Pither.com / Simonhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2019-03-10T11:55:04+00:00Development, systems administration, parenting and businessSummer Fayre 27th June 20152015-06-20T07:47:56+00:002015-06-20T09:25:16+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2015/06/20/summer-fayre-27th-june-2015<article>
<h1>Summer Fayre 27th June 2015</h1>
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by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2015-06-20T07:47:56+00:00">Sat 20th Jun 2015</time>
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<p>St Joseph's Primary School <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/gthWq">(map)</a> is having it's Summer Fayre on the 27th June from 12noon and everyone is welcome. Entrance for adults is £1, children are free; and there are some great things to see, do, eat and enjoy.</p>
<h1>Celebrity Guest</h1>
<p>TV's <a href="https://twitter.com/mellor76">Will Mellor</a> (Hollyoaks, Two Pints, White Van Man, In The Club, No Offence) will be in attendance to add excitement to the afternoon. He'll be opening the gates at 12noon and also drawing the raffle later on.</p>
<h1>Food and Drink</h1>
<p>You can join the Fayre (until 3pm) for some great lunch options including succulent BBQ burgers and hot dogs, delicious wraps, amazing cakes and of course a licensed bar.</p>
<h1>Entertainment</h1>
<p>There's plenty to keep children (of all ages!) entertained with lots of exciting things to see and do:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ponymagic.co.uk/">pony rides</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.crocodileencounters.co.uk/">reptiles to see up close</a></li>
<li>an assault course</li>
<li>bouncy castle</li>
<li>coconut shy</li>
<li>face painting</li>
<li>nail bar</li>
<li>temporary tattoos</li>
<li>two dance displays</li>
</ul>
<p>There'll also be a huge selection of super cheap plants, second hand books, uniform and toys to buy.</p>
<h1>Prizes</h1>
<p>If you're the lucky type there's also a bottle tombola, lucky dip and a raffle. A small selection of the incredible prizes at the Fayre:</p>
<ul>
<li>£200 cash</li>
<li><a href="http://www.labarbe.co.uk/">La Barbe</a> meal for two</li>
<li>4x £50 cash</li>
<li>Family Donyngs membership</li>
<li><a href="http://www.denbies.co.uk/">Ultimate Wine Experience at Denbies</a></li>
<li>Leeds Castle family entry</li>
<li>Windsor Castle family entry and guide book</li>
<li>lots, lots more!</li>
</ul>
<p>Please come along to enjoy a superb afternoon of entertainment. Everyone is welcome!</p>
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Oops, I Snapped the Bed!2015-02-05T15:22:04+00:002019-03-10T11:55:04+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2015/02/05/oops-i-snapped-bed<article>
<h1>Oops, I Snapped the Bed!</h1>
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by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2015-02-05T15:22:04+00:00">Thu 5th Feb 2015</time>
(updated <time datetime="2019-03-10T11:55:04+00:00">Sun 10th Mar 2019</time>)
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<p>It is with some slight discomfort that I must admit to having sat down on my bed (well my wife's actually, but what's hers is mine, yes?!) one evening last November to hear a loud cracking sound. I don't believe that I sat down particularly heavily on this occasion; in fact I had just put my youngest son in his cot and I was about to lay down next to him in order to try and encourage laying down as the generally positive action that it is, so I was trying to move fairly gently. Yet crack it did and up I very rapidly jumped!</p>
<p>Despite the gentle sitting and the rapid jumping, the damage had been done. Here it is from a few angles:</p>
<p><img alt="A broken bed" src="/files/broken-bed1.jpg" /></p>
<p><img alt="A broken bed" src="/files/broken-bed2.jpg" /></p>
<p><img alt="A broken bed" src="/files/broken-bed3.jpg" /></p>
<p>This happened in the evening, children were getting ready for bed and parents were already feeling tired. Clearly trying to sleep in this bed was not going to be a wise decision; an temporary plan was needed. We use the space under our bed as storage for all sorts of rarely used items and while our bedroom is large, it isn't quite large enough to keep this storage space and move our mattress elsewhere to solve the immediate problem of a suitable sleeping location.</p>
