A friend …

Can I make a confession, here?

I’m shocked …

I’ve just had some bad news that an old friend I worked with, at The Essex Arms — way back in the day — has died, at 1 am BST.

This morning.

That has shocked and saddened me, even though I knew Sharon’s death had — from the understandably little her daughter, Kayleigh, wanted to tell me — been coming for a while.

Sharon had been — on and off — seriously ill, for some time.

But had contracted a seriously terminal form of cancer, at the end.

But if I know Sharon, she would’ve been the amazingly tough — and amazingly cheerful — woman she’d been throughout her life.

I think I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago.

I do know that, at the time I was told, I was stunned, shocked, devastated, what have you.

But right now I feel …

Well …

Well, I really don’t know, for sure.

Still deeply saddened.

I’ve lost a friend and former work-mate; one who’s company, humour, and opinions I valued.

But I’m also very aware that, while I’ve lost a friend, Kayleigh has lost a mother.

My thoughts are with Kayleigh, and with Colin, Sharon’s partner, who I’d not had the pleasure of meeting.

And I’m very aware that there’s little I can do, or say, that can ease the pain they are feeling, right now.

I can only hope …

And maybe pray, as well …

I do know they’ll have memories of a hard working woman with a perpetual smile.

Which is the best way to remember someone, I think.

Ω✞Ω

Hmmm … Well …

Hmmm …

Well …

I think I’ve vaguely impressed Kelly …

Although I’ll admit, she’s a touch nervous.

As any of us would be, faced with the unfamilar.

But it’s certainly odd for someone who’s used singing her heart out on the stage of the local pub, on it’s open mic night.

She popped down today — and I’m going to think Allison, here for helping me clean the floor!! — to check out the Ubuntu’d laptop, over in the corner …

We have, however, managed to at least get her familiar with the way an Ubuntu Live disc works. And feeling confident enough to back up the important files on her laptop, preparatory to hopefully put Jaunty Jackalope on it. (She also, I should add, turned up with Apple turnovers — cheers, me dears! — and tottered off with an Ubuntu disc. All good!)

As I said to her, today, it’s about as fiddly as replacing a set of guitar strings.

But — arty type that she is — she couldn’t resist having a fiddle with me Mini.

Did that sound ambiguous?

Never mind … !

At any rate, as soon as I know more, we’ll let you know!!

At any rate, I’m hoping she’ll feel confident enough to give installing it a go.

The Daily Teaser

Phew!

It’s Teaser Time!

And, if nothing else, I do know that I managed to send off the Christmas quiz I’d written. Which has gone down very well indeed.

But remind me to to tell you about the Jokers, at some point …

At any rate, here’s today’s Teaser …

Q1) 30^th July, 736, is the date usually given for the foundation of which Middle Eastern city?

Q2) July 30^th, 1975, saw the disappearance of trade union leader?

Q3) Bit of a football question; England won the World Cup, on the 30^th July of which year?

Q4) On the same theme, 30^th July, 1930 saw which South American country win the very first World Cup?

Q5) July 30^th is also Independence Day, for the island nation of Vanuatu; how was Vanuatu known, before it gained independence?

Q6) Today is also the birthday of British inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair; what was the name of the first computer his company released?

Q7) And finally, who celebrated 30 years in show-business by hold a free concert in Hyde Park?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) Today in 1567, saw James 6^th of Scotland (Better known to us south of the border as James 1^st) formally crowned as Scottish king; in which Scottish town?

A1) Stirling.

Q2) July 29^th, 1836, saw the opening of which Parisian monument?

A2) The Arc de Triomphe.

Q3) Today in 1948, saw the début of BBC Radio’s Light Programme; name either of the BBC stations that replaced.

A3) Radio 1, and Radio 2.

Q4) July 29^th, 1976, saw the first killing — in New York — by which serial killer?

A4) David Berkowitz; otherwise known as The Son of Sam.

Q5) In Roman Catholic tradition, today is the feast day of Saint Martha; is she the patron saint of cooks, winemakers, or butchers?

A5) Cooks.

Q6) July, 29^th, 1907 saw who start the very first scout camp, on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour?

A6) Sir Robert Baben Powell.

Q7) July 29^th, 1958, saw the US found which scientific agency?

A7) NASA.

Q8) One year earlier, on 29^th July, 1957, the UN founded which aganecy?

A8) The International Atomic Energy Agency.

Q9) 29^th July saw Prince Charles marry … who?

A9) Princess Diana, back in 1981.

Q10) And finally, today in 1987, saw Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterand sign the agreement to build what Anglo-French project?

A10) The Channel Tunnel.

