Harry's Blog

Given that I don't drink much anymore, don't smoke and am actually already eating healthier these days my new year resolutions can be a bit more fun this year.

So here's what I aim to do in 2010:

1. Take and then post at least one photograph on Flickr every single day of the year.
2. Write and record one song each month.
3. Play live at least once in 2010.

Will I be able to do these things? They shouldn't be too hard should they?

Thanks to everyone for their kind wishes and gifts on this birthday. It's been a lot of fun.

The children have had a great time too, we laid on a little tea party - more for them really than me - and they even got to play pass the parcel.

Okay I admit it, I'm an unfit blob. No it's not all laziness, I've come to realise recently the biggest block to me getting out on foot more is my feet. I have flat feet, with the right one causing me quite some pain. But now I have solved this problem.

Walking any distance would make my right foot ache quite badly along the right side. I have a tendency to lean the foot over onto that side which means it takes all the weight. The other problem is that it makes me very likely to go over on that foot and sprain my ankle.

This has been the bane of my life really - constantly hurting my ankle and my aching foot which make me less likely to do any walking. Until last week.

Read more »

Dorset Sunset 1, originally uploaded by Harry Neary.

I must admit there's a little bit of HDR going on here. Three bracketed handheld exposures were combined. But the aim wasn't to create one of those weird halo-ruined monstrosities you mostly associate with the technique. The aim was to capture what I saw with my own eyes - and this is pretty close.

After two rather nervous and exciting days we seem to have sailed into the wind's eye. Baby hasn't arrived and has stopped showing signs that he's about to. The midwife says that this is merely the calm before the storm and it's now a matter of days before we are parents of three children.

Following all the excitement of two days of contractions it does seem rather odd now for everything to have stopped asnd something like normal life returning. Now I know what it's like for the firemen of Trumpton when they race to a fire only to discover it's Chippy Minton's dinner burning.

Yes I am clearly tired. I'll go away now.

Memory is a funny thing, the way certain experiences are recalled via various connections. Take for example the arrival of The Sims 3 review code in the post today.

I'm sat at the PC installing it now and it reminds me of 2006 when Lanie spent most of the year playing The Sims 2. She got completely addicted to the game, raising little families within the game and - much to my surprise - killing off elderly neighbours by trapping them in the garden so she'd inherit their wealth.

The Sims 2 and Lanie's addiction to it was about the only thing we ever argued about. But I know she played the game to avoid worries over paying for our wedding (which was a very stressful time for us both) and also to avoid worrying too much about being pregnant with Patrick and Kitty (or Domino and Zizzi as they were known early on).

So today I'm installing the next game in the series in the knowledge if she was still alive Lanie would be very excited to get her hands on this sequel. And so, who knows, I may slaughter a few elderly neighbours in memory of her.

Trying to achieve anything with Vodafone customer services is like trying to wrestle a Vaseline-coated snake while wearing as Teflon gimp suit.

But after two weeks of trying the snake is finally back in the box, so to speak.

Here's a tip for you if you need anyone at Vodafone to show they give even the merest shit about your problem. Don't phone regular customer service, talk to the cancellations department instead. If they think their money-teat is going to go dry they'll be much more helpful.

I've had a rather busy morning playing with Swedish man LEGO. But my work here is done. I've built the sofa, now I can get on with my day job.

We were rather nervous about the arrival of the sofa. Our lounge is on the first floor and the sofa we originally had delivered from John Lewis wouldn't fit up the stairs - so we had to send it back. Thankfully this IKEA corner unit came up the stairs in bits.

I would love to be asleep. I'm bloody tired. But my brain is too busy thinking about all kind of nonsense and refuses to go into something akin to screensaver mode so I can gently hibernate for the evening.

So after nearly two hours lying in bed and not sleeping I've decided to get up and not sleep instead.

Read more »

It is most gratifying that your fraud prevention service is so on the ball. Your efforts in ensuring that I'm not ripped off are commendable, though your efforts to ensure I am unable to ever actually use my own money are not.

If someone wants to pay several thousands pounds off my credit card, just go ahead an let them. Honestly I really don't mind this kind of unauthorised access.

What I do mind is that any time I spend more than £5 you block access to online banking then phone me up to ask me if it was fraud.

A loaf of bread and a few croissants from the shop 100 yards from my house is most likely not fraud, okay? Neither is paying off a credit card held in my name which you actually supply. A transaction for which I have already jumped through several security hoops to complete.

Your credit card division isn't that anal. It let me buy a plasma TV last week - which if they'd any sense or taste it shouldn't have. But when I tried to pay off the same credit card you blocked the transaction, froze my account then eventually phoned me up to ask me about it.

It's lovely you care so much. But please. I'm a grown up now, let me use my bank card a bit without getting so jumpy.

Thankyou.

Let's keep this fairly anonymous. There's no need to name names. Let's just say that someone I know, no not me honest, recently had an altercation with a badger.

I say altercation. What I mean is that she. Or he, or it, let's not blame anyone. She, ran over a badger. Ran over or hit so hard with the car it disintegrated. Whatever. The damn thing ran out in front of the car in the middle of the night on a country lane, so what are you to do?

She, or he, or it, braked hard to avoid killing the damn thing. But it had flung itself at the car with little care or thought. Perhaps the badger was suicidal. We shall never know. The following day all that remained was gallons of blood everywhere on the road but no Badger. Maybe it survived long enough to drag itself back to its badger children to say goodbye.

Read more »

This is a public service announcement.

Nicki & Andy we hope you read this. Jo has lost all your contact details. We don't seem to have your address, nor the right phone numbers stored in the mobile.

And all emails are bouncing back from you over some sort of security issue.

Happy Birthday Rosie and please do get in touch. Jo's mobile number is one you have already.