<p>We do have a "guest bedroom" (one side of my home office) which is fully equipped with a sofa bed. However it was (and still is actually) also fully equipped with a very large amount of "stuff". This stuff varies wildly in form and includes empty cardboard boxes awaiting a new use, old printers, computers, vacuum cleaners, irons, children's toys, a bouncy chair, a TV aerial (no, not connected - it should be in the loft and as it isn't, we haven't received any TV in over a year; but that's another story), several trees worth of paper and a number of things that I can't currently identify. Having read that list you can probably guess the problem - the sofa bed is unfortunately at the back of the room, behind (and under) the great horde of stuff. We weren't going to be sleeping in there.</p>
<p>The issues surrounding our guest bedroom aren't particularly new (although they do seem to be getting worse) and hence we have already created another guest solution - an inflatable mattress. We normally deploy this in our lounge in order to allow our guests a little privacy but for it to work on this occasion it would need to fit into our bedroom - so that Thomas remained in sleepy earshot. Thankfully our inflatable bed is much smaller than our normal bed and with some moving of furniture and stacking of things we managed to inflate it within our bedroom.</p>
<p>Problem solved.</p>
<p>But sleeping on an inflatable bed just isn't as comfortable. I felt sure I should be able to sort out a better temporary, one night solution. After all the bed hadn't completely snapped, it was just cracked a bit. If only I could find a way to support the wood around the crack then surely we could still use our normal, comfortable bed. I was right.</p>
<p><img alt="Bed hotfix 1" src="/files/broken-bed-fix1.jpg" /></p>
<p>At this time we happened to be fairly well stocked with nappies and baby wipes - obviously the perfect bed repairing tools. It was a slight hack, a hotfix if you like, but it did work. In fact it worked so well that we left it there for several days, until I had a little more time at the weekend.</p>
<p><img alt="Bed hotfix 2" src="/files/broken-bed-fix2.jpg" /></p>
<p>After those few days is was becoming clear that this solution wouldn't last for ever. Not only were we getting close to needing the components within the support but those components were also showing signs of depression, along with a small but somewhat worrying re-opening of the crack in the bed.</p>
<p>A new, better solution was clearly needed.</p>
<p>Soon after this had first happened Liz discussed it with he parents and her father suggested that we could use metal straps to hold the remaining wood together and hence repair the bed for continued use. This sounded like a fairly sensible idea so I took a trip to a local DIY shop and purchased the longest metal straps I could find (not actually very long though) and some suitable looking screws. I also took the chance to buy some wood glue (probably wouldn't hurt as an extra) and some varnish to coat and reseal the wood to avoid splinters.</p>
<p>I then spent most of a day rearranging the room, dismantling the bed, repairing it and then putting everything back again. The end result seemed pretty good. I'd glued and squished the crack back together, sanded off the rough outside bits where the wood had actually split and of course screwed several metal plates across the back of the broken wooden beam.</p>
<p><img alt="Bed strapped" src="/files/broken-bed-strap1.jpg" /></p>
<p>With everything back in place and the bed made again, it was possible to (very gently) sit and lay down on the bed without there being any nappy based support underneath. The split in the wood did seem to strain ever so slightly under the pressure but everything held and looked strong.</p>
<p>The bed worked. We slept in it as normal for another week. When I say normal, during this time it did feel a bit different. I couldn't really say exactly what it was, perhaps just worry, or perhaps a very slight sloping.</p>
<p>By the next weekend it was clear that the bed was not fixed. The crack, while changing only very slightly each day, had now very definitely started to re-open. Strands of glue could be seen stretching and thinning between the wooden sides and manually supporting the beam provided a couple of millimetres of closure in the split.</p>
<p>A new solution was needed.</p>
<p>Supporting the broken beam from underneath had seemed to work pretty well even if nappies and wipes were not a good long term support material. This led me to the idea of making an extra bed leg. I had some 1.5" x 1.5" strips of wood in the garage that I thought might do the job a little better.</p>
