Wulf's Web-den

Victory is Mine!

wulf — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:14:52 +0000

Since my last post on this subject at the end of April, I have played a couple more online games. This time Magnus and I have been joined by Phil, giving a chance to try out the three person game together. While the game works quite well with two players, adding a third definitely lifts it up a level by multiplying the number of threats and opportunities.

I lost the first game, which was very close fought but won the second with about a 40 point lead over both my opponents. I got a good start with Bivouacking Pixies (lots of pieces, a strong defensive bonus to make up for the Pixies normal weakness and plenty of them left unmolested on the board in their declining years) and then followed up with Forest Barbarians, who survived as a strong force until the end of the game.

I am not sure I will get away with another win of such convincing proportions. Such a victory immediately paints a target sign on you and I suspect Phil and Magnus will also pay closer attention to anyone who seems to be getting ten or more points at the end of each go! Still, I will enjoy the feeling for now.

Back to the Future

wulf — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:13:56 +0000

With expert help from one of my colleagues, last week’s time travel problem seems to have been reversed. The virtualisation safety net proved good although we spent far too long in free fall for my liking. Two items at the top of my agenda are to get my head round what he did and also to ensure that I have other strategies in place rather than relying on a single approach for important data. Still, at least it is a better outlook than it was this time last week; I’m loving this future-now.

Blooming Today

wulf — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:15:41 +0000

Putting up with plenty of short, sharp showers between the sun, our Choisya ternata is my entry for this months Folia Bloom Day.

Choisya ternata

We almost got rid of it as I am not particularly keen on the colour of the foliage but it flowered in time to persuade me to keep it and I have become a little more fond of it over the past couple of years. It will get a trim once the flowers have gone though, back to fresh, darker green leaves.

By Popular Demand

wulf — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:20:06 +0000

I was leading worship for the evening service at St Clement’s last night and, since I had managed to assemble a small team (guitar and an additional vocalist — thanks guys!), I decided to take the double bass down. It worked very well in the setting and with the combination of songs chosen and, at the end of the service, one of the congregation said she would be happy for me to bring it again.

There does seem to be a certain cachet to the instrument. Whether it is the rich tone of an acoustic bass, the fact that it doesn’t seem quite so rocky or just that people feel a level of sympathy for someone who has to cart such a monstrously oversized fiddle about, it does seem to elicit a good response. All the more reason to keep on practising so that I can use it when suitable without worrying about details such as timing and intonation letting me down!

Dodgeball

wulf — Sun, 13 May 2012 08:07:43 +0000

I was down wid da youth last night playing dodgeball down at the St Clement’s Mish. It’s a shame the game wasn’t “blunder into balls flying in your direction” as I might have done a little better on the scoring side but it was fun nonetheless and I am delighted to find I can still walk this morning! I definitely got my cardiovascular workout for the day.

Still a Drought Zone

wulf — Sat, 12 May 2012 17:29:30 +0000

We have enjoyed a couple of fairly sunny days without rain which, given recent weather patterns, is unusual enough to comment on. However, despite the wettest April on record, Oxford is one of the areas of the UK which remains in a drought zone. Still, the supplies in the water butts are good for the time being as we keep the plants in the polytunnel (which haven’t been enjoying regular natural soakings) hydrated and, with this pleasant warmth, plant growth is coming on apace across the garden.

Time Travel, Unplanned

wulf — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:05:42 +0000

One of my virtual servers had a little hiccup yesterday and although I have been able to get it working again, I am not getting the latest version but one from February. Time travel would be neat if I could manage to skip back before making the fateful button presses (I’m using VirtualBox as my host and I think the problem stemmed from trying to start two virtual machines in quick succession) but, as it is, I’ll be using some time next week to dig out and restore the rest from other backups.

A Big Move

wulf — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:50:36 +0000

Pyracantha

Hopefully our Pyracantha won’t take against us for having been ripped out of the ground yesterday afternoon and moved to the front garden. The picture above was taken on October 2010. Originally the plant would have been visible across the garden but we have put a polytunnel and raised beds in the way and, while beautiful, it is also spiky and not what you want in a tight corner where you need access to get to plants and tools.

In the front garden it will give some useful height against the side fence. If it takes, it will add its colour and zest where we and others can see it more easily. Here’s hoping.

More Than Zero

wulf — Tue, 08 May 2012 08:40:27 +0000

A week away and my email inbox at work has lost the svelte appearance it had when I was heading towards zero in mid-April. Ah, well: at least that makes the game of chewing off large chunks each day a little easier for the rest of this week (I had been getting down to the sticky end where each message requires a fairly involved response). I have already trimmed away about half of the content by removing all the merely informational items like notices of meetings and events already past.

Now the harder work begins of dealing with the ones that require some thought!

Offline for Watching Online

wulf — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:27:51 +0000

Done. That is my LoveFilm account cancelled. After my post towards the end of April I have given it another look but got fed up of scrolling through page after page of films that had no appeal at all as viewing for a Bank Holiday evening. Still, there is plenty more to do so I shall not mourn.