Dear PC World

For the game yesterday I felt I needed a print-out of the adventure, rather than trying to run it from the tablet. (In retrospect... yep, this was the right call.) And so on Saturday afternoon I set it printing, which it duly did.

Very, very slowly.

Anyway, about half past midnight, the printer came to a halt having used up not only all four of the fitted ink cartridges but also the entire content of the replacement blue cartridge we had in stock. Which meant that we couldn't finish the print job that night. (We actually also needed more paper, but that was less of an issue.)

So on Sunday morning I went out to PC World bright and early. And, luckily, they still stock the required cartridges. (It's now a very old printer, so that's becoming less certain each time.) Huzzah!

This is necessary context for my two-part rant.

Firstly, I'm disgusted to find that PC World now have their ink cartridges fastened to the shelf with security tags - I wasn't able to select the item I wanted, take it to the till, and proceed to pay; instead I had to find an assistant, get them to get the item for me, and then take that to the till to pay.

The big problem with that is what it says about PC World's assessment of their customers. Apparently, their baseline assumption is that we'll steal those cartridges if they're not locked down. Well, frankly, I don't like being treated like a thief. Find another way.

But, if we get right down to it, I can understand that measure. I guess they probably have been seeing a lot of ink getting stolen, and so have take counter-measures. Disgusting as it is, there's probably reason behind it.

Secondly, though, what is totally unacceptable is that there weren't any assistants available on the shop floor. I had to go to the till to find someone, in order to take them across to the ink cartridge I wanted, for them to then go get the required tool, in order to free up the ink cartridge, so that I can take it to the till and thus pay. All of which took about ten minutes for a process that should have taken seconds.

That's a joke, and a bad one at that. If you absolutely must lock down your stock so customers can't get it, then you absolutely must have staff on hand to get it for them. And those staff absolutely must have the required tool on hand to unlock those security tags.

(Though, also, there's a related rant: dear PDF vendors... printer-friendly PDFs, damnit!)

Interesting Times

I'm not hugely interested in the upcoming Scottish elections. Partly due to politics fatigue, partly because I no longer see any hope of a better society through politics, and partly because I think they're mostly a foregone conclusion - it's hard to see any outcome other than another SNP government, with only some small doubt over whether it will be another majority or a return to minority governance.

However, the one thing that does interest me somewhat is the question of what will happen with the Tories, the Lib Dems, and, especially, Labour.

Here's the thing: for a long time, Labour was the big party in Scotland. And part of that success (though by no means all) was due to them being the only viable alternative - for a long time, they could capitalise on the "anyone but the Tories" vote; this later shifted to the "anyone but the SNP" (which brought in a different group of tactical voters, but the result was much the same).

But the problem is that a tactical vote only works if the recipient looks like they have a chance of winning. Thus, the "anyone but the Tories" vote has now shifted pretty definitively to the SNP. And the "anyone but the SNP" argument no longer works, as Labour have just shown that they have no more ability to win against them than do the Tories or the Lib Dems - anyone who voted for Labour tactically might as well have voted for their real preferred party.

So, I wonder just what impact that might have. How many people have tactically voted Labour in the past in order to cut out the SNP? And how many of those voters, seeing now that it won't make much difference, will instead swing back to their preferred Tories or Lib Dems?

(I suppose there's still a chunk of anti-Tory voters who are also anti-independence, who might therefore still tactically vote Labour to try to keep both Tories and SNP out. Though I wonder how many of those there truly are. I also wonder whether any such voters might be swayed by the knowledge that an SNP vote isn't a vote for independence - at the most, it's a vote for another referendum, where there's still a majority for staying.)

So that's a matter of some (fairly academic) interest to me: will Labour's vote hold, or will they now start to lose ground to the Tories? Have the Lib Dems hit bottom, or will the Alistair Carmichael fiasco hurt them still further?

Oh, and if Labour do continue to slide, will Kezia Dugdale be forced to resign, leading to another new leader, or will Labour stick with her as the best available option? But I guess that one depends on just what Labour do with their list nominees, and so depends on who is available as a potential successor.

Update on Goals

And so we near the end of October, and it's time for the penultimate update on goals. The next update will come with the end-of-year round-up.

