Month completed: July 2009

The three foods I hate, and chose to give a second chance to, were:

• Olives
• Blue Vein Cheese
• Vegemite on toast

Here’s how I went (there are several near-spews along the way):

Month completed: July 2009

Like any good Londoner, I now have a bike.

Like any very good Londoner, I now have a folding bike.

He is orange, and I have named him Banksy, after the iconic London artist/vandal, whose work I dig.

You like?

Here is what Banksy looks like, all folded up at home.

I love riding so much. It cuts down my travel time to work by more than half, and I can stop using public transport. Nat has a bike too, so we are going to start doing lots of weekend rides together – can’t wait!

Month completed: July 2009

This is the space in our new house that a TV should be.

However, since Nat and I moved into our new house a month ago, we have not gotten round to purchasing a TV (the old house had one already, but this one didn’t).

And after a month without TV, I must say I am out of the habit of watching it. With books to read (I am currently on the fourth Harry Potter), a wedding to plan (more on that later), and late nights of work, TV has not been a necessity.

And right now, we are in no rush to change that.

The only thing I do miss is the Ashes, which just started, and would have been good to flick on this weekend.

Month completed: May 2009

As mentioned in a previous post, I went to Bali recently for a bit of rest and relaxation, but also to catch up my family, who I hadn’t seen for nine months, what with me being in the UK, and they in Australia.

One of the activities I did while there was scuba diving (that’s me below), and my experience was a lot different to what I was expecting.

Here’s what I found:

• It is hard to force yourself to be calm, when your only air supply is coming through a mouthpiece that could fall out of your mouth at any moment
• Then there is the stress of making sure you pop your ears every metre, and not coming up too quickly, or you could die
• A thumbs up hand signal does not mean ‘things are all good’. It means ‘I want to go back up to the surface’
• A five minute training session is just about enough (people have been surprised when I told them that was all we had before we went down, but for me, it was enough)
• Being a good swimmer counts for nothing, as it is all about using the flippers properly
• It takes about twenty minutes to stop stressing about losing your mouthpiece, and start actually enjoying the views
• The views of the colourful fish, coral and sea anenome are really amazing
• Being among all the fish and coral is like being on an entirely new planet
• Going down 10 metres doesn’t sound like much, but it actually was

Would I go again? Absolutely. Next time, at the Great Barrier Reef.

Here’s a couple of shots of the event. The first is during the training. I got caught looking very confused. The second is just seconds before going under. The heart was beating fast at that point.

Month completed: June 2009

To achieve this goal, I decided to bring in an expert. Shaun Church approached me after I put the call out on Twitter for someone with the skills to build what I was looking for.

This was back in December, and after six months of blood, sweat and tears, we have created what people may well call…THE GREATEST WEBSITE EVER MADE

Then again, they may not.

But why don’t you head there now, and make up your own mind.

p.s. there is a puzzle hidden within the pages of the website. See if you can solve it!