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For the first time in ever, I will spend a whole year without setting foot in England. I think when I first moved over here, I was probably averaging about 4 or 5 trips home per year - great for airmiles I guess, but those weekend trips I tried to fit in were pretty hard to handle, even when I was in my 20's. It's weird looking back - I think these days it would be much harder to move to a new country and start up a life. Back then it just seemed like a big adventure that required a slightly larger suitcase.

Anyway, even though I can't get back as often as I used to, I still get to see pics like the one above - we bought Dad a camera for his birthday while he was over here, and as you can see, he's been putting it to good use (although I'm thinking he's up a little early for my liking ;-)

New Favorite Doormat

Available for purchase here (if you have a spare 50 bucks lying around)

Shoe Bath (Tub)

Somehow I see the wife wanting another bathroom makeover when she sees these.....

Shadow Chair

You have to look pretty close to work out how these things are standing up....

(via Dvice)

Getting Old....

I think this news story was the biggest when I was growing up. Some guy picked up a shotgun, walked around a neighbouring town (it was about 10 minutes walk from my front door), and shot pretty much everyone he saw. It's the 20th anniversary today, and it kinda made me realize how long ago that was. It also made me realize I've spent more of my adult life in the US than I ever did in the UK now, which is kinda weird in itself.

The main thing I remember about this was that I was the only one of our group who had passed his driving test. We went down to take a look a day or two after the incident (it's amazing what curious 17 year olds would do...), and Nev drove. We went down the street, passed the guys house (and the mobile incident unit) and suddenly realized the other end of the road was blocked off. It was a pretty tight little road - one of those you see on movies about England, with big old trees on either side, and just enough room to fit two small cars down it (it would be a tight fit for your F150 on it's own..).

Nev was driving, but he hadn't passed his test yet, so I was the qualified front seat passenger for him. He freaked a little about reversing back down the street, so I ended up jumping in the driver's seat. I just remember being terrified of crashing, even though we were doing no more than 10 mph. I wasn't insured for the car, had never driven it before (it was a blue Austin Allegro if you know what they look like), I was reversing down a ridiculously narrow street with cars parked on one side, and had to pass pretty much every local police man that was currently working. Talk about pressure. Anyway, I guess it was punishment for going to take a look at something we had no right going to look at, but I survived to live another day.

BBC NEWS | England | Tyne | Survivor remembers shooting spree

Paint it White

A while ago, Heidi had the great idea of painting a wall in the kitchen with blackboard paint - it turned out great - keeping the kids entertained when they come over (and the adults too at various parties). It also has magnetic paint underneath, so we can stick cards and notes and stuff on it, so it's pretty perfect.

Now, the people over at IdeaPaint have released whiteboard paint. I don't think it would work in our kitchen, but painting an office wall might work pretty well. And no doubt it would be a little easier to clean than the blackboard.

Cool Rocking Chair

Not only does this thing look cool, judging from what it's made of (stainless steel), it'll keep you cool. Apparently, it also costs a cool $161k, which in the middle of a recession, seems just what you need.

Divn't need a coat, me like

And now some scientists are intrigued enough to find out why.....

The Hamburger Bed

For when you're feeling a little tired and hungy (via LikeCool)

My Favorite Wedding Pic

0174_IMG.jpg, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

Of all the great pics we got in our album, this is probably my favorite (although this one runs it close). We managed to get a new photo printer the other day, and it has the ability to print out in 13x19, so this is going to be my first attempt (and got some hanging things as well, so I might actually finally, 12 months late, get some stuff on my walls in the office at work). The paper arrived today (that stuff isn't cheap), so it'll be on my project list for this weekend (along with the less fun task of working out why our washing machine has started to create huge puddles of water in the basement, urgh).

Pacman Seat

Love this, especially the red one.

Get in someone's head

Not sure who's exactly, and definitely not sure about the sheepskin type interior going on, but for the people out there that need their very own hiding place inside their home, this could be the answer. The link for this is here, but you'll need to click around to find it as they have masking on all the sub pages of the site. And while you're there, you can check out some of the other slightly weird stuff (like Man with Prick sculpture - "The penis of this sculpted a man is completely out of proportion to the rest of his body. While proud of his huge member, the man is unable to move because of its staggering weight." Apparently)

I'm pretty sure none of this stuff is sold at Ikea.

Showers Forecasted

I'm a big believer in the shower we finally got installed in our bathroom (Kohler Rain Tiles, lots of space, lots of water) but this actually looks pretty cool. Technically it can be an almost bath one way, and a full on shower the other.

The Non Camping Post

The Vegetable Garden, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

My initial intent was to post a gorgeous photo of where we camped at the weekend, basking in sunshine, with a beautiful stream flowing next to the tent (or something like that). However, no sunshine, 5 inches of rain and a little sleet and hail meant the stream turned to a river, we sheltered (shivering) in the tent and I never got the camera out. And we left after (just) surviving one night in the elements. It's not often the weather sucks in Colorado, but last weekend wasn't good.

So, instead, I've posted our (or really the wifes) ever growing vegetable garden. If you take a look at this pic, you'll see that the tiny boxes sitting on the table have turned into something a little special. We picked the first cucumber last night, and I can't wait for the tomatoes to be ready - there's something strangely satisfying about picking stuff out of the garden for your tea, even before you realize it saves you dealing with the lines at Safeway.

Table Watch (or Watch Table?)

I used to love my watch that looked just like this back in the 70's. It was way too big for my wrist, but I thought I was the coolest 7 year old in school. If only the batteries didn't crap out every 4 weeks or so.

Now you can have a decent sized table made to look just like that watch. And it even works - press the buttons, and it changes from time to date to some special 8 character message you can plug in. And if you don't like the finish, chrome and gold are available as well. The site doesn't have the price on there, so I'm guessing if you have to ask it's too expensive, but I'm seriously tempted to ask.....

Best Ever Coat Hangers?

Coat hangers have never really been that cool - they get hidden when they're in use, and the fact you can pick up about a million for 20 bucks at Target probably were part of the reason.

But Yuedo have a new design out that changes all this. Obviously the footy ones caught my attention, but the swimming ones on the website also look pretty cool too.

Numeric Keyboard Chairs!?

If you own a big house, or an office that needs some stools, or maybe a school I guess, this might just be a perfectly nerdy way to get some seats in there. Unfortunately, my house is too small, we never need quite this many seats (apart from Heidi's annual birthday party - stay tuned if you're expecting an invite, it's on my list to start getting sorted this week).

I'm not sure if you can actually buy this or not, but if you're really interested, just keep following through this link and you'll get to the source eventually (I think).

Freddy Shepherd, Quote Machine

Always one for a classic quote, Freddy Shepherd, former Chairman of Newcastle United came out with this one today, in response to questions about him buying a stake in (dirty, dirty) Leeds United.

"It's in my blood. You can get rid of the wife or the bank manager, but a Geordie can never get rid of Newcastle"

Gangsta Rap - Geordie Stylie

Not really safe for work so you've been warned, unless you're wearing headphones. Thanks to (big) Neil for the link (ages and ages ago, but just getting to it now - I know I owe you an email or 6...)

Just in case you were wondering

This is actually a chair. I think it's for girls, coz that looks nothing like my arse. And obviously, it's Italian.