• Weight: Some more, slight, progress. I won't reach my target with this goal, but at least I should end the year having lost some weight.
• Books: By day 300 I should by rights be at 49.3 books read. I'm currently reading book 52, so I'm still well ahead on that one. I'm also up-to-date on all the sub-lists, and indeed have finished two! The question now is less whether I'll reach the goal, but rather how many books I'll exceed it by, but we'll find that out at the end of December!
• Games: As I suggested in my previous update, I'm essentially caught up on this goal, largely by virtue of starting a second campaign. I now have seven Firefly "Lost Episodes" run and two sessions of "Eberron: Dust to Dust". I'm due to run the eighth Firefly "Lost Episode", "Bucking the Tiger", tonight, which will bring me back on target. Huzzah!
• Work: This is back to progressing at a reasonable pace, which is good.
• Band: Done.
• Super Secret Goal #4: This has had some movement, but has proven to be a bit tricky. In particular, it looks like we won't be starting the move process 'properly' until early next year, with a likely move some time around Easter. That's not terrible. What is less good is some of the news that came out of a recent meeting, but I can't really blog about that until all this is done.
• Experimental Cookery: By this point I 'should' be at 42.7 entries in this series for the year. As I've now done 43, I'm pretty much on target. So I'm hopeful that this one will hit the goal.
• The Imaginarium: As with the "books" target, I should be at 49.3 entries by this point of the year. I'm currently at 52, so, once again, I'm ahead of target, and fully expect to meet this target with some ease.

So that's that. Things are now looking considerably better than they have before - four goals are now at or ahead of target, with a fifth set to catch up tonight. One goal is actually complete. Two goals clearly won't be completed this year, although one of those isn't unexpected (and we will have made some very significant progress towards it). Only the weight goal remains an issue, and I do expect to end the year having at least made some progress. Assuming, that is, the last 65 days work out as hoped...

Experimental Cookery 2015 #43: Thai Green Chicken Curry

For this week's effort I'm revisiting a curry I actually did earlier in the year, but again using a different method: this one comes from the Hairy Bikers' "Great Curries". That's a book I like looking at, but there is actually very little that grabs me as a must-cook.

This was quick and easy to put together, especially once I'd got all the ingredients washed, trimmed and otherwise ready. Then it was just a matter of adding them to the wok in the right order.

The resulting meal was very nice, and was by far the best of the three versions so far - it wasn't so over-poweringly hot as Jamie's version, and also benefitted from a made sauce rather than a bought one, putting it ahead of Lorraine's version. So I expect this to be my go-to version from now on.

The End of the Union

I'm actually in favour of English Votes for English laws, at least in principle. It is, actually, dead right that politicians from England should be the ones to decide policy on matters that don't affect Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, just as the devolved assemblies deal with devolved matters here (and there).

But there's a big problem with EVEL as it is being implemented. Actually, there are two.

The first big problem is that there are very few truly English-only matters. Because of the way funding in the UK is determined, any change made to (say) the NHS in England has a direct effect on Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland - if the budget is cut there, the badget is similarly reduced here. Likewise education, likewise policing, and so on and so forth.

That's not an insurmountable problem by any means. There are a couple of fairly simple solutions: they could reform the Barnett Formula so that those knock-on effects don't happen; or they could split decisions about allocating the money (UK matters) from those on spending the money (England-only).

Naturally, they're not doing that. Instead, Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish MPs are going to be excluded from votes that have critically important consequences for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Our budgets are going to be determined in votes on which our voices are entirely excluded.

Which ties in to the second problem.

As a consequence of EVEL, it is now effectively impossible for an MP from a Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish constituency to ever again be Prime Minister, Chancellor, Home Secretary, or indeed most of the other "great offices of state". The Foreign Office remains open and the now-vestigal Offices for the three other nations, but that's about it. (And, for the same reason, they couldn't be leader of any party with serious ambitions of forming a future government.) Of course, there's no legal impediment, but as a practical matter it would be unthinkable to have a PM leading a government who was himself barred from voting on most of that government's policies.

Having formally lost any input into the budgets that so crucially affect their constituents, and having practically been barred from high office, Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish MPs are now second-class citizens in Westminster. They're not equals; they're there to make up the numbers.

