So yesterday all was fairly normal apart from the bug I’ve been working on for weeks looks like an SDK/hardware problem. Anyway, Dillon went to daycare, Sasha got walked, I went to Pump. After more work I got all the boxes out of the garage. Then spent the next four hours assembling two speakers and a glass TV stand. Which does look very nice, but took fucking ages to get right. Got the amp installed and connected it to CD player, gave it a quick blast. Speakers sound okay, need to set it all up.

So today was all about finishing the first draft of the presentation slides. Which I did indeed do. Then installing SDK updates, which turned out to be a right pain, as support for VC2010 has been dropped and I don’t have any later versions. One the company needs to sort out. Popped out and picked up the missing centre speaker I was waiting for, also took back three meters of cable and got a £45 refund on it (yes it’s bloody pricey). So now I have a bit more setup to do and then I’m going to give it a blast tonight.

Still debating about projector screens. Yes, I’d like one which came down automatically when projector is activated etc. But I can’t really justify spending £500 on a bloody roller blind. Amazon seem to do one which has good reviews for just over a ton, and it’s motorised, and it’s huge.

Woke up this morning to the radio alarm, with an A320 going down in the Alps, killing all on board. And that’s a very reliable aircraft, bit of a mystery that one at the moment.

Got up and got on with it. Managed to get my ‘bug’ down to one draw call. So set that off to support. Spent the rest of the day doing battle with power point. Got the demo of the latest one. Managed to produce twenty-five slides so far. Walked Sasha in the rain. Went out for a walk later in the rain. Did two hours of studying meteorology, I now know what wind is. Disassembled the TV unit, I’ve tried to book that all to be collected. TV is currently on the floor, I may assemble the rack tomorrow. Richer Sounds has the centre speaker in, so I may go and pick that up Thursday. Jamie has been busy with my credit card, we almost have a holiday booked.

Got up late. Usual Monday morning, couldn’t do bugger all. It was freezing as well. Walked Sasha, wasn’t long today, too cold. Went to Combat, gave that a good effort. Then came back and did a couple more hours, managed to narrow the problem down a bit more, still there though. I really have to get on with these presentation slides tomorrow, they need to be in by the end of the week. Been looking at projection screens as well, another bloody minefield that is. Did clear up some of the living room, I’ll try and do a bit more on it tomorrow.

So got up, had breakfast then took Sasha out for an hour. Then it was onwards and upwards on the DIY front. Cut out another section of wall and drilled down. Opened up the floor again and got working with my ‘fishing rod’, got the wire on pretty much the first attempt. Hooked it all through. Apart from almost sealing my torch under the floor it all went pretty much without a hitch. Next job is the lighting. Went out for a walk. Went over to Jamie’s mothers in the evening, managed to drive clean past the motorway exit. So fairly successful day. Need to get the lighting and the screen sorted next. Lets try and get it all done over the next few weeks.

So started off with breakfast and then took Sasha out for her walk. Came back and made my Tool station list, plus printed out an email from a certain online retailer. Then I ventured off into town. Walked into posh hifi shop. There were three salesman babbling over by a till. I walked round for a bit, then walked out. Crossed the road, walked into Richer Sounds. Perused for a bit, then accosted by a salesman who asked if I was okay browsing or would like some serious sucking up. I went for the second option, after about an hour of negotiation which eventually involved the manager, who is a jolly nice chap they got the price down to twenty-five quid lower than the internet. So I then bought some rather over-priced speaker cable, a sub cable, oh and a TV unit. Went to Tool station. Relocated the car. The manager and I then managed to get two dirty great speakers, a sub the size of a mini, plus an amp into the Astra. I was well pleased. Came back and went for a short walk. Then started the very long process of testing the old kit, photographing it and then sticking it on eBay, which is now all done. Now almost mid-night, must be time for a bath.

