Oh how I ache! Im a typical office worker in that I spend most of my time behind a desk; even at home as I play my guitar through a computer. So the past week of digging has really been a shock to the system, I have to say I chuffed with the results though. So far we have cabbage, peas, lettuce, cucumber, aubergine, cauliflower, sweet peppers and broccoli planted. Oh and tomatoes raspberries and rhubarb. Not all of the plot is finished but I imagine Ill be done in a week or so.

Cant wait to get the first crop

I last jotted down my thoughts over the Easter weekend; I was wondering what life may be like without work allowing time for everything else. Well I got an email not too many days ago notifying me there was an allotment available and that it was mine if I wanted it. I jumped at the chance as theyre like rocking horse poo!

Our new plot of 6.5 meters by 5 meters and is referred to as a 1/4 size plot. I was a little concerned that is wouldnt be big enough. Thats probably true for my wants but far from the case my needs. On top of that I think anything bigger would be a little too difficult to keep. So far Ive spent around 15 hours working on the plot. I weeded and dug about 3/4 of it and planted about 1/4. Its hard work! Better for me than the pub, cheaper than the gym and a great place for clearing your mind. Fingers crossed well actually get some produce!

It’s times like this that I start dreaming of what it would be like to

• not have to work
• only have to work part time
• a mixture of the above

Yes it’s Easter weekend which means a healthy 4 days out of the office doing…well whatever we wish to do!  Due to the absolutely fantastic weather much of my time has been spent out in the garden trying to get it looking respectable.  I’m not too sure why, but this seems to occur every year; I’m just never really happy with how it looks out there.

This year is a little different however as we’re making a bid to grow more of our own fruit and vegetables.  Much of the flowerbeds have now been turned over and moved to veggie duties.  I do love flowers, there’s nothing nicer than a colourful garden, however, we have two rabbits which run around the garden so nothing lasts for too long.  I’ve had to erect a small wire fence around the newly extended veggie area to keep them out.  This I can get away with for the veggie patch, I think it would look odd around a flower bed.

In addition to the new vegetable area we also have baskets, some large pots (that the rabbits can’t climb in) and I’ve extended the lawn slightly.  This was a tough job in the 30 degree heat we’ve been experiencing as it involved moving 1.5 tonnes of top soil at a guess.  Hard work a the best of times; I think my back surgeon would have probably frowned if he saw me.  Getting up and moving has been an interesting challenge the past few mornings.

Today was a little more relaxed with me catching a few films on TV before having a power nap this afternoon; much of the morning was spent with Sophia.  She has been very quiet today and slept on me for a good two hours before settling in her moses basket for a few more.

So in short I’ve spent time doing things I love which have all been far more enjoyable than office life!  I don’t wan’t to be one to moan as I’m damn lucky to have a job during these difficult times.  Saying that I think I’m going to enjoy retirement if it’s anything like this!  Thanks to the Royal wedding I’ve only got 3 days back before we have yet another 4 ‘dayer’…better start creating my to do list.

I like technology; I like to think I embrace it as much as possible but I never really delve in to it.  That is if there’s a simple solution for ‘something’ then I’ll generally go with that; this usually means paying a premium financially.

Recently I’ve been conscious that I don’t keep proper backups of my computers.  I don’t have many important personal files such as text documents or spreadsheets, but I do have a huge number of photos and much of my music is in iTunes.  I wouldn’t be too happy if I lost either.

As I’m predominantly a Mac user I’ve been keen to get using Time Machine; the internal backup solution in Mac OSX.  Apple produce their own solution in the form of Time Capsule, a NAS device (Network Attached Storage) which also acts as a 802.11n access point.  The latter allows higher speed data transfer for compatible machines, the former is simply a hard disk which is connected to your network and therefore acts as a file server.  The Apple product is very expensive at circa £325 for the 2TB model so I got looking at alternatives.

