Anyone know of a way to stop socks from coming off in your boots?

There are some bits of winter that I like. Wearing boots with fuzzy lining and a new woolly baker's boy cap and buying a coffee on my way into work is one of them. Part of it is that I still can't quite believe that this is my life. Having an actual job title and having the money to buy winter clothes and coffee when I want it.

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I have been helping to get sheep in so that we could raddle the ram (which means paint his stomach so that the ewes he mates with get a coloured mark on their backs). It's horribly wet underfoot after all that rain, but today it was very crisp and clear, with someone up beyond the road having a bonfire, and a flock of rooks cawing and wheeling across the valley.

Why is it that I always start the weekend intending to do so many tasks, and then never do any of them?

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The children's address today was on the sword of the Spirit, so for an illustration the guy who's an Army captain brought a real sword that was in his officers' mess. Much excitement from the children (and others). I got to hold it after the service was over, but for some reason all the boys took a step away from me at that point.

Army boy reckons that it's about eighty or a hundred years old, judging by the deterioration of the scabbard, and judging by the lack of engraving or other decoration, that it was a working sword not a ceremonial one. It's curved and looks rather Turkish; the regiment probably acquired it at Suez or in Palestine at some point.

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This is my 2000th entry on LiveJournal. Current stats:

Created on 2003-04-03 03:51:54 (#983547), last updated 2009-11-05

7,692 comments received, 12,523 comments posted, 829 Support Points
1,999 Journal Entries, 66 Tags, 362 Memories, 400+ ScrapBook Files, 112 Virtual Gifts, 171 Userpics

This is my 1000th post, on 2006-06-24
This is my first post, on 2003-04-03

Numb3rs cut from 22 to 16 episodes. I suppose that means the end is nigh.

I know I haven't been watching it much lately, but still. SADFACE.

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My right big toe is feeling a bit tender in the joint at the minute. Apart from the knee that's the injury that runners are most scared of. So I was googling arthritis and bunions (I tend to overpronate which is a cause of them) and becoming convinced that I had all of them, scared I'd have to give up running and never be able to wear pretty shoes again. Something of an over-reaction; it's not sore enough to strap it up or anything, and I don't think it's even worth icing it. It's in the vertical-bending part of the joint, not the sideways axis. I am taking some anti-inflammatory stuff.

But it feels more like a recent strain, and I haven't even had my runners on since the clocks went back. Then I remembered that I'd been walking a lot one lunchtime in my high-heeled ankle boots. Sure enough every time I've worn them recently, I've felt some kind of strain or ache, be it in the knee or the ankle. Time to retire them for a more sensible pair, I think. The heel's only about 2.5 inches, but the foot's a little narrow, I think.

Now last year I was wearing those boots all the time, walking to and from work and everything. So either my walking style has changed enough in the past year that they hurt, or they hurt last year and I was too stupid to notice, or they're just wearing out. Or all of the above. I suppose my feet could be spreading a bit from running, or perhaps I'm just more aware of warning twinges because running makes me pay more attention to my feet and legs.

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Tomorrow is Pink Day in work, where we raise money for breast cancer research. Now that I've been in $it_company for a year, I keep meeting annual events and exclaiming, "It seems like only last month since last year's $event!"
It is kind of nice to have a history in the company behind me.

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I waited in after work for nearly an hour hoping that the torrential rain would stop and/or the latest test run would be successful (one last compile!). Neither happened, and I eventually left so I wouldn't get locked in.

When I got home I discovered that the internet was acting up again, elerrina_amanya had eaten all the chocolate, and my broccoli had been invaded by insects. The internet has now recovered, I went over to the filling station and bought a Flake, and I washed the broccoli in salt water and ate it anyway.

I have now finished revising J2EE protocols and services in my Java Cert book, and once I've done a few practice questions I shall move on to stuff like polymorphism and encapsulation, which is more interesting. Although I have to say the J2EE protocols are less dull when I'm actually working with a J2EE app and have been using some of them.

I have been watching the new SJA while I revise. I am hopelessly far behind with TV, and cannot really summon up any thoughts, except that they are good so far, Clyde's voiceover at the beginning is a little cheesy once you've heard it four times, and I'm looking forward to next (this) week.

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Anyone want a DW invite code, free to pass on or whatever? Comments are screened, leave your email.

I've been catching up on Flashforward, because half of my team seems to be watching it. I've read the book, but that's not really terrifically relevant.

( Spoilers )

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Continuing the unusually girly theme, I am currently wearing pink high heels. With jeans and a skinny black sweater, because I don't actually own any clothes in that particular shade of pink, but I reckoned it was better to go with a completely different colour than try to match and miss, and they make me smile every time I look at them. Which is really the ultimate reason for pretty shoes. They're very comfortable for heels too; I am still a pragmatist at heart. But it goes to show that even someone as nerdy as I am has an inner six-year-old who wants the pink ones, Mammy.

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I am attempting to decide what to wear to the Christmas party at work.

Option 1: The LBD. It is basically this one, except the bodice is black. What colour of accessories and what tights should I wear with it?
This is more the sort of thing I had in mind when I set out to buy a dress. It's also warmer than the other one, a consideration as this will be in December, and I could probably get away with a jacket instead of a wrap, as I won't need anything while I'm inside. On the other hand, if I ever put on any weight it will stop fitting.

Option 2: This dress. I have a champagne-coloured pashmina with a bit of silver thread woven through it. I am fairly sure that it goes with the cream. Again, accessories?
This is prettier, but more awkward to wear, as it's down to my insteps. It's also made of satiny stuff with no lining, so I might need to wear a slip if I want people to not see my legs through it.

It's almost a shame that I only have one formal event in a year, otherwise I would be covered for two. And I didn't go last year, largely because I had nothing to wear. Pity I can't stick one of them in the TARDIS and send it back a year.

Poll #1474451
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 17

thewhiteowl should wear

What accessories should thewhiteowl wear?

Should thewhiteowl return one of them to the shop?

That question, If you were standing on the doorstep of heaven and God asked you why you should be let in, what would you say?

I wouldn't say anything. He would say, "I did it all; I lived the life you ought to have lived, and I died the death you deserved to die. All you have to do is come to me and live.

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Researchers have discovered magnetic monopoles. How cool is that? Here's a more detailed version.

Given that when I was geeking out over the newly discovered ring of Saturn Tech Lead asked, "But what relevance has this to our lives?", I note the last line of the BBC article:

the materials might in future be used in "magnetic memory" storage devices or in spintronics - a field which could boost future computing power.

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They have found a new ring round Saturn. Very large and tenuous.

How amazing is it that there are things in our own solar system that we never knew were there and are still discovering?

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Today we got a meeting request for a company brief. For the first time in months, it contained the magic words "will be followed by lunch". Looks like we're on the upward leg of this recession.

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