The past, present and future according to Rangor.

Rangotee

2006-10-11T16:27:00.000+01:00

Rangote is to have a little playmate. Yes that's right, Mrs Rangor is going to have another baby. Due 27th March 2007.

King of the world

2006-06-29T12:40:00.000+01:00

I'm still there!

I slumber

2006-06-08T13:47:00.000+01:00

Rangor sleeps...

An alternative to time travel?

2006-03-27T13:35:00.000+01:00

Maybe this has all the answers?

Busy busy busy

2006-03-17T12:30:00.000Z

Mrs Rangor and I have been very busy looking after Rangote. He has come on leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. He's over 2 months old now.

I've been teaching him the ways of time travel but until he's good at it, he's barred from doing so without me being with him!

The truth is out there...

2006-03-03T00:52:00.000Z

Now that Rangotte has been born, there have been a couple of hints back to this site, You that know the real Rangor, will know where to look, but those who don't; well there's always a chance you'll find out who Rangor, Mrs Rangor and Rangotte really are...

Geeky fun

2006-02-17T13:29:00.000Z

I enjoyed this article very much

Big love to Deadly chicken and Scooby Soo down under

2006-02-08T23:44:00.000Z

Hey you guys down under, wishing you all the best in that horrible cold wet and over populated place ;-)

Give yourselves a big hug from Rangor, Mrs Rangor and Rangote xx

At last

2006-01-20T12:08:00.000Z

Rangote and Mrs Rangor are home at last. They got home on Wednesday afternoon, but I've been too busy looking after them both to post anything. It really is good news. Both are doing very well now and I am over the moon.

Road to recovery

2006-01-17T15:16:00.000Z

Seems Rangote is well on his way to recovery. He left the baby unit last night and is now on the maternity ward with Mrs Rangor, this has meant he's been getting many more cuddles from Mum and Dad but alas my visiting times have been reduced due to where he is so I have to make the most of them.

All is looking good, just waiting for his NG tube to be taken out and him to feed without it and he should be home to Rangor towers to receive visitors!

This is all very good news!

Rangote, my son

2006-01-13T13:50:00.000Z

Here is a picture of him from yesterday morning when I first got to see him, and here is one from today. As you can see, he's looking a lot brighter today :-)

Rangote or Rangette

2006-01-13T13:20:00.000Z

Well, the answer is Rangote is a beautiful 8lb 5oz boy, born 12th January 2006 at 8:47am.

Mrs Rangor and Rangote had quite a lot of trouble during the delivery of Rangote, and as a result he got rushed off to the (absolutely wonderful) Travor Mann baby unit a floor above the theatre where he was delivered. Mrs Rangor and I were left wondering what was up with the little tike and at this point had not seen him (apart from a brief glimpse from the other side of the room). It transpires that he swallowed and breathed in a lot of meconium during the delivery and was a little short of breath to say the least on his introduction to this world, he'd also got very stressed and squished from the ventouse and forceps that he had to endure as well as his cord being wrapped round his neck (poor fella).

After 2 hours of worry (the like of which I have never known) I was able to go and see him although Mrs Rangor had to stay in bed as she herself was not feeling too well and the midwives needed her to stay put. The fantastic staff on the unit told me what had happened and that Rangotte was having to be ventliated as he wasn't able to breath on his own at the moment. He had tubes putting stuff in, and tubes taking stuff out, he looked a very sorry sight and I found it very difficult to stop myself from breaking down as they explained the gravity of the situation.

I took a great deal of solace from the fact that he was in the best place possible and was receiving an enormous amount of care and assistance from the doctors and nurses on the unit.

After a few more hours Mrs Rangor was able to go up on her hospital bed to see him too and like me felt somewhat better for the experience, but she too found it all very distressing.

Today, he is a lot brighter and is able to breathe all on his own. He is being quite sick and as he has not yet fed, it has been causing some concern, but generally he seems on the mend.

We have both had cuddles with him today and that has made us feel a lot happier. There really is nothing like the hug of ones own child. It's beautiful.

Mrs Rangor and I are now looking forward to them both being well enough to come home. Although we're not sure yet when that is likely to be. Fingers crossed it won't be too long.

Tardiest baby ever...

2006-01-11T13:02:00.000Z

Where is Rangote?

Better late than never

2006-01-05T08:13:00.000Z

Rangote is now officially late. Still nevermind, they say that the best things in life are worth waiting for.

It's Mrs Rangor I feel sorry for, she's gone and got herself quite fed up with Rangote being inside and wants him/her to come out so we can say hello.

Oh well, can't be too much longer now, can it?

Alfie

2005-12-30T20:59:00.000Z

No, not this one, but Alfie Arben White. Alfie was due the same date as Rangote, but seems he got a bit excited and showed himself a bit early at 1am, 29th December 2005. Congratulations to Jim and Hayley on becoming parents. Mrs Rangor and I are still playing the waiting game, although we did think Rangote was going to make an appearance in Sainsbury's today...

It's nearly Christmas

2005-12-22T13:17:00.000Z

Not that I'm too bothered about that. But what is bothering me is when is little Rangote going to be making an appearance? He/She has 12 days to go now according to my firefox countdown extension. Mrs Rangor is hoping it'll come early as she's getting a bit fed up with being pregnant now, I on the other hand am hoping it's late as I'm sure we're not completely prepared for a new life in the family. Having said that, I don't suppose anyone ever is. Whatever happens it really isn't that long now and we are both getting excited about it.

Eeek, is all getting a bit close now...

2005-12-07T13:39:00.000Z

Mrs Rangor and I went to a labour class yesterday to learn about the different stages of labour. All very interesting stuff but kind of made us realise that this event will be happening very very soon indeed. The official clock say 27 days, but who knows...

Christmas feelings

2005-11-28T13:24:00.002Z

Now, you all know that I don't like Christmas, I find it the most false, overstated affair in the calendar, I agree completely with this blog entry I came across and I could easily add another ten to the list...

Mrs Rangor has been secretly purchasing Xmas decorations (Xmas is better, the date has sod all to do with Christ anyway, let's cross him out, after all, he never actually existed did he, I've been back to have a look). Anyway, these decorations are tacky and gaudy and are what I can only think of as completely chavvy.

