Focused? Absolutely...

Any minute now I am going to crack on with writing another NWO character. I am. Definitely. Absolutely.

I have put it off all morning and so far this afternoon, but nothing will prevent me from launching at it this afternoon with gusto. Indeed not. I am about to become Mr Focused, and I shall brook no distractions. Not one. I do not know the meaning of the word prevarication.

Which reminds me; what is it with Freeview (free digital telly for those of you not of the UK bent)? My digibox keeps telling me that it has found new updates and demanding that I retune it. I oblige and find that nothing has changed. Except this morning, when it stated grandly that it had found additional services, but a quick retune tells me that in fact I have lost 9 channels including More 4 (though not, bizarrely, More 4 +1, which is the same channel broadcast an hour later...).

Problem is, see, that despite living atop a hill in north London, no more than twenty minutes from the Alexandra Palace transmitter, all the digital signals slink northward across the smog-bound depths of central London from the Crystal Palace transmitter which is nearer thirty miles away. This shouldn't make too much of a difference, but there is simply not enough digital left over by the time it gets to me. It's all been sucked up by the antennae of all those houses between me and it, and as it's raining and windy today, what's left gets water logged. This means that the signals are too wet and heavy to get up the hill to me and my digibox. Later, when it dries out and the signal loses that additional watery weight, I shall have the channels back as they should be, but for now, I am not getting my full range of rubbish digital telly. Actually, that's not strictly true. Whilst ITV4 has temporarily disappeared, QVC, Price Drop TV and Bid-Up TV remain as strong as ever, providing further evidence for the theory that the channels no-one wants or watches do not have the strength sucked out of them by over-viewing between the transmitter and me.

Oh well, I shall retune in a few hours and I shall be back up to 55 channels, of which I really only want about 12.

I suppose I'd better do some writing now, before I get distracted.

I am focused today, see.

Focused? Absolutely...

Any minute now I am going to crack on with writing another NWO character. I am. Definitely. Absolutely.

I have put it off all morning and so far this afternoon, but nothing will prevent me from launching at it this afternoon with gusto. Indeed not. I am about to become Mr Focused, and I shall brook no distractions. Not one. I do not know the meaning of the word prevarication.

Which reminds me; what is it with Freeview (free digital telly for those of you not of the UK bent)? My digibox keeps telling me that it has found new updates and demanding that I retune it. I oblige and find that nothing has changed. Except this morning, when it stated grandly that it had found additional services, but a quick retune tells me that in fact I have lost 9 channels including More 4 (though not, bizarrely, More 4 +1, which is the same channel broadcast an hour later...).

Problem is, see, that despite living atop a hill in north London, no more than twenty minutes from the Alexandra Palace transmitter, all the digital signals slink northward across the smog-bound depths of central London from the Crystal Palace transmitter which is nearer thirty miles away. This shouldn't make too much of a difference, but there is simply not enough digital left over by the time it gets to me. It's all been sucked up by the antennae of all those houses between me and it, and as it's raining and windy today, what's left gets water logged. This means that the signals are too wet and heavy to get up the hill to me and my digibox. Later, when it dries out and the signal loses that additional watery weight, I shall have the channels back as they should be, but for now, I am not getting my full range of rubbish digital telly. Actually, that's not strictly true. Whilst ITV4 has temporarily disappeared, QVC, Price Drop TV and Bid-Up TV remain as strong as ever, providing further evidence for the theory that the channels no-one wants or watches do not have the strength sucked out of them by over-viewing between the transmitter and me.

Oh well, I shall retune in a few hours and I shall be back up to 55 channels, of which I really only want about 12.

I suppose I'd better do some writing now, before I get distracted.

I am focused today, see.

(no subject)

I'll probably regret it in the morning, but I have just run the clippers over my pate and cut my beard back to a goatee.

It all took longer than it should; I think I shall have to dismantle the clippers for a good clean and oil before I use them next time. Or maybe buy a new set. They seem to need stripping down more and more frequently these days and I fear that the motor is probably not as strong as it once was. The reason I think I might buy a spare set is that I have a horror of the damned things packing up completely while I am part way through trimming my hair, so at best I should have to go out with a reverse Mohican, and at worst look like someone suffering from radiation sickness.

I like to think that I am no more than normally vain, but I do have some pride (and an astonishingly low embarrassment threshold in certain circumstances).

My first hair trim of the year is usually the signal for a bout of cold weather, but like the timing of the full moon, I cannot control the rate of hair growth, so sometimes I shaves me bonce earlier than I'd like. So like Punxsutawney Phil, I predict a further six weeks of winter.

Odd that my usually infallible right ankle didn't predict today's bout of cold rain, though. Make of that what you will.

(no subject)

I'll probably regret it in the morning, but I have just run the clippers over my pate and cut my beard back to a goatee.

It all took longer than it should; I think I shall have to dismantle the clippers for a good clean and oil before I use them next time. Or maybe buy a new set. They seem to need stripping down more and more frequently these days and I fear that the motor is probably not as strong as it once was. The reason I think I might buy a spare set is that I have a horror of the damned things packing up completely while I am part way through trimming my hair, so at best I should have to go out with a reverse Mohican, and at worst look like someone suffering from radiation sickness.

I like to think that I am no more than normally vain, but I do have some pride (and an astonishingly low embarrassment threshold in certain circumstances).

My first hair trim of the year is usually the signal for a bout of cold weather, but like the timing of the full moon, I cannot control the rate of hair growth, so sometimes I shaves me bonce earlier than I'd like. So like Punxsutawney Phil, I predict a further six weeks of winter.

Odd that my usually infallible right ankle didn't predict today's bout of cold rain, though. Make of that what you will.