General: new Kitchen–week 3

After the hectic activity of the last couple of weeks in the kitchen, this week seemed quite relaxed pace, although it seems they are pulling things apart again!

We had tested out the washing machine thoroughly over the weekend and it definately works :)  It is surprising how much we take our modern conviniences for granted these days !     We also noticed one ceiling light wasn't working, so emailed Jonathan who responded within the hour (which was good) to say they thought a bulb had gone so were ordering one and would be in by the end of the week.   I thought was just weird, as there is a specialist light shop four doors up from them, or if they were too expenseive they would have to drive past Homebase to get to us and am wondering why they are having to order a light bulb from their supplier! Still, it's not a biggie just seemed a bit odd to me.

We had the tilers turn up on Monday morning, they had a lunch break and left around 5pm, but had completed the wall tiles and grouting and laid most of the floor tiles.  They came back Tuesday morning for an hour or so to finish laying the floor tiles, then came back for a couple of hours in the afternoon to do the grouting and they were done already !   We're pleased with the results so far, but now the finish is in sight, starting to get impatient for it to be all done and dusted now.

The tilers were scheduled to take three days, so not expecting anyone in on Wednesday.

Thursday sees the painting get underway and also fitting the radiator.   It takes most of the day for the two chaps to cover all the worksurfaces, cupboards, floor, etc but eventually start painting about 3pm.   There also seems to be a bit missing from the radiator, but they just asked for the order details and called up the supplier to sort it out.   They then went off at 3:45pm after giving ceiling first coat, so they're having an easy day today it seems.

Friday and the painting is underway again.   After a solid day’s work the two chaps have managed to finish the painting and we’ve got our kitchen back again

So at the end of week 3, the kitchen is finished on schedule – right ? Errrrr, No !

The fitter needs to come back again to finish off the cupboards and fit the tumble dryer and fridge/freezer, then the builders need to come back to finish off the brickwork, box in the pipes and fit the radiator “widget”

So we are now pretty close to being totally finished, but of course being a bank holiday weekend we have just got to be a bit patient over the three days, then things should be finished off Tuesday afternoon by the fitter and whenever the radiator widget turns up by the builders…… at least we should be able to “move in” again on Wednesday….  fingers crossed !

The good news is that Lynn is pleased with the results and says it looks bigger and brighter

Can start to think about buying the new kettle, toaster, chairs, etc now…..

Poker: SCOOP-37 (6 Max NL Hold’em, low stakes) report

This is my 4th and final attempt at this years SCOOP events.     After last nights failure to make any impact, I’m hopeful a return to No Limit Hold’em will see a bit more of an effort on my part

It’s kicking off at a very reasonable 3pm UK time, so means I can watch the Spanish Grand Prix beforehand

Its $200’000 Guaranteed and with 10’000 chips to start and 15 minute clock, will be a very interesting game and hard slog I’m sure.  It’s really galling but there is a 3 hour extended registration, so won’t even know how many players there are until 6pm !!  Really don’t like that, but never mind…

On the 3pm kickoff we start with 10’102 players and I suddenly notice it’s a 2 day event !   Oh well, it might not be a problem anyway…

I’ve been a bit up and down, and moved tables 3 times in first 15 mins, but it stabilised out and at the first break there are 12’478 entries and I’m 2078 out of 10’309 remaining, with 15’746 chips against 12’075 average.

Halfway through  next session, got K-K on button and raised,  SB re-raised and BB called, so 4 bet and only SB called.    Flop came 8-4-2 and SB who has about pot left in his stack chk/raised all-in so I called and sure enough he had AA !  I’m down to around 6k now

I didn’t stage an immediate recovery, so on 2nd break, there are15’386 entries and I’m 8889th from 9408 remaining with 4690 chips and 16’307 average.  With blinds at 250/125 and 30 ante, my M=8.5 so can’t afford to hang around too long before getting stuck in!

Soon after the break I get 2-2 in BB and see standard raise and a caller, so decide good chance I might get both to fold or if called to be flipping… so shoved.  In the end the initial raised folded, but caller had Q-Q   The Q on the flop was not really needed so the 2 on the river didn’t help and I’m out in 9’368th place out of 15’673 runners.

I didn’t play too badly, but running my KK into AA really crippled me, so was always struggling after that,  needing to double up to get back to a comfortable position.    