Rangor Towers will see some kind of celebration late this year or early next. I for one would rather it be the birth of Rangote during that 'festive' season (before anyone thinks I'm suggesting something about a second coming, no, I'm not comparing Rangote to that Jesus H Corbett fella although three Kings turning up with some gold, frankenstein and mirth could be fun).

Anyway, here's the 'however'...

I am well aware that children love Christmas and that I am very soon to become a parent and therefore will have certain responsibilities that I have never before had. One of these is to ensure my child is the happiest and healthiest child in the whole wide world. If a tiny tiny part of those reponsibilities involves me celebrating Christmas and as such, receiving smiles and hugs from my child as they grow up, then I think it's a small sacrifice on my part.

So ultimately, I'm sure from NEXT year onwards until my child (hopefully) decides that Xmas is as crap as his/her old man thinks it is, Mrs Rangor and I will be 'doing' Christmas just like the rest of you...

Bah Humbug

The Weaver's last day

2005-11-18T12:36:00.000Z

Today is a big day for The Weaver. It is his last day at the horrid horrid school he currently works in. No more nasty teenagers pushing him down the stairs! He's off to a better place with better kids and no scummy tosspots! Good for you Weaver

Four years ago today

2005-11-08T12:35:00.000Z

Was 4 years ago that my friend Jez took his own life. Doesn't seem that long ago, and I do still wonder about him from time to time. Occasionally I find myself listening to an old demo tape of the 'Fly Kicking Badgers'. He was the lead singer under the sobriquet of 'Gilbert Gibb, the fifth Bee Gee' along with the other band members, Chuck up, RudeBeat, Onion Bhagee and Seedy Dave Blair. Memorable songs include 'Not this plonker', 'I'm a badger in love', 'Only sixteen' and 'pickled onions'. Classic stuff and someone I will miss for an awfully long time.

Is your browser compliant?

2005-11-01T12:40:00.000Z

Something that is probably more at home on Stuart's blog, but thought I'd link to it from here.

Acid2 test

Acid2 guide

Rangor Towers

2005-10-31T13:20:00.000Z

Mrs Rangor and I have finally got into a new house after many months of trying. It's a good house with lots of room and lots of potential. Yes, that does mean that it's not upto scratch at the moment, but I like a challenge. Biggest challenge is to get Rangote's room sorted out in the remaining 9 weeks before the big day.

Decorating is easy I hear you say, well, yes that's true, but I have to rewire the ring and lighting curcuits which has meant getting the floor boards up and hacking out the walls for new sockets, nearly there in that room, then move onto the other bedrooms and then downstairs.

Still, if the work gets too much, we can always nip to the garden and enjoy the tranquility of it all... if only I could stop looking at the pond and thinking, 'that needs work on it too...'

A sad day indeed

2005-10-26T12:22:00.000+01:00

I would like to tell you about our moving into the new house over the weekend, but I shall have to do that later as there is more pressing news to tell.

Berrick, Mrs Rangor's family cat died on Monday. Berrick was a great cat, a proper hunter and a fabulous lap cat. He adored Mrs Rangor and she adored him. Whenever we went to see her family, Berrick would always make an appearance demanding attention and generally requiring hugs, to his and whoever was lucky enough to hug him, their benefit. At 17 I think he had a good innings. I think he just got to the end of his very happy life and slipped away peacefully. He shall be missed terribly.

Rest in peace Berrick x

Change is afoot for The Weaver

2005-10-21T12:36:00.000+01:00

Well here's a bit of good news. The Weaver has gone at got himself a new job. Only 4 weeks to go in that crap hole he works in now.

Well done Weaver.

Home sweet home... well nearly

2005-10-20T13:06:00.000+01:00

Mrs Rangor and I completed on the new house yesterday, which from this point on shall be known as Rangor Towers. We picked the keys up early evening and popped over to do lots of cleaning and generally have a bit of a nose about the place. Realised that there is more work needed doing than we originally thought, but nevermind, at least we're in. Has come just in time too as Rangote is getting rather large now and Mrs Rangor is slowing down and finding that she doesn't have the energy she used to. Will be good to get unpacked and settled over the weekend.

About time too!

A sleepless night

2005-10-10T06:06:00.000+01:00

Yawn... seems something has been stopping me from sleepingt onight, is 6am and Mrs Rangor is fast asleep, I on the other hand have been awake since 3. I'll probably fall asleep just before the alarm is due to go off...

A light you say? where? At the end of the Tunnel?

2005-10-04T12:42:00.000+01:00

Well, how about that then, it seems Mrs Rangor and I have exchanged on our new house. This means we will complete on the 19th of this month. I have got myself quite excited. DEATH said to me earlier, now that all the worry and importance of phoning estate agents, solicitors and the like is over, my life will seem empty and boring. Well thank you very much!

At least we're now pretty certain to have a house for when Rangote comes along, phew, that's quite a relief.

And on that note

2005-09-19T13:15:00.000+01:00

First proper entry for a month.

A lot has been going on with Mrs Rangor and I. Rangote seems to be growing at a right old rate on knots, Mrs Rangor is finding that her bump is limiting her movement somewhat now. I have to bend down for her on occasion to pick things up that she has dropped or to tie her shoelaces (only joking, but I know that's going to come soon enough). We have also sold the family homestead. This means that we are now of no fixed abode. Ha ha, 'Rangor, Warlord of time NFA'.

We have been terribly lucky as friends of ours have cleared out their spare room and allowed us to stay with them. They've even allowed us to bring my time cat and companion and we are extremely grateful to them for everything they have done.

We are still trying to buy a new house, but it seems everyone we try to buy falls through for one reason or another. Still, I suppose we must end up with one one day.

The Weaver and Leesa are also trying to buy and sell, I hope they have more luck than we have so far had.

Don't forget to write...

Bored now

2005-09-19T13:05:00.000+01:00

It seems that Stuart has become bored. I think this is mainly due his readers becoming apathetic and not commenting or indeed updating their own blogs (myself included). Come on you lot, if you're still out there post a comment or two, or even post to your own blog! I know I've been a bit tardy too, but that doesn't mean we all have to give up.

Come on then, you all know who you are...

Inspiration

2005-08-25T12:35:00.000+01:00

It seems Charlotte's guess regarding our bump was inspired by her cooker. Maybe it is a girl?

