Amelia has her uniform now for Beavers. And with it, came a host of badges to sew on - I have no idea what the collective noun for badges is.
Mrs M had already left for work and I was putting the kids to bed, when Amelia reminded me that the badges needed sewing on. By [...]

Even though I’ve mentioned it here before (actually, it was on the old site), somebody I was talking to at work yesterday, didn’t believe that I was once kissed on my leg by former Miss Whiplash, Cleo Rocos.
So when better to repeat myself - and provide photographic evidence at the same time [...]

I played squash again this evening and I think it’s fair to say, I ache like buggery.
However, it’s not just the aches and pains from playing comedy squash - a game that shouldn’t really be played by a man in my condition (slightly overweight) - that ails me. I have several other long-term ailments that [...]

When I arrived at the office this morning - in Northampton - I found my access card wasn’t authorised to let me in. A quick phone call to the security people told me that I’d have a bit of a wait before it could be sorted, so I went off in search of some tea [...]

So, maybe the economy isn’t in such bad shape after all.
Maybe our beloved, weirdly eyebrowed Chancellor, Alistair Darling, just exagerated a little when he said we were a thousand billion zillion quid in debt.
Because we now know, of course, that he is prone to exagerate somewhat.
In the latest political saga to grip the nation (yeah, [...]

My journey home from Lewisham today, was a nightmare.
An accident in the Blackwall Tunnel left me sitting in three lanes of stationary traffic. I sat there - not moving - for about ten minutes then pulled out and went down a sliproad.  I had no idea of where I was going but anything was better [...]

Following a somewhat huge bill for gas and electric last month, I decided to look at ways of saving a few quid.
One way, was to sign up for British Gas’  EnergySmart scheme. The main advantage of this, is that you take the meter reading yourself each month and then enter it on the British Gas [...]

“So, what do you use?” is a question I am often asked when sorting out PC issues for family and friends.
So, here are a few of the software programs that I rely on to… do my stuff.
Antivirus There are plenty of AV progs on the market, including some very good freebies. Personally, I’ve always paid [...]

Due to her working at the weekends, it’s rare that the current Mrs Masher gets to spend any quality time with us (holidays aside, of course).
But she has taken this week off work, due to the school half-term holidays, and that means we get the weekend together too. So, what to do, as a family?
We [...]

My brother-in-law has been having a few computer problems of late and asked me if I could have a lookee.
And so, as it’s the end of the week and there wasn’t much happening, I spent the day working from his office.
I can log on to our systems as long as I have a decent broadband [...]

I had a crap day at work, today. Everything I touched just seemed to go wrong.
I left late and then had a 2hr journey home on the motorway to contend with thanks to another bloody accident.
Speaking to the missus on the phone, she said that she and the kids would probably be in bed when [...]

I’ve never had a good sense of direction.
When I passed my motorcycle test all them years ago, I found it wonderful to be out on the open road and took it upon myself to travel round, visiting various relatives. And time after time I would get lost, always turning up at my [...]

Last night I was working in Oxfordshire.
The work didn’t go quite as smoothly as it should have and I was still on-site when the cleaner turned up at 05.30
He introduced himself as Reg.  He was an old boy, with a nose that made Karl Malden’s look like it belonged to a small girl… a small [...]

The more astute amongst you will have noticed that I am now halfway through my self-imposed annual challenge, to wit: post something up on this site every day for the whole month of February.
I haven’t mentioned it before this. I don’t know why. But, I’m pleased to see that I’m not alone and at least [...]

I’m sure that, like us here at Masher Towers, whenever you go away on holiday you nearly always  become friends with another family… usually via the respective kids playing with each other on the beach or something.  But even before we had kids, we often befriended other couples and would often end up spending much [...]

Today was to be “Shed Erection Day”.
My sister has bought a bloody great big shed and rather like anything purchased from Ikea - except the Swedish meatballs - it comes flat-packed and needs to be put together. I hasten to add that the shed didn’t come from Ikea. I don’t know if they even do [...]

Did I ever tell you about the nutty woman? I wrote about her on my old site - as more of an essay than a blog post. But I don’t think she’s ever been mentioned here.
It was quite some time ago, when I lived in the house on the hill; just me and my German [...]

Mrs Masher went to a funeral yesterday.
It was for Nikki - a girl who worked at our local nursery as a carer.
Both Amelia and Harry went to that very nursery and  - along with a couple of dozen other kids - would have been looked after at times, by Nikki.
By all accounts, I believe she [...]

My stay oop north got extended by a day, due to a faulty piece of equipment delaying the schedule.
As I hadn’t planned on this extended delay, I only brought a single change of clothing. So, this morning I had a couple of hours to spare and decided I’d go shopping and get myself a clean [...]

This post comes to you from Sunderland. I am working oop north for a couple of days.
It’s currently 2:30 in the morning and I am surfing the internet, whilst I wait for the video server card that I have changed to come back online.
However, I say surfing, but it’s really more of a paddle in [...]

I took Amelia and Harry to a children’s birthday party yesterday. It was held at a local open farm.
Once the kids had tired of stroking the rabbits and feeding the lambs, we all went inside, where they had one of those indoor playgrounds, and our little party of a dozen 5 to 8 year-olds spent [...]

I had to scold Amelia yesterday.
She had written “Don’t come in my room. Because I said so.” on her bedroom door, in marker pen. Not on a piece of paper stuck to the door, but on the actual paintwork.
As I attacked the graffiti with a cloth and some white spirit, I had a right go [...]

She was the prettiest girl in the school, right from the very first day.
Her blond hair shone like spun gold and her eyes were a piercing blue. The smallest of smiles from her perfect lips were enough to send any boy’s heart a flutter and mine did so on many occasions.
Though I’d seen her around [...]

Arggh!
The quest to make my home PC into the computer equivalent of the six-million-dollar man - better; stronger; faster - has hit a major snag that I’ve been so far unable to resolve.
Windows 7 doesn’t bloody well come with an email client! Can you believe that?
Nope, Microsoft has dropped my beloved Outlook Express from it’s [...]

I mentioned a few posts back of how my PC up and died a little while ago.
Well, the new bits arrived in the post yesterday and I hurriedly slapped it all together.
I made a few changes to my original shopping list by getting a slightly more expensive motherboard and a slightly more expensive processor… that’s [...]

I returned home from work yesterday evening, to an empty house: Mrs M had taken the mini-Mashers swimming.
I went upstairs and changed out of my work clothes, then came down again.
Just as I reached the bottom step, I heard my mobile phone ring and turned to go back upstairs to retrieve it. Then I realised [...]

I was pleased to read this yesterday.
I absolutely detest smoking. Always have. I hate it so much, I even dislike No Smoking signs, because they have a picture of a cigarette on them.
And I don’t like the word ‘cigarette’. I always use the shorter, slightly more derogatory sounding name of ‘fag’, because it sounds more [...]

Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of the death of my mother.
I hadn’t even realised it until I spoke to my sister on the phone and she said she was on her way to the crematorium to lay some flowers.
I’ve never done that.  Ever.  The laying flowers thing.
I visited my grandfather’s gravestone once, as a mark [...]