Overall my SCOOP didn’t go as planned at all, as couldn’t find the satellites into the middle stakes games that I really wanted to play, and with the games themselves being re-buys seemed to be a lot of wilder play than you would expect in freezeouts.    I’m quite pleased with my NL HE heads up game, and reasonably contented with the cash in my 8 game effort, just a bit unfortunate I didn’t win more than I laid out…  

Hopefully when the WCOOP comes along later in the year (assuming there is one!) things will have settled down and the organizers will be more organized and I’ll be more organized so will be able to satellite into the bigger events as intended this time round.  (Last time I played WCOOP was good result, so roll on September )

Poker: SCOOP-36 (HORSE, low stakes) report

It’s time for another pop at a SCOOP game, this time HORSE.   After my 8 Game min-cash, it would be nice to make the money again…

Its $25’000 Guaranteed and starts with  with 1247 runners, but again has 2 hours registration after it’s kicked off and again they’re running satellites that kick off up to 1 minute before the official start time….

We have 5’000 chips to start and 8 minute clock, so can sit back, relax, watch Saturday night TV as normal and play Poker… great stuff

First break there are 2277 entrants, and I’m 2073rd of 2239 remaining, with 2581 chips (avg 5075) so not a great start for me.   Haven’t been playing all that badly, just not been hitting the cards and there are so many players going to river you need a hand in order to win it !   Hope my cards get better in the next session….

Not long after the break I get a bad run of good cards and end up out in 2337th place with 2412 entrants.      Real shame as I didn’t think I was playing poorly, just got a bit unlucky (mind you, I probably would think that even if  I played like a pansy )   Oh well, at least I’ve finished early enough to have a few drinks now and relax for the evening.

I’ve got another shot at SCOOP glory tomorrow, so can look forward to that now.

Poker: SCOOP-29 (8 Game, low stakes) report

My first SCOOP event was nearly a cash for me, but 8 game is a different kettle of fish….  (hopefully there will be a lot of fish )

I tried to satellite in using my points, but with one turbo and 2 hyper turbo attempts was not lucky enough to win my seat, so had to fork out to enter!!

I was a little disappointed to see the event become a 2 hour rebuy, rather than a freeze out, but with $50’000 Guarantee and only 879 players at the allotted kick off time, I can see why they decided to do it…. in fact, so desperate to get players loaded up, they were even kicking off several Satellite games 2 mins before the start time !!

We start with 5’000 chips and 8 minute clock, so no hurry to start with at least..

I take it steady and no big drama’s (apart from moving tables 3 times in about 15 mins!)  On the NL Hold’em round I’m in SB and button raises to 250 so I fold my QJo but BB calls.  I’m gutted to see K-T-9 flop, then the BB check/raises all-in and the button calls and shows A-A vs A-2 !     Dammit, would’ve nearly tripled up had I called (did think about it, but did make right choice of course….)

At the first break, I’m 158th from 1539 players left (1652 entrants) with 8017 chips and 5355 average, so not too bad so far

Second break I’ve had a reasonable run… so am now 72nd from 1513 runners (2073 entries) and have 14’104 chips against 6844 average.

The buy-ins stopped just after 2nd break and we have total of 2100 runners, giving $63’000 prize pool ($9900 for first place) paying down to 300th place

Playing un-imaginative poker but hitting hands… had great hand in Omaha HiLo and now at third break am 16th from 846 remaining.   32’844 chips against 12’411 average

NL Holdem round, got a bit lucky with 9-9 against J-J, then next hand lost 4-4 vA-Q against shorty stack and then 5-5 vs 7-6 short stack, so back to where I was   Blinds going up and had couple of bad hands on 72 triple draw… down to average chips (appx 20k)  Have better Omaha HiLo round and so on 4th break am 110th from 423 and 33’998 chips with average 24’822

Doing OK, got up to about 55k but then mistakes and missed draws start getting expensive and am pleased to get into the money with around 48k  

5th break sees me 105th out of 250 remaining and 43k chips just above 42k average.   $52.92 guaranteed now

On restart I get a run of poor cards in Limit Holdem where my A-K vs 5-3s gets trashed then my A-T vs 9-8s gets rivered and with 4 BB left decide to stick it in with A-4 to find myself against A-6 (which hits trip 6’s on the turn!)

So my run has ended   finishing in 216th place and got $61.11 for my trouble.

I’m pleased to have cashed, but a little disappointed to have nose dived so rapidly from an average stack to nothing.   Did feel I got a bit unlucky in the end, so will take comfort from feeling I played well as I could.

Will have a bit of a rest tomorrow, then have a pop at the HORSE game Saturday

Music: Katy Perry and Kate Bush

What do Katy Perry and Kate Bush have in common ?

So far as I know nothing, other than similar first name and that I bought their CDs on Monday    (I seem to be buying a lot of Female Solo artists recently… must be my age or something)

Katy Perry : Teenage Dreams

What can I say about Katy Perry’s album ?  Well,  I was already familiar with 4 of the 12 tracks, so the album was exactly what I had anticipated…. a good pop album with catchy tunes and a little edge to some of the tracks, so happy with this one and if you like Katy Perry then you’ll like the album

Kate Bush: Directors Cut

I like Kate Bush and am old enough to remember seeing her on Top Of The Tops.   I knew this album was essentially a remix of some tracks from “The Sensual World” and" “The Red Shoes” albums, but have not previously heard either so was all new to me.    