Rangote or Rangette?

2005-08-23T19:49:00.000+01:00

Here are the latest pictures of Mrs Rangor and my as yet unborn child...

Can you tell what it is yet? Give me a comment if you feel you know.

Alternatively you can email either of them at Rangote@gmail.com or Rangette@gmail.com depending on which one you think it's going to be...

Another holiday

2005-08-02T13:00:00.000+01:00

This week Mrs Rangor, Rangote, TD&J and I are going on holiday. We're heading down to Longleat safari part for a day and then on to Cornwall. We have a nice little cottage lined up in Port Isaac courtesy of Ness and her family.

We are heading off tomorrow night and stopping over at the 'in-laws' for the night, then meeting TD&J at the delightfully named Friggle Street near Frome on Thursday afternoon.

Friday is Longleat day and then down to Cornwall in the evening and return the following Wednesday evening. Not a long holiday, but a welcome one nevertheless.

It means that we don't have to worry too much about the house buying/selling debacle that has dominated our lives for the last 4 months. That can wait until we return home.

I do hope TD&J enjoy themselves. Is going to be a bit of a squeeze with all of us there in the tiny cottage. Still, there is a pub next door that we can escape to if they annoy us!

Good old Stu

2005-07-21T12:52:00.000+01:00

Stuart posted this post on his blog which I found very interesting. It links to this site allowing us all to post our blogs out into space. It means that any other Warlords of time out there may just pick up on my existance and contact me. Albeit in another 60 years after they've watched every episode of I love Lucy! Still what's 60 years to me eh?!

One year on

2005-07-15T13:05:00.000+01:00

I've just realised, I've been posting to this blog for one of your earth years. I've been doing a spot of travelling back and forth of course, but not as much as I used to, don't see the point in going back to before Mrs Rangor was pregnant, and I don't really want to go forward or it will spoil all the surprises for me as Rangote grows up. Maybe I've already met him/her on my travels before, but always tried avoiding seeing myself or Mrs rangor otherwise it just gets too confusing (Just read 'the time travellers wife' for an insight into what Mrs rangor would have had to put up with if I hadn't been so careful).

I wonder if Rangote will ever have such a revelation as I did all those years ago...

Another Future cat...

2005-07-15T12:52:00.000+01:00

I've added another cat to the gallery of future cats, what do you think of this one. I like his little angry face!

Flag Etiquette

2005-07-08T12:29:00.000+01:00

There seems to be quite a few rules around flag etiquette, quite right too. You would think anyone in a position to fly a flag from a flagpole would understand these protocols, but no, that's not the case at all.

In the aftermath of yesterday's events it appears that East Sussex county council have decided to fly the union flag not at half mast as you might expect but rather at some kind of 'half arsed, half mast' arrangement. It's actually very near the top.

Update: This site seems to suggest that the flag should be flown one flag width down from the top of the flagpole, however I'm not sure I agree with their definition of 'width' in the illustration.

I could say it's just one more thing the council are incapable of doing correctly, but I won't.

I say, how queer

2005-06-23T13:55:00.000+01:00

Who's a clever doggy then

A public announcement

2005-06-21T22:15:00.000+01:00

Mrs Rangor and I are expecting our first little Rangote due on the 4th January 2006, how marvellous :-)

N33d l337 2 3nglizh?

2005-06-14T09:07:00.000+01:00

Mrz R4ng0r 4nd I h4v3 b33n b4ck in g00d 0ld bligh7y n0w ph0r n34rly 7w0 w33kz. 7hingz z74r73d m0ving 0n wi7h 0ur h0uz3 purch4z3/z4l3 bu7 n0w i7 z33mz w3 4r3 b4ck 2 z74g3 0n3. d4 h0uz3 w3 w3r3 l00king 2 buy w4z riddl3d wi7h w00dw0rm z0 w3'v3 g0n3 ph0r 4 diphph3r3n7 0n3 4nd d4 z4l3 0n my pl4c3 z33mz 2 b3 4 ph4rc3. Will b3 b4ck 0n d4 m4rk37 47 d4 w33k3nd. 7hingz 4r3 n3v3r z7r4igh7 ph0rw4rd.

The boat journey home

2005-06-01T23:30:00.000+01:00

31st May - 1st June

Our plan was to leave the campsite at 9am in order to give us pleanty of time to get to the port at Bilboa. This plan was slightly scuppered by the lack of anyone at the reception of the site when we arrived so we had to wait 40 minutes before anyone was able to give us back Mrs Rangor's passport taken as security to ensure we paid. Got chatting to a big group of Aussies and Kiwis whilst waiting, seems they'd had quite a party in there van the night before. They all looked a bit worse for wear. Anyway, we headed off having paid up and got to the port having driven along a lovely winding mountain pass, the last of many in the last week or so. Boarded the ship and checked into our cabin then headed off up on deck to say goodbye to Spain. Also hung around to hire one of the few pairs of binoculars available for whale/dolphin watching. Seems it was a good idea, the seamonsters were far more forthcoming. We saw 3 sperm whales, how about that! Two adults and a calf, we were very excited. We actually saw these alongside 4 fin whales. Fin whales are the second largest animal on the planet, these were very impressive. As the trip went on, we saw striped dolphins and bottlenose dolphins bow riding and generally playing in the water. We also saw them on a feeding frenzy, many gannets were also there with them.
We then went for a nice meal in the restaurant before heading to the cinema to see HHGTTG. I'd seen it previously but Mrs Rangor was terribly keen on it. She then fell asleep and missed the last hour!
Next morning, I got up very early to look out on deck but there was a thick fog and nothing to be seen, no whale watching today. Nevermind, saw lots yesterday, so am not too disappointed. Had a coffee and read while I waited for Mrs Rangor to get up. Then we went to a presentation on whales and dolphins with videos and slides. was the second part of the one we saw on the way out. After that, we've really just been sitting around reading and chatting until we get into Portsmouth, we are due in at 5.30pm, which is in about 30 minutes. All in all, a lovely time has been had by us both.

