The Website Thing
06/04/26 23:16
Had to change some stuff with my website host recently and after changing it I’ve had a couple of minor issues to wrangle with. It doesn’t take much of an issue to completely stop one thing or another working. I’ve dealt with the main issue I had, but it has resulted in me finding other website related things to deal with.
Broadly I’ve got to consider how I want the site to work. And this actually gives a whole ‘chicken and the egg’ problem. If I move away from a blog format, for some of it, what will I put up instead? In the end, the content should really be driving what I put up here, rather than the format driving the content. The blog format is clearly the easiest way of me progressively adding to the website, but I wonder if I should just use that format for one—or two—parts of the site.
I’m considering stopping the blog element with respect to the Real Ale Liverpool and ‘Health/MS’ parts of the site. A ‘diary’ format probably only really works if I am to put up regular words, rather than randomly dropping in bits and bobs.
The presentation of the writing bits on the site may be more problematic. There isn’t a time based element to them when they are not tied to events/days of the week. And I’m not sure having single pages for the odd 3 or 5 hundred word piece works (not that I’ve being doing much of that at all lately—God I miss the Days that FlashDogs ruled the waves rather than Memes and AI generated content). It requires more thought, and work—including the writing it at all bit..
And maybe I need to find another way of building the website. But changing from the current way (often writing bits on the hoof (like this) on my iPad, then adding it to my Rapidweaver site on my computer when I get back home) doesn’t make sense until I know what I want on the site and how I want to present it. Changing to a new app before I’ve decided that could cause needless issues down the road.
Now where did I leave that thinking cap? I’ll have a look behind the sofa later…
Broadly I’ve got to consider how I want the site to work. And this actually gives a whole ‘chicken and the egg’ problem. If I move away from a blog format, for some of it, what will I put up instead? In the end, the content should really be driving what I put up here, rather than the format driving the content. The blog format is clearly the easiest way of me progressively adding to the website, but I wonder if I should just use that format for one—or two—parts of the site.
I’m considering stopping the blog element with respect to the Real Ale Liverpool and ‘Health/MS’ parts of the site. A ‘diary’ format probably only really works if I am to put up regular words, rather than randomly dropping in bits and bobs.
The presentation of the writing bits on the site may be more problematic. There isn’t a time based element to them when they are not tied to events/days of the week. And I’m not sure having single pages for the odd 3 or 5 hundred word piece works (not that I’ve being doing much of that at all lately—God I miss the Days that FlashDogs ruled the waves rather than Memes and AI generated content). It requires more thought, and work—including the writing it at all bit..
And maybe I need to find another way of building the website. But changing from the current way (often writing bits on the hoof (like this) on my iPad, then adding it to my Rapidweaver site on my computer when I get back home) doesn’t make sense until I know what I want on the site and how I want to present it. Changing to a new app before I’ve decided that could cause needless issues down the road.
Now where did I leave that thinking cap? I’ll have a look behind the sofa later…
Comments
Renew Time
Received an email a couple of days ago to warn me my Disability Railcard was about to expire. It was a no brainier to decide if it was worth getting again. I must have saved a few hundred pounds for the 54 quid it costs over the three years. Well worth it.
But it was bloody frightening to discover that I had first got a card three years ago. Feels more like two at the most, FFS. If there’s one thing I’d like to renew it is time itself. Anyone know who I can ask for time to be checked and recalibrated. Let us Renew Time!
I maybe should have chosen to update the photo on the card, but I didn’t take the opportunity, so I’m stuck with a ‘going through a fat phase’ photo of me—and one without a beard too. To be honest though when I am out and about on a train I’m rarely asked to show my card (a digital one) or often even show a ticket.
Feel like I need to book a train trip somewhere to use the benefit of the savings: one third off. One trip could pay for the card.
But it was bloody frightening to discover that I had first got a card three years ago. Feels more like two at the most, FFS. If there’s one thing I’d like to renew it is time itself. Anyone know who I can ask for time to be checked and recalibrated. Let us Renew Time!
I maybe should have chosen to update the photo on the card, but I didn’t take the opportunity, so I’m stuck with a ‘going through a fat phase’ photo of me—and one without a beard too. To be honest though when I am out and about on a train I’m rarely asked to show my card (a digital one) or often even show a ticket.