All the tracks are well produced, well played and well sung (as you would expect) but was actually quite disappointed with the album.   For me it lacks the drama and sparkle of the songs I remember and the albums I have (The Whole Story and Lionheart)

I’m sure it will be a big hit with Kate die hard fans, but for casual acquaintances like me, I wish I had waited to hear some of the tracks and read reviews before buying it……

Gadgets: new Phone–Samsung Galaxy Ace

I’ve been thinking about getting a new phone for a while now, so whilst out shopping saw a special offer on the Samsung Galaxy Ace and so went for it !

The main attractions for me where actually to firstly use as a music player… my 20GB iPod is bulky, heavy and no longer enough capacity… plus also really want to get Sat Nav functionality for on foot and in car use.    For a very reasonable monthly rate (special deal for existing Virgin Media customers) the Galaxy Ace seems to give me this, as well as basic phone use as well of course (always seems to be forgotten with smart phones these days!)

Like most Techy’s, I got the phone home and downloaded the use manual and quick start guide from the internet, then just sat and fiddled with the phone without reading the instructions     As you would expect, everything is simple enough, although did have some weird issue setting up a google account (needed for most of the useful functionality!)  but this was solved by a quick visit to google web site from the laptop.   I also had problem with installing Blogger App, in that it refuses to install but I’m not too fussed about that at this stage.    Otherwise everything else was setup easily and seems to work fine so far.   

The syncing between PC and Phone is easy as well, but although the Samsung Kies software used for this is easy enough  (being an iTunes clone)  it is a bit kluncy and seems to take forever to read my network drives (where all my media is stored)   Guess will have to live with that

My only concern is from a security perspective… firstly I disabled the option to backup to Google as it stores not only my data, but also my secure network password, which seems a bit dodgy to me (call me paranoid, but don’t like that idea at all)   I also ummed and ahhed about enabling the location tracking option as not sure I want google to track my movements.   Was also a bit wary at first about allowing Apps access to my contacts, location information, write permission, system tools, etc… but seems all apps wants these permissions so you gotta go with the flow it seems.

Once I’d got everything installed and running, next thing is to order a 32GB card to store all my music and videos Got a 2GB card with the phone, but that just isn’t big enough!

I’m pretty much there now on the setup and will probably get around to reading the user manual sometime.     I’m pretty impressed so far by the mapping and navigation Apps and can’t wait to try them out for real.    The media and social networking apps will be useful for when I’m out and about and can even make phone calls as well

Holidays: Day trip to Brighton

As the forecast was for it to be warm and sunny on Monday, decided to go to Brighton for the day.

It didn’t rain, but was actually quite chilly, especially in the wind when the sun went behind a cloud!    Wasn’t warm enough to stay on the beach really, so ended up walking round The Lanes and trying to decide where to go for lunch. 

For lunch we ended up at the Twisted Lemon which was quite nice place and nice food, so would certainly say its worth a visit if you fancied Burger, Rib or Chicken for lunch.

After another walk about the shops and on the Pier we came home the pretty route and stopped at Petworth for a nice cup of tea on the way home

Very pleasant day out indeed

General : New Kitchen–week 2

After week one, we were keen to see something going back into the kitchen to get an idea what it would look like.  

The second week saw me with two days holiday so we could get out the way of all the banging and dust.   The fitter turned up on time and after we got him a cup of tea we went off to Brighton for the day.  The fitter was having a bit of a rest as well as he said he needed to leave at lunchtime

Tuesday we had a shopping day planned in Basingstoke so we (Lynn more than me) were a bit peeved that despite ringing at 9:25am to say he’d be half hour, the fitter didn’t turn up until 11am !   We had a good trip out, walked round all the shops, had a nice Pizza Hut buffet lunch (absolutely stuffed my face with pizza and pasta!) then waddled around a few more shops and signed up to my new mobile phone   The kitchen wasn’t looking much more than a building site still

Wednesday the fitter was working hard all day and we can start to see the shape of the kitchen emerging.  I was working from home all day and did get a little disturbed by the banging and sawing but not too bad.

Thursday saw a lot of progress and the cooker went in, so starting to get exciting!

Friday we had the Electricians back in the morning, followed by the fitter who worked until 7pm so was doing sterling work and got the sink in place as well now.  The exciting news is that the Cooker, Sink and even the Washing Machine are all ready now…. although we’ll probably only be using the washing machine over this weekend!!