Our last full day

2005-05-30T22:04:00.000+01:00

30th May

We head home tomorrow so today is really the last one in Spain. We
drove from San Sebastian this morning and did a bit of a wiggle to
Mundaka using lots of little roads, stopped for lunch on a very quiet
beach, just us and one other family. Finally got booked into the
campsite and realised that family were A) English and B) next to us on
the camp site. Seem a lovely bunch, they're just starting off on there
holiday as we finish ours. Mundaka is a very hip surfing town but at
the moment is a little out of season which is just as well as I
imagine you would need to book this campsite later in the year
otherwise you'd stand no chance of getting a pitch. It stopped raining
when we got up this morning and has brittened up for the day. Much
better than yesterday. So anyway, what have I learned during my trip?
1) campsites are far better than those in England. 2) so is public
transport. 3) the Spanish don't like paying for their roads to be
maintained through taxes and so the really good ones are all toll
roads. 4) the other roads are still better than ours. 5) rivers in the
south of Spain do not actually have any water in them, they are just
dry riverbeds. 6) the ones in the north have all had a dam at one end.
7) the Spanish are very tolerant of foreigners. 8) except in the
Basque region were we currently are. 9) the lifts are not as robust as
those in England. 10) Van has a left handed brother although the video
evidence of this died when my phone did. 11) fresh milk is a terribly
difficult to come by even though Spain has an enormous amount of dairy
cows. 12) fruit and veg looks rubbish but tastes better. 13) policemen
carry guns. 14) there are no gun control laws, but there is no gun
crime either. 15) towns and villages are a challenge to drive Van
round, but fun never the less. 16) Spain has spent an enormous amount
of money on completely pointless traffic lights and road signs.
So there we are, Mrs Rangor and myself will be home in a couple of
days having seen some of those elusive cetaceans. Cheerio.

Sarurday and Sunday

2005-05-29T21:48:00.000+01:00

29th May
Another long drive
Today we got up, had breakfast and left the best campsite I have ever
been to. Nevermind, we must get on. The plan is to drive all the way
to San Sebastian via Segovia to see the Roman aquaduct. There is a
slight problem though, as soon as we drive away from the site it
starts to rain, this isn't like the massive and impressive and warm
mediterranean storm we had in Sitges. This is like the cold crappy
rain in England. We realise that this is rain coming down from the
north, and that it will probably stick with us for the whole day. We
are however optomistic. it transpires that the glass was half empty
and not half full, the rain does indeed fall for the whole day, not to
worry, hopefully by the time we get to San Sebastian this evening it
will be stuck behind the mountains. Not the case. Sitting in Van now
and the rain is pooring down. Hope tomorrow is better weather, Mrs
Rangor has gone to bed and is demanding that the rain will stop
otherwise there will be trouble. What trouble I ask?
We did manage to get a look at the aquaduct at Segovia today. Legend
has it that a young girl was so fed up with carrying water from the
well across the valley that she promised her soul to Satan if he could
solve her problem. Satan, being keen on this idea started to build the
aquaduct. The girl then being ridden with guilt, prayed to God and
told him of her foolish pact. God then had a quiet word with Satan got
him to stop building said aquaduct just one stone away from
completion. Thus saving the girl's soul. God then felt a bit sorry for
her and decided to leave it there anyway. What a lucky lass she was!
Reminds me slightly of the Devil's dyke story, but that's for another
day.
Is 22.38 now, have a couple of beers and more of my book to enjoy but
will say night night.

28th May
The Toledo experience
We got up early and headed into Toledo. Only about 2km from the
campsite so not too strenuous a walk although the temperature was
already very hot. Spent most of the day there, lots of alleys to walk
through and lots of museums, mosques and a cathedral to visit. Went
for a pizza for lunch, not terribly Spanish I know, but the vegetarian
thing is proving quite tricky at times especially as I had attempted a
nice Spanish salad with asparagus. When telling them 'no pescado' they
obviously just nipped out back and rinsed the tuna off the olives.
Decided not to bother eating it and it was then we headed off for
pizza. One thing to learn about Toledo is that all the maps dotted
around the city have south at the top, not north. This led to some
confusion as I tried to lead us south west to finally leave the city
only to discover that we had in fact gone north east. This got Mrs
Rangor a bit stressed as she was tired and hot. I managed to placate
her with a nice cold fanta limon and an icecream. From there we headed
back to the campsite and I read my book and drank too many beers. Is
now Sunday morning and I have an iddy biddy hangover. Oh well, that's
good news for Mrs Rangor as it means she gets to drive today. Just one
other thing. The campsite on which we are staying has a great number
of trees yielding little blackberry looking berrys. These are of
particular interest to the many finches that are constantly sitting in
the trees noshing away. The upshot of this is that many berrys fall to
the floor and get trampled underfoot as we walk. Combined with the
grit and gravel on the ground, these berrys make an excellent mortar
that bonds to our shoes, really is a tenacious substance that requires
chiseling off after every walk. I have no idea what these berrys are,
but we have decided to call them stickleberrys.

3 in 1

2005-05-27T22:16:00.000+01:00

27th May
A long old drive
Today I woke up early again with the sun streaming through the
slightly open blinds, got up and realised two things, one, it was damn
hot and two, I had a bit of a headache from last night. Headache
passed quite quickly although Mrs Rangor insisted that she drove Van
this morning. Today was a long drive up and over the top of some
pretty high mountains on the way to Olula del Rio. Van did admirably
although we plodded rather than sped. Decided after that that we were
going to make it to Toledo today. A few hundred kilometers, but we
figured we could do it. The mountains rather set us back and we were
getting worried that we may not make it in time to get booked into the
campsite. Thought about stopping somewhere on the way but realise
that within central Spain there are only a handfull of sites and the
nearest didn't seem to exist anymore. We plodded on and got here at
21.55 and booked in just before the ten pm deadline. Currently sitting
under the stars looking up at the many many bats circling above.
Am sipping a san miguel.