<p>At this point I should perhaps explain that I'm really not a DIY or general physical maker person. I can picture how I'd like things to go, how they should turn out, in my minds eye. Yet trying to get my hands to actually produce a realistic representation of these mind images generally does not go according to plan. This isn't to say I can't DIY anything - I can build kits and things that use specific parts or building blocks - Lego, Meccano, computers, self-assembly furniture, hanging cupboards/hooks/curtains and replacing plumbing components are all fine. Physically sculpting, crafting and creating with artistic flair is however mostly beyond the talents of my hands.</p>
<p>So the new bed leg I had in mind would be practical rather than good looking. In fact, you can see the proof as this - here is the finished article holding up the bed.</p>
<p><img alt="Extra bed leg" src="/files/broken-bed-leg1.jpg" /></p>
<p>You might now be thinking "that's just a block of wood, anyone could measure and cut that", and while you're probably correct about anyone being able to create it, there is a little more to it.</p>
<p><img alt="Extra bed leg 2" src="/files/broken-bed-leg2.jpg" /></p>
<p>I did actually manage to get it to be roughly the right shape and most importantly the correct size; and on my first attempt too. Not only is the step the correct height to perfectly support both the outer and inner wooden beams of the bed but I also managed to get the overall height correct, including allowing for it sinking slightly into the carpet, so that it keeps the beam perfectly supported and nicely level.</p>
<p>Prior to fitting the third leg on this side of the bed, the beam at the point of the crack was approximately 3cm closer to the ground than it was at either end! That's with the metal straps in place. With the extra leg doing its job there is no difference in height at all. The bed has felt entirely normal again, no worrying about possible collapse and no strange sloping feeling. The new leg is still in place, is working well and hasn't had any issues with coming loose or moving out of place - the pressure from the bed has been sufficient to keep it in place. There have unfortunately been a couple of stubbed toes but I'm sure we'll get used to the extra leg being there eventually!</p>
<p>If you're still reading this you may be wondering why I bothered writing quite so much about a slightly broken bed. Well apart from it being a thrilling adventure from my recent life, for some reason the topic of the broken bed and how I had/should have repaired it was a persistent conversation with my father and father-in-law over Christmas; so I thought I'd document it all for them to help provide some reassurance that I hadn't done quite as bad a job as they both seemed to expect. Plus of course, I <a href="http://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2015/02/05/writing-10000-words-day">have to write something</a>!</p>
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Bottle Time2014-11-26T11:20:37+00:002014-11-26T11:21:57+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2014/11/26/bottle-time<article>
<h1>Bottle Time</h1>
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by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2014-11-26T11:20:37+00:00">Wed 26th Nov 2014</time>
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<p>Thomas has reached the grand old age of one year. He accomplished this a few two weeks ago now. Two days after that I switched him to drinking his morning and evening milk from a cup instead of a bottle.</p>
<p>Along with this switch and the gradual phasing out of his baby formula over the previous three weeks, came the removal of one of my daily chores from the last year.</p>
<p>Over the last twelve months I have spent approximately ten days - yes, full twenty four hour days, ie 240 hours - of my time preparing baby bottles ready for Thomas to drink formula milk.</p>
<p>This time has been spent repeating the same steriliser cleaning, bottle dismantling, washing, sterilising, reconstructing cycle every day (except a few where Liz took on the chore instead).</p>
<p>Ten full days, thirty four working days, one and a half working months; that's a lot of time washing bottles.</p>
<p>While I think it's safe to say that I've quite strongly disliked having this chore form a part of my daily life, the one redeeming factor has been the provision of time each day to listen to podcasts and audio books. I fear I may now need to take up running again to feed my listening habit!</p>