Despite best efforts, the fitter is back Saturday to finish off…. although he turned up at 9:30am and didn’t leave until 6pm, so a long day of finishing off for him !   The result is for us to have a kitchen that looks like a kitchen now  

We also have the dishwasher ready for use now, so we can start getting back to normal now… although despite being told we can fill the draws and cupboards, we’re going to leave it until the kitchen is finished.   We’re kind of used to having our lives disrupted so not really worried by filling the kettle up from outside or the dust, but are glad things are coming together on schedule still and are looking forward to getting back to normal properly, which will hopefully be this time next week.

General: The Bird In Hand pub

Being forced to eat out more we went to The Bird In Hand pub in Little Sandhurst for lunch today.

Turned up at 12:30ish and found the restaurant area fully booked, but were able to eat in the bar.   We both went for the Sunday Turkey Roast.  It turned up pretty quick and was very nice and good portion size.    

Being in the bar was not ideal but not really a big deal, so taking into account the very reasonable price, was certainly good value for money and definitely worth going again.

Next time will need to book though, as the restaurant area is pretty small.

General: new Kitchen–part 1

Preparation

You would think buying a new kitchen would be a straightforward process, if you’re prepared to pay someone else to do it all… well it still takes some sweat and hassle, plus definitely a load of upheaval whilst it’s being fitted!

We first decided to get some quotes in November last year and had three kitchen companies come round to give us quotes.  Not having any real idea of what we wanted, neither in terms of layout nor colour schemes, make this a bit trickier than imagined… with most of our decisions being made on-the-fly with the designer.

In the end we decided to postpone the fitting until May, so the weather would be nicer, but had basically decided to go with the design from Oakwood Bespoke.   One of the attractions was that this company would be doing everything for us, as well as being the best design solution from our vague description of what we wanted!

Come March, we finally ordered our new kitchen for installation commencing 9th May.   First problem (once we had signed the order and handed over the deposit) was that Oakwood told us they couldn’t match the internet prices for the appliances we wanted so had to order them ourselves.   This was a bit irritating as I didn’t want the hassle/risk and was certainly under the impression Oakwood were going to do the ordering of everything for us.  

After a little moan, I ordered everything in plenty of time for the install date, but meant we had to clear out the garage about a month before in order to store everything as it arrived.  The only other slight concern pre-installation was having to pay the balance of the order a week before fitting.

For the appliances we need to buy, we ended up ordering:

Rangemaster Classic 90 Dual Fuel Range Cooker and hood from http://www.cookersandovens.co.uk/home.php

Smeg Fridge Freezer which we bought from http://www.appliancecity.co.uk/ 

Bosch Tumble Drier from http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/

Ascari Contemporary Radiator from http://www.traderadiators.com/

We didn’t have any issues with any of the company’s products or deliveries (although have only tested the Tumble Dryer so far!)   so that worked out OK it seems.    We are keeping our existing Bosch  Washing Machine and Dishwasher as we only bought them when we moved in 18 months ago.

The schedule of works to do the install is three weeks, week one stripping out and plastering, week two fitting cabinets, week three tiling and painting/finishing.   Three weeks of eating microwave meals, takeaways and eating out…. could be worse I suppose…

Week One

The first day of the installation duly arrived and we had cleared out the kitchen the weekend before.    We have got some breakfast cereal, bread, milk and fruit on our dinning room table which is now our larder and the kettle/tea/coffee setup on a table in the conservatory, along with as much keep fit gear as we could fit in.   The garage is the fitters storage area and the shed is full of our crockery, pot/pans, etc.   Washing up is achieved by filling a bowl from the outside tap… which is about the closest we want to get to a camping experience!

The first two days I was working normally in the office upstairs and we were adjusting our normal daily life to fit in with the builders OK, although had to dig out a few things from the boxes in the shed as we found we had been overzealous in packing away

The Wednesday I had taken as holiday and then worked from home at a friends house for the Thursday/Friday to keep away from the mess and noise as much as possible.   This worked very well, although was keen to get back that Saturday in some ways to see how the work was progressing.      We did get a call from Oakwood on Friday to say they couldn’t get hold of our wall tiles in time, so we would need to go back to Tile Warehouse to pick an alternative!     

On getting home on the Saturday, there was no need for worry as the house seemed intact and work looked like it was on track.   

There was a lot of dust about though so was nice to get out the house as much as possible over the weekend.   We went to the Tile Warehouse and found some identical tiles to the ones we originally ordered and they were in stock, so no real issue there either.

The only other negative experience so far is that they are dumping all the rubbish directly onto our driveway and will not be collected until the Kitchen is finished, so will be there three weeks ! 

So apart from a few minor niggles, everything seems on schedule and going to plan…. lets hope week two goes as smoothly.