Initially my investigations drew a blank due to either cost or compatibility.  Many 802.11n routers cost in excess of £100 and Time Machine compatible NAS devices seemed to be non existent; that was until I stumbled across the WD (Western Digital) MyBook 2TB drive.  At £120 it’s not badly priced and I’ve successfully managed to backup two Macs using Time Machine without any issues what so ever.  The software/user interface is also very good and offers all the functions one could ever wish for.  It was however a difficult decision to make due to the very random reviews on Amazon, folk either loved it or hated it.

What if found interesting was the number of folk reviewing this as their backup drive and then moaning that they’d lost their data; not just the backup, but all together.  Now I’d hate to insult somebody but the idea of a backup is that it is a secondary copy of a file…not the only copy.  People also described how flimsy the enclosure is and reported issues with this.  It seems perfectly fit for purpose to me; the instructions make it very clear that this drive is meant to be connected to your router/switch and left.  It is no a portable storage device.

So….I’d found my storage device in the MyBook.  I picked up a TP-Link 802.11n router to speed up my data transfer; g t0 n offers a significant benefit which is perfect for large backups over wireless.  Why the TP – Link devices specially as I’d never heard of TP-Link before?  Well simply it costs £40!  Much cheaper than the NetGear alternatives which seem t sit around the £100 price mark.  It also works perfectly.

So here I am…£160 spent and I’m getting the same functionality as I would out of a £325 device.  Now Apples build quality is generally second to none so I guess time will tell if I really have achieved true value.  If I do get a few years usage out of these devices then I’ll be a very happy chappy!

…get out of this posting once a month thing  Time has been a little short but I can’t for a moment suggest I just haven’t had enough spare to drop a line or two here.  I knew I’d not posted in a while but didn’t realise it has been THAT long.

So…what has been going on then?

Well not to much to be honest, just been mega busy with everything.  Little Sophia is filling out by the day and visited Nanny and Grandad on the coast.  She has now had her first official trip to the seaside; oh and Zoo.  Mrs N. took her to Whipsnade yesterday.

I went for a lads night out last weekend which I enjoyed very much.  Wasn’t as wild as I remember them being as I seemed to spend most of it on my arse whilst gassing with my pals.  Was good to catch up properly though, something we’ve not done in the past couple years.  Well not properly anyway.

My Benford guitar arrived.  I’ll not discuss that on here as I’ll get something up on my gutiarBlog site sometime soon.

Other than that it’s been work all the way!

I’m feeling a little useless today.  Yesterday I had to go have a cortisone injection in my spine and was told to take it easy fof 48 hours; no lifting, swimming etc.  Not great when I’ve got a skip and stuff I want to dig out in the garden.

So what to do eh?  I’ve been sitting here listening to some albums which have been on my to-do list for some time.  I’ve also got lots that I want to read but I need silence to take in the words.  Doesn’t work when the baby is a little grizzly!  I’ve also got a  25key Midi USB controller to get connected up to the iMac and a drum pattern to get ‘whacked’ out.  I feel guilty heading to the office though.

Ho hum.

Sunday is quite often a day or routine in our household.  I’m generally first up in the mornings as Mrs N. has been up feeding Sophia during the night.  When ready Sophia joins me downstairs in the living room whilst Mrs N. kicks back, has a soak and enjoys a slow Sunday morning;  Sophia and I get in to some music.  This morning we’re listening to Them Crooked Vultures, not on CD or MP3 but on Vinyl.

I’ve no idea why but I’ve been purchasing more and more on Vinyl in recent times.  It certainly isn’t to save money as many items cost double that of a CD or downloaded album; mind you others cost pence compared to other formats so I’m sure it balances out.  I’m far from the trendy type and I don’t think I’ve started a mid life crisis just yet.