And with that, this is no longer a union of equals. As of now, Scotland is a colony.

(Incidentally, the was EVEL should have been implemented is as follows: set up one or more English assemblies, whether for England as whole or for different regions, that would then deal with local matters. Then replace the House of Lords with an upper house that deals with UK-wide matters - each regional assembly would send a number of representatives to the UK body, which would be responsible for oversight, setting the budget, and dealing with any international matters. That would have given us a nice, modern solution, would actually have been a nice, stable arrangement, and it might actually have led to the union enduring long-term. As it is, we've got a badly-considered fudge, and the clock is ticking.)

Downgraded

Unfortunately, as a consequence of another disappointing season the band have been downgraded back to Grade 4B - the lowest 'adult' grade. Even worse, due to a quirk in the system this is actually the hardest grade to get back out of - because it's the grade for "everyone else", it's difficult for any one band to stand out from the crowd.

Still, it's a fair reflection of the way the band has been playing. Indeed, one might argue that we should never have been moved up in the first place - in the year we went up, we actually missed out on doing so on merit by a single place. The deciding factor was that we'd recruited a bunch of new players from a higher grade, pushing us up. But when it came to it, almost all of those new players were no-shows, which meant we didn't actually get the benefit. So, really, we were always a little higher than we perhaps should have been.

Anyway, we did briefly consider appealing the decision, because again we're expecting several new players to join the band in the near future. But that has changed again - our lead drummer from last year has decided to leave (apparently, he'd been wanting out for some time, but didn't want to let us down), while some of those newer drummers have chosen to go elsewhere.

So Grade 4B it is. Which, in theory, should mean that next season is a bit more relaxed. But, on the other hand, I think there's likely to be a big push to get back up again, so maybe not...

Welcome Back Marty McFly!

Now, where's my hoverboard?

Yes, today is "Back to the Future Day" - the date in the far future to which Marty and Doc Brown travel in BttF2. (For real this time. There have been plenty of hoaxes along the way.)

Although, if we're being really technical about it, he arrives at 4:29pm on the 21st, in California. With an eight-hour time difference between the UK and that part of the US, then, that actually means the key moment is actually very early tomorrow. Which is, of course, heavy.

It's always weird when we reach the dates associated with "far future" films: there was Judgement Day (Aug 29, 1997), and then 2001 (of course), and then "Transformers: the Movie" ("The year is two thousand and five..."), and now this. It's almost as if time passes...

Batman's Secret Identity

Superman regularly gets a lot of shit for maintaining a 'secret' identity that amounts to wearing glasses, combing his hair differently, and stooping a bit, but I'm really not convinced Batman's cover is really any better.

Seriously, we're looking for someone who:

1. Lives within an easy drive of Gotham city centre.
2. Can treat millions of dollars not merely as disposable income, but so trivially that he doesn't even need to consider throwing it away.
3. Has a sizeable period in his bio where he was off the grid - the time he was away learning all those martial arts he knows.
4. Regularly appears to be suffering significant physical injuries, perhaps from some sort of extreme sports.

There aren't all that many people worldwide who fit any of those criteria. The list of people who fit them all has one entry on it.

The only reason Batman isn't unmasked immediately is that the police in Gotham fall into one of two camps: those corrupt to the point of uselessness, and those honest coppers who don't want Batman unmasked because he's an ally (that is, Jim Gordon).

Experimental Cookery 2015 #42: Meaty Bolognese Sauce

This week's experimental cookery was an alternate take on a Bolognese sauce - I have been using Jamie's version for some time, but I did find that the Hairy Dieter's chilli con carne was a better version than Jamie's, so it made sense to at least try their Bolognese. This one came from their first book (the white cover).

In truth, it was a mistake to cook this up on a weeknight - it took about forty minutes before everything was in the pot and simmering, and then a further hour simmering. Had I realised this, I would either not have bothered or would have made very sure to get started on it the moment I got home, rather than making today's lunch first.

The end result was nice... but not any better than Jamie's version. That being the case, we'll be sticking with that, unless and until I try another alternative.

Holiday in a Parallel Dimension

Last week was the October break for the schools up here (or, at least, the one where LC works), and as a consequence I took a much-needed break. It's been a long time since the last one! We spent a few days at home getting caught up on things, but then went up to Fort William from Wednesday until Saturday.