26th May
Karen and Trevor
Woke up fairly early this morning and opened the doors onto the patio
by the swimming pool, lovely. Sat around over breakfast discussing the
plan for the day. Drank some of Don's orange juice squished from
oranges just below where they live. The province of Valencia certainly
does good oranges. We said our goodbyes and headed off towards Uleila
del campo to see Karen and Trev. On the way down there I realised that
due to my crappy phone I no longer had Karen's new mobile number. Not
a problem, a quick ring to Tom or Deb would sort that out. Yeah right!
Neither of them answered their phones leaving us in a bit of a panic
as we had bo idea where they actually live. Fortunately Mandy came to
our rescue and was able to give me the details. Got to the village and
asked for Trevor in all the pubs. Oddly enough, they all knew him far
too well! No sign of him though so we headed to see Karen at their
lovely new built house and looked over the grounds. Almost 200 almond
trees and two olive trees, goes up one side of a mountain and down the
other. Trevor once walked up to the top in the hope their was a pub on
the other side but alas not!
Had a lovely afternoon sitting in the sun with a cold beer and
catching up on what's been happening. Trev came home from work about
7pm and we ate and headed into the village for a few drinks, then back
to watch shooting stars in one of the brightest clearest skies I've
ever seen. Couldn't be better. Trev and Mrs Rangor both went to bed
(separately of course) and Karen and I sat up chatting till the small
hours. All in all, an absolutely lovely day, will be sad to head off
tomorrow.

Don and Hilary
25th May
Today Mrs Rangor and I awoke early to get away from the campsite. We
really didn't like it much and did not seem to be as good as the guide
book suggested. Drove down to the beach for breakfast and saw the
campsite we were meant to stop at, d'oh!
Left Valencia fairly early and headed down to Pego where Don and
Hilary live. Got there using Don's excellent instructions in about one
and a half hours. Met Don in a carpark for him to escort us back to
their villa. We had to leave Van outside their friends house as it
would have been quite a struggle to navigate round the tight bends and
terribly steep inclines.
Got to theirs and introduced Mrs Rangor to Hilary. Must say it was
lovely to see them looking so well. We sat around the pool and chatted
over lunch before jumping in for a swim and then a bit of a siesta.
This evening all four of us went out for a meal and then back 'home'
for the last half of the football. What a result that was. Currently
lying in a big comfy bed about to drop off to sleep. Off to see Karen
and Trevor tomorrow. Night night.

micro$hite

2005-05-25T17:47:00.000+01:00

24th May
I'll start with the worst part of the day because then I can tell you
how much better it got. While plotting our map on my 'computer phone
with GPS technology' the whole thing died and immediately performed a
full hard reset leaving us with absolutely nothing, no GPS, no
applications I probably don't really need anyway, like the guitar
tuner software, but also with no contacts to phone Don and Hilary, and
Karen and Trevor in Spain. After much tinkering, I managed to get the
contacts back but nothing else. The upshot of this was that we have
had to rely on a good old fashioned paper map. This has meant that
rather than the 'one hundred yards, turn left' routine, we have
actually taken time to find lovely roads on the map to take, rather
than the autopista toll roads. What a lovely drive from Barcelona to
Valencia we've had. Taking Van up to 1000 metres to see the terraced
olive groves and some wonderful views, splendid. Sod GPS, we can live
without it! We stopped about 800 metres up for a picnic and drove
through many lovely villages. I'm sure the sound of an air cooled VW
engine roused them all from their siesta!

We have now set up camp on a rather average site in el Saler, just
outside Valencia. Looking forward to tomorrow when we see Don and
Hilary for the first time in years. Mrs Rangor has never met them, but
is well aware of the kindness and honesty shown to my family by Don
over many a difficult year. For me it will be a chance to catch up on
many things that have happened since last time. Marvelous.

The Barcelona experience

2005-05-23T18:46:00.000+01:00

23rd May

After last night's storm, and that massive whack to me noggin, I slept very well indeed. May also have been the 'tres cerveza por favor'. Mrs Rangor was up a little earlier than I and went to get some breakfast for the both of us. I was left with the task of tidying Van while she was gone. After breakfast we headed to the station to get a train to Barcelona. As Im sure is true of any european country, the trains are far cleaner, faster and nicer than they are in England. Ooh, and a lot cheaper too.

Barcelona is lovely, enjoyed the walk down la Rambla and much of the architecture is stunning, including or course Gaudi's La Sagrada Família. Stunning, but I have to say, quite ugly I'm afraid! Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate it, but just dont like it much to look at. Very interesting audio tour though, looked very obviously tourist like with my shorts and headphones on. Chose the long walk to the top of one of the towers, across a bridge between that and another, and down again. Mrs Rangor looked quite pale as we got higher and higher. Must say I put on a brave face and there were times when I worried about tumbling to my death, gladly it didnt come to pass.

Navigated the metro very well until I dived into a lift with other people in it and forced the doors open with my arms... It stopped working after that, and everyone had to get out and use the stairs, dont think that made me terribly popular, not even with Mrs Rangor.

Think we'll be walking into Sitges centre this evening for some dinner and a beer or two, have to see how my feet are, been on them all day. Tomorrow see the start of another journey in Van, heading towards Valencia but we're in no hurry, so may stop somewhere for a night on the way...

Rangor does Bilbao

2005-05-23T18:16:00.000+01:00

22nd May
Arrived in Bilbao at 7am, the tannoy system in the room kindly belowed this fact out to us at 5.45. Got up and went for breakfast, very nice, if a little expensive. We were told to wait in our vehicles to get ready to disembark. Then came the driving on the right malarky. Seemed ok, navigated a few roundabouts, junctions and 300 miles to Barcelona, so am quite pleased about that, Mrs Rangor helped with the driving and navigation after a slight hiccup in GPS technology. Actually camping in a small town just outside called Sitges, the gay capital of Spain apparently, very nice, had pizza and a stroll on the beach. Met Van's left handed brother, more on that another time. Currently laying in bed with a fantastic thunderstorm directly ahead of us. Rather trippy light show, or maybe it's because I've just slipped over on one of those classic mediterranean style tiled floors and smacked my head on the floor whilst running in the rain to the loo. Something is certainly playing with my visio..

Whale watching

2005-05-22T08:22:00.000+01:00

Mrs Rangor and I went to a lecture on cetaceans this morning while on the boat. Now we are sitting at the bow looking for any one of the many species that populate what what we are told is the only area with over 27 of the 80 or so species of the world. At this time I have only seen a faint glimse of a sun fish, however, I remain optomistic. Hoping for some common or bottlenose dolphins to bow ride for ours and their pleasure. We have been told that we can expect to see them once we have passed over the continental shelf where the seabed drops from a modest 100 metres to just over 4000 metres in a relatively short distance. Is now 16.20 ship time, 17.20 Spanish time. Factors that are against us spotting many of these so called 'sea monsters' (cetacean, means literally that) is that there is a lot of white water that masks the breath from their blowholes. Apparently the North bound journey is usually more successful viewing.

