Quit Facebook Day

Are you bored with Facebook? Do you spend too much time in Facebook? I am and I know I do!

Why not free yourself and join me on a Quit Facebook Day - 1st March 2011.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Have Patience With Yourself

One thing I have learnt over the years - patience. There are many things I want to do, but now is not the time, but do them I will. I leave you with this thought... "Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew." - Saint Francis de Sales

Glaucoma - new eye drops

Following my recent visit to the eye clinic for my annual checkup for glaucoma, the consultant was please that my eye pressure has come down and no further damage has been done to my eyes. However, he wants the pressure to come down further from the high teens to the low teens. To that end, he has prescribed me another eye drop medication. As I suffer from asthma he thought long and hard about prescribing this one. Eventually, he reasoned that the benefits outweighed the side effects. He warned me to be aware of any side effects and see my GP if I had any problems. The new medication? It's Allergan. I'm not too sure about some of the substances - hydrochloric acid! So now, that's Allegan (twice a day), Trusopt (three times a day) and Xalatan (once a day). Oh well, I suppose it'll be worth it in the end. I'd like to keep my sight. :)

Win Friends and Influence People

I read an excerpt from Dale’s book “How to Win Friends & Influence People”. This quote got me thinking... “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie. This is so true and I think for this one statement it is worth reading the whole book. I wish more people would heed his words then perhaps the world would be a happier place.

The impossible: it's just a question of answers

I just read this... "Success is 99% failure" this ties in nicely with one of my favourite quotations. It’s a beauty from Thomas Edison (The guy who invented, among other things, the incandescent light bulb; for all you youngsters out there that’s the old-fashioned type that you can’t buy now in the UK!) Mr Edison is credited with saying, following his many ‘failures’ in trying to get the light-bulb, or ‘globe’ to work, “If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward”. Say’s it all really. Or, as I like to say “The impossible: It’s just a question of answers”.

Posted via email from Paul Richard Evans

#RaceTheSun #CouchTo5K - Another good training run tonight. Only 79 days to go.

After the recent bout of wintery weather this week, I managed to get out tonight and run in some fading sunshine. That’s session 6.2 of #CouchTo5K completed – 2x10 minute jogging sessions, split with 3 minutes walking. It went well. I’m still feeling good. Hips and knees a little sore but otherwise ok. A little more info on the #RaceTheSun visit http://www.connect2charity.im/charities/event_95065.html. There’ll be more info to follow later. I’ll be asking for sponsorship later.

Posted via email from Paul Richard Evans

Thai House - Ceilings and Bathrooms

Work on the house in Thailand progresses. The ceilings are looking good. The bathrooms continue to develop. The rear stairs are being built.

Cartoon Me

Thai House Build Update

We received the latest photos of the teak house build in Thailand. Upstairs and downstairs bathrooms have been bricked up and the cement floor downstairs has been laid. More roofing and ceiling work has gone in. We are looking forward to the coming months and further photos!

Race the Sun

Having lost a stone before Chrisitmas to raise money for the DEC Indonesian disaster appeal, I have now volunteered to run a leg in this years Race the Sun. This is a race from sunrise to sunset around the 98 mile coastal footpath of the Isle of Man. I have volunteered for leg 2 - The Cronk to the Point of Ayr - 11 miles of beaches, dunes and grassy paths.

The event takes place on Saturday 19th of June - two days before the summer solstice. I have about 2 hours to complete my leg. So, I am back in training. One, to loose another 2 stone and get my weight down to a comfortable 10 stone race weight, and two, to get myself fit enough to complete the challenge. It's 15 weeks till the race, so it is do-able. I plan to get my race speed up to at least 9 minute miles, hopefully 8 minute miles and complete my leg in less than 90 minutes; a tough challenge for a 54 year-old office wallah. Heck, it will only be a couple of weeks short of my 55th birthday!

This event is a sponsored event so, over the next 15 weeks I will not only be posting a training progress report, I will also be touting for sponsorship!

Wish me luck!

New Website Online

To paraphrase... "One small step for web gurus, one giant leap for me!"

I have just completed a successful transfer of my domain - amsri.co.uk - to 34SP.com.

Not only that, I have re-built Evans-Amsri as a Content Management System (CMS) using Joomla, then finally (after several attempts - to resolve various errors) imported the site and MySql database to the new host. Phew! I hope building and hosting the next site is a little easier.

