Scoot’s thoughts on all things technology, design, photography and life in general !
Today was time to pop over to HSS to pick up the demolition hammer in Bracknell to hopefully finish wrecking the concrete in the garden. As it was cleaning day I decide that once I had visited HSS I would pop into Reading for some shopping as CJ had supplied me with a list of requirements.
I dropped off LCJ at nursery then went home and tidied up before heading into Bracknell. Stuff picked up and then off to the Oracle centre to get some breakie and sit and do some reading. Hit the ATM for some cash before heading into smiths for reading material, is it ironic that I was looking for reading material in Reading 
So found a mag that I had not seen before called iCreate that was aimed at designer types who use Macs. With this new found discovery I headed off to Starbuck, one of many in Reading, for coffee and food. Started the day with bacon and egg panini with an extra shot cappuccino to wash it down. I enjoyed myself eavesdropping of the “business” conversations which were very varied.
Food consumed it was time to get down to serious shopping business, so popped into Timberland as my current boots are looking a little worse for wear and are now at least 5 years old. There were some very nice boots, but I resisted the temptation as I thought I could get cheaper online.
Next stop was John Lewis to get some fabric, scissors, pins, elastic etc so once I had found out exactly what material was required I got a metre of chocolate brown corduroy material and also some brown linen. Staff as ever were top notch and helped me get the matching threads.
Next off to waterstones to look at more books even though I have a pile on the shelf waiting for me to read plus another three due to be delivered today from Amazon. This time it was technical books I was interested in as I wondered if there was anything that would be good for my new job. There were loads of interesting books but not any of real interest.
It was getting close to lunchtime so decided it was time to check out Sevenoaks and see if I could test the B$W 685 that all the reviews raved about. Good job they had them in store and available to listen to in the demo room. So spent bout 20mins listening to a mix of music to test them out, this included Kanye West, Madonna, Jazz compilation and the Verve.
B&W 685 (image courtesy of B&W website)
The speakers just sounded fab, the clarity of the vocals, the piano and keyboards, the drums and especially the bass which was strong and powerful. Now having had many speakers of this size and listening to others on the market these just knocked the socks off everything else especially in this price range. So after those twenty minutes I was hooked, but slightly worried that my new setup would not be up to the job after listening to the Cyrus Amp & CD.
Money handed over and now it was time for lunch and then pick up the speakers. Popped into Pret for lunch and had my usual Crayfish & Rocket sandwich with crisps, coke and coffee. Then off to the car park and back to Sevenoaks to pick up the B&W speakers.
Eventually got home at 1.45 and unloaded and got changed ready for hammer time. Spent about an hour and quarter break that concrete before setting up the speakers and then taking Piper to the Vets for her jabs.
Sound was absolutely amazing even with the NAD amp and CD which were less than half the price of the cyrus in Sevenoaks. Test the new setup with Herbie Hancock River and Blues Brothers soundtrack. Will test some more tomorrow whilst having a break from the garden.,,
After Thursdays lunchtime meeting with Malcolm to resign it gave me the afternoon to kill in London as I had the car already here and we were off to see Oliver in the evening it was pointless driving back home and then coming back into London.
To pass the time it was only proper to head off shopping both actual and window versions first thing was to move a little closer to the theatre so opted for the NCP at Dury Lane which is actually in Parker Mews and not Dury Lane, obviously done to confuse the tourists Must say the rates were not as bad as some NCP car parks in London as it is capped at a maximum of £29. Considering we parked at Cadogan Place in Knightsbridge last Monday to pop into the Science Museum and six hours cost £36. Once parked up I decided not to plan any particular location but to wander and when I found a post office to post my contract back to Oracle.
First headed down New Oxford Street and then TCR for an electronics fix especially of the HiFi, Photography and Computing type. Next was Oxford Street itself to have a look what is there these days as it has been a while since I have been there shopping. Not a lot of changes, still has Mash and the usual stores, minus the Virgin Mega Store or should I say the shutdown Zavvi. Carried on to the department stores as I wanted to get some jeans but frankly my stomach/flu bug was starting to put me off that exercise. On completion of the department stores it was time for a fix of electronics so off to Regents Street for Apple and to have a wander around to see what there was. As usual it was rammed and I ended up with no purchases, but thats not surprising since I only recently acquired an new MBP, Wacom Tablet and other goods from Apple.
