Santa vids

Added 2 new vids on Youtube. One of the Santa Special and one of Santa visiting !

Popart

I've Popartified Jack ! check it out in the Pictures section. Also a new picture of a cheeky grin ! I'm going to Warholify him next.

Videos

Added a couple of small videos to show Jack crawling. He also got a new BMW from Grandma and Grumps for Xmas so have shown him on that too ! Check out the videos link.

London

Jacks' friend Archie came round the other day and they fought it out over the rattle. Last weekend we went to London and Jack met his Uncles and aunts and Great Grandma. Pictures updated !

Ey Up !

Check it out

Guy Fawkes night

Jack flew back from sunny Spain where he had been visiting his Grandparents. A few pics added ... complete with new haircut.

Manchester

Today we went to Manchester to see Jacks' Great Aunt Joan and Uncle Bo. He was liked so much we had to wrestle him away from Auntys' grasp and bundle him in the car... Check out the pics ...

Air Guitars

Just got back from the UK Air Gutar UK Finals ....
I managed to persuade Jasper to participate ! Check out the video on the left. There are some pictures also

YouTube

Seems the videos suffer quality a lot when uploading to YouTube. Still its better than not watching them at all - if you had the originals streaming it would take forever...
I need to play around with the editing software a bit more - the one that comes with my Panny is a bit complicated so I might check out some others ....
Meanwhile enjoy my early attempts !

YouTube

Been playing around with YouTube today
You can upload your videos to it for free and then it provides a free streaming and sharing service - its pretty cool. Check it out on the left !
I just need to get better at making movies now !

Norfolk and Suffolk

We have been away for a few days to Norfolk and Suffolk. We took Jack to sandringham but the Queen refused to meet him ....
Check out the pics - will sort out a film soon ....

Movies

Just a quick one this - I've spent the last few hours messing around getting my media PC to host my crap home movies. Please feel free to view it - its from our first holiday with Jack in the Scottish borders. I have edited it quite a bit and had to drop the frame rate so it is a little jerky. Although just over 14 MB isn't too bad. Things will get better I'm sure. I can hear Hollywood calling !

Neeps and Tatties

Well we got back from a successful week in the Scottish Borders. Jack has fully recovered and seemed to like it up there more than his own home - although I think its because it was a bit cooler up there. Check out the pics for a few snaps.
BTW I've upgraded to the latest version of JAlbum and there seems to be some problem with the photo ordering on this - if anyone uses JAlbum and has sorted this then please let me know !
Time for me to have another moan cos I have been having withdrawal symptoms ...
I rang Toshiba up before I went away about this TV company that were supposed to have fixed my TV (twice and failed to do so). They suggested another TV repair company to me based in Bradford. I thought OK I'll give it a go (bear in mind these companies are all "Authorised Repair Centres" for Toshiba). So this guy rings me up and makes a booking for today (as I told him we were away last week as he originally wanted to pick it up then). Anyway come noon there was no sign so I rang them to confirm they were coming and not only could they not work out where I lived they also started taking down my details all over again. Anyway halfway through this I decided i had had enough and told them I wasn't interested in their business and I would tell toshiba about the shoddy service. To which the woman replied (she already had a surly attitude before I said that) "Fine Sir you do that" and slammed down the phone on me ! So I rang Toshiba (again) and told them of my woes and they now say they will get a repair company in Barnsley (about 50 miles away) to get in touch with me to fix it ! If this goes pear-shaped (which I imagine it will) then I will be writing to their manager. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY OUR COMPANIES ARE SO USELESS NOWADAYS ?? I mean - is it me ? Is it acceptable to have 3 repair companies trying to fix a TV for the past 3 months ? In the meantime I gave up on them and bought a new LCD tv. But I still am going to get this fixed by Toshiba even if it means they fix it themselves.

