Of Doing Christmas Online

As an experiment I thought I'd try to do Christmas online this year to reduce stress levels and save time. So far it has proved to be an unqualified success.
Last week I ordered enough food at Asda's website for two people to survive from this coming Wednesday right through to the New Year. I also ordered enough groceries to cover four dinner parties three of which take place this week. This last bit was actually very easy. You get the four recipes, your order the ingredients and tick them off as they disappear into your online shopping basket. Since placing the order last week for delivery tomorrow I've added chutney, cheese biscuits, Christmas crackers and a freezer box to freeze the left overs.
Granted, Saturday I did have to pop on a train to St George's market for a few vegetables Asda or Tesco just don't do or if they do, then nothing like as well as a fresh market. Into the former category is red chicory, rosemary garlic and Stinking Bishop cheese. Into the latter category goes organic asparagus and celeriac.
Finally, the presents have all come courtesy of Ebay and Amazon.They arrived on time, usually the day after I ordered them and in perfect condition. The great thing about buying presents online is that you can shop around for ideas in the comfort of your chair, compare prices and know whether what you are about to buy is rated or slated by previous customers.
Altogether I reckon I've saved about 12 hours shopping time. I've got better quality presents and I'm actually looking forward to Christmas with a good deal of energy keft for it. So why don't more people do Christmas online I wonder? Perhaps it's something to do with inherited thinking. Why change what you've done for so many years when it works to a point, even when there's clearly a better way of doing it.Christmas is all about tradition afterall.

Of Wedding Bells

Ha! Finally we have a wedding date! 26th January 2013! We've had an amazing team working on the paperwork and they've done a first class job because we did this in a "Oner" first time round. A big thanks to all!
Now all I have to do is find a matching suit for her ladyship's dress. That, I fear, may be a little more difficult...!

Of Lights, Camera, Action!

We were shooting a video today with two highly professional crew who knew exactly what they were doing and what they wanted.
It took us about 2 hours to shoot what will probably turn out to be a 2 minute video clip. It's hard work getting the light right, the sound and the setting. The acting is almost the easy bit - although maybe it was the actors who made it look easy. It must be difficult having to repeat lines constantly, unusual faces, and eye movements  with lots of people looking on.
We got to 4p.m and in true movie style it was declared "A wrap". I'm looking forward to seeing the final product but I don't think I'll be putting in for any jobs as a film director...

Of A Great Two Days

I've just had a friend over from England to stay for the weekend. The forecast was for rain both days but we were treated to great spells of glorious sunshine.
People ask me if I get bored going to the Giant's Causeway all the time. Sunday was probably my 15th visit. But I just can't see how you can get bored going there. It's different every time depending on the season, the weather and the state of the sea.Yesterday there were some tremendous waves crashing over the Causeway rocks creating a beautiful white on black contrast.
On Saturday we walked some of Slieve Binion and finished up having a seaweed bath in Newcastle. Magic.

Of The Four Hour Chef

A good friend of mine thinks I becoming a Tim Ferris fanatic; a Ferris follower, disciple even and I think she's right.
Ferris started out as author of the international bestseller "The Four Hour Week" which turned thinking on its head by challenging what we thought we already knew in many areas relevant to our working lives. In his next title "The Four Hour Body" he challenged the reader to eat, swim and indeed have better sex by rejecting inherited thinking and following some key but quite simple steps.
His latest book out this week is "The Four Hour Chef". You'd think it's about food and how to prepare which it is in part. But it's also stuffed full of other great life tips from how to acquire a super memory and learn languages to lighting fires in a way that causes them to burn for longer and give out much more heat.
It's quite astonishing what this man knows and what he's prepared to try and experiment with. He must be one of the most curious individuals on the planet and seems to have become a vertiable guinea pig for anything new that helps us do what we are currently doing but so much better.
I'm ten pages into the 550 odd pages of this latest work but it's already been worth the £15 I paid for it. I can't remember the last time I said that about a book which says it all I guess.

Of Car Booting

As part of my commitment to do two days of charity work each year I went car booting on Saturday to raise a few bob for Legal-Island's charity in Malawi.
It was a really cold morning and one that refused to warm up. By 11a.m. it was still barely above freezing.
But by 7.15a.m. I had sold a six string banjo that had followed me around the UK since my first year at university. I had flogged 3 chairs and a strimmer in a brief rush a little later.
There's something quite appealing about trading at a car boot sale. Anyone who is prepared to get up in the early hours of a cold Winter's morning in search of a bargain is bound to have some spirit and be worth a conversation or two. One such punter, challenged me to a game of tennis as I tried to sell him a tennis racket. Why not? I thought. He whooped me 2 sets to love Sunday afternoon. He never did buy the racket either.

Of Closing in on Perfection!

Wow! We haven't lost our touch here at Legalisland. If anything we're close to perfecting it. Our latest Annual Review Conference is currently being scored by delegates and like the 3 others behind it it's scoring phenomenally well. With an overall satisfaction rate so far of 4.4 out of 5 it's telling me that the quality of what we do justs gets better every year.
We've just got one more to do at the Stillorgan and we can rest up a little. So here's hoping for the Annual Review of Employment Law Conference at the Stilorgan.