Enjoy those!

A Quickie Seasonal Post …

Literally, I’m going to try and make this quick.

I’m not usually THAT premature.

Not with quizzes, anyway.

Strange?

Possibly not …

I do know I’ve had Councillor Chilvers, one of the local councillors for our ward, ask me about writing a Christmas quiz, for their local party Christmas do.

He says, desperately trying to avoid repeating himself …

But, having done them for so long — and not written one in quite some time — I’ve got to admit, it was a pleasure to be able to get back in action and get one written up.

And it’s times like this I’m kinda grateful for the amount of work I’d put in. Not necessarily to the quizzes themselves.

But the spreadsheet of questions I put together, over the years I was running quizzes.

One thing that NeoOffice, OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office all have in common, is that they all have a spreadsheet programme as part of the suite.

Now, usually, these are used for doing basic accounts and book-keeping; either household, or small business ones.

But, as a non-programmer and one who’s unfamiliar with creating databases, ideal for creating a (very primitive) way of filing questions. And filing them into pre-sorted themed areas; television, music, films, what-have-you.

And something that — combined with the templates I mentioned the other week — allowed me to write at least one quiz a week, for quite a while.

Including — once I’d had enough source questions — Christmas, Valentines and — my personal favourite — Halloween.

Actually, that’s possibly a whole other story, sourcing question, but I digress …

At any rate, having the spreadsheet and templates allowed to take about an hour and a half to put something together for Councillor Chilvers.

Rather than the 3 to 4 weeks or so it used to take.

Actually, daft as it sounds, that was also a point of pride, for me; the fact I’d having something prepped up something like a month in advance. It meant that I had a good few weeks to double check the actual questions — vital, considering how knowledgeable pub quiz audiences are — and had time to prepare a poster. At one point, I had Vix doing what I also felt was some pretty darn good stuff for the actual posters.

But I also made use of some of the images on DeviantART.

Ranging from the fairly innocuous, to the downright kinky.

I’ve added a link to DeviantART, in this post. Please, make sure — if you’ve got kids — you keep an eye peeled, if they click it. Most of the material isn’t exactly what I’d call pornographic. But one or two pieces are fairly explicit, and you probably want them to not see them ’til they’re older.

In their forties, at least.

∞∞∞∞∞

The Daily Teaser …

Phew … !

Don’t you just love it when the weather turns muggy?

July’s been one of those months …

At any rate, just in case you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that my streets had its problems with the parking …

We’ve now had permits issued, which is good; but we had — in theory — to go and pick them up. I’m just glad Adrian slipped me Sara’s number. It meant that, as I was working, I was able to make other arrangements with her. Hopefully, she’ll be able to get back to me, before the scheme starts.

After all, Allison will definitely whinge, if she can’t park her scooter!

At any rate, let’s move on, shall we?

Shall we?

Yes, let’s!

Here’s today’s questions …

Q1) Today in 1567, saw James 6^th of Scotland (Better kknown to us south of the border as James 1^st) formally crowned as Scottish king; in which Scottish town?

Q2) July 29^th, 1836, saw the opening of which Parisian monument?

Q3) Today in 1948, saw the début of BBC Radio’s Light Programme; name either of the BBC stations that replaced.

Q4) July 29^th, 1976, saw the first killing — in New York — by which serial killer?

Q5) In Roman Catholic tradition, today is the feast day of Saint Martha; is she the patron saint of cooks, winemakers, or butchers?

Q6) July, 29^th, 1907 saw who start the very first scout camp, on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour?

Q7) July 29^th, 1958, saw the US found which scientific agency?

Q8) One year earlier, on 29^th July, 1957, the UN founded which aganecy?

Q9) 29^th July saw Prince Charles marry … who?

Q10) And finally, today in 1987, saw Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterand sign the agreement to build what Anglo-French project?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 28^th July, 1988, saw which MP elected as the leader of the Liberal Democrats? (And if Councillor Chilvers got that wrong … !)

A1) (Sir) Paddy Ashdown.

Q2) One hundred and twenty years earlier saw the amendment to the US constitution that granted citizenship to former Afro-American slaves; which amendment was it?

A2) The 14^th Amendment

Q3) July 28^th, 2000, saw 80 terrorists released from which Northern Irish prison?

A3) The Maze.

Q4) 28^th July is Independence Day; in which South American country?

A4) Peru.

Q5) Today in 1942 saw the death of archæologist, Professor William Flinders Petrie; which country’s history was he most associated with?

A5) Egypt.

I hope those are fun!!

•••••

I do know I’ve be following the “Life, The Universe and ComBom” blog; and he’s had a rather interesting post …