H-Tile, you will be the death of me. But to cut a very long (many days now) story short I think I may have found the cause of my mystery. I’ll wait until Monday to find out though. Spent all morning fixing another bug which was causing everything to go red. Walked the dogs with Jamie lunchtime as the weather was really nice. Got in touch with captain James, we’ll start to do stuff again after Easter. I can then do about four flights in a week. Went to Pump.

So I’ve got a good quote from an online retailer for the amp and speakers I want, including cables and bits, with delivery. Now, I’d much rather give the business to a local shop, so I’ll try one tomorrow. If they don’t provide enough sucking up then they can go get fucked. It will be very ‘Pretty Woman’.

Yet another bloody day on this compute shader. Still not working, but slightly wiser as to why. Have another bug to sort out now though. One for tomorrow that. Had to wait for a courier so Sasha only got half hour today. I’ve decided to eBay a load of stuff, so if you are reading this then this lot is going cheap, to the point of if it doesn’t sell it’s going in a skip. The original cost of this lot is about five grand. Anyway, a pair of Tannoy DC2000 speakers, big floor standers, in okay condition and perfect working order. A pair of Celestion bookshelf speakers. A Jamo centre 100 speaker. Topfield PVR. A high end Denon multi-region DVD player which also does WMA/MP4 and other formats. A DVD/Video combo recorder. A high end tape deck. A Pioneer THX RDS A/V amp. This beast is about 120 watts per channel and cost over two grand originally. A nice A/V cabinet with smoked glass doors and a TV unit, just over a meter long. Also a Sony Blu-ray player. All going, if I get no bids they will all get chucked. Forgot one, a Yamaha subwoofer. So if anyone wants anything then leave me a message.

Went out this evening for a walk, turned into a bit of a two and a half hour marathon. Had a shower. Torture porn night.

This trip we are planning on taking just happens to coincide with the Monaco Grand Prix, that really was purely luck. So we either try and be somewhere else that weekend, or try and be there. It would be rude not to really wouldn’t it.

Got up at 6:20 and took Sasha to daycare. Went back to bed. Spent the entire day on this compute shader again and still got bloody nowhere. Cleaners came, I went out for my walk. Then went, I picked up Sasha. Did more work. Then went to Pump. Came back and did a couple more hours, it’s all very odd. Oh, my presentation has been approved. I have to do a half hour spot talking to probably the best 500 developers in Europe, an interesting challenge. Need to get a new TV stand so that everything fits. Can’t find one I like (yet). Don’t think I will hit my target weight tomorrow.

Spent all bloody day on that compute shader again, still not getting anywhere with it. Walked Sasha for an hour and then did a walk this evening as well. Not sure I’m going to hit the target weight this week. Managed to do another two hours of studying on meteorology. Spent the rest of the evening staring at speakers. I think these Tannoy’s need to go. They are very old and don’t really work well on the sound stage. Got my eye on a decent set, but with the amp that’s going to be about £1400. Was looking at side and ceiling speakers, but it’s all such a faff I think I’ll stick with 5.1. Jamie has decided there aren’t enough pay days before holiday time, so we won’t be going anywhere I expect. I’ll probably block book a number of flying hours instead and build the time up. (And before you think, oh why don’t you pay for all of it, in reality it would cost me somewhere close to seven grand for two weeks somewhere I’ve been to about five times already.) We may look at Europe instead as the Euro is pretty good at the moment. Maybe EuroDisney and some time in the south of France would be good.

I don’t think the floor approved of all my cutting and drilling. I woke up this morning feeling like I’d been in a car wreck. My shoulders physically hurt and I was covered in bruises. Still, got up and cracked on. Standard Monday, couldn’t really get into much. Walked Sasha for an hour. Did a bit more. Went to the gym and did Combat, which wasn’t great when body parts didn’t want to work and I was knackered. Forgot my towel for some reason so couldn’t have a shower at the gym. Came back and did a couple of hours decent work on a compute shader. Had a shower. Ate salad. I’ve decided to set myself weekly weight loss goals, weigh in day is Thursday. If I’m not at the target weight then no alcohol for the rest of the week. Is that a reward or punishment? See how it goes.