! Of course, this means you get to suffer them... But it is rather funky! Jxx

Going even greener?

Nope, I'm not deepening the colour scheme for Wooley Insights! We're greening up some more by switching energy suppliers!

We've long been unimpressed by British Gas but figured we were between a rock and a hard place as far as Gas supply was concerned... There is no 'green' gas as such as it's all non-renewable energy! However, following the recent, disgusting, insensitive, profiteering price rises by our gas supplier and with a hefty jolt from the Ethical Consumer magazine (Great Energy-Supplier article and comparison in this quarters magazine!), we've managed to make a Gas Supply switch that, whilst not entirely green, does offset some of our nasty energy usage by investment in renewables! E-On will be supplying our gas very shortly, dumping British Gas as a no-hope tragedy of fossil fuel hell!

We may even make some financial savings as a benefit!

But better than all this - our electricity switch has also just been actioned... Not content with the 25% renewable energy we were getting from the great and good Ecotricity, we've taken things a step further by switching our energy supplier to Good Energy - a 100% renewable electricity supplier!



Our CO2 emissions, based on our energy usage will be zilch, nil, nada! This can only be a good thing, though I've always applauded Ecotricity and supported their efforts to construct more Wind Power turbines so I feel just a tad guilty in leaving them - but then, with the lure of 100% renewable energy, I should soon be feeling just fine about our actions again!

Interested yourself? Why not check out GreenHelpline and enter your energy usage... You never know - green may just save you money too!



In addition to these online changes, we've also gotten our mitts on a rather nifty little OWL!



This wee device is a carry around digital display of our energy consumption at any time day or night... It's programmable to display the electricity use in terms of cost at that moment in time, Kilowatts per hour or by Greenhouse gas emissions, though the latter will be zilch, nil, nada, in our household very soon...!

It's fascinating and rather obsession-fuelling to watch the device readings go up and down as you boil your kettle, cook the Sunday roast and / or watch TV... And interestingly, we've discovered that switching on our energy saving bulbs makes no dent in our electricity usage whilst our one, old-style bulb in the bathroom has an impact! Proof that we're reducing our bills by switching bulbs...

All this means that we're going to be just another step greener over the coming weeks without having to spend a load extra... In fact, we may well be making savings over the coming months and years by being a little more Eco!

...Just a shame about the new car really - whoops! Jxx

Where's Wooley 4 - Scaring myself stupid?

Another part of our summer holiday was a meet up with family members and a trip to Drayton Manor!

I'm not normally one for theme parks, having only been to a few in my lifetime and certainly never attempted a glut of the thrill rides but this time we went all out...

First up, we experienced the G-Forces of... GFrorce!



To be honest, after the first, slow, hang you upside down making you feel like you're going to fall to your death loop, I kinda lost it for a while and it was only after getting off and looking back over the ride that I realised there had been two further loops amongst the twisting and turning chaos! I was a little stunned but having completed this mini adventure, felt I could cope with more...



Maelstrom was superb! Dangling off a spinning wheel that then swings to ridiculous heights before swooping you back down and up again... Multiple passes of this monster made me feel like I was flying and I absolutely loved it! Two Big Thumbs Up!



Of course, having braved the others, I figured that Shockwave would be just as easy! I was wrong! This coaster has you in a standing position rather than seated in any way and takes you high - very high, before plumetting you way to fast into a series of twists, turns, loops and general scare the crap out of you moments! And to cap it off, you get to stop dead at the end rather than coasting to a halt! I did not like this! It just felt too insecure throughout and I must admit, I closed my eyes for a fair bit of it (whilst screaming!)

How to calm down? With a cold shower perhaps?



Stormforce is wet - very wet! We had a rather large girl sitting to one side of our 'lifeboat' which I reckon tipped the balanace meaning that our in theory drier spot second from back of the boat didn't afford us any protection! But then, having been dropped forwards into the water, this ride also drops you backwards into it too, meaning you haven't a hope in hell of staying dry whatever your seating arrangement! great fun but daft of us to ride this just before leaving - meaning a damp drive home! Doh!