We're on the boat

2005-05-20T21:16:00.000+01:00

How exciting! 3 beers for £4.50, no Guinness though!

Today's the day

2005-05-20T06:07:00.000+01:00

Mrs Rangor and I head off on our driving trip round Spain today, lots of things planned for the next twelve days. Firstly I'm looking forward to seeing dolphins and whales from the ship we'll be taking down to Bilbao.

Then off to Barcelona, Alicante, Almeria, Granada and Madrid before heading back to Bilbao to get the ship back to Portsmouth.

Hopefully stopping to see Don and Hilary on Alicante, and then Karen and Trevor in Almeria.

Thanks go to Lou for emailing me details of all the best things to do and see on our travels. Lovely.

So, all set then. Just need to go into work this morning :-( and then off.

If I do find the chance to blog during our travels I will do so...

UPDATE: I have amended the spelling of Whales, from Wales. Thank you Lottie. oops!

A third Labour term

2005-05-06T03:24:00.000+01:00

Worth staying up all night for.

Time is slipping by...

2005-05-03T12:47:00.000+01:00

Would you Adam and Eve it. Another three weeks have slipped by without so much as a single post. Sorry about that. Mrs Rangor and I have been terribly busy finising all that DIYing and generally keeping the house spotless for potential buyers to admire. Well it finally paid off, we've managed to sell the house to a young lad (or rather his parents) so that he can live there during his university days. A far cry from what my parents gave me while I was at uni.

Just got to get the solicitors to chat to one another now, pay a huge amount of cash to them and the estate agent and then the small matter of actually paying for the new house, and we should be in there.

First however we are heading off to Spain in VAN for a couple of weeks. We are getting the boat from Portsmouth to Bilbao and then heading for Barcelona and maybe go south of there to see if we can catch up with Karen and Trevor. Then Madrid and head back, that's the plan anyway.

A very exciting time to be had indeed.

Whoops

2005-04-12T15:37:00.000+01:00

Oh dear, would you look at that. Has been well over a month since my last blog entry. I know, I know, it's very slack of me. No excuses, I'm sorry.

What's been happening I hear you ask. Well, Mrs Rangor and I are trying to sell my house and buy a bigger better house in a smaller quieter road, seems to be going ok so far, but plenty to get snagged in the works between now and actually moving.

As a direct consequence of needing to sell up, I have been manically DIYing to get the house upto scratch, must say, the new kitchen, bathroom and lounge look really is quiet pleasing. Will be sorry to move if I'm honest.

One other thing that bothers me slightly about moving is that it will no longer be in the BN2 postal region. Might not sound much for you, but for me it will be only the second time I have lived away from there. The first was a failed university stint in SE27. Still, maybe I should see BN3 as a promotion?

Paint the whole world with a rainbow...

2005-03-07T08:59:00.000Z

Seems that Rainbow wasn't the childrens program I originally thought.

UPDATE: This just in from The Weaver. 'The rainbow clip you linked to is a very old urban myth. The actual footage was recorded for the production team's christmas party. Was never shown on TV.'

An admirable effort...

2005-02-25T13:04:00.000Z

I found a star wars species list which is very comprehensive it has to be said. However, having examined the contents of it I realise they have left off the Sarlacc. Admirable, but not perfect.

A geeky weekend is afoot

2005-02-23T13:42:00.000Z

Mrs Rangor is leaving me again this weekend, not because she doesn't like me, but rather she is not keen on hanging around while I get up to my geeky fun.

The Weaver and I are going to the Brighton Science Festival to hear why time flies when you're talking about relativity.

I must say, I'm really looking forward to it...

oh, and by the way Weaver, we really should have gone to the model show last week, just look who might have been there

Chavtastic

2005-02-23T13:19:00.000Z

Something I found here that made me laugh:

Chavs are for the most part, extremely stupid. However, some of them render a form of low cunning, which can be misinterpreted as intelligence. However this is false. A Chav has no desire to better themself through honest means nor learn anything outside of car modification.

All chavs think that they are nails. Again, this is false. Sitting in a beaten up nova smoking lamberts does not precipitate a healthy body. The irony being that a Chav owns mainly sportswear, yet will only break a sweat if running from the police.

Chavs are incredibly fertile beasts, and are highly successful breeders. Where they come unstuck is having to look after the offspring which their 13 yr old drunken fumble produces. More often that not the child will crow to be a Chav, having received no more guidance on life than the parent.

Left handed

2005-02-07T13:15:00.000Z

According to an article from the BBC reseach has shown that left handed folk are 'more susceptible to a range of problems, including allergies, auto-immune diseases, depression, drug abuse, epilepsy, schizophrenia and sleeping disorders.'

Rubbish, surely if this was true I would be sneezing, attacking myself, sobbing, jacking up, shaking and talking to myself while try desperately trying to get to sleep... oh dear, maybe it is true after all

Latin fun

2005-02-03T13:23:00.000Z

Heres a bit of fun for Stuart and Leesa, after all they are the only two people in the whole world who still speak latin...maybe.

DIY, crosswords and booze

2005-02-01T13:44:00.000Z

So, what did we get upto this weekend then? Well, Mrs Rangor and I went out and bought a new kitchen, then we went to the pub did the crosswords and had some lovely cold Guinness.

Three things that would have come in useful at the weekend are this, this and this.

I think I rubbed Satan up the wrong way...

2005-01-26T17:04:00.000Z

It all started here, then I was a bit too cocky and it went here. Is beginning to calm back down here

Hope I never upset DEATH and Satan at the same time

A bit of a test posting

2005-01-20T18:42:00.000Z

Ooh, look at me, seems I can post to my blog whilst connecting wirelessly from my phone/pocket pc. How exciting!

The news of the future?

2005-01-17T18:53:00.000Z

Does the google grid become EPIC? Well, you'll have to wait 9 years to find out...

Almost a month

2005-01-11T13:51:00.000Z

It's been an awfully long time since my last post and an awful lot has happened. Mrs Rangor and I had a holiday to Cornwall a few weeks ago, and what a lovely time we had. More on that later...