Feel like I need to book a train trip somewhere to use the benefit of the savings: one third off. One trip could pay for the card.
Writing: A Return Required
10/03/26 22:58 Filed in: Writing | Writing Plan
It’s been a while since I’ve done much writing. And I need to get back to it. It’s been exactly a year since I posted anything under the ‘Rat Rampant’ page. I read the last two things I put up and I had no memory of writing them really, or posting them. I read them on Scrivener and wasn’t aware I’d then posted them. FFS.
Obviously it’s been a bit stressful with the MS and I don’t know whether it is the stress that has affected my memory or impacted on me not writing—or whether MS as a neurological condition has impacted too on my writing game. I’ve read a few things I’ve put up on the website and think a) they’re not bad, and b) could I write that now? I guess that latter one is one scary consideration. Something has affected me; in the last year I hardly did any reading either.
With the world going thru its current nightmare I think sitting in front of a blank screen and imagining stuff must be a good use of my time. And, even if that screen remains stubbornly blank, it will prove less stressful than watching the news channels.
So I am tasking myself to come up with a writing schedule, be it stories, blogs, or finishing off those damn novels (before starting another). First up I better write something random and new to go on to Rat Rampant. It’s my website and I guess I could make it short anyway.
Obviously it’s been a bit stressful with the MS and I don’t know whether it is the stress that has affected my memory or impacted on me not writing—or whether MS as a neurological condition has impacted too on my writing game. I’ve read a few things I’ve put up on the website and think a) they’re not bad, and b) could I write that now? I guess that latter one is one scary consideration. Something has affected me; in the last year I hardly did any reading either.
With the world going thru its current nightmare I think sitting in front of a blank screen and imagining stuff must be a good use of my time. And, even if that screen remains stubbornly blank, it will prove less stressful than watching the news channels.
So I am tasking myself to come up with a writing schedule, be it stories, blogs, or finishing off those damn novels (before starting another). First up I better write something random and new to go on to Rat Rampant. It’s my website and I guess I could make it short anyway.
Pokémon Go: Kalos Event
Had an excellent week on Pokémon Go this week catching a few I didn’t already have and getting some with Mega Energy. Some of these with enough to Mega Evolve and others just getting me part way, but closer next time I see the right Mega Raids.
These were once again largely assisted by turning up at—or near to—the Liverpool Meet-Ups by St George’s Hall. Highlights were getting a few Kyogres, being able to Mega a Tyranitar, and getting closer to a Mega of Metagross. Shame I didn’t get a Mega Swampert (one of my favourite Pokémon’s in my Dex). But getting a Kyogre I guess makes up for it from a Water type anyway.
New Pokémon I caught this week included;
Kyogre
Zekrom
Reshiram
Kyurem
Mega Malamar
Xerneas shiny
Kangaskhan (hatched 10k shiny)
Hawlucha (another hatched 10k)
Next week I should hopefully get a MewTwo which will get me my Platinum badge for catching all the Kantos. I’ve not got many Platinum badges (9 total ATM) so any more I can get now would be great. Unique Poke stops may be next but will require me to visit a few newish towns and spin away.
I’ve now got 31 I can Mega evolve—and therefore collect the energy without Raiding—I’ve been slow working on these. I guess cos you can’t Raid on your tod that easily. Thank you, Liverpool peeps. I went into the park the other day (waiting to get Tyranitar) and spoke very briefly to a couple of people. Haven’t met the main peeps of the group. It did good to see that there are plenty of people doing it—don’t want to think I’m the only one not reading books and ‘wasting’ my time with the game. It’s clearly mostly younger people than me. And many not old enough to take the route of playing whilst having a pint in Dr Ds. Well, not old enough yet…
These were once again largely assisted by turning up at—or near to—the Liverpool Meet-Ups by St George’s Hall. Highlights were getting a few Kyogres, being able to Mega a Tyranitar, and getting closer to a Mega of Metagross. Shame I didn’t get a Mega Swampert (one of my favourite Pokémon’s in my Dex). But getting a Kyogre I guess makes up for it from a Water type anyway.