Our expectation had been that the weather would most likely be fairly grim, this being Scotland in October, but in fact it was absolutely ideal - wall-to-wall sunshine, barely a cloud in the sky, and although there was some fog most days it soon burnt off. In hindsight, that should have been a clue...

We were staying in the Premier Inn in Fort William, largely because we needed somewhere to stay and at least with them you know what you're getting. Plus, the breakfast is pretty legendary. And so, when I checked us in on Monday I also took the opportunity to order breakfasts for each morning. Which was fine, but gave rise to the second clue.

On arrival at breakfast on Thursday, I happened to glance at the sign-in sheet to discover something rather odd: I was listed as Rev S. Vader (or, you know, my actual surname). Which was odd and surprising, since I had checked in via the website, had made sure to get the details right, and the computer really shouldn't have gotten confused by this - human error would be understandable, but not from a computer. (And, yes, since getting home I have checked that my details are indeed correct on my account on their website.)

So, something was very odd.

And then there was the third clue. As you know, I don't talk about my work here (mostly), and there are quite a lot of things I simply can't talk about here. However, there is a bit of software that I wrote that is installed worldwide and is actually widely used. I can't say what it is, of course, but the nature of the thing is that you've probably used it, and you probably never gave it a moment's thought. (Which sounds a lot more mysterious than it really is. Just because I can't talk about it publicly doesn't mean it's necessarily interesting, you understand!)

Anyway, near the hotel was a site that I would normally expect to find my software in use. So, we went over and took a look... and they didn't have it. Nor, indeed, did they have the competitor's kit installed either. Instead, they were managing without a system at all, using seriously old-school manual techniques!

Honestly, it was like going back in time. Or...

And that was when I realised the truth: somehow, probably while passing through Glencoe, we had slipped into a parallel dimension, into a realm where I had entered the ministry rather than becoming a software engineer! Truly, it was the only possible explanation that made sense!

(Rather depressingly, it also seemed to be a rather better world, what with the better weather, the happier people, and the more relaxed way of life. Even the beer tasted better. Oh well.)

The rest of the holiday was good, too. We travelled on the steam train to Mallaig, which was fun, and we went up to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness (alas, the monster doesn't exist in that dimension; at least here we still have some wonders!).

Then, on Saturday, and before returning to this dimension, we went for a walk in the countryside near Fort William. Now, LC had looked this one up, and said that it was a short drive - two miles out of FW to a single-track road, and then another mile along said single-track road to the car park.

So we set off, left Fort William, and then we drove. And we drove, and we drove, and we drove, and we drove, and we drove, and we drove... And then we had to carefully navigate the car around some highland cattle who had blocked the main road (but had considerately left the passing place clear). And we drove, and we drove, and we drove, and we drove... And finally we reached the single-track road. Then we drove, and we drove, and we drove, and we drove, and we dodged some sheep, and we drove, and we drove, and we drove... and then we reached the car park. Huzzah!

Anyway, we then changed into our walking boots (which proved to be a good idea) and then we went for our walk, which took us to the Steall waterfall. Which was lovely, but did involve crossing a bridge made out of a couple of bits of wire suspended above a long drop. (I may upload a picture later, if we have one that's suitably terrifying.) Still, we survived that, though on the return we did elect to ford the river instead rather than recross the bridge.

And that was the holiday. We then returned to the car, drove back to Fort William (which was, oddly, much shorter going back), and had a quick lunch, and then drove back through the dimensional rift and home. And all is well.

Oh. Then I baked some scones for the guys at work. Those were nice.

A Really Quick One About the Rugby

If it didn't hurt, it wouldn't be Scotland. And that's all I have to say about that.

Experimental Cookery 2015 #41: Spanish-style Chicken Bake

I meant to post this before disappearing off on holiday, but didn't quite find the time. And so it appears now, somewhat delayed by my venture into a parallel dimension (but more on that in another post). This experimental cookery came from the first Hairy Dieters book (the white cover).

This meal was almost ridiculously quick and easy to prepare, though it did involve three twenty-minute bake stages, each of which had just a minute or two of work beforehand as things were arranged, turned, or added to the pan.