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Family Addition2013-11-26T00:00:00+00:002013-12-02T19:24:02+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2013/11/26/family-addition<article>
<h1>Family Addition</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2013-11-26T00:00:00+00:00">Tue 26th Nov 2013</time>
(updated <time datetime="2013-12-02T19:24:02+00:00">Mon 2nd Dec 2013</time>)
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<p>Time has flown (mostly in a sleepy, chore based blur) so fast that it was now almost three weeks ago that the latest addition to our family arrived.</p>
<p><img alt="Thomas" src="/files/thomas-birth.jpg" /></p>
<p>Thomas was born on the 6th November by emergency caesarean section.</p>
<p>It was a slightly unusual birthing process that ended up including some natural labouring, an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_cephalic_version">ECV</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_rupture_of_the_membranes">ARM</a>, return to transverse position and finally the emergency caesarean. Although just to round the day off Liz did follow up with a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postpartum_hemorrhage">hemorrhage</a> a couple of hours afterwards!</p>
<p>Thankfully after all of that I can report Thomas is well and Liz is recovering well.</p>
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Ingredient oops2013-09-14T00:00:00+00:002013-09-15T18:40:59+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2013/09/14/ingredient-oops<article>
<h1>Ingredient oops</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2013-09-14T00:00:00+00:00">Sat 14th Sep 2013</time>
(updated <time datetime="2013-09-15T18:40:59+00:00">Sun 15th Sep 2013</time>)
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<p>I think I've been doing quite well at the cooking thing recently. Tonight was planned in advance and I specifically bought vegetables earlier this week. However somehow I have managed to forget the wraps, salsa and fajita mix for tonight's advertised menu. Only a slight oversight!</p>
<p>At least I realised before I started chopping vegetables.</p>
<p>Despite running down our supplies ready for our main monthly shop next week I've managed to arrange a quick, although much less popular, replacement of fish fingers, chips (or potato smiles for smaller people) and vegetables (the mixed, frozen variety)...</p>
<p><img alt="Simple fish finger meal for four" src="/files/fish-fingers.jpg" /></p>
<p>Tomorrow's milk shop will have to be expanded a little!</p>
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Balloon Modelling2013-07-25T00:00:00+00:002013-07-25T20:19:20+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2013/07/25/balloon-modelling<article>
<h1>Balloon Modelling</h1>
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by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2013-07-25T00:00:00+00:00">Thu 25th Jul 2013</time>
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<p>A few days ago I went downstairs for lunch and found Liz and the children trying to make balloon models. So I thought I'd better show them how it's done...</p>
<p><img alt="Balloon dog" src="/files/balloon-dog.jpg" /></p>
<p><img alt="Balloon swan, and Sophie" src="/files/balloon-swan.jpg" /></p>
<p>Those were my first two attempts (a dog and a swan, just in case they aren't obvious). :-)</p>
<p>Unfortunately I do need to add (if I don't, someone else surely will!) that my third model sadly didn't survive beyond its ears.</p>
<p>So I stopped while I was ahead and made some lunch instead.</p>
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Edward and the sunflower2010-07-21T18:29:00+00:002010-07-28T11:11:23+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2010/07/21/edward-and-the-sunflower<article>
<h1>Edward and the sunflower</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2010-07-21T18:29:00+00:00">Wed 21st Jul 2010</time>
(updated <time datetime="2010-07-28T11:11:23+00:00">Wed 28th Jul 2010</time>)
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<p>Over the last few months "Edward" has grown a sunflower.</p>
<p><img alt="Edward with young sunflower" src="/files/edward_sunflower1.jpg" /></p>
<p>It started off with him planting a seed in a little plastic cup at nursery. When he brought it home with instructions to water it and return photos of progress we were expecting to have to start dodging the subject within a week or two! Our track record with plants is rather appalling! In fact I don't think we've managed to keep a single new plant alive since we've been in this house - about two years now.</p>