New Pokémon I caught this week included;
Kyogre
Zekrom
Reshiram
Kyurem
Mega Malamar
Xerneas shiny
Kangaskhan (hatched 10k shiny)
Hawlucha (another hatched 10k)
Next week I should hopefully get a MewTwo which will get me my Platinum badge for catching all the Kantos. I’ve not got many Platinum badges (9 total ATM) so any more I can get now would be great. Unique Poke stops may be next but will require me to visit a few newish towns and spin away.
I’ve now got 31 I can Mega evolve—and therefore collect the energy without Raiding—I’ve been slow working on these. I guess cos you can’t Raid on your tod that easily. Thank you, Liverpool peeps. I went into the park the other day (waiting to get Tyranitar) and spoke very briefly to a couple of people. Haven’t met the main peeps of the group. It did good to see that there are plenty of people doing it—don’t want to think I’m the only one not reading books and ‘wasting’ my time with the game. It’s clearly mostly younger people than me. And many not old enough to take the route of playing whilst having a pint in Dr Ds. Well, not old enough yet…
A Good Weekend of Pokémon Go
My first Shundo: a shiny Spinda for Valentines weekend. All the Spindas had a heart shaped pattern on them. Just getting a shiny was nice, but a 100% one (a Hundo) was brilliant (even for a fairly useless Pokémon).
A Spinda Shundo. Not that useful, but cute.
On Sunday I went into town when the Meowth Gigantimax event was on. As I’ve done once before I ‘joined’ the local Liverpool group trying to catch them around St John’s Garden. I was having a relaxed time in Dr Duncans whilst they were wandering around the gardens. I joined three or four groups and caught some. My first Gigantimax.
But best of all I’d been hoping for a few weeks to catch a Mega Pidgeot - and I did, thanks to the groups, finally a new possibility to Mega evolve a Pokémon or two. I don’t have that many that can Mega evolve at the moment. It was the last day that they would be available for quite a while. Next up now will be to try and catch a Sableye over the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed.
My first Mega Pidgeot enjoying The Vines.
A Spinda Shundo. Not that useful, but cute.
On Sunday I went into town when the Meowth Gigantimax event was on. As I’ve done once before I ‘joined’ the local Liverpool group trying to catch them around St John’s Garden. I was having a relaxed time in Dr Duncans whilst they were wandering around the gardens. I joined three or four groups and caught some. My first Gigantimax.
But best of all I’d been hoping for a few weeks to catch a Mega Pidgeot - and I did, thanks to the groups, finally a new possibility to Mega evolve a Pokémon or two. I don’t have that many that can Mega evolve at the moment. It was the last day that they would be available for quite a while. Next up now will be to try and catch a Sableye over the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed.
My first Mega Pidgeot enjoying The Vines.
Every Day Is A School Day
04/02/26 20:35 Filed in: liverpool
Every day is a school day, even for an old dog like me. At the weekend I got a Too Good to Go bag from Mattas (a locally famous international food store in Liverpool city centre; for those who don’t know it).
Obviously getting a Too Good to Go from a takeaway is more defined in advance. At least it’ll defo be a meal—always a bargain, even if the meal is not the one you’d prefer. Getting a random bag of ‘stuff’ from a shop—be it an Aldi Or Mattas) all bets are off. The contents could be anything, from breads and pastries through fruit and veg to flour and eggs. Anything the shop sells.
Last week I went for a TG2G from Mattas and left in the dark in more ways than one. When I opened the bag to peek in a few minutes after leaving I saw there were a few things, including an instant (2 mins in boiling water) noodle pack (Korean), a Korean noodle bowl, a lettuce, a soybean dip, and something that in the light of the street I assumed to be a plantain—from it’s shape at the bottom of the plastic bag.
When I got to the pub—the Red Lion, a short walk along from Mattas—I took out the plantain and discovered my supposition was wrong. Whilst it had the girth of a—very—large fruit, it wasn’t yellow away from the street lights, oh and it had green growth out the top of it. It was patently a root vegetable. One that I’d never seen the like of.
This aint no plantain.
I questioned the bar staff in case everyone knew what it was, and it was just a glaring gap in my eduction. They were as bemused—and amused—as me. No answer was the loud reply. Later I asked a group of nearby drinkers if they knew. They didn’t know either (and even asked for a photo of it). But one guy suggested a radish. I laughed. They’re tiny compared with this behemoth.