We did go on some calmer rides too... The youngsters of our family group (niece and Nephew, 9 & 5yrs wanted to join in and with the newly constructed 'Thomas Land' there were plenty of themed rides to enjoy... I went on a rather overly girating boat thing with my niece that swung and span you till you were ready to throw up and we enjoyed the pirate adventure boat ride (in a gloomy undercover setting, based on Pirates of the Carribean we think and a ride past dragons that had our Nephew worried about dying before his 6th birthday - though I convinced him the ducks on the lake would keep the dragons at bay... Long story but I had to think on my feet to avoid the terror in his eyes!



A good fun day out and being as it was all on the Tesco vouchers, we can afford to go again and experience the rides we didn't quite make it to this time soemtime in the future... Joy? Jxx

Where's Wooley 3 - The Motor!

OK, so not quite totally planned but thought about for a fair while beforehand, along comes Eddie - my new car!

I'd been driving the same car since I passed my test, about six years ago - a VW Polo that was twelve years or more old... Time for an upgrade at last, especially with the steady income afforded me by the new permanent Sisters position, so here he is!

Mini One 1.6. Black with racing stripes / check roof. Air Conditioning, Radio / CD, Onboard computer thingy that tells me how many miles I'm doing to the gallon, average speed, how many miles I can do with the petrol I've got, etc...

It's a fab little mover, easy to drive and makes me feel dead cool compared with my old motor (who has gone to a good home!) I did some research and opted for the Mini One rather than the Cooper as the running costs (Tax / Insurance, etc...) are far cheaper and you can get a higher spec One for the same money as a low spec Cooper... I'm more than happy with my choice!

Is this what happens when you've got too much time off work? Well, as I say, I had been thinking about a new car for some time and had drawn up a shortlist of possible motors - The Mini was always top of the list but costly, so I'd also considered Peugeot 206 / 207, Corsa (new design) Seat Ibiza, Beetle and a whole load of others but it always came back to the same longing... And so, Mini it is!

He's so lovley! Jxx

11.08

Happy Anniversary!

Love you!

Jxx

Where's Wooley 2.1 - Camping Photos.

A railing by the 'Mock Gothic' castle - much more interesting than the castle itself!

The railway line that went from one place to another!!

A view behind the ferry we caught across Lake Windermere.

A view from the ferry on Lake Windermere again!

Somewhere in Ambleside!

A waterfall just outside Ambleside.

One of the lovely views!

Monkey Puzzle!

Another lovely view!

Where's Wooley 2 - Camping!

Yeah, as previously suggested, we went camping! The great outdoors - fresh air, beautiful scenery... RAIN!

OK, so it didn't rain all the time, in fact, more often than not it was warm and even sunny but that first morning, lying in the tent, listening to the rain was a real bummer! It just got on my nerves that when we have the least facilities to hand, the weather can be so cruel...

But as I say, it didn't last and rather than dwell on the few moments of dampness, I'd rather tell ya about the good times! :-)



Staying by Lake Windermere at a reasonable National Trust campsite (Low Wray), we were ideally located for Ambleside, Bowden on Windermere and not far from Kendal.



We managed to pitch on the most uneven surface, meaning we spent most of the week living out of the one corner of the tent that everything slid to but hey, we had great views and were a stones throw from the largest lake in the country!



(Actually, two lakes make up Windermere... There was a ranger giving a talk on the ferry crossing we made - interesting stuff! Like there're two sub species of the same fish living one in each half of the lake that never meet because the water in the middle is too warm for them to cross... Over the years the same fish has changed so they're now separate types... Anyhoo...)

The other campers were a happy bunch, friendly and courteous and not a damn caravan in site - yay! Low Wray castle was a ten minute walk up the road but is kinda new and 'mock gothic'. It wasn't as nice as the grounds and the walk to the lake there gave a great view again and was peaceful and tranquil.