I use iTunes a huge amount for much of my purchases but, although I keep a good backup of all my media, electronic music is a thing of convenience and nothing more.  I like to have something tangible in my possession.  CDs fit the bill in terms of being tangible, but they’re … well soulless in my opinion.  I think I find vinyl less clinical, CDs are the white washed living room in the newly built house and vinyl is the family bar in my local country pub.  Not particularly clean but fill of character.

I sometimes wonder how many of today’s ‘yoof’ would know what a CD player is yet alone what a turntable looks like!  I just hope that the industry will keep churning out vinyl for a good many years so my Sunday mornings can continue much the same…although with a slightly bigger Sophia.  Obviously there’s lots of old stuff out there, there’s no shortage of vinyl.  I mean I hope they keep producing enough new stuff.

This isn’t the post that it was meant to be; I had something completely different in mind but that can wait for another day.  Why the change of heart?  Well I read my last post from the 14th November and it made me chuckle.  Oh how life has changed since then.

When I wrote my thoughts back in November, I was being pushed by Mrs N. to complete a bunch of jobs around the house.  There was plastering, painting  and God knows what else to get out the way before we could order carpets.  I was tossing with the idea of waiting until the New Year to see whether or not we could catch a deal or not.  The issue with this being we had a due date of 12th Jan for our first and therefore I was worried about things being a little tight.  That’s it our baby’s due Wednesday!

Well I didn’t wait until the Sales. I went and bought the carpet the following weekend as I managed to get the skirting done; we were all ready to be fitted up on the 14th December.  All this excitement must have been too much for Mrs N as our daughter arrived on the 30th!  She decided not to wait until the sales either!

Due to being a premature baby Sophia spent the first 12 days in special care before being bought home to a house with no carpet.  She then spent the following 2 days living in the bedroom with mum whilst the fitter did his thing and made our house a home.

Lesson learnt…you can plan for nothing!

Well it’s Sunday so that means the day when Mrs N. makes me feel guilty about sitting around when there’s ‘stuff’ to be done around the house.

We’ve been renovating for about 3 years now, most of the major work was completed in a matter of weeks as it was completed by builders, however, all those little ‘odds ‘n’ sods’ are left to do.  I’ve just been filling and skimming some walls and Mrs N. is painting a door frame which was added when we had a wall built.  Next weekend will be the last few pieces of skirting board, paint touch ups and wallpapering a wall in the living room.  THEN we’re very nearly done as we’ll be ready for carpets.

The next dilemma will be whether or not we wait until the New Year sales or get it all sorted before Christmas.  Part of me doesn’t want to pay any more than we need to, therefore the sales sound great.  Another part of me wants it all done before Christmas so we’re not moving in to baby territory.  I think I might flip a coin!

As a sufferer of GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) and panic attacks, I started to get bored with the constant ‘on edge’ feeling.  I’m not sure what causes it, I did have PTSD a few years ago so I guess that has continued to play a part.  However, I’ve made a few changes recently and I’m surprised with how quickly I’ve seen some positive results.

Firstly I was suffering with an ‘iffy’ stomach for some time; there didn’t seem to be any reason for it but I decided to give up eating meat Monday – Friday.  Almost instantly things got much better.  I also decided to cut down the amount of alcohol I was consuming.  I wasn’t a big drinker, I take Warfarin (a blood thinner) as I’ve a clotting disorder and the two don’t really go too well together.  This seemed to have a massive impact on not only anxiety but also my weight.  Six weeks in and I’m nearly 2 stone lighter.

I have a desk job so I’ve also been aware that I do nowhere near as much exercise as I should, so I started making the most of my gym membership.  I say the most I go maybe 2 – 4 times a week with a mix of gym workouts and swimming.  Since starting I’ve not had a single panic attack and my anxiety seems to have dropped to an all time low.  I was most chuffed as I even managed to walk around town yesterday without ‘wigging’ out.  That’s a first in years.  I went for lunch in a local town with a friend last Saturday and on returning home suffered tension headaches and generally feeling mighty unwell.

It’s amazing the difference a jumble of little things can make.