I ended up asking Dr Google and looking through some image of large white veg. And I discovered it was a Daikon. A Far Easttern veg, which was indeed from the radish/parsnip stable. It is often thinly sliced and eaten raw in salads, or else cooked in stews and treated a bit like carrots. It's common in Japanese cuisine and south east Asia in general.
You live, you learn. Every day IS a school day.
Obviously getting a Too Good to Go from a takeaway is more defined in advance. At least it’ll defo be a meal—always a bargain, even if the meal is not the one you’d prefer. Getting a random bag of ‘stuff’ from a shop—be it an Aldi Or Mattas) all bets are off. The contents could be anything, from breads and pastries through fruit and veg to flour and eggs. Anything the shop sells.
Last week I went for a TG2G from Mattas and left in the dark in more ways than one. When I opened the bag to peek in a few minutes after leaving I saw there were a few things, including an instant (2 mins in boiling water) noodle pack (Korean), a Korean noodle bowl, a lettuce, a soybean dip, and something that in the light of the street I assumed to be a plantain—from it’s shape at the bottom of the plastic bag.
When I got to the pub—the Red Lion, a short walk along from Mattas—I took out the plantain and discovered my supposition was wrong. Whilst it had the girth of a—very—large fruit, it wasn’t yellow away from the street lights, oh and it had green growth out the top of it. It was patently a root vegetable. One that I’d never seen the like of.
This aint no plantain.
I questioned the bar staff in case everyone knew what it was, and it was just a glaring gap in my eduction. They were as bemused—and amused—as me. No answer was the loud reply. Later I asked a group of nearby drinkers if they knew. They didn’t know either (and even asked for a photo of it). But one guy suggested a radish. I laughed. They’re tiny compared with this behemoth.
I ended up asking Dr Google and looking through some image of large white veg. And I discovered it was a Daikon. A Far Easttern veg, which was indeed from the radish/parsnip stable. It is often thinly sliced and eaten raw in salads, or else cooked in stews and treated a bit like carrots. It's common in Japanese cuisine and south east Asia in general.
You live, you learn. Every day IS a school day.
New Raiding
This weekend I went on a Raid meet-up in Liverpool city centre to try and nab myself a Shadow Raikou or two. The meet-up is arranged by the ‘local ambassador’ and is usually in or around St John's Garden behind St George's Hall. There's almost as many Saints as there are Pokemon.
A very busy and colourful St John's Gardens
I’ve never been to a Raid Day really, and certainly not an arranged meet-up. And whilst I did ‘join’ the meet-up I didn’t actually go and meet anyone. Most of the Pokestops and Gyms in the area designated as the ambassador area were visitable whilst sat with a pint in Dr Duncans. Very handy for me indeed.
I took part in multiple raids and caught most of those I won battles in. I ended up with eight Shadow Raikous. One was a 3* and one was a 2* Shiny. Whilst I was made up to get a couple of decent Pokémon, I was mostly pleased by the vast amount of XP points I won and even more happy with the copious numbers of Rare Candies I received. I was to invest the candies on my rather decent Meltan (still miles of having the number for evolving it, but at least I’m closer now) and also my Larvesta. I’m not far now of being able to evolve that one (11 candies short of the 100).
Cor!!
I’ll defo geg in on the meet-ups again. The benefits are really rather good. And even better with a beer in hand too!
The Dr Duncan's Pokemon Team of One
A Shadow Raikou briefly popped into the Doctors
A very busy and colourful St John's Gardens
I’ve never been to a Raid Day really, and certainly not an arranged meet-up. And whilst I did ‘join’ the meet-up I didn’t actually go and meet anyone. Most of the Pokestops and Gyms in the area designated as the ambassador area were visitable whilst sat with a pint in Dr Duncans. Very handy for me indeed.
I took part in multiple raids and caught most of those I won battles in. I ended up with eight Shadow Raikous. One was a 3* and one was a 2* Shiny. Whilst I was made up to get a couple of decent Pokémon, I was mostly pleased by the vast amount of XP points I won and even more happy with the copious numbers of Rare Candies I received. I was to invest the candies on my rather decent Meltan (still miles of having the number for evolving it, but at least I’m closer now) and also my Larvesta. I’m not far now of being able to evolve that one (11 candies short of the 100).
