Nicks Place

2009-06-01T15:15:00.000Z

http://www.speedtest.net/

2009-04-03T20:13:00.002Z

ufo

2009-03-23T23:41:00.001Z

2009-03-10T13:45:00.000Z

Here is another picture of the coffin in the wall at st johns.

its been a while...

2007-12-02T11:28:00.000Z

This is the first post on my new computer.
My Packard Bell Istart 1359 gave up the ghost with a whimper and a puff of smoke and We decided it would be easier just to buy a new computer rather than mess about trying to get the PB fixed - (we were Quoted £150.00 before labour and costs at PC world).

So I am now the proud owner of an Acer M1100.
Its an AMD Athlon 64X2 processor, 1024Mb DDR2 , 160Gb HDD , ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 Graphics , and Vista premium O/S.

I,m fighting to get to grips with Vista but its growing on me , I like the new search feature - much faster than XP but miss a lot of XP`s control - Vista constantly flashes messages at you asking "are you sure?" at every operation, its like having a teacher looking over your shoulder all the time !
The general look is very Flash - Loads of new Bells and whistles take up a large bite out of the 1Gb memory though.

I don`t know what to do with the Packard Bell - I did think of using the Hard disk in the Acer as a slave drive but it would mean breaking the Acers security seal and invalidating the warranty so I think I`ll have a go at fixing it myself - I will buy a new power supply and see if anything else was damaged when it blew up.
I suspect the PSU blew because of a build up of dust blocking the air flow around the
cooling vents, (a new PSU cost about £15 - 20).
Wish me luck...

Lazy Blogger

2007-06-16T13:45:00.001Z

Seeing as its such a while since I posted anything remotely interesting , thought I`d `blog on` and post something.
So today Ladies and Gents I`m going to Tell you about the `coffin in the wall` - a local land mark.
High in a recess in st Johns Church Norman ruins sits a solid oaken coffin with the inscription "Dust to Dust" painted inside. The origins of this curiosity are clouded in mystery.
One tale suggests that a wicked parishioner was unable to rest in his grave and Satan heard of this and helped to place him in the wall so that he might look down in penance at the world he had `defiled with his sins`.
Another tale says that the Sexton of the cathedral John Carter came upon the coffin whilst digging in a grave in a disused part of the churchyard and had by the Rectors orders put in in the recess where it still stands so that it may be out of the way of passers by!
In Gordon Emerys book `Curious Chester` he describes another tale to add to the mystery.
"the unusual coffin in the walls of the ruins is said to have been set up by the Rev Richardson in 1813. It had been brought by canal boat from Nantwich by the Rev Massey."
The truth is that nobody really is sure where the coffin came from but it is likely to date to the latter half of the 15th century and has one element of interest in it ,that it is composed of a single block of oak.

I`ve quit smoking.

2007-06-06T14:49:00.000Z

QuitMeter Counter courtesy of www.quitmeter.com.

2007-05-04T13:19:00.000Z

Latest photo of yours truly.:-D

2007-04-27T11:16:00.001Z

another year older

2007-04-08T07:29:00.000Z

Well here I am, another year older and another year wiser (supposedly). I have reached the ripe old age of 45 and I`m still here . I have a new phone , its an LG C2200 (with camera!) and was given to me by my nephew (Thank you Joe). Other Gadget additions this month include a VGA key-ring camera, a USB Hub mouse-mat, Wireless headphones (sony) and a digital input mat and pen, (I just love them Gadgets).
Its Easter Sunday today , a double bank holiday and a very long weekend.... the weather outside is fantastic, its warm and sunny and I`m about to put my feet up in the garden to make the most of the sunshine

The survey

2007-03-08T18:34:00.001Z

*TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey*
Name:	Nick
Birthday:	1962
Birthplace:	chester
Current Location:	chester
Eye Color:	grey
Hair Color:	blonde
Height:	5`9
Right Handed or Left Handed:	Right
Your Heritage:	Craftsmen
The Shoes You Wore Today:	climbing pumps
Your Weakness:	spending money I don`t have
Your Fears:	Losing my family
Your Perfect Pizza:	I detest pizza
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	reaching next year
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	IMHO
Thoughts First Waking Up:	Ouch
Your Best Physical Feature:	my Head
Your Bedtime:	3-4 am
Your Most Missed Memory:	my Childhood
Pepsi or Coke:	pepsi
McDonalds or Burger King:	Burger King
Single or Group Dates:	Group
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	Lipton
Chocolate or Vanilla:	Chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee:	Cappuccino
Do you Smoke:	yes
Do you Swear:	no
Do you Sing:	definitely not
Do you Shower Daily:	yes
Have you Been in Love:	no
Do you want to go to College:	again? -yes
Do you want to get Married:	of course I do
Do you belive in yourself:	sometimes
Do you get Motion Sickness:	no
Do you think you are Attractive:	no
Are you a Health Freak:	no
Do you get along with your Parents:	yes
Do you like Thunderstorms:	I Love them
Do you play an Instrument:	Guitar
In the past month have you Smoked:	yes
In the past month have you been on Drugs:	no
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	no
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	yes
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	no
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	no
In the past month have you been on Stage:	no
In the past month have you been Dumped:	no
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	no
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	no
Ever been called a Tease:	don`t be silly
Ever been Beaten up:	no
Ever Shoplifted:	when I was a kid
How do you want to Die:	without pain
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	I grew up decades ago
What country would you most like to Visit:	Egypt - without a doubt
*In a Boy/Girl..*
Favourite Eye Color:	green
Favourite Hair Color:	blonde
Short or Long Hair:	either
Height:	my height
Weight:	healthy
Best Clothing Style:	smart casual
Number of Drugs I have taken:	define `drugs`
Number of CDs I own:	hardly any - all mp3
Number of Piercings:	1
Number of Tattoos:	none
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	several
CREATE YOUR OWN! - or - GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS!

