Orwell (can hopefully now) RIP

I've spoken about ID cards before.

There were various news articles yesterday (here and here).

The Register's John Lettice reports further today: John Reid, who I have always considered to be a ignorant prat of the highest order (and you know what they say: "Jack of all trades, master of none"), may actually be doing something sensible and kicking this riduclous Big Brother idea into touch (in effect if not officially).

This is most out of character for him. I can only assume he is trying to keep damage to a minimum...

Anyway, labour goons notwithstanding, thank goodness this form of identity management seems to be going away...

Your right foot

This is so funny that it will boggle your mind. And you will keep trying at least 50 more times to see if you can outsmart your foot, but you can't.

1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor
and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand.

Your foot will change direction.

And there's nothing you can do about it!

Lack of space

Had a bit of a blog break recently, what with Mrs B being ill and (ahem) other things going on at home, as well as having to go through the trauma of recruiting a replacement for my senior partner at work.

Could do with a holiday to be honest. I hear New Zealand is nice this time of year....

Anyway, to the purpose of this post.

It has become clear to SWMBO* and me that we really can't continue to live in our current domicile once Bump Brown arrives: it is a small Victorian terraced house. Fitting in 3-5 humans (depending on the time of the week) and 2 felines is going to be impossible in the medium term, though we might be just about able to manage for a few months. But where do we put the buggy, or hang the washing?

We've had a traumatic 18 months, what with one thing or another. Our lovely little house has been outgrown. And so we are examining our options: move or stay?

If we stay, we'll have to seriously consider a loft conversion. We are fairly sure that this is unlikely to be possible: the house is just too small. We're also unlikely to get our money back from the investment needed to get the work done.

If we move, we'll have to do it soon. Mrs B is 16 weeks in, so we'll need to be in a new house by the end of October at the latest, or she won't have time to plan the decorating before nappies intervene. But that has its own problems: the windows need refurbishment or replacing, our soffits need repairing, the place could do with a repaint. There are lots of other little and not so little jobs that need doing. Finances will need to be considered carefully as well. We'll probably need a second car (and even if we decide to stick with one, we'll need to replace mine which is too small for a baby carrier/car seat and two booster seats). And of course, where do we move to? Closer to my place of work and family, or stay near where we are, where we've been very happy?

So lots of thinking needed.

Watch this space, it might turn into a moving-house-blog.




*"She Who Must Be Obeyed"