Cor!!
I’ll defo geg in on the meet-ups again. The benefits are really rather good. And even better with a beer in hand too!
The Dr Duncan's Pokemon Team of One
A Shadow Raikou briefly popped into the Doctors
The Icy Sword of Damacles
It was an horrendous start to the other week with my part of Liverpool being a true world of ice. I slipped and fell on a small area of black ice outside a shop. My right leg slipped forward and my left leg folded beneath me, resulting in a very painful knee. Ironically I needed to get ice on it when I got home.
The following day I left the house to find my estate and all the pavements and road that led to the bus stop on Lower Lane covered in a continuous sheet of ice. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable in my life trying to get to the bus stop and then on to work. Everyone was falling, slipping and doing their best to find things to hold on to. Obviously crossing roads and accesses there was nothing to grab on to. I got over two roads and an access for the GP Practice in one piece. Then I attempted to cross another access. It was pure ice. And I went over. Falling backwards on my rucksack. The packet of crisps didn’t survive but it probably stopped me banging my head.
My glasses were not so lucky. They flew of me. It was still pretty dark at 7:45am and everything beneath me was white with bits of black. I became Mr Magoo on my hands and knees trying to find the damn glasses to no avail. I asked one school kid if he could see them. He wasn’t helpful. I asked a Polish lady who was struggling with the ice and my question. I had no chance.
I had spare glasses at home, but would have to chance it back over the ice with less than brilliant vision. It wasn’t an obvious option. Then I remembered I had contact lenses in my bag, I edged over the ice towards a relatively low ice area beneath a few trees and managed to get a lens in. Ultimately I succeeded and whilst dancing unsteadily back over the access road I found my glasses. They skidded about three metres away from where I’d fallen, almost on to the main road. I’d never have found them with my contact lens.
I got over the road with much trepidation and onto a bus. The ice closer to work was still about, but there had been more treatment and I got there without further incident. The lack of treatment in the housing estate may be understandable but on the main road of Long Lane with so much footfall for school kids, let alone the GPs is a horrible oversight.
No more ice please, unless it’s in a glass of something tasty.
The following day I left the house to find my estate and all the pavements and road that led to the bus stop on Lower Lane covered in a continuous sheet of ice. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable in my life trying to get to the bus stop and then on to work. Everyone was falling, slipping and doing their best to find things to hold on to. Obviously crossing roads and accesses there was nothing to grab on to. I got over two roads and an access for the GP Practice in one piece. Then I attempted to cross another access. It was pure ice. And I went over. Falling backwards on my rucksack. The packet of crisps didn’t survive but it probably stopped me banging my head.
My glasses were not so lucky. They flew of me. It was still pretty dark at 7:45am and everything beneath me was white with bits of black. I became Mr Magoo on my hands and knees trying to find the damn glasses to no avail. I asked one school kid if he could see them. He wasn’t helpful. I asked a Polish lady who was struggling with the ice and my question. I had no chance.
I had spare glasses at home, but would have to chance it back over the ice with less than brilliant vision. It wasn’t an obvious option. Then I remembered I had contact lenses in my bag, I edged over the ice towards a relatively low ice area beneath a few trees and managed to get a lens in. Ultimately I succeeded and whilst dancing unsteadily back over the access road I found my glasses. They skidded about three metres away from where I’d fallen, almost on to the main road. I’d never have found them with my contact lens.
I got over the road with much trepidation and onto a bus. The ice closer to work was still about, but there had been more treatment and I got there without further incident. The lack of treatment in the housing estate may be understandable but on the main road of Long Lane with so much footfall for school kids, let alone the GPs is a horrible oversight.
No more ice please, unless it’s in a glass of something tasty.
Coffee & Christmas Crackers
29/12/25 09:24 Filed in: Family
On Christmas Day I went to my sister’s for the big, fancy Sunday lunch. And she did a fabulous job. There were two new visitors there including her new puppy. I’m not sure how many weeks it is before a puppy becomes a dog, but Coco is not old at all. She’s quite an active puppy/dog and likes jumping about and picking things up—and maybe eating or hiding them. She certainly seems most interested in shoes and fingers at the moment. Looks lovely and it’ll be great to see how she turns out. She’s a German Shepherd.