Then of course christmas came along and then alas, the world suffered a terrible catastrophe (donate here).

After that came new year, and what a fun time we had too, had a bit of a bash at our place and got terribly drunk, some photos of the event are posted here thanks to Gareth for those. If anyone else has any, let me know where they are and I'll link to those too.

So, back to the holiday, I've decided, I really love Cornwall, maybe it's 'cos I haven't been there often enough to get fed up with it, or maybe it is because it really is a nice place. We had a few days out, went onto Bodmin Moor and had a lovely walk, saw the remains of Daniel Gumb's house but didn't see the beast.

We also went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan which was very nice, but alas we only had a couple of hours there as we had to meet some of Mrs Rangor's friends in St Austell where I got the job of putting out the family dog as it was being sick in the kitchen, and picking up the remains of a rather large mouse that the cat had brought in. All this while Becky was trying to feed the baby and Toby was trying to work from home. By the way, Becky and Toby are lovely people and hopefully we'll get to catch up again sometime soon.

So there we have it, hopefully now I'm back at work (after 3 weeks off), I'll be able to post more during my lunch breaks. We shall see.

Another Rangor

2004-12-17T13:54:00.000Z

This one look kind of feminin [sic]

A couple of pics for Jimble and I

2004-12-14T08:52:00.000Z

Ok Jimble, I know you're going to like this and this, both RM5, one in action as a No. 38 taken in 2000 (it even has an action shot of someone getting on) and one on display as No. 73 taken in 2002. Lovely.

By the way, How tall is your garage?

Are we all going on a summer holiday?.

2004-12-10T13:48:00.000Z

Oh my word, the money isn't a issue, it's the storage, damn, I wonder where I could keep it, maybe Mrs Rangor's parents would like it in their garden...

The big four oh!

2004-12-07T11:11:00.000Z

Here is the birthday card I tried to Send Stu. It never seemed to make it across the interwebulator to his inbox, so decided you can all have a look at it.

Happy Birthday Stu, have a great day

xx

Zoom

2004-12-04T13:26:00.000Z

Nothing much to say about this, but I just think it's good.

Harry Potter

2004-11-26T13:49:00.000Z

Mrs Rangor and I sat down last night to watch Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban, I was very impressed with the clever use of time travel to achieve a happy ending. Seems I'm not the only one.

I also preferred Hermione's device for tinkering with time to my own outdated hulk of a machine.

Oh and by the way, I know this story is very old news to many of you, but I'm not much of a book lover and prefer to watch the [rather poorer version of the] story on my big telly.

Oh yes, and I want a pet hippogriff to fly me around the Scotish lochs...

I have seen the future and it's FireFox 2.0

2004-11-25T17:06:00.000Z

Have a look here for all of you that are interested in what's going on in Ben Goodger's head.

Something a Warlord of time just can't do without...

2004-11-24T13:08:00.000Z

A jolly accurate clock.

Oh my oh my

2004-11-19T13:29:00.000Z

Goodness, it's been such a long time since I last posted here. I just don't seem to be able to find/make/re-use time to do so. The main reason for this is that Mrs Rangor and I have been decorating the dining room and the bathroom. Seems to be taking up all my time and energy. Still hopefully it will look nice when it's all finished.

Oh, and by the way Jim, I think your new blog is going to be very good.

Rangor Rangarsson, Dwarven Rogue of Chaotic Balance

2004-11-08T13:22:00.000Z

He's had a couple of mentions here before, but now he has some terribly interesting stuff on his site including a lovely song he has written and sung for us all to hear...

What a lovely pumpkin...

2004-11-04T13:42:00.000Z

That's what people would've said had I been bothered to carve one. Well, the thing is, I was a bit tired and so didn't go out to the party, hence no need for a pumpkin.

Next year however, I'll be going for it again, especially now that I've found this little beauty

All Hallows Day

2004-11-01T13:29:00.000Z

All Saint's day my arse, yet another repression of the Pagans by Christians.

Well, I found some interesting takes on today...

Here

Here

And here

Change of plan

2004-10-28T13:06:00.000+01:00

I've got a bit bored with my picture of me with my trident, so I've decided to change it to the one of my pumpkin. I think it portrays a poignant message about the mortality of the rest of you (except you DEATH obviously).

I wonder where DEATH has got to, heard nothing from him for a while, I do hope he is ok. tsk, what am I saying, of course he's ok.

Worthy winner

2004-10-27T13:10:00.000+01:00

Well, here it is, my competition winning pumpkin from last year. Not sure what to carve this year so any ideas would be appreciated, shame Hallowe'en isn't about origami really, cos pulling this off would win I'm sure!

Oh yes...

2004-10-22T13:28:00.000+01:00

Mrs Rangor had a lovely birthday, I think she liked her bag of eyes, certainly funnier than a bucket full of arms.

A dearth of posts

2004-10-22T13:14:00.000+01:00

Well, it seems that I've failed to post for over a week now. Still, looking at the few blogs I link to from here, it appears there is a complete apathy towards blogging this last week. Ok, so there are a couple of posts, but nothing like those I would expect from such a dedicated select few.

Perhaps everyone is busy practising carving their pumpkins for next week. Oh and if you need any advice on doing so, check out this site.

Will try to find a photo of my competition winning pumpkin from last year and post that here soon...

Whoops, and Mrs Rangor leaves me again

2004-10-13T07:26:00.000+01:00

Mrs Rangor and I overslept this morning, she had to be on a train at 7am to go to London (she doesn't return until Friday, which also happens to be her birthday), I'd been awake worrying about work since 4am (oh dear), having only got to sleep about 1.30am. I looked at the clock at 5.58am and then all of a sudden it was 6.38am (sometimes, I just don't understand how time works, yep, it's true, even I don't get it). Anyway, Whoops. Took all my time travelling powers to get us up, out the house and driven to the station for 6.56am I can tell you.