Hospital

Jack was in hospital all weekend until tuesday night. He had a temperature and wasn't feeding on Saturday so we took him to the doctors. He wanted the hospital to check him over so we had to stay there. He had loads of tests - blood test, lumbar puncture (fluid extracted from his spine) and was given antibiotics etc. They have to take the worst-case scenario with babies (ie meningitis). So he wasn't allowed out until tuesday evening. It was a bit of a nervous time but we (and more importantly HE) is better now. So all being well we're off to Scotland for a week this weekend on our hols. There is a photo of him in a big Silver Cross pram at the hospital glaring at me for taking aphot of him whilst he is ill.

London

Last weekend we took Jack to London to see his relatives down there. That was a fun journey (not). He screamed and screamed at the last part but we got there in the end. It was a tiring day as we travelled down on the Saturday and went back on the Sunday - top marks to Robb and Emma though for a great BBQ.
Also many thanks to the gifts people bought him - it was very kind. On the Sunday we went via Ealing to visit Jack's Great Great Grandma. She was very pleased to see him and had bought him a nice soft teddy bear. I have uploaded a few photos from his visit to Ealing - I didn't have my camera out at the BBQ unfortunately. The journey back was a bit of a nightmare - we both were knackered and Jack cried lots and cried for 2 hours non-stop when we got home so he does not like long journeys in the car right now so I think we won't be doing any for a while (apart fron our trip to Scotland in a weeks time - but he doesn't know about this yet so don't tell him !). Anyway before I go I should have moan because I like moaning .... My TV that has supposedly been fixed has not been fixed at all ... It STILL does what it used to do before and they said that they had replaced the TUBE this time ! Anyway I rang Toshiba to complain about this supposedly "authorised" Toshiba repair company that have been "fixing" it and I said I wanted a different company to fix it now. I also made the point of telling them, that I think this other comapny is ripping them off ... So maybe it will get fixed this time - as they say.... THIRD time lucky !

Happy Fathers Day

My first fathers Day... We went out for a meal at the Devonshire Arms which was very nice. Jack slept all the way in the car right through the meal and back home again - despite it being very noisy in the restaurant - I don't know how they do it ! we have his Grandparents over at the moment from Spain and hey are chuffed to bits to see him. Next weekend he's going to see his Great Grandmother in London and lots of other relatives....

Count Jackula

We took Jack to Whitby today. I figured if he's to become a Goth then he might as well start now. We ate at the marvellous White Horse and Griffin pub - a firm favourite of ours - the food was as good as ever and so was the service. We also took him to see his Great Great Auntie Dids - she was well-pleased to see him and she is as fit and as adventurous as ever. There are a few snaps I took in Jacks Place. Also I have tried some close up shots using my macro function on my camera but I'm not sure he's ready for that yet as he looks like as though one looks when you look into the back of a spoon ! Whitby's great - not because I'm an old goth and they have conventions each year (which I might add I have never been to!) But it has so much charisma. I think we might go there for a weekend soon .... BTW have I mentioned yet he's starting to smile ? He started about a week ago - he doesn't do it often but he's doing it more and more and sometimes can do it on request ....

Photos

Have found a bit of time to play around with JAlbum today
and it's well-cool. Thanks to Stoddy for making me aware of it !
Check out the photos for more info. You can order any photo online via Photobox. Just click on the thumbnail and then the "Order" link in the top right.
Also you can view a slideshow of all images by clicking on a thumbnail then click on the far right arrow.
Have fun !

Registry

On Thursday we registered Jack Eric Klein at Ilkley town hall. Now we can apply for child benefit and walk around in shell suits ....We went to Beverley to see Granny and Grandad Klein on Monday as it was Gramps' birthday. He is looking better I'm glad to say after his ordeal in Spain. We took a few snaps and I have uploaded them to Jack's Place. My TV is still in repair... I have pretty much decided now to get a new one. I want a nice big LCD so I can use it for Windows too whilst slumped on my sofa with a bottle of beer. Gone are the days of having to be banished upstairs to use the PC. My media centre is behaving itself too I am pleased to say. I have bought Norton Ghost to do external disk images to back it all up in case it goes belly up in the future. I can recommend Norton Ghost as its dead easy to use - although I have not tried a restore yet ! Jack is doing well and when the Health Visitor weighed him yesterday he was 8lb 2 oz. He is still sleeping pretty well - he has a feed at 10pm then sleeps until about 3.30 then had a feed and sleeps until about 7:30.
I got a note from Nidderdale Angling Club today saying my stretch of the Nidd is closed until July the 1st because of a virus at a Trout Farm higher up the river. All fish in the trout farm have had to be killed and the whole place disinfected. Now you know one of the issues with farmed fish - particularly Salmon is a hot topic as it affects wild salmon.
Hopefully I will get out on the River Ure in Wensleydale this weekend as Jack and Julie are pretty much settled now. Its a top river and you get a lot of the England fly fishing team up there.
We have a had a lot of visitors over the past couple of weeks and can I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has sent us gifts - it is really kind of you. Jack has probably enough clothes now to last him until he is two years old ! Although his wardrobe is not quite as large as his mothers !