<p>Despite our assumed failure, Liz decided to at least try. She watered the seed regularly-ish and remarkably, pretty soon we actually had a fairly promising looking start of a plant. It soon got too big for it's little plastic cup though, so Liz (after only a couple of weeks of us saying it was needed!) moved it into a larger pot.</p>
<p>Liz was now watering it quite religiously. We started taking photos (fairly frequently just in case it should suddenly realise where it was and keel over dead) of Edward with the plant and even sent a few of them into nursery.</p>
<p>In summary it is with great delight and complete amazement that we can now present a fully grown and flowering sunflower...</p>
<p><img alt="Edward with large sunflower" src="/files/edward_sunflower2.jpg" /></p>
<p>...does anyone know if/how we can collect seeds from it for next year??</p>
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The 3 Year Old Memory Aid2010-02-21T20:48:00+00:002010-07-18T19:45:58+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2010/02/21/the-3-year-old-memory-aid<article>
<h1>The 3 Year Old Memory Aid</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2010-02-21T20:48:00+00:00">Sun 21st Feb 2010</time>
(updated <time datetime="2010-07-18T19:45:58+00:00">Sun 18th Jul 2010</time>)
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<p>In the car on the way home from a birthday party, Liz and I are trying to remember names of a few people who we all met for the first time...</p>
<p>I suggest one was called Paul, Liz thinks he was John, but actually John was Letty's sister's boyfriend and Paul was in fact; Paul.</p>
<p>Hmm, but what was Letty's sisters name?</p>
<p>One of her sisters was called Kitty, we can both remember that one.</p>
<p>"Edward, can you remember what Letty's sister is called? Not Kitty but the other one. The one who arrived late."</p>
<p>(A short pause for thought)</p>
<p>"Molly."</p>
<p>"Ah, yes, that was it. Thank you Edward!"</p>
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Swine Flu: Swabbed2009-07-14T08:39:00+00:002009-10-15T15:52:50+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2009/07/14/swine-flu-swabbed<article>
<h1>Swine Flu: Swabbed</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2009-07-14T08:39:00+00:00">Tue 14th Jul 2009</time>
(updated <time datetime="2009-10-15T15:52:50+00:00">Thu 15th Oct 2009</time>)
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<p>Edward seems to be over his initial symptoms (fever, aches and tiredness) however he's not himself yet, has an intermittent cough and has since yesterday developed a very croaky voice. He's still staying at home and still enjoying lots of rest in front of the TV (he doesn't normally get to watch it, so it's working well to keep him entertained).</p>
<p>As for the rest of us, Liz has some very mild flu symptoms (mostly aches and tiredness - but the tiredness could be due to lack of sleep!), I have mild cold symptoms (runny nose and slight cough) and Sophie seems unaffected.</p>
<p>Now the health update is done, I shall explain the title.</p>
<p>Last Wednesday afternoon Liz noticed that Edward's breathing was faster than it should be. We consistently measured it at 60 breaths per minute. We called our GP and spoke to the duty doctor. Their guidelines say that anything over 40 breaths per minute in a toddler is cause for concern, so they contacted a paediatrician at the hospital and arranged for us to pay a visit to A&E.</p>
<p>Despite the GPs assurances, when Edward and I arrived at A&E no one was expecting us, had any record of the arrangement or really knew what to do with us! After some minutes of fruitless phone calls they decided to put us in an isolation room while they worked out what to actually do. We got to spend the next three hours in that, rather bare, room.</p>
<p>They did manage to find a paediatrician to see us. They concluded that Edward's chest was fine, his ears were fine but he had a sore throat. She said that without the other case at his nursery she would diagnose him with a generic viral throat infection, not flu. However given the nursery case, it might still be flu.</p>
<p>She decided to swab Edward for swine flu. I got some pointers on how to detect distressed breathing and we were sent home with some child Tamiflu suspension (waiting for the Tamiflu took over an hour!).</p>
