A Bug's Life

The hamster tank went from an inch thick layer of bedding all over, to a 9" high pile in the corner. I am particularly impressed by the way she removed the sheet of kitchen towel from beneath the layer beneath the igloo, without disturbing the igloo. Like pulling off a tablecloth and leaving all dishes and cutlery in place.

Posted via m.livejournal.com.

http://crockpot365.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/crockpot-haggis-recipe.html

Wow, haggis made in a slow cooker! And gluten-free haggis, to boot! And funny instructions on how to deal with a pluck.

via andrewducker - I'd come across this site before but lost it and am glad to have it again. All recipes just happen to be gluten free.

Books read 65 (2011: 56)
Films watched 153 (2011:126)
Unread books (fiction, not including anthologies): 413. 36 hardback, 344 paperback, 33 large paperback. Books in: 37 (bought, loans etc)
Gigs, theatre etc: 17
Pay: frozen for a second year
Money found on street (which I have been putting into a tin) £22.63, including a £20 note (2011: £14.57).
Rodents: 1 (Revel's second year here)
Age: was 41, now 42. I know where my towels are.
Weight at 12 stone is down a stone and a bit.
CNPS: 732 (started the year at 670)

Books read (64-65)
Rhapsody of Blood Volume 1: Rituals, Roz Kaveney (2012)
Nine by Laumer, Keith Laumer (1967)

Films watched (147-153) 3 at the cinema, 2 DVD, 2 video
Sightseers
Tremors 3
This Means War (rewatch)
7 Psychopaths
The Expendables
Reservoir Dogs (rewatch)
Life of Pi

Gigs (18-19)
Slow Club (London)
Salon Rouge (Cambridge)

Books incoming 37 (1 prize) (read 31/37).

Spending a bit of time sorting things out, partly in a fit of fin d'annee, partly in preparation for busy month, partly to physically and mentally clear the decks so I can do some bigger and more interesting things in the new year. Was a bit horrified to find an extra 6" heap of miscellaneous papers while looking for a bank statement, but sorted everything out into thirty piles. Then had to re-heap them hurriedly to make space for boardgames.

Had an enjoyable afternoon of gaming, and have now written up the crib sheet for multiplayer Primordial Soup so I can see straight away how many amoebas you get for 3/4/5/6-player games, which cubes you eat, and which set(s) of genes are relevant, without having to cross-check small print in two rule sets. I recall Arkham Horror can be a single player game, I might try to play through that a couple of times in short bursts instead of the 4-6 hour marathons it can take. Though I might find it plays a lot more quickly solo (i.e. I might die really quickly).

Tesco delivered today, I ordered a neat little 1.3kg gammon joint but they had run out, so they replaced it with a (slightly less fancy) 3.3kg ham. No extra charge! Serves 14. There are three of us. It fit in the oven, but will not fit in the fridge.

Monday:
put bins out
collect turkey
bake lemon polenta cake

Tonight: sleep in T's room as I've given mine to visiting Mum and stepdad. I expect this will confuse ozymandias_cat

There was chilli, and the world didn't end, and then we watched The Goodies which is an absolutely great thing to do with a continuing world.

A thing I learnt today: Graeme Garden is younger than Bill Oddie.

If you have a list of organisation codes in a csv file that you distribute, and they go in a nice alphabetical order like this:
8A001
8A003
...
8DY95
8DY99
8E004
8E008
8E017

then when you open it in Excel (which seems a fairly straightforward thing to do) the codes come out like this:
8A001
8A003
...
8DY95
8DY99
80000
800000000
800000000000000000

Let me fix that for you myself...

Books read (61-63)
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware (2000) (graphic novel)
The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon (2007)
Pandaemonium, Ben Macallan (2012)

Films watched (143-146) 2 at the cinema, 2 DVD
Skyfall
Cell 211
Berberian Sound Studio
The Italian Job

Gigs (14-16)
Micky Flanagan (London)
Three Bonzos and a Piano (Cambridge)
The Wedding Present (Cambridge) + Toquiwa
Frisky and Mannish (Cambridge)

Books incoming 36 (1 purchase) (read 30/36).

from the chap in the market is Maple Walnut. Not as mapley as I hoped, but fairly nice. Caramel is still my favourite and I have a bag of that at work.