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One of the cool things about where I work is that we sometimes get a random flypast of various different aircraft which is cool if you are like me and like planes. Last time it was Harriers and Spitfires. Today it was the Airbus A380. I went out onto the grass leading up to the start of the runway with some colleagues. The weather has been miserable all day with scattered downpours and dark clouds. Everyone was hoping that it would stay sunny long enough for a good view of the aircraft.

This is another panoramic image that I took while trying out my new tripod head. It was taken in April. I've fiddled with it to try to give it an 'older look' but it was mainly taken just to use my new tripod. I think if I was to take this again, I would get someone to pose in period farmer costume, maybe with one leg resting on the hoe and chewing a piece of straw. Anyone fancy dressing up for me?

It's been a while since I've updated so I thought I'd make an effort with this post.

Around the end of April I obtained a new panormic head and legs tripod combination for my camera to aid in taking panoramic shots so that they line up properly when you try to stitch the multitude of images together. I decided that I would head out in my car and look for anywhere interesting that I might try out my new 'toy'. The tripod needs setting up accurately for it to work properly so it was also an opportunity to test out the settings that I'd figured out to see how correct I'd managed to get them.

My brother Edd had his brain imaged as part of a study that he is involved in. He's added them to his site for others to look at. His brain looks 'wonky' and even though me and my other brother probably joshed him around a lot we didn't do anything that would deform his brain (I hope!). I wonder if all brains look 'wonky' when imaged and that the views we see on television have had the Photoshop treatment - the equivalent of the models in magazines getting airbrushed to make them look prettier.

The only downside to my bro's imaging is I have now lost the ability to insult him about having no brain - he can prove that he has (even if it does look slightly wonky ;-))!

Last weekend I visited one of my old friends from Uni down in Southampton. On the Sunday we decided we would go out for a drive and see where it took us. While looking for something that was listed on my atlas as an 'abandoned village' we came across an interesting looking ruin on top of a large hill. It took a while to find somewhere where we could park and gain access to what eventually turned out to be a folly.

I finally did it - took the plunge an bought a new printer. I wasn't sure it was going to work properly as my computer doesn't meet the minimum recommended specification for running it but it seems to be OK so far. (You know your computer is old when it doesn't meet the spec of a printer!) I spent most of yesterday playing and have used all but one of 4x6's you get in the test pack that comes with the printer in the box. I've been putting a different sort of picture on each one to see how different things come out on the print. There's a couple of black and white portraits, a couple of high colours and some other stuff.

It's been a weird day today. I was expecting a hard day at work due to various problems and fully expected to get shouted at over something that isn't really my fault but that I now have responsibility for. Instead there was no shouting but a lot of embarrassment.

Here she is: My new cat Nancy.

So it's officially New Year in the UK and the fireworks have almost finished. All today I've been reading articles in the weekend papers describing what people have been deciding will be their New Year's resolutions. It seems that everyone is making resolutions but me. I can't say I've ever made a New Year resolution. It just seems strange to make some sort of 'vow' to do something just because the number for the year has changed. Why would anyone think that it would be easier to keep your resolve to stick to something from New Year than from any other time in the year? According to what I've read it seems that most people break their resolution quickly anyway so what's the point? If your gonna try and do something to change your life just do it! Don't wait for some arbitrary designation of time to increment by one.

I don't think I understand.

I'm sitting in the arm chair at my parent's house and I appear to have survived Christmas relatively unscathed this year. My mother is currently probably somewhere on the road between Reading and Essex after taking my middle brother back up to his flat there; ready for work tomorrow. I took my youngest brother to the train station this morning so he could get his train back to his digs in London. My dad and uncle are both asleep in the living room and the only noises are the tapping of the keys of my parents laptop that I'm playing with and the occasional creaks as the cats change position on their chosen sleep furniture. One cat is wrapped around a soft toy which is on top of the radiator while the other is on top of a beanbag bought especially for cat use. Christmas this year has been surprisingly quiet and New Year will be quieter still. In fact Christmas hasn't really felt like Christmas at all this year. It's only really the faint hint of snow in the air that gives it away.