Ambleside had a reasonable coffee house and a great restaurant which was also a Jazz venue and a Cinema! We just ate... I'd have gone again if we had more time but we had to also fit in home cooked food back at camp:

(yeah - beans!)

...and fish & chips... Oh, and plenty of wine too! All this and we were only there for three nights!

Bowden on Windermere was a bustling town full of lakeside tourists whereas Kendal felt a little too commercialised and invaded by the big chains - McDonalds, Boots, Costa and all the big names lay side by side as in any town... Kinda took away the olde worlde feel that i thought it had when I was there as a kid? Maybe it was always this way but it felt a bit of a let-down... Took ages to find somewhere selling Mint Cake too (finally got some from a market stall!)

The best thing about the Mon-Thurs stay would have to have been the views - The Lake District is truly stunning and you only need to take a few steps out of any town or village to find some marvellous mountain, stream or waterfall... Despite the damp, I'd definitely go again!

In Where's Wooley 2.1, I'll add a load more random images from the holiday... Enjoy! Jxx

Where's Wooley?

OK, so I forgot to 'Blogstop' before we took our summer fortnight holiday (which entailed avoiding the computer in order to pursue more outdoor / techno-free activities!) but rest assured, I'm nearly back and you've got a whole load of entires to look forward to...

Coming up:
Camping!
Cars and other rides!
Home Improvements!
Food and fat!

Watch out over the coming days... Wooley will be back! Jxx

Outside!

A few more shots of our outside world, which we're really taking to more and more... Even stopped watching Big Brother for the most part! It's just sooo good to sit outside, with a little nature (got three frogs at least now!) and perhaps a Gin & Tonic...

Anyway, this first one is one of our sources of light!


I was trying to be arty again next, though it doesn't work quite so well when you're tipsy!



And today, I noticed a spider had set it's trap right where all the other bugs'd be heading for the polen of a new flower... Clever! Any idea what this plant is? It kinda grows each year but we never knew what it was! Looks nice on the patio table...!


Looking forward to a warm outdoor evening again maybe tonight... Preparing us for those nights under canvas that are rapidly approaching perhaps?

In other news, did I tell ya that I'd lost more weight? I was just 2lb short of 2 stone loss when I last hit the WW scales! I'm taking a few weeks off being everso good though now... I'll jump back on the wagon soon, just to get those last few pounds of course... But I just feel like a few weeks of treating myself whilst I'm off work, celebrating the new job and relaxing in the summer sun...! Jxx

My lovely guy!

Not only did I get a bottle of bubbly, a sweet card and showered in confetti on returning home after getting the permanent sisters position, but flowers too!

I have the bestest husband! Jxx

Camp!

It's that time of year again, when a little warm weather addles our brain cells and makes us think camping would be a good idea!

This time, we'll be heading for the Lakes (just near Windermere) for a few nights under canvas... I'm kinda hoping that a less comfortable mattress might help my latest back ache! My back went on Sunday, to the point I was stuck crouched on the floor for a wee while... It's still really stiff and achy if I stay in one position too long...! Not good for work either - or the interview I had yesterday! Oh yeah, I got the permanent Sisters position! Am soooo happy I've got a hangover today! Hehe!

Anyway, camping - we have a tent, we have sleeping bags, we have loads of bits and bobs that might come in useful that we'll probably never use but we still want more... I'm kinda keen on the new LED wind up lanterns I've spotted as we usually use a gas powered one and I'm always wary of tent-fire!

We nearly forgot to sort out the cats holiday homes too! Whoops! Managed to fit them into a local Cattery (that we've used before - strange woman who seems better suited to talking to animals than other humans!) at the last minute though thank goodness! Now just need to hope the campsite (National Trust Owned) is free on our dates and has decent facilities....!? Jxx