Imbeciles (Part 2)

I finally got my TV "fixed" only to find they hadn't actually fixed it at all and it has exactly the same problem with it as when it first went in for repair ! So they are coming to collect it for repair again tomorrow....
In the meantime I decided to get a new LCD portable which is very cool and I like. You can connect your PC to it and it acts like a monitor. So I finally got round to testing my replacement Artisan PC only to find the buffoons have not built it with its wireless card inside ! So yet again I phoned Elonex and yet again an engineer is coming out to fit a card. I really don't see how these companies make money when they are such imbeciles.
Today I have uploaded a few more pics of Jack. This time I have made his main page hold lower quality pictures as the last lot took a while to load and a few people who have dial up connections could not load them properly. I have kept a link to the original photos on the left for those who have no probs accessing them. Yesterday my Dad was taken ill whilst on holiday in Spain. He has pancreatitis, but after having spoken to him today he seems OK and hopes to fly back to Blighty around the end of the week.

Poo City

Well it doesn't take long to get into the swing of things.
To know his little "specialities ...."
One of which seems to revolve around nappy changing time, (which invariably I do).
Yesterday whilst changing him I said to Julie "I bet one day he will do a big poo whilst I am changing him" and as I said the word "him" a big dollop of poo flew out over the bed (Which was nice !)
Today whilst changing he did the classic of waiting until I had put a completely new nappy on and had just closed one tab and was about to do the other when he filled it with a nice big poo.
So as you can see he likes to play little games to keep Daddy on his toes ...
Today his friend Henry came round for a couple of drinks. Henry's Mummy and Daddy went to NCT class like we did. Henry came 2 weeks early so he is a bit bigger than Jack.
They both had a great time and Jack was so overwhelmed he did someYogic Flying for us all.

They're home

We got back from the hospital around 4pm. He's doing well and feeding regularly. Julie is tired and sore but is bearing up very well. He went in his trendy red car seat today and liked it so much he fell asleep in it. Tonight will be the first night at home so we'll see how much sleep we get ...
He slept from 1am until 6:30am last night which is good.

Jack Klein is born !

Wow... what a difference a day makes ...


We went into the hospital at 4pm today cos Julie's contractions had got more painful and more frequent. They put her on Gas/air to start with which seemed to help a bit but soon it was obvious was not enough so they administered Pethedine. This seemed to help her a fair bit with the contractions but she was still a lot in pain and she was still only dilated to 3cm. (Remember she was at 2cm 2 days ago !). The main thing was that the baby seemed to be in distress during some of the contractions. His heart rate dropped to about 90 (which is normal) during some of the contractions but sometimes took up to a minute to get back to normal again (around 140). So the doctors decided a CS was necessary. Then it just turned all weird ...
One minute we were there in this little room with Julie on Pethedine and gas and the
next there were loads of doctors/anesthetists etc in the room doing all sorts of things.
She was taken off to be anesthetised and I was to wait outside the room in an ER outfit complete with hat. Then eventually they let me in and they were already trying to get the baby out.
It only took a few minutes really to get him out.
It was a pretty amazing experience - those of you who have had kids will know what I mean ...
To hold him in your arms is something quite special ....
So - here are the stats :

Jack Klein
Born 11th May 2006 19:07
Weight 7lb 9.5 oz

Check back soon for some pictures ! I'm a bit busy at the moment between hospital visits, having a couple of whiskies and updating this website !
But in the next day or so I will upload a load more pics

Pains, more pains and no sleep ...