<p>Before Edward was swabbed we were expecting to just assume that he had swine flu based on the over-the-phone clinical diagnosis from our GP. However once he was swabbed we thought we would get to find out for sure. But apparently it's not that simple!</p>
<p>We have been in touch with both the hospital and our GP this week and no one seems to know what should be happening. The paediatrician said we would get a phone call within a few days if the result was positive. However having since spoken to the hospital, they said that was only the case before the HPA switched to the "treatment" phase (about 10 days ago). The hospital say they are now being sent <em>some</em> of the results for swabs they take, but they think GPs should get all of them. Our GP however isn't at all sure, all they can say for sure is that they haven't had Edward's result (yet).</p>
<p>So how long should these tests take at the moment? How are we supposed to get the results? Do we assume he didn't have swine flu because no one has called us? If it wasn't swine flu should we see a doctor again as he's now had an infection for over a week? What if they just wrote our phone number down wrong?</p>
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Swine Flu: Confirmed (as much as it will be)2009-07-08T10:28:00+00:002009-10-15T15:52:49+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2009/07/08/swine-flu-confirmed-as-much-as-it-will-be<article>
<h1>Swine Flu: Confirmed (as much as it will be)</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2009-07-08T10:28:00+00:00">Wed 8th Jul 2009</time>
(updated <time datetime="2009-10-15T15:52:49+00:00">Thu 15th Oct 2009</time>)
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<p>Liz has now spoken to our GP who has "confirmed" Edward as having swine flu.</p>
<p>Actual testing is no longer being done as too many new cases are being reported, however the GP said that Edward's symptoms combined with his close contact with the confirmed case (who was actually tested) last week at his nursery is enough to consider Edward as confirmed with swine flu.</p>
<p>Our GP advised us that Edward should be kept at home until his temperature returns to normal, but the rest of us should not limit our movements or contact with others unless we actually start to show symptoms as well.</p>
<p>We only need to worry about Edward if his temperature doesn't respond to paracetamol, he becomes listless or stops drinking. Apparently it's all just the same if/when Sophie catches it too. Except that I imagine there will be more screaming.</p>
<p>It's just a shame that Edward isn't quite old enough to look after the rest of us next week when he's better and we're all ill!</p>
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Swine Flu: Likely2009-07-08T08:32:00+00:002009-10-15T15:52:49+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2009/07/08/swine-flu-likely<article>
<h1>Swine Flu: Likely</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2009-07-08T08:32:00+00:00">Wed 8th Jul 2009</time>
(updated <time datetime="2009-10-15T15:52:49+00:00">Thu 15th Oct 2009</time>)
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<p>It seems likely that Edward has Swine Flu!</p>
<p>He developed a high temperature (about 39) and tiredness on the afternoon/evening of Tuesday 7th July. He didn't sleep very well at all last night and has been intermittently complaining of hurting limbs. He also has a constantly running nose. Apart from that though he seems to be mostly OK, just a bit tired and grumpy.</p>
<p>To add to the fun he managed to jump off a chair and knock his head on a wall (thankfully our plasterboard isn't that strong, so kindly absorbed some of the force, as evidenced by the new dent) on Monday evening. There was lots of crying and his head came up with a nasty bump but otherwise he seemed alright. However we did get to wake him up every couple of hours during the night just to check he hadn't gone mad!</p>
<p>So come Tuesday evening we thought his tiredness was probably just a lack of sleep and the rest of the symptoms were probably a cold. We tried to call NHS Direct just to check that the temperature couldn't be an affect from the head injury, but they are apparently very busy with swing flu calls - it took several calls before we even made it into their queuing system! In the end they confirmed that the temperature would not be related to the head injury but we also got to speak to a doctor in case the other symptoms were flu (as we visited family in London at the weekend). The doctor thought flu was quite unlikely though.</p>