Checkout my new CMS family site - www.amsri.co.uk

Thai Keyboard

I say Thai keyboard but, read multilingual keyboard. I was googling for "Thai Keyboard" when I came across Frontype. I know WinXP, Vista, Linux and probably Macs too have a screen keyboard built in but, this takes things a step further. Not just a multilingual keyboard but, a touch-typing tutor to boot! Within 5 minutes of me downloading the trial version, I bought the full version. I love it's simplicity. The trial version lasts for 7 days. Give it a try.

Boats

I'm just thinking...

I miss my old Hinemoa 'Sebastian'. I miss messing about on the water. Should I build or should I buy? The cheapest Hinemoa of worth is around £2,000. To build a Hinemoa is around £5,000. With second-hand boats, there is all the extras that come with them. Though with building a Hinemoa, the cost of the plans is £210 or £278 with the Tiki rig plans. The cost of the build can be spread over the time it takes to raise the finance. Though the build time is around 500 hours, this can be spread over several years, depending on the speed of financing. Should I wait another few years to go sailing? Should I take pleasure from the building? Where should I build?

I have been following Neil is his build project - 'Gleda' at www.gleda.org. We are of a similar age. I have the added responsibilty of a young family. Time and money is very precious now and to find either for myself is quite difficult. Perhaps, I can get my boys interested in building? Though, there is the concern of exposing them to the dangers of epoxy resin. Still much to think about...

Joomla

I've almost finished work on version 3 of my family website. The current version is a static website (where the content rarely changes). The new site is really only a mirror image of the existing website. The difference being the back-end. Version 3 is built and powered by Joomla. It has been an interesting learning excercise. All I need now, is to decide on a hosting company and version 3 will go live.

Joomla is a content manangement system (CMS). What is a CMS? Well blogger.com is a CMS. You simply login and add/amend/delete content and adjust the layout. I intend to use the knowledge to build other future websites as part of an ongoing project.

TT 2009

Well that's the TT over for another year.

It has been a good year for the bikers. A lot quieter than previous years and I've heard crumbles from many businesses that takings are down.

For the first time this year a new class was introduced for zero emission bikes. Very strange watching these bikes race. No sound except for the whine of their electic motors.

Back to normal life now until the end of August when the Manx Grand Prix takes place and the island is overrun with bikes again for 2 weeks.

Health

I'm just getting over a cold. It's been awhile since my last (unusual for me).

Today has not been a good day for me as I have been suffering for most of the afternoon with IBS. This appears to be triggered with alcohol consumption. I had a few pints on Friday.

Over the last few years my IBS always seems to follow the rare occasion when I have a drink. I am starting to wonder if I have developed an allergy to alcohol... C'est la vie!

Groudle Glen

Waterwheel
Originally uploaded by Evans-Amsri

I took the boys for a walk along Groudle Glan in Onchan, Isle of Man. The Bluebells were in bloom and the sun was shining (for most of the time!) We played Poo Sticks on one of the bridges, then William slipped into the water and filled his pants and welly boots with water. I had to drive back to Ramsey to dry him off and get him changed before returning to Douglas to collect Jeep from work.

Renewal of Wedding Vows

Happy Couple
Originally uploaded by Evans-Amsri

My sister Anne (Penny) and Robert renewed their wedding vows on 25/04/09, after 20 years of marriage.

I was happy to travel from the Isle of Man to Aberdare in Wales on Saturday to join with Penny and Robert in a triple celebration - Robert's birthday, retirement and of course their Wedding vow renewal. A great time was had by all, with pleanty of good food, drink, dancing and company. Unfortunately, Jeep was unable to travel with me. She stayed at home and looked after the children.

I travelled back on Sunday with Penny and Robert's friend and Pastor - David - along with David's wife Jean. I was dropped off in Liverpool and I cought the evening ferry back to Douglas. A quick drive over the mountain and I was back home by 10:30pm.

Songkran 2009

Phra Aod Titayaro (Right) & Phra Si Varapo (Left)
Originally uploaded by Evans-Amsri

This weekend two monks from Wat Santiwongsaram in Birmingham came to the Isle of Man for the Songkram celebration.

Whilst Noi, Jeep and others were preparing for the festivities, I took the monks on a tour of the Island. The highlight I think was the Laxey Wheel (Lady Isabella). We all climbed to the top. Neither PJ or William were worried about the height. It was quite dizzy looking down from the top. We even put on hard hats and went a short way down a mine, including the monks.

After refreshments at our home we arrived back at Noi's house later than expected. The monks immediately retired for their evening meditation.

Susan Boyle

I watched this video 3 times! Susan Boyle sings I Dreamed a Dream

Unbelievable pitch. What a vocal range.

This show should be renamed Britain's Got (Hidden) Talent!