Skiers expecting to ski down Pill Hill

Skiers expecting to ski down Pill Hill Originally uploaded by Major Clanger.

This group of skiers, all dressed up for the new tram which goes to the, er, hospital. They had loud music and danced; they spoke with German accents and were very excited about "ze ski jumps" and snow which would be greeting them at the top. This was taken from the tram on the way down, so I knew what would really be greeting them. Taken on the Grand Opening Day of the Portland Aerial Tram, see the full set of pictures on Flickr. Here's another one:

Surprise Chelsea Buns came in the mail!

We got a very, very nice surprise on Friday, a little bit of England arrive in the mail. A slightly heavy small box sent via airmail...

Which turned out of be four Fitzbillies Chelsea buns from our good friends The Wartnabies! How very nice indeed.

We heated up two of 'em and ate 'em after dinner, while watching an Inspector Morse from Netflix. Very, very tasty indeed, it brought back so many memories of the 5 years we lived in Cambridge.

Adam, my room mate (now moved back to NZ) worked in Fitzbillies for a while and we'd often take visitors there. It is opposite the Fitzwilliam Museum, which we visited in January. We didn't make it to Fitzbillies so this was a special treat.

Thanks Very Much Clare, Charie, Georgie and Ros, what a lovely surprise!

Yeah! A snow day in Portland

Up the Garden Path
Originally uploaded by Major Clanger.

Here is my garden in the snow, this almost looks black and white. I worked from home but did manage to go out and have some fun in the snow. I always feel guilty on snow days, especially as this is the time of year when I have the most work.

Snow is getting rarer and rarer it seems, so for once I'm happy to make the most of it.

Updates done - label cloud added

Mauna Kea Clouds, Hawai'i
Originally uploaded by Major Clanger.

All done now! Tweaking the styles has it almost like it was before, but now I can more easily add sections, and I've added a label cloud which shows all the labels and allows me to characterize each posting.

My favorite cloud is is Autocare Sign.

Normal service will now be resumed.

This blog will look a bit wobbly while I update it!

I'm working on modernizing the technology used for this blog, but without changing the actual layout just yet. For a few hours this blog will look funny as I sort it all out and re-work my layout using the fancy new interface.

Moved!

http://blog.teleportaloo.org

UPDATED!

I moved the blog to my own domain, as the domain wasn't getting used much, and I might as well use it. I also didn't like the name of the old blog very much, the domain name is funnier.

Update 1: Originally I tried hosting the blog myself, but it is already too big! I'm editing this post as I try different things. Right now I've set up a new domain so that the http://blog.teleportaloo.org will work. Currently I'm waiting for the DNS changes to propagate; once they are done I'll make the switch. The link won't work until I do!

Update 2: After a couple of hours the subdomain started to work, so I did do it right. I'm going to delete all the files from my ISP as blogger is actually hosting them still. Links to the old page will still work too, so this is pretty groovy. Google rocks!

Update 3: And I changed the name of the blog. Why not? It has been 3 years now, and I feel like a change.

Taken in Canterbury, England:

It's a sign!

Comet McNaught cropped Originally uploaded by Major Clanger.

This is Comet McNaught over Gabriel Park, Portland, Oregon. We got to the hill about 10 minutes before sunset, and then about 25 other people turned up with binoculars. The tail was very visible. Just before we left (about 5:30) a man turned up with a telescope and son in tow but he was too late, the time in the Oregonian had been wrong! Here is a bigger version:

Here is one with an airplane (to the right and above the aircraft):

I've seen the truth & it makes no sense, winter tire and service

I've seen the truth & it makes no sense, winter tire and service
Originally uploaded by Major Clanger.

Maybe I'll need those winter tires - snow is on the way, it was hailing tonight.