<p>Back to this morning. Edward still had a temperature. We called his nursery to say he wouldn't be in and we got the news that they have had a confirmed case of swine flu - confirmed on Monday with the child first becoming ill last Thursday. We didn't get the memo though because Edward was also off on Tuesday as a precaution from his head.</p>
<p>With his symptoms and the nursery case, it would seem likely that Edward has swine flu.</p>
<p>We're now waiting to hear back from our GP with what this really means.</p>
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We moved!2008-08-12T00:00:00+00:002013-07-29T14:00:38+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2008/08/12/we-moved<article>
<h1>We moved!</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2008-08-12T00:00:00+00:00">Tue 12th Aug 2008</time>
(updated <time datetime="2013-07-29T14:00:38+00:00">Mon 29th Jul 2013</time>)
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<p>And we don't intend to do it again for a very long while!</p>
<p>Two interesting things we've learnt...</p>
<ul>
<li>when a van rental company suggests a van "big enough for a three bed house", get a bigger one if you intend to move from a two bed house.</li>
<li>if you visit a new house the afternoon before completion and the builder still has teams (must have been 10-20 people) working on it, the chances of it being <em>finished</em> the following day are slim.</li>
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<p>We got confirmation from our solicitor that we had legally completed at about 11:30am. The builders (Bellway) weren't ready to give us our keys until about 4pm!</p>
<p>Needless to say, this meant we were still moving late into the evening (thank you very much to all our helpers!). Thankfully Bellway hadn't sold Liz's house (which we part exchanged) yet, so they were happy for us to hold on to the keys until the following day. Which also allowed us to finish cleaning there.</p>
<p>Onto our new house...</p>
<p>So far our snag list is 115 items long! About 40% of them are paint related and the builders concluded that there were enough bad bits that it would be easiest just to entirely repaint the inside of the house!</p>
<p>The repaint started around the middle of last week with them patching and filling tens of dents, holes and missing bits throughout the house. Since then they've painted all the ceilings (some twice to get a good covering), all the walls and most of the woodwork! They finished this morning.</p>
<p>Some other bits, like the gap for the washing machine being blocked by spare bits of wood, missing turf, no garden shed and a lack of external cabling for a BT line (it took them over a week to fix that!!) have also been sorted out. But we still have a list of well over 50 snags awaiting attention! Hopefully now the painters are done, they will get on with some of the others!</p>
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Another one!2008-07-24T08:30:00+00:002009-10-15T15:52:39+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2008/07/24/another-one<article>
<h1>Another one!</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2008-07-24T08:30:00+00:00">Thu 24th Jul 2008</time>
(updated <time datetime="2009-10-15T15:52:39+00:00">Thu 15th Oct 2009</time>)
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<p>It would appear that the sleepless nights, stress and hard work haven't taught Liz and me anything!</p>
<p>I'm proud (and scared, again) to announce that Liz and I are expecting our second baby around the middle of January. :-)</p>
<p>The first scan was a couple of weeks ago and everything seems to be fine. Although I think the baby's going to be another stubborn one. After quite a few minutes and various approaches to getting the baby into the right position to be seen, we got sent off to have some sugar and take a walk around the hospital! Thankfully that did do the trick, at least just about for long enough to get the information required!</p>
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cold--2007-12-09T14:24:00+00:002009-10-15T15:52:36+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2007/12/09/cold<article>
<h1>cold--</h1>
<div class="article-meta">
Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2007-12-09T14:24:00+00:00">Sun 9th Dec 2007</time>
(updated <time datetime="2009-10-15T15:52:36+00:00">Thu 15th Oct 2009</time>)
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<p>What's worse than a cold?</p>