Oh yes, and her train was... cancelled

ouch ouch ouch...part2

2004-10-08T13:52:00.000+01:00

I've gone and done my 'ead in. Bugger. For those of you who know me, you'll know that Stuart has buggered off on holiday for two weeks to Spain (for anyone in the USA, Spain is a country in Europe, and Europe is over to your left if you look towards those damn rednecks and wetbacks that you despise so much and left is the side of the road you don't drive on). This has resulted in me being left on my own at work to 'hold the fort'

Given the current state of play at work, this has proved quite stressful. No matter how much I try, I can't seem to get everything done I need to in any one day (yes, that does include blogging (and lunch) although today is an exception). To make matters worse, I missed my normal chiropractor appointment on Tuesday (work again) and had to see someone else. While that was good it just didn't sort my back out enough and as a result I still can't pick up my damn time machine to juggle work around in another dimension.

Still, only one more week to go and all will be back on track.

ps. Stuart, I hope you don't feel too guilty...

ouch ouch ouch...

2004-10-04T13:22:00.003+01:00

I've gone and done my back in. Bugger. For those of you who know me, you'll know all this carrying my time machine around with me has put my back out before. This time it seems to be a whole new part of my back that has failed me.

Nevermind, I've got an appointment with the chiropractor tomorrow to sort it out. Maybe I'll nip to tomorrow and get it sorted out now...if only I could pick up that damn machine of mine.

Guess who's back, back again, Rangor's back, tell a friend

2004-09-27T13:32:00.000+01:00

Well Rangess and I have just returned from a nice little jolly to Wales, we were there all last week hence the lack of postings (sorry Jimble, I know you were most disappointed). I did try to post while away but it seems my P900/Opera 6.30 combination just wasn't up to the job.

So, what did we get up to? Basically lots of relaxing and walking. Went to some castles, Caerphilly and Kidwelly being two of them. Marvellous examples they are too.

Also went to Big pit, and that was very exciting, very dark and Rangess got a little scared, of course I wasn't scared at all, although I think the tour guide thought I was a bit of a wuss as he challenged me on whether I thought I could do a manly job like mining.

Now I just need to do some time tinkering to go and see the places in there prime before Llywelyn ein Llyw olaf (in 1270), the English (during the civil war in 1642), and Margaret Thatcher (during a very dark period of our history in 1984-1986) respectively destroyed them, and everything they stood for.

The return of the Rangess

2004-09-14T20:42:00.000+01:00

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Mrs Rangor has returned today.

Mrs Rangor

2004-09-12T23:13:00.000+01:00

Mrs Rangor left me tonight. Not for good, but just for a couple of days. Although it feels like an eternity. She had to go to Edinburgh for work. I already miss her.

Why don't I nip forward in time and then she'll be back with me already I hear you cry... well, reason being, I love the feeling I get after I've missed her and I see her again. No amount of time travel can beat that.

aahh, sentimental Rangor.

Rangor's dream

2004-09-08T23:50:00.000+01:00

There I was reposed in my bed chamber (similar to my 'birth') dreaming about a fishing expedition. I was pulling in the fishing net and disentangling many fish looking like this when all of a sudden, one like this jumped out of the water and bit my neck. So shocked was I that I jumped and woke myself up.

By the way, when I found the picture of the evil fish, I also saw many others that really are quite nice, thought you all might like to see them too. I'm sure Leesa would especially.

If only...

2004-09-07T14:29:00.000+01:00

If only I was called Ragnor as that stupid American chap suggested, I could carve him up with one of these. That would show him.

Even more

2004-09-03T10:42:00.000+01:00

Got 30 invites now...

Gmail update

2004-09-02T08:51:00.000+01:00

I now have 22 Gmail invites to give away. This is getting silly...

Moon Rangor

2004-09-01T16:47:00.000+01:00

Ranger, Rangor or patrol, I know which one I prefer.

Two a penny

2004-08-31T13:03:00.000+01:00

Well, as has happended to all and sundry, I have 6 Gmail accounts to give away, email me or post a comment if you want one and I'll send you an invite. Given the response on Charlotte, Alex or Daisy's blogs, They'll be available for quite a while...

Further to my post below

2004-08-27T15:16:00.000+01:00

I took the 'horrible' test, and it made me laugh.

See the results...

Which Horrible Affliction are you?
A Rum and Monkey disease.

Boredom

2004-08-27T14:08:00.000+01:00

I got a bit bored at work, is a horrible day, raining and windy. I can't face going into town to buy a sandwich so thought, I would create an entry that is made up of links, don't know why really, I just thought it would give me something to do. All the same words link to the same link but no two different words link to the same site. I have chosen to add a link that was interesting after doing a google search on each of the words. This is possibly the saddest thing I have done, but I have a lot of time on my hands.

Daisy's day

2004-08-27T09:50:00.000+01:00

Is Daisy Dunkeld's birthday today, she is one. Time flies by, doesn't seem possible that she can be one already, and that's coming from a warlord of time.

Happy birthday DD xxx

Time for another future cat

2004-08-25T13:49:00.000+01:00

Have added another one to the list...

Time travel of sorts

2004-08-25T13:12:00.000+01:00

Sometimes it would seem that elements of sandwiches can time travel, take for example, yesterday's bread, next weeks's ripe avacado, 3 days ago mozzarella, and last month's mayonnaise. How come they all managed to get into my sandwich today!?

Not sure I agree with these results...

2004-08-25T09:15:00.000+01:00

According to this, I don't think I should be a warlord of time

Extroverted (E) 67.65% Introverted (I) 32.35%
Realistic (S) 54.05% Imaginative (N) 45.95%
Intellectual (T) 68.57% Emotional (F) 31.43%
Easygoing (P) 53.33% Organized (J) 46.67%

Your type is: ESTP

You are a Promoter, possible professions include - real estate broker , chef, land developer, physical therapist, stock broker, news reporter, fire fighter, promoter, entrepreneur, pilot, budget analyst, insurance agent, management consultant, franchise owner, electrical engineer, aircraft mechanic, technical trainer, EEG technologist, radiological technician, emergency medical technician, corrections officer, flight attendant.

Get Yours

Rangor Rangarsson

2004-08-23T10:24:00.000+01:00

Yet another Rangor, they just keep on coming. Thanks to Charlotte for this one.

Lord Of Khorne, Lord of all Daemon Hunter, Lord of Slayers

2004-08-17T15:09:00.000+01:00

Here, it seems is another Rangor, Damn him and his snazzy signature.

Not really my idea of a warlord

2004-08-16T13:00:00.000+01:00

Warlords take time for photos