The end result was a very nice, and surprisingly filling, meal, and one that I'm sure we'll have again.

And that's about all I have to say about that - there's as little to say about this meal as there was effort in its preparation.

#50: "D&D: Out of the Abyss", by Wizards of the Coast
#51: "Wars of the Roses: Trinity", by Conn Iggulden

The Haka

I just watched the start of Scotland's Rugby World Cup match against Western Samoa, and more specifically the two national anthems followed by the Samoan's Siva Tau (their equivalent of the better-known Haka). And it does occur to me that something is a little out of joint here.

See, the Haka and its equivalents are just being treated as a little local colour to the events. And I agree that they're no bad thing in themselves. However, they are also descended from the warrior traditions of those regions, where they would be performed before battle, for the dual purpose of firing up one side while trying to demoralise the other. Hence the chanting, the shouting, the gurning, and the staring.

So one side performing a Haka while the other does not is surely an unfair advantage? (And it's not as if New Zealand, in particular, need any more advantages!)

So perhaps Scotland, when we come up against a team performing a Haka, Siva Tau, or similar should respond by painting the faces blue, while the team captain strides back and forth giving Mad Mel's "Freedom!" speech from Braveheart?

(And England, not to be outdone, should use the St. Crispin's Day speech from "Henry V". Which, frankly, is even better.)

Inglorious Failure

And so it's all over. Last night Scotland played Poland in their penultimate qualifying match, while the Republic of Ireland played Germany. The assumption was that Germany would beat RoI, meaning that if Scotland could just beat Poland then we'd only need to beat Gibraltar on Sunday and we'd be third in the group - and get at least a play-off place.

Naturally, therefore, we went and conceded a goal in the third minute of the match. And then, having somehow (and probably undeservedly) managed to turn the match around, we then managed to lose a second goal with the last kick of the game, and so snatched a crushing 2-2 draw from the jaws of victory.

Though it didn't really matter. The Republic of Ireland managed a surprise win over Germany, meaning that it was out of our hands anyway - even a victory would have left us relying on RoI also beating Poland in their last match (in Poland). Which isn't impossible, but seems unlikely - especially since this is Scotland we're talking about.

But let's face it: the RoI result is an irrelevance. The damage was done by our utter failure to defend a (pretty poor) free kick in the last few seconds of the game last night, and also, most especially, in our failure in Georgia. Those failures cost us five points, and the difference between second in the group and a poor fourth.

So where do we go from here?

Well, I suspect there's likely to be a clamour for a new manager, and indeed the pundits on the radio last night seemed to think that Gordon Strachan might well choose to walk away himself at this point. But I really hope that that doesn't happen, and that he chooses to stay on.

Because the truth is that Scotland were abject under our previous two managers, and GS had actually worked wonders in turning them around. And while this campaign ended in a poor failure, it has actually been a vast improvement over what went before - Scotland actually had the dubious distinction of being the first team who couldn't qualify for Brazil 2014, so to keep our challenge alive until the second-last game is a big step forward.

(And, anyway, it's not like there is a long list of potential successors. Again, the usual question: if you get rid of the manager, who do you get in his place who would be better? I can't see any answer to that.)

So I very much hope GS stays on to continue the job. I do wish, though, that I could say I was hopeful that next time would be different... but I'm just not. Simply put, we don't have, and aren't producing, players of the quality required in the numbers that are required. I'm not sure there is any manager who could take us to Russia 2018.

Maybe we really should start lobbying for the amalgamation of the various leagues in the UK, and the institution then of a true UK football team. After all, if Scotland isn't going to be independent, then we're one country. And if we're one country, why do we have four teams?

(Depressingly, in order to find the link for that post, I read back through my posts tagged 'football' only to find that I predicted we'd miss Euro 2016 way back in 2010. Sometimes, I hate being right.)

Experimental Cookery 2015 #40: Italian Meatballs with Chunky Tomato Sauce

This week's meal comes from the first "Hairy Dieters" book (the white cover). It was fairly simple: meatballs in tomato sauce isn't exactly a challenge! But it was a little odd grating up some carrot to bulk out the meatballs.