<p>Now I don't just mean a slight sniffle and a bit of a sore throat. I mean a cold that saps all of your energy, makes you generally ache and regularly wakes you up at night because you can't breath through your nose and breathing through your mouth is just too painful!</p>
<p>So, what's worse?</p>
<p>Obviously... having a small child who presumably feels about the same as you but doesn't understand what's going on or why.</p>
<p>This seems to lead to them generally screaming most of the time, quite often including during those few minutes when you actually feel just about well enough (or simply too exhausted for anything but) to sleep.</p>
<p>So when you're feeling really pretty rubbish and mainly just want to hide under the duvet, you actually have to get up, look after, change and attempt to play with a generally unhappy and screaming baby. 24 hours a day!</p>
<p>Could it get worse?</p>
<p>Of course it could - add one partner, who would normally care for you and help you through such tough and unpleasant illnesses. The only problem is, this cold lasts for quite a lot of days and they now have it too!</p>
<p>All in all, three people with no sleep and an unpleasant cold doesn't make for a very fun household!</p>
<p>Thank goodness colds don't last <em>that</em> long.</p>
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Mum recovering2007-11-16T16:43:00+00:002009-10-15T15:52:34+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2007/11/16/mum-recovering<article>
<h1>Mum recovering</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2007-11-16T16:43:00+00:00">Fri 16th Nov 2007</time>
(updated <time datetime="2009-10-15T15:52:34+00:00">Thu 15th Oct 2009</time>)
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<p>I've had a very busy couple of weeks with work and didn't help myself by turning last weekend into a physical (but fun) workout at <a href="http://www.jivetime.co.uk/page2.html">Camber</a>!</p>
<p>Hence my delay in finding time to write an update here. Anyway...</p>
<p>My Mum was able to come home from hospital towards the end of the week after her crash. While still rather achy and a little lacking in memory, she does seem to have got much better.</p>
<p>Hopefully in a few more weeks she will have made a full recovery.</p>
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Get well soon mum2007-10-31T23:57:00+00:002009-10-15T15:52:33+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2007/10/31/get-well-soon-mum<article>
<h1>Get well soon mum</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2007-10-31T23:57:00+00:00">Wed 31st Oct 2007</time>
(updated <time datetime="2009-10-15T15:52:33+00:00">Thu 15th Oct 2009</time>)
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<p>Last Sunday (28th) my mum was in a car accident.</p>
<p>Thankfully her physical injuries, while initially worrying for doctors with potential internal bleeding, now seem to be relatively minor.</p>
<p>However there does seem to have been a toll on her memory. It has been getting gradually better over the last few days and she can now remember most major things, if not the details. Although her short term memory is currently minimal, if at all.</p>
<p>Two other cars were involved in the accident, with three other people also going to hospital all with relatively minor injuries.</p>
<p>I believe that all three cars were written off.</p>
<p>I wish my mum well and hope that she makes a full recovery soon.</p>
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We're expecting!2006-07-13T23:31:00+00:002009-10-15T15:52:14+00:00Simon Pitherhttps://www.pither.com/simon/blog/2006/07/13/were-expecting<article>
<h1>We're expecting!</h1>
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Posted
by <span>Simon Pither</span>
on <time datetime="2006-07-13T23:31:00+00:00">Thu 13th Jul 2006</time>
(updated <time datetime="2009-10-15T15:52:14+00:00">Thu 15th Oct 2009</time>)
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<p>I'm delighted (well, actually alternating between incredibly excited and amazingly scared) to announce that Liz and I are expecting our first baby, around 19th January 2007!</p>
<p>We went to our 12 week scan yesterday morning...
<img src="/files/baby_pither-12weeks.jpg" alt="Baby Pither" /></p>
<p>Our baby is all there, a good size (almost unbelievably small at about 6.7cm long) and apparently likes wriggling a lot. :-)</p>
<p>We've kept this fairly quiet for the last couple of months, until we reached this first milestone of reassurance. Now we're here, we're slowly telling the world!</p>
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