We are both knackered today ...

Julie started having contractions at 11:30 last night.

They were once every 10 mins and slowly got more frequent as the night progressed.

She was also sick quite a lot ....

After spending all night with no sleep (Julie) and a couple of hours for myself we rang
the hospital as the contractions were coming 3 times inside 10 mins.

So we went to the hospital at 8:30 this morning and of course when we got there

her contractions died down ! So after about 4 hours they decided to send her home

as she is only dilated to 2cm.

So we will have to see what tonight brings - I suspect it wil be similar to last night

which is tiring enough for me so it must be multiplied 10 times for her.

I do feel sorry for her - it doesn't look a particularly pleasant time she is having ...

I'll keep you posted ....

Pains

Julie's been having mild pains all day so maybe its the start of
labour....

Or it could be from that curry we had last night !

Mum and Dad came over tonight as they fly out to Spain tomorrow morning.

We had a nice Thai meal as a send off..

The TV men came and took it away for repair today.

Also Elonex rang and claim they will be delivering my media centre tomorrow !

Shame I can't use it until the TV comes back !

Doh!

The plumber came today too and fixed the boiler.

Cool ... now there is just one thing left ....

And they have !

I'm glad I don't read the stars cos I probably wouldn't have got out of
bed the past few days ....
Well now our boiler is leaking ....
There is a long line on the ceiling above my head as I type this where
water has seeped onto the other side (our boiler is on the top floor).
I had a look last night and the flow control is leaking - I'm hoping its
just the seal as that should be fixed pretty easily.
Still the plumber can't come until Monday so I'm hoping it won't mutate into
some horrible flood ...
I don't know what you people in London do for plumbers ...
It looks like painting the ceiling will be one of my jobs during paternity leave !

They say things come in threes

Elonex rang me out of the blue today - she claims the machine should
be with them on Monday and she hopes to give me a call on Monday to arrange delivery !



I got in touch with Toshiba today (after doing the Call Centre merry-go-round).
They said they would pay parts and labour for my TV cos its only just out of warranty.
Which is cool, but I have to pay callout charge

Then I get a call from the people who are actually doing the fix and they say there is no callout charge
and have arranged to come on Monday!



So that just leaves one more thing to happen next week ....



I wonder what THAT could be ?? :-)

The Joy of Call Centres

Still no news on the Baby front ... so we must all sit back and relax
and say "Ommmmmmmm" ......

You'll need to after reading my trials and tribulations of customer call centres ...

I rang Elonex today about my replacement
Artisan only to get the usual load of rubbish from their "customer support".
This PC has been out of action since the beginning of March, so am I asking too
much for it to be replaced within 2 months ? Obviously !
Just to make things even happier for me our TV decided to pack up too
a few days ago. I also have enjoyed the efficient service offered by
Toshiba too ! I rang them last week about the TV and was told someone
would ring to arrange an engineer to visit - and hey guess what ? No phone call.
So you then spend countless phone calls ringing their call centre only to be put into
a queueing system and then more often than not get an answerphone telling
you they are busy and would you like to try again later !


I mean - IS THERE ANY WONDER OUR BUSINESSES OUTSOURCE TO OVERSEAS !

In fact I think they would be better off looking IN the sea for their
employees as I would have had an equally productive experience
talking to a bunch of Cuttlefish.


Anyway rant over now, I presume I will ring Elonex again next week only to be told
the same old rubbish.

Doh!

OK Here we go ... a new Blog about all whats going on in my mind
at the moment ....
Well, Julie is about to give birth - the Sprog was due
yesterday but is starting as it means to go on by being
very selfish and not making an appearance and making its
poor Mummy and Daddy wait ....

We are getting so bored hanging around waiting that I finally
got round to starting this Blog and updating our website in
preparation for lots of photos ...

I even got round to starting my ADF stuff I kept on meaning to do
but its so big I kept on putting it off .... still we all have to keep
Larry sweet so he can buy his helicopters ....