A little video I did of Coco shows her current typical behaviour. Jump, nibble, claw, bite, sit, behave…repeat.
There were five of us at the meal (not including Coco) and after we ate our fill of turkey, beef, roasties, mash, cauli, broccoli, carrots, pigs in blankets, gravy, cheese sauce et al sis announced that rather than getting crackers for us she’d picked up a box of Amazon Returns for each of us. I’ve always found crackers a sad part of the Xmas day—the food, the people, the drink, the TV (and maybe a new dog) are far more important and much less a throw away instant waste.
The five rather large boxes were brought out—and they were quite impressive in that way—and I selected the one my niece brought in. The boxes all looked the same so it was just luck what would be in each one. Anyhoo, it proved lucky for me. Mine included a coffee machine (circa £60 worth) as well as a camera tripod, a whisky glass set, and a small Thermos flask. Much better than a coloured paper hat, a barely audible bang, and a sad joke. Everyone got some things which were useful (though I think the coffee machine was the best thing). Not sure whether it’ll become a Christmas Walker tradition, but maybe it will.
BTW I heated some water up later that evening to clean the coffee machine. And, yes it worked fine.
A little video I did of Coco shows her current typical behaviour. Jump, nibble, claw, bite, sit, behave…repeat.
There were five of us at the meal (not including Coco) and after we ate our fill of turkey, beef, roasties, mash, cauli, broccoli, carrots, pigs in blankets, gravy, cheese sauce et al sis announced that rather than getting crackers for us she’d picked up a box of Amazon Returns for each of us. I’ve always found crackers a sad part of the Xmas day—the food, the people, the drink, the TV (and maybe a new dog) are far more important and much less a throw away instant waste.
The five rather large boxes were brought out—and they were quite impressive in that way—and I selected the one my niece brought in. The boxes all looked the same so it was just luck what would be in each one. Anyhoo, it proved lucky for me. Mine included a coffee machine (circa £60 worth) as well as a camera tripod, a whisky glass set, and a small Thermos flask. Much better than a coloured paper hat, a barely audible bang, and a sad joke. Everyone got some things which were useful (though I think the coffee machine was the best thing). Not sure whether it’ll become a Christmas Walker tradition, but maybe it will.
BTW I heated some water up later that evening to clean the coffee machine. And, yes it worked fine.
AI Update Update
Three weeks ago Mani from the Stone Roses passed away and then I found that AI was telling me the gig I went to at the Royal Court never happened. The same AI now says it did and has added some detail to it. Amazing what a difference such a short period can make. I wonder if my comments on it being wrong contributed to the alteration in AI’s assertion.
AI Spot the Difference. Same question to Google three weeks apart.
Three weeks ago AI said this…
Now AI says this…
A couple of days ago I was told about a cool app where you can input/look up and record all the gigs you’ve been to. It’s called ‘Concert Archive’ (should surely be gig not concert in my opinion. Not sure I’ve been to many concerts). I quickly downloaded it and have since added quite a few gigs to the app over the last couple of days. This morning it sent me a notification that it was 30 years ago today I went to see Stone Roses in Liverpool.
Or did I?
Anyway the app looks good. Although the gigs all seem to be at least ten years further back than I first imagine. Sheesh! Unfortunately I can’t blame AI for that, just the rapid passage of time as you get older.
AI Spot the Difference. Same question to Google three weeks apart.
Three weeks ago AI said this…
Now AI says this…
A couple of days ago I was told about a cool app where you can input/look up and record all the gigs you’ve been to. It’s called ‘Concert Archive’ (should surely be gig not concert in my opinion. Not sure I’ve been to many concerts). I quickly downloaded it and have since added quite a few gigs to the app over the last couple of days. This morning it sent me a notification that it was 30 years ago today I went to see Stone Roses in Liverpool.
Or did I?
Anyway the app looks good. Although the gigs all seem to be at least ten years further back than I first imagine. Sheesh! Unfortunately I can’t blame AI for that, just the rapid passage of time as you get older.