March 1st , St Davids day

2007-03-01T17:10:00.000Z

Well its been ages since I posted anything so I thought I`d better make an entry just to show willing. I haven`t done much recently because I`ve had my nose stuck in various new books that I`ve purchased. (Mostly ghost books or stuff about UFO`s).
I visit the local library a lot as well so you could call me a bookworm and I wouldn`t be offended.
Today is the first of March and is apparently St Davids day - 1 month until I reach the ripe old age of 45 (shock! - horror!), still it could be worse ,at least I wasn`t born on april fools day (but close..)
The weather today is clear, if a little chilly and windy.
I joined up with the itunes store last week and splashed out on some music. I can thoroughly recommend the album `Aerial` by Kate Bush, its the first album she`s made in a number of years but she`s still got that certain something that makes you want to hear her music again and again without getting bored.She has lost none of her talent.
well I`m struggling to find things to write so I will say au revoir for now....

2007-02-14T17:49:00.000Z

Here is a picture of foregate street looking down from the Eastgate clock in chester.This drawing is a bit old as you can see by the marks on the sky above the left-hand building and general grubby state of the picture. It dates back to 1991.

2007-02-13T12:03:00.000Z

Guess what I`ve just bought? thats right , I`ve joined the ranks of those people you love to hate who sit humming tunelessly on the bus or making rythmic tssss tut tut tssss sounds ALL the way to your destination on the train. (We`re not actually listening to any music ,we just like to annoy).
But seriously I`ve shelled out a fortune on this `king of Gadgets` and I`m not sure I`ve done the right thing... for one I`m still trying to figure out how to load it with video / films without paying through the nose at itunes store.
All the literature says you can watch mp4 files and mov files but I cannot get itunes to recognise the files. Also I opted for the 30gig version to save a bit of money but it seems to be filling up rather rapidly. Maybe I should have bought the 80gig version.
It amazes me to see figures like 30gig / 80gig attached to such small machines - my first p.c only had a 40 meg drive and thats barely enough for a couple of songs now. Maybe my age is catching up with me! (Thats enough blog for now cos I`m depressing myself....) see ya.

Infra red

2007-01-23T16:39:00.000Z

And now in Infra Red......(check out the weird eyes).

new web camera(s)

2007-01-23T16:24:00.000Z

hey ho, I`ve just bought a new camera , well two cameras to be exact so heres my ugly mug both in ordinary light and in infra red....
First the normal camera.

Another Picture

2007-01-09T20:20:00.000Z

This was my one and only attempt at a watercolour.I Think I prefer using pastels and charcoal.

More Pictures

2007-01-09T20:15:00.000Z

Bored

2007-01-09T20:06:00.000Z

Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored.Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored,Bored bored bored bored... bored bored bored,..........BORED.

The bank that likes to say gimme more

2007-01-05T13:49:00.000Z

Aargh! I`ve been stiffed by my bank again.Yesterday I took myself off to our beautiful city (Chester) with the intention of buying a set of headphones. I got as far as the cash machine.

Upon investigation I discovered that because I had gone into the red by the Huge sum of £6.00

my bank had

a. charged me £30.00 for going into the red.

b. charged me ANOTHER £30.00 because their charge had increased my debt (& it was the end of the month).

Wonderful.

Here I must point out that money went into the account a day later but now being £60 quid in the red , all that did was clear the charges.

So home I came swearing under my breath at every step ,and I am at the moment headphone-less. So no podcasts yet.

However I will try to post a couple of drawings on this blog , I drew them about 10 yrs ago and they have been gathering dust since then. I tried to post them yesterday but either there is something wrong with my set-up or I was doing it wrong , Hopefuly I`ll have more luck today.

My first Blog

2007-01-04T10:36:00.001Z

Hello all, I`m Nick .
I`m 45 yrs old and am an ex-BT, ex-Telewest,
ex-Telecommunications Engineer.In fact these days I`m pretty much ex- everything as My Health aint what it was.I`m quite new to the internet as my interest in computers and computing in general died with my last system some years ago (it was a 486 with 8meg and would be considered a dinosaur by todays standards).
Today is Thursday the 4th January 2007 and this is my first entry to a Blog that is intended to take up some of the spare time that I seem to have these days. So watch this space,More Tomorrow.