Kat

We have a new cat (her name is Kat).

She's about 2 years old and was found abandoned with her 2 kittens (they've also been adopted).

Pictures follow.

Christmas day

Says it all, really ...

Happy Winterval

A couple of years ago Birmingham tried to Be overly politically correct and re-named the holiday period 'WINTERVAL' - they're still living down the embarrassment, but I rather liked it.

HAPPY WINTERVAL TO YOU ALL!

Toptable, again

I note that Toptable continues not to publish anything but complimentary reviews. Of course, this means that its statistics are skewed too.

Computers (again)

I said in an earlier post that I'd changed my Internet provider. I AM finally getting decent download speeds, but I'll have to replace the nasty, cheap wireless router they provided for something that works more consistently.

However, part of today has been concerned with trying to get my website up and running on the new ISP - complicated by the fact that I've updated the software I was using and had (surprise, surprise) forgotten how to write websites anyway. Still, most of that has been overcome so WHY has it taken 2 hours for the ISP to update?

If you want a laugh, go here!

Tom Paxton

Tom Paxton in concert at Birmingham Town Hall - just fantastic!

I know he's been singing since I was in junior school, but he's still got it. A great night (Robin Bullock was - as ever - a fantastic guitar, mandolin, bouzouki (?) accompanist) but the highlight for me was the final song: a genuinely acoustic rendering of The Parting Glass (not bad in an auditorium that seats 1086!).

I continue to be impressed by the songs, the performance, the talent  - AND I'm on his last DVD!

Computers ...

I work at home quite a lot in the room I call my 'study' (actually the smallest bedroom in the house). I have a wifi/wired network with NAS, network printer, etc., etc. Just moved to fibre-optic broadband (so far from the telephone exchange that copper can't give me any real speed) and now have most of those transition issues beaten.

So (glutton for punishment), I've moved to my 'new' PC - really a refurbished Dell that I've been running in parallel with the old Acer desktop. It's only when you finally do this that you realise what still needs to be done ...

What fun!

Don't use Toptable.com

Toptable.com are an on-line restaurant booking system. Restaurants subscribe and pay a fee for successful bookings. (The service is 'free' to diners). There is also an opportunity for diners to comment on the restaurant and food with these comments published on the website.

In my experience:

1. They don't publish bad reviews (I posted a review of a restaurant in Nice that was far from complimentary: it was never posted. Toptable told me that they discussed negative reviews with the restaurant)
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2. This week I booked a restaurant for Saturday night. It was confirmed on-line and by email from Toptable who later rang to tell me that the restaurant was fully booked. I wouldn't have minded, but we'd already made some arrangements. What's the point of a system that doesn't work?

I won't use them again. Tell your friends.

A couple of weeks in

The new academic year's going OK. Busy, busy ...

NEW TERM TOMORROW ...

Just spent a week in (sunny) Bordeaux. Lots of good food and even more good wine.

Tomorrow marks the start of the new academic year -- always a joy with those keen new students setting out to change their lives.

Bordeaux photos to follow ...