After Apple it was one of my other favourite US retailers across the road at Banana Republic to see what goods were on offer where I picked up a jumper to head off the cold and a pair of random socks. Next stop was a break to rest those feet that had been pounding London Streets since 1.30 and it was now just gone 3pm. Found a Starbuck behind the back of Oxford street and grabbed an OJ, Coffee and chocolate chip shortbread to munch on while I read the What HiFi I purchased earlier. Spoke to CJ to arrange meet up at 6,30 outside the Sussex Arm at the end of Long Arce CG. After 40mins decided it was time to move as out of supplies and wanted to see what else to buy.
Walked into Covent Garden and wandered around the stores including Oakley, North Face, Ellis Brigham and Cotswold Outdoors. Brought LCJ a couple of tops from Gap and then wandered around for more shopping before buying a book on Traveling with Kids and some journals by the wonderful Moleskine .
Met CJ at 6.30 and then hit M&S for food to take to theatre and to watch Oliver. So Oliver was most excellent and had us laughing in many places. The upper circle was a little too hot and this was the only downside. There was a couple of kids in the cast that were fab including the Artful Dodger. Getting home was easy especially as we had the car so near.
On the Friday still feeling a little rough so did some food shopping in the morning and then hit Staines followed by Weybridge all in the name of research and a little bit of shopping. Popped into Richer Sounds to have a look at the kit on offer and realised the last time I went into a Richer Sounds shop was at London Bridge when there were only a handful of stores and stock was mainly HiFi and not AV as it is today. Post RS it was off to Starbucks as SSAV was a little busy at that stage, for coffee and rocky road. After this off I went home and finished my mags.
Saturday was all planned out off to Heidi’s for lunch and then a walk at Waddesdon Manor. In the morning I made the decision on the first HiFi components to get to start the replacement of the Technics separates that have been in my possession for a very long time. I opted for the two NAD models for amplifier and CD that being the budget end of the market with the C326Bee Amo and C545Bee CD both recent releases and both given 5stars by What HiFi recently. Also need to buy a phono preamp as the amp doesn’t have this included so again NAD PP3 which also has USB output.
The trip to buckinghamshire was good day out and LCJ ran round like a nutter and was exhausted by the time we left to drive home.
On Sunday we headed to my parents for coffee and a chat before we decided that lunch at Spitalfields would be good so headed into town and it took much longer than expected and we eventually go parked off Brick Lane. Had a wander around and then grabbed lunch in the Real Greek in the market. The food was very good, but the service was shoddy and slow. Look around somemore of the market before heading home as it was getting late. Finally got home around 6.30 after two hours in the car.
On Saturday went into Reading to have lunch for Valentines day. We decided that we needed or wanted something fairly quick so LCJ didn’t get bored so Wagamamas was selected. As it was a Saturday it was guaranteed to be a traffic nightmare and so with this we opted for the train. Ascot to Reading is only 25mins and six pounds returns so easily comparable with the cost of driving.
Once in Reading we headed off to Wagamamas to grab a table and fill up on their lovely food. The place was very busy and we seemed to get our timing just right as the queue outside just seemed to get longer. CJ opted for her usual of gyoza (although deep fried instead of steamed), yasai yaki soba (without mushrooms), an OJ and Green Tea. For LCJ it was decided on cha han and for me it was ebi katsu with Chicken Chili Men. I washed this down with a very nice bottle of asahi premium black lager beer. Needless to say due to the hustle and bustle LCJ eat very little food which was a pity. Once finished we decided that it would be good to get his lordships feet measured with a view to getting him some new shoes. Into JLP we went and LCJ feet turned out to be R 6 G and L5.5 G so needed to get some replacements. After trying three different pairs on the we purchased a pair of blue trainer style shoes that have flashing red lights in the soles so no doubt endless hours of fun.
Shoes sorted we then found some Iggle Piggle slippers that LCJ wanted and then off out of JLP to visit M&S on the way back to the station. At M&S we grabbed a load of snack foods for a buffet that evening as it was easy and we had a large lunch After M&S off to the station and back home.
A quiet evening in with M&S food and a nice bottle of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Non Vintage Champagne
On Sunday I played nine holes at Moore Place and spent the rest of the day lazying around with the family.
