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Posts Tagged ‘family’

Christmas approaches

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Hey everyone,

Well we’ve been back from Vienna for a good while now. Had a great holiday out there and a much needed relaxing break from work (having not really taken much of a holiday for nearly 2 years now). It was a really enjoyable place and we both loved our time there and would recommend anyone else to go have a look around.

Since we have returned we’ve been flung into Christmas at full force. Hopefully all of our Christmas shopping is now complete (although we still have a couple of items coming through the post which will need wrapping when they arrive). We made a trip out to see birmingham friends last night to exchange gifts with them (as we are heading up to Yorkshire next week for Christmas, and this weekend is a solid mixture of concerts and Christmas celebrations with Sarah’s parents). We’ve even ensured to get all birthday presents sorted out too (as my grandmother and brothers have their birthdays very close to Christmas – close enough that the postal delays will affect the birthdays too). Grandma’s present we have got at home already – good to go. Both my brothers presents are coming through the post however. They were due to arrive yesterday (after ‘next day delivery’ ordering on Saturday) however they did not arrive, so hopefully they will arrive today. We’ve had them sent to Sarah’s parents house to ensure someone is in to collect them.

Sarah’s father has bought himself a PS3 with his argos vouchers, so I’ve lent him a few of my games to play. I think he is currently working his way through Red Dead Redemption :-) I still need to let him know about the ‘hints and tips’ section on my website however (in the games tab) as I keep forgetting to mention it to him when we see him. However if the parcels do arrive today I can let him know when we pop around to pick them up. I wonder if he has set himself up with a PSN account too. Sarah’s parents tend not to have the internet permanently on which makes little things like the PSN stuff a bit harder. We may have to explain them to him and encourage him to leave the router and modem permanently plugged in :-P

Hope you are all ready for Christmas yourselves. I’ve modified the site to its Christmas theme for you all as I try to do every year. I’ve also added extra images to the selection that will appear on the front page of the website, so you should get a different image with each refresh (up to a limit of course).

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

Birthday approaching

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Well, my birthday is approaching once again. 25 this year. Everyone keeps talking about their 25th birthday as a major landmark date for them, which made them start to feel old. To be honest, I dont really have any odd feelings about this birthday. I don’t really feel any older than I did about a year or so ago, so I don’t really see how it changes anything that much (except now being able to hire cars abroad much easier).

I have put my birthday list on the website as usual (in case anybody is wanting a list, as I get asked each year, but I dont think anyone actually looks on here :-D ). I’ve tried to keep most of the prices on there quite low. There are a couple of pricier items for anyone feeling overly generous or (more likely) if anyone wants to team up with someone else and get a joint item.

I know Sar keeps telling me she has already got my present. I have no idea what it is, although I know where it is hidden in the house, and I’m not looking in advance. I quite like the surprise, so I shall wait :-) Absolutely no idea what it will be though.

I’ve started working on my video editing skills in preparation for a visit from my parents this weekend. Its actually not quite as bad as I thought it would be, and there are lots of very handy keyboard shortcuts for a lot of things when you start to get used to the software. I’ll also have to make sure I set up my father’s iPod to subscribe to my RSS feed. I’d like to think there are some people out there who may read this (as boring as it may be – sorry about that). So please, if you would like to follow me too. I know I tend to write on here quite infrequently, and so its not worth checking the blog all the time, but if you subscribe to my RSS feed, you won’t get any spam or anything like that. its not how mine is set up to work. It will simply let you know whenever I post a new blog entry, and will load the blog entry for you to read. Thats it :-) It saves you having to come and check for new entries. It will let you know when they are made. There should be an RSS feed link at the bottom of the page, or you can navigate to my blog (www.alexander-smith.co.uk/blog) with your RSS feed reader and ‘detect RSS feeds’ on the page, which will pick it up automatically for you.

I’ve also started working on wiring up a cooling system to my TV cabinet at home. My prototype device (a 14cm computer case fan combined with an old mobile phone charger) worked very well, and quietly. So next I need to order 2 silent case fans, pick up some electrical wire and a switch, then combine them all together and screw the fans into the back of the TV cabinet.

Back to work

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Well I hope you had a good Christmas. I had a great time with family and friends. I guess just like everyone I’d rather be at home this week rather than at work, but I do owe this Christmas holiday to Steve after he covered all of Christmas for me last year.
I will be posting thanks for each of my Christmas presents on here soon. I’d just like to get some pics of them in use first though.

Merry Christmas everyone, and fondest wishes for the coming year

Family weekend

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Had a great weekend seeing family a few days ago. One of my Aunties came over (Auntie Heather) and both my brothers and their wives came across, as did my grandmother and grandfather. All in all a great weekend though and an amazing chance to catch up with everyone and see people again.

Currently in the process of planning a weekend away for my birthday, but it is completely hush hush at the moment. I’ll blog about it whilst their or when back though (or knowing me, several weeks later when I next remember to update my blog).

Got back into playing Fallout 3 recently which has been nice as I have been out of the mood for it for quite a while now. Looking forward to some time off over my birthday to sit down and have a bit of a gaming session. I have booked half of Thursday and all of Friday off :-)