Tuesday 20 December 2016

The amazing Thermapen – even if I need to research a bit on changing the scale from ºC to ºF…click the pic to get yours at a bargain price!

ANOTHER day in Glasgow.

I drop Margaret off then go to my usual McDonalds stop for wifi and coffee to get some work done. Artwork and posters for the Glasgow show on 10 February and also the newly booked Edinburgh show at the Voodoo Rooms on Thursday 2 February. Then some Facebook events and other promo stuff.

Next stop is Costco to get some photos printed off a USB stick. I put them in there system then make my way to the west end to pick up a  Christmas present before heading to the STUC building in Woodlands Road.

Lisa is leaving the MU (Musicians’ Union) office and they;re having a wee ‘do’ to say cheerio. I spend an hour or so chatting to my pals there and wish Lisa well. She’s not going far, though, so I;m sure our paths will continue to cross 🙂

I pick up Margaret and we go back to Costco to pick up the photo prints and a turkey which will need (dry) brined tomorrow and allowed to sit in the fridge for a day or two before the cranberry rub is applied 24 hours before ‘the big smoke’.

We drop off the Christmas present I picked up earlier and we head home. 

The Thermapen food thermometer I ordered the other day has arrived. Imagine being excited about a food thermometer!!!! I have my remote food and pit temperature probes, but really need a separate thermometer to double check the food is ready…and, just as importantly, not overcooked – especially for the turkey on Christmas day.

The Thermapen is generally accepted to be the best and available at a bargain price on Amazon but nothing in the instructions tell me how to change the reading from ºC to ºF. There’s a series of dip switched in the battery compartment (once we manage to get the bloody thing open) – according to the instructions, switch 1 is unused…but an online search tells me this is the one to try. It works. I fire an email of to Thermapen asking why they don’t include this in their instructions….

Initial frustrations aside, this is the thermometer to buy – if you don’t have one, check ’em out on Amazon here.

Margaret makes some dinner and we chill for a while. Im still full of the cold so pour myself a stiff dram, make a lemsip and go to bed. Early(-ish) night.

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Saturday 6 August 2016

One of my photos from the Three Lochs Rally – click the pic to find out more and see my photo gallery at G63.scot

One of my photos from the Three Lochs Rally – click the pic to find out more and see my photo gallery at G63.scot

THE alarm goes off at 7am and I shuffle through to the living room to check the weather. It’s cloudy 🙁

A quick check of the onljne weather forecasts and I see it’s gonna be overcast all day – so no point in heading into Glasgow to do the photo job I’d hoped to get done.

I’m still feeling crap – all blocked up, coughing, sneezing and spluttering – so might not have been the most productive photo shoot. Back to bed for another hour or two.

I have some merch orders that need sent out today so while Margret sorts breakfast I drive down to the post office in the village.

I pass a few vintage cars on the road and remember someone mentioned a rally at another local village, so after breakfast I grab the camera and head out to take some snaps for a wee photo feature at G63.scot

Back home I find my laptop hard drive is full. Again.

I archive a bunch of stuff to free up some memory and make a note to try and organise all the backups and archives when I have time then select some images and do a wee write up for the local news/features website.

I’ve been meaning to create some kind of floating button on my website to link to my daily blog (the one you’re reading right now!) for ages…I make up a wee graphic and tinker with some .php code and manage to make it happen – doesn’t work very on mobile devices tho’…needs more investigation.

We’re hosting the local book club tonight so while Margaret’s busy in the kitchen creating a range of snacks I tidy up and we wait for our guests to arrive.

There’s some discussion round the book we’ve read – Alan Cumming’s Not My Father’s Son – before the next book is selected (Elephant Moon) and a date and place in the diary for our next meet. Of course these book club nights are as much about wine and food as they are ‘the book’ – and we chat about all sorts of stuff. Arthur’s brought a bottle of malt which the pair of us manage to finish by the end of the night.

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