Last day in Orlando was mainly packing, shopping and flying…
Finished packing in the morning and then off to the Mall with all via Downtown Disney to checkin and drop off our bags. Virgin service was excellent and bags checked in and out of the way so on the Florida Mall for a couple of hours of shopping prior to lunch.
First stop had to be the Apple store to drool over all the shiny MacBooks and see what else to buy whilst here. So after about 20mins it was time to move on, but not before purchasing iWork 09 and a mightly mouse (wireless) leveraging our corporate discount.
Next stop was Abercrombie & Fitch to pickup some tee-shirts before wandering around a bit more in the mall. The next stop was Banana Republic for more tops and then off to Gap and Gap Kids.
Finally got to the resturant Bucco di Peppie for lunch and tucked into a lasagna, garlic bread, beer and salad. All very nice and tab picked up by Graham for the food.
Next stop the airport for more waiting around, got my last bag checked in and then through security in no time at all before heading towards the gate. Hang around the main area with a Frappuccino and OJ before heading on to the plane for a quick 7hr 20mins trip home. The plane had loads of spare seats so that was a good sign for a comfortable trip. Food was not as good as the trip over to Orlando, but was edible. Chatted to Chris M, Chris F and Kristy before getting recommendations from the stewardesses on choice of perfume and aftershave from duty free, decided on Marc Jacob – Daisy for CJ and Prada Amber pour Homme. In the end both are nice considering I didn’t get to smell them before purchase, so thank you ladies for the help.
Watched Rockingrolla and some of Wall-E whilst reading mags before trying to get some sleep on the plane.
Landed on time at 8.30 and collected the bags before heading home. Got back at around 10am and was greeted by a beaming CJ and LCJ who were happy to see me, had coffee and then decided to grab a couple of hours sleep. Woke up about 2ish and then had some lunch before relaxing for the rest of the day.
so 2009 is here, after some fizzy stuff last night along with I Am Legend we watched the fireworks for London on the box and then retired after numerous text messages plus a couple of phone calls. Must admit I was surprised by I Am Legend it was a different delivery to what I had expected, but a very good film.
So on NYD we decided that it was worth a trip to Sweden to pickup some essential items for the house, OK it wasn’t really Sweden it was Little Sweden or Ikea to most people. So off we went up the A40 then North Circ until we reached Wembley and the Ikea store. To our surprise the store car park was fairly empty and we found a Family parking space and wandered into the store to purchase the following:
- Media Box
- Wardrobe
- Childs Table & Chairs
- Magnetic Board
- Mirror
- Shoe boxes
When we arrived we remembered that we were going to buy a new mattress as well for our bedroom, but forgot to check the size, damn that’s not good. So will have to order online instead.
Wandered around and by the time we had got to the cafe we had a trolley full and none of it was on the list, please note this was before we had been down to the market place where we normally get sidetracked
So coffee, tea and muffins etc were consumed and Cameron had a good run around, plus had fun organising the stools in the children’s area. Still it was relatively empty which was good so down a floor to the market place to get those essentials or not
Twenty minutes later we are in the warehouse looking for the children’s table and chair, after having checked with staff who pointed us in the right direction all good loaded it is time to head to the checkouts. God I cannot believe it no queues
Several pounds later we are back in the car park with a grumpy boy and heading home with a few of the following things:
- Children’s table and chairs
- Veggie peeler
- Onion slicer
- Chef Pan
- Shoe boxes
- Media Storage box
- Plate (to replace one broken by cameron)
- Bag clips
- Mat
- Cot Duvet
- Picture frame
- Bedlinen
So a word of warning, Ikea is dangerous, very dangerous to your wallet. Or am I a sucker for all things swedish?
So have completed Xmas shopping thanks to the net. So just all the wrapping to go, yippee. It is amazing that the main delay in getting my xmas shopping complete hasn’t been the mail/shipping or the waiting for thing to be released or come back into stock as has been the case in the past, but this year it has been about getting the ideas and wishes from everyone.
So this does make me sound uninventive and lazy, but it is nice to get some ideas so that I don’t miss the persons desires on what they would really like. Nothing worse than buying something and seeing them trying to hide the thought that pops into their mind as they open it “why the hell did he get me this” or “interesting choice”.
So hopefully this year I have come close to peoples wishes and that there will not be too much changing in the new year.
Now only 8 working days left and then a long weekend before going back to work….