Still, it was simple and pretty quick, and the end result was nice. I don't think this book has let us down, certainly not very often. So, a success. (Still, I think I might stick to other meatball mixes in future - these were nice, but the carrot wasn't entirely convincing.)

(And, yes, this meal does put me a day behind schedule. Oddly, I'm not hugely worried about that!)

#48: "Pathfinder: Turn of the Torrent", by Mike Shel
#49: "Beyond the Pool of Stars", by Howard Andrew Jones

Memoirs of a Geisha

Last night, I finished reading "Memoirs of a Geisha". I had previously seen the film, just over a decade ago, which I found to be difficult viewing - it's a happy, romantic film about child abuse and prostitution, which really doesn't sit well. So I was curious to see how (or if) the book differed.

And the answer is it didn't, much. The plot-line of the book was essentially the same, and although the book was longer and therefore more detailed, a lot of that detail was actually conveyed quite effectively in the film - if you give a loving and detailed description of something in a book, this can be translated to film in seconds simply by showing the thing itself, which they did.

So, the book was well-written and presented, in the same way that the film was well made and acted. But it still remained a happy, romantic story about how a young girl was abused and then had her virginity sold to the highest bidder. Which remains more than a little problematic.

#47: "Memoirs of a Geisha", by Arthur Golden (a book from The List)

Woes

It has been a difficult few days. Not absurdly so, I should point out - I'm conscious that with all the terrible things going on in the world this barely rates, but still harder than usual. And, naturally, things have decided to go wrong in unison rather than sequentially.

Teeth

In the run-up to my six-monthly check-up I was very worried about my teeth, to the point where I actually feared some of them would be coming out in short order. These fears were essentially dispelled at the check-up, where in fact they were given a clean bill of health. Which was good news, if rather surprising.

Then, last Friday, I bit into a slice of birthday cake and suddenly found myself in significant pain, pain that was then renewed when I bit into my lunchtime apple on Monday. Not good. So yesterday I went back to the dentist and explained the issue...

and there's still very little to see. The dentist did apply something to try to deal with any jangling nerve-endings, but it does seem that things are, actually, basically okay. Still, a stress I could really have done without. Because...

Internet

Our internet stopped working on Monday for no apparent reason. After trying a few things, I concluded that it was probably the router, but by then it was too late to go out and get a new one. So on Tuesday I did just that. But, time being tight, I didn't get a chance to try it until last night.

Surprisingly, the new router made no difference whatsoever to the issue. This is perhaps not the worst thing, since it means we haven't lost another router in fairly quick succession (they seem to last two years, if we're lucky). But it still didn't answer the question.

So I called tech support, and spent in excess of an hour on the phone while the agent worked through his on-screen trouble-shooting process. Painfully. Slowly. (Seriously, he seemed like a nice guy and all, but I really wanted just to shout "Get On With It!" I don't need a lengthy explanation of the test you're about to run - just run the test already!)

Anyway, at the end of all that we didn't get our internet fixed. Grr. We have an engineer booked to come out on Saturday. Though I may just have hit on the solution this morning - unfortunately, I needed the internet to investigate whether my idea might be right.

Shower

We've also had a small problem with our shower, in that some of the plastic fittings in the "riser rail" were cracked. The rail therefore needed replaced. So we ordered the appropriate kit, which arrived on Tuesday. So far, so good.

Alas, while fitting the new kit LC discovered that one of the parts was not quite what we needed. Annoyingly, finding any indication of the exact part we actually need has proven insanely hard. Eventually, we'll have to photograph what we have, what we need, and email customer services. Once the internet is working again...

(In the interim, we do at least have a working shower - the old parts are still useable, if not great and not going to last. Still, annoying.)

The House Move

Perhaps the biggest stress, though, relates to the house move, which is proceeding apace. We had someone visit to discuss some of the factors involved on Saturday, and while I can't discuss the outcomes of that here (until the move is complete, at least), it does mean that our plans are having to change, possibly quite significantly.

Which is okay; it just means that the process isn't going to be as smooth as I'd (maybe foolishly) hoped, and that it's probably going to take a good bit longer than I think LC had hoped.

But one more annoyance I didn't want to deal with, on top of a bunch of other annoyances I don't want to deal with.